The HEIGHT of IRRESPONSIBILITY from the IGP of Malaysia...

Malaysia's IGP will be retiring this year when his contract was extended last year but his latest statement on the public's reaction to the fatal shooting of a 15-year old makes me feel that the IGP has outlived his ability to lead the PDRM.
If the story in malaysiakini is correct about pulling cops off the streets then all MPs should demand that he be replaced immediately.
After all, the Home Minister has already declared that he knows who will be the replacement. Already the government lost much credibility when it baulked when the police top brass objected to the IPCMC.
Now we can see how the IGP is dictating terms of how the police will operate.
We simple cannot allow the tail to wag the dog!

Police Shoot-outs...Welcome to the WILD WEST of Malaysia!

A few months back, a woman was shot and she had to barge into the place where the Home Minister was in order to make her views known.
The latest police killing of a 15-year old boy has drawn many responses from malaysiakini readers who ask the question Police killings: 'When will they stop?'.

To me the questions will remain unanswered until the following happens:
1.We have a change of government or
2.The present government makes it a standard practice to hold a public inquiry whenever anyone is killed by the police or
3.We implement the IPCMC that can undertake such inquiries

Too many Malaysians have been killed by the PDRM under questionable circumstances. And no one has been held accountable.
Nowadays the police are so heavily armed that they should not be scared of petty thieves with parangs.

For a trained cop, I expect someone charging at you with a parang can be wounded at a range of 10 to 20 feet so you are not justified to shoot to kill.

malaysiakini and the USE of CON-SULTANTS

I am sure many have heard this joke about consultants and their ilk.
Basically you can pay a consultant money and he will make up a story that you would like to hear.
That is why I have spelt the word with the emphasis on the CON part.
I got to pondering about consultants after this article in malaysikini on the TBH murder inquest. The question being asked is 'Just how did Teoh fall?'.
It seems that we are asking the wrong person this question - he was not there and can only postulate. His take also does not appear too convincing - from "fully conscious" to not sure.
At one time, any Western expert was held in high esteem but after cases like Enron, Watergate we now know that integrity is not an exclusive trait.
I just wonder how much they paid for such elusive evidence?

Another Reason WHY Malaysia MUST NOT Use Nuclear Power....

I have written a few articles about why Malaysia should not use nuclear power and today's story only adds to that argument.
In Malaysia, many of the building trades operate on the "monkey see, monkey do" concept and after a few years of following the senior "monkey", many start their own contracting companies and if they are connected, they may end up doing an Ali Baba contract that is so prevalent in Malaysia.
Today's story Sinkhole brings traffic to a halt show the level of the shoddy workmanship that goes on in many building projects.
Since this project is being managed by MBPJ which is probably the most progressive council in Malaysia, I suggest the council should examine the qualifications of the contractors doing the job.
Don't just issue the work authorisation and hope nothing goes wrong. Ensure that a competent person supervises the work as part of the conditions of the work order.
As for the unfortunate motorists, sue the local authorities for the job failure - this is not another act of ALLAH but incompetence.

photo:thanks to the STAR

So BN Won Hulu Selangor but at What Cost?

People say politics is dirty but what went on in the Hulu Selangor "buy-election" would write a new chapter in the Manual of Dirty Politics.
Straight away after returning from many days of international travel, the PM and his team of ministers started their tour of Hulu Selangor and proceeded to give out bribes left, right and centre. In fact the DPM and half the Cabinet were actively campaigning for the BN candidate, all on government or taxpayers' time. No wonder Putrajaya stopped operating for the duration of the campaign.
You see in Malaysia the ruling party has fine-tuned their dirty tricks to the minutest detail. Unfortunately the many years of corruption have affected the many institutions of democracy that many ordinary law-abiding people sadly do not know when the laws have been blatantly broken.
Why else would the PM spand so many days in HS when in the absence of the buy-election, the place would be mentioned in his appointments diary only once in 5 years? And that only in the General Elections?
For Zaid and his team, do not be disappointed for too long. Start your work for the next general elections.
I don't expect the BN will be able to afford such generous vote-buying at the national level in the next general elections.
Perhaps by then more Malaysians would have realised the imperative to CHANGE the government in order to give Malaysia a better future.

malaysiakini and the DOGS of WAR....maybe those APCs can Also FLY?

As we get more capable leaders into the Malaysian Parliament, more errors will be discovered...you remember how a few weeks ago, a figure of RM6bil was recently changed to RM6mil after the "mistake" was pointed out by an opposition MP?
That same MP is now asking questions about the proposed idea to spend RM8bil to purchase 257 armed personnel carriers(APCs).
If you look at the spread-sheet, you will note that each APC will cost RM31mil. It is good that the MP has raised the question about the pricing and we should also all inquire why these APCs are costing more than an arm and a leg.
Not that long ago, we also awarded a multi-billion ringgit contract to build naval vessels and the venture was a spectacular failure.
I support promoting local industries but only if the price is competitive and we know what we are paying for.
In this case, it seems we are paying about four times more than what other contries have to pay.
If you study this site, you will note that APCs cost in the region of less than US$2 million each and so that equates to less than RM7mil.
So why do we have to pay so much? Unless it's a military secret that those APC's can also fly!

Are We CHANGING or WHAT?

There is a new mantra in Malaysia - CHANGE!
Maybe that meeting with President Obama after spending more than RM70mil on a public relations campaign building the Brand 1Malaysia has set off the proverbial lightbulb.
But I am not holding my breath just yet.
Even when you thought it is safe to get back in the water, you need to watch out for the many crocodiles that are just waiting for the next meal.
You remember how the education system was turned on its head just before TDM retired? They brought back "teaching in English" in the national schools within a grace period of three months - a record for major mayhem in the schools for 4 years until they reversed the policy and went back to the old ways that produces graduates who cannot survive in the private sector on account of atrocious English skills.
To me the basic reason why we have yet another set of laws withdrawn as seen in malaysiakini's Brakes on Road Transport Act revisions is that these laws are being churned out without much serious thinking.
You remember the rules on using Mykad to purchase petrol that was mooted about 3 months ago?
Well this latest withdrawal on the increased fines for traffic offences reflects the same lack of thinking through the problem.
To me, the lack of continuous and consistent enforcement is the basic reason why we have the situation of near anarchy on the roads.
Of course when all top government officials are all too occupied on a by-election we cannot any serious effort to be made to pass good laws.

CORRUPTION in DEFENSE Contracts - Nothing has Changed

It seems that Malaysia's submarine deals are being probed by the French authorities according to malaysiakini.
The wheels of justice move slowly but let's hope the French justice system is more thorough than the Malaysian system that convicted two men who did not seem to have any motive to blow up the Mongolian woman who was involved in the deal.
Of course the defense industry of France and probably most arms deals are racked by corruption scandals but at least the French have had some success in convicting the guilty parties.
The last major scandal that was brought before the courts was the infamous Dassaut case that also had an assassination of a person who had knowledge of the deal just like Altantuuya. That happened in 1988 and made major headlines. You can read the story here.
The main reason why defense contracts are prone to corruption is that it is not purely a government to government transaction like in the old days. Nowadays there are middle men and service contracts that can conceal "bribes" under secrecy agreements.
This will be a good test for the French justice system and definitely not good publicity for the Malaysian government.

malaysiakini on the "SMALL FRY" Remark by the DPM......

So the DPM is really upset that malaysiakini attributed the words "small fry" to describe the Inter-religious body set up by the government to look at problems related to the administration of religious practices among Malaysians.
Over the past years, Malaysians have read about forced conversions among minors by a parent who suddenly changes religion, body-snatching over last-minute conversions at death and women who suddenly find themselves divorced by someone who changes religion and then gets rid of the wife.
These are all serious issues that impact heavily on families and for the DPM to consider the IFP(inter-faith panel) as something not really that important as it has no authority and no decision-making power.

I think malaysiakini's error is that it attributed the words "small fry" to the DPM when he did not actually say the words.
But if you look at the meaning of the word "small fry" it really fits the attributes given to the panel by the DPM.
Of course we know the DPM who is also the Education Minister wants English to be sidelined for many years when he cannot understand that the way he described the IFP actually falls under the meaning of "small fry".

It seems that the BN government does not take the matter of inter-religious problems seriously. Instead of a half-baked panel with zero authority, a proper inter-religious commission should have been formed.
I suggest that Malaysians spend at least 5% of their energies on matters related to inter-religious problems. What do you think?

malaysiakini LATEST NEWS on TEOH's Murder Case

Well it looks like the Malaysian government is trying to fix the outcome of the Teoh Beng Hock's inquest as according to this malaysiakini report, the renowned pathologist Pornthip pressured to bow out of Teoh's inquest.
That answers my question as to why the inquest had a rather strange schedule with postponements at unusual stages.
If she does not testify it only shows that the defendants the MACC are not able to convince the Malaysian public that their hands are clean of the untimely demise of Teoh who was under their control.
Malaysians should remember this grisly torture and death for the next general elections and vow to change the government.
The next victim of such supression could be your husband or wife, your son or your daughter.
How many Kugans and Teohs will it take before we take action? Is it simply blowing in the wind?

malaysiakini and the myPROCUREMENT Fiasco

My last post was about the preposterous prices paid by the Malaysian government for fresh rations for the Armed Forces.
It appears that a major blunder was made in the data entry process and the price has now been adjusted minus a few decimal places.
You can see a selection of remarks posted by malaysiakini readers who suggest BN may now regret myProcurement website but I suggest that the government should be more open and allow its citizens to check if everything is above board.
We know two important details and can relate this to the myProcurement fiasco:
1.Government has been spending millions of ringgit on IT Projects but it seems that the quality of those projects is highly suspect and data entry appears to be a major processing headache.
2.Government spending on civil servants has not been curtailed and I believe it has even escalated as instead of reducing the work load, IT has increased the menial tasks required to keep the systems functioning - you will notice that most government sites are mostly out of date.
Just take this myProcurement portal - I am no IT expert so someone please comment if what I am writing is not possible.
My only experience is working with a simple FoxPro application so that is where I am coming from.
The myProcurement system can designed so that the prices are not actually inserted by additional data entry but through the tender selection program. Each tender bid has a reference code and only that code needs to be entered in the myProcurement program that will automatically input the successful price so there is no chance of human error.
This myProcurement system is now 1JokeMalalaysia!

malaysiakini and ARMED FORCES Marching on ITS STOMACH?

Some famous general said "An army marches on its stomach" but it seems that in Malaysia, they feed the soldiers so well that their stomachs almost reach the ground as the budget for "rations" is RM6.47bil according to info gleaned from the E-Procurement site.
The matter was raised in Parliament but this is not really surprising as I remember a few years back, the Auditor-General also reported Maggi mee at RM5 a packet.
Nothing has changed except that it is all done using IT.
Since complete details were not given (security excuse?) just study the chart and decide if the government has spent your tax monies properly.
Even at RM35 per day per AF, the amount for rations is highly suspect. Maybe they are using caterers from a fancy hotel?
One fundamental weakness in the E-Procurement is that out of 60 staff, only 1 is a non-Malay and he is not the head. To reduce the opportunity for irregular deals, such sensitive departments should be organised so that at least 20% of the staff at various levels are from different backgrounds like race, religion.

Who Says MALAYS CANNOT Compete?

A little glimmer of hope for 1Malaysia.
In today's Star there is an interesting list of the top 30 SPM students who will " be able to pursue undergraduate degrees in their areas of interest as recognised by the Government at renowned universities locally and abroad under the national scholarship programme."
This is an excellent move and I suggest the numbers can be increased more each year. Maybe,the next 500 top students be sponsored for local universities?

More importantly all these students should sign bonds to serve the government for the number of years at least equal to the scholarship period as that will help retain talent.
If you look throught the list of the 30 names,
15 are Malays
13 are Chinese
2 are Indians and it shows that smart students are not confined to any race. Let the scholarships be based on such meritocracy and Malaysia will be able to prosper.

So What is 1Malaysia REALLY About?

Politicians in Malaysia are really expert for saying the darndest things. From the Ibrahim guy who was televised spouting "Don't talk C--K" at least twice on al-Jazeera, we now have the DPM declaring that he "is Malay first, then Malaysian."
Seriously we could have saved the millions of ringgit paid to APCO for the second-hand PR campaign. After spending so much on posters, TV ads and massive bill-boards, the 1Malaysia brand has not even trickled down to the DPM.
You can read what malaysiakini readers think about the DPM here.
I would not support such a person as the next PM and I only hope that Malaysian voters will decide to retire him in the next elections.