The Age Exposes Malaysian Money Trail

This is the first time I'm hearing of a firm called Securency. Apparently, it is the Australian Reserve Bank.

It's being investigated for bribery. What does it have to do with Malaysia?

Well, it's connected to a company - a Kuala Lumpur firm - called Liberal Technology. So who are they?

Find out who the biggest individual shareholder is, and you will figure out what this is all about.

From The Age: Securency money trail nudges Malaysia's political royalty

Our Crumbling Government

Guess it's pretty obvious.

DELMONICO'S, near Wall Street, is a bit like The Restaurant at the End of the Universe in Douglas Adams' book of the same name. Get a window seat there right now and you can watch the universe end while you await your steak. But if you fancy tamer fare then try a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur. Get a window seat there now and you'll be entertained by the end of the Malaysian Government.

The death throes of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's Government are fascinating. Like someone who cannot swim but who has just been thrown overboard, Abdullah is grabbing at anything to try to save himself. So far, he's gone for that developing-world tool of choice: jailing dissenters. That's a pity because these days Malaysians are more sophisticated than that.

Read the rest of Michael Backman's take on how Malaysia's Government is crumbling, but the Opposition is stumbling.

I must disagree with the notion, however, that the Opposition is all about one man.

Malaysians Need More From Government

I wondered when Michael Backman would finally comment on the shenanigans revolving around Malaysian politicians.

His observation on our priorities when it comes to the character and morality of elected representatives while holding office, is a thought I've wanted to verbalise for a long time but not known how.

Malaysians need more from government

...

In any event, why should sodomy between consenting adults disqualify one from office when allocating millions of dollars in contracts to one's relatives seems almost a prerequisite for high office?

By any measure, one is a personal and a religious matter, whereas the other is quite clearly criminal. It really is a case where those living in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, particularly when those houses are worth millions, despite the fact the occupants are only on government salaries.

The bigger problem for Anwar is that in 1998 he was also charged and jailed for asking police to heavy witnesses into withdrawing their statements against him. That any deputy prime minister should have done that is unthinkable. Now, it is this that is Anwar's real crime. By comparison, the sodomy allegations barely matter. But of course people are far more titillated by sex than by matters of governance.

Now that Anwar is back in parliament, he has targeted September 16 — next Tuesday — as the date on which he will attempt to have the Government fall, as Government members switch sides to his coalition of opposition parties.

Malaysia's Government is tired, complacent and out of ideas. It needs some time out. All governments need this, which is why in modern countries, parties take turns at being in government. There is now a quantum gap between the government that Malaysians deserve and need and the government they get. But is Anwar the answer?

If he does come out on top, it would be nice if he doesn't award lucrative contracts to his friends, or manoeuvre his supporters into key positions in the national media, like he did last time. He must reduce the Government's role in business and not exchange one set of cronies for another but get rid of cronyism altogether.

He must make bold, precise statements that he will allow the judiciary to be completely independent, that he will tightly define corruption and adopt zero tolerance towards it, applying this stance most harshly of all to his friends and colleagues. And he must guarantee media freedom.

He might also like to decriminalise sodomy too, not because of all the trouble it's given him, but as part of a push to modernise Malaysia

A worldwide economic downturn is coming and the Malaysian Government really does need to be enthralled by more than the colour of the interior of someone's backside.

Protesting The Fuel Price Hike

I was disappointed at Sunday's PROTES rally.

Firstly, the atmosphere was one akin to some pesta or festival.

Protests, demonstrations or rallies are not meant to be confined to stadiums. They are meant for the streets - to raise awareness and to provoke thought (not violence).

This one seemed more like a private pity-party.

Not that I don't endorse the sentiment behind it. I do. Very much.

I am proud that the organisers had the gumption to stand up and speak their minds instead of being cowered by the government.

And oh, how the government tried to intimidate. Both the NST and TheStar carried reports on security being beefed in anticipation of a violent demonstration.

In Malaysia, if an anti-government demonstration turns violent, it's usually the government agent provocateurs that instigate trouble.

But this time all was calm. Even the police presence was (almost disappointingly) low-key.

An aside, I usually judge the potential impact of an event based on the police presence. If the government (and subsequently, police) think the message is barely reaching out to the masses, it ignores the protest/rally/demonstration.

I don't know if people were indeed intimidated by the tabloid (mainstream media wannabes) spin.

Because that leads me to the second reason why I was so disappointed - there were so few people there! (Though I'm sure there were more than whatever it is that the tabloids have claimed).

Seriously, people. Have you decided to resign yourselves to being screwed by the government?

Evidently a few Malaysians wrote emails to Michael Backman complaining about the reduce in fuel subsidy and asked him to write a column attacking it.

He did just the opposite.

I did a brief google check to see how many Malaysians had copied his article (like they have with many of his previous articles in the past) to their blog, verbatim. The answer: None.

Obviously, it wasn't a very popular sentiment.

I find himself agreeing with most of his points, but I have my reservations on some - notably, his suggestion on what the government should do with the money:

Of course, one thing the Malaysian Government should now do with the billions it will save on a reduced subsidy is to improve public transport infrastructure.

Now where have I heard of this before?

The previous fuel price hike, no?

Have we seen much improvement in our public transportation system? Do we see better connectivity between the suburbs and satellite cities to the central business district?

No, you say???

Hell, our transportation may be cheap.

I've travelled through almost 10 countries in Europe and can attest to that fact after paying (what seemed to be) through my nose.

Munich, as I recall, was the worst. I paid €8 (RM40) for a trip that would probably cost me RM2.50 here.

But people in Munich don't earn what we do.

People in Munich wouldn't stand in the cramped, sardine-packed LRT cabins that we do.

People in Munich don't stand ages on dusty roads waiting for the bus to finally arrive.

I can appreciate that we are not Munich. We are not Singapore. We are Malaysia.

We need that goddamn "improvement in public transport infrastructure" more than anything else. But our interests are not necessarily those of the government.

The people who represent our government are more interested in personal gain.

They are pretending to pay out fuel rebates to citizens while emptying national coffers.

They are buying luxury yachts, private jets and lovely mansions in Australia.

Now if that fuel subsidy is reduced, that money is not going to go into improving public transport infrastructure. It will go straight into someone's pocket.

And that is Malaysia's fate. We find ourselves in this cesspool purely out of our own doing (or lack of it).

Apathy.

Clinical Precision

You know how I like posting articles by Michael Backman. :)

Only a week or two back, Backman stated that we need a strong Opposition. Though I understand where he's coming from, I disagreed with him.

Now our Opposition is still in its infancy, but they have made more headway the past year, than in the last 49 years. This Opposition was evidently strong enough to claim 5 states.

And while we do bicker about what ethnicity our Menteri Besars should be, and from which party, at some point, I visualise Malaysia as being relatively free of racism. It's the idealist in me, but hey - we've made some unexpected achievements, so I can hope, can't I?!!

And I also think it's not all about Anwar as the article appears to imply, but about a coming of age for us Malaysians.

Malaysian voters open the door for Anwar Ibrahim:

MALAYSIA Boleh! (Malaysia Can!) is Malaysia's national slogan but after last Saturday's elections, the real slogan should be Malaysians Boleh! for ordinary Malaysians are to be congratulated. The humiliation they handed their government at the federal and state elections demonstrates how politically sophisticated and mature they have become in the face of a high-handed and patronising government.

Five state governments were won by the opposition and federally, the Government had its worst showing ever. But it was the clinical precision in which voters went about their business that was most impressive.

Read again, who we slaughtered. :)

Malaysia Needs A Strong Opposition

This is a rather sobering piece by Michael Backman in The Age about our state of affairs and the credibility of our Opposition.

I'm not sure if I agree completely that there are no redeeming qualities associated with the Opposition parties, I certainly believe more can be and should be done to monitor them and help them help us.

Some of the shenanigans of the people we have allowed to take office:

..the Malaysian Government has presided over an extraordinary number of scandals that are appalling by any standards: the trade minister's allocation of car import permits to friends, relatives and supporters; the billion-dollar fraud at the Port Klang Free Trade Zone; the outrageous and much-flaunted wealth of ruling party politician Zakaria Md Deros; the claims that a High Court judge allowed the lawyer representing a rich businessman to write for him his judgement in a defamation lawsuit; an immensely rich chief minister in Sarawak state who is allowed to rule as if it were his; and so on.

Oh yeah, Malaysia needs a strong Opposition.

Senator Penny Wong And Malaysia

While Malaysian newspapers went to town with Penny Wong's appointment as Minister for Climate Change and Water, I staunchly refused to join the fray.

But Senator Wong does deserve mention. And while I would love to be associated with her, I'm afraid there's nothing much that we have in common - being Malaysian the least of them.

Senator Wong is firmly an Australian citizen.

Penny Wong left Malaysia a LONG time ago and her success is probably attributed to the fact she did not languish under the Malaysian school education system, where facts are shoved down to be memorised and regurgitated for exams and NOTHING is to be questioned.

Thinking is certainly discouraged.

Criticising is a crime. Almost.

But back to Senator Wong.

Commenting on Prime Minister Rudd's new government in Australia, Michael Backman makes mention of her in his article, Rudd will bring us greater acceptance in Asia:

Another virtue of the incoming government with regards to Asia is the appointment of South Australian senator Penny Wong as Minister for Climate Change and Water. It's a serious and a technically complex role. Senator Wong is of Malaysian Chinese origin — she was born in Kota Kinabalu, the capital city of the Malaysia state of Sabah.

What chance would a person of white Australian ancestry have of being made a government minister in racially charged Malaysia? The answer is, of course, none. Senator Wong's appointment shows how race and ethnicity largely are irrelevancies in public life in Australia.

Throughout the election campaign, Senator Wong issued media releases condemning the then government for various things and the media reported those remarks. Had Senator Wong issued such statements in Malaysia, the media would have at best ignored her. At worst, she could be facing arrest. So, there will be many in Malaysia who will be utterly dumbfounded by Senator Wong's rise. Welcome to 2007.

Yes, it's universally known that we have no freedom of speech and no freedom of expression. After well-documented foreign-media evidence, there is no doubt about that at all.

Backman doesn't stop there. He also makes mention of our rotten eggs.

Certainly, getting rid of a good but long-serving government is no bad thing. The experience of Asia shows why. The coalition that rules Malaysia has been in power non-stop for 50 years. Several ministers are particularly long-serving. Samy Vellu has been Public Works Minister since 1995. Rafidah Aziz has been Trade and Industry Minister since 1987 — that's an extraordinary 20 years in the one portfolio.

Both these ministers are responsible for allocating millions in contracts each year. One can only imagine the relationships that emerge between contractors and ministers with such longevity. Change ministers and such relationships are reduced. Change governments and all relationships are swept away.

This is something I have always tried to explain.

The reason for the extent of our government corruption.

Being in power for so long, the ministers have begun to form relationships, know who they can trust to keep their peccadilloes a secret and gain courage to go beyond their limits.

There is always the temptation (even among the best of us) to succumb to corruption. But nipping it in the bud, through voting out governments are our best bet.

Something for us to think about before we hit the ballot boxes.

Truth & Justice?

Truth and justice are no longer Malaysian way
Michael Backman
November 21, 2007

Recent street protests have highlighted the self-serving nature of Malaysia's Government.

THE Government of Australia will probably change hands this weekend. There will be no arrests, no tear gas and no water cannons. The Government of John Howard will leave office, the Opposition will form a government and everyone will accept the verdict.

For this, every Australian can feel justifiably proud. This playing by the rules is what has made Australia rich and a good place in which to invest. It is a country to which people want to migrate; not leave.

Now consider Malaysia. The weekend before last, up to 40,000 Malaysians took to the streets in Kuala Lumpur to protest peacefully against the judiciary's lack of independence, electoral fraud, corruption and a controlled media.

In response, they were threatened by the Prime Minister, called monkeys by his powerful son-in-law, and blasted with water cannons and tear gas. And yet the vast majority of Malaysians do not want a change of government. All they want is for their government to govern better.

Both Malaysia and Australia have a rule of law that's based on the English system. Both started out as colonies of Britain. So why is Malaysia getting it so wrong now?

Malaysia's Government hates feedback. Dissent is regarded as dangerous, rather than a product of diversity. And like the wicked witch so ugly that she can't stand mirrors, the Government of Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi controls the media so that it doesn't have to see its own reflection.

Demonstrations are typically banned. But what every Malaysian should know is that in Britain, Australia and other modern countries, when people wish to demonstrate, the police typically clear the way and make sure no one gets hurt. The streets belong to the people. And the police, like the politicians, are their servants. It is not the other way around.

But increasingly in Malaysia, Malaysians are being denied a voice — especially young people.

Section 15 of Malaysia's Universities and University Colleges Act states that no student shall be a member of or in any manner associate with any society, political party, trade union or any other organisation, body or group of people whatsoever, be it in or outside Malaysia, unless it is approved in advance and in writing by the vice-chancellor.

Nor can any student express or do anything that may be construed as expressing support, sympathy or opposition to any political party or union. Breaking this law can lead to a fine, a jail term or both.

The judiciary as a source of independent viewpoints has been squashed. The previous prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, did many good things for Malaysia, but his firing of the Lord President (chief justice) and two other Supreme Court judges in 1988 was an unmitigated disaster. Since then, what passes for a judiciary in Malaysia has been an utter disgrace and the Government knows it.

Several years ago, Daim Zainuddin, the country's then powerful finance minister, told me that judges in Malaysia were idiots. Of course we want them to be biased, he told me, but not that biased.

Rarely do government ministers need to telephone a judge and demand this or that verdict because the judges are so in tune with the Government's desires that they automatically do the Government's beckoning.

Just how appalling Malaysia's judiciary has become was made clear in recent weeks with the circulation of a video clip showing a senior lawyer assuring someone by telephone that he will lobby the Government to have him made Lord President of the Supreme Court because he had been loyal to the Government. That someone is believed to have been Ahmad Fairuz Abdul Halim, who did in fact become Lord President.

A protest march organised by the Malaysian Bar Council was staged in response to this, and corruption among the judiciary in general. But the mainstream Malaysian media barely covered the march even though up to 2000 Bar Council members were taking part. Reportedly, the Prime Minister's office instructed editors to play down the event.

Instead of a free media, independent judges and open public debate, Malaysians are given stunts — the world's tallest building and most recently, a Malaysian cosmonaut. Essentially, they are given the play things of modernity but not modernity itself.

Many senior Malays are absolutely despairing at the direction of their country today. But with the media tightly controlled they have no way of getting their views out to their fellow countrymen. This means that most Malaysians falsely assume that the Malay elite is unified when it comes to the country's direction.

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, a former finance minister and today still a member of the Government, told me several weeks ago in Kuala Lumpur that he could see no reason why today Malaysia could not have a completely free media, a completely independent judiciary and that corrupt ministers and other officials should be publicly exposed and humiliated.

According to Tengku Razaleigh, all of the institutions designed to make Malaysia's Government accountable and honest have been dismantled or neutered.

It didn't need to be like this. Malaysia is not North Korea or Indonesia. It is something quite different. Its legal system is based on British codes. Coupled with traditional Malay culture, which is one of the world's most hospitable, decent and gentle cultures, Malaysia has the cultural and historical underpinnings to become one of Asia's most civilised, rules-based, successful societies.

Instead, Malaysia's Government is incrementally wasting Malaysia's inheritance.

The Neglected Indian Minority

by Michael Backman

Religious insensitivity deepens an ethnic divide in long-neglected Indian minority.

ETHNIC rivalry in Malaysia is usually portrayed as rivalry between the majority Malay population and the large Chinese minority. But sandwiched between the two are Malaysia's 2 million Indians. They make up about 8 per cent of the population, but according to some estimates account for only about 2 per cent of the nation's corporate wealth. The disparity is leading to rising tensions from a group that the authorities take for granted.

The Indian community is split into Muslims and Hindus. The Muslims, known as the "Mamak", blend in more easily with the dominant Malays — both groups being Muslim means intermarriage is not uncommon. The Hindus are far more marginalised. Politically weak, they are largely ignored by the Government.

Many are poor. But despite this, as non-Malays and non-Muslims, they do not qualify for Bumiputera status, which gives Malays preferred access to university places, government share distributions and other privileges. Some of the poorest work as rubber tappers. In the northern state of Kedah, the poverty and physical condition of the rubber tappers is unbelievable, particularly as Malaysia is not a poor country.

Malaysia's Indians are among those that suffer the greatest displacement from the million or more legal and illegal Indonesian migrants in Malaysia. Sporadic ethnic unrest now breaks out between the Indians and Indonesians.

Growing resentment also derives from the demolition of Hindu temples by state governments. Dozens have been destroyed in the past few years. The authorities who enforce the demolition orders are invariably Malay and Muslim, giving the demolitions unfortunate overtones of religious rivalry. Sometimes the idols are smashed before worshippers can remove them, action which is insensitive at best and a deliberate provocation at worst.

In another perceived slight, the most important Indian festival, Deepavali, falls tomorrow during the week-long annual general assembly of the ruling United Malay National Organisation, which is not pausing for Deepavali even though the festival is a public holiday.

Many better educated Indians are migrating. Those who stay are becoming more strident politically.

On August 12, about 2000 Malaysian Indians protested outside the prime minister's office to demand better treatment. The protest might have been bigger but organisers claim police blocked up to 15 buses carrying Indians on the basis that the bus drivers did not have valid driving licences.

On August 30, activists filed a class action in London against the British Government for bringing indentured labourers from India during the colonial era and failing to "protect" them thereafter including during the 50 years since Malaysia's independence. The suit will go nowhere but it is an attempt to embarrass the Malaysian Government internationally and force it to better look after the Indian minority. A petition with what activists claim will have 100,000 signatures will be presented to the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur on November 25 in support of the legal action.

But what of the Indians' political leaders?

Critics claim Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) leader and Public Works Minister Samy Vellu runs the congress almost along feudal lines.

He was the subject of a major scandal in the 1990s when the government allocated 10 million shares in Malaysia's national phone company to Maika, an Indian co-operative company the MIC set up. Maika accepted one million shares. The rest were given to three companies which Vellu described as MIC-linked, but which his critics said were linked to his relatives. The three companies made millions of dollars in capital gains on the shares. Meanwhile, Maika became almost insolvent.

When asked why he didn't sack Vellu from his cabinet given this and other scandals, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said he had no control over the MIC and that he was obliged to have the MIC leader in the cabinet. To be fair, Mahathir once said Vellu had an appalling job, given the politics in the Indian community. But essentially, Vellu is part of the wider malaise of political leadership in Malaysia.

Failing The People At Every Chance

I haven't much to say on this. The article speaks for itself.

Malaysia's PM seems to be failing his people at every chance
by Michael Backman
The Age
October 24, 2007

ON OCTOBER 31, Abdullah Badawi, Malaysia's Prime Minister, will have been in office for four years. Abdullah came to office promising to fight corruption and to be a breath of fresh air. He has failed on both counts.

But he has achieved one remarkable feat none of his predecessors could: he has united most of his country's elder statesmen, established businessmen and intellectuals.

They are united in their utter dismay at his performance, a point that many such individuals made to me on a recent visit to Malaysia.

The despair is compounded by the near impossibility of getting rid of Abdullah.

Before 1987, anyone who wanted to challenge the president of the ruling UMNO party (and hence prime minister), needed to get endorsements from just two divisions of UMNO. Previous prime minister Mahathir Mohamad had that changed after his finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah challenged him for the leadership and almost won.

Would-be challengers must now acquire the endorsement of 30 per cent, or 58, of 191 divisions. This means that the prime minister's office needs to pay off fewer than 150 division heads with government contracts and licences to ensure their support.

Critics within UMNO are anaesthetised by patronage and sadly the Prime Minister probably thinks that he is doing a good job because his inner circle constantly tells him he is. He is their ticket to riches, after all.

Ramadan has just ended and once again Malaysia has been treated to the spectacle of government ministers and other officials fasting and playing the pious Muslim on the one hand and stealing from their fellow Malaysians on the other.

Abdullah has had three chances in recent times to show that times have changed in Malaysia and to clearly assert his authority when presented with examples of such theft. He has blown each one.

The first was when it emerged that his Trade Minister, Rafidah Aziz, had handed out to her relatives, government officials and former officials hundreds of lucrative licences to import cars - without any clear procedures or transparency. A good leader would have fired Rafidah immediately. She is still there.

Another opportunity arose with revelations by the auditor-general last month of fraud and corruption in government purchasing. Some of the more flagrant abuses were at the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs. It had wasted millions on purchases such as paying 224 ringgit ($A75) for sets of screwdivers worth 40 ringgit, or 1146 ringgit for a 160 ringgit pen set.

More seriously, the ministry's head, who had the authority to approve contracts worth less than 5 million ringgit, was found to have approved contracts for almost 450 million ringgit. The ministry claimed that the then minister and now Education Minister Hishammuddin Hussein had written a letter of authority for the purchases but this disappeared during auditing. Despite all this occurring under Hishammuddin's watch, he remains in the cabinet.

The third incident relates to an ongoing scandal at the Port Klang Free Trade Zone - Port Klang is Malaysia's main shipping port. Essentially, the port authority was forced by well-connected individuals to buy far more land than planned for the free trade zone and at highly inflated prices, even though it could have compulsorily acquired the land, literally saving billions.

This and development costs, and "professional fees", blew out the total cost for the zone from 1.845 billion ringgit to 4.2 billion ringgit. It is a scam of outrageous proportions and is just the sort of thing that is turning foreign investors off Malaysia in their droves.

Rather than make arrests, the Government is using taxpayers' funds to bail out the authority. The auditor-general tipped off the responsible minister (a term I use loosely) - Chan Kong Choy, the Transport Minister - about the problems, as did a foreign partner in the zone, but Chan ignored the warning. Has Abdullah fired Chan? Of course not. Has the previous minister Ling Liong Sik been questioned by the police? Of course not.

These three instances were good opportunities for Abdullah to show his ministers who is boss. Well, he certainly did that.

One might ask what on earth the Finance Minister has been doing in the face of all this waste and theft. Or, indeed, even who is the Finance Minister? Extraordinarily, it is Abdullah. In a break with tradition, he occupies that post as well as being Prime Minister. The firings should start with him.

After all, it's not as if Malaysia has a shortfall of ministers. On the contrary, Malaysia has no fewer than 72 ministers and deputy ministers at the federal level. By way of comparison, Australia has 32 ministers and assistant ministers. Is the quality of public administration in Malaysia more than twice as good as in Australia? Let the facts speak for themselves.

Malaysia is truly at a cross-roads. It has many good people with great potential but it is slipping beneath the waves of mediocrity, weighed down by officials intent on an orgy of plunder while the ship's captain stands idly by.

The process of government needs to be dramatically and urgently overhauled. Malaysia needs a dynamic, strong visionary leader who is up to the task. Instead, it has Abdullah Badawi.

Of Bribes And Corruption

With this cash I thee wed: here comes the bribe
By Michael Backman
The Age
June 20, 2007

A NEW term has emerged in Malaysian political debate and it arose from a column I wrote at the end of last year.

In the column, I said that Malaysian government waste wasn't "Malaysia boleh" (the national slogan that means "Malaysia can") but "Malaysia bodoh" ("bodoh" translates as stupid.) The column was emailed pretty much to anyone in Malaysia with an email account.

Many in Malaysia have taken to referring to government waste and poor decision making as coming from "Bodohland".

But really the term is too strong because there's a lot that is good in Malaysia. And besides, Malaysia is still a developing country. Allowances need to be made for that, but then the Malaysian Government needs to be careful that allowances do not become excuses.

Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi came to office in 2003 claiming he would tackle corruption. His efforts have been less than "boleh".

The man he appointed to head the anti-corruption agency was soon accused of corruption. At about the same time, a deputy police minister was accused of taking bribes to set criminal suspects free.

Abdullah did not require either man to step aside while investigations were made. Instead, he insisted that 85 per cent of corruption allegations proved baseless.

But then, that is because most are inadequately investigated in the first place.

Probably, there's less top-level corruption than is commonly imagined. The most damaging corruption that eats away at the very foundations of Malaysia as a civil society relates to police corruption.

A recent survey by Transparency International found that the public and business nominated the police as Malaysia's most corrupt institution, far ahead of more obvious candidates such as public works authorities or land offices.

A royal commission established by Abdullah called for an independent police complaints body to be set up. But the police chiefs objected. So, one was not set up.

Last year, Malaysians were shocked by the particularly nasty murder of a Mongolian model who had claimed to have had a child by the head of the Malaysian Strategic Research Centre, a local think tank with links to ruling party UMNO and the Malaysian armed forces. The head was close to Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

The model was shot twice and her body blown up by hand grenades or explosives, presumably in an attempt to destroy evidence. Two members of an elite police unit were arrested for the murder. The unit is under Najib's administration.

That police allegedly would not only commit a murder but then go to such gruesome lengths to destroy the evidence sums up for many Malaysians all that is rotten about their police force. The trial of the police opened on Monday.

Why have Malaysians had to put up with such rotten police for so long? It makes you ask who is in charge. The police are under the Home Affairs Ministry. And, who was home affairs minister under the last prime minister? Current Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi.

Elsewhere a police minister in charge of such a corrupt police force would be fired, not promoted to be prime minister. But of course that would be to judge the Malaysian Government by the international standards from which it has long asked to be excused.

In more disappointing news for ordinary Malaysians, nine Japanese shipping companies that transport timber from Malaysia's timber-rich Sarawak state have been accused by Japanese tax authorities of failing to report $US9 million ($A10.6 million) income between 1999 and 2006.

The money was paid to a Hong Kong company, Regent Star, which is connected to Abdul Taib Mahmud, Sarawak's Chief Minister since 1981, and his family.

The Japanese authorities decided these payments were not legitimate tax expenses but bribes. Taib Mahmud has denied the allegations and has asked his administration's anti-corruption agency to investigate. He has not stood aside.

Not only is Taib Mahmud the Chief Minister, he is also Resource Management and Planning Minister. This means he is also Forestry Minister. And that is fortuitous because his brother, Moh'd Tufail bin Mahmud, is co-owner of Sanyan Group, one of Sarawak's biggest timber companies.

When the state-controlled cement and construction group CMS was privatised, it was sold to the Chief Minister's family. Two of the Chief Minister's sons are directors and CMS now gets the lion's share of state government road works and construction tenders.

Wealth from CMS and huge timber concessions have helped the family to buy a bank in Malaysia, and many other assets. The Malaysian media has reported, for example, that Taib Mahmud's wife and children control an Australian company, Sitehost, which owns the Hilton Hotel in Adelaide.

The wealth of Taib Mahmud and his family has long been an embarrassment to the Malaysian Government — but Taib Mahmud delivers votes and parliamentary seats.

As for the Japanese bribery allegations, no doubt Taib Mahmud and his family will be exonerated. Perhaps the Japanese are confused. Or perhaps bribes were paid and the independent investigation is not independent.

But it does seem unlikely that Taib Mahmud or his family would take bribes. They are already very wealthy and it's hard to imagine they could be that greedy.

Trading Insults

And so the saga continues.

About a week ago in The Age, a columnist in the Business section, Michael Backman, criticised the Malaysian government for its wasteful spending and lack of accountability.

It was phenomenal. The column became the most emailed item on The Age's website for six days straight and it was replicated in dozens of blogs worldwide. Including that of yours truly, of course. :)

Eventually someone in the infamous Malaysian government got to hear about it.

And so, Mr Backman received an 'unperturbed' response from Malaysian International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz.

Says she: "What do we care? Obviously, this person doesn't know Malaysia."

Umm. I hate to break it to you, Rafidah, but he's been getting much more feedback about Malaysia from Malaysians than you probably have or ever will.

"I don't really care about what others say – as long as it is not a Malaysian saying it."

Actually Ms Minister, I think about 600 Malaysians just spoke for themselves, judging by the staggering number of emails they sent him. It's just that YOU didn't hear them say it.

If you cared more about what a critic like Backman (who has spent most of his adult life analysing and writing about Asia) said, you wouldn't be in this humiliating position.

Oh, and by the way, someone who calls himself 'Barau' - along with his bunch of friends apparently agree with Backman. Barau and his posse are not alone in their opinions.

Though it appears Backman may have actually started a stampede to immigration.

Davina says, "yea, if we're going to be treated like second class citizens in our own land of birth we might as well go elsewhere and be given better civil liberties EVEN as second class citizens of our new countries."

If the Malaysian government does not represent the people, it is worthless and redundant - simply a white elephant waiting its time out.

Its ridiculous spending habits are legendary - from sending a Malaysian into space, to building the longest undersea cable in the world. It, collectively, has NO clue.

Where would the money be better spent?

Says Backman:

Education is the obvious answer. But not on school buildings, for it matters less in what children are educated than how. And how children are educated in Malaysia is a national disaster.

Learning is largely by rote. In an email to me last week, one Malaysian recalled her schooling as being in a system all about spoon-feeding, memory work and regurgitation.

Students are not encouraged to think for themselves and they become adults who swallow everything they're told.

Which is basically why very few Malaysians question their leaders, criticise their government or start riots.

Those who do think contribute to blogs. :)

But does the Malaysian Government want creative, critical thinkers? Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi said to the ruling party's recent general assembly Malaysia needed to make students creative. But that means they must be questioning and thus critical; what hope is there of that when one of Abdullah's own ministers tells Malaysians that they cannot say the things that I can and hundreds of them write to me to complain because they don't feel that they can complain to their own Government?

You tell 'em, Backman. You tell 'em.

Malaysians Are Wimps

Some time ago I posted something from The Age for an article by Michael Backman, a renowned writer and columnist specialising in economies, politics, business groups and business practices in Asia.

It had rather caustic but completely accurate comments about the ludicrous government policies and decisions that have hindered Malaysia from being the hugely powerful country it could easily have been.

To summarise, The Age rightfully asserts that Malaysia is a country that prefers to argue about how to divide wealth rather than get on with the job of creating it.

While there are a decent number of Malaysians living in Australia, it is obvious that even those still residing in Malaysia (either due to a severe lack of options or sheer bad taste - of which I happily admit to the latter) have been on the lookout for someone who understands the system over here.

This article made its way into my inbox, for a grand total of FOUR times from FOUR different people!! And all within a week. It has NEVER happened before.

Perhaps the abovementioned occurence should gain entry into the Malaysia Book of Records where it shall seek solace in the Hall of Imbecility, next to the entry for 'First Teh Tarik, Batu Seremban and Gasing In Space'.

But mind me not.

Apparently some Malaysians even emailed Mr Backman to commend him for his astute observations. In his website, he has a special note for Malaysians which begins with:

The response to my recent column 'While Malaysia fiddles, its opportunities are running dry', published in The Age newspaper on November 15 has been overwhelming. I've received hundreds of e-mails and messages, many from Malaysians both in Malaysia and outside, of which perhaps 95% have been supportive. Thank you for these. It seems that the column has given voice to concerns that many Malaysians have.

Yes indeed, Mr Backman. Yes indeed.

It has come to our attention rather belatedly that most of the people we have elected/appointed to the government/parliament should be:
a) behind bars
b) in a school for severe learning disabilities
c) in the primate section of the national zoo

We do have concerns. We just don't have the guts to voice them.

Defusing Racial and Religious Concerns

Being a multi-racial nation, Malaysia has been prone to incredible amounts of manipulation and power-play by politicians, not to mention the attention deficient clowns who go through various lengths to provoke a riot of some sort.

Only a few days ago, there was a protest against a supposed mass conversion of Muslims into Christianity. It turns out it was a communion service for 98 Indian children. The woman behind these shenanigans has been given 48 hours to report to the police.

This political mess is not limited to religion but to the economy as well, where the Malays (Bumiputras) are given special rights over other races.

Taking a look Down Under, The Age has its opinions of Malaysian policies and attitudes, rightfully asserting that there can be little sympathy for a country that prefers to argue about how to divide wealth rather than get on with the job of creating it.

The long-held aim is for 30 per cent of corporate equity to be in Malay hands, but the figure that the Government uses to justify handing over huge swathes of public companies to Malays but not to other races is absurd. It bases its figure on equity valued, not at market value, but at par value.

Many shares have a par value of say $1 but a market value of $12. And so the Government figure (18.9 per cent is the most recent figure) is a gross underestimate. Last month a paper by a researcher at a local think-tank came up with a figure of 45 per cent based on actual stock prices. All hell broke loose. The paper was withdrawn and the researcher resigned in protest. Part of the problem is that he is Chinese.

We've had this silent war for so long. The Malays versus non-Malays (Chinese and Indians).

I'm personally tired of it.

The PM, Abdullah Badawi claims that he abhors the name calling, statements that hurt sensitivities, the corruption and abuse of power and the nit-picking that hindered the country's progress.

So far, I have NOT seen much action to back that claim.

For politics are politics after all.