Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Sabah - A Prized Catch
- SYA : 10 Reasons Why Ong Tee Keat is Not A Winnable Candidate
- Quran Was Already Written Down
- Megatrends Malaysia #1: "Crossroads"
- ‘Flag-burning sultan’ says Sulu army fake
- Anwar Ibrahim has a Hand in the Lahad Datu Invasion
- Investigate Malaysia's debts now
- A quick reaction to Malaysia’s RGDP growth for the fourth quarter: it is ironic and there is ...
- Aliens in the land – Indian migrant workers in Malaysia (part 1)
| Posted: 23 Feb 2013 10:35 PM PST Do not be misled as this current unfolding of events is the beginning of a much sinister ploy. Sabah is ground zero in a conspiracy perpetrated by very powerful entities and the Filipino Muslims rebels currently at standoff with Malaysian authorities are merely pawns in a game where lives are 'meant' to be lost for a deceptive cause. Claims that Sulu warriors landed in Sabah because the Sulu Sultanate was left out of the recent peace process brokered by Malaysia between Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Philippines Government is NOT REALLY THE FACT! The following are some facts and evidence that reveal why Sabah is Ground Zero: 1. The SMOKESCREEN? This ship – USS GUARDIAN – ran aground in Tubbataha Reefs in Philippines on Jan 17, 2013.  This ship was 'deliberately' made to sail off-course. Imagine with the latest equipment on board and having sailed through the same route many times, this minesweeper ship was unable to differentiate the reefs from the waters. Despite being warned repeatedly by Tubbataha Reef Marine Rangers, the USS Guardian commander refused to listen and stop. He even ordered his crew to get into 'battle position' when the rangers tried to get on board to make a routine inspection on the ship after it ran aground. "Until today, it remains a mystery: Why were they even near Tubbataha? The Sulu Sea is so vast, and it takes hours from Puerto Princesa to reach it. Why couldn't they see it when they had all the state-of-the-art maps and navigation systems?" asked Jose Ma. Lorenzo, World Wildlife Fund-Philippines chief executive officer. THIS is what Philippines Department of Transportation and Communication SecretaryJoseph Emilio Abaya said of the US Sailors on board USS Guardian: "Some say they probably enjoyed too much of an RnR in Subic, some said error in digital charts, some say they were doing a different thing there on their own….."In other words, the Secretary was trying to imply that USS Guardian was running its own 'clandestine' operation. (For further read on the USS GUARDIAN issue, please go to:http://globalnation.inquirer.net) Could it be that this incident created a smokescreen for some other activities to take place in the Sulu Sea and adjoining Celebs Sea? * The date of the incident was Jan 17, 2013. * Members of the self-styled Royal Army of Sulu invaded Sabah on Feb 11, 2013, which is 24 days later. There was a flurry of activities involving US ships as well as rescue and salvage ships in the Sulu Sea since the Jan 17 incident at Tubbahata Reef region. As a matter of fact, the crew on board USS Guardian were quickly rescued and whisked away to a Japan safe zone. Why were they not brought to Philippines which is the most logical thing to do? Could it be that all this activities that ensued in the Sulu Sea could have provided an opening for hundreds of speed boats with Sulu warriors to sail into Sabah undetected? Something is just not right with the USS Guardian. 2. The BACK CHANNEL MAN aka DOUBLE AGENT  Philippines Senator Antonio 'Sonny' Fuentes Trillanes IV, a former Navy Lieutenant is the man who knows exactly what is going on Sabah. Trillanes IV (born 6 August 1971 in Manila, Philippines) is a Philippine military and political figure. (You can find his details in Wikipedia). He is best known for his role in the 2003 Oakwood Mutiny when he and a group of 321 armed soldiers took over the Oakwood apartment towers in Makati City, lined them with bombs and threatened to demolish them because they were tired of corruption in the army and called for the ousting of then-President Gloria Aroyo. He is an incumbent Senator of the Philippines, the first Philippine Senator to be elected while in jail. Now, he has called on President Aquino's administration to make known its policy on the country's claim to Sabah and on the standoff between Malaysian security forces and a group of armed warriors loyal to Sultan of Sulu in the eastern Malaysian territory. Read more at: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/64989/trillanes-calls-on-aquino-govt-to-reveal-stand-on-sabah-claim Trillanes was President Aquino's backchannel link to Beijing at the height of tensions between the Philippines and China over a territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) last year. Trillanes, as told to reporters in Manila recently, is the person responsible for directly briefing President Aquino on the Sabah situation. But some in Philippines claim he is a double agent. He is known to get things done by playing to Washington's tune. When he was advising Aquino during the tensions with China, he did his job fairly well by getting sound advice from the Americans while sweet talking to the Chinese at the same time. Leaked diplomatic cables reveal that one or two American special agents will always be trailing Trillanes each time he met with top Chinese Government officials, be it in China or Manila, during the crisis negotiations. And the Chinese probably knew it too, but they were busy playing their own games with the Americans and the Filipinos. Regarding the standoff issue in Sabah, Trillanes was quoted as saying: "It was high time the Department of Foreign Affairs articulated the government's policy on Sabah. Until then we'll have to withhold further comment because this is a very sensitive issue and it involves the lives of our countrymen in Sabah". It appears that Trillanes knows that some lives could be lost in the Sabah standoff. 3. Toothless Tiger Grows FANGS  Sultan Jamalul Kiram III has been a toothless tiger for a very long time as he is plagued by a lot of problems, from family infightings, health issues, financial difficulty and rivals claiming his throne, more than a dozen to speak. One just has to read www.fakesulusultans.com to catch a glimpse of how many 'sultans' are claiming the one throne in Sulu. Jamalul Kiram knows his kingdom is not safe in his hands, and he suffers from liver ailment as well as other illnesses, and lives in constant fear that someone will poison him to claim his throne. But then, suddenly, the toothless tiger Jamalul Kiram grows fangs and claws. He orders his troops, helmed by his crown prince, to invade Sabah knowing very well that the full might of the Malaysian army will be upon his men. How did this happen? Any by the way, Jamalul Kiram is still undergoing treatment at a Manila hospital for liver ailment. This begs the question, who is behind Jamalul Kiram's renewed vigour in claiming Sabah? Read more at: http://sabahgroundzero.blogspot.com/
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| SYA : 10 Reasons Why Ong Tee Keat is Not A Winnable Candidate Posted: 23 Feb 2013 10:26 PM PST 1. Ong Tee Keat once pledge to QUIT if he lost the no-confidence vote in his MCA Presidency - He is the first political party incumbent who lost in his party Presidency ever in Malaysia political history - He gain the lowest vote ever in MCA Party internal Presidential election with only 500 over votes (a votes that even way lower than Chua Jui Meng back then) - If a person who cannot even convince 2000 MCA delegates to win in the party election then how on earth can he Convince the total amount number of voters that is easily 30 times larger than the number of MCA 2000 delegates? - Is just like a football player who is trying to be the main player against another team but if that player cannot even get through to be chosen to represent his own squad then how on earth can he say that he is a winnable player against another team? 2. Ong Tee Keat do not respect the true meaning of DEMOCRACY - When he was the President of MCA , he abused his power to sack MCA Deputy President that is voted in by the MCA democratic, voice, support, voters and delegate. Later on he even went and sacked MCA Youth and Wanita Chief. He do not know how to respect the democratic support from the MCA voters and delegates. - Now Ong Tee Keat again failed to understand MCA democratic system to be a candidate where previously he was a President before and he should know MCA internal system very well that to be a candidate an individual must get the recommendation from the Division (Pandan) and State (Selangor – Selangor Chief Donald Lim) and finally only the elected MCA President will made his choice based on the recommendation by the division and state. - Although the final decision is still in the hand of Prime Minister but as a PM and BN Chief in a democratic coalition, he must also look into the recommendations suggested by MCA. - How can Ong Tee Keat claim that he wanted to be a candidate in a MCA seat without going through the democratic division, state and national MCA level and straight asking PM to pick him as a candidate? - Unless Ong Tee Keat wanted to contest in a UMNO seat then for sure PM do have the right to pick him as a candidate without need to refer to MCA recommendation - How can Ong Tee Keat be a Winnable candidate if he do not respect what it mean by democracy? (Even if he is being removed by MCA President (CSL), it is being done in a democratic way compare to what he have done to previous MCA Deputy, Wanita and Youth Chief without following the democratic way) 3. Is Ong Tee Keat A Winnable Candidate or Barisan National a Winnable Coalition? - If Ong Tee Keat is a Winnable candidate then he should contest Pandan seat under his personal capacity - If he still want to contest under Barisan Nasional ticket , then that just shows that he still have faith in Barisan Nasional as a Winnable Coalition and he can never win without contesting under Barisan Nasional banner - In this situation , it clearly show an example that Ong Tee Keat can never win without BN banner but BN can still win even without Ong Tee Keat 4. How can he contest in a MCA seat where he earlier claimed that MCA is in irrelevant (2011)? - If MCA is really irrelevant then why on earth Ong Tee Keat still want to contest in MCA seat? - If Ong Tee Keat claim that he do not have faith in current MCA leadership then why he still want to contest in a seat that lead by the leadership that he do not have faith in? - After Ong Tee Keat loses his Presidency, he continue attacking MCA and now he wanted to contest in a seat which is a MCA seat? Where is the logic in this issue? 5. His Barisan Nasional Banner as His Defense Is An Example that He Is Not Fit To Be A BN Leader - Ong Tee Keat claimed that he have never contest under MCA banner all this while and he only uses BN Flags in the election - Ong Tee Keat must know that since whenever UMNO, MCA, PPP, MIC, GERAKAN and other BN component party uses their own party flag during the General Election? It is already a common election understanding that whichever component party also must unite and use Barisan Nasional flag during the General Election - This is the type of unity in Barisan Nasional that Pakatan Rakyat do not have. In BN, all the component party unite under 1 flags while in PR they ally under 3 different flags during the General Election. - Entire Malaysia all the BN component party will be using BN Flags but PANDAN is a MCA seat that Ong Tee Keat can never deny the facts and reality of it. Read more at: http://1sya.com/?p=4809
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| Quran Was Already Written Down Posted: 23 Feb 2013 03:10 PM PST I did receive three comments to the Blog which I did not let through. Two were false and had no basis while the third was as usual rude and just trying to score points without paying attention to proper methods of discussing things intelligently. I will however discuss the Quran verses referred as well as some other points that were raised. One person said : "An-Naasikh and Al-Mansookh, are two terms among the terms of the principles of Islamic jurisprudence. Naskh means abrogating a religious ruling with a new and recent text.. bla bla" Thanks but no thanks for such a long winded comment. We need proof brother. Please remember this word inside your religious mind : 'PROOF'. The Quran says "Haatu burhanukum inkuntum sadiqeen" - bring your proofs if you are truthful. So please bring proofs for all your mumbo jumbo. You can resort to the usual habit of shouting, cursing, using bad language etc - but that is not an answer. At the end of the day - please bring your proof. Another person quoted the Surah 2:106 to justify abrogation. It simply means that this person does not believe in the Quran. He wants to quote another verse from the Quran to say that the Quran is incomplete, it could be changed (by human beings and by goats). So stop for a minute and imagine inviting the non-Muslims to Islam by saying, 'Come to Islam, read the Quran, the Quran was revealed by Allah, the verses of the Quran were once abrogated by a goat." Is this how you invite people to Islam? People will laugh at you. The commenter quoted Surah 2:106 as follows : "Whatever communications We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We bring one better than it or like it. Do you not know that Allah has power over all things? 2:106. First off all this translation is not fully correct. There is no communications in this verse. The arabic word there is 'ayaat'. Ayaat does not mean communications. Ayaat means signs. But even with an incorrect translation like this, there is a built in factor inside this translation which still nullifies the theory of abrogation. Look at the words 'or like it'. If the verse says "We bring one... like it" it means there is no abrogation. "Like it" means "the same thing", "benda yang serupa dengannya". This means going back to square one. Nothing new is being introduced. So mana ada abrogation? Here is a better translation of Surah 2:106 : When we abrogate any sign (ayaat), or cause it to be forgotten, we produce a better sign (ayaat), or at least an equal one. Do you not recognize the fact that Allah is Omnipotent? What are these signs or ayaat referred to in Surah 2:106? We can easily understand this by reading a few verses before 2:106 to see the context. Here are Surah 2:100 - 106 2:100 Is it not a fact that when they make a covenant and pledge to keep it, some of them always disregard it? In fact, most of them do not believe. 2:101 Now that a messenger from Allah has come to them,* and even though he proves and confirms their own scripture, some followers of the scripture (ootul kitaab) disregard Allah's scripture behind their backs, as if they never had any scripture. 2:102 They pursued what the devils taught concerning Solomon's kingdom. Solomon, however, was not a disbeliever, but the devils were disbelievers. They taught the people sorcery, and that which was sent down through Haroot and Maroot. These two did not divulge such knowledge without pointing out: "This is a test. You shall not abuse such knowledge." But the people used it in such evil schemes as the breaking up of marriages. They can never harm anyone against the will of Allah. They thus learn what hurts them, not what benefits them, and they know full well that whoever practices witchcraft will have no share in the Hereafter. Miserable indeed is what they sell their souls for, if they only knew. 2:103 If they believe and lead a righteous life, the reward from Allah is far better, if they only knew. 2:104 O you who believe, do not say, "Raa`ena"* (be our shepherd). Instead, you should say, "Unzurna" (watch over us), and listen. The disbelievers have incurred a painful retribution. 2:105 Neither the disbelievers among the followers of the scripture, nor the idol worshipers, wish to see any blessings come down to you from your Lord. However, Allah showers His blessings upon whomever He chooses. Allah possesses infinite grace. 2:106 When we abrogate any sign (ayaat), or cause it to be forgotten, we produce a better sign (ayaat), or an equal one. Do you not recognize the fact that Allah is Omnipotent? The ayaat referred to in 2:106 refers the Quran that was alreday revealed. The previous verses 2:100-105 refer to the scriptures that had been revealed before the Quran. The phrase 'ootul kitab' in 2:101 refers the earlier people who were given the kitab much earlier. So when a new kitab or book like the Quran was revealed it brought the same ayaat (signs) or something better. There have been many kitabs or books revealed before the Quran. Among them are the Injeel (Evanglos), Tawraat (Torah), the book given to Moses and the book given to Abraham. All these books are mentioned in the Quran. So a new book can be revealed which is full of ayaat or signs. But once a new book is revealed there is absolutely no changing the words or kalimah that are found inside the new book. This is the meaning of Surah 6:115 which I quoted earlier: Surah 6:115 "The Word (kalimaatu) of your Lord is complete, in truth and justice. Nothing shall abrogate His Words (kalimaatihi). He is the Hearer, the Omniscient." Laa mubaddila li kalimaatihi - Nothing shall abrogate or change His Words. Predictably those religious people who have no faith in the Quran (and are therefore not Muslims - because that is exactly what they accuse others) have nothing to say about this verse. They remain absolutely silent about Surah 6:115. They actually reject Surah 6:115. And they force themselves to misunderstand Surah 2:106 because they deliberately ignore these three words "or like it" that are found in Surah 2:106. Why would people who claim to be Muslims who believe the Quran want to do a thing like that? There were other references to Surah 58:12-13 and such but they do not make sense so I dont want to dwell on those verses. The Proponents of Abrogation also dwell a lot on their theory that the Quran was not compiled into a book form until much later in history. Among their beliefs is that the Quran - a book which they like to remind everyone was revealed by Allah - was first written down on pieces of parchment, pieces of leather, pieces of dry bones and left around here and there. They say that the Quran was finally compiled on paper and into one volume much later. This is their belief. This is what they say. But what does the Quran say? Didnt these people bother to check what the Quran itself says about how it was written or recorded? Lets see what the Quran has to say about this.
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| Megatrends Malaysia #1: "Crossroads" Posted: 22 Feb 2013 10:46 AM PST in our society lies italy's mussolini and germany's hitler and japan's tojo .. all these laced with the one-dimensionality of malaysiana and that sloganism of "truly asia" ... the show goes on ... who will win will be determined by the complexity of the game of deceit, the closer we are to the finishing line the more complex the nature of deceit to even be displayed and rationalized ... we will arrive at Fahrenheit 451 (that Ray Bradbury's dystopian novel of book burning and the end of reason) in which everything will be heating up, in flames, and explode ... because our politics is a politics of plunder, pornography, and parasites behind a facade of rhetoric of morality and multiculturalism .. our politics is a politics of revenge, rape, and ravages run by despots that have designed dynasties amongst themselves in order to fed their desire to dominate, dictate, and dumb down the people ruled ... we could have been a greater nation had our years in-between elections we utilize to work on improving education and the soul of the nation as bi-partisans, in an evolving and meaningful way we teach about democracy, equality, equity, and personal and political integrity even if we still engage in a system of economy that prides itself in the triumph of the free-enterprise ideology ... - will we be doomed? - how difficult will it be for power to be transferred, should the time comes for the conclusion leading to a different political reality? - or will there be an emergency rule and the installation of a "caretaker government" of military men who will later shed their uniforms and the generals in their labyrinth once again put on their civilian clothes and hand over heaven's mandate on a golden plate? READ MORE HERE: http://azlyrahman-illuminations.blogspot.com/2013/02/megatrends-malaysia-1-crossroads.html
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| ‘Flag-burning sultan’ says Sulu army fake Posted: 21 Feb 2013 11:55 AM PST LAHAD DATU: A claimant to the North Borneo Sulu Sultanate is opposing the claim of the Sulu armed group that Sabah is their ancestral homeland. "My family is the rightful owner to the throne," said the 45-year-old Lahad Datu businessman Abdul Rajak Aliuddin who has proclaimed himself as the Sixth Sultan of North Borneo. The controversial Rajak, who was once detained and charged for burning the Sabah flag and raising the North Borneo Sultanate flag with the red lion symbol, said based on history the Sulu armed group led by Raja Muda Azzimudie Kiram has no rights to Sabah or North Borneo. Azzimudie is the brother of the Manila-acknowledged Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram, who is now undergoing dialysis treatment in the Philippines. Jamalul is based in the republic. Read more at: http://wikisabah.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/flag-burning-sultan-says-sulu-army-fake.html
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| Anwar Ibrahim has a Hand in the Lahad Datu Invasion Posted: 20 Feb 2013 01:01 PM PST Apparently the pro-Jewish leader and China doll expert had gone to Philippines a week before the armed intruders stormed Kampung Tandau, Lahad Datu, east of Sabah on Feb 9. The sources said that Anwar was said to have held secret talks at an undisclosed place with the head of the terrorists on the plot to invade Lahad Datu. Calling themselves the Royal Sulu Sultanate Army, the 100 over armed terrorists are reportedly headed by Raja Muda Azzimudie Kiram, a descendent of the Sultan of Sulu. It has been almost two weeks since they landed in Kampung Tandau and the stand off does not seem to see any signs of the terrorists backing off. What is interesting here is that the armed invasion was under a foreign flag. It is somewhat unusual for the insurgents to use a Philippine flag. Coincidentally when Anwar was walking the corridors of power in Putrajaya, he enjoys close rapport with Southern Philippines. And he has played a vital part in negotiations with insurgent groups there. The timing of the invasion, with the general election around the corner, is too close for comfort and arouses great suspicion on who is all behind it. Read more at: http://stopthelies.my/?p=2507
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| Investigate Malaysia's debts now Posted: 20 Feb 2013 12:42 PM PST The real devil lies in the details, namely: (i) the trend in the debt level. How has it changed in the recent past? Is there momentum in a certain direction? The federal government's debt had doubled in just four years from 2007 and 2012. Will it stop growing, or will the trend and absolute totals continue their upward rise? In the last decade, our finance ministers have repeatedly pledged to reduce the budget deficits. This has not happened. Instead, deficits have ballooned and the federal government's debt has mounted. (ii) the causes of debt. For what are the borrowings and for whom? Are these borrowings for worthwhile investments that benefit the public? Are these liabilities being used to cover government operating costs or to prop up failing crony companies or the stock market? Is the use of costly loans for projects with low or no rates of return justified? Almost a trillion ringgit was recently whisked out of the country in the form of illegal outflows. This is capital flight. It is conclusive evidence that our economy is 'leaking out' wealth. Capital flight explains what the crony private sector and other rent-seekers are doing with their ill-gotten gains: they are squirreling these away in offshore accounts in Swiss banks and tax havens such as the Cayman Islands. It is no wonder that private-sector investment in Malaysia is dismal. To make up for foregone domestic investment and job creation, environmental standards and taxes are lowered to lure foreign investors such as Lynas. (iii) the types of debt, both known and "hidden". How much of the debt is borrowed from the savings of citizens (internal debt)? How much is borrowed from foreign lenders (external debt)? How much of these debts is government debt, and how much is private? A big chunk of Malaysia's debt, RM467.4 billion as of September 2012, is internal debt (Bank Negara Malaysia, Quarterly Bulletin, Third Quarter 2012). This is the portion of debt that is popularly spoken about — the debt-to-GDP percentage of 53% involves almost entirely this debt. This is money borrowed domestically from the savings of citizens. It is money belonging to individuals taken from the Employee Provident Fund (EPF), Tabung Haji, pension funds and other social security organisations and institutions (see 'Debt growing but manageable, says MOF', The Malaysian Insider, 28 September 2012). At what rates of return are Malaysians being compensated for this borrowing? Will they recover their savings at all? Will they be fraudulently 'compensated' with funds coming from the liquidation of oil and forest assets; in other words, from the public's own pockets? Or will a Ponzi scheme be devised to borrow more to honour commitments that come due? Wholly separate from internal public debt is private external debt — money borrowed from foreign lenders. This is a portion of debt that is hardly spoken about. The government's external debt is RM17.3 billion as of last September, according to Bank Negara. But this is the tip of the iceberg. We should also be very interested in the private sector's external debt. Because when private companies borrow from foreign lenders, the government is obliged to pay off these debts if the companies fail to do so. Simply put, citizens might have to pick up the tab. That is what happened in the debt crises in the West. That is why this category of external debt is called 'publicly guaranteed debts'. Beyond these, there is the 'non-guaranteed' debt obligation of the private sector. These affect the overall creditworthiness of the nation and also cannot be ignored. Bank Negara says Malaysia's total external debt was RM257.8 billion at the end of September 2012. How much of this is publicly guaranteed debt held by private corporations?
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| A quick reaction to Malaysia’s RGDP growth for the fourth quarter: it is ironic and there is ... Posted: 19 Feb 2013 09:48 PM PST So, the Malaysian economy grew by 6.4% from a year ago in the final quarter of 2012. [Malaysia's economy grew 6.4% in Q4, 2012, fastest in 9 quarters] When I first saw the headline figure, I was pleasantly surprised. Upon closer inspection however, the whole growth figures appeared weird. After I figured out why it was weird, I became uncomfortable with the high growth rate. Domestic demand growth slowed significantly (it slowed by 3.9 percentage points in fact from the last quarter). That was the first sign that something was not right. The private demand growth figure is particularly worrying. I had expected its growth to moderate slightly but it slowed by 2.4 percentage points. That is a lot. Here comes the ultimate irony: trade saved Malaysia. Despite the bad trade numbers we saw throughout the quarter, the one that pushed growth way above market consensus was net exports. This is where the weirdness comes in: both exports and imports contracted. How was that possible? Read more at: http://maddruid.com/?p=11287
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| Aliens in the land – Indian migrant workers in Malaysia (part 1) Posted: 19 Feb 2013 03:07 PM PST These workers migrate to Malaysia because they and their governments believe that temporary labour migration is a pathway to development. Predictably, most have also become trapped in circulating contract labour regimes. The debate on the developmental impacts of migration meanwhile continues to exclude discussion on the risks involved and the longer-term consequences of temporary migration. There is no conversation either on integration of earlier cohorts of migrant workers in society, let alone recent migrant workers who are increasingly referred to as aliens. The outlook is particularly gloomy for Malaysia's marginalised South Indian plantation workers who became "orphans of empire" when hardliners in the ruling United Malays National Organisation legislated to deny them citizenship rights. Commodities of empire and migrant labour, 1880s – 1970s Britain's 'forward movement' in Malaya after the 1870s resulted in the country's greater integration into the international economy and facilitated the production of mineral and agricultural commodities. Concurrently, labour migration became a fundamental component of Malaya's economic growth model and related social structures. Malaya's main's commodity exports were tin, coffee and sugar. Chinese entrepreneurs monopolised tin production, recruiting workers from China for their mines. European planters were chiefly involved in coffee and sugar cultivation and they relied on indentured labour from India for their enterprises. In the early 20th century, the planters switched to rubber and it subsequently became the main agricultural commodity. However, they lacked the capital to establish large properties and British trading (agency) houses in Singapore consequently played a vital role in bringing together planters and overseas financial interests (mainly in Britain), to convert the estates into joint-stock companies through flotation on the stock market in London. The 1909-10 rubber boom led to further changes and the proprietary estates largely disappeared, with their former owners often taking up shares in the new corporate entities as part of the sale price. These events foreshadowed major changes in the industry since rubber production necessitated the development of a distinctive agricultural 'complex' with inter-connected operations and a particular cultural milieu. Moreover, the development of the rubber industry reinforced the connections between Indian labour mobility and capital and both the Indian and Malayan colonial administrations strategically planned and organised Indian labour migration to Malaya. The plantation production system effectively established the Indian workers' subsequent employment circumstances and contributed to their marginalisation in Malaysia. The plantation system has since continued into the 21st century and has been adapted for oil palm production. Analogous to colonial frameworks, the Malaysian government and labour-sending states presently organise inter-state labour mobility. Additionally, since the 1980s Indonesian and Bangladeshi migrant workers have mostly replaced the former Indian workforce on plantations. These new migrant workers face a similar marginalisation progression. This paper compares past and present plantation labour regimes in Malaysia and frames the subject in the broader context of the plantation complex to suggest the larger, wider significance of the plantation management system and its institutional frameworks. Indian workers and rubber The rubber production system that was developed in Malaya was centred on cultivation of a single crop– rubber; an imported workforce mainly from India; and capital for the enterprise came from Britain, the United States and Europe. By 1910, rubber plantations covered approximately 225 000 hectares, rising to 891 000 hectares in 1921. This accounted for 53 per cent of the total land under rubber in South and Southeast Asia; and Malayan rubber exports also rose from 6500 to 204 000 tonnes between 1910 and 1919. As stated previously, rubber cultivation necessitated recruitment of a large, cheap and "disciplined" workforce that had be settled and organised to work under pioneering conditions in the country. British India with its teeming poverty-stricken millions and caste-ridden society was the preferred provider for this labour. The state and planters (as employers) essentially regarded the Indian labourer headed for Malaya as another tradable commodity in the production cycle. All the essential arrangements for his sojourn abroad – recruitment, transport and employment – were made by four parties: the sub-imperial Indian Government (or India Office); the Colonial Office in London; the Malayan (Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States) Government; and the employers. Since most Indian emigrants lacked the funds for spontaneous mass migration, Indian labour recruitment was managed by the India Office and sponsored by the Malayan administration. Governance arrangements for the plantation labour regime rested on two pillars – the mobilisation of a largely migrant labour force that facilitated the use of economic and extra-economic measures to maintain low wage bills; and an ethnic (and gender) differentiation of the labour force that enabled the manipulation of both workers and wages.
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