Friday, June 22, 2007

Mongolian murder and The NST's agenda


For seven (working) days now the whole nation has been captivated by the trial of once respected political analyst Razak Baginda in the murder case involving Mongolian model Altantuya Shaaribu. The reason why this case has captured such interest is well known to all: It involves the gruesome murder of a beautiful model from an exotic country, a love affair with a somewhat famous man, and of course certain quarters have made allegations of linkages to the political elite, consequently sparking notions of a conspiray of some kind. Stuff of good novels.


But I'm not writing about the case per se because enough people have commented and are commenting on it. What has spurred me to write this post is the way newspapers treat this case. Particularly the NST, which has shown a complete disregard for objectivity and fair reporting.

What does the NST have against Abdul Razak Baginda? Is it that the NST has something against Razak, or is it maliciously suggesting something else? Consider the following:

In the first place, leading up to the case, other papers seem quite composed about the whole affair. One or two did have some sort of blurb about the case begining on June 4th (Before the famous postponement to June 18th). But nothing compared to what the NST did. In black background with bold white letters, NST shouted out something to the effect of "2 days before Altanuya murder trial". On the front page. Like it was some kind of advertisement. (You can almost here the unspoken words "quick! get your tickets now for the greatest show on earth!") No other paper tried to create that much hype about the case. For the most part the excitement over it had pretty much simmered down... nowhere near the frenzy of when Razak was first arrested back in November last year. But NST wouldn't let the case be just another high profile case. NST wanted to make sure it was a real big time circus. Why?


Then in the days leading up to the case and as the case began The NST began it's crusade and vendetta against Razak Baginda, for reasons only HindugodMuslimpriest knows. Why do I call it crusade and vendetta? Just look at the folloing headlines from the NST. First, Check out this front page headline on June 4th: An emotive story sympathising with a grieving father...


ALTANTUYA MURDER CASE: Dad wants to know why his daughter died

DR SHAARIIBUU SETEV: I want to see the faces of the witnesses, to hear them speak. I want to hear their stories to satisfy my need to know what really happened.
KUALA LUMPUR: Over the past seven months, Dr Shaariibuu Setev has been plagued with a myriad of questions. He wants answers, starting today.
The 56-year-old former lecturer from Mongolia is in Malaysia as a witness in the trial of his daughter’s accused murderers.He seeks justice, yes. But above all, he seeks answers."I want to see the faces of the witnesses, to hear them speak, and most of all to make a judgment
myself."I want justice and transparency to be evident during the trial at the Shah Alam High Court," said Shaariibuu.
These were the words he used, as conveyed to Honorary Consul for Mongolia to Malaysia, Datuk Syed Abdul Rahman Alhabshi.

Note: NO other paper took this angle of the story.

Then, the NST is relentless in painting Razak Baginda in a bad light, and the mongolian woman a helpless victim. They even went so far as to paint the murdered model an exemplary mother and and daughter! (Note: NO other paper took this angle).

Consider the following headlines in the days after the trial began:
"She demanded US$500,000 - two days later, she was dead " (20th june) [Note: This indictment of Razak (and by the way, isn't this sub-judice??) was accompanied by the following picture, which anyone in the media knows is meant to play on the psychology of readers - she demanded money; twodays later she's dead; and look at her alleged murderer smiling]



And then there is of course today's headline (June 26th), a cryptic and damning "LEAVE OR DIE", accompanied with a thug-like picture of "Razak's new hairdo" which, again, is obviously designed to make Razak look like horrible villain.

And that's not taking into consideration other minor stories like "Razak Cheerful During Break" (22 June) and of course who can forget "Razak's wife assaulted me' - Altantuya's father tells court" (23 June). (Note: Other papers had this story too, but none -in my opinion- as blatantly lopsided in favour of shaaribu as NST's was. NST's even had this friendly picture of Altantuya's father accompanying the story.:


How adorable. Again, a psychological play, if you ask me, to make Shaaribu and the Mongolians look like a poor old man and his victimized family, against tyrant Razak, his mean wife and dysfunctional family. Then of course there is this sad story below. Just read the following piece from NST (23rd June) and tell me if it's not biased:

Shaariibuu breaks down over photo

SHAH ALAM: Initially, he sounded very confident. He spoke with pride when mentioning his daughter. There was even a weak attempt at humour. But Setev Shaariibuu’s resolve crumbled when he was asked to identify a photograph of his murdered daughter, Altantuya Shaariibuu.He removed his spectacles, buried his face in his hands and wept openly.There was an uncomfortable silence in the courtroom and after taking a moment, Shaariibuu said: "In Mongolia, we do not say the name of a deceased. But I will say it if you insist."DPP Manoj Kurup apologised to Shaariibuu but explained that they needed her name for the record.Shaariibuu: Yes, that is Altantuya. We call her Tuya, for short, while her friends call her ‘Amina’, which means light

Aww... Danielle Steele couldn't have written it better. (Note: No other paper reported this story in such moving language)

Anyway, lots more not-so-subtle hints that Razak is a meanie peppered across the NST from day to day. No other paper comes even close to painting Razak in a badlight like NST has been doing and continues to do. It will get worse. Just wait till other witnesses come forth. You'll see what I mean.

Now I don't know Razak Baginda from Adam. But reading the NST day in and day out along side other papers, I just have to ask the question: WHY? Why is the NST so doggedly intent in showing Razak in a bad light, almost predicting his guilt, if not outrightly suggesting it? Again, is it about the NST's hatred for Razak Baginda? or is it for people associated with Razak Baginda? Let's not beat around the bush. Lets ask outright: Is this NST's agenda to smearDPM Najib by his association with Baginda? It's the only explanation of NST's relentless determination to paint Razak GUILTY long before the trial is over.

But, if that is the case, what baffles me most of all... is that how come this mischievous act, is being done not by Harakah, not by Rocket,....by an UMNO OWNED NEWSPAPER? Anyone wants to take a guess?

Monday, June 11, 2007

A Sandiwara Of Embarassing Proportions

As I saw the news at 8pm just now, I found myself exclaiming "oh my God... are you serious???"
I think the 4th floor spinmasters have really gone over board. Makes me think that "A Voice"'s contention that the YDP administration is desperate is quite true indeed. Coz what I saw was really really reeking of desperation.
The TV3 news story started something like this (not verbatim but close enough) "Walaupun masih bergelar pengantin baru, hati Perdana Menteri tetap bersama rakyatnya... Selepas menghadiri majlis bertaraf antarabangsa pagi tadi, Perdana Menteri terus membuat lawatan mengejut ke bilik gerakan banjir..."
Honestly I almost muntah. Why the need to prop him up like that?? Is this a PR campaign ke apa?... and then... what's so mengejut about the lawatan if all the press were ready and waiting to capture YDP's motorcade pulling into the compound of DBKL? Mengejut kejadah nya tu??
But wait... it gets worse....
There was our YDP, all firm and authoritative, demanding an explanation for the flood... ce waaaah.... But... malang sungguh... his questions were less than convincing in most parts. Ada la some bits where he looked quite impressive... but mostly it was just silly. Ada satu part tu, he asked for the tunnel project to be sped up. The person he was talking to replied "But its on schedule Datuk Seri", to which he said (*and this is the impressive bit la) " I know it's on schedule but can you speed it up? Talk to them." He commanded... ohhhh bangganya aku....
then he blows it by saying something inane and stupid like " You have to be prepared for the rain because you never know when the rain comes so you have to be prepared." .. Well d-uhhh? ya think so Einstein?.
But even that we can ignore. But what I cannot tahan is this: What the hell kind of a staged performance is this and why is it necessary?? It was soooooo orchesterated ok? The press were there to film the limo arrival, and then the entire meeting! Word for word! What the hell kind of surprise inspection is that? It was so obvious that they wanted to show how much YDP is working and barking orders here and there... alamaaaak...
Come on la.. If this wasn't staged, YDP would have shown up unannounced; attended a closed door meeting; demanded an explanation or scolded the bejeezus out of the officials(off camera); and later (by which time the press will have learned of the visit and rushed to the site), he would have a press conference to explain why he turned up unexpectedly.
Ini tidak... press dah siap tunggu, and then masuk sekali dalam meeting dengar YDP dok tanya itu ini... is that really how you should manage crisis? In the glare of the lights and camera?? Be serious la. There is a limit to spinning ok? This was a staged performance, pure and simple.
What a bunch of *bleep* *bleep* the people who thought up this plan must have been. How gullible do you think people are? Nak menipu pun biar la masuk akal sikit.

The Wedding And Other Stories....

It's amazing how so many things can happen in just a few short days. I've been away from my beautiful motherland for all of six days, but whoaa nelly.... it's like I've been gone a month. So here are my commentary on a few things.. finally rounding up with a look at the (gag) wedding of the year. Here goes...

Using TAR To Attack TDM?

Update 13 June: Just learned that SIL has invited Dato Mukhriz Mahathir to moderate and participate in one of the sessions... I therefore have been unkind to question SIL's motives and suggest an evil design in this particular case, and for that I apologize. I am therefore removing a portion of the earlier posting.(this is of course subject to review if the outcome of the seminar proves my original contention right. Not that anybody cares la. Just for my own satisfaction.)

I only leave this portion below from the original posting:


"I don’t know… maybe my suspicions are far fetched. We’ll see. But the thing is, if this is a sincere effort to rightly glorify TAR, shouldn’t SIL have invited TDM? TDM is after all a living icon of the TAR era, having been a key personality in UMNO politics then, and a person whom TAR favoured to be brought back into UMNO after his sacking over the Malay Dilemma. Surely he would have much to contribute in any sincere discussion about TAR?"


Here Lies Proton... R.I.P


Maybe it's battle fatigue.. maybe it's just me becoming completely jaded... but when the news item appeared a few days back about the possibility that Proton will soon be 51% owned by a foreign company, I was numb. I didn't react. i didnt text anyone. Then again even Jong Il didnt text me.. which is so unlike that patriotic friend of mine. Maybe we're all just getting a little bit tired of the insanity that has been plaguing us for more than three years...But the story stayed with me in the back of my mind... my heart ached a little... but .. knowing that this too will be ignored by the Malaysian masses, by UMNO in particular, by so called 'pejuang bangsa' near and far.... who am I to be able to do anything??



I remember Tun M's lament not too long ago when he said " Yang benci sangat kepada Proton ni kenapa?, Bukankah ini syarikat milik kita? satu bukti kebolehan kita? Satu sumber pekerjaan untuk ratusan ribu orang?"Then I read Tun's latest outcry below... a cry that will no doubt be ignored by TETGOL (The Evil That Grips Our Land):


'Mereka berjaya bunuh Proton'
08-06-2007 05:02:20 PM Oleh
SA'ODAH ELIAS(MStar)
PUTRAJAYA: "Segala usaha mereka selama ini untuk
membunuhProton nampaknya telah berjaya," demikian keluh bekas Perdana Menteri Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad hari ini.

Katanya, segala tindakan yang telah diambil oleh pengurusan baru Proton akan berakhir dengan berkuburnya syarikat nasional itu.

"Dan hari ini, kita akan lihat pembunuhan satu industri nasional, inilah pandangan saya, tetapi mereka tidak perlu menerimanya," katanya kepada pemberita selepas meraikan kepulangan kumpulan pendaki Merdeka de Everest di pejabatnya di Yayasan Kepimpinan Perdana di sini.

Dr Mahathir berkata demikian sebagai mengulas perkembangan terakhir dalam syarikat automotif nasional dan beliau masih lagi dilantik sebagai penasihatnya.

Kenyataan ini kali pertama dikeluarkan Dr Mahathir dalam tempoh hampir sebulan setelah diarahkan berehat oleh doktor berikutan serangan jantung bulan lalu…



It really breaks my heart. I haven’t read the papers for days so I don’t know what’s the latest development on that. I know there have been initial denials, But the very fact that the idea is being mulled over is, to me, nothing less than a tragedy. Yet most Malaysians say nothing… all attention diverted to the wedding …and even Paris Hilton’s jail debacle!

“Not Janda, Not a maid” – Freedom of the press, TETGOL style

This is a second hand story which I got from rocky and from other blogs as well as from people well connected. TETGOL’s version of Alistair Campbell has told the media in no uncertain terms that the PM’s bride is to be described in certain ways. No specific reference to certain aspects of her past.. no crude descriptions of her, true though they may be.


You know it’s funny, during TDM’s time, you never had senior media editors being told by a thirty-something budak hingusan about what they can and cannot say. Certainly not when it comes to light stories like the new bride of the PM.


But in this era of new media freedom in this country, a budak hingusan is tasked to ensure that only the right things are said about the PM’s new wife.

Here Comes The Bride

Before anything else, let me congratulate YDP for his marriage. I echo TDM’s sentiment that a person who has lost his wife should re-marry, and I join TDM in wishing him well.

Now, having said that, I cannot help but feel that this wedding is a watershed moment in the YDP administration… at least in his inner circle.



Who is this woman? (Picture courtesy of New Straits Times) And what will her impact be to the “Royal Household” ?


Not much is known about this new queen, but opinions have been expressed that she is quite a strict house keeper (no pun intended). Word has it that she has been known to keep visitors and guests of her future husband at bay, even waiting at the gates, because she deemed that her then boss needed to rest. This is not to dispute the publicly gushed opinions that she is pleasant and kind… she may be all that… and she may be strict and controlling too.


Now her new husband is a man very much in love. The annoying ear-to-ear grin he’s been sporting for days says it all. As far as I know, a man in love behaves very strangely. (for the inexperienced, see lyrics to the classic song When A Man Loves A Woman) He would do everything he can to please his new love. This would of course include listening to whatever she says. Her views become scripture in his eyes, and her opinions are always the last words he considers…


This would be a non-issue if YDP is a person of strong character, who is able to separate his professional from his personal life. Unfortunately, we know that YDP is no such person. He is weak and clueless. We know he discusses important things with his family and we will be hard pressed to believe that his family is not involved in his decisions, directly or indirectly. Indeed if they are not, we wouldn’t have the trouble of SIL and Son.


And so the question is: what will happen now? Will SIL’s position as defacto PM be affected? Will we soon see the mark of a powerful queen as the primary force behind TETGOL? Will the queen taper off the influence of the fourth floor? Will she help the cause of those close to YDP like the murderer of the NST (The Fourth K), the plagiarist, and the Terengganu Chinese Monsoon Prince? Or will she alienate them. What about the all-powerful son? Will he still hold sway over YDP? Or will his influence too diminish in the face of the fading memory of the late wife?


Only time will tell, and I have a gut feeling that things are about to get interesting. I do of course hope that the new queen will be good for us all. Who knows, maybe she will get YDP to actually start working?


Okay okay. Bad joke. Stop laughing.