Malaysia PM sets big reforms to boost investment (Reuters)

Fundamentally, Government should not have direct intervention to either Local or Foreign investment company including work-force quotation according to ethnic or race.
In this competitive age, race or color of your skin No Longer can be used to measure the level of capability/qualification to the offered job & it will be foolish for any Employer to assume this way.

Recently, I had a conversation with my friends who is working in the MNC and they are forced to promote certain ethnic group as not to violate country/HR regulations set by Government for the higher management quota.

I am not sure whether this is true but from the post below, it seems it is quite true.
Just imagine if you are rich enough to own a company & while worrying about the profit/lost margin for your product/services, yet you still have think about other not so related item such as meeting quotation for certain ethnic group hiring?

To me, this is redundant as the bottomline of a good company is to hire the most capable/qualified candidate as possible…it is the TALLENT that matters not the color…

Malaysia PM sets big reforms to boost investment (Reuters)
By David Chance and Soo Ai Peng

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia's prime minister unveiled a raft of measures on Tuesday to boost investment in the slumping economy, coming close to ending an affirmative action program for ethnic Malays that critics say has stymied growth.

Najib Razak told a conference in Kuala Lumpur that his government would end rules on foreign investment in most sectors of the economy and would open up the investment management and brokerage industry, as well as property, ending requirements for 30 percent ownership by ethnic Malays.

He also promised reforms of Malaysia's huge government companies such as plantations and property giant Sime Darby, and said they would be forced to sell non-core assets to boost domestic competition in the Southeast Asian nation.

"We have become a successful middle income economy, but we cannot and will not be caught in the middle income country trap," Najib told the conference.

"We need to make the shift to a high income economy or we risk losing growth momentum in our economies and vibrancy in our markets."

The reforms gave the ringgit a small boost and it traded at 3.521 to the dollar at 0500 GMT (1 a.m. EDT), up from 3.54 at the open, although data released later showed foreign investors had continued to pull money out of Malaysia this year.

Malaysia is Asia's third most export-dependent nation, seeing shipment slump 26 percent from a year ago as demand for electronics and commodities has been hit by the global downturn. The economy has shrunk 5 percent this year.

Investment flows have dried up and the country has been overtaken by neighbouring Thailand in terms of direct investment since 2001 and portfolio flows turned negative to the tune of 92.3 billion Malaysian ringgit ($26.10 billion) in 2008.

In the first quarter of 2009 they remained negative to the tune of 12.2 billion ringgit, even as investment in other emerging Asian economies has recovered. Malaysia's stock market has risen 20 percent this year, underperforming a 30 percent rise in Asian markets excluding Japan.

"This move will definitely encourage investors to rethink or reconsider Malaysia amid the many choices (in the region) such as Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia," said Wan Suhaimie Wan Saidie, economist at Malaysia's Kenanga investment bank.

BALANCING INVESTMENT AND POLITICS
Najib who heads an unpopular government and himself has an approval rating of just 45 percent, according to a June poll, had to balance the need for reform to attract diminishing global investment flows against the risk of a political backlash.

That means that he could not formally end New Economic Policy (NEP), the system of economic and social privileges for ethnic Malays who are 55 percent of the population and which has been cornerstone of the country's policies since 1971.

Instead Najib chose to emphasize that he would keep an overall aim of boosting Malays' ownership of the economy to 30 percent from 19.4 percent at present but he placed a new stress on helping competitive Malays, rather than a blanket guarantee.

"Pragmatism requires a focus on substance, not form. The government of Malaysia remains committed to pursue the spirit and substance of growth with equity," Najib said.

Najib leads the United Malays National Organization (UMNO), the dominant party in the multi-ethnic 13-strong National Front coalition that has ruled Malaysia for 51 years since independence from Britain.

The Front's grip on power was hit in elections in March 2008 when the opposition won over a third of parliament seats, blocking the coalition's ability to change the constitution, and five of Malaysia's 13 state governments, a record haul.

The government ousted lackluster premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and replaced him with Najib who took office in April and has launched a series of liberalization measures in the services sector and finance that his predecessor had shied away from.

"This is a fundamental shift in the government mindset, rather than going for quantity we go for quality," said James Chin, professor of politics at Monash University in Kuala Lumpur.

"This is also an acknowledgement by the government that we are a trading nation and we live in a globalized world."

($1=3.536 Malaysian Ringgit)

(Additional reporting by Niluski Koswanage, Razak Ahmad, Loh Li Lian; Editing by David Fox)

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True stories from Bolehland 2 (The Malaysian Insider)

I just can't stop laughing when first read on the post below by James Chin but when I go thru the post again 2nd time...it some how trigger the thoughts & also observed some commonality on what is going on in surrounding in this so called Boleh-land. BTW, "Boleh" in English means "Can do". I am still wondering if this is the true reflect of the current leader in this country...Do you?

True stories from Bolehland 2 (The Malaysian Insider)
APRIL 23 — Here are some more incredible (but true) stories from the land of make believe, Bolehland. Bolehland is a country far, far away where everything is possible, where the strange and unbelievable is actually everyday life, where anyone with the proper connections can get away with anything, and where the words “accountability”, “fair”, “just” do not exist. All the stories are taken from the Bolehland mainstream media so they must be true.

1. All chairmen must fly first class for the sake of subordinates
This a direct quotation from a former mentri besar (chief minister) who is alleged to have spent RM1.7 million on “study trips” to places like Disneyland during the holiday season. I’m sure this former MB learnt a lot from his “study trips” since we know when he came back, he never builds anything close to resembling Disneyland. Anyway, back to the quote. When asked about the huge amount spent on the trips, e.g. first-class tickets, this is what he had to say: “You must remember when I was the (PNSB) chairman. I have my entitlement. If I were to reduce my entitlement to what an officer gets then what is the officer going to reduce to? I am the chairman. There is the deputy chairman, board of directors, government officers going along. If I fly business class (not first class), then what happens to my state secretary? He will complain. If I am travelling alone it is easier. But I am travelling with a group of people and if I downgrade myself — it’s a problem for the others.” So there you have it. Airlines have first class in order to help those below the chairman’s post get business class. You cannot have a chairman flying coach or business class otherwise what will his subordinates think? He will lose the respect of his subordinates in addition to forcing them to fly coach. In Bolehland, the most important thing is protocol and entitlements. This is the reason why there are so many applicants who want to be politicians. If you are a VVIP, you must be in first class or not go at all. How dare you expect politicians to sit in economy. Economy is for taxpayers like you and me.

2. You are only poor if you don’t have a TV or Astro
According to the NST, the Welfare Department says if you have a TV or Astro, then you do not qualify for government aid since you are not “hardcore poor”. The department bars the disabled from getting welfare aid if they have Astro or a television set at home. The rule applies even if one lives in someone else's house, temporarily or otherwise. In one case, a disabled 40-year-old, paralysed from the neck downwards, who lives with her partly-paralysed mother, was afraid of getting a TV and Astro connection after being warned by a welfare officer that they would cut aid to them if she did so.

This is the first time I have heard that in Bolehland having a TV is considered to be “rich”. Nevermind that a new small TV nowadays cost less than RM200. You can also get a second hand one for free in some charity shops. In the case of the disabled, what do the authorities in Bolehland want them to do? Sit around and stare at the wall all day long? The answer is “yes” because if they stare at a TV, they are no longer poor.

3. The “best best boss” can be found in Bolehland
What is the best company to work for in Bolehland? The answer is Maika Holdings. And how do I know that? Simple, read what happened at an inquest in the death of an Indian actress, Sujatha, who died last year. This actress also worked as a PA to the boss of Maika. To cut the story short, during the inquest it was revealed that the boss of Maika, who is also the son of a VVIP, just loved to look after his employees. He gave this actress RM200,000 in cash for her apartment, funding for medical treatment and education, and also for her two brothers’ education in Australia. The boss also acted as the guarantor for the hire-purchase loan which Sujatha took out to purchase a Mazda RX8 sports car. He also took her for a holiday in Perth.

Wow, I wish to nominate the boss of Maika for Bolehland’s “Best Best Boss” award for his undying kindness and welfare of his employees. Is Maika hiring? I’m sure millions of workers are lining up to join. With a boss like this, there will never be any issue of strikes, unhappiness in the workplace, fake MCs, days off, etc. Malaysian workers will be the envy of the world.

4. If you don’t report it, it does not exist
There is one company in Bolehland that owns all the private free-to-air TV stations. Apparently, one of the big bosses in this company, MP, sent out an email telling the editorial staff that they cannot report that some VVIP and his wife might be involved in a Mongolia murder case. Thus if it is not reported, then it is clear that there are no links, and therefore there is no case. Who says you cannot make things disappear? Who cares if the international press has all gone to town with the same story.
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Govt will continue to focus on NEP, says Mukhriz (The Star)

Talking about 1-Malaysia in new administrative line-up. Looks like the Cruel Joke article that posted 2 days ago really come to a reality.
While the claim continue to reflect the goodness of NEP for all races...then the follow-on question is: Why there is a need for NEP or special term for NEP?

Govt will continue to focus on NEP, says Mukhriz (The Star)
KUALA LUMPUR: The Government will continue to focus on the National Economic Policy (NEP) despite the liberalisation of equity ownership of 27 service sub-sectors, said Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir.

The NEP, introduced in 1971, is aimed at restructuring society to narrow the economic disparity among the different races in the country.

“The NEP will still enjoy primary focus as it has a lot of benefits for all races although there is some specifications towards the bumiputras. And with the liberalisation, there will be a lot more opportunities from foreign investments in Malaysia,” Mukhriz told reporters after opening the Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Forum and Exhibition yesterday.

The two-day event is organised by the Malay Businessmen and Industrialist Association of Malaysia.

Mukhriz said liberalisation would create jobs and strengthen the ability of local firms to compete against international companies.

“When we open up our market, the chances to explore foreign markets for our products and services will also increase,” he said
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1 Malaysia: A cruel joke? (Malaysian Insider)

Actually I don’t think this is a joke nor think that it is “cruel”. Most of the “rakyat” crafted the perception based on leader’s performance on how they run the country.
Of course every PM has to start to work from below & start gaining people trust before holding nation’s top post.
It is good that the country now has a vision from the new PM that integrates people from different background.
I am still optimistic & can’t wait to see the superficial agenda as well as the hidden one behind this noble move.
Before jumping to any conclusion, I think we shall give him some benefit of doubts but that has to be aligned with his cabinet members as there are separate news reporting some members singing different tune….Probably the first time to do is to have the same alignment?

1 Malaysia: A cruel joke? (Malaysian Insider)
APRIL 27 – It never ceases to amaze me how simple and trusting we Malaysians are.
We have heard all these promises before. Pak Lah, the Mr Clean and Mr Nice Guy of Malaysian politics proclaimed his great mission of fighting corruption after 22 years of unprincipled and largely unaccountable governance under Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

We lapped it all up, initially at any rate, and believed every word the spin doctors spewed out about Abdullah Badawi.

Link
It was not too difficult a job for Abdullah Badawi, or anyone else for that matter, after Mahathir, to look ethically spotless, clean and pure as the driven snow.

Badawi, with his religious credentials, gave every appearance of being the reformer that this country had been praying for. Alas, his leadership proved a total let-down for Malaysia.

What began as a journey full of hope and promise turned very quickly into a national nightmare. Abdullah, who skippered the good ship MALAYSIA, was in truth an incompetent and inept rating playing at being Admiral of the Fleet.

We discovered soon enough that he could not tell north from south and a sexton from a pair of compasses. We had to put up with his erratic command, watching with increasing anxiety as he set the ship adrift aimlessly, with no prospect of ever making landfall.

Now let me move away from naval to boxing metaphors, and I hope I am not mixing them in the process.

Abdullah had come to lead us laden with his own strange stock-in-trade. It was a mix, in no particular order, of Islam Hadhari that he himself could not explain to save his life, the memorably inane “Work with me and not for me” catchphrase, and the almost absurdly messianic anti-corruption clarion call that he had used to fool the entire nation.

I am embarrassed to admit, on reflection, that he had me fooled from Day One.

Abdullah was persuaded by close family members and advisers that he was doing a brilliant job, and this was what he wanted to hear.

He believed that he had what was needed to punch above his weight. He did not realise until too late that the Islam Hadhari as he had postulated it was no match for the reality of Umno politics with its long-established culture of money politics (for which, read grand corruption), in-fighting and back-stabbing.

Soon enough, he found himself out-pointed at every turn by his own seconds, Najib and Muhyiddin, whose protestations of eternal love and loyalty made with a straight face before the disastrous March 2008 elections seemed the height of black humour.

They pushed all the responsibility for the electoral failure to him, and with indecent haste, distanced themselves from him. They turned collective responsibility on its head. This was their interpretation.

And now, they are now leading Malaysia.

I am recalling the Abdullah years as a way of reminding ourselves not to be tempted into swallowing the “right noises” that Najib is making, hook, line and sinker.

He is apparently good at developing popular policies on the trot, and all his reform promises seem to flow so effortlessly and glibly off his silvery tongue and that worries many people who are looking more for substance rather than form.

His 1 Malaysia is a case in point. How does Najib propose to give practical effect to his excellent concept given the reality of Malaysia’s race-biased policies of racial discrimination?

Does he not see a contradiction? Is he clear in his own mind what he is talking about? For now, it remains a slogan and, without a clear vision of what 1 Malaysia is intended to be, it could well turn out to be nothing more than a grand illusion.

Does he really believe that he has what it takes to reconcile Umno’s pathological obsession with bumiputra rights on the one hand with the principles of inalienable equality for ALL Malaysians on the other?

1 Malaysia without complete equality of opportunity is nothing if not a cruel and dishonest practical joke.

So, until Najib sets out his plan for 1 Malaysia that accords with the conditions for a truly “Malaysian Malaysia” (with apologies to Lee Kuan Yew), I suggest, in a manner of speaking, we do not put the champagne on ice as it could be premature.
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Malaysia leader's racial unity campaign hits snag (AP)

Must we recognize each person by its color? It’s race? It’s religion?
Why on earth are we still trapped with ancient thinking?
We are living in the modern age where economics stability & nations prosperity are the ultimate goals ?
Or rather every individual is just a selfish slacks that takes care his/her own pockets…A sad truth!

Malaysia leader's racial unity campaign hits snag (AP)
A campaign by Malaysia's new prime minister to promote racial harmony received a jolt after a pro-ruling party newspaper Wednesday urged the Malay majority to "rise and unite" against demands by ethnic minorities.

In a front-page article, the Utusan Malaysia daily quoted several Malay politicians and activists as saying Malays should put aside their political differences so that they can jointly resist pressure from the ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.

"The Malays must rise and unite in facing the demands of other races that are now seen as increasingly excessive," the article's opening paragraph said.

Link
It was apparently referring to recent calls by ethnic Indian government politicians for higher Cabinet posts and vocal complaints by minorities against longtime government policies that give majority Malays priority in jobs, education and business opportunities. The government says Malays lag behind minorities economically.

The timing of the article _ when Prime Minister Najib Razak is promoting unity _ reflects anger among many Malay leaders to the increasing boldness of minorities.

The Malay-language Utusan Malaysia is the country's most widely read newspaper and is controlled by the United Malays National Organization party. It dominates the ruling National Front coalition and claims to speak for many of the Malays who form nearly 60 percent of the population. Chinese are a quarter of the population and Indians some 8 percent.

UMNO's partners in the National Front are ethnic Chinese, Indian and other minority parties, which have faced increasing pressure in recent years from their constituents who complain the Malay set-aside programs are unfair.

In an attempt to heal the rifts, Najib started a campaign called "One Malaysia" after taking power earlier this month. Its aim is to propagate mutual trust and respect among races.

On Tuesday, Najib visited a Sikh temple and urged Malaysians to "break down any obstructions between the races and not view each other based on skin color."

Najib has not yet outlined specific measures to achieve the goal, and his slogan has drawn criticism from opposition politicians who have labeled it as vague rhetoric that is too weak to tackle racial disputes that have multiplied in recent years.

The Utusan Malaysia article appeared to have been partly prompted also by Chinese criticism earlier this week of Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's recent comments that Chinese voters seemed unappreciative of the government.

Jeff Ooi, an ethnic Chinese opposition member of Parliament, wrote on his popular blog Wednesday that Utusan Malaysia's article illustrated how Najib's "One Malaysia" slogan "is indeed different things to different people until Najib can define it properly."
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Najib's disappointing start (Bridget Welsh, Guardian UK)

I just realized last week that this blog has been massively “flag” for publishing false information to the web. To those that flagging this post, all the news are just copy and paste from the news website as I enclosed the links.
It was so pathetic to see close minded people acting this way & they can’t even listen & debate issue constructively but rather hide behind curtain & stabbing in the dark.

Worry NOT! This website is pretty much alive & kicking hard...

For this new post, I found it in RPK (those who familiar with Malaysia politics should know him)’s website.
Well…enjoy..

Najib's disappointing start (Bridget Welsh, Guardian UK)
After appointing a lacklustre cabinet, Malaysia's new prime minister refused to answer questions from the media. This poor beginning raises serious questions about his leadership and calls into question his ability to deliver on the reforms that are critical for Malaysia's future.

Link
Malaysia's sixth prime minister, Najib Tun Abdul Razak took office earlier this month, replacing Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. In Najib's first week, he failed key tests that show he can be his own man. He lost important by-elections, failed to address persistent scandals and selected a cabinet of lacklustre appointees that has not evoked confidence. He ran away from the press, declining to address basic questions about his government.

This poor beginning raises serious questions about his leadership and calls into question his ability to deliver on the reforms that are critical for Malaysia's future.

Before Najib took office he managed to win a strong mandate from within his own party's polls last month, as loyalists in his cohort rose to party leadership positions. Najib represents a third generation of leaders from the UMNO party that governs Malaysia. The first generation assumed office in independence, the second after the racial riots of 1969.

Najib's generation came into politics after 1969, and has matured under the shadow of Mahathir Mohamad, known for promoting economic progress while simultaneously closing political space and weakening political institutions. Najib's strong party showing was expected to set the stage for the new premier to introduce reforms and step out of the shadow of his predecessors. Early signs were good, as Najib's speeches highlighted reforms and the day after he took office he released 13 political prisoners held under the draconian Internal Security Act. Malaysians were pleasantly surprised with his first moves.

Skepticism reigned, however. After the five years of promise without delivery under Abdullah Badawi, Malaysians want results, not rhetoric. Many are not willing to give Najib the benefit the doubt. Part of this is his association with Abdullah's government, as deputy prime minister.

Another reason has to do with the heavy baggage of scandal that cloud Najib's leadership; his alleged connections with corruption in defence contract deals and links to a Mongolian model who was murdered by staff assigned to his security detail have damaged his reputation.

Last week, the two officers charged with blowing up the model were convicted. The government's response has been to ban the use of the model's name – Altantuya Shariibuu – further raising speculation about the crime and suspicions about Najib's involvement. There is no evidence that Najib was involved in the murder, but the lack of credibility that Najib faces – which is only enhanced when he refuses to answer questions – has hurt him.

An even darker shadow is Mahathir Mohamad. The former prime minister who governed Malaysia for 22 years systematically undermined Abdullah while he was in office. He has played a major role in mentoring the new generation of leaders, including Najib himself, and his values that have promoted Malay rights over those of other communities, undermined political institutions, deepened corruption and created a climate of insecurity among the elite that runs deep.

Najib is seen to be under the thumb of Mahathir. While this gives the former premier too much credit, the reality is that Mahathirism remains a force that must be addressed and Mahathir himself remains a political player in his agenda setting role.

These factors played out in three recent by-elections when more than 100,000 voters went to the polls. Najib's coalition lost two of the three contests. The contest it did win – Batang Ai in rural Sarawak – was the result of massive allocations of patronage (RM70 million in promises for 8,006 voters) and included allegations of ballot box tampering. Voters in West Malaysia in two traditionally strong seats for Najib's government, gave the Pakatan opposition coalition led by Anwar Ibrahim larger majorities.

These results were the product of greater opposition cooperation and the inability of the governing coalition to reach across races. Non-Malays voted in large majorities for the opposition. They were joined by large numbers of Malays who rejected the use of Mahathir for Najib's campaign and were tired of the endemic corruption in the system. Najib stayed away from the campaigns, showing that he is not ready to face the public directly. He received a sharp rebuke.

Najib had the opportunity to stem the tide of negative perceptions through his cabinet selections. Here too, he disappointed. The majority appointees are recycled old faces and Najib loyalists. While many of them are among the cleaner alternatives and his choices in finance and trade show promise, the inclusion of Mahathir's son, and reliance on his close allies who are seen to not make the grade do not build confidence.

This cabinet follows in the Mahathir mould, one that appears to focus on the economy and exclude the need for political reform. It does not include individuals who appear willing to address the albatross on Malaysia's economic competitiveness, the pro-Malay affirmative action policy, the New Economic Policy, that has become a vehicle for corruption. After announcing his list, Najib refused to answer questions.

Najib is running away from addressing the factors that will hamper his government. He lacks public support. He is trapped by the system he inherited, the shadows of Abdullah's unmet reform promises and Mahathir's hardline approach. He faces a stronger and more cohesive opposition. Najib's style is more measured, but in these challenging times and in the light of his public credibility issues, the tepid responses have disappointed.

With each passing day that the new prime minister fails key tests, his tenure is shortened. Najib cannot continue to avoid the fact that his political survival is based on winning over the Malaysian public and bolder measures that deliver reform are essential.
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English or Bahasa Malaysia in Science & Maths Teaching?

Following blog’s comments made by our premier in chedet & columnist with regards to the issue of using English as a medium to teach mathematics & science, I felt that this issues has been exaggerated to the highest level which involved various political parties. Setting the right educational path for future Malaysian generation has been shouldered to the selected leaders. It is an Expectation. Education minister should list out the pros & cons so people is aware & understand this is needed for the future of Malaysia. This is so obvious that even the 2nd/3rd world country is practicing it while we are aiming to become Developed Country in 2020 failed to see it. You can argue about nationalism but what good this can do if the nation is lagging behind & people are poor? I do not condemn the process of democracy but some decisions are meant to be made with sacrifices. So far, I only see some un-official members are commenting & supporting this decision like chedet & MalaysianInsider. While the Educational minister has kept a mum on this, what do you think?

MalaysianInsider
Chedet
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Government spending good money on silly projects (The Malaysian Insider)

Malaysia Finance minister re-iterate again yesterday on its stand on no plan to reduce individual income tax rate from RM27bil subsidies allocated for various industry including corporation tax reliefs.
While some are claimed the money were not well spent. What is your say?

Government spending good money on silly projects- The Malaysian Insider
FEB 27 — Economic stimulus is all the rage it seems, both in the United States and back home in Malaysia. While I am sceptical of stimulus in general, our government’s spending plans are increasingly ridiculous and insensible day by day. Instead of leaving the era of white elephant megaprojects behind, we seem to be pursuing less obscenely grandiose but equally impractical infrastructure projects.

Link
The basic idea in the minds of stimulus and economic pump-priming proponents is that it is cheaper to borrow money in a recession. People and firms are not confident in the economy, and so they are reluctant to lend money out to any random person. Fortunately, the government can soak up these surplus funds and invest them in something useful for a low cost.

That is the theory anyway; the reality is that the government rarely seems to do much useful investing with our money. Yes, granted, they have brought a lot of “development” to our shores. The North-South Expressway, our various ports, our schools, our universities, so on and so forth — all good stuff. But for almost every good project, you can name an equal number which are just downright bad ideas.

To take one egregious example, the federal government is presently proposing to spend RM9 billion on the “Pahang-Selangor Raw Water Transfer Project”. The crux of the project is that it wants to build a gigantic pipeline to funnel water from Pahang to Selangor. Why? Because the federal government believes that by next year we will be facing severe water shortages in Selangor unless this pipeline is built.

The problem is that it has made similar projections before and been severely wide of the mark. Its original projections indicated a shortage would arise by 2005; no such shortage came about. The government is assuming we’ll be consuming 600 litres of water per person per day in Selangor, when the typical Singaporean consumes a bit over 300 litres per day, and the typical urban denizen in a developed country even less! At the moment the consumption in Selangor is 300 litres per person per day, but for no good reason whatsoever, the federal government insists we will somehow run short of water unless we build this RM9 billion white elephant.

And we can go on to name all sorts of similar projects. What about that harebrained idea of transporting electricity across the South China Sea from the Bakun Dam in Sarawak? Or the white elephant of a Customs outpost for the unused crooked bridge development? These are all projects that have been in the works for years and years — yes, even that ridiculous scheme to build a useless giant water pipe from Pahang to Selangor.

Now, if the government takes its own bloody sweet time and still comes up with these inane wastes of money, can we really expect anything better from the stimulus package? The government is going to be rushing itself like crazy to get the package out the door as soon as possible, and that means there will be hardly any checks on the projects that go into this package. Honestly, I would be shocked and happy if the ridiculous projects in the stimulus package we finally see are only equally pointless as the others I just listed.

Really, the biggest problem with our economy as far as government spending goes isn’t that the government does not spend enough. The problem is the government spends money on very silly and very pointless projects which don’t yield any real benefits for us. There are a lot of good things the government could be spending its money on.

Here’s an idea for a stimulus: raise the salaries of teachers and provide more and better training for them. Honestly, even if the government can’t really train teachers properly, RM9 billion would be much better off being spent on paying teachers better wages or training them better, as opposed to being spent on a stupid pipeline or building even more schools. Or another actual good idea: upgrading and expanding public transport in all major urban areas. We can argue about whether these are the best ways to spend our taxes, but there is no question that education and public transport deserve priority over harebrained schemes like building a dam to produce electricity which will just be lost in transit across the South China Sea.

As sympathetic as I am to some of the ideas behind economic stimulus, I honestly believe the government’s stimulus package is going to be a bad thing for our economy. Most of the spending will be just as redundant and as pointless as the government’s past track record on infrastructure-building and other such spending projects, if not much worse. The government has been unable to get its priorities right for years and years, and there is no sign at all that this will change.

If Pakatan Rakyat is smart, it will capitalise on its plans and manifestos to point the right way. Both the DAP and PKR especially have well-developed plans which will provide for the poorest income groups while removing severe restrictions on private enterprise. Pakatan’s plans, though far from perfect, are very much in line with basic economic principles, and could prove a deadly weapon against Barisan Nasional’s ridiculously poor track record of throwing money at whatever constituencies have by-elections, and building white elephant after white elephant. The upcoming stimulus package could very well be Barisan’s undoing, if Pakatan plays its cards right.
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Tenaga is most profitable firm in Khazanah's stable (TheStar)

Being the SOLE Electricity provider in the Nation, is this not expected? I wonder if this due Electricity tariff hike last year?

Interview between Tenaga CFO & Reuters-Sep'2007

Tenaga is most profitable firm in Khazanah's table
KUALA LUMPUR: Tenaga Nasional Bhd was the most profitable government-linked company (GLC) under Khazanah Nasional's management in 2008 with a profit of RM2.594bil.

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Kong Cho Ha said Bumiputra Commerce Holdings Bhd was the second most profitable at RM1.952bil for the same fiscal year.

Replying to Datuk Baharum Mohamed (BN - Sekijang), he said they were two of the eight Khanazah-managed GLCs that made profits in 2008.

The rest were Telekom Malaysia Bhd (RM791.9mil), TM International Bhd (RM497.98), Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (RM305.2mil), Malaysia Airline System Bhd (RM244.31), Proton Holdings Bhd (RM184.55mil) and UEM World Bhd (RM80.37mil).

To a supplementary question from Baharum, Kong said the Government was satisfied with the perfomance of the GLCs' respective management and staff and disagreed with Baharum's allegations that they were unsupportive of the Government.

"I disagree with the statement that the CEOs of the GLCs do not support the Government.

"They have carried out their duties and responsibility as expected of them to maintain the companies' performance.

"In their work, they have also held corporate social responsibility programmes for the public," he said.
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Malaysia Christians battle with Muslims over Allah (Reuters)

Who is confusing who in this matter? is the claim valid while RPK claimed Allah has 99 names?

Malaysia Christians battle with Muslims over Allah (Reuters)
By Niluksi Koswanage

KENINGAU, Malaysia (Reuters) - Reciting the Catholic Creed, the 1,800-strong congregation attending mass at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral on Borneo island intones in Malay: "We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of Allah."

These Malaysian Catholics, like their brethren in Indonesia, have used the word "Allah" in place of "God" since converting to Christianity in the 19th century.

But now the government in this mostly Muslim Southeast Asian nation of 27 million people wants to prevent "Allah" being used by Christians, saying it is subversive and aims to convert Muslims.

Christians fear this is just the thin edge of the wedge.

"The government of West Malaysia has an infection of religious hatred. We have to fight back so it does not spread," said Bishop Cornelius Piong after Sunday Mass at the cathedral in the heart of a rice-growing district in eastern Sabah state.

Christianity is practiced by 9.1 percent of the Malaysian population, according to the 2000 census, the most recently available figures. Many of them, like Bishop Piong, come from ethnic groups such as the Kadazandusun, Dayaks, Ibans and Bidayuh who live in the Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak.

"Our worship of Allah is so natural, it is part and parcel of the Kadazandusun people here," Piong said.

The row over the use of Allah to describe the Christian God feeds into a long-running feud over conversions between the government of a country where all Malays must be Muslims and other faiths, such as Hinduism and Buddhism that are practiced by ethnic Indians and Chinese.

MALAYS FRET OVER CONVERSION

It is illegal in Malaysia to convert from Islam to any other religion although conversions to Islam are allowed.

One of the biggest cases involved Lina Joy, a woman who wanted to convert to Christianity to marry her partner, who was baptized and applied to have her conversion legally recognized by the Malaysian state.

She lost a court battle two years ago to have the word "Islam" removed from her identity card. All Malaysian identity cards carry a person's race and religion.

It is cases such as these that worry Malaysian Muslim activists and officials and they see using the word Allah in Christian publications including bibles as attempts to proselytize.

Those concerns led to the ban on the Catholic Herald newspaper's use of "Allah" to denote God. The Herald is now suing the government to overturn the ruling, made after it appeared the paper would be allowed to use "Allah" provided it stamped "For Christians" on the front page of the paper.

"Allowing Christians to use the word is dangerous because it's attacking the sole religion of the Malays," said Yusri Mohamad, president of the influential Muslim Youth Movement.

"We have to question Christians' motive for wanting to use this obviously Muslim word. It appears to be for conversions. All Muslim Malays in Malaysia are against this."

Some leading Muslim scholars here say the issue is being blown out of proportion and that the risk of conversions among the 60 percent Muslim population is tiny.

They see it as an attempt by the government that has ruled Malaysia uninterrupted for 51 years since independence from Britain to hold on to power by identifying ethnicity with religion.

The main ruling party in Malaysia is called the United Malay National Organization, and like its allies from Chinese and Indian parties, it is ethnically based.

"It is an irrational fear (of conversions) but a very powerful one," said Osman Bakar, the deputy head of the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies Malaysia. "Now the government has moved to setting up demarcations around the national language."

SPILLING INTO POLITICS

While the Kadazandusun and other indigenous people on Borneo hold the same privileges as Malays in preferential access to areas such education, loans and housing, the resource-rich states of Sabah and Sarawak are far poorer than peninsular Malaysia.

Sabah and Sarawak have voted solidly for parties from the governing National Front coalition since the start of democratic rule in Malaysia.

That hegemony is now under threat after the opposition scored its best-ever election result in 2008 when it deprived the government of its two-thirds parliamentary majority and ended up in control of five of Malaysia's 13 states.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is now targeting the voters of Borneo in an effort to keep up pressure on the government and the first test will come in a state assembly by-election in Sarawak in early April.

There may also be a chance for voters in a constituency near to St Francis Xavier to flex their muscles depending on a court decision on whether a move to disqualify three non-government parliamentary candidates was valid.

For the people of Bishop Piong's congregation what happens in the battle over the use of "Allah" will certainly be an issue if the election is re-run.

"If the government wants to be nasty and stop people from using Allah, it can. But it may not work here. It's God's country here," said 28-year-old Teresa Palikat, a tailor, after attending Sunday Mass in Keningau district.

"If the elections happen, we will show them (the government) we are serious about Allah."

(Editing by David Chance and Bill Tarrant)
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