What makes the one-and-a-half hour daily Oral Q&A session interesting is that after the pre-sent question by the MP is answered orally, supplementary questions -- to a maximum of three -- are usually allocated to each question. The ministers or their deputies usually have to answer the supplementary questions off the cuff and on-the-fly.

This is the tough part for the ministers as, unlike the original question which gave the ministry staff sufficient notice to prepare for the answer, supplementary questions are "ambush" by nature and they are asked on the spot by MPs who are chosen at random by the speaker. An ill-prepared minister will be grilled and embarrassed in full blast. The Hansard had had sufficient casualties on this.

However, when Amirsham A Aziz, former Maybank chief and currently Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, answered the supplementary question by the SIL by reading off a 2-page prepared text, head bowed and seemingly oblivious to his surrounding, the House screamed of a "planted question and a prepared answer". Or a planted question with a crony's answer.

"It’s really our equivalent to Paula Abdul commenting on a song that had yet to be sung," said Joan Lau in Malaysian Insider, describing how the minister was "caught out doing something stupid".

"You see, ministers and their deputies are not supposed to know beforehand what a supplementary question will be," she added.

Malaysiakini has the whole story. Some say the Parliament House is now a 4th Floor, and a non-American, non-Australian Dorothy Dixer had reared her head.

UPDATES:
- theSun: Amirsham was meat to the prey
- Kit: (Talking bunkum), KJ comes to Amirsham’s rescue
- NST: Locked, loaded or planted, it’s all just too confusing

A question from Khairy Jamaluddin (BN-Rembau) on the New Economic Policy (NEP) stirred up a row in Parliament today when the opposition accused him to have prepared the answer for a minister.
MCPX

The opposition MPs made the noisy protest during the question session this morning after Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Amirsham A Aziz was seen reading out a prepared answer to a supplementary question from Khairy.

Khairy, in his original question, has asked whether the government is planning to change existing policies which were formulated based on the NEP spirit, especially those related to assisting the bumiputera, in line with the opposition's call to reject the policy.

Answering, Amirsham said the government will continue with policies based on the NEP, which was implemented in 1970, as it will help to ensure an equal participation of different races in the economy if the NEP spirit is achieved.

"The government has no plans to change the policies formulated based on the NEP spirit which is aimed to enhance the standard of socio-economy not only for the bumiputeras but also the Indians, the indigenous people and the minorities in Sabah and Sarawak," said the minister.

The controversy then started when Khairy, in following up the earlier question, asked Amirsham over a statement made by the Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (DAP-Bagan) on the NEP.

"The Bagan MP has said the NEP breeds corruption, cronyism and systemic inefficiency. Is this a fair statement or just a general conclusion?" he asked, adding that the NEP has produced various professionals including Amirsham.

"Isn't that statement was implying all of us as crony and kaki rasuah (corrupted)? Is this fair? Is this fair?" the Rembau MP asked in the supplementary question.

Guan Eng not right on NEP

Two supplementary questions are usually allocated to each question during the question session.

The ministers or their deputies are usually have to answer the supplementary questions off the cuff as they are asked on the spot by MPs chosen by the speaker randomly, unlike the original question which gave them sufficient notice to prepare for the answer.

Amirsham, a former banker-turned-minister, who stood up to reply Khairy at this juncture nevertheless came prepared and read out his answer from a written text in reply to the Rembau MP.

"The statement by (Guan Eng) was not accurate at all and showed that he did not understand the objectives of the NEP," the first-time minister, who oversees the Economic Planning Unit, told the House.

As he went on to elaborate how the NEP has benefitted the people generally including creating more employment opportunities, the opposition MPs led by Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor) protested.

"The answer has been prepared!" thundered Kit Siang, who is also the father of Guan Eng, who was not present in the House this morning.

This prompted a number of other opposition MPs to join in the fray, with Chong Eng (DAP-Bukit Mertajam) calling it a "planted question" and Khalid Abdul Samad (PAS-Shah Alam) shouted "the question was leaked!"

"Siap jawapan sampai dua muka! (The answer was so prepared that it runs into two pages)," quipped Mahfuz Omar (PAS-Pokok Sena) and echoed by Gobind Singh Deo (DAP-Puchong), while some shouted "cronies, cronies".

Amirsham nevertheless completed reading out his answer amid the loud protest and deputy speaker Ronald Kiandee picked Prof P Ramasamy (DAP-Batu Kawan) to ask the second supplementary question.

"See whether he can answer the question now," an opposition MP said to the cheers from the opposition's bench.

Rembau MP the 'pengerusi pasar'

Ramasamy asked the minister whether he understand the true spirit of affirmative action policy.

"In other countries, it is meant to help the minorities who are marginalised but in Malaysia, it is used to help the majority, have we diverted from the basic principle of affirmative action policy?" asked the Batu Kawan MP, who is also Penang deputy chief minister.

All eyes were on Amirsham at this point who, expectedly, has to answer Ramasamy's question without a prepared answer, leading to the jeers from the opposition.

He then gave a two-line answer to Ramasamy, arguing that the NEP has fulfilled the criteria as an affirmative action policy since it helped to eliminate poverty and gives equal opportunities to Malaysians.

The controversy was not over even though the question was over at this point, when Abdul Ghapur Salleh (BN-Kalabakan) said the shouting match turned the House into a pasar (market).

When Ronald told Abdul Ghapur that the situation was under control, Kit Siang did not let up on the earlier controversy, saying: "It can't be too under control to the extent that the minister has to give the answer prepared by (Khairy)."

Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak) who was called to ask the next question quipped: "This House has became a pasar because Rembau is the pengerusi pasar (the market's head)."

Khairy, citing the standing orders, tried to protest over Azmin's remark but to no avail. Calm restored when the deputy speaker told Azmin to proceed with his question.

Minister is smart

When met later at Parliament lobby, Khairy rejected claims that of preparing the answer for the minister today.

"The opposition don't want to listen to question, they don't want an answer and they don't like the truth," he said.

"It is not planted, it's a supplementary question that I asked. The minister is a very intelligent man. I sure he has anticipated what might be the question," he added.

"I think it clear they are afraid of the substance that is there," added Khairy.

In some countries, such pre-arranged questions in Parliament are called 'Dorothy Dixer', where a minister get a backbencher to ask a pre-arranged question which can be answered in such a way to either praise the government or attack the opposition.

The term originates from Dix - an Australian columnist - who has the reputation of making up her own questions for advice columns to allow her to publish more interesting answers.

Visibly irritated, Najib finally said, "saya tidak pernah mengenali apatah lagi berjumpa dengan wanita itu".

The sentence was so uncanny that Clinton-Lewinski immediately came to mind.

'I didn't have sex with that woman' is quite a memorable line in years to come.

The man was quoted as saying in theSun: Anifah: Once the defections start, there's no stopping. He did not discount himself from moving house, (caveat) "if it is in the best interest of the people".

Apparently, the lure of the 20% oil royalty offer by Pakatan Rakyat, deliverable or not, is a big carrot for the rabbits.

Meanwhile, horse-trading continues though Abdullah Badawi has found a temporary respite, at least for now.

QUESTION:

YB TUAN JEFF OOI CHUAN AUN (JELUTONG) minta Menteri Keusahawanan dan Perkembangan Koperasi menyatakan sama Lembaga Perlesenan Kenderaan Perdagangan (CVLB) merestui sistem ‘pajak’ yang dikendalikan oleh syarikat-syarikat bas awam di Pulau Pinang.

ANSWER:

Tuan Yang Dipertua,

Untuk makluman Ahli Yang Berhormat, selaras dengan peruntukan Seksyen 39 Akta LPKP 1987 (Akta 334) sistem pajak atau pindah milik, serah hak, membenar mana-mana orang mengguna kenderaan arau memberi perkhidmatan kenderaan yang dilesen adalah tidak dibenarkan kecuali dengan keizinan Lembaga Pelesenan Kenderaan Perdagangan (KPKP).

In short, the 'pajak' system used by certain bus companies in Penang, brought in during the previous Penang state government and endured by Putrajaya, is essentially illegal.

I will forward the official answer given to me to the Penang government for next step.

In GE2008, the BN won 140 seats, while opposition parties won an unprecedented 82 seats. The Opposition now outweighs the BN backbenchers 82-77.

These are what the BN has in political capital, pointing to the fact that Ketuanan Umno is still dominant and minority groups could do nothing to strike a ground-rule change in the incumbent's political system:

- Umno (79 seats)
- MCA (15)
- PBB (14)
- SUPP (6)
- PRS (6)
- SPDP (4)
- UPKO (4)
- MIC (3)
- PBS (3)
- SAPP (2)
- Gerakan (2)
- LDP (1)
- PBRS (1)

And now, this is why the Sabahan politicians are considering themselves as the King Makers of Malaysian politics -- they helped Umno to retain absolute power, but they get the crumbs when it comes to payback time, counted in the currency of ministerial posts and pork barrel economics that come with it.

Another Sabahan leader has put it in a crass and crude manner: You move into the bungalow, but you are given room next to the toilet.

EXPIRY DATE. On the other hand, the King Makers do have an expiry date, Quote Yong Teik Lee of SAPP on why he set an August deadline for Abdullah:

"The fasting month will be September, Hari Raya in October and Umno elections in December. I think the maximum we can go is August for our issues to be settled. After December, Sabah will be forgotten again.

We in Sabah, will go back to our subservient role, quietly go on with our lives, or it will explode, other players will come in. Other players will come into the Opposition, people from outside the BN will take the forefront, not us."

What is left unsaid is that Umno will come after the 'disloyal' component parties once the tai ko puts its house in order after the party election by the end of the year. BN/Umno should have a file on each of them. That's why I said should Operation Moving House take place, it has to be swift and clinically decisive.

In the final analysis, Umno is the dominant party in the 14-party BN coalition. It's a fact. As the tai ko in the Ketuanan Umno agenda, the 62-year-old party occupies 22 ministers' posts in a Cabinet of 27 members -- not forgetting that Umno commands and controls a whooping 81% of the Cabinet representation though it only contributes 56.4%, or 79 out of 140, of the seats collectively won by BN component parties.

Is this BN's "power-sharing" formula that Ong Ka Ting is talking about? The more it changed the more it remained the same for Malaysian politics, or so it seems.

But there is a way to drastically reduce, if not totally remove, Ketuanan Umno in Malaysia. Hijrah to where political tsunami has resulted!

Has the Government decided to end protectionism that crippled Proton?

And learn from BN how to finish RM500k in less than 60 days?

Speaking time has been reduced from 30 minutes to 20 minutes, and now 15 minutes. As we rotate between BN backbenchers and the Opposition, and there are three components in the Opposition, it means each of my party colleagues will have to wait for an hour before one is called up by the Speaker to speak.

As at 8.05pm, I am still waiting. So are PJ Utara, Bukit Bendera, Klang, Kota Melaka, Parit Buntar, Balik Pulau, Batu, among others.

UPDATES: As at 10.48pm, I am still waiting for my turn to speak alongside PJ Utara, Bukit Bendera, Balik Pulau, Seputeh, among others.

UPDATES: As at 11.19pm, I am still waiting for my turn to speak alongside PJ Utara, Bukit Bendera, Balik Pulau, Seputeh, among others.

UPDATES: As at 11.51pm, just as I am still waiting for my turn to speak alongside PJ Utara, Bukit Bendera, Balik Pulau, Seputeh, among others, Minister in the PM's Office in charge of Parliament raises a motion to adjourn the sitting to 10.00am tomorrow. The Speaker promises to allow the unspoken to speak after Q&A time. Will it also be 10 minutes or more?

And a 3rd-Party Update... here.

However, save for certain individuals, it's likely to be less party-hopping as en masse party pull-outs from BN, and formation of new parties in Sabah, will be less politically damaging though no less politically controversial, Little Birds told Screenshots.

The Moving House programme, involving at least three political parties, looks imminent from my vantage point right now.

However, Little Birds said, Operation Moving House will face a setback should defections among Perak state assemblymen into the BN basket, poised orchestrated to enable Abdullah to wrestle the state back into his fragile administration, happen at break-neck pace in the next few days

In a way, I concur fully with a fellow MP from PAS of the view that should Moving House happen, it should be swift and clinically decisive. Or else, let the ballot box decide in 2013.

May 13 is dead. Long live the history of May 13.

From the English Press:
1 ) Ho Kay Tat: One day in 1969
2 ) Bob Teoh: In Remembrance of May 13

From the Malay Press:
1 ) Awang Selamat: Ambil iktibar 13 Mei

From the Chinese Press:
(Still searching)

From Wikipedia:
1 ) English wiki
2 ) Chinese wiki
3 ) Malay wiki

He refers PR to a Public Relations party, and PKR to Projek Khinzir Raksasa.

I hope I didn't hear it wrongly. The Star has a news flash but the Hansard should run the official transcript.

Whether they hold or held high places in the Bench, the Bar, the AG's Chamber, the ruling party or the Business Community at large does not a single bit matter. It's chasing the graving train that made them all the same.

Again, if there was no consultation on the appointment of judges -- a mandatory requirement under the Federal Constitution -- then there would be more questions to too many questions raised.

If the Judiciary under the concept if Separation of Power is destine to survive, there is only one way out. Be firm be fair, but let's TAKE NO PRISONERS.

In Malaysian politics, it simply means you have to move on when the old home is infested with problems and no near-term solutions are in sight.

In this case, politikus from Sabah may yet lead the the pack with a potential exodus, citing whatever justifications that imagination could possibly cook up. There signs are in the Huguan Siow, the Anifah Amans, the Yong Teik Lees, and the Ansari Abdullahs. Add the Ghapur Sallehs, if you may, as he wants a reshuffle of the present Cabinet or political tsunami will befall Sabah.

Then, ten pins will fall like ten pins do in a game of bowling and getting bowled over. Just watch this space.

More damning was that The Star, quoting sources, said the five-man panel also confirmed it was former Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim who was talking to prominent lawyer V.K. Lingam on the telephone.

So, it's CORRECT! CORRECT! CORRECT IT'S FAIRUZ. When can the rakyat read the findings of the Royal Commission, unabridged, unedited, unfiltered and uncensored?

There are many visitors to the Parliament. And there are too many lobbyists who have parked themselves in the Parliament House to start campaigning though Umno party election, and the EGM that Ku Li is trying to lobby for, are still far-fetched in the calendar.

This Umno phenomenon was testified by NST's Zubaidah Abu Bakar yesterday. Quote:

CAMPAIGNING for the Umno elections has found its way to Parliament.

While aspirants do not openly campaign there, a handful of self-proclaimed "lobbyists" are now often seen in the building whenever the Dewan Rakyat is in session.

For those who are familiar with these faces, they are quite easily spotted -- in the cafeteria for instance -- trading information, cross-checking facts with one another or merely mingling with aides of cabinet ministers and deputy ministers.

While those already "working for someone" could be seen playing their roles in earnest, the others were simply pitching for potential "employers". And they tend to be quite choosy as to who they would work for as there are many among the Umno lawmakers who are keen to contest in the December party polls.

Using the services of these lobbyists or campaign managers, as some prefer to call themselves, is an acceptable practice in Umno. It has been going on for a long time although some say this norm breeds money politics in the party.

These lobbyists are also widely recognised in Umno circles as people who can make or break aspirants, being quite adept in pushing for certain candidates to get elected, or equally skilled at thwarting the rise of ambitious leaders by destroying their credibility.

And, of course, they work for money.

The more they change, they more they remain the same.

NOTE: On Monday (May 5, 2008), since my complaint, new parking lots have been drawn along the kerbs formerly demarcated by non-parking white lines to take in more cars.

Government Blogs. The Information Minister told MP from Alor Gajah in an oral question that the government will engage bloggers and use blogs as a platform to disseminate information. The Speaker did not allow my request to ask a supplementary question, through which I intended to get a response to the current episode of threatened charges for sediton on RPK and Syed Akhbar Ali. MP for Ipoh Timur described the action on the two and act of "empire strikes back" by the BN government.

Space Traveller. Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Dr Maximus Ongkili told the Parliament that the BN Government paid RM39.11 million for the Angkasawan aka Space Traveller programme.

Rice Shortage. The Deputy Speaker allowed an emergency motion put forward by the MP from Kubang Krian to debate on the issue of rice shortage and related drastic price hike.

Investigating Investigative Journalists. MP from Ipoh Timur told the Parliament that two award-winning investigative journalists, namely theSun's R Nadeswaran and Terence Fernandes, are now being questioned by the Police over their reports on controversial multi-million ringgit fund transfer to Bakti by Balkis.

Ali Rustam. Two Umno MPs from Malacca, including a deputy minister, interrupted MP from Ipoh Timur when the latter mentioned about the use of force on three DAP assemblymen over investigations into damage caused to an abandoned lamp-cum-telecommunication pole in Bachang, recently. The Umno MPs rose to protect Ali Rustam, who is not a member of Parliament.

BBC Leader Grilled on PKFZ Bail-Out. When the MP for Ipoh Timur took to the floor after the lunch break, names of three Transport Ministers, past and present, were invoked when the MP for Bintulu, also the Chair of BN Back Benchers Club (BBC), was quizzed on his involvement as a stakeholder of the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ). Ipoh Timur also quoted media reports that said the present Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat, and the new Port Klang Authority chairman Lee Hwa Beng, will appoint an independent accounting firm to conduct an overall audit on the accounts of the PKFZ project. [ For context, Minister Ong had previously promised to reveal how the RM4.6 billion soft loan to the PKFZ was spent after costs of the project were said to have ballooned from RM1.845 billion. ]

Dismantle Bernas Monopoly. Opposition MPs from Kubang Krian, Kuala Selangor, Selayang, Pasir Mas, Kepong and Pokok Sena called for the dismantling of rice monopoly now enjoyed by Bernas to facilitate better management of rice supply.