Yet another stunning revelation.

Malaysiakini reported that Private detective P Balasubramaniam today retracted his statutory declaration which had linked Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to murdered Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu.

He said he was forced to make the declaration under duress and the exact person who had introduced Altantuya to Abdul Razak Baginda is he himself, not Najib!

On top of that, he produced a new Statutory Declaration (SD) to replace the previous SD, accompanied by a new lawyer, not his other lawyer Americk Sidhu, who was with him yesterday.

Welcome to the new Malaysia, a land full of conspiracy theories which never cease to amaze me since quite some times ago.

Also, since when SD has became a trend in Malaysia?

Hot air rises and the plot thickens.

The entire country is now abuzz over another latest conspiracy theory which implicated the DPM Najib Tun Razak with the murdered Mongolian case.

The mother of all bombshells was unraveled via the press conference held by PKR de-facto leader Anwar Ibrahim when private investigator P Balasubramaniam made the stunning revelation of how the DPM had links with Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Balasubramaniam was the PI hired by Najib’s close associate Abdul Razak Baginda to ‘handle’ Altantuya in 2006 before Altantuya was found murdered in an isolated site in Shah Alam, Selangor.

On the other hand, Najib denied the allegation and revealed by himself of his meeting with 23-year-old Saiful Bukhari Azlan a few days before he lodged a police report against Anwar, accusing the PKR leader of sodomising him.

Interestingly, when Najib was first asked about Saiful after the sodomy allegation was exposed, he didn’t reveal about the meeting, so the question is, why now? What’s the trigger point?

Having said all that, one thing which I’m quite sure is, be it Najib or Anwar, both of them are posing a very credible chance to become the next PM of Malaysia and as far as what I try to understand from the scenario above, either one of them is telling the truth and untruth, hence for either one of them to lead this country, how would you feel, seriously?

When there’re too much of conspiracy theories out there, you wouldn’t know who to believe and who is going to ruin this country, in the end of the day, the sense of hopeless starts to creep into your mind and that’s about it? 50 years of independence, just like that due to power tussle?

Is this country capable enough to withstand the imminent storm? Are these allegations are serious enough to divide the country for the "version" of the story people choose to believe?

The way I look at it, I’m afraid to say that a national crisis is looming and it’s only a matter of time, even though the flip-flop leader said everything is under control.

"The government is in a stable condition… Please, don’t get over-excited (with the rumours). Please don’t believe all these rumours. Never in my political life have I seen anything like this. There’s a new rumour (emerging) everyday to make the public scared and worried. What’s all this?" said Abdullah.

What a million dollar question by an incapacitated leader, in one way or another, hence the dog shows we’re seeing now.

It’s an unchartered path for many of us, however I’m hoping that Malaysians are resilient enough to wade through this interesting period.

As usual, the flip and the flop, courtesy of the Government under the leadership of the PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The flip:

"The first installment will be paid in the middle of the month and the second at the end of the month.

"Deductions for income tax, Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and such will be made in the second installment," he told a news conference at his office here.

Asked whether the private sector should follow suit, Abdullah said: "I feel this is a good approach because it helps our employees to manage the household cashflow. This is important."

The flop:

Civil servants will not receive their salary twice monthly from next month, said Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan on Wednesday.

He said this was decided by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, thus the salary for civil servants would be paid once a month as usual.

Say first, do first, think later, retract later.

That’s how consistent our Pak Lah is.

Same shit, different day.

That’s what we called the politics of distraction.

Now the entire blogosphere is putting the entire focus on the sodomize allegation against PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim and screw inflation, screw the RM2.70/liter petrol price, screw the spiraling living cost, whereas these issues become so trivial.

As usual, Malaysians mudah lupa.

Now, back to the case.

The allegation is a brilliant move to buy time as Anwar alleged that the authority knew he is going to announce a by-election this week, which has to put on hold for now.

But why Anwar? It appears that he is the only person who is capable of mobilizing the swing, so what they need to do is to prevent the MPs from meeting Anwar.

However, the plan to stifle him seems to backfire and proven to be futile in a way when he reiterated the plan to form a new government by September 16 is still on track.

"The momentum is still on, I will continue to monitor the progress. It has never been so good, they know that." […]

"Umno members and MPs have promised to come out and campaign for me so they come out with these sexual allegations to stop me from securing power."

While all pictures circulating on the internet seems to link the coffee boy to the DPM Najib Tun Razak, he strongly dismissed claims that he was involved in a conspiracy to ruin Anwar’s political career.

Nevertheless, I’m quite impressed by Najib’s elephant memory when he vividly recall the details of the photo taken at the DPM’s office.

"It was taken three months ago when he came to seek a government scholarship to pursue his studies as he (Saiful) is a student leader," he said.

It’s getting fishier and fishier as the events of the story seem to unfold by itself effortlessly from one end to the other.

Since Proton made its debut in Malaysia about 3 decades ago, it’s a known fact that Proton vehicles have always been plagued by lackluster quality poor quality and unimpressive design.

It’s not unusual (very common, to be precise) to hear public complaint about the overall poor quality vehicles by Proton over the years and indirectly affecting the financial result of the company, when it’s sales dwindled tremendously and continously losing market share and subsequently, the profit margin eroded substantially too.

Proton was a hot topic then, when the Government was facing public pressure to sell the Proton. On top of that, there was a time when the selling of Proton was looming and risked being taken over by foreign automakers like Volkswagen (VW), General Motors (GM) and etc.

In the end, the acquisition plans collapsed when the Government decided it’s best to keep the Proton’s ownership or risk losing control over the design and production of our national car maker, which is long perceived as a brainchild of our former PM Tun Mahathir Mohamad, as part of an ambitious national industrialization plan.

That’s how important is our pride and dignity are, for it’s a national interest which must be well preserved, nevertheless Proton marched on and recently, the sales surged with the latest introduction of Proton Persona, which is developed according to Proton’s i-CARE commitment, which aims to improve all aspects of their cars within the i-CARE commitment, ranging from design, styling and production to sales and after-sales.

It was reporeted that bookings exceeding 2,200 units have been received for the Proton Persona, even before it was officially unveiled by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, showing signs of returning public’s belief and confidence in Proton.

Fast forward a year later, it’s heartening to note Proton on Friday launched a "zero-defect" campaign aimed at erasing a reputation for poor quality that has left it struggling to compete against foreign competitors.

As part of the "zero-defect" programme, banners have been posted in the assembly plant reading: "Erase the culture of ‘I don’t care about quality’" and "Don’t just talk — ensure quality".

I’d say this is a good start and it’s our Malaysians utmost hope to see the national carmaker overcomes the hurdles and put some shines back on the Proton, especially in view of the recent announcement by Minister of International Trade and Industry Muhyiddin Yassin that the AP policy will be retained for the next ten to eleven years, which means public still need to fork out additional money to buy foreign vehicles for the next decade, hence by hook or by crook, if budget is under constraint, especially for those freshies who have just start to work, national car is still the primary choice.

Having said all that, there is a catch when Proton managing director Syed Zainal Abidin said 60 percent of defects in Proton cars were due to poor quality components from vendors, but admitted the rest of the blame fell on the firm’s workforce.

60 percent of defects component from vendor? What a staggering figure and by all means, it’s totally unacceptable!

If the management is serious in bringing the Proton back to a profitable entity, they should run it like a proper conglomerate and not as a charity organization, which means incompetent vendors which do not adhere to the standard set must be removed and replaced.

In another word, if Proton is to talk about "zero-defect", zero tolerance towards vendors who can’t deliver must come into the picture as a complimentary to the campaign, otherwise the entire exercise is going to be a futile effort and public fund will continue to be wasted.

While I’m optimistic Proton will continue to strive for a better performance, it’d be great if they’re going to do us a huge favor by cut-short the time spent in it’s quest for glory, isn’t it?

Pray do tell.

Malaysiakini reported that a police report has been lodged against PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim for allegedly sodomosing one of his aides.

KL police chief DCP Muhammad Sabtu Osman has confirmed that the report had been made and the police are expected to arrest Anwar soon.

Besides, the Chinese daily China Press reported that the victim alleged that he was sodomised for up to eight times at various locations including Paris and Hong Kong, with the last sodomy act 48 hours prior to the police report.

I mean, honestly? Seriously? Who the fuck is going to believe it? You, I mean are you donkey enough to believe this allegation?

Come on, whoever comes out with this plot to topple him must be genuine desperado to incarcerate him for another decade. Let’s say if Anwar is successfully wiped out from the screen, who is going to be the direct beneficiary?

And honestly, I do really think that this country is ruined by all kind of puppy acts, and clowns too.

What a tragic plight in Malaysia!

Meanwhile, Kit Siang in his latest posting said he had spoken to Anwar and he (Anwar) is expecting the worst. In the press statement posted on Anwar’s blog, he denied the allegation as a complete fabrication and concluded it as an attempt to politically assasinate him.

Press statement on police report

By matkeri

Categories: Anwar, Hebahan and Media

— PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE —

June 29, 2008, SHAH ALAM, MALAYSIA

The police report lodged against me earlier today is a complete fabrication. I believe we are witnessing a repeat of the methods used against me in 1998 when false allegations were made under duress. This is clearly a desperate attempt by the Barisan Nasional regime to arrest the movement of the Malaysian people towards freedom, democracy and justice.

The report has been organized by interested parties to attack me in retaliation for evidence I have recently obtained implicating IGP Musa Hassan and the AG Gani Patail in misconduct including fabrication of evidence in the cases launched against me in 1998-1999. This vile attack will not prevent me from releasing this dossier to the public.

I urge the Malaysian people to stand against the repressive forces that will be unleashed by the government in the coming days and weeks. We expect the media, the judiciary and the police force to all come under the direct and unchecked control of the executive.

My fellow Malaysians - we took a bold step forward on March 8th towards a new dawn for freedom and justice for all of our citizens. This people’s movement for change must go on with all of our strength and conviction.

ANWAR IBRAHIM

While I do think that it’s a bit exaggerate to put the entire blame on the people of Sungai Rapat, but it’s never too late to find out the true color of their State Assemblywoman Hamidah Osman, who is also the Gopeng Umno Wanita Chief when she made racist remark at the Perak State Assembly debate.

She asked whether Perak State assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar "agreed to disagree" with the well-known fable of whether a snake or a man from a certain racial community should be killed first?

Just wondering whether she was uncertain of the consequence and ready to ensure that Umno is going to embroil in another crisis?

As far as I’m concern, Hamidah is a Muslim and how can she uttered such a remark and risk creating hatred feeling among each other as a true Muslim never do such a kind of bad deeds?

Sinful, isn’t it? No?

Here I’m urging the eligible voters from Sungai Rapat to exercise their votes carefully in the next GE if she is to defend her seat and for anyone of you who vote her in, you’re yet another racist too and it’s indeed a disgraceful manner to say the least.

Anyway, to be fair, on the bright side, she did apologize for the remark after former Perak MB Tajol Rosli asked her to retract the words even though she refused to do that initially as demanded by the PR’s assemblymen or else, I’m sure Uncle Zorro is ready to lock her into his infamous gas chamber.

Make love, not war.

What about au revoir to the RM2bil monorail and RM1.5bil Penang Outer Ring Road (PORR) and at the same time, additional RM10bil for the Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s pet projects - The corridor projects?

What a strange riddle when his administration is good enough for RM30bil to alleviate the increase in the cost of living among poor Malaysians (God knows who are going to be considered as part of the poor Malaysians), RM10bil for the corridors and RM2bil for the double tracking project from Ipoh to Rawang but just not good enough for the combined RM3.5bil to overcome the worsening traffic jams in Penang?

Is that a vengeance towards the Penangites by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who is also hailed from Penang?

Coincidentally, Malaysiakini reported that one of the MP from SAPP Eric Majimbun dismissed Pak Lah as an incompetent leader wheras his deputy Najib Tun Razak announced a series of massive operations against illegal immigrants in Sabah as if all these problems cropped up not long ago?

The way I look at it, I think the Government is now beyond panic-drive approach due to the fear of losing the right of administration to the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition, hence with their brains akin to sponge ruthlessly absorbing feedback from our East Malaysia friends, sucking some resource from there and replenishing some into the area, just to ensure that the Sabahans and Sarawakians being kept happy for now while laying the pain on someone else?

Like it or not, it will be unraveled in the Parliament tomorrow, when Pak Lah is expected to submit the mid-term review of the 9MP.

On and off, you might be hearing question like this: How lawless can it be in Malaysia, amidst growing concern over the public safety in view of rising crimes?

Most of the time, I guess the feedback received are more or less not in favor of the police force with some of them giving unreserved scathing remarks due to their personal bad encounters with the police force, which is understandable, but then again, to be fair, these are the arbitrary perspective views without any definite conclusion, nevertheless I always take precautionary measure whenever I’m on the move.

Accidentally, I found out the answer today and to my horror, it’s an unpleasant one.

(SOURCE: The Star, 24 June 2008)

If demolishing a Mongolian into pieces using C4 is a ruthless act, I hope the Government and the IGP Musa Hassan are going to take equally serious consideration into this allegation too.

For the public to lose confidence towards the police force is one thing, however if we’re to have the sense of insecurity towards the police albeit their presence in which its utmost responsibility is to safeguard the public interest but end up with them standing on the wrong side of the law is something which is totally unacceptable to the society in a whole, hence severe punitive measure must be meted out against the culprit to deter any possible recurrence of such unfortunate event in the future.

Now, when I seriously think about it, besides the unstable flip-flop government combined with the rest of gloomy factors plus the circumstance above, I guess we need to look hard for reasons to increase the country’s Happy Planet Index (HPI).

Immediately after the recent fuel price increment, Domestic Trade Minister and Consumer Affairs Shahrir Samad said the ban on the sale of petrol to foreign vehicles at the borders will no longer be necessary.

I’ve never agree with the idiotic act to ban foreigners from filling up the tank, instead, many of us did suggest that the Government should enforce them to pay the full market price, if it’s necessary for them to drive away with our subsidized petrol.

Yesterday, it seems the Government took the heed from the public when it’s announced by the DPM Najib Tun Razak the Government has agreed to implement a dual pump system at fuel stations in border areas to ensure foreigners do not buy fuel at subsidized prices and ironically, according to him, it’s as per suggestion from Shahrir.

Yes, they’re doing the right thing and it’s something that they should have done since the early days, even prior to the fuel price increment.

It’s also right to say that it’s not too late for the Government to impose the said new ruling as to ensure the subsidized petrol will only benefit Malaysians, at least they’ve the guts to rectify the wrong move.

Good one.

However, the aspect which really put me off is the common flip-flop trait which ensuing from every public outburst, in which in the future, we can’t afford or most possibly might prove to be too costly for us to bear the entailed consequence as a result of the same blunt mistake committed by the Government.

It’s time to put a halt to the same old habit, we can’t afford to flip-flop that frequently that in the end of the day, who knows this country might screw up another big time, just like the half-past six bridge, hence you can’t blame the Johor MB Ghani Othman when he appeared to be quite confused and skeptical towards the dual pump system proposed by his own BN’s colleagues.

That speaks a volume on its own, of how volatile the Government’s decision can be.