Family Silver : Petronas Hiding The Truth

• Petronas power play
• (Petronas) acquisition of a 30% stake in GMR Energy Singapore Pte Ltd ..
• (GMR) developing an 800MW power plant (in) Singapore.
• GMR deal part of its growth strategy under gas and power business..
• Petronas however declined to say how much it paid for the stake in GMR
• “Gas and power is one of our core businesses. . . via our investment in Kimanis and the proposed Lahad Datu power plant ” .. will boost Sabah's electricity supply by 600 MW.
• Petronas executive vice-president said: “The acquisition marks Petronas' maiden foray into the international power market and is a major step in our effort to extend existing integrated presence in the energy value chain.”
• Another possible outcome of Petronas equity purchase in GMR is an insight into the dynamic power market across the border.
• “The power market in Singapore is more cost competitive than the local industry.
• The acquisition by Petronas had puzzled some analysts, considering that Petronas only took a 30% stake and that it had bought into a power plant.
• ..the move could pave the way for more collaboration with the GMR Group, which has vast businesses in India
• chairman G. M. Rao said: “This relationship between GMR and Petronas .. is symbolic of true South-South co-operation and its immense potential in the energy market in the region.”
• GMR group has interests in airports, energy, highways and urban infrastructure. .. The group currently has installed capacity of 823 MW of power projects

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Lets get this straight. There is an Indian company. They have "vast" experience in the power industry. Just how "vast" is their experience? Well they have 823 Megawatts. Folks I was once director of an IPP that developed a power plant site in Kedah for 650 Megawatts. And that was 14 years ago in 1997.

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Syed Mokhtar Bukhari has over 6000 MW under his belt now for about 10 years or so. YTL has over 2000 MW under their belt too. These are Malaysian companies.

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Why does Petronas want to forgo investing in Malaysia with Malaysian partners and seeks Indian partners who are 'kuchi rat' players?

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And here is the strangest part : "Petronas however declined to say how much it paid for the stake in GMR"

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Come again? Petronas is a taxpayer owned company, using taxpayers funds. And they "declined to say how much it paid for the stake in GMR". Kepala hotak engkau! I say kawan, this is not your daddy's pocket money ok. This is taxpayers' funds you are messing with. How much did you pay for this 30% stake in a 'kuchi rat' Indian power company with a license in Singapore?

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I recall Khazanah Nasional being taken to the cleaners by two Indian greenmailers over the Parkway Hospital - also in Singapore. Please read what I wrote here. It will be really worth your time to read that Blog. It would be hilarious only if it was not so sad. Khazanah lost RM274 million of our taxpayers money to those two Indians in that deal.

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Now Petronas has bought a 30% stake in another Indian company and they are refusing to tell us, the Malaysian taxpayer, how much of our money they have blown in this venture. I suspect that Petronas too has been taken to the cleaners by the Indians again.

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I certainly hope that this is a straight deal, with no hanky panky. I am certain that Petronas has the same good wishes too. We should be really getting tired of our GLCs losing hundreds of millions and billions in dubious ventures with dubious foreigners or in dubious foreign lands.

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The Petronas executive VP said: “The acquisition marks Petronas' maiden foray into the international power market and is a major step in our effort to extend existing integrated presence in the energy value chain.”

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I think there is some gobbledygook here (aka double talk) : "a major step in our effort to extend existing integrated presence in the energy value chain". Hmmm..what exactly does that mean Holmes?

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May I guess a little : I think it is a convoluted way of saying that in order for them to get the 30% stake, Petronas has had to pledge supplying gas to this Singapore power plant. Of course if the power plant can secure its gas supply - that will certainly add value to its net worth.

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Folks, if you lend me your watch, and then I tell you the time, and then I send you a bill - what am I? A "con"sultan. What does that make you?

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In the papers today, I also read that Minister Dato Mustapa Mohamad has succesfully led an investment mission to Italy and Sweden. We are working hard to attract FDIs or Foreign Direct Investment. Why not the good Minister also visit Petronas at the Twin Towers and implore upon them to invest in Malaysia as well?

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Doesnt it defeat the purpose completely - here we are working hard to bring in FDIs while Petronas, the guardians of our family silver, are investing our money in "kuchi rat" Indian companies in Singapore?

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To close, here is some good news :

Malaysia's Bumi Armada signs RM1.46bil deal with Apache(update)

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's oilfield services provider Bumi Armada said on Friday it has signed a contract worth 1.46 billion ringgit ($459.4 million) to supply and operate a floating production, storage and offloading unit (FPSO) for Apache Energy.

"It signals our entry into the exciting but demanding Australian market,"

Apache also agreed to lease the Armada Claire, a floating production, storage and offloading unit (FPSO), owned by Malaysia's Bumi Armada with production capability of 80,000 barrels of oil.

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Congrats Bumi Armada.

Budget 2011

The Budget is coming up again soon - on the 7th October 2011. Eight days from now. I hope its not too late to say something about the Budget.

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This time around we have to watch the world scenario very closely. There is another financial meltdown looming in Europe - it is almost certain. The situation in Greece and other countries is really bad. If there is a financial meltdown it will certainly infect the tangible goods market and also services - all over the world. Already we see stock markets tumbling around Asia including our Bursa :

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"Bursa Malaysia shares struggling; rally loses steam

Shares in Asia were mostly down at mid-morning on Thursday amid doubts over the ability of European policymakers reaching a consensus to stem the debt crisis in the eurozone. . Shares on Bursa Malaysia were also struggling to enter the positive territory. ..FBM-KLCI .. remained in the negative territory at 1,371.21, down by 0.34 of a point. Losers trumped gainers by 239 to 173."

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Unfortunately the Stock Market exerts an undue amount of negative influence on the well being of everyone. This is because there is too much speculation in the Stock Market. It is still like a big casino. People still invest in the Stock Market based on rumours and 'luck'. Little or no skills are generated and little value is added. Yet little has been done to curb this type of 'self destructive' activity.

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At times like this, where there is so much uncertainty in the market I feel that we could do two things (amongst many others as well).

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Firstly we must free up the economy's capacity to "generate new wealth". Now is not the time to be putting restrictions on the economy's productive capacity. Now is the time to be freeing up the economy so that it moves faster, becomes more efficient, more competitive and produce more real goods and services. The catchword is productivity.

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Restrictive regulations should be eased up, taxations and other costs to undertake "genuine business" should be reduced. This will encourage the economy to invest more and create new opportunities. Then our economy will have a better chance at getting through any 'European recession' with lesser disruption.

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Then secondly we must also reduce the peoples propensity to engage in activity that may result in financial folly for them. Highly speculative activity should be discouraged. In the coming bad times, curbing such speculative activity will help keep money in peoples' pockets.

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To free up the economy's productive capacity we need to :

i. remove or reduce barriers

ii. lower existing taxes and

iii. no new taxes on productive activity which can stimulate the economy.

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And No. 2 we must curb non productive speculative activity that may result in financial losses for the man in the street.

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I think we can generally agree that the Stock Market is a source of a lot of misery for a lot of people in our country. It is very rare indeed for the ordinary man in the street to make much money from the Stock Market. Unless you are married to the regulators or you have connections to crooks all the way up the hierarchy - it is a huge risk to invest in the Stock Market. Investment is often based on rumours, hunches and plain luck. We need to curb this type of unproductive recklessness.

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There are no capital gains tax for equities in Malaysia (profits from buying and selling shares). Perhaps it is time we imposed some restrictions on speculative share trading. Say a 2% tax on share market profits derived within a six month period. So if someone buys and sells shares for profit within six months, he pays a special 2% tax on the profit. The tax can be graduated say 4% for five months, 6% for four months, 8% for two months and 10% for one month. So the shorter the time frame (hence the greater the speculation) the more tax you pay - ON GAINS ONLY. If you make losses, you can cry alone.

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This will not affect real long term investors (including the unit trusts, foreign investors and institutionals investors) who usualy invest for the long term ie more than six months. But it will help to curb the "hit and run" or "lets try our luck" type of investor.

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We can also have a direct tax on gaming wins (gambling) whereby members of the public who engage in legalised betting are immediately taxed on their winnings. Say if they win RM1000 at the casino, the nombor ekor, the horse races, Sports Toto and such, the gaming house will immediately deduct say 30% of their winnings and funnel it to the Government. The gaming house will still pay its separate corporate and other gaming taxes to the Government.

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This will discourage engaging in too much gambling and help preserve peoples' money in their pockets.

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I really do not see the need for a Real Property Gains Tax in Malaysia at all. Malaysia used to have a capital gains tax on real estate but the tax was repealed in April 2007. However, a 5% real property gains tax (RPGT) announced during the 2010 Budget now applies to property sold less than five years from its purchase. I think this 5% RPGT should be removed. (If we can abolish the ISA, we can certainly abolish this 5% RPGT).

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The argument for an RPGT is to curb property bubbles.

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Property bubbles are caused when the Banks and the mortgage houses start getting reckless and provide endless financing to real estate developers and buyers. It is always the fault of the Banks.

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Also real estate developers DO NOT pay property gains taxes. They are set up under the Companies Act as Property Developers whose stock in trade is building and selling houses, shops, condos, buildings and such. They pay regular corporate income taxes on their earnings.

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So to say that an RPGT will curb real estate developers is not exactly right. They DO NOT SUFFER RPGT.

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The Real Property Gains Tax is meant to get the ordinary people, you and me, who may have bought a house or a piece of land that has suddenly increased in value and we want to sell it. The Government wants to get its 'POUND OF FLESH". Buying a house may take a minimum of four months. Selling it may take equally long or longer. All in, buying and selling a house can take at least a year.

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It is certainly much longer than calling your stock broker and blowing ten thousand Ringgit on the Stock Market in two minutes.. Or throwing dice and blowing a thousand Ringgit at the casino or betting on horses.

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Housing development and constrcution is an awesomely productive activity. It gives employment for millions of people and consumes a humongous amount of tangible inputs. It is certainly not a non productive activity (compared to playing the 'Stock Market' or betting on numbers and horse races). Even if the Government does not want to encourage the real estate sector too much, there should not be any curbs on real estate either. Jangan kacau lah. This sector really creates a humongous amount of new growth and productivity in our country.

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The more houses you have, it means more people have comfortable roofs over their heads. Families will set up homes, buy TVs, refrigerators, consume food, water and electricity, buy furniture, children will grow up, they will need bicycles, shoes, clothes etc. So houses are fantastic generators of useful consumption and growth in the country. Do not restrict the real estate sector.

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However the real estate sector can cause severe bubbles and economic problems if left unchecked. (Recall the housing bubble in the United States.) But the problems in the housing market are usually caused by the financiers ie the Banks and the mortgage houses going crazy with their money lending.

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Let us not penalise the entire range of house builders and real estate developers as well as real housebuyers for the folly of the few and well connected bankers and financiers (Banking is a highly regulated industry - not anyone can get a banking license). And besides every time the banks bungle up, the Government will bail them out with taxpayers funds. The Banks always get saved. It comes across like this : the Government burdens the real estate sector, the house buyer, you and me with an RPGT. Then if the Banks go bust, the Government takes our RPGT money and bails out the Banks. Banyak cantik.

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Other than RPGT taxes, there are more effective methods to curb property bubbles. In Malaysia many people do own two homes. This is not unusual for our country. Let us not penalise people who may want to own two homes.

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But Bank Negara can tell the Banks to tighten loans for the purchase of third and fourth houses etc. For example, the housing loan for the purchase of a third house can be charged higher interest rates. Or the margin of financing can be reduced. For a third home, the loan can be say 50% or 60% of the property value. This will make it more difficult for people to use bank debt to engage in "speculative buying".

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However if people want to use their own money (no bank borrowings) to buy a third, fourth, fifth or sixth house, then why penalise them? Its their own money. And dont penalise them if they sell the property too. Again its their money.

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I think with a little thinking we can achieve both - ie curb speculative activity yet promote healthy economic growth. Jangan pula malas nak memikir. We should not paint the entire country with one brush.

Hooray !! ISA Is Back

Folks I have said this before and I will say it again and again : if the Pakatan comes to power it will be the death of democracy in this country.

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Our Federal Constitution is very clear and Tun Dr Mahathir has repeated this many times - anyone who controls the majority support of Parliament can become the Prime Minister. It can be a man, woman, Muslim or non Muslim. That is what our Constitution says. In stark contrast, the PIS guys have said that if they win the elections, only a Muslim can become the Prime Minister. I am pointing out that this is against our Constitution and therefore undemocratic. But they will not care. Why not someone just ask them - "Excuse me do you all really believe in democracy?"

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And they are so shallow and predictable. That PIS Youth leader has made it plain. Dont talk about hudud now he says. Lets pull the wool over the voters and win the elections first. (Once we are in power, then we can shock the hell out of everyone !!). Folks, they are trying to trick you but they dont even know how to hide their tricks. How dumb can these people get?

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I wrote the following not too long ago. It was about the 'gag orders'. Gag orders or stifling free speech is becoming popular among the PR. Here is what I wrote earlier

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A Very Bersih Democracy SUNDAY, AUGUST 7, 2011

Gag Order 1 :

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GEORGE TOWN: The gag order issued by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng directing all DAP members to stop making any statements about the spat involving party leaders here is now in force with everyone concerned, including party chairman Karpal Singh, unwilling to be drawn into the controversy. . . . Similarly, Jeff Ooi, who is at the centre of the row with state Housing Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai over the allocation of low- and medium-cost apartments in Batu Lanchang, also did not want to be drawn into making any more public statement on the issue.

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Gag Order 2 :

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DAP chief issues gag order on Liu affair

GEORGE TOWN: DAP chairman Karpal Singh has issued a gag order on all party members, especially those from Selangor, over the controversy surrounding Selangor exco member Ronnie Liu. . . . “As DAP chairman, I am directing party members to stop speaking to the media regarding the matter. I am not appealing. I am directing them to do so,” he said yesterday.

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Gag Order 3 :

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Church raid: MB issues gag order, to seek Sultan's advice

PETALING JAYA: The Selangor state government will seek the advice of Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah to resolve the issue involving State Religious Department (Jais) officials raiding a multi-faith dinner held in a church on Wednesday. . . . He has also ordered a gag on the issue on all state exco members. - The Star

Folks, I told you already - if the Pakatan comes to power, it will be the end of democracy in the country. They will use non democractic means (these three gag orders are an example) to stifle discussion and criticism.

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Now we have to add : Gag Order 4 :

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Gag order goes against transparency push

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KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Rakyat’s gag order on the controversial hudud issue shows that it is inconsistent in its stand and push for transparency, said Umno supreme council member Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir.

“I find it ironic that on the one hand it is pushing for more transparency, but on the other it has the tendency to ban some media representatives from covering its press conferences or gag its own people from making statements,” the Kedah Umno deputy chief said yesterday.

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This is the Pakatan Rakyat for you folks. They said they wanted the ISA abolished. They ran wild in the streets like hooligans. Lo and behold, the ISA has been abolished. Now not only are they saying they will implement the PIS own crazy religious laws but they are not even allowing free and open discussion about the matter. Now they have imposed another gag order.

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For all you Pakatan supporters out there, when the previous PM tried to impose gag orders, we kicked him out on his bum. The bums around him are still hanging around though. (Watch out dudes). Here is a suggestion : why not the PR just acquire all these crooks? The fit will be perfect. Ex - convicts, jailbirds, ISA detainees, sodomists, adulterers, liars, crooks, religious psychos and thieves. All together now.

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"Trader" Lets Cat Out Of The Bag

Gaiea The Earth Goddess And Islam

I was at my favorite Islamic institute this morning, listening to a foreign person (an Iranian woman from the United States) talking about Islam and the environment. I do firmly believe that there is an agenda by the West, particularly the US and the UK, to prevent the rest of the world from catching up with them technologivcally and industrially. Now they are even sending 'Islamic' experts to preach the same message.

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The lady spoke about "Gaiea the earth goddess" and preserving the environment. She said that Genetically Modified food was haram. And, she put in a word against the Lynnas Rare Earth project in Kuantan.

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The belief in Gaiea the earth goddess is a pagan cult belief that is popular with the neo-con liberals in the United States. They have managed to exert significant influence on young people by promoting animations and cartoons about Gaiea the earth goddess. For the life of me, I dont know why anyone would talk about the pagan cult goddess Gaiea in an Islamic institute.

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Anyway there is a lot of literature and debate about GM food or genetically modified food. Some "non scientific" debate suggests that if we consume enough GM food, then someday we may get cancer, mutate and grow an extra eye on the forehead and stuff like that.

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There is a lot of debate on this matter but no proof, todate. (I myself have held doubts about GM food in the past). Is GM food halal or "haram"? The Quran has an answer.

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Surah 5:4 "They ask you concerning what is HALAL (lawful) for them; say, "HALAL (lawful) for you are all good things.."

(Yas-aloonaka maza uhilla lahum qul ohilla lakum al tayyibatu)

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So all good things are HALAL for us. GM foods like GM corn, wheat etc have been grown and consumned now for some time already. GM wheat is used to make bread and cakes. GM corn is used to make corn flakes which we consume for breakfast. Todate the nutritional and dietary values of these GM grains and foods have benefited most people. I dont think there is sceintific evidence that GM foods caused diseases or sickness. So if they are good for your consumption then they must be halal.

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However GM crops like genetically modified corn and wheat do exhaust the soil. They make the soil very infertile very quickly. The net result is that farmers must use plenty of fertiliser to get the same yield from the GM crops. No fertiliser no high yield. Eventually farmers find out that their cost of production increases while the selling price of their crops may not increase as much. So farmers around the world remain poor. (Except maybe our farmers in Cameron Highlands and Sekinchan).

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The lady also spoke about 'eco-Islam' or 'Islamic ecology' - possibly with a view of sparking environmentally conscious Islamic fundamentalism. Imagine "Islamic eco jihad" - sounds equally "explsoive". (Imagine the headlines 'Muslim fundamentalist eco-jihadist' suicide bombers blew up the Farmers Market in Pakistan yesterday, killing two genetically modified cows).

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To me this is just reinventing the wheel again. The speaker was an American Iranian (American Persian?). She was dressed well, wore a watch, shoes, had her laptop computer and stuff. A member of the American consumer society. Yet she was here to tell us basically 'not to consume as much'. Ok.

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My view is that human beings have no choice but to intervene in nature. Padi will not grow by itself by magic. We have to clear the land, plant the padi and harvest it. That is interfering in nature. Unless we want to live in trees, we have no choice but to clear the land and build houses and apartments.

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We all need to wear clothes, watches, shoes, computers and cameras. So we need mines that dig up copper, iron, gold, coal, crude oil etc which is used to make these products. We need to plant cotton, harvest leather and so on. If we dont do all this we can be living in the trees again.

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The trick is to always maintain a good balance between nature and our intervention. A farmer during the time of Gaiea the earth goddess who cleared his land could also cause siltation in the rivers. Exposed topsoil will run into the rivers and make the water murky. With less sunlight, plant growth will be reduced and food for fish will also decrease. The river will die.

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However throughout the four year construction of the sizeable dam at Pertak (Hulu Selangor) the quality of the crystal clear water in the Sungai Selangor stream was unblemished. We used to four wheel drive and hike the area often. There was no siltation in the river because the dam builders built huge silt traps that trapped silt and protected the river from becoming murky. So science and technology can help create that balance between development and nature. We need more knowledge. More science.

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In Korea they have performed a miracle by rehabilitating a very dirty and polluted stream that runs right in the centre of Seoul. But that is only a small stream. Throughout Korea they have rehabilitated their rivers quite well. The water is clean and fish thrive. They have planted trees on their mountains and made them green. In Denmark too they have made huge advances in cleaning up their rivers. In Melaka Dato Seri Ali Rustam has done the impossible - he has cleaned up the Sungai Melaka.

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All this is possible through the applicatrion of science and good willpower. We do not need a separate 'eco-Islam' or Islamic ecology. We just need science and common sense. Islam is science and science is Islam.

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Unfortunately the religious people have made Islam a "mumbo jumbo" and they say science is "secular". So the Muslims are confused. When you are confused, the Americans will send Islamic experts to tell you about Gaiea the earth goddess.

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During question time, some guy got up and cited a story on how important it is to conserve water. He said that even if you washed in the river, you must not waste the use of the river water. Ok fine. After the lecture I went downstairs to use the washroom. Someone had left a tap running fully. The basin was filling up. So I turned it off.

Chinese Only !!

You can click on these pictures for a blow up. I received this from a reader who wishes to remain anonymous. Thank you Sir for sending me these pictures. They reflect the dichotomy that still exists in the country - most unfortunately. It also exposes the hypocrisy of the racists disguised as liberals who are crying out for fairness and justice.

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First the pictures and the email that I received. They are self explanatory.

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"Hi Mr Syed,

I want to share with you some photos i snapped in One Utama last week (23 Sept 2011). I'm not looking for jobs, but just doing 'window' shopping the other day. Well, the windows are plastered with job opening which is no doubt, an open discrimination to the rest of malaysian people. I only took 3 pictures, but i assure you there are about 3-4 shops that post this type of ads. I guess the shop owner thought every other race other than Chinese are crooks and not to be trusted. I don't know, there must be some other reason to it.

But there goes the spirit of One Malaysia down the drain."

When we met with the MCA President Dato Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek last week, he criticised Ibrahim Ali and Perkasa for still thinking like as though we are living in post Independence Malaya in 1957. Well, looking at these pictures that were snapped in One Utama, it would appear that we were living in the Straits Settlements of the 19th Century!! "Chinese Only" ?

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I think this atitude should have disappeared, latest with the end of the Malayan Emergency in 1960. Unfortunately it has not.

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There are some hypocrites who are making a big issue of "bangsa Malaysia-lah", 'saya anak Malaysia -lah' and other sloganeering kononnya because they want to erase racial discrimination and racial identification in the country.

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I can agree with erasing racial identification. It is a good thing to do. We have to work towards erasing all racial identification. But that will only happen when the economic disparity between races is significantly reduced. And that will only happen when the Malays and the pribumis (the largest racial grouping) can stand on their own feet and can compete with anyone and anyting.

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But we all have to chip in to expedite this process. A Chinese friend dropped by recently and said there should be a program where Chinese families can adopt Malay children (for a time) and teach them how Chinese people think and talk and also teach them Chinese business acumen. An 'inter racial' technology transfer. Malays may feel offended at this suggestion, but this is a very "out side the box" idea. There are Chinese who want to do the right thing - to help the Malays learn to compete. That is much easier and much cheaper and a lot more profitable in the long run. Putting up job vacancies that say "Chinese Only" is not helping our country at all.

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You cannot just say "Bangsa Malaysia", 'Lets remove the "Race" requirement on all Government forms' and then turn a blind eye when the shops in One Utama blatantly advertise 'Chinese Only'. The hypocrisy is too blatant lah. And you want to tell Ibrahim Ali that he is wrong in this matter?

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What is the Pakatan led Selangor State Government doing about such blatantly racist signage in One Utama (?) I believe One Utama is in Selangor. Or the Federal Government for that matter? Tidur ke?

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I hope you can all see the hypocrisy and the racism in this country. I have mentioned before that when the mad Taliban blew up the Buddha statues in Afghanistan, Lim Kit Siang and the DAP made 13 Press Statements condemning the act. But when the Hindu fanatics destroyed the Babri Mosque in India the DAP and Lim Kit Siang remained quiet as door mice. Just like the DAP is usually silent on the Palestinian issue as well. (Its a Malay issue mah - Muslim people- nothing to do with Chinese).

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The Bersih monkeys called for free and fair elections. They conveniently overlooked blatant cheating and irregularity in the PKR party elections - which resulted in Zaid Ibrahim leaving the party and forming KITA. Now KITA too is going through a 'lets throw out the dictators' phase.

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The purpose of their street mobbing was to ensure there would be free and fair elections so that the people in this country will enjoy the benefit of democratic laws and freedoms. But now the more insane among them want to impose strange Biblical laws that will stone people to death, kill people for apostasy, crucify highway robbers and other such mental asylum madness. And the Bersih monkeys are keeping quiet.

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I mean the sequence is this : clean elections begat clean democracy which begat fair and just laws. The sequence now has changed : clean elections, clean democracy, stone adulterers to death, and crucify highway robbers. It totally defeats the entire purpose of the earlier running mad in the streets. The desired end game is being sacrificed. Yet you remain silent? Hypocrites.

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The country has too many hypocrites. We cannot achieve much social progress if people are stuck in their hypocrisies. Neighbours will continue to be suspicious of each other, people will not learn to cooperate, politics will be seen as a battering ram to hammer each other.

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I hope those shops take down those signs saying 'Chinese Only'. It is not a nice thing to say. On the one hand you want the Government to remove the "Bangsa" on all application forms. On the other hand you put up these things. Haiyya - so obvious one mah.

What Is Talent Corporation Up To?

There was a comment in my last post, which was unrelated to the post. The comment was about Talent Corp. I have decided to post the comment here. I hope readers will have more to add about Talent Corp. I think its another kettle of fish.

"Tn Syed,following is unrelated to your post, but recall you writing about con-sultans in the past...is Talent Corp Bhd a con-sultan. Became aware from secondary sources that Malaysians posted on assignment overseas with multi-nationals (i.e. still employee of Malaysian subsidiary) are being considered 'Returning Experts'and being given reduced income tax, tax waiver on CKD cars etc. This seems absurd considering they are still staff of Malaysian subsidiary and a matter of time before they get transferred home. Does Talent Corp get paid for each person they 'persuade' to come home. Will Wisma Putra employees posted overseas be eligible for example...something does not feel right. Inland Revenue should check on this. Sorry for being off topic."

Tsunami In Southgate

A friend sent me these pictures and a copy of correspondence. These are pictures of the South Gate complex in Sungei Besi. Lately the residents there have been suffering from flash floods. First some pictures.

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These flash floods are becoming too frequent. They have identified the cause as 'longkang tersumbat' arising from development work that is going on in that area. The residents have complained to everyone :

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i. Drainage and Irrigation Dept

ii. Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur

iii. Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan

iv. Kementerian Wilayah Persekutuan dan Kesejahteraan Bandar

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but to no avail. They have been given the tai chi push around. Someone has even written a letter on their behalf to the DBKL. But the DBKL says 'Its not our responsibility". Here is the letter :

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Ruj. Kami : JKT.D(S) 700-6/3/F Kes 01/09/11

Tarikh : 14 September 2011

Datuk Bandar, Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur

(u/p: Pn. Nur Rafidah Binti Abd Rashid)

Puan,

LONGKANG TERSUMBAT DI KAWASAN BLOK 167, SERI MUTIARA, JALAN SUNGAI BESI

.. merujuk aduan .. kepada Kementerian Perumahan dan Kerajaan Tempatan .. seperti yang dilampirkan.

2. Sukacita kiranya pihak Puan dapat memberi perhatian dan mengambil tindakan yang sewajarnya terhadap aduan yang dikemukakan oleh pengadu tersebut. ..

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“BERKHIDMAT UNTUK NEGARA”

“1MALAYSIA : Rakyat Didahulukan, Pencapaian Diutamakan”

(NORA BINTI SALEHAN)

Penolong Pengarah

Bahagian Dasar Dan Kemajuan Kerajaan Tempatan

The DID people have said 'Its not our responsibility'.

The DBKL people have said 'Its not our responsibility'.

The Kementerian people have said, 'Its not our responsibility'.

So whose responsibility is it?

The letter ends with

"BERKHIDMAT UNTUK NEGARA, 1MALAYSIA : Rakyat Didahulukan, Pencapaian Diutamakan"

Endnote : the MP for Sg Besi is Tan Kok Wai, DAP. I dont know if that has anything to do with the inaction. Things like this should not happen.

30 Policemen Sent To Arrest 4 'MAYC' belia? Why?

Strange things are still going on in the country. Please recall that the Brader was jailed for six years for abuse of power - he had directed the Police to break down the doors to the house of Dr Ristina in Bangsar to arrest Ummi Hafilda Ali and Azizan Abu Bakar. A whole platoon or more of Police were sent to get the two, who were obviously hiding for fear of their safety. Their offense - they had written that famous letter - complete with their names, IC numbers and addresses.

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Last nite I received information that up to 30 Policemen from the Brickfields Police Station had been sent to arrest four members of the MAYC (the Youth Club). Four members of the MAYC were indeed arrested, including a girl. They were taken to the Brickfields Police Station and then held there for questioning etc.

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You can read more about this matter at a Blog called 'Bald and Not Beautiful'.

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The MAYC is now in the midst of a tussle between its new leadership and the old leadership which was headed by a former Minister of Home Affairs. This was the same Minister who ordered the 18 hour ISA detention of that Chinese newspaper reporter.

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Strange things are still happening now and then. These are left over dinosaurs from the Jurassic Park. Why are they still roaming the earth?

Zul Noordin - Seeing The Light

Egypt, Libya, PAS

Libya and Egypt present two cases of Arab countries that are economically at distant ends. Libya has a population of less than seven million people with a per capita GDP of US$14,000. Egypt has a population of 80 million with a per capita GDP of US$6000. (Malaysia has a per capita GDP of US$15,000 and a population of 30 million).

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Clearly Libyans are quite rich, compared to Egyptians. Under Gaddafi the differences between Libya and Egypt were even greater. Every Libyan who wanted to, could get a State sponsored education up to university level - and anywhere in the world. I recall many Libyans studying in the United States, fully sponsored by their Government. They always had families with them and drove huge General Motors Chevrolet cars.

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When they went back, they received allowances just to get married, allowances to buy houses, free medical services and so many other things - free of charge. Gaddafi did provide them the good life. And Libya was among the first Arab countries that became self sufficient in food. They grew their own crops - even at great cost.

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On TV you can see that the Libyan's are not poor. They are rich. They all drive new cars and huge pickup trucks. Not exactly a destitute North African country. Now with the Libyan uprising, I dont know if the State will still dish out the goodies as it did before under Gaddafi. This the Libyans will find out.

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What was the practical objective for the Libyans to throw out Gaddafi? Did they throw him out because they were fed up of getting free goodies? Now, under their new found democracy, can they survive on their own without Gaddafi's tongkat? Or did they throw out Gaddafi because they were hoping to get more free goodies under their own steam?

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At the beginning of September 2011, the Europeans and Americans convened a meeting to "unfreeze" US$15 billion worth of Libyan money that they had frozen in their banks. The Europeans and Americans held the meeting to decide 'how best this money should be spent to rebuild Libya'.

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Firstly why should they decide over anything? It is not their money in the first place. Just give it back to the Libyan people. End of story.

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Secondly, there is not much to rebuild. People shooting machine guns and NATO warplanes dropping bombs on Gaddafi's desert tent do not need much rebuilding at all.

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Here is the real deal : After slaying the beast, they are gathering for the feast.

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They want their pound of flesh. They will decide how the US$15 billion shall be spent. The US$15 billion shall be used to pay Western companies and contractors to "rebuild Libya". They are stealing again - its Iraq all over again.

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Egypt on the other hand is much poorer. The Egyptians had nothing. They received no free goodies from their Government. Thats why they threw out the Government of Hosni Mubarak. But little has changed in Egypt since. They are still poor. And the Police are still chasing them in the streets.

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The Army Generals are now having the upper hand. They work closely with the Americans. The Army is also cosying up to the Ikhwan Muslimin now. After the elections (in November?) the Ikhwan may become the most powerful political bloc in Egypt. In such an event, the Army will benefit if they ride shotgun for the Ikhwan. They can point their shotguns at whoever they like - including at the Ikhwan.

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The Ikhwan will rattle their sabres at Israel. They may even repudiate the 1978 Peace Treaty with Israel. Dont forget, Khalid Ahmed Showky Al Islambouli - an Ikhwan sympathiser - planned and assasinated President Anwar Sadat in 1981 for signing the peace treaty with Israel. If the Ikhwan comes to power in Egypt, they may declare January 15th, Khalid's birthday (or April 15th, the day he was executed) a public holiday.

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And if the Ikhwan cannot manage a modern Egypt (like PAS cannot manage Kelantan) they will start playing the Zionist bogey again and again, especially around election time. If their popularity decreases, they may even declare war with Israel. This is no different from PAS declaring 'hudud' now - they too dont have any other ideas to move the economy.

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In the meantime, will life improve immediately for the dirt poor Egyptian? I dont think so. Prosperity is going to be long in the making. And will the Libyan still be getting all his free goodies? Will the Americans and Europeans allow that? I dont think so either.

The "Who Do-ed" Song

A few moons ago (May 3, 2011), I wrote this :

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"PM Does Not Wish To Waste Time." : “PM steers clear of Islamic state : KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak refused to be drawn into a debate on the Islamic state proposal by PAS.

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In that Blog I also said this :

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"I am glad the PM said so. Kudos to the PM. I agree, lets not waste time engaging with these retards. The Americans say they fed Osama Bin Laden to the fish. Anwar Ibrahim has got ants in his pants. Both are history. So the PAS needs new material for their stand up comedy. They will fall back upon their good old scare horse : hudud, syariah and Islamic state. We will be hearing their hudud song again soon."

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I wrote that in May 2011. Well exactly as predicted, the PAS are at it again. (No big deal, these guys are exactly predictable). This time they have got Anwar Ibrahim to endorse their hudud number. However, they forgot to telll the DAP that "Hudud" is actually in Chapter X in the Special Edition of their Buku Jingga - the one that was printed specially for NIK Aziz and Hadi.

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First of all here is the status quo. The Pakatan is falling apart. They were never a serious entity to begin with. Unlike the Barisan Nasional they have no national ideology. This is their biggest handicap. It is also becoming clear - from the four states that the Pakatan controls - that they are bungling. And the death of that young man was caused directly by the corruption that he did not agree with. That corruption is still going on.

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The anugerah Tuhan is floundering in and out of Court. Lately his candid video appearances are increasing. Over in the mental asylum, Mat Sapu BO is already becoming a major liability for the PAS. Each time this guy opens his mouth, the PAS guys shudder.

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The PAS know this quite well. They are runing out of issues. So its back to the old, tried and tested hudud song. They forget that just weeks ago they introduced yet another new concept : "negara kebajikan". That too sank before the ship left the harbour. Even Nik Aziz does not know what is "negara kebajikan". But as Dr Mahathir said, 'Melayu pelupa'. They forget things just as quickly.

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Anyway, as usual, DAP chairman Karpal Singh, was "taken aback" by Anwar's stand to support hudud law. Karpal then listed some punishments under PAS' version of hudud which includes :

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i. stoning to death for adultery,

ii. death for apostasy,

iii. flogging 40 times for alcohol consumption,

iv. flogging 80 times for false accusation of adultery and

v. death by sword or crucifixion for highway robbery.”

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Well first of all, folks, the entire list above is NOT found in the Quran. Except for (iii) and (iv) the rest are are found in the Bible. (This is a correction - in my earlier post I included (iii) and (iv). That was a mistake).

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The Bible says adulterers must be stoned to death : "If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city. Deuteronomy 22:23-24"

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If a woman is not a virgin on her wedding night, she must also be stoned to death. Here it is :

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"But if this thing be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel: Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she die. Deuteronomy 22:13-21"

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And apostates (blasphemers) must also be killed :

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"And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him. Leviticus 24:16"

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I could not locate the Biblical reference yet but "crucifying highway robbers" is most certainly a Biblical punishment as well. It is not from the Quran.

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So as you can see, there is quite some hudud in the Bible. You cannot find it in the Quran. So are people getting confused? I think so. Here are pictures of two very confused damsels:

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When you behave like this, you are certainly confused.

Anyway Nik Aziz says he cannot implement the hudud. Why? Because of a letter. What letter? Here it is :

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"Nik Aziz, however, claimed that they were unable to implement hudud law because of a letter sent by then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad telling them not to do so. Nik Aziz also claimed that Dr Mahathir's letter still carried weight and therefore they could not implement hudud law."

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He is blaming a single letter from Dr Mahathir (written in 1994) for NOT implementing the hudud. Even Nik Aziz is looking for an excuse NOT to implement the hudud. Dr Mahathir retired eight years ago in 2003. But Nik Aziz says 'Dr Mahathir's letter still carried weight'. Lets remember this carefully.

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What did Dr Mahathir say that carried so much weight? In his letter, among other things, Dr Mahathir said that there was no such thing as a uniform hudud law anywhere in the world. Different scholars said different things and different Islamic countries had different views about religious laws.

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So it is difficult for us to determine exactly what is the law. And as I have pointed out here (and elsewhere) the hudud can also be found in the Bible.

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In their utter confusion, the confused are peddling more confusion to confuse the confused.