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SOS: The 11th Malaysia Plan

Koon Yew Yin
23 May 2015

In a recent Barisan controlled newspaper, the following headline screamed out for attention: “There is continuity in all Malaysia Plans, says Najib”. The Prime Minister further argued that claims that policies in each Malaysia Plan is disconnected from the other are not true, said the Prime Minister.

Yes, we agree – there is continuity. There is continuity in the unwillingness to put a full stop to the NEP policy. There is continuity in the massive corruption that accompanies every Malaysian Plan. This has happened especially since the 1980’s when the practice of giving out large contracts and concessions without competitive open tenders became institutionalized under Dr. Mahathir’s version of “crony capitalism”. There is continuity in the refusal to practice the system of meritocracy – the only sure way to ensure that we can join the league of modern and developed nations of the world. Continue reading “SOS: The 11th Malaysia Plan”

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Mengapa boleh kerjasama hudud tapi tidak untuk mangsa banjir

oleh Zulkifli Sulong
The Malaysian Insider
23 May 2015

Mangsa banjir di Kelantan mempertikaikan mengapa kerajaan pusat dan kerajaan negeri Kelantan gagal bekerjasama dengan baik membantu mereka, sedangkan kedua-duanya dilihat boleh bekerjasama ke arah melaksanakan hukum hudud di negeri itu.

Mereka merasa tertipu selepas kedua-dua kerajaan negeri dan pusat berjanji membina semula rumah mereka yang musnah akibat banjir besar hujung tahun lepas, tetapi sehingga kini, janji tinggal janji.

Kebanyakan mereka yang ditemui di pusat pemindahan di Bandar Utama, Gua Musang itu menyalahkan kedua-dua kerajaan yang tidak bekerjasama dengan baik sehingga rumah yang sepatutnya mereka duduki masih belum disiapkan. Continue reading “Mengapa boleh kerjasama hudud tapi tidak untuk mangsa banjir”

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Has Najib forgotten that Malaysia was second in Asia after Japan in prosperity and income when we achieved independence in 1957 and that we have been overtaken by Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and even South Korea which became high-income countries 20 – 28 years ago?

When the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak boasted in the Eleven Malaysia Plan that Malaysia had risen from the ranks of a low-income economy in the 1970s to a high middle-income economy with a national per capita income more than 25-fold from US$402 (1970) to US$10,796 (2014), and is well on the track to surpass the US$15,000 threshhold of a high-income economy by 2020, Malaysians are entitled to ask him whether he has forgotten that Malaysia was second in Asia after Japan in prosperity and income when we achieved Independence in 1957?

What were the reasons why other countries like South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore which were poorer than us when we achieved Independence had not only caught up with us, but gone ahead, with Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and even South Korea becoming high-income countries some 20 – 28 years ago, a target we are seeking to achieve by the end of the 11th Malaysia Plan and Vision 2020? Continue reading “Has Najib forgotten that Malaysia was second in Asia after Japan in prosperity and income when we achieved independence in 1957 and that we have been overtaken by Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and even South Korea which became high-income countries 20 – 28 years ago?”

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Isis bombs and al-Qaeda papers make bin Laden seem soft touch

Geoff Dyer in Washington
Financial Times
May 22, 2015

A spate of massive car bombs in an Iraqi city and a slew of new al-Qaeda documents have pulled off the improbable feat of making Osama bin Laden seem like a soft touch.

Just as Islamist militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant were taking control of the Iraqi city of Ramadi this week, the US government released part of a treasure trove of material recovered from the former al-Qaeda leader’s compound in Pakistan.

The two events have cast a light on the fierce competition between the jihadi groups and help explain why Isis has been so much more effective than al-Qaeda at exploiting instability in the Middle East since the so-called Arab Spring.

While bin Laden wanted to play a long game and constantly fretted about alienating fellow Muslims, Isis has been happy to pursue its goals through indiscriminate violence against anyone—including setting off 10 huge bombs in Ramadi on Sunday before its forces made their final push to take the Iraqi city. Continue reading “Isis bombs and al-Qaeda papers make bin Laden seem soft touch”

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First Ramadi, then Palmyra: Isis shows it can storm bastions of Syria and Iraq

Martin Chulov
Guardian
22 May 2015

Terror group faced little resistance from local forces, prompting re-evaluations across a region that had sensed it might be in retreat

Islamic State fighters are celebrating their second major conquest in a week in Syria and Iraq as they pick through the ruins of the historic city of Palmyra.

The sudden advance of the militants into the UN heritage site in central Syria resulted in the rout of a national army, the exodus of refugees and a fresh pulse of regional alarm at the resilience of the self-styled caliphate force.

The UN said one-third of Palmyra’s 200,000-strong population had fled. And Isis militants used social media to show themselves posing amid ancient columns in Palmyra on Thursday. Other images displayed a more familiar theme: the summary slaughter of local men whose blood drenched the road.

Isis’s latest advance has prompted a re-evaluation across the region, which had earlier sensed it might be in retreat. From Beirut to Baghdad and as far away as Riyadh, regional actors are coming to terms with an organisation that can win most of its battles and successfully storm Syria and Iraq’s best-defended bastions.

The seizure of Palmyra followed the equally startling conquest of Ramadi in Iraq’s Anbar province last weekend. Both operations, around 600 miles apart, have become emblematic of a terror group that can have its way across two crumbling countries despite embattled state forces being propped up by global powers. Continue reading “First Ramadi, then Palmyra: Isis shows it can storm bastions of Syria and Iraq”

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The 11MP is resting on flawed foundations

— Lee Hwok Aun
The Malay Mail Online
May 23, 2015

MAY 22 — The just released Eleventh Malaysia Plan (11MP) strives to inspire, cajole and rally us toward 2020. I have no problem in general with slogans, catchphrases, cheerleading, even a dash of hyperbole. The document has to contain some of that.

But the mandate to tug at our hearts does not give license to toy with the facts.

This Plan handles some data in a bizarre, anomalous manner. The most prominent of the 11MP’s six multidimensional goals rests on flawed foundations.

And it is difficult to believe that errors and confusions – of a most rudimentary nature – are committed innocently.

I have confidence enough in the capability of our civil service to correctly and carefully present statistical analyses and projections. I suffer a confidence deficit with regard to the independence of this process from political influence. Continue reading “The 11MP is resting on flawed foundations”