A day to remember

It's time to spent! spent! spent!

Why the fuss over the 2010 AG Report.

By Sakmongkol AK47

Let us show you a few examples. Perhaps then readers will understand what all the fuss is over the AG Report.

Bizarre overpricing- the National Youth Skills Institute (under the Youth and Sports Ministry) approved the purchase of a car jack that cost RM50 for RM5,700, a digital camera that cost RM2,990 was bought for RM8,254 and RM1,146 was paid for a set of technical pens with a market price of RM160;

Negligence- the Police Air Wing purchased two helicopters worth RM117.75 million, which could not be used, as they did not meet specifications. Another RM15.4mil was spent to train pilots to fly these helicopters.

Incompetence- Customs Department under-utilized its RM290mil information technology system but was planning to spend another RM451.30mil to develop a new one.

These are the findings of the Auditor General’s report a few years ago. If the transgressions were not rectified, we know it means, things have not improved. If matters are left as they are, we can then more or less expect what’s coming. We can expect the same stories about negligence and incompetence because those responsible are laid back about the issues. We have all the reasons to believe that the report for 2011, next year, will reveal the same story about misappropriation of funds, bizarre overpricing, projects not completed. These are indicators of negligence, incompetence and regretfully said- of officious arrogance.

The 2010 Auditor General's Report is precisely that- voluminous and horrifying mentions about more or less the same findings contained in reports of preceding years. What does that say? It says loud and clear, the same transgressions committed were not rectified or even allowed to continue. It means the same wrongdoings are allowed to be perpetrated because the enabling circumstances and possibly the same perpetrators were allowed to persist. It further shows those responsible to ensure the transgressions are not repeated have been incompetent and negligent in carrying remedial actions.

The same people who did all the transgressions are still in commanding positions; they will have the opportunity to improve upon their incompetence by doing more damage. The Chief Secretary’s village fool response by way of saying he is not worried and that the problem has been dealt with because he has sent circulars asking officials to exercise more discipline is a negligent expression and ensuing act of gross callousness. I am afraid, the public isn’t that forgiving.

We don’t want circulars- we want those transgressors punished or even sacked. As them to publicly explain what happened to those overspendings? Let’s ask the chairman of Giatmara for example, where is the shop that sells the heavy duty blender for 4 times the market price. Let’s make it the 1 Malaysia shop for heavy duty blenders. Maybe even give them soft loan from EPF. Let us Mydin the shop.

Yet we want to extend the services of such a fellow. Let’s elect Allred E Newman for Chief Secretary then. Then, we are assured the same transgressions repeated, will be met with the same incredulous response of what me worry!

The answer is also, we don’t have to suffer the incompetence of those entrusted to manage public money. If they don’t manage properly and because it’s our money they are managing, they deserve to be publicly assailed. This isn’t about being perplexed as to why the opposition should bicker about the report. If you do, then we shall have to explain to you in as simple terms as possible.

This is beyond opposition. This is about, the mismanagement of our money which deserves being treated as a cause of concern for possible fraud and deception.

The short answer to the question then as to why the opposition gets irked by the audit report as do all right thinking Malaysians is the money being treated isn’t the property of the transgressors. That being so, the administration of the money and the application of the funds thereof, must be done with utmost care. It’s not your father’s money. That is the short answer.

The long answer is, Malaysians are fed up of the deception and misappropriation of funds.

For the year 2010, the government approved a budget of RM 149 billion for operating expenditure. This wasn’t enough and the government had to increase the opex to 151 billion. The report said 9 ministries over spent. Here is where all of us should be concerned. This is taxpayers money being spent on opex. The 2 billion could have been spent of capex capital expenditure which builds capacity to create more wealth.

Now, Malaysians are equally outraged by the revelations of the 2010 Auditor-General Reports on the continuing financial scandals, hanky-panky and gross financial negligence in government. We are horrified to learn for example, the National Sports Institute acquired 23 horses totalling RM5.66 million without a Financial Ministry go-ahead with none of the horses competed in two recommended international championships; we have the case of the RM142 million RazakSAT malfunctioning barely a year after being commissioned; wait, we have more- The Malaysian Marine Parks Department spent a whopping RM56,350 for a pair of night vision Marine binoculars, 29 times more than its market value of RM1,940; and paid the same amount for another pair of night vision Bushnell binoculars, or 1,893 per cent more than its actual price of RM2,827.

We are once again appalled at the incompetence of front line workers incapable of appreciating the importance of proper placement of decimal points and making accounting mistakes that resulted in wasteful overspending. These should not have happened if there are efficient and proper internal audit systems. As the result of a laid back attitude, we are told of stories where a pensioner received RM21, 433 a month instead of RM214.33 for 16 months!. The mistake was detected after more than a year. The officer who finally detected the mistake should be a given a merit order.

We are also dismayed of hearing Giatmara Centre mistakenly paying RM170 per kg instead of RM1.70 per kg for sugar for a poverty eradication programme or RM25, 500 for 150 kg of sugar! This must be a special kind of sugar.

What about the village-fool response that I mentioned above? In his response to the 2010 Auditor-General’s Reports, the Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Sidek Hassan has repeated his annual reaction and call to all departments and agencies to take heed of the Auditor-General’s comments and views. Which goes to show, that what I said about the same mistakes being repeated did take place, otherwise, he wouldn’t have to repeat his annual reaction would he?

No wonder then, there was this need to delay the submission of the 2010 Auditor-General’s Report to ensure that it would not completely overshadow Najib’s 2012 Budget. Otherwise, the Finance Minister’s charitable overtures would be overshadowed and overwhelmed by the over 1,300 pages of exposes of financial irregularities, hanky-panky as well as misappropriation of public funds in the first full year of PM Najib’s premiership.

All right thinking Malaysians are waiting for the Finance Minister or the Chief Secretary to explain the delay in submitting the 2010 Auditor-General Reports until after the end of the parliamentary debate on the 2012 Budget. If the Report was enclosed alongside the budget documents, the AG Report would have been the foremost parliamentary issue.

Another lost gold

Subject: $31 billion Malaysian Man

Compared to some people who enrich themselves through corruption at the highest level, this guy is perhaps Malaysia's richest man , all earned through his invention and pioneering spirit -- no political or corrupt practices, no shady deals, no rent-seeking . Pure hard work and innovation

--the world famous PEN DRIVE !!

Why is he not given publicity in the mainstream media ?? Because he was not offerred a scholarship by the govt and he had to find a cheaper place to study --Taiwan. And invented the PEN DRIVE –everyone who owns a laptop, computer will also own a pen drive !!!

Sharing this success story with you.........

Had Phua Kein Seng started his pen-drive business in Malaysia he would have given away 30% of his business to bumiputras at the price of a song. He would have to appoint a few bumiputras as directors too, even if they contribute nothing to his company. And the $31 billion that his company would have contributed to the Malaysian tax coffer would have been somehow siphoned off into some umnoputra's pocket/account.

Thank God, he started his business in Taiwan!

The $31 billion Man HAPPENS TO BE A "CHINESE" MALAYSIAN THAT'S WHY THERE HAS BEEN NO PUBLICITY. YOU CALL THIS 1MALAYSIA?

$31bil Man .Interesting to know that the Pen Drive was invented by a Malaysian Chinese who could not get into one of our local universities primarily because he is not a bumiputra. He had to study in Taiwan.. What a shame to our Government....We have lost thousands of good brains abroad all because of the stupid NEP.!!Pua's mighty 'Pen'S. INDRAMALAR speaks to the creator of the now indispensable Pen Drive Fact file Name: Pua Khein Seng Age: 31 Hometown: Sekinchan, Selangor; Education: SJKC Yeok Kuan, Sekinchan; Pin Hwa Independent school, Klang; Chiao Tung University, Taiwan; Occupation: Engineer/ president of Phison Electonics Corp Current base: Taipei, Taiwan Years abroad: 12. WHEN he set off for Taiwan in 1993, Pua Khein Seng's only aim was to complete his degree in Electrical Control Engineering at the renowned Chiao Tung University and return home to work in Malaysia Never did he envision himself heading a multi-million dollar Taiwanese company that developed the world's first USB flash removable disk, which they called Pen Drive .

Pua Khein Seng went to Taiwan to get his engineering degree but ended up staying on, starting his own company and inventing the pen drive."I went to Taiwan to pursue my undergraduate degree. I chose Taiwan only because it was too expensive to study either in the United States or Singapore "However, I did well in my undergraduate programme and was offered a place to do my masters," explained Pua, who was back in Kuala Lumpur recently for a holiday. After completing his Masters in July 1999, Pua worked for about six months in a local company before deciding to set up his own venture company with four fellow engineers who had studied with him at Chiao Tung."We were confident that we had the know-how and ability to start our own business, which is focused on USB technology.

The company is called Phison because there are five of us - two Malaysians and three Taiwanese engineers," said Pua, 31, who hails from Sekinchan, Selangor. Phison Electronics Corporation was set up in November 2000 and within six months the young entrepreneurs came up with their first invention - a USB storage device called Pen Drive". We were the first company in the world to develop the USB Drive SoC (System On Chip) and we were very confident that the market for USB will be huge. At the time, no one believed in us so we had to do everything ourselves - from developing the technology, the chips to the product itself." We were only 27 years old at the time and inexperienced. But we were confident that we could design good systems and chips but we didn't know anything about selling.

So, we sought partners or traders who could help sell our products for us," Pua added. Through smart partnerships and shrewd strategies, Phison soon made its way into European, American and Japanese markets. One quick move was securing Japanese tech giant Toshiba as Phison's largest shareholder and customer." We launched Pen Drive in June 2001 and by August the same year, we broke even! From September 2001, we were reaping monthly profits from our invention and there has been no turning back since." Having established himself in Taiwan , Pua is in the midst of setting up Phison's branch in Malaysia , due to begin operations this February. "I am starting a branch in Malaysia because this is my country. I would like to contribute to its development."We have about 100 engineers at Phison in Taiwan , 20 of whom are Malaysians.

Though they studied in Taiwan, I had to re-train all the engineers I hire because, like most fresh graduates (in this field), they are not industry-ready upon graduation."Unfortunately, some of the Malaysian engineers want to return home after a couple of years because they are homesick, about to start a family and so on. Some prefer to work in Singapore , as it is closer to home. Instead of losing them to competitors, I decided to set up an office in Malaysia where they can still work for me," said Pua. Another problem faced by returning computer engineers from Taiwan, Pua added, was the lack of job opportunities for hardware engineers in Malaysia. "There is no environment or support for design engineers here in Malaysia. One of my Malaysian engineers from Phison returned home and ended up as a teacher in a Chinese school! I was shocked and thought, 'After all that training and re-training, he is going to just teach?' I told him to hold on till I open up the Phison branch in Malaysia ."Though he has been in Taiwan for the past 12 years and married to a Taiwanese, Pua is not sure how much longer he will remain there. "I have really no idea where I will be in 20 years. Maybe Taiwan , maybe Malaysia, maybe somewhere else ... it all depends on my business.

The industry is moving so fast that I cannot predict what or where I will be," he said.For the moment though, Taiwan is home for Pua, his wife and two children even though he misses the Malaysian way of life. "I come home once a year for Chinese New Year and will usually stay for about two weeks. There are several things I really miss about Malaysia. One is the food! For the past 12 years I have been craving for Malaysian food ... I miss laksa, curry noodles, chee cheong fun and all the other delicious dishes we have here. "I also miss the lifestyle and quality of life here. When I come back, I am always amazed to see people hanging out and relaxing at mamak shops at night. In Taiwan , most people would still be at work at that time of the night! "Before I got married, I used to work for 15 to 17 hours a day, everyday. Now that I have children, my wife has forbidden me to stay so late. Now, I go to work at 9am and come home by 11pm. These hours are quite normal for the Taiwanese."The man who invented USB pen-drive is a young modest Malaysian who can't even get into a local University but invented the most versatile, indispensable computer peripheral today. And helped his adopted country, Taiwan made $31bil in the process. The rest is history....

The way of the numbers game

GE-13: BN wins landslide victory

Mariam Mokhtar

Aug 22, 11

MalaysiakiniOnly an optimist would believe that their vote would sweep Umno from power in GE-13. Why bother with a sham election and waste resources going through the motions of an election, where the outcome has already been decided in advance? The headlines will proudly boast: “BN wins. Najib scores a landslide victory, in a massive 103 percent turnout”.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak wants GE-13 before electoral reforms. In a functioning democracy, the rakyat has a choice. The fundamental difference is that we are denied that choice. We distrust our electoral processes despite Najib’s assurance about the parliamentary select committee (PSC) on electoral reforms. Will Umno/BN leave office gracefully?

At the 61st Umno general assembly Najib declared: “Even if our bodies are crushed and our lives lost, brothers and sisters, whatever happens, we must defend Putrajaya”. At the World Youth day meet in Putrajaya, Najib screamed, “Will you defend Putrajaya with me?” before breaking into a disturbing tirade: “Defend Putrajaya! Defend Putrajaya! Defend Putrajaya!”

By 2011, the People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela) would consist of 2.6 million members. Will they be issued postal votes too? Some people believe that certain western democracies are far superior, with honest and principled people in government. Not true! Politicians in foreign establishments can be just as devious and as corrupt as the Malaysian ones. Their government appears to be working only because their rakyat makes sure the politicians serve them and not the other way around. They are not afraid of criticising their MPs. Politicians who do not adhere to the minimum parliamentary standards, are booted out.

In these countries, elected representatives are monitored, pursued and made accountable for their actions. Politicians are important in that they enact laws in parliament, on our behalf. But politicians need to be regulated. They are the tools with which the state can meddle in our lives.

MPs are to be controlled

MPs are to be controlled, not controlling. It is by us being watchful, and not sycophantic, that keeps MPs in check. Malaysians have seen a constant barrage of electoral fraud. Last week, former soldiers alleged that they were ordered by their superiors to manipulate votes. But the denunciation by the Chief of the Armed Forces, General Zulkifeli Mohd Zin, who labelled these ex-soldiers as traitors, is itself an act of treachery.

Illegal workers being granted citizenship and voting rights have been unearthed. MyKads of dubious authenticity are distributed to foreigners. Political expediency seems more important than sovereignty. It appears that the NRD is a major threat to national security. Scores of centenarians, or people who have long since died, have been resurrected, to cast their votes. These accompany the usual complaints of vote-buying, intimidation and promises of aid in exchange for votes.

Gerrymandering, or the division of geographical areas into constituencies which will unfairly benefit only one party, is overlooked by the EC. Pro-opposition areas may have one MP representing over 100,000 voters in the one constituency whereas in BN strongholds, constituencies consist of around 5,000 people.

Just before Bersih’s 9 July march, Wan Ahmad Wan Omar (left), the EC’s deputy chairman, complained that NGOs were obsessed with the comparison of election practices between Malaysia and other countries. He said, “Elections observers must be domestic observers. Foreign observers, they don’t know our election laws, they don’t understand. It’s a different value system.”

Yet he failed to act after Ambiga Sreenevasan and other local election activists were banned from monitoring the Sarawak state elections. Wan Ahmad claimed that our election laws were “fair and impartial” and was stung by the “negative” comments of foreign observers. He said, “They are foreigners, who are they? Why do we need foreigners, Germans commenting on our election system?”

He is right. The culture of “You help me, I help you” is “Umno-esque” and peculiar to Malaysia. Malaysia is ‘superior’ and has nothing to learn from others. Wan Ahmad’s arrogance smacks of “Ketuanan Melayu” and extols the virtues of the warped BTN indoctrination. So what exactly is the EC’s role when it continually coughs up excuse after lame excuse of why it cannot ensure clean elections?

EC but a toothless dragon

The EC is but a toothless dragon whose only job seems to be the defence of BN. It turns a blind eye when Umno/BN uses government resources, the national media and other instruments of the state, for its own propaganda. The poor appear to be supportive of Umno and in past elections, people living in decrepit hovels have posters of Umno, Najib or Taib Mahmud (for Sarawak) adorning their homes.

In Sarawak, the villagers idolise Taib, like teenagers would their pop-idol, when Taib makes his grand entrance, by helicopter, at longhouses. Usually, his Mercedes is on standby in case Taib fancies the trek home by car. The contrast between the villagers’ pitiful surroundings with basic infrastructure, and Taib’s opulence, makes it hard to imagine how they have benefitted from Taib’s long rule. What do they hope to gain by supporting him for another term?

It is the same story in peninsular Malaysia. The rural people and the poor appear to support Umno/BN. Perhaps they are comfortable with the devil you know than the one you don’t. Perhaps the opposition has yet to gain the confidence of the rural folk. Have the destitute given up hope of change; they are prepared to accept the few tokens of appreciation like sacks of rice, Milo and sugar, in exchange for votes? Does “stability” triumph over “change”?

Bersih cannot do it alone because Umno/BN dominates Malaysian politics. Any attempt by the opposition to “oppose” in Parliament means they are not allowed to table their motions or at worst, they risk being suspended. With enormous cash reserves, and the ability to utilise government resources, unlike the opposition, Umno/BN can command political patronage amongst businesses. In an election, favours are called in and Umno/BN do act like they are above the law.

Too arrogant to acknowledge the voters

‘Najib & co’ are too arrogant to acknowledge the voters: What is the rakyat saying? What do they want? Can they cast their vote and be sure that the policies and the person they voted for, will be reflected in the final outcome?

Fraud, manipulation, phantom votes and money politics are useful instruments which have helped to prop up Umno, for 54 years. Umno has been rattled by Bersih and the popular uprising in Egypt has given Malaysians hope. The rakyat is finally getting to have a real taste of democracy but the challenges are enormous as we try and adapt to being “free” and “fair”.

The trick to improving Malaysian politics is not to allow the political parties and their leaders any let-up but to be constantly critical of their performance. Let’s have less praise and more scrutiny. GE-13 should not be held until electoral reforms are under way. Don’t be fooled by Najib’s latest spin on democracy and his smokescreen about the PSC and electoral reform.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ‘real-speak’, this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.