PR MPs stage walkout

The Edge Daily (30/6/08): Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Members of Parliament (MPs) staged a walkout from the Dewan Rakyat today to protest Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia’s decision to allow Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to speak on the Mid-Term Review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP).

While in the Dewan Rakyat, DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang, supported by other Pakatan Rakyat members, pointed out that it would be a misuse of Standing Order 14(1)(i) to make a ministerial statement on his support for the mid-term review.

“He should have make the statement when he seconded the motion last week,” Lim said, adding that it was misuse of standing order.

Meanwhile, Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) questioned whether the government was admiting that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had missed out some points when he presented his speech on the mid-term review last Thursday by allowing Najib to provide further explanations.

In response, Pandikar said it was his discretion under the Standing Order as the Speaker to allow Najib to make the speech and told the MPs who disagreed with his decision to submit a motion to the parliament on the matter.

Week of shockwaves and drama for Malaysian politics

The Star (6/7/08): Shockwaves pounded the Dewan Rakyat one after another starting with a sodomy allegation and ending with a statutory declaration on Altantuya Shaariibuu’s murder.

There was so much action on the side that the debate on the Mid-Term Review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan was sidelined as many MPs tried to get the latest updates.

The week started with everyone asking the whereabouts of PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim following the sodomy allegation against him. Many were also asking who the accuser – 23-year-old Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan – was.

Anwar's wife, Opposition Leader Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (PKR-Permatang Pauh) and daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar (PKR-Lembah Pantai) were much sought after by the media.

Inside the Dewan, Anwar also caused a stir when Gobind Singh Deo (DAP-Puchong) mentioned his name when he tried to ask a supplementary question on housing.

An argument between Gobind Singh and Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia took place and Gobind Singh ended up being kicked out of the Dewan for two days.

It was Monday and the drama had only just began.

At the end of Question Time, just when Dr Wan Azizah was scheduled to debate on the Mid-Term Review, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak stood up to table a ministerial statement.

Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur), citing Standing Orders, protested, saying it was an unprecedented move for Najib to speak as the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had tabled the motion on the Review the previous week.

Lim said that anything that Najib wanted to say should have been done when supporting the motion then.

Pandikar Amin replied that the Malaysian Parliament had its own House rules and allowed Najib to speak.

Opposition MPs then staged a walkout as Najib went on to explain the government’s social restructuring policies.

Dr Wan Azizah, who was outside the Dewan with the rest, did not get to debate and it was Datuk Ibrahim Ali (Independent-Pasir Mas) who spoke – for more than one hour.

Meanwhile outside Parliament house, a group of PKR supporters and several NGOs who wanted to meet Dr Wan Azizah, ended up having a shouting match with security personnel when they were denied entry.

The next day turned out to be hectic again as news emerged that Anwar had left the Turkish Embassy the evening earlier.

The highlight of the day was the meeting concerning Anwar's safety between Abdullah and Dr Wan Azizah at his office in Parliament building.

There was other activity as well as S.A. Vigneswaran, who quit as MIC Youth chief days earlier, met Umno Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein while MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu met Najib.

Inside the Dewan, Pandikar Amin announced that Gobind Singh visited him in his office to apologise and therefore the episode between them was closed.

But Gobind Singh returned to Parliament and denied making any apology.

“I have no reason to apologise, I have done nothing wrong and there is no need for me to apologise,” he said, showing no remorse.

This riled several MPs, who tried to refer him to the Rights and Privileges Committee.

While tension was mounting inside the Dewan, in the lobby the press waited for Abdullah and Dr Wan Azizah’s meeting to be over.

In the end, the journalists had to split up to attend Abdullah's press conference and Dr Wan Azizah's – as both held them at the same time.

On Thursday, Parliament was again hit by the shock wave of private investigator P. Balasubramaniam’s statutory declaration linking Najib with murdered Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) latched on to the piece of breaking news in his debate and received jeers and shouts from the backbenchers.

However, he caught the attention of MPs resting in the lounge as many rushed to the TV screens to listen.

It really was a hectic week, very unlike the usual sittings.

The Dewan Rakyat sits again tomorrow.

Mahfuz raises latest allegation against Najib in Parliament

The Star (4/7/08): PAS information chief Mahfuz Omar has gone where angels fear to tread and brought up the latest allegation by a private investigator against Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in his debate at the Dewan Rakyat at 4.30pm.

The Pokok Sena MP, who had earlier been criticising the Government’s policies on the control of fuel prices, took many MPs by surprise when he raised the issue at the tail end of his debate.

This prompted Deputy Speaker Datuk Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar to remind Mahfuz that “his time was up” while some of the backbenchers took to heckling him.

Touching on the ministerial statement delivered by Najib on Monday to further explain the social restructuring policies under the Mid-Term Review report, Mahfuz said this was equivalent to a “no-confidence’ motion against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

“His (Najib’s) wife has been implicated in the statutory declaration by Raja Petra Kamarudin, which claimed that she was present during (Mongolian translator) Altantuya (Shaariibuu)’s murder.

“And the latest allegation by private investigator P. Balasubramaniam in his own statutory declaration that Altantuya had been promised US$500,000 commission from the sale of a submarine – what about all these statutory declarations? How is the investigation into all these claims going to be?” Mahfuz asked.

At this point, someone was heard shouting that “just because it’s a statutory declaration, this doesn’t mean it’s the truth”.

There were also jeers for Mahfuz not to fitnah (slander) and a slow rumble of disapproval could be heard from among the backbenchers.

He only sat down after Wan Junaidi repeatedly told him his debate time was over.

Melodrama ends as statutory declarations ignite the possibility of winning Olympic gold

NST (2/7/08): After three days of melodramatic dissidence between MP for Puchong Gobind Singh Deo and Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia that fixated the easily excitable MPs, the House may have been “converted” into a soundstage for the set of Law & Order: Dewan Rakyat for a fourth scintillating day of juicy squabbles but it was not to be. And for good reason.

The excitement today throbbed outside the confines of Parliament House, hijacked into the realm of the national political psyche by that master impresario himself, Anwar Ibrahim. He held court at the PKR HQ, surrounded by officials, supporters, loyalists and supplicants, in revealing a private investigator’s statutory declaration that contained incendiary revelations on the state of the political domain, which Anwar claims, is reeling from crises of confidence, inflationary worries, party in-fighting, leadership and anything that could swing public perception to back his bid for the Premiership.

Back to the House, the routine and the prosaic was reinstalled, until Mahfuz Omar (Pas-Pokok Sena), at the tail end of his colourful description of all things inadequate and hopeless about the Mid-Term Review, interpolated the very thing that Anwar was creaming elsewhere for all its worth.

Perhaps it was the titillating nature of the subject or its graphic debauchery, but Deputy Speaker Datuk Wan Junaidi Tunku Jaafar somehow didn’t spring into action to defuse Mahfuz from heckling away, seeing that the topic had detoured from anything resembling a Mid-Term Review thing. And surprisingly, neither did the BN backbenchers howl in protest.

So Mahfuz had a free run until Wan Junaidi decided to halt the Pas information chief, on the account that his 20-minute Hyde Park-styled rap was up. That didn’t matter. Mahfuz bulldozed his way to mouth off more of statutory declaration contents, ignoring twice warnings from the Deputy Speaker and a snipe from Ibrahim Ali (IND).

Nobody always knew the stance or direction the irascible Ibrahim would take in his intercalation of debates, especially those between the Government and the Opposition, but in this case, he came to the rescue of the people implicated in the statutory declarations. “It’s only a statutory declaration. Don’t ‘fitnah’,” was his succinct snipe.

When Mahfuz began to break away like a runaway train, Wan Junaidi had had enough. He muted Mahfuz’s microphone while the Pokok Sena MP yapped his way into a state of audibility only the MPs surrounding him could make out. Realising that his microphone was silenced, Mahfuz stopped talking and sat down with a sheepishly satisfied look.

But by taking away sensationalism out of the debates, the extraordinarily ordinary came in its place to allow lesser known MPs the chance to argue economic points of the MTR. Loke Siew Fook (DAP-Rasah) must have burnt many midnight oils to bring forth his legwork but it didn’t court controversy until he impregnated his speech with the charge that Umno committed the folly of eroding Malay trust with the inept implementation of the New Economic Policy.

Loke’s charge throttled the perennially choleric interjector Datuk Tajuddin Rahman to blast back, sans Speaker permission as always, as he accused Loke of egging away Malay fortitude, pride and rights with the DAP’s known disavowal of the NEP. Loke refused to back down, insisting that the DAP respected the NEP’s policy of raising the socio-economic status of “poor Malays and bumiputeras”, just as long as it wasn’t done the Umno way. Tajuddin laughed off Loke’s stance, scorning it as “insincere” but the argument lapsed there and then.

But there was another salient point Loke raised that subtly hit the nerve of the national psyche – the inability to maintain punctuality. He complained that the public transport the Government built was fine for its engineering marvels, especially the train services between Seremban and Kuala Lumpur, but he could not stand for its continual delays, unlike the services in other developed countries where the train arrives “not a minute early and not a minute late.” That’s hitting the nail on the head for tardy Malaysians’ fondness for flagrant time keeping.

Loke proposed that the transport authorities hire a German consultant to work out the snags in six months while he flushes the public transport inefficiencies out of its drowsiness. “If the German fails in six months, then you can sack him and if you continue to fail to improve the system, then the Transport Minister should resign or be sacked,” he said.

It was a golden moment for Raime Unggi (BN-Tenom) to highlight the plight of his home state Sabah for the inequalities and neglect it suffered for decades but he decided to use it on a national issue – the Olympics, specifically questioning why the Government should award RM1 million each to Malaysian athletes who score a gold medal in next month’s Beijing Olympics.

“This would only produce materialistic athletes who no longer strive to win medals for the sake of the country,” he reckoned. “The original intention of international sports meets, including the Olympics, is to produce athletes who bring glory to the country they represent.”

Raime argued that the huge incentive may pamper the victorious athlete and let slip a dip in form. Instead of cash, it was better to send the promising athletes for overseas training. Raime’s visionary foresight is praiseworthy only for his confidence that long before it becomes moot, a Malaysian athlete can actually win an Olympic gold medal!

If a Malaysian could actually WIN a gold medal, then he or she deserves the avalanche of accolades in profitable or glorious terms. He or she should also be made a Prime Minister for a day as the ultimate reward and signed legal decrees or award contracts for projects of whatever his or her heart desires.

Win it first, in any way possible or at any sacrificial cost, then let’s talk about being pampered into becoming materialistic morons.

Pakatan Rakyat MPs stage walkout

The Edge Daily (1/7/08): Pakatan Rakyat Members of Parliament (MPs) staged a walkout from the Dewan Rakyat yesterday to protest against Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia’s decision to allow Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to speak on the Mid-Term Review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

Pandikar said it was his discretion under the Standing Orders as the Speaker to allow Najib to make the speech, and told the MPs who disagreed with his decision to submit a motion to parliament on the matter.

DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang (Ipoh Timur-DAP), supported by other Pakatan Rakyat members, pointed out that it would be a misuse of Standing Order 14(1)(i) to make a ministerial statement on his support for the mid-term review.

“He should have made the statement when he seconded the motion last week,” Lim said, adding that it was misuse of a standing order.

He said they walked out in protest because there was no respect for the standing orders.

“This has never happened. It was very clear the DPM didn’t use his opportunity to support the mid-term review last Thursday, and now he wants a second bite of the cherry. It is unparliamentary and unacceptable. We will present a motion to review the Speaker’s decision on this matter and also on suspending the Puchong MP for two days,” Lim said.

He said any ministerial statement should have instead touched on Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who was taking refuge in the Turkish Embassy because of fear for his personal safety. “That is an urgent matter. Not an extra explanation on the mid-term review. That is ridiculous,” he said.

Pakatan Rakyat MPs kept interrupting Najib, who was trying to deliver his speech, with various points of order until they finally decided to walk out in protest.

As they were walking out, the deputy prime minister could be heard quipping that it was “better” without the opposition MPs in the House.

In his speech, Najib elaborated on the third thrust of the 9MP, which involved strategies to overcome socio-economic inequality in a constructive and productive manner, to avoid misinterpretation by any party.

“The approach taken under this thrust is to reduce the imbalances among ethnic groups, between rural and urban areas and among regions. I would like to explain that the implementation of strategies under this thrust will not exclude opportunities to other groups,” he said.

Mahfuz Omar (Pokok Sena-PAS) asked if the government was admitting that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had missed out some points when he presented his speech on the mid-term review last Thursday by allowing Najib to provide further explanations.

Opposition leader Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (Permatang Pauh-PKR) questioned why was there a need for Najib to add further explanations to the mid-term review.

“The review by the PM finished before 1pm last Thursday. They had time until 5.30pm,” she said. The House went into a recess until Monday right after Abdullah had presented the review.

Fury, suspension and a walkout

Malay Mail (1/7/08): Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia, who has long been threatening to erupt in fury at Members’ indiscipline, finally invoked Rule 46 of Parliamentary Standing Orders yesterday to suspend Gobind Singh Deo (DAPPuchong) from the House for two days.

The first-term backbencher had taken a swipe at the government’s handling of the latest Anwar Ibrahim affair, and did so during a completely unrelated supplementary question on abandoned residential housing projects.

“This is a matter of security,” Gobind began, but got no further than “just as Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim” before general mayhem broke out on the government benches.

Gobind was allowed to continue but insisted on the rather pompous Malaysian habit of preceding every question with a century-long speech masquerading as a preamble.

Pandikar Amin swiftly lost patience, amidst much wailing and gnashing of government teeth, and made the Sergeant-at-Arms escort Gobind from the House, A deceptive calm then descended as Members, chastened by the experience, sought politely to dispose of Question Time as quickly as possible.

Mahfuz Omar (Pas - Pokok Sena) managed to ask a tricky question about Petronas’s expenditure on the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) and Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department S. K.

Devamany (BN-Cameron Highlands) tried his best to wriggle his way to safety.

“The MPO represents a part of Petronas’s corporate social responsibility to provide recreational activities and facilities to meet a part of society’s many demands today,” he told an incredulous opposition.

“And as a country of diverse peoples, including expatriates, these facilities offer a choice to those who enjoy the live performances of a world-standard symphony orchestra.” The opposition was rumbling, and Devamany wisely went on to state the good the MPO had managed to do in the years since its foundation: It had assisted 1,000 local musicians and 110 youths (as part of the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra), and had encouraged 30 new orchestral compositions.

Humbug, thought Mohd Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak): “In Venezuela, where they have a similar programme of using oil money for music, they have hundreds of community orchestras involving thousands of Venezuelan youths.

“How then does the MPO compare?” he demanded, but Devamany was saved by the bell. Pandikar Amin directed him not to answer as time had run out, and Azmin had allegedly strayed from the original question anyway.

The deceptive calm then vanished like morning mist.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who had appeared in his seat some minutes earlier, was given the floor to make a ministerial statement seeking to “clarify” a point in the Prime Minister’s Mid-Term Review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan (delivered last Thursday).

Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) rose on a point of order before Najib managed to utter his first line, and demanded to know the grounds on which Najib now held the floor.

A half-hour long argument then ensued, during which Lim and opposition leaders maintained that such a move would compromise parliamentary standards beyond redemption, and to which Pandikar Amin retorted that the decision was his, and that nothing could be done about it It should be noted, however, that at no time did the Speaker attempt to eject Lim for being cantankerous. That would have been disastrous, and Pandikar Amin managed to remain relatively calm.

At one point Najib, mistakenly thinking the coast to be clear, rose to continue — only to have to sit down again under a barrage of points of order now issuing from several opposition Members.

Government backbenchers were restive and tried some tentative booing, but something was brewing on the opposition frontbench: Azmin kept nodding assent at his colleagues. Notes were passed. Pas frontbenchers were getting excited (a rare thing), and Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor), the father of Gobind, was assaulting the chair with quotations from the House of Commons rulebook that appeared insuperable.

Again Pandikar Amin relied on his interpretive powers under Rule 99 of the Standing Orders, and finally the opposition rose as one and walked out of the House.

This had the unfortunate effect of leaving the floor open, after Najib’s statement, to Ibrahim Ali (Ind- Pasir Mas) who thanked the absent opposition for the sterling opportunity to present an hour-long harangue about everything ranging from higher education to the price of potatoes.

The rest of the day proceeded quite normally.

Ahmad Husni: 18 GLCs performing well

The Star (1/7/08): earnings from the 18 government-linked corporations have increased 91% from RM10bil in 2004 to RM19.1bil in 2007 since the programme to transform them was launched.

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah told Saifuddin Nasution Ismail (PKR – Machang) that following this increase in earnings, the GLCs had also given out more dividends.

“Dividend payout rose from RM4.9bil to RM9.5bil. Total market capitalisation of the 18 GLCs in the stock market has also risen by 58% or RM85bil since 2004.

“The companies have managed to achieve 76% of the indicators under the key performance index,” he said.

To a supplementary question from Datuk Ismail Kassim (BN – Arau), Ahmad Husni said a department had been set up specifically under Khazanah Nasional – the investment arm of Finance Ministry – to monitor the performances of the various GLCs.

He also said there were four phases under the programme to transform GLCs and the full benefit of this would only take place in the last phase, scheduled between 2010 and 2015.

Deputy Minister in Prime Minister’s Department S.K. Devamany told Mahfuz Omar (PAS – Pokok Sena) that the Petronas Philharmonic Orchestra would give expatriates in the country an opportunity to enjoy world-class performances.

“The orchestra has also held various workshops and forums to cultivate our own musicians’ skills.

“Some 1,000 local musicians have taken advantage of these workshops to hone their skills and marketability,” he said.

Opposition stages walkout

The Star (1/7/08): In A day of high drama in Parliament, the Opposition staged a walkout after the House allowed a ministerial statement by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

The statement – which was to explain the Government’s social restructuring policies under the Mid-Term Review (MTR) report of the Ninth Malaysia Plan – was not listed in the Order Paper and took many MPs by surprise when Najib stood up at the end of the question and answer session.

Mass exit: Opposition Leader Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Ismail leading Opposition MPs as they walk out of the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

The statement provoked a chain reaction from the block as one Opposition MP after another stood up on Point of Order objecting to it.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had last Thursday tabled a motion on the MTR report.

Before Najib had gone beyond reading a few words of the statement, Lim Kit Siang (DAP – Ipoh Timor) stopped him, demanding to know if he was participating in the debate or if he was delivering a ministerial statement.

When Najib said that he was delivering a statement, Lim commented that this was very “unusual” as any explanation should have been given by Abdullah himself during the tabling.

However, despite Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia saying that the House was allowing the statement under Standing Order 14 (1), Mahfuz Omar (PAS – Pokok Sena) stood up to contend that if that was so, then Abdullah had failed in “adequately explaining the government’s policies during the tabling earlier”.

“Any such explanation should have been done then. Why are you taking up our debate time?” he demanded, to which Pandikar Amin replied that Mahfuz could bring up this same concern during his debate on the motion later.

The Speaker clamped down on further protests by Lim, adding that under Standing Order 99, his decision was absolute.

“Standing Order 99 should not be used as a justification for every decision by the Chair. If that is so, what’s the point of the Standing Orders?” Lim said.

When Lim insisted on pressing this further, Pandikar Amin told him to put in a request with the Chair for a motion if he was unhappy about his decision.

The Speaker continued to ask Lim to put in a notice for such a motion despite the party stalwart complaining that it was “meaningless to do so”.

“I have put in several notices but none ever came up,” Lim said, adding that Najib’s statement should be considered as a speech to second Abdullah’s motion and that it was abusing Standing Order 14.

After Salahuddin Ayub (PAS – Kubang Kerian), Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad (PAS – Kuala Selangor), Tian Chua (PKR – Batu) and Mahfuz had stood up in succession amidst grumbling from the backbenchers to get on with the statement, Pandikar Amin said his only agenda was to “protect the Chair.”

“So, please help me to protect it. What’s wrong with allowing the statement if it’s for the interest of the rakyat?

“If Yang Berhormat is dissatisfied or feels this is wrong, you can hit out all you want during debate,” he said.

At one point, when Karpal Singh (DAP – Bukit Gelugor) raised the Standing Order, Pandikar Amin said he would no longer entertain any more arguments after hearing from the former as “he is a famous lawyer”.

To Karpal Singh asking if Abdullah had “made a mistake” in his tabling earlier as a ministerial statement was only allowed in England for this purpose, the Speaker said the Malaysian Parliament had its own House rules.

“Under the Standing Orders, Yang Berhormat, one has to leave the Dewan quietly,” he said as a parting shot as the Opposition bloc stood up en masse to walk out of the proceedings.

In the lobby, Lim said it was unparliamentary and unacceptable of the Speaker to allow Najib to explain further on the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

“This proves that there is an internal problem within Umno, despite the fact that both Najib and Abdullah have been said to be on good terms.

“We will bring up a substantive motion to scrutinise the Speaker’s decision on this,” he said.

Lim added that such an incident had never taken place in the House before, and was a sign of disrespect to the laws of Parliament.

Tian Chua said the Speaker had broken the Parliament convention just to accommodate the “differences” between Najib and the Prime Minister.

“Furthermore, the Speaker refused to explain his decision. This could set an inappropriate precedent,” he said.

Opposition MPs walk out in protest over Najib's 'speech'

Bernama (30/6/08): Opposition members of parliament (MPs) on Monday walked out of the Dewan Rakyat citing violation of the standing orders when Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was allowed to add more details to last Thursday's speech by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi when tabling the mid-term review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP).

Most of these MPs stayed away until Najib had completed his speech. Independent MP Datuk Ibrahim Ali (Pasir Mas) did not join the walkout, saying the move was unwise.

The walkout took place in less than an hour after Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo was suspended from the house for two days after he had raised an unrelated matter -- the issue of the sodomy allegation against Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his seeking refuge at the Turkish Embassy -- when asking a supplementary question during Question Time.

When Najib stood up to deliver his speech, which was further explanation to the motion on the mid-term review of the 9MP tabled by Abdullah, Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) objected by saying that the procedure was unusual because it was the norm for a motion to be debated after it was tabled.

Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia dismissed Lim's argument and said Najib should be allowed to give the additional details.

At this juncture, Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) asked whether the prime minister's speech was not clear enough.

Lim said Najib should give the additional details by participating in the debate like the other MPs.

He had the support of several other MPs, including Chua Tian Chang (PKR-Batu), Salahuddin Ayub (PAS-Kubang Kerian) and Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor).

When the Speaker insisted on Najib giving his speech, the Opposition MPs walked out of the house.

RM2.3mil for ministers' offices in Parliament

Malaysiakini (30/6/08): The government has defended the decision to continue with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) being funded by Petronas, the state-owned oil company.

Deputy Minister in Prime Minister's Department, SK Devamany said that not many companies in the country which could well-afford to sponsor its musical programme.

"This initiative by Petronas should be emulated by other companies in the country," he told Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) during the oral question session. (Full report)

Opposition MPs walk out on Najib

Malaysiakini (30/6/08): Opposition parliamentarians today staged a walkout from the Dewan Rakyat to protest against Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's ministerial statement that elaborated on the 9th Malaysia Plan mid-term review.
MCPX

They were protesting against Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia for allowing Najib to provide details left out by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in his mid-term review speech last Thursday.

The opposition MPs argued that Najib's ministerial statement was against the standing order and parliamentary convention. (Full report)

No plan to abolish Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra

The Sun (30/6/08): The government has no plan to abolish or reduce the expenditure cost of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) although the Opposition MPs claimed it does not benefit the masses, especially the poor.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department K. Devamany said the MPO was in line with the government’s holistic development approach and part of Petronas' social corporate responsibility (CSR).

"As a country with multi-racial community and expatriates, this facility provides an alternative to those interested in live performances of international-level symphony orchestra. Apart from raising the image of the country, the fine arts of classical music can instil discipline among society," he told Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) in Parliament today.

Mahfuz said during this time of crisis, such programmes did not benefit the people in general but Devamany said it has helped for example, in creating 1,000 local musicians who had taken part in MPO's instrumental programme.

Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak) then compared with a similar orchestra in Venezuela which, since 1975, had trained more than 600 youths from poor families and set up 125 youth orchestras, 57 children orchestras and 30 adult orchestras, whereby 90% of them were from the poor.

"If it is about CSR, why is Petronas' profit not also enjoyed by the majority of poor children but only circled among the elites?" he asked.

However, Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia said Devamany did not have to answer as it was already time for debate.

How very ‘British’ of the Opposition MPs to walk out on Najib

NST (30/6/08): First Gobind Singh Deo (DAP-Puchong) was ordered out of the House by the House Speaker for stridently quibbling over relevancy to tenuously tie Anwar Ibrahim with a supplementary question about housing, then his tribe of Oppositionists, led by his mentors Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor) and his father Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor), stage crafted a wholesale walkout of DAP, PKR and Pas MPs to discompose the House over a procedural feud whether the Datuk Seri Najib Razak can speak or not.

While Gobind was fuming outside the House for his unceremonious ejection, the full complement of the Opposition MPs decided to join him in equal fulmination – perhaps to get back at House and Barisan Nasional for red-carding Gobind – by protesting the Speaker’s decision to permit the Deputy Prime Minister to make a ministerial statement on the Mid-Term Review of the 9th Malaysia Plan tabled by the Prime Minister on June 26.

So what’s the big beef about such a mundane procedure? It would seem that it had something to do with Malaysia’s former colonial master’s ways and means on House conduct and propriety. At best, the walkout was could be pictured as niggardly pedantic and at worst, it bordered on boorish formalism.

Although Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia invoked Standing Order 14 (1) (i) greenlighting Najib to table his ministerial statement, the Opposition MPs wasn’t buying into it, resolutely contending that any correction or addition should be brought forth by the PM. Najib counterargued that he was tabling the ministerial statement because he seconded the tabling of the Mid-Term Review.

It would seem the procedure approved by the Speaker had a contentious consequence – it defiled Westminster and Commonwealth conventions, making Najib’s ministerial statement improper. The whole walkout was for that reasoning?

Kit and Karpal were quick and attentive to alert the Speaker that Najib’s initiative was “hostile” to British propriety. In good form, Kit produced an overblown criticism of the Speaker’s approval – that it tantamount to “reckless disregard of parliamentary practices, procedures and rules.” Najib, he countered, was allowed to misuse the Standing Order.

"He should have made all the remarks he wanted to when he was seconding the Mid-Term Review. Not now. It should have been done immediately. He is trying to have a second bit at the cherry. This is a gross abuse of parliamentary standing orders," Kit charged. “It sets a most dangerous precedent that the government front-benchers can abuse the standing orders at their whim and fancy. It is being perverted to accommodate Najib.”

Kit went on to contend that the proper subject for ministerial statement would be the Government’s position on Anwar Ibrahim, who at the time of this writing, had left the Turkish Embassy after holing up overnight as a precaution against death threat.

The Speaker, unperturbedly, invoked Standing Orders 43 and 99 to make his decision final, challenging dissatisfied MPs to table motions to contest it. In his blog, Kit indicated that substantive motions will be submitted to review the Speaker’s alleged misuse of Standing Orders and also to steer attention to Gobind’s ejection.

Soon after, Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) launched a leading question to Pandikar Amin, asking the Speaker if he was admitting that the PM had erred when he tabled the MTR on Thursday. "Are you saying that the PM's speech was incomplete?" he said but Pandikar Amin refused to take the bait of Mahfuz’s fishing expedition.

But from there on, all of Pandikar Amin’s efforts to instruct Najib to start addressing the House fell into a vortex of Opposition whirlpool where at one stage, Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad (Pas-Kuala Selangor) told the Speaker he must offer a good reason for allowing Najib floor time. "You have not told us a reason for allowing this. Give us one good reason," beseeched Dr Dzulkifli.

Pandikar Amin ignored the Opposition’s escalating entreaty and still repeated his call that Najib proceed, only for Karpal to interfere as he quoted the British House of Commons convention and practice that if anyone should be allowed to make a ministerial statement, it should be the PM. "That is the House of Commons practise. Should not the Prime Minister be making the statement?" Karpal asked.

It was probably exasperating for Pandikar Amin to sound like a broken vinyl record but he duly repeated his earlier statement that he was using his discretion to allow Najib floor time. "I look at the conventions in Commonwealth countries when I make my decisions. Not just one country. I have to think of everyone's interest," he sighed.

Sensing finally that the Speaker, putting his authoritative weight on the issue, was not going to budge, the Opposition finally relented and waited for the Speaker to instruct Najib to speak. However, when Najib rose to begin his address, Kit, like the great tribal chief that he is, signalled his braves to walk out of the House, muttering that it was pointless to stay inside the House.

Predictably, the BN backbenchers reacted to the affront with loud jeers but the Pakatan Rakyat MPs refuse to be drawn into a reaction and walked out silently, smiling and grinning at the contrived procedural fuss they had triggered.

Opposition MPs walk out of Parliament

The Sun (30/6/08): Opposition MPs staged a walk-out after a 30-minute argument over the Speaker's decision to allow Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak make a "ministerial speech" to elaborate on the 9th Malaysia Plan (9MP) mid-term review (MTR).

At the start of debate time in Parliament today, the House was told that the government was making a statement and Najib stood up and said he wanted to elaborate on the motion tabled by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Thursday (June 26), specifically on the government's strategy to restructure the society.

Before he could proceed, Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) asked whether Najib was taking part in the debate or making a statement as it is "unusual" for such a statement to be made.

Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia then explained Najib was only making "an additional explanation to the facts made in the speech of the Prime Minister" and it was not against parliament order.

Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) then asked does this mean Abdullah was not fully prepared when delivering his speech, saying: "This means the Prime Minister was not able to give a clear explanation. He should be prepared with his facts and everything. Why take from our time to debate now?"

Pandikar Amin said it was not for the MPs to debate whether Abdullah was prepared or not but for him to decide whether Najib's speech violates the Standing Order or not and he had decided it was not.

Lim stood up again saying: "This is unusual and unparliamentary. He (Najib) had missed the opportunity to argue his points when seconding the Prime Minister’s speech, so now he wants to compensate for it."

Pandikar Amin disagreed and quoted a point in the order which says Speaker’s decision is final but Lim quickly said the Speaker should not simply use the order to justify all his decisions because parliamentary practices must also be observed.

The Speaker said if Lim was not satisfied with his decision he can bring the matter up as a motion but Lim said it would be meaningless if the Speaker later decides not to accept the motion to be debated.

The exchange continued with Pandikar Amin insisting that his decision is final and saying Lim can bring a motion if he is not satisfied with the latter asking for a guarantee that his motion would be accepted by the House later.

Salahuddin Ayub (PAS-Kubang Kerian), Tian Chua (PKR-Batu) and Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (PAS-Kuala Selangor) also stood up a few times to support of Lim.

Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) then raised a point of order, saying according to the House of Common Practice, a ministerial statement can only be made to correct an error in a statement made in the House.

"So, where was the error in the Prime Minister’s speech. He should clarify it, not another minister," he added.

Pandikar Amin disagreed with him, saying it was a matter of interpretation and he also had studied all relevant parliament laws and according to his interpretation, the ministerial statement by Najib was proper and according to order.

When Karpal and Lim tried to argue further, the Speaker started on his lecture, saying: "I shall not jeopardise the authority given to this chair. I really wish to create a world-class parliament here. Please listen to the Speaker.

"In the House of Common, as soon as the Speaker raised from his seat, everyone kept quiet. But here, if I were to interject too much, I will be criticised. I do my job to my utmost. Please."

He then asked Najib to continue but Lim was still not satisfied and tried to interrupt the speech but when it was not entertained by the Speaker and Najib, he said he wanted to leave the House and all other opposition MPs followed suit.

Najib then continued with his speech, saying: "Thank you. It is much easier without the Opposition in the House."

In the lobby, Lim said all Pakatan Rakyat (PR) MPs had walked out because what happened did not adhere to the Standing Order.

"This is unacceptable, unparliamentary and we will table a substantive motion to re-study the decision of the Speaker and also the decision to suspend Gobind Singh (DAP-Puchong) for two days," he said.

MPO part of Petronas's social responsibility says deputy minister

NST (30/6/08): Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, S.K. Devamany, said the establishment of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) is part of Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s (Petronas) social responsibility to provide recreation to meet needs of a certain segment of society.
He said setting up the MPO was also in line with Petronas’ aspiration and its holistic development approach which combined business with science, technology and the arts.

“As a multi-racial country which has also an expatriate population the MPO will allow the people an opportunity to enjoy the symphony orchestra of international standard with their families or friends,” he said at a question-and-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat here today.

Devamany said this in reply to a question from Mahfuz Omar (Pas-Pokok Sena) on whether the government planned do away or reduce the expenditure of the MPO.

He said MPO has also organised various programmes to train local musicians play orchestra music and unearth and encourage composers under the MPO Forum for Malaysian Composers.

“Under the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra programme, MPO aims to encourage and train young musicians and under the Schools’ Concerts programme, it aism to improve the music skills of the students,” he said.

Parliameny is not a joke?

Oil price hike

Witty repartee doesn’t always translate to good debate

The Edge Daily (2/6/08): Some people expected the quality of debates in parliament to improve with more opposition members of parliament (MPs) to watch over the government. Undeniably, the Dewan Rakyat has become more interesting - but it is difficult to tell if the quality of debates has improved.

The first day of parliament was already marred by boyish antics from both the government and opposition camps. In a heated exchange over some technicalities, Karpal Singh (Bukit Gelugor-DAP) labelled Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (Kinabatangan-BN) as “bigfoot”, and the latter responded in kind by calling Karpal “big monkey”.

Although such incidents are not unusual in the Dewan Rakyat, the matter was compounded by the fact that the first half hour of the parliament session was telecast live for the first time nationwide.

Some consider this as entertainment which one can expect from parliament, while others feel embarrassed, so much so that the Information Ministry threatened to stop the live telecast. In the end, the government decided to proceed with the broadcast.

However, the opposition has continuously engaged the government in name-calling and mud-slinging throughout the sessions.

Be that as it may, there was a lot of creativity flowing from the ranks of Pakatan Rakyat, especially Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) vice-president Azmin Ali (Gombak-PKR), who made a memorable remark in one of his speeches.

Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s son-in-law Khairy Jamaluddin (Rembau-BN), he said: “Since when does Umno care about “ketuanan Melayu” (Malay supremacy), when all this while it only practised “ketuanan menantu” (son-in-law’s supremacy)?”

When it came to Khairy’s turn to speak, the Umno Youth deputy chief tried to get his revenge by sowing the seed of disunity in the opposition camp, targeted at staunchly Islamic PAS MPs, by playing up the pig farm issue in Selangor.

He also said Pakatan Rakyat was just a “public relations” stunt among parties with different ideologies to pull wool over people’s eyes.

Calling PAS a “junior partner” in Pakatan Rakyat, he claimed that the PKR-led Selangor state government was giving more priority to “Projek Khinzir Raksasa” (mammoth pig project), which is a play on the acronym “PKR”.

Khairy’s remarks managed to rile up several PAS MPs, who pointed out that the project was actually approved by the previous state government led by Umno.

Not to be outdone by Khairy, Mahfuz Omar (Pokok Sena-PAS) said it was actually “Projek Babi Negara” (National Pig Project), which is a twist on the Barisan Nasional’s acronym.

Khairy appeared to be a favourite target of the opposition’s stinging attacks, as DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang (Ipoh Timur-DAP) had earlier called him the “richest unemployed in the world” for being able to acquire and sell a lot of shares in ECM Libra.

Lim also challenged Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir (Jerlun-BN), who is the youngest son of former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, to answer on his father’s behalf.

“Isn’t Dr Mahathir’s administration known for KKN? Does the honourable Jerlun MP know what KKN is? The first K stands for kronisme (cronyism), the second K for korupsi (corruption) and the N for nepotisme (nepotism),” he said.

Even the demure Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (Permatang Pauh-PKR) displayed her mettle as an Opposition Leader in the debate on the motion of thanks on the royal address, by hurling various accusations against the government.

She tried to implicate Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also the defence minister, by alleging corruption in the procurement of military equipment, such as Scorpene submarines and Sukhoi fighter jets.

Najib also hogged the limelight as popular blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin was charged with sedition for his article, which contained allegations linking the deputy prime minister and his wife to the murder of Altantuya Shaaribuu.

Despite the prevalence of playground antics, the Dewan Rakyat still managed to hear an array of issues of public interest, ranging from food security to highway concessions.

While it is heartening to note that many MPs took the opportunity to raise many issues while debating the motion of thanks on the royal address, their skills on real policy matters are not really tested this round.

The real occasion for law-making only came in the fourth week when they debated the Supplementary Supply Bill and the Pensions (Amendments) Bill. Alas, the two bills had to be rushed through the Dewan Rakyat.

In a nutshell, it is still too early to tell whether parliamentary debates are better now, as mud-slinging and name-calling seem to have moved to a new level.

On a more positive note, the government is trying to become more responsive to certain issues judging from certain pronouncements made in parliament. Some BN MPs are also becoming more vocal on issues such as minority rights, corruption and independence of the judiciary.

For example, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Zaid Ibrahim has even been accused by some backbenchers from his own camp of being “an opposition minister” and “realising the opposition’s manifesto” for his plans to reform the judiciary.

The government also announced that it would consider taking over highway concessions or review the toll charges to reduce the financial burden on the people.

In fact, Abdullah himself was seen sitting in the Dewan Rakyat to observe parliamentary proceedings until as late as 11pm on one occasion.

At the end of the day, regardless of the quality of debates in parliament, the more important objective of parliamentary democracy is to ensure that the government is honest and responsive.

First session of Parliament concludes with many changes

NST (1/6/08): The first session of the 12th Parliament opened on April 28 with many changes. Various quarters are relieved that the 16-day session ended on Thursday before resuming in June.

It was punctuated with high drama, surprises and antics from the MPs, of whom 99 were first-time legislators.

Many opposition and government MPs fought for the opportunity to drive home their points during debates, probably prompted by the live telecasts of them beamed by RTM1 for 30 minutes.

The first session attracted a lot of attention because the Barisan Nasional (BN) was returned to power in the March 8 general election with only a simple majority winning 140 seats with the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) alliance of Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), DAP and PAS grabbing 81 seats while another seat went to an Independent candidate.

With a bigger opposition bench, Dewan Rakyat speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia and his deputies, Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar and Datuk Ronald Kiandee, faced a daunting task in dealing with the point of order raised time and again by MPs on the first day of the question and answer session.

Eventually, only three questions could be answered by the government during the question time before it moved on with the debate on the royal address.

"This is because everybody wants to be on television,” was Datuk Ibrahim Ali’s (Independent-Pasir Mas) take on what happened.

Ibrahim was also chided by Datuk Abdul Ghapur Salleh (BN-Kalabakan) for not wearing a lounge suit as required during the swearing-in ceremony.

However, Pandikar said the ruling did not apply to Ibrahim as an Independent MP he did not have a Chief Whip to remind him.

Ibrahim quipped, “Congratulations, Speaker sir, you are a learned man.”

Datuk Anifah Aman (BN-Kimanis) and Abdul Ghapur also warned BN leaders that the political tsunami experienced by the coalition in the general election would become even worse for it if the problems faced by Sabahans were not dealt with.

"It does not mean that when we champion the aspirations of the people, we are going against the government. It does not mean that when use strong words we want to jump ship. What we are telling the Dewan, the people of Sabah will not jump ship like in five states in the peninsula,” said Anifah.

In another breath, he said it was not impossible to “move from a bungalow to a terrace house if you are given enough space. Never mind a terrace house if you are accorded the same facilities but in a bungalow you are made to sleep beside the toilet,” he said in referring to the raw deal Sabahans were getting from the federal government.

Talk that some BN MPs from Sabah would jump ship became rife after PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had time and again expounded that the opposition would form the government with the defection of disgruntled BN MPs from Sabah.

Speaking to the press outside the Dewan Rakyat, Abdul Rahman Dahalan (BN-Kota Belud) lent weight to the talk by saying that he was offered benefits which could last three generations if he were to defect to PKR.

He lodged reports with the Anti-Corruption Agency in Sabah and Kuala Lumpur.

The Dewan Rakyat sitting also saw both BN and opposition MPs trading inauspicious remarks like `Projek Babi Negara’ by Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) when he reacted to Khairy Jamaluddin’s (BN-Rembau) insinuation on PKR accronym as “Projek Khinzir Raksasa”. At another time, the Dewan Rakyat was interrupted for 10 minutes when Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Idris Haron said a Tamil word `ukkar’ (sit down) but some MPs said it could become a vulgar word if wrongly pronounced.

N. Gobalakrishnan (PKR-Padang Serai) was reproached when he approached the speaker’s bench and whispered the meaning of the word to him.

On another occasion, Gobalakrishnan brought P Waythamoorthy’s six-year-old daughter to Parliament’s lobby to celebrate her birthday.

Waythamoorthy is one of the leaders of the Hindraf organisation and is on self-imposed exile overseas following the detention of five of its other leaders under the Internal Security Act.

Ibrahim, meanwhile, had the misfortune of being mobbed in Parliament’s lobby by about 30 disabled people who took exception to his remarks against wheelchair-bound Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) for not standing up when raising a point of order.

On seeing this, Datuk Bung Moktar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan,) who is also the Backbencher’s Club deputy chairman, pointed out the need to tighten security in the Dewan Rakyat.

Unlike before, Parliament’s car park was full during the session while the media centre was crowded as more reporters were assigned to cover the developments at the august house.

As for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, they were seen working at their offices at the Dewan Rakyat when their presence was not required.

On Wednesday, for the first time, a supply bill was approved through block voting - 92 Barisan Nasional MPs voted in favour of the bill, 60 opposition MPs voted against it while another did not cast his vote.

The Supplementary Supply Bill 2008 (2007) on the provision to the statutory fund an amount of RM16.810 billion was earlier debated at the committee stage.

The decision to call for block voting caused many MPs including Abdullah and Najib to rush into the Dewan Rakyat when the bell was rang.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz was also seen calling the MPs to come back to the house.

When Wan Junaidi announced that a lone MP did not register his vote, many MPs turned their heads towards Ibrahim Ali.

Several opposition MPs quipped that they might be lucky the next time. (Ahmad Shukran Shaharuddin - Bernama)

Govt grilled over CYC

The Sun (28/5/08): The government was grilled in the Dewan Rakyat (Parliament) today over its commitment to organise the controversial Champions Youth Cup (CYC) which costs taxpayers RM17 million per edition.

Criticisms from the Pakatan Rakyat MPs came during the debate on the Supplementary Supply Bill, and Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah had his hands full defending the programme which was held for the first time last year to poor audience support.

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has decided not to give its sanction to this event this year. Even if it is not held, the government has to forego RM8 million as it is tied to a contract for three years.

Datuk Abdul Halim Abdul Rahman (PAS-Pengkalan Chepa) questioned the benefits the CYC brings to the country.

Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) said it is too costly to host the CYC and suggested the Malaysian team be sent overseas for training as it is cheaper.

He said the players can learn from the clubs there and gain exposure instead of spending RM17 million.

"If we focus too much on sports tourism, it will affect the focus of our sports, like the current state of our football."

William Leong (DAP-Selayang) said the CYC does not have the support of the FAM. "So what is the urgent need to give the funds?"

Mohd Firdaus Jaafar (PAS-Jerai) said the CYC has only resulted in two players being sent for training overseas. "Furthermore, Malaysia has dropped in the ranking to 169."

Datuk Ibrahim Ali (Ind-Pasir Mas) suggested the Youth and Sports Minister visit Africa where world class players are also produced. "They play barefoot, they don't even have jerseys to wear and yet they are of world class standard. Take me along so I can be your driver."

In defending the CYC, Ahmad Husni said: "There are the tangible and intangible benefits to it, the intangible becomes tangible when training is provided to the young talents." He cited Brazil’s Ronaldo and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo as world class players who benefited from such training.

"After they are spotted, and with exposure, they become world class players so CYC has good elements.

"The CYC is one of three programmes by the Youth and Sports Ministry which benefits in terms of sports and tourism. The tangible part of it is attracting some 21 million tourists," Ahmad Husni said.

He said an ad hoc committee set up between the FAM, the Attorney-General, the ministry and a panel of advisers will look at the organisation of the CYC. The CYC involves a cost of RM17 million per year being paid to the Gifted Group Limited (GGL).

While making no mention of the RM17 million allocation for each year, Ahmd Husni said the amount given for the organisation of the event stands at RM2 million, adding that such events provide training and exposure for our athletes.

"The CYC also has relevance to giant football clubs like Manchester United, Latin America’s Flamingo, Chelsea, Arsenal, AC Milan, Ajax, Barcelona and it was supposed to include Real Madrid this year. Imagine a 16 or 17-year-old competing with players from these giant teams. It will display his competence, strength and skill. Furthermore, through agreements (under the CYC), we can also send our athletes overseas and several people have already benefited from this," Ahmad Husni added.