Archive for July 27th, 2010
The world has spoke “yes to economic freedom, liberal market, no to NEP and corruption”
Posted by Kit in Dr. Chen Man Hin, Economics, Najib Razak, NEP on Tuesday, 27 July 2010
By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life advisor
UNCTAD, a UN body has issued its World Investment Report (WIR) 2010 on Foreign Direct Inflows (FDIs) of world countries.
The report on the 2009 FDIs into the Asean region are as follows
| Singapore | US$16.1 billion |
| Malaysia | 1.38 billion |
| Philippines | 1.95 |
| Thailand | 5.95 |
| Indonesia | 4.88 |
| Vietnam | 4.56 |
The FDI for Malaysia in 2008 was US$7.2 billion, which meant that there was a 81% precipitous drop for the year 2009.
Read the rest of this entry »
Guan Eng-SDO spat a test of civil service impartiality
Posted by Kit in Lim Guan Eng, public service on Tuesday, 27 July 2010
Malaysian Insider
By Yoges Palaniappan
July 26, 2010
GEORGE TOWN, July 26 – Lim Guan Eng and state development officer (SDO) Nik Ali Nik Yunus’s running feud highlights widespread misunderstanding over the different roles of the civil service and political parties, political analysts said today.
Universiti Malaya Law Faculty associate professor Azmi Sharom and political analyst Wong Chin Huat backed the Penang chief minister’s criticism against Nik Ali, despite the stout defence of the federal employee put up by Chief Secretary Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan.
They were of the opinion that the civil service needed to understand the distinction between political parties and government.
Azmi and Wong were commenting on the ongoing clash between Lim (pic) and Nik Ali which had escalated following a recent outburst by the federal civil servant, who said Lim had lowered his own status of a chief minister by criticising a SDO. Read the rest of this entry »
Civility in the US, vitriol in Penang
Posted by Kit in DAP, Lim Guan Eng, public service on Tuesday, 27 July 2010
Making Sens
By Tan Siok Choo
26th July 2010
A CIVIL servant makes a speech. Heavily edited and later publicised, the speech makes the speaker appear racially biased. Journalists and politicians suggest the civil servant should be sacked. After the civil servant resigns, the full speech is published showing its theme of racial reconciliation had been turned into a racist rant.
This incident happened not in Penang but in the US. Nevertheless, last week’s fiasco involving Shirley Sherrod, state director of rural development in Georgia, provides a useful counterpoint to the spat between Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and State Development Officer (SDO) Nik Ali Mat Yunus.
In the US, Sherrod’s speech was edited by a conservative group to suggest she had discriminated against a white farmer. Last Monday, Fox News Channel aired the edited excerpt and host Bill O’Reilly called for Sherrod’s resignation. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack obliged and asked Sherrod to leave.
However, the unedited version of Sherrod’s speech showed the black civil servant had helped the white farmer and was recounting the experience to illustrate that race should never be considered in dealings with others.
Thereafter, President Barack Obama telephoned the US Agriculture Department employee to express his regret over her forced resignation while Vilsack offered Sherrod his apologies and a unique new position in the department.
In contrast to the furore in Penang, one aspect of the Sherrod imbroglio stands out. Although the exchanges in the US were heated, they were civilised. Apart from labelling Sherrod a racist, name calling was notably absent. This contrasts with the volleys of verbal vitriol in Penang between Nik Ali and Guan Eng.
This prompts several questions: Is civility now an endangered trait in Malaysia? Why isn’t it possible for two persons to disagree without being disgustingly disagreeable? Read the rest of this entry »
-
You are currently browsing the archives for Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
