NIZAR KOMUNIS: SELANGOR MEMANG ADA MASALAH!
Eh, eh, macam Pak ...."Saya merasakan beliau (Dr. Hasan) dalam krisis, bukannya Pakatan. Pakatan tiada dalam krisis sehingga sekarang. Kita kukuh, kami mempunyai mandat yang kukuh.
"Saya melihat (Menteri Besar) Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim menikmati populariti yang cukup tinggi... orang ramai gembira dengan apa yang beliau lakukan, orang ramai gembira dengan pembaharuan dilakukan beliau termasuk pembaharuan kepada Dewan Undangan Negeri.
"Jadi, jika ada sesiapa yang tidak boleh duduk bersemuka dengan Tan Sri Khalid, itu adalah krisis mereka, bukan krisis Tan Sri (Khalid).
"Adalah tidak adil untuk mengatakan krisis Tan Sri," kata Teng ketika diminta mengulas isu Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Mengenai Keupayaan, Kebertanggungjawaban dan Ketelusan Selangor (Selcat).
Teng mengulas kenyataan Hasan yang diberikan pada majlis Rumah Terbuka Aidilfitri Kerajaan Negeri/Menteri Besar yang dihadiri kedua-dua mereka.
Teng yang mempengerusikan Selcat, dianggotai tujuh anggota termasuk dua wakil Barisan Nasional (BN), mengulas isu Selcat yang dikritik apabila pegawai-pegawai daerah yang dipanggil memberi keterangan mendakwa dilayan seperti penjenayah dan perlu menjawab soalan mengikut kehendak jawatankuasa tersebut.
Pegawai Daerah Klang, Bakhtiar Hussin menyifatkan Selcat tidak mencerminkan proses siasatan sebenar kerana lebih menjurus kepada serangan peribadi, selain menjejaskan imej serta kredibiliti dirinya sebagai penjawat awam sejak 30 tahun lalu.
Katanya, siasatan diketuai Teng dilakukan dalam suasana tegang dan tidak berhemah.
Selcat akan mengadakan pertemuan susulan selama lima hari bermula 21 Oktober ini.
Selcat ditubuhkan oleh DUN Selangor selepas pilihan raya umum Mac 2008 untuk memantau selia dan memeriksa keupayaan, kebertanggungjawab dan ketelusan dalam segala urusan pentadbiran kerajaan negeri.
Anggotanya terdiri daripada Haniza Mohd. Talha (PKR-Taman Medan), Azmin Ali (PKR-Bukit Antarabangsa), Shaari Sungib (PAS-Hulu Klang), Edward Lee Poh Lin (DAP-Bukit Gasing), Sulaiman Abdul Razak (BN-Permatang) dan Ismail Sani (BN-Dusun Tua).
KOMEN HASAN ALI
Kira-kira sejam sebelum ulasan Teng itu, Hasan yang ditemui wartawan mempertahankan kritikan dilemparkan pegawai-pegawai daerah sambil mengesyorkan agar format dan prosedur Selcat dikaji semula.
Hasan yang juga Exco Kerajaan Negeri memberitahu, daripada hanya dianggotai oleh ahli-ahli politik memberitahu, keanggotaan Selcat boleh terdiri daripada bekas hakim, pegawai kanan kerajaan dan tokoh-tokoh masyarakat terkemuka.
Hasan berkata: "Kami semua menyokong penubuhan Selcat. Tetapi yang saya agak, agak sedikit kecewa ialah dengan cara pengendalian Selcat itu."
"Anda tahu beberapa Pegawai Daerah sama ada yang dipanggil untuk disoal siasat atau diambil keterangan dan sebagainya, tetapi sebagaimana dilaporkan dalam pertemuan kita dengan Yang Dipertua-Yang Dipertua dan termasuk seluruh kepimpinan pentadbiran kerajaan negeri Selangor ini, mereka melahirkan rasa tidak puas hati mereka.
"Mereka merasakan mereka diaibkan, mereka merasakan imej mereka terjejas, mereka merasakan mereka tidak dilayan seperti pegawai kanan kerajaan, sebaliknya dilayan seperti budak sekolah dan dengan asakan soalan-soalan... sebab itu mereka merasakan tiada ruang untuk memberikan jawapan-jawapan yang adil dan ada pegawai-pegawai daerah sendiri tidak tahu bentuk jawapan yang dikehendaki oleh Selcat," kata Hasan lagi.
Hasan menambah, beliau sangat bersimpati dengan pegawai-pegawai berkenaan.
"Saya juga pernah berkhidmat sebagai kakitangan kerajaan, pegawai kanan kerajaan satu masa dahulu... jadi saya tahu perasaan mereka, saya tahu hati mereka, saya tahu fikiran mereka, dan saya tahu cara mereka beroperasi.
"Oleh itu, secara semula jadi saya bersimpati dengan mereka, kemungkinan... khususnya dalam isu yang membabitkan Selcat ini," kata beliau yang mengharapkan sesi pendengaran Selcat bulan depan ditangguhkan sehingga pengubahsuaian yang disarankan ini dilakukan.
TENG HAIRAN PENDIRIAN HASAN
"Saya agak hairan dengan Datuk Hasan yang jahil dengan amalan berparlimen kerana ini adalah jawatankuasa hak dan kebebasan dibentuk oleh Dewan Undangan Negeri.
"Tiada amalan sedemikian untuk tempoh selama 300 tahun yang lalu di mana jawatankuasa hak dan kebebasan dianggotai oleh bekas hakim dan anggota bukan Dewan... jadi, saya tidak tahu sama ada beliau jahil atau mahu mewujudkan sesuatu yang baru berhubung amalan berparlimen selama ini.
"Saya mengatakan bahawa berdasarkan amalan berparlimen di negara-negara Komanwel sejak 300 tahun lalu, saya tidak mendengar keanggotaan sedemikian, jawatankuasa hak dan kebebasan terdiri daripada mereka yang bukan anggota Dewan," kata Teng sambil menjelaskan, aturan mesyuarat DUN juga menetapkan keanggotaan perlu datang daripada semua parti.
"Jadi kita perlu mengambil kira pengiktirafan itu," kata Teng lagi.
"Parlimen adalah badan politik paling tinggi. Jadi, bagaimana anda boleh mengambil keluar unsur politik? Kita berada di sini juga menerusi politik.
"Jika sesiapa mahu membuat penghakiman, mereka harus menyertai bidang kehakiman, jadi hakim. Anda tidak boleh menyertai Parlimen, dengan anggota perundangan menjadi hakim," katanya.
Teng, pemimpin DAP, juga mempersoalkan kapasiti Hasan bercakap mengenai isu Selcat buat masa sekarang.
Hasan menjadi tumpuan dalam isu pengharaman jualan minuman keras di kedai serbaneka 24 jam di kawasan Shah Alam, Julai lalu.
"Ini bukan merupakan isu Pakatan. Beliau ada kapasiti, saya tidak tahu apa kapasiti yang beliau bercakap.
"Apabila beliau bercakap mengenai pengharaman minuman keras, beliau bercakap sebagai pemimpin PAS. Bila bercakap sebagai pemimpin Pakatan, beliau bercakap mahu menukar setiausaha kerajaan negeri, penasihat perundangan, mahu tukar Pegawai Daerah dan Yang Dipertua pihak berkuasa tempatan.
"Dan, sekarang mahu mengubah Selcat. Saya tidak tahu apa kapasiti yang beliau mahu bercakap. Itu anda kena tanya beliau sendiri," kata Teng sambil menambah, perjalanan Selcat telah disambut baik oleh orang ramai.
"Orang ramai meletakkan harapan tinggi terhadap Dewan Undangan, Jawatankuasa Hak dan Kebebasan, Selcat, dan kita perlu memenuhi harapan itu," katanya.
Katanya, jika ada pihak yang mahu mengubahnya, "saya fikir sudah tiba masa bagi mereka mengkaji semula kedudukan mereka."
"Selcat adalah sesuatu yang baru di negara ini, tetapi bukan sesuatu yang baru jika diambil kira amalan berparlimen negara-negara Komanwel.
"Kita perlu bergerak ke hadapan. Dan, jika perlu ada perubahan di sana sini, kita boleh duduk dan berbincang.
"Tapi jika mahu dibubarkan sama sekali, saya rasa tidak boleh," katanya.
Katanya: "Tidak timbul soal pengubahsuaian. Saya tidak tahu apa yang dimaksudkan pengubahsuaian oleh Hasan Ali. Saya tidak melihat apa-apa masalah sekarang."
KOMEN MB KHALID
Mengulas isu yang sama, Khalid pula berkata, pihaknya telah mengadakan pertemuan untuk meneliti kaedah terbaik agar sistem komunikasi diuruskan dengan baik supaya tiada mana-mana pihak merasakan terguris dalam keadaan mahu bertindak secara terbuka dan telus.
Kata Khalid, beliau akan mengaturkan mesyuarat khas untuk membincangkan perkara tersebut dalam waktu terdekat.
"Jika itu keadaannya saya perlu mengaturkan mesyuarat dengan Speaker dan anggota Selcat dengan pegawai-pegawai daerah, dan dengan Exco agar kita boleh mencari jalan dan cara bagaimana boleh menyelesaikan perselisihan faham dan niat kita," katanya.
Mengenai syor Hasan supaya sistem Selcat dikaji semula, Menteri Besar berkata, ia bukan dalam ruang lingkup prosedur DUN.
-MStar
Oleh G. MANIMARAN
KOMEN WARISAN2057
1. Tahniah kepada PAS yang terus sanggup di tunjal oleh DAP.
2. Islam ajaran PAS adalah biar islam yang ditunjal dan jangan islam yang menunjal.
3. Adegan penunjalan ini akan menjadi sebahagian budaya parti pembangkang yang sentiasa meremehkan PAS yang membawa islam extremist dalam pakatan mereka.
4. Tahniah DAP yang dah tak malu-malu membalun PAS.
5. Kalau Teressa Kok dengan Ladang Babinya, Ronnie Liu dengan kumpulan kongsi gelap dan beer halalnya, Ean Yong dengan teoh beng hocknya, kini Teng dengan SELCATnya. Pendek kata dalam DAP ini MACAM-MACAM ADA.
6. PAS tentunya bangga menjadi punching box dalam pakatan pembangkang kerana bagi PAS, islam hanya relevan sebagai punching box sahaja.
7. PAS tentunya juga bangga TAKEBEER dalam bulan syawal ini bersama rakan-rakan karib yang telah menghalalkan beer.
8. Islam terus digadai menjadi lemah dan longlai di negeri Selangor dibawah lembayung PAS yang menjadi tunggul dan boneka DAP dan PKR.
Anwar : Sumpah-sumpah dari Malaysia - The Economist
Pada suatu petang, di pertengahan Julai, Anwar Ibrahim berada jauh di dalam sebuah pendalaman di Kelantan yang terletak di sebelah utara, menyeru sekumpulan penduduk luar bandar untuk mengundi seorang penjual ikan yang alim. Calon tersebut daripada Parti Islam konservatif (PAS). Satu pilihan raya kecil untuk dewan undangan negeri, di mana PAS telah mendominasi pilihan raya tersebut yang dianggap kurang penting seperti minuman bir. Tetapi Anwar memerlukan PAS, untuk paradoks di mana tanpa pejuang Islam, pakatan yang dipimpinnya di mana terdiri daripada golongan moden Melayu, kaum Cina dan India yang sekular mempunyai peluang yang amat tipis untuk menyingkirkan UMNO dari tampuk kuasa. Pakatan yang dikuasai UMNO telah memerintah Malaysia sejak kemerdekaan pada 1957. Anwar amat mengharapkan kemusnahan UMNO. Perasaan tersebut dikongsi bersama (dalam pakatan).
Pada pagi tersebut, Anwar telah berada di Perth di mana dia bertemu dengan menteri luar Australia. Apakah yang telah dilakukannya bersama Stephen Smith? “Berkomplot,” jawab Anwar, dengan kenyitan mata yang penuh konspirasi. Anwar telah banyak menghabiskan masa di luar negara dengan pemimpin- pemimpin negara dan agama di mana mereka amat mudah diajak berbual oleh Anwar.
Dia mengalihkan perbualan dengan cepat daripada satu perkara yang menarik kepada perkara yang seterusnya, tetapi anda akan mengalami perasaan yang menyeramkan di mana dia berbual mengenai perkara yang menjadi minat anda.
Anwar berpendapat bahawa tidak lama lagi dia memerlukan sokongan antarabangsa. Dua hari selepas menjelajah Kelantan, kedengaran pra-perbicaraan bermula satu kes di mana Anwar didakwa melakukan kesalahan meliwat seorang pembantu politik yang “bertentangan dengan ketentuan alam.”
Anwar dengan penuh bersemangat menafikan dakwaan tersebut. Dia menyatakan bahawa dia adalah mangsa konspirasi politik. Kemarahan antarabangsa mungkin akan menolongnya. Banyak yang mencurigakan tentang kes tersebut, dan di antaranya foto bekas pembantu yang melakukan dakwaan tersebut, bersama ahli UMNO, termasuk mereka yang rapat dengan Perdana Menteri sekarang, Najib Razak.
Dakwaan tersebut telah dipinda daripada serangan seksual kepada “seks luar kawalan”, dan yang menuduhnya tidak dikenakan dakwaan (Semua kegiatan homoseksual di Malaysia adalah diharamkan).
Anwar pernah berada dalam keadaan tersebut sebelum ini. Pada 1998, dia telah didakwa atas kesalahan rasuah dan perbuatan homoseksual. Ketika berada dalam tahanan, dia telah dipukul oleh ketua polis. Dia menghabiskan masa selama 6 tahun di dalam penjara, yang kebanyakannya di dalam kurungan berseorangan, sehingga tuduhannya digugurkan. Ketika pembebasannya, karier politiknya dilihat berakhir.
Ianya mudah untuk dilupakan sekarang tetapi untuk bertahun-tahun lamanya, Anwar telah melalui kehidupan yang amat bermakna. Dia menjadikan dirinya sebagai seorang pemimpin pelajar Islam pada tahun 1970-an dan juga dipenjarakan di bawah Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA) yang kejam.
Kemudian, dia mengejutkan rakan-rakannya dengan menyertai UMNO, di mana kebangkitannya amat hebat. Pada 1993, dia merupakan Timbalan Perdana Menteri dan merupakan pengganti kepada Mahathir Mohamad, pemimpin yang sudah lama berkhidmat untuk negara. Malaysia dilihat jatuh ke dalam genggamannya. “Ah,” kata Anwar, “masa lampau yang amat bermakna. ”
Tetapi, semasa krisis kewaangan Asia 1997-1998, Anwar bergerak terlalu cepat menentang mentornya, yang mana selepas 16 tahun masih tidak bersedia untuk mengundurkan diri. Anwar telah mengutuk kronisme UMNO yang mana dia juga mendapat faedah daripadanya. Dengan marah, Dr. Mahathir memecatnya daripada kabinet dan memulakan dakwaan terhadap Anwar. Gerakan reformasi Anwar berhenti seketika apabila dia dipenjarakan.
Sehingga kini, harapan yang dibawa oleh gerakan tersebut, meningkat sekali lagi selepas pilihan raya umum Mac 2008, dan khususnya selepas Ogos 2008 apabila Anwar memenangi satu kerusi Parlimen di Pulau Pinang. Dalam pilihan raya tersebut, pakatan memerintah telah kehilangan majoriti dua-pertiga yang sangat berharga yang mana majoriti tersebut memberikan kuasa untuk meminda perlembagaan.
Semenjak itu, pakatan memerintah telah kalah 5 daripada 6 pilihan raya kecil kepada kumpulan Anwar, yang mana juga menguasai 4 daripada 13 negeri. Dalam menyebarkan mesejnya, pembangkang telah dibantu oleh ledakan internet, di mana telah melemahkan pengaruh media arus perdana yang dikuasai oleh UMNO.
UMNO dalam keadaan tersepit. Pegawai rasminya juga mengakui kedegilan mereka, dengan rasuah telah menjadi sebati dengan kuasanya. Dasar Ekonomi Baru (DEB, diperkenalkan pada 1971), diperkenalkan untuk keutamaan kaum majoriti Melayu, di mana etnik Cina dan India memiliki banyak perniagaan. Tetapi selain membantu golongan miskin, DEB telah menambahkan kekayaan golongan oppurtunis parti memerintah, dan pada masa yang sama melemahkan perkembangan ekonomi. Perasaan geram telah merebak daripada kaum Cina dan India kepada kaum Melayu yang miskin.
Ini mungkin akan menjadi kenyataan kepada pakatan pelik Anwar. Dalam mendesak ke arah penghapusan DEB, dia menyatakan bahawa kaum Cina dan India yang miskin memerlukan bantuan seperti kaum Melayu-tetapi disebabkan kaum Melayu lebih miskin daripada kaum lain, mereka (kaum Cina dan India) masih mendapat bahagian yang besar daripada bantuan kerajaan. Tetapi, kekuatan sebenar pakatan ini adalah karisma dan akal politik Anwar diikat bersama. Juga, ia merupakan potensi kelemahannya.
Perbicaraan dan kesengsaraan
Cabaran untuk Anwar dan pakatan sekarang semakin bertambah. Sebagai permulaan, Najib, perdana menteri semenjak April, telah menyatakan bahawa DEB mestilah disesuaikan, mencuri hati sesetengah penentangnya.
Kemudian, terdapat perbicaraan yang akan mengambil masa yang panjang. Anwar berkata, dia akan menang tidak kira apa jua keputusan. Sekiranya dia dibebaskan, kerajaan yang membawa kes ini ke mahkamah akan diragui. Sekiranya dia didapati bersalah, berpuluh ribu penyokongnya akan berada di jalanan. Anwar membayangkan untuk memainkan maklumat baru mengenai satu pembunuhan yang mempunyai kaitan dengan Najib. Ini, katanya, dijadikan senjata olehnya untuk melawan kembali.
Mencurigakan, tetapi ia seperti tidak cukup. Sekiranya Anwar ke penjara, pakatan tidak dapat bertahan dengan kehilangan pemimpin mereka. Sekiranya dia memanggil penyokongnya – dengan menyatakan dia menanti untuk mati syahid – mungkin dia akan dipersalahkan kerana berterusan melakukan kekacauan. Dan sekiranya dia merayu kepada pandangan antarabangsa, penyokongnya di peringkat tempatan akan menyoal mengenai perkara tersebut.
Ini menunjukkan satu perangkap yang menanti Anwar, yang cekap memberitahu pendengarnya yang berbeza latar belakang - yang alim dan sekular - tentang perkara yang mereka suka dengari.
Persekitaran blog yang membantu dalam menaikkan namanya, mungkin pada suatu hari akan memberikan lebih perhatian kepada kualiti penyamarannya. Rakyat Malaysia kemudiannya akan bertanya : sebenarnya, kepada siapa dan untuk apa Anwar berjuang?
AIDC menterjemah artikel the economist.
Artikel asal klik di sini
Malaysia's chameleon
Jul 30th 2009
From The Economist print edition
The rise, fall and rise of Anwar Ibrahim, South-East Asia’s most extraordinary politician
ONE evening in mid-July Anwar Ibrahim was deep in the rubber-tapping state of Kelantan in northern Malaysia, urging a crowd of rural folk to vote for a devout fishmonger. The candidate was from the conservative Islamic Party (PAS). A tiny by-election for the state assembly PAS already dominates is ordinarily small beer (or would be, if PAS allowed such a beverage, which it does not). But Mr Anwar needs PAS. For the paradox is that without the Islamists, the alliance he leads of Malay modernisers, Indians and secular Chinese has little chance of driving the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) from power. The coalition that UMNO dominates has ruled Malaysia since independence in 1957. Mr Anwar longs for UMNO’s destruction. The feeling is mutual.
That morning, Mr Anwar had been in Perth where he had met Australia’s foreign minister. What had he been doing with Stephen Smith? “Plotting,” replies Mr Anwar, with a conspiratorial wink. Mr Anwar spends a lot of time abroad with national and religious leaders whose names he drops slightly too easily into an engaging conversational style. He moves like quicksilver from one intriguing subject to the next, but you get the uncanny sense that he is speaking to what interests you.
Mr Anwar thinks he will soon need international support. Two days after stumping in Kelantan, pre-trial hearings began in a case in which Mr Anwar stands accused of sodomising a political aide “against the order of nature”. Mr Anwar vigorously denies the charges. He says he is the victim of a political stitch-up. International outrage might help him. Much is fishy about the case. Photographs of the former aide who brought the accusations show him with UMNO members, including people close to the current prime minister, Najib Razak. The charge has been changed from sexual assault to “consensual sex”, yet his accuser has not been charged. (All homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia.)
Mr Anwar has been here before. In 1998 he was charged with corruption and homosexual acts. In custody, he was beaten up by the chief of police. He spent six years in jail, mostly in solitary confinement, until his conviction was overturned. Upon release, his political career seemed over.
It is easy to forget now but for many years Mr Anwar led a charmed life. He made his name as an Islamist student leader in the 1970s and was even jailed under the draconian Internal Security Act. Then he shocked his former colleagues by joining UMNO, where his rise was spectacular. By 1993 he was deputy prime minister and heir to Mahathir Mohamad, the country’s long-serving leader. Malaysia seemed about to fall into his lap. “Ah,” says Mr Anwar, “the good old days.”
But during the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98, Mr Anwar moved too soon against his mentor, who after 16 years in power was not ready to bow out. Mr Anwar railed against the UMNO cronyism from which he had benefited. Livid, Dr Mahathir threw him out of the cabinet and launched Mr Anwar’s persecution. Mr Anwar’s reformasi movement sputtered out with his jailing.
Yet the hopes which that movement represented surged again after the general election of March 2008, and especially after August 2008 when Mr Anwar won a seat in Penang. In the election the ruling coalition lost its precious two-thirds majority which gave it power to change the constitution. It has since lost five out of six by-elections to Mr Anwar’s forces, which also control four of 13 states. In getting out its message, the opposition has been helped by an explosion of internet opinion that has undermined the influence of the UMNO-controlled mainstream media.
UMNO’s back is against the wall. Even its own officials admit to its arrogance, with corruption bound into the fabric of its power. The New Economic Policy (NEP, introduced in 1971) instituted racial preferences for majority Malays, when ethnic Chinese and Indians owned much of business. But instead of helping the poor, the NEP has enriched rent-seekers around the ruling party, while dragging down economic growth. Resentment has spread from Chinese and Indians to poor or pious Malays.
This has made possible Mr Anwar’s strange alliance. In calling for the end to the NEP, he says poor Chinese and Indians need help as much as Malays—but because there are more poor Malays than other races, they will still get the lion’s share of government help. It is a possible way out from the baneful influence of race on Malaysian politics. But the real strength of this alliance is that Mr Anwar’s charisma and political nous holds it together. Alas, that it is potential weakness, too.
Trials and tribulations
The challenges for Mr Anwar and his alliance will now multiply. For a start, Mr Najib, prime minister since April, has said the NEP must adapt, stealing some of his opponent’s thunder.
Then there is the time-consuming trial. Mr Anwar says he will win whatever the verdict. If he is acquitted, the government which brought the case will be discredited. If found guilty, tens of thousands of supporters will take to the streets. Mr Anwar hints tantalisingly at new information in a murder case that has gripped the country partly because of its links to Mr Najib. This, he suggests, gives him ammunition to fight back.
Intriguing, but it is unlikely to be enough. If Mr Anwar does go to jail, the alliance may not survive the loss of its leader. If he calls out his supporters—for something of the martyr lurks in him—he may be blamed for the ensuing chaos. And if he appeals to international opinion, his local supporters may question that.
This points to a trap waiting to catch the silver-tongued Mr Anwar, who deftly tells different audiences—religious or secular—what they like to hear. The same blogosphere that helped his meteoric rise may one day pay more attention to his chameleon qualities. Malaysians would then come to ask more closely: who and what exactly does Anwar stand for?
SINGAPORE SEMAKIN TENAT DAN PERLU JV MALAYSIA MELALUI DAP
The biggest and most secretive gathering of ships in maritime history lies at anchor east of Singapore. Never before photographed, it is bigger than the U.S. and British navies combined but has no crew, no cargo and no destination - and is why your Christmas stocking may be on the light side this year
The 'ghost fleet' near Singapore. The world's ship owners and government economists would prefer you not to see this symbol of the depths of the plague still crippling the world's economies
The tropical waters that lap the jungle shores of southern Malaysia could not be described as a paradisical shimmering turquoise. They are more of a dark, soupy green. They also carry a suspicious smell. Not that this is of any concern to the lone Indian face that has just peeped anxiously down at me from the rusting deck of a towering container ship; he is more disturbed by the fact that I may be a pirate, which, right now, on top of everything else, is the last thing he needs.
His appearance, in a peaked cap and uniform, seems rather odd; an o fficer without a crew. But there is something slightly odder about the vast distance between my jolly boat and his lofty position, which I can't immediately put my finger on.
Then I have it - his 750ft-long merchant vessel is standing absurdly high in the water. The low waves don't even bother the lowest mark on its Plimsoll line. It's the same with all the ships parked here, and there are a lot of them. Close to 500. An armada of freighters with no cargo, no crew, and without a destination between them.
Simon Parry among the ships in southern Malaysia
My ramshackle wooden fishing boat has floated perilously close to this giant sheet of steel. But the face is clearly more scared of me than I am of him. He shoos me away and scurries back into the vastness of his ship. His footsteps leave an echo behind them.
Navigating a precarious course around the hull of this Panama-registered hulk, I reach its bow and notice something else extraordinary. It is tied side by side to a container ship of almost the same size. The mighty sister ship sits empty, high in the water again, with apparently only the sailor and a few lengths of rope for company.
Nearby, as we meander in searing midday heat and dripping humidity between the hulls of the silent armada, a young European offi cer peers at us from the bridge of an oil tanker owned by the world's biggest container shipping line, Maersk. We circle and ask to go on board, but are waved away by two Indian crewmen who appear to be the only other people on the ship.
'They are telling us to go away,' the boat driver explains. 'No one is supposed to be here. They are very frightened of pirates.'
Here, on a sleepy stretch of shoreline at the far end of Asia, is surely the biggest and most secretive gathering of ships in maritime history. Their numbers are equivalent to the entire British and American navies combined; their tonnage is far greater. Container ships, bulk carriers, oil tankers - all should be steaming fully laden between China, Britain, Europe and the US, stocking camera shops, PC Worlds and Argos depots ahead of the retail pandemonium of 2009. But their water has been stolen.
They are a powerful and tangible representation of the hurricanes that have been wrought by the global economic crisis; an iron curtain drawn along the coastline of the southern edge of Malaysia's rural Johor state, 50 miles east of Singapore harbour.
'We don't understand why they are here. There are so many ships but no one seems to be on board,' said local fisherman Ah Wat
It is so far off the beaten track that nobody ever really comes close, which is why these ships are here. The world's ship owners and government economists would prefer you not to see this symbol of the depths of the plague still crippling the world's economies.
So they have been quietly retired to this equatorial backwater, to be maintained only by a handful of bored sailors. The skeleton crews are left alone to fend off the ever-present threats of piracy and collisions in the congested waters as the hulls gather rust and seaweed at what should be their busiest time of year.
Local fisherman Ah Wat, 42, who for more than 20 years has made a living fishing for prawns from his home in Sungai Rengit, says: 'Before, there was nothing out there - just sea. Then the big ships just suddenly came one day, and every day there are more of them.
'Some of them stay for a few weeks and then go away. But most of them just stay. You used to look Christmas from here straight over to Indonesia and see nothing but a few passing boats. Now you can no longer see the horizon.'
The size of the idle fleet becomes more palpable when the ships' lights are switched on after sunset. From the small fishing villages that dot the coastline, a seemingly endless blaze of light stretches from one end of the horizon to another. Standing in the darkness among the palm trees and bamboo huts, as calls to prayer ring out from mosques further inland, is a surreal and strangely disorientating experience. It makes you feel as if you are adrift on a dark sea, staring at a city of light.
Ah Wat says: 'We don't understand why they are here. There are so many ships but no one seems to be on board. When we sail past them in our fishing boats we never see anyone. They are like real ghost ships and some people are scared of them. They believe they may bring a curse with them and that there may be bad spirits on the ships.'
Two container ships tied together in southern Malaysia, waiting for the next charter
As daylight creeps across the waters, flags of convenience from destinations such as Panama and the Bahamas become visible. In reality, though, these vessels belong to some of the world's biggest Western shipping companies. And the sickness that has ravaged them began far away - in London, where the industry's heart beats, and where the plummeting profits and hugely reduced cargo prices are most keenly felt.
The Aframax-class oil tanker is the camel of the world's high seas. By definition, it is smaller than 132,000 tons deadweight and with a breadth above 106ft. It is used in the basins of the Black Sea, the North Sea, the Caribbean Sea, the China Sea and the Mediterranean - or anywhere where non-OPEC exporting countries have harbours and canals too small to accommodate very large crude carriers (VLCC) or ultra-large crude carriers (ULCCs). The term is based on the Average Freight Rate Assessment (AFRA) tanker rate system and is an industry standard.
A couple of years ago these ships would be steaming back and forth. Now 12 per cent are doing nothing
You may wish to know this because, if ever you had an irrational desire to charter one, now would be the time. This time last year, an Aframax tanker capable of carrying 80,000 tons of cargo would cost £31,000 a day ($50,000). Now it is about £3,400 ($5,500).
This is why the chilliest financial winds anywhere in the City of London are to be found blowing through its 400-plus shipping brokers.
Between them, they manage about half of the world's chartering business. The bonuses are long gone. The last to feel the tail of the economic whiplash, they - and their insurers and lawyers - await a wave of redundancies and business failures in the next six months. Commerce is contracting, fleets rust away - yet new ship-builds ordered years ago are still coming on stream.
World shipping is tracked by satellite service Vesseltracker
Just 12 months ago these financiers and brokers were enjoying fat bonuses as they traded cargo space. But nobody wants the space any more, and those that still need to ship goods across the world are demanding vast reductions in price.
Do not tell these men and women about green shoots of recovery. As Briton Tim Huxley, one of Asia's leading ship brokers, says, if the world is really pulling itself out of recession, then all these idle ships should be back on the move.
'This is the time of year when everyone is doing all the Christmas stu ff,' he points out.
'A couple of years ago those ships would have been steaming back and forth, going at full speed. But now you've got something like 12 per cent of the world's container ships doing nothing.'
Aframaxes are oil bearers. But the slump is industry-wide. The cost of sending a 40ft steel container of merchandise from China to the UK has fallen from £850 plus fuel charges last year to £180 this year. The cost of chartering an entire bulk freighter suitable for carrying raw materials has plunged even further, from close to £185,000 ($300,000) last summer to an incredible £6,100 ($10,000) earlier this year.
Business for bulk carriers has picked up slightly in recent months, largely because of China's rediscovered appetite for raw materials such as iron ore, says Huxley. But this is a small part of international trade, and the prospects for the container ships remain bleak.
Some experts believe the ratio of container ships sitting idle could rise to 25 per cent within two years in an extraordinary downturn that shipping giant Maersk has called a 'crisis of historic dimensions'.
Last month the company reported its first half-year loss in its 105-year history.
Martin Stopford, managing director of Clarksons, London's biggest ship broker, says container shipping has been hit particularly hard: 'In 2006 and 2007 trade was growing at 11 per cent. In 2008 it slowed down by 4.7 per cent. This year we think it might go down by as much as eight per cent. If it costs £7,000 a day to put the ship to sea and if you only get £6,000 a day, than you have got a decision to make.
'Yet at the same time, the supply of container ships is growing. This year, supply could be up by around 12 per cent and demand is down by eight per cent. Twenty per cent spare is a lot of spare of anything - and it's come out of nowhere.'
These empty ships should be carrying Christmas over to the West. All retailers will have already ordered their stock for the festive season long ago. With more than 92 per cent of all goods coming into the UK by sea, much of it should be on its way here if it is going to make it to the shelves before Christmas.
Lights from the fleet of ships illuminate the night-time horizon
But retailers are running on very low stock levels, not only because they expect consumer spending to be down, but also because they simply do not have the same levels of credit that they had in the past and so are unable to keep big stockpiles.
Stopford explains: 'Globalisation and shipping go hand in hand. Worldwide, we ship about 8.2 billion tons of cargo a year. That's more than one ton per person and probably two to three tons for richer people like us in the West. If the total goes down by five per cent or so, that's a lot of cargo that isn't moving.'
The knock-on effect of so many ships sitting idle rather than moving consumer goods between Asia and Europe could become apparent in Britain in the months ahead.
'We will find out at Christmas whether there are enough PlayStations in the shops or not. There will certainly be fewer goods coming in to Britain during the run-up to Christmas.'
Three thousand miles north-east of the ghost fleet of Johor, the shipbuilding capital of the world rocks to an unpunctuated chorus of hammer-guns blasting rivets the size of dustbin lids into shining steel panels that are then lowered onto the decks of massive new vessels.
As the shipping industry teeters on the brink of collapse, the activity at boatyards like Mokpo and Ulsan in South Korea all looks like a sick joke.
But the workers in these bustling shipyards, who teem around giant tankers and mega-vessels the length of several football pitches and capable of carrying 10,000 or more containers each, have no choice; they are trapped in a cruel time warp.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1212013/Revealed-The-ghost-fleet-recession.html#ixzz0RE6OdiUy
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