Deepak should spill all his beans

YOURSAY 'You are now been forced to quit as director from all your companies. The message from your one-time boss is very clear to you - the fight is on.'

Deepak ousted after revolt over his media interviews

Ferdtan: Carpet mogul Deepak Jaikishan, this is the answer that you hope not to get. Instead, you got busted.

You are now been forced to quit as director from all your companies. The message from your one-time boss is very clear to you - the fight is on.

There is no turning back. So please do Malaysians a favour - expose all and don't hold back your punches. Do it quickly as you should expect a midnight knocking on your door anytime now, and you may disappear.

After you have gone through all these horrendous experience and we, the rakyat, got our pound of flesh from the guilty ones, we may find in our heart to forgive you for your past follies.

Now do you understand what private eye P Balasubramaniam is feeling as a fugitive?

Apa Ini: Deepak, give yourself plenty of time to live in regret. But some good comes out of any crisis. Try telling the truth without thought of personal gain. And make sure you stay alive to tell it all.

Changeagent: This fallout, if un-arrested, will have very damaging consequences to PM Najib Razak's reputation. But fear not, Najib, the solution is very simple.

Pick up the phone and call your old friend Deepak. Say all is forgiven, and reinstate him back to the projects he was promised.

Then get him to call another press conference to say that Anwar Ibrahim, George Soros, the Christians and Jews had combined forces to make him lie in the previous interviews, and he was under severe duress at the time.

Tell him to add that Najib is innocent of any allegations or insinuations relating to Altantuya Shaariibuu, and that he is by far, the best 1Malaysia PM Malaysia could ever have.

Just follow this script and all will be well.

Headhunter: Again this goes to show Najib and his wife have their fingers in every pie. Even in Sarawak, the rumour circling around is that many federal projects are linked to Rosmah Mansor via payment of huge commission.

Due to their greed, they are falling into the holes they themselves dug.

Anon: Deepak, now the gravy train is not coming your way, it is time to mend your ways and
repent. Time to atone and come clean by revealing the truth in all your sleazy dealings.

Odin: According to Deepak, he suffered an indefinite postponement of a 20-year concession agreement for overseas Mara hostels worth RM2 billion?

Who are those hostels meant for? Where are the hostels?

Multi Racial: It looks like such deal are common under BN administration. Something very wrong is happening under BN government. One after another ‘carpetbagger' is coming out. The rakyat can judge for themselves.

Green Mutant: Deepak, money is not the most important thing in the world once your basic needs have been met. I guess you realised this now.

After reading this, I feel sorry for you.

Anonymous_40a7: "The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is." - Winston Churchill.

Zahid to respond to Deepak's allegations tomorrow

Anonymous #32993250: Deepak's allegations are against the PM and it should be addressed by him alone. The PM should clear his name in the face of the allegations by Bala, and reinforced by Deepak this week in the alternative media.

However, the Umno general assembly is not the place to discuss Najib's personal affairs.

Tholu: I agree with Anonymous #32993250 that the Umno general assembly is not the forum to respond to Deepak's allegations. It is a government scandal, not an Umno scandal.

As such, an explanation must be given by the PM - not the defence minister - to the citizenry and not just to Umno members.

However, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi's choice to explain it at the Umno general assembly only goes to show that Umno alone is in charge of the government and its coalition partners are powerless and irrelevant appendages.

Mushiro: Even before Bala's first SD (statutory declaration), many people were already under the impression that Najib and Rosmah were involved in the Altantuya case.

Bala's first SD reinforced many people's belief. Bala's second SD, though an immediate retraction, nevertheless made even more people believed that Najib was guilty.

Now that Deepak, a former close friend of Rosmah and Najib, has come out with the same accusations as Bala, the Altantuya story is sealed in the people's mind. Najib's link in the Altantuya scandal cannot be erased.

Queenie: All you guys need to remember is that Zahid once said he was prepared to lay down his life for the PM. Make the hair on the nape of my neck stand up. - Malaysiakini

Who's better? Let Najib debate Anwar

YOURSAY 'That's Najib's explanation of exponential growth. It takes 50 plus years to accumulate RM250 billion in national debt but four years to double that.'

PKR: Najib no match for Anwar as finance minister

Starr: This is not unexpected. PM Najib Razak has pulled a fast one on the rakyat in showering praises on himself. It shows he simply lacks economic credibility as he presides over a period in which the national debt has doubled in his quest to boost national income.

Such economic management has no place in the textbooks of modern economic management as being prudent. Never mind about comparing himself with Anwar, he didn't even have the honesty to address the causes of our economic ills precipitating our own fallout.

Seeing what Singapore has achieved economically today, we should take a serious look at ourselves to see where we have gone wrong in terms of policy.

What Singapore has been able to achieve today represents what we suffer in terms of opportunity lost. Like it or not, the fact that even Umno cronies in the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal has seen fit to park their monies in Singapore speaks volumes of their economic success.

Ourvotesdecide!: Under Najib, our national debt is RM500 billion. When Anwar Ibrahim was finance minister, we did not hear of such huge debts. So, clearly Najib is the failed finance minister.

In any case, if Najib is so confident of his capability and competency as a leader, when is he going to accept Anwar's challenge to a public debate?

Shamelessly, Najib is until today cowardly avoiding this debate. Clearly Najib is afraid of the truth. Anwar is not. That's the difference.

Jedi_Who: Najib is however an outstanding women's minister; he is too scared to debate with men so he hides amongst the women and throws insults at the opposition.

Onyourtoes: Prior to the Asian financial crisis of 1997/98, most East Asian economies grew rapidly, not just Malaysia.

The foreign investment, both portfolio and direct, were unprecedented. That was the era of go-go economies but the subsequent meltdown was felt in many countries from South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia to Malaysia.

Therefore, Malaysia's sparkling performance prior to the crisis was not due to then PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad or then finance minister Anwar Ibrahim, as most countries have benefited from the inflows.

There was no shortage of fund and no deficit spending was necessary to keep the economy buoyant. However, when the flows reversed, many countries suffered as seen during the post-crisis period.

If there is any lesson learned from the crisis, one must always be vigilant and prudent when managing the economy. Singapore was much more vulnerable and yet it was able to weather the storm relatively much better than many other countries.

The basic principles are: there are no free lunches, no excessive borrowing, and no wasteful projects and unproductive investments.

Malaysia has used its financial strength (especially from our rich oil and gas revenue) to delay restructuring its economy. Instead, that strength is used to provide bailouts and to continue our profligate ways.

Because of that, our fiscal position has turned from surplus to deficit and the deficit has turned from being cyclical to structural.

If we look at the change in debt each year (which more or less is the proxy for fiscal deficit in absolute term each year), the trend in recent years is quite frightening.

Jaguh: That's Najib's explanation of exponential growth ... of debt. It takes 50 plus years to accumulate RM250 billion in national debt but four years to double that.

Kudos to Najib and his team of merry thieves. I love this country enough to make sure we do not end up like Greece. Can you imagine having Singapore and Indonesia bailing out Malaysia?

Unthinkable? Well, it will be if we don't vote them out.

Shanandoah: Najib is desperate, very desperate indeed. He has read the writing on the wall. There is nothing he can do at this stage other than pray that he can hold on to his post as PM. His speech at the Umno general assembly said it all. He is terrified of losing the elections.

YHJ Najib, it is very easy to make Malaysia a high income nation. Just increase every civil servant's salary on par with those in Singapore and even Australia, and you can boast about it in your election campaign.

Just forget about productivity and the national deficits. Hand out more money instead.

Joe Fernandez: It's difficult to believe that a person like Anwar, with a pass degree in Malay Studies from Universiti Malaya, would make a better finance minister than someone like Najib, with a honours degree in economics from United Kingdom.

Wira Confucius says, "A newcomer with an honest heart will perform better than any corrupt expert."

This is proven in most Pakatan Rakyat-ruled states, including that first year in Perak. - Malaysiakini

Family and two others plunge down collapsed road

On the brink: A man looking over the collapsed part of the road at KM20 Jalan Sungai Lalang in Semenyih. — SHAARI CHEMAT / The Star

KAJANG: Five people narrowly escaped death while travelling on a road which collapsed near the Semenyih dam after several days of rain.

A car driven by a couple and their daughter and a van driven by a man plunged 30m into a river bank.

A security guard who went to investigate on his motorcycle hit into the rubble of the collapsed road and also slid down the river bank.

The Fire and Rescue Department was notified at around 7.43pm on Wednesday, minutes after it occurred, said operations officer Seman Awang.

Fifteen men in two engines were dispatched to the scene from Kajang and Bangi, he said at the scene.

“By the time we arrived at 8.24pm, the five had got to safety,” he added.

Seman said the road would be closed until its “structural integrity” had been thoroughly examined.

The guard, Mohd Khair Abdullah Zabar, was working at the Semenyih dam here on Wednesday night when he noticed two sets of headlights shining down towards the river at about 8pm.

“I also heard a loud noise that sounded like a tree falling.

“That's when I got on my motorcycle to investigate,” said the 20-year-old.

“There were no street lights as the electricity had been cut. In my hurry to find out what had happened, I did not realise that a part of the road had collapsed.”

Mohd Khair said his motorcycle hit into some rubble and slid down the bank, where the overturned car was. Further away was the van.

He helped Sukri Serajudin, 32, and his wife Noor Shazwani Mohd Adnan, 24, pull their two-year-old child Noraina Qaisara from the backseat.

Together with the man in the van, they climbed up to the road, where Mohd Khair stopped a passing car and asked the driver to inform the police.

”The others were taken in an ambulance to the Kajang Hospital. My sister took me to the nearest clinic. I was only slightly injured,” Mohd Khairi said.

Kajang police station's Insp Zamri Musa, who was at the scene, said that about 500m of the road had been cordoned off within two hours of the landslide.

He expects the road to remain closed for at least six months for repairs. - Star

More Embarrassment for Malaysia's UMNO

Deepak says they never appreciated me

Party forced to deal with corruption allegations in the midst of its annual general assembly

The United Malays National Organization, Malaysia’s biggest political party, finds itself embroiled in yet another scandal right in the middle of its annual general assembly, which is to run through tomorrow night.

Instead of a grand national potlatch, in which the unified 2,600-odd deputies accuse the opposition of being disorganized and unable to run the country, untrue to the Muslim faith and in thrall to the ethnic Chinese, the party is forced to deal with deep concerns that a carpet trader formerly close to Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, has now turned on the first family. Deepak Jaikishan has been giving interviews to any opposition websites who want to listen, saying he had played a role in a move to funnel RM5 million (US$1.64 million) to get out of the country to Perumal Balasubramaniam.

Balasubramaniam at that time employed by Abdul Razak Baginda, one of Nahib’s best friends, was a private detective who charged in a sworn declaration that Najib had been the former lover of murdered Mongolian translator and party girl Altantuya Shaariibuu, who was shot in the head by two of Naib’s bodyguards in 2006. After Bala filed his sworn statement describing his knowledge of the affair between the two and giving excruciating details of sexual practices, among other specifics, under pressure from police, he recanted his statement and wrote a second saying the first had been false. Then he left the country for Chennai, where he has remained, saying he had been intimidated to recant the statement.

Apparently disillusioned because of a business deal gone bad, Jaikishan is also charging that the first couple engineered the cancellation of government contracts to his businesses after he first went public about his role in the affair and got him kicked off the boards of directors of 26 companies. He has threatened to reveal more details of the cover-up and offered to sue Najib himself.

Jaikashan’s firm Asacannggih Sdn Bhd is suing Raja Ropiaah Raja Abdulla, a federal government senator and head of the women’s division of the Selangor state chapter of UMNO. In addition, he is alleging that Najib in 2006, when still defense minister, illegally bypassed the Barisan Nasional cabinet and signed over land worth RM400 million owned by the Ministry of Defense for privatization and redevelopment to Raja Ropiaah for a still uncompleted defense research center. He is charging that Astacanggih was cheated out of a portion of the land purchased from Raja Ropiaah's Awan Megah (M) Sdn Bhd. The land had been privatized by the Defense Ministry to Ropiaah's firm.

Jaikishan is charging in court that Astacanggih in 2007 bought 90 hectares of land from Raja Ropiah’s Awan Megah for RM120 million but that the transaction was never concluded and that the titles have never been released to an Astacanggih subsidiary. He accused Raja Ropiah of selling the land that had been sold to him to other parties.

"Without Najib's OK, Raja Ropiaah would not have been awarded the deal by the Ministry of Defense," Jaikashan told a local independent website. Jaikashan is also suing the Ministry of Defense and the land and mining office for complicity in the deal.

Jaikishan’s decision to make himself available to opposition media in the middle of the UMNO general assembly has caused outrage among rank and file UMNO members, coming as the affair does on the heels of a series of other scandals including the notorious Cattlegate scandal, in which family members of the head of the women’s wing of the party allegedly misused a RM250 million soft loan to build a cattle feed operation, spending considerable amounts of the money on condominiums, luxury cars and overseas trips.

“I am sure Deepak will name whoever he tried to bribe and hence start the investigation,” said one UMNO source. “On my end, I have got no sympathy for Deepak. In fact, I would say it serves him right. Other than that, I don't care too hoots for Deepak.”

Speculation as to who is behind Jaikishan’s decision to go public inevitably centers on Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim. Others believe that Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, with the connivance of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, is behind Jaikishan’s actions although yet another wing of the party, controlled by forces aligned with former Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, whom Mahathir helped to drive from power in 2009, could also be playing a role.

Jaikishan has publicly said he will talk more if his safety is guaranteed by someone powerful.

“Najib’s side retaliated immediately by arranging for Deepak to be sacked from the boards of 26 companies over which he holds shares,” said a political operative in Kuala Lumpur. “It looks like Deepak is using his involvement in the Bala saga as leverage to force Najib to come to terms with him. On the other hand he is probably being made use of by Najib’s UMNO rivals, as up to this point, he must have been backed by a powerful faction before he would dare to go this far.”

The source called Mahathir and Muhyiddin “the current suspects” although there is no concrete evidence other than the fact that Jaikishan has said he is close to Muhyiddin. The affair, he said, depends on how much Jaikishan knows and how much evidence he has, how the political tussle plays out behind the scenes, “and to what extent Najib & Co. are prepared to appease him.”

There is of course the likelihood that the entire episode will fizzle out without crippling Najib nor UMNO, though they may be bruised, out of common interests among the warring parties to keep the present UMNO power structure afloat. Jaikishan can only be expected to go as far as his UMNO backers agree to allow him to go. If Najib were to be driven from power within UMNO now, with elections looming probably in April, the party would be in serious disarray that could cost it dearly in organizational terms. He could be expected to take revenge of his own on the other factions.

In addition, said a source with a nonpartisan think tank in Kuala Lumpur, “I don’t think Deepak’s accusations will have that much impact on voters. For a start, he isn’t linking Najib directly to Altantunya’s murder. He has said he was only involved in the 2nd statutory declaration. Second, the election will be won or lost in the Malay heartland – and I can’t see Malay heartlanders getting worked up about the allegations. They will have a tremendous impact on middle class, urban voters but that is a voter segment already lost to the Barisan.”

Jaikishan told the opposition Malaysia Chronicle that he had "lost 20 kilos, my father says I have grown up from a boy into a worried man. Just yesterday, I suffered a revolt from my board. The directors in all 26 companies want me to step down. To them, I have committed an unforgivable sin of exposing these matters to the press as it affects the credibility of all 26 firms." - asia sentinel

Full support needed for Adnan to cut off his ears

'Cut off my ears if BN loses in Bentong'

[Audio] Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob today boldly declared that Barisan Nasional will not lose the parliamentary seat of Bentong because of the Lynas controversy, and he is willing to literally bet his ears on that.

Bloggers and friends let us HELP ADNAN CUT OFF HIS EARS.  Pariah like him must be taught a lesson.  

JTU SEMPORNA, JABATAN HAPRAK?

Oleh : SEMPORNA BROADCAST (SBC)

MUNGKIN tidak keterlaluan dan amat bertepatan sekali jika Jabatan Tanah dan Ukur Semporna diberi gelaran 'Jabatan Haprak' dan 'Pejabat Berpuaka' kerana gagal menyelesaikan isu tanah sejak zaman berzaman sekalipun kini mempunyai empat ADUN dan seorang Ahli Parlimen, dua daripadanya berjawatan Menteri Penuh.

Memandangkan isu tanah menjadi modal kempen pilihanraya; maka isu Perampasan Tanah, Pengambilan Tanah Adat, Pengambilan Tanah Sabah Port Authority, Tanah Reserve Bakau & Laut, Tanah Reserve Bukit, Tanah Anak Negeri & Tanah Adat, Tanah laut, Tanah Pulau dan bermacam-macam isu mengenai tanah di Semporna telah mula dikumandangkan oleh semua pihak termasuk ahli UMNO sendiri.

Sikap Penolong Pemungut Hasil Tanah (PPHT) yang bertindak ‘Ultra Vires’ dan jarang berada di Pejabat; serta langsung tidak ke Pejabat Tanah dan Ukur Semporna sejak sekian lama, memperlihatkan bahawa Jabatan Tanah dan Ukur Semporna memiliki Ketua Pentadbir yang tidak bertanggungjawab.

PPHT hanya berurusan dengan golongan kapitalis menjadikan dirinya talibarut kepada penyangak-penyangak Tanah di kawasan Semporna yang menyebabkan kelemahan ini berlaku dan berterusan sejak dari dahulu sehingga ke hari ini.

Sebagai NGO Bebas, kami ingin membuat laporan khas mengenai Jabatan Tanah dan Ukur Semporna (JTU) dari sudut pengurusan, pentadbiran, infrastruktur dan kemudahan Pejabat Pentadbiran Tanah berkenaan yang kami lihat sangat serius dan sedang menghadapi masalah dalaman dan prasarana pejabat yang amat menjijikkan di mata awam dan pihak pelancong secara berterusan, usang dan tidak terurus dengan wajar seperti mana pejabat Pertadbiran kerajaan yang lain di negara ini.

Pepatah mengatakan ‘Rumahku Syurgaku’ adalah membayangkan bahawa di mana kita berada, kita haruslah berasa selesa, bahagia dan boleh duduk dalam keadaan aman, tenang dan gembira tanpa tekanan kerja atau keadaan sekeliling.

Namun apabila kami membuat lawatan mengejut kelmarin, 29 November 2012 ke Pejabat Tanah dan Ukur Semporna pihak kami amat berasa sedih dan sangat terkejut dengan situasi yang prasarana yang ada di Pejabat Tanah dan Ukur Semporna, seolah-olah 'Rumah Puaka' yang tidak berpenghuni.

Apakah Pengarah Tanah dan Ukur, Datuk Osman Jamal tidak melihat kekurangan ini? Apakah beliau terlalu malas untuk meninggal bilik hawa dingin dan kerusi empuknya untuk melihat sendiri kebajikan pekerjanya?

Atau Osman Jamal hanya mengambil jalan mudah dengan hanya mendengar laporan PPHT Semporna yang banyak berbohong mengenai masalah tanah, masalah kakitangan bawahannya kepada pihak atasan; sekadar melepas batuk di tangga.

Kebodohan Osman Jamal begitu terserlah kerana hampir membuat satu tindakan bodoh lagi bahlul menerima fitnah yang dibuat terhadap kakitangan bawahan yang tidak berdosa dengan mengeluarkan perintah 'TUKAR 24 JAM' tanpa usul periksa atau peluang membela diri; semata-mata kerana dikuasai hawa nafsu dan merasa diri berkuasa.

Namun Osman Jamal lupa peribahasa Tausug yang berbunyi; "Ayaw kau Mag Good-Good, aun pah Good". Mungkin perkara ini boleh membantu Osman Jamal membuka matanya seluas-seluas dan kalau masih ada 'kemaluan' atau rasa malu serta bertanggung jawab terhadap kerja dan kakitangan awam serta penduduk awam, maka silalah ambil tindakan wajar atau lebih baik bersara awal.

Mengikut sejarah Pejabat Tanah & Ukur Semporna sebelum ini adalah pejabat rasmi kerajaan yang digunakan sebagai Pejabat Daerah dan Pentabiran Daerah kawasan itu yang termasuk dalam Dun Senalang dan diwakili Oleh Datuk Nasir Tun Sakaran dan Parlimen Semporna yang diwakili oleh Naib Presiden UMNO Malaysia, Datuk Shafie Afdal; apatah lagi kedua-dua wakil rakyat ini berkedudukan Menteri penuh sejak berpuluh tahun dahulu sehingga sekarang.

Namun kedudukan kedua-dua Menteri penuh bagi dua wakil rakyat dari UMNO ini nampaknya tidak mampu untuk mempertingkatkan keselesaan pejabat pentadbiran kerajaan dan keselesaan orang awam untuk berurusan dengan sewajarnya walaupun pada hakikatnya mereka mempunyai rumah besar bernilai berpuluh juta ringgit untuk mereka jadikan 'Rumahku, Syurgaku'.

Mereka nampaknya hanya boleh menyediakan rumah sendiri untuk mereka jadikan 'Rumahku, Gundikku dan Syurgaku' dan gagal menyediakan 'Rumah Rakyat' dijadikan 'Syurga Awam' sehingga mengakibatkan Pejabat Tanah dan Ukur Semporna umpama Pejabat Puaka Rakyat.

Pejabat Puaka JTU Semporna tersangat kotor, berbau busuk, bau kencing kucing, berlubang dan siling bocor, dinding berkurap, pendingin hawa zaman purba, tandas awam kelas kambing, jalan masuk ke pejabat JTU seperti kolam ikan air tawar, landskap seperti hutan belukar atau kawasan ternakan ular sawa, ruang tamu menunggu seperti kerusi bergilir masuk ke tandas dalam filem P.Ramlee.

Manakala fail permohonan tanah orang awam bersepah-sepah seperti sampah sarap; tangga berbau kencing kucing, papan kenyataan berkurap dan kotor, pendawaian letrik yang tidak selamat dan setiap kali hujan elektrik selalu mati; mungkin antara punca yang menyebabkan kebakaran pejabat berkenaan beberapa tahun yang lalu.

Sistem keselamatan yang longgar telah menyebabkan pejabat ini boleh dimasuki pencuri beberapa kali. Walaupun laporan polis kerap kali dibuat, namun masalah ini berlarutan sehingga banyak fail-fail penting hilang dari bilik rasmi kerajaan, dikhuatiri dicuri oleh pihak tertentu untuk melupuskan bukti permohonan tanah sebelum pemohon baru mendaftar di atas tanah yang sama.

Kami telah merakamkan beberapa gambar sebagai bukti agar Perdana Menteri, Ketua Menteri Sabah, Menteri-Menteri Kabinet Persekutuan dan Negeri menilai kehebatan seorang Pengarah Jabatan Tanah dan Ukur 'melempar najis' ke muka Perdana Menteri di ambang pilihanraya umum.

Pembaca boleh menilai sendiri betapa daifnya Pejabat Jabatan Tanah dan Ukur Semporna, 'Serambi Pelancongan Sabah' hasil tadbir urus dua menteri penuh dan wakil rakyat kaki ampu yang memuji Semporna sebagai maju, gemilang dan cemerlang tetapi selepas menyaksikan gambar-gambar ini, mungkin boleh dikategorikan dakwaan mereka sebagai 'temberang'.

MESRA ALAM....Inilah Pejabat Tanah dan Ukur Semporna yang terdapat di Pekan Semporna yang digunakan secara rasmi untuk menguruskan hal ehwal Tanah Adat dan Tanah Awam Semporna yang tidak memerlukan pewangi lavender kerana aroma bau najis kencing kucing harum semerbak setiap kali orang awam memasuki pejabat ini. Pegawai Daerah Semporna selaku PPHT dan Ex-Officio boleh mendapat anugerah 'Pegawai Daerah Mesra Alam' kerana membiarkan kucing berkeliaran, tanah berlumpur, lantai kotor, dinding berkurap dan bumbung berlubang bagi menyambut kunjungan orang awam yang ingin berurusan.

BERKURAP...... Peta Kurap yang terpampang di hadapan Pejabat Tanah dan Ukur Semporna. Siapa yang seharusnya membetulkan keadaan ini?

KOLAM....Mungkinkan JTU Semporna sedang menternak ikan Air Tawar di hadapan Pejabatnya apabila jalan masuknya mempunyai longkang dan lubang besar. Kanak- kanak Tadika boleh menjadikannya sebagai ‘Swimming Pool’ untuk mandi-manda jika tidak diperbaiki dengan segera.

JIJIK.....Tangga naik ke tingkat 1, JTU Semporna yang terpaksa dilalui orang awam dan pelancong sekalipun lantainya tidak pernah dibersihkan, hitam dan becak; ditambah dengan aroma najis dan kencing kucing, sesuai diletakkan papan tanda 'Tandas Kucing'.

USANG.....Betapa sukarnya rakyat Semporna yang ingin melihat laporan tanah atau Jadual 13 Tanah di Papan Kenyataan JTU Semporna yang terlalu usang seolah-olah papan kenyataan di kuburan.

KOTOR..... Tandas menunjukkan keperibadian penghuninya, Mungkinkah semua pegawai JTU Semporna kotor atau berperibadi kotor kerana menerima rasuah sehingga kebersihan tandas tidak terjaga atau mereka mengikut resam Kucing?

ANTIK.....Sistem penghawa dingin di JTU masih menggunakan barangan antik di Zaman ‘Kastila’ yang tidak lagi berfungsi sehingga pejabat ini seperti oven pembakar mayat.

BN will recapture all Pakatan states, win two-thirds majority, say Umno leaders

File photo of Najib on a big screen as he delivers his keynote address during the opening of the Umno annual assembly in Kuala Lumpur on November 29, 2012. The party is confident of winning a two-thirds parliamentary majority in the coming general election. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 — Umno is confident of wresting back all four Pakatan Rakyat-led (PR) states and even recapturing its two-thirds parliamentary majority in the coming polls, buoyed by a strong belief that the Najib government’s reformist measures have successfully impressed the Malaysian electorate.

Several leaders told The Malaysian Insider that Umno is now fully prepared to march to the battle lines, having struggled through four years of heavy transformation from the party’s administration to the mindsets of its over three million members.

Emerging fully charged after the second day of the party’s assembly here yesterday, the leaders wasted no breath in declaring that achieving two-thirds is no longer an aspiration for Umno but a comfortable reality.

“Of course,” Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said, when asked if the party was confident it would once again occupy two-thirds of Parliament’s 222 seats after the polls.

“I believe that we will win back two-thirds and we will get back at least all the four Pakatan states... including Kelantan and Penang,” he added. Kelantan has been in PAS’s hands since 1990.

Generous estimates of Barisan Nasional’s (BN) chances at the ballot boxes have included Kelantan as a possible casualty for PR but most observers believe that the federal opposition pact will withstand any onslaught in Penang.

Despite this, Tengku Adnan was not alone in his prediction.

Former Perlis Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim appeared to agree that Penang should not be regarded as impossible to recapture.

“We are confident of getting back Kedah, even Kelantan and Selangor... and Perlis, of course. Maybe we have to work harder in Penang,” he said of the state led by DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.

Umno deputy minister Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi was equally as confident as his party colleagues of BN’s chances next polls.

“Oh definitely, two-thirds majority. I’m very confident,” he told The Malaysian Insider.

Tengku Adnan is confident Umno will win back all the four Pakatan states.

The leaders owed their optimism to what they said was a flagging support for PKR and renewed confidence in the much-changed BN government under the leadership of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who will close the Umno congress later this evening.

The bespectacled son of Malaysia’s second prime minister has already earned himself the title of “Father of Transformation” for his countless transformative initiatives and reform measures that include historic legislative changes.

Key among these was Najib’s decision to pull the Internal Security Act (ISA) from Malaysia’s statute books, a long-time demand of opposition leaders and civil society groups.

The prime minister also enacted a fresh law to regulate mass public gatherings, which was in the past deemed a crime under section 27 of the Police Act.

He even mooted amendments to allow greater media freedom and permit student participation in politics, keeping to his promise to widen civil liberties in Malaysia.

“This is a big example of walking the talk. Najib is clearly serious about making changes and although he ruled without a two-thirds majority, it did not pose as a hurdle to his intention to fulfil his promises,” Puad said.

The deputy education minister added that Najib and BN also have their fingers on the pulse of today’s voters and have acknowledged that it would be the fence sitters, new voters, youths and women who will determine their future at the ballot boxes.

He explained that this was why Najib has been pulling out all the stops in ensuring he remains close to these voter groups by keeping in touch with them constantly and doling out initiatives tailored specifically for them.

As examples, Puad pointed to the BN Youth job fair, the My First Home scheme for young homeowners and even the extension of Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia to the youth group.

But apart from BN’s tireless campaign to shore up support, the Umno leaders pointed out that voters have also begun returning to the ruling pact because they have had time to weigh in on the promises dished out by those in PR.

They repeated old lines of the purported failure by PR member parties to strike a cohesive agreement to iron out key ideological differences which, they said, could prove detrimental if the pact comes to power without resolving these issues.

Over the past few days of the assembly, delegates have been warning of instability in the nation under a PR federal government, largely due to the protracted dispute between PAS and the DAP over the latter party’s struggle for an Islamic state and hudud laws.

Shahidan said it was due to BN’s power-sharing formula that Malaysians have managed to enjoy decades of peace among the races, warning that this could be ruptured under PR.

“In Malaysia, if you want a strong government and you do not want a crisis, they you need this formula,” he said.

He said that even though Umno is a race-based party like some of its partners in BN, it was not “racist”.

“But somehow, because we still see some disparity between the races, we have to fight for our respective races... this is important in a sense because one race would know about their community better than others,” he said.

The Malaysian Insider reported in October that BN expects to win more than the 140 federal seats it took in Election 2008 despite the onslaught and talk by PR that it can capture Putrajaya in the next general election.

Puad said BN has its fingers on the pulse of today’s voters.

But BN politicians also conceded that as many as seven parliamentary seats in Sarawak and six in Sabah are vulnerable to PR but maintain that their hold on rural areas remains strong. There are 222 parliamentary constituencies and 505 state seats up for grabs in the coming 13th general election.

It is understood that BN is expecting to lose some of the seats held by four Sabah MPs who left the coalition while the urban Chinese sentiment in Sarawak could see those seats going to PR. In Election 2008, the DAP was the sole PR component party to win a federal seat each in Sabah and Sarawak.

However, the opposition has questioned BN’s confidence as the ruling coalition expects to lose more seats in Sabah and Sarawak in the coming elections than before. “How is BN going to make up for losses in the fixed deposit states?” asked an opposition lawmaker when contacted by The Malaysian Insider.

“BN knows it can lose up to six in Sabah and seven in Sarawak but it hopes to make it up elsewhere, especially in the peninsula where sentiment is swinging back to the government,” one Umno leader told The Malaysian Insider, saying programmes like BR1M have had a positive effect on voters.

The BR1M began earlier this year and some RM2 billion was spent for over four million households. The BR1M 2.0 also includes a one-off RM250 for unmarried people between 21 and 30 who earn up to RM2,000.

Analysts say the expanded coverage would include most of the 2.2 million first-time voters expected to cast their ballots in the next elections. There are now just over 13 million voters in the country of 28 million people.

BN politicians also point out that they are expected to get back support from the Indian community, who number 1.7 million, as the coalition has been fulfilling their requests and also extended more aid to them.

Many Indians had blamed former MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu for their poor financial circumstances and turned their backs on him and BN in Election 2008. Samy Vellu also lost in his Sungai Siput stronghold in that election.

The BN mandate expires in April 2013, leaving Najib just five months to call elections.