Let he who has not sinned…..

ARCHIVES 2009

By MT Webmaster On Dec 2, 2009

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Reporter prefers sparring role

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 – A routine press conference at Parliament lobby turned into a melodrama of sorts when a reporter started arguing with an MP.

The war of words became so intense that the other reporters at the press conference thought it would escalate into an all-out brawl.

It started when DAP Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming told reporters about an agreement worth RM3.8 billion between the Federal government and a car rental company called Spanco Sdn Bhd.

Nga claimed Spanco was awarded a direct contract to provide official cars to the Federal government for the duration of 25 years from Jan 1, 1994 to 2019.

Before anyone could ask Nga for further clarification on the matter, the reporter demanded that the lawmaker name the finance minister was at the time when the contract was signed.

It was clear to everyone present that he intended to point out that the finance minister then was current PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Nga then tried to explain to him that what mattered here was the government give a good explanation as to why the contract had been awarded directly but the reporter began raising his voice and demanded that Nga answer his question.

The other DAP parliamentarians present looked agitated and shocked while their aides were frozen as they watched in disbelief at the tone the reporter was using towards the Taiping MP.

Reporter: No, you tell me who was the finance minister at that time … no, you tell me … it was Anwar! So why are you not saying this? He should resign, it was him so he should resign!

Nga: Well, that’s what we’re trying to find out. We are not siding anyone but … are you Umno’s spokesman ?

Reporter: I’m not Umno! I am neutral … the question is who was the finance minister and it was Anwar so he should resign … now who owns Spanco?! You tell me who owns Spanco?!

Nga: We don’t know so that’s why we are trying to ask the government to clarify … is there something hidden here …

Reporter: No! You … that’s why la … wasn’t it Anwar who was finance minister and signed it?

Nga: You should ask him then, you are barking up the wrong tree here.

Things cooled down when other DAP parliamentarians tried to diffuse the situation by telling the reporter that he should ask Anwar directly instead of attacking Nga.

The reporter was seen laughing at this point but kept saying that Anwar was the man behind the deal that forced the government to pay RM156 million for its official cars and will keep having to pay about the same amount for 10 years more.

Later, when asked what he felt about what had transpired, Nga said he was shocked.

“This is not the kind of professional journalism that one expects and instead of asking me, he was trying to debate with me but I respect his right to express his opinion,” he said.

He also said that it was good for the reporter to act “provocatively” as it showed the “intense yearning” by the electorate, the reporter being one, to get answers about what he describes as “dubious deals by the government.” – The Malaysian Insider

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The above was what The Malaysian Insider reported today. As I have always said, the opposition should stop witch-hunting and keep raising the wrongdoings of the previous government. Instead, it should focus on what it should be doing.

I am not saying we should declare an amnesty and forgive and forget all those who have committed crimes during their tenure in office. Certainly, those who have plundered the taxpayers’ money should be brought to book. But life should not just be about pointing out the weaknesses and wrongdoings of others, in particular the previous government. It should also be about getting down to govern, especially in states where you are the government.

Let us not kid ourselves. Anwar was once the ‘right-hand man’ of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. There is much we can fault Dr Mahathir. But was not Anwar part of Mahathir’s team?

Now, whom do we blame when things go wrong? Can we say that only Mahathir is to be blamed? When Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was Prime Minister is it only he who should take the blame for everything that went wrong? And what about now, Najib Tun Razak? Is only Najib to be blamed while all the rest are innocent?

Let us reflect on Malaysia’s biggest financial scandal to date, the PKFZ fiasco. Was this one man’s blunder or was the entire Cabinet behind the whole thing? It has now been established that the entire Cabinet is at fault and, today, the government has admitted that the Cabinet Papers that prove this are authentic. So it was not just the Transport Minister or the Finance Minister or the Prime Minister who is at fault. The entire Cabinet is at fault.

The only Cabinet Minister who had the balls to do the right thing by resigning when he did not agree with government policy is Zaid Ibrahim. He appears to be the only man with the right to claim the moral high ground. Anwar stayed on, right until the day Mahathir sacked him. And even then he is taking Mahathir to court to try to get his sacking declared null and void.

This piece is not an anti-Anwar or Anwar-bashing piece. I too disagreed with Anwar joining the government not long after Mahathir became Prime Minister and I have said so openly many times before this. And because of that I opposed Anwar when he was in government. But when he was unjustly sacked, arrested, beaten up, put on trial and subsequently jailed, I rallied behind him and gave him my support.

It is not that I was naïve and not aware that Anwar was part of Mahathir’s team. It is not that I have forgiven him and forgotten that he ‘deserted’ us and went and joined Umno and became part of Mahathir’s team. It is that he made a mistake and paid for it, dearly. So it is now time to move on and look at how to improve the future rather than dabble in the past and lament about what could have been but was not.

Anwar was once not only Mahathir’s running mate but the Agriculture Minister, Education Minister, Finance Minister, and so on. Are not many of the problems we face concerning those particular ministries inherited problems? And were not some of those problems prevailing even during Anwar’s time and are still prevailing today?

In other words, many of these problems are not new problems. In fact, Anwar may have actually been instrumental in creating some of those problems. But even if he was not, and even if he in fact inherited them, what did he do to change them? Did he attempt to get rid of the problems when he was the Minister of those ministries?

Let’s talk about the NEP and the Bumiputera issue and how government contracts are dished out and whatnot. Many of these policies were from the pre-Anwar days, from even before Anwar joined Umno and the government. He did not invent those policies. He inherited them. But he did not change them either. He allowed them to continue right up to today. And that is because it was government policy so one man, even a Minister, could do nothing about them.

So be careful about how you attack the wrongdoings of the government or the policies of the government. If Anwar really did not agree with what the government was doing he should have resigned in disgust like what Zaid Ibrahim did. But he did not. He stayed on. In fact, he fought to stay on. And he is still fighting to get his sacking declared illegal so that he can get back his position in the government.

It is time to let go of the past. It is time to come clean and admit that some of us were part of that past and just as guilty in allowing what was done to be done. How do we point a finger at the captain when the team has many players? If I do not agree with the captain then I walk off. That’s what I did when I did not agree with what Parti Keadilan Rakyat was doing and I resigned from my job in Seruan Keadilan, the party newspaper, and started my own outfit called Malaysia Today.

I felt that the party newspaper was on the wrong track. I felt that we were spending too much time on the defence rather than on the attack. I felt that Umno and Barisan Nasional should be exposed for what they are. I felt the voters should know the truth so that they can become informed voters and make the right decision when they go to the polls. I felt many things that the party did not also feel. So I walked off and started my own ‘newspaper’ so that I could put into practice what I was trying to preach.

I am tired of hearing about Mahathir this and Mahathir that. This would not have been possible if just because of Mahathir alone. As I said, Anwar was his ‘right-hand man’ and part of the team. MCA, MIC, Gerakan and ten other parties were also part of Barisan Nasional and it is because of them that Umno was in power. And, more importantly, the voters, Malaysian citizens, the taxpayers, voted for Barisan Nasional and gave them the overwhelming victory to form the government with more than two-thirds in Parliament and clear majorities in all states except one — and except for a brief period from 1999 to 2004 when Terengganu was also under the opposition.

So, who is to be blamed? Well, all of us of course! We gave them that power. We put them into office. Some of us were even part of the government. If not, all this would not have happened. So let’s focus on how to change all that. If not, all this finger pointing might backfire because whatever happened, happened, because we were part of it, one way or another, either as a ‘player’, or a voter, or maybe as someone who did not even bother to vote or register to vote.