Politik, Legislatif, Dasar dan Tadbir Urus

The Election Commission had previously rejected the logo - a white coloured clenched fist against a red backdrop - as having "connotations of violence". But now they had given their approval to Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) with no reasons nor any apology was given for their sudden U-turn. It has been a long ten years battle for PSM from the registration as a political party being denied by the registrar of societies right to the registration of its logo with the EC being censored and denied, reasoning that the logo had "connotations of violence". It is clearly shown that such move to derive PSM from its right of existence has been politically motivated particularly by the ruling BN's Umno dominated federal government. Besides, such move was also deemed to had went against the human rights and the freedom of association as guaranteed by our federal constitution. Is BN-Umno worried about the current emerging trend of the opposision Pakatan Rakyat?

The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism is appealing to the Malay Rulers for "justice and fair-play" in cases of forced conversions. Council president Datuk A.Vaithilingam told a press conference recently that "we will go through the appropriate procedure by writing an appeal to the rulers to consider the plight of non-Muslims caught in controversial religious conversions and in the application of the Syariah court rules as well as the actions carried out by Islamic religious bodies on non-Muslims". He also stressed the council's stand against conversion of any child aged below 18, unless with both parents' consent. "In the case of a (non-Muslim) married couple with children, where one spouse converts, he or she has no right to convert the children until the civil court decides on divorce, custody and alimony. Because they were married under the Civil Marriages Act, the Syariah Court has no power over t...

The Cabinet decision putting an end to the conversion of children has been lauded by the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism "The cabinet's decision is most welcomed but it is a long way to go." said the body's president Datuk A. Vaithilingam who appealed to Perak Syariah Court and Religious Department to accept the Cabinet decision positively and withdraw its decision and conversion of M Indira Gandhi's three children. "We are still unsure if the decision is for immediate practice and whether it is valid for Indira's children, but we hope the Perak Syariah Court and Religious department will abide by it as it is a more amicable decision. " Vaithilingam told theSun in a telephone interview today. "We are very thankful to PM and DPM who had shown their concern on this matter and responded well," Vaithilingam said. "Special thanks to Tan Sri Koh Tsu Koon for his tireless effort in this m...

SELANGOR will be beefing up its retrenchment task force to help the latest cohort of graduates entering the job market find jobs. According to research officer Tricia Yeoh, they were likely to join the ranks of the unemployed and the task force would extend its services to help those graduates who needed aid to find jobs. “These graduates may come from other states as well as from universities in Selangor and it’s difficult for us to determine how many will be affected,” said Tricia, who however expects large numbers given that Selangor is a hot favourite destination for job-seekers. Please make full use of the job clinics Meanwhile, job clinics will be held for retrenched workers, with consultants on hand to help them apply for new vacancies. On Saturday, career and resume clinics will be held between 8.30am and 12.30pm at the Petaling Jaya City Council as well as at the Klang, Ampang Jaya and Sepang municipal councils. “Officers from Lembaga Zakat and Welfare Departm...

By Wong Choon Mei Amid fears of a return to mega-projects to prime the economy, Bank Negara Governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz expects ‘more or less’ flat economic growth for this year, saying that the domestic economy was still expanding and could offset the drag of the contracting global environment. “The (negative) effects of the global developments showed up in the first and second quarters of the year. Our export numbers have shown that,” she told reporters today. “In the current environment our projection is more or less a flat growth because of the contractions of the external environment and it is being offset by domestic demand.” However, she declined to estimate when the local economy could bottom out, saying that would depend on external factors. “It is not clear yet and what is the direction of the global economy. We are seeing some stabilisation taking place. This is very encouraging but we still have to wait and see because of the financial sector resolution in many of the advance...

By Wong Choon Mei The Malaysian Institute of Economic Research expects the country’s export-reliant economy to shrink 2.2 percent this year, worst than official forecasts, but better than other private researchers have warned could happen if the government continued to dilly-dally in implementing fiscal stimulus. “In light of the deep declines in macro indicators, the gloomy business and consumer confidence, and the dismal sectoral indices, we are obliged to revise Malaysia’s growth forecast for 2009 downwards. If exports shrink severely, the downturn could be more harmful,” MIER said in a report. The think-tank had previously forecast GDP growth of 1.3 percent for 2009 and 3.8 percent for 2010. It now expects an upswing in 2010, with GDP growth at 3.3 percent on the back of a global recovery. It also saw 2009 inflation at 2 percent and unemployment at 4.8 percent. The central Bank Negara may cut interest rates to 1.5 percent or lower, down from 2 percent at present, to stimulate borro...

By : Himanshu When the Penang government announced late last month that it had eradicated hardcore poverty within its borders, the news raised quite a few eyebrows. It seemed an incredible, if not impossible, task to achieve. On hindsight, however, when one looks at what the Pakatan Rakyat government executed, the solution seems common-sense. But though it may appear simple, the move was instituted with such impudence and guts it could only come from a political element that is part of the origins and makeup of the DAP – its democratic socialism.What the state did was to directly uplift every one of the 726 households registered with the welfare department as being in the hardcore poor category by giving them the money. Affected families were literally funded to ensure their incomes are topped up so that they get at least RM500 every month. These poor souls whose lives, and statistics, seemingly changed overnight must owe their new fortunes to a political decision made way back in 196...

A Malaysian economist has suggested setting up a RM22 million (S$9.2 million) fund to help the country’s unemployed as the recession bites deeper into the economy. Manokaran Mottain, an economist with the Arab-Malaysian banking group in Kuala Lumpur, reckons unemployment will top 5 per cent this year – versus the official projection of 3.7 per cent – and, if left unchecked, will “threaten the recovery”. Most retrenchments so far have been in manufacturing – around 70 per cent, according to official estimates. The job losses were due to plunging export orders – exports fell 27 per cent in January and 30 per cent in February. The pain in the manufacturing sector is also evident from a 14.6 per cent year-on-year fall in the Industrial Production Index in February, even though this was less brutal than January’s 20-plus per cent drop. Manufacturing contributes more than 70 per cent to the index. The result has been rising job losses. According to Ministry of Finance statistics, 25,000 work...

DIRECTOR-GENERAL of Labour Datuk Ismail Abdul Rahim will meet with the CIMB Group management on Thursday to get details of its no-pay leave offer to employees beginning April 1."We have to make sure that the workers agree to it and are not being forced to take the no-pay leave," Ismail said. He said the announcement came as a surprise as the ministry was under the impression that local financial institutions were not badly affected by the economic downturn. Ismail, who is currently out of town, is expected to return to Putrajaya on Thursday to meet with the officials. CIMB Group, the country's second largest banking group, has reportedly offered employees the option of taking no-pay leave in an effort to reduce cost amid the economic downturn. The company issued a memorandum last Wednesday to all its employees to inform them that they could take no-pay leave from April 1 of between one and six months. The memo revealed that the group will not hire new recruits to replace...

The National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) on Tuesday advised CIMB Bank employees to consult the union first before accepting the no-pay leave offered by their employer. NUBE secretary-general J. Solomon said this was to ensure that they would not lose out on the other perks while on leave.He said the offer was not a surprise to the union, as the bank had earlier informed them about it. "The offer should not be interpreted as an exercise to lay off workers because it is purely voluntary and the workers have the right to refuse it," he told Bernama.CIMB Group chief executive Datuk Seri Nazir Razak said yesterday the company was offering its 36,000 staff extended unpaid leave under the "Staff Rejuvenation Programme" from next month as a cost-cutting measure due to the current economic situation. He said the programme was not to lay off workers but to give them an option to take extended unpaid leave of between one and six months. Solomon believed that not only CIMB B...