Tilting under the bulk of Balkis
TODAY, this newspaper stands vindicated. The events of the past week at the Selangor State Secretariat have yet again showed that theSun lives up to its motto – Telling It As It Is. When Terence Fernandez and I exposed the excesses of the Association of Wives of Elected Representatives in Selangor (Balkis) last year, everyone jumped on the bandwagon. Certain sections of the media were used to discredit us and even threats of legal action were made. Two police officers turned up in the office to find out our sources of information. Our independence and integrity were questioned. Since our reports were accompanied with documents, there were also suggestions that we had breached the law but these documents were not classified. Demands that these documents be made available were made but we soldiered on.
The Balkis story started on April 25 last year when we reported: Three days after their husbands lost power to rule Selangor, the wives got into the act – plotting to dissolve a welfare body and remove almost RM10 million from its bank accounts. According to documents sighted by theSun, Datin Seri Zaharah Kechik, the wife of former mentri besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo had on March 11 convened an extraordinary general meeting of the committee to dissolve Balkis and close its bank accounts. The following day, the accounts were closed, with the money transferred to another account and then to Bakti – the federal Organisation of Wives of Ministers which Balkis is affiliated to.
Three days later, we exposed yet other wrongdoings: While their husbands went on “lawatan sambil belajar”, the wives were not to be outdone. Shopping trips, overseas junkets and lavish functions have been the hallmark of activities of Balkis. Nothing wrong with the junkets, except that their excesses were paid for by the state government and private donors, who contributed money thinking that it was going to good causes. In the eight years that Khir Toyo has been mentri besar, Zaharah, who headed Balkis has led delegations on trips to Europe, Hongkong and Australia.
On the same day Zaharah called for a press conference where she read from a prepared text to “negate baseless accusations hurled against Balkis. Zaharah went as far as saying: “If further allegations are made, we the former office bearers will not hesitate to initiate legal action.” The Star quoted Dr Khir as saying that Balkis operated in a transparent manner with members allowed to bring forth ideas to help underprivileged groups in the state, and it served as a sanctuary for wayward young women.
However last week, the proceedings of the Selangor State Assembly’s Special Select Committee on Competence, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) put in public domain the bitter truth – exactly what we reported almost a year earlier. The excesses of Balkis and some of its members were laid bare for all to see. The whole country knew what members of Balkis were up to – they used money from state-owned companies to travel overseas on business class for sightseeing. Even their shopping bills were taken care of. Instead of money going to welfare and charity, the bulk went for personal gains and these companies as rightly put by Selcat chairman, Tang Chang Khim acted as tukang bayar (paymasters). In short, some Balkis members used these companies as their personal and private bank. How else could Zaharah get Permodalan Negeri Selangor Bhd (PNSB) to pay for her trip to visit her son in Australia?
But there were some gems in the proceedings. Take the “repentance” programme carried out by Balkis in Cambodia. PNSB chief Datin Khairiyah Abu Hassan said the programme was to make people “repent”. Spending people’s money on such outrageous activities borders on absurdity and yet, without raising an eye brow, PNSB parted with the money.
Coming to the dissolution of Balkis, something does not compute. Was a meeting called in accordance with its constitution to dissolve the organisation? I don’t think so. Zaharah, in her capacity as the former president (emphasis is the writer’s), has no power of dissolution.
According to the Balkis constitution, it can only be dissolved by two-thirds of the members at a special meeting convened at the request of at least one-fifth of “ordinary members”.
The constitution is clear on such special meetings and it states it must be held within 30 days of receiving notice of such a requisition. It goes on to say that the notice and agenda of the meeting must be sent out by the secretary to members giving them 14 days’ notice. Let’s work backwards. If the meeting was held on March 11, the notice must have been given on Feb 25 – at the latest. But her husband, then the mentri besar, was going around campaigning on the lines of “Zero Opposition” in Selangor”! Did Zaharah get a written requisition from one fifth of the members on Feb 11 – when Parliament was not even dissolved? Unless of course, some wives knew that their husbands won’t be occupying the seats of power!
So, where do we go from here? Teng has categorically stated there is no offender or accused in Selcat’s inquiry and those who are being called up are only witnesses requested to come forward and help identify weaknesses in order to strengthen the state’s administration.
The police or the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), he said, cannot use information gathered at the inquiry against any of the witnesses because the witnesses were protected by the immunity of the House guaranteed by the state’s legislation.
But such a stand should not prevent law enforcement authorities from initiating their own investigations with a view to bring wrongdoers to book.
The evidence presented at the hearings suggests that criminal offences were committed and that there was abuse of power. While everyone is talking about good governance, wouldn’t it be a right time to start in Selangor? After all, isn’t it the country’s first fully developed state?
The Sun
R. Nadeswaran has every reason to feel elated. After bearing the brunt of criticism for having a personal agenda, what he exposed was the truth and nothing but the truth. He is editor (special and investigative reporting) at theSun. He can be reached at: citizen-nades@thesundaily.com
