Self-contradictory racists examined

Racism is a funny old business in Malaysia. It is the most lucrative and effective political capital as it is easier to teach humans to hate than to love; to despise than to appreciate; and to discredit than to respect.



Especially when the target students are lesser developed in intellectual and reasoning ability.

Mind you this is one of the most difficult post I think I have to write. Explaining plain daylight and obvious stupidity is no mean task.

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http://cdn.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=11126:perkasa-to-spearhead-1melayu-1bumi-against-the-chinese&Itemid=2

Perkasa to spearhead 1Melayu, 1Bumi against the Chinese

Perkasa has announced its spearheading of the “1Melayu, 1Bumi” movement, warning Malays that the Chinese were seeking ultimate political power.

In backing Utusan Malaysia’s call for a movement to “unite” all Malay parties, Perkasa secretary-general Syed Hassan Syed Ali said that Malay rights group did not have the “luxury of time” to wait for Malay political parties to initiate action.

“Perkasa will take on the responsibility of spearheading the “1Melayu, 1Bumi” movement, where it is obvious the Chinese, through the DAP are trying to take over the political power of the Malays.

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Flaw #1: Chinese are not aftering ultimate political power. Being a minority in Malaysia, there is no chance. Chinese are merely interested in making a comfortable living like dynamic economic conditions, good public amenities, safe environment and good standard of living.

Can Perkasa count properly? How many electoral seats in Malaysia are chinese majority? It is virtually impossible for Chinese to dominate voting pattern in Malaysia.

Why the siege mentality? The following are malays: Bank Negara governor, Ketua Polis Negara, armed forces chiefs, prime and deputy prime ministers, most of the menteri besars, pengerusi Bursa Saham Malaysia, securities commission chairman, director general of income tax, MACC director, speaker of parliament and state assemblies, head of Petronas, chairman of most local banks ..... heck even the president of Malaysia's Institute of Accountants is a malay.

After accusing non-malays for non-existence political conspiracy, and calling non-malays pendatangs, pariahs, sepet, kaki botol and what not, this is the peace sign handed across Najib's 1Malaysia:-

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http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/perkasa-tells-non-malays-to-view-it-positively/

Perkasa tells non-Malays to view it positively


ALOR SETAR, April 25 — Perkasa today said the Chinese and Indian communities should view it in a positive light as it was acting in accordance with the law.

The right-wing Malay group added that there was no secret agenda behind its struggle to defend the rights of Malays.

Kedah Perkasa president Syed Osman Mansor said it fought for Malays because “the Malays have become disunited because of politics.”

He said, however, that Perkasa has improved Malay unity as seen in two large gatherings held in Pasir Mas, Kelantan, and Pasir Salak, Perak, this year.

Syed Osman was speaking ahead of Perkasa’s launch of the 1 Bumiputera campaign this Saturday in the northern state, where he expects 30,000 people to show up.

Perkasa had said it would champion Utusan Malaysia’s call for Malay parties and NGOs to form a 1 Melayu, 1 Bumi movement which the Umno-owned newspaper said was in response to growing Chinese political power due to DAP’s racial politics.

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Flaw #2:Why is it ok for Perkasa that Malays should be united under 1 political party while it is not ok for Perkasa that Chinese, according to them anyway, to be united under 1 political party?

There is something called double standard.

Perkasa, and the extreme right wingers can only see things from a racist angle. Everything is race, race and race....truly them are the amazing race!

By most accounts, Chinese in Malaysia and accross the world are practical and analytical. When they assess political parties, they do not look at superficial cosmetics but what the parties stand for. They support political parties who can bring upon justice and good governance so that they can make a living, enjoy life and feel secured materially and spiritually.

Chinese do not vote base on blind loyalty to skin colour. Ask MCA and they will confirm that having the same skin tone do not guarantee votes.

If UMNO adopts DAP's philosophy and DAP adopts UMNO's philosophy then I would gamble that chinese would vote for UMNO and not DAP. Whether BN like it or not, I do see it taking a leaf or 2 from the Buku Jingga which they oenly despise.

And as an indication of the level of reasoning capability of the political right wingers, they expect the targets of their threats, taunts, slander and libel to take them in a positive light. You can't expect the person you have bullied and insulted to feel friendly to you, right?

BN, as the administrator for the nation for more than half a century, is responsible for the national policies, institutions and implementation of such policies. They are directly responsible and accountable for the living conditions we tax payers are served with.

Judging by the spate of engineered social tension such as the cow head protest, church fire bombing, rise of the right wingers without checks, crime wave, poor intellect and inability to reason by a significant segment of the population, BN has failed the tax payers in bringing Malaysia to the promised land of harmony, physical as well as mental progress and prosperity depsite being blessed with huge natural resources, diversified and talented population, being in natural-disaster-free region.

It seems that the political front that relies too much and too long on racism to maintain power has nearly run its course. Continuing this colonial style political mentality with make Malaysia a laughing stock of the world and arrest its development significantly. Time to change. Either BN changes its reliance on racism as a political currency, or BN could well be changed.

Screwed up Government with screwed up policies

Sunday Star 24 April 2011. Dr Mahathir- '...Dr Mahathir said the Government must continue to provide more trade and business opportunities for the Chinese to regain their support..'

No need la. We all breath the same air. I am quite capable of making a living and contributing to the economy in terms of technical knowledge and taxes. On the other hand, I would greatly appreciate if the Government stops harassing me everyday indirectly for not being a Malay. That's why come any elections I will place the "X" anywhere but the BN logo.

The Malaysian Chinese will support any government which:

  1. Stop playing dirty in elections.
  2. Stop harassing the Christian public by letting them call God 'Allah'- the Muslims do not own the word 'Allah'.
  3. Stop harassing the Christian public by letting them buy/ import Bibles in BM freely.
  4. Stop harassing the Malaysian Chinese by stopping the daily racism in the media such as the daily crap from Utusan Malaysia or Rizdhuan Tee.
  5. Stop threatening the Malaysian Chinese if the BN poorly performs in by elections/ state elections/ general elections.
  6. Stop the race selection criteria in government scholarships
  7. Stop protecting the racist Malay papers by giving stupid excuses. There is no such thing as personal opinion when the opinion is made public.
  8. Stop DBKL from collecting protection money from non-Malay street hawkers, stop the close-one eye attitude on Malay hawkers without trading licenses.
  9. Stop the housing special discounts for Malays.
  10. Stop the propaganda that Malays are mundur

Anything that I missed out here?

Pos Malaysia : worth the fuss to privatise?

When Pos Malaysia was listed as a public limited company, it baffled me. Why bother privatising a monopoly? Remove the profit element and instill healthy working culture, and Malaysians can be spared the profiteering increase of postage from RM0.30 to RM0.70.

If privatisation is to provide more efficient service then the excellent article below spelt out the less than ideal situation beneath the exciting images portrayed by Pos Malaysia for the past few years.







In addition to the crippling Transmile Group scandal which whacked RM200-RM300 million off the profits of Pos Malaysia, the article also highlighted that its chairman and managing director had resigned over irregularities in land sales and award of contracts.

http://business.feedfury.com/content/17725759-pos-malaysia-new-scandal-after-transmile-irregularities.html

The fact that the chairman and managing director (bumiputras, no less) could only resign* in protest suggested that there were higher powers at work that frustrated & probably prevented capable and honest professionals from taking the necessary corrective action.

This kind of working environment will deter high calibre overseas based Malaysians from coming back. This is more important than the 15% income tax abruptly announced by Najib of which the details have yet to be worked out.

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*foot note:

Very recently, the chairman took Pos Malaysia and Khazanah to court for breach of chairmanship contract.

http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=60169


In the first suit, Adam is suing the Minister of Finance, the government and Pos Malaysia Bhd. In the second suit, which was filed separately, he named Khazanah Nasional Berhad managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar as the defendant.

Adam told Bernama that his suit against Pos Malaysia had been settled amicably after he withdrew his legal action against it about three months ago.

- perhaps Pos Malaysia has to make peace knowing court action may not be advisable for them?

In the suit against Azman filed on Nov 4 last year, Adam alleged that due to unlawful interference by Azman, the government decided to terminate his contract through two letters signed by the Minister of Finance dated May 23 and May 26, 2008 whereas his appointment was supposed to end only on Feb 28, 2009.

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Yeah sure those are old stories dated 2008 but let's look at the audited accounts for 2010:

Pos Malaysia invested RM7.6 million into 3 associated companies, of which are all wiped out as useless investment, worth RM0. Of the 3, Elpos Print Sdn Bhd earned a revenue of RM12.5 million, but as its liabilities greater than its assets and even whole year's revenue, something is wrong. (Imagine you owe loans and debts which exceed your whole year salary...that is terrifying or down right stupid financial management)



If you look at the notes for related party transactions, Pos Malaysia gave Elpos Print Sdn Bhd RM10 million revenue out of its RM12 million...so how can a small company given a fat contract with a national monopoly can end up being debt ridden up to such a mess?




Elpos Print Sdn Bhd is 60% owned by Econlink Sdn Bhd and Pos Malaysia owns the remaining 40%.




According to Pos Malaysia's website here,

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http://www.pos.com.my/websitebm/main2.asp?c=/WebsiteBM/subsidiaries/Elpos.htm

Elpos Print Sdn Bhd merupakan salah satu daripada pencetak utama untuk Pos Malaysia Berhad. Elpos ditubuhkan secara perkongsian di antara Pos Malaysia Berhad dan Econlink Sdb Bhd pada tahun 1997.
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One would expect Pos Malaysia, in awarding what is effectively a public service subcontract, would exercise caution and chosen a reputable party to be prudent with public funds.

A reputable company should exhibit some healthy form of publicity, so as to project a positive image and provide relevant information to advertise itself. Many SMEs have their informative and sometimes interactive website to facilitate ease of business.

Yet, when an attempt to google up this concessionaire, all I get is a scanty picture below:



The company does not own a website, like many SMIs, to let potential customers get to know about basic facts of the company like who are the board of directors, catalogue of their products and services etc. For a company that has been a concessionaire of Pos Malaysia since the last century, surely there should be enough accumulated profits, expertise, track record to be a successful and independent enterprise.

Yet I only see a relatively subdued enterprise named as "pencetak utama" by Pos Malaysia being written off as an investment despite getting a secured and relatively sizeable source of income from Pos Malaysia. It is also contradictory for Pos Malaysia to call it a key supplier and a useless investment simultaneously. Frankly when you are getting a secured, multi-million contract doing printing work for a monopoly cum glc, it is very very hard to run your company into deep shit unless you are supremely unlucky or incompetent.

Sure, in light of the multi million and multi billion ringgit scandals that numb Malaysians into oblivion, the above seems like a small matter but yet, if Pos Malaysia that has been in operations for decades can't even do simple things right, then we can forget about becoming developed nation, Vision 2020, High Income Nation and all the other sales pitch for election


The lastest about Pos Malaysia though, is the disposal of Pos Malaysia by Khazanah to Syed Mokhtar

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http://www.todayonline.com/Business/EDC110423-0000325/DRB-to-buy-Msian-govts-stake-in-Pos-Malaysia

DRB to buy M'sian govt's stake in Pos Malaysia

04:46 AM Apr 23, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR - DRB-Hicom, a Malaysian automotives, construction and banking group controlled by billionaire Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary, has won a race to become the biggest shareholder in the Malaysia's national postal company.

It will pay RM622.8 million (S$255.6 million), or RM3.60 per share, for a 32.2-per-cent stake in Pos Malaysia, according to an e-mailed statement by Khazanah Nasional yesterday. That is a 7-per-cent premium to the company's closing share price yesterday of RM3.37.

Khazanah, an investment arm of the Malaysian government, is divesting after Prime Minister Najib Razak called on state organisations to sell down some non-core local commercial holdings to help boost stock market liquidity and attract investment. DRB-Hicom beat four other rival bids which Khazanah did not name in the statement.


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In evaluating the bid from various parties, Najib administration awarded the sale to Syed Mokhtar base on the following argument:

"DRB-Hicom was chosen based on their overall bid, which offers not only a defined strategy but also an executable business plan and an acceptable offer price," Mr Azman Mokhtar, managing director of Khazanah....

I have previously written that according to the 2009 audited accounts of Tradewinds (M) Berhad (TW), TW sold sugar, a subsidized item, amounting to RM203 million or RM550K per day to Bukhary Sdn Bhd (BSB). The balance unpaid by BSB at end of 2009 was RM118 million or equivalent to 212 days of sales when according to the accounts, normal trade terms was 7 to 90 days.

For 2008, TW sold RM165 million worth of sugar to Bukhary Sdn Bhd and the receivables not collected from Bukhary Sdn Bhd of RM170 million even exceeded the whole year sale of sugar!

I would say it is apparently an excessively favourable treatment by a listed company accorded to a private company belonging to the plc’s controlling interest. As a basic principle, management of a public company must avoid getting into conflict of interest positions.

I am not quite sure what kind of deal the public would be getting from a personality with the above track record. Things can get interesting by the looks of things as per past events...

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http://talkaboutsharesmarket.blogspot.com/2010/06/tradewinds-syed-mokhtar-linked-firms.html


TRADEWINDS: Syed Mokhtar-linked firms’ donations questioned

Tradewinds Plantation Bhd’s (TPB) AGM today could be an interesting affair as the Minority Shareholder Watchdog Group (MSWG) has sent to the company a set of questions ranging from crude oil pricing to a donation of RM10 million made to the Albukhary International University, sources said.

Of particular interest to minority shareholders will be the RM10 million donation, which is deemed as excessive, representing about 20% of the company’s net profit. MSWG’s list of questions also include seeking clarity on its plans to build palm oil mills.

TPB’s 69.76% parent Tradewinds (M) Bhd is also understood to have received a letter from MSWG over its own contribution of RM10 million as well, to the same university. Tradewinds’ AGM is slated for June 22.

The RM10 million contribution by Tradewinds works out to about 12% of its net profit for FY09. Issues have cropped up as Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary controls almost 43% of Tradewinds and has an interest in the university as well.

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Is DRB going to raise borrowings of RM622.8 million to make the acquisition? If that is so, then as Pos Malaysia only derive revenue from a public service from Malaysians hence there would be an additional RM622.8 million worth of national debt for all of us to chew on.

If vital national supply and services are concentrated into a few individuals then perhaps ETP stands for Elitist Transfers Programme.

Najib's 15%

'Professionals' are doctors, lawyers, accountants and other persons who undergo specialized training, usually belonging to an association which governs the quality of the vocation they practice. They are often regarded as highly educated and known as the 'white-collared' people. According to the Ministry of Human Resources (MHR) and Department of Statistics there were 67,310 job vacancies in the year 2010 with regards to the 'professional' category. If you think this number is not too big, think again. In 2004 there were only 5,187 registered vacancies. This makes it a 1300% increase from the years 2004 to 2010.



The trend is somewhat similar for technicians and associate professional vacancies registered with the MHR:

Kindly note assumptions number 1 to 3 at the bottom of this article whereby it is stated that private firms are not required to register unfilled positions with the MHR. It is correct to say this because private firms will normally recruit job positions on their own and not go through any government-linked agencies. Hence the actual number of unfilled positions in the Malaysian job market is higher than the MHR published statistics discussed here.

If we look at the snapshot of 2010 registered unfilled jobs, 'elementary occupations' hits the top spot. Such jobs are related to 'pekerjaan asas' such as maids, general workers, laborers and so on.
Zooming in on 'elementary occupations' the run chart below shows a steep climb from the years 2004 to 2010, a growth exceeding 13000% (10 times more that professionals) - caused by an acute shortage of workers in this category.


However the situation could have been worse. According to Tuan Haji Sabri, Deputy Director General of the Labor Department, in 2010, there were 785,000 Malaysians migrating out of the country and 1.8 million migrants into Malaysia. The 1.8 million migrants into Malaysia caught my eye because it appears that these migrants helped a little in easing the general worker shortage situation- the graph above could have been steeper. The breakdown of the 1.8 million in 2010 is as follows:


On the 785,000 Malaysians who migrated out of Malaysia, my take is that they are mostly professionals or semi-professionals who have gone out of this country. I do not have enough statistical evidence to show this (not my fault because I rely on published statistics only and I don't know why the Government has stopped releasing demographics like these since the year 2005) but being a professional myself who is in touch with the Asian region I am very confident that I am correct in saying that most the 785,000 migrants last year belonged to such a group and their reasons for migrating are push factors rather than pull factors. For me personally, it is a pain living in this country- the daily racism, the fear of political prosecution, the lack of religion freedom and so on.

Proponents of Ketuanan Melayu may ask me to leave this country on the next flight but they are ignorant of the fact that if hundreds of thousands of professionals like me leave Malaysia in this continuous trend within the next few years Vision2020 will never be achieved by 2020 and we will never ever be a developed country like we should be because of the lack of human capital.

I doubt Najib's 15% tax rate plus a couple of tax-free locally assembled cars through the Returning Experts Programme will do much to convince any professional who have made inroads in a foreign country to return home. For them the reasons of leaving the country is much more fundamental than lower tax rates and lower-priced cars (anyway, the pricing will never beat the prices and specs of cars sold in foreign countries). Najib needs to summon enough political will and balls to do the changes that needs to be done in Malaysia only then will people start coming back, tax breaks or not.

All sources of data are published figures from Bank Negara; Department of Labor, Department of Statistics and Ministry of Human Resources.


Assumptions on labor market statistics:
  1. As at end-period. Data is not comparable with past series. With effect from May 2005, the registration period during which jobseekers are deemed to be actively seeking jobs using the Electronic Labour Exchange was lengthened to six months (three months previously)
  2. The number of job vacancies could have been under-reported as it is not compulsory for firms to report vacancies to the Labour Department.
  3. Includes public administration and defence, compulsory social security, education, health and social work, other community, social and personal service activities, private household with employed person, ex-territorial organisation and bodies.

Elections for Singapore soon

Singapore's 11th Parliament has just been dissolved today, paving way for the island's general elections which should be held within 3 months from today. The ruling party, PAP, being in control of the country since its independence in 1965 has also one of the highest-paid country leader in the world- Lee Hsien Loong earns USD3.9 million dwarfs Obama salary of USD400,000 per year!

The pre-Election fever in the coming weeks ahead should be something exciting for the island's 2.3 million voters.

The price of victory in Sarawak for all Malaysians

Barisan Nasional has won a handsome victory in Sarawak despite political awakening in urban Sarawak. Gerrymandering has effectively rendered Malaysia's federal administration as a kampung elect government responsible for governing all affairs including international relations, investments and urban administration. Therefore, Malaysians are blessed with eloquent parliamentarians such as Bung Mokhtar and Noh Omar.

One wonders how much opportunity costs have been, and will continue to be forgone if parliament is largely made up of MPs of these calibre. If urban areas are given more parliamentary seats, it is possible that more MPs from more educated and demanding areas would improve the quality of grey matter, debates and law making in the august house.


Sarawak as a fixed deposit for Barisan Nasional votes might no longer be absolute, but the BN's fixed deposit in rural areas, both in the Peninsular and the 2 East Malaysian states are still very much in tact.

Therefore it would be in BN's political interest to keep the status quo in rural areas and stem the spread of alternate thinking and mindset flowing from urban areas to rural areas in the era of globalisation and information technology.


Such a strategy, while is great at ensuring political survival, may result in Malaysians with fixed and narrow mindset, unable to adapt to changes, bearing a siege mentality that run against national interest and commonsense.

For example, calling DAP a "communist party" is nothing more than a kindergarten bully with limited vocabulary; as competent adults should be able to differentiate between a socialist and a communist.



Would this polarise the country's democratic influence and political divide into urban and rural? In the Malaysian context, it would be very easy to be mis-interpreted as urban Chinese vs rural Malays hence clouding the basic issues of accountability and competence of elected office bearers with the obsolete racial politics.

Therefore, we might see the continuation, or expansion of the misguided strategy of resorting to emphasizing racial and religious divide, such as church fire bombing, cow head protests, al-kitab issue etc hence unnecessary social unrest and make Malaysia look immature, intolerant and regressive. Gutter politics will continue to be a favoured weapon, as personal attacks would be much easier than engaging in eloquent, informative and insightful public debate.



It is worth pointing out that barring Johor Bahru, the more cosmopolitan the area, the weaker the BN's hold onto power. The top 2 favourite foreign investment destinations are Penang and Selangor, no longer under BN's control.

Therefore, can BN continue to exercise the approach to tamper with development allocation (look towards Kelantan) to justify it's position as the only political power to bring development? In my opinion, it would run counter to the nation's interest and the federal administration would look terribly incompetent and grossly unfair as well as immature to continue with this approach.

Voters should protest against any such allocation bias as there is no discrimination base on political affiliation as far as income tax rates are concerned.

It would be interesting to see how the returning chief minister of Sarawak treat the lost urban areas...would he try to woe them back or punish them for going with the flow of political awareness? It is something new for the grand old man of Sarawak strangle hold.



Najib's approach to all by elections and state elections revealed his hallmark - it's Najib who is contesting all the elections, and not what's his name or who is he that is standing up to be scrutinized and explaining to the voters who are they voting for.


Najib's hallmark in Hulu Selangor and Sibu is impromptu fund allocation; the legend of "you help me I help you " refers. This is a nightmare for accountants. Ad hoc financial allocation can easily make national debts situation and budget deficit worse. Malaysians are already shouldering heavy national debts. Also such ad hoc ang pows could well divert funds from existing allocations and may disrupt original development or maintenance plans.


Reading the report below, I wonder how much longer can the fragile financial position of Malaysia can absorb further haemorraging of tax payers' money and national wealth.


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http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/breakingviews/article/five-things-we-learned-in-sarawak-the-malaysia-insider/ *

The power of incumbency Conservative estimates suggest that the BN spent more than RM500 million on these hotly contested elections. Last night, the going rate in Miri was RM1,000 per identity card and apparently RM7,000 in Ba’Kelalan.

In addition to cold cash, the BN election machinery was supported by the impressive government machinery, from Kemas officials watching over longhouses to education officials working the ground.

Even the government-linked companies were out in full force in Sarawak, doling out gifts and opening bank branches, etc.

The point is that when PR go to battle, they are up against Umno, MCA, SUPP, PBB, Maybank, Utusan Malaysia, New Straits Times, PDRM, EC, Pos Malaysia, AirAsia, etc.

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Malaysians are at an interesting junction in its history. Perhaps there is no turning back to the politics of old. Even Indonesia and Phillipines have made more political progress than Malaysia despite the continuing accountability issues. It is something that Malaysians have to decide for themselves.

15% tax or sincerity?

when I read this election angpow from Najib administration, a busload of thoughts passed through my mind.

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http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/najib-proposes-flat-15pc-income-tax-to-lure-back-talent/

Najib proposes flat 15pc income tax to lure back talent

UPDATED @ 11:56:32 AM 12-04-2011
By Lee Wei Lian April 12, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, April 12 — The Najib administration is hoping to lure Malaysian professionals working abroad with a flat income tax rate of 15 per cent for 5years under the Returning Experts Programme (REP).

The prime minister said today that the new 15 per cent transitional income tax incentive will be introduced alongside other incentives for returning Malaysian experts.

“I certainly hope these various changes will encourage more Malaysians working abroad with their varied experience and expertise to return and play an active part in our country’s economic transformation,” Najib announced this morning to gasps of surprise from delegates at the Invest Malaysia conference here today.

Other changes in store include limiting the tax free incentive for two cars under the REP to locally assembled vehicles.

Malaysia is considered one of the most badly affected nations by brain drain and the number of Malaysian migrants rose by more than 100-fold in a 45-year period, from 9,576 Malaysians in 1960 to 1,489,168 Malaysians in 2005, according to the World Bank which warned that a lack of human capital is a “critical constraint in Malaysia’s ambition to become a high-income economy.

In an effort to plug the talent leak, the Najib administration launched the Talent Corp last year which is tasked to lure back the Malaysian diaspora and scout for foreign skilled professionals.

Najib said that the Talent Corp will be taking the lead in the REP and has revised the programme parameters and qualifying criteria which will be announced in full at a later date.

“I would like to announce today that the incentive package has also been revised with immediate effect and I know that the Talent Corp will be providing details later,” he said.

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I think 1Malaysia administration has failed to address the real reasons for the great brain drain, or "trouble drain" in Najib's dad's case according to Lee Kuan Yew.

I won't go into those areas where too much has been about, and will continue to be written about :lack of equal opportunities, deficiency of outdated and obsolete social re-engineering approach, deficiency of non-meritocracy, deteriorating quality of life due to safety issues, lack of maintenance culture, haphazard town planning, poor public delivery system, racism, lack of "fun factors" etc.


My other contention is:

1) why such an abrupt announcement, i.e. a few days before Sarawak election, to the extend that Talent Corp will have to "iron out the details later"? I don't think the returnees are entitled to vote, nor Sarawakians who are probably too engrossed with NCR or land premium issues.

2) it is mind boggling to have 2 or 3 tax rates in the spirit of 1Malaysia. (1 for you and me, another for Iskandarians down south and now the NEP rejects.

3) Malaysians who stay behind will feel being classified as second class. The returnees are not doubt high calibre individuals with high income. Take a look at our income tax scale rates for individuals. The higher the income, the higher the tax bracket. That is social justice.

Unless Malaysian administration stop and recovery leakages, curb inefficiency and corruption; and able to lower tax rates for all, I do not think it is fair to continue to impose relatively high taxes on the people, when Malaysia have 38% petroleum tax while countries with no such nature's gift like Hong Kong and Singapore are charging considerably lower tax rates.

4) Wrong cure applied. The returnees no doubt needed to be encouraged but the main reason they went overseas are probably due to open competition hence freedom to compete and excel. So long as the outdated non-meritocracy culture and systems remain, the young, dynamic and ambitious will have second thoughts for themselves and their family.

Unless Malaysian environment is proven to be as open and fluid as talent magnets i.e. Singapore, Hong Kong or the United States, perhaps not many would like to give up what they are having now.

5) The 15% tax rate and tax free incentive remind me of the strategy of offering pittance goodies before a by-election to the less knowledgeable and grey matter. What works for hillbillies may not work as well for top notch high flying professionals who know a thing or 2 about operating conditions in Malaysia.

The 5 year window period do not offer consistency. Does this signal some drastic changes after 5 years? Would the high calibre returnees tolerate significant and unascertained changes in 5 years' time? The short term mentality in this abrupt change in policy might result in these returnees taking a 5 years tax break in Malaysia and move away after that. They are highly capable and mobile individuals with ambition and ability to adapt.


Just what sort of market research/strategic thinking did 1Malaysian administration did to come up with this until now unclear programme I do not know.

Making a case for Pakatan with Perak experience on Sarawak NCR situation

As a Semenanjung dweller, I do not have the full grasp of the NCR issue in Sarawak. However, I do appreciate that this is a key issue in the coming Sarawak GE, sufficient for strong and seemingly undemocratic actions to be undertaken:

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http://www.barubian.net/2011/04/swak-stops-ncr-activist-from-entering.html

S’wak stops NCR activist from entering state
Tashny Sukumaran | April 3, 2011

Activist Steven Ng says the refusal to allow him to enter the state was a BN ploy in view of the coming state election.
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If that is the case, then I have to make a case for Pakatan administration. Please note that these intiatives were done after polling, not immediately before:

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http://www.malaysia-today.net/archives/16583-perak-clearing-land-title-backlog

Perak clearing land title backlog

The Star) - THE Pakatan Rakyat government has cleared about 14,000 of the 16,000 applications for land titles since taking control of Perak in March.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin said the state executive council met every Wednesday from 9am to 7pm to clear the backlog.

..........

On a villager’s suggestion that the state government should reduce the quit rent in view of the current reduced rubber and oil palm prices so as to encourage more people to pay up their quit rent, Nizar said this could not be entertained as the National Land Code only allowed a review every 10 years.

He said the villagers would not have a hard time settling their quit rent had they done so when the prices of rubber and oil palm were good.

Instead, some villagers were known to have used the money they gained from the previously higher rubber and oil palm prices to renovate their houses, he said.
Hulu Perak district officer Datuk Abdul Karim Osman told the group that up to December 15, RM7.6mil in quit rent had been collected, exceeding the RM7.4mil collection target.

Abdul Karim said quit rent arrears stood at about RM300,000 and suggested that pay-ment defaulters start paying up in installments.

A cattle rearer, who only identified herself as Kak Ton, lamented that her animals had no grazing ground, claiming that the State Agriculture Development Corporation (SADC) had taken over such a site at her village in Tawai, purportedly to build a bamboo-processing factory.

Nizar said since he also headed the SADC, the latter would have to find another site for the proposed factory. Since the site had been gazetted as a grazing ground, it should remain so and Kak Ton could allow her animals to graze at the site, he said, drawing instant applause from the crowd.


.......

At the gathering, Nizar also handed over more than 40 land titles of which 12comprised permanent new village land titles.

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I am already hearing detractors saying Perak and Sarawak are different states. Yet these same detractors could well be screaming 1Malaysia and Rakyat Diutamakan. Nizar’s administration has already proven to be innovative, determined and action orientated. Even Perak MCA’s Mah Han Soon claimed that PR has solved a problem within a year that BN could not solve in 50 years.

Once Pakatan’s Perak administration hence the people’s choice was dismantled in the most unsavoury manner, it is back to square one.


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http://ckcounterpunch.wordpress.com/2009/06/28/perak-bn-govt-scorches-pakatan-policies/

Perak bn gov’t scorches Pakatan policies

It looks like the Perak BN government is bent on destroying all people-friendly policies implemented by the previous Pakatan Rakyat administration.

When Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir took his office in February, he was reported as saying that BN would continue the people-friendly policies implemented during Pakatan’s 10-month rule.

However, this turned out to be a broken promise as about nine people-friendly policies have either been scrapped or put on the back-burner.

DAP state secretary Nga Kor Ming is disappointed with BN’s about-turn on the following Pakatan-implemented measures:

* 3,000 applications from residents of new and planned villages to convert their land titles from leasehold to freehold cancelled.

* 817 elected village headmen had their term of office terminated. The village chiefs have since filed a suit in the Ipoh High Court to be reinstated.

.........

* The open-tender policy for approving government contracts, land and logging concessions reverted to the old system of closed tenders.

* The giving state land to religious schools and Chinese independent schools also scrapped.

* The policy of giving RM1,000 to the dependents of senior citizens who die too has been buried.

* The process of legalising the 134 new villages put on hold.


“Just because Barisan is jealous of our people-friendly polices, it does not mean that they have to penalise the innocent people and make them suffer just to show their anger at us,” said Nga.

Nga also took to task Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin for his “makan angin” trip during his one-day visit to Ipoh on Thursday while the country was facing the worst economic crisis in history.

“He just comes to eat, drink and takes a walk to meet the people in Little India. He can utilise this precious time to plan how to overcome the economic crisis and bring the nation back to a sound economic footing,” he added.


Humayun Kabir, Mkini
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It is time for Sarawakians to decide whether systematic, considerate and consistent polices is superior to ad hoc and once off sweets before polling.

It is time for Sarawakians to demand Pakatan Sarawak and Central to affirm if similiar people first approach can be learned, adapted and implemented from Perak to Sarawak.

Understanding decision making process is important

Understanding decision making process is important for me, whether it is my spouse, boss, friends, clients etc. Understanding the decision making process of an elected administration is also vital because we will be going to the polls soon and their decision making process is critical to us making a call on whether they are indeed qualified to lead for another term in office.

Their decision making process is subject to the scrutiny of the Malaysian tax payers and business community, as well as foreign investors, entrepreneurs and analyst communities.

In today's the Star, we have this good piece of news, typical 1Malaysia Spirit:

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http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/4/2/nation/20110402183658&sec=nation


Saturday April 2, 2011 MYT 8:02:57 PM
Govt allows import and local printing of Bible in all languages

PETALING JAYA: The Bible can now be imported into the country in all languages including Bahasa Malaysia, Bahasa Indonesia and in the indigenous languages.

It can also be printed locally and there is no requirement for any stamp or serial number

4.For Sabah and Sarawak, in recognition of the large Christian community in these states, there are no conditions attached to the importation and local printing of the Bibles in all languages, including Bahasa Malaysia/Indonesia and indigenous languages. There is no requirement for any stamp or serial number.

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However, reading up articles from the same controlled newspaper for the past few months, I am puzzled by the decision making process of this administration. I wish to make it very clear here that I am not writing from a religious angle, but looking solely at how the current administration make their decisions.


In January, the administration intends to contest the High Court's verdict in the Herald's usage of the word "Allah" and will keep the Rulers briefed.

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http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/1/3/nation/20100103183842&sec=nation

Sunday January 3, 2010 MYT 6:42:24 PM
Allah issue: PM urges calm while Govt appeals court’s decision

PEKAN: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak urged Muslims to remain calm over the High Court decision to allow the Catholic weekly, Herald, to use the word ‘Allah’ in its publication.

He said the Home Ministry would appeal the court’s decision and that he would keep the Rulers briefed.

The usage of the word Allah should be decided upon by the process of the law, he said.


.......

Najib, who is also Pekan MP, said he would brief Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin on the matter soon and with his consent, the issue would be discussed at the coming Conference of Rulers.

He expressed the hope for the issue to be resolved in an "intelligent" manner through the process of the court.

"After all, there is still avenue to appeal against the judgment through the Courts of Appeal and Federal Court.

"We do not want issue to be blown out of proportion," he said, adding that the Government viewed the matter seriously and would adopt the proper channels to end the debacle.

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In March, before the Sarawak State Assembly is dissolved, the current administration re-inforced its stance by issuing a reprimand letter to the same newspaper:

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http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/3/16/nation/20110316073009&sec=nation

Wednesday March 16, 2011
The Star reprimanded over BM Bible story

PETALING JAYA: The Home Ministry has issued a letter of reprimand to The Star over an article on the impounding of 5,000 Bahasa Malaysia Bibles.

The letter, dated March 2011, was addressed to group chief editor Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai on the article, published on March 9.

On the same day, a senior editor from the daily met officials from the ministry over the issue and the ministry’s comments were published the next day. In the letter, the ministry’s chief secretary Datuk Zaitun Abdul Samad reminded owners of printing presses to comply with directives from the ministry, a s stipulated under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.

“Under items six and seven of the conditions of printing permits issuance, permit holders are required to observe instructions released by the ministry from time to time,” Zaitun said.

The March 9 article reported that 5,000 Bahasa Malaysia Bibles confiscated by the Home Ministry in 2009 have yet to be returned despite the Cabinet approving their release.

Minister Datuk Seri Hishammudd in Hussein explained on Sunday that the Bibles were impounded because of a pending court appeal by The Herald, the Malaysian Catholic weekly, over the use of the word Allah in its publication.

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Has the current administration weaken their own appeal case by doing the announcements today? If yes, then tax payers' money spent of the appeal case is compromised,

Also, has the Rulers' been briefed as what the Prime Minister indicated during January? If this is part of the original plan, Idris Jala's announcement did not mention about this.