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Has Malaysia lost the battle to become a developed nation and entered the cycle to become a failed state?

The collapse of the roof of the RM300 million 50,000-capacity Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Gong Badak within a year of completion provoked disbelief, shock and outrage with a whole spectrum of unflattering comments and reactions.

One reaction is that the shocking collapse of the RM300 million stadium within a year of completion is a disaster waiting to happen. An engineer, A. Mohamed who often jogged in the area, has told the media that he had noticed that the space frame which held the roof was getting bent out of shape but his efforts to warn government agencies and the media of the stadium defects were ignored.

Another is that the collapse is the inevitable consequence of a system which gives premium to “know who” than “know how”, the curse of Umno cronyism hiding under the guise of New Economic Policy. Will the Umno cronies responsible for the infamous collapse of the RM300 million stadium roof within a year of completion be exposed and fully penalized?

I was told this morning that the collapse of the Gong Badak Stadium symbolizes the collapse of the “1Malaysia” slogan of Datuk Seri Najib Razak marking his second month as the sixth Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Continue reading “Has Malaysia lost the battle to become a developed nation and entered the cycle to become a failed state?”

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PKFZ – submission of PwC report to MACC just OTK’s PR gimmick?

This is the fifth consecutive day of three daily questions to the Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) Rip-off, in response to the public announcement and invitation by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak that he had directed Ong “to provide answers on every question raised by any party” on the PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC)’s audit report on the PKFZ.

Although Ong had responded valiantly to Najib’s directive with the bravado statement that he was honoured with Najib’s trust in him, the MCA President had let down the Prime Minister badly in failing to answer adequately and satisfactorily a single one of the 12 questions I had posed in the past four days on the PKFZ.

I do not know whether Najib will have to end Ong’s misery by coming out publicly to withdraw his public invitation and directive to Ong to “provide answers on every question raised by any party” on the PwC’s report on PKFZ, but until then I propose to continue with the three daily questions to Ong on the PKFZ.

When the PwC audit report on the PKFZ was released publicly last Thursday, Ong secured a lot of publicity by directing the Port Klang Authority Chairman Datuk Lee Hwa Beng to submit a copy of the report to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC).

My first question to Ong today is whether the submission of PwC PKFZ audit report to MACC wasn’t just PR (public relations) gimmick when Ong knew that the four previous police/ACA reports by Selangor DAP leader Ronnie Liu on PKFZ had come to nothing and when he himself as MCA President was not prepared to take action against the MCA deputy finance minister Datuk Chor Chee Heung? Continue reading “PKFZ – submission of PwC report to MACC just OTK’s PR gimmick?”

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Axe MARA and JPA scholarships for ACCA abroad

Letters
by a Malay accountant in London

Dear Uncle Lim

I am called to write to you following your post (Have MARA run out of funds…) on your blog.

First of all, I admit that the whole scholarship system is flawed and needs to be overhauled. Scholarships should be awarded on merit, and if at all, certainly not to rich students. However, asking for such a radical change from a half-past-six administration with no balls is almost futile, or as we Malays say, ‘anjing menyalak bukit’.

My letter today is to focus in prioritisation of issues within the existing framework. Today, I would like to focus on MARA and JPA scholarship for professional courses.

http://www.jpa.gov.my/perkhidmatan-teras/latihantajaan/pinjaman-luar-negara/
http://www.mara.gov.my/web/guest/kursus_ditaja

With all due respect, I firmly believe that these schemes are a total waste of taxpayers’ money, especially in the recession. I will outline my reasons, with focus on the ACCA programme. Continue reading “Axe MARA and JPA scholarships for ACCA abroad”