Chong puts the blame on Umno-friendly cyber troopers for the hate postings on Facebook

Kuching, Sept 12, 2012: Sarawak DAP secretary Chong Chieng Jen has accused Umno-friendly cyber troopers behind the hate postings on the Semenanjung ANTI Sarawak Facebook page.

But Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian expressed his hope that the police will prove themselves to be efficient in conducting their investigating into the hate postings.

 Picture right: Simon Siah (left) talking to reporters after lodging the police report.

“They must immediately start their investigation. Lately, they are very quick on matters involving Opposition politicians,” Baru, the State Assemblyman, said today.

He said both Barisan Nasional and Opposition politicians should act together to call for a speedy police investigation and action against those involved in the hate postings.

“The postings depict Sarawakians as a whole in a bad light,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chong put the blame on pro-Umno cyber troopers for creating ill-wills and tensions with the hate postings.

Picture left: Simon Siah (left) and Wong King Wei with their police reports.

“The style of writing and presentation (found on Semenanjung ANTI Sarawak Facebook page) is very similar to (the ones done by) Umno-friendly cyber troopers,” he said.

He said he is giving the authorities three days to complete their investigations into the reports lodged by Sarawak DAP Youth and Sarawak PKR Youth wings with the police .

“In the cyber world, three days are equivalent to a century,” he added, stating that if the authorities fail to nab the culprits, the conclusion is that the postings on the Semenanjung ANTI Sarawak Facebook page come from Umno-friendly cyber troopers.

“I hope that there is no cover up in the investigation,” he said.

In a statement after lodging the police report, Sarawak PKR Youth vice chairman Simon Siah said the contents of postings are racist and discriminatory in nature, aimed at Sarawakians and in particular, the Dayak community and Christians.

He said several comments referred to Sarawakians as animals, like pigs and monkeys, and the administrator of Semenanjung ANTI Sarawak event suggested that Sarawakians are smelly and living an immoral lifestyle.

“The Sarawak PKR Youth takes this issue seriously and urges the authorities, especially the police to investigate into the hate postings before they become dividing factors between Sarawakians and Peninsular Malaysians,” Siah said.

Siah, who is a personal assistant to Batu Lintang State Assemblyman See Chee How, noted that one of the postings seems to suggest that the admin could be UMNO cyber trooper or an UMNO supporter.

“The posting states “at the next election, people should vote for the party UMNO Sarawak…this is not a threat, if you do not choose your UMNO party, we will remove it from the Federation of Malaysia…realised you could be poorer without Malaysia.”

Siah said PKR Youth called upon the people to assist the police to ensure that the mastermind behind the hate postings can be apprehended regardless of their political inclinations.

He said that the hate postings must be stopped “because we are living in a country which is multiracial and everyone has high respect for each other.”

Meanwhile, Sarawak DAP Youth chief Wong King Wei said the contents of Semenanjung ANTI Sarawak can create ill-feelings in a multiracial society, and between the people of Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia.

“For example, drawing a crucifix and writing the word “Babi” on the Sarawak flag are seditious.

“It is also seditious to ask Sarawak to go out of Malaysia,” Wong, who is also the Padungan State Assemblyman, said, adding that the admin of the Facebook also posted words deemed as insulting the Sarawakians. By Sematong Express

A test of will between Najib and Taib - who will last longer politically?

 

 

 

Bau, Sept 9, 2012: Parliamentary Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang analysed that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is importence and inability to enforce the timetable for the stepping down of Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Taib Mahmud.

 

"This is one noteworthy consequence from Najib's continuous vacilation and postponement of the general election," Lim said at a DAP political gathering here last night.

 

 

He recalled that Najib had invested a lot of energy and political capital to get Taib to agree to a timetable to pass the baton of Sarawak Chief Minister before the Sarawak state general election on April 16, 2011.

He said that on March 19 last year, for instance, Najib made the announcement in Serian that Taib would step down as Chief Minister when the time was right, that he and Taib had reached an understanding on when the transition of power would take place.

He quoted Najib as saying:" Leave the succession plan to me and the Chief Minister. We know when time is right to make the change in Sarawak.  We know and I can assure you that the Chef Minister is ready.

"When the time comes, he is ready to leave the stage and we have a very good understanding when that is going to happen., : Lim quoted Najib, who is also the Barisan Nasional chairman and Umno president, as telling reporters.

Three weeks later, Najib was more specific, promising Sarawak voters at a Barisan Nasional election function in Kuching that Taib would step down as promised, declaring: "I have discussed with the Sarawak CM and he has agreed to have a leadership change in Sarawak. Believe me, in me, at the right timing, this will be done."

When pressed at the time, Taib equivocated although he finally mentioned "two years" as the timeframe of his stepping down as Sarawak Chief Minister after the Sarawak state general election on April 16, 2011.

Taib's two-year timeframe to step down as Sarawak Chief Minister will be up in seven months' time but there are absolutely no signs that he is prepared and ready to honour his understanding and undertaking with Najib to effect a transition of power in Sarawak.

In fact, all the signs point to the opposite, as Taib seems to be ensconced to complete his full term as Chief Minister.

This explains Taib's speech earlier yesterday that there is no need to speed up leadership change as the people of Sarawak were able to "enjoy peace, political stability and organised development".

It would appear that Taib's speech yesterday is specially meant for Najib's ears, with the unmistakable message that he is not going to honour his understanding with the Prime Minister on stepping down as Chief Minister.

A test of will between Taib and Najib is currently underway, with Taib thumbing his nose at the Prime Minister, defying Najib to see who could last longer politically.

Taib is confident that Najib is too weak politically to try to enforce their understanding before the 416 Sarawak state general election to be Sarawak Chief Minister for only two years.

Najib will be leading the entire Federal Cabinet to Bintulu for the Malaysia Day celebrations on Sept 16.  

This will also be the most appropriate occasion to clarify whether his understanding with Taib on the latter's stepping down as Sarawak Chief Minister two years after the Sarawak state general elections still stands, so whether it has "Gone with the Wind"!

Lim, meanwhile, urged the people to make Bau history in the general election for Pakatan Rakyat.

"Bau is famous when Pandelela Rinong, a Bidayuh from Bau, won a London Olympics bronze medal in diving. So next let Bau make history in this upcoming election," Lim, who is also the DAP adviser, said.

He said that the whole country, including Bau, has been waiting has

been waiting impatiently for the 13th General Election for close to two years, with many expecting it to fall on 11.11.2011 or "11.11.11" in view of Najib's special preference for "11".

Lim said he did not think that the prime minister is ready because of the BN's internal problems, the latest being the defection of two MPs in Sabah at the end of July.

"Najib feared and has a total lack of confidence in his own ability to lead UMNO/BN to victory in Putrajaya  in the 13th GE, hence the postponement," he said.

"Now, all speculation of 13GE date is again focused on Najib's favourite number of "11" - November this year, ranging from Nov 3 to Nov. 29.  

"There seems to be greater credibility this time, as the de facto Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir has given his blessings for November general election although he had earlier warned  of dire consequences to UMNO if the13th General Election was called before UMNO was ready.

"But whether the 13th GE is called in November or not, time is running out for Najib. Under the Constitution, the present Parliament will stand automatically dissolved on April 27, 2013, or in less than eight months' time - i.e. five years from the first sitting of the present Parliament on April 28, 2008 - with new elections held within 60 days," Lim added. By Sematong Express

Baru slams Mahathir over his blatant statement

Kuching, Sept 8, 2012: Sarawak PKR chief Baru Bian slammed former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad for his blatant statement in the people of Sarawak and Sabah to be patient with the Barisan Nasional (BN) government.

“The blatant statement perfectly demonstrates what the BN government thinks of us in Sarawak and Sabah,” the Ba’Kelalan state assemblyman said in a statement today.

Baru stressed:”We are regarded as the ignorant and unquestioning fixed deposit states that are in this country to be milked dry to fund the excessive spending crazes in Peninsular Malaysia.

“We have been patient for 49 years.  How many more years does this old man thinks he can fool us to wait?

“What does he mean by saying  “just be patient and wait for the resources to be extracted and soon your earnings (and development)” will increase?

Baru said that UMNO and BN have been making huge ‘withdrawals’ from Sarawak and Sabah’s oil and gas resources via Petronas for over 30 years now, while giving the two states crumbs to keep them quiet.  

“I wish to ask him in his capacity as Petronas advisor what Petronas has been doing in Sarawak and Sabah all these years if not extracting our precious resources?

“I wish to ask him as the former prime minister how much money from these precious resources of ours that the federal government has taken for their lavish spending and crony bailouts in Peninsula Malaysia over the years while Sarawak and its people continue to lag behind in all aspects.

“Thus it is all the more outrageous that Mahathir should say in his next breath, “In truth, I think that the development of Sabah and Sarawak has outstripped the peninsula. Sarawak has the highest foreign direct investment and Sabah has the largest reserves of petroleum in the country.”  

“As Chairman of PKR Sarawak, I challenge Mahathir to come to Sarawak and tell this to the people who still have no access to electricity, clean water, health care, education and jobs in the deepest reaches of sarawak.

“Tell this to the numerous families who have lost loved ones in accidents along our killer Pan-Borneo Highway.

“Tell this to the people who are now waking up to the fact that Sarawak has been taken for a ride all these years by the Federal BN government. Come to Sarawak, Mahathir, and say this to our faces,” Baru challenged. By Sematong Express.

Disclose statistics of successful applications into civil service, Shiak Ni to Mahmood Adam

Kuching, Sept 8, 2012:  Public Service Commission Chairman Mahmood Adam has been challenged to disclose details of successful applicants in the civil service for the public’s consumption.

PKR National Wanita vice head Voon Shiak Ni today said:”Let the public knows the statistics of successful applications, instead of arguing that the public service commission has been trying to be fair in the allocation of job opportunities for all Malaysian in the civil service in the past years.”

Picture: Voon (right) with (from left) Sarawak PKR secretary Stanny Embat and Sarawak PKR chief Baru at a press conference.

Voon dismissed Mahmood’s claim that the Chinese do not want to work in the civil service because of the low salary and other benefits.

“That statement is not true,” she said, adding that many school leavers have applied to join the civil service because it is stable.

“Moreover, most parents want stability in jobs for their children, which the civil service can provide,” she said.

Voon stressed that Mahmood should not mislead the public that more Chinese have applied to join the civil service following a series of campaigns by the commission.

“But the issue is not about the number of applications so Mahmood should not mislead the public.

“We are more concerned about the percentage of successful applicants among the Chinese by the commission,” she added.

She stressed:”If the government is sincere, as claimed by Mahmood in providing equal job opportunities for all Malaysians, then he should prove it by giving out the statistics of all successful applicants.”

She asked whether the government has been fair in taking the applicants from other Malaysians into the civil service.

Voon said that the government should come up with better policies for all Malaysians, instead of stating the number of applications as it does not lend any weight or voices to the people’s concerns.

On Mahmood’s claims that there are 7000 vacancies in the civil service, Voon urged him to publish the racial break-downs of those who have been accepted. By Sematong Express

Swiss govt: We will freeze assets of Musa and Taib if Malaysia cooperates

 

(BERNE, SWITZERLAND) Days after the announcement by Switzerland’s Attorney General that it had opened a criminal case against UBS on grounds of the bank’s suspected laundering of USD 90 million on behalf of Musa Aman, the brother of Malaysia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, an official Swiss government statement fuels the debate on the capital flight by Malaysia’s political leaders.

In a written reply to questions submitted last May by the social democrat MP, Carlo Sommaruga, the Swiss Federal Council (government) declares its readiness to freeze illicit assets of politically exposed persons from Malaysia, namely the Chief Ministers of Sarawak and Sabah, Taib Mahmud and Musa Aman. However, this could only happen if Malaysia were to submit legal-assistance requests to Switzerland. 

The Swiss government states that the Federal Constitution empowers the Federal Council in extraordinary cases to freeze assets of politically exposed persons in Switzerland. “Such a freeze usually happens with a view to entering into legal-assistance relations with the countries of origin. At the moment, such a situation does not exist in the case of Malaysia.”

The Swiss also confirm that, back in 2011, Switzerland “has provided legal assistance in the case of MUSA Bin Aman et al.” to Hong Kong in a case of “criminal collusion in bribery and taking bribes”. The Federal Council also states that, in the Musa case, “Switzerland has hitherto not been requested to provide legal assistance by Malaysia”. However, the Swiss are clearly indicating their willingness to answer such a request positively: “A possible legal-assistance request by Malaysia would have to be examined by the Federal Office of Justice,” the official statement reads. “Switzerland would provide the requested legal assistance if the legal prerequisites are met and if there are no grounds for exclusion”. 

Despite the Swiss government’s refusal to disclose details on specific cases, the carefully worded answer appears to confirm the existence of Taib assets in Switzerland when it refers to “the possibility of freezing the Taib assets by the Federal Council”. Last year, in a formal announcement in the Sarawak state assembly, the Sarawak Chief Minister categorically denied that he held assets in Switzerland or with Swiss banks.

During the past 15 years, Switzerland has returned CHF 1.7 billion Swiss of illicit funds to the countries of origin, “more than any other finance centre of comparable size”. Currently, the Egyptian government is putting pressure on Switzerland for the quick release of CHF 700 million embezzled by the former Egyptian ruler, Hozni Mubarak. 

- Ends –

Sources used for this release: www.parlament.ch

Please contact us for further information: 

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