Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Malaysia offers to fund Padma Bridge after World Bank backs out
- Malaysian Govt Pressured to Suspend Detainee Exchange with Burma
- Malaysia’s Inflation Unexpectedly Quickens on Food, Transport
- Energy Commission denies giving sweetheart deal to Syed Mokhtar
- Aziz Bari: I did not attack the Sultan
- Many Muslims don’t respect Sultan, says Jakim
- Karpal: Khairy ill-bred and a disgrace!
- Hundreds of UIA students protest Aziz Bari’s suspension
- ‘Is Umno tacitly backing Himpun rally?’
- Anya Corke: I don’t know Guan Eng’s son
- Ngeh claims Zambry sold state land on the cheap
- BN poised for bigger win in GE13, says OSK Research
| Malaysia offers to fund Padma Bridge after World Bank backs out Posted: 21 Oct 2011 12:39 AM PDT By Mizan Rahman/Dhaka, Gulf Times Visiting special envoy of the Malaysian government Dato Seri S Samy Vellu made the proposal in a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence Gonobhaban in Dhaka yesterday. PM's press secretary Abul Kalam Azad said the Malaysian government requested Bangladesh to provide a scheme design of the bridge and a construction plan. Azad said the Malaysian proposed financing of the 6.15km Padma Bridge Project at easy terms. The Malaysian proposal came against the backdrop of the World Bank's refusal to continue its commitment to finance the project because of alleged corruption, a charge which the government rejected outright. Padma Bridge is a priority project of the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to connect Bangladesh's southern region with the rest of the country, it is estimated that the bridge will add 2% to GDP. State Minister for Housing and Public Works Advocate Abdul Mannan Khan, State Minister for Local Government and Cooperatives Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Aslamul Haque, MP attended the meeting. The envoy was accompanied by Malaysian High Commissioner in Bangladesh Jamaluddin Sabeh.Principal Secretary Sheikh Wahiduzzaman, PMO Secretary Mollah Wahiduzzaman, Local Government secretary Abul Alam Shahid Khan and Public Works Secretary Khandakar Showkat Hossain were also present. Various issues relating to mutual interests also came up for discussion. The government has already signed deals of $1.2bn with the World Bank, $615mn with Asian Development Bank, $400mn with Japan International Cooperation Agency and $140mn with Islamic Development Bank to arrange funds for the $2.9bn Padma Multipurpose Bridge project, the country's longest bridge. The 6.15km bridge with 3.68km of land-based approach viaducts on both sides of the river will connect 19 south-western districts and the capital, enhancing their access to markets, improving services and accelerating growth. The bridge will reduce distances to Dhaka by about 100km and halve travel times from most areas in the southwest. Moreover, the bridge will enhance regional trade by linking with the Asian Highway and Trans-Asian railway network systems, officials said. It will also connect the two major seaports in Bangladesh. |
| Malaysian Govt Pressured to Suspend Detainee Exchange with Burma Posted: 21 Oct 2011 12:36 AM PDT By Saw Yan Naing, The Irrawaddy Malaysia should delay deporting Burmese refugees and asylum seekers until there is safety and job security in their homeland, according to Malaysian rights groups and the leading opposition party. The calls came in response to a plan to exchange detainees reached between Kuala Lumpur and Naypyidaw earlier this month. Under the deal, Malaysia will deport the 1,000 Burmese currently held at Malaysian detention centers, mostly for immigration offenses, while Burma will send back Malaysian detainees, Malaysian Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein announced this week. Lim Kit Siang, the chairman of the Malaysian opposition Democratic Action Party and a member of the Malaysian Parliament, said that the detainee exchange between Malaysia and Burma should be suspended until there is an assurance that refugees and asylum seekers will be protected from prosecution when they return to Burma. "The agreement will only further jeopardize the dignity and security of Myanmar refugees and asylum seekers in Malaysia. Those who flee Myanmar remain at risk of persecution in all forms," Lim Kit Siang told a press conference in the lobby of Parliament on Friday. There are at least 340,000 Burmese in Malaysia, including more than 87,000 refugees registered by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Many belong to ethnic minorities and fled Burma for fear of forced labor, rape, violence, murder and persecution by the government army. Speaking with The Irrawaddy on Friday, Agung Putri, the executive director of the Asean Inter-parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC), said that migrants come to Malaysia for different reasons, so the country should review the reasons the Burmese flee to Malaysia. She said many do not come for economic reasons, but because of systematic persecution in their homeland. She said that Burmese refugees must be categorized differently from Indonesian and Cambodian migrants. "We would like Malaysia to overthrow its policy, and suspend the exchange," said Putri. On Wednesday, a leading Malaysian rights group, Suaram, released a statement saying that the deal between Malaysia and Burma could result in some Burmese nationals being forced to return to a country "where their lives could be in danger." Aung Naing Thu, an Burmese activist in Malaysia, told The Irrawaddy on Friday that the security of Burmese refugees and asylum seekers is at risk, and employment is uncertain for them if they are deported to Burma. "Many of the refugees don't want to return to Burma," he said. "If they do go back, they have to worry about their safety," said Aung Naing Thu. Rights groups said that is a high possibility of persecution for those who are sent back to Burma. The human rights situation in Burma, grievous as it remains, is unlikely to be able to ensure such protections, without which Malaysia cannot hope to fulfill its international obligations to ensure that human rights of refugees be protected, said the AIPMC in a statement. |
| Malaysia’s Inflation Unexpectedly Quickens on Food, Transport Posted: 21 Oct 2011 12:34 AM PDT By Shamim Adam and Michael Munoz, Bloomberg Malaysia 's inflation unexpectedly quickened in September as food and transportation costs climbed and a weakening ringgit made imports costlier. Consumer prices rose 3.4 percent from a year earlier after climbing 3.3 percent in August, according to a report by the Putrajaya-based statistics department today. The median estimate of 18 economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 3.3 percent increase. Europe 's debt crisis and a faltering U.S. recovery have hurt demand for Asian goods, raising the danger to regional growth and prompting Asian central banks to refrain from raising interest rates or start to lower borrowing costs. The Malaysian government cut its forecast for economic expansion in 2011 this month and said there is "added pressure" to use fiscal resources to bolster growth. "Domestic inflationary pressure is what's keeping headline inflation elevated," Irvin Seah , an economist at DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in Singapore, said before the report. "There are upside risks to inflation given that massive floods in neighboring countries such as Thailand will drive imported food prices to Malaysia higher." Thailand, the world's largest rice exporter, may lose 6 million metric tons of unmilled rice as floods damage key plantation areas, Apichart Jongskul, secretary-general of the Office of Agricultural Economics, said today. Malaysia's ringgit fell about 7 percent against the dollar in September, along with most other Asian currencies, as a deepening European debt crisis prompted investors to shun emerging-market assets. Bank Negara Malaysia left the overnight policy rate at 3 percent on Sept. 8 for a second meeting, saying a "more challenging" external environment has increased the "downside risks" to Malaysia's economy. The nation will probably expand 5 percent to 5.5 percent this year, the government said Oct. 7, lower than an earlier target of as much as 6 percent. Consumer prices will probably rise 3 percent to 3.5 percent in 2011, central bank Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said Sept. 25. The monetary authority will hold its final policy meeting this year on Nov. 11. |
| Energy Commission denies giving sweetheart deal to Syed Mokhtar Posted: 21 Oct 2011 12:04 AM PDT By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — The Energy Commission said today that the tariff and length of concession for the 1,000-megawatt plant in Tanjung Bin, Johor was determined during the bidding process, denying claims that the government had signed a "blank cheque" for tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar al-Bukhary. The federal opposition had accused the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration of awarding the independent power producer (IPP) deal to a subsidiary of Malakoff Berhad, controlled by Syed Mokhtar, without first agreeing to tariff rates and the length of the concession. The commission said in a statement today the tender restricted to two bids was evaluated solely on "technical and commercial aspects" including "the proposed tariff for the entire duration of the 25-year concession." "The tariff and concession period have already been determined through the competitive bidding process. The final tariff that was submitted and approved ... is very competitive compared to similar projects in the region," it said. This comes despite the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry saying in a written reply this week that the Energy Commission will only finalise the power purchase agreement with Tanjung Bin Power at the end of the year. Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers had said the deal awarded to Malaysia's richest Bumiputera after a limited tender between two bidders "is scandalous, if not criminal." But the Energy Commission explained today that the limited tender was due to the need to award the project on time to "achieve commercial operation in early 2016" to avoid "potential brownouts" based on projected economic growth. |
| Aziz Bari: I did not attack the Sultan Posted: 20 Oct 2011 07:25 PM PDT By G Manimaran, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — As pressure grows for the International Islamic University of Malaysia (UIA) to lift Dr Abdul Aziz Bari's suspension, the law professor has insisted he did not criticise the Selangor Sultan. Abdul Aziz said today he was fulfilling his role as an academic when he said earlier this month that the Sultan had intervened in an "unusual and inconsistent" manner on the church raid by religious authorities."I did not attack the Selangor Sultan. As an academic, I have a role to inform the public," he said, adding that he would reply to a show-cause letter from the university on Tuesday after he has met his lawyer. Over 700 UIA students held a protest at the Gombak campus this morning demanding that the constitutional expert be reinstated.
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| Many Muslims don’t respect Sultan, says Jakim Posted: 20 Oct 2011 04:58 PM PDT
By Shannon Teoh,The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — The federal Islamic development agency claimed today that many Muslim do not respect the authority of the Malay Rulers who are heads of religions for their respective states. On the eve of a planned gathering of a million Muslims to defend the faith, the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) prepared a Friday sermon that accused some parties of putting political interests ahead of the religion. "Many Muslims today do not respect the views and authority and in fact question the Sultan heads of the Islamic religious councils. "The sanctity of the faith has been politicised and the split among Muslims has affected the function and role of the councils," said the sermon titled "State Islamic religious councils drive the transformation of the faithful". The sermon added that the councils are looked down on and seen to be mere government agencies, causing their authority over religious matters to be ignored. Professor Dr Abdul Aziz Bari was suspended by the International Islamic University (IIU) this week as police investigate allegations that he had disrespected the Selangor Sultan. Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah had decreed recently that the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) had found evidence of proselytisation by non-Muslims during a dinner held at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) on August 3 but said it was insufficient for further legal action. Abdul Aziz had said the intervention was "unusual and inconsistent" and should have been done in line with Islamic teachings, causing a furore in Parliament among Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs who urged that action be taken against the law professor. Although a police report has been lodged against him, the outspoken academician has decided against apologising for his remarks, insisting he had not meant to challenge the Sultan. The sermon said the erosion of Islam's dignity "cannot happen without being implicitly planned." The Himpunan Sejuta Umat (Himpun), or Gathering of a Million Faithful, is being organised by various right-wing groups such as Perkasa to rally Muslims against the "challenge of Christianisation" on the back of alleged proselytising by Christians.
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| Karpal: Khairy ill-bred and a disgrace! Posted: 20 Oct 2011 04:55 PM PDT
DAP chairman takes Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin to task for a Twitter posting villifying Lim Guan Eng's son. (Free Malaysia Today) - National DAP chairman Karpal Singh today branded Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin a "disgrace" for villifying Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's son in a Twitter message. "He is a disgrace not only to whoever extended him a tertiary education but also to Parliament of which, regrettably, he is a member. "He is certainly not well-bred for having fallen hook, line and sinker for the vile and vicious attacks against Guan Eng's 16-year-old son without first ascertaining the truth of the allegation," said Karpal. The Bukit Gelugor MP took Khairy to task for the latter's Twitter message in Bahasa Malaysia that was posted three days ago. The message read: "Maybe he (Lim Guan Eng) demolished Kampung Buah Pala to replace it with Kampung Buah Dada (literally translated a breast village)." Khairy posted his comments following spurious attacks by Umno bloggers that Lim's son was transferred from his school after allegedly molesting a fellow female student. Yesterday, Karpal urged Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to intervene and stop the baseless allegations. The DAP revealed in Parliament on Oct 19 that the alleged victim was a former Hong Kong chess champion Anya Corke, a British citizen who has never set foot on Malaysia, let alone met Lim's son.
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| Hundreds of UIA students protest Aziz Bari’s suspension Posted: 20 Oct 2011 04:53 PM PDT By Mohd Farhan Darwis, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — Hundreds of International Islamic University (UIA) students gathered today to protest the university's suspension of Prof Dr Abdul Aziz Bari, chanting slogans in a show of force at the mosque compound of its Gombak campus here. Approximately 700 students turned up for the protest and demanded UIA Rector Prof Datuk Dr Zaleha Kamaruddin immediately drop Abdul Aziz's (picture) suspension. "Hidup hidup mahasiswa! Hancur kezaliman! (Long live undergraduates, reject authoritarianism!)" many of the protesters were heard shouting as police watched. Many of the students said the move was necessary to "repair" the university's image as a respected academic institution. UIA has indefinitely suspended the outspoken academic following his remarks on the the Selangor Sultan, saying that "criticism of a Ruler is valid if it is intended to constructively show that the Ruler has erred." Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah had decreed recently that the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) had found evidence of proselytisation by non-Muslims during a dinner held at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) on August 3 but said it was insufficient for further legal action. Following Abdul Aziz's statement that the intervention was "unusual and inconsistent" and should have been done in line with Islamic teachings, it caused a furore in Parliament among Barisan Nasional (BN) MPs who urged that action be taken against the UIA law lecturer. Although a police report has been lodged against him, the outspoken academician has decided against apologising for his remarks, insisting he had not meant to challenge the Sultan. Among the politicians present at the protest today were PKR vice-presidents Chua Tian Chang and Nurul Izzah Anwar. |
| ‘Is Umno tacitly backing Himpun rally?’ Posted: 20 Oct 2011 04:52 PM PDT
A Hindraf Makkal Sakti leader claims Umno is behind the assembly and he also questioned the fast-track approval of police permit for the gathering. (Free Malaysia Today) - A Hindraf Makkal Sakti leader says he sees the hand of Umno behind Saturday's "Himpunan Sejuta Umat" (Assembly of One Million Believers Defending the Faith) gathering. Hindraf Makkal Sakti leader P Waythamoorthy claims that Umno is tacitly backing the assembly and he is calling the relevant authorities to stop the gathering. Waythamoorthy said the assembly was an Umno ruse to stir up the Malay psyche and create a split among Malaysians along religious and racial lines. He said Hindraf was shocked that the police were so quick to issue a permit for a mammoth gathering that could generate so much anxiety, discontent and disharmony in the country. He questioned the need to hold a gathering of a million Muslims to defend Islam, which is safeguarded by the Federal Constitution. "The assembly is not only to woo Malay votes but also to warn the people not to vote for change in the next general election," said the London-based Waythamoorthy. PKR , PAS and Umno have officially distanced themselves from the assembly to be held at the Shah Alam stadium. But all the parties said that they would not be able to prevent their members from attending in their individual capacity. Umno information chief Ahmad Maslan said the party will not prevent its members from attending the assembly. United against proselytising According to the organisers, they plan to gather one million Muslims to gauge the "unity" among themselves, particularly against proselytising. This assembly comes after the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) raided a fundraising dinner at Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC) on Aug 3 over alleged proselytisation taking place.
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| Anya Corke: I don’t know Guan Eng’s son Posted: 20 Oct 2011 04:16 PM PDT
By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — The girl whose photograph was used by pro-Umno bloggers to level accusations of sexual harassment against Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's son has denied ever meeting or hearing of the 16-year-old schoolboy. Chess grandmaster Anya Sun Corke said today that she was "shocked, dismayed and baffled" as to how her photo was used without her knowledge or consent. "I have never met or even heard of any of the people involved. I have never been physically assaulted in any way. I have never been victimised in any way by this boy or his family. "The only way in which my 'modesty was outraged' has been by the publication of my picture in connection with these scurrilous and unfounded rumours," the undergraduate at Wellesley College said in a statement. Pro-Umno bloggers had claimed that Lim's son had assaulted a 16-year-old schoolmate and tried to escape punishment by using his father's name. But the DAP showed at a press conference on Wednesday screenshots from the blogs which used pictures of Corke that matched those from www.chessbase.com. Lim had denied the allegations on Tuesday, saying he was furious with the "barbaric lies" made about his teenage son by "pro-Umno ferocious beasts." His colleagues in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) have come out strongly in support of the DAP secretary-general against what they call "the lowest gutter politics" seen in decades. The principal of SMK Heng Ee in George Town also moved two days ago to put an end to the accusations, calling them "completely untrue." Sensing growing public anger, Umno MPs have been quick to distance themselves from the allegations. Corke said today that she has not visited Malaysia for seven years.
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| Ngeh claims Zambry sold state land on the cheap Posted: 20 Oct 2011 04:09 PM PDT By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — Perak DAP chief Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham filed a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in Ipoh today accusing Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir of selling land at a loss of at least RM1.2 billion. The former senior state executive councillor said he had "concrete proof" that since Barisan Nasional (BN) took power on February 6, 2009 until July this year, the Perak mentri besar alienated nearly 28,000 hectares of land for just over RM150 million. "I have concrete proof that the land was approved by the BN government since its power grab," the Beruas MP said in a statement today. "I suspect there is abuse especially of the industrial and farm land that has been approved at about RM375 per acre (0.4 hectares)." He said the market price for land in Perak was now about RM50,000 per hectare, meaning that "an open auction would have fetched at least RM1.2 billion for the state government" for the 24,500 hectares of industrial and farm land. Zambry refuted the allegations on Monday, stating that the land was given to the state religious authorities' public-funded schools and other state-owned agencies for a nominal fee. But Ngeh, who was part of the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) government ousted over 30 months ago, said he believed "the land approved for these organisations are just a small portion of the total".
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| BN poised for bigger win in GE13, says OSK Research Posted: 20 Oct 2011 04:05 PM PDT By Lee Wei Lian, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — A major investment bank has said that Barisan Nasional is likely to improve on its performance in the 2008 general election due to indications of a swing of support to the ruling coalition. OSK Research in a report yesterday said that the incumbent government was likely to increase its share of parliamentary seats and that most investors were expecting the general election to be held by March 2012. "This expectation is premised on indications that certain communities have swung their support back towards the BN since early 2010," said OSK. "While we cannot predict the number of seats that the BN may clinch, we believe that it would be an improvement over the 63 per cent secured in 2008." The report also said that based on the 2008 polls and the news flow since then, the three west coast states of Kedah, Perak and Selangor were expected to be major battlegrounds. It also broke down the geographical support, with Pakatan Rakyat dominating urban centres, the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and the rural Malay heartland in the north of the peninsula reflecting its alliance of components comprising Islamic fundamentalists, secular urbanites and moderate reformers. The ruling BN coalition, meanwhile controls the southern part of Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia, which reflects its more development-focused agenda. The report also said that based on the stock market's historical performance, a one-month post-election strategy — which entails buying into the market just prior to an election and selling out about a month after — was the most consistent in terms of returns. "This strategy gives the second highest probability of a positive return," said OSK. "The average returns over the past eight elections from employing such a strategy are also the second highest among other possible strategies, such as buying six months prior to an election, or holding for three months post-election." It also recommended a "short and tight" approach to trading during election season as polls are in general a short-term localised driver. Among strategies recommended for election season include waiting for profit-taking ahead of the general election before entering the market, buying just before the election date and riding on the positive post-election sentiment, exiting about one month after the elections and focusing on blue-chips in the banking, O&G and construction sectors rather than on so-called "election plays".
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