Yong:The Monkey King

Hantu Laut

The President of SAPP, Yong Teck Lee has announced that either one of his two MPs would initiate a vote of no confidence against Abdullah when Parliament re-convene on Monday but said SAPP will remain in the BN and would let the BN decides on its fate.

This will be the first time in Malaysian history an attempt to remove a Prime Minister and a sitting government through vote of no confidence in Parliament.

Is Yong going for broke ? It appears so.

It may be a foregone conclusion that most of the opposition MPs,if not all, will support the motion.Without the support of additional MPs from BN the motion may not go through.Yong needs the support of at least 30 MPs from BN to throw Abdullah our if he already has 100% support of the oppositions.It is rumoured that PAS MPs may not participate in it.

It is common knowledge in Sabah that Yong was angry with the PM for not giving him the Sandakan parliamentary seat to contest under SAPP in the recent General Elections.The seat was given to LDP, a rival party once headed by his archrival Chong Kah Kiat, whom Yong has long standing feud with.Both were vying to be the accepted Chinese leader when Chong was still the President of LDP.

All the hullabaloo about illegal immigrants issues are just excuses.This problem has been there since Mustapha's time.Mahathir has been there for 22 years and Yong was thick in the government with him and was Chief Minister under him.Why didn't he fight tooth and nail with Mahathir to resolve the problem then?

He could have done what he accused Abdullah of not doing now when he was Chief Minister and the more powerful Mahathir was Prime Minister, who had no qualms about sending political opponents to prisons but are not prepared to send illegal immigrants away from this country.It showed that when he was in that chair Yong forgot there was a serious illegal immigrants problem in the state.

Yong also forgot there were allegations of a Project M, whatever that meant, where illegal immigrants were issued with Malaysian identity cards and allowed to vote.Some of those voters voted for him when he stood for election in the constituency that covers Likas and Pulau Gaya where thousands of this kind of voters are found.Did he complain?

Every chief minister of Sabah has failed the people on this issue but at least most of them don't go around pretending to champion the cause after they were no more in office and used it as an excuse to challenge the leadership.Leaders like him should have the guts and do the honourable thing, ask his MPs to resign and challenge the government to a by-election and prove it that he and his party have the people's support.

The illegal immigrants problem started with former Chief Minister Mustapha, with the blessings of the Federal govenment then, allowing Filipinos from the southern Philippines to enter Sabah as refugees.

During Mustapha's time no Malaysian identity cards were ever issued to them, they were given UN approved status as refugees and issued with documents known as IMM 13. The issuance of Malaysians identity cards,geniune or otherwise, can be traced to the days of Berjaya and has now exploded to unimaginable proportion.

After the fall of Berjaya, Yong played active part in politics in Sabah from being a deputy chief minister during PBS time to a chief minister under the BN and he had every chance to pursue his very noble cause of getting rid of illegal immigrants from Sabah.Former Chief Minister Chong Kah Kiat tried and failed miserably because the Federal government didn't play ball with him and at that time the all-powerful Mahathir was Prime Minister.

All previous prime ministers and chief ministers had failed the people of Sabah to provide them security and protection from the 'enemy in the midst'.None have been sincere to tackle the problem once and for all.Sabahans are now refugees in their own land because of greedy politicians like Yong and the rest of them.

What makes Yong thinks if all the previous prime ministers couldn't do what he wanted them to do, Badwai can do miracles and resolve the problem instantaneously.

I am sick to the bone listening to such pathetic and shameless talk of politicians who are rotten to the core with personal greed and pretend to champion the rights of Sabahans.

Yong is a political animal, he truly believes Anwar Ibrahim would be the next prime minister and he is preparing himself to jump on the next bandwagon and on to the next gravy train.

It's nothing but a sham and political blackmail.

"The Monkey King" is a renowned classical Chinese novel written by Wu Cheng-en .The Chinese name for the novel is "Jouney To The West".

Anwar Ibrahim Exposed

Hantu Laut

With so much talk about Anwar taking over the government soon, it got me pondering the past weeks on how he is going to get around doing this rather difficult task and whether I should have this polemic on my blog and infuse a nuclear meltdown among Anwar's impervious supporters and suffer the aftermath of a nasty fallout.

I think I shall take my chances and let it be. After all I wouldn't be getting physical blows from those scurrilous guttersnipes, maybe, at worse a busted ego which evanescent rather quickly to do any harm to my aged faculty.

The jungles of the worldwide web are full of spins,spins,spins and just about everyone with access to the internet are spinning something or another.They see it as their job to needle,poke,manipulate and dissect politicians with some having no qualms about spreading rumours, disinformation and innuendo as one guttersnipes called 'george k' did when he came to this blog and smeared my nice clean white sheet with his shitty dirty fabricated story of 'slush' accounts of our former prime minister and his family thinking I would easily fall for his ruse and posted that heap of rubbish on my blog.

Despite all those earnest declarations by Anwar of him taking over the government latest by September this year there seemed to be something missing in his calculations of what he called "we have the numbers". There appears to be no logical progression to those numbers under the present circumstances.

Anwar may have to wait until the next elections to try capture the federal government.His sudden realization that it would be almost next to impossible for him to takeover the government this term unless there is a big exodus from almost all of the non-UMNO(United Malay National Organisation) and PBB components of the BN(Barisan Nasional)

The biggest stumbling block for him would be MCA(Malaysia Chinese Association) and PBB(Parti Bangsa Bersatu) in Sarawak who are not likely to switch camp at this moment. That's why he has changed his tune by saying that some lawmakers from MCA are going to join his Pakatan Rakyat. Without the full thrust of MCA and those from Sabah and Sarawak, he wouldn't have a chance of taking over the government.He may get only some of those from Sabah and Sarawak and, maybe, some from MCA, but wouldn't be enough to grab the trophy from Abdullah.It is not as easy as many of us would like to think.

With the exception of Yong Teck Lee of SAPP, the other leaders in the BN components may not want to jeopardise their already well-rewarded positions. Only those who has not worked out the risk factor and those disgruntled or has nothing to lose would cross over to Pakatan.

The maximum he could get from Sabah and Sarawak would be from the non-UMNO and non- PBB lawmakers which at best can only give him 11 from Sabah and 16 from Sarawak getting a maximum of 26, not enough to form a simple majority. Without massive defections from MCA he has very little chance of taking over the government.

MCA has 15 parliamentary seats , MIC 3 and Gerakan 2.He has to take at least two-thirds of those seats including the 11 from Sabah and 16 from Sarawak to have a comfortable majority.It is not going to be an easy task for him as he has made it clear,unless it is spuriously a lie, he is not offering any monetary benefits or positions to those who wish to cross over.

Politics in Malaysia and elsewhere is all about money, positions and status.Even those who started with a noble value would eventually ended up licking their expired nobility.It would be likened to 'looking for a needle in a haystack' to find a politician with strong conviction to only serve the people and nation and Anwar should know this, he came from the same political school.

Would MCA get better treatment if it joins PR(Pakatan Rakyat) with arch rival DAP who has 28 seats compared to MCA 15? assuming MCA moved over en-bloc.With the two tigers in DAP, Karpal Singh and Lim Kit Siang, MCA would be food for the tigers.

The political landscape would take a drastic and scary change if MCA and all the other non-UMNO parliamentarians crossed over to Pakatan Rakyat. It would be completely new dawn in Malaysian politics and the end of 'ketuanan Melayu' that our former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad kept reminding the Malays to safeguard.

Below would be the scenario if Anwar can successfully wrestles the federal government from Abdullah on the assumption that no UMNO and PBB parliamentarians joined in the crossover.

Pakatan Rakyat new profile:

Non-Malay seats
------------------
DAP 28
Sabah(non-UMNO) 11
Sarawak(non-PBB) 16
PKR(non-Malay) 11
MCA/MIC/Gerakan 20
--------------------------------
Total 86

Malay seats
------------------

PKR 20
PAS 23
----------------------------------
Total 43

That would give him 129 seats, just enough to form a weak coalition and for the first time a government without Malay majority, a true Bangsa Malaysia government widely espoused by Pakatan Rakyat and many of my fellow bloggers.

Unless Anwar has other formula he would have to be patient and wait his time until the next elections to have a go again at the coveted title.

The above scenario is based on UMNO and PBB not losing any of their parlimentarian to the crossover and would stay as opposition until the next elections.

Another scenario that may not be too far-fetched is the making of a new and more powerful all-Malay coalition comprising UMNO, PAS, PKR and PBB with 147 seats in Parliament.

On the question of offering Sabah 20% royalty whether the Prime Minister is empowered to change the rate of royalty payment to oil producing states without making amendments to the 'Petroleum Development Act' I have absolutely no idea.

Section 7 (which appears below) of the Act seems to empower the PM authority over certain things but had no mention of the royalty rates to the states.

Section 7:Power to make regulations

7. The Prime Minister may make regulations for the purpose of
carrying into effect the provisions of this Act and, without prejudice
to the generality of the foregoing, such regulations may, in particular,
provide for—

(a) the conduct of or the carrying on of—
(i) any business or service relating to the exploration,
exploitation, winning or obtaining of petroleum;
(ii) any business involving the manufacture and supply
of equipment used in the petroleum industry;
(iii) downstream activities and development relating
to petroleum;

(b) the marketing and distribution of petroleum and its products;

(c) penalties in the form of a fine not exceeding one hundred
thousand ringgit or imprisonment not exceeding five years
or both for breach of any of the regulations and for noncompliance
with any term or condition of any licence,
permission or approval issued or granted under the regulations;

(d) the forfeiture of anything used or intended to be used in the
commission of any such breach or non-compliance.

If the power to change the rate of royalty payment is not included in the above section than Anwar can only effect the change by amendment to the 'Petroleum Development Act', which would need two-thirds majority in Parliament, which he wouldn't have.

Unless such power is granted under the following section:

Section 4:Cash payment by the Corporation

4. In return for the ownership and the rights, powers, liberties
and privileges vested in it by virtue of this Act, the Corporation
shall make to the Government of the Federation and the Government
of any relevant State such cash payment as may be agreed between
the parties concerned.

Now I understand why Abdullah and Najib are not the least bit shaken or worried about Anwar's claims.

Haste Makes Waste

Hantu Laut

Tengku Razaleigh revelation that a component party of BN might be leaving the coalition before the end of this month have many people guessing.It may not be too difficult to identify the party concerned .

Speculation is rife that the SAPP may be the party that is going to ditch the BN due to unhappiness of its President Yong Teck Lee with Abdullah Badawi's inaction to the grouses of Sabahans on the thorny issues of illegal immigrants, cooking oil subsidy and hosts of other problems effecting the state.

Was Yong's concern for Sabah sincere or it is just an excuse to 'tukoran bankad' (changing shirt) to fulfill his own personal agenda?

SAPP is not the sole Chinese-based party in Sabah and Yong couldn't claim to represent the whole Chinese community in the state. LDP, another Chinese-based party formerly headed by Chong Kah Kiat has 3 state seats and 1 parliamentary seat.Peninsula-based MCA holds another state seat.

Yong's rumbling of discontent for the past few weeks and his ultimatum to Abdullah to resolve the issues by August is seen as a precursor to SAPP leaving the BN and stimulus for Anwar to launch his machinery to take over the federal government through a vote of no confidence against Abdullah which at this moment look impotent unless there is a big exodus of lawmakers from Sabah and Sarawak or the Peninsula joining Pakatan Rakyat.

Abdullah imperious treatment of Sabah and Sarawak after the 8th March General Elections has transformed the massive support for the BN into anger and disillusionment for the people of the two states, Sabah in particular because of its excellent contribution to the victory of BN.

This would be the second time Yong parted ways from political expediency. In 1994 he defected from PBS to form SAPP which was later accepted into the BN.

Would Yong and SAPP join Anwar or would he goes into political oblivion if Anwar failed to secure the federal government?

For a minuscule party like the SAPP pointing gun at the Prime Minister's head may not be a wise move.

Judges And Politicians:Ghosts From The Past

Hantu Laut

"I am sick and fed up of judges who have no guts to speak up when in office and to live up to their oath of office.

Judges demand an independent judiciary but are unwilling to make sacrifices to ensure its independence. It is such silence in the face of such outrageous misconduct by a fellow judge that confirms the public’s perception that judges are opportunists and cowards.

Why make spurious allegations now and not before?

The problem of the judiciary is to be found within the judiciary. Don’t blame third parties for your sordid state of affairs!"

Those are words of Matthias Chang, the ever faithful and obedient sidekick of the former prime minister.

He said Justice Datuk Ian Chin must be sacked for conduct unbecoming of a judge and prosecuted for sedition and contempt.

He and the ex-premier son Mukhriz lamented that Justice Chin should have brought up the matter when Mahathir was still the Prime Minister.

He is definitely faithful to the former prime minister and goes out or his way to defend him and what is even more amazing he, like his former boss, is calling for a tribunal to remove Justice Chin.Didn't that sound familiar and similar to what happened in 1988 when Tun Salleh Abas was sacked by a tribunal.

It was common knowledge that the Agong at that time before he ascended the Johor throne had been prosecuted by Salleh Abas when he was public prosecutor, convicted of homicide and sentenced to six months in jail.It didn't make life too difficult for Mahathir to get what he wanted.

Brought up the matter when Mahathir was still the PM ? Mukhriz is either joking or pretended not to know what kind of a man his father is.

Does Matthias thinks judges should suffer in silence and not speak out if there were injustices against them.What would have happened to Justice Chin if he had spoken when Mahathir was still the PM ? It wouldn't be too far-fetched to assume that a tribunal would have been the answer to Justice Chin's revelation.

Matthias was wrong when he says there was public perception that judges are opportunists and cowards.The only public perception of judges that I know of are that some of them (not all) are corrupted.

Matthias appealed to fellow Malaysians not to pay heed to the sideshow and said " You may have noticed by now, that whenever the Badawi Regime has a crisis eg. The UMNO crisis following the General Election disaster and now the oil price fiasco, the Badawi spin doctors would attempt to divert your attention with allegations against Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

This happened just before the General Elections with the setting up of the Royal Commission and the wild allegations against Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

This is another side show to throw your mind and anger away from the oil price hike to a non-issue by a frustrated old Judge who cannot even lie properly. This judge is angry because he covets the post of Chief Judge of Sarawak and Sabah. He cannot understand why Tan Sri Richard Malanjun was promoted to the post instead. He blames the former prime minister but he care not to examine his infantile behaviour. And now, the desperate politicians are taking advantage of his stupidity for their political ends!

Don’t fall for this insidious tactic of the Badawi Regime and the blogs and websites fronting for Anwar Ibrahim".

Matthias, like master, like man has thrown a challenge against the Honorable Judge and said
"In the circumstances, I call upon this disreputable judge to an Open Public Debate on the issues raised in his Open Court Statement within a week from the date hereof.

If he refuses, I am calling him a coward, a liar and a man unfit to continue in office as a judge.

And I challenge him to hold me in contempt of his court in making this challenge!

And I am warning Justice Datuk Ian Chin that I intend to lodge a police report against him on his unfounded allegation on the expiry of my notice to him to accept my challenge!

The courage of Justice Datuk Ian Chin’s convictions will be tested by the courage of my convictions!"

Justice Ian Chin is known for his high integrity and had no reason to lie and would not benefit from such histrionics. I wouldn't want to speculate on the two judges who didn't hear what was being said by Mahathir at that time.

From my experience attending conferences before, I found it is normal for some people, young and old, to fall asleep while the speaker is delivering his speech.Most of the time it is out of boredom and made worse if the speaker is not articulated.Justice Chin said it was a thinly veiled threats which possibly was not picked up by the other two judges.

I am certain Justice Chin will not allow himself to be used by politicians.

Matthias is seeing ghosts from the past.

You can read his full article here.