By SV Singam

The opinions and conclusions are entirely mine. Feel free to correct me if you think I am in error.

The land now called Kg Buah Pala was occupied by settlers more than 200 years. Some 150 years ago, David Brown, who then owned the coconut plantation there, gave the land to the settlers for them to continue their farming activity. A written document exists to prove this. After Brown returned to Britain, the State Government took over the land and proceeded to collect annual TOL rent from the villagers.

In 1999, the villagers applied for the land to be gazetted as Heritage Land. But the then government dragged its feet over the matter and failed (or refused) to take concrete action.

I have no idea how many people were privy to the fact that a developer called Nusmetro Ventures had a plan to develop condominiums on the land occupied by Kg Buah Pala. I also have no idea when the project was launched. But I do know that, as early as December 2007, even before any land transfer had taken place, prospective buyers were already discussing the launching price and putting down deposits.

In retrospect, it appears that the BN government had no intention of gazetting Kg Buah Pala as Heritage land. Instead, the land was to be sold to a developer to build the condominium project. In the process, BN cronies, including senior state government servants, were to make fat profits.

At the time of campaigning for the 12th General Elections, residents of Kg Buah Pala claim that they highlighted their problem to the PR candidate who promised that, if they won the elections, they would solve the problem. I have not seen any recorded evidence of the PR candidates making that promise. But I find it quite believable simply because, at that time, the DAP did not expect to win outright.

After the PR took over the State Government, the plotters behind the scheme had a problem. People within the government would lose the lucrative profit they were expecting to make. The crony developer would lose a lot of money already spent on launching the project. Buyers of the condo units would only get partial refunds because lawyers fees and so on would not be returned. They would stand to lose lots of money. It was a real mess that the plotters had to clear up, which they did.

3 weeks after the PR took control of Penang, the Kg Buah Pala land was quietly transferred to the Senior Government Servants Cooperative for them to sell to Nusmetro Ventures (and enjoy the promised profit). Right under Lim Guan Eng’s nose!

The initial transfer of the land and the subsequent sale of it took place after the PR government had come into power. They could have stopped it if they had wanted to. But had it been stopped, they would have to face the wrath of the buyers of the condos. If the project went through, only the Kg Buah Pala residents would be affected. I suspect this is why the Lim Guan Eng government closed its eyes until it was too late.

Lim Guan Eng is now claiming that the developer had offered a compensation of RM200,000 per residence which the settlers rejected. The truth is, the compensation offered was only RM90,000 and this was accepted by only 6 of the 41 families living there. The others rejected the offer not because the money was not enough but because they only wanted to stay on the land that had been settled on by their ancestors. They needed the land so that they could continue with their livelihood - rearing cows and goats.

The Chief Minister has the power to acquire the land. Of course he has to compensate the buyer. But his claim that he had to pay RM200 per sq ft is ridiculous. The land acquisition was done under suspect circumstances. The buyer only has to be paid a nominal sum above the purchase price. The CM’s personal assistant estimated that the compensation may cost up to RM30 million but LGE exaggerated that figure in his press statement. No one really seems to know what the actual payout would amount to.

What I can see is an unwillingness on the part of the Penang State Government to stop the project. I can understand why LGE fears to do that. The buyers of that project together with their relatives and friends would constitute a huge voter block. He cannot afford to antagonise them. He may not be corrupt, but he is a politician. He is in power on the votes of his supporters. He is surely beholden to them.

Everyone is lambasting Hindraf for their confrontational attitude. Well, don’t forget that the reasonable negotiating attitude that had been adopted for some 10 years, all the way until that point had resulted in utter failure. If Hindraf had not acted as they did, Kg Buah Pala would be reduced to rubble by now.

Hindraf has won a month of time for all parties to come out with a fair solution. Let us see if the Penang Pakatan Rakyat government led by Lim Guan Eng has what it takes to address this really difficult issue and fix it.

The PR government may not be guilty of any corruption or illegal action. But they are guilty of inaction, which has brought grief to the settlers. It is morally wrong to make it seem like the settlers are greedy and are demanding more compensation. All the settlers are asking for is to be left alone to do what they have been doing for more than 200 years.

The right and proper thing to do is to confiscate all profits made from this nefarious project and use that to compensate the affected parties equitably. If the Penang government is unable to do that for whatever reason, they have to do the next best thing.

Identify a suitable alternative location that is acceptable to the Kg. Buah Pala settlers and help them to rebuild their settlement. The settlers are not asking for fancy urban homes or money. They just want to be able to continue with their lives and livelihood. Is that too much to ask?

What I recommend is not impossible to do. It only requires a willingness on the part of Lim Guan Eng’s government to prove that they are truly a People’s Government and not merely a Taxpayer’s Government.

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The Happy Planet Index 2.0: Why good lives don’t have to cost the Earth, first published in July 2009. The report presents the results of the second global compilation of the Happy Planet Index (HPI), based on improved data for 143 countries around the world – representing 99 per cent of the world’s population. The results shows that globally we are still far from achieving good lives within the Earth’s finite resource limits. But although the evidence shows that we are heading in the wrong direction, the achievements of some countries around the world provide reasons to believe that we can achieve true sustainable well-being.

Post from: The New Politickler

The Malaysian Insider and Malaysiakini online news portals reported former Premier’s wanted to know how his successor spend RM253.6 million.

Well the question looks relevant but why only particular 6 years during the tenure of Tun Abdullah Badawi ? What about the monies received during his tenure of 22 years which amount RM168.8 billion?

Below extracted from Malaysiakini :

Dr M’s son bailed out by PetronasMahathir may want to conveniently forget about how Petronas funds were used when he was prime minister.

During his time, critics had also demanded to know how the money contributed by Petronas had been spent.

In 2003, when Mahathir was appointed Petronas adviser by his hand-picked
successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, a top opposition leader decried  “conflict of interests”

PKR deputy leader Syed Husin Ali argued that Mahathir was unfit to be Petronas adviser as the oil company had funded some of the country’s mega-projects during the his premiership.

Among the mega-projects funded by Petronas during the Mahathir era included the Twin Towers, Putrajaya and Proton City.

Its funds were also used to bail out politically well-connected companies -
Bank Bumiputra, Renong and the Malaysian International Shipping
Corporation (MISC) which was then headed by Mahathir’s son Mirzan.

As an ordinary Malaysian citizen , I would like to know what happen to all the money Petronas earned so far beside their contribution to Government and Investment?

It looks we have much bigger scandal then PKFZ ready to explode anytime. While the UMNO Masters  swindle Multi Hundred billions of Petronas money, it let MCA go away with 12 billion Port Klang Free Trade zone (PKFZ) and MIC with MAIKA Holdings RM100 million , Telekom and Tenaga Shares.

Now we understand why enforcement agencies dare not to touch them.

Post from: The New Politickler

Air New Zealand, the country’s national carrier, has made a safety video for its domestic routes which shows a pilot and cabin crew dressed only in body paint made to resemble their normal uniforms.

As the crew go through the motions, showing passengers what to do in the event of an emergency, their private parts are obscured by well-placed oxygen masks, life jackets, seat belts and luggage.

The 3-minute, 28-second “Bare essentials of safety” clip, and a similar 45-second television advertisment introduced six weeks ago, have had passengers glued to their mini television sets.

A copy of the briefing, which comes complete with a cheerful soundtrack of “Under My Skin,” by a New Zealand singer, Gin Wigmore, has been posted on YouTube and has attracted more than two million hits.

It is not the first time Air New Zealand has used scantily-clad staff members to grab attention. The gimmick was used in the airline’s recent “nothing to hide” marketing campaign for its low-priced fares, which featured staff, including chief executive Rob Fyfe, adorned in only body paint made to look like uniform.

Each clip took one day to shoot and cost about 10 to 15 per cent of the cost of a major brand commercial, an airline spokesman told the New York Times.

However, for the crew members involved, it was a labour of love. They got no extra cash - just a moment in the limelight.

Post from: The New Politickler

A top Indian court has issued a landmark ruling decriminalising gay sex between consenting adults, overturning colonial-era legislation that outlawed homosexuality.

The New Delhi High Court ruled that an existing statute prohibiting homosexual acts was discriminatory and therefore a “violation of fundamental rights” accorded under the constitution.

The statute in question is a British colonial-era law outlawing “carnal intercourse against the order of nature.” Conviction carried a fine and a maximum 10-year jail sentence.

Although prosecutions were rare, gay activists said police used the law to harass and intimidate members of their community.

The High Court ruling was made on a petition brought by the Naz Foundation, a gay advocacy group fighting for equal rights and AIDS awareness.

“This is a long awaited and incredible judgment,” said gay rights activist Gautam Bhan.

“The judges in their verdict spoke about inclusivity, quality and dignity. They spoke about a vision of India as an open, tolerant society and to hear all this from the Delhi High Court was amazing,” Bhan said.

While the ruling is non-binding outside the Indian capital, lawyers supporting the petition said it set a precedent that effectively decriminalised consensual gay sex nationwide.

The petition had been staunchly opposed by religious groups, particularly leaders of India’s Muslim and Christian communities who argued that all homosexual acts were “unnatural’ and should therefore be banned.

Gay sex has long been a taboo subject in conservative India, where many still regard homosexuality as an illness.

In recent years, however, the country’s largely closeted homosexual community has raised its profile, organising gay pride marches in major cities such as New Delhi and Mumbai.

“I feel very proud to be an Indian today. This was a very just ruling,” said openly gay fashion designer Wendell Rodericks.

“The entire legal community was in favour, I think, of the act being declared legal if it was between consenting adults,” Rodericks said.

The Indian government has offered mixed messages on its policy regarding the decriminalisation of gay sex, with some ministers speaking out in favour of the petition, only to be contradicted by others in the cabinet.

“The government can’t ignore this,” Naz Foundation executive director Anjali Gopalan told reporters after the ruling was announced.

Law Minister Veerappa Moily said last weekend that he would be meeting with his cabinet colleagues from the home and health ministries to review the existing legislation.

The petitioners at the High Court had received substantial overseas support, including from the United Nations.

Jeffrey O’Malley, director of the United Nations Development Programme on HIV/AIDS, had argued that decriminalising homosexuality would help India to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS.

India has an estimated 2.5 million people living with HIV.

AFP

Post from: The New Politickler

Desecrate Fans of death Superstar Micheal Jackson reported committing suicide because of the pop star’s tragic death.

The Sun further report that up to 12 heartbroken followers of the star have taken their lives - including one Brit — said the MJJcommunity website.

The startling claim came as it was revealed a Jackson lookalike in Russia cut his wrists after the star’s death was announced.

Gary Taylor, who runs MJJcommunity.com, said: “I know there has been an increase, I now believe the figure is 12. I believe there may have been one Briton who has taken their life.

“It is a serious situation that these people are going through but Michael Jackson would never want this. He would want them to live.”

Russian fan Pável Talaláyev was found bleeding heavily at his home in Moscow just hours after it was announced that Jackson had died.

But an ambulance crew found him in time on Friday and managed to save his life.

One of the ambulance men said: “He was in a terrible state and kept on saying: ‘It’s all the same to me. I’m going to kill myself. It’s the worst tragedy of my life and I don’t want to live any more. I don’t know why you saved my life, I want to be with him’.”

Pável — Russia’s most famous Jacko lookalike — modelled himself on the star from the age of nine.

Post from: The New Politickler

LIM GUAN ENG IS A BLATANT LIAR

I refer to the Statement of Penang Chief Minister on Malaysiakini today throwing various wild allegations against Hindraf .

I wish to reply as follows:

He has lied and mislead the Malaysian public that Hindraf had “lied”that acquiring Kg.Buah Pala would cost the State Government RM 30 Million.

He further misleads in his statement implying that Hindraf had represented that the State Government could acquire the Kg below the market value.

The above statements by Lim Guan Eng is an absolute and blatant lie deliberately calculated to mislead the Malaysian public and divert from the real issue staring at him.

It was his own Political Secretary that had issued a statement yesterday (malaysiakini) that it would cost the state RM30 million to compensate the developers.

However we are aware of his posting on a blog and widely circulated in the emails that it costs more than tens of millions to do so.

My point is simple- where did Guan Eng get this ridiculus sum from? Why is he putting the cart before the horse? Perhaps he is not getting proper advise from his State Legal Adviser or perhaps his arrogance has cloded his mind. The necessary procedures which are lenghty and elaborate are clearly provided for in Section 18-35 Land Acquisation Act. The amount of compensation to be paid are to be assessed by the Land administrator after valuations and survey. If the amount of compensation awarded by the Land administor is not acceptable by the Developer then he would have to rely on provisions of Section 36-51 of the Land Acquisation Act where the Court would determine the appropriate compensation with the assistance of assessors.

So why is he now blaming HINDRAF for his ignorance of the Law. He has to justify how his Political Secretary came up with RM30 million or even his own Statement that it would cost more than “tens of Millions”. Instead he is trying to divert from the real issue.

He further states ” the forcible acquisation of Kg Buah Pala involving developed land would be of frightening magnitute and the State Government did not have the financial capability to do so”.

Guan Eng is definately a liar and hoodwinking the public. Kg Buah Pala is not a developed land in the first place. I may be thousands of miles away but i will vouch it is a yet to be developed land and the developers had done nothing on the piece of land as yet. So WHAT IS HE FRIGHTENED ABOUT. The villagers have been occupying the land for 200 years and the land is developed in this modern day as a cultural village by the poor and defenceless people of Penang with their own sweat and blood. If the land is worth hundreds of millions of Ringgit because it is developed then the compensation should be to the owners as they are the real developers of the land at the present moment.

Guan Eng claims that the land which is believed to be transfered under dubious manner by the previous BN Government is the fault of the previous Government. But he must remember that the actual transfer of the said land had occured during his tenure as the Chief Minister.

If the previous Government had made a fraudulent deal then he is part of the fraudulent transaction for having sanctioned the transfer after he became the Chief Minister.

The need of a roof over one’s head is a basic neccessity just like food and clothing. These poor people have been there with a little space/compound (for their children to play) and a safe roof for 200 years in a piece of land given to them on trust by the Brown family. So why now rob them of the basic necessity? Guan Eng had also lied that the people was offered compensation of RM200,000 and that many had accepted the offer and moved.But in actual fact they were offered RM90,000 by developers far below market value and which is insuffient for them to buy a new property in any part of Penang and the actual number of houseowners who accepted the shortchanged deal were 7 and not many as claimed by Guan Eng ( 5 Malay families and 2 Indian families). As far as i am concerned he is a heartless man for lying and colluding with the developers in uprooting these people with a peanut offer of RM90,000. The villagers had clearly stated that it is not an issue of compensation but a matter of preserving their peaceful existence in their hereditary cultural living over a safe roof. The basic need of a safe roof is a fundamental Human Right. As a responsible Chief Minister and a man who claims to lead the Democratic Party he should be the first to protect and preserve their homes but instead robbing them of thier basic necessity and Human dignity. HINDRAF would vigourously resist any attempt to take away this fundamental right and dignity even if it means ending our friendship with DAP.

Yes I agree HINDRAF has been infiltrated by BN stooges and Police Special Branch which is trying hard to break the Movement. But i will not sit idle and see him destroy the fundamental right in the name of development of not only Indian Community but of any community for the matter.

HINDRAF calls upon other Pakatan Coalition leaders to advice this heartless Chief Minister.

P.Waytha Moorthy

Chairman

HINDRAF

Post from: The New Politickler

PRESS STATEMENT
JULY 1, 2009 (WEDNESDAY)

EKUINAS MUST NOT DUPLICATE EXISTING INVESTMENT ARMS

SHAH ALAM: The Federal Government must ensure that the new investment institution, Ekuiti Nasional Berhad (Ekuinas) will not duplicate the roles and responsibilities assumed by the existing investment arms.

It would not be wise for the government to increase its overhead cost unnecessarily considering that it already has various investments arms like Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), Khazanah Nasional, Tabung Haji and ValueCap which are already managing various types of investments.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak must make clear the roles of Ekuinas and its beneficiaries. He also must ensure that the new investment arm is transparent and accountable to the rakyat in making its investments.

The Selangor State Government welcomed the new economic liberalization policies introduced by the Prime Minister to boost economic growth amid a slowing economy. However, it must be pointed out that these policies are medium-term measures and cannot solve the current issues in hand quickly.

We call on the Federal Government to create a stimulus programme with a “credit-multiplier” effect that is able to create business opportunities and employment thus addressing the current issues within short term.

While the need to liberalised the economy cannot be denied, these policies must be balanced with policies to protect the local players. Malaysia players must be prepared for the challenges created by a liberalized economy.

If we look at developed countries that are already practicing liberalized economy, it is clear that that international investors and players are likely to concentrate on those with excess fund and players with sophistication and ability to participate in the capital and financial market.

If this is allowed to happen here, Malaysian banks, small-time investors and people at the rural areas will be isolated from reaping the benefits of a liberalized economy. This would create further gap and disparity in economic development in Malaysia.
It is therefore hoped that the federal government will set up business-targetted programmes targeting the local service industry players so that small-time players will be able to join the mainstream of the financial and capital.

The Federal Government will also have to ensure that the “backroom support” is ready to cater for the business activities that are projected to come in following the liberalization measure. Therefore, steps must be taken to ensure that local universities and institute of higher education are able to supply the experience,
expertise and skills that are on par with international standards. Proper focus must also be given to the accreditation of professionals needed in the banking and capital market industry.

If this is not done, the professional positions will only be filled by expatriates and Malaysians will end up losing in the globalization race.

TAN SRI ABDUL KHALID IBRAHIM
DATO’ MENTERI BESAR SELANGOR

Post from: The New Politickler

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is ready to change his transfer policy and make an astonishing £40 million bid for Bayern Munich star Franck Ribery, according to Daily Star Sunday.

The Gunners boss has become known in the Premier League as a manager who does not spend big on players, preferring to buy young prospects for the future and develop them at the club.

However, he has already signed Thomas Vermaelen from Ajax for a fee reported to be worth up to £10 million, and it is now thought he will turn his attentions to other areas of the pitch.

The British tabloid has reported that the Frenchman believes he could pull off the transfer deal of the summer by signing the France international.

The former Marseille man has been impressing in his two years at the Allianz Arena, and has been repeatedly linked with moves away from Bavaria in recent months.

Several major European clubs have stated that they are interested in signing him, and the Frenchman may be tempted with a move to the Premier League or Spain’s Primera Division.

Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and Chelsea have all at some point registered their interest in the winger, and it is thought a bidding war will take place over the summer.

Madrid are aiming to add Ribery to their new Galactico collection, and are prepared to pay over the odds to convince the 26-year-old to move to Santiago Bernabeu.

Wenger has been criticised recently for his transfer policy by present and former players, and it is now thought that he is set to spend big this summer.

goal.com

Post from: The New Politickler

The 71-year-old former Nasdaq chairman Bernard Madoff whom pleaded guilty to securities fraud and other charges in March gets maximum of 150 years prison.

US District Judge Denny Chin sentenced Madoff on 11 charges, including securities fraud and money laundering.

Madoff’s lawyer had sought a more lenient sentence of 12 years.

The maximum sentence came after the court heard emotional statements from a number of his victims about the fraud’s impact on their lives.

Judge Chin called the fraud “staggering” and said “the breach of trust was massive”.

The sentence met cheers and appaulse from the courtroom while Madoff accept it with his hand of him says a BBC news.

Post from: The New Politickler