Half Revealed World Bank Report

The NST newspaper published an article on World Bank's forecast on Malaysia's potential growth.

Highlighted in bold that Malaysia may achieve a growth forecast of up to 5.7%.

After reading through the article, I found that all were very positive indeed and the economy is on the rise.

Seeing that the mainstream media are being controlled by the existing government (directly or indirectly), I checked further (my usual style on confirming stuff).

True enough that Malaysia could go all the way but it was subjected to a number of conditions. The article talks about end results only but was mum on how to achieve the potential growth of 5.7%.

The writer who's from World Bank, Philip Schellekens, has written more stuff and three main conditions have to be achieved prior to Malaysia hitting a good economy:-

High-income economy - Growth to date has been driven primarily by greater quantities of capital and labor. To break the glass ceiling between middle and high income, growth will need to be based on innovation with greater emphasis on the quality of capital and labor as well as the efficiency with which these are combined in production. Structural reforms, as argued in the report, will be essential to unleash Malaysia’s innovation potential and achieve the high-income objective.

Inclusive growth - Affirmative action is an essential policy instrument in many countries around the world and can be designed and implemented in ways that are conducive to growth. Pro-growth affirmative action requires a refocusing on needs so that the errors of inclusion and exclusion are minimized. More broadly, structural reforms that boost growth and enlarge the pie of national income make it easier to meet distributional challenges which remain significant. Poverty in Malaysia is four times higher than in Korea and Singapore, and inequality remains high at levels comparable with Indonesia and Vietnam.

Government debt sustainability - Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures and governments around the world expanded their balance sheets. The experience in Malaysia has not been different. Structural reforms, however, will be essential to ensure that the growth momentum is sustained and the debt level is gradually reduced. Slippages on the structural reform implementation front could be costly and cause the debt to rise relative to national income, which in turn would require additional fiscal consolidation. Structural reform thus matters not only for growth but also for debt sustainability.

More details are found here.

Unless most of the above are achieved / imposed / implemented strictly, the New Economic Model (NEM) is just a talk talk thingy again.

Maybe there isn't sufficient space in the newspaper print to publish such a long article but readers were not directed to read more elsewhere.
Tags: World Bank, Philip Schellekens, New Economic Model, NEM

Politicians' Mouth

Really a good laugh when you see cabinet ministers opening their mouth.

A renowned lady pathologist from Thailand, who was supposed to be back in Malaysia for being a witness in a court hearing, told the press that she's not coming back to Malaysia to give further testimony fearing for her life.

Opposition politicians quickly jumped up and blame the present government that they can't even protect a lady and wants to know why she feared for her life.

Then a minister said she's a liar.

Next, the opposition politicians said that this minister can be brought to court for sub judice.

The minister quickly responded by saying that she is afraid to come because she can't justify what she has testified earlier.

A state government who actually appointed her confirmed that she's not coming due to safety.

Another came up to guarantee her safety and re-assured her that she can testify.

With this assurance, the Thai witness suddenly availed herself.

It shocked both the ministers now.

The first minister then asked what sort of threats that made her changed her mind in the first place. He wants the proof also.

The second minister is now saying how to guarantee your safety when you can't even pin point the what where why how on her earlier concerns.

In other words, the guarantee is not guaranteed.

When you propose a protection guarantee, you are supposed to guarantee from top of the head right down to the toe and from all sorts of threats.

Imagine the when prime minister was to request for special police force protection and the police asked "what sort of threats do you want us to protect you from?".

What if the prime minister was to say "just protect me". Will the police say "since you can't identify your worries / concerns, we are unable to protect you any longer".

It's crazy, isn't it?
Tags: Thai Witness, Pathologist, Cabinet Ministers, Opposition Politicians

Pay More To Drive Into Kuala Lumpur

This is only applicable those Kuala Lumpur ("KL") working folks and especially if you drive to work.

The Land Public Transport Bill 2010 will introduce the "area congestion pricing scheme". It's something like the pay as you drive hehe but it's not going to be a laughing matter when it's implemented.

Firstly, most KL working folks are forced to take those tolled roads coming into KL city centre. Why forced? Because the government didn't build those roads but allowed the private sectors to take over. A friend of mine will always say "you pay toll to get into a traffic jam at a faster rate".

This so called Land Public Transport Bill 2010 will come under the purview of a new division, the Land Public Transport Commission / Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat (also known as SPAD in short).

I like the way the government is trying to justify this new pricing scheme, not new as they tried to moot this before but under a different name only, by saying that Singapore and London have similar schemes and if they can, Malaysia Boleh also.

But the numskulls didn't compare other factors such as the good transportation system at those two places. In Singapore, even if you see the bus that you need to board leaving the bus stop/station, you need not worry as the next bus will come along the way within the next five minutes. In Malaysia, you have the faintest idea of when the next bus will come.

Singapore's MRT and London's Tube do not breakdown as often as KL's LRT.

KL tried to allocate a bus/taxi lane on certain roads for the public transportation to travel at a faster rate but many private cars used it at the same time. No enforcement here.

Friends coming from faraway places like Shah Alam, Klang, Kajang, Seremban complained that the buses or trains are sooooooooo congested and irregular timing/schedule really pissed them off.

Government tried to encourage the car pooling idea. I have a colleague working in the same group of companies in the same building. Our job demands are quite different and if one party was to work late, what about the other person. What if you need to go off urgently during mid day due to personal reason?

How do you expect people not to drive into KL then?

Give us the reasons, not one, but many reasons to leave our cars behind.

It has been mentioned many many times that the public transportation has to improve at a sky high rate otherwise any ideas/schemes to charge (penalise lah in a way) cars being driven into the city centre is incomprehensible.

The government did mention that by reducing the subsidy for petrol prices will not only cause the petrol prices to rise up but the money saved will be pumped into improving the public transportation. Who said this? It was the previous prime minister. Has the money been spent on improving then?

Or it was used to buy dozens of non-functioning buses that were then left to rot away in the end? (referring to two articles found in Bernama and Malaysia Today)

I'm not against the new scheme but please show me that the public transportation is worthed my time travelling in it.

And if you KL working folks are going to keep quiet from today onwards, you have disqualified yourself from complaining when the scheme is finally implemented in due course.

When will you know about how much you would need to pay if bill's approved? Bill will be tabled next Monday!
Tags: Land Public Transport Bill 2010, Area Congestion Pricing Scheme, Land Public Transport Commission, SPAD, Pay As You Drive, MRT, Tube, LRT, Public Transportation, Suruhanjaya Pengangkutan Awam Darat

Resolve A Problem By Raising Prices Beyond Everyone's Reach

The Terengganu state government is really giving me a good laugh. Really need such laugh during this intense period LOL!

What did they do this time?

If you like Pulau Redang off Terengganu's coast, I would strongly suggest that you book yourself a trip there to see whatever, do whatever, enjoy whatever you can. Reason - in due course I can almost guarantee that 90% won't be going there again.

Not that you can't go but you would have to fork out tons of cash in order to be there.

The state Chief Minister has planned to allow only 5 stars and above type of hotels or resorts to be built in the future. That also the room rates could be in the region of US$500 per night.

Why would he want to do that? Reasons given:-
a) save the surrounding rich marine life and prevent environmental destruction due to pollution and indiscriminate littering
b) budget accommodation places on the island have no proper sewage system and waste is directed to the sea, and this destroys the corals
c) save the island from deteriorating environmentally
d) initiated out of concern for the environment as damage to the corals had been extensive.

He could be right there because an estimated 100,000 holidaymakers would travel there in a year.

What about the existing budget hotels that are still operating there? Kick them out of the island? Other businesses that are operating on the island which can't sell high end products should pack up too.

How many could afford a US$500 hotel room? Maybe only 1,000 out of the 100,000. A colleague said that it's good to raise the hotel rates because only the older folks are usually more well off and they may not be divers at that age. So the corals are saved.

By the way, the Chief Minister has some options for you. Please go to Pulau Kapas and Pulau Perhentian instead if you can't afford Pulau Redang in the future. The 99,000 (assuming 1,000 will be holidaying in Pulau Redang) are given the green light to destroy both Pulau Kapas and Pulau Perhentian, if I did the catch his phrase correctly.

But then, ain't introducing awareness and proper education on protecting the environment is a better option. Maybe more social responsibility programmes should be initiated on Pulau Redang itself.

The Chow Kit area in Kuala Lumpur city area should be cleaned up too. I got an idea now. Get the city council to buy the same idea as in by raising the property assessment beyond a human's comprehension, only allow high end type properties to be built, only allow niche products to be marketed there and I'm sure Chow Kit's tardiness would be solved.

Malaysia Boleh again!

Reading: Pulau Redang aims to lure the rich with room rates no less than RM1,600 - Star
Tags: Pulau Redang, Travel, Holidaymakers, Divers, Social Responsibility, Pulau Kapas, Pulau Perhentian, Terengganu

Cola Will Reduce Sperm Count?

Drinking lots of Cola may reduce a guy's sperm count but to what extent?

A doctor by the name of Dr. Tina Kold Jensen (and her team) from University Department of Growth and Reproduction has done a research with 2,500 Danish guys, young guys for that matter. No old guys because their sperm count is definitely lower as they aged hehe.

In her research she tried to check on the impact of caffeine-based drink on the guy's reproduction health. The research team used the Cola drink which has caffeine in it.

Which cola? Not mentioned. I guess it's safer not to name the brand in case of lawsuits. But how many types of cola drinks are there in the market?

From the outcome of the research, a guy who doesn't drink cola will have a sperm count of "averaging 50 million sperm per milliliter semen".

And if you do drink, that also the research mentioned that at least more than one liter (about 34 ounces) was consumed, your sperm count could be in the range of 35 million sperm per milliliter.

The above research was found in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

From this research, I can deduce that a charging group of 50 million sperms may penetrate an egg easier.

I guess it will be equally bad for a lady's reproductive system if she drinks a lot of cola too. Anyway, the research was not conclusive as there are many other factors that may cause lower sperm count.

I can also conclude, suddenly the medical part of my brain is functioning, that if you were to continue drinking cola in that magnitude (a liter a day), your reproduction health may not be affected but I'm sure the diabetes will find you as a close friend real soon.

I have once heard of this joke but I found it very profound too:-

"Every single person in this world is a born winner. Why? Because you were the only sperm that managed to penetrate into the egg first and thus, you are a winner right before you were born."

Well, listed this under the Tragedy label because if it's true it's definitely a tragedy for many men (or ladies for that matter).

Reading: Is cola bad for sperm? - Reuters
Tags: Sperm Count, Cola Drink, Cola, American Journal of Epidemiology, Dr. Tina Kold Jensen, Born Winner, University Department of Growth and Reproduction, Reproductive Health

Lower Car Prices For Malaysians?

“I believe that low-income Malaysians today would not have been able to have their own cars had it not been for Proton." - Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Chor Chee Heung.

So pathetic.

How does a low-income Malaysian get to own a Proton? Proton has to build a car which has cheaper components and parts [I hope that the quality has not been sacrificed/compromised ;)] coupled with lower duties imposed by the government.

Personally, those who can even afford to buy a local made car are quite well off. It's not just buying a car but you have to ensure periodic maintainance, pump it up with the costly petrol, clean it, the need to pay road tax and a potential higher car insurance.

Try telling that to a father who is fetching two of his kids to school early in the morning. This is happening right in Kuala Lumpur itself. Don't need to describe about the rural areas.

Because of government protection accorded on Proton, higher duties were imposed on all other foreign made cars which made it quite impossible for low-income (I would say even above average Malaysians are affected) Malaysians to own one. These foreign made cars, even though of better quality and safety standards, are placed out of reach in that Malaysians will be forced to opt for a cheaper version i.e. the Proton cars.

I have heard before that one of the main reasons for imposing high duties on foreign made cars was to reduce the number of cars being driven on the roads. But why produce local cars that are cheaper where more people can buy it then. It contradicts.

Surprisingly, Proton cars could be bought at a cheaper rate even though it was exported out of Malaysia. No duties imposed by those countries? What about the freight charges?

In Saudi Arabia, Proton cars are sold at unbelievable low prices. It's not only in Saudi but the same in many other countries where Proton is being sold.

Worse still, the quality/specs are much better for those exported Proton cars. Apparently, it's to meet the minimum quality/safety standards in those countries.

Shouldn't these low prices be the same as in Malaysia for those low-income Malaysians?

Why are we benefitting the foreigners?

Low-income Malaysians subsidised those cars being exported?

Related post - Prices of Cars in Canada
Related post - Proton Cars Being Ridiculed in UK

Reading: Chor lauds Proton for making cars affordable - Star
Reading: Proton - Prices & Specs - Drive Arabia
Tags: Malaysian Car Prices, Saudi Arabia, Proton, Car

Rubbish Dump Fire

Few weeks back in the late Sunday afternoon, a plot of land behind my residential area was burning out of control. Not sure if it was an illegal dumping ground or that it belongs to some factories there.

It was about 150m away from the last row of houses in the residential area.

It was thick black smoke. Though I can't smell anything but ashes were raining down on those witnessing the fire. Toxic?

Within seconds on seeing that it was quite serious, I asked those two guys who were standing there earlier "Have anyone made a call to the fire station?". They responded "Don't know, we just came only". They were there before I arrived ..........

That's our public apathy. Each one waiting for someone else to do it and these people will be fast to blame others for not doing anything if something was to happen to them.

When I called the emergency number 999, the operator asked for details of the area on fire. I told her it's behind my residential area and I told her it was somewhere near the Kg. Bohol area. That operator was not sure of the place and asked me to provide a more detailed address.

I told her it was a fire burning into the forest area. I have told her on the estimated route to go that area. Still she requested for more details saying that the place is not easily understood.

Fed up, I told her to just pass the call to the fire station nearest to my place, which is the Bukit Jalil fire station. I told her if the personnels at Bukit Jalil fire station were to come out from their fire station, they would definitely see the thick black smoke and they'll be guided by that smoke signal. I guarantee that because I'm seeing it with my own eyes (raising my voice at this point).

She could sense my seriousness now. When the call was passed to the Bukit Jalil fire station, the guy who took my call said that they already knew about the fire and had dispatched their personnels there. Good job! But not for the operator because she was wasting precious time.

At this point of time, a number of the neighbours were there to geh poh chi (busybody). Not one person asked whether a call was made to the fire station.

Saw one guy, seems like a reporter or something like that, busy taking pictures with his high end camera and other gadgets but didn't make any calls to the fire station.

The best is yet to come ........ after standing there for a moment I noticed two elderly men came in their car. Walking to the spot where you can see this fire with the best view.

And he said this "Don't know whether the firemen are already there to put out this fire".

I felt like saying "Uncle, if you haven't made the call to the fire station, how do you expect them to be there?".

That's Malaysia and maybe for many Malaysians.

Some complained about the government day in day out but when you asked them whether they have voted in the last general election .............. do you know the answer? ....... Its a big NO!
Tags: Public Apathy, Bukit Jalil Fire Station