Fatwa council bans yoga for Muslims

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 — The country’s top Islamic body has issued an edict banning Muslims from practising yoga.

The body says the globally popular practise of yoga has elements of Hinduism that could corrupt Muslims. Yoga originated in India.

National Fatwa Council chairman Abdul Shukor Husin says yoga involves not just physical exercise but also includes spiritual elements, chanting and worship.

He told reporters today "it is inappropriate. It can destroy the faith of a Muslim."

The fatwa council's decisions are not legally binding on Muslims, who comprise nearly two-thirds of Malaysia's 27 million people, unless they are enshrined in national or shariah laws. However, many Muslims abide by the edicts out of deference. — AP

What's Wrong with this Sign Boards?

New attraction: Visitors to Lebuh Acheh in Penang will be able to see one of the much-debated multilingual signboards.

Some people living in the cave say that by using multilingual signboards, Bahasa Melayu as the national language will be jeopardised...... Now, look at it yourself? In what way Bahasa Melayu has been jeopardised? Think before you blast, otherwise you deserve to stay in caves...........

Penang firm on road signs, to lodge police reports over vandalism By Shannon Teoh GEORGETOWN, Nov 24 — The Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP) has been instructed to file police reports over the vandalising of two Bahasa Malaysia/Arabic road signs in Lebuh Acheh. Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said he had relayed the message via state exco member for Local Government, Traffic and Environment Chow Kon Yeow to prevent further sabotage of the five multilingual road signs put up by the state government as part of its efforts to promote tourism in the Unesco World Heritage site of Georgetown. According to a press statement by Lim, the signs were vandalised early yesterday morning while three other signs in Bahasa Malaysia/Mandarin and Bahasa Malaysia/Tamil were untouched. "The police report by MPPP is necessary to indicate the government views such vandalism seriously in its efforts to prevent a repeat of such sabotage by irresponsible elements opposed to national unity within the multicultural setting of Georgetown. "As a heritage site, Georgetown belongs not only to Penang but also to the world and all Malaysians," the DAP secretary-general said. The statement reported that both signs were sprayed with red paint but has since been cleaned up by MPPJ. Lim also called on the Barisan Nasional federal government to stop practising double standards by allowing Arabic road signs in Kuala Lumpur and Jawi road signs in Johor but opposing the DAP-led Penang government's road signs in either Arabic, Mandarin, Tamil or English in addition to Bahasa Malaysia in the heritage area of Georgetown. "This issue is only played up by Utusan Malaysia which has a political agenda of helping Umno to regain its political supremacy and racist agenda against non-Malays," he accused. In Parliament today, opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also lent his support to Lim's administration, telling reporters that calling the DAP anti-Malay was misguided. "The police can act aggressively against those protesting the Internal Security Act. But is that more of a security threat than those who spread sentiments that the DAP is anti-Malay?" he asked. The Permatang Pauh MP also rebuked those who said that the DAP was threatening the honour of Malays. "How can multilingual road signs threaten your honour more than those who steal and rob you of your land and rights?" he said, in a reference to Umno leaders. What to "Renung"?

Back to Depression Era tactic....Pity American

'Almost Homeless' says the sign on Paul Nawrocki, of New York as he walks through Times Square seeking employment. After nine fruitless months of looking for work, Nawrocki has turned to a Depression-era tactic to try to land himself a job. — AP pic

In Malaysia, bailouts are old hat

Correct...correct......

NOV 20 — If there's any consolation for enduring the post-Mahathir era hangover, it is that bailouts seem to be a thing of the past. Or are they?

The looming bankruptcy of America's Big Three car makers is a reminder of a time when Malaysia was littered with mega projects that bled red ink and cronyism begat bailout after bailout amid the Asian financial crisis.

Even national car maker Proton Bhd is in much better shape today than, say, three years ago when Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Tahir first took over. It has slowly but steadily improved — albeit helped by burdensome tariffs slapped on other makes — and is producing cars that Malaysians don't actually mind buying.

Malaysia Airlines too has cut the fat and turned around, despite the difficult operating conditions brought on by the high fuel prices earlier this year.

So it's comforting to have to think quite hard to identify a likely candidate for a bailout today.

It's not to say that Malaysian companies are not struggling with large debt burdens, or suffering from sliding revenues. Air Asia, for instance, has debts of more than RM5 billion, which is four times more than its cash and deposits.

It's not to say government business or hard-to-get licences have not been awarded to favoured firms or businessmen.

It's just that the country's top leaders do not have that rock-hard determination to have their own way that former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad did.

Due to his decisions to save his pet projects from the impact of the Asian financial crisis, most of the companies bailed out 10 years ago are now safe in the care of government investment arm Khazanah, chief among them are what used to be Tan Sri Halim Saad's Renong-UEM group and its crown jewel the North-South Expressway toll concession.

Of course, Khazanah has made its own investments, such as the one in wafer-maker Silterra Malaysia Sdn Bhd, which lost RM2.5 billion between 2005 and 2007.

Other projects have been nationalised, such as the greater Klang Valley transport system, which includes the Light Rail Transit system. And, oh, Petronas's shipping arm MISC Bhd bought vessels from Mirzan Mahathir's Konsortium Perkapalan, which was then floundering under RM1.5 billion in debt.

Of course, it would have been preferable to have just let debt-laden, lumbering uncompetitive companies fail, but it's not really the Mahathir way.

Perhaps that's why he has demanded that the policies of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi end with his exit in March. And through his blog chedet.com, he has been advocating the return to his mega-project ways, to keep the economy afloat in the approaching storm triggered by the global financial crisis. He is still trying to get his own way even now.

Fiscal spending in a bad slowdown or recession is always welcome. Unfortunately for Malaysians, much of the wealth that could have financed such spending has been either frittered away or tied up in the bailouts of the past.

So while his words are music to the ears of those who would keep Umno's system of patronage, the rest of the country hopes Khazanah doesn't one day need to be bailed out.

17 Nov 2008: C&C real property index: Prices steady despite slowdown

By Julie Chong (theedgedaily) Prices of semi-detached houses, particularly in prime locations in the Klang Valley, have remained steady on the secondary market despite the general slowdown in the property market, say real estate agents. May Tai of Property Inns Realty says the prices have held although demand has been on the slow side over the past two months. "Demand will still be there depending on the condition and location of the semidee," she adds. According to Philip Thean of Estatecom Properties, areas such as Bangsar, Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) and Damansara Heights remain favourites of both buyers and investors. He says semidees in TTDI will continue to see "very high demand" due to the area's strategic location, amenities and easy accessibility to it via highways. In Damansara Heights, he adds, prices have remained high due to the limited units available there. "The appreciation per sq ft for semidees is very positive and that fuels demand for them. Some buyers may buy the place, tear it down and rebuild it," he says. Semidees in TTDI's Jalan Athinahappan are the most sought-after address followed by those in Persiaran Zaaba and Jalan Sulaiman, says another agent. Jalan Athinahappan is the preferred choice as it is much quieter than the other two areas. In the past two years, the value of semidees on Jalan Athinahappan has appreciated from RM1.65 million to RM1.8 million, adds the agent. According to the agents, there have been fewer purchases by foreigners this year than last year due to the current economic and political uncertainties. Eugene Liew of Jalin Realty says he had a client from China who was interested in buying a property in Damansara Heights earlier this year but he changed his mind as he felt Malaysia was not as politically stable as before. "But the quieter market aside, prices of semidees in popular locations have been stable," he adds. "Owners in Damansara Heights, for example, are holding on to their houses, preferring to wait for the market to recover. I have an owner who wants to sell his house for RM3.2 million. A buyer offered RM3 million but the owner refused to let go because he feels the house is worth keeping until the market is more stable." The trend these days, says Felicia Hew of Tech Realtors, is to go for 2½ to 3-storey semidees as buyers are looking for larger spaces. According to her, the prices have not dropped in prime areas in Petaling Jaya, including Taman Megah and Damansara Jaya, as demand outstrips supply. Read on for what semidee owners in the Klang Valley are asking for their properties.

LETTER FOR MAHATHIR

Bloggers Buzz

Written by Dr Syed Alwi Ahmad

Wednesday, 19 November 2008 00:00

Assalamualaikum wr wb, Dear Tun Mahathir, I think you under-estimate the will of the Rakyat to dismantle racialism. In this era of global competition and high technology - for how long can UMNO shield the Malays from the reality of a free market? You cannot hide the shortcomings of the Malays. No one stops the Malays from acquiring technology. You yourself sent thousands of Malays to study overseas. Yet where are the returns on your investment in them? Think of Proton - shouldn't your Malay engineers work double hard to improve their products like the Japanese? Malaysia has lots of flora and fauna. Shouldn't the Malays dive into Biotechnology on account of Malaysia's flora and fauna? Yet where are the Malay scientists etc? For how long can you evade the shortcomings of the Malays? You see - Malaysia is not unique in this matter. The whole Muslim world faces the same problem. Muslims simply do NOT do enough to chase after and acquire technology! Indeed - there are no industrialized Muslim countries except possibly - Malaysia!! The NEP and Ketuanan Melayu has been around a long time. The Malays should have used the opportunity they had wisely. Sadly - your own UMNO abused it! Now the Rakyat wants an end to racialism. So yes - you are right. The Malaysian Malay is going to suffer because they no longer have the crutch. But that’s Malaysia's problem. What I hope is that you and other Malaysian politicians had better not demonise Singapore in the process. You and others better not look down on Singapore Malays. We Singapore Malays can hold our head high and proudly so. Because we achieve on merit and not quota. It’s a real achievement. Well - it’s your country and not mine. I think that you first have to deal with the reality of Pakatan Rakyat..... Best Regards Dr Syed Alwi Ahmad Syed Alwi bin Ahmad Dr. Syed Alwi Ahmad teaches Applied Physics and Applied Physics Lab. at the Centre for American Education in Singapore. His focus is on Quantum Field Theory and General Relativity. His thesis on black-holes and quantum fields has been published in various conference proceedings. Dr. Syed holds a Ph.D Physics from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA. He obtained his B.Sc from the National University of Singapore.

From Wall Street To Main Street

Proton Next?

If you think the financial tsunami is tailing off, then you are grossly underestimating the stupendous damages the tsunami is going to wreak.
Over the past one month, the US government has been going all out to salvage banks and financial institutions, including the injection of large sums of money and the acquisition of bad assets in a bid to stabilise Wall Street.
Wall Street represents the US financial system. With the collapse of companies like Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, AIG on the brink of bankruptcy and hundreds of other banks lining up for government bailouts, Wall Street has never been in worse shape.
The most worrisome thing is whether the storm will eventually spread from Wall Street to Main Street.
Main Street denotes the overall economy and is constituted of millions of large and small corporations, and hundreds of millions of employed workers.
Wall Street is the blood stream while Main Street the body. If the blood vessels are blocked, the body will be corrupted.
The big guys in Wall Street are the automakers. Some say the US will not be what it is today without the automobile industry. Over a century of automobile industry development makes up half of the US economic development history.
General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, the so-called "Big Three," churn out over ten million vehicles each year.
But now, the Big Three are on the verge of liquidation.
Prior to 2007, General Motors was still the bellwether of global auto industry, and once the world's biggest company.
But in the financial report released last week, the automaker registered US$4.2 billion loss for the third quarter this year, and the cash it had in hand might not see it through beyond next year.
GM's share price plummeted to US$2.13, a level last seen in 1946!
Deutsche Bank has predicted unreservedly that the automaker's target share price would be naught.
Ford and Chrysler are not any better.
The automobile industry involves not only the manufacture of motor vehicles, but also sales, services, accessories... And this whole string of value chain has three million jobs and livelihoods of tens of millions of people hooked onto it, as well as the lifeline for a score of industrial towns.
If the auto industry disintegrates, the US economy is headed for a doomsday.
While Washington is excessively anxious over this, it is simply impossible for it to plug the bottomless hole.
The Bush administration is prepared to set aside US$25 billion to resuscitate the auto industry, but prospects remain clouded as the amount is hardly sufficient to turn things around.

(By TAY TIAN YAN/Translated by DOMINIC LOH/Sin Chew Daily)

MySinchew 2008.11.16

Japan in recession

Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan has entered into recession, Malaysia coming soon?

Pedestrians are reflected on an electric market board in Tokyo today. The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average fell in early trade. — AP pic

TOKYO, Nov 17 - Japan’s economy slid into a recession for the first time since 2001, the government said Monday, as companies sharply cut back on spending in the third quarter amid the unfolding global financial crisis.

The world’s second-largest economy contracted at an annual pace of 0.4 per cent in the July-September period after a declining an annualized 3.7 per cent in the second quarter. That means Japan, along with the 15-nation euro-zone, is now technically in a recession, defined as two straight quarters of contraction.

The result was worse than expected. Economists surveyed by Kyodo News agency had predicted an annualised 0.1 per cent rise in the third quarter.

Japan’s Economy Minister Kaoru Yosano said following the data’s release that “the economy is in a recessionary phase,” according to Kyodo.

But the worst may be yet to come in the wake of the global financial crisis, especially with dramatic declines in demand from consumers overseas for Japan’s autos and electronics gadgets. Hurt also by a strengthening yen, a growing number of exporters big and small are slashing their profit, sales and spending projections for the full fiscal year through March.

Toyota Motor Corp, for example, has cut net profit full-year profit forecast to 550 billion yen ($5.5 billion) — about a third of last year’s earnings.

Compared to the previous quarter, gross domestic product shrank 0.1 per cent, the Cabinet Office said. Business investment — a main driver of Japan’s six-year economic recovery since 2002 — dropped 1.7 per cent from the previous quarter.

“As the global economy is expected to slow down for the time being, downward movements (in Japan) are expected to continue,” Yosano said, according to Kyodo.

Since taking office in late September, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso has unveiled two economic stimulus packages in an effort to cushion the blow. His latest 27 trillion-yen ($275.7 billion) proposal includes expanded credits for small businesses and a total 2 trillion yen ($20.4 billion) in cash disbursements to households.

At its last meeting, the Bank of Japan cut its key interest rate for the first time in more than seven years, lowering it to 0.3 per cent, joining central banks around the world in trimming borrowing costs.

In its semiannual outlook report, the central bank slashed its projection for economic growth to just 0.1 per cent for the year through March, compared with a 1.2 per cent gain it projected in July. It said both exports and domestic private demand have weakened.

The deteriorating conditions also recently led Masamichi Adachi, senior economist at JPMorgan Securities in Tokyo, to downgrade his outlook on the Japanese economy.

“We are now looking for a severe recession, similar to that during Japan’s own financial market crisis in 1997 to 1998, and to the current US recession, in terms of depth of real GDP contraction,” he said in a report.

Monday’s data showed that net exports sapped 0.2 percentage point from growth, as the high cost of importing fuel eclipsed a slight increase in outbound shipments. Imports rose 1.9 per cent, while exports grew 0.7 per cent.

Private consumption, which accounts for more than half of inflation-adjusted GDP, increased 0.3 per cent from the previous quarter. However, the rebound in consumer demand is unlikely to last, economists say. - AP

Yes Yes Dr.M ....You Are Right this time.......

You will not see this news reported in Utusan Malaysia and other BN controlled newspaper and this time I could not agree with Dr.M anymore.........

Dr.M says: "Malaysia will only left with "brainless" people if Malaysia government does not change its policies............. Most of the Malaysian professionals and expert has been snapped out" by foreign countries......... "

"Due to the Malaysia protection rules, Malaysian government has insisted not to recruit any foreign expertise. For eg, there are many IT experts from India are prohibited from entering the country, the same apply to other experts such as doctors......What we see today is that Malaysia flooded with Indonesia Labours"

Dr.M, now you only know ah? Malaysia is now suffering from the policies that carried out by you and the selfish politicians..........

Malaysia, where are we heading to?

馬哈迪：有腦專才被挖走‧大馬遲早只剩“無腦”人

2008-11-14 08:22

• 

  馬哈迪（左）從大馬對外貿易促進局主席丹斯里哈林（中）手中接過紀念品；右：當局首席執行員諾哈魯丁。（圖：星洲日報）

（吉隆坡）前首相敦馬哈迪說，大馬再不改變政策，總有一天，大馬就只剩下沒有腦（brainless）的人，而所有有腦的專才皆被其他國家以高薪挖走。

他說，政府為大馬栽培了很多人才，但這些人才常被外國公司以高薪挖走，而政府為了保護國人，堅持不吸引外國專家來大馬，反之，政府引進很多外勞。

“印度有很多資訊工藝專才，大馬不讓他們來；為了克服勞力荒，我們就從印尼引進很多不專業的外勞。如此下去，有知識的人不斷外流，知識水平低的人卻前來大馬。如此下去，大馬就只剩下‘沒有腦’的人。”

馬哈迪週四（11月13日）受邀在吉隆坡國際貿易論壇上致詞。他在問答環節中回答有關人才外流的問題時諷刺地說，若要對政府公平，挖走大馬專才的外國公司必須“賠償”大馬政府的損失，不過，問題在於，大家都活在不公平的世界。

出國工作或落地生根

他說，大馬專家到外國工作，並把外國的專業知識帶回大馬固然很好，不過，一旦國人在外國遇到漂亮的妻子而在當地生活，就可能連他們曾經住在大馬也忘記了。

馬哈迪以旅遊保健業為例說，政府似乎非常限制外國醫藥專家來馬，因為它認為，所有好的東西都要留給大馬人；孰不知，大馬的醫院一度多到政府要下令停建，因為沒有足夠的醫藥專家去管理、經營。

他說，現在的專科醫生所掌握的知識已越來越專，眼科醫生看的，也可能只是眼睛的一部份，大馬再不與外國專家交流，大馬專家知道的東西就越來越少。

承包商等人都有收入
推行大計劃促進經濟

馬哈迪說，雖然副首相拿督斯里納吉日後當首相時，能全權決定要不要進行大型發展項目，但他提醒道，不展開大計劃，很多人會面對損失。

他表示，進行大工程時，承包商、發展商、供應商、勞工等都有錢賺；若停止這些工程，他們的收入就減少了。

“我過去展開了很多大工程，如今看起來，也不見得有損失。不推行大計劃，經濟成長會放慢。”

針對巫統署理主席拿督斯里莎麗扎可能在黨選中挑戰尋求蟬聯的主席丹斯里拉菲達時，馬哈迪說，巫統是民主的，要競選就競選。

他強調，最重要的是，黨選後，大家都能回歸同一個團隊，不要分裂。

針對候選人涉嫌以金錢購買競選巫統署理主席職的問題，馬哈迪只輕描淡寫地說：“我有秘密消息來源。”

星洲日報‧2008.11.14

Non-Malay PM is possible, says Dr M

Pleaselah Dr.M.... Who Cares?

By Adib Zalkapli

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 12 - Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today it is possible for anyone including the non-Malays to be the Prime Minister, but he warned against harping on the issue of having a non-Malay PM because that would itself be racist.

"When you talk about a non-Malay PM, you are being racist, because you shouldn't ask the question whether a Malay or non-Malay can be PM. Here everyone can become Prime Minister, but he must be a leader of the majority party," said Mahathir after delivering a keynote address entitled Bangsa Malaysia at the Perdana Leadership Foundation here.

He claimed that the situation in Malaysia was different from that of Singapore.

"It's very clear when (Singapore Prime Minister, Lee) Hsien Loong said non-Chinese cannot be the PM, they are very open, of course we say one thing, we do another thing," said Mahathir.

However he said Malaysia is not ready to have a truly multiracial political party.

"It doesn't work, every multiracial party is dominated by one race, like Gerakan and DAP. Even PAP in Singapore is not multiracial," said Mahathir.

He added even the opposition parties have failed to prove they are multiracial despite their repeated claims that racial politics has ended.

He said that the failure during his administration to unite vernacular and national schools under one roof is evidence that the people are not ready to be united.

On the imminent economic crisis Mahathir said the problem can only be solved with international cooperation.

"I can assure this is very difficult to handle. I have no confidence in Obama, what about Najib. This is too big for Obama and Najib. We need to change the system, to change the system, we need international cooperation," said Mahathir.

He said that the present system is open to all kinds of abuses.

"You have to have a system that is more solid, based on something that is more tangible. All currencies of the world were pegged to gold. But when the US decided to go off the gold, that is when things go out of control, because you can print any amount of money without any backing," said Mahathir.