| Greenpeace Speaks Up In Support Of The Vet Taib’s Assets Campaign! Posted: 07 Oct 2011 12:02 PM PDT By Sarawak Report The Australian branch of the highly influential international environment organisation Greenpeace has stepped in to support the campaign to investigate Taib's assets abroad. The Chief Executive Officer of Greenpeace Australia Pacific, Dr Linda Selvey, has personally written to Prime Minister Julia Gillard, backing requests by the Bruno Manser Foundation, PKR and Sarawak Report for an investigation into the Taib family's string of investments in that country.
These include investments by Hamed Sepawi's Ta Ann in a major logging concern in Tasmania, as well as numerous companies and properties owned by the Taibs, Taib's brother in law, Robert Geneid, and related companies and assets.
Greenpeace support for an enquiry into Taib Mahmud's affairs
Growing anti-timber corruption campaign puts world governments on the spot over Taib
Dr Selvey states in her letter:
"As research by the Bruno Manser Fund has shown and as many other journalists and independent bodies and individuals have demonstrated, Taib has abused his office consistently throughout his 30 reign as potentate of Sarawak in Malaysia. This has come at a high cost to the people and environment of Sarawak, a region of immense cultural and environmental significance on the island of Borneo"
She continues:
"There is significant evidence to indicate that the Taib family might have laundered and reinvested large amounts of money, procured through corruption in Australia"
Pointing out Australia's obligations to identify and address international corruption under the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), the Greenpeace Chief Executive goes on to urge Gillard to direct the Attorney General's Department to initiate a comprehensive investigation into the conduct and affairs of Taib, his family and associates on the basis of the material provided by the Bruno Manser.
Dr Selvey ends her letter by calling on the Australian Government to "stand up for the rights of the people of Sarawak to protect their culture, their land and their environment".
[click for Radio ABC Australia's broadcast today on the problem of money laundering in Australia by corrupt foreign politcians]
Wilderness Society also joins protest again Taib logging in Tasmania
Tasmanian tree fern - unique, slow-growing and endangered. This is being destroyed by the clear felling in Tasmania to provide wood for Ta Ann
Equally hard to ignore will the the backing by another of Australia's major environment organisations, the Wilderness Society, for the stand being taken against Ta Ann's logging of virgin jungle in Tasmania.
Ta Ann has been at the centre of destruction and controversy in Sarawak. A devastating report this week by the local Huon Valley Evironment Centre has now catalogued the company's destruction of areas that the Australian Government has been trying to protect in Tasmania. READ MORE HERE. |
| Malaysia Unveils Plan for Handouts Posted: 07 Oct 2011 11:54 AM PDT By James Hookway, Wall Street Journal Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak unveiled a government spending plan for 2012 that pledged cash handouts and more benefits for ordinary Malaysians, while also shoring up the country's finances and reining in its budget deficit at a time of global economic uncertainty. Political analysts said Mr. Najib had at least one eye on the election that must be called within the next 18 months. Over the past month this aristocratic son of the country's second prime minister has staked out the center ground of Malaysia's politics, pledging to roll back laws that allow for detention without trial and to allow a greater degree of media freedoms in what is still a very closely controlled country.
For Mr. Najib, who took over the ruling United Malays National Organization party about a year after it lost its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority in a March 2008 election, Friday's budget speech appeared to mark the next step in a plan to secure a strong mandate in this Muslim-dominated but ethnically diverse nation.
"There was something for all of the key groups in there," said James Chin, a political-science professor at Monash University in Kuala Lumpur. The right wing of Mr. Najib's ethnic-Malay party will likely be placated by the two billion ringgit ($631.2 million) of infrastructure contracts reserved for bumiputra-owned (ethnic-Malay-owned) businesses, while ethnic-Chinese voters will likely be relieved by the absence of new taxes.
"International investors got some reassurance on the budget deficit, too," Mr. Chin said. "Mr. Najib needs to get this right and secure a strong majority whenever the elections come or else he could get kicked out by his own party."
To help finance the 2012 budget, Mr. Najib, who is also the country's finance minister, said the government plans to privatize and list state-owned plantation operator Felda Global Ventures Bhd. by the middle of the year. That could create the world's largest publicly traded palm-oil producer by planted area, as well as draw substantial foreign investment into the country's stock market.
Other major proposals in the 2012 budget would encourage foreign investment in sectors including financial services, logistics and health care and limit the budget deficit to 4.7% of gross domestic product. It is 5.4% this year.
The budget wouldn't ramp up government largess as much as many economists had feared. Mr. Najib struck a note of caution by limiting development spending—which analysts say has been used in the past to win political support—to 48.34 billion ringgit, only slightly more than this year's 48.60 billion ringgit. Mr. Najib said the government expects the economy to expand 5% to 6% next year, compared with 5% to 5.5% growth projected for this year. The bump would be partly thanks to his spending plan, he said.
"Global developments would certainly have a direct impact on the Malaysian economy," Mr. Najib told Parliament. "With these developments, the government will put in place measures to stimulate domestic economic activities, in particular public and private investments."
Targeting a relatively low deficit of 4.7% now might leave Mr. Najib better placed to pump more money into the economy later if the global environment deteriorates sharply, economists said. Governments across Asia are growing increasingly concerned that debt crisis in the euro zone may further damp the tepid recovery in key markets—not only European countries, but the U.S. and Japan as well.
In the meantime there will also be several cash handouts, including a one-off payment of 500 ringgit to all households with a monthly income of 3,000 ringgit or less. Civil servants' wages and pensions will rise, while the compulsory retirement age will increase to 60 years old.
Mr. Najib's budget also allots 50 billion ringgit for education, an area he has repeatedly singled out as a key to nurturing the long-term development of Malaysia's economy. |
| QE II Posted: 07 Oct 2011 11:48 AM PDT By Dr Mahathir Mohamad, The Malaysian Insider No. QE II is not short for Queen Elizabeth II. Nor is it about the great cruise ship QE II. It is about Quantitative Easing II, i.e. quantitative easing for the second time. What is quantitative easing? It is about printing and issuing money to overcome a financial problem. Lately Britain has printed 75 billion pounds to help distressed banks and others. It is very innovative. And very easy. When you lose money just print the replacement. If Malaysia had done a Q.E. during the Asian Currency Crisis, what would the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the financial and monetary experts say? We would be condemned. We would be told that the Malaysian economy would collapse. They would make dark predictions about black markets in dollars as the Ringgit would be useless. It would be rejected. It is not money!! etc. etc. But the United States of America did a Quantitative Easing with the printing and issuing of three trillion dollars to help distressed banks and insurance companies. Now Britain is following in the footsteps of elder brother. How nice it would be if our pocket is picked, we are allowed to print some money to replace what is lost. But of course we cannot. Even our country cannot, although our central bank, unlike the Federal Reserve Bank of America, is Government owned. We were told that the best way to handle a financial crisis was to let our banks and businesses go bankrupt. How that would help I do not know. What I could see were people being thrown out of jobs and any number of social problems. But that was the "conventional wisdom". Why are the great institutions not advising Western Governments to let businesses go bankrupt? Ah! But they did. Lehman Brothers was allowed to go bankrupt. Did it solve the financial crisis? No. As far as I can tell the crisis simply got worse and refused to go away. They resorted to all the things they told us not to do when our financial situation was in a tailspin as the currency traders devalued the Ringgit. They bailed out failed companies and banks with huge sums of money, they stop short selling, they talk of controlling the currency traders, etc. etc. We recovered by doing the forbidden. But they have not recovered. My feeling as an economic and financial ignoramus is that they are not going to recover any time soon. They will not recover because they are still in a state of denial. They still believe they are rich, as rich as before they plunged into the crisis. And believing that they can somehow continue to remain rich, they are unable to behave like poor people. READ MORE HERE. |
| How to deal with racial politicking Posted: 07 Oct 2011 11:44 AM PDT By Lee Wei Lian, The Malaysian Insider ANALYSIS, Oct 8 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has continued his pace of policy tweaks and minor reforms over big sweeping changes in his third budget since taking office despite the ambitious theme of "national transformation policy." After a week of heightened expectations that the budget will transform the nation and lower the cost of living, the budget speech delivered yesterday lacked any "Wow" factor in terms of deep structural reforms but instead contained a series of selective liberalisations, incentives and cash grants to target groups.
The Malaysian economy currently suffers from chronic distortions and inefficiencies which result in higher prices but these largely went unaddressed in the budget which appeared to try and minimise changes to the status quo.
Direct cash assistance, continued subsidies and expansion of government backed budget shops were the favoured tool to help with the cost of living rather than lowering prices through reduced taxes and widespread liberalisation of business and import licenses to boost competition.
While 17 services subsectors were liberalised in terms of foreign equity, the major ones including the oil and gas sectors, retail sectors and financial sectors were not. Foreign banks for example still face enormous restrictions in the scope of services they can provide and in terms of the number of branches they can open.
In terms of the long term transformation agenda, the main issue could be that Malaysia traditionally prefers quantitative rather than qualitative measures. While there were tax incentives and cash allowances for primary and secondary schools, none of them appeared strategic enough to boost the quality of the country's education institutions into the top tier in the world.
Najib deftly pulled off a nice touch however by announcing tax incentives for contributions to all places of religious worship and all types of schools which should help him score significant points with Malaysia's religious and ethnic minorities.
There were also little to no widespread fiscal reforms and incentives for Malaysian businesses to become more efficient and price competitive apart from the 17 services subsectors.
The most significant measure in the budget was the introduction of an exit system for underperformance in the civil service which could eventually shrink the government's wage bill and boost government productivity and effectiveness although the budget expenditure for salaries rose from RM49.9 billion in 2011 to RM52 billion in 2012. READ MORE HERE. |
| WIKILEAKS: VIDEO OF JUDGE FIXING ROCKS MALAYSIA'S JUDICIARY Posted: 07 Oct 2011 01:00 AM PDT 
The reference to Wee Choo Keong seems to confirm that Lingam was talking to Chief Justice Fairuz as it was Fairuz who in 1995 as an election court judge upheld an election petition contesting DAP candidate Wee's victory as a Member of Parliament in Kuala Lumpur's Bukit Bintang district. Instead of calling for fresh election, Fairuz made an unprecedented decision by dismissing Wee and naming the losing Barisan Nasional MCA candidate Dr. Lee Chong Meng the winner. THE CORRIDORS OF POWER Raja Petra Kamarudin 
Classified By: Political Section Chief Mark D. Clark for reasons 1.4 (b and d). Summary 1. (C) Former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim rocked Malaysia's legal establishment on September 19 when he held a press conference to release an eight minute videotaped conversation purportedly showing a phone conversation between a famously corrupt Malaysian attorney and the current Chief Justice of Malaysia's Federal Court engaged in a judge fixing scheme. The Malaysian Bar Association and opposition parties called for immediate inquiries into the allegations and for the establishment of a royal judicial commission to investigate the Chief Justice. Malaysian political leaders, including current Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, downplayed the revelations in the press, calling into doubt the authenticity of the taped conversation. Government controlled and influenced newspapers printed but downplayed the release of the tape, often burying the article to the lesser-read center pages, and avoided printing the names of the judges and political leaders discussed in the tape. There is speculation that Anwar released the tape at this time in an effort to strengthen his appeal in a recently dismissed defamation suit against former Prime Minister Mahathir. It may also be true that the tape is intended to force the retirement of Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz whose ordinary contract expires in October 2007. End Summary. Anwar alleges Chief Justice involved in "judge fixing" 2. (U) Malaysia's judiciary came under the spotlight again on September 19 after former DPM and de facto Peoples Justice Party (PKR) leader Anwar Ibrahim released an eight-minute video clip showing senior Malaysian lawyer VK Lingam in a mobile phone conversation allegedly with current Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim fixing the appointment of "friendly" senior judges. The video supposedly filmed in 2002, was posted on the online news portal Malaysiakini and on PKR's party website. At the time the tape was allegedly recorded, Ahmad Fairuz was the Chief Judge of Malaya, in charge of all High Court judges in Peninsular Malaysia. Among the cases "discussed" by the chief justice and the senior lawyer were Anwar's appeals and the potential appointment of Ahmad Fairuz as the Chief Justice of the Federal Court-- an event which eventually took place in 2003 when he bypassed several other senior judges in line for the position. At the September 19 press conference, Anwar claimed the revelations proved that his previous appeals against his sodomy and abuse of power convictions were tainted and that he was denied a proper and fair trial. Explosive Conversation 3. (U) In the video clip, VK Lingam is heard telling a person alleged to be Fairuz that "key players" should be nominated for judicial appointments in order to hear cases and deliver judgments accordingly. He exhorted Fairuz's loyalty and "sacrifices" and added that even former Chief Justice Tun Eusoff Chin had told him that Fairuz is "110% loyal." Lingam stressed, "We want to make sure our friends are there for the sake of the (then) PM (Mahathir) and the sake of the country. Not for our own interest, we want to make sure the country comes first." 4. (U) Also implicated in the conversation were business tycoon and former PM Mahathir crony Vincent Tan and his business partner Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, then minister in the PM's Department, and currently the Tourism Minister. Based on Lingam's conversation, both Tan and Adnan had apparently played an instrumental role in the appointment of judges as well to secure the honorific title of 'Tan Sri' for Ahmad Fairuz. Towards the end of the eight-minute video clip, Lingam acknowledged, "you (Fairuz) have suffered... so much you have done, for the election, Wee Choo Keong, everything. . .nobody would have done all this. . . God bless you and your family." The reference to Wee Choo Keong seems to confirm that Lingam was talking to Chief Justice Fairuz as it was Fairuz who in 1995 as an election court judge upheld an election petition contesting DAP candidate Wee's victory as a Member of Parliament in Kuala Lumpur's Bukit Bintang district. Instead of calling for fresh election, Fairuz made an unprecedented decision by dismissing Wee and naming the losing Barisan Nasional MCA candidate Dr. Lee Chong Meng the winner. VK Lingam "Judge Fixer Extraordinaire" 5. (SBU) VK Lingam is a senior lawyer who came into the spotlight during former Chief Justice Tun Eusoff Chin's term (1994 - 2000) in office. Dubbed locally as the "judge fixer extraordinaire," Lingam was a sought after lawyer as he had the ears of the then Chief Justice and his clients won all their cases. Lingam's relationship with the former Chief Justice was so close that their families were known to go on joint holidays paid for by Lingam. There were also allegations that Lingam wrote some of the judgments for his own cases. In one example of a defamation case involving his client Vincent Tan against journalist the late MGG Pillai, it was alleged Lingam who wrote the judgment in his firm and dispatched the "floppy disc with the judgment" to the judge's chambers. He was also implicated in the Perwaja Steel Mill fiasco (a failed development project during Mahathir's era) where government appointed auditors investigating the failure of the project found exorbitant fees paid to Lingam's firm "for unsubstantiated services." However, Lingam's influence within the judiciary waned during the term of Chief Justice Dzaiddin (2000 - 2003) until Fairuz was named the Chief Justice in March 2003. Lingam represented former PM Mahathir in a defamation suit filed by Anwar Ibrahim for calling him a homosexual at a press conference in 2005. In July 2007, Judicial Commissioner Tengku Maimon Tuan Mat dismissed the suit without hearing the merits of the case and ruled that the suit was "obviously unsustainable" and "clearly an abuse of the court process." The former DPM has filed an appeal against the decision. Reactions to the Expose 6. (U) Former DPM Anwar stated that the revelations proved his appeals against his sodomy and abuse of power convictions "were tainted" and that he was denied a proper and fair trial. He added that the "scandalous" expose, "serves to collaborate our allegations of a political conspiracy of the highest level and corruption of the highest judicial office, seriously bringing into question the impartiality of judicial proceedings, including mine." Anwar, who was sacked as Deputy Prime Minister in 1998, spent six years in jail after he was convicted of sodomy and corruption charges. Although his sodomy conviction was later overturned, the corruption verdict was upheld. He added that the People's Justice Party will file a special appeal with the Conference of Rulers (a constitutionally formed council of Malaysia's nine sitting monarchs and four non-royal governors), to assume their "constitutional roles" and take appropriate action. The party has also lodged a report with the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and the Bar Council. 7. (SBU) Responding to the expose, Bar Council President Ambiga Sreenevasan urged the government to establish a royal commission of inquiry to investigate the video and the judiciary. She pointed out that rumors and allegations of such machinations have been rife and therefore, "With the emergence of this video clip, the concerns expressed by various quarters in relation to the judiciary can no longer be swept aside." Echoing the Bar Council President's call, former UN Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers Param Cumaraswamy (who helped represent Anwar Ibrahim in his defamation suit against Mahathir) told poloffs that only an independent commission of inquiry and "nothing less" will be able to clear the tainted image of the judiciary. However, he acknowledged that the UMNO centric government does not have the "political will to investigate the shenanigans in the judiciary." 8. (U) Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang stated in a letter to PM Abdullah that Chief Justice Fairuz should be suspended citing constitutional provisions that allow the removal of a Federal Court judge for ethical breach. He added that he had asked the Prime Minister to appoint an Acting Chief Justice and take "concerted efforts to restore public confidence in the independence, impartiality, professionalism, and integrity of the judiciary." Human Rights NGOs have also called on the Chief Justice to resign and urged the government to conduct a judicial review of all politically connected cases including former DPM Anwar Ibrahim's cases, appointment of judges and the sacking of the former Chief Justice and two Supreme Court Judges in 1988. A Mooted Response from GOM and Local Media 9. (SBU) The GOM's response to the allegation has been extremely feeble. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz, who handles the law portfolio, stated that anyone with evidence of wrongdoing involving the appointment of judges should forward it to the proper authorities to investigate. He added he would wait for the ACA to complete its investigations before making further comments. Similarly, Attorney General Gani Patail opined, "No criminal offense appears to have been committed in the video recording" but added that he was getting further opinion on the matter and studying other information in the video clip. Current Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak commented to the press that the "Government will first confirm the authenticity of the video before deciding on the next course of action." 10. (SBU) Interestingly the mainstream newspapers, all government controlled or heavily influenced, carried the story but downplayed the news by placing it far from the front page and by not naming the people mentioned in the clip. Instead the printed press chose terms like "a prominent lawyer", a "very senior judge", "a number of prominent judges", "a prominent businessman and a politician, both of whom were close to the then Prime Minister". UMNO-owned, Malay language newspapers did not publish former DPM Anwar Ibrahim's press conference September 20 but instead carried pictures of the Chief Justice breaking fast with the King and the Prime Minister at an official function. However, in the September 21 edition although they still had pictures of the Chief Justice breaking fast with prominent UMNO politicians, the Malay papers carried a brief report on the issue, buried in the back pages of the paper. Even "The Sun", an English language newspaper considered "more independent" than the other newspapers buried the news among other reports, seemingly because Vincent Tan, who is mentioned in Lingam's conversation with Fairuz, owns the paper. Former High Court judge Visu Sinnadurai opined to poloffs that the poor response from the government and the press was because, "it was former DPM Anwar who released the video." He told poloffs that the GOM will naturally maintain a distance when any issue involves the former DPM. Comment 11. (C) Malaysia's judiciary has suffered from allegations of corruption and political interference since the constitutional crisis of 1988 when the PM Mahathir fired the Chief Justice and several other judges and stripped from the constitution clauses guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary. Anwar's allegations and video-taped evidence came as little surprise to the nation, but highlighted and reinforced long-held doubts concerning the lack of independence in Malaysia's judicial system. The allegations of judge fixing involve several senior UMNO leaders and supporters, and it is highly doubtful the Government will find the political will to thoroughly and honestly investigate the veracity of the claims. Set against the back-drop of Malaysia's pending elections, Anwar's release of the tape appears to have political, as well as personal, motivations. Anwar's PKR party, and the opposition in general, have focused many of their recent campaigns on anti-corruption platforms, and this story adds another anti-corruption arrow in the opposition's campaign quiver. These accusations also give weight to Anwar's claims that he was unjustly convicted in 1998 and therefore should not be prevented from contesting a seat in parliament in the next election. While such a contention will undoubtedly fail before the UMNO-controlled election commission, it reinforces Anwar's PR-influenced role as a victim of a corrupt system. 12. (C) Given the story's limited billing and self-censorship among the mainstream press, it is likely the story will wither on the vine. In general, only Fairuz's contract extension lies on the chopping block. Fairuz has reached the mandatory retirement age for judges of 66, but it is common practice for the Chief Justice to receive an intial six-month extension possibly followed by subsequent extensions up to the age of 68. It is commonly held among Malaysia's legal professionals that Fairuz was seeking his initial extension in October when his current contract was set to expire. Whether the axe will swing remains a question. KEITH (September 2007) |
| Something is not right at all! Posted: 06 Oct 2011 11:24 PM PDT 
J. Ong Prior to the presentation of the 2012 Budget by the PM in the Dewan Rakyat, Najib had a closed door meeting with his top aides of the Finance Ministry and the presence of Bank Negara Governor and the Chief Secretary to the Government. What we do not understand is what the f**k is the pseudo "First Lady" Rosmah among the attendees? She has no locus standi to be there, except if she wanted first-hand knowledge of the Budget, which is supposed to be confidential until and unless it has been presented to the Parliament. She wants to make sure her own pet projects are safely there, as she does not trust her husband's words! Is she telling us that she rank pari pasu with the other top cats, or even higher? No previous Finance Minister had their wife around during such private previews before Budget is presented. Not even Tun Dr Siti Hasmah. This woman is definitely going to cause the downfall of Najib and nullify all the hard work of Najib walking around among the Rakyat recently. UMNO insiders will not tolerate such behavior by Rosmah, and before Mahathir blows his trumpet of disapproval, I am beating Dr Mahathir to the gun, this time. **************************************************** NAJIB CHECKS ON FINAL 2012 BUDGET PREPARATIONS
PUTRAJAYA, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak tonight monitored final preparations involving Finance Ministry''s staff ahead of tomorrow''s tabling of the 2012 Budget. Najib, who is Finance Minister, spent about one hour at the ministry, during which he also chaired a closed-door meeting with senior ministry officials. Present were his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah, Deputy Finance Ministers Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin and Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai. Treasury Secretary-General Tan Sri Dr Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan as well as Bank Negara Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz were also present. Najib is scheduled to table Malaysia''s 2012 Budget at the Dewan Rakyat at 4pm. In remarks made ahead of the event, the prime minister said that it would be a transformational budget for all Malaysians in line with the concept of 1Malaysia: People First, Performance Now. |
| Malaysia’s Twisted Past Posted: 06 Oct 2011 07:24 PM PDT By Luke Hunt, The Diplomat Nationalism in Malaysia is a peculiar thing. And, at the end of the day, it's more about being Malay, Muslim and from Peninsula Malaysia as opposed to any of the other religious or many ethnic groups who have called this country home for centuries. Royal connections also help. The West Malay Islamic influence permeates across the country, often reinventing history with its own spin. Anybody who questions this is to be cast aside with the Christians, Shiites, Buddhist and Hindus who struggle to believe Malaysia is a secular country. In recent weeks, two people have emerged from the back rows of history to help recount that past. The first was pushed to the fore by PAS Deputy President Mohamad Sabu, or Mat Sabu as he's better known, who stirred up a hornet's nest by portraying Mat Indera as some type of original freedom fighter. It is, of course, nonsense. But PAS remains the voice of hard-line Muslim politics and many of them just don't like the idea that Indera was indeed a Communist who in 1950 led an attack on a police station at Bukit Kepong, killing 25 colonial-era policemen and their families. He was loathed by the British and locals of all stripes. As such, the attack would be far more acceptable if Indera's Communist bent could be replaced with something a little more worthy – like independence. This would make all those killings acceptable. But this would also be nonsense. No one knew this better than 86-year-old Chin Peng, Malaysia's best known Communist, who has lived in Thailand for half a century, where he is currently in a coma and is unlikely to recover. The family knows Chin Peng, who led the bloody 1948-1957 insurgency, is on his deathbed and would like the Malaysian authorities to overturn a previous ruling and allow him to return home. Should he die, they want him buried in his hometown alongside his parents. Malaysians don't like this idea because they fear his return will upset many. The truth is Malay leaders, particularly the Sultans, were happy to maintain the colonial status quo until Commonwealth troops had succeeded in quashing the Communist insurgency and the pre-ordained Malay leaders could take control of a fledgling independent country. Independence was gifted in 1957, and a vote of thanks for the 70,000 British, Australian, New Zealand, Gurkhas and Fijian soldiers who fought here and subdued the Malay enemy is unlikely. However, several attempts have been made to venerate Malaysia's first leaders as those who fought and won independence for a grateful nation. The reality is the likes of Chin Peng and Mat Indera were the only ones who fought, but they did this as Communists who wanted Malaysia transferred from the British Empire and brought under Beijing's broader sphere of influence.Malaysia, like Vietnam and Cambodia, was a battlefield in the Cold War between East and West. This wasn't what the sultans had in mind. To twist this conflict into a battle for independence is also to pre-suppose the British were desperately clinging on to a Malaysia they cherished and couldn't tolerate to see go. Far from it, fearing the insurgency was not yet over, many Malays were initially reluctant to accept the days of colonialism were at an end in 1957. To pretend any different is to insult the memory of 10,000 people who died during the conflict, which had one act still to play. Fearing the insurgency might reignite, and doubting their own ability to cope, the new government passed the Internal Security Act. This draconian law allowed for the detention – without much reason – of anyone the authorities didn't like for the next 54 years. This was one lasting legacy that can be traced back to Chin Peng, Mat Indera and the Communists who supported them. The repeal of that odious law has, thankfully, just been announced by current Prime Minister Najib Razak. |
| Malaysia to Boost Spending, Help Poor in Pre-Election Budget Posted: 06 Oct 2011 07:22 PM PDT By Shamim Adam, Bloomberg Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak pledged to boost help for the poor to cushion the impact of inflation and said the government will proceed with rail and housing projects to spur growth as the global economy slows. Najib, also finance minister, may table a 2012 budget plan for government spending of 230.8 billion ringgit ($73 billion), 0.5 percent larger than this year's outlay, according to the Ministry of Finance's 2011/2012 economic report today. Gross domestic product may expand 5 percent to 6 percent next year after growing as much as 5.5 percent in 2011. The budget deficit is forecast to narrow to 4.7 percent of GDP from 5.4 percent. The prime minister plans to transform the Southeast Asian nation's economy by improving efficiency, spurring investment and cutting a budget deficit that counts as one of the largest in Asia as a proportion of GDP. Najib has also promised to roll back laws that allow the government to detain citizens without trial, described by critics as draconian, as he seeks to bolster support before elections that must be called by early 2013. "Amid a challenging external environment, coupled with inflationary pressures, there is added pressure on fiscal resources to ensure that the domestic economy remains resilient and generates higher growth," the government said. "The 2012 budget will reinforce efforts to boost the competitiveness of the economy through the timely realization of reform initiatives while promoting inclusive and sustainable growth." 'Transformation Agenda'Malaysia has eased barriers to foreign investment since 2009, when the global recession hurt exports of the country's semiconductors and palm oil. Foreign direct investment rose 75.4 percent in the first six months of 2011 after growing six-fold to 29 billion ringgit last year, the fastest in Asia, the government said in the report. "The transformation agenda that we have embarked on will energize and return the private sector to its role as the engine of economic growth," Najib, 58, said in the report. "The private sector must commit to their investment and spearhead growth." Europe's sovereign-debt crisis and the threat of a U.S. recession have roiled global stock markets, erasing almost $10 trillion from equities last quarter. The benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index has dropped more than 7 percent this year, while the ringgit has declined 3 percent. The currency traded at 3.156 per dollar as of 3:46 p.m. today. "The challenges to the Malaysian economy have increased since the second quarter of 2011," Najib said. "These include slower global growth due to the fiscal problems of the U.S. and European countries, volatile international financial markets and elevated commodity prices." Economic GrowthMalaysia's economic expansion will be 5 percent to 5.5 percent this year, the government said today, lower than an earlier target of as much as 6 percent growth in 2011. The economy grew at the slowest pace since 2009 in the second quarter, climbing 4 percent from a year earlier. "The growth momentum is expected to pick up in the second half of the year on the back of resilient private consumption and strong private investment," the government said. "For 2012, GDP growth in Malaysia will remain largely domestic driven, due to heightened uncertainties in the global economy." Construction on the first phase of Malaysia's biggest infrastructure project, a mass rail network, will begin next month, the government said today. The building of a 100-storey tower, a new financial district and a township covering an area of 1,060 hectares will commence in 2012. Government ExpenditureTotal government expenditure in 2011 may reach 229.6 billion ringgit, according to the ministry. State revenue may rise 1.9 percent in 2012 to 186.9 billion ringgit amid higher contributions from corporate and personal taxes and income from petroleum, the report showed. The spending and revenue estimates in the economic report may change after Najib delivers his budget speech, which may include additional tax and other measures. Najib has tried to cut operational expenses, including trimming subsidies for sugar, gasoline, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas. The government will maintain the subsidy program to ease the impact of rising prices on its citizens and implement it in a more targeted way, it said today. Subsidies paid by the state to keep prices of fuel and other essential goods and services low will "remain stable" at 33.2 billion ringgit in 2012 from 32.8 billion in 2011, the ministry said. "The government recognizes the burden of subsidy outlay on the country's fiscal position and the need to strengthen it," it said in the report. "However, any subsidy rationalization will be gradual and the government will ensure that the poor and low-income group will continue to receive government support." Accommodative PolicyMalaysia's monetary policy remains accommodative and supportive of growth, the finance ministry said today. Inflation has probably peaked and price pressures may ease as the global economy deteriorates, central bank Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz said Sept. 25. Bank Negara Malaysia kept borrowing costs unchanged at 3 percent for a second straight meeting in September after four increases from early March 2010 to May this year. "Domestic inflation is increasingly affected by external factors, including supply constraints," the government said. "Under such circumstances, sustaining a low inflation environment domestically is more challenging than in the past." |
| Party matters most to voters Posted: 06 Oct 2011 07:11 PM PDT By Santhi Oorjitham, NST Voters in the next general election are 10 per cent more likely to look at the party rather than the candidate compared with those who cast their ballot in the 2004 polls, according to a recent survey by the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM). Crunching such numbers could prove useful as parties plan their election strategy -- right down to when they should announce their line-up of candidates.
Back in August 2004, 56 per cent of about 1,650 voters polled said the party was the main influence on their vote, recalled Professor Datuk Seri Syed Arabi Idid, head of the university's Elections Study Group. That rose to 60 per cent in a similar survey just after the March 2008 polls.
And in July this year, 65 per cent of those surveyed named the party as the most important factor. The biggest rise was among Bumiputeras and middle-aged voters (aged between 35 and 50).
Of those who looked more at the candidate when voting, the highest number came from the young voters -- 37 per cent of those aged 21 to 35.
That's a significant number, since 4,360,000 voters were below 40 in the 2008 elections (about 40 per cent), compared with 6,540,000 above 40.
At the next polls, voters under 40 could make up about 42 per cent of the total, estimated UCSI University lecturer Dr Ong Kian Ming, an election analyst.
Supporters of Barisan Nasional, DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) are more likely to choose based on the party than the candidate this year than in 2008.
In 2008, 64 per cent of BN supporters said they voted for the party but this year, 69 per cent would vote for the party. (See chart.)
The biggest jump is for supporters of DAP and PKR. In 2008, 54 per cent of each party's supporters would vote based on party, but this jumped to 67 per cent and 69 per cent this year.
Part of the reason for the focus on the party could be the timing, explained Syed Arabi.
"Malaysian voters usually don't know the candidate until Nomination Day. They usually decide on the party first and that decision is made far ahead."
"Party preference, once formed, may be harder and slower to change," added Universiti Sains Malaysia's Dr Lim Hong Hai. "A one- or two-week campaign may not be enough to change it for most respondents or voters."
Although the party is the main factor for the majority of voters, pundits still recommend announcing candidates much earlier.
"Parties should tell or at least hint who will be the candidates early, giving a year in which they can be examined closely," urged Syed Arabi. "The candidate can start building support and infrastructure on the new media, for example, and identify voters and supporters."
There is a risk of infighting if candidates are announced early, he admitted. But it could be done in "states where the party structure is strong -- in Perak, Sarawak and Sabah for the BN, for example, and in Penang, Selangor, Kedah and Kelantan for the opposition".
Early announcement of candidates was most important for PKR, added Ong, "because they are seen as the weakest link in Pakatan Rakyat in the sense that many of their candidates who were elected later defected and two were asked to step down. They should announce early so voters can be assured they are good quality candidates".
At the national level, parties "must be solid in terms of their leadership -- no back-stabbing and bickering", said Professor Dr Mansor Mohd Noor, of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, who has been researching elections since 2004.
"They must hold to a common view of public issues to be managed and solved -- rather than denying issues raised by the public."
Coalitions should strengthen cohesion among component parties and "improve their image in terms of policy announcements," suggested Syed Arabi.
"The prime minister has tried to link up with the young on Facebook and Twitter, but other leaders have not shown they are communicating with the young."
Younger voters have less political knowledge, reckoned Ong.
"While most do not know who their members of parliament and state assemblymen are, they are much more likely to be swayed by appeals by leaders at the national level."
Older voters look at what the party has done for them in the past, said IIUM research coordinator Azrul Hisyam Wakichan, but the young and the middle-aged look at candidates, issues and what the party can do for them. |
| Najib unveils ‘feel good’ Budget Posted: 06 Oct 2011 07:06 PM PDT (FMT) - KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is unveiling the Budget 2012 in the Dewan Rakyat, which is expected to be loaded with goodies since the general election is around the corner. In his televised speech, the premier said the total revenue for 2012 is forecast to increase 1.9% to RM186.9 billion and the deficit to decrease to 4.7% of GDP from 5.4%. Last year, Najib said the FDI growth was the strongest in Asia and in the first six months of this year, it had already reached RM21.2 billion. Below are some of the salient points from the Budget, themed: "National Transformation Policy: Welfare for the Rakyat, Well-Being of the Nation." - Senior citizens aged 60 years and above will be exempted from outpatient registration fees at government hospitals and health clinics.
- RM15 million will be allocated to build 150 futsal courts to achieve the "One Court for One Mukim" target.
- RM200 million will be allocated to train youths who have left school through the SAY 1Malaysia programme.
- The government will establish MyCreative Venture Capital with an initial fund of RM200 million.
- To prevent cervical cancer, the government will provide free Human Papilloma Virus immunisation nationwide.
- A training allocation of RM10 million will be provided for women to develop leadership and managerial skills.
- To assist the homeless, the government established a social assistance centre known as Anjung Singgah.
- The National Legal Aid Foundation will ensure that every individual who is charged in court will be given free legal aid.
- To assist taxi owners facing increased operating costs, measures will be introduced including tax exemptions on taxis.
- TERAJU will coordinate and drive the transformation and strengthen Bumiputera's participation in business.
- Hospital Kuala Lumpur – the oldest in Malaysia – will be upgraded to be the country's premier hospital.
- Hospitals will be upgraded and constructed as well as 81 rural health clinics upgraded and 50 new 1Malaysia clinics will be launched.
- Healthcare will be allocated RM15 billion operating expenditure and RM1.8 billion development expenditure.
- The government will establish the Special Housing Fund for fishermen to build and refurbish houses.
- The Rumah Mesra Rakyat (SPNB) programme will be continued. SPNB will be asked to build 10,000 units next year.
- The government will continue to implement the Program Perumahan Rakyat by building 75,000 units of affordable houses.
- The government will identify areas in the vicinity of MRT, LRT and other public transport to be developed by PR1MA.
- The My First Home Scheme will be expanded to increase the limit of house prices from a maximum of RM220,000 to RM400,000.
- 500,000 will benefit from KAR1SMA, which provides assistance to poor senior citizens and children and disabled people.
- In the spirit of "People First," all subsidies, incentives and assistance totalling RM33.2 billion will be continued.
- The government is mindful of the plight of the rakyat due to rising food prices and will take measures to address this.
- RM3,000 will be given to ex-members of the special constable and auxiliary police as well as widows and widowers.
- A special programme will be introduced for 175,000 army personnel who are not eligible for pensions.
- Civil servants will be offered tuition fee assistance for part-time studies, including 5,000 masters and 500 doctoral scholarships.
- Starting next year, the annual increment for civil servants will be increased between RM80 and RM320 according to grade.
- Budget 2012 will transform the civil service to be dynamic and responsive, introducing changes to remuneration and recruitment.
- 600,000 government pensioners will benefit from an additional annual pension increment of 2%.
- The government will extend the compulsory retirement age from 58 to 60 to optimise civil servants' contribution.
- Private schools registered with the Education Ministry will be given incentives including an Investment Tax Allowance.
- The government will expedite tax exemption approvals for educational institutions and all places of worship.
- To encourage private sector human capital development incentives including a double deduction on scholarships will be offered.
- A Rural Transformation Programme will be introduced so that rural areas can attract private investment and create employment.
- The government will expand the programme to supply clean water to the rural community in Sabah by RM50 million.
- RM400 million will be provided to upgrade the water supply infrastructure in selected FELDA areas.
- To provide greater access to bank services for the rural population, Bank Simpanan Nasional will appoint agents in rural areas.
- Felda GVH will be listed on Bursa Malaysia by mid-2012 to raise funds for the company to become a global conglomerate.
READ MORE HERE. |
| Budget fails to live up to reform pledges Posted: 06 Oct 2011 07:02 PM PDT By Tony Pua, FMT The expectations were high for a pre-election budget where Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak will stamp his "reformist" credentials. It is for the prime minister to put into action the various reform pledges made in his cornerstone policy blueprints – the New Economic Model (NEM), Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). However, the announcement of the budget left much to be desired as little has changed beyond tweaking the budget of the previous financial year. Instead what is perhaps the most worrying is that Malaysians are like the proverbial frog in the hot soup – where the frog does not realise the soup is slowly but surely reaching the boiling point. We may not yet be facing the crisis of Greek proportions, but Budget 2012 is doing very little to avert such eventuality, leaving the Malaysian economy nakedly exposed to the inevitability.
Federal government debt Our federal government debt has increased rapidly from RM242 billion in 2004 to RM363 billion in 2009 and RM456 billion in 2011. That represents a marked 88.4% increase in debt over the past 7 years. It is also an increase of 25.6% or nearly RM100 billion over two years. The increase in debt has increased the pressure on reigning in our budget deficit as our annual debt service commitments have increased to RM20.5 billion next year from only half the amount five years ago in 2007. While our federal government debt to GDP ratio is still at a moderate 53.8%, a far cry from Greece's 117%, we are not far from Spain's 64% or Ireland's 67%, both of whom are facing economic turbulence of their own. Our debt levels will only worsen in the next few years as we embark on record levels of infrastructure spending such as the RM53 billion Klang Valley MRT project which is expected to be funded entirely on debt. Wages and pensions At the same time, our public sector expenditure is increasingly mirroring that of the European countries with ballooning civil service obligations. The budgeted expenditure for wages and pensions for 2012 is a whopping RM64.1 billion, an increase of RM6.2 billion or 10.8% budgeted for 2011. The increase is even more worrying when contrasted against the budgeted RM36.9 billion 2007, a 73.7% increase in just five years. The GTP had promised a more efficient and cost-effective government and civil service. What we are seeing from the budget is only one which is indebting our children, entrenching our structural problems and very weak expenditure controls. Economic growth Despite the government's efforts in the ETP, our manufacturing and export statistics paint a starkly different picture. Our export sector grew a miserly 2.7% in 2011 against 13.2% in 2010. However, we should be further alarmed by the fact that the growth was a result of increased contributions from exports of rubber, paper, textiles, clothes and shoes which grew in excess of 15%, and the petroleum products by 9.3%. Our electrical and electronics sector, which constitutes 26.4% of our total exports industry, shrunk by 4.9% in 2011. From the above indicators, there appears to be a shift away from higher value-added export sectors to the primary products industry such as rubber, wood, textiles and crude oil. This is the exact reverse of what we are trying to achieve via the ETP. Budget deficit Based on the Economic Report, we are expected to meet our deficit target of 5.4% for this year only because our revenues had grown beyond the expected in the 2010 budget due to very strong commodity prices. The government has managed to collect RM21.1 billion of extra revenue on top of the originally budget RM165.8 billion. If not for the unexpected increase in government revenue, our budget deficit would have been a shocking 7.9%. READ MORE HERE. |
| Allow me to respond Posted: 06 Oct 2011 06:26 PM PDT 
Below are just some of the many comments in my article 'So, teach me the 'jalan yang betul' then!' I would like to respond to them as I feel further debate or clarification is required so that we can 'clear the air' on this matter that appears to be dividing us and threatens to break up the opposition like it did once before about a decade ago. NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin Dear RPK Recently your posts have become more convoluted with everything ending up in a paradox. Bear in mind I believe the majority of Malaysia Today readers are reasonably educated and have broader mindset, If they weren't they won't even bother visiting. I'm afraid if this continues, such tedious yet complex arguments may deter the growing viewership might plummet to the depth of the ocean. Malaysia Today is the instrument of the third force as you claim so cater to the third force. Stop this nonsensical bashing and continue to direct people to the right path. I feel that Malaysia Today has entered another stage of in its struggle for freedom. I'm pretty much aware that most of the people that visit have realized the Injustice that they are living in yet we are still confused on what to do. Yes, we know the system is corrupt, so what do we do? Do we just quit our jobs and protest everyday on the street or just keep on and increasing our political bashing on the net. Therefore I hope you could focus your efforts on the next step, which is showing the people what to do next. written by Almassy, October 07, 2011 05:39:22 MY RESPONSE: The fight for reforms or change is not a 'single-focus' job. It is 'multi-prong' job. We have to do, as what in the IT world they would say, multitasking. So we do not talk about just one issue. We take about many issues because there are so many things that ail Malaysia. We continue to reveal the transgressions of those in the corridors of power -- although due to the 'selective prosecution' policy that is being practiced in Malaysia (where those close to the powers-that-be are 'immune' from the long arm of the law) very little is going to come out of this effort other than merely 'educating' the Malaysian public so that at least they get to know their government better. To you, getting to the bottom of the hudud matter may be nonsense. As you said: 'Bear in mind I believe the majority of Malaysia Today readers are reasonably educated and have broader mindset….' I suppose this also means you. However, judging by the quality of the comments that you read in Malaysia Today, does this give you the impression that 'the majority of Malaysia Today readers are reasonably educated and have broader mindset'? The impression I get is that the reverse is true. Anyway, we should not just focus on the comments to form our opinion. Can 100 readers who comment give you a good yardstick when more than a million others who read Malaysia Today do so quietly without commenting? What about the private e-mails and phone calls I receive from readers who express their opinion and their opinion is they are not sure yet whether they are going to vote for Pakatan Rakyat come the next election? So we need to respond to what people say. This is because other people may get influenced by what is being said. For example, some are of the view that if hudud is implemented, pork, gambling, liquor, etc., will be banned. So we have to counter that. Some are of the view that if they vote Pakatan Rakyat then for sure hudud is going to be implemented. Again, we have to counter that. So we need to constantly rebut and reply to negative comments because, if we don't, then people might believe these comments to be true and Pakatan Rakyat is going to suffer a serious erosion of support come the next election. We are not talking religion here. We are talking about politics and reforms. But when religion is being dragged into politics, then we have no choice but to face it head on and address the issue. And that is what I am doing: engaging the religionists who want to treat this matter as if it were a religious issue when in fact it is a political issue. ****************************************** Pete, You are learned man and I sense that as you are getting old and perhaps been 'exile' for such a long time you are getting 'religious' in your posting. Also most of the posting are for argument. When one gets older he tends to be closer to his God or his beliefs. But Pete, MT is getting too 'religious'. Its time you go to Malaysian politics and as our election is looming you may have to use your MT to drive in some message of changes so that readers will be more updated about what is going on with our political parties. You have deep throat around and of course you always get the wind first. written by neilahmad, October 07, 2011 08:10:55 MY RESPONSE: I think I have covered most of the points in your comment in my response above. I just want to add one more point. Malaysia Today is not getting more religious. Religion is being used more now than before to gain political mileage. And this hudud issue has set the opposition back a wee bit and has given Umno a slight upper hand (which can escalate if we are not careful). So we avoid addressing this matter at our own peril. ****************************************** RPK, I would like to say that even you are not in the position to comment about Hudud unless you know more than the others. Why not we let people know what hudud is all about. Its not merely chopping off people hands... written by monty, October 07, 2011 09:29:10 MY RESPONSE: Hudud is not about religion. It is about the law and the Federal Constitution of Malaysia. And people well versed in the law and the constitution ARE addressing this matter. (See here: 'Right to question hudud law' and 'At variance with the Constitution') But then the religionists (in this case the Islamists) are shouting them down and telling them that they should not talk about hudud and that only religionists should talk about it. This is where we have to 'out-shout' them. Is hudud a religious issue or a legal cum constitutional issue? I say it is a legal/constitutional issue and it not only affects the constitution but democracy as well (if the minority pushes it down the throat of the majority). ****************************************** RPK, I think you should stop wasting time in changing or bashing the Malay Muslim. They are not going to change since they are brought up in such narrow minded. Don't talk about ordinary people even the educated Malays also sometimes act very funny when comes to religion. You should continue write about Islam because I believe more non-Muslim are starting to understand the beautiful of Islam and how open is Islam is. written by DR Politics, October 07, 2011 09:35:13 MY RESPONSE: Ah, this is my favourite topic. The non-Malays and non-Muslims lament that the 'noisy minority' is screaming their heads off while the 'silent majority' is keeping quiet. "Where is the silent majority Malays-Muslims?" they ask. "Why are they keeping quiet? They should speak up!" Well, I am one of those in the 'silent majority' that you are talking about -- only that I am not silent but I speak up. Do you want me to keep quiet and just let the noisy minority go on screaming? I can, if you wish. At least the Malays would not become so angry with me, like now. ****************************************** Most of the Malays can't even understand Arab language, what more to say understanding Hudud? They are depended to Ustaz, Imam and etc. Ask that particular Malay, does he fully understand Islamic law or the Quran? written by Meh, October 07, 2011 10:49:02 MY RESPONSE: There is nothing complicated here. Hudud laws, as the name implies, are about the law. The question is: which laws do we want for Malaysia? My answer is: parliament makes the laws. That is why we call them lawmakers. So, can we let parliament do its job? Now, if you are not happy with parliament, then vote the parliamentarians out of office. Install a new parliament. Just hope that the new parliament is better than the old parliament. And that is our job as voters. ****************************************** Conclusion : All Muslims are taught to think that way, but some like Azmi dare to risk his life and question the religious teachers and the Quran. That is the argument about. If no one question Islam, then the nation will be like Somalia and the Islamic nations. Saudi and Brunei had the money and their countries are built by infidels or kafirs or using kafir's technologies. What is there to be proud of? And for the information, today a Nobel peace prize may be awarded to a Muslim, but a woman, for questioning the Islamic authorities. Are you going to say that the Nobel committee had intended to insult Islam? In a democracy, we question all things and are free to think and follows our faith or believe in anything we want to believe. Sadly Malaysia is a false democracy - a semi theocratic and racist nation. How much longer are we going to lie to the world? written by earthman, October 07, 2011 11:09:43 MY RESPONSE: And this is the crux to the whole matter. In a democracy, we have a right to question and to express our views. However, when it comes to hudud, suddenly we have lost that right. Why is that so? Because, according to the Islamists, hudud is God's law so we cannot question it. So, are you saying that we need to suspend democracy? PAS introduced the slogan 'PAS for all'. 'All' would mean non-Muslims as well, right? Or is PAS going to change its slogan to 'PAS for all-Muslims only'? Malaysians have a right to defend their democratic right to question and to disagree. PAS should be the first to recognise this since it is accusing Barisan Nasional and Umno of being undemocratic. ****************************************** There are highly intellectual Muslims who support Hudud. Not just narrow minded ones. Why we support? We have digested in our mind that Islam is the correct religion. Then it follows the Quran is the word of God. And since the Quran says Hudud is just as wajib as solat and fasting we support Hudud. A lot of people do not even understand Islam how do we expect them to understand Hudud. The least they could do is to follow Dr Tan the Catholic Archbishop and study the Quran. Dr Tan after studying the Quran supports Hudud. But these people think they are cleverer than Dr Tan, the Catholic Archbishop. He is a well read intellectual with a PhD! I rest my case. written by johann, October 07, 2011 11:33:48 MY RESPONSE: I have already responded to this above. Hudud is about the law and the constitution, not about religion. You don't need to understand Islam to understand that. ****************************************** Generally it is true that an expert of any subject or skill is more knowledgeable than the non-expert. That is true for a Hudud expert when compared to the layman. However, in this case and the main point of Azmi Haron's contention is not about the contents of Hudud but rather 'In a democracy, EVERYTHING can be questioned'. If Hudud and its limits cannot be questioned because it is divine and God's law, then it should not be proposed for implementation in a democratic nation like Malaysia. Even if it is not democracy, normal human rights should grant permission to any human to question everything as a critical thinker. To demand that one should not question Hudud because one is not a Hudud expert is beside the point, irrelevant and a 'strawman' to the point debated in that article. As normal human beings with basic human rights, we need not be an expert on Hudud to question its effectiveness and impact on society. One need not be a professional engineer, theologian, drug scientist or gambler to raise questions when there are negative impacts arising from their activities. One can apply out-of-the-box critical thinking techniques besides employing other experts to handle the in-the-box questions. It is very easy to tackle the Hudud question. If one must insist on God-commanded-Hudud, prove God exists first. If one cannot prove God exists, then one should keep God & Hudud private for psychological/emotional reasons and not bring it into public where it can effect (in grey cases) non-believers negatively. No immutable laws carved in stone tablets for 2011 onward pls written by TMT, October 07, 2011 14:57:09 MY RESPONSE: I doubt I need to add anything more to the above. He/she took the words right out of my mouth. |
| ‘M’sia should have been a federation of three nations’ Posted: 06 Oct 2011 04:36 PM PDT 
Civil society activist Haris Ibrahim says the original agreement in 1963 called for the setting up of the Federation of Malaysia as three separate nations. (Free Malaysia Today) - United Borneo Front (UBF) chief Jeffrey Kitingan wants two administrative systems to be implemented in Malaysia but civil rights activist Haris Ibrahim says this is not in the spirit of the 1963 Borneo Agenda. Instead, Haris suggests that Malaysia should have been a federation of three nations. The UBF is pushing for a "1-Country, 2-Systems" type of administration in Malaysia – one for Peninsular Malaysia and the other for Sabah and Sarawak. Jeffrey said this was in line with its Borneo Agenda and aspiration to restore political autonomy to Sabah and Sarawak. Speaking at its recent Borneo Tea Party gathering and Hari Raya open house held in Dataran Bengkoka, Pitas, Jeffrey said the vast distance between the two regions with the South China Sea between them emphasised their differences. "The differences in indigenous people, culture, language and heritage should be taken into consideration in the administration of the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak in addition to the historical fact that Sabah and Sarawak together with Singapore and Malaya formed the Federation of Malaysia on Sept 16, 1963," he said. Responding to this today, Haris wrote in his blog: "The then federation of Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak had agreed to come together and, without any loss or reduction in their respective status as independent sovereign nations, form the federation of Malaysia as equal nation-state partners within that new federation." He backed his view by quoting clause three of Sabah's 20-Point Agreement, which reads: "Whilst accepting that the present Constitution of the Federation of Malaya should form the basis of the Constitution of Malaysia, the Constitution of Malaysia should be a completely new document drafted and agreed in the light of a free association of states and should not be a series of amendments to a Constitution drafted and agreed by different states in totally different circumstances." Haris argued that Jeffrey's proposal did not honour the 18 and 20 points signed respectively by Sarawak and Sabah. READ MORE HERE |
| Najib, wake up! Posted: 06 Oct 2011 04:11 PM PDT 
He must know that his credibility in the international arena is nothing to shout about and take serious steps to address the issue of electoral reforms. Nazri's statement proves that all along the government is not concerned with electoral reforms. Its claim is that "everything is fine, if not, how could the opposition win five states in 2008?" This statement is meant to deceive the gullible among the rakyat because the opposition won in spite of the dubious electoral system due to the overwhelming support from the rakyat and not because the election process is clean. Selena Tay, Free Malaysia Today The July 9 Bersih rally came about mainly due to the fact that the voter rolls were dirty and are still dirty. Hence, the name Bersih, which means "clean" in English. Due to the pressure exerted by the rakyat who came in droves to participate in the rally, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced that a Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) will be formed to see to electoral reforms. The keywords here are "to see to". This does not mean that electoral reforms will necessarily be implemented. The nine MPs sitting on the PSC are made up of fve Barisan Nasional MPs: chairman Maximus Ongkili (PBS, Kota Marudu), Alexander Nanta Linggi (PBB, Kapit), Mohd Radzi Sheikh Ahmad (Umno, Kangar), Fong Chan Onn (MCA, Alor Gajah) and P Kamalanathan (MIC, Hulu Selangor). The three opposition MPs from Pakatan Rakyat are Azmin Ali (PKR, Gombak), Anthony Loke (DAP, Rasah) and Dr Hatta Ramli (PAS, Kuala Krai). The Independent bloc is represented by Wee Choo Keong (Wangsa Maju). Although the PSC seems to be a good move by the BN government, its sincerity and seriousness in implementing electoral reforms is doubted by its detractors who claim that the PSC is only "for show" and "an eyewash to hoodwink the public". Still, there are many who lauded the government's move as sincere and commendable. However, the PSC started on a wrong note when Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz stated that reforms can still be implemented after the 13th general election if Parliament is dissolved before the reforms are implemented. It is pointless to have reforms after the 13th general election. This only goes to show that the government is not really serious about electoral reforms as what the sceptics have trumpeted all along. Bersih 2.0 has thus issued a press statement on Oct 4 denouncing Nazri's statement and urging the prime minister to give all Malaysians his word that the polls will not be held before the recommendations from the PSC are implemented. Government is not concerned Nazri's statement proves that all along the government is not concerned with electoral reforms. Its claim is that "everything is fine, if not, how could the opposition win five states in 2008?" This statement is meant to deceive the gullible among the rakyat because the opposition won in spite of the dubious electoral system due to the overwhelming support from the rakyat and not because the election process is clean. Had the election process been clean, the opposition would have already taken over the seat in Putrajaya! On Oct 6, the government's sincerity in electoral reforms was again in doubt when Ongkili made a statement that the views of Bersih 2.0 would not be taken into account! This is shocking indeed as the PSC was set up due to pressure from Bersih 2.0. Therefore, to ignore Bersih 2.0 is like eating nasi lemak without the sambal! Bersih 2.0 has indeed been cleaned out by the PSC, given that the statement came from none other than the PSC chairman himself. This brings to light the poignant question: why is the PSC chairman making a unilateral decision without the consensus of the other eight PSC members as the first PSC meeting has yet to begin? With the PSC starting on a wrong footing, it is highly doubtful that much can be achieved and it is likely that it will end up as a rubber-stamp committee to approve the current flawed electoral system. Thus, the PSC's sceptics have been vindicated even before the first meeting has begun. Foreign vote bank The three opposition MPs must do their utmost to see to it that the PSC is not a toothless tiger. As it is, there have been many adverse reports pertaining to the malpractice or oversight committed by the Election Commission (EC). Chief among these are the proven evidence that the names of foreign workers have been inadvertently or mistakenly entered into the electoral rolls although how this could have happened is anyone's guess. Coincidentally, the legalisation of the foreign workers came at a most crucial time (in August 2011), with the 13th general election widely tipped to be held by March next year. READ MORE HERE |
| ‘Rough sex very unlikely for Anwar’ Posted: 06 Oct 2011 04:07 PM PDT 
Dutch expert Dr Thomas Hoogland says it is very unlikely for the opposition leader, who has a back problem, to indulge in the type of sexual act described by the complainant. (Free Malaysia Today) - It is unlikely for Anwar Ibrahim to indulge in rough and vigorous sex as described by complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, according to the opposition leader's spinal surgeon Dr Thomas Hoogland. Testifying at the Sodomy II trial today, the Dutch orthopedic doctor said that a back and forth movement done repeatedly would have caused "significant pain in Anwar's back". Asked by Anwar's defence lawyer Sankara Nair how he came to such conclusions, Hoogland said that as a spine expert it was his opinion based on examinations of Anwar and findings of MRI scans. "For Anwar to really vigorously use his back… I think when we consider the sexual act, it is very, very unlikely that it is possible; based on examination of Anwar and findings of MRI, it is not possible for a man his age (to have performed the alleged act)," he told the High Court here. When asked, Hoogland agreed that it would also be painful for Anwar to kneel on a carpeted floor. Hoogland had performed surgery on Anwar's back in 2004 in Munich, Germany. He also recently re-examined Anwar last month on Sept 8 and testified yesterday that it would have been painful for Anwar to bend his body for even 10 degrees, or to partake in "vigorous activities". Hoogland had said yesterday that even after surgery, which improved Anwar's walking abilities, the latter still suffered from arthritis in his facet joints, limited movement as well as nerve roots damage caused by a police assault in 1998. The then inspector-general of police Abdul Rahim Noor was charged with assaulting Anwar in the infamous "black-eye incident" which resulted in the latter falling and hurting his back. Hoogland said Anwar's 1998 injuries were "significant" and "traumatic" and described them as the beginning of all of Anwar's back problems as they were not caused by degenerative age reasons. CCTV footage shown During cross-examination by lead prosecutor Solicitor-general II Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden, Hoogland was shown a CCTV footage depicting what appeared to be Anwar in a lift. Yusof pointed out that in the video, dated June 26, 2008, Anwar could be seen bending over several times while easily putting down and picking up his briefcase when he was in the lift. Quizzed on this, Hoogland said he could not really comment on the recording as some parts of the video playback was faster than normal and he could not ascertain how quickly Anwar was bending. "The video is speeding faster than normal. Some parts are real speed. People don't walk so fast," complained Hoogland, who said that he could not see if Anwar was bending all the way or just picking up his briefcase. He also said that he could not see the expression of Anwar to determine if he was in pain or not. "He is like Anwar (in the video) and he is able to bend. I never said he cannot bend in my medical report. Only that there is pain while bending and he has to do this motion slowly. Here we can't see if he is in pain," added the doctor. Hoogland had earlier said that it would be "very painful" for Anwar to bend his back and to pick up something, noting that he would need to bend at the knees. However, he admitted that it was possible to bend slowly. Could he be pretending? Yusof had earlier asked Hoogland if a person could easily bend and pick up a pen, without displaying any pain or hampered movements, what would his conclusion be. Hoogland, however, said that such an observation was not a usual functional test for doctors. Yusof: How about we regard this as a new test? Hoogland: Well I will suggest to my colleagues from now on and perhaps call it the 'Kuala Lumpur Test'. READ MORE HERE |
| Najib to announce Felda's listing at KLSE? Posted: 06 Oct 2011 02:22 PM PDT (Harakah Daily) - Prime Minister Najib Razak will announce Felda Holding's listing at the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange during the 2012 Budget speech today, according to a source. The source added that the decision was seen as climax in the ongoing clash between politicians and the management of Felda opposed to the move.
"It will have big implication on Felda in the future," the source told Harakahdaily, adding that the decision had not been discussed in detail with settlers and Felda management.
It also said that listing Felda Holding at the KLSE showed that the body was in serious financial problem despite statements on the contrary by Barisan Nasional leaders.
"Felda does not need the funds from the listing. The party which will make huge profit is CIMB, which has reaped millions in profit from the listing of the sugar company Malayan Sugar Manufacturing Co Bhd (listed in July) prior to this, as well as Isa (Samad, Felda chairman) and Najib's companies trying to own Felda's businesses which are very profitable although not listed on KLSE," he added.
READ MORE HERE. |
| A free-for-all at PAS ceramah in Rembau Posted: 06 Oct 2011 02:17 PM PDT By Zehfry Dahalan, FMT REMBAU: A free for all broke out last night between supporters of PAS, PKR and a group calling themselves the movement to dignify national heroes at a PAS ceramah here. The group's, Gerakan Memartabatkan Pejuang Nasional (GMPN), target was PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu, better known as Mat Sabu.
The group was lying in wait for Mat Sabu and when he arrived at the ceramah venue, they marched 300 metres to the ceramah location to heckle him.
But, this time the PAS supporters were prepared for it. In an earlier ceramah in Seremban last month, GMPN also created a fracas.
For the ceramah last night, PAS had mobilised 3,000 PAS and PKR supporters from Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Pahang, Johor and Malacca.
The ceramah was held in the fully fenced Negeri Sembilan PAS commissioner Mohd Taufek Abdul Ghani's home.
When the 100 plus GMPN supporters neared the gate of the house, PAS supporters formed a human barricade.
Shouting "Jangan ganggu majlis orang" (Don't disturb others function) and "Balik! Balik! (Go back! Go back!) the PAS supporters forced the group to retreat.
A scuffle broke out and both sides were trading blows for nearly 35 minutes. The situation was brought under control when the police intervened. No injuries were reported. READ MORE HERE. |
| Malaysian unis fail to make THE 400 Posted: 06 Oct 2011 02:04 PM PDT By Yow Hong Chieh, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — No Malaysian university made the grade in this year's Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, which lists the world's top 400 universities. This is despite Universiti Malaya's (UM) greatly improved performance in last month's QS World University Rankings, leaping 40 places from 2010 to 167. Malaysia's oldest university was the only local institution to breach the QS top 200 mark after improving its academic, employment and international scores. US, UK and European universities continued their traditional domination of the league tables in the THE rankings released yesterday. The California Institute for Technology — or Caltech — secured top spot, followed by Harvard, Stanford, Oxford, Princeton. In the bottom half of the top 10 were Cambridge University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Imperial College London, Chicago University and Berkeley. Only 18 Asian universities made the top 200, led by the University of Tokyo (30), University of Hong Kong (34), National University of Singapore (40) and Peking University (49). READ MORE HERE. |
| Unions flex muscles as BN, Pakatan vie for votes Posted: 06 Oct 2011 02:01 PM PDT By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — Local unions are re-asserting themselves in their quest for more rights and money, using threats of pickets over a key law and tapping rival political coalitions' eagerness to court workers' support ahead of a general election expected early next year. With Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak expected to announce an "election budget" later today, the umbrella Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has vowed nationwide pickets against amendments to the Employment Act, which it said will allow employers to turn a blind eye to workers' rights.
The Dewan Rakyat passed the changes last night after a five-hour debate.
"Ignoring us could be fatal for Najib," MTUC executive committee member Bruno Pereira told The Malaysian Insider.
Barisan Nasional (BN) has made unprecedented concessions to workers since record losses in Election 2008, where it ceded its customary two-thirds of Parliament and five state governments.
This year alone, the Najib administration has passed a law to set the nation's first minimum wage and promised to raise the mandatory private sector retirement age to 60.
Najib, who is also finance minister, is also expected to announce a major restructuring of civil service wages that will see some of the 1.3 million government servants enjoy pay raises of up to 40 per cent.
But private sector unions have continued to ask for more. The MTUC last week insisted on a base wage of RM1,500 while Maybank employees have held Najib personally responsible over a bonus dispute worth 80 months' pay.
Even Malaysia Airlines (MAS) staff have threatened to picket in December if the controversial share swap with AirAsia is not reversed.
"Elections are coming," said Human Resource Minister Datuk S. Subramaniam candidly when The Malaysian Insider asked why union demands were getting louder. READ MORE HERE. |
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