Monday, July 20, 2009

Fare thee well, ye Ancient Mariner

Dear readers,

It is with deep sadness for me to inform you on the passing of the Ancient Mariner. Our father, Capt. Muhammad Yusof b. Haji Ahmad, passed away peacefully in his sleep yesterday on July 19. He was laid to rest next to his dear mother (and our grandmother) in Linggi yesterday afternoon.

We have read all the postings and condolences conveyed by many in the various blog sites. We extend our most deep gratitude to the many blogger friends who had posted the news earlier. Thank you Rocky Bru, Syed Akbar Ali, Haris Ibrahim, Tok Mommy, Pak Ngah Bakaq, Pasquale, Little Brother Amir Hamizi and A Voice.

Our father took to blogging like fish to water. Even we, were pleasantly surprised of his witty and yet eloquent writing skills. He was an intensely passionate man who loved his family and friends, the sea, Bossa Nova and Keroncong.

He will be deeply missed.

We will be holding tahlil prayers after Maghrib tonight, July 20 (today) and July 23 (Thursday night) at Surau An Nai'mah, near our home.

Once again, thank you for reading our father's blog.

Al-Fatihah


On behalf of our family,

Nurasyikin bt. Muhammad Yusof (eldest daughter)

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Al Fatihah

I lost my dear mother Hjh Latifah bt Hj Md Hussain, at about 3.30 a.m. yesterday. She has been on a life support system at the Seremban GH for the past week and doctors have listed the cause of demise as Type II respiratory failure 2° severe community acquired pneumonia.

We laid her to rest in the afternoon after zohor prayers, near my father's grave at our kampung in Linggi, Negeri Sembilan. She had outlived him by about nine years.

Many kith and kin came from near and far for the funeral, including my blogger buddies Nuraina Samad and Ahirudin Attan a.k.a. Rocky's Bru. We thank them most copiously, also to those who sent condolences and salam takziah. Due to the very short time frame we had for making funeral arrangements, I must have missed informing many. To them, my very sincere apologies.

Al fatihah.

Monday, July 13, 2009

Tardy Me

Sorry folks have been too busy to update my blog.

For the past week, I have been making daily shuttles to and fro Seremban General Hospital (which must be one of the most user-unfriendly hospitals in the country) to visit my mother who is quite ill. She's 84 and her condition is still critical.

More later.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

PKFZ: Who will take the rap?

Banker Mohd. Hashim Shamsuddin was the last Malay and non-politician chairman of Port Klang Authority (PKA). As executive director of Bank Bumiputra, he took the rap for the RM2.5 billion Bumiputra Malaysia Finance (BMF) fiasco in Hong Kong and was imprisoned for more than 6 years in the then British colony. He is now believed to be living in the U.K.

In 1986, a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) headed by former auditor-general Ahmad Noordin established that what was going on in BMF was just "the tip of the iceberg", implying that bigger hands were at play. But the so called "bigger hands" were never implicated or named.

After Hashim, the chairmanship of PKA was then passed through several MCA politicians beginning with veteran Michael Chen who really did a stellar job seeing the port go through the privatisation process. However, his lesser known successors who didnt really have much to do except to play landlords and collect rent, somehow went off the well beaten track to play towkays.

With the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ), we are now staring at a possible RM12 billion hole in the rakyat's pocket. Who will take the rap? Were "bigger hands" at play here too? How come no Royal Commission of Inquiry? Will the true stories behind the BMF and PKFZ scandals ever come to light?

Another About Turn

The Port Klang Authority (PKA) has reversed an earlier decision to withhold a RM660 million payment due to contractor Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) for the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project. Read the Malaysiakini report, here. This about turn was due to instructions from the Treasury and in consideration of appeals by the bondholders trustees.

"PKA has received instructions from the Treasury that the board should be mindful of the implications that might affect the confidence of investors, local or foreign, in the Malaysian private debt securities market," said PKA chairman Lee Hwa Beng.

Lee (photo) said that the board has made RM360 million payment to KDSB yesterday and has until the end of the month to pay the balance.

The PKA board got into this mess by "taking instructions" from all and sundry when they should be using their brains and their conscience to do the right thing.

Now you will understand why I did not vote for this man for the Kelana Jaya parliamentary constituency during the last general election.

Thursday, July 02, 2009

About Turn

The Malaysian Insider reported yesterday, here, that the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will summon the transport minister, his two predecessors and the attorney-general to testify over the RM12 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, in an investigation which could have serious political consequences for MCA and the Barisan Nasional administration.

PAC Chairman Azmi Khalid said that all of them, including Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) CEO and BN Backbenchers Club (BBC) chairman Tiong King Sing (photo), will be called in to testify in two weeks’ time. This was after announcing a couple of weeks ago that four key players in the debacle, which include the 3 MCA politicians, have been let off the hook and will not be called in for questioning.

Quite obviously, public outcry and constant lambasting from the Opposition parties must have played a major part in this about turn and also the decision to withhold payment of monies due to KDSB by the Port Klang Authority.

My fervent hope now is that none of them, unlike a former prime minister, will choose to do a Ronald Reagan: I don't remember.

Meanwhile, other MPs have yet to receive complete copies and appendices of the PriceWaterhouse Cooper report on PKFZ despite the exertion of pressure on the Dewan's secretariat and the Transport Minister to do so. They are expected to receive copies only after PAC has completed its investigation on the matter.