Tag: Malaysia

Malaysia Sacrifices Talent To Keep Malay Race On Top, Says Lee Kuan Yew

Malaysia is prepared to lose its talent through its race-based policies in order to maintain the dominance of one race, said Lee Kuan Yew in his new book which was launched tonight in Singapore.

And although Malaysia has acknowledged the fact that they are losing these talents and is making an attempt to lure Malaysians back from overseas, such efforts may be too little too late, he said.

“This is putting the country at a disadvantage. It is voluntarily shrinking the talent pool needed to build the kind of society that makes use of talent from all races.

“They are prepared to lose that talent in order to maintain the dominance of one race,” he said in the 400-page book called “One Man’s View of the World” (pic).
It features conversations between Lee and his long-time admirer, Helmut Schmidt, former leader of West Germany. They discussed world affairs when Schmidt visited Singapore last year.

In the book, Lee pointed out that Malaysia is losing ground and giving other countries a head start in the external competition.

About 400,000 of some one million Malaysians overseas are in Singapore, according to the World Bank.

When announcing the five-year plan for Malaysia, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said in Parliament in 2011, the government would set up a talent corporation to lure some 700,000 Malaysians working abroad back to the country.

But in his book, Lee said the demographic changes in Malaysia will lead to a further entrenchment of Malay privileges.

He noted that in the last 10 years, since the enactment of the New Economic Policy, the proportion of Malaysian Chinese and Indians of the total population has fallen dramatically.

“The Chinese made up 35.6 percent of the population in 1970. They were down to 24.6 percent at the last census in 2010. Over that same period, the Indian numbers fell from 10.8 percent to 7.3 percent,” he said.

He added, “40 percent of our migrants are from Malaysia.

“Those with the means to do so leave for countries farther afield. In the early days, Taiwan was a popular destination among the Chinese-educated.

“In recent years, Malaysian Chinese and Indians have been settling in Europe, America and Australia. Some have done very well for themselves, such as Penny Wong, Australia’s current finance minister.

“Among those who have chosen to remain in Malaysia, some lack the means to leave and others are making a good living through business despite the discriminatory policies. Many in this latter class partner with Malays who have connections.”

World Bank data for 2012 showed that the island republic has raced ahead of its neighbour, with gross domestic product per capita of US$51,709 compared with Malaysia’s US$10,381.

Najib had said Malaysia is set to become a high income developed nation as early as 2018, two years earlier than the targeted 2020.

Lee said in his book the separation of Singapore and Malaysia in 1965 marked “the end of a different vision in Malaysia on the race issue”.

He added, “Much of what has been achieved in Singapore could have been replicated throughout Malaysia. Both countries would have been better off.” – August 6, 2013.

Source: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/malaysia-sacrifices-talent-for-dominance-of-one-race-says-kuan-yew#sthash.OPmvUQYk.dpuf

October 10, 2014
Reprint of The Battle For Merger Launched

SINGAPORE: A reprint of the book The Battle For Merger – which contains a series of 12 radio talks written and given by former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew between Sep 13 and Oct 9, 1961 – was launched by the National Archives of Singapore on Thursday (Oct 9).

Originally published in 1962, it gives a vivid account of the then ongoing political struggle over the merger. But while the context of the talks was merger, the key focus was to expose the communists – who they were, how they operated and what their real aims were in opposing merger.

Present at the launch was Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Mr Teo Chee Hean, who said that the reprint comes as Singapore celebrates it’s 50th anniversary in 2015 – a significant milestone, especially as the country considers its “precarious and tumultuous beginnings”.

He noted that today the events surrounding merger are no longer at the forefront of the minds of Singaporeans – with the younger generation, especially those born after 1965, having no personal memory of these events. Mr Teo said that he hopes the re-publication of the book will awaken the interest among younger Singaporeans to the events of this period of history, as well as provide a “reality check” to revisionist views.

Mr Teo had pointed out that some revisionist writers have attempted to recast the role played by the communists and their supporters on the merger issue, portraying the fight as a peaceful and democratic disagreement over the type of merger – this while ignoring the more fundamental agenda of the communists to seize power by subversion and armed revolution.

He said the spirit of pioneers to rise above hardships of the moment, including the threat of communism, and focus on making Singapore a better country for the next generation is an inspiration for all Singaporeans. “This spirit, epitomised in The Battle For Merger, is a precious heritage which we all as Singaporeans should honour, recognise and emulate,” added Mr Teo.

Featuring photographs, newspaper articles and other artefacts, an exhibition is also being organised to accompany the re-launch of the book.

Held at the National Library Building, the exhibition is open to the public from Oct 9 to Nov 30. It will then travel to public libraries including Jurong Regional Library and Ang Mo Kio Public Library.

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/reprint-of-the-battle-for/1405456.html

October 9, 2014
‘Corruption’ is First Word When Malaysians Think of Their Government, survey says

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 — Most Malaysians immediately think of “corruption” the moment they are asked to talk about their government, while “profit” comes to mind when thinking about corporations, an international survey has revealed.

In the Corporate Perception Indicator 2014 survey jointly carried out by CNBC and Burson-Marsteller,1,076 Malaysians were asked the open-ended question of “What is the first thing that comes to the mind when you think of the government?”.

The resulting answer from both Malaysia’s 1,001 general public and the 75 executives polled was “corruption”, which was also the most popular word in most of the 25 countries surveyed.

This puts Malaysia in the company of the India, US, Brazil, Mexico, Columbia, UK, Spain and South Africa, while only the general public in neighbouring Indonesia, China, South Korea, Canada, Russia, UAE immediately linked “government” to “corruption”.

In a similar open-ended question on corporations, the top answer for the 1,076 Malaysian respondents was “profit” – a word similarly shared by most Asians polled including those in Indonesia, India, Japan and executives in Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea.

Malaysians polled in the survey also felt that small businesses were profit-driven.

The general public in Malaysia trusted the government the most to steer the local economy at 33 per cent, while executives here placed their trust in corporations instead at 31 per cent.

Most Malaysians also believed that the most important role for corporations is to strengthen the economy, with 44 per cent polled saying businesses had “just the right amount” of influence over the economy as opposed to firms wielding “too much” influence at 29 per cent.

A high number or 59 per cent of Malaysians polled said it was good for corporations to be influential as this would help drive economic growth, with a whopping 70 per cent pointing to businesses as a “source of hope” for them.

Out of all 25 countries, the Malaysians showed the strongest preference for multinationals at 43 per cent, while 37 per cent said it did not matter to them, with both those supporting domestic companies and who did not indicate a preference standing equally at 10 per cent.

Malaysians polled also believe the news media to be the most socially responsible industry, with many saying that firms should direct their corporate social responsibility efforts towards social welfare.

Malaysians picked heads of government out of 10 professions as both the most powerful and most respected people in society.

The Corporate Perception Indicator 2014 survey was jointly carried out by CNBC and Burson-Marsteller through online questionnaires answered by over 25,000 people between June 28 and August 15 this year.

The margins of error for the sample size in Malaysia of 1,001 members of the public and 75 high-ranking executives at companies employing more than 50 people are 3.10 per cent and 11.32 per cent respectively.

Source: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/corruption-is-first-word-on-malaysians-minds-when-thinking-of-government-su

September 30, 2014
Aliff Aziz Curi Telefon Bimbit, Didenda $2000

PENYANYI kelahiran Singapura yang telah mencipta nama di seberang Tambak, Aliff Aziz, dikenakan denda $2,000 Jumaat lalu atas kesalahan mencuri telefon bimbit.

Jika gagal membayar denda tersebut, dia boleh dipenjara 20 hari sebagai ganti.

Menurut kertas pertuduhan, Aliff, 23 tahun, atau nama sebenarnya Mohamad Aliff Aziz, didakwa mencuri dua telefon bimbit berjenama HTC one dan Samsung Note 1, yang setiap satu bernilai $800.

Telefon itu dimiliki seorang individu bernama Yong Kit Siong.

Aliff dikatakan mencuri telefon bimbit itu bersama seorang lagi lelaki bernama Muhammad Nurazlee Roslee pada atau sekitar 12.01 tengah malam pada 24 Mei lalu di kolong blok Blok 36 Tanglin Halt Road.

Bagi kesalahan mencuri, dia boleh dikenakan hukuman penjara sehingga tiga tahun, denda atau kedua-duanya sekali. Aliff didakwa di mahkamah buat kali pertama pada 16 Ogos lalu.

Satu laporan di laman akhbar Berita Harian Malaysia pada 27 Ogos lalu memetik ibu Aliff, Cik S. Hafiza Basharahil, sebagai berkata bahawa anaknya itu berada di Singapura ketika itu dan keadaannya baik-baik sahaja.

Menurutnya, Aliff berada di sini atas urusan peribadi dan akan pulang ke Kuala Lumpur dalam masa terdekat.

Sebelum itu, dia dikatakan telah menghilangkan diri daripada lokasi penggambaran sebuah drama dan pulang ke Singapura.

Aliff dan pasangan duetnya, Siti Nordiana, yang menyanyikan lagu Tak Ada Cinta Sepertimu, turut dicalonkan untuk kategori Kolaborasi Terbaik (Artis) bagi Anugerah Planet Muzik (APM) 2014 yang akan berlangsung pada 17 Oktober ini.

Menurut satu laporan di laman mStar Online bulan lalu pula, dia ditukil sebagai berkata dia tidak hilang, bersembunyi atau melarikan diri daripada sesiapa atau mempunyai masalah kewangan tetapi sebaliknya hanya berehat daripada industri seni buat sementara bagi menguruskan beberapa hal peribadi.

Dia juga berkata, dia memadamkan semua gambarnya di laman sosial Instagram kerana ingin mulakan hidup baru dan berjanji akan kembali semula dengan ‘Aliff yang baru’.

Menerusi laman Twitter miliknya di bawah nama @aliffaziz pula, artis muda itu memuat naik status kelmarin dengan berkata: “Selamat tengah hari dunia. Saya akan kembali tidak lama lagi. Tidak lama lagi.”

Sumber: http://beritaharian.sg/setempat/aliff-aziz-curi-telefon-bimbit-didenda-2000#sthash.bpRq5vrm.dpuf

September 30, 2014
Fallen Sex Blogger Alvin Tan Seeks Asylum and Citizenship in US

EXCLUSIVE: Two days ago, Alvin Tan chose to break his two-month long silence to the Malaysian media by leaving a comment on The Ant Daily website.

His comment resulted in an article yesterday titled “Has Alvin Tan of Alvivi finally surfaced?”

Reacting to that article, Alvin had posted another comment today using a new Facebook account (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007968164924), revealing details about his whereabouts and his future plans.

Alvin says that he is in the US presently, applying for asylum, and plans to become a US citizen in 5 years.

He also explains his reasons for leaving Malaysia and his comment forms an interesting rebuttal to his perceived trial-by-media.

We are unable to verify whether this account does in fact belong to the real Alvin Tan or is actually just an elaborate hoax. As such we are unable to vouch for the authenticity of the comment and will reproduce it here in verbatim.

“I never felt scared, because I’m not a fugitive at all (try “recognized asylum seeker”). All that talk of Interpol is just typical Umno/PDRM wayang. In any case, the US government isn’t just going to cooperate with PDRM to hand over a recognized political refugee (even the Department of State’s 2013 Human Rights Report on Malaysia cites my case for fu*&’s sake). That’s not how extradition works. I’ve already filed for asylum, and I’ve passed many preliminary filterings (interviews, documentation, court hearings) that pretty much guarantee that I won’t be deported/extradited.

And about trying to command attention among Malaysians, LOL… Come on, get real. Malaysia is a small and poor market, what does it matter even if I commanded everyone’s attention in Malaysia, which I did? Has any big stars ever came out of Malaysia, built on the strength of the pathetic 30-million-strong Malaysian market with super-low disposable income? There’s no critical or financial success to be gained from “making it big” in Malaysia (what an oxymoron).

Malaysia is nothing, and anyone who wants to make it big needs to get out. Malaysia is a toxic wasteland with tons of people with negative attitude; you can’t do anything creative or different, because people are too uneducated and the government too tyrannical.

So the reason that I’m quiet is not because I’m scared. It’s because I’m too busy building and enjoying my life here in one of the most modern, exciting, culturally-and-economically-significant cities in the world.

Why should I stay back to face trial, when it’s obvious I won’t get a fair trial? So that I can sacrifice one year of my precious 20s sitting in jail like Adam Adli? He wants to be a politician — that’s his problem. I have better things to aspire to. Now, I’m on track to get a Green Card in a year, and then US citizenship in five years. Admit it, I came out on top from the Ramadhan Bah Kut Teh saga, and you people are really bitter, angry, dissatisfied, and jealous about it.

I’ve burnt all my bridges with Malaysia and will not bother to comment further on anything even remotely related to Malaysia; I’ve sold all my stakes and therefore lost all legitimacy to speak credibly on it, so to speak. I won’t return forever too, so enjoy your “beautiful” country, you bumpkins. I’m simply taking Umno ministers’ advice of “you tak suka, you keluar,” and I love it. Maybe you bitter souls should try migrating too.”

So there you have it, right from the horse’s mouth.

His comment does seem to show the same defiance that is his trademark. Yet, if we strip away the anger and bluster, we see a voice speaking his views (right or wrong be damned), and more importantly, if he truly is in the US and applying for citizenship, a person who does not only talk, but also walks the talk.

Can we say the same for most politicians and officials in Malaysia?

September 24, 2014