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MRT Co backs down from land row

By Melissa Chi | October 13, 2011
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — MRT Corporation CEO Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid pledged today Jalan Sultan properties will not be acquired for the Klang Valley Mass Rapit Transit project, as long as businesses and landowners vacate their premises temporarily during tunnel construction.
“We are not touching your property, we are not going to take over your property, I don’t understand why realignment becomes an issue.

“I would acknowledge to you today that the biggest challenge would be in Bukit Bintang area because the area is so tight that we cannot get to the underground tunnel done without demolishing buildings at the top,” he said today.

The newly appointed chief of the MRT project owner said Jalan Sultan traders would be compensated for six months loss of income, of which the value would be determined by an independent third party firm, and to put them up at another location if necessary.
Continue reading “MRT Co backs down from land row”

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IMF trims Asian growth forecasts as risks grow

By KELVIN CHAN
AP Business Writer – 3 hours ago

HONG KONG (AP) — The International Monetary Fund trimmed its economic growth forecasts for Asia on Thursday because of financial turbulence in Europe and a possible slowdown in the U.S.

The risks to Asia’s growth are “decidedly tilted to the downside” reflecting the negative outlooks for Europe and the U.S., which are the major markets for the region’s exports, the IMF said in a twice-yearly report.

Asia’s economic growth is forecast to average 6.3 percent in 2011, rising to 6.7 percent in 2012. That’s lower than the IMF’s April forecast of nearly 7 percent in both years.

The report covers 20 economies in a vast region stretching from India to Japan to New Zealand. Continue reading “IMF trims Asian growth forecasts as risks grow”

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MIER trims GDP estimates as global economic slump bites

By Lee Wei Lian
The Malaysian Insider
Oct 13, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 — The Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) cut to 4.6 per cent, from 5.2 per cent, its projection for the country’s economic growth this year, citing a sliding global economy that it said could hurt exports.

The government-funded MIER also downgraded its estimates for 2012 to 5.5 per cent, which is within the Najib administration’s projected growth range of between five and six per cent.

Some market and bank analysts have described next year’s projections as too rosy, with RHB Research Institute saying this week that Malaysia’s economic growth could slow to just 3.6 per cent next year, from a projected 4.3 per cent, this year due to the increasing risk of a double dip global recession.

MIER executive director Zakariah Abdul Rashid said today that while the 2012 Budget unveiled last Friday will help boost private consumption, it will not be able to offset a slump in external demand.

“The 2012 Budget is insufficient to overcome external weakness,” he said in a briefing today. Continue reading “MIER trims GDP estimates as global economic slump bites”

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Stemming the Malaysian exodus

— Douglas Tan
The Malaysian Insider
Oct 12, 2011

OCT 12 — Recently, YB Teresa Kok asked me, “Why are Malaysians so keen to leave this country? Life overseas is not necessarily easier!” I agree that life overseas is not necessarily so. In fact, my cousins living in Hong Kong, Singapore and London tell me regularly that they miss the food and that everything is much cheaper at home (except cars). They complain about the weather, high cost of living and their long working hours. Despite this, when the possibility of coming back home is raised, they give me a smile and a shake of their head.

Is living in Malaysia really so bad? What is it that other countries have that we don’t? YB Lim Kit Siang posted on his blog in December 2009 that more than 630 Malaysians migrate overseas everyday, and that number is increasing year on year.

This is a worrying statistic and the brain drain issue is one that the current government acknowledges is a problem. However, the best they can come up with to make Malaysians come back are tax breaks, and tax-free vehicles. From day one, it has become apparent these ‘perks’ would simply not work. Continue reading “Stemming the Malaysian exodus”