Another one bites the dust

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission's (MACC) ongoing investigations into Bersatu have resulted in yet another party bigwig being snared — Mohd Salleh Bajuri.

Now, if the guy's name doesn't ring a bell, that's 'cos Salleh's never been 1 of the guys at the forefront of Abah Muhyiddin Yassin's party. What you oughta know, though, is that he's Bersatu's treasurer-general a.k.a. purse strings guy. And reports claimeth he's been arrested and remanded for matters related to the use of party funds.

Salleh's detention comes mere days after Segambut Bersatu deputy chief Adam Radlan Adam Muhammad was hauled to court for a 3rd time and a week on from now-resigned party info chief Wan Saiful Wan Jan being charged; both in relation to the gomen's Jana Wibawa programme. And at least 1 report's suggested that Salleh's been arrested 'cos of that scheme established to help Bumiputera contractors hit by the pandemic (get the 4-1-1 here).

FYI, this is all believed linked to Bersatu allegedly getting RM300mil worth of "donations" from 10 contractors in exchange for contracts that's resulted in 2 party accounts being unceremoniously frozen.

Yet there's also the possibility that he's being questioned in connection with 1 of these ongoing probes involving MooMoo and his merry men and women:

• The alleged misappropriation of RM92.5bil in Covid-19 stimulus package cash back when Perikatan Nasional (PN) ruled the Putrajaya roost; and/or,
   
• The supposed dodgy awarding of a mega-money Immigration Department contract to a company linked to Moo Yasin's SIL.

Note there's so far been no response from Bersatu/PN top guns over Salleh's arrest. But you just know that the "selective prosecution" record's likely to play on.

Incidentally, just days prior to this latest arrest, Wan Saiful went on record to claim that Bersatu's more relevant than bitter rival Umno and that it'd enjoyed success in the 15th general election (GE15) 'cos Malaysians want a clean, stable and caring gomen with integrity. 

One political analyst, however, has begged to differ, remarking that it's Bersatu association with PAS that's propped it up and, as feared by MooMoo and crew, their chances in the upcoming state polls will be undoubtedly affected by all the graft accusations that've been levelled against 'em. 

Going private

Boustead Holdings Bhd (BHB), that mega-public listed company with over 100 years of history and which was incorporated back in the 1960s, is being taken private. And it seems its major shareholder — the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT), which currently has a 59.4% stake in the company — is trying to acquire the remaining 40.6% or 822.51 mil shares.

In case you didn't already know ('cos really, who memorises this stuff?!), BHB, with over 16k employees and some 80 companies under and linked to it, is a big, fat, juicy deal. 

It's got fingers in sooo many pies — plantations, property development and management, pharmaceuticals, heavy industries and trading and finance sectors. Know Affin Bank, the Curve in Damansara, Selangor, those still-to-be-delivered littoral combat ships (LCS) that were supposed to have been delivered by Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd? Yeah, BHB's linked to all of 'em.

Thing is, BHB's incurred heavy financial losses. And it's all mostly down to 1 of its major income earners dragging it down — Pharmaniaga Bhd.

No sweat if you missed it, 'cos your friendly neighbourhood newsletter covered the whole Pharmaniaga kerfuffle on Wed. But tl;dr, millions of RM in unsold vaccines rotting away in its warehouse have led to a big hole in Pharmaniaga's pocket, and, of course, big daddy/parent company BHB's.

Back to BHB's privatisation plan. See, the way LTAT tells it, the move's necessary 'cos of the conglomerate descending into the red. But more importantly, a wholly-owned BHB would mean greater control of operations and direction, thus improving the company and making it more profitable, and allowing for better support for the Malaysian Armed Forces and veterans.

So is LTAT the hero BHB needs right now? It's left to be seen.

Fun Fact: This ain't even LTAT's 1st attempt at privatising BHB. It wasn't able to go ahead with a takeover plan in 2021 due to the pandemic-battered economic environment. 

But with BHB in financial dire straits now, this is LTAT's Latest Trick (Dire Straits fans'll get this!)

P.S. Yesterday's privatisation news came with BHB announcing the appointment of LTAT CEO Ahmad Nazim Abd Rahman as BHB's non-independent and non-executive chair.

⚠️ Warning: Egg-tastic puns ahead ⚠️

Agriculture and Food Security Head Honcho and Very Smiley Guy Mohamed Sabu has clarified an issue that has scrambled lawmakers' minds these past coupla weeks i.e. our egg supply and their import from India.

ICYMI, the gomen approved a still-to-be-officially-named company as the sole importer of eggs from India in light of our recent shortage. This resulted in some folks raising quality concerns and how this might negatively affect local poultry farmers and consumers. 

In a Parliament written reply, Mat Sabu's assured that the gomen'd hatched a pretty good plan. As such: 1) we now have a surplus of eggs, 2) importing's a short-term solution, and, 2) the company green-lighted to import eggs is legit. In fact, on #4, said company even transported eggs from India to Qatar during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In short, everything's egg-cellent.

FYI, the minister's egg-plaination came after the issue'd been brought up several times in the Parliament sitting. This includes by MCA boss Wee Ka Siong who'd insisted that imported eggs are smaller than local ones. 

In a show-and-tell exercise in the Dewan Rakyat, Wee even whipped out 3 eggs to prove his point. The fellow has since received 2 love letters from the egg-importer over his allegedly misleading remarks. Yet, that doesn't appear to have fazed Wee and/or helped him see the sunny side up of things. 

After all, you can't make an omelette without cracking a few eggs! (We did warn you about the puns!)

Meanwhile in other Parli-related news...

UUCA U-turn

The gomen's admitted that the University and University Colleges Act 1971 (UUCA) has flaws, which it aims to address. But, by and large, the Act ain't going anywhere. And the gomen will retain the power to appoint vice-chancellors in public universities. Boo!

We looked at the UUCA in detail on Tues, but long story short, the Act encourages patronage and nepotism and infringes on academic freedom. Also, and importantly, retaining the Act would mean Pakatan going back on a key election pledge. But hey, maybe PMX Anwar Ibrahim's forgotten that the UUCA was used as recently as 2014 to bar him from speaking at Universiti Malaya.

Same-same and equal

A PH backbencher has joined the calls for equal constituency allocations to opposition MPs, with legal amendments being mooted to ensure all elected reps get their share. 

PKR's Pasir Gudang MP Hassan Abdul Karim added too that the rakyat shouldn't fall victim to the gomen's decision to withhold equal development funds. 

FYI, DAP MP Khoo Poay Tiong, recounting his experience as an opposition MP, had also previously called for equal funding for all elected reps.

Application situation and other odds and ends

Yesterday’s Covid-19 sitch —

New cases: 244  (Total: 5,043,252)

New actual deaths: *5 (Total: 36,965)

Active cases: 9,256 (ICU: 7)

Double vaxed: 84.3% (Population) 98.3% (Adults) 94.5% (60++) 91.9% (12-17) 43.5% (5-11) (State breakdown here)

Boosted: 50.0% (Population) 69.1% (Adults) 71.8% (60++) 1.9% (12-17) 0.1% (5-11)

Double boosted: 2.5% (Population) 3.4% (Adults) 6.1% (60++) — (12-17) — (5-11)

*Numbers could change as gomen updates data

When PM4/7 Dr Mahathir Mohamad left Pejuang, he wasn’t just leaving the party he founded, he was also leaving behind the fruit of his loins a.k.a. sonny boy Mukhriz at the helm.

Now, as Dr M gets comfy in new Malay supremacist surroundings (read: working alongside Ibrahim Ali in Putra), news has surfaced of Mukhriz applying for Pejuang to join the Moo Yassin-led Perikatan Nasional.

If you believe the rumours, Papa Maddey was already disappointed (allegedly allegedly) with Mukhriz pulling Pejuang out of Malay-based coalition Gerakan Tanahair (which Maddey also founded) and wanting to link up with a larger power pact. And if that's true, then things could well escalate further seeing as Junior's decided that teaming up with the guy who caused him and Papa to be ousted from Bersatu is good for Pejuang.

Yet what are Mukhriz's options really considering the creaming his party and GTA suffered in GE15?

In any case, Maddey Jr and crew might find lotsa opposition to them joining PN, and already there're some in Bersatu who've whacked Pejuang's play for political expediency as "opportunistic".

Political moves aside, anyways, here're more bits and bobs of news from Thurs:

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) plans to invest RM25.5bil over 15 years for a new infrastructure region in Malaysia. The deal marks the largest international tech investment to date in Malaysia and will go some way in helping us become the region’s data centre and digital hub. Now, if only we can solve the issue of data leaks.
   
• Seputeh MP Teresa Kok should probably have kept her itchy fingers to herself, before commenting on Muda headbro Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman’s post about his cat, Toby, dying. Besides fat-shaming a dead cat, she said that Toby might've died due to improper care. The comment has been deleted, but have you heard of screencaps, YB? 
   
• Jailbird ex-PM Najib Razak and former 1MDB CEO Arul Kanda Kandasamy will find out today whether they’ll be acquitted, or have to enter their defence in the 1MDB audit tampering case. To recap, Jibby is being charged with using his position to order amendments to the audit report before it went to Parliament's Public Accounts Committee. Arul Kanda is charged with abetting him. 
   
• Previously it was films with bikinis and smooching. Now, the movie Mentega Terbang has got Muslim groups like the Muslim Consumers Association (PPIM) riled up, and calling on authorities to take action against the production team and cast 'cos the film supposedly focuses on a Malay teen exploring other religions’ concepts with her liberal dad. 
   
• Johor Darul Ta’zim FC (JDT) has confirmed rumours that Colombian striker Radamel Falcao, who has played for Porto, Manchester United and Chelsea, would be joining the club after his contract ends with La Liga side Rayo Vallecano.
   
• PM10 Anwar is the 1st head of gomen to visit the Philippines following Ferdinand Marcos Jr's appointment as prez. Anwar, no stranger to the country, is visiting for 2 days with the South China Sea dispute topping the agenda.
   
• PN's Siti Mastura Muhammad has been whacked by netizens for listing the weddings and funerals she attended as among her achievements since being appointed Kepala Batas MP. Her 100-day report card states that she attended a total of 58 weddings/thanksgiving ceremonies and 36 funerals.