Will Najib’s speech at the UMNO General Assembly next month pass muster for the inaugural International Conference on the Global Movement of the Moderates in January?
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, UMNO on Monday, 14 November 2011, 4:17 pm
This is mind-boggling which completely defies the imagination.
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is to launch and institutionalize “the Global Movement of the Moderates” in Kuala Lumpur at the inaugural International Conference on the Global Movement of the Moderates from Jan 17 to 19.
This was revealed by Najib in his talk at the East-West Centre in Honolulu yesterday.
Najib first made the call for a Global Movement of Moderates in his speech at the 65th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September last year, urging moderates from all faiths to reclaim the agenda for peace and pragmatism and to marginalize the extremists.
The question that befuddles Malaysians is how Najib can expect his glib call of “Moderates Unite” in international forums to have any credibility when the most extremist racial and religious incitements under his premiership not only emanate from but are nurtured in the UMNO bosom, such as the mainstream media mouthpieces of UMNO particularly Utusan Malaysia?
Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #88
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, Judiciary on Monday, 14 November 2011, 10:50 am
Chapter 10: Freedom, Justice, and the Law
The Judiciary: Justice in Jeopardy
Not only must there be respect for the rule of law, but the laws themselves must be just. Those administering the law too must be just and be seen to be just.
The Malaysian judiciary began on a very high note with judges held in the highest esteem. Tun Suffian set the tone not only with his exemplary personal example but also the depth of his legal judgment and scholarly analysis. The low point of the Malaysian judiciary occurred when the King, acting on the advice of the prime minister, suspended the chief justice and a few of his associates. Sadly from there the judiciary seemed to breach new lows every so often. A retiring senior appellate judge recently publicly confessed his shame for having been a member of that august body. He bluntly blurted about Malaysian litigants being confident of winning even “hopeless cases” as long as they were filed in “certain courts.” A more damaging indictment would be hard to find.
Read the rest of this entry »
Writing on the wall and the perils of procrastination
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Economics, Najib Razak, UMNO on Sunday, 13 November 2011, 7:19 pm
— Nawawi Mohamad
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 13, 2011
NOV 13 — Silvio Berlusconi, the flamboyant, scandalous media billionaire who practically jumped into Italian politics by organising the People of Freedom party, reigned for seventeen years. He has now resigned. He left Italy with about €1.9 trillion in national debt.
After being so preoccupied with his scandals, both creating them and defending himself from the repercussions, he had procrastinated in dealing with Italy’s troubled economy and serious financial problems.
Berlusconi only agreed to the proposal to reduce the deficit in June, when in March his advisers had already literally shouted at him to start taking action.
His government managed to get everything in order only by September this year and got the vote of final approval in the Italian Senate by a margin of 156 to 12 just before his resignation; too little too late.
The final straw is not his scandalous life but the neglected state of the economy and finance in Italy.
With our own version of scandals, mismanagement, complacency, wastage, extravagance and callous spending by the Umno/BN government, Malaysia is not much different from Italy.
Unfortunately the Umno/BN government seems to be oblivious to the so many writings on the wall pertaining to our economy, financial status, deficits, national debts and the road that Malaysia is now on. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib should intervene in the RM10 million “condominium for cattle” scandal by recalling RM181 million loan to NFC not used for purpose of cattle production
Posted by Kit in Auditor-General Report, Corruption, Good Governance on Sunday, 13 November 2011, 2:27 pm
As shocking as the revelation about the RM10 million “cattle for condominium” scandal is the self-righteous statement by the Minister for Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Datuk Noh Omar aiding and abetting a gross misappropriation of public funds.
Claiming that the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) had not used government funds for the purchase of the RM9.8 million Bangsar luxury condominium, Noh said that once NFC received money from the government, it was thereafter considered the company’s private funds and the government had no say as to how it would be used.
Noh said the government had loaned NFC RM250 million made into a special loan account (SLA) in Maybank that was controlled by the Finance Ministry.
Noh said RM181 million from that account had been disbursed to NFC based on the latter’s claims.
The government only had control of funds that were in the SLA, but had none over how the company spends the money once it has been disbursed, said the minister.
“If the money has been paid to NFC after fulfilling set conditions, the government cannot control what NFC does with it, including purchasing the said condominium, because it is then considered the company’s money. Read the rest of this entry »
Should we settle for this nonsense?
Posted by Kit in Auditor-General Report, Corruption, Good Governance on Sunday, 13 November 2011, 12:58 pm
— Ali Kadir
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 13, 2011
NOV 13 — It is left to us, ordinary Malaysians, to show outrage at the thievery, corruption, mismanagement and subterfuge that is happening in our country.
Let us just ponder at what has happened since the Auditor-General noted that the National Feedlot project was a failure or on the verge of being a failure. First, you have the deputy prime minister downwards trying to convince Malaysians that the project was a success, with arguments that defy logic.
Then you had Noh Omar and Khairy Jamaluddin speaking up and defending the track record of the project and the main beneficiaries of the RM250 million soft loan: Shahrizat Jalil’s family.
Their defence of the incredible — the squandering of public funds — indicated that the old and new of Umno are joined at the hip by ignorance, stupidity and a seemingly endless acceptance of bad practices. Read the rest of this entry »
Obama Says Europe Making Progress as APEC Nations Fear Worst
Posted by Kit in international economic crisis on Sunday, 13 November 2011, 11:59 am
By Shamim Adam and Michael Forsythe
Bloombert Businessweek
November 12, 2011
Nov. 12 (Bloomberg) — U.S. President Barack Obama said formation of new governments in Greece and Italy may help calm world markets roiled by the European debt crisis, which is having a “dampening effect” on the global economy.
“We’re not going to see massive growth out of Europe until the problem’s resolved,” Obama told corporate chief executive officers gathered in Honolulu today as part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. The president said he was “cautiously optimistic” of getting through the current crisis.
Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis was a frequent topic at the summit aimed at improving economic ties in the Asia-Pacific region as officials said they are bracing for a worsening of the situation in Europe that may push the global economy into a recession and increase volatility in financial markets. Investors this week pushed Italian bond yields passed the 7 percent level that drove Greece, Ireland and Portugal to seek bailouts, ahead of the resignation today of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
“You can’t talk about Asia without talking about Europe right now,” Jerry Webman, chief economist at OppenheimerFunds Inc. in New York, told Bloomberg News in Honolulu yesterday. “Having a prolonged economic slump in Europe is really threatening to the export-oriented Asian economies.” Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysians getting ripped off
Posted by Kit in Brain drain, Economics, nation building, Prices, Singapore on Sunday, 13 November 2011, 11:44 am
by Mimi Chih
When Tunku Abdul Rahman decided to expel Singapore from the Federation of Malaya leading to the Independence of Singapore on August 9, 1965, the world did not expect this tiny island Republic with a population of 1.8 million then to stand tall as one of the original Four Asian Tigers, along with Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan 46 years later. Well, this Lion City has certainly ventured forth roaring all the way with a lion heart.
How does one measure the success of a country? To the people, it is reflected in their overall standard of living. Not every country is lucky enough to have a team of intelligent people whose passionate objectives drive them to make their country a better place to live – for everyone. Singapore is one such country. Today this island republic has one of the highest standard of living in South East Asia.
Which Malaysian could imagine that some 46 years after the split, Singapore’s exchange rate to the ringgit would hit a dizzying rate of RM2.41 (Nov 11, 2011)? August 1972 was the last time that the SGD (Singapore Dollar) was almost on par with the (RM) ringgit at SGD100:RM100.10. For an average wage earner in the Lion City making SGD2500 a month, going for a 10 days holiday to the US or Australia or Europe once a year is a relatively small matter.
What happened to Malaysia? In 1965 when Singapore was expelled, Malaysia had everything that the island republic glaringly lacked – ample land, a plethora of natural resources, an operating government, and 9.3 million people. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib’s magic trick for 13th GE
Posted by Kit in Elections, Mariam Mokhtar, Najib Razak on Saturday, 12 November 2011, 10:21 pm
Mariam Mokhtar | November 11, 2011
Free Malaysia Today
The rakyat should support calls for the 13th general election to be postponed until after ALL the recommendations (on electoral reforms) have been implemented.
COMMENT
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s flurry of reforms in the last couple of months, raises disturbing questions about his desire to make Malaysia the “best democracy in the world”.
Who stands to benefit most from his idea of the “best democracy” in the world? The rakyat or the Barisan Nasional (BN) political elite?
The naïve rakyat, who are lulled into a sense of security by Najib’s rash of reforms, may think it will be the main beneficiaries. On the other hand, BN’s political elite and their cronies hope to woo the electorate by appearing to accede to calls for political reforms and then undo the reforms, after they have secured a win.
Judging by the number of times BN has reneged on election promises in the last 54 years, it will be the latter group who will benefit. Read the rest of this entry »
Wrap-Up: Italy braces for new govt, IMF warns Asia on euro fallout
Posted by Kit in international economic crisis on Saturday, 12 November 2011, 9:14 pm
Reuters
Fri Nov 11, 2011 11:16pm EST
By Barry Moody and George Georgiopoulos
Italy lower house set to vote on cuts, new govt seen by Sunday
ROME/ATHENS, Nov 12 (Reuters) – Italy’s parliament was set to approve austerity measures on Saturday, triggering the formation of an emergency government to replace that of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and meeting European Union demands to avert a euro zone meltdown.
After months of dither and delay, Rome appears to have got the message as bond markets pushed it to the brink of needing a bailout that the euro zone cannot afford.
President Giorgio Napolitano and Italian lawmakers have put the process on a fast track: the Chamber of Deputies was due to start debating at 1130 GMT and final approval of the cuts by the lower house marks the Berlusconi government’s final act.
Berlusconi was expected to hold a last cabinet meeting and then hand his resignation to Napolitano at the Quirinale Palace.
A largely technocratic government headed by former European Commissioner Mario Monti was seen in place by Sunday night or Monday morning. Read the rest of this entry »
‘Rosmah, a thorn in Najib’s side’
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, UMNO on Saturday, 12 November 2011, 8:00 pm
Tarani Palani | November 11, 2011
Free Malaysia Today
Umno grassroots members wish BN would lose at the polls just so her antics and extravagant lifestyle can be toned down, says the author of ‘Kesilapan-kesilapan Najib’.
KUALA LUMPUR: The author of “Kesilapan-kesilapan Najib” (Najib’s Mistakes), Shahbudin Husin, said Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak should step down if he does not rectify his errors soon.
Shahbudin (picture below), a member of Umno’s Wangsa Maju branch, said: “It serves as a warning… he should correct his mistakes before the next general election.”
“If he fails to do so, then he should step down. We support our party but we cannot support a weak leader,” added the former deputy Youth chief of Wangsa Maju.
Shahbudin’s 267-page book touched on various issues, including Najib’s 1Malaysia concept, his use of international public relations firm Apco and the alleged influence of his wife Rosmah. Read the rest of this entry »
Now Italy – What’s Next
Posted by Kit in international economic crisis on Saturday, 12 November 2011, 7:50 pm
by Alex Lee
10th November 2011
After seeing his parliamentary majority decline further in a routine vote earlier today, Italian PM Berlusconi offered to resign once Parliament approves new austerity measures, possibly towards the end of next week. We see three possible outcomes at this delicate stage, with different implications for the BTP market and Italian risk premium more broadly:
*Most likely scenario: In the coming weeks, the current centre-right coalition of the Northern League and PdL moves to rally round another candidate who can gain wider acceptance domestically and internationally. In order to broaden its support, the new government may reach out to smaller centrist parties which can advance their own political agenda.
A centre-right executive backed by a broader coalition and committed to implementing the ‘troika’s’ economic platform could eventually stabilize markets. But the newly appointed Cabinet would need to prove itself first, and the protracted uncertainty would weigh on economic growth. Furthermore, reforming the pension system could meet resistance from the Northern League. Still, it would be hard for the ECB and Italy’s EMU peers not to stand by a new Italian government genuinely trying to pursue reforms. Under this scenario, thanks to the ECB’s interventions, we would expect BTPs to remain capped at around current levels (400-450bp) over the average of Germany, France and the Netherlands until measures are gradually approved. Read the rest of this entry »
First Greece, Now Italy, Who’s Next?: Analyzing The Sovereign Debt Default Chain
Posted by Kit in international economic crisis on Saturday, 12 November 2011, 3:28 pm
by: Nicholas Pardini
November 11, 2011
Starting in May of 2011, the extent of the global sovereign debt crisis began to hit the equity markets. Greece was first, then Portugal, then Ireland, and now Italy has become the focus of the financial markets and a source of macroeconomic weakness.
However, these countries are simply the first dominoes in a chain of fiscal crises that will either result in a series of defaults in the developed economies’ bond markets or high inflation generated by central bank intervention. The question now is who’s next? Countries with high debt/GDP ratios, high unemployment and lack high economic growth to sustain deficit spending are all about to face the consequences of reckless fiscal policies. Below I list the countries I believe to the most likely to enter sovereign debt crises of their own after Italy. Read the rest of this entry »
Has Italy passed the point of no return?
Posted by Kit in international economic crisis on Saturday, 12 November 2011, 3:03 pm
By Nick Thompson
2011-11-09
CNN.com
(CNN) — Europe’s financial crisis claimed its second scalp in three days when Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi announced he will step down after parliament approves new austerity measures in an effort to stave off economic collapse.
The scandal-plagued prime minister will follow his Greek counterpart George Papandreou into early retirement as fears grow that Italy, the eurozone’s third largest economy, may default on its debt.
Italy has failed to implement austerity measures designed to reduce its mammoth €1.9 trillion debt load — nearly six times that of Greece — and the cost to the country of borrowing more money to pay off that debt is spiraling out of control.
While no one knows yet whether Italy will default, analysts say that the country is vastly too big to bail out — and that the consequences for the world economy of a default would be a disaster. Read the rest of this entry »
The RM250 million National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal – “shouldn’t someone go to jail”?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, Najib Razak on Saturday, 12 November 2011, 2:30 pm
In his new book on the world’s latest financial crisis hotspots, “Boomerang: Travels In the New Third World”, journalist Michael Lewis wrote about how the then new Greek Minister of Finance George Papaconstantinou found out when he took office in October 2009 that his country had cooked its deficit figures with a budget deficit of 12.7% of GDP, four times more than the eurozone’s limit, and a public debt of US$410 billion. The projected Greek deficit of roughly 7 billion euros was actually more than 30 billion.
At his first monthly meeting with European Finance Ministers after he told his counterparts his shocking discovery, a European Finance Minister came up to him and said: “George, we know it’s not your fault, but shouldn’t someone go to jail?”
This is the same question many Malaysians are now asking about the RM250 million National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal, especially after the shocking claim by the UMNO Youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin that the purchase of an RM10 million condominium from funds meant for cattle production was a “strategic move”, so that the money would not lie idle.
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak or his Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who was Agriculture Minister when the NFC project was first mooted and approved, should answer this question in the minds of most Malaysians: “Shouldn’t someone go to jail?” Read the rest of this entry »
Pakatan’s alternative budget ‘empowers’ Dayaks
Joseph Tawie | November 11, 2011
Free Malaysia Today
Dayaks who have been ‘deprived of convenience’ by the ruling Barisan Nasional regime can expect to be prioritized under a Pakatan Rakyat rule.
KUCHING: Should the opposition, Pakatan Rakyat, be elected to power, the Dayak community in Sarawak can expect to see RM1 billion set aside to specifically look into their needs.
From this amount, some RM100 million will be channelled towards the Dayak Welfare Fund.
The RM100 million fund will look to providing medical aid and care for the poor and infirm Dayaks, help facilitate the supply of water tanks, pumps and pipes to longhouses and to repair and rebuild dilapidated houses or those destroyed by fire and other natural disasters.
Announcing this today, Pakatan’s shadow finance minister Chong Chien Jen said the Dayak Welfare Fund will be parked at the Ministry of Social Development and Urbanisation.
“The fund aims to reduce and mitigate some of the problems faced by the Dayaks.
“We must not shut our eyes to the plight of the Dayaks like what the BN (Barisan Nasional) ministers have done.
“The Dayaks have all along been marginalised and left out from the main stream of development in our country.
“As such, Pakatan must take action to help the Dayaks in terms of their education, and cultural and social levels,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »
Start of another new round of political persecution of Anwar most deplorable and despicable
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Najib Razak, Police on Friday, 11 November 2011, 2:45 pm
The start of another new round of political persecution of Parliamentary Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is most deplorable and despicable and must be condemned by all right-thinking Malaysians.
The police calling up Anwar to give his statement with regard to the report lodged by a police officer DSP S. Shanmuga Moorthy claiming that Anwar had knowingly given him false information concerning the “Datuk T” sex tape and thereby committing an offence under Section 182 of the Penal Code (punishable by six-month jail or fine of RM2,000) is clearly politically-motivated and masterminded by the political masters of the police.
This is another example why the police have not been able to regain public confidence in its efficiency and integrity as an independent, impartial, professional and democratic police force which would not allow itself to become the catspaw and playthings of the “political masters” but would fully dedicated itself to its national mission to protect the personal safety and security of Malaysians and all persons in the country. Read the rest of this entry »
Does this sound like Malaysia?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Economics on Friday, 11 November 2011, 10:41 am
The Malaysian Insider | November 10, 2011
NOV 10 — Greed, ignorance, hubris, corruption and a departure from long-held principles and a lazy media all played roles in the financial meltdown that is Greece, Ireland, Iceland. In his latest book “Boomerang”, Michael Lewis goes on a meltdown tour to find out how countries and societies got into this mess.
Malaysia is not Greece or Iceland but some of his observations should resonate with Malaysians. Below are just a sampling of some of his observations and the commentaries under each point made by The Malaysian Insider.
What “Boomerang” says:
1) “The world is now pocked with cities that feel as if they are perched on top of bombs. The bombs have yet to explode but the fuses have been lit…
Read the rest of this entry »
TIMSS study show students from progressive high tech countries score high marks in science and maths
Posted by Kit in Dr. Chen Man Hin, Education, English, science/technology on Friday, 11 November 2011, 10:37 am
By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life advisor
The 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) shows that students from developed countries are the top scorers and they are the movers and engineers responsible to make their countries progressive and prosperous.
Hogging the top places are Singapore, Taipei, S. Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, England, United States and Russia, with scores from 10 and above.
Unfortunately Malaysia had low scores of 3 and are seen in the company of Indonesia, Colombia, Georgia, Ukraine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Botswana, Algeria, etc.
Malaysia at independence was as rich as Japan and had a high per capita income. But now Malaysia has been overtaken by Singapore, Taipei, S. Korea and Hong Kong. They progressed faster because of better education in science, maths and engineering.
Read the rest of this entry »
Why Malaysia is not a member of the Asia Tigers Club of Singapore, Hong Kong, S. Korea and Taipei
Posted by Kit in Dr. Chen Man Hin, Economics, Education, Najib Razak, NEP, university on Thursday, 10 November 2011, 10:50 am
By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life advisor
Can PM transform Malaysia to become a high income nation in 2016. When he cannot improve the economy to join the Asia tigers club of Singapore, Hong Kong, S. Korea and Taipei?
When became PM in 2009, Najib announced his proposals to transform the economy with his Economic Transformation Program (ETP) by injection of tens of billion ringgits promised largely by government related companies. His predecessor Tun Mahathir also injected billions but the economy scarcely moved and the FDIs did not come in.
But money is not the primary mover of the economy. More importantly it is manpower.
Since 1970, the NEP has been a negative factor to drive the economy. With the NEP the GDP of Malaysia began to fall far behind those of Singapore, Hong Kong, S. Korea and Taiwan. Even now, the NEP has been a major factor in chasing away hundreds of thousands of our skilled manpower overseas, and this has affected the economy. While the four tigers leaped ahead to high income economies, while Malaysia stagnated.
Read the rest of this entry »
Ministry of Education (or Miseducation)?
By Angry Parent | November 10, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
NOV 10 — Phew! Finally anxious parents get a reprieve (or do they?) with announcement from the DPM that students who started out studying Mathematics and Science in English will be allowed to continue in the language they studied. What remains to be seen will be the implementation of this policy.
Our hearts go out to parents whose children commence Standard One next year — especially as there are many of us, who speak English at home and who want our children to compete in the international arena.
Mismanagement
Malaysian politicians are famous for making grandiose statements with little or no concern about the implementation. Regardless, parents still remain anxious and uncomfortable at the politicisation of education. Our children have become pawns in the hands of these ministers, who for political mileage use education as a bait. And leaders elected by us to be our representatives have played us out.
Read the rest of this entry »
