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Clear and present danger?

Rom Nain
Malaysiakini
Oct 11, 2012

Many Malaysians surely must be sick to death – I know I am – of the latest ploy by hateful people, many within this regime, to split this country even further, to cultivate distrust at a time when they themselves have lost the trust of the people.

I am talking, of course, of this pathetic ‘strategy’ of churning out one bogeyman after another to frighten Malaysians, especially Muslims, presumably in the forlorn hope that we will all run back into the exploitative arms of this regime and its underlings.

Nasharuddin Mat Isa’s latest diatribe and Utusan Malaysia’s latest sojourn into the realm of lies and fantasy are illustrative of this desperation.

First, Utusan, not for the first time, in its Sunday edition, Mingguan Malaysia, brings up the topic of the Christian community and talks about a couple of Malaysia’s top church leaders apparently criticising Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng. Continue reading “Clear and present danger?”

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Nothing political in Penang dialogue, say pastors

By Opalyn Mok
The Malaysian Insider
Oct 07, 2012

Penang church pastors have refuted allegations that Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had engaged them in political talk recently. — File picture GEORGE TOWN, Oct 7 — Penang church pastors refuted today allegations in Utusan Malaysia that Lim Guan Eng had engaged them in political talk during a recent dialogue session, the latest black mark against the Umno daily in its reporting of the state chief minister.

The DAP secretary-general has been under fire by Umno leaders and Utusan Malaysia columnist Awang Selamat for allegedly telling Christians to stand up to injustice.

“There were no political speeches made during that luncheon dialogue session between the state government and us,” national co-ordinator of the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship Pastor Sam Surendran told a press conference here this evening.

“I was present at the lunch dialogue session and all the pastors here also attended the session and we are refuting any claims that the chief minister had delivered any politicial speeches on that day,” he added.

The Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia had claimed Lim delivered a political speech at a church to garner votes for the upcoming elections. The news report had also quoted the Bishop of Lutheran Evangelical Church Rev Dr Solomon Rajah and National Church Council president Rev Dr Thomas Philips allegedly criticising Lim for using churches as a place to win votes. Continue reading “Nothing political in Penang dialogue, say pastors”

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Defaming Penang CM akin to Nazi Germany tactics

Zairil Khir Johari
Malaysiakini
Sep 29, 2012

Outrageous defamation of Guan Eng in the STPM trial examinations is nothing more than a malicious personal attack based on fabricated lies and a shameless attempt at brainwashing students.

According to press reports, state-wide STPM trial examinations in Johor contain an inflammatory question-and-answer scheme that asserts the implication that Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s “warning” to schools in Penang not to subscribe to Malay mainstream newspapers is “racist and impeding integration among races”.

The essay question requires students to discuss the hypothesis that “integration among races can be achieved through national education system, but various challenges have to be overcome to realise this objective.”

According to the alleged answer scheme, one of the answers to this question was:

“The warning of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to 84 Chinese primary schools in the state to stop subscribing to Malay language mainstream newspapers is a racist action that impedes integration among races”. Continue reading “Defaming Penang CM akin to Nazi Germany tactics”

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Mahal betul harga nak kekalkan BN dan Najib

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Oct 01, 2012

1 OKT — Najib Razak setiap hari keluar berkempen memaki hamun semua parti-parti yang dalam PR dan kerajaan negeri-negeri tadbiran Pakatan Rakyat. Bagi kita yang sudah berumur dan ada sedikit pengalaman berpolitik ini memahami apa yang ada di dalam hati dan sanubari pemimpin utama negara kita itu. Beliau gentar dan resah gelisah.

Cara beliau bercakap bergegar-gegar itu tidak lebih dan tidak kurang menunjukkan yang beliau amat gelisah dengan apa yang berlaku dikalangan rakyat akar umbi. Najib sedang panik dan masih tidak berkeyakinan yang BN akan mendapat mandat kali ini walaupun berbillion-billion ringgit telah dibelanjakan membeli hati dan jiwa rakyat sekalian.

Cara beliau berucap tidak menampakkan yang beliau seorang Perdana Menteri. Mungkin beliau terlupa sekejap yang beliau itu Perdana Menteri kerana selalunya pemimpin utama negara akan bercakap dengan nada yang rendah tapi meyakinkan. Di Pulau Pinang semalam Najib bercakap dengan nada yang begitu tinggi dan nampak jelas beliau terlalu banyak kelemahan yang beliau mahu lindungi dari pandangan rakyat. Beliau mempunyai banyak perkara yang putus yang perlu di sambung dan yang koyak untuk ditampal.

Setiap malam tidak ada orang lain dikaca TV selain dari Najib berkempen melaluinya. Bahan kempennya tidak lain hanya memperlekehkan pentadbiran semua kerajaan negeri-negeri yang ditadbir oleh Pakatan Rakyat. Najib tidak nampak apa kebaikan yang telah dilakukan oleh PR di Pulau Pinang, Selangor dan Kedah serta Kelantan. Najib amat resah dengan pengaruh kerajaan-kerajaan negeri dalam PR kerana kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat melakukan pembersihan segala politik dan ekonomi yang dilakukan oleh kerajaan BN dahulu. Continue reading “Mahal betul harga nak kekalkan BN dan Najib”

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The Budget 2013

— Lim Guan Eng
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 30, 2012

SEPT 30 — Even though many goodies where announced during yesterday’s Budget 2013 speech by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, this budget has failed the Malaysian people by not addressing three crucial areas which are necessary to guarantee the long term well-being of our country and its people — namely fiscal prudence, economic sustainability and cost of living increases.

Firstly, even though the budget deficit is projected to come down from 4.5 per cent in 2012 to a ‘mere’ 4.0 per cent in 2013, this figure masks the poor track record of the BN government in sticking to its spending plans.

For example, total expenditure for Budget 2012 was announced at RM232.8 billion in last’s year’s budget speech. But in this year’s Economic Report 2012 / 2013, total expenditure for 2012 is projected to total up to RM252.4b.

This is almost RM20b more than the projected expenditure announced last year. We were fortunate that projected revenue is expected to be RM207 billion for 2012, RM20 billion more than the RM186.9 bilion projected revenue announced last year. Without this tax ‘windfall’, our budget deficit would have ballooned up to 6.7 per cent of GDP rather than the projected 4.5 per cent for 2012.

But we cannot expect that actual revenue will continue to exceed projected revenue especially given the slowing global economy. Furthermore revenue from oil related tax revenue is likely to decrease given the change in the dividend policy of Petronas as well as political uncertainty in Southern Sudan which could decrease Petronas’s bottom line by as much as US1 billion. Continue reading “The Budget 2013”

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Lim Guan Eng corrupt? What a joke

— Penang Man
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 25, 2012

SEPT 25 — Gerakan and Barisan Nasional’s (BN) mudslinging jokers should just give up because their relentless attempts at portraying Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng as corrupt only allows voters to see them for what they are.

And what they are, are a bunch of hypocritical jokers with no integrity that my fellow Penangites threw out of power in 2008.

I urge Penangites, Malaysians and the Penang CM to not take Gerakan seriously. Continue reading “Lim Guan Eng corrupt? What a joke”

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Listen, Malaysians

— Ali Kadir
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 25, 2012

SEPT 25 — I don’t know about you but I am disgusted with Umno and its sycophants, MCA and Gerakan, and I believe that we have to reject them wholesale for:

1) The culture of idiocy they nurture. There is a difference between BN and Pakatan Rakyat.

Whenever Lim Guan Eng or Khalid Ibrahim is accused of wrongdoing, they don’t hide. They come out with proof, sue to clear their name and even engage international audit firms. In contrast, till today no one knows how Altantuya Shaariibuu’s immigration records were erased or why the RM250 million sweet deal was given to Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s family or how Cabinet ministers are able to live a life of luxury on RM18,000 a month.

Till today, there has been no rebuttal of the fact that millions of ringgit were paid in kickbacks to the highest offices in Putrajaya from a submarine deal. Continue reading “Listen, Malaysians”

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Events of past fortnight building up a scenario befitting the Greek saying: “Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad”

The events of the past fortnight reminded me of the Greek saying: “Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad”.

There have been a series of events which are quite inexplicable as they defy logic, common sense and reason.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak today spoke up against “mooning” by a youth on August 30 describing its “un-Malaysian”.

I agree with him that “dropping one’s pants in public” or stomping on pictures of national leaders are “nothing to be proud of” and should be deplored and discouraged.

But what is most saddening and disappointing to Malaysians as a whole is the double standards of the Prime Minister, the Barisan Nasional leadership and the enforcement authorities, who could not see anything wrong in similar deplorable conduct against Pakatan Rakyat leaders like Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, and PAS Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Mat Nik Aziz and civil society leaders like Bersih Co-Chairman Datuk S. Ambiga whether perpetrated by UMNO or UMNO-sponsored activists.

Why didn’t Najib speak up and insist that “the law must run its course” when the pictures of Pakatan Rakyat leaders were stomped upon, urinated at and even funeral rites performed? Continue reading “Events of past fortnight building up a scenario befitting the Greek saying: “Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad””

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Choice is yours – let us change so we can have liberty and live with dignity

(Prepared closing remarks by DAP Secretary-General/Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng at the debate with MCA President Datuk Dr. Chua Soi Lek on “DAP & MCA: Whose Policies Benefit the Country More?” at Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre on Sunday, July 8, 2012)

Since Merdeka, two million Malaysians have migrated overseas because they do not see a future for themselves and for Malaysia. It is time that we don’t live in our past that is filled with hatred and fear. We should look to the future filled with hope and harmony between all Malaysians.

 To put the past behind us, we must stop the politics of race and religion.

 To put the past behind us, we must end corruption.

 To put the past behind us, we must abolish the suppression, oppression, repression of our basic human rights and freedoms.

 To put the past behind us, we must demand good governance and performance from our ministers. Continue reading “Choice is yours – let us change so we can have liberty and live with dignity”

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PR vs BN – future vs the past

(Opening speech by DAP Secretary-General/Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng at the debate with MCA President Datuk Dr. Chua Soi Lek on “DAP & MCA: Whose Policies Benefit the Country More?” at Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre on Sunday, July 8, 2012 at 2.30 pm)

CEO of ASLI Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, my learned opponent, ladies and gentlemen: Salam bersih kepada semua.

Kita berkumpul di sini untuk menentukan dasar parti manakah yang lebih boleh memberi manfaat kepada rakyat Malaysia. Seharusnya, satu perbahasan patut diadakan di antara Perdana Menteri, Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak, dan Ketua Pembangkang, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Malangnya Perdana Menteri enggan berbahas dengan Anwar. Adakah Najib enggan berbahas dengan Anwar kerana beliau bimbang selepas perbahasan, rakyat akan membuat pernilaian bahawa Anwar lebih layak menjadi Perdana Menteri Malaysia?

In fact, MCA is not qualified to be here to discuss about policies because MCA does not decide, it is UMNO that decides. MCA claims to speak only for the Chinese, and yet only the Chinese in the Peninsula, and not the Chinese in Sabah and Sarawak. This is different from the DAP, that wants to speak for all Malaysians. DAP mahu bersuara untuk semua orang Malaysia: Melayu, Cina, India, Kadazan dan Iban, kerana kita semua rakyat Malaysia, bukan macam MCA, yang kononnya mahu mewakili orang Cina sahaja.

Mengapakah mesti kita terus dipecahbelahkan mengikut kaum dan agama? Inilah kejayaan terbesar UMNO. Mereka mahu kita takut satu sama lain supaya BN boleh terus merompak harta dan kekayaan Malaysia. Tengoklah skandal lembu dan kondo. Pak cik yang ternak lembu sepanjang masa tidak dapat pinjaman berjuta-juta ringgit, tapi keluarga menteri yang tak pernah ternak lembu boleh mendapat pinjaman 250 juta ringgit yang disalahgunakan untuk beli kondo pula. Jangan-jangan orang Singapura yang ada banyak kondo nak datang ke Malaysia belajar macam mana ternak lembu di kondo. Skandal PKFZ sebanyak 12.5 bilion ringgit telah melibatkan pemimpin tertinggi MCA tetapi ahli politik yang aktif tidak dibawa ke mahkamah. Semua skandal ini MCA tidak bersuara tetapi sokong buta sahaja. Kedudukan Malaysia telah jatuh dalam persepsi rasuah Transparency International daripada 37 dalam tahun 2003 kepada 60 tahun lepas (2011).

Kita harus bersatupadu sebagai anak Malaysia. Kalau kita terus dipecahbelahkan, hanya kroni-kroni dan orang-orang ataslah yang untung. Kalau kita bersatupadu, baru dapatlah kita semua menikmati hasil kejayaan ekonomi Malaysia.

Mengapakah hanya pemimpin Melayu yang boleh membela hak orang Melayu, hanya pemimpin Cina yang boleh membela hak orang Cina. Tibalah masanya untuk pemimpin-pemimpin membela hak semua rakyat Malaysia dan membantu satu sama lain. Continue reading “PR vs BN – future vs the past”

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The Police Must Act Against Perkasa

Kee Thuan Chye
Malaysian Digest
02 July 2012

Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (Perkasa) is getting out of control. Its latest brush with Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng that resulted in a scuffle is testimony to its growing tendency towards verbal and physical violence. More than that, it seems to be presuming that it is above the law and can say and do what it likes with impunity.

It was reportedly holding a demonstration in Telok Bahang at the same place where Guan Eng was visiting the local residents. The scuffle broke out when the group of 50 Perkasa members threw anti-Guan Eng posters at him and his delegation, and then one of them reportedly charged at him.

Penang Perkasa leader Mohd Rizuad Mohd Azudin claims that the fracas was orchestrated by Guan Eng’s people to make Perkasa look bad to the Telok Bahang residents. But in the first place, why did Perkasa choose to hold the demonstration where Guan Eng would be? Why did they come armed with anti-Guan Eng posters and even paste them all over at least one of the shops there? Who was orchestrating what? Continue reading “The Police Must Act Against Perkasa”

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Rebahnya BN kerana salah sendiri, bukannya kesalahan orang

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 02, 2012

2 JULAI — Insiden yang mengasari Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang di Telok Bahang semalam membuktikan yang Barisan Nasional amat sengsara apabila kalah di dalam pilihanraya 20008 yang mengakibatkan BN jatuh tersembam di Pulau Pinang dalam PRU yang lalu.

Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat yang di ketuai oleh DAP itu telah melakukan yang terbaik dan telah pun membuktikan yang sesebuah kerajaan itu boleh ditadbir dengan baik jika pimpinannya telus, jujur, dan sebenarnya rasuah boleh dielakkan.

Jika Pulau Pinang kini mempunyai pentadbiran yang hampir sama dengan prestasi BN, tentulah BN mempunyai peluang untuk kembali berkuasa di Pulau Pinang selepas pilihanraya yang akan datang.

Tetapi Lim Guan Eng dan barisan pimpinan kerajaan Pulau Pinang telah menunjukkan perbezaan ketara dengan membuktikan yang PR memang lebih berkemampuan untuk mentadbir dari BN yang telah menguasai Pulau Pinang dari 2008 dahulu.

Justeru kata-kata pemimpin-pemimpin BN yang mengatakan mereka (BN) akan mengambilalih Pulau Pinang di dalam PRU 13 ini hanyalah merupakan kenyataan untuk menyedapkan hati sendiri dan tindakan psikoloji sahaja. Keputusan PRU 13 sebenarnya sudah ditentukan. Pulau Pinang akan tetap berada ditangan PR, malahan lebih kuat lagi selepas PRU itu nanti. Continue reading “Rebahnya BN kerana salah sendiri, bukannya kesalahan orang”

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Attacks against Guan Eng intensify ahead of GE13

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 01, 2012

UALA LUMPUR, July 1 — All eyes are now on the DAP’s Lim Guan Eng as the Penang chief minister struggles to fend off concerted attacks against him ahead of general elections due within a year.

The pro-Barisan Nasional (BN) mainstream media today published lopsided reports of the federal opposition leader’s run-in with members of Perkasa, a right-wing Malay organisation, at the Teluk Bahang market in Penang yesterday.

The reports, which related the incident from the viewpoint of the Perkasa members, appear to indicate a concerted effort by the ruling federal coalition to reclaim Penang, a key economic state under BN control until four years ago.

“The failure by police to immediately arrest Perkasa members involved in violence not just against members of the public and reporters but also make direct threats against my personal safety has only confirmed fears that Perkasa can do no wrong because they are supported by Umno and BN,” Lim said in a media statement today.

“[The] Police should review their hands-off approach towards Perkasa to avoid public perception that they condone the violent tactics by Perkasa to intimidate PR leaders,” he added, referring to the opposition Pakatan Rakyat pact formed in 2008 after their landmark win in the polls. Continue reading “Attacks against Guan Eng intensify ahead of GE13”

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Guan Eng: Cops failed to protect me from Perkasa

Malaysiakini
Jul 1, 2012

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the police have once again failed to protect him from Perkasa activist, who often hound him in public.

Refering to the incident at the Teluk Bahang markets yesterday, Lim said the police took action too late, thus allowing Perkasa members to hurl projectiles at him.

“The inaction by the police probably emboldened a Perkasa member to suddenly charge up behind me and succeeded in brushing hard against me.

“I escaped injury. But if not for a PR local leader bravely dragging the Perkasa member away, I could have been injured,” said Lim in a press release today.

Lim said that while it was bad that the police failed to protect him, it was more disappointing that the police did not arrest the would-be assailant.

“Just imagine how harsh police reaction would have been if this had involved the Prime Minister and not the Chinese Pakatan Rakyat chief minister,” said Lim. Continue reading “Guan Eng: Cops failed to protect me from Perkasa”

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Guan Eng wins second defamation suit against Utusan

By Shannon Teoh
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 22, 2012
UPDATED @ 03:45:31 PM 22-06-2012

KUALA LUMPUR, June 22 — The Penang High Court today found Utusan Malaysia guilty of defaming Lim Guan Eng, the second such ruling in six months, and ordered the Umno daily to pay him RM200,000 in damages and RM20,000 in costs.

The Penang chief minister had claimed a March 12, 2008 article headlined “Tiada Lagi DEB (No More NEP)” in the Malay-language newspaper which said he would abolish the New Economic Policy was inaccurate.

The DAP secretary-general said he had merely said his administration would be free from the “cronyism, corruption and systematic inefficiency” stemming from the policy.

The Bagan MP claimed damages as the article implied that he was an “irresponsible and unworthy” leader. Continue reading “Guan Eng wins second defamation suit against Utusan”

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Penang CM accuses The Star of ‘media lynching’

By Lisa J. Ariffin
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 07, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, June 7 — Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng today accused The Star of “media lynching” after the English daily ran two front-page stories highlighting Penang’s soaring property prices and uncontrolled hillside development.

“Whilst no one disputes the rising property prices in Penang, why is it that a similar rise in property prices in [Barisan Nasional]-controlled states such as Johor and the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur has gone unnoticed and not given front-page treatment by the Star?” Lim asked today in a press statement.

Lim was responding to The Star’s front-page story today, which reported Penang residential property prices as soaring by more than 25 per cent over the last five years.

He also “unreservedly condemn the Star for false reporting against Penang yesterday with its sensational headline of ‘The Dying Hills’”, which was the title of a report criticising the state government for environmental damages and uneven spread of construction.

“The hills in Penang are not dying because the present Penang PR state government has not approved a single project above 250 feet,” Lim explained, adding the state “has the most stringent guidelines for hill slope safety development in the country”.

“Why, then, did the Star not highlight that other BN states allows development on hills above the height of 250 feet?” he asked. Continue reading “Penang CM accuses The Star of ‘media lynching’”

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It’s time to repeal the Sedition Act

— Jeyaseelan Anthony
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 05, 2012

JUNE 5 — The Sedition Act has reared its ugly head again. This time it is against Irene Fernandez and former Perak Mentri Besar, Datuk Seri Nizar Mohamed.

We have seen how the Sedition Act was used against Karpal Singh, a prominent lawyer and politician, when he was charged for insulting the Sultan of Perak for saying that His Majesty should not interfere with matters concerning the state and that he can be sued for doing so. Some may wonder what sedition is all about as the word sounds very serious and terrifying.

No doubt it is a serious and terrifying offence as one may be imprisoned for merely voicing out different views and opinions. Worst still one may even be branded as a criminal, not for committing crimes like theft and murder but by only having different views or opinions that may be interpreted as being anti-establishment by the powers that be.

The prime minister had announced recently that the Sedition Act will be reviewed. This article posits that the Sedition Act 1948 should not be reviewed but repealed. The question is why?

I say this because, any piece of legislation which imprisons people for holding different views and opinions is to say the least, draconian. Such a law should not be a part of any legal system. Continue reading “It’s time to repeal the Sedition Act”

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Government losing Chinese support, putting reforms at risk

Reuters/The Malaysian Insider
Jun 03, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 — Ethnic Chinese voters, upset over policies that favour majority Malays, have become increasingly alienated from Malaysia’s ruling coalition, raising the risk of racial polarisation and a slowdown in the pace of reforms.

Support for Prime Minister Najib Razak among Chinese voters plunged to 37 per cent in May from 56 per cent in February, a survey by the independent Merdeka Center showed on Friday. It found 56 per cent of Chinese were dissatisfied with the government, compared to 30 per cent of Indians and 23 per cent of Malays.

Recent state and by-elections underline the trend. The main Chinese party allied with the ruling National Front coalition in eastern Sarawak state lost 13 of 19 seats it contested in local elections last year and the opposition won a by-election in the same state in 2010 largely thanks to Chinese backing.

The Southeast Asian nation’s 6.5 million ethnic Chinese turned heavily to the opposition in 2008 polls, handing the National Front, which has ruled uninterrupted since independence from Britain in 1957, its worst election showing.

Malaysia has seen ethnic Chinese voting with their feet, leaving the country for better prospects aboard including to neighbour and rival Singapore, in a troubling brain drain of talent and capital. “Malaysia needs talent to meet its goal of becoming a high-income country,” the World Bank noted in a report last year. “But the problem is that talent is leaving.”

With elections likely later this year, the government has failed to reverse the tide with voters such as Jack Gan, who complains he had to study much harder than his ethnic Malay peers to get into one of the country’s top universities. Continue reading “Government losing Chinese support, putting reforms at risk”

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Stop-work orders prove Pakatan strict on developers, says Penang CM

By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
May 29, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 — Lim Guan Eng revealed today that the Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) had issued 259 stop-work orders on housing developments since 2008, claiming this proves that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is stricter with developers than Barisan Nasional (BN).

The Penang chief minister pointed out that the number of orders issued by the council was a whopping seven times more than the 38 issued by the previous BN state administration from 2004 to 2007.

The Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP) had issued 11 stop-work orders under PR’s rule from March 2008 until May 2012, whereas not one was issued under BN from 2003 to 2008.

“Facts have disproved BN’s claims that the Penang PR state government is the darling of developers at the expense of the public, especially those who need public housing,” Lim said.

“If given a choice, some developers would prefer the BN government which rarely issued stop-work orders, especially in MPSP where not a single stop-work order was issued.

“The huge increase in the number of stop-work orders issued proves that the PR Penang state government is more stringent in upholding the rule of law, demanding strict compliance with technical requirements and more unforgiving than BN,” he added.

However, Lim stressed that despite PR’s stringent rule, the administration remains business-friendly, provided that all investors and businessmen comply by the rules. Continue reading “Stop-work orders prove Pakatan strict on developers, says Penang CM”

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Black day for Internet users

— CPI
The Malaysian Insider
May 29, 2012

MAY 29 — The Evidence (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 2012 will come into operation in a few days on June 1. The impact of this hastily and stealthily rushed legislation could be devastating.

De facto law minister Nazri Abdul Aziz denies that amendments to the Evidence Act were a means for the government to curb online dissent by making Internet anonymity more difficult to maintain or ignorance to be used as an excuse.

Instead Nazri claims that the law was tightened because “we don’t want [anonymous or pseudonymous] people to slander or threaten others,” according to a report in the Sunday Star.

However opposition leaders such as DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng are unconvinced. Continue reading “Black day for Internet users”