مهاتير محمد's Blog, page 28

RASUAH DAN IBADAT HAJI

1. Saya telah soal samada menunaikan rukun Islam yang kelima dengan duit yang dicuri sah atau tidak. Pada pendapat saya ia tidak sah.

2. Beberapa mufti mendakwa bahawa saya cuba jadi Tuhan kerana cuba mengharamkan ibadat haji yang dilakukan dengan duit 1MDB.

3. Saya berpendapat dakwaan ini keterlaluan. Sementara mufti mungkin arif dalam bidang agama tetap jelas mereka tidak tahu dengan mendalam berkenaan 1MDB dan bagaimana Najib telah melakukan berbagai jenayah, termasuk mencuri duit 1MDB.

4. Islam amat menekan keadilan apabila menghukum. Daripada apa yang diketahui berkenaan 1MDB melalui kenyataan dan perbincangan oleh Mufti, adalah jelas mereka tidak memiliki pengetahuan yang cukup untuk memutus bahawa duit 1MDB boleh diguna untuk ibadat haji.

5. Tanpa ditanya atau dikaji, jauh sekali dibicara dengan tertib berkenaan jenayah yang dilakukan oleh Najib dengan wang 1MDB, mereka menjatuh hukum bahawa wang 1MDB halal diguna untuk ibadah haji.

6. Ramai rakyat Malaysia tahu dan seluruh dunia tahu bahawa wang sebanyak 42 billion Ringgit dipinjam oleh 1MDB dengan faedah yang amat tinggi dan komisyen 10% kepada Goldman Sachs tanpa mengikuti cara-cara pinjaman Kerajaan.

7. Wang ini dilabur dalam syarikat yang menimbul tanda tanya akan asset dan perniagaanya, dikeluar modal yang dilabur dari syarikat ini, dijadikan pinjaman kepada syarikat ini, dipindah ke beberapa pulau Caribbean, dimasuk dalam bank di Singapura dan sekarang ini diketahui dapat ke tangan Jho Low. Kemudian wang ini didakwa oleh Jabatan Keadilan Amerika Syarikat telah masuk dalam akaun peribadi Najib.

8. Demikianlah pengurusan wang ini sehingga ia dibekukan oleh Singapura, Switzerland dan bank-bank berkenaan ditutup oleh Kerajaan Singapura, kerana terlibat dengan jenayah money laundering iaitu pembersihan duit haram.

9. Jabatan Keadilan Amerika Syarikat telah dakwa lebih US 3 billion wang 1MDB telah dicuri dan percubaan dibuat untuk membersihkan wang ini dengan membeli rumah mewah di Amerika dan di U.K. serta dibeli gambar lukisan dan dilabur dalam pengeluaran filem lucah “Wolf of Wall Street”.

10. Bagi hakim yang berhajat menjatuh hukuman, semua ini perlu diselidiki dan diambil kira sebelum dihukum. Tetapi amatlah jelas kewangan 1MDB tidak dikaji oleh mufti kerana ingin menghalalkannya untuk buat ibadah haji.

11. Mungkin orang Islam seperti saya tidak tahu secara mendalam dengan hukum hakam Islam, tetapi semua tahu bahawa wang yang dicuri tidak halal. Mengguna wang yang dicuri untuk ibadat amat bercanggah dengan ajaran Islam. Ia ditegah.

12. Oleh kerana mufti-mufti tidak tahu dan tidak mengadakan kajian dan perbicaraan dengan tertib sebelum mereka membuat kenyataan bahawa saya cuba menjadi Tuhan kerana menyoal samada sah atau tidak mengguna duit 1MDB, maka saya berhak mempertikaikan dakwaan mereka.

13. Lebih-lebih lagi mereka adalah pegawai upahan Kerajaan dan terdedah kepada tindakan jika mereka, dengan mendakwa ibadat haji dengan duit 1MDB tidak sah, sekaligus mengaku Najib telah mencuri duit 1MDB.

14. Lagipun mereka tentu tahu bahawa tujuan Najib membiayai beribu orang untuk tunaikan Ibadat haji bukan kerana mencari pahala tetapi kerana bertujuan mendapat sokongan politik dari penerima-penerima ini. Ini adalah satu jenis rasuah dan ini juga haram disisi agama Islam.

15. Apakah pendapat mufti berkenaan dengan ibadat haji dengan duit dua kali haram – sekali duit curi, kemudian duit sogok.

16. Kalau masih anggap halal, terimalah dan lakulah ibadat haji dengan duit 1MDB.

PEMBANGUNAN J.B.

1. Saya tidak tahu samada benar atau tidak cabaran yang dilontarkan oleh DYMM Sutan Johor terhadap saya berkenaan pembangunan JB.

2. Mungkin hanya akhbar The Star yang mentafsirkan apa yang dititah DYMM Tuanku sebagai melontarkan cabaran terhadap saya.

3. Tetapi selagi DYMM Tuanku tidak menafikan mencabar saya, saya akan anggap laporan The Star sebagai benar.

4. Saya mengaku bahawa saya berada di dalam keadaan yang agak lemah. Sementara sesiapa sahaja boleh berkata apa-apa terhadap saya, dan saya mengambil sikap terbuka terhadap kebebasan mereka berbuat demikian, saya harap di dalam menjawab terhadap cabaran DYMM Tuanku, saya tidak akan dipenjara tanpa bicara. Jika perbicaraan dapat diadakan, silalah tangkap saya.

5. Apakah yang telah diperkatakan oleh saya? Tidak lebih daripada apa yang dilaporkan Bloomberg di dalam akhbar. Tetapi saya boleh terima kenapa laporan Bloomberg tidak akan dicabar atau dinafikan.

6. Apakah yang diperkata oleh Bloomberg di dalam laporannya pada 22hb November lepas? Ia mengatakan yang sebuah syarikat dari China akan membangunkan Forest City yang akan memuatkan 700,000 penduduk. Ianya juga melapor bahawa orang Cina dari China diterbangkan untuk melihat pameran model sebesar manusia (bergambar) dan mereka ini sudah, malahan akan membeli kebanyakan hartanah di Forest City.

7. Saya tidak fikir ramai Melayu atau Cina Johor telah beli atau akan beli apartment ini. Malaysia tidak mempunyai penduduk yang begitu ramai untuk membeli kesemua hartanah ini.

8. Bloomberg, di dalam laporan yang sama turut menyatakan tentang 60 pembangunan lain yang mirip Forest City, dan ini juga sedang dijual kepada rakyat tanah besar China.

9. Melihat kembali pada tahun 1819, apabila Sutan Johor, Sultan Ali tidak mahu memajak Singapura kepada British, Temenggung telah menandatangani pajakan tersebut. Lihatlah Singapura hari ini. Sebahagian daripada Johor kini adalah negara asing – memanglah ia dibangun dengan mudah, tetapi ia tetap negara asing.

10. Lebih sejuta rakyat asing akan tinggal di Forest City JB dan 60 pembangunan lain disekitarnya. Semua tempat baru ini tidak akan menjadi negara asing tetapi akan mengandungi peratus orang asing yang tinggi. Jika mereka tinggal untuk satu tempoh yang lama yang ditetapkan, mereka layak untuk menjadi rakyat Malaysia.

11. Ya, saya yang mempromosi Pelaburan Langsung Asing (FDI – Foreign Direct Investment). Tetapi ianya bukan bertujuan membeli tanah di Malaysia, membangunkannya dan menjualnya kepada rakyat asing, yang akan tinggal di sana.

12. FDI ialah berkenaan pelaburan di dalam industri pembuatan. Syarikat Malaysia akan membina bangunan dan rakyat akan bekerja di dalam industri-industri tersebut. Mereka akan mempelajari kemahiran dan akan memulakan perniagaan pengeluaran barangan mereka sendiri.

13. Kontraktor Malaysia berkebolehan membina pelbagai jenis bangunan dan memajukan tanah. Kita tidak perlu orang asing untuk ini. Lihatlah Malaysia hari ini. Sembilan puluh peratus atau lebih daripada bangunan baru ini dan pembangunan lain dibuat oleh syarikat Malaysia. Majoriti pembeli juga rakyat Malaysia dan mereka juga bermastautin di situ.

14. Tetapi apabila rakyat asing beli tanah, tidak terdapat aliran masuk wang pun. Kebanyakan sumber kewangan dipinjam dari dalam negara. Dan mereka juga boleh berniaga dengan menggunakan bank mereka sendiri.

15. Apa sahaja pendapatan syarikat asing ini perolehi akan dihantar pulang dan menyebabkan pengaliran keluar wang. Apabila diperkenalkan skim di mana pembeli boleh beli hartanah di negara China dan mendapat satu unit rumah pangsa atau rumah secara percuma di Malaysia, tidak akan ada keuntungan yang dibuat di Malaysia dan Kerajaan Malaysia tidak akan mendapat hasil cukai.

16. Benarkanlah semua transaksi dibuat dengan telus. Terbitkanlah semua dokumen berkaitan pelaburan, jumlah pekerja asing, negara asal mereka, pembeli, bank yang menyediakan pinjaman serta kesemua penghantaran balik wang keluar. Keluarkanlah ini dengan jujur. Jangan berselindung. Janganlah pulak disuruh seseorang yang bernama Tunku Aziz untuk mengesahkannya. Mungkin dia ini pada satu masa mengetuai Transparency International, tetapi dia menerima tanpa belah bagi rompakan dan rasuah yang terjadi dalam 1MDB.

17. Jadi biarlah Transparency International yang benar-benar “International” memeriksa dokumentasi rasmi yang dikeluarkan. Biarkan rakyat meneliti dokumen tersebut untuk buktikan kesahihannya.

18. Pandang ke Timur bukan bermakna mengajak negara-negara di Timur membeli tanah di Malaysia, membangun dan menjual kepada rakyat dari negara-negara mereka. Ya, kita menggalakkan orang asing untuk jadikan Malaysia rumah kedua mereka (Malaysia My Second Home). Tetapi jumlah mereka ini sedikit. Dasar Pandang ke Timur bukan untuk membenarkan migrasi secara besar-besaran melibatkan ratusan ribu. Ianya adalah untuk rakyat Malaysia mempelajari bagaimana negara-negara di Timur ini membangun dan memajukan negara mereka.

19. Mudah sekali untuk menuduh saya ini racist, atau bersikap perkauman. Sebelum ini pun saya pernah digelar Malay ultra.

20. Label atau panggilan serta usaha untuk memburukkan imej ini lebih menunjukkan kegagalan untuk mematahkan apa yang saya buat atau katakan.

21. Ia mencerminkan ketiadaan asas untuk hujah bagi melawan hujah saya.

22. Ini adalah negara berbilang kaum. Rakyat berlainan keturunan, bahasa, agama, budaya dan pencapaian ekonomi telah tinggal dengan aman.

23. Di banyak negara, hanya kerana perbezaan interpretasi yang sedikit pada agama yang dianuti bersama menyebabkan pergaduhan dan peperangan. Tetapi Malaysia stabil dan aman.

24. Ianya stabil dan aman kerana kita terima keadaan sesama kita. Selama 22 tahun saya jadi Perdana Menteri, tidak terdapat pergaduhan kaum yang serius. Konflik ada. Tetapi tanpa keganasan. Dan negara dapat dibangun.

25. Jika saya amalkan perkauman, zaman saya akan terlihat ketidaktentuan dan kemuduran di negara ini.

26. Sesiapa boleh pertikai apa yang saya katakan. Itu hak demokratik sesiapa.

27. Saya cabar The Star untuk siarkan apa yang saya katakan ini secara keseluruhan. Tanda ketakutan Kerajaan terhadap kebenaran boleh digambarkan dengan sejauhmana media arus perdana dikawal.

28. Saya terima jika penulisan ini tidak disiarkan sama sekali kerana kita hidup di dalam sebuah negara kleptocratic di mana kebenaran merupakan satu bala, hanya boleh dibisik tetapi tidak boleh diperkatakan secara terus terang.

29. Saya rakyat Malaysia yang dilahirkan di Kedah.

30. Malaysia adalah rumah saya dan objek kesetiaan saya. Jika saya harus dituduh sebagai penderhaka kerana apa yang saya perkatakan, tuduhlah.

Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad

16 Januari 2017

P/s: Di dalam kes Hong Kong and Macau, Pondicherry, Goa dan lain-lain wilayah Peranchis dan Portugis di India, sebaik sahaja penjajah melepaskan empayar mereka, tempat-tempat ini terus dilepaskan dan dipulangkan semula kepada negara asal. Demikian juga semua tanah jajahan dikembalikan kepada pemilik asal wilayah-wilayah ini.

Surat asal yang disunting telah disiarkan di dalam akhbar The Star bertarikh Jan 17, 2017, di ruangan surat

J.B. DEVELOPMENT

1. I don’t know if it is true about HRH The Sultan of Johore is throwing a challenge to me over the development of J.B.

2. Maybe it is only The Star which is interpreting what HRH says as a challenge to me.

3. But unless HRH denies he is challenging me, I will take the report of The Star as the truth.

4. I admit I am at a disadvantage here. While people can say what they like about me, and I welcome their freedom to say so, I hope that in responding to HRH’s challenge I will not be arrested and jailed without trial. If it is with trial, I welcome the arrest.

5. Now, what did I say? Nothing more than repeating a report by Bloomberg in the press. But I appreciate why Bloomberg is not challenged nor denied.

6. What did Bloomberg say in its report on Nov 22 last year? It said that a China Chinese company will build Forest City in J.B. which can accommodate 700,000. It went on to say that plane loads of China Chinese are being flown in to view the man-sized model (with pictures) and they have and will buy most of the properties in Forest City.

7. I doubt if many Johore Malays and Chinese are buying or going to buy these apartments. There just aren’t that many Malaysians to buy all these properties.

8. Bloomberg, in the same report mentioned 60 other development similar to Forest City, and these are also being sold to mainland Chinese.

9. Looking back to 1819, when Sultan Ali of Johore did not lease Singapore to the British, the Temenggong signed the lease. And look at Singapore today. A part of Johore is now a foreign country – well developed no doubt, but a foreign country.

10. There will be in all more than a million foreigners living in J.B Forest City and the 60 other development. These new places will not become a foreign country, but it will have an inordinate percentage of foreign people. If they stay long enough they will be entitled to become citizens of Malaysia.

11. Yes, I promoted Foreign Direct Investment. But it was not about buying land in Malaysia, developing them and selling them to foreigners, who will stay there.

12. FDI is about investment in the manufacturing industry. Malaysian companies will construct the building and Malaysians will work in the industries. They will acquire skills and start their own manufacturing business.

13. Malaysian contractors are completely capable of building all kinds of buildings and develop land. We don’t need foreigners to do this. Look at Malaysia today. 90% or more of these new buildings and development are by Malaysian companies. Majority of the buyers are Malaysians, and they are the people who stay there.

14. But when foreigners buy land, there is not even an inflow of capital. Much of the money will be borrowed locally. And they can do their business with their own banks.

15. Whatever foreign companies earn will be expatriated, will result in outflow of capital. When the scheme is introduced wherein you can buy property in China and get one flat or house free in Malaysia, no profit will be made in Malaysia – therefore no taxes will be paid to the Malaysian Government.

16. Let all transactions be transparent. Publish all documents about the investments, the number of workers, their home countries, the buyers, the banks which finance and all expatriation of funds. Do this honestly. No hiding. Please don’t ask a certain Tunku Aziz to verify. He may have been the Malaysian Head of Transparency International, but he approves completely the stealing and the corruption of 1MDB.

17. So let the truly international Transparency International examine the exposed official documents. Let the people see the documents to prove their genuineness.

18. Looking East is not about asking the countries of the East to buy land in Malaysia, develop and sell to the people from these countries. Yes, we have encouraged foreigners to make Malaysia their second home. But their numbers are very small. Looking East is not about mass immigration of hundreds of thousands. It is about Malaysians learning about how these Eastern countries developed themselves.

19. It is easy to accuse me of being a racist. I have been called a Malay ultra before.

20. This labelling, this demonising actually expose the lack of credible arguments against what I do or say.

21. It reflects a fundamental lack of basis for the arguments against me.

22. This is a multiracial country. People of different ethnicity, language, religion, culture and even economic well-being have lived in this country in peace.

23. In many countries even a slight difference in the interpretation of their common religion has resulted in violent conflicts and wars. But relatively speaking Malaysia is stable and peaceful.

24. It is stable and peaceful because we accept each other as we are. During my 22 years as PM, there were no significant racial clashes. Differences, yes. But no violence. And the country grew.

25. Had I been a racist, my periodwould have seen turmoil and regression in this country.

26. You can dispute what I say. That is your democratic right.

27. I dare The Star to publish what I say in full. It is a measure of the Government fear of the truth that the mainstream media is strictly controlled.

28. I will accept this article being totally blacked-out because we are living in a kleptocratic country where truth is anathema, only to be whispered but never said aloud.

29. I am a Malaysian born in Kedah.

30. Malaysia is my home and the object of my loyalty. If I have to be accused of les majeste for what I say, so be it.

Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad

16 January 2017

P/S: In the case of Hong Kong and Macau, Pondicherry, Goa and other French and Portuguese enclaves in India, upon the colonial masters giving up their empire, these territories were returned to the original countries. All occupied lands were also returned to the original owners of these territories.

The edited version of this letter was published in the letters pages of The Star newspaper, Jan 17, 2017.

MENGHALAL YANG HARAM

1. Bolehkah duit yang didapati secara haram diguna untuk membiayai ibadah tertentu?

2. Kita semua maklum bahawa jika kita termakan makanan yang haram bagi orang Islam (daging babi umpamanya) maka kita tidak bersalah. Tetapi jika kita tahu makanan yang dihidang itu haram, kita makan juga, maka perbuatan kita itu salah disisi agama.

3. Demikian juga apabila kita tahu duit itu dicuri, tetapi kita terima duit itu untuk apa juga tujuan, maka perbuatan itu tentulah salah. Jika salah untuk perbuatan lain, tentulah salah juga untuk membiayai ibadat.

4. Hanya mereka yang bertujuan membodek orang tertentu sahaja yang akan halalkan wang yang dicuri oleh Kerajaan. Kalau menyatakan wang dicuri tidak boleh biayai ibadat haji adalah percubaan menjadi Tuhan, kenyataan itu menunjuk kekerdilan akal fikiran. Pangkat tidak boleh membetulkan pendapat yang salah. Pencuri berpangkat masih pencuri.

5. Duit yang dicuri masih duit haram. Ia tidak boleh dihalalkan dengan menggunanya untuk ibadat. Makanan yang haram tidak akan menjadi halal kerana dihidang selepas baca doa selamat, atau bertahlil.

6. Walaupun kita Bismillah, daging yang haram masih haram dimakan. Perbuatan yang dilarang, yang diharamkan tidak jadi halal kerana kita mula dengan menyebut nama Allah, Yang Maha Pengasih, lagi Yang Maha Penyayang. Kalau kita curi duit untuk membuat kerja haji, sesuatu ibadat yang kita wajib buat hanya jika kita mampu, atau untuk buat sunat umrah, apakah perlakuan kita itu ibadat atau tidak. Atau apakah ibadat kita boleh diterima jika kita terima duit yang dicuri orang lain. Tidakkah dakwaan kita mendorong pencurian kerana yang dicuri boleh dihalalkan dengan mengguna sebahagian atau semuanya untuk ibadat, termasuk ibadat haji.

7. Apakah hanya dengan dihalalkan oleh orang yang bergelar Mufti, maka yang haram itu menjadi halal.

8. Kalau nak terima duit curi untuk buat kerja haji, terimalah.

9. Saya tak akan terima walau apa pun tohmah dilempar kepada saya.

FDI

FDI

1.​At independence Malaysia faced a big unemployment problem. To solve this we started with opening land for the landless. But development of land was not able to create enough jobs. It was therefore decided that Malaysia should industrialise. But Malaysia had no manufacturing expertise, no capital, no big corporations and no knowledge of the world market.

2.​Accordingly Malaysia decided to invite foreign investors. By this we meant that foreign manufacturing companies could set up labour intensive plants in Malaysia to produce for export. The Government would provide land and infrastructure and give tax holidays.

3.​ FDI solved most of our unemployment problem and enriched the country through industrialisation and inflow of capital. But a large amount of the capital was raised domestically.

4​But today Najib’s Government has given a new definition for Foreign Direct Investment. He regards foreigners bringing in money to buy land and develop towns and cities where their people would come and stay as foreign direct investment.

5.​The result benefits us not at all. Much of the most valuable land will now be owned and occupied by foreigners. In effect they will become foreign land.

6.​When we sold Singapore island to the Brits we must know that Singapore with all its wealth and development has become a foreign country. We cannot be proud of its achievement anymore than we can of the development of other countries in the world.

7.​Currently we are seeing huge tracts of land around Johor Bahru being sold to foreigners with no restriction on the sale of properties developed to them and mass immigration to take up residence in these new cities. One example is Forest City developed by a China-based company. Already thousands of units have been completed and sold to mainland Chinese. Bloomberg reports that 700,000 mainland Chinese would stay there. And the same agency pointed out that around Forest City, and therefore around Johor Bahru, there are 60 similar projects which can house more than one million people.

8.​Typically Chinese contractors prefer to bring in their own workers, architects and engineers. Few Malaysians would be employed in these projects. And few Malaysians would be able to buy the flats being built.

9.​ Actually our own people are quite capable of developing our land. They may not have the capital to invest immediately. The development may be slower and the scale may not be so big. The buyers will be local.

10.​It doesn’t need much imagination to see how much this benefit Malaysia, Malaysians and the Malaysian Government.

11.​But if we consider inflow of foreign capital to buy, develop and occupy our land as FDI, then we must expect huge areas of our land becoming foreign enclaves.

12.​In most countries foreigners are not allowed to buy land. They may be given contracts to build but they will be only contractors. Certainly what they build will not be for huge numbers of foreign people to occupy almost exclusively.

13.​But we are very generous. Even when we limit foreign buyers to buying only the expensive property but the Government, including the state Government would give exemption so that even low cost or affordable houses can be bought by foreigners.

14.​We claim that – these foreigners will not stay permanently in the enclaves they develop. We claim they will stay here only for the winter months.

15.​But we are kidding ourselves. Can we imagine hundreds of thousands of foreign people flying into the country to stay for three months and then flying out to their country to live there for nine months. Can we imagine for nine months these towns and cities will be empty – the shops, flats, offices, hotels, and recreation areas being closed. They will become ghost cities and towns. Empty roads and streets. Empty shopping complexes. It is absurd. Denying that 700,000 would occupy Forest City is self-deluding. No condition on who can stay in these houses has been stipulated.

16.​But some point out that the investment will come from many countries. Agreed. But most of them have not enough people to settle in foreign lands. They would be investing in industries to benefit from our low-cost labour. They would build their plants in the industrial estates we put up. They will not engage in huge housing development projects. They will not settle here.

17.​We can allow for foreign ownership of small plots of land. We can lease the land to them.

18.​But we cannot allow thousands of acres to be owned, developed and settled by foreigners. If we do that literally they would become foreign enclaves, troublesome for local authorities to manage. Indeed difficult even for the central Government to manage.

19.​We want our country to develop. Experience have shown that Malaysians can develop their own country. Their development is second to none. But their development would be for Malaysians.

20.​But during Najib’s China trip, he claimed that he succeeded in getting 150 billion Ringgit of FDI. No details were given. I am sure that most of this FDI would involve selling land, Government’s and 1MDB land to pay the debts which everyone knows have been incurred by them. We are going to see large chunks of Malaysia being developed by the foreign buyers and being occupied by them. Eventually they would demand for citizenship and they will participate in Malaysian politics including in elections. Whatever ideology they believe in might change the colour of Malaysian politics.

21.​As much as we cannot be proud of the development in parts of land which have become a foreign country, we cannot be proud of a magnificently developed Malaysia, occupied and owned by foreigners.

TAHUN BARU

1. Selamat menyambut tahun baru 2017. Dalam bahasa Inggeris mereka berkata Happy New Year.

2. Mungkin orang Melayu hanya ingin berada dalam keadaan selamat sahaja. Mungkin kita tidak mengharapkan tahun baru menjadi tahun yang seronok gembira.

3. Sesungguhnya kita tidak boleh tahu keadaan masa depan kita, walaupun untuk satu tahun sahaja. Tetapi kita boleh teka jika kita mengambil kira tahun-tahun yang lepas dan tahun ini (2016) yang kita lalui. Kita tahu beberapa keadaan yang kita alami tahun yang kita tinggalkan ini tidak akan berubah. Keadaan akan diteruskan. Dan mungkin menjadi lebih buruk.

4. Tetapi sedikit sebanyak kita boleh pengaruhi keadaan jika kita berusaha untuk memperbaikinya. Ingatlah segala yang baik itu datang dari Allah swt dan yang buruk itu datang dari kita. Allah tidak akan memburukkan nasib kita jika ada usaha dari kita untuk memperbaiki diri kita. Janganlah kita terlalu cepat untuk menyalahkan takdir apabila sesuatu yang buruk berlaku kepada kita. Jika kita usaha untuk memperbaiki nasib kita, itu juga takdir.

5. Bukanlah niat saya untuk bersyarah agama pada hari yang mulia ini. Hanya ingin mengingat diri saya dan mungkin pembaca bahawa usaha diperlukan oleh diri saya/kita supaya akan terselamatlah tahun 2017, tahun baru ini, Insyaallah.

6. Sudah menjadi lumrah bahawa pada permulaan tahun kita membuat resolusi berkenaan sesuatu yang baik yang akan kita amalkan pada tahun baru ini. Saya tidak akan beritahu sesiapa apa dianya resolusi saya. Tetapi Insyaallah akan saya cuba amalkan sepanjang 2017.

7. Sekali lagi saya ucapkan kepada semua Selamat Menyambut Tahun Baru 2017.

8. Mudah mudahan Allah akan mencurah rahmat kepada kita rakyat Malaysia.

NEW YEAR

1. On this good day I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

2. 2016 had not been a very happy year for us in Malaysia. But the whole world had not had a good year either.

3. I will not repeat the litany of events which made 2016 a bad year.

4. But I note that we still see people killing people. We still see natural disasters occurring more frequently and more severely all over the world.

5. We cannot assume that worse things would not happen in the New Year.

6. We are also experiencing things in our own country which we thought could never have happened.

7. Still we must be thankful that the scale of the natural disasters are at least less severe than those in other countries.

8. But despite all these we can still resolve to do something good in the New Year.

9. Yes we did not keep our previous year’s resolution long. But this time we must resolve to keep our resolution longer. Maybe into the first quarter or the second even if not for the whole year.

10. I have resolved to keep my resolution longer.

BR1M

1. My condemnation of BR1M as a form of corruption seems to upset and anger some people.

2. I still maintain that it is a form of bribe. This is made clear by the comment of a recipient from the kampung.

3. He said, “I will support Najib because he gave me money. Mahathir did not give me money”.

4. BR1M is from Government money. It is obviously intended to get people to vote for the Government party in the 13th General Election because the BN manifesto for that election promises bigger BR1M when the Government party wins. Explicitly it is about buying the vote of the electorate.

5. If it is not meant to pay for the vote in the election, it should not be mentioned in the BN manifesto.

6. Any Government in any country has an obligation to look after the poor. The dole is given to ease the difficulties of unemployed people. Financial aid is given to the poor but not as supplement to their income.

7. But BR1M is said to be given to 7 million people with incomes of less than RM3000/- per month. That means that a person with income of RM36, 000 per year would also get RM500/- a year. It is not a meaningful relief for such people.

8. But people with no income or income of less than RM500/- per month or RM6000/- per year might feel an additional RM500/- per year quite welcome. It’s not much but it will buy a few items of food.

9. Now of course the amount is to be increased to RM1, 200/- a year, or RM100/- per month. It is still not much but it is okay. But for someone earning RM3000/- per month it is still peanuts.

10. The money is to be disbursed through UMNO. Obviously it is an attempt at gaining popularity for UMNO. That is political. It is bribery especially if disbursed near an election. It is bribery if the amount is increased and included in the party manifesto.

11. It will not be bribery if the money is disbursed through Government officers or through all members of Parliament irrespective of parties.

12. But this support is nullified by the G.S.T and withdrawal of various subsidies. The cost of living has shot up by more than the amount of BR1M. In fact for many, the G.S.T takes away more from their income than is compensated by BR1M.

13. Now the Ringgit is devalued by more than 1 Ringgit in terms of purchasing power. So a person earning RM500/- per month today gets only about RM355/- worth of purchasing power. The loss of purchasing power due to the devalued Ringgit and increase in cost of living actually means that BR1M is worth much less than the amount, even if the BR1M is increased to RM1,200. Only the hard core poor will appreciate BR1M.

14. The Government is not clear about the cut–off point. Is it RM3000/- per month or less. If less then it cannot be that 7 million people are entitled to receiving BR1M. We pride ourselves in having reduced poverty to 1% hard core and 5% below poverty line.

15. Taking those 5% below poverty line, the total would be only 1,500,000 people. It would be far less if we count only working adults. We need to help these people only, but with more than RM1,200 per annum.

16. Recently people eligible for BR1M have been threatened that if they attend rallies by opposition parties they will not be entitled to BR1M. If this does not show that BR1M is meant to bribe people, I don’t know what is meant by bribery.

17. BR1M tends to make people dependent on the Government. It is known that some of the money did not reach the targeted people.

18. In Britain today unemployed people must do some work to earn the dole.

19. What we need in Malaysia is more jobs for the poor to earn better income. For this we must learn to do without foreign workers.

20. When people are unable to work because of disability, substantial financial support should be given to them.

21. Beyond that the Government should focus on revaluation of the currency and strengthening the economy. The people were definitely better off before when BR1M was not given.

22. BR1M is not only a form of corruption but it corrupts the minds of the people.

23. I suggest the Government carry out a proper survey to identify the really poor people and give them sufficient money to have a decent life. Stop giving the money through Government parties.

DEMOCRACY

1. Most newly independent countries chose democracy as their political system. They believe fondly that they would get good Governments as the people would choose the leaders to rule their countries. The people must surely choose good leaders.

2. However many now rue the day they chose democracy. Studies have shown that the system is very open to abuse and the wrong people may be elected who will not only abuse the power conferred on them, but who are able to stay in power for decades. Effectively these leaders would become dictators.

3. What usually happens is that once these elected leaders gain control of the machinery of Government, they would be able to manipulate elections so that they or their party would not be defeated.

4. Changing the boundaries of constituencies is one way. Control over the counting of votes offers many ways of cheating. Voting slips can always be shuffled, added or lost. The identity of the voters may be changed so voting twice or three times at different voting stations can be engineered.

5. Voters may be moved from strongholds to weak constituencies. The marking with so-called indelible black ink can be washed out.

6. Then of course the voters can be corrupted with money or gifts.

7. The opportunities for the Government Party to cheat is far greater as it controls the whole voting machinery. The staff would usually be recruited from serving Government staff. They may be bribed or threatened with some kind of punishment.

8. It is noteworthy that when the counting is repeated, the results are never the same. If may be human error or it may be deliberate. The Government party has the possibility of changing the results despite there being observers from the opposition.

9. Sometimes foreign observers are invited to oversee the election process. They may find something wrong. But unless the cheating is blatant, their reports are not likely to be respected.

10. Some countries have adopted electronic voting. Perhaps they are less open to fraud and manipulation. But they are not fool proof.

11. We are seeing in many new countries the incumbent rejecting the results if he loses. There may be riots and violence when this happens. This would give excuses for the Government to call in the military or the military would actually take over and form the Government. Once this happens the people can kiss good bye to democracy.

12. Political parties by themselves cannot seize power. But if the military or the police are prepared to back the dictator, then the seizure of power by a political leader would be successful.

13. In one country a dictator lost because the armed forces and the police which were backing him switched sides. The dictator was overthrown. But where only the military leaders did this, the police may find much to be gained by backing the dictator. The switch is unlikely, to happen. There can be prolonged violence.

14. Obviously a democracy is not a guarantee for good governance. It works in most of the western countries because of the culture of their people. They are much more mature and experienced. They know the price they and the whole country would have to pay if they choose the wrong person to lead. But as we all know even the seasoned democrats can make mistakes.

15. The culture of corruption is not as rampant in these countries. The separation of power between the legislative, the executive and the judiciary is respected and observed. The wrongdoers in any of the institutions cannot hope to get away with their misdeeds.

16. But in the young democracies, disregard for the essential elements of democracy is the norm rather than the exception. It is not unusual for the chief executive of the Government to control all three institutions through corruption or other means.

17. Democracy is a great system but it is not perfect. If the people do not assert their right it does not take much for a democracy to become a kleptocracy; a Government by crooks.

MERRY X’MAS

My wife and I would like to wish all our Christian friends a joyous Merry Christmas, especially to the readers of this blog. Merry Christmas!