Winners and losers in the Selangor saga

ANALYSIS With the swearing in of PKR deputy president Azmin Ali as the new Selangor menteri besar on Tuesday, a curtain comes down on an infamous political move for which the consequences had dragged on for more than eight months.
 
It was called, at the height of its popularity, the 'Kajang move'.
 
It was the easiest way one could coin a political manoeuvring that had such far-reaching implications.
 
The plan for the Kajang move was to consciously trigger the resignation of Kajang assemblyperson Lee Chin Cheh to force a by-election and then have PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim contest in the seat, and if he wins, become the Selangor MB.
 
But a 'hastened' sodomy conviction in March disqualified Anwar, and PKR had to go ahead and named his wife party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail for the state seat.
 
The move to replace then-Selangor MB Abdul Khalid Ibrahim had to be stalled for months following the by-election.

In July, the motions were put in place again as the friction between Abdul Khalid and his party PKR grew, and probably in an effort to ensure the Kajang move remained relevant, Wan Azizah was proposed as the new Selangor MB, triggering a prolonged crisis.

Azmin Ali sworn in as 15th Selangor MB

Bukit Antarabangsa state assemblyman Mohamed Azmin Ali took his oath of office today as the new menteri besar of Selangor.

Mohamed Azmin, 50, who is also the MP for Gombak, was sworn in before the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, at the Throne Room of the Istana Alam Shah in Klang at 10.42am.

The PKR deputy president succeeds Abdul Khalid Ibrahim who had held the post for more than six years from 2008.

Mohamed Azmin's wife, Shamsidar Taharin, and Selangor state secretary Mohammed Khusrin Munawi were also present at the swearing-in ceremony.

Meanwhile, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang congratulated Azmin and expressed hope that he would able carry out his responsibility as MB.


Source - Bernama

A racial slur is “a stupid thing to say”

KUALA LUMPUR: A video shot to commemorate Malaysia Day has turned out to be a surprisingly heartwarming reflection of how Malaysians are far from the racist bunch our politicians make us out to be.

The video, that has since gone viral, shows a group of Malaysians of various races and ages agreeing to attend a casting session.

Without knowing what the casting was for, without a script, and without knowing the camera was rolling, they willingly agreed to repeat phrases like “I’m Malaysian”, I love Malaysian food”, “I love my country” and “Saya suka masyarakat Malaysia” as part of a warm-up.

And then, you see everyone stumped when they have to repeat a racial slur.

Expressing disbelief and shock, with some even looking quite uncomfortable and shifting in their seats, not even one agrees to repeat the racial slur suggested to them.

Among the racist remarks were “Melayu semua malas”, “Cina semua pendatang” and “India semua pemabuk”.

While many politely refused, some looked insulted and one man said, “That’s a stupid thing to say.” One participant got so incensed with the racist stereotypes, he said, “Stop being an a…hole”

Others said, “That’s rude”, and “I’m not here for a racist thing”. One woman outright disagreed that Malaysians were racist, saying simply, “No. No. No.”

When no one relented, money was offered instead…

But even that proved a dead end.

One man said no amount of money would get him to say “Melayu bodoh” and one woman said, “I will not say it. You can give me a million” while another, holding his hands up in despair but still smiling said, “I don’t want to be a part of it, know what I mean?”

What this video shows in no uncertain terms is that Malaysians are a harmonious bunch, willing to live in peace with each other and refusing to buy into the talk of racism that dominates our political scene.

So to all our political leaders and race-based NGOs out there, a plea goes out to all of you to stop dividing the nation along racial lines because racism is not something Malaysians subscribe to.

Happy Malaysia Day!

Click Here to watch the video.

Will Ananda tarnish the image of Malaysia?

Will Malaysian business tycoon T Ananda Krishnan bring Malaysians and Malaysia into international disrepute? That will depend on the outcome of his “criminal conspiracy” charge that he is facing in a New Delhi court. After all, the Maxis-Astro Ananda is innocent until proven guilty.

Any report of this in Astro News? India West reported on Aug 29 that former Indian Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, his brother Kalanidhi Maran and six others, including four companies, were last Friday charge-sheeted in the Aircel-Maxis deal case by the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) in a special court.

Besides the Maran brothers, the CBI named Ananda, Augustus Ralph Marshall, an executive, and four companies including Sun Direct TV Pvt. Ltd., Malaysia’s Maxis Communication Berhad, South Asia Entertainment Holding Ltd., Mauritius, and ASTRO All Asia Network plc. They are all charged with criminal conspiracy and corruption.

The charge sheet was filed before Special CBI Judge O P Saini who set Sept 11 for consideration of the charges. Former Telecom Secretary J S Sharma, who has died, was also named in the charge sheet.

The charge sheet was filed a day after the Supreme Court turned down a plea by Dayanidhi Maran to restrain the CBI from filing the charge sheet, saying investigation of the case is incomplete.

The CBI alleges that Maran “forced” Chennai-based telecom promoter C Sivasankaran to sell his stake in Aircel to Malaysia’s Maxis Group, owned by Ananda. He also then struck a deal with Maxis to buy a stake in Kalanidhi Maran-run Sun Direct TV. The deals took place when Dayanidhi Maran was the telecom minister.

The deals came to light during the investigation of the 2G spectrum scam. The following day, Reuters with a Mumbai dateline reported that the CBI has filed charges against a former minister, his media mogul brother, and a Malaysian tycoon over alleged corruption to help Malaysia’s Maxis group take control of an Indian mobile phone carrier eight years ago.

Tamil Nadu politician Dayanidhi, who was India’s telecommunications minister between 2004 and 2007; his brother billionaire Kalanithi; Malaysia’s second-richest man Ananda and his aide Ralph Marshall, are among those named in the charge sheet filed in a New Delhi court, a police spokeswoman said.

The case is separate from a massive scandal that Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said had lost the government about US$29 billion (RM95 billion) during a 2008 telecoms permits sale process.

Another former telecoms minister and several company executives are among the accused in an ongoing trial over that case. The CBI, India’s top crime-fighting agency, started investigating the Maran brothers and Ananda in 2011 after allegations that the telecoms minister had forced the sale of mobile carrier Aircel, allowing Ananda’s Maxis to acquire a controlling stake in 2006.

 “The investigation revealed that the then (telecoms minister) had allegedly abused (his) official position and constricted the business environment of Chennai-based private firm on frivolous grounds with an intent to force its exit from telecom business and its sale to Malaysia-based company,” the CBI said in a statement last Friday.

Companies controlled by billionaire Kalanithi’s Sun Group, which runs a media business including television channels and satellite TV services, had received “illegal gratification” totalling about 7.42 billion rupees (US$123 million or RM401 million), the CBI said. About 5.49 billion rupees of it was “in the garb of” the premium paid for the purchase of a stake in a Sun Group company, the agency said.

The charges against the Marans, Ananda and his aide include criminal conspiracy, the CBI said. Astro All Asia Networks Plc, Maxis Communications Bhd, South Asia Entertainment Holdings Ltd -- all part of Ananda’s business empire -- and Sun Group’s Sun Direct TV Pvt. Ltd have also been named in the police charge sheet.

 Dayanidhi has previously denied any wrongdoing. Maxis had said in October 2011 that it was cooperating with the probe and was confident that the allegations against it would prove to be “unfounded and without basis”. For the integrity of Malaysians and Malaysia, let’s hope Maxis and Ananda win the case. -



Source :http://www.theantdaily.com/Top-Stories/Will-Ananda-tarnish-the-image-of-Malaysia