Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by YellowKingValley

Selangor exco: Some developers delaying affordable

YellowKingValley — Sun, 25 Mar 2018 19:15:35 +0800

Selangor exco: Some developers delaying affordable homes
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/...fordable-homes/

He says they built their more expensive homes first when the BN government was in power in Selangor.

PETALING JAYA: Many of the affordable houses approved during BN’s rule in Selangor have not been built till this day, Selangor state executive councillor Iskandar Abdul Samad alleged today.

He said the BN state government then had allowed developers to build their normal-priced houses before building the low cost and affordable portion of their housing schemes.

As a result, the developers had delayed building the affordable portion of their housing schemes.

Iskandar said some developers had even asked if they could forego building the affordable homes.

As a result, when the PKR-led government took office, it imposed the “odd conditions” to ensure the developers did not shirk their responsibilities, Iskandar said.

He said these housing conditions were imposed by the state to safeguard the welfare of the people.

Commenting on a statement by Prime Minister Najib Razak on Saturday that “odd housing requirements” imposed by Penang and Selangor had resulted in additional costs for house buyers and developers, Iskandar said the conditions would only be odd to those who did not care about the people.

While saying he was not sure what conditions the prime minister was referring to, Iskandar, who is in charge of Selangor’s housing, building management and urban living, believed Najib was referring to the ruling requiring developers to build affordable homes before or at the same time as their normal-priced houses.

“The state government has imposed this ruling to ensure developers do not delay building the affordable homes to years later after completing their normal-priced houses,” he said in a statement.

Iskandar said as for the Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia (PR1MA) housing projects, the Selangor government required part of the projects to be set aside for Rumah Selangorku homes, priced below RM250,000 per unit.

He said the percentage of the Rumah Selangorku project would depend on the size and location of the overall project but it would be between 20% and 40%.

“This ‘odd condition’ is to ensure that the people can afford to own houses because PR1MA homes cost between RM300,000 and RM400,000,” he added.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had also responded to Najib’s criticism and defended a ruling by the state government requiring house buyers to be registered voters in Penang before they are able to own affordable homes.

Lim had said the state government needed to take care of Penangites first.

“Najib asked how can we make it compulsory for all house buyers to be voters in Penang. We put down such a requirement because we want to ensure each buyer is a Penangite.

“What is wrong with that (such a policy)?” Lim had said earlier today.

----------

Guan Eng: What’s wrong with giving Penang people priority in housing?
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/...ity-in-housing/

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng says there is nothing wrong with the state government’s housing policy.

GEORGE TOWN: Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng today defended a rule by the state government requiring house buyers to be registered voters in Penang before they are able to own affordable homes.

In response to Prime Minister Najib Razak’s criticism of the requirement, Lim asked if there was anything wrong with the state imposing such a rule.

Lim said the state government needed to take care of Penangites first.

Affordable homes in Penang range between RM42,000 and RM300,000.

“Najib asked how can we make it compulsory for all house buyers to be voters in Penang. We put down such a requirement because we want to ensure each buyer is a Penangite.

“Penang is ‘cun’ (awesome). What is wrong with that (such a policy)?” Lim said when launching the Air Putih election operations centre at its service centre here today.

Present were Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari, Penang DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow, Lim’s political secretary as well as Air Itam assemblyman Wong Hon Wai, as well as other Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders and DAP members.

Najib had criticised the requirement imposed by Penang and Selangor as he claimed it had resulted in additional costs for house buyers and developers.

The New Sunday Times reported the prime minister as saying that the requirement was bizarre. Najib said this after the launch of the nine-day “Ekspo Jualan Perumahan — Ke Arah Sejuta Impian” housing exhibition at the Putra World Trade Centre.

Najib had also said that if Barisan Nasional (BN) were to retake Penang, it would do away with such a policy, which would mean outsiders could also buy affordable and low-cost homes.

In response, Lim said: “Let Penangites decide whether they want the state government to take care of Penangites or they want the state to take care of the whole of Malaysia.

“We cannot afford to take care of the entire country. We can only take care of Penang.”

Lim said BN had claimed it built many Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia (PR1MA) houses in Penang — 1,017 units in Permatang Pauh, 1,248 units in Batu Feringghi and 2,387 units in Bukit Gelugor.

“I wish to ask Najib: are the houses there? All those units he mentioned. There is none. Not a single unit. Zero. Nothing.”

At another function later, Lim hit out at Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi over the government’s monthly “Jualan Sentuhan Rakyat” programme, which offers daily necessities at prices below market rate.

Contrary to Zahid’s contention that the holding of such programmes showed the government’s care for the people, Lim said it instead showed the federal government’s failure in economic management.

“The government has failed to control inflation and control prices of goods from rising. You go to the markets now and you will hear people complaining about how high the prices of goods are. RM5 will not get you much.

“Why carry out such a programme when it is only once a month? People do not buy food items once a month but on a daily basis. They are like ravenous tigers.

“Don’t use this programme to show that BN is considerate. It is simply your failure in managing the economy,” Lim added.

DAP won Teluk Intan

YellowKingValley — Wed, 21 Mar 2018 19:31:48 +0800

Perak DAP chairman Nga to take on Gerakan president Mah in Teluk Intan seat
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018...luk-intan-seat/

After GE14, DAP will be the sole party representing the Chinese
UMNO will be kicking out MCA and Gerakan
End of Parti Perikatan!

Another interesting article

YellowKingValley — Mon, 04 Dec 2017 20:35:24 +0800

An interesting article for everyone including non-Muslims. Don't bash Wahhabis and Salafists too much ok? They are good in something too.

QUOTE

Beyond Emulating The Prophet, s.a.w.

Consider the hadith familiar to many, that our faith would be divided into 73 sects, and all but one destined for Hellfire. If you appreciate statistics and probabilities, you realize that the chance of your sect being misled is 72 out of 73, over 98.6 percent! In life, that’s a practical certainty!

M. Bakri Musa, www.bakrimusa.com

(Based on a talk given at the South Valley Islamic Community, Morgan Hill, California, on the occasion of Mawlid Nabi, December 2, 2017)

First of Two Parts:

The Koran commands Muslims to emulate Prophet Muhammad, s.a.w. In Surah Al Ahzab (33:21), approximately translated, “You have in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful example for those who hope for God and the Last Day.”

There is no shortage of resources to draw upon to learn about Prophet Muhammad, s.a.w., from encyclopedic collections of his hadith and voluminous accounts of his sunnah(his habits, practices, and daily life) to the countless biographies (seerah) and historical accounts.

This treasure trove should be a blessing, a guide for us on how to become better Muslims, and in turn better human beings. It is disappointing to note that the reality is far different. Those sunnah and seerah have become instruments for endless schisms and strives. We argue over their authenticity, interpretations, and yes, even relevance. Far from being sources of enlightenment, sunnah and seerah divide us. Thousands have been killed and maimed over those differences. The Sunnis and Shiites are still killing each other in the Middle East today. Having noted that, it would be trivial for me to draw your attention to the fact that companions of the prophet who are revered in one book of hadith are reviled in another.

Even the observance of Mawlid divides us. Some consider it bida’a (an adulteration of the faith), as with aping the Christians with their Christmas. Yes, in many countries Mawlid is celebrated with the exuberance far exceeding Christmas, with parades and prizes. Disagreements over Mawlid have raged for so long, divided so many, consumed oceans of ink, and caused millions of sore throats.

This controversy, like so many others related to our faith, stems from our inability or refusal to acknowledge a more fundamental issue. That is, we are trapped by words and language, unable or unwilling to appreciate their limitations and constraints especially when translated across eras and cultures.

We translate bida’a as “innovation,” forgetting that today innovation means change for the better, an improvement. We encourage innovation. The word now means the very opposite of what it was during the Christian reformation when it meant challenging the prevailing orthodoxy, as Martin Luther did. You could be excommunicated, or worse, for indulging in innovation.

This failure to be vigilant of the constantly changing meanings of words traps many. Consider hadith and sunnah. To be precise, they are not what the prophet said or did, rather what the historical narrators recalled or remembered about what the prophet said and did. There is a world of difference between the two. Imam Bukharis’ collection of hadith is considered the most sahih; yet he was not even born until over 180 years after the prophet’s death. Ibn Ishaq’s seerah, one of the earliest, was written over a hundred years after the prophet’s death.

Consider the hadith familiar to many, that our faith would be divided into 73 sects, and all but one destined for Hellfire. That means any one sect has only a slightly better than one percent chance (1/73) of being correct. If you were being told that you have that probability of surviving surgery, you would take your chance with a bomoh.

Yet every Muslim believes that his or her sect is the one and only true path to salvation, all others misguided, misled, and hell-bound. Such a mindset leads to a messianic zeal to correct the others “misguided” even to the point of death and destruction in the mistaken belief that it would for their own good! Better to suffer the punishment here on earth than in the Hereafter, these zealots reassured themselves with the smugness and arrogance. For others, that mindset breeds intolerance, exclusiveness, and destructiveness.

If you appreciate statistics and probabilities, you realize that the chance of your sect being misled is 72 out of 73, over 98.6 percent! In life, that’s a practical certainty! Realizing that humbles you, prompting you to learn from others. That nurtures an open mindset that would lead to greater tolerance and generosity towards others different from you. It encourages you to be inclusive lest you would exclude that one righteous group.

We are blessed to live in America where personal freedom is cherished. As such we are free to explore the vast, rich and varied traditions of our faith. Consider that in Malaysia, at its International Islamic University’s library, Shiite kitabs are kept under lock and key. You have to register with the authorities to borrow or browse any! If you preach Shiiism, you would be punished just as severely as if you were advocating communism! And Malaysia is widely acknowledged as a “moderate” Islamic country. Imagine the intolerance elsewhere.

We should use the freedom we have in the West to explore not only the other proverbial 72 sects but also other faiths. Have the humility to acknowledge the high probability that our sect might be among the erroneous 72!

I have learned much from the other traditions; from the Wahhabis, the anchoring stability of rituals and traditions; the Ismailis, the importance of stable leadership and social cohesion; and the Ahmaddiyas, the vital role of education and necessity for accommodation. The Sufis and Salafis have taught me to simplify my life, a necessity in this increasingly complex and bewildering world.

Imam Feisal Rauf is right when he stated in his book, What’s Right With Islam: A New Vision For Muslims and The West, that America is the most Sharia-compliant nation. Many Muslims, obsessed with labels rather than content, miss this point.

On this Mawlid Nabi we gather to honor this Last Rasul of Allah. I prefer that word over celebrate. With the latter, the children would expect gifts! Tonight, only cakes and desserts. I will depart from tradition and not lead a chorus of praises for our prophet, s.a.w. I will spare you my half-baked Arabic quoting hadith and my far-from-acceptable tajweedreciting the Koran that would grate on your ears. Instead I will focus on the achievements of Allah’s Last Prophet. No one, not Sunni or Shiite, Muslim or non-Muslim, and historians or lay people would dispute those achievements.

I will highlight four; three after he received his prophethood, and one, before. First, he ushered the Arabs out of their clannishness and tribalism to a society that transcended those and be based only on the belief in Allah. Second, he initiated a cultural sea-change in the Arabs’ attitude towards women. Third, he altered the Arabs’ vengeful “an eye for an eye” sense of justice to one that emphasized mercy, forgiveness, and restitution.

Last, though by chronology his first, Mohammad, s.a.w., was such a diligent, dependable and trustworthy worker such that his employer Khatijah married him. To use the language of modern business, she made him an equity partner!

In the second part I will elaborate on those achievements and the lessons they hold for us today.

RPK vs Azeez

YellowKingValley — Fri, 03 Nov 2017 21:48:55 +0800

UMNO internal mud slinging.

Team A
RPK
Tunku A.A.
Zulkeflie

Team B
Apandi
Azeez
Jahabar S.
Shafie

Who do you support?

History:
Isa out
RTM guy out
The mamak player out

[@darthboyzee]

RPK vs Azeez

YellowKingValley — Fri, 03 Nov 2017 21:42:43 +0800

UMNO internal mud slinging.

Team A
RPK
Tunku A.A.
Zulkeflie

Team B
Apandi
Azeez
Jahabar S.
Shafie

Who do you support?

History:
Isa out
RTM guy out
The mamak player out

Najibnomics

YellowKingValley — Wed, 25 Oct 2017 20:08:14 +0800

https://www.najibrazak.com/en/blog/ke-arah-...-berdaya-saing/

1. As we approach Budget 2018, I would like to share some thoughts about the challenges Malaysia has faced over the last few years and how I have tried to steer our country towards a prosperous, sustainable and inclusive future for all.

2. I want to explain my thinking ahead of the Budget on Friday and the plans we will announce then which, as always, will be for the benefit of all Malaysians.

3. My entry into the world of politics was abrupt and unplanned. It was prompted by the sudden death of my father, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, when I was 23.

4. I had idolised him for his achievements and for his relentless dedication to see our nation and our people progress. Since then, my goal in life has always been to do my best to follow in his footsteps and serve the country.

5. Like my father, I too want to put Malaysia in the global stage; to be among the top 20 nations in the world by 2050. No accomplishment can ever be greater than putting Malaysia on the best track for its future. That is my vision for our Transformasi Nasional 2050 (TN50) initiative.

6. And we have certainly made huge progress. This is why the World Bank endorsed what this Government has been doing, and why it concluded in its last country report: “The Malaysian economy is progressing from a position of strength.”

7. Yet when I became Prime Minister in 2009, the economic challenges we faced were enormous. When I took office that April we were right in the middle of the great global recession, the worst since the 1930s. Being an open economy and dependent on international trade, Malaysia was severely affected. Our exports dropped 20% while our economy contracted sharply by 6.2% in the first quarter of 2009.

8. There were serious structural and legacy issues that had led to low wages which did not catch up to inflation, expensive cars, high poverty rates, income inequality, frequent highway toll-rate hikes, declining education standards, poor public transpiration, lop-sided Independent Power Plant (IPP) agreements, and rampant crony capitalism. All of this combined was damaging the people’s welfare.

9. We were also over-dependent on oil and gas and commodities, and development in the country was unequal, with Sabah, Sarawak and the Peninsular east coast states lagging behind. The situation required decisive action and clear direction.

10. So, first of all we immediately implemented two big economic stimulus packages worth RM67 billion to pump money into our economy, to revive it and save it from an even deeper contraction.

11. Through this decisive action we saved the Malaysian people from the pains of going through a deep recession, such as happened in 1997. Then, the KL Stock Exchange plunged by more than 50 percent, thousands lost their jobs, businesses went bankrupt, and there was real and widespread suffering.

12. The Global Recession of 2008-2009 was devastating to many countries, including advanced nations that have still not recovered today. Because we were swift to act, however, Malaysians were relatively shielded from its impact. It was nothing like 1997.

13. The stimulus packages did lead to a 10% jump in our Debt-to-GDP ratio to above the 50% level. But the measures worked and Malaysia recovered quickly. By the year’s end, our economy started growing again. This was a remarkable turnaround.

14. That ratio has stabilised at below 55%, which is well below the level of most developed nations – the UK’s last year was nearly 90%, for instance. The opposition, however, tries to use this increase in debt to mislead Malaysians and claim we are going bankrupt. This is ridiculous. In 1986, Malaysia’s Debt-to-GDP ratio reached 103%, and we didn’t go bankrupt then! This shows that when they speak about the economy, the opposition mostly just spread propaganda and blatant lies for their selfish political interest. This has a name – economic sabotage.

15. Secondly, we knew that we had to undertake wholescale reform. We knew that to escape the middle-income trap and achieve our goal of becoming a high income status nation, we had to have an overarching, prudent economic plan – a roadmap, with key performance indicators and measurable outcomes so that we could test our progress and make sure we were keeping on track.

16. That plan was the National Transformation Programme, with its key component, the Economic Transformation Programme, or ETP. Some people have called that “Najibnomics” – I didn’t come up with the name! But I don’t mind people using the term, as seven years on we can see that the plan – which has the good of the Malaysian people at its heart and is its overriding aim – has delivered, and continues to deliver.

17. Gross National Income has increased by nearly 50%. We have narrowed the gap towards the high income target from 33% to19%.

18. 2.26 million jobs have been created, of which more than one million are high income jobs.

19. This March, our exports reached RM82.63 billion – the highest monthly figure for Malaysian exports ever recorded.

20. Inflation and unemployment have been kept low. Due to a policy of engagement abroad, we have attracted unprecedented levels of Foreign Direct Investment, which shows the confidence the world has in Malaysia.

21. In 2017 alone we have seen 14 business MOUs between Malaysia and China worth RM144 billion, 31 business MOUs between Malaysia and India worth RM158.4 billion, as well as a USD7 billion investment in Malaysia by Saudi Aramco. These will bring thousands of new jobs, transfers of skills, and improved standards of living for countless families.

22. And over that time, despite the huge turmoil in the global economy, the oil shock, and the disastrous recessions that hit much of Europe, almost destroying some counties, we registered year upon year of healthy growth. The World Bank recently revised their prediction for Malaysia’s growth to 5.2% for 2017 – the second time they have done so this year!

23. Those are some of the major milestones the Government and millions of hardworking Malaysians have marked under the plan we put in place in 2010.

24. But there are many, many other more specific moves the Government has taken to improve standards and help the people.

25. We introduced education blueprints for our schools and universities; and now we are seeing our universities starting to move up the international rankings steadily.

26. We are a nation of road users, which is why we encouraged Khazanah Nasional and EPF to buy PLUS Expressway outright in 2010 from the private holders. This means that every Ringgit collected now goes back either to the Government or to EPF account holders.

27. PLUS-owned highways such as the Penang Bridge, the Second Link and the North-South Expressway have also not seen any increase in toll rates since the buyout in 2010.

28. At the same time the roads have been upgraded – for example, large sections of the North-South Expressway have been expanded to three or four lanes compared to two lanes in the past.

29. Other aspects of public transportation had, however, been severely neglected by one of my predecessors. He wasted billions on vanity projects instead of building the world class infrastructure that Malaysia needs, both to attract investors and to serve the people.

30. Under my Government the first phase of the Mass Rapid Transit project was completed at the end of last year, and the second phase of the Sungai Buloh-Kajang MRT Line was launched in July. We now have 51 kilometres of operational line with 31 stations.

31. These projects created 130,000 new jobs, of which 70,000 are direct employment. And best of all, they were completed ahead of schedule and RM2 billion below budget. We are now planning for MRT 2 and 3, while in a few years’ time we will also have the first high-speed rail link connecting Kuala Lumpur to Singapore, which will cut travel time between the two cities to 90 minutes, as compared to more than four hours by car.

32. But it’s not just about the Klang Valley or the west coast. Far from it. Our focus has been on other parts of Malaysia that had been neglected for far too long – because we wanted our development to be fairer, more inclusive, and to raise all sectors of the population and parts of our country.

33. Kelantan, for instance, had been deliberately starved of development funds and deprived of critically-needed upgrades to their water infrastructure for decades by a former leader, just because it was held by an opposition party.

34. To me, this is not fair, as clean water is essential for life and is the right of all Malaysians. Therefore, we helped Kelantan with a water restructuring agreement last year that will cost more than a billion ringgit.

35. The people in Kelantan had also suffered from poor transportation links – resulting in many people having to endure slow, congested and dangerous car journeys when traveling between states.

36. To address this, our Government is building the toll-free Central Spine Road to connect Kelantan with the rest of the peninsula, while phase 3 of the East Coast Expressway will soon extend to Kelantan.

37. The East Coast Rail Link will soon be yet another game-changer for the east coast states.

38. When it comes to Sabah and Sarawak, never has any Federal Government provided as much in the way of yearly allocations and development projects for them – unlike in the past. The Pan Borneo Highway, to take one example, will be a huge spur for development and connectivity in East Malaysia.

39. I strive to be fair to all states – including the opposition-held states. For example, the Government has entered into a water restructuring agreement with Penang and Selangor to help them reduce their state debts and provide much needed revamps of their water supply infrastructure.

40. In the case of Penang, the water restructuring package in 2010 involved helping the state government reduce its debt by RM655 million, while giving them an additional grant of RM1.2 billion to expand a dam. This allowed the DAP State Government to boast that they had reduced their state debt by 95%, although this was in fact due to the Federal Government’s efforts.

41. Our efforts to make sure all Malaysians benefit from a rising economy have helped us register a stunning reduction in our poverty rate. Hard core poverty in Malaysia dropped from 3.8% in 2009 to just 0.4% in 2016. In Sabah alone, we had managed to reduce the rate from 19.7% in 2009 to just 2.9% last year.

42. The people’s income per capita has also increased from RM27,819 in 2010 to RM40,713 in 2017. Our monthly median income has increased from RM4,585 in 2014 to RM5,288 in 2016. And we have also seen an improvement in B40 household income – which has grown to RM3,000 in 2016 from RM2,629 in 2014.

43. As a result, our GINI ratio – which measures income equality – dropped from 0.441 in 2009 to 0.399 last year, the lowest in Malaysia’s history. Malaysia’s income equality has never been better.

44. At the same time, we know that cost of living issues hit those on low incomes the hardest, and this is why we distributed RM5.36 billion in 1Malaysia People’s Aid, or BR1M, to 7.28 million households in 2016, and we introduced the minimum wage.

45. A former leader recently described BR1M as an abuse of government funds – but he should try telling that to the recipients. It is frankly cruel-hearted for anyone in the opposition to talk of taking away a programme that is designed to help ease the burden of millions.

46. Everything we have done has been for the good of the people. And that includes taking many tough but necessary decisions that were not always popular.

47. We needed to rationalise subsidies that were insufficiently targeted. They were blanket subsidies on various goods, such as petrol, which had started during a former leader’s time and had ballooned to unsustainable proportions. By 2012, for instance, fuel subsidies alone had reached RM25 billion and accounted for 13.6% of the total national Budget.

48. Many of the people who benefitted were well-off, rather than the money being spent on those who needed it most. So what we did instead is channel funds to the Bottom 40 in a targetted manner, which we believe is a more prudent and ethical way to distribute public money.

49. We needed to reduce our reliance on revenue from oil and gas, which contributed 41% of Government income in 2009. This left us exposed and overly dependent on a non-renewable resource whose long-term future is in doubt as countries and industries turn to green energy solutions.

50. We were successful in this, and oil and gas supply only 14.6% of Government revenues in 2017. This early decision was fortunate as the crash in global oil prices in 2014 showed.

51. The last time that global prices for Malaysia’s major commodity exports crashed was in 1985. Back then we were unprepared, and our economy quickly entered a deep recession.

52. This time, however, we were prepared, due to the Government’s insistence on ensuring the resilience of our economic fundamentals. Although we were still affected by the global oil price crash in 2014, unlike many similar petroleum exporting countries, Malaysia not only managed to avoid recession but our economy continued to grow.

53. One of the measures that was crucial to this was the Goods and Services Tax, or GST – the source of one of the opposition’s main attack on the government.

54. Many have falsely alleged that GST is an entirely new tax, put in place just for the purpose of bringing in more revenue for the Government. In fact, it was a replacement for the sales and service taxes, which were inefficient, complicated and not working well for either consumers or businesses.

55. If raising revenue was our only intention, it would have been easier to raise existing corporate, income and the sales and service taxes. But doing that would have been bad for local businesses, and off-putting to international investors.

56. In fact, since I became Finance Minister in 2008, we have reduced corporate taxes from 27% to 24%. Personal income tax rates have also fallen, from 28% in 2008 to 24% now for the majority of Malaysians.

57. We also raised the tax threshold so that those whose income is RM4,000 or below no longer have to pay any income tax – unlike in the past, where those who had salaries of even RM2,000 were taxed. These are all incentives for individuals and businesses to excel, as they keep a significantly higher percentage of the fruits of their labour.

58. So GST should not be considered an additional new tax but part of a comprehensive tax reform that is designed to make Malaysia more competitive, to control the black and illegal economy, to reduce tax evasion and broaden the overall tax base.

59. Since Malaysia implemented our GST in 2015, many other countries, such as India and Egypt, have followed suit, while all the Gulf Cooperation Countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates – will implement their GST on January 1 next year.

60. And our economic plan has led to Malaysia’s GST rate only needing to be 6% – far lower than other countries who don’t share our strong economic fundamentals.

61. The vast majority of countries – over 160 around the world – have implemented a GST because they know they need it to make their countries stronger and more competitive. Strangely, the opposition claims not to understand this. They want to abolish it – but with no suggestion about how they would make up the RM41 billion GST raised last year.

62. I also want to be very clear that the claim that GST was necessary to pay for 1MDB is an absolute lie – as the politicians making this false claim know very well.

63. 1MDB in fact played a key role in solving the lop-sided power agreements signed by a former leader. When 1MDB entered the industry, it was the lowest bidder in all its agreements, thus saving Malaysia RM200 billion over the next 20 years. One research house’s report about the revised power agreements was simply titled “No more sweetheart deals”.

64. 1MDB has also funded the construction and upgrades of eight military bases which past governments were unable to do. It has also funded thousands of scholarships and Hajj trips for pilgrims.

65. Now it is true that 1MDB has had its share of problems, and we long ago revamped the management to correct the mistakes and bring it back to financial health.

66. But when the Bandar Malaysia project agreement is signed, you can expect 1MDB to make a decent profit that will more than recover its losses. And the lie that the people have had to pay for 1MDB’s decisions will be nailed once and for all, as after the rationalisation programme is completed it is very likely that 1MDB will have made a profit for the people – not to mention all the corporate social responsibility work it has done over the years.

67. Lastly, I want to address issues around our currency, the Ringgit. When the US suffered from the effects of the Great Recession in 2008-2009, they started reducing interest rates – which led to global funds moving their funds into countries such as Malaysia in search of a higher return.

68. Our Ringgit benefited from this and appreciated 30% from RM3.73 to the US dollar when I first became Prime Minister to below RM3.00 in 2011-2013. However, when the US started to recover from their recession, they started raising interest rates again.

69. This, coupled with the drastic drop in commodity prices, caused our Ringgit to weaken to its current value – which is now another topic that the opposition uses to criticise the government.

70. It is strange that the opposition is now claiming that the current weaker Ringgit is a sign that Malaysia is going bankrupt – when in GE13, the opposition also alleged that Malaysia was going bankrupt despite the Ringgit having appreciated 30% against the US dollar!

71. Pegging the Ringgit and re-imposing capital controls would have been the easiest thing for me to do. Having suffered from a lack of investment after we had imposed capital controls and pegged our Ringgit from 1998 to 2005, however, we decided not to do it again.

72. It is true that the Ringgit weakened amidst the global turmoil and uncertainties since 2014, but there have been positive aspects to that, as our exports and tourism boomed.

73. And while some have painted it as weak, our Ringgit actually performed better than the currencies of many other large commodity exporter countries. As our economy continues to perform well – as all forecasters predict it will – our Ringgit will regain its strength and an appropriate market rate.

74. You won’t hear about all this from the opposition or a former leader. A former leader who is obsessed by power and wanted to continue ruling long into his retirement, and who blamed me for his son’s loss in the race to be UMNO’s vice-president in 2013.

75. I had refused to conform to his ways as I firmly believed that Malaysia needed a new vision, away from the old ways that had led to the serious legacy problems that we had faced before and which were damaging the people’s welfare.

76. As a country, we must move on to the next phase to be a developed high-income country where the standard of living and the quality of life for Malaysians is the top priority. This is my vision for Malaysia – a cause that is much bigger than myself. Malaysia has always punched above our weight, and I believe in our tremendous potential as a country.

77. That potential has been recognised by many international institutions such as the OECD, the IMF and the World Bank. They have repeatedly praised the Government’s macroeconomic management and structural reforms, while a survey co-authored by the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania earlier this year declared Malaysia to be the ‘Best Country to Invest In’.

78. All the major credit ratings agencies have reaffirmed Malaysia’s status within the “A” band, and the verdict of the OECD was that: “Malaysia is one of the most successful Southeast Asian economies… thanks to sound macroeconomic fundamentals and its success in transforming its economy into a well-diversified and inclusive one.”

79. These are the results of the economic plan this Government put into place after I took office in 2009. The tough decisions we took were not always popular – but they were necessary, and they have spared Malaysia from the ravages of recession and the turbulence that has afflicted the global economy. We have acted as a responsible Government, always seeking to protect our people and look after their welfare and security.

80. In a few days, I will be presenting Budget 2018 where new initiatives and several major announcements will be revealed to benefit all Malaysians.

81. This Budget will continue to be guided by my goal to correct the problems of the past and to make Malaysia stronger, more competitive at home and abroad; to create a Malaysia that protects the vulnerable and is fair to all: a Malaysia where none of our brothers and sisters are left behind.

Malaysian Education: Deficiency of Ambience

YellowKingValley — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 19:47:55 +0800

Malaysian Education: Deficiency of Ambience

M. Bakri Musa

The state should not condone much less encourage or support segregation under any guise.

One crippling deficiency of Malaysian educational institutions is its ambience, or to be specific, enrollment.
Step into any Malaysian classroom and one is struck by something odd. While Malaysia is a plural society, its classrooms are segregated along race. Worse, this is voluntary. National schools are fast becoming exclusively Malay, non-Malay enrollment rapidly declining. Vernacular schools are almost exclusively non-Malays, though there is recent rapid increase in Malay enrollment at Chinese schools.

The growth is with international schools, in particular English-medium ones, with the demand far outstripping the supply despite the much higher costs. If not for that and rigid quotas, those schools would be inundated with Malaysians. Because of the high costs, enrollment in these schools is skewed along race and socioeconomic lines. Those foreign children at these schools (and their parents) thus have a distorted view of local society.

The growth in international schools reflects citizens’ low confidence in the local system.
what discourages non-Malays to enroll in national schools is the increasing “Islamization” of the curriculum and environment. Islam is taught not as an academic subject but as theology, with heavy emphasis on rituals and catechisms. Even if non- Muslims wanted to learn Islam as a legitimate intellectual pursuit, they would be put off. Granted, many Christian schools in the West too have heavy religious components, as with attending mass, nonetheless their curriculum is much broader and of higher quality. Consequently, many non-Christian parents have no qualms enrolling their children.

If the “Islamization” of national schools does not deter non-Malays, then the quality would, from the teaching and curriculum to the general level of discipline. Bullying, gang activities, and drug abuse are the norms. The physical facilities are shoddy, posing hazards to the students, as with halls and laboratories collapsing soon after being completed. Food poisoning is a regular affliction, reflecting the atrocious standard of hygiene in school canteens. National schools do not inspire confidence.
Concerns about “Islamization” and the deteriorating quality may be the initial reasons for non-Malays to shun national schools, but this being Malaysia, the ugly racial element is not far behind. Today, Malay-medium and Malay control are equated with mediocrity, incompetence, and corruption in schools and universities as well as other institutions. That poisons race relations.

Malaysia is not leveraging her cultural diversity and ethnic plurality to enhance the learning experiences of her students. Myopic Malaysian leaders consider diversity a liability, not an asset.Malaysian schools and universities reinforce the insularity of their students; these institutions, especially religious, entrap not liberate young minds.
Segregation can be solved in two ways–mandatory and voluntary. The former is cheap and can be effective, but whether sustainable is an open question. What happens when the compulsive element is removed, as ultimately it would have to be? The old segregated pattern would then return, and with a vengeance.

That approach however, has merits. The American military is the most integrated of their institutions, more so than universities or the sports and entertainment industry. The military approaches the problem frontally and coercively. The Joint Chief issued a command that all units be integrated. That was it; everyone had to obey. A southern white boy would just have to adjust to the fact that he had to stop and salute to a Black officer and address him as “Sir!” Disobey, and he would be court-martialed. Simple and effective!

Yugoslavia’s Tito did it that way. There was no ethnic cleansing during his time. There was stability and peace that survived his death, albeit briefly. Sarajevo even hosted the glittering winter Olympics of 1984.
We may flinch at Tito’s authoritarian ways, but there was no questioning their effectiveness. The problem was just that; when he was gone, old prejudices and hatreds returned with a vengeance.
What would have happened had the lid been kept on even tighter? Yugoslavia’s disintegration would have been delayed, and if delayed long enough people might get used to each other. They would have acquired the peace habits and forget their destructive ancient ethnic hatreds.

Lester Pearson, Nobel Peace Laureate and former Canadian Prime Minister, once said that if he could keep Canadians out of war for just one generation, that would immunize them against war. There is great wisdom to that. The contrary observation is even truer; once a nation initiates war, it reduces the threshold for the next one. That is where America is today.

I am no fan of coercive methods to achieve social goals no matter how noble and worthy. However, if they prove successful, I would not condemn them either.
American public schools were once shining examples of social integration, acculturating millions of children of immigrants to the American way. That is less so today.
More relevant to contemporary Malaysia would be the old colonial English schools, credited with producing many enlightened Malaysian leaders. Those schools attracted Malaysians of all races, though for a variety of reasons, fewer Malays.

Some advocate the return of those schools. I agree, up to a point. If we were to resurrect those institutions in their original form without any modification, then we would be no further ahead. We would be trading one set of problems for another.

The biggest deficiency with the old English schools was their inability to attract Malays. Unless that is rectified, these schools would aggravate interracial inequities.One strategy to make these schools attractive to Malays would be to have them in the kampongs and small towns. The need to improve English fluency is also the most acute there.
The other major deficiency was that those old English schools paid little sensitivity to local culture and environment. While I learned much about daffodils in spring in Wordsworth’s Lake District, I was taught nothing about our striking flame-of-the-forest trees or the rich biodiversity of our mangrove swamps.

As for respecting our national language, Malay was not introduced as a subject until I was midway through my secondary school, and that was only because the country had by then gained independence. As for deference to Islam, I was deep in my science labs on Fridays during congregational prayer time.
Malay parents adapted to those deficiencies. Bless them!

Those deficiencies can be corrected; they should not be the excuse for not bringing back English schools. We could make Malay and Islam compulsory subjects, or better yet, teach Islam in English and as an academic subject. These enhancements would not discourage non-Malays from enrolling, thus fulfilling the integrative role of national schools.

Another would be to make integration an explicit objective, and reward those schools that achieve the goal, as with increased funding. The fact that they attract a cross section of Malaysians suggests that they are doing something right. Rewarding them would encourage others to follow suit. Conceivably we could have state-supported Swahili schools if they were to attract a broad spectrum of Malaysians.

At the same time schools with segregated enrollment would lose state support, whether that segregation is based on race, religion, or language. That applies to Tamil as well as Tahfiz schools. That does not mean they cannot exist, only that they would not get taxpayers’ money. The state should not condone much less encourage or support segregation under any guise.

Kelantanese Muslims are tolerant

YellowKingValley — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 20:06:13 +0800

The ugly Muslim Zamihan has baited a lot of responses from different quarters... today's news:

1. Takiyuddin of PAS defends Kelantanese Muslim, says Zamihan does not represent them