Archive - 22 September 2002

According to the Financial Times of London, Dr Mahathir Mohamad has "broken his silence" over the recent Wessex Water bribery allegations to defend the YTL Group, the Malaysian conglomerate accused of fraud to clinch the take-over of a British water company.

A Malay Muslim organisation which has forecast a war between Singapore and Malaysia within three years is openly using the Internet to recruit "field operatives" with a military background. Intelligence agencies say Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) has cells throughout Southeast Asia as well as direct lines to Osama bin Laden's (photo) al-Qaeda.

Keadilan is already preparing its machinery for the Gaya by-election despite talks of negotiation among the opposition parties to choose a single candidate. DAP prefers to be cautious, saying it wants more feedback. The BN is expected to nominate a SAPP candidate.

Anwar Ibrahim was just unlucky to have Judge Augustine Paul heard his cases, says senior lawyer Manjeet Singh Dhillon.The judge has been known to have made many inconsistent decisions and rulings when handling different cases.

MIC president Samy Velly has taken to task "upper class Indians" in the country who are bent on criticising the party but do little to help the community.

DAP chief Lim Kit Siang tells two arch rivals parties, PAS and Umno, to stop their competition to "out-Islam and out-Islamic state" each other as it undermines Malaysia's international competitiveness, worsening the national investment climate in an already bleak global economic scenario.

Budget 2003, touted as marking a fundamental change in economic management, has received a mixed reaction from the corporate sector.