Politik, Legislatif, Dasar dan Tadbir Urus

Recently, an insane politician claimed that the holy books of the religion that she professes was burned in her home state and the crowd in front of her got provoked and turned into a mass anger.  Later on, another senior politician confirmed that there wasn't any such event taking place in that state at all. What then? She has gone missing, kept so quiet and yet refused to apologize for her misinformation.  First of all, why the big fuss over the burning of some holy books? Just call the fire department or take a bucket of water to put down the fire before it spreads or endanger anyone. That's it! No issue, just put off the fire. It is just a book. Books are normally written by someone, published, printed, reprinted, distributed or redistributed, later on re-edited, improvised or re-generated. Books are normally written, copied, printed, produced, reprinted and reproduced by many people, many interest groups and individual contributors for the purpose of propaga...

By Marc Jones Fading hopes of a meaningful cut in production at Thursday's OPEC meeting sent oil prices tumbling to a four-year low as Thanksgiving in the United States saw world stocks touch the brakes on their recent rally. Gulf oil producers led by Saudi Arabia are expected to press the case at OPEC's meeting in Vienna for holding off from output cuts, despite calls from some members for it to prop up prices that have crashed by a over a third since June. OPEC sources have told Reuters action is unlikely and Brent oil dropped by more than $1.75 in Asian and early European trading to $75.95 a barrel, the lowest level since September 2010. "The scene has been set by the Saudi comments going in to this meeting that market forces should be allowed to determine the price here," said National Australia Bank strategist Gavin Friend. "I think in terms of the big global economy picture, a lower oil price is a force for the good and the meeting today is rea...

By Leonid Bershidsky Igor Sechin, chief executive of Russia's biggest oil company, state-owned Rosneft, said something surprising after a meeting this week in which officials from oil-producing countries failed to agree on the need to cut output. Russia will be fine, he said, even if the oil price falls to $60 or less per barrel. How can that be, if, according to a recent Deutsche Bank estimate , Russia needs a price of about $100 a barrel to balance its budget this year? The answer works for Russia as well as for a few members of OPEC: Budgets are balanced in national currencies, not in dollars, and any country that has the political leeway to devalue its currency as the oil price falls is not particularly motivated to cut production. Russian President Vladimir Putin explained that much in a recent, unusually frank interview with the official TASS news agency: "Look, before we sold $1 worth of goods and got 32 rubles for it. Now we get 45 rubles for the same $1 worth of ...

By Daniel Gordis In our neighborhood in south Jerusalem, a pickup truck driven by an Arab man comes around once or twice a week, a loudspeaker mounted on top blaring a recording, "Alte Sachen." He collects old appliances and clothing that people are giving away, employing the Yiddish phrase that European Jewish peddlers used when they came to town: Alte Sachen -- Used Items. There’s something quaint about an Arab man coming to an Israeli neighborhood where most of the residents speak English or French, beckoning to them in Yiddish. But it’s also absurd -- his message to them is in a language that neither he nor his prospective “clients” understand. It’s not clear if he even knows that it’s Yiddish. That loudspeaker is an apt metaphor for the relations between Israeli Jews and Arabs, who though citizens of the same state, increasingly have nothing to talk about. That has become even more clear recently, with Israel embroiled in a conflict over whether to pass a law that wo...

My article was earlier published in TheAntDaily.com on 21/11/2014 After the last two general elections, both the ruling and opposition coalitions have deviated from their many promises and objectives. They have not been focusing on the key and relevant issues affecting the people and the country. Instead of tackling issues like the high cost of living, escalating property prices and higher fuel prices, Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat are harping on petty issues and politicking to benefit only themselves and their political establishments. For example, judging from the way the BN is administering our nation, things don’t seem to get any better for the ordinary citizens. It would not be an exaggeration if one concludes that our government is a government of the politicians, by the politicians, for the politicians. Year in, year out, it’s the same old story: we read and hear of reports on unabated corruption, power abuse and mismanagement in ministries, departments, agencies a...

I attended the annual general meeting of the Persatuan Aliran Kesedaran Negara (Aliran) today which was held at the Aliran House in Medan Penaga, Jelutong, Penang. During the meeting, we discussed the several issues that are affecting our nation's socio-political, economy and our people as well as the proposal to set up a research outfit. The meeting is indeed a fruitful and I also would like to congratulate Aliran president Francis Loh and his executive committee members for their elections for the ensuing year. Keep up your good work for our people and the nation.

My article was earlier published in TheAntDaily.com on 12/11/2014 Malaysia is ranked highest in religious and ethnic divisions, according to a report released by the Pew Research Centre. Prime Minister and Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been championing and pursuing the agenda of moderation on the global arena and his latest effort at marketing himself as a moderate Muslim leader was at the 69th United Nations General Assembly recently. Najib has shown leaders of the Muslim world that he is indeed a “fine example of a moderate leader” that others should emulate. Yes, citizens of other nations, with little knowledge of Malaysian politics would certainly believe that his speech speaks volumes in fighting all forms of religious and racial extremisms, violence and discrimination. Back home, religious and racial extremists are systematically allowed to flourish. Religious discrimination and threats against other faiths have also grown rapidly and getting out of control. ...

My article was earlier published in TheAntDaily.com on 1/11/2014 When an Umno divisional leader from Selangor called on the government to shut down Chinese vernacular schools, MCA was the first BN component party to rebuke him. We applaud the MCA central committee (CC) member for his quick reaction on this issue. However, in reply, the said Umno division leader fired back at the CC member by asking him to shut his mouth instead, stating that it was none of MCA business and labelled MCA as already irrelevant to the Chinese community. The Umno man added more salt to the wound by saying that many MCA leaders only won their seats in the general elections because of Malay votes. Not surprisingly, the entire MCA leadership got numbed and sought assistance from Umno president and BN chairman Datuk Ser Najib Razak via a “close door” meeting. In the end, we saw nothing at all on what is really BN’s official stance pertaining to the Chinese vernacular school system. We all know that many MCA le...