Blogs Push towards Transparency

Now this is really interesting. In the midst of 2 law suits against bloggers by NSTP and the PM's public statement defending the action against Jeff and Rocky, a few bloggers picked up on the government purchase of a luxury jet.

I agree with Rocky, that local bloggers should take credit for:

• exposing the story that the mainstream media chose to ignore
• getting the facts right, albeit lacking in complete details
• undertaking to publish government response in full
• forcing the PM to come out and confirm the purchase

For a PM who held up transparency as cornerstone in his style of governance, he should thank the blogs maintained by loyal Malaysians who "told him the truth".

See sir, bloggers ARE responsible and will go the extra mile to answer your challenge to advance our country's human/intellectual capital. They have integrity, they do not choose to shy away from important news nor ply politically safe passages. Their ambitions and aspirations, I believe are in line with yours, to make Malaysia a better and stronger nation.

They are not in it for the money. Neither are they in it to gain your personal favour and be invited to Seri Perdana for private dinners. They dont claim to be your friend. They just want the room and right to exercise their right as citizen of the country; to have a government they deserve and a government that deserves them.

So sir, do you deserve us? If you think you do, please show us due respect. Your lame statement, confirming that a new jet has been purchased but at the same time denying that the government is paying for it is simply insulting.

Some people say you have a good heart although not that smart. But I cant believe you are that ...! First of all, as the ultimate "ceo" of ALL the stakeholders in this transaction, your finger print can be clearly traced at every turn of this major capital decision.

For the sake of transparency (I feel it is time you get some practise and put your election manifesto into action), get your PR machinery to answer the following:

1. Whose idea was it that the government needed a new plane? (Yours?)
   
2. What are the expected benefits (or pressing needs) justifying this purchase (Providing current value of expenditure on executive(VIP) travel costs using prevailing modes and existing aircraft; flight incidence in the past 3 years, projected flight incidence in the next 5-10 years, passenger load etc would be useful for this purpose)
3. What is the expected value to be recovered from aircraft(s) retired or disposed subsequent to this new acquisition (the new aircraft is a replacement and not an addition right?)
   
4. Are the terms of the lease with PMB competitive (could some one else have offered you a better deal?)
   
5. As Chairman of Khazanah, what is the ROI PMB expects to make from leasing this aircraft to the government (you did look at the ROI right?)
   
6. If PMB projects to make a profit from this transaction, does that mean the government could have completed this transaction on its own at a lower cost? (common sense says so)
   
7. If PMB is not expected to make a profit, and instead will shoulder a loss, why do you as the Chairman of Khazanah approve a loss making transaction
   
8. Can we continue trust you to be trustworthy steward and manager or our nation's wealth? (Are you sure you wont repeat a the Pantai repurchase-type deal in future? Or sell off your assets cheap again?)
9. As the Prime Minister, if the Government does not own it, who is responsible for the costs of the security details around the aircraft (is this built in to the price of the lease?)
   
10. Will you proudly showcase this "cuma sewa, bukan beli" expense as an example of your government's prudent fiscal management in BN's next election manifesto? (i'll be sure to look out for it, when BN candidates come knocking at my door. So YB DUN N10737- Bukit Lanjan, and YB Parlimen P107- Subang, you know what to bring with you next time, okay)
    

Please sir, lay it on us! Malaysians have told you many truths. You now start, tell us some truth. Unlike some of your ministers, we know how to handle truths.

China Bans Pigs !!

Sensational? Got your attention? Surprised? Incredible? Read on...

I picked up this weekend's AWSJ which caried an article by Gordon Fairclough and Geoffrey Fowler (online version requires sub).

Apparently, China Central Television, the nationwide state owned TV network banned all images and spoken references to the animal in commercials, including those tied to the Lunar New Year, China's biggest holiday.

The intent: "to avoid offending Muslims, who consider pigs unclean". "China is a multiethnic country. To show respect to Islam, and upon guidance from higher levels of the government, CCTV will keep any 'pig' images off the TV screen", said a statement issued by the networks ad department to ad agencies.

Several MNCs in the FMCG sector had to suddenly cancel and modify their campaigns, scrambling to adapt to the last minute rule change, altering spots that had included pigs. Nestle, Coca-Cola Co., and Walt Disney are the few big ones mentioned in the article.

The end of the article recalled a misunderstanding 12 years ago (last occurance of the pig zodiac) when some newspapers published a tale in which a pig saves the life of Muhammad. That incident aroused a lot of anger.

Despite this ban, there are still gonna be plenty of pigs in China!. Prints, display and billboards will ensure pigs abound throughout the festive seasons and possibly through the year.

I see the latest move as a gesture of some magnitude to remind and sensitize the general public of the need to respect differences in society. This development is interesting and I value it as an example of sensible governance in an increasingly intolerant world.

Who Briefs our PM?

I believe our PM is a man with good heart. Intellectually several notches below Tun but deep down a decent, caring and loving person. Amongst the elligible honchos in the UMNO hierarchy at the material time to appoint a successor, I was glad Tun picked him. In my mind, he was less likely to be evil. Probably one who actually takes our interest at heart.

In his career as a politician and executive of the country, I dont recall him helming any lucrative ministry. There was no contract of significant value to dish out. Neither was there money printing licensing/permit issuing authority.

So when he launched his election manifesto and promised a clean government, independent judiciary and efficient bureaucracy, I told myself our country is set on the right track - sharing the same feeling as the majority of Malaysians at that time.

However, soon after winning the landslide election victory, I began to see signs to the contrary:

• he ballooned the size of executive and along with it the countries administrative budget by creating new ministries rather than reduce them (more efficient??)
• personally chair numerous working committees which cannot possibly be an efficient way to run the country (better delivery? empowerment of people?)
• repeating the same sound bites in his speeches with little follow through (honesty? integrity?)
• apart from the pre-election dismissal of Kasitah Gadam (he must now wished he was an UMNO member!), other ministers were tacitly proclaimed "clean" and protected with extension of service
• No follow through on the AP scandal (was evidence really lacking?)
• plead ignorance in the ECM-Avenue deal that was approved by his ministry (who pushed the deal if the minister himself is not aware of it?)
• had to intervene to deconstruct an illegal deal (sale of Pantai) done by people close to him (I am still waiting for action on accountability, who push this deal through in the first place? what law was broken, who is culpable?)

At this point in time, I still think he is a man with a good heart. A good heart alone is not enough to run the country. As a man who is humble by nature, I can see him relying on men he trusts to provide him advise.

The integrity of these men have absolute impact and enormous effect on the way Pak-lah functions as PM. The PM needs to surround himself with men who are not motivated by greed and personal gain.

Reading Pak-lah's comments on the lawsuit against bloggers here, I have a feeling the men who brief him are less than honest.

In this case, the ethical ones are the bloggers and those who lie and attempt to hide are your own advisors, sir.

Your trust in them has been betrayed more than once - in ECM-Avenue and Pantai deals. The more worrying thing to me sir, you bestow so much trust on these men, that you are not even aware of the trickery they pull in front of you.

NST versus Malaysians

I came across the this article
3540 Jalan Sudin: Please, Sir, Not the NST which echoes my personal feelings.

Over the weekend I took some time to reflect on the ongoing law suit against Jeff and Rocky. It has led to a groundswell of protest amongst bloggers and blog readers. Many (most) condemn the action by NST and the individuals as an attempt to silence independent commentators and persistent antagonists of the Kali-led NST by drawing these two individuals into a costly legal battle.

As an individual, if I felt I had been maligned in untrue writings by another person, I would demand a retraction and an unreserved apology. If this is not forthcoming, I want to have the right to seek remedy through legal channel. In this case, I am not aware of prior attempts by these individuals to seek retraction of offending articles. Why Not? They instead chose to jump straight to the legal process. Why?

Reading between the lines and re-reading recent comments and warnings by the government, I suspect, there is a wider agenda at play. Our local blogsphere has slowly but surely developed into a credible alternative media. They offer independent analysis and commentary on current events and government policies.

Official government PR machinery (of which NST is one) is finding it more and more difficult to spin its news for our "want to perform, but cannot" government of the day. Every attempt is quickly dissected and unspun by probing bloggers. Jeff Ooi and Rocky do this consistently on their blogs. As a result, the segment of English speaking and reading Malaysian that forms the core audience of NST are no longer reachable.

Kalimullah was appointed to head the NST by Pak-lah to serve one purpose - not unlike head-honchos before him - to protect our PM's political image and spin his political agenda. However I think he is probably the most ineffective appointee in history. The more he tries prop-up the failing PM, the harder he fails, no thanks to bloggers like Jeff and Rocky.

Whoever is behind this idea to sue bloggers has got it all wrong. Unlike commercial entity that are motivated by profits, independent bloggers and its community of readers are motivated by something purer than just money. This is something I believe men who are motivated by money alone can never understand. The longer this fight drags on, the stronger the support base will grow. NST's reputation will be destroyed along with the reputation of the government it seeks to promote.

For those of you who are shareholders of NST, do ensure your shareholder funds are not used to pay for the legal costs of the individuals involved in this case, especially since one of them is not even an employee of the paper anymore.

Why Blog Now?

Actually I am really too busy to blog. Too many responsibilities and people I am accountable for that take priority over blogging sweet nothing. A couple of days ago, my wife and son asked me why I haven't started my own blog. Probably they were tired of listening to my dinner sermons on national affairs.

Although I am (still) technically the techie at home, my family has left me behind in the application of technology in their lives. My wife has a blog, my son has a blog, my daughter prefers to doodle than to blog. I was the one who encouraged them to start their blogs and help them through the registration and setup process. So when they asked me why don't I have my own blog, I used the old excuse of "no time".

However I changed my mind today. Largely due to this piece of news and confirmed here. Two of my favorite bloggers getting sued for their work. I follow and read their blogs daily. I have not found anything worthy of a defamation suit. They tend to be guarded and circumspect in what they write. They make known their identity and take the trouble to moderate commentators. Their articles raise questions rather than posit accusations. On a few rare occassions, like when Rocky points out Kalimullah's editorial lie and calls him a liar, these are based on corroborated facts.

So now the rich and powerful men in control of a media organ cannot take the heat from "kecik-mayung" lone bloggers? The law suit is nothing but an attempt to intimidate other Malaysian bloggers to toe the line - LKY style (singapore influence so apparent!) - "you can talk but you got to be poor!".

Alamak! Mana boleh?!

Sorry sir, your wealth and might do not influence me. If you want to help your master, then show integrity, don't lie and dupe. Otherwise, expect your crooked deals to attract scrutiny. Until today, I have been a mere consumer of efforts by people like Jeff and Rocky. It is time to give back. I've now decided to join them as an independent blogger, sharing my own observations, highlighting what I consider wrong and praising what I find agreeable in my beloved country. This is my right you cannot take away and I refuse to relinquish.

This to me is a good enough reason to finally start my blog. Why blog now? Why not?