DAP wants parliamentary probe on Najib’s Sibu ‘promises’
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Parliament, Sarawak on Thursday, 24 June 2010, 4:17 pm
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal | The Malaysian Insider
June 24, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR, June 24 —The DAP demanded today that Datuk Seri Najib Razak be referred to the parliamentary rights and privileges committee over “inconsistencies” concerning money promised by the prime minister during the recent Sibu by-election campaign.
“Najib, through a written reply yesterday to Sibu MP Wong Ho Leng and Bandar Kuching MP Chong Chien Jien, had said that the government had not promised any projects to Sibu folk during the by-election in Sibu.
“This is a clear lie. We have the recording on Youtube, which has now attracted over 90,000 views. It shows Najib, during a speech in Rejang Park, promising RM5 million if people voted for BN,” said Chong.
During a last-minute pitch on the eve of the by-election, Najib announced an allocation of RM5 million for flood-mitigation projects in Rejang Park provided the BN candidate was elected.
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Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #20
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, globalisation on Thursday, 24 June 2010, 9:14 am
By M. Bakri Musa
Chapter 3: Lessons From The Past
The Meiji Restoration
Japan of the 18th Century was a feudal society ruled by a series of territorial warlords, the shoguns. The society was also rigidly stratified, with the samurai or warrior class on top, followed by peasants, artisans and, way at the bottom, the merchants. Surprisingly the peasants were regarded higher than the merchants because those peasants, being farmers, at least produced something useful and tangible.
The foreign missionaries that had come to Japan were preaching to an increasingly receptive mass, a development that threatened the established social order. The Japanese were only too aware that in nearby countries, in particular China, the foreigners were becoming very assertive. The shoguns rightly viewed the mounting activities of foreigners around and within Japan with increasing alacrity.
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Early Polls: Will the winds of change finally blow in Sarawak?
Pakatan Rakyat leaders are raring to go in Sarawak, where there is red-hot speculation that snap state elections will be held in July.
“Today, there is a news report of another BN meeting this weekend. Last week, there was also a whole day meeting. This is a sure sign for an early election,” Bukit Assek assemblyman and newly-elected Sibu MP Wong Ho Leng told Malaysia Chronicle.
Ironically, it was Wong’s shock victory in Sibu last month that convinced many pundits to change their forecast of a July state-polls to early 2011.
Salvaging an eroding support base
The buzz on the grapevine was that long-serving but unpopular Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud had agreed with Prime Minister Najib Razak to hold the 10th Sarawak state elections at the same time as the 13th general election for the entire nation.
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MACC gets a dirty dozen sacked in 2009
Posted by Kit in Corruption on Wednesday, 23 June 2010, 2:11 pm
KUALA LUMPUR, June 23 — Only 12 out of the estimated 1.2 million civil servants were sacked rather than disciplined in 2009 in graft-related cases investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in its first year of operations.
According to documents made available to The Malaysian Insider, the MACC had forwarded 235 reports to the heads of government departments and agencies for disciplinary action in 2009.
However the MACC received feedback for only 182 cases, of which 90 or 49 per cent were given administrative warning.
And only 12 or 6.6 per cent of the public officials under probe were dismissed in 2009 although the MACC’s prosecution unit had sought disciplinary action be taken against the perpetrators.
MACC had also recommended that the government take a more proactive approach in its crusade against any breach of conduct in the country’s bloated public service.
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Tenth Malaysia Plan: Long Live NEP – RIP NEM
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Economics, Finance, Parliament on Monday, 21 June 2010, 6:44 pm
The signature theme of Datuk Seri Najib Razak on his accession as Prime Minister in April last year was the national transformation of Malaysia, which is anchored on four critical pillars:
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1st pillar: “1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now” concept to unite Malaysians.
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2nd pillar: the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) to deliver the outcomes defined under the National Key Result Areas (NKRAs).
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3rd pillar: the New Economic Model (NEM) resulting from the ambitious Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) to transform Malaysia by 2020 into a developed, competitive and high income economy with inclusivity and sustainability.
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4th pillar; the 10th Malaysia Plan 2011-2015 as the first policy operationalisation of both the government and economic transformation programme.
The Prime Minister unveiled the New Economic Model on 30th March and the presented the Tenth Malaysia Plan in Parliament on 10th June. A sea-change took place in the intervening two months, with Najib retreating from his national transformation programme when he succumbed to pressures from extremist groups making baseless and incendiary claims such as that the Malays are under siege and that the Chinese would take over the economy and country.
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Melayu Bangkit, Cerdek, And Celek!
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa on Monday, 21 June 2010, 10:33 am
(Malays Awake, Smart, and Eyes Open!)
By M. Bakri Musa
It is commendable that Gertak, the Malay NGO, would have as its mission Melayu Bangkit (to awaken Malays). It should go further and ensure that we Malays are also cerdek (smart), and celek! (eyes wide open!) That would ensure that we would not be forever pelek (puzzled), unable to comprehend events around us and be left behind.
It is not enough for Malays to be awake, for if we still keep our eyes closed (even if we close only one eye!), then we might as well go back to sleep. At least then we could benefit from its recuperative powers. And if we are awake and have our eyes wide open but we remain dumb (not cerdek), that would be no improvement either.
Once we are bangkit, cerdik and celek, only then would Ketuanan Melayu be a reality, and not as now, merely a hollow slogan. Then Article 153 of our constitution would no longer be contentious as it would be of interest only to historians, as its provisions would have become irrelevant.
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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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