Month: February 2012

— Farish A. Noor
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 12, 2012

FEB 12 — Over the last two days I have been interviewed three times by three different media publications over the question of where I stand on the latest silly debate in Malaysia, namely the question of whether Hang Tuah existed or not, and whether it ought to be taught in schools.

This is, I have to confess, one of the smaller histories of Malaysia that has been in the footnotes of my mind for ages, and I recall how I was once asked by an elderly gentleman during a forum discussion in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 if it was true that Hang Tuah was of Chinese origin.

Let me state what little I know of the matter, and make my stand relatively clearer:

Firstly, I don’t know or care if Hang Tuah was Chinese, Malay, Japanese, Eskimo or Serbo-Croat. He could have been a mix of all of the above with a Martian wife and a Venusian mother-in-law, for all I care.

Secondly, no, there is no record of the keris Taming Sari either, and every antique shop that claims to have one is lying to get your money.

Thirdly, please note that in the Hikayat Hang Tuah, we also have stories of kerises that fly, magical potions, demons and monsters, and a magical bean that when swallowed allows you to speak all languages. (A bit like the Babel fish in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy methinks.) Continue reading “How myths can be necessary and also dangerous”

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 11, 2012

11 FEB — Dr Hasan Ali, bekas Exco kerajaan (PAS) negeri Selangor, yang dipecat dari PAS baru-baru ini nampaknya mendapat tempat di media perdana terutamanya di TV3. Setiap malam kita melihat Hasan Ali diliputi oleh TV3 dan beliau ditonjolkan sebagai seorang pelakon Bollywood seperti Shah Rukh Khan.

Kita melihat lakunannya setiap hari dengan berdoa sambil menangis serta kembali bercakap dengan nada yang tinggi beserta dengan gerak tangannya yang menunjukkan beliau memang hebat berlakon dan berdrama. Hasan akhir-akhir ini selalu menggunakan air mata beliau dalam membahaskan isu politik untuk menagih sokongan ramai. Beliau boleh menangis serta merta jika perlu dan air matanya jelas meleleh keluar.

Beliau mendapat liputan TV3 setiap hari dan kenapa beliau diberi tempat didalam media letronik ini tanpa henti itu memang sudah menjadi perkara yang maklum kepada orang ramai. Berbagai-bagai cara beliau menonjolkan diri seperti bintang filem Bollywood. Yang belum beliau lakukan hanyalah menari dari gunung hingga ketepi laut sambil menyanyi dan naik kembali kegunung dengan pakaian yang bertukar-tukar silih berganti.

Sesungguhnya Hasan tidak selayaknya menjadi ahli politik. Oleh itu selepas beliau dipecat dari PAS ini, saya mencadangkan supaya Hasan pergi ke India dan menguji bakat lakonan bersama ramai yang minat berlakon dalam Industri filem di Bollywood. Beliau sememangnya mempunyai bakat berlakon dan saya merasakan beliau tidak akan melalui jalan sukar untuk berjaya dalam uji bakat berlakon di situ. Beliau memang seorang yang sangat berbakat dalam lakonan. Continue reading “Hasan Ali: Dari Umno dia datang, kepada Umno jugalah dia akan kembali”

— CK Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 11, 2012

FEB 11 — Many have written on this subject. Most are concerned about the implementation, costs, bureaucracy and effectiveness of the 1 Care scheme. Perhaps there is another holistic approach the government can consider.

Best treatment for the rakyat

Even in most developed countries those who did not have medical insurance will have to accept public health care and those who can afford it are treated in private hospitals. This is a reality of life, all citizens accept this. Have we heard anyone complain that he should be treated in a five-star private hospital when he knows well that he cannot afford it? The government cannot lose votes on this score. Malaysian citizens are mature enough to realise this fact —not all men are equal! We have the poor, the middle class and the rich — every society has this social structure. Continue reading “Why revamp our healthcare system with 1 Care?”

— David KL Quek
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 11, 2012

FEB 11 — Why the need for Health Reform now?

This is the question that has been posed by many people. What indeed are the key reasons for the government to embark on such a radical transformation of our health system? There is no easy answer. But I would venture some socio-economic and health economic possibilities.1

Although one cannot discount or exclude political reasons or even patronage-linked considerations, I would not wish to embark on this line of speculation, because essentially this would only detract from the real issues at hand. Also, it would be hard to prove what are at best, innuendoes and almost surely shaped by partisan motives and beliefs. But it would also certainly be impossible to allay public fears and anxieties that these sorts of political interjections might play a role in any government policy makeovers. So perhaps, these possibilities should at least be highlighted so that they might be forewarned and prevented from hijacking such a monumental policy shift for personal or partisan reasons.

Major reasons for this proposed health reform are: widening public-private disparity in healthcare delivery; attempt to slow down rising healthcare costs; government policy shift to reduce health care subsidy; implementing W.H.O. mandate to provide so-called universal coverage for health; social health insurance to tap into another copayment mechanism for healthcare payment; and forming an autonomous national health authority. Continue reading “Malaysian health reforms socio-economics: Part 5”

By ROBYN ECKHARDT
Published: February 9, 2012
The New York Times

A fishing boat near Telok Pahang. More Photos »

PENANG is on a roll. Thanks to an influx of private and public investment and creative energy — precipitated in part by Unesco’s 2008 listing of Penang’s capital city, George Town, as a World Heritage site — the Malaysian island is padding out its list of attractions. To the region’s best street food add smart restaurants and bars. And a lively street culture anchored in religious festivals has now been joined by shows at the recently opened Performing Arts Center, and events like the Penang World Music Festival (March 30 to April 1; penangworldmusic.com), as well as the annual George Town Festival (June 15 to July 15; georgetownfestival.com), a month of exhibitions, performances and readings by local and international artists and writers. Your stay will very likely be more comfortable than it would have been a few years ago, with new boutique hotels opening in recently renovated pre-World War II shop houses and mansions.
Continue reading “36 Hours: Penang, Malaysia”

— Spencer Gan
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 11, 2012

FEB 11 — Dear Mr Prime Minister,

I need clarification. Two days ago, you announced that PNB and Khazanah Nasional will be divesting some of its businesses to bumiputera firms.

There was also the usual talk of open tenders and how qualified bumi firms will be considered. I am not going to bother about this talk of open tenders because it will snow in Malaysia before there is a level playing field in business.

What concerns me is this drive to ask Khazanah Nasional to divest its stake in non-core businesses to bumi firms. I thought Khazanah was the sovereign wealth fund of the NATION. And I thought that meant that Khazanah is the custodian of wealth belonging to ALL Malaysians.

If that is the case, then Khazanah Nasional should be divesting its non-core businesses to qualified Malaysian businesses. Continue reading “Is Khazanah Nasional a bumi fund?”

— Bridget Welsh
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 10, 2012

FEB 10 — Malaysia recently hit the headlines after opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was acquitted of sodomy charges, although the prosecution has already filed an appeal.

The case is entirely political and reflects the government’s willingness to use the judiciary for political ends. Malaysia is set for the most competitive elections it has ever had, likely before June or else pushed off until 2013, and each side has a fighting chance to win.

Malaysian politics is dirty. Murder, sodomy, secret trysts, sex videos and conspiracy are all commonplace, and corruption scandals occur regularly. Both sides wallow in this political gutter, each trying to darken the reputation of the other and not fully appreciating how much the system as a whole has been damaged. Anwar’s acquittal gave the government an opportunity to take the high road and move away from this negative approach. Instead, it opted to appeal, despite the shabby evidence.

Concerns are now focused on the integrity of the electoral process. The government is mooting reforms but the problems are vast, from administrative neutrality to vote buying. As the system becomes more competitive, political institutions involved in anticorruption and law have been compromised, with the government pressuring institutions such as the civil service to toe the line. Continue reading “Even after Anwar’s acquittal, politics will likely stay dirty”

— by Barry Wain
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 10, 2012

FEB 10 — Malaysians expressed a collective sigh of relief when Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was acquitted of sodomy charges in early January.

Their groan of dismay over the prosecution’s subsequent decision to appeal was equally palpable.

For most Malaysians, despite being divided in their opinions of Anwar, the acquittal marked a chance to move away from the sleazy politics that has long dominated daily life. Now, they expect more of the same. Aware of public exasperation, Prime Minister Najib Razak was quick to seize on the not guilty verdict as proof of his ‘reformist’ agenda and Malaysia’s supposedly independent judiciary. But the appeal leaves him stranded, inclined to delay calling a general election, and acutely aware that he is under threat as much from within his own ranks as from the opposition. It seems likely that Najib will win the next election, but unless he scores big — which seems unlikely — his leadership could be at risk. Continue reading “Malaysia’s prime minister loses most from Anwar trial”

By Dr. Ong Kian Ming BSc (LSE), MPhil (Cantab), PhD (Duke)
Teh Chi-Chang, CFA, BSc (Warwick), MBA (Cantab)
Refsa

Some PEMANDU ‘achievements’ are doubtful. The Karambunai Integrated Resort and Tanjong Agas Oil and Gas Park do not appear viable and their private sector developers are financially weak. These two EPPs alone account for 7% of the total investments trumpeted by PEMANDU during the first year of the ETP. Their inclusion weakens the credibility of the headline investments, national income and job accretion that PEMANDU claims to have achieved.

Karambunai IR – expensive and crowded? The investment cost for this project in rural Sabah soared from RM3 billion to nearly RM10 billion in the six short months from its first mention before the ETP was launched to its final incarnation as an EPP. At this price, we estimate it needs 2.8 million visitors per year to break-even – more than all the passengers arriving at Kota Kinabalu airport!

Aghast at Tanjong Agas. The massive investment and construction work in this fishing village will result in infrastructure that duplicates the thriving towns of Kertih and Gebeng, which are the stated focus areas for oil and gas activities in the Eastern Corridor Economic Region. PEMANDU will no doubt deny that the infrastructure is redundant, and maintain that the transformation of this village is unrelated to its location in Pekan, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib.
Continue reading “A Critique of the ETP: Part 3 (iii) – Execution (iii)- Doubtful EPPs; doubtful achievements and due diligence”

— Francis Loh
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 10, 2012

FEB 10 — Since he is MCA chief, it is expected that Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek would criticise and exchange barbs with his political opponents in the DAP and the other Pakatan Rakyat parties. Nothing wrong with that, even welcomed. But he should not patronise us the rakyat with the usual simplistic and ethnicised arguments, like Ibrahim Ali is prone to do.

For instance, it was reported (The Star, February 3, 2012) that he had resorted to that age-old boring refrain: that the DAP has been misleading the Chinese into believing that a vote for the party would help realise their hopes of getting fair treatment and a top Chinese leader. In fact, for Chua, “Chinese voters did not understand that a vote for the DAP would only help PAS realise its objective of forming an Islamic state and implementing its brand of hudud”.

Chua made these remarks even when the PAS leadership had just sacked the extremist Dr Hasan Ali from the party and got him removed from the Selangor state exco for expressing views and acting in opposition to PR policies and positions that had been agreed upon and adopted. Continue reading “Say ‘no’ to Ibrahim Ali-style politics, Chua”

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 10, 2012

10 FEB — Kita nampaknya mesti kembali kepada “basic” penubuhan negara kita. Itu sahaja caranya bagi kita untuk melihat negara kita kembali kepada asas penubuhannya dan cara pengendalian negara yang sebaik-baiknya. Sejak beberapa lama kita telah melihat negara kita dikendalikan dengan cara yang sudah asing dari apa yang sepatutnya kita lihat.

Kerajaan atau pada siapa yang bertanggungjawab, elok kembali kepada asas dan diadakan peruntukan khas bagi memberi rakyat kursus-kursus sivik semula. Kita wajar memberitahu yang negara kita ini adalah sebuah negara Persekutuan (Federation). Perjanjian Persekutuan ini dibuat pada bulan Februari 1948 dan pada masa itu ada sembilan negeri-negeri Bersekutu dan tidak Bersekutu telah menandatangani Perjanjian Persekutuan itu.

Selain dari itu dua buah negeri, iaitu Melaka dan Pulau Pinang, juga turut menyertai perjanjian itu untuk mewujudkan sebuah negara yang dinamakan Persekutuan Tanah Melayu. Rakyat harus diberitahu yang Persekutuan Tanah Melayu itu merupakan gantian kepada Malayan Union, anjuran Britain, yang cuba untuk menubuhkan sebuah kerajaan “unitary” yang tidak mempunyai kerajaan-kerajaan negeri dan menjadikan Kuala Lumpur sebagai Pusat Pentadbirannya dan kerajaan itu dinamakan Kerajaan Pusat.

Oleh kerana negara kita ini adalah sebuah Negara Persekutuan, pusat pentadbiran di Putrajaya itu adalah pusat pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan, bukannya pusat pentadbiran Kerajaan Pusat. Diantara Kuala Lumpur dan Bangkok serta Jakarta ada perbezaannya. Kedua-dua Bangkok dan Jakarta misalnya, kedua-dua bandaraya itu menempatkan kerajaan Pusat kerana Thailand dan Indonesia itu adalah negara “unitary” yang tidak mempunyai negeri-negeri yang berdaulat didalamnya. Malaysia adalah seperti Amerika Syarikat dan Australia; iaitu berkerajaan Persekutuan dalam mana ada kerajaan-kerajaan negeri didalamnya. Continue reading “Pemimpin-pemimpin dan rakyat wajar melalui kursus sivik kenegaraan”

My statement on January 24 calling on Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid to resign as Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman if he is not prepared to convene an emergency PAC meeting to investigate into the RM330 million National Feedlot Centre/National Feedlot Corporation (NFC/NFCorp) “cattle condo” scandal so as to be able to report to Parliament next month has been vindcated by none other than the NFCorp chief executive officer Wan Shahinur Izmir Salleh.

Wan Shahinur Izran came out with a most shocking assertion yesterday when he said in a statement:

“The issue of NFC managing its loan monies amounting to RM250 million is the company’s responsibility to administer and utilise. NFC retains the prerogative to invest the funds in the best interests of the company.”

Can this shocking claim be true, that NFCorp has been given a completely blank cheque to do what it likes with the RM250 million loan from the Finance Ministry although completely unrelated to the “high impact” NFC economic project to promote beef self-sufficiency in the country?

If true, then the “political masters” responsible for this decision at the relevant time, whether Tun Abdullah, who was the Prime Minister when the project and loan was approved, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on “High Impact Projects” or Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin the Minister for Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries should be hauled up before the PAC for the whole truth to be told.

If untrue, it is the responsibility of PAC to get to the bottom of the matter and report to Parliament when it reconvenes on March 12.
Continue reading “Azmi should step down as PAC Chairman if he is not prepared to convene emergency PAC meeting to investigate into propriety of RM250 million government loan to NFCorp so as to be able to report to Parliament next month”

— S.M. Mohamed Idris
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 10, 2012

FEB 10 — The government’s aim is to achieve a high-income economy by 2020 must equally benefit all Malaysians. We cannot have a society where one small elite group is living in luxury, while one big part of the society is struggling to survive.

The income inequality gap

According to Dr Muhammed Abdul Khalid, a research fellow with University Kebangsaan Malaysia, although Malaysia has made great strides in reducing poverty and inequality (especially between ethnic groups) from 1970 to 1990, the inequality remains high post-1990.

It has remained almost at the same level for the past 20 years; in fact, the inequality in Malaysia is among the highest in the region. Continue reading “A tale of two classes: Inequalities in Malaysia”

— David KL Quek
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 10, 2012

FEB 10 — Out-of-Pocket and Catastrophic Payments

So what is so terrible about out-of-pocket (OOP) payments for healthcare? Why are health economists and policymakers so enamoured with this unsavoury OOP payment that this healthcare financing mechanism has been universally targeted to be eradicated, or at least reduced?

Many health authorities from the WHO and World Bank have analysed this in great detail, taking into account especially poor countries around the world, including those in Asia, Africa, Central and South America. Malaysia too has been included in many multi-country analyses to ascertain if common themes and determinants are shared within the disparate health systems in the regions.

When one looks at poverty levels and unequal economic systems, the health determinant as a function of economic underdevelopment and social aberration unfortunately looms large in some really poor nations. While poverty per se cannot all be attributed to just ill health or the lack of access to proper health care, impoverishment as a result of quests for healthcare has been a classic example of what poor countries are doing wrong. Continue reading “Malaysian health reform socio-economics: Part 4”

Now, even Gerakan, the political party whose President had to get into Cabinet by the backdoor of Parliament, has joined the pack of wolves in Barisan Nasional demanding for the resignation of Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil as Minister for Women, Family and Community Development.

Although couched in the sweetest of words, calling on Shahrizat to “sacrifice” for Barisan Nasional and expressing “much sympathy” for her, the Gerakan Deputy President Datuk Chang Ko Youn hoped that the Wanita UMNO chief will have the “magnanimity to vacate her position as a minister in the cabinet and focus her energy on combating this…assault on her family”.

It will not be long before Gerakan leaders themselves will be asked by their Umno counterparts to make “sacrifices” for the larger interests of UMNO and Barisan Nasional.

Be that as it may, it is clear that the Gerakan Deputy President has either not heard or believed Shahrizat protesting in the loudest of voices that she is married to the chairperson of National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) which has nothing to do with her official duties as Minister of the Cabinet.

The question is how many Ministers, Members of Parliament and Barisan Nasional leaders at all levels are of the same mind – not heard or believed Shahrizat’s protestations. Continue reading “Let MPs have a free vote when Parliament reconvenes on 12th March on whether Shahrizat should resign as Minister over the RM330 million NFC “cattle condo” scandal”

— David Quek
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 09, 2012

FEB 9 — Ability-to-pay model in healthcare financing

Ability-to-pay encompasses the concept that people or households would choose an economic activity or service according to their capacity to afford such an activity based on their perceived hierarchy of needs, and also what goods or services to give up or sacrifice.

If healthcare or medical services are priced too high and are perceived as too unaffordable, health care considerations might be placed under such a low hierarchy of needs that it could be sacrificed for more urgent day-to-day needs and essentials.

That is why most countries around the world, if not all, offer a basic basket of health services (safe clean water supply and sanitation, childhood vaccinations, preventive child-maternal health services, etc), which are not taxed and are freely accessible to all, without the need to consider affordability or ability-to-pay. Thus, there is no question of having to consider these basic health services as an economic sacrifice for all income groups. The question arises as to how big or wide a basket of such health services, any country can afford to provide, without the need to impose co-payment mechanisms or additional taxes. Continue reading “Malaysia health reform socio-economics (Part 3)”

— Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 08, 2012

8 FEB — Nampak nya, bila PM Najib menyeru kaum India mempercayai nya, dia sudah lupa kepada slogan dia sendiri. Suatu ketika dahulu, semasa berkobar kobar semangat liberalism dan terlalu taksub untuk meyakinkan dunia barat, PM Najib telah berkata bahawa zaman dimana pemerintah lebih tahu segala nya sudah berakhir. The age of government knows best is over. Translated, it also means, the age of big brotherism is over.

Tapi kita tahu, PM Najib kadang-kadang tidak tahu apa yang sudah diucapkan. Maklum sahajalah, sebahagian besar ucapan mengenai dasar-dasar negara, di sediakan oleh con-sultans. Slogan itu sedap di dengar, tapi perlaksanaan nya tidak ada.

Dan baru-baru ini, kita dengar PM Najib berkata perbelanjaan keatas kebajikan rakyat akan memufliskan negara. Adakah bantuan kepada rakyat yang susah, bayaran melalui jabatan kebajikan masyarakat misalnya, akan memiskinkan negara? Kenyataan ini amat sukar di terima memandangkan dalam masa 10 tahun (2000-2009) sebanyak satu trillion atau 1,000 billion telah hilang dari negara akibat pemindahan wang ke luar negara secara haram! Bayangkan jika jumlah tersebut di aplikasikan kepada kebajikan masyarakat! Maka yang sebetulnya membengkrapkan negara ini ialah rasuah dan pemindahan wang secara haram. Continue reading “Berikan kepercayaan kepada rakyat, bukan sebaliknya!”

— The Black Cactus
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 08, 2012

FEB 8 — In the last few weeks, there has been immense debate on the proposed national health scheme dubbed 1 Care in both the internet and the mainstream media. A collective conclusion shared by both the public and the very professionals alike (who play a major role in the system) is the uncanny ability to fully comprehend the confusing entity which remains an uncertainty till today.

This commentary was written to achieve the following objectives

1. To help the public understand why this system was proposed and what led to the genesis of this scheme;

2. If possible, to pressure the government to be more transparent in providing information on the 1 Care scheme to allay fears among the general public; and

3. To help the layperson understand the unaddressed policy issues but highly crucial perspectives surrounding the 1 Care scheme Continue reading “The 1 ‘S’Care scheme”

By Dr. Ong Kian Ming BSc (LSE), MPhil (Cantab), PhD (Duke)
Teh Chi-Chang, CFA, BSc (Warwick), MBA (Cantab)
Refsa

The ETP resulted from 12 ‘labs’. Each lab comprised 30-50 experts who had 8 weeks to research best practices and innovations, distill them in intense brainstorming sessions and support them with detailed analysis. The result was 131 Entry Point Projects (EPPs) across 12 National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs) that would maximise gross national income with minimal public-funding support. Such is the PEMANDU narration.

Truly transformative ideas may have had no chance. Much was made of the private sector participation. But large companies would naturally dominate. Start-up companies, even if invited, cannot afford to release staff for 8 weeks. Consider this example: Ten years ago, Microsoft, IBM and HP would have dominated any lab to transform the IT industry. Google was a cash-strapped start-up, Apple was in disarray and Facebook did not even exist. The incumbents would have been free to promote pet projects and stifle their competition.

Hothouse environment favoured incumbents with existing business plans. The tight time frame incentivised lab participants to select EPPs for which research was ready, rather than pursue alternatives. In addition, private sector participants would be expected to lobby heavily for their pet projects. Their duty is to maximise profits, not embark on public service ventures. Unless properly steered, the labs would be inclined to select heavily-promoted projects rather than the most transformative.
Continue reading “A Critique of the ETP: Part 3 (ii) – Execution (ii) – The hothouse labs probably killed innovation”

— Dr David KL Quek
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 08, 2012

FEB 8 — 1 Care health reform phases

In the 1 Care Health Reform plan, there are four proposed phases of transformation that could take anything from 10 to 15 years (according to officials), depending on the uptake of the various phases and programmes, as well as its implementation progress.

Importantly, the Health Ministry increasingly understands that it would require general public acceptance, as well as significant consensus and (if possible) seamless buy-in from as many stakeholders as possible.

There is recognition that if the public fails to accept this in toto or in part, then there might be need to re-tweak or re-design certain aspects of the reform plans. Just how much the bureaucrats or our political masters are willing to change and adapt remains to be seen.

Therefore, it is crucial, indeed essential, that the public and interested stakeholders take an active role in providing enough input to help make this reform the one that they want. We should not simply accept a top-down programme designed by bureaucrats, and selectively enacted by policy makers. Why? Because, it would be disastrous if this reform fails or runs into the usual gaffes, just a few years down the line. Health care is simply too unforgiving and vital to fail or be subject to arbitrary social experimentation, no matter how good the intentions! Continue reading “Malaysian health reform socioeconomics (Part 2)”