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M’sia lost RM135.3 bil in illicit outflow

Malaysiakini
Mar 10, 11

Malaysia recorded RM135.3 billion in errors and omissions (E&O) in its outflow funds for the period 2000 to 2009.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said considering the huge amount of trade transactions with the rest of the world as well as the lack of data for specific goods due to statistical errors or unrecorded transfer of funds, there was bound to be E&O in the balance of payments.

“Malaysia’s financial and economic trading with the world outside is seen in the balance of payments statistics, which is prepared according to a methodology set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF),” he said in his written reply to a question from Lim Kit Siang (DAP-Ipoh Timur) at the Dewan Rakyat sitting today.

Lim wanted to know the measures taken by the government in the light of a report by Global Financial Integrity (GFI) which stated that Malaysia saw illicit money outflows amounting to RM889 billion from 2000 to 2008 due to corruption and mismanagement. Continue reading “M’sia lost RM135.3 bil in illicit outflow”

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Dissecting BN’s twin wins in by-election

By Ong Kian Ming
Malaysiakini
Mar 10, 11

What can we make of the Merlimau and Kerdau by-elections four days after the results were announced? The results were not surprising. Most analysts, including me, had predicted that the BN would win by a bigger majority in both seats.

My prediction of a 4,000-vote majority for the BN in Merlimau was off by 357 votes (3,643 was the eventual majority) and my prediction of a 2,500-vote majority for the BN in Kerdau was off by 224 votes (2,724 was the eventual majority).

As is customary after each by-election, I want to examine the detailed results to find out where I went wrong and where I went right, and then proceed to discuss the implications of the findings.

Merlimau

I begin with Merlimau. I had predicted swings of approximately 6% (Malay), 5% (Chinese) and 45% (Indian) to BN, giving the ruling coalition 74% of the total vote and a 4,000-vote majority.
Continue reading “Dissecting BN’s twin wins in by-election”

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Christians say fed up with Najib administration

By Debra Chong
The Malaysian Insider
March 10, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 — Christians in Malaysia say they are angry and fed-up with the Najib government for what they see as a systematic move to deny their religious rights enshrined in the country’s highest law.

Spurred by the Home Ministry’s latest seizure of 30,000 Malay Bibles that cost US$26,000 (RM78,000) from Kuching port, the churches rallied together and issued a stinging rebuke today against Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

They demanded he “prove their (the government) sincerity and integrity in dealing with the Malaysian Christian community on this and all other issues which we have been raising with them since the formation of the Christian Federation of Malaysia in 1985”.

“The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) is greatly disillusioned, fed-up and angered by the repeated detention of Bibles written in our national language, Bahasa Malaysia.

“It is an affront to them that they are being deprived of their sacred scriptures. Many are wondering why their scriptures are considered a threat to national security. All these actions in relation to the detention of the Bibles continue to hurt the Malaysian Christian community,” it said in a statement today signed by its chairman, Bishop Ng Moon Hing.

They demanded the government immediately release all Bibles detained. Continue reading “Christians say fed up with Najib administration”

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‘Malaysia’: What’s in a name?

by Clive S. Kessler
The Malaysian Insider
Mar 10, 2011

MARCH 10 — “What’s in a name?” asks Shakespeare’s Juliet. “That which we call a rose,” she avers, “by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Likewise, “Malaysia.”

So what is in a name, and behind this one?

In a recent blog post (Semenanjung Tanah Melayu (http://chedet.co.cc/chedetblog/2011/03/semenanjung-tanah-melayu.html) , March 3, 2011) Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has repeated the claim — now almost a commonplace in the thinking of many Malaysian citizens — that it was only when the Tunku consented to the blandishments and machinations of retreating British power in the region that the name “Malaysia” was suggested for the newly proposed federation of the pensinsular Malay states, Sarawak, North Borneo (Sabah) and Singapore.

With that, Tun Dr Mahathir asserts, the Federation of Malaya (understood as the Malay Lands or States) or Persekutuan Tanah Melayu came to an untimely and underserved “official” end.

In effect, this claim holds, that older name or identity was throttled by an entirely new coinage, a hitherto unprecedented idea, a crude and ungainly neologism, and then buried under its weight. Continue reading “‘Malaysia’: What’s in a name?”

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Wife of Taib’s son seeks share of RM400 mil

Hafiz Yatim & S Pathmawathy
Malaysiakini
Mar 9, 11

The estranged first wife of corporate figure Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib, son of the long-time Sarawak chief minister, is seeking RM300 million of assets which the couple had amassed together in their 19 years of marriage, as well as RM100 million in compensation.

Shahnaz A Majid, who is singer Sheila Majid’s sister, filed the divorce papers at the Kuala Lumpur Syariah High Court last month.

The reasons for the divorce are irreconcilable differences and not having sex (nafkah batin) since 2001.

Her divorce case was called for mention today. However, Abu Bekir (right) was not present. Continue reading “Wife of Taib’s son seeks share of RM400 mil”

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Call for action plan by ASEAN MPs to secure ratification of Rome Statute by majority of ASEAN nations on 10th anniversary of ICC on July 2, 2012

It is said “All Roads Lead to Rome”. In the past two days, the road from Rome leads to Kuala Lumpur and I want to add to the voices of welcome expressed yesterday by the hosts to the distinguished foreign guests and participants to this consultation, and hope that you are fully enjoying the Malaysian hospitality imbibing the Malaysian sights, sounds and smells!

This however had been a long road from Rome to Kuala Lumpur – not only in distance but in time.

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was adopted on 17th July 1998 at a conference attended by 160 states, 33 international organisations and a total of 236 NGOs – with 120 votes cast in favour, only seven against, with 21 abstentions.

In order to enter into force, the Rome Statute had to be ratified by 60 states. This target was achieved in a relatively short period of some three years between the first ratification (Senegal, 2nd February 1999) and the last (Cambodia, Mongolia, Bulgaria, Romania, Ireland, Niger, Jordan and Slovakia on 11th April 2002).

When the world’s first permanent criminal court started work in The Hague on 1st July 2002 with authority over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, the number of countries which had ratified the Rome Statute had reached 74.

On that historic day for human rigthts, international justice and the rule of law, I had issued a statement calling on the Malaysian government to ratify the Rome Statute and like-minded Malaysians have been working on this cause until we are here today some nine years later for the present consultation. Continue reading “Call for action plan by ASEAN MPs to secure ratification of Rome Statute by majority of ASEAN nations on 10th anniversary of ICC on July 2, 2012”

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Damning Diaspora Data

By Martin Jalleh

On 4 Oct. last year, PM Najib Razak expressed his concern that the exodus of local talent to developed countries has threatened his vision of transforming Malaysia into a high-income nation by 2020.
Below are some statistics gathered from various sources and highlighted in 2010 to show how serious the brain drain is and the fact that more and more Malaysians are leaving since Najib took over:

  • 785,000 Malaysians are working overseas. Unofficially, the figure is well over 1 million (or even 1.5 million) (Malaysian Employers Federation executive director, Shamsuddin Bardan).

  • Of those who have left, nearly 40% of them have settled in Singapore; 30% in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries such as Australia, USA, UK, Canada and New Zealand; 20% in other Asean countries and 10% in the rest of the world.

  • An Australian immigration agency in Perth with offices in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor has reportedly said that the number of Malaysians enquiring about moving to Australia rose by 80% since 2008. Continue reading “Damning Diaspora Data”

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Longing for A Free Mind (Part 1 of 14)

By M. Bakri Musa

[Presented at the Fifth Annual Alif Ba Ta Conference at Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, organized by UMNO Club of New York-New Jersey, January 29, 2011.]
[A nation aspiring for greatness needs leaders with free minds; only they are capable of carving new paths. The Pak Turut (me too) leaders we have today, content merely to regurgitate what had been programmed in them, will at best only maintain the status quo. To elect leaders with free minds, citizens too must be free-minded.]

Let me first congratulate Amer Shukri, President of UMNO Club NY-NJ, and Zaid Nabil, President of the Malaysian Students Association here at Stevens, for organizing this Fifth Annual Alif Ba Ta conference. Despite changes in leadership through graduations and the like that are inherent in organizations like yours, you and your team have demonstrated admirable staying power. I applaud you, especially the hard work of the organizing committee, and thank you for inviting me again.

There are other UMNO Clubs much bigger and more established. At one time the UMNO Club of California counted its members in the hundreds, but the best that they could muster was in organizing gatherings to greet visiting UMNO dignitaries. Those were occasions less for the exchange of ideas, more for ambitious leader wannabes to ingratiate themselves to senior party members. So I congratulate you for putting together a substantive program all these years.
Continue reading “Longing for A Free Mind (Part 1 of 14)”