Lifting the carpet in Selangor...

and what we see is unbelievable. Rules were meant for the public to follow, political leaders to bend or even break and civil servants to accept wrong doings without question if done by politcal masters. Just imagine what could be unearthed if BN lost in the general elections!

Malaysia-Today - Balkis accounts not audited for eight years (excerpts):
Tuesday, 31 March 2009 09:30
By Neville Spykerman (The Malaysian Insider)
Like peeling the layers of an onion, the Special Select Committee for Competency, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) is slowly unravelling the extent of the Wives of Selangor Elected Representatives Welfare Organization's (Balkis) maladministration.
The public inquiry into the charity, which received millions of ringgit from state subsidiaries, today learnt that Balkis had not submitted audited accounts to the Registrar of Societies (ROS) since 2001.
State ROS deputy registrar Yunos Jamil, who continued his testimony today, described the discrepancy as an "oversight."
He told the committee no action was taken against the charity and no action would be taken now because Balkis has been dissolved.

Yunos added the ROS received documents submitted by Balkis in "good faith" and any resolution passed by members were accepted without question.
He also refused to hand over a copy of the notice by Balkis notifying members of an Emergency General Meeting (EGM) on March 11, 2008 which was called to dissolve the charity.
Yunos said he had been advised by the legal advisor of the Home Ministry not to provide the document to Selcat.
However, Teng said under the Section 10 of the Societies Act, member of the public can inspect documents submitted to the ROS for lawful purposes.
Yunos has been given till Wednesday to produce the notice or summonses would be sent to the Registrar of Societies and the legal advisor of the Home Ministry to appear before Selcat.


theSun Tilting under the bulk of Balkis (excerpts):

TODAY, this newspaper stands vindicated. The events of the past week at the Selangor State Secretariat have yet again showed that the Sun 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.
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!

(Briefly, the Registrar of Societies of Selangor, did not carry out their duties professionally (see below, in Malay). On the one hand, there was no response to the Selangor State government’s queries and requests for discussion, made six months ago. On the other, in terms of speed for dissolution of a society as explained by Nades, it must have been a world record! I would consider Edward Ling’s post title a misnomer, if with reference to the super speed dissolution! )

Edward Ling: Inefficient ROS

KENYATAAN MEDIA28 MAC 2009KENYATAAN PENGARAH PENDAFTAR PERTUBUHAN SELANGOR MENGECEWAKAN
SHAH ALAM: Kerajaan Negeri hari ini merasa kecewa dengan kegagalan Jabatan Pendaftar Pertubuhan Negeri Selangor (ROS Selangor) untuk memberi respon kepada surat-surat daripada kerajaan Negeri tentang dalam status Badan Kebajikan Isteri-isteri Wakil Rakyat Selangor atau Balkis.

Malah permintaan Kerajaan Negeri untuk satu perbincangan bersama ROS Selangor mengenai status BALKIS juga tidak dihiraukan. Sikap professionalisma dan kecekapan ROS Selangor menjadi tanya kerana pertanyaan dan permintaan ini dibuat lebih enam bulan yang lalu.
Semalam, rakyat dikejutkan dengan kenyataan Pengarah ROS Selangor, Encik Mohd Yunus Jamil ketika disoal oleh panel Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Mengenai Keupayaan,Kebertanggungjawaban dan Ketelusan (SELCAT) Selangor, bahawa Balkis kononnya telah dibubarkan dengan sah. Pegawai kanan berkenaan jelas menyatakan bahawa ROS Selangor telah meluluskan pembubaran Balkis tanpa mengikut peraturan dan Undang-undang Pertubuhan.
Sikap ini dilihat sebagai tidak bertanggungjawab sebagai penjawat awam yang memandang remeh tentang sesebuah pertubuhan yang ketika ini masih dalam siasatan. Sehubungan itu, Kerajaan Negeri akan membuat aduan rasmi kepada Ketua Pengarah Perkhidmatan Awam Malaysia, Tan Sri Ismail Adam kerana adalah jelas sikap Pengarah ROS Selangor ini jelas tidak mengikut etika perkhidmatan awam.
Sikap ini juga mencerminkan kelemahan dan ketidakupayaan pegawai kerajaan dalammenjalankan tugas dengan amanah, telus dan bertanggungjawab. Sikap sebegini juga akan menjatuhkan status pegawai kerajaan.
Kerajaan Negeri juga berpendapat pegawai sebegini tidak patut bertugas di Selangor yang amat mementingkan efisiensi (efficiency) dan sistem pentadbiran yang telus dan bertanggujawab.
NIK NAZMI NIK AHMAD
SETIAUSAHA POLITIK KEPADA MENTERI BESAR SELANGOR