Update of Sdr Karpal's Funeral Arrangement

Some updates for your to share with party cadres and members:

1. the wake on Sunday - initially wake was to be held at Sdr Karpal's residence until Sunday 11am. However, the Penang state government has decided to give Sdr Karpal an official send off. Therefore, on Sunday morning, after a special prayer at 8am, Sdr Karpal's cortege will be moved from the house to Dewan Sri Pinang for a public ceremony from 9am - 11am.  

All  party cadres and the general public who wish to pay last respect to Sdr Karpal kindly proceed straight to the Dewan Sri Pinang. DO NOT GO TO THE RESIDENCE ON SUNDAY MORNING because the crowd will be too big, Jalan Utama will be totally jammed. Go to Dewan Sri Pinang as early as you can instead. 

All members from outside Penang island, especially those that will be coming in chartered buses, please make sure you study the roads leading to Dewan Sri Pinang for smooth passage.

2. Some directives from the Funeral Committee:

(i) all cadres coming for the funeral on Sunday kindly wear party uniform.

(ii) from now to Sunday, branches/state offices that wish to organise special commemoration activities for Sdr Karpal can consider putting up condolence books for signature at your premise for the public and members to sign. All such condolence books can be forwarded to Sdr Gobind/Sdr Jagdeep at / after the funeral. 

(iii) There are queries as to whether branches/members should organise vigil for Sdr Karpal at their respective premises. This is ok provided we take note of religious sensitivity so that people of all faiths can take part and feel comfortable.

3. State-level memorial service  - the Party will hold state level memorial services for Sdr Karpal after the funeral, hopefully within 2 weeks.

Singapore is world’s third richest nation, good luck to super corrupt Malaysia

ShareThis      

Last updated on 22/02/2014 - 08:20

Posted on 21/02/2014 - 09:30

OUTSPOKEN: Fifty-seven years after Merdeka in 1957, where are Malaysians and Malaysia today in terms of wealth?

Isn’t it long overdue for the rakyat to review their one and only known federal government’s managing or mismanaging of the country’s wealth?

What do we have and where are we now in the world in terms of wealth? How about comparing Malaysia with Singapore, again at the risk of detractors screaming “that’s unfair”.

“You must compare an apple to an apple.”
Why do I insist on comparing Malaysia with Singapore?
Singapore was once part of the Federation of Malaysia and is our closest neighbour. It does not have any natural resources, like oil, tin ore, rubber, oil palm, etc – unlike resource-rich Malaysia.

Am I being unfair to compare Singapore, such a handicapped state, with Malaysia, a country blessed with natural wealth?

Singapore broke away from the federation in 1965 to become a republic.
After 49 years, Singapore is the third richest country in the world, as listed by SaveMoney.my. Where’s Malaysia?

In fact Singapore is among the top five richest in the world, behind Qatar (No.1) and Luxembourg (No.2) but ahead of Norway (No.4) and Brunei Darussalam (No.5).
SaveMoney.my is an online consumer advice portal that aims to help Malaysians save money through smart savings in their daily banking, technology, and lifestyle spending habits.

According to its investigative journalist Caitlyn Ng, based on per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on a purchasing power parity in the greenback of US dollars, Brunei’s per capita income is US$54,000 (RM180,171).

Brunei’s wealth accumulation, after gaining independence in 1984, is dependent on its extensive petroleum and natural gas fields.

With a population of about 400,000 citizens, the people enjoy one of the finest health care systems in Asia and even though the medical and health care is not provided free of charge, there is only a token payment of B$1 (about RM3) at all government-run hospitals, health centres and health clinics state wide.

The best part is, children aged 12 and below, receive free medical care. In addition, the citizens are given free formal education at government schools and institutions as well as free hostel accommodation at certain schools and institutions.

Fourth richest Norway has a GDP per capita of US$55,000 (RM183,508).
The Nordic nation discovered oil and gas in the late 1960s that helped boost its economic fortunes with a prosperous mixed economy featuring a combination of “free market activity and large state ownership in certain key sectors”.

Not only does this country have a strong economy, it is also blessed with wondrous natural beauty such as fjords, mountains, northern lights and the midnight sun.
The government maintains a welfare model with free public health care (above a certain level), free schooling for the government-run schools, subsidised higher education, and a comprehensive social security system. In addition to all those, the parents have 46 weeks’ paid parental leave as birth and child benefits.

Next, we have Singapore with GDP per capita of US$61,000 (RM203,527).
Singapore is about 475 times smaller than Malaysia with a market-based economy (defined as “decisions regarding investment, production and distribution based on supply and demand, and prices of goods and services are determined in a free price system). Its economy is strong, both globalised and diversified, but highly dependent on trade, especially in manufacturing.

For government-run schools, at the primary level schooling is free whereas secondary and pre-university education is subsidised by the state, charging only S$60 (about RM157) and S$72 (about RM188) respectively.

The nation boasts one of the most efficient universal healthcare systems that is non-modified where the government ensures affordability of health care within the public health system.

With almost the entire population having access to improved water and sanitation facilities, it is no wonder Singapore has one of the highest life expectancy of 80 years for males and 85 years for females, according to WHO (World Health Organisation).
The second richest in the world, Luxembourg has a US$77,000 (RM256,911) per capita GDP.

It’s a country with many beautiful attractions, from nature reserves to lakes and rivers, from old architecture to modern wonders.

It has a market-based economy like Singapore’s with various sectors such as banking, steel, financial, chemicals, and other products supporting the economy and a country with more than 500,000 people.

Its citizens enjoy a variety of advantages such as unemployment benefits (up to 80% of the insured’s average earnings), old age and widowers’ pensions (all economically active people are entitled to a retirement pension) as well as sickness, maternity and parental leave benefits.

In addition, the healthcare system is one of the best in Europe, offering free basic medical coverage to all the citizens.

And, the world’s richest, Qatar, has a GDP per capita of US$102,000 (RM340,323).
It is blessed with the world’s third largest natural gas reserves and oil reserves.
With an absolute monarchy that has the Al-Thani family as the rulers since the mid-1800s, the country is dependent mostly on its petroleum exports, which account for more than 70% of total government revenue.

Since the reserves of natural resources are predicted to run out by 2023, the government is thus looking to expand industrial development as it is an integral part of its plan to diversify the economy.

Being a Qatari citizen comes with a host of amazing benefits which others can only dream of! They enjoy free education from school to university and free books as well as not having to pay for electricity, water or health care.

They are also given easy access to residential plots of land and low-cost housing loans. Finally, they are also eligible for public assistance if they do not have a job and if they do, they have post-retirement benefits such as generous pensions.

What’s the moral of this article, so far?

What is it that the Top 5 richest have that Malaysia doesn’t have? Nothing. In fact, the five richest don’t have all that we have.

Next, why then is Malaysia in debt to the tune of at least RM800 billion?
Why are Malaysians not even half as better off than any of the people in the five richest nations?

The answer surely lies in the way the Malaysian government manages our wealth. Therein lies the question of competency, accountability and transparency (CAT, pun intended if you get what I mean).

Perhaps, if not the more important, throw in sincerity and honesty to serve the rakyat and country.

Certainly we have much to learn from the governance of the five richest countries in the world?

Those who are still unconvinced and want to challenge facts and statistics and compare apple to apple based on splitting hairs, good luck to you with a super corrupt nation.

Ng Kee Seng believes that God helps those who help themselves. In a healthy democracy, every Malaysian has a role in politics and nation-building.

 

A Timeline of the Malaysian Government’s Many, Many MH370 Screw-Ups

By Adam K. Raymond
New York Times
1st April 2014

Three and a half weeks after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished from the sky, the world is still waiting to find out what happened. Searching millions of square miles for broken plane parts is, of course, no simple task, but it’s only been complicated by the Keystone Cops routine put on by the Malaysian government. Upon news that officials couldn’t even correctly quote the four words uttered by the co-pilot before all communication with MH370 was lost, here’s a timeline of Malaysia’s mistakes since the plane disappeared.

March 8: Immigration officials allow two passengers to board flight MH370 with stolen passports.

March 8: The Malaysian military fails to notice that that the plane has made a sharp left turn, even though it flew over a radar facility.

March 8: The Malaysian government confirms reports that two people boarded the plane with stolen passports, then says it was actually four people, before revising it back down two.

March 9: Five hours after it happened, state-owned Malaysia Airlines finally confirms that MH370 has disappeared.

March 11: Malaysia’s chief of police withdraws the story that baggage was taken off the flight before takeoff because five people didn’t board. Turns out, all those who checked in boarded.

March 11: China calls out Malaysia for the slow pace of its search. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang says Malaysia needs to “step up their efforts and speed up their investigation.”

 
March 11: The search begins in the Malacca Strait, three days after military radar captured MH370 turning from its path and flying over the body of water.

March 12: Officials admit they’ve known all along that a mysterious plane, likely MH370, appeared on military radar flying on a westerly course. Still, they diverted resources to search east of Malaysia.

March 12: Vietnam suspends part of its search for MH370 after Malaysia’s government fails to respond to its repeated requests for information.

March 12: Malaysian police release photos of the two men who boarded MH370 with stolen passports and they both seem to have the same legs. A photocopying error is blamed.

March 13: Malaysian Transport Minister Seri Hishammuddin Hussein denies a WSJ report claiming the plane flew for as many as four hours after disappearing from tracking systems. The government would later accept that version of events.

March 15: Investigators finally confirm that the mysterious flight captured by military data is MH370 and call off the wasted searches underway in areas Malaysian officials already knew were not possible crash sites.

March 15: A week after the flight’s disappearance, authorities search the homes of MH370’s pilot and co-pilot.

March 16: India suspends its search as it waits for Malaysia to say whether it should be searching at all.

March 16: American officials tell the Washington Post that FBI agents are ready to go to Malaysia to help investigate the crash but their assistance hasn’t been requested.

March 17: Officials change the sequence of events concerning the switching off of the plane’s communications system. Rather than insisting it happened before the co-pilot signed off with the words “Alright, good night,” they said it could have happened after, which puts a damper on terrorist-pilot theories.

March 19: Family members of passengers stage a small protest at a press briefing and are forcibly removed by police who are accused of “manhandling” them.

March 24: Malaysia Airlines sends a text to the families of passengers that says, “We deeply regret that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board have survived.”

March 28: Four days after the above text, an official tell the families of passengers that he hasn’t discounted the possibility of survivors.

March 28: Malaysian officials tell the passengers’ families there is “sealed evidence” they cannot know about.

March 31: The Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation corrects early reports that the last communication from MH370 was “Alright, good night.” The actual words were “Good night, Malaysian three-seven-zero.”

Malaysia ranks 39 out of 44 countries in problem-solving test for 15-year-olds, says report

by Elizabeth Zachariah
The Malaysian Insider
April 02, 2014

Malaysia once again fared poorly in a world student performance assessment test conducted in 2012, ending up in the bottom quarter among 44 countries – a result that reinforces the concern that the country’s education system is in tatters.

Malaysia ranked 39 with a mean score of 422 in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) first assessment on creative problem-solving, while neighbouring Singapore came out tops with a mean score of 562, said the report released yesterday by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The overall mean score for all countries was 500.

Malaysia had more than half of the share of low achievers, which means the students tested lacked the skills needed in a modern workplace.

 

In contrast, Singapore only had 8% share of low achievers. The mean share was 21.4%.

On the other hand, Malaysia only had 0.9% share of top performers compared with Singapore’s 29.3%. Malaysia’s share was below the average percentage of 11.4%.

This showed that only one out of 10 Malaysian students, aged 15, is able to solve the most complex problems, compared with one in five in Singapore, Korea and Japan.

Asian countries like Korea, Japan, Macau-China, Hong Kong-China, Shanghai-China and Chinese Taipei make up the top seven of the list.

Students from Canada, Australia, Finland, England, Estonia, France, the Netherlands, Italy, the Czech Republic, Germany, the United States and Belgium all scored above the average.

“Eighty-five thousand students from 44 countries and economies took the computer-based test, involving real-life scenarios to measure the skills young people will use when faced with everyday problems, such as setting a thermostat or finding the quickest route to a destination,” said the OECD, which carried out the tests.

Malaysians scored 29.1 on solution rate on tasks measuring the acquisition of knowledge and 29.3 on solution rate on tasks measuring the utilisation of knowledge while Singapore scored 62 and 55.4 respectively, way above the average score of all countries, which are 45.5 and 46.4 respectively.

“Today’s 15-year-olds with poor problem-solving skills will become tomorrow’s adults struggling to find or keep a good job,” said Andreas Schleicher, acting Director of Education and Skills at OECD.

“Policymakers and educators should re-shape their school systems and curricula to help students develop their problem-solving skills which are increasingly needed in today’s economies.”

Malaysia had also performed poorly in an earlier PISA assessment which measured how students in 65 countries did in mathematics, science and reading.

According to the PISA’s 2012 results, Malaysian students scored below average or ranked 52 out of the 65 countries. In contrast, Vietnamese students ranked 17 out of 65.

Just a week ago, a World Bank senior economist pointed out that the poor quality of Malaysia’s education system was more worrying than the debt level of its households.

Dr Frederico Gil Sander, who is senior economist for Malaysia, had said Malaysians should be “alarmed” that their children were doing worse in school than children in Vietnam, a country that was poorer than Malaysia.

Malaysia’s continuous dismal performance in international assessments highlights the weaknesses in the country’s schooling system, despite the fact that education gets the largest share of funds every year from the national budget.

Critics have pointed out that the PISA results contradicted Putrajaya’s insistence that Malaysia has a world-class education system.

Critics have also questioned the real worth of the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) which produces many students who scored As, but who can’t compete with their peers from Singapore, China and Taiwan.

Opposition politicians have relentlessly attacked Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin over Malaysia’s poor results in international assessment tests.

Muhyiddin subsequently announced that the ministry would set up a special committee tasked with elevating students’ assessments in these tests. – April 2, 2014.