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 thought of Anwar plotting the show is rising for the past two days… just that most people who share the thought would not dare to raise their concerns fearing of being branded as cynical and also the backlash from PKR and Anwar’s supporters.

Just a few thoughts…

Who is the one that is actually benefiting the most from the current saga?
Is BN government that stupid to frame Anwar using the same old trick?
Who is behind the death threat?
Did Anwar really received a death threat or just tips from ‘reliable sources’?
Is the whole police force that corrupted that they are no good cops around at all?
Is it a logical choice to seek protection from a foreign embassy?
WTF do we need to involve foreign interference with this?
Isn’t it a bit too convenient for Turkey to provide the sanctuary?
Is Malaysia that volatile these days?
Are we in the same league of Myanmar, Zimbabwe or Pakistan?

I don’t want to suggest anything further… plenty of questions with no apparent answers though.

A few thoughts worth reading from other bloggers… Aizuddin and Bigdog.

Anwar responded that the report is a complete fabrication, which could be a retaliation for evidence he has recently obtained implicating IGP Musa Hassan and AG Gani Patail in misconduct including fabrication of evidence in the cases launched against him in 1998-1999.

When Anwar was first accused of sodomy in 1997… the people were separated in opinions; but this time, people would find it hard to believe that he’s not been framed.

Update – PM Badawi claimed that BN government is not behind this and would leave the police to conduct investigations on the allegations and to take the necessary action. [Thestar]

The drama happened when the escort stopped for a toilet break at the Tapah rest area… it is believed that two policemen alighted from the vehicle while one stayed behind to watch over the suspect.

The suspect, however, managed to get into the front seat after a scuffle, successfully pushing the officer out the door and taking off in the car. [Thestar]

More dramatic than watching “Prison Break”.

This news didn’t get much attention during the election peak… just felt that it’s worth sharing here despite a bit late.

A reader has alerted me that two of her staff were injured because of the accidents, and I believe there are more injury cases that went under the carpet. These dirty tactics are not something new, but has been happening for years; it’s pathetic to see people risking other’s life for some easy money.

If you have fell victim to this trap, do report to the police. They might ignore one or two cases, but they will take action if they received more cases… our police are not as lazy as some might believe, there are still good cops around. They might not be able to prevent these gimmicks from happening all together, but they could at least reduce the incident in short term.

I have written to TheStar about this, hopefully they could publish the alert on their paper. Meanwhile, do warn your motorcyclist friends about the trap, and be careful if you are a motorcyclist.

We need to act fast to cope with this problem; it is a matter that concerned every Malaysian citizens, and quite often it’s a matter of life and death.

I don’t quite understand how the crime rates could be soaring sky high in the past few years. Set the crime fighting and prevention efforts aside… I couldn’t figure out how on earth did we managed to produce so many criminals in Malaysia.

Something must be wrong in our education system… not just with school education, but family education and religious education etc. People with proper conscience won’t hurt others even for million of dollars… but we have psychos on the streets that are willing to kill for a few bucks or for no reason at all. It is just unimaginable.

Immediate Actions

What the government needs to do now is to make crime fighting the nation’s top priority.

Badawi should hand over his job as Internal Security Minister to someone who is qualified and could fully commit himself/herself to. He failed miserably as the Internal Security Minister obviously, and there are no reasons for him to hold the position besides his own political agenda.

We need drastic measures to prevent the crime rates from rising further; it’s a snowball effect… if we let the crooks think that they can escape punishment (like many of the cases), they will be more fearless in committing crimes.

We need more police officers. The government is doing something right with their plans to re-hire retired police officers and civilians to take over administrative jobs; it should at least tackle the police shortage in short term while training for new blood.

Lets not forget that quality is as important as quality; we need to improve our current squad in solving major cases… continuous tranings and looking for the latest equipment might help. I am not quite sure but I believe we are having shortage with CSI personnels as well.

(What’s the proper name for Malaysia CSI unit btw?)

I am not sure if installing CCTV everywhere would help though; those snatch thieves won’t be bother much as they are wearing helmets and probably using a fake registered plate… CCTV won’t deter them.

One thing that we are seriously lacking in Malaysia is the strong bond between the police and the public. Police should be seen as friends to the public, but most of the common citizens would not like to deal with the police for various reasons.

The police force need to polish their image that they are serving the people, that they are always ready to help citizens in need.

What the police could do is to communicate more with the locals, hold seminars in major locations (shopping malls and schools for example) to spread crime prevention awareness and to build the community relationship which could be crucial in solving crime cases.

Eliminating police corruption and misconduct would certainly help shaping up their image as well.

Tackle the Core

We need better education system and social environment. Our current education system is focusing too much on academic achievements while ignoring the importance of building moral conscience. Both the schools and parents are guilty of this matter.

I don’t have facts to back my point, but I seriously felt that the criminals’ age has been dropping significantly with the rising crime rate. It’s no longer big news that a teenager was caught in a robbery, rape or murder case… it’s becoming a norm.

The government could play a major role in building a healthy society besides enforcing the law and improving the unemployment rate. We need to be proactive in providing healthy activities for the youth and adults.

Rakan Muda was a brilliant idea to begin with, the implementations probably sucks but the idea itself is not bad at all. We should reform the Rakan Muda or create something similar to encourage the youth in healthy activities.

Take Good Care of Ourselves

Rising crime is one issue that I feel so helpless with; I have been draining my brain to think of what we can do to help in this matter. In fact it has taken almost 5 hours for me to come out with this article… but still, the ideas are limited.

Meantime, take good care of yourself… we probably can’t do much at the moment in preventing crimes in general, but the least we could do is to protect ourselves and the ones we love. PDRM website has some decent crime prevention methods that we can take note of.

I still believe that he shouldn’t resign under this circumstance. As mentioned at my earlier post, Chua’s resigning is indirectly surrendering to the real culprits by approving that privacy invasion (secret recording) is the right thing to do.

No credits to Chua for stepping down and leaving everything behind. It is easy for him to abandon everything now; it would be tougher to stand on his feet and face the crisis instead of giving up so soon, which he should… he chose the easier path.

My hope now is that the people behind the sex DVD could be brought to justice. However, considering the possible political agenda behind the whole scandal… I wonder if the cops would be doing their best to find the culprits.

[Update] – MCA accepts Chua resignation [Malaysiakini]

Some thoughts from other bloggers regarding Chua’s resignation…

The grave sins of Chua Soi Lek
Honesty is such a lonely world
Chua soi lek resigns just about every damn thing
So much smoke, Lulu’s not able to see clearly
Of the only crime here is intrusion of privacy
Was Chua Soi Lek victim of double betrayal?
Chua did the honourable thing (I don’t agree, obviously)

Gerakan acting president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon said Sunday (Dec 23) the party viewed the matter seriously and that the case has been referred to the Disciplinary Committee for a decision on the action to be taken before it was to be brought to the party’s Central Working Committee (CWC). [Bernama]

Paranjothy is alleged to have issued a press statement to Malaysiakini claiming that he was not happy with Umno and the way Indians in the country were being treated. Excerpt from Malaysiakini…

In an audacious move, a notable Gerakan politician has taken Barisan Nasional coalition leader Umno to task for inciting racial sentiments among Malays to gain political mileage.

“They incite racial sentiments among their community in a petty attempt to further their political career,” Gerakan Youth vice-chief S Paranjothy alleged today (Dec 21).

Such attempts, he said, include taking potshots at other BN component parties which draw their support from non-Malay communities.

“Umno leaders are very found of picking on component parties and use them as their punching bag or stepping-stone to gain popularity in their community,” Paranjothy said in a hard-hitting four-page statement entitled ‘Discrimination from Womb to Tomb’.

He singled out Umno Youth Chief Hishammuddin Hussien’s keris waving and his deputy Khairy Jamaluddin’s claim that non-Malays would take advantage of a weak Umno leadership, as prime examples of racial posturing.

He also cited Khairy’s speech at the Umno general assembly last month, during which he blamed newspaper vendors for not wanting to work on Deepavali day. He made a pointed reference to the fact that the sector is predominated by Indian Malaysians.

Paranjothy also mentioned that Malaysian Indians are treated as fourth-class citizens; and that the government has practised double-standards in the issuance of police permits for public demonstrations.

Hishammuddin responded on Saturday by demanding an explanation from Koh…

“If the explanation given is not satisfactory, we are prepared to sever all relations with Gerakan. This is no laughing matter.”

What is racial sensitive?

I can’t agree with Paranjothy’s statement that Indians are treated as fourth-class citizens. There are some racial biased policies in Malaysia, but not to the extend that any particular races are being marginalized. The government is not doing enough to help the poor, but there are other factors and people that should be blamed as well. I will write a post later to share further thought on this.

What I want to raise here… is what kind of statements could be deemed as racial sensitive? After 50 years of independence, it’s pathetic to think that every word that question about racial issues in Malaysia is categorized as sensitive remarks.

Malaysia is a multiracial country… we need to be tolerant and careful with our action and speeches; but that doesn’t mean that we should keep quiet about every racial issue that has surfaced. If we do that we are just cheating ourselves and allowing problems to grow bigger instead of finding solutions for it.

Besides, what part of Paranjothy’s accusations is wrong? Hishammuddin’s keris waving has angered thousands of people, and he is finding his own words to justify his action instead of considering that his action might ignite racial discontent; Khairy’s Deepavali story is even worse… but why are these Umno people be allowed to continue raising the tension whereas the others are not allowed to speak up their mind?

Political scapegoat

Hishamuddin’s fast response is clearly to boost his own Umno political image and not for the sake of national unity. He knows that if he didn’t condemn Paranjothy fast enough… Khairy would speak about it and steal the spotlight instead.

The Umno leaders are constantly in tug-of-war for power and political future… and often used other political parties as the scapegoat to gain popularity in their community. Paranjothy has mentioned this in his statement, and Hishammudin’s threatening demand against Gerakan probably has just endorsed this.

I am disappointed that Koh Tsu Koon has given in to Hishammudin’s demand rather easily. Paranjothy might have broken the stupid political rank in BN, but Gerakan should at least show their pride to condemn Hishammudin’s arrogance before taking action against their own man. Gerakan are acting like cowards now… and it brings no respect from both Gerakan and Umno supporters.

Umno Government is not going to listen

MIC parliamentarian K. Devamany got himself into trouble in late November after saying that “the government was not doing enough for the (Indian) community” in response to the Hindraf rally… and this time it’s Paranjothy’s political future that is in jeopardy.

The government leaders are not listening to opposition parties obviously, and they are not allowing any comments from their own men that are against their policies… in the end nothing besides S kissing words are going to get into their ears.

Government is willing to listen to criticism? It has been proven as empty talk once again.

Judge Nursinah Adzmi made the decision after allowing the application by Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail to withdraw the charges against them. [Bernama]

This have to be one of the biggest Malaysia jokes in 2007… it was a murder attempt charge, not chicken stealing. The AG should not have press the charges at the first place if he didn’t have enough evidence to prove the case… and if he does have solid evidence to prove it, they shouldn’t withdraw it at all.

I am not a law expert, but I know simple enough that our law should not be treated as a game… it’s controversial to press the charge, but it’s even worse to drop the case rather easily. The whole thing is just stupid.

Well, at least it’s good news for these 31 people… I hope that they are really innocent and not being let off for political reasons.

Below is a video on PKR’s information chief Tian Chua being arrested near the Parliament House. He had probably resisted the arrest… but does he deserved the punch after he was apprehended? I wonder…

Thing is… if the police or government has any proof about the allegation, what are they waiting now? Go ahead and put the Hindraf leaders into lockup, charged them with whatever act they could think of and declare an official war on Hindraf. The only reason the government and police are not doing so is because the terrorist-link allegation is simply stupid words without solid backing.

What the IGP said is serious accusation… it could cause serious damage to the peacefulness of the country and the social harmony between races. He shouldn’t voice about it without having facts and proofs about it… it caused unnecessary tension and served no good purpose for the general public.

Regardless, I doubt any action would be taken against Musa Hassan if it is a false alarm in the end. They would come out with million of reasons that the IGP was just showing his concern, that they haven’t found any proof yet but it’s true, that their words are MISINTEPRETED… and Musa walks away.