Rabu, 13 Julai 2011

Philosophy Politics Economics

Philosophy Politics Economics

Bersih2.0: It's Government Clampdown that Created Chaos

Posted: 13 Jul 2011 05:49 PM PDT

Dr Chua Soi Lek needs to be educated that it's "authoritarian" governments, and not "democracy" movements that cause loss of investor confidence

According to our Tourism Minister, Dato' Sri Dr Ng Yen Yen, Malaysia's tourism industry incurred over RM100 million in losses due to the Bersih 2.0 rally last Saturday.

Her MCA President, Dato' Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek went a step further, claiming that the damage from Saturday's Bersih rally far exceeds RM100 million as the street protest adversely impacts investor confidence and tourism. He said foreigners unfamiliar with Malaysia will be swayed by the chaotic mammoth rally's footage and reconsider investment plans or travel in the country.

"The loss is in terms of confidence, the loss of the image of Malaysia as a peace-loving country," he told reporters yesterday.

Dr Chua Soi Lek appears blind to the fact that the "chaotic" mammoth rally in Kuala Lumpur was caused, first by the unnecessarily violent and aggressive tactics deployed by the police force against peaceful demonstrators. "Chaos" was only created when the Bersih supporters needed to run helter-skelter for cover when the police fired rounds of tear gas and liberally showered them with chemically-laced water.

Secondly, it was the Barisan Nasional government who refused permission for Bersih to use the Merdeka stadium as originally compromised, resulting in the supporters having nowhere to go to express themselves by the streets of Kuala Lumpur.

Corresponding to the 2-points above, it was the BN administration which decided to "lock-down" the city causing the alleged losses, if it is even anywhere near a plucked from the air figure like RM100 million. Had the police force cooperated with Bersih to work out a route for a peaceful march, none of the above "chaos" would have even occurred. In fact, had such cooperation taken place, the businesses would have thrived in the city centre, promoting domestic tourism.

The MCA President continues to speak the language of authoritarian governments seeking to preserve their tenuous hold on political power by arguing that street rallies will affect investor confidence.

In fact, in the week leading up to the Bersih rally, the Bursa Malaysia Composite Index completely brushed off the economic impact of the rally despite the relentless threats made and doomsday scenario painted by the Government. The Index had in fact increased from 1582.35 on Monday, 4th July to 1594.74 on Friday, 8th July.

It should also be noted that in other developing and developed countries, frequent peaceful and democratic rallies in these countries such as South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan have not in any way dented their economic performance, which remains the envy of countries like Malaysia.

Dr Chua Soi Lek should stop trying to mislead the rakyat with tired tales and threats. He should instead embrace democratic principles and speak up for the man-on-the-street, instead of talking down to them, or he should be prepared to go down in history as the worst performing MCA President ever come the next general elections.

Bersih2.0: Liow Should Apologise to Hospital

Posted: 12 Jul 2011 10:39 PM PDT

Dato' Seri Liow Tiong Lai has disgraced his position as the Health Minister and the MCA Deputy President by outraging all right thinking Malaysians for his pathetic and lame defence of the police force. He has denied despite the irrefutable and mounting visual evidence that the police force has shot tear gas and deployed water cannons into the Tung Shin hospital compound during the Bersih gathering last weekend.

Liow has denied outright that the police has fired the tear gas into the compound, claiming that it was shot onto the main road, and blamed the wind for blowing the gas into the hospital compounds. He further argued that the water cannon only 'brushed' the edges of the hospital walls, and wad not shot directly into the compound.

As one seeking refuge in the compound, I can testify with absolute certainty that Liow was lying through his teeth. It is impossible that the police has fired onto the main road as the road was already cleared of protestors by then with everyone forced onto the hospital compounds in both the new and old wings. Pictures have also shown clearly that the water cannons have also been sprayed directly into the hospital and not mere 'brushed' the walls of the compound.

What is worse is Liow's complete refusal to even see the evidence for himself when reporters offered to present them to him. What's more, there are scores of eye-witness testimonies, including those from journalists present who corroborated that both the tear gas and water canons were shot into the Hospital where the Bersih supporters were seeking refuge.

Liow's attempt to blame the supporters for seeking refuge in the hospital is also mischievous because the they were being attacked by the police from both ends of Jalan Pudu, making the hospital compounds the only possible escape from the relentless firing of tear gas and chemical-laced water.

In fact, the visit by DAP leaders to the Hospital the day after was to express our thanks and appreciation to the hospital management for letting the supporters seek refuge, to apologise for the inconvenience caused and to understand if there was any damage caused.

Liow as the Health Minister should have gone to the Hospital to apologise in behalf of he Federal Government for the unwarranted actions by the police force for failing to respect the sanctity of hospitals even in times of unrest.

Instead, he had proceeded to deny and lie about what is the obvious truth in order to defend the police force, demonstrating the recalcitrance of the BN government and a complete lack of respect for the hospitals under his purview and Malaysians at large. His actions proved that MCA is only an apologist for the BN coalition, qnd disgraced himself and his party for not having spoken up for Malaysians.

Bersih2.0: Police Should Cooperate with Bersih

Posted: 06 Jul 2011 10:52 PM PDT

The DAP would like express our full support the plans outlined by Bersih chairman Datuk S Ambiga to gather in Stadium Merdeka on 9 July 2011 at 2 pm.

At the same time, we fully endorse the call for the set up of a Royal Commission for Free and Fair Elections to investigate the 8 demands by Bersih and propose the necessary reforms to our electoral system.

In addition, the Police force must cease the reckless clampdown on Bersih supporters by immediately releasing those who have been detained without conditions, and to stop all moves to charge those who have been previously arrested or questioned. The charges have become a complete mockery when 11 municipal councillors from MBKj are to be charged for wearing Bersih T-shirt in their full board meetings, with more from other local councils to be charged.

Given that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak has proposed and agreed to the Bersih rally being held in the stadium, with the consent of the King, the actions of the police, including blockading the city since the early hours of this morning is a direct affront to both the Prime Minister and the King.

We call upon the Police to instead cooperate with Bersih to ensure that the gathering on 9 July will proceed smoothly with hindrance and minimal inconvenience to the general public, and uphold our constitution which grants Malaysians the freedom of assembly and expression.

FDI: Actual vs Approved

Posted: 30 Jun 2011 10:57 PM PDT

MITI must start reporting "actual investment" figures instead of just "approved investment" to disclose the true investment picture for Malaysia due to the wide disparity between the relevant numbers

After several attempts, I have finally received a response from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI) with regards to the actual foreign direct investment (FDI) figures corresponding to the approved FDI into Malaysia.

The figures shed completely new light on the investment picture in Malaysia which is completely contrary to the rosy picture which as been presented by the Government over the past few months. The Minister of International Trade and Industry has been gloating about the FDI recovery and achievements in 2010 and 2011, with RM29 billion and RM11 billion to date respectively.

However, despite the relatively credible numbers reported for approved investments, the actual investment numbers are almost shocking to see.

For 2010, where the approved FDI was RM29.1 billion, to date only RM9.4 billion or 32.3% were actually invested.

If the Government were to argue that the FDI approved in 2010 is still in progress as we are still only in June 2011, the figures are not much better for 2009. In that year, RM22.9 billion has been approved, but only RM7.9 billion or 34.4% has been invested.

Even for 2008, our record year for approved FDI of RM46.1 billion, only RM29 billion has been invested with a whopping RM17.1 billion mysteriously missing-in-action.

And if one were to review the numbers over the past 15 years, only RM179.8 billion out of RM298.9 billion of approved investments have been realised. A shocking RM119.1 billion of declared FDI had disappeared without a trace.

It is hence unsurprising to see that the UNCTAD World Investment Report often presents a less than rosy picture than that presented by he Government because the former looks at "actual investments" while the latter only reports "approved investments".

We call upon the MITI Minister, Dato' Mustapa Mohamed to explain the wide disparity between the two sets of numbers and why many of the approved and promised investments never materialise. In addition, to present a more objective view of the Malaysian FDI performance, the Ministry must publish and announce both approved and actual investment figures so that investors, policy makers and the Malaysian public can measure the performance of the Malaysian economy more accurately. The Government should not just present only the positive statistics while hiding all the less than rosy stuff from the prying eyes of the public for that will only lead to self-praise and complacency, ensruing longer term decline in our economic performance.
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