The Sun dated July 20th 2009 featured an article titled “ How drug firm got tourism job” in which the Tourism Minister has denied “any political link in the awarding of a RM 19 million contract to a drug company to built the Malaysia Pavilion for the 2021 World Expo in Shanghai, China”.
Sure, it raises doubts to many because what has a drug or pharmaceutical company got to do with a construction business. But Tourism Minister said that “the multi-million ringgit contract was awarded to Venturepharm Asia Sdn Bhd via an open tender and the process was carried out in a clear and transparent manner”. This explanation sounds silly, but it is possible that it can be done they claim, regardless of what the bidding company’s core business is.
I am reminded of a similar case that happened to a tender bid for the Defence Ministry sometime ago. A local company that had invested millions of ringgit in the transfer of technology for the manufacture of bullet resistant vest locally had bidded for the contract, knowing that theirs being a locally manufactured product would stand a better chance to be offered the contract. But to the surprise of the company, they had a competitor in the form of a tailoring company that had also bidded; of course for an imported product.
Simple and logical reasoning would straight away disqualify the tailoring company from bidding because they are merely traders, without any intention of a transfer of technology from its original equipment manufacturer. And for the same simple and logical reasoning, the company that had manufactured the product locally should be offered the contract, provided the product meets the specifications. Even if the product does not meet the specifications, surely the purchase can be deferred to allow the local manufacturer to improve on the product quality.
I believe there are other locally manufactured products that has somewhat lost out to imported products, because the users have a better preference for imported stuffs; not because the product does not meet the required specifications, but merely the fancy for anything that is imported.
In our desire to see that the local defence industry grows, the Defence Ministry has to be serious in formulating policies that gives preference, or the ‘first right of refusal’ to companies that have invested in technologies to develop and manufacture any defence related products locally for both the local and export markets. If such policies are to be adhered to strictly by the ministry, I believe there will be more private sector participation in the development and manufacture of defence related products. We need to be serious in putting a stop to the ‘buying culture’ that had drained out millions, if not billions in our foreign exchange.
Malaysia now has a strong industrial base and a well developed human capital that can spur the development of a modern defence industry. What is actually lacking, and as I have said it many times before, the political will to do something right for our defence industry.
CRUSADE AGAINST CORRUPTION
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21 comments:
Dear Dato,
It raises lots of questions why a tailoring company is given a contract which is not directly related to its services over another company which had invested to produce the required product locally.
The KSU normally gives support to companies which produce the product locally unless he is directed otherwise.
I was told there is also one tailoring company which has been awarded to manufacture helmets and webbing for the MAF, and supply of ammunition and bombs to the MAF.
Syarikat ini makan keliling Dato'.
Dato dan Sdr Maurice,
Cuba tanya dengan orang Kementah terhadap projek Electronic Target for Shooting Range.
Saya dengar sebuah syarikat Jahit Uniform juga yang dapat melalui proses tender yang penuh dengan kontroversi.
Dato merujuk kepada projek yang sama ke?
Dear Maurice and Abu,
Saya rasa kita bercakap tentang hal yang sama. Syarikat tailoring ini memang termashur. And as rightly said by Maurice, dia makan keliling.
The military and the police are the two pillars of BN government and now added up with MACC to make it three, if one of these three pillars collapses, that will certainly bring the downfall of the BN government. That is the very reason why BN must protect these three pillars at all cost even if they are rotting from the plague of CORRUPTION AND ABUSE OF POWERS. And corruption is so contagious in these three pillars nowadays that it is very difficult and almost impossible to fight because all the three heads of these pillars are the devil's advocates.
I can sense Dato' Arshad's frustration when he sounded it in other threads in his own blog when he mentioned about KEPALA which I don't intend to elaborate here. Whatever is his standing now is only best that I reserve my comment on his CRUSADE AGAINST CORRPTION, I pray to Allah may He give patience to me and my people to continue in our own way to fight corruption in our Army.
I see many of us here know many bad things happening in the Army but like they say, you can take the horse to the water but you cannot make the horse drink the water.
It's OK I will make my own horse drink the water afterall water is the source of life as long as I can protect the water from poisoning.
Dato',
My compliments to you for returning
to "crusade against corruption" and
posting this very interesting subject.
I am saddened by the "commedy" in
the award of defence contracts of weapons and explosives being given to a tailoring company. The owner and the management of this company must be very close to God to be able to secure Mindef contract for
such defence products though its core business is tailoring!
I recall in earlier postings FMZam commented strongly over almost a similar case though it involved a different system. He revealed his sacrifices and frustrations in the fight against certain irregularities in Mindef to the extent of "creating havoc" among some seniors. He even reported the case to KSN but what happened?
Nothing seem to change but instead
a more serious episode had taken place! After a tailoring company are we going to see a laundary company going for weapons and other military equipments contract next?
I made a research on some private defence industry companies and
defence contractors, some having big contracts with Mindef. Some of these companies are very credible and should accordingly be given the first right of refusal to manufacture the relevant products.
However, it is sad to learn that these companies, though very capable, are being deprived of manufacturing and supplying for our military.
Take an example of CRV-7 rockets which were life-expired and could have been appropriately be given extended life by local defence industry company with STRIDE's participation. Many countries, like Pakistan is doing it and we could have done the same. Instead we chose to do away with those multi- million rinngits of assets and bought new rockets for a very obvious reason! We are not giving our defence industry a chance and at this rate we are going nowhere.
Looking at the other side of the coin, there are defence industry companies which receive millions of contracts from the government but their credibility, efficiency and production costs are often questionable.
Interestingly, very senior generals and PTD officers sit on the boards of these companies for reasons we all understand......
"because they have startegic defence interest". However, when the credibility, efficiency and excessive costs are lifting eyebrows by the users, we now question, what are the generals doing on the boards and which hats are they wearing?
There are wild remarks being paased around by some irresponsible people which I find it very unpleasant to hear. Remarks such as the generals are in the "pockets" of private companies must never arise if we have transparency and respect.
Many generals sit on boards of LTAT
companies including public listed companies. I am made to understand that their directors' fees and other financial rewards are regulated and transparent thereby raising no concern as to their conflict of interest.
I know that all the generals who are on the boards of companies are very loyal, honest and responsible people whom Minister Zahid Hamidi and the MACC have the least to worry about their credibility and responsibily.
We respect these people for being successful in wearing many hats. Our sincere hope is for them to use their wisdom to protect the services' interests above everything else and conduct themselves as true military leaders.
Dear Tuanjebat,
Thanks for your comments and my only hope is that those in service reads it. Some years back, there was a local company that had wanted to take on the job of relifing all rockets and missiles in the Armed Forces inventory. But I suppose they withdrew, because the idea was not well supported. Had the idea been supported, the government would be able to save millions, if not billions in foreign exchange to have the rockets and missiles disposed of, or to be relifed by the OEM's. The significant impact of a relifing programme done locally will be the volume of knowledge acquired of rockets and missiles, and who knows that with the knowledge acquired, we will one day be able to produce our own rockets and missiles.
Salam Dato' Is it more profitable to buy imported products or locally manufactured products? It's about economics whether legally or illegally. That’s a problem, not only for defence but the other agencies too. Corruption is the root of the problem. I recently went to rural area (FELDA) where the electricity supply was haphazard, why; maybe it's economically not viable to ensure a proper supply. The same for goes other things. Please do not get me wrong, but when economics and insincerity gets intertwine then political self-centre action comes into place. So lets us supplicate to God Almighty that paradigm change comes into being in a not too distance future.
Coming back to defence enhancement we should now concentrate on communications because it's vital to a small country like us who has to be defensive minded in its defence outlook. Communication is the end weapon i.e. the last weapon for mankind to survive. Nuclear is dangerous and will be obsolete. I will try to say more later Salam to all.
Dear Ommo,
I have no qualms in supporting your views that communication is a vital tool in war; without it troops are 'blind'. Although there is already a local company that has gone into developing radio communications, but I am not privy to the extend of their sophistication. I suppose there is still the requirement to purchase from overseas. Whatever it is, a start has been made.
FOLKS LETS GET REAL AND BE REAL..THIS COUNTRY IS 52 YEARS AFTER MERDEKA..ARE WE FREE YET ?
IF ANYBODY SAYS YES ! I WILL GIVE A MILLION REASONS TO SAY WE ARE NOT!
COMMOON GUYS BE REALISTIC ABOUT IT, WE ARE A CONTROLLED DEMOCRACY, MONITORED SOCIETY, BRAINWASHED MENTALITIES ARE ABOUND & THRIVING!
THE SYSTEM DERIVED FROM THE BRITS TO CONTROL THE MASSES, NEVER LEFT THIS COUNTRY....
THE GOVERNMENT EXERCISE TOTAL CONTROL, THE WAY THEY WANT YOU TO BEHAVE AND THINK ALSO...THEY TRIED BUT THEY HAVE FAILED
SOCIETY IS MORE EXPOSED NOW THEN EVER BEFORE, PEOPLE TRAVEL FAR & WIDE...WE ARE NOT "KATAKS DIBAWAH TEMPERUNG" AS THEY THINK WE ARE !
SO, WHOEVER FEEDS YOU DON'T BITE IT! EVEN IF HE/SHE HAS ERRED AND WRONGED ANY OTHER FELLOW HUMAN BEING ...?
MELAYU MUDAH LUPA....!
JANGAN GIGIT TANGAN YANG MEMBERI MAKAN...!
JANGAN DERHAKA...!
JANAGAN LUPA SIAPA TUAN !
ALL THESE PROPAGANDA IS CHEAP AND NO MORE WORKABLE, BUT UMNO FEELS OTHERWISE... THEY ARE THE BEST SOLUTION..THEY SAY...THAT'S WHY ALL MSM --TV,PAPERS,RADIO CHURN OUT THE SAME SHIT EACH DAY!
UMNO BRAINS ARE LIMITED IN ITS CAPACITY...OLD RECORDS ARE PLAYED ON THE TURNTABLES !
SO, WHATEVER PLANS FOR IMPROVEMENTS AND MODERNIZATION FOR THE MILITARY WILL ONLY BE YES-ED !
IF THE BOSS STANDS TO GAIN..THE CORRUPTED GENERALS HAVE A CUT, THE SO CALLED VITAL CIVILIANS HAVE A POCKET FULL OF SHIT MONIES TOO!
ALL THE COWS CAN COME AND GO AND COME AGAIN...THEY WILL DIE EVENTUALLY AS LONG AS THERE IS NO WILL TO CHANGED THIS MIND SET AND MENTALITY...
LEADERSHIP BY EXAMPLES...!
MY FART ARSE...!
BAD EXAMPLES ARE A PLENTIFUL....!
WE HAVE GONE TO THE DOGS!
ANY ONE TO DISPUTE ...BY ALL MEANS YOU ARE ALL WELCOMED
What is the point of telling us here when we can always read in cyberspace elsewhere that this government is such a government full of tricks. I know there are many of us soldiers who agree with KOMANDO including me, with his government bashing attitude.
Dato Arshad and those who are apple polishing the government, please stop being apple polisher, I thought you said you hate apple polishers. And guys please stop sitting on the fence, in "crusading against corruption", we have to take side, no one is neutral.
We are no fools to be coyed by the idea that former generals are good to sit on the helm of any organization's board because of their wits and wisdom when we all know most generals were no good when they were in power. Putting the generals back in post- retirement positions is the real example of what Dato' Arshad and the military termed it as REINFORCING FAILURE, if you all are so blind not to understand the simple meaning of that term!!!!
Dear FMZam,
I beg to differ when you said that I am an apple polisher. I am not and can never be one. You need to read all my previous articles to understand who and what I am advocating. I believe that if there is something good about what the government does, then they deserve to be praised. But if you strongly believe that something is not right, then you have every right to criticized. To be seen to support the government does not mean one is apple polishing, unless you think otherwise, and that's you right too, which I do not wish to comment.
It is grossly unfair to generalise the generals were no good when they were in power.
There were many generals whom I know, did exteremely well when they were on their jobs. They displayed true soldiering, highly
professional and unquestionalble credibility. Some are doing well in the corporate world after their retirement. They commanded respect and deserve sincere salutes.
The generalisation reminds me of a very aggressive slogan " Generals are no good, they had their chance when in uniform and they are now useless". This slogan was ochestrated by retired junior military officers and ex-other ranks of Ex-Service Association (PBTM), headed by an ex-WO ( Allah Yarham), in order to arrest power from retired generals in the AGMs.
Of course there may be few ( Dato Arshad can bear witness ) who survived by doing everything possible just to please political leaders and defence industry company owners to "jaga own periuk nasi". They also sat on boards of defence industry companies (supposedly due to strategic defence interest), received handsome directors' fees and other attractive "perks" to the extent of forgetting which hats they were wearing. It was not a surprise if they are also defence contractor
cronies when in power.
These are the generals "crusade against corruption" must gun down.
I made it clear in much earlier postings, when I say generals I meant real generals with 4 stars no less, otherwise I would be calling the "lesser generals" by ranks - Lt Gen, Maj Gen and Brig Gen. And I am no member, never being a member and will not let myself be a member or associated with any ex-service organizations, for personal reasons, so if I think alike about generals, consider I am as human as any human being, not as you all categorized as being "OR attitude".
I just don't have the confidence in our "generals (4 stars above)" because if they were good, then how come our Army is forever in its present state? And I envy those RMAF and RMN generals that I wonder had they being given the task to lead our military, they would have performed better to build our Malaysian Armed Forces considering our military have been in existence for at least 50 years or half a century.
Deeds speak louder than word in describing our generals. So if I generalise generals, it's all based on what our Army is like nowadays. Our generals have no vision to " Building the Malaysian Army", all they have were dreams, the dreams to live better after retirement, not to do better to make a better army before retirement.
And if I dare to go at lentgh to prove the present general is corrupt, I dare the present Defence Minister to summon me before him to prove my case. Yes I sound arrogant, but the general and the former generals are becoming more arrogant to not even have the slightest shame in committing corrupt practise and boldly made appearance in DSA and other Defence Exhibitions walking tall like gods.
I do not want to believe generals are good or were good until I see one. I have started the crusade alone, without help, againt the establishment.
My friends don't call me GILA for nothing.
Now I begin to get clearer picture
as to what is really meant by the generals! I am grateful for getting educated and I would now focus to army four-star generals whenever I come accross such term in future comments.
But how sure are we the RMAF generals and RMN admirals are spared from the dirty corruptions?
Agreed, most RMAF generals and RMN admirals appeared to have used their heads more in running their respective services based on the improvements and modernization which had taken place around these two organizations. However, these seniors are not prophets and I suggest they too are not spared from being scrutinized and audited by new Minister of Defence and MACC.
For information of all, I was no party to any military establishment
though I have vast knowledge on our Army, RMN and RMAF. I know most retired generals and also serving generals and I feel terribly disgusted if there is an ugly perception about the army generals.
People like FMZam stands witness to some irregular practices by these generals. Time has now come for Minister Zahid Hamidi and MACC to spring for immediate action to put a stop to all these dirty practices before more damages are done to the army. I am sure Dato Arshad can also contribute.
Like what I have indicated earlier, some generals ( now we refer to army )were very smart to please the politicians and defence contractors and of course these were at the expense of the army and also the other two services. It will not be a surprise at all if the CDF job will continueously be held by army generals in future!
Anybody want to bet?
On a brighter side......
I know one ex-general from the army who was virtually "jobless" for more than a year after his retirement from the service. A business man friend "sympathised" seeing such a nice man not being offered a director's post by the government and offered this guy a small table, a chair and a telephone which he hardly used.
This is a classic case of a very senior general who served the country with professionalism, loyalty and dedication but was never offered a "second" career by the government.
As expected, this guy respected the government in power but never became "kaki bodek" to politicians and he was no "crony" to any defence contractor when he was in power. He was free to run the military as how it should.
Now this ex-general is still highly respected and he deserves a very smart salute.
So, there are some good generals!
A general lives with full pension (last drawn pay/salary) in retirement, but not others. With that benefits, a general should be contented to give his best service to the nation with nothing to worry about his retirement plan, all taken care for by the government. But then the "GREEDY general" is always there amongst any of the four stars, ready to take the better of the person who wears those stars.
tuahjebat,
That general you mentioned deserves our respect. A general like him should be made to serve the military, after retirement, as a hermit (in Bahasa, PENDETA) for the military.
Yet all I see are generals and ex-generals with their siblings and family members in companies that deals with Mindef contracts. If that doesn't bear a resemblance of corrupt generals, that resembles a morally downgraded military leader who uses his position to build up his own empire after retirement.
You all can say there's nothing wrong a general or his siblings getting involved in business, but to me it is all wrong, at least MORALLY, when a general started building the business from when he was in power to get it established in time when he retires.
And if you all cherish such generals please think there are many ex-soldiers who are now jobless and wonder why some ex-soldiers are forever lucky to live luxuriously just because they are connected to the businesses "controlled" by those generals and ex-generals.
The scenario of a corrupt general is simple, when you see a general putting his efforts and concern very actively in contracts and tenders whereas that is not the job of a general, but maybe a colonel can handle it, then you start to see the anatomy of a spoilt general, and that is what precisely happening in our army nowadays.
If what FMZam had commented were facts and real, there is only one way the generals can choose, either he leaves the army and takes up business or clear his hands from business dirts to lead the army as a professional soldier.
Dato' Arshad and FMZam should meet up ( I will be too happy to join)to plan some move to highlight this ugly practice by the generals to Minister of Defence and MACC.
Or, we can consolidate the facts and submit our open letter to Minister of Defence and MACC. This is part of our "crusade against corruption" because we do not accept our army to be commanded by corrupted generals!
Remember what Dato' Arshad always remind us about the fish rotting at its head?
If I were the Minister of Defence I would be most happy to receive factual informations about my generals' mischief in favouring family members or their cronies to win defence contracts in Mindef! With these facts against the generals I know what to do to stop the heads from rotting.
tuahjebat,
Having done my part as a citizen, I have not only reported a case in the proper manner and procedures as required by the government and as a good citizen, but also as a brave citizen, where I didn't stop aT just submitting a thick report full of evident, I also went up to present my case to the relevant authorities, BPR, MOF, Mindef, KSUs and KSN....but all in vain.
I am very sure no one soul in Malaysia had done so brave to go to the length stretching 'the extra mile' in reproting corruption but they all, those bastards high ranking government officers, made me, a lowly rakyat, walked the long road of reporting a case, to frustrate me and hoping I would die down a natural death with my case. I have met with the Devil himself and all his allies, face to face, I know them all, they are all in a place called 'the government'.
It is time now that I take a drastic action and I had just done that. While that thing is taking process, let me take time to tell all citizen of this country that I can say it and prove to you all that, I am the living proof of this statement:-
IT'S USELESS TO REPORT A CORRUPTION CASE ESPECIALLY A HIGH PROFILE CASE WITH THIS BN GOVERNMENT BECAUSE OUR LEADERS FROM THE PM HIMSELF ARE NOT SINCERE AND HONEST IN FIGHTING CORRUPTION AND ALL THE CALLS 'RAKYAT DIDAHULUKAN' AND 'FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION' ARE MERE SLOGANS AND MEANINGLESS AND A MOCKERY.
The best thing in doing thing honestly is that one became so brave and gallant and got to see how those devils cowered in meeting me and dare not take action against me. But at the same time they did not take action on my 'official letters' and left most of my letters 'unanswered'.
Imagine I am just a nobody, not a rich man, not a Dato', just an ex-soldier, ex-army officer, made to lose my job by those bastards because of one tender. And yet they all are so very afraid of me because I went all out to prove they are all in the same legion of the corrupt 'Servant of the people of Malaysia'.
Now you asked me to meet up with Dato' Arshad, I think I do not want to cause discomfort to him, because I have lost all my friends for what I am doing they have to dissociate themselves for obvious reasons. If any of you is not brave enough, don't join the crusade against corruption. Let me put it in a simple word that a crusade or a jihad needs sacrifice, a hell lots of sacrifice, not just a yelling.
Right now some corrupt person may have already amassed millions in personal assets and he is not ashamed of doing that. The present day trend of a corrupt person is that he gets corrupted even worse and stop at nothing to climb to the top. That is the dark side of power.
FMZam,
Thank you for sharing your bitter and agonising experience.
Certainly your army training doesn't go wasted as you rightly fought with courage and pride.
I guess I know who you are and you deserve a salute for your sacrifice and crusade against corruption in Mindef and the military.
You may appear to have lost the battle but my prayer goes for you to win the war, insya'Allah.
Dato' Arshad and Dear Readers,
From FMZam's experience, there is a very clear testimony of a very strong network of defenders to protect some very senior officials and politicians from being made accountable and responsible, disciplined and punished for their disgraceful activities which smell corruptions. This network obviously
is at all levels and not discounting the top people!
We hardly hear officials of high positions being investigated by MACC or taken to court, except for Tan Sri Isa Samad and KSU Datuk Abdul Aziz. The rest just got away with early retirement or getting posted to other positions including the "POOL".
In the process, our country is deemed to have lost billions of ringgits to these corrupted officials and their cronies.
We now have to ask ourselves,
"Where do Dato' Arshad and his supporters stand in their "crusade against corruption"? When I discuss
this subject with some friends, they commented as if the
"crusaders" are like angry dogs barking at a big and strong wall
which hardly shake!
Hey, which way are we going in our crusade against corruption? Or, are we just wasting our time when the political leaders and the government in power do not have the WILL to positively enforce the fight against corruption?
I thought I was very determined to assist PM Najib and the government to reduce corruption in this country. After taking a very deep breath and analysing the realities, I get very tired and become suspicious with our political leaders, be in BN or PKR and also our senior government officials! I am sorry, I take a rest.
DATO.... DENGARNYA ADA PEGAWAI YANG BERTUGAS DI SEL ALAT DAH LAMA DISANA... DARI RANK KAPT..NAIK PANGKAT...MEJ....NAIK PANGKAT LAGI... JUST IMAGINE...BERAPA TAHUN DI SANA....???? lebih 5 tahun.... MUNGKIN DIA ADA KEISTIMEWAAN OR KECEMERLANGAN DI SANA.... MUNGKIN JUGA DI PANDAI MENJAHIT BAJU..... JUST GUEST.....
sel alat td ---> bhg penilaian dan pembangunan. responsible for tender.... ahli penilain tender etc
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