Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2009: Malaysia’s ranking the worst in 15 years

Opposition taken to task for questioning institutions, constitution

2010-04-21 10:32

HULU SELANGOR, April 20 (Bernama) -- The government is worried over the preponderance of the opposition in questioning the role of institutions and provisions as enshrined in the Federal Constitution, said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
"Long-established institutions such as the police, the judiciary, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission and economic institutions, which have been well received, are being disputed by them," he said at a public rally at Taman Sri Liam, Ulu Yam Baharu here tonight.
He said the opposition also tried to disrupt the political stability prompted by the government's achievements in initiating the 1Malaysia concept, the New Economic Model and the Government Transformation Programme.
"I am worried if this political trend continues, it will put development in disarray and affect the stability of the country.
"The 1Malaysia concept introduced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has a strong pull factor that made the opposition feels threatened," said Muhyiddin.
At the function, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Hulu Selangor division former treasurer Datuk Dr Halili Rahmat submitted his Umno membership application form to Muhyiddin to a thunderous applause from the audience.
In his speech, Dr Halili said the PKR alarmed the Malays by playing racial sentiments while its leaders were power crazy and neglected the people.
"I am not a racist. Moreover, 80 percent of my patients are Chinese," he said.
Present were Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Noh Omar, who is also Hulu Selangor BN parliamentary by-election director, Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin and BN candidate P.Kalamanathan.

MySinchew 2010.04.21

Indeed, there is no need for the opposition to question. It is an undisputed fact that Malaysia is perceived as a corrupted country.
Read the article at The Malaysian Insider about anti-graft watchdog Transparency International (TI) and its global Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2009:
Malaysia seen as more corrupt than ever

Read my earlier post:

M'sia suffers major blow in corruption index

Snap officially joins Pakatan Rakyat - PR for all Malaysians - Dayaks dll

UPDATED 3.13PM Sarawak National Party has joined as the fourth member of the Pakatan coalition, ahead of the crucial Sibu by-election.

Announcing Snap's entry today after its leadership council meeting, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim said the coalition's first task was to support DAP's candidate for the by-election, which will be announced on April 27. Lim Kit Siang, DAP parliamentary leader, also told Malaysiakini that the announcement will be made during a special dinner.

The Dayak-based Snap, one of the oldest parties in Sarawak, was a member of the state BN ruling coalition, is now an opposition party and does not have a seat in the state assembly.

Will Umno's drinkers please stand up? CHEERS! ONE IS STANDING UP!!

Will Umno's non-drinkers please stand up?
Veteran opposition politician Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) challenged Umno and Muslim ministers to declare that they have never drank alcohol in their youth.

He targeted, in particular, Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau), de-facto Law Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

This Halili really opened my eyes! Now I can see Umno is 'the righteous'!

While the PKR defector was careful with his words, Umno strongman Mohd Isa Samad provided the verbal fireworks. Speaking at his first pro-BN ceramah last night, Dr Halili Rahmat stated that he had "no political ambitions" and as a sane person, he must be on the side of the righteous (pihak yang benar). Halili's 'link' with Anwar goes as far back as 1994 when the former had been a personal physician to the latter fell off a horse while out riding. Hmm...I'm sure that Halili, being a neurosurgeon, is a 'discerning' man. 

Why only after all these years did he finally realize that he was on the wrong side? Hai yoh! Good thing he lost when he contested on PKR ticket in 1999 and 2004 general elections. After all, he said he had "no political ambitions"! But in the first place, why did he contest? Man, this neurosurgeon is a confused man! Maybe some nerves in his brain are in a mess!

 

Zaid: Umno guys gamble. I heard a certain ex-Umno Minister Mehgard Joonid and his children played Roulette too!

Zaid: Umno guys gamble

Updated

By Clara Chooi

KUALA KUBU BARU, April 20 — PKR’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim fired a salvo of his own today when he claimed that Umno politicians frequent casinos around the world.

“The gambling guys are all in Umno. They go to casinos, you know?” said a smiling Zaid at a press conference at the PKR operations centre here this afternoon.

The former Umno man then urged the media to check the registers of casinos “all around the world” for names of these Umno politicians.

“Check with them.... you will not find my name there but you will find theirs,” he said.

Zaid, however, declined to reveal the names of these politicians but maintained that he is not a gambler.

However, he admitted to owning racehorses but insisted that this did not amount to gambling.

“Horse-racing is a sport. There is nothing wrong with it. I do not think these Umno guys understand... like my father before, he used to own birds,” he said.

He was responding to allegations in blogs that he was a gambler.

According to the blogs, Zaid’s horse Kelantan won in a race in 2006, and earned him a whopping US$450,000 (RM1.44 million).

Zaid later said he did own racehorses — three from New Zealand and one thoroughbred from Australia. “There is nothing wrong,” he insisted.

Zaid also said that he would not press charges against these bloggers for their baseless allegations or for putting up doctored pictures of him drinking alcohol.

“I can’t press charges on people who put up these blogs. What kind of charges anyway? If you keep suing all these people you will end up doing nothing else in your life,” he said, eliciting laughter from the reporters present.

Zaid also said that the withdrawal of the two independents in the by-election race would not make the battle any easier. “It will not be easier, it will make little difference. Obviously I am not just fighting the candidate here, I am contesting against all the Umno guys like (Prime Minister Datuk Seri) Najib (Razak) and (deputy prime minister Tan Sri) Muhyiddin (Yassin).

“All the banners across town bear the face of Najib,” he said.

Zaid however continued to appeal to the Hulu Selangor voters to choose him as their MP, and cited his close relationship with Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim.

“Furthermore, I have the experience and I have the vision. And my vision is the same as the state government’s,” he said.

Khalid, who also attended the press conference, had earlier pointed out that Zaid would help the state government in adding value to its development plans.

“He can be our bridge to the people of Hulu Selangor. And we have a very good relationship,” he said.

Khalid assured the press that as the mentri besar and elections director in Hulu Selangor, he gave his full support to Zaid.

“We fully support his fight and we will help him to win,” he said.

Khalid pointed out that in comparison with Barisan Nasional’s P. Kamalanathan, Zaid was more experienced by far.

“He used to be in government before, he used to be an MP before. Therefore, the Hulu Selangor voters should not take the risk.. they should vote for someone who already has this experience and who will be able to work for their needs,” he said.

Why am I not surprised by Zaid's 'revelation'? I was reliably informed by an aunty whose daughter used to work for one of Joonid's children and man, the stories of lavish lifestyle - eating, drinking, traveling and gambling too! They even played roulette! They must be Russians and not Malaysians!! ;-)

YouTube's most watched this week: Taiwanese Lin Yu Chun, man's version of Whitney Houston, Taiwanese 'Susan Boyle'

APRIL 18 — A young Taiwanese man’s version of Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You, an iPad turned to dust, and a new Tiger Woods commercial dominate this week’s worldwide YouTube charts.
1) Taiwanese Lin Yu Chun Sings Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” LIVE — Taiwan´s Susan Boyle. 5,387,259 views.
2) Will It Blend? - iPad — After marbles and golf balls, Blendtec’s Tom Dickson takes on the iPad, testing his blender’s capability of turning the gadget to dust. 5,386,775 views.
3) New Tiger Woods Commercial: Earl and Tiger —Nike’s new filmed ad has a voiceover of his late father
4) Kobe Bryant points at Jeff Van Gundy — After Van Gundy said Bryant’s left-hand hook shot was the worst he had ever seen, the NBA star proves him wrong. 2,781,453 views.
5) F***ING BIRDS!! — Vlogger Ray William Johnson fills you in on what you missed on YouTube this week. 2,087,207 views.
6) Annoying Orange: Excess Cabbage — Vlogger Orange loses his mojo, but Cabbage does his best to help get it back. 2,067,388 views.
7) THE TALKING TWINKIE!?! —Vlogger Shane Dawson’s own personal food war. 1,851,658 views.
8) Lin Yu Chun Sings Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’ — Another clip of Chun’s TV breakthrough. 1,817,911 views.
9) Pool Flip FAIL — A woman attempts to do a handstand flip into the pool. 1,502,566 views.
10) Prank Call WIN — A caller brings up an awkward subject on a live sports show. 1,364,000 views. — AFP-Relaxnews.com
(Published @ The Malaysian Insider)

Open tender decision vindicated, says Guan Eng. ZAHRAIN THE LOSER!

Guan Eng: Decision to hold new open tender vindicated
Himanshu Bhatt

Lim Guan Eng

GEORGE TOWN (15 April 2010): Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng today said his decision to hold a new open tender for the management of the Bukit Jambul Country Club instead of taking up Datuk Seri Zahrain Hashim’s recommendation of a two-dollar company for the project, has been vindicated. Lim, who is the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) chairman, said the success in getting Japanese company Taiyo Resorts (KL) Bhd at a contract value of RM80 million, would not cost PDC or the state a single sen.
In contrast, the company recommended by Zahrain, the Bayan Baru MP who in February this year quit PKR to become an independent, had wanted to upgrade the club at a cost of RM2.75 million with the money taken from PDC subsidiary Island Golf Properties Bhd (IGP).Taiyo, on the other hand, has given a financial commitment on guaranteed returns of RM29 million over the next 20 years, while ploughing in investments from its own funds totalling RM51 million over the same period.
The club, which features an 18-hole golf course, is under the ambit of IGP, which was until recently chaired by Zahrain, Lim said Zahrain had recommended that PDC endorse the IGP’s preference to let L&L Golf Management Sdn Bhd run BJCC.
But the PDC board on Feb 10, 2009 rejected Zahrain’s recommendation and instead agreed with Lim’s recommendation for a fresh open tender.
"When I looked at the company’s background, what struck me was that it was a two-dollar company without any track record, and was formed two months before the tender," Lim said at a press conference.
Lim claimed Zahrain became upset when he was asked to conduct a fresh tender and even threatened to resign as BJCC chairman.
"When we later did the new open tender we were surprised we could get seven companies," he said.
"Zahrain told me there was open tender earlier and I accepted it. He asked me to approve this company (L&L) and said there was no other company."
"But the two-dollar company was established two months before tender was called. I said that is not acceptable," he said.
In contrast, Taiyo had a paid-up capital RM 5 million, and was established on Sept 15, 1987.
"This (Taiyo) is a good deal for PDC. We get RM1.3 million a year and we don’t have to invest anything for it," Lim added.
Updated: 07:50PM Thu, 15 Apr 2010