Anwar: Spooking The Spook

Hantu Laut


Call a spade a spade. Now, Anwar talks sense.

My "Sugar And GST:Anwar:Scholar, Politician, or a Clown" posting derides him for casting aspersion on an universally accepted tax structure used by over 160 countries.

In Asean, only Malaysia and Myanmar were left behind, the rest have introduced GST into their tax system.

Malaysian oppositions must learn when to oppose and when to give credit, where credit is due. They don't want to, a sign of political immaturity.

Obviously, they are dead set in muck-racking, no matter what, for good or bad, they have come to a conclusion Malaysians are gullible.

Anwar made an about turn and admitted that GST is good and efficient way to collect tax. Some weeks ago he was contemplating organising a massive rally against implementation of GST.

Good on you, Anwar. 

Read Here:Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has made an about-turn when he admitted the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was a good and efficient taxation system.

Unfortunately, for Anwar his little green pasture in Sabah is withering. Some of his assemblymen are leaving the party, because they found, a little too late, that the leadership is as 'broad as it's long'. Read here.

A friend in PKR told me recently that they are no different from the devil they try to spook.

Anwar should have known better East Malaysians are different kettle of fish.

We are not easily spooked!

Kudos To Iskandar And FMT...Malaysia's Greatest Hero

Hantu Laut

My hat off to Iskandar Dzulkarnain. It would have been the best and most befitting eulogy if it was Mahathir's funeral, but it wasn't. It's a tribute from one man who saw the unfair and senseless character assassination of Malaysia's greatest prime minister, fuelled by the vindictiveness of one man motivated by a desire to get even.

As they say "in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king". In Malaysia, the blind follow the blind,  as one can see from the multifarious attacks on Mahathir by various quarters, wrongly influenced by the man who had an axe to grind with him.

In life and in death, Mahathir will be remembered as the man who took Malaysia out of the backwater into a developing and progressive nation. 

I couldn't agree more with the article that the man had made tremendous contributions to the nation and the people, uplifting the standard of living of the Malays and Bumiputras and at the same time not forgetting the economic contributions of the Chinese and Indians, that have made this multiracial country modality of peace and prosperity. Malaysia's middle class and industrialisation grew immensely under his leadership.

Kudos to Iskandar Dzulkarnain for his very enlightening article. As my browser link is broken I have to uplift the whole article or you can read it at Free Malaysia Today.

The greatest Malaysian hero

Iskandar Dzulkarnain

 | January 15, 2013

It is of great concern that frivolous allegations against Dr Mahathir Mohamad have come to a head. Our beloved former prime minister is an unwilling victim of slander and unfair reporting all done in the name of freedom of the press.

Accusations against him have grown to such an uncomfortable level that concrete steps must be taken to stop the mockery of a great Malaysian hero. Malaysians must accord him the respect worthy of a statesman.

Lately, the opposition has stepped up its wild allegations against him that border on the insane. It is slandering a dear, wonderful and harmless old man, who has given his best years to the country just for the sake of winning a general election.

Yes, 22 years of his youthful life spent sacrificing for the nation and retiring with hardly a penny more than when he first became prime minister.

We should remember him as the longest-serving prime minister and chief architect of the Multimedia Super Corridor and the Look East Policy, among other things. Here is a man who selflessly and against all odds, managed to unite the country and its people and is solely responsible for enriching the nation and its citizens.

Outrageous slander

An article on Finance Twitter claimed that Mahathir may be the second richest head of state in the world with a net worth of about US$44 billion. That works out to be around RM133 billion.

Other news media rumoured that his daughter in Kobe, Japan, is looking out for all the ill-gotten assets that Mahathir purportedly owns. Any sane person would roll on the floor with laughter at reading such fictitious allegations.

And that he has a financial empire with properties stretched across the globe and obscene amounts of money in Singapore and Israeli-related banks. There are even attempts to link him to the capital flight of RM871billion from the country. Doesn’t that sound a little insane and that Elvis is alive? Why are they trying so hard to smear his good name?

They even said that he holds a little black book on those in the Umno supreme council and that he has them eating out of his hands. They say that he harbours the dream that his son Mukhriz may one day be prime minister. But tell me which father wouldn’t harbour that sort of dream?

They also said that his meddling in the government had caused ex-premier Abullah Ahmad Badawi to constantly stay awake while poor premier Najib had to be constantly on his toes.

They accused him of being the puppet master pulling the strings behind Umno, whipping up a storm for Najib to tame. They also alleged that he was behind the appointment of Mukhriz to the ministry, while the poor Umno Youth chief was left out in the cold.

They accused his hardworking sons of being billionaires without an iota of proof, that he condones cronyism, and that his sons vastly benefited from his position as prime minister. Can a father not advise his son on how to succeed in business?

Also, accusing him of pulling the strings in the Umno administration is so unwarranted. Don’t the people realise that he once resigned from Umno in utter disappointment due to the corruption enveloping Umno? Of course, he wants the best for Umno Baru which is his brainchild.

He has also been unfairly accused of stirring up Malay sentiments against the other races which is so absurd.

And lately, they are alleging that the dear old man may have had a hand in the latest scandals involving Deepak Jaikishan’s damagingexposé against Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor. Boy, these idea-less accusers really do have a vivid imagination, probably from too much viewing of reruns of the “Men in Black” (MIB).

The reality

These same accusers failed to mention that Mahathir was responsible for upgrading the economic status of the Malays, that he engineered an affirmative action to allow worthy Malays to attain fabulous wealth and become towering Malays.

Anyone who rubbed shoulders or crossed paths with him became wealthy beyond their dreams, and while he created wealth for the Malays he himself retired with modest savings, and surviving on a stingy pension, sales commission from his book – “A Doctor in the House” – and from giving lectures, speeches and invitational talks.

His successful children contribute a little towards his needs like filial children, so that he may enjoy some of the finer things in life.

Put it simply, if there is any truth in any of these accusations, action would have been taken against him. But until today there are no police reports made against him.

They said that he was responsible for the rot that is Malaysia today. Blaming him for everything under the sun: the divide-and-rule policies, cronyism, capitalism, racial segregation, corruption, racism, and even the educational rot in this country.

They called him a racist and taunt him as a Mamak even though the Malays have accepted him as a true blue-blooded Malay.

They said that he had a hand in Sabah’s Project M but we are still way short of the 70 million population target of Vision 2020. So does it come as a surprise that there were affirmative policies to woo more foreigners to become citizens?

Some even called on the people to boycott his only little retirement investment in the Loaf restaurant. If everyone were to heed such senseless suggestions, how is he going to survive in this cold and cruel world?

Time and time again, Mahathir has lamented that he is surviving on his dwindling savings and can hardly afford a new set of wheels. Well past his prime, he still plods on wearily to make extra income from invitational talks and speeches, so that he can afford some Christmas gifts and Raya ang pows for the grandchildren.

The only reason we are beginning to hear more of his penetrating views is because he remains a sane voice in this confusing, corrupted and divided nation.

Unlike Najib who is dishing out another RM500 to the 2.3 million unfortunately this February, Mahathir hardly has any funds for philanthropy.

Trying to link him with Ibrahim Ali and Perkasa which he innocently consented to be a patron of the NGO is really debasing.

His words of wisdom and advice

Today, the ex-premier continues to give advice to all who will listen, that Malaysia is not ready for change, race-based parties are still badly needed and that absolute democracy may lead to absolute anarchy.

Umno and BN cannot be replaced unnecessarily. Malay supremacy must prevail and Malays must not be slaves in their own land. Malaysians must not gamble their future away.

Pakatan Rakyat is too corrupted, too greedy for power and too green to rule a nation as diverse as Malaysia.

So sensible and wise are his words but no one bothers to listen and treat it as the incoherent ranting of an old man.

When he was in power, everyone feared him. When he resigned from politics everyone criticised and crucified him, calling him all kinds of names from Mahafiraun to some too obscene to mention.

But when face to face, these same people would smile and kiss his hand.

Everyone cringed when he invited PAS to unite with Umno for the sake of Malay unity. But he received no praises when he disallowed Kelantan and Terengganu to implement the hudud.

No one takes him seriously when he warned that Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is a dangerous felon and he would ruin the country in five years what he took 22 long years to build.

How can anyone allow Anwar to become prime minister when we have so many god-fearing leaders like Najib and Muhyiddin Yassin?

Everyone knows that Najib wields the power, while Mahathir is a one-man show, so all these allegations were designed to drive a wedge between the dear old man and the powerful prime minister in the hope that Najib would remove Mahathir from all governmental positions and unleash the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC) to investigate the allegations against him.

But seriously, the underrated Najib compared to other political leaders in BN happens to be the cleanest leader among the thorns, and would be the logical choice to spearhead the next BN victory in the election, while Mahathir has solemnly pledged his support for him and Umno.

So, we should seriously refrain from slandering a great gentleman like him and allow him to live his remaining days in peace and harmony, and like Lim Keng Yaik he will be honoured as a great statesman, and forever go into the annals of history as Malaysia’s greatest hero.

And no, despite all the fairy tales, he is definitely not in panic mode or scheming like an evil dictator trying to take over the country.

This dear old man is retired and harmless, and whether BN retains the government or not, is of no concern to him. All he wants is for Malaysians to heed his advice and embrace the BN dream.

Tour consultant, sports pilot and naturalist Iskandar Dzulkarnain has been writing a few years now. He is a FMT columnist.

Selena's Bluff

Hantu Laut

Quote from Selena Tay's article in FMT:

"A neutral Chinese political analyst who is a friend of this columnist has informed that it is possible for Pakatan Rakyat to win the 13th general election by 118 seats, with BN getting 104. The total number of parliamentary seats is 222."

First, I would like to ask Selena Tay if this Chinese guy is such a hot shot political analyst has he no name, no siang? Where is he from, Malaysia or China? 

A good political analyst do not pluck numbers from the air, he gets scientific and gives specifics.

More figment of her imagination below:

"Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has in fact already lost the general election, in a manner of speaking, and that is why he does not seem to have the sense of urgency to hold the polls".

We all know, except Selena Tay and the oppositions, that dissolving Parliament is the PM's prerogative, he needs not listen to the oppositions or anyone else to call for elections.


If you want to bluff horn your skills first.

Neutral Chinese political analyst without a name and probably doesn't exist!

A neutral Malay political analyst, who is a close friend of Hantu Laut says with certainty  BN will get 148 and Pakatan 74.

Read more of her poppycock here.

Indian Fortune Teller Predicted GE13..PKR 123, DAP 0, PAS 0 and BN 99

Hantu Laut

Can you get a bigger moron than this man?

Read his prophecy  here.........an Indian fortune teller who predicted PKR will get 123 seats, DAP 0, PAS 0 and BN 99.

Anwar Ibrahim must be the happiest man.

The man, who has previously admitted to being close like a sibling to Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, then made a startling prediction in his text.

GE13 will be PKR 123 seats, Rosmah RM26 BILLION, BN 99 seats.A prophecy that will happen.

The man needs to see a shrink! 

I know many Malaysians don't know what a shrink is, it's not about contraction, it's about madness, it's an American term for psychiatrist, in Bahasa pasar ......doktor orang gila,  or doktor sakit jiwa would be the right analogy.

Here, God-fearing Chinese Godfather Lim Kit Siang says Najib not Zahid should respond to mad as a hatter Deepak Jaikishan.

Would Kit Siang respond to a mad man?

Judging The Judge: Deft Or Dumb ?

Hantu Laut

To err is human, judges can make mistakes, but the uproar against the judgement of two recent cases of statutory rapes is politically motivated, rather than concern for the law and the victims.

This country's politics has become the most bastardised in the region by one man's insatiable greed for power. Even the country's judges are not spared from politics, which leaves them opened to contempt.

Suddenly, every NGOs jumped on the band wagon to ridicule judges' decision on cases only peculiar to the judges and not the men in the streets.

True, the sentence must reflect the crime but there might have been extenuating circumstances that have caused the judge to consider a seemingly lighter sentence.

If one has an open mind and not become what the Malay called "Pak Turut"(follow blindly) the sentence passed by the judges is not as light as what the detractors made out to be.

In the case of national bowler Nor Afizal, the bound over sentence does not mean he gets off scot-free, a probationary period is attached to the sentence for good behaviour and should he during that period commits an offence he would face a tougher sentence for the new and initial offence. The judges also found there was no coercion, violence, brutality and the act was consensual, therefore, the non-custodial sentence. The Court of Appeal judges took upon themselves to alleviate the sentence.

In every profession there are those promoted to a "level of incompetence" and judiciary all over the world would have some sitting on the bench. 

Judges are human, they are not infallible, they can make mistakes. To err is human, to forgive divine. There is no point to continue disparaging the judges, let the law takes its course.

For the Malaysian judges who passed the judgement I salute them, they have shown they are humans and no lives have been destroyed on both sides.

Read here judging the judge.

Selena Tay: Najib's Slayer

Hantu Laut 

This lady is either very infatuated with Najib or she is suffering from extreme hate syndrome. She may also be a closet racist engaging in subtle racism.

Part of her handiwork below:

"This shows him as inconsistent and inefficient with a penchant for changing his mind. It also means that he can do the same with regard to formulating the laws and policies of the nation as well – a frightening thought indeed for the foreign investors to ponder upon".

Laws are enacted by Parliament not the PM, policies goes to cabinet for approval. Running a nation is not a one man show.

"Overall during his tenure, the misappropriation of funds seems to be the norm and there were also two mysterious deaths at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission premises (the first in July 2009 and the second in April last year)".

You mean Najib also sanctioned these two mysterious deaths?

"This is the common modus operandi of a confidence trickster. He gives you a small gift to gain your trust and confidence. After that, he says you are eligible for something bigger but first of all you have to invest RM3,000 in the scheme (read: scam)".

 Haha! We have a con-man PM!
 
"By the way, one has to remember that Najib failed to answer this question posed to him earlier this year: In the event that Pakatan Rakyat wins the 13th general election, will you hand over power graciously in a smooth transition? Till today, he has yet to answer the question".

Of course not, why should he, he should just proclaim himself the King of Malaysia, in a new republic called Malayoland.

Does she get orgasm with this kind of writing?

Spurned lovers do? 

They get orgasmic when hitting below the belt.

Read more here.

Bersih 2.0: Dirty War of the “clean” crusaders

August 10, 2011

FMT LETTER: From Calvin Sankaran, via e-mail

In the fevered state of our country, no good can ever result from any attempt to set one of these fiery zealots to rights, either in fact or principle.

They are determined as to the facts they will believe, and the opinions on which they will act. Get by them, therefore, as you would by an angry bull; it is not for a man of sense to dispute the road with such an animal.

Thus was the advice from one of the Founding Fathers and the 3rd President of the US, Thomas Jefferson.

It is indeed surprising that more than 200 years on, we still find such advice is to be incredibly germane especially so in view of the prevailing poisonous political zeitgeist in the country.

Whether it is the American Tea-Party politico-terrorists or our homegrown pseudo reformers of Bersih 2.0, the ability of unruly mobs of angry zealots to be weapons of political and economic mass destruction and holding a nation hostage remains undiminished.

Bersih, like so many other groups subscribing to political extremism, has a noble aim and helmed by charismatic, internationally respected figurehead in Ambiga Sreenevasan. Bersih’s manifest demand is the amendment of the electoral laws to provide a level playing field to all political parties thus advancing the process of democratisation in Malaysia.

But beyond this wafer thin veneer of credibility everything else about Bersih reeks of political gamesmanship. It is a bitter irony that a coalition which strives for clean politics employs chicanery, deceit, hate mongering propaganda, half truths and lies to mislead people and demonise their opponents.

However, to be fair it must be said that the charge that Pakatan Rakyat leaders had hijacked Bersih to further their political ambitions is wildly inaccurate and completely baseless. For there is hardly a need do so since Pakatan and Ambiga’s Bersih are joined at the hip in an unholy, incestuous relationship.

Surely the former Bar Council president isn’t that naïve to assume that the PR parties are sincerely committed to clean and transparent election process when they themselves don’t practice the said principles for their own party elections.

Unless Ambiga has been a part of NASA’s space mission to Mars over the last few years, she would surely have witnessed the shambolic, scandal-ridden, violence-marred joke that passed for PKR’s version of democratic election.

It is worth noting here that Ambiga had declared the street rally was off and Bersih will be accepting the government’s offer of stadium after her audience with the King. However, Bersih’s real aim was exposed when Ambiga later spurned the offer of Shah Alam Stadium for the rally and stubbornly insisted upon Merdeka Stadium, citing ease of access and convenience.

It wasn’t long, however, when her concerns were proved to be as bogus as Hannah Yeoh’s Anak Malaysia comedy skit. This Lady of Liberty put lives and limbs of supporters in grave danger by urging them to defy the law, the riot police, tear gas and water cannons to march illegally in downtown KL. As such Ambiga and Bersih organisers must be accountable and responsible for the death of one of the participants instead of trying to pin the blame on the police.

That the Emperor Bersih wore no clothes was obvious to everyone except the blinkered legion of PR supporters; the shouts of “Reformasi” and “Takbir” far outnumbering cries for reform during the rally made that abundantly clear.

Within hours of the rally Pakatan cyber army was busy working overtime at their fiction factories and churning out highly edited, emotion-laden (if not terribly clever) videos on YouTube.

Using video imageries from past protests and even including foreign footages, these crusaders of clean elections played dirty by trying to elevate the illegal demonstrators as heroes while depicting the police as brutal thugs.

Even when these videos were exposed as fakes, no Bersih leader came forward to accept the responsibility or apologise for their deceitful, deplorable actions.

One of the Bersih videos that stood out for all the wrong reasons was the over-long clip titled, rather melodramatically as “The Truth That Cannot Be Covered”. Obviously produced by your average DAP cyber troopers next door (the atrocious English subtitles alone a dead giveaway) it was widely circulated via the social network among the Pakatan Kool-Aid drinkers.

This clip was the gold standard in exemplifying and showcasing the PR spinmasters’ level of intelligence and depths of delusion.

Unintentionally funny and laden with more tear-jerking sentimentalism than a dozen Kollywood movies put together, it scored several own goals by exposing the Pakatan supporters’ violent, rowdy behavior during the “peaceful” rally.

The maturity of the Bersih / Pakatan crowd was again amply demonstrated during a debate organised by the Sinar Harian newspaper between Ambiga and a representative from the EC. The debate almost violent when the some of them, unable to accept criticism or satisfied by answers given, had to be physically restrained from assaulting the EC rep. Read more.

Malaysia's Rotten Enforcement

Rubbish pork and rotten enforcement

Stanley Koh | June 3, 2011

The recent revelation about “rubbish pork” being sold on the market was a grim reminder of how often unscrupulous business practices go unnoticed by Malaysian authorities.

Through the years, there have been several shocking disclosures raising concern about the efficiency and effectiveness of enforcement agencies as protectors of food safety and public health.

Apparently, the practice of using low quality pork – or even pig carrion – in sausages, dim sum and other pork-based foods has been going on for 10 years. Why did it go undetected for so long by any of the various levels of the authority responsible for food safety? Is the government adequately taking care of public health?

Food safety in the country is administered by a network of federal, state, district and municipal authorities. The top authority is the Food Quality Control Unit of the Health Ministry. It was established in 1974 and is responsible for overall technical supervision. It determines food safety policies, formulates legislation, guidelines and codes of practice and coordinates activities at state and district levels.

One wonders whether the unit, as well as the state, district and local authorities, have adequate financial and manpower resources to function effectively, considering that food production has grown rapidly over the years.

Is there anything besides rubbish pork that we should be worried about? Are there other dark secrets yet to be exposed?

Perhaps we should review the Malaysian track record.

Quite some time ago, Chinese guilds and associations raised concerns about the unscrupulous use of prohibited drugs and hazardous chemicals in animal feeds, vegetables and fruits.

Big profits

More recently, we heard complaints that some animal feed suppliers and livestock farmers had resorted to using various types of stimulants to accelerate the growth of livestock or plants so that they could reap in big profits, never mind the risk to public health.

In 1996, the public was shocked by reports that some poultry farmers were administering the cancer-causing antibiotic Nitrofuran to their chickens. According to one of these reports, a government laboratory tested 142 chickens and found that more than half showed contamination of up to 4,000%.

In August 1996, poultry farmers nationwide pledged not to administer Nitrofuran to chickens younger than 28 days. But a few days later, the government decided to ban the antibiotic altogether. Read more.

Religious Bigots Should Read This

Lessons from Saladin and King Richard

Maclean Patrick | April 6, 2011

Some people, particularly those unschooled in history, believe that Christians and Muslims will never be able to get along. Unfortunately, recent political developments in Malaysia do nothing to dispel this myth. So we must go back in time.

The year is 1187 and Saladin has conquered Jerusalem, sparking the Third Crusade.

This crusade lasted until 1192 and brought the great Muslim general into contact with a Christian leader of equal stature, King Richard I, also known as Richard the Lion Heart.

When they entered Jerusalem, the Muslim soldiers were under strict orders to avoid harming civilians and destroying the city.

In January 1192, on his March to Jerusalem, Richard fell ill and appealed to Saladin for fresh water and fresh fruits. Saladin dutifully complied.

Richard never reached Jerusalem. Instead, the two generals agreed upon a truce, under which Christian pilgrims could visit the city without harm.

In October 1192, Richard sailed back to Western Europe, never again to return to the holy lands.

Great impact

The meeting of these two generals created a great impact on attitudes between the Christians and Muslims of the era, and even on later historians of either faith. Both men are acknowledged for their wisdom and courage in facing each other and also for their humanity in the canvas of war.

They forged a remarkable relationship of mutual respect and admiration. Saladin was marked by his quiet, courteous, thoughtful, generous and insightful ways. And the Muslim historian Baha observed that Richard was “a very powerful man of great courage, a king of wisdom, courage and energy”.

They each understood what the other was fighting for, and yet they maintained a high measure of human decency towards each other.

It is safe for me, as a Christian, to say that Saladin showed immense compassion and generosity towards Richard during the brief period the two met.

How sorely we need the wisdom and example of these two great leaders of old as Malaysia deals with a battle of its own.

Religious polarisation is often fuelled by political interest, and it is never good for anyone.

The impounding of Malay bibles in Port Klang and Kuching Port seems, to some people, to have created a new rift between Christians and Muslims. But has it?

Considerable clout

For the most part, Christians are angry not with Muslims, but with the government for its decisions. Conflicting statements from Putrajaya do not help in gaining Christian trust in the government’s ability to handle the matter justly and fairly.

It is as if there is division within Putrajaya itself as regards the course of action to take. And this will not go unnoticed in Sarawak.

Nearly half a million Christians reside in Sarawak, wielding considerable clout at the polls. Obviously, neither the Barisan Nasional (BN) nor Pakatan Rakyat will want to ignore their feelings.

Without a doubt, some election campaigners will play on Christian frustrations and fears, which were recently stoked to higher temperatures by Muslim NGOs that seem to fear Christians more than they fear the government’s inability to come to a clear decision.

But is it wise to milk the bible controversy for political gain, especially in times when religious tensions are at an all-time high? Can there ever be real political gain from religious polarisation?

The coming election is an exercise by the people of Sarawak to choose the government they want, and their choice will transcend ethnic and religious considerations. Yes, Christian voters will be influenced by frustrations and fears arising from the bible row, but these will not be the only determinants of how they will vote.

Let us hope that the Christians of Sarawak will exercise the bravery and courage of Richard in making their decision on polling day and that the Muslims will show the compassion and generosity of Saladin in governing a multi-religious populace.

Maclean Patrick is a Kuching-based columnist with FMT.