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.

Who can replace Abdullah?

Greenhorn Amirsham answers amid taunts

The Edge Daily (16/5/08): New kid on the block Datuk Amirsham A Aziz, minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, had to dodge a slew of jibes yesterday after he was spotted reading the answer to a supplementary question in parliament.

The former Maybank chief, a greenhorn in the august house, was treated to heckling by the opposition MPs as he was answering the first supplementary question on the New Economic Policy (NEP) posed by Khairy Jamaluddin (Rembau–BN) from what appeared to be a prepared text.

All hell broke loose when Lim Kit Siang (Ipoh Timur–DAP) said the answer to the supplementary question was already prepared.

“Planted question. The answer is all ready,” shouted Chong Eng (Bukit Mertajam–DAP), while shouts of “Crony! Crony!” were heard in the background.

“Siap jawapan sampai dua muka! (The answer was so prepared it runs to two pages!),” said Mahfuz Omar (Pokok Sena-PAS).

Although the MPs pounced on him mercilessly, they all had smiles on their faces. And, to his credit, Amirsham didn’t waiver but continued to read his answer.

Deputy Speaker Ronald Kiandee tried to calm the house but to no avail.

Khairy had asked Amirsham on the remark by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (Bagan-DAP) who vowed to abolish the use of the National Economic Policy in the state administration because “it breeds corruption, cronyism and systemic efficiency” .

“Is it fair for Lim to make a general conclusion that people who benefit from the NEP, regardless of race, millions of students and bumiputera professionals like yourself — a product of the policy and became the CEO of the biggest bank in Malaysia — as if we are all cronies and corrupt?” Khairy asked.

Amirsham, in his answer, said he found Lim’s statement inaccurate and that Lim did not understand the objective of the NEP.

“If that is his conclusion, then anyone who got assistance from it whether in loans, job opportunities, scholarships, entrepreneurship opportunities and others are cronies and corrupt,” he said and proceeded to provide figures while the ruckus continued.

He concluded that the NEP was generally a fair and good policy that had evolved with the country’s development.

Amirsham said the government had no plans to change the policies that evolved from the basic spirit of the NEP into the National Development Policy, the National Vision Policy and the National Mission under the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

“The policies are not only aimed at raising the socio-economic status of the bumiputeras but also the Indians, Orang Asli and minorities in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.

He said the government would continue with its commitment to implement the basic NEP strategies of poverty eradication regardless of race, and restructure the society to eradicate ethnic identification through economic function.

“If the objectives are realised, especially with a fairer distribution of wealth between and within ethnic groups, between states, and in urban and rural areas, it will speed up our efforts to ensure balanced participation amongst all levels of society,” Amirsham said.

He also said that based on the National Mission, the government had agreed to extend the timeline for realising several objectives of the distribution policy, such as eradication of poverty and achieving 30% bumiputera equity by 2020.

Prof Dr P Ramasamy (Batu Kawan–DAP) was allowed to ask the second supplementary question on whether the NEP had diverged from the original principle behind the affirmative action, which was meant to benefit the minority instead of majority as was practised in Malaysia.

“Affirmative action is to help the people who are left behind like the poor and the lower income community. That is the NEP’s aim and its policies are to help overcome and reduce poverty as well as to give equal opportunities to all Malaysians,” Amirsham replied without any reference to text.

The ruckus continued when the deputy speaker called for Mohamed Azmin Ali (Gombak-PKR) to raise his question to the minister in the question-and-answer session. However, Datuk Seri Panglima Abdul Ghapur Salleh (Kalabakan-BN) called for a Point-of-Order in Standing Order 44, asking the Speaker to take control of the situation.

“This is like a market, Speaker! People watch us on television! Can we ask for control?” he said, to which Kiandee assured him that the house was under control.

Azmin who had the floor then took a potshot at Khairy. He said: “Dewan jadi pasar sebab Rembau pengerusi pasar (The House turn into a market because Rembau MP is a market chief)!”

At this point Khairy stood and called for Point-of-Order on Rule 36 (character assassination) and asked for Azmin to retract his statement. Peace descended when Kiandee asked Azmin to ask his question.

Khairy who was met at the parliament lobby later denied that his supplementary question was planted. “It is not planted. It is a supplementary question. The minister is a very intelligent man. He was the CEO of Maybank. I am sure he had anticipated what would be the supplementary question. Maybe he was looking at the facts and statistics in front of him.

“For me what is more important is substance. It was clear that the opposition was causing trouble because they were afraid of substance,” he said.

Related: Amirsham: Straight man but something is suspicious (A Voice)

Khairy: Opposition is scared of substance

Courtesy NST

Uproar over 'planted' question

NST (16/5/08):A supplementary question on the New Economic Policy triggered complaints from Pakatan Rakyat MPs that it was "planted".

It didn't help that Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Amirsham A. Aziz seemed to be reading from a prepared text.

The question was posed by Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau).

Usually, answers to supplementary questions require ministers and their deputies to answer on the spot.

The minister had earlier answered a question on the NEP, also posed by Khairy.

In his supplementary question, Khairy said Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng had said that the NEP bred corruption, cronyism and systematic inefficiency.

"Is this a fair statement or just a general conclusion?

"Doesn't that statement imply that all of us are cronies and 'kaki rasuah' (corrupt)? Is this fair?" the Rembau MP asked.

He pointed out that the system had produced millions of successful students and Bumiputera professionals.

"You are among those," he noted.

By all accounts, it was a good point to counter what Lim had said.

But, when Amirsham started speaking, the opposition bench cried foul.

Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) protested that the answer was prepared, while Chong Eng (DAP-Bukit Mertajam) shouted that it was a "planted question" as the House erupted with laughter and catcalls as Amirsham continued.

Other MPs who joined in the fray included Khalid Abdul Samad (Pas-Shah Alam), who said "soalan bocor!" (leaked question) and Gobind Singh Deo (DAP-Puchong) who noted "mana boleh ini macam" (how can this be).

Mahfuz Omar (Pas-Pokok Sena) added by saying "siap jawapan sampai dua muka!" (the answer was so prepared, it ran into two pages).

Deputy Speaker Datuk Ronald Kiandee tried to control the situation with little success, while an oblivious Amirsham continued reading from his prepared text.

Dr P. Ramasamy (DAP-Batu Kawan) then asked another supplementary question on whether Amirsham understood the true spirit of affirmative action policy.

"In other countries, affirmative action is enjoyed by the minority, but here in Malaysia, it is enjoyed by the majority," he said to claps from opposition colleagues, prompting Ronald to rebuke them for their antics.

"Please don't clap in the House," he chided.

"The affirmative action is to help the poor and lower-income group. It eliminated poverty and gave equal opportunities to all," Amirsham said tersely.

His answer did not please the opposition, who reacted with jeers, prompting Datuk Seri Abdul Ghapur Salleh (BN-Kalabakan) to remark that the House had turned into a market.

The excitement would have died if not for Azmin Ali's (PKR-Gombak) dig at Khairy.

He quipped that the House had turned into a market because the "pengerusi pasar" (market chairman) is from Rembau.

This caused the backbenchers to kick up a storm with Khairy demanding that Azmin retract his word.

Later at the lobby, Khairy denied his supplementary question was planted.

"The minister is an intelligent man. He was the former CEO of Maybank and I'm sure he anticipated my question."

Khairy said the minister was looking at his facts to answer the question.

"It's not important whether (it's planted), but what's important is the substance.

"It's clear the opposition is trying to create trouble again because they are afraid of the answers."

Reply sparks shouting match

The Star (16/5/08): “Soalan bocor!” shouted an MP in the Dewan Rakyat when Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Amirsham Abdul Aziz read out a prepared text during Question and Answer time on Thursday.

“That is not the right answer!”

Opposition MPs were quick to create a stir when they realised that Amirsham was reading from two pages of text in reply to Khairy Jamaluddin's (BN – Rembau) supplementary oral question.

While it is normal for a minister to read from a prepared text for an original question, it is not so for a supplementary question as it is asked on the spot.

Khairy’s original question touched on whether the Government was planning to change existing policies which were based on the New Economic Policy (NEP) , especially those related to assisting bumiputras, in reaction to the Opposition’s call to reject the policy.

After Amirsham answered from a prepared text, Khairy then asked him what he thought about Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s statement that the NEP breeds corruption.

“Does he mean that every poor Malaysian regardless of their race, the millions of students, bumiputra professionals like the minister are all cronies and corrupted?” he asked.

To this, a visibly upset Amirsham said he felt that such a statement was inaccurate.

“His conclusion also means that everyone who gained from the NEP are actually cronies and corrupted,” he said before he was interrupted by shouts from the Opposition MPs when they saw that Amirsham was reading from a prepared text.

“The answer has been prepared!” said Lim Kit Siang (DAP – Ipoh Timor).

This prompted other Opposition MPs to join in the fray, with Chong Eng (DAP – Bukit Mertajam) calling it a “planted question” and Khalid Abdul Samad (PAS – Shah Alam) shouting that “the question was leaked!”

When Mohd Azmin Ali (PKR – Gombak) stood up to submit his next question, he said: “This House is like a market because the market chairman is Rembau.”

Deputy Speaker Datuk Ronald Kiandee told Azmin to stop the remark after Khairy protested.

Amirsham blunders by reading from text

The Sun (15/5/08): Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Amirsham A. Aziz – a newbie in the administration – was caught with his pants down when he was spotted reading the answer to a supplementary question in Parliament today.

Ironically, the topic was the New Economic Policy (NEP) – already a controversial subject – and the first supplementary question was posed by Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau).

Amirsham was meat to the prey when the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parliamentarians pounced – all with a wide grin on their face – on his antics of bowing his head to read from his prepared text.

Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) was the first to let all hell loose in the House, saying the supplementary question was already prepared.

"It was a planted question. The answer is all ready," charged Chong Eng (DAP-Bukit Mertajam).

"The question was leaked!" shouted Khalid Abd Samad (PAS-Shah Alam) and in the background someone was heard screaming "Crony! Crony!"

Gobind Singh Deo (DAP-Puchong) also rose to add to the ruckus by accusing Amirsham of having his answers ready.

"Siap jawapan sampai dua muka! (Prepared answers run to to pages!)"said Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena).

Deputy Speaker Ronald Kiandee tried to calmly take charge of the ruckus by saying: "Cukup lah Yang Berhormat (enough Yang Berhormat), Yang Berhormat sila duduk (Yang Berhormat, please sit down). Sila duduk Yang Berhormat (Sit down Yang Berhormat),". However, he seemed to have had little control over the situation as the shouting continued while Amirsham went on reading his answer.

Khairy asked if he (Amirsham) thought Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (DAP-Bagan)'s vow to abolish the use of NEP in the state administration is because "it breeds corruption, cronyism and systemic efficiency".

"If that is his conclusion, then anyone who got assistance from it whether in loans, job opportunities, scholarships, entrepreneurship opportunities and others are cronies and corruptors," he said, going on to provide figures while the ruckus continued.

Allowing the second supplementary question by Prof Dr P Ramasamy (DAP-Batu Kawan), someone was heard saying: "Tengok boleh jawab tak (let’s see if he can answer)."

Ramasamy asked whether the NEP had lost its original principle of affirmative action which is widely known throughout the world to be giving to the minority instead of the majority.

"Affirmative action is to help the people who are left behind like the poor and the lower income community. That is the NEP's aim and its policies are to help overcome and reduce poverty as well as to give equal opportunities to all Malaysians," Amirsham replied.

Amirsham said the government did not plan to change the policies evolving from the basic spirit of the NEP, the National Development Policy, the National Vision Policy and the National Vision under the 9th Malaysia Plan.

Kiandee then called for Mohamed Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak) to take the floor to raise his question.

But just before Mohamed Azmin took the floor, Datuk Seri Panglima Abdul Ghapur Salleh (BN-Kalabakan) called for a Point-of-Order in Standing Order 44, asking the Speaker to take control of the situation.

"This is like a market, Speaker! People watch us on television! Can we ask for control?" he said to which Kiandee assured that it was under control and Lim stood up to call for no "extreme control to the point that the minister has answers (to the supplementary question)".

When Mohamed Azmin had the floor again, he said: "Dewan jadi pasar sebab Rembau pengerusi pasar (The House is like a market because Khairy is the market chairman)!"

Khairy did not take it sitting down, calling for Point of Order on Rule 36 (character assassination) and asked for Mohamed Azmin to retract his statement.

The peace in the House ws restored when Kiandee asked Mohamed Azmin to proceed with his question.

'Pakatan' merely a PR exercise - Khairy

Bernama (12/5/08): A backbencher said Monday that the opposition coalition comprising PAS, DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) known as `Pakatan Rakyat' is merely a public relations (PR) exercise.

Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau) said the coalition was actually fragile, weak and suspicious of one another and were afraid of being stabbed in the back by each other.

"The coalition is purely a PR exercise. PAS and DAP are only putting up a show so that they will look impressive and strong in the eyes of the public. But in reality, there is clearly no mutual understanding basically," he said when debating the motion of thanks on the Royal address at the Dewan Rakyat Monday.

He questioned the PAS stand on the social contract raised by Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) so that it would be reviewed as well as the issue on the Islamic state pursued by PAS.

The lack of response to the issues raised by Lim portrayed the Islamic party as a `toothless lion' and afraid of the mastermind that PAS was collaborating with, Khairy said.

"We in the ruling party are also not ideal and have our weaknesses. But for as long as the Barisan Nasional (BN) is helming the federal government, we will defend the social contract that is enshrined in the Constitution," he said.

Khairy also questioned why Pakatan Rakyat could not give a commitment to do away with the New Economic Policy in all the states under its administration for greater uniformity and consistency.

He said the inconsistency was apparent in the five states administered by the Pakatan Rakyat where in Kedah and Kelantan it was an Islamic State, a Malaysian Malaysia in Penang, a puppet government in Perak and the pig breeding project in Selangor.

He also asked for a special briefing to be held in Parliament where a detailed statement would be tabled so that the financial position and where the Petronas profits were being channelled to would be clearly understood by all members of Parliament.

According to the Petronas financial statement 2007, the government received RM48.3 billion in terms of taxes and royalty and this amount represented 66.2 per cent of the gross profits of Petronas while the balance was utilised for oil explorations in foreign countries.

Khairy also suggested that the government adopted the `e-perolehan' system which was capable of saving as much as 25 per cent in terms of cost for the purchase of items as was being practised by mega companies in the world.

He also proposed the `track and trace' system in the government administration so that the public could obtain immediate and current feedback on their applications which would improve the delivery system and reduce corruption.

In his speech, Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) defended his statement which touched on the rights of the Malay Rulers, which he said had not violated the law.

"So far, 20 police reports had been made against me, even 2,000 police reports can be made, but what I had stated (on the issue of the transfer of the Perak Islamic Religious Department Director Datuk Jamry Suri) did not breach the law," he said.

He hoped the Attorney-General would give appropriate consideration when the investigation reports on the case were sent to him very soon.

The Dewan Rakyat will sit again Tuesday.