Hi, brothers and sisters, welcome to my blog!

This blog is dedicated to you with the purpose of understanding and participating in social reform. Your invaluable feed-backs in terms of suggestions, opinions and comments would be very much appreciated.

The Malaysian society is meant for all Malaysians and the process of globalisation has brought us closer to reality more than ever before. People do not take official announcements at their face value any more and only truth would prevail as there are many modern channels to uncover truth.

Social reform is an on-going process as people are always on a look out for improvement. Hence constant social reform is the motto of this blog! Let’s be frank and open in our discussion for the betterment of mankind!

Get what you need at a new Tibetian Culture and Artifacts New Out-let at a shop house just right opposite the !st Avenur, Magazine Road, Penang

Lim Boo Chang, the former Datok Keramat State Assemblyman filed a defamation suit at the Penang High Court Registry this morning against Ng Wei Aik, the KOMTAR State Assemblyman.

In his Statement of Claim, Lim alleging that Ng, who is also the Penang Chief Minister’s Political Secretary, had through a report in a local press, hurled personal attacks against him and calling Lim names which had lowered down his esteem in the eyes of the general public and had thus subject him to public odium and contempt.

On 19 December last year, Boo Chang through his law firm Lim Boo Chang & Co issued a 24 hours Legal Notice to Ng to publish a full and complete withdrawal of his statement with an apology to him, and to refrain from repeating the alleged statement. However, Ng refused to budge and started his fresh round of personal attacks on Boo Chang in both the print and electronic media.

Boo Chang then issued a second Legal Notice to Ng on 21 December last year, informing Ng that he would institute legal action against Ng.

This morning at 9.20 am, Lim filed his Writ of Summons at the Penang High Court Registry to officially claim against Ng for, among other things, damages, aggravated damages, exemplary damages, and costs, together with an apology by Ng to be published in both the print and electronic media. He also asked for a Court injunction to refrain Ng from repeating the same remarks on him.

In his Statement of Claim, Lim also alleging that he suffered emotional pressure, loss of personal pride and dignity and was subject to public scandal.

He also alleged that as a person of Ng’s standing, Ng should have investigated for the truth of his statement before publishing it to others.

Today, at the Penang Island Municipal Council, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has questioned the independence of certain NGOs that have taken the state government to task over its policies.

According to him, at meetings, their representatives appear to show understanding of the issues, but not when they talked outside.

“Perhaps, they have eyes but cannot see … still, we need to engage them,”
he said in his speech during the swearing-in of Penang Municipal
Councillors today.

Lim said state government leaders, including himself, have been frequently
accused of being corrupt but is confident that Penangites do not believe
this.

“I can understand it if it is our (political) rivals who are saying this
because they think we are like them, but the NGOs are also saying it – they
think we are similar to past leaders,” he said.

Lim Guan Eng also instructed the Councillors to counteract the NGO’s arguments, whether appearing inside or ourside the Council, immediately. There are 4 NGO’s Councillors being appointed by the Penang State Government to serve as MPPP Councillors, one of whom is Dr. Lim Mah Hui who opposed to the sPICE project and voted against it together with Lim Boo Chang end of last year.

Dr. Lim, a Phd. in Economics and an experienced financial counsultant, demonstrated outside the Council building lately together with Pernang Forum members in highlighting on the issues of traffic congestion, mass land reclaimation projects to be undertaken, and the deteriorating environmental condition in Penang.

By the Administrator

Is Karpal the real Godfather in DAP as lambasted by the angry Prof. Dr Ramasamy, the 2nd Deputy Chief Minister of Penang ?

Many do not believe so, and they include former DAP leader and  like Kua Kia Soong (former Petaling Jaya Utara MP, current Suaram director), and Wee Choo Keong ( inpedendent MPof Bukit Bintang), both complained of their painful sufferings in their life-experience while serving the DAP.

Although he declined to be interviewed by www.freemalaysiatoday.com, Kua (pic below) requested that he be quoted from his book “Inside The DAP” published in 1995 which is “still relevant to this day”.

Kua who left DAP in 1995 said that his five-year experience in the party revealed that none of the top DAP leaders including the then secretary-general (SG), Lim Kit Siang, had any inclination to have a social democratic party programme as an alternative to Barisan Nasional.

He was especially critical of Lim whom he portrayed as wielding absolute power over the party and its leaders.

“The Secretary General or SG (Lim) is considered “indispensable” by the party leaders,” Kua wrote.

“He has become synonymous with the DAP through concentration of power and authority in his position.

“The SG (Lim) didn’t seem to be able to settle simple questions of doubt cast in the media, such as the question of the ‘father and son’ syndrome in the DAP.”

Kua went on to call the “frozen oppressive atmosphere” of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) as “unbearable and demeaning” in the presence of the SG (Lim) and labelled his loyalists as “sycophants” and “tiresome emperor’s apologists”.

“Despite leadership problems there were no serious attempts by the SG (Lim) or CEC to address the problem of party renewal and preparation for leadership changeover or collective leadership,” he wrote.

“The important CEC posts of Discipline, Publicity and Organising Secretaries were filled by secretaries beholden to the SG (Lim).”

“No factional problems were decisively solved in a democratic way within the CEC, only the SG (Lim) held all the cards.

“The SG’s (Lim) inordinate power rests in his final say in the selection of candidates for the general elections.”

Lim has since moved up the ladder to the post of DAP advisor but former DAP Bukit Bintang MP, Wee Choo Keong, pointed out that he has taken his fist of power with him. Lim’s younger son Guan Eng is now the SG and the Chief Minister of Penang after the last general elections.

The current independent Wangsa Maju MP was ejected from DAP in 1998 for allegedly not showing “love and affection to the party leader”. He was SG of Social Democratic Party at the time when he contested under the ticket of PKR in the last round. He declared to be an independent MP after openly expressing his dissents with the leadership.

Meanwhile, Karpal has openly pressured Ramasamy to resign as the 2nd Deputy Chief Minister of Penang for openly criticising the party and alleging cronyism and abuse of power of a pecuniary nature. But after Karpal challenged him to report to the MACC to prove his allegations, Ramasamy denied that he had made such allegations.

Poor Ramasamy (coined by Karpal as a  DAP warlord), an academician retiring from Singapore and turned politician for the last 3 years or so, whose rapid rise as an honourable Indian community leader in DAP have already caused much jealousy and uneasiness from his rivals, especially those who are on the cue of the political ladder. But could the real Godfather behind the scene save him from the boot this time?

Statement By Lim Boo Chang

People can still remember 916, i.e. September 16, 2008, as the dead-line set by Pakatan Rakyat that they will change the Federal Government, as by then, they said, they would have pulled 31 Barisan Nasional MP’s to cross over to join them, just enough to form a simple majority in Parliament.

In hind side, it was a mischievous plan by Pakatan to encourage mass defection of BN MP’s. At that time, some Pakatan leaders even lied that the Yang Di Pertuan Agong was willing to give his blessing for their plot to seize power if that was to happen.

During that period, a group of PKR top guns, including Thien Chua and Cheah Kah Peng, had even rushed to Taiwan to tail after a delegation of BN Back-benchers’ Clup MP’s who were on their official visit.. They also purposely put up their lodings at the same Hotel where these  BN MP’s were staying.

The PKR defection-persuaders then tried with all their means to lure or entice MP’s for hopping to Pakatan. But  thank God, these Pakatan leaders who now despised party-hopping and speak of high morality had  failed, and failed miserably, as not even one BN MP crossed over to them thus far.

In order to boost up their own ego, these people even wrongfully implicated that Tengku Razaleigh was also on their list to cross over, but with a condition that he will become the next Prime Minister if their plot worked. To many’s astonishment, they even cooked up a story that Dato’ Seri Abdullah Badawi, the then Prime Minister, had also been contacted through a middle man, and that Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim will meet up with him soon.

When I resigned from PKR on December 14, I was not even a Local Councillor, a post which I had also resigned on the same day over my disagreement on Pakatan’s bulldozing a RM300 million white elephant project sPICE (subterranean Penang International Convention and Exhibition Center) in the Council.

So, I am just an ordinary citizen, a truly Penang born Malaysian. Why so afraid of me by creating a mountain out of a mole-hill? It was only after seeing through Pakatan’s true colour and their leaders’ hypocrisy that I decided not to serve them anymore and quit. So why criticise me now when they were, in fact, the very people who advocated mass party-hopping? Can’t I have some peace over my Christmas break with my family?

My conclusion is that Pakatan has no right to criticise anyone who decided to quit their party and joined another one. This is the citizens’ right or freedom of association as enshrined under Section 10 of the Malaysian Constitution. Pakatan leaders talked much about democracy and human rights, but they do not seem to practise it in real life.

Pakatan have to answer to my charges on sPICE and other issues concerning the people, if they are gentleman enough, but not to resort to character assasination and under-hand tactics. Afterall, 916 is still haunting them as they were the very first people who wanted to seize political power through mass defection in the first place. This proved that what  the Pakatan is doing now is plain hypocricy and double-standard!

Photo: A Flash Back – Barisan Back-benchers Leaving for Taiwan

I denied that I had ever requested for a seat from the party’s leadership, let alone ask for a written assurance on the matter.

In fact, I did not expect my stay in PKR to be abruptly terminated, if not because of the sPICE project of MPPP (the local government here), which sparked off my determination to dissociate from them.

GEORGE TOWN — A group, representing 40 non-governmental organisations (NGOs), staged a demonstration outside the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) today protesting against the council’s manner in approving any kind of project.

The group claimed the council had placed developers’ interest before the ratepayers and that the feedback from the residents were never taken into account.

Bearing placards and banners, the group also alleged that the council had not listened to their grouses but only had ears for the developers.

“Are we not important? We are the ones who have to bear with the aftermath of their development projects, so why disregard us? MPP must consider our feedback. After all we are the ratepayers,” said architect Prof Dr Jimmy CS Lim.

Engineer B. Suresh Kumar alleged the council had been careless in handling a crematorium project in Savoy Garden in Air Itam.

“Earthworks for the project have begun. It is located about 900 metres away from the Air Itam Dam and the water at the dam can be polluted because of the project, but the council does not seem to care about it,” he said.

He said the matter was raised during a recent dialogue with the council, but the council was nonchalant about it.

“When we asked for the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report, the council president said it was not necessary as it was a small project. How is that possible? The report is crucial regardless of how big or small a project is.”