Jibbonomics: A tax free car & 15% is all it takes .....

Najib's 15%

Author: resident.wangsamaju | Posted at: Friday, April 22, 2011 |

'Professionals' are doctors, lawyers, accountants and other persons who undergo specialized training, usually belonging to an association which governs the quality of the vocation they practice. They are often regarded as highly educated and known as the 'white-collared' people. According to the Ministry of Human Resources (MHR) and Department of Statistics there were 67,310 job vacancies in the year 2010 with regards to the 'professional' category. If you think this number is not too big, think again. In 2004 there were only 5,187 registered vacancies. This makes it a 1300% increase from the years 2004 to 2010.

The trend is somewhat similar for technicians and associate professional vacancies registered with the MHR:

Kindly note assumptions number 1 to 3 at the bottom of this article whereby it is stated that private firms are not required to register unfilled positions with the MHR. It is correct to say this because private firms will normally recruit job positions on their own and not go through any government-linked agencies. Hence the actual number of unfilled positions in the Malaysian job market is higher than the MHR published statistics discussed here.

If we look at the snapshot of 2010 registered unfilled jobs, 'elementary occupations' hits the top spot. Such jobs are related to 'pekerjaan asas' such as maids, general workers, laborers and so on.

Zooming in on 'elementary occupations' the run chart below shows a steep climb from the years 2004 to 2010, a growth exceeding 13000% (10 times more that professionals) - caused by an acute shortage of workers in this category.

However the situation could have been worse. According to Tuan Haji Sabri, Deputy Director General of the Labor Department, in 2010, there were 785,000 Malaysians migrating out of the country and 1.8 million migrants into Malaysia. The 1.8 million migrants into Malaysia caught my eye because it appears that these migrants helped a little in easing the general worker shortage situation- the graph above could have been steeper. The breakdown of the 1.8 million in 2010 is as follows:

On the 785,000 Malaysians who migrated out of Malaysia, my take is that they are mostly professionals or semi-professionals who have gone out of this country. I do not have enough statistical evidence to show this (not my fault because I rely on published statistics only and I don't know why the Government has stopped releasing demographics like these since the year 2005) but being a professional myself who is in touch with the Asian region I am very confident that I am correct in saying that most the 785,000 migrants last year belonged to such a group and their reasons for migrating are push factors rather than pull factors. For me personally, it is a pain living in this country- the daily racism, the fear of political prosecution, the lack of religion freedom and so on.

Proponents of Ketuanan Melayu may ask me to leave this country on the next flight but they are ignorant of the fact that if hundreds of thousands of professionals like me leave Malaysia in this continuous trend within the next few years Vision2020 will never be achieved by 2020 and we will never ever be a developed country like we should be because of the lack of human capital.

I doubt Najib's 15% tax rate plus a couple of tax-free locally assembled cars through the Returning Experts Programme will do much to convince any professional who have made inroads in a foreign country to return home. For them the reasons of leaving the country is much more fundamental than lower tax rates and lower-priced cars (anyway, the pricing will never beat the prices and specs of cars sold in foreign countries). Najib needs to summon enough political will and balls to do the changes that needs to be done in Malaysia only then will people start coming back, tax breaks or not.

All sources of data are published figures from Bank Negara; Department of Labor, Department of Statistics and Ministry of Human Resources.


Assumptions on labor market statistics:

1. As at end-period. Data is not comparable with past series. With effect from May 2005, the registration period during which jobseekers are deemed to be actively seeking jobs using the Electronic Labour Exchange was lengthened to six months (three months previously)
2. The number of job vacancies could have been under-reported as it is not compulsory for firms to report vacancies to the Labour Department.
3. Includes public administration and defence, compulsory social security, education, health and social work, other community, social and personal service activities, private household with employed person, ex-territorial organisation and bodies.

Art Harun: The Rage. Outburts. Ridicule, Continues.....

Rakyat didahulukan - for sure

by Art Harun on Friday, 22 April 2011 at 08:42

When the 1E-mail project was first announced, the PM unequivocally said it was a government initiative.

Then he says it cost 50 million smackeroons.

Rage. Outbursts. Ridicule.

Then PEMANDU stepped in. The website was changed from government initiative to private initiative. The objective was obvious, ie, to tell the people that it is not their money but Tricube's money. To maintain the "free" factor.

Rage. Outburts. Ridicule. Continues.

Latest news is:

Quote: The Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) has said government agencies will pay Tricubes Bhd to use the company’s 1 Malaysia e-mail database, which it called both a government and private initiative.

“Agencies would have to pay a certain fee to use that,
as in any other e-mail database,”
business services NKEA communications content and infrastructure
director Dr Fadhlullah Suhaimi Abdul Malek
said in an interview on radio station BFM today."

Now I know why the motto is rakyat didahulukan.

It means the government will change info when the rakyat expresses unhappiness. The customer is always right kinda thingy.

The only thing is instead of taking into consideration what the rakyat say and improve services, our government just change info to suit what the rakyat say.

Awesome.

NOTE: all emphasis, mine.

Pembela looking for an "Omega Watch" to hurt Christians?

When Pembela protests that adhering to the Article 11 of the Federal Constitution is an "Insult to Islam", isn't he actually the one insulting the founding fathers of Malaysia or Islam for that matter - through their ignorance?

Never mind that one moron thinks that it was the Brits who brought Christianity to Colonial Peninsular States or that Malaysia is "Tanah Melayu" (without acknowledging the existence of Sabah/Sarawak which were instrumental to the creation of Malaysia) - but when an unthinking law lecturer misses the trees for the woods and stands with those who threaten violence, you wonder what kind of education these imbeciles provide at the International Islamic University Malaysia- that too in law!!

I'd be ashamed of the Christians, had the situation been reversed and one of them uttered the words Pembela did .... to me, it's unthinkable to have such moronic "intellectuals" among the Christians- I wonder if there are any Muslims who feel the same ....
But then again I seriously doubt that it has anything to do with "Islam" as such- the stench of the Umno rat using Islam to create the siege mindset among the faithful seems to be quite overpowering .....

So that brings us to the lingering question- Do you think Mr 1-Malaysia, Ghani Patel, Krismudin and/or PDRM have the guts to do anything about it?
I don't think so.
Going by the many scandalous events (Altantuya/RPK/Bala/Kugan/TBH/Sarbaini/Aminulrasyid/Scorpene/Sukhoi/1MDB/Taib Mahmud etc etc etc) in recent years- they'd probably go for the victim who made the police report instead- and probably find an "omega watch" to find him guilty!!

Good try anyway, Mr. Xavier.

**************************************************

Catholic lawyer lodges police report against Pembela

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani

April 20, 2011

Annou Xavier says he lodged the police report to protect the rights of other religious groups. — Picture by Jack Ooi

KUALA LUMPUR, April 20 — A Catholic lawyer called on the police today to act against an umbrella coalition of Muslim groups, Pembela, for making seditious statements against the Christian community.

Annou Xavier said that the threats by Pembela were highly provocative and could result in a backlash against Christians in the country.

Last Friday, Pembela held a protest at the National Mosque against Putrajaya’s release of Malay-language bibles and declared they are willing to shed blood against ‘extremist’ Christians that insult and ridicule the position of Islam in the country.

“The statement made by these groups (Pembela) and its members are insidious and seditious in nature as it is highly provocative so as to mean that the said group and/or its followers are willing to disrupt harmony and cause hatred, contempt, and raise disaffection with Christians and among other peace-loving citizens of Malaysia.

“The Federal Constitution states that other religions may practise in peace and harmony and that each and every religious group has the right to manage its own affairs, maintain and manage its own property and practise his own faith under Article 11,” he told reporters after lodging a police report at the Petaling Jaya police headquarters.

During the protest last week, Pembela spokesman, Dr Yusri Mohamad, asked Christian groups to stop their confrontational approach and apologise to Muslims for wounding the community.

“We ask all Muslim leaders to unite against extremist Christians that challenge and insult Islam,” said Yusri, who is also a law lecturer at the International Islamic University Malaysia.

Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia’s (ISMA) secretary-general, Aminuddin Yahaya, added that the country has been soiled by foreign elements.

Pembela’s protest in front of the National Mosque last Friday. — file pic

“Malaysia was tanah melayu, tanah Islam. But when British colonialists came to our land, they also brought Christianity with them … We must unite and not compromise with those that insult our religion. We are willing to die for Islam and our country!” he said.

Xavier said that he has lodged a police report to enable an investigation into the matter and to protect the rights of other religious groups, especially the Christian community.

He stressed that Islam is not disputed as the religion of the federation but all other faiths may also be practised in peace and harmony without threat.

MORE....

Mixing politics with religion

Mixing politics with religion

April 19, 2011

APRIL 19 — “Never mix religion with politics. There is nothing more volatile, nothing more provocative than mixing the two. Inevitably, we will quarrel if we try to politicise religion … also racial issues as well.”

So said Tan Sri Taib Mahmud, newly sworn in as the Chief Minister of Sarawak.

I couldn’t agree more. Now that the great battle for Sarawak is over, perhaps Tan Sri Taib could start propagating his advice amongst his colleagues in the Federal government, and other state governments?

If so, I fear he has a struggle of truly Sisyphean proportions.

Perhaps I never quite realised it as a child growing up in Malaysia, but increasingly I find myself thinking that religion in Malaysia is becoming ever more and more politicised. In some ways it’s perhaps inevitable — after all, when it comes to Muslims, the State knows best.

As a Muslim, should I be living in KL right now, my religious belief would in fact be governed by what JAWI deems is right. Now, in most cases this wouldn’t be a problem. However, there are times when what JAWI thinks is right could come into conflict with what I think is right.

Take Ramadan, for instance. As far as JAWI is concerned, I cannot eat in public during fasting hours. Not a problem, usually. However, as a woman you and I know that there are times when I am actually prohibited from fasting. What if I was amongst a group of other non-fasting Muslim women (or non-Muslims, for that matter), and we decided to have a bite whilst watching a movie in the cinema?

That’s a fairly innocuous example, actually. What is of far more concern is our religious authorities’ penchant for arresting those who practise the “wrong” type of Islam (actually, the Federal government is guilty of the same). Last year, JAIS arrested about 200 people in Gombak, for the “crime” of being Shia (rather than Sunni, as practised by most Muslims in Malaysia).

Some of you may even remember the Memali Incident of 1985. Was there a real threat to the nation’s security then? Possibly. Does that excuse the deaths of 14 villagers and four policemen? Well, we’ll never know, will we, given our aversion towards discussing anything controversial in a calm and rational manner?

Not mixing politics and religion? Oh, please. PAS and Umno are the masters in mixing it all up. Whisper it: vote for PAS, and you’re a kafir. Or conversely, vote Umno and you’re a kafir. PAS is more Islamic than Umno. No, no, Umno is more Islamic than PAS. Both parties fight to out-Islam the other. Actually, PAS can’t be all that Islamic because they’re working with DAP. Ahh, but Umno has always been in bed with MCA and MIC. And so it goes on.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, the religious authorities merrily go on their religious crusade, raiding nightclubs and then leering at the sexily-dressed young girls that they “catch.” Or better yet, video the young couples that they bust in khalwat raids and then broadcast such videos in programmes like Imam Muda.

Who speaks up for these people? Nobody — after all, they’re getting what’s due having indulged in promiscuous behaviour. But what about the unIslamic and frankly degrading practice of heaping humiliation upon these people? Who cares — Islam is what the religious authorities say it is, and none of the political parties will do anything to upset the likes of JAWI or JAIS because that could be seen as being unIslamic!

Well, we Muslims are used to having our religion intertwined with our politics. Ahh, but pity you Christians who are now finding out what might we wield! Our intellectual prowess is such that, not content with politicising our own religion, we now seek to politicise your religion too. After all, what is the AlKitab furore about if not the flexing of the collective religious authorities’ muscles?

I will probably be dismissed as a liberal, pluralistic Muslim when I say this, but with all due respect, I could not care less if Christians want to use “Allah” in their prayers and their bible. I know and you know that we are praying according to our respective religions, so what does it matter what words we use in our prayers?

My faith isn’t so weak that I would find myself wanting to change my religion should I inadvertently read the Malay bible (as it happens, I have read parts of the Bible – in English – when, as a child, I found a bible in a hotel room and feverishly looked up the passages pertaining to the Beast, thanks to the influence of "The Omen"!).

The government should have more faith in Malaysians’ faith but actually, this is a heaven-sent opportunity to burnish one’s Islamic credentials, so a non-issue becomes one of grave national interest. You can dismiss my views of course, but before you do so, think: if the bibles hadn’t been impounded and no fuss made by all quarters, would anyone have actually been hurt?

So yes, Tan Sri Taib, let’s stop mixing politics with religion. Let the AlKitab be distributed without any restrictions throughout Malaysia. Let Muslims read it if they wish. Stop persecuting Muslims and non-Muslims with our brand of official Islam.

Ah well ... and pigs might just fly, one day in our country.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

Pakcik, Paati, Ah So .... What's your email address ah?

All Malaysians to get official 1 Malaysia email a/c

UPDATED @ 02:29:20 PM 19-04-2011

By Lee Wei Lian

April 19, 2011

The email account will allow direct and secure communication between Malaysians and the government. — Reuters file pic

PUTRAJAYA, April 19 — Malaysians aged 18 and above will be given a secure 1 Malaysia email account for official purposes said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today.

The email account will allow direct and secure communication between citizens and the government, and is part of a new one-stop web portal for government services.

The web portal will be developed by Tricubes Berhad and will provide services such as social networking, online bill payment and citizen application development.

“The communications content and infrastructure NKEA is also kick-starting a government initiative to provide a unique and official email account and identification for citizens of Malaysia,” said Najib.

He said that the RM50 million investment would have a GNI impact of RM39 million up to 2015. Further, the 1 Malaysia email initiative will allow direct and secure communications between Malaysian citizens and government as well as enhance delivery of public services.

RPK- The "Ressurrection" of Altantuya (aka "that Mongolian lady")

Recently, somebody commented that Najib/Rosmah have been "cleared" of their alleged involvement in the Altantuya MURDER, since RPK said publicly that he doesn't accuse them of it. Furthermore, being desperate for approval rating in Sarawak, Najib himself was reported to have "thanked" RPK for the recent (two-month old, actually) statement!!
And of course Bernama implied the same, when mentioning "that Mongolian lady" ...

Reality check (for the victims of BN media spin):- when RPK said that he "hadn't believed it as yet" when first informed (until confirming reliability of informants), it was spun by the media to mean "he doesn't believe it"!!
The SD simply states that he "has been reliably informed" of this- an allegation was made. That's all- and they arrested RPK, instead of investigating the allegation.
Read the highlights in the SD image below (which I got from the web) to confirm, if you must.....

(click on image to enlarge)

Funny that the media should now spin to imply that RPK did so in the past, when the fact remains that HE NEVER DID say so himself!! If he did deny it, they should lodge a police report, and charge him in court for a making false statutory declaration- & present the evidence in court!!

Good to know that after so many silent years, the Army has decided to make a statement on the SD made by RPK in 2008- I wonder why...... maybe they needed some good "housekeeping" before making public statements. Such efficiency is much appreciated- I'm sure it will go a long way towards restoring the confidence of the people in our Defense Forces after the recent "military exercise" on KTM ( read Mindef & KTM's Welcome to Bolehsia), when they scared the crap out of passengers.

Bernama says - The Defence Ministry has identified one of its senior officers who was allegedly involved in a conspiracy to malign a government leader in connection with the murder of Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibuu. The officer has been relieved of official duties pending investigations.

But take note that .... in that very statement, they have already concluded that:-

"Information supplied by the officer to blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin was false and it had never existed in our files," he said in a statement Friday.
It goes on to say that, the man (a colonel now) "had made a personal choice in associating himself with an opposition leader, and it had nothing to do with the MAF" and that, "to this end, a board of inquiry would be set up".

Now the Questions arise:-
-Why the prolonged silence?
-When was the inquiry/investigation conducted to determine that such records "never existed"? Or did they conduct the investigation only two days ago? -Why has he been suspended only now? -Why do they have this "inquiry" on the informant only now?
-has PDRM investigated to determined WHO exactly ordered Sirul Azhar & Azilah to kill Altantuya?
-Why hasn't Musa Safri (apparently "somebody's" ADC) been brought to court?
-Will PDRM also investigate if there is truth to the persons who have been briefed/informed of the incident?

Anyway- it is good to know that RPK's recently broadcasted interview did have a reaction from the Army. It is also good to know that the PDRM has been lying when they said that they're trying to bring RPK back ( did they say that they're are unable to locate him?).
Maybe IGP can appoint TV3 to be their "agent 007" then- he (Ashraf Abdullah) obviously located & spoke to RPK with quite easily .... and Bernama TV still has the gall to call RPK a "fugitive".
*sigh*

The Malaysian Murder that Won't Go Away

SPECIAL REPORTS

Saturday, 16 April 2011 Combat

By Asia Sentinel

Raja Petra Kamarudin, the editor of the Web siteMalaysia Today, has backed away from a controversial charge made in a 2008 statutory declaration that Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, was present at the 2006 murder of Mongolian translator Altantuya Shaariibuu, but substantial questions remain.

Raja Petra told Malaysian television station TV3 on earlier this week that he had been fed erroneous information by Anwar Ibrahim and other individuals connected to the opposition leader. Najib and his wife both threatened to sue Raja Petra over the charge when he printed it. The editor fled Malaysia ahead of the action while facing sedition charges as well. When Najib and Raja Petra both turned up in Australia at the same time a few weeks ago, that raised speculation that Raja Petra was in negotiations to return to Malaysia. Malaysia Today, once the most popular website in Malaysia, has suffered from his absence.

Any indication that Rosmah had been at the scene of the crime had long been discounted, particularly in the wake of a confession by Sirul Azhar Umar, that he and Azilah Hadri, both of whom were Najib's bodyguards, had acted alone in killing the woman. The charge that the premier's wife was present has muddled the case involvng the murder of Altantuya, the jilted girlfriend of Najib's best friend, Abdul Razak Baginda, who was charged along with the two bodyguards as a conspirator in her gruesome murder but was freed.

The 28-year-old pregnant woman was shot twice in the head and her body was blown up with military explosives in a patch of jungle outside the Kuala Lumpur suburb of Shah Alam. There are suspicions that the explosives were used to destroy DNA that might link her unborn baby to someone in Malaysia

Sirul and Azilah were were convicted of her murder. They have filed appeals against their pending execution. Razak Baginda decamped forLondon almost immediately after his acquittal and doesn't appear to have been seenin Malaysia since.

Najib told reporters he was thankful that Raja Petra's allegations had been renounced. However, if anything, the editor's statement has only reawakened other charges. There is still a mass of evidence that casts suspicion on highly-placed individuals in Altantuya's death, including suspicious text messages between Razak Baginda and Najib.

Sirul's confession was never admitted into evidence in the Shah Alam High Court.

In that confession, Sirul told police he and Azilah were to be paid between RM50,000 and RM100,000 (US$16,530-US$33,060) to kill the woman. Azilah, he said, told him that Musa Safri, Najib's chief of staff and aide-de-camp, in turn had told Azilah "about a friend …who had women problems," and that there was "a job to do."

That job consisted of killing Altantuya and two girlfriends who were accompanying the translator from Mongolia in an attempt to get US$500,000 from Razak Baginda, apparently for her role as translator in a spectacular scandal involving a US$1 billion purchase of submarines in which €117 million were to be kicked back to a company owned by Razak Baginda.

Raja Petra ... "Lagi"!

Lagi confuse.
Hmm…lagi. Perkataan ‘lagi’ pun ada banyak maknanya.
- RPK, Sebab itulah, suruh belajar tak mahu belajar

"I don't think I said I don't believe it happened.
I said I did not at first believe it
(tak percaya lagi: 'lagi' as it not yet, such as 'jangan dedah lagi') until I confirmed it with Ku Li and Anwar through John Pang and Din Merican."
- RPK, on FB

*********************

****************

Last night, somebody called me up and asked, "WTF, man!! What is Raja Petra talking about?? You donno ah? What's this RPK saying that he never said that Jibby/Rosmah was involved in the Altantuya affair?"

So I replied, "What's the problem? You need to understand what exactly happened. That's the truth isn't it- RPK never alleged anything about Najib/Rosmah. He made an SD based on what he believed was 'reliable hearsay', which has to be investigated upon- and that is exactly what RPK said isn't it?"

"How come he said that he doesn't believe it happened?", says caller.
Not having listened/watched to the interview (people still watch TV3 news??!!), all I could say was, "I think what he believes right now is actually irrelevant- what matters is the allegation made by the person to RPK, which has to be investigated."

The interview was focussed on the Statutory Declaration (click here) which RPK made back in 2008.

So today, it was all hot news on the net, and the MSM-

STAR:-
RPK: I don’t believe PM’s wife was at Altantuya's murder scene
Utusan:-
Tak tuduh Najib "Saya tidak pernah menuduh Perdana Menteri atau isterinya terbabit dalam kes pembunuhan Altantuya Shaariibuu."
Berita Harian:-
Raja Petra nafi tuduh Najib, Rosmah

And I did see the "Pepe"(yeah, I call him that- since schooldays.... his pet-name - real nice fella actually) interviewing RPK- and I didn't actually hear anything new or contradictory to RPKs earlier stand.
In fact, I thought RPK scored a "double whammy" (or triple, if you like)- he manged to ressurect Altantuya, disproved that he was no "fugitive" and showed that PDRM press releases were all lies.... plus, managed to demand that the allegations made in the SD be investigated, on national television!

When RPK read what the caller asked be i.e "How come he said that he doesn't believe it happened?", this is what RPK had to say (on FB):-

"I don't think I said I don't believe it happened.
I said I did not at first believe it
(tak percaya lagi: 'lagi' as it not yet, such as 'jangan dedah lagi')
until I confirmed it with Ku Li and Anwar through John Pang and Din Merican."

That brings us to RPK's "Sebab itulah, suruh belajar tak mahu belajar" - in case some of you guys are wondering what RPK is talking about in that article, it is about the word "LAGI" he used to say what he said.

So, this is what I wrote in response:-

Pete,
Yes, you did say "lagi". To me, it was quite clear, and I didn't see any contradiction. (And like I said, I thought it was irrelevant to the allegation by the Lt. Col. in the SD).

However, the MSM (and the general public) didn't nterpret/understand it "lagi" the way you meant it. And you cannot really blame them for not understanding you- many don't even know what was in the SD.

On your latest post "Sebab itulah, suruh belajar tak mahu belajar". While I thought the article was hilarious and explained what you were talking about- Just for your info:- Here was what I wrote to Duke:

"Duke- the problem is, many people are actually seeing stars with this article ...
Pete doesn't really explain what he's talking about.
Some wondered why he was going on and on about the word "LAGI" .... one person I met scrolled up & down, wondering what he missed.
Some people I spoke to, thought he was just talking about how "stupid" the language is as a result of Govt intervention, or maybe he was talking about the deficiency about the language, etc etc etc.
Mind you- I'm talking about "educated" people and even those in the broadcasting industry here ....

Only those who know him & what he's talking about will understand what he's saying. If Pete goes on like this, catering only to those who understand him, it can be quite difficult for him to "connect" to the Mr. Average Joe on the street la ..."

I'm just relating what actually happened in the last few hours, okay Pete- there's a disconnect, and that's the reality. Sometimes, you need to spell it out la, Pete.
I just cannot imagine what the Pakcik/makcik, Kampong boys, Ah So/Uncle, Thambi/Anneh, Jinjang Joe will conclude .... and they're the majority in Malaysia.

Take care, Pete- I think the interview was great ... in fact- a double whammy for you!!
Keep it up, Pete!

NOTE:
Pepe- Sorry mate ... I don't watch TV3 news, but good to know that an old friend made it to Bolehland's some sort of "HardTalk". (You look good, man!)