save malaysia!
Malaysians forget easily
savemalaysia
Publish date: Sat, 11 May 2019, 04:42 PM
Critics are entitled to find fault with Pakatan Harapan for not fulfilling its promises. However, it has been a good year for the country as a whole, with the government taking criticism in its stride and continuing to uncover scams left by the previous regime.
On the first anniversary of the new government, a can of worms opened up in the Defence Ministry (Mindef). Sixteen questionable land-swap deals involving 2,923 acres valued at RM4.7bil were made public.
On paper, the land-swap deals were watertight and supposed to benefit Mindef, with the private sector building new army camps, quarters and other facilities in return for land in prime areas.
However, implementation of the scheme was weak due largely to political interference. At the end of the day, Mindef lost out. It failed to capitalise on prime land it was sitting on in the Klang Valley and other major towns.
Among the parcels are 94 acres in Bandar Kinrara, Puchong, 280 acres in Setapak and 314 acres in Sungai Buloh. All three parcels are located in prime areas in the Klang Valley.
The questionable land-swap deals would not have come to light had there been no change in government. Likewise, many other dubious transactions would not have been exposed either in the last one year. The list goes beyond Felda and Lembaga Tabung Haji.
Who would have thought that the police would seize valuables and cash worth close to RM1bil from the house of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor and several luxury condominiums belonging to friends of the couple.
In relation to the seizure, the government has filed two suits to seize RM711mil worth of the items from Najib, Rosmah and several others. It will be interesting to see how the suits would be contested, as anybody who puts a claim on the assets would need to prove when, where and how they had purchased the items.
Some parties have already clarified that they do not own the assets seized. OBYU Holdings, a company that is linked to Tan Sri Bustari Yusof, stated that although it owns the premises where some of the items were seized, it has no interest in the things.
Bustari, who is from Sarawak, is the golfing partner of Najib.
A year ago, businessmen, politicians and lobbyists waited for their turn to be called up to have a round of golf with Najib. Today, the former prime minister is said to be playing at golf courses far away from the city with only a few friends.
A year ago, he was the most powerful man in the country. He had a few operatives who provided him with “political intelligence” in return for cash. One of them is Datuk Habibul Rahman Kadir Shah who testified in court recently of the role he played for Najib.
Najib muzzled the mainstream media – through his aides in Putrajaya and those working outside his office.
At one stage in late 2015, the mainstream media was banned from even mentioning the word “1MDB” (1Malaysia Development Bhd) in their daily coverage. Negative news related to 1MDB was not given prominence.
One of Najib’s aides even called newspaper editors to “blackout” news of Jho Low partying in New York.
Today, it’s a totally new game.
People can criticise Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his government. They can hit out at the government without fear, although these very same critics had never questioned the previous government for mismanaging the country’s finances.
Contrary to what some may believe, there is a fair amount of political stability in the country. There are no signs of mass defections of elected representatives that could threaten Pakatan Harapan’s hold on the government.
So far, the ruling party has won four of the seven by-elections. The opposition Barisan Nasional won the last three by-elections, sparking hope for the coalition that was battered a year ago.
Nevertheless, so far, there is no danger of Dr Mahathir’s government collapsing.
The economy is still growing, but at a slower pace amidst a volatile external environment. To keep the momentum going towards a projected 4.9% economic growth for this year, Bank Negara cut the base rate by a quarter percent earlier this week to 3%.
The US-China trade war has had a profound negative effect on global capital markets. At one stage this week, China’s CSI 300 was down 2.6% while the S%P 500, which is a broad measure of US stocks, shed 1.8%.
The benchmark FBM KLCI is also affected. However, the ringgit is holding at about the 4.15 level against the US dollar. There are no riots or people going to the streets.
In comparison, one needs to only look at Venezuela and the chaos the country is in, although it has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. Turkey and Argentina have also seen a significant depreciation of their currencies.
The Pakatan Harapan government is not perfect, but then, it has another four years to improve and fix the economy. And really, if one were to look at the current political scenario, there is no viable alternative today.
Dr Mahathir even takes on the royalty, something that the previous leadership stayed away from. If anybody thinks that the Opposition – in its present state where an alliance with PAS is necessary – is a better alternative, they had better think again.
Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2019/05/11/malaysians-forget-easily/
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Discussions
Be the first to like this. Showing 20 of 20 comments
Human nature to forget easily but that is not scary.
The scary part is that GE15 will be 3R vs GG and not sure GG will win.
race religion royalty vs good governance.
2019-05-11 18:15
Who do you think will win? I think the answer is quite obvious, who gives more handouts to the majority wins, it always have been such, and it will remain for some time, I don't think it's easy to change this.
2019-05-11 18:40
Dear all,
The current UMNO+PAS are playing Race, Religion and Royalty card against PH government to save their skin no more and no less.
When Mahathir was just an upcoming UMNO politician, he use racial card to prove himself as more Malay than Malay (Ultra Malay) and get rid of PM1 Tengku Abdul Rahman.
When in power he played the Racial, Religion and Royalty card to prove UMNO is more Islam than PAS and UNNO is the only defender of Malay Right and Royal institution with Islamasition of his administration and giving unending Backdoor and Crutch to Malay. Giving in to every Royal demands only to curtail such excess when Royal tried to step into his authority.
TUN M now live long enough to see for himself his playing of Race, Religion and Royalty card had done so much damage to this Nation, Race, Religion and Royalty.
TUN M is super villain, only he has enough evil power to unseat MO1 and UMNO. Will master of evil now become master of good to undone all his past mistakes/policy? We have only one more year to give our verdict.
Thank you
P/S: My advice to PH: Do not play the 3R card again but come out with good governance, institute reform and take care of B40 regardless of their race, religion and region. The Sarawak and Sabah will be your fix deposit for the taking.
2019-05-11 19:36
ramada flip prata like a professional anybody also will be cheated... So you can't say that... Maybe can organise a competition titled Malaysia Prata Flipping Championship, can help the country to generate some revenue... HAHAHA
2019-05-11 19:42
There's one very simple principle but very difficult to practise in life and it's the key to being successful and having a good reputation, credibility and trustworthiness.
What principle is this?
It's really simple: One must learn to pick their stand in any matter, stand firm and hold onto it, not switch sides when things goes against your favour. It's just like stock picking, you can't just like a stock after it goes up, and then ditch it right after it goes down. That's just hypocrisy I say. This should be a lesson for all Investment Banks and Politicians. For politics very simple, if you can't do it, don't promise it in the first place. If you can make 100 promises and not be able to deliver it in the first place, that's called lying and cheating!
Simple as that, say what you can do, commit to your promises, if you can't do as promised at least give a reasonable excuse and apologise accordingly and hopefully you have the sense to come up with a good solution.
Somehow I feel with my principles I will make a much better leader than most.
2019-05-11 20:32
Sorry there should be a comma... Haha
Posted by pussycats > May 11, 2019 8:36 PM | Report Abuse
Uncle Ramada flips prata... Lol
:-)
2019-05-11 20:46
Dear ramada,
Yes Malaysians forget easily, easily cheated, easily satisfied with crumb, love backdoor or handout, unapologetic, over-promise and under deliver, argue a lot and name calling, when caught with pants down “Apa Malu Boss Ku”, like to compare length of sausage and etc. you name it we have it. But at least we are not Kiasu like Singaporean must win at any cost.
Dear Heavenly Punter,
Democracy requires compromise, deal making and the art of making impossible possible because democracy is a number game. You should understand that in a democracy, it is impossible for everyone to achieve everything they want. But over time, everyone should wins something.
Dear Fish and Chips,
Yes PH over-promise but I will take these as part and parcel of the election-winning pledges; they are the “carrots”. We must surely understand that unless PH can clinch Putrajaya, the important promise to reform our institutions would be meaningless.
Tun M had age so much since taking over as PM, he is a very tired man and time is not on his side. For me leaders come and go; it is the system that will determine what kind of leaders we will get in future. We each get what we deserve and I desire for institutional reform to secure our future.
Thank you
P/S: We are our own worst enemy, our own worst spoiler, our own worst prophet of doom if we allow our negativity and selfishness to take over ourselves. There are always another better way and another better selfless we. After all death are our ultimate destination thus be brave, be selfless and not afraid to contribute whatever we have (positivity) for the betterment of society/nation and leave behind a better tomorrow for our future generation to live in and work on.
2019-05-11 21:14
The Gov is what we ourselves choose. Basically if the citizen is good, they will choose someone good to be the leader. And vice-versa.
2019-05-11 21:45
If in near future we choose corrupted leader again , then we can assume most of the citizen is corrupted. And corrupted nation will not ever prevail.
2019-05-11 21:48
d by Heavenly PUNTER Research IB > May 11, 2019 6:40 PM | Report Abuse
Who do you think will win? I think the answer is quite obvious, who gives more handouts to the majority wins
=========
wrong...3R appeals to the heart
GG appeals the brain
heart vs Brain...who will win?
not sure yet.
2019-05-11 22:20
I wonder if someone have personal grudge against TM. How do you know exactly that TM tend to create all this things just to benefit it cronies? Do you have evidence?
I believe every minister or at least most of them do take some benefit thru their position. But at least not to the extend that can cause the whole country to fall.
2019-05-11 23:09
babablackship > May 11, 2019 11:45 PM | Report Abuse
everything I said have proves one way or the others.
=========
every thing u say is fake news.
2019-05-11 23:47
Dear OPMS,
Posted by OPMS > May 11, 2019 11:09 PM | Report Abuse
I wonder if someone have personal grudge against TM?
I have personal grudge against TM for his education policy that denial my brother opportunity to study medicine in Public University otherwise he should be a great doctor by now.
Lim senior and junior have personal grudge against TM for putting both of them in jail under ISA.
Many social activists have personal grudge against TM for been detained without trial under ISA.
The fact is for half a century we have fought the likes of TM and we've always lost. Yet now is no time to revisit past quarrels/personal grudge as we need to reform and rebuild our nation, and set it on a course towards unity, justice and prosperity.
We choice to forgive but never forget (least we forget and repeat our past mistake again) in order to move on and rebuild.
Thank you
P/S: One of the social activist, I admire the most is Human rights organisation Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) advisor Kua Kia Soong. The long time critics of TM’s policy with rational/critical thinking and very good research.
https://www.suaram.net/repressivelaw/media/mediastatement/
2019-05-12 15:24
Parito principle....80% of the profits come from 20% of the customers. Focus on the important, the rest will take care of itself.
As for Malaysian political scene , it is now 3R vs GG , a fight to the death. This fight determines every thing.
race, religion and royalty vs good governance and not sure GG will win GE 15.
2019-05-12 21:27
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This book is the result of the author's many years of experience and observation throughout his 26 years in the stockbroking industry. It was written for general public to learn to invest based on facts and not on fantasies or hearsay....
Heavenly PUNTER Research IB
Human nature to forget easily, fortunately I am not as naive, I read about history, I make judgements with all the facts gathered and analyse objectively from various point of views before coming to a decision.
2019-05-11 18:07