Archive for 2012
Wither English, wither the nation
— Thomas Fann
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 21, 2012
JUNE 21 — The title of this article is inspired by a presentation I heard at an English language conference I attended recently. It was a gathering of educators involved in the teaching of English in schools and people who are committed to raising the standard of spoken and written English in our nation. Coincidentally, another article by Stephen Doss was published at the same time entitled “Whither the standard of English.” (http://stephendoss.blogspot.com/2012/06/whither-standard-of-english.html)
CURRENT SITUATION
For me, a few facts stood out. Firstly, the height from which our command of English has fallen in our nation as a whole. Most of the invited speakers spoke impeccable English, especially the “dinosaurs” amongst them. But they were from a bygone era, an era where English was the main language of instruction in our schools and our proficiency in the language was among some of the best in the world.
Secondly, there is a sense of haplessness among the educators that they are going against the flow, that the political will is not there to stem the downward slide despite all the chatter from politicians about improving the standard of English in our country. The reversal in the decision to teach maths and science in English is one such example of this inconsistency.
Thirdly, that the fruit of this decline is now maturing in our society, where we heard a newspaper editor and a hotel owner bemoaning the fact that they are finding it increasingly difficult to secure employees who are able to speak and write good English, which is a vital criteria in their industries. We used to laugh at signage and product manuals from China but now we laugh with them.
But alas, all is not lost especially when we heard from some of the younger teachers who spoke. Their passion, creativity and commitment to raise the level of English in our schools and their use of new technology are encouraging and gave us hope that there are still many out there who believe that English as a language is still important in this country. Read the rest of this entry »
‘Cock and bull’ spins: Voters must decide
Posted by Kit in Elections, Pakatan Rakyat on Thursday, 21 June 2012
Stanley Koh | June 21, 2012
Free Malaysia Today
Barisan Nasional scaremongers will continue to flog Pakatan Rakyat’s ‘inexperience’, but Malaysians must use reason and logic when the time comes to choose.
COMMENT
One of the most common and irritating claims continuously harped on by the Barisan Nasional leaders during their campaign rounds is that the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition had no experience in governing a multi-racial nation.
BN scaremongers in their battle cry for political survival would say the most naive and air-headed remarks such as “the nation would ultimately be bankrupt”, “ethnic tensions could flare” leading to pandemonium in the national state of affairs.
Four years have passed since the “308-electoral tsunami” when the Pakatan coalition bagged five states and formed new state governments in Perak, Kelantan, Kedah, Penang and Selangor.
Unfortunately, Perak returned to BN after a coup d’état not long after.
Indeed, “experience” is a hard teacher and even the most hard-headed pupil would not dispute this wisdom.
Those who have gone through extreme hardships, trials and tribulations can testify that experiences often gives the test before the lessons.
In this political odyssey filled with the voices of Malaysians demanding for “change,” the question is, should voters support an inexperienced coalition against an experienced 55-year-old or more ruling regime? Read the rest of this entry »
WSJ: Malaysia needs China’s help to weather euro storm
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 20, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 — Trade-dependent Asian countries including Malaysia will take a major hit if the euro zone economy collapses and will require China’s aid to hobble along, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
The newspaper highlighted the point that Malaysia has bank loans from Europe equal to 20 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP), which it said was high for the region, and would be more troubled compared to financial hubs Hong Kong and Singapore, both of which have huge “rainy-day funds” to keep homes and businesses above water.
While China, the world’s biggest economy after the US, would be able to withstand the global slump due to its closed financial system, WSJ said Malaysia’s growth would be lessened.
“If China doesn’t open the stimulus floodgates, that would mean less of a boost for its neighbours, including commodity exporters such as Australia and Malaysia,” the paper said. Read the rest of this entry »
Is Najib saying he is not prepared to accept the verdict of the electorate or ensure a peaceful transition of government if PR wins the next general election?
Posted by Kit in Elections, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 20 June 2012
Threats! Threats! More Threats!
Is this all that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak could think of to ensure that UMNO/Barisan Nasional wins the next general election with him firmly in the saddle as the Prime Minister?
Najib’s speech when opening the Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCIM) 66th annual general meeting this morning reminds Malaysians of his infamous “fire and brimstone” presidential address at the UMNO General Assembly in October 2010.
When Najib warned the Chinese business community this morning that their assets and wealth may “evaporate” unless there is “political certainty and stability”, Malaysians are immediately reminded of his “crushed bodies, lives lost” speech at the UMNO General Assembly in October 2010 vowing that Umno would defend power at any cost in Putrajaya.
Let Najib fully explain himself – is he threatening that if UMNO/Barisan Nasional loses Putrajaya in the next general election, the “assets and wealth” of the Chinese business community could “decline and even evaporate” and is this because of his “crushed bodies, lives lost” vow that UMNO would defend power at any cost in Putrajaya? Read the rest of this entry »
1 Malaysia, 2 BNs, 3 agendas
Posted by Kit in Penang, Zairil Khir Johari on Wednesday, 20 June 2012
by Zairil Khir Johari
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 20, 2012
JUNE 20 — As Malaysians begin to grow weary of the guessing game that is the election date, a more amusing charade is beginning to develop in the northern corner of our country. Of late, one particular state — in fact the second smallest one — seems to be grabbing the lion’s share of media attention.
The sudden obsession with Penang, as evidenced by the unrelenting headlines and the constant barrage of political proclamations on a multitude of Penang-related issues, would appear to speak of a concerted attempt to consolidate the entire federal machinery towards the goal of dismantling the current state government.
Yet interestingly enough, if one were to scrutinise between the lines of the numerous statements made by various Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders regarding Penang, one would begin to wonder whether the blue orchestra was performing in single harmony, or whether they were in fact being directed by numerous conductors playing to different beats. Read the rest of this entry »
Do you trust them?
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Education, Elections, Muhyiddin Yassin on Tuesday, 19 June 2012
— Ali Kadir
The Malaysian Insider
June 19, 2012
JUNE 19 — Everything begins and ends with this question: Do you trust them?
Do you trust Khaled Nordin to look after the interest of Malaysians or do you believe that the Parliamentary Select Committee was set up to regurgitate information provided by Lynas and merely rubber stamp an investment already banked in by the Barisan Nasional government?
Please bear in mind that Khaled is also the minister who believed he was doing the right thing when he froze federal loans to students at Unisel in a show a political gamesmanship that he lost.
Do you trust Rais Yatim when he tells all and sundry that only 22,000 Malaysians attended Bersih 3.0?
Do you trust M. Kayveas when he says that urban Malaysians are navel-gazers and an ungrateful bunch who only know how to whine? Read the rest of this entry »
The Dark Passage to Lynas
Posted by Kit in Lynas, Parliament on Tuesday, 19 June 2012
Charles Santiago
MP for Klang
We welcome the report of the Parliamentary Select Committee which has produced its recommendations, including the upgrading of the standards used by the AELB. But while we appreciate the effort, this is clearly a document which has only looked at ways to keep the Lynas Advance Material Plant (LAMP) in operation.
The key area – returning the radioactive waste to Western Australia – has not been looked at although it was one of the earliest pre-conditions to the government granting Lynas a Temporary Operating License.
Violating pre-requisite to the Temporary Operating License (TOL)
Over a ten-year period of the plant’s operation, the total volume of wastes will amount to 2,766,600 cubic metro. Over a 20-year period, as Lynas continues to enjoy its tax break, the waste would presumably have doubled. And it is highly inconceivable that there will be enough soil and technology available to “dilute” the wastes and remove its radiation level to natural ground level radiation. This is especially crucial as Lynas plans to store the wastes onside in the Residue Storage Facility (RSF).
The PSC recommendation has noted that some of the regulations imposed by the Malaysian government are better than international standards. But according to the Lynas document which is under review, the management of radioactive residue generated from the decommissioning activities of LAMP upon cessation of operations after 20 years are not within the scope of the Lynas Radioactive Waste Management Plan or RWMP but presented in a separate document titled “Decommissioning Plan (Environ 2011b). This is certainly not in tandem with international standards.
Malaysia is still in the midst of cleaning up after the Asian Rare Earth factory was decommissioned at the cost of USD100 million, the largest in the rare earth industry. The rare earth factory was set-up 30 years ago and we are yet to wipe out all traces of residue. Lynas will produce 20,000 tonne of radioactive material, ten times more than the Asian Rare earth. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia’s next general election shaping up to be a battle of the coalitions
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Elections, Najib Razak, Pakatan Rakyat, Sabah, Sarawak on Tuesday, 19 June 2012
— Greg Lopez
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 19, 2012
JUNE 19 — Malaysia’s 13th general election, which must be held by April 2013, has been the most anticipated in Malaysian history, given the megatrends that are occurring in the country and the ability of the two main contenders to manage them.
Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) are the main contestants. BN — currently the longest-ruling coalition in the world — is a 13-party coalition based mainly around ethnic and regional interests. Umno is the single most important political party in the ruling coalition, dominating not only the coalition, but all major institutions in Malaysia except in the state of Sarawak. Najib Razak, son of Malaysia’s second prime minister, has led the coalition since becoming Umno president through an interparty compromise.
PR, in turn, is a new and informal coalition, set up in the euphoria of the opposition’s historical performance at the March 2008 12th general election. None of its three component parties has a clear majority, and all understand that their success is predicated on their ability to work together. PKR’s unelected leader Anwar Ibrahim leads the coalition by virtue of his ability to hold together three disparate groups — the Chinese-dominated DAP, the Islamists party PAS and his own band of largely ex-BN/Umno members. Read the rest of this entry »
An open letter to Datuk Kayveas
— Tan Zhong Yan
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 18, 2012
JUNE 18 — Dear Datuk Kayveas,
I, as part of a younger generation of Malaysians and a participant of Bersih 3.0, am totally disappointed with your statement which states that 99 per cent of those who went for the sit-in demonstration did not know why they were there and that they were paid. Your statement is not only absurd and irresponsible but also insulting.
If the people do not know the purpose of the sit-in demonstration, why would they want to waste their time? Were they there to get a taste of the tear gas, water cannons and how it feels to be beaten up by the police?
I would like to tell you that I was there; neither because my parents asked me to (in fact, I am the one who asked my dad to tag along) nor because I was paid. I was there because I was aware of the fact that elections in Malaysia are not clean, free or fair. I was there because I fully understand that we need clean, free and fair elections. Only clean, free and fair elections will guarantee a better future. Only clean, free and fair elections will make Malaysia a true democracy. Read the rest of this entry »
Is Mahathir trying to make the revival of Mahathirism the secret Barisan Nasional agenda in next general election?
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Elections, Mahathir, Najib Razak on Monday, 18 June 2012
“Dr M: Najib must be firm”
“Reforms could lead to extremism, Dr M warns Najib”
“Dr M: Reforms could spark unrest”
These are three headlines on online news portals on the latest interview by former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad with foreign news agency, AFP.
Mahathir’s message is very clear.
He is fully opposed to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s whole spectrum of transformation programmes although these transformation programmes have been mostly talk and no action with even severe cases of backtracking in the past three years of Najib premiership – from 1Malaysia, New Economic Model, Economic Transformation Programme to Political Transformation Programme! Read the rest of this entry »
No Sticker Lady Here: Malaysia Welcomes a New Banksy
By Trinna Leong
Wall Street Journal
When a six-meter-tall graffiti image of an old man’s face appeared on the wall outside an Armenian Street corner shop in George Town, Penang, it had local residents buzzing. Instead of demanding it be removed, however, they asked for more, and starting from today, that’s exactly what they’re getting as part of the annual George Town Festival.
Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia in the event of regime change
Posted by Kit in Elections, Ong Kian Ming, Pakatan Rakyat on Sunday, 17 June 2012
Ong Kian Ming
Malaysiakini
Jun 17, 2012
COMMENT
What happens in the unlikely event that Pakatan Rakyat wins control of the federal government after the 13th general election?
This is a question which few people have tried to address systematically. In this article, I want to highlight what I think will be the five main challenges facing a Pakatan federal government as a way to contextualise the policy options which such a government will have to address.
I have summarised these five main challenges into five ‘P’s:
*Dealing with the ‘Past’.
*Distributing ‘Power’ between the federal and state governments.
*Coming up with a new set of ‘Plans’ in the economic, political and social arenas.
*Focusing on a smaller number of ‘Priorities’ which can be delivered within 100 days and one year.
*Finding a set of ‘Procedures’ to deal with disagreements within the Pakatan coalition.
Murky practices in rail tenders deter foreign firms, weekly reports
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, Transport on Sunday, 17 June 2012
By Lisa J. Ariffin
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 17, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 — International companies are shying away from Malaysia’s rail sector due to less-than-transparent decisions in the tender process, The Edge weekly has reported.
According to an article in the business and investment weekly’s latest edition, “intense lobbying, glitches in the tender process and political favouritism” are among some of the reasons why foreign firms are snubbing rail tenders, a move which could deprive the country of a high-quality rail system.
The Edge writer Lim Ben Shane reported that the response to open tenders has been poor purportedly due to the unfair selection of large contracts, adding that government officials have acknowledged the problem but have defended it as a relatively new phenomenon. Read the rest of this entry »
Dr M: Najib must be firm
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, Mahathir, Najib Razak on Sunday, 17 June 2012
By Dan Martin
Free Malaysia Today
INTERVIEW
June 17, 2012
He was skeptical of Najib’s liberalising moves and suggested authorities are too soft on a rising movement demanding free and fair elections
KUALA LUMPUR: Influential former strongman Dr Mahathir Mohamad has thrown his weight behind a Malaysian conservative pushback against growing calls for change, saying reform could lift the lid on ethnic tensions.
In an interview, the 86-year-old authoritarian icon expressed wariness over liberalising moves by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and suggested authorities were too soft on a rising movement demanding free and fair elections.
“We need a government that is firm. It should be fair. It should be firm,” Mahathir said in his futuristic 86th-floor office in the crown of the sky-scraping Petronas Towers high above the capital Kuala Lumpur.
His comments come after police used tear gas and water cannon in April 28 clashes with protesters demanding changes to an electoral system they view as biased.
Tens of thousands took part in the march through the capital, rattling the ruling party and triggering a wave of sharp conservative rhetoric against reform proponents.
Najib, who must call elections by early next year, has moved to soften some of the decades-old draconian security controls frequently employed by Mahathir during his 22 years in power.
But Mahathir, who retired in 2003, warned too much freedom risked stirring an ethnic hornet’s nest.
“Now that we want to be liberal, what has happened is that now we are more race-conscious than before. Today people are accusing each other of being racist,” said Mahathir, looking somewhat frail but his mind still sharp. Read the rest of this entry »
Global Bersih: Connecting Malaysians around the world
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, nation building on Sunday, 17 June 2012
by Lim Ka Ea
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 08, 2012
JUNE 8 — When a work engagement required me to be in Washington DC on April 28, I decided to meet some fellow Malaysians who were involved in Global Bersih 3.0: Washington DC for the purpose of writing this article. I wanted to bring their stories home with me.
Exhausted from a full day of an “unconference” and heavily deprived of sleep from an all-nighter of monitoring “live” tweets on the rally, I waited patiently for my company to arrive. They were going to end their march at the Malaysian Kopitiam, a tradition that started on July 9 last year.
I ordered a glass of “teh tarik” but when it arrived at my table, it was just regular hot tea with milk and sugar served on a small cup and saucer. Not the real thing naturally, but authentic Malaysian cuisine was not why I was there.
While waiting for nearly an hour, I kept myself alert by listening to other people’s conversations with my eyes closed, giving the illusion that I wasn’t eavesdropping. It wasn’t difficult at all since I was close to being brain dead.
Two waitresses, presumably Malaysians, were quizzing each other at the bar on what the rally was all about in Cantonese. Although they were speaking under their breath, I could identify the gossipy tones of a hush-hush conversation between two nosey neighbours across the fence. Read the rest of this entry »
Nobody surprised no Minister dare to raise in Cabinet that Najib is “Emperor with no clothes” in his wild and reckless allegation that Bersih 3.0 rally is an Opposition coup attempt to topple the government
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, Najib Razak, Parliament on Saturday, 16 June 2012
Nobody is surprised that no Minister dare to ask the Cabinet at its weekly meeting yesterday to openly apologise for the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s wild, baseless and reckless allegation that Bersih 3.0 rally was a coup attempt by the Opposition to topple the government.
Otherwise, the Barisan Nasional Government and the Najib Cabinet would not have suffered such a grave credibility gap that the sixth Prime Minister and his Ministers are increasingly become the butt of jokes of Malaysians, whether for their words or deeds, in a manner which had not befallen the Cabinets of the previous five Prime Ministers.
Najib’s Ministers will privately agree that the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein have not been able to produce an iota of evidence to substantiate such a preposterous allegation, despite public and dubious backing by three former Inspectors-General of Police, Tun Hanif Omar, Tan Sri Rahim Noor and Tan Sri Musa Hassan, and that the last nail for the coffin of such a preposterous allegation was driven home in Parliament on Wednesday by none other than the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz who could not produce any evidence in reply to my question specifically asking for proof for such an allegation.
But in public, no Minister will dare to say that Najib is behaving as “the Emperor with no clothes” in his wild, reckless and baseless allegation that Bersih 3.0 is a coup attempt by the Opposition to topple the government by force on April 28. Read the rest of this entry »
Smoke and Mirrors: Malaysia’s “New” Internal Security Act
Posted by Kit in Human Rights, ISA on Saturday, 16 June 2012
By Mickey Spiegel
Senior Advisor with the Asia Division at Human Rights Watch
East-West Center
ANALYSIS
“Critics also noted that the bill, coupled with amendments to other laws, tightened restrictions or banned outright activities already under constraint, added limits to previously unrestricted activities, and broadened police apprehension and surveillance powers in new and innovative ways.”
When Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced last September that the country’s infamous Internal Security Act (ISA) would be repealed, he referred to tensions “between national security and personal freedom,” and promised that new “legislation formulated will take into consideration fundamental rights and freedoms.” Fast forward seven months to this April when Parliament’s Lower House, followed in short order by the Upper House, passed ISA’s replacement, the Security Offences (Special Measures) 2012 Act (SOSMA).
Unfortunately, this new bill does not go far enough to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of Malaysians. While this bill is not yet the law of the land, all that remains is for the king, Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah, to assent and for the text to appear in the Federal Gazette with the date it will take effect.
A far better plan would be for Malaysia’s policymakers to immediately scuttle this first attempt at replacing the ISA and seriously rethink what it means to protect national security concerns while simultaneously protecting the democratic rights and freedoms of all Malaysia’s people. There may yet be hope if influential allies of Malaysia, including the United States, publicly raise their concerns. Read the rest of this entry »
Our silence: An open letter to Malaysians
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Bersih, Elections, nation building on Saturday, 16 June 2012
Dear Malaysians,
Recently, I watched some Bersih videos on YouTube. I have been avoiding watching them and reading articles related to the rally because such news often makes me feel depressed. Perhaps I should have stuck to my habits because I found myself extraordinarily shaken after watching these videos.
I did not go to the Bersih rally here in Melbourne. I have not, in any way, ever lent support to any political organisation in Malaysia, be it those currently in office or their opposition. Admittedly, I do not know if my name and identity card number has been used to vote without my knowledge – which is always a possibility in my country. Personally, I have never seen the inside of a voting booth. I have avoided matters of a political nature regarding my country my entire life.
‘Why?’ you ask. Because, truth be told, I have never believed that my country could change and that it was worth sticking out my neck for. Mr Anwar Ibrahim is only the most famous of many who have been through the ISA. I have kept silent. And so have many of you. So why should I be so emotionally charged after watching a demonstration video?
Malaysians, let me tell you my story. Your story might not be the same as mine – I do hope it is kinder – but this is what I learned about Malaysia as I grew up: Read the rest of this entry »
Call on MACC to re-open investigations why 18 “high-profile” cases had escaped corruption charges after the first 100 days of the Abdullah premiership and the hundreds of other “big fishes” who have escaped in past eight years
Posted by Kit in Corruption on Friday, 15 June 2012
Despite increased budget, powers, manpower and resources than its predecessor, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is a great letdown as it has failed to be even a pale shadow of Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) – failing to net a single “big fish” in its three-and-a-half years of operation.
The MACC continues to play politics to serve its political masters in the Barisan Nasional government, as for instance, its recent focus on re-opening old investigations into PKR leaders Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali.
I call on the MACC to re-open investigations why 18 “high profile” cases had escaped corruption charges after the first 100 days of the Abdullah premiership in February 2004 and the hundreds of other “big fishes” who have escaped the dragnet in the past eight years.
In February 2004, Tun Abdullah Badawi had marked his first 100 days as the fourth Prime Minister with two very high-profile corruption arrests – former Perwaja Steel managing director Tan Sri Eric Chia and the then Land and Co-operative Development Minister, Tan Sri Kasitah Gaddam.
Read the rest of this entry »
Funds boost for BN MPs an act of desperation which says that Najib has lost out in the political argument
Posted by Kit in Dr. Chen Man Hin, Economics, Elections, Najib Razak on Friday, 15 June 2012
By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP Life advisor
Anwar claims that Najib is scraping the bottom of the barrel in his desperation to give money to BN MPs to get support from the people. Actually the government coffers are already empty. The money he is now splashing round to the low income groups and to BN MPs who badgered for money are sourced from Petronas and EPF funds.
Predictions of the economy are bad. The GDP growth for first quarter is about 4% which is 2% lower than the expected 6%.
World economy is bad. The Eurozone countries are mired in debt. The China economy is slowing down. So Najib’s dreams of achieving a high income economy are dashed.
The World Bank has no praises for Najib’s economic reforms because he has not made structural reform. The Time magazine echoes the views of the World Bank.
Najib now has his back against the wall. His cronies can’t work up an ideology to boost party morale. The only way for Najib to win votes is to use government funds to hand out money to the people.
Read the rest of this entry »
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