Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Demotion or sack for three MACC ‘robbers’
- A global agenda for seven billion
- Dr M says fed up with MAS, backs AirAsia swap deal
- MACC urged to probe not all sugar and sPICE deal
- PKR to Najib: Use polls to gauge GST
- Don’t pass the buck, Najib told
- Prosecution alleges Khir Toyo conspired with valuer to set house price
- Maybank CEO backs low interest rates
- ‘We did not conspire against Anwar’
- Workers can continue until 70, says employers group
- DAP accuses The Star of misreporting hudud quit vow
| Demotion or sack for three MACC ‘robbers’ Posted: 26 Sep 2011 09:56 PM PDT
The trio to face disciplinary action for allegedly extorting and robbing three money changers of some RM1 millionn. (Free Malaysia Today) - The three senior Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officers who allegedly robbed money changers of some RM1 million cash at KLIA airport could be demoted or sacked. The MACC said today that the three officers would face disciplinary action as an internal inquiry on them has been completed. "The disciplinary board which met today had decided that the three had committed a serious offence, which violates Regulation 37 of the Public Officers (Conduct and Discipline) Regulations 1993," it said in a press statement. Under Regulation 37, a public officer can be dismissed if he has committed an offence that carries a criminal conviction. Other lesser punishments could also be meted out. MACC said that its internal probe and decision would not affect the ongoing police investigations into the case. FMT had reported that the trio, including an assistant commissioner, was arrested after allegedly extorting and robbing three money changers of almost RM1 million on Sept 15. Their remand has been extended for another three days yesterday. Following the incident, MACC had relieved them of their active duties, stripped them of any investigative power, and transferred them to its administrative division. The alleged victims were said to be money changers from Singapore who were at the KLIA to board a flight back home. They were carrying foreign currencies amounting to about RM2 million which they had declared to the customs authorities.
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| A global agenda for seven billion Posted: 26 Sep 2011 08:08 PM PDT (FMT) - Late next month, a child will be born – the 7th billion citizen of planet Earth. We will never know the circumstances into which he or she was born. We do know that the baby will enter a world of vast and unpredictable change – environmental, economic, geopolitical, technological, and demographic. The world's population has tripled since the United Nations was created in 1945. And our numbers keep growing, with corresponding pressures on land, energy, food, and water. The global economy is generating pressures as well: rising joblessness, widening social inequalities, and the emergence of new economic powers. These trends link the fate and future of today's seven billion people as never before. No nation alone can solve the great global challenges of the twenty-first century. International cooperation is a universal need. The 66th session of the UN General Assembly is a renewed opportunity for the countries of the world to set aside narrow, short-term interests and commit to cooperative efforts to address humanity's long-term imperatives. At a time when all nations are experiencing individual challenges, we need to forge a worldwide common agenda that can help to ensure that the seven billionth baby and future generations grow up in a world characterized by sustainable peace, prosperity, freedom, and justice. To help create this future, I am focusing my second term as Secretary-General on five global imperatives – five generational opportunities to shape the world of tomorrow by the decisions we make today. Sustainable development The first and greatest of these imperatives is sustainable development. We all must understand that saving our planet, lifting people out of poverty, and advancing economic growth are one and the same fight. We must connect the dots between climate change, water scarcity, energy shortages, global health, food security, and women's empowerment. Solutions to one problem must be solutions for all. In the next five years, we need to create a new economic vision for sustainable development and forge global consensus on a binding climate change agreement. Fostering economic growth, realizing the Millennium Development Goals, and combating climate change will all depend on creating a new energy system for the twenty-first century and extending it to every person on the planet. Prevention as a framework for international cooperation is a second opportunity. This year, the UN peacekeeping budget will total $8 billion. Think of what we could save by avoiding conflicts – by deploying political mediation missions, for example, rather than troops. We know how to do this. Our record proves it – in Guinea, Kenya, and Kyrgyzstan. A third imperative is building a safer and more secure world. In this effort, we must be courageous in standing up for democracy, human rights, and peace. This year was one of signature achievements in restoring and securing peace – in Côte d'Ivoire, Darfur, Egypt, and elsewhere. But hatred and bloodshed still stand in the way of our vision for peace. In the Middle East, we must break the stalemate. Palestinians deserve a state. Israel needs security. Both want peace. A negotiated settlement can produce these outcomes, and the UN is a platform for forging such a peace. So, too, will we continue our efforts to foster democratic governance in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sierra Leone. And, in the name of all of humanity, we will continue to push forward on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, in service of realizing a world free of nuclear weapons.
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| Dr M says fed up with MAS, backs AirAsia swap deal Posted: 26 Sep 2011 06:26 PM PDT
(The Malaysian Insider) - Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad threw his weight today behind the controversial share swap deal between the national carrier and AirAsia despite strong opposition from the right-wing Malay ground and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) staff against Tan Sri Tony Fernandes' involvement. Critics have accused the budget carrier's ambitious boss of taking advantage of the loss-making national airline to fuel Fernandes' personal ambitions, the latest being the acquisition of English Premier League club, Queens Park Rangers. The national carrier will sponsor QPR's home jersey for the next two seasons, while AirAsia's logo will be emblazoned on the team's away and third kits. The still-influential former prime minister said today he was "fed up"with MAS' management over the years. "Government had supported MAS with funds and protection but MAS had never done well," the country's longest-serving prime minister of 22 years wrote in his blog today,comparing the two airlines. In contrast, he observed that AirAsia being a "newcomer" into the aviation industry had defied the odds and grown from a two-plane operation covering four routes into Asia's biggest budget carrier. "All I wanted to see is Air Asia's management playing a role, indirectly or directly in the management of MAS," said Dr Mahathir (picture). The 86-year-old appears to be pushing AirAsia to the forefront in recent months,including suggesting, during this year's Langkawi International Dialogue at Putrajaya last June, the budget carrier open up new routes from Malaysia to several African countries. MAS and AirAsia inked the deal on August 9, which allows the loss-making national carrier to swap a 20 per cent stake for 10 per cent in Asia's top money-making budget carrier.
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| MACC urged to probe not all sugar and sPICE deal Posted: 26 Sep 2011 06:01 PM PDT
The BN Youth wing suspect something fishy in the way the contracts were given out for the RM300 million sPICE project. (Free Malaysia Today) - The proposed RM300 million subterranean Penang International Convention and Exhibition Center (sPICE) has got the opposition Barisan Nasional all riled up. The BN Youth wing feels that there is something fishy in the way the contracts for the project was handed out. The Youth wing has lodged a graft report at the Penang office of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah here today. The report claims that the project contained elements of nepotism and cronyism. Its Youth chief Oh Tong Keong asked why under the deal, the Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) was obliged to set aside a land for free to sPICE developer Eco-Meridian Sdn Bhd (EMSB), a subsidiary of SP Setia Bhd. He claimed EMSB/Setia is being allowed to build 450 low-medium-cost houses (LMS) on the free land and pocket all the proceeds from the sales. Oh also accused Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng of misleading the people by claiming earlier that the LMCs would cost below RM72,500 per unit. "However, under the agreement, the LMCs would be sold for more than that," he alleged. In the concession deal inked between MPPP and EMSB, SP Setia, which is financing the bulk of sPICE construction cost, will be allowed to build an extra 1,500 houses each in the various projects it would undertake in Penang island. The developer has also been given various tax concessions for the sPICE project. "Why SP Setia was given so many concessions? Is it an ad-hoc policy based on favouritism?" asked Oh, who is also the Gerakan state Youth chief. 'Guan Eng has misled the people' Previously, Lim claimed that MPPP, which currently maintains the Penang International Sports Arena (PISA), would invest only RM11.5 million in the project, via a public-private partnership agreement with EMSB. However, Gerakan lawyers, who were allowed to scrutinise the agreement under a controlled environment in Komtar two weeks ago, revealed that MPPP would contribute a whopping RM50 million for the project.
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| PKR to Najib: Use polls to gauge GST Posted: 26 Sep 2011 04:49 PM PDT By Clara Chooi, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 27 — PKR today urged Datuk Seri Najib Razak to use the coming general election as a referendum to gauge public support for his plan to introduce the goods and services tax (GST). PKR chief strategist Rafizi Ramli told a press conference here that Putrajaya should be clear on its plans, saying that it would take between eight and 12 months to prepare for the GST and "dilly-dallying" the move would create uncertainties in the business environment. "If the government continues to dilly-dally, they will keep on paying for the readiness costs... that is why Najib needs to be brave — if he feels the GST will be key to overhauling the economy, then say it. "It is not about popularity here but it is about business certainty... this issue has dragged on for six to seven years," he said. Rafizi (picture)stressed that Malaysians needed to know if a vote for BN would be a vote for the new tax system and the coming elections would be an opportune time for the government to gauge public support. He said PKR did not entirely reject the proposal to implement GST as it was an effective tax system but insisted that the government first focus on how to improve the incomes of Malaysians. "We do not reject the GST but we are questioning its viability when only 1.7 million Malaysians are qualified taxpayers. This means most Malaysians belong to the lower-income category," he pointed out. He said in most countries that impose GST, the system is used in place of income tax. In most cases, he added, the income tax rate would be lowered accordingly once GST is introduced in order to lessen the tax burden on citizens. "Should GST be implemented in Malaysia now, 10 million Malaysians who are not qualified to pay income tax now will suddenly be burdened," he said. Rafizi added that implementing the GST should not be viewed as the only way to tackle the country's budget deficit problem. "If you implement the GST at a rate of four to five per cent, the taxes you would collect annually would only amount to some RM6 billion which is insufficient to cover our deficit of nearly RM40 billion to RM50 billion," he said. He said the government should first look at its expenditure and curb any leakages or misappropriation of funds before forcing GST on Malaysians and claiming that it was the best option to cut the deficit. Earlier this month, Najib announced that the government would introduce the GST only after the next general election but did not offer any specific date.
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| Don’t pass the buck, Najib told Posted: 26 Sep 2011 04:25 PM PDT
Responding to the move to pump gambling profits into the coffers of vernacular and mission schools, stakeholders say the government should not pass its responsibility to businessmen. (Free Malaysia Today) - Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has been reminded not to "outsource the government's responsibility to the private sector" with regard to the funding for vernacular and mission schools. Yesterday, Najib announced that a minimum RM100 million of gambling profit would be channelled to these schools annually through a fund called "Community Chest". The fund is run by a consortium of tycoons that paid over RM2 billion for billionaire T Ananda Krishnan's Pan Malaysian Pools Sdn Bhd (PMP) in July. It would be spearheaded by Lim Kok Tay of gambling giant Genting Bhd. Commenting on this, Tamil Foundation president S Pasupathy said the government should take more responsibility over vernacular schools and not ride piggy-back on the efforts of the business community. "It is a very good move but the government must go above this to assist vernacular schools. It is the government's responsibility to uphold the public school system. Najib simply cannot outsource his basic responsibility to the private sector," he added. The funding, he said, must be used to upgrade school facilities such as computers, libraries and human resource development as opposed to building new buildings. "That is the government's responsibility. The government is responsible for providing such basic capital expenditure like building construction," he pointed out. On the move being an attempt to win over Chinese and Indian voters, Pasupathy said that Najib must show sincere efforts to win votes instead of merely engaging in such "piecemeal" actions. He cited a long-standing problem that has plagued Tamil schools – relocation due to oversized classrooms. Pasupathy said that the federal government could display its sincerity by assisting in tackling this problem. "For example, the biggest Tamil school in Selangor, the Simpang Lima Tamil school in Klang, has always had the problem of overpopulation. So the Selangor government approved land for another Tamil school to be built in Taman Sentosa but the federal government has yet to grant the licence to build a school there," he said. He stressed that the government still had a big role to play in tackling the root problems facing vernacular schools. Such problems, he said, cannot be solved by funding and the people should not be "hoodwinked" by such things. Meanwhile, Dr Kua Kia Soong, who has been involved in the Chinese school movement since 1983, said the funding did not change the fact that Tamil and Chinese schools should be treated as national schools. "As usual, the Barisan Nasional government is trying to push its civic responsibility to businessmen who are reliant on the government," he said.
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| Prosecution alleges Khir Toyo conspired with valuer to set house price Posted: 26 Sep 2011 03:29 PM PDT By Yow Hong Chieh, The Malaysian Insider SHAH ALAM, Sept 27 — The prosecution in Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo's corruption trial has accused the former Selangor mentri besar of conspiring with a bank valuer to fix the price of his Section 7 house and land here at RM3.5 million. "I put it to you that the value (of the property) was determined by you, not the valuer," deputy public prosecutor Abdul Wahab Mohamad said to Dr Khir on the second day of the latter's defence. Dr Khir (picture), however, denied the allegation and repeatedly stressed that the value had been arrived at independently by Choy Yue Kwong, the Rahim & Co, a valuer appointed by HSBC. The former Selangor Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman is alleged to have obtained for himself and his wife two lots of land and a house at No. 8 and 10, Jalan Suasa 7/1L from Ditamas Sdn Bhd through its director Shamsuddin Hayroni in May 2007. The property was purchased at RM3.5 million although Ditamas had bought it for RM6.5 million on December 23, 2004.
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| Maybank CEO backs low interest rates Posted: 26 Sep 2011 02:02 PM PDT
By Yow Hong Chieh, The Malaysian Insider The central bank should maintain its low interest rate policies to spur growth given the expected slowdown in the world economy, Maybank president and chief executive Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar has said. "It is our hope that the low interest environment will remain so that the economic wheels will keep going," he (picture)told reporters after launching the new look Maybank branch at Kota Damansara here. Abdul Wahid pointed out that a strong domestic base was needed to drive the economy and that the role of bankers was to mobilise deposits to keep growth going. He said entrepreneurs would benefit from cheaper loans, and stressed that Malaysian banks were "very responsible" in passing the benefits of low interest rates to their customers. Abdul Wahid also said he hoped Budget 2012 next month would address the higher cost of living with accommodative policies that would encourage domestic consumption in light of debt woes in the US. He added that the Budget must also provide further clarity and reinforcement for projects identified earlier under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) as they would help boost the local economy. |
| ‘We did not conspire against Anwar’ Posted: 26 Sep 2011 01:46 PM PDT (FMT) - Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak admitted meeting Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan two days prior to the latter being allegedly sodomised by Anwar Ibrahim. However, Najib said he had no knowledge of the June 26, 2008 (alleged sodomy) incident and therefore could not provide any information or relevant evidence on issues raised by the defence in the ongoing Sodomy II trial. This was stated by Najib in his affidavit to support his application to set aside the subpeona compelling him to testify in the trial. His application would be heard on Thursday. He also stated that prior to or after June 24, 2008, he never met the complainant, instructed anyone or conspirated with any individual to incriminate Anwar. "I categorically deny any notion that my wife and I conspired in "mereka-rekakan ataupun mengada-adakan" anything which were very detrimental to the respondent (Anwar)," he said. The affidavit, affirmed on Sept 23, also stated that Saiful only informed Najib of alleged sodomy incidents which took place prior to the June 26 incident. The prime miniser said he had advised Saiful to let the police investigate the matter. Najib urged the court to set aside the subpeona on the ground that he strongly believes that the intention (to get him to testify) of the respondent (Anwar) was not in good faith. According to the premier, it was just an attempt to abuse the process of the court. Rosmah: I'm not a relevant witness Meaawhile, Rosmah in her affidavit stated that she had never met or spoke with the complainant, and like her husband, denied involvement in any conspiracy against Anwar. "I'm not a relevent witness in this trial, therefore the subpeona against me should be set aside," read the affidavit.
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| Workers can continue until 70, says employers group Posted: 26 Sep 2011 01:35 PM PDT By G. Manimaran, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 27 — The private sector can employ a worker until he is 70 under a proposed law that mandates a minimum retirement age of 60, the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) said today. Its executive director Shamsuddin Bardan said the new law will raise the current retirement age from 55 but would still allow qualified employees to continue working according to their contracts. "The new law only sets a mandatory limit of 60 but if there are those who can work until 65 or 70, they can based on the availability and needs of employees and employers respectively," he told The Malaysian Insider today. He said the proposed Private Sector Retirement Age Act would bring Malaysia up to speed with other markets in the region which have already set the retirement age at 60. "The private sector has used this age (55) since independence. Then, the life expectancy was only about 50 years but now it has reached 73 to 74. We need to use experienced human resource," he said. The Malaysian Insider understands that only a few workers currently continue until 65 or 70. The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has also welcomed the government's move to extend the private sector retirement age. Its chief executive Tan Sri Azlan Zainol wants the law to be tabled at next month's parliamentary sitting. The Malaysian Insider reported yesterday that the government was drafting a law to raise the minimum retirement age to 60 with an option to extend for a further four years.
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| DAP accuses The Star of misreporting hudud quit vow Posted: 26 Sep 2011 01:18 PM PDT By Shannon Teoh, The Malaysian Insider KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 27 — The DAP accused The Star today of falsely reporting that Lim Guan Eng had threatened to pull the party out of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) if hudud became part of the pact's joint policy. Zairil Khir Johari, Lim's political secretary, wrote in an open letter to the English daily that the party secretary-general had merely promised that "the entire central executive committee (CEC) would resign to take full responsibility if hudud" became PR policy. "An initially correct report had come to be replaced by one that was imaginatively concocted," Zairil(picture) wrote. He said that a correct version of the article was uploaded on thestar.com.my on September 25 in which the reporter quoted Lim as saying that the party's CEC would resign if anyone could prove that hudud law was in the Common Policy Framework (CPF) or Buku Jingga. But a second version was uploaded the next day which changed the headline from "Guan Eng: DAP top leadership will quit if hudud law included in Pakatan policy" to "DAP leaders threaten to quit Pakatan council". Zairil said the second article "implied wrongly and falsely that Lim had threatened the resignation of the party's top leadership" from PR. PR issued a gag order yesterday on all PR parties, barring their members from speaking on the hudud issue until the pact's leadership meets tomorrow. The hudud issue reared its head again recently, reigniting the longstanding squabble among PR parties over whether the Islamic law, which prescribes stoning, whipping and amputation as punishment for criminal offences, should be implemented. Major newspapers front-paged yesterday the declaration by Lim that his entire DAP central leadership would quit if the controversial law was made a part of PR's Buku Jingga agenda.
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