The Policies of Pakatan Rakyat

The Policies of Pakatan Rakyat that was unanimously adopted today at the 1st Pakatan Rakyat Convention at Auditorium MBSA, Shah Alam.

The Policies of Pakatan Rakyat

Transparent and Genuine Democracy

Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law

Separation of Powers

A Clean, Free and Fair Electoral System

Driving a High Performance, Sustainable and Equitable Economy

High-Performance Economy

Democratic and Transparent Economy

Decentralisation and the Empowerment of the State Economic Management

Affirmative Action Policies based on Need

Labour

Social Safety Net

Housing

Infrastructure and Public Facilities

Environment

Sustainable Growth and Green Development

Social Justice and Human Development

Unity and Social Justice

Religion

Education

Women and the Family

Youth

Security

Healthcare

Culture

Federal-State Relationship and Foreign Policy

The Federal System

Sabah and Sarawak

Foreign Policy

PEOPLE’S CONSENSUS

Pakatan Rakyat hereby put forward a policy agenda to lead the people and this nation out of the current worsening crisis.

The people’s development agenda has been derailed due to a narrow understanding of race, divisive hate politics and authoritarianism. The recessive economy caused by the loss of moral conscience, the greed of corruption and archaic policies are causing Malaysia to be left behind compared to other vibrant economies in the region.

The unjust economy is all the more apparent in the widening gap between the rich and the poor, between the urban and the rural population, and between the Peninsular and Sabah and Sarawak.

The rising crime rate threatens lives and property because the police force has been used for narrow political ends. The integrity and independence of the judiciary continues to be damaged by political interference and business interests.

After half a century of sovereign independence, Malaysia should have matured. This should have been realised when the people from various races, breaking down narrow and obsolete mindset, and manifest a new spirit to reject the perversion of power, the spread of corruption, the plunder of the nation’s wealth and the repression of the people’s rights.

In appreciating the people’s aspirations, Pakatan Rakyat therefore declares our commitment to fully internalise and carry out an agenda of new politics by mobilizing the people’s power from the various races, religions and cultures as one force.

Further, we have confidence; we can change our policy framework from narrow racial approach to  principles based on religious faiths, humanism, ethical and human rights, and equality before the law regardless of status, race or group. The policies that are derived from adherence to the Constitution and universal principles of justice will safeguard the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary, which in turn will guarantee that the human rights and dignity of the people will continuously be defended and upheld.

Pakatan Rakyat is confident that the Malaysian economy can be driven at a faster pace through a market based economy that is humane, leading towards a more holistic human development. Economic policies should make Malaysia competitive, maintain a healthy investment climate, implement progressive taxation, but firm in its desire to realise justice through the equitable economic distribution especially for the poor and marginalised.

Pakatan Rakyat rejects policies that allow for corruption and other financial crimes and abuse of power. In order to ensure sustainable growth, oppressive policies that had only enriched the few should be replaced with a policy that ensures that the poor are assisted regardless of race.

As such, we invite the Malaysian people to create a new consensus that is founded on principles of justice for all and Constitutionalism. This is the agenda that must be done if we are to regain the nation’s respect, freedom and dignity. Only by providing justice for all can the people live prosperously and in unity.

Transparent and Genuine Democracy

Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law

The Federal Constitution is the manifestation of the aspirations and hopes of the  independent Malaysian people. Within it, the fundamental rights of every citizen including rights to religion, language, citizenship and culture are fully guaranteed. Therefore, Pakatan Rakyat commits to uphold the spirit and provisions of the Federal Constitution.

Pakatan Rakyat will:

Defend the Federal Constitution, Islam as the religion of the Federation while other religions can be practiced peacefully anywhere in the country and protecting the special position of the Malays and the indigenous peoples anywhere including Sabah and Sarawak, and the legitimate interests of other races in accordance to Article 153.

Defend the role and responsibility of the institution of Constitutional Monarchy.

Uphold the use of Bahasa Melayu in accordance to Article 152 of the Constitution and promote Bahasa Melayu as the regional lingua franca, while protecting and strengthening the use of mother tongue languages for all races.

Abolish the Internal Security Act and other laws that allow for detention without trial while simultaneously propose that all existing emergency declarations are rescinded.

Abolish or amend all other oppressive laws and regulations that are repressive and contravene fundamental rights.

Guarantee the spirit of Federalism and a just relationship between the Federation and states especially Sabah and Sarawak.

Separation of Powers

The effectiveness of the democratic system is dependent on the proper implementation of separation of powers. The integrity of a government is dependent on the independence, credibility and legitimacy of its institutions that have been entrusted to ensure checks and balances between the branches of the executive, judicial and legislative.

Pakatan Rakyat will:

Restore the integrity of the judicial system and guarantee transparency and full independence of the Judicial Appointment Commission.

Restructure the workings in Parliament to make it more transparent, democratic and able to perform its role to check and balance.

Guarantee the direct accountability to Parliament of bodies such as the Election Commission, Anti-Corruption Commission, Human Rights Commission, Petronas, Khazanah and others.

Ensure that the appointment of positions such as the Inspector General of Police, the Attorney General, the Anti-Corruption Commissioner and the Auditor General requires the approval of Parliament.

Create a National Ombudsman Department.

Strengthen local government democracy and democratically enhance the competency and effectiveness of the delivery system and guarantee transparency at all levels.

Free all media, amend the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, enact a Freedom of Information Act and ensure Internet freedom.

Enhance the performance of public service sector and ensure the welfare of its members. Ensure that the institution remains independent and able to perform its responsibilities competently.

Empower and enhance civil society. Increase the participation of people through dialogues and consultations.

A Clean, Free and Fair Electoral System

The tarnished electoral system must be restored of its integrity. The sovereign power of the people to choose the country’s leadership must be defended from any defects that allows for manipulation. Therefore it is important for us to review all the relevant electoral laws.

Pakatan Rakyat will:

Enable all citizens age 18 and above to vote via automatic registration.

Eliminate all weaknesses in the electoral system by cleaning the electoral roll; abolish postal votes for voters within the country, ensure all citizens outside the country can vote; and introduce the use of indelible ink.

Ensure the media provides political parties fair and just space, reasonable campaign period and a clean and free election process.

Re-delineate constituencies to mirror the principle of One Citizen, One Vote in order to guarantee a more fair and just representation.

Grant political parties campaign expenditures based on the percentages of votes in general elections.

Enact more effective laws to punish candidates or political parties that are involved in corruption or vote-buying practices.

Driving a High Performance, Sustainable and Equitable Economy

Pakatan Rakyat is determined to create a national economy with high performance and sustainable growth. To ensure national competitiveness, it is critical that effective distribution of national resources and wealth in key and strategic fields or sectors of the economy.

Stimulating local investment and generating strong domestic demand as well as attracting continuous foreign direct investments will foster an economy that is progressive and resilient.

Pakatan Rakyat is committed to create a ‘People’s Economy’ to ensure prosperity and wealth generated will be reaped by people of all classes. Whilst reducing the gap between rich and poor, as well as overcoming the disparity of development between regions, as a consequence of mismanagement that failed to prioritise the interests of the majority.

High-Performance Economy

The basis of a high-performance economy is a workforce that is knowledge-based, competent and highly-skilled. Pakatan Rakyat will provide all necessary investment to produce a high-productivity workforce in order to boost high-added value in national economic activities.

Pakatan Rakyat will:

Guarantee opportunities of higher education and training based on competency are provided in all service, manufacturing and agricultural sectors.

Ensure every worker who wants to improve his or her skills is given an opportunity to obtain continuous training to enhance productivity.

Encourage citizens who are professionals and skilled living overseas to return home by creating a professional and attractive work environment.

Democratic and Transparent Economy

Pakatan Rakyat is committed to implement policies to ensure management of the economy is free from corruption, abuse of power and cronyism in order to enhance accountability, transparency and good governance.

Corrupt practices and abuse of power has dissipated national wealth and prevented  sustainable economic growth and weakened national competitiveness.

Pakatan Rakyat will:

Reform the tender system so that it becomes open, fair, transparent, and gives the best value for the people’s money.

Reject privatisation which burdens the people. Re-negotiate unfair concessions and contracts that profitted cronies, including IPPs, highway tolls  and water infrastructure.

Implement a progressive taxation system and reject any taxes that burden the people. This includes putting a stop to the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) until the people and the country are ready for it.

Decentralisation and the Empowerment of State Economic Management

In keeping with the spirit of federalism to improve the government’s delivery system, effectiveness and efficient expenditure, the implementation of extensive development and economic policies will be needed to be devolved to the state governments according to respective priorities.

Decentralisation can motivate structural change in the economic framework to boost efficiency and productivity due to greater effectiveness in expenditure, besides higher multiplier effects for government expenditure in the national economy.

Pakatan Rakyat will:

Implement grants for development and equalisation based on a formula of total population, poverty rate, development area, cost, human development and gross revenue per capita indices that will ensure that the poorer states are not left behind.

Redistribute economic and administrative power and the implementation of infrastructure works to the state governments, for example an equitable negotiation rights in ascertaining public transportation design and network.

Generate a more balanced geographical development, thereby creating productive secondary cities nationwide in order to reduce development centralisation in the Klang Valley.

Prioritising policies that generate high and long term growth, based on an economic understanding where the state governments are in a better position to determine and implement socio-economic strategies.

Affirmative Action Policies Based on Need

Pakatan Rakyat recognises that all Malaysians are entitled to assistance based on need regardless of background. Pakatan Rakyat is determined to make the national economy people-centred, so that the national wealth can be enjoyed equitably by all.

Pakatan Rakyat will:

Ensure equitable economic assistance and distribution to all based on need.

Assist marginalised groups from all races.

Provide cash assistance directly to target groups to end hardcore poverty.

Provide education scholarships based on need and merit.

Ensure social mobility by guaranteeing more equitable and equal economic opportunity for all.

Use the savings from leakages and wastage and the fight against corruption as additional resources for programmes to eradicate poverty.

Labour

Labour is the foundation to the continuous prosperity of the nation. Pakatan Rakyat will guarantee that all Malaysian workers will be treated justly and further ensure their welfare and prosperity be preserved.

Pakatan Rakyat will:

Introduce minimum wage for all Malaysian workers.

Defend workers’ rights to form trade unions according to their needs and choice; and ensure that they are given the same rights and protection in accordance with international standards.

Introduce an Equal Opportunity Act to ensure that work opportunities are open to all.

Support entrepreneurs and businessmen of Small and Medium Enterprises by providing access to loans, adequate infrastructure and further reduce bureaucracy.

Facilitate assistance to fishermen and farmers to drive increased productivity.

Re-structure an integrated foreign workers policy and reduce national dependence on foreign labour.

Provide support system to groups involved in the informal economic sector such as small businesses, hawkers, farmers and those who are self employed.

Social Safety Net

All Malaysians are entitled to enjoy life with dignity at all times. Those who have lost their income, the elderly, the disabled and low-income groups must be protected and also given the opportunity to enjoy the economic benefits of development.

Pakatan Rakyat will:

Strengthen the Employees’ Provident Fund system and introduce a pension scheme for private sector employees.

Set up a National Retrenchment Fund to provide temporary financial support to those who have lost their jobs, subsidy for on-the-job training and retraining of workers

Extend the retirement age to 60 years in order to provide opportunities to those who wish to continue contributing to society.

Housing

Housing is a basic human need. In reality, a large number of Malaysians could not, without assistance, afford their own housing especially those from the lower and middle income.

Therefore Pakatan Rakyat will:

Set up a Perbadanan Perumahan with the mandate to increase the number of affordable housing and achieving the goal of One Family, One House.

Overcome the problems concerning ‘squatters / urban settlers’ as far as possible through in situ housing development and/or land sharing and through low interest loans to assist the squatters/urban settlers to purchase their own houses.

Coordinate a negotiation system between ‘squatters / urban settlers’, developers and the authorities to achieve a win-win solution for matters concerning housing and land;

Providing assistance to upgrade low-cost houses and Projek Perumahan Rakyat in order to meet the increased number of household occupants;

Invest in public amenities in the apartment surroundings to ensure a balanced and healthy environment.

Encourage transparency and competition in the financial sector in order to make housing loans more accessible and affordable.

Cooperate with state governments to safeguard housing policy and ensure that affordable housing is provided for those in need.

Infrastructure and Public Facilities

Providing and maintaining good public infrastructure is the government’s responsibility. The implementation should not burden the people or merely profit certain cronies. Good public infrastructure and facilities can increase the people’s disposable income and their productivity.

Pakatan Rakyat will:

Guarantee clean water and electricity at reasonable rates to every family in Malaysia.

Review and re-negotiate all highway toll agreements and study the possibility of purchasing back the PLUS highway with the objective to eliminate tolls in 7 years.

Improve the efficiency of the public transport system through the establishment of the Commission of Public Transport which comprises of government and community representatives.

Introduce a half fare scheme for elderly citizens, the disabled, students and retirees for all types of public transport.

Re-assess the granting of taxi permit to large companies and prioritise individual entrepreneurs and their associations.

Provide efficient broadband internet service for free in order to reduce the digital divide.

Environment

Our environment is a national treasure that must be preserved for the sustainability of the future generations. Facing crisis of climate change, Pakatan Rakyat resolves to:

Entrench the practice of recycling as part of our culture by providing the necessary infrastructure and a comprehensive system.

Ensure all logging activities and deforestation are carried out in a controlled and sustainable manner.

Build the foundation and technological expertise to enable a smooth transition to the use of alternative energy resources.

Restrict the development at hill slopes and hazardous areas.

Reduce carbon emission rate to conform with international standards and increase the ability of the ecological system to absorb carbon.

Sustainable Growth and Green Development

Pakatan Rakyat is determined to make the green economy as the core of a new era of equitable  and sustainable prosperity for Malaysia. The provision of infrastructure and development of new industries in line with the transition to a green economy will become an engine for dynamic economic growth.

Pakatan Rakyat will:

Introduce modern, comprehensive  and appropriate infrastructure for a low carbon economy, including a world-class, integrated public transport system and a comprehensive recycling programme.

Develop industries based on green technology such as manufacturing solar panels and hydrogen cell fuels.

Lead the development of alternative energy systems and renewable energy in the Asian region.

Strengthen the agriculture sector with the latest methods and technology to ensure that the national food supply is secured.

Social Justice and Human Development

Unity and Social Justice

Pakatan Rakyat resolves to foster understanding and unity among the people based on the principle of preserving our common interests. National unity must reflect a genuine solidarity, understanding and togetherness between the races, cultures and religions. Pakatan Rakyat promises to rebuild a united multiracial society, where different races can live in peace and harmony.

Pakatan Rakyat will:

Focus on efforts to mend the deteriorated relationships between the races and religions.

Consolidate the efforts of all stakeholders in order to restore the good will, mutual respect and trust which have long been practiced by the multi-racial and multi-religious people of Malaysia.

Enact a Race Relations Act to safeguard unity and harmony of the people and to eliminate discrimination between the races.

Generate support from every level of the society so that it can hold fast to all the principles and norms that should be upheld by an open society.

Strive to eliminate the practice of racial politics through various means including education, mass media, dialogues and consultations.

Cultivate a Malaysian culture based on moral values and excellence that is accepted by all races. This will require an open attitude towards cultural diversity that is practiced by the various races and ethnic groups in Malaysia. Pakatan Rakyat will do this whilst taking consideration the country’s history and evolution.

Improve the welfare of Orang Asli, Orang Asal and other minority groups in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak besides defending their fundamental,  economic and social rights.

Religion

Religion and other beliefs practiced by Malaysians should form the basis of unity that is founded on good universal values. Malaysians have almost fallen into the boiling pot of discord and tension that was caused by manipulation of religious differences. This should not happen in a genuinely democratic Malaysia, with Islam occupying a special position whilst the rights of other religions are guaranteed.

Pakatan Rakyat vows to:

Defend the position of Islam as the religion of the Federation and guarantee freedom of religion for every Malaysian.

Organise dialogues and consultations between cultures and religion in order to strengthen the understanding between them.

Set up a comprehensive mechanism to provide just resolution to cases which involve the overlap of civil and Syariah laws, including a Royal Commission to deeply study all the relevant issues.

Strengthen the management of Islamic institutions such as Baitul Mal and Tabung Haji to ensure that they are administered effectively and efficiently to achieve their objectives.

Ensure suitable areas for places of worship and burial grounds for all religions.

Education

Education should be aimed at creating a person who is balanced spiritually, physically and intellectually. Through the national education system, Pakatan Rakyat resolves to provide a system of education that is competent, high quality and guarantees equal opportunity to the people.

Pakatan Rakyat will:

Make the national school system as the foundation of the nation’s education system. Ensure the equitable support and funding to religious schools, Chinese and Tamil national schools, mission schools and vocational schools in a concerted effort to increase the standard of national education.

Balance the emphasis from an examination-oriented system to a learning system based on critical and analytical thinking in search for the truth.

Ensure that every eligible student will have an opportunity to be placed in public institutions of higher learning regardless of their backgrounds.

Amend the University and University Colleges Act 1974 in order to create a conducive climate that guarantees academic freedom and university autonomy which increases the quality of education comparable with developed countries.

Ensure the appointment of vice chancellors, rectors, and other high ranking academic officials are based on qualification and approval of the Senate Council.

Improve the quality and facilities of disadvantaged schools in the interior parts of Sabah and Sarawak;

Increase the quality of teachers’ education at every school level and increase the number of trained teachers based on demand.

Provide a high level of training opportunities for teachers and lecturers so that their knowledge and professional expertise are up to date.

Re-examine the teachers’ service scheme and increase incentives for those who teach in the rural areas.

Provide scholarships based on merit and other financial aid based on need with priority given to poor students from the rural and interior areas.

Emphasise the importance of students mastering various languages including English, Arabic and Mandarin as leading languages in the world and also other mother tongues.

Provide places and training for those who drop out of school.

Widen the scope of the National Accreditation Board to monitor and propose the recognition of certificates, diplomas and degrees both local and international which fulfill the acceptable academic standards including the UEC certificate and Diploma Muadalah (twinning).

Women

Pakatan Rakyat believes that policies which reflect respect, recognition and understanding of the status of women and their potential can ensure the future wellbeing of the nation. This comes from the fact that women constitute half of the national population; hence their participation in the national development process must not be neglected.

Pakatan Rakyat will:

Enact an Act to ensure women obtain just treatment in all fields.

Emphasise to increase the Women Workforce to 60% within 10 years compared to 46% in the past 20 years.

Provide 30% women representation in all political and government leadership levels.

Combat domestic violence by institutionalising heavier punishment for offenders and ensure the effectiveness of crisis centres in every hospital and police station.

Ensure the creation of support systems and assistance such as childcare centres and others for mothers working in the government and private sectors.

Provide aid to ease the family burden of poor and needy single mothers.

Take into account gender perspective when drafting the national budget and policies.

Introduce gender sensitisation programmes into the school curriculum.

Recognise the role of homemakers in strengthening the family institution and their contribution to national and community development.

Youth

The future and prosperity of a nation rests on their youths as the succeeding generation. Hence, it is important that youths are given adequate space and support so that they can fulfill their roles in the future.

Pakatan Rakyat will:

Ensure opportunity, equality and fairness for youths from all communities to realise their self potential.

Ensure that no youth will end his education without the opportunity to obtain adequate vocational qualification or training to contribute towards a high-skilled national economy.

Recognise the important role and contribution of youths through the frank dialogues with youth movements, especially on important issues concerning their lives and the national future.

Security

There is an increase of crime and sense of insecurity in the country when Malaysians should be entitled to feel safe and free from constant criminal threats. Pakatan Rakyat is determined that the police is better managed, trained and supervised in order to make them more focused on their primary responsibility to ensure that every area and all Malaysians are secure and safe.

Pakatan Rakyat will:

Make the police independent and professional and revert to their original mission of crime prevention and ensuring public safety.

Review the deployment of the police personnel so that there is adequate workforce assigned to combat crime.

Provide the police with the latest equipment and training in the effort to combat crime.

Implement all recommendations of the Royal Commission to Enhance the Operation and Management of the Police, including IPCMC and the improvement of the welfare of police personnel who have contributed to the country.

Improve the working conditions of the police force especially at the lower levels in order to improve performance and morale.

Strengthen the role of communities in combating and preventing crime through community programmes.

Handle strategically and effectively the social problems that are the root cause of crime.

Healthcare

Every Malaysian is entitled to enjoy the best public healthcare at an affordable cost. Therefore, public healthcare services should be strengthened, thereby ensuring good healthcare for the people.

Pakatan Rakyat will:

Establish a National Healthcare Commission with the aim of improving the quality of public sector healthcare to a standard comparable with private sector healthcare.

Ensure a public healthcare service that is efficient, extensive and of high quality to all Malaysians, at an affordable rate.

Increase incentive schemes for medical staff at public hospitals.

Monitor stringently all healthcare fascilities that have been privatised to protect the public interest.

Culture

Diversity is a fact of the national socio-culture, an expression of the plurality of our society comprised of major ethnic groups, clans and territories.

As such Pakatan Rakyat takes the responsibility of cultivating and enhancing the potential of this diversity whilst rejecting any form of hegemony of one culture in preference to other cultures. This approach is in line with the original spirit of Merdeka and needs to be expanded into a New Cultural Consensus (Muafakat Kebudayaan Baru), moving on from the National Cultural Policy of 1971.

The three main challenges are:

Ensure the freedom of expression and artistic creation through all media.

The right to conduct performance or art-cultural shows without restrictions – with the realisation that each artist has responsibility to himself/herself and society.

The ties with our traditional cultural roots should be strengthened whilst remaining open to accept elements of other cultures from any race, continent and belief that display universal traits.

Federal-State Relationship and Foreign Policy

The Federal System

The rights of states to make decisions according to their own requirement on development strategy must be respected. The foundation of this right is an adequate financial allocation to states that is based on their contribution to the Federation and the people’s needs.

Pakatan Rakyat will:

Guarantee to the state governments, a royalty of 20% from petroleum income with an aim to eradicate poverty.

Return part of  the tax collection from each state based on an equitable distribution.

Increase the capitation grants for states.

Sabah and Sarawak

The spirit of the Malaysia Agreement 1963 will form the foundation for a just relationship between the Federation and Sabah & Sarawak. By restoring the balance of power that has been concentrated with the central government, Pakatan Rakyat promises to make a fair and open assessment of the principal issues that are preventing political and socio-economic progress in both states in East Malaysia.

Pakatan Rakyat will:

Guarantee Sabah and Sarawak’s wealth are enjoyed fully by their people by the provision of 20% royalty from their petroleum income.

Set up a Royal Commission to find the best resolution of the immigrant issue.

Guarantee the Native Customary Land Rights are not violated by any party.

Stop immediately the oppression against those living in the interior areas caused by unethical economic activities.

Foreign Policy

Malaysia’s leadership among nation-states of the world must be enhanced. It is our aim frame a foreign policy based on the universal principles of justice, resolution through negotiations and inter-civilisational dialogues for security, peace and prosperity.

Pakatan Rakyat will:

Protect national interests by becoming a responsible member of the world by respecting fundamental rights, democratic principles and upholding understandings, agreements, declarations and international law, in line with principles of justice.

Active in leading inter-civilisational dialogues.

Strengthen diplomatic and international trade cooperation with regional partners especially ASEAN members.

Further strengthen Malaysia’s role in international organisations.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 19 December 2009, 9:24 pm and is filed under
Pakatan Rakyat
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Copenhagen Negotiators Bicker and Filibuster While the Biosphere Burns

George Monbiot despairs at the chaotic, disastrous denouement of a chaotic and disastrous climate summit

The Guardian/UK

Saturday, December 19, 2009

by George Monbiot

First they put the planet in square brackets, now they have deleted it from the text. At the end it was no longer about saving the biosphere: it was just a matter of saving face. As the talks melted down, everything that might have made a new treaty worthwhile was scratched out. Any deal would do, as long as the negotiators could pretend they have achieved something. A clearer and less destructive treaty than the text that emerged would be a sheaf of blank paper, which every negotiating party solemnly sits down to sign.

This was the chaotic, disastrous denouement of a chaotic and disastrous summit. The event has been attended by historic levels of incompetence. Delegates arriving from the tropics spent 10 hours queueing in sub-zero temperatures without shelter, food or drink, let alone any explanation or announcement, before being turned away. Some people fainted from exposure; it’s surprising that no one died. The process of negotiation was just as obtuse: there was no evidence here of the innovative methods of dispute resolution developed recently by mediators and coaches, just the same old pig-headed wrestling.

Watching this stupid summit via webcam (I wasn’t allowed in either), it struck me that the treaty-making system has scarcely changed in 130 years. There’s a wider range of faces, fewer handlebar moustaches, frock coats or pickelhaubes, but otherwise, when the world’s governments try to decide how to carve up the atmosphere, they might have been attending the conference of Berlin in 1884. It’s as if democratisation and the flowering of civil society, advocacy and self-determination had never happened. Governments, whether elected or not, without reference to their own citizens let alone those of other nations, assert their right to draw lines across the global commons and decide who gets what. This is a scramble for the atmosphere comparable in style and intent to the scramble for Africa.

At no point has the injustice at the heart of multilateralism been addressed or even acknowledged: the interests of states and the interests of the world’s people are not the same. Often they are diametrically opposed. In this case, most rich and rapidly developing states have sought through these talks to seize as great a chunk of the atmosphere for themselves as they can – to grab bigger rights to pollute than their competitors. The process couldn’t have been better designed to produce the wrong results.

I spent most of my time at the Klimaforum, the alternative conference set up by just four paid staff, which 50,000 people attended without a hitch. (I know which team I would put in charge of saving the planet.) There the barrister Polly Higgins laid out a different approach. Her declaration of planetary rights invests ecosystems with similar legal safeguards to those won by humans after the second world war. It changes the legal relationship between humans, the atmosphere and the biosphere from ownership to stewardship. It creates a global framework for negotiation which gives nation states less discretion to dispose of ecosystems and the people who depend on them.

Even before the farce in Copenhagen began it was looking like it might be too late to prevent two or more degrees of global warming. The nation states, pursuing their own interests, have each been passing the parcel of responsibility since they decided to take action in 1992. We have now lost 17 precious years, possibly the only years in which climate breakdown could have been prevented. This has not happened by accident: it is the result of a systematic campaign of sabotage by certain states, driven and promoted by the energy industries. This idiocy has been aided and abetted by the nations characterised, until now, as the good guys: those that have made firm commitments, only to invalidate them with loopholes, false accounting and outsourcing. In all cases immediate self-interest has trumped the long-term welfare of humankind. Corporate profits and political expediency have proved more urgent considerations than either the natural world or human civilisation. Our political systems are incapable of discharging the main function of government: to protect us from each other.

Goodbye Africa, goodbye south Asia; goodbye glaciers and sea ice, coral reefs and rainforest. It was nice knowing you. Not that we really cared. The governments which moved so swiftly to save the banks have bickered and filibustered while the biosphere burns.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 20 December 2009, 8:42 pm and is filed under
environment
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


The Truths Copenhagen Ignored

by Johann Hari

The Independent/UK
December 19, 2009

So that’s it. The world’s worst polluters – the people who are drastically altering the climate – gathered here in Copenhagen to announce they were going to carry on cooking, in defiance of all the scientific warnings.

They didn’t seal the deal; they sealed the coffin for the world’s low-lying islands, its glaciers, its North Pole, and millions of lives.

Those of us who watched this conference with open eyes aren’t surprised. Every day, practical, intelligent solutions that would cut our emissions of warming gases have been offered by scientists, developing countries and protesters – and they have been systematically vetoed by the governments of North America and Europe.

It’s worth recounting a few of the ideas that were summarily dismissed – because when the world finally resolves to find a real solution, we will have to revive them.

Discarded Idea One: The International Environmental Court. Any cuts that leaders claim they would like as a result of Copenhagen will be purely voluntary. If a government decides not to follow them, nothing will happen, except a mild blush, and disastrous warming. Canada signed up to cut its emissions at Kyoto, and then increased them by 26 per cent – and there were no consequences. Copenhagen could unleash a hundred Canadas.

The brave, articulate Bolivian delegates – who have seen their glaciers melt at a terrifying pace – objected. They said if countries are serious about reducing emissions, their cuts need to be policed by an International Environmental Court that has the power to punish people. This is hardly impractical. When our leaders and their corporate lobbies really care about an issue – say, on trade – they pool their sovereignty this way in a second. The World Trade Organisation fines and sanctions nations severely if (say) they don’t follow strict copyright laws. Is a safe climate less important than a trademark?

Discarded Idea Two: Leave the fossil fuels in the ground. At meetings here, an extraordinary piece of hypocrisy has been pointed out by the new international chair of Friends of the Earth, Nnimmo Bassey, and the environmental writer George Monbiot. The governments of the world say they want drastically to cut their use of fossil fuels, yet at the same time they are enthusiastically digging up any fossil fuels they can find, and hunting for more. They are holding a fire extinguisher in one hand and a flame-thrower in the other.

Only one of these instincts can prevail. A study published earlier this year in the journal Nature showed that we can use only – at an absolute maximum – 60 per cent of all the oil, coal and gas we have already discovered if we are going to stay the right side of catastrophic runaway warming. So the first step in any rational climate deal would be an immediate moratorium on searching for more fossil fuels, and fair plans for how to decide which of the existing stock we will leave unused. As Bassey put it: “Keep the coal in the hole. Keep the oil in the soil. Keep the tar sand in the land.” This option wasn’t even discussed by our leaders.

Discarded Idea Three: Climate debt. The rich world has been responsible for 70 per cent of the warming gases in the atmosphere – yet 70 per cent of the effects are being felt in the developing world. Holland can build vast dykes to prevent its land flooding; Bangladesh can only drown. There is a cruel inverse relationship between cause and effect: the polluter doesn’t pay.

So we have racked up a climate debt. We broke it; they paid. At this summit, for the first time, the poor countries rose in disgust. Their chief negotiator pointed out that the compensation offered “won’t even pay for the coffins”. The cliché that environmentalism is a rich person’s ideology just gasped its final CO2-rich breath. As Naomi Klein put it: “At this summit, the pole of environmentalism has moved south.”

When we are dividing up who has the right to emit the few remaining warming gases that the atmosphere can absorb, we need to realise that we are badly overdrawn. We have used up our share of warming gases, and then some. Yet the US and EU have dismissed the idea of climate debt out of hand. How can we get a lasting deal that every country agrees to if we ignore this basic principle of justice? Why should the poorest restrain themselves when the rich refuse to?

A deal based on these real ideas would actually cool the atmosphere. The alternatives championed at Copenhagen by the rich world – carbon offsetting, carbon trading, carbon capture – won’t. They are a global placebo. The critics who say the real solutions are “unrealistic” don’t seem to realise that their alternative is more implausible still: civilisation continuing merrily on a planet whose natural processes are rapidly breaking down.

Throughout the negotiations here, the world’s low-lying island states have clung to the real ideas as a life raft, because they are the only way to save their countries from a swelling sea. It has been extraordinary to watch their representatives – quiet, sombre people with sad eyes – as they were forced to plead for their own existence. They tried persuasion and hard science and lyrical hymns of love for their lands, and all were ignored.

These discarded ideas – and dozens more like them – show once again that man-made global warming can be stopped. The intellectual blueprints exist just as surely as the technological blueprints. There would be sacrifices, yes – but they are considerably less than the sacrifices made by our grandparents in their greatest fight.

We will have to pay higher taxes and fly less to make the leap to a renewably powered world – but we will still be able to live an abundant life where we are warm and free and well fed. The only real losers will be the fossil fuel corporations and the petro-dictatorships.

But our politicians have not chosen this sane path. No: they have chosen inertia and low taxes and oil money today over survival tomorrow. The true face of our current system – and of Copenhagen – can be seen in the life-saving ideas it has so casually tossed into the bin.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 20 December 2009, 8:31 pm and is filed under
environment
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


From Copenhagen to Sabah: 1Earth, 1Climate Change; 1Najib?

By
Saves DK

From Copenhagen to Sabah – Does the threat of Climate Change ‘change’ according to Time Zones?

Dear Prime Minister Najib Razak,

Once again, we welcome your serious and determined efforts to reduce carbon emission to help halt global warming in the interests of our future generations.

Surely, the first important step to CUTTING (rather than increasing) carbon emission is to
cancel the proposed coal power plant
 to be built in Felda Sahabat, Lahad Datu, which is very close to the various pristine, precious natural paradise of Darvel Bay, Coral Triangle Initiative, Tabin Wildlife Conservation area and so on, which make the East Coast of Sabah one of the remaining natural treasures of the world.

You have asked for our views “on what more we can do to ensure a greener Malaysia, so that we can learn from each other.” Great! Here are some. We do not dream that you would actually ‘learn’ from humble Sabahans like us, but we would be very grateful already if you could at least be consistent in your position on climate change and coal.

You have asked Sabah to accept the “dirty, environmentally not friendly” coal power plant even though:

Sabah does NOT produce coal, and all the coal used for the proposed power plant would have to be IMPORTED all the way from Indonesia.

We can understand why countries like China and USA use coal — because coal is produced locally in these countries; but we are puzzled by why we are forced to import toxic trash like coal when we don’t need it nor want it here in Sabah!

Sabah has ALTERNATIVES to generate electricity without resorting to dirty coal.

As a major palm oil producer, we — especially in the East Coast of Sabah — have plenty of empty fruit bunches left over everyday, a natural waste product of cultivating palm oil, which could be easily used for generating bio-mass power. All it takes is for your government to take steps to tap into this abundantly and easily available resource of Sabah. Yet, it does not seem that your government is serious about taking any other initiative which would save Sabah from coal.

Or, we could either use the natural gas produced in Kimanis, Sabah itself or — if your government insists on depriving Sabahans of their own natural resources by exporting it all the way to Sarawak — then at least exchange the export of our natural gas to Sarawak with hydro-electricity power from Bakun Dam, Sarawak, which your government now plans to export all the way — across the mountains, forests and even ocean — to West Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. Anywhere but Sabah, even though it is feasible to supply to the East Coast of Sabah.

Basically, your government has:

forced us to give up our own natural gas from Kimanis, Sabah,

refused to at least give us clean hydro-power from Bakun, Sarawak in exchange,

exporting Bakun hydro-power to everywhere EXCEPT Sabah, and then

forced us in Sabah to IMPORT DIRTY COAL from Indonesia!!

Why is it that when it comes to DIVERTING clean energy sources AWAY FROM Sabah, your government is willing to leave no stone unturned regardless of how difficult it may be, but when it comes to POLLUTING Sabah with dirty, environmentally unfriendly coal, your government is determined to force it down our throats and even ask us to sacrifice?

This basically sums up Sabahans’ bewilderment with your decision to force us to accept coal:

“The bottom line is Sabah has alternatives to having a coal-fired power plant and the technology is available now, what we seem to have is a lack of will from certain parties who say that there is no alternative but this is not true, we have alternatives. Imagine what a great model for the world Sabah will be with this!”

Whether the proposed coal power plant passes the so-called “Environmental Impact Assessment” and whether there really is such a thing as “clean coal technology” are completely beside the point — because Sabah DOES NOT NEED COAL IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Therefore, we are still very puzzled by why you must FORCE us to accept coal, given your own apparently strong stand on climate change and dislike of coal whenever you spoke OUTSIDE of Sabah.

In Paris, when addressing the Unesco General Conference on 6 October 2009, you have said:

“…The forthcoming summit in Copenhagen must reflect a strong commitment and action to reverse serious deterioration of planet earth.

The tragedies in the region such as the earthquake in Padang, Indonesia, hurricanes in the Philippines, tsunami in Samoa and major floods in southern India “should remind us of how fragile the world we live in is, and how interdependent our world has become“.

Najib said that although the task of the policymakers and leaders in ensuring that these challenges were met was not easy, they could not afford the price of inaction.

“We need to do what is right even if it is hard. These are the challenges of our times. It can neither be left unmet nor unresolved.

“They must be addressed head on by the world community with a concerted will and common purpose drawing upon our reservoir of good will and collective experience.””

But how can there be “the next logical extension of the national philosophy would be the concept of 1Region and ultimately 1World” when you can’t even have a 1Coal Policy? (Or is this ‘anomaly’ only peculiar to Sabah — the only Malaysian State where ALL EXCEPTIONS APPLY?)

In Kuala Lumpur, on 31 October 2009, in your keynote address at Malaysia’s electricity utility monopoly (the parent company of those who are hell-bent on setting up the coal power plant in Sabah), Tenaga Nasional Berhad’s 60th anniversary celebration, you said:

“…The government needs to revise its energy policy, ..the current one [is] obsolete and in need of a revamp… was proven to be costly, both environmentally and financially.

“I don’t like the current energy policy. It’s not right,” he told some 1,500 TNB workers attending the event.

“…coal is what we call DIRTY technology, it’s NOT environmentally friendly,”

As revealed in Najib’s maiden Budget recently, the prime minister told the media that his administration had started studying sectors like renewable energy and green technology to replace the current policy.

“It’s not a short-term solution, it’s a long one but we need to make the first step,” he said.”

Surely, the ‘first step’ is NOT to build more coal power plant, certainly not in the State of Sabah which is heavily dependent on its natural treasures for its tourism business.

On your blog on 21 November 2009, you have said:

“With nations recently meeting to discuss a climate change treaty, ahead of the Copenhagen summit in December, I’m reminded that the environment is everyone’s responsibility, and that we must all change our mindset to give it greater consideration. We should do this especially as we are custodians for future generations.

New Malaysian initiatives unveiled recently leave me feeling ever optimistic that we are doing more to preserve what we have, in order that our children and their children may enjoy our unique, natural wonders for years to come.“

And on your blog on 14 December 2009, you then said:

“Climate change is probably the most critical issue facing mankind today. To underscore our concern and our commitment towards saving Planet Earth, I will attend the forthcoming UN Climate Change Summit. I will present Malaysia’s own position, and participate working to achieve a global consensus so that collectively, nations around the world will make a positive contribution towards reducing carbon emission and in turn save Planet Earth.”

And we believe you are rubbing shoulders with world leaders in Copenhagen this week, you would continue to maintain the image that your administration is serious about reversing climate change.

Yet, very disappointingly, when you came to Sabah on 8 November 2009, all your determination to fight global warming and reduce CO2 emission completely went out of the window and you have forced us ‘SACRIFICE’  UNNECESSARILY (including our natural gas from Kimanis) and to accept DIRTY coal:

“We have to accept what is good and we have to be realistic. If we understand and are willing to sacrifice we will achieve higher level of development for Sabah,”

Even though you yourself had said earlier that coal is NOT ‘GOOD’ — it’s DIRTY, and ENVIRONMENTALLY UNFRIENDLY?

Does it mean that all the “decisive actions” and “uneasy tasks” necessary to tackle climate change could be ignored in the name of “achieving higher level of development”? Is your ‘conviction’ on tackling climate change so feeble, after all? If so, why do you think in Copenhagen, the developing world should agree to the reduction of carbon emission and to sacrifice their goal of “achieving higher level of development”?

Indeed, you have forced us to accept dirty coal despite our State leadership’s collective strong stance in REJECTING this coal power plant earlier in April 2008:

“After weighing the pros and cons, the [State] Cabinet decided to SCRAP the proposed project, because we DO NOT WANT TO RISK the WELFARE AND HEALTH of the communities in the area [in Lahad Datu] as well as any ADVERSE IMPACT on the environment… I know some say with today’s technology, the proposed plant is safe and clean BUT some EXPERTS also DISAGREE.”

Nonetheless, despite your unfair treatments towards Sabahans on this topic, we still wish you well in Copenhagen and hope that you would “clearly demonstrates the importance that Malaysian attaches to the issue of climate change”, and make all of us proud — not just those in Copenhagen, but also those of us in Lahad Datu, Sandakan, Tawau, and Sabah as a whole:

– By being CONSISTENT, and having 1 Climate Change/ Carbon Emission policy (and 1 only) for your government, which does not change according to time zones or audiences, including when it comes to Sabah.

Please, CANCEL the coal power plant in Sabah — this would be the best leadership example and gift you could give to Copenhagen, and the future generations of the world.

Malaysia PM to offer CO2 reductions in Copenhagen

Mon Dec 14, 2009 2:04pm GMT

By David Chance and Razak Ahmad

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s government will offer “credible” cuts in its emissions of carbon dioxide at the Copenhagen climate change summit in a bid to halt global warming, Prime Minister Najib Razak told Reuters on Sunday.

Najib will be among more than 110 world leaders who will meet in Copenhagen next week to attend a summit to try to clinch a deal on deeper emissions cuts by rich nations, steps by developing nations to cut their carbon pollution and finance to help the poor adapt to climate change.

“We are willing to offer our commitment, I am not just going to call on the developed world I am going to commit Malaysia and I am going to commit Malaysia to very credible cuts which means we have to spend, which we will do,” Najib said in the interview.

Najib said the cuts were still being worked on.

The United Nations has said a full, legal treaty to expand or replace the existing Kyoto Protocol is out of reach at the talks, after two years of troubled negotiations, and is likely to be agreed some time in 2010.

UN data shows Malaysia’s carbon emissions in 2006 stood at 187 million tones or 7.2 tonnes from each Malaysian.

Although that figure is far less than neighboring Indonesia, which is the world’s third largest emitter with 2.3 billion tonnes or 10 tonnes per capita, according to Indonesian government data, Najib said all nations must contribute.

“It has to be predicated on the fundamental principles of the Kyoto protocol and the UN Framework on Climate Convention,” he said.

“Amongst which the most important being the common but differentiated responsibilities that the developed world must deliver against larger cuts in terms of carbon emissions and that the developing world should be assisted particularly in terms of finanancial assistance, capacity buiding and technology.”

TIGHT BUDGETS MUST ACCOMODATE CLIMATE CHANGE

Najib said that despite the current economic turmoil, which has seen the United States and Europe plunge into huge budget deficits, the fight against climate change had to take priority.

The United Nations wants to raise $10 billion a year from 2010-12 in quick-start funds to help the poor cope with global warming and move away from fossil fuels. But few nations have offered quick-start cash.

In the longer term, the United Nations estimates the fight against global warming is likely to cost $300 billion a year from 2020, largely to help developing nations adapt to impacts such as droughts, floods and heat waves.

“If we really talking about it we must walk the talk (on funding). Otherwise we are just going to face a very uncertain future and the effects will be quite catastrophic,” Najib said.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 21 December 2009, 8:53 am and is filed under
environment
,
Letters
,
Najib Razak
,
Sabah
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Najib should set up Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate whether Mahathir had “wasted or burned up” RM100 billion on grandiose projects and corruption in his 22 years as Prime Minister

Why is the government of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, holding up for more than three weeks the release of 800 copies of a new biography of former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad by former Asian Wall Street Journal managing editor Barry Wain?

There can be no doubt that Mahathir and Najib would have already read the biography, “Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times”.

Is either of them objecting to the release of Wain’s biography of Mahathir and want it banned like Mahathir’s “Malay Dilemma” when it was first published in 1970?  This will be the irony of ironies.

Both should know that the year 2009, very soon to become 2010, in this Internet era and age of information and communications technology is very different from four decades ago in 1970 and  any ban or censorship of Wain’s new biography will make it even more popular among Malaysians.

What is Mahathir’s stand on whether Wain’s new biography on him should be released to the Malaysian public without any more obstacles from the authorities in Malaysia?

If Mahathir thinks that he has been defamed or maligned  by Wain in the new biography, he should avail himself of the legal process to clear his name and reputation and not to support any ban or censorship of the book.

What is of more pressing national interests and importance  is the serious allegation by Wain that Mahathir had wasted or burned up as much as RM100 billion in his 22 years as Prime Minister  on grandiose projects and corruption – working out to an average of some RM5 billion a year during the Mahathir premiership.

What Najib should do is to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate  whether  Mahathir had “wasted or burned up” RM100 billion on grandiose projects and corruption in his 22 years as Prime Minister, as this will also reflect on Najib’s commitment to frontline “combating corruption” as one of the seven  agenda-setting key performance indicators (KPIs) and National Key Results Area (NKRA) in his Government Transformation Programme (GTP).

Will there be any Cabinet Minister who dare to step forward to support such a Royal Commission of Inquiry?

Mahathir should declare whether he would co-operate with such a Royal Commission of Inquiry to prove that Wain is wrong in blaming him for the legacy of  “wasting or burning up” RM100 billion in his long tenure as the fourth Malaysian Prime Minister.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 21 December 2009, 1:04 pm and is filed under
Mahathir
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Pakatan Rakyat all set to do battle for Putrajaya

COMMENT

by
Thomas Lee

20 December 2009

The Pakatan Rakyat (PR), the still informal political coalition comprising the DAP, PKR and PAS, has taken the first big step to formalise its status to be a viable, vibrant and vigilant alternative to the current ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

The PR held its first national convention in Shah Alam on Saturday 19 December 2009, and made a public declaration that its set target for the next general election is nothing less than the takeover of Putrajaya.

One thousand five hundred delegates, comprising 500 grassroots leaders from all over the country representing each of the three component parties of the PR, enthusiastically heeded the clarion call to prepare for the electroral battle of Putrajaya, scheduled before early 2013 or perhaps even earlier.

In his keynote address at the convention, opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim put forward the ideal of a common brotherhood among all the peoples of the various races of the country and called upon all members of the PR component party members to embrace, enhance and extend the concept of the universal brotherhood of all people propagated by the Chinese sage Confucius.

Anwar declared that the PR is not just a political coalition but a revolutionary movement for reforming and regenerating the country and, as such, there is no place for thinking along narrow racial lines.

He urged all the various races of the country to abandon their racial and sub-ethnic mentality and unite for the common good of the country.

Anwar said that members of the PR coalition parties must get out of the cocoon of their narrow exclusive sectarianism and demonstrate fairness and justice to all the people.

He said the PR’s first fundamental task is to get rid of the narrow divisive sectarianism.

Anwar warned the PR leaders and members that their vision of capturing power will remain an illusion if they continue to promote and defend the unacceptable hostile sectarianism and neglect the principles of equality and fairness for all.

He said the inaugural PR convention is the first step of a long journey towards a new revitalised Malaysia, but many fundamental issues have to be addressed and resolved along the way.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng told the delegates that for the PR to stay strong to face the obstacles and challenges, the coalition must win the hearts and minds of the people.

Guan Eng said that despite the almost never-ending problems facing the PR, the coalition partners can still work together based on their common aims and understanding.

He said that the journey to Putrajaya may be littered with all sorts of obstacles but with determined spirit, unity of purpose, and harmonious relationship, co-operation and accommodation among the coalition partners, the PR will be able to achieve the goal of taking over the government of the country.

Certainly, the capture of Putrajaya is not an impossible dream, given the fact that the 13th general election has demythologise the myth of the electoral invincibility of the BN, particularly its major partner Umno.

The conceited cocky confidence of Umno leaders that the Malay voters, especially those in the rural areas, are always with them has been severely inflicted with a resounding emphatic defeat in five states and the loss of its two-third majority in Parliament.

However, the March 2008 political tsunami was not an absolute reflection of the people’s full support for the PR. Many voters who previously voted for the BN were then very angry with the ruling coalition over many issues and so cast protest votes against it. Hence, it was reported that a survey of voters in September 2009 saw a slight swing of support back to the BN.

The impetus and momentum for change started on the Sunday morning of 9th March 2008 when Malaysians woke up to the dawn of a new epoch in the country when they found that the political equation has changed. At a forum on “The Selangor Agenda” soon after the general election, I had described 8th March 2008 as the day Malaysia was “born again”. And so it is.

After the PR takeover of several states and did reasonably well, especially in Penang and Selangor, and also gave sterling performance in Parliament, many people have been won over to the alternative coalition.

However, some silly PR elected representatives caused some concern when they tried to promote their personal ideologies and championed certain racial and religious causes.

There were also several disagreements among its coalition leaders, aired publicly.

Just recently, two PKR members of parliament, the controversial Bandar Baru Kulim MP Zulkifli Noordin and the no-nonsense Subang MP Sivarasa Rasiah, were involved in a public quarrel, and several of their colleagues, including maverick Wangsa Maju MP Wee Chu Keong, joined in the spat.

Such indisciplined, indiscriminate and indiscreet actions by the elected representatives and grassroots leaders are certainly uncalled for and unacceptable. Until such public relation catatrophes are arrested soon and fast, the PR image may be greatly harmed and hurt.

The perceived doubts and distrust among the PR leaders are causing people to wonder if its component parties are able to work well together.

The PR leaders must never forget the lesson the 1999 general election when a similar coalition of opposition parties called the Barisan Alternatif broke down later when the DAP pulled out over disagreement with the PAS Islamic state agenda.

Both the DAP and PKR are multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious inclusive parties for all races, working towards a democratic secular state.

PAS, on the other hand, is an exclusive party for Muslims with an exclusive agenda to turn Malaysia into an Islamic state.

Such idealogical differences are obviously incompatible with the general secular outlook of the DAP and PKR. Hence, people are wondering whether it is possible for PAS to practice the politics of accomodation and peaceful co-existence if it insists on promoting its theology and idealogy.

However, contrary to the popular general perception that PAS would never compromise on its theological and ethical idealogies and would dogmatically go all out to propagate its religious agenda and to assimilate others, the Islamic party has, during the March 2008 general election and since then, demonstrated its willingness and commitment to look at the bigger political picture of the country and join hands with the DAP and PKR to work for the removal of an oppressive, unjust and corrupt regime.

Although PAS is surely not going to abandon its Islamic state vision in the forseenable future, I believe that its current set of leaders are wise and practical enough to know and realise that the immediate and near-term objective is to work for a complete renewal and reform of the country’s governing culture. And that demands the joining of all forces in a united thrust to oust the Barisan Nasional government through the ballot box.

PAS has thus far demonstrated its willingness to give wholehearted support and co-operation in this political struggle, especially on civil and ethical issues relating to the matter of common interest among all people of various colour, creed, culture and class.

The PR coalition will be able to work honestly and harmoniosly if all three coalition partners focus on matters of significane and urgent common interests such as the promotion of a clean transparent and responsible national leadership whose hallmarks are clean corruption-free, cronyism-free, and nepotism-free administrations at all levels of government.

The three coalition parties must be willing to sacrifice certain pet strict-jacket idealism and focus on the long-term essential fundamentals before they can think about doing battle for Putrajaya.

I think the DAP and PKR should hold serious talks with PAS on how to accommodate its Islamic vision in the coalition agenda without impinging or encroaching on the fundamental human, civil  and constitutional rights of the people. There are many universal ethical values in Islam which are acceptable to peoples of other faiths which could be used wisely and delicately to imbricate relationship without the need to compromise doctrinal beliefs and theological convictions.

The PR needs to look at this sensitive issue carefully and honestly. It must remember that during the 8th March 2008 general election, many voters of all races overlooked the implication of PAS sticking firmly to its Islamic state agenda because of their explosive anger against many unjust, unkind and unethical issues that they blamed the BN for. Now that the dust of annoyance and hostility against the BN has settled down, particularly with the changing of guard at Putrajaya, many who have cast protest votes against the BN by voting PAS in March 2008 may review and revaluate their de facto support for PAS.

Meanwhile, it was reported that PAS president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang made a shocking comment after a special meeting with political bloggers on Sunday that apparently threw a spanner in work of the first PR national convention.

Hadi was quoted as saying that the PR should not be formally registered at the moment, although almost everyone at the convention and even the general public are expecting the coalition to be legally constituted as the initial step toward the march to Putrajaya.

If the purported Hadi comment is true, then it means that PAS has serious ideological differences with the other political partners in the PR.

Such a remark, coming just a day after the first PR national convention when a common policy framework was discussed and agreed upon, indicates that PAS is still undecided about formal participation in the secular democratic coalition.

However, I am happy to revise my earlier commentary after a top-level PR leader assured me and confirmed that Hadi has been misunderstood and misquoted. The PAS president is all set to endorse the official formation and registration of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

The DAP, PKR and PAS are now going ahead to institute the legal formation of the coalition which will offer the peoples of Malaysia a viable, vibrant and vigilant alternative.

(Thomas Lee, who retired as a deputy editor in The Star in June, has been a socoi-political analyst for nearly 35 years.)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 21 December 2009, 12:58 pm and is filed under
Pakatan Rakyat
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Enhancing The Role of Private Sector in Education – Part 4

By
M. Bakri Musa

[Fourth of Six Parts]

[In the first three parts I discussed the rationale and advantages of private sector participation in education, and reviewed the current experience in Malaysia.  In this fourth essay, I survey the experiences elsewhere for useful lessons that could be relevant To Malaysia.]

The Experiences Elsewhere

In formulating a policy that would envisage a greater role for the private sector, it is worthwhile to review the experiences elsewhere.

Private Schools

In America, everyone is entitled to free publicly-funded education from K-12 years. In fact schooling for this age group is compulsory. While the government is not directly involved in preschool there are many publicly-funded programs targeted for children of disadvantaged families.

Preschoolers excepted, most (over 85 percent) American children attend public schools where not only is the tuition free but so too the textbooks and transportation. There are also no examination fees.  Contrast that to Malaysia where while the tuition is free, there are considerable added burdens of the cost of books, uniforms, non-tuition fees, and transportation.

There is no pubic subsidy of private schools in America, as in many countries. Consequently these schools are only for the wealthy. However, many of these schools recognize their social responsibility and provide generous scholarships to promising students from poor families.  That is also a smart way to widen their talent pool as well as provide diversity to their student body.

To the north in Quebec, Canada, the state subsidizes private schools that meet its standards and prescription. Such subsidies reduce the tuition by as much as 30 percent. It is also an effective way for the state to exert influence over these private schools. It is not surprising that Quebec has a high percentage of its students attending private schools (17, as compared to 10 in America).

Chile has a novel system of vouchers.  With a voucher a student is free to attend any school, public or private, with the school collecting its revenue through the vouchers of the students it enrolls.  The salient point is that judgment on a school’s quality (and the decision to enroll) rests entirely with the consumer:  the student.  Unlike in Quebec, the government exerts no control over these schools.  It is sufficiently enlightened to recognize that the best judge of a school’s quality is not some central authority but its pupils and their parents.  The market will take care of the mediocre schools.

Central to this assumption is that the performances of these schools must be widely distributed so parents could make an informed decision.

Thailand has another approach towards private – specifically international – schools. Its leaders recognize that the national curriculum is hopelessly out of date but the teachers and administrators are incapable culturally, intellectually and politically of changing it as they have been brought up under the system.

Thus Thailand approaches the problem from a different angle. It opens up the system to international schools with their own sets of curriculum free from controls of the Ministry of Education (MOE). The government still exerts controls but only in areas other than the curriculum.  For example, these schools must meet certain physical requirements and be headed by a Thai national.

These schools must also be accredited by a recognized international body. That is smart as there is no way for those bureaucrats in the Thai MOE to competently evaluate these schools.

There are currently nearly 100 such schools in Thailand, not a large number but enough for a critical mass. These schools are not yet within the reach of the middle class, as in Quebec. However, as these students end up at leading universities abroad, and as they are also the children of the elite, they are destined to be influential. They would be capable later of effecting fundamental and transformational changes as they had not been brought up and trapped by the rigidity and stultifying culture of the current national system. The Thai experiment is certainly worth watching.

A slightly different model is South Korea. There are private schools there but except for their being free of government funding, there is not much difference between them and public schools. The same rigidity, mindless memorization, and strict blind obedience to authority exist as in pubic schools.

To escape that cultural stricture, South Korea allowed many private international (primarily American) schools with their independent curriculum and medium of instruction, as with Thailand. Two such schools, Daewon (established in 1983) and Minjok (1993) deserve special mention. Both use English exclusively, designed to prepare the best Korean students for global leadership. At Mijok, the emphasis is on “Teaching-Discussion-Writing,” away from the usual memorization and regurgitation that masquerade as education in Asian schools.

The remarkable feat of these two schools is that their short history notwithstanding, they are now the biggest feeder schools for elite American universities. This being Korea however, the two schools still cannot escape their cultural trap. As one former Daewon teacher commented, one of her students committed suicide on the day her SAT score was released.

Private Universities

Today there are private universities even in the most socialist of countries, with Russia now boasting more than 200. For the most successful model however, you cannot beat the American system of private colleges. If you take anybody’s list of the top 25 American universities, the vast majority would be private. Looked at another way, private American universities dominate anybody’s list of top global universities. That is reason enough for Malaysia to look closely at the American model.

First however, I need to clarify the terminology. Those private American universities like Harvard are not “private” in the same sense as IBM or Microsoft Corporation. Meaning, they are private but not profit making; they do not have shareholders eagerly anticipating dividends. Instead they are non-profit entities, akin tax-wise to non-governmental groups (NGOs). As such they enjoy considerable tax and other advantages.  These universities are entitled to research grants from governmental agencies, and their students are eligible for government grants, loans and scholarships, just like students at public universities.

In return for those privileges, these universities have to abide by certain rules, like subscribing to Federal affirmative action rules and non-discriminatory practices in admissions and hiring.  It is this unique public-private partnership that makes American “private” universities shine.

There are “real” private (meaning, profit-making and proprietary) universities; DeVry and the University of Phoenix being two of the largest. However, they never appear on anybody’s list of top universities. Their student body too is entirely different, made up mainly of working adults rather than those coming straight out of high school. They also do not have the traditional campus of a “regular” university.

Private universities in other countries are more like America’s DeVry than its Harvard. In Malaysia’s pursuit for private universities, the American non-profit institutions like Harvard should be the model, not the proprietary ones. Unfortunately most private universities in Malaysia are of the DeVry variety. They have their place and help feel a void, but they would never lead the nation to greatness.

Many countries are importing wholesale this American model by inviting them to set up branch campuses. By far the most successful (by this I mean the most number of campuses) have been the Middle Eastern countries, undoubtedly facilitated by their oil wealth.

There are definite limitations to this wholesale importation.  Even if I were to transplant en bloc the Stanford campus in Dubai, the university will never be the Stanford of Palo Alto. Try bringing a speaker critical of the government to speak on campus at one of the branches of the American universities in Dubai! Those countries that are enthusiastically transplanting Western campuses in their home soil forget one salient element. That is, what contributes to the greatness of Stanford include the general social, economic and political environment of California specifically and America generally.

This wholesale importation is not a recent phenomenon. Early in the last century Western philanthropists set up the Peking Union Medical College. It quickly achieved its goal of being the Johns Hopkins of China.  However, with the Cultural Revolution all that painstaking gains were destroyed. That institution has since regained its original premier status with the return of sanity in China.

Another successful experiment, also led by Western philanthropists, is the American University in Beirut, established in 1866 at the height of Western imperialism in the region.  With its Western curriculum and teaching style, it quickly eclipsed such venerable institutions as the centuries-old Al Azhar.  Today with the turmoil in the region, the luster is off that institution, but for a long time it remained the jewel in the crown of the Arab intellectual world.

Malaysia too has dabbled in its own version of American importation but with little success: the Malaysian University of Science and Technology (MUST) set up in collaboration with Boston’s MIT. It would take more than just grafting the name of a prestigious American university to make your campus respectable.

A more enduring endeavor would be to adopt the concept of a western liberal education, and with the help of proven scholars and educators, establish your own institutions.  The Aga Khan did this, setting up campuses first in Pakistan and then in other Muslim countries.  Its success can be gauged by the fact that its medical school, established in Karachi only in 1983, has today an international reputation far exceeding other long established universities in that country.

What the Aga Khan proves is that what is important is not the building of fancy Western buildings or the pasting of a prestigious name that would make your institution great, rather the adoption of the concept of liberal education, academic freedom, and the pursuit of knowledge.

This is what our policy makers must keep central as they examine the various models and envisage a greater role for the private sector.

Next:   Part Five:
Private Sector Participation in Schools and Pre-schools

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 December 2009, 5:00 am and is filed under
Bakri Musa
,
Education
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


What a way to end 2009 – the missing RM50 million RMAF jet engines which exposes high-level thievery, government  topsy-turvydom and sheer lack of professionalism in defence, police and Attorney-General’s Chambers casting long shadow on Najib’s GTP

What a way to end 2009 and the first uncompleted year of the new Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak – two missing RM50 million RMAF jet engines which exposes high-level thievery, government topsy-turvydom and sheer lack of professionalism in defence, police and Attorney-General’s Chambers, casting a long shadow on Najib’s Government Transformation Programme (GTP).

Many questions cry out for answer on the scandal of the missing jet engines as they are not an unobtrusive object that could be easily squirrelled away, with each explanatory statement by the Prime Minister, the Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the air force and the police raising more questions.

Najib gave the assurance that action would be taken against those responsible for the missing Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) jet engines – the powerplants to the F-5E Tiger II fighter and RF-5E Tigereye reconnaissance jets – saying: “Let us investigate. Whoever is in the wrong will be held responsible.”

Why is the Prime Minister still talking in the future tense, when the action for the missing RMAF jet engines took place in May last year, and RMAF had lodged a report with the police on Aug 4 last year?

Armed Forces Chief Gen Tan Sri Azizan Ariffin said last Friday that the missing RMAF jet engines might just be the “tip of the iceberg” as initial investigations showed that other equipment might have gone missing as far back as 2007.

And Zahid said in Banting on Sunday that the engines went missing “about three years ago” and that “It’s a complicated case with international connections”.

Its speak poorly of the performance, efficiency and professionalism of the defence, police and Attorney-General’s Chambers that no proper account of the missing RM50 million RMAF jet engine could be rendered although the theft took place two or three years ago, with Azizan only able to talk about the theft as “tip of the iceberg” but unable to identify the rest of the iceberg.

On the one hand, Azizan said that the armed forces has launched a full audit of its assets following the loss of the jet engines, but in Banting the Defence Minister said he left it to the police to investigate if there was other equipment missing from military bases nationwide.

Who now is going to be responsible to conduct a full audit of the existence of all the military assets in the country, the armed forces or the police?

It is reported by New Straits Times yesterday that a brigadier-general and 40 other armed forces personnel were sacked late last year over their alleged involvement in the case of the two missing RM50 million RMAF jetfighter engines, following an internal inquiry and disciplinary committee.

Is this all the action to be taken after the two missing RM50 million RMAF jet engines, with no one being hauled to court to face the full force of the law?

This version conflicts with the account in the New Straits Times on Saturday that “Air force officers found the jet engine missing in January when they sent a private contractor to Subang to service the engine”, raising the question how disciplinary action could be taken even before the defence authorities became aware of the missing jet – apart from the question as to how the RMAF could be unaware of the missing jet engine for such a long time, at least one or two years!

Najib was the Defence Minister when the jet engines theft took place, which created a frightening picture of a government of thieves.

Malaysians are entitled to a full, uncensored and unvarnished account of the two missing RM50 million RMAF jet engines, why the various authorities seem to be superslow in their remedial responses, including the Attorney-General Chambers in prosecuting the culprits concerned.

No “ifs” and “buts” – a full statement of the latest government scandal of the two missing RM50 million RMAF jet engines should be made either by Najib or Zahid or public confidence in Najib’s Government Transformation Programme (GTP) would suffer a grievous blow even before its official launch.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 December 2009, 9:10 am and is filed under
Crime
,
Defence
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


LKS tweets reply to M

Am in Tokyo on private visit.  Will give blog response 2Mahathir.

12/23/2009 09:49 PM

Mahathir wants Wain’s book 2b released forthwith.Who really believe Mahathir? Or is Najib or Hisham culprit blocking “Maverick M”‘s release?

12/23/2009 09:45 PM

Why Mahathir don’t sue me now if I had libelled him calling for RCI into Barry Wain’s RM100 billion allegation in his book Maverick M?

12/23/2009 09:39 PM

Why his suit conditional on outcome of RCI into Barry Wain’s allegation when M will do utmost 2block RCI though claiming support publicly?

12/23/2009 09:35 PM

Why Mahathir reserved right 2sue me 4stmt calling 4RCI into allegation in “Maverick Mahathir” RM100 bil wasted or burned in 22 yrs PMship?

12/23/2009 09:31 PM

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 December 2009, 10:15 pm and is filed under
Mahathir
,
Twitter
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Missing jet engines spark crisis in Malaysia

By
Kevin Brown in Singapore | Financial Times

Published: December 22 2009 13:58 | Last updated: December 22 2009 13:58

The Malaysian government is facing a fresh corruption crisis after officials admitted that two US-made fighter jet engines had disappeared from an air force base after apparently being illicitly sold by military officers to a South American arms dealer.

Najib Razak, prime minister, said there would be a full investigation of the thefts, which happened in 2007 and 2008, when he was defence minister. However, opposition parties accused the government of covering up the incidents.

Lim Kit Siang, parliamentary leader of the opposition Democratic Action party, said the authorities had been “super slow” and claimed that the prime minister’s response had painted “a frightening picture of a government of thieves”.

Idris Ahmad, spokesman for the allied Parti Islam SeMalaysia, said “powerful people” had been involved. “We don’t want only the ikan bilis [anchovies] to be arrested while the sharks are allowed to swim freely,” he said.

The General Electric J85-21A engines, each worth about M$50m ($15m), were spares for the Royal Malaysian Air Force’s Northrop Grumman F-5E Tiger II fighters, which fly from the Butterworth air base near the country’s northern border with Thailand.

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, defence minister, said the engines and associated equipment were “believed to have been sent to a South American country” after being moved to the Sungai Besi air force base in Kuala Lumpur for maintenance.

The defence ministry would not identify the company or the country involved or comment on claims in the Malaysian media that the engines may have ended up in the Middle East.

The F-5 went out of production in 1989 but is still flown as a trainer aircraft by US forces and is in frontline or reserve service with many foreign air forces, including that of Iran.

The defence ministry said several senior officers were being investigated. General Azizan Ariffin, chief of the armed forces, said the engine thefts might have been “the tip of the iceberg”, raising the possibility that other military equipment might also have disappeared.

The disclosure of the thefts is a serious blow to Mr Najib, who has promised a crackdown on corruption as part of efforts to recover support for his long-serving National Front government, which lost many of its seats in a general election last year.

The prime minister last week unveiled a three-year action plan amid concerns about declining investor interest and the impact of Malaysia’s fall to 56th in the 2009 Corruption Index published by Transparency International – down from 47th in 2008.

Mr Najib has flatly denied any personal corruption, including opposition claims of involvement in an allegedly corrupt submarine deal while he served as defence minister.

Corruption charges were brought this month against a senior port executive and two other officials linked to a controversial development near Kuala Lumpur known as the Port Klang Free Trade Zone.

The arrests followed a damning parliamentary report that found widespread corruption and cost overruns at the project, which has run up debts of more than $1bn.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 December 2009, 2:00 pm and is filed under
Corruption
,
Defence
,
PKFZ
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all

Wishing all Christians and Malaysians Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

2010 is going to be a more testing time for all Malaysians than the previous two years.

Regardless of race, religion or region, let all Malaysians work together with one common objective for a better, more just, equal and democratic Malaysia.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 December 2009, 10:16 pm and is filed under
Social
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Pakatan Rakyat Policy

By
Vincent Lee

I do not know whether this feedback can reach you YB but i hope it will.

I have read the details of the policy of Pakatan Rakyat and it sounds very impressive. It seems like its the opposite of BN policy.

As a voter, especially a loyal supporter of Pakatan Rakyat, I wish to suggest a few feedback. No matter how good is a policy, its implementation is even more important. And what is even more importance is to setup a team of watchdog to oversee the implementation.

For example when you mention to reform the EPF. Who will implement them? The board member of EPF I suppose? I’m a guy from the corporate sector and I don’t think the members of the board which get used to BN regime for decades can reform itself. Of course I’m not suggesting that the board members been replace as it may trigger a lot of misunderstanding that PR are power crazy. May I suggest that the senior member of Labour Unions be the watchdog for the implementation. At least 3 of them from 3 different unions. This is of course based on the logic, the best person that take care of the labour’s money is the labour himself. This way is even more effective if you can rotate the members within the watchdog panel every 2 or 3 years to avoid any abuse.

Like wise the education policy of Pakatan Rakyat which emphasize on need and merit. Please allow the member of the welfare department to be its advisor.

Some of my friends had already give up on the county system and prefer to migrate. I believe even more will choose to migrate in the future if the current system remain status quo. We need to retain our best talent. As such I suggest that DAP/PR should duly utilized its network of members to get more people to register especially young voters, “the power of change in every revolution”. Of course as a citizen I have always ask my friends and colleagues to register at the nearest post office if they haven’t. I strongly believe if we can get at least 1 more million voters and vote for us then Putrajaya its just a few meter away from now. Hopefully the PR’s policy can be implement in the near future.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 December 2009, 9:32 am and is filed under
Good Governance
,
Letters
,
Pakatan Rakyat
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Quintessence of Mahathirism– pure Machiavellianism, perverse illogic and most cunning to distract attention from the core issue

It is the quintessence of Mahathirism – pure Machiavellianism, perverse illogic and most cunning to distract attention from the core issue.

This was what Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad produced in his
blog
 yesterday when claiming to welcome my proposal that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate  into the allegation by Barry Wain’s new biography,
“Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times”
 that the former Prime Minister had wasted or burned up to RM100 billion on grandiose projects and corruption in his 22 years as PM.

He even sweetened his welcome by insisting that such a commission should not be made up of government nominees, but should instead have as members “impeccable people including foreigners and members of Transparency International.”

How many instances can Mahathir quote of the occasions when he had followed such precepts in his 22 years as Prime Minister to probe into financial scandals or serious allegations of abuses of power?

Why Mahathir’s sudden conversion to uphold “impeccable people including foreigners and members of Transparency International” instead depending on compliant government nominees who can command no credibility whatsoever as was his wont during his premiership?

However, Mahathir’s welcome came with a caveat which the former Prime Minister knows would  not be fulfilled and therefore no inquiry commission would be held –  that the commission should not confine to one Prime Minister only but also to his successor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Mahathir reached the heights of Machiavellism when he suggested that I should get Najib’s agreement to set up such a Royal Commission of Inquiry into both the Mahathir and Abdullah premierships.

Why didn’t Mahathir ask that such a commission should also inquire into the corruption and abuses of power of Najib, the current Prime Minister as well?

Mahathir is only practicing the art of saying yes while saying no. This is too cheap a trick for the fourth and longest-serving Prime Minister to be indulgingin his “elder statesman” years.

As for Mahathir’s statement that he reserved the right to sue me for libel, I had tweeted:

“Why his suit conditional on outcome of RCI into Barry Wain’s allegation when M will do utmost 2block RCI though claiming support publicly?

“Why Mahathir don’t sue me now if I had libelled him calling for RCI into Barry Wain’s RM100 billion allegation in his book Maverick M?”

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 December 2009, 6:27 pm and is filed under
Mahathir
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.