RPK's Sedition Trial: Highlights of The Day...

The crowd was more than usual this morning with many new faces adding to our undying support for RPK. Say or think what you like.. There is something special about this crowd. They are there for one common cause and yeah, they are extremely sentimental about it too. That explains the daily atmosphere around the courthouse. And it is this sentiment that moves many to tears everyday. By all means, it certainly has nothing to do with sympathy here. Those who were present should understand what I mean here. All the gestures (big or small) come purely from the heart.

I must thank Haris for his late blog post which got me bombarded with one question all morning. I have new and diehard supporters coming up to me asking me this: Who is Alice?. Who is Alice?. Luckily, I did logged on to Haris's blog last night so I know what they were talking about. As usual being such an accommodating fool, I went on a mission trying to locate Alice. Read here to know why Alice became one of the highlight of the day.

My mission failed and I still don't have any idea who Alice is. But my mission gave me the chance to meet up with Jacklyn, a housewife who left her toddler at home just to lend her support. Her story was more or less the same as Alice. Guilt feeling. She was there standing alone staring at the courthouse looking lost. With my animal instinct and after scrutinizing her from all angles, I zeroed in on her and friendship was made. True to what I said in my last post, I do not want anyone to feel left out in this crusade.

Nurul Izzah made her appearance with her small entourage today. She took time to mingle with us before she left. Over the past 4 days, we have had Lim Kit Siang, Ronnie Liu (daily basis), Anwar with Wan Azizah, and Teresa Kok gracing this hearing. I don't remember meeting so many parliamentarian at such short span in my entire life. Good change, eh?

Fellow blogger Antares of Magickriver made his way here from Kuala Kubu Baru. Indeed an honour to have him around. The Whisperer? Friend of Paula, he asked. Sharp mind he has there, I said to myself. This is what blogosphere and Raja Petra can bring us... The Sense of Oneness through One Common Cause.

DSP Gan, the investigating officer for Altantuya murder case, took the witness stand today. With Gobind maintaining his form since Day 2 bashed away at the witness with his line of questioning which prompted a sudden loss of memory to the witness who keep repeating that he don't know the details of the Mongolian murder case. The prosecution requested for an amendment to the Sedition charges. The court adjourned the proceeding to 13th Oct which is next Monday. Scoreline in this series: RPK 4 Najib 0.

Another interesting day. Well, at least it is for me.

Need I convince any further? Come Monday, be there and check it out yourself. Many of us will be there.

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Allow me to pen my quick take on Pak Lah's decision not to run for party presidency here. I have always maintain that Pak Lah is sincere on his effort to reform but only to be sabotaged by those around him namely his son, son in law and all the Umno warlords. Thus, his failure is his inability to exert his control over these hypocrites with all the power vested in him.

But, if you read in between the lines on his press statement, Najib definitely has a big fight in hand for his plot in bringing down Pak Lah. That's their internal fight and it has nothing to do with us. But it is going to be an explosive drama all the way.

Now that he has agree to an early exit, Pak Lah is under no pressure from all the warlords if he were to push for reforms in ACA, Judiciary and etc.. Again, that's If he is sincere in placing the nation interests above all else.

I tend to look at it positively. Lets us all wait and see as the drama starts to unfold....

Anwar and wife graced RPK sedition trial...

The sedition trial continues into the 3rd day. Could not get into the courtroom as I ran abit late today. Like Haris, I needed the sleep after staying up late into the morning to monitor the financial disaster that has been engulfing the world for the past few days and waking up early to throw my support behind RPK just by being present there. All of these stopped last night. After gobbling down a few shots of whisky, I went into deep slumber.

As the courtroom can take in around 30 person, many of us were left stranded outside. If any of you think that all the actions were confine inside the courtroom, then you may have get the wrong perception. In the first place, many who came in support of RPK come with good heart. Friendships are make without any effort. Bloggers, blog readers, blog commenter, reporters (local and foreign), professionals and businessman alike, they all mingle around freely without borders. Many of us who have been there since the first day flashes our best smile upon seeing some new faces despite the heat. Yeah, the best part is that we do get periodic updates from inside the courtroom when some of them need to make nature call or get a nicotine fix. Lets not forget Rody's nasi lemak today. Yesterday's menu was sandwiches. What's for tomorrow? Rody, I hope you are reading this... How about some nice cold beers tomorrow, eh?

The court adjourned at noon and will continue tomorrow morning. I heard Gobind was throwing his tantrums inside the courtroom scaring the shit out of the witness and prosecutors. It has something to do with what the witness(cop) said. The police has the power to raid and search any house without a warrant. What crap is this! Mocking the judiciary or indirectly telling us this country is effectively a police state. That seems to be the statement.

Nevertheless, RPK and team is gaining advantage as the hearing proceed. The prosecution is trying to build up this case on very weak basis. It makes it look as if the sedition charge was planted there to buy time for someone with political interest. Why the delay? Why not just go straight to that article 'Lets send Altantuya's murderer to Hell' and slug it out on whether it is seditious in nature or not? Perhaps, they should go back and study this Sedition Act carefully.

To those who have not make it there, please don't miss this opportunity to meet up with many great people there. Proceeding starts at 9:00am tomorrow. Do not despair if you don't get a seat. Join us outside. We, The People, definitely knows How to Rock!!

Global Market Meltdown: Another Black Monday indeed!!

Asia bourses down between 3-5% today. European bourses plummeting between 5-10% at the present moment. And Dow is struggling to avoid a more than 5% plunge... Surprising? Not at all if you believe my layman view in all my previous blog posts on market trend. Perhaps, all of you would find me unconvincing due to the lacking of the macro and micro economic terms used. Who is having the last laugh now??

So now, who would you believe? Those so called geniuses that CNBC and Bloomberg interviewed or one layman who happened to possess some basic knowledge but enough experience to look beyond.

For the past one year, they have indeed been investing in a state of denial. Creating false hopes and breaching the rule of thumb which is in this case "'hope' is forbidden in equity market". New rule of thumb? Well, it is new to all of you but definitely not to me. This one belongs to me. My creation through my experience. 'Investment based on hope' Kills!!

Subprime failure was the main market force this time. The moment subprime crisis started to erupt, the whole financial foundation from the US through Europe started to crack. And when the cracks appear, it is only a matter of time the whole infrastructure would collapse and bring along everything that was resting on top of it. One thing good about Market Force is: Market force does not discriminate between the rich and the poor. And it is color blind too. Once it strikes, it would just take everything that stand in its way. Our job is to Stay Clear. So simple. Do we really need Oxford's or Harvard's grads or those daily gurus who were picked to give their views over the television to tell us what to do?

Even at this very moment, Bush is talking bulls 'live' on TV trying to hoodwink the Americans.

Go back and read my previous postings for more clues. Catch the main underlying tone. I hope you have learn a thing or two from my layman explanation here. I welcome any challenge from around the world. Please contradict me... Depression? Tell me about it!

The Whisperer taking few days off blogging in support of RPK...

Din Merican with Free Tshirt Man (3rd from left). My apology for

taking your tshirt without getting to know you.

Crankshafted- The Bad Ass C that was never be...

Glad that you came and my honour meeting you

Yours Truly with my new found Malaysian brothers and sister.

Sorry I can't remember your names except for Clair's..

Nevertheless, we came together as One today.

First and foremost, I must Salute Haris for his effort to bring all of Us together and to those other bloggers, Zorro, Delcapo, Queenie, Lulu, RWinds and many others who played their part and made this possible. My Salute to all of you for all your undying dedications towards This Fight... This Fight Has to Go On!!

I arrived at the courthouse at 7:11 am sharp with no one in sight. I thought I was at the wrong place as there is another one just down the road. Maybe I was kiasu for not wanting to miss out the chance of catching a glimpse of RPK... but the Truth was that I just wanted to avoid our infamous jam. I decided to loiter around for awhile until my buddy (KL Chua) finally made his way here. You see, he was actually on a self-imposed half day hartal (big sacrifice for people of his nature). We went for breakfast and by the time we got back, there was a crowd of about 40 people gathering outside the courthouse.

At about 8:30 am Raja Petra arrived in a heavily tinted van. There he was, looking frail in handcuffs with a white plastic bag of personal belongings hanging from his arm. My heart ached... amidst the sudden numbness that took over my whole body. When can we, as citizen of this beautiful multi racial country, enjoy the Freedom of Expressing the Truth without being subjected to Fear and Intimidation? It was a Sad and Hurtful Day for The People today. My story stopped here...

For further details, please log on to People's Parliament or Delcapo or Zorro's for better account of today's event.

Haris, thanks for your pics.

Scandal Behind Portfolio Change: It's All About Money...

With our renowned Raja Petra in detention, came another blog to the people rescue- to continue with the legacy of Malaysia-Today. The legacy of exposing the truth behind every moves taken by the people walking the corridor of power.

Two tales appeared in the span of 3 days:

The Defense Ministry is currently undergoing negotiations with Eurocopter Malaysia Sdn Bhd for its RMAF’s Nuri replacement programme. Defense Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that the Ministry had already sent Eurocopter a Letter of Intent (LOI). Asked why Eurocopter was selected, Abdullah said that the Ministry would have “considered all the necessary specifications in the helicopters” before making a decision, but declined to elaborate. Read more here.

And

I was told that Najib’s wife has met Bala in the British Isle few days after the private eye went missing and paid Bala RM5 Million. I was told that Bala and family are seeking the Indian citizenships. I truly hope this is not true and Rosmah will make a statement to deny this. At the same time, I hope the good Malaysians in certain places can check on the validity of the timing to ensure that Rosmah was actually somewhere in the British Isle during the few days after the disappearance of Mr. Bala. Read more here.

Yeah, the plot thickens. Now we are able to piece this jigsaw together and get a clearer picture of the real reason behind these moves. "We are in it together, so together we stand and together we fleece the country and the people. Just share some of the money with those who helped carry out our dirty job".

If all these are true, This is How Rotten Our Country is Now.

Bookmark the above blog link. That's the purpose of this post.

Maybank-BII Marriage with Unusual High Dowry...

Maybank chiefs to come under scrutiny
By John Aglionby in Jakarta

Malayan Banking’s (Maybank) bosses can expect to come under scrutiny for completing its purchase of Bank Internasional Indonesia (BII) despite securing a discount on the price agreed six months ago.

Maybank on Tuesday bought 55.7 per cent of Indonesia’s eighth largest bank from Sorak Financial Holdings for $1.24bn, a 15 per cent rebate on the original $1.5bn deal. The Malaysian lender will now make a tender offer for the remaining shares at the originally agreed Rp510, or $1.2bn for all of them.

Considering BII’s shares closed at Rp310 last Friday, the numerous analysts who say Malaysia’s largest bank has paid far too much for a mediocrely performing bank appear to have strong grounds for criticism.

But as he announced the deal late on Tuesday, Abdul Wahid Omar, Maybank’s president and chief executive, claimed he was “happy” with the price. He said the BII deal would enable Maybank to expand into what he describes as a “key market”.

While Maybank’s shareholders will have to wait a long time to see returns on their BII investment, the Malaysian bank is one of a slew of foreign competitors eyeing south-east Asia’s largest economy.

Last month Barclays bought the whole of Bank Akita, which has only 10 branches and assets of $100m compared with BII’s 230 branches and assets of $6bn.

And in the last two years foreign buyers of Indonesian banks have included Mitsubishi, Texas Pacific Group, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Rabobank of the Netherlands.

“Maybank’s certainly gone out on a limb in the amount it’s paid to get into the market,” one Jakarta-based foreign banker said. “But it’s in very good company in wanting to be here.”

Barclays said the Akita acquisition was part of its strategy to “expand into emerging markets with good growth characteristics”.

Analysts consider Indonesia’s “good growth characteristics” to be many and varied. Unlike five years ago Indonesia is now considered politically stable when compared to neighbouring Malaysia and Thailand. Next year’s legislative and presidential elections in Indonesia are expected to be keenly fought but contested within the rules.

Indonesia’s economy, while undoubtedly underperforming and heavily reliant on commodities such as coal and palm oil, is regarded as being built on sound fundamentals.

The International Monetary Fund, in its annual assessment in July, said the economy was relatively unscathed by the global economic turmoil.

Of more significance to Maybank and its competitors, the IMF said the banking sector is proving largely “resilient to macroeconomic shocks and exchange rate risks”.

Furthermore, well under half the Indonesian population and little more than a quarter of the small and medium enterprises use the formal banking sector, meaning there is plenty of room for growth.

Numerous banks, including HSBC and Citigroup, have started seeking out these markets by establishing services offering unsecured micro-loans.

“With the economy growing at 6.3 per cent in the first half of the year, Indonesia’s potential new customer base is growing all the time,” the foreign banker said. “It really is a land of opportunity.”

Reported in The Financial Times

The manner of which Maybank went into this deal is enough to raise suspicion among the locals. Being a government owned public listed entity, the failure by the government to call for an investigation into the dubious nature of this bid is indicative of its collaboration in the scandal behind this very deal. Again, there are benefactors at the expense of the minority shareholders.

With this deal, this management has lost its credibility and Maybank has turned into any other previous government owned busted banks like Bank Bumiputra. Sell Maybank shares as one can expect more scandals to arise in the near future.

Ill intention right from the beginning. Perhaps, Temasek can help shed some light.

Wall Street As i See It: The Truth Hurts!!

Wall Street Volatility: Hedge Funds Unwinding??

The recent signs of desperation by US authorities seeking a USD 700B bailout plan for Wall Street is clearly an admission by the administration on the seriousness of the problem that plagued the country's financial system and the recently announced economic datas (declining manufacturing data and rising unemployment) further indicate that the country's real economy is heading for further steep decline.

Knowing these facts together with mixed comments by those so called gurus (80% bullshitters) interviewed on CNBC and Bloomberg, there are indeed uncertainties over the workability of this USD 700B bailout package. It doesn't matter how they want to term it. Rescue Plan or a Bailout Plan? Just a propaganda delusion trick! The fact remained no matter how want to call it. US is already in recession and this time it is going to take a long time before they can recover.

With this uncertain scenario, one only need to ask themselves this question: Is Dow attractive enough for hedge funds to remain invested in there? Don't listen to Bernanke or Paulson. They are just political puppets and their credibilities have been flushed down the drain ever since the subprime problems emerged. All their lies and assurances only delayed the truth of this financial holocaust.

We only need to understand the behaviour of hedge fund here. Would any hedge fund place their money on markets with gloomy days ahead? It would be stupid for any of them to do so. Only logical thing for any hedge fund manager to do is to cash out now. And how are they going to do it? They are going to make full use of news and economic datas to unwind their position. That should explains the volatile behaviour of Dow.

As a layman, it would be advisable and cash out on strength and consolidate your finances. Do not tread the equities as you would most probably be getting yourself into trouble. Do not hold any long term view for the time being. If you intend to trade the volatility, use the 'hit and run' technique with a 5% stop loss point.

From where i stand, it would be better for one to stay clear as the return is not worth taking the risk, not to mention those stress involved.

Ignore George Bush and with all due respect, ignore Warren Buffet too. Bush doesn't know a thing about economy and it doesn't hurt Warren Buffet at all if he makes a USD 10B mistake. Can anyone of you afford further losses?

In other words, It is Time to Fold!! We are not even near the bottom yet. Better bet is to trade the Dow futures. Short Dow futures on Strength. Concentrate and Be Patient. Hit only when you feel the Time is Right.

For God sake, learn to filter off those interviews over CNBC and Bloomberg. Full of garbage. Full of baseless false hopes. Avoid those who talked with a saleman's pitch for example, that Kudlow guy. I bet if he put his money where his mouth is, he would be Dead years ago.