Military procurement is more important?

Read this and let you judge how good is our government.......

MARCH 18 — During the era of Mao Zedong, there was a great saying “rather nukes than trousers”.

However, it has turned into a negative adjective later.
Of course Malaysia will not turn into such kind of country. But according to the annual report released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the total imports of weapons for Malaysia over the past five years has soared by 722 per cent compared to the previous five years.
Even the Defense Minister does not deny it.

Do we need to buy so many weapons? Would the country still have enough of resources to develop education and promote economic transformation after the budget has been spent on military equipment?
Malaysia has been running a budget deficit for 13 years and it is a record-breaking deficit this year, amounting over RM51.1 billion, or 7.4 percent  of gross domestic product (GDP). The central government debt has also made a record increase by 18.3 per cent, reaching RM362.5 billion.
It accounts for 52.4 per cent of gross national product (GNP). Averagely, each Malaysian is bearing RM13,426 of debt.

As the financial situation has been deteriorating, the government is trying everything possible to cut expenses, including reducing 20 per cent of school funding, reducing sugar subsidies and it is also planning to increase fuel prices.

Schools will now have to bear the cost of utilities and the burden of the poor has been increased. It is really hard to understand why the government still increases military spending.

Singapore’s military procurement grew by only 146per cent and Indonesia grew by 84 per cent, but why has Malaysia grown by 722 per cent, the highest among the three? Old weapons need to be replaced but does it need to surge by seven times?

There is no war in Southest Asia, and there is no sign showing an outburst of conflict.

ASEAN has already signed the Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone with many countries and Malaysia has also been protected by the Five Power Defence Arrangements. Basically, we are not facing any safety problem.

But Malaysia has bought two submarines, six frigates and 26 fighter aircraft over the past five years.
Malaysia spent about RM3.4 billion to buy 18 Su fighters and RM4.6 billion to buy two submarines.
However, the military procurement is not transparent enough. When they bought the Scorpion submarine, there was a dispute in the Parliament over whether the RM530 million was paid for the commission or service charge.

At that time, the government pledged that the quality of the submarine was the best in the world. But our first submarine was unable to dive due to technical defect.

The Budget 2010 allocations totalled RM191.5 billion, of which RM138.3 billion is for operating expenditure and RM53.2 billion for development expenditure.

But a total of RM11 billion has been allocated for defence. How much money is left for development, education, welfare, medicine, as well as research and development (R&D)?

A total of RM30 billion allocated on education seems to be a great amount of money but it only accounts for 15.67 per cent of the total expenditure. In Singapore, education spending has always been accounted for 20per cent of its total government expenditure.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian R&D expenditure only accounts for 0.6per cent of GDP. It is relatively low compared to advanced countries.

How easy the economic transformation could be with such a serious imbalance in resources allocations? — mysinchew.com
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or the newspaper. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.

Is Malaysia heading to an early election?

 

 

The government led by Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been receiving alot of heat on several U-turns in policies recently. - Picture by Choo Choy May

KUALA LUMPUR, March 15 — The country’s recent pullback on fiscal reforms has fuelled talk that the government of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is gearing up for snap polls even though the next general election is not due until 2013.
Following are questions and answers on the possible timing and the political and economic implications of an early general election in the country.

Why are early polls likely?
The end of fuel subsidy reforms as well as a delay in tabling a Goods and Services Tax Bill in Parliament indicate a reluctance by the government to impose measures that would have an impact on poorer Malay voters, a critical vote bank for the Umno, backbone of the ruling coalition. This in turn signals a government that may be making preparations for early polls.
Should investors worry?
To some extent. The last elections turned unpredictable in 2008, when the opposition alliance, now led by former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, scored the country’s biggest-ever election upset. It ended the government’s two-thirds parliamentary majority, and the opposition wound up controlling five of 13 states. That election result triggered a stock market sell-off.
Recent moves to halt fiscal consolidation imply the government thinks it can narrow its budget gap, which stood at a 20-year high of 7.4 per cent of GDP in 2009, purely on the back of increased economic activity and higher oil prices.
Longer term, failure to implement fiscal reform leaves the country, Asia’s third-most trade dependent economy, vulnerable to external economic and commodity price shocks. State oil company Petronas provides almost half of all government revenues.
When could the polls be held?
The most probable timing now seems to be during 2011, for several reasons:

• The government normally calls for polls only when economic growth is in positive territory. Najib is aiming for GDP growth of at least five per cent this year after the economy contracted 1.7 per cent in 2009. The government would need at least until the first quarter of next year for the recovery to reach ordinary voters.
• Many of the reform pledges that Najib has made, covering six core areas from fighting graft to improving urban transportation, have deadlines at the end of this year.
• Elections in Sarawak. The state is Barisan Nasional’s (BN) stronghold that provides the government with 30 of its 137 Parliament seats. Sarawak is the sole state in the country that holds state elections separately from national polls. It must hold polls by June 2011.
• If the government held the next Sarawak state election concurrently with federal polls it would stretch the opposition’s meagre campaign resources even more thinly.
• Alternatively, the government could call for state elections in Sarawak either late this year or early next year, in the hope that a strong showing would bolster confidence ahead of national polls that would follow soon after.
• But even if the government scores a landslide win in Sarawak, it may not be willing to take a risk in far more politicised mainland Malaysia where the PAS is making inroads into its Malay voter base.
• Petrol price hikes in 2006 helped the opposition DAP to an unprecedented six state seats in Sarawak polls that year.
• “I believe the Sarawak polls will be held separately before the next general election because Sarawak is usually taken as a rough barometer before the national polls are held,” said Shaharuddin Badaruddin, associate professor at Universiti Teknologi Mara.
• Calling for an election later than next year also poses a risk for the government due to the possibility of a rise in religious and racial tensions. Ethnic Chinese and Indian voters have shown no sign of returning to BN since 2008.

What are the indications of imminent polls?

• The following indicators will provide a rough early warning that polls are coming in the next three to six months. None have taken place so far:
• BN component party leaders and state leaders from the Umno, the lynchpin of the 12-party ruling coalition, will be summoned by Najib to finalise their proposed list of election candidates.
• The Election Commission will also indicate looming polls with a step up in its own logistical preparations and a finalising of the electoral rolls.
• A run-up in the stock market. In the past, government-linked funds were asked to prop up the stock market several months ahead of elections to create a feel-good factor for the economy, though the extent of such rallies varies.
• What would be the outcome of the polls?
• While the Opposition has never been stronger in the wake of what locals dubbed the 2008 “political tsunami”, the odds are still loaded in favour of BN.

The Anwar-led opposition has won seven out of nine by-elections held since the 2008 elections and most of Umno’s partners in BN are either paralysed following the drubbing they received in 2008 or plagued by infighting.
Anwar is battling charges of sodomy in court, in what he says is a repeat of a political conspiracy that saw him jailed for six years after his sacking as deputy prime minister in 1998.
The government insists he will get a fair trial. One risk is that a guilty verdict could energise and embolden the opposition. Alternatively it could drive a wedge between the reformers, ethnic Chinese and Islamists that comprise his alliance.
Umno has 78 parliamentary seats. Adding in allied MPs from its stronghold states of Sabah and Sarawak, its total rises to 117 seats, enough for a simple majority in the 222-seat Parliament even if all the coalition’s ethnic Chinese and Indian parties fail to win anything.
Najib however needs a two-thirds majority if he is to legitimise his rule and avoid a leadership challenge, a fate that befell his predecessor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who presided over the 2008 election losses. — Reuters

Beware of Double Face Politician.......

There is one party in Malaysia very famous in producing half past six politicians who always acted in their own interest . The bestv things they can contribute to this country is to create hatred or huru hara among rakyat without thinking the consequences.........

 

One day they can talk " Kalau ornag China di Pulau Pinang  buli kita , kita lawan balik orang China " on the next day they can talk about unity...the worst thing is that they have license to bad mouth and they always immuned .......surely you know what I meant ......

One Malaysia my footlah....

 

 

 

Husni talks up unity, mum about ‘racial’ remark

By Lee Wei Lian
KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 — Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah reaffirmed the 1 Malaysia concept and spoke about unity today while ignoring opposition claims that he uttered “racially-laden” remarks in Penang last week.
DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang expressed yesterday that Husni (picture), whom he had perceived to be rational and reasonable, was reported to have said: “Kalau orang Cina di Pulau Pinang buli kita, kita lawan balik orang Cina (If Penang Chinese bully us, we fight back the Chinese)” at Penang Malay Chamber of Commerce dinner last Friday.
In his speech at a GST conference today, Husni touched on the importance of national unity and shared personal experiences in the US and of his son.
He said that when he went to the US, he saw the US national anthem "The Star Spangled Banner" being played at nearly all functions and Americans of all races would stand up in a show of American solidarity.
“No matter what their race, they stand tall and stand together,” he said. “This is what our prime minister wants.”
He also said that he was very happy that his son shares his ice-cream with his friends of different races at school.
“I see how my son would eat some of his ice-cream and then pass the ice-cream to his Chinese and Indian friends,” said Husni. “He likes to mix and does not sit with only Malay friends. My son celebrates the different races and he will stand tall.”
“I went to a biotech conference once and was told this is the most suitable country to conduct clinical trials for drugs as we can test the drugs on different races and not just one race,” he added.
“Malays, Chinese and Indians constitute 40 per cent of the global population. You can see the potential of what God has given us. The prime minister says that we must not just tolerate each other but celebrate each other.”
The second finance minister did not give a press conference after his speech but sources close to the minister said that his remarks in Penang were likely to have been taken out of context.
Sources say that Husni, known to be a proponent of meritocracy and economic competitiveness from his previous speeches, was responding impatiently to complaints by the Penang Malay Chamber of Commerce that Malays were “being bullied” by DAP in Penang and he was telling them to respond by working harder and being more competitive.
They also say that the minister was not referring to the Chinese in general but to DAP.
Husni also touched on the need for Malaysians to embrace change due to the more competitive global environment and added that positions should be obtained based on merit and capabilities.
“We used to get batik from Malaysia and Indonesia but now we are getting silk batik from China for a low price,” he said. “We have to move up the economic value chain.”

Things that you never dream of under Barisan Nasional

Although RM100 is not  a big amount, it shows that we have state government that really cares......... a good gesture that you never dream of under previous government.....

Penang senior citizens, have you registered to get RM100? 


http:// isejahtera.penang.gov.my

Let's see what UMNO will spread rumours about this again.......We heard that UMno opposition leader has gone around telling people that if one register their name means that they are registered as DAP member...what an idiot talk.....

Penang senior citizens to get RM100 annually

PENANG, Feb 28 — The state government will distribute aid of RM100 annually to each senior citizen in Penang who are eligible and aged 60 and above beginning April.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the aid, given under the Senior Citizens Appreciation Programme, was one of the efforts initiated by the state government to assist and appreciate the elderly.
“There are 132,000 senior citizens in the state but only 62,000 had registered at the State Assemblymen’s Service Centres to receive the aid and according to the statistics, the areas with the most number of senior citizens are in the North-East and Seberang Perai Utara districts,” he told reporters, here today.
Lim said that beginning tomorrow until March 8, senior citizens could check the name register and their personal particulars in the website http://isejahtera.penang.gov.my which was launched today. — Bernama

Even Malays leaving Tanah Melayu !!!!!!!!!!!! Very sad......

Umno veteran and Gua Musang MP, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah laments the state of affairs in the country. - Picture by Choo Choy May

Quotable Quote By Ku Li on " Even Malays Leaving Tanah Melayu"


“Something must be wrong in this so-called Malay Land (Tanah Melayu) when they (Malays) are leaving.”  

“There are many Malays in London who are professionals, making good money, who will not return because the environment is not right in Malaysia.”

“Investors and tourists are wondering what’s happening in Malaysia, at a time when we need investments, capital and jobs for our young who are also increasingly finding it difficult...”

“Of course people will come if there’s free food but it’s not genuine.”

“Even my wife is afraid to go out. Why should we be afraid in our own country?”

“Now that the submarine can dive, we’re not sure if it can come up again.” 

“Malaysia is only a small market compared to New York, but because people are corrupt they allow drugs to flow in.” 

“These are signs of decline which were never here before,” he concluded.

Read the full articles in  The Malaysiainsider.............
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/54524-ku-li-even-malays-leaving-tanah-melayu-

Malaysia veering towards instability, says PERC

By Lee Wei Lian

Malaysia needs to get its house in order to entice foreign investment and equities into the country. - Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 — Events since New Year’s Day have given the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) the impression that the situation in Malaysia is becoming increasingly unstable.
In a blistering report on Malaysia released at the end of January, PERC also asserted that a group of elite minorities were dominating the national agenda to the extent that it was hurting Malaysia’s attractiveness to investors.
The consultancy, which also publishes reports on the risk ratings of other Asian countries, said it is “probable” that no other Asian country is suffering from as much bad press as Malaysia. Among the developments that caught its attention were the theft of military jet engines, detention of terror suspects from a number of African and Middle East countries following warnings that Islamic militants were planning attacks on foreigners at resorts in Sabah, renewed ethnic and religious “violence” that included arson at some churches and desecration of mosques, and controversy over the integrity of key institutions like the judicial system in the sodomy trial of opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“Events of the past month give the impression that pressures are building and the entire situation is becoming much more unstable,” said PERC.
The report noted that the government is blaming the international media for exaggerated reporting and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had argued that the focus should not be on the fringe groups that are causing problems but on the majority of Malaysians who are coming together to condemn the recent acts of violence following the ‘Allah’ controversy. But PERC maintained that the root of the problem was a vocal minority that is dominating the national agenda.
“Mr. Razak’s attempt to put the best spin on a bad situation is understandable. He is fighting for his political life and is trying to stop the erosion in confidence in Malaysia’s prospects,” said PERC. “However, he is wrong in saying that Malaysia is being defined by the way the majority of the population are coming together. It is being defined by the ability of a minority to dominate the political agenda, shaping policy and compromising the reputation of key institutions in ways that hurt Malaysia’s reputation as a stable, attractive place for foreign investors.”
The report also said that while Islamic activists which are “threatening Malaysia’s secular credentials” are getting the widest coverage, it was the Umno elites, described as “a fringe group of insiders who have been able to profit disproportionately from the policies of the ruling coalition” that deserved the most attention.
“They are threatened with a loss of political power that could also impinge directly on their substantial business interests. Malaysia’s future will be determined largely by the tactics this group of insider elites resort to in order to stay in power and the success of those tactics. Their commitment to democracy is a major question mark. If they blatantly manipulate the system in order to remain in power, the public backlash could be worse than anything Malaysia has seen in its modern history.”
PERC added Najib’s strategy is looking “increasingly unworkable” as a way to defuse pressures in the country.
“He is trying to be all things to all people, but in the end he might satisfy no one,” it noted.
Malaysia’s risk index as calculated by PERC rose slightly from 5.24 out of a possible maximum score of 10 in December to 5.4 in January. It however, remained well below the risk index in January last year which stood at 6.42. Countries that score higher on the index are deemed to have a higher level of risk.
The PERC report comes as the Najib administration is grappling with a budget deficit and is trying to formulate a new economic model in which private investment plays a bigger role in driving the economy towards developed status.
The consultancy pointed out however that even if the opposition were to be in charge come the next election, foreign investors and others would wait and see if the opposition could govern the country effectively.
“So far the only thing uniting these (opposition) parties is their opposition to the ruling coalition, not matters like dealing with Malay entitlements, the extent that there should or should not be a broader Islamisation of Malaysia, or an economic programme for promoting the country’s development,” said PERC.
PERC maintained in its report that foreign investments into Malaysia have not been forthcoming, either in direct form or in the equity markets.
“Foreign companies and investors are remaining cautious until they see how Malaysia gets its own house in order,” it added.

Racist Demonstration in Penang

First we heard some parties labelled  Indians as beggars, Chinese as prostitutes , not enough they are discriminating Chinese leaders by politicise illegal traders issues as racial issues when the fact is that most illegal traders caught are Chinese. If the current trends unchecked, these barbarian may politicize issues when Malay/Chinese/Indian are caught by police due to illegal act and twist it as racial issues......

We are really sad that Malaysia is progessing in a wrong direction due to the personal motive of certain politicians......   What a bad taste!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Approved factory investments in Malaysia dropped by 50% in 2009

 

Not suprise to me as our beloved government busy politicking in 2009 .......Power grabs in Perak in 2009 , pendatang issues, Allah issues, TEO Beng Hock issues all are still fresh in our mind .... economy issues ? who cares.....


Not enough  with the above, we are supplied with SODOMEE first thing in the morning ....

Do not believe ? just open the news paper every morning....... 

I can only say GOD bless you Malaysia....

MALAYSIA’S approved factory investment declined in 2009 as companies delayed projects amid a global economic slump.

Approved investments dropped by about half to RM32.6 billion last year, Malaysia’s International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed said in Kuala Lumpur today. That compares with RM62.8 billion in 2008. Foreign investment more than halved.

“The global economic environment in 2009 was very challenging as a result of the financial crisis which commenced in the U.S. in 2008,” Mustapa said. “Malaysia’s economy also succumbed to these unfavorable global developments.”

Prime Minister Najib Razak eased investment rules last year to attract funds amid the Southeast Asian nation’s first recession in a decade. The country still faces competition for investments from the rest of the region even after liberalizing some services industries, including banking and insurance, Mustapa said in August.
Malaysia approved RM36.3 billion of services investment last year, of which RM32.95 billion was from domestic sources, Mustapa said. Investments in services were led by the transport and energy industries, he said.

In neighbouring Singapore, the government expects to attract fixed-asset investments of between S$10 billion ($7 billion) and S$12 billion in 2010, from S$11.8 billion last year.

Economy Shrank

Malaysia’s economy probably shrank 3 per cent last year, Mustapa said today. The government is confident of 5 per cent growth in gross domestic product this year, Second Finance Minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said last week. That’s higher than its official growth forecast of 2 per cent to 3 per cent.

The nation’s private-sector investment is weak for an investment-grade country and there is little upward pressure on its credit rating because of the “lack of dynamism,” Thomas Byrne, senior vice president at Moody’s Investors Service in Singapore, said in a Jan. 27 conference call.

The government’s attempts to increase investment may be hurt by a spate of inter-faith disputes in the country of 28 million people.

Acts of violence were reported against at least 11 Christian institutions, one Sikh temple and two Muslim prayer rooms last month following a High Court judge’s decision to allow a Catholic newspaper to refer to God as “Allah” in its Malay-language section.

Foreign Investment

Foreign companies accounted for RM22.1 billion of the approved investments in manufacturing last year, Mustapa said. That compares with the record RM46.1 billion in 2008. Of the 2009 foreign investment, RM16.4 billion was for new investments, and the rest for expansion and diversification, the minister said.

Domestic manufacturing investments approved totaled RM10.5 billion in 2009, Mustapa said. That compares with the RM16.7 billion reported earlier for the previous year.

Japan was the biggest investor in Malaysia’s manufacturing industry last year, accounting for RM5.6 billion, followed by Hong Kong, the U.S. and Singapore, Mustapa said. Manufacturing of chemicals and chemical products lured the most investment. - Bloomberg

Fxxx you Nasir Safar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Pendatang"


"Indians came to Malaysia as beggars and Chinese especially the women came to sell their bodies"

Again and again Chinese and Indians are getting  derogatory remarks for the ruling party and this time the words coming from special assistant to our honourable PM Nasir Safar.........    

I want to repeat the word is not coming from ordinary citizen but special assistant to PM


While his boss is running around promoting " One Malaysia", his little pharaoh  are going around hurting Indians and Chinese with such a uncivilisied words not once but again and again.....


Do you still believe there is  "One Malaysia" in our Bolehland.......


Tunggu lama-lama lah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is Malay in Penang Bullied by Penang Government?

See this and judge yourself....

http://www.malaysiakini.tv/video/18493/kerajaan-pulau-pinang-menindas-kaum-melayu-.html