According to a BERNAMA newsflash, Former Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Tan Sri Megat Junid Megat Ayub, 65, passed away at 5.25 am Thursday at the Pantai Medical Centre, Bangsar.
Now how many of us can recall he many contributions made by this former minister?
Today must have been an interesting day for all those present at the Royal Commission of inquiry into the Lingam tape.
The 12th witness, Loh Gwo Burne, confirmed that he took the video with his Sony 707 camera in Dec 2001. He also said he did not interfere with, edit or doctor the contents of the 14-minute video recording when transferring the data from the memory card to the computer and from the computer to his laptop.
Loh also said that Lawyer Datuk V. K. Lingam was not drunk or intoxicated when he spoke on the telephone, allegedly brokering the appointment of judges. He said there were "drinks" taken but he was of the opinion that not much drinks were consumed on that evening in late December 2001. When asked whether Lingam was "staging" it, Loh said that sometimes he could hear a male voice on the other side (of the telephone).
RCI 13th Witness, A Smiling Lingham
And what did the star witness, the 13th witness, had to say to all this. According to Malaysiakini, he said that the character in the video :: "It looks like me, it sounds like me". But he did not say the video star character was him.
According to BERNAMA, the star witness had this stuff to tell the RCI ::
"My friends tell me I talk rubbish when I drink wine," lawyer Datuk V. K. Lingam said Monday, admitting that he could not recollect the occasion in the controversial video clip of him allegedly brokering the appointment of judges on the telephone.....
"I might have had one too many (drinks)," said Lingam.
He also told the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the video clip that looking at the clip, it would be "quite a couple of drinks" to consume since there were two bottles of wine, a bottle of whiskey and some (other) liquor.
"Normally, I can hold up to two and a half glasses of wine. Then I get tipsy and high," he said.
Lingam said he doesn't go to the pubs. "If I want to drink, I drink at home, If ever I go for a function, I don't drink too much," Lingam said.
It looks like what our Tourist Minister had to say earlier might just be true. The star witness was "mabuk" and like many other witnesses, also very forgetful.
First it was Batik Saturdays for civil servants. Then it was batik on the 1st and 15th of each month, when working on Saturdays became history for civil servants. But then Saturdays do fall on the 1st and 15th on some months and as a result our mudah lupa civil servants often forget themselves.
Why all these batik batik on certain days. Some say it was the former Mrs Pak Lah's idea. But now she is gone and there is a new Mrs Pak Lah. Is she the reason for the latest ruling. Ask a civil servant why he is wearing batik to work and he will not have the right reason.
Me thinks and so says the Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, the ruling is to improve the Gomen's Service Delivery System. Now did i get that right?
The latest ruling is to have Batik Thursdays for jantan civil servants. It is already pretty difficult for most jantan civil servants to know what is a batik shirt. And the batik shirt must be a Malaysian-made one, an Indonesian-made one from Bali just won't do. Will one made in PAS Kelantan do, me wonder.
One can only presume that the Chief Secretary to the Gomen has briefed all heads of department on how to identify a proper Malaysian-made batik shirt each and every Thursday. Or are there already Batik Thursdays enforcers already on the prowl? All this trouble just to improve the Gomen's Service Delivery System! Come on Chief Secretary.
The report in Malaysiakini carries a letter written by Loh Mui Fah to Pak Lah on 5th November 2007, some 6 weeks after the Lingam Tape surfaced.
Incredibly, the PM is said not to have given Mr Loh a reply. Obviously sleeping on the job. What was going through the PM and his 4th floor boys' minds?
The 3-men independent panel, headed by former Chief Judge of Malaya Haidar, to find out whether the Lingam tape was authentic was set up in late September. In early November 2007, the panel members submitted individual reports regarding their findings. Their findings have yet to be made public.
On 16th November, the PM announces that a royal commission of inquiry on the Lingam video tape will soon be established. He had earlier turned down the rakyat's request for such a Royal Commission of inquiry. Was the letter from Mr Loh the reason for his gostan balek response?
Here we have a man ready to authenticate the tape but the PM still wants a Royal Commission to do so! And what's the use of a Royal Commission of inquiry with limited scope of inquiry. The Royal Commission will start sitting tomorrow and its terms of reference are ::
1. to ascertain the authenticity of the video clip;
2. to identify the speaker, the person he was speaking to in the video clip and the persons mentioned in the conversation;
3. to ascertain the truth or otherwise of the content of the conversation in the video clip;
4. to determine whether any act of misbehaviour had been committed by the person or persons identified or mentioned in the video clip; and,
5. to recommend any appropriate course of action to be taken against the person or persons identified or mentioned in the video clip should such person or persons be found to have committed any misbehaviour.
It was mentioned earlier that the ACA has sent the tape to Spain for a Spanish voice check, to authenticate that the voice in the tape was that of Lingam. With Mr Loh, is it still necessary for this. Waste of good ringgit, many might say.
Our PM is presently on his first 2008 foreign trip. Guess where he is? In Spain, in Spain. Will he be also checking on the rain in Spain as well as the Lingam tape, while he is there?
Loh Mui Fah is the father of the guy who videotaped the Lingam tape in late December 2001. He and his son are ready to appear before the Royal Commission.
The Royal Commission starts sitting tomorrow. Expect them to be there to present what they know of the tape. In the NST report, it appears that they aren't the whistleblowers! Now who are the whistleblower(s)? Guess we might get to know over the next few days.
For more on Loh Mui Fah, go get a Malaysiakini subscription and check out the following links ::
Unconfirmed reports claimed that the three-term assemblyperson was shot after two men approached him near a lift in the party headquarters. The politician was there to attend a meeting.
In 2000, the MIC Lunas ADUN Joe Fernandez was shot death in Bukit Mertajam by unidentified men. The killers have not been caught till today, if my memory has not failed me. Fernandez's death resulted in the famuous Lunas by-election which was won by PKR. Krishnasamy's death would not cause a by-election as the present Johore State Assembly is more than 3 years old.
Krishnasamy's killing has been confirmed by Johore Deputy Police Chief Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Sharif, this was stated in a BERNAMA report.
In August, this year, Padang Serai MCA Youth vice-chairman Ching Eng Wah was shot execution-style at the traffic light junction of Jalan Padang Serai, Kedah. Chilling similar to Joe Fernandez's slaying. It looks like politikus are an endangered species and there are hired killers as well as hired video cameramen out there to do them in.
It took much courage for Dr Chua to admit "I Am The Man...." and for that he has to be admired. But his next step in being defiant and refusing to resign from his public posts was a big mistake. He should have followed through with his decision to own up to his videoed indiscretion. By owning up, it is obviously no longer tenable for him to continue to be in public office in rather puritanical Islam Hadhari BolehLand. A little too late, he found out that when one's chips are down, many of one's supporters and friends can turn highly "ulamakish"; and they need not be even PAS members. The reasons why he did not follow through can presently not be fathomed. Did he have some dumb and dumber advisors? Was he doubly betrayed as speculated by the opposition leader in this Malaysiakini article? Who are his advisor(s) and betrayer(s)?
It is also very obvious that in the about turn this afternoon, he has come to his senses and his resignations from all his public positions is another honourable thing to do. He has saved the MCA and the PM and the Cabinet from having to do the nasty thing.
Lets remember ex-MINIster Dr Chua for all that he has done in the 4 short years he served as Health MINIster. According to the STAR, he has done much and some of these deeds of his are listed below ::
# DIRECTING all district-level hospital directors and health officers to do clinical work;
# CUTTING down the waiting time at government hospitals from some 3 hours to 90 minutes;
# SEPARATE counters to serve patients with chronic diseases, the disabled and senior citizens;
# EXTENDING operating hours of selected health clinics;
# RAISING the salary of clinical specialists by RM1,900;
# EXTENDING housemanship training from one year to two years beginning this year to ensure housemen receive adequate training and clinical experience, and are competent to practise;
# IMPLEMENT the harm reduction programme, consisting of methadone maintenance therapy and the needle and syringe exchange programme, carried out to curb HIV infection among injecting drug users;
# GETTING pig farmers to sign a loyalty pledge to not use illegal substances, including beta agonist, on their livestock;
# Cutting down red tape when poor Malaysians applied for financial help through the ministry’s Medical Aid Fund;
# ADVOCATING healthy living to all Malaysians.....promoting campaigns that focused on healthy eating, exercise and physical activity, no smoking, coping with stress and giving up alcohol and
# ZOOMING in on fast food by banning fast-food companies from sponsoring television shows for children or advertising on children’s programmes, and requiring the operators to display nutritional contents on visible areas such as wrappers and displays.
Dr Chua may have our sympathies having to leave under such a dark cloud but a bigger portion of our sympathies must go to his family and spouse, who must be bearing the anguish and pains he has brought upon them. He has found himself in a position, very few brave ones would want to be in. But the silver lining is that he is now in a position to distinguish his true friends from those fair-weather ones.
Most are now aware who the MINIster is, the one in the latest TAPE scandal, a tape he confirmed was taped 2 years ago. See Malaysiakini for details, here and here.
It really takes a MAN to so quickly own up to what he has been up to. A MAN ready to own up for his performance (have not managed to view the tape concerned). A MAN who is ready not to waste the nation's time and money in attempting to investigate and determine the authenticity of the tape concerned. For all that, at least yours truly is thankful. Pak Lah should also be thankful to MINIster Dr Chua for he need not be dragged out to set up an independent authentication panel like in the case of the Lingam tape.
According to BERNAMA, MINIster Dr Chua said :: "I serve at the pleasure of the prime minister" and "I will not allow (other) people to jeopardise or obstruct my duties". What a dutiful MAN!
BERNAMA also reported that Datin Seri Wong will stand by her man. She and the family have accepted MINIster Dr Chua's regret and apology. So Hiliary-like, really.
The nation is now waiting with bated breath for when and what the MCA president has to say regarding his Vice-President's non-ministerial but manly and quick actions. It is time for OKT to respond with equally prompt actions and words. But it must be remembered that MINIster Dr Chua serves at the pleasure of the PM and the somnambulistic one had better wake up from his slumber and respond equally fast. According to BERNAMA, the PM has been informed by MINIster Dr Chua about the DVD tape in which he appeared.
But what is most important to MINIster Dr Chua is how the voters would respond to his varied manly actions. MINIster Dr Chua, who is also Johor MCA chairman, won the Labis parliamentary seat for the BN in the 2004 general election, beating DAP's Tee Gey Yan by a 10,729-vote majority. MINIster Dr Chua garnered 16,469 votes against Tee's 5,740. The Labis parliamentary seat was previously held by by another medical doctor, former MCA president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik. If it is anything to go by, Labis MCA chairman Tan Kok Hong said members of the division would continue to support MINIster Dr Chua as Labis Member of Parliament. Whatever will be, will be; Que Sera, Sera. All the same, have a happy 61st Birthday and a happy New Year and continue to be a MAN, doing what has to be done. IMAGINE!
LONE's rantings for all interested, COMMENTS/KOPI-0s welcomed. Comments are solely the views of their makers MALAYSIA, a great place to be in, BUT we can, will and must make HER better.
You may say I'm a dreamer but I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one. IMAGINE:youtube::John Lennon
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:: LONE