Political and economic costs of Teoh Beng Hock case

 

 

Jaringan Melayu Malaysia has explicitly claimed that one of the defense counsels, Tan Hock Chuan, has concealed the suicide note.
By Lee Wee Tak
It is a bit difficult for me to write with a detached mindset on this one but I have to give it a go....

The latest Revelation of a suicide note purportedly written by Teoh Beng Hock has thrown the whole inquest into disarray and causing great anger for Gorbind Singh and re-open the deepest wound of the Teoh family.

We respect and, in deserving cases, honour the dead, not to heap more disrespect on the dead and more hurt on the living.
Richard Loh in his excellent write up eloquently sum up the possibility that it is a fabrication. Channel News Asia, the Singapore official news channel, reported that Gorbind Singh considered citing Abdul Ghani Patail for contempt. All I have to add is that:
1) suicide notes are meant to be found and if a note is meant to be discovered after 2 months, and held in secrecy over a year, then the time it took for the note to surface render its authencity extremely doubtful
2) the first instance of this suicide note was revealed by Jaringan Melayu Malaysia here .
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Sunday, July 25, 2010
Siasat surat terakhir Beng Hock

syahrir.bakar@utusan.com.my This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

KUALA LUMPUR 24 Julai – Pihak berkuasa diminta segera menyiasat kewujudan surat terakhir tulisan tangan dalam bahasa Cina oleh Teoh Beng Hock sebelum dia ditemui mati di bangunan Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) Shah Alam, tahun lalu.
Yang Dipertua Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM), Azwanddin Hamzah berkata, kewujudan surat itu penting kerana ia berupaya membuktikan bahawa Beng Hock pada waktu itu menghadapi tekanan serta diugut bunuh oleh pihak tertentu dan bukannya SPRM.
‘‘Kewujudan surat tersebut perlu disiasat supaya mendiang Beng Hock dan SPRM mendapat inkues yang adil sementara peguam-peguam yang mewakili inkues tersebut tidak dipengaruhi oleh agenda jahat yang mahu memecahbelahkan perpaduan dalam negara.
‘‘Pelbagai pihak termasuk portal propembangkang, The Malaysian Insider, Malaysiakini dan Malaysia Today telah menyiarkan artikel yang menyalahkan SPRM dan kerajaan dengan mendakwa mendiang telah dibunuh oleh pihak SPRM,” katanya kepada Mingguan Malaysia di sini hari ini.
Azwanddin mengulas tentang maklumat yang diperolehi JMM berhubung kewujudan surat terakhir ditulis Beng Hock sebelum ditemui mati yang kononnya menyatakan dia pada masa itu menghadapi tekanan serta menerima ugutan bunuh.
Kewujudan surat berkenaan turut didedahkan oleh beberapa blog termasuk blog Gerakan Anti PKR.
Azwanddin turut mempersoalkan kegagalan pihak pendakwaan mengemukakan surat itu pada sesi inkues kes berkenaan
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How come this website have exclusive access into withheld evidence not even available to Teoh Beng Hock's counsel or, MACC who is clinging on to dear life defending itself?
Has JMM breached any Official Secret Act provision, contempt of legal proceedings etc?
Read more at: http://wangsamajuformalaysia.blogspot.com/2010/08/political-and-economic-costs-of-teoh.html

Underage marriages: Are we back in the Middle Ages?

By Mariam Mokhtar, Malaysian Mirror

It is possible that Ali Rustam is not aware that girls, once married, risk contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and HIV/AIDS from husbands who also have sex outside of the marital home.  Forcing teenagers to marry does not cure infidelity.

Is he conscious that many girls suffer abuse when they refuse sex? Does he know that many of these young girls may have several children by their early twenties and so, risk their health and suffer pregnancy related mortality?

 The Prime Minister wants a united Malaysia, but each section of our community has its own interpretation of “1Malaysia”. In Malacca, the “1Malaysia” concept of ‘disunity’ goes full circle: Our children are open to abuse, with the full consent of the law.

Battle lines were once drawn between the ‘Haves’ and ‘Have-Nots’. Now, the demarcation includes race, religion and culture with die-hard Malays like the DPM and Perkasa, championing Malay rights first.

Federal law states that no woman will be whipped, but recently, three Muslim women were caned for having illicit sex. It appears that “1Malaysia” fails women.

The decision by the Malacca government to allow male students below 18 and female students below 16 to marry, shocked everyone. Under the Law Reform (Marriage and Divorce) Act, marriage is allowed only for people 18 years and above. It appears that “1Malaysia” does not protect children.

Malacca Chief Minister, Ali Rustam, said that marriages for Muslims below the current minimum age of 16 years for females and 18 for males would be allowed with the permission of parents and religious courts.

Why should normal, responsible parents allow the state to make decisions over their child?

Ali Rustam’s plan was to prevent premarital sex, reduce babies born out of wedlock and cut incidents of adultery. He said, "It is a practical move in preventing cases of unwed teenage mothers and other social problems”.

Ali Rustam and the Malacca Religious Council are both irresponsible and obtuse. Do they honestly believe under-age marriages will stop unwed teenage mothers, prevent social problems and adultery?

This directive appears to condone sex in Muslim teenagers. Should things go wrong and the girl gets pregnant, the couple is given an “opt-out’ clause by the state: They get married; No one is jailed; The girl escapes a whipping. The wedding takes place for all the wrong reasons.

Lowering the age of consent is not going to resolve teenage pregnancies. All that happens is illegitimate children won’t be born - the state ensures the baby’s parents go through the formality of marriage, whether or not they are responsible, ready for it or can afford it.

Will these teenagers make good parents? Some will, but the majority won’t. They are children burdened by bringing up a family. Is that fair?

More social problems will result. What will Ali Rustam do when there is an upsurge of very young teenage mothers or girls as young as 10, 11 or 12 having sex?

These married girls have to forego school and deny themselves an education. Without proper qualifications and skills, they cannot contribute towards the family and nation. Is the Chief Minister prepared for an uneducated underclass which is possibly poverty stricken?

The Malacca ruling means that the girl who marries young is subject to emotional, physical and financial hardship. She has to stop interacting with other children of her own age, to care for her children. Her personal development, growth and freedom are curtailed.

Has Ali Rustam considered that these children are also at risk from sham marriages with paedophiles?

What will Ali Rustam do when the husband tires of these girls and source even younger wives, as polygamy is their right? The likelihood of the husband providing equally for each of his growing family, in terms of money, attention and material goods, is slim.

It is possible that Ali Rustam is not aware that girls, once married, risk contracting sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and HIV/AIDS from husbands who also have sex outside of the marital home.  Forcing teenagers to marry does not cure infidelity.

Is he conscious that many girls suffer abuse when they refuse sex? Does he know that many of these young girls may have several children by their early twenties and so, risk their health and suffer pregnancy related mortality?

The state of Malacca also announced a special school for Muslim girls who become pregnant out of wedlock.

Girls elsewhere enjoy the benefits of an advanced education, high living standard and economic and financial freedom. But it appears, not in Malacca.

Almost 34% of workers earning below poverty line

 

KUALA LUMPUR: A study by the Human Resources Ministry on wages in the country revealed that almost 34 percent of about 1.3 million workers earned less than RM700 a month, below the poverty line of RM720 per month.

Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam said the National Employment Return study in 2009 stressed on the need for wages to be increased, especially after the ministry discovered that it was difficult to rely on market forces alone.

He also cited the World Bank study which found that the wage trend in Malaysia had only recorded a 2.6 percent growth annually during the past 10 years compared with the increasing cost of living during the same period.

“The government agrees that wages will have to be increased,” he told reporters here today.

He said the influx of foreign workers was among several reasons why wages did not increase for the past 10 years.

“Skilled jobs are synonymous with higher wages. However, in many instances, employers do not pay for skills, instead, relying on unskilled foreign workers. This has also largely dampened wage growth,” he said.

Yesterday, Subramaniam said, after closing a workshop on minimum wage, that he would table his ministry’s proposal on a national minimum wage to the Cabinet by end-October this year.

At the workshop, there were differing views on the proposal where some felt the implementation of minimum wage would lead to erosion of competitiveness, wage spirals and unable to narrow the gap between the rich and poor in the country, while others felt it would increase productivity and quality of workers.

The minister said should the government agreed for a minimum wage, new laws would have to be introduced to cover all aspects such as coverage, authority, advisory body, implementation and so on.

A National Council on Minimum Wages would also have to be formed to ensure the smooth implementation of the minimum wage, he said.

The ministry was expected to complete its report on the national minimum wage in four months after which it will be tabled to the Cabinet, he said.

Subramaniam said his ministry has yet to decide if there should be a national, regional or sectoral minimum wage.

“It is up to the Cabinet to give us the direction,” he said, adding that the minimum rate would also have to be worked out.

A poll initiated by the ministry to get feedback on the minimum wage revealed that of the 434 respondents, 76 percent agreed that the government should implement a minimum wage for all sectors.

Foreign Investors Eyeing Malaysia!

 

Malaysia topped the list for enquiries into distressed property listings from specialist funds. 

By Jeevindra Kumar

This could be good news or bad news. The reader has to be the judge. 

RICS Global Distressed Property Monitor, a quarterly guide to the developing trends in the commercial property investment and occupier market, reports that

Malaysia topped the list for enquiries into distressed property listings from specialist funds, with the net balance improving from +22 to +47.  Specialist Funds are one of the places where the 'smart money' sits and waits for opportunities, as opposed to the other type of money which just runs with the herd. The specialist funds are not rushing in yet, but their collective interest level in Malaysian distressed commercial properties is twice the amount of said properties that fell into the market in the last quarter.  

A distressed property is defined as a property that is under a foreclosure order or is advertised for sale by its mortgagee (the real owner of the property aka The Bank). Distressed properties usually fetch a price that is below market value. Note that in a typical real estate cycle, non-residential (commercial & industrial) real estate follows residential trends with a time lag of about 5 quarters (the historical range is 3-8 quarters).  

This raises some questions.
1. Why is the 'smart money' eyeing something which many of us believe has not happened yet, or as some believe, will never happen?
2. Why is Malaysia ahead of all other countries and property markets, sitting squarely on the bullseye?
3. If the smart money is already targetting the distressed commercial real estate sector, what is the story with the residential market then?
4. Or is this just a lagging response to the minor house price correction from Q4 2007 to Q3 2008? 
The answer is important because many subscribe to this belief, "housing provides the only feasible investment opportunity during crisis..." (Source: REHDA presentation slides). And this can set us up for a meltdown if we ignore the warning signs that may or may not be out there. 
A visit to the latest BNM banking statistic reports gives the following picture. This is the best available after wading through the heaps of numbers there, please bear with them, or skip the numbers and just read the conclusions 
Banking System:Loans Disbursed By Sector (RM million) 

SELECTED SECTOR	YEAR TO DATE	2009 TOTAL	Y-O-Y % CHANGE	SECTOR AS % OF 2009 TOTAL	SECTOR AS % OF YTD TOTAL
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY	31366.2	59505.4	+ 5.4	9.0	8.7
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY	17029.5	26346.5	+29.3	4.0	4.7
TRANSPORT VEHICLES	24073.2	40333.6	+ 19.0	6.1	6.9
CREDIT CARD	39168.1	72090.7	+8.6	10.9	10.8
TOTAL ALL SECTORS	359592.3	656958.5	+9.5	-	-

  Banking System: Loans Repaid By Sector (RM million) 

SELECTED SECTOR	YEAR TO DATE	2009 TOTAL	Y-O-Y % CHANGE	SECTOR AS % OF 2009 TOTAL	SECTOR AS % OF YTD TOTAL
RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY	22221.3	44591.9	-1.0	7.5	7.0
COMMERCIAL PROPERTY	11051.6	20406.0	+8.3	3.4	3.4
TRANSPORT VEHICLES	20304.1	37599.4	+8.0	6.3	6.4
CREDIT CARD	40774.9	74147.6	+10	12.5	12.8
TOTAL ALL SECTORS	316275.4	595202.3	+6.2	-	-

 Borrowers are repaying most of their debts at a higher rate than before, except in the residential sector, which has fallen -7.2% in real terms (the nominal fall and the shortfall from the aggregate increase y-o-y). 
The data for the repayment by type is incomplete at BNM, but with what is available, the numbers show that the mortgage delinquency rate amongst borrowers from the lower end of the spectrum is falling, and increasing at the higher end. This might seem contrary to logic until you consider that the rich are far more ruthless when it comes to their investments; they will just walk away, but the working class Joes will scrimp and suffer to meet their obligations. 


The next question is whether the Banks are sitting on the foreclosed inventory as is happening in the West in an effort to keep valuations high enough so that more will enter into debt with them?  


If delinquency rates are increasing at the upper spectrum of the housing market, we should see a decrease in mortgages applied and approved, that is not the case. "New bookings are leading a boost in home loan application. 61% reported mortgage applications for residential properties rose. Approval for housing loans are equally appealing with 50% confirmed that approval of such loans have increased." (REHDA) 


In terms of supply, 57% of developers had new launches in H1 2010, as compared to 37% in H2 2009. The best part is that new launches for apartments, condominiums, semi-Ds and bungalows have increased the most. Semi-D/Bungalow from 19% in H2 2009 to 28% of all launches in H1 2010. (REHDA) 
Where does this put us in the real estate cycle? The reader has to be the judge. 


The Stages of the Real Estate Cycle


1. Population growth and commercial growth at the early stage of the economic cycle, often supported by government encouragement/low interest rates, creates an increase in the demand for housing and commercial buildings in excess of current supply.


2. It takes time for construction to gear up. This construction increases demand for vacant land. Bank loans are attracted to construction and real estate sales as prices begin to rise.


3. As vacant land prices rise a boom in land develops, leading to sub-divisions and speculative resale.


4. The real estate cycle peak is characterized by a high volume of subdivision and sales.


5. Construction catches up with demand and a small surplus is created. Rents can't go up enough to support the higher property costs, making new construction and rental property investment unprofitable. Land values start to adjust downwards, the bubble/mania is broken.


6. Rising interest rates hurt confidence and profits, adding to the downwards pressure on prices. Real estate enters a 'hanging' slow phase. Asking prices stay high but there are few buyers. Building, subdivisions, and speculation drops quickly. Sometimes a panic or crash begins at this point; often the market just slowly dies. Many keep speculating during this phase as they're unaware of the market having turned.


7. Real estate starts to get marked down in price. This tends to take quite a while as owners tend to cling to mortgaged property longer than they would to other assets, like shares. Foreclosures rise but the foreclosure process is not quick.


8. Mortgage costs/interest rates are higher, rents decline, and vacancies increase. The market is dying rapidly. Foreclosures increase; speculators and investors are forced to sell as the capital value of their property decreases below lending margins and rents decrease below holding costs.


9. The bottom of the market has the following characteristics: high vacancies, low construction rates, foreclosures and no speculation. Debt must be written off and properties sell at a deep discount. Only those who entered stage 6 with little or no debt survive to buy the dramatically discounted properties.
(http://www.nowandfutures.com/real_estate.html) 


A quick look at the US, as there is no market better studied than that.


Look at housing. The facts are grim. This is from Charles Hugh Smith:


About two-thirds of U.S. households own a house (75 million); 51 million have a mortgage and 24 million own homes free and clear (no mortgage). Most of the other 36 million households are moderate/low income and have limited or no access to credit and limited or no assets.
If we look up all the gory details in the fed Flow of Funds, we find that household real estate fell from $23 trillion in 2006 to $16.5 trillion at the end of 2009. That is a decline of $6.5 trillion, more than half the total $11 trillion lost in the credit/housing bust. Home mortgages have fallen a negligible amount, from $10.48 trillion in 2007 to $10.26 trillion at the end of 2009. As of the end of 2009, total equity in household real estate was a paltry $6.24 trillion of which about $5.25 trillion was held in free-and-clear homes (32% of all household real estate, i.e. 32% of $16.5 trillion).
That leaves about $1 trillion--a mere 1.85% of the nation's total net worth-- of equity in the 51 million homes with mortgages. ...$6 trillion in wealth is gone
("What we know--and don't want to know-- about housing", Charles Hugh Smith, of two minds.com)
Are we going to have a bust in the property market? Maybe it's not all bad news, if we look at the "Property Recommendations Mid 2010" by Global Property Guide. 
"With a slightly sinking feeling, we make the following recommendations:
Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur is relatively low cost, has good yields, and low transaction costs. Capital gains taxes are low but income taxes are high. The worry is high capital flight, which indicates that something is amiss in Malaysia's economic environment." 


Apart from this recommendation, and another one meant for the super rich who are looking for multi million dollar properties, we are absent from everywhere else. The latest focus is on Colombia, Turkey, South Africa, Egypt, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia as far as emerging markets go, apart from the usual suspects i.e BRIC. 
Conclusion: 
A double dip in the global economy, which is looking like a sure thing, will not see FDI inflows in the areas we would like, but will see money come in to snap up properties at fire sale prices. The beneficiaries are the Banks, the victims will be all of us.  
I wish I could send some strongly worded questions to the Shadow Minister for Housing, does anyone know who he/she is, and where he/she is hiding? 


Sources: BNM, REHDA, RICS, marketoracle.co.uk

What have the Singaporean Malays achieved?

 

This is a speech by the editor of Berita Harian, Singapore:

Speech by Berita Harian editor Guntor Sadali, at the Berita Harian Achiever of the Year Awards ceremony on July 28, 2010

1. It is a fact known to all that Malays in Singapore is a minority. However this minority is quite different from other minorities in the world.
2. Similarly, to some, Singapore is just a red dot in this vast Asian region. But it is no ordinary red dot.
3. It is a grave mistake to equate size with ability, just as it is wrong to assume that being small and in the minority is to be weak and insignificant. The recent World Cup proved this. While Spain may be the world champion, it was minnow Switzerland that became the only country in the tournament that was able to defeat Spain.
4. Forty-five years have passed since Singapore left Malaysia, yet every now and then we still hear non-complimentary comments from across the Causeway about the Malay community here.
5. The latest came from former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who casually reminded Malaysian Malays not to become like Singaporean Malays.
6. He did not make it clear what he actually meant, but the comment was made in the context of the possibility of Malaysian Malays losing their power in Malaysia.
7. Again he did not specify what type of power, but it could safely be interpreted as political power.
8. Now, what could have happened to the Malays here in the last four decades? What could have driven Dr Mahathir to voice his concern and to caution the Malaysian Malays? I wonder.
9. The Malay community in Singapore, of course, know what has become of us here. First and foremost, we have become a completely different community from what we were 45 years ago.
10. We have developed our own identity and philosophy of life that are distinct from our relatives across the Causeway. We may wear the same clothes, eat the same food, speak the same language and practise the same culture.
11. However, the similarities end there. We are now a society that uphold the philosophy of wanting to stand on our own feet, or what is known in Malay as ‘berdikari’ or ‘berdiri atas kaki sendiri’.
12. We do not believe in being spoon-fed or being too dependent on government help. In other words, we do not have a crutch mentality. We firmly believe that a community with such a crutch mentality will soon become a “two M” community – the first ‘M’ stands for ‘manja’ (spoilt), and the second for ‘malas’ (lazy). We definitely do not want to be labelled as a pampered and lazy community.
13. That is why our Malay community here constantly work hard to raise funds to build our own mosques, madrasahs and other buildings in expensive and land-scarce Singapore.
14. Over the years we have raised millions of dollars to become proud owners of these buildings. Through our own efforts and with the help of other organisations, we have also helped the needy not only financially, but also in equipping them with new skills so that they can earn their living.
15. For Dr Mahathir, however, all that we have done and achieved so far are not good enough. He takes a negative view of our changed attitudes and different mindset, and has therefore cautioned Malaysian Malays not to be like us.
16. What about power? For Malays in Singapore, power is not about wielding the keris. For us, knowledge is power. In fact we believe that knowledge is THE real power.
17. The constant emphasis by the community on the importance of education and acquiring knowledge has led to the formation of institutions such as Mendaki, Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP), the Prophet Mohamad Birthday Memorial Scholarship Board (LBKM) and many others.
18. These self-help organisations not only provide financial help to needy students, but also strive to nurture our students to their full potential. At the same time, these organisations help to tackle various social ills faced by the community.
19. Again, we do these all on our own. Malay children here attend the same schools as other Singaporeans with a shared aim – to obtain a holistic education and, of course, achieve good examination results. Yes, it is tough. Like all other children, our Malay students have no choice but to work hard. It is a reality of life in Singapore that we have come to accept – that there is certainly no short cut to success. We do not believe in getting any special treatment, because it would only reduce the value of our achievements and lower our dignity.
20. The meritocratic system that we practise here is, without doubt, a tough system but it helps us to push ourselves and prevent us from becoming ‘manja’ and ‘malas’.
21. Still, Dr Mahathir and some Malay leaders across the Causeway do not like the way we do things here and have therefore warned Malaysian Malays not to be like us. On our part, there is certainly no turning back. Meritocracy has proven to be a good and fair system.
22. It pushes us to work hard and makes us proud of our achievements. We can see how it has benefited us by looking at the growing number of doctors, lawyers, magistrates, engineers, corporate leaders and other professionals among us. It is the successes and achievements of some of these people that Berita Harian wants to highlight and celebrate when we launched this Achiever Award 12 years ago.
23. Tonight, we have another role model to present to our community. So, the question is: Shouldn’t our friends and relatives across the Causeway be like us – Malays in Singapore?
24. It is definitely not for us to suggest or decide. And we too have no intention of asking our own community if we would like to be like them either, because we have already chosen our very own path for the future.
25. We, the Malays in Singapore, should be proud of our achievements, because we have attained them through hard work. It is true that what we have achieved so far may not be the best, and that we are still lagging behind the other races. There are large pockets in our community facing various social problems.
26. We have achieved so much, and yet there is still a long way to go. But we should not despair. We can do a lot more on our own if the community stay united and cohesive. In critical issues, we should speak with one voice. We need to help and strengthen each other while at the same time reach out to the other communities in multi-racial, multi-religious Singapore.
27. A successful and prosperous Singapore can only mean a successful and prosperous Malay community. Can we do it? Well, to borrow US President Barack Obama’s campaign slogan, “Yes, we can”.

Some Malays reject 7pc discount for luxury homes

 

 

Pua proposed for Selangor to do away with Bumiputera discounts for million-ringgit homes. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 — Some middle-class Malays have surprisingly rejected the seven per cent Bumiputera discounts for luxury homes, calling the policy “embarrassing” and “unconstitutional” despite Malay politicians saying it was still necessary.

Their stand contradicted Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s opinion that removing the discount for select properties as proposed by DAP’s Tony Pua would anger the Bumiputeras, as well as Umno Youth leader Khairy Jamaluddin’s argument that it was still needed to widen Bumiputera ownership in strategic areas.

“It is quite embarrassing to us Malays because it is as if we cannot afford that kind of property,” real-estate business owner Haslinah Yaacob told The Malaysian Insider yesterday.

“It is against the Constitution,” said the 49-year-old, who added that housing discounts are not listed under Article 153 of the Federal Constitution which guarantees the special position of the Malays.

Khairy said the discount was still required to encourage Bumiputeras to own property.

Retired engineer Ismail Ibrahim agreed with Haslinah that the Bumiputera discount was unconstitutional and should be scrapped.

“The discounts are illegal and unconstitutional. There is no such thing as special rights of Malays in our Constitution,” said Ismail, 60, pointing out that Malays’ “special position” as defined in Article 153 of the Federal Constitution did not translate to “special rights”.

The engineer added that the “special position” of the Malays refers to religious and family matters, and not houses.

Pua, the DAP national publicity secretary, recently urged the Selangor government to abolish Bumiputera discounts for million-ringgit luxury homes as well as commercial property in the state to improve competitiveness and restore investor confidence. However, he proposed keeping the discounts for houses up to RM500,000 and commercial properties up to RM2 million.

On another point, businessman Abdul Aziz Ahmad said the Bumiputera discount was not an Islamic practice as the affirmative action did not benefit the poor in general.

“The policy should cover everyone regardless of race. That is more Islamic,” said the 50-year-old businessman.

Abdul Aziz also criticised the New Economic Policy (NEP) for its failure to achieve the stated 30 per cent Bumiputera equity target since its inception in 1971.

“For 40 years, we failed to achieve even 20 per cent of Bumiputera equity,” said Abdul Aziz.

“It (the NEP) is a policy to cover for Umno, to show that they are fighting for Malay interests. But it is for their own benefit, for certain segments in society,” added Abdul Aziz.

Najib has been criticised for backtracking on the New Economic Model (NEM), which was meant to remove the rent-seeking and patronage practices left over from the NEP, after he called the policy a “trial balloon” when faced with a sour reaction from some Malay groups.

The discount may not last forever, said Najib, but will stay for now.

“If I can afford RM2 million, I should be embarrassed to ask for a seven per cent discount,” said management consultant Mohd Radzi Mohd Taib, 50.

“The discount should not be based on racial status but economic basis,” added Mohd Radzi.

Like Abdul Aziz, the management consultant criticised the NEP for reducing the competitiveness of the Malays.

“We (Malays) are weakened by NEP because we don’t compete on the same level,” said Mohd Radzi, pointing out that Malay students would not study as hard as their non-Malay counterparts as they could still enter government universities even with lower grades.

Communications practitioner Arfan Amaluddin echoed Mohd Radzi’s points, and said that the Bumiputera discount policy merited a relook in order to make the grouping more competitive.

“We should revisit the decision, should it be detrimental in the long run. I believe it is time to do so,” said Arfan, 32.

“This is so that we, the sons of the soil, will in fact become more competitive, especially in order to attain that lofty goal of becoming a ‘developed’ nation,” he added.

Although Najib admitted yesterday that the Bumiputera discount practice might “not last forever”, he said that it would not be removed now, citing possible dissatisfaction among the Malays.

The Najib administration had also decided to maintain the 30 per cent Bumiputera equity target in the 10th Malaysia Plan, leading critics to question if the “merit-based” NEM would be finalised months after its debut in March this year.

Jui Meng: Umno controls the minds of the Malays

 

By Fazy Sahir
FMT EXCLUSIVE

PETALING JAYA: Umno, being the largest political party in the country which has ruled over the last 50 years, has poisoned the minds of the Malays, feeding them lies that their position is under threat from the non-Malays, former health minister and MCA vice-president Chua Jui Meng said.

"All these years Umno has brought about this propaganda that the Malays were under threat. They try to control the hearts and minds of the Malays, telling them that the advancement of other races would make them poor. This propaganda to poison the minds of the Malays has resulted in the Malays not being able to see the true picture.

"The problem is not the other races but Umno itself. This message is important for all Malays in Malaysia.

They must be aware of the truth. We have to break their mindset,” he said in an exclusive interview with FMT recently.

He was quick to add that the Malays in urban areas were realising the truth of Umno's political game plan.

However, he said, the Malays in the outskirts, such as in his home state of Johor, still had the orthodox mentality that Umno was Malay and Malay is Umno.

“This kind of propaganda poisons the minds of the Malays," said the 67-year-old lawyer-turned- politician.

He added that access to the new media as well as a paradign shift in the mindset of the urban Malays would enable them to break away from the Umno mentality.

He stressed that Pakatan Rakyat should aspire to bring about the change in the mindset of rural Malays in order to see a change in the country.

"I have told (Opposition leader) Anwar (Ibrahim) that I am a Chinese leader in Pakatan wanting to help poor Malays. My heart goes out to them... we need to help these Malays.

“In Johor, there is a huge information gap. We have to narrow this gap. After 50 years in power, Umno is still spreading lies to the people through the mainstream media which is under Umno control,” he said.

Chua, however, said that Pakatan should not be only concentrating on uplifting the Malay community's economic status.

"We tend to forget other races. Like the Indians, they too have problems. Even when they are citizens of this country, their rights are denied. This is the way of Umno," said Chua, who was in MCA for 35 years before deciding to join PKR late last year.

Plans for Johor

Asked on his plans for Johor as the new state PKR chief, he said he was not a novice in politics and knows the ways of the BN from a political perspective, which uses the mainstream media to win votes.

He said since joining the opposition front, he had become more open to the alternative media.

He said on the part of the Chinese, the community had repented and now had an open mindset knowing that they could live in this country without being dependent on Umno.

"The Chinese community works hard and are smart. Their priority is education... although they only receive minimal assistance from Umno, they don't give up. When they are educated, they can be critical and analytical in the way they think," said the veteran politician.

He also revealed that there was no racial issue in Malaysia, although Umno insists on racialising each and every issue that crops up.

"The Malays are blinded by Umno. Look at the education system. It does not allow our students to be independent and become critical of things. We still have laws to control university students... all these are meant to control the mindset of the Malays.

He also slammed Umno for using Islam to further their political agenda despite indulging in immoral activities
like corruption.

"Umno talks about religion. Do they really know what they are talking about? If they know what they are talking about, then why are they still doing wrong? If they hold on to the Quran, then they should also know that corruption takes them to hell... but they still go ahead and do it.

“This message should be sent to the Malays in rural areas: the rich in the country are not the Chinese but those in Umno and their cronies.”

Opps.....Malaysia shrinking

HAVE OUR MINISTERS AND POLITICIANS WAKE UP?

By TAY TIAN YAN
Translated by SOONG PHUI JEE


Oh no! How could this happen?


When we look at the latest maps, we can see that Singapore has become larger, so are Indonesia, Vietnam,


Thailand and other South-East Asian countries. But Malaysia is the only country that is shrinking.


I am not referring to the physical geographical maps here. Geographically, Malaysia’s total landmass of 329,845 sq km will remain constant.


I am talking about the investors' maps. They are a kind of economic map, which is much more important than the physical geographical maps.


According to current thinking, the size of a country should be proportional to its economic status.


For example, Ethiopia has an area of 1,100,000 sq km, but no foreign investor bothers about it because of its poor economy. As for Singapore, it occupies only a dot in the physical geographical maps, but it is one of the superior countries in the economic maps.


For investors, the more competitive the economy of a country is, the greater economic growth potential it has, and the greater proportion it will have.


According to the United Nations World Investment Report 2010, the foreign direct investment (FDI) in


Malaysia has plunged 81% from US$7.32 billion in 2008 to just US$1.38 billion last year.


In other words, Malaysia has shrunken in the eyes of investors.


As for Singapore, its FDI for last year was US$16 billion.


Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines receive more foreign investments compared to Malaysia.


Malaysia is a country relying on exports and trade and its economic growth has largely been driven by foreign investments, especially in the 80s and early 90s.


Why are investors avoiding Malaysia today?


It is because the country lacks competitiveness and is less attractive, causing the investors to have less
confidence and interests.


They cannot see Malaysia in investment maps, and they just bypass Malaysia when they come to Asia.


Less foreign investments lead to less inflow of capital and technology, less economic activities and fewer job opportunities. Also, the target of 6% economic growth and the goal of transforming the country into a high-income economy may also be unable to achieve.


Even worse, the capital outflow from Malaysia in the same period was US$8 billion. In other words, existing domestic and foreign investors have also transferred their capital abroad.


Therefore, we can no longer expect domestic capital to drive domestic demand and growth.


What have been done by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority?


Let's see how foreign investors view Malaysia:

• the lack of creativity and bureaucracy is serious in the country
• the government is not open enough and there are complicated and lengthy procedures
• corruption problem is serious and there is a great deal of red tapes
• there is a shortage in general labour, and a lack of professional manpower
• it has many strong slogans but lacks competitive advantage

Are the government, political parties and politicians really aware that Malaysia has reached a crucial point in which we will have to either wake up and reform or sink and disappear from the world economic map?

Selangor BN clutching at straws

Selangor BN clutching at straws

By Stanley Koh

COMMENT The Chinese celebrate Zhongyuan, the ghost festival, on the 15th day of the seventh moon in their calendar. That coincides with Aug 15, but some politicians, not necessarily of Chinese descent, have started invoking ghosts earlier than scheduled.

The unexpected bereavement of Selangor’s BN government in 2008 bewildered many ambitious members of the coalition. The shock threw them off balance. It dazed and confused them as they tried to figure out what the future held in store for BN and, especially, for their individual selves.

Not anymore. Or so it seems. They appear to have finished licking their wounds and are now vigorously going after the ruling Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

Selangor BN’s recent actions and rhetoric can be likened to those of a private demolition company desperately trying to find fault with a spanking new building so that it can tear it down just to keep itself relevant and to spite the contractor chosen to build the new structure.

BN’s self-appointed champions have been whipping up trivial issues in the hope that the noise they make will drown out the voices of those recalling the sins of the previous administration.

But it is not so easy to chase away hungry ghosts. Words can mislead, but they cannot obliterate the record of years of extravagant and wasteful public spending, graft, power abuse and poor governance.

Onlookers of average intelligence can tell that BN has conceived its ghost stories poorly and they are not rushing for tickets to watch the theatre versions.

The much-promoted road show about shifting sands and muddy waters is a flop. It has not generated any meaningful interest. Instead of injecting fear into Pakatan, as promised in the pre-publicity, it has shown up the organisers and actors as poor amateurs and losers.

It is hard to tell whether the BN script is supposed to be serious or comical. Perhaps it is a fantasy. In contrast, Pakatan has gone for realism.

To understand the water issue, for instance, one only has to read the explicit and detailed account given by Kuala Selangor MP Dzulkefly Ahmad in his article, “Battle over Selangor’s water continues unabated”. Dzulkefly, a PAS leader, sits on the Selangor Water Panel.

The would-be BN heroes are even pretending to show deep concern for the health of the natural environment, something they used to rape with abandon. In fact, the previous Selangor state government, like many other BN governments, have a dismal record when it comes to protecting the environment.

The sad truths

“
BN has left a record of poor management of land and water resources, which we can blame for major floods, water shortage, pollution and loss of biodiversity in Selangor and elsewhere.

A biologist with a local university reported in 2005 that eight lakes and 11 rivers in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur had alarmingly high levels of pollutants caused by effluents from livestock farms and pharmaceutical industries.

Mangrove forests in Pulau Ketam, Pulau Tengah and Pulau Klang were over-logged and fast depleting.

The multimillion Paya Indah Wetlands sanctuary was a failure. It had to close down, even though the public had paid RM33.4 million for it.

There are more sad truths. The BN government promised that privatising water services would enhance the quality and availability of household water.

The fact is that millions of homes have been forced to install water distillers and cleansing equipment because of the poor quality of water flowing through the pipes. Water rationing has become an off-and-on affair, partly because of illegal logging under the BN administration.

Indeed, because logging is such a good source of income for BN cronies, many eco-systems in the country have been seriously compromised.

Under BN rule, our rivers die. In 1990, there were 48 clean rivers. By 2000, there were only 34 clean rivers left. It is anybody’s guess how many rivers are still clean now.

In short, BN has left a record of poor management of land and water resources, which we can blame for major floods, water shortage, pollution and loss of biodiversity in Selangor and elsewhere.

But incompetence, greed and corruption defile more than just water and air. They pollute morals as well. The Selangor exco village, the Cairo trip of the state public accounts committee and many other unsettled issues from the ghostly past still haunt Selangor residents and taxpayers.Comic sketches
In 2006, a Selangor resident calling himself Subra wrote in a newspaper’s letters column:

“I have very little faith that things will ever change for the better as long as this country (under BN) rewards incompetency and throws merit down the drain.

“Corruption and incompetency are rife. My dealings with MPPJ on my father’s behalf were a joke. For instance, it took me three years and countless visits to the engineering department to get the 30-year-old crumbling roadside drain outside my house fixed.”

With all these in mind, one wonders where the current onslaught by Umno and MCA is heading. Political point scoring is one thing, but to exorcise the sins of the past is something else.

Hopefully, Selangor voters are cultured enough to distinguish between comic sketches put up by incompetent schoolboys and realistic plays presented by professional thespians.

---

Stanley Koh was the former head of MCA's research unit.

Najib, you can't band aid the economy

You can't band-aid the economy, Najib told

By FMT Staff

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian economy will continue to sink unless the government comes up with a wholesome reform plan and sincerely follows it through, said PAS leader Dzulkefly Ahmad.


He said it was time for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to admit that Malaysia was no longer attractive to investors, who prefer to take their money to neighbouring countries because of their more conducive political and economic climates.


Instead, he added, Najib was “desperately trying to band-aid the economy” to attract investors so that the national GDP could be pushed up to six percent in the next five years.


Lethargic and embarrassing—that was how he described the current state of the Malaysian economy, once among the most dynamic in Asia.


Foreign investments have fallen, compared to investments in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and even Vietnam.


A recent United Nations report said Malaysia was capable only of competing with third and fourth world nations like Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Timor-Leste.


It noted that foreign direct investments (FDIs) in Malaysia had plunged from USD2.56 billion in 2004 to negative USD2 billion in 2006, negative USD2.7 billion in 2007 and negative USD7.67 billion in 2008.


Malaysia is unmarketable


Dzulkefly said one of the reasons investors were running away was that the cronies of BN leaders had an unfair advantage over them.


“There was an exodus of RM24 billion in 2009 because local investors wanted to invest elsewhere,” said the MP for Kuala Selangor.


“Why is that? Because they allege that domestic opportunities have been reduced. They are not cronies; so they can’t compete. The Finance Ministry awards contracts only to certain companies. If you look hard, you’ll see the same faces all the time. It’s frustrating to investors.”


Dzulkefly also spoke of attempts to cover up huge corruption scandals, saying they had made Malaysia unmarketable.


“Just look at the country’s marketability today. With so many scandals, such as the controversial purchase of Scorpene submarines, it is no surprise that investors have a bad opinion about the country. These scandals have convinced them that Malaysia is a bad bet.”


He said the government must adopt a competitive attitude.


“There have been reports that Australian investors don’t want to come to Malaysia because the Internet services are weak,” he said.


“I brought this up in Parliament and read the reports out loud. Investors want speed. Investors want efficiency. We promised them megabyte broadbands, but they can get only kilobytes.”


Buying at higher price


He took the government to task for its indecisiveness in implementing the so-called New Economic Model in the face of attacks from the ultra-Malay movement Perkasa.


He called on Najib to stop blaming the global financial crisis for the shrinking FDIs, noting that other countries in the region were not as badly affected.


"The mistake here is that the BN leaders are still comatose,” he said.


“I recently raised the issue of the purchase of 38 train carriage units for Keretapi Tanah Melayu, said to cost RM1.8billion. When we checked, we discovered there was an excess payment of RM500 million.


“At the beginning there were eight bidders. But all their bids were rejected. The government went to China and bought the carriages for RM500 million more than the actual price.


“The Transport Ministry was apparently forced by the Finance Ministry to buy the units in China at a higher price.”