Pakatan invites PM to roundtable talk on Israeli attacks
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, Pakatan Rakyat, Palestine on Tuesday, 1 June 2010, 9:53 pm
By Clara Chooi | The Malaysian Insider | June 01, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR, June 1 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has invited Datuk Seri Najib Razak and all parties across the political divide for a roundtable talk this Friday to jointly condemning Israel’s attack on the Gaza-bound humanitarian aid flotilla.
PR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today issued the invitation to the prime minister, all Barisan Nasional and PR parties and all Islamic and non-Islamic NGOs to attend the talk, set to be held in Kampung Baru at 11.30am on Friday.
“We need to take a more serious stand in this issue and condemn this continuing violence,” he said after attending the PR secretariat meeting at the PKR headquarters here today.
Anwar added that following the roundtable talks, all invited parties would then march to the US embassy and submit a memorandum on behalf of all Malaysians, calling for an end to the violence.
Read the rest of this entry »
Kit Siang: A cabinet chock-full of senators
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Tuesday, 1 June 2010, 9:30 pm
Kit Siang: A cabinet chock-full of senators
Malaysiakini | Jun 1, 10 7:59pm
Pakatan Rakyat leaders slammed Prime Minister Najib Razak for “setting the dubious record” of leading a cabinet with the most unelected representatives.
DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang challenged the Najib to compel the new senators-turned-deputy ministers to stand for elections to prove their level of support.
“Ask these new senators to stand for election so that they have the mandate of the people,” he told reporters after the Pakatan Rakyat supreme council meeting in Petaling Jaya today.
“We will have more by-elections and it will be good for the people, as in Sibu where the (federal government) poured tens of millions of ringgit and the PM visited twice in 10 days,” he said tongue-in-cheek.
Read the rest of this entry »
No Kaamatan promotion at airports — Kit Siang
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, nation building, Sabah, Sarawak on Tuesday, 1 June 2010, 2:08 pm
By Chok Sim Yee | The Borneo Post
KOTA KINABALU: Pesta Kaamatan (Harvest Festival) is one of the highlights in the Sabah annual calendar of events, but sadly, not much effort has been made to promote the cultural event, even at the main gateways to the state — the airports.
At least this was what Democratic Action Party (DAP) advisor Lim Kit Siang noticed when he arrived yesterday.
Claiming that there was not much effort done by the federal government to recognise and promote Pesta Kaamatan, he said this defeats the whole meaning of the 1Malaysia concept, which was the brainchild of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“Pesta Kaamatan is the most important celebration in Sabah but sadly, I do not see any Pesta Kaamatan-related decorations when I arrived at the airport,” he said, pointing out that it was the best place to promote the event as it is the first place to welcome incoming tourists, be it domestic or foreign.
He also questioned why Najib could not even spare some time to attend such an important programme.
Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysians are now at the crossroads – an advanced high-income country in 2020 or a bankrupt nation in 2019
Posted by Kit in Economics, Najib Razak on Tuesday, 1 June 2010, 12:43 pm
Malaysians are now at the crossroads and must choose to take the road towards an advanced high-income country in 2020 or a bankrupt nation in 2019.
The New Economic Model (NEM) launched by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak on March 30 promised a new development path encompassing economic, social and government transformation to catapult Malaysia from two-decade-long middle income trap to become an advanced high-income nation by 2020.
The NEM is however predicated on one basic assumption – the existence of “political will and leadership to break the logjam of resistance by vested interest groups and preparing the rakyat to support deep-seated changes in policy directions”.
One alternative to a high-income advanced nation with inclusiveness and sustainability by 2020 is the spectre of a bankrupt nation by 2019 so vividly spelt out by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Idris Jala, last Thursday.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tackling Subsidies And Their Myriad Manifestations
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, Economics, Good Governance on Tuesday, 1 June 2010, 11:00 am
By M. Bakri Musa
Idris Jala, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and PEMANDU CEO, has yet to convince his cabinet colleagues, in particular the Prime Minister, of the need to reduce subsidies specifically and government spending generally. He has to do that first before taking his Subsidy Rationalization Lab road show to the rest of the country.
Responding to the first “Open House,” Prime Minister Najib indicated that he would “leave it to the people to decide on whether they [the subsidies] should be maintained or abolished.” In doing so he abrogated his leadership on a critical economic issue. He is following instead of leading public opinion; a wet-finger-in-the-air type of leader.
While I do not share Idris Jala’s dire prediction of Malaysia becoming bankrupt in nine years – nations, unlike corporations and individuals, cannot do that – nonetheless the grim picture he painted is not far from the likely reality. His likening Malaysia’s future to today’s Greece may or not be valid but there are enough useful lessons from the current Greek tragedy.
Read the rest of this entry »
Call for convening of all-party conference to condemn the Israeli attack on Freedom Flotilla, killing at least 15, on a humanitarian aid-and-medicine mission to Gaza
(Media Statement in Kota Kinabalu on Monday, 31st May 2010)
DAP calls for the convening of an all-party conference to condemn the Israeli attacks on Freedom Flotilla, killing at least 15, on a humanitarian aid-and-medicine mission to Gaza.
There can be no conceivable excuse for the use of lethal force by the Israelis against against the mercy mission to Gaza, which is a clear breach of international law on international waters.
It is most horrifying that Malaysian lives could be lost.
The all-party conference, which should be convened within 24 hours, should express the anger and outrage of Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or political affiliation at the atrocity committed by the Israeli forces against the unarmed Flotilla and civilians and demand an international tribunal for such crimes against humanity.
Re: Idris Jala: M’sia must cut subsidies, debt by 2019 or risk bankruptcy
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Economics, Finance, Good Governance, Letters, Sarawak on Monday, 31 May 2010, 5:48 am
Letters
by Sara Wak
Dear YB Idris Jala and Koh Tsu Koon,
For the last many years, the BN Govt has been handing big ang pows to the rich Malays who are given APs, and it has been said by the BN Govt that this practice will go on until 2013 0r even 2014!
Why can’t the Govt control the issue of APs to people who want to import cars? The govt can collect RM30,000 to RM40,000 on each important cars. Why must the BN Govt decides to pass the right to collect these payments to only a handful of rich Malays?
How many APs are issued to these rich Malays a year ? Like what Rafidah did when she was minister , in giving APs and shares to her relatives?
The Malaysian Economy has deteriorated so much for the last decade because of all these handouts to the UMNO cronies. Malaysia was ahead of Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, and look at it now, it is even behind countries like Thailand, Vietnam and others in Asia !
Read the rest of this entry »
Is Najib backing off from support for NEM to become an even bigger Flip-Flop PM than Abdullah?
Posted by Kit in Economics, Najib Razak on Sunday, 30 May 2010, 12:16 pm
The meek and timid response of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to the ferocious and incendiary rejection of the New Economic Model by the Perkasa-led Malay Consultative Council raises the question whether Najib is backing off from the NEM to become an even bigger Flip-Flop PM than his predecessor Tun Abdullah.
Najib’s statement that the NEM is not the Government’s “final stand” but merely the “trial balloons” of a group of experts making suggestions from the global market’s perspective is a greater commentary on Najib’s leadership qualities than on the NEM proposals.
The NEM was launched by Najib two months ago with great fanfare as a defining moment in the nation’s development path, to take the quantum leap from the nation’s decade-long economic stagnation and escape from the two-decade middle-income trap to become a developed high-income country – but it appears that it may end up more as a defining moment in the grave failings of the year-old Najib premiership.
Right from the very beginning, the NEM courageouslty admitted that Vision 2020 is not possible without economic, social and government transformation – and the NEM was presented as one of the four key pillars to unleash Malaysia’s growth potential, drive change, propel Malaysia to become a high income advanced nation with inclusiveness and sustainability and achieve Vision 2020.
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Sibu by-election – the “Incredible Hulk” warning after the “Barbarians at the gate” speech
Malaysiakini commentator Terence Netto hit the nail on the head when he wrote a commentary entitled “S’wak BN shell-shocked by Sibu defeat“.
This explained the “Barbarians at the Gate” speech of SUPP Chairman, Datuk Dr. George Tan and the ensuring “Incredible Hulk” statement by Parti Rakyat Sarawak President Dato Sri Dr. James Masing, which is reproduced below.
When will the Barisan Nasional leaders particularly those from Sarawak come out of their denial syndrome and wake up to the true meaning and implications of the historic 516 verdict of the voters of Sibu in the Sibu by-election?
Don’t make Incredible Hulk angry, opposition told | The Borneo Post
May 26, 2010, Wednesday
Read the rest of this entry »
DAP: Pakatan perlu adakan kajian prestasi separuh penggal
Posted by Kit in Pakatan Rakyat on Saturday, 29 May 2010, 7:55 pm
Oleh G. Manimaran | The Malaysian Insider
KOTA BARU, 29 Mei — Pakatan Rakyat (PR), yang mencipta sejarah dengan menguasai lima kerajaan negeri dan menafikan Barisan Nasional (BN) majoriti dua pertiga di Parlimen dua tahun lalu, perlu mengadakan kajian separuh penggal prestasi mereka.
Justeru, idea agar diadakan kajian separuh penggal itu membabitkan prestasinya sejak Mac 2008 akan diutarakan pada mesyuarat kepimpinan PR
Selasa depan, kata Penasihat DAP Lim Kit Siang.
“Kami akan membincangkan idea agar diadakan kajian separuh penggal kerajaan negeri Pakatan Rakyat selepas dua tahun memerintah,” kata Lim pada sidang media bersama pemimpin-pemimpin PR di sini hari ini.
“Kita sudah memerintah selama dua tahun dan ada baiknya kita melakukan kajian separuh penggal ini… masa yang sesuai untuk menilai prestasi kerajaan negeri… pendekatan, cara… untuk melihat prestasi dari segi aspirasi, harapan rakyat,” kata beliau.
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Inspector-General of MACC: Have we gone mad?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Police, Tunku Abdul Aziz on Saturday, 29 May 2010, 3:16 pm
The very idea that the headman of the MACC be accorded a status equivalent to that of the Inspector-General of Police was so hilarious that I, a grown man, was driven to sobbing uncontrollably before I doubled up, laughing my head off. I have, in my lifetime, been through many strange and unusual situations, but I must confess to a sense of incredulity that members of the Anti-Corruption Advisory Board headed by former Chief Justice Tun Abdul Hamid Mohamad were prepared to risk their collective reputation by putting this recommendation forward. It is absurdity personified.
The other recommendations, including the establishment of a statutory commission on appointments, and the need to have interrogation rooms equipped with CCTV cameras, must rank as among the most facile suggestions ever made by a group of people who lay claim to expert knowledge and experience of a level considered sufficient to justify their being appointed to the advisory board.
In the event, by their earth-shattering recommendations, they have confirmed what I have known all along: they know nothing about fighting corruption or, for that matter, the chief commissioner, if he had to be “advised” on what equipment was needed to be put in place to make the interrogation process more open and transparent, then he has no business to be there in the first place. I make no apology for using the word interrogation in relation to the methods adopted by the MACC when dealing with witnesses. The word interview is yet to be part of the MACC’s corruption fighting lexicon.
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Vote BN for bankruptcy, warns Pakatan
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Finance, Financial Scandals, Pakatan Rakyat on Saturday, 29 May 2010, 8:36 am
Malaysian Insider
By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani
May 29, 2010
KOTA BARU, May 29 — Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders used dire forecasts of a gloomy future if there are no subsidy cuts to warn that voting for Barisan Nasional (BN) in the next general election would lead the country to bankruptcy.
A government minister this week had predicted Malaysia could be bankrupt by 2019 if it does not begin to cut subsidies for petrol, electricity, food and other staples, which cost RM74 billion last year. But the Najib administration is waiting for public feedback before deciding on actual cuts.
DAP leader Lim Kit Siang said it was not subsidies but BN’s corruption and abuse of power that has led the country to current financial crisis.
“I cannot imagine if DAP, PKR or PAS had made the announcement that country will be bankrupt by 2019. If we did, Umno would have labelled us as anti-nationalist and traitors. We probably would have been locked up in ISA and given free food.
“Remember Vision 2020? We were supposed to become a developed nation by 2020 but unfortunately one year before 2020, we are already bankrupt,” he told a crowd last night in Tanah Merah, a two-hour drive from the Kelantan state capital.
Lim was one of many PR leaders in the state speaking at ceramahs ahead of the PKR convention this weekend. Read the rest of this entry »
Barring Sports Betting In Penang
Posted by Kit in Lim Guan Eng on Friday, 28 May 2010, 2:50 pm
Penang Wesak Day Message By Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng In Komtar, George Town On 28.5.2010
Penang State Government Directs The Two Local Councils MPPP & MPSP To Exercise Section 101(v) Of The Local Government Act To Bar Sports Betting In Penang Given By BN To Ascot Sports Sdn Bhd.
In the spirit of peace and tranquility, I wish a very happy Wesak day to all Buddhists in Penang and Malaysia. On this auspices day, we are reminded of the teachings of Lord Buddha who among other things has preached enlightenment and tolerance.
The Penang Government in conjunction with Wesak Day celebrations would like to express our intent to promote a healthier and more responsible lifestyle for Penang families. We are concerned at the excessively high number of draws -12 draws or special draws conducted weekly by the three gaming companies licensed by the BN government, which should be reduced.
The Penang state government is not opposed to betting or gaming outlets in Penang. However we are concerned at the excessive number of draws and special draws being conducted by these licensed operators have placed a very heavy burden on many families. Many of the breadwinners feel obliged to ‘chase’ after each draw with all three operators resulting in substantial loss of income to the family and their children.
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Najib’s qualification instead of endorsement of Idris Jala’s warning that Malaysia could become next Greece and go bankrupt unless it saves RM103 billion in next five years to reduce the nation’s huge debt proof of lack of political will to address subsidy syndrome
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Economics, Finance, Good Governance, Najib Razak on Friday, 28 May 2010, 9:40 am
Four things stand out in yesterday’s Subsidy Rationalisation Lab Open Day of the 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme (GTP) where the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department and CEO of Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), Datuk Seri Idris Jala made his presentation on the country’s proposed five-year subsidy rationalization roadmap.
Firstly, the absence of Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, the Minister in charge of the 1Malaysia GTP and Chairman of Pemandu. Why is he on leave in the United States on such an important event in the Government Transformation Programme or is he seriously considering, according to reports quoting Gerakan sources, relinquishing the post as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department after the humiliation in the last meeting of Parliament where he dared not stand up to vouch for what 1Malaysia stands for – that he is Malaysian first and Chinese second?
Secondly, Idris’ failure to address the root causes of the national economic crisis instead of just dealing with its symptoms.
Idris warned that unless Malaysians bite the bullet and wean off subsidies to save the government RM103 billion in five years to reduce the nation’s deficit and huge debt, Malaysia could become another Greece and go bankrupt in nine years.
Although Idris said the government would focus on big ticket items such as fuel, electricity and toll to achieve the savings, he failed to focus on the biggest ticket items – corruption, mismanagement, extravagance and lack and accountability.
When corruption, mismanagement, extravagance and lack of accountability cost the government from RM10 billion to RM28 billion a year, what credibility has the government to talk about slashing subsidies affecting the rakyat when it has nothing to show to end the rampant and worsening state of corruption, the gross abuses of power and public funds like indiscriminate issue of APs and various forms of “piratisation” in the name of privatization? Read the rest of this entry »
Sibu result reflects growing Christian vote
Malaysian Insider
By Debra Chong
May 28, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 — DAP’s surprise win in the recent Sibu by-election was the latest message being sent to the Najib administration that it needs to buckle down and deal with the “Allah” issue sooner rather than later.
The party made a special appeal to the Christian voters, citing the need to prevent Putrajaya from regulating the ways and language of worship for non-Muslims, after a landmark court ruling on Dec 31 that allowed the word “Allah” to be used by all.
The rise in a conscious Christian vote came after churches in Muslim-majority Malaysia reported a growth spurt, and leading the pack was the 82-year-old Sidang Injil Borneo (SIB), an evangelical movement that worships mainly in Bahasa Malaysia, the national language.
Its sphere of influence is growing fast, particularly among the Orang Asli tribes in the Malay peninsula, said the Christian Fellowship of Malaysia (CFM), an umbrella body that represents voices from both the orthodox churches and evangelical groups.
CFM general secretary Tan Kong Beng credits SIB’s growing appeal to “cultural affinities” between the local indigenous community and those from the Borneo interior. Read the rest of this entry »
S’wak BN shell-shocked by Sibu defeat
Posted by Kit in DAP, Pakatan Rakyat, Sarawak on Friday, 28 May 2010, 6:05 am
Malaysiakini
Terence Netto | May 27, 10 1:31pm
COMMENT It’s now the turn of Sarawak’s BN leaders to display symptoms of election shell-shock.
Following DAP’s victory in the Sibu by-election, the trauma suffered by Sarawak’s BN chapter, hitherto so confident as the numerically superior component of federal BN’s safe electoral deposit in Borneo, displayed itself in unmistakable ways.
A couple of opposition representatives, hauled before the rights and privileges panel of the state assembly for misconduct at previous sittings, were last week meted out suspensions disproportionate to their reported misdemeanors.
No doubt, this can be attributed to Sarawak BN’s knee-jerk reaction to its defeat by DAP in a former safe haven. Read the rest of this entry »
DAP says cuts cannot be limited to subsidies
Malaysian Insider
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
May 27, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — DAP’s Tony Pua grudgingly admitted today that cutting subsidies could lower Malaysia’s debts, but he said the cuts will only be successful if leakages from graft and help for big corporations are plugged first.
“I feel that in general, the points raised were agreeable. But at the same time, these plans can only be put into motion if other conditions are first met.
“He (Datuk Seri Idris Jala) was quite naughty when he said that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) agreed with lowering subsidies. We agree to it but with conditions,” DAP National Publicity Secretary Tony Pua said shortly after he attended a government open day on rationalizing cutting subsidies.
The Petaling Jaya Utara MP told The Malaysian Insider that while the government has outlined ways in which to gradually lessen subsidies, other “main causes of debts” had not been carefully addressed.
According to Pua, the issue of subsidies was a small problem compared to the actual cause of Malaysia’s huge deficit problem. Read the rest of this entry »
‘Clueless’ SUPP comes under heavy DAP fire
Free Malaysia Today
Thu, 27 May 2010
KUCHING: The Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), the oldest Chinese-led political party in the state, has come under blistering attack from the DAP for its lies.
DAP state assemblyman for Sentosa Chong Chieng Jen said SUPP should stop making excuses for its loss in Sibu and accept that it has lost touch with its voters.
“I am shocked. The SUPP is still clueless as to why it lost and Wong Soon Koh (SUPP Sibu chief) is making baseless and unbelievable accusations against the DAP, ” he said in a statement.
Chong was referring to comments by Wong, who is also State Finance Minister II, in his winding-up speech at the Sarawak State Assembly sitting on yesterday. Read the rest of this entry »
Educational absurdity in Hulu Selangor
Posted by Kit in Azly Rahman, Education, Election, Najib Razak on Thursday, 27 May 2010, 12:56 pm
by Azly Rahman
“If we win this by-election, you can come to Kuala Lumpur the next day to look for me. I will write a personal letter to approve the money and it will be transferred to the school board’s account. If we lose, don’t have to come.” – Najib Abdul Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia
If these words quoted in Lim Kit Siang’s blog were uttered and they were true, we have reached the highest level of idiocy in charting the future of Malaysian education. How much shame must we parade in our desperation to win this or that election that is a theater of the absurd anyway?
The essential question is, how dare we use education – the only means for social and economic progress for ALL races – to bribe voters!
We hear all too often now that education is being prostitutionalized in the name of political gains. That gentle profession and a noble enterprise, from the Latin educare (drawing out the potentials) have been overused in election campaigns. From rice to roads, credit cards to cruises, youth facilities to new universities – all these have been used as political baits throughout our history. Read the rest of this entry »
Proposal for a Parliamentary Caucus on Crime and Security to help Hishammuddin and Police to restore to Malaysians their fundamental rights – safe neighbourhoods, safe streets, safe homes and safe schools
Posted by Kit in Crime, Parliament, Police on Thursday, 27 May 2010, 11:57 am
In the past two weeks, the Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein kept reminding the country that the street crime rate and the crime index have fallen by 39% and 15% respectively in the first quarter of the year, well beyond the 20% and 5% target set by the end of the year.
For the first quarter of last year 9,984 cases were reported while during the same period this year it went down to 6,158 cases.
Hishammuddin’s statement was repeated in a major local newspaper today.
There should be a sense of joy and relief that Malaysia is becoming a safer country, which is not only a fundamental right of Malaysian citizens and the most basic duty of any competent government in a civilized society, but also important in enhancing our international competitiveness to attract foreign investments so that Malaysia can take the quantum leap to escape the decade-long middle-income trap to become a developed high income country.
However, such a national sense of relief and joy is distinctly missing in public response and reaction to Hishammuddin’s repeated announcements in the past fortnight of a sharp drop of street crime rate and crime index in the first quarter of the year – to the extent that Hishamuddin’s announcement had to be repeated in a major national daily today.
Why is this so? Read the rest of this entry »
