PAC is not a game of Pacman

This article previously appeared in The Malaysian Insider.

The prosecutors finally screwed up the courage to charge four people for the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project over the past week, thanks to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) recommendations that enough evidence exists to take some people to court.

The main person thus far is the former general manager of the Port Klang Authority, Datin Paduka OC Phang, and several officials from PKFZ contractor Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) and one architect.

It shouldn’t stop there. I suspect the investigations will continue beyond the current prosecutions in view of the large discrepancy in the payments made to KDSB as the contractor to the PKFZ.

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Hak akar umbi pilih calon pilihanraya

This article previously appeared in The Malaysian Insider.

Umno yang dilahirkan sebagai parti akar umbi sebenarnya sudah menunjukkan perubahan. Ini terbukti apabila Presiden Umno Datuk Seri Najib Razak dan timbalannya Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin sebulat suara menyokong pindaan perlembagaan parti baru-baru ini.

Melalui pindaan perlembagaan baru ini, Umno memberi kuasa memilih Ahli Majlis Tertinggi (MT) termasuk Presiden, Timbalan Presiden dan Naib Presiden kepada ahli di peringkat Bahagian. Dianggarkan lebih 146,000 ahli Umno di peringkat Bahagian akan membuat keputusan.

Ini adalah langkah permulaan ke arah pendemokrasian Umno yang sememangnya menjadi hak ahli dan bukannya mana-mana pemimpin atau kumpulan tertentu.

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Najib’s Umno: is it really back to basics?

This article previously appeared in The Malaysian Insider.

Umno must return to its roots to be an all-inclusive party. That was the main theme of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s presidential speech at last week’s Umno general assembly when outlining the changes the party needs to do to survive.

I hope the Umno delegates to the annual assembly understood what Najib meant.

I have some doubts after reading the comments of some top Umno leaders who quickly proclaimed that the amendments made to the party constitution as being the “new” democracy for the organisation.

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Annus horribilis

This article previously appeared in The Malaysian Insider.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. It is exactly a year since I offered myself for the Umno deputy presidency.

I knew I didn’t have a chance in hell of getting enough nominations to be eligible and it could also be suicidal to my “young” political career. But I thought it was worth the sacrifice to send a signal to the top leadership that Umno’s time in power is over if we don’t change.

Umno president Datuk Seri Mohamed Najib Razak probably got my message when he used the phrase “change or be changed” in the party’s general assembly before taking over as Prime Minister in April.

So six months into Najib’s reign as the country’s sixth prime minister, what does Umno have to show?

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Kungfu fighting

This article previously appeared in The Malaysian Insider.

It has been 23 years since a Malay became the leader of MCA. It’s not a joke.

That was when the then Encik Ghafar Baba, as Umno vice president, assumed the post of acting MCA president to solve the stalemate in the power tussle between Datuk Tan Koon Swan and the defeated incumbent president, Datuk Neo Yee Pan.

Encik Ghafar, who later became deputy Umno president and deputy prime minister and retired to be a Tun, demonstrated his acumen and skilful Malay leadership qualities to negotiate a truce which resulted in then deputy president, Datuk Seri Ling Liong Sik eventually taking over as president.

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The Royal Malaysian Police farce

This article prevously appeared in The Malaysian Insider.

As a Member of Parliament, I used to defend the police when faced with numerous complaints from my constituents in Johor Baru.

I told my constituents to have faith in the police as their alternative would be to pay for expensive personal security guards. No more.

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