‘Call it MACC, ACA, BPR or what have you, it doesn't look like the new name brings any difference to the way how this agency works.'

On New anti-corruption body yet another BN lap dog?

Growing Sick And Tired: Call it MACC, ACA, BPR or what have you, it doesn't look like the new name brings any difference to the way how this agency works.

When we started engaging in discussions with the famous Hong Kong anti-corruption agency ICAC, all of us thought that there is still hope that the government was serious in fighting corruption by revamping the ACA.

However, it is now clear that the very leader that is nominated to lead MACC is showing impartiality by making comments or allegations openly in the local media without any prosecutions initiated.

This has really undone all the efforts to revamp the old ACA which has lost credibility by its inability to be an unbiased independent body fighting corruption at the highest levels.

When the Perak elected representatives resigned - two of whom are under corruption charges - to join Barisan as independents, we did not hear MACC's enthusiasm to initiate investigations into the matter to see if bribery was the reason for party-switching.

We did not get a proper closure on the Lingam tape case and the people that were implicated. We also did not hear a satisfactory outcome on the investigations into the PKFZ issue.

Corruption, bribery and money politics among government officials should be eradicated as it just means ineffective use of taxpayer's money.

It is public interest that the people's money is well spent to develop the nation and fulfill the nation's needs and goals.

Therefore, it should be the task of the MACC to look see that the government - the very people that were elected by the public - is running the nation in a transparent and accountable manner and not abusing the nation's coffers to fulfill their own personal or certain parties' agenda.

Having said that, the MACC made a bad start off the block with such ‘unprofessional' announcements in the local news and hinting that it reports to the powers-that-be.

Looks familiar, smells familiar but it has a different call sign. How disappointing.

PT Tan: Khalid should sue the MACC for defamation and subjudice. No two doubts about it.

Selangor should sue the MACC too.

On Perak tussle: Umno seeks QC's opinion

Yuvan:

It's a good thing that Umno beat Pakatan into this, ie, to seek a QC's opinion on the on-going Perak tussle.

If Pakatan had done this, I can bet that all the Umno politicians would have cried foul and accused Pakatan of not being patriotic at all and that Pakatan wants to gain mileage by trying to get ‘outsiders' involved in local politics and that it is trying to seek sympathy from ‘foreigners'.

I think this Perak issue is going too far and is causing a lot of anxiety, not only to the people of Perak but also to the whole nation.

With all due regard and respect to the Perak royalty, I strongly believe that the best way to resolve this crisis is to give the people of Perak another chance and let them choose their new government.

The federal government is still in the hands of BN. All that the BN politicians should be doing now is to focus their energy and resources towards uniting the people and strengthening the economy.

If they are really sincere in their efforts to gain the confidence of the people again, they should not be wasting their time harping on some trivial matters involving opposition politicians and seeking cheap publicity over matters that is not going to do the nation any good.

Political Observer: The legal and constitutional issues bedeviling the state of Perak over the sacking of the incumbent MB are indeed complex and will take considerable time and legal arguments to resolve.

In the midst of a worldwide economic crisis, it is regrettable that Perak has to grapple with two governments fighting with each other over the right to govern.

This constitutional crisis could have been avoided by dissolving the assembly and calling for new elections to give the mandate back to the people.

Given that the state constitution allows the ruler the discretion of whether to follow the MB's advice to dissolve the assembly or not, one must ask what discretion exists in the face of overwhelming moral and ethical issues which weigh the decision to one side?

The ruler can exercise his discretion in marginal cases where moral and ethical issues do not intrude or where they cloud both sides of the argument.

In cases where there is clearly only one right way to proceed, the ruler's decision should be purely formal.

A decision which ignores moral and ethical considerations gives the impression of partiality and creates the kind of moral outrage, public dissatisfaction and legal challenges existing in Perak today.

In the case of Perak, BN's majority depended on three defectors who proclaimed themselves independent.

Two of them are facing corruption charges and one of them is reviled by her community. There are reasons to believe that threats and corruption may be factors in their defections.

What discretion does the Sultan of Perak possess in this case?

Apollos: The above action proves only one thing: Umno knows that Zambry has a weak claim constitutionally to the office of menteri besar of Perak.

Ahnaf: Is Vijay joking? Has he compared the state of British law with Malaysian law? Has he considered that no-one is forcing Umno to seek a QC's help?

The difference between asking for help and having that help forced onto you is the difference between sovereignty and colonialism.

And there shouldn't be any shame in making a sovereign decision to ask for help from people who are better than you, because that's how you learn to get better than them.

By the writer's logic, we shouldn't be sending students to study abroad or hiring international talent either, because that would be insulting to local universities and companies.

If you take the logic even further, he shouldn't even be writing in English, since goodness knows such 'linguistic imperialism' is an insult to Bahasa.

This kind of pseudo-nationalist rhetoric is just the same as Umno's racialist politics - and both will lead the country to ruin.

Scrutator:

Oh dear! One very upset reader going the old anti-colonial bit! Sooo yesterday.

Maybe lawyers are like football teams - you know, like the difference between Chelsea and the Malaysian All Losers side.

On Pakatan to block BN access to Perak coffers

Frustrated Malaysian: In wake of the political situation in Perak, I'm sure that Malaysians are very concerned what will happen next in this state. The ‘war' between the current and previous MB will continue and continue to what extend is yet to be known.

Even if the matter is brought to court, the suspension of the new BN team will further delay a lot of projects that will benefit the people in Perak in general.

As a Malaysian, it is indeed sad to see such an incident happening as we already achieved Merdeka in 1957.

Politically, we should be stronger than any other nation in this world but what happened right now, especially in Perak, makes us think twice about what we have achieved over the past years.

Leaders form both BN and Pakatan Rakyat keep on accusing each other with their ‘tactics' and in the end, the rakyat will be the victims of this ‘no end' politicking.

Come on, PM Pak Lah and DPM Najib, why don't you two accept the challenge by Pakatan to dissolve the Perak assembly and ask the Perakians to decide on who has the mandate to lead Perak again.

If BN is so confident that it can wrest back Perak from Pakatan, do it rather than just merely talking and talking without any purpose - especially in the midst of the economic slowdown.

On Chinese school may suffer from BN-Pakatan feud

Jing Yi Lim: According to the news report, no BN leaders were present at the event even though invitations were sent to some BN federal and state representatives. I do not know what the reason was, but I do hope it was not because of the presence of Pakatan's leaders.

Politicians from two coalitions can fight over the number of seats in the parliament and the control of state governments, but they must not politicise issues related to socio-economic development, one being education.

Bickering and wrangling like this will not help any of them gain more power or influence. On the contrary, their true faces will be revealed and examined by the people who care about their well-being and the country's development.

Despite promises of aid from the government, Chinese primary schools have been struggling to survive ever since the country achieved independence from the British.

For those who have been putting strenuous efforts in Chinese education development, the predicament that the Chinese schools are in is nothing new. Aside from the lack of funding and teachers, we have too little pupils in rural areas while too little schools in the cities.

I hope both BN and Pakatan could put aside their narrow-minded partisan politics when dealing with social issues, and work jointly with trust to cater to the people's social welfare.

On The political rape of Elizabeth Wong

Int: The circumstances leading up to Elizabeth Wong's offer to resign have been agonising for Pakatan Rakyat supporters to witness.

However, if there is a discernible silver lining in the cloudiness of this fiasco, it is that the clouds parted momentarily to provide a rare glimpse into PKR's true ideological core.

For all the rhetoric of Ketuanan Rakyat and ‘ anak Cina anak saya ', actions speak louder than words, and the actions leave much to be desired.

For Zulkifli Noordin to have gotten away with barely a rap on the knuckles indicated the low standards that PKR applies to its fold. That in itself may be forgivable for a young party that hasn't had the benefit of time to cultivate a crop of high quality candidates.

However, for Elizabeth Wong to be cast aside so easily despite having demonstrated capabilities, and loyalty not just to the party but personally to Wan Azizah for so many years, shows an unforgivable level of unfairness and political expediency.

It seems in PKR's Ketuanan Rakyat, the lady is cast aside for having let her guard down in her own home. It's looking like the more things ubah, the more they stay macam biasa .