Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Malaysia, a most expensive nation in South East Asia?
- Malaysia-Indonesia MOU: Complicity In Violence, Abuse And Trafficking
- People's Green Coalition : Memorandum To The IAEA Panel
- Lynas: where common sense left us
- Two Wrongs Don't Make One Right
| Malaysia, a most expensive nation in South East Asia? Posted: 31 May 2011 12:52 PM PDT We build, build and build. We spend billions more promoting this and that ceaselessly. And the government has not stopped splashing even till this day.
By J. D. Lovrenciear
Living costs have always been on an upward trend. No doubt about that. As wages increase, so do living costs – although wage increases are always far slower and far in-between.
But there is a harsh reality that clearly defines that Malaysia may after all be the most expensive country to stay in compared to the rest of its neighbours. This is particularly true in the last ten years.
For a nation of only 28 million, and given its oil wealth and palm oil lead; for a nation that thrived from its tin and rubber blessings; for a nation that was well sheltered from the ravages of weather and natural disasters; a country that enjoys natural maritime pathways much sought after by the East and the West – how could this nation become a nightmare for its own citizens who are today struggling to meet bills, keep kids in school, and put quality food on the table everyday?
For a long, long time the government – in this case the ruling political party, has always made decisions all in the name of caring for the future stability of its rakyat. Many decisions were made despite the reservations of the populace.
So we went on an overdrive mode building all kinds of superstructures and facades. We had the Twin Towers at immense cost because the lesson drummed into us was it is necessary to put the nation on the world map and to draw tourists by the droves so that Malaysians can benefit from the tourist-dollar.
We have many more super-structures because the argument dished out was that it is better to build now than later as it would be more expensive over time and that the savings is in the interest of the rakyat.
We build, build and build. We spend billions more promoting this and that ceaselessly. And the government has not stopped splashing even till this day. It is always in the name of proting and attracting development and opportunities so that the rakyat can savour the sweetness of wealth created.
And we made the rakyat even pay more through taxes, tolls and tariffs. If you protested, the law would slam shut on your face. If you did not support all the decisions made by the government you will be labelled anti-government and all opportunities will be sealed from you and you would be lucky if the ISA did not bundle you off into oblivion.
Today, we all know that the cost of living in Malaysia is far more greater than in any of the neighbouring countries. They have the freedom of choice guaranteed by their democratic capitalism. But do Malaysians enjoy that option?
Either they pay the toll or get nowhere. Either they pay the tariff or live in darkness. Either they take the job and live with what is dished out or they are left with nothing.
Either they pay the monthly dues or end up holed up in some ashram. If they try to put up a hut somewhere the local authorities will descend like vultures. If they try to plant some vegetables and cash crop under some bridge or flyover, you bet just as the labour begins to yield some hope the authorities will make a clean sweep. So, again we lose out to the neighbouring countries.
You want a car, go get a Proton. If you do not like it, no problem, just pay through your nose for an imported or CKD model.
It is a pity is it not? When citizens in a neighbouring oil-rich nation are living a stress-free and easy life, Malaysians despite having so much oil can only look at the rising towers and superstructures and eat Maggi and Roti Canai.
Just take a quick count at the number of bankrupts in the country. Just take a look at how credit cards are becoming temporary solace only to be swallowed in a sleepless nightmare for even young executives today. Just look at the way housewives are doing their everyday marketing. Just count the number of fathers who eat less daily at work just to make sure the pay packet can stretch a little longer. Just listen to the rakyat tell you that their paypacket disappears within the first week of drawing their salaries. Is it not true that the commonly shared joke among the rakyat today is: "Korek sini, tutup sana; korek sana, tutup sini".
But the powers that be will say, "tighten your belts rakyat". But nobody asks why is the country suddenly so expensive to live in today. And everything from television to print, we will only hear such rosy pictures of fun and laughter; success and gains. Who will feature the tears and pains of the struggling rakyat?
Now with the rising tariffs and the looming revision of pump prices it is going to snowball further and the working rakyat can only groan. Or worst, make believe that they are doing okay. No wonder even the once loud-mouthed Consumer body has been silenced into a stuffed kitten.
What do we make out of all these really? Cry? Scream? Or just shut up and die a muted death? Sigh….
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| Malaysia-Indonesia MOU: Complicity In Violence, Abuse And Trafficking Posted: 31 May 2011 12:07 PM PDT By Dr Irene Fernandez, Teganita There is nothing domestic workers from Indonesia can celebrate over in the new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed (on Monday) between Malaysia and Indonesia. This new MOU has further dimmed the lights on the protection of basic human rights of domestic workers. The two-year moratorium by Indonesia, has therefore failed to result in effective changes to increase the protection of its workers' rights. In January 2006, after the deaths of two Indonesian domestic workers, the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, released a joint statement during a consultation at Bukit Tinggi, Sumatra, whereby it stated that the MOU on the placement of domestic workers to Malaysia will promote the protection of human rights. The Indonesian government was clear at that consultation that domestic workers' rights should be guaranteed under Malaysia's labour regulations. There was then, a glimmer of hope for domestic workers. In June 2009, Malaysia's Minister of Human Resources, Dr. S. Subramaniam, announced that a new provision will be made to the Employment Act which will provide a mandatory one-day off a week for all domestic workers. Two years later, this has not materialized. The newly signed MOU, however, states that 'a one-day off can be compensated with overtime payment'. The ambiguity of this is frightening – how will the Ministry monitor that such payments are made to the domestic worker? Our experiences in handling cases of domestic workers demonstrate clearly that even monthly wages are often not paid, what more with overtime work? As long as domestic workers are not recognized as workers under the Employment Act, domestic workers will continue to be treated as servants without any rights, and the State remains complicit in creating slavery-like practices. In the past 4 years, Tenaganita has handled more than 380 cases of domestic workers with over 3400 human rights violations. This situation reflects that one domestic worker goes through multiple forms of rights violations including rape and other forms of violence. In the past 4 months, out of the 28 cases handled, 40% of domestic workers have alleged sexual abuse and rape. The issue of rape is at an incredibly serious state in Malaysia, especially with the recent announcement by Polis Diraja Malaysia that every 2 hours, a woman in Malaysia is raped. As horrific as that is, the actual figure may in fact be a lot higher when factored in the number of unreported cases of domestic workers who are kept hidden in private homes, raped and eventually deported. Tenaganita is also very disappointed that the Indonesian government has not kept to its commitment to ensure its citizens are protected in Malaysia. Domestic workers work in isolated and individualized work environments, which facilitate a plethora of rights violations and bonded labor. It is critical, therefore, that the State ensure their full protection of rights through a standard contract of service, and a decent wage structure. It is ridiculous for the Indonesian government to justify its failure to negotiate for better wages by stating that wages in Malaysia are acceptable as long as they are not lower than Indonesia's minimum wage, of RM212/month. It is a bitter irony that Deputy Minister of Human Resources, Maznah Bt Mazlan, has recently stated the Malaysia government will soon introduce a minimum wage as 38.8% of Malaysian workers currently earn less than RM750/month (which is below the poverty line), while we systematically discriminate against domestic workers from poor communities whom we depend on highly in this country. The Malaysian government's refusal to a basic decent minimum wage for domestic workers is a clear sign that the government wants to maintain this acute exploitation of domestic workers in the country. Malaysia's Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act (2007) clearly states that servitude, long working hours and debt bondage are all elements of labour trafficking. The newly signed MOU, however, by failing to state proper terms and conditions for the recruitment and employment of domestic workers has failed to take cognizance of this Act. It is highly disturbing that both Malaysia and Indonesia in its MOU continue to support practices of modern-day slavery. As the world community sits down together on the 1st of June for the 100th International Labour Conference in Geneva, with a focus on determining a new Convention for Domestic Workers to address the needs and rights of one of the most exploited and abused labour sectors (consisting mainly of women and children), the silence and invisibility by both Malaysia and Indonesia is both deafening and deeply concerning. It is with utmost urgency that Malaysia must awaken itself to the call to establish international standards of rights for domestic workers through the new Convention. It is indeed a sharp contradiction that while Malaysia seeks to hold on to its seat on the UN Human Rights Council, it continues to deny domestic workers the realizations of basic human rights and dignity.
DR IRENE FERNANDEZ is the Executive Director of Tenaganita |
| People's Green Coalition : Memorandum To The IAEA Panel Posted: 31 May 2011 11:46 AM PDT The People's Green Coalition The risks to the community far outweigh the benefits which will largely be gained by Lynas since it will enjoy a period of 12 years of tax exemption. The employment opportunities purported is facile if the risks to the workers were taken into account.The People's Green Coalition met with the IAEA Panel to register its strong objection the the LAMP Project located at Gebeng Industrial Estate Pahang on the 31st of May 2011. _____________________________ Memorandum To The IAEA Panel Investigation on The Public Nuisance of the LAMP Project in Gebeng Industrial Estate Pahang Malaysia dated 31 Submitted by The People's Green Coalition Malaysia. Introduction
2. The toxic chemicals emitted during the manufacturing process and the radioactive waste products will severely damage the health and well-being of the population of Pahang and Malaysia. 3. A severely damage ecology will affect fishing, agricultural and animal husbandry industries whose products will be contaminated and hence will be rejected by both the local and international markets. 4. Once contaminated, the palm oil exports will not be accepted by the international communities with the dire consequences of causing a possible collapse of the palm oil industries in Malaysia resulting in irrevocable damage to the national economy. 5. The property prices in and around Kuantan have already seen a sharp decline due to the fear of chemical and radioactive contamination of the environment. The tourism industries will similarly experience a decline as tourists avoid visiting a contaminated environment. The risks to the community far outweigh the benefits which will largely be gained by Lynas since it will enjoy a period of 12 years of tax exemption. The employment opportunities purported is facile if the risks to the workers were taken into account. Malaysia has endured a tragic experience when Mitsubishi Corporation established the Asian Rare Earth Plant in Bukit Merah Perak about 30 years ago. It is an undeniable fact that the people of Bukit Merah suffered grievous bodily harm till today as Mitsubishi is still attempting to clean up the radioactive waste in the region.
Submitted by The People's Green Coalition Malaysia
Watch the video of the Anti-Lynas gathering held on 31st May 2011.
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| Lynas: where common sense left us Posted: 30 May 2011 12:53 PM PDT Why is a foreign country sending all the raw material over here to process and then take back what it wants, leaving behind what it does not want back on its shores? So much has been said about the Lynas project. The anti-Lynas voice is slowly drowning under the pro-Lynas marching on. To give credence to the pro-Lynas propagators and champions, even threats have been hurled at concerned citizens and residents. People have been admonished in no uncertain terms that they may even lose everything else if they boycotted the Lynas project. So many highly intelligent and so-called specialists are also seemingly working hard in the wake of anti-Lynas objections. The goal is to allay the fears, give assurances that all safety measures will be guaranteed and to allow the progression of the Lynas project that was already hatched a long time ago without public consultation. But what happened to common sense? Does anyone want to ask that simple question: Why is a foreign country sending all the raw material over here to process and then take back what it wants, leaving behind what it does not want back on its shores? Whether you are putting in all the safety measures or whether you will see to the ultimate safe disposal of residual toxins, etc is not the issue. Why do it here? - that is the fundamental question that has not been answered. Yet we are so busy debating and arguing with all kinds of scientific and attested benchmarks to keep the Lynas project on. We are refusing to pay homoge to basic common sense. And therein lies the rape of a young nation. If only our leaders put citizens first before profits; if only we put health and well being before economic harvests - we may be poor by Adam Smith's standards, but healthy on all accounts. We are just kidding ourselves. What we are looking for is big money in quick time. Sad but true. And in the final analysis, who cares if the pawns die owing to exposure to contaminants ten, twenty or thirty years from now. By experience we know, the powers that be will in all likelihood cry when the Lynas project goes fowl in the distant future: "We did all we can; but the tragedy is beyond us - it is an act of God. So let us accept the unexpected tragedy in a manner that is consistent with our respective faiths". And that is because if have chosen to let common sense fly out of the window. We forget that without common sense there is no Vision 2020 in the first place. |
| Two Wrongs Don't Make One Right Posted: 30 May 2011 12:47 PM PDT By Tony Pua The Najib administration announced that it will raise electricity prices by an average 7.12 per cent from June 1 this year. According to Reuters, the price charged by Petronas for the sale of natural gas to electricity companies would rise to RM13.70 per mmBtu from RM10.70, and increase by RM3.00 every month. The industrial and commercial consumers will bear the brunt of the tariff hike with an average increase of 8.35 per cent in their power bills. This will inevitably fuel further inflation and reduce the competitiveness of our goods and services. The Government has employed the excuse of the need to reduce subsidy bills as the basis for the tariff hike in order to reduce the "misallocation of resources", which leads to declining competitiveness. However the Government has at the same time conveniently ignored the fact that the source of the "misallocation of resources" lies with the unbelievably lucrative Independent Power Producers (IPPs) power purchasing agreements (PPAs) with Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB). As a comparison, the power industry structure in Malaysia and Thailand are highly similar, with a little more than 70% of the fuel-mix for electricity generation being natural gas. However despite the fact that natural gas prices are more than double that of Malaysia's at RM23.10 mmBtu, commercial electricity tariff in Thailand is only 0.4% higher at RM38.01 kWh, compared to Malaysia's 37.85 mmBtu.. In fact after the latest revision, it has become stark clear that electricity rates for our commercial sector will be significant higher than that in Thailand, despite the fact that natural gas prices for the sector in Malaysia will still be 68.6% cheaper. Using Thailand as a benchmark, Malaysian electricity prices should be 16.9% cheaper based on existing subsidy rates. Instead, the BN Government does the exact opposite to raise the electricity tariffs. This shows clearly that our problem with electricity industry "distortions" as described by Minister in Prime Minister's office, Nor Mohd Yakcop is not with its prices, but with our highly "ineffcient" power producing sector which charges high prices despite lower cost of production. And the key reason for that is the unfair PPAs which results in ridiculously high levels of electricity reserve margins. According to TNB, our reserve margin is 54.6% in 2008 and 52.6% in 2010, which is double that of Thailand and Java, Indonesia, at 25.4% and 26% respectively. The net effect is TNB is forced to purchase electricity which it does not need to the IPPs, resulting in inflated costs for TNB and correspondingly inflated profits for the IPPs. The Government's decision to reduce the subsidies to the electricity sector is a clear attempt to right an existing "wrong" with another "wrong", which will only lead to further distortions in our market, and not reduce it. Our export industries which are already affected by the strong ringgit will be dealt with a bigger blow due to higher electricity prices compared to the region as a result of an inefficient and distorted power sector which profits only the IPPs. The only and proper way to correct the distortions in our power sector is to restructure the lobsided PPAs. In fact by doing so, the Government can kill two birds with one stone, reducing its subsidies and correcting the inefficiencies in the power sector as a result of our super-high reserve margins, while at the same time maintaining our existing electricity rates. The fact that the Government chooses to punish our consumers and industries, without laying a finger on the IPPs only serves to prove that the Najib administration has no political will to carry out the necessary reforms to our economy, contrary to the rhetoric we hear every day.
TONY PUA is DAP National Publicity Secretary and MP for Petaling Jaya Utara |
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