19/11: Fourth charge - for abuse of power

By LOURDES CHARLES
The Star

Federal Commercial Crimes Investigation Director Datuk Ramli Yusoff will be slapped with a fourth charge – for abuse of power – in Sabah today.

Ramli, who was a former Sabah Commissioner of Police, is expected to be produced in a Sessions Court here on charges under Section 15 of the Anti-Corruption Act.

The senior officer was charged in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 1 with not disclosing information about two office units belonging to his sisters and on shares which he allegedly owned.

He is on RM20,000 bail and has been suspended from his post.

Ramli has returned from performing the umrah in Mecca with the Kelantan royalty.

It is learnt that the latest charge against Ramli, 55, is centred on allegations that he had used a Cessna aircraft belonging to the Police Air Wing to inspect his land project in Lahad Datu.

ACA deputy director-general Datuk Abu Kassim Mohamed confirmed that Ramli would be charged here.

The senior officer, in his capacity as a public servant, was also charged with being involved in business as a company director.

He claimed trial to all three charges at a Sessions Court in Kuala Lumpur.

Ramli, who rose from the ranks to be among the top cops in the country, is the most senior police officer ever to be charged in a corruption case in the country.

The Nov 1 charges against him were:

THAT he failed to reveal information on two office units in Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, which belong to his elder sister Rohmah @ Hasmah and younger sister, Roslina.
The two units are worth RM1mil. The two sisters are directors of an investment holding company, Bonus Circle Sdn Bhd.

THAT he failed to disclose information on 154,000 units of shares worth about RM200,000 in a property company, Permaju Industries Bhd, at the same place and time.

THE third was a summons charge where he was accused of unlawfully engaging in business in Kinsajaya Sdn Bhd on April 25 last year.

If convicted, Ramli could be sentenced to 20 years’ jail and fined a maximum of RM100,000 on each of the two charges under Section 32(2) of the Anti-Corruption Act 1997.

19/11: Adieu to the 'Asean Way'

By KHAIRY JAMALUDDIN
Asian Wall Street Journal

Since its founding, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations has deftly balanced the interests of its members, anchored regional geopolitical stability, and launched moves toward a free trade area. Much of this success was due to the so-called "Asean way," a policy of noninterference in member states' internal affairs. Decisions were made by consensus, effectively giving every member a veto. Confrontation and, at times, even honesty, were considered serious diplomatic faux pas.

As useful as the "Asean way" was in managing regional ties during past eras of autocratic leadership and the early years of nation-building in member states, it is time for Asean to slaughter its most sacred cow. This week, the group's leadership will meet in Singapore to decide on a new Charter that has been drafted by a group of Asean's former statesmen. The Charter aims to recast Asean as a rules-based organization with enough teeth to enforce its rules on member states, especially those who have repeatedly hidden their bad behavior behind the grouping's international credibility.

At stake is nothing less than Asean's future. The "Asean way" has proved a double-edged sword. It has allowed for a top-level, generalized commonality of purpose in creating a peaceful and prosperous region. Not interfering with your neighbors creates a lot of goodwill. At the same time, the "Asean way" has also excused egregious human-rights abuses and hampered effective action in many key transborder issues, such as economic integration and environmental degradation.

Among other things, the Charter proposes a new decision-making process which will allow members to vote on some issues, thereby breaking the chokehold that consensus has on efficacy. It calls for a human-rights commission, a strengthened secretariat and a biannual "council meeting" of government leaders to speed decision-making beyond Asean's current once-a-year summit. Most significant is a proposal to give Asean the power to suspend members who violate agreements, or act in a manner which breaches the association's objectives.

If these recommendations are adopted, Asean's commitment to reform will immediately be tested by how it will deal with Myanmar's generals. Under the old "Asean way," Myanmar's 1997 admission into the grouping was defended by other members as a form of "constructive engagement" with Yangon. Asean believed inclusion would lead to moral suasion, and eventually, toward democracy and good governance. Trade and investment between Myanmar and fellow Asean countries benefited both sides. For the generals, Asean membership afforded the country an international platform, and took the edge off Myanmar's pariah status, forcing other countries to deal collectively with the grouping, even though they would not deal with Myanmar individually.

But the events of the past few weeks in Myanmar have reminded us in no uncertain terms of what was becoming increasingly obvious: Engagement and appeasement has not worked. Indeed, Asean had little choice but to censure Myanmar in the strongest possible way -- in itself, a very un-Asean thing to do. Myanmar represents the biggest embarrassment for Asean and with graphic images of the violent suppression of monks and activists beamed globally, there was no "Asean way" out this time around. Although Yangon has shown through its cozy relations with China that it is not entirely dependent on Asean, the grouping must demonstrate that it is willing to wield its new powers against those who refuse to play by the rules. The Charter must mean a very real threat of suspension from Asean if Myanmar refuses to restore democracy immediately in a manner acceptable to the majority of the Burmese people.

* * *
Asean's long-term relevance will also be determined by its ability to boost economic growth through greater integration. For decades, the original Asean members benefited from uncontested flows of foreign direct investment which fed an export boom that exponentially raised living standards and built impressive infrastructure. Today, the flows of capital are no longer uncontested. China and India have emerged as the Asian growth stories of this century. Even within Asean, the five founding members -- Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- can only watch as Vietnam replicates their earlier success.

Although plans for a free trade area have been accelerated, the reality of economic integration is not encouraging. Intraregional trade fell in the initial years of the Asean Free Trade Agreement, inked in 1992. Companies are discouraged from taking advantage of common preferential tariffs because of the red tape involved. Prices for the same goods vary significantly across the region.

Companies want to view Asean as a single production platform where flows of goods, services, workers and capital are open, smooth and predictable. Asean makes a big deal about its combined market size of more than half a billion people. It counters the rise of China with a "China plus one" sales pitch, with Asean being that "plus one." But its attractiveness as an investment destination with a sizable market only works if there is seamless economic integration. Although it may be far too premature to talk about an economic and monetary union in the model of the European Union, the creation of a customs union and later a common market must be a priority if Asean is going to make good on its promise of offering investors a single production platform.

* * *
The Charter's recommendations were, interestingly, put forward by former Asean leaders -- such as former Philippines President Fidel Ramos, former Indonesian Foreign Minster Ali Alatas, and former Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Musa Hitam -- many of whom were practitioners of the "Asean way" during their time in office. Having once been part of the system, it is significant that they realize Asean must now change. Although a political union may be many years away, Asean has no choice but to accelerate its economic integration if it is to put up a good fight against the Chinas and Indias of today.

These goals can only be achieved if the institution tasked with looking after the region is strengthened and rules-based, and its members are rooted in common principles of democracy, justice and good governance. For too long, the "Asean way" has allowed one or two members to tarnish the entire grouping's credibility. For too long, the "Asean way" has been synonymous with a weak central institution, unable to enforce rules among its members and constantly lost in a labyrinth of intergovernmental bureaucracy.

The "Asean way" has reached a dead end. The days of the strongman who closed one eye to what was happening in his backyard are gone. The time for peddling Asian values as an excuse for not upholding basic standards of human rights and development has passed. Asean needs a new way to do things, and the time for change must be now.

Mr. Jamaluddin is deputy leader of the United Malays National Organization's youth movement and a director of Iron Cage, a private investment company based in Kuala Lumpur.

16/11: Rommel's remarks irresponsible and baseless, says Hishammuddin

UMNO Youth Chief aka Malaysian Minister of EDUCATION


New Straits Times


Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein has described Thierry Rommel's statement that Malaysia was living under an effective state of emergency as baseless and irresponsible.

Hishammuddin described Rommel's act as meddling into Malaysia's domestic affairs.

He also claimed that the former European Commission envoy to Malaysia had a hidden agenda.

"I want to warn him not to meddle into our affairs. He should do his homework before coming up with such remarks which are uncalled for and will only damage his credibility and that of the EU."

In reality, Hishammuddin said there were no barriers or restrictions imposed on Malaysians.

"The people can judge for themselves whether what he (Rommel) had said is true or not," Hishammuddin, who is also Education Minister, said after presenting a Jalur Gemilang to the Malaysian team participating in the World Olympiad Robotic Championship.

Rommel had claimed that Malaysia was living under an effective state of emergency after police used tear gas and water cannon to break up a rally on Saturday.

Rommel had also said that the crackdown on demonstrators asking for "clean" elections had proven his point and that a part of the population was feeling their voice was not being heard because of the way the elections were managed.

The former envoy, chastised recently for criticising Malaysia's affirmative action policies to help Malays, also came out with a similar line in an interview with Reuters.

He had said that affirmative action towards the Malays distorted trade ties with others.

Hishammuddin also criticised the Al-Jazeera News for its "one-sided" and unfair coverage of the demonstration.

The demonstrators, he said, did not realise that they were being exploited by certain parties to achieve their agenda.

"They are not happy that our country is progressive and the people from various races, could live side-by-side in peace and harmony. Some Malaysians do not realise that they are being used by these unscrupulous quarters to create havoc, to belittle our country and its leaders."

Youth: [S or U] the period of your life when you are young, or the state of being young.

Words related to Youth:

adolescence, babyhood, boyhood, ( girlhood ), childhood, formative, juvenile, delinquent, kid, laddish, minor, rite of passage, etc etc etc.

16/11: Badruddin says sorry to all women

New Straits Times

DATUK Badruddin Amiruldin (BN-Jerai) has profusely apologised to women in the country following the furore he had created as a result of his remark at the Umno general assembly.

"I did not mean to be sexist or vulgar. I was, as the Malays say, terlajak (carried away)," he said at the lobby yesterday.

Badruddin said he had never intended to offend the delegates or any woman.

"I have daughters and women are an integral part of my election and service machinery in Jerai. I apologise to women if they feel offended and I am sincere."

Badruddin's apology over his remark at the Umno assembly came a day after Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) had warned that he would make an issue of it.

Karpal, quoting a New Straits Times report on Wed-nesday, said Badruddin had interjected with his sexist remark when delegate Zaleha Hussin spoke about uniforms worn by AirAsia stewardesses.

Zaleha was relating how a friend had boarded the airline and said how uncomfortable it was looking at a seated stewardess with bare legs, thighs and calves.

At this point, Badruddin struck with his sexist remark.

"Yes, we can see a tunnel under her skirt," he was quoted as saying.

Karpal had called on Bad-ruddin to apologise to women within seven days.

"Otherwise we will make this a public issue," he had said.

14/11: Rafidah: Foreign investors' confidence not affected by Bersih gatherings

Charles Ramendran and Pauline Puah
The Sun

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz today expressed confidence that foreign investments will not be affected by the rally organised by the Opposition on Saturday (Nov 10).

"I must say that when I go overseas, business people do not ask about the Opposition. They understand (the Opposition). They also know the history of our opposition members. They are not interested," she said after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had opened Intrade Malaysia and the Kuala Lumpur International Trade Forum 2007.

Referring to the gathering organised by the Coalition for Clean and Fair Election (Bersih), Rafidah said foreign investors are more interested in understanding the government’s new policies and the business environment here.

"I don’t even have one question about the Opposition. I had been going around. I just came back from Europe, not even one (investor) asked about the Opposition," she said.

Rafidah said foreign investors understand that these are politicians who demonstrate in the name of democracy.

"The public should be aware that this is the way of the opposition. It’s not really positive. It’s very negative for them. But for foreigners, they don’t worry. They are not interested. Even in their country, they also have demonstrations," she said.

In Saturday’s gathering, thousands of people marched from various parts of Kuala Lumpur to Istana Negara to submit a memorandum to the King, calling for electoral reforms.

The police, which did not issue a permit for the gathering, had used tear gas and the water cannon on the protesters near Masjid Jamed area when the demonstrators failed to disperse.

On another question whether the government would ask Petronas to increase oil production following the increase in oil prices, Rafidah said the government is studying it.

"Like the prime minister said, we are all looking at the subsidy structure. This is being done at the technical and official level. We are working it out. So bear with us," she added.

15/11: Malaysia lives under state of emergency - EU envoy

By Mark Bendeich

(Reuters) - Malaysia is living under an effective state of emergency, an EU envoy said on Tuesday, after police used tear gas and water cannon at the weekend to break up the biggest anti-government protest in a decade.

"Today, this country still lives under emergency," the European Commission's envoy to Malaysia, Thierry Rommel, told Reuters by telephone on the last day of his mission to Malaysia.

Rommel's remarks, extraordinarily blunt for a diplomat, chime with a chorus of criticism from opposition parties and some non-government groups about the way the government handled the protest, which it called an illegal assembly of troublemakers.

Police had set up road blocks around the capital to prevent protesters converging on Kuala Lumpur for Saturday's rally, but despite these measures and heavy rain, around 10,000 people thronged the city centre to call for electoral reform.

Police later moved in with tear gas and water cannons, which fired jets of water laced with a chemical irritant, to break up the crowd. There were no reports of any serious violence.

Rommel, who has spent four and a half years in Malaysia, said many Malaysians felt that their voices were not being heard and agreed that the electoral system should be reformed.

"It's not a secret that elections are not fair," he said, noting complaints from electoral reform group Bersih, organiser of Saturday's protest, that election campaigns were too short and that the media was biased toward government campaigning.

"There's a significant part of the population that feels their voice is not really heard because of the way elections are managed," he added. "They feel locked out."

The Belgian noted that several emergency-style laws were still in use, such as the Emergency Ordinance, born in 1969 to deal with race riots, and the colonial-era Internal Security Act (ISA). Both allow detention for years without trial.

None of these powers were used to quell Saturday's protest, and the ISA has not been used against opposition politicians and activists for several years. But the chief minister of central Pahang state, a member of the main ruling party, has said the ISA should be used if necessary to deal with future protests.

"They (emergency laws) all very clearly establish the legal framework for the executive to take measures in cases of unrest -- as the executive defines them," Rommel said.


PAINTING AN UGLY PORTRAIT

Rommel, a career diplomat, is not new to controversy in Malaysia. He created a storm in June when he gave a speech likening Malaysia's affirmative-action policy to a trade barrier.

That remark brought a swift backlash and formal protest from the government. The trade minister even complained publicly that Rommel had an attitude problem, and his name started to disappear from the government's invitation lists.

But Rommel, who spoke to Reuters on condition that his comments be published after his departure later on Tuesday, said he was unrepentant about his criticisms and denied he was trying to superimpose Western values onto Malaysia.

He said Malaysia's "Bumiputra" policy of affirmative action, which favours majority ethnic Malays, distorted trade because it allowed the government to award state contracts to Malay businesses without clear, competitive tender procedures.

It also fostered corruption, he added.

"The extension of Bumiputra-based discrimination and preference in public procurement -- which is massive in the Malaysian economy -- has worked to the disadvantage of foreign players in particular and has become a vehicle for officially acknowledged corruption...," Rommel said.

"It is public knowledge that local Malay vested interests, with powerful political or administration connections, want to see this mechanism maintained."

14/11: Michael Backman on Malaysia again

Malaysian Indian Congress ( MIC ) President S. Vellu - the Indian "feudal lord".

Michael Backman
www.michaelbackman.com

Ethnic rivalry in Malaysia usually is portrayed as rivalry between the majority Malay population and the large Chinese minority. But sandwiched between the two are Malaysia's Indians. They make up about 2 million or 8% of the population but according to some estimates they account for around 2% of the nation's corporate wealth. This disparity is leading to rising tensions from a group that the authorities normally take for granted.

The Indian community is split into Muslims and Hindus. The Muslims, known locally as the 'Mamak', tend to blend more easily with the dominant Malays - both being Muslim means that intermarriage is not uncommon. (Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad is the product of such a union.) The Hindus on the other hand are far more marginalised. Politically weak and disorganised, they tend to be largely ignored by the government.

Many are very poor. But despite this, as non-Malays and non-Muslims they do not qualify for Bumiputera status – the status given to Malays which gives the Malays preferred access to university places, government share distributions and other such privileges. Some of the poorest work as rubber tappers.

Several years ago I visited several rubber estates in the northern state of Kedah and the poverty and physical condition of the rubber tappers was unbelievable particularly as Malaysia is not a poor country. The plight of the tappers is akin to that of the aborigines in the more remote parts of Australia except that the Australian government pours billions into the community but with little discernible effect.

Malaysia's Indians are among those to suffer the greatest displacement from the million or more legal and illegal Indonesian migrants now in Malaysia. Sporadic ethnic unrest now beaks out between poor Indians and resident Indonesians but rarely is such unrest reported in the Malaysian media – the government directs the local media either not to report it or not to highlight it.

Growing resentment too derives from the demolition of Hindu temples by the various state governments. Dozens have been destroyed in the last few years. All or most targeted for demolition have been built on land to which the temples have no title. Typically the demolitions proceed with a court order and as such are reasonable. The real issue is why do so many of Malaysia's Indians need to squat on land that isn't theirs in the first place?

But it is the manner in which the demolitions are carried out which unnecessarily raises tensions. The authorities who enforce the demolition orders invariably are Malay and Muslim giving such demolitions unfortunate religious rivalry overtones. Sometimes the idols are smashed before worshippers are given a chance to remove them to a safe place, action which is insensitive at best and a deliberate provocation at worst. The most recent temple to be demolished was at Shah Alam, near Kuala Lumpur on October 30. Scuffles broke out and people were manhandled.

In another perceived sleight, the most important Indian festival Deepavali this year falls on November 8. The (Malay) ruling UMNO party's annual General Assembly is being staged on 5-9 November without stopping for Deepavali even though Deepavali is one of Malaysia's gazetted public holidays. The Malay politicians of yesteryear would not have been this insensitive.

Many better educated Indians are migrating. Those who remain are becoming more strident politically.

On August 12, around 2,000 Malaysian Indians protested outside the prime minister's office to demand better treatment. The protest might have been bigger but according to organisers the police blocked as many as 15 buses carrying Indians from entering the area on the basis that the bus drivers did not have valid driving licences.

On August 30, a class action was filed in London by a group of activists against the UK government for bringing indentured labourers from India during the colonial era and failing to "protect" them thereafter including during the fifty years since Malaysia's independence. The suit will go nowhere of course but it is a calculated attempt to embarrass the Malaysian government internationally to force it to better look after the welfare of the Indian minority. And on November 25, a petition with what activists claim will have 100,000 signatures will be presented to the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur in support of the legal action.

But what of the Indians' political leaders?

Samy Vellu is head of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) party and has been so since 1979. He is also Malaysia' Public Works Minister. Vellu completely dominates the MIC which his critics claim he runs almost along feudal lines.

He was the subject of a major scandal in the early 1990s when the government allocated ten million shares in the country's national telephone company to Maika, an Indian cooperative company set up by the MIC. The company accepted only one million shares. The other nine million were then given to three companies which Vellu described as MIC-linked companies, but which, according to his critics, were actually linked to his relatives. The three companies made tens of millions of dollars in capital gains on the shares. Meanwhile Maika became almost insolvent.

Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad when asked why he didn't sack Vellu from his cabinet given this and other scandals replied that he had no control over the MIC's internal processes and that he was obliged to have in the cabinet whomever the MIC chose as its leader. To be fair, Mahathir once told me that Vellu had an appalling job, given how politics is played out in the Indian community with the constant and seemingly trifling demands for gifts and direct assistance. But essentially, Vellu is part of the wider malaise of political leadership from which Malaysia suffers from today.

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