Raja Petra does not turn up in court, again

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamarauddin failed again to appear for his sedition trial at the Sessions Court here on Friday.

DPP Shah Rizal Abdul Manan told judge Aslam Zainuddin that the arrest warrant issued on April 23, when he first did not turn up in court, had yet to be executed on him.

He also said a notice for the editor’s wife Marina Lee Abdullah to summon her to explain Raja Petra’s absence at the sedition trial was also not executed.

Raja Petra’s lead counsel J. Chandra applied to the court to adjourn sine die (indefinitely) the case until the police succeeded in arresting his client.

However, the judge set July 17 for mention saying it would be decided by the trial judge Rozina Ayob.

On April 23, the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court had issued a warrant of arrest against Raja Petra Kamarudin after he failed to turn up for his sedition trial.

Judge Rozina Ayob issued the order after lead prosecutor DPP Shahidani Abd Aziz applied for the arrest warrant against the news portal editor for his absence.

DPP Shahidani had said the prosecution had no choice but to get the order to proceed with the trial.

Rozina also issued a show cause notice for Marina Lee, as his bailor for failing to inform the court about Raja Petra’s non-attendance.

Raja Petra's lawyer J. Chandra informed judge Rozina Ayob that his client did not turn up in court on the grounds he was on a self-imposed exile from the state for “reasons that are well known.”

Chandra then went out to explain that for over a month now, Raja Petra, 58, has posted articles or comments on issues in relation to the Selangor royal house that had angered some members of his own family who demanded an apology.

Raja Petra explained why he did not turn up at the court in Malaysia Today, “my family then gave me an ultimatum. I was to either make that public apology or else my family would insert an advertisement in the mainstream newspapers practically distancing itself from me, which could be interpreted as disowning me ....

“I went into exile outside Selangor ... . It has to be noted that this has always been the punishment for any member of the Selangor Royal Family who is considered durhaka (traitorous) since the beginning of the Selangor Sultanate more than 250 years ago.”

He also wrote that another reason why he did not attend court was the he did not expect to get a fair trial.

In court on April 23, his lawyer Chandra added, “You have to bear in mind that he is a member of royalty and this self-imposed exile is a punishment he has handed out to himself.”

Rozina said Raja Petra had never produced a written order over the matter.

To this, Chandra said his client would appear in court “when the times permitted and the matter resolved”.

DPP Shahidani Aziz then asked for a warrant of arrest to be issued against Raja Petra and a showcause notice for his wife and bailor Marina.

The judge granted both and set May 22 for mention.

Speaking to reporters later on April 23, his lawyer Gobind Singh Deo had said the defence had been unable to contact Raja Petra for some time and his last conversation with him was during a habeas corpus appeal against the editor at the Federal Court.

Raja Petra, a former Internal Security Act detainee, had on May 6 2008 claimed trial to publishing a seditious article on his Malaysia Today news portal on April 25 of that same year.

He is accused of publishing the article Let’s send the Altantuya murderers to hell on the website www.malaysia-today.net. The charge under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948 carries a maximum fine of RM5,000 or three years' jail or both upon conviction.

My most sincere apology to the nation

Thursday, 21 May 2009 | Raja Petra Kamarudin

I made it very clear there would be no negotiations. How can I agree to bribing police officers to get my son off the hook after speaking out against crime, corruption, abuse of power and cover-ups of criminal acts by those who walk in the corridors of power?

NO HOLDS BARRED

I offer no excuses. My wife, Marina, and I have five children, all now grown up. Four have made a life for themselves -- two are now married and have blessed us with four grandchildren. One, Raja Azman, left home when he was still in lower secondary school and chose to end all ties with the family. That was about 18 years ago or so.

Since he left home, he has been in and out of trouble, the result of living on the streets and sleeping in the back alleys of Kuala Lumpur. Invariably, life on the streets like an urchin turned him into what he is today.

Muslims believe that heaven lies beneath the feet of one’s mother. It is therefore seldom a Muslim mother would bring herself to curse her offspring. Doing so would condemn that child for eternity. That is what Muslims believe.

My wife made it very clear to our prodigal son that he turns his back on the family and resorts to a life of crime at his own peril. It does not matter the severity of the crime. Crime is crime whatever it may be, big or small. And is it not the tendency that petty criminals eventually migrate to hardcore crimes? He therefore invites his mother’s curse if he brings shame to the family. That was my wife’s final word on the matter.

Our son was warned that if he ever got into trouble he was entirely on his own. He can’t expect the family that he has disowned to rally to his side. He has made his bed so he must now lie in it. That was our irrevocable and uncompromising stand and this was delivered in no uncertainty to our son. He would have to make the decision as to what it was going to be.

Marina and I received a phone call a couple of months ago that our son, yet again, was in trouble. It was a call from a police officer. The phone was passed to our son so that we could be assured he was in the hands of the police. Although it was a huge disappointment to both of us, it was no shock, neither a surprise. This was yet another brush with the law that our son has got himself into over more than a decade.

The purpose for the phone call became clearer after our son handed the phone back to the police officer. They wanted to negotiate a settlement. The problem is small, we were told. This can be settled easily enough. They know we would rather bury this problem than let it become public knowledge. We are, after all, high profile. And bad publicity such as this would not help our image.

I made it very clear there would be no negotiations. How can I agree to bribing police officers to get my son off the hook after speaking out against crime, corruption, abuse of power and cover-ups of criminal acts by those who walk in the corridors of power? Sure, maybe no one would know about it. Once I pay up, the matter will be buried so deep no one would be the wiser. But I would know. My wife would know. My family would know. And the police officers who I had bribed would know.

How can I continue speaking out against what ails this country when I am not able to walk the talk? It is so easy to talk when you have nothing to lose, except maybe your freedom. But when it comes to a member of your family, you compromise your principles and violate the very thing that you speak out against.

When I hung up the phone, I could see the pain in my wife’s heart. After all, are not the eyes the window to the heart? Which mother can abandon a child, never mind how evil that child may be. It takes a very determined woman to put principles before the welfare of the family.

We knew it was with dire consequences that we had turned down the offer to settle the matter. We would be made to pay dearly for our stubbornness. They would make sure that we would suffer shame never before suffered by our family.

My children are devastated. The thought of our son having to spend a good part of his life in prison is only part of it. The fact that he carries the family name and that this would be held against the family was their main concern. They knew we would be made to suffer for what Raja Azman had done.

This was a predicament we would never be able to avoid. It would have been so simple to just agree to meet the police officers and pay them the money they wanted and all would have been settled. But it would have been settled only for that short moment in time. I would have to carry the knowledge that I sold out my principles and was not able to walk the talk for the rest of my life.

How can I continue doing what I am doing knowing that I am not able to practice what I preach? I would lose the moral high ground and would no longer be qualified to talk about change and about a better Malaysia. I am, after all, as corrupted as those people who walk in the corridors of power. My son may walk free. But I shall be taking his place in prison -- not a physical prison, but a prisoner of my own nagging conscience, which will haunt me till my last day on earth.

As a father, it was a most difficult choice I had to make. It was more difficult for Marina, the mother who gave birth to that son. We held each other’s hands and looked each other in the eye without speaking. Words were unnecessary. In that silence our hearts did all the talking. We knew we had to bite the bullet and face whatever lies ahead of us without wavering.

Marina and I apologise to the nation for what our son has done. As parents, Marina and I accept that responsibility.

The name don’t maketh the man

Tuesday, 19 May 2009 | Raja Petra Kamarudin

The Muslim sense of values is totally warped. If you eat pork or drink liquor or gamble, at least you are doing it with your own money. But corruption and fraud involves other people’s money, in most cases the taxpayers’ money. So this makes it an even bigger sin.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Civil Defence director charged with falsifying documents
By EMBUN MAJID, The Star

ALOR SETAR: Kedah Civil Defence Department director pleaded not guilty to two counts of falsifying documents at a Sessions Court here. Mohamad Abdullah, 49, was charged with falsifying two documents on Jun 26 and July 28, both in 2005 at his office at Wisma Persekutuan building here.

In the first charge, Mohamad was alleged to have falsified a document by endorsing that Mohd Roshid Hussain had supplied food for a group of 70 people for the Civil Defence Training Programme at Unit Giat Mara Sungai Tiang on March 17, 18, 19 and 20, 2005 although there was no such supply during the said period.

In the second charge, Mohamad was alleged to have falsified a document on July 28, 2005, by endorsing that Mohd Roshid had supplied food for a group of 80 people for the department Intensive Training Programme at Unit Giat Mara Sungai on May 19, 20 and 21, 2005, although there was no such supply during the three days.

The charge sheet, however, did not state the amount of money involved.

Mohamad faced both charges under Section 11(c) of the Anti Corruption Act 1997 that carries a maximum imprisonment for a term of not less than six months and not more than twenty years; and a fine of not less than five times the sum or value of the gratification which is the subject matter of the offence where such gratification is capable of being valued or is of a pecuniary nature, or ten thousand ringgit, whichever is the higher.

In the same court, Mohd Roshid, 32, claimed trial with abetting Mohamad to falsify the two documents. He was also charged under Section 11(c) of the same Act.

Judge Norsharidah Awang set bail RM10,000 in one surety for each offences to Mohamad and Mohd Roshid and fixed July 8 for hearing.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Fieza Fazlin Fandi prosecuted the case while counsel Shariff Matt represented the two accused.

*************************************************

Would you name your son Jesus the servant of God? And if you would, would you expect him to grow up into a righteous and god-fearing man rather than a corrupted scoundrel? I suppose parents who name their son Mohamad the servant of God would expect no less from their son, as would parents who name their son Jesus the servant of God. But this did not quite work out for the parents of Mohamad Abdullah who now faces two charges of swindling. Yes, in case you have not figured it out by now, Abdullah translates to the servant of Allah (some would say the slave of Allah). So Mohamad Abdullah, which is also the name of the Prophet of Islam, translates to Mohamad the servant of Allah.

And how would one who is named after Islam’s Prophet, with the servant of Allah added to his name, be expected to conduct himself? Considering Mohamad is a public servant, in China he would be put to death with a bullet in the head. And, to add insult to injury, the cost of the bullet would be charged to the family. But sadly, this is not the case in Malaysia. In fact, he would not even lose his limb, as the proponents of the Islamic law of Hudud would like to see. Instead, he would probably beat the rap because the normally smart lawyer would in most cases run rings around the nincompoop prosecutor and the irritated judge would find the accused not guilty out of sheer disgust for the incompetence of the prosecutor.

Yes, names do not maketh the man. How many with names like Isa (Jesus), Musa (Moses), Yusof (Joseph), Sulaiman (Solomon), Ibrahim (Abraham), etc., have been dragged to court for criminal breach of trust, corruption, fraud and whatnot? Some of the worst scams to appear before us have been perpetuated by those who carry the names of the revered Prophets of Islam. Maybe it is time the government banned the usage of names from the Quran. It just makes a mockery of those noble names when people who carry those names act less than noble.

At least people like Mahathir, Najib, Muhyiddin, Khairy, Hishammuddin, Khir, and so on can be excused. Their names are not names of the Prophets of Islam. But when you have people with two Muhammad’s in their name or people with names like Mohamad the servant of Allah, then the expectations would be very high indeed. We do not expect them to be cheats and swindlers.

Why is it that people who carry the names of the revered Prophets would shun pork and steer clear of liquor and despise gambling but would never hesitate to fill their stomachs with money earned the not kosher way? Is money earned through corruption and fraud any less haram than pork, liquor or gambling? It is like saying that raping a girl is okay as long as you don’t rape a boy. Same gender sex is haram. So raping a boy is a huge no-no. But raping a girl is tolerable.

Rape is rape whether you raped your pet dog or the neighbour’s donkey. Haram is definitely haram and there are no two ways about it. And it does not matter whether it is pork, liquor, gambling or money you obtained through corrupt and fraudulent ways. One is not less haram than the other.

The Muslim sense of values is totally warped. If you eat pork or drink liquor or gamble, at least you are doing it with your own money. But corruption and fraud involves other people’s money, in most cases the taxpayers’ money. So this makes it an even bigger sin. Why can’t Muslims see that a person who eats pork or drinks liquor or gambles is not harming anyone other than himself -- okay, maybe his family as well if he does all this in excess and it affects the family (for that matter, even excess ice cream or an overdose of multivitamins are bad for you). But when you cheat the taxpayers you are hurting 27 million Malaysians who that money belongs to.

My Tok Guru told me, when you sin against God, then it is up to God to forgive you. But when you sin against humankind, then God can’t forgive you. You must first beg for forgiveness from all those you have sinned against and only when they have all forgiven you will God forgive you.

Well, this is what my Tok Guru told me. But can you imagine seeking out 27 million Malaysians, one by one, and personally begging for their forgiveness? How would this be possible? I mean, how long will it take you to personally meet 27 million people, one by one?

In short, you are doomed. There is no way this can be done, or done in the time frame you would like to see it done. Give me a pork-eating, liquor-drinking, gambling man one who has not sinned against fellowman any time. That man has a better chance of being forgiven for his sins than a corrupted swindler of taxpayers’ money.

And don’t try to impress me with the names of the revered Prophets because the name does not maketh the man. Some of the worst scoundrels walking the face of this earth are named after the revered Prophets of Islam.

Serious case of foot in mouth disease

Sunday, 17 May 2009 | Raja Petra Kamarudin

The US made it clear it viewed the latest sodomy charge against Anwar as a sham charge similar to the first one back in 1998. And you respond by grumbling about people linking Najib to the Altantuya murder and about how you turned down a bribe?

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

On Thursday (May 14), at a joint press conference after meeting with United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington DC, Anifah was asked about the fresh sodomy charge against Anwar, which State Department had earlier said was politically motivated.

“He said that he will form the government on September 16 and he had changed the dates many times. And he was trying to entice members of parliament (to defect),” said Anifah, who is the brother of Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman.

“And I was personally offered to jump into the opposition and offered a very lucrative position – it’s like a deputy prime minister (in the Pakatan government). And this is not known to the world at large.”

Anifah defends Najib on Altantuya

At the press conference, Anifah also defended his boss, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who was accused of being linked to the murder of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibauu.

“And insofar as Anwar Ibrahim is concerned – we know him very, very well. Most of the things (allegations) are untrue; for example, like the involvement of our honourable prime minister and the murder of a Mongolian citizen. And he has repeatedly said before the elections that he will provide evidence and yet, until today, he has not given anything.”

Expressing shock over Anifah’s allegations, Anwar chided the minister for faring poorly in his international debut as foreign minister, which he said reflected his inexperience and immaturity.

“I have spoken to Anifah only once on the phone and that’s it…,” said Anwar after a meet-the-people session in his Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituency.

“I never offered the DPM post to him for him to defect. The issue indeed was never raised. He was never qualified for such a position anyway. Perhaps it was his dream to become deputy prime minister.”

He suggested that the minister was perhaps overawed and overwhelmed by the occasion. “After all, being a new minister before an international audience for the first time, he was probably prompted to impress his new political master,” chided Anwar, confirming that he would soon be filing a civil suit against Anifah for defamation.

“As the matter would be in court, I prefer not to comment further on the issue,” he said, adding that Anifah was seeking to tarnish his image abroad.

Malaysiakini

*************************************************

To understand the above, one must first understand Sabah and Umno politics, which is not that easy to understand when it involves Umno Sabah. Umno Sabah is not part of Umno Peninsular Malaysia in the true sense of the word. Umno Sabah considers itself a ‘separate entity’ and ‘kingmaker’, the party that more or less keeps Umno in power. And the same goes for Barisan Nasional Sarawak as well although there is no Umno in Sarawak -- at least while the Grand Old Man of Sarawak politics is still alive.

Sabah has 25 parliament seats, Sarawak another 31. Out of a total of 222 parliament seats, this gives Sabah and Sarawak about 30% of the total. In the last general election, Sabah and Sarawak lost only one seat each to the opposition. This means Sabah and Sarawak are Barisan Nasional strongholds and without these two states Umno would never be able to form the federal government.

According to the agreement, Sabah and Sarawak must comprise of not less than 25% of the total number of parliament seats. Therefore, every time they increase the number of seats in Peninsular Malaysia, they must also do so correspondingly in Sabah and Sarawak. This puts these two East Malaysian states in a very advantageous position where they can demand a lot and get away with it -- and whoever so wishes to form the federal government just can’t ignore Sabah and Sarawak.

However, Musa Aman, the Chief Minister and head of Umno Sabah, does not have the support of all the 25 Umno divisions. At best he has the support of only seven with 18 opposed to him. This is quite normal for Sabah though where infighting is always fierce considering that East Malaysian politics is politics of the warlords. And there are certainly many warlords in Sabah.

It is said the poorest Sabah warlord is worth only RM200 million. If that is all you are worth then nobody talks about you because wealth in Sabah is measures in terms of billions -- half a billion, one billion and so on. To be worth only RM200 million means you are in the small boys club and not yet worthy to sit with the real man.

Is it any wonder that when they are not visiting their constituency once or twice a year these warlords would be throwing their money away in Australian casinos plus those in other parts of the world? Of course, they make up for this by going to Mekah at least once a year so that they can cleanse their gambling sins and be ‘reborn’ to repeat the routine all over again.

Musa was at the crossroads of his political career in the run-up to the last general election. There was talk that since he could not get the support of the majority of the 25 Sabah divisions he would most likely be dropped. But the problem with this was, while he may command the support of only seven of the 25 divisions, this was also the same for the others as well. No one commanded majority support. And even though Musa may command the support of only seven divisions, neither can any of the other warlords better this.

In a nutshell, Musa may not be the best, but he is certainly not the worse. No one really commands majority support and replacing Musa would only mean you are replacing one problem for probably an even bigger problem.

But Musa was not going to take any chances. He knew he was living on borrowed time and Sabah’s performance in the 8 March 2008 general election would decide his fate. If he can keep the opposition out, then he would be guaranteed another term. But if the opposition makes inroads, then it would be good-bye Musa. His best bet then would be to keep close links with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and serve him in whatever way necessary, through the son-in-law and the Fourth Floor team of course.

However, what would happen if Abdullah Badawi gets ousted and Najib takes over? Well, then Plan B comes into play. And plan B would involve his brother Anifah. Anifah, therefore, has to stay close to Najib so that he would be the bridge Musa builds to Putrajaya in the event Abdullah Badawi is sent into retirement.

When Rosmah throws a private birthday party for Najib where only close friends are invited, Anifah is on the guest list, the only Sabah warlord to receive an invitation. Anifah’s links with Najib therefore extends beyond politics. It is on a very personal level.

But how would Musa explain to Abdullah the reason why his brother is a personal friend and buddy of Najib? Is Musa hedging his bets? If Abdullah stays on then he is okay. If Najib takes over he is still okay, through his brother. This appears like Musa is trying to get the best of both worlds.

To cover their tracks, they got to make it appear like Anifah is the prodigal member of the family. He is a loose cannon. He is what every family dreads, the black sheep of the family. In fact, Anifah is beyond control and would probably even go join the opposition if pushed too far.

This ‘may join the opposition’ story also works in Anifah’s favour. Anwar Ibrahim has said that if Pakatan Rakyat forms the federal government then there may be two or even three Deputy Prime Ministers. Maybe DPM1 would be Malay, DPM2 non-Malay rotated between the Chinese and Indians, and DPM3 would be someone from East Malaysia, rotated between Sabah and Sarawak.

Yes, that is a good plan and something the non-Malays and East Malaysians have been asking for a long time now. Ah, but that is not all. Do you know that Anwar has offered the post of DPM3 to Anifah?

Yes, that was the story relayed to Najib. Therefore, when Najib takes over, he had better offer Anifah an important Cabinet position. Not just Deputy Minister of Welfare or something totally useless. Anwar has offered him the post of DPM. Surely Najib can match that with something worthwhile, even if it is not the post of DPM?

That was the Aman family spin. So now Anifah has to announce to the world that he turned down a lucrative offer of the post of DPM for a lesser post of Foreign Minister. That was the story he told Najib to be able to get this senior cabinet position. So he has to maintain this story for the sake of consistency.

Honestly though, would Anifah really make a suitable DPM? Look at how he talks in his meeting with the United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He really put his foot in his mouth on this one. A Malaysian Foreign Minister meets the US Secretary of State and he talks about Najib and Altantuya? And he reveals to the Americans that Anwar tried to bribe him with the post of DPM? Hello, either he is more stupid than we thought or he is trying to ruin Najib in the international scene.

Those are not the things you talk about when you meet foreign governments. The US made it clear it viewed the latest sodomy charge against Anwar as a sham charge similar to the first one back in 1998. And you respond by grumbling about people linking Najib to the Altantuya murder and about how you turned down a bribe?

Sheesh, talk about a huge political blunder. The US already thinks that Najib is linked somehow to the murder. In fact, not only the US, but also all the foreign missions in Malaysia as well. Just speak to any Ambassador and they will tell you that they believe Najib’s hands are not clean and that Altantuya’s murder leads to Putrajaya.

There is nothing Anifah can say that will convince them otherwise. And the US did not ask Anifah whether it is true that Najib is guilty. They asked about what they thought was a sham sodomy charge that will soon lead to a sham sodomy trial. And Anifah responds by talking about Najib and Altantuya and the bribe he turned down instead.

A serious crisis of confidence

Wednesday, 13 May 2009 | malaysiaToday | Raja Petra Kamarudin

Say what you like, Malaysia is suffering from a crisis of confidence. And the longer it takes to solve Perak, and the more Umno manipulates and abuses the system, the harder it will be and the longer it will take to build back that confidence.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Court of Appeal to hear Nizar case May 18

(The Edge) - Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin filed an application with the Court of Appeal today in response to the Court of Appeal's stay of execution order in favour of Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.

The Court of Appeal has set May 18 to hear the case. Nizar's lawyers also filed a certificate of urgency for the hearing.

*************************************************

Mida reports shows crisis is crippling Perak economy, says DAP

(Bernama) - DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng today asked Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to call for fresh elections in Perak, saying the political impasse has hurt the state's economy badly.

Lim, who is Penang chief minister, said that according to a report of the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (Mida), total investment in Perak in terms of performance had dropped drastically.

The report showed that Perak had dropped from sixth position in 2008 to 10th in the first two months of 2009, he told reporters after Iran's ambassador Mahdi Khandaghabadi had called on him, here.

Lim said that based on the Mida report, Perak only recorded RM32 million in investment this year and lacked behind other states in securing investment, with Johor in first place with over RM1 billion in investments followed by Selangor with RM707 million and Penang with RM685 million.

"This also proves that the political crisis in Perak has affected the state's economic growth and I believe this can be resolved after the dissolution of the Perak state legislative assembly to pave the way for fresh elections," he said.

Lim said only a stable government would be able to ensure economic growth and development in the state.

He also said that the people in Perak had the power to elect and decide on the rightful menteri besar of Perak. "Even if we win in the courts, the DAP's position is to call for fresh elections and dissolve the assembly," he said, adding that the DAP would return power to the people to decide on the rightful menteri besar.

Yesterday, the Court of Appeal in Putrajaya allowed a stay of execution of Monday's Kuala Lumpur High Court decision declaring Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin of the DAP-PKR-PAS coalition as the rightful menteri besar of Perak.

With the suspension of the declaratory order, the post of Perak menteri besar has returned to Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir of the Barisan Nasional

(BN) pending the hearing of his appeal against the High Court decision.

*************************************************

In Malaysia, you just can’t separate politics, religion and the economy. The Barisan Rakyat Bloggers and a few of the civil society movements realised, way back in 2006, that Malaysia was heading for a political crisis -- which means an economic crisis as well. Of course, then, we did not know yet when the next general election was going to be held -- but it would have to be held by March 2009, whatever the case may be, unless martial law is declared and parliament is suspended due to civil strife the likes of ‘May 13’ or worse.

In mid-2007, we got word that the general election would be held on 15 March 2008. I must credit YB Ronnie Liu with this information though. It was Ronnie who managed to obtain this information somehow and I decided to trust his source and ran with it.

Of course, with the benefit of hindsight, the general election was instead held on 8 March. So we were off by a week. But, as they say, either you are pregnant or you are not. You can’t be a little bit pregnant.

Nevertheless, Malaysia Today is not a newspaper, as I have always said, and we can’t use mainstream newspaper standards in verifying the information before publishing anything. I trusted Ronnie and if he trusts his source beyond any shadow of doubt then I have to run with the information he gave me. Ronnie could be wrong. Or his source could be wrong. Which would mean then my 15 March 2008 ‘prediction’ would be wrong as well.

What if the general election was held in March 2009 instead, the last possible date that it must be held according to the Constitution? Well, then I would end up with egg on my face and will have to chalk this whole thing up to another insider lead that we trusted which turned out false in the end.

But what was the purpose of revealing the general election date, especially if it were true? The purpose was simply this. We felt the opposition needed a bit more time to get its act together. So, the later the general election, the better. In mid-2007, DAP, PKR and PAS were still squabbling over seats. There were many seats that ‘overlapped’ and in some cases all three parties wanted to contest the same seat. If this disagreement can’t be settled by the time the general election is called, then there would be a danger some seats might see a four-corner fight -- BN versus DAP-PKR-PAS. You do not need to be a political genius to figure out that not only will BN win that seat but some of the opposition candidates might even end up losing their deposit -- like what happened in the 2004 general election when some seats saw three-corner fights because DAP, PKR and PAS all wanted to contest the same seat.

Our purpose in revealing the 15 March 2008 date was, first of all, to frighten the three opposition parties so that they would come to the realisation that there was not much time left and they needed to get their act together, fast, and resolve the seat issue, or else they would get massacred like in 2004. Secondly, we hoped that once we reveal the date then Umno would try to prove us wrong by postponing the general election to a much later date.

I mean, why would Umno hold the general election in March 2008 and then give us credibility by proving us right? Better they delay it and prove us wrong -- in which case they can turn around and say that Malaysia Today publishes bullshit. The general election that Malaysia Today said would be called on 15 March 2008 never happened after all. That proves what they say is all crap.

We were worried they would not bite. They might just ignore what we wrote and go ahead with the 15 March 2008 revelation. And that would mean the opposition would be caught with its pants down and the many overlapping seats would remain unresolved right up to Nomination Day.

That would be disastrous. So we needed a Plan B.

And Plan B was a unity government, which Nik Aziz just said, today, is not going to happen. So, during the fasting month of 2007, we organised a dialogue session between Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and the Barisan Rakyat Bloggers, plus a few civil society movements, in the ‘White House’ at Jalan Langgak Golf.

What if during the next general election -- whether it is March 2008 or March 2009 -- we see a ‘hung parliament’ a la May 1969? What if there is no clear winner and neither Barisan Nasional nor the opposition has a clear majority -- or Barisan Nasional has a simple majority of, say, just one or two seats? Would they, again, trigger another ‘May 13’ to regain power? Or worse, what if the opposition wins, but with just a simple majority of one or two seats? Would that mean another ‘May 13’ will be inevitable and the only prospect ahead of us?

Those were the worries running through our minds. If Barisan Nasional repeats its 2004 performance, well and good. That means there would be no issues as this means the opposition had, again, been wiped out, like in 2004. But chances are we are going to see a surprise. And how to ensure that the surprise would not transform into a shock like what happened two days after the 11 May 1969 general election?

So, discussions with Umno were held. And we saw that only Tengku Razaleigh could be accepted by DAP, PKR and PAS. Any other Umno leader, other than Tengku Razaleigh, would be no go. Very few opposition leaders would be prepared to work with Umno if it was someone other than Tengku Razaleigh.

In fact, DAP was a bit worried about working with Tengku Razaleigh. If Najib becomes Prime Minister, then the Chinese -- who still remember what his father did in 1969 and what he himself did in 1988 with the ‘bathing the keris in Chinese blood’ stunt -- would swing to the opposition. But if Tengku Razaleigh ends up as Prime Minister instead, then the Chinese, in particular the business community, would swing back to Barisan Nasional.

It would not be in the interest of DAP that Tengku Razaleigh takes over. And if Tengku Razaleigh proposes a unity government, as he has, then the Chinese would not require DAP any longer. The Chinese have confidence in Tengku Razaleigh as this prince from Kelantan is perceived as the best man to manage Malaysia’s economy, which is what ultimately the Chinese want to see.

Nevertheless, DAP put the nation’s interest above its party interest. A unity government would weaken the opposition. But it would strengthen the nation’s economy because, not only would we have a man at the helm who would know what to do, but all the unnecessary politicking would come to an end and everyone could now remain focused and get down to the job of running the country and managing the economy.

Well, as they say, the rest is all water under the bridge now. Tengku Razaleigh did not make it as Umno President and Prime Minister, and the unity government never came about. Instead, we have Najib as Prime Minister and the focus of the entire government -- police, judiciary and whatnot included -- is on politics, politics, and yet more politics.

This is most unfortunate. Matthias Chang had already written, time and time again, that the world is about to face a serious financial crisis. In fact, he said we are going to see a total collapse of the entire economic system not later than 2008 or 2009. Many rubbished him and some even said he is a madman. But then they said the same thing about many other geniuses over the many hundreds of years and we now know that these geniuses were just too advanced for their time and that is why they were perceived as madmen.

I trusted Matthias. I still do. No doubt he has a ‘funny way’ of putting his message across. But then so do I. We all do. Maybe that’s why he and I can get along very well -- we are both tau fung. But what if Matthias is right? What if we are about to see the worse economic collapse since before the Second World War? And what if we don’t have a strong government to handle the crisis and are instead locked in political battles and conflicts to the extent that nobody cares about the economy any longer?

Yes, we can’t do much about an economic Tsunami, any Tsunami for that matter. But we are not only talking about an economic Tsunami here. We are also talking about a crisis of confidence. And this is not an external factor beyond our control. This is a self-inflicted wound, which could have been avoided in the first place.

What is going on in Perak is not just about politics. It is also about sending the right signals to investors, in particular foreign investors. Do you know that foreigners no longer want to sign agreements in Malaysia? They would rather sign them in Singapore, a country they trust more than Malaysia. They just don’t trust Malaysian courts.

Even if they do sign the agreements in Malaysia, they will ask for an arbitration clause to be inserted in the agreement so that, in the event a dispute arises, they can avoid Malaysian courts and instead go for international arbitration.

That is the fundamental problem with Malaysia. People just don’t trust the Malaysian courts. In fact, they don’t trust the police and everything related to Malaysia, including the political party in power. How can we ride out this rough patch when we have two battlefronts to fight?

Say what you like, Malaysia is suffering from a crisis of confidence. And the longer it takes to solve Perak, and the more Umno manipulates and abuses the system, the harder it will be and the longer it will take to build back that confidence. Umno may not openly admit it, but they know what I am talking about. Ultimately, however, it is not the superrich Umno leaders who will suffer. It is you and me, the people on the street, the working class citizens, who are going to pay the price of all this political folly.

How the screwee became the screwer

Wednesday, 13 May 2009 | Raja Petra Kamarudin

know they have issued a fresh detention order and the instant I appear in court they will detain me under the Internal Security Act and send me to Kamunting. And it burns them up so much that I am so near yet so far away.

NO HOLDS BARRED

On late Monday afternoon, the court ruled that Nizar is still the Menteri Besar of Perak. On early Tuesday morning, the Appeal Court allowed a stay of execution. This means Nizar was back as Menteri Besar for a mere couple of hours yesterday and then had to hand the state back to Zambry.

What was astonishing was the speed in which the Appeal Court sat to make its decision when there are still so many older cases pending -- sometimes up to ten years while the convicted persons awaiting the outcome of their appeal languish in jail without bail during all that time. And the beauty about this is, even if they lose their appeal, their jail sentence is shorter than the time they have thus far spent in prison under remand. Some have withdrawn their appeal just so that they can go home. It is better to plead guilty or not contest the verdict since the sentence is shorter than the time they would have to spend in prison under remand.

The second thing that has astonished most people; lawyers especially; is the one-man quorum that sat to hear Zambry’s application for a stay of execution. They would have expected a minimum quorum of three judges since this case is of great public interest. But only one man sat to hear Zambry’s application and it certainly does not give an impression that Nizar saw justice done yesterday in the Appeal Court.

That happened to me in the appeal that the government filed against my release from ISA detention in November last year. We asked for a quorum of seven judges. If we can’t get seven we would settle for five. But they refused both seven and five and agreed on only three. Why only three and whose decision was that? It was an administrative decision, meaning a court clerk somewhere decided that it should be three.

We were not told who the judges were until the morning of the hearing. And when we found out who they were we objected to one of them because I had crossed swords with him many times over the last ten years. So this judge was asked to leave the room while the other two sat to hear our objections. When it was pointed out that it is illegal and unconstitutional for only two judges to sit and that we would be appealing against this the judge said, “Do what you like.”

Then the two judges ruled that the third need not recuse and he was invited back to ‘take his rightful place on the bench’.

The court is just fucking around with me and I am expected to ‘respect the court’ and abide to its decisions without a peep or a squeak. Balls! I do not have to, and will not, take this crap. I attended the first day’s hearing, and after seeing how the court pushed us around and treated us like idiots, I refused to walk into that courtroom again for the rest of the hearings. You want to put me on trial, well and fine. I will face the court. But if you want to fuck around with me and treat me like I am one stupid country bumpkin then I do not need to take this crap.

Okay, let us now talk about my second brush with the court, the criminal defamation trial at the end of this month. When I was first charged and asked how I plead, I replied that I refuse to enter any plea. The court said it would take that as a ‘not guilty’ plea. I then raised my voice and told the judge that I did not plead ‘not guilty’. I had refused to enter any plea.

I was advised that, under the law, refusing to enter any plea would be interpreted as a ‘not guilty’ plea.

When they transferred my case to a higher court they again asked me how I plead and I again refused to enter any plea. And, again, they interpreted this as a ‘not guilty’ plea and, again, I raised my voice and said I did not enter a ‘not guilty’ plea.

Look, I did not plead ‘not guilty’. And I don’t care a damn how the court wishes to interpret that. No plea means ‘no plea’ as far as I am concerned and, at that point of time, they had a choice to pronounce me guilty and send me to jail -- which is what I wanted and I told my lawyers so. But my lawyers said that this would not happen because, since I did not enter any plea, then I shall be subjected to a trial.

That is stupid and, in spite of that being the law, a stupid law is still a stupid law. When I refused to enter a plea on both occasions I told the court my reason for doing so was because the charges are defective and mala fide. But the court ignored that. The prosecutor asked my lawyers in what way the charges are defective and mala fide but of course my lawyers would not tell him. If we did then they would amend the charges as they did in my sedition trial when they discovered they were losing their case against me.

When the police called me in for interrogation it was on the basis I had signed a false Statutory Declaration. In fact, the day after I signed it, the AG said that I am guilty of signing a false declaration. Two days later, the IGP also announced they would be taking action against me for signing a false declaration.

How did the AG know? How did the IGP know? I had signed a SD, which I then officially, through my lawyers and by way of letter, sent to the prosecutors in the Altantuya murder trial. This was a ‘for your eyes only’ document. This means, since it is a criminal investigation matter, the SD is classified information and automatically comes under the Official Secrets Act.

However, mysteriously, within 24 hours, my SD appeared on http://bigdogdotcom.wordpress.com/, a Blog run by Zakir, a man aligned to Mukhriz Mahathir. I know Zakir lives next door to a very senior Special Branch officer because he has mentioned this often enough so this is probably how he got a copy of my SD.

Why did the police leak my SD to an Umno Blogger? It was confidential and meant only for the prosecutors in the Altantuya murder trial. But almost immediately the AG plus IGP both told the whole world about it and announced publicly that I had signed a false SD and that they would be taking action against me. They had not even seen the SD yet when they made those announcements. Furthermore, no investigation was launched to determine whether my SD is in fact false or otherwise.

Yes, the decision to ‘take action’ was made way in advance of any investigation. They had put the cart before the horse. Now they had to go look for the horse since the cart had already been announced. After that they called me in for interrogation so that the AG and IGP would not look like the stupid idiots that they are for announcing something before it even happened.

Then they panicked. If they charge me for the crime of signing a false SD then they have to prove it. I need not prove anything. It is not my job to prove anything. Since they are the ones charging me then they have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that I did in fact sign a false SD. What if I manage to put on a good defence and prove that I had not signed a false SD but had in fact signed a truthful one? What if witnesses come forward to testify that what I signed was true?

That’s when they realised they had blundered. If they charge me for signing a false SD and can’t prove it, or I can in fact prove otherwise, then Najib and Rosmah are dead meat. So they changed their strategy and instead charged me for criminal defamation.

But they can’t charge me for criminal defamation. Firstly, Rosmah is not a government officer. Criminal defamation involves you defaming a government officer in the execution of his or her official duties. Rosmah is merely the wife of a politician. She is not a government officer.

The husband and wife army officers may be considered government officers but I ‘defamed’ them in what they did outside their official duties. I did not accuse them of committing a crime when they were discharging their official duties. I did so in their capacity as off-duty army officers on a frolic of their own, as the law would say. This means they were not doing things as government officers but were moonlighting.

The government is therefore not involved in what they did so I did not commit a crime of criminal defamation. Or are they saying that the husband and wife army officers were merely carrying out their official duties under orders from the top?

The government is playing games with me. From the first announcement by the AG, followed by the announcement by the IGP, followed by my interrogation for the crime of criminal defamation, then the eventual charge for a totally different crime altogether, and finally, the transfer of my case to a higher court for no apparent reason whatsoever, I can see that all the government wants to do is to screw me good and proper.

Well, why should I endorse what the government is trying to do? I already said I refuse to enter a plea. I refuse to entertain the government with a trial. If they want to charge me for the crime of signing a false SD, well and fine. Let us fight it out in court and they can try to prove I did in fact sign a false SD -- while I will try to prove otherwise. But in a charge such as criminal defamation, they need not prove the truth of the matter. They only need to prove that I signed the SD. If they can prove I signed it, which they can since I did sign it and never denied doing so, then they can send me to jail.

In short, whether what I signed is true or false does not matter. They need not go into the truth or falsity of my SD. All they need to do is focus on proving that I did sign it and that would be enough to send me to jail, even if what I signed was absolutely true.

And the same goes for my sedition charge. Initially, they made a police report against me because I was alleged to have lied. The police officer who made the police report against me is the same chap who investigated the Altantuya murder. And he knows I lied because, according to him, he investigated the murder and did not stumble across what I was alleged to have written.

In short, he investigated the murder so he knows. And he knows what I was alleged to have written is therefore not true. So, I lied.

Then, he discovered that, since he investigated the murder and therefore knows everything about the murder to the extent that he knows I lied, the court would require him to reveal the truth so that the truth can be compared to what I am alleged to have written to establish whether I had indeed lied or not.

That’s when he changed his story. He said he actually does not know that much because he did not personally investigate the murder. Some other people conducted the investigation and he was merely the coordinator. But earlier he said otherwise.

If he did not personally investigate the murder and does not really know that much about it, how did he then know that I lied? He did make the police report against me on the basis that I lied. He knows that I lied. But he does not know that much about the murder. Yet he knows that I lied because he did not stumble across what I wrote.

What total crap! And when YB Gobind Singh repeatedly asked him about certain facts of the investigation to compare these facts against what I was alleged to have written; to establish in what way I had lied; this police officer with the rank of Superintendent refused to answer the questions.

If he refuses to answer the questions how can we establish the truth and at the same time establish whether I lied? That was when the prosecution told the court that it does not matter whether what I was alleged to have written is true or false. The court only needs to focus on whether I had in fact written that article. And if it can be proven I had indeed written it then I can be sent to jail even if what I wrote was true.

But did not the police report say I had lied and was I not charged for the crime of sedition because I am alleged to have lied? Now it does not matter any longer if I lied or not? Even if I did not lie I am still guilty?

Aiyah, games, games, and even more games. They keep changing the rules and move the goalposts halfway through the game. And they are still doing this. And the Umno guys whack me and insist that I face the court and they call me a coward for refusing to ‘face the music’. I can face the music as what these Umno people insist I do. But what music are they playing? I need to know first before I am asked to face it.

What Umno can’t stand is when you refuse to play by their rules and instead make up your own rules, which they are then forced to follow. Our HINDRAF chap did this when he refused to sign the conditional release papers and insisted that he remain in Kamunting. They had to physically throw him out of Kamunting like they threw Siva out of the Perak State Assembly last week.

Yes, I am having more fun this way. I refuse to tunduk to them and it upsets them like crazy. They tried to screw me and I turn around and screw them instead. They gave me an ultimatum to issue a public apology to the Sultan of Perak or else the family is going to insert a full-page advertisement in the mainstream newspapers announcing that I have been disowned. Then I turn around and disown them instead by going into exile.

No, I am nobody’s patsy. And I will go to great lengths to defy them every step of the way. I know they have issued a fresh detention order and the instant I appear in court they will detain me under the Internal Security Act and send me to Kamunting. And it burns them up so much that I am so near yet so far away.

The rise and fall of the Bloggers Union

Monday, 11 May 2009 | Raja Petra Kamarudin

I did say, many times in the past, that an enemy of my enemy could be my friend. But only as long as we still share a common enemy. Once that common enemy has been disposed off, then we would probably revert to what we used to be -- enemies again.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

REMBAU 11th April: “With friends like these, who needs enemies.” That is the general feeling of frustration with some UMNO bloggers who continue to further embitter the Malaysian cyber public, with their constant calls for violence, explicit racism and arrogance which is conveyed in their writings. This message was conveyed to me when I met senior party officials over the weekend. Amongst the worst culprits, were blogs seen to be supportive of the Mahathir faction, blogs such as Bigdogdotcom, Parpu Kari, Barking Magpie and self-styled camel seller, Husin Lempoyang.

"(These) bloggers have let down the party," my source told me. "Every time it’s attack, attack, attack. The people they sell their story to are only a small number. Our research has indicated that most people read, get angry and vow never to vote for UMNO".

Some bloggers deserve praise however. "(The) Rembau Times is example of good blog for the party. People know that there are 2 sides to the story, they want to be presented with an option and if your story is better then people will buy it." He went on to add, "The worst is still Parpu Kari. I have received a lot of reports against him, and personally I think UMNO is not well served if bloggers continue to call people of one race group "beruk", "komunis", "babi" or "juburi". This is not 1Malaysia and I have advised him to tone down. Even (Dato Seri) Zambry does not feel comfortable with him (Parpu)."

I was also asked to try and conduct a bloggers workshop to help educate some of the other UMNO bloggers on how to blog responsibly without pissing people off. I declined. Some people are just beyond salvage and should consider what should take precedence, their duty to the party they profess to support or their loyalty to their paymasters.

The above was a posting by http://wengerkhairy.blogspot.com.

And below is an e-mail that was sent to me this morning by Caleb Quay chskee@gmail.com:

Hi, I hope you will take time to read this article, I've been following some of your articles and I think many of them are good though some seem to be a little extreme or was it just metaphorically speaking? Take for example the article (It’s all about race, stupid).

That was the opening paragraph of the message. He or she then goes on and lists down his or her unhappiness with me and then it closes with:

It’s usually the children that suffer the most when there is war. As a father, I think you'll want the best for your daughter and keep her away from harm. What better way to keep a person away from harm by not creating it in the first place?

Yes, after calling me names and whatnot, they resort to posting comments such as I should be killed with a bullet in my head. Now, it has come to threatening my daughter’s life. But no, I shall not be making a police report because that is what they would do if I did the same thing. Furthermore, they never layan any of my police reports anyway. So it is a total waste of time.

Anyhow, at least Rocky confirmed my meeting with Rosmah, which I spoke about in the last posting. He even said they knew about the meeting all along but did not want to embarrass me by revealing it. He also admitted that Najib met Saiful, and since I too met Rosmah, this means there is nothing sinister about the whole thing.

Then he goes on to mention how we teamed up or combined forces to oust Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Then, according to him, I moved on and he enquired into this and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s people told him that there was no bad blood between Tun and me but that I just sort of moved on somehow.

He of course mistook my association with the pro-Mahathir-anti-Badawi forces as me ‘crossing over’. Then I was supposed to have ‘crossed over’ to Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and then back to Anwar Ibrahim again.

Actually, what Rocky said was absolutely true and I had myself related this episode many times in the past. But probably the word ‘crossing over’ and ‘crossing back’ may not be the appropriate words to use.

I did say, many times in the past, that an enemy of my enemy could be my friend. But only as long as we still share a common enemy. Once that common enemy has been disposed off, then we would probably revert to what we used to be -- enemies again.

The example I had used was the Taliban or Afghans. For centuries the Afghans had bitterly and violently fought each other. Then, when the Russians invaded Afghanistan, they united to oppose the Russians. But as soon as the Russians went home to Moscow, the Afghans reverted to killing each other, until today.

During the BERSIH march in November 2007, many Umno people participated in it. In fact, some bigwigs in Umno even sponsored our very expensive T-shirts and caps (those with embroidered gold trimmings like the Chief of the Navy, etc., uses). Prior to the march, we held many meetings with Umno people to ensure that the mobilisation was a success and that we got the crowd we were targeting for.

I admit the BERSIH march was a huge success because it was a ‘joint-venture’ with the anti-Abdullah Umno faction.

We of course had no problems working with Tun Dr Mahathir as long as we shared a common objective. In that first dialogue we organised at Kelab Century Paradise, almost every PAS leader except for the President and Secretary-General came. Many DAP and some of the PKR leaders came as well.

PAS even invited Tun Dr Mahathir to a few functions they had lined up. However, Tun Dr Mahathir declined the invitation and said he can’t accept if it is PAS that was organising the event -- after all, he was still an Umno member then -- but if it was a NGO or the Bloggers that were the organisers then he had no problems attending.

In late 2007, before the March 2008 general election, the Bloggers arranged a meeting with Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. That was during the fasting month. Bloggers and civil society movement members from both sides of the political divide turned up, about 30 or 35 in all.

The purpose of the meeting was simple. Tengku Razaleigh was going to contest the Umno Presidency. The next general election would be called the latest by March 2009. Assuming Tengku Razaleigh wins the Umno Presidency and assuming Barisan Nasional wins the general election with a simple majority but without the two-thirds majority, is there a possibility that Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat can form a unity government?

Tengku Razaleigh was open to that idea. In fact, he thought this would be the only way to end the current political crisis and allow the government to start managing the country without being distracted by excess politicking. Today, the problem with Malaysia is that no one is managing the country. Everyone is too engrossed in trying to topple each other.

There were some in DAP, PAS and PKR who accepted the idea of a unity government. But there were some who were against it. They felt that Umno cannot be trusted and even if Tengku Razaleigh heads Umno it would still be only one man. The rest of Umno would still be a problem. In that sense, Pakatan Rakyat was split on the issue and since Pakatan Rakyat works on consensus then it would be no go.

So yes, what Rocky said was true. He did not lie. But he is not senior enough in the hierarchy to be told what the game plan was. He only knows that we teamed up or combined forces in our effort to bring changes to the Umno leadership. But there was a bigger agenda than that. Sure, we wanted Tun Abdullah out of office. But it was supposed to be Tengku Razaleigh who takes over and then the possibility of a unity government would be looked into.

Tun Dr Mahathir knew this. On Hari Raya Day of 2007, I went to meet the Tun at his home to inform him that Tengku Razaleigh was ready to make his move. After that, a few more meetings were held between Tun and Tengku Razaleigh at the Mines in Sungei Besi.

Unfortunately, Tengku Razaleigh was not prepared to accept the Tun’s terms and conditions. Tun Dr Mahathir wanted to set up an Umno Presidential Council with him as the head. And this Presidential Council would ‘guide’ and ‘advice’ the new Prime Minister.

Tengku Razaleigh rejected the idea outright. He was not prepared to be reduced to a puppet Prime Minister. So Tun Dr Mahathir rejected Tengku Razaleigh in favour of Najib who agreed to the Presidential Council.

And that was when I and some other Barisan Rakyat Bloggers decided that it was a lost cause and we might as well focus on opposing Najib even before he takes over as the new Prime Minister.

And that is the part that Rocky did not or was not able to explain. He confirms my story about the meeting and the teaming up and so on. But he does not reveal the true or hidden agenda behind our alliance.

The alliance broke up, of course, when the objective changed. Our objective was a leadership change in Umno and a probable unity government after the last general election with Tengku Razaleigh as Prime Minister and head of Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat as Deputy Prime Minister. However, their objective was Najib as Prime Minister and head of Barisan Nasional and PAS and the Malays in PKR merging with Umno -- leaving DAP and the Chinese in PKR as the opposition.

That was definitely not on. So we parted company as political allies but remained friends as Bloggers -- until now, it seems. I was not alone in this of course. But I shall not mention any of the names of the other Barisan Rakyat Bloggers and civil society movement members who were also in the alliance and were aware of the game plan. If they wish to come forward and admit that they were part of the ‘conspiracy’ I would leave that to them. But I think you already know who they are and the role they played even without me telling you.This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

What RM25 million can buy, something that goes hee-haw

Do I hear a nationwide boycott in the making? Or are the Chinese still going to continue giving money to Vincent Tan and then blame the Malays for what happened in Perak?

Friday, 08 May 2009 | NO HOLDS BARRED | Raja Petra Kamarudin

Hee: I didn't use pepper spray

Hee described the sitting as a "nightmare" and claimed that her former DAP colleagues were out to harass her.

She also complained that she was negatively portrayed by press reports.

She said that the note thrown at her was a RM1 note, not a RM50 note as reported in the media.

To set the record straight, she said her former party colleague Thomas Su (DAP-Pasir Pinji) waved a RM50 in front of her but did not hand her the note.

"If I was given RM50, I will keep it and give it to someone in need. But he is a ‘kedekut' (cheapskate). He held on to it and waved it. I know he is 'kedekut'." she said.

On whether she had used the pepper spray against Yew Tian Hoe (DAP-Aulong), Hee said that she pointed her hotel key-chain, not a pepper spray canister.

"It is just a key-chain. 'Hati mereka ada hantu' (They have a guilty conscience)," she said, adding that she is suffering body aches from the scuffles.

However, a clip taken during the assembly yesterday did show Hee pointing what appeared to be a pepper spray canister at Yew (photo above).

An extract from Malaysiakini, 8 May 2009

Hee Yit Foong holding device at Yew Tian Hoe

in the Perak State Assembly dewan

*************************************************

The Deputy Speaker of the Perak State Assembly, Hee Yit Fong, was not only the key person in allowing Barisan Nasional to grab power in Perak -- and she has been going around boasting about it; that she was the key person -- but was also the key person in getting V Sivakumar removed from the hall like a sack of potatoes. And she was paid RM25 million to cross over to Barisan Nasional.

Actually, it was DAP’s fault. For some time now she had been grumbling that she is not being properly treated and was not being given due recognition but the party leadership did not do anything about her grouses.

Some say it was an internal struggle within DAP, which is not uncommon for any political party, as many, if not most, of those in politics are in it for personal gain and not to serve the rakyat. DAP is not alien to internal squabbles. No political party is, whether it is Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat. In fact, these internal squabbles are ongoing even as you read this.

The straw that broke the camel’s back, or donkey’s back as many now call Hee, was when everyone was given a Camry except her. They argued that she is not able to drive anyway. So why does she need a car? Her reckoning is that she is a Deputy Speaker. So why can’t they also provide her a driver together with the car if she is not able to drive?

Whatever it may be, the thing that prompted her to abandon the party that no longer appreciated her services was the RM25 million that Vincent Tan of Berjaya paid her. Yes, she was paid a cool RM25 million in cash, more money than any Malaysia Today reader will see it many lifetimes.

Okay, so what are we going to do about it? We lament about her being a traitor. We label her a prostitute. We call her all sorts of names. But have we forgotten that there can only be prostitutes as long as there are clients who pay for the services of prostitutes. And in the case of Hee the client is Vincent Tan.

So punish Hee by all means. Call her all sorts of names if that makes you happy. But don’t forget to also punish the man who turned her into a prostitute, Vincent Tan.

How many of you still eat or shop or gamble at establishments owned by Vincent Tan? Is it not time we organised a nationwide boycott of anything and everything that Vincent Tan has an interest in. You know which establishments I am talking about. And aren’t Chinese the biggest gamblers and is not Vincent Tan getting rich with your hard-earned money which you are willingly and gladly handing over to him?

Stop grumbling. Start doing something. As Lee Iacocca said, “Don’t get mad, get even!” And it is time to stop getting mad and to start getting even.

Boycott, boycott, boycott! This must be the new name of the game. Vincent Tan gave RM25 million of YOUR hard-earned money to Hee. Stop giving him more money, which he will use to buy off more Pakatan Rakyat Members of Parliament and State Assemblypersons.

Perak is only the first. It is not going to be the last. Vincent Tan is talking to more Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers and enticing them with RM10 million to RM25 million each to cross over. By the time the next general election is upon us, maybe only Kelantan will remain a Pakatan Rakyat state. Kedah, Penang and Selangor would probably go the way of Perak in time to come.

That is Najib’s grand design. And Vincent Tan is bankrolling the entire operation. Stop cursing the Malays, in particular the Umno Malays. The Malays would not achieve much without Chinese money. And only the Chinese can punish Chinese such as Vincent Tan because the Chinese are bigger gamblers than the Malays and the Malays do not have that kind of money to burn like the Chinese do.

Do I hear a nationwide boycott in the making? Or are the Chinese still going to continue giving money to Vincent Tan and then blame the Malays for what happened in Perak?

**********************************

Gaming & Lottery Management
*BERJAYA LAND BERHAD
BERJAYA SPORTS TOTO BERHAD
Sports Toto Malaysia Sdn Bhd
Berjaya Sports Toto (Cayman) Limited
Berjaya Lottery Mgt (HK) Limited
International Lottery & Totalizator Sys Inc, USA
*PRIME GAMING PHILIPPINES, INC
Philippines Gaming Mgmt.Corporation
Berjaya Intl Casino Mgt (Seychelles) Limited

Financial Services
BERJAYA CAPITAL BERHAD
Prime Credit Leasing Sdn Bhd
Berjaya Sompo Insurance Berhad (f.k.a Berjaya General Insurance Berhad)
Inter-Pacific Capital Sdn Bhd
Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd
Inter-Pacific Asset Management Sdn Bhd

Consumer Marketing, Direct Selliing & Retailing
COSWAY CORPORATION BERHAD
Singer (M) Sdn Bhd
Berjaya HVN Sdn Bhd (Selling children and educational DVD & CD)
Berjaya HVN (S) Pte Ltd
Direct Vision Sdn Bhd
Cosway (M) Sdn Bhd
Cosway (Thailand) Co. Ltd
eCosway.com Sdn Bhd
Cosway Value Club (Australia) Pty Ltd
Country Farms Sdn Bhd (Organic products)
Countryfarm Organics Sdn Bhd
Berjaya Books Sdn Bhd

Vacation Time-share, travel, hotel, resorts
BERJAYA GROUP BERHAD
BERJAYA HILLS BERHAD (f.k.a Bukit Tinggi Resort Berhad)
*BERJAYA LAND BERHAD
Avetani Sdn Bhd
INFORMATICS EDUCATION LTD, SINGAPORE
Berjaya Vacation Club Berhad
Berjaya Vacation Club (Cayman) Limited
Berjaya Eden Park Hotel, London, United Kingdom
Berjaya Vacation Club (UK) Limited
Berjaya Vacation Club (S) Pte Ltd
Berjaya Hotel Singapore
Berjaya International Casino Management (HK) Limited
Berjaya Redang Beach Resort Sdn Bhd
Berjaya Redang Golf & Spa Resort, Terengganu
Berjaya Redang Beach Resort, Terengganu
Berjaya Langkawi Beach Resort Sdn Bhd
Berjaya Langkawi Beach & Spa Resort, Kedah
Berjaya Beau Vallon Bay Beach Resort Ltd
Berjaya Beau Vallon Beach Resort & Casino, Seychelles
Anse Volbert Hotel Ltd
Berjaya Praslin Beach Resort, Seychelles
Berjaya Georgetown Hotel (Penang)Sdn Bhd - Berjaya Georgetown Hotel, Penang
Dian Kristal Sdn Bhd- Berjaya Times Square Hotel and Convention Center, KL

Recreation Development & Management
BERJAYA LAND BERHAD
Amat Muhibah Sdn Bhd
Desa WaterPark, Kuala Lumpur
Berjaya Vacation Club Berhad 99.25
Berjaya Air Sdn Bhd
KDE Recreation Berhad
Kelab Darul Ehsan
Indah Corporation Berhad
Bukit Banang Golf & Country Club, Batu Pahat
Staffield Country Resort Berhad
Staffield Country Resort, Negeri Sembilan
Bukit Kiara Resort Berhad
Bukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Resort, Kuala Lumpur
Berjaya Golf Resort Berhad
Bukit Jalil Golf & Country Resort, KL

Property Investment & Development
COSWAY CORPORATION BERHAD
Cosway (M) Sdn Bhd
Stephens Properties Sdn Bhd
Wisma Cosway, Kuala Lumpur
Berjaya City Sdn Bhd
Wangsa Tegap Sdn Bhd
Berjaya Central Park, KL
Bukit Pinang Leisure Sdn Bhd
*BERJAYA LAND BERHAD
Kota Raya Development Sdn Bhd
Kota Raya Complex, K.L.
Nural Enterprise Sdn Bhd
Plaza Berjaya, K.L.
Noble Circle (M) Sdn Bhd
KL Plaza, K.L.
Menara Berjaya, KL
Berjaya Land Development Sdn Bhd
Taman UPC, Ayer Hitam, Johor
Bandar Banang Jaya, Batu Pahat, Johor
Selat Makmur Sdn Bhd
Seputeh Heights, K.L.
Subang Heights, Subang Jaya, Selangor
Indra Ehsan Sdn Bhd
Taman Cemerlang, Gombak, Selangor
Sri Panglima Sdn Bhd
Taman Kinrara IV, Puchong, K.L.
Securiservices Sdn Bhd
Petaling Indah, Condominiums, K.L.
Klasik Mewah Sdn Bhd
Sri Indah Court, Johor Bahru, Johor
Cempaka Properties Sdn Bhd
Kuantan Perdana, Kuantan, Pahang
Berjaya Megamall, Kuantan, Pahang
Tiram Jaya Sdn Bhd
Sri Pelangi Apartments / Condominiums, K.L.
Pakar Angsana Sdn Bhd
Berjaya Park, Shah Alam, Selangor
Berjaya Property Management Sdn Bhd 100
Taman Tar Development Sdn Bhd
The Peak, Taman TAR, Ampang, Selangor
B.T. Properties Sdn Bhd
Kim's Park Business Centre, Batu Pahat, Johor
Berjaya Golf Resort Berhad
Arena Green Apartments, KL
Greenfields Apartments, KL
Green Avenue Condominiums, KL
Savanna Condominiums, KL

Food & Beverages
Berjaya Starbucks Coffee Company (M) Sdn Bhd
Berjaya Roasters (M) Sdn Bhd
Berjaya Pizza Company Sdn Bhd

Industrial
Finewood Forest Products Sdn Bhd
Berjaya Bandartex Sdn Bhd
Berjaya Knitex Sdn Bhd
Berjaya Soutex Sdn Bhd
COSWAY CORPORATION BERHAD
Cosway (M) Sdn Bhd
Kimia Suchi Sdn Bhd
Kimia Suchi Marketing Sdn Bhd

Education
informaticsgroup

Investment Holding & Others
Berjaya Engineering & Construction (HK) Limited
Berjaya Registration Services Sdn Bhd
Berjaya Group (Cayman) Limited 100
Roasters Asia Pacific (HK) Limited
Inter-Pacific Trading Sdn Bhd
TAIGA BUILDING PRODUCTS LTD, CANADA
KUB-Berjaya Enviro Sdn Bhd
Successline (M) Sdn Bhd
SecureXpress Services Sdn Bhd
BERJAYA HOLDINGS (HK) LIMITED

RPK : Was Siva merely collateral damage?

Friday, 08 May 2009 | malaysiatoday

I believe Pakatan Rakyat knew it could not have won a military campaign in Ipoh yesterday. It has problems even winning the legal battles in court. The only way, therefore, is to allow Barisan Nasional to do what it did and which in turn would antagonise the people.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER | Raja Petra Kamarudin

After I wrote my last article in No Holds Barred (It’s all about race, stupid!), I went to sleep -- after staying awake for almost 24 hours. I admit that my No Holds Barred article was very fiery, practically calling for blood. I make no apologies for that but I suppose sleep depravation does that to you; it makes you lash out. Nevertheless, I maintain my stand that what they did to Siva -- dragging him out of the State Assembly like a sack of potatoes and unceremoniously evicting him -- was downright uncivilised and utterly inexcusable.

After five hours of a good sleep, and with a clearer mind because of it, I have had time to reflect on what happened in Ipoh yesterday. As I said, I make no apologies for what I wrote earlier and have not changed my views. But what I have since been able to do is to analyse what the thinking of the Pakatan Rakyat leaders could have been and why they ‘abandoned’ Siva to his fate.

Could not Pakatan Rakyat have demonstrated a show of force and defend Siva to the last man standing? Are the Pakatan Rakyat leaders that gutless that they did not stand up for what is right? After all, they are constantly screaming that Siva’s eviction is unlawful and his physical removal unconstitutional. Why then not defend the law and the constitution by force if necessary?

Well, I am looking at things from the perspective of a political activist. Pakatan Rakyat could probably be looking at things from the political angle. Not being a politician I do not see things the political way but the political activist way. And this is maybe why I do not make a good politician. I just can’t see how sometimes in politics you have to allow the other side to show its true colours. In other words, you give your enemy enough rope for it to hang itself.

I have to go read Sun Tzu again and see what he said about strategy. And strategy involves many things. As Mao said, when the enemy chases, you run. When the enemy rests, you counter-attack. Mao must have read Sun Tzu as well and I am sure that was his ‘bible’ in the battle to win the hearts and minds of the Chinese people.

Something else Sun Tzu said was to not engage an enemy more powerful than you. And if it is unavoidable and you do have to engage, then make sure you engage it on your terms, not on your enemy’s terms. Choose your battlefield. Make sure it is a battlefield that you know. Never fight on a battlefield where your enemy will be stronger and better equipped than you.

The Taliban never read Sun Tzu -- or maybe they did, I don’t know. But they applied this strategy to the maximum and sent the powerful Russian military machine running back to Moscow with its tail between its legs. How to fight the Russian tanks, rockets and helicopter gun-ships when you are only armed with rifles? In an open battlefield the Russians would make mincemeat out of you.

Well, don’t engage the Russians in an open battlefield. The Russians would excel in an open battlefield. They are well equipped to fight in an open battlefield. So avoid the open battlefield and draw the Russians into the mountains. The Russian army is not trained to fight in the mountains plus their tanks would be useless in the mountains and the helicopter gun-ships would find the mountains most precarious.

So that is what the Taliban did. They knew the mountains like the back of their hands. They could move up and down those mountains blindfolded. And when the Russians came into those mountains the Taliban kicked the shit out of them. Eventually, the Russians called it a day and went home, but not after having to send home so many of their soldiers in body-bags.

So, what happened in Ipoh yesterday? There was hardly any resistance. PAS alone could have easily mobilised 50,000 supporters. Sure, there were roadblocks and thousands of police, hundreds in the State Assembly itself. But Pakatan Rakyat could have outdone this easily. Yet it did not. Why?

Anwar was not in Ipoh. Neither was Hadi Awang. Lim Kit Siang was but was not allowed in. And when they refused to allow him in he went off. There was no attempt to force their way into the State Assembly. No storming of the Bastille as had been hoped and as many had wished for. Why?

Was it complacency? Did they think Pakatan Rakyat would win the day without putting up a fight? Are they that naïve? Did they sell us out? Yes, those were the first questions running through my mind and lack of sleep allowed me to think only of the questions but the answers were not forthcoming.

I don’t believe it is any of the above. And I don’t think it is because of lack of caring or lack of interest as well. I think Pakatan Rakyat planned every move to the last detail and knew exactly what it was doing. And I think Barisan Nasional played right into Pakatan Rakyat’s hand.

But then I have a suspicious mind, as Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is fond of saying. I am always looking for conspiracy theories. I am always thinking that there is more than meets the eye. I believe that politicians are good magicians. They distract you with their right hand while the trick is being performed with the left hand.

Is that what happened in Ipoh yesterday? Was that why it appeared like Pakatan rakyat offered only token resistance to make it look like they tried? Maybe, maybe not!

Let’s face it. Pakatan Rakyat had already lost the state. It lost the state when the Sultan sacked Nizar and replaced him with Zambry. Pakatan Rakyat now has lesser seats than Barisan Nasional in the State Assembly. What happened in Ipoh yesterday was merely to confirm what was already fact -- that Pakatan Rakyat is no longer the government in Perak.

Pakatan Rakyat could have resorted to force, bloodshed even. But would that have helped them get back the state? What it may have done is to give the police an excuse to detain everyone under the Internal Security Act and declare martial law in Perak like what they did in Kelantan more than 30 years ago -- and which I have written about before. That means democracy would be suspended and they can run Perak without the ‘burden’ of a State Assembly. Umno would be doing things without any opposition since there is no longer any State Assembly and therefore no longer any opposition in the State Assembly.

I believe Pakatan Rakyat knew it could not have won a military campaign in Ipoh yesterday. It has problems even winning the legal battles in court. The only way, therefore, is to allow Barisan Nasional to do what it did and which in turn would antagonise the people.

If blood had been spilled, the people might blame Pakatan Rakyat rather than Barisan Nasional for it. Sure, Barisan Nasional is violent. But then Pakatan Rakyat knows that Barisan Nasional is violent. Why then allow them to use violence whereby the people are exposed to risk and danger? Pakatan Rakyat should look after the people’s interest and guard their safety. Knowing that Barisan Nasional is violent and yet exposing the people to danger is downright irresponsible of Pakatan Rakyat.

This would be the reaction of the people if anything adverse happens to them. So Pakatan Rakyat very cleverly avoided violence and allowed Barisan Nasional to do what it did in Ipoh yesterday. And, today, more people have become disgusted with Barisan Nasional and will vote for Pakatan Rakyat in the next election, or by-election, just to demonstrate this disgust. They may not vote for Pakatan rakyat because they love Pakatan Rakyat. But they will certainly vote for Pakatan Rakyat because they now hate Barisan Nasional even more than before yesterday’s fiasco in Ipoh.

Was, therefore, Siva merely collateral damage? Were they expecting this and did Barisan Nasional do exactly as expected? After all, the state had been lost months ago. Winning the battle of the State Assembly, yesterday, would not have got the state back. Instead, it would have invited other problems, the people’s safety being one of them.

This is of course only my wishful thinking. I could be wrong, I don’t know. I would like to believe that what happened was part of Pakatan Rakyat’s plan and that it worked as planned. I hope and pray that Pakatan Rakyat laid a trap and that Barisan Nasional walked right into it and got snared.

As I said, I am not a politician. So I think differently from the way politicians do. But I do hope that what I am currently thinking is what they had also been thinking all along and that what happened in Ipoh may appear to have been a defeat but was actually a political victory that, in time, will reveal itself.

They say: he who has the last laugh has the best laugh. Was yesterday, in Ipoh, the last laugh? Or is the last laugh yet to be laughed? And who is going to have that last laugh? Politicians are so devious.

And am I being too idealistic here?

RPK It’s all about race, stupid!

Raja Nazrin has just launched the debate on whether it is time that Malaysia abolishes the Monarchy and turns this country into a Republic. Yes, the Republic of Malaysia. I like the sound of that. I think I shall go along with that.

NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin

Oh, no! Not another ‘stupid’ article from RPK. Sheesh…….it’s getting to be very boring. If it’s not about Altantuya, it’s about stupid this or stupid that.

Yes, I pre-empted what you are going to say and said it first. So there!

But that is just the thing. It is about race. And if you thought it is about anything else then you are plain dumb and deserve to be called stupid.

Oh, I forgot, I am talking about what happened in Ipoh today. And what happened in Ipoh is about race. It is about ensuring that the Malays do not lose political power. And, as far as Perak is concerned, as far as Umno is concerned, Perak has fallen into the hands of the Chinese.

Did DAP not win the most number of seats in Perak? And is not DAP a Cina-Kominis party that wishes to see the end of Ketuanan Melayu and the New Economic Policy and wishes to replace it with Meritocracy and a Malaysian-Malaysia? And is this not what Lee Kuan Yew also propagates for Singapore? And is not Singapore persecuting and discriminating against Malays? Are not Malays serving in the Singapore Armed Forces not allowed to even carry guns because the Chinese do not trust them? And is not Singapore the enemy of Malaysia who is illegally occupying Malay land that the British robbed from the Johor Sultanate?

Did PKR not win the second highest number of seats in Perak? And is not PKR a non-race-based party that wishes to see the end of Ketuanan Melayu and the New Economic Policy and wishes to replace it with Meritocracy and Ketuanan Malaysia? Are not only half the PKR Wakil Rakyat Malays while the other half are Chinese and Indians?

Did PAS not win the least number of seats in Perak? And is not PAS an Islamic party that classifies Ketuanan MelayuNew Economic Policy as nationalism and discrimination and therefore haram (forbidden) -- and does it not support DAP and PKR in opposing Ketuanan Melayu and the New Economic Policy? Is not PAS the boneka (puppet) of DAP, and although the Menteri Besar is from PAS, DAP actually pulls the strings from behind the scenes?

Yes, that is what it is all about. That is why Pakatan Rakyat must be kicked out of Perak at all costs. That is why fairness, legality and the Constitution are no longer crucial. In the fight to uphold Malay Supremacy, fairness, legality and the Constitution must take a back seat. The ends justify the means. It is not how you play the game. It is winning, by hook or by crook, by fair means or foul, that counts.

If it were in Kelantan, Umno would not have dared do what it did in Perak today. If Umno tried to do the same thing in Kelantan as what it did in Perak today, blood would have flowed on the streets of Kota Bharu. By now, Kota Bharu would be under curfew. Widows would be claiming bodies at the mortuary and new orphans would be created. The plainclothes police officers in songkok would not have been able to drag the Speaker out of the State Assembly like a drunken cowboy in a Hollywood Western movie.

Did you see how the police officers dragged Siva out of the State Assembly? I did. And they were able to drag him out in such an undignified manner because he is an Indian-Hindu from Perak. If he had been a Malay-Muslim from Kelantan, they would never have done that in a million years. They do and parangs would fly. Heads of the Umno dogs would be scattered all over the roads of Kota Bharu.

Do I sound racial? Do I sound violent? Well, I hope so. Because that is exactly what it is all about. I do not mince my words. I do not hold my punches. This column is called No Holds Barred. And my article is therefore no holds barred.

I am disappointed about today. I am disappointed not because of what Umno did. I expected that from Umno. I knew that Umno would do that. What I am disappointed about is that Pakatan Rakyat did not hold their ground. Siva was dragged out of the State Assembly like a sack of potatoes. Yet no one did anything. No one jumped in and gave those goons a hard bash on the head.

I am also disappointed because the crowd was not a crowd. The people on the ground were mostly from out of Perak. Many were Bloggers and civil society movement activists. But they were not locals. They were not Perakians. Where were the local Perakians? They were not around. If they want to argue they could not get through because of the police roadblocks, then how could all those out-of-towners get through, in spite of the roadblocks?

There should have been blood spilled, today, in the Perak State Assembly. Violence must be met with violence. There is no other way. If they want to talk, then we talk. But if they want to use violence, then we match them with violence. And they violently dragged Siva out of the Perak State Assembly.

Siva should have been allowed to exit on his feet. Instead, he was dragged and thrown out like a drunken wino. Is that how a Speaker should be treated? Well, if he were Malay that would never have happened. If it were in Kelantan that would never have happened. But because he is an Indian from Perak then it can happen. And it did happen.

And you know what the icing on the cake is? Raja Nazrin graced the whole fiasco. He gave legitimacy to the entire circus in Ipoh today. His presence gave legality to what should have been illegal. Raja Nazrin’s decision to play along with Umno has hurt the Monarchy badly. It will take a long time for the Monarchy to recover from what happened in Perak today. In fact, it may never recover.

Raja Nazrin has just launched the debate on whether it is time that Malaysia abolishes the Monarchy and turns this country into a Republic. Yes, the Republic of Malaysia. I like the sound of that. I think I shall go along with that.

That is what Perak was all about, today. And don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Repeat after me: It’s all about race, stupid!