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Malaysia’s 2nd Finance Minister: Resolve 1MDB Debt, Otherwise Malaysians Suffer

KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 — Malaysia must resolve 1Malaysia Development’s (1MDB) debt issue or risk a negative chain of events, including a possible downgrade to the country’s credit outlook or a plunge in value of the ringgit, Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah warned today.

Explaining this, the second finance minister said if Putrajaya is forced to shoulder the 1MDB debt of RM42 billion on top of its development expenditure of RM52 billion for next year, it would cause the government to fail to meet its targeted Budget 2015 deficit of 3.2 per cent and revert to over 4 per cent instead, he said.

“What will happen? Our ratings will drop, when our ratings drop, our companies borrow from abroad, our currency value will drop like in 1998 then, when our ringgit at one point was over RM4, how to pay debts?

“In our context, the main thing is we must solve the issue of debt so the people do not have to worry,” he said in a live interview broadcasted by national television channel TV1.

During the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, the Malaysian currency dipped in value and at one point went over the RM4 mark in exchange rates against the US dollar.

In March, Putrajaya said it is accountable for a US$3 billion (RM11.1 billion) loan secured by a 1MDB subsidiary using a letter of support from the Malaysian government.

Last month, Moody’s Investors Services said government support of 1MDB could jeopardise Malaysia’s sovereign credit rating.

Today, Husni also insisted that the rationalisation of 1MDB’s assets is not meant to “save” it or the government, but is instead a “restructuring” exercise with the aim of paring down its debt.

He also said his key concern was Malaysians, citing the chain of negative effects that would happen if 1MDB’s debt had to be passed on to the government.

But Husni also stressed in the same interview that no money has yet been lost by 1MDB, pointing out that the banking sector would otherwise be the first to chase the firm for the money it borrowed in a bid to avoid a high level of non-performing loans.

“If the financial sector is quiet until now, that means the issue of money lost is not there,” he said.

When speaking on the passing of 1MDB accounts from audit firm KPMG to Deloitte, he said many firms will review if they should continue using an auditor’s services after three years.

Husni noted that 1MDB had decided to follow international standards in switching from a Big Four audit firm to the world’s top audit firm.

On the alleged involvement of billionaire businessman Low Taek Jho in 1MDB’s deals, Husni dismissed the claims, saying the issue does not even arise.

In March, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak ordered the Auditor General and Public Accounts Committee to investigate 1MDB.

1MDB was incorporated in 2009, after the prime minister announced the decision to turn the Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA) state fund into a federal agency.

Since then, 1MDB has been dogged by negative publicity over its finances and debt, and most recently cash flow problems that saw it struggle to meet a RM2 billion loan payment.

Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

June 4, 2015
Malaysia Has More Religious Freedom Than US, Singapore, Christian Group Says

There is more freedom of religion in Malaysia compared to Singapore and the United States, both of which imposes stricter laws against various faiths, a prominent Christian preacher said today.

President of a new non-governmental organisation Christians for Peace and Harmony Malaysia (CPHM), Reverend Wong Kim Kong said that an individual preaching a different religion can be prosecuted in Singapore but not in Malaysia.

“In Singapore, if you preach other religions in a sermon, or you pray to a god made of wood, they’ll report to the police under the Singapore Religious Harmony Act, you’ll (be) prosecuted.

“In Malaysia, even if you talk bad about a different religion, not that we want to, they won’t disturb you,” he said during a press conference ahead of CPHM’s official launch.

He claimed Malaysians are also allowed to freely practice their religions at any location while Americans face difficulty even when wanting to pray.

“For the Christians, the Buddhist, the Hindus, you can build a shrine anywhere, you can open a church in any shop lot.

“You can even form a church without registration because the constitution allows you to practice your religion.

“Even in America, you can’t pray. So it just depends on which angle you look at,” he said.

He also noted that the debacle over the usage if the word Allah, an Arabic word that means god, in Bibles using Bahasa Malaysia has also been misinterpreted as an attempt to convert Muslims into Christianity, which it is not.

“I want to assure you that the accusation is actually not true. The church, as far as I know, never use the word Allah to preach the gospel,” he said.

“But the word Allah is used by our Bahasa Malaysia-speaking congregation to denote the god that they believe. So it’s not a tool for evangelism,” he added.

He further explained that the usage of the term was in no way an attempt to coerce others into Christianity.

“But I cannot deny the reality that sometimes overzealous Christians share the good news, every religion has this type of people, but by and large the Malaysian Christians are not extremists.

“We don’t coerce, some may out of enthusiasm, but generally they are peace-making,” he said.

This comes amid religious tensions silently brewing in Malaysia, with right-wing Muslim groups like Perkasa and the Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) pitting themselves against various interfaith groups.

The country’s minority groups have repeatedly lashed out at the authorities’ allegedly nonchalant responses to remarks issued by Muslim fundamentalists against the sensitivities of the non-Muslims here, insisting that their inaction have only emboldened these groups and others into inciting more violence and hatred.

Earlier this year, influential UK paper Financial Times columnist David Pilling had written that growing religious intolerance in Asian countries could turn into a “disaster” for the region.

He cited Malaysia as an example of yet another country with “hardening ideology” but did not elaborate on the disaster this might cause.

Malaysia also made international headlines when it banned a Catholic Church publication from using the word “Allah”, which is deemed here as exclusive to Muslims, as well as the seizure of Malay and Iban medium Bibles from the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) last year.

In April this year, a group of Muslims protested against a church’s hanging of a cross on its facade, claiming the symbol was a threat to them and their religious beliefs.

Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

June 4, 2015
HSA Warns Against Consuming Two Illegal Pain Relief Products

The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has warned the public to steer clear of two illegal pain relief products after one left a consumer hospitalised.

One comes in powder form packed in unlabelled pink sachets. The other drug is a black tablet labelled as a “special effect rheumatism pill” in Mandarin.

The drugs, which claim to treat pain and rheumatism, were sold by a woman in her 60s.

The HSA said on Wednesday that laboratory tests of the products found undeclared potent ingredients, such as dexamethasone – a steroid which should only be used under strict medical supervision.

A woman in her 40s who had consumed the powdered product over a “prolonged period” was hospitalised for delirium, high blood sugar, and electrolyte imbalance in her blood, the HSA said.

She also had suspected Cushing’s syndrome, which is characterised by a round face or “moon face” and upper body obesity with thin limbs.

HSA enforcement officers uncovered the other illegal product after they raided the peddler’s home.

The HSA said that individuals who have been consuming the products should consult a doctor as soon as possible.

Anyone with information on the sale and supply of these two illegal products or other illegal products can contact the HSA’s enforcement branch at 6866 3485 or email:[email protected]

Source: www.straitstimes.com

June 4, 2015
Patrons At Rex Cinema Report Being Bitten And Seeing Bedbugs

It sounds like a scene from a horror movie. Patrons of the Rex Cinema claim they have been leaving with more than just shivers down their spine – after finding themselves covered in bedbugs.

The theatre in Mackenzie Road which shows Bollywood films has admitted to The Straits Times that it has a problem with the bugs – and pest controllers say it may not be the only cinema here to have them.

A group that watched a film at Rex on May 31 told how they began feeling uncomfortable during the two-hour showing.

Hairstylist Srirutiran Mathivanan, 29, said that as the movie was drawing to a close, his friend’s wife began complaining that she felt itchy.

When he turned on his mobile phone’s flashlight, he noticed that her hand was swollen – but that was not all.

“I saw many bedbugs at her feet and when I peeled the seat cushion back, even more came out,” said Mr Mathivanan, who added that he had previously been bitten at the cinema.

His friend, Mr Narasinga Rao Vandasan, 26, felt the incident was “no small matter”.

He said: “I sometimes see children going to the cinema. What if they get bitten? Cinemagoers don’t want to spread this to their friends and family.”

Mr Vandasan said the cinema’s management had previously told him they would clean up the place but the situation has not improved. “I don’t think I’ll go back to the cinema again,” he added.

Student Harini Vee, 20, who visits Rex Cinema once every two months, said: “The hygiene there is quite bad, especially during off-peak hours. It’s not uncommon to see popcorn bits on the floor. But bedbugs sound quite extreme, I wouldn’t have expected it.”

Rex Cinema acknowledged the problem and told The Straits Times it plans to install new seats by the end of next month.

Spokesman Noor Jahan said: “We get about two complaints about bedbugs a week. However, we have procedures in place to deal with them. Pest control conducts regular (cleaning) every week and we go in and clean the place after every show.

“We also offer to change the seats of patrons who complain about bedbugs mid-show, or offer compensation for those who complain after the show. If (Mr Mathivanan) had come to us, we would have offered him the same treatment.”

When contacted, other cinema operators said they have pest-control measures in place.

Shaw Theatres, for example, said all its cinemas are disinfected by specialists every month and no bedbug infestations have been reported.

Bedbug bites are manifested in rows of two or three bites – usually at the ankles or back of the neck. A female bedbug can lay up to 500 eggs in her lifespan of one year.

Mr John Ho, co-founder of Aardwolf Pestkare, recommends that cinemas be treated for bedbugs at least once a month. “Bedbugs are a continuous problem,” he said.

“Once their eggs are laid, there can be an infestation within three months. Bedbugs do not transmit diseases, they are just a source of irritation.”

Source: www.straitstimes.com

June 4, 2015
Measures Are In Place To Prevent MERS Outbreak In Singapore

Local hospitals have been reminded to remain vigilant and to stand ready to screen and isolate individuals suspected to suffer from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) Coronavirus, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Wednesday (Jun 3).

South Korea has confirmed five more cases of MERS, the Korean health ministry said early on Wednesday, bringing to 30 the total number of cases in the country of the often-deadly illness. All cases of infection in South Korea have been limited to household and hospital contacts among the patients, and all have been linked to the first identified case. Given this, the Health Ministry said there is no evidence of sustained community transmission in South Korea.

MOH revealed in a press release that three categories of patients with clinical signs or symptoms of pneumonia or severe respiratory infection with breathlessness, who travelled to the Middle East in the two weeks before onset, will be referred to any of its public and private hospitals for further evaluation to exclude the infection.

Patients from South Korea, and also those with fever and respiratory illness of any severity who had visited a healthcare facility while in the Middle East or South Korea will also be similarly referred, according to MOH.

Clinics said they will step up their precautionary measures on the Health Ministry’s advice.

“So when the situation gets worse, the Ministry of Health will tell us that we need to be vigilant and more alert about it,” said Dr Philip Koh, family physician at Healthway Tampines Clinic. “Then we will have to don our personal protective equipment, which is our masks, our gloves, and our goggles and basically the clinic will be turned into a pandemic centre of preparedness.”

“What happens is when a patient comes in, who is suspected of having fever, cough and breathlessness, will be attended to by a nurse donned with this personal protective equipment at the entrance,” added Dr Koh.

The Ministry said that temperature screening at air checkpoints for passengers arriving from the Middle East have been in place since May 18 last year. It said that health advisories continue to be in place at the local border checkpoints for travelers coming from and going to areas affected by MERS, and that screening may be ramped up to include passengers arriving from South Korea should evidence of sustained community spread turn up.

SIA HAS PLANS TO MINIMISE DISEASE SPREAD

Also on Wednesday, a Singapore Airlines (SIA) spokesperson assured that the national carrier has measures – “both on the ground and on board” – in place to “minimise the spread of diseases”. These include passenger screening by airport ground personnel.

“If any passenger appears to be unwell, he or she will be asked to see a doctor immediately. We will not carry any passenger whom we believe is a risk to others on board,” the spokesperson told Channel NewsAsia.

SIA added that it has developed standard operating procedures to handle various medical emergencies, including infectious diseases.

The airline said these measures “will be coupled with the health regulations implemented by local authorities”, citing cabin crew basic first-aid training as one of such measures.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

June 4, 2015