The strange case of recycled ICs in Sabah:

Comment by Ong Kian Ming  | published at Malaysiakini.com, 14. June 2012

Many of the problems uncovered thus far by the Malaysian Electoral Roll Analysis Project (Merap) are not directly attributable to the Election Commission (EC).

The responsibility of issuing identity cards and ensuring that as far as possible the holders of these cards are Malaysian citizens who live in valid residences is under the jurisdiction of the National Registration Department (NRD).

While it would be more reassuring if the EC were playing a more pro-active role by questioning the NRD regarding some of the problems identified, it would be unfair to blame the EC, for example, if NRD were giving out ICs to non-Malaysians, thereby allowing these people to registered as voters.

In this article, I want to highlight a few major problems with the allocation of IC numbers by the NRD to voters in Sabah, a state where many cases of non-citizens being given ICs have been long documented under ‘Project IC’ or ‘Project M’ with the intention of wresting the state government back from Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) after it left the BN coalition just prior to the 1990 general elections.

These examples are especially troubling because it shows active complicity by the NRD in changing IC numbers, transferring IC numbers from one person to another and allowing more than one person to ‘share’ the same IC number.

My preliminary analysis, obtained by comparing voter details in the electoral roll used in Sabah in the 2008 general elections with the electoral roll updated to Quarter 3 (Q3) of 2011, revealed the following problems with regard to the IC numbers of voters in Sabah:

1) The same voter being given a new IC number

2) A voter’s old IC number being given to another voter

3) Two voters sharing the same old IC number

4) Voters with the same name and same date of birth registered in the same constituency

BERSIH June 14,2012 | read full report 

Sleeping with the ‘enemy’

KOTA KINABALU: There are no real rivals in politics. Reading between the lines in Sabah, you get the impression that everyone’s sharing a room, if not a bed, and the divide merely an illusion.

People and leaders here are hedging their bets – from the grassroots politicos to Chief Minister Musa Aman, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.

It’s no longer an issue of loyalty; politics here is all about the right price and “living in the now”.

Take, Anwar for instance. Much was expected of Anwar during his visit to Sabah last weekend. He himself had suggested an “important” announcement.

But none came. June 10, like all other dates previously flagged by Anwar, came and went without a whimper.

The the much-touted “defection” by Upko deputy chairman Wilfred Bumburing and Umno warlord Lajim Ukin did not happen.

Both Bumburing and Lajim are MPs and speculations are that Anwar is aiming to end the current sitting of Parliament with a few more MPs on his side

Bumburing, Lajim and “others” are still likely to jump ship because they have allegedly accepted “gifts” from Anwar.

But a new spin has surfaced in Sabah following Angkatan Amanah Merdeka founder and president Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s (Ku Li) visit here on June 3.

FMT | Full article here :

The political assassination of Rafizi Ramli?

KTemoc Konsiders |  Friday June 15, 2012

P.100 Pandan; N.21 Chempaka, N.22 Teratai

Pandan - a six letter word which will mean political death for one of two excellent politicians.

We have been astounded, nope more than that, flabbergasted actually, to read that Rafizi Ramli, PKR’s rising star, has been nominated to stand in that federal constituency against local hero Ong Tee Keat, a six term MP there (including Pandan’s former constituency title as Ampang Jaya) - see PKR’s Rafizi to face Tee Keat in Pandan for GE13 at Malaysia-Today.

Against the tide of the 2008 tsunami, Ong emerged winner in that general election with a healthy majority, and even more amazing, despite two of the state seats within Pandan going to Pakatan. That's who Rafizi will be going against!

Anyway, Rafizi has been endowed with brilliance, scoring exceptional academic and professional achievements, which means he possesses solid underpinning knowledge for life’s tussles. And he demonstrated this quality in his ingenuity in digging out the NFC scandal where he exposed questionable practice and expenditure of NFC money by its top management, and in those revelations, succeeded in damning a senior UMNO minister from palace to cowshed wakakaka.

Ong Tee Keat is no less capable, being known as a gifted writer, indicating he has scholastic competencies, an accomplishment valued traditionally as a virtue by Chinese. Ong had actually won several literary awards for his articles. He wrote as a columnist for Sin Chew Jit Poh for nearly a decade. He quitted a lucrative engineering career to participate in politics.

Like Rafizi (or on political seniority, Rafizi is like him) Ong is renowned for his exposure of corruption and inappropriate conduct.

In 2002, when he was MCA Youth chief, he condemned MCA party leaders for acquiring Nanyang Press Holdings Bhd.

Then in September 2006, as deputy minister for higher education, he did it again, exposing allegedembezzlement of funds meant to repair and upgrade vernacular schools. Investigation (by JKR officers) spurred on by Ong’s revelation showed that refurbishment works carried out on SJK(C) Kung Yu in Muar, Johor, was only about RM3,000 worth when the allocation was ten times larger, at RM30,000.

In other words, 90% of funds went missing, and was never explained and which Education Minister (not Higher Education Minister) Hisham had strenuously denied. Then-DPM Najib conveniently dismissed that inconvenient 'fact' of the missing RM27,000 because Ong had not passed that issue to the correct Education Minister, namely his cousin. I bet Ong didn’t do so because it would not only be the 90% funds which disappeared but that ‘fact’ as well wakakaka.

Original Post - read full article