I didn't like Khalid Ibrahim from the beginning - sorry, correction to that, not from the very beginning when he was the PKR candidate for the Ijok by-election in 2007 but during the Grand Saga toll fracas just after he became MB Selangor.
In 2007 I knew nothing about Khalid Ibrahim other than he was the CEO of PNB and later Guthrie, and of course Anwar Ibrahim's friend when the latter was Finance Minister and DPM. It was a year later that I began to dislike him, though I have to acknowledge as a MB he wasn't too bad, certainly much better than someone wakakaka. Khalid's main problem as MB with his Pakatan colleagues has been his propensity to act alone as if he alone runs Selangor.
In 2007 he was, courtesy of Anwar's say-so, parachuted into Ijok as the PKR candidate despite Anwar's erstwhile best buddy Nallakaruppan being earlier promised PKR's candidacy. Anwar's personal choice was very much against the advice of prominent pro-Pakatan Indian leaders, who were ignored. Thus had/have been the fate of PKR Indians - for more read my post titled Karmic lot of PKR Indians? at my other blog BolehTalk.
The take then was Anwar and PKR wanted to play safe by having a Malay candidate in that Malay majority state seat, a sad reflection on PKR's claim that it's a multi-racial party, while BN (effectively UMNO) and supposedly Malay-dominated was the coalition daring enough to put up an Indian candidate, K Parthiban. To add insult to PKR Indian injury, the BN candidate won, wakakaka.
As a side note, this probably marked the beginning of a gradual but unending Indian exodus from PKR.
PKR's stark cakap ta'serupa bikin-ness in its claimed multi-racial credentials was again shown in Hulu Selangor when it put up Zaid Ibrahim against the BN candidate, Kamalanathan, a MIC man selected by UMNO much against the wishes of MIC (and even UMNO), wakakaka.
Mind you, I would have loved for Zaid Ibrahim to win but then how could he when we heard he was sabo by someone (wakakaka) in PKR who allegedly furnished UMNO with photos of Zaid indiscreetly (within a Muslim context) yamsenging.
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| when good men like Zaid leaves, what hope is there for PKR? |
Nonetheless, the point has been that in a Malay majority constituency so-called multiracial PKR thought of playing safe by putting up a Malay candidate whilst Malay-dominated BN (effectively UMNO) had the daring to put up an Indian candidate.
Let's return to Khalid before I get too engrossed with my fave topic wakakaka.
I began to dislike and even distrust Khalid when in 2008 (when he was MB) I perceived that he didn't quite have a pro-people socialistic political mentality, and let's face facts, PAS, DAP and indeed the PRM-component of PKR are socialistic though the former might not like that political description because of a silly perception that socialism equates into godless communism - I'll blog on this in a future post.
Strike 1
Perhaps because of his corporate career background, Khalid was seen to be pro big business, and this, his very pro big business attitude, was first seen in 2008 in the Grand Saga new tollgate in Cheras.
What happened then was that somehow the toll company in its construction missed a by-pass to the toll highway. The Cheras residents exploited this by-pass, very legally, for their free motor-cycling to where they wanted to go without going through the toll gate.
Needless to say, Grand Saga immediately (and actually illegally) erected some temporary concrete barrier at the by-pass to force Cheras motor cyclists to go by a longer way to enter the highway by the tollgate.
Grand Saga's erection of the barrier happened despite the Pakatan Rakyat state government confirming with the Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia (Jupem) that the land where the barrier was being erected was the property of the State government who thus had complete jurisdiction over the by-pass road and any construction on it.
In other words, the Grand Saga company had no business to be erecting barricades there to force the residents to not only use the toll road but to travel at extra 6 kilometres to where the tollgate was, in order to have the privilege of paying the toll fees, adding a longer travelling insult to the injury of the fees.
Then they somehow coopted our ferocious FRU to help prevent the Cheras residents from removing the illegally erected barrier. Yessiree, the police abetted in protecting an illegally erected structure on state land.
Some resident-protesters in their encounter with the FRU ended up with blood all over, with even one Member of Parliament beaten up by our infamous men in blue.
I wonder whether Malaysia has the dubious distinction of being the only Commonwealth Country where one of its MPs (lawmakers) was beaten up by its police?
Sadly then, Khalid Ibrahim as the first non-BN MB of Selangor failed kau kau the people of Cheras who had supported and voted him in also as their federal MP for Bandar Tun Razak. He refused to take action to prevent the erection of the illegal barrier on state land and we'll soon learn why in the following paragraphs.
Malaysiakini tells us in its article Barricade row: Pakatan state gov't 'weak' that the Bandar Mahkota Cheras (BMC) residents slammed Khalid Ibrahim for refusing to order the Kajang Municipal Council to take legal action against Grand Saga for erecting the illegal structure.
The Kajang Municipal Council has jurisdiction over the road on which the toll company has built the barrier to prevent Cheras residents from accessing the highway for free.
To add insult to the Cheras residents' injury, Khalid Ibrahim turned down their invitation to visit the barricaded area. This was in contrast to the people's oriented action by Ronnie Liu, the DAP ADUN who in 2008 was also a state exco member. Ronnie turun padang almost immediately to look into the Cheras residents' grievances but Khalid obviously didn't see fit to do so - I suppose it's none of the hoi polloi for him.
But far worse, Khalid expressed his concerns not so much for the people but rather for the company. I quote Tony Pua who wrote in his blog (extracts):
… Khalid Ibrahim has acknowledged, as per the Star report yesterday that “the residents had the right to use the access road without having to pay toll”, it is disappointing that he had not taken a stronger stand on the issue, and in fact had not dealt with it much earlier when the FRU was first deployed, or even before that.
This has resulted in the situation clearly getting out of control, with a fracas between the residents and the FRU units in the wee hours of the morning 2 days ago ... and a Member of Parliament (DAP MP for Segambut Lim Lip Eng) lying in the hospital at this point of time, having been assaulted by the police.
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| Lim Lip Eng maced, punched, kicked and assaulted by police |
It is critical that the new state government demonstrate political will and determination to stand for what is right and just, without fear or favour, instead of wavering in uncertainty or adopting a “we will look into it” or “we will have to discuss further” culture which is reminiscent of the previous Barisan Nasional government.
It is of great concern that Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim had qualified his statement on the “right of use” by saying that the state government must also take into consideration that the toll is the source of revenue for the company.
With the advantage of hindsight, we shouldn't be all that surprised with Khalid showing his concerns more for the company's revenue.
Strike 2
The second time he pissed me off when he was ready to abandon Eli Wong by the wayside in her moment of dire need.
In my 18 February 2009 post titled Elizabeth Wong's 'Et Tu PKR'? I wrote (relevant extracts):
In Susan's [my matey Susan Loone] latest post I weep over Eli Wong’s resignation she wrote:
This blog mourns for Elizabeth Wong, the Bukit Lanjan state assembly woman who has been pressured to resign because of nude pictures of her being publicly distributed.
The person(s) who did the act of taking her pictures without a consent and distributing it continues to enjoy impunity.
I know it was the party she represented - PKR - who asked her to resign. And that to me, may be a strategic but a most disheartening thing to do.
It gives credence to gutter politics, to sleaze and evil politicking, within and without the party.
As a woman and friend of Eli Wong, I weep over what has happen to her. It will take me some time to recover for sure.
Yes Susan my dear friend, we are devastated as well, including my matey Dean Johns who penned in his usual Malaysiakini column Elizabeth Wong resigns - right or wrong? these sad words: And a sign that, as painfully stripped of her confidence as she must be feeling right now, Wong would be wrong to resign.
Blast PKR for its gutlessness, for being worried about the rumoured ethno-religious mix surrounding the issue of Eli’s victimisation.
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| while PKR leaders shamefully scurried away like gutless rats in panic, UMNO's Nazri and MCA's Chew Mei Fung came out to support Eli |
Instead of looking after Eli during her most vulnerable period, their top [PKR] brass have been looking over their shoulders, more concerned about the impact of this issue on the heartland’s support (which they prefer than the current urban support they enjoy), and also fearing that their PAS partner with their conservative tight ass morality, may be repulsed into UMNO’s arms.
These senior party members (you know who) want Eli to preferably disappear from the face of the earth, but if not, then to resign and, to put it cruelly, bugger off.
Forget about her loyalty, service, and dedication to the party. She has now become a liability to PKR.
Scat Eli, except they again lack the guts to say it – instead, ‘persuading’ her to tender her resignation, when earlier she had already stated resolutely she was not going to cave in to such contemptible smearing.
Oh, the pressure she had been subjected to, the betrayal, the lack of support – can you understand why she broke down into tears?
But wait, the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
The Malaysian Insider reported in Eli could remain assemblyman, but exit exco because those spineless Wonders now realized how blooming popular Eli is, and are shit scared of the no-no move of accepting Eli’s resignation.
Eli’s supporters and those very sympathetic to her cause may be so pissed off that they will desert the PKR banner.
But Khalid Ibrahim seems still keen to see her go, stating: … Wong was a victim but her willingness to resign from all posts is a selfless decision on her part to protect PKR because she is well aware that BN will continue to exploit the issue to damage the party.
And of course he would seek the advice of the Sultan of Selangor before making any decision. Mr Wannabe-Teflon!
In that sorry event in 2009, instead of coming forth as a courageous and resolute leader in the mold of Pak Haji Nik Aziz,Lim Kit Siang or Zaid Ibrahim to demonstrate his unreserved support for Eli Wong, a loyal PKR exo but a severely traumatized victim, the cowardly MB scurried to 'seek advice' from HRH, which was perceived as an excuse to abdicate his MB/leadership responsibility for his PKR ADUN.
Strike 3
I became quite disgusted by his naughtiness which I blogged in Selangor saga shows PKR's ketuanan mentality? based on my letter to and published by Malaysiakini. Read the linked post to see how he had treated his best ally, the DAP, and also his new found arrogance.
I believe that was when the DAP, which had been his greatest supporter (against Azmin Ami), realized what sort of Pakatan person Khalid Ibrahim is.
Then came the water issues, Kidex, etc - 'twas all overwhelming. No wonder the DAP now wants him out, admittedly in a situation which they be found worse off! In this complicating complexed confusion over the appointment of a replacement MB, he has found his safe nook to continue as the Royal MB, but then for how long more!