Category: Social Commentary
Action on Najib
Unfortunately every time I looked up Malaysian news, all I see are negative items. I see how a Prime Minister continues to be stained with allegations of involvement with murder. The fact that Najib Razak remains heavily implicated in the murder of a Mongolian national as a result of an illicit affair is an indictment that can only go away with due investigation and if supported by prima facie evidence, resignation and prosecution for murder or whatever the evidence supports. Prosecuting Najib Razak for murder is entirely proper but of course, well nigh impossible. In fact like recent writings suggest no one even remotely close to being an authority figure runs any risk of being hauled by the law. Many have gotten away with murder before, let alone a blue blooded Prime Minister like Najib Razak. One would have to penetrate through levels of highly corrupt police, attorney general’s office and the judiciary. In all of this, I wonder if the family of Najib Razak’s alleged murder victim can mount a campaign to bring international pressure to bear. Certainly overseas Malaysian Chinese can play their role to highlight the evidence tying Najib Razak to the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu as a reciprocal gesture to the loyalists who remain in “tanah tumpah darah ku”. Maybe that is the little we can to and thwart or counter the process of thinning out the minority races in Malaysia. The likes of Najib Razak and his grubby UMNO twerps may want to thin out the minority races but no one should be allowed to get away with murder.
United and its coffers
United’s Glazers are way over their heads in debt and this is causing United’s ability to buy the really good players. This is what the press is reporting and recent United transfer activities suggest there may be some truth to this. CR has gone for over a season and we haven’t really got anyone of comparable quality to replace him. Sure, Nani has on many occasions stepped up but he is no where near the level of CR in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Those were devastating years for CR, or rather, for our opponents. Maybe it is just the World Cup, and we’d be on to some really serious transfer activities once this minor distraction is over.
Najib Razak and Altantuya – Bala’s Not Done Yet
From the Malaysia Today website…you never know what can happen with that site, so here’s an alternative – all first 4 5 parts.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Q 1. After the press conference held at the PKR headquarters on the 3rd July 2008 you returned to the office of your lawyer where you stayed until about 4.30 pm.
A. Yes that is correct
Q 2. Who was with you in your lawyer’s office at that time?
A. My lawyer Americk Sidhu, ASP Suresh and my ex-assistant Suras Kumar.
Q 3. What time did you leave your lawyers office?
A. About 4.45 pm. I left with ASP Suresh and Suras Kumar. ASP Suresh had his car parked underneath the office. Suras left on his own motorcycle.
Q 4. Where were you intending to go?
A. I had a conversation over the telephone with ASP Tonny from the Brickfields police station earlier that afternoon. He wanted to meet me to discuss the contents of my 1st statutory declaration which I had released at the press conference that morning. He told me he was off-duty at 6.30 pm and suggested we meet informally at an ‘ikan bakar’ stall near the police station. I agreed. ASP Suresh was to drive me there after leaving my lawyers office.
Q 5. What did ASP Tonny want to see you to discuss?
A. He sounded glad that I had released my 1st statutory declaration as he was the investigating officer in the Altantuya murder trial and was therefore involved in the case. I think he just wanted to have an informal chat with me.
Q 6. So you had met him before?
A. Yes, he had interviewed me in relation to the Altantuya murder previously (during the murder investigation).
Q 7. Did you manage to meet with ASP Tonny?
A. No. After leaving my lawyers office, ASP Suresh suggested we go to Cheras instead. I informed ASP Tonny that I could not make it that evening and that I would see him the next day.
Q 8. Why did ASP Suresh want to go to Cheras?
A. He had some business dealing in copper wires and he needed to do some work at his scrap yard there.
Q 9. Was ASP Suresh a police officer at that time?
A. He was an officer with the IPK D9 division CID but had been suspended pending some internal investigations conducted by the ACA.
Q 10. Where did you go after leaving Cheras?
A. ASP Suresh needed to go to Rawang to burn some of his scrap wires. We left Cheras at about 7.30 pm on the way to Rawang. We were still in ASP Suresh’s car.
Q 11. What happened on the journey from Cheras to Rawang?
A. ASP Suresh received some calls on his hand phone from persons I subsequently discovered were Dinesh and Deepak. They apparently wanted ASP Suresh to arrange a meeting with me. At first ASP Suresh did not agree to any meeting but finally agreed to meet in a Bak Kut Teh shop in Rawang.
Q 12. Did you go straight to the Bak Kut Teh shop?
A. No, we first went to the Kuala Garing area to burn some cables and wires. After that we went to the Bak Kut Teh shop where both Deepak and Dinesh were waiting for us.
Q 13. What did you discuss?
A. Deepak started talking to me to try and persuade me to withdraw my 1st statutory declaration. He mentioned to me that there was a red car outside my house in Rawang with military intelligence personnel in it, and that they knew my wife and children were at home.
Q 14. What was your reaction to this piece of information?
A. I was very concerned about this as my wife had called me on my hand phone while I was on my way to Rawang with ASP Suresh to inform me that there was a suspicious looking red car parked opposite our house and that the persons inside appeared to be watching the house. She had been informed of the presence of this car by a neighbour. I told her to lock the gates and to remain inside.
Q 15. What else did Deepak say?
A. He talked to me about the virtues of the present government and what a wonderful woman Rosmah was. He told me he was very good friends with Rosmah and how she visited his shop all the time. He then offered to pay me RM4 million to withdraw my 1st statutory declaration. I was rather stunned but before I could say anything ASP Suresh signaled me to refuse this offer. I said I was not interested in money and so Deepak said he could also organise the release of 5 Hindraf leaders in Kamunting, he could arrange for 528 Tamil schools to become fully-aided schools by the government, that he could get ASP Suresh’s job back and also give him RM4 million as well. He wanted to take me to Putrajaya and kept persisting but I refused to go.
Q 16. What happened next?
A. ASP Suresh asked Deepak to raise the offer to RM5 million and he agreed straight away. He also told me he was willing to organise a monthly payment of RM20,000.00 and that if there was anything else I wanted to put this in writing. He then made a few phone calls on his handphone and then told ASP Suresh to drive me to The Curve near One Damansara Utama.
Q 17. Were you negotiating with Deepak?
A. No, I did not say anything. ASP Suresh was doing all the talking and negotiating. I was more concerned with the safety of my family as I did not know what was going to happen to them.
Q 18. What happened next?
A. Deepak left by himself leaving his brother Dinesh with us. After about half an hour we all left in ASP Suresh’s car. Dinesh was seated in the front passenger seat and I sat in the rear seat. We reached The Curve about half an hour later. The time now was 11.45 pm.
Q 19. Why were you going to The Curve?
A. ASP Suresh told me we were going to meet a VIP there. When we reached the curve I suggested we go to the MacDonald’s restaurant but ASP Suresh said that was not a good idea because there were CCTV cameras there. We then proceeded to the Volkswagen showroom where a Malay gentleman arrived with his pregnant wife and Deepak.
Q 20. Who was this Malay gentleman?
A. I did not recognise him. I was just told he was a VIP Datuk. I did however recognise his wife.
Q 21. Did you speak to this Malay Datuk?
A. Yes, I was introduced to him by Deepak. I was very surprised when I realised who he was.
Q 22. What did this Malay Datuk talk to you about?
A. He told me he knew I had a family and asked me whether I loved them. I replied saying of course I loved my family. He then told me I should take good care of them as anything could happen to them. He then told me that if I wanted to avoid any problems with my family I should just follow Deepak’s instructions and everything would be OK. He told me I had to retract the contents of my 1st statutory declaration. This Malay Datuk then left immediately with his wife.
Q 23. What happened next?
A. Deepak gave instructions to Dinesh to book a room at the Hilton Hotel KL Sentral. I left with ASP Suresh to my house in Rawang to see my wife and explain to her what was happening. I was concerned for the safety of my family. Deepak had informed me he wanted me to retract my 1st statutory declaration and then to immediately leave the country with my family. I was in a state of shock as to what was happening. I had anticipated that I would be arrested and interrogated after releasing my 1st statutory declaration but I did not anticipate my family would be threatened so I was not prepared for this. As this VIP Datuk was also involved, I realised the situation was very serious.
Q 24. What time did you arrive home after leaving The Curve?
A. ASP Suresh and I arrived at my house at about 2.00 am that morning. I explained everything to my wife and told her we had to pack up and leave Malaysia that very day, as I had been instructed. I also told her to get ready to go to the immigration department that morning to apply for my children’s passports and to renew hers. I had arranged with a friend of mine called Christopher to pick them all up at 8.30 am and to drive them to the Pusat Damansara immigration department that morning with all their luggage.
Q 25. Where did you go next?
A. ASP Suresh then drove me to the site at which he was burning wires where he organised his workers to do the loading onto some 3-ton trucks. We then left for the Hilton Hotel in KL Sentral.
Q 26. What time did you arrive at the Hilton Hotel?
A. We reached the Hotel about 3.00 am. ASP Suresh called Dinesh to find out the room number. Both Deepak and Dinesh met us in the lobby and we all went up to the room. I had been told earlier that my family and I would be sent to Hong Kong. I said I was not happy about being sent to Hong Kong and I would prefer to go to Chennai. Deepak agreed to this. He then tried to arrange a private jet for us. This had to be cancelled when it was realised we would have to go through immigration at the airport. Deepak then suggested we go through Singapore by road, then fly to Bangkok en route to Chennai. I agreed. They continued talking to me about the seriousness of my 1st statutory declaration and that I would have to retract it otherwise they could not guarantee anything if the deal failed. Eventually Dinesh left for home to take a nap.
Q 27. What else did you discuss while in the hotel room?
A. Deepak was telling me how he had become very good friends with Rosmah from the time she used to visit his shop in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman. He wouldn’t let me sleep as he was talking all the time.
Q 28. Did anything else happen that morning?
A. Dinesh returned to the hotel looking refreshed. At about 7.45 am someone delivered a draft copy of the 2nd statutory declaration to the hotel. Deepak went down to the lobby to collect it after receiving a call on his hand phone. Sometime later a Commissioner for Oaths arrived. He was a Malay man. I was asked to sign this statutory declaration in front of this commissioner for oaths and he attested my signature. He asked me if I knew where his office was and I said I did not. He then told Deepak to make sure he showed me where his office was on the way to the Prince Hotel. I was never given an opportunity to read the contents of this statutory declaration.
Q 29. Did you know at this stage that you would be taken to the Prince Hotel?
A. Yes. Deepak had informed me that he would be organising a press conference at the Prince Hotel later that morning and that he would make sure a lawyer represented me. He told me not to worry and that I would not have to say anything, just leave it up to the lawyer to talk to the press.
Q 30. What time did you leave the Hilton Hotel?
A. About 8.45 am. Deepak, Dinesh and I left together. I went with Dinesh in his BMW while Deepak went on his own. Dinesh did not show me where the Commissioner for Oaths office was.
Q 31. What time did you reach the Prince Hotel?
A. We arrived at the Prince Hotel at about 9.15 am and drove up the ramp to the car park where we waited for further instructions from Deepak who was apparently downstairs by that time. Eventually Dinesh received a call on his hand phone and he escorted me to a lift which took us down to what looked like a type of lobby on an upper level.
Q 32. Did you meet anyone in this lobby area?
A. Yes. Deepak was waiting in this lobby with another Indian man. This Indian man was introduced to me as one Mr. Arunampalam, a lawyer. This lawyer spoke to me and told me to just keep quiet in the press conference arranged for us in the main lobby. He told me not to talk to any of the reporters under any circumstances and that he would do all the talking. Deepak then told Arunampalam to answer not more than 3 questions from the reporters waiting downstairs and handed him a few copies of the 2nd statutory declaration to distribute to the reporters.
Q 33. What happened next?
A. At about 10.00 am Mr. Arunampalam and myself took the lift down to the main lobby where we met about 4 or 5 reporters. Mr. Arunampalam talked to them and gave each of them a copy of the 2nd statutory declaration. He told the reporters that I had been forced to sign the 1st statutory declaration under duress and that I now wanted to retract the contents. He would not answer any of the questions the reporters asked him.
Q 34. Where were Deepak and Dinesh during the press conference?
A. I think they left the hotel as they did not join us in the press conference.
Q 35. What happened after the press conference?
A. Mr. Arunampalam then drove me back to the Hilton hotel in his own car. He dropped me off at the lower lobby and I never saw him again.
Q 36. Did you at any time engage Mr. Arunampalam as your lawyer to appear in the press conference?
A. No. I have never met this lawyer before. Deepak was the one who arranged for him to represent me at the press conference. I never told him what to say. All this was arranged by Deepak and not myself.
Q 37. What did you do once you had been dropped off at the Hilton Hotel?
A. I went back to the room and knocked on the door. Deepak and ASP Suresh were there. I waited in the room while Deepak was making phone calls to a Ms. Wong who I think was his secretary. She was apparently with my wife and children at the Pusat Damansara immigration centre helping my wife with the passport applications and renewal. During this period Deepak gave me RM20,000.00 in Hong Kong dollars for my expenditure. He told me he had arranged a tourist van to drive me and my family to Singapore where we were to catch a flight to Bangkok.
Q 38. What time did you leave the Hilton Hotel?
A. At about 1.00 pm Deepak received a phone call from Ms. Wong informing him the passports had all been done and so I left the Hilton Hotel in the van with an Indian driver. This van then drove me to the Pusat Damansara immigration centre. The driver was talking to Ms. Wong during the journey and was receiving instructions where to meet my wife and children. When we arrived at the Pusat Damansara immigration centre, I met my wife and children and we loaded all the luggage into the van and proceeded on our journey to Singapore.
Q 39. What happened when you arrived in Singapore?
A. The driver stopped at the Malaysian immigration at the causeway and we all had to get out of the van to present our passports at the counter. None of our passports were stamped. We then proceeded across the causeway to Singapore immigration who did stamp our passports. After clearing immigration, we were driven straight to Changi Airport.
Q 40. What happened at Changi Airport?
A. I changed some money to get Singapore coins so I could call Deepak to find out about our flight to Bangkok. Deepak told me our tickets were waiting for us at the Silkair counter. I proceeded to this ticket counter and collected our tickets. We all caught the evening flight to Bangkok which left Singapore at about 8.00 pm.
Q 41. Where did you go once you landed in Bangkok?
A. Deepak was supposed to arrange for someone to meet us at the airport but there was no one there. As I was feeling very tired, I hired a taxi to take my family and I to the Shangri La Hotel. We checked in to this hotel and we went to sleep.
Q 42. Did anyone contact you while you were at the Shangri La Hotel?
A. No, because no one knew where we were and I did not have a Thai SIM card so I could not use my hand phone to call anyone.
Q 43. What did you do the next day? (July 5th).
A. I took my wife and children shopping to buy some clothes as we did not have much with us. I also managed to buy a Thai SIM card and communicated with ASP Suresh to inform him where I was.
Deepak had told me that all communication should be through ASP Suresh and that his brother, Rajesh, would be handling everything for me from now on.
Q 44. What did you do the day after that? (July 6th).
A. The Shangri La management informed me the hotel was full that night due to a pre-booked wedding function so we had to leave. I then left and checked in to the Hilton Hotel nearby with my wife and children. Rajesh had arranged for one of his contacts in Bangkok to assist me and my family in obtaining Indian visas. This contact was a Thai woman who came to the hotel to collect all our passports and the visa fees from me.
Q 45. What happened on July 7th?
A. I received a call in my room from a Special Branch officer. He was calling from the lobby and asked to see me. I then went down to meet him. I recognised him as he used to be a colleague of mine when I was with the Special Branch. He was the liaison officer from the Malaysian Embassy in Bangkok.
Q 46. What did you both discuss?
A. He asked me whether I would give permission for the Malaysian Police to record a statement from me and if I was agreeable, he would inform KL about this. I asked him to wait while I called ASP Suresh to inform him about this development.
Q 47. Did you call ASP Suresh?
A. Yes. ASP Suresh told me exactly what to tell the police interviewers. He wanted me to avoid any mention of the involvement of Deepak, Dinesh and himself.
Q 48. So what did he tell you to say?
A. In short, he basically told me to tell the police that after I had made public my 1st Statutory declaration, I felt remorse and wanted to retract it so I decided to call a lawyer called Arunampalam, who I was supposed to have met through my PI work, and arranged to meet him at the Lotus restaurant next to the Nikko Hotel on Jalan Binjai.
When I met up with him at this restaurant he advised me to retract the 1st statutory declaration and that he would draft a second one for me to that effect. I was supposed to say that I went to his office with him where he prepared the 2nd statutory declaration which I signed and that I went to the Prince Hotel the next day with him to release this statutory declaration to the press.
This is what I was told to say to the police when they recorded my statement, according to ASP Suresh.
Q 49. What did you do next?
A. After discussing this with ASP Suresh, I informed the Special Branch officer from the Malaysian Embassy that I was agreeable to my statement being recorded, so this officer informed KL and told me he would come and pick me up from my hotel the next morning and take me to the Malaysian Embassy. In fact we went out for a meal together that evening.
Q 50. Were you picked up the next morning?
A. Yes, this SB officer came to the hotel the next morning and drove me to the Malaysian Embassy where we arrived at about 9.00 am. At about 9.30 am, 3 police officers arrived. They had apparently flown to Bangkok from KL the evening before once they had received confirmation that I was prepared to allow them to record a statement from me.
Q 51. Did you recognise any of these police officers?
A. Yes, there was ACP Muniandy from the Commercial Crimes division of Bukit Aman, another Indian officer and a Malay officer, whose names escape me at the moment.
Q 52. How did they greet you?
A. They were all very pleasant to me. ACP Muniandy asked me which of the two statutory declarations was true and I said the 1st one. He then shook my hand and told me I was a very brave man.
Q 53. Did they record your statement?
A. Yes. They questioned me for about 6 hours. They did not seem to be interested in my 2nd statutory declaration and concentrated their questions in relation to my 1st statutory declaration.
They wanted to know who was involved in it and how I was led into making it.
I explained everything to them from the time I met my lawyer Americk Sidhu in a pub one night with ASP Suresh, M. Puravalen and Sivarasah Rasiah in April or May 2008 up to the time of my first press release.
ACP Muniandy was the officer asking all the questions while his colleague recorded my statement.
Q 54. Did they comment on anything you told them?
A. No. I just repeated what ASP Suresh had told me to tell them about the circumstances which prompted me into affirming the 2nd statutory declaration and they recorded all of it.
Q 55. Why did you not tell them the truth about the way the 2nd statutory declaration was made since you had your family with you and they were all safe?
A. I was still in a state of confusion and was still concerned for the safety of my family. I was made aware that Deepak had some very powerful connections, especially after meeting the Malay VIP Datuk at The Curve a few nights previously and his advice was still in my mind.
I was also surprised at how far Deepak’s connections reached as he seemed capable of organising things in different countries and had even arranged a Thai woman to apply for our Indian visas in Bangkok.
At that time I had no idea what to expect so I felt I should follow their advice until I could think more clearly as I had my family to consider as I did not want them to be harmed.
My family and I were also in a foreign country with no access to finances.
Q 56. Did you communicate with anyone after this?
A. Yes. ASP Suresh called me from KL and advised me to change hotels so that the police officers from KL would not be able to contact me again if they required a further statement.
He also informed me to call my nephew in KL and ask him to stop talking to the press and to avoid holding any more candle light vigils as this was making Deepak feel uneasy. I then called my nephew and told him to stop all activities of this nature and he agreed. (See the video here: Stop the campaign, PI tells nephew)
Q 57. Did you change hotels?
A. Yes, we moved to the Beverly Hills Hotel. It was while we were at this new hotel that I received news from Rajesh that our visas could not be done in time as it would take at least 5 working days to process.
Deepak then arranged for a moneychanger, to whom he was acquainted, to pay me 100,000 Thai Baht for my expenses. I then waited for further instructions at this hotel.
Q 58. What happened after that?
A. At about 2.30 pm on the 11th July Rajesh called me to tell me to go to the airport to collect some e-tickets he had arranged for my family and I to fly to Kathmandu, so we packed our bags and headed to the airport.
However when we reached the airport Rajesh called and told me the flight had only been arranged for the next morning at 10.00 am. We then took a taxi back into town and checked into another hotel.
The next morning we returned to the airport, picked up our tickets and flew on a Thai Airways flight to Kathmandu.
Q 59. What happened when you landed in Kathmandu?
A. We were met at the airport by a representative of the Yak & Yeti Hotel who drove us to that hotel.
Q 60. Why was it necessary for you to fly to Kathmandu?
A. Before we could enter India we needed to apply for our Indian visas, which we had not been able to get in Bangkok.
ASP Suresh told me Deepak did not want us to stay in Bangkok any longer as the police knew we were there and that is why he wanted us to leave to Kathmandu so we could apply for our visas there.
Q 61. How long did you spend in Kathmandu?
A. We had applied to the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu for our Indian visas. After we managed to obtain 1-month visas for India, we left Kathmandu for New Delhi. This was on the 22nd July. We had spent approximately 10 days in Kathmandu.
Q 62. How long did you spend in Delhi?
A. We stayed in a hotel in Delhi for 2 nights before flying to Madurai en-route to Madras.
Q 63. How did you manage to extend your 1-month visas?
A. Our visas expired on the 21st August 2008. Deepak’s people had promised to get an extension for 1 year for us but nothing was done. So I had to get a 1-month extension for myself and my family till 20th September 2008.
I then sent my wife and children back to KL to stay with my mother-in-law in Segambut without Deepak’s knowledge.
I remained in Madras trying to get my visa extended. Deepak’s agent called Kumar tried to help me but after 5 months nothing had happened. I complained about this to Deepak and ASP Suresh when they visited me in Chennai. Deepak called Kumar who returned the passport to me with a sick certificate saying I could not have left the country due to an illness. This had to be done as I was then in India illegally as my visa had expired.
I then asked for help from my wife’s uncle who is a State Exco Member for Karaikal district. He managed to get my visa extended until 5th September 2009.
Q 64. Did you return to Malaysia during this period?
A. Yes, I returned a few times to sort out some of my personal affairs. Each time I returned I entered the country via Thailand across the Malaysia-Thai border at Bukit Kayu Hitam and left the same way. I did not go through Malaysian immigration.
I did not contact anyone each time I returned as I was afraid Deepak would find out. The only person who knew I had returned to Malaysia was ASP Suresh but he did not let Deepak know. He was upset with me for allowing my wife and children to return to Malaysia but I explained to him that my children needed to be educated and they could not get into a local school in Chennai.
Whenever I returned to Malaysia I used to stay with my wife and mother-in-law in Segambut.
Q 65. Where did your wife stay all the time she was in Malaysia?
A. She stayed with my mother-in-law in Segambut and managed to get my children into a school in Sentul. She did come to Chennai a few times with the children to visit me.
Q 66. Where are your wife and children now?
A. They are at present in Chennai. I managed to enrol my 2 eldest children into a school there. My wife may return to KL so that my youngest child can receive his schooling there. I will have to stay with my eldest two children in Chennai.
Q 67. Can you remember the dates you returned to Malaysia?
A. Yes, I was in KL from the 16.02.2009 to the 05.03.2009. During this period I met Deepak at his office in Sungai Besi. He was very worried I had returned to Malaysia and asked me to go back to Chennai immediately. He warned me that my life would be in danger if I stayed any longer.
The second time I returned to Malaysia was from the 11.04.2009 to the 02.05.2009.
The third time I returned to Malaysia was at the end of July 2009.
Q 68. What did you do when you returned at the end of July?
A. I decided to contact my lawyer Americk Sidhu and explain to him exactly what had happened to me over the past 1 year as I was very unhappy with the situation I was in.
Q 69. How long had you known ASP Suresh before this incident?
A. I have known him for about 10 years. I met him when he was a senior Investigation Officer at the IPK Kuala Lumpur. I was a private investigator then. ASP Suresh used to ask me to assist him in obtaining fast traces and details on mobile phones as I had contacts in the phone companies and was able to get the information required faster than the police who had to go through official channels.
At one stage I was working for ASP Suresh as a bouncer at his pub in Jalan Imbi.
He had been suspended from his duties as a police officer sometime in 2006 as he was being investigated for corruption by the ACA.
Q 70. Had you met Deepak before this incident?
A. No. But I had done some PI work for his brother Dinesh in the past. I knew Deepak was Dinesh’s brother.
Q 71. You have said that you met a Malay VIP Datuk outside the Volkswagen showroom at The Curve on the night of July 3rd 2008. Who was this gentleman?
A. He was Datuk Nazim Razak, the younger brother of Najib. He was there with his pregnant wife. Although I did not speak to her, I recognised her as being a TV personality. I think she was the host on the ‘Nona’ programme.
Deepak was the one who brought them there to meet me.
That is why ASP Suresh did not want us to meet in a place where there would have been a CCTV camera.
Q 72. When you were in the Hilton Hotel at KL Sentral with Deepak, Dinesh and ASP and after you had signed the 2nd statutory declaration, was there anything said to you which you consider to be significant?
A. Yes there were two things which Deepak told me.
He informed me that Rosmah was very happy with me for retracting my 1st statutory declaration and wanted to have breakfast with me.
When I enquired from Deepak how long I was expected to leave the country for, he informed me it would be until Najib became the next Prime Minister and that I could return after that.
Q 73. When did you contact your lawyer Americk Sidhu?
A. I called him in the middle of July 2009. I was still in India then. I wanted to arrange a meeting with him to inform him what had happened to me and to apologise for all the trouble I had caused. Americk was in the UK when I called him so we arranged to meet in Kuala Lumpur when he returned at the beginning of August.
Q 74. Did you meet him?
A. Yes. We met in early August. At the meeting were two other senior lawyers who Americk had arranged to be present. I told them everything that had happened to me from the time I left Americk’s office in the evening of the 3rd July 2008.
Q 75. Did you realise that this meeting had been secretly videoed?
A. I did not realise I was being filmed. I was however subsequently informed that a recording had been made and this video is safekeeping. I understand this was done to protect me in the event something untoward happened to me again.
Q 76. How did you manage to survive financially all the time you were away?
A. Deepak arranged intermittent payments to be made to me. Some payments were made to my wife directly into her account with the EON Bank in KL.
Other payments were made to ASP Suresh who then arranged payment to me directly or through a friend of mine in Malaysia.
I have copies of some of the cheques issued by Deepak Jaikishan and from his company Carpet Raya Sdn Bhd.
I also have copies of my wife’s bank statements showing the deposits which were made.
I also have copies of my HSBC account in Chennai.
Q 77. How much money did you receive from Deepak from the time you left Malaysia in July 2008 till now?
A. All together approximately RM750,000.00.
Q 78. Do you have any money left?
A. Yes, I have invested approximately RM250,000.00 for my future as I am not sure what will happen to me.
I also spent some money on renovations to my house in Rawang as my wife and youngest child were there. These renovations were in respect of the security of my home only.
The rest of the money was spent on renting accommodation in Chennai, paying for my children’s schooling and for daily expenses.
Q 79. Didn’t Deepak promise you RM5 million?
A. The negotiations were all conducted by ASP Suresh at the Bak Kut Teh stall in Rawang on the night of the 3rd July 2008. I was not involved in these negotiations as I was not concerned about money but the safety of my family.
I have subsequently come to realise that ASP Suresh had a vested interest in all this as I know he has received about the same amount of money from Deepak as I have. His job was to keep me under control. This is why he is annoyed with me for not following his instructions because his income from Deepak would be affected.
Q 80. Why did you wait so long before revealing all this?
A. When I was at the Hilton Hotel at KL Sentral, I had asked Deepak how long I would have to stay out of the country. He told me it would have to be until Najib became the Prime Minister.
I could not return to Malaysia before February 2009 as one Kumar had my passport in his possession in India for 5 months.
I only got my passport back after I complained to Deepak when he visited me in India with ASP Suresh. Deepak called his brother Rajesh to find out what had happened to my passport and within 2 days Kumar asked me to pick it up from him.
I was at this time in India illegally as my visa had expired on the 5th September 2008.
In order to get my visa extended I had to seek assistance from my wife’s uncle the exco member who managed to get it extended for 1 year. Only after this was I able to travel back to Malaysia.
Q 81. What happened when you arrived back in Malaysia in February 2009?
A. When I landed in KL, I called Dinesh to inform him I was back in Malaysia. I was summoned to Deepaks office in Sungai Besi at 11.45 pm the same night and was told in no uncertain terms to leave the country immediately, but I stayed a little longer as I wanted to be with my children and my wife. They didn’t know I had not left immediately.
Q 82. Why did you come back to Malaysia in April 2009?
A. Just to see my wife and children. This time I did not tell anyone I was back and so I was not harassed.
Q 83. Why have you now decided to reveal everything?
A. Because I want to stop all harassments and so that I can return to my normal life.
Q 84. Were the contents of your 1st statutory declaration true?
A. Yes.
Q 85. Were you forced to sign the 1st statutory declaration under duress?
A. Absolutely not. (See the video here: Was PI intimidated or induced?)
Q 86. Were you forced to sign the 2nd statutory declaration under duress?
A. Yes, because I was fearful for the safety of my family and I did not read the contents of the 2nd statutory declaration before I was asked to sign it.
Police in Malaysia is a BN Tool
pro ISA practically walked through to hand in a memo, unimpeded.
anti ISA gets beaten up, water-canon’ed and arrested.
Malaysian police – pretty impartial huh? What a joke you lot are.
Malaysia NEP Lifted? C4 PM Still Wrong, You Racist
So the AC4 (Altantuya C4) Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak thinks he ie being progressive, does he? He wants to “liberate” the Malaysian economy by lifting the racist quota his father Abdul Razak put in place. That racist policy helped C4 Prime Minister’s racist father maintain power for his racist party for almost 40 years.
See this report:
“The liberalisation of the services sector is pursued with the view of creating a conducive business environment to attract investments, technologies and higher value employment opportunities,” Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak told journalists.
The racist policy is being lifted not because it is wrong to be racist but in order to attract investment. Investors, just note that you are asked to invest in a country who still thinks it is alright to be racist and bigotted.
What a load of crock. Go and play with your C4, Najib. You’re still a joke and a vile one at that, and the sooner you cease being PM the better for Malaysia.
Hannah Yeoh, BOTH Anwar AND Najib are wrong
Hannah Yeoh of Pakatan Rakyat tried to defend Anwar and said Pakatan makes no apologies for the Sept 16 attempt.
I think she is wrong and she has clouded the issue. I dont know if she did it intentionally. I hope she isnt one of those dishonest politicians who make an argument knowing full well it is either a weak or even wrong one, but makes it anyway because she is either a thick skinned politician or thinks she can hoodwink her audience.
The issue is inducing an elected representative to switch political allegiance. That is a betrayal of the voter, pure and simple. When I vote for someone, I do so on the basis of that person as well as the political party that person represents. When that representative switches political parties, he or she has betrayed me and short changed me.
Anwar’s harping of Sept 16 was based on his actions of inducing elected representatives to switch from being BN reps to PR ones. No context can right this wrong principle. If it was wrong for Najib, it is wrong for Anwar. Hey, if my memory serves me right, Anwar is an old hand in this game. Maybe this time UMNO money simply out-muscled him. Anwar no longer has the money to dish out like he used to when he was in BN. The old method which he used so well is no longer effective with PR but that didnt stop him trying and it remains as wrong as it was. It is wrong no matter who tries it. One wont think much of Najib doing it. After all, you’d expect a pig to roll in mud. With Anwar however, it is just a tad disappointing. Talks of building a better Malaysia surely must at some stage give thoughts to altruism and principles?
Dont make Anwar out to be a constitution defender – he would have moved more forecfully and decisively had he got the right numbers. No, I think not many would think Anwar’s failure on Sept 16 was out of some adherence to constitutional rule and principles. I’m afraid you clouded the issue, Hannah.
Time and Muslims
Ups and Downs
I have been with the company for a year, yesterday. Yes, time flies. So much has happened in this past year. We sold our house in Burwood East in June, bought our current place in Forest Hill in August and moved in October. Meanwhile, kiddo got accepted to Mac Robertson Girls in August and started in January this year. Our friends from Klang moved to Melbourne in December, we went to Malaysia for a holiday in January and here in Melbourne right through the year, we saw important changes to the church we attend.
Last week, when we were having coffee, my colleagues from my department remarked that things felt quieter than usual. It could have been the school holidays with parents taking time off work. Or it could be a lull resulting from nature taking it course. In his classic work “The Screwtape Letters”, Wormwood asked his ward not to be tricked into thinking success is at hand simply because the believer is having a low period. It was simply a case of physical lull – the body needs to rest and cannot be at a perpetual high, lest it breaks down beyond repair. This is true for one’s spiritual journey as much as it is at work situation.
Human beings tire. They slow down when they do. We have to respect that, provided there aren’t clear signals of laziness.
Sometimes we don’t recognise that in church life. We equate physical lulls to spiritual lows. We should sometimes simply accept that what is sometimes seen as being anointed is nothing more than a physical high. If you get a relaxed and well rested Saturday that allowed you just the right amount of food, drinks and sleep, you may feel very well on Sunday morning. If you happen to be given a mixture of good weather, pleasant people and great atmosphere, the physical wellness can lend a sense of being anointed – no? Well maybe a high, which is not purely spiritual.
At work, the department has grown. After I joined a year ago, they recruited a part time company secretary a few months later. It then recruited another lawyer, last month. I think the department, and the company as a whole, needs to deal with business-as-usual without the excitements. In the 1 years since I joined, my boss became the acting general counsel, got pregnant, became the permanent general counsel, had a baby and is planning her wedding now. A colleague got married, went on a 2 month leave which included a honeymoon in Europe and now has that recruit as a staff reporting to her.
The company has had a number of projects which drove everyone really busy – broad/direct marketing initiatives for the first time, automated underwriting, potential quasi merger and acquisition transaction and renewal of major contracts.
These all provided loads of momentum and excitement. The question now must be – can it be motivated to continue performing at a high level minus these factors? It has to I guess. I hope people realise that. I don’t know what sort of plans would be required to prepare for this.
Muslims React in the usual way
Geert Wilder is now an infamous name. He is the right wing Dutch politician who made a film suggesting the Quran has a propensity for violence. I am inclined to say “like duh…”
It is almost a self evident proposition. A few months ago an Iranian Muslim made a film about Jesus. He may think he portrayed a benevolent picture of Jesus. However, in questioning the death and resurrection of Jesus (he suggested a disciple of Jesus was transfigured to take on the appearance of Jesus, and died in the place of Jesus), this Iranian filmmaker in fact undermined the basic claims of Christianity. In my mind, this can be viewed in the same way as what Wilder has done to the Quran. Muslims will claim the Quran is a book of peace, not violence. So the suggestion that it preaches violence would be going against the very grain of the religion – which is what this Iranian filmmaker did to Christianity.
Did anyone hear any chest thumping call for the life of this Iranian filmmaker? If you even whisper anything negative about Islam, chances are someone will rant about killing you. That person will readily kill you in the name of Islam. He wouldn’t be sitting down with you to have a measured discussion to show you were wrong and that those parts of the Quran which encourages violence were in fact taken out of context, etc. Whereas churches and groups of Christians would form discussion groups to counter the points raised in the Iranian film, the response of the Muslim community is to threaten to take the life of the Dutch filmmaker. This response, unsurprisingly, goes to prove what Wilder suggested…
Racism and Malaysia
The term “political tsunami” has been tossed around liberally of late. The political changes sweeping Malaysia have certainly been major. However, I seriously doubt if it has caused fundamental changes from a value system perspective. The tsunami may have wiped out some lives but these have been replaced with similarly diseased lives.
I refer to the disease of racism.
Anwar Ibrahim was very quick to jump in with a racist posturing by saying the chief minister of Perak must be a Malay. Sure, it is possibly a requirement in the state constitution but that is at best, an archaic document. Reliance on that document betrays desperation. In any event, the issue has now been resolved, on a despicable and wrong principle of racism. Anything which starts with the dogma of race opens up the obvious threat of racism and in the context of the Perak chief minister fiasco, it was racism which was the root cause of the problem and a racist solution was happily accepted by all.
Now we have Tengku Razaleigh, another ex-finance minister, who has waded in with another racist statement. He has urged UMNO to convene an EGM to discuss the threat of UMNO losing the right to represent Malays. It implies that currently UMNO has that right. The idea that a political party was formed to protect the right of any one race is really, despicable and totally outdated. It should be rejected in the modern society because it is now rightly seen as morally wrong.
Does Anwar not believe that a Chinese chief minister can equally protect the rights of Malays in Perak? A chief minister is tasked with managing the development and welfare of the every single person in Perak, irrespective of the race of this person. A chief minister of Perak should rule the people of Perak not as Malays, Chinese or Indians but as citizens of Malaysia residing in that state. To suggest that the chief minister must be Malay to ensure the interests of Malays are protected is to undermine the objectivity of the office of the chief minister and encourage racism. It is fundamentally wrong. It is part of the major ills of Malaysia which has plagued Malaysia for much of its history. It now has a golden opportunity to remove this ill but at the first instance, an otherwise popular and successful politician like Anwar chose instead to return to his vomit.
Similarly Razaleigh’s warning to UMNO is essentially racist in nature. It pre-supposes that only a Malay leader can protect a Malay citizen. This thinking is totally wrong and that is why the modern world has branded it outdated and unacceptable. If Malaysia seeks to be a significant contributing member of the modern international community, it must discard such archaic values which are immoral and wrong in principle. A DAP representative can and should protect the rights of a citizen of Malaysia regardless of that citizen’s race. An UMNO representative should conversely and equally protect the rights of a Chinese, as much as that of a Malay or Indian. In short, take race out of the equation. It should not matter. Malaysia, it is time to move on. Both victors and losers of the recent general election must realise to be relevant to the world, Malaysia must really change. The people have asked for change. As leaders, give the people real change. Get rid of racism now.
Yet Another Post Election Banter
From: Teh, Ian
Sent: Friday, 14 March 2008 1:37 PM
To:
Subject: RE: Not heard from you
I would obviously have to defer to your views. Quite apart from the fact that I am so far removed from the scene (for over 3 years now!), I recall you always had the knack of reading a situation accurately.
I had wanted to see a fresh start, and I would have thought the non BN victors of this election would seize the opportunity the push through such a fresh start. I have met numerous Malays who have started to accept that special treatment is not going to work and that by resorting to a level playing field, everybody wins in the long term. The example of how an average Malay in Singapore compares to that in Malaysia, is often cited as proof of this. I’m not saying the MB has to be a Chinese simply because DAP has the clear majority in the coalition. DAP has said it is not a Chinese party and has rejected race based politics so it has no business insisting on that, and I don’t think it has said that or would say that. I’m saying though, to start with a premise to say an MB must be a Malay, is to a step back to the old ways. That would be to squander an opportunity which Malaysia has been presented, to start re-building on a more equitable basis. If we start to worry about whether the Malays would feel threatened and use that as a basis for our decision, we are not seizing the opportunity. I believe it has to be more robust than that and Malaysia has lost too much time to pussy-foot around.
I believe there is a mandate now for change. People like Anwar must stop his old tendencies to play up racial and religious based bigotry for this mandate to be effective.
You know what? I’m enjoying this “discourse” – tired of listening to boring Kevin Rudd and Brendan Nelson accusing each other of backflips and spendthrifts. I think Malaysian politics is one of the most interesting in the world and no Monster from Arkansas/Obama/Vietnam Veteran Hero can put up a show to come anywhere near.
Best regards
Ian Teh
Assistant General Counsel
AIG Life
Level 3, 549 St Kilda Road
Melbourne Victoria 3004
Ph: 03 9009 4525
Fax: 03 9009 4149
P Please consider the environment before printing this email
——————————————————————————–
From:
Sent: Friday, 14 March 2008 12:49 PM
To: Teh, Ian
Subject: RE: Not heard from you
Well, I take a slightly different stance. An old friend told me just yesterday after an intense discussion of the political landscape post-March 8 that I’m more of a “realist” than she is.
I really believe March 8 could be (and that’s the operative term) – could be – a watershed. However, how far it takes us really depends on how the leaders of DAP/PKR handle this new-found opportunity. Forget about PAS.
Remember – what was achieved would definitely not have been possible without the Malay vote. And PKR and DAP should be cognizant of this – and not move too quickly to frighten off the Malays into thinking they have made a mistake. The Malays voted UMNO/BN out – not DAP/PKR/PAS in – that’s a critical point. And it’s because the pie has obviously become smaller and the ordinary Bumiputra is losing out to the UMNO-putra. Of course they are also fed up about corruption etc.
Thus it is critical that DAP/PKR tread slowly and exercise their new found power wisely especially in relation to ensuring they do not frighten off the Malays. The strategy will be to continuously send a message to the Malays that they do not have to worry about losing their rights etc. Remember, the non-Malays did not vote BN out because they were fed up of the NEP – I really believe that they have accepted the special rights of the Malays – however grudgingly. The non-Malays just want more equitable distribution of wealth and are really fed up of the corrupt practices of BN politicians, erosion of independence of institutions etc.
So if the DAP/PKR leaders play their cards right there’s a great chance they will further improve their chances in the next election – because the Malays will believe they can still get their rights (enshrined in the Constitution mind you) without having the corrupt BN leaders in govt. The non-Malays will see that their economic future is not threatened, continuous economic growth, foreign investment etc and the great thing is that corruption has been reduced – at the very least we won’t have BN leaders acting with impunity.
And this will slowly but surely see the decline of race-based politics, especially if PKR and DAP can institutionalize their partnership and eventually nudge PAS out of the equation.
I must say I am surprised at the way Kit Siang reacted to the perak MB episode by calling for a boycott of the swearing in by DAP elected reps. Even his own Perak DAP chief spoke against Kit Siang’s suggestion. All this just feeds into BN’s fear-mongering that it is a “coalition of the opportunists” – they are playing right into BN’s hands. I expected more of Kit Siang – symptoms that they were, and still are, unprepared to take advantage of the winds of change blowing towards our shores.
But – I am still hopeful – losing hope cannot be an option!
Cheers mate
——————————————————————————–
From: Teh, Ian [mailto:Ian.Teh@aig.com]
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 5:19 AM
To:
Subject: RE: Not heard from you
Actually my friend – I sent you probably 3 emails, all bounced back. Some domain related thing – don’t understand, obviously.
I’m just disappointed with what’s happening in Perak. The premise is wrong. We have proven racists like Anwar who start on the premise that the constitution of the state requires a Malay MB. What kind of starting point is that? Surely change is what the people have voted for and Anwar the purported leader of the people, should look to that. Instead, when it comes to protecting the status of the Malay, he said nary a word about change and is happy to abide by the constitution.
Race based politics would remain in Malaysia for a long time, unfortunately. TO that extent, it is just a case of people having enough of UMNO/BN, not them wanting fundamental change. Looks like that, anyway.
Best regards
Ian Teh
Assistant General Counsel
AIG Life
Level 3, 549 St Kilda Road
Melbourne Victoria 3004
Ph: 03 9009 4525
Fax: 03 9009 4149
P Please consider the environment before printing this email
——————————————————————————–
From:
Sent: Wednesday, 12 March 2008 6:33 PM
To: Teh, Ian
Subject: Not heard from you
Hi
I’m surprised I still haven’t heard from you following the weekend’s political tsunami in Malaysia. Still in a state of orgasmic stupor?
xxxx yyyy
General Manager, Malaysia
DID (603) nnnn mmmm
Fax (603) nnnn mmmm
Ante 