Hindraf, Bersih and Anwar's connection

This is the excerp from The I Files by Jonathan Smith. He concurred that Anwar was behind Hindraf and Bersih massive rallies prior to the General Election 2008. The massive fund from abroad helped. Read on....

 

Whatever else may be said of the world’s intelligence agencies in Malaysia, they became quite good at tracking the movement of Anwar’s resurgent financial empire, especially as funds began pouring back into Malaysia.

 

With some outside help, of course.

 

So in 2006 and 2007, analysts in Langley and Vauxhall Cross tried to puzzle out why millions of pounds were flooding out of the network and into the holding accounts of small, heretofore largely unknown civil society groups.

 

Secret services were already familiar with Anwar’s close association with George Soros and the manner in which they had funded ex nihilo a host of nominally independent groups who promptly sprang to life, decrying Malaysia’s Government and faithfully parroting the Opposition’s every utterance. Intelligence services tended to treat these as useless as sources of information, but a useful sign of a healthy civil society. After all, a society in which one may be a moron on behalf of idiotic minority politicians is a very free world indeed.

 

But what, they asked themselves and each other, is the purpose of funding this HINDRAF?

∞

It is important to understand that massive rallies do not simply happen. One of the most pernicious ideas in all the world is that the mass of the repressed proletariat is ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice, forming a mob ready to topple the existing order and form a utopian society in its place. That has happened, in rare instances. But it didn’t happen in most places – and not back in 2007.

Anyone who has tried to bring a dozen friends to the cinema at the same time knows how foolhardy an idea this is. Even today, with SMS and Twitter and other such tools, bringing together enough people to perform a spontaneous dance routine in a shopping centre is no mean feat, something the Bersih people discovered in 2011 whilst trying to hold a protest at a shopping centre and instead got a dozen mostly befuddled people in yellow shirts together for a day of browsing.
What that rather pathetic but amusing stunt did not have, that the first Hindraf and Bersih rallies did, was co-ordination, funding, logistical support, and trained professionals prepared to stir up a mob.

What they had, in other words, was the backing of Anwar Ibrahim.

Anwar brought not only his own street experience – somewhat dated since his glory days in the 1970s and even the late 1990s, but not wholly irrelevant by any means – but also organisers from labour and political movements in the West used to creating large rallies, communications channels and techniques; and perhaps most importantly, money.

The stories of both Bersih and Hindraf – the two rallies less than a month apart that shook Malaysia – begins as with so much else in this story with pre-existing structures corrupted by Anwar’s money machine. For Hindraf, the initial organisers were just a handful of men and women deeply exercised over the destruction of Hindu temples. With Bersih, a group of reformers and relatively unimportant Keadilan personages began discussing electoral reform by e-mail.

Anwar’s money changed all of that, beginning in late 2005.
Beginning in 2005, the Bersih group found itself awash in funds so that by 2006, despite protests of being non-partisan, it had become an open stalking horse for every Opposition party in existence, with sufficient funds to set in motion logistics of which most labour groups would be proud; HINDRAF went from being a group complaining by email in early 2006 about Hindu temple destruction to organising what they reasonably expected would be tens of thousands of outraged Tamils for a mass rally.
The stories of how both groups ended up being Anwar’s tools move in parallel.

∞

There was, first, the money. The consultants came next, but the money was offered first, and so men and women with little experience with money, let alone thousands upon thousands of pounds’ worth of it, were naturally overwhelmed.

There would be no special conditions, no puppet-strings, no control. Just funds for the betterment of Malaysia. Are not clean elections in everyone’s interest? In a Malaysia where religious minorities always fear PAS is influencing Umno, are not preserved temples a positive good? It was all quite plausible.
But men and women with no experience with money simply do not know how to use it; and so – again, without any conditions – consultants with experience in public relations and organising and marching, vendors who could produce signs that would read clearly on the telly, a veritable army of men and women who could help the Bersih group and what would eventually become Hindraf navigate a harsh world in which very few public demonstrations were allowed, especially after Anwar’s stunts in the late 1990s.
But these men – and they were virtually all men – were loyal to Anwar, and so through them Anwar received essentially an open line of communication that poured the activists’ hopes and dreams and worries and fears to him; and that gave him the opening he wanted.

In short order, Bersih’s upper echelons were flooded with Opposition politicians and activists, who out of years of practise could sound the same themes of Bersih, though they cared not a jot about any of it.

But Hindraf was a different problem, and required Anwar’s special touch. So he travelled and met with their leaders, and spoke of his heartfelt desire that Malaysia should be a place where all faiths were accommodated, where all might freely choose their beliefs and practise them without fear.
That he had made a career out of rubbishing such talk was lost on them.

Would it not, it was put to them, be wise to make a single, eloquent gesture? Throw so much power and symbolism into a single event that even Umno must notice? Why not throw the entire matter at the feet of the British, who had abandoned the Indians and the Chinese to the Malays and Article 153? And would this not embarrass Abdullah Badawi and the Government before the British and the world?

This turned out to be a wildly popular idea.

It was here that the consultants entered on cue. Would it not be spectacular to have a rally before the British High Commission? Would it not be absolutely brilliant to have the rally at symbols with deep, national and spiritual meaning?
Two lawyers from a firm with offices on three continents spoke up. They had been at the meetings in Riyadh in early 2005 and had played no small part in every stage of events to date.
The American spoke first. “You should file a class-action lawsuit,” he said, happening as if by chance on an idea almost peculiarly American that also resonated with a people used to their Opposition leaders filing lawsuits for publicity purposes.
The Brit spoke next. “You should have Her Majesty the Queen pay for the suit, as you have been left too poor by her abandonment of you to afford such a thing.”

∞

A general rule of street organising is that at best, for every 5-6 people contacted, one shows up. This is because outside of absolutely intolerable situations – where the ratio is more like 3:1 – the average person has better things to do than risk being crushed by a mob, sprayed by a water cannon, punched by a fellow protester, punched by a police officer, and put one’s beliefs and energy into standing in the sun for hours on end.
But with enough money, expertise, and manpower, a good riot can be had whenever one wishes.

The point of a rally, or a riot, or a mob, is not to cause directly a government’s overthrow. It is to generate sympathy in the greater population for one’s cause. It is to generate that CNN moment, preferably with tear gas on camera. The marchers must be the demonstrative sacrifices to a brutal state, or the men and women who stayed at home will continue to stay at home. They must see their neighbours, their friends, their family bludgeoned and gassed, even though they may have attacked the police in the first place.
This was the motivation behind the Bersih rallies and the 2007 Hindraf rally. It is why Bersih 2.0 was turned into a provocation against the police, and why Anwar made his widely-viewed gesture to storm the barricades at Bersih 3.0. With the tools of power denied him, Anwar fell back on his old days of street rallies, just as he had when his coup attempt failed.

Images of red-shirted PAS thugs attacking the police destroy the narrative.
So the plan, as it existed on paper, was brilliant, and in many ways worked as desired. The poor chaps who marched at the Hindraf rally never made it to their intended destination; but of course, Anwar had never intended that they would. Bersih and Hindraf degenerated into batons and tear gas and public chaos and disorder.

Just as Anwar had wanted.

But even brutalised marchers are not enough. One must have a great national or religious symbol as a backdrop, a tie that brings together shared feelings with the sympathy of sacrifice. Anwar’s men decided that Bersih should be aimed at the King (with Anwar of course leading the procession), and Hindraf should be held under the shadow of the Petronas Towers (with another at the Batu Caves temple), with a march to the British High Commission, a move deeply symbolic of Britain’s role in Malaysia’s history and of its close relationship with Putrajaya.

And there must be adequate satellite coverage.

And so when Bersih’s simple march turned into a reminder of Indonesia’s riots, CNN was there. When the tear gas flowed at the Batu Caves, photographers were available and already prepositioned. When the rioters at the Petronas Towers were gassed, Al-Jazeera already had camera crews on standby.

The Opposition feasted on the images. For the first time in a decade, it seemed as if Malaysia might be again coming apart.

One rally followed the other, and deeply moving photos and stories were disseminated by email, mildly dim foreign media, and by a Wikipedia campaign well in advance of the proprietors’ understanding of how their site was being used for propaganda.
Though the rallies were marked by water cannon and tear gas and moving pictures sent by internet and satellite dish; though they took place before symbols of Malaysian nationalism and unity and before profoundly meaningful religious symbols; though they were everything Anwar and his merry band imagined, they were yet another overreach by Anwar, though he had not yet realised it.
The same cycle would repeat itself in 2012, when Anwar’s hijacking of Bersih became complete, and when a rally under a more tolerant regime was once again turned into a series of CNN moments. There again, the consequences for Anwar would be in the longer-term, but would be no less significant.
The chameleon never learns.

∞

Malaysia is not in fact a third-world Hell-hole. Whilst Anwar wanted to portray the country as coming apart at the seams in its fervour to cast aside Barisan Nasional, the real effect was to waken every major intelligence service in the area from the stupor into which they had fallen.

Whilst Foreign Ministries and State Departments issued sternly-worded denunciations of police action, spooks from the United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia, and the United States once again came to understand exactly how dangerous Anwar was.
Malaysia is not merely not a third-world Hell-hole, it is also one of the rare bulwarks of stability and democracy in the Muslim world, a fact rarely appreciated in-country but a cornerstone of Western planning. Anwar was placing this in jeopardy, and by all accounts did not particularly care if he brought the whole thing down if it gave him his one chance at power.

It was the job of those men in the shadows to care. With the help of a few ex-spooks and their friends – who by then had already compiled quite the set of data on the former Deputy Prime Minister – the intelligence services increased their monitoring and worked to penetrate his organisations at all costs.
Their greater understanding of the man would be a part of his undoing over time.

Anwar was oblivious to this, and so, as his exile from electoral politics came to a close, he prepared to stand for election, certain that once and for all, everything would change.

And so it would in 2008 – though not as he apparently expected.

Anwar-The man who would have become king by Jonathan Smith

Had not greed and graft overtook his concience, he would made a  perfect masquerade to fool  (Tun) Dr  Mahathir, the then PM. Anwar was the blue- eyed boy of Dr Mahathir- he even made Anwar de facto PM for two weeks during his surprise holiday tour overseas . What was the intention  Dr Mahathir had in mind then? Was it God intervention? Read more from Jonathan Smith, author of the    I Files

Anwar Ibrahim was a man for whom fortune did not merely smile, it offered to carry his briefcase. But his incredible run of luck, his numerous talents, and what appeared to be a void in his soul that allowed him to be anything and everything to anyone and everyone else would have been wasted but for Mahathir’s patronage – a patronage that would very soon prove very dangerous and mistaken in the end.

Explaining how Mahathir missed all of this for so long requires understanding some things about the man lost on the young – when I first told my sons this story, what should have been a quick five minutes instead turned into an hour-long history lesson on Malaysia, the details of which seem lost to the mists of time today. For this, no secret files are needed, merely the accounts of eyewitnesses who lived there.

Well, perhaps a few semi-secret files.
As I’ve mentioned before, Mahathir had fought his way out of the political wilderness all the way to Prime Minister by his own force of will and by his predecessor’s almost accidental decisions. Once there, he’d spent almost the entire 1980s cementing his control of his own party and ruthlessly driving PAS into permanent minority status. In the process, his tendency to Malay chauvinism and his response to the Umno Team A/Team B split had opened fissures in Barisan Nasional that he would spend the next decade unsuccessfully repairing as he drove Malaysia toward the 21st Century.

Mahathir, you see, really was preparing to hand over the reins to Anwar – but he wanted his legacy, and Malaysia’s future, secure first. The old man clearly believed Anwar his natural heir as the outsider who’d come in determined to conquer the world. It was yet another case of Anwar being Anwar, being everything to everyone. A master manipulator. He even fooled Dr M.

And so Mahathir was obsessed with Vision 2020, and Putrajaya, and Cyberjaya, and bringing Malaysia into the foremost of the ranks of nations. Formula One teams, infrastructure development, all of that talk of ‘green spaces’, all of the things that other nations take for granted, Mahathir wanted for his beloved country.

The first thing was to eliminate the power of Malaysia’s royalty to stymie his programmes, a feat he accomplished in 1994 by constitutional amendment and publicising the alleged extent of the corruption, viciousness, and venality present in some of their households – and all because one hockey coach was beaten. With that remaining threat eliminated, that meant Mahathir’s only real opponents would be inside his own team.
This ruthless consolidation of power would earn Mahathir several well-deserved titles, ‘autocrat’ among them. He was a man who tended to see politics not as the give and take of opinion, but as a war that must be won at all costs. Political opponents should not merely be defeated, they should be crushed and if necessary imprisoned.

And it must be remembered, he still faced war in his own party.
This was no small thing, much as it is no small thing for Najib now. Then as now, an old guard who believed in personal advancement before public service – and were therefore a drain on and impediment to large-scale infrastructure projects – was riddled throughout Barisan Nasional. Mahathir had only a few years before he succeeded in reunifying his party, and did not have enough internal political capital to toss aside those old warlords, even as they worked to undermine him again and again.
What this in turn meant was that Mahathir had to tolerate a certain level of corruption even while working behind the scenes to stem it. He had a macro-plan for Malaysia, and he was thinking big. He therefore tolerated corruption in his mega-projects – Anwar’s corruption, quite often – in the Peninsular and in Borneo, believing the cost was worthwhile. Anything that stood in his way needed to be eliminated or suborned.

Mahathir fought these pitched battles even as he guided his country into its position as one of the ‘Asian Tigers,’ the economies taking off so rapidly and, in theory, showing the old West how to beat the world.

It was in this environment, with his trusting patron occupied, that Anwar would expand, and finally become too comfortable, and too secure. It is here that his certainty that he would always win would finally trigger the chain of events that led to his downfall.
It is important to remember that while Anwar is a bit of a bumbler these days, perhaps a bit too busy to keep his own coalition unified, back in the 1990s he was on top of his game. So many aligned with him on the strength of his force of will, his charisma, his intelligence, his canniness …… and of course, his graft and scheming.

∞

It was a good time to have business concerns in Malaysia.
I had gone, since coming here, from being a salaried field agent to being the deep cover MD of a small multinational, to opening a specialised consultancy that brought the best of both worlds together. I had never cheated on my taxes or in business, I had worked hard, and I had been blessed with a brilliant local wife who somehow managed to raise our children and provide me the sort of shrewd outsider’s view that is so vital to anyone running a complex set of activities and surrounded by chaps who all see the world the same way.
But being in Malaysia in the 1990s made everyone involved with making money look good.
I nevertheless insisted on getting my hands dirty. My father instilled in me lessons learned from his time in the Air Force: Stay in, stay engaged, support your wing, and you’ll both come home.
So it was that one beautiful morning I discovered that the Prime Minister was taking an extended holiday in Italy, and making his Deputy Prime Minister his temporary replacement.
Looking through the file notes my assistant had worked up, I asked, “Why does the name Paul Wolfowitz sound familiar?” The other names were immediately apparent – William Cohen, Richard Holbrooke, Madeleine Albright, all members of the American Cabinet or its foreign policy apparatus – but the name was tickling me for some reason.

“Former Reagan Administration official, and old friend of Anwar’s,” Philip responded. He’d left our old shop shortly after I had, and I’d gladly taken him on as my associate. “He’s in touch with the Republican opposition, sort of an intermediary between his old friends at State and Defense.”
I nodded. “Why on Earth are these names arranged here as if they’re somehow important?”
“Anwar has been preparing the ground for a sudden takeover. He’s trying to get it pre-cleared with the Brits and the Americans. Those are the Americans he’s contacted who we can confirm are Anwar-friendly, and they’ve all given him the thumbs-up.”

∞

To say there was no love lost between Mahathir Mohamad and the Americans is to understate the matter. Reagan had respected him for what he’d done to the Communists, and the elder Bush had found Mahathir’s positioning on the Israelis unhelpful, but Bill Clinton saw in Mahathir everything he hated: Protectionist, chauvinist, stern, proud, authoritarian, and prone to bucking the President of the United States in all but the direst of situations.
In Anwar, finally, here was a Malaysian politician that the Democrats could appreciate. The perfect chameleon. The man who seemed to share the values of the American establishment. Anwar did not drink, but even by the mid-1990s the tales of his alleged infidelity were thick on the ground, and he had meanwhile decided at some point that in economics, he would be a neoliberal.
Neo-liberalism clashed with Mahathir’s more guarded approach of sheltering – one might say favouring – certain industries and companies until they were strong enough to compete on the global stage, but the friction this caused between the two men was minimal: Anwar yielded where Mahathir was most insistent, and with the raging economic boom in the region, everything everyone did seemed to turn to gold.

But to the Americans, neo-liberalism was the only acceptable form of economic policy, and Anwar played them well. Mahathir’s open anti-Semitism was a particular affront to Western leaders, who treat that behaviour as a sickness – a view Anwar nurtured. According to first-hand reports, Anwar actually won over Wolfowitz by seeming to be pro-Jewish and by condemning Mahathir behind his back. Coupled with his bold and eloquent proclamations at various international fora – Shakespeare and TS Eliot quotes at the ready – here at last was the Malaysian for whom the world had been looking: a Malaysian who could prove charming in Washington, D.C. and right-minded in Whitehall, a Malaysian who could mutter to Wolfowitz that it was a shame Mahathir was such a Jew-hater.
When Anwar came to them and let them know that he hoped for change in his country and that Mahathir would soon be gone, they were overjoyed. Anwar made himself into a hero of the State Department and the East Coast Jewish establishment, both Democrats and Republicans.

But it was not just abroad that Anwar began to work in earnest for the takeover, with a special emphasis on his portfolio in Finance. As I mentioned before, he understood the importance of media control. The business editors and reporters of the New Straits Times and Utusan Malaysia were threatened and where appropriate replaced or supplemented with ‘deputy editors’ who would see to it that coverage of Anwar was not merely favourable, but glowing. The editors of those papers and at TV3 exercised final control, and worked diligently to reinforce the message.
It was here that Anwar began to overplay his hand. Mahathir, for all of his many flaws, is not a man who believes in luxurious holidays. Anwar’s unrelenting caginess had finally slipped, and when given the chance to exercise power as Acting Prime Minister, his pride overwhelmed him.

∞

We were all a bit surprised by Mahathir’s decision to go on holiday, and decided that the old man was either testing Anwar’s fitness to be Prime Minister; preparing to step down himself; or – and this is something I frankly did not believe at the time – testing Anwar’s loyalty. To this day, none of us quite know why Mahathir did what he did. He’s been cagey about it all these years, and I personally suspect he is still hurt by Anwar’s betrayal. Regardless, off he went. Anwar stepped hungrily into the gap.

One of his first major acts was the Anti-Corruption Act, a facially commendable move designed to replace the 1961 Act and to root-out the perennial corruption in Malaysia’s political system. Of course, we all noticed that he waited until the probe of his political secretary Azmin Ali had been shelved and then appointed cronies to fill every slot created or reformed by the ACA. Rumours were that he almost appointed Azmin to head the agency, but common sense finally got the better of him.

Eliminating corruption is one of those noble things politicians like to talk about, and that a handful actually want to do. Anwar was not one of those. He directed his appointments to begin investigating every enemy he had in Umno, fairly transparently to develop files on each for later use. He even sent his best men tunneling into Mahathir and his family, hoping to prepare the trump cards needed to win out in the leadership battle he saw coming.

This was all obvious to any intelligent observer at the time. My only question – answered in the negative both by my associates and by later events – was whether Anwar realised that Mahathir already had a box of files deep on him.

By this point, we were largely resigned to Anwar becoming the Prime Minister. I was in a meeting in July when one of my juniors raced into the conference room to tell me that there was a panicked call coming in from our subsidiary in Bangkok: The government there was set to float the baht. What had up until that point been concern about Thailand’s finances was now dangerously close to becoming a financial contagion.
The chain of events this set in motion completely rewrote Malaysia’s political landscape.

∞

The Asian Financial Crisis had struck. We all lost a great deal of money.
Anwar would lose far more.
One by one, the Asian Tigers started to falter and collapse. Real estate prices cratered. Centuries-old trading houses were crammed down in vicious takeovers. Governments faltered and in a handful of cases fell. Malaysia, stronger in its own way than many, was pushed to the brink: shares fell by over two-thirds, the ringgit nearly collapsed, foreign direct investment plunged, and riots began.
The West stood with its mouth agape. When it finally realised the extent and the depth of the crisis, it reached for the only policy tool it had at hand: The International Monetary Fund.
The IMF is a curious institution, and certainly a polarising one. Its opponents accuse it of neoliberalism and neo-colonialism; its supporters describe it as one of the bulwarks of the international system.

It’s really just a group of clods.
The IMF’s policy prescriptions are almost invariably associated with loans and conditionality; its loans, with its policy prescriptions; and its policy prescriptions, with demands for austerity and some sort of governmental reform. This tends not to work, because financial crises tend to be immune to easy resolution by any system.
It is here that most observers believe they know the story: Anwar sided with the IMF. He blamed ‘cronyism and corruption’ for the crisis, never explaining how his own cronyism and corruption and the system he created and maintained as DPM was not a key factor. He implemented austerity programmes, including cutting government expenditures and ministerial and government salaries by upward of 20 per cent, and stripping funding from the enormous infrastructure projects into which the country had poured so much effort for so long.
He also let every press outlet with a Singapore or KL office know that he was a sudden and devout convert to the cause of free market capitalism. Mahathir, by contrast, blamed the entire crisis on foreign currency speculation, was not about to be dictated to by the IMF, and was not about to see Anwar and his friend the international financier George Soros win the day.
Mahathir claims to have been vindicated by history, a claim greater in the telling than in the proof. Those Asian Tigers who adopted austerity and free market reforms recovered as quickly as those that did not; and at any rate, Mahathir’s almost paranoid insistence on blaming the crisis on the Jews seemed deranged and also alienated Western nations at a critical time.
As the story goes, so began the rift between Anwar and Mahathir in earnest. And it is true, so far as it goes.
But the real story is deeper. In Hong Kong in September of 1997, the major economies of the world were working desperately to avoid an international financial collapse, and to get the Asian Tigers running again. While there, Mahathir and Soros began taking potshots at each other in the assembled international press, with everything from attacks on preferred policy (Mahathir called for an end to currency exchanges, Soros called for a variation on the IMF prescriptions) to personal attacks.
Into this free-fire zone Anwar leaped. He began immediately explaining away Mahathir’s comments, taking Soros’s arguments as his own, and even occasionally directly undercutting Mahathir with hundreds of reporters about. He portrayed this to the gullible reporters covering the event as his heroic attempt to save Malaysia from Mahathir’s ill-considered rhetoric.
This was not mere insubordination. Malaysian civil society was on the brink. Anwar was damaging Malaysia. Seeing where Indonesia was headed, he was inciting anti-Mahathir sentiment. It worked because some foreign investors were frightened of Mahathir’s rhetoric,; and Mahathir was frightened of the enormous damage those same investors had just done in the region. The question of how to stabilise the ringgit and to keep Malaysia from devolving into chaos was not a trivial one, nor an easily-resolved one.

Indeed, Anwar began working in secret and in earnest with the American delegation to pave his way to the top, pointing up Mahathir’s ‘dangerous’ talk. Members of the Clinton Administration – from Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin (in Hong Kong) to Defense Secretary William Cohen – told Anwar that Washington was behind him. Wolfowitz and his allies in the Republican Congress also sent their encouragement. Wolfowitz was enthusiastic, according to one of his aides, and determined to see Anwar become Prime Minister.

Anwar’s Saudi backers, delighted at seeing their Islamist protégé finally reach his goal, pledged billions of ringgit to aid Malaysia after his ascent. Their funds would be credited to Anwar’s leadership, and would sweep him – and his radical real agenda – into a lock on power greater than Mahathir’s ever was.
Word was sent back to Anwar’s cronies to prepare for the sudden change, to be executed in 1998.
On Anwar’s return to Malaysia, he doubled down on his austerity programme. He felt emboldened; after all, Mahathir had done nothing more than dress him down in private. Anwar had truly begun to believe the image he had crafted for himself.
Mahathir was incensed, but more importantly, if he had harboured any doubts about Anwar to that point, they were finally vanquished. On his return to Malaysia, he summoned his closest advisors – those who he could be sure were not Anwar’s – into a private meeting at an advisor’s home. Seri Perdana had not yet been completed, and everyone assumed there was no safe place in any government building for this meeting.

While Mahathir was designing the currency controls and reforms that would ultimately stablise and save Malaysia, he appointed his most loyal followers to another cause: Determine whether Anwar could be saved, or whether he was past redemption. He was not ready to let Anwar go yet, but he was still loathe to destroy the man he’d once thought of as like a son.

It was some time later that Mahathir finally began to use the weapons at his disposal to destroy his deputy once and for all. He opened his files to his allies, not just on Anwar, but on Anwar’s friends, allies, cronies, and family.

In the end, it was his corruption, and not his dalliances, that would bring Anwar down.

But that is a story for next time.

 

 

BEYOND MURAD KHALID: THE REAL STORY OF ANWAR, BANK NEGARA AND THE MONEY MACHINE

It is my hope that you will forgive my absence these past few weeks, dear reader. I had planned on expanding on the story of Anwar’s finances and wealth accumulation, and how he used the resources of the very people he’d sworn to serve, but events in Malaysia raced ahead of me.

When I saw the reports about Bank Negara and the RM3 billion, I decided to pause, and see what was being released or alleged before continuing with recording these files.

I would like to imagine that I had some role in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s renewed interest in Anwar’s dealings during his time as Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, but my self-regard is not that high. Regardless, with all of the scepticism surrounding the story, I wished to allow the increased interest in Murad Khalid’s statutory declaration and the allegations contained therein to die down a touch before I waded back in.

This is precisely because the allegations are substantively correct, but wrong in almost every detail. And the story of Bank Negara is merely a small piece of a much larger puzzle.

The story of how we all – each of us who contributed over the years to the I-Files – put together Anwar’s money trail is a rather long one, and if told in full, would put too many names and too many dangerous secrets in play. Instead, I will provide you with some of that back story, based on documentation and eyewitness accounts, and focus mainly on the money itself as it moved from place to place, growing as it went.

We will follow the money.

Telling the story of Anwar Ibrahim’s money is rather like telling the story of the Pacific Ocean: Where to begin and how to end is a feat in itself. I pray that you will indulge me, as this story once again moves from place to place and time to time. It was once said that Anwar’s money washed across five continents, and I had been sincerely doubtful of such a claim until the I-Files actually coalesced, with documents; and then I understood how very true this statement was.
One must understand that Anwar’s personal fortune, before he became Finance Minister, was a significant increase over what he had every amassed or dreamed of amassing in his ABIM days, but was not nearly enough to fuel what he needed to move ahead in the world.

That all changed with the birth of Mr Ten Per Cent.

I remember the first time, not long before Anwar became Deputy Prime Minister, that we gathered together, the commercial types, the station chiefs, the Yanks, Aussies and Brits, and we spoke of the man who was increasingly important to commercial and government interests in Malaysia. This meeting was also the first time we informally began aggregating and crosschecking our work. We of course held back the occasional uncertain tidbit here and there; but generally, we began working from the same sheet, because we had no choice.

∞

It was 1993. We were all gathered around a large table, the eight of us. Four Brits, two Yanks, two Aussies. We’d all softened a little around the edges from our hellbusting days, just a decade before, even those of us who kept in fighting shape.
But every last man at that table had seen military, intelligence, or commercial service. Our minds were our best weapons, and we were gathered to put those weapons to a common use. We were there to discuss oil prices, unrest in the Middle East and our ventures there, and most importantly, Anwar Ibrahim.

We had eschewed servants for this meeting, swept the room twice over for bugs, and we were using the best (and most expensive) transmission-blocking equipment known to man in order to keep this meeting secret. We took all of these precautions because we were all convinced that Anwar was both brilliant and dangerous, and we needed every advantage we could get.
Roger, the American I mentioned earlier, opened his folder, one of eight identical packets around the table. Photos of Anwar with Mahathir were moved aside for a series of intelligence reports acquired from Singapore, Washington, London, Canberra, and Ottawa. “The first problem,” he began without preamble, “is ‘Mr Ten Per Cent.’” We flipped to the appropriate tab, though I’d already read this section twice over. “Every single major transaction and public listing now requires a ten per cent fee, as it passes through the Finance Minister’s office. No fee, no listing, no contract, no Government approval.” It was all through witness interviews; inside Finance, never a record of the ten per cent. It was all done via friends, cronies, proxies, and outside, rented hands.

“The question before us is this,” he began, holding up a stapled ledger of the fees we’d managed to identify, dozens of pages thick. “Why is Anwar Ibrahim after this much money? He’s already filthy rich.” The total, circled in black felt marker, was in the high eight figures. The man had done well for himself – multiplying the family fortune many times – since ascending to Finance Minister, through what we believed were the use of his hidden accounts at Hong Leong and Bank Negara, but this seemed to be somehow too simple, too crude. Mere accounts? No, there had to be more to it. And there was, as we would soon discover … much, much more.

I kept my counsel, as Roger and I had agreed I would. Stephen, one of the Australians, spoke up. “The Umno General Assembly is in October,” he said, quietly. “He’s looking to go from Finance Minister to DPM, and Ghafar Baba is in the way.” We all nodded.

Roger had clearly rehearsed this part. “How many votes has he lined up?”
Stephen again. “Enough to crush Ghafar,” he said. Then as now, becoming Deputy President of Umno was the sine qua non of being Deputy Prime Minister. “Mahathir is encouraging his ambition, like he needs it,” he laughed a little. “I don’t think poor Ghafar sees it coming. We know Anwar’s already dropped tens of millions of ringgits into this and is actively pouring in more.”

∞

TO: CENTOPS
FROM: HIBISCUS GS15/7
CC: USECSTATE-SEA
RE: MY/KL/AI
…MFINANCE/AI is part of the “cost of doing business” now. Old stories of UMNO corruption light by contrast. 10% of all listings and contracts are directed to MFINANCE/AI. Receipts YTD estimated at $20M.…

∞

I will turn to the story of the end of Ghafar Baba’s career presently. However, first one must understand where Murad was simply in error – through no fault of his own, as the events at issue were well above his rank. This is because Anwar’s financial holdings were never so simple as ‘straw man’ accounts or “master” accounts or “shadow” accounts and straightforward deposits; that was all that Anwar would have allowed Murad to see or to think.

To completely understand Anwar’s finances, one must understand the network of associates and cronies he developed. For example, Nasaruddin Jalil, Anwar’s former private secretary, worked hand-in-glove with his old patron after Anwar became Finance Minister. As director of Diversified Resources, Bhd, Nasaruddin profited from Anwar’s largesse and connections in everything from minibus servicing in KL to joint ventures with Proton to develop new vehicles.

The latter is especially remarkable, as Diversified took a 51 per cent share in the joint venture, despite no experience with developing automobiles. Anwar, naturally, took his share, invisibly as always, and his network of cronies and their companies enjoyed exclusive supply contracts with the venture.
When the Diversified-Proton joint venture teamed with Citroen to produce a round of Citroens bearing the Proton mark, the joint venture increased Anwar’s funding yet again. Murad’s statutory declaration insists that Anwar simply ordered a disbursement of RM10 million to Nasaruddin. If that had been the case, Malaysia would be a much richer country today.
As another example, Abdul Rahim Ghouse, one of the more pivotal of Anwar’s henchmen, bears particular scrutiny not only for his well-known ties to Anwar, but the manner in which he served as a gateway to so many others.

Rahim was well-known when Anwar was sacked, and later led the Free Anwar campaign from Perth, to which he fled immediately on Anwar’s arrest. That flight helped solidify much of the intelligence we had on the men and their ties, as so few of Anwar’s cronies actually left the country.

Rahim, together with Wan Hasni Wan Sulaiman, founded Abrar, a company at the centre of so much of Anwar’s business dealings; the other founder was Yassin Qadi, a Saudi businessman who would become famous in the early part of the millennium as one of al Qaeda’s funders, a terrorist financier identified as such by both the United States and the United Nations. Abrar was one of Anwar’s funding arms, and was, according to American and other intelligence agencies, used to hide and funnel assets to Hamas, al Qaeda, the Taliban, and other groups reliant on Wahhabi funding and support.

Qadi was but part of the web of Wahhabi financiers, like Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel (whom I mentioned in the previous chapter), who financed and sponsored young radicals such as Anwar and others in Turkey and Indonesia. Saleh Kamel then enjoyed lucrative contracts and the opportunity to build Wahhabi teachings and influence into developing Muslim states.

Qadi’s chalet in Switzerland was raided during the hunt for al Qaeda, and there authorities found phone records for only a handful of people – Anwar, Wan Azizah, Hassan Marican, a handful of Petronas executives, and various up-and-coming Turkish politicians. Qadi would also rely on Turkey and future Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other founders of the Islamist party, the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, for protection and access – but Anwar’s extensive ties to Turkey are yet another story, and for the next chapter.

Wan Hasni, though a multimillionaire from his support for and ties to Anwar, would fall when Anwar was dismissed in 1998; until then, he provided not merely a veneer of academic legitimacy, but also another source of funds for Anwar’s various off-the-books enterprises.
Rahim took part in and benefited from Anwar’s largesse. From his student days in the US in the 1980s, he integrated himself into Anwar’s Malaysian Islamic Study Group, one of several radical Muslim Brotherhood/money-laundering fronts Anwar had made his own, and eventually rose high in Anwar’s councils. Rahim himself and his children have benefited from the International Institute of Islamic Thought, Anwar’s foremost charity/financing front; Rahim’s children have received more than $200,000 from the IIIT.

∞

Some years later, an Australian sat down in an office in a Singapore office tower so well airconditioned one might have thought it winter in Glasgow outside. On the other side of the conference table were two men, one from Hong Kong, one from Malaysia. The latter was a former Bank Negara officer.

The Australian had been sent by a group of men in Malaysia to peel apart the layers, to dig beyond the legend and the many stories of the fallen Deputy Prime Minister, to understand why and how he had fallen, and what had happened to the wealth they were certain he’d gathered before his sudden fall. Just days before, another BNM officer, Abdul Murad Khalid, had given a sworn statement in which he claimed that the fallen Umno man had controlled billions of ringgits in the bank through proxies and straw men.

That confirmation of their long-held suspicions sent the ex-pats – my close associates who were then formally compiling the I-Files – looking for the real answers.
The Malay turned to the Chinese fellow, who nodded. The bank officer straightened his tie, took a sip of water, and remembering what had been promised on both sides, took a deep breath before speaking.
“Anwar Ibrahim’s money has washed across five continents, and is moving even as we speak,” he began.

∞

Once a deal was done, once the fees were skimmed, once the cash was available, Anwar very rarely kept those funds immediately in Malaysia. He preferred them to flow offshore, via front companies, via obscure and less obscure banks, and always via others, never in his own name.
What he kept in Malaysia tended to be only what he needed on a daily basis. Call it petty cash. Call it operational funds.

That is not to say he did not use Bank Negara for his money; rather, it is to say he used it to move his money, rather than to hold it. Without Bank Negara to turn a blind eye, to allow and clear the massive capital flows he needed, Anwar’s financial operations in Malaysia and beyond would have come to a grinding halt.

This was not a story of “master” accounts or “shadow” accounts as has been written recently in the Malaysian media. This was a story – in part – of shadowy, but very senior Bank Negara officers who helped Anwar to make sure that huge capital flows were not subjected to any scrutiny, so that the money was allowed to move in and out of the country.

Anwar relied on a complex web of Malaysian and foreign accountants, financial advisers, tax lawyers, brokers, and other financial professionals to not only comply with, but to cleverly exploit loopholes in and shelter, a sprawling financial empire. He ran his operations from Malaysia, but his money rarely stayed for long in one place. Some of those lawyers and accountants also moved around, and switched sides, and (in exchange for the appropriate gratuity) they brought to our little team of expats, one at a time, some of the paper trail.

There were five primary holding centres for the money, through which Anwar’s web of confidantes and assistants constantly shifted the mass of his funds, chasing alpha (and beta), and using the proliferation of financial tools that became available in the 1990s to massively expand the resources Anwar would eventually need.

The story begins, as with so much else, with IIIT. Nominally a not-for-profit formed in the United States to broaden Islam’s outreach to the world, and actually operating to advance its Saudi funders’ goals, it was frequently utilised as Anwar’s personal vehicle. IIIT served a number of functions, including as an influence driver and a financial vehicle.

Despite FBI raids and lurking suspicions of terrorist involvement, nothing ever stuck, and IIIT meanwhile procured Anwar access to influential policymakers in the US Government and academia – associates of Paul Wolfowitz and other so-called neoconservatives, men who aspirationally seek democracy across the globe, even where it already exists.

IIIT eventually provided a means of direct access for Anwar, Qadi, Rahim, and others in Anwar’s personal circle to influential Washingtonians both inside and outside of government. Members of then-President Bush’s, then Clinton’s, then the younger Bush’s inner circle were treated to conferences, honoraria, and paid junkets to exotic locales to reinforce IIIT’s nominal message of moderate Islam – and to develop close ties to Anwar and his cronies. The names constitute a veritable who’s who in Washington over the years from both parties – Al Gore, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Grover Norquist, Bill Cohen, Richard Perle, Madeleine Albright, Donna Shalala, William Perry, Colin Powell, Michael Chertoff, Richard Holbrooke – and those same men and women would rally to Anwar’s defense when he was tried and imprisoned for corruption and sodomy. They all received Anwar’s friendship and, in some cases, largesse.

Cohen as Secretary of Defense; Gore as Vice President; Holbrooke as State Department honcho; and Wolfowitz as Mr Pentagon and then World Bank president, and even later, in disgrace, became Anwar’s staunchest defenders.
Little did they know.

Those same men and women would provide reciprocal legitimacy for Anwar. Norquist, for example, became one of Anwar’s foremost enablers, turning his tax-cutting bona fides into a lever to propel Anwar into close confidences with Republican leaders. Norquist, who married a Muslim, would direct charitable giving to and with IIIT, bolstering Anwar’s causes and his own standing.
Those ties, in turn, opened doors for Anwar into American business, consulting, speaking, and advising on interactions with Islamic governments and finance. Anwar is able to play the ‘good Muslim’ to Americans with little practical experience in the Islamic world, guiding them to favourable investment opportunities – companies and firms with ties to Anwar.
But the real story of IIIT is its role as the wellspring of Anwar’s financial network.

∞

From: daemon.fbi.gov Fri. April 18 14:02:34 1997
Received: from waco1 [xxx.xx.xxx.xx]
by choo-choo.fbi.gov [xxx.xx.xxx.xx] ID ticklemedead Fri. April 18 14:02:35 1997
Subject: Welcome to Paradise KL Style
To: xxxxxxxxxxxxx@mail.fbi.gov
Date: Fri. April 18 14:02:34 1997
… Intl Institute Islamic Thought ties to House of Saud secondary to moneylaundering. SecDef believes Saud financing BLOWBACK through international fronts dedicated to Islamic engagement – believes Holy Land Foundation and Center for American Islamic Relations direct launderers. FBI-INT believes IIIT is primary funding conduit, but SECDEF has warned off and FBIDIRECT agrees …

∞

IIIT began taking in Saudi funds for Anwar more or less from its inception, but it was only when Anwar became Finance Minister that its capital operations skyrocketed – with funds from Abrar and from Anwar’s own direct contributions. Some of the ten per cent Anwar siphoned from every public listing and every Government contract flowed indirectly to IIIT and to a handful of private accounts it controlled.

Murad’s assertion that Anwar directed RM2 million to IIIT is low by orders of magnitude; it appears that he confused amounts sent to ABIM (which he gives as RM5 million) with the amounts directed to IIIT. By the time Anwar was sacked, IIIT is said to have controlled or owned, always indirectly, roughly US$350 million in securities, real estate holdings, and liquid assets. Before they flowed into designated banking centres, they passed through an amazing network of companies and banks.
This was the way the Anwar money machine functioned, always indirectly, always via a variety of entities, from the British Virgin Islands to the Seychelles, from Singapore to Liechtenstein, and beyond.

Funds were poured from central holding stations, always offshore, in the form of seed capital, SWIFT transfer, and financial investments, mainly to four other banking centres: Islamabad, Geneva, Tel Aviv, and Hong Kong, which over time became self-sustaining. From there, each banking centre moved multi-denominated currency into opaque management funds, usually but not always run by Al Baraka, Hong Leong, Bank Al-Taqwa (a specialised Wahhabi institution that funds terrorism in the Middle East), and other more obscure institutions such as the Panama affiliate of PKB Bank of Pakistan, which was run by the veterans of Pakistan’s notorious BCCI before it shut down.
That money, when it was allowed to flow back into Malaysia as dividend income for nominees or as investment capital for front companies, or occasionally, as cash, would be vital for Anwar’s political projects – unseating Ghafar, attempting to topple Mahathir, even, in 2008, attempting to purchase Dewan Rakyat MPs from Sabah and Sarawak before the bungled September 16 promise came crashing down.

When it came time for Anwar to draw on enormous sums – such as when he was crushing Ghafar, and making his move on Mahathir – there was “a great big sucking sound,” in the words of one of the compilers of the I-Files, a Yank who had served two tours of duty in KL, as money was drawn from across the globe, through a very particular bank – one we all thought was dead and buried.

∞

“Israel Discount Bank,” the Malay said after a long pause. It was the third day of this lengthy debrief meeting, and by now everyone was on a less tense and more friendly basis. Drinks had been had, meals shared, and the first part of the Aussie’s consideration delivered as promised.

“Anwar’s hatred of Jews never precluded making money off of them, and he’s long supported finance in Israel as a means to an end. IDB was the perfect location for funds – Mahathir would never look there, and with his radical leanings, no one would imagine Anwar would keep a penny there. They had the expertise, the discretion, and the international connections Anwar needed. And no one could ever trace any of the funds back to Anwar, because some of the companies used in transfers were regular, even respectable, and none owned by Anwar. So, no — no fingerprints at all. IDB could honestly say it knew nothing. As always, there was plausible deniability for both Israel Discount Bank and for Anwar.”
The Malay paused to catch his breath before speaking again. “The masterstroke,” he said, “Was keeping that wire line open from IDB to Pakistan.”

∞

The trail of money from Tel Aviv led to a run-down back alley in a Lahore slum.

The fellow who went to investigate this part was an American with combat experience in three theatres, a former Navy Seal who spoke Arabic and Urdu as smoothly as he spoke English, and whose numerous knife scars around his liver were a testament to his longevity. His hand-selected team were men of similar disposition, including a Gurkha. Their stories alone would make an engrossing read, but for their sakes, I leave their story to their own telling.
In that back alley was a permanently-ajar door with a single man, armed with a 9mm pistol and a brutal combat knife, permanently stationed before it. By providing dearly-obtained pass-phrases and a bulging briefcase filled with American dollars, the men were able to pass through the door and the balmy corridor beyond.

Inside was one of the most sophisticated banking centres in the world. Clocks set to every time zone on Earth, computers sporting the latest high-end processors, T1 lines, and posh offices that all pointed in toward a single, teak table at which some of the most important financial decisions in the world were made on a daily basis.

This was the hidden bunker for a group of veteran Pakistani, British, and Egyptian bankers who had for a long time danced in the dark, enjoying macabre relations with Langley in Peshawar. They were men who had financed extremists, kept narco-money for the druglords of Colombia, and whose scandal, known as the BCCI affair, ultimately brought the City of London near to to its knees in 1991.

And now they were reborn, at the service of the highest bidder, including a certain up-and-coming politician from Malaysia …

Bar Council lop sided view on law trangression by politicians

Bar Council is supposed to be impartial. But that is not the case with the Malaysian Bar Council. YB Zulkifli Nordin Kulim Bandar Baru disclosed this facts in Parliment recently.

High Profile" Malays are a selfish bunch and prone to running amok and money game!!

I repeat, high Profile" Malays are a selfish bunch and prone to running amok and money game!!

Wonder how many more high ranking policemen are like Fauzi (middle), who just turned PAS just because he did not get a security licence?!

Former Attorney-General II, Yusof Zainal Abidin, who now helps BABI...wonder how he sleeps at night...he is a classic case of a Malay who is showing a typical amok syndrome!

Take the cases of former Federal CID chief Fauzi Shaari and former Attorney General II Yusof Zainal Abidin, I am sure both have been offered millions of ringgit to help smear the government of the day, by joining Brother Anwar Bin Ibrahim (BABI) quest to become this country first PM who is a confirmed bisexual and a sodomite.

Never mind their "civilised" answers to the questions of why they, after in the government for so long, now decided to turned around and sided with BABI, a man who will do anything to seize power?
Well the answer is not due to their political commitments but rather due to how much they are being paid. With BABI's financial largesse I am sure these two turncoats can now take foreign holidays with the family with so much happiness!!!
In the case of Fauzi, he was ridicule when interviewed, after he retired, when he tried to apply for security licence.

Sources told me he was angry wen told why almost all ex-policemen always get involved in security upon retirement?! So he did not get the licence.

So as Malays are prone to AMOK he probably said: "fu%k you government I will show you!!!" So he joined PAS and now tells non Malays that they must understand HUDUD.

.read here!

In the case of Yusof we now know why BABI won the second sodomy case and that was because Yusof who was a government prosecutor did not do his best to convict him. He always thought he could make a better AG..we now know why he was side stepped because he could not be trusted!!

Now we know why Gani Patail and the government do not trust him, that is because Yusof was a closet Pakatan supporter, or rather BABI's supporter. Read here!

How can a former public prosecutor now, upon retirement, decided to become a defender of BABI, he is now a legal counsel for BABI on the ongoing charges of breaking the law while demonstrating.
Is this man Yusof Zainal Abidin not bound by oath of secrecy he took while he served the government!
Trust me there are many more such people still serving the government who are closet BABI's supporters and will blackmail the government that "if you don't help me with what I want when I retire I will join BABI", but mind you not that many but enough to cause Najib a headache.
Thus far we have ex-cabinet ministers who have been bought by BABI, ex-civil servant who have been bought by BABI, and many ex-military officers who have also been bought by BABI.

In the final analysis Malays who have served the government are a bunch of ingrates!!!
While they are prone to running AMOK they, these Malays, are slowly losing their power base and one day they will wake up and found out they have been ruled by the chauvinist Chinese, like in Penang and Singapore, and HIV positive infected leader...you choose MORONs!!!!!

 

Courtesy of barkingmagpie.

SYED IBRAHIM SYED AHMAD IS BN CANDIDATE FOR KERDAU BY-ELECTION

Bernama - 6 minutes ago= .TEMERLOH, Feb 22 (Bernama) -- Kuala Krau Umno Division vice head Syed Ibrahim Syed Ahmad is the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the Kerdau state by-election in Pahang.


Deputy Prime Minister and BN Deputy Chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin made the announcement before more than 4,000 BN supporters at Dataran Sri Ketumbit, near here.

Syed Ibrahim, 44, who is a special religious officer to the Pahang menteri besar, is a graduate of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, and hails from Kerdau.


Muhyiddin said Syed Ibrahim was selected by the Umno top leadership after he had undergone screening at the Umno divisional and state levels.


"Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak decided on the candidate two days ago," he said.

Comment-
 PAS is mulling on putting another Ibrahim, by the name of Tuan Ibrahim. "Tuan" in east coast Malaysia means syeikh. So we shall see the battle of the two Syeikhs in Kerdau.

The swan song of Tenang

A dying swan performing the  last dance act to bewitch the audience

The swan swims the lake. Encircling the lake gracefully and performs the last dance. The last dance  is  so beautifully choreographed  that the  bewitched audience  stand up for a standing ovation. Then the curtain fall- That is the administrative script for The Swan Song.

In today's politic, many parties have performed the "Swan Song dance". The last choreographed image is beautiful and will forever be engraved in the memory box of the audience.

PAS last week has performed the perfect Swan Song dance. The ill- fated swan was the local  Ketua Muslimah by the name of Normala.

Maybe PAS has calculated the risks and decided to field a muslimah instead of a man.

After all, one's loss in the by -election can be turned into media circus to further promote  the party cross ethnically- that is the strategy ! - To persuade Chinese voters to vote for PAS.

The strategy seems to work. A beautiful muslimah is better at persuading the Chinese  voters to vote for PAS instead of a man.

True enough, the votes from the 80% Chinese dominant polling centre at Labis Tengah saved the PAS candidate from losing her deposits........and PAS' reputation!

As for the dying swan, her final last words keeps on echoing in my ear...like a double edged sword......."the time has not yet come for her to win".....the statement is well calculated. For  the strategy- laden  PAS, it is the Chinese voters that counts.

My advice to BN strategists, please take note,  remember the double edged words and start to work out from now on, for  hell hath no fury like that of a scorned woman.

A Lesson From Thailand - By A Sarawakian Living in Bangkok

The country can fall into a state of anarchy if the people choose a wrong government. A Sarawakian, Genevieve Wong who works with a Christian mission agency in Bangkok shares her story with The Borneo Post correspondence.

From a Sarawakian working and living in Bangkok

May 1, 2010, Saturday

IN this column on April 17, I wrote about the situation in Thailand and said that until the street protests and demonstrations in Bangkok stop, I wouldn’t want to visit the Thai kingdom.I also expressed my concern that the political uncertainty has seriously ravaged the Thai economy as Thailand is a country whose economy significantly depends on its tourism industry.

That is a fact as the World Tourism rankings put Thailand as the 18th world’s most visited country with almost 14.5 million visitors each year for the past several years.

Several readers responded to my article, ‘Street justice in Bangkok: When will it end?’.

There is a very interesting email I received from a Sarawakian who is working and living in Bangkok.

Genevieve Wong works with a Christian mission agency, helping to run a language centre. On weekends, she helps a Thai church in Bangkok.

As a missionary, Wong holds a religious visa and has a valid work permit.

When I sought her permission to publish her letter, she agreed on condition that I edited some of her comments.

In a note of caution, Wong wrote: “I do not want to jeopardise my status by commenting on politics in my host country.” I told her that I will edit her article carefully, adding that a little political commentary will not harm anyone.

The reason why I wanted to publish Wong’s letter in The Borneo Post today is to share with readers a first-hand account of the situation in Bangkok. What I’ve written as an observer from afar could not be as accurate as the report from Ground Zero.

This is the edited version of Wong’s email:

Dear Paul Sir,


I responded to one of your articles once before and I’d like to comment on your most recent one on Thailand.

You should be commended for trying to write such a balanced piece of work. It does reflect your deep insight into the happenings in Thailand over the past several years. I’ve lived in Thailand for over 13 years now and for the most part in Bangkok. So may I


comment.


Thailand is losing billions of Baht a day due to the current unrest. Yes, the main city centre is clogged up as the protesters think it’s a good idea to rally there. There is always the potential for violence as witnessed last Saturday. But Bangkok is a big city. There are still lots of shopping malls offering good deals on the outskirts of Bangkok.

I believe the weekend market is also safe and away from the rally site. MBK is too close. Go north of Bangkok (Rangsit) and there’s the big shopping mall ‘Future Park’, ‘IT City’ in Don Muang, Zeer Rangsit for electronic stuff and cheap shopping next to it. Of course you could visit other cities as well. Thailand needs your money!!!


The political unrest did not start when Thaksin was ousted. It started before, when he was still PM. The yellow shirts wanted him out because of massive corruption and other ‘sensitive issues’. Then the military coup was the only answer to ‘end’ the protest.


The present red shirts protest has gained strength from support of the rural poor. It’s true that they’ve been left behind in terms of wealth and they’re fighting for a piece of the pie. They were attracted by Thaksin’s populist policies. But sadly, in this current unrest, they’ve been used as pawns. They’ve been fed only one sided views. Ask any of them what they’re fighting for and they can’t give you a clear answer.


The rally has taken a different shape and questions arose as to what exactly is the aim. It’s very complicated, politically and culturally.


Dissolving Parliament and calling early elections will not resolve the current impasse. The people are so bitterly divided that it’s impossible to go out and campaign.


It has become a lawless state. Imagine this – even policemen and soldiers could be taken hostages by the protesters! Weapons could also be forcibly seized from soldiers as they retreated from the battle last Saturday!


Whoever wins the election is not going to find it easy to govern as the loser will come out and protest on the streets again. They’re not playing by the rules.


I respect PM Abhisit because he is honest, transparent, and wants the best for the country. I can’t say the same for his ministers and party. I can’t see anyone else who would be accepted by both sides at the moment. He’s gaining a lot of support at the moment from the silent majority.


I feel despair for the country that I’ve come to love. Only God can intervene and pour out His mercy on Thailand and on the Thai people. So I can only pray.


Thanks for your interest in Thailand. I hear from my Sarawak friends that news gets to them so slowly.


Just to let you know that by and large, I feel very safe in Bangkok.

Warmest regards.

Genevieve Wong (A fellow Sarawakian)


Responding to my reply to her email a few days later, Wong wrote: “May I clarify what I said about feeling safe in Bangkok. Actually it would be unwise to go near the rally site. An ‘eruption’ can happen any time and it can be deadly. Right now, I avoid the city centre altogether. But by staying in the outskirts, it’s business as usual.” – G. Wong


Sadly, the street protests are still raging on in the Thai capital. As I write this, a wire news service reported that Thai security forces had fired into a crowd of anti-government protesters during a clash just outside Bangkok Wednesday, as they tried to keep the Red Shirts from expanding their demonstrations from a base in the capital. One soldier was killed, and at least 18 protesters were hurt.


With the situation still fluid and uncertain, we can only hope and pray that peace and normalcy will return to Thailand as soon as possible. Should the Thais wish to continue their street protests, please do it with good sense and responsibility and not resort to violence.

And Genevieve, do take care in Bangkok. We’ll pray for your well-being.

(Comments can reach the writer at paulsir99@hotmail.com

From Middle Kingdom To The Rise Of The Third Force

In The Land Of Promises; United States of America, the minority wins because they are united. Also, history shows that after an extremely bad administration of a Republican President, a democrat will be elected as the next president.

Hence Clinton was elected a president after the first Iraq invasion fiasco of Bush Senior. Similarly, Obama was elected as president after an Iraq-gate scandal that questions the validity behind Iraq latest invasion by Bush the Junior and amidst the economic disaster set by the Bush the Junior. Even 9/11 tragedy failed to throw fear into the American hearts to be united and convince them subsequently to vote for Bush successor, John Mc Cain, a Vietnam War Hero. Instead, Americans mind are set, they voted for change and Obama.


However, if one were to closely examine, the big changes in the history of America, which saw the first Black President sworn in as the President of United States was also due to the hand of The Third Force. In United Sates of America, the minorities; Hispanics, Arabs, Asians, African, proactive white Caucasians , united for the first time irrespectively of their party alliances and voted for Obama.


Rise Of The Third Force In Malaysia


To date, there are 7 Independent MPs in the August House.


Malay nationalist MP Ibrahim Ali of Pasir Mas, Kelantan will no longer sits alone for now he has formidable cohorts in the name of fiery Muslim rights lawyer Zulkifli of Kulim and fellow Penangites; Zahrain and Tan Tee Beng.

I am predicting a dynamic duo of Zulkifli and Ibrahim Ali in action ...in The August House.


DAP's Lim Kit Siang must have put his foot in his mouth for his call for the Middle Kingdom is now being replaced by The Third Force.

See excerp from Zulkifli Kulim's blog
......................................................
Salam 2 all.




Esok Isnin 29 Rabi'ul Awal 1431/ 15 Mac 2010 Parlimen akan mula bersidang. Sidang kali ini secara rasminya dipanggil Sidang Dewan Rakyat ke 12, Penggal Ketiga Mesyuarat Pertama yang dijadualkan bersidang daripada esok sehingga Khamis 15 April 2010.



Sejak sidang Parlimen ditangguhy Disember 2009 lepas sehingga sekarang, banyak perubahan telah berlaku khusunya dari segi senario politik negara. Pertama kes liwat terhadap DSAI telah bermula setelah hampir dua tahun tertangguh, itu pun hanya Saiful Bukhari (pengadu) sahaja yang sempat memberi keterangan dalam pemeriksaan utama. Tak sempat pun pemeriksaan balas kes tertangguh kerana DSAI memohon Hakim menarik diri kerana enggan menghukum akhbar Utusan Malaysia yang didakwa menyiar gambar bilik tempat kejadian. Patut-patut kalau itu jadi alasan untuk Hakim menarik diri, apatah lagi kalau nak banding dengan permohonan saya memohon panel disiplin bukan Islam menarik diri kerana nak bicarakan saya dalam isu kalimah ALLAH; patut panel dah tarik diri pun. Tapi itulah namanya politik yop; orang lain semua tak boleh yop!!



Perkembangan lebih memeranjatkan apabila tiga Ahli Parlimen PKR mengisytiharkan keluar parti menjadi MP Bebas. Mereka ialah YB Dato' Seri Zahrain Hashim (Bayan Baru), YB Tan Tee Beng (Nibong Tebal) dan YB Mohsin Fadzli Samsuri (Bagan Serai). Dan mutakhirnya saya sendiri dipecat kerana enggan mengiktiraf panel kafir yang nak bicarakan saya dalam isu kalimah ALLAH, bermakna PKR kini hanya tinggal 26 kerusi sahaja. Jangan lupa YB Jeyakumar (Sg. Siput) mewakili Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) bukannya PKR.



Ini bermakna dipihak bukan kerajaan, DAP mendahului dengan 28 kerusi, PKR 26, PAS 23, PSM 1 dan Bebas 7. Menurut konvensyen berparlimen yang di 'amal dan nilai-nilai demokrasi, maka jawatan Ketua Pembangkang seharusnya dipegang oleh ketua DAP, iaitu YB Lim Kit Siang (Ipoh Barat) kerana DAP mempunyai kerusi terbanyak. YB Tan Sri Speaker tidak boleh mengiktiraf Pakatan Rakyat kerana PR bukan sebuah badan berdaftar, ia sekadar kerjasama politik yang tidak mempunyai entiti perundangan, tidak saperti BN yang berdaftar.



Jadi kalau mengikut konvensyen berparlimen dan nilai demokrasi, seharusnya YB DSAI mengosongkan kerusi Ketua Pembangkang dan menyerahkannya kepada YB Lim Kit Siang. Sebenarnya itulah cara terbaik dan paling demokratik yang patut dilakukan oleh YB DSAI. Kalau saya menjadi penasihat strategi dan politik DSAI, saya akan menasihatkan beliau supaya mengosongkan kerusi Ketua Pembangkang. Saya cukup pasti kalau itu dilakukan, rakyat akan lebih menghormati YB DSAI kerana akan dilihat tidak memmentingkan jawatan, dan bersikap menghormati nilai demokrasi yang dilaungkan oleh PKR. Dan saya cukup pastikan DAP & PAS membawa usul dalam Parlimen supaya YB DSAI dikekalkan sebagai Ketua Pembangkang. Dan semasa usul serta bahas, saya akan nasihatkan YB DSAI supaya jangan berada didalam Dewan. Dan saya cukup pasti BN tidak akan membantah usul itu kerana ianya tiada kena mengena dengan BN, walaupunmungkin satu dua MP BN akan dipasang untuk membantah, adatlah tu. Dan apabila usul diluluskan, saya akan minta YB Tan Sri Speaker menjemput semula YB DSAI memasuki Dewan dan mengambil semula kerusi Ketua Pembangkang. Sikit punya cantik strategi sebegitu. YB DSAI tidak akan dilihat terlalu mahukan jawatan, DAP & PAS akan dilihat sebagai penyokong setia PKR, dan rakyat akan bersimpati dengan YB DSAI.



Tetapi malang kerana saya percaya YB DSAI telah diberi nasihat yang salah. Saya cukup yakin Fir'aun-Fir'aun Kecil yang mengelilingi YB DSAI telah mempengaruhi beliau dengan menyatakan bahawa dari segi undang-undang tidak jadi masalah untuk YB DSAI terus berpaut kepada jawatan Ketua Pembangkang walaupun PKR sudah hilang majoriti. Dan saya cukup yakin Fir'aun-Fir'aun Kecil tersebtu meyakinkan YB DSAI bahawa DAP & PAS akan menyokong.



Memanglah dari segi undang-undang tiada salahnya, tapi kita bercakap dari segi menghormati konvensyen 'amalan berparlimen dan nilai demokrasi yang kononnya dipertuhankan sangat. Ni cakap tak serupa bikin. Apa yang terjadi sekarang, atas nasihat Fir'aun-Fir'aun Kecil ini, YB DSAI kelihatan dimata rakyat terlalu ghairah dengan jawatan Ketua Pembangkang sehingga mengenepikan kenvensyen 'amalan berparlimen dan nilai demokrasi. Dan inilah maksud saya apabila saya menyatakan Fir'aun-Fir'aun Kecil inilah yang akan menyebabkan nama baik dan integriti YB DSAI tercemar, dan mungkin akan membawa kepada kejatuhan beliau. Saya sedih memikirkannya kerana YB DSAI sebenarnya seorang yang hebat, hanya kalau beliau mahu kembali kepada perjuangan Islam dan mendapatkan penasihat-penasihat yang tiada berkepentingan dan mempunyai agenda sendiri, saya yakin beliau akan menajdi pemimpin yang hebat. Tapi apakan daya..nasi dah jadi bubor!



Berdasarkan kedudukan jumlah kerusi parti-parti bukan kerajaan, maka menurut Peraturan 2 Peraturan mesyuarat Parlimen Malaysia, dan berdasarkan prinsip 'amaln berparlimen sejagat serta nilai demokrasi yang diterima pakai, susunan kerusi sepatutnya kini berubah. Bermakna semua Ahli Parlimen DAP sepatutnya kini duduk di blok paling depan sebelah kiri Speaker, iaitu Blok I. Kemudian diikuti oleh Ahli-Ahli Parlimen PKR dan kemudiannya PAS dan PSM. Jadi saya nak tengok esok apakah susunan tersebut dilaksanakan oleh YB Tan Sri Speaker. Sekiranya tidak, kemungkinan akan ada usul Peraturan Mesyuarat dibawa untuk susunan kerusi dibuat mengikut apa yang saya sebut tadi. Kalau itu berlaku, bermakna walaupun YB DSAI akan menduduki kerusi Ketua Pembangkang, namun beliau akan dikelilingi oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP. Ini mungkin satu keadaan yang tidak selesa bagi YB DSAI sebagai Ketua Umum PKR; sebab itulah konvensyen 'amalan berparlimen dan nilai demokrasi menghendaki Ketua Pembangkang adalah daripada parti bukan kerajaan yang memiliki kerusi yang paling banyak!



Bagi sidang ini, buat pertama kalinya saya akan bertindak sebagai wakil bebas. Dan insyallah saya akan memainkan peranan saya untuk mewakili suara umatb Islam dan kepentingan Islam. Ini tidak bermakna saya akan mengenepikan kepentingan dan kebajikan rakyat bukan Islam. Malahan berada dalam status wakil bebas ini akan memberi ruang yang selesa untuk saya memainkan pernan lebih efektif dan berkesan untuk umat Islam dan institusi Islam khasnya dankebajikan dan kepentingan rakyat umumnya.



Tapi saya percaya peringkat awal sidang kali ini akan berlaku satu perkara yang bakal meletupkan suasana politik negara. Apa dia? Tunggu dan lihat! Jangan kemana-mana, dan jangan betulkan antenna telinga anda..apa yang bakal terjadi pasti akan menyebabkan anda semua memerlukan pampers..hehehe !!!



Zulkifli Bin Noordin

Ahad

28 Rab'ul Awal 1431

14 Mac 2010