I will Burn My Barisan Life Membership Card

I don't know him personally. He was just someone in the opposition, someone called to the Malaysian Anti-corruption Commission to assist them in their investigation of allegations of misappropriation of state funds by state executives.

He went in good health and he ended up a dead broken man at the side of the MACC building.

The world and I know him now as a certain Teoh Beng Hock.

Images show not a tough hardened individual but a friendly, slim and slightly diminutive person.

One small Malaysian, a David without a sling vs. an ugly huge Goliath, a massive institution with powers to detain and God knows to torture, perhaps mentally - formed to supposedly fight corruption, but at the time of Teoh's death, appeared obscenely fixated in catching 'ikan kecil' - small fries who were in the opposition, opposing the government, who were alleged to have squirreled off a few thousand dollars.

Never mind that millions of dollars have appeared to be skimmed by others, likely politically prominent, in the other scandals involving military hardware, a port and a public servant's grand mansion, amongst others?

A Malaysian lost his life under mysterious circumstances: he was not a suspect yet interrogated for a prolonged 11-hour period from 5 pm till 3:45 am and the fact that he was to be married the next day to a career woman bearing their baby ...

Nothing short of a Royal Commission of Inquiry, and one with highly respected objective and fair-minded persons is called for. It must be thorough and leave no stones unturned in finding the truth of what actually transpired. Need we say we have to bear in mind, if the top man in police uniform in Malaysia Rahim Noor could turn into Mohd Ali in punching a hapless detainee, Anwar Ibrahim, could not another individual in uniform be equally sadistic and even more violent?

Failing that, in my book, I respect the government less and to me, the MACC is not worthy to be respected as a just body in the fight against crime.

I blog this in outrage, coming from a life member of the ruling National Front coalition, someone who will soon publicly burn the life membership card in disgust with the current state of political events.

The Lingam Whistle-Blower?

What an unexpected twist in the ongoing Malaysian judiciary hanky panky scandal. Here's the story, without further comments from me, with the extract from Malaysiakini-the online news portal that provides news mainstream media has left out.

Video-clip man worries about his safety
K Kabilan & Steven Gan | Jan 12, 08 11:41pm

Businessman Loh Mui Fah, 58, today claimed that he was worried for his personal safety over his role in the Lingam tape scandal.

In an exclusive interview with Malaysiakini today, Loh admitted that his son, Jwo Burne, had recorded lawyer VK Lingam’s telephone conversation with former chief justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim on the night of Dec 20, 2001.

Loh added he and his son had went to Lingam’s house for dinner and to consult him on some legal matters.

Explaining further the harassments he had faced since the grainy 14-minute video clip was made public by opposition party PKR last year, Loh said that officers from the Anti-Corruption Agency had been tailing him day and night.

ACA officers had once intercepted him while he was on his way to Singapore, and also visited his office and home simultaneously where they threatened to ‘take away’ Loh’s youngest son.

“I have also received threatening telephone calls... asking me to watch out and that they will finish me,” said the businessman, who was also coy on his business venture apart from saying that it involved IT and forestry.

Loh said that he had written to Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Nov 5, saying that he was willing to assist in the investigations into the Lingam tape should there be an assurance that “his safety would be guaranteed”. [see letter below]

“But nothing happened. I have had no reply from the prime minister,” he lamented.

Loh added that he had also emailed the three-member panel formed by the government to look into the authenticity of the Lingam tape, offering to assist in their probe. Again, he added, he had not heard from them.

Tailed day and night

Last month, the ACA ‘harassment’ and threatening phone calls became so unbearable and that Loh said he lodged at least one police report.

“The intrusion into my private life was bad,” he told Malaysiakini when met at his lawyer’s plush apartment in the heart of the city.

“They hunted me day and night. They came in cars, waited for me with engines running, waiting until midnight. The security guards at my apartment can vouch for this,” he said.

“Once the ACA visited my house and my office at the same time. When they found that I wasn’t there, they harassed my youngest son and threatened to take him away,” he said.

Loh said that once while he was travelling by car to Singapore, he was intercepted in Malacca by two ACA officers.

“They wanted me to immediately return with them to their headquarters in Putrajaya to take a statement from me. I told them I will not follow them and got them to let me talk to their superior,” he said.

“I told them I can cooperate but it must be properly done, and that I am given proper notice,” he added.

According to Loh, he did not know how the ACA knew that he was involved in the matter.

“Maybe Lingam had told them that I and my son were at his house on that day,” he speculated.

Plan to catch him unprepared

Loh suggested that the agency was perhaps badgering him to give a statement as they wanted to catch him unprepared instead of having him come with a prepared statement.

The businessman said that he feared for his life. “That is why I am going public now,” he said.

“I wrote to the PM seeking protection but I didn’t receive any assurance from him. Do I fear for my life? I won’t take anything for granted,” he said.



“Going public is the best option that I have.”

Loh also said that he was willing to appear before the royal commission which will kick off its inquiry on Monday to probe the Lingam tape.

“I will go before them in the interest of the public, but it is up to them to find their own answer,” he added.

The royal commission, formed after the panel tasked to probe the clip’s authenticity ended up empty-handed, is to further investigate the matter.

All the King's Men

One inescapable result from the infamous Watergate scandal is that there were hundreds of jokes cracked about it- perhaps a bit of a humiliation for President Richard Nixon (whom I still admire for his great statesmanship)- much to the merriment of everyone on this dull dying planet we call Earth. The late brilliant satirist, Art Buchwald once penned in his best seller, I am Not a Crook(Connecticut: Fawcett Publications, 1973) a number of tales, all of which are so hilarious that I would almost double over in laughter. Here's an extract from page 28, titled All the King's Men:

Once upon a time there was a king who ruled over a vast land from one ocean to another. Such was his power and wealth that he had a palace in the west, a palace in the east, a palace in the south, and on weekends he had one in the mountains.

The king surrounded himself with a motley group of courtiers who were not above stealing, lying and cheating to keep him on the throne. Many of the king's rich subjects were forced to pay tribute to the palace in exchange for special favors and goodwill.


Although the king knew what his courtiers were doing, he shut his eyes to their behavior because being king was the most important thing in his life.

But alas, one day the courtiers tried to take over a watergate, and this was too much, even for the docile people who inhabited the land.

The king , realizing his subjects were angry, issued a proclamation saying he was appalled by the corruption in his palace, and he would find the guilty people and banish them from his court forever.


He called for the king's prosecutor, an honest and devoted servant, and said, "I want to leave no stone unturned to find the people who have brought disgrace and shame on my kingdom."

The king's prosecutor asked,"Sire, does that mean I may investigate everyone in the palace?"

"Of course. What kind of king do you think I am that would prevent my own prosecutor from rooting out evil in the land?"

The prosecutor took the king at his word and started talking to the counselors in the palace. Each one had a different story to tell, and it was impossible for the prosecutor to know who was telling the truth.

He went back to the king and said,"Sire, we have heard many versions of the same story, but we have no proof as to which one is correct."

The king said angrily, "No proof? What kind of a king's prosecutor are you if you cannot produce proof?"

"We know who has the proof."

"Then drag him here and pull his toenails out."

"This is difficult, sire," the prosecutor said, staring at the king's toenails. "If we could just have your scrolls recording your conversations with your counselors..."

"Have you gone mad?" the king shouted. "I am the king. No one sees my scrolls. They shall go with me to my grave."

"Then," the prosecutor said,"it is impossible for me to find the guilty parties, sire."

"You fool," the king said. "My subjects are angered. If we allow corruption in the palace to go unpunished, they will try to throw me off my throne."

"But what can I do if you refuse to let me see the scrolls?"

"Let me think a minute," the king said. "If I do not produce the scrolls, the populace will believe I am trying to hide my guilt. But, on the other hand, if I produce the scrolls, they will know I'm guilty. Did any king ever face such a dilemma?"

"What is your decision, sire?"

"Alas, I have no choice," the king said. "Guards take this man to the dungeon and chop off his head."

"But sire," the poor prosecutor cried,"why me?"

"We can always get another king's prosecutor," was the reply, "but where can the people get another king?"

Something's Rotten in the State of Denmark

Just something or more than that with the unusual drama played out in the nation's security force?

It seems former Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad was downright correct, correct, correct to paraphrase Shakespeare in his early speech sometime ago.

You, my dear reader, you and I can play the role of those in a cyberspace jury (I wish this system is back for all Malaysians!) in this ongoing Bollywood-style wayang kulit show...The last few words is surely a cliff-hanger a la Alfred Hitchcock signature sign-off. (Ah-at one time I had a sign that read "The Buck Stops Here". I never regretted throwing the cursed piece away eventually...)

Without boring you with further details as many blogs are covering this hot issue... here is what the so-called '27 Million Cop', head of the nation's top Police Commercial Crime Unit, has released to the press and published in Malaysiakini-the courageous online news portal that shares all:


Ramli: There's a disturbance in the force
Oct 30, 07 3:26pm


The following is the full three-page press statement released by Commercial Crime Investigation Department chief Ramli Yusuff today.

I have until today remained silent about developments in the police force, in particular, the arrest and prosecution of officers of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) who are alleged to have falsified statements of confidential informants in connection with the banishment of one Goh Cheng Poh @ Tengku.

Sometime last year, a joint committee and a special task force were established at the cabinet level and PDRM (Malay acronym for the Royal Malaysian Police) respectively to combat the worrisome menace of Ah Long (loan sharks) activities and illegal gambling.

In March 2007, the deputy minister of internal security (Mohd Johari Baharum) gave specific directives to the CCID on the activities of certain crime syndicates operating in Johor involving certain Datos and JPs (both are honorific titles).

The investigations by the CCID led to the eventual detention and banishment of the said Goh Cheng Poh @ Tengku to Jeli, Kelantan. The detention and banishment order was made under the hand of the deputy minister of internal security, based on the intelligence gathered by police officers of the CCID.

(The person being banished) Goh is on his own confession a person of questionable background, having been banished previously and who was involved in a shooting incident in which a friend of his was shot and murdered. The merits of his banishment are a matter which is within the subjective purview and prerogative of the deputy minister of internal security and, consequently, I am not at liberty to comment.

Soon after the banishment order was made by the deputy minister of internal security, the press reported that both the ACA (Anti-Corruption Agency) and the Criminal Investigation Department (CID – another police department) had already investigated and cleared Goh of any wrongdoing.

This certainly did not include the subject matter of the CCID’s investigations into Goh's affairs as directed by the deputy minister of internal security. In the aftermath of these newspaper reports, Goh applied to the High Court to set aside the banishment order made against him by the deputy minister of internal security.

AG's unprecedented stance

In an unprecedented stance, the legal adviser of the Ministry of Internal Security, an officer of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, declined to advise and direct my officers and I (to) prepare affidavits of the events surrounding the preparation of the investigative papers on Goh for the benefit of the deputy minister of internal security.

Those affidavits were to be filed in the High Court arising from the application by Goh to have his banishment order set aside. Given the constraints of time, we, the officers of the CCID, sought legal advice from a private law practice who advised and assisted in the preparation of the draft affidavits concerned.

I was under advice at the time that the attorney-general (Abdul Gani Patail) was under a duty to advise and assist us in the preparation of the said affidavits under Article 145 of the Federal Constitution and the Government Proceedings Act, 1956.

My officers and I were then directed to deliver up the confidential case files containing the names of the confidential informants to the Attorney-General's Chambers. I have since been aware that officers of the ACA have tracked down these informants and taken statements from them. Subsequently, these informants have made further statements in connection with their seeking (of) protection from the deputy minister of internal security.

During the course of these events, the press began widely reporting the involvement of a Sr. (senior) police officer for the following:

1. Investigation by ACA into the unexplained accumulation of wealth alleged to be RM27 million;

2. Investigation by the ACA of the said senior police officer taking on the role of an "enforcer/godfather” of a company in Sabah and being its shareholder/director without departmental clearance; and

3. Investigation for the abuse of powers by the CCID in the crime preventive action concerning the detention and banishment of the aforesaid Goh.

Although the name of the officer was not disclosed, it is a public knowledge that I was the officer referred to in these widely sensationalised news.

I understand that one Sok One a/l (anak lelaki) Esen, an ACA officer, has sworn and filed an affidavit in the proceedings brought by Goh to have his banishment order set aside. In that affidavit, Sok One confirmed that the ACA was investigating the CCID in connection with Goh’s allegations of CCID officers having abused their powers.

My lawyer arrested

On the eve of Hari Raya, one of my longstanding friends who also acted as my legal adviser was arrested and charged for the alleged failure to comply with a notice served on him at the behest of the ACA.

One of the officers present at the time of his arrest and detention was the said Sok One. He was also one of the lawyers who assisted in the preparation of the affidavits of CCID officers filed in the proceedings in connection with the Goh case.

Within the week, several officers of the CCID were arrested and charged in court for allegedly falsifying evidence concerning the banishment of Goh. In the charge sheets, the names of the confidential informants have been disclosed.

I am gravely concerned by the manner in which the identities of police informants are dealt with in investigations carried out by the ACA. The identities of the informants were obtained through the circumvention of the Inspector General's Standing Orders. Given these events, there exists a clear and present danger as to the intelligence gathering ability of the police force and its ability to protect its informants.

These are disturbing events and will undeniably have a deep impact, not only on the CCID but the police force as a whole. The officers of the CCID have been mistreated by the ACA and are yet to be protected by their own force.

I will be departing for my umrah (minor haj) and in my absence, I hope these issues will be dealt with by the Ministry of Internal Security.

A Little Boy's Prayer

One day, in a galaxy far, far away, in a land that is ridden with corruption, a little boy says a prayer before going to bed...

Dear Lord,
I pray for papa, mama and I-oh yes, not forgetting Sayang, my faithful doggie-here. Please help us to keep our little farm with our few chickens and vegetables in the ulu* here. It is the only home we ever have. Please make the big man in a big, big helicopter go away. He wants papa and mama to give his big master our home for money. Papa and mama say they will not sell it away. They want Sayang and I to have something one day. Now the big man says, "We give you big money now. If we tell our friend, the judge, to let us take the land from you, we will get it so easily and you will get very, very little money!"

* the countryside

STOP corruption before it's too late! It greedily eats away at the soul of the nation, destroying it forever in the end.

Israeli Judiciary Independence

From the people who gave the world Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Albert Einstein, George Soros, David Marshall, Karl Marx amongst many other Noble Prize winners and achievers, Malaysians can learn about judicial independence (as guaranteed by the Malaysian Constitution). No one is above the law in that democratic country.

Here is the latest hot news from Israel courtesy of YNet News.

Attorney general Mazuz orders criminal probe against Olmert

Attorney general orders criminal investigation against prime minister over suspicions he purchased Jerusalem flat for discount price in exchange for granting construction company illegal building permits. PM's Office: Police investigation unnecessary

Aviram Zino

Published:

09.24.07, 14:32 / Israel News

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz ordered a criminal investigation against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert over suspicions that a friend bribed him by selling a Jerusalem house for a discount price.

Olmert is suspected of purchasing a Jerusalem flat from a friend for a price $320,000 cheaper than the property's market value in return for helping the construction firm that refurbished the apartment block gain illegal building permits.

Leumi Affair

Olmert aides: Probe will come up empty / Ronny Sofer Prime minister’s aides say he is proud of Bank Leumi privatization, process was supervised by top Finance Ministry officials; Meretz MK Cohen: This is the beginning of the end for Olmert Full story

The prime minister is also suspected of helping the company acquire a license to build on 750 square meters (8,073 square feet) as opposed to the original permit for 350 square meters (3,767.4 square feet) approved by the Jerusalem Municipality.

The Prime Minister's office said in a statement Monday that it was "confident in the steps taken by the Olmert family prior to purchasing the apartment on Jerusalem's Cremieux Street… We regret the decision to open what we are sure will prove to be an unnecessary police investigation."

The statement also said that the prime minister would cooperate with the investigation.

Olmert. Another investigation (Photo: Reuters)

The prime minister is already under criminal investigation in the matter of the privatization of Bank Leumi.

The allegations claim that during his tenure as minister of finance, Olmert broke the law for two of his friends – Daniel Abrams and Frank Lowy – with whom he conducted, directly and indirectly, a relationship plagued by bribes.

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The State Prosecution recommended on July 8 that Mazuz launch a criminal investigation against Olmert after State Comptroller Micha Lindstrauss pointed to irregularities in Olmert's purchase of the apartment.

The prime minister purchased the garden apartment on Cremieux Street for $1.2 million when the flat was estimated at over $1.6 million.

The flat was purchased in October 2004 from the Alumot real estate agency.

I AM NOT A CROOK

"What do you do when you're feeling blue-a major war is looming in the horizon thus possibly driving inflation up further than it already is in the country; the nation is going to the dogs with scandal after scandal with apparent abuses but little commitment to resolve them; common people are suffering immensely with spiralling prices of commodities and necessities...?" I was asked.

I replied, "I pray; sing; watch a movie; have great sex or enjoy my past-time activities like going for a long walk by the seaside, do gardening or play either outdoor and sometimes indoor games or even have a good read."

When one is disappointed and disgusted with the current social, economical and political situation in one's beloved country, it is all too easy to want to scream and shout, be they obscenities or curses....Indeed, my psychological reaction which would be great self-therapy to my mind and body and at the same time be in some easy form of comic relief would be not just "Go, fly a kite" but "Go, read a funny book"!

Here's a hilarious excerpt from one of my favorites by the late satirist, Art Buchwald which is in my private library entitled 'I am not a Crook' (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1973). The book came out shortly after the highly popular 37th president of the United States resigned rather than face a humiliating congressional impeachment from its nation's highest office, the presidency. There had been months of pain, suffering and soul-searching for Americans following revelations of political shenanigans in the infamous scandal called "Watergate" with damaging leaks from a mysterious source known as "Deep Throat" and hours and hours of recordings on audio-tapes and tons of documents.

But before I go further with that, I wish to assure my American buddies out there that I'm not anti-American even though I do share a laugh at the expense of a rare disgraced favorite son of the Republican Party, I'm an admirer of "the grand old elephant" and its ideals, purely because I am convinced I am born a patriot in a foreign land who is convinced it is honorable to serve and even die in defense of a nation's constitution and for king and country (I make it clear absolutely- not in defense of an Islamic state nor a corrupted regime/government). Yeah, if I were an American I would enlist to fight for the just cause of freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq.

If I may add, in my opinion, Watergate, to the credit of the Americans and their belief in democratic ideals, did not result in untimely deaths by suicide or murder, as far as I know.

In Malaysia, I hope no one (PRESENTLY) faces any unforeseen unfortunate consequences in talking about a conspiracy... Say, what's the name of that 'X-Files'-kind of movie again starring Mel Gibson as a seemingly nutty taxi-driver who believes in conspiracies?

To Tell the Truth

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to To Tell the Truth.

"Number one, what is your name, please?"

"My name is Richard Milhous Nixon."

"Number two, what is your name, please?"

"My name is Richard Milhous Nixon."

"Number three, what is your name, please?"

"My name is Richard Milhous Nixon."

"All right, panel. Now I will read the story. "I, Richard Milhous NIxon, am the thirty-seventh President of the United States. I was reelected with one of the largest mandates in American history
After my reelection it was revealed that some of my closest aides were involved in dirty tricks, election fraud, breaking and entering and perjury. Congress is now discussing my impeachment." (Applause)

"Now, panel, only one of these contestants is the real Richard Milhous Nixon.

"Let's start the questioning with Kitty."

"Number one, if someone came to you and told you that they wanted to pay hush money to defendants caught in a Watergate break-in, what would you do?

"I would tell them it was wrong."

"All right, Orson, you're next."

""Number three, it is revealed that on your income tax return, you claimed a deduction of five hundred and fifty thousand dollars for donating your your Vice Presidential papers to the National Archives. But it turns out the donation was made after the law was changed. What would you say to the charges?

"I would say (former U.S. President) Lydon B. Johnson made me do it."

"Number one?"

"I would only say I did what (famous economist) John Kenneth Galbraith has been doing for years."

"Bill?"

Number one, the House Judiciary Committee has asked for tapes and documents to help them in their impeachment hearings. How would you handle that?""First I would tell the American people that I am willing to to cooperate in any way to bring the Watergate matter to a resolution. Then I would tell my lawyer not to turn over my tapes, or documents that he considered would in any way hurt the Presidency of the United States.

'Number three?"

"I would say the house is on a fishing expedition, and I am against fishing expeditions of any kind.

"Number two?"

"I would get (prominent business tycoon) Ron Ziegler to call it a cheap shot."

"Peggy?"

"Number three, at one press conference you said, (Nixon's Chief of Staff) John Dean did not tell you about the hush money being paid to the Watergate defendants. At another you admitted he did. How would you square the two statements with the American people?"

"I would say that people will read different things into what I say. But I'm the only one who knows what I meant."

"Number two?"

"I would call in Senator Hugh Scott and show him new evidence that Dean is a liar."

"Number one?'

"I would announce the end of the oil embargo in the Middle East."

"All right, panel, our time is up. Please vote for the person you think is the real Richard Milhous
Nixon.

'Now will the real Richard Mihous Nixon please stand ... I said will the real Richard Milhous
Nixon please stand up? Come on, one of you is the real one. Hurry up, we're running out of time. There seems to be a mix-up, ladies and gentlemen. No one wants to admit he's the real Nixon.

"Number one, who are you?"

"I am Sarah McClendon*, a newspaperwoman."

"Number two, who are you?"

"I am (disgraced former Vice President) Spiro Agnew, a fiction writer."

"Number three, who are you?"

"I am not a crook."


*I'm not too sure of the identity of this lady-I'll try to find out more about her.

The "Malaysian Conspiracy" Video

Left: Malaysiakini info on Who's Who discussed in the conversation (Click to enlarge).
The video below is from YouTube, courtesy of Malaysiakini and the Bar Council. It shows controversial Malaysian lawyer Lingam talking with the aid of a handphone to allegedly Chief Justice Ahmad....

Once again, Malaysia, you are in the eyes of the world for the wrong reasons. Malaysians, show what honesty, courage and pure justice is without perversion to the world.