Wednesday 27 January 2016

Siapa percaya ?


Nampaknya sebahagian besar rakyat tidak menerima baik kenyataan serta tindak tanduk Peguam Negara Tan Sri Apandi yang mengarahkan agar SPRM menutup fail-fail siasatan terhadap Najib Razak. 

Letusan perasaan serta pendapat umum di alam maya amat ketara. Jika penyokong, pendukung serta pengampu tegar Najib Razak masih dalam 'denial' atau menidakkan kenyataan ini maka saya saranakan agar diadakan satu pungutan suara kebangsaan yang bebas atau independent national poll. 

Tanya rakyat Malaysia jika mereka mempercayai Najib Razak dan Apandi Ali. Saya fikir sebahagian besar rakyat tahu akan jawapannya tetapi sila adakan pungutan suara ini demi memuaskan hati sendiri, itupun kalau sudah cukup berani berhadapan dengan kenyataan.

Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan telah tampil sekali lagi membuat laporan polis (seperti diatas) dan kali ini laporan polis beliau adalah agar pihak berkuasa menyiasat jika Apandi telah melakukan perbuatan jenayah dalam keterujaan beliau untuk membebaskan Najib Razak dari sebarang pertuduhan jenayah. 

Nampaknya ramai yang masih menaruh harapan agar pihak Polis DiRaja Malaysia akan menjalankan tugas demi raja dan negara tanpa apa-apa pertimbangan lain. 

Difahamkan pihak SPRM telah mengesyorkan lebih 20 pertuduhan terhadap Najib dan pegurusan tertinggi SRC International. Bagaimana kesemuanya bebas dari segala pertuduhan? 

Pihak penyiasat SPRM pasti terkejut. Rakyat yang mengikuti perjalanan putar belit RM2.6 billion dalam akaun peribadi dan RM42 juta dari SRC lagi terkejut. 

KENYATAAN MEDIA RASMI SPRM

ISU SRC INTERNATIONAL DAN DANA RM2.6 BILION: SPRM RUJUK KEPUTUSAN PEGUAM NEGARA KEPADA PPO

PENGURUSAN Tertinggi Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) pada 27 Januari 2016 telah mengadakan satu mesyuarat khas bagi membincangkan keputusan Peguam Negara, Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali yang mengarahkan SPRM agar menutup kes SRC International dan dana RM2.6 bilion.

Pengurusan Tertinggi SPRM memutuskan untuk membentangkan keputusan Peguam Negara kepada Panel Penilaian Operasi (PPO), salah satu badan bebas yang dibentuk oleh kerajaan bagi memantau perjalanan SPRM mengikut Akta SPRM 2009, untuk penilaian dan pertimbangan PPO dan sebuah panel khas yang akan dilantik.

Salah satu terma rujukan PPO ialah memberi pendapat berhubung tindakan kes-kes yang diputuskan untuk tidak dituduh oleh Pendakwa Raya.

PPO dianggotai oleh Tan Sri Dr Hamid Bugo sebagai Pengerusi, Tan Sri Jawhar Hassan, Datuk Zamani Abdul Ghani, Datuk Azizah Arshad, Dato’ Wan Abdul Wahab Abdullah, Profesor Dr. Normah Omar, Dr Sundramoorthy M. Pathmanathan dan Tuan Lim Chee Wee.

SURUHANJAYA PENCEGAHAN RASUAH MALAYSIA
PUTRAJAYA

27 JANUARI 2016

Kenyataan terbaru SPRM ini jelas bahawa badan penyiasat rasuah negara ini tidak berdiam diri apabila usaha mereka memerangi rasuah dan salah guna kuasa diperingkat tertinggi pentadbiran negara menghadapi rintangan. 

Kita harus ingat bahawa sebelum kertas siasatan terhadap Najib Razak disampaikan kepada pejabat Peguam Negara satu lagi panel bebas SPRM telah meneliti hasil siasatan badan pencegah rasuah itu. Seharusnya ahli-ahli panel tersebut tahu akan intipati serta butiran sahih.

Mungkin laporan hasil siasatan SPRM terhadap Najib Razak juga telah dipanjangkan kepada Majlis Raja-Raja atau beberapa orang Sultan yang prihatin akan skandal yang melingkari pemimpin politik tertinggi negara. 

Sementara pihak polis menjalankan siasatan terhadap Apandi Ali kita hanya boleh tunggu dan lihat akan reaksi atau tindakan susulan dari Majlis Raja Raja.

Majlis Raja Raja harus mengambil maklum bahawa tahap kepercayaan rakyat terhadap kerajaan serta beberapa agensi tunjang adalah pada tahap yang amat membimbangkan. Keadaan ini tidak sihat untuk negara bertuah ini.


p/s 

Suruhanjaya Siasatan Raja mungkin boleh diadakan, tanpa apa-apa kekangan, hanya setelah Najib berundur atau diundurkan.  



Tuesday 26 January 2016

Endless possibilities in Malaysia

aPandi says Najib has done no wrong
Najib Razak, the scandal-ridden Malaysian Prime Minister has been cleared from any criminal wrongdoings and corrupt practices by none other than the Attorney General whom Najib appointed to replace the prematurely retired former AG Tan Sri Gani Patail.

All must be well and good in my country now. It must be. 

The Guardian reports HERE

The learned Attorney General has also been recently appointed to the board of Tabung Haji. Don't ask me if it is appropriate or even morally right for a serving AG to sit on the board of a national pilgrims fund. The AG may excuse himself if any legal cases against Tabung Haji passes before him but which position he chooses to excuse himself from could be a tough call. 

Could the Tabung Haji appointment be a pre-retirement golden handshake for possibly the shortest serving AG in our history? I don't know.

Whichever way this develops the right hand man would certainly strive to make sure that Tabung Haji doesn't go into a tail spin, as many depositors, including me, fear. 

Tabung Haji CEO Tan Sri Ismee has also come out with a convincing statement assuring depositors and Malaysians in general that all is well and good in Tabung Haji. It must be true. We must trust these guys. 

A long time journalist friend who was at the AG's press conference where aPandi read out a prepared text earlier today thinks she may have seen the soon to be 'promoted' Chief Commissioner of the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC).

Is Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed, the serving chief of the MACC, also looking at a pre-mature retirement like in the case of Gani Patail? That has been the talk, she quips.    

She says rumours has it that this guy from the AG's chambers helped clear up the '2.6b' and SRC mess and was promised the post in return for his professional favour in clearing the innocent Prime Minister from baseless slander. It was kind of a national service for 'DZ' the humble servant. 

Najib is innocent because he has returned the unused portion of the more than 2 billion ringgit to the Saudi family. Don't ask me who in the Saudi family donated and accepted back his/her money, I don't know. I don't think anybody knows for sure who that individual is, not even Najib. 
Even Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi was a little confused if the Saudi royal family donor was an individual or a group of individuals. Maybe he is still confused.

Najib also don't know how 42 million ringgit landed in his personal account. He is innocent. The SRC guys who approved the 42 million ringgit transfer must have been intoxicated or outright out of their mind. It could have been just a naughty prank but Najib is believed to have issued cheques from his account without knowing he had billions in cash in his account. It's a bit confusing, I know, but Najib is innocent. 

Sarawak Report says Najib charged millions of ringgits in expenses and purchases to credit card/s issued to SRC. They even produced details including the alleged credit card numbers to prove their claim but it cannot be true because Najib is innocent. Apandi the learned former judge turned AG has clearly indicated that Najib has done no wrong. We must trust Apandi.

We must put our right and left hands together and clap because Najib has been cleared by Apandi Ali, who is also a newly appointed board member of Tabung Haji.

All must be well and good but is Apandi also looking at retirement?  If so who would be the next Attorney General? Here comes the next obedient servant of the ruler.

Oh Ya! Tan Sri Zeti of Bank Negara will also leave the scene sometime in March/April. Ismee Ismail of Tabung Haji is said to be among those in the running for the Governor's post. 

All must be well and good. 

After having managed Tabung Haji with such professionalism and ethics since their appointment I think both Ismee and Tabung Haji Chairman Datuk Seri Azeez Rahim qualify to run Bank Negara Malaysia next. We must trust these guys.

The possibilities are endless. 


p/s 

When good men and women do nothing, ... 





Saturday 16 January 2016

Shamelessly famous






Above are copies of the Jan 15 edition of The National newspaper from UAE. A Malaysian who had to hang his head low among friends there snapped the news article and sent it back home. 

Gathered in UAE for an exclusive think tank on world economy, this Javanese banker from Selangor relates that many of the movers and shakers were keen to understand as to how Malaysians have managed to keep rule of law at bay while continuing to shower a scandal ridden politician with power. 

"Some thought Malaysia was an absolute monarchy ruled by a flamboyant couple," he chuckled before ending the conversation with 'Saya malu lah bro!

Maybe its not too late to wish readers a Happy New Year. It is 2016 and Malaysia continues to make headlines all over the world. In this new year and the year before Malaysia is famous for all the wrong reasons. 

Even within Asean, everybody is surprised at our sudden slide in the anti-corruption index. Corruption has now become the No 1 enemy of the state. 

We are famous for the wrong reasons and it is certainly not mere perception, as some would like to make us believe.


Is Jho Low the 'a financier linked to the prime minister of Malaysia' mentioned in the Bloomberg's report?

Dear Mohd Najib Bin Tun Abdul Razak, you better take legal action against Bloomberg (if the report is not true) because you are repeatedly tarnishing the image of this beloved nation. You are ruining our good name because you appear to be a different type prime minister than your illustrious father the late Tun Abdul Razak. 

You tak malu ker ? Kami malu bila orang luar mentertawakan negara ini.
Below is the full report as dispatched by Bloomberg

Luxury-Home Market Seen Threatened by Scrutiny in NYC, Miami

For luxury-home developers and brokers in Miami and Manhattan who are already contending with slumping prices and slowing demand, the U.S. government’s decision to start scrutinizing all-cash buyers was more bad news.
The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said Wednesday that it will seek out the identity of individuals behind limited-liability companies that pay cash for high-end residential real estate in Manhattan and Miami-Dade County. Starting in March, title insurers will be required to name the true “beneficial owner” behind the anonymous entities, FinCen said in a statement.
FinCen is concerned that such opaque deals -- used by wealthy investors seeking to avoid the public gawking that comes with buying expensive property -- may also be made by people attempting to hide assets and launder money, according to the statement. By casting such a wide net, the new disclosure rules may discourage legitimate purchases and further damp interest in high-end sales in the two markets, which are already bracing for a slowdown.
“Part of the large swath of people who purchase under LLCs do it for privacy -- celebrities, the wealthy -- and are not doing something illegal,” said Jonathan Miller, president of New York-based appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. “I’m not downplaying that there aren’t people who are using ill-gotten gains to purchase apartments, but it stereotypes the whole segment and it seems to be some kind of overreach by the federal government. In a cooling market, it certainly isn’t helpful.”

Prices Slipping

Demand for Manhattan’s most-expensive homes is slipping while apartments from a high-end construction boom aimed at wealthy investors pile up on the market. Resale prices for the top 20 percent of the market peaked in February and have fallen every month since then, according to an analysis through October by listings website StreetEasy.


In Miami-Dade County, the stronger dollar is turning away Latin American buyers while 36,000 new units are in the construction pipeline, according to an estimate by South Florida development tracker CraneSpotters.com. The U.S. government measure will hurt sales and may drive investors to other locations such as Panama, said Peter Zalewski, owner of CraneSpotters. Their disappearance may lead to price declines in the market because overseas buyers, seeking a haven from the financial turmoil of their home countries, are often willing to pay more, Zalewski said.
“It’s a killer for Miami -- not because we’re afraid of drug buyers,” said Related Group of Florida Chief Executive Officer Jorge Perez, the billionaire developer known as the state’s “Condo King.” “You have to remember that a lot of wealthy people, particularly in South America, are very, very shy about disclosing their wealth.”

One57 Penthouse

Many deals at New York’s ultra-luxury towers are made by LLCs, including the first to close at 432 Park Ave., the tallest completed residential building in the Western Hemisphere. The 35th-floor condominium was purchased in December for $18.1 million, according to city property records made public last week. The most expensive closed sale of an apartment in New York City, the $100.5 million purchase of a penthouse atop Extell Development Co.’s One57, was to a buyer known only as P89-90 LLC.
“Just hearing that it’s going to be scrutinized by the United States government is going to give people pause on certain high-end purchases,” said Keith Pattiz, head of the real estate group at New York law firm McDermott Will & Emery, who has helped overseas buyers acquire property in some of Manhattan’s glitziest new condo developments. “People just don’t want everyone to know that they’re buying a $50 million apartment.”
Wealthy and foreign buyers might choose to keep their names hidden because of concerns about their personal security or a desire for privacy, said Leonard Steinberg, president of New York brokerage Compass.

‘Crazy Paparazzi’

“I challenge them to walk one day in the shoes of a really famous person to know what it feels like to be hounded like an animal,” Steinberg said of the government. “I’ve seen crazy paparazzi driving the wrong way down a one-way street just to get one stupid picture. Famous and rich people have children, too, and there’s a level of protection that should be provided for these people.”
The New York Times last year examined the increasing use of anonymous shell companies by global buyers seeking havens for cash. Among the findings were that 64 percent of condos at Manhattan’s Time Warner Center were owned by shell companies, and that at least 16 foreigners who have owned in the building have been targeted by government investigations. Secret buyers included former Russian senators, a Greek businessman who was arrested as part of a corruption sweep in his home country and a financier linked to the prime minister of Malaysia, according to the paper. Nationwide, almost half of the most-expensive homes are bought through shell companies, the Times reported.
The disclosure rules will take effect on March 1 and expire on Aug. 27, according to the statement from FinCen, the part of the Treasury Department that collects and analyzes data to safeguard the financial system from illicit use and combat money laundering.

Developer Scrutiny

The scrutiny may not be able to go beyond what some developers already apply to their buyers, said Kevin Maloney, principal and founder of Property Markets Group, which builds condos in both New York and Miami. As many as 60 percent of his firm’s sales are to buyers making their deals through LLCs, he said.
“For us, we meet and we talk and we get to know at some level the face of the LLC,” said Maloney, whose projects include a 1,400-foot (427-meter) tower under construction on Manhattan’s West 57th Street and the 190-unit Echo Aventura outside of Miami.
“We have turned away people who we think have unsavory pasts, so we do as much due diligence as possible.” Maloney said. “But if you want to put a guy up front and have him be the financial face of the LLC, there’s not much you can do.”
Perez of the Related Group, which has 10 condo towers under construction in South Florida, said the Treasury Department should find a way to make sure buyers “tell the truth about where their money is coming from” without forcing them to make a public disclosure.
“Remember, in their countries, they are afraid of being kidnapped, they are afraid of being killed, so privacy is a huge thing,” Perez said. “They don’t want the press to say in Colombia, ‘This guy buys $20 million condos.”’

p/s 

Tuesdays have been reserved for the Wall Street Journal and they are still waiting. You guys in Bloomberg better be ready on Wednesdays. ;-) 



Friday 15 January 2016

Mee segera atau cermin muka ?


Catatan sejarah kita menyebut bahawa pada tahun 1974 berlaku tunjuk perasaan yang ditunjangi penuntut pengajian tinggi. 

Tunjuk perasaan di Baling, Kedah dan di Kuala Lumpur itu dikatakan demi memperjuangkan nasib petani yang papa kedana sehingga ada yang mati kelaparan. Terdapat lebih dari satu versi dan pendekatan akan tunjuk perasaan yang dihadiri lebih 10,000 penduduk kampung dan pelajar pengajian tinggi itu.

Pelbagai laporan menyatakan bahawa bekas Timbalan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, salah seorang dari kalangan pemimpin pelajar yang berkarisma, merupakan pemangkin kebangkitan pelajar pada waktu itu. 

Ada yang mengatakan beliau hanya menghasut berdasarkan khabar angin yang tidak benar. Apapun tunjuk perasaan Baling itu tercatat dalam sejarah negara. 

Ekonomi yang merudum dan harga barangan yang melambung menjadi api dalam sekam pada waktu itu dan kemarahan rakyat bawahan adalah benar dan nyata. 

Ada yang berpandangan bahawa peristiwa Baling itu hanya satu episod hitam dalam perjalanan kita. 

Tidak kurang juga yang mentafsir peristiwa itu sebagai titik permulaan riwayat politik Anwar Ibrahim. Sepanjang kareer politik beliau yang gilang gemilang terutamanya ketika dalam Umno, Anwar sering dicanang sebagai Hero Baling.   
Presiden Perkasa Datuk Ibrahim Ali, juga salah seorang aktivis pelajar yang popular pada tahun 1974, pula mengatakan Anwar bukan Hero Baling

Siapa Hero Baling? Mungkin Anwar, mungkin Ibrahim, mungkin Syed Hamid Ali atau mungkin juga Hishamuddin Rais. Ramai yang terlibat ketika itu.

Ramai juga yang mengaku dan mendabik tetapi hakikatnya kekal bahawa pada tahun 1974 ribuan pelajar keluar memperjuangkan nasib petani dan penoreh yang diberitakan kelaparan dihimpit kemiskinan. 

Nasib yang miskin dan kelaparan diperjuangkan pelajar ketika itu. Nasib pelajar yang kebuluran ketika ini pula bagaimana? 

Tak tahu nak hantar mee segera atau cermin muka. 

p/s 

A good link to the past - Student Movement in Malaysia  .Enjoy the spirit.



Wednesday 13 January 2016

Apa khabar Tabung Haji?


This is the Chairman of Tabung Haji. This video was published on May 9, 2015 (last year). Listen carefully to what he said in this fully loaded press conference attended by almost the entire board of directors and top executives of Tabung Haji. 

Just for your information Tabung Haji is a pilgrims fund and not a commercial bank or a 'strategic development company' like the world renowned 1MDB. 

Anyone would conclude now that the eloquent speaker in the video above was just unloading a pack of lies then, to temporarily sooth the flaming anger of millions of Tabung Haji contributors. 

Many say it was nothing but pure bullshit from the infamous chairman, but on that day in May last year when he spoke with such confidence tossing the Prime Minister's name and assuring the makcik-makcik and pakcik-pakcik that Tabung Haji was safe and the controversial land deal with 1MDB would be settled by re-selling the government land, I trusted him. I thought he was telling the truth.

Now I don't think he did. The land has not been sold. So many excuses have been produced and propagated with great effort to justify why the land cannot be sold. Sadly none of the reasoning and excuses holds water. 

It cannot be denied that rather than assuring depositors the 'bullshit' above has only increased fears on the well being of the pilgrims fund. Is Tabung Haji in safe hands?

Apa khabar Tabung Haji?


 
The Tabung Haji saga... 



3. Tabung Haji dah jual tanah 1MDB?

4. KRISIS TABUNG HAJI & 1MDB - SIAPA BOHONG?


6. Kerajaan membalas budi TABUNG HAJI menerusi 1MDB?

p/s 

Kalau boleh cuba singkirkan sikap tidak apa dan kegemaran 'buat bodo' kerana kelemahan itu akan menjadi kebiasaan yang kekal.