Thursday, July 19, 2012

The Pakatan rakyat Selangor Government Is Shifting Goalpost On The Talam Debt Issue

 
 
PRESS STATEMENT BY WILLIAM LEONG JEE KEEN ON MCA’S ALLEGATION THAT THE PAKATAN RAKYAT SELANGOR GOVERNMENT IS SHIFTING GOALPOST ON THE TALAM DEBT ISSUE

19 July 2012

MCA through its Young Professionals Bureau Chief, Datuk Chua Tee Yong, held its fifth press conference yesterday, 17 July 2012, in its continuing attempt to raise allegations of impropriety by the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor Government in entering into a Settlement Agreement with Talam Corporation 2 years ago.  MCA in its latest press conference now alleges that the Selangor Government is “shifting goalpost” in answering Chua Tee Yong’s allegations.

FALLACIES IN MCA’S ARGUMENTS
MCA and Datuk Chua Tee Yong should spare the public from suffering further insults to their intelligence by ceasing their disingenuous arguments on this issue.  When reviewed logically, the fallacies and deceptive arguments are plain for all to see.  Fallacies are fake or deceptive arguments employed by the intellectually dishonest to provide a false conclusion that proves nothing when the fallacies are finally exposed.

HALF-TRUTHS
Half-truth is the fallacy of telling the truth but deliberately omitting important details in order to falsify and support a false conclusion.  The first fallacy in MCA’s arguments is the use of half-truths, while deliberately withholding material facts.  MCA has deliberately withheld the following material facts:
a) That MCA failed to disclose the debts were incurred during the BN administration of the Selangor Government;
b) That the Pakatan Rakyat Government acted to recover RM392 million debts owed by Talam to Kumpulan Darul Ehsan, Permodalan Negeri Selangor Berhad and Yayasan Pendidikan Selangor in connection with several property development projects carried out in the last 10 years;
c) That the BN Selangor State Government allowed Talam to incur the debts during the time 3 MCA representatives were Selangor EXCO members;
d) That the BN/MCA state government allowed the state GLCs and agencies to enter into highly questionable transactions in which Talam was given land as consideration for contracts before Talam had even completed its part of the contracts;
e) That the BN/MCA state government did not take any action to collect the debts to the extent Talam in its 2007 Annual Accounts did not consider the debts as current liabilities but instead treated them as long term payables;
f) That the BN/MCA state government failed, neglected and/or refused to take any action or proper action to collect the debts:
· Even after Talam was declared to be an affected issuer pursuant to Practice Note 17/2005 of the Bursa Malaysia Listing Requirements on 1 September 2006;
· Even though Talam had accumulated losses of RM446.53 million, as at 31 July 2008 with total borrowings of RM1.184 billion of which RM924.8 million or 78.1% of the total borrowings were in default;
· Even though Talam was unable to pay its debts when due because it had over RM2 billion in debt and trade payables whereas its receivables and cash was less than RM280 million;
g) That the debts were not secured and upon the winding-up of Talam, the preferred and secured creditors would have priority over the state and other unsecured creditors;
h) That Talam had proposed a restructuring plan to settle the defaulted debts by issuing various forms of preference shares and loan stock to its lenders which excluded the state GLCs and agencies;
i) That the Securities Commission had by a letter dated 25 September 2007 rejected Talam’s Proposed Regularization Plans; and
j) That there were various petitions filed by several creditors for the winding-up of companies in the Talam Group.
MCA has withheld the above information from the public in their press conferences.  It is clear to those who have checked the publicly available information such as Talam’s public announcements on the settlement, its annual reports and circulars to shareholders that the Pakatan Rakyat State Government would not be able to recover any cash.  The taking of the 13 pieces of land was the best available option in the circumstances.

LYING WITH STATISTICS
Another common deceptive argument is lying with statistics.  This is using true figures and numbers to “prove” unrelated claims.  MCA has lied with statistics by focusing only on 1 out of 13 pieces of land.  MCA in alleging that the State Government had given an excessive value of RM181,082,000.00 for the Bestari Jaya land when the market value is RM139,090,000.00 failed to apply the proper statistics that is, that the Menteri Besar and the Selangor Government had taken back 13 pieces of land with a total market value of RM685,230,000.00 for a consideration of only RM676,094,000.00. 
In any event, MCA did not disclose that in the same document disclosing the market value and the consideration value of the Bestari Jaya land, the book value was RM215,128,000.00 and therefore Talam suffered a book loss of RM34,046,000.00.  MCA’s allegation that Talam was able to negotiate “a good deal” is therefore without substance.
 
PLAYING ON EMOTIONS

Playing on emotions is the classic fallacy of ignoring facts and calling on emotions alone.  MCA in alleging that a “debt free” Permodalan Negeri Selangor Berhad (PNSB) is now saddled with a RM230 million debt in buying 2 of the Talam assets from the Selangor Pakatan Rakyat Government is invoking emotions while ignoring the fact that it was the BN/MCA administration that saddled the Selangor GLCs and agencies with a RM392 million problem in the first place.

CLEAN HANDS
It is a well-established principle that “he who comes to equity must come with clean hands”.  MCA is precluded from questioning the Pakatan Rakyat Government’s efforts to recover the Talam debts without MCA first purging themselves by taking the appropriate action against their Selangor EXCO members who permitted such debts to be incurred in the first place and had failed, refused and/or neglected to collect the debts.

THE BIG LIE
The big lie technique is the contemporary fallacy of repeating a lie or deceptive half-truth over and over, particularly in the media, until people believes it without further proof or evidence.  MCA in repeating their unfounded allegations against the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor Government in 5 press conferences after explanations have been put forth by the Menteri Besar and others are putting into practice the famous quote by Joseph Goebbels:
“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
It is also a common fallacy befalling those who believe that it is necessary to continue on a wrong course of action after discovering that it is a mistake because of the fear that by admitting the mistake, there would be unthinkable consequences to his leadership.
The fallacies of these “big lie” technique and Goebbels’ doctrine had been exposed on November 19, 1863, at the dedication ceremony of a military cemetery at Gettysburg that “you cannot fool all of the people all of the time”.
 
INTELLECTUAL HONESTY

It is hard to find a more tired and intellectually dishonest argument even in Malaysian politics today than MCA’s continuing allegations of impropriety against the Pakatan Rakyat for recovering the Talam debt in the vain hope of attracting political support in Selangor.  This episode is a clear indication that MCA is not interested in speaking honestly to Malaysians.  If MCA is sincere in helping the people of Selangor, then it should help in converting the 13 pieces of Talam land into cash for the people’s benefit.
There are times and events when politicians should stop trying to score cheap political points and act for the benefit of the people.  The tragic events in the State having lost its assets and the difficulty encountered in recovering the Talam debt is one of this.
If MCA persist with these allegations, let the people judge those who were busy playing little political games while the adults were working quietly in the serious business of collecting RM392 million.
 
William Leong Jee Keen
Member of Parliament, Selayang

Friday, July 13, 2012

梁自坚颜贝倪派购物卷 308位雪州新生儿受惠

颜贝倪(左)及梁自坚(右)与父母愉快互动。
(万挠讯)士拉央区308名雪州新生婴儿基金(TAWAS)会员,日前喜获雪州政府发放的100令吉购物券,小朋友在父母陪同下领着礼券购物去,一片欢笑声此起彼落。

这项在万挠百货所举办的雪州婴孩基金“走,购物去”活动是由士拉央国会议员梁自坚和万挠州议员颜贝倪联袂举行,吸引308位在2008年后在雪州出生的孩童出席。

梁自坚指出,自民联执政就有一系列惠民政策,而 “新生儿基金”主要是鼓励雪州人民多生育,以便为国家带来更多生产力,州政府将把100令吉储蓄存入孩子专设户头。
颜贝倪则说,借助这个活动能为雪州父母减轻负担,从中也制造机会让平时忙碌工作的家长有家庭乐时间。

她呼吁那些还未为孩子登记雪州“婴孩基金”的家长踊跃登记,只要孩子2008年在雪州出世都可申请,家长只需携带孩子身份证、报生纸副本和家长身份证副本到士拉央国会议员办公室和万挠州议员办公室办理手续。

 Selangor Times

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

交通部推行自动执法系统 梁自坚揭合约颁冬眠公司

【本刊刘伟鸿撰述/摄影】人民公正党总财政梁自坚揭露,处于冬眠状态的本地公司获颁自动交通执法系统合约,而该公司的其中一名董事亦是获颁卫生部医药安全标签合约的公司的董事之一。他质问交通部,为何不直接接洽外国供应商,反要依靠本地中介公司获得该系统,让其从中牟利?

他 指出,其中一家获得自动交通执法系统(Automated Enforcement System,简称AES)合约的公司是Beta Tegap,该公司从澳洲Redflag公司进口超速照相系统。“为何政府不直接给Redflag,反而需要通过一个管道(Gateway),以让他们获 得盈利?”

也是士拉央区国会议员的他在公正党总部召开记者会时质疑交通部颁发该合约给Beta Tegap公司,因为该公司的公司委员会列明的商业属性是“冬眠”(Dormant)。

他表示,其中一名董事Andreas Teoh也是获得卫生部医药安全标签合约的Mediharta 公司的董事之一,他要求同是马华公会党籍的交通部长江作汉和卫生部长廖中莱解释,为何医药安全标签承包商可以获得交通安全的合约?

梁自坚展示两份马来西亚公司委员会文件,指Andreas Teoh也是Mediharta 公司董事Arianta Alikusno的儿子,而据他了解,Arianta Alikusno与马华公会关系密切。
因此,他要求马华公会部长解释,AES合约的颁发是否与裙带关系有关?“为何有这样的巧合?”

根据The Edge报道,AES系统是交通部要在831个车祸黑区装设1000架超速照相机,以帮助陆路交通局减少车祸的政策之一。据梁自坚资料显示,而Beta Tegap与ATES公司分别获得半岛北部和南部为期五年的合约。

据梁自坚资料显示,而Beta Tegap与ATES公司分别获得半岛北部和南部为期五年的合约。

董事与马华来往密切?
记 者询问他有何证据指证Beta Tegap与马华公会来往密切时,他只是引述Mediharta和Beta Tegap公司注册证,指两间公司都有Andreas Teoh名字,而且他声称Batu Tegap另一名董事Yap Kim See是Andreas Teoh的母亲,也是Arianta Alikusno的妻子。

其他记者再追问该问题时,他只要求马华公会作出解释,而且卫生部长和交通部长都是马华公会党籍,因此他有理由怀疑。

记者在记者会后询问梁自坚,他如何得知Andreas Teoh、Arianta Alikusno和Yap Kim See是亲属关系时,他答道他有可靠消息证明上述三人是亲属关系,但他没有透露进一步详情。

质问何以没阻打南负债?
另外,梁自坚炮轰马华公会,为何没在前朝雪州政府成为行政议员时,终止与达兰打南(Talam)公司的工程合约,以致雪州政府需要负起该债务。
“(马华公会)最好的时机是在成为政府时,为何不停止与打南的合约?造成债务的增加。”
因此,他吁请马华公会在炮轰雪州政府时,先顾及自己的事务。
马 华公会青年专才局主任蔡智勇昨天揭露,雪州民联政府尚未索回打南公司拖欠雪州子公司的3亿9200万元债务,反之却购买打南公司的6亿7600万元资产, 协助该公司脱离股票交易所列为之“P17陷困公司”地位,而其中是以2亿6600万元现金的方式支付予打南公司,而后者用以偿还债务予银行。

他指出,雪州政府在2009年州议会曾通过动议额外拨出3亿9200万元,以追讨打南公司的债务,然而这笔款项到底如何使用,雪州政府并没有交待。

蔡智勇表示,购买打南公司6亿7600万元资产加上3亿9200万元州议会通过款项总计逾10亿元,因此质疑这是庞大的可疑交易,促雪州民联政府解释。【点击:蔡智勇指子公司未索回4亿债 抨雪反购逾6亿元资产救打南】

但今天雪州大臣卡立依布拉欣(Khalid Ibrahim)今天没有解释打南公司疑云,只是表明短期内采取法律行动起诉马华公会和有关人士。【点击:暂不答打南债务重组指控 雪州政府起诉马华等诽谤】