Politik, Legislatif, Dasar dan Tadbir Urus

Next year will be the worst for jobs for almost 20 years, with a net reduction of at least 600,000 people in employment, according to a report published today. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) is predicting a "winter surge" of redundancies in the first quarter of the year that could see as many as 300,000 lose their jobs. The institute warned that unemployment would continue to rise in 2010, taking the total number of jobs projected to be lost over the course of the recession to about one million. In another sign of deteriorating confidence in the economy, the British Chambers of Commerce called for the national minimum wage not to be increased in 2009 to ease pressure on employers. The warnings come amid a series of high street collapses. Yesterday, the children's clothing retailer Adams called in administrators. The CIPD's annual Barometer Report, published today, predicts a net reduction in jobs of 600,000 next year — after 150,000 this y...

More than 2,000 factory workers in Penang have been retrenched in the past three months and more are expected to lose their jobs in the coming months, said Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) Penang branch chairman Abdul Razak Abdul Hamid. “We expect that more people will be laid off next year as the economic situation continue to slowdown,” he told theSun today. Abdul Razak said even those who were not laid off are suffering as many companies are cutting down overtime and working hours, imposing pay cuts and even shutting down operations for long periods of time and forcing workers to take unpaid leave. He said the Human Resources Ministry keeps saying the economic fundamentals are strong but this is not what the workers face in their day-to-day working life.“The ministry only knows how to give figures of people being retrenched but they do not offer a solution to help them,” he said.“We want the ministry to come up with a clear plan to help workers who have been laid off as we can...

Being a society which was born in defiance to the old exploiter society, the socialist society is completely new and is qualitatively different from the capitalist society. Capitalist society is a society which is based on individualism; in this society class antagonism and struggle constitute the basis of social relations. Contrary to this, socialist society is based on collectivism and workers’ comradely unity and cooperation forms the basis of social relations. The essential features of socialism lie in the fact that the working masses are the masters over state power and the means of production. People unite in ideology and will and cooperate in a comradely way because of the homogenous nature of their social status, together with their common purpose and interests. This is also an important factor promoting the development of the socialist society. The imperialists are now making frantic efforts to embellish capitalism and to slander socialism. In essence, however, capitalist soci...

Socialist Economics or Socialist Theories are one of the most controversial theories for the economic development of a nation with the concomitant growth in social welfare. Originally perceived as an idea for the upliftment of the working class who seemed to be destined to be driven down to subsistence wages by the “capitalists” who owned capital and rented land, Socialist Economics has undergone many changes in the course of time. Socialist economy is a structure of the economy which aims at providing greater equality and giving the “proletariat” or working class greater ownership over the means of production. In a normative sense, a socialist economy or a socialist state believes that socialism is the most equitable and socially serviceable form of an economic arrangement designed to achieve human potentialities. Unlike “capitalism” where the means of production are owned by the capitalists, Socialist economies are characterized by the means of production owned by the state or by the...

At least 4,749 workers, mostly from the electronics sector, will be retrenched by 137 employers in the next three months. Under the Employment (Termination And Lay-off Benefits) Regulations, workers would be compensated a part of their salary for each year of service. For workers who have been with a company for two years or less, compensation would be 10 days of salary per year of work. For those who clocked in between two and five years, it would be 15 days of salary per year and for those above five years, 20 days. Any employer intending to retrench, lay off, offer voluntary separation schemes or reduce salaries would have to inform the human resources ministry 30 days before such action is taken.

We already heard yesterday the current recession has already spread to Sarawak, where about more than 1500 workers, staffs, engineers and managers would be out of job soon by next March. Western Digital Media (M) Sdn. had just announced its intention to close down its entire operation in Sama Jaya Free Industrial Zone, Sarawak. The said plant which was previously seen as expanding is going to be abandoned now. Aren't the federal government and the human resources ministry doing anything by coming up with an action plan to retrain and relocate these people? Are they going to just look at our people coming out umemployed for the rest of their lives? What is the Sarawak Chief Minister doing? Where is he and his ministers when a crisis is ongoing? The richest persons in Sarawak is doing nothing at all to help out their poor communities but only continue to enrich themselves and their families. They just do not care.

A bipartisan Parliamentary Caucus on workers and foreign workers established yesterday is calling for a RM1 billion retrenchment fund to be set up by the government. It also wants the government to freeze arrivals of foreign workers as job shortages have become a pressing issue. This comes in the middle of worsening economic circumstances that has seen lower growth projections by the government and analysts alike. Massive job cuts are expected as demand for goods and services continue to slow. Barisan Nasional (BN), Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and independent MPs agreed after its first meeting that it would seek immediate action on these resolutions with the respective ministers. "If RM5 billion can be allocated to Valuecap to help shareholders, why not RM1 billion for workers?" chairman Abdullah Sani Abdul Hamid (PKR-Kuala Langat) told the press today, adding that an appointment with the Human Resource Minister is being sought. He said that if a fund was set up with just RM1 being c...

Socialism and marxism are now back on the agenda, popularised in part by the enemies of the workers' movement, explained Peter Taaffe of the CWI’s International Secretariat introducing the discussion on the world economic crisis. More than that, the role of the CWI now assumes greater importance, partiuclarly as the crisis confirmed our consistent analysis that the boom would come to an end and would provoke struggles. Capitalist commentators have raised their fear of the 'mob'. There is justified anger amongst millions around the world at the effects of the crisis. In Iceland, where the economy is facing a devastating collapse following the speculative activities of the Icelandic banks and their eventual collapse, demonstrations are now taking place. Bankers and ministers are unable to move around freely! Iceland is 1929 in modern terms; it shows what another Great Depression would look like. The crisis has stunned the workers of the world but their anger is reflected in m...

World economic growth will slump to just 0.9 per cent next year - the weakest in nearly four decades - and, with global export volumes set to decline for the first time since 1982, trade-dependent East Asian economies will suffer badly, the World Bank predicted. In a report, it singled out Singapore and Taiwan - "where exports are now declining" - as being among the worst hit. At the same time, East Asia as a whole is suffering from slumping capital flows, falling investment, weaker production, falling household spending, and rising unemployment, the World Bank said. It balanced this litany of woes by predicting that 2010 could see a rapid turnaround for the better in global and East Asian fortunes, with world economic growth rising to 3 per cent and East Asia benefiting from a projected sharp recovery in exports. But it also warned that risks are on the downside and that alonger-than-expected recession in advanced economies could precipitatebalance of payments and currency c...

No. 1: Have an Emergency Fund If you have plenty of cash lying around in a high-interest, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)-insured account, not only will your money retain its full value in times of market turmoil, it will also be extremely liquid , giving you easy access to funds if you lose your job or are forced to take a pay cut. Also, if you have your own cash, it won't be an issue if other sources of backup funds dry up, such as a home equity line of credit . (For related reading, see Are Your Bank Deposits Insured? and Bank Failure: Will Your Assets Be Protected? ) No. 2: Always Live Within Your Means If you make it a habit to live within your means each and every day, you are less likely to go into consumer debt when gas or food prices go up and more likely to adjust your spending in other areas to compensate. Debt begets more debt when you can't pay it off right away - if you think gas prices are high, wait until you're paying 29.99% annual percentag...

The finance crisis is now spreading into a full-blown economic crisis all over the globe. The US, the EU and Japan are all in recession, while economic growth is rapidly slowing down in the rest of the world. Worse hit are the poorest countries and the poorest sections of society. The bungy-jumping of the stock markets continues, as does the banking crisis. The Bank of England estimates global bank losses so far at 2,800 billion US dollars. Thousands of billions of dollars in different ”rescue packages” have stopped bank bankruptcies, but not the credit crunch. Everyone with debts – from households to companies and states – are facing worsening conditions. At the same time, the financial crisis has 'shed its skin' growing into an economic crisis for world capitalism. Jobs and living standards are threatened for hundreds of millions, as are the economies of entire states. According to Oxfam, 200 million people have dropped below the poverty line this year. Global recession The U...

The Bush Administration has announced that a rescue package of almost US$700 billion is required to save some of the prominent banks from following the footsteps of Lehman Brothers two weeks ago. JP Morgan, Merril Lynch and a host of investment banks in New York and other cities are already crying foul. Some of us already know that the world’s economy is worth US$60.2 trillion and the American economy about US$12.5 trillion. Just imagine about 6.5 percent of the total American economy is now being used to save the ailing investment banks including one of the world’s largest insurers, AIG, which itself needs about US$85 billion to be resuscitated from receivership. Money has four uses: used as a standard, used as a saving, used as an exchange for buying and selling and used for speculation. Investment is speculation. Almost US$100 billion is traded everyday in the European money market. Some currencies go up and some currencies go down. Some currencies are not even accepted for tra...

THE ATTRACTIVE POWER of socialist ideas, for reasons outlined, has undoubtedly been weakened in recent years. But this will be the transitory effect of a passing conjuncture. Consciousness, especially of the newer generation of workers and youth, will be determined by current conditions and the events which will unfold. As struggles develop, the more active workers and youth will be impelled to search for an anti-capitalist programme -which can only be formulated in socialist terms. Paradoxically, today there is a level of social tension, political protest, and youth rebellion unprecedented in the post-war period. The fragmented character of the movements to which this gives rise is primarily due to the political bankruptcy of the traditional mass organisations. But the struggles of different layers of workers, together with the phenomena of 'new social movements', are a response to the various symptoms of capitalist decline. It is impossible to defend living standards and demo...

By : James Chin Isn't life strange? In 1989, Francis Fukuyama, wrote "The End of History?", published in the national Interest. In this famous essay, Fukuyama argues that the march of Western liberal democracy may signal the end point of mankind's ideological evolution and thus, liberal democracy (American's kind) has won against the ideas of Karl Marx. He wrote: "What we may be witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War, or the passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such: that is, the end point of mankind's ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government." Now, nearly 20 years later, we are seeing the most serious crisis facing capitalism, or to be exact, the credit crunch caused by unregulated, free, cowboy capitalism that the Americans have been promoting around the world.Now suddenly, people are asking -- maybe we were too soon to judge th...

Malaysia is rated as "high risk" while Singapore is well-positioned to weather the economic slowdown because of its political and social stability, says Hong Kong-based Political & Economic Risk Consultancy. Its analysts ranked Singapore as having the least political and social risks next year among 16 territories in Asia-Pacific, according to a summary of its 87-page report released to the media yesterday. Malaysia,Thailand and India were ranked as the most risky because of internal developments. The unlikelihood of sudden political changes, stable labour relations and sound policies, including measures to help the poor, were among the factors in Singapore's favour, said Perc's managing director, RobertBroadfoot. "Singapore's fiscal situation is strong enough for the fiscal incentives that are going to help the country get over the crisis and spread the pain of recession," he said. Politically, he noted, Singapore has no election coming up and the G...

PACE will be organising a talk on Heritage Conservation - the Georgetown case on 25 October 2008 at the Socio-Economic & Environmental Research Institute (SERI) office, 10 Jalan Brown off Jalan Ayer Rajah, 10350 Penang. The talk will commence from 2.30pm to 4.30 pm and the speaker for this session will be Mrs Loh Lim Lin Leem who is a senior council member of Penang Heritage Trust (PHT) since 1990 and also a member of the Georgetown Dossier Submission Team for Unesco World Heritage Listing.

Tens of thousands of Malaysian workers from the services and manufacturing sectors in Singapore will be retrenched when employers, hit by the recession, start downsizing in the island republic. Though the recession has not translated to retrenchment, Malay-sian workers in Singapore are starting to feel jittery over the prospect of losing their jobs if the country’s economy takes a turn for the worse. At the same time, Johor is taking early steps, including playing job matchmaker, to ensure those retren-ched can quickly be matched with jobs available locally. For many Malaysians working in Singapore, the main concern is how to continue supporting their families if they are retrenched. Some said they were willing to take a pay cut and return to Malaysia. Others were even prepared take up two jobs back home to supplement their income.

In April 2007, a barge crossing from Penang Island to Seberang Perai on the Malaysian peninsular sank into depth of Selat Melaka. Tons upon tons of cargo-garbage from the heavily urbanized island floated to the surface of the sea, seriously polluting the surrounding waters. This incident spot lighted an issue that Penang Island and other densely populated metropolitan areas in Malaysia had dreaded to face but had not being able to wish away: exporting their garbage to somebody’s backyard. Throughout the lifecycle, garbage never stops taking a heavy financial and environmental toll on Malaysia. Garbage disposal drains about RM00 million out of Malaysia’s sheds, continue the onslaught by seeping, especially during the raining seasons, into streams and rivers to foul up drinking water and aquatic ecosystem. At the same time, methane and other greenhouse gases escape into the air adding more atmosphere warming. To counter this glomming picture, many Malaysian citizens from Penang to Kuala...

Central to the meaning of socialism is common ownership. This means the resources of the world being owned in common by the entire global population. But does it really make sense for everybody to own everything in common? Of course, some goods tend to be for personal consumption, rather than to share – clothes, for example. People ‘owning’ certain personal possessions does not contradict the principle of a society based upon common ownership. In practice, common ownership will mean everybody having the right to participate in decisions on how global resources will be used. It means nobody being able to take personal control of resources, beyond their own personal possessions. Democratic control is therefore also essential to the meaning of socialism. Socialism will be a society in which everybody will have the right to participate in the social decisions that affect them. These decisions could be on a wide range of issues – one of the most important kinds of decision, for example, wou...

The word capitalism is now quite commonly used to describe the social system in which we now live. It is also often assumed that it has existed, if not forever, then for most of human history. In fact, capitalism is a relatively new social system. But what exactly does ‘capitalism’ mean? Class division Capitalism is the social system which now exists in all countries of the world. Under this system, the means for producing and distributing goods (the land, factories, technology, transport system etc) are owned by a small minority of people. We refer to this group of people as the capitalist class. The majority of people must sell their ability to work in return for a wage or salary (who we refer to as the working class.) The working class are paid to produce goods and services which are then sold for a profit. The profit is gained by the capitalist class because they can make more money selling what we have produced than we cost to buy on the labour market. In this sense, the working c...

DURING the Soviet economy era, free market capitalists used to joke that Soviet workers pretended to work and the state pretended to pay them. Now we have financial engineers pretending that they are creating value and the state is pretending that the value still exists. We have built a Tower of Babel through financial engineering. Through excessively low interest rates, we created a financial bubble that has to deflate back to reality. Subprime mortgages meant that we pretended that people without the income can afford high price housing. The originators sold that dream and took away their profits. The packagers then pretended that the CDOs (collateralised debt obligation) had AAA ratings and sold that dream to investors who thought the rating agencies knew what they were branding. The CDS bought or sold pretended that the guarantees were valid. Now we are not so sure. Civil engineers build real structures, but financial engineers build dreams. We should have seen through that dream w...

Jalan Alor on Yahoo! returns more than 900,000 results. It is that famous. Yet, Kuala Lumpur City Hall is adamant that changing the name to Jalan Kejora - a move that has sparked a public outcry - is the right thing to do. Datuk Bandar Datuk Ab Hakim Borhan said the move, which was planned three years ago, would give the tourist destination of Bukit Bintang a new image. “Other roads in the area will soon have new names, and they will all be named after the stars to create the new image,” he said yesterday during a visit to a landslide site in Cheras. The name change came to light when city hall replaced the road sign about a week ago. The Jalan Alor name has been in existence for 35 years. City Hall explained that the name was changed at the request of the National Economic Action Council to meet requirements under the road naming guidelines and to go with other roads in the vicinity. The DAP MP for Bukit Bintang, Fong Kui Lun, who has brought the matter up with the Federal Territories...