Archive for category 1Malaysia
A better place for their children, not Malaysia
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, globalisation, nation building, NEM on Tuesday, 7 December 2010
By Melissa Chi
The Malaysian Insider
December 07, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 7 — First-class education system, a corruption-free government, zero tolerance on racism and the basic skill to communicate properly are all on one Malaysian’s mind when he chooses to work in Australia.
Anthony Leong, 30, an application support programmer, said he is considering giving up his Malaysian citizenship and live in Australia permanently, for the sake of his future family.
He said he had become frustrated at the corrupted system, the quality of local university graduates and the red tape he had to go through to apply for welfare support for his 70-year-old disabled aunt, among other things.
He is now a permanent resident in Australia, working for the Queensland Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, and is considering applying to be an Australian citizen once he has convinced his father and sister to move with him.
Low purchasing power, racism, political instability, low income, race-based policies, crime rates and non-dual citizenship laws are seen as some of the reasons that have kept a lot of Malaysian talents anywhere but here, 300,000 annually to be exact. Read the rest of this entry »
NEM (Part 2) cannot mark beginning of quantum leap for Malaysia when country is drowned by divisive cacophony like Ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy) calls contradicting Najib’s 1Malaysia concept
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Corruption, Najib Razak, nation building, NEM on Saturday, 4 December 2010
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said yesterday that with the New Economic Model (NEM) Concluding Part released by the National Economic Action Council (NEAC), Malaysia is all set to make the quantum leap into the future and realize its goal to emerge as a high-income, developed, sustainable and inclusive nation.
If so, yesterday should be one of the major milestones in Najib’s premiership and the event would have been marked with unprecedented fanfare.
But this was not the case, for the simple reason that NEM (Part 2) cannot mark the beginning of a quantum leap for Malaysia to become a developed, high-income, sustainable and inclusive nation especially when the country is drowned by a divisive cacophony like Ketuanan Melayu (Malay supremacy) calls which stands in contradiction to Najib’s signature concept of 1Malaysia.
In its chapter on “From Vision to Results”, the NEM Part II stressed that an important prerequisite for the success of the national economic transformation blueprint is for all Malaysian citizens, “irrespective of race, ethnicity, religion or gender…to look past what sets Malaysians apart, focus resolutely on our common interests, and work together with determination towards the success of this transformation and our collective prosperity”. But these are just words without meaning. Read the rest of this entry »
McKinsey paid RM36 million to set up Pemandu
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, NEM on Friday, 3 December 2010
By Regina Lee | Malaysiakini
Dec 3, 10
The government think-tank – Performance Management on Delivery Units (Pemandu) – is said to have come at the mind boggling price tag of RM66 million – even before it got down to work, with foreign consultants enjoying the biggest chunks.
Several documents obtained by Malaysiakini reveal that the spending last year, prior to the Pemandu launch, was mainly on “external consultants”, including American consultancy firm McKinsey and Co, which took the lion’s share of RM36 million.
The documents also reveal that among the other foreign and local consultants hired to set up Pemandu included Hay Group (which was paid RM11 million), Ethos & Co (RM1.5 million) and Alpha Platform (M) Sdn Bhd (RM1.5 million).
A mysterious “external consultant” named “Tarmidzi” also received RM3 million for work done in setting up Pemandu.
Read the rest of this entry »
1 Malaysia – A blurred and confused concept
By Ahmad Mustapha Hassan
November 30, 2010
NOV 30 — 1 Malaysia was announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on September 16, 2008. It is now over two years since that announcement but till today no one is clear of what 1 Malaysia is all about.
According to the 1 Malaysia website which is the personal website of Najib, it is stated that: “1 Malaysia is intended to provide a free and open forum to discuss the things that matter deeply to us as a nation. It provides a chance to express and explore the many perspectives of our fellow citizens. What makes Malaysia unique is the diversity of our peoples. 1 Malaysia’s goal is to preserve and enhance this unity in diversity which has always been our strength and remains our best hope for the future.”
And with that mission statement, a slogan was also created — “People first, performance now.”
Read the rest of this entry »
1Malay(sian) Armed Forces
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Defence, Letters, public service on Saturday, 20 November 2010
Letters
by Zairil Khir Johari
Being Defence Minister must sit well with Zahid Hamidi, for it has turned him into a trigger-happy man. Now, if only he could move his aim away from his own foot.
In my last post I highlighted his jingoistic call to stand up against the ‘neo-colonial’ government of Penang. And just when you think that such a marvelous statement could not be outdone in asininity, he follows it up with this classic piece of pronouncement:
“The reasons (for the low participation of non-Malays in the armed forces) could be because of a fear towards a tight discipline. It could be because of a low spirit of patriotism. It could be because certain ethnic groups had a negative perception of the armed forces and did not encourage participation,” said the minister.
Bravo. As expected, a commotion soon ensued, with denouncements and debates from both sides of the fence. Certainly, such a statement is nothing less than a stinging insult to the countless deeds and sacrifices made by non-Malay servicemen over the course of our country’s history.
Yet at the same time, it does raise a pertinent question. Why does there seem to be such dismal interest in the armed services amongst the non-Malay community (recruitment of non-Malay personnel from 2008-2009 is a paltry 1.2%)? Read the rest of this entry »
Why only very inclusive and 1Malaysia speeches/statements before by-elections but racist slurs and very anti-1Malaysia sentiments especially after Umno/BN by-election victories?
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Media, Najib Razak, UMNO on Friday, 12 November 2010
Malaysians are entitled to ask the reason for the recent phenomenon – why only very inclusive and 1Malaysia speeches/statements before by-elections but racist slurs and very anti-1Malaysia sentiments especially after Umno/Barisan Nasional by-election victories?
Two days before the Galas and Batu Sapi by-elections on November 4, 2010, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s speech to the World Chinese Economic Forum was described as a “reaching out” to the Chinese Malaysian Community conceding that Malaysia’s 2020 goal of a developed nation might fail without its support.
Najib’s speech said:
“Malaysia would not be what it is today without the industry, expertise and dedication of the Malaysian Chinese community.
“Likewise, there will be a bleak future for Malaysia without the Chinese community’s support. We would clearly fall short of reaching the goals to become a developed nation by 2020.”
Best Bloated Bureaucracy to Bleed Bolehland to Bankruptcy!
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Corruption, Martin Jalleh, public service on Wednesday, 10 November 2010
by Martin Jalleh
9 Nov. 2010
Deputy PM Muhyiddin Yassin believes that the BN is “back in business”. The buoyant “Malaysian-second” in Bolehland, said that BN’s future is bright and the Opposition better not underestimate them!
Bolstered by two big by-election victories he even boldly declares that the bureaucrats in Bolehland are “the best civil servants in the world”! The civil servant “have done a lot, but the people want better”.
The Deputy PM was at his ironic best: “The people do not want rhetoric. The era for rhetoric has long gone. The era where the government knows all, like what the prime minister has said, has long gone.”
[Strange, but it is APCO (the international communications firm which Najib is paying a bomb to spruce up his image and lobby for support in Washington) which feels that Malaysia is just another backward hole where Government knows best and press freedom is a figment of the imagination (Malaysian Chronicle)!]
Yes, the rakyat knows best Muhyiddin and we fully agree with you that the civil service in Bolehland is the “best in the world” in the following ways: Read the rest of this entry »
I am a Malaysian first, second, and last
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Letters, nation building on Saturday, 6 November 2010
Letters
by Dr Kamal Amzan
We are a nation that defines race in our constitution. Well, there is nothing wrong with that. But we should know that we are in the league with countries like South Africa and Israel.
Other countries have their own definition of race, but very few take pride enshrining it in their constitution.
Whatever your stand on that, let us admit one thing, we are not in the best of companies.
Religion teaches us that God created us as equals, and some even say that we are all related (albeit distantly). Say what you want, twist and cite all the verses in every holy scriptures you can, but the crux of the matter is that we are all the same before Him, we are all related even.
Yes people, that makes us brothers, sisters, first cousins, second cousins and distant cousins if you must.
In my opinion, 1Malaysia was a long and overdue call. A battle cry, after years of trouble. However, being a sceptic that I am, it was a call that sounded too good to be true. Read the rest of this entry »
Budget 2011 : Challenge UMNO, MCA, MIC, Gerakan, Sabah, Sarawak Ministers to follow Nazri’s example
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak on Thursday, 28 October 2010
2011 Budget not a child of New Economic Model but bears all the marks of old discredited Mahathirish policies (Part 4 of 5)
Najib had himself told Umno that Umno must reform or it will be reformed – that he would execute the New Economic Model or he will be executed!
Najib has found that he biggest enemies of his four critical signature pillars to effect a national transformation come from within – whether 1Malaysia People First Performance Now concept, Government Transformation Programme, New Economic Model and to use the Tenth Malaysia Plan and the annual budgets to operationalise the GTP and ETP.
I commend the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz for his courage and conviction in declaring that he is Malaysian first and Malay next, although more than six months after I had thrown the challenge in Parliament to all Ministers whether they have the 1Malaysia DNA and are prepared to declare that they are Malaysians first and their race second, which is the declared objective of Najib’s 1Malaysia concept.
I share his disappointment when he said in a recent interview that he was puzzled and regretted why his Cabinet colleagues did not speak out as he did, even the Ministers from MCA.
Let me quote Nazri said in his interview with the Red Tomato publication:
Read the rest of this entry »
Budget 2011 : Najib must explain his “crushed bodies, lives lost” “ethnic cleansing” speech in Parliament
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Elections, Najib Razak, UMNO on Thursday, 28 October 2010
2011 Budget not a child of New Economic Model but bears all the marks of old discredited Mahathirish policies (Part 3 of 5)
Any doubts about the lack of political will and leadership of the Najib administration to spearhead political, economic, social and government transformation which must be the pillars for Malaysia’s economic and national salvation are banished by the recent Umno General Assembly and Najib’s Presidential Address and Closing Speech.
What reaction does Najib expect to elicit when he used the language of “crushed bodies, lives lost” for Umno to defend power at any cost in Putrajaya and even talked about “ethnic cleansing”?
How can the Malaysian Chronicle editor Wong Choon Mei be harassed and victitmised of publishing a report using these terms, when this was exactly what Najib said, regardless of the English translation issued by Bernama?
This was what Najib said in his Umno Presidential Address last Thursday:
“Walau berkecai tulang dan juga badan, walau bercerai jasad dari nyawa. Saudara dan saudari, walau apa pun yang gerjadi, Putrajaya mesti kita pertahankan!”
Read the rest of this entry »
Budget 2011: Would Razaleigh’s warning be heeded
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Economics, Najib Razak, NEM, Razaleigh Hamzah on Thursday, 28 October 2010
2011 Budget not a child of New Economic Model but bears all the marks of old discredited Mahathirish policies (Part 2 of 5)
A veteran leader had warned that “It is time to wake up”.
He said: “Without a doubt, Malaysia is slipping. Billions have been looted from this country, and billions more are being siphoned out of the country as our entire political structure crumbles.”
Warning that corruption is the single biggest threat to the nation, he warned that corruption has become institutionalized in our political system and ruining Malaysia.
Who is this veteran leader? He is the head of the Barisan Nasional by-election in Galas, the MP for Gua Musang Tengku Razaleigh.
Will his views about the crisis of nation-building now be heeded? Of course not – just as it is clear that the Prime Minister does not have the political will to implement the New Economic Model (NEM) which he launched on March 30 to transform Malaysia into a developed, competitive and high-income economy with inclusivity and sustainability.
Read the rest of this entry »
We all grieve for a Malaysia that could be!
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Constitution, Najib Razak, nation building on Saturday, 23 October 2010
by Romerz
October 22, 2010
In his presidential address to the 61st UMNO general assembly, a lot of things said by PM Najib could be argued against simply on the basis of logic, history, proper understanding of Malaysia’s federal constitution, democracy and a host of other things. But I will not argue against Najib’s fallacious arguments because I’m tired of warped views and I believe my readers are of a higher mentality than those he was addressing.
Instead I will focus on only one thing he mentioned in the speech. Najib said “the Malays were hurt when the social contract agreed upon by the forefathers of various races who had agreed to make sacrifices to gain the independence, was now being questioned.”
In the first place I know of no such social contract as after 53 years of independence, no one can show me a written copy of this contract nor explain to me what was it that was agreed upon specifically by our forefathers. Even assuming that such an agreement exists (possibly and perhaps reached privately by the leaders of UMNO, MCA and MIC then, which may explain why we know so little of this often touted social contract), hadn’t this preceding social contract been documented and articulated in the Constitution of Malaya 1957? Read the rest of this entry »
Najib’s 2011 Budget is not a child of New Economic Model but bears all the marks of old discredited policies
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Budget Debate, Mahathir, Najib Razak, public service on Sunday, 17 October 2010
Despite all its bombast and pyrotechnics, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 2011 budget is not a child of the New Economic Model but bears all the marks of old discredited policies which have landed Malaysia in the middle-income trap for more than a decade, setting the country towards a failed and bankrupt nation come 2019.
Former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir’s obsession with mega projects like the proposed RM5 billion 100-storey Warisan Merdeka tower is back with a vengeance.
If Najib is seriously committed to a New Economic Model, based on economic, social and government transformation, wouldn’t it be more appropriate for Malaysia to achieve targets as being ranked among the first twenty if not first ten of the least corrupt nations in the annual Transparency International Corruption Perception Index or having at least 10 universities which are ranked among the Top 100 Universities in the world?
In fact, it must be asked whether Najib is secretly trying to out-Mahathir Mahathir not only to build a tower higher than Mahathir’s Petronas Twin Towers, but which could be acclaimed as the tallest in the world – however brief the claim? Read the rest of this entry »
Get a backbone, Kit Siang tells MCA
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, MCA, Najib Razak, UMNO on Wednesday, 13 October 2010
by Joseph Sipalan
Malaysiakini
13.10.2010
DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang today challenged MCA’s ministers to take a clear stand and demand for action to be taken against two headmasters charged for racism and the closure of the National Civics Bureau (BTN).
He said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had already given them the green light to make their position known, when the latter said that MCA should be given “space” within the BN coalition when officiating at their annual general meeting last weekend.
“Here you have the prime minister saying ‘give space to MCA’, and although he said that, you don’t see any MCA minister daring to stand up to make a clear stand to demand that action must be taken against the two headmasters,” Kit Siang (right) said at a press conference in the Parliament lobby.
“Even after Umno gave space to MCA, they don’t use the space. I call on MCA ministers to demand that action be taken against the headmasters and close down the BTN, which is a poisonous anti-Malaysia organisation.” Read the rest of this entry »
DAP wants chief secretary hauled up for inaction against ‘racist’ civil servants
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, nation building, Parliament on Wednesday, 13 October 2010
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider
October 13, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — The DAP demanded today that Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan be hauled up in Parliament for failing to take swift action against “racist” civil servants.
DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang said that the Chief Secretary’s silence on the matter was a mockery to the Najib administration’s reform plans.
“This is an utter mockery of the government transformation programme when two months have elapsed but nothing has been done with regards to the principals.
“Perhaps the chief secretary does not understand the meaning of people first, performance now,” said Lim.
The Chief Secretary said yesterday that the government will follow proper procedure in dealing with two school principals and a Biro Tata Negara (BTN) official for making racist remarks.
But the Chief Secretary did not say whether the three had been found guilty or whether they had already been disciplined. Read the rest of this entry »
Mobilising moderate Malaysia
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, nation building on Wednesday, 13 October 2010
By KJ John
PM Najib Abdul Razak argued at the UN that the mainstream moderate majority must be mobilised to reflect and protect universal values of common day civility. He repeated the same call at the Asem Meetings in Brussels.
Coincidentally, Raja Petra Kamaruddin (RPK) also made the same call in London at a Friends of Pakatan event; calling for the more significant role of the Third Force in Malaysian politics.
Actually these two leaders agree on the strategy forward for their nation. The only difference is that one is the leader of the formal system working within the UN system of nation-states and the other a civil society leader working via informal networks within his own country. One is elected, the other anointed by a specific calling.
It is good that they do actually agree on something. That allows and promotes a common ground for a virtuous dialogue on how to grow a 1Malaysia into a Bangsa Malaysia.
Read the rest of this entry »
Halal? Haram? Heck if I know…
It’s really surprising that people want to talk about halal and haram, but not just in Penang. It’s truly impressive, in Penang, how a bunch of geriatrics say that they don’t want money from any source that is considered haram.
It seems as if we are back to the same holier-than-thou mentality in politics that was visible in the 70s, where even graveyards and grieving for a dead relative were politically segregated. This was the age when Umno and PAS supporters were so passionate to the point that the arguments clearly extended after death.
There should be no paranoia when it comes to the question of halal and haram. Not in this nation where we are opening up to the rest of the world to prove that we are, in fact, truly a moderate Muslim majority nation that in all honesty respects the rest of the population as equals. That was the true Malaysian goal.
What we have now in the 1 Malaysia campaign, is a farce. A cover-up of gigantic proportions. All talk and no “meat”, per se.
Read the rest of this entry »
Why after more than half a year, not a single Cabinet Minister dare to rebut the communal extremists and state that the New Economic Model is not against Article 153 of Constitution?
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, NEM, Parliament, UMNO on Tuesday, 12 October 2010
I walked out of Dewan Rakyat in disgust this morning.
I had stood up to ask a supplementary question for the first oral question which was on the New Economic Model, but the Deputy Speaker, Datuk Ronald Kiandee, who was in the chair, refused to call me.
The question on the New Economic Model was posed by the UMNO MP for Maran, Datuk Haji Ismail bin Hj Abdul Muttalib who asked the Prime Minister “to state the guarantee that in carrying out the New Economic Model it is effective and will achieve the objective set out to make Malaysia a high income nation and at the same time spur the economy and the programmes planned for implementation”.
The answer was given by the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk S. K. Devamany.
If I had the opportunity to pose the supplementary question, I would have observed that on the second day of the 34-day of the budget Parliament, the absence of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak or anyone of the many Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department to answer this question shows that the Barisan Nasional government is neither really seriously nor fully committed whether to Najib’s 1Malaysia concept, New Economic Model or Parliament.
Read the rest of this entry »
Questions thrown out, opposition MPs cry foul
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Corruption, Najib Razak, Parliament on Monday, 11 October 2010
By Rahmah Ghazali
Free Malaysia Today
Mon, 11 Oct 2010
KUALA LUMPUR: Some issues are political potatoes too hot to handle or so it seems when the Dewan Rakyat got down to business today.
The wealth of Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud, Perkasa, Biro Tata Negara (BTN) and 1Malaysia concept were all brought up but were never debated.
When the bell rang for the session to begin, 16 Opposition MPs, mostly from the DAP, and an Independent MP, stood up to protest that their questions were thrown out. They claimed the questions on these “hot” issues were rejected “without any apparent reason”.
The ball started rolling when outspoken veteran leader Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) said that his question, asking Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to state his stand whether he is a “Malaysian first or a Malay first” was rejected.
“Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had once said he was a Malay first and Malaysian second, while Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Abdul Aziz said he is a Malaysian first and a Malay second.
“I don’t understand why my question was rejected. Why give special protection to the prime minister? Can I get an explanation from the Speaker?” he asked.
His colleague, Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timor), also suffered the same fate when his question on “racist” BTN (National Civics Bureau) was not entertained by Najib.
“I asked the prime minister why, after 18 months since 1Malaysia was introduced, a senior civil servant has failed to embrace the unity concept?” he asked, apparently referring to BTN assistant director Hamim Husin. Read the rest of this entry »
Opposition bench queries rejection of questions
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, Parliament on Monday, 11 October 2010
by Joseph Sipalan
Malaysiakini
Oct 11, 10
PARLIAMENT
Opposition MPs were up in arms today as the August House rejected 28 questions from 17 Pakatan Rakyat parliamentarians, forcing speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia to promise he will look into their complaints as soon as possible.
Right after the end of question time, Karpal Singh (DAP-Bukit Gelugor) (right) cited the standing orders to ask why his question, asking Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak if he is a Malay or Malaysian first, was rejected.
Karpal said a letter he received from the speaker’s office which said his question was rejected on the grounds that he was asking for the premier’s opinion and was a hypothetical question.
“The deputy Prime Minister had said he was a Malay first and Malaysian second, and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri (Aziz) said he was a Malaysian first and Malay second.
“… I am not asking for his opinion. I am asking for him to state his stand as prime minister. Why this special protection for the prime minister?,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »
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