SUGRIVA'S ATLAS, THE ALPS, THE ARCTIC, ANTARCTICA, PERU AND THE RAMAYANA!

by e.s.shankar

THE RAMAYANA

The art of knowing is knowing what to ignore! Rumi. 1207-1273.

The Ramayana is one of the most sacred books of Indian and Hindu culture. It also features very prominently in the cultures of Malaysia (e.g. the Wayang Kulit), Indonesia (especially Bali), Thailand, Burma, Cambodia. Laos and Vietnam. The story of ‘Sugriva’s Atlas’ in the Ramayana, was revealed earlier this years by engineer, MBA and archeoastronomer Nilesh Nilkanth Oak. The Ramayana is an ancient epic story of the Lord Vishnu Avatar, King Sri Rama, whose rule is described as a golden age of India and Rama himself recognized as the greatest, most virtuous and perfect king in Indian history. Refer: The Ramayana. Sugriva is a king of one of the larger tribes of the Vanaras who lived in the forests and mountains.

The Ramayana is an Indian classical epic poem originally written down about 500 BCE in Sanskrit by the Brahmin philosopher, sage and poet, Valmiki. It comprises 24,000 verses and 480,000 words. Refer: Valmiki.

While western historians maintain that the Ramayana is a 500 BCE epic, many Indians dispute this, particularly since most ancient civilizations, including the Greeks, had oral traditions that went back thousands of years. The situation is complicated by the fact that many Indian documents are undated and  do not refer to dates in their narratives either. Nilesh Nilkanth Oak has, however, used (as he has done with that other Indian epic, the Mahabharatha) astronomical references in the Ramayana to date the era of its events to 12209 BCE i.e. 14 thousand years ago.

The Ramayana is the story of Rama’s life and defeat of his nemesis, the 10-headed (read as a highly egotistical genius who had mastered the ‘Aya Kalaigal’, 64-subject Arts ranging from literacy, maths, science, astronomy to music, archery, war etc.) Ravana who kidnaps his beautiful and virtuous wife and imprisons her in his monstrous palace in the island of Lanka, reckoned to be none other than the Sri Lanka (old name Ceylon) of today, located right across the Palk Straits at the southern tip of India.

SUGRIVA’S ATLAS & NILESH OAK’S VIDEOS

Sri Rama consults his allies, one of whom is King Sugriva, to search for Ravana’s location. Sugriva had the reputation of knowing more about the geography of the world than anyone else at that time and had described the world as a ‘mandala’ or sphere, i.e. round. Western civilization and the Catholic Church which championed a Flat Earth Theory for nearly 2000 years, would only accept the concept of a spherical Earth when Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543 CE) wrote his treatise on it in the 16^th century!

Sugriva's Atlas. Part 1. Nilesh Oak. 

Sugriva's Atlas. Part 2. Nilesh Oak. 

Sugriva suggests that Rama consider sending armed search parties from India:

1. East through Thailand, Indonesia and as far as the cliffs of Peru and the Andes Mountain (Udaya Parvatham).

2. West  as far as the Swiss Alps (Astagiri).

3. Northward as far as Siberia and the Arctic (land at the end of liquid water or without Sun and warns them not to proceed beyond a point called Uttharapuru).

4. South as far as Antarctica (the completely dark land at the end of the earth, Pitru, capital of the land of Yama, the god of Death and a very inhospitable place to be avoided at all cost).

THE PARACAS CANDELABRA OF PERU

Much of Europe and North America were not visible because they were covered in ice. But perhaps the most startling information revealed by Sugriva was the existence of the Paracas Candelabra or Candelabra of the Andes which is visible even today from about 12 miles out from the Pacific Ocean as one approaches the coast of Peru! It is a feature engraved on the cliff and is about 181 meters (595 feet) tall, 0.61 meters (2 feet) deep, described by Sugriva as:

          “...like a Thirusoolam (trident), a three-headed golden flag with a rectangular base (vedi) shining on the top of the mountain.” See video 1 above, clock 26.58 – 32.05. Refer: Paracas Candelabra.

The Spanish who invaded and conquered Peru in the 16^th century CE had no clue as to the origin or purpose of the Candelabra nor did the locals. However, Sugriva says that it was carved there by Lord Indra to mark the eastern most point of one of their expeditions. How could he have known anything about it by even the western accepted date of 500 CE, a good two thousand years before the Spaniards? Or the existence of the Alps, Arctic, Antarctica and the ice sheets?

Valmiki also explains the nature of the people who made up the Vanaras groups and who were represented in the Ramayana as monkeys and bears. They were human beings who lived in and off the forest by choice and over time, donned the mask and tail of monkeys and fur of bear skin as cultural distinctions. The Vanaras included distinguished rishis, siddhas and others who practiced ascetism but had children who regarded the forests as their natural homes.

They were physically bigger and more powerful than the city dwellers as well as highly intelligent. They included the Rakshashas depicted as ugly, fierce, warring and cannibalistic and blood-drinking demons, but were actually shamans/wizards who had acquired the powers of sorcery such as shape shifting, invisibility etc. Ravana, the protagonist of the Ramayana, was the child of a powerful rishi and a Rakshashi. The Vanaras were spread out in the forests and mountains of not just India, but the world. But, in later retellings of the Ramayana, the Vanaras' origins were glossed over and emerged in popular culture as monkeys. Thus Hanuman the Monkey God, Vali, Sugriva and other monkey kings and characters mentioned in the Ramayana, were not really moneys.

When Sri Rama asked Sugriva how he knew so much about the geography of the world, his reply was that he had personally been to all these places!!! The Ramayana clearly mentions a silent ‘Pushpaka Vimana’ flying chariot which Ravana pilots to kidnap Sita and spirit her away to Lanka. Did Sugriva posses a flying machine to traverse the globe and record all the mountain peaks that he mentions?

Nilesh Nilkanth Oak is no sensational seeker out to mint his millions by riding the UFO and conspiracy theory wave. He is a serious and highly educated engineer who is looking at other ways of proving that the Indian civilization was far more ancient and knowledgeable than is generally given credit for, especially by western scholars. He does not engage in wild conjecture. He uses the highly respected fields of astronomy, archaeology, anthropology, hydrology, oceanography, and other scientific studies to make educated guesses, if not conclusive ones in some instances. There is more than meets the eye with Sugriva's Atlas, for sure!

OPEN LETTER TO THE AG AND MACC ON THE FULL ACQUITTAL OF NOR EHSANUDDIN MOHD HARUN

 by e.s.shankar

Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open? Rumi. 1207-1273.

In February 2019, Ex-Kota Tinggi MP and Felda Director Nor Ehsanuddin Mohd Harun Narrashid was charged with 29 counts of alleged bribery/corruption. 24 prosecution witnesses had already testified in court since then and in December 2020, the DPP announced that 16 more witnesses would be called up.

Then suddenly on 1 September 2021, it was announced that the DPP had withdrawn all 29 charges and Ehsanuddin fully acquitted. The DPP had apparently agreed to the acquittal on 21 May 2021. Click Here. Why was it kept secret for 3 months?

On 6 September, the MACC gave the following explanation. Click Here.

1. It had referred the case back to the Attorney General's (AG) Chambers as a decision was made to withdraw the charges based on the latest developments.

2. The DPP’s withdrawal of all 29 charges was based on verified facts from further investigations.

3. Based on new findings obtained through Ehsanuddin's new defense statement, the accused successfully proved that he had paid back the sum in question before the start of the initial investigation.

4. A key witness also confirmed the matter (money) as advances.

5. The decision was also made because statements from the key witness were inconsistent.

Matters were thrown further into further confusion when on 8 September, the Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Advisory Committee (AAAC), Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang, once an UMNO politician, is reported to have said that the MACC’s investigations:

1. Were unprofessional.

2. Influenced by political considerations. Click Here.

Understandably many members of the public were dismayed and angry. Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) President Muhammad Mohan said that the AG/MACC decision came as a shock to civil society. Others have written that MACC’s explanations and clarifications did not pass the smell test.

So, here are some questions to the AG/MACC, the answers to which will greatly help us understand why all the charges against Ehsanuddin were dropped and he was not given a DNAA (discharge not amounting to an acquittal), but fully acquitted.

1. Before the date the charges were filed in court, had MACC checked with the alleged bribers whether Ehsanuddin had made any payments to them?

2. Had they then checked his or the alleged bribers’ bank accounts and inspected their books and records for official receipts?

3. OR, is the MACC now admitting that it did not carry out proper investigations before the charges were made in court, i.e. that they were grossly negligent?

4. Later Ehsanuddin submitted that payments had been made BEFORE the start of the initial investigations:

(a) Who made the payments? Ehsanuddin, a family member or a 3^rd party? If not Ehsanuddin himself, what is the name of that party?

(b) How was this payment made - cash, cheque, bank draft, TT, online banking transfer?

(c) Did MACC check his or the alleged bribers’ bank accounts, bank transaction vouchers and inspect their books and records for official receipts?

5. Did MACC verify if Ehsanuddin had sufficient personal/family wealth and means to make those repayments?

6. Does the “key witness” have the expertise to determine if the payments to Ehsanuddin were “advances” and not alleged bribes?

7. IF the “key witness” was the alleged briber, why would MACC accept his opinion that the payments were “advances” and not alleged bribes?

8. At the time the charges were filed, the “key witnesses” would have been required to sign a SD. If his statements now are inconsistent with what he swore earlier in the SD, would that not mean perjury (lying under oath)? Is MACC going to charge this “key witness” with perjury or let him go scot free?

9. Under Malaysian law, whether or not a person repaid money received as an alleged bribe, like the crime of Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT), he is still guilty of a crime. Was this not discussed with the AG and a DNAA requested instead of a full acquittal?

10. Does the MACC accept the accusation against it that it had acted unprofessionally and was influenced by political considerations? If not, will it be taking legal action soon against AAAC Chairman Tan Sri Abu Zahar Ujang to clear its image, name, reputation and integrity as an independent enforcement agency that acts without fear or favor?

Thank you.

AHL - THE ANTI HOPPING LAW & KISS!

 by e.s. shankar

The wound is the place where the LIGHT enters you. Rumi 1207-1273.

I am writing this as a layman and wish to KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!).[1]

Political Party Hopping is known across the world by many names – Switching, Decamping, Crossing the Aisle, Cross-Carpeting, Crossing the Floor, Switching or plain Defecting, Crosstitution (alluding to prostitution) etc.

Political Party Hopping, known as ‘katakking’ (frogging) locally, besides corruption, has destroyed general election results and democracy like nothing else. Rarely has any politician in Malaysia hopped because they heroically embraced universally accepted principles. Most of the destructive hopping in Malaysia has happened because of corruption and money. Ridiculous sums have been mentioned, but something between RM20-30 million seems to be the ballpark going rate figure for each hop.

The two most famous incidents in recent times of katakking in Malaysia happened when:

1. In January 2009, 3 Pakatan Harapan (PH) state assemblymen in Perak hopped over to Barisan National (BN), causing the downfall of the PH state government. This was the notorious ‘Perak Coup’. Till today, many legal experts believe that the Court of Appeal's decision accepting the swearing in of the replacement BN government, was Constitutionally very, very deeply flawed.

2. In February 2020, the infamous ‘Sheraton Hotel Move’ and the treachery of then PM Mahathir from PH saw the fall of the PH federal Government. MP’s and State Assemblypersons katakked all over Malaysia, some more than once even before GE14! The states of Johor, Kedah, Perak and Melaka, and Sabah, fell to the Opposition and Perikatan Nasional, slammed as the “Backdoor government” and even worse in Malay by furious and outraged citizens.

A lot has been written on this topic by experts and NGO’s like Bersih and the well-known and respected Dr.Wong Chin Huat (PhD), a political scientist, activist and columnist. These are for the lawmakers and MP’s to read when they draft the AHL. Refer How To Deter Party Hopping In Malaysia

On 29 August, Azalina Othman, the ex-Deputy Speaker in Parliament and a die-hard UMNO MP since 2004, suggested Parliament pass at its next sitting a ‘Recall Bill’ which is more or less the same as an AHL.  She had resigned from her post on 23 August. This is of course nothing new as such a reform was already included in the ‘Institutional Reform Committee (IRC)’ Report prepared under ex-Bar Council President, ex-Bersih Chairperson and lawyer Ambiga Sreenevasen and submitted to Mahathir in July 2018. Ketuanist Mahathir criminally put that report at the bottom drawer of his desk and blocked all reforms. Seven months later, his betrayal of PH led to an avalanche of MP’s katakking to unelected PN and the end of the elected PH government.

Azalina’s call, to put it mildly, is incredible because:

1. She has never suggested anything remotely democratic like this in 17 years. Can her motives be pure? She seems to be more focussed towards stopping defections from the new backdoor UMNO/PN/PAS/GPS Sarawak loose coalition of which she is a member.

2. She remained silent while Mahathir, Muhyiddin and Shafie Apdal were sacked from UMNO over the1MDB RM30 Billion and SRC RM4 Billion frauds scandal implicating Najib!

3. In 2018, she helped in the first reading of a private members Bill in Parliament, RUU355, championed by PAS for harsher Syariah punishment in the states. Who knows, it could eventually have led to the introduction of more severe Taliban-type hudud laws. UMNO backed PAS, not because it really wanted to enhance cruel punishment, but thought it would get them more Malay/Muslim votes at GE14. In the event, it was a stragedy (strategy+tragedy). BN lost GE14 to PH for the first time in 61 years since Independence in 1957.

What should Malaysia do? AHL or Recall Bill?

I humbly suggest KISS. We need not try and re-invent the wheel. Why? Simply because the AHL has already been included in the Constitution of Singapore. You can bet your bottom dollar that they would have weighed the pros and cons of AHL in minute detail before they amended their Constitution in 1963. Here are the main items in the Singapore AHL. A MP has to vacate office if the party splits or one:

1. ceases to be a citizen.

2. is expelled or resigns from the political party he stood for at elections.

3. resigns by notice to Parliament.

4. is expelled by Parliament.

5. is declared to be mentally unfit.

6. is absent from Parliament for more than a certain period, say due to prolonged illness.

7. is convicted of an election offence.

8. is convicted in court and sentence to jail for not less than 1 year or to a fine of not less than S2,000.

The key questions are:

1. Who retains the seat and voting right in Parliament? My opinion – it should be the party and not the MP. Many argue that people vote for the individual. I disagree. Malaysia has been ruled since 1957 by a coalition of parties. Other than Independents, all candidates battle under a registered party and logo/flag. Some Independents too have campaigned under a party’s logo/flag.

2. The same applies to an Independent MP who switches to a political party.

3. How will the situation be resolved? As soon as the Speaker in Parliament is notified in writing, the AHL law shall come into effect and the MP shall lose all powers and voting rights. A by-election shall be held within, max 45 days.

4. Who shall oversee the process? Azalina’s Recall Bill will involve complicated, convoluted Parliamentary procedures and the most dreaded thing of all, possible involvement of  judges and courts and their “interpretations”. KISS. The MP's cannot be trusted to police themselves. Let the Election Council (EC) handle the A-Z of it. This of course means that the Constitution will have to be amended and appointments to the EC removed from the powers of the prime minister. A bipartisan committee of Parliament should be given that task to maintain the independence of the EC.

5. Someone else wrote last week that AHL would be Unconstitutional and Immoral because the Constitution guarantees the right of citizens (and MP’s) to freedom of association.

This is of course nonsense. AHL only makes it illegal for MP's to remain in office if they defect. It does not stop them from associating with anyone or any political party. We are guaranteed the right to own and drive a car. But if we commit a serious traffic offence or cause a driving death, that right can be (rightly) curtailed by temporary suspension or permanently.

Ultimately, WE, THE PEOPLE, elect our MP’s and State Assemblypersons. This principle has been in force across the world for nearly 250 years now. Governments are instituted among PEOPLE, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed - the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker, i.e. I, You, We and Us, the mass of ordinary PEOPLE, not just the super rich or elites. The Constitution and Parliament do not “give us the rights”; WE, THE PEOPLE, determine what is fair and right and draft the Constitution and tell Parliament what to do! We must take back our country from the snake-oil salesmen and wolves in sheep’s clothing masquerading as democrats. We must collectively own the government.

If once having gotten our votes, the MP's defiantly and openly betray the People’s rights and trust due to corruption and money, it is WE, THE PEOPLE who shall reserve the right to throw them out or re-appoint that person and political party, not some dubious MP’s in Parliament or judges or courts. 

We also have an archaic system where Senators are not elected. We must use this opportunity to amend the Constitution so that unelected person cannot be appointed to the Cabinet and Deputy Minister’s posts and other positions in government and public institutions through the ‘backdoor’ as it were! Otherwise, accountability is diminished.

So, let’s follow the Singapore law. Let’s not complicate it and create more gaji buta (sinecure) Parliamentary committees and Quangos which will leech on us and suck dry the Taxpayers’ hard earned money.

Let’s KISS and make up!

---

[1] #1 This is just literary licence and not an attempt to mock anyone or insult readers. Thank you.😃😃😃

 

 by e.s. shankar

SAY NO TO RE-INTRODUCING GST!

You are not a drop in the ocean; You are the entire ocean in a drop! Rumi (1207-1273).

The 6% Goods and Services Tax (GST) law came into force on 1st April 2015, mooted by then Prime Minister and Finance Minister Najib Tun Razak and his UMNO/BN government. It was abolished in July 2018 by the new Pakatan Harapan government. GST was a disaster of biblical proportions. A dismal failure. Why? THE PEOPLE were not well-prepared for it in advance and many did not understand the concept or the confusing rules – input tax, output tax, standard rate, zero rate, exempt rate etc. The backbone of the economy i.e. Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), could not come to terms with online filing or afford the administrative and compliance costs.

Ultimately, it failed for three main reasons:

1. Malaysia’s global economic status, i.e. developing nation, was not at a stage where it was ready for GST which painfully burdened mostly the middle and lower income groups.

2. Mainly the government and its Ministers but also the civil service, did not monitor or control prices. Cost of just about everything skyrocketed. Why? Many unscrupulous businesses indulged in profiteering even though they were entitled to GST refunds on their cost of goods and services. Many did claim them, especially manufacturers and wholesalers. They then dishonestly blamed the government for soaring prices and inflation.

3. Bureaucratic red tape resulted in undue delays in many businesses getting their GST refunds. Some RM20 billion never made it to them under Najib’s regime.

The Rakyat revolted. Predictably.

It became an election issue and was the second reason why PH managed a giant-killing act against UMNO/BN and won the 14^th General Election held on 9^th May 2018. The main reason was endemic CORRUPTION, in particular, the RM30 Billion plus fraud at 1MDB and the related RM4 Billion fraud at SRC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ministry of Finance. In a nice postscript to GE14, Najib was convicted on 7 charges of abuse of power, money-laundering and Criminal Breach of Trust (CBT) in July 2020. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison on one charge and 10 years each on the remaining 6 charges, for a total of 72 years, the sentences to run concurrently. He was also fined a whopping RM210 million. He is now appealing his conviction and not yet in prison.

Now, there are said to be murmurs and whispers from “International Rating Agencies” (IRA), “leading economists, financial and tax experts” and “informed analysts” about re-introducing GST. The clincher is of course that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) are said to have “grave concerns” about Malaysia’s “dwindling revenue and tax base”. Except, I recall that the IRA, leading economists, financial and tax experts, informed analysts, the IMF and WB all said the same thing in 1997 – at the height of the Asian Currency Crisis – and here we are some 24 years later and still alive and kicking.      

I say to hell with it. NO GST yet for another 5 years at least, especially now that we are in the midst of an economic crisis brought on by the pandemic. All the “anonymous informed experts’ can stick it up where the sun don’t shine.

Why?

There is an unwritten social contract between a government and its citizens. BEFORE the government comes around and puts its grubby hands in our back pockets again for another whack on our wallets, it must come to the tax table with clean hands. That means the government must first rationalize its expenditure and employment numbers.

It must first trim the 1.7 million-strong civil services and their approximate RM111 Billion annual cost of salaries, allowances, perks, bonus and pension budget. That makes up a staggering 47% of the government’s operating expenditure budget of RM237 Billion for 2021. To be fair, we must remove the army, navy, air force, reservists, teachers, professors, lecturers, doctors, nurses, engineers, scientists, researchers, architects, police, firemen, etc. from the 1.7 million figure, to determine the pure administrative headcount of the civil service. Everything should then be benchmarked against international norms and downsized accordingly. That way, we can compare apples to apples. There are international benchmarks for just about everything – doctors/dentists/telephones/cars per thousand of population, teacher-student ratios, size of army etc.

I am also not so heartless as to suggest that we sack people ruthlessly and dump them in the scrap heap. They are human beings, our fellow citizens and deserving of our respect, empathy, concern and care. So, downsizing and retrenchments must be phased over 3 years during which the excess staff should be paid their normal salary and placed in fully government funded re-training programs so that they can be gainfully re-employed in the private sector. For those who cannot be re-trained or are too old, we, The People, will have to subsidize them. Some form of Socialism is acceptable and necessary. Others have done it successfully all over the world, so can we.

A similar exercise must take place at Petronas, government controlled banks & financial institutions, public institutions, Government Linked Companies (GLC), enterprises and Statutory Bodies.

The third revolution needs to take place at the Income Tax Department (ITD).

The ITD must revise its mission statement and include as its primary task, the maximization of tax collection from every source – tax evaders ranging from cash businesses and professionals under declaring their revenue collections, to rich individuals, tycoons, businesses, companies, public listed companies and Multi-National Corporations which engage tax experts to avoid and evade tax via dubious tax planning schemes and salt huge profits away in off-shore tax shelters and havens, in countries and places like Zurich (Switzerland), Mauritius, Luxembourg, Guernsey, Jersey, Bermuda, the Bahamas etc.

Lastly, the government must put a stop immediately to all wasteful expenditure. White Elephant and fraudulent  projects and continuously bailing out businesses with Taxpayers’ money out of a false sense of patriotism must cease. E.g.:

1. RM30 Billion fraudulent inflation of ECRL in 2017 and RM20 billion gas pipe directly negotiated contracts.

2. Some RM20 Billion splashed on loss making MAS over the last 30 years. Who was it who said “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel”?

3. RM10 Billion free grant to Tabung Haji.

4. RM8 Billion bailout of Felda.

5. RM1.3 Billion budget for JAKIM.

6. A bloated cabinet of 69 Ministers/Deputy Ministers and sinecure, ridiculously high-paying jobs for unqualified MP's and cronies at GLC’s, Statutory Bodies, Universities, public institutions and Quangos, costing over RM1 billion a year. Government must not be fearful of taking the scalpel to the accumulated fat layers of bureaucracy.

I dare say that if our government follows this advice, that we will be able to defer GST for a good ten years. I will not be surprised if by taking these measures, the government will have at least an additional RM30 Billion a year extra money to do the really useful things for us.

This will also be because, if the government performs dutifully and successfully, the economic pie too will grow bigger in tandem. Then, so too will tax revenues. All the economic indicators – GDP and real growth rate, inflation, income levels and the poor vs rich share of the economic cake, balance of payments, exchange rate, debt: GDP ratio, reserves etc. – will start to make sense. We will attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) like there’s no tomorrow. The stock market will boom to record levels.

So, NO to GST! NO to Capital Gains Tax! NO to Capital Transfer Tax! NO to Estate Tax! NO to any new tax until the government first gets its act together!

We have paid enough taxes and bailed out our country which has indulged in some of the world’s worst profligate, rash, outrageous and fraudulently corrupt spending acts over the last 20 years. If you give more money to a government of thieves, it will only end up in the pockets of crooked politicians and their cronies. Now, it’s time for our country to alter its course, get cracking and instead do something for 'WE, THE PEOPLE'. To misquote US President John F. Kennedy:

“Ask not what you can do for your country; ask what your country can do for you!”

WILL PAKATAN HARAPAN (PH) SELL US OUT?

 by e.s. shankar

Get the votes, forget the voters

5.5 Million Malaysia citizens cast their votes in favor of PH which promised us many reforms and won the 2018 GE14. Two of the key unfulfilled reforms now inexplicably form part of a slew suddenly “offered” last week by of all people, #IsNotMyPm Ismail Sabri to PH leaders!!!:

1. Maximum 2-term tenure of the prime minister, presumably 5-years each.

2. Anti-hopping laws for MP’s.

I say offered to PH leaders because, after receiving the Rakyat’s votes in 2018, there has been little or no consultation by PH to gauge what their supporters would agree with at the implementation stages. This happens all the time, all over the world. Get the votes, forget the voters!

An example of this is when in 2019, then PH Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng and “Special Adviser” at the MoF, Tony Pua, both from DAP, proposed a RM6.2 billion buy out of highway toll concessionaires, instead of, as widely expected, abolishing tolls completely. It had not escaped anyone’s attention that the Taxpayer would have to bear a premium to buy out tollcos whose concession periods would be expiring in the not too far distant future. Or that Gamuda Plc, which stood to gain RM2.36 Billion from that proposed buy out, had been appointed as Project Delivery Partner for the RM46 Billion Penang Master Transport Plan and its Undersea Tunnel roll out. Was there possibly, a  conflict of interest there?

With the fall of the PH government due to the treachery and betrayal by  Mahathir, Azmin Ali, Mahiaddin and Hamzah Zainuddin, the Rakyat are still burdened heavily with tolls. A universal principle of granting toll concessions to private companies is that it must come to an end within a reasonable period during which the concessionaires are entitled to make a fair, decent profit and return on capital employed. But, it would appear that many a tollco is raking in super profits while having been subsidized heavily by the Taxpayer with huge government grants and cheap interest at the initial construction stage. Is this not highway robbery? Are cronies getting away with two or even three bites at the cherry?

There are other equally important commitments for the Opposition, if not of greater priority. These fall in the realms of justice, human rights and truth and reconciliation. We have lived with unlimited terms for prime ministers and hopping MP’s for 64 years. So, another 22 months with those anomalies will not crush us.

But, what will destroy PH is straying away from fundamental principles. We do not support or negotiate with terrorists. Likewise with our sworn political foes of 64 years, no matter how tempting the offer may be from Ketuanist, Muafakat leaders.

#IsNotMyPm Needs PH more than PH Needs Him

#IsNotMyPm is now caught between a rock and a hard place. At the moment, he has 114 MP’s supporting his durian runtuh PM-ship. If 5 MP’s defect, his government will crash. So, his offer of “reforms” is not genuine, not from the heart. He is hoping that PH, in its desperation, will naively fall into his crooked net. But, he is trapped like a cornered rat. With PH’s 88 seats and a Confidence and Supply Agreement (CSA) with them, he can deflect any defections including those from UMNO’s 11 Klepto/Court Cluster MPs. #IsNotMyPm hold on power is very fragile indeed.

He needs PH more than PH needs him, especially for the ‘Vote of Confidence’ (VoC) due to take place with the re-convening of Parliament scheduled for 6 September. He needs an ace up his sleeve if the Kleptos do not get their bargain and disgruntled UMNO, Bersatu and GPS Sarawak MP’s who did not get plum Cabinet and Deputy Ministers’ posts or other sinecure jobs, pull the plug!

Why PH Should Not Support #IsNotMyPm

I say we should not support or negotiate particularly with this UMNO/PN cabal, because:

1. The government under #IsNotMyPm comprises virtually the same bunch who betrayed and backstabbed PH in February 2020.

2. #IsNotMyPm’s offer for reforms is the same as that offered by Mahiaddin shortly before he resigned on 16 August. So, if PH rejected that offer, how is it more acceptable now? What convoluted logic is this?

3. It is not a certainty that #IsNotMyPm will actually be able to deliver reforms any time soon. Those Constitutional amendments requiring 2/3 majority and the consent of the Rulers will be problematical. Anti-hopping law issues for MP's will particularly be very, very difficult to navigate, given their Constitutional rights of free association. UMNO, PAS and Bersatu MP's might oppose these changes.

4. Then, who’s to say that #IsNotMyPm will not, after winning the VOC with PH’s misguided help, deliberately drag reforms and delay it until it’s too late? If you had to bet all your money on it, would you say #IsNotMyPm’s word is his bond or that he cannot be trusted? So, these reforms may take so long that we might as well wait for GE15.

5. Playing on our emotions with “Saving Lives” is pure horse manure. Ever since Emergency was declared on 12 January 2021 by Mahiaddin and overwhelmingly supported by Ismail Sabri and UMNO too, Covid19 infections have gone up by >700% and deaths, >1,500 %!!! There was massive failure to contain Covid19 and only now they want to talk about “Saving Lives”? What disgraceful hypocrisy! It’s obvious that the infections have spread to the communities. What will save us is 100% vaccination of the population including foreign workers, continuous testing, strict SOP compliance with social distancing, masking up, washing hands etc., and reinforcing that message every hour on on the hour on national TV, radio, social media and the online MSM, If we put such a plan into operation by declaring a limited Emergency to draft in enforcement by the armed forces and reservists, we can open up all sectors of the economy the following week. MP’s, leaders and VIP’s who flout the rules should be jailed without mercy. 

6. Lastly, why would any sane person support a government which over the last 20 years has not done enough  to bring to justice:

a. Indira Gandhi’s husband who kidnapped her daughter when she was a mere infant baby?

b. The persons who gave the orders to murder Altantuya and Hussain Najadi?

c. Those responsible for the deaths of Teoh Beng Hock and Ahmad Sarbani who had gone voluntarily to assist the MACC in their investigations?

d. The persons who abducted Pastor Raymond Koh, Amri, Joshua Hilmi and his wife Ruth Sitepu now all presumed murdered because no one has made any ransom demands?

e. The more than 2,000 deaths in custody that have occurred over the last 20-odd years?

f. Jho Low who is responsible together with Najib, for fraud and the billions of ringgit missing from 1MDB. Or, Nik Feisal the fugitive MD of SRC which has lost RM4 Billion, also due to internal fraud? 

g. Zakir Naik and Zamri Vinod Kalimuthu for allegedly insulting non-Islamic faiths?

h. Two ex-CJ's as recommended for prosecution by the 2009 ‘RCI into the Lingam Video Clip’ as well as an ex-PM, an ex-Minister and a corporate tycoon, relating to the fixing of judicial appointments?

i. Those responsible for the 1990’s RM31 billion Bank Negara Malaysia forex scandal as revealed by the 2017 RCI?

How could the leaders of PH say to us, our children and grandchildren that they shook hands with those who covered up the above crimes and even slept in the same bed? 

What will PH gain from supporting #IsNotMyPm?

Nothing. If PH betrays us, all it will achieve is allow #IsNotMyPM and UMNO to regroup, prosper and get stronger by the time GE15 arrives, at our expense. He will show his gratitude to PH by dumping them like a piece of turd come the next GE. 

PH will be better off preparing for GE15 and let #IsNotMyPm survive as best as he can. He and his Muafakat government already indicated in February 2020 that they will sideline us, withdraw representation and top jobs in the public sector for at least 40% of the Rakyat and ditch our interests. Then there is the question mark hanging over #IsNotMyPM's coalition partner, PAS, congratulating and supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan! 

Are PH leaders masochists and sadists?

WHO WILL BELL THE CAT? WHO WILL TELL ANWAR IBRAHIM, KIT SIANG AND GUAN ENG THAT THEIR TIME IS UP?

by e.s. shankar

Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wiser, so I am changing myself. Rumi 1207-1273.

It’s an expression from Aesop’s fables. Indeed, who will bell the cat? This is a question that’s on the mind of millions of Malaysians today. Who will dare tell Parti Keadilan Rakyat’s (PKR) Anwar Ibrahim (AI) and Democratic Action Party’s (DAP) Lim Kit Siang (LKS) and Lim Guan Eng (LGE) that their time is up? That it is time for them to hand over the reins of the leadership of their parties and that of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition, to others?

We are not asking them to leave their parties but to make way for younger, new leaders at the very top of PKR, DAP and PH. We still need them to win their state and parliamentary seats and guide the youth to defeat UMNO/PN. Their immense experience and political savvy is still necessary to mentor a new prime minister and their team. It’s not that we wish to throw them under the bus just like that or that we are not grateful to them.

Without Anwar’s ‘Reformasi’ protest initiative which began in 1998, no one else would have stood up to challenge Mahathir’s venomous and deadly 22-year quasi-dictatorship and give the Rakyat back their self-respect. No one else could have forged an alliance between PKR and DAP that saw them snatch Selangor and Penang from the evil clutches of UMNO/BN in 2008. They set the stage for the eventual victory of PH in the 2018 general elections. The beast was finally slain!

Who was it who fearlessly challenged in 1987 the untrustworthy, sneaky and Ketuanist Mahathir all the way to the Federal Court over the then RM800 million North-South Toll Highway Project awarded without open tender to suspected UMNO cronies/nominees? Who was then punished vengefully by Mahathir with 2 years in jail without trial at Kamunting Prison, under the Internal Security Act? Who courageously stood up in Parliament in 1994 and questioned Mahathir about a RM6 Billion hole in Bank Negara’s balance sheet and it turned out that Mahathir had covered-up nearly RM30 billion of forex losses? None other than Lim Kit Siang, that’s who! Mahathir had set the country firmly on the road to government approved endemic and systemic corruption which became the culture within the ruling party.

Who was jailed for 12 months in 1998 under the Sedition Act and the Printing Press & Publications Act for exposing statutory rape charges levelled against a chief minister, a matter of huge public interest? Lim Guan Eng.

I have been a supporter of Anwar, Kit Siang, PKR and DAP for as long as I can remember. I owe them a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. They gave me back my self-esteem. That does not mean that I am blinded by loyalty. Far, from it. I have openly criticized them whenever they strayed off the principled path.

I defended Anwar with my blog posts where I accused Mahathir and Najib of concocting conspiracies, persecution and vendettas against him:

Anwar Ibrahim..why they were conspiracies both times:

When charged, Anwar gave the High Court the perfect alibi. The construction of the Bangsar condo in which the accuser Azizan Abu Bakar had alleged that sexual trysts took place, was not completed and certified fit for occupation until two years later! Attorney General Mohtar then confiscated all of Anwar's diaries. When he found a gap there, he "persuaded" Azizan to "remember" a new date for the charge. Instead of throwing the case out, Judge Augustine Paul incredibly allowed AG Mohtar to amend the charges to 'some day between...in 1993'. That case should not have proceeded beyond that stage as it was clear that witnesses were clearly lying through their eyeteeth and being manipulated by conspirators.

How could it not be viewed as conspiracies when the accusers met the prime ministers, in Mahathir’s case before official investigations began some 5 years after the alleged crime, and in Najib’s case, well before the alleged crime was committed? By then, Mahathir had the Chief Justice sacked and reduced the legal system to shambles, poisoned by corruption. How could Anwar remotely have had a fair trial? So, he spent nearly 20 years of his life in court and about 10 years in jail, disgracefully robbed of his freedom by his political enemies in a country that had sunk to rock bottom in human rights and justice.

So, who shall replace AI, LKS and LGE at the top and form a stunning winning team? Everyone will have their own dream team. Here’s mine for what it’s worth, a nice blend of experience, age and youth:

1. Shafie Apdal (SA, 65)) of Warisan, Sabah as Pakatan Harapan Chief and PM candidate.

2. Nurul Izzah (41) as PKR head and DPM candidate with Rafizi (44) as her deputy.

3. Yeo Bee Yin (38) as DAP head with Anthony Loke (44) as her deputy.

4. The Sarawak Chief Minister as an additional and equal Deputy Prime Minister.

PH lost the government in February 2020 due to the treachery of Mahathir. AI and LGE have reached an impasse with Sarawak and Sabah at the Federal level. There appear to be old wounds which cannot be stitched or healed. They failed to get the 18 seats from Sarawak or 17 from Sabah and lost the golden opportunity to form the new government last week. SA has requested that if AI failed, he be given the chance to get Sarawak and Sabah on PH’s side as one East Malaysian to another and lead PH as the prime ministerial candidate. He has my vote. I cannot recall the last Malay politician who said, as SA did:

We want to develop the nation, not one race or one religion. We must build all the races so that this country can move forward. We must ensure that the Budget will be used for nation-building. Not for building a race. Not for building a religion. This is the way forward for the country.

As for Nurul Izzah, she may or may not realize it, but she has that X-factor, CHARISMA. I reckon that eventually when she makes a bid for the PM post, she will take the country by storm, like a latter-day Eva Peron, Indira Gandhi or Corazon Aquino. All Malaysians will unite behind her like the manic football fans do behind Manchester United, worldwide. She has the potential to become a truly great PM.

I am going for the ladies to take control and lead, as all the men have proven to be lacking in personality, disappointing in performance, indecisive, even wimpish and making all the wrong decisions, stupidly. We need a sea change from the testosterone charged atmosphere of male domination in Malaysian politics. It is the men who have presided over a country that some have accused of being a basket case and a failed state now.

What we need are women like Nurul and Bee Yin to take us down a new, progressive path and a fantastic future. Bee Yin won our hearts and minds during her short stint between 2018-2020 as Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change. Again, that charisma factor is there. Like Nurul, she cuts across race, religion, creed and color.

As for Rafizi, he’s made some poor decisions and taken some bad turns, led down the wrong path by the manipulation of PKR leaders. But, who hasn’t, when younger? That’s the way we learn, from mistakes, stumbling and falling. It took Abraham Lincoln 28 years of failures and setbacks to become the President, among the top 3 greatest in the US. Rafizi has more important qualities. He’s got brains, financial qualifications, numbers savvy, to go with brawns, as he fearlessly exposed the fraud at 1MDB , the RM250 million Cow Condogate fiasco and misgovernance at Tabung Haji. He’s both Finance Minister and DPM material, and one day PM.

Also, no one, including yours truly, is an angel. No one. As the saying goes, ‘let they who have not sinned, be the first to cast the stone’! What I can say about my choices are that they all pass the test of honesty and integrity. That is a heck of a lot more than I can say about the leadership of UMNO/BN and PN.

It is also time for prominent NGO leaders, particularly women, those who led Bersih and others to take the baton and make the charge for liberty, equality and fraternity. They will set the tone for a new breed of honest politician. They may not feel that they have the inclination for politics, but, every seat they win at the general election will be a nail in the coffin for the crooks, thieves, abductors and murderers. Some sacrifices are called for, i.e. national service.

So, dear Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang and Lim Guan Eng, the nation is poised on a knife’s edge. We cannot let the backdoor men rule us for another two years. No way. That is the path to hell. If the situation were the reverse, Ismail Sabri and UMNO will not hesitate to ruthlessly sink you before you could say ‘Jack Rabbit’! They already did that in February 2020 with the Sheraton Hotel Move and last week with the ‘Klepto/Court Cluster deal. These are the same breed of UMNO politicians who put you in jail and are still hatching conspiracies against you. NO CSA, no co-operation, no nothing! How long can anyone be  suckers?

No way will PH be stronger than UMNO/PN two years from now. We need you to press that button and initiate new directions. We need you to take control TODAY. We need you to make that call today. We cannot be playing that same old broken record over and over again. We need you to let Shafie Apdal deliver. And if not Shafie Apdal for PM, then you nevertheless have to come to an agreement with him because PKR and DAP cannot unlock Sabah and Sarawak on their own. You need to offer Sabah and Sarawak carrots - autonomy within a Federal system, better share of oil profits and financial aid.

If not Shafie, Nurul, Bee Yin, Anthony Loke and Rafizi, who? If not here, where? If not today, when?