Friday thinkabout...

Where are the feared Sabahan warriors? Where in Bung Karno of Kinabatangan? Where is Kalabakan's Ghapur Salleh? What about UMNO's VP Shafie Afdal? or Foreign Minister Anifah Aman? If that is not enough, what about Ghani Patail - Malaysia's AG?

If the names mentioned above do not make any statement for Sabah's rights to Block L & M,then we are at a loss of words. Maybe these guys wear kilts and I dare not peep what is below the kilts...

1. It's Friday, let's slow down the pace. That does not mean that we should be making a beeline to TGIF...
2. Did you notice that although it has been brewing long before but it really pick up steam these past few days and the MSMs' started cashing on the news from Wednesday? If you do not have a clue, it is about the ongoing Kelantan royal household saga...
3. The way you look at it, it is a family matter and as such, it is best for the family members to resolve their differences. As long as there is no criminal elements are involved! Or else, don't be surprise if the saga will make its way to the Rulers special courts where all beans will be spilled...
4. Then there is the tragic death of a 15-year old youth in Shah Alam. The police wanted the trial by media to stop but at the same time they are implying that the youth has bad intention. That is just not the way to defuse the issue!
5. The police pleads to the public to let them do the job and complete the investigation but at the same time they have jumped the gun to picture that the youth is a "possible" bandit.
6. Riding on public pressure,, the government decided to form a special panel to look into the case. But will the panel be impartial when the members are made of former police IGP, secretary to the home ministry, and UMNO-linked lawyer?

   The panel wants all parties to stop speculating. The question is - if the public stop debating on this issue, will the panel's findings be made public? If it is "For your eyes" only, then nothing will come out of it. It will be another toothless panel made up of toothless members (hey, I mean it when the members are not they young and most are having dentures to stay handsome)
   

7. Of course there are other news but these two news are enough to bury the real main news of the week! While some may stay glued to see the British election results whilst another portion is waiting with bated breath on the possibility of legalised sports betting, the real issue is Block L and M off Sabah waters which is proclaimed to be Brunei's.
8. How about Ezam "6 box - I deserve to be Senator" Mohd Noor, Palanivel senatorship? Is this an indication that Najib is ready to revamp his cabinet? If so, will Ezam leap-frogged KJ for a cabinet post? Will it be Palanivel or will it be T Mohan as MIC additional rep in the cabinet?

   Whilst some are promoting KJ for his "brains", others are hedging on Ezam to be rewarded a cabinet post as prelude to future's "battle for the UMNO youth head". I see a "die-die" situation for KJ. If that is the case...Rest in Peace KJ.
   

9. Back to my main topis - that of Block L and M. Where are the feared Sabahan warriors? Where in Bung Karno of Kinabatangan? Where is Kalabakan's Ghapur Salleh? What about UMNO's VP Shafie Afdal? or Foreign Minister Anifah Aman? If that is not enough, what about Ghani Patail - Malaysia's AG?

   If the names mentioned above do not make any statement for Sabah's rights to Block L & M,then we are at a loss of words. Maybe these guys wear kilts and I dare not peep what is below the kilts...
   

10. Of course, it is not expected for BN-UMNO to let Yong TL of SAPP to come out a hero in this issue. A meek response from Musa, another son of Aman does not settle the issue.
11. Just imagine a potential loss of RM 320B! If the normal convention of 5% wang ehsan formula is used, it will be a potential loss of RM 16B to Sabah! Sabah has a population of 3.4M in 2007. That works out to a potential loss of RM 4,700 per Sabahan. Banyak juga tu....

    There are various unconfirmed reports that Tg Razaleigh is trying to patch up a 4-state referendum consisting of Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu and Kelantan for the oil royalty/wang ehsan/compassionate funds to be increased to 10 %. If that holds water, Sabah is looking at a potential loss of RM 32B!
    

12. It's Abdullah's error dug up by Mahathir for Najib to bury. Yes, it a a Sabahan problem and let's see what Sabahan MPs' are made of. Sabah has 25 MPs' sitting in the parliament. Will any of the 24 BN MPs dare to raise this issue?

    Kinabatangan may be too busy having his day in syariah court together with his newly wed wife, Kimanis is missing, Kalabakan's lone ranger days may be too much for his heart.

13. Sabah, Land below the wind is desperately looking for her sons to protect her soverignity. Who will rise to protect block L & M?
14. Or will it be another case of "Yang di kejar tak dapat, yang dikendung berciciran"? You know what I mean, chasing and claiming Limbang is Malaysia's and runei came out strongly denying they never ceded Limbang to Malaysia and in the same time, Malaysia lost Block L & M without consulting Sabah state government.
15. Today is Friday and for Muslims you have two choice, either go to Friday prayers or not. If you choose not to go, are you a male or female. If you are female, fine, you are excused...

    But if you are a male, you still have choice, either you are excused by syara' or you just plain choose not to attend the prayers... even that you still have a choice
    

    How many times have you choose not to attend friday prayers? If it is less that 3 consecutive Fridays, you still has chance, If not, be warned that you have been stamped ...wallahualam.....
    

Till then...G'nite M'sia...wherever u are... Read More

Oil and Limbang...they owe us an explanation

I called on Mahathir, Abdullah and Najib to seek an audience and explain to the Sultans on what happen. Unless, this is truly the day when BN usurped the Sultans' powers and they can do what they please with Malaysia, as if Malaysia belongs to BN and not to Malaysians...

1. Touch down and back on Malaysian ground! As Tom Jones summed it well in "The green green grass of home".
2. Yes, we do have well informed taxi drivers who can converse on almost all subjects including Malaysian politics. This time around, my taxi driver is definitely not a fan of MIC as he hissed his dislikes towards Samy Vellu. He has his own opinion on almost all Malaysian politicians including Chua SL, Najib, Abdullah and even Mahathir.
3. He make use of the almost 1 hour journey to present his views on the recently concluded P94 Hulu Selangor by-election. He make it a point to repeatedly emphasize that P94 election procedure is flawed offering his personal experience of having 8 of his friends denied their rights to vote in the election when they discovered that someone had voted using their names and the police (or is it the EC?) threathening them not to make an issue out of this. True or false? I would not know as this is the first time I met him and I conveniently did not jot down his particulars.
4. I will leave P94 Hulu Selangor by election at that as there are attempts to force the EC to declare it null and void. To the winner, they will claim that this is the work of sore losers. To the loser, this is blantant misuse of power and influence. What you believe will rely on the information and proofs provided. Will it be like another "the truth is out there"? just like The X-file?
5. Now, now - what is this about Abdullah and Murphy Oil? Murphy Oil Corporation (MOC) announced that the offshore exploration areas designated as Block L ad M is no longer a part of Malaysia following the exchage of letters between Malaysia and Brunei in March 2009. MOC, in their statement indicated that they were informed by Petronas about the situation in April 2010, almost a year after the exchange of letter. Call that Malaysian efficiency or is it inefficiency?
6. As MOC has been jointly awarded to work on the blocks with Petronas since 2003, what will happen to those abortive works? Will MOC be compensated? If so, who will compensate MOC - Petronas, Malaysian government or Bunei government? But, that is not all. That is just the tip of the iceberg...
7. Based on news extracted from Brunei Times datelined 23rd April 2010, it said that :-
   • Brunei sultanate retains the ownership of the 2 blocks under a deal made with the Government of Malaysia in 2009 when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was the PM;
   • This has been sorted out last year and is nothing new;
   • Designated blocks L and M (Malaysia) is known as blocks J and K in Brunei;
   • Following the Exchange of Letters on 16th March 2009 between Malaysia and Brunei, the said offshores exploration areas are no longer part of Malaysia;
   • Brunei petroleum unit indicated that Brunei's block J (Malaysia's block L) was commissioned to MOC under Petronas whilst Brunei's block K (Malaysia's block M) was commissioned to Shell, Mitsubishi and ConocoPhillips consortium;
     

8. Mahathir, meanwhile raised up the following issues in his posting :-
   • Malaysia's block L and M is claimed by Malaysia based on historical facts;
   • Abdullah Badawi negotiates for Limbang and in return surrenders the 2 blocks to Brunei;
   • No Petronas representatives were present during the negotiation, only foreign office staff and foreign affairs adviser to the PM were present during the negotiation;
   • Brunei disclaimed that they have agreed to give up Limbang;
   • Abdullah Ahmad Badawi caused Malaysia to lose RM 320B worth of Malaysian oil in the agreement;

9. Malaysian Insider choose to highlight the issues with both Mahathir and Lim KS demanding Wisma Putra and Najib to explain the issue and situation. The same news portal runs another story on 2nd May 2010 outlining Petronas to run the disputed oil blocks with Brunei as :-
   • Petronas will develop the 2 blocks with Brunie on "commercial arrangement basis";
   • Abdullah said that the two blocks will be jointly developed by 2 countries for a period of 40 years;
   • Abdullah stressed that the agreement is not a loss to Malaysia;
   • Abdullah claimed that the cabinet approved the deal in February 2009
     

10. Well, well well! I would like to know more. There are questions to be answered and let's list them out :-
    • Will MOC claim for opportunity cost? Will MOC be compensated? Who will pay the compensation?How much is the compensation?;
    • Abdullah claimed that Limbang is Malaysia's now whilst Brunei disclaimed Abdullah's statement. So which side is true? Did Brunei give up Limbang for the 2 oil blocks? Did Abdullah give up the 2 blocks for Limbang?;
    • If Limbang belongs to Malaysia now, where are the supporting documents? Will it be under Sarawak? Or will it be another Federal Territory? Will Limbang has a parliamentary seat? Or will it has some autonomy similar to Sarawak?;
    • What about the people in Limbang? Will they be given the choice of citizenship? If they are offered Malaysian citizenship, will they be regarded as Bumiputra?;
    • If the 2 blocks are given up to Brunei, what is the compensation to Sarawak? Are they not entitled to the oil royalty/compassionate fund? Who will compensate Sarawak? Will it be compensated by Brunei government to Sarawak or will it be paid to Malaysia's coffers?;
    • If Sarawak is not compensated, who give Abdullah the right to negotiate on Sarawak's behalf? Who consented Malaysian cabinet in enetring the negotiation?;
    • Were the sultanates informed of this negotiation? Were the Sultanates briefed on this development? Did the Sultans consented to this agreement?;
    • Was YDP Agung briefed on the matter? Did Abdullah presented this agreement to YDP Agung?;
    • Who ratify this agreement? Is there something in there for Abdullah? Ala Iraq's food-for-oil scheme? Is this a go-away present for Abdullah?
    • If Abdullah's claims are true, then why did the entire cabinet agree to this lop-sided agreement? On what basis did Najib and Muhyiddun agree to this agreement? And who is the foreign minister at the time - Rais Yatim?;
    • If this agreement is endorsed by the entire cabinet, then it is clear that the cabinet of the day did not place Malaysia's interest over theirs. Is this the cabinet that Malaysians voted in? Is this the best Malaysians can offer? Is this the best cabinet?
    • Yes, Petronas is invited to run the blocks on "commercial basis". But is it good enough? Petronas will not be running the blocks on Malaysia's terms and conditions but on Brunei's terms and conditions. Is that feasible and viable? Are we placing Petronas at Brunei's mercy?;
      

11. Najib has to come forward and cleans this mess. Yes, agreed that Najib was not the PM in March 2009 but he knew that Abdullah days as PM is over and he should be advising Abdullah on what to do. Leaving sleepyhead to negotiate Block L & M with Limbang thrown in is not Abdullah's forte. Not when the whole world knows that he is such an easy snoozer. For all we know, he might be nodding in his sleep and Brunei took it as Abdullah's agreement!
12. Only yesterday a friend told me how Malaysians once regarded BN as Robin Hoods and how these "Robin Hoods" transformed into "day light robbers". These "daylight robbers" are already caught selling sand to our southern neighbours to the tune of almost RM 590B per year!
13. Are we facing another "daylight robbery" to the tune of RM 320B in these offshore exploration areas? Is this Najib's way to deflect the scorpene investigation? Is this BN's response to P94 Hulu Selangor voters complaints?
14. Najib owe Malaysia explanation on what happen to Malaysia's block L & M. Abdullah owe Malaysians explanation on how we lost the oil exploration blocks and the Limbang deal. Mahathir owe us explanation why he give us Abdullah Ahmad Badawi!
15. The way things are going, BN has a lot of explanation to do. BN just could not bulldoze their way around anymore nor clean the dirt under the carpet. That is not the solution! BN must come clean on Limbang and the sand theft. If BN is responsible, then BN should bear all on what transpired in the Limbang deal.
16. BN just can't survive on excuses alone. UMNO, as BN's backbone should be responsible for the action of its leaders. Shifting the blame or new leaders begging for a second chance to make things right is no longer acceptable. Before, Abdullah begged Malaysia to give him a chance after Mahathir left the political scene. Now, Najib is doing the same thing, asking Malaysia to give him a chance to realise his dreams.

    BN and for that matter UMNO, please stop taking Malaysians for granted. Enough is enough. Either BN and UMNO comes clean on Limbang issue or forever Limbang deal will be tied to UMNO (and BN's) attics, making fools of Malaysians with their leaders' vested interest. No wonder, one Professor from Malaysia's top University said that we need to change the government now for a better Malaysia!
    

17. I called on Mahathir, Abdullah and Najib to seek an audience and explain to the Sultans on what happen. Unless, this is truly the day when BN usurped the Sultans' powers and they can do what they please with Malaysia, as if Malaysia belongs to BN and not to Malaysians...
18. Let's widen the scope and call on Chua SL, Samy Vellu, Koh TK, Kayveas, Taib Mahmud and the rest of BN component parties to demand an explanation from Abdullah and Najib. This RM 320B opportunity loss and Limbang deal getting undone is another slap to Malaysia's face. We have lost Pulau Batu Putih through Malaysia's weak foreign minister and now we are losing block L & M through sleepyhead Abdullah. What are we going to lose next? Our pants?
19. By the way, does BN youth head has something to say on this? Or will he keep quiet as the blunder comes from his FIL? I see that BN will pooh-pooh the issue and act as if nothing happen.

    I am sure this time, the block L & M together with Limbang deal will take centre stage in Sibu by-election. Couple that with NCR issue, Bakun dam, BN has a lot of explaining to do. It will not be surprising if BN wins P 212 by-election but at what cost? Will Malaysians be led by their noses by BN and UMNO?

20. So many things needs answers, Let's start with block L & M together with Sibu. Can UMNO do that? Will UMNO do that? Can BN explain the rationale? Will Najib and his cabinet take full responsibilities? Or will they, as usual, pass the bucks around? If they do, who will be their scapegoat, this time? Abdullah, perhaps?...
    

Till then...G'nite M'sia...wherever u are... Read More