PJ’s University Hospital – A Traffic Disaster
Letter
by ROAD 10
Have you been to the University Hospital recently? If you haven’t, try it and join the jam and queue which stretches out to its traffic-light junction entrance at Jalan University. And God help you if you have a loved one or friend with a smashed leg or heart attack. If you are indeed at that junction and stuck in the jam, you might just as well read out the last rites as there is a large likelihood of the patient going up to meeting God directly from that traffic junction itself. No way will you be able to approach its oddly built and placed Accidents and Emergency Unit (the signboard mysteriously mentions Trauma but the building itself looks like a giant car park).
The University Hospital or now glamorously termed University Malaya Medical Center has an infrastructure and layout that is well…for a lack of a better term…truly cocked up. For those who are old enough to remember the early years of this Hospital when even the Jalan Gasing/ Federal Highway intersection at EPF was nothing more then a traffic light junction instead of an interchange, this hospital used to be numero uno in its almost ergonomic layout for especially the general public and patients. Whoever the original founders and designers were, they had paid great attention to detail and many a time all that we PJ residents had to do when there was an emergency was just drive up directly to its A&E Department located just after the traffic lights.
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Ku Li on corruption and Exocet missiles
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Defence, Razaleigh Hamzah on Sunday, 20 June 2010, 12:24 pm
Below is an extract of the speech by Umno veteran politician Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah at the launch of ‘The Shafee Yahaya Story – Estate Boy to ACA Chief’, a book written by Shafee’s wife Kalsom Taib.
The word ‘corruption’ comes from a Latin word meaning ‘to break’ or ‘to destroy’. Corruption is a cancer that steals from the poor, eats away at governance and moral fibre, and destroys trust.
Although corruption exists in both the private and public sector, the corruption of the public sector is a more fundamental evil. This is because the public sector is the enforcer and arbiter of the rules that hold us together, the custodians of our common resources.
It is time we recognise corruption as the single biggest threat to our nation. In our economy, corruption is the root of our inability to make the economic leap that we know we are capable of. There is no other reason why a country so blessed with natural resources, a favourable climate and such immense talent should not have done a lot better than we have.
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SIME DARBY: A Conglomerate Gone Awry
Posted by Kit in Financial Scandals, Tunku Abdul Aziz on Saturday, 19 June 2010, 5:00 am
There is a place for conglomerates in the business world. However, as with everything else, some are good, but mostly they invariably become unwieldy and difficult to manage effectively. Many come unstuck, leaving behind a trail of miserable examples of management failures, human greed and frailties. As always, there is a lot of cleaning up to do after the party is over. The sad truth is that we do not as yet have what it takes to run a complex business successfully, and a conglomerate is hellishly difficult to keep on a straight course because the temptation to wander off into the unfamiliar is often irresistible, and most conglomerates find themselves up a creek.
There have been many instances of major failures in the Sime stables. There was the case of the insurance business in the UK in the eighties, a member of Lloyds, which was in such a bad shape because of mismanagement that it had to be bundled with a very profitable money broking company into an attractive package and sold for a song. Sime Darby naturally had to be responsible for all the liabilities resulting from claims on policies transacted up to the time of the sale of the company. For the next several years after the sale of the company to the new owners, Sime Darby continued to send out to the UK enormous sums of money to cover the claims.
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Tian Chua’s status as MP
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Court, Parliament, Twitter on Friday, 18 June 2010, 6:12 pm
Arr in Labuan w @tonypua 4DAP Labuan dinner/crmh @tianchua disqualified by RM2k fine but he has 14 days 2appeal under Art 48 of Constitution
06/18/2010 01:39 PM
Position pertaining 2 @tianchua’s parliamentary position is laid down in Art 48(4)(4) of Msian Constitution
06/18/2010 01:49 PM
As I read Art 48 Constitution it makes no difference whether fine paid or not, so long as appeal is exercised within 14 days RT @PuteraPedang @tonypua @tianchua TC didn’t bother to appeal. He already paid the penalty in full.
06/18/2010 03:26 PM
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Dad: Son ‘beaten like a cow,’ framed of engine theft
By Joseph Sipalan and Gavaskar Brian Raj | Malaysiakini
The father of Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) sergeant N Tharmendran today alleged that his son was tortured and forced to confess to the theft of two jet engines while under remand.
“They beat him like a cow,” said N Nagarajah, 71, after lodging a police report on the matter at the Brickfields police headquarters today.
Nagarajah was accompanied by human rights lawyer N Surendran and three PR members of parliament – DAP’s M Manogaran (Teluk Intan) and PKR’s S Manikavasagam (Kapar) and Low Gwo Burne (Kelana Jaya).
Nagarajah claimed that two RMAF officers, a Major Azam and a Major Ismail, had beaten and mistreated his son over a period of nearly three weeks from July 2 to 17 last year.
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Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #19
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, globalisation on Thursday, 17 June 2010, 11:51 am
By Bakri Musa
Chapter 3: Lessons From The Past
The European Reformation
The Reformation refers to the religious revolution that took place in Western Europe during the 16th century. The pivotal event occurred in October 31, 1517, when the German preacher, Martin Luther, publicly posted his Ninety-Five Theses challenging the authority and practices of the Catholic Church. Needless to say, the Pope was not amused. Luther’s aim was to reform the institution; instead his protest ended up splitting the church, hence the terms Reformation and Protestant.
Luther was not the first, nor the only one to protest against the excesses of the Church. To understand why there was such widespread discontent among Christians then, an account of the behaviors and practices of the church establishment at the time is warranted.
The Church during Luther’s time was more than a pan-European religious institution. It was also the unchallenged social, political, and even economic power. Having wielded unchallenged authority for so long, it was inevitable that corruption, nepotism (or to put it in modern political term, cronyism), and other unsavory practices would emerge among Church leaders.
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The 10th Malaysia Five Year Plan : Old Wine in New Bottles – Part 7 (National Agenda for all Malaysians instead of a mutating NEP)
A dispassionate analysis of the forty years of implementation of the NEP-NDP provides many lessons. These include:
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There is no alternative to pro-growth policies if Malaysia is to attain the original goals of the NEP, namely eradication of poverty irrespective of race and economic restructuring; pro-growth policies are also essential if the Vision 2020 goals are to be achieved.
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Malaysia has achieved rapid growth and prospered when the policy framework has been pro-market and liberal.
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On the other hand, pro- distribution policies such as those favored and advocated by Faaland in the early 1970s and again revived now championed by PERKASA, have led to slow overall growth and more specifically low achievement of the restructuring targets.
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The private sector constitutes the main engine of growth. Over-regulation of the sector under the NEP framework creates impediments to investment, both domestic and foreign, thereby impacting on poverty eradication and opportunities for restructuring.
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There is a high cost of doing business when there is over-regulation or bureaucratic control. Distortions emerge that create opportunities for rent-seeking and corruption.
The 10th Malaysia Five Year Plan : Old Wine in New Bottles – Part 6 (Equity Restructuring/Ownership)
Equity Restructuring and Ownership
The Plan restates that the target of attaining at least 30% Bumiputra corporate equity ownership at macro level remains. It goes on to indicate that the focus will be on promoting genuine economic participation, consistent with the objective of sustainable high growth, rather than corporate equity allocation.
The Plan proclaims that this will be achieved through more transparent, market-friendly and merit-based instruments, focused on:
• Strengthening Bumiputra entrepreneurship to help create competitive businesses in high impact sectors;
• Increasing wealth ownership beyond corporate equity to include other properties and business assets such as retail space landed properties,
commercial buildings, intellectual properties and other services through pooling of funds and institutional investment; and
• Promoting Bumiputra representation in high paying jobs through enhanced capability building and demand-side incentives.
These statements can be cautiously welcomed as they represent a nuanced shift. However, if the past is any indicator, this shift may be no more than illusionary and a mutation of the NEP. Read the rest of this entry »
The 10th Malaysia Five Year Plan : Old Wine in New Bottles – Part 5 (Poverty)
Poverty
Chapter 4 of the Plan document together with several Tables dealing with Thrust 3 in the Appendices present fairly detailed statistics on poverty and income distribution.
In a somewhat self-congratulatory tone, the Plan proclaims that hardcore poverty was reduced from 1.2% in 2004 to 0.7% in 2009 and that the incidence of overall poverty fell from 5.7% in 2004 to 3.8% in 2009. These claims are questionable because of the underlying methodology employed in deriving these estimates.
In the first place there is no indication as to how the Poverty Lines were estimated. Assuming that the methodology used mirrors that used in the 9th Plan, the bar to define poverty is set at far too low a level.
In the second place, the use of “households” rather than “persons” distorts the measurement.
On the flawed basis, 228,400 households were categorized as poor. It is most significant that of these 99,100 were in Sabah with another 27,100 in Sarawak. Thus, there were a disproportionate number of the poor in these two states highlighting gross neglect by the Federal government of Malaysians in these two states. Read the rest of this entry »
The 10th Malaysia Five Year Plan : Old Wine in New Bottles – Part 4 (5 Thrusts of TMP)
The Five Thrusts of the 10th Malaysia Plan
The Prime Minister stressed that the 10th Malaysia Plan is oriented around five key strategic thrusts, namely:
* Stimulating Economic Growth – implementing a policy framework that will galvanize the private sector and promote trade and investment;
* Moving towards Inclusive Socio-Economic Development – focusing government support on those most in need and reforming affirmative action policies;
* Developing and Retaining a First-World Talent Base – improving schools, providing skills training to those in the workforce and implementing important labour market reforms;
* Building an Environment that Enhances Quality of Life – investing in housing, transport, healthcare, utilities, crime prevention and the environment to support economic activity and improved living standards; and
* Transforming Government to Transform Malaysia – building on the success of the Government Transformation Program to continue to improve government performance and transparency to best serve the people
The question that arises is: How different are these in comparison with the corresponding thrusts that were outlined in the 9th Five Year Plan? Read the rest of this entry »
The 10th Malaysia Five Year Plan : Old Wine in New Bottles – Part 3 (Unlearnt lessons from the past)
Unlearnt Lessons from the Past: Where have we come from?
A brief review is in order to understand how the nation got to the precarious point best amplified by a Minister sternly warning that Malaysia is heading towards bankruptcy by the end of the decade.
Malaysia is more integrated into the global economy than many other countries of a similar size and at a comparable stage of development. Globalization is a fact of life. It has contributed both positively and negatively to Malaysian development. On the upside, integration with the global economy permitted the nation to prosper through trade and flows of FDI in the years prior to the East Asian Crisis of 1997. There was rapid economic growth, rising income levels, declining poverty and unemployment and a somewhat more egalitarian distribution of wealth. A contributing factor was the fact that Malaysia was blessed with a rich resource base – its forests and oil and gas. It had reasonably well functioning institutions in the form of an established public service, a modestly independent judiciary and institutions that measured well against those in other developing countries. The nation progressed despite creeping corruption, growing race polarization, authoritarianism and a general deterioration in the delivery of public services. The early 1990s saw a degree of deregulation and the privatization that gave momentum to modest reforms. The economic fundamentals were essentially sound with the budget largely balanced, and low inflation and robust growth. These outcomes occurred despite the constraints and distortions imposed by the NEP.
The 1997 East Asia crisis provided a rude awakening. Absence of accountability, lack of transparency and the growing cronyism, nepotism and the megalomaniac obsession with mega projects Read the rest of this entry »
The 10th Malaysia Five Year Plan : Old Wine in New Bottles – Part 2 (Overview)
Posted by Kit in Economics, Najib Razak on Monday, 14 June 2010, 11:43 am
An Overview of the Plan
The Plan that has been unveiled, when stripped of the rhetoric and clichés, represents nothing more than a reaffirmation and continuation of past and present policies. To begin with, the Plan is built upon a number of highly questionable assumptions. These include:
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GDP growth rate of 6 percent as against 4.2 percent between 2006 and 2010
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Exports are projected to expand by 10.1 percent as against 3.6 percent recorded during the 9th Plan period.
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Private investment is projected to grow at 16.2 percent during the period of the 10th Plan versus 6.2 percent during the 9th Plan
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Per capita income in 2015 is estimated at RM 38,845, increasing from RM 23,841 in 2009. This is based on a growth rate of 8.0 percent per annum for the Plan period. No explanation is offered as to why there is a sizable discrepancy between the projected GDP growth rate and the per capita income growth figure. The Plan anticipates that in US dollar terms per capita income will almost double between 2009 level to US$ 12,139.
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The Plan calls for development expenditure of RM 230 billion. Of this, RM126.5 billion or 55% is allocated for the economic sector,RM69.0 billion or 30% for the social sector,RM23.0 billion or 10% for the security sector and RM11.5 billion or 5% for general administration. This allocation includes a Facilitation Fund of RM20 billion to promote private sector investment in strategic priority areas including infrastructure, education and health.
The 10th Malaysia Five Year Plan : Old Wine in New Bottles – Part 1
Posted by Kit in Economics, Najib Razak on Monday, 14 June 2010, 11:38 am
Introduction
Malaysia faces formidable economic and social challenges. Both domestic and external. These are greater than those faced in the past. These have been acknowledged by Ministers, the World Bank and other analysts. Some of these challenges can be attributed to changing global economic circumstances whilst others are due to policy failures, an approach to governance founded upon rent-seeking, and abuse of power and processes that deny accountability and transparency. Overwhelmingly, implementation of policies associated with the NEP has contributed to the many distortions and a loss of competitiveness, dismal private sector performance, a virtual collapse in the flows of FDI, and sizable capital flight. Overall growth rates are now far below those needed to lift Malaysia out of the middle income trap that it finds itself in. Vision 2020 has become a fast fading dream.
The political Tsunami of March 2008 sent shockwaves across the political landscape. The BN, after an initial state of shock, embraced the rhetoric of change and indulged in notional reforms but the entrenched warlords and power brokers resisted much needed economic reforms as these were seen hurting the self-centered interests of those in power. The timid attempts by the then Prime Minister were resisted and he was chastised and ridiculed and eventually driven from office.
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Old Habits Die Hard With Malaysia’s Five-Year Plans
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Bakri Musa, Najib Razak on Monday, 14 June 2010, 9:15 am
by M. Bakri Musa
The old Soviet Union may have long ago crumbled, but the underlying mindset – the penchant to control and “plan” everything centrally – still has a tenacious hold, and not just on Russian leaders.
Joseph Stalin initiated the first Five Year Plan, incorporating Lenin’s New Economic Plan (NEP). However, not many would associate Five-Year Plans with Stalin, as he had acquired other notorieties.
It is ironic that 82 years later, an avowedly anti-communist Malaysia would still embrace Five Year Plans and NEP with gusto. The last Soviet Plan was its 12th; the collapse of the Empire took care of the 13th. Even the Communist Chinese have wised up; they now call their “Plan” only a “guideline.”
A century hence Malaysia will still be unveiling its latest Malaysia Plan (MP). In tone and substance, I predict it will be like the present Tenth MP, and all previous ones. It will boast of the wonderful attributes of our blessed country, and how fortunate we are to have such farsighted leaders. Then realizing the incongruity of such lavish praises with the need for yet another plan, the report will lament the squandered opportunities of the past.
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Tenth Malaysia Plan – how serious is Najib?
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak on Sunday, 13 June 2010, 8:00 pm
Twitters
“We are on a burning platform.” This dire warning in 10MalaysiaPlan completely absent in Najib’s TMP speech. Is Msia on a “burning platform’?
about 5 hours ago via web
Other TMP dire warnings Najib swept under carpet “..d proverbial iceberg may b melting”; “Carrying on with the status quo is not an option”.
about 4 hours ago via web
“We r on a burning platform” dire warning not only missing in Najib’s TMP speech it is omitted in BM version of TMP. How serious is Najib?
less than 5 seconds ago via web
Grand plan or grand illusion?
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak on Sunday, 13 June 2010, 7:51 pm
by Thomas Lee Seng Hock
Mysinchew.com
June 13, 2010
Datuk Seri Najib Razak has said that to ensure Malaysia could compete globally, it needs proper implementation, co-ordination and execution.
He said that to achieve that, all Malaysians must be united and work together while embracing the 1 Malaysia concept, where people are given priority in any of the government’s programmes.
The prime minister said this when opening the Seri Murugan Centre (SMC) at the Vivekananda Secondary School in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, yesterday. Read the rest of this entry »
10MP fails to impress economists
KUALA LUMPUR: The 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP) yesterday came under scrutiny of three economists who lauded its acknowledgment of the country’s stumbling blocks but lamented its initiatives to tackle them.
At a dialogue jointly organised by the Malaysian Economic Association and the Faculty of Economics and Administration, Universiti Malaya, the trio cited a few initiatives that have set off alarm bells in their heads.
DAP chief economist, Tony Pua, called the plan “tired” and noted that it contains many similarities to past plans. His main concern, however, lay with the “shadow” of the New Economic Policy (NEP) which he said is cast over the 10MP.
“The NEP characteristic in the 10MP is the 30% Bumiputera quota, which, in fact, was left out of the New Economic Model (NEM),” he said. “The problem is not the quota itself but the danger that such a quota would prevent this community from moving ahead because it doesn’t distinguish between the rich and poor Bumiputera.”
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Karpal acquitted of sedition charge – defence not called
Tweets
Prosecutor failed to establish prima facie sedition case against Karpal. He’s free! http://tweetphoto.com/26623554
Friday, June 11, 2010 3:25 PM
Great news recd in KB! Sedition charge agnst DAP National Chairman Karpal Singh dismissed by KL High Court – no defence called.
Friday, June 11, 2010 3:25 PM
Karpal acquitted – AG Gani Patail shd b censured in Parliament n Ct of public opinion 4bowing 2political pressures 2charge K 4sedition #fb
Friday, June 11, 2010 4:03 PM Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia: A ‘bankrupt’ nation?
Posted by Kit in Economics, Financial Scandals on Thursday, 10 June 2010, 6:56 pm
What financial crisis?’
Readers following the great national debate initiated by Minister Idris Jala in the Prime Minister’s Department on the possibility of the country going bankrupt must be thoroughly confused with the mixed messages from government.
On the one hand, we are told that the country is more prosperous than ever before and that absolute poverty in the country, for example, is almost completely eradicated. We are also told that the country’s economy is in good hands and that the finances of the country are well-managed.
Every few days or so, we are reminded of how fortunate we are to be living in Malaysia and how much foreign investors love us. Just a short while ago, it was trumpeted that our competitiveness had shot up this past year so that we are now ranked number ten in the world – ahead of many advanced economies.
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New Parliament in Putrajaya
Posted by Kit in Parliament on Wednesday, 9 June 2010, 3:29 pm
Soalan: Sim Tong Him (Kota Melaka) meminta Perdana Menteri menyatakan adakah kedudukan project membaik pulih, menaik taraf, mengubahsuai dan bina baru bangunan Parlimen Malaysia dengan butir-butir kerja-kerja yang akan dilaksanakan, jumlah kos terlibat, tarikh kerja dimulakan dan bilakah projek ini akan dapat siap dibina keseluruhannya.
Jawapan: Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri (Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri)
Tuan Yang Di Pertua,
Terdapat cadangan untuk membina sebuah Kompleks Parlimen yang baru di dalam kawasan yang sedia ada. Pembinaan Kompleks Parlimen yang baru adalah bertujuan memenuhi keperluan Parlimen Malaysia di masa akan datang dengan mengambil kira aspek keselesaan, keperluan, kemuduhan dan pertambahan bilangan ahli Parlimen.
Kerja-kerja membaik pulih, menaik taraf dan mengubahsuai bangunan Parlimen sedia ada pula adalah bagi membaik pulih struktur bangunan dan mengganti sistem mekanikal dan elektrik yang telah uzur. Cadangan ini telah di bawa ke Mesyuarat Jemaah Menteri untuk pertimbangan. Baru-baru ini, Jemaah Menteri telah memutuskan agar bangunan Parlimen yang baru dibina di Putrajaya manakala bangunan Parlimen yang lama akan dibaik pulih dan dikekalkan sebagai bangunan warisan. Walaubagaimanapun, butiran lanjut mengenainya masih dalam peringkat kajian oleh JKR.
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