KAMI: Anwar Didn't Listen To Us Earlier About the Chartered Flights

By SM AMIN (shaik@malaysiandigest.com)

Friday, 03 May 2013 05:03

An activist group claims Anwar was had been made known of the chartered flights earlier in the year, but he didn't do anything about it.SHAH ALAM: Kumpulan Aktivis Mahasiswa Independen (KAMI) yesterday claimed they are in the possession of documents that indicate flight details of dubious voters coming into Malaysia right until the day before polling date. KAMI President, Khalid Ismath claimed that information obtained from a pilot, revealed a flight schedule of AirAsia's AK9798 carrying 180 passengers, free of charge, from Johor to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. He said there were obvious irregularities in the passenger list of the said flight as it contained no personal data. "The flight leaves at 9.20am and arrives at 11.20am," he told Malaysian Digest on Thursday. He also claimed to have obtained information from airline staff that at least three other airlines were involved in ferrying such passengers, predominantly from Bangladesh and Nepal. Khalid (below) said, they had alerted Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of this matter earlier in the year but their pleas for action they were not entertained. "Only last night did a PKR officer call us to obtain more information on the issue," he said. Earlier yesterday, Anwar told a news conference that the Prime Minister's department was involved in ferrying in 40,500 dubious voters from Sabah and Sarawak beginning April 25. The Opposition leader claimed that apart from using Jumbo jets, the army's C130 Hercules was also chartered, involving as many as 16 flights in a day from Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Miri and Sibu. "By our calculations, 4,500 people have been arriving in KLIA every day. Flights have been coming in from April 25, except on May 1. "This means there are 40,000 dubious individuals who are already here and still coming through via KLIA, not including foreigners who come in via land, ports and the Low-Cost carrier terminal (LCCT)," he claimed. Apart from private companies like AirAsia and Malaysia Airlines, Anwar claimed that the National Registration Department (NRD), Immigration Department and the Malaysian Armed Forces were also involved. But Immigration director-general Datuk Alias Ahmad denied the allegation that foreigners from East Malaysia have been sent to the immigration depot in Selangor to vote this Sunday. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has also denied any involvement in the allegation. In a short statement, a spokesman said, "The PMO denies involvement in the claims that have been made about such flights. The Election Commission (EC) has been hard at work, ensuring that the election system is better than it was before and to guarantee this upcoming general election is free and fair." The 'proof' of documentation of the chartered flight that Khalid claimed he has . . http://www.malaysiandigest.com/news/36-local2/334242-kami-anwar-didnt-listen-to-us-earlier-about-the-chartered-flights.html - mD

Not original Umno (ABU) was formed to bowled Umno

 Not original Umno (ABU) was formed to bowled Umno

(By: Masdar Wahid)

KUALA LUMPUR: Rembau branch chief Badrul Hisham Shaharin or better known as Chegubard today launched a movement known as the Original Non Umno (ABU).

People's Movement 'Original Non Umno (ABU)' Umno BN established to ensure fallen at the next General Election, said Chegubard acting as a coordinator.

This is because he, decades of BN UMNO rule, too much greed that caused the party.

"The BN UMNO rule, we are together contributing, due to our attitude as 'leave, do not mind and ignorant' in inculcating the brute force of government," he said at a press conference at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall today.

He cited the administration of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also Umno president when this often fickle minded decisions.

It includes Peaceful Assembly Act 2011 that kononnnya for Malaysia as the world's best, but actually more brutal than the previous law.

He said, ABU will continue the program from time to time to ensure that Malaysia is ruled by a party that offers a better administration.

Without specifically intended party where he invites people mengahadirkan in public gathering organized by the ABU on Dec. 15 in Markaz Tarbiyah PAS, Garden Melewar, Gombak.

"At the assembly, we will announce something significant to change the political situation in Malaysia because ABU movement will continue to exist as long as Umno exists in this country," he said, who is also Chairman of the Youth Solidarity Malaysia (SAMM).

ABU launch press conference was also held the same throughout the state in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak except for ABU activist barred from entering the two states.

"Umno's strange, they claim Sabah and Sarawak as fixed and always give a statement purportedly Umno state power is not threatened.

"If so, why ABU representatives in the state just to even prevented?" He asked.

Movement, he said, were still continuing in both states next week.

Among those joining the ABU currently includes students, workers, farmers, fishermen, various segments of the NGOs, opposition parties, professionals, artists, mat rempit, unemployed and oppressed communities under Umno administration over the years.

"Although we backed political party, we are to be free because the ultimate goal is the overthrow Umno is too much corruption in this country, it is enough for them," he said.

 http://www.keadilandaily.com/asal-bukan-umno-abu-ditubuh-untuk-tumbangkan-umno/

DAP clear Nga of ‘lounge-suit’ corruption accusations

DAP clear Nga of ‘lounge-suit’ corruption accusations

February 16, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 — The DAP disciplinary committee cleared Pantai Remis assemblyman Nga Kor Ming of any power abuse in the awarding of a lounge suit contract to his wife’s company, Bernama Online reported.
Committee chairman Tan Kok Wai said their investigations did not  find any evidence he coerced or influenced Ipoh City Hall (MBI) in his capacity as councillor to award the RM14,400 contract to Ethan & Elton — co-owned by Nga’s spouse Wong Seow Ching.
Tan said the committee felt the existence of a relationship between parties did not prove wrongdoing meriting an actionable complaint.
He told media their decision at the DAP headquarters here after a three hour meeting.
Three former MBI councillors who were also on the tender board, Frankie Wong and Simon Ng from DAP and PAS’s Khairuddin Abd Malik, told the committee that they were not aware Nga’s wife was involved with the company when they made their award decision.
Tan added that there were five other bidders along with Ethan and Elton.
The committee also rejected the “minit bebas” (independent minutes) presented to them, because the ex-Mentri Besar and six ex- state excos from the previous Pakatan Rakyat state government have confirmed to the disciplinary committee they have never proposed or discussed the lounge suit contract at their exco meetings.
The committee therefore was of the opinion that Nga (picture) neither did anything corrupt nor breached party discipline.
In the separate issue of a demonstration outside the Penang DAP state convention allegedly backed by Penang deputy chief minister II P. Ramasamy, Tan said the committee had not come to a decision, and that the matter will be discussed at the next meeting.
 http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/dap-clear-nga-of-lounge-suit-corruption-accusations

Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin unhappy with Najib Razak’s 2013 Budget

From the Desk of Lim Kit Siang

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s barefaced denial yesterday that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 2013 Budget was an “election budget” illustrated what is wrong with the UMNO/Barisan Nasional government after 55 years in power – that the Umno/BN government leaders suffer from the dual terminal ailments of denial complex and unprecedented credibility gap.

Even UMNO/Barisan Nasional Ministers, MPs and members would not believe Muhyiddin’s brazen denial that Najib’s 2013 Budget was not an “election budget”.

Why then is the Deputy Prime Minister making a denial that is completely bereft of credibility, whether in Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional camps?

The only answer is that UMNO/BN leaders continue to suffer from the false sense that they could transform Malaysian politics into a world of make-believe and get ordinary Malaysians to believe what the UMNO/BN leaders decreed, although totally divorced from the world of reality.
It is because of this misguided and misplaced complex that caused UMNO/BN leaders to continue to deny that the growing fear of crime among Malaysians as well as rampant corruption in the country are major problems in the country, falling back on discredited GTP and NKRA statistics and claims of falling crime index and progress in the war against corruption.

But this is false sense of make-believe and denial is not sustainable in the real world, especially in the era of Internet and information technology where information travels at the speed of light and could no more be buried by the BN mainstream media.

Najib had put his finger on the pulse of the problem when he became Prime Minister in April 2009, when he declared that “the era that the government knows best is over”, but the tragedy is that Najib had demonstrated in his 42 months as Prime Minister that he could diagnose the problem afflicting UMNO/BN government but he could not act on the diagnosis, either for lack of political will or personal convictions.
Najib made dubious history yesterday when he transformed his 2013 Budget – which had goodies for almost every sector of the electorate – into a brazen electioneering speech.

Despite Muhyiddin’s post-budget claim that the 2013 Budget is not an “election budget”, Najib devoted more than 10 per cent of his budget speech in a blatant electioneering appeal for continued support for Umno/BN while launching a most improper attack on Pakatan Rakyat.
Najib took MPs and the listening Malaysian public by surprise when he devoted the first six paragraphs of his 2013 Budget speech appealing to Malaysians for continued electoral support for Umno/BN government after 55 years, and hurled charges and insinuations against Pakatan Rakyat.

But he outdid himself at the end of the budget speech when he devoted the last 14 paragraphs of his 174-paragraph budget speech on a unashamed glorification of Umno/BN rule and condemned Pakatan Rakyat, causing many on both sides of the political divide to shake their heads with the common complaint that the 2013 Budget presentation was a poor reflection on the “class” and “standard” both on the Prime Minister and the annual budget.

It is evident that the 2013 Budget hides a very unconfident Najib who is haunted and hounded by the phobia that his fourth budget speech as Finance Minister may be the last Umno/BN budget in Parliament in the nation’s history.

This is why despite all the chest-thumping and braggadocio of supreme confidence that Malaysia will witness six more budgets to be tabled by the Umno/BN Government to transform Malaysia from middle to a high-income developed country, Najib has continued to play the role of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, “To Be or Not To Be”, agonizing over whether “To dissolve or not to dissolve Parliament” since last year.
The reason is simple – Najib has no confidence that he would not be the last Umno Prime Minister in Malaysia or that he would not be toppled as UMNO President and Prime Minister in a repeat scenario like what happened to Tun Abdullah in 2009, becoming the latest “trophy” of Tun Mahathir with the scalps of three DPMs and two PMs!

http://www.kualalumpurpost.net/tan-sri-muhyiddin-yassin-unhappy-with-najib-razaks-2013-budget/

Dilema Perang Dingin Blogger Umno?

Dilema Perang Dingin Blogger Umno?

Posted by malaysiadaily | Saturday, 7 July 2012

Kepada banyak pihak, ia semakin jelas saban hari bahawa Umno adalah sebuah parti yang disertai individu-individu yang tamak dan tidak pernah ada rasa cinta kepada parti mereka.

Terdapat banyak peristiwa kebelakangan ini yang menguatkan persepsi tesebut, yang terbaru ialah pertelingkahan antara media, antara bos-bos media mereka dan pakar strategi yang memutar belitkan berita.

Ini termasuk bagaimana cara untuk menonjolkan agenda Umno dan bagaimana untuk menjual kepada orang awam mengenai kebolehan Umno dalam pembangunan, namun semuanya tidak berpadu dari atas ke bawah.

Jadi, anda boleh berimaginasi betapa teruknya parti yang sudah tua ini, dan mengapa kini ada yang berpendapat bahawa parti tersebut berada di perjalanan terakhirnya sebelum diketepikan dalam arus perdana politik Malaysia.

Setiap ahli Umno hanya memikirkan mengenai diri mereka sendiri. Semua yang berada dalam parti yang mempunyai 3 juta ahli ini berpecah, dan apa yang mengikat mereka hanya 'WANG'.

Umno BN turut beroperasi atas prinsip di atas dan ia adalah sebab mengapa susah untuk melihat kesemua logo 14 parti komponen dicetak di bahan kempen BN.

Mereka jarang di platform yang sama, dan semua komponen parti BN mempunyai DNA yang sama dengan Umno – bersifat individualistik, pentingkan diri sendiri dan tidak kreatif.

DNA Umno

Maka, ia tidak mengejutkan cybertrooper (askar maya) Umno juga bersifat tamak dan individualistik. Mereka juga mempunyai DNA Umno yang sama di dalam darah mereka.

Tamak di sini bukan sahaja merujuk kepada wang, tapi juga habuan untuk menjadi popular, dihormati, berpengaruh dan berkuasa. Cybertropper Umno berpecah kepada beberapa kumpulan, dan semua mempunyai fikiran masing-masing.

Antara askar maya Umno, individu yang sentiasa disalahkan dalam menimbulkan permasalahan ialah Wan Azri daripada blog Papa Gomo. Walaupun beliau tidak terlibat dalam kemelut terbaru mendakwa Ketua Pengarang Kumpulan News Straits Times Jalil Hamid sebagai penderhaka kepada Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Begitu panas perang antara mereka yang saling menyerang di dalam dunia blog Umno sehingga ia menjadi berita, dan blogger menjadi tumpuan media dan bukannya orang yang disokong mereka. Ya, ini amatlah melucukan.

Boleh ke Umno melakukan sesuatu dengan betul? Apa yang mereka gaduhkan ialah perkara kedua – iaitu mengenai sebuah artikel mengenai pemecatan Ketua Pengarah Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (JPA) Tan Sri Abu Bakar Abdullah.

Samada Najib mengaku atau tidak, ia adalah jelas Abu Bakar adalah kambing hitam dalam kegagalan Skim Saraan Baru Perkhidmatan Awam (SBPA) yang mengutamakan peringkat atasan kakitangan kerajaan, menyebabkan kakitangan bawahan melenting dan mengugut untuk mengundi pembangkang, Pakatan Rakyat.

Namun begitu, sebahagian blogger Umno tetap berpendapat artikel yang disiarkan Berita Harian, yang berada di bawah kumpulan NSTP telah memberikan satu imej buruk kepada Najib kerana kenyataan Abu Bakar yang menyatakan bahawa beliau telah dipecat secara tidak adil telah disiarkan. Kerana itu, blogger Umno saling berperang, dan ini menyebabkan satu petengkaran yang hebat bagaikan najis terkena kipas.

Peruntukan daripada wang rakyat bukan wang parti

Kini, Papa Gomo sedang mempertahankan Umno dan mencipta masalah untuk pembangkang. Wan Azri ialah blogger yang memaparkan video seks Datuk T untuk Utusan dan semua akhbar Umno jadikan bahan laporan. Sekarang, beliau ingin dikenang, dinilai tinggi dan dikayakan untuk segala usaha beliau, yang dikatakan membiayai diri sendiri.


Namun begitu, ada yang mengatakan bahawa beliau dibiayai Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Menteri Belia dan Sukan. Sudah tentu Wan Azri mendapat bayaran di sini dan di sana oleh individu Umno yang menggunakan laman web beliau sebagai platform untuk menyerang. Tapi tidak, beliau masih tidak mendapat pengaliran duit yang tetap ke akaun beliau. Dan beliau cukup terkilan apabila Ketua Pemuda Umno Khairy Jamaluddin telah menubuhkan Unit Media Baru (UMB) untuk mempertahankan parti mereka dan menyerang pembangkang, dan beliau diketepikan.

Ia adalah menarik untuk diberi perhatian bahawa unit Khairy terdiri daripada blogger baru yang dibayar menggunakan dana yang diperuntukkan di bawah Kementerian Penerangan. Bayangkan dana awam untuk kerja-kerja kotor Umno. Tapi, siapalah yang di dalam Umno yang akan menggunakan duit mereka sendiri untuk parti. Ia selalunya adalah duit rakyat yang membayar bil mereka. Namun, ini adalah cerita berlainan.

Kisah tumbukan

Seorang lagi blogger Umno yang terlibat dengan kemelut ini ialah Akupeduliapa (APA) daripada UMB Khairy. Papa Gomo tidak mempunyai hubungan yang baik dengan APA kerana beliau telah didakwanya memperoleh kekayaan dan tidaklah semiskin yang dikatakan Papa Gomo. Khairy telah campurtangan dalam hal ini – membuat kenyataan di Twitter bahawa perkara itu adalah biasa untuk Papa Gogo. Satu lagi air mata buaya!

Pergelutan Papa Gomo-APA dilaporkan menjadi genting apabila Papa Gomo yang lebih muda usianya telah menumbuk APA yang lebih senior di dalam satu mesyuarat Kementerian Belia dan Sukan. Sekarang, adakah anda faham mengapa Perkasa tidak berfikir apa-apa selain menyerang Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang Lim Guan Eng atau mengugut untuk mewujudkan kembali peristiwa 13 Mei, 1969 iaitu pertumpahan darah antara kaum? Keganasan dan pertumpahan darah tiada dalam mentaliti Umno, tapi ia adalah sebahagian daripada darah daging mereka!

Pergaduhan itu telah menyebabkan mereka berdua kini mendatangkan masalah kepada sponsor mereka – Ahmad Shabery dan sesiapa sahaja pemimpin Umno yang APA berkhidmat dengannya. Dengan APA di bawah UMB, beliau sepatutnya berkhidmat dengan Khairy, tapi orang yang mengendalikan unit tersebut bukannya Khairy tetapi exco pemuda Umno Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz.

Pemimpin Umno belakang bloggers

Tun Faisal bukan sahaja ketua UMB tapi beliau juga orang Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein. Apa-apa pergaduhan atas isu apa-apa, ia jelas bahawa Khairy, Faisal, Hishamuddin dan Ahmad Shabery sedang cuba berebut pengaruh di kalangan para blogger ini. Ini telah menimbulkan sengketa kepada semua yang terlibat.

Khabar angin terbaru di dalam Umno ialah Hishamuddin telah cuba menghubungi Wan Azri untuk mendapatkan bantuan bagi mengalahkan pesaing beliau di dalam Umno menjelang pemilihan parti akan datang, yang bakal diadakan dalam masa terdekat. Sudah tentu, Papa Gomo yang sensitif terhadap kewangan telah dijanjikan duit bulanan yang lumayan. Dan ini sangat menarik.

Satu lagi watak dalam blogger Umno ialah Anuar Mohd Nor daripada Umno Reform2. Beliau berpendapat bahawa Najib perlu diberitahu perkara sebenar dan tidak diberi maklumat salah. Anuar tidak menjaga kritikannya sehingga para blogger Umno merasakan beliau bekerja untuk pembangkang. Tapi Anuar merasakan beliaulah orang yang perlu memberitahu 'rajanya bahawa rajanya bogel kerana baginda sememangnya bogel dan bukan sebaliknya'. Kepada Anuar, blogger lain adalah jahat kerana sedang menasihatkan maharaja untuk berjalan bogel di tempat awam.

Terasa keseorangan, Papa Gomo juga dikatakan sedang cuba mencari kawan dalam kalangan blogger Umno. Beliau telah cuba memujuk Anuar untuk menyertai kem beliau. Perkembangan ini masih diperhatikan secara dekat.

Pecat Jalil

Antara orang yang menyarankan agar Jalil dipecat ialah Salahuddin Hisham daripada blog The Unspinners. Salahuddin juga tengah bertelagah dengan Anuar dan mereka sudah menjadi musuh ketat sejak sekian lama. Sahaluddin tidak bersetuju dengan cara Anuar untuk memperbaiki Umno.

Yang pelik ialah Salahuddin adalah orang yang dilayan seperti orang luar oleh Umno kerana tingkah lakunya yang buruk dan beliau juga ada sengketa dengan pemimpin Umno. Sekarang anda boleh lihat, masalah yang bergelumang pada seorang blogger Umno adalah daripada semua sudut – seperti juga kemahiran mereka untuk bertempur dan berlawan sesama sendiri. Selain itu, Salahuddin juga di belakang blog 'Another Brick in the Wall' yang dianggap sebagai satu liabiliti untuk Umno.

Menariknya, The Unspinners juga didakwa pada Julai 2011 oleh Raja Petra Kamaruddin dalam kontroversi cincin RM24 juta yang didakwa dibeli oleh isteri perdana menteri Rosmah Mansor. Salahuddin telah mendakwa RPK membuat dakwaan palsu terhadap Rosmah.

Dalam pada itu, ‘Granddaddy’ kepada semua blogger Umno, Akhiruddin Atan aka Rocky Bru telah cuba meredakan isu tersebut kerana beliau telah dilantik oleh Umno untuk mengawal dan menjaga askar maya Umno yang dibayar.

Sehingga kini, beliau masih tidak nampak membuat sebarang perubahan untuk mendapatkan kembali sokongan rakyat terhadap Umno walaupun dengan bajet RM300,000 sebulan yang dispekulasikan itu. Ini tidak mengejutkan. Usaha beliau untuk meredakan suhu masih gagal untuk menutup mulut The Unspinners yang menyuruh supaya Jalil dipecat dari NST.

Seperti Rais, siapa makan cili akan terasa pedas

Seorang lagi blogger Umno Zakhir the Big Dog juga dikenal sebagai 'The Thirteen Million Plus Ringgit' sedang ditekan kuat kerana serangannya pada Menteri Penerangan Rais Yatim. Seorang lagi yang menembak ke arah Big Dog ialah Melayu Atas Pagar daripada blog 'Gelombang Wangsa Maju', daripada UMB cawangan Wangsa Maju.

APA juga tidak gembira terhadap serangan Big Dog pada Rais. Tapi Big Dog tidak akan menghiraukan perkara itu. Terkilan dengan Rais yang mengetepikan beliau dan pasukan blogger elit beliau, Big Dog telah bertanya satu soalan yang menghinakan bagi Rais, “Mengapakah menteri suka orang besar mereka berada di sisi mereka sentiasa dan tidak dengan para pengundi?”

Kebetulan atau tidak, Rocky Brulah yang menulis sebuah artikel menghentam Rais dalam isu dakwaan merogol amah dan Big Doglah pula yang menyuruh pihak berkuasa untuk menyiasat.

Blogger yang berkhidmat untuk pemimpin Umno-BN nampaknya hidup dalam satu keadaan yang celaru dan melumpuhkan diri sendiri seperti parti mereka. Misi dan visi rasmi mereka tiada dalam radar, yang ada hanyalah kepentingan peribadi. Macam pernah didengar – burung gagak terbang bersama dan siapa makan cili akan terasa pedas.

Lebih teruk bila dekat pilihanraya

Lebih dari itu, tahap ketegangan dan kebencian antara blogger Umno adalah gambaran kepada apa yang sedang melanda parti mereka sendiri.

Daripada cawangan ke kawasan kepada peringkat tertinggi, pergaduhan semasa sendiri yang sentiasa dibenamkan kini nampak serius. Dengan PRU13 ditangguhkan ke tahun depan, perebutan kuasa Umno ialah perkara paling menarik selepas Olympik 2012.

Dalam nota yang lebih serius, ia adalah menarik untuk direnungkan, dengan krisis dalam yang paling tegang, adakah Umno boleh bertahan dalam perang sivil terbarunya?

http://www.malaysiadaily.net/2012/07/dilema-perang-dingin-blogger-umno.html

27 YEARS IN THE SHADOWS: Koon Swan was a victim of Umno's "black hand" - Jui Meng

Wednesday, 12 September 2012 00:53

27 YEARS IN THE SHADOWS: Koon Swan was a victim of Umno's "black hand" - Jui Meng

Written by  Wong Choon Mei, Malaysia Chronicle     


UPDATED Former MCA president Tan Koon Swan was a victim of Umno's "black hand" and the Malaysian Chinese should cheer the recent admission by Singapore's former public prosecutor that Koon Swan had been wrongly charged and jailed because it vindicates the community as a whole.
"Koon Swan was the fastest rising Chinese leader. He held in his hand the hope and aspirations of the entire community. They trusted him implicitly. His youthfulness and dynamism set him a class above the other leaders. This is why he became a target of the Umno elite - for the tremendous hope he brought to the Chinese," PKR vice president Chua Jui Meng told Malaysia Chronicle.
"Like Anwar Ibrahim in 90s, Koon Swan in the 80s represented reform in all sectors - a more equitable economy, society and educational opportunities. He was a brilliant man and for this, Umno chopped him down cruelly. Koon Swan was publicly mutilated, his reputation was smashed to smithereens. Why? Because he did not toe the line set by the Umno bosses and they feared his power and influence over the Chinese."
Accomplices in greed
Indeed, amongst those who follow the political development of the Malaysian Chinese, grousing at the injustice heaped upon Koon Swan is not new. The bitterness was widespread and deep but in the 1980s, former premier Mahathir Mohamad ruled with a fist of iron, freely using the Internal Security Act and Sedition laws to jail political opponents and shut out criticism.
His greatest accomplices were former Finance minister Daim Zainuddin and the mainstream media, which continuously churned out stories to portray the situation that Mahathir deemed most useful to his plans. It did not help that Mahathir refused to grant licenses to independent press organizations, and until the advent of the Internet, news that carried a neutral or pro-Opposition picture did not exist in Malaysia.
Koon Swan was labelled as a vile traitor who not only betrayed his community but also swindled their poor, many of whom lost their life savings when the MCA-linked co-operatives they placed money with crumbled.
"The truth is always stranger than fiction and God moves in mysterious ways. No one expected Glenn Knight to show remorse and to write about all his old cases. And Glenn did not just mention Koon Swan but also other big cases he prosecuted on behalf of his government. Maybe Singapore didn't like a dynamic young leader who can rival the likes of Lee Kuan Yew. It reacted harshly and threw the book at Koon Swan. I was in Singapore with him at that time and we approached a UK law expert who told us Koon Swan had solid grounds to fight the Singapore case but in the end he buckled," said Jui Meng.
"He could not take the pressure. We will never know what else he and his family were threatened with until they tell us, but for sure he was a victim and it was Umno which led the push to crucify and to bury him. This is the history that Malaysian Chinese, especially the young, must know. Koon Swan's record on the Pan-El incident and how he was forced to give up the MCA presidency must be set straight. I am not trying to make him a hero. He had his scandals but he did not betray the Chinese. For years, his jailing has been used a mark of shame to show that Chinese leaders betrayed their people especially the poor. Many in the MCA did do that but not all. Each time, Umno wanted to crow over the Chinese, they would point the finger at Koon Swan and Pan-El. Now, the truth is out loud and clear - it was not him. It was the Umno elite and apart from politics, there was greed. They wanted the money in the MCA and its crown jewel Multi-Purpose Holdings Bhd."
Black mark on the community lifted

Jui Meng, a former MCA vice president and Health Minister, was responding to the uproar raised by Glenn Knight's recently published book "Glenn Knight: The Prosecutor". The former top legal eagle admitted he had wrongly prosecuted Koon Swan in the 1985 Pan El Industries case.
Glenn said he felt pained for putting Koon Swan behind bars on discovering his mistake years later, and he had since apologised to Koon Swan. The admission made the top news in all the major Chinese papers in Malaysia.
Koon Swan was slapped with 15 charges of fraud, cheating, stock market manipulation and abetment of criminal breach of trust (CBT) in the collapse of Pan El. He was sentenced to 18 months jail and fined S$500,000 (RM1.2 million) upon conviction in 1986.
Despite quitting as the MCA president and serving out his Singapore sentence, the Malaysian authorities were not appeased. He was jailed again when he returned and made a bankrupt as well.
"It was the worst humiliation for any man to endure but Koon Swan bore his cross with courage and dignity. He was 10 years too early, but we hope he will speak out now. In 1998, Anwar was in a better position to fight back against guys like Mahathir and Daim. Even still, look at how he suffered, I really take my hat off to Anwar," said Jui Meng.
"Perhaps now, Malaysians can understand how much courage it takes to fight the evil in our political system. When I talk about the the fight between Good and Evil, I can sense some people think I am exaggerating. But make no mistake, the fight is still on and in fact at the very peak. Malaysians must reject Evil in Umno-BN. They must always choose to follow the light and never darkness."
Paving the way for assets to be sold cheaply?
Jui Meng slammed the "vindictiveness" of the Mahathir administration for the second-round of punishment inflicted on Koon Swan. He believes that it was not only to ensure that the disgraced MCA president could never make any political comeback but to pave the way for the takeover and asset-stripping of the MCA companies and properties.
"Multi-Purpose was a huge conglomerate that could affect East Asian markets. It held the Malaysian French Bank, Bandaraya, large tracts of plantations and estates. It also had shipping interests. Yet Ling Liong Sik who took over as the new MCA president had to sell it off for a mere RM500 million. It was easily worth several times more," said Jui Meng.
"Who was behind the purchase? Many have alleged it was Daim because he had Mahathir's ear at that time. In the Umno style of those days, the word was spread to the Malays through the vernacular papers and the grapevine that the Malay community would benefit from Koon Swan's fall. But I think the only people who gained were the Umno elite. Their greed got worse and worse until Daim himself has been accused of taking Umno's assets and keeping these for himself. It is a classic example of the political and economic hegemony the Umno elite has enforced on the rakyat (people)."
Cowed and demoralized
Now 72, Koon Swan made his political debut, winning a parliamentary seat in Raub, Pahang. The following year, he was elected to the party's Central Committee and appointed Chairman of MCA Wilayah Persekutuan State Liaison Committee. In 1982 he clinched a landslide victory in the Damansara parliamentary seat, beating the Opposition in their fortress.
In 1984, he was appointed as vice-president of the MCA. However, he was soon sacked from this post along with 13 other members for urging the party to investigate its member records for the presence of non-existent people, an issue that had sparked off factionalism and crisis within the MCA. Koon Swan and the other 13 were all reinstated two months later with the support of 1,600 MCA members in an extraordinary general meeting.
In November 1985, Koon Swan was voted as president of the MCA, winning 76.9% of the votes cast, the largest majority in the party's history, and the first challenger since 1954 to win national leadership.
Koon Swan was then at the height of his popularity, symbolizing a new breed of Chinese leaders - smart, savvy and people-oriented. The Chinese community was indeed riding high buoyed by the enormous economic clout wielded by the MCA and talented Chinese leaders such as Koon Swan, who tapped and leveraged on the overseas diaspora, using to the fullest advantage powerful business contacts in both Hong Kong and China.
Regarded as a financial wizard Koon Swan also originated the Deposit-Taking Cooperatives or DTCs, which sought to accumulate capital for the Malaysian Chinese through investments. But with the onset of the 1985-86 recession triggered by plunging world oil and palm oil prices plus Koon Swan's own troubles, mismanagement of the DTCs' funds led to a scandal with the central Bank Negara stepping in to freeze the assets of up to 35 DTCs. The total loss was estimated to be RM3.6 billion, and the depositors only recovered 62% of their deposits.
The Pan-El case and its outcome not only changed his fate and the MCA's but also greatly impacted on the Malaysian Chinese community. They were visibly demoralized and cowed by his jailing. Many turned against him and his second wife Penny Chang, blaming them for the hard times sparked by the DTCs' fall and the slide in the economy, which contracted by 1.2% in 1985.
Pardon
Pan El's collapse also caused the Singapore and Malaysian stock markets to halt trading for three days. The high-profile Pan El case resulted in Glenn Knight being awarded the Public Administration Gold Medal.
In the book, the 63-year-old Glenn had written about the many high-profile cases he handled. He said that in 1996, a case similar to Koon Swan's came up for hearing and Singapore Chief Justice Yong Pung How "concluded that I was wrong to charge Tan for the offence".
“It was extremely painful for me to suddenly discover that the Singapore courts had got it wrong. It was a highly significant case that led to enforceable regulations being introduced into Singapore's stockbroking industry. As Koon Swan was the head of the MCA, I put up a paper on his involvement in the Pan-El saga but left it to my superiors to decide his fate as he was out of (Singapore) and in Malaysia. In the end, the government decided that the CAD could prosecute Koon Swan,” Glenn wrote.
“Chief Justice Yong was of the opinion that the section I had charged Koon Swan with was wrong in law for we could not charge a person for stealing from a company because as a director, it was not a breach of the law in that sense. Chief Justice Yong concluded that it was wrong to convict anyone for stealing money if the wrong charge had been used to begin with. The judgment shattered my belief in our legal system. In the United Kingdom, such a landmark judgment would have set aside Koon Swan's conviction but our jurisprudence does not allow for this though technically, Koon Swan could still have been granted a pardon."
Glenn also told of how he apologized to Koon Swan in 2010. He said Koon Swan was very emotional on hearing the matter.
In 1991, Glenn himself was charged with CBT and later jailed in Singapore. He was struck off from practising law in 1994 but was reinstated in the Law Society of Singapore in 2007.
As for Koon Swan, who is currently overseas, he has said he would decline comment until he has read Glenn's book.
Malaysia Chronicle