'Penang govt need to be more innovative'

By Athi Shankar - Free Malaysia Today

GOERGE TOWN: The current Pakatan Rakyat state government has not made much of a difference in its administration of Penang after two-and-a half years in power, said local political observers today.
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) lecturer Sivamurugan Pandian, election watchdog Malaysians for Free and Fair Elections (Mafrel) coordinator BK Ong and Hindu Rights Action Force advisor N Ganesan think that the Penang government need to be more innovative and implement pro-active people-centric policies to change their perceptions.

They think Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng's administration had been keen to implement only popular schemes, not permanent long term policies, to win over the people. Piece meal and quick fix solutions on pressing issues was simply not sufficient.

"The Pakatan government must come up with fresher, better policies to fulfil growing demands of people and show it is different from the BN," they said.

Revealing his mid-term review on the performance of Pakatan, associate professor Sivamurugan said the current government, with minor adjustments, had copied and continued the previous policies.

He said the open tender policy and the ceasing of temple demolitions may have made some difference but it has failed to execute policies to upgrade the living standards of the poor, especially Indians and Malays, like providing comfortable homes and, creating business and job opportunities for them.

He said the state government had also failed to implement a reliable, efficient and affordable public transport system, which would cut living cost of Penangites and the past and present situations on flooding, crime rates, cleanliness and hill slope developments have not improved much.

"If one were to notice, the state government had been fast in approving mega housing projects, which would not help those in lower income group, who are pre-dominantly Malays and Indians," said the USM deputy dean of School of Social Sciences.

He said although the Pakatan government remained more popular than BN, the popularity though had been more ethnic orientated.

"Pakatan government is popular among Chinese but not among the Malays and Indians, especially those in lower and middle income bracket," he said.

He warned that while Chinese support for Pakatan has remained steady, the Malay and Indian backing was surely shifting.

"Most of them are fence-sitters now,"he said, predicting a backlash from these voters against Pakatan in the next polls.

Honeymoon period will over
Echoing similar views, Ong argued that Pakatan remained popular generally due to people's abhorrence for Umno and BN.

"The main satisfaction among Penangites is that Umno does not dominate the state administration. Moreover, Pakatan is not linked yet with corruption of power," he said.

Thus, so long as the honeymoon period lasts, he said Pakatan could still blame everything on past BN rule or the current federal government for all the shortcomings in its governance.

He predicted that it would take several more years before the anti-Umno and anti-BN sentiments begin to dissipate.

"But over a longer term, people will want to see some concrete results from Pakatan. They will demand solutions to the economic stagnation, bad traffic situation and rampant corruption in civil service," said Ong, who is also the Malaysian Voters Union coordinator.

He, however, credited the Pakatan administration for tidying up the financial mess left over from the previous state government, government-link companies and local councils.

He also commended the state government's measures to cut down over-priced projects, implement open tender policies and encourage direct negotiation of tenders.

The effectiveness of open tender policies was far more limited than the public perception. "Majority of these tenders are governed by stringent federal rules and go to class F contractors, which some say are dominated almost 90 per cent by Umno division and branch leaders," he said.

He said the state government's financial measures can help cushion its short term financial needs. But for long term, he said Penang must use its international advantage to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and nurture home grown enterprises.

Despite the administration's frequent changes of economic advisers with international credentials, Ong lamented that no major leap had been made in FDIs or growth of innovative local enterprises in both manufacturing and services sectors.

If this continues, he cautioned that Penang's brain drain would escalate while the state's major revenue earners like manufacturing and tourism sectors would suffer.

He criticised the state's RM100 annual gift to each senior citizen over 60 as minuscule compared with the federal welfare cash of RM300 per month for a hard core poor family.

"The state government emphasised on the payment rather than its actual benefit to the recipients. What can a hardcore poor do with RM100 a year anyway?" asked Ong.

He also took a swipe at the action taken to flush out the homeless from the five-foot paths in George Town despite objections from NGOs, which have worked overtime to provide aid to the homeless.

"The state government is also dragging its feet in restoring the local government elections despite popular support and demand for it," said the social activist.

Piece-meal handouts

Ganesan meanwhile said both the past and present governments have only been representing the business community, not the working class.

He said allegations of corruption, lack of responsiveness and transparency were mounting despite the chief minister projecting a public image as an "anti-graft crusader.”

Despite claiming to be a multi racial governance, he said Lim's administration has not shown anything significant in terms of policies and action plans to close the political and socio-economic gap between different ethnic groups in the state.

He also said the DAP-led state government has yet to reveal any vision on Penang's future direction in political and socio-economic development.

He said currently the DAP development vision was no different than the previous Umno version, that is to execute policies to safeguard the developers' rights, interests and benefits.

“Lim has just wiped out the last remaining Indian 200-year-old traditional village Kampung Buah Pala,” he said.

“The state government would hand out a piece-meal gift, such as a land to a school, but would trumpet it as if the whole community had benefited.

“The only difference is Pakatan has been crude while BN was treacherous,” summed up the Hindraf advisor.

Ling’s woes a tremendous setback for MCA

By Stanley Koh - Free Malaysia Today
COMMENT The move to charge Dr Ling Liong Sik caught many of us completely by surprise, not because we think the former MCA president is too clean to be associated with corruption, but because we still believe that the police, the Attorney-General and the judiciary are all in Barisan Nasional’s pocket and would not act against a figure so intimately connected to the ruling coalition and so prominent in its history.

A pundit has described Ling’s prosecution in connection with the PKFZ scandal as the bursting of a bubble in a whirlpool of speculation involving high-profile politicians.

Certainly, the PKFZ corruption scandal will be in the public focus again, and it is likely to overshadow all other political bickering in the weeks to come, particularly when Ling’s case is mentioned in August.

Few will deny that the case will cast a long dark shadow over MCA, which is desperately trying to woo back the public support it has so badly lost in recent years.

There is even speculation that another important figure in MCA—a former cabinet minister—will be charged along with Ling.

Another former minister and MCA official who served under Ling expressed astonishment over the latest turn of events.

Choosing his words carefully as he spoke to FMT, he said the singling out of Ling was shocking because he could not have been alone in making decisions about PKFZ.

“Some party members knowledgeable about top government decision-making practice are sceptical because whatever decision made was collective, assisted by experts who act as advisers,” he said without elaborating.

Of course, views expressed within MCA are in great contrast to those in the public domain, where the call for truth, transparency and justice is getting louder by the day. Most of the public want to hear the bone crunch of dog devouring dog.

Jinxed leadership

The more superstitious among MCA watchers have become more convinced that the party’s leadership is jinxed. They see in Ling’s predicament a repeat of what happened to then-president Tan Koon Swan in 1986, when he was charged and imprisoned for criminal breach of trust over the Pan El saga.

Ling was a young physician when he got into active politics. He won the Mata Kuching parliamentary seat in 1974 and rose to replace Tan on the MCA throne 12 years later.

Some interpret the downfall of Tan and Ling as parallel defining moments that have more meaning than expressed in the cliché that history repeats itself.

“Even till today, many within the party still believe that the prosecution and imprisonment of former president Tan was politically motivated,” a Selangor leader said.

Could this be another case of political intrigue and a parable of extreme ruthlessness at play? This is what many party members are wondering, sometimes aloud, for hardly a week goes by nowadays when someone in MCA does not speak up against an unpopular political move attributed to either Umno or one of its perceived proxies.

Indeed, MCA, in trying to regain support, has lately been critical of more than the opposition. Some say the leadership has finally admitted that times have changed, with the electorate become wiser, and the party has begun listening closely to the ground.

The move against Ling, they say, could be designed to derail the party’s effort at rebuilding its image.

Many believe that the current MCA president, Dr Chua Soi Lek, is a close ally of Ling and that Ling, despite his retirement, has been dispensing advice to the leadership whenever his views are sought.

But it is early days yet, and we should not take our own speculations too seriously. Perhaps, in the ensuing days, it will become clearer why BN wants Ling to take a fall over the PKFZ scandal which, more than many other misdeeds, has deepened public contempt for the government.

Perhaps, the government will even explain its sudden move.

No stranger to trouble

Meanwhile, Ling and his family are quite alone in facing this terrible challenge. But Ling is no stranger to trouble. He faced many challenges during his 17-year political career, including being sacked from his party in 1984, although the membership was reinstated a year later.

He also faced two major efforts to topple him from the presidency. He was involved in colourful Mexican stand-offs with his deputies, Lee Kim Sai in the late 80s, and Lim Ah Lek in the 1990s.

“Dr Ling has a straightforward, patriotic honesty which has distinguished him from several of his past and current brothers-in-politics,” wrote a newspaper columnist in 2000.

In fact, Ling does have an impressive legacy of achievements at party leader. For example, he saved Wisma MCA amid serious financial woes and resolved the cooperative crisis soon after Tan Koon Swan’s premature retirement.

Between 1987 and 1988, Ling fought relentlessly to help about half a million depositors—most of whom were MCA members—get their ringgit-to-ringgit refunds following the collapse of 24 deposit-taking cooperatives, including MCA’s KSM.

He also initiated many fund-raising campaigns, including the invention of the MCA Life Membership roll, which survives to this day.

While his supporters praise him for putting sectarian or communal interest aside and concentrating on nation-building programmes, his adversaries accuse him of having been too deeply and too overtly loyal to his boss, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

But many have forgotten that in 1988, Ling took a six-week no-pay leave from his duties as transport minister to protest against the BN’s broken promises to his party over a proposed amendment of the Education Act, the establishment of Tunku Abdul Rahman College, the quit rent for Bukit Cina, the lopsided civil service, financial allocations to new villages, quotas in university intakes, aid to Chinese schools and several other issues.

“I am taking leave of absence from my position as a cabinet minister to reflect on the party’s position in the BN and to think about the post-1990 shaping of the country and the changing role cum responsibilities of the MCA to meet the new challenges,” Ling said in a press statement on Oct 1, 1988.

A string of achievements

Soon after he became party president in 1986, he told an interviewer: “I want to see Malaysia become a fair and just country for all. All issues will be viewed from this angle because the vast majority of people will reject Malaysia becoming a Malay, Chinese or Indian country.

“Every fibre in me is moderate in nature. There will be no extremism in party policies. We (MCA leadership) will strive to inject moderation into government policies. Our sole objective is to make Malaysia a fair and just society for all.”

After serving MCA for 17 years, Ling finally had to step down in May 23, 2003, under a cloud of controversy involving business dealings, compounded by a protracted tiff with his deputy Lim Ah Lek.

Deputy Lim also stepped down under a peace formula embraced mutually by factional leaders as a way to resolving the leadership feud, which top Umno leaders, acting as peacekeepers, closely monitored.

Ling led the MCA party through thick and thin during his long tenure, including the general elections of 1986, 1990, 1995 and 1999.

Perhaps he made his greatest achievement in 2001, when the Education Ministry gave him and his team the green light to establish University Tunku Abdul Rahman, named after the first Malaysian prime minister.

He has also recorded a string of other achievements on education, including the setting up of more than 100 resource centres under the umbrella of the Langkawi Project to promote educational excellence among poor children.

Developing education became his forte as early as in 1994, when he launched a massive fund-raising campaign to help the 60 independent Chinese secondary schools.

Despite all his merits, however, Ling made several big blunders in his career.

For example, his role in the dismantling of MCA’s assets, which Tan Koon Swan had painstakingly built up in the 1980s under Multi-Purpose Holdings, earned him many unforgiving enemies.

The Nanyang sale

Perhaps his greatest failed political gamble was his push in 2001 to purchase the Nanyang Siang Pau group of companies, which even today is being cursed by Malaysians yearning for press freedom.

Even in the last days of his political career, he continued to make controversial misjudgements, particularly on the leadership succession in MCA.

Many resented the favouritism he showed towards Ong Ka Ting, deliberately bypassing the democratic process to make him his successor. His critics must have felt some satisfaction when MCA, under Ong’s leadership, suffered a great setback in the 2008 general election.

Those who prefer to keep fond memories of Ling’s style of leadership will cherish the way a writer has summed up his character:

“After all, Dr Ling has proved he is a leader with a difference, some difference.

“His strongest point is that he is a balanced person. His background, temperament and attitude are conducive to breaking down racial barriers.”

And as he faces prosecution in court, it is well for Ling himself to remember the words that , according to him, summed up his philosophy: “Today is always better than yesterday and tomorrow better than today.”

'No voter registration forms in Sarawak'

By Joseph Tawie - Free Malaysia Today

KUCHING: The chairman of PKR Sarawak Baru Bian has blasted the Election Commission for being “negligent and irresponsible” in not printing more forms to register voters in Sarawak.
“For the past two weeks, you cannot get forms anywhere in Sarawak from the Election Commission.

“This is negligent and irresponsible not to print enough forms to register voters,” he said at a press conference yesterday.

He said he had been told by two non-governmental organisations and others involved in the ongoing registration exercise that there are no more forms left in the state.

The Election Commission told them they are still waiting for the forms to be sent from Kuala Lumpur.

“Please print more forms as more and more people are politically conscious of their rights to register themselves as voters.

“Why should the Election Commission hinder them from registering as voters?” he asked.

DCM lying

On remarks made by deputy chief minister Alfred Jabu regarding native customary rights (NCR) land, Baru hoped that the government should carry out both the perimeter survey of communal native land as well as the individual properties and give them titles.

Jabu had said the procedures and system to survey and gazette NCR land had been in place for more than 30 years but it was the inability of the people to agree on the demarcation of their individual lots that had made it difficult.

Baru however accused Jabu of lying saying that the number of natives disputing the boundaries between one lot and another was very little.

“Individual disputes that his company handled are less than five or six percent. Even these disputes are not between natives, but with government, timber and plantation companies.

“More than 90 percent of the 200 cases before court are involving communal land belonging to a number of villages combined,” he said.

“How can Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud and Jabu mislead the people?” he said, stressing the boundary quarrel between natives were almost non-existent.

Baru suggested that the government should begin with the cases in court in order to reduce court cases.

Early start in the school of politics

By Teoh El Sen  - Free Malaysia Today

KUALA LUMPUR: Some might say he was unwittingly thrust into politics by circumstances, but Chua Tee Yong, son of MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek, would tell you that it was a road he chose himself -- even as a young boy of 12.

The newly appointed 33-year-old Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister told FMT that though he contested and won as an MP in the March 2008 general election, he was already involved in politics at a much younger age. You could say that it all started with his father.

"When I was in Standard Six, I was already following my father to dinners, dialogues and walkabouts in Batu Pahat. My interest in politics probably began here," said Chua, a former chief financial officer in a government-linked company.

The first-term Labis MP, who drew a lot of flak from many critics within and outside the party for his "quick rise", said he has been visiting the Labis constituency even before he became an MP there.

Chua added that his elder brother, Tee Joo, 35, was the one who was influenced by his father's previous profession as a doctor. Tee Joo is now a doctor.

"So if others are saying, I was 'not given a choice' in becoming a politician, it is not true," said Chua.

He said he is grateful that the then MCA president Ong Ka Ting had picked him to stand as the candidate in the 2008 general election.

"Ong decided to field me as a new blood in MCA. From there things took off... "

Constantly on the move

Chua contested in his father’s Labis parliamentary seat following the latter's resignation in the wake of the DVD sex scandal. He won with a 4,094-vote majority over DAP’s Teo Eng Ching.

Chua was appointed deputy minister on June 1, sparking allegations that it was his father who helped him secure the post. But Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had backed the appointment, saying that Chua was chosen based on merit and competence.

In a recent interview with FMT, Chua talked about his early days as a politician, his vision for the agriculture ministry and his future plans in MCA.

From the interview, Chua seemed comfortable making the transition from the private sector to government service. He said an accountant does not necessarily need to be in the Finance Ministry.

"In the private sector, you know who your target customers are and can easily deliver what they need. But in government service, you have to address a vast range of issues of different groups. I need to consider all these factors,” said the boyish-looking Chua.

Now that he is in politics full time and holding a government post, he is constantly on the move and learning the ropes.

"My father's way of doing things influenced me quite a bit. Like him, I move around quite a lot -- holding dialogues and doing walkabouts. I try to emulate Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak by going to the ground often," said Chua.

Hectic life

Chua divides his time equally in his Labis constituency among the Chinese who comprise 51%, Malays (30%), Indians (18%), and Orang Asli (0.9%).

Chua said people should not have the perception that he would only look at Chinese issues.

“I will not only look after the welfare of the Chinese but the others as well. There is also a significant number of Chinese farmers and fishermen in my constituency. So I have an edge here since I am also able to converse with them in Mandarin.”

Nowadays, Chua leads a hectic life – he not only have to study and tackle various issues that crop up in the ministry but also engage in dialogue sessions with farmers' associations and industry leaders.

Chua also thinks that MCA should shed its old mentality in this evolving political landscape.

"There are no safe seats anymore,” said this eager beaver, who represents a new crop of young MCA professionals.

While he is quite modest about his political future in MCA, he nevertheless has made heads turn in his rapid climb to political prominence.

He was recently appointed to monitor MCA’s formidable party assets valued at about RM2 billion. He was also appointed to the party’s presidential council in April and to the central committee in November last year during the tail end of the party’s power struggle.

"It has not been easy, especially since I now have less time for my family. But I want to thank my wife who has been supportive all the way," said Chua, a father of three children, aged between one and five.

Chua entered politics with a relatively clean record, but given the turbulent nature of MCA politics, it remains to be seen how far he can go.

Kit Siang tells MCA to be neutral in PKFZ scandal

Lim wants MCA to remember the 27 million Malaysia who have paid for the scandal.

KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 — Lim Kit Siang told political foes MCA to uphold the public’s interest while their ex-president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik faces trial for his alleged role in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

The DAP advisor said that MCA, as a component of the federal government, must show equal concern for the public.

“MCA leaders, including Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung, lined up to give support to former MCA President and Transport Minister, Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik after he was charged with cheating the Cabinet in the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

“Without commenting on Ling’s case, Malaysians are entitled to expect that MCA Ministers and leaders should show at least equal concern for Justice for 27 million Malaysians who are victims of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal than Justice for Ling Liong Sik,” he said in a press statement.

On Thursday, Dr Ling was charged with cheating. The charges concern land evaluations under the penal code with the principle charge under section 418 with the alternative charge being 417.

Punishment for offences under section 417 carries a jail term of not more than five years and not more than seven years under section 418.

According to the penal code, section 418 concerns “Cheating with knowledge that wrongful loss may be thereby caused to a person whose interest the offender is bound to protect” while section 417 concerns “Punishment for cheating.”

Lim questioned if MCA is sincere in tackling the PKFZ problem.

“What have the MCA national leadership, and in particular the four MCA Ministers, done to ensure justice for the 27 million Malaysians in connection with the PKFZ scandal?

“Did the MCA national leadership and the MCA Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha prioritise the interests of the 27 million Malaysians when he overrode the decision of the Port Klang Authority (PKA) and directed it to pay its PKFZ bond obligation of RM222.58 million to Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) special purpose vehicle Free Zone Capital Bhd (FZCB)?” he said.

He also asked if the party agrees with Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat statement which contradicted with his successor, Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha.

“Does the MCA national leadership and the MCA Cabinet Ministerial bloc agree with former MCA President and Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat that it is ‘a foolhardy move’ to ‘pay according to what has been decided much earlier, according to the schedule that was set a long time ago’, ignoring latest developments, new facts and ‘missing link’ in the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services report,” he said.

Lim stressed that MCA must prove that Ong’s allegations are wrong by suspending of PKA payments to KDSB special purpose vehicles and ensure that the “big fishes” are hauled for corruption.

“The present MCA national leadership and the MCA Ministerial bloc must prove the former MCA President and Transport Minister wrong in his serious charge that they are party to sweeping the dirt under the carpet,” he said.

The government recently ordered the Port Klang Authority (PKA) to honour its final bond obligation of RM222.58 million to Freezone Capital Bhd (FZCB), despite the board’s ongoing suit against turnkey contractor Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB).

The transport ministry said PKA would have to make payment to special purpose vehicles as set out in the payment schedule.

In making the decision, the Transport Ministry said, the government had taken all relevant factors including the government’s commitment to bondholders, and PKA’s obligations under the agreements signed.

PKA had also given an undertaking to make payment to the special purpose vehicles, it said in a statement today.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha had said that the ministry would stick to the original schedule set before, which stipulates that the board had an obligation to fulfil a final payment of RM372 million, a second part of the RM723 million repayment due to bondholders this year.

Of the total, PKA is obliged to pay RM222.58 million to FZCB and the remaining RM150 million to Special Port Vehicle (SPVB) by July 31 this year.

It was reported that the PKA board had decided to hold back on its final payment to FZCB, one of the four special-purpose vehicles (SPVs) that was established by KDSB, the turnkey contractor for the troubled Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) project.

KDSB is now facing a suit of RM1.4 billion by the PKA for, among other things, allegations that it had made bloated claims for work done on the project.

HIGH INCOME ECONOMY

1. The Government has announced the intention to make Malaysia a high income country. I assume this means people will receive high wages, salaries and profits.

2. But if wages and salaries are to be increased by the private sector, the cost of doing business would have to increase as well. To cover this increase, prices of products must be increased. This will mean that the consumers will have to pay higher prices for whatever they purchase. There would be, by definition, inflation.

3. The increase in prices of goods and services should cover the higher wages and salaries and the profit margins from the business. But this will not be all. The cost of transport, fuel and raw materials would all increase as these businesses will also experience increased overhead costs as they too will have to increase wages etc. So the increase in product prices must also cover these costs.

4. Generally the cost of living would increase as prices increase. The rise in income may not increase the purchasing power of the wage earners. Higher incomes would not mean anything then. We know of many countries where people get higher incomes in terms of currency units but are extremely poor.

5. If there is to be an increase in income, it must be carefully managed so that it would result in increases of purchasing power and not just more money.

6. This can happen because the added cost of doing business may trigger unreasonable increases of prices for raw materials, goods (products) or services. For example a 10% increase in wages and salaries should not result in an increase of 10% in the prices of goods and services. This is because wages and salaries do not constitute the total cost of production.

7. Their contribution to cost of production varies. This has to be determined by careful scrutiny of all the cost of production including material cost, power cost, transportation, advertisement and promotion costs etc. If it is found that wages and salaries at all levels make up 20% of the cost of production, then a 10% increase in wages should contribute only 2% to the cost.

8. Similarly the increases in the other costs i.e. power, material, transport etc may increase by a much smaller percentage according to their percentage contribution to the cost. Assuming that together they contribute 50% of the cost, but the increase in their prices is 5%, i.e. 5% of 50% = 2½ %, the total increase in cost inclusive of wages and salaries should be 4½ %, or say 5%.

9. Thus the increase in wages by 10% will not increase overall cost by 10% but will only increase by 5%, after including increases of other costs.

10. The margin of profit varies. For wholesale and fast moving items the margin can be as low as 2%, while for some slow-moving luxury goods the margin may be as high as 300%. Assuming that the cost of production increases by 5% for a 10% increase in wages and salaries, there can be justification for only a 5% - 6% increase in price of products and service for those with low profit margins. For high profit margins there should be no increase in price at all.

11. The wage earners with a 10% increase in income should therefore have a 5% increase in purchasing power only; not 10%. In other words their increase in income would make them only slightly richer. Still with increase in purchasing power they would be able to contribute more to businesses. Eventually the Government would earn more by way of taxes to pay for the increases in wages and salaries in the Government service. Generally economic activity would be enhanced and there would be growth as the salary bill in Malaysia runs into hundreds of billions every year.

12. The above are some of the ways for preventing unfair cost increases when wages and salaries are raised. But there are also many other ways of reducing costs so that the cost of goods and services to the consumer is not increased much as a result of increasing incomes.

13. In manufacturing, a careful study of cost can result in ideas on cost cutting. The Japanese "Just In Time" manufacturing process is a good example. In this system the parts and components are produced just in time for them to go into the assembly of the final products. This eliminates the cost of storage and holding costs.

14. Automation and robotics are costly but they can work 24 hours a day and would reduce the cost of the three shifts of work by workers in one day. In ship-building, whole sections of the ship can be produced separately and then assembled. A lot of time can be saved this way. And time means money.

15. The classic case of reducing cost was invented by Henry Ford - namely mass production on assembly lines. Economies of scale can also contribute to lowering costs. We see the progress in retailing goods. The single specialised shops have given way to the supermarkets. Now the supermarkets are being replaced by the giant wholesale hypermarkets. These help increase volume and lower purchasing costs. Self-service also help to reduce costs in restaurants and supermarkets.

16. Various electronic devices can help in reducing costs. Because of additional capital needed for these devices, they contribute much when the volume is big.

17. Incomes can also be increased by better education and training. It is said that the Korean worker is three times more productive than the Malaysian worker. This is not just due to education and training but more because of work ethics. Obviously when a worker is more productive he should be paid higher wages.

18. Most manufacturing activities add higher value to basic material. Generally exporting raw material gives less return than exporting manufactured products. But other costs have to be taken into consideration.

19. The Malaysian strategy on industrialisation is also not conducive to reducing costs. Japan and Korea acquire foreign technologies and set up their own companies to produce their own products.

20. Malaysia adopted a different strategy. To create jobs for a large number of the unemployed, foreign investors were invited to set up labour intensive industries. Naturally wages were very low. Increased profits for the foreign owned industries did not necessarily result in increased income for Malaysian workers.

21. Over the years Malaysians had acquired the skills in manufacturing and the capital to invest. Today there are a lot of successful Malaysian companies. Should the Government help these Malaysian industries to grow they can become world class players. This means better income for the Malaysian entrepreneurs and better wages for the Malaysian workers.

22. We must not follow the route taken by the developed countries of the West to achieve high income. In the days when technology was exclusive to the European countries and North America increases in wages were largely due to the demands of the workers. To cover the increased cost of production prices were raised quite indiscriminately. This was sustainable when the Europeans were the only producer of manufactured goods.

23. But then the countries of East Asia, began to produce almost all the products of the West at lower cost. The workers of the West continued to demand for continuous increases in their wages. Very soon the high prices for their products caused them to lose the market.

24. Malaysia must never take this route in order to achieve high incomes. Instead it should study the other ways of increasing incomes which will not lead to inflation and loss of purchasing power.

MCA Ministers and leaders should show at least equal concern for “Justice for 27 million Malaysians who are victims of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal” than “Justice for Ling Liong Sik”

MCA leaders, including Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Chor Chee Heung, lined up to give support to former MCA President and Transport Minister, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik after he was charged with cheating the Cabinet in the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

Without commenting on Ling’s case, Malaysians are entitled to expect that MCA Ministers and leaders should show at least equal concern for “Justice for 27 million Malaysians who are victims of the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal” than “Justice for Ling Liong Sik”.

What have the MCA national leadership, and in particular the four MCA Ministers, done to ensure justice for the 27 million Malaysians in connection with the PKFZ scandal?

Did the MCA national leadership and the MCA Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha prioritise the interests of the 27 million Malaysians when he overrode the decision of the Port Klang Authority (PKA) and directed it to pay its PKFZ bond obligation of RM222.58 million to Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) special purpose vehicle Free Zone Capital Bhd (FZCB)?

Does the MCA national leadership and the MCA Cabinet Ministerial bloc agree with former MCA President and Transport Minister Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat that it is “a foolhardy move” to “pay according to what has been decided much earlier, according to the schedule that was set a long time ago”, ignoring latest developments, new facts and “missing link” in the PriceWaterhouseCoopers Advisory Services report, viz:

• Letters revealing that KDSB had given undertaking or guarantees that it would cover any shortfall in repayments towards the bonds should PKA fails to do so;

• The dubious legal status of “Letters of Support” given by two former MCA Tranport Ministers, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik and Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy; and

• At least RM1.4 billion in disputed claims for all principal agreements between KDSB and PKA, of which more than RM2 billion payable as scheduled until 2017.

The present MCA national leadership and the MCA Ministerial bloc must prove the former MCA President and Transport Minister wrong in his serious charge that they are party to “sweeping the dirt under the carpet” by being in the very forefront to ensure:

• No stone is left unturned in the full public accounting of the PKFZ scandal, from the controversial PKA purchase of PKFZ land; ballooning of PKFZ costs from RM1.1 billion to RM4.6 billion and snowballing into a RM12.5 billion scandal; and the four illegal “Letters of Support” by two former MCA Transport Ministers.

• Putting utmost pressure for everyone who had a role in the PKFZ scandal, however “big the fish”, should be hauled to court to face corruption, abuses of power and criminal breach of trust charges.

• The suspension of PKA payments to KDSB special purpose vehicles in connection with the RM4.6 billion bonds.

Seize Opportunity To Succeed, Najib Tells Young Malaysians

KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today urged young Malaysians to seize the opportunity provided by the government to excel in their studies and fulfil their dreams.

He said the government had implemented numerous initiatives, with several more in the pipeline, to give them the chance to realise their goals and dreams.

The initiatives included the provision of Public Service Department scholarships for those who scored well in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination, he said.

"It was decided that -- irrespective of whether you are Malay, Chinese, Indian, or from any other ethnic group -- all students will qualify for scholarships if you obtain 9A+ or more.

"This is a government that will listen to the needs on the ground, and I am certain you agree that this merit-based opportunity indicates that my colleagues and I are very serious about bringing forth a transformation in line with the 1Malaysia concept," Najib said in his blog at www.1malaysia.com.my.

Najib said however that meritocratic principles must be applied along with principles of social justice, and that students with fewer socio-economic opportunities who score lower than 9A+ would also be given support for further studies.

"For example, a student living in poor conditions in a clearly disadvantaged area might not achieve a 9A+ result, but is still capable of producing an excellent result, despite the handicap.

"For this display of great perseverance against challenging circumstances, you can see that the student deserves to be supported to pursue a higher education. Hence, in recent months, I have witnessed several grants awarded to students living in Tumpat, Long Banga, Kanowit, Brickfields and in Putrajaya, to name but a few," he added.

There were also other initiatives in the pipeline, which Najib said he would personally look into.

He added that the savings achieved from the recent subsidy rationalisation exercise would also be channelled towards providing more education opportunities.

"To my younger readers: embrace this golden opportunity to succeed. This is a clear manifesto that we are here to help you. We want you to do well," he said.

Najib said: "We have listened to your needs and to the requests left by your parents in this blog and have laid down a clear path for you to excel academically. I urge you to take this chance by the scruff of the neck to fulfil your dreams."

Najib also called on parents and teachers "to guide and encourage our young to focus on realising their aspirations through hard work."

"Remind them that they will be rewarded for their high grades, and never allow them to waver. Their education begins from home," he said.

Bloated PM’s Department?

By Anil Netto,


Is this incredible or what? The White House employs 1,888 staff, but Malaysia’s Prime Minister’s Department has 43,554 employees.
There is also a similar disparity in their respective budgets. The White House’s budget is US$394 million for 2011.
Have a look at the White House website here.
Compare that with the PM’s Dept budget of RM4 billion or is that RM12 billion?
The vast difference is partly down to the whole array of departments, agencies, and what-have-you under the Prime Minister’s Department.
Have a look at the organisation chart for the PM’ Department on its official website here.
You will see a whole list of set-ups under the PM’s office, ranging from Felda (in the news lately), Suhakam (so much for its independence), the National Audit Department (independent?), Biro Tatanegara(!), Elections Commission (independent?), anti-corruption commission (independent?), the Maritime Enforcement Agency, EPU…
Shouldn’t some of these be independent of the PM’s Department and answerable to Parliament instead?
Why this centralisation of power?
Thanks to masterwordsmith’s blog for some of this info.

Gender paradox

By Anil Netto,

Girls and women are excelling in secondary and tertiary education; yet formal women’s participation in public life and major decision-making remains lower. Why is that?
This is a piece I wrote for IPS:
It is a paradox, all right. Women make up more than half of those who take part in protests and other activities organised by her political party on issues affecting low-income workers, says Rani Rasiah of the Socialist Party of Malaysia.
But when it comes to holding official positions at the party’s local branches, more than half of the officials happen to be men, she observes.
“Maybe the womenfolk feel they have responsibilities at home and are unable to attend regular party meetings and the demands that come with them,” reasons the party’s deputy secretary general.
”There is also a certain degree of control at home about women going out at night or leaving the household to attend regular meetings,” she continues. ”Maybe the women themselves lack self esteem and self-confidence to play a leadership role.”
Full article in IPS here.

Police filmed dragging women and babies during protest

London, England (CNN) -- A video has emerged showing French police evicting African immigrants with babies and children during a housing protest in a Paris suburb.

Police arrived in the north-east Parisian suburb of La Courneuve last Wednesday and asked a group of about 60 mostly women and children to move, said Michael Hajdenberg, a journalist with the French media organization Mediapart.

The group had been living in the street since being evicted from their council homes on July 8 to make way for a new housing project, he said.

When the group failed to respond to the request, Hajdenberg said police officers forcibly removed them.

Authorities had offered to accommodate them for a short period in hotels, but Hajdenberg said the immigrants wanted more of a long-term guarantee of places to live.

The video shows police dragging away women with babies and young children. In one scene a woman with a baby wrapped to her back is dragged along the pavement while screaming and shouting.

Another scene shows what appears to be a pregnant woman lying on her back on the street. Police can also be seen carrying women away while children and babies are screaming.
Because the experience was so traumatic they have ended up accepting the offer to go into the hotel

The incident lasted about 30 minutes said Hajdenberg, who added that "there were no serious injuries, mostly cuts and scrapes."

The immigrants are mostly from the Ivory Coast, said Michael Hoare, a spokesman for the campaign group Right to Housing.

"Most of them have been in France for between 3 to 10 years. Some of them have papers, some of them don't. They have submitted demands to be legalized," Hoare told CNN.

Hoare said that on the day of the incident, 21 July, police had evicted journalists from the vicinity but that a member of DAL, a French rights group, had managed to film the scenes.

The arrested protesters were released later the same day and have since accepted short-term hotel accommodation, Hoare said.

"Because the experience was so traumatic they have ended up accepting the offer to go into the hotel and there are meetings going on about their future," he said.

Commissioner Christian Lambert from the Police Commissioner's office of the town Bobigny said in a written statement: "An eviction is never a[n] simple procedure when there is resistance involved on behalf of those being evicted."

Regarding the scene in which a mother is dragged with her child on her back, the statement read: "The officers were not able to dislodge her by pulling on her arms because her arms were linked with people on both sides. Therefore they moved her by pulling on her legs. Within a meter or so the baby is dislodged and become apparent to another officer who immediately picks it up."

The statement added: "The situation of the evicted squatters is currently being examined to see if they can be re-housed depending on different criteria."

Conservative vs activist judges - what shall it be?

(Malaysiakini) The 15^th Malaysia Law Conference had a glimpse of the differences between a conservative and activist judge. Conservative judges believe in practicing judicial restraint, leaving out their personal feelings and opinions on the law and deferring to constitutional and legal interpretations already existing.

Activist judges would go much further to use their powers to shape social policy, for example with regard to civil rights, protection of individual rights, political unfairness, and public morality.

Following today's session, Chief Justice Zaki Azmi (left) will fall into the conservative camp as opposed to someone like recently retired Federal Court judge Gopal Sri Ram who is seen as an 'activist' or progressive judge.

Both were present albeit at different sessions of the conference today. Zaki said the 'activist' viewpoint carried its own dangers taking as an example Lord Denning who he said may be popular and good and necessary in some instances, but not in others.

"Such a judge can overly expand or narrow down set legal principles based on his personal ideals. Is that right? To me it is a dangerous trend to follow.

"Should judges even at the apex court sitting three, five, seven or nine change the law perhaps against the wishes of the voters by interpreting a legislation in a manner not intended by the legislators?" he asked.

Zaki said judges therefore have to be particularly cautious in being too eager to follow precedents in common law countries.

The Malaysian constitution, he said, in his view was a relatively young constitution and those responsible for drafting it had the benefit of many principles and guidelines set by earlier laws or constitutions.

Zaki also noted that most Malaysian judges played the conservative role of being interpreters of the law rather than legislators.

"A very small number express their personal views in their judgments but these are usually frowned upon by their colleagues. Some of these judgments are corrected on appeal."

Zaki, however, noted that if there are no reforms by way of judicial activism, the development of the law would be left in the hands of legislators or members of Parliament.

Sri Ram: Knock on judiciary's door

In another session, Sri Ram, along with law professor Shad Saleem Faruqi and former High Court judge Syed Ahmad Idid Syed Ahmad talked on the topic of `Interpreting a Written Constitution' with saw a lighter discussion.

The former Federal Court judge, who is the only judge to rise straight from private practise to the Court of Appeal and deemed vocal at times, was asked by one of the delegates as to how she should continue fighting for women's rights in terms of the different retirement ages based on labour laws.

Sri Ram (left) replied that she should persevere and continue knocking on the judiciary's door.

However, the senior retired judge noted that young lawyers must put forth good and valid arguments to support their cases.

Sri Ram, who delivered much-publicised judgments like the Metramac affair where his remarks on former finance minister Daim Zainuddin that 'he ran his ministry like a coffee shop' were expunged by the apex court, reminded participants that the courts were the ultimate bastion against executive incursions upon freedoms and fundamental rights.

"It is their sworn constitutional duty to keep a constant vigil against any form of erosion of fundamental rights. When the courts fail in this duty, even the most carefully crafted constitution cannot provide security to the ordinary citizens," he said.

Sri Ram was the longest serving Court of Appeal judge until he was elevated to the Federal Court late last year. He only managed to serve at the apex court for several months before he retired early this year.

Hindu family practicing Hinduism forced to convert to Islam by Jabatan Agama Islam (Islamic Religious Department)

 



No.6, Jalan Abdullah, Off Jalan Bangsar, 59000 Kuala Lumpur. Tel : 03-2282 5241
Fax : 03-2282 5241 Fax: 03-2282 5245
Website: www.humanrightspartymalaysia.com E-mail: info@humanrightspartymalaysia.com
Your Reply :
In Reply :
HRP Media Event 31/07/2010 (Saturday)
RE: 1. Hindu family practicing Hinduism forced to convert to Islam by Jabatan Agama Islam
(Islamic Religious Department)
2. National Registration Department unlawfully refuse to change and register name and status of this family to Hindus.
Date : 31/072010 (Saturday)
Time : 11.30 a.m
Venue : As above
Note : The family members would be present.
Thank you.
Your faithfully,
____________________
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(Information Chief)
(H/P No : 012-636 2287)

Affirmative action uncertainty affecting FDI, says Nazir

KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 — Wrangling over affirmative action in the proposed New Economic Model (NEM) is causing uncertainty among investors, said top banker Datuk Seri Nazir Razak.

The CIMB Bank chief executive officer said that there was a lot of debate over what sort of affirmative action should be in the NEM, notably involving vocal Malay rights group Perkasa, and the government needed to decide quickly for the sake of giving investors a sense of direction.

“Dealing with the new version of NEP is sensitive and there is all sorts of speculation but this period needs to be cut short,” Nazir told a law conference here today, referring to the New Economic Policy (NEP).

“My worry is that it is taking too long. Let’s just decide what affirmative action will remain.”

Nazir, whose brother is Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, added that Malaysia could be losing out in terms of foreign direct investment (FDI) due to the uncertainty.

“If I come this year I may need a Bumi partner but next year I may not, so wait lah,” he said by way of illustration.

The Najib administration has been trying to lift Malaysia’s profile as a destination for foreign investment to help the country achieve an average GDP growth of at least 6 per cent per annum over the next five years in an effort to become a high income nation.

The country’s FDI rates have fallen faster than other regional players like Singapore and China, and at the same time capital outflows have dampened private domestic investments. Net portfolio and direct investment outflows had reached US$61 billion (RM197 billion) in 2008 and 2009 according to official data.

More recently the UNCTAD World Investment Report 2010 said that FDI inflows to Malaysia dropped 81 per cent to RM4.4 billion last year from RM23 billion in 2008.

Nazir was guest speaker at the 15th Malaysia Law Conference organised by the Bar Council.

Nazir last month repeated his call for a review of the NEP adding that the policy has been unfair to the majority of Malays. He said the time has come for the government to protect the interest of the majority of the Malays and not just selected few.

“I have met a Malay professional overseas who refused to return to Malaysia because he is of the view that successful Malays are not welcomed in the country. This is because the Malays’ success is always linked to NEP,” said Nazir in an interview with Mingguan Malaysia published on June 20.

“In fact some of them refused to return thinking that the NEP is not for them but only to selected Malay groups, so they are better off working overseas,” he said when asked if the new generation of Malays are more open to reviewing the policy.

However, Nazir said certain aspect of the NEP such as scholarships allocation should be retained.

“Those who have been trying to stop efforts to review the NEP are those who are benefiting from the NEP. That was why some contractors were not happy with open tender but they never ask if they get the job, what would happen to other Malay contractors. Why refuse to compete?” said Nazir to a question on the opposition to a review of the NEP.

He said that the policy, introduced during the premiership of his father Tun Abdul Razak Hussein in 1971 has deviated from its original objective.

Govt urged to act immediately on Penan issues

By Joseph Tawie - Free Malaysia Today,

KUCHING: The Sarawak government has been urged to revoke immediately licenses and leases involving the Penan's native customary land if it was serious in helping the community and the indigenous people.
The Borneo Resources Institute Malaysia (Brimas) also urged the Sarawak government to recognise the rights of the Penan and indigenous people of Sarawak.
“If the government is sincere in helping the Penans and has nothing to hide, it should immediately revoke licenses and leases which overlap with NCR lands.
“And they should immediately stop the issuing of logging licences, licences to plant forests and provisional leases over the native customary lands (NCR) and territories of the indigenous people, “ said Brimas executive director Mark Bujang.
Bujang was responding to Land Development Minister James Masing’s statement in London on Tuesday that the government was ready to engage non-governmental organisations (NGOS) with regards to issues affecting the Penan community.
Whilst lauding Masing’s statement, he however said that the government must survey and recognise the Penan territories.
“Masing's comment is seen as a positive development, taking into account that all these years, NGOs working on social and environmental issues have been ridiculed and labelled as anti-development, anti-establishment and negative by certain ministers and civil servants.
“We believe the government should survey and grant recognition of the Penans’ native customary rights land and territories as what Prime Minister Najib (Razak) had announced recently,” Bujang said.
He added the exercise should also cover other areas occupied by the indigenous people of Sarawak.
Land for Penan
Bujang also called on Masing to disclose the exact location where 300 Penans were purportedly given land by the state government to hunt.
“We are still in the dark over this matter,” he said.
On the Penan rape victims, he also called on the state government to look into their plights and immediately order a police investigation.
“We do not wish to see the state government dragging its feet on this matter and blaming the NGOs for not being cooperative.
“The police should not close these cases even if at this moment there is lack of evidence to charge the perpetrators.
“As a first engagement, we would like the state government to call for a dialogue with the social and environmental NGOs and discuss further issues affecting the indigenous people and the environment in Sarawak,” he said.
Masing had, on the sidelines of the inaugural Oxford Global Islamic Branding and Marketing Forum , told newsmen that the state government was always ready to engage with NGOs to discuss issues affecting the Penans.
“We have nothing to hide and what we are doing now is for the good of the community. We have never run away from the NGOs,” he said.

Abolish ISA candlelight vigils in 8 states

The Abolish ISA Movement (GMI) and rights group Suaram aim to hold simultaneous candlelight vigils against the abhorred law in eight states around the country on Sunday.
The protest will be held as an effort to pressure Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein to repeal the Internal Security Act.

Aug 1 marks the 50th anniversary of the draconian act, which was introduced by first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman's administration in 1960.

The candlelight vigils will be held at the following venues and times:

• Dataran MBPJ, Padang Timur in Petaling Jaya at 8pm

• Speaker's Square, Penang (9pm)

• Dataran Bandaraya Ipoh (8pm)

• Dataran Zero KM, Sungai Petani (8pm)

• Taman Hijau, Jalan Sultanah Zainab, Kota Bharu (8pm)

• Pusat Tanah Wang, Jalan Perdada, Sibu (8pm)

• Bangunan Al Idrus Commercial Centre, Kuching (8pm)

• Front Entrance of 1 Borneo Hypermall, Kota Kinabalu (1pm)

On Monday, GMI chairperson Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh announced that the coalition of NGOs would distribute around 100,000 leaflets on the draconian law on the same day.

GMI also plans to erect billboards and put up banners on the ISA in Selangor, he added.

Syed Ibrahim called on the government to abolish all existing detention-without-trial laws such as the ISA, Emergency Ordinance 1969, Restricted Residence Act 1933 and Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 with immediate effect.

Suaram's 2009 Human Rights Report - released on July 21 - said Najib's first year in office marked further deterioration in the state of human rights in the nation.

In his maiden speech as prime minister, Najib had said his administration would not use the ISA arbitrarily and would give importance to the principles of human rights and civil liberties.

The government is planning to table amendments to the ISA in the areas of length of detention, rights and treatment of detainees and their families, the power of the home minister, the use of ISA for political reasons and detention without trial.

Did Liong Sik cheat the Cabinet or did the Cabinet cheat Malaysians?

Former Transport Minister and MCA president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik has denied that he conned the Cabinet about what transpired in the PKFZ matter. The crux of the whole matter is was the Cabinet in the know and did the Cabinet endorse whatever was going on or was Liong Sik acting alone without the Cabinet’s knowledge? Let the Cabinet Papers tell the story.
NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin
Dr Ling denies cheating Govt over PKFZ scandal
Former Transport Minister and MCA president Tun Dr Ling Liong Sik has become the highest-ranking person yet to be charged with cheating the Government over the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal and he pleaded not guilty.
The party stalwart — the fifth person to be charged over the PKFZ saga — is out on a RM1mil bail after appearing at the Sessions Court here yesterday.
Accompanied by his wife Toh Puan Ena Ling and sons Hee Leong and Hee Keat, Dr Ling later told reporters that he had faith in the country’s judicial system.
MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said he was shocked by the charge, but expressed confidence that Dr Ling would get a fair trial. -- The Star
THE CHARGE: That you, between Sept 25 and Nov 6, 2002, at Level 4 of the Prime Minister’s Office in Bangunan Perdana Putra, cheated the Govern­ment by deceiving the Cabinet into approving a land purchase in Pulau Indah....

**************************************

AND WHAT THE CABINET PAPERS REVEAL

Winning Hearts and Minds in Afghanistan

(Asia Sentinel) The grim truth of war remains: hearts and minds are lost in the campaign to get the enemy by the balls

Perhaps the most disturbing narrative to emerge from the 92,000 documents leaked earlier this week by the WikiLeaks website on the Afghan war, and the most damaging to the coalition, implicates coalition troops in that most unpalatable of acts: war crimes.

As the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange claimed at a news conference in London this week, the documents reveal evidence of hundreds of civilian deaths in previously unreported incidents that might technically qualify as war crimes.

It is this that threatens to truly obliterate what vestiges of home-grown popular support for the war remain, particularly in the UK where such support has never occurred naturally but has been generated through the efforts of media outlets such as the Murdoch-owned tabloids and charities such as Help For Heroes.

Among UK popular opinion, the war itself remains a matter of questionable legitimacy, but support for serving troops has traveled a steep trajectory during the past four years and as such helped to buffer the erstwhile Labour government against a potentially fatal surge in anti-war feeling. In the end it was the economy that did for Labour, not the war in Afghanistan. The story of civilian deaths, potential war crimes and the shadowy picture of unaccountable trigger-happy servicemen painted by Assange – which is strongly emphasised in The Guardian's selection of what it says are 300 of the most notable WikiLeak reports – threatens to remove this already waning buffer.

For Assange and the Guardian, the defining conclusion or singular "truth" to be drawn from this classified material is the "everyday squalor" of war. This should not be news to many, and it is certainly not news to the forces fighting in Afghanistan or indeed for those individuals awaiting their homecoming, in whatever form this may eventually take. British Jingoism died in the Flanders fields and few right-minded individuals relish the war or the damage it metes out to all involved, civilians, soldiers, friends and relatives alike. Speak to relatives of UK serving soldiers and it is clear that, particularly among the younger generation, the war is a matter not merely of discomfort but in some instances evident embarrassment.

According to those on the ground in Afghanistan, however, there is a more useful narrative to be drawn from the leak and it is one borne out not only in the content of the reports, but in their style and indeed existence: the coalition forces, most importantly the US and British armed forces, are simply not cut out for insurgency warfare – not merely in Afghanistan but anywhere at all.

Many soldiers emphasize the exceptionality of the unreported civilian deaths in what is otherwise, they stress, a series of mundane internal reports. For the most part, the reports in fact underline the exceedingly high level of accountability that prevails at the lowest levels of the US and British forces, they argue. Report after report consistently details what most onlookers would perceive to be tediously minor details – standard warning shots, dead chickens, slight injuries including grazes and numbness in one hand, car doors accidentally taken off. According to soldiers on the ground, it is the culture and expectation of the British and US forces that incidents of the most trivial nature are logged, and that all operations are approached in a "surgical" manner.

But it is precisely this strong military culture of accountability that makes fighting an unaccountable force such as the Taliban almost impossible, say soldiers, especially amid the broader backdrop of near absolute impunity enjoyed and perpetuated by corrupt local Afghan officials. The Taliban fear no reprisals for getting it wrong, but the coalition forces do. It is an insurmountable asymmetry.

As the newly appointed Gen. David H Petraeus implies in a 24-point manifesto published in Kabul on July 27, this asymmetry should be deployed to the coalition's advantage: it is precisely because Afghanistan suffers from a general accountability vacuum at nearly every level of authority that the coalition forces must act as a responsible example and confront impunity where it arises.

"The Taliban are not the only enemy of the people. The people are also threatened by inadequate governance, corruption and abuse of power – the Taliban's best recruiters," Patreaus writes in the manifesto. But this psychological policy – which forms part of the overarching 'winning hearts and minds' stratagem – has already proved to be a major military disadvantage, as amply demonstrated this summer by the fiasco of so-called 'courageous restraint'.

Masterminded by the now disgraced Gen. Stanley McChrystal, 'courageous restraint' goes beyond the rules of engagement in order to ensure soldiers go to great lengths to minimize civilian casualties, even if this means putting troops in greater danger. The US hopes courageous restraint will address widespread Afghan resentment towards the coalition forces caused by the types of coalition-led casualties highlighted by the WikiLeak.

According to reports from the front line, however, the policy has often made it impossible for coalition forces to engage the enemy, putting troops in extreme danger. It is no coincidence that a growing number of the multiple troop fatalities and injuries occurring this summer have been caused by small arms fire: under courageous restraint troops are not always able to take offensive or even defensive action – and the Taliban know it. Indeed, it remains to be seen if courageous restraint will save many civilian lives since the strategy automatically transforms civilians, already used by the Taliban for cover, into an ever more valuable defense tool – a strategy they need defend to no-one.

In his manifesto, Patreaus seems not to remove but to tweak the policy, which he reportedly believes has not been implemented properly. But this is war by degree and definition and, as such, it is highly unlikely to succeed, troops say. Conventional wars against insurgent forces have only proved successful – as Britain's 1948-1960 coercive campaign in present-day Malaysia demonstrate – at the cost of major civilian casualties, they point out.

But this is rightly unacceptable to the democratically-governed populations watching at home, who wish neither for civilians to be massacred nor, perhaps more to the point, for their sons and husbands to return home as war criminals. The WikiLeaks evidence serves, for the most part, to highlight the strong level of care and accountability that governs military engagement, but it is a care and accountability that will ultimately prove the coalition's downfall.

As such, the WikiLeak affair in its entirety – insomuch as it represents the triumph of transparency, truth and the freedom of information for all, some argue – merely underlines once again the self-limiting nature of democracies and their inability to replicate themselves without transgressing the principles that define them.

But this fundamental dilemma will not end with WikiLeaks or the rushed withdrawal from Afghanistan. According to the US-based Stratfor risk analysis concern, this week France has effectively declared a war of sorts on al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a long-established North African militant group which in April kidnapped and last week murdered a French aid worker. Meanwhile, Al Shabaab, the Islamist rebel group which is thought to have links with al Qaeda, this month carried out what is believed to be its first suicide attacks outside its native Somalia, where it is doing its level best to overthrow the decrepit Western-backed Somali government.

There is no shortage of potential future Afghanistans of one kind or another. Assange says the course of the current war needs to change, and he is not alone in this view. As the UK's Conservative-Liberal coalition government undertakes its long-awaited military spending review, some soldiers hope and expect that Afghanistan will in the long-term force a full-scale transformation of the British armed forces and its war-fighting strategy and tactics. But it remains to be seen if the outcome will be to Assange's liking.

Michelle Price is a journalist at global finance and policy magazine The Banker, a Financial Times publication, where she is responsible for Asia coverage.

Bolstering and Breeding Bigotry in Bolehland

By Martin Jalleh

The light, lenient, ludicrous and laughable court sentences on the cow-head protestors lends credence to the growing belief that Umno lives and lasts on bigotry

On 28 August last year, more than 50 people, shortly after their Friday prayers, marched from the Selangor state mosque in Shah Alam to the Selangor State Secretariat to protest the relocation of a 150-year old Hindu temple to their neighbourhood.

Amidst strong chants of “Allahuakbar!” they dragged and paraded the severed and bloodied head of a cow. One of their leaders shouted “I guarantee bloodshed and racial tension (if the temple relocation takes place)”.

Some of them made fiery speeches, spat on the severed cow’s head, kicked it, stomped on it, dumped it in front of the gates of the State Secretariat and proudly posed for photos, as police stood stoically, silently and submissively by.

Malaysian Hindus (who consider the cow a sacred animal) protested vehemently and called it a “sacrilegious act”. Other non-Muslims described it as “sickening” and “scandalous”. Many Muslims in the country considered it “shameless” and “so un-Islamic”.

A Muslim wrote: “These hooligans don’t represent all of us”. Another added: “As a Muslim, I am ashamed at the behaviour of these hoodlums especially during the holy month of Ramadhan. I really wonder who the head honchos are behind this unscrupulous act.”

The world watched in shock at how such a provocative act, or as some would later call it “barbaric behaviour” could have taken place in Malaysia – a country which its government boasts of as being a supposed showcase of a multi-racial-religious society today!

Hishammuddin’s Hypocrisy

In spite of a nationwide outcry and the lodging of 98 police reports against the cow-head protestors, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein who often hypes about racial and religious harmony decided to hijack the role of the police, Attorney-General (AG) and even the judiciary.

He went out of the way to meet in his office with the protestors – the very people who had committed what was clearly a seditious and sacrilegious act. He even daftly declared them innocent, defended their actions and deemed legal action against them as unnecessary.

According to him, the protestors were the ones who were “victimised”. They had no intention to stir racial emotion! It was not the first time an animal head had been used in a protest! The police allowed them to proceed because the numbers of protestors were small. Hishammuddin humoured the whole nation!

So desperate was he to justify the heinous act that he would even declare: “In this day and age, protests should be accepted in this world, as people want their voices to be heard. If we don’t give them room to voice their opinions, they have no choice but to protest.”

Hishammuddin’s hypocrisy could not hold when, about a week after the cow-head protest, police arrested 16 Hindraf leaders who were in the midst of holding a peaceful candlelight vigil to voice their strong protest against the sacrilegious act in Shah Alam.

(According to Lim Kit Siang, Hishammuddin’s “obsession to defend the Umno role in the cow-head demonstration” was “to further the Umno/BN agenda to weaken and topple the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor State Government”.)

In comparison, the PM very dramatically said he was deeply disturbed by the despicable act, demanded that the issue be nipped in the bud and directed the IGP to act swiftly and sternly. It is 11 months since the incident and the Shah Alam Sessions Court delivered its judgment on the matter on 28 July 2010.

Pathetic Patail

The Court fined 12 cow-head protestors RM1,000 each after they pleaded guilty to an alternative charge of taking part in an illegal assembly. Two of the protestors were fined RM3,000 for sedition while one of the two was also ordered to serve a week in jail.

The actions of the cow-head protestors as so accurately described by Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad, were “extreme and provocative”. Very naturally the public had expected stiff, stern and severe court sentences that would stop the country from sliding further down the slippery slope of religious extremism.

Sadly the sentences defied all logic. They were glaringly light, lenient and ludicrous. They made the AG’s Chambers, the judiciary and the government laughable. Once again the loud and oft-dramatic resolve by the powers-that-be to check extremism by Muslim groups have proven to be only lip service.

A fine of a paltry sum of RM1,000 to RM3,000, a preposterous jail sentence of only a week for one of the protestors – such pathetic punishment for outright religious bigotry can only come from a predictable judiciary ready to please and pander to the wishes of its political masters.

“I hope in future the accused will all be more sensitive in their actions. It is also hoped that this sentence will serve as a deterrent to others in future,” the words of judge Hasbi Hasan rang hollow in the court as the guilty heaved a sigh of relief – devoid of any sense of remorse.

For taking part in such a diabolical act of desecration which could have triggered off serious racial and religious disturbances, four of the protestors who had maintained their innocence and were supposed to go through separate trials, were discharged – after AG Gani Patail decided not to press further charges!

The gravity of the offence warranted a stringent and not a farcical deterrent sentence. The implications of the offence to worsening race and religious relations were very grave. But the AG was not at all serious in sending out a clear message that such offences will not be tolerated. Neither was the Court!

It did not seem to matter to the AG that the public could see through the “big show” of toughness put up by his Chambers and the Court. Such a charade reduced the PM’s initial proclamations of swift and severe action to mere pious pronouncements and pretentious promises meant to placate public anger.

Further, one is prompted to ask would the Court sentences be the same if a group of Hindus were to spit and stomp on the Holy Quran and left it outside the gates of the Selangor State Secretariat? Would they be discharged due to their insistence of being innocent?

Ramon Navaratnam, chairman of the Centre for Public Policy Studies puts this succinctly: “I would say this warrants the maximum sentence, if not, much higher than that…Frankly, the public would be asking would the sentence commensurate with the crime if it was other ethnic groups involved.”

P. Uthayakumar, Human Rights party secretary-general was more blunt: “I urge the attorney-general to appeal against the Sessions Court’s sentence and further prosecute them (the four perpetrators) under Section 298(A) as I believe this clause would have been used if it were the Muslims who were offended instead.”

(Commenting on the ongoing hearing of three Muslim youth charged for fire-bombing a church, lawyer Annou Xavier wrote in an e-mail that little is to be expected of the outcome of the trail as the (ill-prepared and inexperienced) prosecution team has demonstrated little regard to the seriousness of the case). )

Breeding bigotry

The cow-head protest should come as no surprise. It is the logical consequence and culmination of years of the authorities closing an eye and sometimes both, to the provocative and extreme acts of Muslim groups, whilst putting up a facade of a thorough investigation and taking fair and firm action.

Five months later, in the aftermath of a landmark ruling by the Kuala Lumpur High Court which ordered the lifting of the Home Minister’s ban on the Catholic church publishing the word “Allah” in its weekly paper, Herald, arson attacks, vandalism and other incidents took place in 11 churches and a Sikh temple.

What gives extremist Muslim groups the audacity to insult other faiths, incite religious hatred, and be so intolerant and insensitive to non-Muslims? Perhaps it has to do with them being very confident that they can display their insolence with impunity. They are well-provided and protected and their fines may even be paid – by Umno.

Umno is in a desperate state. In spite of its many claims of having changed, it continues with its political culture of divide and rule and of a siege mentality by politicising religion and creating unfounded insecurities amongst Muslims and a distrust of other religions.

Very ironically and tragically it appears that Umno can only unite the Malays and Muslims by dividing the country! The party that harps on supremacy and superiority whether it is with regard to race or religion, at the same time claims that Muslims can be very easily confused, convinced and converted!

Umno thrives on bigotry. It survives on religious extremism, fanaticism and fanning fears and fantasising enemies! Its members and all Muslims in the country are made to believe that they must stamp their superiority over the rest, and this is made all the more easier by Executive Supremacy!

According to Umno’s brand of Islam, the Malay/Muslim majority in this country must dominate, dictate, decide and even define what the minority (non-Muslims) can and cannot do; discuss, deliberate and debate on in public; and display in print.

The saddest outcome of the cow-head protest is that we have accepted the distinction between “Muslim and non-Muslim dominated areas”. Yet, there was a time when Bolehland’s citisens of diverse races and religions so successfully and confidently co-existed and lived together side by side in mutual respect and admiration!

After being PM for 15 months, Najib has failed to fight the fires of religious fanaticism, aggressively fanned by his own party. He takes flight and hides behind his 1Malaysia slogan – a faltering façade and flop which makes him look so utterly foolish! 1 Malaysia has become one big joke!

The inadequate sentences of the cow-head protestors make it very clear that burgeoning bigotry will continue to rear its ugly head in Bolehland as long as the Umnoputras rule Putrajaya. May Allah (oops, did I convert anyone) help us!

MCA Happy 92 Per Cent Top Chinese Students Enter Public Universities

KOTA BAHARU, July 30 (Bernama) -- MCA's effort to ensure more Chinese students be admitted into public higher learning institutions has paid off, as 92 per cent of top Chinese students in the SPM and STPM examinations this year succeeded in furthering their studies.

Party vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen said this showed the struggle by MCA for Chinese students' education had been successful through the close cooperation of all component parties in the Barisan Nasional.

"The number is higher than last year when only 80 per cent of the students found places in the public universities. We have done this quietly compared to the opposition who only made noise but did nothing," she told reporters after the opening of the Kelantan MCA delegates' meeting, here Friday.

The meeting was opened by MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek. Also present were party secretary-general Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha and Youth head Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong.

Dr Ng said some of the top performing students were also successful in getting popular courses.

Dr Ng, who is also Tourism Minister, said with that, the problem which was raised by Chinese students each year had been resolved.

Bloated PM’s Department?

Is this incredible or what? The White House employs 1,888 staff, but Malaysia’s Prime Minister’s Department has 43,554 employees.
There is also a similar disparity in their respective budgets. The White House’s budget is US$394 million for 2011.
Have a look at the White House website here.
Compare that with the PM’s Dept budget of RM4 billion or is that RM12 billion?
The vast difference is partly down to the whole array of departments, agencies, and what-have-you under the Prime Minister’s Department.
Have a look at the organisation chart for the PM’ Department on its official website here.
You will see a whole list of set-ups under the PM’s office, ranging from Felda (in the news lately), Suhakam (so much for its independence), the National Audit Department (independent?), Biro Tatanegara(!), Elections Commission (independent?), anti-corruption commission (independent?), the Maritime Enforcement Agency, EPU…
Shouldn’t some of these be independent of the PM’s Department and answerable to Parliament instead?
Why this centralisation of power?
Thanks to masterwordsmith’s blog for some of this info.

ISA Vigils, Sex Workers, Education Movements

Three events for the weekend:
1. Nationwide vigils against the ISA on Sunday night, do come out and show you still care!
2. Jom ke Chow Kit! An awareness event held by the Pink Triangle Foundation
3. A book launch and seminar: “Lim Lian Geok – Soul of the Malaysian Chinese”
Details below:

Gerakan Mansuhkan ISA (GMI) and Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) would like to invite all concerned citizens to a Candle light Vigil in conjunction with 50 years of ISA. The Vigil will be held on the 1st of August 2010, 8pm at several parts of Malaysia such as:
Venue in in each state:

State	Place	Contact Person
Selangor	Dataran MBPJ, Padang Timur (Opposite Amcorp Mall)	Nalini: 019 3758912
Penang	Speakers Square	Jing Cheng: 012 7583779
Perak	Dataran Bandaraya Ipoh	Dr. Kumar: 019 5616807
Kedah	Dataran Zero KM, Sungai Petani	Simon Ooi : 012 4202264
Kelantan	Taman Hijau, Jalan Sultanah Zainab (After Merdeka Field)	Zaidi: 0123840415
Seremban	Dataran Seremban	Veron: 016 6687900
Sibu	No. 25, Pusat Tanah Wang, Jalan Perdada, 96000 Sibu, Sarawak	George  0198873515
Kuching	Lots 468-469, Bangunan Al Idrus Commercial Centre, Jalan Satok, 93400Kuching.	See Chee How 019-8886509, Zulkifli 013-8958174

We demand the Government of Malaysia to Abolish the ISA as soon as possible as the barbaric and unlawful Act has existed in Malaysia for 50 years. The ISA is draconian and most importantly, it is against the fundamental human rights.
Please join us together to fight the ISA and all other detention without trial laws! Together We CAN Bring CHANGE!
GMI Secretariat will update everyone from time to time regarding the venue of the Vigils in each state mentioned above. Please bear with us. For further info, please contact Miss Nalini at 019 3758912 or 03 77843525.