IS YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK:WAEL GHONIM AND THE SAGA OF DEMOCRACY IN MALAYSIA AND EGYPT

Wael Ghonim, symbolic leader of the Egyptian revolution, gave an interview to 60 Minutes on Sunday night. His message is clear and compelling. Dictators of the world who oppress their people, you should be freaking out now. Watch here:

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz should be praised for wanting to ban former US ambassador to Malaysia John R Malott from entering the Malaysia. In fact, the Cabinet should rally round him and enforce an immediate ban.

Poor Nazri. Why does he like to operate as Najib’s chief blunderbuss? Is he desperate for brownie points? He’s trying so hard to please that it is painful to watch him.

Anyway, once the ban is in place we would all like to invite John Malott to Malaysia. We won’t be sneaking him in. We will invite him to come by road, via the causeway from Singapore.

As we foresee that Nazri’s men won’t be at the ready, we will give Nazri a tip-off. That should allow enough time to locate his men.

We will invite the foreign press to accompany Malott in his convoy. The Hindraf and Human Rights Party convoy was stopped recently and people were arrested. But then we don’t foresee a successful crossing of the causeway, so this should not affect us.

Another coach will be laid on for the television crews of Al-Jazeera, ABC, BBC, CNN and others.

On the Johore side of the causeway, a similar complement of local and foreign media will be waiting, just in case Malott gives Malaysian immigration the slip, or the ban is suddenly overturned. In either case, we will say Nazri’s ban does not amount to much.

We have every confidence in Nazri’s or the Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein’s men. These ministers do not like to be proven wrong and would like nothing better than to ‘punish’ these “foreign devils”.

It was Nazri who called Malott a liar because in his opinion, Malott had “defamed our government through foreign newspaper”.

Nazri asked, “How would he know the real situation if he did not reside in Malaysia?”

Is Nazri not aware that Malott was the US Ambassador in the late nineties?

Unlike Malaysian ministers whose jobs are to spread dissent and disinformation, the ambassadors of countries usually have a great deal of knowledge about foreign policy and a full grasp of the country in which they have been posted to.

Ambassadors are hand-picked by their nations in order to provide a good representation and to maintain solid relations with that country.

Nazri accused Malott of lying, but informed Malaysians are inclined to agree with the former US ambassador.

Malott may be staying in America but he is better informed and switched on about the disturbing trends in Malaysia, unlike Nazri, who like the rest of the Umno elite are stuck in their Ivory Tower.

There is no hope for a public discourse or debate between Nazri and Malott about the article which appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

Anyway, we wouldn’t want it to happen – it would further damage Malaysia’s credibility. It would be embarrassing for Malaysians to let the whole world know the true calibre of our ministers.

Many of our ministers are reluctant to enter a public platform to debate an issue. They do not know how to present logical arguments to persuade or convince. They can’t tolerate differing views for a start. They only know how to threaten and intimidate.

We hope the cabinet approves the ban so we can invite Malott to Malaysia and assemble the foreign press. That will be the day when Malaysian racism and intolerance, will make headline news in the foreign papers.

The ban on Malott will give us the much needed worldwide publicity .

The whole world will get the message that Malaysia does not tolerate criticism and they will learn something of our racial and religious intolerance.

The world will also see how we treat people who do not toe the government line. Malott will be refused entry into the country but ordinary Malaysians will not be as lucky. They will be subject to detention without trial.

People who dare to speak the truth are subject to various laws to silence them. Many have been picked up and suffer whilst in police custody or languish, for years, in prison.

We owe it to these brave people and inform the world, that this is the true face of Malaysia.

The false anxiety of influence “This was a reign of terror, and  was a symbol of that reign of terror,It was intended to cause fear and to terrorize a population.”

NEW YORK: Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has reportedly moved his family assets from European banks to institutions in Gulf region after Swiss authorities took steps to freeze his foreign accounts. ”We’re aware of some urgent conversations within the Mubarak family about how to save these assets,” a senior intelligence was quoted as saying by the state-run Iranian channel Press TV. ”We think their financial advisers have moved some of the money around… If he had real money in Zurich, it may be gone by now,” he said. According to channel, former president is believed to have transferred a fortune to friendly Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. The report comes after Swiss authorities have announced to freeze his bank accounts. Estimates of the former Egyptian President’s fortune varies — there is a widespread rumour that it worth as much as $70 billion. However, US officials quote his family’s wealth between $2 billion and 3 billion, New York Times said.Within hours of Mubarak’s resignation on Friday, “Swiss officials ordered all banks in Switzerland to search for — and freeze — any asset of the former president, his family or close associates,” it reported.After Mubarak’s fall, there are growing calls for an accounting to begin and Egyptian opposition leaders have vowed to press for a full investigation into his finances.”Now we open all the files,” George Ishak, head of the National Association for Change, an opposition umbrella group, said. “We will research everything, all of them: the families of the ministers, the family of the president, everyone.” According to the report, his family was “woven” into the Egyptian economy. However, tracing Mubarak’s money will be difficult since business in Egypt is largely conducted in secret among a small group connected to him. Critics have said following the privatisation of Egypt’s economy in 1990s, Mubarak’s family and other elite families have held stakes in the sale of state assets and in new business ventures. The article stated after former President’s younger son Gamal left his job at Bank of America in London in mid-1990s, he joined forces with Egypt’s largest investment bank. Today, he has a significant stake in a private equity company with interests throughout the Egyptian economy, from oil to agriculture to tourism, corporate records and interviews show. ”The corruption of the Mubarak family was not stealing from the budget, it was transforming political capital into private capital,” Samer Soliman, a professor of political economy at American University in Cairo, said. It has also been rumoured that the family has vast real estate holdings. But the only property outside of Egypt that has emerged is the London townhouse at 28 Wilton Place in Knightsbridge where Gamal lived when he was an investment banker there, the report added.I recommend to Americans the saga of Wael Ghonim — the young Egyptian Google executive whose kidnapping by Egypt’s dreaded secret police and subsequent emotional public testimonial ushered in a new dawn in Tahrir Square this week.

His honor and honesty stands in stark contrast to the callow smear campaign escalated this week by the Mubarak regime against Tahrir Square’s democracy protesters.readmore Is Your Tax Dollars at Work:Wael Ghonim and the Saga of Democracy in Malaysia and Egypt

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