Pulau Besar-Calm & Stunning Natural Beautiful Paradise Island

Pulau Besar, “Big Island”, about thirty minutes by boat from the coastal town Mersing, Johor, is a calm and stunning natural beautiful paradise Island. It is out of this world, a paradise on the earth by itself.

                        Pulau Besar - long stretch of finest beach

Initially the island was uninhabited; there were only the occasional fishermen and known as Pulau Babi Besar – “Big Boar Island” due to the wild boar that used to roam freely here and there within the island, but of which there are now remain no trace.

                                    Natural Beautiful Paradise Island

Although the name is unique, however, it looks romantic sensitive and strange to many despite its idyllic beaches and stunning natural beauty to certain people.

With no boars to watch out for and to protect the 60 species of marine life undersea nature has endowed, the Besar Island and the surrounding islands was gazette as a “Marine Park” by Malaysian Government and under administration of Marine Parks Department.

Any activities especially jet ski or personal watercraft that can harm the natural habitats within 2 nautical miles around the island is strictly prohibited.

            Stunning natural beauty, dissolving human barriers

There was a legend widely spread among the local folks which associated with the name of the island, so the legendary story goes,once upon the time, a lovely fisherman couple who lived happily on the island.                  Arrive on the  island - happy moments The wild boars are one of the most noticeable traces of wild animals at this Besar Island and nobody knows how many big wild boars there are in the first place. The lovely couple have peaceful moments, but not for very long. One day, while taking their usual walk along the beach, the fisherman and his pregnant wife were being chased and attacked by a big wild boar.                                                Real fresh fish They fell down in the white sand beach while running for live. The mad wild boar just tried to grab the bloody gentleman, but the brave gentleman got up, grappled for his knife and fought back, stabbing the mad wild boar.                         The other side of Big Island                                       Finally he managed to kill the mad wild boar, heroically saved the life of his loving wife. For immediate treatment of their injury, they need to get the medicine as quickly as possible. They run for the seaweed in the sea as it is believed to have a remarkable capacity to heal their wounds. Unexpectedly, the lovely couple turned into mermaids after eating an enchanted kind of seaweed. Day after days, the other remaining boars disappeared in the wild, just as salt dissolves in water.   ASEANIA Beach Resort                  Even until today, many claimed that mermaids floating in couples are sometimes seen eating seaweed around the island. The nibble marks that appear on the rocks at low tide, however, were originally considered as their trident doing proof left behind and the existence of the mammals.                                           Chalet -very relaxed stay   The alternative legendary story goes on and is told and retold from one generation to another but some facts were long lost in this legendary story.    Jasbeer Singh Khaira, General Manager, ASEANIA Beach Resort(left) Surrounded by Pulau Rawa, Pulau Tengah and Pulau Tinggi, Besar Island in recent years has become famous as the location for the island is distinctively beautiful and tranquil hideaway which make up by powdery white beaches, lush green jungle and turquoise waters dotted with coral reefs.                                 Excellent food- 5 star Apart from the unique resorts and tropical jungles,there are about 20 dwellers mostly fishermen who live in small fishing village along the shoreline. The head of the village is a woman. It was great to stop off at Aseania Beach Resort as it offers an exceptional opportunity to enjoy the excellent food under natural beauty and exclusive environmental comforts.         Natural beauty and exclusive environmental for enjoying food Rising some 2,000 feet above the sea level, long stretch of finest beach with fine, soft white sand, clear blue water, un-spoilt beauty and luxury in paradise; personally, I have a very relaxed stay on Besar Island.

Dr Ling not capable of cheating the government

There is a danger in being smarter than your boss, often than not, the boss always think that they're the smartest although the incontrovertible fact that the reality is not necessarily.

Undeniably, going over the boss’s head would be politically risky and it would cause a bad relationship. It’s unlikely that he would help you in any circumstances. The unhelpful circumstances thus can make life harder.

Dr Mahathir, who took the witness stand as the defense panel’s fourth witness, saying that he believed the former transport minister was not capable of cheating the government.

“As far as I know, he (Dr Ling) is an honest person,” the former prime minister said after declaring to the court that he had known Dr Ling Liong Sik for over 30 years and served with him in the government for 17 years.

Dr Mahathir had told the court that neither he nor any minister had lodged any criminal complaint about the Cabinet being deceived into approving the purchase of land for the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project, which Dr Ling is on trial for.

He also testified that a policeman told him that if investigators had taken his police statement first, Dr Ling would not have been charged with any crime in the first place.

Dr Mahathir repeated saying that no minister under his charge had ever complained about the proposed price of RM25 per square feet for the PKFZ land.

Asked if Dr Ling had “misled, deceived or cheated” him in relation to the PKFZ land cost, Dr Mahathir replied, “Personally I don’t think so.”

Dr Ling, who served as transport minister for 17 years from January 1986 to May 2003, is charged with deceiving the Cabinet into approving the purchase of 999.5 acres of land for the PKFZ project, which had resulted in wrongful losses for the government.

The project, initially estimated at RM1.1 billion after it was mooted by Dr Ling in 1997, more than quadrupled in cost to RM4.6 billion by 2007.

The Price Water House Coopers (PWC) accounting firm revealed in 2009 that the total cost including interests from debt repayments could reach RM12.5 billion.

Since December 2009, six individuals have been charged in court including ex-MCA President Dr Ling, and his successor as transport minister, former MCA deputy chief Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy.

Both are accused of lying to the Cabinet.

Dr Ling also faces two alternative charges of deceiving the Cabinet into believing that the terms of the purchase at RM25 psf plus 7.5 per cent interest were acknowledged and agreed to by the JPPH despite knowing that there was no such agreement.

He faces a possible jail term of up to 7 years, or fine, or both, if convicted on the first charge under Section 418 of the Penal Code.

Sarawak CM’s son worth in excess of RM1 billion, says ex-wife

It is notable that there is a clear indication that politics is a particular high-risk area for corruption and so far no important integrity safeguards in place including mandatory codes of conduct for politicians, clear conflict of interest regulations and rules on disclosure of interests, assets and income.

Political parties, along with business sectors often are accused for hampering anti-corruption efforts and have been widely connected to what may be considered legal that has so far failed to address.

Public confidence in anti-corruption efforts was reduced, and felt that there are too much money poisons our politics, however, nobody wants to think they've been poisoned by money. Practical implementation is often than not found wanting by voters to sanction the malpractices and corruption.

There is growing concern among the general public about the Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud's son is worth more than RM1 billion. 

It suggests that it is time to address the issue of the wealth of the Sarawak chief minister’s family ahead of national polls.

It was reported that Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud's son is worth more than RM1 billion, his former daughter-in-law told a Syariah court  when justifying her claims for RM400 million in their divorce settlement.

Shahnaz Abdul Majid, who holds an MBA in Finance and was at one time a director of the family-owned CMSB,  was married to Taib’s son, Datuk Seri Mahmud Abu Bekir Abdul Taib, is demanding RM100 million as mutaah (Islamic conciliatory payment) following their recent divorce, and a RM300 million share of joint matrimonial assets.

“He has personal accounts in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, France, Monaco, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Switzerland,” Shahnaz was quoted by news portal Malaysiakini as saying today during the Islamic court proceeding, referring to Taib’s son Mahmud Abu Bekir.

“My claim of RM100 million in mutaah is small as he is worth in excess of RM1 billion. The RM100 million can be said to be worth 10 sen to him,” she was reported as adding.

Shahnaz, the sister of jazz queen Datuk Sheila Majid, was also reported to have said that her former husband has an estimated RM700 million deposited in 111 banking accounts worldwide.

She told the court that Mahmud Abu Bekir had squirreled away US$25 million (RM76.3 million) in two personal accounts in Luxembourg’s Edmond de Rothschild bank.

Her ex-husband also has several accounts with the same European bank in Switzerland with deposits of US$31 million, Shahnaz was reported saying.

Mahmud Abu Bekir also had several accounts with British banking giant HSBC — two in Jersey with US$34 million in deposits and one in Hong Kong with deposits of US$9.6 million in his name.

All these accounts have a combined value of US$100 million in deposits.

Is a hung Parliament brewing in Malaysia?

Every five years, the general election will be held and the coming 13th the general election must be held by 27 June 2013 at the very latest.

The general election speculation may not be practical, but it’s fun and made life more lively. More often than not, it needs to thin where it matters.

As noted, BN have dominated Malaysian electoral politics since independence but the development of the 12^th general election political scenario much has changed beyond our understanding. 

It creates an inherent momentum behind positive and negative domino effects and the momentum appeared to continue with the political development especially the BERSIH 3.0 rally and the demands of Dong Zong Chinese-language educationists.

Traditionally, the UMNO outspokenly hawkish called on the government to take radical action especially towards the merit based in economic allocation, university admittance and Chinese-language education. It leads to dramatic changes in social–political–economic scenarios.

The new Malaysia social and economic systems notoriously change the political scenario in Peninsular Malaysia which reflected in the 12^th general election.

Ironically, the fruits of political economic development are not shared justly to all Malaysians especially the people in east Malaysia. It posts a big challenge to a veritable collapse of its "impregnable fortress" of the time deposit states of Sabah and Sarawak.

Undeterred by political skepticism about the 13th general election speculation, some political analysts crunch some numbers and take a crack that Pakatan Rakyat would have to win 93 seats more than BN’s 72 seats and capture another 24 seats from East Malaysia, then Pakatan Rakyat is home.

The brewing variables to the current political situation are, DAP would have to win 33 seats, along with PKR 32 and PAS 28 seats, that can be as electable alternatives to the Barisan Nasional.

Behind the political analysts, there are other media fabrications that PKR would be more likely to get 23 seats, 6 seats back from its politician defected to Barisan Nasional during the 12^th general election additional to 3 new seats created. Pas could have captured 5 additional seats in Johor due to its vice president Salahuddin Ayub to contest a state seat in Johor in the coming polls.

The UMNO political internal crisis in Negeri Sembilan, Johor, and Sabah beside MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek just get one-third of its members support in Johor seems to be the collapse of BN’s impregnable fortress.

The dissatisfaction of Chinese voters towards the Batu Pahat UMNO outspokenly hawkish, deputy Education Minister seems could be the political catalysis for the loosing of a great numbers of Barisan Nasional seats at the next election.

Pakatan Rakyat would have capture 24 seats from East Malaysia that take a crack to the time deposit states of Sabah and Sarawak.

The claimed September 16th as a Black Day for Sabah and Sarawak due to unfulfilled the promises, assurances and undertakings by the senior partner to the Federation under Malaysia Agreement, 1963 in terms of security, economic prosperity and development were cast aside and ignored could be a few key factors that affect the voting pattern in Sabah and Sarawak.

The negative political impact, however might be overcome or neutralize by the numbers of illegal immigrants who were granted citizenship in Sabah, according to political analysis.

Many voters feel that they have been pushed away by politicians to cause the brewing of the political storms or rather should there a hung parliament.

Politics is frustrating; it’s a zero sum games. The Pakatan parties are always there to exploiting issues, hoping to gain some political advantage from disgruntled voters, they are there to beat the ruling BN.

On the other hand, BN has an outstanding track record for success and upward mobility since independence, what needed now is to influence the voter to make a decision. 

It seems that BN is waiting for the final emotional moment that will convince the voters that the right choice is the BN which can deliver as well as perceived to be a better choice and less chaotic than Pakatan.

The question remains: Politics is the art of possible, so what is the art of the politicians to win the coming 13th general election?