1Economy Treason

This is not only alarming but it is getting out of hand…

(The workings of a well oiled hawala system – source: IMF)

This should have caused alarms to go off in the offices of the PM, MACC, Police and any other law enforcement agencies linked with fight of corruption and finding and prosecution of traitors of nation’s economy:-

The case came out in the open when Batu MP Chua Tian Chang revealed that Negri Sembilan MB Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan had used Salamath Ali money changers in KLCC Suria to send RM10 million to London.

The money changer lost its licence and its shoplot is now closed, ostensibly for renovations.

Money changers say however that authorities should not focus on the hawala system but rather on why some politicians have access to so much money and moving it abroad.

(Source: The Malaysian Insider)

The money changers are right – why the authorities (in this case, Bank Negara) are focussing on the lesser side of the problem when questions should have raised is how did the politicians were able to gather so much money and have the nerve to be sending the millions overseas illegally?

And in the case of money changers – was the only sanction provided is revoke of license and nothing more? How of many of them has been jailed and fined severely so that the next one who been asked to transfer money illegally will think twice before acceding to the request for high commissions?

Politicians sending millions of cash illegally overseas and been made known to the public only confirms that :-

1. There is a widespread corruption and misuse of public funds in Malaysia and it is getting out of hand, and

2. The so-called enforcement agencies seems powerless (prove us wrong) when it comes to enforcement against well connected politicians from the ruling parties.

By right, the fact that the money changers were caught “red-handed” should have been a wake up call for many of the enforcement agencies that this “tip of the ice-berg” cannot be allowed to be continued with one closed eyes for long. The Interpol cites that in the hawala system, there is a lack of paper trail and leads to tax evasion.

Not when the interest of the nation as whole has become secondary to corrupt individual’s interest, as one reader in Malaysiakini commented:-

They are not leaders but robbers in suits who robbed the rakyat’s money and then used the state apparatus to prevent anyone from bringing them to justice

There is no wonder why many Malaysians are afraid that it will be just a matter of time before Malaysia ends up becoming another Zimbabwe in Asia – certainly when corruption is riding high and fine in Malaysia.

It’s high time the so-called enforcement agencies to get down to real business and dirty their hands catching these economic traitors.

Read Also

Interpol’s Hawala Role in Money Laundering

Mission to ‘Mars’

Let’s state the obvious…

(Politicians and soiled diapers need to be changed often and for the same reason – cartoon source: http://davies.lohudblogs.com)

We elect politicians into office so that they can be our servants and not to be our masters.

We elect politicians so that they can make the best deal for the rakyat, not to make best deal for themselves.

What is needed at end of the day is accountability and transparency – it is simple as that. We admit that in the course of performing their duties to serve the people, politicians is entitled to certain perks and allowances, depending on the quality of work, of course. The Prime Minister for example can enjoy the escort of the police outriders when he needs to run through the traffic during peak hours (although we wish that he could take the public transport once in a while and see how fucked up the system is).

We are not complaining if things are done by the book.

And talking about doing things by the book, there has been interesting developments in the area of accountability and transparency – one is on the leaked Cabinet papers and the other on the very purpose of Selcat and its direction

On the cabinet papers, they are now going after the one leaked the information:-

Police investigations into the posting of classified Cabinet papers on the Internet will focus more on where the leak occurred rather than who was responsible for making them public, said Home Minister Datuk Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.

The Cabinet paper is looking at the PKFZ scandal and we been waiting for the many investigations by many parties (MACC, police, cabinet, PAC, etc) to come to an end and get the ‘son-of-bitches’ (words inspired by General George S Patton) who have squandered the millions to be caught and punished severely.

The last thing we need is for the PKFZ scandal coming to a closure without anyone brought out into the open and be accountable. We do not need the loss of millions simply swept under the carpet in the usual Malaysia Boleh spirit.

On the Selcat, it is being attacked from, not a big surprise, Khir Toyo and seems to be in collusion with PAS’ Hasan Ali (increasingly becoming the oddball in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition)

The latest spat over Selangor’s Committee for Competency, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) shows that there is a power tussle between the Mentri Besar and state assembly Speaker, says Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo.

Once again Khir Toyo is playing the racial card to overshadow the ‘good’ work that Selcat have done to date to uncover the blatant corruption and misuse of public funds during Khir Toyo’s helm at the administration of the state. One must admit that if not for change of state government, the blatant use of public funds would have gone unnoticed.

Hasan Ali said:-

“Investigations which involved degrading methods that affect the dignity of the people being questioned and elements of pressure did not reflect the philosophy of Selcat,” he said in a statement yesterday.

As a result of such tactics, he said many senior civil servants had lost their sense of self-worth and their morale was low.

Hasan Ali may have good points in his argument to improve Selcat but the problem is if many senior civil servants have done their job well and without the inclination to still work for or being pressured by the previous government, we will not be hearing blatant and gross recklessness like this:-

A district officer today revealed that Barisan National (BN) assemblymen under his jurisdiction had misused their state allocations ahead of the March 8 general elections last year.

Earlier Petaling District Officer Datuk Zulkepli Ahmad was at a loss to explain how approval for state allocations for BN lawmakers was given even after the state assembly was dissolved and even after the new PR state government was sworn-in.

There was a clear case of misuse of public funds in both cases – PKFZ scandal and in the findings of Selcat. What is yet to be finalised is the extent and the implications.

In recent developments in both cases, what is being feared is whether the truth will be lost and the guilty ones will get away unpunished, once again. In Malaysia, despite being more developed country and have a developed arms of government and having specialised enforcement agencies like the MACC (previously ACA), we are not much better than some 3rd world countries where corruption rules and no one ends up being accountable or answerable.

It is akin to the mission to Mars – there is a lot of work to be done and change of attitude before we can say we are corruption free country. Otherwise it will be the loss of millions year in, year out.

Politician’s Petty Cash

Things seems to be heating up for some seasoned politicians…

RPK has been talking a lot about Samy Vellu and how Indians got screwed in Malaysia Today – here and here (nothing fancy and much revolves around the well known Maika & MIED scandals). The “latest” evidence to surface is not so new – it was given to ACA way back in 1994 and they did nothing. Will MACC do the same?

(Khir Toyo’s 24 million mansion under investigation by MACC – Khir claims it is just Rm3.5 million, MACC  says RM5 million but the rakyat thinks both are wrong! Image source: http://anakdesa1108.wordpress.com)

Another politician in the limelight these days is Khir Toyo, the ex-MB – one of many politicians who claimed to be squeaky clean from corruption and has done everything in the interest of the people.

TheStar reported

Former Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo has been asked to be present at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission office here to assist in investigations related to the purchase of his multi-million ringgit palatial home

Seriously, I doubt any action will be taken against the ex-MB – there have been many reports and incidents against the ex-MB but the old ACA and now MACC have yet to book him for anything serious. This is compounded by the mysterious letter that surfaced during the Teoh Beng Hock’s death inquest that Khir Toyo is in collusion with MACC.

Can we afford to continue to give MACC the benefit of doubt? Perhaps after the Teoh Beng Hock’s death, they may have buckled up.

At the same time, the issue of Balkis has resurfaced again when the High Court granted order to challenge the legality of the Registrar of Societies’ (ROS) decision to dissolve and de-register Balkis (the Wives of Selangor Elected Representatives Association) on Feb 11. The Selangor State Government may have another crack at uncovering the fishy financial transactions of Balkis once headed by Khir Toyo’s wife.

We all know what really happened in Balkis and so does the current State Government. The only one in the “dark” seems to be the enforcement authorities (MACC, police, AG, etc) and we also know why this is so and so does the State Government. That is why the investigations into Balkis’ affairs are taken through the SELCAT (Select Committee on Competence, Accountability and Transparency formed under the Selangor State Assembly) and not through the usual MACC (which has a lousy track record).

And if one recalls the financial fiasco under Balkis, one of the matters that were raised was this:-

Permodalan Negri Selangor Bhd (PNSB) spent almost RM1mil for a trip to France and Morocco taken by former Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo and his entourage in 2004. The entourage included his wife Datin Seri Zaharah Kechik, their three children and Indonesian maid.

PNSB also paid an additional RM9,000 for Dr Khir and his family’s accommodation during a four-day transit in Dubai.

The inquiry heard that PNSB paid RM750,000 for Dr Khir’s trip to the United Stated in December 2007, which included tickets to Orlando Disneyland. An additional RM110,000 was spent on Dr Khir’s seven-night stay at a hotel suite in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Dr Khir and his family also flew first class, said Khairiyah, adding that the entourage visited Miami Beach, Los Angeles and the Kennedy Space Center. On why the trips were conducted during the school holidays, Khairiyah said Dr Khir, then PNSB chairman, had fixed the dates.

Stand back and see these blatant spending of public funds from a view of taxpayers who are working hard to pay rent for house, transportation, food and children’s education (and whatever balance for their savings for retirement).

Taxpayers who are expecting their hard earned money to be used for improvement of schools, roads and transportation, not to be used by some politicians, who thinks that it is their God given rights, to plunder and use the money for their own.

The last thing we expect is for the hard earned taxpayers’ money used by some bastards to bring his wife, children and maid for overseas holidays – flying, staying and dining in the finest places. And when called for accountability, shrugs off the issue and remains unanswerable and unaccountable.

If Khir Toyo had paid for these trips from his own savings, then one would have appreciated it (provided it can be proven) but the fact is it was not. It was paid for using public funds. There was a clear cut of conflict of interest and misuse of public funds. What suppose to be accountability to the rakyat turned into political hide-and-seek and wayang kulit (shadow play) and the people are not happy about this (one reason which Khir was kicked out from the MB seat).

For this very reason, the current State Government should not stop pursuing the missing funds and bring these slime balls in the corrupt out in the open for the public to see, judge and strung them high on a pole. Taxpayer’s money is not an endless money pit to be abused by politicians and get away with it.

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Tamil Movie Review: Kandasamy

We managed to catch the latest Tamil blockbuster, Kandasamy in Taiping’s latest cineplex last week or so and since the cineplex was quite new, the seats were comfortable and the sound system was outstanding.

(Vikram surrounded by the Mexican drug dealer and bodyguards when he is on trail of black money)

The Plot

The story from Snastavirs’ blog:-

Kandasamy opens with scenes showing ordinary people flocking to a Murugan temple which has become famous as all your wishes can be fulfilled at the temple. All those who submit their woes as petitions to Kandasamy (another name for Lord Muruga) on a piece of paper and tie it to a tree in the temple, their problems mainly financial are solved.

Soon Kandasamy (Vikram) becomes a phenomenon, a caped crusader dressed as a rooster, takes up letters of ordinary folks from the petition tree, and in a Robin Hood way provides cash and succor. The local DIG of Police (Prabhu) suspects that there is something unnatural about it and starts investigating. Meanwhile there is this brave and daring CBI officer Kandasamy (Vikram), who is on a mission to uncover black money and illegal wealth of rich and corrupt Indians stashed in foreign banks, which he believes is responsible for all the crime in our society. And our hero has the IQ of a genius, the strength of a bull and the speed of a cheetah.

Soon he crosses swords with Pallur Paramajyoti Ponnusamy or PPP (Ashish Vidyarti), the man with a golden tooth and conducts a raid in his palatial bungalow and finds unaccounted cash and documents of various foreign deals worth over Rs 1000 crore! PPP is devastated after the raid and his only daughter Subbalakshmi (Shriya Saran) swears revenge and pretends to fall in love with the dashing IPS officer.

What is the connection between masked crusader Kandasamy and the CBI officer Kandasamy? Why is the CBI Joint Director Krishna Rao (Telugu actor Krishna) protecting Mr. Kandasamy? Can the villains- PPP, Rajmohan of RMG group, and Mexican Pitchumani (Alex) expose and bring Kandasamy to trial? Will the DIG succeed in proving that Kandasamy is no God?

The underlining message in the film is, “Money (read black) is the root cause of all evil”.

(Story within a story – the fight and romance between Vikram & Shriya – unfortunately a distraction to the key storyline)

Storyline

Kandasamy tackles the same issue as in the Rajini’s Sivaji – the influx of ‘black money’ and how it is creating havoc on the ordinary citizens. In both movies, the ‘hero’ gets the money out from the rich & powerful and into the hand of ordinary citizens.

With Vikram in the lead, one can trace elements of Anniyan in this movie. However, there are several key differences between the 2. The dark character in Anniyan was quite evil and did not hesitate to kill if things are not done the right way. In Anniyan, Vikram played an innocent Ambi who was a lawyer who suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder.

In Kandasamy, Vikram plays a powerful CBI officer and is helped by a group of friends from various enforcement agencies and who are working for both sides (the good guys and bad guys) and indirectly assisted by the CBI department head himself. The fight scenes were more logical this time as Vikram was not alone when fighting several bad guys. Despite and obvious ‘loophole’ (how come the bad guys did not noticed this?), his friends helped out in the background with pulleys, special effects and music. And instead of correcting the wrongful with cold blood murder,

Vikram plays a cooler headed Robin Hood who takes black money from the rich and gives it out to the poor without much violence (except during the climax).

(Vikram in disguise and in fight with a corrupt policeman in the opening scene of the movie – it was one of the best opening so far, with fast paced music and background)

Directorship

Susi Ganesan may be a new name when it comes to Tamil movies but he had worked in many movies before especially the master Mani Ratnam in several movies. And he made sure the storyline remains logic and no major bad acting evident in the movie. The CBI investigations are done rather meritoriously.

The scenes in Mexico were well directed and the sinister side of the drug dealers shines. Cinematographer N K Ekambaram’s work is excellent especially at the close ups and the scenes in Mexico – not too creative but enough to ensure the scenes are crystal clear.

(The many faces of Vikram in the movie – he also acted as an old man and a lady)

Acting

Vikram as usual shines in his role as the tough CBI officer who is also playing a ‘robin-hood’ role at night. Whilst Vikram handled the more serious side of the story, comedian Vadivelu had us entertained with his usual comical stints. The funniest part would be when he decided to dress up like the mysterious Kandasamy and on the way to make quick money, get entangled with the policeman who was bashed by the real Kandasamy. Shriya looks good in between the story gap and does nothing much other than providing candy for the eyes.

Music

Devi Sri Prasad a seasoned Tamil music director shined with interesting hits for this movie. The theme song – Kandasamy was motivational and inspiring. The others like Excuse Me Mr. Kandaswamy and Mambo Mamiya are also catchy and nice to hear. The ‘cat’ song was a total waste of screen time and talents but I guess it is a norm to have 1 or 2 bad songs.

Final say

The plus points: The plot (not original but has more logic this time), music and comedy

The negative points: Love scenes (I think directors should make up their mind on the main theme of their films – action movie or romance movie – please stick to just one)

(All images from Indiaglitz)

KPI Anti-Climax

What anti climax it was…

When I first heard about KPIs and other related slogans like “we accept we need to change”, “people first, party later” and other sugar coating remarks from BN, I was sceptical on whether these jokers was serious about change or just putting up a wayang kulit (shadow play) for Malaysians to be dazzled and support the new administration under Najib

(Is the KPI,  something achievable? Image source: http://pricepages.org)

And today, KPIs was announced and some of it is not too bad – like to reduce street crimes by 20% by the end of 2010 (although 20% is not enough), to ensure 80% of Malaysian children get access to pre-school by 2012 (with strong emphasis on English?), by 2012, all school kids must master reading, writing and mathematics by Year 4 (with English included, I presume).

But the joke on the KPI was this:-

To improve the international perception of corruption in Malaysia by improving the country’s ranking in the world’s corruption index

And it is joke because it is headed by:-

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohd Nazri Aziz (dubbed Joker of the Year – more than once) for fighting corruption

This is one KPI that DOOMED from the moment it was announced.