Apco

Saya sebenarnya tak suka masuk bab ini.
Sebab ianya penuh dengan emosi.
Semasa saya muda ada seorang rakan memberitahu:
"Ada tiga isu jika dibincang, sampai bila tak akan habis. Pompuan, agama dan politik".

Saya rasa kita boleh tambah 'bola' untuk mereka yang gemar bola, atau 'Shah Rukh Khan' kalau suka filem Hindustan.
Dan banyak lagi  - 'iPhone', 'filem P.Ramlee yang terbaik', 'makanan kat Geylang/Keramat yang paling best', 'Datuk X kaya raya walau bongok sebab kroni atau kerja kuat', dan sebagainya.

Isu Apco ni isu politik.
Atau lebih tepat lagi isu yang dipolitikkan.
Tapi betul juga jika anda kata - mana ada isu yang tak dipolitikkan.


KITA MASUK CERITA LAMA DULU 

Ini yang saya dengar sebagai wartawan.
Apabila PM Abdullah baru jadi perdana menteri pada hujung Oktober 2003, beliau ada image consultants.
Ini cara baru dalam kerajaan, sebab dulu masa zaman Dr Mahathir, depa main rembat saja, tak ada pakai konsultant nak cantikkan penyampaian dan baiki mesej atau imej.
Kami wartawan asing kerap buat joke masa tu: The spin doctor during Mahathir's time was the Doctor himself.
(Mahathir ialah seorang doktor, beliaulah spin doctornya sendiri).

PM Abdullah diberitahu oleh consultant itu, cara terbaik nak menyampaikan mesejnya.
Anda mungkin ingat pada zaman Dr M, wartawan akan serbu beliau dan wartawan bekerumun nak minta komen itu dan ini. Kadang-kadang wartawan dan jurukamera bergaduh.
Kata consultant, untuk dilihat lebih 'presidential' (atau dalam kes ini, 'prime ministerial') - iaitu lebih teratur dan tidak kecoh, mesej nampak serious - hentikan wartawan daripada berebut-rebut ini.

Mungkin anda ingat, di zaman Pak Lah tiba-tiba rostrum muncul saban hari. Iaitu apabila PM Abdullah nak kata sesuatu, beliau akan berdiri dengan ada microphone dan rostrum yang diperbuat dari kayu ini.
Mungkin ada bendera Malaysia kat belakang (GAMBAR).
Bukan 100 peratus seperti ini, tapi press conference di mana perdana menteri duduk melepak (slouching) dikurangkan.
Apabila PM berdiri tegak, ia nampak lebih segak dan mesejnya lebih kredibel.

Kamu pernah nampak ke Obama atau Gordon Brown duduk melepak, depannya ada teh dan kuih muih, tie senget, lepas tu nak cakap tentang pelaburan dunia dan nak ugut Iran?
Kalau depa duduk pun, duduk tegak, tak macam orang politik Malaysia. Rilek saja.


Dan ada lagi kerja-kerja image consultant ni untuk PM Abdullah. Tak payah cerita di sini dulu.

Semasa PM Abdullah, dasar Malaysia terhadap OIC, Israel, Palestin dan Amerika bertukar haluan. Ini pandangan peribadi, tapi saya ada banyak contoh.
- Beliau meninggalkan cerita lama Dr M yang selalu menyerang Amerika dan Israel dengan kata-kata yang kadang-kadang kasar.
- Apabila Palestin diserang teruk beberapa kali oleh Zionis, Pak Lah hanya bunyi 'hek' tapi tak marah 'hok'.
Dia lembek tak marah.
Saya anak Singapore yang dituduh Negara Sayang Yahudi yang berasa gelisah!
Kalau dulu Dr M macam nak gi perang dengan Israel sebab kata-kata keras, kini Malaysia hanya berasa "concerned" anak-anak Palestin kena bom. Atau berasa "sedih" tapi tak buat apa-apa.

- Sehingga hari ini, ramai umat Islam sedunia berkata: The mantle of global leadership on Islamic issues has been transferred from Malaysia, to Turkey.
Kepimpinan lemah, sehingga orang kata: Pembela isu Islam sejagat bukan lagi Malaysia, tapi Turki - PM Reccip Tayyip Erdogan.

Apabila PM Erdogan dengan marah meninggalkan pentas di Davos setelah bertengkar dengan Shimon Peres, satu dunia Islam (dan bukan Muslim) terkejut!
Berani pakcik ni! Kan negaranya Muslim songsang, apa dah jadi !?
Insiden tu di youtube kan di sini.
Kalau pemimpin Islam Malaysia dewasa ini, berani ke buat gitu?

- Di zaman Pak Lahlah saya dan ramai wartawan tempatan naik kapal perang nuklear Amerika di Port Klang.
American aircraft carrier, bernama USS John Stennis, berlabuh di Port Klang.

Sedangkan kalau zaman Dr M dulu diharamkan datang dekat Malaysia pun. Dulu apabila kapal perang Amerika repair kat Singapore, wah satu Malaysia mengamuk. Kini media tempatan senyap, Umno ngorok.
Katanya Asean ni Zopfan - zon bebas dari campur tangan kuasa besar.
Sedangkan masa tu Malaysia ialah kepala OIC!
Dan gerombolan kapal perang ni semuanya nak ke Teluk Parsi menekan Iran.
Aircraft carrier ni dia bergerak bukan seorang diri. Ada kurang-lebih 10 kapal sampingan nak protect dia daripada diserang, termasuk kapal selam.

- Kita juga jangan lupa bahawa syarikat anak PM Abdullah, Kamaluddin Abdullah, Scomi, yang terlibat dengan isu barangan senjata nuklear.
Terkejut Abdullah, dan terus banyak rumours apa yang berlaku di belakang tabir nak redakan benda yang memalukan Malaysia ini.
Malu bukan apa - katanya kepala OIC, kenapa malu apabila nak tolong Iran atau Libya? Malu dengan Amerikalah, sebab takut nak lawan kuasa besar.


GILIRAN PM NAJIB PULA

Kemudian PM Najib naik pula, beliau pun nak membaiki imej diri, kerajaan, parti dan negara.
Lagi-lagi kerajaan dan beliau sendiri lagi teruk kena attack semasa baru nak naik ni (isu Altantuya, kapal selam dan seterusnya).
Ada Sang Orang Dalam, menurut cerita orang dalam, yang suggest kenapa kita tak ambil si Apco Worldwide ni.
Good idea, sebab imej kerajaan BN dan imej bealiu di Amerika kurang baik dan consultant dan strategist ini sangat besar.
(Anwar Ibrahim pun dituduh ada strategist Amerika aturkan itu dan ini untuk imej Anwar di luar negeri. Tuduhan ini, kena tanya PKR. Siapa Aasil Kazi Ahmad? Saya tak kenal. Tapi yang menuduh ialah bekas orang dalaman).


Dan biasalah, apabila nak gunakan service konsultant, bukan murah.
Saya ada beberapa rakan yang buat kerja PR consultant, strategist, image makers, fixers dan banyak lagi nama mereka ini.

Saya pernah tanya, kalau aku nak bawa kepala sesebuah negara Asean bercakap kat seminar di Singapore, kamu boleh arrange? Berapa harganya?
Pingsan saya dengar: S$100,000 (RM230,000) nak bawa kepala negara Asean ke Singapore, cakap 2-3 jam. Ini jika diarrange secara peribadi (bukan dijemput pemerintah).
Itu belum masuk harga kapal terbang first class VIP ini dan rombongannya, bilik-bilik hotel, kereta-kereta sewa Mercedes dan makan minum.
Sebab tu janganlah terkejut bahawa nak bawa Tony Blair ke Malaysia, katanya, kena bayar US$1 juta.

Samalah juga jika kamu nak bawa bekas presiden Bill Clinton, Al Gore dsbnya. Atau nama-nama besar dalam dunia sukan, teknologi, perfileman.
Itu memang FEES/bayaran minima mereka.

Yang menjadi kelemahan dalam memilih baik Apco atau Asia Soft - jika betul mereka ni ada "spy" Israel - ialah background checks. Itu yang saya difahamkan.
Inilah satu kelemahan Malaysia. Jika ada orang atas atau orang dalam rekomen, terus diterima dan diberi kontrak mahal tanpa periksa.

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TAMBAHAN 12.30PAGI: Baru terima panggilan (Mereka kat sana baru tengah hari).
Kata pemanggil, di akhbar besar Amerika New York Times, ada dua muka surat khas untuk isteri PM, Rosmah Mansor, menulis artikel kerana baru dapat anugerah.
Apa pula anugerah dan apa yang ditulisnya?
Itulah kerja strategist/PR yang dibayar mahal-mahal, tentunya. Naikkan nama dan imej, cuma kurang faham kenapa nama isteri PM pun nak dinaikkan.

Nanti saya usahakan dan letak kat blog ini artikel tersebut.
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Tapi kasihan juga Apco dan Asia Soft ni - bagaimana kamu tahu apa yang diceritakan oleh pembangkang tu semua betul?
Pandai pembangkang canangkan isu sehingga wah kononnya kerana kerajaan dah ambil Apco, maka mereka sokong Yahudi. Sokong Zionism. Maka mereka sokong pembunuhan Palestin.
Bodoh punya argument.

Saya ulangi: Dari apa yang saya diberitahu, kerajaan memilih Apco ni kerana ada yang rekomen. Maka kontrak disign. Tak banyak periksa.
Maknanya, kerja orang bebal.
Bukan maknanya kerajaan sokong Zionisma dan pembunuhan di Palestin.
Kita boleh kata kerajaan bodoh, tapi janganlah keterlaluan nak tuduh melulu sehingga terbawa-bawa. Berdosa beb.

Lihat pula dari pandangan Apco dan Asia Soft: Kasihan juga mereka, sebab mereka tak boleh jawab lagi. Bukan maknanya mereka bersalah 100 peratus (atau innocent 100 peratus).
Mungkin semua yang didedahkan itu penipuan.
Tapi tangan mereka terikat sebab mereka ini business entity, bukan ahli politik.
Dalam politik Malaysia, semakin banyak kamu nafikan, semakin menjadi benda tu!
Semakin mereka jawab, nanti business semua lari sebab nama syarikat dah busuk.
Baik diam saja, dan telan walaupun banyak yang didokumenkan sebenarnya, pada saya, pembohongan.
Nak tuduh saya pun agen sebab dari Seberang Tambak, tuduhlah.
Ini pandangan peribadi, mungkin salah mungkin betul.


SLEEPER AGENTS

Saya masuk isu Apco ni sebab dalam posting sebelum ini, ada yang bertanya: Ada banyak "sleeper agents" Apco ni atau tidak.
Masya Allah.
Sampai gitu ada yang dah kena influence dengan diayah pembangkang.


Saya pernah masuk Israel kerana bertugas nak bantu Gaza - tiga hari, dua malam. Juga di sini.
Kita semua dah lihat cerita James Bond. Jadi remgold masa kat situ, tengok kiri, tengok kanan, atas dan bawah, nak cari mana si agent Israel yang memerhatikan kumpulan kami.
Ada beb, tapi cerita di lain topik.


Apapun, jawapan saya untuk yang bertanya sama ada banyak sleeper agents ni:

1) Saya tak tahu cerita yang diwar-warkan pembangkang tu benar ke tidak. Banyak yang saya sendiri, sebagai orang luar, boleh sangkal.
Pada saya mereka ambil Fakta 1, digaul dengan Nama 2, dan dicampur Insiden 3, maka dibuat rumusan: Ah, sah, Apco jahat. Najib sokong Zionis.
Saya tak tahulah Apco ni "penyokong zionis" ke tidak, cuma saya rasa, tangan mereka terikat tak boleh jawab lagi.

2) Kalau betul pun semua cerita itu, saya tak tahu.
Dalam cerita James Bond saja kita senang nak tahu yang mana sleeper agent yang mana bukan.
Yang muka hemsome itu hero.
Yang muka setan tu semua geng jahat.
Dan minah-minah yang menggoda iman tu, semua sleeper agent.
;-)

New global battlefield - Food Farms! (Bah. 2/2)

Ini Bahagian 2. Bahagian 1 di sini.

SELF-SUFFICIENCY IN FOOD PRODUCTION

Di penghujung era Dr Mahathir Mohamad menjadi PM, dan semasa Abdullah Badawi, masa tu Datuk Seri, baru jadi PM, mereka ada idea yang sama (ahem, masa tu belum bergaduh lagi).
Mereka berdua cuba untuk menjadikan Malaysia menjadi negara yang tak perlu lagi mengimport banyak barangan makanan.
Menjadi negara self-sufficient dalam makanan. Masa tu, Malaysia mengimport barang makanan RM25 billion setahun - dari gandum ke beras, daging dan ikan.

Rancangan masa itu ialah nak membesarkan ternakan lembu, ayam dan ikan, menggalak penanaman padi dan sayur lagi, dan ladang buah-buahan.
Saya pernah menuju ke Johor apabila Abdullah lancarkan projek nak pelihara lembu, dan ke hujung Selangor (dekat Rawang-Ijok) untuk projek menanam ladang buah-buahan.
Masa tu Effendi Norwawi menjadi Menteri Pertanian. Macam-macam idea dikeluarkan. Saya pun begitu sibuk ikut beliau ke sana dan sini, lancar itu dan ini.
Syiok membuat penulisan tentang agriculture-pertanian ni. Dan interview pekebun tanam water melon dan sayuran. Mereka lebih down-to-earth (quite literally, too!) daripada orang politik yang hari ni cakap gini, esok tukar haluan.
Koridor utara dan timor yang dilancarkannya pun ada idea nak kembangkan sektor pertanian.

Tetapi akhirnya, tak tahulah apa dah jadi kepada projek-projek makanan itu, kerana Tun Abdullah mengalami terlalu banyak masalah politik sehingga tak dapat nak memajukan idea lain.

Sayang.
Ideanya, pada saya, sangat bagus.
Kurangkan belanja, dan jika ada lebih, boleh eksport.
Kini, negara kaya sedang berebut nak tanam itu dan ini agar ada food security.
Welcome to the world of Contract Farming.
Some people say this is Neo-Colonisation = new colonisation = penjajahan era baru, macam dulu orang British, Portugis dan Belanda datang ke sini suruh kita tanam gambir dan getah, mereka bawa pulang ke negara mereka.

Ini laporan yang saya tulis (di akhbar The Straits Times Singapore Sabtu/27Feb).


GAMBAR HIASAN: Penjajahan era baru atau projek membantu negara miskin?


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Farming is farmed out

By Reme Ahmad
Assistant Foreign Editor

MANUFACTURING is not the only sector being outsourced in these changing economic times. Farming itself is being farmed out.

China, South Korea, India, and some Gulf states including Saudi Arabia have been busy signing deals to ensure that there is food on the table for generations to come.

They are leasing or planning to lease huge tracts of farm land in Africa, Asia and Latin America to plant rice, wheat and other crops which will be shipped home after they are harvested.

According to estimates by the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute last year, the total value of farmland deals signed in recent years, along with those in the pipeline, ranges from US$20 billion (S$28 billion) to US$30 billion.

These outsourced farms cover a total area of about 20 million ha. That adds up to 20 per cent of the entire amount of arable land in the European Union.

Cash-rich countries say that while they keep their own populations fed, such deals provide billions of dollars of funds for poor governments and create jobs in rural economies.

They also gain from infrastructure projects such as roads and ports.

Mr Abdul Rahim Khan, a farmer and general secretary of the Sarhad Chamber of Agriculture in Pakistan, said Gulf companies have signalled interest in the country's farmland.

'There is no risk in it as we will only lease out our lands we are unable to use,' he was quoted as saying by Pakistan's The News daily recently. 'We are not selling out our precious lands to the foreigners.'

Some governments actually canvass for foreign investments in their farmlands. Indonesia, for example, is targeting one of its most remote regions, Papua, for such deals.

But not everyone, including local farmers, are happy with the idea of foreigners coming in to cultivate their land and then shipping the harvest away.

News that Madagascar had agreed to lease about half of its arable land to grow corn for South Koreans caused a backlash. It led to a coup that overthrew the island nation's president last March. The new Madagascar leader promptly scrapped the deal with Daewoo.

In some parts of Africa and Asia, critics are calling this wave of investments 'neo-colonialism', 'new feudalism' or just plain robbery.

The phenomenon was driven partly by the spiralling prices of food in 2008 that made many nations realise their vulnerability to food shortages.

According to a study by a United Nations body, the world's population is expected to jump to 9.1 billion by 2050 from 6.8 billion today - an increase of 34 per cent.

Food supplies will be strained unless more crops are grown. Then there are the issues of water scarcity and climate change to grapple with.

The looming shortages are expected to be aggravated by the practice in some countries to plant crops for biofuel instead of food. Sugar and corn are two examples.

'The inventories of food are the lowest, not in years but in decades. Supply is going to remain down since we have serious production problems,' Mr Jim Rogers, a global investor, was quoted as saying recently by India's Business Standard newspaper.

'At the same time, people are eating more and we are burning some of our foods as fuels.'

TAMBAHAN

Negara dan projek:

Egypt runs farms growing corn in Zambia, rice in Niger, and vegetables in Tanzania. Now it plans to grow wheat in Uganda.

Pakistan's Board of Investment plans to put about 9.1 million ha of farmland up for lease to foreign countries and companies.

An Australian investment group, BKK Partners, says its client is targeting 100,000ha of Cambodian land to grow rice, bananas, sugar cane, palm oil and teak. Investments worth US$600 million (S$847 million) planned.

Jordan is planning a joint grain venture with Kazakhstan, involving US$50 million in investments.

Investment group Saudi Star is eyeing 350,000ha in Ethiopia to plant rice, maize, sugar cane and oilseeds.

Indonesia is targeting 1.6 million ha on Papua island for agriculture projects.

Libya is planning farmland projects worth US$500 million in Brazil.

United Arab Emirates' Minerals Energy Commodities Holdings is in talks to lease 100,000ha of farmland in Kalimantan, where the company has a railway and coal project worth about US$1 billion.

Allah - the Loss of Innocence

First, my deep apologies if, at the end of this posting, the reader gets all angsty and angry.
I just want to be direct.
Gloves' off, braders and sistahs, because I feel that my Malaysia Stability Alert Level has gone from an Orange Zone (where it has been since the March 8, 2008 general elections) into a Light-Red Zone.

I didn't want to specifically comment on what I thought on how Malays and Muslims in Malaysia would feel when the Allah verdict came through on Thursday.
I only commented on the fact that the non-Muslims were celebrating and saying the Malaysia court is independent and brave and free (of course, if the court had ruled the opposite, venom would be spouted by these same guys, who do not seem to care that they are destroying the name of the country every time they attack the courts without any proof).

Instead of saying 'Jesus Christ be praised', many were writing 'Allah be praised'.
So there we have it.
What Muslims in Malaysia (and even in Singapore) had feared all along, that the decision now means:
Allah = God = Jesus Christ = Trinity.

That was why you saw and read some Muslims over in KL kept stressing that Allah means 'one true God'.
They meant to say it is different from the Christian's understanding of a triune God.
Never mind that the Arabs and those in Indonesia may feel differently. In the minds of Malays there in KayEL and beyond, Allah is different from the 'Christian God'.


Now, after three days of reading so many reactions, I could sense that the Malays and Muslims in Malaysia feel deeply aggrieved indeed.
Wow, sooooo many anguished hearts and angry heads.
(Even after we minus off those idiots who always stir in dark waters, like some from Umno, Khir Toyo and Ibrahim Ali).
Well, I thought the Muslims would be angry, but as a semi-outsider, I didn't want to put my case too early for fear of being called an instigator.

All I can say is that the Malay-Muslim position in Malaysia was much weakened in the last five years, by a former prime minister and his stupid advisers (let's not beat around the bush anymore) who thought opening the floodgates of expression and debate were good for the country.
Of course, he lost control, his advisers were too busy making hay, so the country is now in purgatory with too much politicking and debate over race and religion.
To the point that Malay-Muslims now feel the 45 per cent minority groups are pushing at the gates to open up everything and anything for questioning.
Of course, you cannot blame the minorities from pushing! They feel oppressed by 22 years of Mahathirism.
But how I wished the doors to debate and forum had been opened slowly, not thrown open by Badawi and left ajar without controls.


THE SINGAPORE EXPERIENCE
Looking at it from Singapore, where Islam and Malay-Muslims are a mere 15 per cent minority religion and race:
Singapore had never opened the gate to freedom of expression and debate, so that anybody can say anything about religion and think they can hide behind anonymity.
In Temasek, I daresay, the position of Islam and Malay-Muslims are MORE PROTECTED that in Malaysia, where Islam and Malay-Muslims are now "under siege" (according to some Malaysian Muslims).

In Temasek, there had been several cases where young men in internet forums attacked Islam and Muslims in Singapore anonymously. They were tracked down and dragged to court.
- See here, here and here. Reactions among Singapore bloggers.
(Do read these. It will show you, that a Muslim minority like me can just complain to the government about some internet attack against my religion or race, and the government will take action!
(Dey, forget about the schoolgirls kissing in that picture, will you!? There is a long separate story on that 'lesbo' picture alone! The school got into big trouble).
- And a Christian couple who went around giving leaflets on the religion, to Muslims, were jailed.
See here, here and here.
And look what PM Lee Hsien Loong said about aggressive proselytisation (aka dakwah).

No one, my dear, can belittle Islam and Malay-Muslims in Singapore openly and hope to get away with it (Nor can Muslims attack other religions, of course!)
In short, Singapore says there are several issues that we are not ready for open freewheeling debates and discussions yet.
Race and religion are among those.


ADJUSTING POSITIONS
Now that the can has been opened in Malaysia, we shall see whether it contains more worms, or diamonds.
My fervent hope is common sense prevail.
Peace, y'all.

Those Malay-Muslims in PAS and PKR who loved to play politics and hear their own voices - and hoped to gain votes from Chinese and Indians in the Peninsular, and from Sabah and Sarawak Christians - better now decide where they want to go.
We know where Umno stands.

I see top voices from PAS quoted in Utusan - dewan ulama chief Harun Taib, youth chief Nasruddin Hassan and deputy president Nasarudin Mat Isa - standing against the court's decision. Seemingly. Khalid Samad is okay with it.
We shall wait for Brother Anwar, Tok Guru Nik Aziz, PM Najib, DPM Muhyiddin and others who live in the clouds to come down to earth and see how they want to play the game now.
Kit Siang in his blog reported the court's decision, but has not made any personal comments.
Also silent are the MCA and Gerakan heroes.

There are enough unhappy Malay-Muslim voices out there that I have read - go and visit the small blogs along with the big ones, and see the zillion comments below stories and postings - to show that the so-called 'silent majority' among Malay-Muslims are finding their voices.
Because of this one issue alone.

The Malays were quite muted in their reactions on these issues: alleged police abuse, MACC and Teoh Beng Hock, AP and Rafidah, relaxation of Bumi rules in economy. This despite 'Malay' institutions and companies were shamed and named.
Why? Because quietly they acknowledged there were some abuses.

But in an Agama issue like this, there will be political fallout.
And whether the non-Muslim minorities and the politicians like it or not, they now have to adjust their positions accordingly in the next few weeks and months.
To many Malays in Malaysia, the court's decision has meant the Loss of Innocence.


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PostScript:
A good story to be done is to ask Merdeka Centre, Vox or some other indy research bodies to poll Malays and others on this issue.
Aiyah, don't just poll 1,084 people lah, since many will then say those are not representative views. Poll like 5,000 all across Malaysia.

Politik Malaysia - menghancurkan team sendiri

Terpegun selalu saya sebagai pemerhati politik Malaysia.
Bukan kerana apa.
Sepatutnya pihak Barisan Nasi dan Pakatan Rak berlumba-lumba agar selalu dan terus di depan. Biar musuh nampak busuk dan berpecah.
Tetapi tidak di Malaysia Darul Demokrasi (di Singapore kita panggil Darul Demo-KERASi = siapa demo pemerintah berkeras!).

Dalam setahun lebih ini, setiap kali BN dan kerajaan dah nampak lemah, dan kita kata: Habis, hancur, lebur mereka kali ini. Baik aku undi PR.
Tapi esoknya, PR pulak buat hal!

Dan lepas tu apabila PR atau komponennya bergaduh macam nak rak dan hambir luluh dan runtuh, maka aku pun berkata (sebenarnya saya tak boleh undi): Bodoh punya pembangkang, lain kali aku undi BN.
Tapi esoknya BN pulak ada cerita bangang.


Lihat saja cycle baru-baru ni.
- Isu Biro Tatanegara dah membawa BN masuk ke hutan kena sembelih. Orang dah jadi muak dengan BN. Eeeeeee menyampah! Dengan gelagat dan jawapan tak tentu arah mereka.

- Eh, tapi lepas tu, PR pula berguling dalam lumpur. Dalam konvensyennya baru-baru ini, mereka berkelahi tentang local council elections. Berpecah teruk dan tuduh menuduh. Sampai PR pun tak dapat diregister sebagai sebuah barisan baru.
Kita pun nak baling batu ke arah mereka, dan membuang fail PR, nak undi BN.

- Tapi ewah, ewah, minggu lepas, malu besar penyokong BN sebab enjit jet hilang entah ke mana, dan gerenti lamaaaaaaaaaaaaa nanti baru kita akan tahu siapa yang kebas.
Takkan perampok nak angkat tangan mengaku salah?
Kalau lihat isu Eric Chia-Perwaja, misalnya, bertahun-tahun lagi kelak baru kita tahu ada yang salah ke tidak.
Begitu juga siapa yang cepuk mata Anwar Ibrahim. Nama Rahim Noor ni, bahawa dia bersalah, keluar hanya bertahun selepas itu.
Terpaksa kita lontar fail BN dalam tong sampah.

- Alamak! Baru kita nak pungut balik fail PR dalam tong sampah, PR buat hal lagi.
Kali ini pergaduhan PAS Kelantan muncul lagi dan lebih buruk lagi.
Mula-mula Husam Musa menyerang sipi dalam blognya bahawa kalau dulu PAS benci Mahathir dan Pak Lah sebab pimpinan bawa ahli keluarga, tetapi kini kenapa sama saja?

Dan kini berita dua pembantu kanan Nik Aziz Nik Mat yang dah lama bertugas, setiausaha politik dan setiausaha akhbar (saya sempat berjumpa kejap semasa Lee Kuan Yew mengunjungi Klate pada Jun), diberhentikan kerja. Saya tak mahu tulis disingkir atau dipecat, takut salah.
(Saya tak mahu tulis kata pada Jun lalu, tapi apabila LKY ke Klate, beliau tak mengadakan pertemuan dengan exco-exco Klate lain, hanya Husam. LKY di Malaysia bertemu Hadi Awang dan Nasharuddin Mat Isa di KL (No.1 dan No.2 PAS), lepas tu ada meeting dengan Nik Aziz (Mursyidul Am dan MB Klate), dan selepas tu Husam ke bilik LKY di Hotel Renaissance. Lihat gambar pertemuan mereka berdua di sini).


Jadi, apa yang boleh disimpulkan dengan ombank BN-PR ni?
Ia bermakna kedua-dua Barisan Nasi dan Pakatan Rak belum pintar main politik.
Kalau dah tengok musuh lagi sesak, kita sepatutnya terus menyeranglah, 'bang.
Ini mereka dah nak maut, kita bongkar fail di rumah cari najis yang boleh dipalit di muka sendiri.
Siapa jadi strategis parti masing-masing ni?

Tapi untuk wartawan jalanan seperti saya, isu begini bagus. Ia merancakkan cerita dan banyak muka surat boleh diisi, akhbar kami laku.
Dan tak payah saya tulis pun, orang luar termasuk pelabur melihatnya begini - Politik Malaysia terus bergolak dan kabur; Singapore stabil. Laburlah di Singapore.
Ish ish ish.

Mahathir: Pak Lah spent RM54 bil a year!

It is quite interesting to see how Dr M framed the claims by a former managing editor of Asian Wall Street Journal (now Wall Street Journal Asia).
He is willing to be investigated.
Then he made some impossible demands - like asking the government to open up all documents for the commission to look at.
Whoa.
That could open more pekung di dada from here to Zimbabwe.

But more interesting to me was what Dr M revealed about his Mr Clean successor: Abdullah Badawi, the Tun.
Abdullah spent RM270 billion in his mere five years in office, said his former boss.
Oh my God!
That is an average RM54 billion a year.
Or RM4.5 billion a month!!! (times five years).
Semua duit Petronas. Wang rakyat.

Dr M mentioned some of these projects too. Allegedly of course.
Read about these claimed misappropriations here in his blog.

Well, the entire Petronas Twin Towers cost US$1.2 billion - at today's ringgit value, that is RM4.1 billion.
Eeks, so Pak Lah could've built one Petronas Twin Towers projects A MONTH during his five years in office.

OKlah, say that the price now is RM50 billion for each Twin Towers. Maklumlah, inflasi.
He could've still built five Twin Towers!!!
ADDITION: One in Kepala Batas, one near PM's Office in Putrakaya, oops Putrajaya, one each in Ipoh, GeorgeTown and Shah Alam.

Instead we got Monsoon Cup.
And errrr..... nothing else.
Sigh.

Eyes on PM Najib as 2010 Budget looms

CORRECTION: The headline should read '2010', not '2011' as originally stated. Pakcik tersasul.
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The 2010 Budget presentation by PM Najib Razak, also the Finance Minister, will make for a very interesting event.
After the go-go years of Dr M, followed by the so-so years of Abdullah Badawi, it is Najib's turn to show his hand at running the country's finances.
Can he do it?
He will unveil the budget on Friday, Oct 23.

The days of mega projects ala-Mahathir are over.
The days of mega corridors under Pak Lah are over also.

The Malaysian budget has been in deficit for a decade or more (I lost count).
No, having a deficit for some years is NOT a problem because sometimes you need to spend more - like after 9/11-Afghan war, Iraq war, and SARS of past years - to prevent the economy from collapsing.
But now, the budget has gone beyond 'uh-oh' level of 5 per cent.
The deficit was at 7.6 per cent last year, and expected to be even higher this time around.

With Petronas financing some 40 per cent of government revenue in recent years, the government has better watch its spending.
How long will this oil-and-gas flow go on to keep the economy strong?
We shall therefore see how PM Najib plans to tackle this.
The 2009 economy is expected to contract (not expand) by 3.3 per cent this year. Next year, it should grow 3.7 per cent, says MIER.

From what I understood, Indonesia, not Malaysia, is now the darling of investors in Southeast Asia among the developing economies.
Vietnamese and Cambodian salaries are still lower than Malaysia's, and Indonesia is the one seen with the stronger growth.
Thailand is kind of unstable right (its politics as well as the ailing king); Singapore has too high costs (good perhaps to base regional HQ operations and keeping your millions, but not to build mass-production factories).

Indonesia has targeted an average 7 per cent economic growth a year, over the next five years.
With President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in his second and final presidency, and with former central bank governor Boediono as his Vice-President, he will want to push hard for this.
Dr Yudhoyono will name his Cabinet next week. Good names are being floated.

Malaysia, it seems, is not so enticing not because of the race-religion altercations between politicians and the Pakatan-Umno issues, but because it does not have a 'sexy' story to tell.
Investors like to hear a good story before they will plunk their money.

In past years, Malaysia was saying it had mega projects coming up, growth was going to be 8 per cent a year, the middle-class is growing and the country wants to keep growing fast to become a developed country by 2020.
And then there was the Multimedia Super Corridor.

So as a foreign player, whether you bought into construction, toll-road, utilities, high-tech or crony stocks, you would've made money.
Or maybe you come in as foreign architects or foreign contractors, you still made money. Or as mat salleh or jap foreign consultants to these big projects or to Maxis and Digi and MAS, you would've made money also.
Or since the country was growing fast, you can come in as Carrefour and Tesco, or open up your hotel chain, or sell your big foreign cars here.

So PM Najib will have to sell a sexy story to entice investors all over again.

Here is Indonesia's story:
1- Democracy has grown in the past decade since Suharto. A new level of confidence in government has set in. Like Malaysia in the 1980s and 1990s, a very stable government will produce more middle-class, middle income citizens - those who can spend on second cars, buy bigger houses, own two handphones, go to supermarkets, pay for toll roads, travel abroad or airlines, eat in hotel restaurants, put aircons in their homes, buy Ikea furniture.
2- The cost of setting up factories remain low, salaries are very low. There are plentiful workers.
3- Indonesia has some 230 million people (versus 27 million for Malaysia). This means more workers, and more poor people who will grow in wealth and want what many Malaysians already have - see Point 1 above.
4- The terror threat has diminished. Dr Azahari and Noordin Mohd Top are dead and so are their disciples. And just as important, when the twin bombings of top hotels occurred in Jakarta two months ago, instead of panicking, Jakartans picked up their lives within days. The stock market did not collapse.
5- Yes, the Jakarta stock market is indeed strong. The rupiah has been rising and rising, killing my Sing dollar (and I am sure, my ringgit too). Sure signs of foreign confidence.
6- The downside to Indonesia is the rampant corruption, to the point that top judges can be allegedly bought. But like China and India, foreign investors are willing to look another way if they thought they could make money, even with local weaknesses. It is the same story with Malaysian corruption, or the lack of media freedom in Singapore.

All in all, I am not saying that Malaysia's economy is going to collapse, or that there will be zero investments into Malaysia.
I am saying that as a Big Picture, Malaysia needs to tell a sexy story all over again to entice investors.
It still is a stable country compared to quake-prone Indonesia (even Jakarta now is not so safe any more eh?).
And property costs are still low compared to Singapore and Hong Kong, and comparable to Thailand.
English is widely used still (I hope).
It is seldom said, but Malaysia has actually managed to become a global centre (albeit to lukewarm success) for Islamic finance - issuance of bonds and debts. Until a certain red dot in the south catches up.

Anyway, Malaysia wants to be a high-income economy, says Husni Hanadzlah. How?

Dr M came out with mega projects and MSC.
Abdullah with his corridors of growth.
PM Najib will have to paint a nice Big Picture that will excite investors.
1Economy.

Abdullah Badawi kini pengerusi IKIM

Dah saya tulis bulan April lagi, dan diulang pada Mei, bekas-PM Abdullah Badawi akan dilantik menjadi ketua IKIM.

Dah jadi kenyataan empat bulan kemudian - lihat di bawah.

Cuma belum lagi nama badan itu ditukar jadi IKIA. Bukan saya nak persendakan atau mengutuk beliau seperti yang disangka orang yang komen di bawah posting itu.

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Abdullah Appointed IKIM Chairman

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 28 (Bernama) -- Former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been appointed chairman of the Malaysian Institute of Islamic Understanding (Ikim) effective Sept 1.

Abdullah, who holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Islamic Studies from Universiti Malaya, will replace Tun Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid who has decided to step down.

Abdullah's appointment would boost IKIM's effort to enhance true understanding of Islam among Muslims and non-Muslims, the Prime Minister's office said in a statement e-mailed to Bernama on Friday.

-- BERNAMA