What’s at stake at PAS’ big beach ‘uprising’ this weekend

PAS is leading a bloc called Gagasan Sejahtera Rakyat that rivals Pakatan Harapan and ruling coalition Barisan Nasional. It aims to attract 200,000 supporters at its gathering in Terengganu on Friday and Saturday. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, September 27, 2017.

AFTER months of mixed signals, PAS will finally state its plans to capture Putrajaya in the 14th general election by leading the country’s second opposition bloc.

This weekend, the country’s second largest party by membership, will hold a gathering dubbed fastaqim 2.0, a rally that is meant to both unite PAS and prove that it is a formidable political player.

PAS leads a bloc called Gagasan Sejahtera Rakyat that rivals Pakatan Harapan (PH), and ruling coalition Barisan Nasional.

But more than the gathering, which PAS hopes to attract 200,000 supporters, will be the announcement from party leaders on two prominent national figures who will be joining the Islamist party.


PAS information chief Nasrudin Hassan said this will be the biggest surprise at the fastaqim.

“Who are those people? It’s not appropriate for me to reveal it right now. Wait until for the highlight of the fastaqim. God willing, these leaders will declare their intention to join us,”  he said.

This echoed a similar announcement by Umno two weeks ago when it was rumoured that it will get several lawmakers from the opposition to switch sides to BN.

However, the only switchover was by former Selangor menteri besar Muhammad Muhammad Taib, who left PKR to re-join Umno.

Analysts and PH leaders doubt that PAS and its coalition can muster enough support from the wider Malaysian public to capture the more than 100 parliamentary seats to form the federal government.

PAS leaders believe that the fastaqim, which translates to “uprising”, is a first step to proving those sceptics wrong.

The rally will also signal whether PAS and Gagasan will cooperate with PH to minimise three-cornered fights – which analysts have said historically benefitted BN.

PAS boasts that the rally will see more than 200,000 supporters converging at Pantai Teluk Jembal, Kuala Terengganu, on Friday and Saturday.

PAS will also officially launch its election machinery at the gathering, said the Temerloh MP.

PAS held its first fastaqim in October 2015 in Kota Baru, Kelantan, just shortly after 18 leaders left to form Amanah. Some 60,000 people turned up at that event.

This year’s gathering will be joined by Gagasan component members Parti Ikatan Malaysia (Ikatan), Berjasa and Parti Cinta Malaysia (PCM).

GE14 goals

Political analyst Hisomuddin Bakar believes that the gathering will give a clear indication as to PAS’ stand when it comes to PH.

“Presently, there some unresolved issues, as there are certain quarters who are still open to the idea of cooperating with Pakatan Harapan,” said Hisomuddin of the Ilham Centre.

“The talk is that the doors to (PH component member) PKR may be closed, but they’re not locked.”

A high-level retreat in Perak recently gave the green light to PAS grassroots leaders to continue talks with rival opposition parties, PKR and Bersatu.

But PH decided on August 28 to end talks with PAS.

Nasrudin said PAS will contest more than 100 parliamentary seats compared with 66 when it was allied with DAP and PKR in GE13.

“So far, it’s not finalised but the figure can rise above 100 seats and it’s possible to put candidates all over the country.

“Maybe 130 or 140 seats. We shall see how far PAS goes. There is no way to rule a country if your party only contests 60 to 70 seats.” 

Nasrudin said the two-day gathering would be akin a “big family day” at the beach for the party’s supporters and sympathisers.

Wong Chin Huat, political scientist with the Penang Institute, said it was “detrimental to PAS” to declare any intention to work with Umno.

“It will drive away the hardcore anti-establishment Malay votes and also confirm Amanah’s and Pakatan Harapan’s allegation that PAS has been bought over by Umno,” he said.

At this weekend’s gathering, Wong believes PAS will announce that it will contest 83, or half of the peninsula’s parliamentary seats.

“The party’s leadership will also likely stress that Muslims are under attack both at home, such as the beer and gay festivals, and globally, by referring to the Rohingya situation.

“The call will be that Muslims must unite to defend Islam and Muslim dominance in Malaysia.”

Wong also believes that the grassroots would be called to come out to vote for PAS “or at the least they must not vote for kafir harbi (non-Muslim infidel) parties and their Muslim collaborators”.

A strategy might be to accuse DAP or non-Muslims of hypocrisy, said Wong, for rejecting the ban on the beer festival and claiming that is their cultural right, but at the same time object to Act 355 (to amend the shariah court bill), which concerns Muslims.

On the 1 Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal, Prime Minister Najib Razak will likely be “indirectly excused”, Wong said.

“They’ll say the evidence is not conclusive and that we must be wary of foreign intervention.

“The two-day event seems to rival Bersih 4. Many people like to claim that Bersih could not get Malays to turn out after PAS left. I’m curious to see how many they will bring.” 

PAS expanded its territories to Kedah in 1999 and Selangor and Perak only in 2008. In three-cornered fights, some of its candidates may even lose deposits, such as in 1986, when 20 candidates lost their deposits.

PAS might stand a better chance in Selangor compared with other states but its hard-line position on the beer fest will likely push some non-Muslim voters to even vote for Umno, Wong said.

Wong believes PAS’ biggest rival is Bersatu.

“I don’t think Bersatu’s real strength is in rural areas, although it is working hard there. Bersatu’s real function basically is to replace PAS as the guarantor of Malay interests within Pakatan Harapan.” – September 27, 2017.

HOW CRAZY IS THIS? MALAY MAN WEARING SHORTS TO PLAY FUTSAL FINED RM1,000 IN KELANTAN FOR EXPOSING HIS KNEES

A MUSLIM man is facing a RM1,000 fine by Kelantan religious authorities for wearing shorts to play futsal, reported The Star.

Wan Khairul Hayyee Wali was given a notice at 10.45pm yesterday and ordered to attend counselling next month, failing which he would be called to the shariah court and risked being fined if found guilty.

The 30-year-old, who has been wearing shorts to play futsal since he was in school, said he was unaware of a ruling against it.

"It came as a shock to me when a religious department enforcement officer gave me a notice, saying I had flouted the Syariah Criminal Enactment for exposing my knees.


"Seriously, they can't expect me to wear a sarong to play futsal  ," said the general worker at a wholesale store.

In yesterday's incident, he said he had tried explaining to the officer that he was on his way to play futsal and had gotten out of his car momentarily to buy a burger for his wife.

"If I did not stop to buy the burger, I would never have known that it is an offence to wear shorts even when we are on the way to play sports.

"If it is an offence, they have to make it clear to the public. How are we supposed to know that it is an offence when even football players wear shorts?  ”

Wan Khairul said he would attend the counselling session.

A state Islamic Religious Affairs Department officer said the dress code was strictly applicable to Muslims only.

"We do not take action against non-Muslims, not even even against a female non-Muslim who wears shorts in public.” – September 26, 2017.

Report: Rohingya issue shows Malaysia’s biased refugee policy

An opinion piece in the Asia Times says Putrajaya champions Muslim refugees but has failed to speak up for non-Muslim’s facing persecution, and that it is ‘a Muslim champion abroad, and an oppressor at home’.

The way Malaysia is handling the Rohingya refugees issue reflects the inconsistencies, and the bias, inherent in its refugee policy, according to an opinion piece in Asia Times.

Malaysians, especially non-Muslims, see Prime Minister Najib Razak’s championing of the Rohingya as self-serving, as he has failed to show a similar atitude towards non-Muslims who were or are being persecuted worldwide.

The comment, written by Josh Hong, says Malaysia is also showing it is “a Muslim champion abroad, and an oppressor at home” due to actions seemingly depriving non-Muslim Malaysians of their rights.

Hong, who has spent 12 years working among refugees including Rohingya in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, says although not a signatory to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, Malaysia hosts around 150,000 refugees and asylum seekers, more than a third of whom are Rohingya from Myanmar.

In addition, there are about 50,000 Rohingya who have yet to register with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

About a year ago, Prime Minister Najib Razak, began to champion the Rohingya cause in an attempt to shore up his support among Muslim Malaysians, Hong says.

“Najib has so far organised at least one massive rally to highlight the plight of the severely persecuted Rohingya in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, and allowed two street protests to take place in the heart of Kuala Lumpur without the organisers having to notify the police as would otherwise be required under the much criticised Peaceful Assembly Act of 2012.”

Hong says: “To the non-Muslims in Malaysia, Najib’s pledge to help the Rohingya is widely perceived to be self-serving, given the fact that his United Malays National Organisation (Umno), the linchpin of Barisan Nasional, the multinational ruling coalition, has failed to speak up for non-Muslim refugees facing persecution worldwide, such as the religious minorities in Iraq and Pakistan.”
Giving examples, Hong says in 2015, the Najib administration deported three Tamil Sri Lankans “with the full knowledge that they could be at risk of physical abuse amounting to torture upon return, much to the chagrin of the Tamil community in Malaysia”.

Back in 1979, he says, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, then deputy prime minister, had told the media that the government would not hesitate to shoot on sight boat people from Vietnam.

In 1996, Umno’s youth wing stormed a public forum in a Kuala Lumpur hotel on largely Catholic East Timor, then under Indonesian occupation, forcing it to be aborted and resulting in the arrest and detention of organisers and attendants.

The Asia Times opinion piece says one former Umno youth leader later confessed he had done it with Mahathir’s blessing.

“It is thus clear to all that while Malaysia has demonstrated solidarity with Muslim Palestinian and Bosnian refugees over the years, the same cannot be said of non-Muslim refugees worldwide.
“All this, coupled with the fact that decades of Umno dominance and state policies that favour Muslims in general and Malays in particular, has generated considerable antagonism on the part of non-Muslims.”

Just last week, Hong notes, Kuala Lumpur City Hall revoked a permit for an Oktoberfest celebration at a shopping mall following pressure from Islamic conservative forces, despite the fact that only non-Muslims would have been allowed to attend the event.

“It is seemingly trivial issues and overzealousness like this that make non-Muslim Malaysians increasingly cynical towards the effort by the state to launch a crusade on behalf of ‘downtrodden’ Muslims around the world.

“In short, a Muslim champion abroad, and an oppressor at home.”
Hong says ever since the latest crisis in Rakhine state broke out, non-Muslim netizens in Malaysia have been “highly critical of the announcement by their government to take in more Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar, as reflected in their virulent Facebook comments”.
“Many see it as a double standard par excellence, while others are deeply concerned Muslim Rohingya would be used as phantom voters in the general election to be held in less than a year from now, to the detriment of the opposition parties.

“Such fears are not without basis, for Mahathir as prime minister once wrested the East Malaysian state of Sabah back from the opposition in the 1990s through what is now infamously known as Project IC, the provision of Sabah identity cards to foreign residents of the state.”
Paradoxically, Hong says, Najib’s Rohingya initiative does not appear to have worked even among the Malays.

While the Palestinian cause and the Bosnian Muslim issue in the 1990s aroused enormous sympathies within the country’s Malay community, Hong says, the Muslim response towards the Rohingya seems to be lukewarm at best.

He suggests several reasons for this: the rising cost of living and a lackluster economy have dampened the zeal for indiscriminate Islamic unity among the Malays; and the potential number of Rohingya refugees is huge, as compared with the few hundreds of Palestinians, Bosnians and Syrians.
He also suggests that it may have also to do with the fact that the Rohingya, “being poorly educated, destitute and dark-skinned, simply do not appeal to Malaysian society at large, unlike Palestinians, Bosnians and, in recent years, Syrians, who have a European-like appearance.”
Hong also says the government’s “ad hoc and inchoate approach” to the refugee issue needs a complete rethink, with a view to signing up to the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Convention and Protocol on the Status Relating to Refugees.

“Only then would justice be seen to be done for all who seek refuge in Malaysia, regardless of race, creed, faith and political persuasion.”

PAS IS IN A MESS: ‘DO IT & WE WILL WALK’ – BEHIND THE ‘FAKE RESPECT’ SHOWN TO HADI, SENIOR LEADERS ARE WARNING HIM & SON TO STOP TIES WITH UMNO

A senior PAS leader had written to the entire PAS leadership in the syura council and central committee, including to PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, in a bid to stop the party’s possible cooperation with BN.

This was according to former PAS vice-president Husam Musa, who now serves as vice-president of the splinter party Amanah.


Husam claimed the letter was discussed during a PAS leadership retreat in Pulau Pangkor, Perak earlier this month, and prompted PAS to hold back any decisions on cooperating with BN.

“Based on my information about the PAS retreat in Pangkor, PAS dare not make any decision on joining forces with Umno-BN due to objections from certain quarters.

“A senior PAS leader had written to all syura council and central committee members, including the president, to object PAS from joining forces with BN,” he told a function in Kota Bharu today.

Husam did not name the senior PAS leader who wrote the letter.

The retreat in Pangkor, attended by top leaders from the syura council, central committee as well as the party’s advisory board, was intended to chart PAS’ direction in the 14th General Election.

Husam, who is also Salor state assemblyperson, claimed that PAS’ advisory board, comprising party veterans, also objected to cooperation with BN.

He claimed his former party was in a dilemma now, as there were different groups objecting to working with either BN or Pakatan Harapan.

PAS advisor Mustafa Ali, when contacted, declined to comment.

“At the moment, I am abstaining from issuing statements to the media, I’m sorry,” he said.

Meanwhile, PAS deputy president Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man denied PAS had discussed the matter of cooperation with Umno and BN.

“Husam does not need to be a fortune-teller, because there is no political cooperation with PAS,” he told Malaysiakini when contacted.

Tuan Ibrahim added that Husam would do better to focus on BN instead of PAS.

– M’kini

.

Zaid: Government scared of speakers, writers who ask people to think

Zaid: Government scared of speakers, writers who ask people to think

FMT Reporters | September 27, 2017

Zaid Ibrahim says that is the reason Turkish author Mustafa Akyol was detained overnight by the Islamic religious authorities, adding the authorities should differentiate between the Akyols and the Naiks of the Islamic world.
Zaid-Ibrahim-mustafa-akyol-turkish-1PETALING JAYA: DAP’s Zaid Ibrahim has condemned the detention of Turkish author Mustafa Akyol on Monday night at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).
The former minister said this was a sign that the “Umno government” did not know how to differentiate between intellectual Muslim preachers and those like Zakir Naik, who only knew how to raise hatred.
“They are scared of the author who demands us to think. Those of the same religion can have different views. The excuse about credentials is just to restrict different viewpoints,” he told FMT.
Akyol was detained at the KLIA on Monday as he was preparing to board a flight to Rome on his way back to the United States.
This came after he was served a summons to appear before the Federal Territory Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) for teaching religion without official credentials, an offence under the Shariah Criminal Offences (Federal Territories) Act.
Akyol was released yesterday afternoon after being questioned by Jawi.
He had often spoken out against both Islamists and secularists in his home country, and is a staunch advocate of free speech in Muslim countries.


He has also criticised Muslim governments for using undemocratic laws in the name of religion.
Meanwhile, the Muslim NGO, Sisters in Islam (SIS), welcomed the news that Akyol had been released.
The NGO condemned the detention as a grave abuse of power by Jawi in its attempt to limit and monopolise the discourse on Islam in Malaysia to only those who subscribed to one particular point of view in Islam.
SIS said Malaysia was a country that continuously promoted itself as a moderate Islamic nation.
As such, SIS said it was perplexing to see that a religious authority could use and abuse its power to clamp down on individuals it deemed “unfit” or “unqualified”.
“A line should be drawn to end this absurdity in suppressing and oppressing voices that may differ from the popular narrative on the grounds that certification by a state religious authority is required for a person to speak on and share their knowledge on Islam.
“It is essential for us to provide a space, especially within the public sphere, to allow for discourse and debates, especially in regard to religion.
“If we could allow for individuals to recite hate, prejudice and racism under the name of religion, why is a man like Mustafa Akyol, who is known to advocate moderate and peaceful Islam, under scrutiny?” said SIS in an email reply to FMT.
The Muslimah NGO called on the government to take this issue seriously and stop the abuse of power by religious authorities.

NAJIB HAS BEEN PM FOR 9 YEARS, IN THE CABINET FROM AGE 25 – WHY DIDN’T HE RIGHT HIS FATHER & KU LI’S WRONG TOWARDS THE PEOPLE OF SARAWAK

Former premier Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad was recently feted to a welcoming party by Sarawakians. How is it that a man once reviled for contributing to the underdevelopment of the Hornbill state now be so well-received? Sarawak’s Pakatan Harapan has of course deflected any blame towards the former strongman.

It was quick to point out that the erosion of Sarawak rights enshrined under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 occurred under the leadership of then prime minister Tun Hussein Onn while the ability to control its own natural resources diminished with the passing of the Petroleum Resource & Petroleum Development Act 1974 happened during Tun Abdul Razak Hussein’s tenure.


Tun Mahathir’s visit to Sarawak is timely as the political parties all gear up ahead of the next general elections, which must be held by August of next year. As chairman of the opposition coalition Tun Mahathir has been hitting the campaign trail steadfastly promoting Pakatan Harapan as an alternative to the incumbent government.

Yet his speech had failed to deliver anything concrete for the people of Sarawak. Vague assurances and equally unconvincing promises were all that Pakatan Harapan had to offer. Political rhetoric was certainly the order of the day.



What is truly disappointing is that Tun Dr. Mahathir has refused to acknowledge his role in the lack of development in East Malaysia. It is one thing to easily shift the blame to the late prime ministers but it is an entirely different thing when a leader does not owns up to his lack of action. Tun Dr. Mahathir was in power for 22 years. He had over two decades to undo what the former leaders had done. He could have restored Sarawak rights as envisioned under the Malaysia Agreement 1963. Likewise Tun Dr. Mahathir should have amended the Petroleum Resources & Petroleum Development Act 1974 so the state would receive a bigger amount of oil earnings. But neither materialized simply because he benefitted from the status quo. Tun Dr. Mahathir lacked the political will to act in the interest of Sarawak.

It will be the first time in Malaysia’s history the upcoming polls will be fiercely fought by all parties. As a seasoned politician Tun Dr. Mahathir has honed his skills to perfection. The electorate should be wary of his false pretenses.

– Malaysian Access

OUTRAGE! - Najib's Secret Deal With China To Pay Off 1MDB (And Jho Low's) Debts! - SHOCK EXCLUSIVE

Marked “For Internal Use Only” an Appendix to a Term Sheet due to be approved by the Malaysian Cabinet tomorrow (27th July) lays out in detailed figures how  Najib plans for over US$7 billion in accumulated 1MDB/Jho Low company debts to be wiped out by taxpayers in a secret deal between his Ministry of Finance and the Chinese state company CCCC (China Communications Construction Company).

The PM’s ‘cunning plan’ is to get the Malaysian Government to agree to inflate the actual cost of the East Coast Rail Project from only RM30 billion to RM60 billion, all to be borrowed from the Chinese Government, in order to disguise the payment of 1MDB’s (and Jho Low’s) company debts!
Sarawak Report can reveal the secret figures behind the deal, which has been inflated 100% to hide the payments for 1MDB!

Sarawak Report can reveal the secret figures behind the deal, which has been inflated 100% to hide the payments for 1MDB!

A whistleblower, who has supplied full details of the project, described the plan to Sarawak Report:
“The Malaysian Government is planning to award an overvalued project to launder money in order to fill the loophole of 1MDB.

The plan is to award the East Coast Rail Project to a Chinese Company, China Communication Construction Company Limited (CCCC). The initial budget for the project is MYR 30b, but they have overvalued the project for another MYR 30b, making it MYR 60b. The extra MYR 30b will be use to launder out cash to 1MDB related companies.
The project has been proposed to the cabinet on 25/7/2016 and will be approved by the cabinet on 27/7/2016 with total value of MYR 60b.
The Chinese company, which is backed by the China Government, will help pay off the 1MDB dept in advance and progressively. In return, this Chinese company will be rewarded with high profits and land, and of course extra influence with the Malaysian government”.
Doubling the cost of mega-project

The outrageous plan is blatantly laid out in the term sheet and internal report, which have been leaked to Sarawak Report.

The report says baldly that the actual cost of building the railway, has only been estimated by CCCC at RM27 billion. However, there is to be a so-called “Additional Differential” cost of RM29.85 billion, which will more than double the cost to make a total bill of RM60 billion, including a fat percentage of profit for the company (handily based on the total and not just the construction costs):
Najib plans to double the cost of the Railway to RM60 billion to hide his 1MDB missing money
Najib plans to double the cost of the Railway to RM60 billion to hide his 1MDB missing money
The company makes no bones about the incentives provided by the Malaysian Government in this “Direct Contract”, meaning that there was no open tender to get the best deal for the project.
CCCC says it has been given land on generous terms, including a chunk of land which was given cheap by Najib to 1MDB, then inflated in value at Ayer Item – the land which is valued at US$1.3 billion will be offered to CCCC for US$850 million.

CCCC will also gets tax breaks including from GST for the next ten years. And then, as a Chinese State-owned company CCCC notes the benefit of the extended influence over Malaysia the project and the massive loan of the cash (at a generous 2% interest rate) will provide.
So much for Najib Razak’s much vaunted ‘inward investment’ plans from fellow Islamic countries and his stirring of hatred against the so-called ‘Chinese Tsunami’!


What is in this deceitful deal for the Chinese? Just take a look!

Sneaking 1MDB’s debts into the project
The quid pro quo for the Chinese partners in this lucrative deal is to assist in Najib’s corrupted exit strategy for getting shot of his multi-billion dollar debts at 1MDB at a total cost of US$5.63 billion!
The first priority being to get 1MDB off the hook over its outstanding payments to Abu Dhabi’s IPIC.  In the first instance this will be achieved through the payment of the $850 million to 1MDB for the Ayer Item land, but after that the company will assume the repayment of the remaining debts for the disastrous ‘power purchase’ and ‘strategic partnership loans’ which lost billions (mainly stolen).
The Malaysian taxpayer will of course have to pay the whole lot back with interest over the next 7 years in payments, all planned to be disguised by the inflated Rail Project!

Sneaking a write off of 1MDB’s debts in an up-front payment

Laughably, this outlay is set to be disguised by a repayment in ‘assets’ valued to the same amount of US$5.63 billion.  The assets concerned are largely duds – vaunted ‘liquid and cash assets’ tucked away by 1MDB in dodgy bank accounts, including the 1MDB Brazen Sky account at BSI (alleged worth $940 milllion) and also the supposed assets of 1MDB Global at BSI, (alleged worth US$1.56 billion).

Significantly, we note that the 1MDB Global money, which was raised through a Goldman Sachs loan, is now also described as ‘Units’, raising the probability that these are in fact worthless pieces of paper representing bogus investments, similar to the ‘Units’ in Brazen Sky, which would imply, that like the PetroSaudi funds, the billions raised by 1MDB Global have all been stolen:
Worthless 'units' from Brazen Sky and 1MDB Global are being dumped into the deal as if they had been 'bought', whereas in fact all costs are being separately covered by the 'additional items' on the inflated projected

Worthless ‘units’ from Brazen Sky and 1MDB Global are being dumped into the deal as if they had been ‘bought’, whereas in fact all costs are being separately covered by the ‘additional items’ on the inflated projected

List of Payments totals US$7.5 billion/ RM29.8 billion
Just last week the United States DOJ explained in searing detail how all that missing 1MDB money, which is now being sneaked onto the East Coast Rail tab, was stolen by Najib and his family and associates, including Jho Low and IPIC’s Khadem Al Qubaisi, to be spent on gambling, drinking, jets, yachts, record-breaking fine art purchases(in many cases depicting under-dressed female forms).
The report sheet in our possession lays out in precise detail what CCCC/The Chinese Government has agreed to funnel through the project, in order to get Najib off the hook on all his problems.
The astonishing list contained in an Appendix to the agreement is clearly costed and totals over US$7,5 billion. It includes writing off 1MDB’s debts to the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund IPIC, which is currently suing 1MDB to the tune of US$6.5 billion over unpaid guarantees.


RM30 billion ‘Added Differential’ ie bail out for 1MDB and Jho Low

Bailing out Jho Low’s companies also!!
Significantly, the list also includes an agreement to buy out two Jho Low related companies, which have long been suspiciously associated with Najib’s record of personal plunder from 1MDB.  These are Loh & Loh Corporation Berhad and Putrajaya Perdana Berhad, for which Jho Low and his partners will receive a healthy US$315 million:

Jho Low related companies which funnelled money to Najib are also in the secret bail out package!
Jho Low related companies which funnelled money to Najib are also in the secret bail out package!
Sarawak Report has long since exposed how Jho Low used 1MDB money, which was secretly channeled through a so-called Islamic loan agreement with the company PetroSaudi to ‘buy out’ the Sarawak UBG group in which he and Taib Mahmud held the major stakes.

The purported buyer was Javace Sdn Bhd, a supposed subsidiary of PetroSaudi International, Seychelles (a bogus subsidiary of PetroSaudi, whose Director was Tarek Obaid, also a director of PetroSaudi). However, secret transactions obtained by Sarawak Report showed that all the money in Javace was controlled by a company Panama Investment Manager, which was owned by Jho Low.
The two subsidiaries of UBG Putrajaya Perdana and Loh & Loh are still identified as crony companies controlled by Low and Putrajaya Perdana was identified by investigators as having played a key role in funnelling cash from 1MDB’s subsidiary SRC into Najib’s own personal accounts:
The diagram held up by Attorney General Apandi showing Putrajaya Perdana's role in passing public money to Najib



Plainly therefore, Najib hopes to use his over-reaching powers at the MOF/PM’s office to launder all his dirty linen through the same simple mega-project, courtesy of secret and politically motivated Chinese cooperation.

Public estimate leaves out the 1MDB costs and commitments?
A huge sum of RM85 million is also put aside in the contract for a ‘nominated company’ to be awarded a “publicity” and “communications” and “strategic consultation” role on the project – no guesses that this will go to a crony outfit.

Finally, also attached to the papers is a totally conflicting set of calculations, which are not listed as being “only for internal consumption” and which appear to represent the public face of the planned deal.  These consist of a broad-brush, ‘back of the envelope’ set of figures, which provide a broad estimate for the project at the fuller figure of RM60 billion.

In this list there is no mention of any of the costs due to be carried for 1MDB!
Public figures?  How the same project is being costed  at RM60 billion, but with no mention of 1MDB

Public figures? How the same project is being costed at RM60 billion, but with no mention of 1MDB
The agreement is due to be passed by Najib’s compliant cabinet….. about now!

Why and why religion only causes hardships

Courtesy.....Anonymous Ex-Muslim on why he left religion.

"What really broke it was the morals. 

“....made me believe in things I did not want to believe. 

“I don't want the homosexual to be killed. 

“I don't want men to have concubines. 

“I don't think a woman's testimony is worth half of man. 

“I don't think the woman deserves half the inheritance of a man. 

“I don't want fornicators to be punished for simply following an innocent teenager instinct. 

“I don't think masturbation is wrong. 

“I don't want apostates to be killed or jailed. 

“I don't want court evidence to only rely on testimony. 

“I don't want a theocracy. 

“I want to have doubts about everything and not feel guilty about it.

“I decided to read another document of morals, the The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

“It was so sublime, it was...beautiful...

“I cried when I read it for the first time. 

“Honestly, in terms of justice and equality,....... 

“Not only that, I realized that all the humanity in me already existed, even without religion."

TOPPLING NAJIB IS NOW EASY: BUOYED BY RED-HOT WELCOME IN SARAWAK & SABAH, HARAPAN NOW GUNS FOR TWO-THIRD MAJORITY FOR LANDMARK REFORMS AT GE14

Tonight’s ceramah in Kuching is unique and special, since the re-ignition of new hope and expectations among Malaysians with regard to the next 14th General Election since July 14, following the announcement of a new Pakatan Harapan structure, Pakatan Harapan logo and new PH leadership line-up.

I was with the Pakatan Harapan Chairman, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at the DAP “Sayangi Malaysia, Hapuskan Kleptokrasi” dinner in Penang last night, and today, I flew into Kuching, transiting at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.


Wherever I went today, especially when transiting in KLIA and on arrival in Kuching, there was a throb in the air, a fervor and great expectation with people regardless of region, race or religion coming up to me in anticipation of something significant happening in Kuching today.

This is the why there is such a huge turn-out of the people of Kuching and Sarawak from all communities at the Pakatan Harapan ceramah tonight despite the heavy rain for the soft-launch of the Pakatan Harapan manifesto for Sarawak and Sabah.

The people of Sarawak and Malaysia have been waiting political change, a “New Deal, New Hope” for more than half a century, and they are not going to allow inclement conditions, whether of the weather or the political situation, to stand in the way.

Sarawak has been regarded a “fixed deposit” of Barisan Nasional, but like other former BN “fixed deposits” especially the states of Johore and Malacca, Sarawak is now an important “key” to political change in Malaysia in the 14GE.

Two significant events took place in the past week in Sarawak and Sabah.

Firstly, there was the continued abuse of immigration autonomy powers by the Sarawak Chief Minister in the refusal to allow two PKR MPs entry into Sarawak and the ejection of a PKR Perak State Assemblywoman yesterday.

The Malaysia Agreement 1963 conferred immigrant autonomy powers to Sarawak and Sabah, but as provided in Section 67 of the Immigration Act 1959/63, no Malaysian citizen should be barred from entering Sarawak and Sabah “for the sole purpose of engaging in legitimate political activity”.

DAP and Pakatan Harapan are committed to the review of Malaysia Agreement 1963 and necessary constitutional adjustments and re-arrangements to uphold both the word and spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 to ensure “New Deal, New Hope” for Sarawakians and Sabahans, but how can the Sarawak and Sabah Chief Ministers ask for a fair and equitable review of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and the Federal Constitution when they are in the forefront in blatantly abusing their powers and the provisions in Malaysia Agreement 1963?





I had been a victim of such abuses of powers of Malaysia Agreement 1963 when 43 years ago, in 1974, I was first barred entry into Sarawak.

We have with us tonight Sdr. Ting Ling Kiew, four-term MP for Bintulu from 1974 to 1990, who was with me at the Kuching Airport on that day in 1974. We objected to the abuse of powers of immigration autonomy in Malaysia Agreement 1963, and who took me to spend a night in Borneo Hotel, Kuching as the last flight out of Kuching that day had already left.

Will the Sarawak Chief Minister announce that henceforth there will be no abuse of powers of the immigrant autonomy under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 and that no Pakatan Harapan leaders from Peninsular Malaysia will be barred from entry into Sarawak “for the sole purpose of engaging in legitimate political activity”?

The second significant event was the speech by the former Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Rahim Noor at a forum “Malaysia in the Future” in Kota Kinabalu on Tuesday where he warned Umno that its concessions to PAS, particularly over the controversial Islamic penal code hudud, could lose it Sabah and Sarawak support.

I have a lot of differences with Rahim Noor, in particular the infamous black-eye which he inflicted on former Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in 1998, but he has paid his dues for his greatest mistake in his life with jail time, a fine and loss of position as the top policeman in the land.

However, I am not shy to declare that I appreciate his warning that the federal government would not only lose the goodwill and support of the East Malaysian states, the latter may even agitate to leave the Federation if the government submits to PAS’ demands to implement hudud, “inch by inch”, just to ensure that Umno remains in power.

Abdul Rahim Noor warned that “”If people’s anxiety over the issue of religion gets heated up, Malaysia may be thrown into chaos” as “Sabah and Sarawak may think twice whether to continue to be in Malaysia or not”.

The former Inspector-General of Police stressed that the Federation of Malaysia was never meant to be an Islamic country because if it was, Sabah and Sarawak would never have agreed to it.

He said when the idea of Malaysia was mooted, religion was the main issue addressed by the Cobbold Commission.

“The people in the Bornean states, all of them, regardless of race and religion, did not want an official religion for the new federation.

“The demand was reasonable. After all, there are many Muslim-majority countries in the world that do not have Islam as their official religion, for example Egypt and Indonesia, a country with the highest number of Muslims in the world.”

I call on the Chief Ministers of the Sarawak and Sabah, as well as all Barisan Nasional Ministers and MPs from Sarawak and Sabah, to publicly endorse the stand of the former Inspector-General of Police, for it concerns one of the bedrock nation-building principles of the country as well as one of the fundamental terms and conditions for Sarawak and Sabah’s agreement to form the Malaysian Federation in 1963.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, claimed success for his National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) programme.

I confess I do not understand what Najib is talking about. Is he claiming success for the NBOS programme for achieving the following three things:



Malaysia becoming overnight as a global kleptocracy under his premiership;
his support of US President’s “America First” policy by offering three “value propositions” during his visit to White House and meeting with Trump to “strengthen the US economy”;
the closure one by one throughout Malaysia of Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (KRIM) to benefit urban Malaysians with low-income levels, by selling basic necessities like rice, cooking oil, milk powder and diapers at prices, 30 to 50 percent lower than at other supermarkets?
Earlier today, Najib ridiculed Pakatan Harapan as one opposition pact that is “laughable”, whose relationship among component parties is nothing but a “marriage of convenience” and that the different Pakatan Harapan leaders from the component parties “sleep in same bed, but with different dreams”.

Let me tell Najib tonight that Pakatan Harapan leaders, whether DAP, PKR, Amanah or Pribumi Bersatu, whether Tun Dr. Mahathir, Anwar Ibrahim, Mat Sabu or myself – we all have one common dream and one objective, which is to topple Najib, UMNO and BN through the ballox box in the 14GE to give Malaysians a “New Deal, New Hope”.

If there is swing of 10% of the Malay voters and 5% of the non-Malay voters from UMNO/Barisan Nasional to Pakatan Harapan in the 14GE as compared to the 13GE, Pakatan Harapan would win 113 of the 165 parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia, leaving 50 to BN and two to PAS.

Together with support from Sarawak and Sabah, Pakatan Harapan may have 125 to 130 out of 222 parliamentary seats to form the new Pakatan Harapan Federal Government.

But this is not enough to achieve a two-thirds parliamentary majority of at least 149 out of the 222 parliamentary seats, to ensure that there can be constitutional re-arrangements following a fair and equitable review of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 to provide “New Hope, New Deal” to Sarawakians, Sabahans as well as all Malaysians.

Can Sarawak and Sabah provide the 36 Members of Parliament for Pakatan Harapan to ensure Pakatan Harapan has the two-thirds parliamentary majority in 14GE to ensure “New Deal, New Hope” from a fair and just constitutional re-arrangements based on review of Malaysia Agreement 1963?

This is one of the greatest challenges of the forthcoming 14GE!

– https://blog.limkitsiang.com

How US TV News Covered Najib's Visit to The White House - OUCH!

Malaysians are all familiar with the propaganda spin put out on the government-controlled media about Najib’s visit to the US.

Despite the disastrous revelations about how the Prime Minister went promising vast investments to curry favour, the inevitable messaging has been that the visit acted as ‘proof’ that Najib is not being investigated by the DOJ after all and that the whole 1MDB case is a cooked up tale by the opposition.

So, it is worth watching how Najib has been portrayed on US TV instead, which Malaysians can do, thanks to the internet (despite bans against Sarawak Report). Below we offer the video and transcript of the report put out just a few days ago by NBC reflecting on the significance of the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Unit that has been investigating Najib and 1MDB.

Malaysians can judge by such statements as “that Malaysian Prime Minister is at the centre of a gigantic Department of Justice corruption prosecution” and “This kleptocracy money laundering probe, like the one they have got against the Malaysian Prime Minister” that American TV News has taken a very different perspective to Malaysian TV News on this matter.

TRANSCRIPT (highlights): We had been planning to report about something called the kleptocracy asset recovery initiative, which was started by FBI Director Eric Holder during the Obama administration.

Last week the President hosted the Prime Minister of Malaysia at the White House – given all the other things going on in the White House last week it was not the highest profile story in the world, but that visit by the Malaysian Prime Minister was notable in terms of corruption and law enforcement and high public officials finding themselves in the crosshairs of US law enforcement, because that Malaysian Prime Minister is at the centre of a gigantic Department of Justice corruption prosecution. The Department of Justice is trying to recover well over a billion dollars in assets, everything from movie rights to private jets, through apartments to hotels, all things that were purchased with money that was allegedly stolen from the people of Malaysia, from the government of that country.

That money was stolen from Malaysia, but it was laundered in the United States by buying stuff in the United States and the Justice Department has been heavily and aggressively involved in this gigantic corruption case to try to get that stuff back.

So, President Trump bringing that Prime Minister of Malaysia to the White House, while that Prime Minister is in the middle of a gigantic corruption investigation by the US Justice Department, that of course was the White House and this President spitting in the eye of the FBI and the Justice Department… but that ends up being important beyond just that insult to law enforcement, because aside from Malaysia, the other known major target of the FBI’s Kleptocracy Asset Recoverty Initiative – the other major target other than Malaysia is Ukraine – specifically this guy who is also believed to have looted his country’s treasury for his own benefit, and who the FBI has been chasing ever sincetrying to find out where Victor Yanukovitch stashed all his money and where and how he laundered it, so that the stolen assets can be located and recovered and given back to the people of Ukraine, that is a major FBI effort under this kleptocracy initiative ….. This kleptocracy money laundering probe, like the one they have got against the Malaysian Prime Minister, they have also had against the deposed Ukranian dictator that Paul Manafort worked for, that’s why they were listening in on him….. they were already deep into Paul Manafort before the [US Presidential] campaign started..

AUTO-TRANSLATION:
Kami telah merancang untuk melaporkan tentang sesuatu yang dipanggil inisiatif pemulihan aset kleptokrasi, yang dimulakan oleh Pengarah FBI Eric Holder semasa pentadbiran Obama.

Minggu lalu, Presiden menjadi tuan rumah Perdana Menteri Malaysia di White House – memandangkan semua perkara lain yang berlaku di White House minggu lepas bukanlah cerita profil tertinggi di dunia, tapi lawatan Perdana Menteri Malaysia itu terkenal di terma-terma rasuah dan penguatkuasaan undang-undang dan para pegawai tinggi yang menemui diri mereka dalam penyebaran undang-undang penguatkuasaan undang-undang AS, kerana Perdana Menteri Malaysia berada di tengah-tengah pendakwaan rasuah Jabatan Kehakiman yang raksasa. Jabatan Kehakiman berusaha untuk mendapatkan lebih dari satu bilion dolar aset, segalanya dari hak filem ke jet swasta, melalui pangsapuri ke hotel, semua barang yang dibeli dengan wang yang didakwa dicuri dari rakyat Malaysia, dari kerajaan negara itu.

Wang itu dicuri dari Malaysia, tetapi ia telah dibasuh di Amerika Syarikat dengan membeli barangan di Amerika Syarikat dan Jabatan Keadilan telah terlibat secara besar-besaran dan agresif dalam kes rasuah raksasa ini untuk cuba mendapatkan semula barangan tersebut.

Oleh itu, Presiden Trump membawa Perdana Menteri Malaysia ke Rumah Putih, sementara Perdana Menteri berada di tengah-tengah penyelidikan rasuah raksasa oleh Jabatan Keadilan AS, yang tentunya adalah Gedung Putih dan Presiden ini meludah di mata FBI dan Jabatan Keadilan … tetapi yang akhirnya menjadi penting melampaui penghinaan terhadap penguatkuasaan undang-undang, kerana selain dari Malaysia, sasaran utama yang lain yang dikenali sebagai Inisiatif Kemiskinan Aset Kleptokrasi FBI – sasaran utama lain selain Malaysia ialah Ukraine – khususnya lelaki ini yang juga dipercayai telah menjarah perbendaharaan negaranya untuk faedahnya sendiri, dan siapa yang FBI telah mengejar sejak cuba mencari tahu di mana Victor Yanukovitch memusnahkan semua wangnya dan di mana dan bagaimana dia membasuhnya, supaya aset yang dicuri itu boleh terletak dan pulih dan diberikan kembali kepada rakyat Ukraina, yang merupakan usaha FBI utama di bawah inisiatif kleptokrasi … .. Ini kleptocracy money launder seperti yang mereka lakukan terhadap Perdana Menteri Malaysia, mereka juga telah menentang diktator Ukraine yang digulingkan bahawa Paul Manafort bekerja, sebab itulah mereka mendengar tentang dia … .. mereka sudah jauh ke dalam Paul Manafort sebelum Kempen [Presiden AS] bermula ..

Life comes full circle

You Dare Show disrespect to the PM? GOOD! Saya Sokong!

Polis Pengiring Kalut Bila Kenderaan Orang Ramai Tidak Beri Laluan Kepada Kereta Perdana Menteri !
September 24, 2017 admin Viral
Polis Pengiring KALUT Bila Kenderaan Orang Ramai Tidak Beri Laluan Kepada Kereta Perdana Menteri!
Saya dalam perjalanan ke Sri Petaling untuk satu lagi kelas personal coaching.
Tiba-tiba di belakang saya ada beberapa buah superbike Polis Trafik yang memberi arahan kepada semua kereta ke tepi untuk memberi laluan kepada VVIP di belakangnya.
Saya dengan muka bodohnya buat bodoh dengan arahan polis trafik tersebut sehingga kereta VVIP tersebut terpaksa memasuki lorong kanan saya. Saya melihat nombor pendaftaran keretanya, rupanya kereta rasmi Najib.
Apa yang menariknya, saya ingat saya seorang saja yang tidak memberikan laluan, rupa-rupanya semua kereta di depan saya juga buat bodoh dengan arahan Polis Trafik itu sehingga Polis Trafik itu kelihatan kalut tak tahu nak buat apa-apa apabila kereta-kereta yang lain buat tak tahu dan enggan memberikan laluan.
Syabas rakyat Malaysia, anda memperjuangkan hak anda. Kami tak marah polis yang menjalankan tugas, kami cuma mahu menyuruh menteri amalkan apa yang menteri sarankan kepada rakyat iaitu:
Kalau tak nak bayar tol dan elak jalan sesak, sila bangun awal pagi
Jadi, menteri kalau tak nak menghadap jalan sesak, hangpa bangun pagi atau balik kerja lewatlah bhai. Tak pun naik saja pengangkutan awam, kata berjiwa rakyat.
Tak teringat pula nak rakam gambar polis dan kereta Najib itu yang kelihatan tidak tentu arah kerana gagal meloloskan diri dari jalan sesak. Terpana dengan panaroma yang jarang-jarang dapat dilihat ini.
– Fadzil Khairi.

CHRIST CHURCH MELAKA

Quotes from Robert Mugabe.

1) "When your clothes are made of cassava leaves, you don’t take a goat as a friend."

2) "If you are ugly, you are ugly. Stop talking about inner beauty because men don’t walk around with X-ray machines to see inner beauty"

3) "When one’s goat gets missing, the aroma of a neighbour’s soup gets suspicious."

4) "Treat every part of your towel nicely because the part that wipes your buttocks today will wipe your face tomorrow"

5) "Sometimes you look back at girls you spent money on rather than send it to your mum and you realise witchcraft is real"

6) "If President Barack Obama wants me to allow marriage for same-sex couples in my country (Zimbabwe), he must come here so that I marry him first."

7) "What is the problem with deporting white men from Africa? We now have aeroplanes which can take them back quicker than the ships used by their ancestors."

8) "Cigarette is a pinch of tobacco rolled in a piece of paper with fire on one end and a fool on the other end.

9) Interviewer: "Mr President, when are you bidding the people of Zimbabwe farewell?"

Robert Mugabe: "Where are they going?"

10) "if I am given chance to travel through time, I will go back to 1952 and find Tun Razak, Najib's father and give him a condom"

More Internal Sabotage? MO1 Made To Look Like A Fool Again

The past few weeks MO1 has been making a real fool of himself again and again. That 'major announcement at 4:45 pm' was a major bungle.

You know it was a bungle because none of the media even bothered to report that just two days after the event, Mike Tyson has been sucked up by aliens ! Just kidding. Meaning he  has become a non issue again.

The other major PR bungle was MO1 pledging to Donald Trump  "to invest"  RM100 Billion in the USA (had to revise the figure upwards) in just 5 minutes and 58 seconds! Boy that was stupid.

He pledged for MAS to buy Boeing when MAS has just ordered more Airbuses. Maybe he thinks Trump is another village idiot like him.

Then he told the Indians that he is the father of  'pembangunan kaum India' or some crap like that. I received the following (its gone viral) written by someone called Shukur Mohamad (dont know if it is a real person or not.) 

The point is it is so easy to make MO1 look so stupid. Obviously either the people around him are stupid dimwits who are making the boss look so stupid OR  the people around him are NOT stupid dimwits who are making the boss look so stupid !!

You can read Shukur Mohamad's rebuttal and see how easy it is to debunk MO1.

Here is Shukur:

*HOBI NAJIB ADALAH MEMBOHONG*

Dalam majlis MIC di PWTC, di hadapan masyarakat India, Najib buat sekian kalinya MEMBOHONG.

Kali ini Najib berbohong berkenaan GST di NEGARA INDIA dengan mengatakan GST di India adalah sebanyak 28%.

Maka bertepuklah perwakilan masyarakat India di dalam majlis MIC itu sambil mengangguk-anggukkan kepala.

Makcik JR, Pak Naib, Ketua Cawangan UMNO, penjilat pungk_k Najib dua kali laju angguknya dari perwakilan India di dalam majlis MIC itu apabila mendengar PEMBOHONGAN NAJIB itu.

Dah tidak terkira berapa banyak NAJIB BERBOHONG kepada rakyat negara ini.

Buka mulut sahaja, anak Tun Razak itu pasti BERBOHONG.

Kepada PEMBOHONG PALING BESAR DALAM MALAYSIA INI SAYA NAK BAGITAU , GST 28% itu dikenakan untuk PEMBELIAN AIR CONDITION DAN PETI SEJUK.

GST untuk rakyat MARHAEN (DI INDIA)  ADALAH SEBANYAK 5% sahaja.

Manakala bahan-bahan asas keperluan rakyat negara India tidak di kenakan cukai pun.

Dan bagi cukai perkhidmatan pula, INDIA tidak mengenakan cukai atas :

- PELAJARAN
- KESIHATAN
- PERUMAHAN
- HOTEL YANG BERHARGA DI BAWAH INR 1000 ATAU RM 64.

Manakala 5% cukai dikenakan atas :

- Tiket keretapi (selain dari coach tidur)
- Penerbangan kelas ekonomi
- Teksi
- Ruang pengiklanan.

Manakala GST perkhidmatan 28% di kenakan atas :

- Tiket wayang
- Judi dan pertaruhan
- Hotel di atas tarif INR7500 atau RM485.00

Untuk pengetahuan Najib dan makcik JR angka 28% itu untuk golongan menengah ke atas.

Bukan seperti di Malaysia dari golongan OKU, Miskin, Miskin Tegar di pukul rata sama sahaja.

Kenapa ada perbezaan antara GST Malaysia dan India❓❓❓❓❓

JAWAPANNYA :

DI MALAYSIA ADA TANGGUNGAN HUTANG YANG DI BUAT OLEH 1MDB YANG MEMAKSA RAKYAT MEMBAYARNYA WALAUPUN MISKIN.

MANAKALA DI INDIA GST DI KUTIP MENGIKUT PERBEZAAN TARAF HIDUP DAN YANG PASTINYA DI INDIA TIADA 1MDB.

Tapi nak buat macam mana Najib sendiri tidak tahu dan tidak pandai mengira kerana 25-9=14.

Walaupun Najib BERBOHONG , PEMBOHONGAN NAJIB itu pasti akan di "back up" oleh Puad Zakarshi , Aziz Kaprawi , Ahmad Maslan , Annuar Musa , Idris Haron , Noh Omar , Azalina Othman , dan makcik-makcik JR serta cybertrooper dan penjilat pungk_k Najib.

Rakyat Malaysia WAJIB MENOLAK KERAJAAN KLEPTOKRASI INI DI DALAM PRU AKAN DATANG.

*SHUKUR MOHAMAD*

My comments :  Isnt there anyone inside MO1's team who can fact check his speeches? Just Google 'Modi and GST' and you should be able to get all the info you need about the Indian GST which Shukur Mohamad has assembled above. Apa susah sangat?

Someone or a few people inside his team are seriously tripping him up. Or I am wrong and the guy is indeed just incredibly stupid.

Third option : Maybe both are happening.
Posted by Syed Akbar Ali

Shopping Malls Struggling in Greater Kuala Lumpur Malaysia

  

private consumption of shoppers dropped to 6.3% in 4th qtr 2016 

from 9% in 1st quarter of 2015

Greater KL has 120 malls, 10 more set to open or launch soon.

recent exits of Bulgogi Brothers, Tim Ho Wan and Tous Les Jours

not necessarily retail industry thriving.

malls in suburban areas dropped rentals by 0.7% year-on-year
rental ground floor RM10,000 to RM20,000 depending on size and location.

Suburban malls 20- 25% less for the same.

many retail centres, malls within Greater KL struggling 

shoppers’ overall sentiment remained weak 

suburban areas daily footfall down 25% especially on weekends.

Household consumption not recovered to prior (GST) 

consumer sentiment 80 points, below desired 100 points

rural and semi-urban areas rising cost of living hit harder 

rate of wage rises and employment much lower 

Premier malls still doing well

Suria KLCC, Pavilion, and Mid Valley performing well 

My comments :  Premier malls doing well because these are mostly patronised by higher income people (who are mostly non Melayus).  Lets thank Allah that some people in the country can still do an honest day's work and earn good incomes. 

Imagine if those people also have problems - then Mid Valley, KLCC Suria and Pavillion would also have to shut down. So let us be thankful that these few malls are still doing very well.

But other than that all the middle to lower middle market type malls are facing difficulties. Quite a few Aeons have shut down. 

Outside the malls,  the regular shops and small businesses are also suffering. Kedai Rakyat 1 Malaysia has shut down. Cake shops have shut down (birthday cakes are luxuries for many people).

The country is grinding down to a halt.  I have been saying this since the GST was implemented in 2015.  And I have been right. Kedai Rakyat 1 Malaysia has shut down. Re-read the Malay Mail story above.

Here is another prediction I want to make - if the kleptocrats win the general elections, that major petrol station operator may face problems in about two years.  

 

Surat Dari Ibu Penuntut UITM vs Duterte signs free tuition bill into law

A reader from Sabah sent me the following (Thank you Puan. Nice to hear from you again) :

1.  Hi how are you Syed?  Been following your blog as usual using  ___

My daughter is a student at UiTM ____, thus pertaining to your post on 25 September, 2017 I would like to confirm that UiTM does impose the RM30 electricity bill per student per semester. 

That's for three (3) electrical gadgets only per student eg. mobile phone, laptop, printer.  If the students are found to be using more than three electrical items that they have registered with UiTM for instance iron (seterika), mosquito repellant etc then these will be forfeited by tbe Unit Pengurusan Kolej when they do their regular spotchecks on the students' rooms. 

Items forfeited are returnable with compound payment of RM10 per item.  If they raid tbe students five times per semester the university gets to collect RM50 per item per student.

Not only that Syed, the students are also being scrutinised and policed for the way they dress, their hair must be black at all times.  Even though there is no compulsion to wear the tudung for the Muslim female students but if anyone is found to have the slightest brown glimpse on her crown, Muslim or non Muslim then she must wear tudung to cover unblack hair. 

The students are also scrutinised for wearing skirts that are not ankle long.  And try sneaking out wearing a round collar t-shirt on a weekend...you will be compounded with a RM50 fine. 

The police bantuan just cannot care less if the students have enough money for food or not.

If I have to note down here there are so many other things that cause grief to UiTM students especially when the institution sees them like school children and not university students. 

That's it for now Syed.  Do continue writing, take care and God bless you.

Regards


2.  Then someone else, also a regular reader, sent me this (thank you Pak Tuan. Much obliged)  :

Assalammualaikum wbt Dear Tuan Syed,

The enclosed article refers.

Rakyat Filipina 100 juta dan GNPnya rendah daripada Malaysia tetapi dia boleh bagi free tuition yakni pendidikan percuma kepada rakyat dipengajian tinggi.

Mengapa dan macam mana dia boleh buat begitu ? Adakah kerana di Filipina tiada ameno, MO1 dan Kak Ros ?

Wallahalam,thanks.

Thank you. Here is the story:


Duterte signs free tuition bill into law

CNN Philippines
Sat, August 5, 2017

Pres Duterte signed on Aug 3 law free education
for 1m students in public tertiary, vocational schools nationwide.

Republic Act 10931 or "Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act"
full tuition subsidy for students in State universities, colleges, technical-vocational schools.


law covers "library fees, computer fees, laboratory fees, school ID fees, athletic fees, admission fees, development fees, guidance fees, handbook fees, entrance fees, registration fees, medical and dental fees, cultural and other similar or related fees."

provides stipend for poor students

2017 budget P8 billion allotted for free tuition

My comments :  The Filipinos are getting their priorities right. 

Someone I know just returned from a 10 day vacation in India. He says "India needs communism".  The disparities there are so great. They need shock treatment.

The Philippines is undertaking some shock treatment. They have to educate their people.  This 1 million student population includes vocational education. There are 100 million Filipinos. 1 million going to university is only 1% of the population.  A drop in the ocean.
They are making a political decision, with great will power. They will find the money to fund the free education. Even if they can keep up this free education for just 10 years, the Philippines would have produced at least 10 million new graduates. 

They will not become janitors and maids.
Posted by Syed Akbar Ali

BOMBSHELL – NAJIB & JHO LOW’S TOP SECRETS HACKED: DEADLY DETAILS OF 1MDB’S WORLD RECORD-BREAKING THEFT UP FOR GRABS AFTER DELOITTE & KPMG HACKED BY ‘SOPHISTICATED’ MYSTERY GROUP

The Guardian has reported:

One of the world’s “big four” accountancy firms has been targeted by a sophisticated hack that compromised the confidential emails and plans of some of its blue-chip clients, the Guardian can reveal.


Deloitte, which is registered in London and has its global headquarters in New York, was the victim of a cybersecurity attack that went unnoticed for months.

One of the largest private firms in the US, which reported a record $37bn (£27.3bn) revenue last year, Deloitte provides auditing, tax consultancy and high-end cybersecurity advice to some of the world’s biggest banks, multinational companies, media enterprises, pharmaceutical firms and government agencies.

The Guardian understands Deloitte clients across all of these sectors had material in the company email system that was breached. The companies include household names as well as US government departments.

Delloite’s other clients include Malaysia’s !MDB. All that the firm learnt of 1MDB’s world record breaking theft  is probably now in the hands of the hackers, ready to be deployed at will.

References

DOJ info would have impacted 1 MDB audit, Deloitte says-Deloitte admits it missed billions in fraudulent transactions-Msian partnership might take international firm the way of Arthur Andersen

Looks  like Deloitte will join KPMG:

Is KPMG International being “EnRoned”? : Fallout from Malaysia’s 1 MDB scandal may cost KPMG USD 10 billion

DOJ info would have impacted audit, Deloitte says
37 comments     Published Today 11:57 am     Updated Today 12:57 pm



Deloitte Malaysia said its audit of 1MDB in 2013 and 2014 would have been impacted if it had known at that time the information contained in the United States Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuits to seize 1MDB-linked assets.
As such, 1MDB’s 2013 and 2014 financial statements, which the auditing firm signed off on March 28, 2014 and Nov 5, 2014, “should no longer be relied upon”, it said in a statement.

“The complaint (filed by DOJ) contains information, which, if known at the time of the 2013 and 2014 audits of 1MDB, would have impacted the financial statements and affected the audit reports and, accordingly, those audit reports issued by Deloitte Malaysia dated March 28, 2014 and Nov 5, 2014 respectively in connection with the 2013 and 2014 financial statements of 1MDB should no longer be relied upon,” Deloitte said in a statement.

This comes after 1MDB announced that Deloitte is quitting as 1MDB’s auditor, making it the third audit firm to part ways with 1MDB since its inception in 2009.

Deloitte notified 1MDB of its intention to quit in February, the state investment said in a statement yesterday.
Deloitte remains 1MDB auditor until a replacement is appointed, 1MDB said.

1MDB’s accounts from 2010 to 2012 were audited by KPMG, but the firm’s services were terminated in December 2013.
According to the Public Accounts Committee report on 1MDB, KPMG was fired after it refused to sign off on the accounts without details of investments worth US$2.32 billion.

KPMG signed off on the accounts after Abu Dhabi’s International Petroleum Investment Compny guaranteed an investment, the PAC report said.

The Wall Street Journal reported another audit firm Ernst & Young was fired in 2010 for raising similar questions.
The DOJ is seeking to seize more than US$1 billion of assets it said were purchased using funds siphoned from 1MDB.
The 1MDB board yesterday said it is confident of no wrongdoing.

However, it is taking precautionary measures by discounting its 2013 and 2014 financial statements until the DOJ lawsuits have been dealt with in court.

– http://realpolitikasia.blogspot.my

THE KURDISH VOTE FOR INDEPENDENCE

More Middle East Rock and Roll : The first Kurdish Republic Votes On Independence 25th September 2017
I have written about Kurdistan before. I wrote that they will be declaring independence soon. That is what is happening right now.  This analysis is from the Soufan Center.


THE KURDISH VOTE FOR INDEPENDENCE

• On September 25, Iraqi Kurds will vote in a highly significant referendum on Kurdish independence.

• The semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan wants to become the first self-sustaining Kurdish nation, with serious regional repercussions.

• Syria, Iran and Turkey have denounced the vote, and even allies in Washington have urged delay.

• Especially for Turkey, the 'Kurdish issue' influences domestic and foreign policy decisions to an unstable degree.

On September 25, millions of Iraqi Kurds will vote in a referendum to establish an independent Kurdish nation.

The outcome of the vote in favor of the measure is not in question; the outcome of what follows is. Of the countless issues bedeviling Iraq and the region, the long simmering Kurdish question may have both the longest reach and most lasting consequences.

The degree of concern can be found in strongly-worded warnings from Ankara   to Baghdad.

Meanwhile, the U.S., which has had very good relations with Iraqi Kurdistan, now finds itself once again in the uncomfortable position of pressuring one of its true regional allies against independence.

Saying ‘the time is not right’, Washington has hoped the vote would be delayed, while Kurdish leaders believe the time will never be more right than it is  right now.

Once the votes are counted, the process of establishing some path towards an independent Kurdistan will begin, with massive challenges ahead.

Baghdad has stated it will not recognize any results of the referendum, calling the vote an illegal attempt to break up Iraq. Relations between Irbil and Baghdad have never been good but are now are their lowest, with the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan now essentially out of the Iraqi union in all but name.

The oil-rich and relatively diverse city of Kirkuk is among the most combustible issues between Baghdad and Irbil, with each saying it belongs to them. The Kurds have been running Kirkuk since 2014, when Iraqi military forces fled after fighting with the Islamic State.


By including Kirkuk  in the referendum, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani sent a clear signal to Baghdad that the Kurds intend to keep those recent and very much still-disputed gains. There is a very real possibility of armed conflict between Kurdish peshmerga and Iraqi military or Shi’a militias over Kirkuk.


To the north, it is difficult to overstate the depth of Turkish concern as it relates to the Kurds. For Ankara, Kurdish independence on its southern border would be a flashpoint among its own sizable Kurdish population. The Erdogan government views every action in Syria and Iraq through a Kurdish lens, and has put troops into the Syrian civil war to prevent further Kurdish territorial gains there. On September 23, the Turkish Parliament renewed a bill that would allow for Turkish military intervention in Iraq for ‘national security threats’ that has already been used in Syria. Ankara has also been very explicit in its warnings over the referendum’s wider impact, with Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli saying it could collapse the fragile balance in the region.


The U.S. has pressured the Kurds to at least delay the vote, putting it in the uncomfortable position of siding with Turkey and Iran at least on this one issue. The U.S. in general supports Kurdish independence but balks at the actual consequences of such a move, worried it would increase sectarian fighting in the region, and lead to major confrontations with Turkey and Iran, both of whom have poor to abysmal relations with their respective large Kurdish populations. Kurdish leaders have held off similar votes and declarations for years, trusting that the U.S. and others would guarantee a formal pathway for Kurdish independence in exchange for a more gradual timeline. The September 25 vote shows that the issue has, for Iraqi Kurds, taken on a momentum larger than any regional concerns about what comes next.


My comments :  There are  about 45 million Kurdish people living throughout the Middle East in  Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Syria and Central Asia.  That is a lot of Kurdish people.  That is problem Number 1.

Problem Number 2 is they  inhabit a contiguous area spanning adjacent parts of southeastern Turkey 20 million (Northern Kurdistan), 12 million in northwestern Iran (Eastern Kurdistan), 9 million in northern Iraq (Southern Kurdistan), and 4 million in northern Syria  (Western Kurdistan).

The Kurds are culturally, historically and linguistically classified as belonging to the Iranian peoples (Wikipedia).

This map here shows Iraqi Kurdistan which will declare its independence soon. There are 9 million Kurds in northern Iraq. 

 
The next map here shows where the rest of the 45 million Kurds are located in adjacent, contiguous lands stretching across Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkmenistan.

You can see the problem. Once the 9 million Kurds in Iraq declare independence, surely the 20 million Kurds in Turkey and the 12 million Kurds in Iran will also think of joining up. 

My strongest advice is instead of any ideas of union, they form a loose confederation first with an economic union, unrestricted movement of people and businesses.  But I am getting carried away.

The Turks, Iraqis, Iranians and Syrians are all against the formation of an independent Kurdistan anywhere in the world.  It is most likely that the Turks and Iranians will undertake some sort of punitive action against the Kurds.

This will be a very big mistake.  A quarter of Turkey (20 million) are Kurdish  (out of 80 million people).

Even Malaysia has at least one Kurd in Kuching, Sarawak. 

Nonetheless for a very long time the Arabs, Persians, Kurds and too many of the people of the Middle East have never been good at thinking with the head on their shoulders.

The soalan cepu mas is, if an independent Kurdish republic is proclaimed, where the Kurds are largely Sunni Muslims (like Saladdin the Great who was a Kurd) and war breaks out between Kurdistan and say Turkey or Iraq, then who will our kampong boys support?

Kita nak hantar pesawat TUDM ke negeri yang mana satu? As the stomach churns.
Posted by Syed Akbar Ali

Kurdish Vote Won’t Spark A Sustained Oil Price Rally

Kurdistan
Turkey and Iraq have stepped up the pressure on Kurdistan after the semi-autonomous region of Iraq voted for independence. Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to block Kurdish oil exports through Turkish territory, while Baghdad called for an international boycott of Kurdish oil sales.

The Kurdish people appeared to have voted overwhelmingly for independence on Monday, pending final results. But the Kurdish Regional Government has said that the vote, which won’t be recognized internationally, will be a starting point for negotiations with Baghdad, and not the culmination of real independence.

Turkey’s President called the referendum “illegal, null, and void,” and threatened to shut down exports through the pipeline that runs from Kurdistan to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. “Let’s see where they are going to drain off the petrol — we control the valve,” he said. “Once you turn off the valve, it will be over.”

The referendum was also opposed by Iran, as well as the United States, which argued that it would destabilize the region.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Sunday that all foreign countries should not purchase oil from Kurdistan, arguing that the sales are illegal if not conducted under the auspices of the Iraqi central government. Iraq “asks the neighboring countries and the countries of the world to deal exclusively with the federal government of Iraq in regards to entry posts and oil,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s office said.
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Kurdistan produces just over 600,000 bpd, or about 15 percent of Iraq’s total output. Most contentiously are the oil fields around disputed areas in Kirkuk, which the Kurds took control of in 2014 when ISIS burst onto the scene and rapidly seized swathes of territory from the Iraqi government. “The Iraqi government is not going to stand still and watch Kirkuk’s integration into Kurdistan, and the mobilization that we’re seeing is an Iraqi effort to reassert control over the contested territory,” Ayham Kamel, director of the Middle East and North Africa at Eurasia Group, said in a Bloomberg interview. Ethnic clashes “might become a pretext for much wider mobilization,” he added.

Kurdistan is largely at the mercy of its much more powerful neighbors. The bulk of the region’s finances come from oil exports, much of which go through a pipeline across Turkey to the Mediterranean. If Turkey takes draconian action to shut down Kurdish oil exports, it would cripple the Kurdish economy.

“If this boycott call proves successful, a good 500,000 fewer barrels of crude oil per day would reach the market,” Commerzbank said in a note. The threat of the boycott, as well as the possible shuttering of oil flows through Turkey, led to a significant increase in crude prices, which touched two-year highs on Monday. Brent rose above $58 per barrel, the highest price in more than two years, although prices fell back slightly on Tuesday.

A more serious scenario would be some sort of military clash between Kurdistan and its neighbors. Turkey conducted military exercises along its border with Kurdistan, and Turkish President Erdogan ominously warned that “we may arrive one night, suddenly.”

Kurdish President Massoud Barzani called for calm and diplomatic negotiations, but on Tuesday the Iraqi government ruled out talks. “Barzani is playing a dangerous game of poker,” Anthony Skinner, a director with U.K.-based forecasting company Verisk Maplecroft, told Bloomberg by email. “He is counting on Turkey, Iran and the U.S. not being able to sustain a united stance on pressuring the KRG.”

The gamble is risky, but if the Kurds can stave off retaliation, there is an upside. Because any clash would be a lop-sided affair, given the lack of international support for formal Kurdish independence, military hostilities are unlikely. Turkey could shut down the pipeline that carries Kurdish oil, but Ankara also benefits from tariffs it receives for allowing those shipments to proceed. Baghdad has much less influence, so if Turkey declines to follow through on its threats, the independence vote could give the Kurdish government some leverage with Baghdad in negotiations over revenue sharing, a longstanding grievance that has not been addressed. The Iraqi government has tried for years to halt Kurdish oil exports, but to no avail.

Related: As OPEC Compliance Peaks, Can The Drawdowns Continue?

The Kurdish government also recently resolved some outstanding issues with energy companies operating within its borders, restructuring debts and sending payments to some drillers. Rosneft just announced plans to invest $1 billion in Kurdistan to build a natural gas pipeline, a move that comes on the heels of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of loans to the Kurdish government earlier this year, to be paid back by future oil sales. The recent deals bolster Kurdistan’s energy outlook.

In short, the belligerent rhetoric surrounding the independence vote between Kurdistan and its neighbors could have already peaked. That might mean that the case for higher crude oil prices will need to come from elsewhere; oil bulls cannot base their bets on supply disruptions from Kurdistan.

By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com

LEAVE JOHOR, GO TO AFGHANISTAN’: IN SHOW OF LEADERSHIP PUTTING NAJIB TO SHAME, JOHOR SULTAN WARNS ‘MUSLIMS ONLY’ LAUNDRETTE OWNER, DEMANDS APOLOGY FOR CREATING RACIAL ANGST

Politics | September 27, 2017 by | 0 Comments

JOHOR BARU: The Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, has ordered the controversial Muslim-only launderette in Muar to immediately stop its discriminatory practice or risk being shut down by him.

“I cannot accept this nonsense. This is Johor, which belongs to Bangsa Johor and it belongs to all races and faiths. This is a progressive, modern and moderate state.


“This is not a Taliban state and as the Head of Islam in Johor, I find this action to be totally unacceptable as this is extremist in nature,” he said.

His Majesty said he also ordered the state Islamic religious affairs committee chairman Abdul Mutalip Abd Rahim, the religious council and the district council to investigate the matter.

The Sultan added that he had also spoken to Mufti Johor Datuk Mohd Tahrir Samsudin as well as state exco for religion Abd Mutalip Abd Rahim over the matter.

“I want the owner to apologise to me and the people of Johor. He has made Johoreans very angry and embarrassed because this is not the Johor we want.

“The owner has gone against the vision of a united, harmonious, moderate and tolerant Johor. If he still insists on carrying on the Muslim-only practice, he can leave Johor. I suggest he set up shop in Afghanistan. His thinking is sick and goes against everything that Johor stands for.”

His Majesty, who was visibly upset, said he and his family members were “deeply appalled” by the action of the launderette owner, saying if this was not stopped, it would lead to more narrow-minded actions in the name of Islam.

Pictures of the launderette went viral last week when it was reported that it had a sign saying that only Muslims were allowed to use its machines.

DON’T TRY TO BE CLEVER, SAME GOES FOR OTHER RACES

He said the owner had first put up his Muslim-only notices and after the issue became controversial, the owner put up a new sign to say it was “Muslim-friendly.”

“Don’t try to be clever. It’s still the same. The owner needs to have his brains cleaned up.

“I want to put a stop to such extremism. Extremism has no place in my state. We take pride in being Bangsa Johor and I want to know where the owner of this launderette learn his Islam? Islam teaches the faithful to be tolerant and respect other people and faiths,” he said at Istana Bukit Serene here yesterday,



On Monday, Johor Prince Tunku Idris Sultan Ibrahim expressed dismay over the launderette’s move, asked: “Is this for real? I’m appalled” in his Instagram.

The Sultan said the mosques in Johor were open to non-Muslims, for example, as long as they were properly dressed and he could not imagine non-Muslims being banned from entering the mosques, saying he was concerned over rising religious extremism.

“I wonder where this launderette owner washes his clothes when he is overseas? Is he saying only the clothes of Muslims are clean and those of non-Muslims are unclean? That’s what he means, I believe.

“From now on, I am directing the state executive council and all the councils to insist that any business owners who carry out such blatant discriminatory practices should have their licences revoked. Don’t mess around with your narrow-minded religious prejudices.”

His Majesty added that he could not keep quiet on the issue, as if this was allowed to go unnoticed, “then next we will have taxis for only Muslims or non-Muslims.”

He said he also did not want other races to carry out similar actions.

ANN