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Malaysian consulate service a letdown

by Disappointed Malaysian

I am writing from Melbourne, Australia as I am frustrated with the services and support provided by the Malaysian Consulate in Canberra, Australia. My family have had the unfortunate incident of having our house burglarised and all (the entire family’s) our documents ie, Malaysian passports, birth certificates, Malaysian driving licences, our MyKads, marriage certificates have all been stolen.

We immediately reported the incident to the Malaysian Consulate in Canberra and was passed on to the person in-charge, a Mr Haa Doan. He must be the most unpleasant person we have come across and encountered during our stay in Australia so far. We told him our circumstances and asked him for the procedure to apply for a replacement travel document and he advised that he will immediately send us the necessary application forms.

We supplied him with our correspondence address and contact details. He then reprimanded us for the way we kept our documents at home which was uncalled for. He kept insisting that we have to fly back to Malaysia to reapply for all our documents but how could we when we have just lost our passports?

The documents came only four weeks later and we sent off our completed forms and the necessary certified documents. On Sept 13, we decided to check with the Malaysian Consulate on the status of our application. My husband who called was told that Haa was on leave. My husband was not happy and called again, and this time was told that Haa was not on leave and the call was passed to him.

He was very annoyed with my husband and irritated when asked about the status of our applications. He said it is still with him in his office which meant that the applications have been sitting at the consulate for more than a month. He said he was sick and that he just returned from back to work. The question is does the consulate stop functioning because Haa is on sick leave? Is there no one to take over his responsibility when he is away from the office?

When my husband asked why wasn’t it sent off to the Immigration Department in Kuala Lumpur, he said that they do not do daily postings to Malaysia and that it was done only once a month! Asked how long will the whole process take, Haa said that he was not sure, maybe it would be six months or more and that it was entirely up to the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Office.

These kind of answers are definitely not reassuring for a whole family who is at their wits end at having lost all their critical documents. The passports are required to fly back to Malaysia to reapply for the other documents and looks like we are at a loss as to when we will get our passports approved or when they finally make their way back to the Kuala Lumpur Immigration Office. Is Australia so distant that there is only one mail service a month? Continue reading “Malaysian consulate service a letdown”

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Lingam tape – Anwar’s explosive video clip on Judiciary Compromised

Anwar Ibrahim has produced an explosive video clip on Judiciary Compromised which has set off reverberations in the Palace of Justice, the corridors of power, offices and homes in the country as well as internationally.

The time for reckoning for the restoration of a truly independent judiciary and a just rule of law cannot be put off any longer.

Malaysiakini has carried the transcript of the conversation between lawyer V.K. Lingam with Chief Justice Ahmad Fairuz sometime in 2002, as recorded in the videoclip, viz:

“The CJ said he is relative to now Agong, so he wants to stay on to 68, so, Tengku Adnan, I told Tengku Adnan, yesterday I had a meeting with him.

He said PM is already very angry with him, he said no problem he is going to make you acting err.. confirm your position as PCA, working very hard then working very hard to get Tan Sri Mokhtar as CJM.

Ah, we just keep it confidential. I am working very hard on it. Then there is a letter, according to Tengku, I am going to see him tomorrow, there is a letter sent to CJ, I mean Tan Sri Dzaiddin, that Datuk Heliliah, Datuk Ramli, Datuk Ramli and Datuk Ma’roop be made judges, and he rejected Dr Andrew Chui and apa itu Zainuddin Ismail lah. Because Zainuddin Ismail condemned your appointment and Tan Sri Mokhtar’s appointment.

And then you also, you seems to wrote a letter for the remaining five be confirmed as judges. As per our memo I discuss with Tun Eusoff Chin and we sent the same memo to PM.

I just want to get a copy letter that that has been done. Continue reading “Lingam tape – Anwar’s explosive video clip on Judiciary Compromised”

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2nd Kong Choy scandal – suspend RM450-RM500 million e-Kesihatan middlemen rent-seeking scam

The week-long controversy over the e-kesihatan scheme has created more doubts and confusion, with the public presented with a plethora of conflicting accounts while the Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy emerged from the controversy in a very sorry and worst possible light.

From the present RM10 payment for renewal of public service vehicle (PSV), goods driving licence (GDL) and conductor licence (KON) holders, the Road Transport Department is to introduce a new mandatory health screening scheme beginning on Oct. 1 which would cost RM80 a year for a million commercial drivers.

In the latest revised figures in the Sun today, Datuk Nordin Yahaya, the executive director of Supremme Systems Sdn. Bhd, the concessionaire awarded the monopoly for this scheme, claims that of the RM80, the company gets RM8 and Pos Malaysia RM2, while RM10 is for operating costs, RM35 go to the doctors and RM25 to laboratories.

Only three days earlier on Sunday, Nordin had given different breakdowns — i.e. doctors paid between RM35 and RM45, laboratories between RM25 and RM35, Post Malaysia RM2 and Supreme Systems Sdn. Bhd between RM8 and RM10.

These figures have been disputed by the Koperasi Doktor Malaysia Bhd chairman Dr. J. S. Deo who said that the laboratory tests for the e-Kesihatan screening cost less than RM7, and not between RM25 and RM35 as claimed by Nordin earlier. Continue reading “2nd Kong Choy scandal – suspend RM450-RM500 million e-Kesihatan middlemen rent-seeking scam”

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Campus elections – Mustapha should announce “hands-off” policy and scrap secret mission of VCs/DVCs

On Monday, the Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapha Mohamed said each public university will decide on the suitable rules and requirements for the upcoming student elections.

He said: “We are open to ideas and suggestions but there are all kinds of proposals so the universities themselves should be the ones looking into them.”

I call on Mustapha to take the first bold step to give meaning and substance to the National Higher Education Action Plan 2007-2010 to start the long journey to make Malaysia a world leader in higher education by sending a clear message to all Vice Chancellors to hold free and fair campus elections in public universities and to respect and accept the election results.

Mustapha should publicly declare that as Higher Education Minister, he would not be partisan and would not take sides with any candidate or group of candidates contesting in the campus polls, and that he would fully accept the verdict of the campus elections regardless of who wins or loses, so long as the campus elections are held in a free and fair manner.

He should announce a “hands-off” policy to ensure a vibrant, critical and creative student campus and scrap the secret agenda of Vice Chancellors and deputies to ensure victory of the compliant “pro-establishment” student groups.

In this manner, university students would be given a good grounding and experience in the holding of an honest, free and fair elections and not be exposed instead in their first voting experience to all the shenanigans, manipulation and abuses of of rigged polls.

One important reason why Malaysian public universities had been on a downward plunge as centres of academic excellence is because it has been drummed into the Vice Chancellors and their deputies that it is more important for their career future that they deliver campus elections to pro-establishment student groups rather than ensuring that the universities achieve international recognition as world-class universities as receiving top rankings in world tables, such as the Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University annual listing of top world universities.

This is why it is so shocking to read the statement by the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) vice chancellor Nik Mustapha R. Abdullah justifying the Mat Rempit arrogance and highhandedness of the UPM campus security in seizing the laptop, mobile phone, MP3 player and 10 other items valued at RM6,000 from first-year UPM timber technology student Yee Yang Yang during a spot check of his hostel room on Friday night and questioning him about his involvement in student politics. Continue reading “Campus elections – Mustapha should announce “hands-off” policy and scrap secret mission of VCs/DVCs”

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Belgium in Tatters: Call the UN, quick!

By Farish A. Noor

It seems that the state of Belgium has been without a government for more than a hundred days now; as the Belgians seem unable to decide on their future and settle upon a collective identity that can be shared by all. Divided between the more prosperous Flemish north and the less well-to-do French-speaking Walloon south, the country seems almost a textbook case of communitarianism run rampant and sectarian divisions tearing apart the nation-state. On both sides of the ethnic-cultural-linguistic fence right-wing ethno-nationalist politicians take to the soapbox to bemoan the ills of the country and to lay the blame at the feet of their neighbours next door.

As an aside, the minorities of Belgium must be relieved that for once the stereotype of the evil nefarious foreigner is not being brought to the fore as the root of all that is wrong in the country. No, here the problem does not seem to be the dreaded Turk, Arab or Asian around the corner, but rather those familiar but different Walloons and Flemish down the road!

Now if Belgium was located elsewhere on the map, we would probably have heard calls for UN intervention by this point. For as we all know by now sectarian divisions anywhere else — be it in Africa, Asia or Latin America often enough warrants some form of international military intervention, ostensibly to save the natives from themselves. But after all, is this not a case of a nation-building programme falling to pieces before our very eyes,
with communal sentiments and parochial loyalties to race and culture being fanned in the public domain? Yet perhaps one of the most ironic twists to the story of Belgium today is the fact that the divisive politics we see in the country at the moment was also a rather noxious export that was taken as far as Africa by the Belgium government in the past.

Divisive politics should not be something alien to the Belgians by now, for Belgium’s colonial policies abroad have always been predicated on the logic of divide and rule anyway. The most noteworthy example here is the case of Rwanda and Burundi, of course: Two African nations that were first annexed by Germany and then taken over by Belgium in 1916. Continue reading “Belgium in Tatters: Call the UN, quick!”

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Why Malacca State Excos of MCA and Gerakan must resign from Ali Rustam government

The Cabinet tomorrow should censure the Malacca State Government and the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as Barisan Nasional Chairman should remove Datuk Seri Ali Rustam as Malacca Chief Minister for defiance of Cabinet decision on the formula to end the pig-rearing crisis in Malacca as well as spoiling the national mood and spirit of celebrations of 50th Merdeka anniversary in the whole country by all Malaysians.

It is shocking that Ali Rustam and his State Government were allowed to defy the Sept. 5 decision of the Cabinet that there should not be any destruction of pigs and the two-point formula to resolve the pig-rearing crisis in Malacca, viz: the Malacca state government to allow the pig rearers to change the use of the land and secondly, pig rearers allowed to get bank loans for waste disposal systems with the state government giving the guarantee that it would not revoke TOL to ensure security of the industry to justify such investments by the pig-rearers.

With such a Cabinet decision two weeks ago, why was the Malacca Chief Minister and his gang allowed to go through the charade and their “terror tactics” of forcing the pig rearers to comply with the unreasonable and impossible target to cull or reduce 97,000 heads of pigs in 17 days by Sept. 21, or face another “show-of-force” like the Sept. 4 confrontation in Paya Mengkuang against defenceless men, women and children by 2,000-strong personnel including fully-armed police FRU, enforcement squads from multi-agencies including immigration, state and local authorities together with personnel in “space suits”, tear gas, water cannons, and a hovering helicopter?

What is most shocking is that such arrogant, high-handed and coercive tactics employed by the Malacca state authorities violate every concept of a good and democratic governance, with the elected government shamefully treating law-abiding citizens making a proper and honourable living from the pig-rearing industry like criminals and even terrorists!

What is even more shocking is that the MCA was a party to the whole charade, as the actions taken against the pig-rearers in the state was not that of Umno Malacca State Government but that of the Barisan Nasional Malacca state government, comprising MCA and Gerakan state excos.

It is utterly disgraceful that 50 years of Barisan Nasional “power-sharing” has totally changed character from “equal political partners” of Barisan Nasional component parties to “UMNO political rulers and MCA and Gerakan subjects” in the State Government, with MCA and Gerakan state exco members denuded of any right to participate in the state government decision-making process.

It is very sad that 50 years after Merdeka and the “social contract”, MCA and Gerakan state excos in Malacca have been reduced to the status of “petition-writers” whose role is to appeal to the Chief Minister, Umno State Exco members, State Secretary and even Umno parliamentary secretary to try to modify harsh and unreasonable decisions instead of ensuring that such decisions are not taken in the first place. Continue reading “Why Malacca State Excos of MCA and Gerakan must resign from Ali Rustam government”

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Uphold integrity/fight corruption – Abdullah risks being compared unfavourably with Mahathir

When Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi became Prime Minister in October 2003, he promised many things to the people of Malaysia, asking the people to “work with him and not work for him” — towards the objective of a clean, incorruptible, efficient, trustworthy, democratic, just, people-oriented administration which is prepared to hear the truth from the citizenry.

In less than four years, Abdullah’s report card on his many pledges is quite a blank. Even more serious, it runs danger of being compared unfavourably with the 22-year Mahathir administration even on the key planks of upholding integrity and fighting corruption.

I will give three examples.

(1) For the past ten days, the country has been revolted by the exposes of the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report about the pervasive corruption, criminal breach of trust and mismanagement of public funds running into tens of millions, hundreds of millions and even billions of ringgit.

I remember that in the early years of the Mahathir premiership, there was a similar public revulsion when the Report of the then Auditor-General, Tan Sri Ahmad Nordin exposed the notorious “Instant Mee” scandal, where the Defence Ministry paid RM4.90 per packet when the average market price was only 14 sen a packet.

A quarter of a century later, nothing seemed to have changed — things have in fact got worse. The “Instant Mee” scandal was a rip-off of taxpayers’ monies with the government paying some 350 per cent of the market price, but what we have in the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report is a rip-off by over 5,000 per cent in the case of the Youth and Culture Ministry paying RM5,700 for a car jack worth RM50! Continue reading “Uphold integrity/fight corruption – Abdullah risks being compared unfavourably with Mahathir”

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UPM more famous as Mat Rempit University than Research University

It is an academic disgrace that Universiti Putra Malaysia is more famous as a Mat Rempit University than as a Research University, a status it was elevated only last month together with three other universities — Universiti Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Sains Malaysia.

Just like last year, UPM has brought national and international shame to Malaysia academia with the Mat Rempit-antics of the campus security, acting in utter disregard of the fundamental rights of students in arrogantly and high-handedly seizing the laptop, mobile phone, MP3 player and 10 other items valued at RM6,000 from first-year UPM timber technology student Yee Yang Yang during a spot check of his hostel room on Friday night and questioning him about his involvement in student politics.

In 48 hours, there have been over 14,000 viewings of the Malaysiakini videoclip of the standoff between UPM students and the UPM campus security. The video clip has also been uploaded on YouTube in more than half-a-dozen sites in the past one day, with over 3,000 hits.

The UPM students must be commended for courageously standing up for their fundamental human rights and refusing to cow to a Mat Rempit-style of bullying by the campus security.

This is the second year that a disgraceful UPM episode has gone up on YouTube, which attracted over 200,000 hits from multiple sites on the video clip last year of unruly conduct of UPM student council leaders, condoned by UPM security, against “anti-establishment” student activists.

The latest Mat Rempit antics of the UPM authorities raises very hard questions as to how academic and research excellence can flourish in UPM when such Mat Rempit culture in the university administration is allowed to run wild without check.

Even more important, it raises the more important question whether the “Strategic Plan for Higher Education: Laying the Foundation Beyond 2020” launched by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at the end of last month to create world-class universities has any hope of success when mediocre minds appear to have an upper hand in running Malaysian universities.

I call on the Higher Education Minister, Datuk Mustapha Mohamed to condemn in no uncertain terms such Mat Rempitism in UPM and contempt for student rights and to send a clear message to the UPM authorities that they are doing a great disservice to the nation in bringing ridicule and dishonour to the Malaysian higher education system, undermining the national objective to turn Malaysia into one of the world’s education hubs. Continue reading “UPM more famous as Mat Rempit University than Research University”

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Cabinet Wednesday should direct all Ministers with ministries implicated in AG’s 2006 Report to appear before PAC

Malaysians are quite weary of the annual season of farce of the Audit-General’s Report exposing year-in and year-out corruption, criminal breach of trust and mismanagement of public funds followed by the chorus of responses from the Public Accounts Committee, the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and even from the Prime Minister and the relevant Ministers of investigations and remedial action not only to deal with the errant culprits but to ensure that there could be no more recurrence of such betrayal of public trust — all to taper off into public amnesia after a few days of media banner headlines until the ritual is repeated in the following year.

Last Tuesday (11th September 2007), the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said at the Cabinet meeting the previous week (5th September), he had directed all ministers concerned to explain to the Cabinet why their ministries have been accused of mismanaging funds and other irregularities. He said “each and every matter raised must be explained in detail”.

Three questions immediately come to mind, viz:

  • Firstly, why did Abdullah delay for more than two months before raising the subject in the Cabinet when he had first received the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report at the end of June? Even the ACA director-general Datuk Ahmad Said Hamdan had publicly admitted that the ACA had received copies of the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report “sometime ago” and that the ACA had begun investigations into the Auditor-General’s 2006 Report “long before it was tabled in Parliament” on September 7;
  • Secondly, will Ministers be required to explain to the Cabinet on Wednesday why their ministries have been accused of mismanaging funds and other irregularities, with each and every matter raised by the Auditor-General to be explained in detail? Will the Prime Minister report to the nation at the end of Wednesday’s meeting of the Ministers who have given satisfactory explanations and those who have failed to do so, and what he proposes to do with the latter? Or there is no real intention whatsoever to hold a Cabinet inquest into the corruption and mismanagement of public funds into the various ministries as exposed in the 2006 Auditor-Gneeral Report?
  • Thirdly, why are the Ministers only required to explain to the Cabinet and not to Parliament and the nation?

As all Ministers owe a higher duty to Parliament and the nation to comply with the principles of accountability, probity and integrity, the Cabinet on Wednesday should direct all Ministers whose past or present ministries had been implicated in the 2006 Auditor-General’s Report for mismanagement of funds to appear before the Public Accounts Committee to assume full responsibility and end all the annual “bellyaching” about taking action by various authorities but without any concrete follow-up results. Continue reading “Cabinet Wednesday should direct all Ministers with ministries implicated in AG’s 2006 Report to appear before PAC”

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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”