When I was young my mum always reminded me to get far away from any fight-scene and never be busy-body trying to find out what was the excitement about. Can’t blame her though as she is a living testimony of the May 13 incident. I guess that was exactly what happened to the innocent Chang Jiun Haur, 21, for allegedly running over FRU personnel (reported MalaysiaKini). The curiosity–seeker was at the wrong place at the wrong time when he was stopped and surrounded and then beaten till he was “soaked in his own blood” – by some 20 policemen (or thugs?). What the heck, you simply can’t differentiate gangsters from the policemen nowadays, can you? Luckily the policemen didn’t drag and gang-rape his sister who was inside the car at that time.
Police’s brutality continues
A high-ranking police officer at the scene claimed that Chang had run over a FRU personnel with his car.
“He asked for it. He ran over a policeman and he got what he deserved,” the officer told Malaysiakini a few minutes after the
incident.Asked to identify the person who was hit by the car, the officer had initial difficulty in persuading the individual to come forward.
When he did so, the man – who appeared unscathed – claimed: “He tried to run me over … look at my baton, it is broken. What more evidence do you want?”
What happened as reported?
According to theStar, a fracas ensued at about 7.15pm when a group of unidentified men armed with sticks and helmets attacked the residents. Several residents were taken to hospital. Also injured was a photographer from Utusan Malaysia, Roy Azis Abdul Aziz, who was beaten up when he tried to snap some photographs.
The group of men sat on the blocks, not allowing the residents to remove them and threatened to attack those who tried to go near the barricade. However, the group disappeared when the police arrived later. Cool, you have a group of readily-armed thugs threaten to beat up residents and the police couldn’t catch even one of them until this hour. And what did the Kajang OCPD Asst Comm Shakaruddin Che Mood said when asked why police didn’t help? His men were busy diverting traffic because it was more important than to guard the lifes of innocent people. Shouldn’t this guy be rewarded with a medal?
Of course the Grand Saga spokeman responsed in lighting speed that the company has nothing to do with those thugs or gangsters. Sure, and we’re suppose to believe those thugs have nothing better to do than to guard the concreate slabs not belonging to them? How come I smell something fishy with this Grand Saga’s executive director who happened to be the former Dang Wangi Police Chief?
Why the residents are so crazy to get rid of the barricades?
The whole crisis is quite simple. The toll concessionaire Grand Saga is simply too greedy to suck the money out of motorists and the residents of Bandar Mahkota Cheras are furious that they are being forced to travel another 6.7 km (one way) just to pay the RM0.90 toll to go to Kuala Lumpur. Despite an access road connecting Mahkota Cheras town-ship to the Cheras-Kajang highway built by Lion Diversified Holdings Berhad, Grand Saga decided that the only way to collect more money from tolls was to block the road, forcing the residents to make a huge merry go-round.
There are two tolls on the 11.5km Cheras-Kajang highway, RM1.00 at the 9th-mile toll plaza and RM0.90 at the 11th-mile toll plaza. The short-cut (shorter 1.5km route) have great impact on Grand Plaza’s toll collection at the 11th mile but not on the first toll located at the 9th mile of the highway hence the crisis. Can you see the tyranny at works here?
Grand Saga and Taliworks, a cash-rich company
Isn’t it strange that a toll concessionaire such as Grand Saga could be so powerful? What’s the relationship between Grand Saga and Taliworks and who’re the bosses? Taliworks Corporation Berhad (KLSE: TALIWRK, stock-code 8524), the water specialist, currently operates and maintains the Sungai Selangor Water Treatment Works Phase 1 in Ijok, Selangor, and a water concession in Langkawi. The company manages six water treatment plants with a combined design capacity of 1,039 million liters per day that serve approximately two million people in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Langkawi, Kedah. The ambitious company is looking to expand overseas when its Chief Executive Officer Abdul Rahman Siraj said the company was seriously looking at four more water and waste management projects worth RM400 million in China.
Taliworks has also expanded its operations to include toll highway operations via the acquisition of a 55% (for RM55.5 million) interest in Cerah Sama Sdn Bhd (CSSB) from Bunga Abadi. Interestingly both Taliworks and Bunga Abadi have a mutual substantial shareholder – the family of the late Datuk Lim Ah Bak (The son, Lim Chee Meng, is Taliworks executive Director) who was the business partner of Abdul Hamid Pawanteh, the former Perlis Menteri Besar (Chief Minister).The company is cash-rich after it has successfully raised RM225 million of convertible bonds for business expansion purposes. Locally the company is banging on the Pahang-Selangor inter-state raw water transfer project, which it hopes to secure. So, Mr Chief Minister of Selangor, you have your trump cards to play here.
There’s another big-gun who’s the majority shareholder in Grand Saga, National Front’s (Barisan Nasional) Syed Sobri Syed Hashim, the State Assemblyman for Kuala Nerang. Hey, isn’t that a conflict of interest?
Selangor government plays dumb?
Analysts think Taliworks stands a good chance of grabbing some jobs since Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd (KPS), a subsidiary of the Selangor government’s investment unit, Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Bhd owns about 20 percent in Taliworks. Gosh! Doesn’t this means the Selangor government is equally tainted in this Grand-Saga Bandar Mahkota Cheras clashes? Is Khalid Ibrahim, the Chief Minister of Selangor from PKR, plays dumb or simply that stupid to not realize this fact? What a way to go to milk motorists for another 20 years.
For the financial year (FY) ended Dec 31, 2007, Taliworks registered an increase of 33.6% in revenue to RM191 million from RM142.9 million in the previous year. Net profit, however, fell to RM33.1 million from RM35.6 million the year before. Could this justifiable enough to suck 60,000 residents of their money, never mind risking the lifes of innocent people? However, don’t expect the federal government to do anything because it was their intention to play-up the tension – the dirtier the crisis blows, the better.
Grand Saga Big Bosses
Management Team:
- Ahmad Ishak Haron – Managing Director
- Chee Lean Thong – Executive Director, Operation & Administration
- Zainal Abidin Ali (former Dang Wangi Police Chief) – Executive Director, Business Development & Corporate Affairs
- Datin Lee Li-May – Director, Tender & Purchasing
- A. Rajasolan – General Manager
- Patrick Wong – Assistant General Manager, Business Development & Corporate Affairs
- Paramjeet Singh Nahar Singh – Finance Manager
- Nurashid Noordin – Human Resource & Administration Manager
Board of Director:
- Ahmad Ishak Haron
- Chee Lean Thong
- Zainal Abidin Ali
- Datin Lee Li-May
- Dato’ Wan Puteh Wan Mohd Saman
- Minhat Mion
- Lim Yew Boon
Other Articles That May Interest You …
- Tiger at Home but Useless and Hopeless against Outsiders
- The Chain-Reaction of Government’s Vengeance Policy
|
|
May 28th, 2008 by financetwitter
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Comments
“When he did so, the man – who appeared unscathed – claimed: “He tried to run me over … look at my baton, it is broken. What more evidence do you want?”
To me, this is enough evidence that the Police Office is lying.
Why?
Let me give you a car and a baton. Your instruction is to break the baton using a car. Is this an easy task to do? I’m not sure how to break a baton with a car. Unless I purposely put it in such an angle where the car would then roll over. Even then, I suspect the baton would just be scratched. To break a baton using a car is an extremely difficult as well as a “precision” exercise.
Anyway, the whole exercise, as you pointed out, is disgusting.
Nice blog.
i was as curious as you anonymous … until now i still couldn’t figure out the way to actually bang the baton to break it, no matter how many times i try *grin*
cheers …
Please watch the video.You will notice Malaysians are so united to fight against injustice by removing the blocks.I think Malaysians are more united than we think.Examples are gathering of lawyers (all races) to send memorandum to PM and others.Go to youtube to watch some videos during demostration.Malaysians are united but the politicians try to separate us through policies!
I have a few theories for the baton:
1.The baton broke because it was used to break the car window in order to force the driver out.
2.It was used to immobilize the driver(victim).The baton was an evidence.
3.The baton is made in Malaysia/China.Maybe it is a pirated baton.
4.The FRU was an idiot to cook up such unreasonable explanation.
stocktube,
the grand saga posting is brilliant… i would like to repost with your permission on my blog… i will have a link up to yr site with proper referencing to you and yr site .. i think this needs to be circulated as widely as possible… i will be putting up a link to your site… no reciprocal needed.. let me know what u think, pls email me:
malaysiafinance@gmail.com
S Dali
hello s dali,
thanx, hope more people are aware of the companies they’re investing …
permission to repost granted … kindly check your email …
cheers …
Bro, what do you mean when u say Selangor government plays dumb? since the shareholding structure was already in place before he became chief minister cannot really fault them. And as far as i know, he has never hidden from the incident unlike UMNO or MCA fellas who tell everyone they care about the rakyat but not even a squeak from them assholes about this issue.
See the edge report on 29th.The Selangor state government will seek clarification from the Cheras-Kajang highway concessionaire Grand Saga Sdn Bhd on the closing of an access road through another channel — as a shareholder. ““Incidentally, unfortunately or maybe it is good one of our companies owns an indirect stake in the company. We need to ask the directors their responsibilities in this regard,” said Khalid.Khalid said the state government would come to a decision after finding out why the matter had deteriorated to such a stage.
“My position still stands that the slip road should be opened for the convenience of the people,” he said.
This is the link
http://www.theedgedaily.com/cms/content.jsp?id=com.tms.cms.article.Article_32981cb5-cb73c03a-18992130-5d6cba50
I cannot fault the CM for his stand on the matter.
And the latest:
Grand Saga EGM in 2 weeks
The Selangor government – through its state-owned company – will call for an emergency general meeting of toll operator Grand Saga within the next two weeks to settle the on-going Cheras toll saga.
Menteri Besar Khalid Ibrahim revealed today that the call for the EGM would be made through state company Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor which indirectly owns a stake in Grand Saga.
Yesterday Khalid had said that the EGM would be called to get an explanation from Grand Saga over its tough stand on the barricade matter as well as the alleged use of thugs by the company against the Bandar Mahkota Cheras (BMC) residents.
He also assured the residents that he would personally take a close look at the situation constantly.
“I will be back (in BMC) within one week (to see the development),” said Khalid.
During the meeting with around 200 residents this morning, Khalid pointed out that the dispute between BMC developer Narajaya Sdn Bhd and Grand Saga should be settled immediately.
“I have sent letters to them to have a discussion and they have to explain every decision they make.”
Grand Saga, he further clarified, have to discuss with Narajaya before closing the access road.
The menteri besar explained that (the state government) has to take “one step at a time” in coming to an agreement to settle the matter.
State exco Ronnie Liu who accompanied Khalid to the area said Works Minister Mohd Zin Mohamad has yet to respond to the letter the state government sent, asking for the toll-free road to be opened.
“He was not even in today,” he added, referring to the BMC residents to request a meeting with the minister in Parliament.
The row over a toll-free access road boiled over on Tuesday when Grand Saga erected the barriers for the third time, only for the residents to attempt to tear them down.
In the process a group of men, allegedly hired by Grand Saga, had violently tried to protect the concrete barriers. The residents however succeeded to dismantle the barricade last night.
Stocktube, all these conflict-of-interest investments were done before PKR won over Selangor, so don’t think it’s fair to accuse them of monkey business. It is Barisan Nasional that is screwing the rakyat in the ass (again). I think Khalid has taken a very pro-active role in trying to settle the issue and i commend him. UMNO and MCA, the so-called “protectors of the rakyat” has not said a damn thing.
So am i missing something? Hope you will clarify your “Selangor govt plays dumb” comment.
hello ccdev,
the fact is khalid wasn’t “proactive” enough to solve this problem which started since 2006 …
no doubt he wasn’t in the government (everybody knows that) but despite the police brutality, he never goes down to the people to understand or to at least offer some concerns … it was ronnie liu who did all the “pressures” …
and you know what, it makes perfect sense (for him to play dumbs for as long as possible) because indirectly his (selangor) govn gets to enjoy whatever profit via its 20% stake … higher profit for grand-saga and taliworks means better profit for the state govn, no?
of course current state govn is relatively better than the previous BN govn but still the people needs “him” to be there since the police do not give a damn about any of the MPs (they even beat him up, didn’t they?) …
do you know the people of bmc were questioning whether the new govn is any better than the previous one?
anyway we agreed to disagree …
cheers …
Stocktube,
sorry, man but i find it hard to agree to disagree to such twisted reporting. Why do i say that, please read on.
The fact is your statement “Chief Minister of Selangor from PKR, plays dumb or simply that stupid to not realize this fact” is simply misleading, however you choose to accept it.
Tell me, how can a person play dumb when he has already stated the fact, and is using it for leverage in this situation? The Selangor govt getting a share of profit from grand saga is irrelevent, since it is one that was thrust upon their hands on winning the state.You are saying “By the fact that they are state government with interest, they’re guilty”. By your twisted logic, The Selangor Govt is also playing dumb when it comes to the 60 over BN-implemented crap-projects worth billions (recently publicized in the media) since there are still miniscule profits to be made, yes? They must also be playing dumb when it comes to the Exco village, 3C Complex and the rest of them “white elephant” projects since the may get a share of the cash when it is sold off, yes?
The fact that Khalid has publicly stated his and the state govt’s position to pressure grand saga into resolving this thing has completely bypassed you. Do you understand the scale of his job, and the political enemies that he is facing, enemies that have been entrenched in the system for years? Check this statement “The menteri besar explained that (the state government) has to take “one step at a time” in coming to an agreement to settle the matter.”. Exactly because this is a minefield situation, with the BN scumbag Syed Sobri Syed holding a direct share in GS, do you think Khalid’s enemies within the system is going to lie down for him and help him out? Can you imagine the extent of behind the-scene hindrance he is facing within his own government, as well as outside? That is the scale of his job, pal. have a heart, will ya?
And what is your statement “do you know the people of bmc were questioning whether the new govn is any better than the previous one?” supposed to proof? In a situation where tensions and emotions are running high, people will be cursing and wanting the situation to be settled now, not tommorrow, not next week, NOW. Anything less than that and it will be “f**kin’ goddamn politicians, they are all the same” etc etc . If you want, I can take you to BMC where some of my friends are staying, and you can hear them say for yourself “I will still vote PKR”. You want? of course, petrol, transport and drinks on you, ok? Could be dangerous because if the car get surrounded by FRU, habis lah both of us. Thing is, if Selangor was in BN hands, the bmc residents won’t even have a ronnie liu there and the residents will probably get free “water baths” from the BN govt. Notice that there isn’t one squeak from the UMNO and MCA assholes who “care so much for the rakyat”.Your statement is so lightweight and made up by some people at the height of their emotional exuberance and ignorant of certain facts, that it is hardly relevant at all.
Lastly, Ronnie will be there, of course, as a rep of the Selangor Govt. Khalid’s job, like i have explained, is to fight behind the scenes BUT i put the lie to your words when you say “he NEVER goes down to the people to understand or to at least offer some concerns”. He was there the day BEFORE you wrote that statement, dude. Check the Malaysia Kini report “State exco Ronnie Liu who accompanied Khalid to the area said BN Works Minister Mohd Zin Mohamad has yet to respond to the letter the state government sent, asking for the toll-free road to be opened.” What happened to responsible reporting? Did you bother to check the latest reports before you criticized Khalid? Next thing, you’ll be saying “But he wasn’t there earlier what”. yeah,right…he should have been there around 2006 when the problem started.Useless, goddamn politicians, all the same…
The fact is Khalid has been transparent, pro-active, and responsible enough to provide feedback on the local govt position on the matter as well as on the other issue that have propped up. If he continues on this way, the fucker will have my vote in the next election.
p/s- I see a big tagline putting down the Selangor Govt for “playing dumb”. We both know the BN Fed Govt has a bigger history in the matter. So how about a tagline “BN Government screws rakyat in the ass…again”. Something like that to balance out your “slightly” biased reporting slant.
p/s- love your stock write-ups though.
hello ccdev,
thanx for your kind commment … what i wrote was not “twisted reporting” but “my personal opinion” …
sorry but the selangor govn in getting a share from grand saga is “absolutely relevant” within the holistic view for the simple fact that it couldn’t function without money …
like it or not, selangor govn is somehow “trapped” in the middle – on one hand obviously it wish to do better than previous parasite-BN but on the other hand it couldn’t just tell the grand saga to f**k-off …
i didn’t say selangor govn is guilty because it had stake in taliworks but it would be extremely weird not to flash its trump cards and pressure the other arrogant bosses … was the pressure being presented on the table strong enough? … i believe taliworks needs selangor govn more than selangor govn needs taliworks for future projects (if any) …
didn’t the beating of MP raised any alarm on the urgency of this crisis in the first place? and to wait till innocent 21-year-old kid got whacked BEFORE khalid decided to goes down there? hmmm, did i miss something here?
maybe we have different sets of friends / relatives / contact in bmc … of course compared to the pathetic chor chee heung, khalid is an angel …
don’t get me wrong ccdev … there’s no doubt majority of the people are against the police and the previous govn on this matter but the selangor govn has to speed up the resolution as time is not in their favor … khalid needs to be two steps ahead and not follow the same pace as when he was in PNB …
cheers …
hello Stocktube,
thanks for not censoring me (haha). Not “twisted reporting” but “personal opinion”…i guess that makes it a “twisted personal opinion”. Damn man, you got Lingam blood in you. Cheers!
hello ccdev,
nope, i don’t censor constructive criticism unless the comment was rude and worst than the statements such as those from the mouth of the some “persons” who labelled bloggers as monkey or unemployed women *grin* …
i was about to say “the thug looks like khalid, sounds like khalid but the thug didn’t wear suit so it can’t be khalid” (just a joke) …
anyway thank God the crisis seems to be almost over now …
cheers …
The effective shareholding of the Selangor Govt in Grand Saga is only 2%. I think it is important to keep that in perspective before we go half-cock condemning the Selangor MB.
Neither is it fair to criticize him for not turning up at the toll location. Obviously, you have heard of delegation. If, everytime there is a ruckus the MB has to show up, don’t you think he is going to be very busy? He has a state to run, for goodness sake.
The question we should ask is: Why isn’t the Works Minister on site?
This problem is created by BN, not PR!
Other than that, good work for presenting this article. I will post the link to other blogs I am involved with.
pywong
hello granddaddy,
could you kindly shed some lights as to how selangor govt ended up with only 2% stake and not 20% in taliworks?
of course he has a state to run but to continue delegate from the comfy chair after your own comrade got whacked just doesn’t add-up … proactive, proactive & proactive …
so, just because works minister wasn’t on site, khalid can justify shouldn’t be there as well?
of course the problem was created by BN but to follow the same tune as BN makes PKR no difference, no?
cheers pywong …
2% .. looking at the arithmetic ..
KPS Bhd owns 20% of Taliworks which owns 55% of Cerah Sama Sdn Bhd. So That means that KPS Bhd only indirectly owns 11% of Cerah Sama Sdn Bhd. Since Cerah Sama Sdn Bhd owns 22.22% of Grand Saga Sdn Bhd .. ahh .. right .. KPS Bhd basically just indirectly owns about 2.442% of Grand Saga Sdn Bhd.
I believe that if we look at the legal circumstances and the fact that there were some judicial decisions pending, the interested party, ie. the Selangor Govt, was limited in its room to maneuver without risking losing the whole case and the people of BMC ending up with nothing except broken bones and a granite wall. It took an binding undertaking not to obstruct traffic in a court of law (something which Grand Saga did not follow through) that provided the legal avenue to act to dismantle the wall legally and keep it dismantled.
Its not just about street fighting here – although public protests does play a role. But strategic protests should always work in tandem with the legal maneuvers which was the case here. Pressure on all fronts, caused Grand Saga to make mistakes after mistakes which diluted their legitimacy both in the courts of law as well as in the courts of public opinion – something premature action by any interested party could have risked doing as well.
And if we consider that the goal was to get the barricade removed, I think the strategy eventually worked in favour of the people of BMC, even if the process is actually much more convoluted and complicated than many people would imagine.
this a a well documented report of how the police and state and major corps play Grand Theft: Beat Up Innocent Civilians game.
Good job.