Datuk Anifah stunned BN MPs in Dewan Rakyat

"What good is a leader if the people are no longer with him?"

This question was posed by Datuk Anifah Aman to the BN parliamentarians at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

This is what he had to say:

"What is the point of persisting with leaders who have deviated from the right path? Do we stick with them?"

Anifah then pondered about the price of blind loyalty to leaders and the price people would have to pay for this.

"What is the use of being loyal to leaders and, in the process, sacrificing our people's future?"

Anifah said: "Independence would be meaningless if the people could not enjoy clean running water or if children had to walk miles to get an education."

Minister Zahid Hamidi asked Anifah if Sabah backbenchers were tempted to cross over to the opposition. Anifah's reply stumped him and a whole lot of BN MPs as well as the oppositions.

"I am not saying I am crossing over. This matter of crossing over is not a serious matter. What is serious is the millions in 5-States in Malaysia who crossed over to the opposition," Anifah said.

This led Datuk Puad Zarkashi (BN-Batu Pahat) to ask Anifah if he would support an anti-hopping law.

Anifah replied that he was against any law that would stop members from exercising their individual rights. "That would be like a police state. What is the point of persisting with leaders who have deviated from the right path?'

Anifah said the most important thing that the government should work on now was to prevent Sabah from going the way of the 5-States ruled by Pakatan Rakyat.

"The important thing now is for Sabah people not to jump like the Peninsula Malaysians did in the 5-States."

Source: Anifah: No harm in crossing over

One important aspect that Datuk Anifah Aman exhorted is the main point of parliamentarians and the ruling regime including the opposition camp is the fact about the interest of the rakyat.

In the words of Anifah, the question of MPs crossing over to either camp is not the main issue but that the millions of voters who had crossed over to Pakatan Rakyat should be the main issue which the Barisan Nasional leaders should have pondered seriously and conduct post-mortem using an internal critical reflective attitude to deduce the fundamental reasons of their defeat and to analyze and reconstruct themselves to a position of strength and to win back the support of the people.

Instead they are spending most of their time in trying to run down the Pakatan Rakyat government and the balance of their time in trying to stopped any cross-overs of their MPs to the other camp.

This is also the same problem with the Pakatan Rakyat government who spends most of their time looking back to past records and trying to construct a devil out from the past regime; and also trying to see how to get the monies from the charitable organization previously managed by the Barisan Nasional wives' organization.

Why the monies from Balkis, Bunga Tanjung, Baiduri or Bindara were distributed to Bakti wasn't the real issue as Bakti is a renown charitable organization with proven track records. The issue can only be if the monies had gone to the pockets of the individual members or office bearers which tantamount to a criminal breach of trust. As it was, the monies from the wives' organization were given to Bakti and PR should not question the validity even if there is legal points of dispute as the action was and is noble and charitable in itself.

If the PR government representatives are sincere to do charity they should contribute monies from their own efforts and garner the public support by setting up more charitable organizations and ensure that monies donated by the people and any organizations towards the charitable institutions would be properly managed for the absolute interest of the poor and needy. There should not be any ideological and political differences between any charitable organizations as all of them are working for the common good of the people - it is about charity, not politics.

DiGi $600 mil in trouble?

DiGi.com spent RM655 mil to buy a 3G spectrum and now that investment looks like in trouble.

Energy, Water and Communication Minister Lim Keng Yaik said "There is no guarantee that DiGi will get the 3G spectrum which belongs to Time dotCom because the licence is non-transferable."

DiGi's share price immediately drop 2.4% today, no thanks to Keng Yaik.

The problem with DiGi is that they do not pay homage to the minister. They need to PR a bit lah. The minister is going to retire soon and old man needs a bit of face and ampu...

Forest reserved convert to cemetary

The Muslim community at Kota Damansara was unhappy that a forest reserve will be converted to a grave yard.

Many were concerned why the state government would choose an area so close to the residential houses.

Dr. Salleh Mohd Nor said it was ridiculous to cut down the forest as there were other areas that could be looked into for burial purpose.

The forest reserve was the last remaining forest land close to KL. Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) used the area for their research.

In the 1980s the Selangor state government had de-gazetted the forest reserve for housing development to form the township of Kota Damansara and to please the critics, the govt built a smallish botanical garden with few pots of flowers and a few trees to resemble micro-mini forest.

Ironically, the state government is looking into private land to convert it to forest reserve via compulsory acquisition, using the law to force owner to surrender their land with meager compensation. It would be interesting to note that, years later, these acquired land will then be de-gazetted as residential development and given to some "special people" who "deserved" it.

What the govt did was fair and reasonable. The fact remains is that we chose them to do it and they did as expected. Be thankful to ourselves.

Daylight Robbery a valid legislature

RM50,000 'social contribution fee', Why?

The Selangor government imposes a "social contribution fee" on housing developers.

Real Estate and Developers Association of Malaysia president Ng Seing Liong described the RM50,000 fee per 0.4ha for projects in town areas as unfair.

"It is such a hefty sum. On top of that, developers are already required to pay a 15 per cent conversion fee," said Ng.

He said the victims of the move would be small- and medium-sized developers as they were the ones who normally undertook projects less than four hectares.

"Instead, big projects developed by the major developers are exempted. The ones who can afford it don’t pay while the ones who can’t have to."

Ng claimed some projects had been delayed as developers refused to pay the fee.

"We expect Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to bring more good news to the property and construction industry," said Ng. However, Ng's hope will have to wait for the next 35 years and the government is adament about the imposition of the fees.

Khir Toyo's sidekick, Selangor Housing and Squatters Committee chairman Datuk Mokhtar Dahalan said the decision to impose the fee had been thoroughly studied.

"The money collected will be used to build parks and other public facilities."

Mokhtar said the ruling would not be withdrawn despite protests from developers.

Mokhtar Dahalan claimed the money would be used to build parks, schools and other public facilities for which funds were already allocated by the Federal government. Despite so, the State feels it is better to have more, because more is better than less.

October 9, 2004, NST reports:

Unnecessary double-measures a heavy burden to property developers.

New regulations and requirements slapped by Selangor’s authorities are costly, duplicative and bureaucratic, as builders already face enough Federal legislation, the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (REHDA) said.

“Malaysia’s housing industry is already one of the most regulated in the world,” said Datuk Jeffrey Ng Tiong Lip.

Recently, the Selangor Government imposed new requirement to all developers requiring them to register with Lembaga Perumahan dan Hartanah Selangor (LPHS) and pay a registration fee of 0.1% of their gross development value. Developers are already registered with the Ministry of Housing and Local Govt and an additional layer is unnecessary. The new requirements also include regulations on Bumiputra lots to be predetermine by LPHS on the developer’s layout and building plans while another ruling requires the developers to deposit 40% of the overall development cost of a project in a bank before approval is given for land conversion.

Predetermining bumiputra lots is contradictory to the Federal Govt’s policy to widen the market and make housing products more marketable.

Is that all? No....no time to post all.

INCONSISTENCY vs CONSISTENCY

Inconsistent Policy

According to Telekom Malaysia Bhd new CEO, Datuk Wahid Omar, "Foreign investors will shun countries with a history of inconsistency in policies." Wahid was echoing former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's remark that government policies should not change with changes in leadership, he said this was something that investors could not tolerate. “Factors that determine a country's risk include change in government policies. This is certainly a risk investors can't afford,” he told Bernama on the sidelines of the Langkawi International Dialogue (LID). “A country may offer great opportunities but if the risks are not acceptable, investors will generally be hesitant to invest in that country.”

To foreign investors, the concerned is largely based on commercial terms - Profit, Stability & Risk-Free! Consistency in Government's Policy will provide confidence to investors BUT it must be about good policies, not cronistic policies that only benefit a selected few as was clearly seen in the last 20 years. Investors are not blinded by the way a few selected cronies had been raping the government coffers and if actions to stop this is construed as inconsistency, then be it - GOD help us!

Ironically, it was on the 23rd. October 2003, one week before Mahathir was to step down that he awarded the Double-Track Railway project to MMC-Gamuda of which the Government had earlier given a Letter of Intent to Indian Railway Construction Co (IRCON) & China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC). Isn't this inconsistency?

Is the Government inconsistent on the water privatization project which was suppose to be awarded to SYABAS/Puncak Niaga, when the terms and conditions was absolutely one-sided of which the taxpayer will have to bear the excessive cost?

I believe the current government should be brave enough to review all those privatization projects which is a burden to the taxpayers and which creates a small group of ultra-rich cronies associated with the past leaders.