Archive for March 7th, 2012
Umno menjadi lemah kerana dedalu-dedalu didalamnya
Oleh Aspan Alias | March 06, 2012
The Malaysian Insider
6 MAC — Ditempat-tempat dimana orang ramai duduk berborak, isu politik memang menjadi perkara yang wajib disebut, lebih-lebih lagi waktu kita menunggu pilihanraya yang hampir tiba ini. Bila pilihanraya, siapa yang akan menang dan kalah dan apakah isu yang mungkin menjadi bahan kempen oleh kedua-dua belah pihak yang menawarkan diri dan parti mereka nanti.
Tetapi isu orang Melayulah yang menjadi isu terbesar yang orang ramai selalu menyebutnya akhir-akhir ini. Isu memohon maaf Najib kepada orang ramai itu telah membawa isu baru pula. Ramai yang berpendapat apa yang dilakukan oleh Najib itu merupakan perkara yang merugikan Umno dari sudut politiknya. Adalah sukar untuk membuat tafsiran permohonan maaf secara terbuka Najib itu.
Walau bagaimanapun yang jelas sudah ramai pula yang beranggapan bahawa Najib tidak lagi “viable” sebagai pemimpin nombor satu negara dan sudah ada dikalangan orang-orang Umno sendiri berpendapat yang Najib sudah sampai ke penghujungnya, termasuklah dua orang pimpinan bahagian Umno yang bertemu dengan saya itu. “I think Najib should throw his towel now,” kata salah seorang dari pimpinan Umno itu.
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Lynas: A ticking time bomb?
Posted by Kit in environment, Lynas on Wednesday, 7 March 2012
By Joint Action Group for Gender Equality | March 07, 2012
The Malaysian Insider
MARCH 7 — The Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG) gave our support for the Himpunan Hijau 2.0 protest of February 26. We joined thousands of our fellow Malaysians in calling for an immediate cancellation of the proposed Lynas rare earth plant.
We understand that this plant would involve the production and handling of radioactive waste materials that are highly toxic and not easily disposed of. Moreover, public concerns about the plant have not been addressed nor have adequate measures been taken to ensure that the plant’s operations pose no threat to the residents of Gebeng and its surroundings.
While we are heartened to see that Malaysians are increasingly mindful of and willing to speak up on issues of public interest, we are disappointed with the government’s dismissive attitude towards the legitimate concerns of ordinary Malaysians on this issue.
If most governments around the world steadfastly refuse to build similar plants in their own countries despite the economic incentive to do so, why is Malaysia going ahead with building this plant?
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Tajudin cannot be indemnified against prosecution, says Mat Zain
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Crime, Financial Scandals, Mahathir on Wednesday, 7 March 2012
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal | March 07, 2012
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 — Tan Sri Tajudin Ramli is not immune from criminal prosecution over his handling of Malaysia Airlines System (MAS) during his tenure as its chairman, a former senior policeman has charged.
Referring to the out-of-court settlement reached between one-time national asset management firm Pengurusan Danaharta Bhd (Danaharta) and Tajudin, Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim said that this did not change the fact that three police reports with “damning allegations” had been filed by MAS against the tycoon in 2002, 2005 and 2009.
“[Even] if all civil suits between Tajudin and the rest of the parties involved, MAS in particular, were to be settled out of court, they do not in any way nullify the three reports made against Tajudin by the MAS management. Those reports still stand to be valid,” the ex-KL CID chief said in a statement today, and also challenged Tajudin’s successor, Datuk Seri Idris Jala, to refute allegations made in the 2009 report.
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A Critique of the ETP: Part 6 – Socio-Economic Impact – The ETP will make the rich even richer
The ETP will be bad for wage-earners. Workers’ share of national income under the ETP will be just 21%, compared to 28% currently. Wage-earners’ losses will be corporate gains. The corporate share of ETP income will be 74%, up from 67% today. We fully support a vibrant corporate sector, but a healthy middle class is also crucial for sustainable high-income status. In developed economies, wages take about 50% of national income.
Income disparity will continue. The top 20% of households currently gobble up 49% of all household income. Under the ETP, the top 15% of wage-earners will tak 40% of all wages. The bottom 36% will have to make do with just 12% of total wages. It appears that KR1M thrift stores and Menu1Malaysia austerity meals will still be required in 2020 as the promised ‘high incomes’ benefit only a small minority.
The ETP will double our dependence on cheap foreign labour. If the ETP succeeds, there will be 16.2 million jobs and just 14 million workers to fill them. Who will fill the 2.2m million shortfall? The lower 1.2 million jobs the ETP creates will pay just RM1,100 in today’s terms. We would hope that Malaysians take the higher-paying jobs, which means that low-paid, poorly-skilled foreign workers will be required.
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Najib should apologise for his own mistakes first before apologizing for past BN mistakes resulting in the political tsunami four years ago
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Corruption, Najib Razak, Perak, Sabah, Teoh Beng Hock, UMNO on Wednesday, 7 March 2012
Four days after the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak extended an apology for past Barisan Nasional (BN) mistakes resulting in its loss of several states and electoral seats in the last general elections, it remains a mystery and state secret what were the mistakes Najib was apologizing for.
Nobody knew what past BN mistakes Najib was confessing and apologizing, allowing the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin to immediately dismiss the need to find out what these “mistakes” were arguing that “the crucial thing now was to look ahead” and the UMNO Information chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan to make nonsense of Najib’s “apology” by declaring that “UMNO needs mandate to fix its mistakes”!
Does Najib himself know what past BN mistakes he was confessing and apologising for in Kedah last Saturday or was it a meaningless political rhetoric just to win votes?
While Najib mull over and decide what were the past BN mistakes which he is prepared to confess and apologise, let him apologise for his own mistakes first, especially those committed during his 35-month premiership.
Najib’s mistakes alone run into scores. Off-hand, just to mention ten, as follows: Read the rest of this entry »
The trouble with our race relations
Kee Thuan Chye | Mar 5, 2012
Malaysiakini
COMMENT
Blogger Hussein Abdul Hamid aka Steadyaku47 made waves when he wrote in a posting asking the Chinese not to blame the Malays for being treated as ‘second-class citizens’.
Civil society activist Haris Ibrahim felt “troubled”. He was equally disturbed by what Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) had written about the Malays having become “kecik hati” (disappointed) because they feel the Chinese are not real friends to them.
Haris asked a senior journalist friend about what RPK had expressed, and the friend said it was true. He said the Umno-controlled media had been influencing the Malays by spinning that the DAP, “which is painted as a Chinese party, would be the principal benefactor if Pakatan Rakyat came to power”.
As I see it, this is ironic. The media says that the DAP is riding high in Pakatan and Umno leaders drum it in that PAS has become a puppet of the DAP, but look at what the MCA, Umno’s partner, is saying.
Repeating his theme for the umpteenth time, MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek has just called the DAP, in relation to PAS, a “political eunuch”. He insists, as he has insisted many times before, that the DAP will have no guts and ability to stop PAS from bossing Pakatan and getting its way, including implementing hudud and establishing an Islamic state.
What a contradiction between what Umno says and what the MCA says! Umno says the DAP will be the principal benefactor, the MCA says PAS will be the one and the DAP will be the loser. So whom do we believe? Read the rest of this entry »
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