Machang MP Saifuddin Nasution today alleged in the Dewan Rakyat that Pasir Mas MP Ibrahim Ali - famous for his virulent Malay rights activism - posesses shares in a gaming company owned by tycoon Vincent Tan.

NONE The allegation was made when Saifuddin was debating the royal address, while initially urging the government to elaborate on gambling licences given to the Ascot Sports company.

"Pasir MAS, the 'true warrior', has shares (in that company) too. That is the real face of 'Malay warrior'. We will seek the Finance Ministry's explanation on this," said Saifuddin.

Ibrahim, who was present when Saifuddin made the allegation, shrugged it off.

According to Saifuddin, Ascot Sports was granted a 20-year licence to perform their operations, which included betting on horse racing, football and other sports.

He also took a dig at Umno, reminding the House that the Malay-based party which claimed to fight for Islam, the Malays and the nation was the one whose president was the PM when the permit was granted.

Saifuddin's allegations against Ibrahim comes hot on the heels of documents published by the Malaysia Today blog, which claimed that the Pasir Mas MP once held shares in a company then owned by Tan.

The ownership of the shares became a hot topic of debate online because of Ibrahim's vitriol against Chinese tycoons, including Tan, in his recent interview with Malaysiakini.

Billionaire's list causes commotion

The Dewan Rakyat broke out into commotion again today when Pasir Salak parliamentarian Tajuddin Abdul Rahman mentioned a few names in the Malaysian Business list of the country's wealthiest, intending to show that it is not only Umno people that are rich and famous 

mahathir heart institute ijn 160507 mokhzani He mentioned the name of business tycoons Robert Kuok and Ananda Krishnan, who are on the list, asking, "is this Umno? No, they are not Umno".

However, this invited interjections from Pakatan parliamentarians, notably Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) who asked him to read the names in the 20th and 40th positions, which is former PM Mahathir Mohamed's son Mokhzani Mahathir ( right ), and Premier Najib Razak's brother Nazir Razak respectively.

"Read the names on the 20th and 40th positions, those are Umno."

Tajudin retorted the opposition were envious of the wealth gained by those in Umno.

"Why are they mentioning number 20 and number 40? Anyone associated with Umno or the prime minister, they must be poor, is it?." he asked.

Kalabakan: Taiwan trip to prevent defection.

Kalabakan representative Abdul Ghapur Salleh confirmed that the Taiwan trip in September 2009 organised by the Backbenchers Club was to corral BN MPs who were suspected of defecting.

"Those sent on the Taiwan trip were to prevent them from defecting. I was not amongst them."

He said this while denying Zahrain's claim that he was one of those set to defect to Pakatan during the Sep 16 takeover attempt.

"I was never approached by Anwar or his assistants. I think they know that I am not the one to be bought."

Sri Gading MP defends Utusan

mohamad aziz sri gading mp Sri Gading parliamentarian Mohamad Aziz ( left ) today came out with guns blazing to defend embattled Malay daily Utusan Malaysia during his turn at debating the royal address.

" Utusan Melayu is a newspaper which has never shied away from defending the rights of the Malays. However, it never denied other races their rights. How noble is this newspaper?"

He then hit out at those who attacked the 'noble' Malay daily, including "Malays who have betrayed the Malays.

"Other races have attacked Utusan Melayu relentlessly, along with some Malays. Who are these Malays?" he then asked rhetorically.

He answered his own question saying "We all know, we are seasoned politicians, We can judge who is it. I don't have to say."

Minister: UKM still autonomous

DAP MP Teo Nie Ching rebuked UKM for willing to set aside its autonomy in calling for the Light Strike Force (LSF) to enter the campus during student council elections on Jan 29.

I teo nie ching uncensored 120908 03 n her question to Higher Education Ministry, the Serdang parliamentarian asked what was the rationale behind the university management's decision to allow the police force to "surround, manhandle and arrest" students on that day.

Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin in a written reply explained that the students who were unsatisfied with the election results had gathered at the university compound at 11.30pm on Jan 28.

The university's senior officers were surrounded and not allowed to leave until the announcement at 4am.

The reply further stated that the university called the Kajang police to intervene when the situation could not be managed by the institution's security personnel.

"With the presences of the police officers the situation was well resolved but no arrest was made. On Jan 29 the same group of students had gathered after Friday prayers in front of the UKM mosque. The police were called again to contain the situation and the students dispersed gradually and no arrest was made," he said.