Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Populist Policies will Undermine Reform
- KD Transformer 1Malaysia
- Minority and Vulnerable LGBTIQ Community Has Rights Too
- Mahathir - Cashing out from Malaysia? Save MALAYSIA.
- In Response to "Wikileaks: Malaysian Opposition Not So Concerned About Economic Policy"
| Populist Policies will Undermine Reform Posted: 09 Nov 2011 04:53 PM PST By Kua Kia Soong Watching recent events and statements by Malaysian politicians, the urgent need for reform in our country risks being undermined by populism on both sides of the political divide as they jostle for votes in the coming general elections. From the Barisan Nasional, we have seen the free hand-outs of RM100 ringgit to every student in the school system without any form of means testing. We have also recently witnessed the extreme form of populism, namely, "mobocracy", whereby mob rule can dictate that a perfectly legal and peaceful gathering, 'Seksualiti Merdeka' be banned by the police. Pakatan Rakyat has also indulged in populism since they came into power, which makes us wonder about the substance of 'reformasi'. First, the Selangor state government gave away free water without any form of means testing and without thinking about "demand management" which is crucial to water conservation. Now, to the suggestion that we should look into making the civil service lean and mean, PR says that while this makes economic sense, it is politically foolhardy. One wonders if the promised rescindment of the New Economic Policy will later be similarly jettisoned because of "political consideration".
During the fifties and sixties, Malaysian schools had some form of means testing to ensure that deserving students (ie. those from lower-income families) could have access to fee-waivers, free textbooks and even free meals. Such a progressive policy was a prudent use of valuable resources and did not create any resentment among the better-off students. In contrast, the hand-out of RM100 recently promised by the BN Government to every student regardless of income is not only an imprudent use of taxpayers' money, it is likely to be ridiculed as meaningless by the students from rich families. Likewise, the populist granting of free water by the Selangor State government to all and sundry. Why should those who squander water in washing their cars every day be entitled to free water? How do the Orang Asli feel about such wastage when they were displaced from their ancestral land for the Selangor Dam supposedly because they had been told the dam was vital for the needs of the Klang Valley? Is such a populist measure congruent with the call for demand management which is crucial to water conservancy everywhere in the world? It makes nonsense of the call for rainwater harvesting when we can have access to free treated water. Full Audit and Action Every organisational transformation – especially in the loss-making government agencies – needs a full audit and swift remedial action to follow. That is what the BN Government's recent razzmatazz about "transformation this and transformation that" ought to be about. Nowhere is this more obvious than in our heavily bloated civil service. For example, our power plants have failed to run at full capacity, about which I have repeatedly called for thorough audits. The crisis in our energy industry is certainly not just due to the current gas shortage. The same can be said for the decades-old mismanagement and inefficiencies in KTM. Flexibility and Reform In my 2010 title "Questioning Arms Spending in Malaysia", I not only called for the drastic reduction of our defence budget but also the conversion of arms production to socially useful production and the promotion of a culture of peace. The billions of ringgit in savings could be used for creating thousands of jobs. Likewise, any shake up of our civil service need not necessarily lead to unemployment. It could lead to leaner and more efficient organisations, jobs retraining and the creation of more alternative sectors. Many highly profitable industries such as our highways and public utilities could be nationalised and operated by our civil servants. Since the end of the jungle war, the police field force can be redeployed for community policing and not for breaking up peaceful assemblies. To better serve the local community, social services such as the provision of public housing, education and transport need to be professionally and productively managed, decentralised and handled by elected local authorities. We should apply our minds to retraining and redeploying our human resources. Jobs do not necessarily have to be lost in any conversion. Remember World War II when we were forced to develop our domestic industries and grow our own food as a result of restrictions on foreign imports. Then again, when the war came to an end, every country had to convert their war production machinery to civilian production. This was no easy transition but every country managed to achieve this transformation. Failure to demonstrate such flexibility and implement the necessary reforms will see us going down the slippery slope that countries such as Greece and Italy find themselves in today. We can say goodbye to Reformasi if the national agenda for change is usurped by populist desperadoes. |
| Posted: 09 Nov 2011 04:45 PM PST These US-made Hamilton-class cutters that the Royal Malaysian Navy intends to purchase are either equipped with state-of-the-art ion cannons or other energy particle weapons on board. It is either that or the OPVs are stealth-capable and totally undetectable on any radars. Hell, it could even be invisible to the eye! By Hakim Joe RM6,000,000,000 for six offshore patrol vessels (OPV) meant for dealing with piracy, smugglers and illegal fishing. These US-made Hamilton-class cutters that the Royal Malaysian Navy intends to purchase are either equipped with state-of-the-art ion cannons or other energy particle weapons on board. It is either that or the OPVs are stealth-capable and totally undetectable on any It is well known on the maritime scene that any vessels traversing the Straits of Malacca runs a high risk of being hijacked and henceforth the urgent need of such vessels to effectively deal with this sea borne threat. With its array of ion cannons and stealth The purchase of the OPVs also facilitates the RMN to send over twelve Malaysian sailors for training free of charge. These sailors shall be enrolled with the US Navy Language School so that their proficiency in the English language will be enhanced for them to be able to read the operating and maintenance manuals without help of a dictionary. Alternately the USN has also offered to translate these manuals into Bahasa Malaysia at USD100,000 per page. For any detractors questioning the existence of such firepower please be advised that nobody has ever seen Osama's body. This is because SEAL Team 6 possesses laser energy rifles that effectively disintegrated Osama's body into atom-sized particles after he was The USN has also indicated that these new Hamilton class vessels will be renamed as the Transformer class to befit its billion Ringgit price tag and quite a few top RMN echelon are secretly hoping to name the first of these vessels Optimus Prime. Secret reports leaked from the Ministry of Defense however indicates that the first of these vessels be named KD Transformer 1Malaysia and to be painted bright fluorescent pink to enable instant visibility by any would-be transgressors in order to deter them from any illegal actions within the Avondale Shipyard which builds these vessels are planning to construct 12 of such cutters of which the remaining six will be sold off to the Philippines Navy at USD10 million a piece. These will be the plain-Jane Hamilton class boats as compared to the Transformer class |
| Minority and Vulnerable LGBTIQ Community Has Rights Too Posted: 09 Nov 2011 01:02 PM PST By banning Seksualiti Merdeka, the government and police have shown the world they are callous, intolerant and homophobic. Furthermore the ban is yet to be justified. By Charles SantiagoThe rule is that you don't put all your years of accrued chips at the center of the table, where the wheel spins into a void. The Malaysian police, unfortunately, does not share this sentiment. By banning Seksualiti Merdeka, the government and police have shown the world they are callous, intolerant and homophobic. Furthermore the ban is yet to be justified. Following the ban, the organizers and other individuals have received threats, lewd and violent messages. Instead of protecting the rights of the minority LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, Intersex, queer) the government has shamelessly endorsed the ongoing persecution and discrimination against the community. Seksualiti Merdeka is an annual sexuality rights festival which focuses on the human rights of people who come from diverse sexual orientation and gender identity. Malaysia signed on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 and United Nations Charter before becoming a member of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, vowing to respect sexual rights as universal rights based on the inherent freedom, equality and dignity of all human beings. In sharp contrast, organizers of the festival and Ambiga Sreenevasan, who was scheduled to officiate the festival, have come under police questioning. Ruling government-owned media organizations have ignorantly branded the festival as one that advocates free sex. If this is not enough some individuals and organizations have gone berserk in the name of religion and called for further persecution against the LGBTIQ community and Ambiga. It is difficult to get angry with the foolishness displayed by these groups but it is sad to note they would stoop so low as to use religion to spread fear. If we could all take a step back and stop labeling peoples' sexuality, we would be able to see the importance of human relations. We would clearly see the need to respect the rights of all people irrespective of their sexual orientation and identity as it is an integral part of every one of us. The government, instead of fanning hatred and inciting anger, could move to oppose all forms of stereotyping against the LGBTIQ community. It should condemn the bullying and name calling the community has had to endure and ensure they have equal access to education and employment opportunities including enjoyment of basic rights of equality and freedom of expression and association. The members of the community are targets of verbal abuse, physical and sexual violence, harassed at the work-place, ostracized by their families and face hate crime–related sexual assault. They occupy the lowest positions in the job market, face discrimination in schools and are unable to access public housing because of their sexual orientation. In fact, they experience the worst forms of discrimination. They need compassion and state support. Not further discrimination. But, driven by the need to stay in power, the government has fashioned the controversy surrounding the festival for its own political mileage. Clearly the ban demonstrates the ongoing persecution against Ambiga who spearheaded the call for electoral reforms in the country. The government is playing a dangerous game as it has carelessly pitted different communities against each other, while prime minister Najib Tun Razak trumpets his 1Malaysia policy, which aims at national integration. If the government is serious about its commitment to human rights as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, it must allow for a democratic space for vulnerable communities to engage in peaceful gatherings and revoke the ban on Seksualiti Merdeka. |
| Mahathir - Cashing out from Malaysia? Save MALAYSIA. Posted: 09 Nov 2011 12:15 AM PST By M Nathan PRU-13 please vote out UMNO. No matter how much anyone may think its not important, the only way to get rid of Mahathir, cronyism, corruption, Mirzan and these crooks and put them all in jail is to vote UMNO out. Its also the only way to have cheap electricity bills and to save TNB, and as a whole save our country Malaysia from this greedy cheating mamak. You can also see the merger of Kencana and Sapuracrest, they are taking money out RM 500 million from a merger and getting the SC to approve it. No where else in the world would this be allowed. Go to Sharil Sapura's daughter's wedding soon and you can see this mamak connection and crooks all at the wedding. Go there and BERSIHkan their unholy alliance. Throw Sharil and Mirzan, Mokhzani, Muhkriz and all these children pretending to be aristocrats when all they are are just really nothing but crooks. We need to make sure they go behind bars. All of them, cashing out of Malaysia on the pretext of being so and so. PRU-13. This time, not wait to PRU-14. Only way to get rid of Mahathir and the mamak crooks and clan - Get rid of UMNO. ____________________________ Wednesday November 9, 2011 Kencana, SapuraCrest to jointly bid for contracts By TEE LIN SAY linsay@thestar.com.my PETALING JAYA: Kencana Petroleum Bhd will jointly bid with SapuraCrest Petroleum Bhd for international engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning contracts upon completion of their merger slated for the first quarter of 2012, said Kencana group chief executive officer Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir. "With SapuraCrest winning the contract from Petrobras, this is good for the merger. These are some the things we are hoping to do as a bigger company. To jointly bid for contracts is the whole purpose of our merger," Mokhzani said. SapuraCrest announced on Nov 1 that it had been awarded a US$1.4bil (RM4.4bil) contract to charter and operate three units of Pipe Laying Support Vessels (PLSV) from Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras). It will be SapuraCrest's maiden entry into this region. Asked whether Kencana was preparing or investing more for capital expenditure for future international jobs, Mokhzani declined to comment. A Nomura Research analyst said SapuraCrest was making its mark in the oil and gas arena. While the analyst remained "neutral" for now on SapuraCrest, he said this development was setting up nicely for a re-rating story. "We are positive on this development. While we are still cautious in the near term, this provides further comfort to investors to buy into the SapuraCrest Petroleum-Kencana Petroleum merger story," the analyst said, adding that the original Petrobras tender had involved six vessels for a total value of about US$2bil (RM6bil). "The award of the lion's share of the contract, and without a tie-up with any other major installation player, signifies how far the company has come in terms of international competitiveness since the Sapura group first became involved in 2003," the analyst said. He sees substantial earnings impact after the capital expenditure jump a 50% increase in normalised profit in its financial year ending Jan 31, 2012.Another analyst was less optimistic on SapuraCrest's ability to garner good profits from this contract. This is because, based on a report by Upstream, SapuraCrest's bid for the Petrobras contract was 9% below its closest foreign competitor. "Nine per cent is very substantial. So I am concerned about the margin contribution of this project. Many Malaysian companies that go overseas always go through a learning curve. To get a foothold in this project, SapuraCrest may be foregoing its margins on this project," the analyst said. Upstream reported that SapuraCrest had received bids from a list of Brazilian facilities that included OSX, Eisa, STX, Brasfels and Wilson & Sons for the construction of one unit. The report said only SapuraCrest had made a competitive offer for a single Brazilian-built vessel, with a daily charter rate of at least US$265,000. SapuraCrest also bid to supply the two larger foreign-built vessels at US$245,000 per day 9% below the closest foreign bidder. SapuraCrest is in the midst of merging with Kencana to form what would be the country's largest support services provider, valued at about RM12bil. Under the proposal, Kencana shareholders will get RM3 a share worth of Integral Key Sdn Bhd stock sand cash, while owners of SapuraCrest stocks will receive the equivalent of RM4.60 per share in shares and cash. Integral Key is the special purpose vehicle established by Mayban Ventures Sdn. Bhd.
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| In Response to "Wikileaks: Malaysian Opposition Not So Concerned About Economic Policy" Posted: 09 Nov 2011 12:09 AM PST By Apeiron Tony Pua's comments provides us a "bird's eye-view" on the state of affairs of the Pakatan Rakyat which could be summarized into these crisp statements: 1. The priority of PR is to fight corruption. 2. The second priority is to revamp and upgrade the Education System. 3. There is a dismal lack of economic expertise in PR, and that it has difficulty in attracting such expertise into its fold. The "fight against corruption" is a high political-mileage issue, a good subject with tremendous visibility in public relations which may translate the "corrupt governance" of the BN into votes for PR in the forthcoming election. But it is an issue which PR CANNOT do anything about. Look at the Government Agencies (the MACC, the Auditor General's Department, the Attorney General's Department, the Parliamentary Audit Committee etc..), the NGOs (Transparency International etc,) and the Chinese Chambers Of Commerce and Industry (which had been vocal on the subject of corrupt practices), and do you see any "dent" in the armour of BN's "shield of corruption"? The Auditor General's Annual Report, sad to say, has been an unending tale of woe with the same "corrupt practices" repeated over and over again without any accountability by anybody. If the Auditor General's Report is of insufficient force to move the BN Government's high "corrupt inertia", what is the use of PR Parliamentarians shouting their heads off in Parliament? You can only deal with the "corrupt culture" when you are the Government. If the 'priority issue' is something that you cannot achieve as Opposition, then one has to rethink one's political strategy. Corruption may deal a lethal blow to BN in the next General Election, but is a "corrupt-free" environment (though a 'necessary condition') a "sufficient condition" for PR to govern judiciously and effectively to bring about a brighter future for the Rakyat? Tony Pua's remark that PR has difficulty in attracting economic expertise is a cause for concern. I interpret his remark to mean that PR has yet to establish its own "economic scenario of the country" should it gain the mandate to govern after the next GE. From the perspective of good governance this is appalling. How could one be promoted to be the CEO when one does not have the technical skills, managerial experience and the attitudes & temperaments of leadership, and the support of competent organization? Would any of the PR MPs, or for that matter Tony Pua himself share with us what they/he think would be a likely "economic scenario" should PR Before commenting on the recent Budget, let us refresh on Minister Jala Idris' high profile presentation that says Malaysia will go bankrupt within a decade if the Government does not cut down drastically the present level of Government subsidies. If what he has said is the Truth, then the recent Budget will bring forward his projected timing on the bankruptcy of Malaysia. I view the Budget as politically-Machiavellian with high content of social largess to increase the "feel good" factor among the Rakyat and improve BN's political popularity ratings. Depending on one's perspective, one could applaud or condemn the Budget. As a high percentage of the Rakyat, especially the lower income group, benefits directly from the allocations in the Budget, there is tremendous increase in goodwill towards the BN Government. In this aspect of alleviating the financial hardships of the "marginalized groups", Najib has trumped PR. Viewing matters objectively, the PR-controlled Selangor is good at shouting how good they are in increasing the State's coffers compared to the "bad days" of BN, but the question is WHAT DID THE SELANGOR GOVT DO TO HELP THE HARDCORE POOR? Besides the monthly RM20 water bill, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. PR must understand that the basic principle of government is to assure and ensure decent livelihoods of the Rakyat, to extend a helping hand to those who need it. A Government is not a corporate entity managed strictly on a profit & loss basis. Whilst the Budget's social largesse is something applauded by the "marginalized group", the more informed group would view the Budget as a political "poison pill" to deter the possible takeover of the Government by PR in the next GE. In corporate finance, especially in the field of Mergers & Acquisitions where corporate takeovers are regular features, the "poison pill" strategy is widely used to deter hostile takeovers by unwelcomed corporate predators. The idea is to make the takeover expensive and less attractive to the potential predator. Despite BN's bravado in trumpeting how strong our economy and finances are, we know the country's financial health is not in good shape. Where is the money coming from to fund these social largesse? Since the Budget has passed through Parliament, it is obligatory and mandatory to allocate funds for them. Can I pose this question to PR: do you have any idea where the funds will have to come from? Do you think Petronas' kitty is there for PR to dip in for funds? On the optimistic assumption that PR wins the next GE, how is the PR Govt going to implement and fund the recent Budget? It is not difficult to foresee that the PR Govt will find, to its horror, that there is insufficient money to fund the social largesse. The Rakyat are "deprived" by the PR Govt of the monetary handouts promised by the BN Govt. What happens then? Within 6 months there will be a Rakyat outcry to bring down PR and clamour for BN's return. This is how the Machiavellian Budget would mutate into a "poison pill" if ever PR takes over the Government. On the issue of Education, Tony Pua's quick-fix remedy seems to be : let us get some top notch universities in the USA and UK to open branch campus in Malaysia, and with better educated graduates entrepreneurship will thrive and our economy would prosper at great pace. Education is a very long term development effort. Under BN, one generation of Malaysians have been destroyed by our education system. We churn out graduates who are unemployable, whose skills do not meet the needs of the employment market, weak communication skills, English language skills close to "jilo", thinking skills also "jilo", and do not possess the right attitudes and aptitudes. When thousands, if not tens of thousands, of students can score straight A's in all their subjects in Government mandated public examinations, you know there is something fundamentally wrong with our education system. The "high scores" are nothing more than We need a total revamp of our education system. Education must be viewed as a long term development tool preparing the next and future generations to face up to, and to compete in a more uncertain and most likely, more unfriendly world. Education must, as far as possible in a multi-racial society like ours, be devoid of politics and communitarian sentiments. With a new Education system, a new generation that start off as Std 1 students would end up as graduates with real academic achievements, trained with the right skills and imbued with the right attitudes and aptitudes, can take on the outside world without having to constantly remind themselves "Malaysia Boleh". Bud-grafting Harvard University onto Malaysian soil does not necessarily bring forth those results outlined by Tony Pua. Harvard is famous because it produced graduates who dominate the Fortune 500 Boardrooms as well as Wall Street Banks. But one can also look at it and say that it is the graduates, because of their success, that made Harvard famous. A student who could get admission into Harvard is already a "successful" individual and regardless of which of the good universities that he enrolled, he would have ended up just as successful if he had not gone through Harvard. Bud-grafting would only work if our own Education System can educate our students to To pursue further the "bud-grafting" issue, take a look at Singapore. All universities are ranked very high in both the QS Ranking and the THE Ranking. By any measure they can be considered top notch universities. Besides, they have collaboration programs with many higher ranked universities from USA and UK. For example, the Imperial College of London, Chicago University, Yale University etc have collaboration programs with Singapore universities in specific fields of studies. Now take a closer look, did the level of entrepreneurship improve in Singapore with this high dosage of academic excellence being drummed into the Singapore students? Answer: NO. PR must recognize the fact that it needs a "critical mass" of technocrats and professionals to devise and articulate a plan by which the PR could "market" to the Rakyat, and also to assist the PR Govt (should it come to power) in bringing about a brighter future for the Rakyat. Presently the Rakyat view PR as the weapon to get rid of the corrupt BN. The person who delivered the fatal stab need not be the next Emperor. PR must be magnanimous and politically savvy enough to collaborate with other groups that could enhance PR's political appeal as well as strengthening its "brain" power. MCLM would fit in nicely with PR, as MCLM has access to a broader spectrum of intellectuals to draw on the necessary skills required for PR to advance its political objectives. Time is running out for PR to get its act together. Tony Pua should do his duty in waking up his somnambulant colleagues in PR before they reach the deep end of the pool. |
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