KUALA LUMPUR, June 13 — The Selangor government has already liquidated assets owned by University Selangor (Unisel) to help pay for its students' fees despite Putrajaya's reversing its freeze on federal loans for those studying in the state university.
The Malaysian Insider understands that the RM30 million generated by the liquidation exercise will now be used to develop the state-owned university, as Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim's administration plans to buy over the university's hostel buildings.
Khalid's political secretary, Faekah Husin, described the sale as part of a "development plan" that will help lessen the burden of students who currently have to pay to stay at the hostel grounds.
"The instruction to start the process of liquidation has already been given to the State Financial Officer (SFO) last Thursday after Selangor's economic action council meeting," she told The Malaysian Insider.
"We plan to buy back the hostel, which was built on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) privatisation arrangement... the university is now facing huge overhead costs- facilities and maintaining hostels due to the BOT."
"This will definitely impact the schools and [tuition] fees. With RM30 million, we intend to buy back the building in order to cut costs (for the university)," said Faekah.
Khalid said last week the assets were accrued following the restructuring of debts belonging to Talam Corporation.
On June 9, the federal government reversed its move to suspend National Higher Education Corporation (PTPTN) loans for Selangor-owned universities after it drew fierce criticism from Pakatan Rakyat politicians who were joined by some Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders fearing a political backlash.
It came just days after the freeze was first announced and a day after Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin defended as a "fair test" the move seen as aimed at laying bare PR's campaign for free university education.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin yesterday insisted the reason the PTPTN loan freeze on Unisel was lifted was because the university disagreed with PR policies.
PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli said he was confident the state government would have been able to pay for the education of the university students affected had Putrajaya decided to prolong the loan freeze.
"You can say that we are prepared to go all the way because higher education is a key nation building issue that warrants everyone's utmost attention."
"Frankly speaking, we don't have a script or plan, so to speak, to corner Barisan Nasional on this issue, but we will certainly spearhead to make sure that the engagement on PTPTN and free education remains one of the topmost issue discussed in the public sphere," he told The Malaysian Insider.
Rafizi said PR is planning to use this issue as a "major campaign thrust" as feedback from university students on the matter has been positive so far.
"I am going down from one campus to [another] consistently and the response has been good. The new generation of students is willing to think and ponder on some alternatives that we throw."
SHAH ALAM, 13 JUN: Bekas Menteri Tenaga, Air dan Telekomunikasi, Tun Dr Lim Keng Yaik pernah menyatakan perjanjian tarif air yang dibuat sebelum 2006 berat sebelah.
Demikian menurut Menteri Besar Selangor, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim ketika merasmikan Forum Air Negeri Selangor 2012 yang berlangsung di Shah Alam Convention Centre semalam.
"Pada 2006, selepas menandatangani perjanjian ini, Kerajaan Persekutuan di bawah bekas Menteri Tenaga, Air dan Telekomunikasi, Tun Dr Lim Keng Yaik berpendapat perjanjian-perjanjian yang dibuat sebelum 2006 adalah amat berat sebelah kepada konsesi bukan pengguna.
"Oleh sebab itu satu undang-undang telah diluluskan oleh parlimen pada 2006 dan undang-undang tersebut memberi ruang untuk penstrukturan semula industri air di semua negeri termasuk Selangor.
"Itu sebab undang-undang ini dikeluarkan dalam penyusunan semula industri air di Negeri Selangor," ucap Khalid.
Menurut Khalid, setiap tindakan yang diambil beliau sebagai ketua pentadbiran Kerajaan Selangor dalam isu air ini adalah selaras dengan peruntukan undang-undang dalam Akta Industri Perkhidmatan Air 2006.
Keengganan pentadbiran Umno-BN untuk menstruktur semula industri air Selangor merupakan satu keputusan yang mengkhianati keputusan yang dibuat oleh gagasan itu sendiri.
"Ini lagi satu fakta, pada Januari 2008 terdapat satu keputusan kabinet yang menyatakan industri air di Selangor dibenarkan distruktur semula di mana Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Bhd (KDEB) sebagai anak syarikat milikan penuh Kerajaan Selangor mengambil alih semua operasi air di Selangor.
"Saudara tahu pada Mac 2008, pentadbiran Negeri Selangor bertukar dari Umno-BN kepada Pakatan Rakyat.
"Pertukaran inilah menyebabkan Kerajaan Persekutuan tidak mahu melaksanakan skim yang dipersetujui kabinet pada Januari 2008 itu.
Selain itu menurut Khalid, sekiranya perjanjian kadar kenaikan tarif air yang ditandatangani oleh Kerajaan Pusat, Selangor dan Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) pada 2004 diteruskan, harga air akan dinaikkan sebanyak 62 peratus.
"Kalau kita teruskan perjanjian 2004 yang ditandatangani antara Syabas, Kerajaan Persekutuan dan kerajaan negeri bermakna tarif air dinaikkan 37 peratus pada 2009, 25 peratus pada 2012 dan 20 peratus pada 2015.
"Ini bererti kalau sekarang kita setuju, tarif air sekarang dah naik sehingga 62 peratus," ujar beliau.
SHAH ALAM, 12 JUN : Air bawah tanah mampu menjadi sumber air alternatif bagi menampung permintaan di Selangor yang akan meningkat selari dengan pertumbuhan penduduk dan industri di masa akan datang.
Pengerusi Water Resources Erinco Sdn.Bhd, Azuhan Mohamed berkata, kajian dan pembangunan sistematik sumber air bawah tanah menunjukkan ianya bersih dan selamat daripada pencemaran.
Azahan turut berkata, air sungai boleh digunakan sewaktu musim hujan dan air bawah tanah digunakan sewaktu musim kemarau dengan mengepam air tanah ke sungai.
Katanya, air bawah tanah adalah air yang memenuhi ruang-ruang diantara butiran pasir dan ceruk batu di dalam tanah.
Menurut Azahan, kekurangan sumber air atas tanah dan kualitinya yang semakin tercemar mengharuskan kerajaan membangunkan pengalian dan penggunaan air bawah tanah.
"Kesan kitaran air semulajadi bermula daripada penyejatan air di permukaan bumi dan turunnya hujan menyebabkan kewujudan air bawah tanah.
"Walaupun air tanah adalah selamat, namun ianya amat mudah untuk dicemari dan memerlukan pakar yang sesuai untuk mengenalpasti kawasan yang sesuai untuk memulakan proses penggalian," katanya.
Beliau berucap ketika membentangkan kertas kerja di Forum Air Selangor di Shah Alam Convention Centre hari ini.
Forum sehari ini turut dihadiri Menteri Besar Selangor, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, Setiausaha Kerajaan Negeri, Datuk Mohamed Khusrin Munawi, ahli-ahli parlimen dan ADUN.
Menurut Azahan, air bawah tanah adalah selamat kerana ditapis secara semulajadi oleh pasir dan batu bagi membuang bahan pencemar. Ini mampu menjimatkan kos rawatan air seperti yang dilakukan sekarang.
Namun, beliau menyatakan pembangunan air tanah memerlukan pakar-pakar khusus dalam bidang ini bagi mengenalpasti kawasan terdapatnya air tanah yang bersih.
PETALING JAYA,12 JUN : Penyenaraian Felda Global Ventures Holdings (FGVH) di Bursa Malaysia menyebabkan peruntukan kepada pembangunan belia, generasi kedua dan ketiga di Felda akan mengalami pengurangan sebanyak 27 peratus.
Pengerusi Biro Pelaburan Dan Perdagangan PKR, Wong Chen dalam sidang media di ibu pejabat PKR berkata, pendapatan Felda akan mengalami kejatuhan sebanyak 64 peratus dengan keseluruhan peneroka kehilangan RM100 juta untuk bantuan kebajikan pada tahun ini.
Jelas beliau, menurut analisis yang dijalankan menunjukkan sebelum adanya FGVH setiap tahun Felda membelanjakan antara RM400 hingga RM500 juta setahun untuk kebajikan peneroka.
"Pada tahun 2011, Felda membelanjakan RM424 juta untuk peneroka.
Walaubagaimanapun, bagi tahun 2012, Felda bercadang untuk memotong belanjawan peneroka kepada RM326 juta," katanya.
Jelas Wong, perbelanjaan ini termasuk dana bagi infrastruktur jalan, masjid, padang bola, perumahan, pendidikan, insentif Hari Raya dan insurans.
Apabila Felda memajak gadai tanah 350,000 hektar kepada FGVH, bermakna Felda menyerahkan semua pokok dan hasil sawit kepada FGVH.
Ia menyebabkan pendapatan Felda jatuh mendadak.
"Pada tahun 2011, pendapatan Felda mencecah RM2.5 bilion tetapi selepas tanah dipajak, pendapatan 2012 dijangka turun ke RM900 juta sahaja," katanya.
Tambah Wong, butiran yang didedahkan itu adalah daripada bajet rasmi Felda 2012.
Menurut butiran itu yang mengalami pengurangan peruntukan adalah pembangunan infrastruktur yang dikurangkan sebanyak 57 peratus daripada RM115 juta kepada RM50 juta.
Manakala insentif produktiviti untuk peneroka dikurangkan sebanyak 22 peratus daripada RM103 juta kepada RM80 juta.
Turut mengalami kesan adalah bonus Hari Raya yang dikurangkan sebanyak 25 peratus daripada RM40 juta kepada RM 30 juta.
Sementara itu, pelan insurans bagi peneroka dikurangkan sebanyak 25 peratus daripada RM20 juta kepada RM15 juta.
"Jangan buli peneroka,ini bukannya caranya untuk membantu peneroka Felda," katanya.
Menteri Besar Selangor Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim berkata kerajaan Selangor akan meneruskan cadangan menggunakan wang RM30 juta daripada penjualan tanah miliknya untuk membantu pentadbiran Universiti Selangor (Unisel).
Khalid membuat pengumuman itu sewaktu mengesahkan kenyataan ADUN Sri Muda, Shuhaimi Shafiei berkenaan cadangan menggunakan wang itu untuk merintis program pendidikan percuma di Selangor.
"Saya akan buat beberapa pengumuman tentang perkembangan Unisel tidak lama lagi kerana kita akan mengadakan mesyuarat dengan ahli lembaga pengarah Unisel tidak lama lagi," kata Khalid.
Pada 5 Jun lalu, Malaysiakini mendedahkan, permohonan siswa baru Unisel bagi mendapatkan pinjaman melalui PTPTN telah dibekukan.
Ekoran itu, kerajaan Selangor mengumumkan tindakan jangka pendek dengan mengapungkan hartanah Unisel yang dianggarkan bernilai RM30 juta bagi membantu membiayai mahasiswanya.
Pembekuan itu bagaimanapun ditarik balik pada 8 Jun ekoran surat arahan daripada pejabat menteri berkaitan.
KUALA LUMPUR: Wakil Pakatan Rakyat akan mengunjungi Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) sekali lagi bagi membincangkan isu pembersihan daftar pemilih yang dilihat gagal diselesaikan oleh suruhanjaya itu.
Perkara itu dimaklumkan Ketua Pembangkang Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim pada sidang media selepas mesyuarat Majlis Pimpinan Pakatan Rakyat di Parlimen hari ini.
Menurutnya, pasukan itu akan diketuai Setiausaha Agung PAS Datuk Mustafa Ali dan akan disertai wakil PKR dan DAP.
Anwar berkata, banyak isu berkaitan pendaftaran daftar pemilih gagal diselesaikan SPR.
Ianya termasuk 26,000 nama dengan kod 12 yang berasal dari Sabah yang berdaftar di Selangor yang belum dikenal pasti dan disahkan.
Selain itu katanya, beberapa bukti yang didedah Pakatan Rakyat yang berkaitan keraguan dalam daftar pemilih sama ada dalam parlimen, melalui wakil PSC mahupun melalui sidang media, sehingga kini tidak diambil tindakan wajar oleh SPR.
Mustafa ketika ditemui selepas itu pula berkata, pasukannya itu akan disertai dua orang dari setiap parti dan bercadang berkunjung ke pejabat suruhanjaya itu minggu depan.
"Kita akan bangkitkan beberapa perkara dan paling besar adalah berkaitan dengan daftar pemilih," katanya.
KUALA LUMPUR 10 JUN : Jika benar mahu Kerajaan Negeri membiayai pendidikan percuma di negeri Selangor, Menteri Besar, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim meminta Kerajaan Pusat tidak mengambil wang cukai daripada Selangor.
Menurut Abdul Khalid, pendidikan percuma pasti dapat dilaksanakan jika segala sumber Kerajaan Negeri tidak disalurkan kepada Kerajaan Pusat seterusnya diuruskan dengan lebih baik oleh Kerajaan Negeri.
"Jika dilihat, Kerajaan Negeri Selangor menyumbang sebanyak 23 peratus daripada jumlah keseluruhan kekayaan Kerajaan Pusat.
"Walaupun urusan universiti ini di bawah tanggungjawab Kerajaan Pusat, namun jika kita diberi peluang mengurus sumber dan hasil yang diperolehi sendiri, maka kita dengan senang hati akan melaksanakan dasar pendidikan percuma di negeri ini," sindir beliau.
Beliau yang ditemui pada Kejohanan Etiqa Selangor International Junior Masters 2012 di Kelab Golf Seri Selangor petang tadi turut mengulas mengenai rancangan mencairkan aset Universiti Selangor (Unisel) yang diumumkan sebelum ini.
"Sebelum isu ini ditimbulkan, kita memang sudah ada rancangan untuk menggunakan aset-aset Unisel bagi tujuan penambahbaikan prasarana, pembesaran dan sebagainya.
"Sebab itu kita pantas menyediakan pelan tindakan jangka pendek bagi membantu ibubapa dan pelajar jika PTPTN (Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan Tinggi Nasional) meneruskan rancangan pembekuan pinjaman terhadap pelajar baru Unisel kerana kita mempunyai aset yang cukup untuk tujuan itu.
"Bagaimanapun, dengan pengumuman terbaru penarikan pinjaman itu, kita rasakan adalah lebih baik aset yang ada digunakan untuk pelan jangka panjang pembangunan Unisel dengan harapan lebih ramai lagi pelajar dapat kita beri tempat di masa hadapan," jelasnya lagi.
Enggan mengulas lanjut cabaran Menteri Pengajian Tinggi, Datuk Seri Khaled Nordin untuk Kerajaan Negeri menyediakan dana RM30 juta seperti diumumkan, beliau dengan sinis meminta pimpinan Umno-BN belajar dahulu cara menguruskan dana rakyat.
"Barangkali Kerajaan Pusat tidak mengajar mereka untuk menguruskan dana rakyat dengan betul dan amanah serta berintegriti.
"Jadi adalah lebih baik mereka diam sahaja dan cubalah belajar untuk menjadi pemimpin yang sebenar dalam memastikan setiap dana yang dibelanjakan itu berbaloi bagi setiap sen dan bukan disia-siakan seperti yang sering dilakukan mereka," kata beliau.
Selaku Pengerusi Biro Masyarakat Orang Asal Parti Keadilan Rakyat saya mencadangkan kepada Biro Masyarakat Felda dan Orang Asal PKR Pusat dan Negeri Pahang agar dapat menganjurkan Himpunan ini, saya cadangkan tarikhnya adalah 8hb Julai 2012, di Kg Penderas, Kuala Krau.
Seramai 300 orang peserta dijangka hadir.
Pendaftaran bermula dari jam 9.00 pagi diikuti dengan minuman pagi dan pembentangan Kertas Kerja Pertama.
Perasmian akan dilangsungkan pada jam 11.00 pagi. Biro Masyarakat Felda dan Orang Asal PKR telah mengundang YAB Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, Menteri Besar Selangor merasmikan Himpunan tersebut.
1.00 t/hari - 2.00 petang berehat untuk solat dan makan tengah hari. Jam 2.15 petang Himpunan akan disambung dengan pembentangan kertas kerja kedua.
Mulai jam 3.00 petang akan bermula sessi perbahasan dan pimpinan Orang Asal dari semua suku kaum di Negeri Pahang dan para hadirin akan membahaskan kertas-kertas kerja yang dibentangkan, dan Kertas-Kertas Kerja itu bertema kepada JALAN KEHADAPAN UNTUK PERJUANGAN ORANG ASAL.
Penggulungan akan dibuat pada jam 4.15 petang, dan diikuti oleh Acara Rasmi Penutup Himpunan oleh Dato Fauzi Abdul Rahman, Pengerusi Parti Keadilan Rakyat Negeri Pahang.
Semua parti-parti politik didalam PR dan NGO Orang Asal dijemput hadir.
Sila hubungi Sdr Rebin Birham 0193572986, atau Pn Hendon 0199180495 atau Hj Suhaimi 0199882115 untuk pertanyaan.
Haji Suhaimi Said, Pengerusi Biro Masyarakat Felda dan Orang Asal KEADILAN. 13.6.12
Bruno Manser Fund files complaint under criminal law against UBS over laundering of Malaysian timber corruption proceeds – Swiss banking giant accused of assisting Musa Aman, Chief Minister of the Malaysian state of Sabah, with money-laundering
(ZURICH/SWITZERLAND) Swiss bank UBS is likely to face criminal proceedings over its business ties with a Malaysian top politician following the filing of a complaint under criminal law by the Bruno Manser Fund, a rainforest advocacy group from Switzerland. The Bruno Manser Fund announced today that it has filed a complaint against UBS with Zurich's Public Prosecutor over the bank’s ties with Musa Aman, a Malaysian politician who controls logging in Sabah, a Malaysian state in North Borneo. The complaint has been filed on behalf of the Bruno Manser Fund by professor Monika Roth, a lawyer and well-known Swiss compliance expert.
The Bruno Manser Fund accuses UBS of having breached its due diligence duties as defined by the Swiss Criminal Code and calls on Swiss authorities to take criminal action against UBS and those responsible for the bank's relationship with Musa Aman. The Malaysian politician has been Chief Minister of Sabah since 2003 and is the brother of Malaysia’s Foreign Minister, Anifah Aman. He is being accused of having laundered over USD 90 million of corruption proceeds through a number of bank accounts with UBS in Hong Kong and Zurich. In April 2012, the Swiss Federal Office of Justice confirmed that Switzerland has given legal assistance to Hong Kong authorities over Musa’s ties with UBS.
Numerous documents handed in as evidence to the Zurich Public Prosecutor’s Office prove that Michael Chia, a close associate of the Sabah Chief Minister, organized large cash payments from timber companies with logging interests in Sabah to UBS bank accounts in Hong Kong. From the same accounts, payments have been made to Musa Aman’s sons in Australia and to Mohd Daud Tampokong, a senior forestry official from Sabah.
The complaint alleges that Malaysian lawyer Richard Christopher Barnes, to whose accounts millions of US dollars were transferred, acted as a “shaker and mover” for the Sabah Chief Minister. By way of an example, on 21 August 2006, one of Barnes’ accounts with UBS in Hong Kong was credited with USD 4.6 million paid only days earlier by Sabah timber tycoons into another UBS account controlled by Michael Chia.
“UBS plays a key role in everything, given that many of the relevant transactions in this case passed through this bank, and its employee, Dennis Chua, a former client advisor with HSBC in Hong Kong, was actively involved”, the complaint states. “It is, however, evident that other financial institutions in Asia and possibly in Switzerland were involved in this mesh and indeed still are.” The complaint also gives the account numbers of Musa Aman’s personal bank accounts with UBS in Hong Kong and in Zurich.
“How UBS ought to handle banking relationships with politically exposed persons (PEPs) is stated in the law and the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority’s (FINMA) regulations. These rules were blatantly disregarded in that no suitable measures were taken for enforcing them. That makes UBS liable in accordance with the provisions of Art.102 para 2 and Art.305bis of the Swiss Criminal Code.”
The Bruno Manser Fund is asking the Zurich Public Prosecutor to take action in Switzerland under Swiss law against UBS and against UBS employees who have disregarded their due diligence duties in the Musa Aman case. “Moreover, the question is to be asked whether the whole mesh of corruption is to be regarded as a criminal organisation, which would then be linked to the further question of whether the behaviour of UBS were not to be qualified as support for that organisation.”
Corruption is one of the main drivers of deforestation in Sabah and Sarawak, the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Borneo’s rainforests are one of the world’s biodiversity centres and home to endangered species such as the orang utan, the clouded leopard and the proboscis monkey. In 2007, the Malaysian government committed to protect its rainforests by signing the “Heart of Borneo” declaration but it has failed to take action against logging-related corruption by the Sabah and Sarawak state governments under their highly corrupt Chief Ministers, Musa Aman and Taib Mahmud.
Dakwaan bahawa BN akan menggunakan ‘taktik bom’ menabur wang kepada rakyat agar mengundi parti itu mungkin benar apabila semalam perdana menteri meluluskan pemberian RM1.5 juta kepada setiap parlimen BN.
Difahamkan dalam pertemuan pre-coucil dengan ahli-ahli parlimen BN semalam, Datuk Seri Najib Razak juga membenarkan mereka membelanjakan RM1,000 hingga RM5,000 secara tunai kepada pengundi.
Ketua Pembangkang Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim ketika mengulas perkara itu berkata, tindakan tersebut menunjukkan sikap terdesak dan cemas BN.
“Menampakkan sikap yang agak terdesak yang membenarkan ahli parlimen boleh belanja wang tunai RM1,000 hingga RM5,000 kepada pengundi.
“Ini mengikut kefahaman saya dalam peraturan kewangan, sangat tidak wajar,” katanya pada sidang media Pakatan Rakyat hari ini.
Turut serta pada sidang media itu Presiden PAS Datuk Seri Tuan Guru Abdul Hadi Awang dan Penasihat DAP Lim Kit Siang.
Difahamkan juga, sejumlah RM300,000 awal akan diberikan kepada setiap parlimen BN pada Khamis ini.
“Dia (Najib) beritahu minta disegerakan dan tumpu kepada pemuda dan wanita, kalau perlu RM1,000 bagi RM5,000 bagi, kerajaan akan pertahankan tindakan itu.
“Langkah paling baik adalah bantahan rakyat dan pilihan raya,” katanya.
Sebelum ini, bekas menteri kabinet yang isytihar keluar Umno, Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir mendedahkan, BN sedang menggunakan ‘taktik bom’ iaitu menabur wang untuk membeli undi di kampung-kampung.
Barisan Nasional's (BN) latest allocation of over RM200 million for its MPs to plough into their constituencies despite Datuk Seri Najib Razak's pledges to rein in the deficit betrays the prime minister's desperation ahead of federal polls, says Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
With Putrajaya admitting it is unlikely to meet GDP growth projections this year, leading to a larger budget deficit, the opposition leader took aim at the Najib administration, saying the move to hand each BN federal lawmaker RM1.5 million was "not proper."
"The PM also said they can spend in cash, giving up to RM5,000 to their constituents. This is not proper," the PKR de facto leader told a press conference.
"They are not concerned about financial regulations, they don't care about finances," Anwar (picture) said of the move, which comes on the back of Najib revealing a repeat of Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (BR1M) cash handouts to low-income families, which cost RM2.6 billion, was on the cards.
The Malaysian Insider reported earlier today that the BN MPs were handed the allocation at yesterday's BN pre-council meeting for the current parliamentary sitting as the Najib administration looks ahead to polls after September's budget announcement.
Although Najib was earlier speculated to dissolve Parliament this month for a July election, he announced that he would be tabling next year's budget on September 28 and that there was a possibility of another handout to low-income families under BR1M.
The RM500 paid out to nearly five million families at a cost of RM2.6 billion earlier this year saw his approval ratings shoot up to 69 per cent, largely due to a surge among poorer households.
But the aftermath of violence that erupted between police and demonstrators at the April 28 Bersih rally for free and fair elections saw the BN chief's popularity slide to 65 per cent last month.
The Umno president said late last month the government will ensure that Malaysia's debt will not exceed the statutory ceiling under the Loan (Local) Act and Government Funding Act due to its prudent management of the nation's finances.
Najib, who is also finance minister, said his administration has also taken steps to rein in the fiscal deficit, which dropped to 4.8 per cent last year from a 22-year high of over seven per cent in 2009.
But Malaysia's slowing economy, which recorded a third consecutive quarterly dip in growth to 4.7 per cent in the first three months of the year, off-track from earlier projections of up to six per cent growth for the year, has raised doubts over Putrajaya's ability to keep spending in check.
Analysts have warned Malaysia to brace for a significant slowdown here due to rising linkages with top trade partners including China, the world's second-largest market, which economists say is headed for a sixth consecutive quarterly drop in growth with worse to come.
A Greek exit from the euro zone, which is a growing threat, would cause a second recession in as little as four years in Malaysia as the knock-on damage to Europe poses a threat to the global economy, Bloomberg reported analysts and economists as saying recently
I refer to the report today in the New Straits Times daily alleging that Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had instructed a bank CEO to transfer millions to certain accounts. The report is false, irresponsible and politically motivated. The news report itself states that investigators found no evidence to support the allegations or bring the case to court, and the investigations were wrapped up as long ago as the year 2000. This proves that this allegation against Anwar was wild and baseless. Despite this, the newspaper today published the front page report under the headline ” Anwar gave order “. This is character assasination and gutter journalism of the lowest and most disgraceful kind.
It is disturbing that the Prime Minister and his ruling UMNO party have increasingly resorted to false and malicious personal attacks against key opposition leaders. The NST, Utusan Malaysia and some other newspapers that regularly publish false reports against the opposition are owned by Najib’s UMNO party. It is impossible for these dailies to carry on publishing these irresponsible and vicious attacks without Najib’s knowledge and approval. It is a measure of the Prime minister’s current political desperation that he is resorting to these low tactics. We call upon Prime Minister Najib to immediately abandon the politics of lies and slander, and instead engage the opposition in constructive and rational dialogue.
KEADILAN meneruskan analisis kami tentang kesan sosial dan kewangan peneroka akibat IPO (Initial public offering/penyenaraian) FGVH. Analisis kami menunujukkan sebelum adanya FGVH, tiap-tiap tahun FELDA membelanjakan antara RM400 hingga RM500 juta setahun untuk kebajikan masyarakat peneroka. Perbelanjaan ini yang termasuk dana bagi infrastruktur jalan, masjid, padang bola, perumahan, pendidikan, insentif Hari Raya dan insurans.
Pada tahun 2011, FELDA telah membelanjakan RM424 juta untuk peneroka. Walau bagaimanapun, bagi tahun 2012 FELDA bercadang untuk memotong belajawan untuk peneroka ke RM326 juta. Pengurangan belajawan ini amat besar, hampir RM100 juta potongan.
Butir-butir potongan adalah seperti berikut:
• Pembangunan Infrastruktur dikurangkan sebanyak 57%. • Pembangunan Belia dan Generasi Dua dan Ketiga yang dikurangkan sebanyak 27%. • Insentif Produktiviti untuk Peneroka dikurangkan sebanyak 22%. • Hari Raya Bonus dikurangkan sebanyak 25%. • Pelan Insurans bagi peneroka dikurangkan sebanyak 25%.
Potongan RM100 juta ini mempunyai kaitan terus dengan IPO FGVH. Apabila FELDA pajak gadai tanah 350,000 hektar kepada FGVH, FELDA telah menyerahkan semua pokok dan hasil sawit kepada FGVH. Ini menyebabkan pendapatan FELDA jatuh mendadak. Pada tahun 2011, pendapatan FELDA mencecah RM2.5 bilion tetapi selepas tanah dipajak, pendapatan 2012 dijangka turun ke RM900 juta sahaja, pendapatan jatuh 64%. Oleh kerana pendapatan FELDA jatuh teruk, maka kebajikan peneroka dipotong sebanyak RM100 juta.
Semua butir-butir diatas adalah daripada Bajet rasmi FELDA 2012.
Pada permulaannya kami telah mendedahkan durian runtuh yang terlalu kecil kepada peneroka, selepas itu pendedahan mengenai peruntukan saham yang memihak kepada bumiputera kaya, kini peneroka sekali lagi ditindas dengan potongan kebajikan RM100 juta.
WONG CHEN, PENGERUSI BIRO PELABURAN & PERDAGANGAN 12 JUNE 2012
IPO of FGVH causes FELDA earnings to crash 64% and settlers lose RM100 million in welfare support
Keadilan continues with our analysis of the FGVH listing and its social and financial impact on settlers. FELDA on a yearly basis spends between RM400 to RM500 million on the welfare of the settlers. The expenditure includes funds for infrastructure such as roads, mosques, housing, education, Hari Raya incentives and insurance. In 2011, FELDA spent RM424 million on settlers. However for 2012 FELDA intends to spend only RM326 million on settlers, a massive reduction of close to RM100 million.
Details of the reductions are as follows: · Infrastructure development reduced by 57%. · Youth and New Generation Development reduced by 27%. · Productivity incentive for Settlers reduced by 22%. · Hari Raya Bonus reduced by 25%. · Insurance plan for settlers reduced by 25%.
The reason for this massive reduction is clear; after the FGVH lisitng, FELDA's earnings have crashed. By leasing the 350,000 ha of land to FGVH, FELDA switched role, from a rich plantation operator to a mere landlord. The results are devastating to FELDA. In 2011, FELDA earned RM2.5 billion but for 2012, it only expects to earn RM900 million. In other words, the IPO of FGVH has caused FELDA earnings to crash by 64%.
All the above details are from the FELDA official Budget for 2012.
First we had the small unfair windfall, then the unfair allocation of shares to favour rich bumiputera, now settlers are again unfairly treated by a RM100 million reduction in welfare support.
WONG CHEN, CHAIRMAN, INVESTMENT & TRADE BUREAU 12 JUNE 2012
"Here we go," Tony Soprano said in the first episode of "The Sopranos" when Dr. Melfi, his psychiatrist, reached for her prescription pad. "Here comes the Prozac."
Tony was having panic attacks. It wasn't easy being a crime boss anymore. The old order was falling away. The Feds had new methods, like the RICO statute. His family gave him agita. His attacks made him feel, he said, like he had "ginger ale in my skull."
It's hard not to think about Tony's woes while reading William J. Dobson's intelligent and absorbing "Dictator's Learning Curve." It's a book that intricately explores the headache-making complexities of being an authoritarian tough guy in 2012. These despots may well be on anti-depressants too.
Old-school oppressors like Stalin, Pol Pot, Mao and Idi Amin had it easy. There was no YouTube, no Facebook, no Twitter. "Today, the world's dictators can surrender any hope of keeping their worst deeds secret," Mr. Dobson observes. "If you order a violent crackdown — even on a Himalayan mountain pass — you now know it will likely be captured on an iPhone and broadcast around the world."
The neo-authoritarians, from Vladimir Putin in Russia to Hugo Chávez in Venezuela to China's more faceless technocrats, are still brutal, but they have learned to adapt. These types of leaders, the author says, "are far more sophisticated, savvy and nimble than they once were."
Mass arrests and firing squads? For most of these men these are clumsy and a bit passé. Tax collectors and health inspectors are now more likely to shut down dissident groups. Today's dictators confound their critics by peppering their speeches, the author says, "with references to liberty, justice and the rule of law." Fair and balanced is how they wish to appear, contrary to realities. A new kind of iron fist has arrived, tucked behind an acid-whitened smile.
Mr. Dobson is the politics and foreign affairs editor of Slate; before that he was an editor for Foreign Affairs. He crisscrossed the globe multiple times while reporting this prickly book, traveling some 93,000 miles, he estimates.
He's interviewed more than 200 people, and his closely observed accounts of dictators' increasingly sly methods to control their populations are haunting and dispiriting. Chief among these methods is simple confusion. Citizens rarely know, any longer, where the lines are drawn. One Venezuelan tells the author, "Fear does not leave fingerprints."
Mr. Dobson's book is more than a catalog of shifting monocratic nightmares, however. He's just as interested — more interested in fact — in how democracy's advocates are mixing up their tactics in response. Some of these new methods were on display during the Arab Spring, when despots fell in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. Others are still gestating. His explanation of how citizens are using fresh, bespoke tools against modern dictators is almost absurdly inspiring.
Mr. Dobson delivers portraits of some of the world's leading intellectual, tactical and financial advocates of grass-roots democracy. These scruffy luminaries include Gene Sharp, the American intellectual whose 93-page guide to toppling autocrats, "From Dictatorship to Democracy," is available for download in more than two dozen languages.
But Mr. Dobson is most galvanizing at ground level, when he's talking to activists and explaining their stratagems. He points out that more people are willing to attend opposition events, for example, if they are held at night and in the dark, "safe from the prying eyes of the regime."
He discusses the importance of attracting sympathetic members of the police and military long before things get rough. There's even more value, perhaps, in recruiting these people's children. He quotes a strategist who says, "Generals don't like to attack crowds with their children in the front ranks."
He is excellent on the uses democracy movements can make of humor. When Mr. Putin cracked down on a television station that broadcast "South Park," activists carried signs that read: "Putin Killed Kenny." These people "were protecting free speech," Mr. Dobson writes, "but they wouldn't say it that way. They would say they were protecting Kenny and Cartman."
One Venezuelan opposition member vividly underscores many of this book's lessons when he says, "If you're going to fight Mike Tyson, you're not going to box against him, because, even though he is crazy, he's going to kill you. But if you can challenge him to a game of chess, you might have a chance."
"The Dictator's Learning Curve" is agile and light on its feet, but among its salient points is that pro-democracy movements need to be more than that. Happy thoughts and hippie clothes are not enough. "Revolutions, if they are to be successful," Mr. Dobson writes, "require planning, preparation, and an intelligent grasp of how to anticipate and outwit a repressive regime that thinks of little beyond preserving its own power."
Events may move suddenly, Mr. Dobson writes, "but there is usually a movement or organization that put months or years of dangerous (often tedious) work into making that day possible." One pro-democracy leader puts all this more baldly: "Spontaneity will only get you killed."
Mr. Dobson's book, with luck, will find its way into the hands of people who aspire to be free. They'll find optimism here, but hard realities as well. The author cites statistics that suggest political freedom, and the number of democracies in the world, declined from 2005 to 2010. Modern authoritarians have learned elastic new ways to prosper.
"Lately, I'm getting the feeling that I came in at the end," Tony said in that same first episode of "The Sopranos." He added, "The best is over." Mr. Dobson's book proposes that many dictators today may be feeling a similar sort of blues. In order to get out of the way, some of them may only require, from their own people, the right sort of push.
Foreign Minister Dato Seri Anifah Aman is walking on thin ice when he says the Scorpene probe is “not a serious matter that we need to follow”.
Firstly, he should tell us how much he knows about the probe and how he has come to know those details given the fact that Malaysia is not currently participating in the probe in France.
It is refreshing to hear that the Minister seems to know the issues in the probe. But his remarks don’t add up.
On the one hand he says its not a serious matter that we need to follow. On the other hand, he says Malaysia will “make the necessary preparations to face the trial when they are needed”
With respect, the Minister must make up his mind. If Malaysia will participate, why are we not there to assist to begin with?
Perhaps the Minister should, and I call upon him to brief Parliament in detail over what the probe has revealed to date and to what extent evidence has been obtained and whether it reflects any wrongdoing on part of our officials in the said transaction.
Tell the rakyat WHY
The Minister must tell us why it is he thinks this is not a serious matter. It is a matter of public concern. He must give us reasons in full.
The Minister is also quoted as saying “so far we have not received any information from the French Embassy. But if necessary, we are ready to defend ourselves”.
This defies logic. There is a probe which is on going which involves the nation. Surely we cannot just sit back and wait for the French Embassy to brief us?
A-G must intervene
The Attorney General should, as first legal officer, intervene. He should and must advise the Minister that the proper approach to take especially in a case like this where the country’s reputation is at stake, is to take from the very outset, stock of the situation.
We should and must participate and have our own representatives defending us and regularly updating us as to the findings of the inquiry. We should be on top of things.
Anything short of this would appear to be an obviously negligent handling of the matter for which the government must in the end be fully prepared to account for.
At long last En Mohamad Rashdan Yusof aka Danny (Rashdan) will finally leave MAS on 30-6-2012. It was long over due but it is better late than never. Rashdan, Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar (Amok)'s most trusted crony, should have resigned on 24-3-2012 when the allegations of abused of power on the flight MH122 where [...]
Siri Jelajah Dato' Seri anwar Ibrahim ke Parlimen Pandan Merdeka Rakyat 12 Jun 2012 (Selasa) 9.00 – 12.00 Malam – Ceramah Perdana – Merdeka Rakyat Lokasi: Padang Taman Seraya, Ampang Penceramah: i. YB Datto' Seri Anwar Ibrahim ii. YB Azmin Ali iii. YB Ir. Iskandar Abdul Samad iv. YB Tony Pua Kiam Wee v. YB Jenice Lee Ying Ha vi. YBhg Rafizi Ramli
Tiada ulasan:
Catat Ulasan