Don’t learn NOT to pay your debts

The prime minister said that Pakatan Rakyat are teaching people bad things, very bad things, such as debts are not to be settled.

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http://www.nst.com.my/latest/opposition-teaching-people-bad-things-pm-1.103610

Opposition teaching people bad things: PM

PEKAN -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said today opposition political parties in the country seem to be teaching people bad things, even matters contrary to religion.

 Evidently, three bad things were that debts do not have to be settled, good deeds can be forgotten and promises need not be fulfilled, he said.

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Well growing up in a country that is administered by Alliance-BN administration for more than 50 years, whereby we live and learned from education system, judicial system and kepimpinan melalui teladan set by one of the longest political alliance in power, I wonder where the bad teachers learn from?

Let’s look at some fine case studies which serve to “teach people” not to repay debts.

Livelihood of yours and mine (3)- Guan Eng: Penang has eradicated hardcore poverty

The Sun

Himanshu Bhatt

GEORGE TOWN (March 30, 2009) : Penang has become the first state in the country to eradicate hardcore poverty by arranging financial aid and economic activities for all 726 households registered under the hardcore poor category.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the initiative was successful partly because of the support of the private sector and social groups who chipped in to aggressively alleviate the hardships of the poor.

"Even though it is difficult, including facing bankruptcy, I am more willing to have the state becoming bankrupt to help the poor and be burdened than to be bankrupted by corruption," he said today.

The implementation mechanism, overseen by the Welfare Department, consists mainly of funding affected families to ensure their incomes are topped up such that they get at least RM500 every month. The department even helped some individuals set up bank accounts to receive the funds.

Lim said checking the state's poverty rate was one of the first things that he had given priority to after Pakatan Rakyat took control of the government in March last year. The state then took a whole year to conduct an exhaustive survey, with the help of socio-economic specialists from Universiti Sains Malaysia, to determine the exact number of hardcore poor. The figures are updated every three months, Lim said, adding that the state was planning to now eradicate general poverty as well, which is classified as income below RM700 a month.

Lim also said a total of RM2.2 million had been collected from the private sector, including philanthropists and charitable businesses, under an initiative called "Partners Against Poverty".

Lim said this in a ceremony to announce the successful eradication of hardcore poverty in Dewan Sri Pinang here. He also questioned what happened to a reported RM1.1 million allocation under the Rural and Regional Development Ministry to help 22 hardcore poor in Penang. Penang Health, Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh rebuked Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Dr Ng Yen Yen for rejecting the state’s plea for funding to build a housing complex for about 300 homeless people.

Ng reportedly said the state should fund the complex by itself since the project was its own initiative.

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On one hand I am happy for the Penang hardcore poor for such a magnificent effort to address their problems within a period of little over a year. This is consistent with Lim Guan Eng's suggestion that money from Petronas can be pumped straight into the hands of the needy rather than channelled through a few main contractors then sub-contractors then foreign labourers then hardware dealers (provided the projects were actually completed). Like Nizar's administration in Perak, there is a swift solution to age-old problems.

On the other hand, I just hope that the CM can tone down a bit on the rhetoric. He need not be in GE mode now, does he? If he rather bankcrupt the State Government, then that would have huge implication on the staff on its payroll and all Penangites (rates paying or dodging regardless) depending on the proper functioning of the state government.

There should also be audited accounts for the receipt and application of the funds concerned. The CM should, consistent with his CAT philosophy, make the modus operandi of the scheme known to all. That'll be nice publicity and also let people in need to get in touch with the right channel. Some feedback from the recepients could give credibility to the CM's claim.

Anyway, I did a quick computation. 726 families @RM500 per month = RM363,000 per month hence RM4,356,000 per year. Donate a semi-detached house a month and you save over 700 hundred families. That shows the income gap between the downright have nots; and the haves a lot.

However, one figure is missing. How many of each household have? RM500/2= RM250 per head or RM500/10 = RM50 per head. Perhaps durex could donate some of their grade C products to aid combating abject poverty.

By the same token, Atlantuya was reported of asking form USD500,000 for whatever she did. That cums to RM1.8million or 4.96 months for the above exercise. If that report is true then that's one heck of price to pay.

Dell's 5% VSS

I'm worried for Dell. Right now 5% of its 5,000 workforce in Penang and Cyberjaya is being offered VSS. Insiders say this VSS is mostly impacting Dell's frontline staff such as its sales people. Six months ago, I also heard another story during a power luncheon.- that Dell Malaysia had begun to outsource a major part of its manufacturing operations and unneccesary staff would be made redundant. Also heard from various sources regarding other retrenchements, which prompted me to do a post here.

When a company outsources his operations, normally the VSS will be 100% not 5%- so are there is more retrenchment to come? I just hope that the 5% is not the tip of an ice-berg.

Fairus quit as Penang Deputy CM

The Malaysian Insider- Fairus Khairuddin, the Penang deputy chief minister, has quit, confirming swirling speculation about his position amid a cloud of suspicion over his conduct. The PKR man submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng of the DAP, and it has been accepted.

Lim made the announcement at a press conference in Penang today. However, the CM declined to disclose the reasons for Fairus’s resignation. But it is understood that the resignation was made on the instructions of Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who is keen to contain any damage Fairus’s conduct would have on the Pakatan Rakyat alliance.

Fairus’s position as deputy chief minister had become untenable because he faces a mountain of allegations over suspected abuse of power. Speculation about Fairus’s resignation had surfaced this week after an anonymous text message was circulated saying that he was instructed to quit by Anwar over allegations of abuse of power. Fairus’s appointment as deputy chief minister has been a source of controversy and he has been told off by Anwar for not even visiting his constituency. He was also forced to quit as Penang Football Association president due to his lack of enthusiasm.

Speculation is also rife that he is one of two PKR leaders in Penang accused of corrupt dealings involving a quarry. Lim said today Fairus’s effective resignation date will be April 8. The DCM will be on leave until then.
Fairus will continue as Penanti assemblyman.
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Lim Guan Eng declined to disclosed the reason for resignation? Come on, LGE, where is your CAT!? Is there something to hide?

Fairus is quitting because of something wrong he did or something he should be doing but did not. Whatever the reason is, if LGE provide some explanation, at least it shows that his adminsitration has set certain standard of performance that was not met. It would send a strong signal to all and sundry that his administration do not tolerate slackers, unlike the BN adminstration that he has always been critical of.

LGE's silence in this matter will render his other strong statements as mere hot air or "cakap tak serupa bikin". People have high expectation of him. As with Badawi, the higher the expectation, the bigger the disappointment and the bigger the back lash.

Unless LGE is under a gag order.

Pakatan Rakyat adminstration is barely a year old and it has to face entrenched pro-BN mentality, untangle previous messes, learn on the job and overcome sceptism. I can understand and tolerate hornest mistakes but not practising what it has been preaching would not be very welcome.

Tourism Penang: What happened there?

I recently posted a comment in a Penang MP's blog but somehow my 2 cents' worth of thoughts did not appear. Well, I've got a community blogsite haven't I. So here goes.



What's my authority in commenting on tourism matters in Penang you may ask- well, yours truly help ran a 5-star international hotel there for a couple of years and was deeply concerned on the declining state of tourism in Penang. Most of the factors affecting the subject matter of concern are actually controllable but not actioned upon. I don't care much about the Chief Minister past and present but here are the boo-boo's:



-Dirty streets. This point is controversial- it inclines to say that the public is not civic-conscious but I say the local council did a lousy job in keeping Penang clean. Just take a walk in certain areas in Georgetown or Air Itam, Penang Hill, etc, and you'll see what I mean.



-Related to the above- the lack of public rubbish bins. Rubbish bins are not visible in the city at all even in malls or famous streets- where is the public going to throw thrash?



-Lousy tourism websites. While I was in Penang, I discovered that the 'official' tourism websites weren't updated for at least 2-3 years.



-Failure of the local government to resolve the taxi meter issue. Penang is famous for its exorbitant cab fares and the non-usage of taxi meters. And the taxi drivers are still lobbying for higher taxi fares. We all know the impact of high cab fares to local and foreign tourists don't we.

-Lack of road signs- especially to tourist areas



-Lousy public transport system. What system? If you are living in Penang, it's better to own your own car.



-No major promotions or public events to encourage tourism. I'm talking about events similar to LIMA (in Langkawi), etc and not Penang Bridge Runs nor Dragon Boat events.



-What's happening to food scene? Loosing shine of cause, due to lack of unified promotional efforts at the national level and due to the hawkers themselves. The local government should keep this in check- especially the food serving portions which are getting smaller and smaller.



I'm still visiting Penang of course. If more effort could be put in improving the public amenities and tourism infrastructure, Penang could be a bigger island on the tourism map.