when No is deemed as Yes...

A qualified Australia-certified Chartered Accountant in all his wisdom once said,

"For banks to allow (the) extension (of a loan repayment by one month), this also shows that they have a certain confidence in the company (1Malaysia Development Berhad, 1MDB).”

I heard his statement of wisdom in disbelief, despite the fact that this person has repeated claimed to be Australia-certified Chartered Accountant. I consulted the views of a few senior bankers on the accuracy of this statement. The responses can be summarised as follows:

Banks are commercial entities. They lend money to earn fee or interest income from a client. Should they feel that a client is capable of repaying the loan, they would be happy to extend a loan for 1 year, 3 years or even 5 years. They would not be so silly to extend for just one month only. Extending a loan on a month by month basis is administratively cumbersome. It is only done for a problematic loan.

Their comments confirmed my logical thinking. If a person has confidence in you, he will be looking at a business or friendly relationship on a long term. One month cannot be considered long term. Hence, the purported words of wisdom must be misguided...

There are a few analogous scenarios that we can analyse further:

• Personal Relationship. Your girlfriend is asking for a breakup due to your misbehaviour. You want the relationship to stay, and you ask for more time to improve the situation. You want to be a better person for her. She turns around and says that she is only giving you one month to try. This can not be a case where she has the confidence that you will improve and make things better.
• Business Relationship. You have been buying goods from this particular supplier on 30 day credit terms. You are allowed 30 days after receipt of goods before you pay. You ask for a longer credit period due to the commercial relationship. You are aware that the supplier grant longer credit terms to other customers. To your surprise, your supplier refuse and remain the 30 days credit terms with you. This cannot be a situation where you can think that your supplier has confidence in your credit strength.
• Personal loan. If you need some money for an urgent and immediate need but you require a year to save enough money. You may try to borrow from your good friend to attend to this immediate need. You know that your good friend is wealthy and can well afford to spare the cash. However, your friend is only willing to lend you the money for one month. Although there may be other reasons to explain this, it cannot be interpreted as a sign of confidence that he has in you.

Logically, this qualified Australia-certified Chartered Accountant is erroneous to think that one month loan extension is a sign of confidence in 1MDB. Indeed, he should know that this is a vote of no-confidence or a clear sign of lacking in confidence on the part of the banks. It should not take a genius to know this. 

Yet, the words came out of a Deputy Minister and a qualified Australia-certified Chartered Accountant. This self-claimed Australia-certified Chartered Accountant is Chua Tee Yong, who is the Deputy Minister in Finance Ministry of Malaysia. He is one of the children of Chua Soi Lek, who was once a President of Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) in the governing coalition of Malaysia, Barisan Nasional. 

Please refer to the below for more details on 1MDB RM2 billion loan extensions:

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/deputy-minister-says-loan-extension-shows-banks-confidence-in-1mdb

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-27/1mdb-seeks-loan-extension-before-3-billion-ipo-of-energy-assets

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/bank-negara-powerless-to-act-on-1mdb-loan-extension-request-says-report

http://portalkini.net/?p=17643

Think Moderate, Vote Moderate

A group of 25 prominent personalities comprising mostly former top civil servants wrote an open letter dated 7 December 2014 calling on the Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak to act against the racial and religious disturbances caused by the extremists, and asking moderate Malaysians to stand up and be counted against extremist, immoderate and intolerant voices as represented by Perkasa, Isma, etc.

We applaud the good itention of this Group of 25. Their press release is available here. The Group is led by the prominent and outspoken Dato’ Noor Farida Ariffin, the former Malaysian ambassador to the Netherlands.

There were 2 fundamental flaws with the good intention of this Group of 25. They wrote to a leader of United Malays National Organisation (Umno) and Barisan Nasional coalition (BN) to seek leadership against racial and religious extremism in the country.

• By writing to Umno/BN, they have submitted to the notion that only Umno/BN can provide solutions to the extremist problems in the country. This trust on Umno/BN to act against extremism may be ill-founded.
• There are several political parties which have been out-rightly speaking and acting against extremism. Umno/BN is not one of them.
• Umno/BN has been ruling Malaysia after taking it over at the end of British occupation in 1957. British, as the then colonial master, was practising 'divide and rule' tactic to control the local populations. Umno/BN has been responsible in prolonging this tactic to 'divide' the multi-ethnic Malaysians into race and religion, and then 'rule' them by acting as the only master that can safeguard the interest of each race or religion. You can read more here.
• This 'divide and rule' tactic can only work if the multi-ethnic Malaysians remain divided. It works best by way of extremism. The more deeply divided the Malaysians, the better this 'divide and rule' tactic works.
• It is against the existence of Umno/BN and its reign of power in Malaysia to weed out extremism. In order to thrive, it must not see Malaysians united in their own country.
• Hence, I believe the call by the Group of 25 for anyone in Umno/BN to exercise political will and leadership to promote moderation is futile.

• By calling on Najib to resolve the problems, they look up to Najib; believe Najib is fully in control of Umno/BN; and he is capable of making a change. The trust and belief are misplaced.
• Najib, as the head of Umno/BN, can not possibly act against the interest of Umno/BN to hang on to power.
• Since Najib took over as the prime minister in 2009, the extremism in Malaysia has proliferated like wild mushrooms and taken a more obvious, albeit inappropriate, central stage of Umno/BN politics.
• Perkasa's leader, Ibrahim Ali once admitted that he was only answerable to Najib.
• There is doubt if Najib is fully in control of Umno due to his 'cakap tak serupa bikin' (talk but act differently or failure to walk the talk) character which has resulted in many serious policy U-turns. He has also been nicknamed 'Bapa U-turn Malaysia'
• Najib's frequent policy U-turns spell out clearly that he is incapable of bringing about any major change. He changes his mind before any change can be implemented.

It can be concluded that neither Najib nor Umno/BN can be relied upon to instil racial or religious moderation in Malaysia. As a result, the good intention of this Group of 25 is likely to end up in vain. Expectedly, Najib has remained silence on the request of this Group up to the time of writing.

The Group of 25 might be more successful should they be calling on all Malaysians, especially the moderates, to stay away from extremism and abandon any political party or politician that does not have a moderate stance. They can justifiably call upon all Malaysians to vote against any political party or politician that allow or condone any form of extremism whether expressively or implicitly.

The majority of Malaysians should be awakened to heed this movement for moderation in the interest of the nation. Umno/BN's hold onto power by using extremist 'divide and rule' tactic can then be ended. Malaysia will be revitalized as a nation of true moderation, inclusiveness and progression. Perhaps, this is the most democratic and effective way of installing moderation in Malaysia. 'Think Moderate, Vote Moderate'.

You can learn how extremism has helped Umno/BN to stay in power here.

Truth of 100 years

Lets go back more than 100 years ago and look at how an author from the colonialist, Britain described the people in Malaysia (it was still Malaya then).

In 1907, Britain occupied Malaya with a 'divide and rule' tactic. British divided the 3 major races in Malaya and compartmentalized them in their respective racial group. Inter-racial communications were restricted. British was the 'boss' and played the central roles to 'safeguard' welfare of each race. British further branded or stereotyped each race with a degrading 'weakness', and manipulated it to stoke strong dislikes or contempt of one race towards another.

Hence, there was a common branding of a Malay was idler. Chinaman or Chinese was known as a thief. Indian was deemed a drunkard. This was part of the British tactic of 'divide and rule' in Malaya.

Lets fast-forward 107 years to the present day in 2014. Malaya gained independence in 1957 and Malaysia was formed in 1963. One would have thought that this British 'divide and rule' tactic should only be part of history since Malaysia is now an independent country for more than 50 years. Should you think so, you would have been misled.

In 2014, the ruling regime in Malaysia, formed by Barisan Nasional (BN) coallition, which is dominated by United Malays National Organisation (Umno), pretty much practise the same governance by using the same racial divisive branding for Malay, Chinese and Indian. Seriously?!?

Idler

Mahathir, the former prime minister of Malaysia but still an active Umno member, openly say Malays are lazy in 2014. Idler branding for Malay has been around all along and is still widespread today. An idler mean a lazy person.

Thief 

Branding for Chinese has progressed from thief into gambler, greedy person and even Pendatang (foreign immigrant). A Malaysian of Chinese ethnic can be called a Pendatang by NGOs linked to Umno even though he or she is born in Malaysia as a full-fledged Malaysian citizen.

Drunkard

The drunkard connotation for Indian has not changed for the past 100 years. Indian is still branded as 'kaki botol' today. It is a Malay phrase for drunkard. Government agency of this ruling regime is reported to be still using 'kaki botol' to describe Indian.

The key question is why should the ruling regime in Malaysia still be practicing this irresponsible colonialist governance of 'divide and rule'? Multi-racial Malaysians have evolved over time to live happily with each other. Malaysians in general love their neighbours and disdain racial extremists. Here lies the problem with Umno. Umno started and continued to exist on the self proclaimed purpose of 'safeguarding' Malays. Now that Malays do not need the so called 'safeguard' anymore, Umno has lost its purpose of existence.

It is clear that this ruling regime is not interested in racial harmony and civil peace in Malaysia. It is more interested in prolonging its firm hold on power in disregard for the interest of overall Malaysians. Umno dominated government in Malaysia is still behaving like a colonialist in its very own country. This is puzzling.

The ruling regime, which effectively controlled by Umno, seems to be uncomfortable with this in fear of losing grip on power. Its dated 'divide and rule' tactic has not been working as well as before. The government itself is known to be in many occasions provoking racial discontent among its own people to justify its existence and support from Malays. Should Malays or Malaysians allow this to happen? Malaysia is at its critical crossroad. Share your views.

Art of Distraction

In Transformers movie, there were Decepticons

In 'transformational' Malaysia, there are Distracticons

Malaysians are constantly overwhelmed by many issues in their lives. In addition to escalating costs of living, high crime rate, and deteriorating quality of lives, they have to face all kind of unproductive issues raised by 'agent provocateurs' of the ruling regime. People who favor the current ruling regime regularly and repeatedly raised these unproductive issues or topics to distract or divert the attention of the people from the core problems of the country.

What are the unproductive issues or topics that are so good at distracting the  people?

I can off-hand list out a few typical topics to distract Malaysians from the core problems:

• Touching Dog. A well intended event in accordance to religious precautions was senselessly attacked by people who 'ignore' the religious precautions followed in the event.
• The consequence of numerous attacks and the people's angry responses against such senseless attacks totally distracted Malaysians from the discontent resulted from the 20 sen increase in petrol price.

• Some politicians and so called social activists endlessly debate the issues on Pendatang and Perantau. Why is there a need to distinguish between Pendatang and Perantau among fellow Malaysians? We do not see Americans questioning if President Obama is Pendatang or Perantau. This topic is used to portray as if the status of Malays in Malaysia is being threatened by Pendatang. Malays are then called upon to support United Malays National Organisation (Umno), the leading party of the ruling regime, to fight for their rights. Seriously, after more than 50 years of safeguarding and advancing Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy) and yet this very status is still 'insecure'. Umno is either incompetent or just 'cakap tak serupa bikin' (hypocrite).

• This topic of distraction is frequently used when there are corruption or abuse of power cases against the ruling regime or its agencies. For instance, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). 1MDB is known for abuse of government funds and corruptions.

• Oktoberfest is becoming more popular for wrong reasons in Malaysia. It is an evening gathering mainly to consume beer that has been practised for many years. It is also named as Oktoberfest to coincide with the well-known German festival. The ferocious condemnation seems to erroneously imply that beer drinking in Malaysia is 'illegal'. This is untrue. Malaysian laws allow alcohol consuption and alcoholic products are tax-free in several tourist spots. Consuming alcohol however is not allowed for Muslims.
• This alcoholic topic is recently used to distract the people from discussing the inflationary pressure as a result of the imposition of 6% goods and services tax (GST). This topic is also useful to distract people from a public discussion on any revelation of this ruling regime's corrupt practices.

• Halloween celebration has been practised by expatriates and some Malaysians for decades but it is now ruled as against Islam in Malaysia. They talk as if it is now illegal to celebrate Halloween, which is again untrue. However, the ruling regime has made approvals of venue very difficult for anyone to organize Halloween party. 
• This topic of distraction is new and it is used for the same purpose as Oktoberfest.

• Use of the word Allah by Christians and Sikhs has existed in Malaysia before the country gained independence in 1957. It was never an issue for more than 50 years but it is a controversy now. It looks like the use of the word Allah is now exclusive to Malaysian Muslims. This is the classic topic used again and again to foster Muslims support for Umno. It goes on the basis that use of the word Allah by non-Muslims would threaten the position of Muslims in Malaysia.
• This topic has never failed to harness heated discussion or even legal actions by Muslims and non Muslims. It has been successful in strengthening Muslim support for Umno. This topic is particularly useful in times of general election, by election and to distract people from the wrongdoing or abusive practices of the ruling regime.

• Ibrahim Ali. He is a key 'agent provocateur' for Umno. Rumour has it that he can be anyone's agent as long as the amount of money is right. Ibrahim is himself a topic to distract Malaysians from core problems. He should be a symbol of Umno that has failed in its Ketuanan Melayu cause. On the contrary, he constantly reminds Malays how 'insecure' their status is today. Hence, they must continue to support Umno.
• Ibrahim would get much publicity from  government controlled media when there is an uncovering of a major corruption case against Umno, or before general election or by-election.

• Every now and then there would be a cow-head thrown into an Indian temple or a pig-head thrown into a mosque. Red coloured paint would also be unexpectedly slashed at some religious venues. Heated protests and emotional outbursts from supporters of this ruling regime would then follow suit. These silly events objected by all Malaysians usually happen just before elections.

The next question is why does the ruling regime require these unproductive issues or topics to distract the people?

The ruling regime in Malaysia, Barisan Nasional is led by Umno, and has been in power for 57 years. This regime is plagued by its internal conflicts and is incapable of reinventing itself. It is corrupt, abusive and, in many areas, incompetent. One thing is sure. Umno still wants to hang on to power and continue to reap benefits from the country.

It seems to have gone on to manage Malaysia by way of distraction. Umno leaders are happy as long as Malaysians are distracted from the core problems faced by the people. While Malaysians are distracted, these leaders continue their corrupt and abusive practices to benefit themselves, their families and cronies. There is no political will to advance the country. The only will is to plunder as much as possible before the country is absolutely bankrupt. That is probably the point that they will stop or leave the country.

What are the core problems challenging Malaysian livelihood?

Cost of living in Malaysia has been escalating rapidly. Inflation has been high despite government released numbers. People on the streets are feeling this. Inflation may be partially caused by the world commodity prices but it is made much worse by 'Cronies first, Cash now' corrupt practices. Most of the contracts given out by Malaysian government or its government linked companies tend to be overpriced to ridiculous level. Look at the cost of constructing Malaysian budget air terminal, Klia2. It was no surprise that Malaysia was top in the world in illegal capital outflows on per capita basis, even though China has a higher absolute outflow amount. Why? I suppose all the corrupt money must go somewhere deemed safe.

Malaysia has been among the top in the world when it comes to illegal capital outflows. No country in ASEAN can come close. Not Thailand, not Philippines, not Vietnam and not even Indonesia.

Petrol price increased by 20 sen recently and it looks set to increase further. Coupled with the imposition of 6% GST in April 2015, cost of living will be escalating further. Malaysians are increasingly frustrated with lower and middle income trap. Income improvement is way below the rate of escalating cost of living.

Incapable of or Unwilling to rejuvenate Malaysian economy, the ruling regime resorted to manage the country by way of distraction. In Malaysia, there are 'endless possibilities' to the tricks used by this ruling regime to prolong its life-span. Malaysians will be better off focused on the core problems and not get carried away by unproductive topics raised and sensationalised by Umno. Beware of Umno's Art of Distraction!

"I DO IT FOR MY CHILDREN"

I met up with a few friends recently. We have known each other for a long time . We were having a good time talking about our past and what is going to happen in the future. It came to my amazement when one of them asked about the best way to donate some money to opposition parties in Malaysia. That man was of a wealthy background. He did well in his career. He held a senior position of a listed company in Malaysia. I suspected that the company he worked for must have benefited one way or another from the government. I could not be sure and would not ask such a question.

I did ask why would he want to donate some money to opposition parties? His answer was simple. "I do it for my children," he said. He explained that it was his choice to send his children overseas for tertiary education. He had no qualm that he had to spend extra money to send them overseas. He was however unhappy with the limited job opportunities in the country. One of his child opted to work in another country. The other child who is still in Malaysia is currently unemployed. This child is also contemplating a job opportunity overseas.

One of the reason why my friend's children prefer to work overseas is the remuneration package. The remuneration in Malaysia is low but the cost of living is high and keeps rising. Costs of vehicle and shelter have become very high to newly graduated professionals. Young professional are not able to have a decent living standard despite their high education level. They still have to look to their parents for financial support.

One big dilemma to my friend is that he cannot have his children staying near him or at least in the country. He does not have the chance to spend more time with his children once they decide to work overseas. Yet, he cannot force them to work locally if that would compromise their income and career prospect. Life will not be easy either for the children to live away from home and parents.

My friend's children are fortunate that their parents can afford to send them overseas for education and they have international qualifications. They can find a job overseas when the job opportunity in Malaysia is undesirable. Many younger generations in the country may not be as fortunate

My friend further emphasized, "Our government is either running out of ideas to continue building this country or it is simply incapable of doing so. Malaysia is losing to neighboring countries in terms of improving living standard. What we see is that our government talks a lot more than what it actually does. It spends more publicity money on newspapers, TVs and billboards than ever before. Perception seems to be more than the real situation."

I am inclined to agree with this friend. It is painful to not be able to spend time with our loved ones. It is like we are being separated away from our children by force. What have we done wrong to suffer this kind of separation from our children? We are law abiding. We pay taxes without delay. What is the good of a government that cannot take care of the welfare of its own citizens?  No one will enjoy this feeling.

UNITED We Stand

In the dark moments of losing 2 Malaysian commercial airplanes, MH370 and MH17, it was understandable that Malaysians felt frustrated and fear. A simple question: What was going on? This simple question could barely be answered by the government in Malaysia. Their answers would go round and round in many circles. If you were straighten the circles, they may match the length of Great Wall of China.

In that difficult time, it was understandable that Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak called upon Malaysians to stay united.

• Malaysians could understand when the victims in MH17 were given full state honors.
• Malaysians applauded the decision to mark 22 August 2014 as a mourning day.
• Malaysians observed minute of silence throughout the nation in grief for loss of lives in MH17.

The question is whether Malaysians should stay united backing Najib Razak due the loss of lives in relation to MH17 and possibly MH370.

Loss of lives is hence used as a cause for Malaysians to remain united; and they are to be united backing Najib.

I wonder if the loss of lives of the following should also be a reason for Malaysians to stay united backing Najib:

1. Ahmad Sabarni
2. Teoh Beng Hock
3. A. Kugan
4. C. Sugurman
5. Altantuya Shaariibuu
6. Koay Soon Guan
7. Kamarulnizam Ismail
8. Chew Siang Giap
9. A. Punniyanathan
10. Nobuhiro Matsushita
11. N Dharmendran
12. Aminulrasyid Amzah
13. Chin Te
14. Dinesh Darmasena Wijemanna
15. Pua Bee Chun

Teoh Beng Hock

Aminulrasyid Amzah

The list can go on but it is sufficient to prove a point. You can google for details of each case. This list only includes victims who were in the hands of an agency controlled by the Government under the leadership of Najib Razak. This list excludes those murdered due to armed attacks, gunned downs, snatch-thieves, robberies, break-ins and other crimes.

In Malaysia, there can be so many murders but no murderer. Should the Malaysians not stand united for the loss of lives of these victims?

• Can these victims be given full state honors?
• Will there be a day that is marked as mourning day for these victims?
• Should Malaysians observe minute of silence in grief for loss of lives in Government custody?

Is life not equal in Malaysia? Is life only of value if there is political expediency? You can probably guess the answer for this simple question.

I submit that Malaysians must stay united for loss of lives. These innocent loss of lives must be stopped. It is crime against humanity. Understandably, Malaysians must not possibly stay united under a leadership that has caused them.

Police report on death of Kamarulnizam Ismail in Tapah Police Lockup

Press Conference on death of Dinesh Darmasena Wijemanna

C. Sugurman

Cheer or Cry for this Country?

Malaysia is a wonderful tropical country that has produced many world class talents and personalities. At the same time, Malaysia has produced some who can either be genius or idiot, depending on how you see it. The 'beauty' is really in the eyes of beholder.

All the Malaysians were still feeling the sorrow after losing badminton championship Thomas Cup to Japan in May earlier this year. Out of a sudden, Prof Dr Ridhuan Tee who was supposedly a learned person in Malaysia claimed that the Chinese ethnic Malaysian audience would have supported a Chinese player from China should the Chinese player be playing against a Malay ethnic Malaysian player.

Multiracial team winning Thomas Cup 1992

Misbun and Chong Wei

Malaysians of all races have been cheering and supporting Lee Chong Wei, Razif, Jalani, Misbun, Cheah Soon Kit, Rashid, etc for years if not all their lives, without taking into account their ethnicity. Many in Malaysia were wondering if Ridhuan was someone like Captain America who had just been revived from a frozen form. It is not my intention to demean Captain America's author. It is even suspected that Ridhuan must have consumed Dimensi 108, pills that make a person smart. You can certainly read many of this Prof Dr Ridhuan's irrelevant views that are really not worth being quoted here.

Malaysia has a another man called Abdullah Zaik who is the president of Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA) or Malaysian Muslim Solidarity. One would have thought that he would articulate on Islam and Muslim. No, he has not been at all. His 2 infamous claims were neither Islam nor religious:

1. Chinese, Indian and other ethnicity in Malaysia must pay taxes but leave their welfare in the country to Malay leaders like Abdullah Zaik. A talk on taxes (money) clearly has nothing to do with Islam or Muslim. Money is a form of materialism.
2. The Chinese ethnic people in Malaysia are intruders to the country. This claim on intrusion has nothing to do with Islam or Muslim. Intrusion is about national security.

In fact, he indirectly criticized the Malaysian Government, under the leadership of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), for failing to stop the intrusion of Chinese ethnic people for the last 50 years. He highlighted the weakness of UMNO that he is covertly trying to support. Abdullah Zaik was possibly not aware that these Chinese intruders held Malaysian citizenship and went to schools with Malay, Indian and other ethic groups for more than 50 years in Malaysia. The Barisan Nasional (BN) government, which is dominated by UMNO, must have been ineffective or blind not to have noticed this. Abdulah Zaik might have come back to life from another frozen form.

To laugh or to cry, there is Ibrahim Ali who is the president of PERKASA, a NGO pursuing Malay supremacy. He claimed to represent Malay and fight for their supremacy. However, Ibrahim Ali lost badly during the last general election in his very own constituency, Pasir Mas, which he was once a member of parliament. The Malay community in Pasir Mas clearly did not think that he was capable or suitable to represent them or any Malay. Ibrahim Ali has not done anything to advance the welfare of Malay community so far. Unsurprisingly, he has only been constantly insulting or bad-mouthing other ethic communities in Malaysia to the distaste of many Malays. Those comments did not advance the Malay community in anyway. 

Ibrahim Ali was once a member of parliament in Malaysia

It is amazing how these people can get maximum national media time for whatever they say. On closer observation, they have not done anything serious but said many things that hurt some other ethnic groups. The BN government is in full control of the media channels in Malaysia. One wonder if 1 or more leaders in UMNO are backing these people like Ridhuan Tee, Abdullah Zaik and Ibrahim Ali to advance their personal political gain as opposed to striving for the interest of Malay community.