Posted on | Administrator

Najib’s RM42m trial: Spider web of money transfers involving his personal accounts

Editor’s note: The trial so far is difficult to follow but this summary by Kenneth Tee helps us focus on the paper trail. Basically you can see RM37 million flowed from Ihsan Perdana to one of Najib’s account, and another RM5 million to another of his accounts. And you can see Najib paying out from these accounts to a variety of recipients. By Kenneth Tee KUALA LUMPUR, April 29 — A flurry of fund transfers involving Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank accounts were part of a complex money trail that has emerged in the former prime minister’s money laundering trial. Najib is currently on trial over seven charges, including money laundering and criminal breach of trust of over RM42 million belonging to former 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) subsidiary SRC International Sdn Bhd. At the start of Najib’s trial, Attorney General (AG) Tommy Thomas said evidence would show that the RM42 million flowed from SRC International through two other companies before reaching Najib’s accounts. So what happened to the RM42 million in Najib’s accounts that are said to be proceeds of unlawful activities, or funds from illegal sources? Here’s what we know so far of the complex web of bank transactions that involved major local banks. Malay Mail gives you a quick breakdown of money transfers between Najib’s bank accounts based on news reports and testimony provided by the 21st prosecution witness — AmBank Jalan Raja Chulan branch manager R.… Read the article
Posted on | Vinoth Ramachandra

A Nation in Shock

It is a week since the terrible bombings of hotels and churches in Sri Lanka and the ensuing heavy loss of life. The economy, too, will take a long time to recover, dependent as it is on tourism and foreign investments. Questions of motivation in suicide attacks like this always defy rational explanation.… Read the article
Posted on | Administrator

Let’s have a happy first anniversary

By Marina Mahathir AS the cliche goes, time has whizzed by. Wasn’t it just yesterday we were queuing up by the thousands at polling stations, and then getting together with friends to wait for the results? And waited and waited? Meanwhile, our phones buzzed with unofficial results. Yet on TV we were made to twiddle our thumbs until the early hours of the morning.… Read the article
Posted on | Administrator

Open letter to Council of Churches Malaysia – Too Xing Ji

I write to you in good faith as a fellow citizen of Malaysia to humbly ask that the Council of Churches reconsiders its decision to object to the Devouror Concert on April 21, 2019. The reason is simple: Cancelling the concert on the basis that it offends the sensitivities of Christians sets a very dangerous precedent for Malaysia. Over the years, the Malaysian Christian community has had its freedom of speech and belief, unjustly taken away on many occasions by the authorities, to avoid offending the sensitivities of those who follow the religion of the Federation. Here are a few examples: The ban of the use of the word “Allah;” The seizure of Bibles printed in the national language; The removal of crosses from the facades of churches. The logic and policy behind those actions, and the cancellation of the Devouror Concert, are exactly the same. We cannot complain when the authorities take away our freedoms to make other people happy, when we ask them to do the exact same thing to those who offend us. Today’s actions undermine the position of all of us who seek the refuge of the law from the tyranny of the majority. Respecting someone’s right to freedom of speech does not mean that we have to respect the content of the speech itself. In fact, the CCM will be all the more respected, if it expressly states that even though it continues to find heavy metal offensive and distasteful, it respects the right of the people of Malaysia to exercise their freedoms in a democratic society, by allowing the concert to proceed. We have not fought so hard all these years to achieve Malaysia Baru, only to start emulating our oppressors before the year is out. The choices that we make today will determine which path our country will take in the ongoing national conversation.… Read the article
Posted on | TK Tan

The controversy surrounding Israel Folau

Let’s just say that I wouldn’t have done the same. I don’t necessarily disagree with the message, but it has too narrow a focus. After all, the bible says “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”. And so to say “Warning: Drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists, idolators – Hell awaits you.… Read the article
Posted on | Administrator

Quietly doing what needs to be done

EDUCATION Minister Dr Maszlee Malik has come under criticism over and over again. As a teacher, I have seen his numerous efforts to improve our education system, how he reacts almost immediately when needed, and how he has humbly recognised teachers as the heroes of the future. He helms one of the largest ministries, under which there are about 10,000 schools, half a million teachers, and 500,000 students, excluding those at tertiary level. I attended a few talks by Dr Maszlee before he became involved in politics.… Read the article
Posted on | TK Tan

PH’s greatest achievement

The full headline said “PH’s greatest achievement, one year on.” Of course I was intrigued. It was an opinion piece by A Kathirasen, the executive editor of FMT. He wrote of meeting two neighbours who felt PH had lost credibility because it had failed to keep many of its major election promises.… Read the article
Posted on | Administrator

PH still the better choice, warts and all

By Wan Haron Wan Hassan A number of political developments and events have unfolded over the past few weeks, casting a pall over Malaysia Baru. They are causing great stress, strain and concern to the people. 1. The Rome Statute Malaysia will not be ratifying the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) – a month after acceding to the treaty. A visibly upset Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government “was forced” to withdraw from the treaty following confusion created by those with political interests. The foreign minister, meanwhile, revealed that the forces of “the deep state” were busy scheming a coup against the government. Mahathir also alluded to the involvement of royalty in opposing the treaty. People are obviously unhappy with this development.… Read the article
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Nearly a third of Pakatan Govt’s economic promises achieved, says Ideas

KUALA LUMPUR: The Pakatan Harapan Government, which swept into power in May last year, has fulfilled nearly a third of its economic promises but more needs to be done, the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) says. In its first edition of Projek Pantau, a report card on PH’s performance in fulfilling promises in its Buku Harapan manifesto, issued on Tuesday it highlighted: The government moved quickly to implement its signature promises, including abolition of GST; The government has allocated significant resources to supporting Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and encouraging technological adoption; The government has significantly improved the transparency of the budget and the government’s overall financial position; and The government has laid out an ambitious plan to tackle corruption which includes important reforms of the public procurement system. However, Faiz Zaidi, executive at the Democracy and Governance Unit, Ideas pointed out: “In many of these areas, the real test will be implementation but it is encouraging that the government is on track to deliver these important reforms. “The government should maintain momentum in these areas and should ensure these successes are communicated clearly to the public to build confidence in the government’s performance,” he said. For this first edition, Ideas analysed 192 sub-promises, broken down from 23 main promises.… Read the article