Malaysia's AirAsia X to suspend Iran service

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) - The long-haul arm of budget carrier AirAsia said on Monday it would suspend operations to Iran, citing currency "volatility" as the carrier mounts new profitable destinations across the Asia-Pacific.

Malaysia-based AirAsia X said the current four times weekly flights between Kuala Lumpur and Teheran will be suspended with the last flight on Oct 14.

AirAsia X said the suspension of its services to Teheran Imam Khomeini Airport was due to challenging economic and business conditions including the "volatility of the Iranian currency".

Economist: Najib gagal adakan p'raya ketika popular

Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak mirip bekas perdana menteri Britain Gordon Brown yang gagal mengadakan pilihan raya ketika beliau secara relatifnya masih popular, kata majalah antarabangsa mingguan Economist.

Ini berlaku ketika usaha Najib menonjolkan dirinya sebagai pembawa perubahan progresif dengan imej pendahulu Brown - Tony Blair; hatta mengupah penasihat Blair.

"Bertahun-tahun Brown gelisah untuk menolak lawannya ke tepi. Apabila berjaya, Brown mensia-siakannya dengan gagal memanggil pilihan raya ketika beliau secara relatifnya beliau masih popular," kata akhbar yang berpangkalan di London itu.

Malaysian authorities raid 3 more gold trading firms

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian authorities on Friday raided three more gold trading firms suspected of taking deposits illegally, money laundering and tax evasion.

The raids on the offices of Pageantry Gold, Caesar Gold and Worldwide Far East were conducted as Bank Negara announced formal investigations into gold trading firm Genneva's Malaysia operations, The Star reported.

Singapore's Commercial Affairs Department raided last Monday Genneva's offices at Orchard Towers following complaints that the company had stopped paying its customers and agents, and failed to fulfil its buyback guarantee. Genneva's offices in Malaysia were raided on the same day.

Malaya bleeding us dry

By Zainal Ajamain

Malaysian Post l These words “we demand autonomy or Sabah Negeri, Merdeka” must be on the lips and hearts of all true leaders in Sabah.

On both sides of Sabah’s political divide, our leaders have long been incapacitated by their fear of their perceived Malaya masters.

They will not speak out against the daily injustices towards fellow Sabahans. And even when they do speak up it is just passive shouting – a token resistance, just to show they are saying something.

It is like a dog that is supposed to guard a house against a thief – while it barks it retreats to the back, easily allowing the thief into the house and all its belongings.

But now, for many of us, an awakening has come. We have been stirred from our slumber and now find ourselves thrust into a new political era .
We now must accept the challenge that we each have to safeguard our Sabah.

Not enough money to make babies

PETALING JAYA: There are more people living in Malaysia today than ever before. At least 28 million people reside within its shores. Selangor and Kuala Lumpur combined take the lion’s share with a total population of 7,136,762.

But these staggering numbers – made public through the Population and Census Report 2010- also highlight a disturbing trend.

We may have more Malaysians today, but we are making less babies. And the economy may have something to do with it.

International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) professor and urban planner Alias Abdullah said that the country’s growth rate was on a steady decline since the 1990s.

Dr M and Murdoch: Twins separated at birth?

Malaysia Post - by Mariam Mokhtar : Dr Mahathir Mohamad. You either love him or hate him. In his latest blog, he taunted the western media for their self-righteousness and gloated over the telephone hacking scandal caused by the News of the World, one of Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers, which rocked the UK.

In his latest posting on Aug 2 entitled ‘The telephone hacking scandal II’, Mahathir described how western journalists freely condemned our failure to respect the rule of law, our injustices, our poor human rights record and our corruption.

He then said that the western media was equally contemptible and that they (the western press) would just as easily cheat, abuse the trust placed on them and would ignore human rights. They were guilty of the dirty things they allege we had committed.

The unfortunate ones of Ladang Bukit Jalil

PETALING JAYA: There is something whimsical about Ladang Bukit Jalil. The houses still have chimneys, and the roads that lead to these homes look like something out of an Enid Blyton book. The houses are simple, but spacious and sitting inside one of them will make you oblivious to the scorching heat. It seems an idyllic, placid place; nothing about it says that the 41 families residing there are in danger of losing their homes.

But today, however, they have chosen fun over fret, forgetting the bulldozers, local authorities and the police, just to mention a few of their daily concerns. Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) is invoking the Emergency Ordinance (1969) to evict the 41 families who still reside there, which their lawyer claims is illegal as they are licensed former estate workers.

Bank Negara’s increase in interest rate ill-timed

KUALA LUMPUR: Central bank Bank Negara’s move to raise the Overnight Policy Rate is ill-timed as people are continuously facing a rise in living cost.

“Since last year, the government through Bank Negara has increased the OPR four times and each time there has been a 25 basis-point increase,” PAS MP Dzulkefly Ahmad said in a statement today.

The OPR is the benchmark interest rate commercial banks use to calculate their base lending rates for loans.

Have gas, will prosper

MALAYSIAN POST : KUALA LUMPUR - Petroliam Nasional Bhd's (Petronas) recent announcement on its proposed new US$20 billion (RM60 billion) integrated refining and petrochemicals hub to be developed in Southern Johor is creating huge ripples of excitement: among would-be investors, partners, local industry players and service providers, bankers and not least the people of Pengerang, said to be the recommended site for the massive project.

Greater in scale and scope of any existing Petronas' downstream complexes, one can imagine the amount of foreign direct investment it would attract, the next-level technologies it would require, the spin-offs it would create, the employment it would provide and the multiplier effects it would have on the economy.

Indeed, the project augurs well for the government's Economic Transformation Plan and is in line with the aspiration to turn Malaysia into a leading petroleum industry hub in the region.

New Malaysian metropolis taking shape near Singapore

This photo taken on May 13, 2010 shows visitors looking around a luxury home at Iskandar Malaysia district in the southern state of Johor Bahru. A new metropolis three times the size of neighbouring Singapore is taking shape in the foothills of southern Malaysia. -- PHOTO: AFP

JOHOR BAHRU - A NEW metropolis three times the size of neighbouring Singapore is taking shape in the foothills of southern Malaysia, where officials and investors have equally huge ambitions for the city.

Do you still want nuclear plants in Malaysia, Najib?

Written by  Mariam Mokhtar, Malaysian Post

Photos of Japan’s nuclear power plants glowing orange, with fires raging and white plumes of smoke rising above the remains of each complex, should produce some soul-searching in Prime minister Najib Abdul Razak. But probably not!

Last May, Najib’s cabinet approved the construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant; two nuclear power stations are to be ready by 2022. Malaysia is now reliant on fossil fuels for its electricity supply; gas accounts for 64 percent of the total energy generation; the rest comes from coal.

Despite protests from environmental activists who accuse the government of not thoroughly considering other forms of energy generation such as solar, hydroelectric and wind power, Najib is set on two 1,000 megawatt nuclear power plants, to counter an “imbalance” in its energy supplies.

Mahathir: Non-Malays must admit that M'sia belongs to the Malays

Written by  Wong Choon Mei

The gloves have come off. Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad is the man Umno is now pinning its hopes on to win the next general election, while current premier Najib Razak is lurking close behind with his 1Malaysia slogan to moderate the temperature in case Mahathir's rhetoric gets overheated and racial tensions get out of hand before their party is ready to benefit from an all-out ethnic dogfight.

Buoyed by the Malay support shown to Umno at the Tenang by-election, Mahathir is striking while the iron is hot.

Pakatan proposes RM1 billion fund for Dayaks

Pakatan Rakyat has proposed the setting up of a RM1 billion Dayak endowment fund if it wins the coming Sarawak state election, DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng said in Kuching today.

"The fund is to redress the gross neglect, improve the economic welfare and uplift the educational standards of the Dayak community," he said to reporters after the opening of the 15th Sarawak DAP annual convention.

Lim, who is also the chief minister of Penang, accused the BN government in Sarawak of marginalising and neglecting the Dayak community while their leaders and ministers enrich themselves.

Budget sparks poll buzz

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (centre) holding up the bag containing the 2011 budget document as he leaves the Treasury Office for Parliament in Putrajaya yesterday. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIAN Prime Minister Najib Razak yesterday presented a 2011 budget that sought to spur rapid growth through massive infrastructure spending while offering some sweeteners, heightening speculation about possible early polls.

Bakun Dam has no genuine economic purpose

News publications have been chewing over the figures as Bakun waits to be flooded and have come to some inevitable, long-predicted conclusions.

Firstly, the Dam has no genuine economic purpose. Sarawak already has more electricity than its impoverished population can afford to use and the plans to send it to Malaysia by undersea cable was a fantasy by technology-illiterate ministers.

Splashed with acid over $13

HULU TERENGGANU - A JOBLESS man who failed to secure a RM30 (S$12.80) loan from his ex-wife struck back in cruel fashion - by splashing acid on her, his eight-year-old daughter and two others.

In the 2am attack at Kampung Sekayu here, Cek Ku Zaimah Che Ku Awang, 28, and Nurul Dahyatul Fazlinda Khalib suffered serious facial and body injuries. The others injured were Cek Ku Zaimah's mother Minah Omar, 56, and brother Mohd Irfan Firdaus, 28.

Asian mums hooked on Net

SINGAPORE - THE Internet is a lifeline for Asian mothers, with a survey finding two-thirds use it to shop for themselves and their children and an even bigger number going online to research purchases and talk about them.

The study, by Microsoft Advertising and Starcom MediaVest Group, showed that mothers ultimately hold the purse-strings in the region, influencing purchasing decisions ranging from household staples to big-ticket items such as cars. And their resource of choice to make these purchases is the Internet, with 58 per cent saying they used online networks and online customer reviews before actually buying.

"Mums have become the one-stop shop for family purchases, and brands need to be aware of this influence," Kenneth Andrew, managing director of Microsoft Advertising Greater Asia Pacific, told reporters. "Mothers are becoming increasingly digitally savvy, and conversely, much more cynical of advertising."

The survey was based on interviews with about 3,000 mothers in eight markets -- China, India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and South Korea. The respondents ranged from pregnant women to mothers with teenage children.

On average, the survey found that Asian mothers spend 17 hours a week online, and the sites they visited ranged from those offering media, such as music and video download sites, to social networks, to sites specifically catered to children.

But largely, the online activities of mothers depended on the age of their children, with expectant women relying on sites that allow them to interact with other mothers, while those with older children rely on the web for email and searches. -- REUTERS

PAKATAN SETS OUT ACID TESTS FOR BARISAN NASIONAL

Pakatan Rakyat has scrutinised the 193-page report on New Economic Model for Malaysia (Part 1) prepared by National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC); released in conjunction with the launching of New Economic Model (NEM) by Prime Minister on 30th March 2010.


For a start, YAB Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak must clarify to the public the status of NEM prepared by NEAC for his Minister of Economic Planning Unit (EPU), Tan Sri Nor Mohd Yakcop has openly declared that NEM is a compilation of suggestions by NEAC forwarded to the government for consideration; and not government policy. This puts into question whether the Government is serious about the NEM, or it's just another public relations exercise!


Nevertheless, Pakatan Rakyat feels vindicated that our diagnosis on the problems of the economy highlighted over the past 15 years is finally conceded by the Government. The NEM admitted that our “economic engine is slowing”, “private investors have taken a back seat”, “productivity is growing... far too slowly”, “we are not developing talent and what we do have is leaving”, “the gap between rich and poor is widening” and we are “stuck in a middle income trap”.

While the NEAC has finally recognised the severe problems the Malaysian economy faces, we are not convinced that the Cabinet is serious about reforming the economy. The objections in the Cabinet to the many recommendations of the NEAC have resulted in persistent delays in the announcement of the full NEM from last year, to February this year, to March, then June and now the 3rd quarter of 2010.


The speech by YAB Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak which said that “we can no longer tolerate practices that support the behavior of rent-seeking and patronage” rings hollow when we see how the same BN administration failed to achieve Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's call to rid the country of our “addiction to rent-seeking”.


We are concerned that the NEM will suffer the same fate as both the “Knowledge-based Economy Masterplan” and the “National Integrity Plan” which was launched by Tun Dr Mahathir in 2002, and Tun Abdullah Badawi in 2004 respectively. Both plans were launched with much fanfare, and both have been equally forgotten within a few years, despite their similarities to the proposed NEM.


In fact, Barisan Nasional never owned publicly to its failure to meet the economic growth and poverty eradication targets set for 8MP and 9MP. Malaysia fails to meet the growth target set in 8MP in any of the planning year. Moreover, since the overall GDP growth target of 6.0% on average was only achieved (or exceeded) in 2007, Malaysia is bound to fail to meet that target throughout the 2006 – 2010 period. Worse still, the overall poverty rate (based on the unrealistic 2007 methodology to define poverty) actually was reduced to just 3.6% in 2007 as opposed to the 8MP target to bring absolute poverty to 0.5% by 2005. It remains unclear whether Malaysia can lower the overall poverty rate further to meet the 9MP target of 2.8% by 2010.

The moral standing of Barisan Nasional in championing economic reforms contained in NEM is diluted further by its various contradictory decisions even as NEM was being unveiled.


The mystery surrounding the disappearance of RM52 billion worth of Bumiputra shares remains unexplained. Barisan Nasional does not even blink to provide an answer of how such a massive example of rent seeking and misappropriation of well-intended policies by the connected few went undetected for so long even as it preaches against rent seeking culture in NEM.


At the same time, the cost for National Cancer Institute (believed to be directly awarded to an unknown entity connected to the ruling elite) ballooned from RM340 million (when announced in 2007) to RM700 million in 2009. The escalation in cost is understandable – the unknown entity by the name of Kiara Teratai Sdn Bhd is expected to appoint IJM as a subcontractor for the project and in the process makes instant profit to the tune of hundreds million of dollars. If this is not rent seeking then Malaysia must be the haven of the commission takers of the world.


What is however, blatantly missing from the NEM is the fact that Barisan Nasional will remove various subsidies enjoyed by the rakyat today in the name of restructuring the economy, yet it continues to protect the “rights” of big private crony corporations to make exorbitant profits at the expense of the public.


Pakatan Rakyat has been consistent that the subsidy removal must be approached holistically – the restructuring of lopsided agreements and review of “corporate subsidies” to IPPs, water and toll concessionaires must precede the gradual removal of subsidies for the common people in order to lower their daily cost of living and enhance their quality of life. Such is the contradiction of NEM – Barisan Nasional advocates to the poor to embrace economic liberalisation and competition but is silent on removing protection and monopoly of the rich.


In fact, it is most ironical that the Prime Minister seeks to jointly develop 3,000 acres of land with the EPF, which does not have an expertise in property development, while at the same time preaching that the “the era of government knows best is over”, and the “private sector to drive growth”. Worse is the news that the overall project will be awarded directly to MRCB without any open, transparent and competitive tenders that makes a mockery of the NEM's goals of “creating a competitive domestic economy” and YAB Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak’s call to not “tolerate rent-seeking and patronage”.


Hence the New Economic Model while having rightly identified and admitted to the weaknesses in the Malaysian economy, it has failed in its prescription by leaving out four critical elements which forms the acid test to ensuring a fully restructured economy. They include:


Restruturing of four key utilities namely electricity, water, toll expressways and broadband services to lessen the financial burden on the public due to skewed monopolistic commercial arrangements that favour big crony corporations, especially in light of TNB’s latest admission that the reserve margin in the country has reached a whopping 66% (which profits only the independent power producers and impoverish the rakyat);


Implementation of the necessary steps to bring the country closer to the introduction of minimum wage to reduce dependence on foreign labour, restructure and “push” our industries into higher value-added activities and to ensure a social safety net for the nation's poorest.


Introduction of more support for young people and young families including review of areas that impose significant financial burden on take-home pay of young families and restructuring of income tax brackets; and


Reforms of key institutions that are central in restoring confidence, justice, fairness, competition and security to the economy such as the judiciary, the AG’s Chambers, MACC and the police force.


Lastly, Pakatan Rakyat reiterates that meaningful and holistic reforms must come first before any other fancy economic plans are brought into the picture as these reforms will strengthen the foundation of our economy. Only with strong foundation can we eliminate corruption and liberate the economy to adjust to whatever economic model we intend to put into effect.


Therefore, if Barisan Nasional is serious about re-making our economy and bringing it to a new era instead of just engaging in a well-staged public relations exercise, it must respond to the four acid tests outlined by Pakatan Rakyat which will ensure that the interest of the rakyat will be protected.



DATO’ SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM
Opposition Leader and

Ketua Umum,

Parti Keadilan Rakyat
DATO’ SERI HAJI ABDUL HADI AWANG
President,

Parti Islam Se-Malaysia
LIM KIT SIANG
Parliamentary Leader,

Democratic Action Party

Wooing M'sian docs overseas

KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIAN doctors who have worked overseas for more than 10 years will soon no longer be required to serve in government hospitals when they return to Malaysia.

The announcement by Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai yesterday is the latest in a series of government moves aimed at encouraging Malaysian talent to return.

But the new ruling applies only to those whose overseas studies were not funded by the government, Datuk Seri Liow said.

Asked if the ruling was relaxed because of the reluctance of Malaysian doctors to return home, Mr Liow said that the number of locally trained doctors had gone up, leading to government hospitals being better staffed. But there's still a shortage of doctors in private hospitals.

Many opportunities await these Malaysian doctors returning from overseas.

'A lot of private hospitals are interested in employing them, and the government is willing to accept them if they want to serve us,' Mr Liow said.

China has 130 billionaires

Mr Wang, the founder of rechargeable battery and electric car maker BYD, leapt 102 places to top the rich list after his fortune increased more than five-fold to US$5.1 billion (S$7.13 billion). -- PHOTO: REUTERS

BEIJING - CAR battery tycoon Wang Chuanfu topped a new list of China's 1,000 richest people released on Tuesday, which has 130 billionaires in an emphatic declaration of the Asian giant's economic arrival.

Most of the super-wealthy on the Hurun Rich List, unlike Mr Wang, made their fortunes in the property and stock markets - the focus of Beijing's massive government stimulus efforts over the past year.

'China's wealth is growing at breakneck speed,' Rupert Hoogewerf, the founder of the Shanghai-based Hurun Report which publishes the annual list, told a press conference. 'You can double the real number of billionaires in China to 260. There are still a large number of billionaires off the radar screens, managing to build up substantial wealth away from the public spotlight from property, the stock market and investments.'

Mr Wang, the founder of rechargeable battery and electric car maker BYD, leapt 102 places to top the rich list after his fortune increased more than five-fold to US$5.1 billion (S$7.13 billion), said Mr Hoogewerf.

The rich list gained 180 new members - despite the entry criteria for the latest list rising by 50 per cent to US$150 million.

Seven people moved into the top 10, in the biggest shake-up since the report started publishing the rich list in 1999. -- AFP