“Who Wants to Be a BILLIONAIRE?!?!?” – Ghostline Edition

Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan,

Welcome to this week’s edition of ‘Who Wants to be a BILLIONAIRE?!?!?!”, with our guest contestant Tan Sri Datuk UMNO bin Barisan.

Welcome back to the show, Tan Sri Datuk. Listen carefully. This week’s billion-ringgit question is:

“In Malaysia; when your house is on fire, what is the CORRECT thing to do? Do you…”

A. risk your life to rescue the banknotes you hid under your mattress;
B. set fire to your neighbour’s house;
C. shoot the person who tried to wake up the kampung by shouting “Api! Api!”; OR
D. all of the above.

This is a very special question, Tan Sri. ALL the answers are correct. But only ONE answer is correct correct correct!

For ONE… BILLION… RINGGIT… What is your answer?

Excerpt from the Malaysian Insider, full article is at:

http://themalaysianinsider.com/mni/media-on-the-mat-for-leaking-out-report.html

Media on the mat for leaking out reportKUALA LUMPUR, May 16 — The fallout from the Royal Commission report on the V.K. Lingam video scandal has claimed its first victim – the press.

Police reports were today lodged against the Berita Harian, New Straits Times and The Star by the Prime Minister’s Department for breaching the Official Secrets Act and publishing excerpts of the report before the Cabinet ruled that it could be made public.

The Malaysian Insider has learnt that commission members, ministers and Umno politicians have been upset with several newspapers for breaking the embargo on the explosive report which confirmed what Malaysians long suspected – that the appointment of judges during the Mahathir era was manipulated by individuals close to the then prime minister.

…

(with apologies to Comedy Court)

Police to Block Solidarity Vigil for ISA Detainees, Again

Malaysiakini reports that the police are cordoning off Dataran Merdeka and have issued warnings to prevent citizens from attending the above silent, peaceful candlelight vigil for the 5 HINDRAF leaders now under ISA detention. The vigil is scheduled for tonight, at 8 pm.

The UMNO-BN government’s response was to be expected, of course.
Well, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, this is what I have to say. Make sure you pass the message to your attack dog Musa Hassan and your lapdog Johari Baharom.

It is our fundamental and inalienable RIGHT as free citizens to peaceably assemble and to voice our concerns without interference from the state. We as citizens have never relinquished the right to public assembly; instead, the state has illegally misappropriated our right by ‘giving’ the police the power to ‘approve’ public assembly.

Listen well, Abdullah.

I do not recognise the authority of the police or the state in this respect. And neither do an increasing number of citizens in Malaysia.

In every single one of the previous civil protests, the violence was instigated and initiated by the police, not the citizens who participated in the protest. In fact, I am glad to see how disciplined the civil protestors have been, whether they be from HINDRAF, BERSIH, the Bar Council or otherwise. It is the PDRM that has proven to be lacking in discipline and professionalism, shirking their professional code to act as the thugs and enforcers of your shoddy regime.

And now you send your attack dogs in uniform to once again bar the people from peacefully assembling in solidarity with the HINDRAF leaders you unjustly detained under the ISA, an obsolete and draconian law that should have been expunged from the Constitution decades ago.

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, I have no respect whatsoever left for you. To address you by your birth name is a courtesy I do not intend to maintain much longer.

You are a failed leader of a failed government, trying desperately to protect a festering mess of failed policies.

I no longer recognise you as the Prime Minister of Malaysia. You are not fit hold the post. Nor do I recognise your Cabinet of fools, imbeciles and bigots.

You forget, Abdullah, that *I* am your boss. I am one of the rakyat, and the rakyat are very angry.

(click for larger version)

[ some components of the poster above were sourced from The People’s Parliament. ]

Merry Kerismas! Greetings from Bolehland

Seasons greetings from Bolehland! Above: Santa Dollah takes a break from doling out the Kerismas goodies.

Another quality product from Ghostline Industries Tidak Berhad, inspired by the brilliant poster below from Malaysiakini:

SAVE BURMA; Day of Action 5th Oct

Dear readers,In support of the Burmese people’s struggle for freedom in the face of a violent crackdown by the Burmese junta:

This blogger and fellow SG-based Malaysian blogger Satya will be staging a two-man satyagraha (peaceful demonstration) outside the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China on Tanglin Road, Singapore later this morning (Friday 5th Oct) from 11am -2pm.

[ Mahatma Gandhi – pioneer of the satyagraha (‘Gandhigiri’) philosophy; photo from Wikipedia ]

Due to the great difficulty in obtaining official approval for public protests in Singapore (the SG government is equally as uptight about public protests as Malaysia is, they’re just less triggerhappy) and the extreme urgency over the ongoing violence in Burma, we have decided to circumvent the problem of the permit by staging a very small but (hopefully) high-impact two-man protest instead.

We have prepared a short memorandum to be submitted to the Chinese Ambassador and local media, if they show up. Download the memorandum here: save-burma.pdf

Why target the Chinese Embassy and not the Burmese?

Simple: the Burmese military junta is very similar to North Korea right now: isolated, paranoid, delusional and violent. International expressions of revulsion… are unlikely to have any effect on the Burmese government.

However, the Burmese military junta is still heavily dependent on China for political, military, economic and ideological support; Burma is virtually a client state of China (as is North Korea). Chinese support (in conjunction with petrodollars) is propping up the junta as part of a new ‘Great Game’ between China and India to assert strategic influence on Indochina. Despite attempts in recent years at hedging the country’s dependence on China, the Burmese government would probably collapse if the Chinese abruptly withdrew their support.

In other words, China has a great deal of leverage over Burma if it wishes to exercise it.

Obviously, China is highly reluctant to do so, but this is where international attention and pressure can be strategically brought to bear with the greatest effect. China is vulnerable to negative publicity right now because it MUST maintain a squeaky-clean public image for the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympics. Therein lies our leverage.

By linking the violence in Burma to China’s own human rights record and the upcoming Beijing Olympics, we can gain some leverage over China. Bluntly speaking, I believe that we – the people of the world – can conceivably press the Chinese government to take meaningful action against the Burmese junta. I do not think they can afford to have the glamour of the Beijing Olympics ‘tainted’ by association with the blood of the Burmese protestors.

It is not desirable to politicise the Olympic Games; that statement notwithstanding, the Games have always been politicised to some degree, and I believe that this is the only way to force China to take real action.

ASEAN, as we have seen, is about as useful as having an extra toe growing out of your forehead. And, short of a military action, even the United Nations has very little influence over the Burmese junta.

Which leaves China.

Avaaz, the NGO that is organising the worldwide petition and newspaper ad campaign for the Burmese people, has also identified the same strategic issue, i.e.: to move Burma, we must press China.

Press hard. Burmese lives depend on it.

—————————————-

Just received the followup email from Avaaz, organiser of the worldwide petition to China and the UN Supreme Council to take action against Burma over the violent crackdown. The email is reproduced below, (red highlights added by me):

——————-

Dear friends,

Today, our petition to China and the UN Security Council to stop the brutal crackdown on peaceful Burmese protesters is being delivered to the world in a full page ad in the Financial Times worldwide — but the ad was rejected by other newspapers like the South China Morning Post and the Singapore Straits Times. Our message is an invitation to China to do the right thing in Burma, not an attack — yet even that seemed too much for media that fear Chinese reprisals.

We won’t let our voice be silenced like this. We’re taking our message to the streets, in an international day of action on Saturday — details are on our petition page, and below. And we’re redoubling our efforts to make our voice louder: our petition is approaching 600,000 signatures, closing fast on our 1 million goal.The petition link is below – send this email to all your friends and family and help us reach 1 million voices by Saturday!

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/w.php

To organize an event for the global day of action, just follow the steps below. To attend an event, scroll down our petition page at the link above for a list of events around the world. Here’s some simple steps for organizers:

• Choose a public place or landmark in your town, and organize friends to go there all wearing the same maroon red clothing as the Burmese monks. Tell local media about your plans, and email the details and contact information to dayofaction@avaaz.org — we will try to advertise your event on our petition page.
• Ask people attending your event to share their feelings on this crisis and the need for action, and then tie a red ribbon or piece of cloth around fences or trees to leave a more lasting sign of your support for the Burmese.

The worldwide outcry to save Burma’s peaceful monks and protesters is one more sign of how the world is getting closer, feeling increasingly responsible to each other, and for each other as human beings. We’re bringing a voice of humanity to this desperate situation, and we must not be silenced.

With hope and determination,

Ricken, Paul, Graziela, Ben, Sarah, Iain, Galit, Pascal, Milena and the whole Avaaz Team.

PS – Here are some great links for local reporting on the current situation in Burma:

http://www.irrawaddy.org

http://www.mizzima.com

Avaaz.org is staffed by a global team of campaigners operating on 3 continents. We have administrative offices in London, New York, and Rio de Janeiro. Please direct mail to our NY office at 260 Fifth Avenue, 9th floor, New York, NY 10001 U.S.A.

[ ALERT ] Cyberthugs on the Loose, Again.

[ UPDATE ] 071002 . 2240

Malaysia Today is online again.

[ ALERT ] 071002 . 2000

Suspicious activity in the Malaysian blogosphere last night is now confirmed to be Distributed Denial of Services (DDoS) ‘spam’ attacks on and attempted hacking of at least one and probably two civil society blogs.

• Jeff Ooi’s ‘Screenshots‘ blog was down and has just come back online. Jeff has confirmed that there was an abnormal surge in activity last night and also an attempted hacking of his server.
• Raja Petra Kamarudin’s Malaysia Today is still down at this time, and has been since last night; no word on MT yet but it looks overwhelmingly like a coordinated DDoS attack as well.
• Malaysiakini was exceptionally slow last night at around the same time; no word from them on that but it may also be indicative of an abnormal spike in web traffic.

Screenshots is still not at full capacity and access is difficult at the moment; notice from Jeff below:

So far we have a confirmed web attack on Screenshots, a ‘highly probable’ on MT and a ‘possible’ attack on Malaysiakini.

The common thread linking Screenshots, Malaysia Today and Malaysiakini is that all three specialise in exposing scandals and wrongdoing, particularly those committed by those in the BN government and their cronies.

Too much of a coincidence.

NEW! Naval-Grade Scandal-Whitening Toothpaste from PAC

[ Another Dodgy(TM) PACkaged* product, proudly brought to you by Ghostline Industries Tidak Berhad ]

(*thanks to reader ‘Xylogue’ for the term)

Fresh from whitewashing the RM4.6 bil Port Klang Free Zone scandal (previous post HERE), the energetic Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has moved on to its next job: removing the stubborn stains left by the RM 6.75 bil Navy OPV (offshore patrol boat) procurement scandal.

Again, after making a good show of ‘investigating’, PAC Chair Shahrir ‘Peroxide’ Abdul Samad has announced that a number of crucial financial records pertaining to the procurement of several offshore patrol vessels (OPV’s) for the Royal Malaysian Navy are not available because the records ‘have been destroyed’. No files = no case? ‘Case closed’ then, I presume?

How… convenient.

Procurement documents have been ‘destroyed’? No problem, Shahrir, follow the money — there is always a paper trail somewhere. Bank statements — records of transactions, accounts of the principals and wives/mistresses, unusual company/ministry expenditures; while you’re at it, go squeeze PSC Naval Dockyards’ (now Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd) Amin Shah Omar Shah’s balls till he squeals.

See Shahrir, your job really isn’t that hard. Unless, of course… you’ve been instructed not to find anything after all the sandiwara, which I rather suspect is the case.

Problem is, we ain’t buying it.

(Antares first alerted me to the defence procurements scandal embroiling DPM Najib Tun Razak – just before it broke in the media several days ago – but have been unable to post about it until now due to breaking events, particularly the violent crackdown in Burma.)

——————————

Article on the OPV procurement scandal, and DAP’s pointed remarks to the PAC. Extracted from Malaysiakini, below: (highlights added by me)

PETITION : Return The Judiciary to the Rakyat! Call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry (2)

CALLING FOR SUPPORT: The People’s Parliament is preparing a petition to the Agong calling for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to properly investigate the judicial corruption scandal exposed by the ‘Lingam tape’.

Please help to publicise and support this petition.

We need to demonstrate that we the rakyat are dead serious in demanding accountability for the judicial scandal (and all other scandals) perpetrated by the government.

Please go to The People’s Parliament for details and support the PETITION by signing it.

The English text of the petition is reproduced below; you can also sign the petition by sending an email to savethejudiciary@gmail.com ; the signatures will be collated and appended to the petition. Unlike the Election Commission, we don’t have ‘phantom voters’, so please submit your real name and IC no when signing the petition. Your details will be handled with the utmost care and responsibility.

Thank you.

———————–

[ ORIGINAL POST ]

SOLIDARITY: Burma (2); Petronas Money Helps Buy Burmese Bullets

[ UPDATED ] 070928 . 1745

Latest reports: 13 confirmed dead, hundreds injured, hundreds arrested and missing. Casualty figures likely to be higher than official accounts.

[ all photos below sourced from Reuters ]

above : unarmed protestors flee as police and troops open fire and baton-charge them.

above : Burmese troops firing tear gas at the demonstrators.

above : Japanese photojournalist Kenji Nagai, 50, of APF News Tokyo continues filming even as he lies wounded after being shot by troops. Nagai died shortly after.

2 photos above : 2,000 Burmese protestors demonstrated outside the Burmese Embassy in Jalan Ampang, KL this morning.

[ All photos above from Reuters News Agency, article here ]

9 confirmed dead, hundreds injured, hundreds arrested and missing in the ongoing violent crackdown by the Burmese military junta. But the Burmese people are resisting.

BBC videos of the ongoing violence in Burma/Myanmar: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7017496.stm

Photos and latest reports at the Democratic Voice of Burma website: http://english.dvb.no/

———————–

[ ORIGINAL POST ]

Latest reports from Burma/Myanmar indicate that at least 9 persons have been killed, dozens injured and hundreds summarily arrested in the ongoing bloody crackdown by the Burmese military junta on unarmed pro-democracy demonstrators and Buddhist monks. Latest coverage from the BBC.

ASEAN has predictably remained (elegantly) silent over the bloody crackdown on peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators and monks in Burma/Myanmar… and Malaysia has been even friendlier than most, with Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar going so far as to reassure the Burmese military junta that it was “business as usual”.

Well surprise, surprise.

But of course the UMNO-BN government sees nothing wrong with the Burmese junta shooting and beating unarmed pro-democracy protestors; we just shot two of our own a couple of weeks ago in Batu Burok! Biasalah. The people are so troublesome, always demanding their rights and marching and protesting and making us leaders look bad. Let’s shoot a few and scare them all. Show them who is boss. Tembak satu dua, yang lain tu kita tembak gas pemedih mata, belasah sikit, ha, barulah mereka faham keadaan.

Besides, there’s all that business to worry about. Industry experts estimated that in 2005, just two foreign oil-and-gas firms (France’s Total and PETRONAS) alone generated about USD 1 bil in revenues (link) for the Burmese military junta. Petronas is a major presence in the Burmese oil industry and works closely with the state run Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise for exploration and extraction of oil and gas resources, providing a major source of foreign currency revenue for the cash-strapped military junta which presides over a failed state and economy. In short, Petronas is among a number of companies whose revenues are helping to prop up the regime.

I am sorely tempted to break decorum to spit on ASEAN, possibly one of the most useless and irrelevant regional groups in history. ASEAN’s ‘Non-interventionist policy’ is just a euphemism for “I’ll cover your ass, and you cover mine.” As I mentioned in an earlier reply to a comment, the problem with ASEAN is that almost every single member nation has skeletons in its own closet, and to criticise Myanmar would be to invite unwelcome scrutiny of its own questionable policies and actions.

Dare Malaysia condemn the violence in Myanmar, having just fired on our own unarmed citizens? Dare the Thai military regime — still fresh from their latest coup d’etat and now busily slapping ‘lese majeste’ charges on every dissident in sight — speak harsh words to Myanmar? Even squeaky-clean Singapore has just avoided the problem by simply regulating civil society space virtually out of existence.

The blood of the Burmese people is on ASEAN hands… and Malaysia’s.

Shame on ASEAN. Shame on Malaysia.

———————————————

Excerpt from Malaysiakini: (red highlights mine)

“Crisis? What Crisis?”

[ excellent poster by mob1900 ]

Ah, Malaysia’s favourite Nazi and denial artiste is back in top form.

Still got faith in the ‘independent’ inquiry panel? The half-cooked PR effort by the govt to stave off the Royal Commission has been hamstrung even before it starts by its ‘terms of reference’, which is “…to investigate if the Lingam tape is authentic”. No mention on what happens if the tape is (Heaven forbid) found to be genuine.

Extracted from Lim Kit Siang’s blog: (bold highlights mine)

“…In restricting the panel to the question of the authenticity of the Lingam Tape instead of allowing full investigations into all aspects of the allegations of perversion of the course of justice and the compromising of judicial independence, impartiality and integrity raised by the video clip, the government is avoiding the imperative issue of the long-standing rot in the judiciary and the urgent need to restore national and international confidence in the system of justice with a truly independent judiciary and a just rule of law.

A Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Lingam Tape would have first to address the issue of the authenticity of the video clip and there is no reason why an independent panel should be formed with the very narrow and restricted focus of deciding whether the video clip is authentic or otherwise, without the further powers of proceeding to further conduct comprehensive investigations into all the allegations of perversion of the course of justice and the compromising with judicial independence, impartiality and integrity.

In short, the government is trying to focus public attention on the technical question about the authenticity of the Lingam Tape and distract and disregard it from the urgent, imperative and substantive issue of the long-standing rot in the system of justice which must be identified and stopped…“

Extracted from Malaysiakini, below: (red highlights mine)

PETITION: Return The Judiciary to The Rakyat! Call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry.

IMPORTANT:

In a parallel effort, Haris Ibrahim of The People’s Parliament — a prominent lawyer and one of the leading lights of the civil society and human rights movement in Malaysia — has drafted a petition to the Agong to call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the judicial corruption that has been rudely brought to light by the ‘Lingam tape’.

If, like me, you think that the government’s half-cooked ‘independent’ inquiry panel is just another whitewash rubberstamp panel and have absolutely no confidence that the Badawi administration intends to take any meaningful action to properly investigate and prosecute the wrongdoers behind the ‘Lingamgate’ judicial scandal and the unbroken string of scandals before this, then:

Please go to The People’s Parliament for details and support the petition by signing it. Haris will be submitting the royal petition, but we must demonstrate meaningful support for that to happen.

Do we want change for the better? Then let’s keep the pressure on, people.

____________________________

[ ORIGINAL POST ]

SOLIDARITY: MARCH OF THE LAWYERS

[ video courtesy of Malaysiakini ]

Bravo to the Bar Council, for proposing and leading this march; and

Bravo, also, to the brave civil society activists, opposition members and concerned citizens who showed up in force today at Putrajaya, and despite the inclement weather, a heavy police/FRU presence and early police interference (preventing the marchers’ buses from approaching), they cheerfully and peacefully marched on Putrajaya to submit the memorandum to the Prime Minister’s Office.