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Unscrupulous actions, unethical behaviour

by P Ramakrishnan
19 November 2011

Wild tales are being told and blatant lies are being spread with impunity. What is being done is to deliberately create uneasiness, anger and hatred against the Christians and their faith in order to undo our peace and unity.

Christian bashing has become a way of life for some unscrupulous people that their conduct seriously threatens to undermine our harmony. It would appear that these people are intent on causing chaos to promote their evil political agenda on behalf of the Barisan Nasional and Umno.

All kinds of absurd rumours have been spread to suggest that there is a conspiracy to turn Malaysia into a Christian state. Accusations have been levelled that rampant attempts are underway to convert Muslims to Christianity.

On 5 November 2006, the mufti of Perak, Harussani Zakaria, spread a malicious and vicious rumour that a church in Ipoh was conducting a baptism ceremony for Muslims. As a result, about 300 Muslims gathered at the Ipoh church in Jalan Silibin to protest against the ‘conversion’, forcing the police to be called in. This incident could have led to an ugly religious clash.

According to Sisters in Islam (SIS) programme manager Norhayati Kaprawi, “this is not the first time the mufti has made careless statements and allegations.” She cited a number of previous statements made by the mufti, including in February where Harussani claimed that between 100000 and 250000 Muslims had renounced Islam. Continue reading “Unscrupulous actions, unethical behaviour”

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Its Muhyiddin and not Noh Omar who should answer whether the decision to award NFC project was discussed during Cabinet meetings

The Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Datuk Seri Noh Omar has denied that the decision to award the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) project was discussed during Cabinet meetings.

He said: “I can confirm that NFC is under the High-Impact Projects Committee and at the time of the loan approval to NFC, that was not under the Cabinet, not (mentioned) in the meetings.”

It’s the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who was the Agriculture Minister in 2006 and who was responsible for the approval of the NFC project, who should answer whether the decision to award the NFC project was discussed during Cabinet meetings as Noh Omar only became Minister after the March 2008 general elections – and whether it gave rise to “conflict-of-interest” situations involving the Minister for Women, Family and Community Development Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and her family responsible for the NFC project.

Muhyiddin should also explain whether he and his Ministry were aware of the involvement of Shahrizat’s family when his Ministry made the NFC award. Continue reading “Its Muhyiddin and not Noh Omar who should answer whether the decision to award NFC project was discussed during Cabinet meetings”

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Spain struggles to find lenders, despite high interest rates

By Michael Birnbaum,
Washington Post
November 17, 2011

MADRID — As Europe’s debt crisis escalates, investor fears are also rising, making it increasingly difficult for some countries to raise money to pay their bills. That dying demand, despite the record-high interest rates they are being forced to pay, is raising concern that those nations could face a credit freeze similar to the one that brought the world’s economy to its knees in 2008.

Spain is the latest country to try to borrow, only to find few takers. In an auction of its bonds on Thursday, Spain fell $600 million short of its goal. Demand was the lowest since the depths of the 2008 recession — even though the nation’s bonds are paying the highest interest rates since it joined the euro more than a decade ago. An earlier auction this week also raised less money than the nation had hoped.

The situation in Spain raised new alarms about the European debt crisis and helped drive U.S. stocks lower Thursday. By mid-afternoon, the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index were down nearly 2 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was off more than 2.2 percent.

The lack of willing lenders could send countries into bankruptcy faster than the high interest rates alone, analysts say, because countries can typically withstand a temporary spike in borrowing costs. But if they can’t find anyone to lend to them at any price, that’s a sign of more dire straits, because unlike most countries that can print money in an emergency, they have no lender of last resort. Continue reading “Spain struggles to find lenders, despite high interest rates”