Kenapa Agong Tak Suka Idris Jusoh?

Came across this article on the current MB crisis in Terengganu state. Don't know how true is this.

One thing that Malaysia Today would like to raise is the matter of Terengganu's oil royalty which we hope Mahathir will address on 28 July. Since the mid-1970s, Terengganu had been enjoying a 5% royalty on all the oil and gas extracted in the state. That is what is provided for under the Petroleum Development Act. In fact, not only Terengganu, but any state in Malaysia where oil and gas is extracted they would enjoy the same. However, in 2000, this royalty was withdrawn and converted to Wang Ehsan (goodwill money). Suddenly, the RM800 million or so a year that Terengganu was supposed to get as its 5% share of the oil and gas revenue was transferred out of the state and into the hands of one man, Idris Jusoh.

Malaysia was then already suffering from an outbreak of JE. But in Terengganu it was JE of another kind, Jusoh Enterprise, Idris Jusoh's family business. Jusoh Enterprise or JE was suddenly flush with funds, RM800 million a year to be exact. Then, in 2004, Umno, under the stewardship of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, won back the state from the opposition. But the state did not win back its 5% oil royalty. The Wang Ehsan continued and Idris Jusoh, who now became the Chief Minister, continued to single-handedly manage the fund. Even the State Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) and the Terengganu State Economic Planning Unit (UPENT) were left totally in the dark. One man, Idris Jusoh, decided how the money was spent, and it is a lot of money.

But the new Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, would not tolerate one man managing the state's coffers. He wanted Idris Jusoh's hands out of the RM800 million a year cash box. However, to revert to the 5% royalty only meant that the money would come directly under state control. That would not serve their purpose. They wanted direct control of the RM800 million. Now it was under the control of the Prime Minister's Department but passed down to Idris Jusoh's hands. What they needed to do was to get Idris Jusoh's hands out of the equation.

Then Khairy Jamaluddin, Abdullah's son-in-law cum adviser, came out with a fantastic new 'umbrella concept', better than even Mahathir's. They wanted control of the RM800 million a year. But they did not want to get it out of Idris Jusoh's hands by putting it into the hands of the state. That would merely be a case of out of the frying pan, into the fire. They wanted direct control of the money without Idris Jusoh deciding on how the money is spent.

And this is how they did it. First they appointed Wan Farid, Khairy's 'running dog', as Abdullah's Political Secretary. Then they appointed Wan Hisham, Wan Farid's brother, as the State Exco Member in-charge of tourism. Then they gave Patrick Lim, Khairy's business partner, the sole monopoly of all state tourism projects. Now the network is intact and Idris Jusoh has been cut off.

Patrick Lim's job is to create all sorts of state tourism projects at hugely inflated prices. He would then propose these projects to Wan Hisham, the man in-charge of tourism. Wan Hisham would then pass them on to his brother, Wan Farid. Wan Farid would then pass them on to Khairy. Idris Jusoh would of course be left out of the loop and he would only know about them when it was a fait accompli -- as the Malays would say, "Nasi sudah jadi bubur."

They built 30 houses at RM1 million each on an island in the Terengganu River. They launched a RM300 million a year yacht race called the Monsoon Cup. Hundreds of millions a year is being spent to 'attract tourists to Terengganu'. It seems this year the amount of Wang Ehsan has shot up from RM800 million to RM1 billion -- so there is even more money to play around with.

To ensure that Idris Jusoh keeps his hands out of the cash box, Abdullah himself chairs the state meetings though he is the Prime Minister and not the Terengganu Chief Minister. Of course, Idris Jusoh, being the Chief Minister, is allowed to sit in on these meetings though he has no say on what they propose. Patrick Lim, though he is not in the government, is also allowed to attend these meetings.

Abdullah would then propose all sorts of tourism projects conjured by Wan Hisham, Wan Farid and Khairy. Details are of course not discussed; only the gist of things and the amounts involved. Whenever Idris Jusoh raises any questions, he would be told to 'leave it all to Patrick Lim who knows what to do'. Idris Jusoh is not to involve himself in the details.

After awhile Idris Jusoh got quite pissed and tried to resist. One project that he knew nothing about was placed before him and he was told by Patrick Lim to sign the papers. But how could he sign the papers when he knew nothing about it and would eventually have to bear responsibility for it?

Patrick Lim walked out of Idris Jusoh's office and phoned Wan Farid who complained to Khairy. Within an hour Idris Jusoh received a phone call from Abdullah who ordered him to sign the papers, which he of course did straight away.

Patrick Lim's hold on Abdullah was apparent to all but somehow not to Idris Jusoh. One day Abdullah visited Terengganu to chair the regular meetings on how to spend Terengganu's RM800 million (which is now RM1 billion because of the increase in oil prices). Idris Jusoh fetched Abdullah from the airport but before his car could move Patrick Lim's car cut in front of Idris Jusoh's car and Abdullah got out of Idris Jusoh's car and got into Patrick Lim's car. Idris Jusoh should have realised then who really runs Terengganu.

Yes, RM1 billion a year is a lot of money. This money, which should belong to Terengganu, is not going to the state. It is going to Wan Hisham, Wan Farid, Patrick Lim and Khairy. And Abdullah chairs the state meetings to decide how the money is spent. And Wan Hisham, Wan Farid, Patrick Lim and Khairy help spend the money. And they spend it all. And Idris Jusoh has no say in how it is spent. And if he refuses to sign the papers he will get a phone call from Abdullah.

Now do you know who runs this country? Abdullah says he and not his son-in-law runs this country. Idris Jusoh however will tell you that Khairy runs this country. And Khairy also runs Terengganu and manages its RM1 billion a year through Wan Hisham, Wan Farid and Patrick Lim. And Abdullah chairs the Terengganu State meetings on behalf of Khairy and according to the plan on how Patrick Lim wishes to spend the RM1 billion a year.

And now do you know why Mahathir is so pissed? And he has every reason to be pissed. In fact, I too am pissed. And that is why I agree that Mahathir stays pissed with Abdullah and his son-in-law. The Terengganu issue alone is enough for me to get pissed. And rest assured that Terengganu is but the tip of the iceberg.

Yes, it is nice being able to walk in the corridors of power. And much can you do when you walk in the corridors of power. And RM1 billion a year is nice to manage if you have that power to do so. And when you walk in the corridors of power you would of course have that power.

In regards to this, let me share with you what i read about the list of honorific titles for Malaysia's PMs:

1. YM Tunku Abd.Rahman: Bapa Kemerdekaan
2. Tun Abd.Razak: Bapa Pembangunan
3. Tun Hussein Onn: Bapa Perpaduan
4. Tun Dr. Mahathir: Bapa Pemodenan (Or Bapa Kerosakan Sistem Negara?)
5. Dato' Seri Abdullah Badawi: Bapa Mertua

;-)

Minimum Brokerage Fees

I hope I'm wrong about this. Even though the 2008 Budget has been announced long ago, i came to notice the changes of the brokerage fee structure that government wanted to implement only today. With effect from 1 Jan 2008, all stock transaction will have a minimum brokerage fee of Rm40 instead of current fee of Rm12 -- this will definitely put small investors like me into a very difficult situation. This means that almost all stock transaction will be at least Rm8000 each to be at least breakeven at the brokerage level. If not, you will need to pay the minimum charge of Rm40. Compare to previous level, i only need to breakeven at Rm2449 (using 0.49% rate) per transaction.

From economics perspective, i think it's better for the government to leave this brokerage fees to the market force. The demand and supply as well as the competition among brokerage houses will determine the right level to charge. This will bring the effective use of resource as we all who have studied economics will know that floor and ceiling prices will lead to ineffective use of resource. This is called DEADWEIGHT LOSS, dudes! I think our government have much better things to do than this.

Sometimes, the government always said one thing and did another thing in my opinion. They said they want to encourage retail participation in our equity market but then they came out with this stupid idea of minimum brokerage fee of Rm40.

Let the market force decide. Mind your own business. Take care of our country ever rising inflation level -- everything has risen in price level these days. This still have not counted in the expected petrol price increase yet. If the crude oil price still hovering around USD100 per barrel, i envisage our petrol price will be around Rm3 per litre starting next year.

BN = BARANG NAIK!

國慶廣告短片帶來的啟示

最近，配合國家慶祝獨立50周年，國油推出2007年默迪卡廣告短片。這支看似平平無奇的短片，畫面下卻真真實實、毫不避諱地道出我國在建國50年來的最大困境。

鏡頭下的老人就如馬來西亞，已走到知天命之年一般，開始感到力不從心。老人的好友哈芝為了讓老人清還所欠下的債務，便提供種種材料、資源和便利給老人，希望老人能夠幫他打造一艘新船，來替代所要償還的債務。

然而，老人卻投機取巧地將破舊、廢棄船只的船身重新組裝，掩蓋破舊船身的腐蝕漏洞並重新上漆。一艘新船很快地就完成了，老人也順利讓船只首次出航。

可是，哈芝過後卻不再需要老人幫他打造的船。他將船只送給老人並豁免其債務。他希望老人能夠藉著出租船只賺錢維生，在經濟上獨立自主而不再仰賴他人的幫助。

鏡頭一轉，當老人走向其之前完成的船只時，卻發現那艘粗製濫造的船只開始在沉沒……

這支短片的故事讓人感到似曾相識。那位哈芝就好比我國獨立之前的殖民地政府，留下了種種資源、技術和發展給這片土地的主人，寄望接下來的領導人能夠好好地利用各種資源和優勢發展本身的經濟脈絡，不再依靠他國援助或被人支配。

在風雨中成長的馬來西亞，在建國初期確實取得穩定發展。然而，經歷50年來種種導致國家政局動蕩不安、經濟體系嚴重受創、行政體制弊病重重、種族藩籬日益加深等問題，馬來西亞這艘承載2600萬人口的船只如今亦然百孔千瘡。

結果，建國初期的社會契約面對嚴峻挑戰，各族人民之間相互猜疑程度日益嚴重，就連原本受到聯邦憲法所保障的宗教自由亦面對種種衝擊。究竟這艘觸了礁的船只還能航行多久、多遠？

掌舵人在導航國家的未來前途時迷失了方向。國家金融體系一蹶不振、經濟蛋糕分配不均、國家財庫近乎空蕩，種種問題顯示我國經濟正面臨高度危機。

掌舵人在發展經濟方面裹足不前，施展政策卻又舉棋不定，讓原本作為我國經濟發展火車頭的東方硅谷（Silicon Valley）─檳城，如今卻淪為北馬經濟發展走廊（NCER）的“西邊”，這是何等的諷刺！

故事中的船隻出現腐蝕漏洞，我國現今的硬體建設又何嘗不是如此？從今年4月迄今，我國公共交付系統出現各種紕漏：布城的聯邦政府部門建築出現水管爆裂、天 花板墜落醜聞；耗資2億7000萬令吉建竣的新法庭大廈出現裂縫；耗資1億令吉重新裝修的國會下議院會議廳發生漏水事件。

這尚未包括大大小小的豆腐渣工程！若將老人所打造的船只直接比喻為我國的公共交通系統，政府掌舵人在交通規劃方面的短視心態更是叫人不敢恭維。

對一個國家而言，50年歲月說短不短、說長不長。鄰國新加坡這個彈丸小國能在42年內迅速崛起成為區域金融中心，馬來西亞又怎樣呢？正當我們還在為擁有全球最高三甲建築物之一的國油雙峰塔自豪時，我們是否正被全球化的發展洪流所淘汰？

再過兩週，全民就要歡慶國家獨立50周年，但是馬來西亞究竟還能走多遙遠？我們今天所打造的船只，能否帶領我們航向明天的明天？ （星洲日報/6日譚•作者：林芮光•政治工作者•言論不代表本站立場‧2007.08.13）

What's the Implication of Lina Joy's Verdict?

The Federal Court may has its final verdict. I have no objections over the court decision on National Registration Department (NRD) action of not allowing Lina removed the word "Islam" from her MyKad. Since Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim ruled that jurisdiction remains with the Syariah court.

But the questions remained. Is Lina Joy a real convert in the face of law by just baptizing in church? If not, can she really go through a proper channel to lawfully renounce Islam in Malaysia? Since NRD said it needed a Syariah Court order certifying her renouncement from Islam. If there are no such channels, then it's useless to bring this kind of case to the court again next time. It just gives people a chance to sensationalize the entire issue. But then again, if no such channels exist, would it be contradictory to the Constitution of Malaysia that gives people the freedom of religious belief?

The verdict also has one profound implication -- that the Syariah Court precedes Civil Court when dealing with ALL Islam matters.

No Joy for Lina - The Verdict

(As reported from Malaysiakini.com, 30 May 2007)

Lina Joy’s long wait for her conversion to Christianity to be recognised by law is over - the Federal Court ruled today that she remains a Muslim and her religious status will not be removed from her identity card.

Delivering the judgment to a packed gallery this morning in Putrajaya, Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim ruled that jurisdiction remains with the Syariah court.

The chief justice stated that he concurred with the majority decision - Justice Alauddin Mohd Sheriff who was the last to read his judgment agreed with Ahmad Fairuz's findings.

Justice Richard Malanjun gave a dissenting judgment.

The case hinged on a decision by the National Registration Department not to remove the word ‘Islam’ from Lina’s MyKad.

The department said it needed a syariah court order certifying her renouncement from Islam before it could make the change.

The three questions

Following this, Lina filed a suit against the NRD director-general, the government and the Federal Territory Religious Council in 2001.

After losing at both the High Court and Court of Appeal, the matter finally came to the Federal Court with these three questions:

1. Was the NRD entitled to require a person to produce a certificate or a declaration or an order from the syariah court before deleting “Islam” from his or her identity card;

2. Did the NRD correctly construe its powers under the National Registration Regulations 1990 when it imposed the above requirement, which is not expressly provided for in the regulations?; and

3. Was the landmark case Soon Singh vs Perkim Kedah – which held that syariah courts have the authority over the civil courts to hear cases of Muslims renouncing Islam – correctly decided?

Delivering the much-awaited judgment today, Ahmad Fairuz and Alauddin answered in the positive to all these three questions.

Richard however disagreed, stating that the NRD had no statutory duty to decide on apostasy.

Ahmad Fairuz said the NRD, which is in charge of issuing identity cards, had the right to demand that a syariah court certify Lina's conversion.

"On the question that the National Registration Department has the right to demand a certification from the Islamic court that confirms the appellant's renunciation of Islam, my answer is that NRD has the right," he said.

"The appeal has been rejected with cause," he added.

Shouts of Allahuakbar

A large section of the 300-strong crowd waiting outside recited the tahlil or read the Quran while waiting for the decision.

When the news reached them, they shouted Allahuakbar - their reaction resounded through the Palace of Justice.

Born to Malay parents, Joy, 43, whose Muslim name was Azlina Jailani, converted to Christianity in 1998.

The Lina Joy Case - Verdict's Tomorrow

Verdict in Muslim convert's legal battle could define Malaysia's religious identity
The Associated Press, 26 May 2007

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Lina Joy has been disowned by her family, shunned by friends and forced into hiding — all because she renounced Islam and embraced Christianity in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

After a 7-year legal struggle, Joy will be told by Malaysia's highest court on Wednesday whether her constitutional right to choose her religion overrides an Islamic law that prohibits Malay Muslims from leaving Islam.

Either way, the verdict in the high-profile apostasy case will have profound implications on Malaysian society where Islam is increasingly conflicting with minority religions, challenging the country's reputation as a moderate Muslim and multicultural nation that guarantees freedom of worship.

"Our country is at a crossroad," Joy's lawyer, Benjamin Dawson, told The Associated Press. "Are we evolving into an Islamic state or are we going to maintain the secular character of the Constitution?"

About 60 percent of Malaysia's 26 million people are Malay Muslims, whose civil, family, marriage and personal rights are decided by Islamic Shariah courts. The minorities — the ethnic Chinese, Indians and other smaller communities — are governed by civil courts.

But the Constitution does not say who has the final say in cases such as Joy's when Islam confronts Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism or other religions.

The founding fathers of Malaysia left the Constitutional deliberately vague, unwilling to upset any of the three ethnic groups dominant at the time of independence from Britain 50 years ago, when building a peaceful multiracial nation was more important.

The situation was muddied further by the Constitution, which described Malaysia as a secular state but recognized Islam as the official religion.

Joy's case "will decide the space of religious freedom in Malaysia," said Dawson. If she wins, "it means that the constitutionally guaranteed right of freedom of religion prevails. If she loses, that means the constitutional guarantee is subservient to Islamic restrictions," he said.

Joy's decision to leave Islam sparked angry street protests by Muslim groups and led to e-mail death threats against Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, a Muslim lawyer supporting her. The widely circulated anonymous e-mail described him as a "traitor" to Islam and carried his picture with the caption "Wanted Dead."

Proselytizing of Muslims is banned in Malaysia and apostasy — as in many Islamic nations — is regarded a crime punishable by fines and jail sentences. Offenders are often sent to prison-like rehabilitation centers.

By law, all Malays have to be Muslim and few convert. Those who do prefer to keep it quiet.

Some seek legal sanction for their action, but civil courts invariably refer the case back to the Shariah courts.

But Joy, 42, has argued that she should not be bound by Shariah laws because she is a Christian.

Born Azlina Jailani, she began going to church in 1990 and was baptized eight years later. She applied for a name change on her government identity card. The National Registration Department obliged but refused to drop Muslim from the religion column.

Joy went to the High Court in May 2000 but was told to go to Shariah courts. She challenged the decision in the Court of Appeal but lost, and took it to Malaysia's highest court, the Federal Court, in 2005.

The trial ended in July 2006, but it has taken the judges until now to declare a verdict, saying a careful examination was necessary because of the sensitivity of the case.

Meanwhile, Joy has been disowned by her family and forced to quit her computer sales job after clients threatened to withdraw their business. Joy and her ethnic Indian Catholic boyfriend, known only as Johnson, went into hiding early 2006 amid fears they could be targeted by Muslim zealots, Dawson said.

"Lina is very steadfast in her belief. She is aware that her chances (of winning) are slim but she is putting her faith in God. She is just an ordinary Malaysian girl who wants to lead an ordinary life."

Joy has never made any public appearances and has rejected requests for interviews.

In a sworn statement to a lower court in 2000, Joy said she felt "more peace in my spirit and soul after having become a Christian."

Muslim groups, however, say Joy is questioning the position of Islam by taking the case to the civil courts.

"It is not about one person, it is about challenging the Islamic system in Malaysia," said Muslim Youth Movement President Yusri Mohammad, who set up a coalition of 80 Islamic groups to oppose Joy's case.

"By doing this openly, she is encouraging others to do the same. It may open the floodgates to other Muslims because once it is a precedent, it becomes an option."

If Joy wins her case, he warned, it could rend Malaysia's multiracial fabric by fomenting Muslim anger against minorities, who have largely lived in peace with Malays. There has been no racial violence in the country since the May 1969 Malay-Chinese riots that killed dozens.

Dawson said several other apostasy cases are on hold in the civil courts, pending a verdict in Joy's case.

"Both the man in the street and lawyers want to know once and for all how to draw the line between civil and Shariah courts — whether Muslims can convert and if yes, what are the procedures," he said.