Day: July 16, 2012

In November last year, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak launched the 1Malaysia Social Media Convention at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur, anointing 2,000 social media practitioners who attended it as the new army of UMNO/Barisan Nasional cyber-warriors.

Since then, about 10 social media conventions had been held in different states as part of the programme to raise an army of over 10,000 UMNO/BN cybertroopers in advance of the 13th General Election.

As the Minister for Information, Communication and Culture, Datuk Seri Dr. Rais Yatim exhorted at the launch of the Selangor edition last month, the Umno/BN cybertroopers should “counter all the slander that has been happening on line”.

He continued: “If people keep tweeting that ‘Bersih is bersih’, people will believe that the movement is genuine. Tweet back and start saying that Bersih is ‘kotor’ (dirty).”

Najib should explain why public funds should be spent to help raise an army of over 10,000 UMNO/BN cybertroopers in advance of the 13th General Election, whether through the Biro Tatanegara (BTN) or the 1Malaysia Secretariat.

Malaysians taxpayers are also entitled to know how much public money had been spent on each of the 1Malaysia Social Media Conventions since November last year to help raise the army of over 10,000 UMNO/BN cybertroopers, particularly under the guise of the Prime Minister’s Jelajah Janji Di-Tepati programme.

Malaysians are equally concerned that Najib’s 1Malaysia Social Media Conventions to raise an army of over 10,000 UMNO/BN cybertroopers have proven to be most anti-national as they are held in utter disregard of the 1Malaysia objective to create an united, harmonious and ethical Malaysian society. Continue reading “Najib’s 1Malaysia Social Media Conventions to raise an army of over 10,000 UMNO/BN cybertroopers most anti-national in their utter disregard of 1Malaysia objective to create an united, harmonious and ethical Malaysian society”

By Debra Chong, Assistant News Editor | UPDATED @ 01:36:51 PM 16-07-2012
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 — Only a paltry eight per cent was set aside for the police to investigate crime despite Putrajaya raising the annual security budget to RM6.3 billion this year, amid growing safety concerns from the public.

Citing the Budget allocation for 2010, 2011 and 2012, opposition lawmaker Liew Chin Tong today called on the authorities to review the police budgetary arrangements to better fight crime.

“Budgetary figures of 2010, 2011, and 2012 show that the Najib administration is more interested in using the police to maintain power than to fight crime,” he said in a statement today.

The police was given an allocation of RM4.5 billion in 2010, RM5.8 billion in 2011 and RM6.3 billion in 2012 respectively, he noted, saying that the budget for the men in blue grew by RM1.8 billion or 40 per cent between 2010 and 2012.
Continue reading “Only 8pc of RM6.3b for cops to probe crime, Budget shows”

By Koon Yew Yin | July 16, 2012
The Malaysian Insider

JULY 16 — Recently, the Selangor state assembly passed a new regulation barring any state representatives and local council members from applying for state-owned land. This is a really brave and unprecedented move which deserves more public attention than it has drawn so far. One question is whether the new rule also applies to the members of the royal family. There are probably many examples of members of royalty applying for state land. Should they be given special consideration or be treated the same as the public? I am sure there are pros and cons when it comes to applying the rule to royalty. The important thing is for the issue to be brought out into the open and for rational public opinion to prevail.

Among the physical assets belonging to the state, land is undoubtedly the most valuable. According to the federal Constitution, land is a state matter. Even if land is not owned by the state, the state still has control over the development and use of land through administrative and executive council rulings.
Continue reading “Kudos to Khalid and Selangor state assembly for land reform measure”

By Zairil Khir Johari | July 16, 2012
The Malaysian Insider

JULY 16 — As far as Penang is concerned, housing has become a hot button issue. Critics are aplenty and everyone, from the locals at the kopitiams to the expatriates at the cocktail bars, seems to have an opinion on it. However, before lamenting about the housing situation in Penang, one first needs to understand it.

The general grouse is twofold. Firstly, it is said that housing prices are exponentially increasing with no signs of a slowdown. Secondly, complaints are heard that there is not enough housing to cater for the lower-income groups. The fear is then raised that the shortage of low-cost housing coupled with ever-increasing property prices will eventually drive people out of the state, especially from the island.

Now, the first contention is admittedly true. There is no denying the fact that property prices are on the rise, having averagely increased by 50 per cent over the past five years. However, the causes of this phenomenon are often misunderstood. On the second count, to say that there is an undersupply of low-cost housing is inaccurate. In fact, it is a statistical fallacy. Both require further explanation.
Continue reading “The question of housing (Part 1): Understanding the problem”

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 15, 2012

15 JULAI — Muhyiddin menyeru agar Umno mempertahankan kerusi Gelang Patah habis-habisan kerana Gelang Patah merupakan kawasan yang menempatkan pusat pentadbiran negeri Johor dan mempunyai infrastuktur yang terbaik di negeri Johor. Di dalam kawasan ini jugalah terletaknya Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) dan berbagai-bagai infrastruktur terbaik di negeri Johor.

Kenyataan seperti ini yang datangnya dari Timbalan Perdana Menteri dan ianya membayangkan bahawa negeri Johor juga merupakan negeri yang sangat ditakuti oleh BN dalam menghadapi PRU yang akan datang ini. Kenyataan yang membayangkan ketakutan dari pihak BN tidak pernah kita dengar sebelum ini jika ia melibatkan negeri Johor kerana Johor sebelum ini merupakan kubu kuat BN sejak negara mengadakan pilihanraya.

BN dan Umno di negeri Johor sebelum ini hanya mengambil pilihanraya umum sebagai satu pesta sahaja kerana bak kata orang Umno semasa parti itu kuat dahulu, ‘calon Umno tidak payah turun berkempen. Hantarkan songkok untuk mewakili calon-calon-calonnya sahaja sudah cukup dan BN akan menang’. Tetapi kenyataan yang datang dari seorang Timbalan Perdana Menteri yang juga merupakan anak Johor ini, amat jelas yang BN di Johor tidak boleh lagi bercakap takbur seperti dahulu. Keadaan sudah berubah dan rakyat lebih fokus untuk mencari pemimpin dan parti yang lebih berguna dari dahulu. Continue reading “Umno itu sudah terlalu fakir dalam perjuangan”