Archive for December, 2008

As 2008 is drawing to a close, may I wish all my visitors a happy and progressive 2009 ahead of you ! May a new dawn be with us soon too !

By the Administrator

Penang

From Malaysia Today

By Hakim Joe

If we Malaysians think that the last couple of months are bad, think harder. It is going to be worse next year. Why the bad tidings during this day of cheer, after all it is Christmas? Well, bad news is not going to wait for anyone or for any occasion.

The pertinent question is not whether Malaysia will experience a downturn in the economy but just how bad it is going to be. There is no escaping the fact that the global economy is on a sharp declining trend and Malaysia’s trade geared economy will be affected accordingly. It is not something that can be avoided nor is it something that can be readily rectified. As a trading nation of consumer goods, we must export to earn those foreign funds. Declining growth is not the question here, as we face a zero growth situation.

When global trade is reduced, merchandise export is proportionally reduced. It can also be said that when global trade is reduced, our export of raw materials will suffer accordingly. Initially, we look to China as our saviour but this is no longer pertinent owing to the fact that China herself requires help. No developing country is abstained from this calamity. Credit Suisse did an in depth analysis of Malaysia’s recent growth and attributed it to an increase in export to China. These are for the “intermediate” goods that are parts for reassembly into a product for eventual export (from China) to the US of A. When the US market demand for this products weaken, so will the production lines in China and ultimately here in Malaysia. It can be debated that not all Chinese products go to US. Some of it makes its way into the EU markets but that particular market has been hit as well. Intra-Asia trades of these intermediate goods were estimated at 70% of all China imports for re-exporting to the Western markets.

Commodity trade is not faring any better as well. Malaysia is also a major commodity exporter and as global trade slackens, so will the quantity and price – a double whammy. Look at the depressing palm oil and rubber prices and estimate the potential earnings that are now wilting away. To make it worse, petroleum prices are rock bottom. Good for importers, not so good for exporters (like Malaysia). Commodity export for Malaysia represented 26% of GDP in 2007. If we are fortunate, we might break even this year. Forecast for next year is in the negative percentage figures.

Swiss investment bank UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland) predicts that the Malaysian economic growth will fall from 5.4% in 2008 to 0% in 2009. That is correct – Zero Percent. Unprecedented and one can only hope that their (UBS) analysis is off the mark. Credit Suisse gave our country a bit more confidence by predicting an economic growth of 1.6%. Either way, both figures are disheartening but not as depressing as the ones for our southern neighbour. Both major banks predicted a negative growth for Singapore’s economy outlook.

What does all this tell us? It unmistakably reveals the verity that, “the shit’s gonna hit the fan soon.” Avoidance is impossible as the salient points governing the economic growth of Malaysia are not of our own control but globally directed. No country is immune and impervious to its effects, not even the poor countries as economic aid will be drastically cut back.

“Kami menghormati agama lain kerana itu adalah perintah daripada agama kami (Islam). Misalnya apabila perbuatan mengeji agama Islam, mencaci Nabi Muhammad S.A.W tetapi kita tak akan berbuat perkara yang sama (kepada agama lain),” katanya kepada pemberita selepas majlis sambutan Ma’al Hijrah Peringkat Kebangsaan 1430 Hijrah/2008 di sini hari ini.

Beliau berkata untuk keharmonian dalam negara ini sejak 50 tahun mencapai kemerdekaan, orang Islam di negara ini tidak pernah menghina agama lain yang dianut rakyat negara ini.

From Malaysia Today

The fall of four more states — Penang, Perak, Selangor and Kedah — to the opposition in the March 8 general election was regarded as a “political tsunami” for the Barisan Nasional.

The BN had also failed to recapture Kelantan from Pas since it was toppled in the state in 1990.

In SELANGOR, former corporate figure Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim became the menteri besar of the Pakatan Rakyat-led state government comprising Parti Keadilan Rakyat, Pas and DAP.

BN’s downfall in Selangor, one of the most developed states in the country, was attributed to the disenchantment of the people towards the government over various issues especially irregularities in land matters.

The Chinese community also felt slighted over racist remarks by certain Umno leaders while the Indian community cried foul over demolition of Hindu temples.

The new Selangor state government faced a daunting task to honour its election promises.

However, it managed to provide 20 cubic metres of water free every month to Selangor residents from June, enjoyed only by consumers with individual water meters.

Former Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Khir Toyo chided the state government for its failure to reduce the quit rent of private properties by 20 per cent and that of commercial properties by 10 per cent.

He claimed that certain quarters had defaulted on the quit rent payment to protest.

Hardly had the issue died down, Seputeh Member of Parliament Teresa Kok filed two defamation suits against the Utusan Melayu Group over two articles published in the two newspapers under its stable on Sept 10 and Oct 12.

Calling them “highly defamatory”, the Selangor executive councillor claimed that the first article in Utusan Malaysia had resulted in her week-long detention last month under the Internal Security Act.

On Oct 12, Mingguan Malaysia published a short story titled “Politic Baru YB Josephine”, which Kok claimed referred either directly or by innuendo to her.

In PENANG, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng took over as chief minister from Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon after the opposition whitewashed the BN in the state.

DAP won 19 of the 40 state seats, PKR nine, Pas one while the BN could only manage 11 seats.

In a show of strength, PKR won the Permatang Pauh parliamentary by-election with a bigger majority on Aug 26 through PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

It paved the way for him to return to Parliament following an absence of 10 years from political office and being appointed the opposition leader.

In September, the DAP-PKR government rejected the proposed RM25 billion Penang Global City Centre (PGCC) with Lim describing it “as good as dead”.

He said the developers had failed to submit planning plans as required by the state.

The state government also put up multi-lingual road signs in Georgetown despite protests from the Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry, claiming it was part of its efforts to promote tourism in the Unesco World Heritage site.

In July, Georgetown was declared a World Heritage site along with Malacca by Unesco.

The construction of the planned 26km second Penang bridge linking Batu Maung on the island to Batu Kawan on the mainland is expected to be a catalyst for growth in Seberang Perai.

In KEDAH, former Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid and former opposition leader Azizan Abdul Razak of Pas “swapped” positions.

The Sultan of Kedah, Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah, 82, celebrated his golden jubilee in July after 50 years successfully reigning the state.

Several districts in Kedah were hit by floods in September, during the Ramadan fasting month, forcing about 5,000 people to seek refuge at relief centres.

In PERAK, the DAP had initially protested against the appointment of Mohamad Nizar Jamaluddin (now Datuk) of Pas as menteri besar as he represented only the third and smallest political party in the coalition.

Pas won six state seats while PKR seven and the DAP 18.

The state government’s decision to allow 149,000 people living in 349 planned and 134 new villages in Perak, with an appreciated land value of over RM1.5 billion, to apply for freehold titles has also created a controversy.

Senior executive councillor Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham said the freehold titles were in perpetuity and not for 999 years as claimed by certain parties.

He claimed that the issuing of freehold titles to those living in planned and new villages was not against the National Land Code, as the state had consulted a former Court of Appeal judge and a panel of experienced lawyers on the matter before implementing the move

From Khoo Kay Kim’s Blog ‘Straight Talk’

Governments in Asia have been advised to help stimulate domestic demand to avoid plunging into deep recession. Markets in US and Europe are suffering from severe slowdown amidst gloomy financial results from corporations and rising unemployment via retrenchments.

Unemployment in the US could hit 8.5% by mid 2009. Sales season has started a month earlier since early November but the numbers are not very encouraging. Sales of new houses dipped 2.9% in November compared to the same period last year.

Japan’s production of cars, trucks and buses marked its steepest drop in at least four decades in November, an industry group said Thursday, as the fallout from the U.S. slowdown crimped auto demand.

Vehicle production in Japan, home to Toyota Motor Corp. and other major automakers, plunged 20.4 percent in November compared to the same month a year ago to 854,171 vehicles, the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association said.

Sales of new autos are expected to stand at 4.86 million in 2009, down 4.9 percent from what it’s projecting for this year at 5.11 million, the group said.

New vehicle sales in Japan have never dipped below the 5 million mark since 1980.

The tourism industry should brace for the worse too. The industry is expected to contract by 18% next year.

In Malaysia, consumer sentiment is following similar patterns. Economic and employment data will be telling in the next three months. A few legal officers I have spoken to indicated a rising number of enquiries from employers on retrenchment.

Even if job loses are kept to minimum, many factories are cutting production and have requested their workers to take unpaid leave. This will definitely affect income and consumption.

I would like to urge the government to consider a few pertinent steps:

1. Keep EPF contribution at 11%. The reduction of EPF saving by 3% does not help to motivate consumers to spend. Instead, the government should reduce income tax by 3% and increase the level of taxable income to RM5k per month.
2. Allocate additional funds to state governments to face imminent economic downturn in their respective states. The federal government should give back at least 10% of total direct taxes collected from each state.
3. Prices of many consumer items have not come down despite further drops in retail oil prices. The government should publish a schedule of projected oil prices and provide a guarantee on these prices. This will provide certainty to businesses to consider price reductions.
4. This is the time to put more attention on domestic sector and SMEs. We cannot continue to depend on FDIs to grow our economy. Hence, this is the time to do the right thing including liberalising the FIC guidelines, the ICA and the NEP

As reported in Bernama, the Deputy Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah, today called on Muslims to strive to institute changes to enhance the position of Islam in the country so as to empower Islamic civilisation to a more glorious stage.

Muslims, who made up almost a quarter of the world’s population, could enrich their civilisation to greater glory if they used the capability and wealth they have been edowed with, he said in his royal address at the national-level 1430H Ma’al Hijrah celebration at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre here.

Tuanku Abdul Halim, who is the Sultan of Kedah, said that in their endeavour to attain that objective, Muslims should discard certain elements which had all along impeded their progress and development towards glory.

He identified these as disrespect for “ulama” (religious elders); the inclination to take the easy way out by neglecting religious teachings; laziness in terms of thinking and work; being hostile to fellow Muslims; and giving priority to self-interests without any heed for the right and wrong in Islam.

Tuanku Abdul Halim said Muslims should make it a point to understand and practice the vision entrusted by Allah (God) in the Quran and Hadith whereby Islam and its followers have to shine as bearers of blessings for the whole world.

He said the vision must be made the basis for fostering the spirit of solidarity among Muslims and with non-Muslims to establish a strong social network in the country.

The theme of this year’s Ma’al Hijrah celebration is “Menjana Ummah Gemilang” (Generating a Glorious Muslim Community).

From Lim Kit Siang’s Blog

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz was reported in the New Straits Times on Saturday as announcing that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will begin operations on Thursday on 1st January 2009 with Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) director-general Datuk Ahmad Said Hamdan as its first chief commissioner.

The first question is whether Ahmad Said is the most suitable candidate to be the Chief Commissioner of the MACC.

Parliament and the nation have been promised that with the establishment of the MACC, purportedly modeled after Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), the new anti-corruption body can no longer be accused of being the “lapdog of the government” as the ACA had been accused of being thus far.

The implication is very clear – that the ACA had corruption cases which it had not been able to prosecute because of various constraints and considerations all boiling down to “political interference”.

If so, how many such cases are there which the MACC could re-open and would Ahmad Said be the best person to re-open all such cases or would it have been better to have a completely new head for the MACC to spearhead the transformation of the MACC to become another IACC, beginning the journey to catapult Malaysia’s ranking in Transparency International Corruption Perception Index from the country’s lowest position of No. 47 to be among the world’s ten or twenty least corrupt nations like New Zealand (No. 1), Singapore (No. 4), Australia (No. 9), Hong Kong (No. 12 ) and Japan (No. 18)?

With the MACC starting operations on January 1, would Malaysians be able to see the stark difference between the new MACC and the old ACA in its first two weeks of operation?

From Suara KeADILan Online

I wish to urge and plead to various leaders in Pakatan to stop taking their differences and conflicts through the media, especially the BN government controlled ones. This includes not only the Selangor MB and the Kapar MP, but also the Selangor Speaker and the Klang MP.

They should sit down to discuss and settle these differences and conflicts internally. There are various channels and procedures existing to do so.

In the absence of the President, Dr Wan Azizah Ismail and the Ketua Umum, Sdr Anwar Ibrahim, who are away until January 6, I shall be calling a meeting of the Political Bureau this Wednesday, to discuss the main and related issues in order to find suitable solution.

The issue on the Kapar MP threat to leave PKR has been blown out of proportion by certain BN government party controlled media. They have distorted statements by some Pakatan leaders in order to portray as if the opposition alliance is in disarray.

Obviously, their intention is to draw public attention away from the series of crises in the BN and also within major components of the government coalition, leading to the upcoming Kuala Terengganu by-election.

Kenyataan Media
ISU MP KAPAR

Saya ingin menggesa dan merayu kepada semua pemimpin Pakatan agar berhenti mengemukkan perbezaan serta pertentangan mereka melalui media, terutama yang dikuasai parti pemerintah BN. Ini termasuk MB Selangor serta MP Kapar dan juga Speaker Selangor serta MP Kelang.

Merka harus duduk berbincang dan mencari jalan penyelesaian secara dalaman. Ada beberapa saluran dan prosedur bagi berbuat demikian.

Oleh kerana Presiden, Dr Wan Azizah Ismail dan Ketua Umum, Sdr Anwar Ibrahim berada di laur negara sehingga 6hb Januari, saya akan memanggil mesyuarat Biro Politik hari Rabu ini, untuk membincang semua perkara berkatan dan mencari penyelesaian.

Masalah ancaman MP Kapar hendak keluar dari PKR sudah terlalu dibesar-besarkan oleh sesetengah media yang dikuasai oleh part pemerintah. Mereka menyelewengkan sesetengah kenyataan pemimpin Pakatan untuk menunjukkan gabungan itu berpecah.

Memang jelas, tujuan mereka ialah untuk menarik perhatian awam dari kemelut dalam BN dan juga parti-parti komponen utmanya, terutama sekali menjelang pilihanraya kechil Kuala Terengganu.

Dr Syed Husin Ali
Timbalan Presiden PKR (husinsa23@yahoo.com)
28 Disember 2008