Source MP KitSiang
Why she is the target
Teresa Kok’s attempts to reach out to Malay Muslims has no doubt been a threat to Umno
Leslie Lau, October 4, 2008
SHE has been villified as a Chinese chauvinist and portrayed as anti-Muslim. She was detained one week under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for allegedly stirring up religious sentiments. And last week, unknown assailants threw a Molotov cocktail into the compound of her family home in Kuala Lumpur.
But ask Democratic Action Party (DAP) Member of Parliament Teresa Kok why she has become the target of a smear campaign in recent months and she will probably be hard pressed for an answer.
And those who know her insist she is anything but a chauvinist or an enemy of Islam that her detractors claim she is.
When Ms Kok was detained under the ISA, even Mr Zaid Ibrahim, who quit the Cabinet as de facto Law Minister partly in protest against the use of the law, said of her: “I know Teresa personally and I cannot see her as anti-Islam.”
While Mr Zaid was the only United Malays National Organisation (Umno) member who spoke out publicly, he was not the only one who viewed the recent ISA detentions of Ms Kok and a female journalist, who was released after18 hours, as unwarranted.
“Look, everyone who knows her (Ms Kok) knows she is not a bigot or a chauvinist. This makes the government look bad,” one MP from the Umno told Weekend Xtra.
In fact, it was some of Ms Kok’s political opponents in Parliament - from the ruling Barisan Nasional - who met with government officials in private to plead for her release. Such is Ms Kok’s popularity that when she made her first public appearance at a press conference hours after her release on Sept 19, she received a standing ovation from reporters.
It is probable that Ms Kok, who won her Seputeh parliamentary seat in Kuala Lumpur with a 36,492-majority - the biggest - in the March elections, could win with an even bigger margin if polls were held today.
To her supporters, she is a hero who has been wronged.
It was alleged that she had abused her position as an MP and a member of the Selangor state government to direct a mosque to reduce the volume of its public address system during prayer times because it was disturbing non-Muslims living nearby.
The allegation, made by former Selangor mentri besar Mohd Khir Toyo, and highlighted in the Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia newspaper, was found to be untrue. Even the mosque committee came out to publicly deny the allegation. Still, she was detained by the police.
The attacks have not stopped despite her release. Utusan Malaysia has made her, in her own words, a “cover girl” since her release. After she complained about the allegedly low quality of food served during her detention, comparing it to dog food, she has been chastised repeatedly in the newspaper.
Ms Kok, known for her multi-racial stand, has been determined more than ever to flaunt it since her arrest.
Following her release, she has been attending breaking-of-fast functions almost nightly during the just-ended fasting month of Ramadan.
But even that has become the subject of attacks by Utusan Malaysia.
Last week, Ms Kok was criticised in the newspaper for “wearing a skirt to a mosque”. The article appeared to suggest that she was wearing something outrageous and that her attire caused serious discomfort among Muslims present at the function.
However, facts suggested otherwise. Ms Kok wore a long-sleeved dress which came down almost to her ankles. She also did not enter the mosque, remaining instead in its compound.
One of Ms Kok’s Malay-Muslim supporters told Weekend Xtra: “I don’t understand why she is being targetted. She is usually so sensitive to the religious obligations of Muslims it is almost ridiculous. She usually takes great pains to tell me what I can or cannot eat when we are out that I find it hard to believe she would be anti-Islam.”
Ultimately, the smear campaign could be attributed to the fact thatMs Kok and a number of leaders from the Chinese-dominated DAP have taken pains to reach out to Malay-Muslim voters.
As a member of a party who is part of three state governments - along with its Malay partners in the Parti Keadilan Rakyat and Parti Islam SeMalaysia - DAP leaders like Ms Kok have been reaching out more than ever, and successfully, to Malay voters.
This is undoubtedly a political threat to the ruling coalition led by Umno.
The attacks against Ms Kok and the attempts to portray her as a Chinese chauvinist who is anti-Islam represent a crude attempt at undermining the credibility and viability of the opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, as a viable multi-racial alternative to BN.
But targetting Ms Kok, known for her congeniality as much as anything else, may well backfire.
PKR to take red IC case to court, says Jeffrey
Source DailyExpress
Kota Kinabalu: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) will help a Malaysian woman, who lost her citizenship after losing her identity card, to seek redress from the court.
PKR Vice President, Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, said going to court would be the best action to resolve the matter and other issues related to identity card.
"We will assist the victim, Yong Hee Hua, 78, to take the matter to court," he said in a statement, Friday.
Jeffrey was referring to Yong, a Sino-Kadazan from Penampang, to whom the National Registration Department (NRD) had issued a permanent resident identity card as a replacement to her lost identity card.
He said the court action would help determine, among others, the qualification of citizenship under the Malaysia Agreement and the requirements for the issuance of identity card as well as the qualifications for natives as defined by State laws and the Federal Constitution.
"Yong is not the issue. Yong's rights represent Sabahans' rights. Injustice to her is an injustice to all Sabahans.
"Sabah leaders, irrespective of their political ideology, must stand together on this," he said.
Jeffrey said there had been too much talk with no action and too many problems but no solution to the issues concerning the Government's handling of Malaysian citizenship and dubious identity cards in Sabah.
Kota Kinabalu: Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) will help a Malaysian woman, who lost her citizenship after losing her identity card, to seek redress from the court.
PKR Vice President, Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, said going to court would be the best action to resolve the matter and other issues related to identity card.
"We will assist the victim, Yong Hee Hua, 78, to take the matter to court," he said in a statement, Friday.
Jeffrey was referring to Yong, a Sino-Kadazan from Penampang, to whom the National Registration Department (NRD) had issued a permanent resident identity card as a replacement to her lost identity card.
He said the court action would help determine, among others, the qualification of citizenship under the Malaysia Agreement and the requirements for the issuance of identity card as well as the qualifications for natives as defined by State laws and the Federal Constitution.
"Yong is not the issue. Yong's rights represent Sabahans' rights. Injustice to her is an injustice to all Sabahans.
"Sabah leaders, irrespective of their political ideology, must stand together on this," he said.
Jeffrey said there had been too much talk with no action and too many problems but no solution to the issues concerning the Government's handling of Malaysian citizenship and dubious identity cards in Sabah.
Why Eurocopter’s Cougar has been selected to replace Nuri
Source MP KitSiang
The Prime Minister-cum-Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should set an example of integrity and transparency by making public the details of the shortlisted bids by the four aircrafts to replace the RMAF Nuri helicopters and the reason why Eurocopter’s Cougar EC725 has been selected.
It is a sad commentary on the failure of Abdullah’s National Integrity Plan that Malaysia’s latest ranking on the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index has plunged 10 places in his five years as Prime Minister from No. 37 in 2003 to No. 47 in 2008 and a deepening crisis of confidence about integrity and transparency.
Abdullah should be aware that his first act as Defence Minister, announcing that the Defence Ministry has agreed to acquire new helicopters from European helicopter manufacturers, Eurocopter, to replace the Nuri has been immediately dogged by integrity and transparency questions – in particular, the allegation about the involvement of his son Kamaluddin Abdullah in the Eurocopter deal.
It is for this reason that Abdullah should make public the details of the shortlisted bids by the four aircrafts to replace the RMAF Nuri helicopters and the reason why Eurocopter’s Cougar EC725 has been selected.
If no full explanation is forthcoming from Abdullah, I will be raising this issue in Parliament when it reconvenes on October 13.
The Eurocopter Cougar EC725 was one of four aircraft shortlisted by RMAF. The other three were the Sikorsky S92, Agusta Westland EH-101 Merlin and the Russian-made Mil Mi-17 Hip.
It has been reported that the government had allocated US$600 million (RM1.93 billion) to buy an initial fleet of 12 helicopters, which will be in service until 2050.
The Prime Minister-cum-Defence Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should set an example of integrity and transparency by making public the details of the shortlisted bids by the four aircrafts to replace the RMAF Nuri helicopters and the reason why Eurocopter’s Cougar EC725 has been selected.
It is a sad commentary on the failure of Abdullah’s National Integrity Plan that Malaysia’s latest ranking on the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index has plunged 10 places in his five years as Prime Minister from No. 37 in 2003 to No. 47 in 2008 and a deepening crisis of confidence about integrity and transparency.
Abdullah should be aware that his first act as Defence Minister, announcing that the Defence Ministry has agreed to acquire new helicopters from European helicopter manufacturers, Eurocopter, to replace the Nuri has been immediately dogged by integrity and transparency questions – in particular, the allegation about the involvement of his son Kamaluddin Abdullah in the Eurocopter deal.
It is for this reason that Abdullah should make public the details of the shortlisted bids by the four aircrafts to replace the RMAF Nuri helicopters and the reason why Eurocopter’s Cougar EC725 has been selected.
If no full explanation is forthcoming from Abdullah, I will be raising this issue in Parliament when it reconvenes on October 13.
The Eurocopter Cougar EC725 was one of four aircraft shortlisted by RMAF. The other three were the Sikorsky S92, Agusta Westland EH-101 Merlin and the Russian-made Mil Mi-17 Hip.
It has been reported that the government had allocated US$600 million (RM1.93 billion) to buy an initial fleet of 12 helicopters, which will be in service until 2050.
Malaysia elected to Int’l Atomic Energy Agency board
Source TheStar
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has been elected to the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a statement issued by the Malaysian Embassy in Austria and the Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations said here on Friday.
Malaysia will begin its two-year term from this month until September 2010. The nation completed its previous two-year term on the board in 2004.
Malaysia will be represented in the IAEA board by Datuk Mohd Arshad M. Hussain, the ambassador to Austria and resident representative of the country to the IAEA, and he would assume the post of governor of Malaysia on the board.
The IAEA board of governors, consisting 35 members, generally meets five times a year.
It also meets in additional two meetings at the committee level the technical assistance and cooperation committee, and the programmes and budget committee.
The statement said at its meetings the board members examine and make recommendations to the IAEA general conference on several important matters affecting the IAEA accounts, programmes and budget and considers applications for membership.
“It also approves safeguards agreements and the publication of the IAEA safety standards and has the responsiblity of appointing the director-general of the IAEA with the approval of the general conference,” it added.
The IAEA, which has 145 members, is the world’s specialised agency for coperation in the nuclear field and was set up as the world’s “Atoms of Peace” organisation in 1957 within the United Nations family.
The IAEA works with its member states and multiple partners worldwide to promote safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technology
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has been elected to the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a statement issued by the Malaysian Embassy in Austria and the Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations said here on Friday.
Malaysia will begin its two-year term from this month until September 2010. The nation completed its previous two-year term on the board in 2004.
Malaysia will be represented in the IAEA board by Datuk Mohd Arshad M. Hussain, the ambassador to Austria and resident representative of the country to the IAEA, and he would assume the post of governor of Malaysia on the board.
The IAEA board of governors, consisting 35 members, generally meets five times a year.
It also meets in additional two meetings at the committee level the technical assistance and cooperation committee, and the programmes and budget committee.
The statement said at its meetings the board members examine and make recommendations to the IAEA general conference on several important matters affecting the IAEA accounts, programmes and budget and considers applications for membership.
“It also approves safeguards agreements and the publication of the IAEA safety standards and has the responsiblity of appointing the director-general of the IAEA with the approval of the general conference,” it added.
The IAEA, which has 145 members, is the world’s specialised agency for coperation in the nuclear field and was set up as the world’s “Atoms of Peace” organisation in 1957 within the United Nations family.
The IAEA works with its member states and multiple partners worldwide to promote safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technology
All Umno KK top leaders returned unopposed
Source DailyExpress
Kota Kinabalu: All top officer bearers in the Umno Kota Kinabalu division have been returned unopposed to their posts.
Datuk Faisyal Diego was retained as chairman, Seruji Nawawi as deputy chairman, Roshima Zakaria as Wanita chief, Badrul Reza Chuprat as Youth chief and Musliati Muslimin as Puteri chief.
Disclosing this, Seruji said KK Umno's 98 branches have all completed their respective meetings.
There are more than 10,000 Umno members in the division.
"From the results, all incumbents for the top posts have been retained with the exception of the committee members and the seven delegates to the Umno general assembly in March next year," he said at his open house in Likas, Thursday.
He said the division's conference would be held on Oct 12 at the Plumbago Hall at Kuwasa building.
According to him, Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Shahrir Samad would be attending the conference as an observer.
He said the division's open house would be held on Oct 19 at the Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) hall at Karamunsing, from 10am to 2pm.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman is expected to attend the event.
On other developments, he noted that the Raya celebration this year is merrier despite the increase in the prices of goods.
Seruji said this shows the people had persevered during bad times and that such spirit should be inculcated among the society.
Kota Kinabalu: All top officer bearers in the Umno Kota Kinabalu division have been returned unopposed to their posts.
Datuk Faisyal Diego was retained as chairman, Seruji Nawawi as deputy chairman, Roshima Zakaria as Wanita chief, Badrul Reza Chuprat as Youth chief and Musliati Muslimin as Puteri chief.
Disclosing this, Seruji said KK Umno's 98 branches have all completed their respective meetings.
There are more than 10,000 Umno members in the division.
"From the results, all incumbents for the top posts have been retained with the exception of the committee members and the seven delegates to the Umno general assembly in March next year," he said at his open house in Likas, Thursday.
He said the division's conference would be held on Oct 12 at the Plumbago Hall at Kuwasa building.
According to him, Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Shahrir Samad would be attending the conference as an observer.
He said the division's open house would be held on Oct 19 at the Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) hall at Karamunsing, from 10am to 2pm.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman is expected to attend the event.
On other developments, he noted that the Raya celebration this year is merrier despite the increase in the prices of goods.
Seruji said this shows the people had persevered during bad times and that such spirit should be inculcated among the society.
US economic crisis not affecting Sabah, says Musa
Source DailyExpress
Kota Kinabalu: Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman said Sabah's economy is still stable and strong despite the world's economy facing a crisis caused by economic depression in the United States.
The Chief Minister said this was evidenced by the State Government's ability to continue with its development projects.
He said the economic crisis in the US had not caused any impact to Sabah and hence the reason why the Government had been able to continue with the planned development programmes.
"Sabah's economy is firm and strong, and I will prove it when I present the State Budget 2009 soon," he said when met at the Chief Minister's and State Cabinet's Hari Raya Aidilfiitiri Open House at the Kota Kinabalu Sports Complex, here, Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak stressed that the country had internal strength to weather the global financial market crisis.
In that context, Musa hinted that the Budget 2009 would be a good projection and people-friendly.
On other developments, Industrial Development Assistant Minister Jainab Ahmad said industrial growth in the State showed encouraging developments.
She said to her knowledge so far, none of the industry's participants was facing problems from the global economic crisis.
However, she said the Government was ready to assist any industrialists facing problems, especially those who had direct trade dealings with the US.
She also visited Indonesian Consulate Bapak Rudhito Widago's Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house at Tanjung Aru and later State Secretary Datuk Sukarti Wakiman's open house.
Kota Kinabalu: Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman said Sabah's economy is still stable and strong despite the world's economy facing a crisis caused by economic depression in the United States.
The Chief Minister said this was evidenced by the State Government's ability to continue with its development projects.
He said the economic crisis in the US had not caused any impact to Sabah and hence the reason why the Government had been able to continue with the planned development programmes.
"Sabah's economy is firm and strong, and I will prove it when I present the State Budget 2009 soon," he said when met at the Chief Minister's and State Cabinet's Hari Raya Aidilfiitiri Open House at the Kota Kinabalu Sports Complex, here, Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak stressed that the country had internal strength to weather the global financial market crisis.
In that context, Musa hinted that the Budget 2009 would be a good projection and people-friendly.
On other developments, Industrial Development Assistant Minister Jainab Ahmad said industrial growth in the State showed encouraging developments.
She said to her knowledge so far, none of the industry's participants was facing problems from the global economic crisis.
However, she said the Government was ready to assist any industrialists facing problems, especially those who had direct trade dealings with the US.
She also visited Indonesian Consulate Bapak Rudhito Widago's Hari Raya Aidilfitri open house at Tanjung Aru and later State Secretary Datuk Sukarti Wakiman's open house.
Over 16,200 Middle East, North African students now in Malaysia
Source Saudi Press Agency
Dubai, October 03 , SPA -- The number of students from Middle East and North African region in Malaysia reached 16,299 as of July, this year, BERNAMA news agency quoted Dubai-based Malaysia Education Promotion Centre (MEPC) regional director Shushilil Azam Shuib as saying.
He said this had surpassed the revised target of 15,000 students by 2010, set by Malaysia's Ministry of Higher Education.
Iran topped the list with 4,878 students, followed by Yemen (2,688), Sudan (1,600), Iraq (1,400), Saudi Arabia (1,271), Somalia (1,231), Libya (975) and Jordan (561).
According to the list, the United Arab Emirates has 11 students in Malaysia, a Southeast Asian nation of 27 million which aims to become a regional education hub.
Altogether, 25 countries in the Middle East and North Africa have sent their students to Malaysia.
Shushilil Azam said when the ministry decided to set up MEPC Dubai, there were only about 3,000 students from this region studying at Malaysian institutions.
"From the start in 2004, our office undertook many promotional activities and the outcome had been positive as by the end of that year, we managed to enrol almost 4,700 students," he told BERNAMA. Spurred by this development, the ministry went on to set a target of 10,000 students to be enrolled at Malaysian education institutions by the end of 2010.
"It was a real challenge for our office. However, we took it seriously by embarking on aggressive promotional campaigns across the region," said Shushilil Azam.
According to him, after just three years of operation, MEPC Dubai crossed the target, attracting over 11,400 students by the end of last year.
"Since we achieved the target ahead of time, the ministry revised its target to 15,000 students by 2010," he said of the new target which had since been achieved.
Dubai, October 03 , SPA -- The number of students from Middle East and North African region in Malaysia reached 16,299 as of July, this year, BERNAMA news agency quoted Dubai-based Malaysia Education Promotion Centre (MEPC) regional director Shushilil Azam Shuib as saying.
He said this had surpassed the revised target of 15,000 students by 2010, set by Malaysia's Ministry of Higher Education.
Iran topped the list with 4,878 students, followed by Yemen (2,688), Sudan (1,600), Iraq (1,400), Saudi Arabia (1,271), Somalia (1,231), Libya (975) and Jordan (561).
According to the list, the United Arab Emirates has 11 students in Malaysia, a Southeast Asian nation of 27 million which aims to become a regional education hub.
Altogether, 25 countries in the Middle East and North Africa have sent their students to Malaysia.
Shushilil Azam said when the ministry decided to set up MEPC Dubai, there were only about 3,000 students from this region studying at Malaysian institutions.
"From the start in 2004, our office undertook many promotional activities and the outcome had been positive as by the end of that year, we managed to enrol almost 4,700 students," he told BERNAMA. Spurred by this development, the ministry went on to set a target of 10,000 students to be enrolled at Malaysian education institutions by the end of 2010.
"It was a real challenge for our office. However, we took it seriously by embarking on aggressive promotional campaigns across the region," said Shushilil Azam.
According to him, after just three years of operation, MEPC Dubai crossed the target, attracting over 11,400 students by the end of last year.
"Since we achieved the target ahead of time, the ministry revised its target to 15,000 students by 2010," he said of the new target which had since been achieved.
Penasihat DAP kunjungi Presiden PAS
Source Harakah
KUALA LUMPUR, 3 Okt (Hrkh) - Penasihat Parti Tindakan Demokratik (DAP) Lim Kit Siang mengunjungi Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang sempena Aidil Fitri, di rumahnya di Kampung Rusila, Marang semalam.
Menurut Buletin Online, kunjungan Kit Siang itu diiringi oleh rombongan anggota DAP Terengganu. Mereka tiba di rumah Tuan Guru kira-kira jam 9.27 malam.
Dalam kunjungan itu, sambil beramah mesra mereka mengambil kesempatan untuk berbincang mengenai pelbagai isu politik negara dan hal ehwal semasa termasuk perkembangan Pakatan Rakyat dan pelan peralihan kuasa (Gambar di sini).
Turut bersama dalam pertemuan sempena kunjungan itu adalah Pesuruhjaya PAS Terengganu, Datuk Mustafa Ali dan Pengerusi Penaja DAP Kuala Terengganu, Ng Chai Hing.
KUALA LUMPUR, 3 Okt (Hrkh) - Penasihat Parti Tindakan Demokratik (DAP) Lim Kit Siang mengunjungi Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang sempena Aidil Fitri, di rumahnya di Kampung Rusila, Marang semalam.
Menurut Buletin Online, kunjungan Kit Siang itu diiringi oleh rombongan anggota DAP Terengganu. Mereka tiba di rumah Tuan Guru kira-kira jam 9.27 malam.
Dalam kunjungan itu, sambil beramah mesra mereka mengambil kesempatan untuk berbincang mengenai pelbagai isu politik negara dan hal ehwal semasa termasuk perkembangan Pakatan Rakyat dan pelan peralihan kuasa (Gambar di sini).
Turut bersama dalam pertemuan sempena kunjungan itu adalah Pesuruhjaya PAS Terengganu, Datuk Mustafa Ali dan Pengerusi Penaja DAP Kuala Terengganu, Ng Chai Hing.
Should we have such an Act?
Source TheStar
A Race Relations Act will have to take into consideration certain articles entrenched in the Constitution as well as ensure that mature public dialogue is not stifled.
A RACE Relations Act is in the works, it would appear. How nice; a law to help the different races have relations. It is still early days yet.
There isn’t a draft to examine, so any discussion will have to be based on more general issues regarding the implications of such a law.
Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal has made it clear that the Government has studied similar laws on race relations in other countries and is now in the process of developing our own.
I would like to take this opportunity to raise some concerns.
Firstly, race relations laws like the one they have in the UK is more about ensuring that there is no discrimination on the basis of race with regard to matters such as employment, education and the like.
It’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s a pretty good thing.
If a person feels he is being treated unfairly at work because of his ethnicity, then it is good to have a law to help him get justice.
I have always advocated such a law, especially when told about how, in the private sector, certain races are supposedly not given the time of day.
However, if this is the purpose of the Act, then the principle will have to be applied across the board, in the private as well as public sector.
Is this going to happen? Fat chance.
The Constitution allows for quotas to be set in the public sector for bumiputras and I doubt that the Government of the day is going to do away with those provisions.
If this is the case, then any legal requirement for fair treatment becomes a farce.
Surely, the Government is not so silly as to mean a law for equal treatment then.
What is left? Maybe it will simply be a law to prevent people from saying nasty things to others based on race and, perhaps, religion. A law to stop hate speech.
Again, this is not necessarily a bad thing. But then we must look at the matter in the context of Malaysia.
Do we have similar laws along the same vein? Yes, we do. It’s called the Sedition Act.
Why the need for a new law then?
Furthermore, any law would be used according to the discretion of the powers that be.
I am very uncertain as to whether such a law would be used fairly.
I am worried that some comments would be deemed more hateful than others depending on whom it is aimed at.
After all, we can see in recent times how a blogger’s comments were deemed so inflammatory that he deserved to be locked up without trial, and yet, a politician can say hateful things and no law is used against him.
He gets a slap on the wrist and goes on with his jolly little life.
Also, just what is going to be defined as “hate speech”?
I suppose some things are obvious.
Associating certain races with certain porcine mammals should be in there.
But what about legitimate discussions? Will these be included as well?
Let us look at one battle cry that has been raised in recent times. According to some people (and they run the whole gamut from two-bit politicians to so-called academics), the Malays and their precious rights are being challenged. (Tellingly, details are never provided.)
Now, legally, these “rights” (they are privileges actually, not rights) can be found in Articles 152 and 153 of the Constitution.
Article 152 is about Bahasa Malaysia being the official language and 153 is the power given to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to set quotas in matters of public service, education, permits and licences for bumiputras.
One thing I want to make clear here is that Article 153 gives the King a discretionary power, and it has to be done to a level which he deems reasonable.
What does “reasonable” mean? This is a subjective term, and common sense would dictate that it can be open for discussion.
What if this new proposed law deemed such discussions to be “hate speech” or causing a “breakdown in race relations”?
It would mean another nail in the coffin of Malaysian civil liberties.
I must admit I am writing purely on conjecture.
But in countries where a race relations law exists, they more often that not have a strong foundation in human rights. We don’t.
It could very well mean a further erosion of the precious few rights of expression that we do have.
To summarise, my main concerns are three-fold: an equal opportunities law will not work in a legal system with an institutionalised system of discrimination; the application of laws in this country does not appear to be fair; and there is always the possibility that a Malaysian Race Relations Act will serve only to chip away the few chances we have at any sort of mature public dialogue.
We have problems in this country. Perhaps the way forward is to openly debate such matters in an intelligent fashion.
It is not speech which causes problems after all; it is the irresponsible few who threaten people with violence and fire bombs who are the real threat.
And we have laws aplenty to deal with such elements.
That is, if those laws are ever used against the real perpetrators.
A Race Relations Act will have to take into consideration certain articles entrenched in the Constitution as well as ensure that mature public dialogue is not stifled.
A RACE Relations Act is in the works, it would appear. How nice; a law to help the different races have relations. It is still early days yet.
There isn’t a draft to examine, so any discussion will have to be based on more general issues regarding the implications of such a law.
Unity, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal has made it clear that the Government has studied similar laws on race relations in other countries and is now in the process of developing our own.
I would like to take this opportunity to raise some concerns.
Firstly, race relations laws like the one they have in the UK is more about ensuring that there is no discrimination on the basis of race with regard to matters such as employment, education and the like.
It’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s a pretty good thing.
If a person feels he is being treated unfairly at work because of his ethnicity, then it is good to have a law to help him get justice.
I have always advocated such a law, especially when told about how, in the private sector, certain races are supposedly not given the time of day.
However, if this is the purpose of the Act, then the principle will have to be applied across the board, in the private as well as public sector.
Is this going to happen? Fat chance.
The Constitution allows for quotas to be set in the public sector for bumiputras and I doubt that the Government of the day is going to do away with those provisions.
If this is the case, then any legal requirement for fair treatment becomes a farce.
Surely, the Government is not so silly as to mean a law for equal treatment then.
What is left? Maybe it will simply be a law to prevent people from saying nasty things to others based on race and, perhaps, religion. A law to stop hate speech.
Again, this is not necessarily a bad thing. But then we must look at the matter in the context of Malaysia.
Do we have similar laws along the same vein? Yes, we do. It’s called the Sedition Act.
Why the need for a new law then?
Furthermore, any law would be used according to the discretion of the powers that be.
I am very uncertain as to whether such a law would be used fairly.
I am worried that some comments would be deemed more hateful than others depending on whom it is aimed at.
After all, we can see in recent times how a blogger’s comments were deemed so inflammatory that he deserved to be locked up without trial, and yet, a politician can say hateful things and no law is used against him.
He gets a slap on the wrist and goes on with his jolly little life.
Also, just what is going to be defined as “hate speech”?
I suppose some things are obvious.
Associating certain races with certain porcine mammals should be in there.
But what about legitimate discussions? Will these be included as well?
Let us look at one battle cry that has been raised in recent times. According to some people (and they run the whole gamut from two-bit politicians to so-called academics), the Malays and their precious rights are being challenged. (Tellingly, details are never provided.)
Now, legally, these “rights” (they are privileges actually, not rights) can be found in Articles 152 and 153 of the Constitution.
Article 152 is about Bahasa Malaysia being the official language and 153 is the power given to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to set quotas in matters of public service, education, permits and licences for bumiputras.
One thing I want to make clear here is that Article 153 gives the King a discretionary power, and it has to be done to a level which he deems reasonable.
What does “reasonable” mean? This is a subjective term, and common sense would dictate that it can be open for discussion.
What if this new proposed law deemed such discussions to be “hate speech” or causing a “breakdown in race relations”?
It would mean another nail in the coffin of Malaysian civil liberties.
I must admit I am writing purely on conjecture.
But in countries where a race relations law exists, they more often that not have a strong foundation in human rights. We don’t.
It could very well mean a further erosion of the precious few rights of expression that we do have.
To summarise, my main concerns are three-fold: an equal opportunities law will not work in a legal system with an institutionalised system of discrimination; the application of laws in this country does not appear to be fair; and there is always the possibility that a Malaysian Race Relations Act will serve only to chip away the few chances we have at any sort of mature public dialogue.
We have problems in this country. Perhaps the way forward is to openly debate such matters in an intelligent fashion.
It is not speech which causes problems after all; it is the irresponsible few who threaten people with violence and fire bombs who are the real threat.
And we have laws aplenty to deal with such elements.
That is, if those laws are ever used against the real perpetrators.
Hindraf disappointed that visit was distorted
Source TheStar
BUTTERWORTH: Hindraf is disappointed with certain politicians and the media for distorting facts about their members’ visit to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s Hari Raya open house at Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday.
Its national co-ordinator R.S. Thanenthiran said Hindraf had sent an official letter to Abdullah’s office on Sept 22, stating that it members wanted to greet the Prime Minister and personally ask him to release all Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees during his open house.
“The Prime Minister’s senior personal assistant Datuk Ahmad Yaakob accepted our letter and told us that everyone was welcome at Abdullah’s open house.
“We told Ahmad Yaakob that apart from relaying Hari Raya greetings to the Prime Minister, we also wanted to personally ask Abdullah to release all ISA detainees,” he told a press conference here on Friday.
On Wednesday, some 160 Hindraf sympathisers and several Free Raja Petra Kamarudin supporters visited the open house hosted by the Prime Minister and other Muslim Cabinet ministers, causing a short but loud commotion.
Six-year-old W. Vwaishhnavi, the daughter of Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy, presented Abdullah with a teddy bear and a Hari Raya card.
Thanenthiran said Hindraf members went to the open house to “mohon maaf, zahir dan batin” (seek forgiveness) from the Abdullah, and not to be disrespectful by creating a ruckus, as alleged by certain quarters.
He said it was not true that Hindraf sympathisers had jumped queue, noting that they patiently waited for about two hours to meet Abdullah.
He also said no memorandum was presented to Abdullah. Instead he was given a greeting card, flowers and a soft toy.
“We have always reminded our sympathisers to be patient and law-abiding citizens.
“But, we are disappointed with certain quarters who have given the impression that we are violent and provocative,” he said.
Thanenthiran also advised Hindraf sympathisers to stay away from Abdullah’s Hari Raya open house in Kepala Batas on Saturday, to avoid being blamed for causing any disturbance there.
BUTTERWORTH: Hindraf is disappointed with certain politicians and the media for distorting facts about their members’ visit to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s Hari Raya open house at Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday.
Its national co-ordinator R.S. Thanenthiran said Hindraf had sent an official letter to Abdullah’s office on Sept 22, stating that it members wanted to greet the Prime Minister and personally ask him to release all Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees during his open house.
“The Prime Minister’s senior personal assistant Datuk Ahmad Yaakob accepted our letter and told us that everyone was welcome at Abdullah’s open house.
“We told Ahmad Yaakob that apart from relaying Hari Raya greetings to the Prime Minister, we also wanted to personally ask Abdullah to release all ISA detainees,” he told a press conference here on Friday.
On Wednesday, some 160 Hindraf sympathisers and several Free Raja Petra Kamarudin supporters visited the open house hosted by the Prime Minister and other Muslim Cabinet ministers, causing a short but loud commotion.
Six-year-old W. Vwaishhnavi, the daughter of Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy, presented Abdullah with a teddy bear and a Hari Raya card.
Thanenthiran said Hindraf members went to the open house to “mohon maaf, zahir dan batin” (seek forgiveness) from the Abdullah, and not to be disrespectful by creating a ruckus, as alleged by certain quarters.
He said it was not true that Hindraf sympathisers had jumped queue, noting that they patiently waited for about two hours to meet Abdullah.
He also said no memorandum was presented to Abdullah. Instead he was given a greeting card, flowers and a soft toy.
“We have always reminded our sympathisers to be patient and law-abiding citizens.
“But, we are disappointed with certain quarters who have given the impression that we are violent and provocative,” he said.
Thanenthiran also advised Hindraf sympathisers to stay away from Abdullah’s Hari Raya open house in Kepala Batas on Saturday, to avoid being blamed for causing any disturbance there.
IMF: Deep recession likely in US, less so in eurozone
Source YahooAFP
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States could face a deep, prolonged recession from the current financial turmoil, with the eurozone less at risk, the International Monetary Fund said in a report Thursday.
With the global economy reeling from a credit crisis, IMF researchers found that banking sector strains were a strong marker of a significant downturn.
"Episodes of financial turmoil characterized by banking sector distress are more likely to be associated with severe and protracted downturns than episodes of stress centered mainly in securities or foreign exchange markets," the IMF said.
"Based on a comparison of the current episode of financial stress with previous episodes, there remains a substantial likelihood of a sharp downturn in the United States," it said.
The findings, reported in chapters released a week in advance of the full World Economic Outlook, appeared to signal the IMF will be significantly lowering its economic growth forecasts in the semiannual report.
In July, the IMF revised modestly upward growth forecasts of the April WEO but its chief economist, Simon Johnson, said there was still "a chance of a global recession," which many economists define by global growth below 3.0 percent.
The 185-nation institution said it studied the factors in financial turbulence that cause a sharp, prolonged contraction instead of a limited impact on the overall economy.
Analyzing data in 17 advanced economies over the past 30 years, the IMF said that about 60 percent of the 113 episodes of financial stress identified were followed by downturns that were banking-related.
And those downturns tended to be prolonged and more severe.
"The US economic downturn may well become more severe and could evolve into a recession," said the IMF.
The evidence for the euro area meanwhile "is more consistent with the pattern for a slowdown than a recession, and the dynamics also appear to be evolving with some lag," it said.
This difference was mainly due to the "relatively strong" household balance sheets in the 15-nation eurozone, where personal savings outpace those of Americans.
"The size of financial imbalances in the household sector is crucial in determining whether the downturn will turn into a recession," it said.
The IMF called on policymakers to take "strong actions" to deal with financial market stress, adding that support for the restoration of financial system capital seemed "particularly important."
However, it warned that policymakers "must seek to avoid longer-term moral hazard implications of any strategy to restore financial stability."
The advice came as the United States struggles to mount a 700-billion-dollar bailout of financial firms, touted by President George W. Bush's administration and Congressional leaders as key to averting a broader collapse of the world's largest economy.
In the July IMF forecasts, global expansion was seen at 4.1 percent this year and 3.9 percent in 2009, with the US at 1.3 percent, followed by 0.8 percent. Eurozone growth was seen at 1.7 percent and 1.2 percent.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States could face a deep, prolonged recession from the current financial turmoil, with the eurozone less at risk, the International Monetary Fund said in a report Thursday.
With the global economy reeling from a credit crisis, IMF researchers found that banking sector strains were a strong marker of a significant downturn.
"Episodes of financial turmoil characterized by banking sector distress are more likely to be associated with severe and protracted downturns than episodes of stress centered mainly in securities or foreign exchange markets," the IMF said.
"Based on a comparison of the current episode of financial stress with previous episodes, there remains a substantial likelihood of a sharp downturn in the United States," it said.
The findings, reported in chapters released a week in advance of the full World Economic Outlook, appeared to signal the IMF will be significantly lowering its economic growth forecasts in the semiannual report.
In July, the IMF revised modestly upward growth forecasts of the April WEO but its chief economist, Simon Johnson, said there was still "a chance of a global recession," which many economists define by global growth below 3.0 percent.
The 185-nation institution said it studied the factors in financial turbulence that cause a sharp, prolonged contraction instead of a limited impact on the overall economy.
Analyzing data in 17 advanced economies over the past 30 years, the IMF said that about 60 percent of the 113 episodes of financial stress identified were followed by downturns that were banking-related.
And those downturns tended to be prolonged and more severe.
"The US economic downturn may well become more severe and could evolve into a recession," said the IMF.
The evidence for the euro area meanwhile "is more consistent with the pattern for a slowdown than a recession, and the dynamics also appear to be evolving with some lag," it said.
This difference was mainly due to the "relatively strong" household balance sheets in the 15-nation eurozone, where personal savings outpace those of Americans.
"The size of financial imbalances in the household sector is crucial in determining whether the downturn will turn into a recession," it said.
The IMF called on policymakers to take "strong actions" to deal with financial market stress, adding that support for the restoration of financial system capital seemed "particularly important."
However, it warned that policymakers "must seek to avoid longer-term moral hazard implications of any strategy to restore financial stability."
The advice came as the United States struggles to mount a 700-billion-dollar bailout of financial firms, touted by President George W. Bush's administration and Congressional leaders as key to averting a broader collapse of the world's largest economy.
In the July IMF forecasts, global expansion was seen at 4.1 percent this year and 3.9 percent in 2009, with the US at 1.3 percent, followed by 0.8 percent. Eurozone growth was seen at 1.7 percent and 1.2 percent.
Worldwide semiconductor sales up 5.5% for August
Source Portland Business Journal
Worldwide sales of semiconductors grew by 5.5 percent to $22.7 billion in August from $21.5 billion in the same month last year, according to a report released Thursday.
The San Jose-based trade group Semiconductor Industry Association said sales also grew by 2.4 percent from July's total of $22.2 billion.Year-to-date sales through August were $170.2 billion, an increase of 4.5 percent from the same period of 2007 when sales were $162.9 billion.
“Global sales of semiconductors remained strong in August,” said SIA President George Scalise. “Sales of personal computers and cellular handsets continued to be the principal drivers of demand. Continuing price pressure on DRAMs and NAND flash memory dampened overall industry growth. Excluding memory products, industry sales were up by 11.4 percent year-on-year in August. Year-to-date sales were 4.5 percent ahead of last year and remain in line with the SIA mid-year forecast of 4.3 percent growth in 2008.”
According to a recent Credit Suisse report, PC unit sales are projected to grow by more than 13 percent in 2008. Unit sales grew by 9.1 percent year-over-year in August, a modest slowdown from July.
Worldwide unit sales of cellular handsets remained strong, especially in emerging markets. Unit sales of cellular handsets are forecast to grow about ten percent in 2008, with the strongest growth coming from emerging markets.
Worldwide sales of semiconductors grew by 5.5 percent to $22.7 billion in August from $21.5 billion in the same month last year, according to a report released Thursday.
The San Jose-based trade group Semiconductor Industry Association said sales also grew by 2.4 percent from July's total of $22.2 billion.Year-to-date sales through August were $170.2 billion, an increase of 4.5 percent from the same period of 2007 when sales were $162.9 billion.
“Global sales of semiconductors remained strong in August,” said SIA President George Scalise. “Sales of personal computers and cellular handsets continued to be the principal drivers of demand. Continuing price pressure on DRAMs and NAND flash memory dampened overall industry growth. Excluding memory products, industry sales were up by 11.4 percent year-on-year in August. Year-to-date sales were 4.5 percent ahead of last year and remain in line with the SIA mid-year forecast of 4.3 percent growth in 2008.”
According to a recent Credit Suisse report, PC unit sales are projected to grow by more than 13 percent in 2008. Unit sales grew by 9.1 percent year-over-year in August, a modest slowdown from July.
Worldwide unit sales of cellular handsets remained strong, especially in emerging markets. Unit sales of cellular handsets are forecast to grow about ten percent in 2008, with the strongest growth coming from emerging markets.
SAPP to show proof of Sabah MyKad scandal
Source NST
KOTA KINABALU: Evidence of illegal issuance of MyKad to foreigners will be released by the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) tomorrow.
The MP for Sepanggar, Datuk Eric Majimbun, said he would reveal the details that led to a population explosion in the state.
"Just imagine, our population increased by 285 per cent between 1970 and 2000," he said. "I will bare all, including proof of people not born in Sabah becoming Malaysian citizens (in Sabah)."
Majimbun, who is also SAPP deputy president, was at the state government's Hari Raya open house in Likas, hosted by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman on Wednesday.
Majimbun came with SAPP president Datuk Yong Teck Lee and other senior party leaders. SAPP left the Barisan Nasional last month.
Last week, BN component party Upko highlighted the case of 78-year-old Yong Lee Hua, alias Piang Lin, a Sino-Kadazan Sabah native who lost her citizenship when her MyKad was stolen by pickpockets last year.
Upko Youth chief Donald Mojuntin, who is also the Moyog assemblyman, highlighted Piang Lin's plight of not being able to travel, withdraw money or even transfer land to her eight children because she is no longer recognised as a citizen.
Since then Musa, Yong and several other BN component leaders, have called for a Sabahan to lead the National Registration Department here.
Yong had also contended that it was easier for foreigners to get Malaysian citizenship and live in Sabah compared to citizens from Peninsular Malaysia or Sarawak.
Mojuntin yesterday said he had received several more complaints on citizenship problems, and would compile the details before channelling them to the NRD or other relevant authorities.
"I am sure more complaints will be forwarded soon; Upko will look into this seriously as it concerns our rights as citizens," he said.
KOTA KINABALU: Evidence of illegal issuance of MyKad to foreigners will be released by the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) tomorrow.
The MP for Sepanggar, Datuk Eric Majimbun, said he would reveal the details that led to a population explosion in the state.
"Just imagine, our population increased by 285 per cent between 1970 and 2000," he said. "I will bare all, including proof of people not born in Sabah becoming Malaysian citizens (in Sabah)."
Majimbun, who is also SAPP deputy president, was at the state government's Hari Raya open house in Likas, hosted by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman on Wednesday.
Majimbun came with SAPP president Datuk Yong Teck Lee and other senior party leaders. SAPP left the Barisan Nasional last month.
Last week, BN component party Upko highlighted the case of 78-year-old Yong Lee Hua, alias Piang Lin, a Sino-Kadazan Sabah native who lost her citizenship when her MyKad was stolen by pickpockets last year.
Upko Youth chief Donald Mojuntin, who is also the Moyog assemblyman, highlighted Piang Lin's plight of not being able to travel, withdraw money or even transfer land to her eight children because she is no longer recognised as a citizen.
Since then Musa, Yong and several other BN component leaders, have called for a Sabahan to lead the National Registration Department here.
Yong had also contended that it was easier for foreigners to get Malaysian citizenship and live in Sabah compared to citizens from Peninsular Malaysia or Sarawak.
Mojuntin yesterday said he had received several more complaints on citizenship problems, and would compile the details before channelling them to the NRD or other relevant authorities.
"I am sure more complaints will be forwarded soon; Upko will look into this seriously as it concerns our rights as citizens," he said.
Abdullah - “to be or not to be”
Source MP KitSiang
For the past week and the next five days, the nation’s top question is the Shakespearean one: “To Be Or Not To Be.”
Will Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi shock Umno and Malaysians by acting completely out of character by announcing before October 9 that he has had enough of being pushed around by Umno heavyweights, that the ultimatum of the “926” Umno Supreme Council emergency meeting is the “last straw” and he will defend the post of Umno President in the March Umno party elections?
The overwhelming majority of Malaysians do not expect Abdullah to give such an answer to his Shakespearean dilemma of “To Be Or Not To Be” to defend the dignity of the office of Prime Minister from being publicly humiliated by party politicos – although there are Putrajaya fourth-storey boys who are urging him to do just that.
Even if Abdullah is to bow to the ultimatum of the Umno warlords and announce before Oct. 9 that he will not defend the post of Umno President and will step down as Prime Minister next March, let Abdullah not exit as a lameduck Prime Minister but write a glorious reform programme for police, judiciary, anti-corruption, ISA and press freedom in his last six months in office.
The least Abdullah should do is to redeem the failures of his many reform pledges in the past five years by carrying out a wide-ranging reform programme in five areas in his last six months in office, by ensuring that the following are accomplished before he leaves the Putrajaya corridors of power next March:
• Police – establish the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).
• Judicial Appointments Commission and in the meanwhile, no appointment of an UMNO Chief Justice which will plunge the country into a new era of judicial darkness and scandal.
• Total revamp of the Anti-Corruption Agency and the anti-corruption legislation to set Malaysia on the path as one of the world’s least corrupt nations.
• Release Raja Petra Kamaruddin, the Hindraf Five and all other Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees and repeal the ISA; and
• Repeal Printing Presses and Publications Act and enact Freedom of Information Act to ensure a free and independent media to establish Malaysia as a cutting-edge information and knowledge nation.
Abdullah can make next Wednesday, October 8, a historic day by tabling in the Cabinet the six-month reform programme to commit every Minister to support and implement the reform measures before the end of his premiership next March.
Ministers who are not prepared to give unequivocal support to the six-month reform programme should be asked to resign from the Cabinet or be sacked, to be replaced by those who are prepared to make the next six months a memorable half-year in the 51-year history of the nation.
For the past week and the next five days, the nation’s top question is the Shakespearean one: “To Be Or Not To Be.”
Will Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi shock Umno and Malaysians by acting completely out of character by announcing before October 9 that he has had enough of being pushed around by Umno heavyweights, that the ultimatum of the “926” Umno Supreme Council emergency meeting is the “last straw” and he will defend the post of Umno President in the March Umno party elections?
The overwhelming majority of Malaysians do not expect Abdullah to give such an answer to his Shakespearean dilemma of “To Be Or Not To Be” to defend the dignity of the office of Prime Minister from being publicly humiliated by party politicos – although there are Putrajaya fourth-storey boys who are urging him to do just that.
Even if Abdullah is to bow to the ultimatum of the Umno warlords and announce before Oct. 9 that he will not defend the post of Umno President and will step down as Prime Minister next March, let Abdullah not exit as a lameduck Prime Minister but write a glorious reform programme for police, judiciary, anti-corruption, ISA and press freedom in his last six months in office.
The least Abdullah should do is to redeem the failures of his many reform pledges in the past five years by carrying out a wide-ranging reform programme in five areas in his last six months in office, by ensuring that the following are accomplished before he leaves the Putrajaya corridors of power next March:
• Police – establish the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).
• Judicial Appointments Commission and in the meanwhile, no appointment of an UMNO Chief Justice which will plunge the country into a new era of judicial darkness and scandal.
• Total revamp of the Anti-Corruption Agency and the anti-corruption legislation to set Malaysia on the path as one of the world’s least corrupt nations.
• Release Raja Petra Kamaruddin, the Hindraf Five and all other Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees and repeal the ISA; and
• Repeal Printing Presses and Publications Act and enact Freedom of Information Act to ensure a free and independent media to establish Malaysia as a cutting-edge information and knowledge nation.
Abdullah can make next Wednesday, October 8, a historic day by tabling in the Cabinet the six-month reform programme to commit every Minister to support and implement the reform measures before the end of his premiership next March.
Ministers who are not prepared to give unequivocal support to the six-month reform programme should be asked to resign from the Cabinet or be sacked, to be replaced by those who are prepared to make the next six months a memorable half-year in the 51-year history of the nation.
S'pore Home prices fall after 4yrs
Source StraitsTimes
PRIVATE home prices in Singapore fell between July and September - the first time in over four years and after almost a year of deadlock between buyers and sellers in which home sales all but dried up.
Official estimates released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Thursday showed that overall prices of private residential properties slided 1.8 per cent in the third quarter, led by homes in the central region, which fell by about 2 per cent.
Suburban home prices, however, held steady with a marginal 0.1 per cent rise.
HDB resale flat prices are also still going strong, but at a slower pace. They rose 4.2 per cent in the third quarter, on top of a 4.5 per cent increase in the second quarter.
So far this year, private home prices have risen 2 per cent, while HDB resale prices have increased 13 per cent.
For the first time since 2006, the URA did not highlight the number of upcoming homes in the flash estimates, after concerns that the large headline supply figures would further dampen already gloomy sentiment.
Instead, the agency said housing supply statistics will be released along with the full set of third-quarter property data at the end of October.
The URA said early estimates showed the price index for private residential properties dropped to 174.3 points from 177.5 in the previous three-month period.
This is the first decline in the index since the first quarter of 2004, amid concerns over the global financial turmoil that has caused home sales to slump.
Private home sales in Singapore plummeted 81 per cent in August from a year ago, to the lowest level since March as a combination of global financial turmoil and the traditionally 'unlucky' Hungry Ghost month spooked buyers.
Poor demand and a looming housing glut are threatening to plunge the property market into a prolonged downturn, which could deal a blow to Singapore's top developers such as CapitaLand, CityDev and Keppel Land.
The advance estimates are compiled from transaction prices lodged during the first 10 weeks of the quarter as well as data from new apartments that have been booked.
The URA will release the official price index in four weeks.
PRIVATE home prices in Singapore fell between July and September - the first time in over four years and after almost a year of deadlock between buyers and sellers in which home sales all but dried up.
Official estimates released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Thursday showed that overall prices of private residential properties slided 1.8 per cent in the third quarter, led by homes in the central region, which fell by about 2 per cent.
Suburban home prices, however, held steady with a marginal 0.1 per cent rise.
HDB resale flat prices are also still going strong, but at a slower pace. They rose 4.2 per cent in the third quarter, on top of a 4.5 per cent increase in the second quarter.
So far this year, private home prices have risen 2 per cent, while HDB resale prices have increased 13 per cent.
For the first time since 2006, the URA did not highlight the number of upcoming homes in the flash estimates, after concerns that the large headline supply figures would further dampen already gloomy sentiment.
Instead, the agency said housing supply statistics will be released along with the full set of third-quarter property data at the end of October.
The URA said early estimates showed the price index for private residential properties dropped to 174.3 points from 177.5 in the previous three-month period.
This is the first decline in the index since the first quarter of 2004, amid concerns over the global financial turmoil that has caused home sales to slump.
Private home sales in Singapore plummeted 81 per cent in August from a year ago, to the lowest level since March as a combination of global financial turmoil and the traditionally 'unlucky' Hungry Ghost month spooked buyers.
Poor demand and a looming housing glut are threatening to plunge the property market into a prolonged downturn, which could deal a blow to Singapore's top developers such as CapitaLand, CityDev and Keppel Land.
The advance estimates are compiled from transaction prices lodged during the first 10 weeks of the quarter as well as data from new apartments that have been booked.
The URA will release the official price index in four weeks.
S'pore: Risky products being review
Source StraitsTimes
CONFUSED by complex investment products sold at the bank? Well, help is on the way.
Singapore's financial regulator said yesterday that it will review the way that structured investment products are marketed and sold to retail investors.
The move comes in the wake of news that thousands of investors who had bought structured products linked to the now-bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers could now lose most of their money.
In a statement yesterday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said that areas under study include stronger suitability requirements for certain types of products, as well as clearer product labelling and risk rating.
And one outcome of the review could be simpler descriptions of the features and risks of products, so that they can be more easily understood.
Structured products refer to a class of investments that involve the use of complex financial derivatives to deliver a steady annual return above that of traditional fixed deposits.
Returns are also mathematically tied to the performance of certain companies and stock markets. In some structures, investors can end up losing all their money should one of these companies fail.
That is the quandary that investors in structured products such as DBS High Notes 5, Lehman Minibonds and Merrill Lynch Jubilee Series 3 LinkEarner Notes have found themselves in, following the collapse of Lehman.
While recognising the need for a review of the way these products are sold, MAS also cautioned against 'swinging to the extreme' of over-regulation.
It urged sellers of investment products to practise fair dealing and customers to consider investment decisions carefully and understand the risks.
Aljunied GRC MP Cynthia Phua, who has received complaints from her constituents, welcomed the review. But she suggested that when drawing up guidelines, MAS should also factor in considerations like an investor's educational level.
'Structured products should be graded and only offered to retail investors who can fully understand all their implications,' she said.
Separately, MAS also announced yesterday that it has identified three 'well-respected' individuals to oversee how complaints from customers stuck with Lehman-linked products are handled. The three will not be personally involved in settling individual complaints, but they will make sure the processes are independent, fair and transparent for customers.
Last night, DBS Bank, which sold the Lehman-linked High Notes 5, confirmed that it appointed Mr Gerard Ee as its independent external consultant.
Mr Law Song Keng will be appointed by ABN Amro, Hong Leong Finance and Maybank. And Mr Hwang Soo Jin will provide oversight at six local stockbrokers.
The Straits Times understands that all three men will be paid a fee by the various financial institutions for their work.
MAS added that investors who are still not satisfied with how their cases are being handled can refer their complaints to the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (Fidrec).
It also gave its assurance that it will take 'firm and appropriate regulatory action' if financial institutions or their staff have breached the law in the sale of these structured products to customers.
CONFUSED by complex investment products sold at the bank? Well, help is on the way.
Singapore's financial regulator said yesterday that it will review the way that structured investment products are marketed and sold to retail investors.
The move comes in the wake of news that thousands of investors who had bought structured products linked to the now-bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers could now lose most of their money.
In a statement yesterday, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said that areas under study include stronger suitability requirements for certain types of products, as well as clearer product labelling and risk rating.
And one outcome of the review could be simpler descriptions of the features and risks of products, so that they can be more easily understood.
Structured products refer to a class of investments that involve the use of complex financial derivatives to deliver a steady annual return above that of traditional fixed deposits.
Returns are also mathematically tied to the performance of certain companies and stock markets. In some structures, investors can end up losing all their money should one of these companies fail.
That is the quandary that investors in structured products such as DBS High Notes 5, Lehman Minibonds and Merrill Lynch Jubilee Series 3 LinkEarner Notes have found themselves in, following the collapse of Lehman.
While recognising the need for a review of the way these products are sold, MAS also cautioned against 'swinging to the extreme' of over-regulation.
It urged sellers of investment products to practise fair dealing and customers to consider investment decisions carefully and understand the risks.
Aljunied GRC MP Cynthia Phua, who has received complaints from her constituents, welcomed the review. But she suggested that when drawing up guidelines, MAS should also factor in considerations like an investor's educational level.
'Structured products should be graded and only offered to retail investors who can fully understand all their implications,' she said.
Separately, MAS also announced yesterday that it has identified three 'well-respected' individuals to oversee how complaints from customers stuck with Lehman-linked products are handled. The three will not be personally involved in settling individual complaints, but they will make sure the processes are independent, fair and transparent for customers.
Last night, DBS Bank, which sold the Lehman-linked High Notes 5, confirmed that it appointed Mr Gerard Ee as its independent external consultant.
Mr Law Song Keng will be appointed by ABN Amro, Hong Leong Finance and Maybank. And Mr Hwang Soo Jin will provide oversight at six local stockbrokers.
The Straits Times understands that all three men will be paid a fee by the various financial institutions for their work.
MAS added that investors who are still not satisfied with how their cases are being handled can refer their complaints to the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (Fidrec).
It also gave its assurance that it will take 'firm and appropriate regulatory action' if financial institutions or their staff have breached the law in the sale of these structured products to customers.
Guan Eng harap Islam jadi teras rapatkan silaturrahim
Source Harakah
KUALA LUMPUR, 2 Okt (Hrkh) - Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang, Lim Guan Eng berharap Islam akan menjadi teras kepada usaha merapatkan silaturahim antara kaum di negara ini.
"Seperti mana yang saya faham, Islam sebagai agama yang syumul atau universal adalah Ad-Din atau cara hidup menyeluruh yang mencakupi semua aspek kehidupan manusia sama ada ekonomi, politik mahupun sosial.
"Ia tidak bersifat perkauman kerana Ad-Din adalah berteraskan sistem keadilan tanpa mengira kaum dan agama.
"Sememangnya, saya amat menghormatinya dan berharap ia akan menjadi teras kepada usaha merapatkan silaturahim antara kaum di negara ini," kata Setiausaha Agung DAP itu dalam perutusan Eidulfitrinya.
Beliau percaya bahawa semua agama di dunia ini turut mengajak para umatnya melakukan kebaikan termasuk agama Islam itu sendiri.
"Melalui kitab suci Al-Quran ada disebut mengenai Amar Ma�ruf Nahi Mungkar, iaitu menyuruh melakukan kebaikan dan mencegah melakukan kejahatan. Ia merupakan puncak tertinggi dalam agama Islam itu sendiri.
"Saya yakin umat Islam yang beriman dan bertakwa pastinya menerima prinsip keadilan tulen untuk semua," kata beliau.
Bagi pihak DAP, beliau percaya kepelbagaian kaum, agama, adat, budaya dan bahasa, tidak pernah menjadi penghalang atau membatasi kemajuan Malaysia.
Aspek kepelbagaian tersebut harus menjadi kekuatan rakyat Malaysia untuk berganding bahu serta saling percaya antara satu sama lain, kata beliau.
"Tuhan tidak membezakan kita di antara warna kulit ataupun fahaman politik malah kepercayaan agama terjamin di kalangan semua agama, termasuk Islam.
"Oleh itu adalah tidak betul dan tidak patut insan dalam parti politik tertentu cuba memecah belahkan rakyat dan menggugat perpaduan nasional dengan menggunakan isu perkauman, menabur fitnah dan menggalakkan penggunaan kekerasan.
"Namun kumpulan ekstremis ini cuba menggunakan isu bahasa sungguhpun semua bahasa di dunia baik Inggeris, Melayu, Mandarin, Tamil, Hindi, Urdu, Thai dicipta oleh Tuhan," kata Guan Eng.
Beliau mengajak rakyat Malaysia menolak politik jahat tersebut yang hanya mementingkan golongan kecil yang amalkan kemungkaran.
Sebaliknya, kata beliau, semua mestilah besatu di bawah panji nilai-nilai teras universal yang diterima semua iaitu, kebebasan, keadilan, kebenaran, keluhuran undang-undang dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan ketakwaan kepada Tuhan.
"Barulah kita boleh dirikan sebuah kerajaan bercorak demokrasi, ketuanan rakyat dan kepimpinan beretika mencontohi pemimpin agung Islam Khalifah Umar Abdul Aziz," katanya.
Rakyat Malaysia, kata beliau, tidak patut benci-membenci semata-mata kerana warna kulit atau fahaman agama yang berbeza.
"Jangan jadikan kepelbagaian kaum dan agama sebagai alasan untuk bertindak ganas atau menuju ke arah jenayah. Yang penting, tali silaturahim antara kita harus diikat erat.
"Jangan kita biar pihak tertentu mengadu domba persahabatan kita sesama kaum semata-mata kepentingan politik perkauman sempit mereka.
"Semoga hari lebaran ini disambut dengan penuh keinsafan, kesyukuran dan kegembiraan. Amar Ma�ruf Nahi Mungkar . Maaf zahir batin," kata beliau mengakhiri perutusannya.
KUALA LUMPUR, 2 Okt (Hrkh) - Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang, Lim Guan Eng berharap Islam akan menjadi teras kepada usaha merapatkan silaturahim antara kaum di negara ini.
"Seperti mana yang saya faham, Islam sebagai agama yang syumul atau universal adalah Ad-Din atau cara hidup menyeluruh yang mencakupi semua aspek kehidupan manusia sama ada ekonomi, politik mahupun sosial.
"Ia tidak bersifat perkauman kerana Ad-Din adalah berteraskan sistem keadilan tanpa mengira kaum dan agama.
"Sememangnya, saya amat menghormatinya dan berharap ia akan menjadi teras kepada usaha merapatkan silaturahim antara kaum di negara ini," kata Setiausaha Agung DAP itu dalam perutusan Eidulfitrinya.
Beliau percaya bahawa semua agama di dunia ini turut mengajak para umatnya melakukan kebaikan termasuk agama Islam itu sendiri.
"Melalui kitab suci Al-Quran ada disebut mengenai Amar Ma�ruf Nahi Mungkar, iaitu menyuruh melakukan kebaikan dan mencegah melakukan kejahatan. Ia merupakan puncak tertinggi dalam agama Islam itu sendiri.
"Saya yakin umat Islam yang beriman dan bertakwa pastinya menerima prinsip keadilan tulen untuk semua," kata beliau.
Bagi pihak DAP, beliau percaya kepelbagaian kaum, agama, adat, budaya dan bahasa, tidak pernah menjadi penghalang atau membatasi kemajuan Malaysia.
Aspek kepelbagaian tersebut harus menjadi kekuatan rakyat Malaysia untuk berganding bahu serta saling percaya antara satu sama lain, kata beliau.
"Tuhan tidak membezakan kita di antara warna kulit ataupun fahaman politik malah kepercayaan agama terjamin di kalangan semua agama, termasuk Islam.
"Oleh itu adalah tidak betul dan tidak patut insan dalam parti politik tertentu cuba memecah belahkan rakyat dan menggugat perpaduan nasional dengan menggunakan isu perkauman, menabur fitnah dan menggalakkan penggunaan kekerasan.
"Namun kumpulan ekstremis ini cuba menggunakan isu bahasa sungguhpun semua bahasa di dunia baik Inggeris, Melayu, Mandarin, Tamil, Hindi, Urdu, Thai dicipta oleh Tuhan," kata Guan Eng.
Beliau mengajak rakyat Malaysia menolak politik jahat tersebut yang hanya mementingkan golongan kecil yang amalkan kemungkaran.
Sebaliknya, kata beliau, semua mestilah besatu di bawah panji nilai-nilai teras universal yang diterima semua iaitu, kebebasan, keadilan, kebenaran, keluhuran undang-undang dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan dan ketakwaan kepada Tuhan.
"Barulah kita boleh dirikan sebuah kerajaan bercorak demokrasi, ketuanan rakyat dan kepimpinan beretika mencontohi pemimpin agung Islam Khalifah Umar Abdul Aziz," katanya.
Rakyat Malaysia, kata beliau, tidak patut benci-membenci semata-mata kerana warna kulit atau fahaman agama yang berbeza.
"Jangan jadikan kepelbagaian kaum dan agama sebagai alasan untuk bertindak ganas atau menuju ke arah jenayah. Yang penting, tali silaturahim antara kita harus diikat erat.
"Jangan kita biar pihak tertentu mengadu domba persahabatan kita sesama kaum semata-mata kepentingan politik perkauman sempit mereka.
"Semoga hari lebaran ini disambut dengan penuh keinsafan, kesyukuran dan kegembiraan. Amar Ma�ruf Nahi Mungkar . Maaf zahir batin," kata beliau mengakhiri perutusannya.
No contest for all the top posts
Source DailyExpress
ALL top posts will not be contested at the coming United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation's 14th Triennial Congress.
After the acceptance period ended on Monday, incumbent elected Vice President Datuk Dr Marcus Mojigoh and Youth chief, Donald Mojuntin both pulled out from contests.
In this respect, there would be no contest for the five elected Vice President posts meaning the incumbents Datuk Dr Ewon Ebin, Senator Maijol Mahap, Datuk Wences Angang, Datuk Tan Yong Gee and challenger Datuk Christine Tibok Vanhouten all won uncontested.
It was understood, however, that Mojigoh together with Ranau MP, Datuk Siringan Gubat would still hold the Vice President post via appointment.
Upko has five elected and two appointed vice presidents.
According to Mojigoh's aides, the Putatan MP who is currently on official duty in the United States declined the nomination in order to preserve harmony in the party.
Meanwhile, Moyog Assemblyman, Donald Mojuntin also sprang a surprise when he declined to defend the Youth chief post and handed over the post to his challenger, Arthur Sen, who is deputy Youth chief.
"I made the decision because after heading the movement for one term I have seen improvement in the self-confidence among the Youth members.
Their determination to contribute to the party really stands out.
"I do not wish to be the stumbling block of this positive development. I believe the new leadership will be able to bring the Youth movement to a higher pedestal with fresh ideas," said Mojuntin.
The Youth deputy chief post was won uncontested by Kuamut Assemblyman, Masiung Banah.
ALL top posts will not be contested at the coming United Pasok Momogun Kadazandusun Murut Organisation's 14th Triennial Congress.
After the acceptance period ended on Monday, incumbent elected Vice President Datuk Dr Marcus Mojigoh and Youth chief, Donald Mojuntin both pulled out from contests.
In this respect, there would be no contest for the five elected Vice President posts meaning the incumbents Datuk Dr Ewon Ebin, Senator Maijol Mahap, Datuk Wences Angang, Datuk Tan Yong Gee and challenger Datuk Christine Tibok Vanhouten all won uncontested.
It was understood, however, that Mojigoh together with Ranau MP, Datuk Siringan Gubat would still hold the Vice President post via appointment.
Upko has five elected and two appointed vice presidents.
According to Mojigoh's aides, the Putatan MP who is currently on official duty in the United States declined the nomination in order to preserve harmony in the party.
Meanwhile, Moyog Assemblyman, Donald Mojuntin also sprang a surprise when he declined to defend the Youth chief post and handed over the post to his challenger, Arthur Sen, who is deputy Youth chief.
"I made the decision because after heading the movement for one term I have seen improvement in the self-confidence among the Youth members.
Their determination to contribute to the party really stands out.
"I do not wish to be the stumbling block of this positive development. I believe the new leadership will be able to bring the Youth movement to a higher pedestal with fresh ideas," said Mojuntin.
The Youth deputy chief post was won uncontested by Kuamut Assemblyman, Masiung Banah.
RM14 MILLIONS for KK landscape upgrade
Source DailyExpress
Kota Kinabalu: The National Landscape Department (NLD) has this year approved an allocation worth RM14 million for a series of landscape and public amenities upgrading works in the city.
According to Mayor Datuk Iliyas Hj Ibrahim, the said allocation was approved after he submitted a proposal to the said Department in April this year which covers more than 10 residential areas, as well as the ongoing construction of pedestrian walkways in Tanjung Lipat Beach and the Likas wetlands and bird sanctuary.
The said allocation was expected to be released some time next year.
Iliyas disclosed this during a joint inspection at Taman Golden City in Luyang, near here, Monday, together with Luyang Assemblywoman Melanie Chia and her entourage, to discuss on its landscape improvement project, as it has been selected as one of the beneficiaries of the NLD projects.
Iliyas noted that under the said scheme, the three adjoining mini recreational parks in Taman Golden City will be upgraded into a modern residential park.
This includes the upgrading of its jogging track, the children's playground, the shades and sports zone, besides constructing new public toilets.
Meanwhile, Melanie who is also Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) Women Chief welcomed such a project in the city especially in her constituency, acknowledging that it would better uplift the people's living standard.
She also thanked Permaju Industries Bhd which responded to her recent request and donated new and elegant-looking giant signboards for the four housing estates namely Taman Golden City, Taman Foh Sang, Taman Pelangi and Taman Mutiara.
She noted that the absence of such signboards in the past had inevitably caused a great inconvenience to the public, especially those who are not familiar with the area.
She hoped more corporations could come forward to support such a worthy community project. Also present were the People Development Leader for Luyang, Benny Quek and several SAPP grassroot leaders.
Kota Kinabalu: The National Landscape Department (NLD) has this year approved an allocation worth RM14 million for a series of landscape and public amenities upgrading works in the city.
According to Mayor Datuk Iliyas Hj Ibrahim, the said allocation was approved after he submitted a proposal to the said Department in April this year which covers more than 10 residential areas, as well as the ongoing construction of pedestrian walkways in Tanjung Lipat Beach and the Likas wetlands and bird sanctuary.
The said allocation was expected to be released some time next year.
Iliyas disclosed this during a joint inspection at Taman Golden City in Luyang, near here, Monday, together with Luyang Assemblywoman Melanie Chia and her entourage, to discuss on its landscape improvement project, as it has been selected as one of the beneficiaries of the NLD projects.
Iliyas noted that under the said scheme, the three adjoining mini recreational parks in Taman Golden City will be upgraded into a modern residential park.
This includes the upgrading of its jogging track, the children's playground, the shades and sports zone, besides constructing new public toilets.
Meanwhile, Melanie who is also Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) Women Chief welcomed such a project in the city especially in her constituency, acknowledging that it would better uplift the people's living standard.
She also thanked Permaju Industries Bhd which responded to her recent request and donated new and elegant-looking giant signboards for the four housing estates namely Taman Golden City, Taman Foh Sang, Taman Pelangi and Taman Mutiara.
She noted that the absence of such signboards in the past had inevitably caused a great inconvenience to the public, especially those who are not familiar with the area.
She hoped more corporations could come forward to support such a worthy community project. Also present were the People Development Leader for Luyang, Benny Quek and several SAPP grassroot leaders.
Analysts: BII buy still expensive
Source TheStar
PETALING JAYA: Analysts say Malayan Banking Bhd’s (Maybank) revised acquisition price of PT Bank Internasional Indonesia Tbk (BII) is still expensive despite a rebate of RM758.9mil.
An analyst with HwangDBS Vickers Research said although the rebate reduced Maybank’s purchase price to 433 rupiah (15.7 sen) per BII share from 510 rupiah (18.5 sen) earlier, the new deal was still more than four times BII’s book value compared with 4.7 times before.
“It is still expensive because, historically, Indonesia’s mergers and acquisitions are priced between two and 2.5 times book value. We predict Maybank may take longer to turn over its earnings equity, probably in the financial year ending June 30, 2011 (FY11),” she told StarBiz yesterday.
“In view of this development, we expect Maybank’s share price to remain under pressure when the stock market opens on Friday (today),” she said, adding that she expected Maybank’s takeover of BII to be completed by FY10.
Three days ago, Maybank signed a supplement agreement with Singapore’s Fullerton Financial Holdings Pte Ltd and Kookmin Bank of South Korea to acquire BII at a 15% discount, making the total acquisition cost of 55.6% stake in BII held by Sorak Financial Holdings Pte Ltd to RM4.26bil from RM4.8bil previously.
Sorak is 75%-owned by Fullerton, a unit of Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd, and 25%-owned by Kookmin.
During the Prime Minister’s Hari Raya open house on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Maybank’s decision to acquire BII was made prior to the global financial crisis and thus it could not back out from its agreement now.
The acquisition was a commercial decision solely made by Maybank and the Government was not involved, he said, adding that the takeover of the republic’s fifth largest bank would, however, benefit Maybank.
Meanwhile, Maybank president and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar had said in a statement on Tuesday that the acquisition would expand its presence in Indonesia.
Wahid said Indonesia was a key market for the bank to become a leading regional financial services group.
“Our focus will be on making good of our investment in BII and working with BII’s current management to grow the bank despite the challenging economic environment globally,” he said.
Kenanga Research head of research Yeonzon Yeow said he also felt the new deal was expensive.
However, he expected the entire takeover exercise to be completed by early next year and estimated that BII would start contributing to Maybank’s earnings equity in three years.
He said the latest agreement might not be final as it was still subject to approvals by Indonesian financial regulator Bapepam and Bank Negara.
“Bapepam may not approve it if the price is too low, while Bank Negara will want to make sure that the acquisition does not increase Malaysia’s business risks significantly.
“Nevertheless, we maintain a ‘buy’ call with a target price of RM8.80 because Maybank’s shares trade at a discount against the last closing price of RM6.90. In addition, we expect Maybank to maintain a 60% dividend payout ratio,” he added.
PETALING JAYA: Analysts say Malayan Banking Bhd’s (Maybank) revised acquisition price of PT Bank Internasional Indonesia Tbk (BII) is still expensive despite a rebate of RM758.9mil.
An analyst with HwangDBS Vickers Research said although the rebate reduced Maybank’s purchase price to 433 rupiah (15.7 sen) per BII share from 510 rupiah (18.5 sen) earlier, the new deal was still more than four times BII’s book value compared with 4.7 times before.
“It is still expensive because, historically, Indonesia’s mergers and acquisitions are priced between two and 2.5 times book value. We predict Maybank may take longer to turn over its earnings equity, probably in the financial year ending June 30, 2011 (FY11),” she told StarBiz yesterday.
“In view of this development, we expect Maybank’s share price to remain under pressure when the stock market opens on Friday (today),” she said, adding that she expected Maybank’s takeover of BII to be completed by FY10.
Three days ago, Maybank signed a supplement agreement with Singapore’s Fullerton Financial Holdings Pte Ltd and Kookmin Bank of South Korea to acquire BII at a 15% discount, making the total acquisition cost of 55.6% stake in BII held by Sorak Financial Holdings Pte Ltd to RM4.26bil from RM4.8bil previously.
Sorak is 75%-owned by Fullerton, a unit of Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd, and 25%-owned by Kookmin.
During the Prime Minister’s Hari Raya open house on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Maybank’s decision to acquire BII was made prior to the global financial crisis and thus it could not back out from its agreement now.
The acquisition was a commercial decision solely made by Maybank and the Government was not involved, he said, adding that the takeover of the republic’s fifth largest bank would, however, benefit Maybank.
Meanwhile, Maybank president and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar had said in a statement on Tuesday that the acquisition would expand its presence in Indonesia.
Wahid said Indonesia was a key market for the bank to become a leading regional financial services group.
“Our focus will be on making good of our investment in BII and working with BII’s current management to grow the bank despite the challenging economic environment globally,” he said.
Kenanga Research head of research Yeonzon Yeow said he also felt the new deal was expensive.
However, he expected the entire takeover exercise to be completed by early next year and estimated that BII would start contributing to Maybank’s earnings equity in three years.
He said the latest agreement might not be final as it was still subject to approvals by Indonesian financial regulator Bapepam and Bank Negara.
“Bapepam may not approve it if the price is too low, while Bank Negara will want to make sure that the acquisition does not increase Malaysia’s business risks significantly.
“Nevertheless, we maintain a ‘buy’ call with a target price of RM8.80 because Maybank’s shares trade at a discount against the last closing price of RM6.90. In addition, we expect Maybank to maintain a 60% dividend payout ratio,” he added.
Raja Petra can’t stomach ‘smelly’ Kamunting food
Source TheStar
KAMUNTING: Malaysia Today editor and Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee Raja Petra Kamarudin has requested a change in his diet at the Kamunting detention centre here.
His wife, Marina Lee Abdullah, said her husband was unable to stomach the food prepared for detainees at the centre, despite having tried several times.
“My daughter told him to eat something but he said he really could not, that he had tried but vomited many times and suffered from diarrhoea,” she told reporters after her second Hari Raya visit with her husband yesterday.
She added that Raja Petra had asked prison authorities if they could serve things like bread and eggs instead of the usual rice and dishes, which were often “smelly”.
“They told him this could probably only be implemented after Hari Raya,” she said.
Marina also expressed disappointment that on both her visits, she was not allowed to meet with her husband in the open courtyard like the other detainees’ families but had to meet him in his cell.
“They told me the other detainees could meet with their families in the open courtyard but those who were ‘hardcore criminals’ could only have visitations in their cells.
“So I guess they consider my husband a hardcore criminal,” she said.
She added that she was also chastised for wearing a short-sleeved blouse and slacks.
“They told me to put on a coat or something, as they did not want me to offend the other prisoners.
“I told them I was there to meet with my husband and not the others,” she said.
During the visit, about 200 supporters and DAP members from as far as Penang and Kuala Lumpur demonstrated in a show of support for the controversial writer outside the camp.
The group, dressed in “I am with RPK” T-shirts, arrived in droves from 10.30am onwards and held banners calling for the release of Raja Petra and the Hindraf five, and the abolition of the ISA.
They also brought bouquets and hampers, which they presented to Marina and her family members.
Police reinforcements were brought in to direct traffic and handle the growing crowd, which later sang We are Malaysians (to the tune of We are the World) and Selamat Hari Raya.
They dispersed peacefully at 11.40am.
KAMUNTING: Malaysia Today editor and Internal Security Act (ISA) detainee Raja Petra Kamarudin has requested a change in his diet at the Kamunting detention centre here.
His wife, Marina Lee Abdullah, said her husband was unable to stomach the food prepared for detainees at the centre, despite having tried several times.
“My daughter told him to eat something but he said he really could not, that he had tried but vomited many times and suffered from diarrhoea,” she told reporters after her second Hari Raya visit with her husband yesterday.
She added that Raja Petra had asked prison authorities if they could serve things like bread and eggs instead of the usual rice and dishes, which were often “smelly”.
“They told him this could probably only be implemented after Hari Raya,” she said.
Marina also expressed disappointment that on both her visits, she was not allowed to meet with her husband in the open courtyard like the other detainees’ families but had to meet him in his cell.
“They told me the other detainees could meet with their families in the open courtyard but those who were ‘hardcore criminals’ could only have visitations in their cells.
“So I guess they consider my husband a hardcore criminal,” she said.
She added that she was also chastised for wearing a short-sleeved blouse and slacks.
“They told me to put on a coat or something, as they did not want me to offend the other prisoners.
“I told them I was there to meet with my husband and not the others,” she said.
During the visit, about 200 supporters and DAP members from as far as Penang and Kuala Lumpur demonstrated in a show of support for the controversial writer outside the camp.
The group, dressed in “I am with RPK” T-shirts, arrived in droves from 10.30am onwards and held banners calling for the release of Raja Petra and the Hindraf five, and the abolition of the ISA.
They also brought bouquets and hampers, which they presented to Marina and her family members.
Police reinforcements were brought in to direct traffic and handle the growing crowd, which later sang We are Malaysians (to the tune of We are the World) and Selamat Hari Raya.
They dispersed peacefully at 11.40am.
Ahmad Zahid to go for No. 2 post in Umno
Source TheStar
PETALING JAYA: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is the first to throw his hat in for the Umno deputy presidency at the party elections next March.
“Yes, yes, I will be contesting (the deputy president’s post),” the Umno supreme council member told mStar Online yesterday.
Zahid pledged to fulfil the requests of party members if he was nominated for the post, and would make an official announcement after the nomination process.
He said he had decided to go for the post because of the current political scenario affecting the party and due to requests by the grassroots for him to join forces with Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to lead the party.
“After the recent Umno supreme council meeting when (Umno president) Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced that the transition of power would be earlier, the scenario in Umno began to change,” Zahid said, adding that others then felt he should consider going for the deputy presidency.
Zahid, 55, is the Bagan Datoh MP and was Umno Youth chief from 1996 to 1998. A former political secretary to Najib, he was once also a close ally of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who was sacked as Deputy Prime Minister in 1998.
Zahid was made a deputy minister after the 2004 general election and promoted to the Cabinet after the March 8 general election.
Abdullah has stated that he will announce before Oct 9 if he would be defending his presidency.
Asked if he would team up with Najib, Zahid, who is the de facto Religious Affairs Minister, said nothing had been decided yet but added that he would make an appointment to meet the Deputy Prime Minister soon.
Zahid believed that he would be able to carry out the responsibilities of a deputy president based on his party experience.
PETALING JAYA: Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is the first to throw his hat in for the Umno deputy presidency at the party elections next March.
“Yes, yes, I will be contesting (the deputy president’s post),” the Umno supreme council member told mStar Online yesterday.
Zahid pledged to fulfil the requests of party members if he was nominated for the post, and would make an official announcement after the nomination process.
He said he had decided to go for the post because of the current political scenario affecting the party and due to requests by the grassroots for him to join forces with Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to lead the party.
“After the recent Umno supreme council meeting when (Umno president) Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced that the transition of power would be earlier, the scenario in Umno began to change,” Zahid said, adding that others then felt he should consider going for the deputy presidency.
Zahid, 55, is the Bagan Datoh MP and was Umno Youth chief from 1996 to 1998. A former political secretary to Najib, he was once also a close ally of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who was sacked as Deputy Prime Minister in 1998.
Zahid was made a deputy minister after the 2004 general election and promoted to the Cabinet after the March 8 general election.
Abdullah has stated that he will announce before Oct 9 if he would be defending his presidency.
Asked if he would team up with Najib, Zahid, who is the de facto Religious Affairs Minister, said nothing had been decided yet but added that he would make an appointment to meet the Deputy Prime Minister soon.
Zahid believed that he would be able to carry out the responsibilities of a deputy president based on his party experience.
Race and the Class Perspective
Source Project Malaysia
By Dr. Kumar Devaraj
It is painfully obvious that although we have been independent for over 50 years Malaysians remain deeply divided along ethnic lines. But can all our troubles be ascribed to ethnicity and religion?
In actuality, if one looks objectively at the major ethnic and religious issues that we have had to grapple with as an emerging nation, it is clear that we have arrived at a reasonable degree of consensus about the majority of them. But socially we are even more divided than we were at Independence. Why is this so? The answer I believe lies in the very nature of the political process in Malaysia.
Two approaches to nationhood
In the first few years after the re-occupation of Malaya by the British after World war Two, there were two dramatically different approaches to building an independent Malayan nation. The stronger trend was that of the radical nationalists who had strong links to the left. They advocated the fair distribution of wealth and the uplifting of all the working peoples of the country irrespective of race. The political expression of this strong movement for an independent Malaya was the AMCJA-Putera coalition that produced the Peoples’ Constitution.
The radical nationalists were seriously considering the expropriation of all colonial investments so that the wealth of the country could be used for the development of its peoples and not be siphoned away to the imperial centre. The radical nationalists were also drawn to the non-aligned stance of Third World leaders such as Sukarno, Nehru and Nasser.
The British, who handled the independence of their colonies more cunningly than the Dutch and the French, managed to thwart the radical nationalist movement through repression, arrests, detentions without trial, criminalization of organizations of this group, banishment and executions, while at the same time encouraging the development of a more conservative and compliant Malayan leadership comprising the economic elites of the three main ethnic groups in Malaya then. Rigorous suppression of the left coupled with graduated devolution of power to the Malay aristocracy and the businessmen who together made up the Alliance Party managed to defeat the radical nationalist movement.
But this defeat (of the radical nationalists) also created the conditions that have resulted in the dysfunctional state that our country is in today. The AMCJA-Putera leadership talked of uplifting of the Malayan workers and farmers. They talked the language of class, not of race and were quite open to the culture and languages of the other races. They did not see cultural diversity as a problem as they believed that a workable compromise based on mutual respect would not be difficult to attain in a society where the economic boosting of all the poor was the major national goal.
The political language of the Alliance on the other hand was quite different. The political organization of society was along ethnic lines and not along class lines. Political activity became the bargaining between different ethnic groups for their share of the cake. The “solution” adopted in the course of racial politicking that has characterised Alliance politics is the system of racial quotas that remind every Malaysian from school going age onwards that they come from different ethnic groups. Race has become institutionalized and permeates almost every facet of our society.
The Escalation of Ethnic Politicking
The risk of outbreaks of inter-ethnic violence is becoming more serious with time, and this is linked to three inter-related developments.
1. The involvement of Barisan Nasional politicians in business.
In the first two decades after development, the UMNO ruling class played the role of a Social Democratic party - taxing the rich to provide subsidies for the poor, especially the Malay rural poor. However with the development of capitalism in Malaysia, UMNO under the Mahathir administration oversaw the deliberate creation of a Malay capitalist class that could rise to become the captains of industry. From the beginning, there has been a close symbiotic relationship between the UMNO political elite and certain conglomerations of local capital. This “corporatization” of UMNO, has led to 2 important consequences:
i. UMNO positions from that of Divisional Chairmanship upwards are strongly contested as they represent an important stepping-stone to economic opportunities.
ii. It is getting increasing difficult for UMNO leaders to use the language of welfare and socio-economic development in their political campaigns.
What then can these champions of their ethnic group beat their chests about if not real or imagined slights to the religion or to the concept of Malay political supremacy? If Hishamuddin brings up the issue of Malay poverty, there is a real danger that the rank and file will question his own wealth. Brandishing a keris and proclaiming “Ketuanan Melayu” is much safer politically.
2. Steadily increasing economic pressures on the poorer sectors of society.
The neo-liberal orientation of the government has led to rising costs of living – petrol, health care, transport, utilities, education, etc. Workers of all races are being pressured by low wages and rising costs of living. This is especially hard on the younger workers, especially those without academic or vocational training. The frustration arising from these economic pressures spawns phenomena such as Indian youth gangs and the relatively new phenomenon of the Mat Rempits.
However political discourse in the media ascribe the hardships of the poor of all groups to the avarice and unfairness of the other ethnic groups. Unfortunately, at present the left is not strong enough to bring the alternative (and correct) analysis to the people - that the economic hardships of workers of all races in Malaysia is due to the new neo-liberal economic environment demanded by the 500 biggest corporations in the world and enforced by financial institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO.
3. Recessions
The working class suffers tremendously each time there is an economic downturn. Income drops, sometimes catastrophically, housing and car loans cannot be met, and even basic needs such as education have to be compromised. There is a real risk that the resulting tensions and frustrations can spark off inter-ethnic violence given the backdrop of chauvinism that has characterized Malaysian politics – politicians tussling to save their own set of crony capitalists might use the racial issues to win popular support of their target population. It is certainly not inconceivable that this type of ethnic brinkmanship might deteriorate into ethnic based violence.
The Way Forward
Historically the Malayan/Malaysian Left has put forward two contrasting approaches to the issue of language and culture. The first approach is one that takes the position that the Malay community should be accorded special privileges within the Malayan nation. This is reflected in the AMCJA-Putera Peoples’ Constitutional Proposal that was put forward in 1947 – about 8 years before the Malayan Constitution was drawn up. Among the 10 principles were:
There should be a new constitution for Malaya with special provisions for the development of Malays in politics and economy;
Malay traditions and Islam should be fully protected by Malays through a special council;
Bahasa Malaysia should be the National Language.
All main features of this compromise position have been incorporated in the Malayan Constitution that was drawn up in the mid 1950s. This is also the position that was adopted by the Socialist Front in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
The alternative approach is that which was put forward by the Malayan Labour Party in 1967 which argued that all ethnic groups should be treated equally in line with passages in Lenin’s writings such as “Whoever does not recognize and champion the equality of nations and languages , and does not fight against all national oppression or inequality is not a Marxist . . .” The Labour Party argued for the equality of all languages and the inclusion of Chinese and Tamil as official languages of Malaysia, alongside the Malay language.
This issue has not been settled conclusively yet. There are still some progressives who feel that the 1967 Labour Party position is the more principled position, and therefore the position that progressives should endorse. I would argue that -
1. The resolution of the inter-ethnic problems in Malaysia is dependent on the existence of vibrant multi-ethnic workers’ movement. Attempting to address the outstanding inter-ethnic issue outside the framework of such a movement will just provide convenient targets for chauvinist politicians who capitalize on inter-ethnic controversies in order to survive – the Article 11 experience is a good example of how a sincere attempt to discuss some of the difficult issues arising from our multi-religious society was misportrayed as an attempt to belittle and marginalise Islam. Only a mass movement based on the solidarity of the working class can move the inter-ethnic issue forward.
2. Our strategy should therefore focus on programmes that benefit the working peoples of all races - based on class and not on race. Mobilisation of the people should be on issues that affect members of the working class across ethnic lines.
3. We should be clear on this – we cannot combat racism by mobilizing along racial lines. We may be able to resist certain unfair policies, but we would also be deepening the racial divide, and would be getting trapped into the ethnic politicking that the BN thrives on. Only a peoples’ movement based on socialist principles of democracy and international solidarity of the working class can generate the social force that can contain and hopefully overwhelm ethnic chauvinism.
4. All our programmes and actions, including those we take in defence of the linguistic and cultural rights of ethnic groups, should contribute to the development of such a workers’ movement, or at least not be an obstacle to its development. This does not mean Socialists should avoid handling issues pertaining to the linguistic and cultural rights of particular ethnic groups. However, it does mean that we must make a conscious attempt to evaluate actions being planned against the standard of whether such a response aids us in building a multi-ethnic peoples’ movement or the contrary.
The Need To Act
The current tendency to play the racial card to maintain one’s political popularity is a dangerous form of brinkmanship that might lead to explosions of inter-ethnic strife. It can never lead to a harmonious or just nation. The left holds the key to the resolution of the impasse that our society is in at present as Internationalism and the solidarity of workers of different ethnic groups is an integral part of our praxis – the struggle for social justice by oppressed communities, genuine participatory democracy and the struggles against neo-liberal initiatives.
By Dr. Kumar Devaraj
It is painfully obvious that although we have been independent for over 50 years Malaysians remain deeply divided along ethnic lines. But can all our troubles be ascribed to ethnicity and religion?
In actuality, if one looks objectively at the major ethnic and religious issues that we have had to grapple with as an emerging nation, it is clear that we have arrived at a reasonable degree of consensus about the majority of them. But socially we are even more divided than we were at Independence. Why is this so? The answer I believe lies in the very nature of the political process in Malaysia.
Two approaches to nationhood
In the first few years after the re-occupation of Malaya by the British after World war Two, there were two dramatically different approaches to building an independent Malayan nation. The stronger trend was that of the radical nationalists who had strong links to the left. They advocated the fair distribution of wealth and the uplifting of all the working peoples of the country irrespective of race. The political expression of this strong movement for an independent Malaya was the AMCJA-Putera coalition that produced the Peoples’ Constitution.
The radical nationalists were seriously considering the expropriation of all colonial investments so that the wealth of the country could be used for the development of its peoples and not be siphoned away to the imperial centre. The radical nationalists were also drawn to the non-aligned stance of Third World leaders such as Sukarno, Nehru and Nasser.
The British, who handled the independence of their colonies more cunningly than the Dutch and the French, managed to thwart the radical nationalist movement through repression, arrests, detentions without trial, criminalization of organizations of this group, banishment and executions, while at the same time encouraging the development of a more conservative and compliant Malayan leadership comprising the economic elites of the three main ethnic groups in Malaya then. Rigorous suppression of the left coupled with graduated devolution of power to the Malay aristocracy and the businessmen who together made up the Alliance Party managed to defeat the radical nationalist movement.
But this defeat (of the radical nationalists) also created the conditions that have resulted in the dysfunctional state that our country is in today. The AMCJA-Putera leadership talked of uplifting of the Malayan workers and farmers. They talked the language of class, not of race and were quite open to the culture and languages of the other races. They did not see cultural diversity as a problem as they believed that a workable compromise based on mutual respect would not be difficult to attain in a society where the economic boosting of all the poor was the major national goal.
The political language of the Alliance on the other hand was quite different. The political organization of society was along ethnic lines and not along class lines. Political activity became the bargaining between different ethnic groups for their share of the cake. The “solution” adopted in the course of racial politicking that has characterised Alliance politics is the system of racial quotas that remind every Malaysian from school going age onwards that they come from different ethnic groups. Race has become institutionalized and permeates almost every facet of our society.
The Escalation of Ethnic Politicking
The risk of outbreaks of inter-ethnic violence is becoming more serious with time, and this is linked to three inter-related developments.
1. The involvement of Barisan Nasional politicians in business.
In the first two decades after development, the UMNO ruling class played the role of a Social Democratic party - taxing the rich to provide subsidies for the poor, especially the Malay rural poor. However with the development of capitalism in Malaysia, UMNO under the Mahathir administration oversaw the deliberate creation of a Malay capitalist class that could rise to become the captains of industry. From the beginning, there has been a close symbiotic relationship between the UMNO political elite and certain conglomerations of local capital. This “corporatization” of UMNO, has led to 2 important consequences:
i. UMNO positions from that of Divisional Chairmanship upwards are strongly contested as they represent an important stepping-stone to economic opportunities.
ii. It is getting increasing difficult for UMNO leaders to use the language of welfare and socio-economic development in their political campaigns.
What then can these champions of their ethnic group beat their chests about if not real or imagined slights to the religion or to the concept of Malay political supremacy? If Hishamuddin brings up the issue of Malay poverty, there is a real danger that the rank and file will question his own wealth. Brandishing a keris and proclaiming “Ketuanan Melayu” is much safer politically.
2. Steadily increasing economic pressures on the poorer sectors of society.
The neo-liberal orientation of the government has led to rising costs of living – petrol, health care, transport, utilities, education, etc. Workers of all races are being pressured by low wages and rising costs of living. This is especially hard on the younger workers, especially those without academic or vocational training. The frustration arising from these economic pressures spawns phenomena such as Indian youth gangs and the relatively new phenomenon of the Mat Rempits.
However political discourse in the media ascribe the hardships of the poor of all groups to the avarice and unfairness of the other ethnic groups. Unfortunately, at present the left is not strong enough to bring the alternative (and correct) analysis to the people - that the economic hardships of workers of all races in Malaysia is due to the new neo-liberal economic environment demanded by the 500 biggest corporations in the world and enforced by financial institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO.
3. Recessions
The working class suffers tremendously each time there is an economic downturn. Income drops, sometimes catastrophically, housing and car loans cannot be met, and even basic needs such as education have to be compromised. There is a real risk that the resulting tensions and frustrations can spark off inter-ethnic violence given the backdrop of chauvinism that has characterized Malaysian politics – politicians tussling to save their own set of crony capitalists might use the racial issues to win popular support of their target population. It is certainly not inconceivable that this type of ethnic brinkmanship might deteriorate into ethnic based violence.
The Way Forward
Historically the Malayan/Malaysian Left has put forward two contrasting approaches to the issue of language and culture. The first approach is one that takes the position that the Malay community should be accorded special privileges within the Malayan nation. This is reflected in the AMCJA-Putera Peoples’ Constitutional Proposal that was put forward in 1947 – about 8 years before the Malayan Constitution was drawn up. Among the 10 principles were:
There should be a new constitution for Malaya with special provisions for the development of Malays in politics and economy;
Malay traditions and Islam should be fully protected by Malays through a special council;
Bahasa Malaysia should be the National Language.
All main features of this compromise position have been incorporated in the Malayan Constitution that was drawn up in the mid 1950s. This is also the position that was adopted by the Socialist Front in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
The alternative approach is that which was put forward by the Malayan Labour Party in 1967 which argued that all ethnic groups should be treated equally in line with passages in Lenin’s writings such as “Whoever does not recognize and champion the equality of nations and languages , and does not fight against all national oppression or inequality is not a Marxist . . .” The Labour Party argued for the equality of all languages and the inclusion of Chinese and Tamil as official languages of Malaysia, alongside the Malay language.
This issue has not been settled conclusively yet. There are still some progressives who feel that the 1967 Labour Party position is the more principled position, and therefore the position that progressives should endorse. I would argue that -
1. The resolution of the inter-ethnic problems in Malaysia is dependent on the existence of vibrant multi-ethnic workers’ movement. Attempting to address the outstanding inter-ethnic issue outside the framework of such a movement will just provide convenient targets for chauvinist politicians who capitalize on inter-ethnic controversies in order to survive – the Article 11 experience is a good example of how a sincere attempt to discuss some of the difficult issues arising from our multi-religious society was misportrayed as an attempt to belittle and marginalise Islam. Only a mass movement based on the solidarity of the working class can move the inter-ethnic issue forward.
2. Our strategy should therefore focus on programmes that benefit the working peoples of all races - based on class and not on race. Mobilisation of the people should be on issues that affect members of the working class across ethnic lines.
3. We should be clear on this – we cannot combat racism by mobilizing along racial lines. We may be able to resist certain unfair policies, but we would also be deepening the racial divide, and would be getting trapped into the ethnic politicking that the BN thrives on. Only a peoples’ movement based on socialist principles of democracy and international solidarity of the working class can generate the social force that can contain and hopefully overwhelm ethnic chauvinism.
4. All our programmes and actions, including those we take in defence of the linguistic and cultural rights of ethnic groups, should contribute to the development of such a workers’ movement, or at least not be an obstacle to its development. This does not mean Socialists should avoid handling issues pertaining to the linguistic and cultural rights of particular ethnic groups. However, it does mean that we must make a conscious attempt to evaluate actions being planned against the standard of whether such a response aids us in building a multi-ethnic peoples’ movement or the contrary.
The Need To Act
The current tendency to play the racial card to maintain one’s political popularity is a dangerous form of brinkmanship that might lead to explosions of inter-ethnic strife. It can never lead to a harmonious or just nation. The left holds the key to the resolution of the impasse that our society is in at present as Internationalism and the solidarity of workers of different ethnic groups is an integral part of our praxis – the struggle for social justice by oppressed communities, genuine participatory democracy and the struggles against neo-liberal initiatives.
Malaysian-born Sisters Capture World Fashion Scene By Design
Source Bernama
MELBOURNE, Oct 2 (Bernama) -- Childhood memories of Malaysia have inspired three sisters to spin their yarns of romance and intrigue via catwalks and boutiques from Australia to Europe.
While these young designing women -- Rowena, 30, Juliana, 28, and Angela Foong, 25 -- call Australia home, and home to their burgeoning fashion venture, they pay tribute to their Asian and family roots through their East-meets-West label, "High Tea with Mrs Woo".
The whimsical title recalls a Malaysia of times past and Sunday afternoons dressing up for high tea with the many "Mrs Woos", real and imaginary, in the girls' early lives in Gemas, Negeri Sembilan and later in SS2, Petaling Jaya.
"We express our ideas like an eventful setting of delicacies, tea and conversation," Rowena says. "We create quirky designs that explore and give meaning to our feelings of cultural displacement -- to make sense of who we are."
Each garment tells a tale in which the sisters celebrate their heritage, infused with images from travel, cinema and music (aided by Asian satellite TV).
Pieces in each collection even sport their own titles -- such as "Russian spy in Shanghai", "Never-ending nighthawk", "Alice weeps" and "Mildred Pierce" -- that echo a character, movie scene or book chapter.
The result is a striking cultural bridge with a theatrical bent, blending modern and retro, bold and pensive, cheeky and sensuous.
"Fascinated with weaving memory into clothing, we explore the ability of fashion to unfold a great yarn," Rowena says.
"We explore nostalgia and romantic escape by recapturing journeys and translating tales into contemporary wearable inventions. We collect wistful moments and recreate them".
Discarded fabrics and objects are rescued and mixed with natural materials from Australia and New Zealand and as far afield as Japan and Italy.
"Using colour, texture and pattern to spin our stories, we make new fabrics by piecing together antiquated prints in unexpected material combinations."
This year marks the 20th anniversary of one significant journey for the Foong sisters, from Malaysia with their parents Fong Chee Yee and Lucy Yap to beachside Newcastle, two hours' drive north of Sydney.
From there they introduced the world to the charms of Mrs Woo and are in the thick of design, production and delivery to meet the widening appeal.
High Tea with Mrs Woo has a flagship store in Newcastle and now sells in some 20 boutiques in Australia, New Zealand and Italy.
"Even though our parents brought us to Australia so that we'd become doctors and lawyers and not seamstresses, we still ended up in the rag trade!" Rowena says.
The rag trade was perhaps an inevitable path -- from an early age back in Kuala Lumpur the sisters learned to make clothes and to make believe, "playing shop" with household items and Monopoly money.
Buying, selling, bargaining and decorating became second nature, Rowena says.
From that base, she and Juliana went on to study Graphic Design and Visual Communication, while Angela gained a double degree in Economics and Commerce.
In 2001 the trio returned to playing shop, this time for real, when they bought a second-hand clothing business from a friend while still at university.
"We thought it would be a good little part-time job or hobby," Rowena says.
"Unfortunately, the realities of running a business became very clear, very fast! We had bills to pay! It was all very daunting, yet very exciting. We thought we would give it a really good shot, do it seriously and launched our label."
That leap of faith was in 2004. The sisters' first big break was winning the 2005 Mercedes-Benz Start Up award for young designers.
This led to their debut runway show at Australian Fashion Week in Sydney and Melbourne. The snowball took off.
The fashion runways of Shanghai Fashion Week and Kongresshaus Zurich followed.
Mrs Woo designs, which incorporate craft, have been exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London as well as museums, galleries and design fairs in Australia, Tokyo and Switzerland.
Television programmes and many Australian and overseas publications including Time magazine (Asia) have featured the sisters; many arts, design and community groups have sought them as guest speakers; and the University of Newcastle Chamber Choir recently won the televised Australian Battle of the Choirs dressed by Mrs Woo.
"We have been on quite an amazing ride," Rowena says. "Long hours, sleepless nights, labour-intensive work -- we didn't realise it would be this challenging!
"As luck would have it, we did inherit the hardworking-madness Chinese gene. We live to tell our tale."
MELBOURNE, Oct 2 (Bernama) -- Childhood memories of Malaysia have inspired three sisters to spin their yarns of romance and intrigue via catwalks and boutiques from Australia to Europe.
While these young designing women -- Rowena, 30, Juliana, 28, and Angela Foong, 25 -- call Australia home, and home to their burgeoning fashion venture, they pay tribute to their Asian and family roots through their East-meets-West label, "High Tea with Mrs Woo".
The whimsical title recalls a Malaysia of times past and Sunday afternoons dressing up for high tea with the many "Mrs Woos", real and imaginary, in the girls' early lives in Gemas, Negeri Sembilan and later in SS2, Petaling Jaya.
"We express our ideas like an eventful setting of delicacies, tea and conversation," Rowena says. "We create quirky designs that explore and give meaning to our feelings of cultural displacement -- to make sense of who we are."
Each garment tells a tale in which the sisters celebrate their heritage, infused with images from travel, cinema and music (aided by Asian satellite TV).
Pieces in each collection even sport their own titles -- such as "Russian spy in Shanghai", "Never-ending nighthawk", "Alice weeps" and "Mildred Pierce" -- that echo a character, movie scene or book chapter.
The result is a striking cultural bridge with a theatrical bent, blending modern and retro, bold and pensive, cheeky and sensuous.
"Fascinated with weaving memory into clothing, we explore the ability of fashion to unfold a great yarn," Rowena says.
"We explore nostalgia and romantic escape by recapturing journeys and translating tales into contemporary wearable inventions. We collect wistful moments and recreate them".
Discarded fabrics and objects are rescued and mixed with natural materials from Australia and New Zealand and as far afield as Japan and Italy.
"Using colour, texture and pattern to spin our stories, we make new fabrics by piecing together antiquated prints in unexpected material combinations."
This year marks the 20th anniversary of one significant journey for the Foong sisters, from Malaysia with their parents Fong Chee Yee and Lucy Yap to beachside Newcastle, two hours' drive north of Sydney.
From there they introduced the world to the charms of Mrs Woo and are in the thick of design, production and delivery to meet the widening appeal.
High Tea with Mrs Woo has a flagship store in Newcastle and now sells in some 20 boutiques in Australia, New Zealand and Italy.
"Even though our parents brought us to Australia so that we'd become doctors and lawyers and not seamstresses, we still ended up in the rag trade!" Rowena says.
The rag trade was perhaps an inevitable path -- from an early age back in Kuala Lumpur the sisters learned to make clothes and to make believe, "playing shop" with household items and Monopoly money.
Buying, selling, bargaining and decorating became second nature, Rowena says.
From that base, she and Juliana went on to study Graphic Design and Visual Communication, while Angela gained a double degree in Economics and Commerce.
In 2001 the trio returned to playing shop, this time for real, when they bought a second-hand clothing business from a friend while still at university.
"We thought it would be a good little part-time job or hobby," Rowena says.
"Unfortunately, the realities of running a business became very clear, very fast! We had bills to pay! It was all very daunting, yet very exciting. We thought we would give it a really good shot, do it seriously and launched our label."
That leap of faith was in 2004. The sisters' first big break was winning the 2005 Mercedes-Benz Start Up award for young designers.
This led to their debut runway show at Australian Fashion Week in Sydney and Melbourne. The snowball took off.
The fashion runways of Shanghai Fashion Week and Kongresshaus Zurich followed.
Mrs Woo designs, which incorporate craft, have been exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London as well as museums, galleries and design fairs in Australia, Tokyo and Switzerland.
Television programmes and many Australian and overseas publications including Time magazine (Asia) have featured the sisters; many arts, design and community groups have sought them as guest speakers; and the University of Newcastle Chamber Choir recently won the televised Australian Battle of the Choirs dressed by Mrs Woo.
"We have been on quite an amazing ride," Rowena says. "Long hours, sleepless nights, labour-intensive work -- we didn't realise it would be this challenging!
"As luck would have it, we did inherit the hardworking-madness Chinese gene. We live to tell our tale."
“Prime Minister for all Malaysians” - Abdullah’s greatest failure
Source MP KitSiang
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s greatest failure is his inability to honour his most important pledge to be Prime Minister for all Malaysians.
This is why his Hari Raya message that “This country belongs to all of us, everyone of us” and that “No citizen is recognized as being of a higher status than another in this motherland” fell like a damp squib.
If Abdullah had expressed such sentiments in his first 100 days as Prime Minister, it would have taken the country by storm like his sonorous statements made in his first months in office, such as “Work with me, not for me” and his pledge to be Prime Minister for all Malaysians.
Now, all these high-sounding statements fall flat, devoid of any inspirational quality, because Abdullah had failed to deliver a single one of the many grand promises for which he was given the unprecedented victory of over 91 per cent of parliamentary seats in the 2004 general election.
Abdullah’s Hari Raya message has only confirmed that the Prime Minister is suffering from a terminal form of denial syndrome when he said that the Barisan Nasional (BN) will not fail Malaysians and “whatever the circumstances”, the government is committed to discharging the trust and responsibility given it by the people.
How can Abdullah be unaware that it is precisely because the BN government had failed Malaysians after the unprecedented mandate in the 2004 general election that the BN received such a thrashing in the March 8 general election – the first “political tsunami”?
How can Abdullah be unaware that it is precisely because the BN government had continued to fail Malaysians that six months later, it received a second thrashing in the second politicial tsunami during the Permatang Pauh by-election on August 26?
Furthermore, how can Abdullah be unaware that it is precisely because of the BN government’s failures resulting in widening and deepening of multiple crisis of confidence on all fronts which emboldened the “coup d’etat” in the Umno Supreme Council emergency meeting on Sept. 26, leaving him with seven days to decide whether to fight or bow down to pressures to end his premiership in six months’ time and withdraw from contest for the Umno Presidency?
Abdullah’s Hari Raya message is pathetic reading.
He said “it was saddening when racial issues which can tear apart the fabric of unity that has been woven together all this while were raised of late”.
What is even more saddening is his refusal to admit that those who raised “racial issues which can tear apart the fabric of unity that has woven together all this while” had all come from inside Umno power centres, as witnessed the “penumpang” furore created by Umno Bukit Bendera chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Ismail who is lionized by Umno, and even appointed as Umno Bukit Bendera division, despite three-year suspension by Umno Supreme Council.
Is Abdullah capable of redeeming even a single one of his many grand and high-sounding Prime Ministerial pledges before he fades away from the Putrajaya corridors of power – which is likely to be sooner than later?
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s greatest failure is his inability to honour his most important pledge to be Prime Minister for all Malaysians.
This is why his Hari Raya message that “This country belongs to all of us, everyone of us” and that “No citizen is recognized as being of a higher status than another in this motherland” fell like a damp squib.
If Abdullah had expressed such sentiments in his first 100 days as Prime Minister, it would have taken the country by storm like his sonorous statements made in his first months in office, such as “Work with me, not for me” and his pledge to be Prime Minister for all Malaysians.
Now, all these high-sounding statements fall flat, devoid of any inspirational quality, because Abdullah had failed to deliver a single one of the many grand promises for which he was given the unprecedented victory of over 91 per cent of parliamentary seats in the 2004 general election.
Abdullah’s Hari Raya message has only confirmed that the Prime Minister is suffering from a terminal form of denial syndrome when he said that the Barisan Nasional (BN) will not fail Malaysians and “whatever the circumstances”, the government is committed to discharging the trust and responsibility given it by the people.
How can Abdullah be unaware that it is precisely because the BN government had failed Malaysians after the unprecedented mandate in the 2004 general election that the BN received such a thrashing in the March 8 general election – the first “political tsunami”?
How can Abdullah be unaware that it is precisely because the BN government had continued to fail Malaysians that six months later, it received a second thrashing in the second politicial tsunami during the Permatang Pauh by-election on August 26?
Furthermore, how can Abdullah be unaware that it is precisely because of the BN government’s failures resulting in widening and deepening of multiple crisis of confidence on all fronts which emboldened the “coup d’etat” in the Umno Supreme Council emergency meeting on Sept. 26, leaving him with seven days to decide whether to fight or bow down to pressures to end his premiership in six months’ time and withdraw from contest for the Umno Presidency?
Abdullah’s Hari Raya message is pathetic reading.
He said “it was saddening when racial issues which can tear apart the fabric of unity that has been woven together all this while were raised of late”.
What is even more saddening is his refusal to admit that those who raised “racial issues which can tear apart the fabric of unity that has woven together all this while” had all come from inside Umno power centres, as witnessed the “penumpang” furore created by Umno Bukit Bendera chairman Datuk Seri Ahmad Ismail who is lionized by Umno, and even appointed as Umno Bukit Bendera division, despite three-year suspension by Umno Supreme Council.
Is Abdullah capable of redeeming even a single one of his many grand and high-sounding Prime Ministerial pledges before he fades away from the Putrajaya corridors of power – which is likely to be sooner than later?
SHAHRIR: Price of petrol can only be reduced if average price of crude for Oct falls below US$104 a barrel
Source NST
The local retail price of fuel can only be reduced if the average world crude oil price for October falls below US$104 a barrel, Domestic Trade and onsumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad said today.
“It depends on the world fuel price. The downward trend has to be continuous and the average price must be below US$104 a barrel,” he said when asked whether the governemnt proposed to further reduce the retail price of petrol.
He was speaking to reporters at the Aidilfitri Open House of the prime minister and Muslim cabinet ministers at the Putra World Trade Centre here.
On Sept 24 the government announced a 10 sen reduction in the fuel price to RM2.45 and RM2.40 a litre respectively for petrol and diesel.
On rumours that petrol stations in the city were facing a shortage of supply, he said the fuel supply depended on the station operators.
“Oil is a controlled item. So they (station operators) must be careful when talking about a fuel shortage or about not getting adequate supply. We will investigate to find out who is involved,” he said.
The local retail price of fuel can only be reduced if the average world crude oil price for October falls below US$104 a barrel, Domestic Trade and onsumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad said today.
“It depends on the world fuel price. The downward trend has to be continuous and the average price must be below US$104 a barrel,” he said when asked whether the governemnt proposed to further reduce the retail price of petrol.
He was speaking to reporters at the Aidilfitri Open House of the prime minister and Muslim cabinet ministers at the Putra World Trade Centre here.
On Sept 24 the government announced a 10 sen reduction in the fuel price to RM2.45 and RM2.40 a litre respectively for petrol and diesel.
On rumours that petrol stations in the city were facing a shortage of supply, he said the fuel supply depended on the station operators.
“Oil is a controlled item. So they (station operators) must be careful when talking about a fuel shortage or about not getting adequate supply. We will investigate to find out who is involved,” he said.
Life in Zimbabwe: Wait for Useless Money
Source NYTimes
By CELIA W. DUGGER
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Long before the rooster in their dirt yard crowed, Rose Moyo and her husband rolled out of bed. “It is time to get up,” intoned the robotic voice of her cellphone. Its glowing face displayed the time: 2:20 a.m.
They crept past their children sleeping on the floor of the one-room house — Cinderella, 9, and Chrissie, 10 — and took their daily moonlit stroll to the bank. The guard on the graveyard shift gave them a number. They were the 29th to arrive, all hoping for a chance to withdraw the maximum amount of Zimbabwean currency the government allowed last month — the equivalent of just a dollar or two.
Zimbabwe is in the grip of one of the great hyperinflations in world history. The people of this once proud capital have been plunged into a Darwinian struggle to get by. Many have been reduced to peddlers and paupers, hawkers and black-market hustlers, eating just a meal or two a day, their hollowed cheeks a testament to their hunger.
Like countless Zimbabweans, Mrs. Moyo has calculated the price of goods by the number of days she had to spend in line at the bank to withdraw cash to buy them: a day for a bar of soap; another for a bag of salt; and four for a sack of cornmeal.
The withdrawal limit rose on Monday, but with inflation surpassing what independent economists say is an almost unimaginable 40 million percent, she said the value of the new amount would quickly be a pittance, too.
“It’s survival of the fittest,” said Mrs. Moyo, 29, a hair braider who sells the greens she grows in her yard for a dime a bunch. “If you’re not fit, you will starve.”
Economists here and abroad say Zimbabwe’s economic collapse is gaining velocity, radiating instability into the heart of southern Africa. As the bankrupt government prints ever more money, inflation has gone wild, rising from 1,000 percent in 2006 to 12,000 percent in 2007 to a figure so high the government had to lop 10 zeros off the currency in August to keep the nation’s calculators from being overwhelmed. (Had it left the currency alone, $1 would now be worth about 10 trillion Zimbabwean dollars.)
In fact, Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation is probably among the five worst of all time, said Jeffrey D. Sachs, a Columbia University economics professor, along with Germany in the 1920s, Greece and Hungary in the 1940s and Yugoslavia in 1993.
Making matters worse, cash itself has become scarce. Business executives and diplomats say Zimbabwe’s central bank governor, Gideon Gono, desperate for foreign currency to stoke the governing party’s patronage machine, sends runners into the streets with suitcases of the nation’s currency to buy up American dollars and South African rand on the black market — drying up Zimbabwean dollars that would otherwise go to the banks.
Because of the cash shortage, the government strictly limits the amount people can withdraw. Even so, Zimbabweans say they often wait in vain for hours at banks that send their customers away empty-handed.
Mr. Gono, who blames Western sanctions for the nation’s troubles, did not respond to requests for an interview, but he has shown few signs of doing anything differently.
“I am going to print and print and sign the money until sanctions are removed,” he told state media this week.
Political Solution Needed
Economists say that the only thing that can halt Zimbabwe’s inflationary spiral is a political solution that takes control over the country’s economy out of the hands of Robert Mugabe, the 84-year-old president who still maintains a viselike hold on power after 28 years in office.
“This is the end of the endgame,” Professor Sachs said.
Mr. Mugabe, who lives in splendor here in a mansion hidden behind high walls, returned to Harare on Monday from the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. He and the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, signed a power-sharing agreement, but they are still deadlocked over the division of the ministries. So far, Mr. Mugabe has refused to give up control of the crucial Finance and Home Ministries.
Basic public services, already devastated by an exodus of professionals in recent years, are breaking down on an ever larger scale as tens of thousands of teachers, nurses, garbage collectors and janitors have simply stopped reporting to their jobs because their salaries, more worthless literally by the hour, no longer cover the cost of taking the bus to work.
“It’s scary and it’s pathetic,” said Tendai Chikowore, president of the Zimbabwe Teachers Association, the largest and least radical of the teacher unions. She said a teacher’s monthly pay was not even enough to buy two bottles of cooking oil. “This is a collapse of the system, and it’s not only for teachers,” she said. “At the hospitals, there are no nurses, no drugs.”
Those who continue to show up often make a little extra on the job. Teachers sell their students candy and cookies, for example, or accept payment from parents in cornmeal or cooking oil, said Raymond Majongwe, secretary general of the Progressive Teachers Union.
Zimbabweans have a legendary ability to make do despite extraordinary hardship, and the money sent home by millions of their compatriots who have fled abroad to escape political repression and economic deprivation continues to sustain many of them. But the deteriorating conditions are creating pressures for a renewed exodus, even as people employ all their entrepreneurial creativity to stay alive.
Among those thinking of leaving is Fortunate Nyabinde, whose salary of $3,600 Zimbabwean dollars a month (or $36 trillion before the government rejiggered the currency in August) does not even pay for four days of bus fare to her job at Parirenyatwa Hospital, one of Zimbabwe’s leading public institutions.
Yet, for now, she keeps going to work, wheeling a trolley of cornmeal porridge from ward to ward, mostly because she can eke out an extra 20 cents a day by selling basic necessities to patients that the hospital usually does not have in stock: toilet paper, toothpaste, soap.
“If they come to the hospital without anything, they will have to buy from us,” Ms. Nyabinde said.
Signs of a Calamity
Clues to the calamitous state of the country can be found even in recent articles tucked into Mr. Mugabe’s mouthpiece, The Herald, the only daily newspaper he has allowed to keep publishing.
The bodies of paupers in advanced states of decay were stacking up in the mortuary at Beitbridge District Hospital because not even government authorities were seeing to their burial.
Harare Central Hospital slashed admissions by almost half because so much of its cleaning staff could no longer afford to get to work.
Most of the capital, though lovely beneath its springtime canopy of lavender jacaranda blooms, was without water because the authorities had stopped paying the bills to transport the treatment chemicals. Garbage is piling up uncollected. Sixteen people have died in an outbreak of cholera in nearby Chitungwiza, spread by contaminated water and sewage.
Vigilantes in Kwekwe killed a man suspected of stealing two chickens, eggs and a bucket of corn.
And traditional chiefs complained about corrupt politicians and army officers who sold grain needed for the hungry to the politically connected instead.
Zimbabweans standing in bank lines across the capital offer their own stratagems for survival. At the Avondale shopping center, a strip mall with a cafe serving cappuccinos and a multiplex showing “Sex and the City,” more than 200 sweaty, grumpy people lined up one recent morning to withdraw whatever they could from the bank.
Mrs. Moyo, the early riser, had her usual sought-after, low number — 26 — while Mrs. Nyabinde, the hospital worker on the overnight shift, was far back at No. 148 because she had arrived late — about 5:15 a.m.
No. 132 was Stanford Mafumera, 35, a security guard who spends most of his time at his job or in line at the bank; he is so poor that he sleeps beneath the overhang at the mall rather than pay for bus fare home to his family. His clothes hung loose on his gaunt body, and his dusty shoes were coming apart.
“Since Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, there was no cash here,” he said. “We started getting cash only yesterday.”
Most days, he said, he eats only a bag of corn nuts to conserve his monthly pay — worth $10 a week and a half ago, but only $5 now because of inflation.
Each day, he buys a pack of cigarettes and sells them one by one, making an extra 20 to 30 cents. But he was unable to afford the cost of taking his 5-year-old daughter to the doctor recently when she got diarrhea after drinking dirty water from an unprotected well.
Mr. Mafumera blamed the government’s land reform program for Zimbabwe’s woes. It chased away the white commercial farmers who had made the country a breadbasket, he said, as well as donors from Britain and other European countries and the United States who sustained Zimbabwe’s starving millions for years.
“A lot of people got farms, but they can’t produce anything and this is what is causing the poverty and hunger,” he said. “There’s no food.”
Chaotic Land Reform
Zimbabwe’s economic unraveling has, indeed, accelerated since the chaotic, often violent invasions of thousands of white-owned farms by Mr. Mugabe’s supporters began in 2000. The big farms now produce less than a tenth the corn — the main staple food crop here — of what they did in the 1990s, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported in June.
In the years since, the country has suffered extreme food scarcity, rampant inflation, a shrinking economy and collapsing public services. In Mrs. Nyabinde’s neighborhood, every spare spot of ground sprouts the greens people eat with cornmeal porridge, evidence of the scramble for food.
And in a country that used to have an education system that was the pride of the continent, the schools that Mrs. Nyabinde’s children — Chenai, 10, and Darlington, 6 — attend are now empty of teachers. So she sends them to Stella Muponda, a teacher who quit her public school job last year, for a couple of hours of instruction a day. The money Mrs. Nyabinde pays Mrs. Muponda for the children’s lessons is now worth only about 40 cents, enough for a single bread roll.
Mrs. Muponda, a widow with twin, 14-year-old boys, said she and her sons grew thinner, weaker and more sickly last year, unable to eat enough on her meager pay. When she no longer had the strength for the five-mile walk to and from school, she quit.
Gaunt and exhausted, she kept saying, “I only wish I could get a decent job.”
By CELIA W. DUGGER
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Long before the rooster in their dirt yard crowed, Rose Moyo and her husband rolled out of bed. “It is time to get up,” intoned the robotic voice of her cellphone. Its glowing face displayed the time: 2:20 a.m.
They crept past their children sleeping on the floor of the one-room house — Cinderella, 9, and Chrissie, 10 — and took their daily moonlit stroll to the bank. The guard on the graveyard shift gave them a number. They were the 29th to arrive, all hoping for a chance to withdraw the maximum amount of Zimbabwean currency the government allowed last month — the equivalent of just a dollar or two.
Zimbabwe is in the grip of one of the great hyperinflations in world history. The people of this once proud capital have been plunged into a Darwinian struggle to get by. Many have been reduced to peddlers and paupers, hawkers and black-market hustlers, eating just a meal or two a day, their hollowed cheeks a testament to their hunger.
Like countless Zimbabweans, Mrs. Moyo has calculated the price of goods by the number of days she had to spend in line at the bank to withdraw cash to buy them: a day for a bar of soap; another for a bag of salt; and four for a sack of cornmeal.
The withdrawal limit rose on Monday, but with inflation surpassing what independent economists say is an almost unimaginable 40 million percent, she said the value of the new amount would quickly be a pittance, too.
“It’s survival of the fittest,” said Mrs. Moyo, 29, a hair braider who sells the greens she grows in her yard for a dime a bunch. “If you’re not fit, you will starve.”
Economists here and abroad say Zimbabwe’s economic collapse is gaining velocity, radiating instability into the heart of southern Africa. As the bankrupt government prints ever more money, inflation has gone wild, rising from 1,000 percent in 2006 to 12,000 percent in 2007 to a figure so high the government had to lop 10 zeros off the currency in August to keep the nation’s calculators from being overwhelmed. (Had it left the currency alone, $1 would now be worth about 10 trillion Zimbabwean dollars.)
In fact, Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation is probably among the five worst of all time, said Jeffrey D. Sachs, a Columbia University economics professor, along with Germany in the 1920s, Greece and Hungary in the 1940s and Yugoslavia in 1993.
Making matters worse, cash itself has become scarce. Business executives and diplomats say Zimbabwe’s central bank governor, Gideon Gono, desperate for foreign currency to stoke the governing party’s patronage machine, sends runners into the streets with suitcases of the nation’s currency to buy up American dollars and South African rand on the black market — drying up Zimbabwean dollars that would otherwise go to the banks.
Because of the cash shortage, the government strictly limits the amount people can withdraw. Even so, Zimbabweans say they often wait in vain for hours at banks that send their customers away empty-handed.
Mr. Gono, who blames Western sanctions for the nation’s troubles, did not respond to requests for an interview, but he has shown few signs of doing anything differently.
“I am going to print and print and sign the money until sanctions are removed,” he told state media this week.
Political Solution Needed
Economists say that the only thing that can halt Zimbabwe’s inflationary spiral is a political solution that takes control over the country’s economy out of the hands of Robert Mugabe, the 84-year-old president who still maintains a viselike hold on power after 28 years in office.
“This is the end of the endgame,” Professor Sachs said.
Mr. Mugabe, who lives in splendor here in a mansion hidden behind high walls, returned to Harare on Monday from the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. He and the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, signed a power-sharing agreement, but they are still deadlocked over the division of the ministries. So far, Mr. Mugabe has refused to give up control of the crucial Finance and Home Ministries.
Basic public services, already devastated by an exodus of professionals in recent years, are breaking down on an ever larger scale as tens of thousands of teachers, nurses, garbage collectors and janitors have simply stopped reporting to their jobs because their salaries, more worthless literally by the hour, no longer cover the cost of taking the bus to work.
“It’s scary and it’s pathetic,” said Tendai Chikowore, president of the Zimbabwe Teachers Association, the largest and least radical of the teacher unions. She said a teacher’s monthly pay was not even enough to buy two bottles of cooking oil. “This is a collapse of the system, and it’s not only for teachers,” she said. “At the hospitals, there are no nurses, no drugs.”
Those who continue to show up often make a little extra on the job. Teachers sell their students candy and cookies, for example, or accept payment from parents in cornmeal or cooking oil, said Raymond Majongwe, secretary general of the Progressive Teachers Union.
Zimbabweans have a legendary ability to make do despite extraordinary hardship, and the money sent home by millions of their compatriots who have fled abroad to escape political repression and economic deprivation continues to sustain many of them. But the deteriorating conditions are creating pressures for a renewed exodus, even as people employ all their entrepreneurial creativity to stay alive.
Among those thinking of leaving is Fortunate Nyabinde, whose salary of $3,600 Zimbabwean dollars a month (or $36 trillion before the government rejiggered the currency in August) does not even pay for four days of bus fare to her job at Parirenyatwa Hospital, one of Zimbabwe’s leading public institutions.
Yet, for now, she keeps going to work, wheeling a trolley of cornmeal porridge from ward to ward, mostly because she can eke out an extra 20 cents a day by selling basic necessities to patients that the hospital usually does not have in stock: toilet paper, toothpaste, soap.
“If they come to the hospital without anything, they will have to buy from us,” Ms. Nyabinde said.
Signs of a Calamity
Clues to the calamitous state of the country can be found even in recent articles tucked into Mr. Mugabe’s mouthpiece, The Herald, the only daily newspaper he has allowed to keep publishing.
The bodies of paupers in advanced states of decay were stacking up in the mortuary at Beitbridge District Hospital because not even government authorities were seeing to their burial.
Harare Central Hospital slashed admissions by almost half because so much of its cleaning staff could no longer afford to get to work.
Most of the capital, though lovely beneath its springtime canopy of lavender jacaranda blooms, was without water because the authorities had stopped paying the bills to transport the treatment chemicals. Garbage is piling up uncollected. Sixteen people have died in an outbreak of cholera in nearby Chitungwiza, spread by contaminated water and sewage.
Vigilantes in Kwekwe killed a man suspected of stealing two chickens, eggs and a bucket of corn.
And traditional chiefs complained about corrupt politicians and army officers who sold grain needed for the hungry to the politically connected instead.
Zimbabweans standing in bank lines across the capital offer their own stratagems for survival. At the Avondale shopping center, a strip mall with a cafe serving cappuccinos and a multiplex showing “Sex and the City,” more than 200 sweaty, grumpy people lined up one recent morning to withdraw whatever they could from the bank.
Mrs. Moyo, the early riser, had her usual sought-after, low number — 26 — while Mrs. Nyabinde, the hospital worker on the overnight shift, was far back at No. 148 because she had arrived late — about 5:15 a.m.
No. 132 was Stanford Mafumera, 35, a security guard who spends most of his time at his job or in line at the bank; he is so poor that he sleeps beneath the overhang at the mall rather than pay for bus fare home to his family. His clothes hung loose on his gaunt body, and his dusty shoes were coming apart.
“Since Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, there was no cash here,” he said. “We started getting cash only yesterday.”
Most days, he said, he eats only a bag of corn nuts to conserve his monthly pay — worth $10 a week and a half ago, but only $5 now because of inflation.
Each day, he buys a pack of cigarettes and sells them one by one, making an extra 20 to 30 cents. But he was unable to afford the cost of taking his 5-year-old daughter to the doctor recently when she got diarrhea after drinking dirty water from an unprotected well.
Mr. Mafumera blamed the government’s land reform program for Zimbabwe’s woes. It chased away the white commercial farmers who had made the country a breadbasket, he said, as well as donors from Britain and other European countries and the United States who sustained Zimbabwe’s starving millions for years.
“A lot of people got farms, but they can’t produce anything and this is what is causing the poverty and hunger,” he said. “There’s no food.”
Chaotic Land Reform
Zimbabwe’s economic unraveling has, indeed, accelerated since the chaotic, often violent invasions of thousands of white-owned farms by Mr. Mugabe’s supporters began in 2000. The big farms now produce less than a tenth the corn — the main staple food crop here — of what they did in the 1990s, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported in June.
In the years since, the country has suffered extreme food scarcity, rampant inflation, a shrinking economy and collapsing public services. In Mrs. Nyabinde’s neighborhood, every spare spot of ground sprouts the greens people eat with cornmeal porridge, evidence of the scramble for food.
And in a country that used to have an education system that was the pride of the continent, the schools that Mrs. Nyabinde’s children — Chenai, 10, and Darlington, 6 — attend are now empty of teachers. So she sends them to Stella Muponda, a teacher who quit her public school job last year, for a couple of hours of instruction a day. The money Mrs. Nyabinde pays Mrs. Muponda for the children’s lessons is now worth only about 40 cents, enough for a single bread roll.
Mrs. Muponda, a widow with twin, 14-year-old boys, said she and her sons grew thinner, weaker and more sickly last year, unable to eat enough on her meager pay. When she no longer had the strength for the five-mile walk to and from school, she quit.
Gaunt and exhausted, she kept saying, “I only wish I could get a decent job.”
London Ramadan Festival rocks
Source Asian News
Muslim cultural extravaganzas reinforced Islam’s spirit of harmony at the Ramadan Festival.
The event closed its series of groundbreaking arts and cultural events with a storming array of musicians and performers from around the Muslim world.
The London based Barbican Arts Centre provided an eclectic setting for the unique event held here to mark the end of the holy month.
Arts Crafts and literature exhibitions were accompanied by a performance by Pankaj Silat Mediational Sufistic Martial Arts.
The Qawaali took centre stage at the event marrying music & spiritual cultural humanism in a way that made it accessible to all. Sajid Ahmed Khan Qawwal Ensemble are a great example of British based Muslim artists in this regard - performing devotional music from the shrines of Pakistan spanning Arabic, Urdu and Persian languages with lyrics from Sufi poets and mystics.
Sajid's vocal improvisations created dynamic rhythms which took devotees into transcendental ecstasy & for the general audience the high octane energy of the performance engaged even those who may not have understood the depth of the poetry. For hundreds of visitors of the Barbican Centre, the sound Tabla, Dholak and Sitar and the band’s rendition of sufi Islamic singing was a special treat which throughout captivated their imagination.
Supported by the US, Dutch & Egyptian Embassies in London, the Festival has successfully partnered the Notting Hill Carnival with Al Tanoora Whirling Dervishes the V&A in Interfaith tours and Sufi Dhikrs at St Etheburga's Centre for Peace and Reconciliation amongst many others performances.
An innovative 'Fast & Feed a Friend' campaign was also launched in which Mosques were asked to open their doors to the British homeless.
More than 50 volunteers went out to city centers, homeless points, tube stations and community centers to feed the hungry and just to interact with those who do not know about the spirit of hospitality that the holy month generates.
Syed Mohsin Abbas Director of Ramadan Festival UK summarised the month long events as the first ever transnational expression of the culture of Ramadan with hundreds of events all over Holland, Norway and Great Britain.
He said: "It was great to see mainstream British society enjoying music, visual arts & food from the Muslim World. The events of this month are already leading to greater dialogue understanding & therefore is bound to lead to enduring friendship between people of different faiths & cultures."
He said the festival’s real success lies in engaging grassroots Muslims in opening their doors to the British society in the spirit of hospitality & generosity.
Abbas said the success of the festival had encouraged him to organize the Ramadan hospitality dinners in 2009 with an even greater participation from different communities. "The celebration of the auspicious month of Ramadan is not just for Muslims but something that everyone can share in & will become regular feature in the British social Arts & Culture calendar which this year showcase has proved is a distinct reality."
Abbas explained it was regrettable that the Muslim communities were only being talked about in the sense of religion and political Islam and without the context of its varied cultures. Such narrative, he said, was distorting the true spirit of Islam and doing a great deal of harm to Muslims communities in the west, especially British Muslims.
He said: "Ramadan Festival is a clear message to both Muslims & mainstream British society that it is possible to share common platforms & spaces regardless of colour, creed or religion. Muslims must engage more proactively outside the religious narrative in a language which communicates effectively with the rest of society.
"The emergence of creatives & thinkers from the British Muslim community is crucial to providing new impetus to what has become a stale scenario of provocative anti-faith action followed by knee jerk reactions from Muslim extremists. The kaleidoscope of opinion that exists between these polarised camps of secular & religious fascists is all too often subsumed by the cacophony of noise generated by self proclaimed community leaders & sensationalist hacks," he added.
Wait for Abdullah to announce decision: Muhyiddin
Source TheStar
KUALA LUMPUR: Umno vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will announce the post he is going for once Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi states whether he wil defend his presidency or not.
Muhyiddin said he was waiting for a signal and clear indication from Abdullah before he declared the post to offer himself for.
Muhyiddin, who is tipped to be going for the party’s number two post, said it was unfair to assume that there would be a vacancy in the two top posts when the party holds its elections in March 2009.
“But whether members feel I am suitable for whatever posts, they will decide,” he told reporters Wednesday at the Hari Raya open house hosted by the Prime Minister and Muslim Cabinet minister at the Putra World Trade Centre.
On certain divisions already stating their intention to nominate Abdullah’s deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Muhyiddin for the top two posts in the party election, he said it was not against the party constitution for them to do that.
However, he said it was probably best to wait until Abdullah’s announcement within the next week. The divisions will start their meetings on Oct 9 and make nominations for posts that would be contested during the Umno general assembly in March.
“It means it has to be very clear so that the divisions will then get a signal to say they can nominate Najib, whether as president or will the post of deputy president be vacant. Of course people will say will you go in. All these will hinge upon the final statement (by Abdullah),” he said.
He said it was better for the divisions to wait rather than make assumptions based on an uncertainty.
The International Trade and Industries Minister also said that by analysis Abdullah’s decision to push the election to March 2009 was setting a new deadline for the transition plan to be implemented.
“By analysis, at that time he will hand over the position to Najib,” he said.
On Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s intention to make a second go at the party presidency whether or not Abdullah defends his post, he said Razaleigh had always been consistent in this stand.
“It is his prerogative. The subject is whether he will get the nominations and go through the hurdles. Umno is democratic and it is up to delegates (to decide) what they feel is best for Umno and the country,” he said.
KUALA LUMPUR: Umno vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will announce the post he is going for once Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi states whether he wil defend his presidency or not.
Muhyiddin said he was waiting for a signal and clear indication from Abdullah before he declared the post to offer himself for.
Muhyiddin, who is tipped to be going for the party’s number two post, said it was unfair to assume that there would be a vacancy in the two top posts when the party holds its elections in March 2009.
“But whether members feel I am suitable for whatever posts, they will decide,” he told reporters Wednesday at the Hari Raya open house hosted by the Prime Minister and Muslim Cabinet minister at the Putra World Trade Centre.
On certain divisions already stating their intention to nominate Abdullah’s deputy Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Muhyiddin for the top two posts in the party election, he said it was not against the party constitution for them to do that.
However, he said it was probably best to wait until Abdullah’s announcement within the next week. The divisions will start their meetings on Oct 9 and make nominations for posts that would be contested during the Umno general assembly in March.
“It means it has to be very clear so that the divisions will then get a signal to say they can nominate Najib, whether as president or will the post of deputy president be vacant. Of course people will say will you go in. All these will hinge upon the final statement (by Abdullah),” he said.
He said it was better for the divisions to wait rather than make assumptions based on an uncertainty.
The International Trade and Industries Minister also said that by analysis Abdullah’s decision to push the election to March 2009 was setting a new deadline for the transition plan to be implemented.
“By analysis, at that time he will hand over the position to Najib,” he said.
On Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah’s intention to make a second go at the party presidency whether or not Abdullah defends his post, he said Razaleigh had always been consistent in this stand.
“It is his prerogative. The subject is whether he will get the nominations and go through the hurdles. Umno is democratic and it is up to delegates (to decide) what they feel is best for Umno and the country,” he said.
Sinophobia smolders in Malaysia
Source Asia Times
By Hui Yew-Foong
SINGAPORE - As an ethnic minority in most of Southeast Asia, the Chinese have, from time to time, been subject to outbursts of anti-Chinese sentiments. The latest tirade came from Ahmad Ismail, a division chief of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) in Penang, Malaysia earlier this month. The UMNO is the leading component party of the ruling coalition, Barisan National (BN).
According to a local Chinese newspaper, the Sinchew Daily, Ahmad had said that the "Chinese were merely squatting in Malaysia", and thereby "do not deserve equal rights". Despite repeated calls for an apology from Ahmad, the UMNO grassroots leader remained defiant, and later in a press conference warned Chinese Malaysians not to mimic American Jews, who not only sought to control the country's economy, but also its politics.
Such arguments, that Chinese, being of foreign origin, do not deserve the same citizenship rights as indigenous peoples, or the comparison of Chinese with Jews, are not new to the region. Perhaps the earliest allusion to such a comparison came from King Vajiravudh of Thailand, who dubbed the Chinese as "Jews of the Orient" in an essay written in 1914. Writing under a pseudonym, the Thai king had questioned the political loyalty of the Chinese, given their penchant for economic gain.
The same comparison was rehearsed in Indonesia in the 1950s, through what was coined the "Chinese problem". The prevailing rhetoric then was that the Chinese were fickle and opportunistic, as evident in their having at different times cooperated with the Dutch, collaborated with the Japanese, or bore allegiance to their native China. The argument was that such a people whose political loyalty was questionable should not be accorded the same economic privileges as indigenous businessmen.
The result of such a current of thought was the infamous Presidential Decree No 10 of 1959, which banned retail trade by non-citizens in rural areas. In large part, this decree targeted ethnic Chinese in Indonesia, many of whom had not yet gotten Indonesian citizenship. The renowned Indonesian writer, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, spoke out against the decree in his book Hoakiau di Indonesia (recently translated into English as The Chinese in Indonesia), for which he was subsequently jailed.
At one point, Pram, as he was popularly called, went so far as to argue that everyone, including so-called indigenous Indonesians, were of immigrant origin in the long history of human settlement. I suppose this would have been his rebuttal to Ahmad's "Chinese were squatters" line had he still been alive.
But despite Pram's arguments, Indonesia became increasingly anti-Chinese under the Suharto regime, which spanned the 32-year period of 1966-1998. Branding Chinese as non-pribumi (non-indigenous), the state systematically and actively sought to erase the foreignness of this minority by banning Chinese language education and all public manifestations of Chinese culture.
Chinese Indonesians were also encouraged to adopt Indonesian-sounding names to accentuate the localization process. At the same time, this ethnic minority was largely confined to the economic realm and denied roles in government or the state infrastructure. In the Indonesian context, what were also disturbing are the spates of anti-Chinese violence that have marked the nation's history. One of the most notorious episodes in recent history was the riots of May 1998, during which Chinese women were sexually assaulted, and in some cases, killed.
Interestingly, since the 1998 episode and the resignation of Suharto, there have not been anti-Chinese riots of national significance in Indonesia. Recently, there have been anti-Chinese riots in West Kalimantan, but these may be attributed to the vicissitudes of regional politics. The prevailing political rhetoric seems to have shifted to some form of multiculturalism in Indonesia, such that discriminatory policies are repealed and politicians are habitually endorsing Chinese cultural events with their presence.
Although Malaysia has also experienced its share of ethnic violence, in the form of the May 13 Sino-Malay race riots in 1969, Chinese Malaysians have not had to endure ethnic discrimination on the same scale and intensity as Chinese Indonesians. Ethnic discrimination in the Malaysian context is indirect, inflicted through affirmative action policies that privilege the Malay-Muslim majority, often at the expense of not just the Chinese, but Indians as well.
Nevertheless, disgruntlement with the excesses of this form of discrimination led to a large swing of votes to the opposition parties during the March general election this year, where the ruling BN coalition was denied its usual two-thirds majority in parliament. It seems that the opposition alliance, also known as the Pakatan Rakyat, had struck a cord with voters through its multicultural agenda.
Even the UMNO leadership has come to recognize that blatant promotion of Ketuanan Melayu, or Malay supremacy, is not consonant with the sensibilities of a multiracial electorate in the current political climate. Someone no less than the Deputy Prime Minister, Najib Razak, has publicly apologized for Ahmad's remarks.
At the same time, other BN component parties, especially those which are Chinese-based, have been vociferous in their censure of Ahmad. One of these, Gerakan, has even threatened to leave the ruling coalition. Eventually, the UMNO leadership decided to suspend Ahmad for three years.
What is telling here is that statements, such as those made by Ahmad, that might have been glossed over not too long ago, are now considered definitely offensive. It seems that after the March election, Malaysia, like Indonesia, has begun to embrace a political culture that assumes genuine multiracialism as one of its key tenets.
Yet one has to be circumspect and not overly quick or optimistic in any prognosis of a greater multiracialism. Change that is too drastic may lead to a backlash. Whether Ahmad's remarks are the dying embers of a receding sensibility or the first ripples of new waves of racial tension remain to be seen.
Hui Yew-Foong is a fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in Singapore.
By Hui Yew-Foong
SINGAPORE - As an ethnic minority in most of Southeast Asia, the Chinese have, from time to time, been subject to outbursts of anti-Chinese sentiments. The latest tirade came from Ahmad Ismail, a division chief of the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) in Penang, Malaysia earlier this month. The UMNO is the leading component party of the ruling coalition, Barisan National (BN).
According to a local Chinese newspaper, the Sinchew Daily, Ahmad had said that the "Chinese were merely squatting in Malaysia", and thereby "do not deserve equal rights". Despite repeated calls for an apology from Ahmad, the UMNO grassroots leader remained defiant, and later in a press conference warned Chinese Malaysians not to mimic American Jews, who not only sought to control the country's economy, but also its politics.
Such arguments, that Chinese, being of foreign origin, do not deserve the same citizenship rights as indigenous peoples, or the comparison of Chinese with Jews, are not new to the region. Perhaps the earliest allusion to such a comparison came from King Vajiravudh of Thailand, who dubbed the Chinese as "Jews of the Orient" in an essay written in 1914. Writing under a pseudonym, the Thai king had questioned the political loyalty of the Chinese, given their penchant for economic gain.
The same comparison was rehearsed in Indonesia in the 1950s, through what was coined the "Chinese problem". The prevailing rhetoric then was that the Chinese were fickle and opportunistic, as evident in their having at different times cooperated with the Dutch, collaborated with the Japanese, or bore allegiance to their native China. The argument was that such a people whose political loyalty was questionable should not be accorded the same economic privileges as indigenous businessmen.
The result of such a current of thought was the infamous Presidential Decree No 10 of 1959, which banned retail trade by non-citizens in rural areas. In large part, this decree targeted ethnic Chinese in Indonesia, many of whom had not yet gotten Indonesian citizenship. The renowned Indonesian writer, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, spoke out against the decree in his book Hoakiau di Indonesia (recently translated into English as The Chinese in Indonesia), for which he was subsequently jailed.
At one point, Pram, as he was popularly called, went so far as to argue that everyone, including so-called indigenous Indonesians, were of immigrant origin in the long history of human settlement. I suppose this would have been his rebuttal to Ahmad's "Chinese were squatters" line had he still been alive.
But despite Pram's arguments, Indonesia became increasingly anti-Chinese under the Suharto regime, which spanned the 32-year period of 1966-1998. Branding Chinese as non-pribumi (non-indigenous), the state systematically and actively sought to erase the foreignness of this minority by banning Chinese language education and all public manifestations of Chinese culture.
Chinese Indonesians were also encouraged to adopt Indonesian-sounding names to accentuate the localization process. At the same time, this ethnic minority was largely confined to the economic realm and denied roles in government or the state infrastructure. In the Indonesian context, what were also disturbing are the spates of anti-Chinese violence that have marked the nation's history. One of the most notorious episodes in recent history was the riots of May 1998, during which Chinese women were sexually assaulted, and in some cases, killed.
Interestingly, since the 1998 episode and the resignation of Suharto, there have not been anti-Chinese riots of national significance in Indonesia. Recently, there have been anti-Chinese riots in West Kalimantan, but these may be attributed to the vicissitudes of regional politics. The prevailing political rhetoric seems to have shifted to some form of multiculturalism in Indonesia, such that discriminatory policies are repealed and politicians are habitually endorsing Chinese cultural events with their presence.
Although Malaysia has also experienced its share of ethnic violence, in the form of the May 13 Sino-Malay race riots in 1969, Chinese Malaysians have not had to endure ethnic discrimination on the same scale and intensity as Chinese Indonesians. Ethnic discrimination in the Malaysian context is indirect, inflicted through affirmative action policies that privilege the Malay-Muslim majority, often at the expense of not just the Chinese, but Indians as well.
Nevertheless, disgruntlement with the excesses of this form of discrimination led to a large swing of votes to the opposition parties during the March general election this year, where the ruling BN coalition was denied its usual two-thirds majority in parliament. It seems that the opposition alliance, also known as the Pakatan Rakyat, had struck a cord with voters through its multicultural agenda.
Even the UMNO leadership has come to recognize that blatant promotion of Ketuanan Melayu, or Malay supremacy, is not consonant with the sensibilities of a multiracial electorate in the current political climate. Someone no less than the Deputy Prime Minister, Najib Razak, has publicly apologized for Ahmad's remarks.
At the same time, other BN component parties, especially those which are Chinese-based, have been vociferous in their censure of Ahmad. One of these, Gerakan, has even threatened to leave the ruling coalition. Eventually, the UMNO leadership decided to suspend Ahmad for three years.
What is telling here is that statements, such as those made by Ahmad, that might have been glossed over not too long ago, are now considered definitely offensive. It seems that after the March election, Malaysia, like Indonesia, has begun to embrace a political culture that assumes genuine multiracialism as one of its key tenets.
Yet one has to be circumspect and not overly quick or optimistic in any prognosis of a greater multiracialism. Change that is too drastic may lead to a backlash. Whether Ahmad's remarks are the dying embers of a receding sensibility or the first ripples of new waves of racial tension remain to be seen.
Hui Yew-Foong is a fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in Singapore.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
