Malaysia’s half-century of independence overshadowed by race tensions

This year should be a time for celebration in Malaysia as 2007 marks the country’s 50th anniversary of independence from colonial ruler Britain and the birth of the multicultural nation.

But instead many are lamenting an alarming slide in race relations which the milestone has highlighted, along with the rising influence of Islam which has alienated ethnic Chinese and Indian citizens.

“There is a general sense on the ground that things are getting out of hand,” said civil rights activist and lawyer Malik Imtiaz Sarwar. “It’s causing a lot of fear and consternation and tensions are rising.”

Malik, who has received death threats for his efforts to protect religious freedom in the Muslim-majority nation, takes issue with the government’s tourism-brochure portrayal of a peaceful multi-ethnic Malaysia.

Much of the unhappiness centres on positive discrimination policies introduced in 1971 to raise the status of Muslim Malays who make up 60 percent of the population against 26 percent ethnic Chinese and eight percent ethnic Indians.

Despite the leg-up, “bumiputras” or “sons of the soil” — as Malays and members of indigenous groups are often called here — continue to lag far behind the Chinese, triggering calls for an overhaul of the system in which the big winners have been Malay entrepreneurs who cash in on an array of subsidies.

Political commentators say Malaysia must stop obsessing over how to divide the nation’s wealth, and instead focus on how to boost the economy so that all will benefit.

Apart from the economic squabbles, an ugly new theme has emerged recently with clashes over the rights of non-Muslims which some say are being sidelined as Islamic authorities exercise their influence.

The cases of mountaineering hero M. Moorthy who was born a Hindu but buried as a Muslim despite his family’s protests, and Lina Joy, who is trying to have her conversion from Islam to Christianity recognised, have been landmark cases.

The government, which is determined to prevent a repeat of bloody 1960s race riots, has introduced education reforms and a national service programme aimed at encouraging the races to mingle.

But meanwhile some of the most racially charged rhetoric has been coming from the ruling party itself.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has said that the ethnic divide is a “disease” that must be tackled openly, and appealed for the anniversary celebrations to emphasise national unity, but many are nonplussed.

“I think it’s embarrassing that after 50 years, we have a weaker judicial system, a weaker parliamentary system, the corruption index is lower — you name it,” said Imtiaz.

Source: AFP News (France24)

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Najib says ‘We have the right recipe for success’

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Najib outlines 3 main factors for skilled and ‘holistic’ Malaysian

The country can have a rich pool of educated and highly-qualified workforce by 2020 with the development of a skilled and innovative “holistic Malaysian,” Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said. 

Najib outlined three main factors for both the Government and the private sector should do in their strategies to make the agenda a success. 

“Greater emphasis should be given on developing entrepreneurial skills at all levels and training. 

“This will improve the employable rate among local graduates in the future. 

“Efforts are also being made to expand the lifelong learning programme to provide greater opportunities to individuals to improve and add value to themselves through the continuous acquisition of knowledge and skills. 

“At the tertiary level, we want to encourage greater collaboration between industries and institutions of higher learning by giving research grants. 

“Investing in R & D for universities is a popular method of improving the quality of industrial product in many developed universities,” he said in his speech at the unveiling of plans for the construction of Taylor’s University College new Lakeside Campus here on Monday. 

Source: The Star

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Rafidah:Malaysia has competitive edge to win foreign direct investment

Malaysia has managed to build a competitive edge over other countries to win foreign direct investment (FDI), said International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz. 

“We have to welcome the investors and not treat them like statistics. We also have to assure them that we will not nationalise their investments,” she said in a speech after receiving the fDi Personality of the Year 2006 (Asia) award yesterday. 

She said while there was intense competition from China, India, Latin America and other Asean countries, Malaysia had managed to build a competitive edge against those countries.

Source: The Star

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Foreign Direct Investment rises in South-East Asia but dips in Malaysia

Weaknesses in the toll concession arrangements

First, the toll concession arrangement was largely a means of taking the responsibility for contractor selection and contract supervision out of the public domain to be passed on to private businesses.

Second, the financial risks and obligations to pay for all costs never left the government’s shoulders. The government effectively guaranteed and indemnified concession owners from all costs and losses and even ensured the profits.

The argument often made that “new highways would not have been built without privatisation since the government has no money” is simply perverse. It is the government which provides all the guarantees and indemnities required by financial institutions.

Third, even though the government provided the financial guarantees mentioned, it did not supervise and approve the actual costs incurred by each toll concession.

This means that a concession owner had a free hand with contractor selection and costing, even though the whole project came with government financial backing and undertaking to take over lock, stock and barrel and with assured profits in the event of failure.

Fourth, the toll rate escalation terms cum built-in subsidy arrangements ensured both rapid rate escalations and ballooning of subsidy payments. Instead of providing for indexation of future toll rates, the agreements provided for compounding.

To illustrate, with indexing rate increases over 20 years would be, say, 100 (base year), 110 (year 5), 125 (year 10), 150 (year 15) and 175 (year 20).

In a compounding system, rate increases in the early years would serve to accelerate increases in the later years. A clear example of this could be seen in the quadrupling of the Sungei Besi-Kajang toll charges in less than 20 years.

Apart from the above weaknesses, there are several other less technical shortcomings endemic to the tolled road system.

First, is the random nature of its bite on different resident groups and settlements. A Klang or Shah Alam resident pays twice each time he goes to town. The Subang Jaya or Damansara Heights resident need not. It does not mean that the latter resident does not enjoy new, expensive roads.

Second, lower-income motorists are more likely to incur toll expenses than the well-heeled. A humble Klang Valley employee with a working wife is more likely to have his infant looked after by the grandmother in Malacca or Kuala Pilah. This entails regular tolled journeys.

Lower-income motorists are more likely to reside in housing estates located in peripheral areas, such as Puchong and Salak Tinggi. This entails tolled journeys on a daily basis for both husband and wife.

The higher income, on the other hand, can afford homes closer to town centres, thereby avoiding toll expenses. The net effect is highly regressive.

Third, the actual collection of toll charges is left completely to the concession owners themselves. Since toll payments are largely made in cash, there is always the possibility that payments received are not properly recorded and accounted for.

Such doubt is further enhanced when numerous “informal booths” are set up to cater for festive periods, all collecting only cash.

Source: The Sun

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Mahathir says cabinet is not very knowledgeable and sometimes stupid

“What you have is a cabinet which is not very knowledgeable all the time because it is not made up of experts but politicians (and) some politicians like myself can sometimes be stupid.”

“The cabinet merely gave approvals in principle and never really studied the implications in some parts of the agreements.”

Source: The Sun

Najib: BN government will defend Chinese schools

The Chinese community should not fear that the Government will one day do away with Chinese schools, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said. 

He said this was because the Government had amended the Education Act 1961 to include Chinese schools as part of the national education system. 

“This policy will continue to be defended by the Barisan Nasional Government,” he said in his speech to thunderous applause from parents and teachers of SJK (C) Cheroh here, where he was the guest-of-honour at the Parent-Teacher Association gathering yesterday. 

“The Barisan will always adopt a policy which is fair and just to all races in this country. Our unique stand in this issue must be understood by the people and translated into a vote for the Barisan,” he said. 

Najib said he admired the Chinese for putting education ahead of all things in their lives.  

“This noble trait can be used as a basis for national integration among all races,” he added. 

Source: The Star

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Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) asks why is water concession secret

Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) said the government should explain why the government’s water concession agreement with Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas), and the auditor-general’s report on its non-revenue water (NRW) reduction are classified under the Official Secrets Act (OSA).

In a press statement today, its president Tan Sri Dr Ramon V. Navaratnam said TI-M was concerned with Energy, Water and Communication Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik’s statement yesterday that the two documents were classified under the OSA and could not be made public except with the cabinet’s approval.

He said the classification of such information as “official secret” went against the principles of transparency, accountability and good governance.

“These concessions pertain to issues that are of vital public interests with direct impact on public funds and taxpayers’ and consumers’ interests,” he said.

“TI-M calls upon the government to explain why such information is considered official secret and the justifications that support such a decision.”

Ramon said in the interests of transparency, good governance and accountability, the government should urgently review the matter and consider releasing the documents for public scrutiny and evaluation.

“The government must be committed to promote transparency and accountability in our public procurement system and this includes privatisation and concessionaire agreements. The commitment must be practised across the board, without exception,” he added.

Source: The Sun

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Datuk Seri Dr Lim, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu say Cabinet will decide whether to disclose details of water concession, toll concession

Majlis Perbandaran Klang issues eviction notice under Emergency Ordinance 1969 to evict Jalan Papan residents

The housing dilemma facing the residents of Jalan Papan in Klang is an example of how redevelopment should not be handled.

Firstly, an injustice was done to the 130 families from two New Villages when their temporary occupation licences (TOLs) were cancelled in 1993. This is a violation of their basic rights to own property, to have access to housing and to not be arbitrarily deprived of their properties, which are principles that are variously stated in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which we are a signatory.

To compound the injustice, eviction notices were issued to the residents in 2005 by the Klang Municipal Council (MPK), incredulously, under the Emergency Ordinance (EO) 1969, a piece of legislation that was promulgated to contain the Communist Insurgency. The use of that law for a purpose far removed from its intended goal of dealing with a security threat comes across as a perversion of justice. Surely the Land Acquisition Act 1960 would have been the correct law to apply or just the normal court order. It is no wonder that the residents feel that there is an element of intimidation in the eviction attempt.

Source: The Sun

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New Economic Policy (NEP) should eradicate poverty regardless of race

Malaysia’s socio-economic restructuring programme, the New Economic Policy (NEP), should give priority to poverty eradication regardless of race.

This point was raised in the second of a series of weekly lectures organised by the Bar Council’s National Young Lawyers Committee and Youth 4 Change last Thursday (Jan 18).

“While significant progress can be associated with the NEP, it was flawed right from formulation as it restricted the economy’s capacity to build efficient and effective mechanisms to address productivity-driven distribution,” he said.

One of the NEP’s flaws was the focus on one ethnic group rather than empowering the poor across the board, he said.

“Targeting an ethnic group does not guarantee that the resources go to the door,” he said, pointing out that inequality, already high among Malaysians, has been worsening.

“Inter-ethnic income disparity from 1970 to 2002 has narrowed, but intra-ethnic income disparity has widened,” he said.

Rajah said the ethnic-based approach was restricting the country’s capacity to create a truly Malaysian society, effective and accountable institutions to support growth and development, and firms from moving up the technology ladder to compete at the frontier.

When the NEP expired in 1990, many of its approaches were carried on in the National Development Policy which was in place until 2000, when it was replaced by the National Vision Policy from 2000 to 2010.

PAS research centre director Dr Dzulkifli Ahmad also holds the view that the NEP should target the poor rather than ethnic groups.

He said the economic landscape has changed after 50 years of independence and Malaysia has evolved from an agriculture-oriented to an industrial economy, but the aim of bringing social and economic justice to society irrespective of race has yet to be achieved.

He said the affirmative policies should place more emphasis on achieving income parity instead of corporate equity ownership by the different communities, and should promote healthy competition and initiatives.

Source: The Sun

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Malaysia’s flawed democracy

..Barisan Nasional (BN) won 91% of seats in Parliament with only 64% of votes.

Meanwhile, PAS only secured 2.7% of seats despite having 15% of voter support, DAP 5.5% of seats with its 10% voter support, and Parti Keadilan Rakyat 0.5% of seats with 9% voter support.

Source: The Sun