Concessionaire Toll Agreement with the Govt is one sided.

The recent reminder by Works Minister SamyVellu that road toll will have to be increased soon doesnt make sense.Does the govt toll agreement with the Toll concesinaires provide an iron clad guarantee that they will constantly make consistently good profit over the duration of the toll agreement?
Why is there so much secrecy in the toll agreemnt?To avoid unfair insinuation and aspersion on the govt officials and Minister given the task of making the agreemnt with the Toll concessionaires,would it not be proper and transparent that those agreements be made public so that we can see if everything is above board.
The public perception is that the agreement is one sided and quite rightly so.Why must the govt give a guarantee that compensation will be paid to the concessionaire if toll is not allowed to increase after a period of years?Going by logic, the number of vehicles would increase every year and by that deduction toll would also correspondingly increase.If that be the case then why the necessity for an increase in toll or the need to compensate the concessionaire? The increase in the number of vehicles would have adequately compensated the concessionaire without any increase in the toll.
I doubt the public would accept any toll increase in the absence of any proper disclosure of the reasons for such an increase.

Purchase of Defence Equipment is a Sham

Can our country continue to sustain wanton waste in the purchase of defence equipment which for the most part have little relevance to our national defence?The whole matter of defence equipment purchase seems to be done in an ad hoc manner with no proper due diligence carried out to determine the type and quality necessary for a modern defence system that will not only act as a deterrent but would also provide a sustainable level of defence that will ensure protection of our national sovereignty through the 21st century and beyond.
A few months ago our DPM, and Defence Minister was in U.K to sign an agreement for the purchase of Submarines.Purchasing submarines is the easy part but do we have the manpower, the facilities for such state of the art equipment to be part of our defence arsenal?Many of our previous purchases have ended in the junk yards and hopefully this purchase will not be the next statistic.
Then we had another deal with the Russians for the purchase of fighter planes.The deal was sealed with the addition of a Malaysian astronaut thrown in as an added incentive .Agro- based Industry ministry Parliamentary secretary Rohani Abdul Karim naively went on to say that 'the programme to send a Malaysian into space will not cost a single sen as it is part of an offset arrangement for the purchase of Russian military aircraft'.This of course is not true. It has now been established that it will cost us approximately $95 million to send our astronaut to space so that he can indulge in the children's game of Batu seremban and to experiment the effects of preparing teh tarik in outer space.
Finally, this week we were told that the defence dept has purchased 8 Italian fighter planes for a cost of $410 million.The question is how do we justify the purchase of three different types of defence equipment to blend into our defence strategy?The maintenance of these different types of equipment will pose problems in spare parts and manpower skills in ensuring our fighter planes are in tip top condition.Frankly I am beginning to question the wisdom of purchasing all those equipments which for obvious reason will end up as scrap in the metal junkyard.

End of an Era for B.N

Every one knows that closing the barn door when
the horse has bolted is an exercise in futility.During
the last UMNO General Assembly ,delegates spewed fire
and brimstone at their perceived threats from the
miniority non malays especially the chinese.The
culmination of the disgraceful assertion of malay
supremacy was the unsheathing of the keris by the Head
of the UMNO Youth, Hishamuddin.The words of the
delegate from Malacca probably sum up the racist and
religious sentiments that pervades the assembly."UMNO
is willing to risk lives and bathe in blood to defend
the race and religion."The P.M's closing speech to
assuage the feelings of the non malays who were hurt
by the vitrolics hurl at them did very little to
repair the damage that occurred at the assembly.It was
a classic case of the horse has bolted.
The chinese media reported the UMNO proceedings
in great details and the simmering anger was without
doubt felt by the chinese community.They felt betrayed
by UMNO.It was through their help in the 2000 election
when UMNO was most vulnerable to the PAS threat( when
DPM ANwar was expelled and incarcerated by TDM)that
UMNO was able to retain most of its electoral seats
with a slender majority.At the time when most malays
had abandoned UMNO in support of PAS, the chinese
community gave their full support to UMNO.
UMNO and its leaders may have to ponder their
future without any help from their erstwhile partners
because the damage has been done.Despite damage
control by MCA with its intention of going on a nation
wide roadshow to explain and pacify the chinese
community it is unlikely the olive branch will be
accepted this time round.
It is ironical that after nearly 50 years of
Alliance and then later Barisan National union of UMNO
and MCA this seemingly invincible partner will come to
an ignominous end.There is little hope that the
chinese will continue to render support to the
B.N.From the feedbacks of coffee shops and private
conversations the response is unanimous.They will
throw their support to all independent and opposition
candidates.UMNO and its cohorts will learn a bitter lesson
that there is a price to pay for its betrayal

T.M Net Or Telekom-Both are still the same.

After spending millions in their rebranding
exercise, TM Net or Telekom has basically still remain
the same in its service and management of its now
private enterprise.Little has changed since its
privatisation and its recent refurbishing of its kedai
Telekom offices.Walk into any Kedai Telekom and you
will experience the appalling service.In any day
paying your bill is a hassle.It is not uncommon to
wait an hour or more just to pay your bills.( I have
personally experience such poor service in Kota Bharu
and Seremban Kedai Telekom).Payment and receipts of
cash is the lifeblood of any private enterprise but
here you experience a certain lackadiscal attitude
which translate to mean that you have to wait in a
long queue if you want to pay.
The trouble with T.M Net or Telekom and its
contemporary partner Tenaga Nasional Bhd, is that the
worker and its management teams are the same people
prior to its privatisation.They still adopt the same
work culture and 'tidak apa' attitude.Their work
ehtics have remained the same despite the
transformation to a private entity.When the whole work
place is populated with one race the tendency is that
there are so many common things to talk and gossip.A
lesson can be learned by watching the racial
composition of foreign Banks and Multi-national
companies.When there is a good mix there is healthy
competition to excel and no one wants to be seen
slacking.
T.M net and Tenaga National Bhd has to overhaul
their old work culture if they wish to remain relevant
and competitive. Fortunately for these two private
enterprise they are a virtual monopoly in their
respective field and therefore can afford the luxury
of compacency.

Punish the Perak Mufti.

When my son told me that he saw a leprechaun in
the morning newspaper I thought he was joking.Then I
saw for myself a picture on the nst dated 13th Nov.
edition in the front page was the semblance of someone
who had the characteristic of a leprechaun.That man
was the Perak Mufti,Datuk Seri Harussani zakaria who
purportedly identified the mischievous woman who sent
the text message that a group of muslims would be
baptised at a church in Silibin on Nov.5th.
I used to read and remember in my younger days
that leprechaun are by nature mischievous creatures
who happen to create havoc in the lives of ordinary
mortals.Yes, this leprechaun in our midst is no
exception..During his tenure as the Perak mufti he has
taken particular delight in perpetuating one
controversy after another.It is as if he had a wicked
sense of humour or is it his evil intention to cause
racial and religious conflict among Malaysians of
different origin.
One of his outrageous claim in Feb. 2006 was that
100,000 of muslims had apostatised themselves.He did
not disclose the source of his information but claimed
it was from a' reliable source.'
Then in June 2006 he proclaimed that Kongsi raya
was not proper and could erode the faith of
muslims.How could any one who is suppose to be
knowledgeable in Islam propagate such a convoluted
version of religious doctrine?What remains clear is
that we do not need such religious bigots in our
Malaysian landscape.If the Perak Mufti is in any way
responsible for the sms which led to the protest and
demonstration at the church in Ipoh, then the full
weight of the law should befall this leprechaun.In
this day and age we just dont need any leprechaun
prancing in our midst with their own brand of
religious bigotry.

Iskander development Region will Be a Flop.

Like the few mega projects during
Mahathir's tenure which was a flop,the Iskandar
development Region is undoubtedly heading for
failure.This new project when examined under a
microscope has nothing new to offer.This ambitious
project is perhaps better described as new packaging
but the same contents.The same old mantra is repeated
here again.Vast expanse of land, a skilled workforce(
more likely Indonesian imports), efficient bureacracy(
most likely the same corrupt civil service
mentality)and modern infrastructure (but a third world
mentality in maintenance).Foreign investors are
already wise to such superficial promises and not
likely to fall for the same ruse.
The International trade and Industry Minister
recently gave a warning to foreign investors that if
they are not prepared to relinquish 30% equity to
Bumiputra when they invest here then they might as
well dont come here.Well looks like the foreign
investors have taken the cue from our arrogant Rafidah
Aziz and has stayed away in droves.Otherwise how could
you explain that a small red dot like Singapore could
garner Foreign Direct Investment of $20 billion in
2005 compared to $3.97 billion in FDI in 2005 for
Malaysia.
Finally, how could the Iskander development
region take off when in the first instance the Johore
Sultan has already called for the demolishment of the
causeway?Indirectly this is to say that Singaporeans
FDI are not welcome.Then in the same breath, the
Sultan went further to describe the Mat Sallehs as
dirty and not welcome.So having excluded two of the
major FDI group from coming to invest here, can the
Johore Govt please let us know who are they targeting
to come and invest in the Iskander development Region?
Frankly the only expectation of the Iskander
Development region would be a vast barren uninhabited
industrial land which in due course would be
abandoned.Singapore would not be a properous,
successful, industrial state if Johore had the
potential and the ability to come out of its
hibernated state.

Uncalled for remarks by Sultan

The Johore sultan merely has a ceremonial role in our constituion. He should confine his thoughts and opinion and should not make public comments which might be misconstrued.If he choose to venture out of his ceremonial domain and go into the public domain then whatever statement he makes can and must be subject to public scrutiny and criticism depending on the merit and demerit of the subject matter.He should not expect any immunity from public scrutiny.
In this regard, the Sultan's comments to demolish the causeway was an extremely stupid and spontaneous statement made by someone who has scant knowledge of the historical and legal consequences of such a propose act.
Is the sultan aware that thousands of Malaysians seek employment in the red dot to eke out a living and 90% of them are his subjects from Johore.?Is he aware that Singapore's investment in Malaysia and in Johore constitute a substantial portion of FDI in Malaysia?
Instead of reaching out his hand in encouraging foreigners to come to Malaysia he has made disparaging comments that foreigners are dirty and not welcome.What is the point in spending millions in advertisement for tourists to come to Malaysia when someone whose opinion would carry alot of weight make such disgusting comments.And what is most disappointing is that none of our leaders including the P.M made no effort to correct the disparaging remarks made by the sultan..
06/11 22:29:23

CLP Exams should be more Transparent.

There is a sense of injustice that seems to
confront all those who happen to have the misfortune
to sit for the CLP qualifying exam.From the numerous
complaints that has been reported it is quite obvious
that the CLP board has a hidden motive to deliberately
fail those oversea Law graduates who are mandated to
sit for this exam before they can practice here.
There is an unsavoury aspect of this prerequisite
making it compulsory for oversea graduate to sit for
this professional exam when local graduates are
exempted.By implication, is it the CLP board's opinion
that the local graduates are better train then their
oversea counterpart?
The most unsavoury aspect of the CLP exam is that
it is shrouded in mystery.There must be a reason why
only 10% of the candidates pass this exam.If indeed
the 90% candidates did badly then surely they are
entitled to know how and in what manner they had
performed badly.Those that fail should have recourse
to their marked papers on payment of a nominal fees
and if neceesary have them remarked again on payment
of a fee.At best, this would allow those who fail an
opportunity to know where their shortcomings were and
to ensure that it is not repeated.
The Bar council is keeping a deafening silence on
this issue which seem to affect alot of future
lawyers.It would be a great help if the Bar council
could make proper representation to the qualifying
board to make the whole CLP exams more transparent.

P.M should adopt Mahathir's strategy.

The only way P.M Ahmad Badawi can combat Dr.
Mahathir's unrelenting criticism is to adopt the
latter's strategy.In order to silence Mahahtir once
and for all P.M has to be ruthless.He should no longer
pander to the whims and fancy of the former P.M.Look
how Mahathir exposed the rulers abuse and extravagant
lifestyle during the constitutional crisis in order to
force them to accept the constitutional
amendments.Then observed how he orchestrated Anwar's
conviction with even the minute detail of the stained
matteress offered as material evidence of Anwar's
secret rendezvous.
Yes, to wage a political combat with Mahathir, P.M
should expose the former policy failures.For good
measure it should reveal how during his tenure of 22
years he had bailed out his son from the failed
shipping company,perkapalan.Then he should expose why
he allowed TNB to negotiate the unfavourable terms
with the independent power producer for the supply of
electricity.
Going further, P.M should reveal the extent of the
foreign exchange loss suffered by the nation when Bank
Negara went on a speculative binge to corner the tin
market.
War strategist have always advocated that attack
is the best form of defence and in this respect
Mahathir has used this strategy to good effect.P.M
cannot afford to maintain the 'elegant silence 'and
expect to counter Mahathir's offensive with his
passive approach.P.M must adopt Mahathir's tactic and
response with venom, failing which P.M may have to
succumb to Mahathir's verbal onslaught.His tenure may
very well depend on this strategy.

Bumis' 45% Equity is a cause for celeberation

Our P.M's stern warning that questioning the
methodology of EPU was stirring up trouble is a
convenient way of sweeping this controversial issue
under the carpet.It seems whenever the public clamour
for some transparency the govt would resort to this
familiar threat that it would inflame racial
tension.The malaysian public of every race has every
right to demand the truth with respect to the present
bumiputra equity in the country.Only with the full
knowledge of the present bumiputra equity only can we
formulate a meaningful 9 Malaysian Plan.
If there is any validity in the claim of 45%
bumiputra equity, then any policy that continue to
provide assistance to the malays would be an
aberation.Further, if it was true that bumiputra
equity has attained 45% then we should applaud the
achievements of our past leaders for having formulated
the various NEP policies that have finally attained
its stated objectives of giving 30% equity to
Bumiputra.Such an achievement should be a cause for
celeberation instead of commiseration.
The 9th Malaysia Plan should then focus its
implementation based on poverty rather than race
based.This way, the poor, the disadvantage,the
underprivelege,the orphans, and all those who need
govt assistance would benefit across the board.For all
this to happen we need strong leadership and not
leaders who continuosly threaten that seeking the
truth is tantamount to stirring up racial tension.Such
infantile excuse can no longer be tenable to the
Malaysian public.

EPU should be more Transparent.

Why do our leaders have the phobia of revealing
how the EPU arrived at the 18.9% equity of the
bumiputras?.If according to our leaders the
methodology used is correct and accurate then there
should be no hesitation in disclosing the methods and
data used in the calculation of the 18.9% bumiputra's
equity.But a cursory examination of the statements
made by those responsible for the computation seem to
suggest that the methodology used by EPU was flawed
from the very beginning.
How could EPU justify their valuation of market
capitalisation on the basis of equating par value of
shares with current market value?Although the par
value of Tenaga and MAS are the same ,this cannot be
the case when reference is made to their present
market value.Tenaga's share is hovering in the $10
region whereas MAS is somewhere around $3.So based on
this difference in value how could EPU attempt even to
equate the valuation of Tenaga and MAS as of the same
value in calculating market capitalisation?When the
methodology is based on a faulty premise it becomes
quite obvious why the EPU computation of 18.9% equity
becomes severely flawed.
It is pointless for the govt to go into a
denial mode when confronted with the more reliable
calculation of ASLI.EPU should make every effort to be
more transparent by revealing their datas and to
justify their method of determining the bumiputras
equity.If EPU cannot intelligently refute and debate
ASLI's assertion that Bumi's equity is 45% then the
public has every right to demand a revision of the
goals of the NEP.

Malaysian chinese doing well -Pak Lah

Yes Pak Lah, the chinese are doing very well
in Malaysia but no thanks to the govt for any help.The
truth may be difficult for the govt to accept but that
is the plain inevitable truth.In fact the govt with
all its civil servants have made it their level best
to place obstacle in the path of every chinese
businessman.They have formulated policies so
discriminating that its a wonder the chinese
businessman can even survive under such atrocious
conditions.
Every govt policies have been carefully crafted
to ensure the chinese do not succeed.The Perak
M.B,Datuk Seri Mohamad Tajol Rosli Ghazali even
defended the decision to award certain priveleges to
bumiputra companies.According to him there was nothing
inappropriate to practice such discrimination.In fact
such practice is already common knowledge to all
chinese businessman.It has already been an entrenched
practice of the govt to give all govt contracts and
supply to bumiputra companies.In fact many of these
contracts were given at inflated price to bumiputras
and the latter in turn give it to a chinese to execute
the contract.
So when the chinese succeed in their enterprise
it is all through their own effort and zero
contribution from the govt.The chinese owe no
gratitude nor any loyalty to the govt.All their
success and effort are due to their blood,sweat and
tears.They can proudly say that they did it all their
way.

Pension scheme should be Scrapped

Before introducing the so called
revolutionary pension the govt should consider
carefully the financial implication of continuing the
pension scheme.By its own admission the present scheme
is costing the govt annually $6 billion, money that
would be better used for developement and other more
important expenditure.
The present pension scheme is not only
subjected to abuse but is a liabilty to the govt.It
becomes questionable whether such a scheme is
sustainable over a long period of time.A typical case
of a civil servant with four wives rangeging in age
from 55 to 30 would literary means that the govt would
have to continuosly pay pension to the surviving wives
and children until the wives death and the children
becomes of legal age.The case of the late former
Deputy P.M Abdul Ghafar Baba is a case in point.At the
age of about 65 he married a woman half his age and
conceived a child. When he passed away, the child of
six yrs old was the only beneficiary since the late
Tun had by then divorced his wife.Because of his long
tenure in politics and govt service the pensionable
amount due to him came to a sum of $17,000 per month
and $204,000 per year.Because the child is six years
old the govt will have to continue to pay for 15 years
which come to a sum of $3,060,000.
When we consider the workforce of 1.1 million civil
servants that are pensionable, the financial
implication becomes frightening.The question that begs
to be answered is whether the govt can afford to have
such leakages without a long term adverse effect on
its financial planning

Immigration dept awaken by the death of Sir Norman

Sir Norman Frank Sisson who applied for P.R for
15 years must be chuckling in his grave.Finally after
countless trips to the immigration dept and regular
sojourn out of the country to renew his visa, Norman
finally got in death what he could not possibly get in
life.what was most shocking was the revealation by the
immigration dept that there was no such application by
Sir Norman.It was either Norman making trips to the
immigration Dept.without knowing he had ever submitted
an application for P.R or the plain and most likely
version that the immigration was telling a blatant
lie.
Home Affairs Minister, Datuk Seri Mohd Radzi
Sheikh Ahmad and his top immigration officials should
take full responsibilty for this pathetic state of
affair.If need be they should all be sacked for such a
lackadiscal approach to the administration of the
ministry.If this is how they run their ministry then
the average man has no hope of getting quick
resolution to their problems.
Perhaps I feel appropriate to ask the Minister
how thousands of Immigrants from Indonesia do not have
to endure such lengthy periods for their P.R to be
processed?It seems quite ironical that qualified
professionals, impeccable personalities applying for
P.R are denied easy access to P.R whilst robbers,
rapist, snatch thieves and unsavoury characters from
Indonesia are finding an easy path to obtaining P.Rs.
If the Minister is unaware of what is happening
in his ministry I urge him to resign gracefully and
let someone more capable to handle the job.

It Takes a Real Man To say He's sorry.

What can you say about the statement of apology made by Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew? This gesture by a great statesman reflect the calibre of the man he is. Many a lesser man would not apologise because the statement was the truth. But this wise man spoke the truth and yet chose to apologise because it was in the larger interest of his country.

Perhaps this should be a lesson to Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaluddin and his boss, Hishammuddin Hussien. Khairy spoke on a subject which offended the Chinese and resolutely refused to apologise. Hishammuddin castigated MCA vice-president for making what he thought was a baseless statement and demanded an apology which was duly given by Ong Tee Keat's boss, Mustapa Mohamed.

The cabinet under the misguided Najib Abdul Razak even reprimanded Ong. When the truth was finally unraveled, none of the protagonists even had the courage to apologise. When you compare these journeyman politicians to the stature of Lee, we begin to see the difference in the calibre of our leaders.

It takes a man of great courage to say he is sorry when he is in the wrong, but it takes a man of greater courage to apologise even knowing that what he said was right and the truth.

What Lee said was merely a reinforcement of what is already common knowledge among the Chinese and Indian Malaysians. There is no way our leaders can deny that the pillar of the government policy is not to marginalise the minority communities.

Every policy of the government from education, civil service, police, army, procurement of contracts, appointment of CEOs in GLC companies, appointment of political posts are all crafted and conceived with only one purpose in mind.

Our leaders espoused unity among the races and compassion to all those needy and less fortunate. But unfortunately every leader that have so far assume the mantle of power have failed to live up to that expectation.

Thailand coup a blow to democracy

I wish to refer to Dr. Chandra Muzaffar's
article dated 22nd sept. regarding the coup in
Thailand.Of late I have noticed that this writer has
lost his moral compass and has written articles that
are skewed towards a religious bias.In his article of
Israels invasion of Lebanon he had been quick to
condemn Israel without even a whisper of condemnation
of HiZbullah's kidnapping of the Israel's soldiers.
In his article of the Thailand Coup, this
writer has the temerity to even subtlely suggest that
the coup was justified because'Thaksin had undermined
the principal instituition......his power'.If one
subscribe to the principles of democracy any form of
revolt against a legitimate elected government is
unacceptedable.No matter how noble the objectives no
matter how justified, the only way to remove a
legitimate govt is by way of the ballot box and not at
the barrel of the gun.
The writer's concluding paragraph is a
revealation of his hidden motive for supporting the
coup.The leader of the revolt is a muslim general and
the writer is hopeful that this will perhaps pave the
way for the muslim insurgents and secessionalists to
at last have autonomy in the southern region of
Pattani, Yala and Narrathiwat. In this respect the
writer is certainly misguided because no matter who
takes over the helm of the Thai govt, the southern
region will never be given any autonomy.

Singapore Has every Right to Comment.

Our former P.M, Tun Mahathir once said that
he would call spade a spade and that he would not
hesitate to criticise or condemn any nation that in
his opinion had faltered.In this vein he had
unhesitatingly criticise U.S for their role in the
middle east, the Israels in their conflict with the
Paletines, the insurgents in the southern Thailand,and
to a certain extent even Singapore whenever there was
a need to find a bogeyman to justify our shortcomings
.So if our leaders has no hesitation in criticising
every one and sundry whenever they feel like it what
is the rationale for not been able to accept criticism
from a foreign perspective?
Our leaders must accept the fact that the
right to speak the truth is not the exclusive domain
of our leaders alone.Others who view our system and
our citizens been harshly treated have every right to
voice their misgivings.More so with Singapore
especially where the citizens of both countries have
an embryonic,historical relationship.Most Singaporeans
have relatives in Malaysia and vice versa.How the govt
treats its subject in Malaysia invariably is felt by
the citizens of Singapore because of this close
relationship.
It would be foolish for our leaders to deny that
what M.M Lee Kuan Yew said is not true.By the act of
denial our leaders are merely prolonging and
accentuating the disunity that is currently prevailing
in our country.However, M.M LKY is guilty of one
important ommission.The chinese are not the only
people being marginalised.The Indians, the aborigines,
and the rural malays should also be included in the
marginalised community.Quite obviously, the
beneficiaries have been the elite, politically
connected malays that have been in power for the last
49 years.

Mahathir should look at his own legacy

Mahathir should look at his own legacy before he comments. Compared to Singapore which has devolped to a modern developed country, Malaysia is still struggling to achieve that in 2020, nearly 14 years behind.Mahathir is jealous of LKY legacy compared to his.After 22 years he has not achieved anything noteworthy other than his abilty to spend on mega projects to feed his greedy cronies.He keeps on harping on racists comment without thinking for one moment that is a half indian.Not surprising that the people at Kubang Pasu has already ignored him.Compared to LKY who is still held in high esteem, Mahathir is now a pariah by his own admission.

What the Pope quoted was the truth.

What the pope said was quoted in full from the
own words of Emperor Manuelll Paleologos of the
Byzantime empire.So what is the Pope quilty of when
the actual words did not originate from his own words
and thoughts?What the Pope quoted was from a source of
a historical figure.If the Pope is guilty of quoting
the words of any person living or dead then daily
thousand of journalists are also gulty of such a
crime.
It is up to the islamic religious authorities to
disprove any fallacy in the claim by the Pope and not
to criticise him for bringing up something which have
stood the test of time.What we witness today is a
display of the truth in the statement of the
Pope.Muslim fanaticsm have reared its ulgly head and
now in the 21st century we still hear and see muslims
clamouring for apostates to be killed in the name of
the religion.We need not have to go far from our own
shores. Even in Malaysia the case of Lina Joy's
dilemma is a good example of how muslims have
degenerated to the dark period when Prophet Mohamad
and his band when round killing the non believers and
raping the wives of the slain husbands.These are
factual events depicted in the books of the revered
caliphs and the Holy Koran.Muslims should not be in a
denial mode.It is imperative for them to study the
errie and close resemblance of the terror that took
place in the medieval period of Prophet Mohamad and
the terror and fanticsm of the 21st
century.Revealation of those events bear a striking
resemblance of what is taking place currently in many
muslim countries.Unless and until such time when
muslims can look at themselves and bring changes that
are adaptable to the 21st century more and more
conflicts will bring the 'Clash of Civilsation' to a
reality.

Housing Ministry should Review Antiquated Policies

Its about time the Housing ministry review some
of its antiquated policies that were introduced some
30 years ago.The country is propelling itself to be a
developed nation in 2020 and yet we persist in having
to build low cost houses.This mandatory polcy that
requires housing developers to set aside 30% of their
land for low cost houses has not only left alot of
areas with unsold and unihabitat low cost houses but
has become an eyesore in alot of housing estate.
The demand for low cost houses may have been
appropriate 30 years ago but with improve standard of
living few people would opt to buy low cost houses
now.So if there is no longer a demand for such houses
why do the Housing Ministry still continue to make it
mandatory to build low cost houses when there is no
demand?This policy if left uncheck would later
contribute to slums where it would be a haven for drug
addicts.
Another policy that need to be reviewed is the 5%
to 10% per cent discount offered to bumiputra
buyers.when this policy was first introduced it was
intended to increase bumi ownership of houses.This is
especially in respect of properties that are within
the reach of the average Bumis.But now the policy has
lost its direction and purpose and have now included
high end property which were for the rich and
famous.What rationale is there for developers to give
discounts to those Bumis who can afford to buy luxury
high end property?The proper remedy is to put a cap on
a certain price range that will mandate the developer
to give discount to Bumis and certainly not a blanket
application of all property.The Housing Ministry must
keep up with the times and continue to review old
antiquated policies .If not our housing landscape
would be inundated with unwanted, unsold houses left
uninhabited for years to come.
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