ON June 10, Citizen Nades and I were seated in the office of Daniel Li, the deputy commissioner of Hongkong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). What was to be a courtesy call on the island’s No1 graft fighter turned into a counselling session where we poured out our frustrations over the implementation of the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act which Li had helped to draft.

"Surely it can’t be that bad," Li said, pointing out the various provisions that have been included in the Act including the five committees to oversee the activities of the commission.

He raised his eyebrows when we told him that certain provisions, such as having assets disproportionate to one’s income, were omitted.

It would not be fair to Li for us to disclose the rest of our conversation but we told him that our initial reservations over the MACC have been confirmed – call it anything you want but as long as the people running the agency have the same attitude and are seen to be subservient to politicians than the fight against corruption the institution in charge of it will not be taken seriously.

Fast forward to the morning of July 15. I answer the phone at my friend Lawrence Nicholson’s apartment in London. It’s Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam returning a call to Nades.

Navaratnam is chairman of the Corruption Consultation and Prevention Panel – one of the five watchdog bodies that is supposed to help bring credibility and improve the people’s trust in the MACC.

I told him the reason we called was to get his feedback on the MACC’s raid of the offices of Pakatan Rakyat assemblymen in Selangor over reports of mismanagement of state allocations.

"(MACC deputy commissioner) Datuk Abu Kassim said if there is a complaint they should investigate," Navaratnam said.

"Very good Tan Sri. Please ask Abu Kassim what happened to the complaints against Barisan Nasional assemblymen for the same offences lodged by Pakatan Rakyat representatives last year," I replied.

"Well, why don’t you write a letter of complaint to Abu Kassim or the MACC?" he suggested.

While I have a lot of respect for Navaratnam and some of the members in the advisory panels, I must say that to date their performance has been below par when it comes to addressing public perception. It seems that their role is merely cosmetic and if people have to continue writing "complaint letters", one begs the question what are they there for when in fact the panel members are supposed to be the eyes and ears of the people to ensure that the MACC performs its duties judiciously and without fear or favour.

I am not on the panel. Citizen Nades is not on the panel (though I understand that his name was proposed but rejected by the powers that be). What can we do?

Thus if those entrusted to advise the MACC resort to shrugging their shoulders and asking the public to forward their complaints to the commission, of what use are these advisory panels?

Tan Sri Robert Phang was very vocal with the fight against corruption, even to the extent of slipping into an ACA press conference, to be seated between the agency’s two top officers, but has clammed up since being appointed to the panel.

The silence of two senior editors (journalistic etiquette prevents me from naming them) on the advisory panel was deafening when Malay Mail reporter Nevash Nair was hauled up for questioning, his phone and laptop seized and made to drive two MACC officers from Petaling Jaya to Shah Alam for six hours of questioning over his report on land grab involving a politician.

So now that the MACC is seen to be only going after reports against selected political parties, can we assume that the report lodged against a former assemblyman for for using almost RM500,000 in state allocations in 44 days is gathering dust somewhere in the filing cabinets of the MACC Selangor branch in Shah Alam? – as was the case with state allocations involving former assemblymen in Kampung Tunku, Kajang and Taman Medan.

What of the many complaints lodged against the previous Selangor administration? Since according to Navaratnam, the MACC’s No 2 said that all complaints must be investigated, can we assume that the former mentri besar will also be subject to the same kind of treatment Ronnie Liu, Ean Yong Hian Wah and Lau Weng San have been subjected to?

After all, the MACC claims it is independent and doesn’t play favourites right? It has the initiative to go after the mentri besar over cows and cars, then it should have no problems focusing its radar on the multi-million ringgit house owned by Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim’s predecessor.

Putting things into perspective, it would be wrong to say that the MACC shuts an eye to alleged misdeeds of members of the ruling coalition. Several junior politicians and at least three senior government officers have also been charged.

But again to the rakyat, these are small fish who have been made sacrificial lambs as part of a public relations exercise to pull wool over the people’s eyes to the fallacy that the MACC is an independent and impartial entity.

With the likes of the MACC throwing a spanner in the works, Terence is having a tough time trying to convince Malaysians in London that things are not as bad as they seem back home. He is deputy editor (special reports and investigations) and can be reached at terence@thesundaily.com.

So they continued to torture him. And he could no longer stand the torture. After all, he is not the macho type of man. He is but a gentle man who only wanted to get married this weekend. That was all that he wanted.
They threatened to kill him if he refuses to talk. With tears running down his cheeks he begged for mercy and pleaded with them not to harm him. They threatened to throw him off the top floor if he refuses to talk. Sobbing like a baby he went down on his knees and begged for his life.
They dragged him across the room and opened the window. Then something went terribly wrong. It was supposed to be just a threat. They just wanted to put fear in him. They did not really want to throw him off the top floor. They just wanted him to see what the ground floor looks like from the top floor.
TWO PEOPLE HELD HIM UPSIDE DOWN BY HOLDING ONTO HIS PANTS. THEN IT ALL WENT WRONG. THATS HOW I SEE IT.

MINISTER. HE IS NOW THE SAME LEVEL OF HIS COUSIN, MURDERERMINISTER.

HISAMMUDIN SHOULD RESIGN. HE IS NOT FIT TO BE A HOME AFFAIRS MINISTER. HE IS NOW THE SAME LEVEL OF HIS COUSIN, MURDERER, am angry. Damn angry! What a stupid CPO we have in Selangor. Sudden death .... sure sudden death la if I throw you out from 9th floor! Dear YAB Menteri Besar Selangor .... I urged you to not let this become another 'NFA'-stamped incident.

All PR leaders MUST demand that a thorough and impartial investigation be done immediately. You can do this quite easily Hire independent 'lie-detector' specialists from US .... maybe FBI agents to conduct the lie-detector tests on all the MACC officers who were interrogating Teoh. DO IT NOWAn innocent life has been lost. There must be an honest Commission of Inquiry held into this death. Those responsible must not be allowed to roam freely yet again!

The people must demand for justice for an innocent life lost. When and if the authorities chooses to abuse their positions of authority, they must be answerable for their actions or lack of it.

There has been severe lack of respect for human dignity and human life for too long and this must stop, otherwise, who knows.....you or your children may become the victim of such circumstances one of these days!

There has been too many arrest for insignificant issues or matters whereas criminals are allowed to freely roam the streets carrying out their work without hindrance or without any attention from the police or security forces who were too busy involving themselves with insignificant things.

The people must demand for change in order that the police/security forces can once again perform their duties in a dignified manner. A united stand must be made on these important issues in order to get results.......and results we will get because each and every citizen of voting age will have their final say because we will vote based on performance and politicians must listen to the voice of voters

MACC, I am angry. Damn angry! What a stupid CPO we have in Selangor. Sudden death .... sure sudden death la if I throw you out from 9th floor! Dear YAB Menteri Besar Selangor .... I urged you to not let this become another 'NFA'-stamped incident.

All PR leaders MUST demand that a thorough and impartial investigation be done immediately. You can do this quite easily Hire independent 'lie-detector' specialists from US .... maybe FBI agents to conduct the lie-detector tests on all the MACC officers who were interrogating Teoh. DO IT NOWHISAMMUDIN SHOULD RESIGN. HE IS NOT FIT TO BE A HOME AFFAIRS MINISTER. HE IS NOW THE SAME LEVEL OF HIS COUSIN, MURDERER.I am angry. Damn angry! What a stupid CPO we have in Selangor. Sudden death .... sure sudden death la if I throw you out from 9th floor!

Dear YAB Menteri Besar Selangor .... I urged you to not let this become another 'NFA'-stamped incident.

All PR leaders MUST demand that a thorough and impartial investigation be done immediately. You can do this quite easily ....

Hire independent 'lie-detector' specialists from US .... maybe FBI agents to conduct the lie-detector tests on all the MACC officers who were interrogating Teoh. DO IT NOWI am angry. Damn angry! What a stupid CPO we have in Selangor. Sudden death .... sure sudden death la if I throw you out from 9th floor!

Dear YAB Menteri Besar Selangor .... I urged you to not let this become another 'NFA'-stamped incident.

All PR leaders MUST demand that a thorough and impartial investigation be done immediately. You can do this quite easily ....

Hire independent 'lie-detector' specialists from US .... maybe FBI agents to conduct the lie-detector tests on all the MACC officers who were interrogating Teoh. DO IT NOW

Badawi's parting gift to malaysian

THE SLEEPY HEAD FINALLY WOKE UP TO TO CON THE PEOPLE

.. given more powers then it's predecesor the ACA ... doublespeak for Another Corruption Agency. Now we are seeing what those powers entail ... torture, blackmail and threats for the innocent while the true criminals walk free in the 'Corridors of Power.' these MACC dogs are being fed with rakyat's hard earned money but they hav traded the rule of law with the rule of tyranny n brutality from the umno be end thieves n bandits!!the only way out is down with umno!down with Be End!!MACC is the killer machine for umno be end

The great lying piece of turd MACC chief had the cheek to claim they were fair and just in carrying out their duties ... which explains why the oppostion in power for over a year they are inundated with investigations. How stupid do they think the public is ... sad to say pretty bloody stupid since we have voted these corrupt evil scumbags for 52 years. We can thank our education system for creating brainless sheep gorging ourselves while waiting for the slaughter.

This has been going on for far too long. The MACC acts like God. They kidnap families and torture those they arrest. They threaten those they interrogate with death if they refuse to talk.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The writing was already on the wall very much earlier. Alarm bells were wailing like banshees. But this was largely ignored. It was ignored because it was Malaysia Today that had triggered the alarm bells. Malaysia Today is not the most reliable source. It does not offer the best of information. What Malaysia Today dabbles in are rumours and innuendoes.

When the Anti-Corruption Agency, now called the MACC, kidnapped the family of a police inspector, Malaysia Today raised the alarm. They had kidnapped the wife and child of a police inspector who had investigated a Chinese underworld boss on the instructions of a higher-up with the rank of ASP.

The inspector was just doing what his boss had ordered him to do, and that was to open a file and launch an investigation into the activities of the Chinese prostitution, loan shark, drugs and gambling syndicate. And this resulted in the detention of three syndicate bosses.

What the MACC wanted the police inspector to do was quite simple. They wanted him to change his report so that the three underworld bosses can be freed from detention. And he would have to do that if he wants to secure the release of his family.

The police inspector refused to do that. Instead, he made a police report. And so did his wife. But nothing was done about the matter. The MACC officers were not arrested and dragged to court on kidnapping charges.

The MACC then leaked information to the media that they are investigating a very senior police officer, the Director of the CCD, for the crime of not declaring RM27 million worth of assets. The fact that MACC investigations come under the Official Secrets Act was not a hindrance. After all, the OSA is only used against opposition supporters and not against those who serve those who walk in the corridors of power.

Nevertheless, the Director of the CCD was finally not charged for not declaring RM27 million in assets. He was charged for using police property for his personal reasons, something that all government officers, ministers and politicians do blatantly every day of the week. But his real crime is that he detained several Chinese underworld bosses who control the prostitution, loan shark, drugs and gambling business all over Malaysia.

Then they arrested the lawyer who acted for the CCD Director. The MACC officers came to his office on the eve of Hari Rayaand handcuffed him after roughing him up like one would do to an armed bank robber. To ensure that the lawyer suffered the greatest embarrassment this Hollywood-style arrest was done in full view of the entire office.

Malaysia Today wrote about all this. Malaysia Today not only wrote about all this but Malaysia Today repeated the stories again and again to make sure no one would say they somehow missed the story. But still nothing was done. No one denied the story. More importantly, no one did anything about what Malaysia Today revealed.

The MACC has been a tool of those who walk in the corridors of power for a long, long time. Officially, Barisan Nasional has 14 component members with Umno as the lead partner. Unofficially, Barisan Nasional has seventeen component members. The Election Commission is the fifteenth component member of Barisan Nasional, the Malaysian police the sixteenth, and the MACC the seventeenth. They all serve the interests of Umno and the Prime Minister.

The writing was already on the wall very much earlier. Alarm bells were wailing like banshees. But this was largely ignored. It was ignored because it was Malaysia Today that had triggered the alarm bells. Malaysia Today is not the most reliable source. It does not offer the best of information. What Malaysia Today dabbles in are rumours and innuendoes.

“Where is the smoking gun?” they ask. “Show me the body!” they demand. No gun, no body, then no crime has been committed.

Well, today, there is a body. It is the body of a most unfortunate Chinese opposition member who was arrested and tortured by the MACC officers. Yes, he was tortured. And he was tortured because the MACC wanted him to talk.

But he could not talk. He could not talk because there was nothing to talk about. The MACC wanted him to finger his comrades in the opposition. They wanted him to implicate his friends in the opposition for various crimes that the MACC alleges had been committed by those in the opposition.

He tried to explain that he is not being stubborn. He tried to explain that no crime had been committed. He tried to explain that he could not possibly implicate his comrades in the opposition for various crimes if these crimes are merely a figment of the MACC’s imagination.

So they continued to torture him. And he could no longer stand the torture. After all, he is not the macho type of man. He is but a gentle man who only wanted to get married this weekend. That was all that he wanted.

They threatened to kill him if he refuses to talk. With tears running down his cheeks he begged for mercy and pleaded with them not to harm him. They threatened to throw him off the top floor if he refuses to talk. Sobbing like a baby he went down on his knees and begged for his life.

They dragged him across the room and opened the window. Then something went terribly wrong. It was supposed to be just a threat. They just wanted to put fear in him. They did not really want to throw him off the top floor. They just wanted him to see what the ground floor looks like from the top floor.

The unfortunate young man panicked. He went ballistic when he saw the distance he would have to travel before hitting the ground floor. He struggled. They could not hold onto him. Gravity took over and the life of this young man was prematurely snuffed out.

The MACC then announced that they had released him the night before. They failed to announce that they had not released him from custody but released him from this world. Then they suddenly found his body the day after. He jumped. He committed suicide. He took his own life. He was never tortured. He was not dragged to the window with the threat that they would teach him how to fly.

This has been going on for far too long. The MACC acts like God. They kidnap families and torture those they arrest. They threaten those they interrogate with death if they refuse to talk.

And now one young man has really died. But no one will be punished. No one will be punished because they will say the young man took his own life. Why he took his own life no one knows. He was never tortured. He was never threatened with death. He was not made to look how far down the ground floor is. He was not accidentally dropped when he panicked and struggled and they could not get a good grip on him.

That is what they will be telling you and me later today.

LEAVING NORMAL: KUGAN A/L ANANTHAN

HE WAS REPORTED AS “BEING INVESTIGATED FOR A SERIES OF ROBBERIES AND THEFT OF LUXURY CARS”, AGED 22; A CRIMINAL SUSPECT UNDER DETENTION AT THE “SUBANG JAYA POLICE STATION”.

NOW HE’S DEAD AND THE POLICE SAID “HE WAS ASTHMATIC” AND ASK FOR NO “SPECULATIONS” ON KUGAN’S CAUSE OF DEATH. PICTURES TAKEN OF HIS BODY ARE NOW SPREAD ALL OVER THE NET AND THERE ARE BRUISES, LACERATIONS AND WOUNDS (AS SEEN AT THE MALAYSIA-TODAY.NET AND REPORTED BY THE SUN).

IT’S ANOTHER DEATH UNDER POLICE CUSTODY, ANOTHER NUMBERED ITEM ON A LONG LIST OF SUCH CASES CONSTANTLY BEING SHOVED UNDER THE CARPET BY THE AUTHORITIES. AND YET WE ARE BEING ASKED TO GRIN AND BEAR IT, AS PER USUAL

WHILE DEATH IN POLICE CUSTODY IS A SERIOUS MATTER AND SHOULD WARRANT A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION, BUT TO CRIME VICTIMS (INCLUDING MYSELF) WHO HAD THEIR CARS STOLEN, HIJACKED, ROBBED ETC .. WE ARE ACTUALLY RELIEVED THERE IS ONE BAD GUY LESSER OUT THERE.

JUST IMAGINE THIS … JUST IMAGINE THE TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE THE VICTIMS HAD TO ENDURE WHEN THE ROBBERS THREATENED TO CHOP THEIR FAMILY WITH PARANGS OR THREATENED TO RAPE HIS YOUNG WIFE WHILE HE FRANTICALLY SEARCHED FOR THE KEYS TO HIS BRAND NEW CAR.

C’MON, LETS FACE REALITY .. IF THIS KUGAN GUY CAN LEAD THE POLICE TO RECOVER STOLEN CARS, HE’S NOT EXACTLY AN ANGEL.

IF HE’S NOT TAKEN IN BY THE POLICE (WHICH I THINK THE POLICE FORCE SHOULD DESERVE SOME CREDITS) THIS CRIMINAL AND HIS GANG MEMBERS WILL PROBABLY GO ON AND ROB MORE PEOPLE OF THEIR CARS .. AND IN THE PROCESS, POSSIBLY MAIM, INJURE OR EVEN KILL THEIR VICTIMS. IT IS NO SECRET THAT SUCH CRIMINALS WILL CONSUME DRUGS BEFROE EMBARKING ON ANY CRIME ACTIVITIES TO MAKE THEM “STRONGER” AND “MORE GARANG”.

C’MON FOLKS .. THIS KUGAN GUY IS NOT EXACTLY THE REGULAR KID-NEXT-DOOR. HE’S A CRIMINAL. IF HE’S NOT A CRIMINAL, HE WILL NOT END UP IN POLICE CUSTODY LAH. YOU FOLKS THINK THE POLICE HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO MEH?

I HOPE KUGAN’S FAMILY IS NOT SURVIVING ON HIS ILLICIT INCOME OR RECEIVE ANY MONETARY CONTRIBUTION FROM HIM. OTHERWISE, THEY WILL BE AS SINFUL AS HIM.

BEFORE WE CONTINUE TO HANTAM THE PDRM LEFT & RIGHT, LETS ASK OURSELVES A SIMPLE QUESTION – DO WE REALLY WANT CRIMINALS LIKE KUGAN TO BE ON THE STREET?

I’M NOT EXACTLY A BIG FAN OF PDRM .. BUT THIS TIME, I THINK THE POLICE DID A GOOD JOB.