Thursday, February 28, 2008

"Anybody can make a promise"

from TODAYonline.

Najib understands problems better
FORMER Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has a reputation of being a feisty statesman. Today got the rare chance to meet him at his office in Putrajaya — the city that he personally designed — yesterday. He was all smiles and subtlety as he talked about the general election and his nation's political future, but his views are razor-sharp as ever, as Nazry Bahrawi (nazry@mediacorp.com.sg) found out.
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on THE RULING COALITION
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The Barisan Nasional has just released its report card. What are your opinions on its achievements since 2004, when Mr Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's first term as Prime Minister began?
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DR M: There are of course a lot of negative things that are not in the report card. For example, lots of money is being lost, the prestige of the nation has gone down and the fact is a lot of people cannot find work or business in the country. They have to go elsewhere.
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Which achievements would you take issue with?
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Islam Hadhari has caused a lot of confusion. There is only one Islam and now they are told that they are followers of Islam Hadhari or modern Islam as if it is a new religion. With regards to the new development corridors, they are just announcements. Nothing has happened on the ground. The amount of money involved is fantastic. It goes into trillions of ringgit and it will happen over a period of maybe 10 to 20 years. So, these are promises. Anybody can make a promise.
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How do you see leadership succession panning out in Umno (the United Malays National Organisation) and Malaysia as a whole?
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We have certain traditions. Unfortunately, some traditions have partly been broken. For example, no one is allowed to contest leadership position. The Prime Minister determines who the leader will be and any challenge towards the leadership is not permitted. However, some people are actually called up and told not to stand. This is not Umno tradition at all.
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In an earlier interview, you suggested that Mr Abdullah should make way for Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak. Why did you say that?
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I said that I thought he should be PM for one term and that he should be succeeded by Datuk Seri Najib because Datuk Seri Najib is senior to him. From the speeches that he (Najib) makes, he understands problems much better. He does not seem to be concerned about making sure that any support for the previous government was wrong.
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What do you think of the possibility of Mr Hishamuddin Hussein or Mr Khairy Jamaluddin playing a bigger role in Umno after the elections?

I think if you follow them, it will be disastrous for the party.

Read the whole interview, HERE.
(Thanks Skilganon, for the link. I am in Bahau now doing this posting after reading your comment. Left Rambau an hour or so ago on the way to Pekan).
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29 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:19 am

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    Daerah Mengundi : 131 / 26 / 08 - PEKAN REMBAU
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    Untuk sebarang maklumat, sila emel : info@spr.gov.my


    ps: KJ so desperate la...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous12:31 am

    voting tranparent only.... ni boleh kata kempen pilihanraya yang berhemah...http://malaysian-choice.blogspot.com/2008/02/contoh-kempen-pilihanraya-yang-baik.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. I couldn't imagine creating my own report card when I was in school. I would have been walloped.

    So now we know why the quality of local education is atrocious: creating your own report cards!

    ReplyDelete
  4. keep up the fire power in your final lap to the great change

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous8:56 am

    Report Card?. Ini adalah report card paling pelik dalam dunia. Patutnya report dibuat oleh orang lain untuk orang lain. Orang lain yang nilai orang lain. Tapi, bagi report kerajaan ini apa yang saya tahu setiap menteri buat report card sendiri. Betullah Tun M kata, perkara negatif tentulah tak masuk dalam report card itu. Apa punya cerita ini. Ini macam punya mengarut pun sistem pengurusan pun ada lah. Tak tau nak cakap lah...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous10:02 am

    Man, i really staring to love your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ofcourse, since the govt was formed when BN was elected by the rakyat in the last election, he as PM kena la inform what the govt did. If he dosent inform, who should. Opposition? Bloggers who some of them are clearly bloggers? You the rakyat individually?

    Melayu Mudah Lupa anyway, thats why he must remind these melayus thru his report card so that Melayu remembers!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Send the man to space
    He goes out shining spoon
    Jumping on the BN wagon
    Telling people how he felt then

    BN makes it for him
    Don’t you believe me?
    He never tells you
    It is our tax money

    The poor souls in the country
    Living in poverty thatched roof holes plenty
    Sleeping on the 5 foot way
    Under the bridges too
    Eyes lost mind in limbo

    BN sent a man to space
    Wasted money walking tourist
    BN lashed it up fooling the country
    Why can’t the money use for the poor?

    Now BN writes its own report card
    Telling how many A’s it has scored
    Telling the people to cheat after all
    Where do BN leaders learn it this way?
    Writing own achievements
    Ignoring the negative failures?

    BN likes the space tourist man
    Fooling up in the empty space
    Promising galore darkness in the air
    BN doesn’t see it that way
    BN writes its own standard bearer

    And the fools we have
    Thinking it is still relevant in our lives
    Security, peace and prosperity
    BN knocks you down through the backdoors
    When then?
    Seeing stars with the space man!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous12:37 pm

    NAJIB BETTER?... YES FOR UMNO.

    BUT TO MALAYSIANS, ESPECIALLY TO THE CHINESE, THEY BETTER PREPARED TO...

    BALIK TONGSAN.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous12:43 pm

    Rocky,

    what's the difference between promises and lies to Pak Lah ?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous1:29 pm

    A wise man can see more from the bottom of a well than a fool can from a mountain top .

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous1:37 pm

    Sdr Rocky,

    Tumpang lalu.

    Dey Warrior2, betullah kerajaan pentadbiran pak lah kena bagitau rakyat apa dia orang sudah buat selama sepenggal lalu mentadbir negara. tapi bukanlah bermakna bagitau yang baik-baik dan yang elok-elok je. rakyat pun nak tau jugak apa yang tak eloknya supaya rakyat boleh sama2 bantu perbaiki mana yang lemah dan mana yang kurang.

    dalam kad laporan sekolah kan ada dicatat markah2 yang diperoleh bagi setiap mata pelajaran, ada dapat markah tinggi, ada rendah, ada sederhana. jadi betullah kata tun tu, pak lah tunjuk markah yang baik2 je...

    ct tanjung perak

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous1:40 pm

    Blogger,

    PM Dollah with nothing to do still make a mess of Malaysia.
    Imagine if he did something.

    Vote wisely.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous1:54 pm

    Isn't Najib who declared that Malaysia is an Islamic country?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous2:08 pm

    The future of Malaysia that Pak Lah promise in his election campaign will be better than the past campaign, only far more expensive.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous2:52 pm

    Anybody can make a promise but only BN breaks it.

    Look at the Paklah report card. Full of broken and twisted promises....

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous3:04 pm

    More reports on the Malaysian elections in the Spore Straits Times, Feb 29 - 2 full pages.

    "BARISAN AIMS TO WIPE OUT POVERTY IN TWO YEARS". But there's a caveat according to the PM: "...we HOPE we will achieve this aim in 2010." And left unsaid is how "poverty" is defined.

    "ABDULLAH WASTES NO TIME SHOWING HE'S NO 'SLEEPING PM'".This report noted, inter alia, that the PM's convoy involves more than 30 cars, 2 ambulances, a handful of motorcycles bearing party flags (rehabilitated Mat Rempits?) and vehicles ferrying the 20 reporters who follow him everywhere.

    "MY INFLUENCE EXAGGERATED, SAYS PM'S SON-IN-LAW."
    KJ: "As a first-time MP, I want to spend some time as a backbencher, see how things work and serve the people in Rembau...I have explained my position to the PM, and I think it would be inappropriate for me to take any position in the administration at this time." (Meaning that it's only a matter of time before he becomes a Minister).
    And as per Leslie Lopez who wrote this report: "His (KJ's) hardline pro-Malay comments and his push for a so-called "jihad" to bring greater economic opportunities for the Malays have irked Chinese Malaysians. His backing of Mat Rempit, the often unruly Malay gangs on motorcycles, has angered the police, who see the bikers as a serious public nuisance. (Hello - the police are angry with KJ??? I am sure that this will come as news to most Malaysians!). Even the Malays view Mr Khairy with suspicion because of the perception that he is brash, opportunistic and in a huge hurry."

    "HISHAMUDDIN SAFE AND SOUND IN HIS JOHOR SEAT". Arlina Arshad reported Hishamuddin as saying that the last thing he wanted to do was to offend the Chinese (referring to his keris-wielding antics during the Umno assemblies in 2005 and 20060. "My constituency (Sembrong in Johor) has many Chinese voters (36% Chinese, 54% Malays and 10% Indians"), I will be a stupid politician to do that."
    The report noted that when Hishamuddin and his wife arrived in Kluang on Wednesday, "Chinese supporters swarmed around him at one event...the residents clamoured to shake his hand or take photos with him."
    The report also noted that "villagers from the Orang Asli community in Kampung Pengkalan Tanah was pleased that Datuk Seri Hishamuddin had kept his promise to get them clean running water from their taps." (Hello - this is Malaysia in 2008. Do our Orang Asli have to wait this long to have a basic amenity as clean running water from their taps? What has Syarikat Air Johor been doing? Or the Johor Menteri Besar? Or are the Orang Asli "out of sight, out of mind" except at elections time?)

    (comments in parentheses mine).

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous3:17 pm

    Another little gem of commentary ("Winds of change blow, but softly") by Ooi Kee Beng (a fellow at the National University of Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian Studies)on the Malaysian elections (Spore Straits Times, Feb 29).

    Ooi notes the emergence of a younger breed of politicians who are confident "that they cannot be ignored." He specifically mentions Khairy Jamaluddin, Mukhriz Mahathir, Lim Si Pin and Ling Hee Liong within the ruling BN and Nurul Izzah, and Jagdeep and Gobind (the sons of Karpal Singh) from the opposition.

    He also notes that "the BN cannot be threatened when Malay support for the coalition is not falling dramatically."

    And his concluding paragraph is thought-provoking and provocative:

    "With Indian disgruntlement merging with Chinese fear of Islamisation, the unique quality of the 2008 election may derive from the discontentment of the non-Malays. BUT THE REALITY IS THAT IT IS ONLY WHEN NON-MALAY DISCONTENTMENT COINCIDES WITH MALAY DISCONTENMENT, AND BOTH ARE DIRECTED AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT, THAT WE WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO SAY: YES, CHANGE HAS INDEED COME TO MALAYSIA."

    (emphases mine).

    Ooi has pointed out the stark reality of the Malaysian political dilemma. It is the bedrock of race-based politics in the country. And the opposition is indulging in flights of fantasy if they ignore this basic reality.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous3:27 pm

    Celaka punya BN. Perompak negara.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous4:41 pm

    Report Card?

    Ask Datuk Shahrir Samad when he was the BBC Chair, what happened when BN bincang pasal Report Card?

    I certainly would like to see a copy!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous5:29 pm

    Pak Lah,

    If you want to make promises or explaination, please make it looks more realistic. The fact is no leader in this world is clean.

    Actually it's better for you to be an elegant silent than opening up your big mouth.

    All your explaination actually making us Malaysian more like a fool just like you and it's very irritating.

    I prefer Mahathir as during his time, whatever that came out from his mouth especially pertaining to the rakyat matter, it's still acceptable to most Malaysian if not to all. Except anwar case.

    So if you want to create a lie, try to make it a good one, stupid.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anonymous10:00 pm

    people heap all sorts of accusations on pak lah. i think that is not really fair because he did not inherit a parliament filled with saints. in fact, what he inherited were a stable of ....well you know what.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anonymous5:04 pm

    BUT THE REALITY IS THAT IT IS ONLY WHEN NON-MALAY DISCONTENTMENT COINCIDES WITH MALAY DISCONTENMENT, AND BOTH ARE DIRECTED AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT, THAT WE WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO SAY: YES, CHANGE HAS INDEED COME TO MALAYSIA."

    I agree totally with the statement above.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anonymous5:48 pm

    Silly political advertisements 1:

    (By the MCA, as published in The Star, March 2)

    "More than RM550 million secured for 450 New Villages in 8 years."

    "While the opposition put on a show, MCA worked."

    "This is just one of the many areas MCA have worked hard on and will continue to do so for the future of all Malaysians in business, education, socio-cultural areas and women's welfare."

    Let's see now - RM550 million for 450 New Villages works out to RM1.22 million PER New Village.

    Over an 8-years period (2000-2008 (Feb)), that works out to RM152,500 PER year PER New Village

    Now, how much can you get for RM152,500 per year when spent on a typical New Village?

    By contrast, how much did it cost the country to send it's first Angkasawan for a one-shot space ride? RM70 million?

    I am surprised that the MCA has the chutzpah, scrotal gumption or testicular fortitude to come up with such an ad!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Anonymous6:40 pm

    "What's Anwar dreaming of?" - a 2-page report by Tan May Ping of an interview with Anwar Ibrahim. Published in the Singapore New Paper on Sunday, March 2.

    And in a teaser headline on the front page of the paper: "Is Anwar eyeing a shadow PM role? Exclusive interview..."

    Quote: "Mr Anwar said he has received moral support from all over the world, including former Philippines president Joseph Estrada and former US vice-president Al Gore.

    "'They have called to find out how things are going.'"

    (Estrada? The guy who was tossed out as Philippines president because of alleged corruption? And Al Gore??? After the ruckus he caused when he last made an appearance in Malaysia? Not exactly high-calibre support, is it? I suppose that most heads of governments will be wary of upsetting the Msian govt by voicing support for Anwar. But he can still try to get moral support from the likes of Clinton and Obama)

    Prof Khoo Kay Peng of UM, as quoted in the report:

    "He (Anwar) is more willing to talk about Malaysia as a whole now. When in university, his focus was on nationalism and Islam. He has expanded his horizons because he needs a lot of support from all around."

    Dr Ahmad Nidzamuddin Sulaiman of UKM, as quoted in the report: "Their (PAS-DAP-PKR) fight is very well-coordinated this time, and there are mostly one-to-one fights. Anwar is the bridge between between PAS and DAP. Without them, they cannot talk..."

    And Anwar, as quoted in the report: "In my speeches, I compare the country's performance with Singapore and Vietnam so that people can relate easier...Instead of dealing with the basic problems facing our communities, the Prime Minister has a penchant for massive corridors, north, south, east and west..."

    (Yesss, but...Anwar doesn't seem to have a clue how the govt can eliminate the RM35-80 billion in subsidies annually, how to focus subsidies on the most needy and deserving in Malaysia, how to redress the budget deficit and how to attract more foreign direct investment - as a former Finance Minister, I expect more concrete ideas from him. Or is that asking too much?).

    ReplyDelete
  26. LIM KHENG YAIK, (THE UMNO DOG) AND GERAKAN
    TRAITORS TO THE CHINESE

    Politicians are all the same, and they are all consistently unreliable , because if he is reliable then he will not survive as a politician, therefore is Kheng Yaik any better than Dato Seri Anwar; I can say for certain that one is no better than the other. What I am saying is that we do not need to know anything about any particular candidate. We really do not need to know whether he is a good man or otherwise; and this perspective runs counter to what everybody is saying about what this has done or have not done. It is absolutely pretentious to claim that we are able to correctly assess the character of Dato Seri or Kheng Yaik and determine who is the better man. I SUPPORT DATO SERI ANWAR and I live in Australia therefore what do I know about Dato Sari. I do not a thing about him, and that is the thing about politics, IT IS ALL ABOUT PERCEPTION. In fact from my perspective, I will vote for Dato Seri Anwar even if I believe that Kheng Yaik and that Dato Seri is a chameleon and Kheng Yaik is correct. As I had earlier said I do not need to know anything about Dato Seri because I deal with the democratic process, I vote him because he says that under his government, RACE POLITICS WILL BE ABOLISHED and I want that so I vote for him and I do not need to know how good or bad he is. PROVE TO US WHEN YOU ARE IN GOVERNMENT OR WE VOTE YOU OUT. We therefore need to start to vote for the opposition to start the democratic process. We need to throw or better destroy UMNO now.

    Dear my Chinese & Indian brothers, do not listen to Kheng Yaik because he is an UMNO dog and he will sell his mother or his wife to gain FAVOUR from the PM and UMNO. These are the UMNO dogs who hang out their tongues for CSRAPS THROWN FROM UMNO TABLE to the dining room floor. I spit on these MCA, MIC and Gerakhan dogs.

    Kheng Yaik says that it was Dato Seri Anwar who put in place all those provisions that retarded the progress of Chinese education and that it was he & Najib who repealed it; let us examine Kheng Yaik’s statement to assess the credibility of his claim. I will first call Kheng Yaik A LIAR and then I will go on to examine what I mean by that epithet. I call Kheng Yaik a liar because the minister merely implements GOVERNMENT POLICY. In fact all decisions made by the Cabinet are made binding all ministers as one as ministerial cabinet collective decision. What Kheng Yaik is talking about is government policy and such policy are by the very nature taken by the PARTY IN GOVERNMENT and the minister’s function is to implement the details that will make the policy work on the ground; only UMNO as a party can change such policy and it is disingenuous to say that Najib revoked it. Having said that it can only be true that neither Najib nor Dato Seri could by himself revoke what Kheng Yaik claims credit for himself and Najib.

    In this respect the powers of the minister controls only the details of implementation; but of course he has powers to grant exception in individual cases but not to change policy except with the agreement of cabinet. The Malaysian model of government mirrors that of the British. I anticipate that readers will want to ask me if ministers are so without powers then how is it that they can make money so corruptly; the answer to that question is in the power of the minister to approve contracts or such like. These functions belong to the Minister’s portfolio and they relate to “implementation. Therefore it is not true what Kheng Yaik says that it was najib who removed the offending laws that disadvantaged the Chinese.

    The democratic process is all about checks and balances; therefore how can there be checks and balances if our Chinese & Indian brothers keep voting UMNO. If UMNO knows that we are all their SLAVES then where is there a need for UMNO to do what is just in line with our minority interests ? We have like a bunch of fools fear reprisals and we keep voting UMNO so do we not deserve to be spat on by UMNO as they are doing even as of now? Our duty to our selves is to vote UMNO out because it has always been UMNO that has formed government. Do we not owe it to our children and their children to pressure UMNO to act in our interests or we will put them out of business. WE NEED TO START AT THIS ELECTION TO START THE PROCESS GOING. If Keadilan, PAS DAP do not act in our interest when they are in power then in the next election we can vote them out. We need to start and now is as good a time as any. VOTE KEADILAN, DAP, PAS FOR CHANGE !

    ReplyDelete
  27. THE TIGERS THAT LOST THEIR ROAR
    The decline of crony capitalism ( Feb./29th)
    This is a precise of the book “Asian Godfathers “ by Joe Studwell and I will keep very closely to the text by liberal quotes from the book. I thought of not commenting on this work because the arguments are so close to my own 3 part posts that I had published last week under the title of the “Year Of Change” only my article was written all about Malaysia and this one is all about South East Asia(Asean). You can read the www.economist.com article dated 29th/Feb., from which I had quoted most of it.

    Malaysians must fully appreciate that in a globalised world our RACIST UMNO POLICY RUNS DIRECTLY OPPOSITE TO WHAT IS REQUIRED TO MEET THE CHALLANGES OF THE 21ST CENRUTY. I intruduce our readers to the book under the title of Asian Godfathers.

    The book examines the factors that underpinned the sharp decline of most of the S-E Asian economies, excepting Singapore.“In a recent book, “Asian Godfathers”, Joe Studwell, a journalist, examines this failure in stark terms. The region's business scene, he says, remains dominated by old-fashioned, mediocre, sprawling conglomerates, run at the whims of ageing patriarchal owners. These firms' core competence, such as it is, is exploiting their cosy connections with governing elites. Their profits come from rent-seeking: being handed generous state contracts and concessions, or using their sway with officialdom to keep potential competitors out. If they need technology, they buy it from abroad. As a result, Mr Studwell says, the region has “no indigenous, large-scale companies producing world-class products and services.”
    “Corruption is another great burden on business. That is true elsewhere in Asia too, but several South-East Asian countries—notably Indonesia—are afflicted by corrupt and unreliable judicial systems, making it difficult to enforce contracts.” I had written many, many posts (83 posts on my own blog. http://yap.chongyee.blogspot.com) setting out in detail how Judge Zainon binti Mohd. Ali had corruptly and incompetantly struck out my wife’s petition. The judge forced the complicity of my wife’s counsel Mr David Hoh of M/s Lim & Hoh of Jln. Bukit Bintang, KL to render my wife’s petition, COMMATOSE. We do not know how the alleged “appeal” has gone and we do not know whether any appeal has been lodged or not because Mr David Hoh has held himself and his partner father Mr Frank Hoh INCOMMUNICADO. We just got no response from our many letters that I had published on my blogg.
    Judge Zainon binti Mohd. Ali had committed the criminal offence of Malfeasance by approving to respondent Stephen Lim Cheng Ban both (1)an order for security for costs (2) later after the security for costs had been paid Judge Zainon binti Mohd. Ali approved to Stephen Lim the second Order for striking out petition. Just the fact that these two orders were made afte my wife had paid the RM.60,000 is proff that Judge Zainon binti Mohd. Ali has committed the said crime. To cap it all Judge Zainon binti Mohd. Ali FROM SHEER IGNORANCE OF THE LAW PROBABLY DID NOT THAT SHE HAD COMMITTED A CRIMINAL OFFENCE; but tough for Judge Zainon binti Mohd. Ali has no excuse because knowledge of the criminal offence is not required to be proved, bloody IGNORANCE WILL DO.
    I had also argued that Malaysia had wasted billions of ringgit to educate the children of Bumiputra, but lacking in vision Malaysian leaders hogged all the scholarships for their own children, while leaving those who do not have UMNO connection out of the loop. Therefore the Malaysians find that their choice of candidates are circmscribed by a clutchful of about 5,000 to 6,000 families. This limited choice also disadvantaged the selection of candidates to the easier academic courses in the arts and consequantly Malaysia does not have a sufficiently large pool of talents in the much needed fields of engineering and science. Here is what the author has to say “ Malaysia has also spent heavily on universities and the promotion of technology but its efforts have been stymied by the country's messy racial politics (including preferential university places for the Malay majority) and by the handing of state contracts and concessions to undeserving government cronies. Both the lack of fair competition between businesses and the failure to widen access to education may have a common underlying cause: that South-East Asian countries remain in the grip of narrow elites.”
    The result is that there are very few Malay talents of any kind that will provide leadership that will grow their industries or provide a talent base for the growth of science and scientific innovation that is sweeping the font runner economies of India & China. In Malaysia UMNO leaders live in a bubble dream world of make belief. The incident that really cracked me up is the claim that Malaysia had produced an ASTRONAUGHT; this Malay dentist hitched a ride on the back of a Russian SPACE SHOT at the costs of at least riggit 100 million, because that was how much another SPACE TOURIST, an Iranian computer entrepreneur paid for her ride on another Russian SPACE SHOT. It is ridiculously silly to claim that this dentist is any kind of an ASTRONAUGHT because an astronaught is a SPACE TECHNITIAN and he “drives” the space vehicle and to say that this dentist is a space astronaught is really STRETCHING REALITY TO BREAKING POINT. This phenomena is stated in these terms : “This dilettantism was once summed up damningly by Michael Porter, of Harvard Business School: “These companies don't have strategies, they do deals.” Gerry Ambrose in the Kuala Lumpur office of Aberdeen Asset Management laments that it is indeed hard to find Malaysian companies with “a business plan that will last ten years”. Because even the best-run firms often have boards and shareholder lists dominated by the founding family and their friends, it is hard to believe that their thinking will change.
    Hitherto, Malaysian companies have had a remarkable record of picking duds when they buy foreign firms. Laura Ashley, a fashion designer; Costain, a builder; Lec, a fridgemaker; and Agusta, a motorbike-maker: all were bought by Malaysian firms with less than glorious outcomes. This was also described by me in my article as fact.
    However, he says that there are hopeful signs there are “…..hopeful sign for South-East Asia's corporate future is that it seems to be getting easier for those outside the closed circle of the politically well-connected to set up new businesses and challenge the incumbents. Mr Fernandes's AirAsia is the prime example. Started only six years ago, the airline now criss-crosses the region with a huge network of low-cost flights. Mr Fernandes, a former music-industry man, is still frantically adding routes: he expects to be allowed to start domestic flights in the Philippines and Vietnam soon. He has started a separate, low-cost, long-haul airline, AirAsiaX, which is flying from Kuala Lumpur to Gold Coast airport in Australia and Hangzhou near Shanghai. Flights to Melbourne, Amritsar and eventually London are on the way. “In other once-coddled industries, too, governments are starting to dismantle monopolies. YTL's Mr Yeoh says there will soon be “no hiding place” for firms trying to live from old-fashioned rent-seeking.
    The rise of China and India, with their huge home markets, may mean that it is too late for South-East Asia to become big in manufacturing. “The region already dominates some types of agricultural produce: Thailand and Vietnam are the world's two largest rice exporters, for example. Since the region has so much coastline and so many rivers, there is much scope for expanding fish-farming and seafood production. Thai Union, a giant tuna-packer, is already in BCG's top 100. Vietnam, the region's rising star, has several big seafood firms which, if they can resist the regionwide scourge of diversification, may one day reach similar heights.
    But they do seem to be linked to the perseverance of narrow elites and to the countries' sluggishness in overcoming old rivalries and building an integrated regional market. It is already too late for Malaysia to catch up to the regions major players, but at least Malaysia may want to remain a little bit ahead of the wost of them all at the bottom rank of S-E Asia. Malaysia has lagged behind because Malaysia’s economic model is built on the FOUNDATIONS OF EXCLUSION. A System that excludes 27 million to enrich an elite of some 10,000 families has no other way to go but DOWN.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Anonymous2:35 pm

    2 interesting pieces on the Msian elections in the Spore papers, Mar 3:

    (1) A report ("Voters focus on economy & race") by Carolyn Hong, the Spore Straits Times Malaysia Bureau Chief. The link is:

    http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Story/STIStory_212650.html

    (2) A commentary ("Theva's desperate plea") by our own Karim Raslan in the TODAY paper (also appeared in the Straits Times under the heading "Indians in Malaysia: A community in anguish"). The link is:

    http://www.todayonline.com/articles/240741.asp

    Of the two, Carolyn Hong's report is the more sobering.

    In commenting on the negative sentiment amongst the Malaysian Chinese and Indian communities, she wrote:

    "...Increasingly, several BN leaders and analysts have come round to a consensus that it may now be too late to win back these minority votes. The timing is also too delicate, especially for Umno leaders to be seen bending backwards on this score.

    "There is some resentment among Malays over what they see as minority communities challenging Malay rights, especially the street protest led by Hindraf on Nov 25.

    "For instance, in Jerlun where Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir is standing, voters are not asking why the Indians are angry. They are asking why the government allowed Hindraf to lead a march on the streets.

    "Jerlun is in the Malay heartland of northern Kedah.

    "Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and his deputy, Datuk Seri Najib, have focused their campaigning largely in the northern and eastern Malay belt.

    "Kelantan, Terengganu and Kedah are the main focus....."

    Will, as Hong wrote, "...a racially polarised outcome..reinforce the perception that Malaysia's race relations were frayed"?

    But Karim's commentary tugs at the heartstrings of what it means to be Malaysian. About his friend "Theva", a Malaysian Indian Tamil teacher, Karim wrote:

    "I feel as if I'm just a passenger on a bus, that I'll be asked to get off at any moment...The Indian turnout in the polls is always small. We simply cannot make a large enough impact...I would be happy voting for Barisan, and am content with what I have. But I fear that the Indian identity will eventually disappear in the way things are going. Why does the government seem bent on denying us our rights?"

    And Karim concluded thus:

    "A man like Theva represents the emerging middle class in Malaysia's Indian community. They can be ignored, for their numbers don't warrant political attention.

    "But they are Malaysians and there is more at stake than just votes: The fabric of Malaysia's multiracial society depends on how the system responds to Theva's desperate plea."

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  29. bro

    i can make tonne of promises... will you vote me

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