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Two-generation home loans may bankrupt the next generation

Philip Ho
Klik4Malaysia
23 October 2010

Petaling Jaya, Oct 23 – Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Chor Chee Heung has urged house buyers to sign up two-generation housing loans so that more Malaysians can afford to own houses.

“The most important thing is for the individual to own a house for his family to live in. If loan repayment is extended to the second generation, that means the family will remain intact,” said Chor yesterday after launching the Malaysia Building Society Bhd’s Ultimate Mortgage programme on Friday (Oct 22).

Chor said that the newly announced 2011 Budget also encouraged the two-generation loan term while denying that the move would increase the financial burden of the next generation.

“I don’t think it is a burden for the next generation because the repayment will be spread over a long period and the younger generation are financially strong. They can even buy a second house,” he added.

Klik4Malaysia (K4M) contacted Selangor state government’s chief executive of economic advisory Rafizi Ramli for comments from an accountant’s perspective, regarding the implications on the younger generation’s financial burden. Continue reading “Two-generation home loans may bankrupt the next generation”

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Consensus on ‘social contract’ imperative

By Clive Kessler | Oct 22, 10 8:52am | Malaysiakini

The nature of the current disagreement about “the social contract” should be clearly identified.

Nobody is seriously suggesting that “the social contract” be repudiated, set aside, rejected. Nobody is arguing that it is fictive, a pure fantasy, an illusion. On all sides, everyone in their own way is arguing that it should be honoured, respected and upheld.

People just need to be clear, and find a way to agree, what its terms were, what “upholding the social contract” means and entails.

People are broadly agreed that in the years between 1955 and 1957 certain basic inter-ethnic or inter-communal understandings were reached. Through them a national “accord” was solemnly affirmed and politically “enshrined” that made the nation possible.

Known informally in earlier times as “the Merdeka agreements” or “Merdeka understandings”, these were subsequently, in the 1980s, relabelled, or as people now say “rebranded” with a new identity as “the social contract”.
Continue reading “Consensus on ‘social contract’ imperative”

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Umno and PM declaring war against the rakyat?

Richard Loh
Malaysia Chronicle
October 23, 2010

Is our country at war? Is our country being attacked by outsiders? It looks that way when we heard the Prime Minister declaring “Even if our bodies are crushed and our lives lost, brothers and sisters, whatever happens, we must defend Putrajaya.” I would be the first to stand by the PM and sacrifice my life to defend Putrajaya and the country if we are at war with outsiders. When an enemy attacked a country they will go for the capital city, trying to capture it, and if they succeed, the country will be theirs and they win the war.

This morning when I woke up, I hear no gun fire nor any bombing, just the normal sound of vehicles passing by and a beautiful sunny day.

So, what is the PM declaration all about? After reading it more closely I realized that it was umno and it’s president that is declaring war against the rakyat. They have taken control of Putrajaya and that Putrajaya belongs to umno, no one else has the right to it and they will protect it at all cost. Continue reading “Umno and PM declaring war against the rakyat?”

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We all grieve for a Malaysia that could be!

by Romerz
October 22, 2010

In his presidential address to the 61st UMNO general assembly, a lot of things said by PM Najib could be argued against simply on the basis of logic, history, proper understanding of Malaysia’s federal constitution, democracy and a host of other things. But I will not argue against Najib’s fallacious arguments because I’m tired of warped views and I believe my readers are of a higher mentality than those he was addressing.

Instead I will focus on only one thing he mentioned in the speech. Najib said “the Malays were hurt when the social contract agreed upon by the forefathers of various races who had agreed to make sacrifices to gain the independence, was now being questioned.”

In the first place I know of no such social contract as after 53 years of independence, no one can show me a written copy of this contract nor explain to me what was it that was agreed upon specifically by our forefathers. Even assuming that such an agreement exists (possibly and perhaps reached privately by the leaders of UMNO, MCA and MIC then, which may explain why we know so little of this often touted social contract), hadn’t this preceding social contract been documented and articulated in the Constitution of Malaya 1957? Continue reading “We all grieve for a Malaysia that could be!”

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“No Mega Tower” fb campaign reached 113,205 at 8.30 am – 625 in support

(Opposition to the RM50 billion 100-storey Najib Tower in the “No Mega Tower” facebook campaign reached 113,205 people at 8.30 am this morning after breaching the 100,000 mark at 9.20pm last night.

In contrast, the facebook campaign in support of the Najib Tower, “Kami Sokong Menara Warisan”, has collected a miserable
625 supporters.)

Anti-Warisan Merdeka Facebook campaign hits 100,000 mark
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 — As at 9.20pm tonight, more than 100,000 in a week have signed on to a Facebook campaign opposing the Najib administration’s Warisan Merdeka skyscraper.

The proposed 100-storey building in the city, has stirred up spontaneous grassroots opposition, moving the issue to the front and centre of current Malaysian politics.

More so impressive is the pace of recruitment — that only seven days ago Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced the plan, during his budget speech. It is clear the groundswell opposing it is considerable and now has shaped into a major political minefield for the Barisan Nasional(BN) government. Continue reading ““No Mega Tower” fb campaign reached 113,205 at 8.30 am – 625 in support”