The case for a new policy framework - by R B Bhattacharjee, The Edge Malaysia (week of Dec 19-Dec 25, 2011)

Re-produced from his "My Say" column by The Edge associate editor R B Bhattacharjee which was published in the Edge Malaysia, week of Dec 19 - Dec 25, 2011:-

A key lesson of the eurozone crises that is relevant to Malaysia related to the problem of mismanagement of government budgets and the ability to hide this bad practice. The Greek budget deficit, for example, was twice the amount that was reported in official records, for which the country was duly punished by the market.

A second issue is moral hazard, in the form of incentives that promote misbehaviour, such as the generous bailout of businesses. In particular, it is the idea that a financial institution could be "too big to fail" since if it were allowed to go under, it could bring about the collapse of the system because of the interlinkages with other banks.

These were among the points made by Professor Woo Wing Thye, the incoming executive director of the Penang Institute, in his discussion of the Penang in Asia lecture that was delivered by Nobel Laureate Professor Sir James A Mirrlees at the launch of the state-funded think tank earlier this month.

In a brutally frank synopsis of Malaysia's economic malaise, Woo outlined several factors that need to be addressed to steer the country away from a downward trajectory. His message is a sobering one that bears being paid careful attention to.

Woo's opinion carries the weight of a highly distinguished academic career and formidable advisory portfolio. They include concurrent professorial posts at four universities in the US and China, leadership of international economic task forces and projects and advisory positions on government and international panels, including the International Advisory Panel to former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and the chairmanship of the International Economic Advisory Panel of Penang. He was born and had his early education in Penang.

In relation to the encumbrance of institutions that are "too big to fail", Woo noted that the experience in the US was to strive to remedy this problem. When President Barack Obama had talked about "the change we are waiting for", what he had aimed for, according to his adviser Paul Volcker, was to remove the relevance of the "too big to fail" factor. Basically, by having many more financial institutions, if any one were to fail, it would not matter.

With reference to Malaysia, Woo pointed out that this hazard exists in the key role that Petronas plays in the country's finances. The world's experience with state oil companies is that they would fail in the middle of a boom, he said. Indonesia's Pertamina failed in 1974 in the middle of the Opec boom and PetroMexico collapsed in the midst of the second Opec shock.

"These state oil companies were overextended and not very transparent", Woo said. "They were basically the cash registers of their governments.

"It is a good thing to have more transparency because the balance sheet of Petronas links directly to the government budget. If Petronas is in trouble, the government budget is in trouble," Woo observed.

The great emphasis is on getting the public to accept the goods and services tax, he opined, signals that Petronas may be in weaker shape than we think.

To mitigate the moral hazard, Volcker's response was to make sure that there were not institutions that were "too big to fail" because the banks in the US were too concentrated and had the lobbying power to resist the US Congress's efforts to institute meaningful regulatory reforms and open up the market.

Malaysia's response to the 1998 financial crisis was to reduce the number of financial institutions from 58 to 10 - that is to concentrate them. Tellingly, Woo's comment that "big banks are very useful because they can become a very convenient source of campaign finance" struck a chord with the audience.

The concentration of financial institutions had another insidious effect. "When we grouped these banks into much smaller numbers, it was basically close to a confiscation of private property," said Woo. "I think this contributed to the collapse of private investment in Malaysia after 2001 and is responsible for us being stuck in the middle-income trap."

The reason that the government could concentrate financial power in a few hands is that it is overly strong, resulting in the centralisation of decision-making powers, he said. This is seen in other areas too, such as in transport policy. "For example," said Woo, "which route the bus takes in Penang and where the bus stops are put is decided in Putrajaya."

This is the result of an outdated policy framework that is still being continued, although domestic conditions have changed, he said. For example, Malaysia no longer has cheap labour but has become highly dependent on imported labour for many economic activities.

"The biggest reason we are belly up is that the world has changed," said Woo. "The strong government has put in place policies that systematically drove away domestic capital. This is why Malaysia hasn't run a current account surplus in years, which, in other words, means capital flight."

He noted that a recent report by the Washington-based think tank Global Financial Integrity ranked Malaysia No. 5 in terms of capital outflow. Not only that, there has been a serious occurrence of brain drain.

Although the economy had grown 9% a year previously despite the flight of capital and talent, this was no longer possible because, according to Woo, "the world changed in May 2000". He was referring to the events that led to the collapse of the World Trade Organisation talks and China's entry into the body.

"All the FDI that was brought in to replace the capital that had fled disappeared," said Woo. "That was why our growth rate has gone from 9% to 4% since then. The capital flight and brain drain have systematically undermined the move towards a knowledge-based economy."

Citing the World Bank report entitled "Malaysia Economic Monitors: Smart Cities" that was released last month, Woo pointed to the discussion of the poor state of university education in the country in comparison with our regional peers. He highlighted the case of Universiti Malaya, which was ranked No. 207 in the QS World University Rankings 2010.

"It is a sorry tale of how we have run ourselves into intellectual isolation," said Woo.

"What Malaysia has to do is correct this wrong policy framework. A strong state was the right thing at the founding of the federation but over time, given the changes within the country and outside, we need a new policy climate."

Bitter medicine, indeed, but can we afford to ignore it?    

huh? what recession?

Just take a cursory view of the stockmarket lately and you'd be thinking: "when is this blasted recession supposed to be due?" Food and beverage stocks are now pushing the ceiling to new 52-week highs amidst doomy predictions of rising raw materials costs. Analysts can be totally wrong. On the other side of the coin, electronic and electrical exporters are suffering a crush and banking stocks have fallen from last year's highs. Plantation stocks are doing so-so. Anyway, time to sit back and watch as the new plateau take shape. I'd like to sell my Nestle counter for recession seed-money/war chest but it's moving upwards right now so i'll just wait till it settles to its new plateau. Or it might burst its bubble but i doubt it cos all the other food stocks are trending upwards too.

have fun will travel

i enjoy taking a trip out of sleepy hollow, out of the country, every once in a while. It really helps me to get a true perspective on life and not succumb to the gold-fish-bowl syndrome. Many a times i have thought to myself how "bad" things are but really after seeing and talking to people elsewhere, you come to the conclusion that life where you are and what you face daily isn 't really that bad after all. People, places elsewhere have got it bad, but not so yourself. Not really. People work longer hours, face all sorts of problems at work and in life, have their own personal tragedies to deal with and still have to turn up at the office each day and do whatever distasteful things that their bosses command them to do. And if you thought that the government was bad, well, it could certainly be better but it's not the pits neither. I'm travelling again over the next few days and i take this opportunity to soak in the sights and open my eyes and my mind to possibilities and get out of this mentality of self-doubt and self-pity.  The world's about to enter into recession again (unless something miraculous happens in Europe) and it's a good time to looksy around at what's happening outside the tanahair. Even more intriguing is travelling with my 2-year old daughter in tow. She's going out of malaysia/singapore and flying on a plane for the first time in her life and this will also be an opportunity for her to soak in the sights and smells of life outside of home.  

finding happiness in life

In the words of George Bernard Shaw:-

"This is the true joy in life - that being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one. That being a force of nature, instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as i live it is my privilege to do for it whatever i can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die. For the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It's a sort of splendid torch which I've got to hold up for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."

as the stomach turns

Lately there have been several below-the-belt attempts by neo-conservatives in this country to use the Sultans as justification for clamping down on legitimate free speech. Take the case of the International Islamic University of Malaysia's law lecturer Prof Dr Abdul Aziz Bari who has been issued a show-cause letter from that university's disciplinary board for his remarks published in a news portal regarding the Sultan’s decree that no persons be prosecuted for the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (JAIS) inspection during a thanksgiving dinner by NGO Harapan Komuniti at the Damansara Utama Methodist Church in Petaling Jaya in Aug 3. What was plainly an academic discussion from a learned source on a matter of public importance has been deemed as an assault against the Sultans themselves and an excuse to clamp down on legitimate public discourse and free speech. Such cynical disregard for the right of the public to know and be informed of its rights and the use and abuse of the Sultans as a weapon of choice must be nipped in the bud immediately before the rot is allowed to fester and stew. We have become accustomed to politicians and their minions using the Sultans as and when they see fit to suit their agenda and the trend has only worsened in recent years. We give an inch, they take a mile. Then they take a few hundred more miles. Until one day, we wake up and find that we are stooges to be told what to think and say. If they have forgotten, we have NO lese majesty laws in Malaysia and our freedom from such archaic laws is something that we can be rightfully proud of. Certain countries may have need for lese majesty laws but they are always at best, criticised or at worse, ridiculed outright for it internationally. The Sultans may be the head of Islam in their respective states and that gives them the authority to make proclamations on all matters of Islam. But if an issue affects non-Muslims as well, you can hardly say that it is the sole and exclusive prerogative of the Sultans to comment on such matters which must then immediately be closed off in a vacuum-proofed seal and kill all further discussion or investigation into the truth of the matter. NO WAY. We need to fight tooth and claw against such insidious attempts to stifle our basic right to free speech and fair comment. So STOP using the Sultans to justify your narrow-mindedness. The Sultans don't need you to defend them. Our Sultans are clever enough to speak up for themselves and to join public discourse affecting their non-Muslim subjects. Don't insult their intellect by suggesting that they're not capable of standing up for themselves or backing up what they have said. Stop it. It's disgusting.

My First Home Scheme

Right. The Government announced in the PM's Budget 2012 speech on 7th October, 2011 that, effective from 1st January 2012, the "My First Home Scheme" first launched in March this year to assist young people to buy and own their first homes would increase its present ceiling limit of RM220,000 to RM400,000 (the price of the home). So this means that if you're aged from 18-35, is/are employed in the private sector, is/are a confirmed employee with the same employer for at least 6 months and your combined household income does not exceed RM3,500-00 (i know, they reported it as RM3,000-00 but bankers informed me otherwise - so if you earn RM3,000 a month and your wife earns RM2,000 then as husband and wife jointly you do not qualify unless only one of you apply for the scheme), techinically you MIGHT be eligible for 100% financing in the purchase of your first home. You can buy landed or stratified (condos, apartments, flats) properties it doesn't matter. The government's national mortgage company Cagamas Bhd will guarantee your downpayment of 10% deposit so that the loan covers everything, including even an extra 5% financing to cover fire insurance/takaful. But that's not all. The term of the loan is 30 years' tenure but if  you're a graduate or a professional, the banks can, on a case-to-case basis, stretch your loan tenure to 40 years (elitism? you tell me). Other criteria filtering out loan applicants include the requirement that your savings' reserve be at least 3 times your loan instalment sum and your combined household income is at least 3 times your total monthly commitments (that means your housing loan plus car loan, student loan, etc) or, with the approval of Cagamas Bhd, your combined household income be at least 2 times your total monthly commitments. Contrary to rumours, you DO NOT enjoy 100% exemption off stamp duty (not for the transfer nor the loan) but since this is your first home, and provided that the price of your home is not more than RM350,000-00, you get a 50% discount off stamp duty like any other first-time house buyer. (Eligible buyers of the government's other scheme, the PR1MA in which developers build on land given to them by the govt get to enjoy 100% stamp duty exemption off their loan but not My First Home Scheme). There are no other restrictions, you can sell off your home like other property owners at any time (unlike PR1MA where there is a 10-year moratorium against selling your property) but subject of course to real property gains tax as usual. Details are a bit sketchy but under the old scheme, only husband and wife or siblings are eligible. Friends, business partners, relatives do not qualify. And if you already bought a house previously and sold it off and now you want to buy a new house, you do not qualify neither. Only first-time, VIRGIN house buyer is eligible, geddit?

The following 25 banks/financial institutions are participants in the My First Home Scheme:

1. Affin Bank Bhd
2. Affin Islamic Bank Bhd
3. Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd
4. Alliance Islamic Bank Malaysia Bhd
5. AmBank Bhd
6. AmIslamic Bank Bhd
7. Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd
8. Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd
9. CIMB Bank Bhd
10. CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd
11. EON Bank Bhd
12. EONCAP Islamic Bank Bhd
13. Hong Leong Bank Bhd
14. Hong Leong Islamic Bank Bhd.
15. Maybank Bhd
16. Maybank Islamic Bank Bhd
17. OCBC Bank Malaysia Bhd
18. OCBC Al Amin Bhd
19. Public Bank Bhd
20. Public Islamic Bank Bhd
21. RHB Bank Bhd
22. RHB Islamic Bank Bhd
23. United Overseas Bank Malaysia Bhd
24. Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Bhd
25. Standard Chartered Saadiq Bhd

Unfortunately, the interest rate for this scheme will cost more. I am informed by a source at the time of writing that, while the interest rate for housing loans is now BLR - 2.2%, under the My First Home Scheme the interest rate is BLR - 1.8%. So, stretch that over 30 or 40 years and this scheme isn't exactly going to save you money.

At the end of the day, you decide whether this scheme really helps young salary earners to buy their first home or it is just another elections gimmick with precious little to offer in substance.

Hazy rants

I've a bone to pick with the Indonesian government. Or rather, the lack of thereof. I'm talking about the haze which has become a yearly fixture for us here in south east asia and has worsened to become a serious health hazard. My father, a senior citizen of 75 years old, has been suffering from coughing fits for over a fortnight now. His doctor tells us that at least 4 other elderly patients have been admitted into the hospital Intensive Care Unit for haze-related acute respiratory problems. This isn't funny, if the Indonesian government continues to sit on its ass and do nothing while its peat land/jungles burn, then i propose that the matter be taken OUT of the Indonesian government's hands and into the international arena. They have had more than 10 years to deal with the fucking problem and they have utterly failed. They are making our lives miserable because they are too impotent or too corrupt to enforce the letter of the law and stop these burnings. Will Indonesia bear our medical bills? Fat chance. So screw them. If they're helpless to control what goes on in their land which has been causing us so much grief and anguish just because we are unfortunate enought to be their next door neighbours, then we, as victims of the Indonesian government's gross incompetence and mismanagement, have the right to take matters into our own hands. Sue their pants off in the International Court of Justice. Even if we get only a paper judgment, at least that's good enough, if only just to put on record that the Indonesian government is/can be held liable for its actions or omissions. I'm talking TORT their asses off. I'm fed-up and so is everyone else.

This Hari Raya

I just had a beautiful, satisfying dream. And it prompted me to wake up, log on and blog about something important that has been happening in the Arab world of late. Because what is happening in the Maghreb is of incalculable importance to the rest of the world, including us in Malaysia. If the events of the Arab Spring were to usher in a new era of fairness, justice, transparency and truly democratic, representative governments in a part of the world long mired in corruption, darkness and repression, then the Arabs who have succeeded where so many others have failed would now become as beacons of light to the rest of the world, including us in Malaysia. May God bless them and guide them in their hour of need.  

Say what you mean and mean what you say

Today I found a man who agrees with me on the meaning of this word: "stakeholder". Radzuan Halim, a former Merchant Banker who now teaches MBA and law students, puts it succinctly in the forum column of The Edge Malaysia weekly business paper for the week of August 15-21, 2011:

"Of late, we find people within a financial setting saying, 'We will ensure the rights of all stakeholders'. "Stakeholder" is actually a third party to whom parties taking a bet or making a purchase entrust their money or make a deposit.

Over time, the term has become wrongly associated with someone having an interest in a particular matter. Shareholders, employers, creditors, suppliers and taxman have "interests" in a company but should not be described as stakeholders in it.

The above diversion is intended to show, firstly, that inaccuracies often creep into word usage and, secondly, that meanings of words do change with time and given sufficient persistent usage, the "wrong" meaning can become accepted. I suspect "stakeholder", which had been wrongly applied to start with, is now accepted to mean an "interested party."

Thanks for setting the record straight, Radzuan. I have the same problem trying to reconcile what i know to be the definition of "stakeholder" with what has crept into common usage and popular understanding nowadays. I guess that if you repeat something often enough, what started off as a false premise could eventually be accepted to be the truth. That doesn't really gel too well with me but it does get down to that when push comes to shove. Adoi!

the Viet Cong picture

There is something strangely comforting about this photo which is supposed to shock and repulse ordinary folks but in my mind i've been in some situations when i feel like that viet cong and this photo captures the essence of such moments.

The protectionist threat

I've been getting a free ride lately as far as coming up with a reading list is concerned.

I read chartered accountant Andrew Sheng's column in the Star newspaper biz section every saturday and follow through on his recommended reads. His latest one is "The Next Convergence - the future of economic growth in a multispeed world" by nobel prize winner Michel Spence, professor of economics at the Stern School of Business at New York University. This excerpt which is taken from Part Four, Chapter 30, page 189 is noteworthy:

"The flow of knowledge, finance, and technology that underpins sustained high growth rates in emerging economies is closely linked to an open, rules-based, and globalized economy. Yet this global construct is coming under pressure in an environment in which advanced countries have stubbornly high unemployment and experience bouts of financial volatility. Growth  in the global economy comes to be seen as a zero-sum game, leading to suboptimal reactions.

As a result, the continued openess of industrial-country markets cannot be taken for granted. Political and policy narratives are becoming more domestic and narrow, while the international agenda and those voices advocating collective common global interests are having greater difficulty being heard."

In short, if the developed/industrialised nations decide to start slapping tariffs on imports and provoke a similar response from emerging market countries, this would be the start of a trade war and a lose-lose situation on all sides. What is truly scary is that the Doha round of trade talks which started in 2001 has been stalled for close to a decade now and the propects of WTO nations coming to a meeting of minds appear elusive. Unless Doha can somehow reach a conclusion and achieve a fresh consensus to strengthen the global free trade system, everyone's growth prospects will be jeopardised. So it's either Lose-lose or Win-win.

Aladdin

(Aladdin in the Magic Garden, an illustration by Max Liebert from Ludwig Fulda's Aladin und die Wunderlampe)

I didn't know until today that Aladdin was Chinese. I always thought that, well, Aladdin was Arab since you know, it's from an Arabian folktale, 1001 nights.



The World's coming second recession

The recent weak performance of equities and lack-lustre IPOs (other than crony companies that we all know of) have made me think twice about investing in the local bourse/equities. Consequently, i have put all my extra cash into boring old fixed deposits. What the hell, I figure that money in the bank/cash at hand is safer even though i would be suffering depreciation from negative real interest in light of the prevailing real inflation rate (the official inflation rate is a joke). The world economy looks very very shaky now and i fear that the shit will hit the fan not long now. China is slowing down, USA is going nowhere, Europe looks ripe for a big old shit-hits-the-fan scenario with the Euro's very existence under threat. I mean look, we never really got out of the Great Recession of 2008, we just printed money and drove up the prices of commodities and when growth didn't come, they (meaning the USA) printed more money. China continued chugging along, but by itself China won't hold up the rest of the world. It doesn't look pretty. So all i'm doing right now is watch as a by-stander and not invest in anything.

Tolerating Failure

Excerpt taken off chapter 7 of the best-selling management book: "in Search of Excellence Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies" by Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman Jr.

A special attribute of the success-oriented, positive, and innovating environment is a substantial tolerance for failure. James Burke, Johnson & Johnson's CEO, says one of J & J's tenets is that "you've got to be willing to fail". He adds that General Johnson, J & J's founder, said to him, "If I wasn't making mistakes, I wasn't making decisions." Emerson's Charles Knight argues: "You need the ability to fail. You cannot innovate unless you are willing to accept mistakes." Tolerance for failure is a very specific part of the excellent company culture - and that lesson comes directly from the top. Champions have to make lots of tries and consequently suffer some failures or the organization won't learn.

One vital observation about failure: it's a lot less punishing with regular dialogue. The big failures, the ones that really leave scars, are usually the ones in which a project was allowed to go on for years without serious guidance. Such eventualities rarely occur in the no-holds-barred communication environment at the excellent companies. The exchange is frank and honest. You can't hide the really bad news, and you don't want or need to.

So the champion's supports are many. The specific devices unearthed number in the hundreds; the evidence presented barely scratches the surface of our data bank. None is a panacea. Each is merely illustrative. The skein of interlocked - and everchanging - supports per se is the message.

Specifically, champions don't automatically emerge. They emerge because history and numerous supports encourage them to, nurture them through trying times, celebrate their successes, and nurse them through occasional failures. But given the supports, the would-be champion population turns out to be enormous, certainly not limited to a handful of creative marvels.

Ye Olde Bicycles

While moving stuff out of my grandma's old house which we sold recently, my dad's two old Ah Pek bicycles came into focus. They were a pair of man's and lady's bicycles, the man bike having a horizontal bar across from the seat to the handlebars while the lady's one was slightly smaller without the horizontal bar (hence, lady. geddit?) They had been rusting away for years, tyres flattened and my dad insisted to have them restored back to working order so yours truly grumpily did the honours. I took them first to the local bike smith, a man whose name i didn't know but whose face i knew since when i was a wee teeny bopper riding a chopper bike. Both the olde bikes were locked and we had lost the keys so the bike smith said he'd have to break or dismantle the locks. After seeking a second opinion and being told by a nearby young locksmith that there was nothing that he could do to open the locks, i brought the bikes back to the bike smith for him to do his job.

That's the green man bike. Anyway, the bike smith was all smiles and he proceeded to work on the female bike first. While i walked off to attend to another business, he took out the wheels and refitted new inner tubes and tyres.

The lady bike also had a basket upfront which would be useful when dad decided to go out hunting for free mangoes around our neighbourhood. I remember riding these "Ah Pek" bikes when i was teeny bopper and younger, they were some funny times.
Once i rode them without brakes and almost collided into a bunch of school kids after school was over. I went like: "Hoooyyyyyyyyy!!!!"

And these babies weigh a tonne too. Ah the good old days when primary commodities were still cheap and plentiful! The bike smith seemed to relish restoring these old babies and he even asked me if i wanted to sell them, especially the green man's bike. I told him no, cos my dad, over 70s he may be, but he wants to ride them. So the uncle worked steadily on them without as much as breaking into a sweat. He worked seamlessly and with great experience, feeling the little nuts and screws with his nimble fingers, oiling the gears and pedals, checking the brakes and using ordinary items like just an ordinary piece of wood to bend and fit things back into shape. When he heard a cranky noise, he'd bang and bend until the noise was no more.

Now, i have known this uncle for over 25 years, and if he was a mature man back then, surely he must be into his 60s now, at least. I was pretty impressed with uncle. To him, it was more a labour of love and less for profit as this was something that he enjoyed doing.

Almost before i knew it, within 40 mins he had put the lady's bike back to working order. I will come back again tomorrow to collect the green man bike but for today at least, dad gets to ride the old grey lady.

Day trip to the Indonesian Embassy, Kuala Lumpur to renew maid's passport

I took a day off work today to drive my Indonesian maid up to Kuala Lumpur to renew her passport at the Indonesian Embassy along Jalan Tun Razak. Her passport validity period had less than a year left to her work permit, so we had to renew it before local immigration authorities will renew her work permit in Malaysia. We arrived at around 9.15am and the sheer number of peoples already there was staggering. Thousands had arrived and long queues had already formed for application forms, taking a number (ours was number 2123) and the photo session. It had been around 3 years since my last visit to the Indonesian Embassy and the procedure this time was different. They didn't allow outside photos anymore - you had to get your maid to queue up to have her photo taken by the Embassy which will be used for her passport application. It was pretty hectic and after some querying fellow-queuers i managed to find out what was to be done. Apart from photocopies of the employer's IC, maid passport and her work permit, they also wanted insurance coverage for your maid and a contract of employment. The insurance you could easily purchase for cash just outside the Embassy gates from one of the many agents and touts selling their services at RM85-00 only for a 26-month policy from Great Eastern insurance company. They would immediately issue you with the insurance proposal form and an official receipt - you have to photocopy the proposal form for the passport application and keep the original copy yourself. The contract of employment is a standard document prepared by the Embassy which is given to you along with your maid's passport application forms. (By the way, i tried calling the Embassy before my trip but no one picked up the telephone for my matter). The contract of employment you fill up, sign (as employer) and date it the same day that you are at the embassy to renew your maid's passport. The rest is just waiting waiting and waiting for your number to be called inside the embassy's air-conditioned office which was filled to the brim with people, people and more people. The passport costs only RM18, which came as a pleasant surprise. During previous years they had charged RM150, then a few years ago it came down to RM50 and now it's just RM18. And photocopying charges inside the embassy is free-of-charge though you have to queue up for it. The staff were courteous and helpful, so apart from the waiting time which i spent alternatively between reading newspapers and staring at the numbers on the electronic counter in front, all in it was a pleasant transaction. At the end of day, around 5.30pm, we finally got our passport in the waiting area (non air-conditioned) outside. They had issued my maid a 5-year passport (i verbally requested for 5 years specifically) with 24 pages. Previously they only issued 3-year passports. Well, there's progress. Now, if only the Indonesians could also do something about the haze...

Hypocrisy Ad Nauseam



Unelected Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has been reported in the Guardian newspaper, UK as having thrown his endorsement behind silat groups to fight against Bersih while the police rehearsed using banners that threaten to shoot at demonstrators unless they disperse. For an UNELECTED PM, this shows great gall and monumental hypocrisy. This is especially so in the light of the Najib administration's parading before the world that Malaysia is a model of "moderation" and self-hailing our country as an example worthy of emulation by developing democratic nations. But nothing could be further from the truth. Behind his facade of pretended moderation, Najib's administration has quietly presided over the inexplicable deaths of 2 men whilst in MACC custody, the yet-to-be-resolved Altantuya Shariibu murder case which has implicated Najib personally despite the administration's vigorous and bare denials, the sordid sex video drama alleging the Opposition Leader's involvement which brought local politics literally to an even more below-the-belt level and the recent arrest since June 22nd of over 230 people including women and minors amidst threats to use the archaic colonial era's Internal Security Act against Bersih 2.0 supporters under ridiculous charges of "communism" and waging war against the Constitutional Monarchy. All of which smacks of blatant wrongs un-righted and gross abuses of power hiding beneath a tissue-thin veneer of "moderation" and "reform". Najib's administration is slowly but surely losing its tenuous claim to legitimacy and choses NOT moderation and reform, as it publicly proclaims, but feudal repression and a myopic style of administration. It can at least spare us and other nations its wholly unmerited claim to the former.

Freedom from the 'F' word

by Anil Netto (reproduced from Sunday Observer column

published in the Herald, July 3, 2011)

One of the recurring themes of the New Testament is Jesus' proclamation, right at the outset of his ministry, that the kingdom of God is at hand.

What exactly is the nature of this mysterious kingdom? We don't have to look far to find it in the guiding principles in the Beatitudes: Blessed are the poor, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peace-makers, those who mourn.

Then a more radical edge: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Reflecting how important the cause of righteousness (justice) is, Jesus promises that those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake will be the major players or, to use corporate jargon, "stakeholders" of the kingdom - "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven".

The words 'justice' and 'righteousness' are almost similar. We know God is a god of justice and righteousness. So concerned was he for justice that he guided an oppressed people out of slavery. In fact, the words "just" or "justice"; "righteous" or "righteousness", occurs several hundred times in the scriptures.

The quest for justice is closely linked to God's concern for the poor and the oppressed. Indeed, there is a strong bias towards the poor (and by extension the means of redressing the situation i.e. distributive justice) in the scriptures. No wonder, the first Beatitude is "Blessed are the poor". And at the start of Jesus' ministry, he proclaimed the Spirit of the Lord is with him, because God has anointed him to preach the good news to the poor. "He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed."(Luke 4:18)

In the Beatitudes, Jesus, however, warns that those who hunger for righteousness or justice (including, by logical extension, those who proclaim or work for justice) may be persecuted. Indeed, the first disciples of Jesus - and others who followed them down the ages - who proclaimed the Good News were persecuted, tortured and even put to death.

It is not easy to be brave and courageous in the face of adversity or oppression. The disciples of Jesus had much to be afraid of. Their leader had been given an unfair trial,  and then crucified in the most barbaric fashion. Who could blame the disciples for cowering in fear from such brutal depravity?

Such fear is a debilitating, paralysing force that eats the soul, drains us of energy and disempowers us. How to proclaim Jesus is Lord and work for his kingdom of justice, love, peace and truth when the consequences could be dire?

Those who proclaim the truth of the Good News, therefore, need much courage and fearlessness. And this fearlessness will come from the Spirit. I like what Dr Xavier Pereira wrote about empowerment. When people are empowered, they will realise that they can make a difference not only within the church but in the world outside, joining hands with people of goodwill around them to promote the values of the kingdom - i.e. justice, peace and compassion - in the world around us.

The same Spirit that empowers us will help us deal with our fears. Jesus recognised that the kingdom would not be realised if his disciples are paralysed with fear. No wonder, he repeatedly urged his disciples when he appeared to them after his death, "Do not be afraid. I am with you always." Throughout the bible, the phrase appears in one way or another "be not afraid, "do not fear" ... In fact, one of the most well known verses of Scripture sums it up: "The Lord is my shepherd, who shall I fear?"(Psalm 23:1).

Burma's Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, herself a victim of persecution in the cause of justice and truth, recognises the importance of dealing with fear: "The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear." Yes, only when we get rid of the 'F' word - FEAR - will we be able to realise the vision of the kingdom.

We need to hold on fast to the conviction that the Spirit who dispels our Fears will lead us to truth, justice, love, compassion and to the other F-word, real Freedom.

A Samad Said's "seditious" poem

THE POEM

Note: A. Samad Said read out only the last two stanzas of his poem

Unggun-bersih

Semakin lara kita didera bara -
kita laungkan juga pesan merdeka:
Demokrasi sebenderang mentari
sehasrat hajat semurni harga diri.

Lama resah kita – demokrasi luka;
lama duka kita – demokrasi lara.
Demokrasi yang angkuh, kita cemuhi;
suara bebas yang utuh, kita idami!

Dua abad lalu Sam Adams berseru:
(di Boston dijirus teh ke laut biru):
Tak diperlu gempita sorak yang gebu,
diperlu hanya unggun api yang syahdu.

Kini menyalalah unggun sakti itu;
kini merebaklah nyala unggun itu.


The Bersih Fire
(English translation)

As the coals that molest us rage higher
we shout still the message of Merdeka
for democracy as bright as the sun
as pure as dignity our purpose is one

Deep is our worry – as democracy’s wounds
long is our sadness – as democracy’s woes
at arrogant democracy we scorn
for a strong free voice we dream

Two centuries ago Sam Adams decreed
in Boston was tea poured into blue seas
no need for riotous shouts full of ire
only for a truly heartfelt fire

Alight now the sacred fire
spread afar raging higher.

the Malaysian Dilemma

Whenever i am in a foreign land and some one asks me where i am from, i'd tell them "Malaysia". Depending on your point of view, you may or may not be surprised at the various reactions that follow. Americans would immediately frown and start querying me about our country's dubious honour of being a human smuggling hub or how the Malaysian government has so done us/itself not proud. Or they would just clam up immediately and stop conversing with me after a snort of disapproval. Singaporeans generally look on us as "Johor chut lai ge lang" in hokkien meaning people who come out from Johor across the causeway into their little island. Indonesians have a generally favourable impression though you'd be prone to be doubtful once you've read the comments posted by some Indonesian Ultras about Malaysia on the web. Filipinos are a mixed base, some feel that "everything about Malaysia is wrong" while others are quite neutral about us. Westerners in general would query me about "why half of Malaysia is in their backyard", be it in Australia or Britain. I often come away from my first meetings with foreigners feeling a sense of dejection at the response that i get. On average, Malaysia hasn't fared very well. Badly, in fact. People had a better impression of me BEFORE i told them which country i was from. And why is this? Because our government cavorts with less-than-wholesome figures on the international stage? This is a legacy from the Mahathir Administration which was constantly at loggerheads with the West in particular. After being labelled "recalcitrant" by former Aussie PM Paul Keating, mahathir's world-wide captive audience must have trebled overnight, publicity-shy he is not. And the old man simply wouldn't shut up even now that he is officially no longer Prime Minister of Malaysia. Could it also be the things that some Malaysians do overseas or at home even that give us all a bad name? From Malaysians travelling abroad as drug mules or plane jumpers/throwers/illegal immigrants, Malaysian-based syndicates counterfeiting everything from CDs to Credit Cards, Malaysian top student turned hooker to Malaysian companies illegally cutting timber in Papua New Guinea or some third world country or even closer to home in Sarawak state and being tagged as robber-baron companies? I attribute such faults to be a lack of education or civic-mindedness on our part. That in turn is the fault of the Malaysian education system, and by implication, the fault of the Malaysian government. It is heartening that the Najib administration has taken tentative steps to get on a better footing with the West and other countries that MATTER in the world and not cosy up to some dictator crackpot chickenshit regime halfway across the globe because my enemy's enemy is my friend. But of course, substance matters at the end of the day. Foreigners will be watching Malaysia very closely to see whether the current Malaysian government is truly reforming or is merely paying lip service to "reform" while business goes on as usual. Take the current drive to reduce subsidies and the budget deficit. Both are commendable efforts. The government has also embarked upon a campaign of educating the public on the prices of goods and passed anti-profiteering legislation. But the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so it remains to be seen how effective enforcement of such laws are. It would be tragic that, if because it is now actually doing what ought to be done, the government's political support begins to evaporate on public perception that subsidies are the people's God-given right and if you fail to support me, i too, will not give you my support. I have been a harsh critic of the government and i am not alone in thinking that Najib was not the best choice of candidate for Prime Minister in any given situation. But if we are stuck with what/whomever is declared by the powers-that-be to be our top dog and unless this government actually LOSES in the 13th General Elections (to be declared by 2013), we will just have to put up with the status quo in the hope that genuine change with the current regime is indeed a real possibility and not just another Public Relations job as we have become so weary of.

Instant Ramen fever

I'm a big japanese ramen fan and while i only occasionally dine in authentic japanese ramen restaurants, i do pig out at home quite often on instant ramen, as shown in the picture above. This brand is really my personal favourite among the plethora of instant noodles available today in our local supermarket shelves. A pack of 5 packets retails for about RM8.20 normal price, but quite often major local supermarket chains sell at a special offer price of RM5.99 only limited for a few days. Its texture reminds me of the instant noodles i consumed during my childhood when instant noodles were still aromatic and springy to chew on (the decline in taste and quality of our instant noodles over the years have been very noticeable). The taste-maker and a small sachet of sesame oil gives it that added chicken ramen flavour. Yum!

Malaysia Airlines' dip in fortunes - Revisited

Riddle me this: What makes money and who's in charge? Take Airlines for instance. Is there a discernible pattern between whoever is the boss and the profitability of an airline? National Carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS) reported a first quarter ended March 31, 2011 net loss of RM242.33 million as compared to rival low budget carrier AirAsia Bhd's net profit of RM171.93 million over the same period. How much credit or blame should be apportioned to MAS' MD and CEO Tengku Datuk Seri Azmil Zahruddin versus AirAsia Bhd's group CEO Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes is anyone's guess. MAS' stock is currently trading at RM1.55 per share (52-week high of RM2.42 low of RM1.55) while AirAsia is trading at RM3.04 (52-week high of RM3.15 low of RM1.07). MAS actually turned a profit of RM310.04 million in the previous corresponding quarter, but this was mainly thanks to compensation from Airbus for late delivery of aircraft ordered. Granted that the airlines is a cut-throat industry struggling with ever-escalating jet fuel prices and the fall-out from the Arab Spring. And news reports cite a stronger Ringgit, higher fuel costs and lower revenue per seat for MAS' red ink run lately. But challenging times notwithstanding, AirAsia is going ahead with its expansion plans albeit with a keen eye on keeping costs down while introducing a fuel surcharge in May which should reflect positively on its balance sheets over the next quarter at least. Bottomline is, controlling costs is key to profitability in the airlines business. MAS was bleeding red ink under former corporate poster boy Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli before it was handed over to Dato' Idris Jala in Dec 2005. Idris turned it around in 9 months. There were stories back then that before Idris took over, the National Carrier was run like a government department, paying astrononomical prices for supplies such as the story that MAS purportedly paid RM1 for each egg supplied to it by contractors. Rumours abounded of massive waste, inefficiency and all kinds of shenanigans in the National Carrier. Idris introduced low low fares, cut costs, stopped serving unprofitable routes, laid off staff and managed to turn MAS around in less than a year to proftability, defying the nay-sayers. Then in Sept 2009 Idris resigned from MAS to become Minister without Portfolio in the PM's department to head Pemandu, our national think tank for economic reform and governmental transformation. So now MAS has come to yet another crossroads, it seems. I actually bought a MAS return ticket to X city in a neighbouring country at supersaver rates in Feb this year. The flight is in August, 2011. 10 days ago, i received an SMS message that my departure flight was being postponed to 2 days later. I called and they said that MAS no longer flew from KL to X city on such and such a day anymore. OK, i accepted their explanation. Then last night i received 2 emails informing me that my direct return flight had become a TRANSIT flight! When i called MAS customer feedback i was directed to an automatic response recording which gave out incomprehensible instructions and promptly hung up on me when i couldn't do whatever it was that they wanted (ie. to dial an alphabet on  my fixed line telephone but alas, the alphabets on my ancient office fixed line telephone keys had all but faded out and disappeared, arrgh!). This was just a day after newspaper reports of MAS' first quarter results came out. My point is, if MAS had lost money recently, what it is doing now will certainly make it lose even MORE customers and bleed red ink like there is no tomorrow. You don't simply change flight schedules at will, especially not on tickets already sold, without giving your customers a choice to change flights or refund the price of their tickets, contractual fine print terms be damned. It's simply BAD BUSINESS. So whither now, Malaysia Airlines?

Post Blog Note:

MAS replied to my email within 3 days and has offered to refund to me the full ticket price within 3 weeks. Now that's more like it, Malaysia Airlines. There is hope yet for our National Carrier.

book review - Stockmarket Secrets by Andrew Chia

I picked up this book at 20% rebate/discount for Popular card members at a local Popular bookstore over last weekend. It's worth a read as this second of Andrew Chia's handbooks for the financially un-savvy (his first work is titled "Money Secrets") is easy to read and filled with useful facts and information about the Malaysian stockmarket (Bursa). There is a dearth of books focused on the Bursa so this book is one of the precious few to answer local demand for books on the Bursa as almost all other books in the market are written for and about the Singapore stockmarket or USA's/major overseas equity markets. There are some typo errors and the book could do with a good proof-reader but if you're willing to forgive these minor slip-ups, i would recommend it as required reading for laymen/amateurs investing in the Bursa.

Focus Lumber Berhad

I applied for this Bursa mainboard IPO last week, at offer price of 60 sen per share, par value of 50 sen. The Sabah-based company (its bosses are mainly Taiwanese nationals residing in Sabah) exports plywood and veneer finished products to USA's recreational vehicles industry, amongst its export destinations. It was over-subscribed by close to 64 times so i don't think that i will get it unless i'm exceptionally lucky. Keep my fingers crossed. Allotment on 26th April and listing on 28th April.

Post-Blog Note: I didn't get any. On listing day, Focus Lumber Berhad (FLBHD) went up to as high as RM1.20.

come rain or shine, the mail just doesn't come through

Not many days ago i bought an electrical item and posted its warranty card back to the manufacturer in the state of selangor. The warranty card which bears the manufacturer's address on one side and my particulars on the other side (filled in by me), states that the manufacturer is to receive the warranty card back within 7 days of purchase or the warranty would be voided. I posted that warranty card on Monday last and yesterday (Tuesday) it promptly returned to me, in malacca, with the stamp duly engrossed. Apparently the people at the local post office couldn't be bothered to read the side with the stamp stuck on it as the address that the warranty card was supposed to have been sent to and simply just read the reverse side of the card and delivered the card back to me in Malacca. A simple, yet alarming lack of care on the part of our postmen. I can go on and on about how the quality of our postal services in recent years have declined. From my own experience alone, i have had letters delivered to me that were clearly addressed to another house, my own cheques never reaching their intended destination, late deliveries, the postman coming at irregular hours or much later than usual, etc etc etc. And recently, the case of the dozen or so posties hauled up by the anti-corruption body MACC for allegedly stealing credit card chips through the mail and replacing them with forgeries. What i don't understand is why we are paying a 100% hike in postage when the quality of postal services is going downhill so badly. Something is not quite right somewhere. We used to pay 30sen for local letters weighing below the minimum fixed scale, then from 1st July 2010 they increased the postage for local letters to 60sen. They also made all kinds of rulings as to the type of envelopes you used so that if you used a brown envelope you paid more in postage. And all correspondence to Singapore costs as much, nay, sometimes even more than to Australia would you believe it - now how is this possible when Singapore is just next door to us? And lately Khazanah Nasional Berhad wants to divest its 32.21% stake in Pos Malaysia Berhad without triggering a mandatory general offer leaving its minority shareholders out in the cold. Sounds like another rip-off job from Pos Malaysia. I'd be understating it if i'd said that our local postmen's on-the-job performance have been less than stellar. Obviously, the motto: "Come rain or shine, sun sleet or snow, the mail must come through" doesn't apply to Pos Malaysia. What then is our local posties' motto?Laziness, indifference, inefficiency, pilfering from the till? Good Grief.

Freedom of Information Bill ala Malaysia

Selangor has passed the Freedom of Information Bill ("FOI") after the Third reading. This is a first for Malaysia. The FOI bill in almost the same exact form and content is also on the plate in Penang. From what i have read so far, the FOI bill is not a carte blanche opening of the flood gates to quench every citizen's thirst for information and government accountability. It's a pale shadow of what developed democracies have. You gotta pay for information, they have 30 days to consider whether to give you the info you asked for, and if you misuse the information it's a compoundable and jailable offence. But it is a significant first step, if only just symbolically, for a developing nation like Malaysia. It's better than nothing. And I for one support it whole-heartedly.

poor sleepy hollow

i promised myself sometime late last year that i'd refrain from commenting on local politics for health reasons - namely, my own! But events of the past week have proved too mind-bogglingly crazy to remain silent. And hence, it is with deep regret that i, dukuhead, blog as thus:

Rahim Tamby Chik, ex-chief minister of Malacca, was credited (still is credited) by most people as a chief minister of true ability who brought substantive progress and development to malacca state. Yes, he was a bright and able administrator, not without the usual flaws in malaysian politicians that we have grown so accustomed to now (especially so in recent years). His fall from grace and the subsequent events that followed need no repeating here. He was quoted to have said that after he was no longer chief minister, the traffic of people coming to see him dwindled, nay the flow disappeared even and he knew then who were his true friends and who were mere fair-weathered friends. It is remarkable and sad that in local culture and politics, a disgraced former VVIP becomes less than a commoner - he becomes invisible. You heard rare utterances from Rahim Tamby Chik in the occasional comments he makes during UMNO general assemblies and such but they were reported more as a matter of old curiosity than that any prominence is given to him. So it is rather sad that Rahim now has apparently been reduced yet even further from a political has-been to a messenger boy and the bearer of dirty laundry. This has nothing whatsoever to bear on the truth or the consequences of the sex video case. I am merely commenting on how terrible the descent has been on a man of talent who is still remembered by many Malaccans as the developer of the state during the 80s, on whom in his hey-day, lavish praises were heaped and the local press fawned upon appropriately. And now that his name is going to be dragged through the mud, along with the stereotypes people often associate Malaccans with (it's going to get even worse for us now I expect), we can but sit and weep silently.

trash collection blues

I just read a news article yesterday about a local man who dumped a whole bin-liner's worth of trash in front of the office of his municipal council in protest against irregular trash collection in his neighbourhood. I think that this man spoke for countless citizens across the country when he drove over 10km to deposit his waste in front of the powers-that-be to amply demonstrate his frustration with local councils' waste disposal services or the lack of thereof. In my own housing area the trashmen have been irregular on many a day. They are supposed to collect the trash thrice weekly in my neighbourhood. But sometimes they make it only twice a week, giving the excuse that the dumpster truck broke down or they are sick etc. Or they come as and when they feel like it. On the days when our rubbish remain uncollected, stray cats, dogs etc would chew through the binliners and the rubbish would be strewn all over the place and the resulting festering stench and mess is quite quite unbearable. Not to mention a danger to public health. I am with this citizen totally - I'd like our municipal councils to be more circumspect and discerning when giving out trash disposal contracts to companies that provide such services. If they can't tender contracts out to the best people to do the job but merely dole out contracts to whoever is paying them more kickbacks or whatever greases their palms, then we, the end-users of crappy services, have the right to collectively dump all our rubbish in front of the municipal council office just like what that man had done.

a perfect day

I'd seen it coming near the end of the holidays season, the looming black hole, the mood swing, the old familiar downwards spiral. But when it actually hit me that realisation earlier didn't numb the effects anyway.

As i was driving home today in a near-catatonic state, i came across a man who looked like a tramp or a model, which is it i don't know. the reason i say so is because he had on torn jeans and a scruffy dirty t-shirt, a goatee beard but had a surprisingly handsome, chiselled face much like a model's and he carried three bags full of plastic materials and other cast-away waste materials they pay cash for recycling. He was dirty and dishevelled but he looked sharp, nonetheless. Had i a camera on me then i'd have taken a shot of him (should i ask for his permission first? i don't know). At that moment i thought how lucky i was, how unlucky he was (but is this really true?). Yet there i was, sitting in my nice clean comfy air-conditioned car, feeling sorry for myself.

But anyway, here's something from Hunter S Thompson's letters in his autobiographical "The Proud Highway". Hunter received a letter from a 14-year old boy who expressed great admiration for the Hell's Angels, a motorcycle gang in California, America. Hunter promptly responded with this letter (excerpt taken from his letter dated July 6th, 1967 from Woody Creek, Colorado):

"When I was 14 I was a wild, half-wit punk who caused a lot of trouble and wanted to tear the world in half for no other reason than it didn't seem to fit me too well. Now, looking back on it, I didn't think I'd change much of what I did in those days...but I've also learned at least one crucially important thing since then. And that's the idea of making your own pattern, not falling into grooves that other people make. Remember that if you can do one thing better than anybody it'll make life a hell of a lot easier for you in this world - which is a pretty mean world, when you get to know it, and a lot of people in it can ride big Harleys...especially in California. The best of the Angels - the guys you might want to sit down and talk to - have almost all played that game for a while and then quit for something better. The ones who are left are almost all the kind who can't do anything else, and they're not much fun to talk to. They're not smart, or funny, or brave, or even original. They're just Old Punks, and that's a lot worse than being a Young Punk. They're not even happy; most of them hate the lives they lead, but they can't afford to admit it because they don't know where else to go, or what else to do. That's what makes them mean...and it also makes them useless, because there's already a big oversupply of mean bastards in this world."

Winds of Change

 

What a tumultuous first 2 months of 2011 it has been! First, on Jan 14th in Tunisia, strongman Ben Ali fled to Saudi Arabia with family in tow, but not before spiriting out 1.5 tonnes of gold. The Interpol is out looking for Ben Ali and family as we write this. Then, on Feb 11th was Egypt's Hosni Mubarak's turn to abdicate. Shortly after state media played out his pre-taped speech vowing that he, Mubarak, would NEVER step down, Mubarak deftly abandoned the seat of power in Cairo for a Red Sea resort, His ex-Pharaonic Majesty's current whereabouts unknown. Meanwhile, demonstrations across Jordan, Syria, Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and a string of other Arab countries are almost a daily occurance.
Closer to home in Malaysia, a PAS-fronted opposition crowd bravely chanted solidarity with the Egyptians bringing a swift response from no less than the 1Prime Minister himself that demonstrations ala Egypt/Tunisia will not, I repeat, sternly, NOT be allowed here. haha, what genius. Of course they won't allow demos that lead to revolution now, would they? But anyway I don't see much danger of that happening in staid old Malaysia. People here are simply too well-fed, too contented, too afraid, too complacent and generally too lazy to risk having their skulls cracked instigating for regime change. And judging from the performance of the hapless opposition in the last couple of by-elections, evolutionary change will probably be slow to come too.

But of more pressing concern now is whether food prices are going to sky-rocket this year. Petrol is going up for sure (well, at least the price of Ron 97 petrol will be reviewed at the end of every month), as are property prices. How anyone earning RM3,000-00 a month in the Klang valley is going to make ends meet especially if he has a family, a house loan and a car loan to service, is beyond me. And a government minister had sanguinely observed that RM3,000-00 would henceforth be recognised as the new threshold for the high income group. Hahaha, Really Datuk. I had no idea.

Delving into the Malaysian Chinese psyche

I turned the bottle of french table rouge upside-down and shook it like the contents of a milo drink-to-go before realising what i'd done. Anyway, too late. i uncorked the vino and we finished it within the hour - me, mostly, doing the honours. I haven't had rouge vino in quite a while now, so the feeling of drunkenness felt good.

Earlier yesterday (it's past midnight now as far as i can tell) i had lunch with the boss and a client and some bankers. the client was a fellow-countryman and he spoke candidly (as was his style i have come to appreciate) about how he makes his pile. Stocks and properties, he opined, were what made a man rich. You bought property in prime locales where tenants line up for letting, and no matter how expensive it was, you'd got yourself a winner. Or dividends from stocks. Which was pretty decent and honest of the towkay to share with us, i thought. And to think that before this i had thought him rude. It appears now that i'd been too sensitive.

Malaysian Chinese businessmen/entrepreneurs have gone a notch up in my ladder of respect, offically, as of today.


And i ain't lying.

Malaysia's Nuclear Conundrum

By 2022 when my daughter will be about 13 years old, Malaysia, barring a change of government or a reversal in policy (which isn't altogether improbable given our government's track record), will have built two 1,000 Megawatt nuclear power stations. Which state/s will play host/s to these babies is anybody's guess for now but the decision has been taken. Wind, hydro, solar power are too expensive, it seems. And somebody has to make sure that our ever-growing energy needs are met in the future. I'm opposed to nuclear power in principal but more to the point i'm more worried about whether we have the ability to maintain nuclear power plants. We're a laid-back people and generally speaking aren't too technologically-inclined notwithstanding the government's heroic efforts to drag us kicking and screaming into the industrial age (well, now we're into the post-industrial age so you have an idea of where we stand globally). Nuke plants under the supervision of advanced countries, nay, superpowers such as the United States and the old Soviet Union have had unfortunate incidents - the three mile island and chernobyl fiascos, respectively. And these are BIG countries. You can put many many Malaysias into either superpower state. And there is the million megawatt question of where to ship nuclear wastes, the waste products of generating nuclear power, to. Unlike some countries with realms far and wide spread all over the globe, we aren't blessed with great geographic spread at least not of the kind big enough to keep civilians well out of the range of a nuclear fall-out/dump. Maybe i am sounding a little pessimistic here. We can do this, they say. I sure hope they're right and i'm wrong.