Admission UMNO/BN practices money politics, corruption and cronyism

Here is clear admission that UMNO/BN practices corruption, money politics and cronyism as probably all the people already knows by now. Note that Mahathir was mentioned as one of the prime mover. However, that is Mahathir 1.0. Mahathir is now Mahathir 2.0 and it is the hope of every Malaysian that that is a sincere change for the better.

A note to fence sitters and perhaps not so committed UMNO supporters: Corruption, money politics and cronyism is costing the nation dearly, badly needs to be stopped or everyone (except perhaps those who directly benefit from them. This can be seen by especially the lower income classes who are now hurting badly from increased prices and costs of living of which much can be attributed to GST plus corruption, money politics and cronyism.

Below are Ibrahim Ali quotes and admitting he was taking 'dedak' from Mahathir

Perkasa chairperson Ibrahim Ali today admitted that he took "dedak" (animal feed) from then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad when he was still in government.

"It is not just a little that Mahathir had contributed to me. When I joined Umno... I was made a supreme council member in less than a month.

"He loved me and also helped me with my life. I got two or three projects which he approved because I asked for them.

"So, actually, I had taken 'dedak' long before any others,"
(Dedak, literally animal feed in the Malay language, is often used to refer to bribes or other benefits given in exchange for loyalty.)




"In 1992, I was sent to a summit in Rio De Janeiro despite not having any political position apart from being an MP."

"I could travel all over the world... including Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay," he said.

Read more at https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/410251#c8XepOXOyrGVobRr.99

Malaysiakini free: Why hasn't tax dept raided Seri Perdana?

Wow lots of things happening in Malaysia, bad things as well as good things. Let's focus on the good things. Today Malaysiakini, a subscription based online news website, has realeased lots of their password content as free to read articles.

And one of them is Dr. Mahathir asking why when the tax department has not investigated the current Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak when so much conspicuous lavish spending by Najib, Rosmah, Rosmah's son Riza Aziz, etc. has been reported.

Read the whole story at Malaysiakini: Dr M: Why hasn't tax dept raided Seri Perdana?

Welfare state will bankrupt Malaysia - my response

Dr Mahathir statement that a full welfare state will bankrupt Malaysia should not go unchallenged. Why? Because a welfare state need not necessarily means giving money to the people. It can just be that the actions and policies of the state are always done with the welfare of the public in mind, opposite of the UMNO/BN so called welfare state where the welfare of the elites and cronies come first before the public. That is what is bankrupting the nation and should stop.

UMNO's Corporate Cornucopia by Asian Sentinel

The House that Mahathir Built

UMNO's Corporate Cornucopia
Written by Our Correspondent
WEDNESDAY, 13 OCTOBER 2010

How Malaysia's companies funneled money into the country's biggest political party

In the 1980s and 1990s, Halim Saad and Tajudin Ramli were two of Malaysia's brightest stars, picked by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to lead the country's ethnic Malays onto the national stage as exemplars of a new Bumiputera business culture that would catch up with the ethnic Chinese who had dominated commerce as long as Malaysia had been in existence.

When Mahathir took office, insiders say, his plan was to create a cadre of 100 super-rich bumis who in turn would help rural Malays into prosperity under a konsep payung, or umbrella concept routed through the United Malays National Organization, much the way he envisioned driving the country into industrialization through massive projects. But greed intervened. Once the privileged got rich, there was little incentive to share it with the kampongs, the Malay rural villages. Many of the companies eventually collapsed and are being supported by government institutions such as Kazanah Nasional, the country's sovereign investment fund, or the Employee Provident Fund.

Although the Umno connection was widely assumed during Mahathir's 22 year reign as prime minister, today a flock of explosive court documents filed in different Kuala Lumpur courts appear to be breaking open conclusively the open secret that Tajudin and Halim and others were essentially front men for the United Malays National Organization, the country's biggest ethnic political party and part of a class of rentier businessmen who became known as Umnoputras, a play on the word Bumiputera, or native Malaysians, predominantly ethnic Malays.

Nor were they alone. Others included Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary, one of Malaysia's richest men, as well as Yahaya Ahmad, who headed Mahathir's national car project and who tragically was killed with his wife in a helicopter crash, and Samsuddin Abu Hassan, introduced by Mahathir to the government of Nelson Mandela but who had to flee South Africa after being accused of misappropriating millions and evading South African debts totaling about R50 million (US$7.233 million at current exchange rates). Samsuddin left behind his glamorous wife, Melleney Venessa Samsudin, along with a failed Durban bank, and returned to Malaysia.

Samsudin ultimately ended up on the board of directors of Mitrajaya Holdings Bhd., another Umno-linked company that has played a significant role in major national projects including the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, KL's Light Rail Transit System, the CyberJaya Flagship Zone and numerous other projects.

At least 23 of Malaysia's biggest companies (see list below) appear to have been vehicles for Umno to siphon off vast amounts of money in government contracts as Mahathir's plans went awry. The companies and the people who run them are so hard-wired into Umno, the government and its investment arms that de-linking them would probably destroy the party. That in effect makes a mockery of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's widely publicized speech in July in which he promised to root corruption out of his party.

Much of the ownership appears to have been channeled through a mysterious company that emerged in 1993 to stage an RM800 million management buyout of a major chunk of Malaysia's media including the New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd and TV3. Realmild already owned a controlling interest in Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd, which got the contract to develop the massive Kuala Lumpur Sentral transport hub. It also acquired ownership of the Labuan and Sabah Shipyards, which supply the Malaysian Navy, as well as Redicare and Medivest, which were awarded lucrative contracts to supply medical supplies to government hospitals.

In September, Syed Anwar Jamalullail, the brother to the Sultan of Perlis, and others testified in a tangled court battle in a Kuala Lumpur High Court that Daim Zainuddin, the prime minister's close associate, often told Malay businessmen to act as nominees in the management of Malaysia's top companies. The long-running suit was launched five years ago in2005 by Khalid Ahmad, a former Realmild director, who alleged he had been cheated out of a RM10 million payment for five percent of Realmild's shares by Abdul Rahman, thought to be the beneficial owner.

According to the testimony, Abdul Rahman paid out the RM10 million but later reneged after he learned from Mahathir that the shares actually belonged to UMNO. The trustees for Realmild in fact were Mahathir himself as well as former Berita Harian Group Editor Ahmad Nazri Abdullah, New Straits Times Group Editor Abdul Kadir Jasin and Mohd Noor Mutalib. Another witness, Ahmad Nazri, said in a deposition that he held the majority share of 80 percent in Realmild, although 70 percent of the shares were actually in trust for Mahathir.

The companies others ran included Faber Group Bhd, a member of the UEM Group, now involved in integrated facilities management and property solutions sectors; KUB Malaysia Bhd. A holding company dealing in information, communications & technology, property, engineering & construction and food related industries.

The companies have been involved a wide variety of activities including media, property development, construction, toll roads, hospital equipment, logistics and distribution, cellular telephony and other businesses. What they had in common was that most of them benefited from government contracts doled out by the Barisan Nasional, the ruling coalition that has controlled Malaysia since its inception as a country. The other thing they had in common was that at some point most of them were mismanaged into financial trouble of one kind or another and had to be bailed out or bought out by the government.

Realmild unloaded Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd onto the Employee Provident Fund in late 2005 as part settlement for an outstanding Rm500 million loan. Putera Capital Bhd, is threatened with bankruptcy. It formerly owned the Putra World Trade Center, Umno's headquarters, which rents out office space to businesses. UEM Builders Bhd, an offshoot of United Engineers Malaysia (UEM), along with UEM World Bhd, was dumped onto Kazanah Nasional, the investment holding arm of the government and the government's strategic investment vehicle.

Kazanah Nasional now also owns PLUS, which held the tollway contract for the national north-south highway, as well as Pharmaniaga, a former UEM subsidiary dealing in hospital supply and other services. Court documents show that MAS, then the state-owned flag carrier, was taken over and privatized by Tajudin Ramli only to lose an estimated RM8 billion (US$2.77 billion at current exchange rate), with a major part of that being funneled into a Frankfurt, Germany cargo logistics company whose directors were closely connected to Tajudin.

According to the website Malaysia Today, Tajudin's lawyers revealed that Tajudin had only been a front man for Umno and that Umno "not only has to protect him from prosecution but that they also had to ensure that the government bought back the shares at the same price that they were sold to him although the shares were only worth a portion of the real value."

Other depositions made available in recent weeks have listed a long series of documents detailing misdoings in UEM/Renong, once headed by Halim Saad, which has long been accused of looting the government treasury through vastly overpriced construction contracts. Halim told the press in September that he had left the UEM/Renong board in 2001, saying authorities wanted Kazanah to take it over "to prevent a systemic risk to the banking system in Malaysia and to enable a sustained restructuring of the group."

UEM itself is still at it. The government-linked company was given the contract to build a second bridge from the mainland to the northern city of Penang at a price estimated in 2007 at Rm2.7 billion. It has since climbed to RM4.3 billion without figuring in a variety of ancillary costs including compensation for fishermen and project development costs of RM285 million, with the total now nearing RM5 billion.

Other documents show how completely the country's press was in the thrall of UMNO. Media Prima Bhd, a listed company, apparently took over the ownership from Realmild of TV3, 8TV, ntv7 and TV9 as well as 90 percent of the equity in The New Straits Times Press (Malaysia) Bhd, which publishes three national newspapers; the New Straits Times, Berita Harian and Harian Metro. It also owns three radio networks, Fly FM, Hot FM and One FM. Other cross media interests of Media Prima include content creation; event and talent management.

It also owns outdoor advertising companies Big Tree Outdoor Sdn Bhd, UPD Sdn Bhd, Right Channel Sdn Bhd, Kurnia Outdoor Sdn Bhd and Jupiter Outdoor Network Sdn Bhd. It is online through a digital communications and broadcasting subsidiary, Alt Media, with the Lifestyle Portal gua.com.my and the newly launched TonTon, a cutting-edge video portal with HD-ready quality viewing experience that offers the individualism of customized content and interactivity of social networking.

The companies:
Faber Group Bhd
KUB Malaysia Bhd
Malaysian Resources Corp. Bhd
Media Prima Bhd
New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
Putera Capital Bhd
UEM Builders Bhd
UEM World Bhd
PLUS
Pharmaniaga
Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd (partly owned by Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, another Mahathir crony and one of Malaysia's 10 richest men according to the Forbes List
Renong Bhd
Realmild Sdn Bhd
Mahkota Technologies (Also a partnership with Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary
Malaysian Airlines
Celcom
Malaysian Helicopter Service
Temasek Padu Sdh Bhd
Sabah Shipyard
Labuan Shipyard
Redicare
Medive

Malaysian Maverick book: Reception celebrate entry Malaysia

There will be a reception to celebrate the entry of the book, Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in turbulent times to Malaysia at the Tropicana Golf and Country Club Resort on May 20, 2010

Location map, Tropicana Golf and Country Club Resort, Petaling Jaya

View Larger Map

This book, although not banned, was held up by the Malaysian authorities for a long time until it was released sometime in April 23, 2010: (Malaysian Maverick, the book, released to public)

Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times

The book Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times by Barry Wain, a former editor of the Asian Wall Street Journal, has been cleared for sale in Malaysia, so now you can buy the book without any worry of problems.

I have always maintained Dr. Mahathir brought a lot of problems to Malaysia and when you read the book, you will realized the scale of waste he had caused us.

To the layman, the closest direct loss to them caused by Dr. Mahathir is his insistence on setting up and now maintaining in business the so called National Car producer Proton. Now we have to pay through our nose to purchase a car which in many other countries we can purchase an equivalent for half the price.

Other books by Barry Wain

Comparison: Dr. Mahathir and Tengku Razaleigh

Normally, I try to avoid copy-paste, but we have been provoked by this Dr. Mamakdir to no end and hope more thinking Malaysians will read this from Malaysiakini (Master of divide and rule) and learn to discern which of these two elders are real statesman plus how to discern when the unscrupulous try to use racism to provoke:

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'Mahathir's recent comments are clearly racist, revealing his true character, and I have lost every respect for this man who, in my opinion, has taken the nation to ransom.'

On Dr M, just stay retired

The Smaller Mamakdir: I wish to respond to the letter, 'Dr M, just stay retired'.

Contrast this to that other old veteran Ku Li, who is advocating greater racial and national unity through encouraging change and acceptance of a more egalitarian Malaysian society. On the other hand, Mahathir seeks to rejuvenate his waning influence through a divide-and-rule strategy.

Mahathir's recent comments are clearly racist, revealing his true character, and I have lost every respect for this man who, in my opinion, has taken the nation to ransom. Why should a man like him keep destablising the country when his projects like the crooked bridge are abandoned?

Always Malaysian: Some quarters argued that Dr M has honed his 'divide-and-rule' tactics into a perfect art. But this may no longer be effective with the emergence of the new and free media.

Nevertheless, the public needs to be educated and enlightened on how such a strategy is being employed from time to time, regardless of whether the ruling coalition or opposition partnership may be using it. This is part and parcel of further enhancing the democratic process in the country.

Will we see a series of articles on this issue in the foreseeable future on the local and even foreign case studies of this devious art of 'divide and rule', the modus operandi of its proponents, how to detect such its manifestation, how can the public combat this socio-political menace and avoid being divided to the nation's detriment, etc?

Exposure is needed so that the public will be better informed when making political choices through the ballot box.

Malaysia is not to be divided up and ruled!
Malaysia is for all Malaysians!

Ong: Maybe the MACC advisers are not resigning because they want to follow Tun Mahathir's example. For many years, Mahathir has been complaining that although he is the Petronas adviser, his advice is never sought, and when he takes the initiative to give advice, his unsolicited advice is ignored. These MACC advisers obviously remember Mahathir's slogan "Pimpinan Melalui Teladan".

However the MACC advisers cannot be compared to Mahathir if both of their work performance are evaluated. When Mahathir sees something in Petronas which he feels is not right, he takes the initiative and springs into action with his advice and criticisms despite that they are likely to be ignored.

All the MACC advisers may be a lot younger than Mahathir, but unfortunately they appear to be a lot more lethargic compared to him. Their eyesight are not so good. What the general public can see, these advisers cannot see. Their hearing are also impaired. They cannot hear the public pleas to them to start acting their roles as advisers and watchdogs. They only manage to hear when such pleas turn to shouts.

What a pity - if only these MACC advisers follow Mahathir's leadership by example. They do not also follow Mahathir's example of springing into action even though knowing that any such action is just for show.


On Cabinet approves royal commission

Disappointed: A royal commission has been approved by the cabinet to look into the cause of Teoh Beng Hock's death? No! It is only there to look into the MACC's interrogation methods.

So, who will look into Teoh's cause of death which is what Malaysians really want to know? The court-appointed magistrate's inquest findings will only represent the judgment of a single person instead of a team of people from the royal commission. There is something wrong somewhere!

GH Kok: In view of Teoh Beng Hock's death and the pattern of MACC assault on Selangor Pakatan Rakyat government prior to that, we also hear of mysterious attempts to sabotage the Penang state government through the Kampung Buah Pala issue.

The pattern is slowly emerging of an elaborate and systematic attempt to undermine the Pakatan state governments by unseen hands working through federal agencies and other parties.

There are also theories that Najib plans to call for a general election in 2010 and therefore the pressing need to undermine and weaken the Pakatan before calling for the election.

It seems that all available weapons are now being used against Pakatan. There seems to be no limits. It started with Perak and now the campaign is in full flight simultaneously in Penang, Selangor and Kedah.

In view of this assault, it appears that Teoh Beng Hock is but a collateral damage. How many more victims of this "war" are we going to see? We the rakyat of Malaysia must stand firm against this assault.

We must keep our eyes and ears open and not participate in questionable activities. We must report to the press (online press) any suspicious happenings in our area or in the course of our daily life. Let the light shine on all happenings in every nook and cranny of this country.

The federal civil servants, who are always suppressed and bullied by their political masters, may they too shed light on all such abuses of their agencies. Bring it all out into the open and let the whole world see the truth. Courage is needed for the price of democracy is eternal vigilance.