Poser over RM40m for Sabah Umno

By Luke Rintod of FMT

The highly reputed Hong Kong ICAC has washed its hands
off the RM40 million Musa Aman 'matter' and even
retracted its probe application with the Swiss Court.

KOTA KINABALU: The Umno-led Barisan Nasional government’s attempt to “clear” Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman of allegations of money laundering after some RM40 million had floated up out of nowhere, has raised more questions of how political parties are funded, said State Reform Party (STAR).

The party’s deputy chairman, Daniel John Jambun, said many are now questioning the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz’s statement as to why businessman Michael Chia “contributed” a whopping RM40 million to Sabah Umno.

Nazri yesterday said that Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail had found “no elements of corruption” from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) probe on Musa regarding the RM40 million, which Chia was caught with red-handed in Hong Kong in 2008 as he was about to fly to Malaysia.

Jangan shiok sendiri

Source

And this is what happens when you close your mind and refuse to look at the bigger picture. You are just one person with one vote. You may even be amongst four million like-minded people. But then 10 million people will be coming out to vote in the 13th General Election. And how many of these 10 million are following the TV news every night? And how many of these 10 million have been swayed by what they saw on TV? 

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

I asked you this question last week: are you guys and gals following the news on the mainstream media, in particular the TV news? Most likely the answer is ‘no’, and for obvious reasons -- because the mainstream media, in particular the TV stations, are government-owned/controlled. So you are boycotting the mainstream media plus you don’t trust what the mainstream media, in particular the news on TV, says.

Okay, I can understand that reason although not necessarily I agree with it. Basically, you are not interested in what ‘the enemy’ has to say. So you shut your eyes and ears to what you consider ‘government propaganda’.

No proof of graft on Musa, says Nazri

Source

The minister adds that the Hong Kong authorities
had also decided against taking any action
against the Sabah chief minister.

KUALA LUMPUR: Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman has been cleared of allegations of laundering money purportedly linked to Umno.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz said the Attorney-General (Abdul Gani Patail) found “no elements of corruption” from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) probe on the Umno leader.

He said the money was only a “contribution” to the party’s Sabah chapter.

“It is not for the private use of the the chief minister,” he said in a written reply to Batu MP Tian Chua at Parliament today.

Anwar shadows Najib to drum change for Sabah

By Luke Rintod of FMT

Umno and BN leaders know that there is little love
lost in Sabah for the ruling coalition as people
continue to feel the effects of higher prices.

KOTA KINABALU: Wherever Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak goes, the silhouette of a senior Pakatan Rakyat leader is never too far away from him and the same will happen when he visits Sabah this weekend.

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is due in Sabah this Friday on a weekend visit a day ahead of a two-day visit by the premier who will be in the state to shore up support for his Barisan Nasional coalition.

However, while the state administration has announced Najib’s itinerary in Penampang, Kundasang and Kudat, Anwar’s visit is lower-profile.

According to PKR vice president Tian Chua, he will accompany Anwar this Friday to visit the interior Sabah parliamentary districts of Keningau, Tenom and Pensiangan.

Sabah BN will win seats ‘by default’

Some analysts in Sabah believe that as many as 20 seats,
including five or six parliamentary seats, could go to
BN as a result of a split in opposition votes.

By Luke Rintod of FMT

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is set to see multi-cornered fights in most areas in the coming general election. This means that the ruling Barisan Nasional may have the edge.

At this stage, observers can conclude that the opposition parties in Sabah are giving Umno-led BN a “free advantage” to retain a majority of the Sabah seats.

At stake in Sabah are 26 parliamentary seats, including one in Labuan, and 60 state seats.

Sabah chairman of State Reform Party (STAR), Jeffrey Kitingan, said recently that his party is all but ready to announce the seats – parliamentary and state – it will contest.

Sabahans must wake up to the reality of being disenfranchised, marginalised citizens - Datuk Dr Jeffrey G Kitingan

STAR's Sabah Chairman, Dr Jeffrey Kitingan

Sabahans must wake up from their slumber and complacency and UNITE to defend their rights and their country from being taken over by outsiders, said Datuk Dr Jeffrey G Kitingan, Chairman of STAR Sabah when launching STAR’s Roadshow entitle “POSIK with Agenda Borneo” in Kg. Purak, Papar yesterday which was attended by over one thousand supporters.

“POSIK” is the dusun word for ‘wake up’.

Why Chávez Was Re-elected - honest opinion from New York Times

By MARK WEISBROT
Published: October 9, 2012

WASHINGTON — For most people who have heard or read about Hugo Chávez in the international media, his reelection on Sunday as president of Venezuela by a convincing margin might be puzzling.

Almost all of the news we hear about him is bad: He picks fights with the United States and sides with “enemies” such as Iran; he is a “dictator” or “strongman” who has squandered the nation’s oil wealth; the Venezuelan economy is plagued by shortages and is usually on the brink of collapse.

Workable Solutions Focus of Renewable Energy Meet in Sabah

Members of the Murut indigenous group in Sabah working
on installing a micro hydro turbine in Borneo.

KOTA KINABALU, MALAYSIA (8th Oct 2012): Community-based solutions and cost effective, reliable models for generating renewable electricity are among features of a regional assembly in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, that will do its part in creating a sustainable energy secure future for the planet.

The five-day Southeast Asia Renewable Energy People’s Assembly (SEAREPA) that starts on Oct 29 at the Rainforest Discovery Centre in Sandakan will also explore an array of renewable energy technologies and methodologies.

Migrants, church may end BN’s Borneo vote bank

KOTA KINABALU: Housewife Fawziah Abdul wants to thank former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammad for making her a citizen 10 years after she illegally slipped into Borneo from the southern Philippines in search of a better life.

The 50-year-old lives on the outskirts of Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Malaysia’s Sabah state, where her tin-roofed shack jostles for space with more than 1,000 others in a slum where children play beside heaps of rubbish.

She is hopeful that her three children will get a new home and identity cards if she votes for the government again.

‘BN govt does not care for Sabah’

Former deputy minister Lajim Ukin told Parliament of the
failures of the BN government to Sabah voters.

Source

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Umno deputy minister Lajim Ukin told parliament that the Barisan Nasional government has no time for Sabah. He said this was despite the state’s loyalty to the federal government all these years.

Lajim, who is Beaufort MP, also indicated his support for the opposition after he had remained quiet over his political leanings since he quit the government, applauding Pakatan Rakyat’s promise to raise oil royalty payments to 20%.

Sabah is rich in oil and contributes some RM22 billion of oil revenue annually but enjoys a mere 5% return in royalty while government allocations to the state, one of the poorest in the country, is said to be comparatively low.