Anwar and his antics

In the news today :

Polis mahu dapatkan DNA Anwar

17/07/2008 3:23pm

KUALA LUMPUR 17 Julai _ Polis mungkin menimbang pelbagai tindakan termasuk menggunakan perintah mahkamah bagi mendapatkan sampel DNA Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Timbalan Ketua Polis Negara, Tan Sri Ismail Omar berkata, ini berikutan keengganan Penasihat Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) itu membenarkan sampelnya diambil di Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) malam tadi.

Ismail menjelaskan demikian pada sidang akhbarnya di Bukit Aman petang ini. - Utusan

But on the 1st July recently, Anwar said this :

“They have not replied until today. Take my DNA, take my hair. My hair is everywhere, except this part,” said Anwar as he smiled and patted the middle part of his head.

Anwar boleh!

The one where Anwar Ibrahim raised more questions

In my last article, I wrote that there is something wrong in this whole incident involving Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his sodomy allegations. I said there was something wrong because Anwar in all his actions and the reaction of people close to him did not behave like he was on the path of the truthful.

I was anticipating some form of news that would extinguish my doubts about him in this matter. But his press conference at PKR headquarters on Tuesday left me greatly disappointed. I was banking on him to leave no stones unturned but eventually, he created more questions and doubts. But then again, my overly cynical mind may be working overtime here. Maybe because I drank too much coffee today. Or maybe I am just exhausted with all the mind numbing news in cyberspace.

Anyway, as a prelude, I do not fancy this style of writing (seems cluttered) but due to the magnitude of the issue at hand and the article below is rather lengthy, I decided to write a line by line analysis where applicable. Bear in mind that this is a rush job so please pardon any grammatical errors.

Nevertheless, I took the liberty to copy paste the excerpt of his press conference from a website. My opinion is in red.

“DPM, Rosmah behind sodomy allegation, says Anwar”

PETALING JAYA: Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim alleges that the Deputy Prime Minister and his wife are part of a three-person team behind the sodomy allegation he is recently accused of.

He added that all indications thus far pointed to a conspiracy from the office of Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor and Najib’s special officer Khairil Anas Yusof. (This is an accusation by itself. Although the police are still investigating this, he had pre-empted everyone by providing this statement regarding certain ‘indications’). 

“I don’t blame the accuser, I blame the conspirators in this game, using people as pawns,” he said Tuesday during a packed press conference at the PKR headquarters here. (God bless Anwar and Saiful)

Apart from the photo PKR recently released showing the accuser Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan with Najib’s aide Khairil, Anwar on Tuesday revealed a second link allegedly connecting Najib’s office to the sodomy accusation. (I couldn’t believe the audacity of Wan Azizah trying to implicate Najib based only on 1 meaningless photo last Sunday)

Anwar said there was a statutory declaration stating Saiful was closely connected to Khairul Anas, and that he had met secretly with Najib and Rosmah on several occasions. (Suddenly he revealed there was a statutory declaration made? When was it made? After the original police report made by Saiful or before? If it’s after, then it would certainly be less credible since there would now be a reasonable doubt that the SD was done just to lay credence to his recent accusation on Najib and Rosmah)

“This person, supposed to be my staff, working for me, but having secret meetings with Najib and the wife, aneh sekali … (very strange),” Anwar said. (So, is this the so called ‘all indications’? How poor was his security checks of people surrounding him? And yet, he did not terminate this ‘treacherous’ Saiful even after he got to know about his betrayal?  Plus, how would meetings with Najib absolve him from ever sodomising Saiful?)  

He added that the statutory declaration by an unnamed person would be revealed soon. (This SD should have been revealed during the first press conference by Wan Azizah. Why was it not produced earlier to douse all doubts? A question; can an SD be backdated?)

Anwar also said the sodomy charge should be dropped because it was frivolous and nonsensical. (Yes, of course it should be dropped. But Saiful had accused him and had made a police report. He would not have gone through all the trouble of doing police report, having medical checks etc just to be made light of his current predicament. Anwar in turn, should also deny it vehemently and provide alibis as well)

When asked if he had any alibi on the night of the alleged sodomy, Anwar was silent for several seconds; he answered another question first, and then replied that he had ample proof and that he was with many people at that time. (Why be silent and divert the attention by answering another question? Why can’t he just reveal where he was last Thursday there and then? Apa yang susah sangat?)

He declined to elaborate, saying he had been advised by his lawyers to refrain from making any statement relating to the case. (Now this is the mother of all my cynicisms. After accusing Najib and Rosmah without ample proof of any direct involvement with Saiful, he suddenly said, he must not be making any statements relating to this case? What hypocrisy. Conveniently trying to hide under the pretext of some legal context while at the same time failed to provide the ultimate proof of his innocence to the public through an alibi) 

Compared to the first time when he was charged with sodomy in 1998, Anwar said this time he was well prepared with facts and documents to clear his name.

“In 1993, the police stole my diary and never returned it. We struggled to think of what happened years ago. This time, events are still fresh in my memory. There is the diary and witnesses. (Then there shouldn’t be any problem for Anwar or even Wan Azizah to provide his whereabouts during the alleged incident then. Why keeping mum?)

“No way am I going to give them an easy route this time. I will fight them hard and effectively, because it is the second round of dirty conspiracy,” said Anwar. (Logically, he should not even be fighting. Just give the police his alibi, and this thing would be settled once and for all. Why must he drag this matter like a bitter old bully? Why must he create more tension? Is being ‘ganas’ his natural trait?)

To another question, Anwar said he believed the sodomy accusation was re-used 10 years later because “they think this is the best to cause anxiety and disgust among Muslims.” (Yes it is. And his reluctance to clear his name quickly disgust the Muslims even more)

He called on the police not to spring an arrest surprise, adding his lawyers had written three letters to the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney-General indicating his willingness to co-operate in the investigation. (Why would he be quick to judge that the police will arrest him? The police might arrest Saiful instead for making a false police report. That is a possibility too. But he is painting himself to be the innocent fall guy. In my books, the fall guy could be Najib while the victim is Saiful. While the winner is Pak Lah and Anwar. When I said Pak Lah, I actually meant KJ)

They have not replied until today. Take my DNA, take my hair. My hair is everywhere, except this part,” said Anwar as he smiled and patted the middle part of his head.

Asked if he would lodge a police report on the death threats he received, Anwar replied, “Let’s see how they investigate my report about the fabrication of evidence lodged against the IGP and the AG.” He also mentioned that a former Chief Justice and a Federal Court Judge had apologised to him for the cases involving him in 1998 and 1999. (Another statement that confounded me. I nearly shouted out loud, ‘for the love of God, Datuk Seri!’. Why won’t he lodge a police report about the death threats and assassination attempts on his life? Is his life not that important now? It was very important 2 days ago when he hid in the Turkish embassy! The investigation on the fabrication of evidence might take months. He might not survive any assassination attempt in the future if proper precaution deriving from a police report was not implemented. We love him  too much. Please make a report now. But I guess all the hired assassins had called in sick today. That was why Anwar was brave enough to be standing in front of a huge crowd in Stadium Melawati in Shah Alam tonight)

(Note: On Sunday, Anwar in his blog stated about this fabrication of evidence by the IGP and AG:

“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.”

At first I thought that the fabrication of evidence would mean that Anwar has evidence that the IGP and AG had fabricated some evidence regarding his sodomy trials in 1998. Right? This will surely land the IGP and AG in hot soup as the past 1998 allegations would certainly be a lie. But alas, he was only highlighting the trials of the then IGP - Tan Sri Rahim Noor over the beatings he received. Now I am not belittling the gravity of that situation. But please do not think that the readers are idiots. He was clearly trying to create doubts and shifting the focus)

Anwar claimed the former Chief Judge had cried and said that “they were under orders.” (Will Tun Eusoff Chin verify this? His name again has been dragged into this issue. Anyway, why is this statement relevant with the current issue? Why is Anwar stalling and misdirecting? Will the current Chief Judge also be ‘under the orders of the PM/DPM’ if this police report be turned into a court trial? Surely with the more credible line of legal fraternity we have now in Malaysia like the Chief Justice, Zaid Ibrahim and Ian Chin, absolute justice can be dispensed to Anwar)

The Federal Court Judge, added Anwar, had passed him a message saying: “You understand la sir, please understand us, circumstances were such and nothing could be done”. (Again, what is the relevance in this? Please provide the name of this judge so that we can remove any element of hearsay)

To that, he urged them to have the courage to publicly state their case. (If he has brains and sincere enough in proving his innocence, he should have made, long time ago, a police report about this ‘corrupted Chief Justice and Federal Court judge instead! Why stop at ‘urging’?)

“How do I declare a private conversation between me and a former Chief Judge who told me he had no choice; and in order to save the judiciary he had to do it,” said the PKR de facto leader. (By making an affidavit obviously. Or at least, swear on the Quran - mainly to appease the disillusioned PAS members)

Commenting on his two-day stay at the Turkish Embassy, Anwar lambasted the Government for creating an issue over the invite.

“Anyone in their right mind will know it is not possible for me to enter the Turkish Embassy without permission in this high profile case,” he said.

He thanked the Turkish ambassador, Prime Minister and its people for hosting him.

——————————————————————————–

So there you go. My niggling doubts. In my opinion, this press conference brings more confusion to the readers. It could either be the fault of the reporter, or Anwar himself drank too much Turkish coffee. Thanks and goodnight. 

By the way, tonight’s highly recommended good reading material and its near relevance to this article are :

1) ktemoc konsiders

2) future fast forward

I have no comment about Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim

On second thought, I actually do have some.

After reading much news for the past 2 days, I sense there is something wrong somewhere. There is this niggling thought at the back of my mind which I cannot place it. Is it doubt? Is it some kind of fear of the unknown? Is it anger? It might be confusion. Yes, mostly confusion.

But whatever it is, I just want to comment on a few things that troubles me. But I do understand that some of my concerns here will be answered or even be found unjustified with the latest barrage of news in the media pouring in as we speak (or read).

Nevertheless, here they are;

1] As I see it, Anwar would have easily told everyone immediately after the police report was made that he did not do it. As proof, he should just gave an alibi that he was not there as alleged by Saiful Bukhary in the police report. I’m sure if he did not do it, he could have easily produced a damn good alibi and witnesses about his whereabouts to counter the allegations within that report. Bloody easy. No need to create unnecessary fuss by hiding like an escaped convict in a Turkish embassy and let the Turkey Government along with the country’s name to be dragged in the mud. Naturally, Anwar being the ‘Darling of the Western Media’, is due to get enough publicity and adulation which can even rival George W. Bush and Barack Obama;

2] Datin Seri Wan Azizah told the press that the sodomy accuser, Saiful Bukhary was a volunteer who eventually became a special assistant to Anwar. His background was not checked upon joining as a PKR staff. Why is that so? How could he be easily appointed to a position which many would kill for? (LETTER FROM SAIFUL’S UNCLE IS IN THE COMMENT SECTION - time: 16:00);

3] For a person who allegedly told the whole freaking world that he had received death threats as far back since March 2008, he doesn’t seem to be behaving like his life was in danger. In fact, Anwar moved around the country, busy campaigning and meeting the rakyat openly. Even on 14th April, the so called anniversary of ‘Black 14′, he seemed not afraid of any assassination plot. When police wanted to stop his speech midway, he was adamant to carry on. No police reports were made regarding any death threats. Suddenly, as soon as a police report was made against him on Saturday for an alleged sodomy incident, he told everyone that there is a plot to kill him and he fears for his life. To me, this is just a case of diverting attention. But then again, Anwar was really good in tarnishing the country’s image since 1998;

4] Why would Najib (as insinuated by PKR to be the culprit of this incident) would want to produce another report of sodomy on Anwar when only half of the nation would believed it? It’s counter productive and stupid. Using the same old script? Even Najib would know not to do that. And Anwar wasn’t even strong enough to topple the weakened BN government. All signs that there will be defections from the BN reps fizzled out in disappointment. In early April, Raja Petra predicted that on April 18th, something big will going to happen, insinuating a mass defection. But that did not happen. Even the vote of no confidence mooted by SAPP was not taken up by the lethargic Opposition. Even the crossover date of September 16th was highly debatable;

5] Why would Wan Azizah produced old pictures of the accuser with various ministers to the press? What was her motive other than to give hints that the accuser was a mole in PKR and a stooge of BN. Then again, how could PKR be so stupid to let a mole to pass through their ranks and be so close to Anwar in the first place? And, what if somebody showed the press of Saiful Bukhary pictures with Anwar? Wouldn’t that give hints that Saiful was indeed quite close to Anwar? I do not believe there are no pictures taken of Saiful and Anwar during the campaigning period or even after the election. And, importantly, is showing Saiful in a picture with Mustapa Mohamad, Azalina Othman and Shahrir Samad is proof enough that Anwar did not sodomise the boy? Is that all Wan Azizah can muster in his defense?;

6] Another thing that really confused me was Anwar’s statement in Utusan Malaysia and Bernama:

“…bekas Timbalan Perdana Menteri itu mendakwa wujud konspirasi pihak tertentu disebabkan niatnya untuk bertanding pilihan raya kecil yang akan diumumkan dalam minggu ini.”

Why would he want to contest in a state seat by-election? And in Sanglang, Perlis? He wants to be the opposition leader of Perlis State Assembly? Is that his ambition now?  This doesn’t make any sense! Why would the conspirators conspire to make this police report or even assassinate him just to prevent him to contest in Perlis? They can just let him rot in the state assembly and everyone will be happy; 

7] I really do not understand why Anwar Ibrahim, upon leaving the Turkish embassy, made self defeating statements such as this (as reported in Bernama);

When asked whether he will cooperate in the police investigation into his aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan’s allegations against him, Anwar’s retort was, “What investigations?”.
“I will assist in any inquiries but investigations which are bad in nature like in the past, where there were bad judges, prosecutors, police and witnesses…”

Why did he think so far ahead? It was merely a police report. It’s not even a court case yet. He purposely made himself sounds guilty. But there is a twist; according to him and his supporters, it was a trumped up charge. To me, if you know what you are doing, and you are the one whose telling the truth, you should not be afraid of anything. You should not even be hiding or crying for amnesty from a foreign embassy. Plus, the judiciary now is in good shape these days. You can always count on Zaid Ibrahim to be on your side. And you can get the judges who released you in 2004 to preside over your case. IF there is going to be any case. Why give statements as if you think you are going to be charged at all? You have not been proven guilty yet. Be cool.  

8] Days after Pak Lah announced the reforms in the judiciary in April, Wan Azizah was among the first person to say that the judiciary and its independence has been restored. But in her press conference yesterday, she riled and complained that she does not believe the police nor the judiciary and lambasted the government; and 

9] Is there now a vacancy in the post of special assistant to Anwar Ibrahim and if yes, can I apply? Do I still be subjected to a background check? How much is the remuneration package and what are the benefits? Is condo Desa Damansara part of the perks?

Somebody took the jam out of Ian Chin’s donuts!

I think High Court judge Ian Chin should just keep his mouth shut before anything he says will tarnish his reputation as a judge. He fired another salvo yesterday :

“…Dr Mahathir for what he had done and for what he is trying to do is a devil incarnate but to those who had suffered under his hands, even that description my be rather complimentary,” said Chin in open court during a hearing of an election petition in Sibu, Sarawak, this afternoon.

A devil incarnate? This statement made by him is very unbecoming of a High Court judge. I read TDM’s reply to Ian Chin’s accusations last week and not one word in that article could justify the use of such derogatory words as ‘devil incarnate’. People might say that he was only doing the ‘right thing’ and only ‘highlighting his personal grievances’. But that’s just it. He is not a common man with ordinary standing. He is a High Court Judge. A judge of all people, should be above any one-upmanship. Why didn’t he just make a police report? Or maybe even *gasp* a statutory declaration?   

But yesterday, Judge Ian Chin continued his public attack towards TDM. However, he still did not give any concrete answers on TDM’s denial of ever giving a thinly veiled threat. Instead, he berated his experience in the ‘boot camp’, which as it turns out, was just an ordinary Biro Tata Negara course.

When at least 3 highly distinguished judges have come out in the open to deny ever hearing TDM issued out threats to judges and also even Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim could not remember ever attending the closing ceremony of judges’ conference, Ian Chin’s reputation was beginning to be at stake. So there is no wonder that Ian Chin would do something any normal, desperate people would do when backed up to the wall; continue attacking while side stepping the original issue.

What was the original issue brought forth by Ian Chin himself? That TDM had issued out a ‘thinly veiled’ threat to judges, which TDM had denied in his blog. But has Ian Chin rebuked it with any other proof of evidence? From his latest salvo, no. To me, Ian Chin’s revelation is beginning to sound like a fraud. Instead of giving us some more evidence, he lamented on how demeaning for a judge of his stature to endure such embarassing moments during that course.

Chin revealed more about the boot camp he attended as a judge and the humiliation which participants were forced into.

“…You surrendered your wallet, your air ticket and handphone when you checked into the camp and you cannot go anywhere as it is in an isolated place and you cannot leave for anywhere as there is no transport.

“You are totally cut off from the outside world, with no newspapers or television and with selected news conveyed to you at the assembly for the purpose of sampling reaction such as the news that a certain party had won a by-election which elicited some applause from some young officers but they earned the rebuke of a High Court judge as that was an improper display of partisanship.

He said the objective of the boot camp was to “make us take orders” and a “junior officer was made our leader from whom we have to take orders from and one Sessions Court judge who disagreed with that was made to publicly apologise on a podium to his junior officer leader.

“Another method employed was to chisel away the view we held of how independent we should be in our job as High Court judges and this they did by punishing or humiliating a High Court judge by making him carry a brick all the time after he broke the egg which each of us must carry wherever we went, including marching.

“All these were, in my view, for the purpose of softening us to take order for the benefit of the government, meaning Dr Mahathir.”

What is it with judges in Malaysia? They are way above their heads sometimes. Have they forgotten the word ’humility’? When even a prime minister can wash his own plates and attend all the necessary itinerary of that course, Ian Chin felt he is too high class to suffer this ‘demeaning’ activity.

Not many people have attended such courses but for those who have, carrying a brick as punishment for breaking the egg that you should have guarded with your own life is not so surprising. Not only BTN use the ‘egg’ method, other courses used it too. Just ask any participants of ‘Out Bound Schools’, ‘Reserve Officer Training Unit’, any team building exercises and many others. There is a reason to carry an egg for the entire duration of the course. Perhaps Ian Chin could not see its significance.

And to shatter Ian Chin’s notion that only Malaysia have this kind of ‘draconian’ courses, other countries in the Commonwealth have it too. In Singapore for instance, they call it the ’National Service’. And it’s not for the duration of a few days but for two years! Two years for the “purpose of softening them to take order for the benefit of the government”.

He continued on the attacks by completely being oblivious that it was him who had drawn first blood.

Chin also took offence with Mahathir in stating that there was a police report made against the judge for hiding his past when hearing a certain case.

“Dr Mahathir, by waving the supposed police report the way he did, lent support to the general held view that this prime minister kept a docket on everyone useful but with a skeleton in their cupboard so that he can manipulate then on pain of disclosing the skeleton,” he said in a lengthy defence against the ex-PM’s remarks.

“I thought only the Stasi of the then communist East Germany do such a thing but then it was done for the benefit of the state not for an individual.

“In my view, he is trying to exploit this general belief to wave that supposed police report to get the public to believe that I have committed something unlawful which he is privy to and which the public is not unaware so that my integrity could be put under suspicion to make what I have revealed unbelievable.

“Let me declare to the public that I am as clean as a whistle and my life is an open book.”

Wow. Okay then, why afraid of a police report? It wasn’t even TDM who made the police report. He was merely stating a fact that if Ian Chin is having a ‘holier than thou’ attitude and accusing the former prime minister with unsubtantiated (and still is) fact, then he should be prepared with all the proof and evidence. And, to strengthen his defense, TDM included a fact in his blog that Judge Ian Chin is not free of any perceived misdeeds as well (with the existence of the police report). Making allegations based on opinions is easy. Anyone can do that. But making a public accusations without any proof is highly risky. Even a judge should know that! 

Trying to equate TDM with the Stasi in East Germany? Now that is quite a stretch. How many thousand of judges were tortured and assassinated by secret police since 1981 to 2003? But I think Judge Ian Chin has nothing to lose here since he is near retirement age anyway. Which brings us to the motive.

He said this;

“Since I do not want promotion before, now or in the future nor any appointment after my retirement, what do I get out of all this knowing very well that I will be the target for vilification?

“It is this. I must be able to sleep well after I retired knowing that I have done all I can, like all the crucified judges before me, to tell Malaysians the danger they are in regarding the state of the judiciary.”

The danger in my opinion, is a highly tarnished judiciary where judges whom are trusted to be impartial, enters into politics, submit themselves to partisanship and making accusations based on their own opinions without the relevant evidence. Make a police report! At least that can be seen as ‘doing all he could’. 

Ian Chin then couldn’t help himself by saying that TDM had lied about him absconding the BTN course.

Chin also accused Mahathir of lying when the former premier alluded to the fact he “absconded” from the camp.

“But two did leave, one because of illness and the other the wife’s illness. Everyone who was not otherwise sick had to remain and we all did save for the duo; with each given a certificate after the end of stay.

“That Dr Mahathir should even resort to lying about me absconding from the camp speaks volume for the character of such person; he is lying by resorting to repeating it as if it is the truth.

Maybe Ian Chin should at least read TDM’s article in totality. As I remembered, TDM wrote - “I was told by a judge who was in the same batch as Chin that he absconded before the course was over”.

Ian Chin should ask that judge why he lied to TDM instead. Ian Chin loves to say things without making further investigation. For instance, he said; 

“This is the same prime minister who lied to the world that (former deputy premier) Anwar Ibrahim could have deliberately hurt himself when the latter appeared with the black eye. He is also waving a police report perhaps for the purpose of intimidating me or to blacken me in the eyes of the public.”

For the benefit of the readers, when Anwar Ibrahim appeared with a black eye in the courts in early October 1998, the whole nation was in shock. TDM made a press conference soon after. In the news, a foreign journalist asked TDM, ”could the injury be self inflicted?” To which TDM replied “there is a possibility that it could be since he could gain political mileage from it”.

But the following day in Reuters and BBC News, the headline that came out was “Dr Mahathir said Anwar’s injury was self inflicted”! This headline remained etched in everyone’s mind and caused some injustice to TDM. He was merely agreeing with the journalist about the possibility of self injury.

Therefore, Ian Chin, in saying TDM lied to the whole world, made another accusation without researching the true story. A judge making judgement without seeking further truth? Now that is scary indeed. And for him to require sympathy from the public by saying TDM exposed the police report made against him is so petty. Does he think the public must never know about a police report made against him?   

We may never know the true intention of Ian Chin’s original revelation. But in the absence of any substantive evidence from him, this accusation will only be another ploy to smear TDM’s reputation. Alas, it would just be another poor attempt to discredit him. Remember folks, no evidence, don’t say much. However, I am still hoping for any evidence in support of Ian Chin’s original accusations.  

When all else fail, Samy Vellu whacks his former boss (while other Umno leaders lost their balls)

Umno leaders should be shameful of themselves. When Samy Vellu criticised Tun Dr Mahathir, not one single Umno leader defended Tun Dr Mahathir over these serious allegations (and oversight) from Samy Vellu.

KUALA LUMPUR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad did very little for the Indian community when he was prime minister, MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said yesterday.

Samy Vellu said the Indians had to struggle on their own for more than 140 years and achieved success only through sheer hard work .

“Despite the MIC appealing again and again for help, he refused to budge,” Samy Vellu said in response to Dr Mahathir’s remarks during a talk in Teluk Intan on Saturday.

The former prime minister had said the Malays were willing to admit other races into the country and endowed them with rights.

He had also demolished the notion of a Bangsa Malaysia and said Malaysians must accept the fact that they were just too different to be known as one race.

Dr Mahathir’s remarks have drawn flak from non-Malay groups, who felt that national unity was crucial for the country to meet its future challenges.

Samy Vellu said Dr Mahathir should not be taking a racist approach at a time when Malaysians were working hard towards unity. - NST

Lets look at the stats shall we? Taken from that big, thick book of Rancangan Malaysia ke 9, I extracted a table which I believe Samy Vellu had failed to read in between his toupee wash.

Kedudukan Sosio-Ekonomi Mengikut Kaum di Malaysia
(7 angkubah ini akan memberikan gambaran kedudukan sosio-ekonomi yang lebih lengkap)
No.	Butiran	Tahun	Malaysia
			Bumi	Cina	India	Lain-lain	Nominee	Asing	Jumlah
1	Ekuiti (%)	2004	18.9	39.0	1.2	0.4	8.0	32.5	100.0
2	Aset (%)	2005
	2.1 Komersil		11.7	71.9	4.6	11.8			100.0
	2.2 Hotel		14.3	69.3	3.2	13.2			100.0
	2.3 Premis industri		4.8	70.4	1.5	23.3			100.0
3	Pendapatan bulanan isi rumah (RM)	2004	2,711	4,437	3,456	2,312			3,249
4	Kadar kemiskinan (%)	2004	8.3	0.6	2.9	6.9			5.7
5	Jurang pendapatan	2004
	5.1 Bumiputera : Cina		RM1:RM1.64
	5.2 Bumiputera : India		RM1:RM1.27
	5.3 Gini Coefficient		0.4520	0.4460	0.4250	0.4620			0.4620
6	Pekerjaan (%)	2005
	6.1 Pengurus dan pegawai kanan		37.1	55.1	7.1	0.7			100.0
	6.2 Kerani		56.7	34.3	8.4	0.6			100.0
7	Profesional berdaftar	2005
	7.1 Keseluruhan		38.8	48.7	10.6	1.9			100.0
	7.2 Akauntan		20.8	73.6	4.4	1.2			100.0
	7.3 Arkitek		45.3	53.1	1.4	0.2			100.0
	7.4 Doktor		36.7	29.9	26.6	6.8			100.0
	7.5 Doktor Gigi		44.4	35.3	18.4	1.9			100.0
	7.6 Doktor Veterinar		39.0	32.2	24.8	4.0			100.0
	7.7 Jurutera		46.0	47.6	5.4	1.0			100.0
	7.8 Juru Ukur		48.2	47.0	3.2	1.6			100.0
	7.9 Peguam		38.0	37.1	24.1	0.8			100.0
Nota:	a - Dalam kawasan bandar sahaja; b - Sektor pembuatan
	Gini Coefficient - ‘0′ (kesamarataan yang sempurna); ‘1′ (ketidaksamarataan yang amat buruk)

Judging from this statistic from RMK9 which Samy Vellu helped compiled, I can see that the status of Indians in this country are far better than the Malays. Note that the Indian composition in Malaysia is 7.4% while the Bumis are 66.6% but the average Indian household income is even higher than the Malays. The poverty rate of the Malays is at 8.3% as compared to the Indians at 2.9% while the percentage of Indians becoming doctors and lawyers are way higher than their population percentage! The only sort of employment that the Malays can be proud of which is nearer to their percentage of population is ‘kerani’ at 56.7%.

If Samy Vellu had meant that by saying Tun Dr Mahathir did very little to the Indian community, means Tun Dr Mahathir didn’t make every Indian in Malaysia as filthy rich as himself or Anandakrishnan, then his insolent rant could have been justified. But instead, he said, the Indians are lagging behind and had to struggle on their own. Bollocks. Isn’t MIC a part of BN? In fact, it was Tun Dr Mahathir who had hoped the Indians be united under BN with the inclusion of Indian Progressive Front party led by Tan Sri M.G Pandithan. But who fought against the idea? Samy Vellu himself. 

But here we are listening yet again to a failed leader of the Indian community grasping at straws towards the end of his usefulness. At least the stats above proved that the NEP had worked since its establishment in 1970. The stats of the socio economy of Malays and Indians prior to 1970 was much, much worse. 

Even the Chinese whom its majority had criticised the NEP the most, had benefitted tremendously from the NEP’s concept of sharing. Just look at the stats above and we can see that their success stories in every aspect outshine their own percentage in the Malaysian population. There is only about 26% of Chinese in Malaysia but they took the bulk in every profession except of course, the post of ‘kerani’.

Anyway, it was through the relentless struggle of all BN leaders in the past that had helped to enlarge the economic pie in which each Malaysian can share and enjoy.

If your knowledge on the history of this social contract is blurry (and clouded with poisonous propaganda of pro-meritocracy movement), this video will help you sort out any niggling doubts about power sharing and wealth sharing in Malaysia;  

and this continuation:

It was a powerful speech by Tun Dr Mahathir and I implore everyone to hear it in totality.

In a slightly different note, where are the pitiful Umno leaders? When the former premier is being abused and talked down to like this, should they have the common sense and the intelligence to counter Samy Vellu’s allegations? Samy Vellu was trying to side step the issue of his failed leadership by whacking Pak Lah’s favourite bogeyman, Tun Dr Mahathir. This is nothing more than Samy Vellu’s cheap shot to show his diminishing prowess to his people and at the same time demonising Tun Dr Mahathir. Maybe this is the prerequisite to be bestowed a Tunship under the current administration.

Shall we see a new ‘Tun’ in the near future? 

Shahrir : Kita bukan negara kaya (kononnya…)

KUALA LUMPUR 11 Jun - Kerajaan terpaksa mengambil langkah tidak popular dengan menaikkan harga petrol sehingga 40 peratus demi memastikan kehidupan rakyat tidak terjejas pada masa akan datang.

Menteri Perdagangan Dalam Negeri dan Hal Ehwal Pengguna, Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad berkata, semua pihak harus sedar dalam fenomena kenaikan harga minyak dunia yang kini hampir mencecah AS$140 s