'It is foolish to think that Sibu heralds a new dawn in Sarawak. Pakatan will have great difficulty penetrating the non-urban areas. Taib is still the White Raja.'

S'wak Tribune editor in hot soup over Taib article

Agent99: "Is Taib testing the waters?" Isn't that part of a politician's game? There is nothing wrong for him to test the waters and we all know that politicians always do that.

Abdul Taib Mahmud is a politician and a public figure. Aren't we allowed to say anything anymore in this country? Are our politicians (and their daughters) getting too sensitive on petty issues?

Chuath: We honour Sarawak Tribune executive editor Paul Si for his integrity in doing what he truly believes is good for the country, without fear or favour, and not to be bullied or bought. If only we have more men like him, our country would be a better place. The reaction from Taib's daughter is high-handed and typical of people who think that they own others.

Sarawakian: Taib will not step down, that's for certain. The paid sycophants are already out in force to say that the "people" want Taib to continue. If Taib steps down, who will protect him from prosecution for corruption? And most importantly, who's going to let him suck up more of the state's money?

Mark my words, Taib will die in office. If he can, he'll want to rule the state from the grave too.

Jin Lama: It's wishful thinking to believe that someone like Abdul Taib Mahmud will ride into the sunset just like that. It is also foolish to think that Sibu heralds a new dawn in Sarawak. Pakatan Rakyat will have great difficulty penetrating the non-urban areas. Taib is still the white raja and remains unshakeable.

Satinah Osman: This episode seems to have a glimmer of the late President Suharto and his children. Is this a disease prevalent in waters around that area? It is obvious that Sarawakians are slowly waking up and getting to know much better about their state. They should know what to do if they want to save Sarawak.

Au Fait: Taib is powerful; nobody can touch him, not even the present federal government because of his 'straightened' records. He is a clean man. The MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) has no file on him. He is a fine product of BN.

'Shocked to learn Realmild shares belonged to Umno'

Swipenter: Businessman Abdul Rahman Maidin lost RM40 million just like that because TDM (Tun Dr Mahathir) asked him to transfer the shares to someone else without compensation. Just imagine how much he made then.

This could be possible since TR (Tajuddin Ramli) made billions by ‘forcing' the government to buy back shares of MAS from him at RM8 when it was somewhere around RM2.30 at that time. This is Bolehland. Anything is possible.

KayKay: Anwar Ibrahim used Realmild to take over the New Straits Times Group from Renong (Halim Saad), who was linked to Daim Zainuddin. Anwar and Daim fought over the NST Group one day in front of Mahathir who advised Daim: " Bagi lah dia . Why do you need a newspaper?"

Hong Leong underwrote/financially guaranteed Realmild's takeover of the NST Group to the tune of RM800 million. In return, Anwar gave Hong Leong a banking licence. The rest is history.

But one thing that must be stressed is that former NST editor-in-chief A Kadir Jasin and Daim go a long way back. From his Bernama days, he made a career and fortune out of tracking Daim's career. He hates Anwar.

Habib RAK: I posted a question to Kadir Jasin in his blog but the comment did not appear. I look forward to hear his side of the story. I too have wondered for long how this newspaper man can be so well off? How did he raise all the money to own shares in NST. Nowadays, he ‘nasihat' (advise) others of good values.

Sentinel: Apa tunggu lagi , MACC? This is the time to walk the talk and haul in that king of all marauders and robbers to court and strip him of his Tun-ship and jail him if found guilty. This is the time to show you're serious and then, only then, Malaysians may start to believe and support ‘1Malaysia' and keep PM Najib Razak for 22 years.

Blogger charged with 'poking fun' at TNB

Geronimo: What kind of justice do we have here? For someone posting an article of a humourous nature, he gets whacked by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC). But for someone posting a doctored photo of LGE (Lim Guan Eng), which is totally slanderous over the Internet, MCMC is mulling over the matter. I wonder where is their sense of priority.

Changeagent: "The MCMC accused Irwan Abdul Rahman of using the Internet to send false comments, with the intention of hurting the feelings of others". So, whose feelings did he hurt exactly? Must be a very sensitive person or group of people.

Pemerhati: This event again highlights the fact that Mahathir completely destroyed our excellent tertiary education system by sidelining meritocracy and used race as the main criteria for entry into our tertiary institutions. So now the upper echelons of the public institutions are manned by quite a number of low calibre professionals and civil servants like lawyer Abdul Razak Musa of MACC.

Irwan is a humourist and anyone with a little bit of IQ reading his blog will realise that a lot of what he says is tongue in cheek. But unfortunately, the people doing the prosecution are probably also of Abdul Razak's calibre and cannot appreciate the humour. The only hope for Irwan is that the person on the bench hearing the case has a sufficiently high IQ and ability to see the humour.

Md Imraz Muhammed Ikhbal: Is it okay for anyone to make a joke and as a result thereof another innocent person suffers physically or be wrongfully defamed? Jokes are indeed welcomed by the public but if it is not made obvious enough so as to avoid misrepresentation or defamation to others, then liability ensues and one should indeed be accountable for the damage inflicted unto others.

Che Khalib Mohd Noh is a CEO of a GLC and such untruths is damning to his reputation and is very misleading to the public at large. Blog all you want but be responsible and careful so as not to harm others with untruths albeit jokes.

Wira: If TNB is aggrieved, they should sue the blogger. I cannot understand why MCMC should be involved.

Malaysian Born: I think there must be a limit to the lunacy we allow to go on without comment. The MCMC can always say that they are just following orders and later blame whichever minister but when it gets this ridiculous even they should pause. Who is TNB that they should not be poked fun at.

If it is liable there are laws to address this but beyond that the MCMC should be concentrate on their real work. Freedom to comment and criticise is a critical requirement for development. We are at crossroads of our growth as a nation and the people that should be supported and not hindered.

Narrow-minded and short-sighted actions on the part of entities in the government will do untold damage which will be felt by generations to come.

Bangsamalaysia: I feel sad for Irwan and sadder for the state of our country. We are ruled by tyrants who have forked tongues. They can wax lyrical about how great a vision they have for a united progressive 1Malaysia but at the same time they want to stifle all dissent.

No one can say anything that is detrimental to their agenda. If we do not get together and throw out the despotic BN government in the next general election then we will get much worse as these people become more desperate.

Lim Tuck Sun: Is humour a crime now?

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