Will Batu Sapi Be Yong's Waterloo ?

Hantu Laut

Yong Teck Lee's candidacy for the Batu Sapi by-election defy description.It's a big surprise for everyone that he would stake his political career on a whim.

Yong is no different from other politicians that the people might want to throw out.He has been in PBS and stayed while the going was good.In 1994 at the behest of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim he with other PBS leaders deserted the party and formed their own parties to topple the duly elected PBS government.

Soon after, his party joined the BN where he was given position and later made the chief minister on Mahathir's rotation system.He is no different from other shameful politicians that betrayed the people's trust whenever it suits them.

This is the same man who wooed the illegals voters when he was in the BN and did absolutely nothing when he was the CM but wailed and hailed about the presence of illegal immigrants the moment he is out of the BN.

For the same reason what he did to Joseph Pairin he did again with Pak Lah when he couldn't get what he wanted.Sabahans are fools if they think he cares for them.

His stratergy is to start a spat with Pak Lah making Pak Lah looked bad in the eyes of Sabahans and him a hero, leave BN, and contest the 13th General Elections under his own flag and win a few seats.He would than keep his option open, to join whoever the victor is, BN or PR.

Sabahans, are simple folks, they keep believing in the same old politicians and keep recycling them when new and younger faces should be given the chance to change the politics of this country irrespective which party he or she represents.

In the fore front with Yong are other political has-beens, ex-Berjaya Deputy CM Mohd Noor Mansoor of the famous I borrowed my mother's RM5 million for political funds when he sold the Berjaya building and the X-Man, ex-USNO,ex-PBS,ex-UMNO Nahalan Damsal.

Batu Sapi has significant number of immigrants voters and Yong would close his eyes once again and canvass for votes from the very same people he wanted to kick out of the state.Are these the kind of politicians worthy of the people's trust? The hypocrisy of 'do as I say, not as what I do' and yet Sabahans are fooled to vote for them.

One of the most controversial deals during his tenure as chief minister was the exchange of blue chip MISC shares with junk NBT and Sugarbun shares of his closed friend, a lawyer turned businessman Joseph Ambrose Lee.

Today, MISC shares are still in blue chip category and paying dividends while NBT and Sugarbuns shares are worthless, a fate worse than a toilet paper.His excuse that the collapse was due to the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997 is constructively untrue.MISC shares have recovered and are still trading on the KLSE while NBT and Sugarbun shares have been relegated to the rubbish bins.Both companies have been de-listed from the KLSE.

Yong denied he has anything to do with it and the collapse of the Saham Amanah Sabah which happened during his tenure.

It is common knowledge that he is a buddy of Ambrose Lee which used the relationship to transact business with the government, from exchange of shares to the award of FMU (Forest Management Unit).

Most of Ambrose Lee's businesses failed.Today, his assets are under receiving order (RO) but he is still a very rich man and free to travel overseas, courtesy of banks and financial institutions who care not about their fiduciary duties.After few years of RO the banks should know whether they can recover those assets or not and should adjudicate the process whereby a public examination of the debtor could be carried out to determine that there were no fraudulent transactions.

The share swaps incurred the state government agency to lose huge sums which shortfalls were supposedly guaranteed by Ambrose's company.Being insolvent the company was unable to make good the guarantee.Ambrose offered the state government another losing concern of his to take care of the shortfall.

Borneo Marble was offered with highly inflated price which was said to have been accepted by the idiot savants at Warisan but eventually rejected by Chief Minister Musa Aman who has better business sense than his boys at Warisan.

Sometimes, in making decision, dishonesty precedes logic. I have done and seen umpteen valuation of properties during my business days and most, more often than not, were overstated in value and valuers cannot be taken to court for their opinion.It's up to the interested parties to attache their own value.

Here, to confuse the audience, Mr Lee feigned not to know the reason of Musa's refusal. The state has the right to refuse not withstanding whatever the valuation is.

The Chinese voters in Sandakan may want to show they are kingmakers but I hope they vote sensibly.

It's time to kick out all these political donkeys and put new faces that can serve the people better.