DAP tight style

Apparently this video had gone viral since two days ago,

Then the DAP's YB Melaka exco issued this threat,

Well, I don't want to write much for fear of being accused of spinning.

You all judge it for yourself la.

With orang kampung also want to scream and shout like that.

Ya, I know, some of you all will comment that Umno YBs are worse.

But hey, this guy is a Malaysia Baru YB of Pakatan Harapan. Supposed to be better behaved, right?

Video went viral also want to sue. What la.

Anyway, I think his shirt was too tight. Maybe it's for being stylish but I suspect that it may had caused his blood circulation to be not so good thus contributing to the bad temper.

What ever it is, I can't help but to notice that DAP leaders tend to be like that.

Try to read today's open letter from Guan Eng's political secretary Tony Pua to MMC-Gamuda,

Setiausaha Politik Menteri Kewangan, Ahli Parlimen Damansara

10 Oktober 2018

Ke hadapan Lembaga Pengarah MMC-Gamuda,

Saya ucap tahniah untuk sebuah persembahan yang hebat sejak Menteri Kewangan, Lim Guan Eng mengumumkan keputusan Kabinet untuk

(i) menerima tawaran MMC-Gamuda untuk mengurangkan kos kerja-kerja atas tanah MRT2 sebanyak RM5.2 bilion, menjadikannya RM17.4 bilion (pengurangan sebanyak 23%) dalam bentuk kontrak ‘turnkey’, dan

(ii) menamatkan kontrak kerja bawah tanah memandangkan kedua-dua pihak tidak dapat menemui kata sepakat berkenaan pengurangan harga.

Tetuan telah mengeluarkan surat mengisytiharkan tidak bersalah, mendakwa bahawa anda menanti tawaran daripada Kementerian Kewangan. Anda mempersoalkan kelayakan konsultan kejuruteraan bebas yang kami lantik.

Anda mengandaikan bahawa keputusan penamatan dibuat secara tergesa-gesa dan tanpa pertimbangan yang sewajarnya. Anda cuba untuk meraih simpati, mendakwa tidak kurang 20,000 individu akan kehilangan kerja (wow!).

Media sosial anda dengan aktif sekali mempromosi kempen ‘selamatkan 20,000 pekerjaan’ merayu rakyat Malaysia menyokong petisyen anda.

Ada surat yang tular di Whatsapp daripada jurutera graduan kelas pertama yang menyesal mengundi Pakatan Harapan dalam pilihan raya lalu.

Prestasi dan mobilisasi kempen ini sangat mengagumkan. Persoalan kos projek ini kepada pihak kerajaan langsung tidak dipedulikan.

Kami tidak mahu bertikam lidah dengan anda di mata umum. Biasanya itu dikhaskan hanya untuk lawan-lawan politik sahaja. Apatah lagi, kami ingin meneruskan hubungan kerja yang baik bagi menyiapkan kerja-kerja atas tanah bernilai RM17.42 bilion itu.

Namun, tindakan berani tuan-tuan untuk berlagak sebagai mangsa kerajaan ‘zalim’ Pakatan Harapan menuntut supaya suatu jawapan diberikan bagi membetulkan fakta dan rekod.

1. Kontrak asal projek bawah tanah diberikan pada nilai RM15.49 bilion. MRT Corp kemudian memberi tambahan RM1.2 bilion untuk ‘variation order’ yang menyebabkan kontrak yang disemak semula bernilai RM16.71 bilion.

2. Selepas beberapa mesyuarat dan perbincangan, anda menulis surat kepada pihak menteri pada 15 Ogos bagi menawarkan harga semak semula, RM15.1 bilion. Ini berikutan keputusan untuk tidak meneruskan pembinaan dua stesen bawah tanah Bandar Malaysia Utara dan Selatan.

3. Kemudian pada 7 September, anda menawarkan untuk mengurangkan lagi harga kontrak projek bawah tanah sehingga RM14.58 bilion (semua sekali RM32 bilion untuk keseluruhan projek MRT2).

Ini bererti penjimatan kos sebanyak RM2.13 bilion atau pengurangan sebanyak 12.7%. Seperti yang disebut pengarah Gamuda dalam mesyuarat bersama menteri pada 4 September - “we offer what we can offer, but anything beyond that will be meaningless to continue.” (Kami tawarkan apa yang kami boleh tawarkan, lebih daripada itu tak ada makna untuk diteruskan)

4. Pun begitu, berdasarkan kajian konsultan kejuruteraan bebas, MRT Corp sepatutnya menjangka jumlah penjimatan antara RM4.19 hingga RM5.79 bilion bagi anggaran 60% projek yang belum siap.

Ya, anggaran penjimatan ini baru untuk baki kerja yang belum siap. Bayangkan penjimatan untuk keseluruhan kontrak.

Jadi persoalan yang perlu difikirkan oleh kerajaan baharu Pakatan Harapan ini sangat mudah sebenarnya:

A. Adakah kita akan kata, "Tak apa lah, kita terima sahaja pengurangan RM2.13 bilion yang ditawarkan MMC Gamuda"? Lagipun kita boleh ambil angka ini dan bercakap besar kepada rakyat Malaysia tentang ‘pencapaian’ kita yang hebat, kerana mereka pun bukan tahu yang kita mungkin boleh jimat sebanyak RM2 bilion lagi. Tambahan pula, kita pastinya boleh mengelak publisiti negatif dan proses tender antarabangsa baharu yang perlu dilaksanakan. Leceh dan banyak kerja.

ATAU

B. Adakah kita akan menghormati mandat dan amanah yang telah diberikan rakyat dan memaksimumkan penjimatan yang boleh kita perolehi daripada projek ini? RM2 bilion boleh digunakan untuk membangun 5 hospital, atau 50 buah sekolah.

RM2 bilion adalah jumlah wang yang sangat besar di saat saya melihat rakan-rakan di Kementerian Kewangan berusaha untuk berjimat cermat mencari penjimatan RM50 juta di sini dan mengurangkan perbelanjaan RM80 juta di sana untuk Belanjawan akan datang.

Kabinet jelas sekali telah membuat keputusan untuk memilih B.

Dan anda betul-betul mahu menyuruh rakyat Malaysia menyalahkan Kabinet kerana menamatkan kontrak ini?

Atau adakah kemudiannya anda akan memilih sasaran berbeza, seperti yang tersirat dalam kenyataan media anda, bahawa konsultan kejuruteraan bebas adalah tidak cukup layak - walaupun mempunyai 500 staf dengan rekod menyelesaikan 80 projek di 24 negara di luar Malaysia?

Atau adakah kerana konsultan lantikan kerajaan ini mendedahkan tentang pembohongan berterusan kononnya kos MRT1 dan MRT2 adalah jauh di bawah kos biasa pembinaan sistem metro di rantau Asia, kerana tiada sesiapa yang boleh mengesahkan data yang diberikan?

Adakah kami patut mempersoalkan kenapa MMC Gamuda pada mulanya bersetuju berkongsi data kos dengan jurutera konsultan untuk menjustifikasi kos, tetapi kemudian enggan berbuat demikian, kononnya ia ‘trade secret’?

Kepada graduan kejuruteraan kelas-pertama berusia 26 tahun itu, saya memahami pergolakan yang sedang anda hadapi dalam kehidupan hari ini dan ia langsung bukan salah anda.

Tetapi, sekiranya Gamuda membuat keputusan untuk tidak mengekalkan khidmat anda, merekalah sebenarnya yang rugi, kerana anda akan boleh membina kerjaya yang turut cemerlang di banyak syarikat lain.

Kepada seramai 20,000 pekerja, seperti yang didakwa MMC, akan kehilangan pekerjaan mereka akibat penamatan kontrak, biar saya tekankan bahawa kerajaan Malaysia bukannya membatalkan projek tersebut.

Anda akan menemukan banyak lagi peluang apabila projek baharu dijalankan pada kos yang lebih rendah, manakala penjimatan yang diperolehi bermakna lebih banyak projek akan dijalankan pada masa akan datang.

Tetapi mungkin, daripada memulakan petisyen di Change.org bagi mendesak kerajaan menarik balik keputusan membatalkan kontrak, adalah lebih bermanfaat untuk memulakan petisyen mendesak bos-bos anda di MMC Gamuda untuk memberi tawaran yang terbaik kepada Kerajaan Malaysia.

Terima kasih.

Over 20,000 people are going to lose their job and that's how the DAP big shot reacted.

Arrogant like hell, if you asked me.

Don't get too excited, it's just politics

A lot of people seemed excited about this event in Port Dickson last night,

These are from my last post which has nothing to do with the PD by-election;

Anonymous9 October 2018 at 00:02

It's great to see Tun M and Anwar sharing the same stage in Port Dickson. Go Pakatan !

Anonymous9 October 2018 at 06:53

Wow....this must be Annie's greatest nightmare after all her futile spinning efforts to sow the seeds of division. Even Daim Zainuddin campaigned for Anwar in PD.

Well, actually my greatest nightmare is losing my beloved and not some politicians sharing the same stage.

Politics will always be just politics to me. It's never for real, either in friendship or enmity.

That's why when the fighting broke out between Dr Mahathir and Najib back in 2015, I decided not to take sides. This is my all important post on April 2 that year;

• A storm is gathering

I made that decision primarily because I don't want to be a permanent enemy of any of my friends who took sides at that time.

And true enough, the fighting was bitter, and in fact worse than all the Umno-Pas or Umno-DAP fights.

Closest of friends became bitter enemies till this day.

As for myself, I think I lost some friends because I refused to side with them but at least I believe they don't regard me as enemy either. Well, that's good enough for me.

For me those are such a waste. Life long friendship lost because of just politics which is not even for real.

The same with this Dr Mahathir-Anwar thing. 

Looking back at their history, I believe the same thing happened among ordinary people who are their supporters. 

It's all lost just because of this,

Well, that's just politics, okay.

No need to get too upset.

One day, maybe Dr Mahathir will be okay with Najib again, just like his view of Anwar now, insyaallah.

It's just us, the ordinary people who should not get too excited about it all.

Try not to lose your friends and those you love because of it.

It's all actually not for real, okay. Try to remember that.

A Mujahid's image booster which went the wrong way.

Saw this report just now and I was quite surprised,

Mujahid’s press secretary demands apology from The Star

excerpts;

In a statement issued last night, Siti Zulaikha Zulkifli, the press secretary to the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Religion), Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusuf Rawa, said the apology should be published in their newspaper and portal.

She said stricter action would be taken if the open apology was not made within 24 hours.

Will The Star be closed down if it refuses to apologise?

There's the warning of "stricter action". Not bad for just a press secretary of a minister.

Previously, I know that only press secretary of the PM dare to threaten a major newspaper like that.

Looks like nowadays are different. Malaysia Baru, I guess.

Well, I know that The Star  has always tried its best not to apologise for such things in the past, if it can get away with it. Sorts of a matter of principle, it seems.

Let's see if The Star dares to not apologise as demanded for this one.

After all it was an exclusive interview with Mujahid;

No more night khalwat raids or 

intrusion into Muslims private lives, says Mujahid

So, it must have been done in good faith.

How come the Mujahid's press secretary made it as if The Star have malicious intent by writing the story that way?

For all intents and purposes, I think The Star journalist who wrote and the bosses who edited the story thought the headline would boost Mujahid's image as an open minded minister in charge of Islam.

Hey, even I'm okay with it. Good what that those Jabatan people are not to kacau muslims anymore.

The Star people must have thought that finally, here's such a minister who is liberal and not so kampung stupid.

After all, Mujahid has sorts of build an image which could even be deemed as LGBT-friendly.

Mujahid and LGBT activist Nisha Ayub during a recent meeting

I guess unfortunately the backlash from The Star exclusive interview was too much to bear.

It was so bad that all the state muftis, except the one in DAP-controlled Penang went against Mujahid.

And as usual for politicians in this country, the best course of action is to blame the media, in this case The Star.

Well, so much for liberal, open minded Islamic minister.

I guess Mujahid will be more careful with how to craft his image next time.

Whatever.

Anyway, here's a song for this Monday morning.

Need to get up and go to work now.

Cheers.

Lynas' worries - the risk of not being factual and objective

Lynas is apparently back in the news.

A friend pointed this to me today,

An open letter from Lynas to 
the government and people of Malaysia

excerpts

Despite the company’s excellent record of compliance, according to recent media reports, a Lynas Malaysia review committee has been formed. These reports state it will be chaired by a person who openly admits to being anti-Lynas. From media reports, this person has been quoted as stating it will not be an independent review. To date, Lynas has seen media reports about this review committee. However, we have not been notified of the membership of this review committee, the scope of the review or the terms of reference of this committee.

So, basically the government has set up a committee headed by Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh and Lynas was scared that it will be bias against it.

I think the company's worries are justifiable because Fuziah herself is indeed very anti-Lynas.

She built her campaign for the Kuantan parliamentary seat during the general election in 2013 mostly based on the Lynas issue.

Just look at this video she did back in 2011, at the height of the anti-Lynas protests when she said the rare-earth processed by the company will turn humans and other living things in Kuantan into mutants,

That's scary isn't it?

I mean, I'm scared of her after watching the video.

Back then, Lynas won a court case to continue its operations after even the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said its plant and operations were safe. 

And true enough, till now there's no case of mutants of any kind reported in Kuantan.

In fact the Lynas issue hardly ever surfaced after the general election in 2013 till the recent one in May.

Therefore I believe all the noises before that were mostly politically motivated instead of them really being concerns about the environment.

I'm quite familiar with Kuantan myself having spent many weekends there over the years. In fact I love the place more than anywhere else in Malaysia, 

And I find the place to be still the same since Lynas' plant operates there six years ago.

There were quite a lot of complaints sometimes back over bauxite mining there but that's got nothing to do with Lynas.

I really thought that it was a dead issue after GE13.

So, I was quite surprised that suddenly Lynas became an issue again now.

And honestly, I found it a bit weird that Fuziah is the one being appointed to lead the committee because she is actually a deputy minister in charge of religion now.

I don't think Lynas has anything to do with religion.

Why didn't the government appoint the environment minister to lead the committee instead since it was said that the committee was set up because of environmental concerns?

At least that way we can be more assured that the people reviewing Lynas know about science and technology and will base their findings on facts instead of anything else.

This is what the Malaysia Australia Business Council asked on this matter the other day,

Lynas Malaysia review should be 

transparent, evidence based

excerpts;

“While the government’s right to conduct a review of the operations is not questioned, it is important that such a review should be to assess any breaches of its licence or for not meeting acceptable international standards.

“The credibility of the review, including the composition of the review team and the terms of reference, is critical to ensure that it does not damage Malaysia’s reputation as a stable and open investment destination,” it said.

MABC said Malaysia has long been regarded as an attractive investment destination because of its reliable legal framework, predictable economic, political and policy environment, and demonstrated openness to investment from the government and the local business community.

Australian businesses have invested almost RM30 billion in Malaysia as of end-2017, across a range of productive economic sectors, including manufacturing, services, agribusiness, resources and the digital economy.

“This investment has created thousands of jobs for Malaysians and helped boost the country’s economic development, intellectual property and skills base,” it added.

Well, I think it was a fair request. They just want things to be done properly and by the right people.

I guess, they probably had seen that Fuziah's video and worried quite a bit too.

Someone who made such a video may not be the right person to lead the review in an objective and professional manner.

As pointed out, the outcome of the review may have quite an impact on investors' confidence, not only for those from Australia, but also elsewhere in the world.

Hopefully the government will take note of this and reconsider their decision on who should be in the committee and how it's going to go about with the review.

Here's a video on this issue that you may want to watch,

What to expect from the media of New Malaysia

I was actually not surprised when no one commented as usual that I'm an Umno macai or dedak eater at my last posting

Stay true Mus 

Mus is a bit of a hero among Pakatan supporters when he quit NST.  His Facebook page later on became quite popular for its anti-BN postings.

I wrote about Mus since back then as a matter of facts.

And he's not the only prominent journalist turned anti-BN that I highlighted.

This one is about former Utusan editor Ku Seman,

• True journalist

I wrote about these guys as a matter of facts as I believe I know how they felt when they quit their job at that time.

I believe I have always been consistent on my unhappiness about how these journalists were treated by their bosses and media outlets. 

Here's another one, but this guy (who is not famous like Mus and Ku Seman) requested anonymity; 

• Nasib penyokong marhaen Najib

The way I see it, cases such as these contributed to the BN's defeat in GE14.

The culprits are the media bosses, who don't care about journalism but instead only wanted to secure their positions by doing the ampu bodek things and purging their supposed rivals in the organisation.

Despite the nauseating praises for BN published by them, I don't think that they sincerely care about even Najib. It's all just about themselves.

I believe I have been consistent in criticising them too.

I wrote this not long before GE14 when I was in a rather foul mood.

• Fuck you, big time editors, media handlers

Well, I got pissed off once in a while, okay.

Now that people like Mus and maybe later Ku Seman are taking over control of these media outlets, I hope things will turned out right.

A new dawn for Malaysian journalism, hopefully.

Let's hope that it's not a repeat of the same thing - just a turn around from bodeking BN to bodeking PH.

Let's also hope that it's not just a return to the days when Dr Mahathir was PM and Anwar was his deputy during the 1990s.

Critics of the establishment at that time always complained about how the media was being shackled.

Anwar's grip on the mainstream media at that time was said to be the worst.

Ask any journalists from those years and they would probably agree with that.

Ask Mus and Ku Seman if you may. They are from that era too.

Hopefully, Mus will give the middle finger to any PH politician, minister or media handler who tries to dictate how Media Prima news outlets should publish their stories.

Even if Dr Mahathir calls for some favours which could possibly jeopardise journalistic integrity of Media Prima news outlets, I hope  Mus will say;

"I'm sorry Tun. We can't do that. That's against our journalistic principles and ethics. Furthermore, our duty as journalists is to safeguard the rakyat's interests and nothing else."

I expect nothing less than that from Mus, Ku Seman and other journalists like them once they control those media outlets.

Stay true Mus (updated)

Someone told me last night that Mustapha Kamil Mohd Janor, the former NST group editor, will be appointed as Media Prima's Group Executive Director for News Operations.

If it's true, then congratulations to you, Mus.

I think I was among the first to write about his resignation from NST back then.

This is the first one;

BlackGold and a bit on Mus

Followed by these;

An advice for pro-establishment newsmen

• Mus' story

A matter of conscience

Again, if it's true, I hope Mus will do as what he said when he resigned from NST.

That he wanted to practice true journalism.

I hope he is telling the truth and will from now on uphold and promote the true journalism principles and ethics, at least at Media Prima.

No more ampu and bodek journalism such as practiced by some media bosses since even before the Najib's administration.

No more taking orders from PMO or others with vested interests.

Things like that.

Here I put again this video for reference,

Well, Mus, I hope you stay true to what you said. All the best.

UPDATES (at 14:10)

Just saw this,

Media Prima appoints Mustapha Kamil

 as executive director

Good voices at PAU and a bit on the handsome Hsien Loong

I was rendered rather immobile since Thursday.

Transportation problem which I need to fix later this afternoon.

Have to cancel my plan to drop by PWTC for the closing day of Umno general assembly today.

Unlike the previous years, the assembly was only a one day affair because yesterday was actually the wings' meetings.

Guess, they just rushed this one because of the RoS problem.

Well, I'll be monitoring it online just like yesterday.

So far I'm okay with it.

Even though I was not so impressed with Zahid's opening speech last night, I agreed when earlier

Umno Youth wants a strengthened party, 

not unity government

I want to see Umno rebuilding itself instead of trying to strike a deal with especially Anwar to get back in power.

The party should learn to be a good opposition, cleanse itself from the bad people and habits before it could hope to be in power again.

I do believe that it's capable to do so as the majority of them are really good people.

For the meanwhile, this country needs a good opposition to check on the PH government and Umno should take the lead as it still have significant support and the governing experience.

I also agree with this one

Umno must not be an ultra Malay party, 

says deputy youth chief

I have never agree with the Umno-Pas tie-up even when I was going all out supporting the party back then.

Please check this blog's archive if you don't believe me.

I believe that the best for this country is two multi-racial parties or coalitions checking on one another.

Back then, when I considered myself as a truly pro-Umno/pro-BN blogger, I never advocate the destruction of the opposition parties including DAP. Some of my friends, including prominent bloggers,who are now with Pribumi Bersatu had wanted that.

I do believe that there must be a strong opposition at all time if this country is to be a fully developed democracy.

That's why I started to lean back on the side of Umno after GE14 as I realised that there seemed to be a movement to totally eradicate the party and its remaining allies which are now in the opposition.

I will never agree to an all dominant  PH coalition just like it was with BN before the 1999 general election.

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, so they said.

I know, most of you all would say "Oh Annie is spinning again. PH is good. Everything about PH is good. Not like the evil and corrupt Umno and BN."

But the signs are already there. They lied on their election promises, and their ministers are mediocre at best.  Some are outright stupid.

Then they are already fighting among themselves. Just look at the ongoing PKR elections.

There's already that big question - Will Dr Mahathir hands over power to Anwar, the man he once described as not fit to lead the country due to his homosexual tendencies and other defects?

My bet is NO.

Personally, I want Dr Mahathir to stay in power till at least the end of this term.

Then if PH wins the next general election, he should hand over power to someone relatively young like Azmin.

Definitely not Anwar.

It's the only way forward for this country.

Meanwhile Umno and its remaining allies should work on rehabilitating themselves by being a good opposition coalition.

I have no objection if Pas wants to join them but the party has to accept that it's a multi racial coalition instead of an ultra Islamic Malay coalition.

I think Pas can do that as it once cooperated with DAP and PKR to set up the now defunct Pakatan Rakyat which laid the groundwork for the PH's GE14 victory.

Who knows, maybe they could be so good while PH becomes so bad over the next four years that the rakyat may decide they want a change again.

It's not impossible, okay.

Anything could happen over the course of four years.

Meanwhile, I'm hoping for Dr Mahathir to remain healthy and in good shape.

I watched his speech at UN on Friday night and I think he looked and sounded tired.

Maybe his aides and family should tell him to slow down a bit. He's 93 after all.

I'm always worried these day should anything happen to the handsome old man.

I simply don't want Anwar, his families and cronies to take over.

I rather if Dr Mahathir feels that he can't carry the weight of premiership, calls for a snap general election and let the rakyat decide once more where this country is heading.

If they still want Anwar to lead them, then I would not bitch about it anymore.

Maybe I'll just migrate to Singapore.

Hsien Loong is definitely better than Anwar.

More handsome some more.....unlike Guan Eng.

See,

And Hsien Loong is way much smarter too. He definitely would not make supposedly mistakes so stupid such as putting a decimal point at the wrong place, or try to spin national debt figures.

Oh, and Hsien Loong is quite surely not a homosexual or bisexual  or such that he's susceptible to blackmail which is a big NO for someone leading his country.