Najib: Think Again !

Hantu Laut

The Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said the government has postponed its decision to ban sale of fuel to foreign registered cars within 50 miles radius of any border which was supposed to commence on Friday. It ultimately aims to increase the price of fuel throughout the country for foreign cars.

The reason for the postponement was not stated but it is safe to assume that the government are not sure how to go about doing it and the repercussions it may have on other industry with possible negative outflow on tourism.

The idea of having separate pumps for foreign cars would require additional capital expenditure and may lead to abuses by dishonest dealers who still can sell the cheaper fuel at their own price to foreign cars, cheaper than the fixed price for foreign cars but slightly more than the domestic price and pocket the difference in pricing.The Singaporeans and Thais would be happy to collaborate to get the cheaper fuel and make the dealer slightly richer. Do not underestimates Malaysians tendency and capacity for cheating and do not overestimates the effectiveness of our enforcement authorities. Most of the time the crooks got away.

Corruption, smuggling, abuse of power are just some of the examples of cheating in this country, which run into billions of ringgits every year.

A civil servant friend once told me how he is getting sick of politicians making high moral sounding speeches telling civil servants to discharge their duties honestly and not to be corrupted. He said "I get sick in the stomach every time I listen to those bastards telling us not to be corrupted as if we don't know that they are stealing billions from the nation like there is no tomorrow.They are just like fishes, when it starting to rot, it stinks at the head and than the rest of the body follows. They are the heads, we, the civil servants are the bodies, when they stinks, we stinks too". He said if the politicians are honest, uncorruptable and dedicated, majority of civil servants would follow suit.It's called leading by examples but, unfortunately, that has never been the case.

Would it be a wise move to have two-pricing system, one for domestic car and the other for foreign cars and what would be the saving in monetary term or would it have a negative impact on tourism in the country?

The top tourist arrivals by nationality in 2007 are shown below:

Singapore 10,492,692
Indonesia 1,804,535
Thailand 1,625,698
Brunei 1,172,154
China 689,293

(Source:Malaysia Hotel News)

Singaporeans are the biggest contributor to our tourism dollar.

Assuming 80% of Singaporeans,Thais and Bruneians entered the country by roads in cars,coaches and by trains.

There were 10,632,251 visitors in 2007. Assuming only 50% of the figure were true paying tourists,we would still have 5,316,125 visitors, majority of which probably came in their own cars. Let say we put a hypothetical figure of 3 persons to a car, we would have 1,772,041 cars entering the country and assuming they spend an average of RM300.00 on petrol per car, the total bill at current price would be RM532 million per year for foreign cars.Assuming the government increases the pump price for foreign cars by 100%, the total bill would be in the region of RM1.064 billions per year unsubsidised.

The total tourist receipts for 2007 was RM46.1 billions.It is safe to assume that 50-60% of the receipts were contributed mainly by Singaporeans,Thais and the other top arrivals.That's a whopping RM23 billion or more in tourism money, just losing 10% 0f it would mean RM2.3 billion gone, which is much more than the total revised fuel bill.

The net benefits to the government by increasing the price of petrol for foreign cars seemed negligible and not worth the effort.On the other hand it may loses the spin-offs from tourism if there were to be reduction of tourist arrivals due to the higher cost of fuel.

Government should not just look at what it pays directly out of the subsidy but should look at the bigger picture of the spin-offs from the industry.

To control and lessen the selling of subsidised fuel to foreign cars, the government should make it mandatory for all foreign cars entering the country to have minimum 3/4 tank of petrol.Any car that failed to comply with the ruling should be fined on the spot with a fixed amount set by the government.

With the 3/4 tank ruling those trying to buy cheap fuel at border towns would be weeded out and the bona fide tourists wouldn't be punished and the country continue to get its tourism spin-offs.

The Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said that Singaporeans are saying they don't mind paying the market rate.That's probably just lip service. The Singapore government for sure don't want the Singaporeans to come to Malaysia to spend their money here.Don't forget they have 3/4 tank ruling on Singapore cars leaving the island for Malaysia for many years now.

The best solution is to remove the entire subsidy on petrol and diesel and have one price structure.The government should only keep the subsidy on essential items such as cooking gas, rice and other essential foodstuffs for the sake of the poor and those in the low income bracket.

The RM56 billion subsidy spent on petrol and diesel is more than sufficient to improve the public transportation systems in the major cities and towns which will ease the burden of car ownership of those in the lower and middle income group.

Many Malaysians in that income group are living beyond their means, a culture infused during the Mahathir's era of making car ownership easily available to those who hardly can afford it, just to satisfy his industrialisation programme and show the world 'Malaysia Boleh' . Removing the subsidy on petrol and diesel and providing the people with better public transport would help those foolish Malaysians to get rid of the car they can ill afford.

Those in the lower income group spent over 50% of their monthly income to service the repayment,maintenance and repair of their cars with very little left for food, clothing and medical care. Some took to crime to supplement their income.

It is a complete fallacy to think that the poor and those in the lower income group are the one who benefited from the subsidy. If you don't own a car the price of petrol or diesel will have no impact on your daily lives other than the slight increase in the costs of living, the indirect results of the higher fuel cost.

The subsidised fuel are more benefiting to the upper middle class and wealthy Malaysians, those with their posh gas-guzzling monsters and multiple cars owners.

Maybe, now is the time to teach Malaysians how not to live with a subsidy mentality.

Footnote:
(For a small country, population of 380,000, the figure for Brunei seems odd.With that figure every Bruneian visited Malaysia an average of 3 times in 2007.The only plausible explanation, those are Bruneians going to and fro to the other side of Brunei separated by Limbang in Sarawak. They were all not tourists in the real sense, went through Malaysian Immigration in Sarawak, and were included in Malaysia's fallacious and sexed up statistics as tourists). See map below.

It's The Singer Not The Song

Hantu Laut

Sabah, the poorest and most backward state in Malaysia seems to have the magic wand when it comes to giving away their money to charity.

Seemingly poor Sabahans are not so poor after all when it's time to give away their money for a good cause.This act of charity and compassion can be seen in many charity concerts/functions held in the state, where almost every function, no matter how crappy the show is, have been well attended.

It's interesting to note that the people of this poor state can be so generous in spite of being called backward and poor. Where the hell their money come from?They probably have stacks of money hidden under their pillows.

The recent cyclone in Burma and earthquake in China have brought tragic and massive deaths and destruction to people and properties.As usual funds were raised by the government and the media by asking the public to donate.

In Sabah, a local newspaper the Daily Express launched a donation drive soon after the disasters.To date it has collected the amount as shown below:

1.China quake disaster RM453,275.80

2.The Myanmar cyclone disaster RM132,484.00

The total collection is almost touching RM600,000. and would be closed on Thursday, 29th May.

Similarly, the Star launched its donation drive about the same time and has collected as follows:

1. China quake disaster RM 33,031.00

2. Myanmar cyclone disaster RM134,500.00

The total amount collected by the newspaper now stands at RM167,531.00

I have no idea whether there are other newspaper in Peninsula besides the Star that are also collecting donations for the two disasters.

Call it stupidity or good nature, Sabahans have been very patience with the Federal government over the issue of illegal immigrants for many decades. Now they have to suffer the consequences of their stupidity. There are more illegal immigrants than locals in the state.Many illegal immigrants have obtained citizenship by dubious means.

Just go to any towns on the east coast, Tawau, Lahad Datu and Sandakan, you probably think you are in Mindanao or Sulawesi.

Sabahans, for their good nature have become strangers in their own land.

Come Rape Me

Hantu Laut

On the 7 of October 2000 Noor Suzaily Mukhtar (photo below), a computer engineer took the public bus to work thinking it was the safest mode of transport for her as there would be many people on the bus.

She had no inkling that fate would take an evil turn that day that would take her on a horrifying journey to her death.She was raped, sodomised and brutally murdered in the bus by the driver. The perpetrator, Hanafi Mat Hassan is a married man with family of his own.

Noor Suzaily Mukhtar was a good Muslim girl who dressed accordingly.She was not in any revealing dress or made any attempt to dress in such a way to attract the opposite sex or to arouse their sexual appetite.She was properly attired and wore a tudung (headscarf) yet she was raped and killed.

Schools girls Farra Derba Rustam and Nurul Hanis Kamil (photo left) who were adolescence also met the same fate on February 13th and July 3rd 2001 respectively. They were young innocent girls who were just reaching puberty and wouldn't have yet reached the level of sexuality to know how to be attractive to the opposite sex.

Than there was the famous case of Canny Ong who was kidnapped from the basement car park of Bangsar Shopping Centre brutally raped and murdered, also by a married man.The case of Nurin Jazlin, the pretty 7 year old girl brutally raped, murdered and her body stuffed in a bag.The latest case was Sharliene Mohd Nashar abducted on Jan 10 2008 and still missing.Are the dresses they used on the fateful day to be blamed for what happened to them.

There were many similar rapes and murders with many cases remain unsolved.

None of those victims were in revealing dresses yet they were raped and killed.

It is most disheartening that such shallow statement should come from the vice-president of the National Islamic Students Association of Malaysia. Munirah Bahari (photo left) who, like many religious bigots in this country, were just too lazy to do her homework before she opens her big mouth and embarrass herself.Even if she wishes to seek some publicity, at least do it with some finesse.

I find it intolerable that she uses religion to try score a point on a subject that concerned Malaysians of every race, colour and creed.If she has done her homework she wouldn't be making such presumptuous conclusion.


Police statistics on rape shows the breakdown of rape victims in the year 1995 as shown below:

Malays (645)
Chinese (139)
Indians ( 97 )
Others (124)

The statistic above may shock Munirah.Most rape victims were Malay girls and most of them were dressed in compliance of Islamic dress code.Why are they raped? Are they more licentious?Should they be blamed for the rape?

There have been cases where even 70 year old grandmother had been raped by rapist less than half her age.Is she to be blamed for the way she dressed?

It is also an insult on the male psyche that she thinks of a girl or woman who dressed attractively as fair game for rape.Maybe, Munirah should take a trip to South Beach in Florida or Copacabana Beach in Rio, Brazil and see for herself how thousands of naked and half-naked women in all shapes and sizes frolicking the beach with hardly any of them getting raped.

Although she is not completely wrong in her observation, she could have better presented the case if she had looked at it from a moral standpoint rather than religious viewpoint.

I certainly agree students should have proper dress code and transparent blouses for girls may not be appropriate attire in schools.The Ministry of Education should look into it and rectify the problem if it is true.

Munirah also said "It becomes a distraction to men, who are drawn to it, whether or not they like looking at it," she said of the current uniform.

"All this leads to babies born out of wedlock and to an extent, even prostitution," she said.

Gosh! Where this gosling come from. Go back to school, baby!

Mahathir:Cut The Nose To Spite The Face

Hantu Laut

If the saying 'pride goes before a fall' befitting anybody it would be former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad.A man befuddled with so much rage and hatred against his hand-picked successor Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, he is prepared to kill off his legacy just to get rid of Badawi by whatever means possible.

Why would an octogenarian like him, retired from the highest office and one who has transformed the country from a tropical backwater to a modern and successful nation be bothered by the dismal performance of his successor and the party and goes to such great length to tire himself and become a thorn in the flesh to the Prime Minister and the nation?

Mahathir has reached a point of despair and desperation and did the unthinkable, resigned his life membership from his party. The Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohammed Nazri Aziz called it a case of blackmail. The only sensible conclusion to his charade of caring for bangsa, ugama dan negara.

Mahathir might have 'cut his nose to spite his face' by resigning from his party and called on party members to leave the party.His tactical move to split the party to get rid of Abdullah by asking members to leave the party and only return after Abdullah's departure as party president and prime minister is damnable.He didn't get what he wanted.It didn't trigger off a mass exodus.It has the opposite effect, most senior party leaders closed ranks to show their support and loyalty to Abdullah.

Mahathir of all people should know from his twenty two years experience at the helm the kind of political patronage practised in UMNO and the invisible whip in the hand of the Prime Minister.He had used it more vigorously than any other prime ministers before him to keep his boys in line.So far there has been little indication of a mass exodus.

It certainly makes no sense to 'kill the goose that lays the golden egg' because of one old man lost legacy and vindictiveness. All of what Mahathir wanted to happen are perilous to the continued existence of UMNO. To do as suggested by him is suicidal for the party. There are predators waiting in the wings.

Mahathir is a man not short of conflicts,controversies and contradictions.He has picked a quarrel and parted ways with almost all of his deputies.

His tussle for the UMNO presidency against Tengku Razaleigh Hamza in 1987 where he won by a slim majority resulted in UMNO being declared an unlawful society by the court and emergence of a splinter party under Razaleigh called Semangat 46 and UMNO Baru under him.Semangat 46 was later dissolved and Razaleigh returned to the fold and to political wilderness.

The court ruling on the illegality of UMNO resulted in the sacking of the Lord President Tun Salleh Abas and a number of judges and the beginning of a dark chapter in the judiciary.Thereafter, the judiciary had been transformed from an independent body to one that is seen as subservient to the executives.

Last year a video tape of a lawyer trying to fix judicial appointments was released by Anwar Ibrahim to the public by posting it on YouTube which shocked the nation and eventually resulted in the setting up of a Royal Commission.The findings and recommendations of the Commission to investigate the six including Mahathir could have triggered off his latest reaction.

Mahathir thinks he has been unfairly treated, the Malays have abandoned him and that he had not broken any law in the course of his duty as Prime Minister although some of his actions in the past are considered as misdeeds by many Malaysians.

In 1987 a growing rift between him and Musa and misunderstanding and disagreement on policies led to the resignation of Musa as deputy prime minister.Many Malaysians called the government at that time the '2M government' which stands for Mahathir and Musa.Mahathir didn't like the version and were visibly annoyed and didn't want Musa in the limelight.Frustrated with Mahathir's autocratic style, Musa left the government and Malaysian politics on a sour note.

His next deputy was the rustic and less ambitious Ghafar Baba who posed no threat to him. Ghafar was eventually challenged by Anwar Ibrahim for the deputy president of the party and deputy prime minister.

In 1993 Anwar took over from Ghafar as Deputy Prime Minister and was also made the Minister of Finance. Anwar was seen as the blue-eyed boy of Mahathir and his meteoric rise to the top, overtaking other more senior party stalwarts, was not without the blessings of Mahathir.

The firebrand Anwar would soon become a cause for concern for Mahathir.Before he knew it, Anwar was already getting very popular with the rank and file and the Malay grassroots.Anwar's oratory skill and charisma attracted the young Turks in the party, a significant force to be reckon with and substantial political clout to make changes in the leadership.Talks had it, through the grapevine, that Anwar would challenge him at the next UMNO elections, which was vehemently denied by Anwar.From a protege Anwar had suddenly become an adversary and a threat to his position.

A mysterious book made its appearance at the UMNO General Assembly titled"50 Dalil Kenapa Anwar Tidak Boleh Jadi PM "(50 Reasons Why Anwar Should Not Be Prime Minister).The slanderous books were found inserted in the dockets of some delegates without their knowledge.Finally on 2 Sept 1998 Mahathir dropped the bombshell, asked Anwar to resign which Anwar refused.At about 7 p.m the same day Anwar received his letter of dismissal.Chain of events led to Anwar arrest on charges of corruption and sexual misconduct and was incarcerated for a few years but was later released from prison under Badawi's administration.

Anwar claimed they were trumped up charges brought about by Mahathir and tried under a judiciary subservient to him. Other than the abandonment of the crooked bridge, releasing Anwar from prison was another sore point he had with Badawi.

Now back to the present crisis with Abdullah Badawi.Why did Mahathir chose Abdullah as his successor and not Najib? Although he said he favours Najib over Abdullah but chose Abdullah because of age and seniority he has not been completely honest about what he said. When he said he actually wanted Najib, it was not all that true.At that time he sees Najib as a young man of his own mind and less likely to carry on his legacy and sees in Abdullah a soft, self-deprecating and amenable man whom he thinks he can manipulates and make use of to carry on his legacy.His underestimated Abdullah's capability of being not what he seems to be, as seen with the naked eye.Abdullah is not temperamental and can take criticism in his stride which Mahathir misconstrues as a weakness. It's the idiocy of 'judging the book by its cover'

It is, therefore, more difficult to read Abdullah's true character because he hardly display his temperament and has never been on the defensive or strike back when criticised. His liberalism was also taken as a sign of weakness.One has to admit that today, Malaysians have more freedom to criticise the government than during Mahathir's time, where any form of criticism or dissent, vocal or in writing, is seen as seditious and a threat to national security.During his time the press are more muffled than it is today.

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed may have forgotten what he practised when he was prime minister.His contradictions are just appalling and makes one wonder whether he meant what he says.

He wanted the party to remove the prerequisite for any candidate to contest the president and deputy president posts which was introduced by him to protect his position during his time but have now suddenly found it not expedient anymore.During his time he preached about loyalty to leaders and party. Today he is asking the very same people to abandon the party, be disloyal and get rid of the Prime Minister.

He complains about lack of press freedom, party members not allowed to meet him, no freedom to speak out within the party and the practices of cronyism and nepotism in Abdullah's government.If we care to look back, open our eyes and look at the distant mirage we would see our former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad in it, doing exactly what he says Abdullah is doing.It's a throwback from the past that's haunting him now.

The sad thing is many Malaysians have taken Mahathir's propaganda hook,line and sinker without looking at the situation now and those during his time.

The government today is working under intense pressure as compared to his time when the global economy was bullish and price of crude oil was substantially lower compared to what it is today.Not only the world is facing an energy crisis, it is now facing a serious food crisis. The only reason we have not suffered any catastrophe yet is because the global economy is more resilient now than before. The worse is yet to come and Malaysians should ready themselves to buckle up for a rough ride and live without subsidy mentality.

During his tenure as prime minister the average price of crude oil was less than US$20 per barrel.Today the price has exceeded US$130 per barrel.Prices of most commodities have spiralled up without any end in sight. The price of Thai White Fragrance Grade B Rice last week stood at US$1020 per ton F.O.B.In 2002 the price was below US$300 per ton F.O.B.In the building industry the price of steel bar has increased almost double since three years ago.To continue subsidising these commodities is not an easy task for any government especially when the price increases to very high level where huge amount of subsidies become a drop in the ocean and unappreciated by the consuming public.

It is probably better to increase the salaries of the work force and let the commodities find its own price level.Most Malaysians are more concerned with the amount they take home rather than the amount they have to spend.

If not for Mahathir unrelenting attacks on Abdullah and his government there would be no crisis in UMNO.Mahathir was partly responsible for the BN poor showing at the recent polls.His campaign against Abdullah and the BN was worse than that of the oppositions.He had actually helped the oppositions to garner more votes by his endless bickering at Abdullah and his government.

It is appalling that an ex prime minister is using the race card to rally support of the Malays to his undemocratic attempt to topple a duly elected prime minister and his government. It goes without saying that Mahathir thinks he is indispensible and only he and UMNO should rule this nation and only UMNO is a Malay party that can protect Malay interests.

When it suits him he whacked the Malays, calling them ungrateful, Melayu mudah lupa lah! dan macam-macam lagi, with complete disregard for decorum expected of a man of his stature.When he needs them he has no qualms about using the race card.

What about PAS and PKR, aren't they Malays too?

In many democratic countries the kind of elections results Abdullah got would be considered more than enough to form a stable government but unfortunately Mahathir didn't want to see it that way, he always wanted it "His Way" and his way has nothing to do with the love for this nation, it is for the love of personal glory.

It is also sad that a so-called veteran UMNO politician proposed for the Agong to intervene in the feud between Mahathir and Badawi and joined by some really smart bloggers who think likewise that the Agong should be dragged into this crisis.How could you call somebody like Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Tapa a veteran politician when he has absolutely no idea of the working of the constitution of this nation.The Agong is not a Penghulu or Ketua Kampong to be bothered with a long running personal feud of two politicians.It is not a government in crisis,it is not Badawi in crisis, it is not the Malays in crisis, it is only Mahathir in crisis.The constitution is very clear on who can remove the prime minister.The Agong can only accede to it if there were sufficient votes of no confidence passed in Parliament.

Abdullah may not be the best man for the job, but has he actually done that badly, would there be major change and improvement if Najib were to take over now?