Mind the gap: Asian income gulf shows economic model’s flaws
By Alan Wheatley, Global Economics Correspondent
BEIJING | Mon May 9, 2011 12:55pm EDT
Reuters
(Reuters) – Asia should have a smile on its face. The region’s economy is displaying resilience in the teeth of a structural rise in oil and commodity prices. Overheating is a greater threat than a swoon in growth.
Yet the tone of some officials’ recent comments has been strikingly cautious, reflecting an awareness that Asia has failed to seize the chance during the past decade of strength to address long-standing vulnerabilities.
Asia is still hopelessly dependent on final demand from rich countries. Investment, the seed corn of future growth, remains far below levels scaled before the 1997/98 financial crisis — except for China and India.
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‘Christian Malaysia’ a distraction from BN policy failures, says Lim
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, Najib Razak, Religion on Tuesday, 10 May 2011, 11:31 am
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
May 10, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 — Utusan Malaysia’s conspiracy of Christian groups plotting a takeover bid of the country is a “desperate” attempt by Umno to distract attention away from Barisan Nasional’s (BN) policy failures and economic mismanagement, Lim Guan Eng has said.
The DAP secretary-general charged that the latest conspiracy theory perpetrated by Umno was a way to shield the effect of the BN government’s announcements on a rise in petrol and sugar prices.
“The BN government’s announcement today that the price of sugar will be increased by 20 sen to RM2.30 a kilo has exposed the real malicious motive for Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia’s dangerous lies of a so-called conspiracy by DAP and Christian pastors to set up a Christian state and a Christian Malaysian Prime Minister.
“Such lies could be printed on the front page of Utusan Malaysia even though no Malaysian Christian had ever sought to be Malaysian Prime Minister,” said Lim in a statement today.
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1 Malaysia Email Advertorial: Truth or Lies?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, IT on Tuesday, 10 May 2011, 10:54 am
By Tony Pua
May 08, 2011
I had taken the opportunity to read every word in the advertorial placed by Pemandu to explain and justify the “1 Malaysia Email Project” controversy across all major newspapers and even news portals yesterday.
I also read with interest the repeated assertions with regards to “misrepresentations spewed by the vocal minority”. Datuk Idris Jala had clarified that “the reason why Pemandu is clarifying this situation is to make sure that the general public is not misinformed by people who distort the truth” and that “Pemandu believes in integrity and transparency.”
I am not sure if I’m included in this exclusive circle of “vocal minority” who is “bent on distorting the truth”, and I shall not be so bold as to think that the criticisms are directed at me. However, after reading the “comprehensive” reply, I’m felt compelled to compile my own list of “frequently asked questions” (FAQs) on “truths and lies about MyEmail”
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Malaysia’s Brain Drain: Government in Perpetual Denial
Posted by Kit in Brain drain on Tuesday, 10 May 2011, 10:50 am
by Koon Yew Yin | CPIAsia
Monday, 09 May 2011 14:07
For some years now, various analysts have written about the brain drain from Malaysia arising from the country’s racist policies. Now the World Bank has finally come out with a definitive report detailing that the number of skilled Malaysians living abroad has tripled in the last two decades with two out of every 10 Malaysians with tertiary education opting to leave for either OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries or Singapore.
The report also studied the factors that would entice Malaysian currently staying overseas to return. The top picks were a change in the country’s race-based policies and fundamental reforms in the public sector with “Paradigm shift away from race-based towards needs-based affirmative action” and “Evidence of fundamental and positive change in the government/public sector” receiving 87 and 82 per cent positive responses respectively.
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UMNO fiddles while Malaysia Burns!
by Damian Murphy Denis
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
www.realitybytesdmd.blogspot.com
Waking up two mornings ago to hear Utusan ranting about a group of Christian leaders were praying to change this country to a Christian state with a Christian PM was almost laughable.
Not that a Christian PM is impossible if you go by the provisions in the constitution but a Christian state? They’ve got to be joking. Or so it seems!
UMNO got to be worried sick that all it’s propaganda and maneuvering were not working but it’s backfiring them instead. From Anwar Ibrahim Sodomy 2 trial and the so-called sex video seems to be falling on deaf ears and the rakyat don’t seem to buying into that and rightly so!
Then, they train their guns on PAS and almost in a begging stance to join them under the pretext of Islamic struggle. UMNO went on to alleged that their partnership with DAP will not get them anywhere coz after all DAP was against the setting up of an Islamic state by PAS. Read the rest of this entry »
Sugar price up RM0.20
Malaysiakini
May 9, 11
Beginning tomorrow, sugar will cost RM2.30 per kilo, up RM0.20, announced the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry today.
This is the fourth time sugar prices had increased since Jan 1 last year when it was priced at RM1.65 per kilo.
Prior to that, sugar prices were maintained at RM1.45 for a long period. This marks a 58.6 percent increase in less than one-and-a-half years.
According to the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry, by increasing the price of sugar by RM0.20 tomorrow, the government stands to make a saving of RM116.6 million. Read the rest of this entry »
Under fire, sister insists mystery note not by Teoh
Posted by Kit in Teoh Beng Hock on Monday, 9 May 2011, 10:30 pm
By Boo Su-Lyn
The Malaysian Insider
May 09, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 — Despite being pressured by a Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) lawyer on the contents of a mystery note, Teoh Beng Hock’s sister Lee Lan insisted before a royal panel today that her brother did not write it even as she broke down in tears at one point in her testimony.
Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah bombarded her with a series of questions on the mystery note and whether she could recognise her brother’s handwriting, until she said: “I want to know the correct and the exact truth (behind Beng Hock’s death). This is the reason we requested for this commission.”
“During the inquest, when they showed such a note, immediately we discussed and said this note does not belong to Teoh Beng Hock,” said Lee Lan at the inquiry today, as the RCI nears the conclusion of its testimony collection.
“This could not be written by Teoh Beng Hock because (there was) no need for him to write such notes,” she added. Read the rest of this entry »
‘MACC officers were instructed to lie’
Posted by Kit in Teoh Beng Hock on Monday, 9 May 2011, 10:19 pm
Teoh El Sen
Free Malaysia Today
May 9, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR: A senior Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officer had pleaded to her superior to order his subordinates not to give false statements in the Teoh Beng Hock case.
Senior investigating officer Azian Umar, 31, said this today when questioned by Bar Council’s Cheow Wee at the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) investigating Teoh’s death.
Cheow read out a SMS text message sent by Azian to Selangor MACC investigation department chief Hairul Ilham Hamzah in which she said “this is a big case, it involves a person’s life, if (we) lie once, then we need to lie many times more to support the lie”.
In the SMS, in which she expressed sadness at what had happened in Teoh’s case, she also said the incident with Teoh may be God’s “divine retribution” to MACC. Read the rest of this entry »
Putrajaya permitting Utusan provocation, says Bar Council
Posted by Kit in DAP, Islam, Law & Order, Media, Najib Razak, nation building, Police, Religion on Monday, 9 May 2011, 9:26 pm
By Debra Chong
The Malaysian Insider
May 09, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 — Malaysian Bar president Lim Chee Wee accused Putrajaya today of giving free rein to Utusan Malaysia to publish and promote what he called lies dressed up as news reports and continuing to stir up religious fear and unrest.
The lawyer joined a growing choir in urging the authorities to get their priorities in order and immediately investigate reporters and editors in the Umno-owned daily for repeatedly pushing provocative religious rhetoric rather than hauling up Christian leaders over unproven claims.
The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM), which represents over 90 per cent of churches nationwide, have also demanded Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak act immediately against Utusan for false reporting and spreading dangerous lies.
“Instead of questioning Utusan Malaysia’s journalistic conduct and ethics, the immediate responses from the ministers in charge of home affairs and communications were to order investigations into the alleged incidents themselves,” Lim said in a statement.
“In this way, the authorities are gullibly assisting those who seek to play up lies and falsehoods in order to artificially create religious conflict,” he added. Read the rest of this entry »
Baptising M’sia: PAS calls it hogwash
By Tarani Palani
May 9, 2011 | Free Malaysia Today
PETALING JAYA: PAS leaders have rubbished a media report regarding an alleged Christian plot, so much so that the Islamic party did not even bother seeking a clarification from its ally DAP.
Instead, they gave the Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia, which broke the news on its front-page last week, a baptism of fire for peddling propaganda.
PAS secretary-general Mustafa Ali said: “It is a propoganda designed to attack DAP and PAS at the same time. It will not work because we have an understanding between us.”
He said PAS also did not believe the report which claimed that DAP was conspiring with Christian leaders to make Christianity the official religion of Malaysia and to eventually install a Christian prime minister. Read the rest of this entry »
Arrest ‘inflammatory’ liars to maintain credibility, Putrajaya told
Posted by Kit in nation building, UMNO on Monday, 9 May 2011, 8:16 pm
By Yow Hong Chieh
May 08, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, May 8 — Putrajaya must “apprehend” those behind the baseless Utusan Malaysia report of a Christian plot to supplant Islam or risk losing its credibility among the public, an ex-senior civil servant said today.
Former Transport Ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam said the Malay daily’s “highly irresponsible” and “inflammatory” claims not only bordered on seditious but ran counter to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1 Malaysia concept, which stressed national integration and unity.
“Therefore, I now urge the government to take urgent action and apprehend all those responsible for all these extreme statements and hold them wholly accountable for these baseless and sensitive allegations,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
The former Transparency International Malaysia (TI-M) president warned that if the government did not act swiftly against the perpetrators, it would alienate the public and open itself up to accusations of double standards in administering justice. Read the rest of this entry »
No call to pray for Christian state, say pastors
Posted by Kit in Islam, nation building, Religion on Monday, 9 May 2011, 5:28 pm
By Susan Loone
May 9, 11 4:26pm | Malaysiakini
The Christian Federation of Malaysia has refuted allegations that Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng or the DAP ever asked its pastors to pray for Malaysia to be established as a Christian state or to have a Christian Prime Minister.
Following a 90-minute meeting between Lim and the federation in Komtar today, both parties issued a joint statement saying Christian churches and pastors have always prayed for blessings for the nation.
“We have also prayed for peace, unity and harmony among the races and for a leadership that is honest and just,” said Lim, who read out the statement in the presence of about 50 representatives of the federation.
“Christian pastors and churches are aggrieved that such outright lies can be published in the mass media,” he said.
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Christian leaders want PM to act against Utusan
Posted by Kit in Media, Najib Razak, Religion, UMNO on Monday, 9 May 2011, 5:07 pm
By Debra Chong
May 09, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider
GEORGE TOWN, May 9 — The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) said today it is “aggrieved” that Utusan Malaysia has been allowed to publish and spread what it called “dangerous lies” that have stirred religious unrest, and wants the prime minister to take immediate action against the Umno-owned paper.
In a joint statement with Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, the Christian umbrella body, representing over 90 per cent of churches in the country, said they were concerned that the Malay-language daily has been “spreading dangerous lies that make Christians the object of hate and incite hatred against Christians that may lead to undesirable consequences”.
“We sincerely and strongly urge the prime minister and the home minister to take action against Utusan Malaysia for printing and spreading such dangerous lies that have disturbed the multi-religious harmony of society, created fear and uneasiness amongst Malaysians, especially Christians,” it said.
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Australia must call off asylum seeker “outsourcing” deal with Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Foreign, Human Rights on Monday, 9 May 2011, 3:42 pm
Statement by Lawyers for Liberty
May 9, 2011
On 7.5.2011, Australia and Malaysia announced a bilateral agreement which sought to transfer up to 800 asylum seekers who have arrived in Australia by sea to Malaysia while their asylum claims are being processed by the UNHCR. In return, Australia will resettle 4,000 refugees currently residing in Malaysia over a period of four years.
While Australia’s agreement to accept more refugees for resettlement is commendable, Lawyers for Liberty is however extremely shocked and concerned with Australia’s plan to forcefully deport asylum seekers and “outsource” its international obligation to protect refugees as defined under international law including the 1951 Refugee Convention which Australia is a party to.
Let there be no doubt: Malaysia has a horrendous track record – infamous for its ill and brutal treatment of refugees and other undocumented migrants and has been consistently ranked as one of the world’s worst place for refugees to be in.
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Where have we gone wrong?
Posted by Kit in nation building on Monday, 9 May 2011, 3:40 pm
By David Martin May 09, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
The past couple of days had not been pleasant ones when I received a number of text messages and emails from my Muslims friends who have been alarmed by the infamous headline on Utusan Malaysia trumpeting the alleged plot by Christians to ensure that Christianity would be the official religion of the Federation in the near future.
Most were asking me if it was true, to which I sent a standardised text in response.
“When pigs fly bro/sis . . . When pigs fly . . .”
Seriously, can anyone of you see that happen? I mean Christianity replacing Islam as the religion of the Federation, of course, not the one on flying porcine.
My first reaction when I received the first of the text messages at around 8am on Saturday was; “What the f**k?”
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Fresh religious tensions brewing in Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Religion, UMNO on Monday, 9 May 2011, 3:38 pm
Houston Chronicle
By SEAN YOONG Associated Press © 2011 The Associated Press
May 9, 2011, 1:38AM
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia’s government sought to defuse new religious tensions Monday following allegations that church leaders were conspiring to make Christianity the official religion in this Muslim-majority country.
Christian officials insist the accusation is a lie intended to create suspicion between ethnic Malay Muslims and religious minorities, but several Muslim activists have filed police complaints demanding an investigation into what they consider a threat to the position of Islam.
A string of religious disputes in recent years, often involving minority complaints of discrimination, has triggered persistent feelings of insecurity among both Malaysian Muslims and minorities about their religious rights in a country that prides itself on multiethnic peace.
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Teoh’s fiancée breaks down in court
Posted by Kit in Teoh Beng Hock on Monday, 9 May 2011, 3:35 pm
By Teoh El Sen | May 9, 2011
Free Malaysia Today
KUALA LUMPUR: The Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) investigating the death of Teoh Beng Hock today saw an emotional Soh Cher Wei, Teoh’s fiancée, give a tearful testimony on the man’s character.
Soh, a 30-year-old teacher from Johor, sobbed when she told the court that Teoh’s hobby was cooking and struggled to control her emotions when commissioner forensic psychiatrist Dr Mohd Hatta Shaharom asked her: “Your relationship with Teoh is considered love. What is the meaning of love to you?”
“It’s that the person will be with me until the very end. That’s my answer,” said Soh, who sobbed in-between her words and wiped her tears away with a tissue.
Hatta: What do you like about Teoh?
Soh: He is a person who is good. He loves me and his family.
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BN to blame for any attack against Christians, says DAP
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, Religion, UMNO on Monday, 9 May 2011, 2:05 pm
By Clara Chooi May 09, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, May 9 — The DAP warned Barisan Nasional (BN) today that it will have to bear responsibility for any undesirable consequences that may befall the Christian community resulting from its endorsement of Utusan Malaysia’s Christian Malaysia reports.
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said the ruling pact has deliberately refused to punish the Umno-owned daily for propagating its “hate campaign of lies” against the Christian community.
“By failing to stop the Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia from continuing this hate campaign of lies, the BN government is inciting hate against the minority Christian community.
“DAP expresses grave concern that this hate campaign against Christians by Utusan Malaysia may not just stop at verbal attacks.
“The BN government has to bear full responsibility for any undesirable consequences on the Christian community in Malaysia based on Utusan’s hate campaign of lies,” Lim (picture) said in a statement today.
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PAS leaders put down right wing paper’s latest fire
Posted by Kit in Constitution, DAP, Islam, Pakatan Rakyat, PAS on Monday, 9 May 2011, 1:21 pm
KUALA LUMPUR, May 9: PAS leaders have come together to slam right-wing group Perkasa’s mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia in its latest claim against DAP of a ‘Christian conspiracy’ to make Islam the religion of the Federation.
PAS president Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang condemned the paper for being irresponsible in playing up communal issues to fan sentiments especially among the Malays Muslims.
Hadi reiterated that PAS, PKR and DAP have long agreed to defend the Federal constitution, among which makes Islam the official religion while ensuring freedom for other religions to be practised.
“This commitment is enshrined in Pakatan Rakyat’s common policy. Hence, the ploy played by certain media aiming to rouse the people’s sentiments especially among Malays Muslims that Malaysia would become a Christian state smacks of irresponsbile reporting,” Hadi told Harakahdaily. Read the rest of this entry »
