Anti-1 Care group demands Putrajaya kill proposed healthcare scheme

By Clara Chooi

The Malaysian Insider

Feb 02, 2012

PETALING JAYA, Feb 2 – The newly-formed Citizens’ Healthcare Coalition (CHC) came out for the first time today to demand the government shelve its proposed “1 Care” insurance scheme, warning that its implementation would spell “disaster” for Malaysia’s healthcare system.

The pact insisted that the present two-tiered model was superior to “1 Care”, which it predicted would only turn healthcare management into a “business”.

“We believe the (current) Malaysian model is superior for the Malaysian environment. We do not want healthcare to be turned into a business.

“We believe there should be both public and private sectors – public as a service-oriented model and private as a corporate model… it is not possible for a service sector model to be corporatised,” Federation of Private Medical Practitioners Associations of Malaysia (FPMPAM) president Dr Steven Chow said during CHC’s maiden media briefing at the Global Business and Convention Centre here this evening.

According to CHC, “1 Care” is a new national healthcare system that will force all households to surrender nearly 10 per cent of their monthly household incomes as contribution to a government-run Social Healthcare Insurance (SHI) scheme.

The group insists that the scheme would not achieve its objective to provide equitable access to healthcare for all segments of society and would only increase costs.

Even worse, the group has said, the SHI scheme only covers very basic healthcare expenditure and poses many limitations such as: every individual is assigned to a primary healthcare provider (PHCP) or general practitioner and cannot select his or her own doctor; the assigned doctor is only budgeted to see each individual a maximum of six times a year; “the cheapest, not-original medicine” will be dispensed; individuals will not be covered for all illnesses, especially intensive care; and if an individual insists on selecting his or her own choice of doctor, he will have to pay out of his own pocket.

The CHC also warned today that despite claims from the authorities that “1 Care” was still at the conceptualisation stage, its engagement with ministry officials indicated that the scheme has already entered phase three of its implementation plan.

“It is past conceptualisation, there already is a blueprint for implementation, which are basically the nuts and bolts of implementation process, to be ready by 2012.

“To us in the medical fraternity, ‘1 Care’ is definitely in the final stages of implementation,” Dr Chow told the press conference.

Another CHC spokesperson, Dr T. Jayabalan concurred, adding that numerous technical working groups have already been formed while even Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself had made special mention of “1 Care” during a speech in 2010.

“Another thing is that there have been numerous roadshows held by the ministry… the last one was 10 days ago in Seremban. Definitely, it is afoot,” he said.

But both Dr Chow and Dr Jayabalan agreed that it was still “not too late” to convince Putrajaya to shelve “1 Care”, with the latter pointing out that “elections is around the corner”.

“They (the government) might turn around and say… okay, if you don’t like it (we will shelve it). And elections is around the corner too,” he said.

“If the government does not respond, then they are arrogant,” said Dr Chow.

The duo added that CHC’s “Tak Nak 1 Care” campaign activities are fast gaining attention from the public and in the coming weeks, more would be done to spread public awareness.

“On our side, our association plans to inform its members, hold similar forums in Ipoh, Kuantan, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching and Penang.

“We will inform members so they can duly inform their patients, so as much information can be transmitted to the ground,” said Dr Chow.

“The change that can come is through informing others. What action the people would want to take, we will support.

“We will probably also be submitting memorandums, get the NGOs to get the rakyat to petition… We can see far ahead that the country is headed to disaster if it disbands its present (healthcare) system for an American system,” said Dr Jayabalan.

Apart from the forums, CHC has also kicked off its campaign online, using social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to spread its message.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 3 February 2012, 8:49 am and is filed under
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DAP calls to Najib –  convene in mid-Feb RoundTable Conference of all political parties, religions and NGOs to condemn all acts of religious desecration, particularly the dastardly incidents of pig’s head outside mosques to provoke racial and religious strife

DAP calls on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to convene in mid-February a RoundTable  Conference of all political parties, religions and NGOs to  reaffirm moderation and condemn all acts of religious desecration, particularly the dastardly incidents of pig’s head outside mosques, to provoke racial and religious strife.

It must be the concern of all reasonable and patriotic Malaysians that political and public discourse  and conduct in the country in the past three years have taken on an increasingly shrill, irrational and intolerant edge.

Only last month, Najib convened the inaugural International Conference on the Global Movement of the Moderates and called on moderates of the world to unite and embrace moderation and reject all forms of extremism.

Sadly, Najib’s three years as Prime Minister have been marked by a creeping and insidious extremism seeking to incite racial hatred and foment religious tensions, as illustrated by the two incidents of pig’s head outside mosques in the Klang Valley in two days – in Sentul yesterday and Rawang on Tuesday.

Both these acts of religious descrecration, like the despicable act of arson against the Johor PAS deputy commissioner Dzulkifly Ahmad whose BMW car and house at Taman Universiti near Skudai were gutted early this morning, must  be condemned in the strongest possible terms by all political parties, religious groups, NGOs and Malaysians who do not want to see Malaysia descend down the  slippery slope towards political violence, racial animosity and religious strife.

This is the time for Najib to “walk the talk” of his 1Malaysia inclusiveness and call for moderates to unite against all forms of extremism – in particular to give substance to what he said at the International Conference on the Global Movement of the Moderates that “the real divide is not between Muslims and non-Muslims” but “between moderates and extremists”.

Is Najib prepared to stand together with all moderates in Malaysia against the extremists, like those responsible for the dastardly incidents of pig’s head outside mosques or the arson against the Johor PAS deputy commissioner?

Yesterday the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Senator Dr. Koh Tsu Koon  announced that the “highlight” of the forthcoming international week-long celebration of religious harmony will be a lunch hosted by the Prime Minister for major religious leaders on February 15.

Many Malaysians find this “highlight” announcement most laughable and pathetic as it is  totally lacking in imagination and common sense.

No one could see how a lunch hosted by the Prime Minister could be a meaningful “highlight” of an international week-long celebration of religious harmony at a time when there are extremists in our midst trying their utmost to destroy Malaysia’s inter-racial and inter-religious harmony with irresponsible provocative acts like two Rawang and Sentul incidents.

Instead of a Prime Minister’s lunch as “highlight”, it would be more meaningful instead to have a  Prime Minister’s RoundTable Conference of all political parties, religions and NGOs to reaffirm commitment to moderation and to condemn all acts of religious desecration and all forms of extremism, whether political, ethnic or religious, and demonstrate to all Malaysians and the world that Malaysia in 2012 is committed to be “synonymous not with extremism but with moderation, inclusivity and tolerance”.

Is Najib able to rise up to the challenge of convening such a all-party/religious/NGOs

RoundTable Conference as the highlight of the forthcoming international week-long celebration of religious harmony?

                This entry was posted on Friday, 3 February 2012, 2:30 pm and is filed under
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Najib at bay

Economist

Feb 4th 2012

Politics in Malaysia – Good intentions are not enough for a leader at odds with his party

KUALA LUMPUR

WHEN the leader of the Malaysian opposition, Anwar Ibrahim, was acquitted by a high court judge last month on controversial charges of sodomy, supporters in the government of the reforming prime minister, Najib Razak, were able to claim it as something of a victory. It was proof, they said, that ministers no longer meddled in judicial decisions, as in the bad old days. They even claimed it as evidence of Mr Najib’s wider programme to bring the country into a modern, liberal age.

And so the attorney-general’s decision barely two weeks later to appeal against Mr Anwar’s acquittal hardly looks good. Mr Anwar has always maintained that the sodomy charge was a smear that had been orchestrated by people from within Mr Najib’s ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). The case had run for two years, which for many Malaysians was quite long enough. Mr Anwar’s lawyer quickly derided the appeal as “a desperate act”.

The attorney-general’s decision renews suspicions that nothing much has changed within UMNO, which refuses to stop hounding Mr Anwar and, despite Mr Najib’s worthy intentions, wants few reforms to speak of. Resistance to Mr Najib’s changes has become something of a leitmotif of his time in office, and it could cost him dear at the next general election, which is expected later this year.

Over the past two years this English-educated son of an earlier prime minister has positioned himself as a bold moderniser. Mr Najib has promised to repeal a myriad of repressive laws, some carried over from colonial times, and to usher Malaysia into a new era of “transparency, democracy and the rule of law”. He seems sincerely to believe that Malaysia’s political settlement after independence in 1957 is anachronistic, because it uses wide-ranging affirmative actions to privilege the rights of the majority ethnic Malays over those of ethnic Chinese and Indians. It should, he says, be dismantled, slowly but surely.

As well as being right and proper, such reform makes political sense too. A younger generation of Malaysians resents the ethnic divisiveness practised by the ruling establishment and yearns for more political and social freedoms. It means that the centre ground of politics, on which the next general election will be fought, has shifted away from the politics of Malay supremacy.

The trouble is that though Mr Najib believes in change, much of his party clearly does not. UMNO was founded specifically to protect Malay privileges and has ruled Malaysia without interruption since independence. Mr Najib came to power in 2009 not through an electoral mandate for change, but in an internal coup. As a consequence, he lacks the clout and possibly the will to impose his agenda on UMNO. And the longer he postpones an election, the more his personal authority will ebb.

Reformists within the party are now frustrated, whereas others have defected to other parties. One, Mohamed Ariff Sabri Aziz, used to be chief of information in Mr Najib’s own division, or constituency. He argues that Mr Najib “does not have the foot soldiers to bring his reformist slogans down to the ground. He has the right instincts, but he’s running into a brick wall.” Most of the internal opposition to Mr Najib comes at the divisional level, where a belief in Malay privilege remains entrenched. Here are the people who have benefited most from the tenders and contracts traditionally doled out by UMNO ministers to friends and family. “These are the favoured lot, who grease the wheels of power”, a senior UMNO man says. “You have to dismantle all this, and so far Mr Najib has done nothing. He is not strong enough. He has tried very hard, but he has been pushed back by the conservatives in his party.”

The civil service is a problem too. Traditionally an important source of Malay patronage, it is dominated by those with a vested interest in hanging on to their perks and their standard of living. So even if the prime minister’s office tries to push a reform through, the outcome is by no means assured.

Obstructionism from within the governing system to Mr Najib’s reforms has become brazen. Take the Peaceful Assembly Bill, awaiting signing into law. This legislation, from the attorney-general’s office, seems to go directly against much of Mr Najib’s earlier declarations about the need for greater civic freedoms. To many, the bill, regulating the right to protest, seems to be even more restrictive than what went before. Najibistas in the cabinet claim that they fought back bravely, watering down some of the more draconian provisions. Nonetheless, the new law has come in for condemnation, including by UN human-rights people.

So much for the great reform programme. The pity of Mr Najib is that a well-intentioned man has reformed just enough to alienate his own party and too little to convince the centre ground. He may be courting electoral disaster.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 3 February 2012, 12:38 pm and is filed under
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1Care: What ails Malaysia’s healthcare system?

— Mustafa K. Anuar

The Malaysian Insider

Feb 04, 2012

FEB 4 — Supposedly based on the UK National Health Service (NHS), the 1Care scheme is said to be aimed at financing the supposedly increasing costs of public health care while making it still affordable to the lower-income group.

But we fear that, like most other “restructuring” schemes in the past, 1Care will deliberately result in the escalation of costs to ordinary Malaysians and the outsourcing of contracts to corporate interests — financed by public funds.

The direct beneficiaries — private hospitals, health management organisations, pharmaceutical firms and those administering the national health financing fund — are likely to profit handsomely from this scheme at the expense of the public.

We recall how the costs of pharmaceuticals soared after the Government Medical Store was privatised in 1994. A similar rise was seen in the costs of general hospital support services after they were privatised.

The mantra of so-called cost-effectiveness that is often promised with such restructuring or de facto privatisation schemes is highly questionable. Critics of the 1Care scheme justifiably claim that the quality of health care treatment will plunge. The new health care financing authority may impose limits on the number of hospital visits by a patient or introduce financial incentives for GPs to limit their number of referrals to specialists in the effort to trim costs and improve profit margins. The welfare of the weak and the poor will be sacrificed without any qualms on the altar of greed and profit.

In effect, 1Care will provide massive public subsidies for private hospitals. Payments out of the national health care authority’s funds (raised from the public via taxes and monthly public contributions) will serve as large subsidies to boost admissions, the occupancy and the bottom line of private hospitals and GLC-owned “private” hospitals. (With such a scheme in place, even government hospitals could end up behaving like private hospitals.)

An analogy would be the use of public funds given out as PTPTN study loans, which effectively acts as a huge government subsidy to private colleges, which have mushroomed. The cost is borne by indebted ordinary students, who have to make long-term study loan repayments.

Malaysians will probably have to pay 6-10 per cent of their monthly income in contributions to the 1Care fund. A significant chunk of this money will go towards the administration costs of the fund. The pockets of ordinary Malaysians could be hit even further if they opt for a GP of their choice. What about those who are unemployed or unable to afford health insurance contributions? How will they be able to get medical treatment under this new scheme?

There is basically not much that is wrong with the existing public health care system that cannot be fixed with a greater allocation of government funding and more effective management of personnel and resources. At present, the government spends around two per cent of GDP on public health care — a pathetic amount well short of the internationally recommended 5-6 per cent. Why not allocate more funds to our general hospitals, which already provides universal coverage to anyone who needs treatment, instead of squandering public funds on useless projects or allowing massive corruption to persist?

We call upon the government to reconsider its plan to implement this massive scheme. Spare the ordinary rakyat — already suffering from the effects of inflation — this additional heavy financial burden. Just allocate more funding to our general hospitals and ensure that it leads to a distinct improvement in the quality and efficiency of our general hospitals.

A government of the people has the responsibility and moral obligation to protect the interests of the rakyat — and this includes their health care. Tak nak 1Care! — aliran.co

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 4 February 2012, 3:29 pm and is filed under
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Mat Zain: Cops can determine ‘within hours’ if NFC funded umrah

By Shannon Teoh

The Malaysian Insider

Feb 04, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 — A former senior officer questioned today the police’s reluctance to act against Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s family in the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal, saying it should only take “hours” to determine if they had misused project funds for their umrah trips.

“Why is the police afraid of taking action against Shahrizat’s (picture) husband and son?” former city CID chief Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim wrote in an open letter to the Inspector-General of Police today.

“To check records and determine if Mohamed Salleh (Shahrizat’s husband) and Wan Shahinur (Shahrizat’s son) used RM31,580 in NFC funds to pay for their umrah in November 2010 only needs a few hours of investigation,” he pointed out.

Mat Zain had called on Datuk Seri Najib Razak last week to instruct the police, graftbusters and the Attorney-General to complete investigations into the scandal-hit livestock company within a fortnight.

He said today that to check whether National Feedlot Corporation (NF Corp) paid RM26,400 to Women, Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat only needed “a few minutes of investigations.”

“If this allegation is true, then Shahrizat has lied to the public when denying that she knew about the affairs and management of NFCorp by her husband and children,” he said.

PKR has made a series of exposes on the NFC, including over RM27 million spent on land and property unrelated to cattle farming, since the project was criticised for not meeting targets by the Auditor-General in October 2010.

The opposition party had claimed that Shahrizat’s husband Datuk Seri Mohamad Salleh Ismail, who is also NFCorp chairman, had ordered payment of RM31,580 to be made for his and his son’s haj pilgrimage in 2010 as well as RM26,400 in expenses for Shahrizat in 2008.

The Wanita Umno chief said yesterday she plans to continue leading the wing and returns to ministerial duties on Monday after taking three weeks’ leave to allow the authorities to complete their probe.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 4 February 2012, 3:18 pm and is filed under
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Muhammad, a consistent protector of minority rights

— Moh Yasir Alimi

The Malaysian Insider

Feb 05, 2012

FEB 5 — During this month of the Islamic calendar, Muslims are celebrating the birth of the Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad was born in the sixth century in the middle of a culture of ignorance, when people fought because of their tribal affiliations and religious beliefs and women were treated like camels.

Amid such a poor condition for humanity, Muhammad came to teach humanity, tolerance, humility, equality, justice and compassion. He always emphasised consciousness of God and the divinity of human life as the gate of enlightenment, so that human beings would not enslaved by their own ego and bodily impulses.

Karen Armstrong describes Muhammad as a respectful and compassionate man who lived a decent life. She argues that although Islam has often been described in the West as violent and inherently intolerant, Muhammad taught tolerance and compassion toward other religions to all of his followers.

Tolerance is the foundation and the measure of Islamic faith. The faith of a Muslim is as much as his tolerance toward other.

Unfortunately, while most Muslims conform to the spirit of his message, others distort his teachings. Now, we see religion is used as reason to incite violence and intolerance.

Accordingly, in this celebration, it is time to comprehend the tolerant teaching of the Prophet in order to better understand one another in this global community of humanity. Muhammad’s life is about tolerance, tolerance and tolerance.

He showed tolerance and mercy to children, the weak, non-Muslims and religious minorities. One legacy on tolerance is the Constitution of Madina.

The first article of the constitution stated that all the inhabitants of Medina, regardless of religion, race and ancestry were “one nation”. Muslims and non-Muslims should live in harmony, respect and protect each other.

An attack on one religion and tribe was regarded to be an attack on the integrity of Madina.

In Madina, the Prophet exemplified tolerance with himself and he strictly forbade any mistreatment of people of other faiths. He said: “Whoever kills a person who has a truce with the Muslims will never smell the fragrance of Paradise.”

He also said: “Beware! Whoever is cruel and hard on a non-Muslim minority, or curtails their rights, or burdens them with more than they can bear, or takes anything from them against their free will; I will complain against the person on the Day of Judgment.” He added: “Who hurts a non-Muslim minority is like hurting me”.

The Prophet modelled a new society based on tolerance and religious freedom. Every faith was free to practice their beliefs freely without any hindrances. Their religious rights and places of worship should be respected.

Abdulsalam, an Islamic scholar concerned about religious tolerance, presented four examples of the Prophets’ tolerance. First, “the Jews in Medina at the time of the Prophet had their own school of learning, named Bait-ul-Midras, where they would recite the Torah, worship and educate themselves.”

Second, in many letters he sent to his emissaries, the Prophet repeatedly emphasised that religious institutions should not be harmed. Here is an example of the letter dated 628 to the religious leaders of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai who sought his protection:

“This is a message from Muhammad ibn Abdullah, as a covenant to those who adopt Christianity, near and far, we are with them. Verily I, the servants, the helpers, and my followers defend them, because Christians are my citizens; and by God! I hold out against anything that displeases them.

No compulsion is to be on them. Neither are their judges to be removed from their jobs nor their monks from their monasteries.

No one is to destroy a house of their religion, to damage it, or to carry anything from it to the Muslims’ houses. Should anyone take any of these, he would spoil God’s covenant and disobey His Prophet. Verily, they are my allies and have my secure charter against all that they hate.

No one is to force them to travel or to oblige them to fight. The Muslims are to fight for them. If a female Christian is married to a Muslim, it is not to take place without her approval. She is not to be prevented from visiting her church to pray.

Their churches are declared to be protected. They are neither to be prevented from repairing them nor the sacredness of their covenants. No one of the nation [Muslims] is to disobey the covenant till the Last Day.”

Third, Abdulsalam also told an interesting story about when the Prophet received a delegation of 60 Christians from Yemen, at his mosque. “When the time for their prayer came, they faced the direction of east and prayed. The Prophet ordered that they be left in their state and not harmed.”

Fourth, the Prophet also exemplified cooperation with people of different faiths in political context. For example, he selected a non-Muslim, Amr bin Umaiyah, as an ambassador to be sent to Ethiopia.

These are only some examples of the Prophet’s tolerance towards other faiths popular in scholarly research about the prophet’s life, but increasingly less popular in Islamic world.

Every human being has the freedom to choose his religion and the state should protect that right and the right to worship in accordance to his religion.

Religion should not be forced upon individual, and the entire life of the Prophet is a vivid demonstration of the principle of the Koran, which promotes tolerance and sets the guideline for the Muslims’ interaction with people of different faiths. “There is no compulsion in religion”

Tolerance is an important measure of good conduct and righteousness. The Prophet said: “Those who suppress their anger, and forgive other people — assuredly, God loves those who do good.” The Prophet added: “The believers with the most perfect faith are those with the most perfect conduct and manners.”

The Prophet Muhammad dedicated his entire life to liberate human beings from oppression, ignorance and greed. Even when he almost passed away, his last advice was, “Treat your women well, and do not oppress your servants.”

Often fuelled by misconceptions about the Prophet, the world thus needs a deeper and objective understanding of the Prophet — his tolerance, gentleness, his love of animals, his concern for the weak and oppressed, justice, compassion and mercy. This understanding is an important step for world peace and human freedom.

“The Prophet taught us that forbearance is greater than revenge; forgiveness more lofty than punishment; and compassion more effective than austerity. Above all, he taught us mercy. And in these difficult times, we are all in need of more mercy in the world,” Amjad Tarsin wrote in his call for celebration of the mercy and honest reflection in Islamic world.

Finally, within the spirits and love to the Prophet, let’s nurture our conscience with the principles of love and mercy he shows during his entire life. Religious minorities and their places of worship should be protected and the elites should not make statements that provoke persecution of minorities.

None should be hurt because of religious belief. As Jalaluddin Rumi said, “Listen with ears of tolerance! See through the eyes of compassion! Speak with the language of love!” — The Jakarta Post

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 February 2012, 11:03 pm and is filed under
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Poster-poster rasis sudah mula dinaikkan. Itu petanda BN sudah kehabisan modal

— Aspan Alias

The Malaysian Insider

Feb 05, 2012

5 FEB — Saya telah pergi ke TTDI hari ini untuk bertemu beberapa orang rakan yang ingin berjumpa saya sambil minum pagi. Saya diberitahu oleh rakan-rakan saya yang sudah banyak poster-poster yang ditampal dimerata-rata tempat tentang Lim Guan Eng sebagai anti-Melayu. Poster itu berbunyi ‘Lim Guan Eng anti Melayu’. Sebagai seorang yang sentiasa berada bersama rakyat marhean di bawah ini, saya dapat merasakan dengan jelas yang DAP sedang mendapat penerimaan dari kaum Melayu yang sudah terbuka minda dan tidak lagi terkongkong dengan momokan jahat setengah pihak terhadap parti itu.

Ini juga dapat dirasakan oleh Umno dan sekutunya. Maka tidak terkejut jika mereka melakukan tindakan desperado ini kerana ini sahajalah jalan yang tinggal untuk menggagalkan usaha DAP untuik membuktikan yang parti itu benar-benar sebuah parti ‘multi-racial’ yang sedang mendapat sambutan dari semua kaum termasuk dari kaum Melayu yang sudah tidak terkongkong dengan momokan gila parti-parti dalam BN khususnya Umno.

Untuk memahami tujuan poster ini dinaikkan tidak memerlukan seorang yang bijak pandai untuk mentelaahnya. Seseorang yang terbuka sedikit mindanya dan sudah bercampur gaul dengan mereka yang berpolitik secara jujur akan cepat tahu matlamat pihak yang menaikkan poster-poster ini. Matlamatnya ialah untuk berusaha dengan cara kotor untuk BN mendapat sokongan dari semua kaum khususnya orang Melayu.

Kerja menakut-nakutkan Melayu ini memang cara Umno untuk menjauhkan Melayu dari mendekati DAP. Puluhan tahun orang Melayu ditakutkan dengan isu 13 Mei untuk menjauhkan orang Melayu dari DAP. Tetapi isu itu sudah tidak dipakai lagi kerana rakyat tahu kaum Cina lah kaum yang takut dengan pergaduhan di antara kaum kerana mereka mahukan keamanan dan hidup berniaga di dalam negara yang tidak berpecah belah.

Rakyat pun tahu yang kerajaan Pulau Pinang pimpinan Lim Guan Eng telah menunjukkan sikap mengambil tahu hal untuk semua kaum di negeri tadbiran beliau. Orang Melayu sekarang sudah sedar yang Guan Eng tidak boleh di nafikan ketelusannya dalam mentadbir negeri Pulau Pinang. Lim Guan Eng yang dituduh anti Melayu dan Islam oleh penyokong Umno dan BN telah memperuntukkan wang sebanayk RM64 juta untuk mentadbir urus hal ehwal agama Islam di Pulau Pinang. Semasa BN memerintah Pulau Pinang, peruntukkan untuk hal ehwal Islam hanyalah sebanyak RM12 juta sahaja.

Walaupun negeri Pulau Pinang hanya sebuah negeri yang kecil dan jumlah orang Islamnya kecil jika dibandingkan dengan negeri-negeri lain, peruntukkan sebanyak RM64 juta itu merupakan jumlah yang amat besar. Peruntukkan itu termasuklah untuk menyelia elaun guru-guru KAFA, pentadbiran tanah perkuburan serta semua yang berhubungkait dengan agama Islam di negeri itu.

Umno sedar yang Guan Eng tidak boleh lagi dipersendakan kepimpinannya. Jika benar Guan Eng anti Melayu bagaimanakah 70 peratus dari kontrak yang diberikan oleh kerajaan Pulau Pinang itu diperolehi oleh Bumiputra? Kerajaan Pulau Pinang tidak memandang bangsa dan ethnik dalam pembahagian kontrak-kontrak ini sebaliknya pembahagian itu adalah didasarkan kepada ‘merit’ yang ada kepada kontraktor-kontraktor itu. Dengan keadaan itu maka terbukti kontraktor-kontraktor Melayu mempunyai ‘merit’ yang tinggi yang mereka tidak dapat buktikan semasa pemerintahan Koh Tsu Khoon dahulu.

Dengan kata-kata lain Bumiputra boleh berjaya tanpa bersandar kepada peruntukkan keistimewaan Bumiputra sebagai yang diperuntukkan oleh Perlembagaan Negara. Sesungguhnya orang Melayu mampu membuktikan yang mereka boleh bersaing dan semasa pemerintahan Gerakan dahulu mereka tidak berupaya membuktikannya kerana setiap kerja yang di berikan oleh kerajaan BN semasa itu telah diperolehi oleh kroni-kroni kerajaan semasa itu.

Segala bukti-bukti ini secara beransur-ansur dapat disaksikan oleh rakyat dan itulah sebabnya Umno ternyata takut dengan DAP yang akhirnya telah berjaya membuktikan yang parti itu benar-benar parti untuk rakyat dan bukannya untuk kroni-kroni tertentu dan ‘warlords’ yang istimewa dalam Umno dan BN itu.

Pentadbiran yang jujur memang satu perkara yang tidak mampu dilakukan oleh Umno dahulu maka perbezaan yang ditunjukkan oleh Guan Eng ini amat menakutkan Umno. Maka tidak hairanlah kenapa poster yang bersifat sensitif ini dinaikkan oleh setengah pihak yang takut kepada kejayaan DAP untuk membuktikan yang parti itu tidak bersifat rasis seperti MCA dan Umno dalam BN itu.

Poster-poster itu hanya merupakan satu tindakan yang ‘counter productive’ bagi pihak yang menaikkannya yang bersifat rasis yang keterlaluan itu. — aspanaliasnet.blogspot.com

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 February 2012, 10:40 pm and is filed under
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The prostitution of the mainstream media

— Sakmongkol AK47

The Malaysian Insider

Feb 05, 2012

FEB 5 — A few days ago, a friend remarked that he hasn’t read Utusan Malaysia for almost two years. When I asked the reason why, he answered simply by stating Utusan Malaysia has become the extended mouthpiece of Umno and BN. Especially the former. Its editorials are nothing more than patronising dictations by an officious Guru Kanan in charge of discipline. He finds the editorials insulting to the intelligence and nauseatingly overbearing. Who wants to read a paper that says Nik Aziz is delusional, while Dr Mahathir who hasn’t made peace with the new political realities, isn’t?

For substitute he now reads Sinar which has surpassed Utusan in circulation and credibility. I am inclined to believe many others share his revulsion for not only Utusan Malaysia but other members of the mainstream media too. The citadel for the shameless media partisanship has shifted from Jalan Riong to the HQ of Media Prima.

For many years now mainstream media has become increasingly partisan and more overt in promoting the policies of Umno and BN. This evolutionary process by which the MSM became literally the mouthpiece of partisan politics, reached its zenith in 2008 when the media were instrumental in getting Abdullah Badawi kicked out. It was helped further by the existence of some nebulous and often secretive cells in the New Media, helmed often by equally publicity-shy media assassins cloaked under various aliases and pseudonyms. Their obsession for coward secrecy is surpassed only by the intensity of their vitriolic and penchant for ad hominem attacks.

These conclaves of media assassins in the new media are also said to be headed by banished journalists who thought they were legends in the own right. Once upon a time, they thought the world revolved around them and people worshipped at their feet. Some still do and are willing to pay these media witch doctors hefty sums of money.

Many journalists both in the official MSM and in the satellite new media dropped any pretence of objectivity and became not only cheerleaders but active de facto members of the campaign. What has their newfound loyalty and prostration achieved for the journalism community?

During the past two decades no other sector of the economy has experienced such overwhelming financial and employment devastation and severe loss of credibility. In a scathing reference to NST Malaysia, Lee Kuan Yew the former Singapore PM simply said that it has lost credibility. What do people read? They read Harakah, Roketkini and of course, the Internet.

Yet the vast majority of the media do not understand why their profession is in decline and a failing business model. They are still in denial and cannot accept the reality of the marketplace, as their actions have prompted the Malaysian public to lose all confidence in their objectivity and integrity.

The 2013 election season has begun and this same media finds itself in the position of having to defend and reinforce the man they chose to sleep with.  They have willingly opted to do exactly that. The mainstream media is systematically pulling out all the stops to destroy any and all viable BN challengers in an undeclared but understood alliance with the Najib re-election machine.

Rather than objectively analysing the folly of the Najib class warfare strategy and its potential to undermine and destroy societal cohesion, the mainstream media has trumpeted and encouraged this divisive and dangerous strategy. Clearly, the economic proposals which Najib has announced thus far seem to work preponderantly for the benefit of a select clientele.

Which class welfare agenda is Najib pursuing? The welfare agenda hasn’t change from the dictats of Dr Mahathir despite the very public and pompously loud announcements of Najib via his various acronym initiatives. It’s the welfare of the wealthy corporate class and the adherents of the free market economy. Except, in the Malaysian application of that concept ‘free market’ has nothing to do with the ideas of market efficiency and productivity which economists are propounding. The ‘free market’ which the Najib administration pushes on and supports is the market freedom for the selected few and the klelptocratic elite to lay their hands on economic resources.

The Perkasa movement, conceived by friends of Umno and encouraged by Putrajaya, as well as blessed by many in the mainstream media, was intended to further reinforce the war against the ‘subversive’ and disloyal majority. It was intended also to redirect the anger and blame for all of our country’s woes away from the statist policies of the Najib administration. Yes, Najib hasn’t really moved at all from the mindset of the government knows best. His declaration about the age of government knowing best was naked rhetoric. It’s all an elaborately propped stage.

Anwar Ibrahim is being cast as the villain in this stage production. He must be destroyed by unproven and salacious allegations of sexual perversions.  And yes, the only judgment that matters now must come from the courts. If the courts cannot convict him for want of evidence, we the laymen cannot read beyond what is manifestly stated in law.

Nik Aziz and Haji Hadi are portrayed as wild-eyed and unstable religious fanatics. They are, says Utusan Malaysia, delusional losing grip on reality. One needs only to scour the characterisation of these people in the pro-Umno blogs. There, you get to read the vilest descriptions of Hadi and Nik Aziz. Of course, such characterisations would never be applied to any BN candidate.

When it comes to Lim Guan Eng there is no ethical barrier too high for the media to tear down in an attempt to discredit him. The spectre of unfounded and outright lies about his son’s harassment of an equally innocent young lady being given unhindered coverage by the media and Umno blogs is considered acceptable, as well as any innuendo or accusation created out of whole cloth. Such a scenario would never be contemplated if the person or persons involved are Umno and BN leading lights. Hence, the controversy surrounding Shahrizat and the NFC imbroglio are uncritically lapped up by the mainstream media as a ‘test from God’.

What has this loyalty to the Umno and BN masters wrought for the members of this once-proud profession? The landscape of the once mighty journalism community is one of utter devastation. The daily circulation of all major newspapers has dropped. The NST has even been described as a kid’s newspaper. The devastation of the mainstream papers is well documented in this blog (http://uppercaise.wordpress.com/2010/09/13/newspapers-lose-sales/) .

How does the journalism community react? The most important and fashionable matter for the vast majority of the journalism community has been to be part of the in-crowd, which requires little independence of thought or even the ability to generate an original thought. Thus many in the media are still caught up in the old paradigm of good versus evil wherein conservatives are good and liberals are evil.

The inconvenient truth is, a majority of the members of the mainstream media are incapable of recognising their error in blindly supporting the statist agenda of the BN government over the years. Regardless of the evidence at hand, either historic or contemporary, their egos and narcissism so dominate their psyche that admitting a mistake is tantamount to the apocalypse.  Thus they appear willing to sacrifice their own future and credibility by actively campaigning for Umno and BN’s re-election rather than honestly report on the lies and machinations of this administration and their devastating impact on future generations. The only outcome the media has guaranteed is the continued decline and degradation of their once noble profession. — sakmongkol.blogspot.com

* Sakmongkol AK47 is the nom de plume of Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz. He was Pulau Manis assemblyman (2004-2008).

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 February 2012, 10:50 pm and is filed under
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Wanita Umno to give Rafizi wing’s trademark baju kurung, says Shahrizat

By Yow Hong Chieh

The Malaysian Insider

Feb 05, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 — Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil today said she will send the wing’s trademark red and white baju kurung to her “stalker” in PKR, whom she joked wanted to assume her post.

In an apparent reference to Rafizi Ramli, who has led PKR’s attacks on Shahrizat and the National Feedlot Corporation (NFCorp), the federal minister said the idea had been mooted by Perak Wanita Umno at a recent meeting.

“He will look good in red and white as he’s a little jambu (effete). Wanita Umno will pack the red and white garments and send them to my stalker,” she told reporters at Hospital Kuala Lumpur here.

“Because I think this particular person aspires to be Wanita Umno chief, maybe because he’s a wannabe leader (but) his party doesn’t have many members. Wanita Umno has 1.3 million members so he can feel the strength.”

Shahrizat has been repeatedly linked to NFCorp because of her husband’s role as company chairman, and their children’s directorships in the same entity.

The RM250 million publicly-funded cattle-raising scheme was first coined a “mess” in an article in English daily The Star after it made it into the pages of the Attorney-General’s 2010 Report for badly missing production targets.

The term was later repeated by various media organisations to describe NFCorp after PKR launched a series of exposés to show that the project’s funds had been allegedly abused.

PKR, led by strategic director Rafizi, had claimed that RM27 million was used for land and property purchases as well as expenses unrelated to cattle farming by Shahrizat and her family.

The company’s assets were frozen after investigations were launched by the police and the national anti-graft body following the exposés.

Shahrizat returns to ministerial duties tomorrow after taking three weeks’ leave to allow the authorities to complete their probe.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 February 2012, 8:13 pm and is filed under
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Kita memerlukan siasah, ‘ambience’ politik dan imej negara yang baru

— Aspan Alias

The Malaysian Insider

Feb 06, 2012

6 FEB — Sejak saya menyertai Parti Tindakan Demokratik (DAP) pada 8hb Januari yang lalu, saya agak sibuk juga berjumpa dengan ramai rakan-rakan lama yang saya sudah lama tidak temui. Setiap hari ada sahaja beberapa panggilan talipon dari sahabat-sahabat lama ini, ada yang sudah dua puluh tahun tidak bersua. Mereka berjumpa untuk bertanya khabar setelah mendengar berita yang saya sudah meninggalkan Umno untuk melalui wadah baru perjuangan setelah menyepi hampir dua dekad.

Sesungguhnya selama saya keseorangan di rumah bersama cucu-cucu, saya sempat berfikir dan membuat “soul searching” secara serius tentang isu-isu politik yang berbangkit dalam negara kita ini. Saya memerhatikan lagak dan laku pemimpin-pemimpin melalui TV yang kebanyakkannya adalah dari mereka yang saya kenal sejak berdekad-dekad dahulu yang kini sudah menjadi pemimpin, tidak dapat memahami dan menyelami perasaan ahli-ahli Umno dan rakyat amnya.

Ramai di antara mereka yang berjumpa dengan saya itu adalah ahli-ahli Umno serta pemimpin di peringkat rendahan seperti ketua-ketua bahagian Umno serta jawatankuasa mereka. Ada juga pemimpin peringkat yang tinggi memanggil bertanyakan kenapa saya menyertai pembangkang sedangkan saya telah menyertai Umno selama 40 tahun, lebih lama dari mereka sendiri.

Pertanyaan-pertanyaan ini saya jawab hanya dengan meluahkan satu dua baris ayat jawapan. Yang paling selalu saya jawap ialah, Umno sudah hilang identitinya samasekali. Saya sudah tidak mengenali Umno lagi. Parti yang disebut sebagai Umno itu sudah tidak rupa Umno lagi. Umno hanya tinggal pada nama tetapi tidak ada rohnya lagi. Umno ibarat kucing dengan tikus. Dulu kucing makan tikus tetapi kucing sekarang takut pada tikus. Kadang-kadang saya menjawab dengan bertanya satu soalan; kenapa saya mesti kekal dalam Umno? Apabila soalan itu dijawab barulah saya boleh menjawab soalan kenapa saya menyertai DAP.

Pemimpin-pemimpin sekarang tidak memahami apa itu Umno sebelum mereka menyertai parti itu. Sampai sekarang mereka tidak memahami apa itu Umno dan mereka jugalah yang menjadi pemimpin parti itu dan mentadbir negara dengan cara yang kita lihat sekarang. Mereka menganggap menyertai Umno dan seterusnya menjadi Menteri dan sebagainya itu merupakan perkara yang “ultimate” bagi mereka tetapi mereka tidak pernah berusaha untuk menjaga apa yang terkandung dalam BAB3 Perlembagaan Parti itu.

Dosa terbesar Umno ialah membantutkan daya pemikiran orang Melayu. Orang Melayu tidak dibenarkan berfikir di luar kotak tetapi dalam masa yang sama mereka beretorik supaya orang Melayu menjadi bangsa yang global. Bercakap yang benar di dalam Umno itu merupakan kesalahan dan kita tahu yang Umno hanya bergantung kepada kuasa pinjaman yang diberikan rakyat sahaja. Umno tidak mampu mempertahankan diri dengan menunjukkan kerja baik dan membangun.

Ini disebabkan imej parti itu yang sudah terlalu tercemar dengan rasuah serta penyalahgunaan kuasa yang keterlaluan. Maka satu-satunya jalan untuk mempertahankan diri ialah dengan membuat segala perkara yang lazim dilakukan oleh pihak-pihak yang “desperado”. Di mana-mana rasuah, baik dalam kerajaan atau dalam parti. Wang ringgit merupakan satu-satunya cara bagi mereka untuk mempertahankan diri, semuanya hendak dibeli. Jiwa dan perasaan pun menjadi bahan dagangan. Saya amat runsing melihat apa yang akan terjadi kepada bangsa saya yang dijadikan sebagai “political prostitute” dengan membayar setiap perkhidmatan terutamanya semasa pilihanraya hampir tiba ini.

Bagi saya perkara ini wajib dihentikan kerana yang akan terbantut daya pemikirannya ialah orang Melayu sendiri. Orang Melayu sudah begitu lesu, tidak berdaya berfikir secara jelas kerana jiwa mereka telah ditawan dan dikurung tanpa boleh berbuat sesuatu untuk kemajuan masa depan mereka. Mereka telah diasah yang boleh menjamin masa depan mereka ialah Umno sahaja.

Tetapi Umno itu sendiri sedang menghadapi saat kematian kerana penyakit yang tidak boleh diubati seperti rasuah, rendah diri serta tunduk kepada tekanan yang dilakukan oleh mereka yang telah digaji dan diupah untuk menjaga mereka. Rakyat tidak boleh berbuat sesuatu yang bertentangan dengan kehendak pemerintah yang diberikan mandat oleh rakyat itu sendiri.

Pemimpin-pemimpin Umno tidak dapat menerima bahawa parti itu sudah tidak Umno lagi kerana Umno yang sebenarnya tidak bersifat seperti yang kita lihat pada hari ini. Umno sudah menjadi parti yang “clueless” dan tidak lagi berdaya walaupun hanya untuk menentukan arah tujuan perjuangan partinya.

Pemimpin-pemimpin dan ahli-ahli Umno tidak “abreast” dengan keadaan baru yang menyelubungi pemikiran dan kehendak semasa rakyat yang baru. Umno tidak sedar yang rakyat mahu hidup aman damai dengan jiran tetangga dan tidak mahu lagi terkongkong dengan perasaan rasis yang menebal. Umno masih memainkan perasaan dan sentimen perkauman. Ramai yang telah membabikan saya kerana menyertai DAP tetapi tidak mahu mengenalpasti kenapa ramai orang Melayu sedang berjinak-jinak dengan parti itu selain dari berjinak-jinak dengan PAS dan PKR.

Umno tidak mahu berkorban dengan mengikuti kehendak rakyat yang dahagakan sebuah kerajaan yang telus dan terhindar dari rasuah besar-besaran. Rakyat sedang mencari penyelesaian terhadap “capital flight” secara haram yang telah mencecah kepada jumlah melebihi satu trillion ringgit. Rakyat tidak berpuas hati dengan kedudukan yang kelima terbesar jumlah kehilangan wangnya ke luar negara.

Rakyat mengharapkan Umno yang telah diberikan mandat oleh rakyat untuk mentadbir dengan baik dan jujur, tetapi Umno tidak juga mahu melakukan kebaikan itu. Maka kebanyakan rakyat sedang menyelesaikan keresahan mereka dengan memberikan sokongan kepada parti lain yang diharapkan dapat memperbetulkan keadaan yang menjijikkan ini.

Sikap “cepat tangan” pemimpin Umno pada hari ini menyebabkan ramai rakyat yang sudah tidak lagi percaya kepada Umno. Rakyat sudah mempunyai persepsi yang “conclusive” terhadap Umno sebagai parti yang tidak mempunyai seorang pun pemimpin yang boleh dipercayai. Setiap projek kerajaan mesti ada sebahagian dari keuntungan kepada pemimpin yang mengetuai kementerian atau jabatan yang mereka ketuai.

Persepsi buruk ini sudah menjadi stigma yang tidak boleh dibuang lagi. Saya selalu bermimpi untuk memulakan sebuah negara yang baru dengan siasah baru dan ini hanya boleh dilakukan oleh seorang yang berkemampuan dan yang tidak mempunyai “baggage” dan berpengalaman dalam mentadbir dan mempunyai kemampuan politik yang tinggi. Saya tidak berhenti berdoa agar Tuhan mendatangkan seorang pemimpin yang berkemampuan untuk membetulkan keadaan yang sudah menjadi keresahan rakyat keseluruhannya.

Yang penting, keadaan politik yang tidak menentu ini mesti ditinggalkan di belakang untuk kepentingan rakyat semua kaum dan negara amnya. — aspanaliasnet.blogspot.com

                This entry was posted on Monday, 6 February 2012, 10:08 pm and is filed under
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Shahrizat returns from leave with all guns blazing – not slayed the ghost of  the “cattle condo” scandal but reared more monsters

Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, the Wanita UMNO leader and Minister for Women, Family and Community Development, has returned from her three-week leave from Cabinet with all guns blazing but instead of slaying the ghost of the RM330 million “cattle condo” scandal, she has only reared more monsters.

When announcing her leave on January 12, Shahrizat said:  “I hope the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will be able to investigate whether or not I was involved in any of the decisions made by the government on the NFC in which my husband, Datuk Seri Dr Mohammad Salleh Ismail, is the executive chairman.”

Has Shahrizat been cleared of any impropriety, abuse of power or conflict of interest in the RM330 million NFC “cattle condo” scandal by the MACC?

The answer is in the negative.  As the purpose of her Ministerial leave has not been achieved, shouldn’t her Cabinet leave be extended until a clear answer is available?

In the absence of any unequivocal exoneration by the MACC, the only alternative open to Shahrizat is to rebut one by one the many specific allegations of abuses of public funds or her knowledge/complicity, for instance allegations like the  RM13.8 million used for purchasing luxury condominiums in Bangsar, RM10 million to purchase a luxury condominium in Singapore, RM3.4 million for plots of land in Putrajaya, RM830,000 for holiday trips, RM530,000 for a luxury car, payment of RM600,000 credit card bill for Shahrizat’s family, etc.

Shahrizat  has not done this but instead launched a deplorable and most unbecoming  below-the-belt attack against Rafizi Ramli, PKR strategic director, who had led the three-month exposes of the RM330 million NFC scandal – further highlighting the weakness of her case!

What cannot escape attention of astute political observes is that Shahrizat had been abandoned by the UMNO leadership to fend on her own – in the face of increasing pressures for her to accept responsibility and resign from the Cabinet coming not only from her predecessor as Wanita Umno chief, Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz and her current Deputy Wanita Umno chief, Datuk Kamila Ibrahim but also different levels of UMNO leadership whether  from former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir or Cheras Umno division head Daltuk Syed Ali Alhabshee.

This reflects the growing impotence and isolation of Datuk Seri Najib Razak as Prime Minister and UMNO President to provide the political leadership and set the political  pace in UMNO and Barisan Nasional.

Just before the Chinese New Year, the MCA President Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek in an interview blamed the Barisan Nasional government, “particularly embattled minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abd Jalil”, for the “poor handling” of the RM330 million “cattle condo” scandal, causing the public to perceive the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) project as “real rotten”.

Have the four MCA Cabinet Ministers the political courage to put things right by insisting at Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting that Shahrizat should extend her  Ministerial leave until she is cleared of any abuse of power and/or conflict of interest in the RM330 million NFC scandal, and better still, to ask for a full-scale Royal Commission of Inquiry into the NFC scandal?

                This entry was posted on Monday, 6 February 2012, 12:18 pm and is filed under
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Is Myanmar the new Asian tiger?

by Pepe Escobar

Al Jazeera

07 Feb 2012

Despite some reforms, Myanmar remains a hardcore military dictatorship and lacks a civil society.

Bangkok, Thailand – While the big story of 2012 in south-west Asia is the increasingly lethal US-Iran psychodrama, there’s no bigger story in south-east Asia in the Year of the Dragon than the controlled opening of Myanmar.

Everyone and his neighbour, East and West, has been trekking to Myanmar since US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit last November. It’s virtually impossible these days to book a flight or a hotel room.

Like Ashgabat in Turkmenistan and Astana in Kazakhstan a few years ago, the new capital Naypyidaw (“the abode of kings”) – built from scratch with natural gas wealth halfway between Rangoon and Mandalay – is surging as a new promised land.

In parallel, the European Union (EU) has lifted a travel ban on senior Myanmar officials. The Myanmar delegation was virtually mobbed at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos. Imagine rows of European CEOs salivating to the tune of Rail Transport Deputy Minister U Lwin saying: “Like Norway and Sweden, we have access to two seas and have fishing potential.”

Talk about a lot of fish to fry; the global mandarins of turbo-capitalism in crisis are falling over themselves with all that gold, gas, oil, teak, jade, uranium, coal, zinc, copper, precious gems, loads of hydropower and – crucially – cheap labour, all there for the taking.

This may not be exactly a letter of recommendation – considering the ignominious past record – but still the IMF, after a two-week trip, declared Myanmar as the “next economic frontier in Asia”.

And this even before the US and the EU lift all their sanctions, arguably within the next few months, supposing the April 1 by-elections – where the star of the show will be The Lady, the iconic Aung San Suu Kyi – and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party – are really free and fair.

In the long run, Myanmar will also need to be compatible with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community playbook, to go into full effect by 2015. Myanmar takes over the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2014.

Yet for all the hoopla around President Thein Sein’s “economic reforms” and the usual suspect companion rhetoric of  “untapped markets” and “wide interest from foreign investors”, this is still an ultra-hardcore military dictatorship.

Thein Sein, a former prime minister, is an ex-general and member of the junta. He became president less than a year ago, after sham elections in November 2010 from which Suu Kyi was excluded.

It’s always crucial to remember that the 1990 general election was overwhelmingly won by the NLD. The junta ignored it – and kept Suu Kyi under house arrest for no less than 14 of the past 20 years. There’s no guarantee against the junta deciding to re-arrest Suu Kyi all over again – when no one is watching.

The amazing race

What’s certain is that the (remixed) road to Mandalay will be long. Myanmar badly needs foreign capital.

It starts with a new investment law – spun by Myanmar officials as “the most attractive in the region”, and including an eight-year tax exemption if projects are profitable for the country. The law may be approved by the end of this month.

Then there’s the herculean task of completely overhauling a supremely corrupt and incompetent legal system, and at least trying to contain corruption in all areas of activity. According to Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, Myanmar is only less corrupt than North Korea and Somalia.

The infrastructure is in tatters – from erratic electricity to crumbling roads, railways and ports. Myanmar will go nowhere without massive investment in the transportation/energy infrastructure.

In this race against time, Asia is ahead of the West. Thein Sein is just back from Singapore – the ultimate economic success story in East Asia. The Lion City will advise Myanmar not only in legal, banking and financial reform but also on trade, tourism and urban planning.

Japan, for its part, wants a bilateral investment treaty as soon as possible. And Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra also met with Suu Kyi in December. Thais pride themselves of being one of Myanmar’s top trading partners already, and want to market themselves as investment leaders and the key hub for regional trade involving Myanmar.

And then there are the two hippos in the golden pond – China and India.

Enter Pipelineistan

Myanmar is usually regarded in the West as the strategic crossroads between BRICS members India and China, and between them and the rest of south-east Asia. For the paranoid/conspiratorial set, it’s above all a land bridge for China to dominate the Indian Ocean.

As far as the Pentagon is concerned, Myanmar is absolutely essential in the strategy, recently announced by President Obama, of “pivoting” from the Middle East to East Asia.

For their part, Myanmar’s wily leaders are now starting to play up Singapore elder statesman’s Lee Kuan Yew’s maxim that the US “must be a counterbalance” to China in south-east Asia. It’s unlikely that Myanmar will be turned into a Chinese province.

The Pipelineistan scenario is fascinating. A port is already under construction in Kyaukpyu – in Arakan state, on the west coast of Myanmar, close to Bangladesh. This is the home of the immense Shwe gas fields. The port will connect via a dual oil and gas pipeline to Yunnan, the huge southwest China province.

For China this Pipelineistan node could not be more strategic, because it bypasses a crucially problematic choke point for Beijing; the Strait of Malacca. And the best route to the heart of China from the Indian Ocean is via Myanmar – and not via Pakistan or Bangladesh.

But as Zha Daojiong, a professor at the School of International Studies at Peking University has observed, there is no conspiracy involved. Actually Myanmar’s first choice for the delivery of oil and gas was India. Only after India dragged its feet, “and the international consortium of gas field developers (that did not include Chinese) was running out of patience, did Myanmar turn to China as an outlet for sales”.

There’s no way Myanmar won’t be central to China’s vast, complex energy strategy. The gas to Yunnan will certainly come from Myanmar. But the oil will have to come from the Middle East (mostly Saudi Arabia and Iran, top Chinese providers) and Africa (Angola and Sudan). For all these networks to function smoothly, China needs a stable, relatively prosperous Myanmar.

Then there’s the even bigger Dawei port, in the southern coast. This one is geared towards Thailand, the rest of Southeast Asia and southern China. For Beijing, this is also a key alternative to the Strait of Malacca; it will boast a Chinese-style Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and an industrial park, developed by an Italian-Thai partnership. Another SEZ established near Rangoon will also benefit China plus Japan, Korea and Thailand.

The Lady and the tramps

The military junta, which used to be known by the Orwellian acronym SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council) renamed the country Myanmar in 1989. Myanmar is the Bamar term for the country’s central valley. Needless to say, the country’s ethnic hill tribes – Karen, Shan, Kachin and others – could never agree with it, and fought it relentlessly. In practice, the now “reformed” junta has treated the absolutely majority of its citizens – even the Bamars – in an absolutely ghastly way.

For all the official talk of an ongoing “peace process”, the concept of civil society in Myanmar is still virtually non-existent. So it all depends now on the election on April 1, and how Suu Kyi and her party will be able to rally not only Myanma but also the hill tribes towards sharing a real social contract.

That’s the hope shared by all who have been deeply moved by the terrible beauty (Yeats comes to mind) of the country and the graciousness of its people (including this writer; and in this respect, my friend Peter Popham’s book, The Lady and the Peacock: The Life of Aung San Suu Kyi, is highly recommended.)

Yet Myanmar is immensely more complex than a simple beauty (The Lady) and the beast (the junta) script. It will take the political activism of millions to end what’s been a de facto civil war raging for the past six decades; most of all a war of the Myanmar military against the overwhelming majority of their own people.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 7 February 2012, 7:49 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #99

By
M. Bakri Musa

Chapter 12:   A Prescription For Malaysia

An Open Letter to the Prime Minister

[Note:
There was a typo in the previous installment.  The date of the letter should be May 13, 2002.
]

May 13, 2002

(Cont’d) Embracing Globalization

I totally disagree with your characterization of globalization as a vehicle for Western hegemony or that it would destroy our way of life. We are more likely to maintain and indeed enhance our culture and heritage if we are successful economically. If we were to be marginalized economically, our culture and language too would suffer the same fate. If we do not climb on the globalization train now we will be left far behind. Individually, we are more likely to be tolerant and altruistic when we are prosperous and affluent than if we are poor and struggling. This applies to government as well.

            Yes, globalization carries its own risks and problems. There are many shoals and reefs in the ocean of globalization. The best way to handle that is to train our citizens to be better sailors and navigators, not to remain in port. To extend the maritime metaphor, yes there will be swells and storms out there; our crew must therefore be adept at trimming the sails and battening the hatches.

            You justify harsh and restrictive rules like the ISA on the fear that our present stability is fragile, and that with minor disturbances we would regress. I cannot blame you for having this attitude. One needs only look at previously prosperous and stable societies now reduced to their backward status through social unrest. In the 1950s Lebanon was the crown jewel of the Middle East. Its American University in Beirut was the breeding ground for fertile Arab intellectuals and scientists. A generation later, the very survival of that nation is in doubt. Yugoslavia only recently hosted the glittering Winter Olympic Games at its breathtaking mountain city of Sarajevo; today that nation no longer exists.

            I am cognizant of those realities; nonetheless we cannot launch into the next trajectory of development unless we change our precepts. If we constantly fear of falling back, we will never be able to scale the top of the mountain. As the late Malay scholar and philosopher Hamka succinctly put it: Takut gagal adalah gagal sejati (The fear of failure is the real failure).

            The next phase of progress requires a whole set of different skills and assumptions. What once worked will no longer be so, indeed they well become obstacles. Special privileges may have once been successful in improving the lot of Bumiputras, but clearly that program has now “maxed out.” Unchanged it will be more hindrance than help.

            At the 2001 Annual UMNO General Assembly you once again saw fit to publicly castigate and upbraid Malays for not measuring up. You sermonized, cajoled, begged, and even cried to make us change our ways, but in the end none of that worked, or so you believe. After leading us for over two decades you still feel that we have not changed or successfully adapted to modern ways. At that assembly you used exactly the same derogatory language against us as you did thirty years earlier in your book, The Malay Dilemma.

            All too often when your policies fail, your knee-jerk reaction is to immediately blame the people. You never cease to derogate us. Not once do you pause to ponder that may be, just may be, it is your policies and strategies that are wrong. Had you done so, your policies would have been more imaginative, their implementations more creative, and the results more to your expectations.

            Contrary to your perception, we Malays have changed. If I may respectfully suggest, it is you who have not. You still insist on leading us in the same old ways. Excuse my brazenness; I suggest that instead of continually berating and scolding us, you try a different tack. Liberate us. Give us more freedom to be ourselves. Grant us our merdeka (independence). You have tried everything else and in your estimation, they have failed. Empower us instead.

            There will be some of us who will make mistakes and fall by the wayside, but I can assure you that many more will succeed. When they do, reward them appropriately, not so much to encourage them (success is reward enough, they do not need a pat on the back from politicians and leaders) but to encourage others to emulate them. Make them the new role models and national heroes. For those unfortunate few who fail, if you cannot offer them encouragement, then just shut up. Let their failures be reminders to them and to others.

            All too often you have rewarded mediocre Malays. You are easily mesmerized by their glibness, mistaking that for courage and wisdom. You listen only to those who are eager to tell you what you want to hear. You have been had. I need not remind you of the agonizing pain your many chosen “entrepreneurs” and budding “leaders” have caused you and the nation.

            Had you cast your net far and deep, you could have avoided this predicament. We will never know where and when the next spark of genius will arise. One thing we do know from experience: Malay leaders right from the sultan in Hikayat Abdullah’s times are poor spotters of talent. Unfortunately, you are no exception.

            Your own considerable leadership capability was long ignored. Indeed there was a time when you were considered a disruptive element, or worse, a derhaka (traitor). Only the wisdom and foresight of your predecessors Tun Razak and Hussein Onn saved you. Had the Tunku been as ruthless as you are today with your opponents, your fate would have been far different. More significantly, so too would the nation.

            While your fawning ministers and supporters may still dutifully praise you when you castigate and chastise us, I am deeply offended. Significantly, the rest of Malaysia merely yawned, they have heard those same lectures once too often. What is particularly galling is that while you continually badger us to change, you yourself are stuck in your own feudal mentality and kampong (village) ways. While you with nauseating frequency exhort us to be thrifty and frugal, your own ostentatious lifestyles and other vulgar displays of wealth grate on us. Your “People Palace” at Putrajaya makes the White House a mere mansion.

            You hector us to be berdikari (self reliant), but your kin and kind are the first to hog the public trough. You decry “money politics;” alas, UMNO degenerated into its present graft-ridden and patronage-laden culture while under your watch.

            Malaysia enjoys unprecedented economic growth and spectacular improvement in its standard of living under your leadership. With prosperity comes greater tolerance. Under a different set of circumstances, our race alchemy could have easily exploded into another Bosnia. Instead, Malaysia today is a model plural society, a tribute to your stewardship. These together with your economic management (recent economic setbacks notwithstanding) are worthy achievements with few comparisons. No leader could achieve such extraordinary feats without the implicit trust and consent of his followers.

            Such consent and trust however, are not without limits. And having experienced such superlative achievements, Malaysians would not now settle for mere satisfactory performances. Expectations have rightly risen. Unfortunately you do not sense this and continue to preach the same sermon.

            Yet I do not give up hope. It is within you to make changes when you feel you need to. Who would have thought a Malay ultra (chauvinist) of the 1960’s would now command such wide and genuine support from non-Malays? You have successfully nursed the nation back to its economic health. And you did so by bravely defying the conventional wisdom. Your earlier defiance of the “Washington consensus” and advice of eminent economists brought much condemnation and ridicule; your later success, much praise and yes, also awe. I too revel in that reflected glory of your success.

            You remind me of the brilliant surgeon who skillfully managed the life-threatening complication in his patient. Every one was suitably impressed and in awe of his virtuoso performance. That is until someone one quietly asks that basic question, “Doctor, how did your patient get that complication in the first place?”

            Yes, you saved the nation economically. And yes, Malaysians are grateful for your brilliant deeds. Much as I praise your successful salvage operations, the gnawing questions remain. How could a mere currency speculator nearly cripple the country’s economy?

Next (and last) installment:    The Next Young Mahathir

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 7 February 2012, 9:19 am and is filed under
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Malaysian health reform socio-economics

— David KL Quek

The Malaysian Insider

Feb 07, 2012

FEB 7 — Is the Malaysian health system really in trouble that it requires such a drastic revolutionary change? Is 1 Care for 1 Malaysia Health Reform the answer? Will this proposed radical change make our health system more efficient and effective as touted by officials?

Or, is this proposed reform too ambitious and sweeping that it could possibly lead to severe disruptions to our current health system that we are so used to?

More importantly, would this health reform plan become another government-linked corporate entity which, instead of benefiting the public, only enriches a few favoured cronies or insiders? The difference now is that this will be a humongous multibillion-ringgit exercise and the fattest cow to milk to date!

Sadly, at this juncture in time — in the name of social development, modernisation, and economic necessity even — there have been so many government-linked projects being scandalised and mired in corruption accusations and profligate leakages.

Thus, it would be foolhardy to implicitly trust the government to do the right thing despite the economic rationale or correctness, indeed despite even the most honourable intentions! We are dealing with the health choices and rights of the public, which could become severely disrupted and endangered if or when hurried reforms turn out to be another debacle of catastrophic proportions! We cannot afford a failed social experiment of this magnitude!

Economics and health care rights

Let’s examine the proposed 1 Care Health Reform. What indeed is this new concept that we are dealing with? The Ministry of Health has stated and defined the objectives of this 1 Care transformation as follows:

“1 Care is the restructured national health system that is responsive and provides choice of quality health care, ensuring universal coverage for the health care needs of the population based on the spirit of solidarity and equity.”

Theoretically, the above concept is a fully acceptable ideal. But it should not become just a neat slogan. Everyone should have equitable access to health. No one can or should deny this universal premise. No one should be disadvantaged or discriminated against when compared to another just because of his or her ability to pay more, or who can afford more. Most importantly, no one should ever be denied life-saving or symptom- or pain-relieving medical care just because of cost considerations. In reality however, this is not so simple.

Those who can afford to pay more would almost surely be able to purchase health and medical care at will, just because this is the way the free market works. Those who have more disposable or discretionary income and means almost always have a greater purchasing power to a wider variety and urgency of goods and services. This applies to every economic sphere and not just for health care. That is the way of world these days. Most people except perhaps those living in command socialist economies accept some degree of ease or disparity in their capacity to access healthcare, according to their individual means. This is socially unfair but also universal in its reach.

But again this is an undeniable truism, despite its distasteful and off-putting implications: the less endowed or less informed are almost always less demanding and have lesser recourse to demand or to expect more for any services or goods. If you earn more and have more money, you are able to afford more goods and services (sometimes known as “utilities”). If not, you would have to sacrifice not just the more luxurious aspects of the accompanying extras, but sometimes, even forego some basic necessities!

Thus, those who wish for more goods and services would have to work doubly hard and to strive harder when given a chance to gain, earn or excel. In competitive society, everyone is expected to achieve productivity for themselves to the best of his or her abilities. However, the playing field is often uneven and is never equal. Therefore the inherent inequalities of income and lifestyle must be considered when we wish to examine how fairly society provides goods and services for its citizens. This is particularly relevant when we consider healthcare services for society at large.

It is now well accepted that modern free-market society expects every individual to strive to provide for him/herself in the spirit of self-interest and self-betterment. Free competition would arguably allow the best and the most able to achieve more and thus provide the impetus for self-achievement and wealth accumulation. Free-market economics imply that society as a whole will be able to lift itself up by its own bootstraps to ever higher levels of development, both socio-economically as well as in terms of human development, so it is believed.

Increased wealth, unequal as this may be concentrated in the hands of some or a few, will somehow trickle downwards so that most of society at the various strata would benefit or reap some rewards, for themselves and their families. This creates “healthy” competition as well as competitive behaviour, which some argue contributes towards faster societal progress, because self-interests and individual desire for goods/services, almost always trump communal or other interests, outside the self or family.

But clearly there is a downside to this laissez faire market economic model. Increasingly we know that the rich and the powerful have grown ever richer and more powerful, and poverty appears to entrench and deprive the poor even more tenaciously than before in the poverty cycle — so much so that the wealth gap widens inexorably. The poor and the have-nots continue their inescapable slide down the poverty trap — the spiral of marginalisation, impoverishment and deprivation, whilst the rich grow ever richer.

Difficult as it is to consider, that is what the globalised world has now become — more and more market- and consumer-driven and more individual-focused. The wealth gap or income disparity between the rich and the poor (or GINI index4) continues to widen and serve as a serious challenge for governments worldwide.

Although with rising GDP growth, some benefits do trickle down to reach the lower strata of society, disgruntlement and discontent among society’s underbelly of the aggrieved and dispossessed, often strains society’s stability and fester public dissatisfaction. Worse, if the poorer segment of the population continues to grow and widen — this socially unjust disparity between the haves and the have-nots could be destabilising and could cause serious class conflicts.

Thus, there have been growing research and studies into the economics of income inequality, with many different models and indices being developed to try and describe these as close to reality as possible. It is hoped that these indices can help focus efforts to reduce these gaping inequalities as well as perceived inequities and perhaps develop better socioeconomic strategies and paradigms toward achieving greater social justice and cohesion.

Therefore social reform, which can eliminate or reduce such disparities, is always welcome in the name of social equity and fairness. Clearly this applies to healthcare discrepancy as well. So some reform is in order, at least nominally to reduce the gap of accessibility and perhaps too, to staunch the falling standards of health care. Just how this is to be realised is somewhat contentious, and the details of the government’s proposed reform remain unclear, and need to be better fleshed out. Here are where many outside the ambit of the Health Ministry and the policymakers find grave disquiet, disagreements and contentions.

Universal coverage — the ideal health care goal

Health financing options for any particular country are determined largely by the stage of its economic development — the poorer or less developed the country, the more likely it is for healthcare financing to be dominated by out-of-pocket payment options — healthcare is considered to be a luxury, instead of being a right or a privilege of being a citizen, a resident or a taxpayer.

For the poorer nation, there is normally no social protection against ill health, because out-of-pocket payments create financial barriers that prevent the poor from seeking and receiving needed health services. Which is why, our own pro-poor almost fully-subsidised public health system has been acclaimed and acknowledged as one of the best around the world, and not just for the developing world! Many underdeveloped nations have sent many cycles of delegates to learn from our much emulated public health system. So the premise that we are doing poorly in terms of healthcare is a myth, we are not. Of course, this is not to say that our health system is beyond reproach or improvement. There is much that can be made better.

Universal coverage as a guarantee for most if not all citizens is usually only provided by more developed or socially enlightened economies. But the mixes of payment options vary tremendously, with the more mature and socially equitable nations offering more tax-based or strictly demarcated or allocated social insurance for health. But such overall taxes tend to be very high and approach close to 50 per cent or more of earned incomes. Their tax bases are also broader, usually more than 70 per cent of the working populations are taxpayers, which enable such governments to implement collection mechanisms such as dedicated health insurance on a more inclusive and more comprehensive risk pooling (community-rated) manner. Examples include the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden and Norway, and Canada and Australia.

Countries such as the United Kingdom are “blessed” in that a National Health Service was implemented decades ago, just after the Second World War, before free-market capitalistic practices have become entrenched. Other European countries have health systems, which are largely dominated by centrally controlled single-payer healthcare services with a sprinkle of private offerings for the wealthy. But most of these centrally controlled systems evolved over decades, often taking even longer than 50 years. For the more recent experiences of Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea, this evolved over the past 30 years, also through fits and starts. Despite this, health and medical care are often purchased services from private entities by the central authorities based on negotiated reimbursement plans, and varying co-payment options to decrease overutilisation of services, and ameliorate moral hazards.

The US is somewhat of an anomaly among developed economies in that it follows a free-market system of free choice and self- or employer-purchased insurances or managed care (MCOs) or health maintenance organisation (HMOs) options (to provide what is popularly known as managed competition). Unfortunately, this has failed to stem the tide of healthcare cost escalations, which has now exploded to a hefty 17 per cent of its GDP (some US$2.8 trillion (RM8.7 trillion)!) and its famously lack of universal coverage for its teeming uninsured — this number has now reached 47 million of its 300 million population (some 16 per cent of the population!).

This is also why the World Health Organisation has been pushing every nation towards achieving this goal of universal coverage for all. But this implies that governments, policymakers and the public are enlightened enough to agree to and allocate sufficient tax revenues toward health care, as well as to agree to some form of cost-sharing and risk-pooling. They must thus, also agree to the imposition of mutually-acceptable or negotiated social health insurance schemes to cover all the residents within their borders.

Universal coverage implies secure access for all to appropriate promotive, preventive, curative and rehabilitative health services at affordable costs. Besides financial risk protection, the extent of the population covered (e.g. who is covered) and the extent of health service coverage (e.g. what is covered) must also be properly defined, although this must clearly fit within the framework and context of affordability and means.

It therefore implies that governments provide sufficiently robust systems of emergency, catastrophic care and safety net services, so that the indigent and those impoverished can still partake of the health services without unnecessarily having to delay, to choose, or to sacrifice basic essentials for health, or vice versa. In other words, such barriers to healthcare access must be eradicated for as many people as possible, if not for everyone.

It further infers and probably necessitates that the country’s tax collection practices are mature, socially redistributive and reasonably equitable, so that the majority of the population can be adequately covered. Perhaps one of the most important considerations from the point of accountability is that administrative and service costs should be kept as low as possible, and not be allowed to bite into the already limited funds for whatever healthcare programmes!

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 7 February 2012, 11:22 am and is filed under
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Najib kata, ‘gua caya lu, lu caya gua’

— Aspan Alias

The Malaysian Insider

Feb 07, 2012

7 FEB — “Lu caya gua, gua caya lu!”….. itulah maksud kata-kata Najib kepada kaum India semasa melawat Batu Caves sempena hari Thaipusam pagi tadi. Najib menyeru kaum India supaya mempercayai beliau dalam usaha memperbaiki kehidupan kaum India dan memberikan beliau sokongan dalam pilihanraya yang akan datang. “Tuan-tuan tolong saya, saya akan tolong tuan-tuan” kata Najib lantang dan jelas.

Janji seperti ini telah dibuat setiap pilihanraya tiba sejak tiga puluh tahun yang lalu. Janji ini bukan sahaja dibuat kepada kaum India tetapi semua kaum termasuk kaum Najib sendiri, iaitu kaum Melayu yang merupakan kaum terbesar di negara ini. Janji ini jugalah yang akan ditabur dalam pilihanraya yang akan datang kerana kita tahu segala janji yang dibuat pagi tadi tidak akan kemana.

Tetapi kepada siapa yang masih yakin dan percaya kepada janji itu terpulang kepada mereka. Setiap rakyat berhak untuk memilih untuk dibohongi terus-terusan atau mengelak dari pembohongan tersebut. Sebagai seorang Perdana Menteri yang mengetuai Kerajaan Persekutuan, janji yang dibuat secara peribadi itu merupakan tindakan ‘desperate’ dan kata-katanya itu tidak melambangkan beliau seorang pemimpin yang ‘magnanimous’ yang memimpin rakyat yang berbilang kaum itu.

Orang Melayu telah dijanjikan bermacam-macam setiap pilihanraya, tetapi kita lihat apa yang berlaku sekarang ini adalah terlalu jauh dari menepati janji-janji yang telah dibuat kepada mereka. Umno telah menjadikan orang Melayu hanya sebagai dahan bongkok untuk ‘kera-kera’ meniti dan digunakan untuk memberikan sokongan dalam pilihanraya sahaja. Orang Melayu dan rakyat hanya diberikan RM500 upah sebelum pilihanraya ini untuk mendapatkan kuasa dan terus menjajah pemikiran bangsanya sendiri.

Berbillion habis dibelanjakan untuk membayar undi, tetapi dengan jumlah itu tidak memberikan apa-apa kesenangan kepada orang Melayu dan rakyat keseluruhannya. Hutang kerajaan telah mencecah hampir RM300 billion tidak termasuk hutang-hutang yang dibuat melalui ‘off budget agencies’ yang berbillion billion lagi. Najib berbelanja untuk kempennya seperti seorang maharaja besar sedangkan wang itu semuanya wang rakyat jelata. Saya pernah menulis yang harga untuk mengekalkan kuasa Umno dan Najib ini amat mahal harganya.

Itu tidak termasuk harga yang dibayar rakyat untuk membayar komission kepada Menteri-Menteri dan kroni-kroni dalam pembelian bekalan dan keperluan kementerian dan negara. Semuanya diperah dari titik peluh rakyat bukannya dari wang Umno atau BN.

Rakyat sedang marah dan lebih marah lagi apabila mendengar seorang Perdana Menteri membuat janji timbal balas dengan kaum India seperti negara ini adalah negara kepunyaan keluarganya sendiri. “Saya tolong anda, anda tolong saya’ ini telah dihamburkan banyak kali dan tiba masanya bagi kita untuk meminta Najib memberhentikannya. Najib mesti hormati perasaan orang yang mendengarnya.

Rakyat sepatutnya dihampiri oleh dasar yang baik dan sempurna bukannya dihampiri oleh seorang individu pemimpin yang berjanji,’gua caya lu, lu caya gua’. Kalau ada perasaan ‘desperate’ pun janganlah tunjukan sangat sehingga terkeluar janji-janji peribadi dalam kempen pilihanraya.

Yang berjanji sepatutnya rakyat. Rakyat sepatutnya yang berjanji untuk mendapatkan kerajaan yang bersih dan telus untuk menjaga kepentingan kaum India dan lain-lain kaum di negara ini, bukannya individu Najib. Itu sebabnya rakyat sedang berusaha untuk mencari gantian kepada pimpinan yang ada untuk mengambil perhatian terhadap bukan sahaja kepada kaum India tetapi bagi semua kaum yang hidup dalam negara bertuah ini.

Kita perlu ingat jika semua janji-janji manis kerajaan dilaksanakan tidak mungkin rakyat memberontak dalam jiwa mereka sehinggakan kita menghadapi situasi politik yang tidak menentu masakini. Sekarang berjanji lagi dan kita tahu hasilnya akan tetap sama.

Yang akan senang hidup dalam keadaan ‘super’ kaya adalah ‘warlords’ dan kroni-kroni Umno dan BN. Rakayat biasa tetap menganga lebar memerhati pemimpin dan keluarga mereka hidup mewah-mewah yang tidak ada tolok bandingnya walaupun isteri mereka hanya datang dari gulungan rakyat biasa sahaja sebelum menjadi isteri pemimpin-pemimpin besar negara.

Sekarang pemimpin-pemimpin yang sama juga mundar mandir untuk mendapatkan kembali sokongan rakyat yang terbiar dan tertipu selama ini. Dalam masa pilihanraya menghampiri kita inilah mereka turun kebawah menyuruh kita ‘membajak sawah pagi ke petang. Apabila mendapat hasilnya padi-padi tadi akan dimasukkan ke dalam kepuk di mana tikus-tikus gemuk akan membahamnya’.

Yang akan ditinggalkan oleh tikus-tikus ini hanyalah hampa-hampa padi seperti yang dibahagi-bahagikan melalui BRIM sebanyak RM500 itu. RM1 trilion wang kita telah dibawa keluar negara sejak sepuluh tahun dahulu. Saya telah menyaksikan rakyat yang lapar ini beratur hampir lima jam untuk mendapatkan RM500 itu. Kepada yang mempunyai perasaan mereka akan melihat mereka beratur dengan perasaan sedih dan pilu. Itu sahajalah yang mereka dapat setelah Umno memerintah selama 55 tahun.

Setelah mendapat hasil padi hasil bajakan ‘kerbau-kerbau’ ini mereka akan hilang dan menjual hasil bajakan rakyat tadi … bershopping ke London, New York, Paris. Rakyat yang telah diperah peluhnya tadi hanya mendengar sahaja tuan-tuan besar ini membelanjakan hasil pembajakan mereka itu.

Bagi saya tindakan memperbodohkan rakyat ini wajar dihentikan dahulu lagi, tetapi tidak juga dihentikan. Pemimpin-pemimpin kita mengambil rakyat ramai ‘for granted’, boleh diperlakukan apa sahaja. Selagi rakyat khususnya orang Melayu miskin, selagi itulah Umno dan BN mengharapkan sokongan dari mereka ini. Lagi miskin rakyat lagi mudah pimpinan kita menipu dan menyesatkan negara. Memang benar kata agama kita yang ‘kemiskinan itu membawa kekufuran’.

Letih kita dibuatnya. Kali ini kita terpaksa berfikir sedalam-dalamnya sebelum membuang undi. Kalau kita melakukan kesilapan lagi maka kita jugalah yang kecewa dan menganga melihat pimpinan kita memferaidkan hasil mahsul rakyat sehingga kering kontang.

Kita mesti ingat, jika kita hendak menjaga harta benda kita jangan biarkan pencuri dan perompak mendekati kita. Kita kunci betul-betul supaya penyamun dan perompak tidak dapat masuk lagi. — aspanaliasnet.blogspot.com

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 7 February 2012, 8:19 pm and is filed under
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PEMANDU, Oh PEMANDU

— Gomen Man

The Malaysian Insider

Feb 07, 2012

FEB 7 — Sorrylah, Mr Ong Kian Ming and REFSA. You are not the first ones to find big, big holes in PEMANDU’s ETP or, as you rightly pointed out, the alphabet soup.

I salute you because you have done what most Malaysians don’t do — sit down and actually go through the stacks of jargon and consultant talk the government throws at us.

But the first people who figured out Idris Jala and his salesmen were the people at Bank Negara and the Economic Planning Unit.

Our central bankers are privately calling the ETP and EPP a wish list of projects, and rubbish any claims that it is transformational in nature. They know more than most that it will take a proper eco-system to propel Malaysia to a high-income economy.

Giving Kenneth Eswaran a few plums projects or a former senior judge a toll concession or helping Chua Ma Yu with the St Regis hotel job or YTL the redevelopment of Majestic Hotel is just an extension of Malaysia Inc.

But consultants are paid big bucks so that they come up with high sounding financial modelling systems. And this is what the consultant paid by PEMANDU did: they threw best-case scenarios into their financial model and came out with best case or should I say too-good-to-be-true numbers.

Even EPU and government officials who have sat through PEMANDU briefings have rolled their eyes at the numbers and assumptions used. One of them even remarked that sometimes it is a case of putting rubbish figures into a system which then spews out rubbish numbers.

But I don’t blame Idris because the prime minister likes big numbers and grand-sounding projects. So the more billions and trillions the better.

People in government love presentations, consultant speak, projections, etc, etc. Idris impressed the political masters when he was brought in from Shell to Malaysia Airlines.

Did those numbers and talk of transformation at MAS finally bear fruit? I think we have all heard of the MAS-AirAsia share swap and the government’s justification that the national carrier was doomed if the AirAsia was not followed through.

Basically, Idris performed Band Aid on MAS but was unable to do any transformational stuff.

It is the same with PEMANDU. Projects will flow, the connected businessmen will get sweeter-than-ever deals to kickstart their projects and privatisation of the Mahathir era will continue unabated.

But what about those projections of 390k jobs and blah blah. So what? Are you going to sue PEMANDU, the consultants or the government?

Go back and check lah on all the rosy figures projected for the corridors, whether any has materialised.

Anyway, kudos to Ong Kian Ming and REFSA but take a number lah. Even in government, they are sceptical about PEMANDU’s figures.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 7 February 2012, 10:34 am and is filed under
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