Botakman...
Guess who got left out (and the MSM kept real quiet): extract from The Sun:
"Aside from Muhammad, who is Rural and Regional Development Minister, those who were defeated in the vice-presidential contests were:
> Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khalid Nordin
> Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim
> Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, who fought for the veep posts;
Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said and Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad failed to get places in the supreme council.
Shahrir has since said he would tender his resignation from the Cabinet on Wednesday because the results showed he was no longer needed in the government.
While what Shahrir is doing is honourable, the fact is that cabinet appointments are the prerogative of the prime minister; and the criteria for appointment are varied, including the ability to get the job of governance done well."
Common knowledge that Datuk Shahrir is a rare breed of minister: honourable enough to acknowledge that he's not of the same clique of power hungry money grabbing ministers who look at their positions as a get rich quick opportunity, and perhaps did not resort to $$ politics? While the rest...? Hanging in there lah!
Botoxman....
And what about this dude and his missus who rampaged Balqis?
"Licking the wounds from his defeat at the Umno Youth polls on Wednesday, Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo today admitted the Selangor Government's probe into the now-dissolved Selangor Elected Representatives’ Wives Charity and Welfare Association (Balkis) was mainly responsible for his loss."
He actually blames the Selangor (PKR) government!! What Mrs Botox got up to...visiting her son in Melbourne, no less, and getting some else to pick up the tab, on the orders of da Botoxman, of course. The full story, so far...(The Sun)
SHAH ALAM (March 25, 2009) : More than RM338,000 was spent for a Bakti sporting event hosted by Balkis, the wives of Selangor elected epresentatives charity and welfare organisation, in August 2007, the Selangor State Assembly's Select Committee on Competency, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) heard today.
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Datin Khairiyah Abu Hassan
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The amount included RM131,000 spent on sporting attire, Datin Khairiyah Abu Hassan, chief executive officer of the state-owned Permodalan Negeri Selangor Bhd (PNSB), told Selcat which is investigating execesses by Balkis.
Selcat is chaired by Assembly Speaker Teng Chang Khim while its members are Bukit Antarabangsa state assemblyman Azmin Ali, Taman Medan assemblyman Haniza Talha, Ulu Kelang assemblyman Shaari Sungib, Bukit Gasing assemblyman Edward Lee, Dusun Tua assemblyman Ismail Sani (BN), and Permatang assemblyman Sulaiman Abdul Razak (BN).
"The sportswear purchased by PNSB were tracksuits for 400 people and 180 liaison officers and everyone got four pairs," Khairiyah who was continuing her testimony from yesterday, said.
She said the sportswear was originally provided by the Malaysian Sports Council (MSN) but had failed to meet the criteria set by Balkis.
"MSN should have supplied the sportswear but as they did not meet the Balkis specification, we were directed to buy new ones," she said.
Khairiyah said only three sports were organised for the games -- telematch, bowling and badminton.
"The total amount, RM338,000, looks like (it is for) a big sporting event but only telematches (were played). And if we look at other sporting events, the contingents have to prepare their own sportswear, while here, the organisers are supplying it," he said.
Teng commented that it was not the norm for organisers to provide the apparel for sporting events.
Khairiyah corrected Teng and said the amount was also for the staff who had helped in the three-day long games.
"They were for the drivers, the police and other staff," she said, adding that the purchases included packed meals. He then pointed out that in the programme given to them, no telematch was listed
This was countered by Khairiyah, who said that in her schedule, the telematches were listed for Aug 4.
"But our programme does not show this. All it shows on that date is a team-building exercise at Sunway Lagoon Theme Park," said Teng.
Khairiyah then added that over RM 30,000 was paid by PNSB for three pairs of batik wear for the Sultan of Selangor, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, and the wife of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Jeanne Abdullah, before being asked to testify on a 2007 trip by the wife of former Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Khir Toyo, Datin Zahrah Kechik to visit her son in Melbourne.
When asked about the trip, Khairiyah told the committee that she had received instructions directly from Zahrah for PNSB to foot the bill for the trip and to accompany her on the three day visit.
Over RM14, 000 was spent to purchase return business class and economy class tickets sometime in December 2007, she said, adding that the trip was not an official visit.
Khairiyah was then asked by Teng about a Balkis charity visit to Cambodia in 2002, where USD11,000 was listed as being set aside for "contingency" expenses, while the other expenses, including the donations made were listed in Ringgit Malaysia.
Khairiyah replied that the other expenses were also paid in US Dollars, but were not converted in the accounts.
When grilled about a gift of a watch worth almost RM160,000 by PNSB to Khir Toyo, who was then chairman of PNSB, she said it was merely a "token of appreciation" which had been decided unanimously by the board.
"A token is something small, given as a small mark of appreciation. A certificate is a token," quipped Teng, who asked why the gift was given discreetly, when it was intended as a show of appreciation""
Which, of course, makes news like this suspect:
DATUK Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi could not have given his wife a better present for their 31st wedding anniversary.
He garnered the highest number of votes for one of the three vice-president posts.
The 55-year-old Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department secured 1,592 votes in the eight-cornered fight.
The Bagan Datoh MP, who succeeded in his first attempt in the vice-president’s race, said he had never expected to win, what more winning the highest number of votes.
Marital strength: Ahmad Zahid celebrating his victory with Hamidah at the Putra World Centre Thursday night. “I never expected it at all. All of us are equal in this race. We are all capable in our own way.
“I would like to dedicate this victory to my wife (Datin Seri) Hamidah (Khamis) in conjunction with our wedding anniversary,” said the elated Ahmad Zahid."
Yeah, best present indeed.
Meanwhile, what's Taib been up to....from NST
KUCHING: Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud suspects a letter purportedly signed by him to solicit funds from timber tycoons could be aimed at sabotaging Barisan Nasional in the Batang Ai by-election on April 7.
He said he had nothing to do with the letter that was sent to a timber tycoon in Sibu.
"I hope this is not a trick by people who want to cause trouble in the Batang Ai by-election," Taib said in a statement yesterday.
The statement advised anyone who received such letters to report the matter to the authorities as
BN does not solicit donations. (sic)
....
In support of Cows. This just in..(NST)
KOTA BARU: Muslims who portray their Islamic image by wearing robes and skullcaps, but smoke, are more despicable than cows, Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat said yesterday.
He said cigarette smoking was banned in Islam, and doctors, because the habit was hazardous to health.
"For example, a cow which defecates in the middle of the road, (we) cannot take legal action against it because it has no brain and cannot think. But human beings, who have brains, for them to do something which is wrong in religion and health-wise, what more when they are in an attire which symbolises Islam (wearing of skullcaps and robes), they can be regarded as being more despicable than cows," he said in his weekly religious talk here.
Totally agree about about the smoker bit but puhlease lah, spare the cows. Surely can use some other euphemism!
Save the Cows!!!
And can this get any dafter? (From M'sian Insider)
"Dr M says will rejoin Umno. Mukhriz says it will happen when Pak Lah quits as PM."
Former prime minister and Umno president Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Saturday he will rejoin Umno.
He said he would announce the date of his return to the party at a suitable time “after (sorting out) several matters”.
Someone,puhlease, tell this old man his time is over. I guess it wont be those a********g goons at Umno. That is, after all, their culture.
An update on the lady who died in a cosmetic surgery clinic in Ampang, and guess whos in hot soup.
"Liposuction patient was looking forward to Umno meeting
THE woman who died following liposuction was a Puteri Umno Ampang division member, reported Kosmo!
“I am sad that she can’t wear the new clothes she had bought for the Umno general assembly,” said her husband, Zaharuddin Zainuddin, 35.
He said his wife, Noraini Mohd Ghazali, 30, bought three dresses to wear during the party’s general assembly.
“A couple of days before the tragedy, she looked very excited to attend the meeting,” he said at Kampung Tok Uban, Pasir Mas, on Thursday.
He said his wife did not inform him that she wanted to go to the clinic.
“I had previously advised her to stop doing liposuction because I was worried it would harm her health,” he said.
He added that he did not expect his wife to return to the clinic for further treatments.
Zaharuddin said he was told that his wife was unconscious when he arrived at the clinic.
He said his wife often went for beauty treatments as she really put the emphasis on physical appearances."
According to an initial report, she normally weighed about 50 to 52 kg. Eh what? That's my weight! Okay so I admit to having some 'love handles' around the middle here and there but does that call for something as drastic as liposuction? Ladies, beware, vanity can kill.
There's just no end to life's intricacies....
It had been drizzling since we left the restaurent and the rain got heavier as we walked along the main street. I stopped to buy a cap (Pink) and we return to the hotel for a good night's rest. The weather was freezing, not to mention wet, and the wind blowing did not help matter. What, I wondered did the next day hold?
