Malaysia's Elections 2008 (Before, During & After)

[Adrian Wong]

The Australian Network interviews Anwar Ibrahim. Interesting read.

Interview with Malaysia's Dr Anwar Ibrahim
The Australian Network

Malaysia's parliament is due to sit this week, more than one month after snap elections, which saw the government stumble in the face of voter discontent.

The government and its leadership are in a vulnerable state, and facing a strong and vocal opposition led by Dr Anwar Ibrahim.

Dr Anwar was sacked as deputy prime minister ten years ago and served six years jail for corruption. He was released at the same time his conviction for sodomy was overturned.

So if Anwar Ibrahim is preparing a comeback in Malaysian politics just how is he planning to do it? Jim Middleton spoke to Malaysia's de-facto opposition leader in Kuala Lumpur.


Jim Middleton, Presenter: Anwar Ibrahim, welcome to 'Asia Pacific Focus'.

Anwar Ibrahim: Thank you.

Jim Middleton: Let's go back just a little. Why did the Government do so badly in the elections and you do so well?

Anwar Ibrahim: Well, thank you. In spite of the fact that the elections were quite fraudulent and we have established now conclusively, but we perform extremely well and as I have said, I will reiterate that without the cancellation [in] indelible ink, we would probably have a simple majority in Parliament. But they did - the Government, Barisan Nasional Government - did badly because they are perceived to be arrogant, blatantly corrupt, incompetent. And that's clear from the mandate of the people.

Jim Middleton: Despite your success as you noted, you do still need quite a few seats if you are to take power. Why do you think that's possible?

Anwar Ibrahim: Well, it is possible firstly, because many of the members of parliament who had won now realise that the mood and the general support of Malaysians are with the Pakatan Rakyat. Secondly, those in Sabah and Sarawak have never been known to have traditional loyalties to the National Front or UMNO Governments, they represent the Sabah sentiment, the tribes which has been marginalised.

"The issue is when do we move?

In our program it's clear that while supporting market economy and growth, we will not ignore the marginalised groups, the poor of all races. And I think this, coupled with the support that we have in the peninsula, not only among the UMNO but also the other Coalition members, Chinese and Indians, then we have, in fact, I have said two weeks ago that we have already the numbers. The issue is when do we move? And I would only, I would be prepared to move only when we feel and we know for a fact that we have a comfortable majority.

Jim Middleton: So you are prepared to be patient, to play a bit of a waiting game, are you?

Anwar Ibrahim: Yes, before hopefully not too long because I think the economy is paramount. It is still dwindling. Sluggish compared to the neighbours. Politically, it's still unsettled. Therefore, we owe it to the Malaysians and also to improve the economy by moving faster.

Jim Middleton: You alluded earlier to the negotiations that you'll need to win support to gain power, you will need to offer money and influence to sway people. That's not exactly democratic, is it?

Anwar Ibrahim: We made very clear if any of the prospective members of parliament have any indication or interest to get funds, then the deal is off. There is no reason why friends from UMNO, knowing UMNO is dwindling, is losing support, will not opt for a reform agenda.

"The mandate given was clear."

There is no reason why, Sabah and Sarawaks knowing our position on the royalty, to concern ourselves over the issue of education, health and public welfare for the marginalised poor, ignored for the last four and a half decades. No reason why they should not support us. The mandate given was clear. If they talk about ethics and morality, let me tell them that the whole conduct of the elections was fraudulent was unethical and immoral in the first place. We would have won, there's no reason for us to even negotiate.

So the issue now is, the general Malaysian public are convinced we had the mandate and we want to pursue that. If there's any deal beyond that we make it clear - we draw the line clearly - no issue of corruption and bribery, which has been the practice of the ruling Coalition for now.

Jim Middleton: What about the other major opposition party, PAS, can you take power without their support?

Anwar Ibrahim: No, the Coalition of Pakatan Opposition is Keadilan, the Justice Party, the Islamic Party, PAS, and the Democratic Action Party. Now we have had a series of meetings, we have now…have established a more formidable alliance. We have spelt out the agenda. No issue of having Malaysia to transform itself to become something else other than a democratic liberal country with constitutional safeguards and guarantees, freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, rule of law, free market economy and distribute of justice, and that has been clear.

Jim Middleton: PAS has reversed positive discrimination for Malays in the state it now controls. In your view, is that a good idea?

"We must cater for all Malaysians."

Anwar Ibrahim: No, generally the policy, our policy is moving towards a new Malaysian economic agenda. We will not, of course, ignore the importance of the marginalised and the poor, particularly among the Malays to be protected, but the whole approach has got to be new, a new approach [has] got to be introduced. Meaning we must cater for all Malaysians, and this is the policy now being adopted by PAS and the DAP in Penang and Keadilan in Selangor.

Jim Middleton: Do you expect any government of which you're part of to be more Islamic or less, if I could put it that way?

Anwar Ibrahim: Well, it is, um... to me not very relevant question. I mean, Islamic in the sense that I pray and don't drink, yes. But I'm no position to compel others to pray or not to drink. Now, it is Islamic in the sense that we will allow conduct of classes at the mosque but we'll also allow for the mushrooming of churches and temples to go uninterrupted or harassed by the administration, as we observed here in the past. No question of demolition of temples, or Hindu temples. That is in a sense to my mind more Islamic because it's supposed to be more just and fair.

Jim Middleton: What about the issue of Sharia law. Where do you stand on that question?

Anwar Ibrahim: There must be room, and allowance for people to dispute and complain including Muslims. But no way we will allow non-Muslims to be educated by the Sharia court and the non-Muslims must be allowed and be given the freedom to be educated in the civil court. Sharia law is only insofar as Muslim family law ….and in some issues that the Muslims are comfortable with, without transgressing into the rest.

Jim Middleton: Going back all those years, looking at it from the perspective of 2008, why do you think Dr Mahathir moved against you when you were both in government all those years ago?

Anwar Ibrahim: The issue then was corruption, nepotism, cronyism. The issue then was more good governance and accountability, and there are things that I was not prepared to do including bail outs for his children, which I wouldn't want to go because I think generally Malaysians are quite aware of that. Now, of course, he's going to say that I'm pro-Jew and fit to become only Prime Minister of Israel so I see he's forgiven and I have no malice towards him. Let him go and lament whatever he wants.

Jim Middleton: You've said that the Mahathir regime - you said it just then, in fact - was corrupt, but weren't you part of it? Weren't you part of the government?

Anwar Ibrahim: Yes, but if you are aware, Jim, you will realise that in 1997 I introduced a tough legislation, Anti-Corruption Act, that was one of the major issue. Why did I introduce that? Why did I push hard? Studying the Commission, the Corruption Commission in Hong Kong? Precisely because I realise, as Finance Minister that corruption is getting to be more endemic, and so many awards and contracts being given to Prime Minister and families and when I introduced that, that became a major battle between me and the leadership. One of the main reasons why I wasn't tolerated.

"To suggest that nothing was done is not true."

So to suggest that nothing was done is not true. Look at my position on the independence of the judiciary. I even made a remark in front of the chief judge that you have to understand the law, not to know the judge.

Jim Middleton: What would you say to those people who suggest a Government headed by you would simply be UMNO in another guise?

Anwar Ibrahim: I'm a liberal democrat. People can assume things. But we are here committed to an agenda and there's no turning back. Six years in prison also taught me a lot. You mature in the process. And you know the mandate given is mandate for change. It is not a mandate to repeat the excesses of the UMNO. There's no question about democratic Malaysia, no question about independent judiciary, no question about a free media and a just policy, economic, social policy for all Malaysians.

Jim Middleton: You had your differences with Dr Mahathir over economic policy, he chose to ignore the IMF, for example, but still succeeded in insulating Malaysia from the Asian economic meltdown. So he did have a degree of success, didn't he?

Anwar Ibrahim: This was just an excuse, a pretext by Mahathir to deflect from the stench in the backyard of massive corruption and rigging. How do you measure success ultimately? You measure by the mid-term, economic performance. And you know, after that, after the initial success, as compared to Indonesia, which was a very poor example.

Indonesia, with the reserves, with the economic strength, with the investments, was far below Malaysia at that time. So to compare is of course apple to orange. But what is important in my mind, all these countries Korea has now surpassed us, Thailand has been able to be stabilised, able to stablise the economy. In Indonesia, in some ways surpassed in terms of foreign investment, in terms of getting more confidence. Malaysia has not been able to move beyond that.

Jim Middleton: You mentioned the economy just then and also earlier in the interview, what in your view is the prescription, what is the way forward for Malaysia at this juncture?

Anwar Ibrahim: Now, I reiterate, first, we have lost our competitiveness. In the 1990s with all the problems, excesses, that you did allude to, Malaysia was still number one in terms of foreign investments, number one in terms of growth, number one in terms of competitiveness in Asia. Now, in terms of foreign direct investments, growth, and competitiveness we have lost.

"We are worse off in terms of independent judiciary and corruption."

We are worse off in terms of free media index, we are worse off in terms of independent judiciary and corruption, which means we have to change. Now, we have to compete successfully in attracting foreign investments. Malaysia is not an obscure country they could just move on independently with domestic investments. We require a lot of support and generate enough confidence among our neighbours, friends in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and America and China, to be able to see Malaysia as an attractive destination for foreign investments.

Jim Middleton: Dr Anwar, thank you very much for your time and I hope we'll talk again soon.

Anwar Ibrahim: Thank you.

[Adrian Wong]

The federal government is really impinging on the rights of the opposition-ruled state governments.

It really irks me to see them try to deny funds to the state governments. IMHO, if they can do this, then why should we, the citizens of those affected states, pay our taxes to the federal government???

Re-routing the Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development Ministry funds via a different body such as Mara is a new form of colonialism, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said.

Lim hoped Minister Datuk Noh Omar would reconsider the decision as such a move would give a wrong impression to the public.

For years, it has been the practice by the Ministry to channel funds worth RM100 mil a year to the respective State Economic Development Corporations.

The money was used for purposes such as upgrading facilities and financing programmes for the benefit of the people.

However, on Saturday Noh announced that the funds would be channelled via Mara, to prevent the rakyat from being "victimised". He did not explain what he meant by the word "victimised".

Such a move was tantamount to forming a parallel government, Lim told reporters during the Mount Miriam Hospital "Ho Chiak" Charity Food and Fun Fair on Sunday.

Lim said that even now there was a separate tourism action council in the state, and the council did not have representatives from the state.

"If this goes on and they (federal government) set up a parallel system and parallel frameworks or other councils, it would be seen as a form of colonialism.

He said the state government would not object to the setting up of similar type of action councils but there should be state representation. - The Star

[Adrian Wong]

And everytime I read about RELA, it really pisses me off. They are like a bunch of government-sanctioned hooligans.

On RELA - volunteers with a vengeance
by Whispers

Once in a while you get reports from Malaysiakini about the ‘activities’ of the Rela corps (i wish they would become Rela corpses). Of course, the mainstream papers carry almost nothing so much so that we hardly notice that Rela is even around. If you were say, an Indonesian foreign worker living in Malaysia, you would feel completely different about Rela.

Based on different reports from the international press, I put together my ‘tribute’ to Rela and pray to God they will be phased out soon.

RELA corps enrages international community

According to Malaysia’s Home Ministry, the role of RELA, which dates back to 1972, is “to help maintain security in the country and the well-being of the people.” It is used as the eyes and ears of the government, to collect information for government agencies such as the police, customs, and immigration on threats to security, to do security patrolling to prevent crime, and, when necessary, to carry out citizens’ arrests.

The 2005 amendment to the Essential (Ikatan RELAwan Rakyat) (Amendment) Regulations 2005, which came into operation on 1 February 2005 ceded more power to RELA by permitting it, “where it has reasonable belief that any person is a terrorist, undesirable person, illegal immigrant or an occupier, to stop that person in order to make all such inquiries or to require the production of all such documents or other things as the competent authority may consider necessary.”

Because of this, the powers of Rela, have been dangerously over-extended, giving RELA personnel the right to bear and use firearms, stop, search and demand documents, arrest without a warrant, and enter premises without a warrant.

What this really means in simpler terms can be inferred from an article published by the New York Times in December 2007:

In 2005, the government transformed a volunteer self-defense corps, created in the 1960s to guard against Communists, into a strike force deputized to hunt down illegal immigrants.

This force, called Rela, now numbers nearly half a million mostly untrained volunteers — more than the total number of Malaysia’s military and police in this nation of 27 million. Its leaders are armed and have the right to enter a home or search a person on the street without a warrant. By an official count, its uniformed volunteers carry out 30 to 40 raids a night.

As it takes over more police and prison duties, Rela is drawing the condemnation of local and foreign human rights groups. They accuse the volunteers, some as young as 16, of violence, extortion, theft and illegal detention.

To make things worse, politicians and leaders often demonise foreign immigrants making them severely despised by the local people. The Rela director-general, Zaidon Asmuni, dismissed the concerns of human rights groups, saying the nation’s security was at stake, and demanded an aggressive defense. “We have no more Communists at the moment, but we are now facing illegal immigrants,” he said. “As you know, in Malaysia illegal immigrants are enemy No. 2.” Enemy No. 1, he says, is drugs.

Mr. Zaidon added that his organization was expanding so fast that it was impossible to train most of the volunteers or to carry out background checks before deputizing them to make arrests. “We cannot train half a million just like that,” he said. “It’s an ongoing process. It will take time, 5 or 10 years.”

If Rela members were overly scrupulous about human rights, he said, they could not do their job. “To stop a person by the roadside, that is also against human rights,” he said. “But if you talk about human rights, you cannot talk about security.”

Yet the RELA corps is infamous for abusing their power. Human Rights Watch noted, “RELA members have failed to distinguish or deliberately ignored the distinctions between undocumented migrants, and refugees and asylum seekers. At other times, volunteers have refused to recognize a worker’s legitimate immigration status. In an effort to legitimatize their own behavior, the volunteers have been known to deliberately destroy identification cards proving a worker’s right to be in Malaysia.”

Human Rights Watch goes on to list cases of abuse in the first quarter of 2007 alone:

• On January 28, a RELA raid in Kampung Sungai Merab, Denkil, resulted in the arbitrary arrest of 14 persons recognized by UNHCR as refugees.
• On March 2, at 2:30 a.m., 10 RELA volunteers raided a factory in Jenjarom, Selangor state, injuring two Nepalese workers and detaining eight others.
• On March 6 and 7, RELA volunteers, who had come to Kampung Berembang, a village near Kuala Lumpur, supposedly to hand out flyers related to court orders, instead helped a developer evict 50 families and tear down their houses. Several villagers were arrested. The demolition went ahead despite an injunction to desist until a scheduled hearing was held. By helping the developers, RELA volunteers engaged in activities – some were spotted operating bulldozers – well beyond their mandate. In addition, they used excessive force while doing so.
• On March 8, a RELA officer detained an Indian immigrant with identification certifying his legal status. It took four days for the worker’s employer to obtain his release from a detention camp for illegal immigrants.
• In late March, eight members of a RELA team removed belongings amounting to RM 1,800 from one dwelling. After police ascertained that at least two of those implicated had stolen before, the full team was detained on robbery charges.
• On April 5, RELA members arrested some 20 Burmese refugees and asylum seekers at a market in downtown Kuala Lumpur. At least five had been recognized as refugees by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

BBC News highlighted the plight of several American tourists with valid tourist visas who were victims of RELA raids in 2006:

“I was walking in Chinatown,” he told the BBC, “when a gentleman in very scruffy type clothes, nothing that you would associate with police or anyone in authority, walked up to me and asked me, “Can I see your passport?”.” Fearing a scam, Mr Wright refused and tried to move away.

“At that point he essentially lunged at me, grabbed me, put handcuffs on me really tightly and called for a few other people out in the crowd,” he explained.

Mr Wright, a serving US Navy lawyer, says he protested that he was a US citizen and told the men who had grabbed him that his passport was in his hotel room, a matter of a few hundred meters away. He was taken, shackled, through Chinatown and put into a caged truck used by the Malaysian immigration department.

There he met a second American, who had also been grabbed by men who refused to show any identification, Yahweh Passim Nam.

It became abundantly clear to Mr Wright and Mr Nam they had more in common than their nationality. Both they and every one of the 30 or so other people arrested in the same raid were black.

“At this time I’m knowing this is racial profiling, beyond a shadow of a doubt,” said Mr Nam, an ex-US Navy serviceman and now a multi media engineer living in Vancouver, Canada.

“The Malaysian government fans xenophobia through its use of RELA,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “By targeting all foreign migrants, Malaysia undermines its espoused pan-Asian ethic.”

RELA also takes upon itself to police morality as was seen in the case of an American couple in their 60s who were holidaying in Langkawi in October 2006, when their hotel room was raided by RELA volunteers. They accused Mr Barnhart of commiting khalwat with a Muslim woman but the woman turned out to be his wife of 42 years, who was wearing a sarong. The intruders refused to leave without seeing a marriage certificate and were only persuaded to go after being shown the couple’s passports.

Mr Barnhart says his wife suffered a nervous breakdown and returned to the US and he is currently pursuing legal action against the religious department.

But rather than disciplining the officers - who apparently broke the law by carrying out the raid without regular police in tow - local politicians defended them saying Mrs Barnhart was mistaken for a local Muslim because she liked to wear a sarong.

Human Rights Watch last year called for the disbandment of RELA.

“The government has set up what’s little more than a vigilante force to target foreigners,” said Brad Adams. “Given RELA’s repeated abuses, it should be disbanded right away.

“RELA’s behavior has embarrassed the government into announcing some minor reforms,” Adams added. “But tinkering with raiding procedures or upgrading training will not get to the fundamental issue, which is that RELA should be disbanded. Malaysia has plenty of professional law enforcement bodies.”
Sources:

BBC 2007 report: BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Incidents may mar Malaysia's tourism bid

Factsheet on RELA + news reports:
http://www.mfasia.org/mfaResources/Rela%20Q%20n%20A.pdf

New York Times report:
A Growing Source of Fear for Migrants in Malaysia - New York Times

Human Rights Watch report:
Malaysia: Disband Abusive Volunteer Corps (Human Rights Watch, 9-5-2007)

[Adrian Wong]

Slowly, the sordid details are being forced into the open. How can the Transport Minister not know about such hanky-panky???

Terence Fernandez, The Sun

PETALING JAYA (April 29, 2008): The new administration of the Transport Ministry is probing the events leading to the contract which requires airline passengers from KL International Airport to subsidise the operations of the Express Rail Link (ERL).

Its minister Datuk Ong Tee Keat has requested information from Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) on monies remitted from airport tax to Express Rail Link Sdn Bhd (ERLSB) which operates the service, following an expose by theSun last week.

The front-page report quoted sources as saying that airport tax of RM45 (international) and RM6 (domestic) at the KLIA and RM35 (international) and RM6 (domestic) at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Sepang could be cheaper but for a deal between ERLSB and the government.

Under the concession agreement signed in 1997, a portion of airport tax, RM2 from domestic travellers and RM6 from international travellers, goes towards financing the ERL’s construction and operations.

The service began operations in 2002, and air travellers have been unwittingly subsiding the ERL irrespective of whether they used the service or not.

“I am taking a special interest on this issue and I want to get to the bottom of this agreement,” Ong told theSun. “I have asked my officers to get me the documents.”

He said he has asked MAHB to furnish him with details, while ERLSB has also submitted a brief report on the deal.

“As Transport Minister, I am duty-bound to ensure that all agreements which concern public transport are in the best interest of the public,” he said, when told of ERLSB’s refusal to reveal details of the agreement and how much it has received from the taxing of airline passengers over the last six years.

Conservative figures put it at RM80 million a year, a figure which ERLSB has refuted. It has declined to reveal what the real numbers are, saying it’s a private company.

Ong said it was too early to reveal what he had learnt so far but assured the public that he will do so once his investigations were complete.

“I need time to pore over the documents and the fine print. I will get legal and expert opinions on the agreement before taking the matter up to the cabinet,” he said.

ERLSB operates under a 30-year concession, including the option to extend for another 30 years to own and operate the ERL.

YTL Corporation holds a 50% stake in ERLSB, while Tabung Haji Technologies Sdn Bhd owns 40% and the balance held by NadiCorp Holdings Sdn Bhd.

[Adrian Wong]

OMG... Believe it or not, Abdullah Badawi and Najib spent RM 790,000 of taxpayers' money on private jets for their election campaign!!!

(NST) THE government spent RM792,325.20 for the use of executive jets by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Razak between Feb 24 and March 7.

Abdullah said this in a written reply to Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang (Pas-Marang).

[Adrian Wong]

Here are more lurid details on the Penang Global City Centre project. It's more or less condemned. Goodbye, Patrick Lim!

Go back to your nice property at Equine Park. You have cheated enough of our money.

Scandal in the Penang Turf Club

Nancy Lim

I wonder why would former trainer, Teh Choon Beng, well past his useful life, and at an age where he should be spending his remaining years with his grandchildren, continue to helm the Penang Turf Club (PTC). Certainly it is not the passion or his love for the club.

The answer is very simple, for the MONEY. Indeed, a very large sum of money, RM38 million to be exact, the amount that Patrick Lim, popularly known as Patrick Badawi, agreed to pay this greedy old man for ensuring the 260-acre race course on the island is sold to Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd, which is controlled by Patrick Badawi.

Patrick Badawi, who is the son of the former trainer's trusted friend, the late Dr Lim Ah Soon, had made a secret pact with Teh to steal the crown jewel cheaply from the ordinary members of PTC. Under a web of deceitful arrangement, the racecourse, located in the heart of George Town, was sold to Abad Naluri for less than RM490mil or under RM40 ringgit per sq ft. In return, Abad Naluri undertook to construct a new RM377 million racecourse in Batu Kawan, a god-forsaken place in Seberang Prai.

No one knows exactly how the costing for the multi-million-ringgit racecourse was calculated. It is rumoured that the construction cost has been inflated and both Teh and Patrick Lim would pocket at least RM70 million from the new racecourse. To justify the sale price of the racecourse, Teh Choon Beng quietly arranged for a tainted valuation report based on open space for horse racing be carried out. Once the land is transferred to Abad Naluri, a land reclassification for mix development would immediately increase the market value to over RM1.8mil, making Patrick Lim an instant billionaire.

But the ambitious Patrick Lim decided to use his political connection with the PM's son-in-law, Khairy Jamaluddin for maximum profit. In November 2007, he arranged for the PM to launch the ambitious RM25 billion Penang Global City Centre project (PGCC). Although there was no formal approval, the PGCC project was officially launched by the PM as part of the Northern Corridor Economic Region development for Penang.

The former trainer knew from the outset that Abad Naluri has no intention to build the new racecourse in Batu Kawan. There was no attempt to buy the 300 acre leasehold land from the Penang Development Corporation and not a single cent had been paid to date. Although the new racecourse is under contract for delivery by 2008, recent site inspection revealed that nothing had been done to the land, not even earthworks and no formal plans had been submitted for approval. What both Teh and Patrick Badawi are interested in is to parcel out the PGCC project to rich foreign Middle-Eastern Arabs and walk away with their riches. But the recent general election result that swept Anwar's Pakatan Rakyat into power derailed their dreams.

It is rumoured that Teh’s unseen hand was in play again recently. He secretly extended the terms of the deal with Abad Naluri for another five to ten years. The idea is to buy time and wait for BN to come back into power again in the next general election. But the former trainer did not anticipate that he would be taken for a ride by Patrick Badawi and left alone in disgrace in the PTC to face the music in case the new Penang state government decides to probe the illegal dealings of PGCC.

All the principal players have left Equine Bhd, the public listed company of Abad Naluri. Umno crony, Datuk Seri Kamal Hashim, suddenly resigned as Abad Naluri's chairman, while lawyer and close confidante of Patrick Badawi, EK Lim, has also thrown in the towel as director of Equine Capital Bhd. But the final nail in the coffin was sealed by Patrick Badawi himself. By disposing off his 40% controlling equity in equine Capital Bhd last week, he too has abandoned the sinking ship.

The massive project drew strong objection from non-governmental organisations and ordinary people who felt it would cause massive traffic jams and environmental issues. The PGCC was one of the factors that caused the downfall of the BN state government in the recent general election.

The plan to swindle the PTC of its crown jewel was hatched 12 years ago. In 1996, at the prime of his career, Teh Choon Beng suddenly announced his retirement as a horse trainer and got himself elected into the PTC committee. No one suspected the move was to position himself in the committee and work out a plan to sell the racecourse to Patrick Badawi.

Once in the committee, Teh Choon Beng consolidated his position and replaced the PTC committee with his cronies. Prominent personalities, including the then Datuk Seri Goh Eng Toon, a well known banker and corporate leader, were ousted.

Under the antiquated PTC constitution, election to the committee is done through proxies. To perpetuate himself, the former horse trainer ensures that he controls 90% of the proxies. Only his friends and family members were admitted as ordinary members. Even then, one must be prepared to sign away one's proxy to him and agree not to attend election of committee, which is normally concluded in less than 10 minutes. Total membership is capped at less than 600 members.

Teh's corrupt practices were well-known in racing circles and several reports on his abuse of power, which was killing the industry, were highlighted in several newspapers. Penang-based horse trainers and owners are forced to buy horses at an exorbitant prices from a company controlled by him. He would make it difficult to those who do not toe the line. New PTC membership applicants have to subscribe a horse ownership scheme controlled by the former trainer.

The de facto leader targets rich middle aged professionals and invite them to be members of PTC. Once they are members, he would induce them to buy expensive horses to race in Malaysia. Through his connection with breeders in Australia and New Zealand, cheap horses were passed on as good bloodlines and sold at inflated prices to the unsuspecting cash rich members.

Teh made millions ripping off the new members through illegal horse ownership scheme. He make use of his position in the PTC to make overseas trips to breeding farms to buy cheap horses and sell them off as expensive thoroughbreds. He travels first class with family for overseas holidays and allows his cronies in the committee and their wives to enjoy first class overseas trips with generous traveling allowances to shut their mouths on his abuse of powers. He formed several companies and secured exclusive rights to supply horse feeds, equipment and veterinary products to trainers and owners in Penang at inflated prices.

Several trainers and owners were forced to move their operations out of PTC, as they cannot put up with his abuses. Today, the PTC has the lowest horse population in the country and if this trend continues, the turf club may one day become the first in the country to close shop, all due to the greed of one man, Teh Choon Beng.

[Adrian Wong]

Is this the beginning of the end????

Cracks in BN unity widening in Sabah, Sarawak

THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

KOTA KINABALU, May 12— Datuk Yong Teck Lee is not a happy man. He has been upset since his request for the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) to contest the Sandakan and Kota Kinabalu seats were rebuffed by the state Barisan Nasional leadership.

He has been disgruntled that his party has only two parliament and four state seats, remarking that the SAPP cannot forever be content with its limited political representation. He and his party are prime candidates to cross over to the Pakatan Rakyat, a move that will give the Opposition two more parliament seats and adding four state seats to the one they currently have.

Worse yet, the changing of political colours could set off a domino effect and embolden other MPs to join the Opposition.

That is why Yong Teck Lee’s name is on the lips of many BN politicians and why some of them are making a beeline for Sabah to appease him and persuade the former Chief Minister of Sabah that he will have a role to play in Kuala Lumpur, possibly as a senator.

But this olive branch may not be sufficient to entice Yong. He is prepared to wait a while and find out if Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi can hush his critics in Umno and stay on in power.

In this regard, he is like many other Sabah politicians who are upset with Abdullah for not recognising the role that the state played in keeping BN in power. They feel that Sabah and Sarawak should have obtained a large share of ministerial positions than states like Selangor.

Abdullah knows that they are restless and has made several promises to them including appointing more Sabahans to senior positions in the Federal civil service and government-linked companies. But they sense that the PM is vulnerable and are going for the jugular.

Today it was Datuk Seri Ghapur Salleh’s (BN-Kalabakan) turn to up the ante. Referring to rumours that many BN MPs in Sabah may join the Opposition, he said: “We have never jumped. We can move by simply forming a new party. Then we can decide as to where we want to sit, here or there."

Debating the Royal Address, he noted that Sabah had been sidelined by the federal government and had the Opposition breaking out in applause when he said: "Kita di Sabah mahu keadilan." Realising that there were Parti Keadilan Nasional politicians in the House, he declared that he wanted justice for Sabahans and was not referring to Anwar Ibrahim’s party.

He argued that Sabah and Sarawak formed the backbone of the Barisan Nasional but yet were not being treated fairly.

"Without Sabah and Sarawak there would be no BN government. Sabah and Sarawak has saved the Barisan Nasional. But what we got in return was three ministerial positions. There are double standards in the BN," he said. Sabah and Sarawak contributed 56 of the 140 parliamentary seats won by BN.

"We were given a portfolio to take care of the museums...is this fair?" he asked, referring to the Unity, Culture, Art and Heritage portfolio held by Datuk Shafie Apdal.

The other ministers are Bernard Dompok (Minister in the Prime Minister's Department) and Datuk Maximus Ongkili (Science, Technology and Innovations).

Ghapur said: "There is a state which has seven ministers while another lost to the Opposition has four Ministers," he said, referring to Johor and Selangor.

Ghapur wanted this imbalance to be addressed by a Cabinet reshuffle.

"I call on the Prime Minister to reshuffle his Cabinet to reflect the current power equation...If nothing is done to address the grouses raised by Sabah folk the state will fall into the hands of the Opposition. The political tsunami will hit us and the BN will lose, I will lose," he said.

He also asked for an increase in oil royalty from 5 percent to 20 percent, increasing the yearly allocation from RM500 million to RM2 billion.

"We can solve problems ourselves with that chunk of money," said the veteran politician, who told reporters later that he had not met Anwar Ibrahim to discuss crossing over to Pakatan Rakyat.

Ghapur is an influential politician in Sabah and his stark comments will unnerve Abdullah. The PM cannot afford any crossovers from Sabah and will have to move quickly to win over Yong, Ghapur and others. He has ruled out a Cabinet reshuffle until after Umno elections in December but may have to consider more meaningful gestures to politicians in the state in the mean time.

Otherwise, Abdullah could face more than just sabre-rattling words. He could face a revolt.