Aung San Suu Kyi Calls All Myanmar for a "Non-violent Revolution"

Kuching
Tuesday, 16th November 2010

Newly freed democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi called on Monday for a "non-violent revolution" in Myanmar as she knuckled down to the task of rebuilding her weakened opposition movement.

Speaking at her party headquarters in Yangon, where she met with senior regional members for the first time in years, she told the BBC she was sure democracy would eventually come to her country, although she did not know when.

"I think we also have to try to make this thing happen... Velvet revolution sounds a little strange in the context of the military, but a non-violent revolution. Let's put it that way," the 65-year-old said.

Suu Kyi was freed from house arrest on Saturday,13th November 2010, less than a week after a controversial election that cemented the junta's decades-long grip on power but was widely criticised by democracy activists and Western leaders as a sham.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner, who has been locked up by Myanmar's regime for 15 of the past 21 years, gave her first political speech in seven years on Sunday, appealing to thousands of her jubilant supporters for unity.

She said in her latest interview, published on the BBC website, that she would take any opportunity for talks with the ruling military junta, which she wanted to change rather than fall.

"I don't want to see the military falling. I want to see the military rising to dignified heights of professionalism and true patriotism," she said.

"I think it's quite obvious what the people want; the people just want better lives based on security and on freedom."

When asked whether a letter would be sent to Than Shwe to request a meeting, Nyan Win, a spokesman for her National League for Democracy (NLD) said: "I don't know."

"We have asked since the beginning for dialogue. She is always ready for dialogue," he told AFP on Monday.

Profile: Aung San Suu Kyi

After having only limited contact with the outside world for most of the past two decades, Suu Kyi's telephone line at her crumbling lakeside mansion will be restored "soon", an unnamed Myanmar official told AFP.

Nyan Win said the mother-of-two is also hoping that her youngest son Kim Aris will be able travel to Yangon and join her on a visit to Shwedagon Pagoda, the site of Suu Kyi's first political speech in 1988.

Kim Aris, who lives in Britain, travelled to the Thai capital ahead of his mother's release but it remained unclear whether he had received a visa that would grant him entrance to Myanmar.

On the political front, attention is now focused on whether Suu Kyi can unite the country's deeply divided opposition and bring change to the impoverished nation.

"I want to work with all democratic forces," she told her supporters on Sunday, saying she wanted to "hear the voice of the people" before deciding her course of action.

The daughter of the nation's assassinated independence hero Aung San carries a weight of expectation among her followers for a better future after almost half a century of military dictatorship.

Analysis: Suu Kyi faces long struggle to help Mynamar people

There was a new air of optimism on the streets of Yangon but some observers have warned that the dissident is no "miracle worker".

"She has always voluntarily tested the military authorities, has always wanted to push the red line drawn by the regime," said Renaud Egreteau, a Myanmar expert at the University of Hong Kong.

But with a powerful junta watching her every move, the situation "might make her avoid a direct confrontation for the time being", he added.

Suu Kyi's party boycotted the November 7 vote, a decision that deeply split the opposition. Some former members of her party left to stand in the poll, prompting accusations of betrayal from some of her closest associates.

The opposition leader swept the NLD to victory in a 1990 election, but it was never allowed to take power.

Her struggle for her country has come at a high personal cost: her British husband died in 1999, and in the final stages of his battle with cancer the junta refused him a visa to see his wife. She has never met her grandchildren.

Australia was the latest country to offer support to Suu Kyi on Monday, with Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd saying he had spoken with her and promised that his country would continue to be her "reliable friend" in the future-AFP

Facebook launches New Online Messaging Services in Apparent Reason to Compete with Google Yahoo and Microsoft

Kuching
Tuesday, 16th November 2010

Facebook launched a next-generation online messaging service on Monday that includes facebook.com email addresses in a move seen as a shot across the bow of Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg unveiled what he called a "convergent" modern messaging system that "handles messages seamlessly across all the ways you want to communicate."

The messaging service blends online chat, text messages and other real-time conversation tools with traditional email, which Zuckerberg said had lost favor for being too slow for young Internet users.

"It is true that people will be able to have facebook.com email addresses, but this is not email," Zuckerberg said at an event in downtown San Francisco. "It handles email."

Zuckerberg dismissed reports referring to the messaging system as a "Gmail killer" aimed at the heart of free Web-based email services from Google and similar services from Yahoo! and Microsoft.

"We don't expect anyone to wake up tomorrow and say 'I'm going to shut down my Yahoo Mail or Gmail account,'" Zuckerberg said.

But, he added: "Maybe one day six months, a year, two years out people will start to say this is how the future should work.

"Maybe email won't be as important a part as it was before and we can push people toward real-time conversations," he said.

The Facebook messaging service was intended to turn online exchanges into ongoing conversations as opposed to intermittent back-and-forth email missives, according to Facebook director of engineering Andrew Bosworth.

"The system is definitely not email," Bosworth said. "We modeled it more after chat.

"I'm very jealous of the next generation that will have all this access to all these things," he said.

Facebook's messaging system, referred to inside the California-base firm as "Titan," will be slowly rolled out in the coming months and adapted based on feedback from users, according to Bosworth.

Approximately 350 million of Facebook's more than 500 million members fire off messages at the service, with more than four billion digital missives sent daily, according to Zuckerberg.

With such a large user base, a free personalized facebook.com email service lays down a powerful challenge to the established email giants -- Microsoft's Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail and Google's Gmail.

Hotmail currently has the most users, 361.7 million as of September, according to online tracking firm comScore, followed by Yahoo! with 273.1 million and Gmail with 193.3 million.

Facebook's new messaging service comes amid a recent bout of sparring with Google over data sharing.

Google earlier this month blocked Facebook from importing Gmail contact information over the Palo Alto, California-based social network's refusal to reciprocate and share data about its users-AFP

Myanmar Military Junta Released Aung San Suu Kyi

Kuching
Monday, 15th Nov 2010


On 14th November 2010, after 7 years under home arrest the Myanmar junta released the democratic icon and the Nobel Prize Winner Aung San Suu Kyi .
YANGON - Myanmar's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi walked free Saturday after seven years as a prisoner in her own home, calling on a sea of jubilant supporters to unite in the face of repression.

Waving and smiling, the Nobel Peace Prize winner appeared outside the crumbling lakeside mansion where she had been locked up by the military rulers, to huge cheers and clapping from the waiting crowds.

"We must work together in unison," she told thousands of waiting people, suggesting she has no intention of giving up her long fight for democracy in what is one of the world's oldest dictatorships.

Many people hugged each other with joy at the sight of the 65-year-old dissident, known in Myanmar simply as "The Lady". She wore a pale purple top and appeared in good health after her latest stretch of detention.

"I'm so glad to see her in person, but she looks older than before. The last time I saw her was in 2002," said one supporter, Htein Win.

Suu Kyi asked the crowd to come to her party's headquarters at noon on Sunday to hear her speak after she struggled to make herself heard over the roar of cheers, then went back inside her home as the crowds lingered outside.

World leaders were quick to welcome her release, with US President Barack Obama hailing her as "a hero of mine" and said it was time for the Myanmar junta to free all political prisoners.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said her release was "long overdue", while French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned any restrictions on her freedom would "constitute a new unacceptable denial of her rights".

Although she has been sidelined and silenced by the junta -- occasionally released briefly only to be put back in confinement -- for many in the impoverished nation she still embodies hope of a better future.

"I think of her as my mother and also my sister and grandmother because she's the daughter of our independence leader General Aung San," said 45-year-old Naing Naing Win. "She has her father's blood."

Despite the risks of opposing the military regime in a country with more than 2,200 political prisoners, many supporters wore T-shirts bearing her image and the words: "We stand with Aung San Suu Kyi."

Undercover police were photographing and filming the crowds.

Myanmar's most famous dissident has been under house arrest since 2003 -- just one of several stretches of detention at the hands of the ruling generals.

Her sentence was extended last year over a bizarre incident in which an American swam uninvited to her lakeside home, sparking international condemnation and keeping her off the scene for the first election in 20 years.

The democracy icon swept her party to victory in elections two decades ago, but it was never allowed to take power.

Her release comes just days after the first vote in the country since 1990, which was boycotted by Suu Kyi's party and was widely decried in the West as a sham.

When last released in 2002 she drew huge crowds wherever she went -- a reminder that years of detention had not dimmed her immense popularity.

Some fear that junta chief Than Shwe will continue to put restrictions on the freedom of his number one enemy.

But her lawyer Nyan Win has suggested she would refuse to accept any conditions on her release, as in the past when she tried in vain to leave Yangon in defiance of the regime's orders.

Her struggle for her country has come at a high personal cost: her husband, British academic Michael Aris, died in 1999, and in the final stages of his battle with cancer the junta refused him a visa to see his wife.

She has not seen her two sons for about a decade and has never met her grandchildren.

Her youngest son Kim Aris, 33, arrived in Bangkok ahead of her release but it was unclear whether he would be allowed to visit his mother.

Suu Kyi's freedom is seen by observers as an effort by the regime to tame international criticism of Sunday's election, the first since the 1990 vote.

Western nations and pro-democracy activists have blasted the poll as anything but free and fair following widespread reports of intimidation and fraud.

The NLD's decision not to participate in the election deeply split Myanmar's opposition and Suu Kyi's party has been disbanded, leaving her future role uncertain.

Mupok Aku

Congratulations to Sabahan For Winning Malaysia's Poorest State Status

Kuching
Friday, 12th November 2010

Personally I would like to congratulate the people of Sabah for making a right choice by voted for BN and as a result their state has won the Most Poorest State competition.

According to the study by the World bank, although Sabah which is rule by Barisan Nasionan (BN) has only 10 percent of Malaysia's population, it has 40 percent of the poverty-stricken.

In contrast, Selangor which is rule by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) which has nearly a quarter of the country's population, has less than 10 per cent of the poor.

Sabahan should now realized how they had been cheated by the BN Regime. They should not blame others for their predictiment . They had been given the opportunity to change their conditions but they chosed to vote for BN. This was prooven during the previous Batu Sapi by-election when BN's candidate Datin Linda Tsen Thau Lin won a three-cornered fight with a majority of 6,359 votes. In the by-election, Tsen a part time music teacher who is also the widow of the late MP Datuk Edmund Chong Ket, of Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), defeated her arch-rival Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Datuk Yong Teck Lee and Ansari Abdullah of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR). Tsen polled 9,773 votes against Ansari's 3,414 and Yong's 2,031.

Sabahans just like the people of Sarawak are the intelligent people but easily manipulated by their leaders. If the Iban of Sarawak have Jabu and Masing to manipulate them and throw their supports to corrupted Taib Mahmud, for Sabahans  they have Pairin Kitingan as their paramount chief or the "Hoguan Siou" that influenced them to vote for another corrupted BN Chief Minister, Musa Aman.

Please see the report by World bank here.

THE World Bank (WB) in Washington has confirmed through a new study that Sabah is not only the poorest state in Malaysia but it's likely to stay that way for a considerable length of time given current efforts in poverty eradication.

The bottom line is that Malaysia's economic planning in Sabah so far, has not been for inclusive growth. The study is part of the World Bank's 2010 Malaysia Economic Monitor (MEM), the third in its series. It was handed over last night to the state government by the WB's Human Development Sector Director (East Asia and Pacific Region) Emmanuel Jimenez.
The state government was represented by Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister's Department, Datuk Datu Nasrun Datu Mansur, at the handing over of the report, themed Inclusive Growth, to the State Economic Planning Unit (EPU) at the Shangri-La's Tanjung Aru Resort in Kota Kinabalu.
"Although efforts by the government have somewhat lessened poverty, it's still not enough," said Jimenez. "The MEM shows that Sabahans continue to struggle to make ends meet. This is more evident in the outskirts of the towns."
He was speaking with the media after the handing-over ceremony which was also witnessed by senior WB economist Philip Schellekens and EPU director Ismail Abdullah.

Most poor in rural areas

The deep levels of poverty in Sabah, according to Jimenez, could be seen from the fact that although the state has only 10 percent of Malaysia's population, it has 40 percent of the poverty-stricken.
In contrast, Selangor, which has nearly a quarter of the country's population, has less than 10 per cent of the poor.
The WB has also identified that most of the poor in Sabah can be found in the rural areas mainly among the Rungus in the north and Orang Sungai in the east, both Kadazandusun groups, the latter generally Muslim; and the Suluks in the east who are a Muslim group from the Philippines from the days of the Sulu ultanate.
There are also poor among all other communities including in the urban areas among the Chinese.Nasrun praised the WB for accurately identifying poverty and regional disparity as the main critical issues concerning Sabah.
He disclosed that the MEM was put together with input from Sabah which was visited by a WB team several months ago.
"We are fortunate to have access to the WB's vast expertise in addressing issues of poverty, regional disparity and inclusive growth," said Nasrun. "They can advise us in taking a holistic approach towards addressing these challenges."
He lamented that compared with the states in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah is very much far behind in both hard and soft infrastructure. Some of the areas of deep concern, he added, were health, education, social facilities and services and human resource development. "Deep pockets of poverty exist in certain socio-economic groups as well as in certain areas of the state where the poor have the least access to services and employment opportunities."

Principle of inclusiveness

On a brighter note, Nasrun hopes that the principle of inclusiveness as spelt out in the New Economic Model will bring relief to Sabah. He particularly cited the National Economic Transformation Programme and the National Key Result Areas which pledged improvements in the supply of water and electricity and rural roads, among others.
Ranau MP Siringan Gubat isn't surprised that Sabah has been listed as the poorest state. He feels that the federal government should accept the fact that it needs to change in accordance to what the people want.
"At present, it is merely using Sabah as an economic resource," said Gubat who is also United PasokMomogun KadazanDusunMurut Organisation (Upko) vice president. "If the federal government goes in the same direction as the state government, there's no reason why Sabah cannot progress and prosper."
Besides considerable oil and gas reserves, Sabah also has vast areas under timber, oil palm, rubber, cocoa and other commodities. He wants to know where these commodities go and who actually benefits from them "since it doesn't seem to be the people".
Kota Kinabalu-based social activist, human rights lawyer and newspaper columnist Nilakrisna Isnarti James commented that Sabah's current status was the very fear that drove her grandfather and famed Kadazan nationalist O.K.K. Sedomon Gunsanad (1894-1996) of Keningau, to oppose the idea of the state agreeing to help form the federation of Malaysia. James Ongkili recorded this fact in his book on the formation of Malaysia, she added. "If Malaysia was formed in equality and partnership between Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak, why is that we are the poorest after almost 50 years? she asked rhetorically. "On top of that we are being increasingly disenfranchised and may end as internally displaced persons or refugees in our own land."
Nilakrisna called upon the federal government to demonstrate sincerity and pledge itself towards greater equity in dealing with the rich resources of Sabah and addressing the welfare and concerns of the people.
"The WB report confirms what we have been saying all along," said Common Interest Group Malaysia (CigMA) deputy chair Daniel John Jambun. "The poverty rate in Sabah and Sarawak is not as low as that made out by the federal government. The evidence is all around us."
He intends to propose that CigMA, an ad hoc apolitical movement, call for a workshop soon to debate the WB report in Kota Kinabalu and Kuching.

 Sabahan have two choices to choose. The first choice is to remain as the poorest state, and secondly to change the situation. If Sabahan prefer the first choice, they dont have to do anything, just follow what their Hoguan Siou has to say and vote for BN, but if they want a CHANGE from being the poorest state in Malaysia, they should change current BN government with Pakatan Rakyat. To all the Sabahans, the message from World Bank  is sound and clear. If  you still proud and want to Maintain the Poorest State status..Go ahead and VOTE FOR BN!  

Mupok Aku

"Dr." Fazley : Rosmah Mansor Son In-Law With Bogus Degrees

Kuching
Friday, 12th November 2010

Rosmah Mansor's Son In-Law with Bogus Degrees

Singer Fazley Yaakob who is also Rosmah Mansor's son in-law, has resigned from his post as executive director of Fazley International College (FIC) last night due to uncertainties by University of Wales pertaining to the singer's academic qualifications, including two bogus degrees.

The singer told press : "I have resigned with immediate effect based on the advise of the board of directors of FIC and also my own legal advisors to safeguard the relationship between the FIC and University of Wales."

Fazley had earlier shrugged off a BBC report on the University of Wales having suspended relations with the Fazley International College (FIC), pending an inquiry. In an interview with The Paper That Cares regarding the action — said to be related to the controversy over the personal academic qualifications of Fazley himself, who is executive director of FIC — he had initially chosen to remain mum on the matter as it involved other parties.

Stating a better understanding of the situation was needed, he said: “It is premature to comment on the matter as the University of Wales has not disputed the fact that FIC is qualified to run the said programmes. “This was further enhanced by their statement that all our enrolled students are not affected by their administrative process to review and arbitrate.”

On Saturday, the BBC aired a report naming the FIC as the college in question. It is one of three education institutions the University of Wales collaborates with in Malaysia. An agreement in 2007 allowed students to its validated courses the following year — having gained provisional approval from the Malaysian Qualifications Agency.

The report also stated the university will not recognise additional admissions to its BA (Hons) in Business Administration and MBA courses until concerns about the principal's qualifications have been investigated. The Welsh university said the 35 students now attending courses would not be affected.The BBC Wales Week In Week Out programme broadcast yesterday had a report naming Fazley as “a Malaysian pop star with a bogus doctorate” being the man behind FIC.

The programme said Fazley claimed to have a masters, degree and a doctorate in business administration, but both had been proven bogus as these originated from the European Business School (Cambridge) — an offshoot of the Irish International University, which was exposed as a sham by the BBC in 2008.

A Professor Nigel Palastanga was, however, quoted as saying there were no concerns about academic standards at the college. In his response, Fazley said: “We appreciate the public concern on this matter. We have confidence the speculative nature of this magnitude will stop once the understanding of the whole matter is available for perusal.” Fazley does not lecture on the courses and has publicly stopped using reference to his academic qualifications. He also stated all will be made clear in due time.

Mupok Aku

Poor Iban and Taib's Family Members Luxury Lifestyle

Kuching
Thursday, 11th November 2010

After almost 30 years of ruling Sarawak, Taib Mahmud has gathered more than enough wealth for his family members!

While majority of Iban still living under poverty line but Taib's family, on the expensed of their NCR lands have been living luxuriously and extravagantly.
Please see some photos of Taib's  family members here. Hopefully by showing their photo here, the Iban in the long house will be able to see by themselves the true colours of Taib's family members, therefore will be able to make rational decision whether to vote for BN in the coming state election.

 ‘Sexy lighting’ – Ladies in Red

Playboy collection – Ani Ta Tufail (by day she acts as a company director) and friends are the ‘women in red’

Elia Geneid (niece of Taib) gets flirty

 Taib niece, Elia Geneid – with a house this big I will dress as I want to

Glamour 

 Smooching up to my brother – niece Anita Tufail

Elia Geneid – all on show for her funky male friends

Harem – Taib’s daughter Jamilah (second right) is Director and Shareholder of many of Taib’s huge foreign property interests abroad, while (far right) neice Anita Tufail inserted herself into the Board of a major timber company straight after college to profit from the proceeds of logging

Busts and baubbles – low cut dresses for Taib sister Raziah and daughters to show off the main attraction (the wealth around their necks)

Old and young – Taib’s sister, Zaleh Mahmud with the next generation, posing for the boys and getting through husbands like old dresses.

Bad influence? – dressing sexy

For sale? – pouring out onto the street

Give it tongue – Clearly the menfolk approve!

Hey don’t forget the Key Man who made it all happen! – Taib at the Monaco ‘Islamic Fashion Show’ with his son, brother in law – and some suckers who paid?

Wake Up MACC This Old Man Admitted That He Has More than Enough Money and Willing to Bribe the Iban With RM 600 Per Door

Kuching
Tuesday, 9th Nov 2010

These Videos Very Clear that Taib Has More Than Enough Wealth To Bribe Iban Families in Sibu for RM 600 each Family...MACC what are you waiting For? Until the Old Man Died?

Same old boasts and same old bribes – Taib had nothing new to offer in Sibu. Taib has not only been caught out bribing voters, but also admitting to his vast wealth! The illegal act and the confession were both captured in a video recording of an election speech that has now come into the possession of Sarawak Report.

In the recording he tells his audience:

“I’ve got more money than I can ever spend, so I don’t worry about money. All my children now look after [my money], so I am giving you something very nice”

Later he makes a direct offer to bribe the audience of longhouse voters, who he was visiting during the Sibu by-election:

“I am prepared to give you 600 ringgit per [longhouse] door, normal thing right, no change. People have said that’s a lot of money. I have many friends all over the world. They are in Germany, Japan, China. We can talk, ask them to invest here.”

“More money than I can ever spend” - vindication of Sarawak Report

The footage was taken while Taib was doing the rounds of the longhouses during the recent Sibu by-election, where he in fact suffered a shock defeat. It shows the aging politician employing his tried and tested method for winning seats, without realising that time and technology has moved on.

He should have known that what you say in public these days gets recorded! In response, Sarawak Report would like to thank him for his statements, which we regard as a vindication of our accusations over the past weeks and a full confession of his corruption.

His remarks admitting he has accumulated ”more money than I can ever spend” out of abusing his position of power in Sarawak, were recorded on cheap equipment by observers in the audience, who say that he repeated the same claims and offered the same bribe of 600 ringgit per door (longhouse family) numerous times as he visited different communities.

In so doing he has demonstrated that while he officially disguises the fact that he is the real owner of his family’s fortune by using his siblings and children as nominees, he still thinks he can get away with bragging about it in public, especially when he is trying to impress voters he wants to bribe.

However, this time he did not get away with it. In Sibu the voters knew full well that he was trying to bribe them with their own money, having stripped them of their lands and taken the profits. Their message to the Chief Minister after this speech in June was that if he has more money than he can ever spend why is he still seeking to stay on in office and make yet more money out of Sarawak?

This message needs to be repeated by all the voters at the State Election and the Federal Election. The opposition coalition wants to end Taib Mahmud’s illegal plunder of the State of Sarawak!

See for yourself

Sarawak Report has produced a transcript of what the Chief Minister said in the recording, which was spoken partly in Malay and partly in English with some Iban, in a speech to a crowded longhouse. While the audio is not good, it is perfectly possible to make out his words. (Download the transcript in English and Malay)

False promises and dreams of ‘development’

Apart from his admissions, the Chief Minister concentrated the rest of his speech on trying to entice the longhouse folk into surrendering up their remaining native lands to the State. His excuse is that he will then be able to develop a grand ’Master Plan’ that he claims will provide them with amenities and development.

But, over the last 30 years Sarawakians have all heard these promises many times before. Many have surrendered him lands and received nothing. Sarawak is the richest State in Malaysia, but now holds many of its poorest and most backward people, thanks to Abdul Taib Mahmud.

Yet, in his speech the Chief Minister tries to blame the people for their predicament! Instead of showing sympathy and appropriate guilt, he blames them for not giving him MORE of their resources. He also suggests that it is their traditional way of life that is holding them back.

“How many of you have a salary?” he asks accusingly,”For those of you who have a salary, how many of you can afford to buy a house?”

He scolds his audience to “stop their old customs” and abandon “cultivating hill rice”, because it is ”no progress and no benefit”. Instead he tells them to ”go for a Master Plan” and “give the mandate of the land to the Government!”.

Sensibly, the people of Sibu rejected Taib’s suggestions. Sarawak is littered with failed ‘Master Plans’ where only a few Taib cronies and family members made a profit. After 30 years the people know that the only “progress and benefit” Taib really cares about relates to that of his own bank account.

To give him their land is to lose it.

RM 600 Bribe



More than Enough Wealth

Bala Demands Attorney General Probe Into Documents Linking Murder to PM

Kuching
Sunday, 7th November 2010


Let me admit to you that I did sign a false statutory declaration. Yes. I did. I signed a false statutory declaration. It was the second one, not the first one. The first one was entirely truthful. The second one was a complete pack of lies. I admit this.

OPEN LETTER TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Dear Tan Sri,

My name is Balasubramaniam a/l Perumal.

I think you may have heard of me.

I was Razak Baginda’s private investigator hired by him to protect him from his ex girlfriend Ms. Altantuya Shaaribu (deceased), sometime in 2006.

Remember you charged him for her murder but he got off. Instead, two of the Prime Ministers body guards got convicted. Stranger things have happened, I am sure you would agree.

But I digress. Let me come to the point.

I have been made to understand that you have decided to close the case involving 2 statutory declarations I signed sometime at the beginning of July 2008 in Kuala Lumpur.

The contents of these statutory declarations were diametrically opposed. Both could not have been true and therefore one of them was false. I trust that makes sense to you.

The police, I believe, have investigated the circumstances surrounding the making of these 2 statutory declarations under s.199 of the Penal Code, for an offence which carries a sentence of 3 years imprisonment and a fine. This is not a trivial offence.

The police must have interviewed my lawyer Americk Sidhu, his secretary, the Commissioner of Oaths who attested my signature and a variety of other witnesses you have mentioned who were somehow intrinsically interwoven in the construction and affirmation of both statutory declarations, one way or another.

It has therefore come as a great surprise to me to discover that you have been unable to decipher any wrongdoing from the enormous amount of evidence the police must have been able to accumulate from their investigations.

Please permit me to assist you.

Firstly may I suggest that you re-open this file immediately.

I will make it easy for you.

Let me admit to you that I did sign a false statutory declaration. Yes. I did. I signed a false statutory declaration.

It was the second one, not the first one. The first one was entirely truthful. The second one was a complete pack of lies. I admit this.

This statutory declaration was prepared by some unknown person(s) and I was forced by very thinly veiled threats and intimidation to sign it.

I have already made this known to the world at large and I am surprised your office has not picked this up as yet. Everyone else has.

If you are unable to ascertain this information which I have just provided to you directly, please feel free to contact me at this email address bala.p.i@hotmail.com and I shall forward to you a copy of the video recorded interview I had in the presence of my lawyers in Singapore last November, and a copy of the transcript thereof.

Otherwise you can find this information on all the blogs worth reading (such as Raja Petra’s ‘Malaysia Today’) and also on ‘You Tube’. ( Just type in ‘PI Bala’ into the search column and you will be surprised what comes up).

So you may now consider charging me for making the false 2nd statutory declaration after the clues I have given you.

I do however reserve the right to plead not guilty to the charge as I believe I have a very good defence.

Your prosecutors will also have to make sure they call all the necessary witnesses to prove their case against me. These witnesses will have to include the following personalities:

(i) a lawyer named Mr. Arunampalam a/l Mariam Pillai (who coincidentally does legal work for Deepak Jayakishan and Rosmah Mansor’s personal companies).

(ii) a Commissioner of Oaths (Zainal Abidin Bin Muhayat) who works in the office of M/s Zul Rafique and Partners (Advocates & Solicitors) and who attested my signature when he came to the room in which I was being held at the Hilton Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

(iii) Deepak and Dinesh Jaikishan ( very good friends and confidantes of Rosmah Mansor).

(iv) Datuk Nazim Razak (younger brother of the Prime Minister), and his wife.

(v) ASP Suresh (a suspended police officer formerly attached to the IPK HQ KL).

(vi) Officers from the Immigration Department Damansara (who assisted in obtaining urgent passports for my family).

(vii) A host of journalists and reporters who were present in the lobby of the Prince Hotel Kuala Lumpur when a lawyer called Arunampalam released my 2nd statutory declaration without my permission.

These are just some of the witnesses I can think of but I am sure you know how to do your job so that should be no problem. I don’t want to be accused of trying to teach an old dog new tricks.

If for some strange reason my defense is called, I will also be able to provide witnesses to support what I have to say. I need not disclose who these witnesses are at this stage and I am sure you know that as well.

I shall now wait for the charge against me to be laid.

I will be more than happy to return to Malaysia to defend myself but you will have to ensure that my safety is guaranteed as there are some people who would prefer that I was not around.

Best regards,
Balasubramaniam a/l Perumal
[Bala (PI)]


The above Open Letter was first published by Malaysian Chronicle

California lawmaker’s terrorism claims add to Anwar’s woes

Kuching
Monday, 1st November 2010

DeVore linked Anwar to the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) - “Muslim Brotherhood front that has repeatedly been tied to terrorist network financing”.

Already in the dock for sodomy, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is now facing the spectre of terrorism links from a California lawmaker as US and British authorities grapple with terrorist threats from Yemen last week.

Charles S. “Chuck” DeVore, the Republican member of the California State Assembly, has linked Anwar to the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), which he claimed is a “Muslim Brotherhood front that has repeatedly been tied to terrorist network financing”.

The three-term California assemblyman wrote five days ago that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should avoid the PKR de facto leader in her three-day visit to Malaysia starting this evening.

With national polls looming next year, Anwar’s alleged links to the US Islamic outfit could put the opposition leader on defensive, on top of the second sodomy charge he is facing now 12 years after the first complaint cost him the deputy prime minister’s post.

This is not the first time that Anwar’s moderate credentials have been questioned but his camp have rubbished DeVore’s attack, noting that it bore the hallmarks of a character assassination campaign hatched in Malaysia.

Anwar’s international credentials could however be hurt by any attempt to link to terrorism by DeVore, who despite being a minor official, is said to have links to the head of the United States’ National Security Agency (NSA) and senior officials in the Department of Homeland Security.

The retired lieutenant-colonel of the California Army National Guard spent two years in the Reagan administration as a special assistant for foreign affairs in the Department of Defence from 1986 to 1988.

But DeVore’s claims are not expected to get much traction in the Malay heartland that helped deliver four states and 82 federal seats to the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in Election 2008.

In his letter at the bigpeace.com website on October 26, DeVore raised the prospect of Clinton meeting Anwar, whom he described as “a supposed democracy and reform leader who, it is said, has been unfairly maligned by an overbearing government.”

“Clinton shouldn’t, as Malaysia is no Myanmar and Ibrahim is no Aung San Suu Kyi,” said the US politician.

The US Embassy has not indicated that a meeting with Anwar is on the cards but said Clinton will meet with civil society groups before she leaves on Wednesday for Papua New Guinea.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz has said that Putrajaya has no objections to Clinton meeting Anwar, who himself indicated there was no such meeting planned.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who met Clinton in Hanoi for the Asean Summit over the weekend, is not likely to have another meeting as he is indisposed with chicken pox.

Speculation that Najib might call for snap polls has strengthened after the Umno president said he will tour the country early next year to check on preparations for a general election which is due by 2013.Two by-elections are scheduled this Thursday while the Sarawak state election is due by July 2011.

Anwar and his PR colleagues hope the by-elections this week for the Galas state seat in Kelantan and the Batu Sapi federal seat in Sabah could go their way and sustain growing support from Election 2008 where they denied BN its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat on a reforms platform.

But DeVore said Anwar’s “passion for government reform was suspect from the start.”

“While riding the crest of his popularity in 1998, his allies called for a debate on ‘cronyism and nepotism’ which Malaysia’s former strongman Prime Minister Mahathir quickly turned on its head by producing lists of those who benefited from by receiving shares from privatised government corporations.

“The lists showed Ibrahim, his allies, his brothers and his father owned million of shares in newly privatised companies. Tellingly, Ibrahim’s corruption conviction was never overturned,” he said, referring to Anwar by his father’s name as is the American custom.

The US politician noted that Anwar “enjoys the support of Al Gore and Paul Wolfowitz” but the Jewish Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith had called him “an anti-Semitic demagogue unworthy of meeting with the US Secretary of State”.

In stating his reasons against Clinton ever meeting Anwar, DeVore said “Anwar Ibrahim is simply one in a long line of Islamist leaders who know how to say one thing to a Western audience who longs to hear soothing words, while saying and acting differently when they think no one from the West is paying attention.”

He also wrote sarcastically about the possibility of Anwar and his coalition winning the next general election.

“If Ibrahim’s People’s Justice Party (run by his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail) comes to power in 2011, it will likely mark another occurrence of democracy being used to destroy democracy.

“Secretary of State Clinton, if she meets with Ibrahim, will act to boost his destructive charade,” DeVore added.

Mupok Aku

Making Money An BN Way

Kuching
Sunday, 31st October 2010

BN's Government Purchase Armoured Infantry Fighting Vehicles (AIFV)  For RM8bil 3 times market price!

The government has been taken to task over its decision to go ahead with its plan to purchase RM8 billion worth of armoured fighting vehicles (AFV).

Sungai Siput member of parliament Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj said the price offered by DRB-Hicom Defence Technologies Sdn Bhd (Deftech) was three times higher than the market price for the best APC model, which he said cost not more than RM10 million a unit.

“It's RM31 million per unit when the price of the best APC in the world only costs RM 10 million – this is three times more,” he told reporters in parliament yesterday.

Recalling a question by Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua during the last parliamentary session, Jeyakumar said the Defence ministry had stated that the letter of intent issued to Deftech did not mean the government was going to purchase the APC, but was just meant for further discussion.

“This approach is strange. If we go to a shop, and are given a quotation three time higher the price – we normally will say ‘thank you’ and walk away. We’ll look for a new one.

"Here, despite knowing it is three times higher, the Ministry of Defence wants to discuss further with Deftech," said Jeyakumar, adding that the government should instead approach the producers directly.

He said the figure was half of the combined budget allocation for Pakatan Rakyat-led states.

“The total annual budget for four Pakatan Rakyat states was just RM4 billion last year. But this single purchase amounts to RM8 billion. This is not money belonging to the Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister which they can simply squander,” he lamented.

Explaining further, Jeyakumar said the amount could have built 160,000 low cost homes to house 800 families in each parliamentary constituency, so that each family can own the house for only RM50,000 a unit.