This is complete defiance and total rubbish by the MACC as far as I am concerned - http://m.themalaysianinsider.com/articles.php?id=19095. Despite Mar 2008 GE results, it is clear NOTHING has really changed in Malaysia politics - if anything, things appear to be getting worse. Malaysians really have no choice come the next GE - even if all PR candidates were to be disqualified and they have to put up some monkeys against BN, there should be no contest.
_________________
MACC defends public disclosure of Khalid case
By Neville Spykerman
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) defended today the public disclosure that there was “strong evidence” of abuse of power against the Selangor Menteri Besar.
MACC deputy commissioner Datuk Abu Kassim said his boss was acting within the law when he made the statement to the media.
Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim is accused of abusing his powers to purchase cattle, which was distributed to mosques to his constituency, and to maintain his personal car.
The disclosure, which has been labeled as selective prosecution by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) was made by MACC chief commissioner Datuk Seri Ahmad Said Hamdan four days ago.
Abu Kassim said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2008 provided the powers to Ahmad Said to make the disclosure.
Section 29 (4) states that a report shall be kept secret and shall not be disclosed by any person to any person other than officers of the commission and the public prosecutor until an accused person has been charged in court for an offence under this Act or any other written law in consequence of such report, unless the disclosure is made with the consent of the public prosecutor or an officer of the commission of the rank of Commissioner and above.
“My interpretation of Section 29(4) is that the disclosure was made according to the law.”
When asked by The Malaysian Insider if the law allowed for the MACC chief to express his personal opinion to the press, Abu Hassan said he was not aware that Ahmad Said Hamdan statement was a personal opinion.
However two days ago, Minister in the Prime Minster Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz reportedly said (in The Star) that Ahmad Said Hamdan was only giving his point of view when he told the press they had sufficient evidence against Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and added that the Attorney-General’s Chambers will decide whether to press charges.
Meanwhile Abu Kassim said only new corruption cases will follow under the MACC Act, which came into effect this year.
Under the new procedures the outcome of all investigation will be forwarded both to the Anti-Corruption Advisory Board, which is made up of esteemed members of the public, and the Attorney-General's Chambers.
“All cases which are closed will have to be tabled before the advisory board, who represent the public and we hope this will put a stop to allegations of bias.”
However he said previous corruption cases which occurred before the MACC Act came into force will be investigated according to old Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) procedures.
The MACC was officially launched by Prime Minster Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, at the Putra World Trade Centre, this morning.
During the launch Abdullah said he was confident the restructuring of the previous anti graft agency which had evolved into the MACC, would increase its effectiveness.
”The MACC is modeled after some of the best anti-corruption agencies in the world such as the Independent Commission on Anti-Corruption (ICAC) Hong Kong and the Independent Commission Against Corruption in New South Wales, Australia.”
_______________
Comments:
1. I am dissappointed that the press still doesn't ask the right nor critical questions.
The right and critical approach is to first appreciate that Section 29(4) contains 2 approaches - the "Normal" approach and the "Special" approach. This is very clear from above that the "Normal" approach is for MACC to NOT disclose and to proceed charging in Court, whereas the "Special" approach is to do what MACC Commissioner did.
So, it is important to appreciate that MACC have a choice in deciding which approach.
And so, for Rakyat to have greater confidence in MACC's professionalism and independence, it is critical for Rakyat to understand under what circumstances and under what "principles" are the "Normal" approach not used, and the Exceptional approach used.
So, is this because Khalid is an MB, and an MB is deemed to be very important?
If so, will MACC then apply consistent standards to all MBs in the States, including highr ranking officers such as the PM, DPM, etc.?
If not, then, what is the criteria? Is the criteria because Khalid is a Pakatan MB, and this exception only applies to Pakatan States?
What is the conceptual principle that decides when the Special clauses are invoked, and when the Normal approach is used?
Suka suka invoke the Special Clauses?
Is this the primary purpose of Parliament in drafting laws? Is it to give certain people God-like powers where suka-suka, they invoke?
2. I have lived in both Australia and Hong Kong for over 7 years, and never once have I seen the NSW and HK Commissioners expressing their personal opinion in the same manner as Ahmad Said did 4 days ago against Selangor MB.
3. Technically, I do not deny that just looking at Section 29(4), the Law appears to have given GOD-LIKE powers to the Commissioner to say ANYTHING he likes to the press.
Four days ago, Ahmad Said exercised his God-Like power.
MAYBE, it's within the letter of the law, but does it follow the spirit of the law? Does it make it RIGHT?
Is it PROFESSIONAL?
And after this episode, do you perceive MACC to be independent now?
4. As I understand it, it involves Khalid using his own personal car for State use and thus require maintenance to be done by the State. He also directed State Funds to the tune of $100k to sembelih cows for a Rakyat's consumption for a once a year celebration.
Let me ask this simple question - who benefitted from Khalid's so called "abuse of power"?
He used his own car for State business - doesn't this already save the State some money?
The cows are not even for his own personal consumption! - I mean - how much beef can a person eat ???
Is this really so serious that the MACC Commissioner must urgently invoke the God-like Section 29(4) to make an exception to disclose to all Malaysians that Khalid is guilty when he is not even charged yet?
Don't get me wrong -- I'm not suggesting Khalid be let of. Far from it. Continue to investigate Khalid or any MB suspected of corruption. But, if I were running MACC, I would PRIORITIZE. If it has BIG $$$, then, I would want to be closely involved. If it has SMALL $$$, then, maybe this is something one could delegate for staff development, and can afford the normal channels.
And the audacity to declare that the MACC is modelled after the HK and Australia's Commisions ...
This is not even accurate, and by any imagination, stretches the truth by a long mile. MAYBE Malaysia might have borrowed a few parts here and there in writing the MACC legislation, but to imply it is on par with HK and NSW is utterly and completely MISLEADING and IRRELEVANT. I wouldn't even print that if I was the editor.
Anyone who has lived overseas long enough in either HK or Australia will immediately recognize the HUGE differences in this type of cases, between HK/Australia and Malaysia's MACC!
5. Doesn't the MACC have more serious corruption cases to pursue? Ones that involves hundreds of millions of $$$ if not Billions of $$$ of taxpayer's monies like the Port Klang Free Zone, the $500 Million+ Submarine maintainance contract, etc?
Why not use Section 29(4) exception against really serious alleged crimes that apparently involves the future Prime Minister?
Is corruption in Malaysia seriously limited to one car and a few cows?
What is happening to the Auditor General's reports on corruptions that are far larger than a Car and a few Cows?
Sadly, I don't see an end to this.
The only chance Malaysians now have to reclaim their country is through the next GE.
Even then, it is not clear if it will stop the rot.
Showing posts with label Corruption. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Corruption. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monday, September 1, 2008
NS deals led to RM110m loss
As a parent, I am not a fan of the Malaysian National Service program (or Program Latihan Khidmat Negara (PLKN)) .
There are far too many horror stories around.
Rape, lost in jungle, food poisoning, outbreak of unknown fever, poor security, lack of hygeine, atrocious living conditions, and worse unnecessary deaths and fatalities. (refer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysian_National_Service)
Which parent in their right mind would want to subject their precious child/ren to these completely unnecessary risks?
And the irony - PM Abdullah and UMNO does not want to open up UiTM to non-bumis which would result in 12 times longer interactions between the various races, but want to expand the NS program which only runs for 3 months but at great cost to taxpayers because of "national unity"! How ironic! Can one even take PM Abdullah and UMNO Rhetorics seriously?
On the other hand, you have a great deal of public and taxpayers funds being wasted unnecessarily. A recent example is this article printed in The Star on Merdeka day ironically titled the above. The link is here - http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/12005/1/.
(The Star) - National Service shirkers and a very “rigid” contract have caused the Government losses of up to RM110.1mil from 2004 to last year, the 2007 Auditor-General’s report said.
Over the four years, the audit found that 63,417 people failed to attend the programme for various reasons, which led to the Government having to fork out the money to camp operators due to the way the contract was set out.
The contract spelt out that the Government would pay rent for the use of equipment and facilities for between 690 and 890 trainees for 2004 and between 300 and 400 trainees for 2005 and beyond.
The fee, per trainee, worked out to RM30 in the peninsula and RM41 in Sabah and Sarawak for 2004. In 2005, it cost RM25 in peninsula and RM34.30 in Sabah and Sarawak.
This meant that the Government had to pay for the stated number of trainees in the contract even if the number of trainees turning up was less or more than the figure stipulated in the agreement.
“Every year, between 16% and 23% of those called up to join the programme did not turn up.
The ministry must review the contract conditions regarding how many trainees are allocated to each camp,” the report said.
It added that the ministry should also have a backup name list as there had to be a stop to the losses due to people not turning up for training.
“The NS Training Department also has to double-check its name list with the relevant authorities before putting out the roll call,” it said.
Among the reasons those called up did not attend were: a change in address, still studying, sole bread-winners, disabled, did not receive notices, died, overseas, in the army, health problems or have attended NS before.
In its reply, the ministry said it was in the midst of reviewing the contracts, adding that the department would be increasing the number of trainees next year to 140,000 to make up for any shortfall.
The audit also found that RM57mil in arrears had yet to be collected from camp operators for advances they had taken to construct the camps.
The audit also checked on certain camps from various angles such as the suitability of its location, cleanliness, food quality and quality of equipment supplied.
It found that the Beringin Beach camp in Langkawi was unsuitable because high tides often flooded dormitories and left a classroom unusable.
For the Wawasan camp in Sabah, camp operators told the audit team that it was difficult to obtain fresh fish to cook for the trainees but the audit team found it otherwise at the Kota Kinabalu market.
The audit also found that T-shirts, track pants, baseball caps and sports shoes supplied under contracts worth RM41.12mil were of low quality.
Just focusing on the article above:
1. The root cause for the $ loss is attributed to actual numbers turn out smaller than planned.
2. Most of the causes given are no-brainers and expected when dealing with large number of people and time-lag from first screening to attendance.
3. However, some of the causes are mind-boggling - e.g. "attended NS before"! How on earth can someone be asked to attend NS twice? This reflects extremely poorly on the NS organizers!
It begs the question - How can the NS administrators not know the kid has already gone through NS before? Is the NS record keeping system so poor? Is there simply no checks performed to make sure noone is invited twice or cross-referenced against the attended database? Poor database integrity? Poor programmers?
4. If they can't do 3. right, how on earth are they going to manage the proposed DNA Database that I discussed earlier when the latter has far greater implication on potentially all 27 million Malaysians? http://fusioninvestor.blogspot.com/2008/09/why-you-should-oppose-dna-bill.html
5. What annoys me is that this has been going on in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, and not just 2004!
6. A prudent and responsible organizer should have identified this problem, even before the first NS program in 2004 is implemented.
7. It doesn't take a genius to know that when you send 10,000 invitations out, you will never get 10,000 attendees!
8. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that when 2004 experience happened, you don't repeat it in 2005, 2006 and now 2007!
9. Who exactly are responsible for the wastage? Is this purely an implementation problem? Or they just simply don't care about the implementation? I can't help but think that they just don't care about the implementation, because if they do, they would have put more effort to make sure that the monies are well spent, and especially, that the horror stories does not happen.
10. What about the poor quality goods? Is the Auditor General wrong in labelling these goods as "low quality" in its report? Or another example of rampant corruption by the BN cronies again? Or is this simply not a problem at all that the Auditor General can just say anything he likes, the newspapers publish anything they like, and the BN government just ignore everything since Malaysians mudah lupa?
There are far too many horror stories around.
Rape, lost in jungle, food poisoning, outbreak of unknown fever, poor security, lack of hygeine, atrocious living conditions, and worse unnecessary deaths and fatalities. (refer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysian_National_Service)
Which parent in their right mind would want to subject their precious child/ren to these completely unnecessary risks?
And the irony - PM Abdullah and UMNO does not want to open up UiTM to non-bumis which would result in 12 times longer interactions between the various races, but want to expand the NS program which only runs for 3 months but at great cost to taxpayers because of "national unity"! How ironic! Can one even take PM Abdullah and UMNO Rhetorics seriously?
On the other hand, you have a great deal of public and taxpayers funds being wasted unnecessarily. A recent example is this article printed in The Star on Merdeka day ironically titled the above. The link is here - http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/12005/1/.
(The Star) - National Service shirkers and a very “rigid” contract have caused the Government losses of up to RM110.1mil from 2004 to last year, the 2007 Auditor-General’s report said.
Over the four years, the audit found that 63,417 people failed to attend the programme for various reasons, which led to the Government having to fork out the money to camp operators due to the way the contract was set out.
The contract spelt out that the Government would pay rent for the use of equipment and facilities for between 690 and 890 trainees for 2004 and between 300 and 400 trainees for 2005 and beyond.
The fee, per trainee, worked out to RM30 in the peninsula and RM41 in Sabah and Sarawak for 2004. In 2005, it cost RM25 in peninsula and RM34.30 in Sabah and Sarawak.
This meant that the Government had to pay for the stated number of trainees in the contract even if the number of trainees turning up was less or more than the figure stipulated in the agreement.
“Every year, between 16% and 23% of those called up to join the programme did not turn up.
The ministry must review the contract conditions regarding how many trainees are allocated to each camp,” the report said.
It added that the ministry should also have a backup name list as there had to be a stop to the losses due to people not turning up for training.
“The NS Training Department also has to double-check its name list with the relevant authorities before putting out the roll call,” it said.
Among the reasons those called up did not attend were: a change in address, still studying, sole bread-winners, disabled, did not receive notices, died, overseas, in the army, health problems or have attended NS before.
In its reply, the ministry said it was in the midst of reviewing the contracts, adding that the department would be increasing the number of trainees next year to 140,000 to make up for any shortfall.
The audit also found that RM57mil in arrears had yet to be collected from camp operators for advances they had taken to construct the camps.
The audit also checked on certain camps from various angles such as the suitability of its location, cleanliness, food quality and quality of equipment supplied.
It found that the Beringin Beach camp in Langkawi was unsuitable because high tides often flooded dormitories and left a classroom unusable.
For the Wawasan camp in Sabah, camp operators told the audit team that it was difficult to obtain fresh fish to cook for the trainees but the audit team found it otherwise at the Kota Kinabalu market.
The audit also found that T-shirts, track pants, baseball caps and sports shoes supplied under contracts worth RM41.12mil were of low quality.
Just focusing on the article above:
1. The root cause for the $ loss is attributed to actual numbers turn out smaller than planned.
2. Most of the causes given are no-brainers and expected when dealing with large number of people and time-lag from first screening to attendance.
3. However, some of the causes are mind-boggling - e.g. "attended NS before"! How on earth can someone be asked to attend NS twice? This reflects extremely poorly on the NS organizers!
It begs the question - How can the NS administrators not know the kid has already gone through NS before? Is the NS record keeping system so poor? Is there simply no checks performed to make sure noone is invited twice or cross-referenced against the attended database? Poor database integrity? Poor programmers?
4. If they can't do 3. right, how on earth are they going to manage the proposed DNA Database that I discussed earlier when the latter has far greater implication on potentially all 27 million Malaysians? http://fusioninvestor.blogspot.com/2008/09/why-you-should-oppose-dna-bill.html
5. What annoys me is that this has been going on in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007, and not just 2004!
6. A prudent and responsible organizer should have identified this problem, even before the first NS program in 2004 is implemented.
7. It doesn't take a genius to know that when you send 10,000 invitations out, you will never get 10,000 attendees!
8. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that when 2004 experience happened, you don't repeat it in 2005, 2006 and now 2007!
9. Who exactly are responsible for the wastage? Is this purely an implementation problem? Or they just simply don't care about the implementation? I can't help but think that they just don't care about the implementation, because if they do, they would have put more effort to make sure that the monies are well spent, and especially, that the horror stories does not happen.
10. What about the poor quality goods? Is the Auditor General wrong in labelling these goods as "low quality" in its report? Or another example of rampant corruption by the BN cronies again? Or is this simply not a problem at all that the Auditor General can just say anything he likes, the newspapers publish anything they like, and the BN government just ignore everything since Malaysians mudah lupa?
Sunday, August 31, 2008
From $3.6 Billion last year to $10.2 Billion this year
Apparently, this is the amount of "development allocation" for the Prime Minister’s Department, which has increased tremendously from RM3.6 billion last year to RM10.22 billion this year.
Source: http://dinmerican.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/badawis-2009-budget/ - see Liew Chin Tong (DAP-Bukit Bendera), DAP strategist comments.
RM 6.6 Billion (RM 6,600,000,000) increase over 12 months!
WOW!
WTF is the purpose of this RM 10.22 Billion development expenditure?
Exactly how will this benefit Rakyat?
"Development allocation for Prime Minister's Department" is not exactly identical to things like roadworks, transportation, etc. isn't it?
Note this is separate from Operating Expenditure, which wasn't included in the above.
To quote Liew Chin Tong (DAP-Bukit Bendera), DAP strategist:
"... from RM3.6 billion last year to RM10.22 billion this year. This is a fund to buy over the MPs and to do politically linked works."
Seriously?
Let's ass-u-me half of the RM10.2 Billion is spent to buy over MPs. BN has 140 MPs.
50% x 10.2 Billion = RM 5.1 Billion.
This is less than the RM 6.6 Billion Increase, but let's be conservative anyway.
This means the Average amount per MP = 5.1 Billion / 140 = $36,000,000 each.
$36 Million!!!
Even the clean Singapore Prime Minister's annual salary falls far short than this figure.
According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Hsien_Loong) Singapore PM's Annual Salary is S$3.9 million. When converted to RM, this should be around RM 10,000,000.
And yet, the average of the 140 Malaysian MP could potentially be receiving 3.6 times more than Singapore PM's Salary!
Please tell me I am wrong!
Please tell me that I am mistaken!
Shouldn't the newspapers be investigating deeply whether this claim by DAP is true or not?
Shouldn't the newspapers be exposing the truth in this 2009 Budget?
Compared to the $20 free electricity, is there even a comparison to what Rakyat is getting vs what these MPs could potentially be getting?
What is happening to this country?
Source: http://dinmerican.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/badawis-2009-budget/ - see Liew Chin Tong (DAP-Bukit Bendera), DAP strategist comments.
RM 6.6 Billion (RM 6,600,000,000) increase over 12 months!
WOW!
WTF is the purpose of this RM 10.22 Billion development expenditure?
Exactly how will this benefit Rakyat?
"Development allocation for Prime Minister's Department" is not exactly identical to things like roadworks, transportation, etc. isn't it?
Note this is separate from Operating Expenditure, which wasn't included in the above.
To quote Liew Chin Tong (DAP-Bukit Bendera), DAP strategist:
"... from RM3.6 billion last year to RM10.22 billion this year. This is a fund to buy over the MPs and to do politically linked works."
Seriously?
Let's ass-u-me half of the RM10.2 Billion is spent to buy over MPs. BN has 140 MPs.
50% x 10.2 Billion = RM 5.1 Billion.
This is less than the RM 6.6 Billion Increase, but let's be conservative anyway.
This means the Average amount per MP = 5.1 Billion / 140 = $36,000,000 each.
$36 Million!!!
Even the clean Singapore Prime Minister's annual salary falls far short than this figure.
According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Hsien_Loong) Singapore PM's Annual Salary is S$3.9 million. When converted to RM, this should be around RM 10,000,000.
And yet, the average of the 140 Malaysian MP could potentially be receiving 3.6 times more than Singapore PM's Salary!
Please tell me I am wrong!
Please tell me that I am mistaken!
Shouldn't the newspapers be investigating deeply whether this claim by DAP is true or not?
Shouldn't the newspapers be exposing the truth in this 2009 Budget?
Compared to the $20 free electricity, is there even a comparison to what Rakyat is getting vs what these MPs could potentially be getting?
What is happening to this country?
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Corruption Worsens in Malaysia (2)
Found this article in Malaysian Insider which reported the same topic that I blogged yesterday. The actual article is from Bernama. http://themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/home/42-lead-stories/227-malaysia-improving-in-corruption-index-can-do-better
Read this, and compare this with my earlier article as reported by mysinchew.com. http://fusioninvestor.blogspot.com/2008/06/corruption-worsens-in-malaysia.html
What a total contrast in reporting!
I am most dissappointed with Bernama! Read it, and see for yourself why.
__________________
Malaysia improving (?) in Corruption Index, can do better
(Seng: What? Malaysia improving? Are you serious? A score from 4.0 in 1996 which deteriorated to a score of 2.38 in 2006 and you call that improving?)
KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — Malaysia has made a headway (?) in the battle against corruption, but the country can do better, according to an analysis in a United Nation's Development Programme (UNDP) report.
The report, presented by Transparency International (TI) Malaysia president Tan Sri Ramon V. Navaratnam today, stated that Malaysia ranked sixth according to the World Bank and TI, but ninth according to the International Country Risk Guide (ICRG).
Navaratnam said this was the first time a report on how corruption impacted human development had been delivered.
"Prior to this, most corruption reports focused on index and indices. We are not interested in comparing how well we are doing in the index against countries that are weaker than us. On the other hand, we must compare and benchmark ourselves against countries that are doing well in order to improve ourselves instead of being complacent," he said.
(Seng: Ok. I hear you talk about comparing with countries better than ourselves, so, where is that comparison?
Although the World Bank's Control of Corruption Index (CCI) and TI's Corruption Perception Index (CPI) showed higher progress, the ICRG, which perceives corruption from business and trade aspects, reflected a steady deterioration over the last decade from 4.00 in 1996 to 2.38 in 2006.
(Seng: Ok. In the middle of nowhere, after you lied via the Headline and after you lied from the First Sentence, you then decide to hide and print the truth that it deteriorated from 4.00 to 2.38.
Also, if the index deteriorated from 4.00 to 2.38, where is your basis to claim that Malaysia improve?
And also, where is the comparison with Singapore, where over the same period, Singapore improved from 4.0 to 4.5?)
And to make things worse, UNDP reported that corruption hit the poor hardest, especially through what had been termed as "petty" or "street" corruption where low-level officials (in permit registration, licensing, police) could harrass the people for extra money to "grease the wheels".
(Seng: And where is that reference to "Negotiated Tender" being one of the main sources of corruption?)
Navaratnam said although the government was battling corruption in the right way, he believed the government should give a stronger dosage to this national illness by tackling it not only from the "top down" but also from "bottom up" because this could better help the poor.
He also voiced his regret that Malaysia is not yet a party to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption but being a former government officer, Navaratnam said he understood that the government took time to discuss the policies and legislation inherent with such international agreements.
As for SMS rumours (!) going around saying that the IMF would fund Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's campaign to buy over Barisan Nasional MPs and in return mortgage Petronas and a few other national companies to the IMF once he becomes prime minister, Navaratnam said:
"I used to work with the World Bank. The World Bank does not involve itself in politics and I doubt its board of directors would even contemplate or agree to such a thing." — Bernama
(Seng comment: Right. Take a cheap shot at Anwar via "SMS rumours", even though from 1996 to 2006 when corruption situation has deteriorated, the country's leaders were TDM and Abdullah.
And conveniently ignore Navaratnam's comment about "Malaysia can do much better if there is stronger political will to fight corruption on all fronts." . Amazing!)
Conclusion: What can I say?
1. Misleading Title.
2. Misleading First Sentence.
3. No statistical basis to justify claim of improvement in 1. and 2.
4. Hide the truth in the middle of the article.
5. Twist a quotation by an authority to make it appear we improved by comparing to a country that has also improved.
6. Hide the comparison with Singapore, because it would make Malaysia look bad.
7. And most importantly, don't even talk about Negotiated Tender being the first source of corruption.
8. Shift attention to Anwar, and publicize these SMS rumours more!
9. Don't ever mention that from 1996 to 2006, our leaders are TDM and Abdullah!
WOW! Definitely an A+ in misleading reporting! Congratulations Bernama! Malaysians have much to learn from you in "accurate reporting"!
Read this, and compare this with my earlier article as reported by mysinchew.com. http://fusioninvestor.blogspot.com/2008/06/corruption-worsens-in-malaysia.html
What a total contrast in reporting!
I am most dissappointed with Bernama! Read it, and see for yourself why.
__________________
Malaysia improving (?) in Corruption Index, can do better
(Seng: What? Malaysia improving? Are you serious? A score from 4.0 in 1996 which deteriorated to a score of 2.38 in 2006 and you call that improving?)
KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — Malaysia has made a headway (?) in the battle against corruption, but the country can do better, according to an analysis in a United Nation's Development Programme (UNDP) report.
The report, presented by Transparency International (TI) Malaysia president Tan Sri Ramon V. Navaratnam today, stated that Malaysia ranked sixth according to the World Bank and TI, but ninth according to the International Country Risk Guide (ICRG).
Navaratnam said this was the first time a report on how corruption impacted human development had been delivered.
"Prior to this, most corruption reports focused on index and indices. We are not interested in comparing how well we are doing in the index against countries that are weaker than us. On the other hand, we must compare and benchmark ourselves against countries that are doing well in order to improve ourselves instead of being complacent," he said.
(Seng: Ok. I hear you talk about comparing with countries better than ourselves, so, where is that comparison?
Although the World Bank's Control of Corruption Index (CCI) and TI's Corruption Perception Index (CPI) showed higher progress, the ICRG, which perceives corruption from business and trade aspects, reflected a steady deterioration over the last decade from 4.00 in 1996 to 2.38 in 2006.
(Seng: Ok. In the middle of nowhere, after you lied via the Headline and after you lied from the First Sentence, you then decide to hide and print the truth that it deteriorated from 4.00 to 2.38.
Also, if the index deteriorated from 4.00 to 2.38, where is your basis to claim that Malaysia improve?
And also, where is the comparison with Singapore, where over the same period, Singapore improved from 4.0 to 4.5?)
And to make things worse, UNDP reported that corruption hit the poor hardest, especially through what had been termed as "petty" or "street" corruption where low-level officials (in permit registration, licensing, police) could harrass the people for extra money to "grease the wheels".
(Seng: And where is that reference to "Negotiated Tender" being one of the main sources of corruption?)
Navaratnam said although the government was battling corruption in the right way, he believed the government should give a stronger dosage to this national illness by tackling it not only from the "top down" but also from "bottom up" because this could better help the poor.
He also voiced his regret that Malaysia is not yet a party to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption but being a former government officer, Navaratnam said he understood that the government took time to discuss the policies and legislation inherent with such international agreements.
As for SMS rumours (!) going around saying that the IMF would fund Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's campaign to buy over Barisan Nasional MPs and in return mortgage Petronas and a few other national companies to the IMF once he becomes prime minister, Navaratnam said:
"I used to work with the World Bank. The World Bank does not involve itself in politics and I doubt its board of directors would even contemplate or agree to such a thing." — Bernama
(Seng comment: Right. Take a cheap shot at Anwar via "SMS rumours", even though from 1996 to 2006 when corruption situation has deteriorated, the country's leaders were TDM and Abdullah.
And conveniently ignore Navaratnam's comment about "Malaysia can do much better if there is stronger political will to fight corruption on all fronts." . Amazing!)
Conclusion: What can I say?
1. Misleading Title.
2. Misleading First Sentence.
3. No statistical basis to justify claim of improvement in 1. and 2.
4. Hide the truth in the middle of the article.
5. Twist a quotation by an authority to make it appear we improved by comparing to a country that has also improved.
6. Hide the comparison with Singapore, because it would make Malaysia look bad.
7. And most importantly, don't even talk about Negotiated Tender being the first source of corruption.
8. Shift attention to Anwar, and publicize these SMS rumours more!
9. Don't ever mention that from 1996 to 2006, our leaders are TDM and Abdullah!
WOW! Definitely an A+ in misleading reporting! Congratulations Bernama! Malaysians have much to learn from you in "accurate reporting"!
Smart schools vs sick schools
From Malaysia Today - http://www.malaysia-today.net/2008/content/view/8817/1/
Do read the full article. I am so disgusted with this state of affairs, that it took me a while to calm down. The school situation is worse than I had expected. I will only quote 2 statements, one by the Deputy Education Minister, and another by the Deputy PM, with my own highlighting and comments.
From Razali (Deputy Education Minister)
'... One-third of Malaysia's schools do not have water and electricity, a minister said, pledging to fix the problem by 2010....
'Deputy Education Minister Razali Ismail told Bernama that all 9,806 schools will have access to basic utilities by the end of a four-year education development plan....70 percent of schools already have access to water and electricity. The other 30 percent are mostly located in rural areas, but "we are confident the problem will be solved by 2010".
From Najib (Deputy Prime Minister):
"...that the first Smart School is being built at a cost of RM144.5 million. Apart from being wired, it would have a hostel for 800 students, an Olympic-size swimming pool, a hockey pitch, a hall and other facilities. Eventually all Malaysian schools will be operated on this concept. ..."
____________________
My comments:
1. Can a school NOT have access to water and electricity?
If there is no electricity, what do you do for fan and lights?
If there is no water, what do you do for toilets?
Without electricity and water, you can CALL THAT A SCHOOL?
Oh, I forgot. Malaysia Boleh!
2. 30% schools are like that. Nearly, 3,000 schools! Not 10. Not 100. But nearly 3,000!
If there is just 1 school like that, I think that would be 1 school too many, and you're telling me there are 3,000 schools LIKE THAT??
3. 2008. That's right, we are now in 2008. Not 1958, not 1968, not 1978 but 2008! This 51 years after Merdeka. Surely this not acceptable? And if so, where did we as a nation went wrong?
4. If teachers and students can access and congregate at this so-called "school" every single schooling day, why can't we as a nation supply water and electricity to the same place?
Where is the problem? Money? Is there a valid excuse at all?
If not, why isn't this problem fixed yesterday? When you had 50 years to fix it!
5. I can perhaps understand a little if you tell me, all 3,000 schools are in the most remote rural areas in which only the Orang Asli knows how to get there, but you are telling me "most" in rural areas .... so, what does "most" mean?
Are you saying there are "some" schools in/near town areas without water and electricity??? And you cannot supply electricity and water?
6. And this is the strangest part. You say publicly that in the next 4 years, you will solve all this problem when you haven't done much in the last 51 years. You expect me to believe you?
And what will you do if this doesn't happen?
In 4 years, time, will you just shrugged, and then, recycle the phrase again?
So, there is no accountability is it?
Just make a promise.
If broken, make a new promise.
And keep doing it.
7. So, my question to you is WHAT THE FXXX has the BN government been doing in the last 51 years???!!!
Ok. Ok. Let's calm down and see what our PM-in-waiting Mr Najib has to say.
8. Ok. Let's try to understand the "Smart school" concept announced by Najib. Mr Najib. You say it cost $145M to build this smart school. Hostel for 800 students. How many students in total? 1,450 students say? If so, does this mean the school cost $145M / 1,450 = $100,000 per student?
Why so blardee expensive?
9. Mr Najib - you say "Eventually all Malaysian schools will be operated on this concept".
How are you so sure?
Can you really make this public statement with honesty and integrity?
Or are you just giving us false hope?
Is our country's finances so lousy that we need this false hope?
Let's "think" a little of what you are saying.
I see 3,000 schools without electricity and water.
Let's not talk about making all schools "smart" like this.
Let's just make this 3,000 schools "smart".
Let's make it cheaper - say one school cost "just" $100M say.
What is the total cost?
3,000 schools x $100M = $300,000,000,000!!!
That my dear Deputy PM or PM-in-waiting is Three Hundred BILLION Dollars.
Where are you going to find Three Hundred BILLION dollars?
You - Mr Najib - expect the Rakyat to believe you when you say "Eventually, all Malaysian Schools" will be operated on this concept???
Do you Mr Najib have even an ounce of common sense?
Do you Mr Najib have even an ounce of integrity?
I am MOST DISSAPPOINTED in you Mr Najib.
10. And where is Hishamuddin in all this? And where is the Minister responsible for rural development in all this?
And where is the Opposition in all this?
June 16 Update: I've made some amendments in italics to reflect the fact that the total number of schools is close to 10,000, not the affected number of schools.
Do read the full article. I am so disgusted with this state of affairs, that it took me a while to calm down. The school situation is worse than I had expected. I will only quote 2 statements, one by the Deputy Education Minister, and another by the Deputy PM, with my own highlighting and comments.
From Razali (Deputy Education Minister)
'... One-third of Malaysia's schools do not have water and electricity, a minister said, pledging to fix the problem by 2010....
'Deputy Education Minister Razali Ismail told Bernama that all 9,806 schools will have access to basic utilities by the end of a four-year education development plan....70 percent of schools already have access to water and electricity. The other 30 percent are mostly located in rural areas, but "we are confident the problem will be solved by 2010".
From Najib (Deputy Prime Minister):
"...that the first Smart School is being built at a cost of RM144.5 million. Apart from being wired, it would have a hostel for 800 students, an Olympic-size swimming pool, a hockey pitch, a hall and other facilities. Eventually all Malaysian schools will be operated on this concept. ..."
____________________
My comments:
1. Can a school NOT have access to water and electricity?
If there is no electricity, what do you do for fan and lights?
If there is no water, what do you do for toilets?
Without electricity and water, you can CALL THAT A SCHOOL?
Oh, I forgot. Malaysia Boleh!
2. 30% schools are like that. Nearly, 3,000 schools! Not 10. Not 100. But nearly 3,000!
If there is just 1 school like that, I think that would be 1 school too many, and you're telling me there are 3,000 schools LIKE THAT??
3. 2008. That's right, we are now in 2008. Not 1958, not 1968, not 1978 but 2008! This 51 years after Merdeka. Surely this not acceptable? And if so, where did we as a nation went wrong?
4. If teachers and students can access and congregate at this so-called "school" every single schooling day, why can't we as a nation supply water and electricity to the same place?
Where is the problem? Money? Is there a valid excuse at all?
If not, why isn't this problem fixed yesterday? When you had 50 years to fix it!
5. I can perhaps understand a little if you tell me, all 3,000 schools are in the most remote rural areas in which only the Orang Asli knows how to get there, but you are telling me "most" in rural areas .... so, what does "most" mean?
Are you saying there are "some" schools in/near town areas without water and electricity??? And you cannot supply electricity and water?
6. And this is the strangest part. You say publicly that in the next 4 years, you will solve all this problem when you haven't done much in the last 51 years. You expect me to believe you?
And what will you do if this doesn't happen?
In 4 years, time, will you just shrugged, and then, recycle the phrase again?
So, there is no accountability is it?
Just make a promise.
If broken, make a new promise.
And keep doing it.
7. So, my question to you is WHAT THE FXXX has the BN government been doing in the last 51 years???!!!
Ok. Ok. Let's calm down and see what our PM-in-waiting Mr Najib has to say.
8. Ok. Let's try to understand the "Smart school" concept announced by Najib. Mr Najib. You say it cost $145M to build this smart school. Hostel for 800 students. How many students in total? 1,450 students say? If so, does this mean the school cost $145M / 1,450 = $100,000 per student?
Why so blardee expensive?
9. Mr Najib - you say "Eventually all Malaysian schools will be operated on this concept".
How are you so sure?
Can you really make this public statement with honesty and integrity?
Or are you just giving us false hope?
Is our country's finances so lousy that we need this false hope?
Let's "think" a little of what you are saying.
I see 3,000 schools without electricity and water.
Let's not talk about making all schools "smart" like this.
Let's just make this 3,000 schools "smart".
Let's make it cheaper - say one school cost "just" $100M say.
What is the total cost?
3,000 schools x $100M = $300,000,000,000!!!
That my dear Deputy PM or PM-in-waiting is Three Hundred BILLION Dollars.
Where are you going to find Three Hundred BILLION dollars?
You - Mr Najib - expect the Rakyat to believe you when you say "Eventually, all Malaysian Schools" will be operated on this concept???
Do you Mr Najib have even an ounce of common sense?
Do you Mr Najib have even an ounce of integrity?
I am MOST DISSAPPOINTED in you Mr Najib.
10. And where is Hishamuddin in all this? And where is the Minister responsible for rural development in all this?
And where is the Opposition in all this?
June 16 Update: I've made some amendments in italics to reflect the fact that the total number of schools is close to 10,000, not the affected number of schools.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Corruption Worsens In Malaysia
Found this article in mysinchew.com. Like most people, I've always felt disgusted, that the level of corruption in Malaysia has increased over the years. And yet, there is also a sense of "relief" at the same time, that someone has done a study from 1996 to 2006 to confirm that the level of corruption has indeed increased.
Whilst it is natural to hope that the government will face up to the truth, and do something about it, I am sure you are a lot more skeptical now that the present government is unlikely or never going to do something substantial that will arrest this deterioration. Do tell me I am wrong with your supporting reasons (smile).
Anyway, here's the article, with my usual highlighting. The link is here - http://www.mysinchew.com/node/12731
________________
Corruption Worsens In Malaysia
News 2008-06-13 09:53
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has been deteriorating steadily over the past decade in its efforts to reduce corruption, according to a UN report and is a long way off from matching the standards set by Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan, the top three Asian countries who are least corrupt.
Launching this year’s Asia Pacific Human Development Report published by the UN Development Programme in Kuala Lumpur Thursday (12 June), Transparency International (TI) Malaysia, Ramon V Navaratnam said, according to the International Country Risk Guide (ICRG), “Malaysia’s position has been deteriorating steadily over the last decade from 4.00 in 1996 to 2.38 in 2006.”
This compares with Singapore’s ranking which improved from 4.00 to 4.50 over the same period, making it the least corrupt Asian nation ahead of Hong Kong and Japan. However, both Hong Kong and Japan actually slipped in their anti-corruption ranking from 5.00 to 4.00 and Japan from 5.00 to 3.50 over the same period respectively.
(Seng comment: This is disgusting! In 1996, we were comparable to Singapore, both countries having the same ranking of 4.00. Ten years later, we slipped to 2.38, whereas Singapore advanced to 4.50! I shudder to think how we have "progressed" since 2006, as we are now in 2008! Is this an example of Malaysia Boleh?)
Malaysia is in ninth position out of 19 countries ranked by the ICRG index and just ahead of Indonesia, Mongolia and the Philippines but behind Brunei, South Korea, India, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
However, it fared better in the other two indices used in the UNDP report. Malaysia is in sixth place out of 29 in the World Bank’s Control of Corruption Index in 2006. Malaysia is also ranked sixth out of 25 countries surveyed in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. But both the indices showed corruption in Malaysia has worsened over the past decade to 2006.
(Seng comment: So, we now have THREE (3) studies where they all point to the same conclusion, that corruption in Malaysia has worsened over the past decade!)
“A lower index may signal that bribery and rent-seeking behavior is still rampant in lower levels of the government,” he said.
Navaratnam, who is the former secretary general of the Finance Ministry and now group corporate adviser to the Sunway Group, pointed that in such cases, corruption often transpires in the form of negotiated tenders, bribes connected with import and export licences, exchange control, tax assessment, police protection or loan transactions.
(Seng comment: Negotiated tenders! Why aren't Malaysia moving to Open Tender System yet after all these years? Our country desperately need an Open Tender system. Penang's new Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng recently declared an Open Tender system for large state contracts, and this was met with a lot of hoo-haa from our Prime Minister. Is this a coincidence that our Corruption Index has worsened in the last decade?)
“This form of dishonesty extracts the highest price from the weakest in society as it diverts goods and services or benefits targeted for the poor to well-off and well connected households, who can afford to bribe officials,” he said.
He also said that these distortions undermine an efficient delivery system that is vital in reducing bottle-necks in the supply chain to improve the flow of goods and services.
“Malaysia can do much better if there is stronger political will to fight corruption on all fronts. Given the rapid pace of globalization and increasing economic competition among Asian countries, it is time to ‘pull up our socks’”
(Seng comment: My immediate question is : Where is the source of the "stronger political will" that will end corruption. If you ask this question, then, I think the answer is rather obvious. There is simply no choice.)
He added that renewed commitment to the fight against corruption would unlock greater development gains, while helping to manager inflationary pressures against the backdrop of skyrocketing food and fuel prices.
Navaratnam also pointed out that among the most important considerations for Malaysia is the management of natural resources such as forestry, fisheries and minerals.
“If bribery and corruption provisions are too broad in the management of natural resources, laws and policies can be manipulated to the will of big businesses and not for the benefit of the people,” he said.
“State-colluded degradation of the environment and illegal land expropriations can drive small scale farmers and indigenous communities into abject poverty, further hampering efforts to improve the livelihood of these groups,” he added.
He said according to TI’s Bribe Payers Index, companies from China, India, Russia, Taiwan and Malaysia involved in the extractive industries frequently pay high levels of bribes when conducting business overseas – often when their own natural resources have been exhausted.
(By BOB TEOH/MySinchew)
MySinchew 2008.06.13
Whilst it is natural to hope that the government will face up to the truth, and do something about it, I am sure you are a lot more skeptical now that the present government is unlikely or never going to do something substantial that will arrest this deterioration. Do tell me I am wrong with your supporting reasons (smile).
Anyway, here's the article, with my usual highlighting. The link is here - http://www.mysinchew.com/node/12731
________________
Corruption Worsens In Malaysia
News 2008-06-13 09:53
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has been deteriorating steadily over the past decade in its efforts to reduce corruption, according to a UN report and is a long way off from matching the standards set by Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan, the top three Asian countries who are least corrupt.
Launching this year’s Asia Pacific Human Development Report published by the UN Development Programme in Kuala Lumpur Thursday (12 June), Transparency International (TI) Malaysia, Ramon V Navaratnam said, according to the International Country Risk Guide (ICRG), “Malaysia’s position has been deteriorating steadily over the last decade from 4.00 in 1996 to 2.38 in 2006.”
This compares with Singapore’s ranking which improved from 4.00 to 4.50 over the same period, making it the least corrupt Asian nation ahead of Hong Kong and Japan. However, both Hong Kong and Japan actually slipped in their anti-corruption ranking from 5.00 to 4.00 and Japan from 5.00 to 3.50 over the same period respectively.
(Seng comment: This is disgusting! In 1996, we were comparable to Singapore, both countries having the same ranking of 4.00. Ten years later, we slipped to 2.38, whereas Singapore advanced to 4.50! I shudder to think how we have "progressed" since 2006, as we are now in 2008! Is this an example of Malaysia Boleh?)
Malaysia is in ninth position out of 19 countries ranked by the ICRG index and just ahead of Indonesia, Mongolia and the Philippines but behind Brunei, South Korea, India, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
However, it fared better in the other two indices used in the UNDP report. Malaysia is in sixth place out of 29 in the World Bank’s Control of Corruption Index in 2006. Malaysia is also ranked sixth out of 25 countries surveyed in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. But both the indices showed corruption in Malaysia has worsened over the past decade to 2006.
(Seng comment: So, we now have THREE (3) studies where they all point to the same conclusion, that corruption in Malaysia has worsened over the past decade!)
“A lower index may signal that bribery and rent-seeking behavior is still rampant in lower levels of the government,” he said.
Navaratnam, who is the former secretary general of the Finance Ministry and now group corporate adviser to the Sunway Group, pointed that in such cases, corruption often transpires in the form of negotiated tenders, bribes connected with import and export licences, exchange control, tax assessment, police protection or loan transactions.
(Seng comment: Negotiated tenders! Why aren't Malaysia moving to Open Tender System yet after all these years? Our country desperately need an Open Tender system. Penang's new Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng recently declared an Open Tender system for large state contracts, and this was met with a lot of hoo-haa from our Prime Minister. Is this a coincidence that our Corruption Index has worsened in the last decade?)
“This form of dishonesty extracts the highest price from the weakest in society as it diverts goods and services or benefits targeted for the poor to well-off and well connected households, who can afford to bribe officials,” he said.
He also said that these distortions undermine an efficient delivery system that is vital in reducing bottle-necks in the supply chain to improve the flow of goods and services.
“Malaysia can do much better if there is stronger political will to fight corruption on all fronts. Given the rapid pace of globalization and increasing economic competition among Asian countries, it is time to ‘pull up our socks’”
(Seng comment: My immediate question is : Where is the source of the "stronger political will" that will end corruption. If you ask this question, then, I think the answer is rather obvious. There is simply no choice.)
He added that renewed commitment to the fight against corruption would unlock greater development gains, while helping to manager inflationary pressures against the backdrop of skyrocketing food and fuel prices.
Navaratnam also pointed out that among the most important considerations for Malaysia is the management of natural resources such as forestry, fisheries and minerals.
“If bribery and corruption provisions are too broad in the management of natural resources, laws and policies can be manipulated to the will of big businesses and not for the benefit of the people,” he said.
“State-colluded degradation of the environment and illegal land expropriations can drive small scale farmers and indigenous communities into abject poverty, further hampering efforts to improve the livelihood of these groups,” he added.
He said according to TI’s Bribe Payers Index, companies from China, India, Russia, Taiwan and Malaysia involved in the extractive industries frequently pay high levels of bribes when conducting business overseas – often when their own natural resources have been exhausted.
(By BOB TEOH/MySinchew)
MySinchew 2008.06.13
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