GEORGE TOWN: Fire destroyed at least 10 tightly packed wooden buildings by the sea, less than 50m from Chew Jetty.
A recycling centre was engulfed in the fire, with explosions heard repeatedly as flames spread to a nearby automobile service centre.
The blaze started at about 1am on Saturday (Aug 5) at the rear of a petrol station, about 200m from the ferry terminal.
Fire alerts caused a flurry of action among voluntary fire squads, with at least five squads from the island and mainland deploying their fire engines.
It is learnt that low water pressure at the scene hampered firefighting efforts.
The repeated explosions also woke nearby residents as the fire occurred close to a petrol station and the clan jetties.
The extent of the damage has yet to be determined.Photographer Allen Lim deployed a drone and captured footage of voluntary firemen wading through mudflats at low tide to access buildings from the sea and check for trapped victims.
Tanjung MP Lim Hui Ying and Pengkalan Kota assemblyman Wong Yuee Harng were both at the scene. - Star
PAS MUKTAMAR | The 72nd PAS muktamar has approved seven motions, including calls for a royal commission of inquiry to probe allegations about the “corporate mafia” and renewed efforts to curb gambling.
The Islamist party’s annual meeting received 33 motions from its delegates, 26 of which were referred to relevant committees.
From the accepted motions, four were debated before approval, while the remaining three were approved without debate.
One of the motions debated was submitted by PAS Youth, which urged the government to form an RCI to independently and comprehensively investigate allegations of the existence of a “corporate mafia”.
According to the motion paper, the PAS muktamar is pressing for the RCI’s findings and recommendations to be tabled in Parliament.
‘No sweeping corporate mafia under carpet’
In tabling the motion, PAS Youth delegate Nazrul Hakim Nazir drew parallels with the Tabung Haji RCI, saying: “If integrity is demanded of one institution, then that same integrity must be demanded of all parties.”
As such, he stressed that if the “corporate mafia” exists, it should be considered an issue affecting the integrity of national institutions and economic security.
“This issue cannot be swept under the carpet, kept away, and silenced. We do not want to punish anyone before guilt is proven, but we cannot allow anyone to become so powerful that they cannot be investigated either,” he said.
He said that if the allegations are proven untrue, an RCI probe will clear the names of those accused.
“But, if these allegations are true, the people have the right to know who is involved, how deeply this network has taken root in the nation’s administration, and how the rakyat’s interests and the nation’s assets have been affected,” he added.
Previously, several DAP leaders, including its secretary-general Anthony Loke, had also called for an RCI after a February Bloomberg report alleged collusion between a group of businesspersons and senior MACC officials to stage corporate takeovers.
The anti-graft commission, however, has denied the claims.
Besides the “corporate mafia” RCI motion, the PAS muktamar today also debated and approved motions on strengthening the ummah unity agenda, reforming working hours and manpower for the healthcare sector, and strengthening the country’s paddy production supply chain.
More room for states to regulate gambling
Meanwhile, the PAS muktamar also approved without debate a motion from Baling PAS on gambling issues, with the motion paper stating the party’s call for Putrajaya, through the Finance Ministry, to re-evaluate the policy on granting and renewing gambling licences.
Besides considering a halt to issuing new licences, PAS also wants state administrations, particularly those under PAS’ governance, to streamline existing laws, local government policies, and administrative mechanisms based on legal advice.
This, it said, will enable action aimed at curbing gambling activities to be carried out on a “solid legal basis”.
PAS also wants its MPs to raise the matter in the Dewan Rakyat so amendments to the relevant legislation can be proposed, and state governments are given legal room to formulate stricter policies on the operation of gambling premises.
An attempt by Kedah, one of the four states under PAS, to ban gambling outlets was foiled after the Court of Appeal held that the regulation of gambling and lotteries falls exclusively under the Finance Ministry.
The Federal Court recently rejected the state government’s leave application to appeal.
The two other motions accepted without debate were an appeal to the government to take comprehensive measures to address the cost of living and to empower the party’s young women’s wing. - Mkini
Interviewed by Bloomberg’s Haslinda Amin at the Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore in September 2023, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim spoke on a variety of issues – from people’s expectations and his fight against corruption to his campaign for good governance and foreign relations.
However, the highlight of the 47-minute interview before a live audience was his explanation of the course of events that led to his deputy, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, being given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal (DNAA).
Anwar said the 47 charges were so flawed that they bothered the conscience of the then-outgoing attorney-general, Idrus Harun, who wanted to set things right before he left office.
But if they were indeed defective as claimed, how did the court decide that the prosecution had established a prima facie case and Zahid was to enter his defence? For the record, four witnesses had already testified for the defence.
While Idrus maintained stoic silence, Anwar, as if the AG himself, went on a tirade of sorts: “Was it 47? Every cheque is a charge. So, the charge is questionable. Every cheque issued is a charge by itself, which does not necessarily seem to be professionally done.”
Anwar Ibrahim and Ahmad Zahid Hamidi
What Anwar failed to understand or explain is that the Criminal Procedure Code requires every cheque to form a separate charge.
But in Malaysia, nothing is more convincing than throwing in a bit of political drama for a more salacious reading.
“When was the charge proffered? During that time, Dr Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister. When? A week after he called up the president of this nationalist party (Umno), which is a member of my coalition, and told him (Zahid), ‘You dissolve your party and join my party’,” Anwar said.
On Jan 12, Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar declared that Zahid's corruption case was “settled once and for all”, but he could have unwittingly exposed a fundamental breach of prosecutorial procedure established by one of his predecessors.
Zahid’sNFA
On May 3, 2019, then-attorney-general Tommy Thomas issued a Public Prosecutor Direction No 2/2019, a directive establishing stringent safeguards against the discontinuance of criminal proceedings.
For context, the directive emerged after a period of public outrage over prosecutorial decisions that appeared to lack transparency and consistency.
Thomas wrote in the directive’s background, lamenting that the spate of discontinued proceedings at that time had called into question the integrity of the entire prosecutorial system.
Lawyers from various quarters are urging the Attorney-General’s Chambers to explain why it has concluded that there will be “no further action” (NFA) in the Yayasan Akalbudi case against Zahid.
However, no answers were forthcoming from the AG.
In May, the Court of Appeal allowed the Malaysian Bar to pursue a judicial review against the decision to temporarily discontinue prosecution against Zahid in 2023.
In a unanimous decision, the panel of three judges led by Faizah Jamaludin said they found the Bar’s judicial review application “appropriate” and not frivolous.
They said the lawyers’ professional body raised arguable issues that warrant a full judicial review and remitted the matter back to the High Court for hearing.
The panel also said Bar’s challenge was not a collateral attack on the criminal court presiding over the case; instead, it challenged the legality and rationality of the AG’s decision that led to Zahid’s DNAA.
With Umno-Pakatan Harapan relations fraying after the Johor and Negeri Sembilan state elections, and leaders trading open attacks, Anwar - who for three years had deflected calls for answers, even in Parliament - now faces renewed demands for a review, with mounting pressure for Zahid to be charged.
Besides, with the MACC and AG prosecuting, among others, former prime minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob and former human resources minister M Saravanan, the voices have grown louder.
Calls for review
On Thursday, DAP’s Jelutong MP RSN Rayer fired the first salvo, urging the AG to review the discontinuation of Zahid’s 47 corruption charges, involving funds from Yayasan Akalbudi, a foundation chaired by Zahid.
Rayer questioned why prosecution against the BN chairperson was discontinued despite the government’s renewed crackdown on corruption, saying the same standards must apply to political allies and opponents.
RSN Rayer
Yesterday, DAP Youth joined the chorus, calling on the AG to revisit the decision to drop the charges and, if the evidence and legal grounds warrant it, revive the prosecution.
The wing said the matter was closely tied to the country’s institutional reform agenda, arguing that the Madani government’s credibility in fighting corruption could be undermined if politicians within the government were not subjected to the same standards as those outside it.
So, is this sudden surge of prosecutions a flash in the pan or a show of might, or is it another seasonal show to appease citizens calling for a concerted effort to wipe out corruption?
Anwar, despite repeatedly telling Malaysians he would never interfere with the MACC’s work, made a grave error of judgment by giving his take in Singapore when Zahid was given the DNAA in 2023.
The DNAA is not just a procedural twist in a corruption trial - it is a defining moment for Malaysia’s justice system. By defending the move, Anwar has placed his reformist credentials on the line, trying the Madani government’s anti-corruption agenda against a decision that reeks of political expediency.
The silence of the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the apparent disregard for safeguards introduced under Public Prosecutor Direction No 2/2019, and the timing amid coalition fragility all converge to erode confidence in the impartiality of the law.
In the end, the DNAA is more than a legal reprieve; it is a political signal. And unless that signal is corrected with clarity and courage, the Madani government risks losing the very credibility it claims to uphold. - Mkini
R NADESWARAN is a veteran journalist who strives to uphold the ethos of civil rights leader John Lewis: “When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something.” Comments: citizen.nades22@gmail.com.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.
