Can Umno Change or Cows Fly?

By Kee Thuan Chye

UMNO is beyond redemption. At its general assembly in December, the message it sent out was suspicion of others and hatred for them, and a desperate desire to win the next general election.

Its President, Najib Razak, once again proved what many of us have long suspected – that he is a dissembler. He exposed the ultimate lie behind his 1Malaysia slogan by saying things that would divide the races rather than bring them together. He set the trend for delegates at the assembly to harp on the threats to UMNO from other races. It was disgraceful coming from the prime minister of the country. It was supremely irresponsible.

Worse, two days after the assembly ended, he appealed to the right-wing NGO Pertubuhan Kebajikan dan Dakwah Islamiah Malaysia (Pekida) for support. This has to be the final nail in the 1Malaysia coffin.

To cap it all, UMNO showed its partiality to cronyism by defending Wanita leader Shahrizat Abdul Jalil over the scandal surrounding her family’s business, the National Feedlot Corporation. One or two colleagues called for her to step down, but the overwhelming majority stood by her and castigated the Opposition for exposing the scandal.

This begs the question: Can UMNO change? As the major party in the Barisan Nasional (BN) government, can it truly stand up for other races as well, and work for their well-being? Can it stay clear of corrupt practices? Can it stop dishing out favours and projects to party leaders and their cronies? Can it save Malaysia from financial meltdown or will it rather bleed our coffers dry?

The online news website The Malaysian Insider sums it up eloquently: “UMNO looks set to win the polls in the next general election but yet looks woefully ill-equipped to lead a multi-racial country. … One expects delegates to articulate a vision to continue its previous success but that did not happen. Instead, delegates harped on age-old themes of having their culture and faith eroded by political foes taking over the country. That they are the only guarantee of faith and culture. What about the economy? What about the reforms? What about Malaysia? … Everything is centred around UMNO... But they didn’t articulate the vision for continued success. … Instead, everyone is at fault except those in UMNO.”

And yet Najib could tell Pekida: “If we miscalculate and choose the wrong side, our country could very much end up like Greece.” Surely, he must mean that the wrong side would be BN. The way it has been going – awarding projects to cronies who have no track record; continuing to allow overpriced purchases by government departments, despite what the Auditor-General uncovers year after year; giving out money like there’s no tomorrow in order to win votes, such as the substantial pay rise for civil servants – BN is more likely to lead us down that way.

The civil service is bloated, with 1.4 million employees, but Najib criticised Pakatan Rakyat (PR) for suggesting it should be trimmed. According to his top public service official, 1.4 million is “the right size”. How this is so puzzles me. Japan has a population of 127 million and its civil servants number just over a million. We have a population of 28 million and our civil service is as large as Japan’s. It seems to me that trimming down the civil service is more likely to save us from going Greek.

And so I think we should not take any more risks with UMNO. Especially now that we have an alternative. PR has shown itself capable of running the four states under it and earned positive ratings from the Auditor-General and a few others. It’s time to see whether they can bring reform to the country.

Najib of course insists that PR will lead us to our doom, but what are his words worth anyhow?At the UMNO general assembly last December, he presented a grossly untruthful picture of the DAP to strike fear into the hearts of the Malays. He accused the party of being anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-royalty.

But after PAS won Terengganu in the 1999 general election, who stopped the state that is 90 per cent populated by Malays from getting its oil royalties and substituted it with the lesser Wang Ehsan? Was it the DAP?

Who created a constitutional crisis in 1983 and curtailed the powers of the Malay royalty? Was it the DAP? In 2008, who protested against the Terengganu sultan for not accepting Idris Jusoh as the menteri besar, and insulted His Highness with the word “natang” (animal)? Was it the DAP?

Who gave away citizenships overnight to immigrants, legal and illegal, in Sabah to ensure they kept UMNO there in power? Was it the DAP? So where is the truth in Najib’s warning that if BN did not continue to be the government, the Malays would be under threat? Who has proven to be the real threat?

But still, he called on Pekida “to defend the current government” – to guarantee the special position of the Malays, the dignity of Islam, the preservation of the Malay royalty. He thumped his chest and yelled, “We are warriors!” and “We will not surrender even an inch!” He led the crowd in cries of “Hidup Melayu!”

Someone was moved to comment on Facebook, “Listening to what Najib said, it feels like we’re at war.” A knowing friend warns me: “Do you know what Pekida is about? They are like gangsters. They have secret codes, like particular handshakes or the way they hold their cigarettes. They have 2 million members. These are the people we should worry about.”

Indeed, when the film KL Gangster came out last year [2011], Pekida objected to its portrayal of secret codes and use of words like “abang long” and “ayahanda” that apparently cut too close to reality.

This prompted blogger Ibnu Hasyim to ask, “Apakah benar kononnya filem itu membuka ‘kod rahsia pertubuhan’ Pekida? … Terkejut kita, apakah pertubuhan dakwah itu pun mempunyai ciri-ciri pertubuhan bawah tanah atau gangster? Pekida adalah Gangster Melayu? Perlukah pertubuhan itu disiasat polis? Mana ada dakwah dan kebajikan pakai ‘kod rahsia’ pertubuhan?” (Is it true that the film apparently exposed ‘secret organisational codes’ of Pekida? … We are shocked, does this missionary organisation have the characteristics of an underworld or gangster organisation? Pekida are Malay Gangsters? Should the police investigate this organisation? Why would missionary and welfare organisations use ‘secret codes’?)

Najib’s appeal to Pekida and his words at the UMNO General Assembly spell desperation. That’s clear to see because UMNO has no case left to make for its continued rule. News of its corruption is bursting out. Soon after the general assembly ended, the Singapore Straits Times reported that ex-menteri besar Abdul Hamid Pawanteh was involved in the Alstom bribery case. He has, however, denied it.

Earlier, questions had been raised about Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi allegedly flying to Saudi Arabia for his haj in a private jet, and about “ridiculously overpriced” rural development projects in Sabah allegedly linked to senior BN politicians. The worms are crawling out of the can.

UMNO cannot defend itself. So it lashes out at enemies. It fabricates untruths about its enemies. Sadly – and sickeningly – UMNO resorts to rousing tribal emotions and harping on the issues of race and religion. After 54 years in power, it still plays those explosive cards.

As the blogger Sakmongkol AK47 puts it: “UMNO gets on by making Malays believe that they are being besieged, attacked, assaulted and victimized. That’s how UMNO can survive. How does it do that? By fabricating lies and manufacturing stories. The Chinese are going to eat you up. The Chinese are going to Christianize you. They are going to wipe out the Sultans, ban the use of Bahasa Malaysia, and abolish Jawi and so forth. You feed on people’s irrational fear. You want to maintain stupid and mute people. Can you sustain whole people like that, turning people into xenophobes? I say this is a recipe for destroying Malays, not cultivating them to become self-confident people.”

UMNO has been doing that for decades. It has not evolved. So how can it change? How can such a party still be allowed to rule multiracial, multi-religious, multi-cultural Malaysia? If we continue to vote for UMNO (and Barisan Nasional) it at the next general election, what would that make us? Dumb and dumber?

Press Statement by Tan Sri Robert Phang: Enough is Enough

Press Statement by Tan Sri Robert Phang: Enough is Enough by dinobeano

December 31, 2011

PRESS STATEMENT BY:
TAN SRI DATUK ROBERT PHANG MIOW SIN
Justice of Peace
Chairman – Social Care Foundation

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

In the past few weeks, the MACC has been very prolific. Many advertorials have been published in the mainstream newspapers of the MACC’s achievements in eradicating corruption. The conviction of former Selangor MB Dato Seri Khir Toyo to 1 year imprisonment seems to boost the MACC’s image.

The MACC blazed the trail again when on December 21, 2011, the MACC announced the arrest of five (5) civil servants for bribery in separate places in Kedah. On Tuesday December 27, 2011, the husband of the ex-CEO of the Iskandar Investment Board (IIB), Mohd Amin Suhaimi, was charged in Johor Bharu for corruption. It seems strange that the ex-CEO herself was not charged. Then on Wednesday December 29, a former IIB senior V-P, Rostam Razali, was fined RM20,000 after he pleaded guilty for abuse of power in disclosing confidential tender price information.

Meanwhile in KL, the Permanent Chairman of Malaysian Muslim Welfare Organisation (Perkim) Selangor branch who was also the former International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) Deputy Rector, Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr Ariffin Suhaimi, was charged with two other Perkim members, Dato’ Baharin Baba, 58, and Abas Adam, 60 for Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT) by the MACC. The offence was alleged to have happened in the early 2000s.

While all these seem to show that the MACC would have the stamina and resolve to dig at old records to uncover corruption, abuse of power and CBT, the public has not forgotten the persecution of Dato’ Ramli Yusuff, the former Director CCID, and his lawyer, Rosli Dahlan. The public considers this as a fix-up job by former IGP Tan Sri Musa Hassan and A-G Gani Patail achieved with the collusions of the MACC. Musa Hassan was exposed as an incredible witness which is a legal euphemism for calling him a liar. Because of that, the public considers the MACC as a tool of oppression that would do the bidding of A–G Gani Patail and their political masters.

Thus, some skeptics say that these recent events are merely to allow the MACC to end 2011 on a high note. It is as if the MACC is trying to erase all the bad publicity for causing the deaths of Teoh Beng Hock and customs officer Ahmad Sarbaini while in the MACC’s custody. The outcome of the Royal Commission of Inquiry and the Inquest have not satisfied the public’s thirst for the truth and justice. Rightly or wrongly, that is the public perception. And perception counts if the government of PM Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak is to lead BN to a successful GE 13.

In that regard, I am compelled to raise the two blatant cases involving YB Senator Dato’ Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Minister for Women and Family Development, in the NFC episode and YB Senator Datuk Dr. Awang Adek Hussein, Deputy Minister of Finance, for admitting he received cash into his private accounts but justified it as for political donations towards social program.

Like the rest of the Rakyat, I am astounded and appalled by the reasons given by both these two politicians who were rejected by the Rakyat in GE 12 and had to be smuggled into the Cabinet by back door appointments through Dewan Negara. Their mere presence as Ministers in the Government betrays everything that PM Najib has been saying about winnable candidates. These two were rejected by the Rakyat in GE12 and their involvement in these two scandals will certainly not endear them any closer to the electorates in GE 13.

In the case of Dato’ Seri Shahrizat, the evidence are already in the public domain of the misappropriation of the NFC funds granted for the national cattle project instead being used to purchase luxurious condominiums, super cars and fantastic salaries for Shahrizat’s husband and their children.

The initial statement by the MACC that they only investigate corruption cases and referred the matter to the Police is seen as a feeble attempt to pass the bucket. That was the same thing that happened in the Khir Toyo’s case until I pursued it that led to Khir Toyo being charged. Even so, the Rakyat questioned why Khir Toyo was charged under the Penal Code where the maximum penalty is only 2 years whereas punishments under the MACC Act would extend to 20 years. The Rakyat sees this as a cover up!

In the case of Datuk Dr. Awang Adek, his open admission of having received such monies to fund his own “social” programs actually constitute political gratification. That an offence of corruption has been established could not be clearer. But most worrisome to me is the inability of Awang Adek, as our Finance Minister, to realise that what he had done was wrong. For him to justify his conduct spells doom for the country if our national finance is to be managed by a man of such moral fabric.

I invite the MACC Chief Commissioner, Dato’ Seri Abu Kassim, to deliver to both Shahrizat and Awang Adek the lectures that he had delivered to me when I was on the MACC Advisory Panel about the meaning of gratification. Since I am now pursuing a law degree, for these Ministers’ benefit I reproduce s. 3 on Interpretation in the MACC Act:

"gratification" means-

(a) money, donation, gift, loan, fee, reward, valuable security, property or interest in property being property of any description whether movable or immovable, financial benefit, or any other similar advantage;

For Shahrizat to maintain that her family is justified to get the contracts goes against the provisions of the MACC Act:

23. Offence of using office or position for gratification

(1) Any officer of a public body who uses his office or position for any gratification, whether for himself, his relative or associate, commits an offence.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), an officer of a public body shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, to use his office or position for any gratification, whether for himself, his relative or associate, when he makes any decision, or takes any action, in relation to any matter in which such officer, or any relative or associate of his, has an interest, whether directly or indirectly.

Let me ask Awang Adek, if he is not the Deputy Finance Minister whether these companies and associates would give him those monies to fund his political programs. The case of Dato’ Harun Idris is on point. That makes it clear that Awang Adek had accepted gratification as defined by s. 16 MACC Act:

16. Offence of accepting gratification

Any person who by himself, or by or in conjunction with any other person--

(a) corruptly solicits or receives or agrees to receive for himself or for any other person; or

(b) corruptly gives, promises or offers to any person whether for the benefit of that person or of another person, any gratification as an inducement to or a reward for, or otherwise on account of--

(A) any person doing or forbearing to do anything in respect of any matter or transaction, actual or proposed or likely to take place; or

(B) any officer of a public body doing or forbearing to do anything in respect of any matter or transaction, actual or proposed or likely to take place, in which the public body is concerned,

commits an offence.

As a Minister, Awang Adek is a public officer. Thus, his acceptance of such monies into his personal account constitutes bribery:

21. Bribery of officer of public body

Any person who offers to an officer of any public body, or being an officer of any public body solicits or accepts, any gratification as an inducement or a reward for--

(a) the officer voting or abstaining from voting at any meeting of the public body in favour of or against any measure, resolution or question submitted to the public body;

(b) the officer performing or abstaining from performing or aiding in procuring, expediting, delaying, hindering or preventing the performance of, any official act;

(c) the officer aiding in procuring or preventing the passing of any vote or the granting of any contract or advantage in favour of any person; or

(d) the officer showing or forbearing to show any favour or disfavour in his capacity as such officer, commits an offence, notwithstanding that the officer did not have the power, right or opportunity so to do, show or forbear, or accepted the gratification without intending so to do, show or forbear, or did not in fact so do, show or forbear, or that the inducement or reward was not in relation to the affairs of the public body.

Once Awang Adek admitted that he had accepted gratification, then there is a presumption that it is corrupt gratification:

50. Presumption in certain offences.

(1) Where in any proceedings against any person for an offence under section 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22 or 23 it is proved that any gratification has been received or agreed to be received, accepted or agreed to be accepted, obtained or attempted to be obtained, solicited, given or agreed to be given, promised, or offered, by or to the accused, the gratification shall be presumed to have been corruptly received or agreed to be received, accepted or agreed to be accepted, obtained or attempted to be obtained, solicited, given or agreed to be given, promised, or offered as an inducement or a reward for or on account of the matters set out in the particulars of the offence, unless the contrary is proved.

It is abundantly clear that the actions of Shahrizat and Anwang Adek are not defensible. The MACC does itself discredit if it continuously refuse to act with the same speed and efficiency when it involve members of the ruling party. The Rakyat is tired of excuses. In the interest of the BN Government, Shahrizat and Awang Adek should resign and offer themselves for investigation by MACC and other authorities. By resigning, only then can investigations against them be done without the undue influence which cannot be the case if they remain in the Cabinet.

As we celebrate New Year, the Rakyat expect a new resolve by the Government and the MACC. If the fight to eradicate corruption is seen as mere lip service, the Rakyat will rise and teach the government a lesson at the ballot box. Before that happens, I urge the government to wake up to today’s realities before the Rakyat say enough is enough!

Happy New Year 2012!

“HUMBLENESS IS GOOD VIRTUE, ARROGANCE SHALL FALL, THE MEEK WILL RULE THE WORLD”.

Tan Sri Robert Phang Miow Sin
Justice of the Peace