Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- True Folk vs. Good Folk
- What price freedom from restricted residence?
- Lawyer: PAS cannot go hudud
- WIKILEAKS: MALAYSIA'S CENTRAL BANK: LET'S MAKE A DEAL! REGULATION BY NEGOTIATION
- Navaratnam: Budget must protect against declining world economy
- PM: `Pilihan raya dah dekat’
- The Old Man and the Donkey
- BUDGET 2012 : Pakatan Rakyat VS Pakatan Rakyat
- Najib says BN not just for rural folk
- Putting Pakatan's "Flawed Budget" Under Scrutiny
- Utusan says Manoharan let off hook to save Guan Eng
- Bersih: Police corporal ‘scapegoat’ in Tung Shin scandal
- Iqraq
- Police, protesters clash at US capital museum
- GSC henti tayang filem Namewee Nasi Lemak 2.0
- Malaysia asked for more information on nude squat case
- No joy for Sarawak
| Posted: 09 Oct 2011 04:00 AM PDT
Dear Pete I saw the following post in MT under your article "So, teach me the 'jalan yang betul' then!" (inserted by Rev. Thomas on October 07, 2011 at 06:23:42):
I looked hard to see what exactly Rev. Thomas was correcting, but I found nothing. I can only assume he must have been referring to the contents of a deleted post. Nonetheless, this simple enough two-liner, coupled with the contents of your article and the other comments thereto, just kept bugging me all day long, to the point where I just had to put my thoughts into writing……. Rev. T starts off his correction by stating that "True Jews and Christians don't believe Allah is God", and so I found myself wondering exactly what that meant. After all, the Christian concept of God as the Trinity, where one of the three is Jesus Christ the Son of God (God in the flesh), is not at all what the Jews believe. The commonality in the God of the Jews and the Christians precedes the concept of the Trinity and lies in the God of Abraham. Now, as it happens (and which you, Pete, know full well), the God of the Muslims is the same as the God of Abraham. Thus, if the Jews can call that same God "Yahweh Elohim" while the Christians use the term "Lord God", then the Muslims using the name "Allah" does not alter the fact that it is the same God that all three religions are referring to. Any "thinking" Jew or Christian (in my book, one who has an open and enquiring mind) would have to agree that Allah, Yahweh and the Lord God are one and the same entity. So why does Rev. T say that the opposite is true. Well, Rev. T did not refer to "thinking" Jews and Christians; instead, he used the term "true" to describe them. If the Rev. T means "true" in the sense that "true" Jews and Christians are 100% devoted to their respective religions, then what has that got to do with not readily accepting that the God of Abraham, called Allah by the Muslims, is not the same entity as the God of the Jews or the Christians? Sadly, I can only conclude that Rev. T's comment is the remark of a bigot, which means that he himself cannot therefore be a true Christian. The next thing I wish to point out is that Rev. T, along with many others, happily ascribes the male gender to God. Why is that? After all, to be male means being a life form of the sexual orientation that cannot have babies. If it is an entity that can reproduce within itself, then it is hermaphrodite. If God could reproduce, even within God's own entity and without outside assistance, then God would presumably create a God replica, thus destroying the "one and only God" concept. This therefore leads to the conclusion that God is probably sexless. That being the case, who decided that God should be endowed with masculine qualities and addressed as a man (i.e. Lord God, instead of Lady God)? Yes, you were right, Pete. We, personkind (women and men collectively), really don't know the first thing about God, do we? Warmest Regards, Wally
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| What price freedom from restricted residence? Posted: 09 Oct 2011 03:34 AM PDT
THE PEOPLE'S PARLIAMENT Last count, there were 32 responses to my 'UMNO's new election bankers' post. Allen Tan and Delilah hit the nail square on the head. Apologies for this late post. Was in Kuantan for the Himpunan Hijau. ____________________________________________ Last Wednesday, in Parliament, while debating the bill to repeal the Restricted Residence Act, 1933, Najib stated that the government had 'decided to abolish the 1933 Act because the law is outdated and no longer relevant to the current situation', and went on to talk about how, in the present era of mobile broadband and smart phones, the restricted residence orders had become ineffective. Was Najib being absolutely candid about the situation leading to this repeal, or were there other considerations? Malaysiakini reports that Najib went on to say that the government had embarked on this journey 'not because of any pressure… the test (is) whether we deliver on the promise or not….Other parties can recklessly or unashamedly admit that this is their idea or opinion They are not government mandated by the majority of the people to honour what was promised'. What promise? And to whom? And were there any promises made in return? That same Malaysiakini report quotes Kerismudin as saying, in relation to the release orders, then already signed, relating to the 125 individuals who were going to immediately benefit from the law that would later be repealed, that the 'groundwork was done much earlier… this was not something we plucked from the air' . What, precisely, did this groundwork entail? Last Thursday, at a meeting with a senior civil servant where others were also present, this person said that the 125 persons to be released and the 200 others who would have the unserved restricted residence orders cancelled following upon the repeal of the restricted residence law are all known big-time criminals with enough evidence to put them all away for a long, long time. Trouble is, they wont go down alone. They'll also take with them practically half the cabinet, scores of senior civil servants and many top cops. So restricted residence was never a punishment or a deterrent. At most, an inconvenience. Otherwise, it was business as usual. So why, asked the civil servant, the hurry to repeal this Act and free these top dog hoodlums, yet there is not the same rush with the ISA where most of those detained are not criminally tainted? The answer, he said, was in the promise that Najib spoke of. The 325 known cash-rich criminals, whose business interests are each, in their own right, the 'goose that lays the golden egg', have promised to provide UMNO with cash for the 13th GE, in return for their new-found unfettered freedom. I asked if these hoodlums had already made good on their promise of cash for the elections. The civil servant said he was not sure.
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| Posted: 09 Oct 2011 03:27 AM PDT
(The Star) - Despite the PAS bravado about implementing the hudud law in Kelantan without the approval of the Federal Government, it cannot be done unless the Federal Constitution and other laws are amended. Human rights and constitutional lawyer Syahredzan Johan said the barriers set by the Federal Constitution and other legal provisions governing Islamic laws made it impossible for PAS to make its hudud plan a reality.
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| WIKILEAKS: MALAYSIA'S CENTRAL BANK: LET'S MAKE A DEAL! REGULATION BY NEGOTIATION Posted: 09 Oct 2011 01:00 AM PDT
Similarly, BoAM has not been able to take advantage of its global internet bank because the server for that was located in Hong Kong. According to one BoAM representative, BNM said connecting to a server outside of Malaysia -- whether for internet banking or credit risk management -- was "outsourcing." When the bank argued that connecting to the box would not result in any Malaysians losing their jobs, BNM countered that, in the event of a financial crisis, foreign banks were likely to "flee the country" unless they had sufficient "brick and mortar" invested here. BoAM responded that, in the event of a disaster, there was no back-up system for its Malaysian customers without a connection to an outside server as is done elsewhere in the region. THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Raja Petra Kamarudin
Classified By: ECON COUNSELOR MATT J. MATTHEWS, FOR REASONS 1.4 (b) and (d) 1. (C) Summary: A number of U.S. financial services firms operating in Malaysia have described various informal practices undertaken by staff at Bank Negara Malaysia, the Central Bank, designed to encourage US firms to shift investment and jobs to Malaysia in return for regulatory approvals. In some cases the staff's demands to support Malaysian government policies are quite direct, while in other more subtle cases, the central bank's regulatory and licensing approvals conveniently and predictably follow investment decisions made by U.S. firms that contribute toward the government's development initiatives. U.S. firms attribute these actions by Bank Negara to an effort to earn bragging rights for its support of the GOM's development plans. Unfortunately, the use of regulatory oversight authority by Bank Negara staff to prod U.S. firms to expand investment and jobs in Malaysia raises serious questions about the central bank's role as a neutral regulator safeguarding financial stability. U.S. firm in Malaysia believe concluding an FTA that includes obligations to liberalize the financial services sector will be the most effective way to address this issue. End Summary. GETTING CONNECTED REQUIRES "REINVESTING" IN MALAYSIA 2. (C) In one case reported to Economic Counselor and Treasury's Financial Attache for Southeast Asia, Bank of America Malaysia (BoAM), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of America (BoA), has been unable to expand its business up to now largely because the central bank, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) would not permit the subsidiary to connect to the parent company's Electronic Credit File (ECF), the bank's centralized credit-decision making and risk management tool. Across the globe, BoA approves credit decisions and maintains all its credit files electronically on a single system. In Malaysia, however, BoAM has been forced to make loan applications on paper and send them via fax, maintaining originals in a bulletproof safe. 3. (C) In April, after several years of negotiation, BoAM finally secured approval from BNM to connect to its global server by promising to "compensate" for using off-shore credit analysis and risk management tools by "reinvesting" in Malaysia. BNM had cited data secrecy provisions in disallowing the connection, but this prudential issue was not part of the negotiation. Instead, BoAM reported that the key part of the negotiation revolved around the question of what the bank would "bring back into Malaysia" if it were allowed to "take this out." 4. (C) Similarly, BoAM has not been able to take advantage of its global internet bank because the server for that was located in Hong Kong. According to one BoAM representative, BNM said connecting to a server outside of Malaysia -- whether for internet banking or credit risk management -- was "outsourcing." When the bank argued that connecting to the box would not result in any Malaysians losing their jobs, BNM countered that, in the event of a financial crisis, foreign banks were likely to "flee the country" unless they had sufficient "brick and mortar" invested here. BoAM responded that, in the event of a disaster, there was no back-up system for its Malaysian customers without a connection to an outside server as is done elsewhere in the region. 5. (C) BNM came back to the "brick and mortar" question, pointing out that HSBC had invested $28 million in back-office operations in Cyberjaya, making a significant contribution toward the government's goals of becoming a regional hub for back-office operations and building up the government-initiated cyber-city. BoAM responded that their operations in Malaysia were much smaller than those of HSBC and that $28 million represented roughly half their total business in the country; therefore they could not possibly commit to such an investment. BoAM asked what was required to "reinvest" in Malaysia, but BNM told them, "We do not have a framework for that." So it became clear, according to the bank representative, that BoAM was expected to bring something to the table. Finally, BoAM offered to build a $1.5 million Global Disaster Recovery Center for its internet banking system and hire two Malaysians to operate the system. BNM then agreed to allow them to connect to the server in the U.S. DIRECTED LENDING FOR HOUSING AND SMALL BUSINESSES 6. (C) Directed lending also has been a problem. BNM set an individually-determined housing loan quota for all banks. BNM instructed BoAM to finance 50 low-income housing units (at less than RM60,000 each). BoAM pointed out several difficulties they would have in meeting this quota. First, BoAM did not do private mortgage lending in Malaysia, only corporate lending, and as such would have difficulty in assessing credit risk in this consumer market. Second, very little housing was available at that price in Kuala Lumpur and BoAM had no presence outside the capital city, due to BNM restrictions on foreign conventional banks. Homebuyers from outside the city were unlikely to travel to KL to apply for a mortgage loan, the bank pointed out. 7. (C) BNM relented, imposing instead a RM 20 million quota in loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). BoAM had been able to meet only about RM 5 million of that quota, so every year it paid a fine. Bank headquarters, however, became increasingly concerned about its reputation risk for not complying with BNM's quota, and sent BoAM back to the negotiating table with BNM. Finally, BNM removed the official quota but established a "target" whereby BoAM was expected to make RM 5.6 million in loans to SMEs, 50% of which must be to SMEs owned by ethnic Malays. GE COURTS BANK NEGARA 8. (C) Separately, Stuart Dean, General Electric President for Southeast Asia, described a similar approach to getting approval from BNM. GE has not been able to enter the Malaysian market because BNM will issue licenses only to banking institutions and GE Money is a finance company. According to Dean, Malaysia has the largest consumer finance market among the five countries in Southeast Asia in which it operates, which also include Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines. If they could enter the consumer finance market, he argued, GE could double its business in Malaysia. 9. (C) Dean described his company's relationship with BNM as "excellent" and said he was optimistic that GE would get the approval they needed. In working with the Malaysian government, it was necessary to show them how Malaysia would benefit from any proposal, he explained. GE recently decided to move 100 of its "backroom" positions to Cyberjaya to serve its clients in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. This supports three key goals of the GOM: back-office operations, regional operations, and a boost to the cyber-city. GE also provides scholarships -- another high priority for the GOM which recognizes that the country's acute shortage of skilled labor is one of the major barriers to its development. Last week, press reports announced that GE planned to invest in yet another high-priority government initiative, the "Iskandar Development Region" bordering Singapore, in partnership with the government-linked company UEM World. AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL ASSURANCE GROUP 10. (C) Brad Bennett, CEO of American International Assurance Group (AIG) said he was confident that the company would get the approvals it needed because it was contributing to the country's explicit development goals. While the GOM does not state outright that it will award approvals to companies that invest in the government's targeted sectors and initiatives, the company makes the investments and then "trusts" that the regulators will come through. A year ago, Bank Negara was very helpful in working out a solution for AIG's requirements to incorporate locally and meet foreign equity thresholds, and is assisting the company in navigating the approvals required from various ministries for a data/call center to service the region. Bank Negara specifically requested AIG not to publicize its plans to invest in the data/call center. Bennett believes this is to allow Central Bank Governor Zeti to take credit for bringing in this high priority investment. "It will be a political feather in her cap," he told Econoff. AIG's next priority is to get a license for Islamic insurance, as the company perceives that its market share will decline as customers switch from conventional insurance to a Sharia-compliant product. 11. (C) Comment: Malaysia has a complex regulatory system whereby approvals are awarded on a case-by-case basis after what often are lengthy negotiations. U.S. companies operating here have spent years investing time and money in the negotiating process and in developing good relationships with Malaysian regulators. U.S. firms do not wish their various ongoing negotiations with Bank Negara to become the subject of government-to-government discussions that could undermine the deals these companies are working so hard to complete. However, these financial sector companies do hope that the successful conclusion of an FTA with Malaysia will create a more transparent and liberalized operating environment which will eliminate the need for such interactions with Bank Negara in the future. Finally, the aggressive effort by Bank Negara to use what should be prudential or regulatory tools for the benefit of unrelated government policies should raise some questions about how it will implement any "prudential carve outs" in the FTA. Clearly some of the policies imposed by BNM on the banks actually undermined their global risk management capabilities. End Comment. KEITH (OCTOBER 2007)
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| Navaratnam: Budget must protect against declining world economy Posted: 08 Oct 2011 07:43 PM PDT By Pauline Wong, The Sun PETALING JAYA (Oct 9, 2011): While the 2012 Budget is full of goodies obviously intended to prepare for the next General Election, it must also protect the Malaysian economy against the declining global economy. Centre for Public Policy Studies chairman Tan Sri Dr Ramon Navaratnam (pix) said it was a "goodie budget" aimed at the lower income group. "That is right and proper, but the budget should also look into longer term measures to defend the resilience of the Malaysian economy," he told theSun. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak in tabling the budget, provided optimistic figures as to the expected growth of the economy, with per capita income expected to increase to RM28,725 in 2011 compared to RM26,175 in 2010, said Navaratnam. The premier also estimated economic growth to remain strong in face of world economic slowdown, with growth of 55 to 5.5% in 2011. However, Navaratnam cautioned that the Prime Minister cannot take Malaysia's financial strength for granted. "Najib must ensure that he maintains fiscal and financial discipline to withstand the global decline, because if the economy continues its downward slide, the figures may change. "Revenue must be increased, and the goods and services tax must be considered after the Elections. Expenditure must also be cut in non-priority sectors, for while it is beautiful to build castles, we cannot ignore the poor or afford to give less priority to the lower income bracket," he said. The prominent economist and former Transparency International Malaysia president also said he would have liked to have seen more allocations made to strengthen government institutions. "For example, more funds to the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission to counter corruption, which had an adverse effect on the economy; or more allocations to strengthen the judiciary to build investor confidence. "The budget needs to also focus not only on expenditure but must be concerned with the benefits thereof," he urged. He called on Najib to further liberalise the budget to increase meritocracy, competition, and productivity so that the ensuing output would be enhanced to counter growing inflationary pressures. |
| Posted: 08 Oct 2011 07:24 PM PDT By Muda Mohd. Noor, FMT KUALA LUMPUR: Perdana Menteri hari ini memberitahu ahli penyokong BN hari ini bahawa pilihan raya umum ke 13 sangat dekat. Berucap di majlis penerangan perdana BN Wilayah Persekutuan di PWTC, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak berkata "gendang pilihan raya sudah dipalu dan gemanya semakin dirasai" "Anda sendiri boleh mendengarnya." Beliau yakin BN akan menang sekali lagi berdasarkan kelebihan dan kekuatan yang ada. Bagaimanapun, beliau mengingat komponen mengadakan persiapan di tahap terbaik kerana BN memasuki pilihan raya mahu menang dan bukan mahu kalah. "BN ada kekuatan sekali lagi untuk menang kerana kita berkhidmat untuk rakyat," katanya memberitahu 8, 000 ahli dan penyokong BN. Menurut Najib beliau mahu BN turut disokong oleh orang bandar terutama di Kuala Lumpur. Jangan sabotaj "Kuala Lumpur penting walaupun Kuala Lumpur bukan lagi deposit tetap (BN)," tambahnya. Pengerusi BN itu mengingatkan semua komponen BN menyelesaikan masalah masing-masing selain tidak menimbulkan masalah baru.
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| Posted: 08 Oct 2011 07:03 PM PDT By Totalecology In the snooker game of politics, Spin Dr. Mahatir Devil with a single stroke of the Hudud cue stick, has helplessly thrown the fragile cluster of Opposition Coalition billiard balls into disarray. In a smoke screen thrown off by the media to distract an unsuspecting public, the PAS Man & his DAP Son is seen with a Hudud Donkey. And now Pakatan big guns meet and work out a treaty!!! Least we forget, the citizens count on Pakatan to support the people, not to support views for or against Hudud. This vertical chain of command smacks of feudalism. " The road to hell is paved with good intentions', but under Pakatan 'benevolence', they will remain children forever. This is how the masses are forever suppressed. For real Democracy to work, the horizontal way is to ask the Kelantan people in true humility , what do you want? What is Hudud? This is a foremost question on Malaysian minds, which even Socrates would find it hard to answer, others pretend. As on record, JAIS so far is unable to come up with a policy statement, perhaps Silence is golden. If indeed Shariah Law is God's law, how come the One and Only Allah deem it fit for Kelantan Muslims and for other he subs it to Satan, which in this case, BN ? We can only define Hudud in Malaysian context as the underbelly of PAS, its softest spot, where at the Party promises milk for its constituencies. Yes, its true, the milk of Divine Love can adjudicate all conditions, but who is so empowered with a heart of undefiled love minus the attitude of bigotry, prejudice and racism ? The zealots are bent on cleaning up our cups and plates on the outside while its contents remain filthy still, will make a law unto themselves, while denying our Prophets the fire of their words to clean first the contents within. DAP just don't believe in such crude Medieval exposure and UMNO just don't care, and would rather see Kelantan showcase a failed state. The Nons are unable to jive into this scene, perceiving it to be an offensive fondling of private parts, be it promiscuity, debauchery, theft or trafficking (which hudud don't recognize as crimes). Jokes aside, Hudud would only be as useful as a cup of water in a thunderstorm as they seek recourse to other form of jurisdiction, either to balance past life karma by doing good works OR the violet flame invoked to transmute sin. Politics in the rough and tough road. DAP is now accused of sweeping Hudud under PAS carpet. Before the Opposition gets further decapitated by the venom injected at this late hour towards a political genocide. A mere change of clothes to suit each occasion cannot save Pas especially when it is rigged from within, and many a ravenous wolf wear sheep clothing, will have a field day with their band of hired assassins. Not a liberal Malay leader but a Bomoh is needed with the fire to exorcise demons and compel foul spirits it to flee from the Pas camp. The cue is now in Nik Aziiz's hand. The honest public want to know both sides of the story and not to believe in Chua Soy Lek alone. To hear the word is from the horse's mouth. People listen, tongues wag as he tries to give it a forward spin, in unison or reaction, win or lose. Well, good luck to him. Nik Aziz is the supreme icon of PAS and the face of Pas is Nik. Without Nik, PAS as it is will not exist, and without PAS, Hudud remains an empty cup. The portrayal of an Islamic Eldorado which Nik Aziz and Nasarudin so idealized and idolized is no where found in any part of the world other than in their own state. If Hudud Law have some merits, it is not a cure all for society, and care must be taken that the medicine is not worse than the disease. Hudud is already an old invention, but care must be taken not to open a Pandora box simply for the sake of some ancient treasures locked in. Just as with any other Party in post Mahathir Malaysia, this is a new generation of voters. Unless Pas reinvent itself before the GE to stay relevant, even in Kelantan, it will be too late thereafter. With Prominent Faces of our Future, like Nasarrudin and Ibrahim Ali to champion the Muslim/Malay agenda, they must not escape being groomed before they don the robes of the prophet. We hope the Opposition is smart enough to seize this opportunity to turnaround the situation and not unnecessarily suffer collateral damage in the hands of BN ridicule. Here lies a great opportunity to rally the rank and file of the rakyat and forward an Exponential Revolution in the thinking mentality of Malaysians that will counteract Universal Ignorance. |
| BUDGET 2012 : Pakatan Rakyat VS Pakatan Rakyat Posted: 08 Oct 2011 06:52 PM PDT Oleh Shen Yee Aun Masyarakat Malaysia perlu lebih peka terhadap permainan politik yang cuba dimainkan oleh pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat. Hal ini disebabkan tiada bajet yang sempurna di dunia ini dan apa sahaja bajet yang akan dibentangkan oleh Perdana Menteri akan ada juga serangan yang berbeza daripada pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat. Kini kita lihat bagaimana mereka sebenarnya menyerang antara satu sama lain tanpa disedari mereka. |
| Najib says BN not just for rural folk Posted: 08 Oct 2011 06:18 PM PDT By Melissa Chi, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak called on Barisan Nasional (BN) to not only be a "rural party" and reach out to the middle class and intellectuals. "We don't want BN to be a party only supported by rural folk. We want the middle class and intellectual groups to support us as well. "We want BN to be supported by all groups," the prime minister said at the BN Federal Territory Information session here, attended by about 8,000 of its members. Najib has announced a raft of reforms over the past few months, including a Malaysia Day address where he pledged to amend and repeal several security and press laws including the controversial Internal Security Act. He has also set up a parliamentary select committee to look into improving the electoral system in what is seen as a major concession to electoral reform movement Bersih. His administration had come under heavy fire for its clampdown on the Bersih 2.0 rally for electoral reform on July 9, which saw thousands of middle class Malaysians join the march in the capital. Bersih has claimed some 50,000 people took part in the street demonstration but official police figures place the number closer to 6,000. Police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse the marches in chaotic scenes that resulted in over 1,500 people arrested, scores injured and the death of an ex-soldier. Najib earlier highlighted the importance of only fielding "winnable candidates" in the next general election. Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassan had previously acknowledged that there may be dissatisfaction among Umno leaders who are not chosen or are dropped as candidates, but maintained that the party leadership will be able to keep things under control. "If we play, we play to win," Najib said today. The Umno president said the ruling coalition should put forth a set of criteria for candidates in order to find the "winnable" individuals that will power them to victory in the next elections.
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| Putting Pakatan's "Flawed Budget" Under Scrutiny Posted: 08 Oct 2011 05:59 PM PDT (Bernama) - KUALA LUMPUR, 9 OCTOBER, 2011: In trying not to miss the boat, the opposition has also scrambled to bring out what it called "a budget that ensures prosperity for all". But beyond the lofty promises and glossy numbers, the so-called shadow budget, if ever it is implemented, could hurt rather than benefit ordinary Malaysians.Unlike Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak's all-encompassing Budget 2012, which deliberately opted for a mildly expansionary approach to ensure economic growth continues, Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has taken a more cautious and hawkish stance. Under Najib's budget, the economy is forecast to grow at a respectable 5.0 to 6.0 per cent. Under Pakatan's plan, the growth momentum could slow sharply to 4.0 to 4.5 per cent, down from 5.0 to 5.5 per cent in 2011. In fact, political analysts said the opposition's budget document had the hallmarks of the orthodox International Monetary Fund (IMF) prescriptions for Malaysia when Anwar was the finance minister during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis before he was sacked. Those bitter pills include pushing interest rates sky high, tightening bank lending, raising import duties and sharply cutting back on public infrastructure spending, thus putting sharp brakes on the economy. Malaysians who lived through the crisis more than a decade ago will not easily forget those gripping pains they had to endure. For a start, Pakatan Rakyat, the coalition of opposition parties, has envisaged a RM220-billion budget for 2012, much smaller than the government's RM232.8-billion budget. But its forecast of government revenue of RM181 billion is way off the mark. The government had said that its revenue could top RM187 billion next year. Najib opted to spend more in 2012 (up from this year's RM212 billion) to stimulate domestic demand and investments. Furthermore, the country's economic fundamentals remain on a strong and solid footing. Inflows of foreign direct investment have regained momentum. Foreign Direct Investment increased six-fold to RM29 billion in 2010, the highest growth in Asia. In the first half of 2011, FDI surged further by 75 per cent to RM21.2 billion compared with RM12.1 billion for the corresponding period in 2010. However, Najib has given an assurance that the government would continue to remain fiscally prudent and keep a tight rein on the fiscal deficit. There are a few other examples how life would be difficult under the opposition budget plan. Firstly, the relatively smaller subsidy allocation of RM22 billion against the government's RM33.2 billion would mean more people, especially the poor, would have to struggle to make ends meet amid the rising cost of living. In his "People's Budget", the prime minister deliberately outlined each essential item that would continue to be subsidised by the government. It is not unusual for Malaysians, including the rich, to take these subsidies for granted. These subsidies include petrol, diesel, cooking gas, natural gas, sugar, rice, flour, and electricity bills. And Pakatan's proposed cut of a whopping RM10 billion off the Prime Minister's Department (JPM) allocation next year could deprive thousands of JPM staff of their monthly salaries. JPM forms the backbone of the nation's economic and government policy-making and implementation. Perhaps the most controversial of Pakatan's budget proposals was to set the minimum wage at RM1,100 to wean off the over-dependence on foreign workers. However, many commentators felt that the threshold was blunt and socio-economically flawed. The threshold, as it stands, is way above the current market rate for unskilled labour. It is absurd to expect a sudden big jump in wages even for unskilled labour without taking into consideration any direct and indirect impact on labour demand, inflation and productivity. A better approach would be to allow gradual increase in the minimum wage level over a three-year period. Interestingly, the RM1,100 minimum wage will also benefit some 300,000 civil servants who are in the lower-income group. This proposal and other special welfare payments plans for children, senior citizens and women, all to be paid annually, have raised concerns of the country's financial sustainability under Pakatan. "We can only distribute money when we are having a fiscal surplus or it might further burden the country," columnist Lim Sue Goan wrote in the MySinChew.com column. Paying special attention to the civil service by dangling a RM5.9-billion carrot to them is also puzzling as Pakatan had made it clear from the start that the civil service is already bloated and needs to be trimmed. Perhaps one would question the true motivation of Pakatan in taking such a populist posture to woo back civil servants. At the end of the day, it's a case of Pakatan spending cash that it doesn't have and its budget remains overshadowed by the Barisan Nasional government's pragmatic socio-economic blueprint. |
| Utusan says Manoharan let off hook to save Guan Eng Posted: 08 Oct 2011 05:57 PM PDT By Melissa Chi, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — Utusan Malaysia said today DAP's lifting of assemblyman M. Manoharan's suspension was to "save" Lim Guan Eng from facing disciplinary action over his recent Johor remarks. The Umno-owned newspaper said that suspending the Kota Alam Shah representative "will invite pressure from a lot of people" especially Indians. "Manoharan has only been freed to save him. The party had missed the opportunity to show that they are not racist. DAP's leadership can sense that the suspension will spark more dissatisfaction among Indian members and supporters. "Guan Eng is again shielded. Other than being Kit Siang's son, and holding an important position, his skin is lighter than Manoharan's," Awang Selamat, a pseudonym used by the newspaper's editors, wrote in its weekend edition Mingguan Malaysia. Awang said the DAP secretary general had committed a much more serious offence as compared to Manoharan who had called for the national flag to be changed. "There are people who saw Guan Eng's actions as an attempt to sabotage Johor's economy and to ruin the country's image. "Guan Eng's actions shocked Malaysians especially Johor residents. A lot of people were hurt including the Johor Sultan, and the police who have worked hard to reduce the crime rate in the state," he said in his column. Although Lim had apologised on September 30, Awang said his method was "not gentlemanly" as the Bagan MP had blamed the media for playing up the issue. |
| Bersih: Police corporal ‘scapegoat’ in Tung Shin scandal Posted: 08 Oct 2011 05:55 PM PDT By Lisa J Ariffin, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 9 — Bersih 2.0 said today authorities have made a scapegoat of the policeman held solely responsible for firing tear gas into Tung Shin Hospital during the July 9 rally for free and fair elections. "This is ridiculous. Everyone saw ... the whole world saw the video. The poor guy is the scapegoat. "If you say just one, did they really do a proper investigation? How can they say it's one?" Bersih steering committee member Maria Chin Abdullah told The Malaysian Insider. Kuala Lumpur police had said yesterday that the police corporal who breached standard operating procedure (SOP) during the rally would be disciplined. "Just like the minister of health (Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai) who denied Tung Shin was attacked by police, this is a denial that more than one police officer was involved," Chin added. In a report made public on Tuesday, the Health Ministry had determined that police acted in an unethical manner and breached SOP when dispersing demonstrators who had converged on the hospital to escape riot police. The report prompted a statement from Home Ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Mahmood Adam that the matter would be referred to the police disciplinary committee.
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| Posted: 08 Oct 2011 05:38 PM PDT
The Muslims believe that the first word ever revealed to Prophet Muhammad was IQRAQ (read). I am sure this was done for a reason. So READ, and understand what we are talking about. To scream and shout, "You know nothing about Islam. You are not learned. Go learn from an ustaz," is not good enough. Even those ustaz you are talking about do not read those three books I mentioned above. NO HOLDS BARRED Raja Petra Kamarudin
There are some who say that those who know nothing about a subject matter should not be talking about it. I can agree with that. But then it all depends on what you mean by 'know nothing'. Maybe there are some who don't know how the Islamic Shariah laws should be applied or interpreted. This is because they are not judges or lawyers. But then, they could be historians and they know their history very well. And because of that, they know the HISTORY of the Shariah. Which means they are certainly qualified to talk about the Shariah from the historical aspect of those laws. Therefore, to tell a historian to stop talking about the Shariah because he or she is not trained in Islamic laws is not quite correct. If this historian not only knows the history of the Shariah but is also lecturing about it in one of the universities, this makes him or her more than qualified to talk about it. For Muslims and non-Muslims alike, I would like to recommend you to buy and read just three of the many books I have in my library. These books are:
ISLAM AND THE SECULAR STATE (NEGOTIATING THE FUTURE OF SHARI'A) by Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im (Harvard University Press)
THE MANY FACES OF POLITICAL ISLAM (RELIGION AND POLITICS IN THE MUSLIM WORLD) by Mohammed Ayoob (National University of Singapore)
A HISTORY OF ISLAMIC LAW by N. J. Coulson (Edinburgh University Press)
These three books will suffice for now to be able to make you an 'expert' on the Shariah. I can recommend another dozen more books if you are still 'hungry' for more knowledge. The Muslims believe that the first word ever revealed to Prophet Muhammad was IQRAQ (read). I am sure this was done for a reason. So READ, and understand what we are talking about. To scream and shout, "You know nothing about Islam. You are not learned. Go learn from an ustaz," is not good enough. Even those ustaz you are talking about do not read those three books I mentioned above.
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| Police, protesters clash at US capital museum Posted: 08 Oct 2011 03:40 PM PDT
(Reuters) - Authorities shut down Washington's popular National Air and Space Museum yesterday afternoon after antiwar protesters tried to enter the building and clashed with guards, a museum spokeswoman said. One person was arrested during the melee at the Smithsonian museum involving between 150 and 200 protesters and six guards, museum spokeswoman Isabel Lara said. "There was a lot of shoving going on," Lara said, adding one of the guards was surrounded and used pepper spray before the demonstrators were moved outside. She said she was not aware of any injuries. The shoving match broke out in a vestibule between two glass doors at the museum entrance after guards told the protesters they could not enter with signs, Lara said. Protest organisers said the attempt to enter the museum on the National Mall was part of the Occupy D.C. antiwar demonstrations that began on Thursday on the 10th anniversary of the start of the Afghanistan war. "Along with the Occupy Wall Street movement, it represents an upswell of people taking to the street around the country to demand social and economic justice as well as an end to the immoral wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," organisers said in an e-mail sent to Reuters. "It is outrageous that the security guard of a major museum in America pepper sprayed Americans as they entered the museum. The drones housed in this museum and the pepper spraying of Americans at the door are clear evidence of repression in America," Retired Colonel Ann Wright said in the e-mail. Drones are armed tactical unmanned planes used by the US government to track and attack insurgents overseas. The museum, which draws 8 million visitors a year and is the most visited Smithsonian Institution museum, was shut down at 3:15pm (1915 GMT). Lara said it would reopen today. NYC protesters may expand Anti-Wall Street protests continued in New York City yesterday and in other US cities, although crowds outside New York have been much smaller. "We're tired of other people controlling, or thinking they control, our lives and our livelihoods," said Kristin Thompson, a 22-year-old preschool teacher and one of 100 protesters in Mobile, Alabama. In Santa Fe, New Mexico, about 250 protesters lined the streets outside a Bank of America branch, waving signs at passing vehicles. Participants said they had been summoned via social network Internet sites, labor organisers, the liberal website MoveOn.org and members of the local Green Party. "We are all in this together," said Ramona Beene, 45, who owns a cake company. She said her two college-age children were "spending thousands of dollars and won't have jobs after they graduate." In New York, hundreds of protesters marched from lower Manhattan to Washington Square Park in the Greenwich Village neighbourhood — the site of protests against the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s — to discuss expanding their encampment to other sites. Lucas Vasquez, a student leading the march, said protesters were looking at expanding into Washington Square and Battery Parks, but stressed, "We're not going to give up Liberty Plaza" — the protesters' name for Zuccotti Park near Wall Street, where about 250 have camped out around the clock. "It's sometimes hard to move around there. We have a lot of people," he said.
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| GSC henti tayang filem Namewee Nasi Lemak 2.0 Posted: 08 Oct 2011 02:26 PM PDT (TMI) - Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC), rangkaian pawagam terbesar negara ini telah memutuskan untuk menghentikan tayangan Nasi Lemak 2.0 arahan pembikin filem dan artis kontroversi Namewee. Tidak dapat dipastikan sama ada ia ada kaitan dengan siri kontroversi sejak kebelakangan, tetapi GSC dipetik akhbar tempatan berkata keputusan itu diambil ekoran keputusan Astro menyiarkan menerusi saluran Astro First. Laporan New Sunday Times hari ini berkata, filem yang telah mencatatkan kutipan lebih RM4 juta setakat ini dihentikan penayangan sejak Jumaat lalu. Menurut laporan itu, GSC juga menyiarkan permohonan maaf menerusi laman sosial Facebook memaklumkan bahawa mereka yang sudah membeli tiket boleh mendapatkan balik duit masing-masing. "Bukan amalan GSC untuk menyiarkan mana-mana filem yang disiarkan serentak di mana-mana saluran filem berbayar yang lain," kata mesej Facebook itu. Seorang jurucakap dipetik akhbar itu berkata pihaknya menayangkan filem itu sejak lima minggu lalu. Dalam satu kenyataan akhbar tiga minggu lalu, Namewee atau nama sebenarnya Wee Meng Chee bimbang Nasi Lemak 2.0 mungkin diharamkan ekoran demonstrasi membantah filem tersebut di Perak baru-baru ini. Katanya, dia kesal dengan protes tersebut dan berharap pihak berkuasa tidak mengendahkan desakan supaya filemnya diharamkan. "Film ini mendapat kelulusan sebelum penggambaraan dan satu lagi kelulusan sebelum tayangan. Saya berharap pihak berkuasa menghormati keputusan mereka sendiri serta usaha kerja saya," katanya. Filem tersebut dilaporkan dikecam pihak-pihaknya yang mendakwa ia mempunyai pengaruh buruk kepada anak-anak muda. Ketika mengadakan protes di luar sebuah panggung wayang di Ipoh, satu kumpulan yang menggelarkan diri mereka Pertubuhan Gagasan Rakyat Didahulukan Perak, menuntut kerajaan mempertimbangkan mengharamkan filem tersebut. Menteri Dalam Negeri Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein sebelum ini berkata mereka yang tidak berpuas hati dengan filem ini boleh membuat aduan. Menjawab soalan mengapa tidak mahu meneruskan tayangan meskipun mendapat sokongan besar, GSC berkata, pihaknya mahu mempertahankan hakikat bahawa institusi pawagam masih merupakan tempat terbaik bagi mana-mana tayangan filem. Dalam pada itu, Pengarah Eksekutif Nasi Lemak 2.0 Fred Chong pula memberitahu beliau menerima keputusan GSC dan menghargai sokongan institusi pawagam. "Kami gembira kerana menerima sokongan mereka lebih empat minggu meskipun kami tidak mendapat sokongan tayangan wajib daripada Finas," katanya lagi. Sehubungan itu, Chong berkata dia berharap mereka yang kehilangan peluang menonton di pawagam boleh mengikutinya menerusi saluran Astro First. GSC menjelaskan, Nasi Lemak 2.0 bukan merupakan filem pertama pihaknya menghentikan tayangan. Filem Bini Biniku Gangster, yang menjana RM7 juta dalam empat hari pertama tayangan juga telah dihentikan selepas tiga minggu apabila Astro menawarkan tayangan. Filem Nasi Lemak 2.0 tidak memperoleh status Wajib Tayang daripada Finas, yang mewajibkan operator pawagam menayangkan selama dua minggu. Pelakon Nasi Lemak 2.0 termasuklah Adibah Noor, Datuk David Arumugam dari Alleycats, Karen Kong, Afdlin Shauki, Kenny & Chee, Reshmonu, Dennis Lau, Nur Fathia, Nadine Thomas, Pete Teo, Ho Yuhang, Dian Sharlin, Felixia Yap dan Namewee.
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| Malaysia asked for more information on nude squat case Posted: 08 Oct 2011 02:03 PM PDT (The Straits Time/Asia News Network)- Singapore's Foreign Affairs Ministry (MFA) has written to the Malaysian High Commission seeking details of an investigation into how two Singaporean women were treated while in detention in a Johor lock-up. An MFA statement released on Friday said there was an understanding with the Malaysian authorities that they would let Singapore know the results of the investigations as soon as it was ready, but they had not received any to date. Instead, findings of Malaysia's probe into the highly-publicised matter were announced in their parliament session earlier this week, when a Home Ministry statement cleared the officers involved in the June incident of any wrongdoing. "Following media reports in Malaysia that the Malaysian authorities have provided a reply to a Parliamentary question on the same case, MFA has asked the Malaysian High Commission in Singapore to provide more information," the statement said. The two Singaporean women were driving into Johor Baru for supper on June 9 when they went through an unmanned checkpoint lane and entered Malaysia without getting their passports stamped. Realising what had happened, the pair did a U-turn and approached some Malaysian officers who questioned them and sent them to a detention centre in Pontian. There, the women claimed they were made to strip and asked to do 10 squats each while pulling their ears – acts which have been roundly criticised on both sides of the Causeway as inhumane and humiliating. But, on Wednesday, Malaysia's Home Ministry, in a written reply to a question by opposition Member of Parliament Fong Po Kuan, said the checks were done in a "good and orderly fashion". According to online newspaper Malaysian Insider, the ministry said the inspection was carried out according to standard operating procedures, such as having the women examined by a female officer. — The Straits Times /Asia News Network |
| Posted: 08 Oct 2011 01:31 PM PDT By Joseph Tawie, FMT KUCHING: Sarawak has not been given much attention by the Barisan Nasional-led government in the Budget 2012 although the state's rural areas are being touted as the coalition's 'fixed deposit', claimed Sarawak DAP. Said state DAP secretary Chong Chieng Jen: "There is nothing much in the budget, except for the mention of building some roads, supply of electricity and water to the rural areas.
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