Friday, January 13, 2012

Anwar’s Acquittal – What Are The Hidden Messages?

By now everybody in Planet Earth knows de-facto opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, has been acquitted on a charge of sodomising his former aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan in 2008. The acquittal surprises many people – from opposition parties, Najib administration, former premier Mahathir and even Anwar himself. But was Anwar really surprised with the verdict? For a person who was about 90% to be sent behind bars for the second time for the same sodomy charge, Anwar doesn’t seems to be the happiest person in comparison to his wife, daughters, the thousands cheering crowds and his buddies from the opposition parties.

Anwar Sodomy Acquittal

For a start, five days before the verdict, the once fierce and deadly keris-waver Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein (cousin of PM Najib Razak) surprised many cats with his super soft approach by allowing 9-Jan rally with a lame condition that the “901-Free Anwar Campaign” organizer must guarantee a peaceful rally. Despite hundreds of reports lodged nationwide against the rally, the Home Minister must either be drunk or had switched his brains with Princess Diana for allowing such “illegal rally”.

Then, the IGP (Inspector-General of Police) was super proactive by instructing the city police chief to meet the organisers over the rally. The second sweet-cherry surprise came when the police granted permit to the “901 Free Anwar” rally when the same police force preferred a confrontation against any rally in the past, the latest being barely six months ago during Bersih 2.0 rally. Of course there was negligible hiccup such as the silly 10-condition string attached after the permit was granted, of which the rally participants didn’t give a hoot to, and the police didn’t enforce it seriously at the court house nonetheless.

Anwar Sodomy Verdict Crowds

Compared to Bersih 2.0′s “Walk for Democracy” rally where more than a dozen FRU trucks and about 300 FRU and other police personnel were stationed near Masjid Jamek alone, one must be wondering if all these heavyweight terminators are on vacation this time, judging from the lack of FRU presence during the “901 Free Anwar” rally. This was a surprise indeed as the rally was allegedly supposed to garner a bigger crowd of 100,000 participants.

The judge in delivering his short two minute acquittal verdict gave a simple explanation that the DNA sample could have been contaminated and hence he could not rely on the controversial DNA evidence submitted by the prosecution, before disappearing into his chamber as if he was constipated.

This despite the fact that Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah ruled back in May 2011 that Mohd Saiful was a “credible and truthful witness”. The furious Anwar and his legal team applied to replace the judge as he prejudged before the trial concluded. So, it was surprise that only now the same judge realized there was no case after all.

Justice Mohamad Zabidin Mohd Diah - Anwar Acquittal

And how did those home-made explosives which triggered three small explosions and injured five persons planted in three police cones, considering the police was monitoring the area intensively? Unless Anwar supporters fancy blowing up themselves out of fun, these home-made explosives could be planted to create chaos should the judge delivers a conviction verdict. It would then be used as justification to deny any future rally because it would be proven that the peaceful rally can become deadly. Nah, the Perkasa group was too chicken to do such thing, no? But the judge was ready to acquit Anwar so what give?

Anwar Sodomy Acquittal Explosions

The answer: the acquittal verdict could be a last-minute decision. To get together the jigsaw puzzle, let’s revisit the past articles. This article “Resign Or Snap Election For Najib, Here’re The Reasons“, talks about the power struggle within UMNO between PM Najib and the 3M-Team led by his mentor Mahathir. Of course Najib didn’t resign nor call for a snap election because he found a temporary workaround – balancing the power by inviting a third force into the equation hence the article “Romance Of Three Kingdoms – Najib, Mahathir & Anwar“.

Auntie Rosy seems to have taken some notes in “All Is Not Lost, If Auntie Rosy Dare To Turn The Table” article, and managed to whacked hubby Najib out of his slumberland with her precious Birkin bag. Najib in turns have done some damage controls. Former Selangor state Chief Minister Khir Toyo has been sacrificed, not that he was an innocent angel in the first place. Najib also has stopped parroting Perkasa’s Ibrahim Ali’s racial remarks, not to mention being super nice to the Chinese community and spend more time talking economy instead of checking Anwar’s daily sex life.

NFC Scandal Shahrizat 

MACC was instructed to spend time on Shahrizat, an UMNO warlord aligned with deputy PM Muhyiddin over the RM250 million CowGate Scandal. Instead of an apology over Bersih 2.0 mishandling, Hishammuddin (reluctantly) showed his soft-spot in the latest “901 Free Anwar” rally. That would leave a “Cabinet Reshuffle” the only pending task before the actual snap election. Nevertheless Cabinet reshuffle is not an easy task considering it would potentially remove the warlords’ cheese. For the same reason, Mahathir wasn’t really fancy the idea of fielding “winnable candidates” drummed by Najib. Nevertheless, it was a great job by Auntie Rosy.

Of course, Najib was having orgasm when he thought he had given Mahathir a run for his money by flexing his muscles in making Shahrizat furious and mumbling as if she was infected by mad-cow disease in “Best Democracy In The World – Najib Impressed Obama” article. Mahathir wasn’t amused with Najib’s antic at all but he was equally disgusted with Shahrizat’s arrogance and denial syndrome in the scandal which went to the extent of naughty jokes about the women’s RM26,000 bra. Mahathir recognizes the need to neutralize any scandal which could potentially invite Middle East style uprising, not to mention the coming election, hence his worry in the article “Mahathir And His 3M Team Are Worried And Here’s Why“.

Najib Rosmah Bye Mahathir

Sensing Najib was dragging his feat in Anwar’s sodomy trial, Mahathir tried to stage a comeback by putting his hands in everything from political to economic issues. This put Anwar in high alert as in “Anwar And Opposition Are Worried – Mahathir Is Back” article. But it wasn’t only Anwar who was worried about Mahathir’s sudden active manoeuvres. Najib was equally worried that the old master tactician started gathering supporters openly especially from UMNO warlords. It seems there was silent power struggle as well as alliance talks among three persons right to the moment before the judge announces the verdict – Najib, Anwar and Mahathir.

Maybe that explains the flip-flop about the police’s rally permit which demanded the sudden 10 conditions after granted it, not to mention the unexpected explosions plus the rush by the (reluctant) judge in delivering the verdict. Maybe someone very powerful inside UMNO tried to create havoc hoping to use it as weapon to gain absolute power and force PM Najib to resign. One has to remember Najib is still surrounded by many warlords who may be dropped as candidates in the next general election. With a last-minute secret alliance brokered between Anwar and Najib, Mahathir’s power is clipped and this provides a balance of power amongst them.

Najib Anwar Mahathir Fight for Putrajaya 

So no, the judiciary pillar is not an inch any better than before the acquittal as what many perceived. It was a bonus from Najib’s manoeuvre to tilt the power in his favour from Mahathir. By temporary sending Mahathir to the drawing board once again, Najib can claim judiciary independence under his administration and score some points. Who said Najib is stupid?

Moving forward, Najib should reshuffle his cabinet before calling for the polls if he insists on fielding winnable candidates. Going by the calendar, he should be calling the polls in Mar-2012 if he thinks a cabinet reshuffle is too risky. Otherwise, he would do the reshuffle in Mar-2012 and call the polls in June-2012. One more thing – Shahrizat may be put in cold storage as her cows are inviting unfavourable feedback from the rural folks.  

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Spectacular Fireworks Welcoming New Year 2012

The New Year 2012 has been welcomed with spectacular fireworks across the globe and as with previous year, Australia showed the rest of the world how to have a good time and another round of magnificent fireworks. With hundreds of thousands thronging the harbour, Sydney welcomed 2012 in style – a whopping $6 million of fireworks.  Lady Gaga performed in Times Square, New York while the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, was illuminated in Dubai.

New Year 2012 Twitter overload - Down for MaintenanceNew Year 2012 Twitter overload - Capacity Overload

The celebration also knocked down social network Twitter as it was overloaded with New Year messages. The record 16,197 tweets per second crashed the popular Twitter servers and users were greeted with error message “Twitter is over capacity” instead. While the social network struggled to get online, more than 250,000 people poured into Central London expecting one of the greatest fireworks as the country will be hosting the 2012 Olympics. A whopping 3,000 police officers were on duty in London as the extraordinary large crowds preparing themselves for the 11-minute’s 12,000 fireworks explosion.
From Times Square to Kuala Lumpur Twin Towers, everyone was having great time welcoming the new year. Happy New Year 2012 from FinanceTwitter and here’re some of the spectacular photos (click to enlarge) which might blow your mind off.

Sydney, Australia
 New Year 2012 Fireworks - Australia Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Australia Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Australia Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Australia Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Australia Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge

London, United Kingdom
New Year 2012 Fireworks - United Kingdom London
New Year 2012 Fireworks - United Kingdom London
New Year 2012 Fireworks - United Kingdom London
New Year 2012 Fireworks - United Kingdom London
New Year 2012 Fireworks - United Kingdom London

New York’s Time Square, USA
New Year 2012 Fireworks - USA New York Times Square
New Year 2012 Fireworks - USA New York Times Square
New Year 2012 Fireworks - USA New York Times Square
New Year 2012 Fireworks - USA New York Times Square
New Year 2012 Fireworks - USA New York Times Square
New Year 2012 Fireworks - USA New York Times Square, Lady Gaga Performance
New Year 2012 Fireworks - USA New York Times Square, Lady Gaga Performance
New Year 2012 Fireworks - USA New York Times Square, Lady Gaga and Michael Bloomberg

Las Vegas, USA
New Year 2012 Fireworks - USA Las Vegas

Zurich, Switzerland
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Switzerland Zurich
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Switzerland Zurich

Portugal
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Portugal
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Portugal

Berlin, Germany
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Germany Berlin
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Germany Berlin

Lithuania
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Lithuania

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Brazil Rio de Janeiro
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Brazil Rio de Janeiro
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Brazil Rio de Janeiro

Beijing, China
New Year 2012 Fireworks - China Beijing
New Year 2012 Fireworks - China Beijing
New Year 2012 Fireworks - China Beijing

Helsinki, Finland
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Finland Helsinki

St Petersburg, Russia
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Russia St.-Petersburg

Moscow, Russia
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Russia Moscow
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Russia Moscow

Vienna
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Vienna

Taipei, Taiwan
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Taiwan Taipei

Manila, Philippines
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Philippines Manila

Marina Bay, Singapore
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Singapore Marina Bay

 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
New Year 2012 Fireworks - Malaysia Kuala Lumpur