Time for a bit of changes… no more political stuff here for the month of July (or longer perhaps). I will share something more casual and leisure about Malaysia instead. With so many social political blogs around these days, I guess my serious thoughts won’t be missed regardless.

Malaysia is beautiful, and I will try to show you that it still is.

I am speechless, really.

What other bloggers (and commentors) are saying…

Anilnetto ll Rockybru ll SK Thew ll Nuraina Samad ll Haris Ibrahim ll Nat Tan ll Daniel YKL ll CJCM ll Kenny Law ll KTemoc ll Susan Loone ll KS Lim ll Anwar Ibrahim

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.”

When Anwar was accused in the 90s, I believe he was framed; and despite my dispute over the recent accusation, I still believe that Anwar did not do it.

However, does that mean that we are absolutely sure that Mohd Saiful is not sodomised by Anwar? Is there no chances, not even 1% of chances that Mohd Saiful is telling the truth? I wonder.

Second scenario… let’s assumed Mohd Saiful is indeed a liar; does that mean he is an absolute villain? How about him being forced to be part of this? What if his (or his family) safety is in jeopardy? What if he had to make a choice between life or death? He can’t hide into Turkey Embassy obviously… so, what option does he have?

The meaningless photos

His photos taken with various BN officials are widespread in the net, with claims that he is closely allied to the BN government… but does those photos really mean anything?

I have had pictures taken with Rafidah Aziz, I even had a lunch with her; I also have pictures taken with Raja Nazrin (Perak’s crown prince), Lim Keng Aik, Fong Chan Onn and also pictures with no less than two (ex) MPs that served my places.

So, does that mean that I am close to these peeps? Not at all… I have better chance of winning a lottery than having them remembering my name. The photos simply means that I had the chance to meet these people… and being an active student during high school and university provided lots of chances to meet these peeps… it’s no big deal at all.

Same situation might apply to Modh Saiful too; does those photos provide any insight that he is working closely with BN government? Think Malaysians, think.

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.

If a political leader received a death threat and decided to hide in a foreign embassy, he becomes a joke… dead or alive.

I have no rights to tell people to risk their lives to become heroes… but of all options, is it the best one to seek refuge at a foreign embassy?

So, what’s next? How about asking military help from Indonesia or Thailand and takeover the country?

Besides, how serious is the death threat? From his statement, he learned from ‘numerous credible sources’ about the threat… hello? You call that a death threat?

With the top two seats opened for competition, there are plenty of rooms for speculations obviously.

From the trend it seems like the current leadership is in favour of vice-president Datuk Ong Tee Keat, who has been walking side by side with Ong Ka Ting in some grassroots’ visits recently.

Party secretary-general Datuk Ong Ka Chuan is likely to join hands with Ong Tee Keat to contest for the deputy post. If he is to go directly for the top, people would probably claim nepotism and it could backfire on him. Besides, he is not really a popular leader all these years… far behind the popularity his brother used to have.

The interesting thing is actually on the outsiders… Chua Soi Lek for example, might be making a comeback after his infamous sex scandal. It would be totally bizarre if he becomes the party president though, regardless on how discontent the party members are to the current leadership.

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]

Seems like the PAS Youth have learned nothing after being slammed by the Sultan for their protest against rock queen Ella and dangdut singer Mas Idayu performing at the Sultan of Selangor Cup football match.

Frankly, if they can’t even stand the likes of Ella and Mas Idayu, we can kiss goodbye to most of the western artists if their wishes are granted; events like Super GT would probably be scrapped too… but I doubt the state government and royals would pay much attention to their plea at the moment.

It should remind people though, that PAS’ philosophy is not really aligned with PKR and DAP. If Pakatan Rakyat does take over the government by September… do bear in mind that PAS will have to part of the plan.

There are callings that we should not be shallow with PAS’ administration, that their governmental in Kelantan is better than some media is claming… but sometimes, what they are trying to do is plain annoying. They even tried to ban lipstick and high heels in Kota Bahru [Bernama], makes me wonder what they would come out next.

The poor and chaotic situations in Sabah are collective ‘efforts’ for both the federal and state governments for more than three decades.

The illegal immigration issue in Sabah is widespread, it’s a shame that the government are not doing much to coup with this… but is it fair for Badawi and Umno to shoulder all the blames? What were the likes of Yong Teck Lee doing all these years (including his Chief Minister terms) to deal with this issue?

Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang, Nik Aziz, and all the Kadazan-Dusun chieftains… what have they done for the past decade or two for the Sabahans? Nik Aziz never care, LKS only knows how to complain, and Anwar only started to care because he can become a PM. All these people (including some Sabahan leaders) are just as idiotic as everyone else when it comes to issues in Sabah, none of them are any better than Badawi when it comes to social welfare for Sabahans.

If the federal government is not doing well enough to help the state, by all means kick their ass… the only question is, why wait until now? The ass should have been kicked long time ago. So, if the BN government had won big again this term, SAPP and YTL would still remain silent and enjoy their honeymoon isn’t it?

Don’t just blame it on the federal leaders my fellow Malaysians, have a look at your local politicians as well. And if you think Badawi is idiot, think what Mahathir, Anwar and the local leaders had done for you.

Pakatan are talking as if all the Malaysians would like a new govenment, but fact is they are still the oppositions because half of the Malaysians were not voting in their favour. There are lots of calls for Badawi to step down, including from within Umno itself… but that doesn’t mean that these people would want a new government or to have Anwar as the new Prime Minister.

Anwar has been campaigning like crazy for the past three months in hope of becoming the new PM. I don’t want to question whether he is genuine in building Malaysia or more of a personal agenda… but what he did for the past 100 days are hampering the country’s stability. What is the use of a GE if the opposition would continue plotting to take over the government after an election?

Imagine if PR takes over the government with Anwar’s crossover talk being materialised; the PR government would only have a minor majority by then, and what would happen if the BN (as opposition) starting to plot their own crossover plans to take back the government instead? The country will be in a never-ending political turmoil… and that’s why, the results of the GE should be respected and never be exploited in any other ways, regardless of who is doing it.

The people have spoken, you all have spoken, and the BN continue to rules. So be it, and let them rule for another 4-5 years and show what they can do (or not)… we’ll settle the score again in the next election.

Besides, while having BN under the radar, do mind that the Pakatan Rakyat state governments are being watched too. They are given the chances to rule as well; instead of all the political agendas, how about focusing on showing what they can really do at governmental levels and win the next GE fair and square?

PSM has received a letter this morning from the ministry requesting the party to submit a fresh application, in which according to PSM’s secretary general S Arutchelvan, is just a matter of formality.

The court hearing which was scheduled this morning has been postponed following this latest development.

Jeyakumar Devaraj is the only Member of Parliament from PSM with his famous victory against MIC president Samy Vellu; PSM chairman Nasir Hashim is their only state assemblyman (Selangor). Both of them competed under PKR’s flagship during the March election.

It’s still uncertain if PSM would join the Pakatan Rakyat pact; S Arutchelvan has mentioned in an April interview that PSM will not join PR until they have seen their full program… which probably means that PSM will not be joining the pact yet in near future.