Wool over your eyes?

Time and again, we are told (mostly by politicians from Pakatan) that the government has been hiding facts from the rakyat.

Does this sound familiar?

Here, Tony Pua insists that the Minister of Defense has overpaid for some military purchase.
But what he did not tell you was that the figures he quoted was assuming that the purchase was only for Offshore Patrol vehicles. Here the defense correspondent for Jane's clarifies.

And now, Fuziah's antics on the proposed Lynas plant has been debunked by none other than PAS's Hulu Langat MP Dr Che Rosli Che Mat who has come out in defence of the Lynas Corp rare earth plant in Gebeng, Kuantan.

According to YB Hulu Langat, MP Kuantan has been frightening the public by saying that Lynas is a nuclear plant when its function is only to process natural materials like rare earth from Mount Weld in Western Australia, which has less radiation compared to an ore mine.

“As the issue was brought up by the PKR, I've kept quiet and even been given a warning by the PAS information department not to comment."

Fuziah had claimed many things about what Lynas is not, including these.

The above are only two of many cases of tit-for-tat post 2008. It is no wonder that more people I have spoken to has said that they have had enough of this wayang kulit that PR is so fond of playing.

Though the BN led government has had it's share of faux-pas, one cannot ignore the fact that these days, anything and everything is blamed on BN and it's component parties.

So when Prasarana and SPAD had announced that certain properties affected by the MRT line would be acquired by the government, Tony Pua (and who else?) again along with MP Bukit Bintang Fong Kui Lun had gathered the traders in protest of the said move by Prasarana instead of finding an amicable solution.

Choosing to use inflammatory terms like 'breaking the rice bowl' and 'tearing down your tradename' (Both in cantonese and are direct literal translation), the two MP's lead a protest against the move. MP Bukit Bintang had earlier on August 12th attended the townhall session between SPAD and the traders, and this was what SPAD had in reply to questions raised.

However, MCA and it's team led by President Datuk Seri Dr.Chua Soi Lek chose the 'roundtable' instead of the loud protests and successfully argued for the Jalan Sultan traders and property owners that would be affected by the MRT line.

A sharp contrast from the former, don't you think?

For a much touted irrelevant party to speak for a landmark of traders in KL would indeed be something, wouldn't it? Apparently not so for Tony Pua, who chose to call the land acquisition 'a land grab'. Not satisfied with that, it also highlighted Pemandu's Idris jala as saying that the land acquisition is one way of offsetting cost for the MRT build.

So for a city to improve it's traffic woes, and lawmakers choosing to inflame traders affected by it, how do you think the outcome of this would be?

Do we continue to find solutions or just oppose any form of development?

Now imagine if DAP did this

I have always said this, and will say it again.

I was part of that change back in 2008, and I decided to live with it, not push for more.

Today MCA President Datuk Seri Chua Soi Lek and his team consulted SPAD as well as the representative of Traders from Petaling Street and with the conclusion of the dialogues and consultation, announced that an agreement has been reached with the authority to enable the affected traders from the 31 affected units to return after the construction of the proposed MRT line.

You see, apparently these days, as long as it is an effort of MCA, it must be criticised and condemned.

So, for all the time an effort put in by Dr Chua and his team, as well as the time by those affected, and agreement that is acceptable to those involved should at least be accepted.

The problem with 'civil' society today is that as long as it does not suit their believe, they will concoct anything to condemn and criticise it.

Take for example, the Parliamentary Select Committee for free and Fair elections. Accepting that more can be done to achieve it, PM Najib announced the setting of of the PSC that will consist of lawmakers from both the opposition and government.

And what does Chua Jui Meng choose to do? His tweeter message read 'Parl Sel Ctee on Clean Elections UMNO's perfect way of luring d issue into a dark lane & stranglin it to death'

Such is the picture these days. the lines are drawn, and if you argue for the government, you are immediately termed a 'running dog'.

I have tried my utmost best to accommodate my detractors, but today, I guess I have reached my limit, when one arseho** decided to drag my family into this.

To the 'little hantu', I guess you don't hve parents then, for if indeed you had you would know that it is not our culture to insult our parents.

My point is this, what if the DAP was responsible for the MRT line decision that has been reached today? Would they then not be a champion for these people?
Can we at least set aside our differences and acknoledge that here a typical case of 'tolak ansur' via the proven method is better than the new approach of dragging each other to courts?

And give credit when it is due.

What Security?

I frequent a media establishment quite often for meetings and submission of my stories (though I have not done any for a good part of one year now) and though it is not a 'high level' security sort of place, it does have its importance.

Security here is mainly left to it's in-house team, but it really amazes me how some people take security lightly. Although Malaysia is a safe place to be, it is attitude like these that result in some wanting to take full advantage of the situation.

Yet, in a country where people do not throw rubbish on the streets (or at least, it was how they used to be) , security breaches are seen as something that is really annoying. (Remember how Mat Selamat escaped from their high security prison?)

For SMRT (Singapore Mass Rapid Transport), it first experienced a serious breach when a Swiss national broke into the Changi depot and vandalised a train by spray painting it.

pix from senangdiri

This month, it was reported that another breach in Bishan had happened, and again, the debate on whether the security is adequate goes on.

Given that Malaysians form a good number in the private security business (CISCO hires many Malaysians and is the largest auxiliary police force in Singapore), will it be viewed as an area too sensitive for foreigners to work in?

Back home in Malaysia, the Association of Professional Security Agencies has called for an end to hiring of foreign workers in this industry (most Malaysian property managers hire security firms with Nepalese citizens who have Gurkha experience).

The latest call by ASPA came just a few days ago, and yet, back in June of 2010, a similar call had in fact been made known by the government.

With this kind of figures, and outflow of currency, isn't it time that we look at local labour for these needs?

Inaccurate blogging...Intentionally?

When I started blogging, I was careful to ensure that what I blogged about had facts to support the points that I was trying to make, for example CEDAW (Convention for Elimination of Discrimination Against Women) which was adopted in 1979 by the UN Assembly.

When quoting laws as well as arguing on points, a single page reference from wikipedia is sometimes not good enough.

Some bloggers seem to be happy to post fictitious front pages of local dailies, and yet there are those who are happy to delve on misquotes especially from politicians.

I suppose these bloggers may have allowed their new found 'fame' to get to their heads, so the more sensational, the more readers it will pull.

So recently, with Malaysian Insider misquoting the Prime Minister, whether intentional or not, an apology by the Editor Jahabar Sadiq was seen by some as sort of injustice.

Today's statement by a former aide of Anwar Ibrahim, Anuar Shaari, was perhaps forthcoming. He has urged the MCMC to take action against 'errant bloggers' such as Chegu Bard. Chegu Bard was one of the bloggers that broke the story of the purported RM24million ring. It wasn't a lie really but rather a misinformation for whatever reasons that is best known only to Chegu Bard.

As for Anuar Shaari, he must be surely aware of how things are normally done within the close confidantes of Anwar. He was after all an 'insider' once.

One would not be faulted to think that Anwar's game plan is normally to sue his detractors.

So why didn't Utusan Malaysia sue Chegu Bard?

Or have they even lodged a Police report on the intentions of some to put them in bad light?

Just as there are some who think that they have the right to go on inciting, there are some who seems to equate perpetuating lies as their right to freedom of speech.

If so, I guess Anuar Shaari's call is timely to a Minister who is a relic of past administrations.

Err, how many Tweeter accounts do you think the Minister of Information, Communication and Culture has?

Customer Service 101 for GLCs

Many lament the state of customer services in Malaysia, and generally most will agree that our friends north of the border are friendlier and courteous whereas those south of us are propped up by service cultured Malaysians staying and working permanently there.

A recent experience prompted me to write this.

The general statement above may not entirely true.

Why? If one was to stop a foreigner on the street, they will most likely not hesitate to point out that Malaysians are actually a friendly and helpful lot (so long as they are not behind the steering wheel)

Having moved in to a property that had been previously rented out, I had to experience my electricity supply being cut for the first time.

In all honesty, TNB had the absolute right to disrupt the service especially if the bill had run up to thousands!

In a coordinated effort a few days ago 'ops mega potong' was activated with the help from the Police (to enter premises of those who had defaulted on their payment for months and with valid legal documents) leaving behind a pink slip informing the user that payment is urgently required for the restoration of service.

In my case, I received the bill informing me of the arrears, to which I promptly informed the landlord last week. I assumed that it was already settled. I was wrong.

So for that, I paid the price of having wasted one whole day to sort that out.

My landlord sent her electrician over after finding out about the interruption last night. He suggested a 'bypass', which basically meant connecting the live wires illegally so that I could tie the night over.

I declined that offer and insisted that nothing of that sort must be done (by joining the wires illegally, it could pose a fire hazard, let alone breaking the law).

On sorting out the mess of the now terminated account, I suggested that we settled the outstanding so that the supply could be restored.

At 9am the next morning, I promptly went to TNB Subang to settle the bill. Both the staff at the service counter and 'bahagian pemotongan' assisted to explain the predicament I was facing. They were precise and helpful.

I then explained that all I wanted was service restoration, and then the possibility to establish a new account.

I was told that as long as long there were no arrears, that would not be a problem.

My counter experience ended with her telling me that the service will be restored by an outsourced contractor. She took my telephone number down and said that 'a' contractor will get in touch with me. With that, I left back for home. That was about 9.40am.

I called the Subang office at around 11am and was told by the person who answered that 'a' contractor would call me. Even though I insisted that the contractor be made known to me so that I could communicate with him, the answer was still 'a' contractor would call me. I left it at that but not before being transferred to the person in charge by the name of Intan.

This is where 'Customer Service 101' should be taught.

You see, just like some (not all) staff at certain government departments (though less now), when approached you are immediately deemed a 'problem'. So when they entertain your query, they become how shall I say, authoritative.

Intan was like that. When I asked her about why the contractor had not call, she retorted that she had never said he would. Further she made it clear that TNB’s policy for reconnection was anywhere between payment and 2 working days. So being Friday, my worst case would have been Tuesday. Beautiful.

Because she insisted that she had never told me that a call was to be expected, I assumed that it was her colleague who had told me. Her reply? Not possible, as she was in charge, and no contractor had showed up yet. So here I was, thinking that as long as the bill was paid, a 'response' team of sort will come and replace the meter and fuse, and I can get back to work. WRONG.

She was not only firm in saying that I had to wait, she was also adamant that TNB can take up to 2 working days. BEAUTY.

Not being able to get my message across to her, and knowing that no contractor had been assigned to reconnect my power, I sat dejected at my driveway and thought of who else I could turn to for help.

Long story short, I sent an email to an official (Mr A) who had invited me for buka puasa with TNB Management a few days ago. My email detailed what transpired, and his reply in 8 minutes was 'Dear sir, I have forwarded your email to a few people and shall await their response'

In 18 minutes flat, a call came from Cik Zawiah (I may have gotten the spelling wrong) informing me that my case was being looked into by the Manager and that she will inform me of the progress.

Soon after Mr.A(whom I have not met, BTW) sent me an sms that someone from the branch will look into my case.

A while later, Cik Fazilah called to inform me that a Technician has been assigned and that he was already on the way to Subang TNB. Not long after Zawiah called again to inform me that the Technician (I found out later that the Technician was actually an outsourced Contractor) was on the way to my house.

The contractor completed the task in less than 10minutes.

Here is where the lessons lie;

1. Why did it take so long to cut off the electricity supply in the first place? In a single phased supply, it would take months if not years to chalk up thousands in unpaid bills. Someone or the administrating software is not good enough, and TNB is losing money from this alone.

2. If it takes an 'ops mega' to terminate, it should also take an 'ops sambung' for those who own up and pay. In other words, contractors ought to be on standby for this to expedite reconnection. This is also added unrealised revenue. If it was up to me, I will impose an 'urgent charge' for those requesting connection within the hour.

3. The contractor assigned to me told me that work was not frequent (not frequent, yet the wait?) Clearly, the potential of the contractor was not fully realised, again depriving revenue to both provider and contractor. The contractor said the day was exceptional due to the many terminations the day before due to the ‘ops potong’.

4. If you are the CEO, would you rather have more of Mr.A, Zawiah and Fazilah or Intan? Yes, procedures and policies are there to ensure no deviation of delivery, but shouldn't front liners place service and revenue first? Words like '2 days' in customer service surely is not good when informing customers of their service, right?

5. Being the month of Ramadhan, I can only feel for those losing their supply and then having to worry about their religious obligations as well as rotting food in the fridge.

6. I don't know what time they cut off my supply, but I had to throw away some stuff from the fridge. Ice cream too.

If not for dedicated staff like Mr.A, Zawiah and Fazilah, I would probably have to wait till Tuesday. So why is it so difficult to improve on our service delivery?

Does it mean that there must be another competitor to ensure that service delivery meets customer expectations?

When in customer service, ditch all prejudices, including classifying your customers as problematic ones.

You see, some of us do actually have valid reasons.

And if TNB was to place more priority on collection, and revenue realisation, this problem might actually be a good one to have. The one thing stopping them is the attitude and aptitude of their own employees.

So it’s no wonder that we constantly hear of horror stories of Customer Experience here in Malaysia, especially from that Satelite TV Service provider!

Syabas to TNB in having a few ‘Mr.A’ for us to believe in.

As for Cik Intan, lose that attitude, or if you truly believe that customers are your problem, do chose to work with machines.

A new political Newspaper and party?

It is often said that in Malaysia, there is no press freedom.

To a certain extent, if one uses censorship as the reason, then truly a sweeping statement like that can probably be justified.

With the PM announcing that it is high time that a proper review of the laws in the country that are relevant to media be done, I can hear the whispers of many that seem to think that the government is all out to help stop the slide of their popularity.

There has been argument for and against, but if there wasn't any press freedom to begin with, how does one explain the likes of Malaysian Insider and Malaysiakini?
Both have press accreditation from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

And what about 'Herald, the Catholic weekly'? Is it a bulletin that was intended to be, or a political paper? Or perhaps, a bulletin wanting to be a political paper or rather a political paper masquerading as a bulletin?

My mum used to buy the Herald every week, but its been a while since she has been attending mass regularly due to her physical condition. So when, someone alerted me of a statement in the Herald, I picked up a copy to try to understand the content.

What I saw was something else then a religious buletin. In between 'reading relfection commentaries' is the Sunday Observer, by Anil Netto.
I have met Anil before, and I doubt he will object to me describing him as an activist, a political activist maybe, but definitely activist.

So what is the intention of the publishers of Herald to give Anil Netto a column?

In Mass last Sunday, Father Paulino has read out the statement by MCCBCHST (Malaysian Consultative Council for Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Taoism which condemned the raid of DUMC by JAIS.

A statement of protest is definitely one that can be considered, but when looking at the salient points of the protest, I can't help but feel that the statement made by those who signed it had already made up their mind about the raid and the reasons for it.

I just wonder at this point, if they are already being a little too judgmental, even before the raid report has been handed to the Menteri Besar.

The statement can be read in full here.

The first para confirms that it was indeed a Malaysian Aids Council dinner that was intruded upon by JAIS. (funny how it took so many days to confirm that part right?)

The MCCBCHST further praised the response of the Selangor Menteri Besar as well as his statement for 'open engagement and dialogue regarding the harmonious and mutual respect of co-existence' (But did they mentioned why the Selangor State Government failed to recognise that it was their own agency that lead the raid, and why the EXCO member of Selangor State had supported the raid?)

It further highlighted that 2 mainstream papers had intentionally inflamed the raid.

Perhaps the most damning statement to me that unveils the intentions of MCCBCHST was the line that said 'the MCCBCHST must highlight the systematic and deliberate attempts this year by many of those "who walk the national corridors of power" to create conflict among the citizens of different races and religions in our beloved country by driving wedges between them'

I have always subscribed to the believe that as long as one uses religion as the basis of the argument, it will be pointless to carry on as it will ultimately mean that it will be used as 'mine versus yours' argument.

In making such a statement, and stopping short of saying 'BN' or UMNO, the MCCBCHST has proven that they have already made up their mind as to who is generally 'stirring shit'.
It goes on to name several critical issues during the past year that has seem to got everyone riled up and waiting for trouble.

I have many friends of different races, and I can tell you that none of us actually pay any notice to these extremist statements.

IMHO, the JAIS raid did seem highhanded, and unless the Muslims themselves tell their authority to stop these kinds of actions against their own, who are we to say so?
And if indeed the agency is under the Selangor Government, then why oh why are they passing the buck?

A wing and a prayer

Pix from mychinaconnection.com

Today, Business Times reported of 'Wings being clipped'

It seems the choice of those on the Management board had deemed it fit to prefer gemstones (Sapphire) than winged bugs (Firefly).

And who would blame those who saw doom all over again when the MAS-Air Asia deal was announced last week?

After listening to some top officials involved and those who knew of this, I can only think of what the people affected by this 'collaborative framework' might think;

1. Why would those in custody of MAS think that the likes of those who started out opposing them in the first place would have the best interest of the National Carrier at heart?

2. It was pointed out that a tycoon will now have half his riches in MAS shares and with that should work to resuscitate the Golden Wing. But what is half of nothing? (Paper rich is not the same as cash rich, right?)

3. After showing MAS what it was capable of in the Rural Air Service saga, would you blame MAS and the staff to showing the middle finger to their shareholders (Khazanah) from that episode?

4. How many jobs were affected when RAS went to Air Asia, and the events that transpired (especially those who LOST their jobs) are expected to just be left in the background?

5. Funnily enough, today the Firefly story appeared, and would you not think that this was a direct repercussion of the swap?

In today's business environment and the volatility of fuel prices, Premium airlines are facing a huge task in keeping their aircraft in the air. Just yesterday, Qantas had announced that it had entered into an agreement with Japan Airlines and Mitsubishi Corporation to launch Jetstar Japan. Which ultimately mean that this is not an MH only issue. Your network determines your growth, and if you shrink your network, your growth will also suffer the same.

That perhaps is the silver lining of the MAS-AA swap. It seems, those in power think that tyis is the right time for a cooperative framework between MAS and Air Asia (why?because others are already doing it too)

But here is the cake. In doing so, and hoping that a deal of sorts can help recover MAS from it's deep slumber (and you wonder who the adviser is right?), is Khazanah culling the Golden goose?
Here is why. (and this from a twitterati*ZeusIsMe* who twitted that "they think they win the deal and yes they are (winners) But the people lose the war. Guess who will be punished? The one who sanctioned it")

I can only assume that with this, he meant that the responsibility will lie with those in government. And with this deal, though a business decision can be seen as one that will work against the government through the ballot box. Why? True blue MAS and BN supporters just can't see the logic of working 'closely' with the enemy.

Never mind that the ultimate will be better air travel choices for Malaysians.
Never mind that the economy will get a lift now that foreigners will choose MAS and Air Asia over SQ (hopefully)
Never mind that the burying of the 'hatchet' is meant to help salvage some pride of MH.

Ultimately, the winners will be Tony F and gang. Who from the underdog, has now asserted themselves as the Taikor of the airline industry here in Malaysia (Wonder if there was any deal to ensure that Air Asia's regional HQ will remain where it is and not 'move abroad')

For argument sake. Do you think there are still profit oriented businessmen out there who still have a 'soft spot' for Malaysia, instead of a 'softer spot' for money?

Sure, MH will gain network connectivity and possibly lower their cost 'by learning cost effective measure' that their distant cousin has been adopting from day one.

But to do that and to harness profits, MH must realise that it had been used in the past to benefit some. Case in question perhaps?
What will happen of the LSG Sky Chef/Brahim contract with MAS that still has 15 years to run?
The engineering subsidiary?
The other revenue streams that helped MH previously but had been cannabilised by previous saviours?

I guess, though having been told and shown that the betterment of MAS was indeed the ultimate goal of those who came to agreement, those that have been directly involved can only hope "on a wing and a prayer" that things do not go further south.

Although I have an axe to grind with MH, I have too much of it's blood in me.

I would mourn the day of the death of a great Airline if that day should come. And if that should be, would you blame me for faulting it all on another namesake?

That Damansara incident..and much more

Ah.

I know my detractors just love it when I touch on religion. You see, in their eyes I'm Judas.

But here it is, having spoken to and having met many converts both into Catholicism, Christianity and Muslims alike, here is what I have to say.

It is almost always 'my religion is better than yours'. And this is not what ordinary people, mostly the die hards (pretty much like the PAS youth fellas, now wanting the government to move weekends to Fridays, instead of Saturday & Sundays)

The moment one uses god as a reason, there is almost no way of reasoning anymore. Right?

The flashpoint about the Damansara incident was that overzealous 'religious officials' were adamant that some sort of proselytising was going on. (least I forget, the law in Malaysia strictly prohibits the act of proselytising of Muslims to other religions), yet there were differing statements about the gathering, from thanksgiving dinner to appreciation dinner for efforts by NGo's in benefit of HIV patients and single mothers.
I can almost hear the whispers up north in Penang, that their religion and God is under persecution again!

It is no secret that Christians of different sects are more evangelical given their Catholic counterparts. With these Christians openly competing for followers, who do you think they will turn too other then the followers of Buddhism and Hinduism who are fast running low......Martians?

And here it lies, instead of raising rubbish in Parliament, if Pakatan MPs are against this law, why not raise it in Parliament?

You see, nobody wants to be seen as the 'bad guy'. As much as the MP's of Pakatan are against this kinds of action, none will raise this and repel this law. By doing so will be suicidal.

Yet, when incidents like this happen, they are quick to jump to the point and blame it on....you guessed it UMNO. (like this kind of statement)

Once again, THERE MUST BE MODERATION in Malaysia, a multi religion ethnic society that has gained much much more then what it set out to be. And its up to ALL of us to do our part and put extremist elements in their place and tell them that MAINSTREAM society do not support their actions.

I overheard the other day someone within earshot saying that PM Najib has been silent about the JAIS and DUMC issue.

Would it be right that the PM should step in for a debacle that the Selangor state government had been on top of all along? Isn't JAIS a state agency under the Pakatan government?

More importantly why hadn't their adviser said something instead?

Busy asking for postponements and interviews?

There is total silence from PR officials eversince the incident triggered, and now it seems, they are more interested in listening to the advice of HRH Sultan of Selangor, hence the JAIS-DUMC meeting is off, but PAS shall go ahead with it, and then what?

Its no coincidence that elements that are threatening the peace of the nation has been slowly and surely emerging after 2008. And its no secret that religion and ethnicity is used to wedge the rakyat.

Ask yourself this honestly, what is the differing factor of pre and post 2008.

To me the answer is simple, Pakatan Rakyat's marriage of convenience with differing views, one for an Islamic State, and one for secular Malaysia, far more secular than what we already have.

Its another timely reminder how for 54 years we have done well only for these breed of power hungry buggers to drag us all the way back to the 60's.

The Loss making Economic adviser a true money wizard?

One of the most glaring points of the 12^th General Election of March 2008 was the entry onto the Political arena by unknowns, both in their party and in the public eye.

There were plenty of first timers, and the voting public had to content themselves (not that they were complaining then) with the information dished out to them by the parties that they paraded for.

Hence, with qualifications from the likes of Oxford and Harvard, as well as those who projected themselves as prefect heads, well, they got more attention than others. Some had to rely on their video cameras and their works to get noticed, but in the end, most got voted in.

Fast forward three years later, and now some of their shenanigans (or not) are coming to light.

Perhaps, most glaring would be DAP Economic Adviser, Tony Pua.

In the run up to the 12^th GE, Tony was showcased as the ‘Economic Whizkid’ which DAP so desperately needed. In fact, since his appointment as Economic adviser, Tony Pua had seen it fit to comment on any and every expenditure of the government. This include his ‘defense debacle’, which saw military experts and defense journalist coming out to criticise the PJ Utara MP for generalising the contracts that Mindef was involved in.

Naturally with such glaring childlike mistakes, his reputation of somewhat an economic expert took a beating and along with it, emerged some who were more keen than ever to dig into his past.

So, it wasn’t surprising then to find out today, that there are some who have already uncovered some contradictions to what Tony Pua has been selling himself as.

Today, the company which he helped founded (and cashed out on) is no more. Cyber Village Ltd is now known as Koyo International Limited. In its 2009 report, Koyo Intl reported that the ‘previous board and management of Cyber Village’ had worked hard in reversing the loss making years of the company and sought out an exit strategy. Noting that Cyber Village had depended more on revenue gained from their Malaysian subsidiaries as opposed to the Singapore operations.

So, Tony Pua started a company here in Malaysia, moved to Singapore, got it listed based on the reliability of its operations in Malaysia, then got customers in Singapore (that lead to him cashing out) listed in Singapore before the company went further into the red.

Nice. But hey.

That’s not all, in the lead up to that, his company went into an agreement with Berjaya (My2020.com Sdn Bhd) to ‘re-exercise and reengineer the procurement processes of companies(basically –ecommerce enable the web site and processlah). Cyber Village was appointed as ‘consultants to advise’ on the process (have you read outsyedthebox lately?)

This was taken from Cyber Village Singapore Prospectus

My2020.com Sdn Bhd (``My2020'') is a subsidiary of Berjaya Group Bhd, a company listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE).

My2020 was undertaking an exercise to re-engineer the procurement processes of companies in the Berjaya Group by exploiting Internet technology.

We were appointed by the Berjaya Group Bhd as consultants to advise and assist on the computerization of its procurement process.

Together with our clients, we assisted in the conceptualisation, formulation and development of PlazaB2B.cc, an e-procurement market place, to shorten purchasing cycle time and provide useful information on purchasing activities and costing on a time-ef®cient basis.

The marketplace provides services relating to online request for quotations, electronic catalogues, automated purchase requisition and approval work processes, customisation features, online order tracking as well as supplier management.

The PlazaB2B.cc pilot system was successfully launched in January 2001 for Berjaya Group Bhd. My2020 intends to extend the e-procurement solution to the other listed subsidiaries in the Berjaya group including Dunham Bush Bhd, Unza Bhd, Berjaya Singer Bhd and Berjaya Capital Bhd.

What would have been so wrong that Cyber Village, who was engage to ‘consult and advise’ on the project that they had to take the whole matter to court?

Some may argue that using the legal options available to it to settle business disputesis the norm, but being embroiled in so many? Where the courts are concerned, some may consider once as too many.

But it seems, Cyber Village has made it a sort of habit to take others to court too. (so it isn’t surprising then to find Tony Pua taking the Minister of Defense to court too)

…..and this too….

The Directors had announced on 17 January 2003 that one of the Group companies, Cyber Village Sdn Bhd (“CV Malaysia”) had served a writ of summons on Ericsson Business Consulting (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (“Ericsson”), in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. CV Malaysia’s claim was based on certain provisions of a Sale & Purchase Agreement (“the Agreement”) entered into with Ericsson on 28 August 2001 for the purchase of Ericsson’s IBM Lotus e-business software and consulting unit (the “Unit”). CV Malaysia sought specific performance of the Agreement under which Ericsson was obliged to procure payment of outstanding amounts owing by certain debtors of the Unit (the "Outstanding Amounts"). Alternatively, CV Malaysia was claiming for damages for the sum of RM1,034,744.00.

The Directors had then also announced on 21 April 2003 that a provision for doubtful debt for an amount of S$97,538 in relation to aforementioned claim had been made. In this connection, it was also stated in the Annual Report of the Company for FY2003 that the Directors, on the advice of their solicitors, believed that they had a reasonable case against Ericsson, but that nonetheless, the subsidiary had set aside a provision for doubtful debts amounting to 25% of the balance of the Outstanding Amounts.

The Directors had announced on 24 April 2004 that Ericsson has successfully applied to have CV Malaysia's claim struck out by the High Court of Malaysia. The decision by the High Court to strike out the claim was made on 23 April 2004.

The Directors announced that it is the intention of CV Malaysia to appeal against this decision.

The Directors are of the view that if CV Malaysia does not succeed in its claim, this will have a negative material impact on the Company’s earnings or net tangible assets for the current financial year.

There is also Cyber Village vs Illustra IT (M) Sdn Bhd, but here Illustra was the party at fault.

The point is here we have a ‘whizkid’ who churned out cash from a loss making entity and used the legal process to his advantage.

Tying up your rival in some sort of legal process is probably the best message you can send them sometimes.

I can point you to the judgement that Cyber Village was involved in, but do some homework will ya? And find out how many actually favoured it in the end.

Stopthelies.my seems to think they have the best candidate for Finance Minister, don’t you think?

Or should Tony Pua use the legal process to sue JAIS on that raid that got everyone worked up?

Read here for another catch on Tony Pua's SGD120,000.00 dig

And then there is also Deep Throat from DAP who in 2010 had spewed it in APANAMA.

The Magic numbers....

Time and again, we always hear some politician churning out numbers, from RM50million in missing jet engines to RM 1 million (which we are later told that the actual amount was around RM500,000.00 based on the report of the two officers that are being charged in court).
It started out as RM50million and it gradually became lower.

What about other numbers? Most of the time it is about Ringgit and Sen. Here is another perfect example of how numbers are simply bandit around. But SPAD tried to justify the figures and used these numbers instead.

The point is, with the internet, so much can be said about so little.

The latest numbers bandied by the most efficient Chief Minister (and so they say). And how was he portrayed to have been key in the 'revival' of Penang?
'He has become the first governor in Malaysia to open up all state tenders to competition. This has entailed dismantling the special preferences for ethnic Malays that have underpinned the BN’s rule since the early 1970s.'

But did he really?

Given the latest tender results and how 19year olds are instrumental in getting RM1 million contracts, such is not the case.

In fact, the figures showed that only 0.2% of contracts that were awarded through Penang's open tender system was awarded to Chinese (RM700,000.00 from only two projects out of 968 worth a total of RM125 million was given out to Chinese). So who is telling the truth? The DAP state government, The Economist or what?

It would not really surprise anyone then given that CM Lim Guan Eng is one that shoots first then justifies later.

His latest magical figures are probably aimed at inciting more people to hate the Election Commissions, says EC deputy chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar. Why?

In the latest salvo from Mr.Eng (at least, this is how The Economist would rather call CM Lim), he had claimed that there were 32,000 new voters registered in Penang from April to June of 2011. Sensing possibly that he was mistaken, LGE later revised the figure to 26,133 a day later.

It was later confirmed that ....The Election Commission clarified that it had displayed 25,558 names for the second quarter in Penang, of which 6,845 names were to be struck off, as they were no longer in the armed forces.

“Therefore, the actual figure of new voters and those who had requested for change of address in Penang is 18,713, and not 32,000 as claimed by the Chief Minister,” he said.

(read here for the actual report)

Its just so common isn't it, how politicians quote figures and then revise them or say that they have been misquoted. And if they get rapid fire reactions from their die hard supporters that fire away, they pat each other on their backs and say that they have the support of the rakyat.

Malaysians, should and must know by no how to access hard facts rather than accpet them wholesale from politicians. And the next time you see an official figure or fact, try not to discount it as propaganda.

For if you do, there will never be a stop to it.

Malaysian Insider: Next step is probably to go for MDLF assistance

"The allegations by BN-controlled media that depict Christians as working hand-in-glove with communist insurgents and opposition politicians to topple the government of the day and supplant it with a Christian prime minister have stirred a storm of protests that saw thousands take to the streets in a public rally organised by electoral reform group Bersih 2.0 on July 9."

What is your take on this paragraph?

In its article "Christian charity conversion report a ‘conspiracy’, say PAS MP, priest" , the para above left me no doubt that Insider is trying to paint something that is not.

In the wake of the JAIS fiasco, where Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim has issued a gag order, Malaysian Insider chose to speak to a Catholic Priest on a raid in a Methodist church.

Its as if one was to ask a Sunni Imam to speak on what is happening in a Shia Mosque.

In the weeks following my police report against 5xmom, I received both messages of support and condemnation. Needless to say, those condemning me outnumber those who support.
Am I bothered by it? Not the least!

All I am concerned is that elements like her do not penetrate into mainstream community which in turn might affect the security of the nation.

So, what has this got to do with the JAIS fiasco? Remember the likes of Khalid Samad, Theresa Kok, and other opposition lawmakers with the support of self proclaimed 'third force'?

Well, they have been doing their rounds in churches (for whose benefit is anyone's guess) and if you ask me, those who play with fire has to be prepared to get burned.

JAIS is absolutely wrong in 'raiding' the church, but so long as there are elements out there to exploit the church and churchgoers, then I suppose this kind of reaction is just a matter of time.

There should and cannot be extremism in any religion. By claiming persecution and calling on those of the faith to protect it is no different than a bugle call for attack.

Let's be reminded time and again that this nation is built on the differences that exist between us. We have long ago accepted each other, let not these elements which has reappeared recently come between us peace loving Malaysians, and if there are those who are bent on pitting us against each other, lets send them a strong message that they are not wanted anywhere in this land of ours.

And whilst all this is going on, PAS's Hassan Ali who openly supported the raid now has to gag himself before he and his Pakatan colleagues figure out what best and who best to say it.

If you still can't see it, let me then tell you that a senior member of DAP from the Silver State believes that' there is indeed a proper way to raid a church'. What a beauty, ain't it?

Follow the money - Pt 2

"It's easy to invest in MDLF's work, providing independent news businesses with the financing they need to hold governments to account, expose corruption and fight for justice for all."

"Founded in 1995, MDLF is a New York-registered not-for-profit corporation with 501(c)(3) public charity status"

These two statements probably stands out the most in the MDLF website. Yet, it also claims to have returned millions in payment to investors.

In Malaysia, where MDLF claims there is no alternative 'dissenting voices' and that Independent news portals like Malaysiakini are " Then, as now, the government tightly restricted newspapers, TV and radio resulting in self-censorship and very little dissent. Malaysiakini took advantage of laws that protect free speech online and used it to provide a whole new world of objective news and opinion. As the sole independent news source in the country...."

"Whatever method you choose, you can be sure that you will be helping leading journalists in emerging democracies develop financially sustainable news businesses, free from government control and political interference."

So, with such 'noble' intentions, MDLF basically goes to a country listed on its scroll of "Media oppressed nations" and then dish out a million or two to these potential 'voice of freedom'.
And all this seemingly not expecting any returns (don't forget MDLF runs as Non-Profit organisation with Charity status).

In Singapore, TOC (The Online Citizen, I am sure would love to get some help from MDLF, but unfortunately due to legislation, any funding for an organisation deemed, I stand corrected, Political Association, is prohibited, and at best restricted to SGD5000, whilst it also must adhere to transparency laws by naming their staff and editorial personnel on their website) is an 'alternative' news site, and has recorded many hits.

I have met Leong Sze Hian of TOC, and must say that he has done his best to ensure that TOC does not open itself to government actions by following the rules set down for them (eventhough the goal posts keep changing). I am not 100% certain, but I could not find fabricated articles such as these on TOC.

So is is true then that there are angels (or demons, whichever side of the fence you are on) out there with millions to dish out just to give a dissenting voice to a Media Oppressed nation like Malaysia an alternative choice? Surely, it all points to that with MDLF, right?

Lets look back a little and chart the points where coincidental might just be intentional.

1999 - South East Asia Press Alliance provides a US100,000 Grant to Malaysiakini.com (someone was sacked in 1998, and more importantly a certain financial crisis hit the region and caused the Ringgit to lose significant value against the US Dollar, among others)

2001 - MDLF through CAMP (Technology arm of MDLF) paid Malaysiakini) PAID Malaysiakini RM188,000.00 for the development of an application. (Premesh Chandran in a statement in Mar 2001, revealed that CAMP - Centre for Advanced Media, Prague, paid Malaysiakini.com for the development of ADENGINE - Prem also refuted claims that the funds from CAMP or MDLF had in fact originated from George Soro's Open Society Institute)

2002 - MDLF invetsed a further RM1.3 Million in Malaysiakini.com

WHO IS MDLF?
Having established their intentions, perhaps we should take a look at MDLF
Their deep pockets are because the following are the current source for funds;
Association of Alternative Newsweeklies
Bank Vontobel
Calvert Social Investment Foundation
DOEN Foundation
Dreilinden gGmbH
Foundation for Democracy and Media
Fritt Ord Foundation
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Omidyar Network
Open Society Institute
Oxfam Novib
responsAbility Ventures I
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
Alexej Fulmek
David Haas

Didn't Premesh Chandran say that none of its funding was received from George Soros?
I have nothing against George Soros, but he was responsible for the 1998 currency crisis.
So, not only did he devalue our currency but he also gave money to Malaysiakini though another fund?

This is where you don't have to be a genius to see where the line crosses and what it tells you.

A simple look at the board of Directors also point to a very telling sign.
Two members of the board are the current President and Executive Director of, you guessed it, Open Society Institute.
A closer look at the past members reveal a former General Counsel to Open Society Institute. In his homepage he is listed as "After several years at HRW, he combined his expertise in tax law, including not-for-profit and financial transactions law, and became the first General Counsel to the Open Society Institute, George Soros' worldwide charitable foundation. In 1996 he joined the faculty of the Washington College of Law, American University, in Washington D.C., where he remains today"

My reading into this statement and the role of certain members of the board tells me something very different from what Premesh Chandran said.

I got in touch with the man who was accused of misinterpreting the revelation of Malaysiakini's funding. He is Desi YL Chong (Chong Yen Loong). Desi as he is fondly known to journalist was then News Editor of Malaysiakini, and questioned the essence of the breaking news.

The source of funding of Malaysiakini was first carried in Far Eastern Economic Review, in its article ' Levelling the field' in which it (also read here, here and here) pointed how George Soros was 'helping' independent media establish a foothold in Asian countries.

The storm that followed was concern enough that Open Society Institute issued a statement that clarified that it was not involved in direct funding of Malaysiakini. In the statement issued to then Managing Editor of FEER, Michael Vatikiotis, OSI had reiterated that it did not fund Malaysiakini directly or indirectly. It mentioned that it did however provided a stipend grant for an 'advisor' of the Committee to Protect Journalist that was with SEAPA. It ended with a statement that 'no funding whatsoever has been extended from OSI through SEAPA to Malaysiakini'.

None indirectly? I wonder how it classifies funding to MDLF, which in turned provided much needed funds to Malaysiakini.

Desi, when asked about the entire episode, had wanted to know what my story was about, and when I pointed out to him that I merely wanted to state the obvious, in which Malaysiakini had indeed receive funds from abroad, he was adamant that if I should quote him, that this would appear.

"when I insisted that Malaysiakini practised clear and transparent reporting as it had demanded, the source of funding must be clarified after Far Eastern Economic Review's story. However, one of my boss said that the funding was not classified as funding as it involved the 'purchase' of application that Malaysiakini was building. Back then when the currency crisis was in full blown, George Soros did not have many friends, and when it was later revealed that his Open Society had provided funds to MDLF, which in turn channeled money to Malaysiakini, that to me demands an explanation."

And when demanded in a closed door meeting, Desi was given the reply that "if we were to go public, that would be the death of Malaysiakini". In the aftermath, Desi was told that the only way for him to go forward was to leave Malaysiakini. He did agree to resign, but before submitting his letter of resignation, Prem Chandran had said that Desi had chose to ignore certain facts and his resignation was due to the fact that he (Desi) was unhappy over matters pertaining his pay package.

So, is it purely coincidental then that names such as SEAPA, OSI, MDLF should cross each other in the source of funding or is there more that meets the eye?

In 1998, the currency crisis was in full swing, along with that in the same year a certain high profile politician was removed from cabinet. In the years that followed, a certain 'Independent news organisation' was revealed to have received big sums of money from a charity organisation with Investors!!??

So is it purely coincidental that Malaysiakini's media school should feature such personnel?

Malaysiakini has pride itself as an independent news source, but judging from its history and source of funding, it is anything but that.

So, have you noticed that your new media lecturer holds dear to an organisation such as Malaysiakini, enough to write this? (given that Malaysiakini is a subscription based portal, funny that only such articles appear to be accessible,huh?)

They say the proof is in the pudding, I guess for those who truly believe Malaysiakini is independent, then please ignore the fact that the founder of MDLF said this.

Sorry, but who gave Malaysiakini RM1.58million again?