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Distilling the Essence of Islam

(Din Merican and M. Bakri Musa)

Dear Bakri:

I had the pleasure of chatting with Imam Feisal Rauf at the Blog House in Bukit Damansara last Sunday (September 9, 2007) after he led our Maghrib prayers. The occasion was the special interfaith Doa Selamat prayers seeking Allah’s Blessings for Tun Mahathir’s speedy recovery from his second bypass operation on Tuesday September 4th. As you know, The Tun had his first on January of 1989.

Apart from being the former Prime Minister and an outstanding leader, Tun Mahathir was also my mentor and hero. Thus the multi-faith congregational prayers Imam Feisal led had a special significance for me.

The Imam’s greater effort is in trying to bridge the divide between the West and Islam. I thoroughly enjoyed his recent book and understood his theme: the commonality of our faiths with their universal message of love, charity, and goodwill.

Until I met him, I did not know that he had studied at a local school in Kuala Lumpur. That explained his impeccable Malay and special affection for Malaysia!

I was also delighted to learn that he is the son of the distinguished and yet very humble Egyptian scholar-teacher, the late Tan Sri Professor Dr. Muhammad Rauf of Al-Azhar University, Cairo. I must say that Imam Feisal also inherited his father’s handsome features!

The late Professor — I knew him as Dr. Rauf — was my professor at the University of Malaya when I did Islamic Studies in my first year (1960). He (Al-Fatihah) taught Islamic History, the Quran, and the Hadith. He had a huge influence on my thinking about and my attitude towards our religion. Prior to that, my exposure to our Holy Book, like you I presume, was through the lessons taught by my simple kampong ustaz.

Hence the special bonding I felt for Imam Feisal, as reflected in my affectionate hug after the Maghrib prayer that Sunday. I had to hold back my tears. I felt deep within my heart that he reminded me very much of my earlier special Professor of Islam. Yet it did not occur to me to ask him whether he knew Professor Rauf! Imam Feisal’s manner of speaking, appearance, and views on Islam were very much of my enlightened intellectual Professor Rauf, Imam Feisal’s father. Continue reading “Distilling the Essence of Islam”

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Hishammuddin should set example for all Ministers & volunteer to appear before PAC

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Chairman Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad’s description of the PAC as having “No bite but we can chase the truth” will not be agreed by many.

In an interview with New Sunday Times, Shahrir had responded in a Q & A as follows:

Q: Some have described the PAC as a toothless tiger.

A: We cannot bite because we are not an enforcement agency.

But we can exert enough pressure and provide the relevant agencies, like the ACA, enough evidence.

The ACA works closely with us.

We are also free to revisit any case at any time we want if we are not happy with the follow-up action.

We have the power to order a review of the case, like what we did with the Middle Ring Road 2.

For us, a case is never closed.

Shahrir’s answer begs two questions:

Firstly, how many cases can the PAC claim credit as having provided the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) with enough evidence to prosecute, let alone convict, corrupt or errant public officials. As far as I know, the PAC score on this is zero. I am prepared to be proven wrong by Shahrir.

Secondly, can the PAC really pursue a case to the highest reaches of responsibility to get to the very bottom of every instance of mismanagement of public funds? Continue reading “Hishammuddin should set example for all Ministers & volunteer to appear before PAC”

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Auditor-General’s Reports – ACA DG admits past impotence but will it be different this time?

I thank the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) Director-General Datuk Ahmad Said Hamdan for inadvertently confirming what I had said in Parliament during the 2008 Budget debate on Tuesday — that the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report had been completed on 28th June 2007 and would have been submitted to the government shortly after.

I posed these questions in Parliament:

“Why are Cabinet Ministers only beginning to wake up now to the gross mismanagement, waste and abuse of public funds more than two months of the completion of the Auditor-General’s Report?

“Would the Ministers reacted to these gross mismanagement of public funds if no publicity had been given to the Auditor-General’s Report?

“Were all the Ministers aware of and had approved the explanations which the various government departments had given, some most ridiculous and most unacceptable, to the strictures of the Auditor-General’s Report and which had been tabled in the House?

“Is every Minister prepared to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to personally assume responsibility for the mismanagement of public funds highlighted in the Auditor-General’s Report?”

When the Auditor-General’s Report is dated June 28, 2007, it would mean that it had been submitted to the Yang di Pertuan Agong under Article 107 of the Constitution, with copies available to the Prime Minister, the Cabinet and relevant heads of Ministries and departments in a matter of days. Continue reading “Auditor-General’s Reports – ACA DG admits past impotence but will it be different this time?”

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4-star accountability index – ministers should resign and SGs removed for failed rating of one star of less than 50%

The proposal by the Auditor-General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang to introduce from next year the accountability index which will award star ratings to all ministries, state governments and statutory bodies for their management of public funds, is a great and very innovative initiative that must be lauded by all quarters.

Ambrin said the accountability index will be an objective assessment of the financial performance of ministries, departments and state governments.

Marks will be given according to performance and will be translated into star ratings to measure compliance, viz:

  • 4 stars — Excellent (90% – 100%)
  • 3 stars — Good (70% – 89%)
  • 2 stars — Satisfactory (50% – 69%)
  • 1 star — Not Satisfactory (49% and below)

The promotion of secretaries-general and heads of department will also be tied to the index of their financial management performance.

When introducing the 2008 Budget speech last Friday, the Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had emphasized the priority and importance of raising the level of performance of the civil service, which is critical in sustaining the competitiveness of the nation, especially in the context of increasing globalization. Continue reading “4-star accountability index – ministers should resign and SGs removed for failed rating of one star of less than 50%”

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Rubella outbreak in Klang Valley?

An email from CL that there is a rubella outbreak in the Klang Valley which has been blacked out so as not to spoil the Merdeka anniversary celebrations.

Can the authorities in particular the Health Minister and the University of Malaya Vice Chancellor respond?

CL’s email:

There is an outbreak of rubella in the Klang Valley and possibly nationwide as well. Apparently this had been going on for the past two months but the power-that-be has chose to keep the news blacked out because of the impending 50th anniversary Merdeka celebration. The outbreak also occurred in the UM campus and the recently concluded convocation was almost marred. News of the outbreak in the campus only came out lately, in fact only a few days back. It is not immediately known how many students had been infected to date. However, official news of the outbreak has caused anger and anxiety among the “warga kampus”. Continue reading “Rubella outbreak in Klang Valley?”

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Letter to PM – urgent response to issues raised in budget debate in Parliament like RM4.6b PKFZ bailout, RM8.1b dev. est. discrepancy , e-Kesihatan rip-off

I have written to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, asking him to respond to urgent issues raised in the first three days of the 2008 Budget in Parliament which cannot wait for Ministerial replies some two months later scheduled for early November when the Dewan Rakyat reconvenes on Oct. 22 after the 39-day break for the fasting month and Hari Raya holidays.

I listed four urgent issues which had been raised in Parliament in the first three days of budget debate earlier this week and which are crying out for immediate government response and action, viz:

1. The RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) bailout scandal

Accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance principles demand instant end of the government’s denial syndrome both in and outside Parliament about the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal — particularly at a time when the Prime Minister is trying to assure Malaysians that the government means business and would not brook any hanky-panky following the shocking exposes of the pervasive culture of impunity, corruption, waste and mismanagement of public funds in the 2006 Auditor-General’s Reports.

When compared to the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal, the corruption and mismanagement of millions or tens of millions of ringgit of funds exposed by the 2006 Auditor-General’s Reports were mere “chicken-feed”.

However, if the Cabinet can be so irresponsible as to continue to deny that there is a RM4.6 billion bailout of the Port Klang Free Zone scandal, while the culture of impunity persists in providing immunity from legal and accountability consequences for those responsible for the RM4.6 billion bailout when the government had right from the start been given a very categorical assurance that the PKFZ project was feasible, self-financing and would not require a single ringgit of public funding, a wrong message is being sent out – that all the public hullabaloo over the Auditor-General’s Reports 2006 are mere “sandiwara” and not meant to be taken seriously, as absolutely nothing would ensue. Continue reading “Letter to PM – urgent response to issues raised in budget debate in Parliament like RM4.6b PKFZ bailout, RM8.1b dev. est. discrepancy , e-Kesihatan rip-off”

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Orang Asli allocations – not how much but what reaches them

The Budget states that the government is committed to improving the quality of life of Orang Asli, allocating RM170 million to the Department of Orang Asli Affairs to carry out numerous programmes and projects.

We should listen to the views of the Orang Asli community, and the following are some feedback from the Center for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC).

With regard to the financing of Orang Asli development, the issue is not how much is allocated in the annual budget but how much actually reaches the Orang Asli in real terms, in concrete benefits. Continue reading “Orang Asli allocations – not how much but what reaches them”

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DAP’s MENUS Budgetary proposals

Two days before the formal budget presentation by the Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in Parliament last Friday, DAP presented its first alternative budget for 2008, themed “Malaysian First: Unity Driven Equity, Growth & Innovation”.

The proposed DAP 2008 Malaysian Budget focuses on the twin challenges of globalisation and the country’s high dependence on oil and gas resources.

With increasing competition from other developing countries and the rapidly evolving technology markets, it is critical that Malaysia puts in place a system which will be able to exploit the opportunities provided by, and at the same time mitigate the negative impact resulting from, globalisation.

At the same time, a 40% dependence on government revenue from the oil and gas sector is of serious concern, especially in the light of oil reserves which will last for only another two decades and Malaysia becoming a net oil importer by 2011.

The proposed DAP Budget is meant as a distinct departure from the current administration’s New Economic Policy (NEP) which is driven by race. The underlying rationale and approach to the proposed DAP Budget is the “Malaysia Economic & National Unity Strategy” (MENUS) which will be based on performance, competence and needs of all Malaysians.

The key policy measures proposed in the DAP Budget should be given full consideration by the government. In fact, a copy of the DAP budgetary proposals was presented to the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya on Thursday, the eve of Abdullah’s Friday presentation.

The key highlights of the proposed DAP Budget 2008 are: Continue reading “DAP’s MENUS Budgetary proposals”

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Improving productivity & competitiveness of delivery system

A Budget or a blueprint will only be as good as its execution. In the past decades, we have seen many ambitious plans announced by the Government. However, these projects have often ended at best, a qualified success without achieving its original objectives, such as the Multimedia Super Corridor project or at worse, an unmitigated failure such as the BioValley or the MSC e-Village.

In the past year, the administration has also launched several large-scale blueprints for various projects in Malaysia, including the Iskandar Developer Region (IDR), the Northern Economic Corridor as well as the East Coast Corridor. These efforts will all be in vain if they are not implemented with competence and integrity.

The focus of the budget has to be on substantially improving the competence and integrity of our civil service and delivery system to ensure that the benefits expected from Government initiatives will be enjoyed by all Malaysians. Continue reading “Improving productivity & competitiveness of delivery system”

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Robust legal framework, economic efficiency

If the budget is to succeed in bringing about a significant shift of our economy to the next gear, our economic policies and reform must also be accompanied by significant reforms in our judicial system to ensure that foreign investors will have the necessary confidence in not just justice meted out but also the speed and efficiency at which disputes can be resolved.

Our judiciary system today leaves much to be desired. There are thousands of cases in backlog, and often it takes more than five years before commercial disputes are even brought to court for trial at the High Courts. Such inefficiency certainly benefits and incentivises the culprits and penalising the victims.

What certainly wrecks the confidence in our legal system is when a 19-year old, Lee Kwong Yong was jailed for 6 months while awaiting justice for being unable to produce his identity card when caught by the police. The injustice would have been worse had it not been for a good Samaritan who chanced upon his case.

The DAP recommends that the Government do more to attract more experienced legal practitioners as well as industry specialists into the judicial profession to resolve the twin problems facing the Courts, a shortage of judges as well as a lack of professionals to manage the mounting backlog of cases. Continue reading “Robust legal framework, economic efficiency”

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A Healthy Population, a Prosperous Nation

The increased privatization of the health sector has resulted in the shift of health-related expenditures and risks from the society at large to that of the individual level. While it may be argued that it is proper for any person to bear a fair share of her medical expenditures, the shift in the sharing of such costs and risks has resulted in inequitable access of adequate healthcare to certain groups within the society.

The paradox arises when those who can best afford healthcare are ones who need healthcare the least; it is the poor who can least afford to live in a healthy environment (e.g. lack of proper sanitation) and a healthy lifestyle (e.g. good nutrition).

There should be increased public funding and investment in improving the standard of the public health sector by increasing the RM10.7 billion allocation in 2008 Budget or 8.3% of total estimates to at least 10% or RM12.8 billion.

One of the key mechanisms to keep medical inflation in check is to “right-site” healthcare. Thus, there needs to be a major paradigm shift from a near absolute focus on provision of medical care to one which minimises the need for costly medical interventions.

Good health requires more than just access to quality and affordable medical care. Research has convincingly shown that medical care has played a less important role than other factors in improving health in countries like the UK. Healthy lifestyles play a bigger role than medical care in achieving good health.

The Ministry of Health should do this by enhancing health promotion and education as well as disease prevention capabilities, carrying out health education and promotion initiatives like a National Healthy Lifestyle Programme, National “No to Smoking” Campaign, Nutrition Programme and a School Health Programme.

In line with the special salary readjustment for the police force on top of the revision of the civil service pay recently, the DAP proposes a 20% additional increment for all doctors serving in government service, and an additional 10% increment for all support stuff such as nurses and pharmacists.

This forms a necessary step to incentivise doctors who are currently in service and attract more young doctors to service in government hospitals, at least for the initial years.

The medical profession in Malaysia are certainly one of the most poorly paid medical professionals in the region, resulting in many qualified Malaysian doctors seeking greener pastures overseas where they are in demand. At the same time, low wages compromises our healthcare system with sub-standard doctors recruited from many Third World countries. Continue reading “A Healthy Population, a Prosperous Nation”

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Challenge to ACA – disclose how many persons had been arrested/prosecuted for corruption from previous Auditor-General reports

In China, a senior official at the Agricultural Bank of China was executed for corruption following years of ordering suppliers to pay him kickbacks. Wen Mengjie, 50, former head of information technology at one of the bank’s Beijing branches, was executed Tuesday for embezzling and taking bribes worth 15 million yuan (USD1.97 million).

In the Philippinnes, former president Joseph Estrada was sentenced to jail in prison after he was found guilty of massive corruption and plundering the country of tens of millions of dollars in tax kickbacks and bribes.

In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced he would resign after being dogged by a string of damaging scandals that hampered his reform agenda.

What do we have in Malaysia? Another year of shocking revelations of corruption, criminal breach of trust, overspending and mismanagement of funds by the Auditor-General, Tan Sri Amrin Buang — with the apt headline of the the New Straits Times yesterday “Same old story year in year out” — while the culture of impunity reigns on without anyone in high office having to bear responsibility for corruption and abuse of power. Continue reading “Challenge to ACA – disclose how many persons had been arrested/prosecuted for corruption from previous Auditor-General reports”

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Low-Income and the “FairWage” Initiative

The EPF is a social security institution formed according to the Laws of Malaysia, Employees Provident Fund Act 1991 (Act 452) which provides retirement benefits for members through management of their savings in an efficient and reliable manner. With rising costs of living, extended life expectancy and more expensive medical treatments, it is critical that Malaysians save as much as possible to ensure sufficient funds for retirement. It is also important for as many Malaysians as possible to be included in the system.

However, as studies have shown, low-income Malaysians are facing significant difficulties in saving enough via EPF. As a result, the Government must act to assist this group of Malaysians who face various challenges in the face of globalisation, particularly with a stagnant or declining real wages. This is clearly reflected in the 9th Malaysia Plan Gini co-efficient statistics where by income disparity among Malaysians has widened substantially. Malaysia ranked highest in terms of income inequality in Southeast Asia.

To assist low and medium-waged workers, DAP proposes raising the Employer EPF Contribution Rate from the current 12% of total wages to 15%, representing a 25% increase. This will in turn raise the total contribution from the employer and employee to the fund to a total of 26%.

At the same time, in view of the increase in cost for the employers, which may in turn affect the competitiveness of Malaysian companies, it is proposed that a limit of RM8,000 per month or RM96,000 per annum be set to Employer contributions to the EPF. That means that for employees earning above the limit, their EPF contributions will continue to be calculated at the limit level.

However, for middle-age workers who are earning below RM1,400 per month , it is clear that they will continue to face severe challenges despite the increase in employer’s EPF contribution. Whilst younger workers may be learning the ropes and learn new skills to upgrade their income level, older workers will face difficulties in our fast-changing economic environment and are in the greatest need of assistance from the state to make ends meet.

With the oil and gas sector contributing handsomely to the state coffers, it only makes social sense to share part of these gains with the less fortunate and lower income tiers within our society. However, at the same time, we still need to continue to incentivise these workers to secure employment to avoid over-dependence on the state. Hence, DAP proposes “FairWage” as an integral component of a new national policy in promoting social justice. FairWage has a 3-prong strategy for implementation: Continue reading “Low-Income and the “FairWage” Initiative”

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National Broadband Plan

Based on statistics made available by the Minister of Energy, Water and Communication as at 2006, broadband penetration rates for Malaysia is less than 3%, compared to more than 60% for South Koreans.

The BN Government’s National Broadband Plan target of 25% household penetration by 2006 and 50% by 2008, has clearly failed miserably.

In the larger national interest of achieving the above targets, and its importance towards building a generation of enterprising and innovative Malaysians, DAP proposes that the broadband market be liberalised to allow for foreign competition.

To promote the building of high quality and reliable broadband network, DAP proposes favourable tax treatment for telecommunication firms undertaking broadband investments:

* New broadband operators are allowed to deduct financing costs from their taxable income.

* Investors are exempted from paying taxes on interest income from bonds specifically ear-marked to finance these investments.

* Exemption from import duties for specific state of the art telecommunications equipment required for broadband infrastructures.

Continue reading “National Broadband Plan”

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Towards a More Equitable Highway Toll System

In January this year, the Government raised the toll fare for 5 privatised highways in the Klang Valley. The Bentong and Gombak toll on the Karak Highway was raised by 20% and 25% respectively. The 3 KESAS Highway toll was raised by 47%, while the Batu 9 and Batu 11 toll along the Grand Saga Highway was raised by 43% and 50% respectively. The highest increment however, was at the tolls along the Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong (LDP), by 60%.

These 5 highways were constructed at a cost of RM4.13 billion. The toll rates have been raised excessively despite the fact that the Government has paid RM2.28 billion in compensation to date, as well as an additional RM2.59 billion over the next 5 years, or a combined total of RM4.86 billion. The compensation promised to date has already exceeded the construction cost of the highways by 18% or RM734 million.

As a further example, the total capital cost of construction of the LDP is estimated at RM1.327 billion inclusive of capitalised interest of RM142.3 million. However, the projected profit after tax (PAT) over 30 year concession period has been estimated at RM18.865 billion based on the agreement with the Barisan Nasional-led Government. The projected profit represents a 1,400% return on capital, which is excessive by any reasonable standards.

With the impending increase in toll rates for the North-South Highway, and in the light of the clear cut inequity in the concessionaire agreements, as well as in the overwhelming interest of the Malaysian public, the DAP proposes the renegotiation of all toll concessionaire contracts for Malaysian highways. Continue reading “Towards a More Equitable Highway Toll System”

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Nathaniel Tan’s reply to the Prime Minister

Nathaniel Tan has emailed me his response to the Parliament reply of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad on Tuesday claiming that the actions against Nat and Raja Petra Kamarudin were not the “beginning of a clampdown on bloggers” but were normal actions taken against individuals who “break the law”.

Abdullah said the government will not restrict the free flow of information on the Internet but warned that the government will not hesitate to act against bloggers who flout the law.

He said Nat’s arrest and the police report against Raja Petra were usual procedures followed by the police and that such actions do not mean that the government is stifling dissent.

This is the response from Nat, who was detained and investigated for alleged breach of Section 8 of the Official Secrets Act 1972 relating to a comment left on his blog linking Deputy Internal Security Minister Mohd Johari Baharum to a corruption allegation.

Is Kidnapping Standard Police Procedure?

I am terribly saddened by the fact that Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi would claim that the police actions taken against me could be considered the “normal process of law” and “standard procedure.”

What he seems to be saying is that standard procedure includes: Continue reading “Nathaniel Tan’s reply to the Prime Minister”

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Financial strenth, economic resilience

Maintaining Islamic Finance Leadership

As highlighted in the previous years’ budget, Malaysia has progressed significantly in the development of Islamic financial services, especially in terms of the size of investments and an increase in the number of institutions. Malaysia was the first to issue a global sukuk in 2002, as well as the first country where supranationals have issued ringgit-denominated Islamic bonds, namely the International Finance Corporation with an issuance of RM500 million and the World Bank, RM2 billion. In 2006, Malaysia was the largest issuer of Islamic bonds in the global capital market, accounting for USD30 billion, which is more than 70% of the overall global issuance of USD41 billion.

With the continued growth of importance in Islamic finance, we want to encourage more of this business to come to Malaysia. There is approximately US$500 billion of funds within the Islamic finance system, growing at around 15% annually. In the Gulf and Asia, Standard & Poor’s estimates that 20 per cent of banking customers would now spontaneously choose an Islamic financial product over a conventional one with a similar risk-return profile.

However the market’s growth in importance has also attracted some of the largest capital markets in the world such as the United Kingdom and Singapore to develop financial services and products to capture this market, which will result in a loss of market share for Malaysia. For example, one of the largest sukuk to date issued by Dubai Ports was written out of the London office of Barclays Capital in January 2006. And in August 2006, the first billion dollar sukuk to be listed on the London Stock Exchange raised £2.5 billion (US$5 billion). In addition, ambitious plans have been announced to make London the western capital of Islamic finance as the government announced tax relief for sukuk in March this year.

Nearer home, Singapore is increasingly serving as a bridge between the Middle East and Asia. More Middle Eastern banks are setting up in Singapore, which is experiencing double-digit growth in funds originating from the Middle East, for investment in Asian capital markets and real estate. Given Singapore’s lead in the Over-The-Counter (OTC) derivative market as the fourth-largest foreign exchange trading centre in the world, they will certain provide stiff competition for Malaysia. Continue reading “Financial strenth, economic resilience”

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Why the RM8.1 billion difference between Abdullah’s 2008 Budget speech and Treasury 2007/2008 Economic Report?

In his 2008 Budget speech in Parliament last Friday, Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced an appropriation of RM176.9 billion comprising RM128.8 billion for Operating Expenditure and RM48.1 billion for Development Expenditure.

This was backed up by the Ministry of Finance Statement of the 2008 Federal Expenditure Estimates tabled in the House during the budget presentation (Command Paper 12 of 2007).

However, in another Ministry of Finance document, the Economic Report 2007/2008, (Command paper 2 of 2007),which was also tabled in Parliament at the same time, a completely different set of figures was provided.

Chapter 4 of the Economic Report 2007/2008 on “Public Sector Finance”, in its section on “Outlook for 2008”, states: “This Budget will allocate a total of RM168,799 million, an increase of 2.5% over 2007. Of this, RM128,799 million is for operating expenditure and the balance of RM40,000 million for development expenditure”. (p 96)

These different set of figures were backed up the Table 4.1 on “Federal Government Financial Position 2006-2008” (p 77).

How could there be such a huge difference of RM8.1 billion for the 2008 Development Estimates between Abdullah’s budget presentation and Finance Ministry Statement on the one hand and the Finance Ministry’s Economic Report 2007/2008, all presented to Parliament on the same day last Friday? Continue reading “Why the RM8.1 billion difference between Abdullah’s 2008 Budget speech and Treasury 2007/2008 Economic Report?”

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Optimising Human Capital

The economic contribution from natural resources, especially in oil and gas is expected to decline over the next 20 years as our reserves runs dry. As revenue from oil and gas constitutes more than 40% of the overall Government budget, there is a serious challenge in sourcing alternative sources of revenue to sustain Government expenditure at current levels.

The direct source of replacement contribution towards greater economic productivity in the light of the above will be by substantially raising human capital. With the right quality of human capital, many countries around the world which are not as blessed with natural resources have recorded significant growth above and beyond what we have achieved.

In light of the above, the DAP proposes legislating that at least 50% of our windfall revenues from the oil and gas sector shall be allocated to building human capacity, particularly in Education and Training, above and beyond their normal allocation. This will ensure that our windfall revenues will be productively invested in our most important assets, in particular, the young Malaysians.

We will give every child access to a first-rate education. In every school, the focus will now be on quality. More teachers will be deployed to ensure that there will be more time to plan for quality and innovation in teaching. Our schools must encourage creation of new ideas and creative thinking via different types of classrooms, different styles and different methods, but all with a strong emphasis in quality. Continue reading “Optimising Human Capital”

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PM should immediately respond to urgent issues raised in 2008 budget debate like PKFZ scandal and e-kesihatan and not wait until early Nov

I call on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also the Finance Minister, to respond to urgent issues raised in the first three days of the 2008 Budget and not to delay for some two months until early November — particularly on pressing public interest issues like the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone bailout scandal and the outcry over the new rip-off of the e-kesihatan monopoly concession awarded to Supremme Systems Sdn. Bhd without tender.

The Dewan Rakyat will adjourn for a 39-day break over the fasting month and Hari Raya holidays, resuming on October 22. This would mean that the 13-day general debate for the 2008 Budget before the ministerial reply would be broken up into two parts, three days this week and 10 days from 22nd October to 6th November, with Ministers beginning their reply on November 7, 2007.

There is something very wrong with the whole notion that issues raised in Parliament during the first three days of the 2008 Budget this week are only answered by Ministers two months later — especially with regard to pressing public interest issues demanding immediate response and action, particularly urgent matters like the RM4.6 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PFKZ) bailout scandal and the outcry over the new rip-off of the e-kesihatan monopoly concession awarded to Supremme Systems Sdn. Bhd without tender.

Accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance principles demand instant end of the government’s denial syndrome both in and outside Parliament about the RM4.6 billion PKFZ bailout scandal — particularly at a time when the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers are trying to assure Malaysians that they meant business and would not brook any hanky-panky following the shocking exposes of the pervasive culture of impunity, corruption, waste and mismanagement of public funds in the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report.

Abdullah said in Kuching yesterday that he had directed all Cabinet ministers to go through the Auditor-General’s report in detail and to fully explain anything that is questionable. Continue reading “PM should immediately respond to urgent issues raised in 2008 budget debate like PKFZ scandal and e-kesihatan and not wait until early Nov”