Poor English skills, race quotas in way of Malaysian prosperity, says ST

By Clara Chooi
December 21, 2011

Najib previously said his reforms are only possible with a strong mandate. — File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 — Malaysia’s shortage of skilled, English-speaking workers along with ethnic-based quotas that complicate hiring practices will hamper the country’s economic momentum despite a rise in foreign investment, Singapore’s Straits Times said today in an editorial about the Najib administration.

The newspaper, which is considered to be a reflection of the establishment voice in Singapore, said the Najib administration must follow through with its current reform efforts.

However, further economic reform “may” only be possible if Datuk Seri Najib Razak strengthens his grip on the ruling Barisan Nasional’s (BN) lynchpin, Umno, through a “solid endorsement” from voters in the coming polls, senior writer Bruce Gale said in the story appearing in the newspaper’s Op-Ed page today.

He said although official numbers show that foreign investment in Malaysia had risen markedly this year, the country continued to lag behind its neighbours.

Gale said this was likely the result of the dearth of skilled, English-speaking workers and race-based quotas that “complicate hiring practices”, both of which he described as fundamental problems that have led the country into the middle-income trap.

“Several measures foreshadowed last year have either stalled or yet to fully materialise. Chief among these is the promise that ethnic quotas would be further relaxed,” he added.

But, Gale noted that abandoning race-based quotas was a move that would meet strong resistance from within Umno.

The writer also commended “reformist” Najib’s market-oriented changes as enshrined in the New Economic Model (NEM), pointing to a World Bank report in October on the ease of doing business that showed Malaysia moving up five notches in the bank’s global ranking.

Gale cited another report from consulting firm AT Kearny earlier this month, which placed Malaysia among the world’s top 10 most attractive destinations for foreign direct investment.

This year’s figures, he said, also showed that total investment approvals in Malaysia until October stood at RM26.4 billion — fast approaching the previous peak in 2007 of RM29.5 billion.

“Under Mr Najib, foreign banks have been permitted to set up fund management and advisory operations, and the minimum quota for Malay ownership in publicly traded companies has been lowered,” Gale added.

However, he warned that sustaining the surge “could be difficult” due to the global economy and the possibility that current investor interest “may simply be the result of the implementation of previously delayed projects”.

“All this suggests that the reform effort must continue if the current momentum is to be sustained,” he said.

In an international forum last month, Najib said his government’s political and economic reform plans can only take place if Umno delivers a solid win in the upcoming national polls, expected to be held within months.

Calling it a small challenge for BN’s biggest component party, the prime minister said Umno needed to work together with its partners to deliver results in order to be re-elected in the general election.

“We have to cross the bridge of the general election, it is very important to be re-elected for us to deliver real transformation, we need to get support from the people,” he had said.

Encouraging Entrepreneurialism

by Bakri Musa
Chapter 11: Embracing Free Enterprise

The catalyst that drives, or more accurately the spark that ignites, capitalism is the entrepreneur. She is the individual who sees the opportunity to sell an item or service at a price higher than the cost of making or obtaining it. She sees the need or demand, and then goes about to meeting that need, and in the process makes a profit for herself. Entrepreneurs are, in the words of the MIT economist Lester Thurow, “…the change agents of capitalism.”

It is at this point that the religious types sense an argument against capitalism. Their argument is simply this: capitalism feeds on the individual’s motivation to make a profit, to get rich. My rebuttal is equally simple. The entrepreneur provides a much-needed service or product where none exists before. If that product or service is not needed, then his enterprise will fold soon enough. As for the personal greed motive, it is worthwhile to note that every successful entrepreneur ignites a chain of events that brings benefit to countless others. Ray Kroc who founded McDonalds restaurants with the simple premise that consumers need a reliable place to get consistently tasty and affordable meals, started a chain of process that helps ranchers and butchers (source of meat), potato growers (the chips), and countless youngsters with their first job. This is separate from the great services it provides consumers.

As for the personal greed argument, it is well to remember McDonalds create more Black millionaires in America than the all the professional sports leagues combined. Similarly when Bill Gates created that software operating system, he also provided opportunities for thousands of other software engineers to write applications for his Windows program. Of course Ray Kroc and Bill Gates became fabulously rich, but they were not alone; they brought along countless others. Equally important and bears repeating, they provided much-needed services, products, and most importantly, jobs. The value of the benefits to society they created with their services and inventions far outweigh the wealth and rewards that they get. That is the beauty and genius of free enterprise.

While the religious types may emphasize the material gains accrued on the individual businessman and trader, I emphasize the goods, services, and jobs she provides to the community.

In feudal societies one’s fate depends exclusively on birth and heritage. From there flows wealth and honor. Providential gifts may at times add new players to the scene. In the movie Giant, the scruffy character played by James Dean catapulted himself into the establishment when he found oil (black gold) on his parched desert property. But those were the days. Today, to use that overworked modern cliché, there is a paradigm shift.

“The old foundations of success are gone,” observes Lester Thurow. “For all of human history,” he writes, “the source of success has been controlling natural resources – land, gold, oil. Suddenly the answer is ‘knowledge.’” It is not that the usual rules have changed in the “New” economy, rather that the traditional ingredients for growth – land, resources, and labor (the factors of production, in economists’ lingo) – are being superseded by knowledge.

The old economic axiom – that real wealth results when more is produced with less, that is through increases in productivity – still holds. Consider a padi farmer. By working an eight-hour day he produces a ton of rice. In an effort to increase his harvest, he works an additional four hours per day and produces an additional half-ton of rice. Even though he may bring home more rice, his real wealth has not increased. The reason is that the additional yield was at the expense of his time away from his other activities, such as his bonding with his young family or even at the expense of his health. These too carry their costs. What he would have earned more from the extra rice production, he would have to pay his doctor’s bills for his backache! Besides, there is a physical limit to how many more hours in a day he can work. If he persists with this technique of wealth enhancement to the extreme, he may end up with losing both his family and his health, and the end result would be a big negative.

If he would change his technique however, from simply putting in more hours to making those hours more productive and efficient, then he would be creating more wealth. For example, he could use high yielding seeds. Then the difference between the increased yield minus the added cost of the more expensive seeds would be the newly created wealth. Or he could rent a tractor and cultivate three times the area to yield three times more rice for the same output of time and effort. And after subtracting for the added costs of the tractor rentals, he would still come out ahead. That is real wealth creation, that is, output in excess of the efforts expended. We should not just work hard in the same manner, rather work hard to find ways to work smarter and be more productive.

It is the individual entrepreneur who brings about change and creates wealth, not governments or institutions. Thus we must ensure an environment where entrepreneurs can thrive, where their activities are rewarded and valued so as not only to encourage them but also more importantly, others to be like them. Entrepreneurs are not born; they can be trained and nurtured.

In the West, entrepreneurs like Ted Turner (the man who founded the all-news network, CNN) and Bill Gates have acquired mythic proportions with their massive corporations and fabulous wealth. This larger-than-life image both helps and hinders other would-be entrepreneurs. The hindrance comes when budding and unsure entrepreneurs believe that such enterprising skills are inherent and cannot be taught. But it is well to remember that for every Ted Turner there are thousands of other successful entrepreneurs who may not have the same wealth and fame but nonetheless are providing valuable services to the community and giving employment to their fellow citizens and at the same time making a living for themselves. Each of them, big and small is a contributor to the economy. Every one who starts his own business is an entrepreneur. The youngsters who hawk T-shirts at tourist stops are entrepreneurs in their own right. So too are the sate (Malaysian shish kebab) sellers and wayside fried banana hawkers. In our preoccupation with the major figures, we underestimate and even denigrate these small players. We forget that those big names were once small operators. McDonald’s Ray Kroc started with only one hamburger stand in Southern California.

Economists, unable to understand or more correctly unwilling to study these small time businessmen, dismiss them collectively as the “informal sector” of the economy, not worthy of their fancy econometric models. But worldwide they provide substantial employment especially to those with minimal skills. As we have seen by the successes of the micro credit lending programs of the Grameen Bank, even illiterate Bangladesh women can trained to become successful entrepreneurs in their own right.

So, this is Malay leadership

By Farah Fahmy | December 20, 2011
The Malaysian Insider

DEC 20 — If our politicians are to be believed, the Malays are under threat these days. Our religion, culture and power are steadily under attack from all and sundry. Everyone has it in for us, from Christians to the Chinese. We are even warned about a so-called “Malaysian Spring” being orchestrated by “anasir-anasir Barat” (and quite possibly, the Jews, who of course, have always had it in for us).
“We won’t surrender an inch,” said the Melayu champion-in-chief (who also finds the time to be our prime minister) during a speech to Pekida recently. Malays, we were told, will never be oppressed in our own land so long as Umno is in power.

Well, glory be. I’m sure there are many others who can sleep more soundly at night knowing that there are so many out there making sure we Malays are not stripped of our position and power in our land.

But … hang on a minute.

The last time I checked we Malays, along with the other Bumiputeras, make up about 60-odd per cent of our country’s population. Islam is not just our country’s official religion, it is also the religion professed by about 60 per cent of our people. Not only are we and our religion in the majority, but let’s see, we Malays also make up most of, oh, the civil service, police, army, ruling class and politicians.

Of course, you can say that there are plenty of Malays who still need help. This, I don’t dispute. I’ve seen rural poverty in our country, where people still live without basic amenities like constant water supply and proper toilets. I’ve also seen urban poverty, with families living in small, low-cost flats in the outskirts of KL making do with the little that they earn.

Yet poor Malays aren’t the only ones who need help. There are also plenty of poor people, non-Malays, who deserve help. My brother was once approached by a young Indian man late one evening. He had just arrived from Kulai and asked my brother for help; my brother pointed him in the direction of the nearest kedai mamak.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: not all Malays deserve to get the help that the NEP brings. I would hazard a guess that most Malays who live in exclusive neighbourhoods in KL do not need the Bumiputera housing discount, or government scholarships for their offspring.

Are we really throwing away our “power” and “position” if we amended the NEP so that it excluded rich Malays and was open to all of our country’s poor, regardless of their race? Yes, Datuk Najib, we’ve “willingly shared power with the non-Malays” since Merdeka, but why keep harping on the past? Why not share with us your vision for the future?

I should have expected it, but I’m disappointed all the same. Is this what Malay leadership is about? Is there such a dearth of good Malay leaders in Umno that only scare tactics will do? Where is the vision about what the Malays can achieve? Why is no one inspiring us to be better? Why, in fact, is there no Malay leader out there who has the guts to say enough is enough, we Malays will never reach our full potential if we keep harping on about the help that we need? Why is no one honest enough to say that not all Malays are equal, and the haves should no longer receive a handout?

Instead of leaders who inspire us and show us how it is possible for all of us — Malay or otherwise — to have a stake in this country, we have leaders like Datuk Shahrizat Jalil. The pity of it all is that I felt that Shahrizat had not done a bad job as the minister for Women, Family and Community Development. Yet the NFC controversy has made her position untenable and shown the ugly face of Umno and our government.

Why are our ministers allowed to run family businesses that are subsidised by the government? Even if ministers are not actively involved in running such businesses, how is it that businesses run by members of a minister’s family can qualify for government assistance? Why are the people who govern our country in our name not required to declare their interests in such companies, and the assets they hold?

There is also a failure of leadership over the whole NFC debacle. Najib should have taken decisive action when it first erupted, and demanded Shahrizat’s resignation. Not doing so would mean that he condoned what she did, no?

This was our PM’s chance to show that he meant business; that even the slightest whiff of misconduct would not be tolerated, be it at ministerial level or otherwise. Well, he’s flunked the test. What this shows us is that our PM and Umno as a whole are prepared to turn a blind eye to such things. Why? I don’t know. Is it because she’s “one of us”? Or perhaps because she’s a Malay?

Is this what Najib means when he tells us to choose wisely in the next general election? Is this what Umno means when it claims to be the only political party that can safeguard Malay interests? For shame, Umno. Out of all its members, only two leaders have called on Shahrizat to do the right thing, and recognised the damage the whole affair is doing to the party.

Let me remind you what Najib said at Pekida: Umno would not allow the Malays to be oppressed in their own land. Well, the vast amounts of money that have been reportedly spent buying expensive properties and cars could have been spent improving the lives of poorer Malays, so who’s oppressing who now?
________
Farah Fahmy is based in London, and has written for the media. She is intrigued by trans- and international relations between Malaysia (ns) and the Rest of the World.

Glaring Indicators That Malaysia is on a Downward Spiral to Economic Obscurity

Glaring Indicators That Malaysia is on a Downward Spiral to Economic Obscurity

Tuesday, 13 December 2011
admin-s

When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work as somebody else is going to get what they worked for, compounded by the fact that the first half are really only getting the little crumbs and the elite UMNOputras are the ones getting all the benefits and wealth from all the work done through mass unbridled corruption, that is the beginning of the end for any nation!

Socrates

There were many supporters of affirmative action in the tertiary institutions, which they felt, helped to "distribute" Malaysia's wealth more evenly and thus, fairly amongst the different diverse races. Rather than argue with them, or have an open debate between the "for" and the "against" which could lead to ill feelings, a lecturer decided to run an experiment in his class.

He told his students to replace money with grades, and therefore, all grades will be averaged out with no one getting outstanding grades, and no one failing. After the first exam, the whole class averaged a "B". The students who studied hard were upset they did not get an "A", but the students who did not study much at all were happy that they got a "B".

When the second exam came around, those who did not study much, studied even less, and those who used to study a lot, wanted a free ride as well, and so they did not study much, too. The whole class averaged a "D" This time round. No one was happy!

By the time the third exam came around, the average was an "F", and the whole class had failed the exam. As the exams proceeded, the scores never increased bickering, name-calling, finger pointing and blame all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

1. You cannot legislate the poor (Bumiputra) into prosperity by legislating the wealthy (non-Bumiputra) out of prosperity. NEP was doomed to failure right from the start, and the UMNOputras knew this, but it created many loopholes for the UMNOputras to pillage Malaysia's wealth seemingly legitimately, while hiding behind the facade of NEP.

2. What one person (UMNOputra) receives without working for, another person (man-in-the-street Malaysia) must work for without receiving anything for his work.

3. The Government cannot give to anybody (UMNOputra) else anything that the Government does not first take from somebody (Malaysians irrespective of race) else, through legislation, corruption, etc.

4. We cannot multiply wealth by redistributing it from many (Malaysian) pockets to a few (UMNOputra elite) unlisted overseas bank accounts.

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work as somebody else is going to get what they worked for, compounded by the fact that the first half are really only getting the little crumbs and the elite UMNOputras are the ones getting all the benefits and wealth from all the work done through mass unbridled corruption, that is the beginning of the end for any nation!

Malaysia is well on its way to being a FAILED STATE, and is there anything we can do about it??

Yes, there is. We must vote in the 13th General Election that is expected shortly in a focused manner. No matter what the mainstream media says about anything, or anyone, we must have only ONE idea in mind, and that is to vote for ABU, Anything But Umno, or Asalkan Bukan Umno!


Source: Malaysia Today Online News

A single spark starts the prairie fire « Lim Kit Siang

Source: The Malaysian Insider
Dec 11, 2011

DEC 11 — Dengar cerita CEO NFC (suami Sharizat) dpt gaji 100k sebulan, anak sulung (age 31) dpt gaji 45k sebulan, anak kedua (age 27)dpt 35k sebulan, anak ketiga (age 25) dpt 35k sebulan. Jika ini betul, ia sesungguhnya memalukan. Ambil duit rakyat buat bayar gaji besar.

Anak saya pun graduate juga. UPSR, PMR, SPM dapat semua A. Umur 24 tahun. Kerja swasta. Dia pun work hard. Balik kerja paling awal jam 9 malam. Kadang2 sampai 1 pagi. Gaji dia RM2,700/sebulan. Adakah anak saya akan sokong BN/Umno kalau begini keadaannya? Saya dah tahu jawapannya. Umno tak boleh kelentong orang cerdik. Umno is not capable of changing, not with the current leaders.

When more than 50 per cent of our working population is earning less than RM2k/month, tak tahu malu ke mereka-mereka ini. Merompak siang dan malam, 7 hari seminggu. Perompak Ali Baba P. Ramli pun ada cuti hujung minggu.

8 December 2011 15:12

Even if we refuse to admit it, the above is an outpouring of bitterness. Although Umno people will wish it’s confined, it’s personal anecdotes such as this that strikes fear in Umno. Maybe it’s already that single initial spark that has ignited the prairie fire.

Shahrizat Jalil can huff and puff and weave her tales as her mythical namesake did in 1,001 Nights. While she can fool Umno delegates by employing attack as the best form of defence, her actions are only an exercise in futility. For her, the writing is already on the wall. Whatever she does will not extinguish her blackened image.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad has called for her exit from Umno politics. She’s finished. Incidentally, the 1001 Nights contained the story of Ali Baba and the 40 thieves, which the writer of the comment cited. Perhaps, Ali Baba and the thieves aptly describe what Umno has become.

This kind of anecdotal and very personalised tale of feeling marginalised and alienated reflects the wider bitterness of Malays with Umno. There is nothing that Umno can do about it now.

It’s a discredited brand. It’s synonymous with pillage and plunder, corruption, arrogance that can only be the result of being far too long in power. It’s the manifestation of the political dictum — power corrupts absolutely and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Last year, every big idea thrown up by the Umno president was rejected by Umno delegates. When he spoke about 1 Malaysia, delegates insisted on Malay first, Malaysia second. The deputy Umno president was even forthright in affirming that line of thinking, which is more in common with the Umno ground.
Even as Umno members deny it, there is worrisome disconnect between the Umno president and the rest of his team. When he spoke about his nebulous New Economic Model, delegates spoke about more NEP like policies.

In the end, what has Najib Razak got to defend himself?

He has only the claim that he is the son of Tun Razak, imagining such pedigree is testimony that he won’t abandon principles dear to Umno. When a person has nothing else to defend himself with but lays bare his bloodline credentials, it’s a sign he is in trouble. No one can deny that biological connection. The similarities end just there, as people are arguing whether he has inherited the leadership talent of the father.

This year, what has Umno got? It didn’t encourage delegates speaking about economic achievements. No talk on vision, policies and so forth. No one debated about how Shahrizat got the RM 250 million. No one spoke about the ETP, EPP, GTP and whatever labels the Umno president gave to his string of initiatives. None.

The Umno president pleads for continued mandate from the people as the Malay Agenda has not finished. No one spoke or elaborated about the agenda.

How is it that the agenda can only be achieved through Umno, if at all? No one puts forth convincing arguments telling us why Umno is the only qualified instrument for Malays to achieve their collective agenda.

Najib is confused about the concept that he came up when he took over from Pak Lah, which is the claim that the age of government knows best is over. Yet, by asking the nation to give him the mandate to enable him to continue the agenda, he is reaffirming the exact opposite. The government and the party is the deity and dispenser of what is good to the people.

The 2011 Umno general assembly was an occasion for an orgy of vituperative shouting matches. Umno does nothing but direct themselves to attacking and insulting its political opponents. Umno does two things actually; one, heighten the morbid patriotism and nationalistic urges of Malays. And two, it did what it hasn’t done before: speak about Malays’ greatest fear — assault on the religion of Islam.

But here is the irony, just as Najib — who last year had nothing to offer but to invoke the name of his father — similarly too this year, Umno hasn’t got anything.

Listening to the maddening speeches by Umno delegates, I am reminded of what Arthur Schopenhauer in his Essays and Aphorisms said:

“Every miserable fool who has nothing at all of which he can be proud, adopts as a last resource pride in the nation to which he belongs; he is ready and happy to defend all its faults and follies tooth and nail, thus reimbursing himself for his own inferiority.”

That is what has Umno become: an inferior good. It is a good that decreases in demand as social awareness increases. Malays in rural areas are not exactly insular in their outlook. They read the papers, understand what’s written in between the lines. Their children come back and inform parents. Umno can’t fool all the people all the time with its scare mongering tactics.

Every speaker comes up before the podium, trying to outdo the previous in terms of bellicosity and vehemence. The spectre of the Yellow Peril is upon us; the Chinese will take away Malay rights, turn Malays into Christians, abolish the monarchy and so forth. It’s not going to work because of millions of people are thinking like the person sending in the comment posted above.

People know. They talk among themselves. It has become a huge money making juggernaut. The ones making money are the Umno chieftains, cronies, families. Umno operates a giant Ponzi scheme, not dissimilar to Harry Madoff’s multi-level marketing.

It can’t defend itself on its track record other than reminding people that Umno has done much for the people and country. That claim sounds hollow because ALL governments in the world carry out programmes and implement policies.

Hosni Mubarak of Egypt did the same thing. Muammar Gaddafi gave Libyans much development and personal help to people. The Tunisian president did much development for Tunisia. Therefore, what Umno did, is not unique in that it is sufficient for people to feel beholden and enslaved by Umno.

I feel sorry for the people who think of the widespread disenchantment with Umno since 2008 and that has been building up as a flash in the pan, and regarded — for self-assuring purposes — as mere protest votes.

This time it’s real. Ordinary Malays are disputing Umno’s empty claims of fighting for the interest of Malays. And Umno people realise this. This is what Umno fears most, when Malays themselves start disputing what Umno says and does.

The facts are these: the people who are ripping off Malays are the Umno elites. Since Dr Mahathir took over, Umno has evolved into a company doing a gigantic Ponzi scheme. The elite, the Umno chieftains, their families and cronies have been ripping the Malays.

Who threatened the royal houses? Umno did, during the constitutional crisis years. Umno leaders were the ones who proposed to tie up royal members on trees and let the fire ants sting them. Umno was behind the exposure of scandalous behaviour of members of the royal family.

It wasn’t the Chinese who so much as besmirched the reputation of Malay rulers. I have said it before: The entrepreneurial Chinese would want to befriend the royalty so that, through the royal houses, they can corner more businesses.

How can a numerically smaller group dominate a larger group? How can DAP convert Muslims to Christianity when the majority of DAP members are themselves not Christians?

The only way Malays lose everything, is the result of the rot in Umno. And Umno, says Dr Mahathir, is rotten to the core. It’s rotten as a result of endemic corruption. We now speak of billions and not a few hundred thousand being ripped off.

How does Umno rally Malays into its fraternity? By preying on irrational prejudices, fear and probably some bad personal experience. This is the only way Umno can rally the Malays.

It’s a reaction that reflects the fear and paranoia that is enveloping Umno now. It hasn’t got any big ideas or visionary elements to bind the beliefs of Malays anymore. So, it’s only way out is to sound and represent itself as the uncompromising champion of Malay extremism.

That approach will fail simply because extremism and the patriotism promoted by Umno are seen as measures by leaders to preserve themselves.

“Patriotism in its simplest, clearest and most indubitable signification is nothing else but a means of obtaining for the rulers their ambitions and covetous desires, and for the ruled the abdication of human dignity, reason, conscience, and a slavish enthrallment to those in power.”

Leo Tolstoy said that a long time ago. — sakmongkol.blogspot.com

* Sakmongkol AK47 is the nom de plume of Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz. He was Pulau Manis assemblyman (2004-2008).

Source: The Malaysian Insider

The Dubious Trial of Anwar Ibrahim

Written by John Berthelsen
Tuesday, 06 December 2011

Anwar: Back to prison?

Two years later, the government’s case still looks manufactured

After nearly two years of conflicting and often suspect testimony, the so-called Sodomy II trial of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is scheduled to finish next week in a Kuala Lumpur High Court, with final summations by both sides.


It is a trial that has been condemned internationally by legal scholars and human rights activists as designed to take Anwar out of Malaysia’s political equation.


Political sources in Malaysia have been building several different scenarios. Given the tone of the trial so far, it appears likely that Anwar, the opposition leader of the three-party Pakatan Rakyat, will be convicted despite a vast number of prosecutorial missteps. That would probably make him a martyr in Malaysia because his followers – and many others – believe he is being railroaded into jail on false charges.


Under another scenario, the judge, acting under orders from the government, would declare him not guilty, which would be followed immediately by a prosecutorial appeal, which would keep Anwar embroiled in more months of legal entrapment that diverts time and energy away from leading the three-party Pakatan Rakyat opposition. It would also give the Malaysian judiciary a thin tissue of respectability.


The story began on June 28, 2008 when a then-24-year-old aide, Mohamad Bukhairy Azlan Saiful, made the charge shortly after Anwar had led Pakatan Rakyat coalition to a historic sweep of five Malaysian states, winning 82 parliamentary seats in 2008 national elections and breaking the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition's two-thirds majority hold on parliament. He was arrested at his home on July 16 of that year, by a contingent of 10 carloads of police commandos and was locked up overnight in a Kuala Lumpur jail.


The trial, which began in February 2010, has been marred by what appear to be the introduction of questionable evidence, egregious prosecutorial errors and a long series of prejudicial rulings by High Court Judge Mohamad Zabidin Mohamad Diah. Critics say the proceedings appear certain to once again tarnish Malaysia’s reputation in international circles and play a role in destroying whatever confidence there was in the country’s legal system. The case has been condemned by the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union, 60 members of the Australian parliament, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch and prominent leaders from Commonwealth nations including Paul Martin of Canada and others.


From the very beginning, when Saiful sought to get doctors to certify that he had been sodomized, doubts began to surface. Saiful first went to a private hospital, where a doctor found no evidence of penetration and told him to go to a government hospital. At the first government hospital, doctors also told him they had found no evidence of tearing or scarring that would have indicated his anus had been penetrated. He was forced to go to a third government hospital where he finally found a physician willing to say the act had taken place.

In the intervening months, as the trial has droned on, an array of other doubtful factors have made the case look like it was manufactured to rid the Malaysian political scene of one of its most charismatic figures, and that the country’s court system, never regarded as independent since former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad fired the Supreme Court in the 1980s, was bending over backwards to do the government’s bidding.


Gordon Trowell, in a report for the Inter-Parliamentary Union, pointed out that the charges had been levied just as Anwar was making a spectacular return to the political scene from a long period in the political wilderness following his first sodomy trial in 1999, when he was jailed for six years on charges that have been universally condemned as rigged.


Mistakes made over DNA samples call into question whether the evidence could survive in a rational court of law. Police officials have testified that Saiful didn’t offer to be tested for DNA samples until 56 hours after the alleged incident, and he said he hadn’t defecated during those two days, which could have corrupted the sample.


Other testimony indicated that the samples taken from Saiful were kept unguarded in a police office for 43 hours without refrigeration before they were turned over to the laboratory for analysis. Chemists testified that as many as 10 different DNA samples had been found in Saiful’s rear, making the whole analysis process suspect.


That any samples could be taken from Anwar is also questionable. Under Malaysian law at the time, suspects could refuse to give DNA samples. However, the Dewan Rakyat, Malaysia’s parliament, passed a law repealing the consent requirement after Anwar’s arrest. In most courts, law cannot be applied retroactively.


Although Anwar refused to give a DNA sample, items issued to him during his overnight stay in jail were analyzed and a sample was found. Zabidin in March handed Anwar a major victory by throwing out the purported DNA evidence because it had been taken without his permission. However, a week later, after the prosecution demanded it, Zabidin reversed himself and said the evidence could after all be entered into the court despite the retroactive nature of the law.

Then there is the series of meetings that Saiful has acknowledged in court, at the home of then-Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, on June 24, 2008, two days before the alleged sodomy took place and others with Rosmah's close confidant, the former track star Mumtaz Jaafar, as well.


Saiful also acknowledged meeting secretly twice with Rodwan Mohd Yusof, a senior assistant police commissioner, before the alleged offence took place. Rodwan became famous, or infamous, in Anwar's 1998 Sodomy I trial when he illegally removed Anwar's DNA samples from forensic custody and planted them on a mattress allegedly used by Anwar for a homosexual dalliance. To protect the integrity of the prosecution's case, the presiding judge, Augustine Paul, expunged the entire DNA evidence at the time.


There is also the question of entrapment. Saiful testified that on the day in question he had taken lubricant with him to Anwar’s condominium – hardly the act of an innocent aide who had no idea that the then 63-year-old Anwar was about to jump him for unnatural sex. Surveillance cameras filmed the former aide in a lift in the building but Anwar said he was having a meeting with a group of economists at the time Saiful allegedly showed up.


But the fact that Saiful went to the condo with lubricant in his pocket, whether he got in or not, is ample indication that he intended to try to lure the opposition leader into a compromising position. It would be questionable whether he tried to do that on his own, and it would dovetail rather smoothly with his meetings with Najib, Rosmah, and the law enforcement officials who put Anwar in jail in 1999.


Trowell in his report pointed out a flock of other discrepancies. Abdul Gani Patail, the main prosecutor in the 1998 sodomy proceedings that were thoroughly discredited, has been involved in the present case at a time when he was being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency following allegations of fabricating evidence.


There was an “almost systematic rejection of all defense applications for disclosure of prosecution evidence, which it would need in order to mount the defense,” Trowell wrote.

There was also the fact that Saiful was having a sexual liaison with Farah Azlina Latif, a female member of the prosecution team, which should have further disqualified him as a complaining witness.


The defense and prosecution have both finished presenting evidence and the opposing sides were scheduled to submit their oral summaries on Dec. 8 and 9. However, the summatons have been postponed until next week at the requesti of the defense. After that the judge will probably take a month or so to deliver his decision. If convicted, Anwar is certain to appeal. Whether he will be allowed bail will again remains to be seen. The process will thus probably go on for an indefinite period.


Unfortunately, what the evidence has shown most clearly is not that Anwar was guilty or not guilty of having what the government termed “unnatural consensual sex” with his former aide. It is rather that the trial was skewed so badly in the government’s favor that the opposition leader demonstrably did not get a fair trial.

Malaysia - Gloomier economy poses poll risk to BN

By Lee Wei Lian
November 29, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 — The prime minister could be pressured into calling an election by early next year to minimise damage to the government’s political standing due to a deteriorating economic outlook, says Nomura in its Malaysia outlook report for 2012.

The research arm of Japan’s leading brokerage and financial services group also said that a surge in new voters since the last general election will mean stiffer competition at the polling booth.

“The clock is ticking faster. Speculation is rife that the next general election could be held within months,” said the report.

Nomura’s outlook report for 2012 said Malaysia is vulnerable to a potential slowdown in China. — Reuters pic

It also said that as Asia’s third most export-oriented economy after Hong Kong and Singapore, Malaysia is vulnerable to a potential slowdown in China.

“In such a scenario, Malaysia would end up in a vulnerable position. Its three key growth engines — the public/private sector economy, manufacturing exports and commodity resources — would likely be in much weaker positions, in our view,” said Nomura.


The government, however, has maintained that the economy will remain resilient despite fiscal turmoil in advanced economies in Europe and increasingly strident reporting on concerns about China’s real estate bubble.

Officials cited high commodity prices that are expected to boost rural spending and intensification of projects linked to the Economic Transformation Programme that will help bolster domestic demand as reasons for GDP growth forecasts consistently above those from independent economists.

Nomura also said in its report that the pool of eligible voters had grown by 1.9 million to 16.3 million at the end of the first quarter of this year and the increase in eligible voters could hit 3.2 million by the first quarter of 2013.

“Taking into account the 2.58 million registered voters who did not turn out in the 2008 elections, we estimate the increase in the number of people who actually vote could reach 9.43 million, a highly significant number, which we believe would likely intensify competition given that the ruling coalition only won by a mere 384,688-vote majority in 2008,” said the report.

Nomura noted, however, that not all eligible new voters are likely to be registered by the next general election and put a conservative estimate at 1.69 million new votes, or 17 per cent of the total possible turnout.

As of July last year, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) was leading in the voter registration drive, signing up twice as many voters as Barisan Nasional (BN) in the first six months of 2010.

The DAP was also leading in signing up more voters compared with other political parties, registering 32.5 per cent of the new 169,838 voters registered between January and June last year.

Umno followed, registering 32.3 per cent of the new voters, with PAS at 22.7 per cent.

But even if PR were to win the popular vote count with new voters, it does not follow that it would win government.

With the first-past-the-post system that Malaysia practises rather than proportional representation, a party can still win the popular vote but fall short of becoming the incumbent government.

In the 2008 polls, BN obtained 4.1 million votes, or about 51.4 per cent of the total, giving it a 63 per cent share of parliamentary seats.

PR obtained 3.8 million votes — 47.8 per cent of the total — yet gained a disproportionate 37 per cent of parliamentary seats.

A recent controversy over new voters erupted when PKR alleged that a Bangladesh government website said that its citizens were offered Malaysian nationality in exchange for their support at the polls.

Barisan Nasional leaders, however, denied the claims.

A.T. Kearney FDI Confidence Index Forecasts Emerging Markets to Rise Relative to Developed Countries Over Next Two Years

- China, India and Brazil take top three positions, dropping United States to fourth

- Executives expect FDI budgets to recover slowly over the next five years

- 51% of investors are deploying strategic planning tools to plan for uncertain business environment

- Executives anticipate increased regulatory activity and decreased government capacity due to debt constraints

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A foreign direct investment (FDI) rebound will be slow at best and the focus of corporate investments is increasingly on developing markets, according to the 2011 A.T. Kearney Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index, a regular measure of senior executive sentiment at the world's largest companies. Conducted regularly over the last 13 years by global management consulting firm A.T. Kearney, the Index provides a unique look at the present and future prospects for international direct investment flows.

While 55 percent of corporate investors surveyed said their FDI budgets had returned to the levels they were prior to the economic crisis, more than one-fifth said they don't expect their FDI to return to pre-crisis levels until 2014 or later.

"While volumes were nowhere near their highs of the mid-2000s, these modest gains signal the beginnings of cautious optimism on the part of investors. But with prospects for near-term recovery still shaky and debt crises looming large, this modest optimism could quickly revert to retrenchment," noted Paul A. Laudicina, managing officer and chairman of A.T. Kearney.

The world's developing economies comprise more than one-half of the Index's top 25 countries, indicating that flows to these regions will accelerate as investment picks back up. According to the survey, investors are increasingly turning to the developing world more for its large and rapidly growing consumer markets than for its lower-cost labor. China remains the top-ranked destination by foreign investors, a title it has held since 2002, followed by India and Brazil. The United States fell to fourth place from second, with its debt gridlock weighing heavily on investor sentiment.

A slow rebound

A variety of factors—including the sovereign debt crisis, the slow recovery in the United States, and unrest in the Arab world—continue to make corporate investors cautious about the short-term future. More than 60 percent feel that the recession has significantly changed the global business environment.

"The real concern among executives appears to be regulatory activity within countries rather than protectionist measures among them," noted Erik Peterson, managing director of A.T. Kearney's Global Business Policy Council, which helps business leaders identify global growth opportunities and manage business risks. Respondents in Europe are particularly concerned by decreased government capacity due to debt constraints. Peterson added, "Given decreased strength, governments may not be able to play the constructive role that the economy needs."

With the United States and Europe, two former bastions of stability, facing financial turmoil and slow growth, the formerly intuitive "safe bet" rules no longer apply. With more cash on hand but still deeply unsettled, corporate executives are using strategic planning tools to determine where the best bets can be made. In fact, according to the survey, more than 50 percent of investors are enhancing their strategic planning processes and tools in the wake of the economic crisis.

"The old rules of thumb can no longer be relied upon," said Laudicina. "Executives are deploying strategic planning tools to increase their foresight and peripheral vision, which are crucial for navigating today's highly uncertain business environment."

Looking ahead: More taxation and regulation?

Looking to the future, 60 percent of investors anticipate greater taxation in developed economies, calculating that public budgets will have to be brought back to balance through increases in government revenue, translating into higher tax burdens. Expectations are quite different in emerging markets, where increased labor regulations are seen as the most likely development. As developing economies mature and integrate further into the global economy, their labor laws are converging with those of the developed world. Although heightened protectionism in the wake of the economic crisis has not yet materialized, about one-third of investors expect increased barriers to trade in both developed and developing countries, indicating that concern over the future of an open trading system has not subsided.

China, India and Brazil dominate the Index

With India replacing the United States for the number two position, three major emerging markets—China, India and Brazil—took the top three spots as investment destinations of choice. Investors also reported the highest degree of optimism in the outlook for these three countries, with nearly half seeing a more positive outlook for Brazil (46 percent) than in 2010. More than one third saw improvements for both India (37 percent) and China (34 percent).

China maintained its number one position in the Index. Investors are looking to capitalize on the country's growing consumer market and service industry, as well as its move up the value chain in the technology sector. India also advanced in the standings, assuming the United States' former position, second place. "Given its strong growth and huge market potential, India should see a sustainable rebound if it can continue to reassure investors that it is committed to its current reform path," Peterson observed.

Brazil is also a magnet of opportunity, moving to third place from last year's fourth. Brazil attracts more than half of all the FDI in Latin America, and this year China became Brazil's largest foreign direct investor, with the focus of the inflows in commodities and energy.

Key emerging economies are also shifting the FDI landscape with their own investments, which have grown from 12 to 23 percent of global FDI outflows. "Given increasingly fierce competition from emerging market investors," Laudicina said, "established players from developed economies will need to revise their strategies to deal with this new competitive landscape."

The United States slides

Political gridlock surrounding the federal budget, financial instability, and depressed consumer spending combined to pull the United States from second to fourth place this year. More than 60 percent of respondents indicate that their investments would be negatively affected by the U.S. debt burden. Fiscal turbulence aside, its market size and quality of skills and technical resources continue to make it the top investment destination among developed economies and an important target in many international expansion strategies.

The 2012 FDI Confidence Index is available at www.atkearney.com/fdi .

About A.T. Kearney

A.T. Kearney is a global team of forward-thinking, collaborative partners that delivers immediate, meaningful results and long-term transformative advantage to clients. Since 1926, we have been trusted advisors on CEO-agenda issues to the world's leading organizations across all major industries and sectors. A.T. Kearney's offices are located in major business centers in 38 countries.

About the FDICI Study

The FDI Confidence Index® was constructed using primary data from a proprietary survey administered to senior executives of the world's leading corporations. Participating companies represent 27 countries and span 17 industry sectors across all six inhabited continents. Together, the companies comprise more than $1 trillion in annual global sales. Respondents include C-level executives as well as regional and business heads. The survey field work was completed in October 2011.

The 25 Most Attractive FDI Destinations According to Corporate Executives:

Paper presented at the US Congressional briefing on Malaysia's Institutional Racism & Religious freedom

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Main - Malaysia - Umno leader linked to Alstom bribery scandal, says Singapore daily @ Mon Dec 05 2011

UMNO ROCKED BY TWO SCANDALS AT ITS AGM LAST WEEK

THE FIRST SCANDAL WAS REVEALED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE WANITA UMNO SESSION WHERE THE WANITA CHIEF WITH BRAZEN DEFIANCE THAT SHE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE NATIONAL FEEDLOT CORPORATION SCAM WHERE RM 260 BILLION WAS GIVEN TO THE COMPANY FOR CATTLE BREEDING. ALTHOUGH SOME RM 200 BILLION WAS SPENT. THE FARM COULD ONLY PRODUCE 8000 CATTLE, A MUCH LOWER FIGURE THAN THE ESTIMATED PRODUCTION OF 60,000 CATTLE. ALTHOUGH THE PROJECT WAS RUN BY HER FAMILY, SHE INSISTED THAT SHE WAS NOT RESPONSIBLE AS SHE WAS NOT THE MANAGER.

THEN JUST AS THE UMNO AGM ENDED, THE COUNTRY WAS GIVEN ANOTHER SHOCK, WHEN IT WAS REVEALED BY STRAITS tIMES OF SINGAPORE THAT ANOTHER UMNO LEADER, TAN SRI ABDUIL HAMID
PAWANTEH, EX PERLIS MENTER BESAR WAS PAID 7.5 MILLION IN SWISS FRANCS ( RM 25.5 MILLION0 AS A BRIBE TO HELP FRENCH ENGINEERING GIANT ALSTROM FOR A POWSER PLANT PRFOJECT IN PERLIS.

SO IT COULD BE SAID THAT THE UMNO AGM WHICH WAS SUPPOSED TO BE INSPIRATIONAL WITH NEW DIRECTIONS AND PHILOSOPHIES TURNED OUT BE AN AGM OF CORRUPTION SCANDALS, AN AGM WHICH ALL OF THEM WOULD RATHER FORGET.

THE SIGNS DO NOT PORTEND WELL FOR UMNO. THIS COULD BE THE BEGINNING OF THE END.

Umno leader linked to Alstom bribery scandal, says Singapore daily

UPDATED @ 12:22:55 PM 05-12-2011
By Debra Chong
December 05, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 — Already on the backfoot over a national cattle farming scandal, Umno is now rocked by allegations that a former leader took kickbacks from French engineering giant Alstom for a power plant project in Perlis.

Singapore’s Straits Times (ST) reported today that Malaysia’s Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officials raided last week the offices of Teknologi Tenaga Perlis Consortium (TTPC), which is partly controlled by former Dewan Negara president and ex-Perlis Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Pawanteh (picture).

The newspaper said the Umno veteran was directly implicated in Alstom’s indictment for bribery in securing foreign contracts.

Abdul Hamid is said to have been paid 7.5 million Swiss francs (RM25.5 million) to help Alstom secure a contract to build a power plant in Perlis in the late 1990s. He was the state’s mentri besar from 1986 to 1995.

The Singapore daily said both Abdul Hamid and his former business partner, Ti Chee Liang, were singled out in the criminal summons against Alstom.

According to ST, Alstom was fined €31 million (RM130 million) by the Swiss Attorney-General two weeks ago for failing to implement proper controls to prevent bribery by company executives in Malaysia, Latvia and Tunisia, an offence under Swiss law.

Alstom is a major player in Malaysia in the power business, and is credited with supplying key equipment for nearly 7.5 gigawatts of the country’s installed power generation capacity, the paper added.

Citing government sources familiar with the investigations, ST reported that the MACC will be questioning local Alstom executives in the days ahead.

Last month, Alstom’s Malaysian office denied it was aware of local investigation regarding the RM133 million fine by Swiss authorities involving contracts awarded to the company here.

“There is no probe ongoing in Malaysia that we are aware of and Alstom have co-operated fully in Switzerland. The fine is for corporate negligence in the past and not for bribery,” Alstom Malaysia president, Saji Raghavan, said in a statement.

“In fact, investigation confirms there is no systematic bribery and sufficient controls are in place,” he pointed out.

The company had described itself as a “subcontractor of a consortium” and a “victim of the actions of some of its employees, who would have benefited from kickbacks”, according to a previous Reuters report.

Alstom is the second French company in as many years to be fined for bribing government officials in Malaysia, after telecommunications firm Alcatel-Lucent paid RM435 million to resolve US criminal and civil probes in December 2010.

The four-year probe centred on payments made by Alstom Network Schweiz AG to middlemen — termed “commercial agents” by the company — in return for securing government contracts to build power stations in 15 countries since the 1990s.

Alstom was awarded a RM2.8 billion contract by Tenaga Nasional earlier this year to provide key power generation equipment to Southeast Asia’s first 1,000-megawatt (MW) supercritical coal-fired power plant Manjung, Malaysia.

It also won turnkey contracts in 1994 and 2000 to build four power plants including the 1,300MW Lumut and the 670MW Kuala Langat plants and deals in 2003 and 2004 to install environmental control systems for the Tanjung Bin and Jimah coal-fired power plants.

Alstom was also appointed by Tenaga to supply two 125MW hydro power turbines, a generator and ancillaries for the 250MW Hulu Terengganu hydro power plant in 2010.

Alstom says it is “the largest original equipment manufacturer in Malaysia” having supplied key equipment for nearly 7.5 gigawatt (GW) of the country’s installed power generation capacity.

Cows: The perennial Malaysian newsmaker

By DAVID MATHEW

Here are some facts about the humble cow.

I have not tried this myself but apparently cows can be lead upstairs but not downstairs because its knees cannot bend properly to walk down.

Also, cows spend six to eight hours eating each day.

Finally, cows have excellent senses of hearing and smell. They can hear high and low frequencies better than humans, and can detect smells from as far away as 8 kilometres.

From the infamous “cow head protest” in Shah Alam to the issue of the slaughtering of cows in schools and now to the maligned National Feedlot Centre project, it seems that cows are constantly in the news. So I thought it would be apt for everyone to get to know the cow a little better first.

Moving on.

According to the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) website, the National Feedlot Centre is the envisioned centre of production for beef and beef products in Malaysia.

The website also helpfully points out that as a High Impact Project under Ninth Malaysia Plan, National Feedlot Centre project will be instrumental in attaining the 40% self sufficiency for beef production by 2010.

We are also told that the NFC’s mission is to lead the industry in a manner that fosters excellence and integrity, improves the feedlot business environment and ensures the success of its community.

So far, so good. Very inspiring. Reading this, one wishes the NFC all the best of luck.

And for some time, NFC and its parent company, Agroscience Industries Sdn Bhd, had luck on their side.

That was the case until those pesky officers from the Auditor General’s office stopped by in March 2011 to determine if the project was being carried out appropriately and whether objectives were being met.

Turns out, the answer was no.

Instead of producing the targeted 8,000 cows in 2010, only 3,289 cows were produced. One of the main reasons cited was that the NFC had not carried out the mandated Entrepreneur Development Programme to train 130 satellite farm operators.

There was another rather big problem. You see, cows eat grass. The audit visit however discovered that instead of grass, much of the National Feedlot Centre area is filled with Acacia trees.

All this, according to the audit report, was despite the fact that RM134.72 million had already been channelled to the NFC.

Soon after the Auditor General’s Report was released, Pakatan Rakyat lawmakers raised hell accusing the entire project of being effectively steeped in corruption and cronyism.

Cue then the entrance of Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin who flew in to defend the project.

In the face of accusations that the NFC had, via its sister company National Meat and Livestocks Corporation (NMLC), used RM10 million to buy a condo in Bangsar, Khairy responded in his blog to say that this was true.

He however sought to justify the expenditure by saying that when the project was delayed due to no fault of the NFC, the management of the company had to make a decision as to what to do with the funds already channelled to it from a special borrowing account controlled by the Finance Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry.

According to Khairy, the management decided that rather than leave the monies in a low-yield fixed deposit account, it would be more prudent to invest it in property.

Khairy claims that this explanation is logical from a business standpoint.

There is actually a word I’m looking for to describe this explanation. Oh yes, I remember now. It’s actually two words – cow dung.

Public money was pumped into the project for one purpose and that is to meet the National Beef Output Policy. The said policy had only two main objectives, namely to increase the number of cows and to increase the output of beef.

Property investment was not one of the objectives and the Government should not condone such things.

Anyway NFC’s stated Vision is to be a ‘premier world class halal beef producer’ and not a world class halal beef producer cum part-time property investor during operational delays.

If a businessman obtains a loan specifically let’s say for his chicken business, he has no business using that money to head out and buy a Picasso painting just because the local authority has not issued him a licence. The bank would smack him if they heard what he was up to.

What if the project suddenly takes off in the midst of a property slump and there is no buyer for the condo unit?

Would anybody be volunteering to put the RM10 million back into the project?

If the NFC really felt that they ought to be proactive during the operational delay, there are a number of more acceptable things they could have done.

They could maybe start by spending money chopping off the Acacia trees.

Alternatively if they really like those Acacia trees, they could put in money for research and development into creating tree-climbing cows which would presumably be cows that can bend their knees properly.

Or how about hiring and training a team of expert masseurs?

Apparently, the world famous Kobe beef is so tender because each of the Japanese Wagyu cattle is pampered with daily massages. The idea here is that relaxed cows result in good beef.

These cattle are also fed beer but since this would not then be halal, perhaps money could be put into research and development for a good beer alternative.

Every year either from the Auditor-General or elsewhere we keep hearing uncomfortable things about the way public money is being spent.

In the face of a possible global recession, it is time for us to give public monies the respect it deserves. If you cannot do this, then get lost. You do not deserve the money.

A fee for asking ' are you okay?'

National Feedlot Corporation: A tip of the iceberg?

National Feedlot Corporation: A tip of the iceberg?
November 21, 2011

FMT LETTER

From Marion Tharsis, via e-mail

The National Feedlot Corporation chief is trying his best to to protect his entity as of one of legitimacy and sans of wrongdoings with ample support from the power-that-be. Whatever that has been exposed of its sinister activities, cannot be completely ignored and taken to be a fiction of one of Bollywood’s fairy tale concoction.

Political power seems to be a guaranteed license to secure favourtism and opportunities to amass wealth and power beyond the norms of a civil society that is quite prominent in the third world countries including Malaysia, striving to project its growth as a fast developing economic power house while condoning and encouraging corporate fraudulent activities of those who are closely aligned to the echelons of the ruling government.

Thanks to the independent news media for highlighting the issues of a dubious and sinister nature that has for so long, been completely camouflaged and kept out of the public’s knowledge or access.

Corruption has always been viewed as a destructive force that can even reduce the countries with immense natural resources to just ‘beggar’ countries due to the siphoning of the wealth for some personal gains while the majority of the people live in abject poverty..

At the rate the Malaysian government is spending and in the process also allowing rooms for ‘abuse’ of the funds being allocated for important infra structure and community development, it will be of little surprise if we also fall in the ranks of such unfortunate and desperate countries who have to depend vastly on aid from charitable and humanitarian agencies for sustenance of life.

It is a stark reality that the world is depleting its natural resources very rapidly and it cannot be replenished and thus big and powerful countries are looking to poor and desolate countries to develop these countries own infra structure at a very high price as a reward.

It is mainly because of uncontrolled and unmonitored activities of fraud and misuse of funds owing to the broader objective of staying in power at whatever the cost for the short term and not having any consideration for the future well being of our posterity.

When the government officials given the mandate by the people cannot give proper and logical reasons for not taking action against any wrong doing being reported, it only adds more damage to their own reputation rather than boost their image as a trustworthy and reliable leader.

These people in power fail to see a broader perspective of their own position against the opposition or the general public who are the watchdogs of their performance for future retention or rejection.

If these people in power still think their continued rule for the next imminent term is well secured, they have to re-think and develop themselves as a people’s government and not operate without any regard for the concerns and at times, demands from the people whose choice put them where they are.

Giving handouts and stipends is not going to help but only goes to show a desperate move to regain past glory. Be a responsive and sincerely caring government and not one that treats every reported case of criminal breach of trust as the opposition’s tool for political mileage.

Only Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) seems to make some noise and make a slight ant bite concern to question some of the issues of grave importance to the public while the others choose to remain silent or less vocal just to safe guard their own positions.

The next general election will definitely set the course for our future survival within and without and the decision is seen to be binding for a long time without another formidable political opposition.

The choice we make is not only short term for our benefit or failure but it is for long term of our generation who needs us to protect not destroy. So, the decision we make is more of hope for all and not one that condescends on individual feelings or isolation.


Playing Goldilocks politics

A load of bull

We all have a beef with Feedlot

English gets the short shrift

Peaceful Assembly is undemocrat​ic

Media statement by Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP Life Advisor in Seremban on 30th November 2011

THE SO CALLED PEACEFUL bill VIOLATES ARTICLE 10 OF THE CONSTITUTI ON WHICH GUARANTEES FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY FOR ALL CITIZENS

THE PEACEFUL ASSEMBLY BILL WAS DEBATED IN PARLIAMENT YESTERDAY. ALL OPPOSITION MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT, INCLUDING ANWAR IBRAHIM, LIM KIT SIANG AND LIM GUAN ENG VOTED AGAINST THE BILL, BECAUSE IT IS A VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 10 OF THE CONSTITUTION WHICH GUARANTEES FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY FOR ALL CITIZENS

Just a mangled for...

DPM SO CALLED CALCULATED MOVE TO SCRAP PPSMI IS BASED ON FAULTY AND IRRATIONAL CALCULATION

Media statement by Dr Chen Man Hin, life advisor DAP in Seremban on 22nd Nov 2011

DPM SO CALLED CALCULATED MOVE TO SCRAP PPSMI IS BASED ON FAULTY AND IRRATIONAL CALCULATION

DPM MUHYIDDIN insisted that PPSMI had to be scrapped because only about 5% of primary schools nationwide were taught in two languages, Malay and English while less than 9% were taught in the two languages. This means that 95% of primary schools were taught in Malay for the other subjects and 91% of the students in secondary were using Malay as the medium of instruction.

This implies that MALAY was the main medium of instruction in more than 90% of both primary and secondary.

Asia must safeguard its growth by protecting its people — Noeleen Heyzer

November 18, 2011
NOV 18 — While European and North American leaders struggle to regain fiscal credibility by cutting back social entitlements, those of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meet in Bali this week at a historic turning point, an economic coming of age for their region, which may require them to move in the opposite direction.

Asia remains by far the most dynamic region in the world and the locomotive of global growth. Its growth rate is one and a half times that of any other region. But this growth has been accompanied by growing inequalities, and remains fragile.

Stopping PPSMI will be suicidal for IT and ICT development and national economy will suffer.

Media Statement by Dr Chen Man Hin, life adviser DAP, in Seremban on 11th November 2011

BANGALORE IN INDIA IS THE SILICON VALLEY OF ASIA AND OWES ITS SUCCESS TO THE USE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE FOR ITS RESEARCH INTO SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS.

IT development, research, teaching and practice are conducted in English. Its fame as a world centre for IT has attracted notable scientists. World number 1 computer genius BILL GATES made it a point to visit Bangalore, as it was noted to be Asia’s Silicon Valley.

TIMS study show students from progressive high tech countries score high marks in science

Media Statement by Dr Chen Man Hin, dap life advisor, in Seremban on 10th Nov 2011

The 2007 study by International Science and Mathematics ranking  (TIMS)  shows that students from developed countries are the top scorers and they are the movers and engineers responsible to make their countries progressive and prosperous.    ( see CHARTS)

Why Malaysia is not a member of the Asia Tigers Club of Singapore, Hong Kong, S Korea and Taipei.

Media statement by Dr Chen Man Hin, dap life advisor in Seremban on 9th November 2011

CAN PM TRANSFORM MALAYSIA TO BECOME A HIGH INCOME NATION IN 2016, WHEN HE CANNOT IMPROVE THE ECONOMY TO JOIN THE ASIA TIGERS CLUB OF SINGAPORE, HONG KONG, S KOREA AND TAIPEI?

When he became PM in 2008, Najib announced his proposals to transform the economy with his Economic Transformation Program (ECT) by injection of tens of billions ringgits promised largely by government related companies. His predecessor Tun Mahathir also injected billions but the economy scarcely moved and the FDIs did not come in.

Towards a modern IT, HIgh Tech, and High Income Malaysia

Media statement by dr Chen Man Hin, dap life advisor in seremban on 8th November 2011

PPMSI since its launch in 2002 to achieve a modern IT society has not made progress because of lack of purpose and unity.  It was the product of the Mahathir dynasty, when PM Mahathir was pushing the idea of Bangsa Malaysia or Vision 2020.

ABOLISHING PPMSI WOULD CAUSE A DOUBLE TRAGEDY BOTH TO THE NATION AND TO THOUSANDS OF FAMILIES.

THE HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN THE COUNTRY IS RIDDLED WITH MISTAKES.  THE WORST ONE WAS THE  ABOLITION OF ENGLISH STREAM SCHOOLS AS FROM 1971, IN ACCORDANCE WITH  EDUCATIONAL REFORMS INITIATED BY TUN ABDUL RAZAK.

We  in the DAP opposed the abolition of English stream primary and secondary schools, as English was the language of science and technology progress of the future, but all to no avail. Fortunately because of strenuous opposition by political parties and civil societies, the conversion and abolition of vernacular schools to national schools was prevented.

However the abolition of English medium schools caused havoc to the whole nation.   Students who passed out could not speak English, day to day business was affected and both foreign and local businesses were badly affected. Without English speaking employees, business could not be conducted, as the language of communication in the world was largely in English. Investments  dropped and most foreign investors ran away.

UNIVERSITIES IN MALAYSIA ARE NOT WORLD CLASS

 The WORLD BANK HAS RECOGNISED THIS PROBLEM, AND HAS WRITTEN  A BOOK WHICH IMPLY THAT “ RACE POLITICS AND POLITICS LED TO FALLING UM STANDARDS “

A study of the ranking of world Universities will show the status of Universities in countries of the world.  Ranking is done by legitimate organisations like Times Higher Education World Universities Ranking, Shanghai Jiao Jong University and QS World University Rankings.

Media statement by dap advisor, chen man hin in seremban on 26th september 2011

NAJIB MISSES OPPORTUNITY IN PENANG  TO ANNOUNCE THAT VERNACULAR SCHOOLS WHETHER PRIMARY OR SECONDARY ARE ABSORBED INTO THE NATIONALEDUCATION SYSTEM

PM Najib plays cool with a visit to Penang to announce that he endorses the
continued existence of chinese vernacular schools by handing out a million
ringgit to each school. it is a clever move, as Penang is the home of many
chinese voters and houses the famous chung ling secondary college.

By this move he hoped to win back the Chinese vote which have swung towards
the Opposition throughout the country and even to Sarawak,where the chinese
majority city of Sibu overwhelmingly voted for the DAP at the recent State
elections.

Media statement by dr chen man hin, dap life advisor in seremban on 28th sept 2011

‘MERIT NOT QUOTA’ AS STATED BY PM NAJIB AT THE KHAZANAH MEGATRENDS FORUM ARE STIRRING WORDS, BUT IS IT A POLICY STATEMENT?

WE HAVE HEARD MANY PROMISES AND DECLARATIONS BUT THE WORDS ARE JUST WORDS AND HOPES AND PROMISES ARE NOT FULFILLED.

The words are not new, in fact what he declared yesterday are words and
ideas which the DAP has been saying  for the past 46 years,  since 1965 when
the DAP was formed.