Obama offers words of support over MH370 tragedy

Article credit to "The Sun Daily"

KUALA LUMPUR: United States (US) President Barrack Obama took a few moments to give some words of encouragement regarding missing flight MH370 to Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein during the former's maiden visit to Malaysia today.

"He (Obama) knows it's a tough long road ahead.

"He will work together with us. He will support us," Hishammuddin told reporters after the welcoming ceremony at Parliament Square here.

Hishammuddin gestured to reporters from afar that Obama spoke about the MH370 search by showing hand gestures of a plane and binoculars. He confirmed it was about the search of the missing plane when approached after the ceremony.

When met later, Hishammuddin said: "He (Obama) will be with us. I'm very happy to hear (this) because it is a long journey for us."

Obama took a few moments to speak to Hishammuddin when he was meeting the Cabinet ministers after inspecting the Guard of Honour.

for full article please click the link below:

http://www.thesundaily.my/node/249980

Karpal's Greatest Service?

Article credit to "http://syedsoutsidethebox.blogspot.com/"

This is from The Star today :

Anwar's defence a bare denial  :  He failed to cast doubt on sodomy charge, say Appeal judges

• Court of Appeal sentenced Anwar five years, his defence merely a bare denial.
• ruled Anwar merely gave a denial in a statement from the dock 
• Anwar was charged with sodomising Saiful .. on June 26, 2008. 
• 85-page written judgment said Anwar  failed to cast any doubt on the charge. 
• “..credible defence is one that answers the evidence... 
• .. imperative respondent explains his case. 
• incumbent to adduce evidence which can answer the allegations in the charge
• Anwar did not even deny he was at the scene of the crime 
• Anwar also did not dispute fact Saiful brought envelope to him 
• stressed that Anwar had given notice of alibi and listed 14 witnesses but never pursued for reasons only best known to him. 
• ***..pertinent to note alibi represents a complete defence to exculpate respondent***

• On two expert witnesses – David Lawrence Wells and Brian Leslie McDonald – called to contradict and rebut the prosecution’s expert witnesses, they held that their evidence were mere opinions as opposed to the evidence of two government chemists, which were factual and based on their own analyses of the samples.
• “Both Wells and McDonald are mere ‘armchair experts’”
• government chemists had testified in detail and reasons for conclusions

This is the brief report in The Star today about the Court of Appeal finding Anwar guilty of the sodomy charge.

First a disclaimer - for those of you pro sodomy people out there, dont get me wrong. You can sodomise whoever you want. I dont care. You can sodomise each other, you can sodomise camels, goats, you can sodomise the tail pipe of the KL Rapid bus - yo man I really dont care.  Ok? Now with that out of the way lets discuss some.

Do note that Anwar's lawyer was Karpal Singh. The entire defence strategy adopted was 'NO DEFENSE'. 

Before the trial started Anwar's team said they had more than a dozen alibis who would testify that they were with Anwar at the material time. Then they listed 14 alibis. And guess what - one of the alibis was his wife Wan Azizah. 

But all of a sudden they just dropped the defence of alibi like a hot potato. None of the 14 alibis were called. Not even his wife. A strong alibi would have completely destroyed the Prosecution's case.

In his submissions, prosecutor Tan Sri Shafee Abdullah said "The (alibi) defence is not bona fide. The defence was raised dishonestly; when they were confronted with evidence of videos, CCTVs (of Anwar being at the scene), they dropped the entire defence (of the alibi).”

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2014/03/06/appeal-against-anwars-acquittal-begins/

This is very serious.  The defence was raised dishonestly

Karpal Singh was Anwar's lawyer. Would Karpal have raised a dishonest defence? I dont think so. I think Karpal was always a stickler for facts. It must have been Anwar's own insistence to put up such a stupid defense strategy. 

(If you read my previous writings about Anwar, I have always maintained that the brader really sucked at strategy. The guy really has no brains.)

But what did Karpal say when his client Anwar insisted on putting up and then dropping the alibi strategy? Surely the Court would take note. And the Court has taken note. This is where Anwar nailed his coffin shut.

The other point that has been carefully noted by the Court was that Anwar decided to give a statement from the dock. He simply REFUSED to be cross examined.  

Why would the hero of the backdoor entry, the pemimpin Islam, the founder of ABIM refuse to be cross examined in open Court when CNN, CNBC, Fox News, Bill Cohen, Mallot, Soros and all his foreign friends could  all be there to support him and broadcast his brave rebuttals for the whole world to listen?

Werent you, dear moron Anwar Ibrahim supporter, waiting for your hero to be cross examined in open court and listen to him thrashing all the charges against him? Well how come your back door hero decided to chicken out and just read a statement from the dock? 

He did not want to be cross examined in open court. And now this chickening out has also been noted by the Court of Appeal to assist them arrive at their guilty verdict.  The Court said :   

i.  imperative respondent explains his case.. 

ii. credible defence is one that answers the evidence...

So how come he chose NOT to answer any of the evidence? He did not explain his case. Karpal was Anwar's lawyer. So was it Karpal's idea that Anwar NOT answer the evidence against him? Or was it Anwar's own insistence? Who was the idiot in the team?

Anwar has now taken his case to the Federal Court (for a final appeal). Talk is the Prosecution may ask that Anwar's guilty conviction be affirmed and the sentence be extended. Anwar has to ponder this. What if the Federal Court affirms his conviction and then extends his jail term?

The Court of Appeal has also strongly criticised the trial judge for making serious mistakes.

• trial judge had fallen into serious error 
• finding of trial judge seriously flawed and merits our intervention
• reception by judge of expert evidence is not objective and is one sided
• serious error, falls far short of proper approach that a judge should take when judicially appreciating evidence

If there were so many flaws, shouldnt the trial judge be investigated? The Judiciary should have some type of mechanism to conduct internal inquiries. 

In conclusion the defense strategy of Anwar Ibrahim's latest sodomy trial was actually NO DEFENSE.

He did not even explain his case in Court.

They did not rebut any of the evidence presented.

The chicken fellow refused to be cross examined. He read a prepared statement instead.

They did not call any of their 14 alibi witnesses. 

Their DNA experts did not rebut any of the DNA evidence

So who in Anwar's team was behind such a disastrous defence strategy? This strategy was totally stupid and suicidal from the beginning.

Thank you Mr Karpal Singh.

Tengku Razaleigh’s Speech at the launching of “Rich Malaysia, Poor Malaysians”

Article Credit to "http://dinmerican.wordpress.com/"

Tengku Razaleigh’s Speech at Sultan Sulaiman Club, Kg Baru, Kuala Lumpur, 8 pm on April 3, 2014 on the occasion of the launching of “RICH MALAYSIA, POOR MALAYSIANS”, authored by Anas Alam Faizli

YBM Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah

I am honoured at having been invited by Anas Alam Faizli to launch his book, “Rich Malaysia, Poor Malaysians”, a collection of essays reflecting his thoughts on energy, the economy and education of our beloved country. I applaud Anas for his intellectual discipline to pursue writing which demands mental toughness, quiet tenacity and absolute patience. Indeed, he deserves our admiration.

He deserves our respect given that Malaysians are notoriously apathetic to reading, let alone writing. I respectfully submit that we do not write enough, both fiction and otherwise in comparison to, say, our sprawling archipelagic neighbour to the south. It is in this context that our author deserves our commendation – my commendation in particular – for a task well done, even though the themes are serious and difficult. Well done, Anas.

Having skimmed through the book, I must admit that I have more than just a passing interest in it; and at least for two reasons. I am always interested in writings on the subject of energy, be they articles for lay reading or academic treatises. I feel especially close when oil and petroleum are discussed. This is because of my task previously to see through the legislation of the Petroleum Development Act, 1974; the negotiation of the production sharing contracts with oil majors whose roles were redefined as contractors to the national oil company in the post-PDA era; and, establishing and developing PETRONAS into a professionally reputable and internationally respectable national oil company.

Secondly, having been schooled in economics, I follow its development keenly, both at the national and international levels. This is strengthened further by my having once been the Minister of Finance charged with the financial and economic management of the country. And of course, given the collective responsibility of the Cabinet, national policies on such subjects as education interest me greatly.

Let us reflect, for a moment, upon the situation regarding the supply and consumption of petroleum in the country and the downstream role of PETRONAS in the retailing of this essential and strategic product. Given our continuous inability to guide the country out of the middle income trap into the high income bracket, we have been using, for long spells, petroleum subsidisation to solve the problem of its affordability by ordinary people in the lower strata of the economic chain. While the subsidising of consumer goods is not the most efficient of ways in managing the high cost of living, it is fairly understandable if the government extends a helping hand to the small man in that manner.

What is sinful and cannot be forgiven is the ease with which the power that be had been dishing out subsidies to such entities as the national power supplier, the independent power producers and some other non-power outfits. As has been pointed out by Anas, since 1997 this subsidy has amounted to RM136.5 billion. The sad part is that while these power producers continue to enjoy subsidised fuel price, petroleum subsidy to the consumers – which purportedly cost the government RM14 billion in 2011 – was partly discontinued recently.

It is glaringly obvious that the government has been treating PETRONAS as a cash cow. Anas continues to point out that over 37 years from 1974 – 2011, the government had been paid some RM529 billion in dividends, taxes, petroleum proceeds and export duties from the national oil company. The reliance on PETRONAS to help outfits with strong linkages to the government out of financial trouble has been going on from as far back as 1985. In that year it rescued Bank Bumiputera with a RM2.5 billion bailout and again in 1991 when it coughed up another RM1 billion. In 1997, Petronas had to rescue the financially ailing Konsortium Perkapalan Berhad for RM2 billion.

The national oil company was also made to underwrite the construction of the Twin Towers in the heart of the KL golden triangle for RM6 billion and the building of the extravagant Putrajaya for RM22 billion. In all, more than a half trillion ringgit have been spent. This amount could have been used more productively to fund a national pension programme for Malaysians as has been done by a certain Scandinavian country.

This extravagance that had been forced on to PETRONAS has also deprived the company from the much needed cash build-up for reinvestment which would ensure its business sustainability. Given the finite nature of hydrocarbon as a resource, it is important for PETRONAS to look further afield at investments in businesses outside of oil and gas.

Looked at from this perspective, it is all the more critical for the corporation to have a strong cash reserve for reinvestment purposes. It was this need for prudence that had led Tun Razak, the Prime Minister of the day, to impress upon me the need to ensure that Petronas would enjoy parity with such multinational companies as the once much touted seven sisters, two of which ultimately became its contractors.

Today PETRONAS is at par with the oil majors and it is ranked as one of Fortune 500’s largest and most profitable oil and gas companies. But sadly, it is being abused and treated as the piggy bank whenever the government needs cash in a hurry.

Ladies and gentlemen, why is this so? Why is there a discrepancy between what was visualised by the founding fathers of PETRONAS and what it has turned out to be 40 years on; that is, as a banker of sorts to the government.

The truth is that there had been consistent political interference and this had affected PETRONAS, even though it is a professionally well run corporation. There is a blurring of lines demarcating the party in power and government, and by extension, the party supremo and the head of government. Cynics would contend that it was done on purpose to facilitate the development of politics of patronage. This, in turn, led to the growth of crony capitalism.

This inter-ethnic dichotomy is no more than a duplication of effort which result in the inefficient application of resources. It is worsened by the economic disparity that continues to be persistently reflected along racial line, notwithstanding the efforts made to blur and wipe it out. As explained by Anas, the bottom 40% of Malaysia in economic terms is still made up of Bumiputera households.

Transpose this against the notion that about 90% of their incomes are made up of wages and salaries which are hardly commensurate with the relatively more rapid increases in living costs, this problem takes on a much darker hue. As an illustration of how low Malaysian income generally is, it is worthwhile noting that the EPF had been known to report that about 79% of its contributors earn RM3,000 or less a month.

This reality becomes more significant when we realise that disposable income contributes much to purchasing power, especially among the relatively poor as opposed to the wealthy where purchasing power is additionally sourced from assets other than salaries and wages. A report on the national human development goes further to say that the “Chinese has a higher purchasing power compared to other ethnic groups…” More problematic and easily a potential source of politico-economic problem is the assertion by the report that there is “homogeneity in the purchasing power gap.” It asserts that the super-rich, regardless of ethnicity, has about 18 to 20 times more purchasing power.

Purchasing power has a graver ramification from the standpoint of economic wellbeing. This has to do with the reality that a person who enjoys a high income is not necessarily guaranteed a better quality of life. Neither does the effort to improve the quality of life through high income mean much if the cost of living rises rampantly. Again, an observation by Anas is very illuminating here. He contends that a graduate who entered the job market for the first time, say, in 1978 on a monthly salary of RM1,000 could afford a lower-end car of RM12,400 or 12 months’ salary and take out a mortgage, perhaps, on a RM62,000 house in a fairly upscale Kuala Lumpur suburb.

Today, a fresh entrant into the labour market on a monthly salary of RM2,500, which is two and half times higher than his earlier counterpart, would find a roughly similar car costing him RM178,000, roughly 71 months of his salary. A house outside the Greater Kelang Valley area, in Nilai for example, would set him back by RM350,000. This situation could get worse in all probability.

Ladies and gentlemen, the challenge before us is to mitigate the socio-political issues and problems to a minimum. This will ensure that they do not become a part of our political culture and, by extension, our way of life. We must have the will to stop patronage and cronyism. In this way rent-seekers would be cut off. But herein lies the problem.

Political leaders are loath to upsetting the apple cart and disturb their cosy symbiosis with rent-seeking cronies. More often than not, these are the people whom they rely upon for political funds in their effort to continue to latch on to power.

What then could be done given this near-checkmate type of a situation? I say pressure must be brought to bear and it must be made known that we will not tolerate any more politics that is less than ethical. We must clearly and loudly make it known that politics must be practised with a high level of integrity. No, politics is not dirty but its practitioners, more often than not, are. In the longer run and in order to ensure that ethical politics of impeccable integrity is practised, we must overhaul our education system.

We need to shift our education paradigm from a system that emphasises regurgitating what is learnt by rote to amass distinctions to one that puts a premium on logical and critical thinking in which source as well as general reading is a major activity in providing the primary material. We must revisit our educational philosophy in order that we may give equal importance to classroom and off-classroom activities in educating the young Malaysian into a potential leader material for the public or private domains. Of course, this is a huge and important subject that needs proper addressing at, perhaps, another forum.

Ladies and gentlemen, in the last several minutes I have shared with you my thoughts on the subjects addressed by Anas in his book. I hope it has generated enough interest to trigger off your critical thoughts on the subjects or other related subjects. In the process it is hoped that some of you will go a step further to put pen to paper as Anas had done. On that note, I take this opportunity to congratulate the author for making the book available to the public which I have much pleasure in introducing. Thank you and I wish you a pleasant day ahead.

*This speech was delivered by former Finance Minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah at the launch of the book “Rich Malaysia, Poor Malaysians” by Anas Alam Faizli.

Anas Alam Faizli speaks in Bahasa Malaysia on his book, “Rich Malaysia, Poor Malaysians at Kelab Sultan Sulaiman, Kg. Baru. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on April 3, 2014 (below):

Yang dihormati dif-dif jemputan yang terhormat,

YBM Tengku Razaleigh

Dr Syed Husin Ali, YB Saari Sungib, Tan Sri Kamal Salih, TokSu Norizam,

Pak Chong, Siraj, Azlan, Dato Din Merican, Sharaad,…

Para hadirin-hadirat yang dihormati sekalian,

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh dan salam sejahtera,

 Saya ingin merakamkan setinggi-tinggi penghargaan kepada YBM Tengku Razaleigh yang sudi merasmikan buku Rich Malaysia, Poor Malaysians dan Malaysia Kaya, Rakyat Miskin. Kredibiliti Tengku tidak dapat dipersoalkan – pengalaman Tengku sebagai Founding Chairman dan CEO Petronas yang juga pernah memegang tampuk kementerian kewangan dan perdagangan antarabangsa serta mantan pengerusi Bank Bumiputra.

Dalam pendidikan pula, Tengku pernah mengatakan pada bulan Julai yang lalu bahawa “Sistem pendidikan negara kita gagal dan kita tidak boleh mempertahankannya lagi. Tambah beliau, satu tindakan yang ikhlas, berani dan radikal diperlukan bagi mempercepatkan proses pembaharuan dalam pelajaran dan pembelajaran.”

Buku kerdil ini juga telah diangkat nilainya ke tahap yang lebih tinggi kerana sumbangan dua orang pemimpin yang saya sangat kagumi dan hormati- pemimpin yang mewakili gen-Y dan juga generasi veteran. Terima kasih yang tidak terhingga diucapkan kepada YB Nurul Izzah dan Senator Dr Syed Husin Ali yang telah mencurahkan pemikiran mereka seterusnya menyuntik kehebatan permulaan kepada buku kerdil ini. Terima kasih juga buat barisan panelis yang sangat tersohor, En Mohamed Siraj, En Azlan Awang, Dato’ Din Merican dan juga moderator Mr Sharaad Kuttan.

Buku ini merupakan himpunan esei yang telah ditulis dalam tempoh setahun. Manuskrip versi Inggeris dan Bahasa telah siap serentak tetapi versi Inggeris diterbitkan dahulu untuk menilai sambutannya. Walaupun ia merupakan himpunan esei tetapi Alhamdulillah berjaya disusun dalam satu bentuk kronologi yang mempunyai kekuataan tersendiri. Sebuah himpunan esei yang berbicara tentang isu-isu nasional dan global seperti isu tenaga, ekonomi, pendidikan dan kesukarelawan, yang saya harap mampu mencetuskan wadah bicara kritis dan berguna untuk semua.

 Penulisan dimulakan dengan berkongsi amanat almarhum Atok saya, Mohd Zain bin Abu dengan tiga prinsipnya iaitu:

1-  Pendidikan ialah perkara paling penting dan akan sentiasa menjadi keutamaan

2- Elakkanlah seberapa banyak permusuhan dengan orang lain

3-  Dan jadilah orang yang memberikan banyak manfaat kepada orang lain

Buku ini antara lainnya satu usaha untuk memenuhi wasiat Atok, dengan kerendahan diri, satu percubaan kecil untuk menjadi seorang yang bermanfaat.

Idea utama buku ini ialah satu penerimaan bahawa , Malaysia ialah sebuah negara kaya dengan hasil mahsul bumi.  Beratus tahun di jajah dan hasil kekayaan di larikan penjajah,  kita kembali memegang daulat sebuah tanah yang kaya dan mewah. Maka kerana itu,  sebaik sahaja merdeka, tanah ini tidak pernah  putus memberi sumbangannya baik daripada bijih timah, getah, kelapa sawit, bijih besi, bauksit, kayu balak dan terkini minyak dan gas yang menyumbang 40% hasil pendapatan negara.  Semua ini ialah sumber tidak ternilai yang perlu dihargai dan digunakan sebaik mungkin.  Oleh itu,  adalah sangat penting masyarakat umum memahami sebanyak mungkin mengenai industri yang menjadi “cash cow” negara ini.

Bahagian sumber petroleum Malaysia ini dimulakan dengan persoalan adakah kisah Petronas ialah kisah si tanggang? Beberapa soalan penting seperti – bilakah minyak akan habis? Dimanakah industri perkhidmatan tempatan dan isu-isu yang lain telah dikupas malah diakhirnya turut diberikan beberapa cadangan penyelesaian. Kemudiannya, satu penerangan mengenai sejarah Petronas, bagaimanakah ia beroperasi dan sistem fiskal Malaysia diperjelaskan. Konsesi vs PSC. Persengketaan Royalti Minyak juga telah disampaikan secara terperinci daripada perspektif semua negeri yang terlibat. Bahagian ini ditutup dengan cadangan pemberian ekuiti Petronas kepada negeri pengeluar minyak berbanding penambahan Royalti.

Bahagian Sosio-Ekonomi pula dimulakan dengan merungkai 8 realiti Malaysia dan mengapa pendidikan tinggi wajar dibiayai oleh kerajaan. Saya ambil jalan berbeza dan tidak membandingkan dengan negara lain tetapi melihat perspektif kaca mata Malaysia itu sendiri dan menyimpulkan mengapa kita perlukan pendidikan tinggi. Slogan saya dalam buku ini, 1 Keluarga 1 Graduan.

Esei berikutnya menghuraikan dengan panjang lebar apa yang dimaksudkan dengan Negara Berpendapatan Tinggi, Rakyat Berpendapatan Rendah. Malaysia Kaya, Rakyat Miskin.

Ilustrasi disampaikan dengan fakta dan diterangkan secara halus. Kemudiannya saya membuka kisah Mitos Si Kaya dan Si Miskin diikuti dengan penerangan bagaimana sebuah Negara Berkebajikan akan meluncurkan Malaysia kearah masa depan yang jauh lebih baik.

Menuju kearah demokrasi yang lebih kukuh dengan dua parti dominan negara, saya juga menulis bagaimana kaedahnya untuk memahami dan membuat analisis kritikal ke atas manifesto yang dijanjikan oleh parti-parti bertanding.

Bahagian ini ditutup dengan penjelasan panjang mengenai perjanjian TPPA yang sedang dirunding oleh Malaysia.

Seterusnya,  saya mengupas isu pendidikan dengan analisis pencapaian ranking antarabangsa Malaysia. Saya kemudiannya menyeru membina budaya membaca buat menuju mentaliti negara dunia pertama. 1996 – 2 muka surat, terkini 2 buku berbanding Jepun Perancis 10, AS dan Kanada 17 buku. Kemudiannya saya menyeru kepada penyemaian budaya berfikir dengan beberapa cadangan. Saya juga mempersoalkan jika sekolah moden itu satu pengkhianat kepada pendidikan. Bahagian ini ditutup dengan cadangan mendefinisikan semula falsafah pendidikan negara dengan cadangan Cinta sebagai Pedagogi dan FPN yang baru.

Saya percaya pendidikan boleh dijadikan penyelesaian kepada semua masalah yang dihadapi negara.

Bahagian terakhir menyentuh mengenai kesukarelawanan dan satu penulisan panjang yang menghuraikan mengenai bagaimana kesukarelawanan boleh berjaya dan menyumbang kearah pendidikan yang lebih baik. Saya juga nukilkan konsep kuasa ketiga dan bagaimana kesukarelawanan boleh menjadi agen menyubur demokrasi dengan memberi ruang suara kepada semua pihak.

 Buku ditutup dengan epilog bahawa gerakan massa Reformasi adalah milik semua  dan rakyat perlukan satu Rejuvenasi.  Seperti yang saya sering utarakan, penulisan ini adalah milik umum, dan saya seru warga umum untuk mengulas, mencabar dan memperkembangkan idea-idea di dalam buku ini. Usul-usul kritis yang padat di dalam buku ini saya mohon diperhaluskan dan semoga dapat dimanfaatkan oleh semua.

Akhir kata, Baca, Faham, Fikir dan Bertindak. Berjuanglah!

Terima Kasih.

A-G Gani Patail is not above the law

 Article credit to "http://dinmerican.wordpress.com"

 

A-G Gani Patail loses to Rosli Dahlan: NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW

William Pesek, a prominent Bloomberg columnist, wrote recently that the global outcry over the loss of flight MH370 has highlighted the country’s deepest flaws of incompetent people running the country.

The Fumbling Team of MH370

“The fumbling exposed an elite that’s never really had to face questioning from its people, never mind the rest of the world. The country needs nothing less than a political revolution,” said Pesek. And I agree. Nothing will change until the present political elite is made to pay for their ineptitude, incompetence and crooked ways by Malaysian voters.

At the international level, our political leaders will have to take the blame. At the national level, we are facing a crisis of our public institutions being headed by not just mediocre and incompetent people but also characters who are downright dishonest and who abuse the system with impunity– the rogues in government.

 

Rosli Dahlan wins against A-G Patail

 Vazeer, a former practising lawyer before being made a judge, said he agreed that deliberate abuse of power by those holding a public office was misfeasance in public office. 

That brings me to the news reports of this morning that my young friend, Lawyer Rosli Dahlan, has again won another case against A-G Gani Patail. For my readers’ convenience I have reproduced only the MKini report by Hafiz Yatim (below) that provides interesting links on this story that never ceases to inspire me.

Back in Time–To the Eve of Hari Raya (Aidil Fitr), 2007

It’s a sad story of how on the eve of Hari Raya 2007, Lawyer Rosli Dahlan (right) was  brutally arrested in his office in full view of his staff by the ACA (now MACC). He was then charged in a most sensational manner to deceive the public into believing that Rosli had hidden illegitimate assets belonging to the Director of Commercial Crimes, Dato Ramli Yusuff, in another sensational story fanned by the media dubbed as the “The RM 27 million Cop”.

All this was part of a conspiracy to eliminate Dato Ramli from the PDRM as Dato Ramli posed a threat to then IGP Musa Hassan and A-G Gani Patail. Rosli was made a victim because he dared to defend Dato Ramli despite warnings having been sent to him. Since then, Musa‘s former ADC had sworn a Statutory Declaration to expose IGP Musa Hassan’s links with the underworld.

A lot more was also disclosed about A-G Gani Patail’s association with shady corporate figures like the one in the Ho Hup Affair. The Internet was also abuzz with stories about how A-G Gani Patail went to Haj and had his son to share a room with a shady former Police Inspector who was once charged for corruption, Shahidan Shafie, a proxy of former MAS Chairman Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli.

Tajuddin Ramli and the MAS saga was among the many failures of Dr Mahathir’s Bumiputra corporate advancement project which culminated with MH370 disaster. The latest episode could sink MAS without tax-payers bailout forthcoming.

 

 

That explains why A-G Gani never charged Tajudin Ramli for the losses of RM 8 billion that MAS suffered despite recommendations by Dato Ramli Yusuff. Dato Mat Zain Ibrahim, former KL OCCI also swore SDs about A-G Gani Patail throwing away the Batu Putih case for pecuniary gains. 

 

Yet Gani Patail remains as the A-G of Malaysia, leading many to speculate that he has a grip on PM Najib Razak because of Razak Baginda’s acquittal in the murder of the Mongolian beauty, Altantuya Shariibu. In that case, the A-G did not appeal against Razak Baginda’s acquittal.
On the other hand, the A-G has pursued criminal appeals against certain people like Lawyer Rosli Dahlan and Dato Ramli Yusuff (left). In the PKFZ case, A-G Gani Patail charged and appealed against the acquittal of Tun Ling Liong Sik which led to Tun Lingcalling him – “ That Stupid Fella”.

Back to Rosli’s case. Lawyer Rosli, he has fought a long and lonely battle, winning his acquittal and then suing every one of the mainstream media for defaming him – Utusan Malaysia, The Star and the NST, and winning against them one by one very patiently.

On April 15, 2008, Utusan Malaysia published a public apology admitting their wrongdoings and acknowledged that the Utusan Malaysia’s article “was written and published in a sensational manner to generate publicity which exceeded the parameters of ethical journalism surrounding the investigation of YDH Dato’ Pahlawan Haji Ramli Haji Yusuf who at that time held the post of Director of the Commercial Crime Investigation Department of Police DiRaja Malaysia.”

 

 On January 15, 2013, the Star paid damages and admitted to its wrongdoings in a published public apology.

On October 18, 2013, the KL High Court found the NST and the MACC guilty of defaming Rosli and ordered them to pay damages of RM 300,000 and costs. This made history as it was the first time that the MACC was sued by a person and the MACC lost and had to pay damages.

Last year Rosli sued A-G Gani Patail, MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim and several other MACC officers for conspiracy, false and malicious investigation, abuse of power, abuse of prosecutorial discretion, malicious prosecution, prosecutorial misconduct and public misfeasance.

Read the MKini report below and you will discover that A-G Gani Patail had engaged Tan Sri Cecil Abraham , a senior private lawyer from Messrs ZulRafique & Partners (an UMNO law firm) to defend him, the A-G Chambers (A-GC) and the MACC.

 I find that surprising since I am told that the A-GC has over 800 lawyers, making the A-GC the “largest law firm” in the country. By contrast, I am told that the largest private law firm in the country has a maximum of 140 lawyers.

That means the Government of Malaysia spends millions of ringgit to staff the A-GC in order to defend the government. Yet when the Government is sued, A-G Gani Patail engages private lawyers. Does that makes sense to you?

Is A-G Gani Patail admitting that he is not confident of the A-GC, which he heads, to defend him and the government in the face of the law suit by Lawyer Rosli Dahlan? Is A-G Gani Patail admitting that the A-GC is incompetent? Was that why Tan Sri Shafee Abdullah was asked to be an ad hoc DPP to prosecute the appeal against Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim? Or is there is a commercial logic to that? Is A-G Gani Patail outsourcing legal work to his friends in the private sector to reward them for covering up for his misconduct and incompetence?

 Cecil Abraham sits in the MACC’s    Operations Review Panel.

I had a chat with Tan Sri Robert Phang who has always been critical of A-G Gani Patail. He told me a more worrisome story. Robert Phang questioned whether Tan Sri Cecil Abraham (right) is a fit to lawyer to defend the A-G because Cecil Abraham sits in the MACC’s Operations 

Review Panel, which advises on oversights in the MACC. One of the committee’s functions is to ensure that the MACC and other government agencies do not commit abuses. It is like an Ombudsman. If so, how can Cecil Abraham defend A-G Gani Patail and the other MACC officers whom Rosli has accused of fixing him? Is that not a conflict of interest?

Other lawyers tell me that Cecil Abraham is the senior lawyer implicated in the PI Bala SD case over the Altantuya murder. I am stunned by all these revelations. It seems that all the committees and advisory panel in the MACC and other government agencies are to cover up for their wrongdoings rather than to expose and correct them. No wonder our country is headed for doom !

Americk Sidhu, PI Bala’s lawyer makes a startling revelation at the Bar AGM that Cecil Abraham confided in him that he prepared the 2nd SD on instructions from Najib.

I am told that Rosli’s Statement of Claim against A-G Gani Patail contains very damning revelations about A-G’s misconduct. I am told that with every victory that Rosli gained against A-G Gani Patail, more and more civil servants and people are coming up to him to offer assistance and being more willing to be witnesses in his cases. This was unlike before when many were afraid to be associated with him.

Is that why AG Gani Patail does not want to go to trial and employ all kinds of delaying tactics in Rosli’s suit against him. Is that why A-G Gani Patail engaged Tan Sri Cecil Abraham to strike out Rosli’s suit? Otherwise, why is A-G Gani Patail so afraid to go to trial in Rosli’s case?

But now that Tan Sri Cecil has lost this striking out application and the A-G is ordered to pay cost to Rosli, who is going to bear this cost? Should taxpayer’s money be used to pay for the misconduct of these rogues in government? If we taxpayers have to bear this cost, then A-G Gani Patail and the likes of him will never be repentant. There will never be accountability!

In my view, A-G Gani Patail must bear the full costs of his misconduct. He must be held accountable and he must pay the legal fees charged by his friend Tan Sri Cecil Abraham. I am also of the view that the MACC should sack Cecil Abraham from being on its Advisory Panel. Cecil Abraham cannot sit there to pretend that he is acting as a check and balance against the MACC’s misconducts whereas he is also covering up for the MACC when the MACC is sued by Rosli, and getting well paid by the Government using tax payer’s money!

 Conflict of Interest

The conflict of interest is so clear and it is appalling that a senior titled lawyer like Tan Sri Cecil Abraham cannot see that. I also feel that the Bar Council should not stand idle arms akimbo with this revelation. The Bar Council should subject Cecil Abraham to disciplinary proceedings for breaching such common sense rule on conflict of interests. Cecil has dishonored the Bar and the Council must act against him!

Well Done, JC Wazeer Alam Mydin 

In that regard, I must congratulate Judicial Commissioner Wazeer Alam Mydin for having a fair sense justice in not allowing A-G Gani Patail to strike out Rosli ‘s claim. A judicial Commissioner is basically a probationary judge. For a probationary Judge to do this means JC Wazeer is indeed a brave man who would not tolerate public authorities who commit abuses and then claim immunity. It is indeed a brave probationary judge to stand up to the A-G and tell it to the A-G’s face that the A-G is not above the law.

The winds of change is blowing and judges like JC Wazeer Alam will be a credit to the judiciary. JC Wazeer Alam is indeed a brave man to make this iconic statement:

“The claim by AG of his absolute public and prosecutorial immunity is an anathema to modern democratic society.”

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April 11, 2014

A-G not immune to legal action, rules Judge

by Hafiz Yatim@www.malaysiakini.com

The Attorney-General is not immune to legal action, the High Court in Kuala Lumpur ruled today.

Judicial Commissioner Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera said this in dismissing Attorney-general Abdul Gani Patail’s application to strike out the suits by former Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Ramli Yusuff and his lawyer Rosli Dahlan.

  Public authorities who abused their powers have been “insulated” from accountability  for “far too long” by using the Public Authorities Protection Act.

                                                                                     

“I am afraid that the notion of absolute immunity for a public servant, even when mala fide or abuse of power in the exercise of their prosecutorial power is alleged in the pleadings, is anathema to modern day notions of accountability.

“I agree that deliberate abuse of power by a person holding a public office is tortious and is referred to as misfeasance in public office.

“Such a tortious act can arise when an officer actuated by malice, for example, by personal spite or a desire to injure for improper reasons, abuses his power,” Vazeer Alam said.

“This is keeping with developments in modern jurisprudence that absolute immunity for public servants has no place in a progressive democratic society,” the judge added. The A-G and two other officers from the A-G’s Chambers were named in the respective suits filed by Ramli Yusuff and Rosli Dahlan.

They had sought to strike out the suits on the grounds that they should be immune to such action in carrying out their prosecution powers. Ramli had filed a RM128.5 million suit against A-G Gani, former IGP Musa Hassan and several Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission officers.

Rosli had filed a separate suit amounting to RM48 million against the same parties.The two are suing them for abuse of power, malfeasance in the performance of public duty, malicious prosecution and prosecutorial misconduct, among others.

Suits not filed out of time

Judicial Commissioner Vazeer Alam also ruled that the two suits for malicious prosecution were not filed out of time as this cause of action accrued upon the determination of the final appeal. He said that the court could not consider the period to be when Ramli or Rosli  were acquitted, as there were subsequent appeals against the acquittals made after this.

“As with Ramli’s case, the appeals lodged by the public prosecutor were dismissed in June and in November 2011. Therefore the filing of the action on Nov 1 last year is well within the time stipulated in Section 2 of the Public Authority Protection Act,” the  ruled,

Vazeer Alam also allowed the two to name the MACC in their legal action, since the MACC took over from the Anti-Corruption Agency.

Ramli had sued the defendants for their claim that he was the policeman in the Copgate affair and that he had RM27 million in assets.

Subsequently, Ramli was charged with the non-disclosure of some of his assets and the case against him was thrown out. Ramli’s lawyer friend Rosli was also hauled up as a result of this.

Ramli, who was a former state Police Chief for Pahang and Sabah, said in his statement of claim that his relationship with Gani soured in 2006.

This was after he met then Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and recommended that former Malaysia Airlines chairperson Tajudin Ramli be prosecuted for the severe losses suffered by the company.

“But the A-G decided not to prosecute Tajudin. I even told the PM then that if the AG was reluctant to prosecute Tajudin, the CCID would have the necessary resources to conduct the prosecution.

“This earned me Gani’s permanent displeasure…” Ramli said in his statement of claim.

‘A brave decision’

After today’s court session, Ramli commended the judge for his brave decision. “I am not doing this for Ramli Yusuff but for the Police Force, some of whom have been victimised as a result of this. And I am also doing this for the serving government officers who have also been victimised.

“I am also seeking closure to an event that has affected my possible career advancement,” he said.

The RM27 million investigations had hindered his promotion to be the Inspector-General of Police, he added. This post was subsequently handed over to Musa Hassan.

Rosli, on commending today’s High Court decision, said abuses by the public authority have for too long been insulated by invoking the Public Authority Protection Act.

“Today, a brave judge has declared that absolute prosecutorial immunity is  anathema to the modern concept of democracy. This is to remind the public authorities that no one is above the law,” Rosli said.

Several Police Officers under Ramli’s charge have also been prosecuted as a result of the Copgate affair and all of them have acquitted and have been reinstated to their posts during former IGP Ismail Omar’s tenure.

Ramli was represented by Harvinderjit Singh, while Chethan Jethwani and Darvindeer Kaur appeared for Rosli. Senior lawyer Tan Sri Cecil Abraham, Rishwant Singh and Senior federal counsel Dato Amarjeet Singh represented the defendants.

Vazeer fixed June 18 for case management to possibly fix trial dates for the hearing.