Chong Kah Kiat Calls Najib's Bluff In Mazu Statue Controversy

Former Deputy CM-cum-Tourism, Culture & Environment Minister Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat said he does not believe Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is ignorant of the fact that he (Chong) had no choice in taking the stoppage of the Mazu statue project in Kudat to court.

He said he had briefed the DPM after receiving the Letter of Revocation from the Kudat Town Board (KTB) on Nov. 15.

"The next day, I had a meeting with the DPM in his office. I went personally and told the DPM 'Now Sir, I have no choice but to go to court.' I gave him a copy. They use Section 15, I have to use Section 16 to appeal. And the DPM actually understood.

"Let me straighten the record. Without disrespect to the Daily Express, I find that the heading is quite misleading. It is quite damaging to me. 'Better To Discuss Than Sue' as if saya orang jahat (as if I am a bad person), salahgunakan kuasa saya (abusing my power).

"Not that I want to be nasty and go to court. The suit that I took is not simply for the sake of main main saja. I have no choice kerana saya kena paksa. I have no choice but to seek legal redress kerana the State Government through the Kudat Town Board (KTB) withdrew atau revoked the KTB's approval to the Mazu project under a specific provision of Section 15 of the Town Planning Ordinance.

"And under Section 16 of the same ordinance, whoever is aggrieved by the refusal of a permission or by the making of a prohibition must within 28 days from the date of receiving notice of the decision, appeal to the High Court against the decision by notice in writing," he told a press conference at his office at Alamesra here.

On another newspaper's heading "Govt Hopes Chong Will Settle Mazu Issue Amicably: DPM", Chong said it is not the Government's hopes but actually the hope of DPM.

"If it is the Government's hopes, sudah selesaibah. Betulkah? Ini ada salah print sikit. Patut the DPM hopes. But DPM is not wrong because he has been fully briefed by me."

Chong said since the letter of revocation was already issued to him on Nov. 15, 2007, it is imperative that he act accordingly.

"Sekiranya, saya tidak ambil tindakan, ertinya saya salah, (If I don't take action, it means I am wrong); ertinya I admitted something wrong with my project. That is why I am appealing to the court."

On Sunday, Najib said the issue of the Mazu statue can be resolved if the parties involved discuss it among themselves, instead of going through the courts.

Chong reiterated that he has been sabar (patient) for more one-and-a-half years. "If there is any BN leader in Malaysia who is really that patient, then Chong Kah Kiat is the man. If I wanted to be nasty, jahat, nakal, I would have taken the Government to court long time ago.

"I never did that. I have got letters and documents to prove how far and how wide I have gone through all this. You think I like to have this sort of problem? You think I like to give up my job?

"My message today is bukan saya seolah-olah main tunjuk lawa mau pergi court. Tidak, saya kena paksa kerana under Section 16, I only got 28 days to appeal against the decision.

"Kalau mau bincang, saya sudah bincang dengan banyak orang, KL and all this. Semua surat saya ada, semua dokumen saya ada. Not that saya tidak pernah buat perbincangan."

The former CM said he had not only been discussing but writing, pleading, begging everybody in the BN to see reason, to be rational and reasonable.

"I have already done everything within my means. What did I get in the end - a letter to cancel my project!

"For the record, I also met PM. PM came to LDP Congress on 11th Nov. PM asked me to see him the following Wednesday. I went to his office. We had a very good meeting on 14th Nov, to be fair to Pak Lah. He was very good. Everything is done. But Pak Lah being a diplomat, you know lah.

"After having successfully met the PM on 14th Nov, the State 'rewarded' me with a letter of revocation letter on 15th Nov, contrary to what PM told me. As a result of which, I have 28 days from the date I received (the letter) to go to court, failing which, that would mean I salah (wrong)."

On the Government's hope to bring the Mazu statue issue back to the negotiation table (instead of going through the court), Chong said it is not a question of negotiating.

"What is there to negotiate? It is a question of whether the Government's decision is right or wrong. Simple logic. If the decision (conveyed in a directive dated June 6, 2006 from the Local Government & Housing Ministry, ordering suspension of works on the project) and followed by a letter from the State Secretary on June 23, 2006 (ordering immediate stoppage of work) is correct and legal, why should the Government talk about compensation and relocating the site?" he asked.

"I know I am not wrong. I have all this while adhered to the law."

Answering a reporter on Federal leaders' stand, Chong said: "They have been very good and understanding, all I can say. I don't want to say much. But at the right time if I am forced to."

Asked why then did the State not give the approval, he replied:

"Personal... I have said that already. If you remember May 2006 Sipadan. That is how it started. Before Sipadan, my project is already completed (except for assembling the statue). It's all documented in the national and state papers. What was said, what was blasted, it's all there, all the statements from the State leadership including mine.

"Bulan satu buat kerja, bulan dua, bulan tiga, bulan empat, bulan lima buat kerja. All up already before this (Sipadan), in the open. Secara terbuka saya punya projek. Siap, sekarang mau assemble. After Sipadan, less than three weeks, my project was stopped. No one can run away from Sipadan. How otherwise can you explain?"

Asked what if the Government asked him to withdraw the suit and he would be allowed to resume the project?

"Then I would say 'thank you, and thank you, and thank you. And I will close the chapter," said Chong.

Chong added: "Let us pray that good sense will prevail in the New Year 2008. Just pray for that and nothing else."

CHONG said the DPM, as a respectable national leader, knows the serious repercussions of stopping the Mazu statue project in the coming election.

He was asked to comment on Najib's words that at the same time, he (Najib) also saw other prayer houses such as a church and a pagoda not far from the mosque and that no problem occurred in Tuaran.

"What is his signal? What is his message? It's already clear tapi orang masih tidur, tak bangun. Ini yang masalah Sabah, masalah manusia, masalah pemimpin (but people are still sleeping, not waking up. This is Sabah's problem, a human problem, a problem of the leadership)."

"Would the Government take the cue?" a reporter asked.

Chong said: "I am not in a position to advise leaders of the State or to make any comment. But it's very interesting what Najib said in Tuaran."

Replying to a question, Chong said his choice of Opposition Leader Ansari Abdullah as his lawyer to fight his case has nothing to do with politics.

"Let us grow up. I cannot cause problem to BN lawyers. Why should I make the lawyers embarrassed and uncomfortable? I want to be considerate. I am talking about law and not politics. I must go and get someone who has got the law in his head. Not a criminal or conveyancing lawyer but someone who is good in administrative law. There are so many branches of law.

"Ansari is one friend of mine, I have known him since Berjaya time, actually he was my Berjaya colleague. I know he is good in his law and a highly-respected practising lawyer." (Daily Express Sabah)

***** Very detailed and honest explanation by Kah Kiat. It clearly shows that Najib is trying to play a double game by not lifting a finger to help solve the impasse but at the same time deviously suggesting 'discussions'. The so-called discussion which Najib wants is actually an invitation to languish in a negotiation cul-de-sac, a trap which the smart Kah Kiat has not only avoided but in the process has exposed the fake concern of the DPM as well as the ineffectual nature of our PM.

Despite our courts being systematically stacked with judges of doubtful quality, credibility, courage and integrity it looks like the legal system will be increasingly sought, to rectify the religio-racial injustices perpetrated by our government in the name of bangsa, agama dan negara.

Much of 2007's stupidity, chauvinism and extreme foolishness, I'm afraid will spill over to 2008.
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Palace Building Fraudster Zakaria Mat Deros Still Above The Law

Transparency International Malaysia wants the Anti-Corruption Agency to disclose the results of its investigations on Port Klang assemblyman Datuk Zakaria Mat Deros. This follows a Bernama report which quoted Selangor ACA director Mohd Jamidan Abdullah as saying that two of the three cases involving Zakaria were closed for lack of evidence. Transparency president Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam said the ACA should disclose how it concluded the cases should be closed. (NST)

The most famous last words in Malaysian style investigations: NFA (No Further Action) or No Evidence/Proof. Needless to say the cops and the ACA don't have to give reasons for the lack of action or the lame and silly conclusions they come to in order to avoid charging a guilty-as-hell corrupt but well connected crook. Yet we the thinking citizens of this once fair land of ours are supposed to unquestioningly believe these government pimps masquerading as investigators of crime. What a sham and yes, a shame too.

The level of deceitfulness in the bringing to book of especially political charlatans in Malaysia has reached unacceptable proportions and no one except the government and the so-called law enforcement agencies are convinced that everything is being done to contain corruption and punish those guilty of practising it. Zakaria is merely an extreme example of the sorry state of investigation and prosecution here; a political highway robber considered as part of a clique of 'titled blue blood' who are above the law and plundering the state as if they were medieval royalty of some distant land.

For all of Pak Lah's well meaning speeches and good intentions of cleaning up the rot we have been saddled with in the name of democracy, precious little has been done or even seen to be done. All we get are sermons and more sermons and excuse upon excuse regarding why some of these crooks still roam free and are apparently above the law.
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KL City Hall Super Quick To Demolish Squatter Homes And Temples But NOT This Restaurant! Why?

From The Malay Mail:

City Hall has denied any hanky-panky in the delay to demolish a restaurant in Jalan Datuk Keramat after yet another postponement. “There is no hanky-panky,” said a City Hall spokesman referring to the delay in demolishing Seri Villa seafood restaurant.

He stressed that City Hall would demolish the restaurant the soonest possible since the issue has been dragging since last year. “But procedures are procedures and it has to be adhered to,” said the spokesman. “Nobody can make a unilateral decision, not even the department director or the officer-in-charge of the area.

“A committee headed by Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Ab Halim Borhan will have to decide,” said the spokesman. He added that Ab Halim had fixed the coming meeting to discuss the fate of the illegal eateries.

Ab Halim, who is in Australia, said he was not aware of what had happened. “I will be back on Monday and will get feedback on the situation before I comment,” he said.

The Malay Mail reported yesterday that the owners of the eatery did not honour their promise to demolish the illegal structures. Last Thursday, a City Hall team had gone to demolish the eatery but decided to believe the owners’ words that they would tear it down themselves. City Hall later discovered that the owners had only demolished three huts which were part of the structures.

The lack of action has baffled residents who have been protesting against the illegal eateries which have been operating for the past few years.

City Hall town planning North Area 3 officer Nor Janah Affandi had said that the inaction was the final straw and the council would not tolerate another excuse. Nor Janah also said that City Hall had allowed the illegal eateries to operate until a decision was made at next month’s meeting.

***** Don't you get cheesed off reading time and again about such blatant favoritism? On the one hand, poverty stricken squatters are treated worse than dirt by city hall gangsters who demolish their ramshackle abodes the very second legal hurdles are removed, sometimes even before that. No mercy shown or appeal considered for some more time. Just evict and destroy, with the police on stand-by to arrest any desperate squatter who disagrees or protests. On the other hand we have this 'ever considerate' side of City Hall enforcers, who are willing to delay taking action for almost a year against those who have brazen disregard for rules and who with impunity build illegal structures which persist even till now, despite the numerous complaints of affected residents.

Why is this bias being allowed to continue without any action? My guess is,
A) Dirty, corrupt politician is behind the delay.
B) Dirty, corrupt high ranking official is on the take.
C) A & B
D) All of the above and more.

Take your pick!
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This Information Ministry Explanation Doesn't Make Sense.

The following is a report in the NST regarding why foreign dramas on TV are more popular than local ones.

Foreign telenovelas such as the recently concluded Indonesian drama “Bawang Putih, Bawang Merah” are more popular than local ones because they based their theme on the supernatural, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.

Information Ministry Parliamentary Secretary Noriah Kasnon said as an official media, Radio Televesion Malaysia (RTM) did not resort to airing such telenovelas because it had a social responsibility of developing the people’s mindset and nurturing good values.

“RTM is more inclined to show dramas that educate the public, instill a positive spirit and high moral values to motivate society to do better,” she said when responding to a question from Datuk Ismail Abdul Mutalib (BN-Maran) who wanted to know why foreign soap operas were more popular than local ones.

The 108-episode “Bawang Putih, Bawang Merah” is an adaptation of a folklore in the present day revolving around two teenage girls where evil at first overcomes good until a fairy godmother intervenes.

***** Pardon me if I sound a little silly. If the Information Ministry as it claims, has a "social responsibility of developing the people’s mindset and nurturing good values" by discouraging local dramas with a supernatural theme, then why the devil (pun intended) is it allowing foreign 'telenovelas' of the very same genre to be telecast here? Does the ministry honestly feel that just because the Indons produce a drama that highlights the supernatural or glorifies a toyol and it is shown on channels other than RTM then it is OK? That only our own productions have an effect on our simple-minded people who watch these shows?

Apart from the high sounding 'educate, instill and motivate' hype by RTM, the main reason why the foreign shows are popular is because they are at least a little interesting while in comparison our mostly low quality dramas are simply too boring, repetitive, devoid of ideas, have not really changed or improved in the last four decades and the acting leaves much to be desired. Sorry, but that's the way I see it.

The monopoly enjoyed by certain production houses also adds to the less than impressive standard of the local dramas. Some time ago the Information Minister said that he would end the monopoly but whether he has succeeded or not I don't know. Another drawback is of course that national malady of ours, race politics. And the less said about that the better.
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