BN Stupidity Showing!!!!!!

I could not believe my eyes when I read the headlines  in"the Star of December 12.

"Doc's on hold."

I just can't believe that our Government is so stupid as to impose a, "moratorium of medical programmes as an immediate measure to prevent the glut of housemen from becoming worse" as reported in the Star of 12 December.

"A moratorium of medical programmes" and one wonders what this moratorium of medical programmes covers besides the introduction of more places of study to encourage Malaysians from studying medicine.

In the first place every student going abroad to study medicine is registered with the  Ministry of Education, and this means the government is always updated on the statistics of the number of students going abroad to study in medical schools, and when these students would be available in Malaysia.

With this data available year in year out how come we are faced with this "problem?"

If this data is only for the education ministries purposes, then what is it for, to monitor the number of doctors by race? As is the priority of this government for almost anything.

This glut is not a problem but rather a blessing where the ratio of doctors to population stands at approximately 1400, and this is worse then Cuba of course which is amongst the highest  in the world, with a  ratio of 170 persons to 1 doctor, South Korea with a ratio of one doctor to 300 people, Mongolia with a ratio of 380 people to 1 doctor, Turkmenistan 240, Ukraine 240, Lithuania 250, China with the world's largest population at 950, North Korea 650, and here we with about 1400 people to a doctor looking at what we call a 'Glut of housemen" as a problem.

In all developed countries the ratio is one in 450 at the very least, and here we are about three hundred percent below the mark, with about 9 years to go to catch up  just to "save face" as 2020 is fast a approaching and now the government goes to put the brakes and calls for a "moratorium?"

This so called "glut" is the result of cronyism, nepotism, and corruption, nothing more, nothing less, take a look at the building of the Shah Alam Hospital, the deal with our submarines, the Port Klang Fiasco, the billions down the drain could have been used for better purposes and what better purposes, then hospitals and other essential institutions  adequately manned.

How many "deserving doctors" have we sent overseas to train as specialist? I am not saying we have not sent enough, I do not think we are in the position to send too many either with our doctor to patient ratio being so high, 1:1400, there just aren't enough doctors locally for us to send to many overseas. The money spent to send a man to space could have been better utilized here.

Our high and mighty are not aware of this problem, when they land in government hospitals, the doctors are put at their beck and call, and other patients do not matter, they come first, and even then there are others who feel it is better to be treated in Singapore, they do not have the trust of our own medical institutions.

Put on your thinking caps, there  are countries with good doctors, specialists I mean who will be ever willing to come over and help, bring them here on special contracts, to tide over the present "problem"  or rather blessing, sot that our housemen can have easy access to good medical training on the job.

How about cutting our defense budget by a few billion to send our housemen abroad to do their horsemanship, there are countries that may have them, this will help us tide over the problem rather then go for this outlandish though of a  "moratorium," when the country is in dire need for doctors.

This situation is a failure on the part of this government, the problem has manifested itself elsewhere too, you have huge housing projects then you do not have enough water to supply those areas with because the various bodies in the government do not share information. There is the case of Tenaga, and a Water works digging roads after they are newly built becuase of lack of coordination, now it is here. it is compulsory for stdents going abroad to register themselves with the Ministry of Eduction,a nd the Ministry of health and the government as a whole being caught with its pants down, it's a shame, it's disgustful when we have so many young men and women who have responded to one of the greatest needs of the nation now being looked upon as a problem.

It is acts like this that make them shy away from the profession, go to the hospitals, see the hours they spend there as houseman, some do a complete 24 hour shift, I have been to the hospital, I stayed there looking after my brother and I have seen it so do not tell me this is not true and now these young people have become a problem.

The problem is the ministry, go take a look at the trainee nurses that come there for training from institutions the ministry has sanctioned, and see their quality, they are a problem, they are no help to the resident staff nurses, in fact they are a bigger problem there. the Minsitry of health has failed, Malaysians die needlessly due to lack of adequate health care, patients are falling like flies because there are'nt enough doctors, go to the hospitals and see the situation, doctors are overworked, nurses are overworked, and yet we are being told there is a glut, and the government is imposing a five year mortorium, what nonsense.

This so called moratorium will turn the clock back, it will result in less doctors in a nation that has records a very high  population growth in the world and it will only worsen the doctor to population ratio in this country.

This is the Barisan National's way of running our country.

The "Malaysian Indian" political fiasco

  I am republishing this article because nothing has changed, save for the possibility that Uthay is being used b the BN to be the spoiler at the next General Elections.
The HINDRAF a former NGO is not a member of the Pakatan. 
The Pakatan is made up of 3 multi racial parties, and does not subscribe to racial parties.


"When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn............." Bob Dylan

...at the rate Indian political parties are being formed it is only matter of time before there are more Indian political parties then there are Indians in this country.

this one claims to be an "Indian multi racial party" now try and beat that




The Indian community in Malaysia are being led by a some selfish Tamils who are only in it to pursue their own selfish interests, and in the process betray the entire Indian community.

In this process many Indians who are not Tamils are lumped  into this group and branded similarly, and this explains why the prominent  Sikhs, Malayalees and  Telegus prefer to stay away.

The problems of the Indian community lies within the community itself, every Samy, Subramaniam, and Uthay can claim to represent the community, and they come out with  numbers of "supporters" , and each of them espouses to champion the "Indian Cause." The funny thing is many  of Samy's supporters are Subramaniam's  supporters and also Uthay's supporters too,  and to understand this better you have to take a close look at what happened in  Kampung Buah Pala.

What is this Indian cause anyway?

To many it is to give the Indians the same kind of rights that were accorded to the Malays in the NEP, I say Malay and not Bumiputera because if one takes a close look at the native population of this country, they the natives (asli) seem to be in worse shape then the Malaysian Indians, it is not only the Indians who are marginalised, the Senoi, the Jakun, the Negrito, the Dayak, the Iban, the Kadazan and all the other real natives of this country are far more marginalised then the Indians so what is this marginalisation these champions of the Indian cause are talking about?

I am not saying that there is no marginalisation amongst the Indians, there is, but are they the only ones marginalised?

In professional circles amongst the Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers and in other professions, the Indians compared to, in ratio of population may seem even better off then the other major races, so why is it there is a great number that is marginalised?

The answer lies on the selfish few, who claim to represent Indian interest and in this pursuit actually enrich themselves just like the UMNO top brass does with the Malays.

Real Malaysian Indian professionals prefer to remain miles away from the grasp of these politicians in order to keep their image and name free from blemish. How many times do you see the leadership of MIC berate and insult its own professional members when they disagree with them? So the attitude of Indian professionals is: "why should I?"

It is a fallacy to believe that "marginalisation" amongst Malaysians exist only amongst the Indians, it exists among the Malays first, who are told a lot of things, of the what is being done for them, then told to be wary of the other races, and have all the allocations made out to them given to the selected UMNO big wigs and those whose favour they require. 

Similarly, the Chinese and the Indians, and this will explain how top Ministers and Menteris Besar and Chief Minsiters become Millionaires after getting into politics, it also explains why the respective BN party heads cling on to power, and the ways they go to undermine and kick out any member who poses a challenge to them and their authority.

Now to get back to the Indian community, at the rate Indian political parties are being formed it is only matter of time before there are more Indian political parties then there are Indians in this country.

Do the Indians who form a Political party at every turn, really think that these political party will represent their interest?

If they think so then they are idiots of the highest order, they'll first have to come to grips with representation, and in so doing, the question that goes abegging is; Which parliamentary constituency in Malaysia commands an Indian majority electorate, even if there were ten they would still be a minority, but the sad truth is there isn't even one, not even a state constituency so where are these political parties headed for, and who do they really represent?

The truth to the last question is that they represent themselves (those who form these parties) and in their respective parties their share of the loot, in this racial fiasco to support UMNO's pipe dream, their earnings  commensurate with their position in the hierarchy of the party.

Indians in this country need the leadership that will take them to the level where they use their singular vote as Malaysians rather then Indians, and that the community gives that vote to non racial parties and that they vote in toto to swing their vote towards such parties to ensure a fair share of the pie.

This voting pattern could swing from right to left and to the right again depending on what is gained or not gained, small issues must be kept small the big picture has to be taken into account, they need to regain their pride, they need to be recognised as one of he biggest partners in Nation Building and not merely as indented labour, not much better then slaves, the future of all Malaysians is to be less, Malay, Chinese and Indian and be more Malaysian and this what the Malaysians of all communities, especially Indians have to realise. They have to rid themselves of this mental marginalisation, they have to stop looking for immediate favours, they have to look at the long term and elect leaders who do this for them.

The formation of more political parties will only make the community worse, many of its brains like the brains of the other communities have left the country for greener pastures, the less fortunate are left to fend for themselves and most often at their expense and to their own peril they support people who thrive on this support - this so called "Indian Political Parties," whose only purpose is to serve their own purpose."


HINDRAF began as what looked like a very credible organisation it was not political, its aims were noble, the Government in trying to incarcerate its leaders only gave it more credibility, but its own leaders by their present day actions are killing the very seeds of progress they planted.

Now HINDRAF is planning to form its own political party, being a Malaysian of Indian origin, I defended the name HINDRAF when some people in government said it was a movement only for Hindus, because of the name Hindu Rights Action Front, my argument was based on what I used to share long before HINDRAF came into existence. It is wrong to refer to me as Indian, that is an anglicised word, the Europeans went to America attempting to take the North West passage, and found the natives of America there and called them Indians, now after Vasco D'Gama came via the Cape of Good hope to India, they referred to the people of present day India (Hindustan) as Indians and the western "Indian" became a " Red Indian."

I do not ride a horse without saddle that skill is with the natives of North America for whom I have the greatest respect, so stop calling me an Indian, and the native of North America will tell you the same thing, I am a Hindu, check the Chinese vocabulary, they have all along referred to the Indians as Indu, the people below the Indus Valley, so calling the body HINDRAF does not denote religious connotations.

Sadly some members of Indian organisations in a recent attack on another Indian called Anthony Bosco, started mocking him and his name and questioning his status as an Indian. The late Anthony Bosco has had nothing but the interest of marginalised Malaysians in mind,an ex unionist,  he has been noted for it, he has always fought their cause, he could have turned politician a long time ago, but he was no opportunist. I doubt any HINDRAF memebrs and probably some he would have helped know who this Anthony Bosco is, and he is certianly no racialist.

Racialism will get us nowhere, it will be the death knell of any society, it always has been, this is a shrinking globe where every man is a brother, and where equality should prevail regardless of race, creed or culture, its a melting pot of all this, marginalisation is not confined to only one community, those who marginalise are not confined to one community alone, the majority in Malaysia who marginalise others are Malays, and similarly the most marginalised are actually the poor Malays because they happen to make the biggest number in the population, nothing else, so when we look at lifting the marginalised we should look at every Malaysian, we should make lifting the marginalised our priority, that way we work towards a better Malaysia, it has to start with us, yes us meaning me first.

More than fifty years of independence what have we got to show for it, the Petronas Twin Towers? The F1 racing track? the third longest bridge in the world? Beautiful hotels (quite often unkept)? or  buildings and Industrialised Malaysia, where many of its workers live below the poverty line, where squatters abound, where illiterate children of illiterate Malaysian parents, are roaming aimlessly, where drug addiction is rife, where foreign workers earn more then the Malaysian worker, where the independence and integrity of the Judiciary, the Police Force, the Attorney Generals Chambers and even the Government is in question, whre the integrity of the office of the Prime Minsiter has been compromised by his reluctance to take on RPK, and the reluctance of the investigating authority to investigate him on the Altantuya case,  where racial polarization is order of the day,   and all this has come about because of uninterrupted rule of UMNO and its lackeys - the UMNO prescription.

More then fifty years after independence  our Malaysian worker who was amongst he most productive in the world is today lagging far behind, he is paid far less then his Singapore counterpart, in fact less then half the wages of a Singaporean, and why because he suddenly became inefficient and lazy? No, friend he became less productive because the system has become more corrupt, and this corruption has led to the workers downfall so whilst the powerful corrupt become richer the nation is bled and the Malaysian worker marginalised.


The same worker who was once responsible for making this country the worlds largest exporter of Rubber, Palm Oil, Tin, Semiconductors and domestic Air conditioners, are today without jobs, their plants and estates shut down, and why? The only valid reason is corruption, it bleeds productivity, its not because China has cheap labour, Sweden has labour that costs maybe five times that of Malaysian labour, why are we still importing Swedish furniture made of cheaper wood and paying premium prices for it, its all because of productivity. We import a lot from Sweden, oh yes, and France, the US, Korea, Japan and they all have labour costs much higher then ours. Now examine what corruption has done.

On March 8,2008 the people of Malaysia had taken the first step towards change, that change cannot come overnight, the BN is not about to give the opposition an easy ride, they have disposed of one state government, they have neutralized or are in the process of neutralizing HINDRAF, and we stand and watch.

HINDRAF and the Indians have to take stock, stop wallowing in self pity, you are not the only ones marginalized, if we follow a policy of taking care of the have nots then all those who live below the poverty line be they Indian, Chinese or Malay, be they Kadazaan, or Dusun, Negrito, or Orang Laut, every marginalised Malaysian will be given the first bite of the pie and that is what HINDRAF and every other Malaysian should strife for. United we'll stand, we will be the bedrock of the society, but if we fall for these petty racial games we shall be doomed to remain as the 'Asia Week" once put it, "The orphaned Children of South East Asia." And I honestly fear that HINDRAF is playing up to this gallery, the gallery of UMNO.

Every Malaysian should rise above racial politics, discard the racial parties, rid this nation of corruption at every level, and embrace a Malaysia in which its people (we) are less Indian, Chinese, Malay, Kadazaan, Dayak, and more Malaysian.

In parting I think all Indians in this country should note that with all the so called "Indian Political Parties" in this country they could hardly even line up five Indians in Parliament, but since the last general elections, the number of Indians in Parliament and State Assemblies have more then tripled, they are seen in numbers. The question is; How many of these are from the Barisan? The majority came from the opposition, and not because they were Indians, but because they were selected on merit.

At the next General elections they may be more or, on the other hand there may be less far less, the seats have to go on merit, not to Indian or Chinese or Malays, not to natives but to Malaysians, the candidates must be worthy of the seat, people who can represent, who can see the issues, who can offer solutions, who are analytical, who are able to see the big picture,and who are worthy leaders of the people, they have to be truly Malaysian, not Indian, Chinese or Malay.


We have to be less Malay, Chinese or Indian, and more Malaysian, because we are the immigrant races it includes the Malay. The natives the Asli have a right to be native and yet Malaysian.

Get rid of the notion that the Indians are the most marginalised, far from it, they are not, the natives are more marginalised then them, so the next time we make noise we make noise about the Malaysians being marginalised and all this because of what I call  "the UMNO prescription."

Toffee

God forbid!! Hope the UMNO people do not ape this

 Malaysians have this natural musical gift, be they of Javanese, Rio, Mengngkebau, Sulaweisi or any other origin they have this ear for music so to speak.

Now we have some Muslims in England who are saying that their beliefs forbid them from learning an instrument.

"passages from the Ahadith collection state: "There will be people from my Ummah [nation] who will seek to make lawful fornication, the wearing of silk [for men], wine drinking and the use of musical instruments."  

Aren't some of the clothing of our Royalty made from silk? There are huge collections of Batik shirts being worn by Muslim men in this country, we know the position on wine though, but is all of this going to come to a standstill? God forbid.

The following article is taken from BBC.   

14:11 GMT, Thursday, 1 July 2010 15:11 UK

Muslim parents 'banning children from music lessons'
Hundreds of Muslim parents are withdrawing children from music lessons because their beliefs forbid them from learning an instrument.
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said music lessons were potentially unacceptable to about 10% of Muslims.
This could equate to hundreds of Muslim children being withdrawn from the lessons, the MCB said.
It said passages from a collection of the Prophet Mohammed's teachings banned instruments.
The MCB said passages from the Ahadith collection state: "There will be people from my Ummah [nation] who will seek to make lawful fornication, the wearing of silk [for men], wine drinking and the use of musical instruments."
The Herbert Morrison Primary School in Lambeth, south London, said it had seen up to 22 children removed from music lessons.
Eileen Ross, its head teacher, told BBC London: "Some of the parents don't want children to play musical instruments and they don't have music in their homes.
"There's been about 18 or 22 children withdrawn from certain sessions, out of music class, but at the moment I just have one child who is withdrawn continually from the music curriculum."

For goodwill I allow that parent to withdraw their child from all music but I am in fact denying the child the opportunity that the other children in the class have Eileen Ross, Headteacher

She added: "We're a very small school, we don't have a classroom to put these withdrawn children in and we don't have an extra adult to supervise them.
"For goodwill, I allow that parent to withdraw their child from all music, but I am in fact denying the child the opportunity that the other children in the class have."
Dr Diana Harris, from the Open University, has previously researched the subject and has claimed that Ofsted inspectors have sometimes turned "a blind eye" to the issue.
She said: "I feel sad because although I wouldn't want anyone to do anything against their religion, I feel there's a lot in music which gives us great joy in life and I feel sorry for children who want to be part of that and can't be and particularly when it's for reasons they don't even understand.
"Until Ofsted faces up to this, we're not going to break down the issue and sort out what really needs to happen."
An Ofsted spokesman said: "Music is an important part of any child or young person's education.
"Ofsted inspectors investigate if they become aware that any pupil's access to the curriculum is being restricted. Inspectors will always follow up relevant concerns and take action where appropriate."
Matthew Wilkinson, a spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said: "At a guesstimate I say it will involve about 10% of the Muslim community."
Asked if this involved hundreds of pupils, he said: "Yes, you might be looking at that sort of figure."
"The MCB wants Muslim children to take benefit of the full range of educational possibilities, including music."

Who runs this Government - UMNO or BN?

The sports betting is off, but before you do anything, read the report from Malaysiakini, (below) and  discover  the irrevocable proof that the Parliamentarians in the other parties of the BN are nothing but rubber stamping idiots, who are fed by UMNO  to sell us and our rights lock stock and barrel to UMNO,
Najib and gang.

Malaysiakini report

'The ruling BN led by Najib had earlier approved the legalisation of sports betting with the licence awarded to Ascot Sports owned by tycoon Vincent Tan of conglomerate Berjaya Corporation.

However, Najib announced at a press conference held immediately after the Umno supreme council meeting at 11pm that the approval of the gambling licence has been withdrawn.

He said that the decision by the powerful supreme council - the party's highest decision-making body - was unanimous.

"Since the approval was decided in principle and a survey was carried out, although there were groups who supported as well those who did not support or opposed the decision, it was clear to the government that a majority of the people did not agree that the licence be issued to Ascot Sports.

"As such, I hereby announce that the government has decided that the licence will not be issued," said Najib, who is also Umno president and chaired tonight's supreme council meeting.'

Now examine the report.

The truth is the  BN took the decision to approve the license, and UMNO took the decision to withdraw the license. The BN forms the government, the BN government is supposed to be a consultative body, and now UMNO  has unilaterally decided, even without consulting  the remaining BN members, unilaterally to call it off.

Of course the decision to call it off is good, it is healthy but take a look at the approval in the first place and ask yourselves if it would have been approved if UMNO rejected it.

Why did these so called champions of Islam, who used the word Allah as a political tool, suddenly find it suitable to approve gambling.

And when rights of others are trodden on they shout it is sensitive and,  now all of a sudden you have the likes of Nazri and Mahathir, and even Khairy all joining forces to say they have to protect the rights of non Muslims. I was surprised Ibrahim Ali did not join the bandwagon, or wait a minute did he?

Gambling is not a right, at least in Malaysia, the right to allow us to gamble is provided by a decree by the government after  legislating gambling companies, like PMP, Sports Toto, Magnum four D, the Casinos and Genting and the thousands of legalized gambling machines almost all held in monopoly by one single man owning the various clubs. 

Permission to gamble is done by a decree of the government,  Muslims can't gamble that has been decreed, it is law,persons under the age of 18 can't gamble, it is law, so there is no freedom to gamble.

Whilst it is decreed that Muslim can't gamble, you'll find top UMNO brass and other "Muslims" beholden to UMNO  owning shares, and even sitting on the board of these gambling companies. 

Do we have to wonder why Muslims can't gamble but are allowed to own shares and sit on the board of such companies. The risks are the same, if they lose heavily they can go bust or are the results fixed so whichever side you are on gambling or sitting on the board or owning the shares you partake in gambling. So why is one allowed to and the other not.

Now to get back to the approval, it is a clear indication that the other members of the Barisan are nothing but running dogs who are fed with such corrupt monies, so that they'll sell their souls to UMNo and in the process sell their communities to UMNO. 

I thank God for this case, first we have got the government to stop issuing the sports gambling licence, it is victory to the people, well done.

Secondly it has exposed the truth we always knew, the Government does not run this country, UMNO does and they think they own it. They have hijacked our democracy and in the process robbed the Natives, Malays, Chinese, Indians and others of their rights and their wealth, by deceit and corruption.

If they had even the slightest amount of self respect these other MPs should quit and  the government will fall, but alas these are no self respecting people, they are scum, how can a party that does not have the majority rule, it only happens in Malaysia, because you have the BN made up such people.

Ascot, its over!!! Ascot will now continue to be the great horse race in England, the one we saw at, "My Fair Lady."

Housing Loans, Bumi vs Non Bumi - Discrimination of the highest order

Here is a lesson for all to see, how UMNO discriminates and makes the other Malaysians pay through their nose to fund their corruption.

 Sime Darby's recent loss under the stewardship of Musa Hitam was funded by us, demand that all those responsible be prosecuted.

Some banks are fond of   funding  UMNO's illegitimate activities, remember the Harun Idris case?

Is this one Malaysia? 

We already have to fork out 7% extra, and on top of that we have to subsidize the loan. 

You still think PKR is not good enough? 

Well at least UMNO knows it is a threat to them, and that is why UMNO is pumping millions to corrupt and win over PKR assemblymen and Parliamentarians. 

Don't get fooled by the BN, they are masters of the game, they are the worlds greatest  cheats.

Your Neighbour Is In Trouble.

Now all of a sudden this government requires all traders, that means even your neighborhood sundry shop owner to apply for a license to stock and sell Sugar, cooking oil, rice and flour.

Sundry shop owners have already come under a barrage of competition that is threatening to put them out of business. The big hyper markets, convenience stores and supermarkets use their clout - their bulk purchase power, to get items at a cheaper prices the n what these small traders are able to, and flout it at prices the sundry shop owners can ill afford to.

To make matters worse some unscrupulous suppliers take the unsold goods from supermarket shelves - the older stock that is with lesser shelf life and sell them to the sundry shop owner, who is now being made to look like a third rate dealer.

The livelihood of this small trader keeps coming under threat constantly and no thanks to this this government and the new ruling it is going to add more difficulties to this small trader.

Never mind the fact that even the big traders need to have this license as well, they have the machinery in place to do it, but to ask the small trader and the neighborhood grocer to comply seems to be a move with some sinister motives, they type the BN is famous for.

Is this license another way of enriching the UMNOPUTERA? Is this to be an Ali Baba business? Is this a way round of keeping the NEP going )special privileges)? Is this a way to restrict others from trading? Will future licenses also go out only on a racial basis so that only UMNOPUTERAS will benefit from owning the license? Or, is this an another indirect way of collecting a subsidy reimbursement, pulling wool over the eyes of the rakyat? And, will the issuance for hundreds of this license in future be used at election rallies?

Imagine a trader in the neighborhood who can't sell rice, sugar, cooking oil and wheat flour. who will want to go to him, the shop with the lisence will now have the distinct advantage and the one without will have to close. Is this government going to provide this advantage to their friends and kill off the rest, it sure looks like that, and from past records of this government we must assume that is what they intend to do.

This is done to enrich their party folk, the next time we'll notice the shops with the BN logo on the door, a tag line that says, "another BN shop to screw you up." Credit given only to UMNO, MIC and MCA members. it may sound weird but if you do not see the logic in this you have yet to understand how the BN works.

Leaving all that aside there is a great danger that this move by this government, to make sure that only those with a license will be able to trade in these essential items is a sinister move to restrict people from doing business, unless they assure the public that anyone who applies for such a license will get one as is guaranteed under the spirit of free enterprise.

The more you look at it, with APs, special license, petrol station operators, even gambling outlet operators, indicates that this government controls businesses to operate on a racial basis. We all know that Petronas stations are only for Malays operators, even the other service stations of the kind from the other oil companies seem to go only to the Malays, and the majority if not all are UMNOPUTERAS.

Through the controlled media they even once threatened to put the newspaper vendor out of job once, they seem to be now targeting the normal retail trader and the motive as I see it can't be anything but sinister, to serve the goals and aspirations of the UMNOPUTERA< and the UMNOPUTERA alone.

RM74 Bil Subsidy Cut?

By Syed Akbar Ali http://syedsoutsidethebox.blogspot.com/


It is good if the Government can cut subsidies. Subsidies create anomalies in the economy and also prevent the economy from achieving it full potential.

The Government will be having a 'lab session' at Hall 4 and 5 of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center from 9am to 2pm this Thursday to get public feedback on removing the subsidies.

My simple suggestion to remove subsidies is this : remove subsidies that go towards the least productive activities first. And remove subsidies that go towards the most productive subsidies last.

So fuel subsidies should be cut last (but they must be cut). Any kind of subsidies for any kind of 'religious' activities should be cut first (I am sure there must be some inside the RM74 Billion).

Having said that, if we cut subsidies, then surely the cost of things are going to go up. There will be inflation. It will be a one time thing. Never mind. Let it go up. Jangan takut. After a while, everything will settle down to a new balance again. Smith called it the 'invisible hand'. Today we can hardly recall the 70 sen per litre jump in petrol prices. Does anyone recall that? But that was just one item - fuel prices.

But when subsidies are cut all across the Board it is going to cost substantial inflation. The fixed income earners (Civil Servants and Salary earners and pensioners) will be hard hit. There are ways to do it.

If we remove subsidies, which will cause the cost of living to go up, then we must also remove other barriers and impediments so that the cost of living can go down.

The Government can save up to RM74 Billion if subsidies are cut. What is the Government going to do with all that money? I will talk about that shortly.

First of all, can we cut Income Taxes. Can we take personal Income Tax down to say 15%? Or 18%? The highest personal Income Tax bracket now is 25%. Similarly can we take down Corporate Tax down to say 20%? Its at 28% now. This is a fair request. If we cut or remove subsidies, then please cut Income and Corporate taxes.

Secondly can we please get rid of the Approved Permit highway robbery. The Approved Permits are a total fraud on the population. Can someone go to the Lab on Thursday and ask this simple question : How are the Approved Permits dished out?

Ok, lets say the APs are reserved for bumiputras only (1Malaysia notwithstanding). But which bumiputeras get the APs? How are the APs "diagihkan"? We have APs for cars, machinery, equipment, medicines, alcohol (?) and even cigars. No AP, tak boleh import. The APs add to the cost of the product WITH NO ADDED VALUE by the AP holder.

So if we are going to remove the subsidies, please remove the APs. In Malaysia, a brand new graduate Civil Servant is paid RM2,500 a month. (I think this is overpayment. If you ask me, RM1800 should be enough. I am basing this on the quality of the Civil Service now. After 24 months of service (all KPIs achieved) then you can raise their salary to RM2,500.)

But even at RM2500 a month, even a Perodua Myvi requires monthly installments of RM650 a month. That is 25% of the monthly salary. Petrol may cost another RM400 a month. That is RM1050 on fuel alone per month. This is because cars are so expensive in Malaysia. Why? Because we are protecting our local car industry. That is where the APs come in.

So remove the car APs, let Proton, Perodua and Naza find their own way in the world and reduce the prices of cars. So that a graduate Civil Servant who earns RM2500 need ony pay 10% - 15% of his monthly salary for car payments. This can be done overnite. I believe in the rich countries, this is the right portion of monthly wages that go towards paying for a car.

Then if you remove the RM74 billion subsidies, the public can withstand the pressure. Otherwise, potong subsidy but car prices are still the highest in the world because a few Dato AP holders benefit from the APs. Yang jadi miskin orang Melayu juga. Orang lain pun miskin. Yang jadi kaya berapa kerat Dato saja. What kind of economic management is that?

Also remove APs for the import of medicines, foods, machineries and everything else.

The Government wants to implement the GST. Among the reasons is because "other countries also have it". What a lame excuse. OK using the same logic, other countries also dont have APs. So why do we have APs? Remove the APs. Forget about the GST. It is going to screw up the system. McKinsey and Boston Consulting dont know what they are saying.

Then get rid of the monopolies. Many Malaysians (my dear Malaysians - I am referring to you lah, please wake up) don't know that over the years many monopolies and oligopolies have crept into the economy. Some of them can be justified at the time they were created. But after a certain grace period, they should not be protected anymore. The market should be opened for more competition.

One example is the LAW that was passed which prevents people from owning satellite dishes larger than 36 inches. This LAW was passed to protect Astro which was spending billions of Ringgit at that time to establish a satellite TV network in Malaysia. OK they have had their grace period, its about 15 years now. Its time to repeal that LAW and allow people to own satellite dishes larger than 36 inches and watch their own satellite stations.

The argument about too much pornography coming in through satellite TV has now become a 'bodoh macam pintu' (dumb as a door knob) statement. Porno is on the Net not from satellite TV.

Also Net TV is going to kill off satellite TV. Its cheaper and easier. You can broadband it everywhere. Thats why we need the High Speed Broadband network up in a hurry all over the country and let there be as many providers as the market can bear. It will eventually lower the cost of watching HDTV broadcast, the already here next generation in TV. Eventually satellite TV will have to be cheaper too.

So can we please remove all these monopolies that we have created. There is a monopoly granted to a company to check and certify all weighing machines used by businesses in this country. This is a huge monopoly. On what basis was this monopoly granted to this private company? They can bully the consumer easily. There is still much corruption in this weighing machine certifying industry. A Government regulatory authority was privatised.

The same goes for Puspakom. Also the other one that repairs and maintains Government vehicles Spanco or something. Now another group wants a monopoly over all the toll roads in the country. Why do we create these monopolies? All these add up to our cost of living. So if the Government is now also going to reduce the RM74 Billion subsidies, that is fine and well.

But also remove all these monopolies and APs that are cluttering up the system.

The Government is also scaring me with even newer and weirder proposals. Why should a Qatar Investment Agency be even considered to redevelop prime land at the Sungei Besi Airbase? What is the basis to give it to a foreign company? Was there an Open Bid? How can we give our prime land to a Qatar company without even an Open Bid? Are they better than Malaysian companies who may be asked to put in Open Bids? If so, how come? Which part of the Federal Constitution says that companies from Qatar can gain access to our prime land without even putting in an Open Bid.

The Government should also not pay bloated prices for Government projects to help "friends". That is a grave wrong. It really adds to our cost of living.

Lastly "minimum wage" is also one of the biggest subsidies, usually implemented by people who do not understand how much damage it does in the long run.

There are many forms of minimum wages. The 'dole' or social welfare payments in Europe are also a form of minimum wages. In many European countries if you are unemployed, you are guaranteed some sort of social welfare payments. This is just another form of minimum wages. Now the financial crisis sweeping across a Europe is showing up the final results of all this 'subsidy mentality'. The economy has become less competitive because of the dole system.

In Greece, the hardest hit country, private sector workers are lamenting why they have to work up to 50 hours a week to pay taxes that support Civil Servants who don't do much work. The same applies here. The private sector too works hard and pays taxes which are used to pay the salaries of the Civil Servants - whom we all know for a certainty do not work as hard as the private sector.

Lets get rid of the subsidies. Lets also get rid of the APs, the monopolies, the weird Government announcements, the cronyism and such which only adds to our cost of living.

Gasbags a plenty in the MIC

This huge GAS rally is nothing but GASS, a bunch of gasbags trying to fool the oft fooled Indian Community who can't see where their bread is buttered, or maybe where the sambar and chutney are for their Thosai.

It is the inherent vacuum being created by Samy's exit that they intend to fill, they know the crowd are in a mood for change and they want to capitalise from this change to get maximum advantage and sadly this is the typical BN political hype and has been so for a very long time, we've seen it in UMNO, the MCA and now in the MIC. This is getting to look quite MCAish after the Ong Tee Keat debacle.

In the other Barisan parties it is a race to become millionaire extraordinaire, by selling your community to UMNO and racial politics.

This is Malaysia we should have no room for Indians, Chinese and Malays, only Malaysians, and that is how our political landscape has to be carved, that is the only way we shall progress, to do it we have to rid ourselves of the UMNO, the MCA and the MIC first.

Just take a look at what these gasbags are saying, V Subramaniam, more popularly known by the name Baratmaniam, blasted Samy for the loss of RM9 million of RM10 Telekom shares that were meant for the Indian community in 1990, and raised the MIED scandal, which is an Institute meant for the community and not one individual.

V Govindarajoo a veteran MIC leader apologized to the crowd for having brought Samy Veloo into MIC, he is reported to have said, “I've felt very sorry. Samy has betrayed the community and the nation. He did this not only to MIC, but MCA and Umno as well. I was the one who introduced Samy to MIC, and now, he must step down and get out,”

The sacked CWC member KP Samy, addressing the audience, alleged Samy Veloo to be the cause of the downfall and economic deprivation of Indians.

Mugilan claimed that RM5 million had been spent to stop people from attending the GAS rally, implying some rough hand tactics used to stop members from attending, and even saying a member could have been kidnapped.

The anti climax of the whole issue was when Mugilan asked the government to give Samy Veloo a "Senior Position" if he steps down, for all he has done the government should contemplate arresting him and not rewarding him.

That is this Muluigan, and he is aspiring to be a future MIC leader will anyone ever have him besides some ignorant Indians in this country, made ignorant by the BN government and the MIC. Like UMNO these people thrive on making the rakyat ignorant.

Samy deserves to be kicked off, and MIC deserves the only next best thing - to be cast into the dustbins of Malaysian political history for good.

GAMBLING UMNO'S "OPIUM FOR THE MASSES" - HALAL OR HARAM?

We were at this "Kopi Thiam" at the 3rd mile in Old Klang Road, a predominantly Chinese populated district in Kuala Lumpur where one would guess you'd find the type of people who would gamble on anything including football, and of course the World Cup.

At the next table there was this group of Chinese, 3 ladies and 4 men and they were in a serious conversation, there was a lot of anger and excitement in the tone, then they would look around, see us and tone down. My friend Kevin Lai, was eavesdropping and he would smile every now and then till at last he burst into laughter.

That made all those in the next table stop their conversation and look at him for a while and then one of them a lady, noticing that the rest of us weren't Chinese, said "oh! kita cakap itu main judi punya hal, football!!" judi then they all laughed.

I turned to that lady and asked how does one bet on football matches, and she replied, "jangan!!~ jangan!! ini judi, ini ada hantu, you akan mati kalau you main judi ini macam. Ya betul habis "World Cup" you bankrupt!!!" betul dulu saya punya abang pun jadi bankrupt sekarang dia tada wang suda lari, Ah long cari dia"

I smiled, and nodded.

Kevin later told us the whole conversation dealt with the football gambling license the government is to issue to a gambling company in Malaysia and that all of them at the table were against it, I was surprised, these were 7 Chinese Malaysians, all Chinese speaking, and in Old Klang Road of all places, things are changing, I mean attitudes and values most of all, I thought.

Gambling is a social illness, and if Vincent Tan thinks that Malays do not gamble, I'll take him to one of his very own Toto outlets and show him the countless Malays who join the queue there to bet on Wednesdays, weekends and during his special draws, my motor car mechanic has a shop just next door to it, so its not only that Malays and Muslims do not gamble, and that Chinese are the only gamblers in town. The outlet does nothing to stop them from buying, its only a notice in one corner of he shop that says that Muslims are forbidden to place bets there.

Many a Chinese realizes that gambling is a disease, it robs them of their hard earned wealth, and it enriches the corrupt. This very Government collects the dues from the so called, "Special draws." Many especially from the poorer strata of the society have had experiences within the family.

If the problem is illegal gambling, then the government must take measures to stamp this out. As it stands currently there are too many licensed gambling outlets in Malaysia, with too many days of gambling. People tend to gamble more then they can afford and get into all kinds of problems.

In the last two years I had to sack a few employees who began staling company money to repay gambling debts, and in all cases it was tied to a certain licensed gambling companies in the season when the jackpot gets attractively high, or to the other that offers some kind of membership to visit the place and gamble.

Now the Jackpots gets higher there is more then just one game that purportedly pays in the millions, and these poor souls who get hooked go from one outlet to the other to place their bets.

In Magnum there is the Jackpot which can go as high as even 30 million, to win the jackpot you have to predict two of the first three prizes correctly, the odds are huge and in simple mathematical terms impossible, but there a systems to be played and that will pinch the extra ringgit off you.

In Toto, the original 6 of 49 has been replaced, with three games offering bigger returns, and the lottery from Pan Malaysian pools has a jackpot that runs into double digits as well in the millions.

All these outlets are within walking distance from each other, take time off on a Saturday and stand by these outlets and you'll get to see the punters move from one outlet to the other for their 4digit bets,their big jackpot bets and what have you? Genting and all the slot machines in clubs which is now fast becoming the monopoly of just one individual.

The Government should stop giving us the lame excuse that it is to stem out illegal gambling, the government should be determined to stamp out gambling and it should begin with stamping out illegal gambling, there is already enough legal gambling for the government to now look at an excuse to give Vincent Tan or for that matter anyone else another gambling license. It seems so easy for this government to walk away from a responsibility and choosing another evil to replace an existing one, the two wrongs make one right principal, the kind of BN solutions.

These licenses are wretched fronts to fulfill other items on a greater agenda to enslave the people, it has to stop, and it is not only from the Muslim that this call comes from it comes from all sectors of our Malaysian society with the exception of UMNO and its lackeys.

The surprising factor is that UMNO that claims to champion Islamic causes seems to be silent about this issue altogether with their partners in the Barisan. Aren't UMNO members all Muslims, and how come a greater virtue of others calling God Allah, became an issue to threaten and confuse Muslims whilst this gambling issue is left to continue?


So is there a BN agenda behind this license??? And is the illegal gambling only an excuse to pull wool over the eyes of the rakyat?

That lady at the "Kopi Thiam" in 3rd mile and her 6 friends are one of the many responsible Malaysians who can see through the evil of gambling, they may not be able to see the scheme behind this if indeed there is one, but i think it will anger them sufficiently to keep the DAP there.

Toffeesturn

Don't tolerate me, Don't ask me to compromise my rights, respect my right to use the word Allah

In view of the latest on the Allah issue I feel as a Malaysian I have to voice my opinions on the issue.

The first Malaysian Malay/Latin dictionary was published in the 17th century, 1631 to be precise, which contains the meaning of the word Allah, and the use of the word in the Malay Language which now referred to as the Bahasa in Malaysia goes back to the 17th century. Why the Latin dictionary, because Latin was then the language used for Catholic Masses throughout the world.

The judgment made by Justice Lau Bee Lan, was clearly written without any ambiguity , the judgment was based on our constitutional rights and herein lies the entire issue.

You can't claim to tolerate me when I exercise my constitutional right, you have to respect the proviso of the constitution that allows me to use it. The next word that is commonly used by UMNO is compromise. The constitution reins supreme and there is no compromise on Constitutional rights too. This compromise and tolerance has allowed UMNO to bulldoze all the races and religions of this country to achieve their selfish aims.

In East Malaysia we have 900,000 Malaysians who are Christians, they have been using the word Allah for a very long time, even before joining the federation. Their Bibles mostly brought from Indonesia contained the word Allah, and just in case there is an argument over language here, the only two original words in the Bahasa are Tanah and Air, everything else is either coined or borrowed and so too the word Allah.


Allah is God in Arabic and it predates Islam, it is the same word used in all Arab speaking countries to refer to God by all religions.

Allah became an issue here because some UMNO politicians decided to make it an issue. My Muslim friends used to be overjoyed by the fact that I used to refer to God as Allah, or when I said Insya Allah (God willing), now it is a something I am forbidden to do. My classmates in London, in 1972 taught me this word they were Palestinians, Libyans, Iraqis and Egyptians, they taught me the word Insya Allah. We used to eat at a Jewish sandwich shop near the school, and they used to tell me off for eating there although they used to eat there, I later found out that they ate there because they had no choice and Jewish food was considered Halal. I had a choice so they did not want me eating there. Their eating in the Jewish shop was a compromise.

Now we are hearing the words compromise, and tolerance being flouted on all corridors of the nation, and not because it is the right thing but because some politicians know they have made a huge mistake.


Whilst this cry for tolerance and compromise go on there is intimidation, more churches are being fire bombed and our Royal Malaysian Police are having a gala time, without a single arrest. There is no will to arrest, the Prime Minister himself had given the green light to demonstrate, and they had no say in the matter.

My right to use the word Allah is something that cannot be taken away, it is a right, it is enshrined in the constitution, nowhere in the Quran does it say, that we can't use that word, this is the creation of UMNO, it is not Islamic, they have made an issue of Islam which is not Islamic. The word Allah itself predates Islam.


Don't tolerate me or for that matter do not ask me to compromise, on the contrary respect my right under the Federal Constitution to use the word Allah.

May Allah bless this nation.