Dr M quits Umno

The Star

Tuesday May 20, 2008

ALOR STAR: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has announced he is quitting Umno, in what is seen as his final push to force Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to step down as Prime Minister and party president.

His wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali has also quit, according to his website http://www.chedet.com/

Dr Mahathir also called on Umno members to join him in this radical move, which he likened to “removing gangrene” in order for the party to survive.

Except for two party veterans and one branch in the Merbok division, there were no other takers.

Abdullah, who expressed shock at Dr Mahathir's decision, however, reiterated that he would not give in to the pressure from the former premier.

Party deputy president Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak offered to meet Dr Mahathir to “discuss the decision” to quit.

Dr Mahathir has been on the warpath against Abdullah since 2004, claiming his successor was unfit for the job and has stepped up his attacks after Barisan Nasional's disastrous results in the March 8 general election.




The New Straits Times
2008/05/20

The Mahathir gambit: Can he gain the momentum?
By : Comment by Zubaidah Abu Bakar

WAS it political brinkmanship? Or could it be a mis-step for Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, whose repeated calls for Umno members to quit have backfired, forcing him to announce that he himself was leaving the party he once led for 22 years?

These were some of the questions raised in Umno circles when the former prime minister - whose party membership number 00001 tells the whole story - dropped the bombshell at a forum on "The Position of Malays post-12th General Election" in Alor Star yesterday.

There were shouts of support when Dr Mahathir said he would return to the party following a leadership change. He said Umno was no longer the same party that was formed 62 years ago to fight for Malay interests, rights and privileges.

"But now it has become a party merely to support Abdullah's leadership, serve his, his family's and his cronies' interests," he alleged again.

During his term as prime minister, Dr Mahathir had also been accused many times of nepotism and cronyism but he denied it. Many in the Alor Star audience were dumbfounded by his announcement, asking each other whether they had heard him right.

The 82-year-old former party president has been waging a war of words against his hand-picked successor Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for more than two years, but had given no indication that he would quit the party.

Why now?

"Why did he do that? Now, we do not have a platform to fight for Umno's survival," said a former divisional delegate to the party general assembly who is now an ordinary member of the Kubang Pasu division, which Dr Mahathir once led.

Does this mean that his staunch supporters would follow in his footsteps en masse and cause irreparable cracks in Umno?

At least one, Tan Sri Sanusi Junid, the former Umno secretary-general during whose term in office Umno was declared an unlawful party by the courts, said immediately that he was following "his boss".

Associate Professor Mohammad Agus Yusoff of Universiti Malaya did not rule out that more members would quit the party and said this may further weaken Umno.

But there are those who believe Dr Mahathir's resignation is the former prime minister's latest strategy in forcing Abdullah to step down.

There is also the view that his move was to deflect attention from the Lingam video clip issue, in which he was implicated. But Dr Mahathir denies this.

Whatever his reasons, his timing comes at a critical point for Umno following the Barisan Nasional's dismal performance in the March general election where some party members had asked for Abdullah's resignation.

Dr Mahathir has been churning the ground to get party members to rebel against Abdullah's leadership.

But he has been frustrated that his calls to push Abdullah to resign have not snowballed the way that he had wanted, said a divisional leader in the crowd.

"So, he is now asking party members in Kedah to quit by trying to convince them that those in other states would also be doing so; just to try and build momentum.

"But it backfired when someone from the floor challenged him to fulfil what he preached by leading the way and quitting," the divisional leader said.

However, Dr Mahathir will face a problem in getting followers.

Professor Mohamed Mustaffa Ishak of Universiti Utara Malaysia believed members eyeing for posts at the division level would only follow in Dr Mahathir's footsteps if they failed in their bids.

Dr Mahathir is not any ordinary member and he does enjoy considerable support, having led the party for 22 years. Certainly his resignation will have an impact on Umno - negative or otherwise.

The next few days will be crucial. If the momentum does not build up, it will end up as a vain attempt by Dr Mahathir, who has never had a good relationship with any of his deputies when he was prime minister or with any of his predecessors such as Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Hussein Onn, to control the party in retirement.

If there is momentum, the highly-charged political atmosphere after the March 8 general election will go up another notch.

But the sad fact for Umno is that the call for its members to quit will benefit only opposition political parties and Dr Mahathir may, knowingly or otherwise, be playing into the hands of Umno's rivals at a time when its leaders are making efforts to revive and rebuild.

The New Straits imes
2008/05/20

Mukhriz defies dad's call to quit, will fight PM within Umno

by June Ibrahim


KUALA LUMPUR, Tues:

Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir is not following his father former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad out of Umno. But the first-term MP for Jerlun said he was not backing Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Umno president.

“My friends and I are of the opinion that the prime minister should relinquish all three positions held by him which are the post of prime minister, Umno president and Barisan Nasional chairman immediately,” he told a packed press conference at a hotel here today. “This is the decision that I have made for now. I will not hesitate to change this decision if things do not change for the better in due time,” he said.

Mukhriz reiterated that his father’s decision to resign from the party was because he loved Umno. “I also believe that there are many ways to skin a cat, hence I am announcing that I will stay on in Umno, as the parliamentarian for Jerlun and an Umno member. I will be loyal to the party as a member but I will be a strong voice that will criticise the deficiency of the party’s leadership,” he said, reading from a press statement in Bahasa Malaysia.

He claimed several other members have given Abdullah an ultimatum, that is to quit all three positions before the branch elections start in July.

On whether his father Dr Mahathir welcomed his decision to stay on in the party, Mukhriz replied: “My father is unaware of my decision. I have yet to speak with him and tell him about this. “I believe that he may be disappointed with me for not following him but nevertheless I will try and explain to him my reasons and hope that he will understand them,” he said.

(On Monday, Dr Mahathir had said: “It is up to them (members) to follow or not, but if they think they should continue supporting Pak Lah and give priority to Datuk Abdullah Ahmad Badawi over the party’s struggles, it is their right.”)

Mukhriz also did not brush aside suggestions that he was staying on in the party because he was vying for the Umno Youth chief position which will be up grabs in December.

“I have been getting positive feedback from the ground,” he said on his aspirations for the Umno Youth chief position.

He said although Abdullah has made it clear that he would not leave the party despite Dr Mahathir’s resignation, many Umno members will pressure him to do so by conducting road shows and campaigns.

“Many people are of the opinion that he should leave immediately and this is the feedback that we get from members and even veterans,” he added

Bush blaming Indians for food shortage takes the cake

American Burger

Indian Capati

Chinese Dim Sum

Malaysian Nasi Lemak

The New Straits Times
12/05/2008

Bush blaming Indians for food shortage takes the cake
By : Mahendra Ved

To be asked what to eat and what not is disconcerting, but to be told that one is eating too much is downright insulting.

This human trait is universal.

US President George W. Bush probably did not mean to insult the Indians and the Chinese. When he said the rising prosperity of the two Asian giants meant there was demand for more and better food, he was explaining the global price rise to his own people.

Bush talked of India's 350 million-strong middle class. "That's bigger than America. Their middle class is larger than our entire population. And when you start getting wealth, you start demanding better nutrition and better food, and so demand is high, and that causes the prices to go up," he said.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, several American and European lawmakers and economists have also talked in the same vein about China and India. But none has implied that the two countries should eat less or go hungry.

The Chinese reaction, if at all, would be political and diplomatic. But Bush's comments touched a raw Indian nerve. Its politicos cemented the ideological divide and political differences to engage in Bush-bashing.

This was the second snub to the United States within a fortnight of asking Washington not to tell Delhi how to deal with visiting Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. If one is preachy, the other is prickly.

Defence Minister A.K. Antony called it "a cruel joke". Junior Commerce Minister Jairam Ramesh, an MIT-trained economist, declared: "George W. Bush has never been known for his knowledge of economics. And he has just proved once again how comprehensively wrong he is.

"Communist Brinda Karat predictably called it a "reflection of an imperialist mentality".

If Bush needs to explain food price rises to his people, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is combating 7.57 per cent inflation. So, everyone is defending his turf.

Sensing this, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) conveniently attacked Manmohan and not Bush.

"His (Bush's) statement is aimed at serving his own constituency ahead of the US presidential elections," said BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar.

Indians have a reputation for being sensitive and, like most Third World nations, anti-American.

This is, of course, despite thousands of American visas being cornered by Indian techies, adding to a 2.6-million presence in the land of prosperity. While the storm in the Indian dhal bowl blew over, the global food crisis persists.

The Indian angst is not without reason. For one, India is largely self-sufficient and even a net exporter of food after years of effort.

It could face a food crisis again with one or more bad monsoons. But it will be managed. There has been no starvation death in many years. India's problem is not shortage, but one of management and distribution.

Even globally, the population doubled from three billion in the early 1960s to six billion by the end of the 20th century, but episodes of mass starvation were the exception rather than the rule.

If people didn't have enough to eat it was usually because of war, pestilence or other (usually man-made) calamity, not because there wasn't enough food to go around.

Bush's contention that people eat more and eat better as prosperity comes is a universal phenomenon. One learnt this while studying world economic history that, as elsewhere, Indians switched from coarse millet to fine rice and wheat.

So what is new? For one, India, even if self-reliant, cannot and does not live in isolation.

It dug into its limited rice reserves meant for the poor to sell cyclone-hit Bangladesh 500,000 tonnes of rice.

Food was also on top of the relief material the Indian navy rushed to cyclone-hit Myanmar last week.

The other new development is in the US and Europe: excessive emphasis on biofuels leading to diversion of arable land and food crops to produce energy.

Bush has defended this policy, calling himself "an ethanol person". The US says ethanol causes only 1.5 per cent of the shortage. For the rest, again, China and India are the culprits.

An American consumes five times more food than an Indian, three times more than a Chinese and twice as much as an European.

According to figures released by the US Department of Agriculture for 2007 as quoted in the Times of India: "An Indian eats about 178kg of grain in a year, while a US citizen consumes 1,046kg.

"It's not just grains. The Times of India report goes on to state:

"Milk consumption, in fluid form, is 78kg per year for each American, compared with 36kg in India and 11kg in China.

"Vegetable oils consumption per person is 41kg per year in US, while Indians are making do with just 11kg per year. These are figures for liquid milk, not for cheese, butter, yogurt and milk powders, which are consumed in huge proportions in the more advanced countries.

"As far as meat consumption is concerned, the US leads the world in per capita consumption by a wide margin. Beef consumption, for example, is 42.6kg per person per year, compared with a mere 1.6kg in India and 5.9kg in China. In case you are thinking that perhaps Indians might be going in for chicken, think again. In the US, 45.4kg of poultry meat is consumed every year by each person, compared with 1.9kg in India.

"Pork consumption is negligible in India, while it is a major item elsewhere. In the European Union, 42.6kg of pork is consumed per person every year, while in the US, 29.7kg is consumed. Pork is a staple for Chinese, and so more than 35kg are consumed per person per year. And, we are not talking about various other types of meat, like turkey.

"But the story would not be complete without mentioning the plight of Africa, where foodgrain consumption last year was a mere 162kg per year for each person, or about 445g per day."

In blaming India and China, the few gluttons of the world are missing the wood for the trees.

The Dog & The Man

The dog is Bulldog, the man is Karpal Singh. Both are fierce. Other similarities ?

To me Karpal splashes colours to the political and legal scenarios .... sometimes it is nice, sometimes it is nasty, sometimes it is messy ..... depending who you are; you may like his splashing ( then it becomes a painting to the followers), if you don't like him his splashing is just a mess.

This is my splashing of colours, entitled "something fishy"

21 Mei 2008,
Karpal received death threat :-

The passing of a towering Malaysian

Tan Sri S.M. Nasimuddin S.M. Amin's Naza Group is well known for its car-making businesses.

The New Straits Times 03/05/2008
The passing of a towering Malaysian
By : Zuraimi Abdullah



KUALA LUMPUR: One of the country's most successful businessmen, Tan Sri S.M. Nasimuddin S.M. Amin, who founded and built up the diversified Naza Group of Companies, died of lung cancer on Thursday night (Malaysian time) in Los Angeles where he was being treated.

Nasimuddin was one of the finest examples of a New Economic Policy Bumiputera success stories.

Starting with RM80,000 at the age of 21, and ploughing back the gains he made selling imported cars through initial government support, he built a thriving diversified business empire.

Nasimuddin's passing sent shock waves throughout the country, especially among those who knew him, as he had kept his illness under wraps.

Although he had been in the United States seeking treatment in early February, word of his illness only started filtering back last week when his condition worsened.
The Kuala Pilah-born Nasimuddin, who was well known for his philanthropy and support of charities and sports, had, at the time of his death, built up a multi-billion ringgit diversified business empire.

This included motor trading, manufacturing, transport services, engineering, plantations, animal husbandry, credit and leasing, properties, domestic and international hotel operations and insurance.

But he was best known for his penchant and involvement with automobiles, his first love.

Having been one of the recipients of Approved Permits (APs) in the late 1970s, he successfully imported re-conditioned cars from Japan and sold them here.

As his business grew, he ploughed back his profits, unlike the vast majority of other AP recipients who frittered away the rich pickings, leading lives of luxury, so much so that the APs came to be seen as a passport to wealth by many aspiring Bumiputera businessmen.

But of all the hundreds who received the same opportunities, very few, such as Nasimuddin, through hard work and diligence, ventured into different aspects of the industry.

He assembled automobiles, set up plants here and abroad, and eventually became the largest automobile distributor in the country.

The Naza Group is known for its car-making businesses with South Korea's Kia Motors Corp, and more recently, PSA Peugeot Citroen of France. It also distributes exotic marques like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Porsche, Bentley and Ducati.

From that first RM80,000, the small shoplot in Taman Maluri and the initial 20 APs he "bought" from those who had received the permits, Nasimuddin's business gradually became less dependent on motor vehicles.

He bought hotels and properties in the United States, in Britain and in Malaysia, displaying an uncanny trait for sensing when the markets were at their lowest ebb, and making manifold gains when the economy boomed.

Yet, despite the high profile of his original business of fast and luxury cars, Nasimuddin remained till his last days a soft-spoken, low-profile humble businessman, not showing in the least the traits of other nouveau rich who flashed their helicopters, private jets and yachts.

Most days, he would ride up front with his driver in a Toyota Land Cruiser and would only use his Mercedes Benz saloon on days he had to go for meetings and functions.

On days when he had time, he would drive his favourite seven-year-old Ferrari.

He never lorded over his staff and employees, treating them more like colleagues and they, too, in their demeanour, showed respect and regard for him - never fear.

It was no surprise that his friends ranged from the most powerful and famous to the poor and ordinary.

Born in 1955, Nasimuddin was always interested in cars. After completing his Form Five education at SM Tuanku Muhammad in Kuala Pilah, he decided to learn business from his father, a contractor who was a prominent member of the Kuala Pilah community.

Nasimuddin's father, S.M. Amin, was disappointed that his son did not want to pursue his studies, but respecting his wish to be a businessman, asked him to work for his friend who owned the Lam Foong Transport Company as a dispatch supervisor.

But the call of business was too strong and after a year, Nasimuddin - already married to his childhood sweetheart, nurse Zaleha Ismail - set up his own construction company. He went into the automobile business in 1976, selling 10 to 15 units of imported Japanese cars each month.

In 1979, as business grew, he opened a branch in Kampung Baru in Kuala Lumpur. Nasimuddin expanded his business into the import and trading of reconditioned luxury cars and as a dealer for completely built-up Mercedes Benz vehicles and assembling Kia models.

In 2003, the Naza Group became an automaker with the launch of its multi-purpose vehicle Naza Ria. Priced at RM98,888, the MPV was the cheapest in its range at the time.

One of the keys to Nasimuddin's success in transforming the Naza Group into what it is today was his RM500 million investment on an automotive complex in Gurun, Kedah.

This facility, set over 60ha of land, is where the bulk of the group's car assembly is done, although another bigger factory is being built in Bertam, Penang.

In December 2006, Nasimuddin received one of South Korea's highest awards for his contribution to the automotive industry through the partnership between Naza and Kia that started in 1996.

He was given the Presidential Award industrial service medal from the South Korean president.

He was also named the Automotive Man of the Year at the NSTP-AmBank Car of the Year Award and also the Tokoh Maal Hijrah, both in 2006.

His passing is mourned by all - employees, friends, the country's leaders, and most of all by his family to whom he was more of a friend as he was a father and husband.

Note:-

In late 1980's Tan Sri came over to my house with my brother-in-law, Atim. He let Atim use his BMW 728 to drive around while Atim was in KL from Labuan. I knew his brother Shamsuddin who was doing contracting works when I was working in Sewa Logi, Bank Pembangunan; he was one of those selected by the government to undergo intensive training overseas, in his case he was trained to repair bridges. The government program was to create good contractors and entrepreneurs and make them towering Malays. A few hundred were sent with the hope that many will become millionaires. Later in the 1990's government introduced project management consultants to carry out turnkey projects for smart schools, hospitals, etc with indirect intention to create towering Malay professionals. These good intentions and objectives of the government proved successful to a limited extend, the failure as I see it is mostly from the participants for not seriously taking advantage of the offerings and partly from those selfishly taking advantage of the opportunities.