Misplaced priorities and rising food prices

By John Brian Anthony

KUCHING:  Malaysia’s cost of living has risen steeply. Most basic food like rice, flour, cooking oil, sugar prices has shot up.
In Sarawak, we have land but are totally dependent on the importation of rice (Sarawak imports 70% of its rice consumption). Even fruits are imported from Australia and New Zealand.
So why are we not focused on trying to meet our basic needs? Do we not have enough land to plant rice?
We have enough land, more than enough land. Why then are we not planting enough rice, fruits and vegetables?
The answer is simple: The Barisan Nasional government does not want to allocate money to help farmers farm and cultivate fisheries activities.
Lets look at what technology the government has brought into Sarawak over the years to improve its agricultural production and increase the income of farmers.  None.

By 2020, Malaysia would be exporting labours and maids.

Do you believe that an Amah living in 70's earn more money than a University graduate nowadays？
Young Malaysian, do you really think politics is none of your business?
It has already been predicted that if this trend continues, by 2020, Malaysia would be exporting labours and maids.
When that happens, daughters of poor families will have to go overseas and becoming 'Kakek' in Indonesia.
Malaysia is in deep trouble now, only us, the people can save our own nation. With each and every vote in our hands, we can have a better future.
As a Malaysian, we must become a part of the force to push the movement of enlightenment forward, therefore, please share this video!

The wind of change has come, should we see the light!

Top 20 Non-Winnable Candidates in GE-13 : Guess who they are?

Mathias Gomes

After the recent UMNO AGM and the nonsensical brouhaha stirred up by the leaders of the BN ruling coalition, I was so disgusted it put me off the computer for almost 10 days.

But thanks to a hefty dose of antihistamines and antibiotics, the allergy attack became better and I could finally sit down and write.

Top Twenty Non-Winnable Candidates in GE-13 in descending order

20 : P Ramasamy (DAP), the current Penang Deputy Chief Minister II, was not in my list when this idea came to me weeks ago. But the current situation is one that he created for himself. He has turned off voters in Penang. I’m sorry to see a big man drop to his knees just because of his huge ego. He wants to sit in a state seat as well as a Parliamentary seat, he feels it is his birth right. How obnoxious can one get? He will lose big.

Tian Chua: The Path To "Reformasi"

Tian Chua, MP For Batu & Vice President of Parti Keadilan Rakyat

Awang Adek: Yes, I received cash deposits, but ...

Deputy Finance Minister Awang Adek Hussin has admitted that he had received cash contributions via his personal account, as alleged by a blogger, but said the deposits were donations for social programmes.

Speaking to reporters at the Parliament lobby, Awang said the donations flagged were made to one of three personal bank accounts set up in 2004 for the purpose of funding programmes in Bachok, Kelantan, where he is Umno division chief.

"Many companies give donations to fund social programmes for the people of Bachok, my division. I have all the records, of who the money comes from and what it is used for,” he said.

“A special officer handles this and I will hand (the records) over the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).”

Asked why the donations are not made to the Umno division or banked into an account set up in Bachok Umno's name, Awang said that this was "not encouraged".

Vehicles queuing for hours at border checkpoints as thousands rush home for Xmas

Major headache: Traffic jams measuring up to 5km long, usually taking overnight to clear between the Sarawak-Brunei-Sabah border, as seen here at the Limbang-Brunei checkpoint. The jams get worse when travellers rush home on the eve of Christmas or the day before.

MIRI: The Christmas holiday rush has resulted in a massive crawl in entry and exit points at the Sarawak- Brunei-Sabah borders as thousands try to get home in time for dinner on Christmas eve.

Then there are the several other thousands who are rushing off for a few days of break in the nume- rous tourism hotspots dotting the borders.

Amid all this headache are the trucks, lorries, cargo containers and vans that commute daily between Miri, Brunei, Limbang and Lawas to deliver essential items such as fuel, rice and sugar.

Villagers hold demo over uncompleted Lundu-Biawak road

KUCHING: Villagers along Jalan Biawak in Lundu are upset over the uncompleted road project which is causing them hardship.

It affects at least 10 villages – Rukam, Seding, Tanjam, Opek, Jangkar, Jantan, Pasir Ulu, Pasir Tengah, Biawak and Kendaiee.

Yesterday, close to 20 villagers staged a peaceful demonstration at the junction of Jalan Biawak to show their dissatisfaction and seek an explanation for the delay in completing the project.

The demonstration from 9.30am to 10.30am was conducted in strict compliance with conditions stipulated in the police permit.

According to Diet Bukoh, 53, who was among those affected, the 18.3 kilometre road project costing RM30 million started in August 2009 was supposed to be completed by February this year but had stalled since December last year.

“The demonstration was a peaceful one with the presence of the police – we wanted to know why the project had stopped,” Diet said.

Meanwhile, Diet claimed the main contractor issued him and four other sub-contractors a cheque for RM20,000 they were supposed to cash out by Nov 30 this year, but it bounced.

“We have approached the contractor, but they seem to play hide-and-seek,” Diet said, adding they had lodged a police report at Sungai Maong Police Station on Dec 22.

by Jacob Achoi. Posted on December 25, 2011, Sunday

The ugly face of money politics is back

Najib's financial handouts show that BN and money politics go hand in hand.
It’s raining money in Malaysia. And the man who is opening the purse strings is none other than Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

This is nothing new. Everytime an election is round the corner, financial aid is given to all and sundry. The one-off handouts is an attempt to make the rakyat think favourably towards Barisan Nasional.

First, he targetted the students.Najib decided to give an estimated 1.3 million students in private and local higher learning institutions book vouchers worth RM200.


While primary and secondary school students have been offered RM100 cash allowance. And beginning next year, education in government primary and secondary schools in the country will be provided at no cost.

Riding on his “People First” mantra, Najib enticed the people with a one-off grant of RM500 to households with a montly income of RM3,000 and below.

Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries Over the Decade Ending 2009

Primary Findings

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The Developing World lost US$903 billion in illicit outflows in 2009, despite the massive financial crisis which rocked the global economy in late 2008. The capital outflows stem from crime, corruption, tax evasion, and other illicit activity.

The report finds that the the vast majority of the drop from US$1.55 trillion to US$903 billion was due to a decrease in volumes of international trade, foreign direct invest, and new external loans, rather than any government action. From 2000 to 2009, developing countries lost US$8.44 trillion to illicit outflows.

Conservatively estimated, Illicit flows increased in current dollar terms by 14.9 percent per annum from the beginning until the end of the decade. Real growth of illicit flows by regions over the nine years is as follows:

• Africa 22.3 percent,
• Middle East and North Africa (MENA) 19.6 percent,
• developing Europe 17.4 percent,
• Asia 6.2 percent, and
• Western Hemisphere 4.4 percent.

Asia accounted for 44.9 percent of total illicit flows from the developing world followed by Middle East and North Africa (18.6 percent), developing Europe (16.7 percent), Western Hemisphere (15.3 percent), and Africa (4.5 percent).

Top 10 countries with the highest measured cumulative illicit financial outflows between 2000 and 2009 were:

1. China: $2.74 trillion
2. Russia: $504 billion
3. Mexico: $501 billon
4. Saudi Arabia: $380 billion
5. Malaysia: $350 billion
6. United Arab Emirates: $296 billion
7. Kuwait: $271 billion
8. Nigeria: $182 billion
9. Venezuela: $179 billion
10. Qatar: $130 billion

source - Global Financial Integrity.

RM11m wasteful defence ‘consultancy’ fees

Zaid Ibrahim believes defence consultants are being used to channel corruption money gained from possible kickbacks.

PETALING JAYA: Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim today demanded an explanation on the government’s need to hire consultants for defence procurement, particularly for the recent purchase of six patrol vessels (SGPVs).


Zaid, the Kita president, said as much as RM11.3 million were paid to several defence consultancy firms on the purchase in a transaction shrouded in secrecy at the expense of taxpayers money.
Documents provided by Zaid showed Boustead Naval Shipyard, former government defence contractor now privatised, had paid fees to European-based firms for “technical evaluation” fees through a Singapore account.

After NFC, navy vessels scandal next

How did the cost of six offshore patrol vessels increase by RM3 billion each and why were there no payment vouchers?

Over the last 10 years, we lost over RM1 trillion through illicit transfer.
To say that the Barisan Nasional government hides a monumental submerged portion of financial excesses and rip offs is an understatement.
In this context the current National Feedlot Corporation fiasco involving RM250 million is just a tip of the iceberg.
We are, in fact, readying ourselves now for the exposure of the next big financial scandal…and the next!
Immediately the next possible source of financial legerdemain, with all the necessary ingredients of manipulations and underhand moves, is certainly the cost of six offshore patrol vessels from Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd at RM1 billion each.
The cost has now increased by an unexplainable RM3 billion. How does Boustead get into the vessel building business?
Now, the history of the Malaysian Navy’s purchase of weaponry is a dismal one.
So, let’s get into a little history lesson.

MACC officers raid NFC

Six officers from Putrajaya descend on NFC head office in Solaris Mont Kiara.



KUALA LUMPUR: Six Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) enforcement officers raided the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) office located in Solaris Mont Kiara this afternoon.

Of the six, five were plainclothes officers. The raid began at 3pm and is reportedly in connection to the NFC scandal.

Dr M, Taib locked in death embrace

In Mahathir’s case, as with Taib, there is no punishment as yet devised for the enormity of their crimes against the state and people.


Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who needs no introduction, has characteristically come to Taib Mahmud’s defence in helping to fend off the incessant attacks against the latter for his unexplained and stupendous wealth. Taib needs no introduction either and for obvious reasons.

Simplistic as usual, Mahathir has declared Taib innocent as otherwise the authorities would have thrown the book at him. He attributes the stepped up attacks against Taib to the imminent 13th general election which seems to be always around the corner since the last two years.

The defence of Taib comes after Mahathir declared that he had never heard of “Projek Mahathir” in Sabah to place illegal immigrants on the electoral roll in the state with MyKads which may be either genuine – but the holder not being entitled to it – or bogus. In the latter case, the details of the holder are not on record with the National Registration Department unlike in the former.

NFC scandal: ‘Datuk’ arrested over bribery

The man was also involved in two other commercial crime (cheating) cases.

KUALA LUMPUR: Police have arrested a 45-year-old businessman for allegedly attempting to bribe several senior officers believed to be involved in the investigation into the National Feedlot Corporation scandal.

The man, who owns a foreign worker agency, a taxi company and claims to be a Datuk, has been handed over to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), police said today.

Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director, Syed Ismail Syed Azizan, this afternoon confirmed the man’s arrest, but declined to comment on his link to the NFC probe despite repeated questions from reporters.

“No comment… You can guess yourselves, you already know his name without me telling you,” Syed Ismail said.

“We arrested the man yesterday at about 4pm at his office after receiving information that he attempted to bribe three or four of my senior officers,” he said.

He declined to reveal the reason for the attempted bribery or the amount as it is now with the MACC. However, it is believed to be in the millions.

Syed Ismail said the man was also involved in two other commercial crime (cheating) cases – one is Ipoh and another in Cheras, for which he was detained but released a couple of weeks ago.

Meanwhile, on the NFC case itself, Syed Ismail said that a special task force is still working hard to “expedite” investigations.

He said that so far, 27 individuals have been questioned, including officers from the finance and agriculture and agro-based industry ministries.

“We will also be calling others who are related to the case who are yet to be questioned,” he said, declining to say if any ministers have been summoned.

Special MACC team to probe NFC

The anti-graft body makes an about-turn after saying its Complaints Assessment Committee found no elements of corruption.

PETALING JAYA: A special team in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is investigating allegations of corruption in the management of public funds for the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC).

The commission made the announcement this morning, just days after issuing a media statement explaining that it had referred the allegations to the police because its Complaints Assessment Committee did not find any element of corruption in the corporation’s management.

Umno-BN (1956 to 2011): The kleptocratic government

Nawawi Mohamad

For 54 years UMNO/BN has been exploiting our resources both natural and man-made.

Water

We have a lot of rain and many rivers but still we have water shortages and many villages still have no piped water and for those who have piped water it is of poor quality because it is tainted with high ferric compound and very fine blackish dirt. Is it impossible to provide hundred percent to the entire nation wherever it may be after 54 year of independence and being able to send an angkasawan (astronaut) to the international space station? Has not Malaysia been portrayed by UMNO-BN as everything “Boleh” (within reach)?

BN man pockets RM1m in Salcra dividends

While hundreds of Salcra landowners have seen pittance in dividends, a local politician has laughed all the way to the bank.

A prominent Barisan Nasional (BN) politician in Bau, some 150km from here, has allegedly received at least RM1 million in dividends from Sarawak Land Custody and Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra).Disclosing this today, a PKR Mas Gading division leader, Boniface Willy Tumek, said: “He is the single biggest recipient of dividends from Salcra’s Bratak and Undan estates in Bau.“It means that the BN politician has a big acreage of land in these two estates to be able to receive RM1 million.

“It means he has been buying up land at low cost from poor people when they are at their weakest point.”

Tumek said a seldom mentioned tragic fact about Salcra’s plantation is that substantial land parcels in these estates have passed hands, from the original landowners (who were supposed to benefit from these schemes) to financially comfortable people.

Taib probe: Swiss govt won’t reveal details

 
An international NGO is disappointed with the Swiss government, saying that it's sending out a wrong message with regard to its banking policy.

KUCHING: Looks like there’s no quick solution to international calls for disclosures on Taib Mahmud’s wealth, believed to be stashed or invested in other countries.

Swiss environmental and human rights campaigners were dismayed at the Swiss government’s latest stand not to disclose its findings of its investigation into Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s secret bank accounts in Switzerland.

Yesterday, Swiss Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf refused, in Parliament, to disclose whether Taib had assets in Swiss banks, citing the country’s banking secrecy laws.

Referring to an investigation launched earlier this year by Switzerland’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), Widmer-Schlumpf said: “FINMA has no right to disclose any information of its findings to the public. FINMA will inform the directly affected persons only.”

In Malaysia, corruption is a team effort

It’s difficult for a leadership brought up within a corrupt system to correct things.

Why does our country find it so objectionable to kick out the crooks and the stupid?
For corruption to take place, you must have two important elements – you must be a crook and mental dud.
It will therefore take paramount political will by a leadership and a messianic zeal to stem corruption to succeed. In our country, the only answer is a change in leadership.
As former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said, the whole country, from top to bottom, is corrupt.
I take that to mean, Dr Mahathir also includes the prime minister.
Money changing hands – that’s bribery plain and simple. The businessmen who pay the aides to the prime minister and deputy prime minister monthly allowances, engages in bribery.
The politician who pays Najib’s people to always say good things about the former so that he continues to be minister or chief minister, does a bribery number.
Where the money involved runs into hundreds of millions and even billions, the bribery reaches a more sophisticated level.

Shocking videos

On the 23 October 2007 Kelesau Naan, the Headman of the Penan village, Long Kerong, left his wife at a rest area in the forest to check on his traps. He never returned. Two months later his remains were found scattered across the Segita River, deep in the Ulu Baram, Sarawak.



ULU BARAM, SARAWAK, MALAYSIA. On the 23 October 2007 Kelesau Naan, the Headman of the Penan village, Long Kerong, left his wife at a rest area in the forest to check on his traps. He never returned. Two months later his remains were found scattered across the Segita River, deep in the Ulu Baram, Sarawak..

Presented by his son, Nick Kelesau, The Headman explores the events leading up to his disappearance. Kelesau Naan sought only to protect his people and their native customary right to the land they have lived in for centuries. His struggles may well had been his peril, but as Nick and his fellow Penan explain, his legacy endures.

On 23 October, three years after Kelesau's disappearance, put this video onto your own blog or site. Grab the link and embed code from EngageMedia.