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This comes a little late, but my longer thoughts on the recent quitters are up on TMI.

I had a nice lunch with some relatives, and had a conversation with an uncle about public perception.

He seemed to feel that people really aren’t falling for this whole PKR/Pakatan is falling apart, and oddly enough, even if they did, there was still no way they were gonna vote BN. I especially liked his comments that people are easily disgusted with these attempts to get people to quit Pakatan instead of working to improve the government.

This is obviously heartening on one level.

That said, I firmly don’t believe it’s an excuse for complacency.

I disagree with much of what these recent quitters have said, and as I said in my article, I’m firmly behind the ideas of Reformasi and staying focused on kicking BN out.

But I hope we’re not waiting for a major catastrophe before we look ourselves in the mirror and ask whether or not an internal Reformasi is required.

I reckon there’s plenty of space for consolidation and improvement. Certain issues should not be left to fester, and perhaps more dynamic and bold leadership would really help bring people together and represent a united movement that is ever ready to rise above petty individual vendettas.

I know it’s not easy, and I’m not trying to preach to those who have been willing to take up burdens I myself have not. I would completely disagree with any reports that the party is in disarray or any nonsense like that.

It’s just that no party is perfect. The difference between the good and the bad is that the former is more eager to take every opportunity to improve, whereas the latter will procrastinate and rot.

I do hope leaders are open to innovation and some internal change. I don’t think doing things the way we always have will be living up to the hopes of the rakyat. We will continue to vote Pakatan, but not shirk from urging them to be better. We can be more, we should be more.

I have penned a longer piece on the Tee Beng resignations which I hope will be published before too long. In the meantime, I can only invite you to look through the comments on the Malaysiakini and Insider articles – heartening :P

For today, allow me to highlight a very kind report in theSun regarding a land scam case they first helped us bring up one year ago; I recently wrote that justice was finally served, and last week they did a write up (reproduced below – special thanks to Terence!) with the details of the case.

Credit where credit is due – I must say the judiciary worked for once. We had tried without too much success to pursue the matter through the Selangor government, but in this case, the courts functioned the way they were supposed to, and a very old man lived to see justice prevail.

The article:

Retiree gets back land: Happy outcome in ‘David vs Goliath’ legal battle

Terence Fernandez

SHAH ALAM (Feb 22, 2010) : It’s the classic David vs Goliath battle. On one side is a multi-million ringgit corporation and powerful government agencies and officials. On the other, a soft-spoken 71-year-old retiree.

Lye Piang Yin spent the last four years taking on the connected and powerful for the return of his land in Hulu Langat, Selangor – stolen through the hidden hands of government officers and individuals.

This former RTM technician’s persistence paid off on Feb 11 when the High Court ordered that the land be returned to him. Piang Yin had taken a civil suit against developers Propaxis Trading Sdn Bhd, the Selangor Land Registrar, the director of the state Land and Mines Department and the Selangor government.

This is the first case to find in favour of land theft victims since the Federal Court last month reviewed its Adorna Properties decision.

(On Jan 21, the apex court ruled that its judgment in 2000 on the Adorna Properties Sdn Bhd v. Boonsom Boonyanit case “was erroneous.” Over the last decade, that judgment had created a loophole in the law, causing many legitimate landowners to lose their land through unscrupulous means via forged documents, as it allowed the transfer of a good title to a purchaser who buys the property in good faith, notwithstanding the forgery.)

In the latest case, Justice Datuk Zaleha Yusof, who made the decision in chambers, dismissed Propaxis’ claim to the land and ordered that it be returned to the Lye brothers. She also declared that the transfer was unlawful and ordered a declaration that the land be re-registered under the names of the rightful owners. Propaxis was ordered to pay costs.

This decision is a double blow to the defendants as on March 3 last year, the court issued an injunction against Propaxis from claiming ownership of the land which belonged to Piang Yin and his late brother Lai Kim.

The brothers had filed the action in 2006. theSun had on March 12 last year highlighted their plight on the front page.

They inherited the land from their father and had been paying quit rent between 1980 and 2006 when it was discovered that the land was in the midst of being transferred to Datuk Mohd Amin Pipet.

Lawyers of the owners of an adjoining piece of land, ABM Holdings Sdn Bhd, had done a search and discovered that land too had been transferred to the same person and alerted Piang Yin.

Piang Yin took out a private caveat on the land, but that was cancelled and the transfer executed.

Court documents revealed that:

» the brothers were registered as directors of Propaxis and their signatures forged;

» their identity cards were forged and the transfer deed had mistakes with Lye Piang Yin @ Lai Lock spelt as Lye Phang Yin @ Lai Hock.

Although the identity card number was the same, the photograph was that of a woman. Lai Kim was spelt as “Lai Lim” and his identity card number was different;

» the brothers had purportedly “signed” the transfer form to sell the land valued at about RM17 million for RM4 million to Propaxis, a company with a paid-up capital of RM2;

» the brothers are listed as directors of Propaxis from March 11, 2005 – which they deny – but were later stated in company records as having “resigned” on Sept 13, 2005 and replaced by Cheng Yit Sang and Yow Chee Kong – the registered shareholders of Propaxis;

» the shares of Cheng and Yow and their “interest” in the Lye brothers’ land were then transferred via a sale and purchase agreement on Oct 11, 2005 to Lavish Land Sdn Bhd whose directors are Mohd Amin and Nooriah Yahya, for RM4 million;

» on the same date, Mohd Amin and Nooriah were appointed directors of Propaxis;

» the lawyer who attested the transfer deed, Nur Hafizah Ismail, was not registered as an advocate and solicitor of the High Court of Malaya;

» Ahmad Rizal Abd Hamid, the lawyer who witnessed the share transfer between Cheng and Yow and Mohd Amin and Nooriah, also witnessed a fraudulent transfer of the land belonging to ABM Holdings to Mohd Amin.

ABM Holdings, meanwhile, was granted an injunction against Mohd Amin which was not contested. The title has since been transferred back into ABM’s name.

In his affidavit in defence on behalf of Propaxis, Mohd Amin said that he was unaware of the fraudulent transfer to Propaxis and that Piang Yin had not shown any proof of this.

He said he had cancelled the purchase agreement with ABM Holdings upon realising that there were “fraudulent elements” in the deal with regards to that land.

Paul Lee appeared for Piang Yin, while Propaxis was represented by Mohd Razif Mansor. – theSun