Same old tune on the smooth gravy train

I've never felt more tired of local politics than now.

Quote taken from Mack:-

You see, my greatest beef with a major portion of the UMNO crowd is that a lot of them — especially at grassroot levels — really do not see the act of Jasin MP as something wrong.

The effort to educate them, and change their thinking from within the party has traditionally been ignored, especially during the Mahathir era when he allowed warlords to rule fiefdoms and fight with each other, the chaos insulating him from an internal power struggle.

The ensuing results were that the underlings were required to be commited and loyal to their leaders, and nothing buys loyalty quite as quickly as a seat on the gravy train.

However, these underlings lacked the intellectual capacity to give the party value in the long run, and some underlings has progressed (through money as well) into minor leadership positions.

This backgrounder serves to demonstrate how the infamous Jasin MP could stand up and with gusto, say nothing was wrong. In fact, he probably does not see what is wrong, being a product of a long established system which had not merely (been) a gravy train but an entire curry railway system putting AMTRACK to shame.

And some people really don't seem to mind the dirt anymore:-

Jasin parliamentarian Mohd Said Yusof today admitted that his company Binyu Sof Enterprise was the forwarding agency for a seized consignment of illegal timber. (In operation since 1990, this Malacca-based company this year alone breached the law 14 times by bringing in sawn timber exceeding the 60-square-inch cross-section area limit permitted by the Malaysian Timber Council.)

and this came after he told the press that:-

... he had only intervened in his capacity as an MP and that he was “helping a Bumiputera company in trouble."

Caught with his pants down, obviously. Is there such a word like "shame" and "remorse" in the vocabulary of some UMNO leaders?

The events of the past week have weakened the faith of those who believed that the ruling government should play their part in promoting "moral decency" as a matter of "walking the talk."

This blogger declares a vote of no confidence in the manner this matter has been handled thus far by the chief executive of Barisan Nasional.

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Latest update (11 May 2006)

From The SUN:-

"Yes. I am the sole proprietor. I am a poor man, you know."

Said said although he believes he had done no wrong, he had met the Prime Minister on Tuesday evening (May 9, 2006) after an event at the Putra World Trade Centre, shook hands with him and asked for forgiveness if he had done anything wrong.

He does not anticipate any action to be taken against him as the Umno Supreme Council has decided there is no case and the Dewan Rakyat on Monday (May 8, 2006) has rejected a motion to refer him to the parliamentary rights and privileges committee.

Lim Kit Siang: Throw Said out of Parliament:-

“You are a shame to Parliament. You are a shame to your constituency. This is a conflict of interest. What do you have to say for yourself?” he screamed.

Not able to take the insults hurled at his friend, Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan) stood to tick off Lim and other opposition MPs for harping on the issue. “Ini cakap kosong saja (These are all empty talks). Debate on the (proposed) amendments (the Water Bill),” he said.

“When Yang Berhormat Bukit Gelugor ( Karpal Singh) did something wrong, he was suspended for six months without pay. Jasin should be chased out of the House,” (Lim) added.

“Binatang! (Animal) Enough lah. Why don’t you bring this outside?” shouted Bung Mokhtar.

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Do you think the pie has really hit his face this time?

See for yourself what a poor man's house look like here:-

The company is a sole proprietorship registered under Mohd Said bin Yusof (IC: 530424-04-5447), with a house address at 676-A, Batu 2 1/2, Padang Temu, 75050 Malacca.