Malaysian health reform socio-economics
— David KL Quek
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 07, 2012
FEB 7 — Is the Malaysian health system really in trouble that it requires such a drastic revolutionary change? Is 1 Care for 1 Malaysia Health Reform the answer? Will this proposed radical change make our health system more efficient and effective as touted by officials?
Or, is this proposed reform too ambitious and sweeping that it could possibly lead to severe disruptions to our current health system that we are so used to?
More importantly, would this health reform plan become another government-linked corporate entity which, instead of benefiting the public, only enriches a few favoured cronies or insiders? The difference now is that this will be a humongous multibillion-ringgit exercise and the fattest cow to milk to date!
Sadly, at this juncture in time — in the name of social development, modernisation, and economic necessity even — there have been so many government-linked projects being scandalised and mired in corruption accusations and profligate leakages.
Thus, it would be foolhardy to implicitly trust the government to do the right thing despite the economic rationale or correctness, indeed despite even the most honourable intentions! We are dealing with the health choices and rights of the public, which could become severely disrupted and endangered if or when hurried reforms turn out to be another debacle of catastrophic proportions! We cannot afford a failed social experiment of this magnitude! Read the rest of this entry »
Shahrizat is Najib’s millstone
Posted by Kit in Auditor-General Report, Corruption, UMNO on Tuesday, 7 February 2012, 11:09 am
Mariam Mokhtar | Feb 6, 2012
Malaysiakini
There was one serious flaw in the success story of Malaya: The emergent Malaysia bred generations of Malay politicians who, when caught with their hands in the public kitty, will do anything to hang on to power.
They continue nonchalantly because they are confident their peers will play along with the charade.
They delight in “proving their innocence” by swearing on the Quran. Some think that by seeking absolution from God, by going on umrahs, they are able to convince the god-fearing public, that the pilgrimage is a testament of their innocence.
The National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal hangs like a millstone around the neck of the Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil. Read the rest of this entry »
PEMANDU, Oh PEMANDU
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Pemandu on Tuesday, 7 February 2012, 10:34 am
— Gomen Man
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 07, 2012
FEB 7 — Sorrylah, Mr Ong Kian Ming and REFSA. You are not the first ones to find big, big holes in PEMANDU’s ETP or, as you rightly pointed out, the alphabet soup.
I salute you because you have done what most Malaysians don’t do — sit down and actually go through the stacks of jargon and consultant talk the government throws at us.
But the first people who figured out Idris Jala and his salesmen were the people at Bank Negara and the Economic Planning Unit.
Our central bankers are privately calling the ETP and EPP a wish list of projects, and rubbish any claims that it is transformational in nature. They know more than most that it will take a proper eco-system to propel Malaysia to a high-income economy. Read the rest of this entry »
Ubah is on Blackberry!
Add Ubah to BBM (pin: 216F89DC) to receive updates directly from your BlackBerry as the 13th General Election approaches.
Add Ubah to BBM and recommend to your other friends today! Ubah is waiting…
Why BBM?
Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #99
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa on Tuesday, 7 February 2012, 9:19 am
Chapter 12: A Prescription For Malaysia
An Open Letter to the Prime Minister
[Note: There was a typo in the previous installment. The date of the letter should be May 13, 2002.]
May 13, 2002
(Cont’d) Embracing Globalization
I totally disagree with your characterization of globalization as a vehicle for Western hegemony or that it would destroy our way of life. We are more likely to maintain and indeed enhance our culture and heritage if we are successful economically. If we were to be marginalized economically, our culture and language too would suffer the same fate. If we do not climb on the globalization train now we will be left far behind. Individually, we are more likely to be tolerant and altruistic when we are prosperous and affluent than if we are poor and struggling. This applies to government as well.
Yes, globalization carries its own risks and problems. There are many shoals and reefs in the ocean of globalization. The best way to handle that is to train our citizens to be better sailors and navigators, not to remain in port. To extend the maritime metaphor, yes there will be swells and storms out there; our crew must therefore be adept at trimming the sails and battening the hatches.
Read the rest of this entry »
Kita memerlukan siasah, ‘ambience’ politik dan imej negara yang baru
— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 06, 2012
6 FEB — Sejak saya menyertai Parti Tindakan Demokratik (DAP) pada 8hb Januari yang lalu, saya agak sibuk juga berjumpa dengan ramai rakan-rakan lama yang saya sudah lama tidak temui. Setiap hari ada sahaja beberapa panggilan talipon dari sahabat-sahabat lama ini, ada yang sudah dua puluh tahun tidak bersua. Mereka berjumpa untuk bertanya khabar setelah mendengar berita yang saya sudah meninggalkan Umno untuk melalui wadah baru perjuangan setelah menyepi hampir dua dekad.
Sesungguhnya selama saya keseorangan di rumah bersama cucu-cucu, saya sempat berfikir dan membuat “soul searching” secara serius tentang isu-isu politik yang berbangkit dalam negara kita ini. Saya memerhatikan lagak dan laku pemimpin-pemimpin melalui TV yang kebanyakkannya adalah dari mereka yang saya kenal sejak berdekad-dekad dahulu yang kini sudah menjadi pemimpin, tidak dapat memahami dan menyelami perasaan ahli-ahli Umno dan rakyat amnya.
Ramai di antara mereka yang berjumpa dengan saya itu adalah ahli-ahli Umno serta pemimpin di peringkat rendahan seperti ketua-ketua bahagian Umno serta jawatankuasa mereka. Ada juga pemimpin peringkat yang tinggi memanggil bertanyakan kenapa saya menyertai pembangkang sedangkan saya telah menyertai Umno selama 40 tahun, lebih lama dari mereka sendiri.
Pertanyaan-pertanyaan ini saya jawab hanya dengan meluahkan satu dua baris ayat jawapan. Yang paling selalu saya jawap ialah, Umno sudah hilang identitinya samasekali. Saya sudah tidak mengenali Umno lagi. Parti yang disebut sebagai Umno itu sudah tidak rupa Umno lagi. Umno hanya tinggal pada nama tetapi tidak ada rohnya lagi. Umno ibarat kucing dengan tikus. Dulu kucing makan tikus tetapi kucing sekarang takut pada tikus. Kadang-kadang saya menjawab dengan bertanya satu soalan; kenapa saya mesti kekal dalam Umno? Apabila soalan itu dijawab barulah saya boleh menjawab soalan kenapa saya menyertai DAP.
Pemimpin-pemimpin sekarang tidak memahami apa itu Umno sebelum mereka menyertai parti itu. Sampai sekarang mereka tidak memahami apa itu Umno dan mereka jugalah yang menjadi pemimpin parti itu dan mentadbir negara dengan cara yang kita lihat sekarang. Mereka menganggap menyertai Umno dan seterusnya menjadi Menteri dan sebagainya itu merupakan perkara yang “ultimate” bagi mereka tetapi mereka tidak pernah berusaha untuk menjaga apa yang terkandung dalam BAB3 Perlembagaan Parti itu. Read the rest of this entry »
Shahrizat returns from leave with all guns blazing – not slayed the ghost of the “cattle condo” scandal but reared more monsters
Posted by Kit in Auditor-General Report, Corruption, Najib Razak, UMNO on Monday, 6 February 2012, 12:18 pm
Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, the Wanita UMNO leader and Minister for Women, Family and Community Development, has returned from her three-week leave from Cabinet with all guns blazing but instead of slaying the ghost of the RM330 million “cattle condo” scandal, she has only reared more monsters.
When announcing her leave on January 12, Shahrizat said: “I hope the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will be able to investigate whether or not I was involved in any of the decisions made by the government on the NFC in which my husband, Datuk Seri Dr Mohammad Salleh Ismail, is the executive chairman.”
Has Shahrizat been cleared of any impropriety, abuse of power or conflict of interest in the RM330 million NFC “cattle condo” scandal by the MACC?
The answer is in the negative. As the purpose of her Ministerial leave has not been achieved, shouldn’t her Cabinet leave be extended until a clear answer is available?
In the absence of any unequivocal exoneration by the MACC, the only alternative open to Shahrizat is to rebut one by one the many specific allegations of abuses of public funds or her knowledge/complicity, for instance allegations like the RM13.8 million used for purchasing luxury condominiums in Bangsar, RM10 million to purchase a luxury condominium in Singapore, RM3.4 million for plots of land in Putrajaya, RM830,000 for holiday trips, RM530,000 for a luxury car, payment of RM600,000 credit card bill for Shahrizat’s family, etc. Read the rest of this entry »
Muhammad, a consistent protector of minority rights
— Moh Yasir Alimi
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 05, 2012
FEB 5 — During this month of the Islamic calendar, Muslims are celebrating the birth of the Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad was born in the sixth century in the middle of a culture of ignorance, when people fought because of their tribal affiliations and religious beliefs and women were treated like camels.
Amid such a poor condition for humanity, Muhammad came to teach humanity, tolerance, humility, equality, justice and compassion. He always emphasised consciousness of God and the divinity of human life as the gate of enlightenment, so that human beings would not enslaved by their own ego and bodily impulses.
Karen Armstrong describes Muhammad as a respectful and compassionate man who lived a decent life. She argues that although Islam has often been described in the West as violent and inherently intolerant, Muhammad taught tolerance and compassion toward other religions to all of his followers.
Tolerance is the foundation and the measure of Islamic faith. The faith of a Muslim is as much as his tolerance toward other.
Unfortunately, while most Muslims conform to the spirit of his message, others distort his teachings. Now, we see religion is used as reason to incite violence and intolerance.
Accordingly, in this celebration, it is time to comprehend the tolerant teaching of the Prophet in order to better understand one another in this global community of humanity. Muhammad’s life is about tolerance, tolerance and tolerance. Read the rest of this entry »
The prostitution of the mainstream media
Posted by Kit in Lim Guan Eng, Mahathir, Media, Najib Razak, UMNO on Sunday, 5 February 2012, 10:50 pm
— Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 05, 2012
FEB 5 — A few days ago, a friend remarked that he hasn’t read Utusan Malaysia for almost two years. When I asked the reason why, he answered simply by stating Utusan Malaysia has become the extended mouthpiece of Umno and BN. Especially the former. Its editorials are nothing more than patronising dictations by an officious Guru Kanan in charge of discipline. He finds the editorials insulting to the intelligence and nauseatingly overbearing. Who wants to read a paper that says Nik Aziz is delusional, while Dr Mahathir who hasn’t made peace with the new political realities, isn’t?
For substitute he now reads Sinar which has surpassed Utusan in circulation and credibility. I am inclined to believe many others share his revulsion for not only Utusan Malaysia but other members of the mainstream media too. The citadel for the shameless media partisanship has shifted from Jalan Riong to the HQ of Media Prima. Read the rest of this entry »
Poster-poster rasis sudah mula dinaikkan. Itu petanda BN sudah kehabisan modal
Posted by Kit in DAP, Lim Guan Eng, UMNO on Sunday, 5 February 2012, 10:40 pm
— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 05, 2012
5 FEB — Saya telah pergi ke TTDI hari ini untuk bertemu beberapa orang rakan yang ingin berjumpa saya sambil minum pagi. Saya diberitahu oleh rakan-rakan saya yang sudah banyak poster-poster yang ditampal dimerata-rata tempat tentang Lim Guan Eng sebagai anti-Melayu. Poster itu berbunyi ‘Lim Guan Eng anti Melayu’. Sebagai seorang yang sentiasa berada bersama rakyat marhean di bawah ini, saya dapat merasakan dengan jelas yang DAP sedang mendapat penerimaan dari kaum Melayu yang sudah terbuka minda dan tidak lagi terkongkong dengan momokan jahat setengah pihak terhadap parti itu.
Ini juga dapat dirasakan oleh Umno dan sekutunya. Maka tidak terkejut jika mereka melakukan tindakan desperado ini kerana ini sahajalah jalan yang tinggal untuk menggagalkan usaha DAP untuik membuktikan yang parti itu benar-benar sebuah parti ‘multi-racial’ yang sedang mendapat sambutan dari semua kaum termasuk dari kaum Melayu yang sudah tidak terkongkong dengan momokan gila parti-parti dalam BN khususnya Umno.
Untuk memahami tujuan poster ini dinaikkan tidak memerlukan seorang yang bijak pandai untuk mentelaahnya. Seseorang yang terbuka sedikit mindanya dan sudah bercampur gaul dengan mereka yang berpolitik secara jujur akan cepat tahu matlamat pihak yang menaikkan poster-poster ini. Matlamatnya ialah untuk berusaha dengan cara kotor untuk BN mendapat sokongan dari semua kaum khususnya orang Melayu. Read the rest of this entry »
Wanita Umno to give Rafizi wing’s trademark baju kurung, says Shahrizat
Posted by Kit in Auditor-General Report, Corruption, UMNO on Sunday, 5 February 2012, 8:13 pm
By Yow Hong Chieh
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 05, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 — Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil today said she will send the wing’s trademark red and white baju kurung to her “stalker” in PKR, whom she joked wanted to assume her post.
In an apparent reference to Rafizi Ramli, who has led PKR’s attacks on Shahrizat and the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp), the federal minister said the idea had been mooted by Perak Wanita Umno at a recent meeting.
“He will look good in red and white as he’s a little jambu (effete). Wanita Umno will pack the red and white garments and send them to my stalker,” she told reporters at Hospital Kuala Lumpur here.
“Because I think this particular person aspires to be Wanita Umno chief, maybe because he’s a wannabe leader (but) his party doesn’t have many members. Wanita Umno has 1.3 million members so he can feel the strength.” Read the rest of this entry »
1Care: What ails Malaysia’s healthcare system?
Posted by Kit in Health, public service on Saturday, 4 February 2012, 3:29 pm
— Mustafa K. Anuar
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 04, 2012
FEB 4 — Supposedly based on the UK National Health Service (NHS), the 1Care scheme is said to be aimed at financing the supposedly increasing costs of public health care while making it still affordable to the lower-income group.
But we fear that, like most other “restructuring” schemes in the past, 1Care will deliberately result in the escalation of costs to ordinary Malaysians and the outsourcing of contracts to corporate interests — financed by public funds.
The direct beneficiaries — private hospitals, health management organisations, pharmaceutical firms and those administering the national health financing fund — are likely to profit handsomely from this scheme at the expense of the public.
We recall how the costs of pharmaceuticals soared after the Government Medical Store was privatised in 1994. A similar rise was seen in the costs of general hospital support services after they were privatised. Read the rest of this entry »
Mat Zain: Cops can determine ‘within hours’ if NFC funded umrah
Posted by Kit in Auditor-General Report, Corruption on Saturday, 4 February 2012, 3:18 pm
By Shannon Teoh
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 04, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 — A former senior officer questioned today the police’s reluctance to act against Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s family in the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal, saying it should only take “hours” to determine if they had misused project funds for their umrah trips.
“Why is the police afraid of taking action against Shahrizat’s (picture) husband and son?” former city CID chief Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim wrote in an open letter to the Inspector-General of Police today.
“To check records and determine if Mohamed Salleh (Shahrizat’s husband) and Wan Shahinur (Shahrizat’s son) used RM31,580 in NFC funds to pay for their umrah in November 2010 only needs a few hours of investigation,” he pointed out. Read the rest of this entry »
DAP calls to Najib – convene in mid-Feb RoundTable Conference of all political parties, religions and NGOs to condemn all acts of religious desecration, particularly the dastardly incidents of pig’s head outside mosques to provoke racial and religious strife
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, Religion on Friday, 3 February 2012, 2:30 pm
DAP calls on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to convene in mid-February a RoundTable Conference of all political parties, religions and NGOs to reaffirm moderation and condemn all acts of religious desecration, particularly the dastardly incidents of pig’s head outside mosques, to provoke racial and religious strife.
It must be the concern of all reasonable and patriotic Malaysians that political and public discourse and conduct in the country in the past three years have taken on an increasingly shrill, irrational and intolerant edge.
Only last month, Najib convened the inaugural International Conference on the Global Movement of the Moderates and called on moderates of the world to unite and embrace moderation and reject all forms of extremism.
Sadly, Najib’s three years as Prime Minister have been marked by a creeping and insidious extremism seeking to incite racial hatred and foment religious tensions, as illustrated by the two incidents of pig’s head outside mosques in the Klang Valley in two days – in Sentul yesterday and Rawang on Tuesday.
Both these acts of religious descrecration, like the despicable act of arson against the Johor PAS deputy commissioner Dzulkifly Ahmad whose BMW car and house at Taman Universiti near Skudai were gutted early this morning, must be condemned in the strongest possible terms by all political parties, religious groups, NGOs and Malaysians who do not want to see Malaysia descend down the slippery slope towards political violence, racial animosity and religious strife. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib at bay
Posted by Kit in Elections, Najib Razak on Friday, 3 February 2012, 12:38 pm
Economist
Feb 4th 2012
Politics in Malaysia – Good intentions are not enough for a leader at odds with his party
KUALA LUMPUR
WHEN the leader of the Malaysian opposition, Anwar Ibrahim, was acquitted by a high court judge last month on controversial charges of sodomy, supporters in the government of the reforming prime minister, Najib Razak, were able to claim it as something of a victory. It was proof, they said, that ministers no longer meddled in judicial decisions, as in the bad old days. They even claimed it as evidence of Mr Najib’s wider programme to bring the country into a modern, liberal age.
And so the attorney-general’s decision barely two weeks later to appeal against Mr Anwar’s acquittal hardly looks good. Mr Anwar has always maintained that the sodomy charge was a smear that had been orchestrated by people from within Mr Najib’s ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). The case had run for two years, which for many Malaysians was quite long enough. Mr Anwar’s lawyer quickly derided the appeal as “a desperate act”.
The attorney-general’s decision renews suspicions that nothing much has changed within UMNO, which refuses to stop hounding Mr Anwar and, despite Mr Najib’s worthy intentions, wants few reforms to speak of. Resistance to Mr Najib’s changes has become something of a leitmotif of his time in office, and it could cost him dear at the next general election, which is expected later this year. Read the rest of this entry »
Unity
– by Clement Ting
– The Malaysian Insider
Feb 02, 2012
FEB 2 — Ever since DS Najib took office on April 3, 2009, “unity” is yet another word used on slogans without much effort to embrace the word for what it truly means. Let’s look at the latest and hottest slogan promoted by our dear PM himself, 1Malaysia.
The 1Malaysia slogan is now everywhere — from Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (KR1M), 1Malaysia clinics, 1Malaysia pillars, banners, posters etc. I am not trying to run down the idea as I think this idea has successfully reached everyone from the urban cities to rural areas. However, I feel that it is just an empty slogan with no one taking heed of what it actually means. Furthermore, this 1Malaysia slogan is contradictory in so many ways to the extent that instead of promoting unity, it is possible that it is doing the exact opposite. Read the rest of this entry »
Anti-1 Care group demands Putrajaya kill proposed healthcare scheme
By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 02, 2012
PETALING JAYA, Feb 2 – The newly-formed Citizens’ Healthcare Coalition (CHC) came out for the first time today to demand the government shelve its proposed “1 Care” insurance scheme, warning that its implementation would spell “disaster” for Malaysia’s healthcare system.
The pact insisted that the present two-tiered model was superior to “1 Care”, which it predicted would only turn healthcare management into a “business”.
“We believe the (current) Malaysian model is superior for the Malaysian environment. We do not want healthcare to be turned into a business.
“We believe there should be both public and private sectors – public as a service-oriented model and private as a corporate model… it is not possible for a service sector model to be corporatised,” Federation of Private Medical Practitioners Associations of Malaysia (FPMPAM) president Dr Steven Chow said during CHC’s maiden media briefing at the Global Business and Convention Centre here this evening.
According to CHC, “1 Care” is a new national healthcare system that will force all households to surrender nearly 10 per cent of their monthly household incomes as contribution to a government-run Social Healthcare Insurance (SHI) scheme.
The group insists that the scheme would not achieve its objective to provide equitable access to healthcare for all segments of society and would only increase costs. Read the rest of this entry »
Jika Mempunyai Peluang, Saya Akan Menyertai DAP
Kenyataan ini seolah-olah saya mahu menyertai politik selepas tamat pengajian. Tidak, bukan itu maksud saya. Tetapi sedikit komentar dari saya setelah memerhatikan beberapa siri kejadian yang tidak disangka-sangka oleh ramai rakyat Malaysia yang aktif memerhatikan gelombang politik tanah air muttakhir ini.
Siri kemasukan ramai nama-nama besar melayu (terpulang kepada persepsi pembaca) ke dalam Parti Tindakan Demokratik (DAP) akhir-akhir ini menimbulkan persoalan, apakah tuduhan dan serangan UMNO selama ini terhadap parti tersebut tidak berjaya mempengaruhi orang melayu?
Saya membaca beberapa keluhan dan rasa resah dalam kalangan rakan-rakan saya dan komen-komen pembaca mengenai berita ini, dengan menganggap mereka yang menyertai DAP sudah lupa asal usul, terpengaruh dengan ideologi komunis, dasar tidak mengenang budi dan sebagainya.
Bagi saya, ini lumrah dunia politik. Orang akan mengecam segala 1001 perkara yang mereka tidak suka. Tambahan pula, apabila perkara itu berlawanan dengan kebiasaan mereka.
Read the rest of this entry »
A Critique of the ETP: Part 3 (i) – Execution (i) – PEMANDU strengthens the ‘know-who’ cancer
Very swift progress, but is it due to PEMANDU? In its 8 ETP updates so far, PEMANDU has announced multiple new EPPs (Entry Point Projects) worth billions of ringgit of investment and creating thousands of jobs. One EPP – Johor Premium Outlets (JP Outlets) – is already open. But how much of this rapid execution is due to PEMANDU instead of normal private sector efficiency?
Opportunistic naming of existing projects as EPPs. For example, the JP Outlets and St Regis Hotel projects pre-dated the ETP. Their completion dates were unchanged by their subsequent EPP status – suggesting minimal input by PEMANDU. Naming them as EPPs gives the illusion of quick wins and overstates PEMANDU’s success.
PEMANDU might have indeed helped. PEMANDU might respond that these projects would have been delayed without its help in cutting red tape. Note that the developers Genting-Simon Property and Chua Ma Yu-MRCB are global multinationals, a prominent local businessman and a GLC.
Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia: Why do I care? (Part 2)
Posted by Kit in nation building on Thursday, 2 February 2012, 3:05 pm
By Clive Kessler | February 02, 2012
The Malaysian Insider
FEB 2 — Part 2: The “philosophical” aspect.
Why do I care about Malaysia?
Why do I have ideas and opinions? Why do I voice them? And why do I believe that people might occasionally listen and give some heed when I do?
Half the answer, which I have already provided in sketchy outline, is biographical. It is a matter of, literally, one’s “curriculum vitae”, the “small pathway” of one’s personal, individual life-course.
The other part, which I will now try to suggest in this complementary discussion, is a matter of the attitudes and sensibilities acquired during the course of that life.
Read the rest of this entry »
