Racial politics and Brain Drain

cartoon from the Economist.
Posted By Dr.HSU

The most important asset of a country is not its natural resources but rather human resources. This is especially true in a knowledge based economy, which of course will be the trend in future if not already the trend in most of the western countries.

My daughter, who is in her final year medicine in Auckland, told me that a team of Singapore recruitment officers have just visited Auckland and talked to the Malaysian students there, offering job and training prospect for the final year students once they graduate. My daughter also told me that over the last few years, quite a lot of her Malaysian seniors, after graduating from medical courses in NZ, have gone to Singapore to work as house-officers and subsequently stayed back in Singapore for their postgraduate training.

Similar teams are sent to Australia and UK for recruiting Malaysians there to work in Singapore .

About a year ago, in one of the articles in Reuters, this was reported:

Malaysia is counting on bright, ambitious people like Tan Chye Ling for its future, to lead it away from manufacturing and into the knowledge age.

But the 32-year-old scientist, a post-graduate in molecular biology, is not counting on Malaysia to look after her future.

"I felt very suppressed in Malaysia ," said Tan, who moved to neighbouring Singapore , the region's pace-setter for biotech investment, after a decade of study and research in Malaysia .

"I have benefited from the better research environment and salary scheme here. Things are much smoother," she said by phone from the National University of Singapore where she is studying dust mites and allergies.

Tan estimates that 60 percent of the research teams she works with in Singapore are from Malaysia, despite her country's efforts over several years to develop a biotech industry.

The Malaysian government unveiled plans last March to spend $553.3 million over five years to boost research, attract foreign investment and build new facilities. But its efforts are wasted unless it can retain more talented people like Tan.

"By the time we have the research environment in place, every other country would have taken a slice of the biotech investment pie," said Iskandar Mizal, head of the state-run Malaysian Biotech Corporation which oversees the government's strategy.

There is a serious problem facing Malaysia and that is the problem of Brain Drain. Why are Malaysians overseas not coming back to work?

Well, pay may be part of the reasons but is not the main reason. Singapore recruitment team offered Malaysian students there a salary which is a few times they would expect to get in Malaysia…..... S$40,000 a year for houseman after tax (equivalent to RM86000) which is about 5 times the pay of a houseman in Malaysia.

But, as I say, pay is not the main problem. The living expenses overseas is high. And for a person working overseas, the loneliness and the stress level is also high. So not everyone opts to work overseas because of pay. Many would not mind to work for lesser pay if they can stay near to their loved ones.

Why do people choose to work overseas, away from their loved ones?

Malaysia has many state-of-the-art hospitals and research centres, which may even be the envy of many overseas countries. But hardware alone would not attract these experts to come home. In the medical fields, I have so many friends /classmates working overseas, many in world renowned centres. Why do they do that?

Some of my classmates and friends did come back as specialists. After working a few years (many lasted only a few months), most get disillusioned and went off. There is really not much prospect of career advancement. How many can hope to become a professor, even when they are an acknowledged expert in their field? On the other hand, lesser beings are being promoted to professorship for doing much less.

How many of them can have any say about how things are to be run? How many of them can blend into the local team where the work attitude is vastly different from that overseas?

There is an unwritten rule that even if the person is very good, the head of the team has to be someone from a certain ethnic group who may not even be half as good as him.

In everyday life, some become disillusioned with the corruption, the red tape and tidak apa attitude of the officialdom. For an overseas doctor applying to work home, the application can take up to 6 months to get approved, whereas, Singapore sends teams overseas to recruit them on the spot, giving them forms to fill and offering them jobs immediately as long as they pass their final examination. See the difference?

It is the sense of being wanted and being appreciated that make these people stay overseas. Back here, they are often made to feel that they are of a lower class; they do not feel wanted and they do not feel appreciated…. That is the main reason.

For those with children, the education system puts them off. Even school children can feel being discriminated, one glaring example is the 2 systems in Pre-University education.

All these make them pack their bags and off they go again, leaving behind their parents perhaps, siblings, friends they grew up together, favouite food that is often not available overseas. No one likes to be like this; circumstances and a sense of being recognised for their worth make them go away…It is really sad.

Parents spend huge amount of money educating them, but the ones who benefit are the Singaporeans, the Americans, the Australians, the British and so on. As long as race politics is not done away with, this problem of brain drain will continue and Malaysia will always lack behind the advanced countries, no matter how many twin towers and Putrajayas we build. 

Therefore, basing on all the facts mentioned above, we would only have to believe what other people said, ie that all along our Government did not bother about the "Brain Drain" of Non-Malay graduates or professionals and indeed the more they migrate the merrier because more job vacancies could be made available to Malay graduates without any competition at all and the Government also did not care whether or not the quality of work would be compromised or the excellence of performance could be achieved..... How sad and how shameful it is if this is true!!

May God save our beloved country please!!

Absurd and malicious manipulation of statistics by The Star

Dear Friends,

Please find below my press statement in response to some incredulous articles by The Star.

Absurd and malicious manipulation of statistics by The Star and Dr Chua Soi Lek to malign the Penang state government.

I read with disbelief the recent reports published by The Star on property prices in Penang. In particular, the reports titled “Properties in Penang only for the rich, says Chua” on 24 October 2012 and “Guan Eng denies Penang house prices increased 400%” in the 26 Octo ederition today.

In these reports, it is claimed that Penang real estate has seen a “drastic increase in the price of condominiums/apartments (by 411%), flats (339%), low-cost flats (157%) and detached units (103%) within the span of a year.”

Today, The Star further reported assertions that “according to the Penang Institute, the price of apartment/condominium went up from RM450,286 during the first quarter of last year to RM2.7mil during the corresponding period this year. It was reported that the price of detached unit [sic] increased from RM1.7mil to as high as RM3.5mil, low-cost flats from RM68,000 to RM175,000, flats from RM132,000 to RM580,000 during the corresponding period.”

I would like to congratulate both Dr Chua Soi Lek and The Star for their obviously stellar ability in manipulating statistics. What they have very mischievously done is to take last year’s average price of property, and then compared it to this year’s ceiling or maximum price for each property type, as published by the Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH).

Furthermore, the statistics used are for certain districts in Penang and not reflective of the whole state. For example, the average price of an apartment/condominium in the North-East district as of Q1 2011 was indeed RM450,286 as reported by the Penang Institute’s paper, “Housing market trends and affordability”, published in October 2011. This price is then used by The Star in comparison to the latest Property Stock Report by the JPPH, which states that the price of apartments/condominiums in the North-East District of Penang Island as of Q1 2012 ranges from RM170,000 to RM2.7 million. To compare this year’s ceiling price to last year’s average price is completely asinine and outrageous.

To make matters worse, some of the comparisons made are between two different districts. For example, the data for low-cost flats and flats as quoted by The Star is actually a comparison between the South-West and North-East districts of Penang. Such utter disregard for ethical reporting is confounding.

The Penang Institute regrets that such absurd and malicious manipulation of data has been linked to our institution and used to malign the Penang state government, and demands that a correction is made immediately to ensure that the public is not mislead.

Zairil Khir Johari

CEO, Penang Insitute

George Town

26 October 2012

林冠英：除贪污强化教育‧靠法制 国家才有希望

林冠英：除贪污强化教育‧靠法制 国家才有希望

 2012-10-26 18:49

• 
  官有缘（左起）、罗思义、陈贞源、骆瑞珍、梁卓经、倪可汉、林冠英、曾福仔、潘俭伟、谢保恆及丘金明在“与民同在，改朝换代＂团结晚宴上一起向出席人士举手示意。（图：星洲日报）

（霹雳‧金宝26日讯）行动党秘书长林冠英表示，在檳州，如果有人说认识林冠英，或指和林冠英是好兄弟可协助办事，那绝对是骗人的，也不要去理会。

他说，如果有人希望通过中间人来获取好处，那是行不通的。

林冠英昨晚在金宝出席行动党的“与民同在，改朝换代＂团结晚宴致词说，只有树立法制，国家和州的发展才有希望。

他说，国家也需要著手处理贪污问题，确定领袖的財產来歷；最重要的是也要强化教育，提供孩子们一个新的希望。

他说，以檳州为例，主动通过3个步骤来强化教育，即制度化地拨款给学校、吸引著名大学前来檳州设分校，以及由檳州政府提供一个补习辅导中心，强化较弱学生的教育。

他也批评自动执法系统AES將加重人民的负担，並让有关公司赚钱。

潘俭伟：反贪污指数下滑

八打灵再也北区国会议员潘俭伟致词时指出，我国在国际贪污指数面对下滑跡象，即使推行转型计划也没看到改变，此现象显示国家一直处於退步状態。

李文材：伊刑事法不会落实

公正党霹雳州署理主席李文材致词说，国阵一直批评若民联执政將落实伊斯兰刑事法，是不实的说法；因为民联三党平起平坐，如有其中一党不支持或退出，民联就不会有机会执政。

行动党霹雳州主席拿督倪可汉和克兰芝区州议员曾福仔也在宴会上致词。

筵开83席筹获2410令吉

这项宴会由行动党克兰芝支部主办，宴开83席，成功在现场筹得2千410令吉。主办单位捐出1千令吉给金宝培元独中，由董事部財政何祖光代表接领。

出席人士包括党元老骆瑞珍、宋溪区州议员西华尼申、双溪古月服务队主席梁卓经、金宝克兰芝支部主席丘金明、陈贞源律师及企业家官有缘。

（星洲网）

http://www.sinchew-i.com/sciWWW/node/336498?tid=751

Balik kampung bawa berita benar : Let’s bury Soi Lek’s hudud spin

Posted on October 22, 2012

1

By Haris Ibrahim

I am not going to repeat the filthy lies that were spewed by Soi Lek and other MCA delegates at their recently concluded AGM.

No reason to give any more life to their evil design to agitate the non-Muslim community, especially the Chinese, with their alarmist message that voting Pakatan into federal power post the 13th GE will see hudud become the order of the day.

Check comments left at most of the online portals that have reported what was said at the MCA AGM on this issue and you will find that most netizens have not been taken in by this desperate attempt by MCA to create alarm on the part of non-Muslim voters with this hudud-mongering.

We, who have access to alternative news, and realise that UMNO / BN are on their last leg, no better than to buy into this crap.

Yet, as Arthur observed last night, the Chinese dailies and the Chinese news reports on TV will take this out in full force to all the Mandarin-only speaking voters, especially in the smaller towns and the Chinese new villages, and, Arthur explained, even if this causes a 1% swing from what appears to be now a solid support base for a new regime in Putrajaya post the 13th GE, it may have an impact in some constituencies.

UMNO / BN have total monopoly over the print and electronic media with regard to this issue.

People, we need to come together to work to counter this UMNO / BN media spin

Some time back, in my “Dont fall for the MCA hudud bogeyman” post, I had offered the following analysis to support my contention that we would be losing sleep over nothing if we allowed ourselves to believe the MCA spin that a vote for Pakatan might see hudud implemented.

Amongst other things this is what I said.

“So what’s MCA really saying?

Vote BN and MCA will make sure UMNO never implements hudud.

Vote Pakatan and who’s to stop PAS implementing hudud?

Time for a reality check, folks.

Things as they are right now, could either UMNO or PAS, alone, implement hudud, or move to make Malaysia an Islamic state, whatever that phrase might mean?

I’ll say no to that question, and here’s why.

Post 12th GE, UMNO won 79 parliamentary seats.

By itself, it could not even form a government, much less move to implement hudud.

PAS won 23.

Need I say more on PAS going it alone to implement hudud?

What about PAS acting in combination with others? Could they then implement hudud?

Idiot PAS Ulama chief Harun Taib thinks it can be done.

“We will implement hudud and amend the constitution even if (it is) not with the current partners we have in Pakatan (Rakyat)… Maybe there will be other pacts that will lend us their support,”,Malaysiakini reports him saying.

He’s talking rubbish and here’s why.

Lets use the 12th GE results again.

UMNO’s 79 parliamentary seats includes its 13 in Sabah

Even a combination of the seats of UMNO and PAS would not have been enough to form the government.

A PAS-UMNO merger would leave them with 102 seats.

They would still need MCA’s 15 seats and MIC’s 3 to give them a simple majority government of 120 seats in parliament.

And with hudud and an Islamic state as their stated agenda, could it be expected that the non-Muslim BN component parties in Sabah and Sarawak will remain in the coalition, or align with those who will oppose this move?

I think the latter is the more likely.

Islamic state aspirations will require a 2/3 majority in parliament.

An UMNO-PAS move to establish an Islamic state would require that they command 148 seats in parliament to make the requisite constitutional amendments.

Co-opt 28 Muslim frogs from PKR?

Well, do a quick count and there are only 16 Muslim PKR MPs now ( 18 if Zul Nordin and Zahrain hadn’t froggied last year ) out of a total of 31 when the results were announced.

Even if all hopped over to the UMNO-PAS pro-hudud newly formed coalition, working with the treacherous MCA and MIC MPs, that would give them in all, 136 seats in parliament.

138 if you include Zul and Zahrain.

139 with Ibrahim Ali.

1 less than what the BN government has now!

So how to amend the constitution and make this an Islamic state and impose hudud, lah, Harun Taib?

How, lah, MCA?

What if PAS increases its number of seats in parliament at the 13th GE, some of you might ask.

Well, for every additional seat PAS win, chalk it down as a loss for UMNO.

Their combined total will not, therefore, differ significantly.

As things stand, we have no reason to fret about hudud being implemented post the 13th GE”.

We at the ABU secretariat have checked in blogosphere and cannot find any other rebuttal to the MCA hudud spin.

If any of you have come across any that you think might be worth viraling out, please email the same to me at thepeoplesparliament@gmail.com so that I can relay the same to the Media Monitoring Team.

The Counter Propaganda Team is working to generate material to rebut this hudud scare, but it will probably not be ready in time for this coming long Raya Haji weekend, when many of you will balik kampung.

My analysis, reproduced above, has been translated into Mandarin with a view to it being used to counter MCA’s hudud lie by printing the same and taking them out to the Chinese in the smaller towns and villages.

Clicking the image of Soi Lek above will take you to a PDF copy of that translation, linked in the ABU website, under our BALIK KAMPUNG BAWA BERITA BENAR segment.

Please people, just commenting here and elsewhere on this issue will not help to counter the spin where it might impact the most.

Please help us out here.

Print as many copies as you can and take them with you as you head back to your respective home towns for the weekend holiday and distribute them to all the Chinese you meet.

Take time out to explain to them what MCA is really doing.

And them get them to also share the message with the other local Chinese.

We cannot counter this spin without your help

http://harismibrahim.wordpress.com/2012/10/22/balik-kampung-bawa-berita-benar-lets-bury-soi-leks-hudud-spin/

Speech at the Wilayah DAP Convention

Terima kasih tuan ketua pengerusi. YB-YB, saudara-saudari, selamat petang. Terima kasih kerana memberi peluang kepada saya untuk berucap hari ini.

各为亲爱的同胞们，大家好！Thank you for this opportunity to speak today.

In the lead up to the General Election, there is still so much, to do but so little time. There is good news: Najib is panicking. He doesn’t dare call the elections because he knows he’s in for a fight and he will lose! It seems like the Prime Minister enjoys following the opposition. Just on Friday, he was asked who donated RM40 million to Umno in Sabah, and he didn’t want to say because “the opposition doesn’t disclose their donors either”. It is interesting to note that Barisan Nasional is keen to follow the lead of Pakatan Rakyat.

大选要来了，虽然我们有很多东西还没做，可是看起来我们有个很好的消息：纳吉 已经很紧张！因为他不敢这么快召开大选，如果他召开大选他会输 (shu1)! 依我看，我们亲爱的首相, 很喜欢, 模仿, 反对党。因为上个拜五，有人问他到底 (dao4di3)是谁捐了(juan4le) 四十亿马币, 给Sabah的Umno， 但是, 他不敢讲是谁捐的，因为反对党也没有说。我觉得反对党很厉害，对不对？

Saudara Zairil Khir Johari wrote a fantastic article in the Malaysian insider. Some of his points were that even though they called the Buku Jingga “useless”, the BN comes out with BR1M taken straight out of the proposal to aid to households earning below RM3000!  Also there is a Go-KL free bus, but this came 2 years after the DAP led Penang State government introduced the inner-city buses.  How about free mammograms for ladies? Who’s idea was that? The Selangor state government stated the initiative two years ago. This shows that Barisan Nasional is bankrupt of ideas, and all they can do is watch how Pakatan Rakyat runs the state governments. Well, the time for pretending is over! It is now or never this is the push and I truly believe we will capture Putrajaya at GE13!

Saudara Zairil Khir Johari telah menulis artikel yang hebat di dalam Malaysia Insider. Beliau berkata isu-isu seperti. Contohnnya, walaupun kerajaan Barisan Nasional menganggapkan Buku Jingga adalah buku yang tidak berguna, tetapi mereka boleh mecadangkan BR1M. Siapa punya cadangan? Kami punya!! 还有那个Go-KL 免费巴士。我觉得公共交通是很好的主意，可是槟成的行动党政府已经在两年前做了！国阵以精美新创意！他们就会看Pakatan Rakyat 做什么，然后他们就做什么！够了吧！我们有着一次机会，我们一定要努力， 听人民的话，在第13届的大选后，国阵被踢出局！

Let’s face it. Barisan Nasional is so found of building monuments. They have built Putrajaya, Cyberjaya, the Twin Towers, KLCC, and Iskandar. Najib loves his alphabet soup, NKRAs, ETP, GTP and so on and so forth. But when we look into these things, looks nice on the outside, but inside, there is so little substance! Tell me which road in Malaysia is flat? How many tolls do we have to pay just to get from point A to B? On the Kerinch link, we go through a traffic jam, get to the toll, and then? Smooth meh? No la! Have to join another traffic jam! Just yesterday, as I was driving on Old Klang Road, half the road was under water. Saudara Lim Lip Eng posted on his Facebook page that if the rain continues, half of Segambut will be under water. You mean to tell me that after 55 years, we don’t even have a proper drainage system? The SMART tunnel doesn’t seem to be smart at all!

Kerajaan BN sangat suka membina bangunaan yang lebih tinggi, yang lebih besar, yang paling mewah. Putrajaya, Cyberjaya, KLCC, Menara KL dan Iskandar, semuanya shiok Najib dia sendiri.

Beritahu saya jalan mana di Malaysia kita ini rata? Berapa banyak tol yang perlu kita bayar dari destinasi A ke B? Sebagai contoh, di Lingkaran Kerinchi, kita mengalami kesesakan lalu lintas hanya untuk melintasi satu tol dan seterusnya ke Lebuhraya Persekutuan dan mengalami kesesakan lalu lintas semula! Adakah dengan membayar tol akan memudahkan perjalanan kita?

Semalam semasa saya memandu di Jalan Klang Lama, setengah jalan banjir. Saudara Lim Lip Eng menulis di Facebook : jikalau hujan tidak berhenti, seluruh Segambut akan banjir. Saudara saudari, ini hanya membukti bahawa negara kita tidak mempunyai saliran perparitan yang bagus selama 55 tahun ini. Anda boleh tahan lagi tak? Boleh tahan lagi? Tak boleh lah!

However, winning the election is not enough to declare victory. The real work begins when we become the Federal Government, to tackle the crucial issues one by one and going back to the basics. Yes, corruption is a big issue, but we must really pound through the issues very close to the heart of the people. The real problems. The struggles faced on a daily basis. I’d just like to talk about two of them today. First there is very real problem of the cost of living, and secondly, empowering the younger generation and getting them to stand up and make their voice heard.

How much extra is in your pocket these days? It seems like no matter how hard we work, our wallets seem to be shrinking and shrinking. These days a fresh graduate doesn’t get more than RM2,000 a month, or RM2300 for a degree holder. Now think about this, minus EPF, minus rental, minus PTPTN loan repayment, minus car loan, minus Touch N’GO, minus food cost, minus phone bill, electricity bill and what is left? What is left??!! Less than nothing?!! 你们的钱包还有钱吗？有吗？已经没有。为什么呢？现在，毕业的学生的薪水是差不多两千多块。剪掉EPF, 租费, 汽车贷款，Touch N’ Go， 日常用品. 还剩下多少？一分也没有！

Hey, at least water is free in Selangor right? Well, how many of you have drunk water out of the tap lately? Do you dare? Most of us end up investing in our own personal filtration systems, because Syabas is incapable of supplying clean water! Furthermore, we are raking credit card debt like nobody’s business, food prices have increased dramatically, almost doubling the cost of feeding a family these days. How much do you pay for your Kway Teow and your Kopi-O today? In less than 10 years, not only would this country would have gone bankrupt, but the people would be left with no savings, no assets and a mountain of debt.

Najib knows this, but he still turns around to the people to ask us to change our spending habits. What spending is he talking about? If he wants to talk about spending habits, austerity needs to stop from the top! However I don’t think Rosmah would be too happy about it!

How can a Pakatan government reduce the cost of living? A few simple steps can be put in place but I’ll just talk about one. It is time to stop spoon feeding Proton and force them to be competitive. Get rid of the APs. Malaysia has the most expensive cars in the whole of the ASEAN region apart from Singapore. But at least in Singapore, they have a pretty good public transport system so you don’t have to worry about getting a car!

In Malaysia, when a student graduates, the first thing they look for is not a job, but a car! Car loans take up almost 40% the working income of a graduate. Getting rid of the APs not just free up their income but also to boost their spending power! This is very important in order for our economy to keep going, reduce debt and increase home ownership. With over 50% of the economy reliant on government linked companies, the power needs to shift back to the private sector in the interest of sustainable development. We can’t force wages to go up, but in a more competitive, market driven economy, along with equal opportunities for all Malaysians, this can be achieved.

Briefly, the second topic I wanted to raise today was to ensure that the youth of this nation is given an official platform to speak up. I’m talking about those between the ages of 21 to 35. Malaysia is a young country and in the last General Election, it was this group of people who gave Barisan Nasional the shock of their lives. It would be this group of people to push us over the line this General Election, and it would be this group of people which would be the future movers and shakers of this nation.

I urge the leaders of the DAP and Pakatan Rakyat as a whole not to neglect this crucial group of people. We want our young people to come back to Malaysia, don’t we? We don’t want to keep losing talented young Malaysians to the likes of Australia, the UK, Taiwan and Singapore! But young people are fickle. The values are different from the previous generation. In the world of social media, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, mindsets and perceptions are always changing. The moment they are ignored, they can quickly become apathetic. We have to continue engaging with them, getting them involved and get them moving! It is time to spot and identify more young leaders who can go and inspire the youth of this nation. If we fail to adapt, there is a danger that we ourselves would quickly no longer be relevant.

I’m proud to be a member of the DAP for the past four years. I want to commend our leaders and all the members for the continuous hard work. When I see the party growing from strength to strength, with a strong leadership, I know our country is in good hands. This is not the time for party politics, or division or disunity. This is exactly what Barisan Nasional wants and it makes good news headlines. DAP internal spat, DAP leadership fallout, Rivalry grows within the DAP and so on.

If the party puts together a united front, along with our partners PAS and PKR, nothing can stop us from making history in GE13. Let us work hard, stay united, continue to listen to the rakyat, keep praying and never ever lose hope.

This is only the beginning but this is our beginning! Hidup Rakyat! Mansuhkan Barisan Nasional!

Terima Kasih! Thank you and God bless you all. 谢谢大家，神祝福你们。

Governing Malaysia

By Zairil Khir Johari

OCT 12 — A favourite line of attack adopted by the Barisan Nasional (BN) government these days is the accusation that the opposition is only capable of making empty promises and hence is unable to govern.

To corroborate this premise, the prime minister recently suggested three points, namely: that the opposition coalition has failed to formalise itself under a common party symbol, that the inability to formulate a shadow Cabinet reveals a lack of credibility, and that the opposition’s sweet promises are in reality “venomous poison” that will eventually bring financial ruin to the country. In stressing the last point, he even went so far as to say that the Buku Jingga, the opposition’s official policy manifesto, “is not worth the paper it is printed on.”

Now, it’s all very fine for the prime minister to partake in showboating, especially when the mainstream media will offer no space for a rejoinder by the opposition. Unfortunately, even with the near-monopoly of information that he enjoys, it is disappointing that the prime minister has to resort to mischievous half-truths, unabashed hypocrisy and outright lies in order to malign the opposition.

Take the first point, on the matter of a common symbol. It is true that after four years of working together as a de facto coalition, Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is still not a registered entity. But what the PM has conveniently failed to mention is the fact that an application had actually been submitted three years ago, and has since been sitting at the doorsteps of the Home Ministry awaiting approval. Thus, the prime minister has really got some cheek to accuse PR for “failing” to register as a single party!

The second bone of contention has arguably a little more merit. It cannot be denied that the PR coalition has to date not drawn up a “shadow Cabinet” (although Utusan Malaysia has kindly taken upon itself to produce one on its behalf). While this is an oft-repeated criticism, I feel that it is rarely discussed in the proper context.

Many who speak of a shadow Cabinet often refer to the British equivalent. Yet there are two great dissimilarities at play here. Firstly, unlike the British Parliament, the Malaysian Parliament accords no institutional space for an “official opposition”. Members of a would-be shadow Cabinet would be neither recognised nor given the same amount of standing, respect or access as their British counterparts. In fact, the way our parliamentary sessions are conducted, even the opposition leader has no real opportunity to debate directly with the prime minister.

Secondly, when Labour was in power prior to the current Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government, both the Conservatives and the Liberal-Democrats had their own separate shadow Cabinets. This is due to the nature of multi-party democracy in Britain, in which coalitions are ad-hoc and not formalised arrangements. In our country, we have a pseudo “two-coalition” system with entirely different dynamics. Added to the fact that the formalisation of the opposition coalition under a single umbrella is being deliberately blocked by the government, the demand for a shadow Cabinet is grossly unfair.

That said, to say, as the prime minister did, that a shadow Cabinet is “fundamental” in proving governing ability is disingenuous. Take the United States, for example. There, whichever party in the opposition does not have a “shadow president” until a presidential candidate is chosen in the lead-up to the national elections. And even then, besides selecting a running mate, the alternative president does not go further by naming a shadow Cabinet.

What Malaysia really needs more than a shadow Cabinet is a capable opposition which is able to “check” the government by provoking accountability and pointing out shortcomings. And in this regard, I believe the PR leaders are doing their job. For example, can anyone recall prior to 2008 the national Budget being scrutinised as meticulously as is done today? Furthermore, various scandals, leakages and problems have been successfully unearthed and made public in the last few years due to diligent detective work by opposition MPs.

Finally, is it not an exercise in hypocrisy for the BN to attack PR for not having a shadow Cabinet when the BN themselves are unable to form shadow executive councils for each of the four PR-ruled states? At least all three parties in PR have publicly agreed on an alternative prime minister — does the BN even know who their chief minister-designates are?

Moving on to Najib’s third point — that PR is unable to govern and is only good at mouthing populist policies that will bankrupt the country. This is of course a serious matter. After all, Malaysians want to be convinced that they are voting for a credible alternative government.

In rebutting this point, I will not attempt to rattle off the string of achievements that have been accomplished by the “inexperienced” PR state governments over the last four years, particularly their success in overcoming fiscal deficits, plugging leakages, reducing corruption, increasing investments, and implementing welfare policies.

Instead, I would like to make a few observations about the Federal government. Let us consider some of the more recent policy decisions by Putrajaya. Firstly, there is the recently-launched Go-KL free bus service in the inner city. I must say that free public transport is a fantastic way to promote sustainable urban mobility. I would also hail it as an innovative idea if it weren’t for the fact that a similar service had been pioneered in Penang through the inner-city CAT (Central Area Transit) buses and the bridge-crossing BEST (Bridge Express Shuttle Transit) service, both provided free (wi-fi included) courtesy of the Penang state government.

And then we have an announcement in the recent national Budget about a programme to provide women with free mammogram scans for cancer detection and early intervention. An admirable idea indeed, and I am prepared to accept that its resemblance to the MammoSel programme introduced by the Selangor state government two years ago is purely coincidental.

Next, it is impossible to ignore the infamous BR1M welfare assistance programme. Giving cash aid to poor families — now where have I heard that done before? Surely not in an “irresponsible” PR state? It must be another coincidence, along with the selection of the target group of households earning less than RM3,000 monthly income, a key demographic originally highlighted by the “worthless” Buku Jingga.

Speaking of irresponsible policies, the Buku Jingga’s proposal to abolish highway tolls by nationalising toll companies has of course been the target of stinging ridicule. Yet was it not only last month that the prime minister announced a proposed government takeover of the Eastern Dispersal Link in Johor Baru in order to make it toll-free?

Let us not also forget the abolishment of the ISA and the formation of a royal commission of inquiry to investigate the problem of illegal immigration in Sabah, two more Buku Jingga proposals that have since been adopted by the BN government. At the rate it is going, all the “poisonous” promises in the Buku Jingga are set to be fulfilled.

If imitation is the best form of flattery, then the prime minister must have a very brown nose.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

BN leaders continue with their insults

BN leaders continue with their insults

by Victor Lim

IT IS just baffling how unimaginative and insulting it is to keep on hearing senseless statements from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) leaders who are holding high public office.And their statements are being reported by no less than the country’s national news agency, Bernama.
The standard of reports and news sense is disgraceful to say the least, insulting the intelligence of Malaysians, reflecting Third World mentality.
The government controlled mainstream print media fare no better by giving space to such reports (reproduced below).
The disgraced MCA president Chua Soi Lek, who was filmed with his pants down committing adultery with a “friend”, was quoted by Bernama as telling Malaysians to reject partiesthat hold protests and provoke people to change governments.
Staging protests, political rallies are part and parcel of politics. So, it is okay for BN-MCA to stage protests but not for others?
Time for Chua to have his head scanned for infection and damage from having received too many blow jobs?
Mind you, this is the president of the second largest party in the BN ruling coalition. Immorality in BN knows no boundary.
And when he talks about fulfilling election promises like public transport, I wonder who is holding federal powers now? Is it BN or Pakatan Rakyat (PR)?
Then you also have the Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman quoted by Bernama that opposition leaders were in politics just for power.
So, what is Musa in politics for?
Everyone knows you are in politics for power. That is no news value in such reports because it insults my intelligence.
And Musa was attacking the Selangor government and Selangor is the richest and among the best managed states in Malaysia, according to the country’s Auditor-General.
Sabah is also among the poorest states, despite having oil and gas.
With such worthless reports, it is no wonder the moronic BN-controlled newspapers in the country are experiencing a free fall in circulation sales.
Like what I blogged on Aug 21, 2012, (http://victorlim1982.blogspot.com/2012/08/insulting-peoples-intelligence.html ), innovative is word not in the dictionary of many BN leaders who continue to treat us as gullible fools. They don’t have the brains and intelligence to be innovative in whatever they do or say.
Here, judge for yourself with these two Bernama stories:

Monday, 08 October 2012 17:01

Reject parties that hold protests and provoke people to change govt - Soi Lek

GEORGE TOWN -- MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek has urged the people of Penang to reject political parties which resort to demonstrations and provocations to incite the people to topple the government.
Such actions, unless they were curbed, could spark chaos in a multi-racial country like Malaysia, he said at a Barisan
Nasional (BN) reception for the people in the Bayan Baru parliamentary constituency last night.
Chua also said that the opposition pact had failed to fulfil many of its promises in the last four years of administrating the state.
"Firstly, they promised to upgrade public transportation. Did that happen? The state government promised to establish a tiger park. What happened to that? Nothing has been done so far," he said.
Chua gave the assurance that the BN would provide the people with excellent service if it was given the mandate in the next general election to administer Penang.
-- BERNAMA

Tuesday, 09 October 2012 07:19

Opposition leaders in politics for power - Musa Aman

SANDAKAN,-- Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman said opposition leaders were in politics just for power but not capable of serving the people effectively.

"Look at Selangor, once a progressive state, but when Pakatan Rakyat took over, they failed to resolve problems faced by the people. Hence, the people should not readily believe and be influenced by the opposition's lies," he said after visiting the Taman Airport election machinery here today.

He said the opposition were just pulling wool over the people's eyes with their claims that there had been no development under the Barisan Nasional (BN) government.

Musa cited major projects like the Education Hub in Sungai Batang that was implemented in the district as an example.

"In the past, villages did not have paved or concrete roads, or electricity and water supply, but we have provided all these facilities now," he cited.

-- BERNAMA

DAP Ceramah Ipoh - Douglas Tan

Wow, that was a brilliant experience. Here's the video along with the full transcript of the speech. Enjoy!




Allow me to share with you a dream, a vision of the future. I want this country to prosper. I want this country to be healed after years of pilferage, greed, lies, and corruption. I want the new generation to know that they have a hope and a future. I want to build a nation strong, and proud, irrespective of race, language or religion, where the power has returned to the people. Where the government stops dictating and starts listening. Where ministers start to serve instead of being served. Where the people can dare to dream and take control of their own destinies. This is the Malaysia we hope for, we pray for and that we can achieve!

 
I will always be thankful that I come from a good family. My grandfather worked hard to support his family and eventually built a business empire. I received the opportunity to study overseas and eventually received my law degree from the University of Nottingham. I am your average "banana” you know, yellow outside but white inside. So I ask for your forgiveness if my Chinese sounds a bit funny!
 
My inspiration comes from my grandfather. Dato' Tan Kim Hor truly had a heart for the community and for opportunities to be given to the less privileged. So in the 1950s he joined the MCA, and using that platform he built 4 Chinese schools in Kepong and Jinjang using his own money. Of course in typical MCA fashion, the party took the credit for his work. But ah kong didn't care. His heart was for the community. Today he continues to be the MCA chairman for Kepong and Jingang in Kuala Lumpur. 

 So why do I stand in front of you today under the DAP flag? It's because the MCA has failed the Chinese community. They sold out their integrity along with the MIC to Umno. The MCA claims to represent the Chinese community but that's not true. They serve their own interests. The same is true for the MIC and of course for Umno. They don't care about anyone else except their own rice bowl. We see this year’s budget. Another big joke! Do they really think that just because they give out RM250 for smartphones and another round of BR1M that makes up for 55 years of mismanagement? They must be joking! To make things worse we have the largest budget deficit in the history of this nation. They underestimate the Malaysian people. We don't fall for those tricks anymore. They have blinded us for years, but now we are wiser and smarter. The Rakyat has woken up and come GE13, Barisan Nasional will be booted out of Putrajaya!

 To get an idea as to how corruption has robbed our nation, let me share with you a joke. There was a tender to build a bridge and there were three parties to come and tender, a Korean company, an American company and an Umno crony. The Korean company says, we bid RM300m, RM100m for design, RM100m for material and RM100m for profit. The American company bids and says, we bid RM600m, RM200m for design, RM200m for material and RM200m for profit. Then the Umno crony comes in, and he says. We bid RM900m. The Minister is shocked. Wow! How come so much? The crony says, relax la brother! RM300m for you and RM300m for me, and we get the Korean to build the bridge!
 
 We laugh, but the corruption is real! RM20k for a laptop and RM6k for a set of tools? They must be awesome! We also have submarines, diamond rings and cows! We laugh but are you not angry that they have stolen our money for all of this? We should be angry. I'm angry! When I was in Sarawak, I saw so many people suffering and living in poverty. This wasnt even in a kampung but in Kuching! All around Malaysia we see this. From the Orang asli to the indian community, BN has failed but instead concentrates on robbing the country blind and blaming the opposition! This is completely unacceptable and so let us send a message loud and clear to them. Vote them out! 
 
Malaysia has fallen behind so many countries. In the 1980s, the Koreans uses to be the ones coming to malaysia to study our systems. We were the most advanced country in the Asian region. Now look at Korea. Hyundai started around the same time as Proton but Hyundai is now a global brand. And Proton? Where are they now? Nothing to say also. Malu to even compare. It's embarrassing! We are now behind Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia for Foreign Direct Investment and I believe if we don't change, Myanmar will also overtake us! 
 
 What kind of country do you want your children and children's children to grow up in? How many of your children are passionate about this country or desire to see change? I am not here to promise the moon and the stars. I am not here to say that I have the answers for all our nations problems. We have so much more to learn and to do. When the government works hand in hand with the people, that's where real change will happen. Look at Penang and Selangor. Even here in Perak, you have had a brief taste of a new beginning under a PR government. Let us have a government which is competent, accountable and transparent. I believe that true leadership is now how low people kowtow to you, but if you become the servant of all. 
 

If there is one thing I want to achieve through all of this is to help inspire the new generation to step up to the plate. I want to speak for all those who are unable or don't dare to speak up. We are building a nation for the next generations. Let us leave a legacy we can be proud of. Be a part of this change. Ubah Sekarang, Bersihkan Malaysia. Thank you so much and God bless! 谢谢大家！