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1Care: What ails Malaysia’s healthcare system?

— Mustafa K. Anuar
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 04, 2012

FEB 4 — Supposedly based on the UK National Health Service (NHS), the 1Care scheme is said to be aimed at financing the supposedly increasing costs of public health care while making it still affordable to the lower-income group.

But we fear that, like most other “restructuring” schemes in the past, 1Care will deliberately result in the escalation of costs to ordinary Malaysians and the outsourcing of contracts to corporate interests — financed by public funds.

The direct beneficiaries — private hospitals, health management organisations, pharmaceutical firms and those administering the national health financing fund — are likely to profit handsomely from this scheme at the expense of the public.

We recall how the costs of pharmaceuticals soared after the Government Medical Store was privatised in 1994. A similar rise was seen in the costs of general hospital support services after they were privatised. Continue reading “1Care: What ails Malaysia’s healthcare system?”

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Mat Zain: Cops can determine ‘within hours’ if NFC funded umrah

By Shannon Teoh
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 04, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 — A former senior officer questioned today the police’s reluctance to act against Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s family in the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal, saying it should only take “hours” to determine if they had misused project funds for their umrah trips.

“Why is the police afraid of taking action against Shahrizat’s (picture) husband and son?” former city CID chief Datuk Mat Zain Ibrahim wrote in an open letter to the Inspector-General of Police today.

“To check records and determine if Mohamed Salleh (Shahrizat’s husband) and Wan Shahinur (Shahrizat’s son) used RM31,580 in NFC funds to pay for their umrah in November 2010 only needs a few hours of investigation,” he pointed out. Continue reading “Mat Zain: Cops can determine ‘within hours’ if NFC funded umrah”

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DAP calls to Najib – convene in mid-Feb RoundTable Conference of all political parties, religions and NGOs to condemn all acts of religious desecration, particularly the dastardly incidents of pig’s head outside mosques to provoke racial and religious strife

DAP calls on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to convene in mid-February a RoundTable Conference of all political parties, religions and NGOs to reaffirm moderation and condemn all acts of religious desecration, particularly the dastardly incidents of pig’s head outside mosques, to provoke racial and religious strife.

It must be the concern of all reasonable and patriotic Malaysians that political and public discourse and conduct in the country in the past three years have taken on an increasingly shrill, irrational and intolerant edge.

Only last month, Najib convened the inaugural International Conference on the Global Movement of the Moderates and called on moderates of the world to unite and embrace moderation and reject all forms of extremism.

Sadly, Najib’s three years as Prime Minister have been marked by a creeping and insidious extremism seeking to incite racial hatred and foment religious tensions, as illustrated by the two incidents of pig’s head outside mosques in the Klang Valley in two days – in Sentul yesterday and Rawang on Tuesday.

Both these acts of religious descrecration, like the despicable act of arson against the Johor PAS deputy commissioner Dzulkifly Ahmad whose BMW car and house at Taman Universiti near Skudai were gutted early this morning, must be condemned in the strongest possible terms by all political parties, religious groups, NGOs and Malaysians who do not want to see Malaysia descend down the slippery slope towards political violence, racial animosity and religious strife. Continue reading “DAP calls to Najib – convene in mid-Feb RoundTable Conference of all political parties, religions and NGOs to condemn all acts of religious desecration, particularly the dastardly incidents of pig’s head outside mosques to provoke racial and religious strife”

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Najib at bay

Economist
Feb 4th 2012

Politics in Malaysia – Good intentions are not enough for a leader at odds with his party

KUALA LUMPUR

WHEN the leader of the Malaysian opposition, Anwar Ibrahim, was acquitted by a high court judge last month on controversial charges of sodomy, supporters in the government of the reforming prime minister, Najib Razak, were able to claim it as something of a victory. It was proof, they said, that ministers no longer meddled in judicial decisions, as in the bad old days. They even claimed it as evidence of Mr Najib’s wider programme to bring the country into a modern, liberal age.

And so the attorney-general’s decision barely two weeks later to appeal against Mr Anwar’s acquittal hardly looks good. Mr Anwar has always maintained that the sodomy charge was a smear that had been orchestrated by people from within Mr Najib’s ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). The case had run for two years, which for many Malaysians was quite long enough. Mr Anwar’s lawyer quickly derided the appeal as “a desperate act”.

The attorney-general’s decision renews suspicions that nothing much has changed within UMNO, which refuses to stop hounding Mr Anwar and, despite Mr Najib’s worthy intentions, wants few reforms to speak of. Resistance to Mr Najib’s changes has become something of a leitmotif of his time in office, and it could cost him dear at the next general election, which is expected later this year. Continue reading “Najib at bay”

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Unity

– by Clement Ting
– The Malaysian Insider
Feb 02, 2012

FEB 2 — Ever since DS Najib took office on April 3, 2009, “unity” is yet another word used on slogans without much effort to embrace the word for what it truly means. Let’s look at the latest and hottest slogan promoted by our dear PM himself, 1Malaysia.

The 1Malaysia slogan is now everywhere — from Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (KR1M), 1Malaysia clinics, 1Malaysia pillars, banners, posters etc. I am not trying to run down the idea as I think this idea has successfully reached everyone from the urban cities to rural areas. However, I feel that it is just an empty slogan with no one taking heed of what it actually means. Furthermore, this 1Malaysia slogan is contradictory in so many ways to the extent that instead of promoting unity, it is possible that it is doing the exact opposite. Continue reading “Unity”

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Anti-1 Care group demands Putrajaya kill proposed healthcare scheme

By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 02, 2012

PETALING JAYA, Feb 2 – The newly-formed Citizens’ Healthcare Coalition (CHC) came out for the first time today to demand the government shelve its proposed “1 Care” insurance scheme, warning that its implementation would spell “disaster” for Malaysia’s healthcare system.

The pact insisted that the present two-tiered model was superior to “1 Care”, which it predicted would only turn healthcare management into a “business”.

“We believe the (current) Malaysian model is superior for the Malaysian environment. We do not want healthcare to be turned into a business.

“We believe there should be both public and private sectors – public as a service-oriented model and private as a corporate model… it is not possible for a service sector model to be corporatised,” Federation of Private Medical Practitioners Associations of Malaysia (FPMPAM) president Dr Steven Chow said during CHC’s maiden media briefing at the Global Business and Convention Centre here this evening.

According to CHC, “1 Care” is a new national healthcare system that will force all households to surrender nearly 10 per cent of their monthly household incomes as contribution to a government-run Social Healthcare Insurance (SHI) scheme.

The group insists that the scheme would not achieve its objective to provide equitable access to healthcare for all segments of society and would only increase costs. Continue reading “Anti-1 Care group demands Putrajaya kill proposed healthcare scheme”

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Jika Mempunyai Peluang, Saya Akan Menyertai DAP

Oleh Ahmad Tajuddin Abdullah

Kenyataan ini seolah-olah saya mahu menyertai politik selepas tamat pengajian. Tidak, bukan itu maksud saya. Tetapi sedikit komentar dari saya setelah memerhatikan beberapa siri kejadian yang tidak disangka-sangka oleh ramai rakyat Malaysia yang aktif memerhatikan gelombang politik tanah air muttakhir ini. 

Siri kemasukan ramai nama-nama besar melayu (terpulang kepada persepsi pembaca) ke dalam Parti Tindakan Demokratik (DAP) akhir-akhir ini menimbulkan persoalan, apakah tuduhan dan serangan UMNO selama ini terhadap parti tersebut tidak berjaya mempengaruhi orang melayu?

Saya membaca beberapa keluhan dan rasa resah dalam kalangan rakan-rakan saya dan komen-komen pembaca mengenai berita ini, dengan menganggap mereka yang menyertai DAP sudah lupa asal usul, terpengaruh dengan ideologi komunis, dasar tidak mengenang budi dan sebagainya.

Bagi saya, ini lumrah dunia politik. Orang akan mengecam segala 1001 perkara yang mereka tidak suka. Tambahan pula, apabila perkara itu berlawanan dengan kebiasaan mereka.
Continue reading “Jika Mempunyai Peluang, Saya Akan Menyertai DAP”

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A Critique of the ETP: Part 3 (i) – Execution (i) – PEMANDU strengthens the ‘know-who’ cancer

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

Very swift progress, but is it due to PEMANDU? In its 8 ETP updates so far, PEMANDU has announced multiple new EPPs (Entry Point Projects) worth billions of ringgit of investment and creating thousands of jobs. One EPP – Johor Premium Outlets (JP Outlets) – is already open. But how much of this rapid execution is due to PEMANDU instead of normal private sector efficiency?

Opportunistic naming of existing projects as EPPs. For example, the JP Outlets and St Regis Hotel projects pre-dated the ETP. Their completion dates were unchanged by their subsequent EPP status – suggesting minimal input by PEMANDU. Naming them as EPPs gives the illusion of quick wins and overstates PEMANDU’s success.

PEMANDU might have indeed helped. PEMANDU might respond that these projects would have been delayed without its help in cutting red tape. Note that the developers Genting-Simon Property and Chua Ma Yu-MRCB are global multinationals, a prominent local businessman and a GLC.
Continue reading “A Critique of the ETP: Part 3 (i) – Execution (i) – PEMANDU strengthens the ‘know-who’ cancer”

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Malaysia: Why do I care? (Part 2)

By Clive Kessler | February 02, 2012
The Malaysian Insider

FEB 2 — Part 2: The “philosophical” aspect.

Why do I care about Malaysia?

Why do I have ideas and opinions? Why do I voice them? And why do I believe that people might occasionally listen and give some heed when I do?

Half the answer, which I have already provided in sketchy outline, is biographical. It is a matter of, literally, one’s “curriculum vitae”, the “small pathway” of one’s personal, individual life-course.

The other part, which I will now try to suggest in this complementary discussion, is a matter of the attitudes and sensibilities acquired during the course of that life.
Continue reading “Malaysia: Why do I care? (Part 2)”

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‘Umno warlords will not let Najib succeed’

By Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | February 2, 2012
Free Malaysia Today

Sometime ago I met The Economist correspondent Dr Richard Cockett who asked me whether Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak will succeed in his transformation ideas.

I said, Najib will not suceed. And why not? Because Umno won’t let him succeed.

Take the case of his New Economic Model (NEM). Nowadays we hardly hear about it. In the 2011 Umno general assembly, Najib did not even mention it.

Instead he devoted much of his speech sounding very combative and full of vehemence. What he did at the time was to actually retrograde to Umno cavemen politics – stick and stones.

So how is he going to push his tranformation agenda? Knowing Najib, he will revert to the ‘old’ tested ways of ‘patronage’.
Continue reading “‘Umno warlords will not let Najib succeed’”

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In just two years, Najib has “given up the ghost” on his signature 1Malaysia policy

“Why must I be Malaysian first and Malay second?”

This seemingly innocuous question by the Minister without Portfolio in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Idris Jala yesterday marked another watershed in the 34-month premiership of Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

In just two years, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has “given up the ghost” on his signature 1Malaysia policy to create a Malaysia where Malaysians regard themselves as Malaysians first and their race, religion, region or socio-economic status second.

It marked another abandonment of Najib’s grandiloquent “transformation” policies, like the even more short-lived New Economic Model (NEM) which was given an unceremonial burial in three short months.

This was why the theme of my speech in Parliament on the Tenth Malaysia Plan on 21st June 2010 was “Tenth Malaysia Plan: Long live NEP – RIP NEM” although the NEM was unveiled only on 30th March 2010. Continue reading “In just two years, Najib has “given up the ghost” on his signature 1Malaysia policy”

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Idris Jala: Why must I be Malaysian first?

By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 01, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 1 – Datuk Seri Idris Jala said today that nationality, race and religion are of equal importance when determining an individual’s true Malaysian identity.

As such, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said the “Malaysian first, Malay next” dilemma should not arise as being Malaysian as well as Malay are different matters and are both important.

“I get upset with people stuck with this whole Malaysian first dilemma. Why must I be Malaysian first and Malay second?” he said when dissecting the 1 Malaysia concept during his keynote address at an intercultural dialogue this afternoon.

The Sarawakian Christian minister, who served as mediator between the religious community and the government during the Alkitab bibles row last year, said race, nationality and religion contribute equally to a person’s identity and should not be placed in a contest against one another.

He added that by insisting that the “Malaysian” tag should supercede others, it was tantamount to saying that the hand is more important than the leg or vice-versa.

“My name is Idris, that is my name, my identity. Kelabit is the tribe I was born in.

“I belong to a group called the Orang Ulu. I am Sarawakian, I am Malaysian, I am Asian.

“They are all individual identities that are equally as important – you cannot say one is more important than another,” he said. Continue reading “Idris Jala: Why must I be Malaysian first?”

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PR MPs will remind Najib in March Parliament to honour his solemn undertaking to leave “no stone unturned” to find out the truth about Beng Hock’s death or face the censure of voters

For more than 30 months since his murder at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters at Shah Alam on July 16, 2009, justice have been denied to Teoh Beng Hock.

Despite an inquest, an exhumation, a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) and solemn undertaking by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to Teoh Beng Hock’s family that “no stone would be left unturned”, the full frightening story of the causes and circumstances for Beng Hock’s murder at MACC Headquarters have still to be told and full justice given to Beng Hock and family.

The Coroner Muntapha Abas in Beng Hock’s inquest had ruled out suicide but had returned an open verdict as there was insufficient evidence to prove that his death was a homicide.

The James Foong RCI came out with a finding overturning the verdict of the Inquest ruling out suicide – concluding that Beng Hock was “driven to commit suicide by the aggressive, relentless, oppressive and unscrupulous interrogation”.

This is most unacceptable finding as it was not based on any evidence but completely a leap in speculation by the RCI. Continue reading “PR MPs will remind Najib in March Parliament to honour his solemn undertaking to leave “no stone unturned” to find out the truth about Beng Hock’s death or face the censure of voters”

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Hassan Ali talking as if he got more than a screw loose in his head – impossible to get angry and outraged but only feelings of great pity at the gibberish pouring out from him

Expelled PAS member and former Selangor state exco member Datuk Hassan Ali must have shocked his “masters” when he made the wildest and most preposterous of allegations in the first stop of his nationwide roadshow in Bangi yesterday, alleging that “once they take over Putrajaya”, DAP will merge Malaysia with Singapore into a republic and abolish Article 153 of the Federal Constitution and do away with Islamic enactments.

One should get outraged and incensed at lies and falsehoods, but when they are so far-fetched with Hassan Ali talking as if he has got more than a screw loose in his head, it is impossible to get angry and outraged but only feelings of great pity at the gibberish pouring out from him.

It is clearly an utter waste of time to try to reason with such a deranged person.

DAP however reserves the right to take all necessary legal action against such defamatory falsehoods, whether from Hassan personally or others spreading his defamatory falsehoods. Continue reading “Hassan Ali talking as if he got more than a screw loose in his head – impossible to get angry and outraged but only feelings of great pity at the gibberish pouring out from him”

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Rebranding Rela into BN’s vanguard

— Bob Teoh
The Malaysian Insider
Jan 31, 2012

JAN 31 — Under the Government Transformation Programme (GTP), Rela is to be rebranded as part of a police “omnipresence.” But its massive build-up has raised suspicions that it may instead become Barisan Nasional’s (BN) vanguard or even an additional vote bank.

“When the chips are down, Rela will be with this government to defend the country. Do not cause havoc in this country because the 2.8 million Rela members will not stand idly by and watch the country descend into chaos,” he thundered to the noisy approval from a crowd of 30,000 Rela members gathered in Kuala Lumpur last Saturday.

Najib Razak seems at variance with his minister in charge of the GTP, Idris Jala. The GTP roadmap for combating crime requires Rela to help police keep “omnipresence” in 50 identified crime hot spots in the Kuala Lumur, Selangor, Johor and Penang.

But Najib talks about using Rela as a vanguard or vigilante when Umno or BN’s chips are down, and he wants Rela to contain demonstrators out to create public disorder. Continue reading “Rebranding Rela into BN’s vanguard”

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PM – when will Beng Hock’s case be given due attention?

by Teoh Lee Lan
(Sister of The Late Teoh Beng Hock)
18th January 2012

It’s already 2012, could the PM please tell us when the Beng Hock case will be given due attention?

We, the family of Teoh Beng Hock, will be in Putrajaya at 9 a.m., 2 February 2012 for a Court of Appeal decision on the Teoh Beng Hock case judicial review.

In 2012 we are about to usher in the third Chinese New Year without Beng Hock and with the truth nowhere in sight.

We should like to ask: What actually happened on 16 July 2009 at the scene of Beng Hock’s death? Why have the various doubts we raised gone unanswered?

For the past few years, we have asked such questions not once, not twice, but more than a thousand times at the courts, in the media, and at various forums, but every time silence was the answer. Continue reading “PM – when will Beng Hock’s case be given due attention?”

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Breaking up wealth concentration in Malaysia

— Dr Lim Teck Ghee
The Malaysian Insider

FEB 1 — The past year has seen the government and the opposition unveil their respective economic reform policies. Even if these reform policies and their attendant programmes are implemented they will not be able to resolve the country’s economic problems. This is because the policies advocated by both sides of the political divide are merely palliative. They do not address the root or fundamental cause of the problem of structural deformation of the country’s economy.

How has this deformation come about? What are its characteristics? And what can be done to bring about a reversal or correction of the deformation so that we have a really transformed economic system that can live up to its full potential?

First we need to recognise that wealth in any country — and Malaysia is no exception — is created by economic activity engaged in by individuals or enterprises that bring profits or gains to the entrepreneur. Much of this wealth creation and subsequent accumulation is legitimate. It is based on material reward arising from work (or gift) and is socially and ethically acceptable. It comes from risk-taking and from the social utility and superiority of the products and services generated by the individual or enterprise.

Wealth generated and accumulated by individuals through legitimate means and conforming to the norms of justice and fairness is not only desirable but beneficial to society and the economy.

But what about wealth that is created or amassed by less than legitimate or illegitimate or illegal means? Is it a minor or non-issue and do we just ignore it as is the case with the Barisan Nasional government? Continue reading “Breaking up wealth concentration in Malaysia”

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Malaysia: Why do I care?

— Clive Kessler
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 01, 2012

FEB 1 — Part 1: The personal quest

Now back in Sydney yet again, after two more months in Malaysia, I sigh from both exhaustion and relief.

Exhaustion, since as I age I find it ever more punishing physically just to get around Kuala Lumpur and keep up with things there.

… And relief. Relief since I am here at home spared the daily onslaught of anguish and stress that is my lot there, as I contemplate Malaysia’s future and prospects “from within”: from the midst, or at the least from my vantage point close on the sidelines, of the nation’s current travails.

I enjoy here, in short, some of the pleasure of a little distance from it all, some blissful detachment.

But it is a guilty pleasure, an enjoyment that makes me feel uneasy. Why?

As I now think, from afar, about how exercised and agitated and concerned I become about Malaysia’s current situation and trajectory — especially as I contemplate Malaysia’s current situation and prospects from “inside” or “close up” there — I pose a challenge to myself. A basic question. Continue reading “Malaysia: Why do I care?”

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Beginning of a shift in racial politics

Jan 31, 2012
YOURSAY
Malaysiakini

‘What is happening today is a revolt against corruption, and by extension revolt against Umno. It is not about race.’

The fracturing of the Malay community

Cala: S Thayaparan’s argument is surprisingly simple – that Umno due to its various weaknesses is slowly and steadily losing its grip on the Malays and thus giving rise to a fragmented Malay community.

The future, as seen by the writer is in DAP given its multi-ethnic stance and hopefully it will over the years allow “a reformed Malay-majority DAP” to work with other partners within the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

In theory, the argument makes sense because in this case number matters. To be effective and be counted, DAP needs Malay memberships.

In practice, however, it is a painfully long process to anyone who wishes to boot out the corrupted and unrepentant regime quickly.

While waiting for more enlightened Malays to join DAP, the better way is to work closely with PKR and PAS as the latter two share similar political aspiration. Continue reading “Beginning of a shift in racial politics”