Malaysia Cracks Down on Businessman
Yap Yok Foo
2nd August 1999
Malaysia Cracks Down on Businessman
In Campaign Against Corporate Crime
By LESLIE LOPEZ Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- The controlling shareholder of TA Enterprise
Bhd., one of Malaysia's largest stockbrokerage companies, was charged
with breaching the securities law. The move is a part of a widening
crackdown by the country's securities watchdog agency, analysts and
government officials say.
A Malaysian Sessions Court charged Tony Tiah Thee Kian and another
senior TA official, Khoo Poh Kim, with helping fugitive businessman
Soh Chee Wen defraud debt-laden Omega Securities Sdn. Bhd., a midsize
stockbrokerage firm. The charges pertain to alleged irregularities
over a share transaction involving 35.6 million shares in Uniphoenix
Corp. Bhd., a company once controlled by Datuk Soh. According to the
Securities Commission, those Uniphoenix shares had been bought through
margin accounts at Omega Securities. The transactions resulted in the
withdrawal of 425 million ringgit ($111.8 million) from Omega
Securities, leaving the brokerage firm with insufficient collateral to
finance the margin accounts.
Both Datuk Tiah and Ms. Khoo pleaded not guilty to the charges, and
were released until the next hearing on Oct. 7 after posting bail of
one million ringgit and 100,000 ringgit respectively. The charges --
made under the Securities Industry Act -- carry a minimum fine one
million ringgit and a jail term of a maximum of 10 years.
Neither Datuk Tiah nor Ms. Khoo were available for comment.
Allegations of Violations
Government officials and investment analysts say that the regulators'
action against Datuk Tiah is part of widening crackdown on corporate
crime.
Their first big indictment came in early May when Ismail Zakaria, the
former chief executive officer of Sime Bank Bhd., was charged with
breaching lending guidelines under Malaysia's Banking and Financial
Institutions Act. He pleaded not guilty.
The charges against Datuk Ismail came two weeks after the Securities
Commission announced that it was planning to serve arrest warrants on
two of Malaysia's most high-profile deal makers, Datuk Soh and Patric
Lim Hong Koon. Both businessmen were overseas at the time the
Securities Commission publicized the impending arrests. They have
remained abroad since.
Investigation Is Launched
Malaysian regulators never disclosed the charges the two businessmen
faced. But since June last year, the Securities Commission has been
investigating whether Datuk Soh acted through nominees to acquire
Omega Securities. Owning more than one stockbrokerage firm without
government approval is against the law in Malaysia. Datuk Soh already
owned one such firm at the time of the Omega transaction, which took
place during the last quarter of 1997.
The charges against Datuk Tiah, coupled with foreign institutional
selling, led to a sharp sell-off on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.
The benchmark composite index plunged 3.8%, or 28.82 points, to 719.52
Wednesday. TA Enterprise shares fell 11%, or 17 sen, to 1.31 ringgit.
However, some market watchers say the key index's decline was more a
fundamental correction than a reaction to Datuk Tiah's indictment.
"We are going to see selling pressure from foreign funds ahead of the
Sept. 1 deadline and that selling will most likely dry up in
mid-August," says Ami Moris of Ke-Zan Securities in Kuala Lumpur,
referring to the one-year lock-in period imposed on funds when the
country adopted capital controls last September. She notes that
foreigners -- who have had their funds trapped here for nearly a year
-- are slowly getting out of stocks before the lock-in period expires
on Sept. 1.
But retail brokers, who have been among the stock market's main
players over the past three months, see things differently. They note
that Datuk Tiah's indictment has sparked rumors that more senior
businessmen could be charged with corporate wrongdoing in coming
weeks. "This isn't good. The retail players are going to get jumpy.
They are already hurting with the market falling so much," says a
senior dealer with a local bank-owned stockbroking firm.
Ruling With Iron Hand
TA Enterprises, which was listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange in
1990, is the parent company of TA Securities Sdn. Bhd., Malaysia's
largest retail broker. It controls an estimated 7% of Malaysia's
stockbrokerage business. Senior stock-brokerage industry officials say
Datuk Tiah controls his stockbrokerage empire with an iron hand. He is
a staunch Christian and a member of the Kuala Lumpur Full Gospel
Fellowship, whose other members include tycoon Khoo Kay Peng of the
MUI group, and businessman Tan Koon Swan. Under Datuk Tiah's
leadership, TA Enterprise has expanded into Hong Kong, Australia, the
Philippines and South Africa. It remains unclear whether the charges
against Datuk Tiah could presage a change in control at the company.
While most bankers and investment analysts welcome Malaysia's
get-tough approach to corporate crime, some businessmen say that the
authorities may be using the crackdown to squeeze business allies of
deposed deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim. Two weeks ago, the Securities
Commission presented charges against Ishak Ismail, managing director
of listed KFC Holdings Bhd., and Wan Hasni Wan Sulaiman, the executive
chairman of listed financial services group Abrar Corp. Bhd. Both
businessmen have long been identified as staunch supporters of Datuk
Seri Anwar. Both men have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Datuk Ishak, whose KFC Holdings operates the Kentucky Fried Chicken
fast-food outlets in Malaysia, was charged with providing wrong
information to the Securities Commission regarding his shareholding in
the company. Wan Hasni was charged with plans to cheat a number of
investors pertaining to shares of listed Mun Loong Bhd. Datuk Ishak
and Wan Hasni have been released from jail, but court dates have yet
to be set.
http://interactive.wsj.com
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Yap Yok Foo
>Correct date should be 4th August 1999
From The Star
4th August 1999
PM: There is no witch hunt
KUALA LUMPUR: Cases of prominent corporate figures being charged for
fraud is not a witch hunt against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's
supporters, Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday.
"Are you suggesting that (Datuk) Tony Tiah (Thee Kian) is linked to
Datuk Seri Anwar? I think he is a friend of mine," he told reporters
after launching the National Economic Consultative Council II
yesterday.
The Prime Minister was asked to comment on views that the Government
was all out to flush out individuals supposedly close to Anwar.
Asked whether he knew if more prominent corporate figures would be
charged for fraud, he said:
"I suppose that is their (relevant authorities) job. They don't have
to report to me even though there is a case," he said, asking: "By the
way who was the prominent corporate person charged?"
Asked to comment on the 4% plunge in the share market on Tuesday, he
said countries within the region had also experienced a dip in their
bourses.
On whether the sharp fall was due to mergers of banks in the country,
he replied:
"When they want to sell they have every excuse, and when they want to
buy too. I really don't understand the market.
"I told them long ago not to push up the share prices too high. It's
not good. It (the prices) should reflect the performance of the
companies."
On whether he expected to see a massive outflow of funds on Sept 1
when the the levy on the repatriation of foreign capital expires, Dr
Mahathir said the country had enough foreign reserves to survive the
net outflow.
"The ringgit is not worth anything outside the country. We have been
having a net inflow, net outflow won't do any harm."
Dr Mahathir also said that he would leave for Siberia on Aug 15 and
after that to China for three days.
On indications of the Gross Domestic Product performance in the second
quarter, he said: "It is definitely going to be a plus and not minus,
maybe between 2% and 3% (growth), I think."
http://thestar.com.my
Yap Yok Foo
5th August 1999
Action by SC was independently taken, says Dr M
By Ashraf Abdullah and Patvinder Singh
KUALA LUMPUR, Wed. _ Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad
today denied that the action by the Securities Commission against
certain corporate figures was to flush out those linked to his former
deputy Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Dr Mahathir said the commission acted independently and did not refer
any of its investigations to him.
When asked whether the SC's actions were only against those who were
Anwar's friends, Dr Mahathir said:
"But Tony Tiah is (also) my friend."
Dr Mahathir was referring to the executive chairman of TA Enterprise
Bhd, Datuk Tony Tiah Thee Kian, who was charged in court today with
abetting businessman Datuk Soh Chee Wen to defraud Omega Securities
Sdn Bhd of RM424,930,587.50.
He said this at a Press conference after launching the Second National
Economic Consultative Council (NECC 2).
On July 24, two corporate figures, Datuk Ishak Ismail and Datuk Dr Wan
Hasni Wan Sulaiman, were charged in the Sessions Court for offences
relating to securities.
Ishak, 48, is the managing director of KFC (Holdings) Malaysia while
Wan Hasni, 35, is executive chairman of Abrar Corporation Bhd.
On Aug 3, a former Mayban Securities Sdn Bhd dealer, Zairin Ismail,
35, was charged in the Sessions Court with three counts of
short-selling 20,000 units of Transocean Holdings Bhd shares.
Dr Mahathir also said the country's Gross Domestic Product would see a
positive growth during the second quarter.
"It will be between two and three per cent, I think...I can't confirm
it."
On whether he thought there would a massive outflow of funds after
Sept 1, Dr Mahathir said if investors wanted to take out their money
it was allowed as the country had enough foreign exchange to give
them.
"We have enough reserves to pay them."
Asked if he thought there would be a nett outflow of funds, Dr
Mahathir said there had been a nett inflow so a little outflow would
not matter much.
On what measures had been taken to encourage money to come into the
country, he said all necessary measures had been taken like making it
easier for people to come and invest in the country.
"One has to remember that by selling down their shares some of these
people had actually diminished the value of the shares.
"And if they had taken their money earlier like in September last
year, they would have taken out very little. But because of the
controls that we imposed, their shares have gone up even by 200 per
cent.
"So if they cash in now they will be taking out a lot more money, by
the grace of our Government," Dr Mahathir said.
Asked to comment on the recent falling share prices, Dr Mahathir said
it may be due to brokers not having enough (financial) backing to
cover purchases.
The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's composite index was down by 28.82
points to close at 719.52 today. Beginning last month, the CI had
steadily moved up. It reached an intra-day high of 870.39 points on
July 5 but started to decline two weeks ago.
When a reporter said that the market had dipped four per cent which
represented the lowest slide in the region, Dr Mahathir replied: "If
you compare with the other countries they all went down.
"I told them long ago don't push up share prices. Share prices should
reflect the performance of companies."
On the proposal to merge all 21 commercial banks, 25 finance companies
and 12 merchant banks into six financial institutions, Dr Mahathir
said stronger banks were needed and the proposal should be given a
chance to take shape.
http://www.nstpi.com.my/nst
Yap Yok Foo
4th August 1999
Malaysia Charges Tiah for Breaking Securities Law
Bloomberg News
Wednesday, August 4 1999 08:44 AM EDT
Kuala Lumpur, Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Tony Tiah Thee Kian, a former
chairman of Malaysia's stockbrokers' guild and owner of the country's
largest retail brokerage, TA Securities Bhd., has been charged for
breaching the country's securities laws.
Tiah, 52, and his sister-in-law, Kimmy Khoo Poh Kim, 36, also a TA
executive, were both charged this morning at the Shah Alam High Court,
outside Kuala Lumpur. The charges allege that Tiah abetted
politician-businessman John Soh Chee Wen in defrauding Omega
Securities Sdn. Bhd. of 424.9 million ringgit ($111.8 million) between
September 1997 and January 1998, according to court documents.
If convicted, Tiah and Khoo could face a minimum fine of 1 million
ringgit, and jailed for up to 10 years. The two weren't available to
comment. TA's legal representative Christopher Koh couldn't be
reached.
Shares of TA Enterprise Bhd., the brokerage's parent company, fell 17
sen, or by 11.5 percent, to a 15-week low of 1.31 ringgit.
In a press statement, the securities regulator said its move on Tiah
was the result of its effort to enforce the laws under its
jurisdiction. ``The Securities Commission will continue its
enforcement role to maintain market integrity and confidence,'' it
said.
This is the third time in four months that Malaysia's securities
regulator has targeted business executives who breached its laws, as
the country steps up enforcement to restore investors' confidence.
Malaysia needs to drum up investor confidence -- especially among
foreign money managers -- to stem the expected flow of foreign funds
on Sept. 1, when the country's 12-month bar on the repatriation of
foreign funds expires.
That's important because Malaysia faces a general election in the next
nine months, and any large exodus of foreign funds would cause the
stock market to slump, and hurt Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's
attempt to seek a fresh five-year mandate.
On April 30, Malaysia's central bank charged Ismail Zakariah, a former
chief executive of ailing Sime Bank Bhd., with violating instructions
by Sime's board and lending 175 million ringgit to closely held
Everise Capital Sdn. Bhd. Ismail has pleaded not guilty and his case
has been scheduled for Sept. 13.
On July 25, the securities regulator charged KFC Holdings Bhd.'s
Managing Director Ishak Ismail and Abrar Corporation Bhd.'s Executive
Chairman Wan Muhamad Hasni Wan Sulaiman for breaching its laws. Both
executives pleaded not guilty.
Today's charges against Tiah and Khoo end more than 14 months of the
regulator's investigations on TA's sale of failed brokerage Omega
Securities, to businessmen associated with Soh.
On April 19, the regulator said it sought to arrest Soh and two of his
associates for their role in Omega's deal with TA. Still, Soh and his
associates haven't been charged because they've skipped the country
before arrest warrants could be served on them.
In an interview with Bloomberg in June 1998, before he left Malaysia,
Soh said he and 100 other people had been queried on the nominees he
used to buy control of Omega Securities. Under Malaysian law,
businessmen who want to own more than one brokerage need to get the
government's approval. Soh, who already controlled Halim Securities
and Alor Star Securities, denied he was the buyer of Omega.
Tiah was charged with helping Soh in using a plan to withdraw 424.9
million ringgit from Omega through bogus share transactions that
didn't involve any ownership changes, according to the court's
documents. Khoo, who's the company secretary at TA Enterprise, trained
at Omega, before she started work in TA.
Omega Securities, which ran 555.6 million ringgit short of what's
needed to run a brokerage business, was put under receivership -- a
kind of bankruptcy -- on June 9, 1998. Its licensed was revoked, and
the brokerage was subsequently sold to Hwang-DBS Securities Bhd., and
turned into a Hwang branch. Shares of Omega Holdings Bhd., the parent
company, have been halted from trading.
http://www.aol.com/mynews
Yap Yok Foo
5th August 1999
Top KL broker charged with abetting fugitive tycoon Soh
Tony Tiah accused of abetting Soh Chee Wen
in scheme to defraud Omega Sec
By Ruth Wong in Kuala Lumpur
PROMINENT stockbroker and owner of Malaysia's largest retail
brokerage, Tony Tiah Thee Kian, was yesterday charged with breach of
the country's securities law as authorities stepped up action against
alleged errant corporate figures.
The 51-year-old Tiah, who heads TA Securities, and his sister-in-law,
Kimmy Khoo Poh Kim, 36, also a TA executive, was alleged to have
abetted fugitive businessman Soh Chee Wen in a scheme to defraud the
now defunct stockbroking firm Omega Securities of 424.93 million
Malaysian ringgit (S$188 million).
Tiah: the TA Securities chief claimed trial and was allowed bail of
RM1 million
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tiah claimed trial to the charge under the Securities Industry Act
1983, and was allowed bail of RM1 million but Sessions Court judge
Mokhtaruddin Baki ordered Tiah to surrender his passport. The offence
carries a fine of not less than RM1 million and a jail term of not
more than 10 years.
Tiah was alleged to have abetted Soh in a scheme to defraud Omega by
executing bogus transactions that did not involve any change in the
beneficial ownership of Uniphoenix Corporation Bhd shares.
This had resulted in the withdrawal of RM424.93 million from Omega
Securities when the margin equity of 10 margin accounts was below 150
per cent -- a contravention of a trading rule under the KL Stock
Exchange Rules.
As a result, Omega Securities did not have sufficient collateral in
financing these margin accounts.
TA Securities general manager of operations Khoo Poh Kim alias Kimmy,
who is Tiah's sister-in-law, was also charged yesterday with abetting
Tiah in helping Soh for the same offence. Khoo pleaded not guilty and
was allowed bail of RM100,000.
This is the third time since April this year that Malaysia's
Securities Commission has flexed its muscles and acted against
businessmen who had allegedly breached the securities law, a move
which it hopes will instill confidence as Malaysia cleans up its
corporate sector amidst a deep recession.
On April 19, the SC issued arrest warrants for Soh and his associate
Patrick Lim, and market observers expect the charges to centre on
their roles in the purchase of Omega Holdings, the listed parent of
Omega Securities in Shah Alam and WK Securities in Kuantan. To date,
Soh and Lim have yet to be arrested.
And on July 25, the regulator charged KFC Holdings Bhd's managing
director Ishak Ismail and Abrar Corporation Bhd's executive chairman
Wan Muhamad Hasni Wan Sulaiman for breaching its laws.
Apart from that, the former chief executive officer of Sime Bank,
Ismail Zakaria, was charged in April with breaching the country's
banking laws. All three executives have pleaded not guilty.
Tiah could not be reached for comment yesterday but a source told BT
that Tiah had reassured the management and remisiers in TA Securities
that the charge was in his personal capacity and that it would not
hurt the brokerage's operations.
Tiah had also told his staff that TA Securities remained in good
financial health after its rights issue to raise more than RM300
million recently, and that the bigger trading volumes seen on the
Malaysian bourse recently would help boost its bottomline, the source
said.
Shares of TA Enterprise, the listed holding company of TA Securities,
closed at RM1.31 yesterday, down 17 sen or 11.5 per cent.
Tiah, who is the executive chairman of TA Enterprise, owns close to 35
per cent of TA Enterprise.
The KL Stock Exchange slapped trading restrictions on Omega in
February 1998 due to its weak financials. In May 1998, the SC ordered
Omega Securities to cease trading, and its licence was revoked on June
8 after it failed to raise RM555.6 million required to meet the KLSE's
minimum liquid funds.
The authorities then allowed Penang-based Hwang-DBS Securities to take
over Omega Securities under a new licence.
http://business-times.asia1.com.sg
Yap Yok Foo
Issue 8th August 1999
Asia : Recovery without Reform
Asia's markets are soaring--
but the economies are shaky, and change is slow
The scent of fast money has returned to East Asia. From South Korea to
Malaysia, economies have pulled out of last year's death spiral, while
prices on the stock market have rebounded to their pre-crisis levels.
Global investors ripping open their first-half Asian mutual fund
statements gasped at 40% returns on average for regional stocks,
outside of Japan. And daring souls who jumped into Japan's
over-the-counter market saw their money double during the period.
But before you read yet another Wall Street research report trumpeting
the Great Asia Turnaround, it's worth asking exactly what sort of
recovery is under way. Given the recent headlines, you have to wonder.
In South Korea, a government-arranged bailout in late July to keep the
colossal Daewoo Group from sinking under $57 billion in debts caused
Seoul's KOSPI index to tumble 11% in two days before bouncing back. In
Tokyo, the government now hints that the economy, after expanding in
the first quarter of 1999, may have contracted again in the second. In
China, rumors of a devaluation have resurfaced (page 30), rattling
stocks in Hong Kong. And in Thailand and Singapore, monetary
authorities are warning that their economies aren't out of the woods.
Why the sudden drizzle on Asia's parade? The reason is that, in one
country after another, euphoric investors and policymakers are coming
to a similar, sobering realization: The recovery is on shaky ground,
and the returning rush of global funds is blunting the drive for
reform. Moreover, the region still lacks the sophisticated
institutions needed to handle the cash without detonating another
boom-and-bust cycle.
BIG SPENDERS. Almost all of the runups in stocks and growth can be
explained by heavy government deficit spending, a natural bounce in
output as businesses replenish their inventories, and the return of
easy money. Firmer global prices for products such as computer memory
chips and a rebound in spending on luxury goods have also helped. But
nothing has worked better than old-fashioned Keynesian stimulus.
Short-term interest rates have fallen an average of 7.3 percentage
points during the past year in the crisis countries of Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand.
At the same time, these countries--which ran balanced or surplus
budgets in the early 1990s--have become profligate spenders. Average
budget deficits in the five crisis nations will clock 5%-to-6% of
economic output in 2000, estimates Asian research director Jean-Michel
Paul of Rabobank International. He calculates that 80% of Asia's
growth this year and the ''lion's share'' of its stock rebound comes
from government stimulus. When the costs of fixing banks are factored
in, Deutsche Bank says Thailand's public deficit could soar to 8.5% of
gross domestic product next year.
ENTHUSIASM. Signs of economic life, ranging from projected 1999 growth
of 2% in Thailand to a heady 8% in Korea, have caused the global
investment herd to storm back. In 1997 and 1998, some $43 billion in
capital from foreign lenders and equity investors fled Asia's crisis
countries. While foreign bank lending remains dismal, stock investors
are returning. When Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan are included,
figures Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp., $30 billion could arrive in
1999. Japan is luring $10 billion a month. Former Japanese Finance
Minister Eisuke Sakakibara is among many analysts who do not believe
this gush of enthusiasm indicates long-term confidence. ''This is
cyber-capitalism,'' says Sakakibara. The inflows are ''very
freewheeling and volatile.''
Unfortunately, the reforms needed to make Asia's recoveries
sustainable are starting to stall--or even slide into reverse. In
Thailand, for example, dud loans account for 48% of total bank loans,
up from last summer's figure. In Indonesia, the figure is more than
60%. Beijing's failure to clean up the bad loans of its banks and
state enterprises, meanwhile, is one reason why the campaign by
Premier Zhu Rongji to expose industry to global competition is meeting
resistance. If these problems remain unresolved, the big stock market
gains will get harder to justify--and may well collapse.
The rescue of bloated Daewoo was only the latest sign of what little
has been done to solve the problems that brought the region down in
1997. Under heavy government pressure, Daewoo earlier this year had
promised to sell off its shipyard, electronics businesses, hotels, and
other weak operations. But it is setting unrealistic prices for the
assets--and restructuring has been minimal. As Daewoo neared the brink
of default, the government strong-armed banks to roll over more than
$16 billion in debt.
After getting off to a strong start in 1998, the reform drive by
President Kim Dae Jung has stumbled in other areas. The government has
not managed to close either of two deals to sell insolvent banks to
foreigners. At the same time, the chaebol have defied reformers'
attempts to cut off their access to new money by exploiting a
government program to promote mutual funds. By appealing to Koreans'
patriotism, groups such as Hyundai and Samsung have raised more than
$10 billion by setting up ''invest in Korea'' funds. The injection of
these funds into Korean equities goes a long way toward explaining the
stock market's 79% rise since March.
Crony capitalism has also proved durable in Southeast Asia. Malaysian
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has used the country's few sound
companies, as well as public funds earmarked for cleaning up banks, to
prop up ill-conceived industrial projects, such as national carmaker
Proton. Thailand's drive to sell off bad banks is running out of
steam. ''With the signs of recovery, people are not taking reform
seriously,'' says Arporn Chewakrengkai, an economic adviser to Thai
Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai.
Contrast Asia's cleanup with that of Latin America in the mid-1990s:
Argentina, Chile, and Peru let foreign investors acquire about half of
their banking systems. More than two years after the crisis, there
have been relatively few foreign takeovers of banks in Asia. So bad
habits such as lending on the basis of personal relationships rather
than rigorous risk analysis persist.
The bounce in Asian exports, up 4% in Thailand and Malaysia and by
8.5% in Korea, isn't particularly impressive, either. These numbers
are far below the annual double-digit increases posted earlier this
decade. And the pickup is mainly due to such cyclical factors as a
spurt in demand for computer equipment and cheap currencies, rather
than better efficiency. Instead of being broadbased, ''the recovery
has been in some senses too swift, too dramatic, and too quick,''
warns Goldman Sachs Asia Chairman Mark Schwartz. ''There is still
significant restructuring that needs to be done.''
LEERY. The reckoning could come in another year or two. At some point,
economists say, Asia's recovery must be fueled by strong domestic
consumption, local investment, and productivity. Otherwise, Asian
governments will exhaust their ability to sustain growth with deficit
spending. And interest rates can be cut only so far before they no
longer have any impact on investment.
Just ask the Japanese. Rates of just 0.25% ''are the lowest on the
planet,'' notes Nomura Research Institute Chief Economist Richard Koo.
Yet new lending is still contracting: Banks are leery of extending
credit to companies already in debt. Financial deregulation is now
underway, but Japan's service sector is still stifled by red tape
while telecom and transport rates remain exorbitant. Meanwhile, as
Tokyo continues to pour billions into wasteful construction projects
and endless bank bailouts, Japan's gross debt has hit $4.6 trillion,
or 110% of GDP. Next year, Japan should overtake Italy as the debt
king of the industrialized world.
So far, Japan's stock market has benefited most from the influx of
foreign money. The 27% jump in the Nikkei stock average since January
has been a boon to Japanese conglomerates, many of whose assets are in
equity holdings of sister companies. Ichizo Ohara, an economic adviser
to Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi, estimates that companies and financial
institutions now have $200 billion in unrealized stock gains. This
could vanish if foreign investors lose faith and bolt, he warns.
Japan knows all too well how fickle foreign money can be. In early
1994, the Nikkei jumped about 3,000 points, as foreigners bet on a
recovery. Those inflows pushed the yen up from 112 to 100 to the
dollar. That, in turn, helped throttle Japanese export growth. The
economy swooned. So did the Nikkei. ''We don't want to make that
mistake again,'' says Sakakibara. So since June 10, the Bank of Japan
has spent $25 billion to keep the yen from soaring against the
greenback. That didn't keep the yen from reaching a recent high of
around 115 on July 27. Executives such as Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman
Hiroshi Okuda want to see the yen at more than 120. ''The Japanese
economy depends on external demand,'' warns Okuda. ''If the yen
appreciates further, the economy will suffer.''
Foreign inflows could start creating new mischief elsewhere in Asia.
To date, the rallies in Malaysia, South Korea, and elsewhere have
largely been driven by local and small foreign investors. This has
been enough to push East Asian stock markets up by anywhere from 30%
to 70%. But fund managers say that the heavy hitters such as Western
pension funds have only started to trickle in since March. ''Most of
the big money has not yet come back to Asia,'' says ABN-Amro
Securities chief Asia economist Enzio von Pfeil.
Even so, renewed investor interest has already harmed Asian corporate
restructuring. Able to raise money through equity issues again,
companies are no longer desperate to shut or sell weak affiliates.
Foreign investors, who salivated at fire-sale prices on Asian assets
last year, are finding negotiations much tougher. That's one reason
why South Korea's efforts to sell off Korea First Bank and Seoul Bank
have run into repeated snags. The same thing is happening in Southeast
Asia, says Hugh Young, managing director at Aberdeen Asset Management
Asia Ltd. in Singapore. ''Deals are being put on hold because the
stock market is so strong,'' he says. ''Companies are holding out for
better prices.''
It isn't time to worry just yet about another 1997-scale blowout.
There are few signs of another surge in the short-term foreign lending
that fed the bubble of the early 1990s. Foreign banks and bond
investors are still smarting from write-offs from corporate failures
in Southeast Asia and China.
But it's a big worry for the future. Because banks and regulators
still lack risk-management skills, the money that does flow in could
again be lent recklessly. Also, most Asian bond markets remain
primitive. So central banks have limited abilities to use bond
issuances to absorb excess capital that could otherwise feed a bubble.
This isn't stopping leaders from inviting hot money back. Politicians
facing elections in Korea and Thailand will be tempted to go for any
way to pump up growth. And bankers, though once burned, could well
rush back in if they sense another Asian takeoff. In a July talk to
Asian central bankers, Koh Yong Guan, managing director of the
Singapore Monetary Authority, warned that the risk of another
hot-money tsunami is real. ''We have short-memories--or even no
memories,'' he said. Market rallies fueled by cheap money, half-baked
optimism, and lackluster corporate restructuring aren't the ticket for
long-term prosperity in Asia.
By Brian Bremner in Tokyo, with Mark L. Clifford in Hong Kong, and
Michael Shari in Singapore
http://www.businessweek.com
Yap Yok Foo
Issue 8th August 1999
Commentary By Dexter Roberts
Whenever Asian currency markets have trembled, China has won plaudits
by insisting that it wouldn't devalue the yuan. But in mid-July,
central bank Governor Dai Xianglong started laying the groundwork for
reneging on this promise. Answering reporters' questions in Shanghai,
he opened the door to an eventual devaluation. Remarkably, investors
at home and abroad were not spooked.
Indeed, financial markets are assuming that the yuan will be devalued,
even if they don't know exactly when and by how much. And the calm on
global markets is a testament to the newly acquired skills of China's
monetary authorities in managing expectations. Their moves are sound:
The last thing that China and Asia need is another currency shock.
The risks of letting the market feed upon its own fears were great.
Social tensions inside China are running high: A further 15 million
people are expected to lose their jobs this year because of Prime
Minister Zhu Rongji's reforms of the inefficient state sector of the
economy. A poorly handled devaluation could spark a run on local banks
by edgy citizens and wipe billions off the value of red-chip Chinese
stocks listed in Hong Kong. That would force Hong Kong's government to
decide whether or not to maintain its own dollar's peg against the
greenback.
Risky as a devaluation might be, however, China's leaders need to keep
the option open as they mull over economic strategy at their annual
retreat that began at the Beidaihe seaside resort in late July.
GETTING BOLDER. They have worries aplenty. The government's massive
crackdown on the Falun Gong sect in late July, for example, is a
reaction to an earlier breakdown in internal security, when thousands
of that sect's members took authorities by surprise and assembled in
central Beijing in April. Meanwhile, Taiwan President Lee Teng-Hui is
angering Beijing with increasingly bold statements about eventual
Taiwanese independence.
Beijing faces enormous economic risks, too. Premier Zhu's reforms have
created rifts inside China's huge bureaucracy. Meanwhile, in June,
consumer prices fell for the 21st straight month, while in the first
half of the year exports tumbled by 4.6%, and the country's trade
surplus dropped a precipitous 64.5%, to $8 billion. Beijing says that
the economy grew 7.6% in the first half. But that was due mainly to
billions in government spending, which isn't producing a sustained
recovery: When the cash reaches consumers' pockets, it just sticks
there. ''People still aren't spending,'' says a Western diplomat in
Beijing.
Theoretically, Beijing could keep pump-priming for months and stave
off devaluation. Foreign currency reserves are close to $150 billion,
and government debt is just 10% of gross domestic product. ''Even with
a larger deficit, we still would be able to control our debt easily,''
says a Finance Ministry official.
All the same, the country's leaders are groping for new ways to get
the economy moving again. Policies under consideration include a novel
tax on bank deposits--to get consumers to spend some of their
savings--and a possible salary increase for low-paid state workers.
Recently, Beijing implemented a de facto devaluation for some types of
trade. Effective July 1, it raised rebates paid by the government on
exports of coal, textiles, and clothing--all of them hit hard in the
aftermath of Asia's meltdown two years ago--to between 10% and 20%.
SAVING FACE. That maneuver won't be allowed if and when China joins
the World Trade Organization. Yet it involves less loss of face than a
devaluation shortly before the 50th anniversary of the People's
Republic on Oct. 1. In the runup to the October celebrations, China is
intent on avoiding any ''action that could be construed as a sign of
weakness,'' says Arup Raha, economist at Salomon Smith Barney in
Singapore.
But after October, devaluation is back on the agenda. And if Beijing
has played its cards right, markets will hardly miss a beat.
http://www.businessweek.com
Yap Yok Foo
5th August 1999
Sumatra haze 'as bad as 1997'
The slash and burn approach to land clearance remains the problem
Reports from Indonesia say that haze caused by burning forests on the
island of Sumatra has disrupted local air traffic and prompted health
warnings.
Officials in Riau province have urged people to stay indoors and those
venturing out have been wearing masks -- as they did during the last
haze crisis in 1997.
The skies over the main city of Pekanbaru have been darkened by the
smog for several days, reducing visibility to a few hundred metres and
pushing pollution levels repeatedly above the official danger mark.
Visibility at the city's Simpang Tiga airport was fluctuating between
500 metres and 1,200 metres, air traffic controllers said.
Levels of haze are on the increase in Singapore
"It appears to be the same pattern as in the past days, thick smoke in
the morning until around 9am then it gradually thinning out the rest
of the day," a spokesman for the local meterological office said.
A leading Indonesian environmental group blamed the timber industry
for starting new fires .
"People have continued to conduct land clearing with burning method
because it is cheap and fast," said Longgena Ginting of Indonesia's
leading environmental watchdog, Walhi.
'Air smells of smoke'
Residents said the atmospheric conditions were as bad as those in 1997
when a choking haze blanketed the region for months.
"I have told both my children to stay at home after school as the air
is beginning to smell of smoke," one woman told reporters.
... and Kuala Lumpur, though officials are reluctant to publicise the
fact
The haze has broken the Air Pollution Standard Index (ISPU) danger
level of 301, according to the Riau province Environmental Impact
Agency.
"On July 27 the ISPU level was recorded at 978," an Agency official
was quoted as saying. "That is extremely dangerous. On Tuesday it was
at 364, and on Monday it was at 568."
Satellite tracking is showing between 200 and 450 hot spots,
indicating forest fires are burning on the islands of Borneo and
Sumatra.
Meteorologists in Singapore have warned of air pollution levels
verging on the unhealthy, and officials in Malaysia have confirmed the
presence of haze in many parts of the country.
No data
The Malaysian authorities stopped publishing the pollution levels as
concern grew that the haze might be coming back.
The country's environment minister accused the foreign media of using
air pollution to scare away tourists.
In 1997, the region lost billions of dollars in tourism revenues, but
correspondents say the situation this year has not yet reached those
levels.
Earlier this month, south-east Asian countries announced an urgent
plan to stop the man-made fires.
But many environmentalists fear Indonesia will be unable to enforce
the plan at a time of political and economic uncertainty.
Yap Yok Foo
6th August 1999
Forest fire ire rising in Asia
From IAN STEWART in Kuala Lumpur
SMOKE haze from forest fires in Indonesia is imposing new strains on
relations among members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations
just two weeks after their foreign ministers pledged to strengthen
unity and co-operation.
The threat of a repeat of the haze crisis of 1997 prompted Malaysia,
Singapore and Brunei, which is hosting the South-East Asian Games next
week, to express serious concern to Jakarta and call on it to
intensify efforts to handle the problem.
Malaysian Environment Minister Law Hieng Ding said Indonesia had taken
note of their concern and promised to take "the necessary action".
Indonesia has been making promises since its neighbours first
protested about the annual haze several years ago. In 1997, thick smog
blanketed much of the region, disrupting flights, slowing ships in the
Malacca Strait and causing a sharp rise in respiratory ailments.
At a meeting in Singapore last month, ASEAN foreign ministers
expressed support for the efforts of a special taskforce to prevent
the haze. But farmers and loggers have ignored Indonesian bans on
burning to clear land in Kalimantan and Sumatra.
Mr Law said a planned ASEAN meeting on haze might be brought forward
from October.
So far, according to official reports in Singapore and Malaysia, the
air quality in both countries has remained moderate although in Kuala
Lumpur over the past two days the haze, which carries the distinctive
odour of smoke from a forest fire, has been strong enough to irritate
throats and noses.
Mr Law said the Malaysian Government had decided against "overly
publicising" the readings in order "not to drive away the tourists".
Reports from Jakarta said smoke from scrub and forest fires was
thickening across Sumatra and Kalimantan. Pollution in Sumatra's Riau
Province had soared to dangerous levels.
http://www.news.com.au/world/
Yap Yok Foo
6th August 1999
Anwar's lawyers seek to impeach key witness
Lawyers for former Malaysian deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim applied
today to impeach a key witness in his sodomy trial.
Following consultations with presiding judge Arifin Jaka, defence
counsel Christopher Fernando said today's hearing had been postponed
until Friday to let the defence make preparations to apply for the
witness to be dismissed.
Fernando told reporters that the defence team had applied to obtain
notes of evidence from the testimony of former driver Azizan Abu Bakar
in Anwar's earlier corruption trial.
``We want to go through the evidence to see if it's accurate,'' he
said. ``What he said in the last trial and what he says now - the
judge will decide if there is serious discrepancy.''
Fernando said the defence would prove that Azizan was ``not
creditworthy'' and would seek to have his testimony in the sodomy
trial thrown out.
During cross-examination yesterday, Fernando accused Azizan of lying
in his testimony earlier in the week when he said Anwar sodomised him
up to 15 times before the alleged 1993 incident for which Anwar is now
on trial.
Anwar, fired and arrested in September last year, is already serving a
six-year sentence following his April conviction for abusing his
position to cover up accusations of sexual misconduct. He faces up to
20 additional years in jail if convicted of sodomy.
He is jointly charged with his Indonesian-born adopted brother Sukma
Darmawan with sodomising Azizan. Sukma faces a further charge of
abetting Anwar to sodomise Azizan.
Yap Yok Foo
Issue 12th August 1999
Saviour Complex
Petronas has always been highly profitable with a sterling reputation
for good management. But it's also known for going to the aid of
ailing companies and ambitious real-estate projects favoured by the
prime minister. Since the Asian financial crisis began, Petronas has
again waded into nonpetroleum investments and its deep pockets are
starting to show the strain
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By S. Jayasankaran in Kuala Lumpur
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While there can be no assurance that the government will not intervene
in the commercial affairs of Petronas in a manner that would have an
adverse effect on Petronas, to date the relationship between Petronas
and the government has generally been commercially oriented.
--Excerpt from the preliminary offering circular for Petronas' planned
$1 billion bond issue
The first thing a visitor sees when approaching Kuala Lumpur are the
futuristic Petronas Towers jutting almost half a kilometre into the
sky. The twin towers, the tallest buildings in the world, were
completed last year despite a national recession--making them a
powerful symbol of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's boundless
ambitions for Malaysia.
It's no accident that the main owner and tenant of the $800 million
towers is the state-owned oil and gas company, Petroliam Nasional
Berhad, or Petronas. Under Mahathir, Petronas has always been more
than just an oil company: Its deep pockets allowed it to come to the
rescue of other state-owned or "strategic" Malaysian companies several
times during the 1980s. When Mahathir wanted to build a new,
22-billion-ringgit ($5.8 billion) federal capital south of Kuala
Lumpur with state-of-the-art infrastructure, Petronas stepped forward
as the main investor. When blueprints were drawn up to redevelop Kuala
Lumpur's city centre with a world-class building, planners naturally
turned to Petronas for funds and leadership.
But Petronas' role as auxiliary to the national treasury and corporate
rescue squad may be getting out of hand. Since the Asian financial
crisis hit, Petronas has helped buy debt-burdened shipping assets
controlled by Mahathir's eldest son; now it's preparing to buy control
of the national car maker, Proton. Looking ahead, Mahathir told the
REVIEW in June that he didn't see why Petronas should not take over
the ailing national carrier, Malaysia Airlines, although Petronas
itself says it has no such plan.
Whether Petronas is pushed, prodded or merely encouraged to enter into
these deals, they are stretching the company's financial and
managerial resources--resources that ultimately belong to the public.
Yet the public's representatives in parliament are unable to fully
scrutinize the company's dealings--Petronas reports directly to
Mahathir's office and its accounts are not put before parliament.
The timing of Petronas' latest noncore investments couldn't be worse:
Profits were down last year due to a slump in oil prices, which have
partially recovered but remain volatile. And Petronas is trying to
expand its overseas oil holdings against the day when domestic fields
run dry. All this activity is sapping Petronas' normally flush
coffers, a situation it plans to remedy with a $1 billion bond sale
that will push its debt-to-equity ratio to 108%, a high for the past
four years.
"OK, it's not so bad now but where does it stop?" asks James Tham, the
Asian petroleum correspondent of Oslo-based Upstream newspaper. "It's
something of a concern," agrees Kathryn Kerle, a Singapore-based
analyst with Moody's Investors Service. "The further it strays away
from its core business, the more of a concern it becomes." Moody's
recently affirmed Petronas' Baa3 rating--investment grade, but only
just--ahead of the bond offer (see story on page 12).
A lack of transparency makes it difficult to assess Petronas'
financial health. Instead of full annual reports, the company releases
abbreviated financial information. Foreign oil companies that partner
with Petronas are barred by contract from talking to the media. The
secrecy worries Rastam Hadi, one of Petronas' founders and a retired
managing director. "Is there any country in the world where revenues
like $10 billion a year gets spent without knowledge of parliament?"
he frets. "If Petronas wants to truly be a global player, it has to be
transparent."
That may be an overstatement, but Rastam justifiably worries that
Petronas has plunged into industries where it has no experience: In
the space of a few years, it has become Malaysia's biggest property
developer and shipper and will soon be its biggest car maker. "Just
look at any oil company that's lasted over a hundred years," he warns.
"They're not into cars or shipping. They don't want to mess around
with things that are noncore." A petroleum analyst at a foreign
securities house agrees that Petronas' management is being stretched
thin: "They have a few talented people at the top and they're being
asked to go into all sorts of things."
Neither Petronas Chairman Azizan Zainal Abidin nor Chief Executive
Officer Mohamed Hassan Marican responded to faxed requests for an
interview. Siti Zaharah Sulaiman, the minister in the Prime Minister's
Department in charge of oil matters, also failed to respond.
Rastam, a former central-bank deputy governor, and three other
government employees started Petronas from scratch in 1974. It quickly
became a critical player in Malaysia's economy. For the year that
ended in March 1999, it paid more than 6 billion ringgit in federal
taxes, export duties and royalties, plus 4.1 billion ringgit in
dividends. Combined, that's almost a sixth of total expected
government revenues for 1999.
According to government figures, Petronas repatriates almost $250
million a month to local banks from overseas operations; it has more
than 20 billion ringgit deposited with Malaysia's largest banks. Many
local businesses depend on the company, which expects to spend more
than 14 billion ringgit next year.
Al Troner, the head of Asia-Pacific Energy, a consulting firm in Kuala
Lumpur, calls it "Asia's best-run national oil company." Petronas
posted net profits attributable to shareholders of 6.8 billion ringgit
for the last fiscal year, down 32% from one year earlier--but oil
prices during the same period were down 43%.
Petronas' recent acquisitions have helped push it into a net-debt
position, however, for the first time since the company began
releasing its results in 1985. According to documents issued in
preparation for the $1 billion global bond sale, Petronas' cash and
fund investments in the last fiscal year totalled 30.8 billion
ringgit--down from 33.5 billion ringgit one year earlier--while
long-term debt rose to 32.8 billion ringgit from 27 billion ringgit.
Petronas has not said it plans any more acquisitions, but the 1998
recession and 40% depreciation of the ringgit against the dollar sent
many members of Malaysia Inc. into a loss-making tailspin. High on the
list of companies in need of assistance is Malaysia Airlines, which
had pretax losses of 670 million ringgit in the fiscal year that ended
last March. It is burdened by more than 9 billion ringgit in debt,
including 2 billion ringgit due over the next 11 months.
Petronas' CEO Hassan has denied to reporters any intention of taking a
stake in the airline, but Mahathir told the REVIEW in June that he
wouldn't be opposed to such a move. "If they can, why not?" asked the
premier. "Later on they can divest." And indeed, the oil company may
be the only domestic player with deep enough pockets to bail out the
airline if its current restructuring plans don't pan out.
Petronas' latest spate of noncore acquisitions began in August 1997
when it paid 1.8 billion ringgit to a state pension fund for a
controlling 29% stake in Malaysian International Shipping Corp., the
country's largest shipper. MISC wasn't in trouble. But eight months
later, MISC bought out the shipping assets of Konsortium Perkapalan,
an indebted company controlled by Mirzan Mahathir, the premier's
eldest son. MISC paid Konsortium 836 million ringgit in cash and also
assumed 1.2 billion ringgit of its debt. At the same time, Petronas
increased its stake in MISC to 62%--contributing considerably to
MISC's ability to buy Konsortium's shipping assets.
Although analysts agreed that Mirzan's assets were fairly valued, the
sale sparked accusations of favouritism. The cash payment made the
deal seem especially sweet at a time of sharply tightened credit.
Former Deputy Premier Anwar Ibrahim, now jailed on charges of abusing
power, and opposition politicians accused Mahathir of nepotism in
connection with the deal, but Mahathir denied any role in Petronas'
decisions to purchase MISC or Mirzan's shipping assets.
Later, during the June 1999 annual assembly of his politically
dominant United Malays National Organization, Mahathir offered a
fascinating peek into how Petronas might have gotten involved. Mirzan
"wanted to sell it to a Chinese company which made a better offer,"
Mahathir told the Umno delegates, "but I told him it would not be
proper" because Konsortium Perkapalan was a bumiputra company.
Malaysia practices an affirmative-action policy that favours the
bumiputra--largely indigenous Malays who comprise 58% of the
population--to bring them into economic parity with the richer Chinese
minority. Under this policy, a dim view would be taken of Malay assets
falling into Chinese hands. Still, most analysts familiar with the
sale don't think ethnicity was the only stumbling block. They say the
Chinese company was gaming conglomerate Genting, and that it could
have been politically damaging for the prime minister's son to have
done a deal with such a company. Islam, the country's official
religion, forbids gambling.
Petronas could claim some synergies in buying shipping companies that
operate oil tankers. But finding a strategic explanation for buying
into the national car maker, Proton, is more of a stretch.
Nonetheless, Petronas is in the final stages of negotiations with
debt-laden Hicom Holdings, a former state company, and is expected
shortly to pay Hicom 1 billion ringgit for its 27.2% stake in Proton.
Before that move, Proton will draw on its 1.2-billion-ringgit cash
hoard to purchase Hicom's other auto businesses, almost completely
clearing Hicom's 2-billion-ringgit debt burden but seriously depleting
Proton.
Hicom is owned by the family of Yahaya Ahmad, a politically connected
businessman who died in a 1996 helicopter crash. After the recession
hit, Hicom executives reportedly told the government that they
couldn't afford to expand Proton production to a scale that would make
it globally competitive. After 15 years of operation, Proton holds a
60% share of the Malaysian car market and is profitable only because
it's exempted from import duties that competitors must pay.
Without protection, Proton has dim prospects, but the special
treatment can't go on forever: The Association of Southeast Asian
Nations, to which Malaysia belongs, is creating a free-trade zone
among its 10 members and some of the world's major car makers will
have factories within the zone, in Thailand. In addition, the World
Trade Organization is pressing for tariff reductions. "It's an
enormous gamble," says an oil analyst based in Hong Kong. "God alone
knows how much Petronas will have to pump into Proton to make it
competitive."
Petronas' founding charter doesn't place any social obligation on it;
it was created purely as a commercial entity. Previous premiers
largely left the company to its own devices. But Mahathir, who took
office in 1981, has never shied away from occasionally using Petronas
to rescue businesses he considers vital. Among a few early rescues:
-- September 1984: Petronas ploughs 2.3 billion ringgit into
state-owned Bank Bumiputra after it had to take heavy provisions for
bad loans to Hong Kong's property sector.
-- July 1985: Petronas buys a Pratt & Whitney-powered Boeing 747 for
lease to Malaysia Airlines so that the airline can get out of a
contract with Rolls-Royce.
-- March 1988: Petronas pays a state agency nearly twice the market
value of Dayabumi, a 36-storey building that served as its
headquarters until it moved to the twin towers.
-- October 1989: Petronas bails out Bank Bumiputra with 982 million
ringgit when it is battered by a fall in Malaysian property prices.
It is a tribute to Petronas' management that its reputation as a solid
company has survived such repeated rescues outside its core industry.
Indonesia's national oil company, Pertamina, also has been called upon
to make deals for policy reasons, and lost more than $6 billion from
1996 to 1998. But unlike Petronas, Pertamina was riddled with
corruption and inefficiency. At Petronas, Rastam and Raja Mohar Raja
Badiozaman, the chairman from 1984 to 1989, instilled a culture of
professionalism that still prevails.
"These fellows are very prim and proper," says a businessman who's
travelled abroad with both chairman Azizan and CEO Hassan. "It's
no-nonsense business with no hanky-panky or fiddling about. That's why
the international oil guys respect Petronas."
Ultimately, such no-nonsense attitudes could ensure that Petronas
stays away from excess in its zeal to play saviour. But as long as
Petronas must double as a national symbol, even the best managers may
be forced to accept a weaker balance sheet than the company deserves.
http://www.feer.com
Yap Yok Foo
Issue 12th August 1999
Malaysia's bank mergers: Isn't there space for the smaller banks?
Bank Negara wants Malaysia's 21 commercial banks, 25 finance companies
and 12 merchant banks to consolidate into six groups, each with an
anchor commercial bank, a finance company and a merchant bank. There
is a compelling reason for the plan: Fifty-eight financial
institutions for 22 million people are too many, implying an
inefficient use of resources. Better that there should be fewer banks,
with operations, branch and ATM networks and services rationalized.
But while we'd never argue against efficiency, we have a niggling
suspicion that Bank Negara's ambitions here go too far.
By all means, weak banks need to be consolidated--or worse. However,
Malaysia's banking industry is not in the same dire position as that
of Indonesia and Thailand; bad loans are not of the same
proportion--though a sizable chunk of debt involves a few large
conglomerates whose fate can affect the whole industry. Moreover,
under-capitalization isn't so endemic that it should force the shotgun
marriages conceived by regulators. And while stronger banks may want
mergers to be better positioned against big-league foreign
competition, it doesn't mean that all banks must merge by decree. The
fact is that there are small and medium-sized banks in healthy
condition that are happy in their niches. Why is there no place for
them?
Take Ban Hin Lee Bank, or BHL, a medium-sized institution that unlike
others in its class is not based in Kuala Lumpur but in Penang, where
it has long been a part of the community. BHL is well capitalized.
More, it adopted a three-month period for classifying nonperforming
loans well before Bank Negara set this as the standard. And along with
some others, it stuck to it even after the central bank, at the height
of the crisis, reverted to six months. Banking sources say that
despite this, BHL's bad loans remain low, a result of a conservative
culture and stringent loan-quality evaluations. (That's right: Asians
actually can evaluate loan applications properly.) Also, BHL runs one
of the biggest mutual-fund families in Malaysia. In short, it's a
healthy bank with a good range of products and old community links to
the people and companies it serves. And it isn't alone. Others include
PhileoAllied Bank, which early on pushed technology-based services,
Hong Leong Bank and Southern Bank.
Mergers are no bad thing, but the rationale behind them can go too
far. In truth, smaller banks have a place in the economy, as well as
in the hearts of communities. If they are competitive and healthy, why
force them to merge? If they are neither, the market and consumers
will render their verdict. In our book, the yardstick for survival is
adaptability to consumer demand and a healthy capitalization, beyond
which banks are better left alone to decide their future. Indeed,
Southern Bank and BHL recently said they were in talks over a merger.
This is fine, it's their own decision and if successful would allow
both to play to their traditional customers on a stronger footing.
(The puzzle is that it is rumoured this tie-up may be sanctioned as
one of the six groups. But a merged Southern-BHL would now rank only
seventh in assets and will be far smaller than the next biggest in the
new line-up--smaller than the mega groups Bank Negara implies it
wants. Will there be another merger?) While the central bank is right
to seek greater competitiveness and efficiency, this is not beyond
smaller banks. We can only hope that Bank Negara may yet find that
there are niches within its universe.
Batam Mourns
Indonesia's leadership vacuum
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Batam island is a popular weekend getaway for Singaporeans, for whom
it's only 35 kilometres away by fast ferry. Its farms supply
Singapore, and its small industries feed off the island republic. It
is a fairly prosperous place by Indonesian standards today, and a
world away from Aceh, East Timor and the other epicentres of
separatist, religious and ethnic unrest. Thus, TV images from the
island last week of young men wielding parangs, or Malay machetes, was
the last thing you'd expect.
Batam isn't trying to secede. And neither did religion nor race spark
the unrest that took at least 13 lives at the last count. While the
fighting involved migrants from Sumatra and the distant island of
Flores, it all began over something as innocuous as bus concessions.
So while Batam hasn't imported trouble from other parts of the
archipelago, more disturbingly it has shown that in Indonesia today
even commercial disputes can devolve into mortal violence. At the very
least, the norms that order society have frayed badly.
As B.J. Habibie never gained the perception of legitimacy as
president, he has lacked the moral authority to set civil standards
and exercise convincing control. Under Mr. Habibie, Indonesia has
lived in the condition of a "war of all against all," as described by
Thomas Hobbes, the 17th-century English philosopher. Without a
"sovereign," or leader perceived as legitimate, no one has been able
to mediate disputes with the stamp of authority. And now, despite the
end of parliamentary elections, it remains a guess who will ultimately
end up president when the electoral college meets in November, further
delaying the restoration of order. Thus, there is all the more reason
that no shadow should fall on the selection process. Indonesia cannot
regain its feet until its people are convinced of the legitimacy of
their leader. This is the new social contract, which authorities and
politicians ignore at the peril of more disturbances such as that
which befell Batam.
Yap Yok Foo
7th August 1999
Malaysia's Merger Plan Stuns Bankers
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Thomas Fuller International Herald Tribune
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KUALA LUMPUR - Just over a week ago, a parade of Malaysia's top
bankers rolled up to the central bank here in their chauffeured cars
to learn their fate. Six groups of executives were summoned at
half-hour intervals and were ushered into a meeting room where they
were introduced to their future corporate partners.
In one of East Asia's most radical bank restructuring programs,
Malaysia is embarking on a plan to combine 21 commercial banks into
six by the end of next month. The government says that the program is
necessary to strengthen the banks and prepare them for competition
from giant multinational rivals.
But the program has stunned even the most shell-shocked bankers in
Malaysia. After two years of struggling with unpaid loans, volatile
markets and general financial turmoil, banks were starting to regain
their footing.
For many of the smaller banks, the merger initiative put their future
planning through the shredder. With the stroke of a pen, the Malaysian
government essentially decreed that influential families that had held
coveted banking licenses for generations would now be obliged to
relinquish them, losing control of their banks - and the all-important
ability to lend money.
Bank licenses mean power in Southeast Asia, power that the Malaysian
government is now redistributing the way it sees fit.
''When you consider the vested interests involved, they are really
stirring a hornet's nest,'' says a major shareholder in one of the
banks that will be subsumed into a bigger bank.
''There's no doubt we needed the mergers,'' says the shareholder.
''But why didn't they let free market forces prevail? These are forced
marriages on a corporate scale.''
If it is successful, Malaysia's bank restructuring exercise will have
far-reaching implications for the economy as a whole, mainly because
of the key role that banks play in Malaysia, and indeed the region.
Banks in Southeast Asia have long served as the engines of corporate
growth. With bond and stock markets still relatively underdeveloped,
banks, through their lending policies, have been crucial in deciding
the fate of the country's big corporations.
In addition to the 21 domestic commercial banks, 25 finance companies
and 12 merchant banks will also be merged into six financial
institutions.
Not surprisingly, the bank restructuring exercise is fraught with
controversy. ''If you're suddenly told, 'Here's the person you're
going to marry' - and all this irrespective of cultural differences
and without knowledge of your partner's business practices - it's a
bit of a shock,'' a top official at one of the country's largest banks
said.
The central bank has yet to officially announce the names of the six
banks it has chosen to be the ''anchor'' institutions after the
restructuring exercise. But word has gotten out, mainly from the
bankers themselves. Deal making in the capital has reached a furious
pace, with several banks announcing merger plans every day.
Inevitably linked to the merger initiative is Malaysia's complex
racial politics. Although the composition of the new banking groups
has not been officially announced, the central bank has already said
that four of the banks would be controlled by Malays, who make up
slightly more than half of the population, and two by Chinese. Ethnic
Chinese make up about a third of the population but control a
disproportionately higher percentage of the country's wealth.
''Some people in Chinese circles are describing the mergers as an
asset grab,'' said the shareholder of the soon-to-be subsumed bank.
Also at issue are political considerations. Analysts say former allies
of Anwar Ibrahim, the country's ousted deputy prime minister who is
now serving six years in jail, are being punished in the exercise.
''Political considerations, which are a paramount factor in Malaysia,
will significantly complicate and inevitably delay the process,''
commented Moody's Investors Service Inc., the rating agency based in
New York, after the plan had been announced.
This week, Malaysia's central bank took the unusual step of denying
any ulterior motives. The mergers program would ''not result in
dilution'' of Chinese or Indian interests, the bank said, ''nor is it
politically motivated.'' Some of the proposed mergers have nonetheless
raised eyebrows. The country's second largest bank in terms of assets,
RHB Bank Bhd., for instance, is slated to be taken over by
Multi-Purpose Bank Bhd., which is not even in the top 10.
Multi-Purpose Bank is in the process of being taken over by an ally of
the country's finance minister, Daim Zainuddin. A central bank
official said the bank, which was previously controlled by Chinese
interests, would now be counted as a Malay bank.
''Consolidation of banks in principle should be supported,'' says Lim
Kit Siang, the opposition leader in Parliament. ''But we need to be
sure that there is no crony agenda, or anything benefiting the powers
that be. Those banks which have been well run should not be
victimized.''
For the smaller, obscure banks, many of which have emerged from the
crisis in good shape, the main issue is pricing. Will the banks'
shareholders be adequately compensated?
Malaysia's central bank has assured bankers that the merger initiative
is a ''win-win'' deal for both buyers and sellers.
But bankers say they fear overbearing pressure from the central bank.
''They will do some arm-twisting,'' says the top official from the big
bank. ''If you don't go along with it, you'll be penalized in other
areas.''
That does not augur well for the merger process, said Mr. Lim, the
opposition leader. ''The strong-arm tactics raises the question
whether the whole program will be successful,'' he said.
http://www.iht.com
Yap Yok Foo
7th August 1999
Indonesian haze rolls over neighbours
By Sander Thoenes in Jakarta
Peat bog and forest fires have left parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and
Singapore wrapped in a haze once again, raising concern that millions
of Asians could face health hazards for the second time since 1997 and
that transport in the region will be disrupted.
Smog caused visibility to drop to 100 metres at times and forced some
aircraft to reroute on the island of Sumatra. Authorities issued
warnings of reduced visibility for ships in the Malacca Straits.
Suwido Limin, an agronomist in central Borneo where thousands of
hectares burnt in 1997, said the haze was still a far cry from the
near total blanket of smoke that had covered the area during the
drought of late 1997.
"It has just started," Mr Suwido said, adding that the dry season that
started last month was expected to last until October. "But if the
fires are not extinguished, it could get worse than 1997. Because of
the earlier fires there are many dead trees and bushes which catch
fire easily. The dry season may also last longer than usual."
Derom Bangun, chairman of the Indonesian Association of Palm Oil
Enterprises, said exports of 400,000 tons of crude palm oil were at
risk if the UK-based Seed Crushers and Oil Processors Association
stood by its threat to stop buying from Indonesia if fires spin out of
control again.
Much of the 1997 haze was caused by deliberate burning of peat bogs
near Mr Limin's home in Palangkaraya. Former President Suharto had
ordered the conversion of 1m hectares of swamp into farm land, and
government contractors found it easier to set the peat bog alight than
to clear it.
Peat fires smouldered underground for weeks, however, surfacing at
random to swallow whole villages and spreading to coal deposits that
can burn for years.
After Mr Suharto stepped down, the government cancelled the project,
but Mr Limin said many farmers who had been shipped in from
overcrowded Java were still there and busily burning roots and bushes
to clear their fields.
Walhi, an Indonesian environmentalist organisation, has called for a
halt to conversion of forest and swamps into plantations. While small
farmers have little choice but to burn their land to clear it,
plantations have also been loath to spend money on excavators and
other equipment that could prevent fires from spreading.
Indonesia's neighbours have pressed for tougher action against
slash-and-burn practices but economic and political crises have
overshadowed environmental issues in Jakarta, said Down to Earth, an
environmental group.
"In addition, international financial institutions are pressurising
Indonesia to increase exports, including timber, paper pulp and palm
oil," the group said. "These are the very industries which fuel
Indonesia's forest fires."
Sheila McNulty adds from Singapore: Months after Malaysia quietly
stopped publishing the Air Pollution Index (API) rating of hazardous
pollutants blowing across the region from forest fires in Indonesia,
the air is so thick with smoke that politicians and activists have
recently begun to take notice and are starting to complain.
Malaysia fears that if it reveals how dangerous the smoke is it will
lose revenue from tourists just as it is emerging from the regional
economic crisis. It is trying to depict the pollutants as normal.
Singapore, however, is regularly informing its people about the
quality of the air through radio, television and the internet so they
will know when to stay indoors.
http://www.ft.com
Yap Yok Foo
9th August 1999
Singapore upgrades full-year growth forecasts
By Sheila McNulty in Singapore
Singapore yesterday reported that its economic growth jumped from 0.6
per cent to 6.7 per cent in the second quarter, leading it to upgrade
its full-year growth forecast to between 4-5 per cent, up from 0-2 per
cent previously.
It was the second time this year that the authorities upgraded their
full-year forecast, underscoring just how rapidly the island state's
economy is turning around.
Singapore has been helped by the strong US economy and the recovery in
the global electronics industry, said Goh Chok Tong, the prime
minister. It also has benefited from the improvement in regional
economies and the return of confidence to South Korea, Thailand and
Malaysia.
"However, our quick turnaround is not due entirely to the external
environment. Our rational and cohesive response to the crisis has made
a critical contribution," Mr Goh said. "We accepted wage cuts and
supported worker re-training. We continued to build long-term
capabilities, invest in education and infrastructure, and liberalise
our financial sector."
"We have come through a major test, and can move forward with
confidence into a challenging future," he added in a National Day
address on the eve of Singapore's 34th anniversary of independence.
Singapore has received high marks from analysts and economists for the
prudent way in which it confronted the regional economic crisis. Its
better-managed economy was not hit as hard as neighbouring ones. But
the authorities, nevertheless, moved aggressively to institute reforms
to ensure the island state would maintain its competitiveness as the
region emerged from the crisis.
Mr Goh said that Singapore's recovery was far from complete. Its
unemployment rate has come down but remains higher than before the
crisis. Cost competitiveness remains a concern for many companies and
further retrenchments may ensue.
The construction industry is still contracting and there remains
oversupply of residential properties and commercial space. Though the
stock market has been buoyant, other financial services have yet to
pick up. And external uncertainties, ranging from where US stock
prices are headed to whether Japan's economy has turned the corner to
the vulnerability of Indonesia to further political and social
instabilities, remain.
"Therefore we must not become complacent," he said.
http://www.ft.com
Yap Yok Foo
Downloaded 10th August 1999
Comments : Of emotions and crocodile tears
Playing on the emotions of the masses is something our PM has always
enjoyed and continues to enjoy. In the 1990 general elections,
newspapers in Malaysia carried a photograph of Ku Li with a Kadazan
headgear that bore a cross, arousing Malay-Muslim emotions to accuse
him of betraying the Malay race and the religion of Islam. How these
BN tactics worked needs no explanation as they are already a part of
Malaysian dirty politics.
On an earlier occasion, Mahathir himself had put an identical Kadazan
headgear with the cross; but at that time, he dexterously got his
Malay followers to welcome it as a desirable experiment on
inter-racial and inter religious relationship.
When he finds that Malay emotions can be employed to his advantage, he
has nothing against Malays being emotional. But now, as the Malays
steadily desert his camp and UMNO, he accuses them of being emotional.
Come the next general elections, the BN can be rightly expected, as
judged from past experience, to incite Malay emotions and sentiments
against alternative parties. We cannot predict on its exact nature
now. We have to wait for the BN armoury of ingenious fabrications and
tactics to open and see for ourselves.
One wonders whether he gives vent to his outrageous statement that the
Malays are emotional in his capacity as a member of the Malay
community or someone who has little to do with it. If he considers
himself non-emotional, he ceases to be a Malay, according to his own
pronouncement.
Is he that non-emotional? Or is he that good actor? He broke down once
while reciting a poem, his own creation - it is reported, in an UMNO
Assembly. Though intermittent shedding of tears by the very authors
themselves is no criterion on which to determine the worth of a
literary creation, it is apparently a new modus operandi of rekindling
and inflaming dormant emotions in the audience.
Very recently he was all in tears again while dwelling on the "low
academic achievements" of Malay students.
On both these occasions, he was either emotional or an accomplished
stage actor. This hypothesis does not reflect credibly on him. It will
be charitable to call him emotional rather than brand him as an actor
who can common a steady flow of tears as and when he so wished.
Again, the very recent marriage of convenience between him and Ku Li:
was it a tearful reconciliation? Tears or no tears, it was another
instance of emotions coming into play; emotions at the expense of
principles - as necessitated by circumstances.
Principles and reputation are inextricably integrated. "The greatest
treasure human times can afford is a spotless reputation; and that
taken away, men are but guilded loams or painted clay."
According to him, there is no permanent foe and permanent friend in
politics. Men and women become pawns in the chess-board of politics.
http://members.xoom.com/harakah2/semasa/1104b3e01.html
Yap Yok Foo
Date of story unknown
Downloaded 10th August 1999
Anwar's 1990 Stand Contrasts With Mahathir's Insult On Malays
FLASHBACK... The Star's report on March 30, 1990
Mahathir ... insulted Malays to defend pro-Bumiputera policy
The statement made by embattled UMNO president Mahathir Mohamad on
July 29 regarding appointment of Malays to posts in local universities
contrasted with the more open approach taken by former deputy prime
minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Mahathir, when speaking at a dialogue session with civil servants in
Kuala Terengganu, said Malays would be deprived of high posts if they
were to be appointed based on their merit, adding that if tests among
various races were conducted, there would be very few Bumiputras who
would pass the test.
This contradicted with his former deputy's policy on the matter. In
March 1990, Anwar said universities would only appoint qualified
people to be faculty deans to ensure high academic standards were
maintained.
Anwar, who was the then Education Minister was replying to questions
in Parliament on March 29, 1990 (See the Star's "At The Dewan Rakyat"
column, 30 March 1990).
"There are Malay professors but not all can be given high posts if
they lack the qualifications and capability," said Anwar during a
Parliamentary debate on the Education Ministry's allocation under the
Supplementary Supply Bill.
Replying to queries from several BN MPs who were angered at University
of Malaya's decision to appoint non-Malays as faculty deans, Anwar
stressed that Chinese and Indian academicians should also be given the
opportunity to be promoted. Saying appointments must be based on
merit, Anwar however added he would not interfere with the
University's internal affairs.
The explanation by Anwar can be seen as yet another policy difference
between him and Mahathir. Anwar, largely seen by many to represent the
younger generation who prefer a more open approach to governance has
been at loggerheads with Mahathir over many "outdated" policies,
culminating in a series of vile allegations against him that resulted
in his sacking and assault last September.
Mahathir's insistence that it was Bumiputera policies which put Malays
in high academic position - and not because of their merit - is also
taken to be as an insult by many Malay professors in local
universities.
Dr Ramlah Adam from University of Malaya's Department of History
refuted Mahathir's claims, saying that lecturers and tutors are
appointed based on minimum qualifications set by their respective
faculties.
"I am confident that I am a qualified lecturer and my appointment by
the head of department Prof Khoo Kay Kim is based on my academic
qualification," she said. (For full report, see Harakah, August 6,
1999 - p.40).
http://members.xoom.com/harakah2
Yap Yok Foo
9th August 1999
Petronas in bondage
Bond issue's flop highlights market concerns
Petronas' attempts to raise about RM1 billion from foreign debt
markets on Friday met essentially the same bleak fate as the
government's embarrassing international bond issue at the end of May.
Petronas had to cancel half the planned issue and still the effective
interest rate paid on the remaining bonds far exceeded what Petronas
wanted.
At least now we know international investors' frigid reception to
Malaysia is no fluke. The country really is paying a high price
because of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's ill-conceived capital
controls. More to the point, the Malaysian government's actions and
policy have not restored investor confidence. Instead, foreign
investors have become increasingly anxious about political repression,
the crony bailouts, the rash use of the public's EPF savings and PNB
investments to prop up the stock market and the recent disastrous bid
to seize control of the banking system.
So, when Petronas came to the market with plans to issue US$1 billion
in five-year and ten-year bonds, it found its good reputation wasn't
enough to reassure jittery investors. Just as the government did a
little over a month ago, Petronas had to cancel more than 35% of its
issue (scrapping the ten-year bonds, but adding a little to the
five-year issue). Even then, the national oil company found it needed
to pay a premium yield to attract buyers to the remaining bonds - just
as the government did on its recent bond issue.
Paying for Mahathir's sins
Petronas ending up paying 0.20% more than its target yield. It
doesn't sound like much, but it equals about RM25 million in extra
interest payments over the life of the US$650 million in issued bonds.
The Petronas US dollar bonds were priced to yield 8.934%, fully 3.2
percentage points more per year than US government's five-year bonds.
That's also still about a full percentage point more than the US
dollar bonds issued by Thailand and South Korea - no improvement since
the government's dismaying May bond issue.
But when the domestic media report the story, it's yet another
victory:
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 6 (Bernama) -- Petronas yesterday issued a US$650
million 144A US Dollar bond offering which was well received by a
broad base of investors worldwide.
The issue marks Petronas fourth dollar bond offering since 1993, the
national oil corporation said in a statement issued from New York.
Credit Suisse First Boston acted as the sole bookrunner on the issue
with Barclays Capital and Chase Manhattan as Joint-Lead Managers.
The offering of five-year, US$650 million, 8 7/8 notes due 8/1/04 was
priced at 99.772 with a reoffered spread of +320 basis points to yield
8.934 percent.
Petronas said that the issue was distributed across a wide range of
investors including insurance companies, mutual funds and banks.
Geographic distribution was well-balanced among fixed income investors
worldwide with 33 percent distributed in the United States, 25 percent
in Japan, 25 percent in the rest of Asia and 17 percent in Europe.
"Demand in the Pacific, in particular, took advantage of the excess
demand for Malaysian fixed income securities generated in the market
since the government's issue in May this year. ...
Can this be the same bond issue referred to by Bloomberg News Service,
which built its international reputation on debt-market coverage?
Petronas Cuts Bond Sale 35%, Scraps 10-Yr Note Issue
Hong Kong, Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Petroliam Nasional Berhad, Malaysia's
state-owned energy company, cut its bond sale 35 percent to $650
million, scrapped plans to sell 10-year notes and boosted the yield
spread over Treasuries on its five-year securities by up to 20 basis
points.
Petronas sold the five-year notes at a yield of 8.934 percent, or 320
basis points more than five-year U.S. Treasuries.
The company was expected to sell $500 million each of five- and
10-year notes at yields 300-to-312.5 and 350-to-362.5 basis points
more than Treasuries with comparable maturities.
``There was a deterioration in Asia last night and a significant
deterioration in swap spreads,'' said Don Devine, managing director
and head of debt syndicate at Credit Suisse First Boston, which
managed the sale with Barclays Capital Plc and Chase Manhattan Bank.
``Petronas chose not to pursue wider spreads in the 10 year.''
Instead, it opted to scrap the longer issue. Some of those investors
switched into the five-year notes, accounting for its increase to $650
million from $500 million. ...
Bad timing. Again ?!
Just bad timing, say defenders of Mahathir's regime. What? Again?
Mahathir and his faux financial guru Daim Zainuddin seem to have
developed an alarmingly poor sense of timing when it comes to critical
financial matters. (See freeMalaysia's fuller review of their
mis-timed blundering in Bond, Junk Bond).
In real life, the excuses don't come so easily. The explanation for
Daim and Mahathir's rash haste is painfully apparent. They are
desperate. Desperate to boost foreign reserves ahead of the September
removal of the exit tax. Desperate for a reservoir of funds to pump
into the system to make up for sluggish domestic demand and private
investment. And desperate to use Petronas' money-raising ability
before it is impaired by the over-priced purchase of DRB-Hicom's stake
in Proton and EON.
Let's face it, Petronas corporate "investments" have never been
anything other than painfully expensive bailouts of projects that were
either too politically sensitive or too large (often both) to entrust
to the private sector. Remember that the state oil company's spending
is off the government books, not open to public review and ultimately
directed by the prime minister. From Bank Bumiputra (twice!) to
Konsortium Perkapalan via MISC, Petronas - using the nation's oil
earnings - has shouldered the high cost of corruption, nepotism and
incompetence.
So, the acquisition of Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional (Proton) surely
marks the low point in the checkered history of the national car
project, the deformed "brainchild" of Dr. M. It's certainly no honor
that Petronas must buy Proton, and the stigma is shared equally by the
debt-suffocated DRB-Hicom, the bright, shining example of Mahathir's
heavy industrialization strategy.
Another dissatisfied foreign investor
Even Proton's Japanese partner Mitsubishi Motor is worried by the
bailout. Why? Well, as part of the bailout, Proton's cash reserves
will be spent to buy EON and USPD, the two main car distributors owned
by DRB/Hicom. Mitsubishi, according to an article in the Asian Wall
Street Journal last week, isn't sure that's such a good idea. The
Japanese company still holds a significant stake in Proton.
If Hicom's other heavy industry and property ventures weren't driven
into the ground by mismanagement and corruption, the group may have
been able to support Petronas' cash-gobbling attempt to become a real,
competitive car manufacturer. Now, that dubious obligation falls to
Petronas, which will spend the nation's oil earnings to back the
attempt. Who said what you can't see can't hurt you?
Little wonder Daim and Mahathir's team rushed the Petronas bond issue.
Had they waited even 24 hours, more details of the Proton purchase
would have emerged, forcing an examination of the consequences for
Petronas bondholders. As it was, the New Straits Times carried the
news Saturday. freeMalaysia wonders if the bond buyers feel they were
adequately informed about Petronas' Proton plans.
And let's not forget the popular bank merger scheme
Perhaps another reason for the hurry is the fallout from Daim and
Mahathir's not-so-subtle plan to corner the banking industry.
Reactions to the forced-merger plan have been growing more negative as
time passes and fresh details emerge. Some of the target banks - and
international analysts - already are referring to the scheme as the
expropriation of private assets. It stands to reason that, as Bank
Negara brings more pressure to bear on domestic banks, the "merger"
scheme will be called far worse things. In short, not a good time to
sell bonds to already gun-shy foreigners.
Countries that hide behind capital controls and practice the
expropriation of private assets haven't fared well in the modern
world. And, despite what Mahathir's financial goons may say, neither
practice is new or particularly innovative. Indeed, they were the
hallmarks of many now-defunct socialist economies.
If Malaysia continues to head down that path, the latest Petronas bond
issue may just be the nation's last access to the international bond
market for a long, long time.
http://freemalaysia.com/petronas_bondage.htm
Yap Yok Foo
10th August 1999
ASEAN brings forward smog meeting as fires rage
Reuters Tuesday, August 10 1999 07:19 AM EDT
SINGAPORE, Aug 10 (Reuters) - ASEAN environment ministers have brought
forward by two months a meeting to tackle the smog hanging over parts
of the region from forest fires in Indonesia, a Singapore official
said on Tuesday.
``The AMMH (Asean Ministerial Meeting on the Haze) will be held
sometime at the end of the month,'' a Ministry of Environment
spokesman told Reuters, adding that the actual date is being
discussed.
Ministers from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) had
originally agreed they would next meet in Singapore in October.
Environmental sources said the meeting was moved up because of raging
fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan, on the Indonesian side of Borneo
island, which clouded the skies over parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and
Singapore.
Satellite images recently suggested the situation was similar to two
years ago as Indonesian fires were not being put out and experts
expect the problem to linger for two to three months.
Singapore's Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) on July 30 touched 100, a
point away from levels considered ``unhealthy.''
Environment Minister Lee Yock Suan told state TV he hoped greater
attention by authorities to the problem would lead to improvements and
prevent fires from burning uncontrollably.
``The Indonesian authorities have also given their pledge to disallow
open burning to clear land. Unfortunately, at the ground level, the
implementation has not been up to expectations,'' he was quoted as
saying on Tuesday.
On Monday, Indonesian President B.J. Habibie called for action to stop
the forest fires and warned of an environmental disaster if the
problem was left unchecked.
Indonesian forest fires in 1997 shrouded Southeast Asia for months
with health-threatening smog and seriously hurt the tourism industry.
At their last meeting, ASEAN ministers unveiled an urgent plan to stop
the forest fires. The plan included education, fire prevention,
fire-fighting and surveillance techniques.
The ministers from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore and
officials from other ASEAN countries said a zero-burning policy was
now in force region-wide. ASEAN also comprises Laos, Myanmar, the
Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia.
http://www.aol.com/mynews
Yap Yok Foo
11th August 1999
Once Again, Indonesia Faces Menace of Fires
Economic Strains Hold Back a Campaign To Curb Burning of Forests for
Farmland
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Michael Richardson International Herald Tribune
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SINGAPORE - As the annual dry season sucks the moisture from tropical
forests and scrubland in Indonesia, satellite photographs show clearly
the ominous spread of fire, which two years ago caused an
environmental and economic disaster in Southeast Asia.
Yet, critics say that far from acting on the lessons that should have
been learned, Indonesian authorities are failing to enforce strict
fire-control laws while encouraging the rapid expansion of plantation
industries that set many of the fires as a cheap way to clear land for
crops, including palm oil, timber, rubber and cocoa.
The government of President B.J. Habibie says Indonesia needs the
export income and tax revenue from plantations to recover from its
deepest recession in a generation.
But since the end of former President Suharto's long era of
authoritarian rule in May 1998, Jakarta's hold over the provinces has
weakened drastically and Mr. Habibie is now preoccupied with trying to
piece together enough support to be re-elected president in November.
''The forest fires are a symptom of the crisis in Indonesian politics,
economics and forestry policy,'' said Down To Earth, an environmental
monitoring group based in Britain, in a recent report. ''Indonesia has
the third-largest area of tropical rain forest left in the world, but
it is disappearing fast.''
Mr. Habibie urged officials on Monday to take a coordinated approach
to stop forest fires in Sumatra and in Kalimantan, on the island of
Borneo, from spreading. He warned that failure to do so could mean
that ''the disaster for our environment will get worse.''
The Indonesian environment minister, Panangian Siregar, said that in
Kalimantan most of the fires had been started by farmers using
traditional slash and burn methods to prepare land for planting. In
Sumatra, some of the fires had been set by plantations, he added.
Bambang Hero Saharjo, a forester at the Bogor Agricultural University,
said Tuesday that plantation companies were behind about 80 percent of
the fires burning in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
Since 1997, Indonesian law has banned the use of fire to clear the
land in the annual dry season, from July to October. Companies
breaching the law are liable to heavy fines and even loss of their
concessions.
In an interview with Reuters, Mr. Saharjo noted that after the 1997
fires, the Forestry and Plantations Ministry had identified 176
companies suspected of using fire to clear their land. Yet none had
been successfully prosecuted. By using outsiders to set the fires and
contending that the blaze spread from elsewhere, the companies were
able to convert forest land to plantation use, he said.
Longgena Ginting, a coordinator at the Indonesian Forum for the
Environment in Jakarta, said that zoning laws at provincial levels
allocated up to 30 percent of a province's forests for conversion into
plantations to expand exports and overcome the economic crisis.
''One of the main culprits for the fires is land conversion,'' he
said. ''Our data show that in the past as well as now, the largest
fires can be found in large concessions.''
For six months in 1997, smoke from fires that raged out of control in
Indonesia blanketed an area of about 3 million square kilometers (1.2
million square miles), including Singapore, Brunei, much of Malaysia,
and parts of Thailand, the Philippines and Australia.
The smoke mixed with pollution from the burning of peat and coal beds,
and from transport and industry, to create dangerous smog. The forum
estimated that the 1997 fires spread over 10 million hectares (25
million acres), causing losses of nearly $9 billion
The haze, which recurred on a smaller scale in 1998, cost Indonesia's
neighbors an estimated $4 billion in disruption to tourism and
transportation, as well as damage to public health.
Officials in Malaysia and Singapore emphasize that so far in 1999 the
intermittent haze from Indonesia has not reached unhealthy levels in
their cities, unlike in 1997-98. But in parts of Sumatra recently,
smoke pollution was recorded at ''extremely dangerous'' levels,
Indonesian officials said.
Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore worry that a weak official response to
the recent fire outbreak in Indonesia could lead to a worsening smog
blanket across the region as the dry season progresses. In 1997 and
1998, the fires were doused by rain.
''The situation weatherwise is very, very similar, and the way the
fires are developing is similar to 1997,'' said Ivan Anderson,
satellite system manager of a fire prevention project in Palembang, in
central Sumatra, funded by the European Union. ''In practice, we are
not much further ahead than we were back in 1997, when the situation
was out of control.''
The prices of forest products, palm oil and rubber have been falling
in recent months, and analysts said this was prompting Indonesian
forestry and plantation companies to expand output while cutting
costs, including using fire for land clearance.
In a report on the Indonesian forest industry, the U.S. Embassy in
Jakarta warned earlier this year that the economic crisis would reduce
the chances of carrying out stringent controls.
''The weak market means the industry seeks to minimize costs while
maximizing production,'' the report said, ''and the government does
not have the resources to pay for enforcement. Introducing and
enforcing strict environmental standards is a process that could take
years.''
http://www.iht.com/
Yap Yok Foo
13th August 1999
Anwar trial no longer excites people
KUALA LUMPUR: During jailed politician Anwar Ibrahim's corruption
trial last year, thousands of Malaysians jostled against hordes of
foreign journalists in hopes of entering a downtown courthouse to
watch the proceedings.
Anwar's second trial, on one count of sodomy, promised to be even
better: lurid sexual details, shocking accusations and a high-stakes
political game involving Anwar and Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad,
who accused his deputy of being a ``sodomist'' days after firing him
last September.
Yet in a case that could vindicate Anwar or embarrass Mahathir, or
vice versa, many seats in the courtroom have been empty in recent
weeks. ``Hardly anyone watches what's happening to Anwar these days,
not even those who're angry with Mahathir,'' said a glum Anwar
supporter.
Though many supporters still care passionately about the outcome of
the sodomy trial, many believe a guilty verdict is inevitable. They've
turned their sights to general elections when they intend to react to
Anwar's treatment by voting for opposition candidates. The vote must
be held by next June.
Exacerbating public apathy is the glacial pace of the two-month trial.
In the time-tested tradition of the Malaysian judicial system, High
Court Judge Ariffin Jaka painstakingly writes down every word uttered
in court.
The trial began in June with the prosecution attempting to rewrite the
sodomy charge by changing the year that Azizan Abu Bakar, Anwar's
former family driver, was allegedly sodomized by Anwar. This drew
furious protests from Anwar's lawyers which lasted over a week.
Days after that, prosecutors tried to admit as evidence an 11-page
confession made by Sukma Dermawan, Anwar's adopted brother and alleged
sex partner. The defense insisted that police tortured Sukma, sparking
off a legal battle that went on for weeks before the judge deemed the
document valid.
``My feeling is that the public no longer takes this trial
seriously,'' said Syed Husin Ali, who heads the opposition Malaysian
People's Party. ``Yet this case is far more important than the earlier
one. It has a greater potential of discrediting Anwar.''
``After the first trial, there was a saturation of public interest
which couldn't be sustained for the second trial,'' said Lim Kit
Siang, the opposition leader in Parliament. ``Politically, it's more
explosive than the first trial.''(AP)
http://www.timesofindia.com
Yap Yok Foo
Undated but downloaded
16th August 1999
To save us from ourselves
By Sadirah K.
"Vote for the Barisan Nasional and ensure a strong Government,"
rallies Mahathir. Today we can objectively evaluate the benefits and
downsides resulting from supporting such a call.
The events and revealations since Anwar Ibrahim's removal as Deputy
Prime Minister have shocked many about the capability of a strong
Government to misuse the trust reposed in them by the electorate. A
strong Government in effect is an autocratic government. Over the last
25 years the exercise of power has increasingly become more and more
autocratic. The checks and balances provided for in the Constitution
have been ursurped by the Executive. The electorate should now
seriously opt for change.
Either we vote the present ruling coalition out of power or
alternatively vote for a strong opposition thus denying the ruling
party its two thirds majority. A time in the opposition would have a
sobering effect in cleansing motives and reclaiming a new spirit that
is service based and people centered. Such a result would signal to
any new Government that accountability has become an enshrined value
in our politics.
There are some who believe that there is no alternative to the Barisan
Nasional coalition. There are others who fear that the alternative
would mean a weak government. Finally there are those who prefer the
known devil to the unknown saint. The issue facing the electorate is
one of choice. A choice between continuing with a strong government or
electing a strong opposition. The former has been part of our
experience while the latter will be a new and valuable experience one
that adds meaning to the democratic spirit.
Both individual resolve and institutional strengths are tested during
a crisis. There are checks and balances which ensure that deviations
are within manageable limits. When such checks and balances are
ineffective, then society as a whole pays a big price.
A strong government is equated to a strong Executive. The Executive
then manipulates both individuals and institutions to serve their
interest. Some, out of fear, abdicate their sense of convictions,
conscience and ability to stand up for their beliefs. Others
capitulate for want of money, benefits, titles and positions. This
characterises the moral crisis so evident today. Ultimately it is men
and women and not systems, structures and institutions that determine
the direction our society moves. We do not lack leaders who preach
values and outline visions. It is the practice that is sorely missing.
The judiciary and the legislature could have provided a measure of
balance. Following the sacking of then Lord President Tun Salleh Abas,
the ensuing judicial crisis saw the demise of our proud and
independent judiciary. Geoffrey Robertson, QC, a leading British
Barrister said, "The tribunals report recommending the sacking of
Salleh Abas is among the most despicable documents in modern legal
history."
In the legislatures, the overwhelming majority enjoyed by the ruling
coalition both in the Dewan Rakyat and its nominees in the Dewan
Negara enables them to steamroll new legislation. The legislative
chambers are perceived as mere rubber stamps of the Executive.
Attendance by some members of the Executive is a rare occasion. It is
here that the Opposition have lambasted the Government for its
weaknesses.
Other institution like the Ruler's Council remain ineffective. We are
proud about our unique Constitutional Monarchy. Yet, in essence what
can we be proud of, apart from its unique form? How does this
institution contribute to the well being of the people? Their role as
checks and balances in the constitutional framework has been
irrelevant.
The Executive on the other hand has amended the Constitution to ensure
that Bills passed by Parliament become law even if consent is not
given by the King within thirty days. Further, a special court for
trying Rulers has been established by the constitutional amendments of
1993. Have we yet witnessed the Ruler's Council speak up in the
interests of the people?
Independent offices be it that of the Auditor General, the Attorney
General or the Chairman of the Elections Commission have all been
dwarfed by the powerful Executive. Off Budget agencies like Petronas
have been exploited without accountability. When and which institution
will hold the Executive accountable?
We have witnessed how Anwar Ibrahim - Malaysia's deputy prime minister
- has been vilified. This father of six children, five girls and a
boy, has now been humiliated. One's heart goes out to his entire
family especially to his wife and children. Political vendetta in
Malaysia has sunk to such low levels. Had he been discredited as a
corrupt individual having misused money, built palatial places, played
at casinos or for holding millions of ringgit worth of shares in his
name, one could have judged him for his moral weaknesses.
The authorities are unable to pin such specific issues. On the
contrary they bring charges that are vague, all aimed at discrediting
him. With Anwar cleansing on the way, his corporate friends are being
called to face charges for regulatory offenses.
What about the various Police Reports filed by him? Why is Dr Mahathir
so silent about the issue relating to his Trade and Industry Minister?
What about the Perwaja issue and the more recent reports against Tun
Diam? All these will show whether the Executive is above the law.
The day of reckoning will come for everyone. For too long our powerful
Executive have been in a position to cover up their misdemeanors. We
have witnessed scandals after scandals ranging from Bank Negara's
forex losses, BBMB fiasco, the Perwaja crisis, the bailouts by
Petronas, Maica-Telekom share scandal and a host of others related to
privatisation. Rarely has a Royal Commission been set up to
investigate the exercise of powers by the Executive. Even the recent
Royal Commission on the Anwar beating issue was in response to
national and international pressures.
With corruption reaching endemic proportions, the failure by the
Executive to ensure fairness and justice, the discrediting of the
Royal Malaysian Police and several serious issues cry out for justice.
If we vote for a strong Government then we are voting for a further
period without checks and balances. On the contrary should they return
to power then we may be subjected to further strong hand measures.
With the media so pro-government it is difficult to reign in the
powers of the Executive. In the final analysis we have to save
ourselves from ourselves. As Justice Learned Hand of the US Supreme
Court said, "Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies
there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it."
Let us vote with our heart for justice, transparency, accountability
and change.
http://members.xoom.com/harakah2/semasa/1106b3e04.html
Yap Yok Foo
19th August 1999
SINGAPORE: Quandary over 'elected' president
A supporter strung a garland of orchids and jasmine around S.R.
Nathan's neck yesterday as he strode to address the crowd. He thanked
all who backed his effort to become Singapore's second elected
president and then turned to his wife, appreciatively noting that she
had stood by his decision to campaign.
However, to some onlookers the classic politician's victory speech
seemed inappropriate. Mr Nathan, a former intelligence chief and
ambassador to the US was not elected; he was selected by the cabinet
from a shortlist compiled by Lee Kuan Yew, founding father of the
island state and senior minister.
The other applicants, a tutor and insurance agent, were ruled
ineligible for failing to meet criteria requiring candidates to have
held either a top government position or private-sector post
equivalent to running a company with paid-up capital of S$100m
(£37.2m).
A kitchen helper showed up to apply just before Mr Nathan was declared
victorious but his attempt was purely symbolic.
The absence of an election has provoked debate in a country ruled by
the same political party since independence in 1965. Of those surveyed
by The Straits Times, 80 per cent wanted a contest for the post.
"They are just picking their own man and calling it an elected
president," said Gandhi Ambalam, vice-chairman of the opposition
Singapore Democratic party. "It's all stage-managed by the ruling
party."
The government says the opposition cannot put up a candidate because
it is not credible: the opposition counters that the stiff criteria
block solid candidates.
Singapore amended the constitution in 1991 to elect, instead of
appoint, the president.
In the first, 1993 election, the ruling party supported Ong Teng
Cheong, a deputy prime minister, but nudged Chua Kim Yeow, a retired
auditor-general, to run so there would be a contest.
Even though Mr Chua did not vigorously seek election and even praised
his opponent, he won 41 per cent of the vote, underlying the eagerness
of Singaporeans to exercise their independence from the ruling party.
Mr Ong won but did not seek a second term, citing a "long list of
problems". The controversy has raised concern that the president is
not independent enough to serve as an effective check.
"Generally, whether it is the government, or the president, we do it
in the best interest of Singapore," Mr Nathan told The Straits Times.
"So this question of independence, I have to ask: independence from
what?"
http://www.ft.com
Yap Yok Foo
21st August 1999
Singapore television tones down use of "Singlish"
SINGAPORE: Prompted by criticism from elder statesman
Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's main television network said on
Friday that it will tone down its use of "Singlish," Singapore's
own brand of English.
It will also introduce a new television show next year using
only standard English, a Television Corporation of Singapore
official said.
The move follows Lee's comments last week that Singlish
puts Singaporeans at a disadvantage, and that the
less-educated would suffer economically and socially if they
spoke only Singlish.
Singlish incorporates elements from the Chinese, Malay and
Tamil languages, and often drops English prepositions and
pronouns. (AP)
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/21worl22.htm
Yap Yok Foo
Undated but downloaded
NST chief joins Rafidah as panic runs high over 'secret documents'
By Mansur Ali
Signs of panic are running high within cabinet ministers and loyalists
of prime minister Mahathir Mohamad as Anwar Ibrahim continues to issue
from behind bars damning police reports of corruption. Ministers and
chief ministers have recently joint in the chorus of condemnation of
Anwar for threatening to "blackmail" them with proofs of their
corruption.
Rafidah Aziz, the minister who was first cited for corruption by Anwar
in a detailed police report on July 9, was among the first to condemn
the hoarding of documents which could expose corruption in high
places. Rafidah, who lost to the Anwar-backed Wanita UMNO head Siti
Zaharah Sulaiman, called for an investigation of alleged involvement
of civil servants in leaking out corruption files of ministers.
But the individual who is clearly the most obvious among those in the
"anti-Anwar" bandwagon is none other than Datuk A. Kadir Jasin, head
of the staunchly pro-UMNO New Straits Times Press media group.
Kadir, a self-confessed admirer of the embattled UMNO president is
said to have issued instruction to editors of the New Straits Times to
"play up" Mahathir's recent outburst at Anwar for stashing away
"secret documents".
In its front page article on August 14, the paper reported that many
"lawyers" have called for action to be taken against Parti KeADILan
Nasional youth head Ezam Nor over his "admittance" that he was keeping
documents overseas to be exposed one by one. Without naming who its
sources and lawyers were, the paper again on August 15 splashed out a
story saying that the police were to summon Ezam to face charges under
the Officials Secrets Act. The police had however not issued any
statement with regards to the "secret documents".
But the fear over the documents are warranted, for obvious reasons, in
particular for misusing funds belonging to UMNO.
The NST chief's fear was made even more revealing when he decided to
write about the "secret documents" in his column "Other Thots", in the
New Sunday Times. Critics have regarded the column as a weekly
endorsement of the BN government's actions, and particularly that of
Mahathir.
http://members.xoom.com/harakah2/semasa
Azazel Dajjall
I think when LKY commands the Singaporean to stop having sex, they just quit
I guess. Pity the Singaporean.
Dajjall Laknatullah
Yap Yok Foo <yf...@pop.jaring.my> wrote in message
news:37d1032e...@nntp.jaring.my...
Yap Yok Foo
22nd August 1999
More than diplomacy in China visit
By Wong Chun Wai
IT WAS truly a celebration. All the 100-odd tables at the dinner to
commemorate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic
ties between Malaysia and China were taken up.
The dinner, at the China World Hotel owned by Malaysian tycoon Tan Sri
Robert Kuok, didn't come cheap.
At RM500 per head, the ushers had to make sure there were no
gate-crashers. Invitation cards were collected at the entrance.
The guests-of-honour were Prime Ministr Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad
and Vice-Premier Qian Qichen.
The menu was Sino-Malaysian combination at its best, from curry
chicken to shark's fin soup.
In between, the diners were treated to Malaysian cultural dances to
nerve-breaking acrobatic performances by the Chinese.
If that wasn't entertaining enough, a Chinese magician pulled out a
live fish from the jacket of a Malaysian VIP and then threw the
wriggling creature into an aquarium on stage.
To top it all, students from the Beijing Fereign Studies University,
pursuing degrees in the Malay language, sang two Malay Songs.
It was a night to end a successful three-day working visit by Dr
Mahathir to China. It was the prime minister's fifth visit to China.
"In each visit, I have noticed significant changes and progress," he
told his Chinese counterpart Zhu Rongji at the Great Hall of the
People.
The changes have been remarkable, even for journalists who made
regular visits to China.
Traffic jams, unheard of years ago, have become a daily occurrences,
like in other major cities. Cyclists now have to give way to cars.
The crawl has become acute because the city is rushing to complete the
third phase of its subway travel project.
The 13.5km subway, which costs USS$92.1mil, connects many important
commercial tourist areas and will enter it trial operation next month.
Construction work is also going on at Jianguomenwai Avenue where the
hotel is located. It leads straight to Tiananmen Square and the
Forbidden City.
The city is being spruced up with buildings repainted and grass sown
for the 50th anniversary celebrations of Communist Plarty rule.
On Monday, Malaysian journalists and businessmen, who arrived early
for Dr Mahathir's visit, were treated to a dress-rehersal of the Oct 1
celebrations.
Hundreds of tanks rolled through the streets as the goverment sealed
downstreets and closed nearby tourists spot, sending the city's
traffic to a stand still.
The anniversary, in conjunction with the National Day, will, for the
first time, feature these military hardware in 15 years.
This writer saw Chinese soldiers, in full jackets, sweating away
inside hundreds of camouflaged tanks and troop carriers as onlookers,
in shorts and singlets, watched by the side. There were rocket
launchers, trucks towing artillery and missles.
But it wasn't the only celebration that Beijing folks noticed. The
25th Sino-Malaysian diplomatic ties bash was also given high billing.
The Chinese media made the Prime Minister's visit a top item in their
news coverage.
The China Daily put on its front page on Friday the tributes President
Jiang Zemin paid to Dr Mathathir during their meeting.
While the media highlighted the official functions, no less important
were the side events which involved people-to-people contact.
At the Beijing Parkson Store, owned by Lion Group chairman Tan Sri
william Cheng, at Chang'an Avenue, hundreds gathered to watch a
cultural show outside the shopping complex.
Looking at the sporty Proton Satria on display, as part of
Parkson'sMalaysian product promotion, many Chinese were surprised to
find Malaysia a manufacturer of car.
Impressed by the car's design, many asked about the price but it looks
like they will have to wait a little longer.
Dr Mahathir told newsmen negotiations were still being held with the
Chinese government.
In fact, a ground breaking ceremony by the prime minister for the
construction of a Proton manufacturing plant in Holhot was ca11ed off
before the visit.
It is understood some loose ends still need to be tied up but the
preliminary agreements have been completed.
For the country's No 1 salesman, it wasn't just diplomacy as he
tirelessly promoted palm oil, gas and even the Multimedia Super
Corridor project to the Chinese leaders.
"President Jiang expressed interest in the Multimedia Super Corridor,
saying both sides can increase cooperation in this area," he said.
At the Malaysian product promotion, Dr Mahathir asked Malaysian
businessmen about the progress of their ventures in China.
Indeed, the Malaysia-China Forum, attended by hundreds of businessmen
from both sides, proved to an excellent exchange networking.
Led by International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah
Aziz, the chief ministers, officials and businessmen, explained to
their listerners the potential of doing business in Malaysia.
Dr Mahathir also promoted the idea of an Asian Media--news on Asia by
Asian news organisations.
The challenge now is for Malaysian media organisations, both print and
electronic, to set up their offices in Beijing as the world enters the
next millennium.
Malaysian leaders , starting with Tun Razak and now Mahathir, have
been far-sighted in seeing China as a country that matters, more so in
the 21st century as China progresses further.
http://thestar.com.my
Yap Yok Foo
22nd August 1999
By Jeffrey Francis
MALAYSIAN-BORN Edmund Ser knows only too well how lucky he is.
"Yes, I consider myself lucky to have achieved so much all these
years," he says of his fashion designs and 13 outlets throughout
Malaysia and Singapore.
But Lady Luck also had an important role to bring him to the notice of
Western Australia's regional trade director Amy Chin, who had visited
one of his boutique stores in Kuala Lumpur.
"He came up to me and showed the various designer-clothes he had in
the shop for sale," Chin, also a Malaysian-born executive, recalled
last week.
"I thought at first he was the store manager. He was humble, easy
going and pleasant to talk to. I bought some clothes."
That meeting, which took place nearly four years ago, jolted Chin's
memory recently when she thought of reversing the thrust of promoting
Australian-made products in Asian markets to promoting Asian talents
and skills in fashion designs to Perth.
It has nothing to do with her position in the Department of Commerce
and Trade of Western Australia.
In the four years she has served in the State Government's trade
office in Malaysia, covering Singapore as well, she has helped to
boost the state's bilateral trade in the region.
Professionally, she is now focusing on trade opportunities in the
Middle East, South Asia and Southern Africa for the government.
But, privately in her spare time, she is helping Ser and another
designer Leung Thong Ping, a former Malaysian journalist, who took
over her mother's boutique business Mayfair, when Mrs Leung Sook Kee,
(now in her 80s), decided to retire.
They will exhibit their exclusive designs at the annual dinner and
dance of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Western Australia at
Burswood on Aug 27.
While in Perth they will stay at The Peninsula, courtesy of its owner
Datuk Dr S.B. Cheah.
Ser, who studied at Midway College of Design and the Canterbury
College of Art, both in Britain, will present eight ranges of 50
outfits while Leung, whose business interest grew out of a hobby, will
display five ranges of 25 outfits.
Both have their own unique flair for the type of outfits they create
with distinctive looks that are contemporary and inspirational in
their identity.
For example, Ser's designs, which are individual and different from
conventional career-clothes, allow the working women to head off
straight from their offices to the evening functions.
"It's all about practicality," he says. "As career women, they have no
time to bathe and change into an evening dress. So we design highly
fasionable career clothes that could be worn in office as well as at a
function."
His collection of spring colours, mainly pastel on the blue side,
includes modern styles with frills print hand-drawn, emphasing
bodylines with some flairs to complement the collar.
There is also a dress in grey satin with plungeline at the back to
follow the shape of the body for the women of the new millennium, who
would get a "healthy look".
Jackets are Ser's main forte with double-breasted Peter Pan collar.
They are fashionable for women to wear to the office. So are the long
jackets with tank-top inside welt pocket.
Some of the blouses have a 3-D effect on the shoulder and hemline.
He believes that today's consumers are more cosmopolitan, dynamic and
stylish. They want to be fairly individual, different from the rest of
the crowd.
Ser got into fasion designing more by accident than by design. "I
didn't have an academic mind," he said over the telephone from Kuala
Lumpur. "I couldn't study. I was looking for an easy way out."
But if he thought designing was easy, he had to find it out the hard
way.
He worked as a tailor for 10 years, and saved as much as he could,
before he launched his first collection of "ready-to-wear" line, which
was convenient, trendy and fashionable.
Through more hard work, sometimes till late at night, he made a name
for himself in Malaysia.
Soon he opened up boutique stores in places as far as Bangkok, Jakarta
and Manila, but these stores have since been closed due to the Asian
financial crisis affecting the respective countries.
"In terms of designs," he says, "we are not too far from international
designers.
"What we are sadly lacking are sufficient support from the external
sector, such as media coverage, financial backing, corporate
sponsorship, government support, and more importantly, consumer
support.
"Having said that, we, on the other hand, must improve ourselves
first, and prove to the consumers that we are worthy of their
support."
Ser believes the three ingredients to success are self-motivation,
entrepreneur skills and flair for designing.
"It's not a glamorous job," he points out. "It's purely hard work, and
in knowing the beauty and the beast of the fashion business."
On the other hand, Leung, whose mission is to make Asian-inspired
clothes functional and acceptable for use in a Western context, has
turned to the dance theatre to set the mood for her show in Perth with
sumptuous Mandarin jackets thrown over leggings, flares, wrap skirts
and tubes.
Her skill with colour and fabric, chosen from the rich heritage of
Chinese and Malay wear, provides an unusual range of women's
fashionable clothes.
Waists are elasticised, the Mandarin collar cuts low, sleeves are
unstructured, and there are no zips down the back of the cheongsam.
This look, according to Leung, appeals to the discerning women in
their 20s to 60s.
Her Chinese range includes the samfoo set and her interpretation of
the "kua" (Chinese wedding top and skirt) for streetwear.
Her treatment of the Malay dress is equally striking. The draped
skirts, inspired by the sarong, echoes the long lean silhouette of her
Chinese range.
Leung says the fluid columns are covered by skinny tops, and worn
under filmsy "kebaya" jackets, which are also reminiscent of the
"kimonos".
The interesting fabrication and smart silhouette--long and lean--make
them unmistakeably modern.
She finds that interpreting traditional clothes for modern-day wear is
really not that easy.
There are always production problems such as a constant search for
machinists to do the intricate work, and for skilled makers of cloth
fastenings--a fast disappearing skill, she adds.
However, her designed clothes are recognisable by their fine
quiltwork, neat bindings and firm cloth fastenings. This is the way
traditonal clothes were--with not a zip in sight.
Like Ser, Leung is confident that the exhibition will be a great
success, and that it will give them a footing in the Australian
market.
But the Malaysian designers, who have come a long way in their own
career, have still much to accomplish and overcome if they are to be
recognised and accepted internationally.
¿ Jeffrey Francis is editorial consultant, Australasia-Pacific Media
Yap Yok Foo
22nd August 1999
Compiled by Wong Liza
SIMPLY THE BEST: As the 20th SEA Games came to a close in Brunei on
Sunday night, Malaysia basked in its best ever performance in the
series with a total gold haul of 57. The men's squash team completed
the gold rush for Malaysia after the women's team and bowling's Shalin
Zulkifli had made it 56 earlier in the day.
25 GOOD YEARS: Malaysia and China renewed their commitment to
strengthen bilateral ties as the two countries celebrate the 25th
anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic ties. Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad outlined eight areas in which
the countries could work together and said the two nations must be
more outward-looking and their plans should involve other East Asian
countries.
SEXUAL OFFENCE DEFINITION: The Human Resources Ministry has defined
sexual harassment as any unwarranted sexual conduct in verbal,
non-verbal, psychological or physical form which is unwelcome by the
recipient. Under its Code of Practice on the Prevention and
Eradication of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, launched on
Tuesday, sexual harassment can be divided into two categories--sexual
coercion and sexual annoyance.
NO FREEZE: Businessmen and Malaysians will be able to obtain loans
during the merger of commercial banks and there will be no freeze in
lending activities. All banks have been told to continue to process,
approve and disburse loans to applicants regardless of plans to merge.
NO BACK-BILLING: Tenaga Nasional Berhad will stop issuing re-assessed
bills to customers found to have tampered their electricity meters
pending further instructions from the Energy, Communications and
Multimedia Ministry. Its executive chairman Tan Sri Dr Ahmad Tajuddin
Ali said this was a temporary measure until a decision was made by the
ministry.
ANTI-GOVT CORPS: An anti-government group has managed to infiltrate a
uniformed body in secondary schools and spread anti-government
ideologies to students. The movement has been recruiting students and
the public under the cover of Kelab Remaja Sekolah (KRS) to instil
hatred towards the Government.
BOOZE BAN: The sale of alcoholic drinks to those under 18 has been
banned with immediate effect. Health Minister Datuk Chua Jui Meng said
the move was to check youngsters from consuming alcoholic drinks which
had many negative effects including social and health problems.
Y2K LABELS: Manufacturers who have yet to display "Y2K compliant"
labels on electric and electronic products may face a fine, jail or
both. Individuals who fail to label their goods accordingly could face
a fine of up to RM100,000 or three years' jail, or both. For corporate
bodies, the maximum fine is RM500,000.
MUSLIMS INCLUDED: Four states--Negri Sembilan, Selangor, Pahang and
Johor--have agreed to adopt and use the recently amended Guardianship
of Infants Act to even cover Muslims. With this move, Muslim mothers
in these states will enjoy the equal parental rights accorded to their
non-Muslim counterparts under the Act.
NO PROOF: The new high security identity card should not be used to
prove the holder's date of birth, said Deputy Prime Minister and Home
Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. He said although the first
six digits were generally known to be that of the holder's date, month
and year of birth, the entire 12-digit number constituted the identity
card number.
NEW DEPUTY IGP: Police director of management Datuk Mohd Jamil Johari,
52, was been appointed Deputy Inspector-General of Police, effective
Aug 3. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said a
reshuffle in the top brass, including promotions, would follow soon.
STANDARD EXAM: From next year, all students in religious schools must
sit for the Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia (STAM) examination to gain
entry into local and foreign universities.
R&D BASE: Four Universiti Malaya scientists, including two women, will
set up the country's own research and development base in the
Antarctica in September--the first of Malaysia's scientific endeavour
in the southern continent. The group will study the effects of
pollution in the Antarctic atmosphere at Scott Base for five weeks.
TURKEY QUAKE: A devastating earthquake rocked Turkey's north-western
provinces leaving over a thousand dead and wreaking havoc in the
region. The death toll rose to over 3,700, with more than 17,000
injured. The official quake death toll stood at 9,082 on Friday with
an estimated 34,000 lying under the rubble.
EXECUTIONS SUSPENDED: Judicial executions in the Philippines have been
temporarily suspended pending the creation of a special review
committee possibly including clergymen, President Joseph Estrada said.
He said no one would be put to death until a conscience committee was
created. Under the constitution, the president has the power to grant
reprieves or pardon or to commute sentences handed down by the
judiciary.
On Friday, more than 600,000 took to the streets in Manila in two
major rallies as Estrada and his critics went head-to-head over his
plans to change the constitution.
BANK SCANDAL: Indonesia's Parliament launched an inquiry into a bank
corruption scandal that some predict could threaten Indonesia's shaky
economic recovery as well as incumbent President B.J. Habibie's
chances of retaining power.
DRIVE STARTS: The political campaign for East Timor's ballot on
independence started on Sunday with both sides of the political
divide--the pro-Jakarta United Front for East Timor Autonomy and
pro-independence National Council for Timorese Resistance--stressing
their commitment to a peaceful process.
DUMPING 'DONATIONS': A substantial amount of US pharmaceutical
donations to poor countries consist of drugs that are of little or no
use, even though more than two-thirds of such shipments are "essential
drugs" that arrive well before their expiration dates, according to a
new study by the Harvard School of Public Health.
BACK IN HOSPITAL: Indonesia's former President Suharto was rushed to
hospital on Sunday for the second time in a month after he was
diagnosed with a bleeding intestine. The former strongman was in
intensive care but was stable. Last month, Suharto was treated there
after suffering a stroke.
hantu ®
security i.c. and help some kool guy make some kool money atas angin skali
lagi.
And to think he was fuming mad the day after that fireman got..blurp
...underaged ...blurp, sorry too much halia.
Yap Yok Foo wrote in article <37cc81d3...@nntp.jaring.my>...
> From The Sunday Star
> 22nd August 1999
>
*DivaDoo*~*
pre-election bonus to appeace the "silenced majority" female voters...
question : if say, tamby chik "coerced" an 18 year old female clerk
into orgy with his 14 drinking buddies, would it be considered a
SEXUAL OFFENCE in any kangaroo judge's courtroom?
or is this another useless change of dressing on top of the same old
boring cake?
yf...@pop.jaring.my (Yap Yok Foo) posted:
>SEXUAL OFFENCE DEFINITION: The Human Resources Ministry has defined
>sexual harassment as any unwarranted sexual conduct in verbal,
>non-verbal, psychological or physical form which is unwelcome by the
>recipient. Under its Code of Practice on the Prevention and
>Eradication of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, launched on
>Tuesday, sexual harassment can be divided into two categories--sexual
>coercion and sexual annoyance.
sexual "annoyance"..... hmmmm...........
was tambi "annoying" enough for the raped underage girl?
..DiVaDoo..
** Reality is
that which doesn't go away
when you change your mind ****
~ Phillip K. Dick ~
Faruq Nelson
> SEXUAL OFFENCE DEFINITION: The Human Resources Ministry has defined
> sexual harassment as any unwarranted sexual conduct in verbal,
> non-verbal, psychological or physical form which is unwelcome by the
> recipient. Under its Code of Practice on the Prevention and
> Eradication of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, launched on
> Tuesday, sexual harassment can be divided into two categories--sexual
> coercion and sexual annoyance.
So, if the sexual conduct is not "unwarranted" then it doesn't count as
sexual harassment, no matter how "unwelcome by the recipient"?
> BOOZE BAN: The sale of alcoholic drinks to those under 18 has been
> banned with immediate effect. Health Minister Datuk Chua Jui Meng said
> the move was to check youngsters from consuming alcoholic drinks which
> had many negative effects including social and health problems.
And this is just *now* being done after all these years? Amazing.
--
Faruq abd ul-Rafi (R. A. Nelson)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Philosophy
fa...@uiuc.edu
Yap Yok Foo
Issue 21st-27th August 1999
Editorial : Asia’s bounce-back
TWO years ago, officials, investors and owners of businesses in East
Asia thought they were the unluckiest people alive. One day they were
in the midst of an economic miracle; the next they fell into a
financial nightmare, as fickle foreign capital suddenly fled their
currencies and stockmarkets, for no apparent reason. These foreigners,
it emerged, now thought that far from being paragons, these were
actually badly run, crony-capitalist economies. Now, however, fortune
appears to be smiling on them again, and the foreign capital is
returning. Far from being doomed to years of depression or stagnation,
the stricken economies of East and South-East Asia are bouncing
quickly back, to almost everybody’s surprise. Next, presumably, will
come a spate of books and articles proclaiming another miracle.
Well, hold on a minute. The recovery, led by South Korea but being
hotly followed in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines,
does look genuine and quite vigorous (see article). There are even
glimmers of recovery in the one economy in the region that has been
passing through a real nightmare, Indonesia. But all this is not as
surprising as many people are making out. And the slings and arrows of
outrageous fortune have not worked in the way that is commonly
assumed: two years ago, East Asians were actually the luckiest people,
not the unluckiest. The worry now should be that, having grappled
their way to recovery on the basis of that good fortune, their luck
might be about to turn.
The joy of globalisation
East Asians’ luck in 1997-98 came in two related forms. The first was
that while they slumped the United States continued to boom and to
consume, taking in their exports and not making a great political fuss
about the fact that, because of currency collapses, those Asian
exports were now sharply cheaper than before. The second was that
globalisation, the increasing integration of world capital and trade
flows, did not work in the devastating way that many feared it would.
Rather than hurting Asia, indeed, it helped it.
What globalisation didn’t do was to transmit East Asia’s woes
instantly around the world. It didn’t even do this in the financial
markets: in this real-time, 24-hour, electronic era, it took a full
year for Thailand’s devaluation in July 1997 to find its way across
the steppes to Russia, which defaulted on its debt in August 1998; and
it took a year and a half to help bring on a Brazilian devaluation
early this year. Ripples were indeed felt more quickly than that in
the emerging markets (and did spread quickly in East Asia itself), but
the really big events were well-spaced-out and, by the standards of
the money-men, occurred in a fairly thoughtful manner. It didn’t seem
like that at the time, nor when an American hedge fund, Long-Term
Capital Management, tottered a year ago. But historians are unlikely
to marvel at the speed of the financial and economic events of
1997-99.
What globalisation did do, however, was to help America to confound
the forecasters (including The Economist) and to carry on with its
consumer boom for a further two years. It did this because East Asia’s
own woes made the dollar strong and commodity prices (especially oil)
weak, which helped to hold down American inflation despite an economy
running at full employment. These were not the only factors boosting
America—information-technology-related corporate investment, and three
cuts in interest rates also helped—but they were important. The moral?
An integrated world economy is a subtle and nuanced creation, not a
monster on the loose.
There was also another sort of luck, however. One of the dangers of a
downturn as sharp as that suffered by East Asia during the past two
years is that of political backlash. The natural propensity of
economies to bounce back, as capital returns in the hunt for bargains
and as excess inventories at factories become used up, can easily be
ruined by policy mistakes and by political ructions. In macroeconomic
policy, however, the East Asian countries have not made major
mistakes: after initial austerity measures to stabilise currencies,
they have loosened monetary and fiscal policy to facilitate recovery.
That, clearly, should be ascribed to judgment, not luck. But luck has
been at play in preventing the nastiest sort of domestic political
conflict. And, more important still, it has so far averted the biggest
threat to the region’s stability: an economic collapse in China, which
could both have domestic political consequences and raise tensions
over Taiwan. To the Chinese, this will not seem like luck, but it is
for the other East Asians.
The next slings and arrows
The speed and strength of recovery in East and South-East Asia, then,
do reflect that natural propensity of economies to bounce back, but
also that good macroeconomic judgment. What it does not reflect is
fundamental, structural reform, in any country in the region, though
some progress has been made in improving banking supervision. Such
reforms are still needed. But they are needed to avoid the next
crisis, and to lay the foundations for long-term growth, rather than
to bring recovery from the latest recession.
The fate of that recovery will depend, largely, on a continuation of
that generally good macroeconomic judgment. But it will also depend on
continued good luck from the rest of the world: on recovery in Japan,
on the strength of the American economy, on the maintenance of
political stability in the region. None of these, alas, can be taken
for granted.
The first two could well be connected. Japan’s previously stagnant
economy revived strongly in the first quarter of this year. Since
then, so has the yen’s exchange rate against the dollar. This week it
rose again, passing ¥112. What this suggests is that Japanese monetary
policy remains too tight, and that the country’s exports will soon
begin to feel the pain. Its rise against the dollar over the past few
weeks, along with the euro’s similar rise, suggests a gradual shift by
investors out of dollar assets. A falling dollar could bring trouble
for America, and for its Federal Reserve which meets next week to
decide whether to raise interest rates (see article). The benign trend
of a strong dollar and weak commodity prices seems to be on the turn,
bringing worries of higher inflation.
China, and regional political stability, is always perilously hard to
predict. That country’s economy appears to be undergoing a slow
collapse rather than a crisis. But it is now in the midst of a war of
words with Taiwan, which could merely be one of their periodic bouts
of sabre-rattling but has the potential to turn into a sabre-clash at
any moment. The region is also waiting nervously to see whether North
Korea is about to test a new long-range missile, for if it does all
number of bets will be off. The East Asian yo-yo has bounced back. But
its string still looks frayed.
http://www.economist.com
Yap Yok Foo
23rd August 1999
Voters are the boss says group
KUALA LUMPUR: A new Malaysian Chinese group has called on the
country's 10 million odd voters to reject political parties or
politicians who threaten voters.
In a three-page declaration ahead of a possible snap election, it
yesterday urged the people to insist on their rights and dignity.
``Whichever party you may support, this message has to be communicated
to the political parties and politicians loud and clear _ `People are
the boss.'
``Politicians re-elected should remember that the people do not owe
them any favours but instead they owe the people favours.''
The declaration also hit out at threats there would not be any
development for constituencies which voted for the opposition.
``These utterances not only mirror arrogance on the part of the
politicians but also ignorance of the people,'' it added.
In the past, members of the ruling coalition have called for people to
be grateful for the decades of prosperity and stability it had brought
since Malaysia gained independence in 1957.
Wong Chin Huat, organiser of the awareness campaign, said the
declaration was a political statement but that it was non-partisan.
There was a need to exercise their political rights and not to be
``brainwashed and bullied into subservient'', he said. - AFP
http://online.hkstandard.com
Jon Rozarevic-Tan
> ``Politicians re-elected should remember that the people do not owe
> them any favours but instead they owe the people favours.''
>
> The declaration also hit out at threats there would not be any
> development for constituencies which voted for the opposition.
>
> ``These utterances not only mirror arrogance on the part of the
> politicians but also ignorance of the people,'' it added.
>
> In the past, members of the ruling coalition have called for people to
> be grateful for the decades of prosperity and stability it had brought
> since Malaysia gained independence in 1957
Look like a tough battle is at hand this time. Barisan could be in deep shit
if this net voters are found correct. Check it out at
http://www.freevote.com/booth/mal_election
ad
>Look like a tough battle is at hand this time. Barisan could be in deep
shit
>if this net voters are found correct. Check it out at
>http://www.freevote.com/booth/mal_election
>
>
Please don't take the net voters too seriously. Anyone can vote,
including the 12 year olds.
Yap Yok Foo
Issue 30th August 1999
Mahathir Under Fire
Battered by a long financial crisis, and by criticism over sacking his
successor, Mahathir now faces his toughest election battle ever.
Can he save Malaysia Inc.?
By Ron Moreau and Tony Emerson
"Is it big enough for you?" cracks Mahathir Mohamed, calling from
behind a desk at the end of his cavernous new office. The room is the
size of a small gym, with an arched floor-to-ceiling window
overlooking Putrajaya, the new $8 billion capital city that Mahathir
is carving out of the palm plantations south of Kuala Lumpur. In the
distance, across an artificial lake, rises the prime minister's new
residence, a pinkish stone fantasy topped by a grand, green onion
dome, with white stairs cascading about 20 flights through palm trees
down to the shore. It is indeed quite big enough, even for a leader
whose vision critics attack as fit for an Egyptian king. "It's not for
me. I'm not going to be here very much longer," Mahathir says with a
shrug. "It is the residence of the prime minister of Malaysia, not of
Dr. Mahathir the Pharaoh."
Putrajaya will be remembered as the crowning achievement of Mahathir's
18-year reign or, perhaps, as the bunker where he made his last stand.
In an interview with NEWSWEEK, Mahathir seems serene in the belief
that he has survived the last test — his one-man battle against the
worst financial crisis to strike Asia since World War II. While
collapsing currencies "humiliated" rulers and tycoons across the
region, Mahathir says, he attacked. He denounced the "colonial"
Western powers exploiting the crisis to "take control" of Asia, and
shut off his nation to currency trading. If his attackers cast him as
a dictator stuck in racial politics of the past, defying the modern
global market, so be it. He says he can hold off the money traders
with currency controls "indefinitely." At 74, he has not completed his
lifelong mission to lift the Malay sons of the soil, or bumiputras,
above their oppressors, whether they be American and European
financiers or Chinese businessmen at home. "Sure, it's been difficult"
these past two years, he says. "The most difficult part is trying to
manage the economy, when I'm not in control. In my country, I'm in
control. In politics, I'm in control."
Now, the next test. With all of Southeast Asia recovering, lifting the
Malaysian economy with it, Mahathir is widely expected to call
elections as early as next month. He is already out campaigning,
delivering a stump speech that echoes his firebrand nationalism from
the 1960s, when he hectored fellow Malays to toss off their colonial
reputation as "nature's gentlemen" and seize Malaysia's wealth from
the British and Chinese. He lectures Malays to be "grateful" for all
that he and the ruling United Malay National Organization have done to
raise their share of national wealth from 2 to 30 percent, and to save
them from "foreign powers." Everywhere, he invokes the specter of
1969, when the largely Chinese opposition denied UMNO its customary
two-thirds majority in Parliament — and Malays vented their rage on
celebrating Chinese in a Kuala Lumpur bloodbath. The leader of the
Chinese opposition, then and now, Lim Kit Siang, says "Mahathir's
subliminal message is that there will be racial violence again if he
isn't returned by a two-thirds majority."
For the first time in years, Mahathir could lose. No one had the power
to stand up to Mahathir until he sacked his designated successor,
Anwar Ibrahim, at the height of the economic crisis last September,
then threw him in jail on charges of covering up a homosexual
relationship with his chauffeur. Anwar was convicted of the cover-up
in Asia's "trial of the century," during which police admitted
"turning witnesses," and jailers gave Anwar a nasty black eye. "You
couldn't find characters out of Central Casting to make the judiciary
look more ridiculous," says a Western diplomat. Now facing a second
trial for sexual misconduct, Anwar is fighting back from his prison
cell, issuing a stream of reports accusing Mahathir of enriching and
protecting business cronies, lavishing more than $50 million on the
new "palace." As former Finance minister, his revelations carry a
certain weight. Mahathir's angry rebuttal — that Anwar had his own
cronies and stole state secrets — only strengthens the growing sense
that the lid is coming off Malaysia Inc.
The campaign is shaping up as a referendum on Mahathir. Even those who
see Anwar as a younger, slicker version of his mentor are flocking to
opposition parties, which are registering new members at a rate of
more than 10,000 per week. Led by the Justice Party of Anwar's wife,
Azizah, the fractured opposition (box) is calling for abolition of
colonial-era security laws and Special Branch secret police. They want
reform of cronyism, of the judiciary and of an electoral system that,
they say, still allows UMNO to marshal soldiers and their wives, even
phantoms and the dead, to cast votes for the ruling party. In the
countryside, UMNO is a "one-stop shop" offering everything from
student loans to funeral arrangements, and civil servants "educate"
villagers about the ruling party's good deeds. Against those odds, the
surging opposition probably can't win. But they might deny Mahathir
the two-thirds majority he has used, in the past, to pass
constitutional amendments sidelining Malay sultans and other
challengers. It would be a crippling blow to Malaysia Inc.
BEFORE THE ANWAR affair, Malaysians had largely assumed that their
prospering country was growing more liberal as well. In Kuala Lumpur,
or "KL," a city of 1.5 million people and a tiny Malay elite, everyone
knew that Mahathir and Anwar lived side by side in rambling Malay
houses in leafy Daman-sara Heights. "We know our politicians
intimately here," says a KL theater director. "It's like the whole
country is Washington."
It's hard to overstate the shock last September when Mahathir, seizing
on a poison-pen letter, went on TV to denounce his deputy. He used
words, "anal intercourse" and "masturbation," never publicly uttered
in this Muslim nation. Malay offices, friends and even families split
into Anwar and Mahathir camps, which will define this election. "KL is
a small town, where maybe 2,000 people call the shots, and the police
keep a book on everyone who matters," says a Western diplomat.
"Suddenly they realize that if this can happen to Anwar it can happen
to anyone. That's a fear they didn't have before."
Both sides warn that the campaign will be the dirtiest in Malaysian
history, which is saying something. Opposition magazines and Web sites
are proliferating, with some hysterically comparing Mahathir to the
great tyrants of history. Ruling-party hacks are starting to toy with
the Justice Party, says Azizah, pulling speaking permits at the last
minute, even taking a potshot at the house of one party member or
lighting a bonfire outside the home of another. The Special Branch,
which a diplomat describes as "hunter-gatherers" of information for
UMNO, hover around opposition rallies. "The police have to watch us,
because others are watching them. That's how Mahathir operates," says
Azizah. "But it's not working. Even the police are starting to smile
back when I wave."
In this atmosphere of gamesmanship it's difficult even for Mahathir to
gauge true public sentiment. On a recent campaign trip to Anwar's home
territory of Permatang Pauh, he sounded genuinely appreciative of the
large turnout, though most were UMNO loyalists bused in by party hacks
to provide him a warm reception. That, anyway, is what locals said
later. During his speech, Mahathir remarked to the crowd of 10,000
that at times he is beginning to feel "very isolated... very lonely"
in his job. "Thank God," he said, "the people still seem to support
the government."
It is commonplace to hear in KL that Mahathir has grown too large for
Malaysia, certainly too powerful to be truly approachable. On a Sunday
stroll through the stores of the Petronas Towers — the world's tallest
building and the most famous of his megaprojects — Mahathir stirs
startled whispers of "There goes the P.M.!" Most keep a respectful
distance. Three nervous teenage girls ask to pose for a picture,
giggling, "We adore him!" They don't care about the Anwar affair, but
one 17-year-old boy says students are angry — and he marches up and
tells the prime minister so. Mahathir responds with a wan smile,
almost a grimace.
His hunter-gatherers appear to be feeding Mahathir information that
makes the reform movement easy to dismiss. On the stump, he says he
has discovered mounting evidence that Anwar had been secretly building
a power base and conspiring with "foreign powers" to topple him. Anwar
had embraced IMF-style reform, which Mahathir blames for igniting the
riots that brought down Suharto in Indonesia. Aides call Anwar "a CIA
agent." As for the reform movement, Mahathir calls it an un-Malay
rabble of ingrates, thugs and paid agents of Anwar's plot. "You pay
them a few cents, they are quite happy to protest," he says.
Malaysians are less sure than ever what is allowed and what is not.
For more than a decade, government censors have been granting the
Instant Cafe Theatre in Kuala Lumpur permits for increasingly sardonic
political reviews. Officials eager to demonstrate a "liberal" sense of
humor have even invited the troop to international conferences in
Kuala Lumpur, though they often complain afterward that this or that
skit went too far. The troop has parodied Mahathir as the captain of
the Titanic, hinted that he might soon go the way of Marcos and
Suharto, and never gotten in real trouble. Now, however, locals are
staying away, fearful that the cafe will be raided by police. "Even if
I start talking politics at the dinner table, my relatives shoosh me,"
says director Jo Kukathas. "What we want is a government that doesn't
condescend to us."
The same fear grips the main-stream press. Since a 1989 crackdown on
the largest English dailies, editors have hewed to Mahathir's notion
that reporters should help him develop the nation. Papers that violate
the unwritten rules of "developmental journalism" risk losing their
operating permits. "We know what he doesn't like," says a top national
editor, noting that there is "definitely" a ban on publishing photos
of the new palace. But is there? "You can't hide a house that big,"
says Mahathir, giving the green light (above photo). "People go around
trying to figure out what I like, then trying to do what they think I
like. Even simple things. But they've got me wrong. They've got me
wrong."
Mahathir is from the poor provincial capital of Kedah, where he once
worked as a banana seller in the wet market before putting himself
through medical school. He made his controversial name in politics
with pseudoscientific attacks on Malay sloth and indigence, and with
calls on his countrymen to lift themselves up, as he had. He still
sees himself as an authority on the Malay soul. On a recent campaign
return to Kedah, aides warm up the crowd by boasting how his
megaprojects had done Malays proud. Mahathir opens a new motorcycle
factory, hands out bicycles to top local students. Then he denounces
other youths, "brainwashed" by Anwar, who don't appreciate UMNO loans
and scholarships, who ridicule Putrajaya. "I don't know what I have
done to them," he complains. "Islam teaches us to be grateful, but
they are not grateful." Off to the side, a group of young women in
Islamic head scarves mutter that Kedah is still so poor, it's time for
Mahathir to retire.
Mahathir wants to protect his legacy first. After the fall of Suharto,
he became the longest-standing ruler in Asia, and he seems haunted by
comparisons to the Indonesian kleptocracy and its billionaire leading
family. Leaning forward in his office chair, he insists that Putrajaya
is for Malaysia, not for him, and that while people shower him with
cars and gifts, all go into a state museum on the resort island of
Langkawi. He says his salary is about $4,000 a year. Whenever a deal
involving one of his three children comes before the cabinet, says
Mahathir, he recuses himself. Besides, he says, his children are not
merely collecting rents from national monopolies. "They are not
idiots, they are doing real business," he says.
His family is ready to defend Malaysia Inc., too. Mahathir's second
son, Mokhzani, invites us to high tea at Carcosa, a luxury Kuala
Lumpur hotel that is the former residence of the British high
commissioner. The setting itself helps explain some of his father's
anticolonial bitterness. Perched amid 40-acre gardens on a high hill
overlooking the Parliament, Carcosa was a standing reminder of how the
British "lorded it over" the Malays. In 1986, the prime minister
offered the British what Mokhzani calls "a deal they couldn't refuse,"
and took it away.
At the same time UMNO's campaign to take back national wealth from the
British and Chinese was getting into high gear, and Mokhzani was one
of the Malay businessmen who won a privatization contract — not, he
points out, a free national monopoly, like Suharto's children got. Now
38, Mokhzani makes a quick calculation in his head and figures his net
worth at $60 million, mainly from a hospital-supply contract for the
southern provinces of Malaysia. "Someone once said my father should
get whatever he wants, for all he has done for the country," says
Mokhzani. "He is dragging Malays into the next century."
At his inner sanctum in Putrajaya, Mahathir has regained control of
the economy from the latter-day Western "colonialists," and is
confident he can micromanage Malaysia Inc. Every day, he says, he
meets with his National Economic Action Council, studying numbers. Car
sales. Motorcycle sales. Bank reserves. "Everything. Every day," he
says. "We sit down at that table in this office, and we do
everything." OK, say housing sales are weak: Mahathir summons the
builders, bankers, lawyers. They choose models, sales incentives and,
for "one whole month, throughout the country, we sell houses. If we
recover, it is not by accident, it is by design. To run a country, you
have to know everything that is going on."
Building Putrajaya despite the financial crisis confirms that one man
can triumph over global markets, over the so-called free-market
experts. Or so Mahathir sees it. He hopes to rekindle all the
Malay-pride projects slowed or stalled by the Asian crisis, including
the world's longest building, the world's longest bridge and
Cyberjaya, a Malaysian Silicon Valley also carved out of the palm
plantations. It could all happen, unless, of course, Mahathir is
surprised at the polls by the opposition, which wants to cancel
megaprojects as too grand. "They say Rome was not built in a day, but
Putrajaya was, and at a time when people were going hungry," says a
spokesman for the Muslim opposition party PAS. They promise to sell
the palace to the highest bidder, even if it's one of those Western
colonial powers.
http://newsweek.com
Yap Yok Foo
Issue 30th August 1999
Exclusive: Mahathir's first interview with Western journalists at the
new capital of Putrajaya
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed is now the longest-serving ruler in
Asia, and perhaps the most confusing: a man of modest personal tastes
who is building a new palace, a global maverick who has been known to
court Westerners and bash them as "imperialists" in the same speech, a
Muslim who mentored Anwar Ibrahim, then saw his deputy jailed in a
homosexual scandal. On his 18th anniversary as prime minister of
Malaysia, he spoke to NEWSWEEK's Ron Moreau and Tony Emerson.
Excerpts:
How do you respond to critics who say you're building a palace fit for
a pharaoh?
They can call me a pharaoh if they like. It's not for me. I won't be
around much longer. It's the residence of the prime minister, not Dr.
Mahathir the pharaoh.
Do you see this election as the fight of your political life?
Not necessarily. I've had to face some difficult elections. In 1990,
one fourth of my cabinet left with the man who challenged me for the
presidency of the party [and lost].
You've said support for Anwar was really support for you. Do you still
believe that?
I'm learning quite a few things. That while he was close to me, and
making use of my support to gain popularity, he was building up
personal loyalties. Now I'm discovering government officers, business
people, party members. He cultivated them by giving them some
privileges, some perks and all that. Before this, I wasn't really
interested. I thought that by 1998, I would stop, step down. I didn't
see any point in going on. But, of course, the economy went bad, then
I discovered these things.
You've dismissed pro-Anwar protesters as "ingrates, hippy people, beer
drinkers." Is there nothing you can learn from the "reformasi"
movement?
I found it difficult to believe that [Anwar] is not what he makes
himself out to be. If it is difficult for me to believe that he is not
pious, it is even more difficult for his followers. But demonstration
is not characteristic of Malaysians. Malaysians generally are not
violent. So he had to resort to getting schoolchildren, to getting
university students and also some thugs involved. I saw a picture of
them, you know? A picture of them, you know, they were carrying beer
bottles. Obviously they had been drinking. This is taken by the press,
not by me. These are the kind of people who protest. You pay them a
few cents, they're quite happy to demonstrate. Some of those people
confess that they have been paid.
How do you respond to Malays who say it's "un-Malay" to humiliate a
public official in this way?
It is part of the Islamic religion that you don't humiliate them. But
I have been forced into a position of either humiliating a friend, a
single person or letting the whole country be humiliated. If this
country is led by a man who, later on, we discover is a homosexual and
all that, it would bring shame to the whole country. There's no
conspiracy. I wanted to hand power over to him. I'm now 74. I didn't
want to be saddled to this desk for the rest of my years.
Many Malaysians fear that if it can happen to Anwar, it can happen to
them.
It has happened only to Anwar. Before, it happened to other ministers.
At that stage, if you had asked me if the courts were biased I would
have agreed. But it is biased against the government. Recently
ministers and chief ministers who have been investigated have all been
from my party.
Are you concerned that your antiforeign rhetoric gives Malaysia the
wrong image?
You know we were building the economy of this country; we were
succeeding very well. We were growing at 8 percent every year. It's
been hard work. Somebody comes along and just smashes everything to
pieces and I'm expected to keep quiet and not say anything? Who are
they? I mention the people. They just happen to be Europeans and
Americans. I say it. That doesn't mean I'm anti-American. If we had
gone under, and the IMF takes over, we would have lost our
independence. The IMF approach is to take over control of the economy.
That, to me, is colonialism. You see, when you take over the economy,
you must eventually take over the politics. This is what happened to
neighboring countries. As you know, when the economy went down, they
had to change their leaders, change their system.
You're referring to Indonesia?
That is your guess, not mine. But you can see, here is [IMF chief
Michel] Camdessus, standing up over the president of 250 million
people. To me that is very humiliating. I will not stand for Camdessus
standing there while I sign away my authority.
Was IMF reform a threat to the New Economic Policy [an
affirmative-action program for Malays]?
Yes. When they start saying you must have no discrimination, you must
do away with subsidies, you must not help anybody to come up, then all
this work that we have done to give indigenous people a share will be
undone. In fact, it is undone. Most of them have now collapsed. The
IMF and currency traders have done all that. Am I supposed to be
thankful? Others cannot say it because they borrow from the IMF. Their
mouths are shut. They have no freedom.
In practice, aren't you doing what IMF- supported countries are doing?
What the IMF asked us to do, to squeeze credit, that we don't do. My
deputy [Anwar] followed the IMF. He increased interest rates, and we
went almost bankrupt. On top of that, he cut back on government
expenditure by 21 percent. Since 80 percent of our expenditures are
for operations, and 20 for development, that means there will be no
development. But he does these things because he's told this is the
way to do it.
Don't your restructuring agencies mirror those in IMF countries?
We learned all this from the Swedes, not from the IMF.
Are your capital controls a model for Asia?
It can be, but most [countries] are not in a strong-enough position.
We were very strong financially. We had $20 billion in reserves. But
currency controls are something that people should think about as a
solution to a very unstable situation. Knowing what the exchange rate
is makes it easy for people to budget. Businessmen are making profits.
They tell me, "You saved my life." We can keep these control on
indefinitely.
You've written that Japanese occupiers were more brutal than the
British, but you seem more angry at the British. Why?
Under the British we didn't suffer in terms of oppression, but they
looked down upon us. The [Malay] sultan was not allowed into a British
club, the Lake Club in Kuala Lumpur. That kind of thing I believe is
much more not only humilating, but oppressive. So that is my feeling
about the British. I must say that they did a good job, too. They left
us with an administrative machinery which we could use and improve
upon. But after independence the Japanese were more forthcoming in
bringing in investment and technology. So if the Japanese are nice
today I say they are nice.
Have you laid down rules to prevent your children from being attacked
for corruption, as former Indonesian president Suharto's children are?
In Indonesia, it is their way of life. It is natural for them to take
bribes, for example. Everything can be arranged. Here it has never
been like that. I prevented my children from doing so many businesses
that at one point they got fed up with me and said, "We can't do
anything because you say no to this and no to that." Take a comparison
between Pertamina and Petronas [Indonesia's national petrol company
versus Malaysia's]. Not a single member of my family has any business
with Petronas. Of course no one will believe us. Because, well, they
say all these people are corrupt.
Will slower growth create political problems, by making it difficult
to create "Malay millionaires"?
It is not just making millionaires. You have to have bumiputras [Malay
sons of the soil] at every level. If you have Chinese millionaires you
must have bumiputras. If bumiputras are only selling cakes by the
roadside that is not good enough. If there is a Chinese middle class
then there must be a bumi middle class. We will find a way around it
[slower growth]. Despite our economy going down, you don't see Malays
fighting Chinese in this country. In 1969, Malays came out to burn
houses and cars on the street, absolutely certain that the houses and
the vehicles they burned belonged to the Chinese. Today if they burn
the cities, they would be burning their own houses and cars. So they
don't do that anymore.They have a stake. That is our belief and we
work toward it.
Azuan Yazdani
<snip>
>Mahathir wants to protect his legacy first. After the fall of Suharto,
>he became the longest-standing ruler in Asia, and he seems haunted by
>comparisons to the Indonesian kleptocracy and its billionaire leading
>family. Leaning forward in his office chair, he insists that Putrajaya
>is for Malaysia, not for him, and that while people shower him with
>cars and gifts, all go into a state museum on the resort island of
>Langkawi. He says his salary is about $4,000 a year. Whenever a deal
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Hmmm....this is interesting. I'm assuming that the writer is quoting
the figure in US Dollars. I wonder whether the mistake's on purpose?
It should read more like $4,000 a month than $4,000 a year, and that's
excluding his allowance as a Member of Parliament as well as allowances
from committees and councils that he sits on.
Yap Yok Foo
Undated
Cronyism - the facade of popularity
By Sadirah K.
Let us consider some "Malaysia Boleh" achievements of our present
prime minister. He has survived three deputy prime minsters todate.
The incumbent is still undergoing training. He removed from office the
head of the judiciary - something that has never happened in any
Commonwealth nation for hundreds of years. Sedition aside, he took on
the Rulers and curtailed their powers and set up a Tribunal to hear
cases against them. The wealth of his children and the PM's residence
at Putra Jaya are notable achievements. Finally the mega projects have
been a exercise in responding to a deep inferiority complex that is
determined to show that we can do it. Only people who accept this
premise need such exhibits to prove their capabilities.
Welcomed by a mixture of fear and hope, Dr Mahathir introduced his own
style of leadership. Assertive and aggressive he went on to deal with
crisis after crisis both economic and political. None were ready to
challenge him. Those who did so are today in oblivion be they
supporters of Musa Hitam or Tengku Razaleigh. His singular strategy
was based on "Mahathir First". Despite the challenge to his party
leadership he survived. He defeated Tengku Razaleigh by the smallest
of margins. Yet, this challenge was to spur him into ensuring that his
position from then on was safe and secure both as UMNO president and
as Prime Minister.
All his preaching, slogans and visions have bred many cynics. What has
happened to a "clean strong and trustworthy government"? His perceived
strengths are today his greatest weaknesses. His characteristic
aggressive response has sent fear down the spine of many. He did so
even to the extent of getting UMNO deregistered disregarding both the
Tunku and Tun Hussein Onn. He took on the constitutional amendments
and curtailed the powers of the Rulers. The sacking of the then Lord
President Tun Salleh Abbas and the setting up of the Tribunal all
describe the extent to which Dr Mahathir would go to preserve his own
position. He has also applied this strategy in dealing with Anwar
Ibrahim. In doing so he has overestimated the people's perceptions
about him.
He realised early that he could never be a popular leader. So the way
to perpetuate himself in power was to ensure close control of the
party machinery. He also ensured that a critical mass of party leaders
would stand by him. Money politics was unfortunately part of this
strategy. If you cannot win them then buy them. He made it possible
for several to be rewarded with titles and positions. How do you
explain Menteri Besar's in power for nearly 25 years and other
politicians in positions for over a decade? He perpetuated this to
ensure his own position. While his supporters may not like to the fact
remains that he regards them all, both businessmen and politicians
alike, as his cronies.
The earlier UMNO crisis leading to its de-registration and the more
recent crisis relating to Saudara Anwar Ibrahim are examples of this
reality. Dr Mahathir has succeeded in subjugating every interest
within UMNO. Where are the independent minded leaders ? Dr Mahathir
was one of the most outspoken leaders within UMNO during the era of
the late Tunku and Tun Razak. Why has he not allowed the same spirit
to develop within the party? Well at least he realised that he could
not endear himself to people so the best option was to assert subtle
control over them. This approach breeds sycophancy. The extent of this
reality can be evaluated by the manner in which a popular Deputy
President of UMNO can be sacked both from the Cabinet and the party on
consecutive days. The President meanwhile retains his position and
strengthens his hold on power.
To understand this phenomenon one has to study the linkages in terms
of money and power that has flourished under Dr Mahathir's regime.
Every leader has his style, his strengths and weaknesses. Dr Mahathir
has revealed himself. At 74 and after being in power for over 18 years
there is a different expectancy from him. Such an age calls for a
marked expression of graciousness, compassion and the spirit of
forgiving. The political leader would begin to look beyond raw
politics and bloom into a statesman. It is a time in the life of most
people when they reflect on their deeds and actions. A time when
refinement exhibits itself as they reassess their days on earth
committed to providing value happiness and love to all around them and
those involved with them.
In this context what do we see reflected by Dr Mahathir? The manner in
which he responded to the "Anwar Ibrahim" crisis, a leader who had
stood by him for over 16 years, revealed the stark side of Dr
Mahathir. The beatings inflicted on him by the then IGP will be part
of the "black hole of Kuala Lumpur." The legal findings reveal a weak
case against Anwar in relation to the sordid issues levelled against
him. The existence of a conspiracy is convincing. The continued
vilification against him and his family are acts of cruelty. How many
souls would have to answer explicitly and implicitly for these acts?
This is why the Shariah is so clear about the high standards of
evidence required to convict such offences. Blinded by arrogance and
anger our leaders move swiftly bringing criminal charges.
The bill for these consequences would be paid by many. The national
consequences are evident in the manner in which institutions like the
Judiciary, Bank Negara and the Police force are perceived to be facing
a crisis of confidence. Many are silenced by fear. Beyond the rights
and wrongs of human judgment there are deeper spiritual questions
which the present political crisis throws up. Some are judged while
others are protected. Not everyone seems to be equal before the law.
Recent revelations further tarnish the image of political leaders. Dr
Mahathir may have perceived advantage in securing Anwar behind bars.
In the final analysis the battle for the minds of people is still
going on.
Materialism and power are subtle forces. They wean their way
unconsciously and sooner or later sincere individuals find themselves
gripped, unable to be independent and free. Subtle compromises extract
a price. The leader soon becomes unaware of his own weaknesses.
Sycophancy ensures that he continues in the same trail. None are ready
to correct him. He can neither help himself for cronyism continues to
be the facade of his popularity. Soon we have another instance of a
well meaning and able leader falling victim to weaknesses that soon
engulf him. Dr Mahathir is now ripe in this context. When the rot gets
exposed many become victims. Others can only ask, "How did we allow
this to happen?"
http://members.xoom.com/harakah2/semasa
*DivaDoo*~*
yf...@pop.jaring.my (Yap Yok Foo) posted:
>Was IMF reform a threat to the New Economic Policy [an
>affirmative-action program for Malays]?
>Yes. When they start saying you must have no discrimination, you must
>do away with subsidies, you must not help anybody to come up, then all
>this work that we have done to give indigenous people a share will be
>undone. In fact, it is undone.
cut those lies, Dr DoubleSpeak.
many REAL, AUTHENTIC, GENUINE, ORIGINAL indigenous people on the
peninsular as well as east malaysia, are suffering more hardship these
days, thanks to your wonderful "positive" discrimination to "protect"
the indigenous.
it's obvious now, that your definition of "indigenous" equals "the few
guys loyal to me mahathir".
more then ever, Sarawakian and Sabahan indigenous people are suffering
from over-logging, diminishing farmland, flooding settlement, ugly
view of half-built ultra-polluting mega dams, malnourishment, FAMINE,
severe air and water pollution, absent basic education and medical
infrastructure, poverty, joblessness, crony-police joint oppression,
etc. etc. etc.
meanwhile, at twin-towered klang valley, some 1st-class indigenous
sons of 1st-class indigenous politicians and cronies try out more
german import sports models, designer addictive substance, novelty
underage prostitutes, and continue their positive oppression of the
powerless indigenous and non-indigenous underclass, which somehow
never went away with That Fxxked-up Affirmative Policy.
*DivaDoo*~*
>Was IMF reform a threat to the New Economic Policy [an
>affirmative-action program for Malays]?
>Yes. When they start saying you must have no discrimination, you must
>do away with subsidies, you must not help anybody to come up,
oh not that one-dimension bullshitting again...
did anyone say "malaysia must do away with subsidies"?
isn't it common sense that most countries - even the first world -
have their own subsidies??
mahathir should just skip those doubleSpeak. people are not idiots.
the point is - *malaysia must move on to NON-RACE subsidies*.
malaysia should provide subsidies - to help low-income malaysians to
stand up. not just low-income malays, but EVERY low-income malaysians,
*including* the malays.
for thrity years the racist government only gave subsidies to 60% of
its population, while leaving 40% of tax-paying population to their
own device, and demise!!!
no wonder there's big QUALITY LABOR SHORTAGE PROBLEM!!!
how could any sane people justify this barbaric policy?
AZTEC
AZTEC
Yap Yok Foo
MALAYSIA: Economic slide comes to an end
Malaysia's economy grew 4.1 per cent in the second quarter of 1999,
ending five consecutive quarters of decline and bringing the country
in line with a recovering region.
Bank Negara, the central bank, said the turnaround was led by strong
external demand, which generated increases in income that provided the
basis for a revival in private consumption. Government efforts to
accelerate disbursements from a fiscal stimulus package, which had
been held up by bureaucracy, also contributed.
"The recession, though sharp, has been shorter than expected because
of the external environment," said Song Seng Wun, regional economist
at GK Goh Research.
The resilience of the US economy, as well as improvements in much of
Asia, including Japan, indicated the recovery would be sustainable, he
said, making possible full-year growth of around 5 per cent.
Bank Negara said it expected growth for 1999 to be "significantly
higher" than the official 1 per cent forecast, but declined to provide
a new estimate.
Economists had forecast second-quarter growth of about 3 per cent and
attributed the better performance to a surprisingly strong
contribution from the agriculture sector, which grew by 8.7 per cent
to account for about 9 per cent of gross domestic product. Lower palm
oil prices pushed up demand, leading to an almost 50 per cent increase
in crude palm oil production. Strong demand from China for forestry
products also provided a boost.
The manufacturing sector, which contributes 28 per cent of GDP, also
benefited - as expected - from strong external demand, especially for
semiconductors and electronic components.
Growth in manufacturing increased by 10.4 per cent. Economists said
the sector was helped by Malaysia's fixed exchange rate, the global
recovery in electronics and by the increased higher output of
Malaysian cars.
Pegging the currency at M$3.8 to the US dollar has kept Malaysia's
currency from regaining some of the pre-crisis strength restored to
other currencies in east Asia, giving manufacturers a cost advantage.
http://www.ft.com
daeng nazri
Nanti tak ada modal dalam ceramah.
Yap Yok Foo <yf...@pop.jaring.my> wrote in message
news:37cd9d5c...@nntp.jaring.my...
Sting
macam nie
tapi kalau cerita rogol ka liwat ka yang kena mengena dengan orang gomen..
fuuuuuhhhhhh berita sensasi bebbb...
hang agak la.. katakanlah AnalWar tu tak kena buang dari gomen... apa cerita
dalam harakah sekarang ni..
daeng nazri <daen...@tm.net.my> wrote in message
news:37c51...@news.tm.net.my...
Yap Yok Foo
26th August 1999
Anwar Still Has Political Allies
By Ranjan Roy. Associated Press Writer
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Leaping up a flight of stairs from an
underground tunnel for convicts, Anwar Ibrahim steps into a
blue-carpeted courtroom and suddenly becomes his former self.
The one-time heir to Malaysia's political throne leans across a wooden
rail, hugs his relatives, waves and shakes hands with his supporters
and in hushed tones talks to his political allies until a guard nudges
him toward the dock.
One year ago, Anwar was the second most powerful and popular
politician in the country, as deputy prime minister and finance
minister.
Then on Sept. 2 last year, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad abruptly
fired Anwar, accusing him of homosexuality, corruption and plotting to
topple him.
Anwar, who vehemently denies the charges, was convicted of abuse of
power and is serving six years in solitary confinement while standing
trial for allegedly sodomizing a former family driver.
At the Sungai Buloh prison clinic, until an even more isolated cell is
complete, Anwar reads and does prison chores like painting walls.
Guards don't let him get too close to fellow inmates. Even during
communal Muslim prayers, he is brought in last and is first to be
taken away, says his wife, Azizah Ismail.
The year has left Anwar, 52, pale and thinner. His ironed shirts hang
loose on his drooping shoulders and his bald patches are more
pronounced. But he ensures a dignified and stylish presence in court,
carrying a brown leather briefcase, wearing jeweled cufflinks and
polished black dress shoes.
Locked away from public gaze, Anwar is even more charismatic. Despite
Mahathir's best efforts, he has created a martyr who has hurt a
carefully manicured political landscape controlled by the prime
minister's United Malays National Organization, or UMNO, since
Malaysia became independent in 1957.
Anwar posters, pins, T-shirts, cassettes of his speeches and books
about his life flourish as fast as the government tries to erase him
from public memory.
His photograph -- with his right fist raised in defiance, deep bruises
around his left eye inflicted by the police chief on the night of his
Sept. 20 arrest -- is now a symbol of state oppression. The cry
``Reformasi,'' the Malay word for political reform, reverberates at
opposition rallies.
``Previously, the ruling party was considered unassailable. Now there
is serious talk of forming an alternative,'' Anwar told The Associated
Press in a written reply to questions.
``In recent times, we have never witnessed such debate on corruption
in high places, abuse of police powers and instruments of
government.''
Surrounded by computers spewing out evidence and arguments, a battery
of top government prosecutors sit in the courtroom trying to prove
that Anwar is a homosexual, a crime in this predominantly Muslim
country. Defense lawyers, one a senior opposition lawmaker, in turn
attempt to prove a political conspiracy behind the charges.
Anwar's lawyers may be losing the battle, but outside the courtroom,
Anwar allies are gaining ground.
Roused by the public outcry over Anwar's treatment, an opposition
hounded into near oblivion during Mahathir's 18-year rule sprang to
life. Parties shed mutual suspicions and racial and ideological
barriers to form a coalition in the name of making Malaysia more
democratic.
Thousands have braved the government's wrath to join opposition
rallies, especially those attended by Azizah, who heads the new
National Justice Party.
Until last year, politics rarely intruded into the lives of ordinary
Malaysians. But the Anwar case jolted the usually placid Southeast
Asian society.
People increasingly voice their opinions and flaunt their views by
pasting stickers and flying flags of opposition parties on their cars.
Executives wear Justice Party tie-pins, and new opposition magazines
flood the newsstands.
New Web sites, accessed by thousands each day, spout venom at
Mahathir. A popular one promises ``a much clearer window to the
outside world and even back into our own country.''
``The Anwar episode triggered something that was underlying, like the
storming of the Bastille triggered the French revolution,'' said
Rustam Sani, a political science professor and popular newspaper
columnist.
He recalled how pro-Anwar activists threw paper balls and soft drink
cartons at government leaders at UMNO headquarters the night Anwar was
expelled from the party.
``Never before in the history of Malay politics has something like
this occurred,'' he said.
Yet the opposition holds only 25 of the 192 seats in Parliament, and
few expect a major turnover after general elections, which must be
held by June 2000.
Meanwhile, Anwar's family suffers in his absence.
``I think he tries to shield us from the prison conditions,'' says
Nurul Izzah, 18, explaining her father's reluctance to discuss the
harshness of solitary confinement for a white-collar crime.
``We are getting used to the new life, but the pain is always there.''
http://search.washingtonpost.com
Yap Yok Foo
Undated
Illusion of an 'independent' Election Commission
By Kim Quek
On August 17, 1999, the Chairman of Election Commission, Omar Mohd
Hashim declared that the Commission "has shown impartiality at all
times", and assured the people that the "Commission would conduct the
coming Election in a free, fair and independent manner".
The audacity of the Commission Chairman in making such claims of
impartiality is stunning, being fresh from the Commission's
humiliating failure to uphold election laws in the recent Sabah
Election. In that Sabah debacle Barisan Nasional called "free and fair
electionS", BN leaders made a mockery of democracy by totally
disregarding our election laws.
Omar Hashim must have assumed Malaysians were either stupid or deaf
and dumb. Or else, how could he expect Malaysians to be unaware of
such open and widespread trampling of election laws in Sabah?
Decent minded Malaysians are still reeling from the revulsion of the
unjust treatment meted out to the voters of Sabah by the BN. Sabahans
had been subjected to threats, blackmail, fraud, corruption and
brain-washing on such a Richter scale as to shake the very foundation
of democratic constitution.
In addition, BN leaders had illegally made full use of the Federal and
State Government resources to work for a BN victory. This was done
through deploying practically all top Federal and State Government
leaders and hundreds of Government employees and utilising extensive
Government facilities including television and radio stations,
aircraft, vehicles and boats for BN's sustained election campaign. All
these manpower, travelling expenses and facilities were paid for by
the taxpayers. In short, the extent and nature of these breaches of
laws by BN are unsurpassed in any other democracy.
What has the Election Commission done against such glaring violation
of our Constitution and laws? Nothing!
In case Omar still wants to defend his claim of impartiality, we
invite him to explain the phenomenon that the Malay majority
constituencies in Sabah had suddenly increased from 14 to 24 out of
the total of 48 within the short period of 5 years. We contend that
this dramatic rise in Malay-dominated constituencies came about
through a combination of factors: the massive infusion of voters from
illegal Philippino and Indonesian immigrants and the cunning
re-delineation of electoral boundaries to maximise the number of
Muslim dominated constituencies. We further challenge Omar to accept
an independent enquiry into this phenomenon, if he defers from our
contention.
If Omar is serious in his assurance to the people that "the Commission
would conduct the coming elections in a free, fair and independent
manner", he should now comment on the Prime Minister's recent spate of
monetary allurement dished out to Government and quasi-Government
employees including pensioners on this election eve.
One recalls the ridiculous explanation given by the Prime Minister
recently on why the Government decided to grant the increase of
monthly allowances of up to RM 2,000 plus to 5 statutory bodies
including the EPF at this particular time, when the petitions for such
increases had been repeatedly rejected since 1994. The Prime
Minister's answer was that the petitions were not granted earlier
because the Government could not afford it, and it is granting these
increases now because our economy had started to turn around. Can you
imagine a more shameless lie than this from a prime minister? Or could
it be that our Prime Minister thought Malaysians might not have enough
intelligence to realise that 1998/99 were our worst recession years,
whereas 1995/96 were our golden years of economic growth?
Returning now to Omar's claim of total impartiality, one cannot help
but have this nasty suspicion that Omar could have taken the cue from
the Prime Minister - it is okay to lie to a stupid people.
Should any one still cherish the faint hope that the Election
Commission might be fair and independent this time, he needs only to
look at the Commission's mute response to the Prime Minister's recent
series of explicit threats of racial violence should Barisan Nasional
lose 2/3 majority in Parliament. In spite of vociferous and vehement
protests from the Alternative Front to such explicit and repeated
blackmail from the Prime Minister to the electorate, the Election
Commission remains silent.
The only way the people can be convinced now that the coming elections
may be conducted free and fair is to put in place a truly independent
Election Committee similar to the one in Indonesia. This Indonesian
Election Committee had recently won the applaud of not only the
Indonesians but the whole world in conducting a truly democratic
election for the first time in 4 decades. Our own Committee, if
formed, should be made up of independent and reputable persons and
representatives from all the participating political parties. It
should draw up the ground rules of do's and don'ts and have wide
ranging powers to punish offenders in its overall responsibilities to
conduct the elections.
However, judging from Mahathir's recent conduct of dishing out
allurement and threats alike at equal ease, it is perhaps a bit of
wishful thinking that he would agree that his trigger happy days be
curtailed by the creation of such a committee. Instead, it may be more
realistic to take his recent promise of "the dirtiest elections in
history" seriously, and brace ourselves for surprises that may spring
out from his bag of dirty tricks.
With Mahathir still exercising his firm grip on all Government
institutions and the mass media to serve his personal interests, it is
fair comment to say that the coming elections will be neither free nor
fair. And the people are powerless to change that certainty.
That leaves the people with only one option, if we do not want this
tragic nonsense to perpetuate. And the option is to cast our votes
against BN. Putting our 'X' on any party other than BN in our ballot
papers will do the job.
http://members.xoom.com/harakah2/semasa
Merc
AZTEC <AZ...@singnet.sg> wrote in message
news:37c416b9...@news.pacific.net.sg...
> Others would call him Mahatahi.
Yap Yok Foo
27th August 1999
Who Takes the Credit for Malaysia's Economic Upturn?
Reuters
KUALA LUMPUR - The Malaysian economy has rebounded in the year since
Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad imposed controls on the flow of
foreign exchange, but the debate continues over the economic and
political impact of the move.
Economic indicators point to a resurgence of domestic demand and
production since the second half of 1998. Real gross domestic product
jumped by 4.1 percent in the second quarter, the first year-on-year
increase in five quarters.
Private consumption indicators show a strong rebound in car sales,
imports of consumption goods, service tax collection and loan
approvals. Manufacturing production surged by 10.4 percent in the
second quarter year-on-year, driven by strong external demand for
semiconductors and electronic components.
Foreign-exchange reserves have risen by 50 percent since Sept. 1,
inflation is moderate and interest rates are low.
Mr. Mahathir contends that the controls not only led to the turnabout
but also helped set the foundation for Asia's recovery.
''We believe that the recovery of other East Asian economies is due to
the currency traders stopping their manipulation of the currencies,''
he wrote in Japan's Mainichi Daily.
The government points to the 190 percent surge in the benchmark index
of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange since Sept. 1, among the strongest
rallies in the region behind South Korea.
But economists say the Malaysian rebound is in line with the rest of
the region and cannot be attributed to capital controls.
''It is impossible to honestly claim the Malaysian recovery has been
either due to or despite the September 1998 measures as proponents and
opponents of the Malaysian controls have been keen to claim,'' said
Jomo Sundram, a University of Malaya professor.
The head of a foreign bank said Malaysia was helped by two unexpected
events. First, five weeks after Malaysia pegged the ringgit to the
U.S. dollar, the dollar slid sharply against the yen, giving the
ringgit a competitive edge that has helped the export-led recovery.
Then, the near collapse of the Long Term Capital Management Fund
caused banks to curb lending to hedge funds, taking some speculative
pressure off regional currencies.
http://www.iht.com/
Yap Yok Foo
26th August 1999
Malaysia gets a new 'hero'
By P. S. Suryanarayana
SINGAPORE, AUG. 25. Malaysia's mercurial politics, in itself a
relatively new phenomenon in the past year, today came under the spell
of a ``hero'' as Mr. Lim Guan Eng was cheered by his supporters,
variously estimated at between 2,000 and 5,000, outside a prison after
he had been freed from there.
Mr. Lim had been sent to jail almost a year ago after being judicially
found guilty of sedition and the offence of spreading false
information. He was released today, on grounds of good behaviour in
captivity - six months ahead of the completion of his judicially
determined jail term.
As a former top functionary of the Opposition Democratic Action Party
(DAP), Mr. Lim is now expected to resume his political activities
despite the sentence that had been served on him earlier banishing him
from the electoral arena for five years. Hinting at his enthusiasm for
a new political role in the changed circumstances, Mr. Lim told his
cheering supporters in Kuala Lumpur today that he would carry on his
campaign for reforms forward by pressing for the release of all those
who were, in his opinion, wrongfully jailed under the continuing reign
of the Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.
Mr. Lim called for the release, in particular, of Mr. Anwar Ibrahim,
former Deputy Prime Minister, who was sentenced to a six-year jail
term on April 14 this year on grounds of corrupt practices while in
power in regard to an attempt at scuttling an investigation into his
alleged sexual misconduct. Mr. Lim, no stranger to a jail term even
before his most recent one as he himself recounted, indicated that he
would continue to play a political role. He is the son of Mr. Lim Kit
Siang, the present leader of parliamentary Opposition. The DAP draws
much of its sustenance from sections of the ethnic Chinese-
Malaysians, but an attempt is now under way by this party to broaden
its political base, especially in the context of speculation that Dr.
Mahathir might call a snap general election sooner than later. The DAP
is already exploring ways of establishing suitable links with the
other Opposition groups, even as the party founded nominally by Mr.
Anwar's wife, Ms. Wan Azizah Ismail, is scouting for friends and not
masters.
Today's political developments of this order were to some extent
overshadowed in Kuala Lumpur by the news that the Government was
convinced that the country had now come out of a recession thanks to
the recent capital-flow controls and other measures. For Malaysia,
which did not wish to adopt the standard IMF remedies, this was a
welcome development in the context of the IMF and the World Bank,
which breathe down the neck of Indonesia, calling upon Jakarta to
unravel a bank scam involving alleged political kickback (the ``Bank
Bali scam'') so that assistance to Jakarta could be sustained.
http://www.indiaserver.com/thehindu
Yap Yok Foo
Stockbrokers fear 'shot-gun weddings'
By Lee Siew Lian
August 23, 1999
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most stockbrokers seem to agree with the government that Malaysia is
as over-brokered as it is over-banked, and welcome the move to
consolidate the stockbroking industry. However, many others are
wondering how committed the government is to a coherent plan to back
this move.
"There is a need to reduce the number of stockbroking firms and to
strengthen the ones which are left," says Sarawak Securities chief
executive officer Benny Ng.
By slimming down the industry this way, say observers, regulators are
hoping that their policy of "bigger and fewer is better" will help
prevent a repeat of the financial failures which accompanied the stock
market crash last year.
But even as brokers contemplate the inevitable pressure to merge, many
wonder about what they see as a conflict between the government's
stated intention to consolidate the number of brokerages and the
recent actions of its own agencies.
"Personally, I'm all for it, if they leave stockbroking firms to find
their own partners. But if they are really serious about
consolidation, surely they could start off now with the stockbroking
firms already under Danaharta. Why are these still being sold off one
by one?" asks a sceptical stockbroker.
Two weeks ago, government agency Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional said
there were successful bids for two out of the six stockbroking firms
it put up for grabs. Private company Ideal Appraisal Sdn Bhd bid RM60
million cash for troubled Alor Setar Securities, while an unknown
group, Share Technology Capital Group Sdn Bhd, bid RM17 million cash
for Labuan Securities. Bids for the other four failed to meet
regulators' criteria.
This development was made public two days after Second Finance
Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed said reducing the number of local
stockbroking firms from the current 64 is part of the government's
masterplan for Malaysia's capital markets.
A week earlier, the stock market was severely spooked by Bank Negara's
announcement of matchmade mergers, which will form Malaysia's six main
domestic banks. These mergers will reduce the number of local banks
from the current 20, which for many years resisted the pressure from
the central bank to consolidate.
Naturally, stockbrokers are worried that they, too, may one day face
"shot-gun weddings", which were ultimately prescribed by the
authorities for local banks.
"Ideally, we would like for these mergers to be left to market forces,
and for smaller firms which do not merge to be left to die off from
attrition," says the head of a local stockbroking firm.
Ironically, this is precisely the same kind of sentiment which local
banks expressed years ago when they were first faced with the
authorities' determination to create larger domestic banks.
However, stockbroking firms may merge more readily now, in view of the
strong- arm tactics of the central bank, and, increasingly, sheer
commercial reality.
"You can see there are too many stockbroking firms, just from
observing the institutional side of the business. It's a cut-throat
business," says a senior dealer with a Penang-based securities house.
Another institutional dealer points out that for years, brokers have
been undercutting each other and offering big rebates to attract
institutional clients, despite
the commission rates fixed by the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. He
predicts that commissions for institutional transactions will soon be
negotiable.
"And the way things are going, with more deregulation and trading on
the Internet, it is just a matter of time before the retail side of
the business is affected too," he adds.
Still, many brokers are hoping the government will look first to two
potential sources of "unforced" mergers -- the stockbroking firms
already under bad debt agency Danaharta's management and the
stockbroking firms owned by merging banks -- before resorting to
matchmaking.
"It will be interesting to see if the authorities will follow these
more natural groupings, or if they have some other objective in mind,"
says a local banker.
There are 10 brokerages under Danaharta's management -- Alor Setar
Securities, Halim Securities, Innosabah Securities, Jupiter
Securities, Labuan Securities, MBf Northern Securities, MGIC
Securities, Premier Capital Securities, Taiping Securities and WK
Securities.
Of these, six have been put up for tender. Alor Setar Securities and
Labuan Securities have found takers, while the special administrators
of the other four are preparing "workout" proposals to submit to
secured creditors. This is a sign many take to mean that the four
firms -- MBf Northern, Taiping Securities, Halim Securities and WK
Securities -- will eventually be put back into operation.
"It would be easier to merge these weaker institutions now rather than
later, while Danaharta or any other agency has still got some leverage
over them," notes a local dealer.
Excluding the two stockbroking firms already sold, a merger of the
remaining eight would reduce the number of brokers to 55 from the 62
currently operational.
Meanwhile, each of the six core banks may end up with one stockbroking
firm each, assuming that the bank mergers will not involve
stockbroking firms other than those directly owned by banks and
merchant banks. This also assumes that stockbroking firms owned by
companies related to the banking groups are not involved, such as HLG
Securities, which is owned by Hong Leong Bank's sister company HLG
Capital Bhd.
Note that BBMB Securities was excluded from the merger between the
Bank of Commerce and state-owned Bank Bumiputra. Sime Securities, too,
will not be involved in the bank merger, having been sold to
publicity-shy tycoon Datuk Robert Tan. In June, Malaysian Aica Bhd
said it is incorporating a new subsidiary for the purchase of Sime
Securities. Tan owns 17.5 per cent in Malaysian Aica.
Under this scenario, it would appear that the bank mergers will not
reduce the number of stockbroking firms, leaving a long way to go
towards a target of roughly 30 stockbroking firms which the
authorities mentioned earlier in the year.
And, in view of market rumours, it may be over-optimistic to hope that
the securities industry is likely to be consolidated in keeping with
current developments.
Dealers say punters were recently speculating that Kejora Harta Bhd
will make a move on stockbroking firms owned by Datuk Tony Tiah's
flagship TA Enterprise Bhd. The veteran broker is being prosecuted for
the collapse of Omega Securities, and is expected to be busy defending
himself in the upcoming trials.
The talk about Kejora Harta surfaced after its substantial shareholder
Ideal Appraisal emerged last week as successful buyer of Alor Setar
Securities. Ideal Appraisal shareholder Izhar Sulaiman also recently
surfaced as a director of fast-food chain KFC Holdings Bhd.
Elsewhere, it was reported that SPK Sentosa Corp Bhd may be preparing
to make an offer for BBMB Securities, which was not included in the
Bank Bumiputra and Bank of Commerce merger.
SPK Sentosa is being taken over by Mohamad Nasir Ali and Lutfiah
Ismail, who are injecting International Bank Malaysia into the plywood
and property group. They are also executive directors of listed
stockbroking group Kuala Lumpur City Corp Bhd, which owns KL City
Securities. Interestingly, a director of KL City Corp, Josephine
Sivaretnam, is also Ideal Appraisal director.
http://www.bizedge.com.my
Yap Yok Foo
30th August 1999
Ex-detainees say security law must go
KUALA LUMPUR: Detainees formerly held under Malaysia's tough Internal
Security Act (ISA) demanded yesterday that it be abolished, a news
agency reported.
Syed Husin Ali, president of the opposition People's Party of Malaysia
(PRM) was quoted saying that the ISA, introduced in the 1970s to curb
communist militants, was no longer relevant.
The act allows for detention for up to two years without charge.
Jailed former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim was detained on 20
September last year under the ISA after leading an anti-government
demonstration through the streets of the capital and was later
remanded in prison after the High Court refused him bail.
Human rights group Amnesty International said in June Anwar's arrest
under the ISA was politically motivated.
Anwar is currently serving a six-year jail term for corruption and is
on trial on a charge of sodomy.
Syed Husin, a detainee for six years under the ISA, said at a
gathering of former detainees there was no need for the government to
use the act for cases like identification card forgery which were
covered by criminal laws.
Parliamentarian Kua Kia Soong, a detainee for two years from 1987,
said the ISA was inconsistent with the newly-formed National Human
Rights Commission. - Reuters
http://online.hkstandard.com
Yap Yok Foo
31st August 1999
Anwar Barred On Bid to Sue Mahathir for Defamation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Compiled by Our Staff From Dispatches
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KUALA LUMPUR - A $26 million defamation suit filed by former Finance
Minister Anwar Ibrahim against Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad was
dismissed Monday by a judge who described the suit as frivolous and
vexatious.
The High Court judge, R.K. Nathan, said the suit was an abuse of the
court process, the official Bernama press agency said. He also ordered
Mr. Anwar to pay Mr. Mahathir's court costs.
Mr. Anwar's attorney, Karpal Singh, said he planned to appeal the
decision to a higher court.
Mr. Anwar filed the 100 million ringgit ($26 million) suit in January,
accusing Mr. Mahathir of slandering him at a news conference two days
after the former deputy prime minister was arrested last year. At the
Sept. 22 news conference, Mr. Mahathir detailed alleged sexual acts by
his former deputy. Mr. Anwar was later charged with five counts each
of corruption and sodomy.
Mr. Anwar was sentenced in April to six years in jail for corruption.
He is on trial on one of the sodomy counts.
Mr. Anwar has denied all the charges against him, saying they were
fabricated after a fallout between him and his one-time mentor. The
prime minister says he dismissed his former heir apparent because Mr.
Anwar was morally unsuited to succeed him.
In his defense, Mr. Mahathir said the alleged defamatory words at the
September news conference were published in his capacity as prime
minister on an occasion of qualified privilege. He also denied that
the offending words were meant to disparage Mr. Anwar.
Judge Nathan said Mr. Mahathir had been trying to justify the removal
of Mr. Anwar as deputy prime minister and as deputy president of the
dominant political party in Malaysia.
''This to my mind indicates a mind devoid of malice,'' he said.
The judge also ruled that Mr. Mahathir's words were merely statements
of facts that had already been widely published before he made them.
After Mr. Anwar was dismissed, local newspapers published articles
alleging that he had indulged in sodomy, which is a crime in Malaysia,
during his term in office, and that he had committed other sexual
crimes with the assistance of a businessman friend.
http://www.iht.com/IHT/TODAY/TUE/IN/anwar.2.html
Yap Yok Foo
Issue 6th September 1999
Malaysia: Look, Folks, No Capital Curbs!
Mahathir bets big that investors will stay when controls end
Mahathir Mohamad's moment of truth is about to arrive. On Sept. 1, the
Malaysian Prime Minister promises, he will lift the controls on
capital movements that he imposed a year ago to protect his country
from the financial meltdown that swept Southeast Asia. The move will
enable foreign investors and banks to pull billions of dollars out if
they wish to, and possibly spark market turmoil. This test of investor
confidence comes as Mahathir is preparing for an election that will
pit his embattled ruling party, the United Malays National
Organization (UMNO), against a resurgent opposition.
Dark days for Mahathir? Don't bet on it. As usual, the crafty
73-year-old has a plan that could convert a challenge into political
victory. He hopes to keep the markets buoyant by pushing the
well-endowed national pension fund and other government vehicles to
pump enough new money into local stocks to offset any funds yanked out
by foreigners. Meanwhile, Bank Negara Malaysia, the central bank, is
prepared to use its $32 billion in foreign reserves to defend the
ringgit at around 3.80 to the U.S. dollar should there be a rush to
the exits. ''There will be no explosion,'' predicts Francis Yeoh, a
real estate mogul who is close to Mahathir. ''The fuse is damp.''
If Malaysia can skate through the coming months with minimal damage,
then Mahathir will be able to boast that he saved his nation from a
meltdown by defying free-market convention. That, combined with a
surprising 1.4% economic growth in the first six months of the year,
could disarm his critics at home and abroad--and keep him in power
after the election, which he must call sometime before June, 2000.
Mahathir is even getting help from Wall Street. Morgan Stanley Capital
International (MSCI) expects to reinstate Malaysia in two
emerging-market indexes used by many Western portfolio managers.
Of course, the downside risk is enormous. A recent private survey of
brokers in Kuala Lumpur found that one in four fund managers plans to
pull his money out on Sept. 1. That's when penalties ranging from 10%
to 30% on repatriating money brought into Malaysia expire. Brokers
estimate that $2.6 billion could leave Malaysia. That could jolt the
stock market and put pressure on the ringgit. If the markets tank, the
psychological damage could imperil UMNO's candidates. A healthy stock
market also is vital to UMNO because many of the party's key backers
own major stakes in listed companies.
Propping up the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange shouldn't be too
difficult--at least for a while. Many foreign investors have already
shifted their funds from equities and parked them in local bank
deposits, which they can do without paying penalties. Foreign funds
now account for just 7% of the market capitalization of $140 billion.
''Everyone who wanted out of this market has pulled out already,''
says a local fund manager. Also, the $38 billion Employee Provident
Fund, which collects 21% of every Malaysian's monthly salary, could
move the market by buying more of the handful of stocks, such as
Telekom Malaysia and electric utility Tenaga Nasional, that account
for the bulk of market cap.
RINGGIT'S DEFENSE. Malaysia also is in decent shape to protect the
ringgit. Thanks to plunging imports during the crisis, Malaysia has a
$9.5 billion current account surplus--a hearty 13% of gross domestic
product. That ''leaves them in a comfortable position'' to defend the
ringgit without spending too much reserves, says David Cohen, director
of forecasting at Standard & Poor's/MMS International in Singapore. In
fact, say some foreign analysts, if the ringgit were allowed to float,
it could rise to more than 3.5.
There could be snags, though. To rejoin the MSCI indices, Malaysia
must show greater market liberalization, says John Fildes, executive
director of MSCI Asia. Besides lifting remaining capital controls, the
firm wants Mahathir to settle a dispute in which $3.8 billion worth of
Malaysian stocks trading on Singapore's Central Limit Order Book
(CLOB) exchange were frozen. Investors holding these shares want to be
able to sell them. But Malaysia still regards the CLOB as a rogue
bourse.
Meanwhile, Malaysia's capital surplus could shrink fast should imports
rebound, putting the ringgit at new risk. And because Mahathir has
been forcing banks to pump fresh funds into companies run by his
cronies, rather than enacting real reform, Malaysia's bad debt crisis
could flare anew. But if all goes according to Mahathir's plan, he
will be safely back in office by the time Malaysia must confront these
problems.
http://www.businessweek.com/
Good Governance
the newspapers when he detailed the sexual acts supposedly
perpetrated by anwar. what mahathir had uttered is
tantamount to rumour-mongering because they are based on
hearsay, charges which have not been proven in a court of
law yet. it doesn't take a genius to figure that out!?!
geez.......! what can we say....... the infallible pharaoh
rules!
* Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network *
The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet - Free!
Yap Yok Foo
September 1999
Anwar's policies could have avoided problems - Krugman
Krugman ... Anwar's policies on right track
Top US economist Paul Krugman said he was still unhappy over the
treatment meted out on former finance minister and deputy prime
minister Anwar Ibrahim.
In an interview with the Chinese-language Sin Chew Jit Poh on Sunday,
August 29, Krugman said Anwar's case still affected the confidence of
foreign investors.
He added that if Anwar's economic policies were followed, foreign
investors and financial market would have been more convinced, thus
avoiding many of the financial problems facing Malaysia.
Anwar had initiated reforms in the corporate sector which angered
prime minister Mahathir Mohamad. The Anwar-style reform advocated
higher interest rates as well as cutting back on huge expenditure on
the government's mega projects, including the controversial Bakun Dam
and Putrajaya which houses the newly completed official residence for
Mahathir.
The Anwar-Mahathir rift over economic policies culminated in Mahathir
branding Anwar a CIA agent, followed by his sacking, arrest and
assault under police custody.
Last week, Krugman, speaking at a business conference in Kuala Lumpur
dismissed allegations that larger powers were in a conspiracy to
undermine smaller countries as "too paranoid."
Prime minister Mahathir Mohamad blames foreign currency speculators
for sparking Asia's financial turmoil and imposed capital controls
when the economy plunged into its first recession in 13 years.
But Krugman, an advocate of capital controls even before Malaysia
imposed them last September, told reporters it was time for Malaysia
to lift them, warning of the long-term costs in keeping the curbs.
"The whole point about sustaining capital controls is that the harm
accumulates very, very gradually. It's the long-term difficulty of
maintaining a system of controls without allowing a system to
gradually go back," he said.
"Nothing terrible will happen in the near term. It's just that you
will look back 10 years later and say we stuck with it too long," said
Krugman, who teaches at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Mahathir reacted by saying the government would stick with the the
capital controls until there was "reform" in the international
financial market.
"As a doctor, I have been taught to eliminate the cause in order to
cure the patient," boasted Mahathir.
Krugman said he was disturbed that the lifting of the controls had
been made conditional on international financial reforms.
"That essentially means we're never going to lift the controls. I
would think that this is about as favourable an environment as you're
going to get for at least making the controls completely non-binding,"
he said, suggesting that Malaysia replace the curbs with a capital
inflow tax which he said is much more market-friendly.
http://members.xoom.com/harakah2/semasa/1111b3e03.html
Yap Yok Foo
Issue 9th September 1999
Merger by Decree
Malaysia is ordering its many banks to merge into six big ones. The
rationale is sound, but critics say the plan is flawed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By S. Jayasankaran in Kuala Lumpur
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Segamat is a typical small town in the south of Malaysia. It has
turreted, Moorish-style government offices, high-ceilinged Chinese
coffee shops, and banks. Lots of banks. Crowding the town centre are
the local branches of no fewer than 21 institutions.
Segamat's surfeit of banks reflects a national excess: Malaysia has 58
financial institutions, with a total of 2,712 branches. That's way too
many for a population of 22 million, according to Bank Negara, the
country's central bank. Its ideal figure is just six banking groups.
Now, to the dismay of many bankers, it's translating the ideal into
reality.
The central bank has ordered the 58 to merge into six "superbanks"
next year. The aim: to make Malaysian banks big enough and efficient
enough to withstand the expected onslaught of foreign competitors in
2003--the year financial markets are due to be liberalized under a
World Trade Organization pact. "No small banking institution can
survive once the financial market is opened up," central-bank Governor
Ali Abul Hassan Sulaiman said in August. The central bank reports to
Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin, who has said that the mergers are
unavoidable.
Malaysia's 21 commercial banks, 12 merchant banks and 25 finance
companies are under government instructions to sign preliminary merger
agreements by the end of September. The mergers themselves are
tentatively set for April. Few quibble with the concept of
consolidating an industry with excess capacity, but the speed and
scale of the mergers, and the manner of their official orchestration,
alarms many in and outside the banking community.
A major worry is that the government seems to have weighed political
ties in choosing some of the leader banks. The six groups will each be
led by an "anchor bank," three of which are state-owned (see chart on
page 12). Critics fret that some of the superbanks will be susceptible
to government pressure, thus weakening the financial system rather
than strengthening it. And then there's the question, yet to be
decided, of who will manage the superbanks. Will the subordination of
some banks to others sideline some of Malaysia's more capable and
innovative bankers?
Foreign holders of Malaysian bank stocks are meanwhile concerned that
the mergers will be consummated at the expense of minority
shareholders. "A lot of my clients are unhappy," says Yeoh Keat Seng,
head of Merrill Lynch in Kuala Lumpur. "The biggest concern is the
choice of the six core banks, the basis of valuing the companies
acquired and the seeming rush to complete the acquisition process."
Manu Bhaskaran, managing director of SG Securities in Singapore, says
the forced amalgamation of independent, profitable banks also raises
the broader issue of "the freedom of a businessman to decide his own
destiny in a capitalist economy."
Despite disquiet, however, no banker dares to citicize the central
bank publicly because of its sweeping powers. "Bank Negara can make
life very unpleasant for any banker in this town," says a European
banker in Kuala Lumpur. Most bankers who spoke to the REVIEW asked not
to be quoted by name; many declined to talk at all. Finance Minister
Daim and central-bank officials also declined to respond to faxed
questions.
In itself, the rationale for the mergers is sound--too many banks
means a fragmented and inefficient use of resources; having just six
banking groups will allow operations, branches and services to be
streamlined. And Malaysia will merely be following a global
trend--banks in America, Germany, France and Japan have moved towards
union in the past two years. Indeed, in the early 1990s, Bank Negara
began nudging banks to merge voluntarily, rewarding those that
increased their capital base with permission to offer more services.
But in Governor Ali's words, the effort was a "dismal" failure: Some
of the expanded banks lent aggressively in pursuit of higher returns
for their shareholders--then got into big trouble when the Asian
crisis struck and the loans turned bad.
Since mid-1998, the government has spent 60 billion ringgit ($15.8
billion) taking bad loans off banks' books and recapitalizing
tottering institutions. It has clearly had enough. "In future, banks
will no longer be bailed out," Finance Minister Daim said recently.
"We cannot afford to save banks every 10 years or so. That's why the
mergers are unavoidable."
The mergers will certainly result in bigger banks, but will size alone
make them safer? After all, size did not save two big Malaysian banks
from running up more than half of the 39 billion ringgit in bad loans
absorbed by the government. The two are Sime Bank, now part of RHB
Bank, and state-owned Bank Bumiputra, now in the throes of being
joined with Bank of Commerce. Meanwhile, at least four smaller banks
are also to be forcibly merged into the superbanks even though they're
well managed and made profits during the crisis. All four are owned by
ethnic-Chinese interests. "I'm not sure the government's reasoning
holds water," says Toh Kin Woon, a politician with Gerakan, a mainly
Chinese party within the ruling coalition. "Many of the smaller banks
have been better managed and more competitive than the bigger banks."
The government's choice of which banks to put in which groups has
sparked concern among Malaysian-Chinese, who comprise almost 30% of
the population, that their economic interests are being subsumed in
favour of the majority Malays. Two of the six superbanks will be
Chinese-owned--representing roughly the same proportion of
Chinese-owned bank equity as now--but that hasn't stopped Chinese
bankers and politicians from lobbying the government to increase the
number of anchor banks.
Many of the questions about the merger plan arise from the apparent
haste and opacity with which it's being implemented. No-one knows why
the central bank decided on six banking groups, or why certain banks
were grouped with others, or how the anchor banks were chosen. In
March, Governor Ali said the government would like the country's 58
financial institutions eventually merged into 16 groups. He also said
the central bank recognized that the Asian crisis had made mergers
unattractive--loss-making banks could be bought at firesale prices.
But four months later, on July 29, he unveiled the plan for six
superbanks. The sudden change in tack has left analysts speculating
about the government's motives. "There is a disquieting whiff of
political agenda," says the head of a Western bank in Kuala Lumpur.
"Choosing partners like this is like playing God."
Speculation is rife that the mergers may be victimizing bank owners
allied to former Deputy Premier Anwar Ibrahim, who was convicted of
abuse of power in April and is serving a six-year jail term. At least
two ethnic-Chinese tycoons perceived to be associates of Anwar will
see their banks swallowed up by bumiputra institutions. The two are
Quek Leng Chan, owner of Hong Leong Bank, and Tong Kooi Ong,
controlling shareholder of PhileoAllied Bank.
The central bank has said the choice of anchor banks was based on
their "financial resilience" during the crisis--presumed to mean that
they didn't need government bailouts. PhileoAllied Bank posted net
losses of 53 million ringgit for the year to January 31 (following a
net loss of 71 million ringgit the year before), but it hasn't had
infusions of taxpayers' money. Instead, it has submitted its own
recapitalization proposal to the central bank. Moreover, bankers say
PhileoAllied is ahead of its peers in tapping new banking technology.
Hong Leong Bank's case for selection as an anchor bank is even
stronger, bankers say. Its shareholder funds of over 1 billion ringgit
make it a largish bank, and it has yet to make a loss. True, net
earnings fell 78% to over 41 million ringgit for the year to June 30,
1998. But a surprisingly small 4.5% of the bank's loans were deemed
nonperforming that year, compared with an industry average of 13%. And
Hong Leong also hasn't turned to the government for aid.
Both Quek and Tong, however, obtained their banking licences during
Anwar's tenure as finance minister. In early 1993, Tong bought a
failed cooperative bank which he merged with a branch of Singapore's
United Overseas Bank in the east Malaysian state of Sabah and folded
into a listed company that became PhileoAllied. Later that year, Quek
bought MUI Bank from another tycoon for 700 million ringgit and listed
it. The renamed Hong Leong Bank was capitalized at over 4 billion
ringgit.
The speed of the two bankers' acquisitions was attributed to their
political connections, since they had leapfrogged over several other
tycoons applying to own a bank. Malaysia's strict banking laws require
prior permission from the central bank before a businessman can even
begin negotiations with another bank owner. The central bank, in turn,
reports directly to the finance minister. "These guys were close to
Anwar and they could be paying the price for it," says a Western
diplomat in Kuala Lumpur. Tong and Hong Leong declined to comment for
this article.
Just as there are losers in the merger stakes, so are there winners.
One of them is Multi-Purpose Bank, a small institution controlled by
businessmen widely viewed by analysts as being close to Finance
Minister Daim. Designated an anchor bank, Multi-Purpose will swallow
11 other institutions, including PhileoAllied and RHB Bank, which is
eight times its size. That will boost Multi-Purpose's assets to almost
100 billion ringgit from 7.7 billion ringgit in 1998, making it
Malaysia's second-largest bank. Foreign bankers and banking analysts
say Multi-Purpose's selection will reinforce perceptions that, for all
the corporate restructuring going on in Malaysia, the nexus between
business and politics is alive and well. Daim didn't respond to a
faxed question about whether he may be leaving himself open to
allegations of conflict of interest. He has denied government
interference in any bank, saying it is merely "a perception."
But the lack of transparency in decision-making merely fuels
speculation about political overtones. Opposition leader Lim Kit
Siang, for example, asks whether the mergers will result in banks
being concentrated in "the hands of a few closely linked to the
powers-that-be." Then, he says, "all this talk of cronyism won't go
away."
The fear is that the superbanks will be under pressure to lend money
to national projects that may not be commercially driven. The head of
a European bank in Kuala Lumpur thinks the merger plan negates the
success of Danaharta and Danamodal, the government agencies dealing
with bank debt and recapitalization. "Now you have three to four huge
banks that are subject to government interference," he frets. "You're
undoing all the good work by the government agencies in bank reform
and going back to the old ways. What kind of signal are you sending?"
In interviews, bankers and analysts brought up other potential
problems stemming from the merger plan:
l Property rights. Singapore's Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., for
example, holds more than 20% in Pacific Bank, which is to be merged
with Maybank, Malaysia's largest bank. "How can anyone force OCBC to
sell?" asks a local economist. "It could veer dangerously close to
expropriation."
l Management. Its sheer size means RHB Bank will own 73% of the merged
entity led by Multi-Purpose Bank. Similarly, Arab-Malaysian Group will
have over 54% of the group to be led by Perwira Affin Bank, which is
owned by the Armed Forces Pension Fund. "It's absurd to ask the
minnows to manage," says the European banker. "Both Arab-Malaysian and
Rashid Hussain have generally good management, although they've made
some serious mistakes."
l Job losses. Bankers estimate the mergers could axe up to 20% of the
banking industry's 70,000 jobs. That means 14,000 people could be laid
off nationwide just as the economy is emerging from its worst
recession in decades. "All my colleagues are scared," worries the
manager of a leading finance company in Segamat. "They wouldn't mind
getting transferred out, but everyone knows there will be job losses."
l Real-estate prices. The already depressed property market could take
another hit: A third of the 2,700 bank branches could be closed; many
of them are leased.
Not everyone is pessimistic about the mergers, though. "What's the
alternative?" asks Azim Mohamad Zabidi, chairman of National Savings
Bank and a senior official in the ruling United Malays National
Organization. "The central bank has been trying for years. Some of
these owners have got egos as large as their assets. So dictate, and
be done with it." The National Savings Bank will see its
commercial-banking unit merged into one of the superbanks, but Azim
will remain head of the state-owned Post Office Savings Bank, which
has been left out of the mergers.
Closures of indebted banks are out of the question because of what
central-bank Governor Ali calls "high social costs" in terms of job
losses and lost deposits. There also seems no likelihood that Malaysia
will throw the field open to big-league foreign competitors before
2003. That might induce local banks to merge in order to compete, but
it's an option that's anathema to Mahathir Mohamad, the intensely
nationalistic prime minister.
Measured against the weak supervision of bank regulators elsewhere in
Southeast Asia, moreover, Malaysia's central bank appears to be
bursting with initiative. "I look at Western central banks and I think
Bank Negara is heavy-handed," says a foreign banker in Singapore.
"Then I look at Thai banks and I go 'Well, maybe they're being
pro-active.'"
Despite the April deadline, how long the mega-merger will take to
complete is anyone's guess. "For mergers to work, you need time and an
enormous amount of goodwill," says the European banker. "It's a
stupendous management challenge." It will involve disputes over fair
valuations and difficulties in meshing different operational systems
and corporate cultures. And, as international ratings agency Moody's
Investors Service says in an August report: "Political considerations,
which are a paramount feature in Malaysia, will significantly
complicate and delay the process."
http://www.feer.com
**************From Uncle Yap**************
The Malaysian News & Discussion Group
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Yap Yok Foo
Issue 9th September 1999
Editorial : Democracy in Asia
Not perfect, but Asians are incrementally more free
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As we close out the century, this year is turning out to be quite the
one for elections. On Monday, East Timor went to the polls to choose
between independence and remaining an Indonesian province. In June,
the larger republic picked Megawati Sukarnoputri's Indonesia
Democratic Party for Struggle over the old order represented by B.J.
Habibie's Golkar. This month, India mobilizes its voting machine;
already, Malaysian political parties are jockeying for position ahead
of a polling date. Beyond this year, Taiwan will pick a new president
in March. In a little over 50 years since the old colonial powers
began slinking away, Asia has been transformed, from unquestioned
obeisance of subjects to foreign and local masters to an empowerment
of citizens. Though granted we're not all--yet--democracies, our faith
clearly is in its virtues. Just ask a Chinese if village elections
should be expanded upwards to include the National People's Congress.
Still, many outside Asia would find fault with our electoral process.
They're right to do so, but also to a degree wrong.
No doubt, some here still don't appreciate the rules. In 1990, Burma's
military junta nixed a just concluded election in a fit of
peeve--because it lost; in East Timor, violence apparently has erupted
again as it looks as though voters have opted for independence. (Vote
counting continues as we go to press.) In addition, it's still
uncertain if Miss Megawati will become president despite her
parliamentary victory. Clearly, all of this is against the spirit of
democracy--the implicit agreement that losers accept losing. In other
cases, it isn't so apparent if regimes deserve the opprobrium heaped
at them. For example, much is made of the People's Action Party's hold
on power in Singapore, and the National Front's control of Malaysia.
Disagreement is premised on the fact that Asia runs its democracies in
ways different from the West. While elections themselves in Singapore
and Malaysia are clean, procedural rules, access to state-controlled
print, radio and TV outlets and laws on public assembly make it hard
for the opposition to make a dent. But those who only find fault with
Asia's democracy fail to understand that neither is Western democracy
unalloyed and unmodified. In fact, it bears little resemblance to its
prototype. Democracy in the ancient Greek city-states was the
obligation of free men to participate in the affairs of the regime.
Today, it would be impossible to replicate the Athenian model. Nations
are too large for direct participatory democracy, and the issues they
face are too complex. Instead, democracy has been reconstructed as a
process through which citizens hand over a part of their rights to
proxies--politicians--who decide on their behalf. Indeed, the only
form of modern voting that approximates the Greek model are
referendums (such as East Timor's), since citizens are directly
engaged in deciding an issue. Still, referendums and representative
elections involve a major distinction between ancient and modern
democracy: The obligation to participate has been transformed into the
optional privilege to vote. Here alone, ancient Greeks would find
modern democracy, whether in America, Europe or Asia, alien to their
understanding.
Thus, adaptations aren't by nature bad. It's all been done before.
Fact is, it'd be better to understand democracy more as a means
towards an end, rather than as something to be valued for itself. It's
a guard against tyranny. But not the only one. Hong Kong had no vote
until near the end of British rule. Yet even then it was the freest
city in Asia. Its protection, then and now, is the sanctity of
property rights. So though we share concerns about freedom, this is
less a worry about Asia's adaptation of democracy. Indeed, adaptation
continues in ways that augur well for freedom. Singapore has suggested
that college students may join associations affiliated with political
parties, allowing for more political debate. And as the REVIEW
reported last week, Thailand's new constitution more greatly empowers
the grassroots.
No question, Asia's standard of freedom remains far from that in the
West, but the man in the street is freer today than ever before. Those
who would aid Asians towards more freedom better serve the cause by
urging on democracy here--already seen as a virtue--towards greater
openness. Less profitable would be to harp on its dissimilarity to
that of the West, which can only alienate Asia's new democrats from
the West. Call this constructive engagement.
Yap Yok Foo
Issue 9th September 1999
LETTERS to FEER
We Don't Cheat
Kamar Ainiah Kamaruzzaman says that the main objective of her group,
Budi, is to create awareness about democracy, and that because
Malaysians have had a good life they don't realize that their
fundamental liberties have been gradually eroded. [Eyes Wide Open,
Aug. 12.] Where is she coming from? In fact, Malaysians know as much
about democracy as citizens in the developed world.
Certainly, Malaysians have had a good life, better than their
counterparts in most other Asian nations. But they also have more
fundamental liberties today than at any time since the end of British
rule. There is less censorship and almost no restriction on the
publication of articles and books--even if these are against the
government or its leaders. The fact is that today we have more
opportunities, more freedom and the right, even, to take the
government or its leaders to court.
Ahmad Faiz Abdul Rahman says he is trying to ensure that the upcoming
elections are the cleanest ever and that his group, Citizens Election
Watch, is trying to create awareness that there are people watching
the election process. In fact, our elections have been free, fair and
clean. The Election Commission has a demonstrated record of
impartiality and independence, unlike similar bodies in many parts of
Asia. Malaysians have always watched their national elections closely.
There have been complaints and these were brought to the attention of
the courts, which then decided on their merits. We have had observers
from the Commonwealth and the larger international community. No one
has ever suggested that there has been election irregularities, vote
rigging or cheating.
Complaints of limited news outlets for the opposition are timeworn and
stale. Indeed, much of what the opposition says or does has been
unoriginal and uninspiring. I rather hear and read about development
policies and plans that will make an impact on the people. At the end,
if Malaysians don't like their government, they have an outlet for
their expression at the polls.
HARRIS BEH
Kuala Lumpur
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Information Colonies
Rajiv Lall is correct that Asia is at risk of falling behind in the
information revolution. [Time to Get Wired, Rethinking Asia, Aug. 19.]
In a world where multibillion-dollar technology deals happen seemingly
daily, no country can afford to be behind. But as Lall points out,
many Asian economies are still mired in extraneous debate, such as
around issues of governance and free-market fundamentals that one
would have thought resolved for good at the end of the Cold War. One
is led to wonder how much longer these economies can ignore the dawn
of the information age before they are eclipsed by technologically
wired American juggernaut.
Interestingly, Lall notes that while historically wealth came from the
ownership of equipment or natural resources, future wealth will come
from information-based sources. If I may venture a simple analogy, it
would seem that the United States is taking an aggressive lead in
staking out the most desirable territories in the new technological
"frontier," the modern-day counterpart of the much sought-after
colonies of centuries past. Lall's statement is thus affirmed.
Precious resources in any form--be they natural, technological or
otherwise--forever will be the objects of competition among nations.
If Asia does not get wired soon, not only will it face the
considerable challenge of catching up with American innovations, but
it will also have to struggle against another, perhaps insurmountable,
obstacle: the combined leverage of the wealth and market share that
has accrued to American companies already. Failure on Asia's part to
promptly rectify this and stake some claims of its own on the Internet
frontier could result in the virtual colonization of the entire region
by American businesses.
SAKO P. EATON
Kitamoto, Japan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Salvage Fees
Your correspondent had his facts right, but not Adi Taha, deputy
director of Malaysia's National Museum. [Sunken Treasures, Aug. 12.]
Adi accuses me of being "greedy" for claiming $600,000 in our dispute.
The government, however, counterclaimed $5.6 million.
Also, he says: "When Ball started putting in claims we thought he was
just trying to play with us. We didn't know he had an agenda." My only
agenda is payment.
DORIAN BALL
Malaysian Historical Salvors
Singapore
and...@sympatico.ca
>
>Yap Yok Foo wrote in message <37d2ad3...@nntp.jaring.my>...
>
>>From The Far Eastern Economics Review
>>Issue 9th September 1999
>>
>>Editorial : Democracy in Asia
>>Not perfect, but Asians are incrementally more free
>>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
>-----
>
>
>Votings and democracy do not equal freedom. The
>example is given in by FEER as follows -
>
>> Hong Kong had no vote until near the end of British rule.
>>Yet even then it was the freest city in Asia.
>
>On the other hand, Indonesia has democracy now, but
>the people in Aceh and the Christian in Ambong
>are oppressed and are killed daily by violence. They
>will not agree with FEER: they are more oppressed than
>before and their lives are no longer safe.
On the contrary, it is thanks to democracy that the plight
of Acehnese or the religious & social problems of Ambon
are exposed.
Under the autocratic rule of Suharto, the Aceh problem
was a dirty secret so much so that the military had to publicly
apologize for the many deaths inflicted over the past few
decades.
Flawed democracies exist in Asia because of the lack of free
media and more specifically a free press.
So many things are being exposed from big scandals to little
ones by the free media in Indonesia that it keeps politicians on
their toes. BJH couldn't have achieved that much without
the free press hounding him for action instead of prepetuating
the status quo.
Something that Singapore could do with (see Suzhou & Silk Air)!
>
>Democracy in Asia does not always bring freedom. It
>is an illusion.
>
>
>Bad boy.
>
>
>
>
>
Bad boy
Yap Yok Foo wrote in message <37d2ad3...@nntp.jaring.my>...
>From The Far Eastern Economics Review
>Issue 9th September 1999
>
>Editorial : Democracy in Asia
>Not perfect, but Asians are incrementally more free
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----
> ......election .......citizens hand over a part of their rights to
>proxies--politicians--.......the only form of modern voting
> that approximates the Greek model are referendums ,
> since citizens are directly engaged in deciding an issue
These elected proxies (Politicians) do no act according to
the wishes of the people. The act in their own personal
interests, for vested interests (like lobbyists), or the narrow
interest of political party. A classic example: Taiwanese
want reunification with China, but TH Lee refused to hold
a referendum to let the people decide on the issue.
Democracy exist in many Asian countries in form
but not in substance.
Democracy has an inherent weakness when grafted to
Asian society. The frequent change of governments in
India and Pakistan has make it impossible for the
government to implement long term plans. As a result
these two countries are mired in poverty after 50 years
of democracy.
>
>Asia's standard of freedom remains ...........
> but the man in the street is freer today than ever before.
Votings and democracy do not equal freedom. The
example is given in by FEER as follows -
> Hong Kong had no vote until near the end of British rule.
>Yet even then it was the freest city in Asia.
On the other hand, Indonesia has democracy now, but
the people in Aceh and the Christian in Ambong
are oppressed and are killed daily by violence. They
will not agree with FEER: they are more oppressed than
before and their lives are no longer safe.
Democracy in Asia does not always bring freedom. It
nowhereman
Bad boy wrote in message <7qpfbu$1o1$1...@newton3.pacific.net.sg>...
>
[.....]
>
>Democracy in Asia does not always bring freedom. It
>is an illusion.
>
keep your "ConfusionValues" to yourself.
many other non-chinese are ashamed to be associated with
these BS "AsianValues"
Bad boy
and...@sympatico.ca wrote in message
<37d0443f...@news1.qc.sympatico.ca>...
- deleted -
>Under the autocratic rule of Suharto, the Aceh problem
>was a dirty secret
CNN did not report the dirty secret, but they have reported
thousands died since Habibie took over. I am not sure if
there was really a dirty secret in the past. Assuming it did
happened, the fact that the new democratic government
allowed it to continue under its nose does not speak well
of Asian democracy. Is it democracy just in form? In truth,
Habibie is just a puppet, his action is controlled by the
puppet master. Is democracy in Jakarta just a media spin?
Ambong, was a peaceful island in the sun. Habibie and
his reformasi brought death to this island. Is Habibie
(Asian democracy) doing worse than Suharto, the dictator?
The failure of the democratic government to maintain peace
is culpable.
Bad boy
democracy has brought oppression and death
to the people in Aceh and Ambong. Democracy in Asia
is just in form, it does not always bring freedom.
Counter this if you can. I expect you are only capable
of personal attacks which will be ignored, like a fart.
Whether "Asian values" is better or worse, is subjective.
If Asians prefer it to democracy, they have a right to
choose. Incidentally, the right to choose is enshrined
in democratic principles.
Many Asians are ashamed to be associated with
people who worship the ground Westerner pee on.
The feeling is mutual.
nowhereman wrote in message <37d07...@news.cyberway.com.sg>...
piper
wrote:
>The subject here is Democracy in Asia. Reformasi or
>democracy has brought oppression and death
>to the people in Aceh and Ambong.
[snip]
No. The Indonesian military has done this.
Michael
To reply by email, please eliminate "NOSPAM" from my address. Personal messages only!
Giuseppe Macliovelli
Bad boy ¼g¹D¡G
> These elected proxies (Politicians) do no act according to
> the wishes of the people. The act in their own personal
> interests, for vested interests (like lobbyists), or the narrow
> interest of political party. A classic example: Taiwanese
> want reunification with China, but TH Lee refused to hold
> a referendum to let the people decide on the issue.
>
> Democracy exist in many Asian countries in form
> but not in substance.
>
> Democracy has an inherent weakness when grafted to
> Asian society. The frequent change of governments in
> India and Pakistan has make it impossible for the
> government to implement long term plans. As a result
> these two countries are mired in poverty after 50 years
> of democracy.
>
> Votings and democracy do not equal freedom. The
> example is given in by FEER as follows -
>
> On the other hand, Indonesia has democracy now, but
> the people in Aceh and the Christian in Ambong
> are oppressed and are killed daily by violence. They
> will not agree with FEER: they are more oppressed than
> before and their lives are no longer safe.
>
> Democracy in Asia does not always bring freedom. It
> is an illusion.
But, alas, it brings Bad boy!
Giuseppe Macliovelli
Bad boy ¼g¹D¡G
> CNN did not report the dirty secret, but they have reported
> thousands died since Habibie took over. I am not sure if
> there was really a dirty secret in the past. Assuming it did
> happened, the fact that the new democratic government
> allowed it to continue under its nose does not speak well
> of Asian democracy. Is it democracy just in form? In truth,
> Habibie is just a puppet, his action is controlled by the
> puppet master. Is democracy in Jakarta just a media spin?
>
> Ambong, was a peaceful island in the sun. Habibie and
> his reformasi brought death to this island. Is Habibie
> (Asian democracy) doing worse than Suharto, the dictator?
> The failure of the democratic government to maintain peace
> is culpable.
The problem with this puantan parrot Bad boy is that he/she does
gargle a considerable vocabulary to look quite real!
and...@sympatico.ca
>
>and...@sympatico.ca wrote in message
><37d0443f...@news1.qc.sympatico.ca>...
>>On Sat, 4 Sep 1999 05:43:11 +0800, "Bad boy" <b...@pacific.net.sg> wrote:
>>
>>>
>
> - deleted -
>
>>Under the autocratic rule of Suharto, the Aceh problem
>>was a dirty secret
>
>CNN did not report the dirty secret, but they have reported
>thousands died since Habibie took over. I am not sure if
>there was really a dirty secret in the past. Assuming it did
>happened, the fact that the new democratic government
>allowed it to continue under its nose does not speak well
>of Asian democracy. Is it democracy just in form? In truth,
>Habibie is just a puppet, his action is controlled by the
>puppet master. Is democracy in Jakarta just a media spin?
Indeed CNN and the whole Western world kept quiet (if not
dancing with Pak Harto) about Suharto's many vices.
2 years ago, the APEC meeting in Vancouver was the occasion
of riots when protesters fought aginst the arrival of Suharto they
considered a despot. Suharto was met with a red carpet by the
Canadians authorities. Hypocrisy? Double standards? Probably.
Over the past two decades, many people died in Aceh dirty war
with the army which apologized this year about that. Check out
the past news.
Democracy exist in RI but is imperfect like everywhere else.
The fact is that Indonesians can freely voice their opinion (whatever
it may be within the society's limits) w/o fear of being imprisonned.
That is already a big step forward.
As for the nitty gritty of democracy, check out the print media (try
to get a copy of Jakarta Post) or listen to radio and you'll be truly
amazed.
Of course, BJH has his own agenda and is from a generation tainted
by Suharto but he has attained many big objectives (the elections
being the first) in a short time.
As for the Aceh problem, it is going to be difficult to resolve as they
were already treated independently by the Dutch. Basically, all the
ethnic 'problems' have the same root as those in Russia: many
regions contains riches whether oil or other but those riches do not
trickle back to the inhabitants of those regions. With TV (for many
years commercials couldn't be shown on TVRI for fear of giving envy
to far away provinces...) showing the world and the consumer society,
it is normal people from those provinces want to claim a piece of the pie.
Other minor problems are to be added (Javanese imperialism).
>
>
>Ambong, was a peaceful island in the sun. Habibie and
>his reformasi brought death to this island. Is Habibie
>(Asian democracy) doing worse than Suharto, the dictator?
>The failure of the democratic government to maintain peace
>is culpable.
No, long simmering problems surfaced thanks the opening up.
In the same vein, many textile factories in the greater Jakarta had difficult
time with their workforce complaining (even going on strike) for bad working
or pay conditions.
This is also a sign that democracy is alive and working. Of course, if you
are a factory owner, you would be talking of violence and rule of the streets!
By far and large, RI economy is functioning but with such a large popula-
tion it can't attain .sg prosperity level. Thank you for having the honesty
of not comparing it.
RI is recovering for the better with the knowledge that hanky panky by politicians
will result in an outcry. Now, that outcry should be channelled by the normal
democratic ways: Parliament and the media rather than the street voice.
But maybe that street voice (the poor) and under-represented at the various
political levels?
As for violence, it is regrettable but by far and large it is contained even it
could be worse. I have reports that some areas are completely lawless:
in some plantations, small owners ask out-of-this-world sale prices for agricultural
produce that can't be paid (as they are above world prices).
This happens because the police chose not to police and just stand aside. And
that is a worrying trend.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Giuseppe Macliovelli
ugly puantan eunich face in the mirror.
Bad boy ¼g¹D¡G
> The subject here is Democracy in Asia. Reformasi or
> democracy has brought oppression and death
> to the people in Aceh and Ambong. Democracy in Asia
> is just in form, it does not always bring freedom.
>
> Counter this if you can. I expect you are only capable
> of personal attacks which will be ignored, like a fart.
>
> Whether "Asian values" is better or worse, is subjective.
I thought Bad boy said "pragmatic."
> If Asians prefer it to democracy, they have a right to
> choose. Incidentally, the right to choose is enshrined
> in democratic principles.
>
> Many Asians are ashamed to be associated with
> people who worship the ground Westerner pee on.
> The feeling is mutual.
So Bad boy is able at least to see him/herself in the mirror
some of the times when drugs and rice wine wear off for a short while.
There may be hope to save him/her still, oh no!
Yap Yok Foo
5th September 1999
LETTERS to the Editor
Commercial sex: The bottom line
Prostitution in Thailand? Peanuts!I very much appreciated Jaime
Cabrera's article about prostitution (Perspective, August 29, 1999).
Why put the blame on Thailand? The author presents facts that should
be food for thought for those people in Europe and the US, who still
consider this country to be the "paradise of sex tourism", because it
is not.
I was born in Amsterdam, a city famous for its medieval canals and red
light district, visited by tourists from all over Europe and the
States.
Dutch TV and newspapers, however, brandish Thailand as the "Garden of
Eden" for males looking for cheap sex. The first question that pops up
is: 'What is prostitution?'The common answer: 'Having sex for money,
instead of love or libido.'Is that so? Then how about the decent woman
married for fifteen years, making love with her husband, going through
the movements without any feelings, just because he provides food and
shelter for her children?Why restrict the word 'prostitution' (from
Latin: to maintain ones stature) to sex?How about the salesman trying
to sell a car to a customer he'd rather kick in the belly? He or she
doesn't get any mental or physical satisfaction from the interaction
with the potential buyer, except for money, when the deal is made...
Prostitution!Perhaps in some aspects we are all prostitutes when it
comes to keeping standards of living, our position in society, or
achieving our goals, acting friendly and smiling without any feelings
if necessary.
The next question I like to ask people talking about Thailand in this
connection is: 'Did you ever learn mathematics?' OK, here we go: a
Dutchman in his forties decides to spend his three weeks holiday
having sex in Thailand.
The cheapest flight from Amsterdam to Bangkok will cost about 900
guilders (about 16,000) baht. His accommodation in the 'City of
Angels' in a fifth-grade guesthouse costs 100 baht a day. If he does
not use taxi's or tuk tuks, visit a-go-go bars and is satisfied with
meals from street-stalls, he will spend another 150 baht a day.
Theoretically he could live on 300 baht a day. Apart from airport tax
and transportation to and from the airport he could stay three weeks
in Thailand for a minimum of 8,000 baht.
So this miserable creature spends next to nothing for three weeks 'sex
tourism'. In Holland the cheapest sex will cost him about 1,500 baht
for half an hour. So for the money he spends on the flight and
accommodation, he could have sex 17.5 times at home. Thus in three
weeks Bangkok, he has to visit a prostitute at least 17 times to earn
back the money for the ticket and guesthouse. The lowest price you can
get is at Lumpini park where he will have to pay an average of 250
baht, adding another 4,250 baht to his budget, the equivalent of
having sex three more times in Holland.
But let's be realistic with this mathematical equation. In Holland he
has to pay 1,500 baht for one sexual encounter, in Thailand at least
250 (we are not talking about quality, just figures). So he will
'save' 1,250 baht every time he has sex in Thailand compared to
Holland. To earn back his ticket and other expenses, he has to have
sex once a day. Not impossible, but why the hell fly over 5,000 miles
to get the same you would get at home?And this guy is only
hypothetical. Most 'sex-tourists' fly with decent airlines paying
30,000 baht return and stay in guesthouses with fewer cockroaches.
They use taxi's, eat in restaurants and visit a-go-go bars.
I will not bother you any more with maths, but the average sex tourist
would have to make love with a Thai boy or girl at least four times a
day to get even financially. Again: not impossible, but not very
relaxing either.
However, child abuse and forced prostitution, is another chapter. It
is evil and cruel and should be eradicated by all possible means. But
in Amsterdam heroin-addicts aged 13 or 14 offer their services for
sex. In Thailand the age of consent for sex is 18, in Holland 12. But
in Amsterdam a lot of guys, especially Moroccans, force their Dutch
girlfriends into prostitution.
So let's make things easy and put the blame on Thailand. Far away from
your bedside you can close your eyes to the mess in your own house.
Prostitution is, indeed, 'an international passion.' I have travelled
all around the world and never visited a country without prostitution.
Sometimes you have to shop around a little, sometimes it surrounds you
with every step you take, but it is always there.
The evil is not prostitution, but religious prejudice (especially
Christian and Islamic) and laws based on their dogmas. A prostitute,
male or female, is not inferior to anybody in any other profession.
Some even take pride in their jobs, but being outlawed, they lack the
protection other workers have.
There is a lot to be criticized in Dutch politics, but in Holland
there are trade unions for prostitutes, like for airline crew and
factory workers. That is the way it should be.
Peter van der Zon, Chiang Mai
http://www.bangkokpost.net/today/050999_News17.html
Bad boy
Repulsive as maggot in a pool of shit.
Giuseppe Macliovelli wrote in message <37D1421D...@ms18.hinet.net>...
Bad boy turns to foul language as soon as he/she saw his/her
ugly puantan eunich face in the mirror.
So Bad boy is able at least to see him/herself in the mirror
Bad boy
and...@sympatico.ca wrote in message
<37d1434a...@news1.qc.sympatico.ca>...
>><37d0443f...@news1.qc.sympatico.ca>...
>>>On Sat, 4 Sep 1999 05:43:11 +0800, "Bad boy" <b...@pacific.net.sg> wrote:
- deleted -
>Over the past two decades, many people died in Aceh dirty war
>with the army which apologized this year about that.
>Democracy exist in RI but is imperfect like everywhere else.
Democracy is allowing the killing the people of Aceh and
E Timor, even Today. Suharto was condemned for the killing by
the arm forces. Such killings cannot be explained away by
" Democracy is imperfect, like everywhere else". Habibie and
democracy have to take responsibility for these killings. Hibibie
and his democractic government must be condemned, just
like Suharto.
>
>The fact is that Indonesians can freely voice their opinion (whatever
>it may be within the society's limits) w/o fear of being imprisonned.
>That is already a big step forward
Those killed in E Timor, Ambong and Aceh have no more
fear, no more opinion and no more voice! Poor souls, they took
a leap into their graves, instead of a big stip forward!
Seriously, what price to pay for democracy - death, hunger,
unemployment, poverty......... It is not even the real thing,
true democracy.
>>
>>Ambong, was a peaceful island in the sun. Habibie and
>>his reformasi brought death to this island
>
>No, long simmering problems surfaced thanks the opening up.
Can "opening up" be used as a justification for the killings
in Ambong?
Bad boy.
Yap Yok Foo
8th September 1999
Are we living behind the Iron Curtain?
The "Iron Curtain" - the former communist dictatorships of Europe -
has now resurrected in Malaysia, writes KIM QUEK.
Young people today may not be familiar with the term "Iron Curtain".
It is a term to describe the former communist countries in Europe
consisting of the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries
such as Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia. These countries were ruled
by communist dictators prior to the disintegration of the former
Soviet Union and the collapse of communism some nine years ago. Now,
these countries are in various stages of transition into free market
economy and western style democracy.
During the days of Iron Curtain, the people in these countries were
living in a world completely different from their Western Europe
neighbours - a world of intellectual enslavement, where the people
could see no evil and hear no evil of the government. Even at times
when the government committed grave mistakes, the people remained
docile and uncritical, as the leaders were always shielded from
exposure and attack by critics and opponents by the twin prongs of
dictatorial rule - an aggressive mass media serving as government
propaganda machine, and a strong police force sworn to serve the
interests of the rulers and not those of the people.
Under this oppressive system, communist societies in Europe
degenerated to the point of voluntary liquidation. Communist dictators
were either toppled or murdered in domino fashion and replaced by
democratically elected governments.
I am recalling briefly this chapter of recent history, as I see
increasing signs of our country following the footsteps of the now
defunct iron curtain countries - a society of docile people fast
degenerating into greater decadence under a dictatorial regime.
Look at what happened after Anwar Ibrahim made his series of police
reports on high level corruption and abuse of power in this country.
The deafening silence from the mass media and the mute response from
the police and the Anti Corruption Agency (ACA) to these first degree
scandals are blood chilling tell tales of a system that has sunk to
danger point.
We are not talking about some middle level government servants taking
bribes. We are talking about our Prime Minister being accused of
personally involved in the scandal of a national steel company loosing
billions of ringgit through mismanagement and fraud.
We are talking about our First Minister of Finance being accused of
having taken hundreds of millions of ringgit in bribery from
businessmen.
We are also talking about our Prime Minister, Attorney General and
Senior Prosecuting Officer being accused of having obstructed justice
by protecting his Minister and a Chief Minister from being prosecuted
for corruption amounting to millions of ringgit.
These are grave accusations indeed, more so when the accuser is none
other than our immediate preceding Deputy Prime Minister and Minister
of Finance, and the accusations were substantiated by documentary
evidence. They should therefore be treated with the highest magnitude
of importance and urgency by the relevant government agencies and the
mass media.
The government leaders and officials so named in the police reports
should have openly given their account to the people in relation to
these charges. They should have either denied these charges in which
case they should have disclosed the full facts, or admitted wrong
doing in which case they should be prepared to accept punishment. But
they have done none of these.
In any other democracy, scandals of these gravity would have attracted
instant headlines in all the newspapers, and around-the-clock news
reporting in all the television and radio channels. And the persons
involved would be so hounded by journalists that they would have to
make meaningful statements to the nation without delay.
The hue and cry from the public as reflected in newspapers and
television would be so strong that within days, either the persons
involved would resign in disgrace or an independent enquiry would be
appointed to investigate into the details. Under these circumstances,
there is no possibility that the persons involved could "hang on" to
their jobs, if they are guilty. For the ruling political party would
speedily dismiss them or force their resignation to avoid the Party
being dragged down along with them. On top of that, the guilty persons
would be prosecuted and punished.
This is how a functioning democracy works to keep its society from
corruption and abuse of power. For this system to work, we need 4
ingredients. First, a free press to expose wrong-doings. Second,
independent crime busting agencies (police, anti-corruption bodies,
attorney general etc) to pursue the wrong-doers. Third, an independent
judiciary to ascertain guilt and punishment. Fourth, a populace well
imbued with democratic ideals.
In such a democratic society, a political culture intolerant to
corruption and abuse of power is so deep rooted and pervasive that no
leader would even dream of subverting the independence of the
judiciary or the various law enforcing agencies, much less enacting
draconian laws to suppress freedom of expressions and other liberties
enshrined in all democratic constitutions.
For it is a virtual certainty that any leader making such an attempt
would be resisted at every stratum of government bodies.
Alas, Malaysia is a far cry from such a democratic society. 42 years
of Independence have not brought us any closer to democracy, but have
instead plunged us into unprecedented darkness of corruption and
dictatorship. And the culprit is the 18-year Mahathir rule, during
which civil liberties have been systematically eroded through a series
of undemocratic legislation, which have allowed high level corruption
and cronyism to flourish. It has now reached such an alarming state
that not even the exposure of documentary proof of massive corruption
at the highest level of political leadership could cause a ripple in
our public opinion.
It appears increasingly likely that the "intellectual enslavement"
phenomenon of the Iron Curtain era has descended upon us.
The feeling of hopelessness is intensified when the Government failed
to act (on the Anwar police reports) so soon after the installation of
two new top law enforcement officials: the Minister of Home Affairs
and the Inspector General of Police (IGP). When "Mr.Clean" Abdullah
Badawi was sworn in as the Minister of Home Affairs, and when a new
IGP was appointed recently to replace his rogue predecessor who
assaulted Anwar, fresh hopes were kindled that perhaps these two
officials would restore some decency to the much discredited police
force.
However, in spite of earnest assurances to serve the people better,
they failed to act on the Anwar police reports, due either to weakness
or complicity.
Malaysians should be clear by now that the oppressive force is too
entrenched for any piecemeal changes (such as the abovementioned
appointment) to effect any improvement to the Government.
The only force that is powerful enough to eradicate the present
decadent and corrupt system is the votes of the people in an Election.
By making a wise decision in the coming General Elections, the people
can turn over a new leaf for Malaysia.
http://members.xoom.com/harakah2/semasa
Yap Yok Foo
10th September 1999
Tenaga's yen/$ swap: case of out of frying pan into the fire?
By Ruth Wong
MALAYSIA'S national electricity company Tenaga Nasional Bhd
had expected its 1999 financial results to shine, partly due to demand
growth but mainly to the ringgit's peg to the US dollar.
Late last year when Tenaga released its results, its executive
chairman Ahmad Tajuddin Ali had even predicted that Tenaga could rake
in profit of between 1.5 billion Malaysian ringgit and RM2 billion
(S$666-$888 million) this year.
Analysts said then that the profit prediction by Mr Ahmad Tajuddin was
hardly surprising as the power utility stood to make close to RM1
billion in foreign exchange gains arising from the RM3.80 peg to the
US dollar. When Tenaga closed its books at end-August 1998, the
exchange rate was RM4.21 to the US dollar.
Forex loss: A foreign exchange loss is a non-cash loss due to the
accounting practice of valuing foreign currency denominated loans at
the ringgit exchange rate which applies at the time the books are
closed.
"If the rate remains (at RM3.80) during the current financial year,
then for every US dollar equivalent loan, we can make a gain of 40
sen. Based on this, we are sure next year will be a much better year,"
Mr Ahmad Tajuddin said then.
But now that the 1999 financial year has ended (on Aug 31), power
industry analysts are singing a different tune, with most expecting
Tenaga to post hefty foreign exchange losses for the third consecutive
year. Tenaga recorded foreign exchange losses of RM3.5 billion in 1998
and RM1.3 billion in 1997. The reason for this year's foreign exchange
loss is not difficult to figure out. Late last year, top management in
Tenaga opted to swap a good portion of the company's
dollar-denominated borrowings into yen.
According to analysts, yen-denominated loans accounted for 33 per cent
of Tenaga's total loans of roughly RM23 billion, up from 27 per cent
as at end-August, 1998. Its US dollar-denominated loans slipped to
about 24 per cent of total loans, compared to the 33 per cent a year
ago.
While the US dollar has remained steady against the ringgit due to the
peg, the yen has appreciated substantially against the ringgit. A
currency dealer said the yen appreciated by nearly 16 per cent against
the ringgit between end-August 1998 and end-August 1999.
The greater exposure to the appreciated yen will certainly be bad news
for Tenaga. Despite realising some translation gains for its US
dollar-denominated loans, the foreign exchange losses suffered by the
yen loans will outstrip the gains. Analysts have estimated Tenaga's
foreign exchange loss at between RM400 million and RM700 million.
Indeed, Tenaga's initial move to convert a substantial portion of its
US dollar debt into yen had raised many questions, especially so after
Malaysia's move to peg the ringgit to the US dollar. Instead of
capitalising on the certainty of the peg, Tenaga's move to increase
its exposure to the yen added yet another uncertainty to its bottom
line.
Already, analysts have been scaling down Tenaga's profit forecast for
1999 in recent months. According to the latest Barra Global Estimates,
the 1999 profit consensus for Tenaga stands at RM791.7 million. Six
months ago, the profit consensus was RM1.256 billion. At half-time on
Feb 28, 1999, Tenaga had made a group net profit of RM375 million.
Tenaga officials have said that the loan swap was done with the
intention of helping Tenaga better manage its cashflow. This is
because yen loans attract lower interest rates compared with US$
loans. For the 1999 financial year, interest savings are estimated at
more than RM100 million. But even the interest savings are somewhat
eroded as interest payments are in yen, which has appreciated against
the ringgit.
Better results: Last week, Mr Ahmad Tajuddin told reporters that
Tenaga's results will be better for 1999. "All I can say is that the
figures are much higher," he said. There is no denying that Tenaga's
1999 results will be better than 1998's. After all, 1998 was one of
the worst years for Tenaga as the ringgit had slumped against the US
dollar, leading the power utility to report a foreign exchange loss of
RM3.5 billion and a net loss of RM3.09 billion.
Tenaga officials have conceded that the bottom line for 1999 would
have been better had the company not swapped its loans into yen. By
placing bets on currencies, the national electricity company could
have lost some fans in the market.
http://business-times.asia1.com.sg/
Prince of Romance
democracy!
Yap Yok Foo <yf...@pop.jaring.my> wrote in article
<37d2ad3...@nntp.jaring.my>...
Yap Yok Foo
10th September 1999
Arsenic reported in Anwar's urine
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (Reuters) -- A lawyer for Anwar Ibrahim said on
Friday that a dangerously high level of arsenic had been found in the
jailed former Malaysian finance minister's urine and his life was in
jeopardy.
High Court Judge Arifin Jaka adjourned Anwar's sodomy trial after
defence lawyer Karpal Singh said a pathologist in Australia had
certified that an excessive level of the poison had been found in
Anwar's urine.
"We have obtained a pathologist's report from Melbourne which
certifies that there is an excessive level of arsenic poison in Datuk
Seri Anwar Ibrahim's urine sample," Karpal told a stunned court on the
51st day of Anwar's sodomy trial.
The judge ordered Anwar taken to hospital.
"I'm granting a postponement immediately until such time that a doctor
certifies Datuk Seri Anwar is fit to attend court," the judge said.
Before the trial was adjourned, Anwar told the court he had not been
feeling well.
"I'm not feeling any pain or what, but certainly I'm not my usual
self," he said haltingly. "There has been weight loss, hair loss, I
think as a result of this."
The judge asked: "Is it worrying you?"
"Of course, when I saw the report yesterday, I was disturbed. But
having gone through what I went through last year, I'm not surprised."
Anwar was sacked by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad in September 1998
and arrested later that month after leading thousands of
anti-government protesters through the capital.
The then police chief hit Anwar on the night of his arrest while the
former minister was handcuffed and blindfolded. The former
prime-minister-in-waiting later appeared in court with a black eye and
bruises, sparking international condemnation.
Before the police chief admitted having hit Anwar, Mahathir said his
former deputy's injuries could have been self-inflicted.
Anwar was sentenced in April to six years in jail for corruption. He
says he is innocent and the victim of a plot by political opponents
led by Mahathir to sideline him from power.
Karpal said the pathologist's report on Anwar's urine, which the
lawyer said had been obtained in August, showed a level of 230, far
higher than the level of three that he said a person would normally
have.
"It's a level that goes beyond danger," Karpal said.
"His life is in jeopardy. If he's slowly being poisoned, something
must be done about it," the defence lawyer said.
"If someone is trying to get rid of him, it's a shame because this is
the very conspiracy we have been alluding to all this while. This
person must be brought to book, even charged with murder. I suspect
some people in high places, in all likelihood, are responsible for his
condition," Karpal said.
Attorney-General Mohtar Abdullah, who is leading the prosecution in
the landmark case that has divided Malaysia, said it was a serious
matter if there was the possibility Anwar was being poisoned.
But he said it was too early to conclude that Anwar was the victim of
a conspiracy, and said the former minister had received food in the
court room and was allowed to mingle with family and friends, against
the rules.
"I must caution my learned friend not to jump the gun and accuse some
people of conspiracy to kill or injure," Mohtar said.
"It could be a case of deliberate poisoning by someone or some persons
unknown. I have personally witnessed the accused consuming food being
brought by people here to this court."
Anwar then stood up, banged his fist down and shouted: "I'm talking
about me being poisoned and he's talking about prison regulations."
The attorney-general assured the court that, if there was evidence
that Anwar had been poisoned, he would "leave no stone unturned to
trace the culprit."
The judge then ordered Anwar taken to hospital. It was not immediately
known to which hospital he would be taken.
http://cnn.com/ASIANOW
Yap Yok Foo
11th September 1999
Anwar Is Hospitalized After Test for Arsenic
Malaysian Ex-Minister Alleges Poisoning
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Thomas Fuller International Herald Tribune
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KUALA LUMPUR - A judge ordered Anwar Ibrahim hospitalized Friday after
lawyers for the former Malaysian deputy prime minister submitted
medical tests that they said showed dangerously high levels of arsenic
in his urine and alleged that he had been poisoned.
The pathology report submitted by Mr. Anwar's lawyers showed arsenic
levels roughly 75 times that of ''unexposed persons,'' in the words of
the report, which was prepared by a laboratory in Australia.
''It is dangerous for him to go untreated,'' said Judge Arifin Jaka,
who immediately suspended Mr. Anwar's sodomy trial and ordered that
Mr. Anwar submit to further tests at a hospital outside Kuala Lumpur.
Karpal Singh, one of Mr. Anwar's lawyers, told the judge that the
levels of arsenic present in Mr. Anwar's urine went ''beyond danger.''
''His life is in jeopardy,'' he added. ''If he's slowly being
poisoned, something must be done about it. If someone is trying to get
rid of him, it's a shame because this is the very conspiracy we have
been alluding to all this while.''
Mr. Anwar has spent much of the last year in a courtroom defending
himself against charges of abuse of power and sodomy - charges that he
denies and that he says are politically motivated.
On Friday, he went one step further, saying that the arsenic was part
of the political conspiracy against him. ''I regret that the
conspiracy to topple me has not been limited to just political action
but now also involves physical moves to poison me,'' he said in a
police report filed after the court was adjourned.
The tests on Mr. Anwar show a level of 230 micrograms of arsenic for
every gram of creatinine, a substance found in urine that is used as a
benchmark in laboratory tests. Most people have less than 3 micrograms
of the potentially deadly element in their urine.
''It's high, much higher than expected,'' said Chiu Hak Fai, a
pathologist at the Hong Kong Adventist Hospital. But he warned that
many factors could influence a urine test for arsenic and that results
could only be interpreted with more information. Eating seafood, for
instance, can distort results because it contains nontoxic forms of
arsenic.
A leading U.S. expert in clinical chemistry who declined to be named
said that serious arsenic poisoning would involve much higher levels
than those shown in Mr. Anwar's test.
''It looks like the guy had seafood for dinner the night before the
test,'' he said. ''Someone who is being intoxicated with arsenic will
be putting out urine concentrations of 10,000 not 230.''
Christopher Fernando, one of Mr. Anwar's lawyers, said that the former
deputy prime minister decided to send his urine for testing when he
felt ''unwell and weak.''
''When his hair started dropping out and he felt a numbness in his
fingers he was advised to send his urine for tests,'' he said.
Mr. Anwar, who was sentenced in April to six years in prison for abuse
of power, was fired a year ago by the man he thought he would succeed,
Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad.
Soon after his dismissal, police in black ski masks broke down his
door, arrested him and brought him to a police station where he was
beaten by the then-chief of police. He was not granted bail during his
trials but was kept in a prison outside Kuala Lumpur.
After Mr. Anwar's beating became public last year, Mr. Mahathir
initially suggested that the wounds on Mr. Anwar's face could have
been self-inflicted, a suggestion that a committee appointed to
investigate the beating refuted.
On Friday, the country's attorney general, who is prosecuting the case
against Mr. Anwar, suggested that Mr. Anwar could have been
accidentally poisoned by members of his family.
''I must caution my learned friends not to jump the gun and accuse
some people of conspiracy to kill or injure Dato Seri Anwar,'' said
Attorney General Mohtar Abdullah, using Mr. Anwar's formal title.
''It could be accidental poisoning through food and drink consumed not
only in prison but in the court's precincts.'' He added: ''I have
personally seen the accused consuming drinks and food in this very
courtroom.''
Mr. Anwar's lawyers were scheduled to argue on Friday that Judge
Arifin drop the sodomy case against Mr. Anwar for lack of evidence,
but Mr. Karpal, the defense lawyer, started the session inside the
yellow and red brick courthouse in a decidedly different tone.
''I wish to draw your attention to certain matters which go beyond the
significance of this trial,'' he said, before going into details of
the test for arsenic.
Mr. Arifin, after ordering that Mr. Anwar be sent to the hospital,
addressed Mr. Anwar. ''Is it worrying you?'' he asked. Mr. Anwar
replied: ''I was disturbed. But having gone through what I went
through last year, I'm not surprised.''
http://www.iht.com/IHT/TODAY/SAT/IN/anwar.2.html
Tan Teng Wah
accidental poisoning and even implying that the poison could be from the
food brought in by his family members.
Which one of these two carries credibility?
1) Datuk Anwar's family members try to poison him
2) People in the government conspire to poison him, considering the
'treatment' he got from the former IGP during detention last year.
Yap Yok Foo wrote in message <37e8bd18...@nntp.jaring.my>...
>From IHT
>11th September 1999
>
>Anwar Is Hospitalized After Test for Arsenic
>Malaysian Ex-Minister Alleges Poisoning
'' .....I must caution my learned friends not to jump the gun and accuse
some people of conspiracy to kill or injure Dato Seri Anwar,'' said
Attorney General Mohtar Abdullah, using Mr. Anwar's formal title.
''It could be accidental poisoning through food and drink consumed not only
in prison but in the court's precincts.....''
Yap Yok Foo
12th September 1999
Anwar poisoning rattles Govt.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government moved swiftly
to contain allegations by jailed former minister Anwar Ibrahim
that political opponents had poisoned him, by ordering a
probe and detailing his ``VIP'' treatment in jail.
Deputy prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also
questioned why Anwar's lawyers took weeks to disclose the
test results of Anwar's urine sample instead of asking for
immediate treatment. Anwar was taken to hospital Friday
after his lawyer said a pathologist in Australia had certified a
dangerously high level of arsenic had been found in Anwar's
urine.
A family member said Saturday the former deputy premier
was still in hospital and remained in high spirits. Abdullah,
who is also home minister in charge of police and prisons,
said late Friday that he had ordered an investigation.
``The thorough investigations will be carried out on an urgent
basis,'' the official Bernama news agency quoted him as
saying. ``I take this matter very, very seriously.'' Anwar's
lawyer Karpal Singh, who is a member of an opposition
party, had alleged he suspected ``some people in high
places'' were responsible for poisoning the former minister.
The allegation was the latest twist in Malaysia's year-long
political drama pitting Anwar against his former mentor,
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
Mahathir, who Friday night addressed a political rally in a
stadium across the street from the hospital where Anwar
was being treated, has not commented on the issue.
Abdullah, detailing Anwar's life in prison, said he was treated
better than other prisoners and was given milk and honey on
the advice of doctors. ``Anwar can be said to be accorded
VIP treatment,'' Bernama quoted Abdullah as saying.
He was given a cell ``which was as big as a studio
apartment'' with an attached bathroom, the Star newspaper
quoted Abdullah as saying, adding that Anwar had an iron
bed with a mattress, a pillow, two blankets, a ceiling fan and
a table. The daily said Anwar received special privileges in
prison and was allowed to retain 32 items of his own,
including perfume, hair cream, track suits and slippers.
``And he gets magazines such as Time, Newsweek, The
Economist, and Far Eastern Economic Review,'' it quoted
Abdullah as saying. Anwar was also given fresh fish,
chicken, meat, vegetables and fruit and allowed to eat food
his family brought to court during his trial, the home minister
said. Abdullah questioned why Anwar's lawyers took so long
to disclose details of the urine test. A copy of the report
showed the case was referred to the Melbourne pathologist
on August 26.
``They also did not request for Datuk Seri Anwar to be
treated immediately. This I don't understand. What is their
motive?'' he asked. Anwar told the High Court hearing his
sodomy trial that he saw the pathologist's report on
Thursday. (Reuters)
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/xwgif.html
Yap Yok Foo
12th September 1999
Anwar's arsenic is Malaysia's
Forget Wawasan 2020. Far from propelling Malaysia into the ranks of
fully developed nations, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's regime has
given us a real taste of the politics of the Middle Ages. Indeed,
Malaysia couldn't have looked any more medieval than on Friday, when
it was revealed that imprisoned former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar
Ibrahim has been fed highly toxic doses of arsenic.
The official investigation has yet to begin. But we can only hope and
pray that this latest investigation won't be a replay of the
pathetically slow and tainted official probe into Anwar's beating
while under police custody soon after he was arrested last September.
And, for heaven's sake, let's not hear Dr. M quip that Anwar may have
been trying to poison himself, just as he had remarked that his former
deputy's bruises might have been self-inflicted.
Already, Malaysia's leadership has responded with its trademark lack
of sensitivity and responsibility. It was bad enough that the attorney
general and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi both have suggested
Anwar's family may have poisoned him. But then Mahathir shot the snide
remark, "it's probably not his urine." And, International Trade and
Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz, a knee-jerk Mahathir apologist, told
reporters at the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation forum that Anwar
had clearly timed events to coincide with the APEC summit.
Anwar's bruised face and black eye was a national disgrace seen
repeatedly round the world. This time, far more is at stake. Indeed,
the government's very legitimacy among its own people and among the
community of civilized nations hangs in the balance.
The revelation that Anwar may have been systematically administered
arsenic in prison threatens to poison our entire nation and undermine
the foundation upon which Malaysia's democracy has been based. Dr. M's
18-year-old regime already has significantly eroded democracy in
Malaysia and has badly corroded the principles of civil society upon
which our country was founded.
All depends now on a swift, credible inquiry
Still, Malaysia isn't beyond repair. After Mahathir's passing, the
task of undoing his legacy will be difficult for his successors. But
it can be done.
And what better way to begin returning Malaysia to a path of dignity
and national pride than for Dr. M to ensure that this investigation is
conducted promptly, openly and without bias. For if it isn't, the
prime minister and his regime will forevermore be implicated as
accomplices, if not perpetrators, in the attempted assassination of
Anwar.
As it is, a large number of Malaysians will always believe that Dr. M
and his fanatical supporters had a hand in poisoning Anwar, no matter
how thorough and impartial an investigation is eventually conducted.
Such is the level of contempt and cynicism that Mahathir has bred over
the years, especially with the treatment he and his administration
have meted out to Anwar the last 12 months.
Not a few Malaysians have been saying for months that Anwar won't
survive prison. Now, many more will concur. Dr. M and his cronies,
they no doubt will believe, can't afford to free Anwar.
As long as Anwar lives, he remains a dire political and financial
threat to Dr. M and his coterie of obliging civil servants and
corporate honchos, the prime minister's critics maintain. Anwar was a
huge threat to them before his incarceration, as proven by the
enormous protest rallies before and after his arrest. And judging by
the public support he and the opposition political parties have
received since then, Anwar's political stature has risen even more.
freeMalaysia can't predict Anwar's actions or his desire for
retribution if ever set free. But at a minimum, he would feel
compelled, if he ever were to become premier, to quickly dismantle
Mahathir's corrupt crony network and undo the many executive decisions
upon which the network's members depend to maintain their lavish
lifestyles. Indeed, his arrest and prosecution probably was predicated
on the belief that he was set to move against the Mahathir regime and
its corporate backers.
Anwar, alive, remains a threat to many
Even if Anwar never becomes prime minister, he would remain a thorn
in the side of future administrations that perpetuate Dr. M's legacy
of corruption. As such, he would remain a threat to the wealth and
power of many current insiders.
Already, Anwar's jailhouse lawsuits and police reports, alleging
widespread corruption and providing the documentation to prove it, are
further eroding public support for the Mahathir regime as the general
election approaches. And his supporters maintain that many more suits
will follow, backed by evidence that Anwar had shipped abroad before
his arrest.
Therefore, it's no great leap of faith to conclude that Dr. M's more
fanatical supporters and greediest cronies have ample motive -
billions of ringgit of motive - to assassinate Anwar. Some conspiracy
theorists are suggesting that Mahathir abandoned his Hippocratic oath
and issued the death warrant himself.
For our part, freeMalaysia will await the findings of the inquest and
the manner in which it is conducted. But whoever is behind Anwar's
poisoning chose a devilishly subtle and time-tested means to kill.
There is no comparison to Ferdinand Marcos dispatching a mindless thug
to assassinate Benigno Aquino in broad daylight before a number of
witnesses. No, Anwar's attempted assassination was devious, calculated
work. Someone wanted to leave no trails and create no martyr.
An old, but effective, weapon
Arsenic is practically synonymous with poison. For centuries, this
nearly tasteless and odorless element has been used as the murder
weapon of choice, administered either in a single lethal dose or in
smaller quantities over time. Among the legions of those suspected of
being killed by arsenic poisoning were Elena, the mother of Russia's
Ivan the Terrible, in 1538; Sir Thomas Overbury, an English writer who
was poisoned slowly while imprisoned in the Tower of London in 1613;
and more recently, four Japanese who last year ate arsenic-laced curry
served up by a former Insurance saleswoman.
Arsenic is still used today to kill rodents and other agricultural
pests. However, its usage has declined sharply in recent years because
scientific evidence points to its cancer-causing properties, even in
small doses.
Its popularity as a poison stems both from its ready availability and,
more enticing, from the subtlety of its effects when administered
gradually, leading to a final, cumulative and fatal dose. Until
doctors were able to reliably isolate the poison in body tissue and
fluid samples, arsenic poisoning was often diagnosed as any in a
number of so-called "wasting diseases" that bore similar symptoms.
Symptoms of chronic poisoning include skin lesions (pictured at
right), which tingle and may be linked to the subsequent development
of skin cancer. Another symptom is numbness of hands and feet, which
often develops into a painful condition called neuritis. With neuritis
comes impaired or lost reflexes in the body's extremities. The anemia,
thinning hair and weight loss that Anwar has experienced, along with
his frequent hospitalization for gastric complaints, are classic
symptoms of chronic poisoning.
Before and after photos tell the story of his ordeal
Repeated toxic doses of arsenic attack the body's critical internal
organs. This is what eventually leads to the cascading breakdown of
basic body functions, severe illness, and, eventually, death.
Would this crime have gone undetected?
As Dr. Syed Husin Ali, president of Parti Rakyat Malaysia, noted last
week, an Anwar painfully wracked and then killed by such symptoms
would be proof enough of the government's flimsy and unproven
allegations about his bisexual philandering. In the end, we Malaysians
would be told that it was AIDS that eventually did him in.
The regime's attempts to besmirch Anwar through every means at their
disposal have not succeeded. So when all else fails, why not resort to
the life-seeping use of arsenic? As a devout Muslim giving what might
have been his final dying wish, Anwar very well could have asked his
family for a swift customary burial, with the secret of his murder
undetected and buried with him.
But that wasn't to be. The suspicions of friends and family about his
failing health led to secreting a sample of his urine to the Melbourne
laboratory and the discovery of arsenic in life-threatening
quantities.
For now, Anwar remains alive. But his recovery from the effects of
severe arsenic poisoning can take many months. And some of the nerve
damage he may be experiencing might never reverse. Longer term and
perhaps more ominous for Anwar is the potential for contracting
cancer, scientifically documented in many cases from repeated exposure
to even less-than-toxic levels of the poison.
Arsenic is proven to cause skin cancer by ingestion and lung cancer by
inhalation. It's also suspected of causing cancers of the lung, liver,
bladder, kidney and colon by ingestion. The most compelling modern
studies of arsenic's carcinogenic properties involve exposure to
arsenic in drinking water in the U.S. These studies provide evidence
that ingested inorganic arsenic causes cancers of the bladder, kidney,
lung, liver and other organs. Reacting to the evidence, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency has set much stricter standards for
exposure to the element, reducing exposure levels to well below
previously acknowledged toxic amounts.
In short, the vile creature or creatures who attempted Anwar's murder
may still succeed. But let us hope that they don't go unpunished.
http://freemalaysia.com/pushing_poison.htm
Yap Yok Foo
13th September 1999
Malaysian Court Jails Foreign Journalist for Contempt
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Thomas Fuller International Herald Tribune
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KUALA LUMPUR - A Canadian journalist has been sentenced by Malaysia's
Court of Appeal to six weeks in prison for contempt of court.
Murray Hiebert, bureau chief for the Far Eastern Economic Review, a
regional magazine published by Dow Jones & Co., was taken to prison
Saturday two hours after being sentenced.
The case marked the first time in Malaysia a reporter was imprisoned
for contempt over something he had written, according to Mr. Hiebert's
lawyers.
Mr. Hiebert's conviction stems from an article he wrote about a woman
who sued a high school in Kuala Lumpur after her son was kicked off
the debating team.
The article, titled ''See You in Court,'' addressed the growing number
of court cases in Malaysia.
A judge in 1997 ruled that Mr. Hiebert's article ''scandalized'' the
court and was ''calculated to excite prejudice against the
plaintiff.'' Mr. Hiebert was sentenced to three months in prison, but
filed for appeal. The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction Saturday
but lightened the sentence.
Mr. Hiebert, 50, is appealing Saturday's decision to the country's
highest court but is serving the sentence because he wants to join his
wife and family, who have moved to Washington, his next posting for
the Review. The court refused to return his passport during the
appeals process, and the final appeal could take one or two more
years.
Mohammed Shafee Abdullah, one of Mr. Hiebert's lawyers, said the last
case of a journalist being sent to prison for media contempt in
Commonwealth countries, which share a common legal heritage, was in
1950.
Human rights groups said over the weekend that the case would
undermine freedom of speech in the country.
''In our country where journalists are already severely constrained in
conducting their duties, Hiebert's conviction will serve to remind
other journalists that press freedom is an illusion here,'' said
Elizabeth Wong, coordinator of Suaram, one of the country's most vocal
human rights associations.
A. Lin Neumann of the Committee to Protect Journalists said the
decision had a ''chilling effect on other journalists who may write on
sensitive subjects in Malaysia.'' He added: ''We believe no reporter
should ever go to jail for what he or she writes.''
Mr. Hiebert's case is one of many legal actions faced by Dow Jones in
Malaysia. The company's regional daily, The Asian Wall Street Journal,
is being sued for 200 million ringgit ($53 million) by Mirzan
Mahathir, the son of the prime minister, Mahathir bin Mohamad. The
suit concerns a profile the paper did of Mr. Mirzan in January.
The Journal is also being sued by Vincent Tan, a Malaysian
businessman, over an opinion piece written by a university professor.
And Raphael Pura, a reporter for the Journal based in Kuala Lumpur, is
being sued for 40 million ringgit over an article that appeared in a
London-based publication that quoted Mr. Pura in terms critical of the
Malaysian judiciary.
A spokeswoman for Dow Jones said in a statement that the company was
''deeply disappointed'' with Mr. Hiebert's sentence and that neither
Mr. Hiebert nor the Review ''had any intention to attack either the
courts of Malaysia or the litigants in any particular case.'' Mr.
Hiebert has spent 13 years at the Review, reporting, among other
places, from Vietnam and Thailand. He is author of ''Chasing the
Tigers: A Portrait of the New Vietnam.''
http://www.iht.com/IHT/TODAY/MON/IN/malay.2.html
Yap Yok Foo
12th September 1999
Pushing poison
Yap Yok Foo
15th September 1999
Asean: Too little, too late as usual
Commentary by Kanjana Spindler
Under Thailand's current leadership term, the Association of Southeast
Nations (Asean) has once again been found wanting in moral backbone.
To be fair, the rest of the world can claim no greater moral high
ground as it stood by and watched the ruthless massacre of tens of
thousands of East Timorese citizens.
Just a few short weeks ago, the United Nations was basking in the
limelight, barely able to contain its self-congratulations over the
massive voter turnout in East Timor and the resulting overwhelming
green light for independence. Contrast that euphoria with the picture
of an almost tearful United Nations secretary-general raising the
possibility that those responsible for the massacre may be charged
with crimes against humanity.
Now that Indonesia has indicated its willingness to accept a
UN-sponsored international peacekeeping force, Asean states are all
ready to take one step forward-to participate in that force. Indeed
Indonesia has made it clear that it would prefer Asean, or at least
Asian, peacekeepers.
But while token contributions from Asean may be appropriate, I don't
believe the United Nations, which will have the final say on the
composition of the peacekeeping force, can rely on an Asean-dominated
force as much as the Indonesians might prefer it.
Quite clearly the Indonesian military sees Asean soldiers, albeit
wearing blue helmets, as the soft option.
Are Thai or Malaysian or Singaporean troops really going to confront
the Indonesian military, their frequent golfing partners, if this
becomes necessary? Are Thai or Malaysian or Singaporean troops really
going to pursue the collection of evidence against the Indonesian
military so that prosecution of crimes against humanity can take
place? I very much doubt it.
So under Foreign Minister Surin Pitsuwan's leadership, Asean needs to
be very careful how enthusiastically it steps forward to demonstrate
to the world that it does in fact care about the plight of the East
Timorese.
An ineffective Asean contribution to the international peacekeeping
force would be worse than no participation. Perhaps it might be better
to limit Asean's contribution to the humanitarian level, concentrating
on doctors and engineers and food and medicine and reconstruction,
leaving the hard edge of the peacekeeping operations to the militaries
of those countries with more stomach, and experience, for such
operations.
This would not be shirking our responsibilities. It would simply be
more honest and more consistent with our lack of moral purpose over
the last couple of weeks. After all, realistically speaking, Asean is
not going to confront Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in
the world and the giant among Asean's 10 member states, over the issue
of East Timor's independence.
Asean is not alone in being condemned for its inaction. The entire
community of nations watched the Indonesian military's destruction of
the East Timorese dream of independence because everybody was afraid
of turning Indonesia into a rogue state.
Everybody waited until the Indonesian military had achieved its goal
of delivering an unforgettable lesson to the rest of Indonesia-namely,
any thoughts of independence will be answered with the same horrific
destruction. Only when the Indonesian military had effectively
depopulated East Timor did the international community's rhetoric step
up the requisite couple of notches to pressure Jakarta to start
talking.
Unfortunately, East Timor will probably only turn out to be a
sideshow. The real battle in Indonesia, which has just begun, revolves
around the Indonesian people's tentative attempts to free themselves
from military control of their destiny.
- Kanjana Spindler is AssistantEditor, Editorial Pages, Bangkok Post
http://www.bangkokpost.net/today/150999_News19.html
Yap Yok Foo
16th September 1999
EDITORIAL: Malaysian justice system poisoned
Opening a major international conference of jurists this week, Prime
Minister Mahathir Mohamad, without so much as batting an eyelid,
declared that ''Malaysia is a democratic country where the rule of law
is upheld''.
That assertion, of course, should be taken with a very generous pinch
of salt.
Indeed, foremost in the minds of the international legal fraternity at
the 12th Commonwealth Law Conference in Kuala Lumpur must be the
accusation by Mahathir's former protege, Anwar Ibrahim, that he was
poisoned in prison. Last Friday, Anwar was taken to hospital after his
lawyers told the court during his sodomy trial that arsenic 77 times
above normal levels had been found in his urine.
Apparently a sample of his urine was smuggled to Australia for testing
because of concern for the former prime minister-in-waiting's abnormal
hair loss, feelings of numbness in his fingers and a dramatic nine
kilogrammes loss in weight. For centuries, perhaps since the arsenic
poisoning of Napoleon, this nearly tasteless and odourless chemical
has been the murder weapon of choice because of the subtlety of its
effects when administered gradually, which can eventually lead to
death.
The reaction from Mahathir to this latest opprobrium is a replay of an
earlier incident when Anwar appeared in court sporting a black eye.
Then, Mahathir said that the injury could be self-inflicted. Now, he
said the sample was probably someone else's urine. In addition, he
suggested that Anwar's family might have given him poisoned food. He
also accused Anwar of pulling a stunt, timing his allegation with the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' summit in Auckland.
Kuala Lumpur has nevertheless ordered an investigation into the poison
claim, but for many Malaysians nothing less than a truly independent
probe will do. After all, the police investigation of Anwar's black
eye took three months to complete and it led nowhere. It wasn't until
an independent commission was established that the culprit who landed
the near-fatal blows on Anwar was named. And that process, in contrast
to the police probe, took no more than 10 days.
Anwar is not alone in facing the skewed justice system in Malaysia. On
Saturday, Murray Hiebert, a correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic
Review, was jailed for six weeks after he lost an appeal against a
contempt of court conviction. His crime? He wrote an article in 1997
which suggested Malaysia was becoming an increasingly litigious
society.
The article highlighted the case of a senior judge's wife who had
taken legal action against an international school because her son was
dropped from the debating team. It said the case had moved rapidly
through the court system possibly because the student's father, Gopal
Sri Ram, was a prominent judge. While the law suit was settled out of
court, the plaintiff was so angered by Hiebert's article that she
demanded the judge hearing the case jail him for contempt as an
example to other ''errant'' journalists.
Hiebert, who is a Canadian citizen, has been prevented from leaving
Malaysia for the past two years as he awaited the result of his
appeal. He opted to begin his sentence now, rather than await a
further appeal in a higher court, so that he could rejoin his family
in Washington for Christmas.
Clearly, Malaysia has learnt well from its southern neighbour to couch
its attacks against freedom of the press and its efforts to stifle
criticism of the judiciary in the guise of law suits and contempt of
court proceedings. Indeed, Hiebert is not the only person cited for
''scandalising'' the court: a number of lawyers, and more recently a
Malaysian journalist, are facing charges of contempt.
Peer group pressure must be brought to bear on Malaysia to respect
freedom of expression. Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy has
vowed to raise the issue of Hiebert's jailing when the Commonwealth
Ministerial Action Group, set up to investigate human rights abuses in
member countries, meets later this month in New York. The Commonwealth
is having a summit in November, which Mahathir is attending, and a
censure by the grouping of the 54-nation grouping of mostly former
British colonies will definitely rile the man who likes to fashion
himself as the spokesperson of the Third World.
In dismissing Anwar's poison claim, Mahathir said political
assassination is not part of his country's culture. True, Malaysians
have not seen much political killings, Benigno Aquino-style. But
perhaps Mahathir should be reminded that Malaysia, too, does not have
a culture of lies, fear and intimidation.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/index/edit.html
and...@sympatico.ca
>From The Bangkok Post
>15th September 1999
>
>Asean: Too little, too late as usual
>Commentary by Kanjana Spindler
>
>Under Thailand's current leadership term, the Association of Southeast
>Nations (Asean) has once again been found wanting in moral backbone.
Let's note that such just comments about the lack of moral courage
of most of ASEAN current leaders are not found in either Singapore
or Malaysia's press.
Any causal link with their lack of free press?
By demonstration of the absurd, that would mean that the leaders of
those two countries know very well about their lack of moral fortitude
and such subjects are an absolute no-no in their controlled press.
>- Kanjana Spindler is AssistantEditor, Editorial Pages, Bangkok Post
>http://www.bangkokpost.net/today/150999_News19.html
>
>
>
>
Yap Yok Foo
15th September 1999
Time to end contempt law, barrister says
By Nelson Graves
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 (Reuters) - The jailing of a Canadian journalist
in Malaysia has lent impetus to efforts by some leading international
jurists to end a law they say allows judges in dozens of countries to
trample on freedom of speech.
The case of Murray Hiebert, Malaysia bureau chief for the Far Eastern
Economic Review, was repeatedly cited at this week's Commonwealth Law
Conference on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.
Hiebert was sent to jail on Saturday for a six-week sentence for
contempt of court.
He was convicted of ``scandalising the court'' over an article
published in January 1997 that the wife of a Court of Appeal judge,
who brought the suit, said amounted to an attack on the judiciary.
Hiebert, 50, became the first journalist to be imprisoned in Malaysia
in the line of duty and the first to be jailed for contempt in a
Commonwealth country in 50 years.
Photocopies of Hiebert's 1997 article circulated widely at the
Commonwealth conference, attended by more than 1,400 judges and
lawyers, and his contempt case was repeatedly mentioned in sessions
dealing with civil liberties.
Prominent British barrister Geoffrey Robertson objected to Hiebert's
conviction, but said its significance lay beyond the Canadian
journalist's sentencing by a Malaysian court.
``He was found guilty of scandalising the court for an article in
which one admitted error was contained but which could not conceivably
affect either the decision in the case, which was being decided by a
judge, or the administration of justice generally,'' Robertson told
Reuters in an interview.
The Queen's Counsel said the court held that the prosecution in
Hiebert's case did not have to prove an intention to commit a crime.
``That analysis of the offence makes it so vague and that anyone who
writes about the courts could theoretically be at risk,'' he said.
Canada and the United States, joined by rights groups, attacked the
judgment in Hiebert's case, saying it sent a chilling signal to
journalists working in that country.
But Robertson said Hiebert's defeat stemmed from a defect in common
law that allows judges in the 54 Commonwealth countries to trample on
freedom of speech.
``The reason why I don't blame the Malaysian judiciary alone is that I
think it's an inherent power that should not belong to judges in any
country because it makes them a judge in their own cause,'' he said.
Robert Martin, a professor at Canada's University of Western Ontario,
spoke in favour of a statement on freedom of expression for the
Commonwealth which would curb use of contempt of court and allow
``robust criticism of judicial decisions.''
``Judges are not fragile flowers that wilt in the heat of criticism,''
Martin told the conference.
Robertson urged Britain to take the lead in abolishing the power to
hold citizens in contempt of court.
``Britain devised the law and Britain should abolish it,'' he said.
``I hope it will be abolished in the course of when the European
Convention of Human Rights comes into force in Britain, which is
October next year. I think there will then be the case for abolishing
all these old common law offences.''
http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/990915/bb.html
Yap Yok Foo
16th September 1999
Jailed in Malaysia
THE LATEST victim of the police mentality that seems increasingly to
prevail in Malaysia is Murray Hiebert, bureau chief of the Far Eastern
Economic Review, an English-language regional weekly published by Dow
Jones & Co. Over the weekend Mr. Hiebert was sentenced for a local
form of contempt known as "scandalizing the court." His offense was to
report that a mother had sued her 17-year-old son's elite school for
unfairly dropping him from the debate team, that the boy's father is a
prominent Court of Appeals judge and that "many are surprised at the
speed with which the case raced through Malaysia's legal labyrinth."
For this, six weeks in jail for Murray Hiebert.
Not for the first time, Malaysia has impressed on observers its
alternating sensitivity and insensitivity. Sensitive to even the
barest suggestion of disapproval or criticism from any quarter,
insensitive to the conclusions people everywhere draw as they see
Malaysia acting ever more arbitrarily. This attitude, furthermore, is
directed not only toward its own citizens -- the former deputy prime
minister Anwar Ibrahim is serving six months on ridiculous corruption
charges -- but also toward selected foreigners. This is how Mr.
Hiebert comes to be in jail now.
Sending a journalist to jail for something he wrote cannot fail to
influence the climate in which other journalists operate and in which
all of public life takes place. It sends the message that Malaysia is
not modernizing its political circumstances even as it modernizes its
economic ones. It is building in a tension that will embarrass the
country and undercut its national progress as well as its reputation.
© Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company
http://search.washingtonpost.com/
Yap Yok Foo
17th September 1999
Malaysian success spawns new thinking on controls
By Claude Robinson
Malaysia's apparent success in using capital controls to stabilize the
economy during the Asian financial crisis has forced new thinking in
international financial institutions about the use of controls as
policy instruments, the World Bank admitted on Wednesday.
''Five years ago the conventional wisdom was that controls are always
bad. If you impose them, there will be capital flight. Now, there is a
little bit of doubt about that position,'' said William Dillinger, one
of the authors of the Bank's ''World Development Report 1999-2000'',
released recently.
While noting it is ''too early to tell if controls are necessarily bad
or not'', Dillinger added that experiences in the financial crises in
Latin American and Asia suggested that in some instances, they had
played a positive role.
Dillinger stopped just short of endorsing the general use of capital
controls, saying that the World Bank's preferred position was for
developing countries to rely less on short-term foreign capital
inflows and go for longer-term investment capital which is less
volatile. He said the use and effectiveness of controls would vary
from country to country, as something which worked in one place at one
time may fail in another place at another time.
Ignoring warnings from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund
and private international bankers, the Malaysian government of Prime
Minister Mahathir Mohamad imposed controls on capital movements more
than 12 months ago.
At the time, Malaysian officials blamed money speculators for the
crash of the ringit, which sank in the midst of a panic by investors
scared by the financial meltdown in Asia and Russia. The control
measures meant to combat this panic included a decree preventing
foreign investors from pulling their money out of the stock market for
one year.
Experts predicted immenent economic collapse, but this did not happen.
Experts predicted a flight of capital when the controls were lifted on
September 1, but this didn't happen either.
A report on the region issued by the Asian Development Bank last week
instead predicted a 2 percent growth in the Malaysian economy this
year, up from an earlier estimate of 0.7 percent, while Malaysia
itself reported a 4.1 percent annualized growth in the April-June
quarter.
In an endorsement of Malaysian financial policy, the influential
benchmark index provider Morgan Stanley Capital International
announced that it would reverse a decision made one year ago and
re-admit Malaysia to its indexes next February.
Reports from Kuala Lumpur have predicted that the Malaysian stock
market could attract some $20 billion in foreign funds over the next
year, bringing foreign holdings to some $30 billion.
Perhaps the most surprising endorsement of capital controls came from
the International Monetary Fund, which had stridently opposed the
action last year. IMF Board members ''broadly agreed that the regime
of capital controls - which was intended by the authorities to be
temporary - had produced more positive results than many observers had
initially expected'', according to a summary of a July board meeting
released September 8.
Both the World Bank and the IMF will hold their annual meetings in
Washington next week and the question of selective use of capital
controls to stem wild and destabilizing currency withdrawals from
developing countries will likely be a major issue.
Unless the major western economies heed Prime Minister Mahathir's call
for a new global ''financial architecture'' that will protect
developing countries from the volatility of short-term capital,
obeservers say, many developing countries will have to look at the
option of controls, as a sort of insurance policy.
The report emphasized that developing countries should seek to
strengthen their financial institutions and create a framework for
attracting long-term investment capital. Such measures include ''steps
to clearly define the rights and obligations of multinational
investors'', the report said. ''This sort of institutional reform is
especially attractive to investors considering investing in countries
plagued by political risk and corruption.''
Privatization policies and commitment to World Trade Organization
obligations that ''allow foreign firms access to certain domestic
service markets'' were other measures that could be used to attract
investors.
The report said that the many banking crises in developing countries
over the past decade - ''with their deleterious consequences for
poverty reduction, social stability and growth'' - illustrate the need
for a sound regulatory framework and highlight Hungary's successful
experience.
In Hungary, through a series of changes beginning with the collapse of
the Soviet empire in 1989, the banking system moved away from a state
monopoly. In 1998, some 60 percent was under foreign ownership, 20
percent under government ownership and the remainder under local
private ownership.
http://atimes.com
Yap Yok Foo
17th September 1999
'Reformasi' turns from protests to politics
By Anil Netto
PENANG, Malaysia - If it were to be gauged solely by the number of
people who still attend its rallies, then the ''reformasi'' movement
begun by Anwar Ibrahim a year ago might be considered to be on the
wane.
But political analysts say reformasi supporters are still very much
around - and that the movement itself has evolved into something
bigger. Observers add that what began largely as a pro-Anwar,
anti-Mahathir protest has now become a broad-based movement for reform
and change.
They also say that though the immediate outrage has subsided, the
undercurrents can still be felt beneath the surface of everyday life.
To be sure, rallies organized by Anwar supporters no longer draw the
same crowds as those held last September, shortly after Anwar's
sacking as Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister.
On September 20 last year, the pro-Anwar movement reached its climax
when more than 50,000 Malaysians flooded Merdeka Square in Kuala
Lumpur to hear Anwar proclaim reformasi and then demand the premier's
ouster. It was one of the largest displays of dissent yet in
Mahathir's 18-year rule.
Afterwards, thousands marched to the prime minister's residence where
they were forced back by riot police. Hours later, however, a special
police squad stormed Anwar's house and hauled him into custody. Angry
though peaceful crowds filled the streets for months, protesting his
sacking and apparent maltreatment while in police custody.
Baton-wielding riot police and water cannons dispersed the protesters,
at times violently.
These days, such spontaneous protests have all but evaporated.
Explained social activist Rajen Devaraj, ''I think the demonstrations
were just a symptom of the anger over the way the system operates.''
Devaraj was among the hundreds of protesters arrested for illegal
assembly. He was later acquitted along with dozens of others, after a
prolonged court battle.
He added, ''There was also the expectation that if people had pushed
hard enough, Mahathir would have been forced to resign and UMNO
[United Malays National Organization] would have been split.'' That
didn't happen. In hindsight, says Devaraj, it looks like UMNO, the
dominant party in the ruling coalition, held together well. But then
again, so has the reformasi movement, despite the dwindling numbers at
its rallies.
''The anger is still there,'' said Devaraj, ''but there are now a lot
of avenues [for those who are unhappy] to express themselves.'' Places
for expression in the 90s include the Internet. Reformasi Websites are
still active - even though the initial frenzy in cyberspace has
settled - and the opposition tabloid Harakah continues to be widely
read.
Much has changed in the last year, Devaraj explained. Last year, he
says, there was no keADILan (the National Justice Party that is led by
Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail). Neither was there a united
opposition front gearing for a general election. ''There is a
tremendous amount of focusing on the election,'' he noted. ''People
see the election as the showdown.''
Thus, much of the energy that used to go into street demonstrations is
now being absorbed into an emerging opposition alliance that is
preparing for the elections. The rallies of this alliance - made up of
keADILan, the Democratic Action Party, the Islamic Party and the
Malaysian People's Party - have thus far had little difficulty drawing
crowds.
Despite ideological differences, these parties appear on the verge of
announcing a common opposition manifesto, which would pave the way for
what has been called a ''barisan alternatif'', or an alternative
front, to challenge the ruling Barisan Nasional, or National Front
coalition.
In the last general election, Mahathir's coalition bagged two-thirds
of the popular vote to collect five-sixths of the available
parliamentary seats, almost blanking out the opposition. This time
around, however, analysts expect a more even contest with the Barisan
hard-pressed to retain the two-thirds parliamentary majority.
Other analysts even suggest the Barisan Nasional could suffer a shock
defeat if the ethnic Malays, who make up half the 22 million
population, desert Mahathir's UMNO in droves.
Rustam says part of UMNO's problem is that Mahathir himself seems to
be unattuned to - or has even underestimated - the transformation in
Malaysian political culture in recent years. ''In the 1960s political
framework, which was still heavily suffused with feudal elements with
all its attendant old-style patronage syndrome, there was little
likelihood that the abrupt sidelining of someone like Anwar by the
party leader would precipitate a crisis or any sustained opposition,''
said Rustam A Sani, president-elect of the Malaysian Social Science
Association in his address last month.
But these are the 1990s. Influenced by information technology and
globalization, Devaraj says political and social culture has changed
imperceptibly over the years. ''[T]he [reformasi] movement draws its
strength and capacity to endure and even grow from a popular rejection
of - a refusal to remain satisfied any longer with and accept - the
political approach and styles of communication'' of the feudal past.
People, he said, are no longer content to accept a mute politics of
deference under the guises of ''respect'' and ''loyalty''.
In Mahathir's favor, however, is the prevailing hesitancy among many
Malaysians about change. These Malaysians, who feel they have too much
to lose, credit the ruling coalition for the country's relative
political stability and inter-ethnic harmony.
Many Malaysians also look favorably at the Barisan Nasional's diverse
component parties, which have worked as a cohesive unit in the ruling
coalition, in contrast to the disparate, untested opposition parties
still trying to cobble together a workable alternative front.
Reformists, meanwhile, argue that the institutions of government have
lost their credibility with power increasingly centralized in the
executive. They point to curbs on basic rights such as the red tape
involved in organizing political gatherings and the arrests of
peaceful demonstrators. They criticize the emphasis on privatization
and the megaprojects that they say drain the country's resources.
Yet even if the opposition loses badly at the next polls, activists
like Devaraj believe reformasi will live on. ''I don't think it will
disappear,'' he says. ''People have been become more politically aware
and once you become politically aware, I don't think you will go
backwards.''
jaywalker
a thief be proud if he gets rich stealing from CLOB shareholders and keeping
other people's money in the country. JUST A SHAMELESS ACT AND EVEN MORE
SHAMELESSNESS IN CLAIMING SUCCESS THROUGH DISHONESTY.
Yap Yok Foo <yf...@pop.jaring.my> wrote in message
news:37e88b90...@nntp.jaring.my...
Yap Yok Foo
18th September 1999
The Nations Contributing To UN Force
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reuters
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A multinational force authorized by the United Nations to restore
order in East Timor is due to begin deployment during the weekend.
Expected to total about 7,000 to 8,000 troops, the force will be led
by Major General Peter Cosgrove of Australia, with Thailand and
Malaysia supplying deputy commanders. Although final details of the
force are not available, individual countries have offered the
following contributions:
AUSTRALIA
Sending up to 4,500 military personnel. Has a high-speed catamaran
berthed in Darwin capable of carrying 500 fully equipped troops on the
10-hour sea trip to East Timor. Six frigates and three destroyers, all
equipped with guided missiles, are also ready for deployment.
ARGENTINA - 50 soldiers.
BANGLADESH - Has offered troops.
BRAZIL - 30 to 50 military policemen.
BRITAIN - Has deployed destroyer Glasgow, including a helicopter.
About 270 Nepalese Gurkhas will be among the first troops to land in
East Timor. Some 600 personnel in total. Also offering three aircraft.
Donated $5 million to help restore UN operations in East Timor.
CANADA - Up to 600 soldiers. Might send the Protector, a replenishment
ship, or a transport plane.
CHINA - Offered civilian policemen.
EUROPEAN UNION - Has offered Û8 million ($8.2 million) in aid
FIJI - Offered troops.
FINLAND - Donating $1 million
FRANCE - 500 soldiers, a frigate.
ITALY - 600 military personnel, including 200 paratroops, transport
aircraft and an amphibious naval unit on a vessel with hospital
facilities, helicopters, a transport aircraft.
JAPAN - $2 million in emergency humanitarian aid. Has pledged
unspecified funds to help finance the force's operations.
SOUTH KOREA - Up to 500 soldiers.
MALAYSIA - 17 officers and 13 soldiers. Initially, Malaysia chose to
stay out because it opposed Australia's leading the force, but it
softened its stand after the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, and
Indonesia asked that Malaysian troops be included.
NEW ZEALAND - Up to 800 air, sea and land troops, with an initial
force of about 420. A frigate, a supply ship and two Hercules
transport aircraft to be available.
NORWAY - Five officers.
PAKISTAN - Has offered troops.
PHILIPPINES - Advance team of 240, mainly engineers, medical and
dental units; 1,200 more noncombat personnel offered.
SOUTH KOREA - 400 soldiers.
SINGAPORE - Medical personnel and logistics support.
SWEDEN - 10 civilian police officers and $1.2 million in aid.
THAILAND - 30-member advance team, 1,000 troops to follow.
UNITED STATES - About 200 military personnel, half of whom will serve
in East Timor, and support from Pacific Fleet. Will transport troops
from other countries and help with logistics, communications and
intelligence.
http://www.iht.com
Yap Yok Foo
Issue 17th September 1999
Brunei's Media
"News From Brunei's News Trade" [INTELLIGENCE, Aug. 20-27] was a
rather mischievous piece of reporting. Had Peter Wong's company not
been given licenses to start a Chinese paper, Brunei Darussalam would
have been accused of unfairness to its Chinese community. Furthermore,
you would have accused us of lack of freedom of expression and the
press. The fact of the matter is that the decision to allow Peter Wong
to publish English, Malay and Chinese papers was well-intentioned. I
hope you were not ill-intentioned by trying to fit Brunei to your
stereotype of a country with a Chinese community. Let me assure you
that Brunei is not a stereotype in this respect, but has its
individuality.
There are five Chinese dailies on sale in this country, on top of
numerous Chinese books and magazines. Two of the papers, Nanyang Siang
Pau and Sin Chew Jit Poh, come from Kuala Lumpur. Two others, Miri
Daily News and See Hua Daily News, come from Miri in Sarawak,
Malaysia. The last one, Lianhe Zaobao, is from Singapore. The papers
from Miri even have offices in Brunei to cover the country and
whatever issues surround the Chinese community, issues which you
groundlessly perceived as "ultra-sensitive." Your perceptions of
Brunei Chinese non-citizens being viewed with suspicion by ethnic
Malay Bruneians and the latent antipathy between them are baseless,
despicably racist and uncalled for.
I do not see how the legitimate social matters of "halal" food,
alcohol and entertainment, handled with utmost sensitivity for the
benefit of all communities, could have riled anyone. Our ministers and
deputy ministers are appointed to advance the causes of all
communities, irrespective of race and religion. Again, please do not
try to fit Brunei into your stereotype of a system, one for which the
time is not ripe for the country to adopt. This country knows what is
best for its people.
Also erroneous is your information about the status of the Borneo
Bulletin being quasi-official. The paper is a purely commercial one,
privately owned. It has no official link with the government.
As to whether Peter Wong's Chinese-language paper will see the light
of day will depend entirely on economic factors. Why should the
government have any more qualms when it already has given its license?
If there is anything to slow down or stop its publication, it would be
a question of readership. The paper will have to face severe
competition from the Borneo Bulletin and the foreign Chinese papers.
The News Express itself is also a factor. All these are purely
business considerations. I do not see how Asiaweek could turn them
into a whimsicality with negative political and racial overtones.
Haji Abdul Wahab bin Juned
Director of Information
Prime Minister's Office
Brunei Darussalam
http://cnn.com/ASIANOW/asiaweek
Yap Yok Foo
Issue 27th September 1999
On Saturday, We Speak Chinese
As I was driving my son Jed, now 6, to the neighborhood Montessori
school one day last fall, he asked: ''Am I the only Chinese boy in
America?'' I should have expected such a question. We adopted him when
we lived in Hong Kong, and he was used to being around mostly Chinese
kids like himself until he was 4 1/2 years old and suddenly found
himself in white suburban America. Now, he was the only Asian boy in
his class. I had to laugh because we had just signed Jed up for the
Lee Ming School, a Saturday Chinese-language school run by the local
Chinese community in Upper Dublin, Pa. My inquisitive Asian son was
about to join a class of 20 other Chinese American children that very
weekend.
Since then, Jed has spent almost every Saturday morning in an ersatz
Chinese kindergarten classroom. The students learn Chinese characters
from their Chinese teacher (an immigrant from Beijing) and during
breaks, clown around speaking a patois of English and a little
Chinese. Down the hall in the church the school rents for the day,
older children, aged 7 to 15, study Chinese at more advanced levels,
using textbooks and materials donated by the Taiwanese government--a
gesture some parents say is aimed at gaining political support among
Chinese Americans. During class, parents and grandparents sit and
gossip or talk shop--mostly in Chinese--in the school cafeteria. Since
all of the teachers are parent volunteers, tuition is low: about $100
for 10 months.
During earlier waves of American immigration in this century, the
Chinese, like most immigrant groups--including Eastern Europeans,
Latin Americans, Africans, Caribbean Islanders, and Jews from
different regions--generally made little effort teach their children
the language of the old country. In fact, many insisted their kids
speak English so they would be ''real Americans.'' Now, in the age of
celebrating diversity, hyphenated American schoolkids are proud of
their ''otherness.'' So ''Saturday schools'' that teach
second-generation children the language of their parents and
grandparents are flourishing.
''OPPORTUNITIES.'' ''Kids today understand that the world is getting
smaller and that if you speak two languages, it's an asset. A second
language, whether it's Chinese or Russian or Spanish, gives you
opportunities,'' says Paul Tong, 47, a computer-systems employee. He
chairs the Association of Chinese Schools, an umbrella organization of
Saturday schools in the Northeast. Tong, whose own American-born
children attended Saturday schools to learn Chinese, adds: ''Back in
1974, in the whole Eastern U.S., we had only five or six schools,
often run in somebody's basement. Now, we have 100, with an average of
300 kids per school.'' While nobody keeps track, there probably are
some 2,000 Asian-language schools, primarily Chinese and Korean, in
the U.S.
Asians aren't the only ones setting up language schools. Second- and
third-generation descendents of Ukrainians, Poles, Indians, and
Portuguese, among others, meet regularly in churches, family rec
rooms, and community centers to learn language and culture. ''My
parents sent me to the Saturday schools,'' says Bohdan Vitnitsky, 51,
an attorney in the fraud division of the U.S. Attorney's office in
Newark. He oversees Ukrainian schools in the New York metropolitan
area. ''I have sent both my kids, now 17 and 19, to the Saturday
language school, too.'' At the time, his kids weren't crazy about
giving up their Saturdays, ''but my 19-year-old says he's glad he did
it,'' Vitnitsky says.
Jed isn't crazy about the formal, 90-minute classes, either, so we've
arranged for two tutors, Jessica Guh, 14, and her sister Emily, 12, to
teach him vocabulary as the three play together after class.
Ninth-grader Jessica, daughter of the Lee Ming School's principal, was
born in America and spoke Chinese at home as a toddler. But she forgot
most of it as soon as she began playing outside with her non-Chinese
neighbors. Jessica, like many of the students, attends Saturday school
at her parents' insistence. ''I put sports before Chinese,'' she says.
''I don't make it a priority, but I do want to be good at Chinese.''
If she were a parent, she adds, she'd want her children to learn
Chinese, too.
Jessica's mother, Wendy Liu, now 45, who came to America from Taiwan
in 1977 to attend Kent State University, concedes that she goes easy
on her two daughters. ''If you force it on them, they're going to
fight back,'' she explains. ''I see parents at the school doing that,
and sometimes I say something because I know what I'd do if I was a
child and I was forced--especially these kids who are 11 to 14.''
Forcing children to speak a foreign language at home could cause
communications problems, says Liu. ''My husband tells our daughters to
use Chinese at home, but I worry that if they have to talk in Chinese,
they may not tell me things that are important because they don't know
how to say it.'' Jessica agrees: ''She's right. I only know everyday
words. If I had to get into a more emotional discussion, I'd be in
trouble and probably wouldn't say anything.''
While younger children like Jed may be ambivalent about spending their
Saturdays in language classes, that often changes as they grow older.
Colleges and universities report a growing demand for language classes
among the children of immigrants. ''Interest among second-generation
students absolutely blossoms in college,'' says professor Rosane D.
Rocher, director of Asian American Studies at the University of
Pennsylvania. The school offers ''heritage classes'' designed for
students who have some oral ability from home but who may not be
literate. ''They speak too well to go into a regular beginner's
course, but typically, their grammar skills are awful. Many of them
are illiterate in the language of their parents,'' says Rocher. She
attributes soaring demand for language courses to a growing sense of
ethnic pride. Says Rocher: ''They are relishing the added sparkle of
not being just white bread.''
There are economic reasons for the interest, too. International
companies are clamoring for employees who can operate in two worlds
linguistically and culturally. Looking the part can be a plus as well.
''Only 10 years ago at the Wharton School, they tried to train [white]
Americans to learn foreign languages so they could staff overseas
offices. Now, the shortcut is to use semi-native speakers--kids who
look like natives and who can speak without an accent--for those key
jobs,'' says Rocher.
WHAT'S YOUR NAME? We're not thinking that far ahead with Jed. For now,
we're just happy he is picking up something about his roots. He's
learned how to write several numbers and his surname in Chinese, and
he knows his colors. And he has discovered that he is not the only
Chinese kid in America. ''I'm Chinese,'' he says earnestly these days,
''but I don't speak Chinese very well yet.''
He wants to learn, however. One day not long ago, my son asked me to
take him out for Chinese food. Jed has always loved Chinese cuisine,
but this time, as he struggled with his chopsticks, he looked up and
said: ''How do you say 'this tastes good' in Chinese?'' It was the
first time I could remember since we had left Hong Kong that Jed had
asked me how to say something in the language of his birth.
http://www.businessweek.com/
Yap Yok Foo
Issue 27th September 1999
As the world recoils from the violence in East Timor,
a political crisis could erupt in Jakarta
It has become one of the most disheartening horror stories in global
diplomacy. Just four months ago, Indonesia seemed to be finally
putting its shattered economy and political system back on track.
Millions of Indonesians celebrated the downfall of strongman Suharto
by overwhelmingly voting against the ruling party in the first
democratic elections in four decades. The Indonesian military, under
the seemingly enlightened leadership of a soft-spoken, surefooted
general named Wiranto, seemed ready to yield to civilian leadership.
Thanks to reforms mandated by the International Monetary Fund, the
economy showed signs of recovery. And the long-brutalized population
of East Timor won the right to vote for independence from a lame-duck
President who craved international respect.
The world community--the international lending agencies, the U.N.,
Western governments--wanted desperately to believe Indonesian military
and political leaders when they said all these reforms would be
carried out. The unfolding tragedy of East Timor has shattered that
belief.
Even as Jakarta promises to allow foreign peacekeepers to restore
order, the horror has not ceased. By the latest U.N. estimate,
rampaging militias and Indonesian soldiers have slaughtered at least
7,000 civilians for exercising their right to vote on Aug. 30. A
staggering 600,000 people--three-quarters of East Timor's
population--have been forcibly driven from their homes. ''It reminds
me of Rwanda,'' says a shaken senior U.N. official.
Whatever the motives of the hardened men who run Indonesia, it is
clear that the damage to this Asian giant will be immense. Nothing is
certain any longer--the country's passage into democracy, its economic
recovery, even who is running the government now. With relations with
the International Monetary Fund already inflamed over a banking
scandal, Indonesia is on the verge of being cut off from new loans
that are needed to stabilize the financial system. Economists have
lowered forecasts for this fiscal year, from 2% growth to negative
0.8%. Ethnic Chinese businessmen, still traumatized by deadly rioting
in 1998, are moving funds offshore again. As the international
backlash mounts, Indonesia is close to being branded a pariah state.
A new political crisis may loom in Jakarta. Withering international
criticism of Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief General Wiranto could
undermine his hope of becoming a leader in Indonesia's next
administration. And the military, analysts fear, could try to seize
power if it comes under too much pressure. That could send the economy
into a new crisis as confidence collapses and international aid halts.
Already, on Sept. 13, new Deputy Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief
Admiral Widado told top officers from Indonesia's 27 provinces that
the assembly charged with selecting the next president in November may
be postponed because of nationwide unrest. ''The military is becoming
very dangerous,'' says Luksama Sukardi, aide to presidential
front-runner Megawati Sukarnoputri.
Adding to the pressure is the likelihood that the U.N. will form a war
crimes tribunal to investigate the East Timor massacres. One question
will top the agenda: Was there a clear chain of command from Wiranto's
office in Jakarta to the provincial commander in Dili, Timor's
capital, and down to the district chiefs who organized and paid the
militias? ''We will gather more evidence from atrocities committed in
just 10 days in East Timor than in the past 24 years,'' predicts one
U.N. official.
Certainly, many of the parties involved, the U.N. included, had reason
to expect the worst. Wiranto said in private meetings a week after the
referendum that he knew from the start that East Timor would be a
bloody mess.
The genesis of the crisis was Jan. 27, when Habibie said he would give
the Timorese a chance to vote for independence. The U.N., which did
not acknowledge Indonesian sovereignty over East Timor after the
former Portuguese colony was invaded in 1975, wanted the vote to go
ahead. If it were not held while Habibie was in power, it feared,
later governments could renege.
NO SECRET. But the U.N.'s referendum organizers foresaw trouble the
moment they hit the ground in February. They immediately sent detailed
reports to superiors in New York and Jakarta saying the army was
openly organizing anti-independence militias and supplying them with
weapons and ''uniforms'' of baseball caps and black T-shirts. Copies
went to Western embassies and the Indonesian military headquarters.
One report describes a visit by U.N. Mission in East Timor (UNAMET)
head Ian Martin in June outside Dili. He saw non-Timorese Indonesian
regulars training newly inducted members of anti-independence militia.
''Nobody ever had any illusions about the military's backing of the
militias,'' explains a U.N. official.
In meetings in Jakarta and New York before the vote, U.N. and
Indonesian officials kept negotiating on security measures. In late
April, Jakarta agreed to a vote with secret ballots--but only if
Indonesian troops were allowed to provide security. That meant
trusting Wiranto to control the army and the militias. ''It was a leap
of faith,'' admits Tamrat Samuel, UNAMET's senior political affairs
officer. ''But if we had insisted on the withdrawal of the Indonesian
army, it would have been a dealbreaker.''
The U.N. also appears to have miscalculated the extent to which East
Timor's 78.5% vote for independence would anger the army. The top
brass only went along because they expected the vote to be indecisive,
says Harold Crouch, an Australian National University expert on
Indonesia. The army then would have a pretext to challenge the vote
when parliament met to ratify the results in November. Or it could
have sought to partition East Timor, carving special districts from
areas where pro-Jakarta sentiment seemed strong.
But UNAMET scuttled the scheme. A day before the Aug. 30 vote, its
staff rejected a list of poll observers presented by two
anti-independence political parties on grounds that they didn't have
time to give them ID badges. The real reason, says a U.N. official,
was that ''the list of names included known militia members.''
Then, U.N. poll organizers trucked all the ballot boxes from 13
districts to the Dili museum, dumped their contents on the floor, and
mixed them up so that the army could not tell which districts were
more in favor of independence.
There's little doubt that the militias were set up, run by, and even
manned by army regulars. One source, who drove two hours from Dili to
the town of Aileu shortly before the vote, met the district chief, a
retired army colonel. The official commanded the town's
anti-independence militia out of his office. In Dili, he saw soldiers
issuing M-16s to militiamen. The army has denied arming militias;
Wiranto only admits his troops were ''psychologically impaired'' from
fighting ''rogue'' military elements. He didn't respond to interview
requests.
After violence flared, Wiranto sent in regular army reinforcements
that were supposed to suppress the militias. But refugees who were
later evacuated to Darwin say these troops took off their Indonesian
army uniforms at night, donned black T-shirts, and fought alongside
the militias. A U.N.-sponsored tribunal on who triggered the killings
in East Timor could certainly humiliate Wiranto. That won't topple him
from power. But it may make it hard for the U.S. and other nations to
deal with a regime led by the army's current commanders. Yet Wiranto
already seems to have taken control. He now calls daily meetings with
Habibie and armed forces brass at the presidential palace using
agendas set by army staff.
Meanwhile, Megawati--who had been wooing Wiranto for the
vice-presidency--has turned chilly toward him. ''Now the military
needs Megawati more than she needs the military,'' contends Megawati
aide Sukardi. The question is whether she can succeed in asserting her
independence from Wiranto--or whether the armed forces chief may go
for an outright coup.
The buildup of anger does not bode well for business in Indonesia.
Standard & Poor's has downgraded Indonesia's currency rating, citing
political tension and the risk that international aid may be cut. On
Sept. 10, a group of ethnic Chinese businessmen from Indonesia met in
Singapore to compare notes on how much capital they were pulling out,
says the chairman of a local conglomerate who attended the meeting.
East Timor has long been treated as a local tempest that could not
destabilize the entire country. For Wiranto and everyone else
involved, that could prove to be another tragic miscalculation.
By Michael Shari in Jakarta
Yap Yok Foo
September 1999
Syed Husin: Stop the lies, Mahathir
Dr Syed Husin Ali took to task prime minister Mahathir Mohamad over
his remarks about Anwar's poisoning, and questioned if Mahathir and
his cronies have deliberately chosen to lie by distorting selective
information.
He said the statements by several ministers - the most angry of which
is understandably from Rafidah Aziz, who has been cited for prima
facie corruption involving millions of shares - was a great lie. The
PM, his close ally Rafidah, MCA president Ling Liong Sik and Deputy
Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi had said they were surprised at the
timing of the poison allegation, saying Anwar's family deliberately
kept the report for 14 days to coincide with the APEC conference in
Auckland, New Zealand.
Syed Husin ... Mahathir sullied cultural values
"Is it not a lie to allege that Anwar's family deliberately kept the
report for 14 days? As said, the report was submitted to the court one
day after it was received," said Syed Husin in a statement on
September 12.
Anwar's urine sample was submitted to the Kuala Lumpur branch of
Gribbles Pathology on 18 August 1999. It was then referred to Gribbles
Pathology headquarters in Melbourne on 26 August. Gribbles
headquarters sent the results of their tests to their branch in Kuala
Lumpur on 8 September 1999. The next day, Anwar's lawyer submitted it
to the court hearing his case. Commenting on Mahathir's claim that
murder is not part of Malaysian political culture, Syed Husin drew
attention to the case of the late independence fighter, Dr Burhanuddin
Helmy, who succumbed to urine and kidney problems he developed while
under ISA detention, and the late PAS activist Abdul Samad Gul, killed
by the use of "small axe".
Syed Husin said even if one assumed that Mahathir's claim was true,
the person who had changed such a culture could be none other than
Mahathir.
"Is it not true that with this cultural change the chief of police
could deliver almost lethal blows on the ex-DPM, and yet trial on him
is ever delayed?," he added.
He said Mahathir's free use of obscene language to level public
accusations against his former deputy showed he was not bothered about
religious and cultural values.
In September last year, Mahathir gave what has come to be known as the
PM's "x-rated press conference", where he used explicit language never
used before by a head of government.
"And now, why is it not possible for a political enemy to be poisoned
to a slow death, and then after his death the story can be spread
around by the controlled institutions that he died of AIDS, resulting
from his homosexual activities?," asked Syed Husin.
He also urged Mahathir to repent and called for Anwar to be allowed
bail pending his appeal.
http://members.xoom.com/harakah2/semasa/
Yap Yok Foo
September 1999
Nothing is safe anymore in this country
After the latest discovery of arsenic poisoning, one wonders : Is
there any safe place for Anwar now? The answer is none, as long as he
remains in the hands of the Government, writes KIM QUEK.
On hearing that Anwar was poisoned by arsenic, Deputy Prime Minister
and Minister of Home Affairs Abdullah Ahmad Badawi expressed shock and
ordered an "immediate and thorough" investigation into it, before
leaving for New Zealand on September 10 1999.
As an ordinary well-informed Malaysian, I am not the least surprised
by the poisoning news, nor am I enthusiastic about Abdullah's promise
of an "immediate and thorough" investigation.
After witnessing the atrocities inflicted on our Constitution and laws
and the thorough subversion of our police, judiciary, Attorney
General's chambers and other government agencies in the past year, I
confess that poisoning of Anwar was within my expectation, following
his recent disclosure of high level corruption and abuse of power. I
am also completely cynical as to whether Abdullah's "thorough"
investigation would come to anything.
I think many Malaysians share my feelings and sentiments. And of
course, there are those who think otherwise, still clinging to the
belief that the Government is fair and just.
I will not dwell into the misdeeds of the Government in details, for
it is too lengthy a subject to be covered in one single article. I
will confine myself to looking at events subsequent to the last
assault on Anwar by former IGP Rahim Nor, as a guidance as to what can
be expected of the government in dealing with the present poisoning of
Anwar.
On that occasion, a police investigating team was appointed to probe
into the assault on Anwar. After a lengthy investigation, a report was
submitted to the AG, who then played cat and mouse with the public for
sometime before making a vague conclusion that the "police" was
responsible for Anwar's injuries. No individual culprit was
identified.
The complicity of the AG and the police investigating team in covering
up the crime by Rahim Nor became obvious, when the subsequent Royal
Commission of Inquiry revealed that two senior police officers
interrupted Rahim's assault by physically pulling Rahim away from
Anwar, who otherwise might have been killed, judging from the severity
of his injuries. This incident was known to several other police
personnel who happened to be in the vicinity at the time of the crime.
So Rahim's assault on Anwar was known to the police force right from
the very beginning, on the night of the assault on September 20, 1998.
In fact, this news spread quickly beyond the police force, to the
extent that Ezam Nor, former political secretary of Anwar, who fled to
Indonesia soon after Anwar's arrest, could announce from Indonesia at
the very early stage through the internet that Anwar was beaten up by
Rahim. It must be one of the greatest jokes of our time that the
combined investigative power of the police and the AG could only come
up with the finding that "the police is responsible" after months of
investigation, when the whole world knew about this fact right from
the day Anwar first appeared with the infamous black eye on September
29, 1998.
Even the subsequent Royal Commission of Inquiry to look into Anwar'
injuries could not escape from being seen as part of the political
leadership's design to cover up the real culprit. The Commission's
pin-pointing of Rahim as the assailant was no big deal, as Rahim's
role was already well known to the nation, particularly when he
resigned earlier to take the blame. What was more important - in fact
the most important - was the uncovering of the evil hand behind Rahim.
The Commission's failure to uncover the motive and authority behind
Rahim's assault, and its failure to expose the complicity by the AG
and the police investigating team in hiding Rahim's role came as a
deep disappointment to the righteous minded in this country.
In fact, from the inception of the Commission when the former AG Abu
Talib was appointed as the Special Investigator to it, and when the
terms of reference of the Inquiry were drawn up, it was clear that the
Inquiry was meant to be an exercise of "damage control" - to ensure
that the damage did not spread beyond scapegoat Rahim.
As damage controller, Abu Talib accomplished his mission well. The
constraints of the terms of reference, combined with the Commission's
reluctance to probe into the motive of Rahim's assault (prodded along
by Abu Talib) had succeeded in stopping Anwar's lawyer from poking his
nose into the forbidden territory - the motivator behind Rahim.
The Commission eventually released its report in April 1999 with the
conclusion that "Rahim assaulted Anwar". So, a full six months of
bureaucratic dilly-dallying ended with an anti-climax: a finding that
was already common knowledge. The real culprit was untouched, police
and AG complicity unexposed, and the brutal assailant who almost beat
Anwar to death was served with a minor summons and is waiting for
trial in some distant year 2000.
The above review of Government's failure to uphold justice in respect
of Anwar's previous injuries leads to one conclusion: there is no
reason to believe that Anwar will receive justice this time, unless
there is a change of government.
Not even another Royal Commission of Inquiry can be trusted to do
justice to Anwar, as long as this Government remains in power. Unless
of course, the current investigation is participated immediately by
independent investigators from outside this country.
What is even more important than the Inquiry is the safeguard of
Anwar's life. Threat to his life has been of the greatest concern to
the millions of countrymen who love him from the day he was brutally
arrested and beaten.
Remember the early scare of HIV contamination on Anwar? Speculation
persists that Anwar's wife could have saved him from this fatal
disease. Her timely wailing of the HIV siren could have warded off any
such attempt. With hindsight now, it may be more than just
speculation.
After the latest discovery of arsenic poisoning, one wonders: is there
any safe place for Anwar now? The answer is none, as long as he
remains in the hands of the government.
The past year of the trial and tribulations of Anwar have revealed
facets of government hitherto hidden. The emerging picture tells us
that the corrosion of our democratic system has reached an advanced
stage. The tentacles of the Executive have reached every nook and
corner of all Government bodies undermining their integrity and
independence. There is no more safe place for Anwar other than sweet
home.
Anwar's repeated application for bail has been unjustly rejected on
the flimsiest of excuse. It is now time to stop this nonsense. Now
that Anwar's life is at stake, our judiciary must stand up for once,
and be counted as a defender of justice, and not as a tool of
persecution. The people of this country are no fools, they can smell
injustice, especially a bad one. Remember, the people's eyes are
focussing on you. You cannot afford to fail again.
The people's twin demands are: appoint a genuinely independent inquiry
with foreign participation immediately, and release Anwar on bail.
All countrymen who love justice and who cherish the democratic way of
life must not remain silent any more. This is the time to rise up and
make our presence felt. Express ourselves, through conversation with
our family, our friends, our fellow countrymen; and through
participation in NGOs, political parties; and through writing to the
newspapers, magazines, internet, Government leaders. If only one fifth
of our population do this, we will have caused enough reverberation to
wake up the entire nation, ready for change through the coming
Election, and timing in with the dawn of the next millennium.
Yap Yok Foo
20 September 1999
Malaysian Malaise
ESSAY By WILLIAM SAFIRE
W ASHINGTON -- The dictator of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, long ago
figured out how to intimidate the local and world press: appoint
compliant judges to stifle free expression and financially ruin or
jail political opponents.
Such misrule of law is not really an "Asian value"; Hitler and Stalin
used obedient judges to give legal coloration to tyranny. But another
Asian autocrat -- Malaysia's Mahathir Mohamad -- is following the
Singaporean pattern in crushing dissent while wooing investment from
U.S. business.
Last year he unleashed his lapdog prosecutors on his deputy, a budding
political rival. His former ally is now in custody accused of
"unnatural sex." Mahathir, emboldened by his ability to harass
opposition and to jam BBC coverage, has also sent a message of
intimidation to any in the world press who dare to report on excesses
of his captive judges.
The reporter chosen to be the example is Murray Hiebert, a Canadian
who is the Malaysia bureau chief of The Far Eastern Economic Review, a
Dow Jones publication. He is the first journalist in any nation of the
British Commonwealth to be jailed for his writing in a half-century.
The Asian Wall Street Journal gutsily reprinted "The Story That Got a
Reporter Jailed." It seems the wife of one of Mahathir's judges sued a
school in Malaysia for dropping her son from the debating team. When
Mr. Hiebert noted how the silly case whizzed through the usual legal
labyrinth, Judge Low Hop Bing ordered the reporter incarcerated for
"scandalizing the court." Mahathir's appeals court fixed the jail term
at six weeks.
What's been the world reaction? Canada mutters it will complain;
President Clinton issued a little whimper of "concern"; and a few
newspapers have dutifully registered their indignation. Nothing to
give the Malaysian malaise.
On the contrary, Mahathir will soon be welcomed to the U.S. by the U.S
business and foreign-policy establishment. Stimulated by the likes of
Maurice Greenberg, whose amoral insurance interests in Asia shape the
mind set of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Asia Society and the
Nixon Center, many of our ever-engaging friends of "order" will
kowtow.
Who will have the temerity to ask embarrassing questions of Mahathir?
Will not one lonely elitist rise to protest his abuse of the judicial
system or politely to deride -- as evidence of his popular weakness --
his harassment of anyone daring to write the truth?
Why is he jailing opponents who criticize judges protecting a crony
from rape charges? What twisted mentality relies on accusations of
"sexual misconduct" of political opponents to bolster his archaic
charges of "sedition"? Why won't the U.N. back up its own Special
Rapporteur's report on Mahathir's corruption with a resolution of
condemnation?
Whenever some of us urge the use of economic muscle and heavy
diplomatic suasion on the world's remaining despots, we are assailed
as "preachy pundits" by this generation's ultra-pragmatist Cliveden
set. But we soldier on, confident that in the end the free human
spirit will prevail.
I do not suggest that activists organize a boycott of black
peppercorns, a Malaysian contribution to the global economy too
painful for gourmands to give up. But it might be sensible for
investors to consider the shakiness of any regime that shakes in its
jackboots at implied criticism from a mild-mannered Canadian
journalist. And after witnessing what corruption did to Indonesia,
apostles of accommodation might want to reconsider the wisdom of
betting on future political losers in Asia. Absolute power corrupts
honest business.
The jailing of Murray Hiebert is not just another blip on a faraway
screen. The lack of meaningful world response has meaning. That is
why, when unruly judges bow to dictators and subvert the rule of law,
we in the unfettered press are duty bound to slam back with our
weapons of exposure and derision.
Asserting freedom of expression everywhere is not imposing "our"
values, as despots induce their Western lackeys to proclaim. Nor will
it weaken "connective tissue," as weak diplomatists whine. Nor is it
impractical, as business executives who prefer government-protected
corruption to private competition aver.
Welcome to the U.S.A., Prime Minister Mahathir, where preachy pundits
are free to hold tinpot tyrants in unconcealed contempt.
http://www.nytimes.com/
Yap Yok Foo
20 September 1999
A Year After Anwar's Arrest, Malaysians Protest Peacefully
KUALA LUMPUR (AP)--About 7,000 demonstrators defied Malaysia's police
for the second time in two days as they marked the anniversary of
ousted leader Anwar Ibrahim's arrest with a protest late Monday night.
They gathered in a Kuala Lumpur suburb to listen to speeches and shout
demands for Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's resignation.
Dozens of riot police surrounded the crowd with water canon trucks,
but allowed the peaceful rally to take place.
To mark the anniversary of Anwar's arrest, Malaysia's opposition
leader of Parliament, Lim Kit Siang, urged the government to "allay
widespread public concerns that Anwar was not being treated fairly and
justly by authorities."
He called for a royal commission of inquiry into Anwar's claim and
urged a speedy trial for Abdul Rahim Noor, the national police chief
who admitted to beating Anwar in his cell on the night of his arrest
and resigned.
About 10,000 Anwar supporters demonstrated Sunday in the largest rally
since Anwar led a massive protest on the day of his arrest, Sept. 20,
1998.
Two people, activist Hishamudin Rais and Anwar's former private
secretary, Azmin Ali, were detained for questioning on Monday, police
said. A senior police officer, Mat Zain Ibrahim, said they were
detained for taking part in an illegal assembly and for causing a riot
Sunday.
Police said they would arrest eight others in connection with the
demonstration as well.
Anwar was sacked by Mahathir, who claimed he was corrupt and had
committed sodomy, a crime in this predominantly Muslim nation. Anwar
was convicted of abuse of power and sentenced to six years in prison.
He says all the charges against him were trumped up to end his
challenge to Mahathir.
http://interactive.wsj.com/