The details of the SD is available on Nat’s blog. To cut it short…

a. Balasubramaniam was hired by Abdul Razak Baginda (ARB) in October 2006 to deal with a threat calling him to pay his debts. He later identified that person as Ang (or ASP Tan), a private investigator employed by Mongolian woman Altantuya Shaaribuu.

b. Altantuya, identified herself as Aminah, claimed that she was there to see her boyfriend Abdul Razak Baginda. She (or Mr Ang) was demanding USD$500,000 commission owed to Aminah from a (submarine) deal in Paris.

c. ARB told Balasubramaniam that he had been introduced to Aminah by Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at a diamond exhibition in Singapore. Najib said that he had a sexual relationship with Aminah.

Najib wanted ARB to look after Aminah as he did not want her to harass him since he was now the Deputy Prime Minister. The trio had all been together at a dinner in Paris.

d. Aminah told Balasubramaniam on Oct 19, 2006, that… (1) she met ARB with Najib in Singapore; (2) they had dinner in Paris; (3) she was promised a sum of USD$500,000 as commission for assisting in a Submarine deal in Paris; (4) ARB married her in Korea.

e. Three police officers, which is now identified as Lance Corporal Rohaniza, Azilah Hadri and Sirul Azahar, took Aminah away shortly after their conversation (above). That was the last time Balasubramaniam saw Aminah.

f. Balasubramaniam have told everything to the police during his interrogation, but the details were left out from the official statement.

These stories are not new; Raja Petra (Malaysia-Today) and some bloggers have been saying these at a number of ocassions, but it’s the first time that a person (claimed to be) involved in the situation has came out with the details.

The major point of the SD is that Najib might know Altantuya from the beginning and has been lying all this while; the rest of the SD isn’t going to help much for the investigation… some of those are known facts, while some are just irrelevant for the case.

Besides, lots of the info was ‘told’ to Balasubramaniam and not something he saw or witnessed. Unless some (or at least one) of the accused are coming out with new revelations… the case will be closed with lots of mysteries and questions.

Update: Balasubramaniam retracts his SD just 24 hours later, saying that he was “compelled to affirm the statutory declaration under duress.”

The news is not picked up by the main media yet, but the blogosphere has been heated up with all sorts of discussions.

Whether the allegation is truth or not, I don’t know… in fact only very few people would know at the moment. RPK has shown his courage over the years, but frankly, sometimes he is abusing his influence to bully the politicians.

This is not the first time he is alleging that Najib was involved in Altantuya’s murder, but he has failed to produce any solid proofs besides empty talks so far. I hope the cops and authorities will take his statutory seriously… because if Najib is really guilty, I want him to face justice; if Najib is innocent, I would like to see RPK facing the song.

I always believe that everyone is innocent until proven not; that’s one of the basic cores of our constitution. It sucks to let go of a criminal, but the last thing I want to see is innocent people being punished.

Don’t bother reminding me how corrupted our government and the judicial system are, because it’s not the point I am trying to make here.

Lots of people don’t like Najib, I personally am not fond of this fella at all. However, that doesn’t mean that we should implicate that he (or his wife) is a murderer without having solid evidences or investigations.

It’s saddening thing to see some Malaysians having their logical minds being taken control by their senseless emotions, just go and read some comments on Malaysia-Today, LKS’ blog, Anwar’s blog ans Susan’s blog… and you would see so many Malaysians sentencing Najib to guilt as if they were right on the crime scene and saw everything.

Imagine how would your love ones feel if you are being wrongly investigated, charged or prosecuted for a murder that you never committed? Imagine how would you feel if your family member is being accused of doing things that they never did? It could be one of the worst things that you would want to happen in your life.

What we want to see is to have justice served; and as said earlier, I hope to see the authorities taking RPK’s declaration seriously… after all, it’s not fun to risk being sentenced to jail just to mock a person you really hate. But until then, Najib is not a murderer, and it’s unfair to accuse him of being so without knowing the facts.

Use your heart, use your mind, and not let your emotion taking control of your soul my fellow Malaysians. Show some mercy.

That is, if both Pak Lah and Najib are unchallenged in the next Umno election… or that they managed to fence off their challengers somehow.

Regardless, I don’t like the idea of unchallenged leadership transition at all… it violates the spirit of democracy and also encourages political corruption.

1. Federal Development Department scrapped and replaced by Sabah State Development Office, with its operations placed directly under the state government’s supervision.

2. Formation of a cabinet committee on illegal immigrants to be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to discuss and solve the perennial illegal immigrants’ problem in the state.

3. RM1 billion allocation from the prime minister’s special allocation to be distributed according to development requirements in Sabah.

The media is reporting that Sabahans are getting lots of benefits, but it’s not really the case. Set aside the extra RM1bil allocation, the first two actions are not something of a bonus, it’s something that should be done years ago.

If the BN government didn’t lose their 2/3 majority in March, these issues might be overlooked once again after the election. Still, it’s better late than never.

However, don’t take their promise for granted yet. One of the biggest issues with our BN government is on implementations… they do come out with decent ideas and policies occasionally, but often failed to meet the objectives due to poor executions.

Promising is one thing… delivering the promises is another story.

Malaysia is not facing bankruptcy danger even if we keep the price level… what Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak claimed prior to the New Year Day was obviously to demean the opposition parties instead of solid economic facts. Najib said that the opposition’s promises to reduce oil prices if it were to form a government will only bankrupt the country, because it’s not possible…

It doesn’t take a genius to realise that the government controlled Petronas would be making extra money following the rising oil price as well… the government is probably not losing too much with the subsidies compared to a few years ago (if there is any loses at all).

Khairy Jamaluddin was right though when he said on Umno’s General Assembly in Nov 2007 that the petrol subsidy could be better spent on other developments. My point of view is still the same… that it would be a wise move to cut the petrol subsidy ONLY IF the money are spent at the right place (education, health care etc.) and not going to dubious projects like Angkasawan or buying a new submarine… or perhaps the worst – to waste and corruption.

Considering that Malaysia won’t be having much petroleum resources left (probably finished in a decade or two without new findings)… our government need to be proactive in finding new energy resources (bio-diesel, solar power etc.) and reducing petroleum consumption. We need a better public transport system to start with; it’s a pain to travel in Malaysia without a car.

At the meantime, we the common citizens just have to be prepared for the next price hike.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz was fast to ask Devamany to resign from MIC if he had disputed his own party… and Devamany is scheduled to explain to Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak about his words.

I couldn’t bother much about BN’s rank or whatever policy. I am just wondering how people like you and me could get our voices to be heard by our government…

The UMNO led government has responded to the recent demonstrations saying that street rallies are unnecessary, and that they are willing to listen from the people through proper channels.

Thing is… if opposition leaders raised their concerns, they will be raped with all the insults possible. If a BN representative raised his opinions, like Devamany did… well, he is accused of breaking the ranks.

In the end… no one can say anything that the UMNO leaders do not want to listen. Badawi doesn’t care… and he has the most ferocious guarding dog at his Prime Minister Department that will bite on EVERYONE who voiced their dissatisfaction at the current government.

Government ready to listen to the citizens? Forget about it… that’s bullsh!t.

I accept that keris is a cultural symbol for Malays, for Malaysia in fact. Some people might not be aware, but we are seeing the keris almost everyday everywhere… with our Yang di-Pertuan Agong carrying it in his photo. There is nothing wrong with keris.

The issue lies in the person who carries the keris, and the agenda behind it.

UMNO youth chief Hishammuddin Hussein has made a decent statement at the 2007 general assembly that the kissing and hoisting of the keris symbolises the protection given to not only the Malays but also to other races in the country. [Bernama]

It could be a genuine statement, or probably just a PR stunt… but it doesn’t erase the fact that the ‘keris protect all Malaysians” ideology was not what he managed to portray when he played with his keris for the past couple of years.

I can’t blame too much on Hishammuddin though; it was a trend for UMNO youth to raise racial sentiment. Mahathir, Najib, Anwar etc. had all been criticized for their radical gimmick when they were in their early political days.

All these people need to build their network and support to move up the political rank… Hishammuddin won’t be the last person to play with sensitive issues in UMNO assembly.

Some Malaysians might not be happy about what Hishammuddin did, but there is nothing much to do against it besides ranting online or in coffee shops. Hishammuddin will march forward in his political career regardless of how we feel… we have to move on as well regardless of how he feels.

I don’t have the exact figure how much it cost for the sub… if I remember correctly it’s around a billion Euros for 2 Scorpene-class submarines. I am not sure if we do need submarines in our defense, but I am not against government’s decision to upgrade and improve our weapons and defense system.

What I don’t wish to see though, is government leaders using this occasion to brag about how technological advance we are. Owning a sub doesn’t mean that we are technological capable of building one… it just proves that we have the money to buy one.

“Captain doctor Faiz Khaleed will be the primary angkasawan and the next mission, probably in 2008 or 2009, should have him doing more challenging tasks,”

“This could involve him doing a space walk or conducting repairs to the spacecraft.”

Jarjis is acting like a 5-year-old kid with a new toy… Najib surprisingly shows more sense indicating that a review of Muszaphar’s mission would take place before any decision on future space exploration.

One angkasawan is more than enough. If Malaysia want to send someone to space again… build a rocket and send it ourselves… I might feel really proud then.

The investigation also found that bad weather, which had reduced visibility to less than two kilometres, and the hilly terrain in the area had also contributed to the mishap. There was no evidence pointing to any technical fault in the helicopter. [Bernama]

Termuzi Abd Aziz, father of the deceased pilot, Capt Norazlan Termuzi, said that the board of inquiry had not conducted the investigation in a comprehensive manner, claiming that the probe was only conducted at the scene of the crash without considering “other factors”.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak was fast to respond that the probe was conducted professionally. [Bernama]

The report is obviously trying to load all the responsibilities to the deceased. It could be true that the pilot’s mistake could have cause the accident eventually… but as the elder Termuzi mentioned… shouldn’t we look a bit beyond that?

For example, who was giving the order for the crew to take the flight? When did the weather report come in? Did the crew know about the weather condition prior to lifting off? If they did, whose call was it to continue the flight anyway… the captain, the crew or higher ranking officers? Why were they flying so low… was they forced to because of the copter’s ability? Could the accident be avoided if they had a better chopper?

I won’t call the report a cheat, but there are lots of unattended questions. I strongly doubt that it could be regarded as a professional report.

The independent panel will be headed by former Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Haidar Mohd Noor; National Service Council chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye and former Court of Appeal Judge Datuk Mahadev Shankar are the other two members.

Najib said panel member, who had accepted their appointments, would soon start investigating the matter with the support and cooperation of all agencies concerned. Their findings would be made public later.

[Thestar & Malaysiakini]

I am not surprised with the scandal, but am surprised that something like that was caught on tape (or video, whatever). Our judiciary system is losing faith among Malaysians since former PM Mahathir Mohamad fired the chief judge in 1988. Since then Malaysia no longer have a judiciary that is independent from government administration.

It is therefore no surprise that money and relationship play a greater part in determining the position of senior judges rather than based on pure merit.

The main media has been extremely quiet on this saga; the news is not completely blackout, but the scale of the reports is pathetic.

Meanwhile DPM Najib Abdul Razak has said that the government will first confirm the authenticity of the ‘VK Lingam’ video before deciding on the next course of action. [Malaysiakini]

You can read the draft transcript via PKR’s website or Malaysiakini.

[Follow this tag for updates about Lingam Tape Scandal]