Saturday, 4 May 2013
Sunday, 23 December 2012
M'sia is world's No 2 in illegal capital flight
Close to RM200 billion of dirty money was siphoned out of Malaysia in 2010, putting the country second only to Asian economic powerhouse China in global capital flight.
Washington-based financial watchdog Global Financial Integrity (GFI), in its latest report which tracks capital flight, says the level of illicit flows from Malaysia in 2010 was the highest in 10 years.
GFI has introduced a new and more conservative methodology in its estimates of illicit financial outflows, which help to zero in exclusively on dirty money. As such, estimates from its previous reports have been revised.
Last year, GFI put the figure of illicit outflows for Malaysia in 2009 at US$46.86 billion (RM143.3). This has been altered to US$30.41 billion (RM93 billion).
The latest report finds a dramatic jump of capital flight in Malaysia - from US$30.41 billion (RM93 billion) in 2009 to US$64.38 billion (RM196.8) in 2010.
GFI has yet to obtain data for 2011 and 2012, but these will be included in future reports.
The global financial watchdog has warned that capital flight in Malaysia is "at a scale seen in few Asian countries".
The GFI report, 'Illicit Financial Flows From Developing Countries: 2001-2010', is co-authored by GFI economists Sarah Freitas and Dev Kar, who is a former senior economist at the International Monetary Fund.
According to GFI, for the cumulative illicit financial outflows over 10 years - from 2001 to 2010 - Malaysia is ranked No 3 in the world, after China and Mexico.
The total 10-year estimate for Malaysia is US$285 billion (RM871.4 billion), while China is US$2,740 billion, and Mexico, US$476 billion.
Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has disputed GFI's figures. Last year, he gave Parliament a much lower figure of RM135.3 billion for illicit capital outflows from 2000 to 2009.
Nevertheless, GFI data was backed by a different study earlier this year by another organisation - the London-based Tax Justice Network, which found Malaysia among the top countries when it comes to capital flight.
Graft accounts for 20% of dirty money
GFI said that trade mispricing - the practice of shifting profits overseas by over- or under-invoicing intra-company transactions - accounts for an average of 80.1 percent of illicit financial flows from developing countries.
The rest of the dirty money involves corruption.
"Illicit transfers of the proceeds of corruption, bribery, theft, and kickbacks, accounting on average for 19.9 percent of illicit outflows over the decade, are on the rise as a percentage of total illicit financial outflows," said GFI.
"Crime, corruption, and tax evasion cost the developing world US$858.8 billion in 2010, just below the all-time high of US$871.3 billion set in 2008."
GFI described its estimates of global dirty money as "extremely conservative" as they do not include trade mispricing in services, same-invoice trade mispricing, hawala transactions, and dealings conducted in bulk cash.
"This means that much of the proceeds of drug trafficking, human smuggling, and other criminal activities, which are often settled in cash, are not included in these estimates," said Kar ( right ).
Asia is the biggest losers of capital, says the GFI report.
"We found that Asia, accounting for 61.2 percent of cumulative outflows, was still the main driver of such flows from developing countries.
"Indeed, five of the 10 countries with the largest illicit outflows - China, Malaysia, the Philippines, India, and Indonesia - are in Asia."
GFI said increasing transparency in the global financial system is critical to stemming the outflow of illicit money from developing countries.
Following the release of the previous GFI report in January last year, Najib, who is also the finance minister, kicked the ball to Bank Negara's court, saying that it would provide an explanation on the findings.
Soon after, Deputy Finance Minister Donald Lim announced that Bank Negara has launched a probe .
But to date, Bank Negara has yet to announce the result of its investigations or explain the massive illicit capital flight, despite offers of help from top GFI economists.
Bread price jacked up 20sen
Published on: Sunday, December 23, 2012 (Daily Express)
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Labuan: Most bakeries here have increased the price of bread by at least 20 sen with immediate effect and ahead of the implementation of the minimum RM800 wage policy effective January.
Sabah bakeries are expected to follow suit.
The increase meant that the price of a loaf of sandwich bread of 600gm net weight is RM3.80 while the 400gm is RM2.80.
Other quality breads such as country loaf, wholemeal bread now selling at RM5.70 and RM4.80 respectively, would also be increased.
Red bean buns have also been increased from RM3.20 to RM3.40.
The increase has been approved by the Sabah Bakery and Confectionary Association following pleadings from bakeries in Sabah and Labuan.
According to a bakery spokesman, there had been a gradual increase in the prices of all ingredients used for making bread. This has affected production cost.
The RM800 minimum wage policy is going to escalate costs come Jan 1.
He said the basic pay of most workers now was RM500 excluding various allowances and the paid over-time was based on the basic pay.
With the implementation of the new wage policy, the over-time rate would have to be based on RM800.
The rate would be higher and on certain public holidays the over-time rate is double or triple.
"If you have 20 workers in a bakery it will be costly for the bakery to operate with the same margin of sales and profits," said the spokesman.
The Government had stated that once the wage policy was implemented, companies should not increase the prices of their products but the Bakery Association seems to have out-smarted the move by doing so before the wage policy comes.
The greatest fear now was that though the price of a loaf of bread had increased by 20 sen, coffee shops may use this as an excuse to up the prices of two slices of buttered bread by 20 sen.
In the end, consumers would be the victims and it would be back to square one," said a teacher.
Chairman of the Labuan Chamber of Commerce (LCC) Datuk Francis Tee Chee Hok said such hikes were expected because the wage policy was being implemented hurriedly before the general elections to please the employees.
He regretted that there were no more public-private consultations on the wage policy.
He wondered how Menumbok or Kuala Penyu towns would be able to pay employees the minimum wage of RM800 while shops rentals were only between RM200 to RM300 and employees are now paid about RM200 and the daily income of these proprietors was meagre.
He said if the policy was forced down it may result in many going broke.
"It is a policy only suitable for big and main town like Kuala Lumpur," said Francis.
Recently the Human Resource MInister Datuk Seri S Subramaniam said only 600 out of the 4,200 applied to defer the minimum wage for three or six months.
Francis said more firms would have applied for deferment of the ruling if the process was simple.
The requirement was to enclose audit and financial statements.
"One could not seriously expect a rojak seller to have such accounting."
Cancer Patient Turned Away by 4 Hospitals
Published on: Sunday, December 23, 2012 (Daily Express Sabah)
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Kota Kinabalu: A patient suffering intermediate stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma (cancer of the nose) is feeling hopeless after having been turned away by at least four government hospitals in the country, including Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH).
Lau King Ngiuk, 71, and members of the family were informed by QEH doctors on Dec. 19 that she could not be treated with radiotherapy because the computer facility for radiotherapy planning was out of order.
However, QEH referred the patient to Hospital Kuala Lumpur for treatment with the reason that the hospital's one and only treatment planning system had broken down. She was recommended to undergo concurrent chemoradiotherapy.
But Lau's hopes were dashed when a doctor who was trying to make an appointment with Hospital Kuala Lumpur's (HKL) Oncology Department for her treatment informed the family on December 20 that there was no place for her at HKL, the reason being that three of the radiotherapy treatment machines were not functioning.
Lau, a mother of seven grown-up daughters, was dealt a third blow when the same doctor called up a second time, saying University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) in Petaling Jaya could also not accept her because it was full house.
Daily Express learnt that UMMC was also facing problems with the radiotherapy treatment machine. The last straw came when the Sarawak General Hospital in Kuching also declined to take her in for treatment.
Ngu Pei Lang, one of the daughters, confirmed this, saying the doctor personally conveyed the message to her through three phone-calls on the same day (Dec 20).
"I am very sad. I feel there is no hope for me. The cancer has now affected my lymph node, and I can't hear clearly in my left ear.
Why am I treated in this manner?
"How can the Government do this to me? It is as if Malaysians in Sabah are not humans," Lau said during a press conference at her residence at Taman Ramai, here, Saturday.
Luyang Assemblywoman, Melanie Chia Chui Ket, was also present.
Earlier, Lau suspected something was amiss when there was bleeding each time she brushed her teeth. At the end of November this year, tumour tissue was biopsied from her nasopharynx, and by Dec. 3, she was diagnosed to have nasopharyngeal carcinoma, according to the Histopathology Report issued by QEH's Department of Pathology.
She also had a computerised tomography (CT) Scan at QEH on December 10 to confirm the diagnosis.
Lau, who wept throughout the press conference when relating her story, said "I am not just speaking for myself. I am voicing out the disappointment and frustration of all other cancer patients who had to be turned away. I don't mind going to the private hospital in Kuala Lumpur for treatment as long as the Government pays for the cost," she said.
Saying families should not accept the loss of loved ones as fate particularly in such circumstances, she hoped her children would continue the "fight" for better health services if she was no longer around.
"But then, do we have to wait for the worst to happen before things are put right?" she asked.
Chia praised Lau for her courage in standing up for her rights.
"Since the patient is in the intermediate stage and is very treatable (as told to the family by the doctors treating her), her case must be treated with urgency without further delay. Much time has been wasted."
Given the backlog of treatment and understandably long waiting-list as a result of the breakdown, she stressed that the State Health Department must act immediately to send affected patients to hospitals outside Sabah, including private medical centres, for the necessary treatment.
"How long more do you want them to wait? Are you going to ask them for come back in three months' time or six months' time?
By that time, you may not see them again.
Chia said it is incredible that Sabah, a one-time richest State, has only one radiotherapy treatment machine, and one computer facility for radiotherapy planning versus a population of 3.28 million.
"Since the aging machine and computer facility have malfunctioned on and off in recent years, last year and this year, and with the billions of allocation for Sabah from the Federal Government, why has the State Health Department not secured new machines to replace the near-condemned machine and computer facility?
"Why do we have to come to a critical stage where cancer patients are left in the lurch all because of poor planning, lack of foresight and absence of monitoring in the corridors of power?
Don't Sabahans deserve better health services as promised?" she asked.
The Battle for Putrajaya Hots Up
By: Tan Sri Panglima Herman Luping
WITH the UMNO's annual general meeting over and the upbeat speeches by both the Prime Minister and his Deputy during the meeting, we see a lot of comments and suggestions about the coming 13GE in the papers as well as in the internet.
The Opposition parties too have been quite up beat in their own speeches. The battle for control of Putrajaya has begun.
There are two political "forces" facing each other in Peninsular Malaya.
On the right is the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition partners, comprising of five political parties, namely, the United Malay National Organisation (UMNO), the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), the Gerakan Party and the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP).
The first three parties are communal parties, representing the three major races in the country.
UMNO is the biggest party in the country and the "pillar" of the BN coalition.
Gerakan is a splinter group of MCA and although multi-racial, it is Chinese-based.
The PPP is a splinter of the MIC, and although multi-racial in concept, it is also Indian-based.
The PPP was the party started by the two Senivasagam brothers of Perak in the 60s.
The BN coalition, including the BN political parties of Sabah and Sarawak, have 13 political parties joined together for a common stand to govern the country. The BN coalition has been in power ever since Malaya obtained its independence in 1957.
The BN coalition political symbol is the scale or timbangan; hitherto, the coalition was called the Grand Alliance Party symbolised by a sailing ship, but was changed to the bigger and wider represented BN in the early 70s.
On the left are the Opposition parties group together in a loose coalition called Pakatan Rakyat (PR), comprising the Party Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), the Democratic Action Party (DAP) and the Islamist party called PAS. This latter party is Kelantan-based and its avowed aim is to introduce Islamic syriah laws in the country, including the Hudud law. The DAP is multiracial but has Chinese as its predominant members. For a long time, the DAP was dominated by a "father and son" partnership, Mr Lim Kit Siang and Mr Lim Guan Eng. The party is now headed by a national chairman, Mr Karpal Singh with Lim Guan Eng as the Secretary general.
The latter is also presently the Chief Minister of Penang.
The two political "forces" (the BN and PR) in Peninsular Malaya are fighting for the control of the Federal Parliament and hence the Administrative centre at Putrajaya. At the last general election in 2008, the BN coalition in the Peninsula obtained 95 seats and the Opposition 75.
It was the Parliamentary seats won by the Sabah and Sarawak BN that helped the BN coalition to hold on to power.
Hence, Sabah and Sarawak were called the "fixed deposits States.
There is apparently a third "political force" found in the two Borneo States.
This is the Borneo Alliance (BA) comprising of the STAR of Sabah and Sarawak, the Sabah Action Peoples Party (SAPP) of Sabah and the USNO Baru presently led by Datu Baharuddin Tun Mustapha.
Sabah and Sarawak also have BN coalition parties and together with the BN coalition parties in the Peninsula number 13 parties altogether.
The Sabah BN is led by the Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Haji Aman.
He is also the head of Sabah UMNO as well as the leader of the Sabah BN coalition parties.
The Sabah coalition party comprised of the three Peninsula based parties, UMNO, MCA and Gerakan. (MIC and PPP are not found in Sabah or Sarawak) and the Sabah based parties, namely, the United Pasok Momogun Kadazan Organisation (UPKO), with Tan Sri Bernard Dompok as its president, the Party Bersatu Sabah (PBS), led by Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan and the Party Bersatu Rayat Sabah (PBRS), led by Tan Sri Joseph Kurup. The third local party is the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) then led by Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat but is presently led by Datuk V.K Liew.
Three of the four local parties are multi-racial in concept.
These are the PBS, Kadazandusun-based, PBRS, also Kadazandusun-based and the LDP, Chinese-based.
The main aim of these political adversaries is to capture the Federal parliament and the seat of Administration at Putrajaya, as well the State governments - of which there are 11 in the Peninsula and the two in Sabah and Sarawak.
Four of the States in the Peninsula are with the PR Opposition party; namely, Selangor (PKR led), Penang (DAP led), Kelantan (PAS led) and Kedah (PAS led). 9 other States (including Sabah and Sarawak) are in the governance of the BN coalition.
The BN coalition party stand is that its governance of the nation has been steadfast and true, and that it has delivered to the people and country what is best.
The BN coalition government stands for its record of service - good service - to the nation and people. It has brought peace and stability and in turn, brought in billions of ringgit in foreign investments to the country. This is a strong indication of foreigners' confidence in the governance of the BN coalition government.
And in Sabah too, the excellent financial management of the State's economy by the Chief Minister is also noted by both local and foreign investors. Foreign investments in Sabah too is in the billion of ringgit which in turn helped to develop the State as well as provide employment to the people.
Today, for instance, Malaysia is rated as the 8th best country in the world and the recent statistics show that the BN government in both Federal and State have slowly but surely eradicated poverty amongst the poor in the nation.
And in the fight against corruption, Malaysia's position today in the global graft perception index is 54th in the world - an improvement of six spots (from 60th). We are ranked ahead or above Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. In the ASEAN countries, Malaysia is rated as 3rd, Singapore as 1st and Brunei second.
So, in effect, the avowed aim of the Pakatan Rakyat to erase corruption in the country as one of its main policies if it gets to control Putrajaya has fallen flat as the BN coalition government is doing precisely this today and is achieving results. Indeed, the statistics also show that the MACC had achieved a big stride in the war on graft with the prosecution rate this year up from 75 per cent from last year.
Meanwhile, the Borneo Alliance objectives, they claimed, is to return the Borneo States to the original concept when the Federation of Malaysia was formed.
The concept and understanding then was that there were four countries forming the Federation of Malaysia - Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak. There was no mention, that Sabah and Sarawak would become one of the states or the 12th or the 13th.
The Malaysia agreement too needs to be rewritten. This is because the Malaysia agreement has become null and void when Singapore, an important signatory to the Agreement was expelled from the federation of Malaysia, they claim.
The big question is whether the super powers like the United Kingdom and the United States would listen and support this call?
I thought I saw someone from Sabah presenting the same view at the House of Commons (Parliament) in London some time back,
He was then backed and introduced by a British MP of Indian origin.
There was not a "ripple" seen or heard about that presentation.
The truth of the matter is that after so many years as part of the Federation of Malaysia, Sabahans today are generally happy and appreciative of the vast strides made in the economic and social developments in the State. Peoples' standard of living too have increased by leaps and bounds and the feeling of Kadazandusun Muruts being left "marginalised" is becoming more and more things of the past.
And for this, the efforts of our BN leaders, like the Chief Minister and the Prime Minister must be given due recognition for their caring attitude. And closer home, the KDM leaders in the BN coalition government, like Tan Sri Bernard Dompok must also be given due recognition of what he had contributed to the people - his people - to the country and State.
Tan Sri Bernard has been practically the main spokesman for the indigenous communities of Kadazandusun Murut in the Federal Cabinet.
Federal leaders have been "listening" and they have been very supportive of the call to assist the indigenous communities to better themselves and become proud Malaysians.
Sandakan's Road Floating: A Decade-Old Problem
Sandakan: The Sibuga Mile 8 road near the District Council's rubbish dumping ground, which has been shut down due to flood recently, is a decade-old problem, said Sabah Progressive Party (Zone Sandakan) Youth committee member Shahrizan Jainal.
He said the problem has existed since 10 years ago, from the time of Barisan Nasional's Datuk Samsuddin Yahya until today.
"After the Batu Sapi by-election in 2009, Datin Linda Tsen became the Assemblywoman of Batu Sapi.
"Tsen did not seem to care about the problem and has done nothing like reconstructing or maintaining the existing drain in the area," he said, Saturday.
Sharizan felt the drain measuring only two square feet is not big enough to sustain a huge amount of water, causing flood that also affects nearby areas.
He added matters were made even worse each time it flooded, because the drain was filled with rubbish and wild plants.
"The problem is not only making things hard for road users but are also causing accidents," he said.
Sharizan, who was also in the nearby area at the time of flooding with some friends, almost met with an accident with a four-wheel drive vehicle in the same area.
"Some drivers are left without choice but to drive through the flood, which could reach a depth of two metres following continuous rain," he added.
Bringing back Rotation will bankrupt Sabah - again!
By: Mohd Jefri Radius
AT the recent Upko's convention, its Bingkor Assemblyman Datuk Justin Guka proposed reviving the CM Rotation concept of 1994-2004 by having the earlier version reviewed to a longer (four years) tenure to whoever is taking turns to be the Chief Minister.
Upko's President Tan Sri Bernard Dompok-cum-Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister was quoted as saying "This is what democracy is all about - the people are free to express themselves.
Of course, this was just one of the many resolutions raised by party divisions, which they at the leadership level, had to digest before making a decision."
Some BN parties in Sabah would no doubt be happy and support such proposal. But whether BN Chairman Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak would give his blessing to revive Tun Dr Mahathir's brainchild for Sabah politics, after giving careful consideration to the pros and cons while the Rotation System was implemented in Sabah politics before it was scrapped in 2004, is another question.
On the broader perspective, any political organisation that commands the majority or gathers sufficient seats or simple majority, after the polls, cannot be denied from forming the government be it at state or national Level.
However, history in Sabah has a lot to tell about the uniqueness of the reality that had changed its political landscape. It might even contradict the basic principles of democracy.
The Rotation system for a period of two year sfor each CM introduced during the Mahathir Administration was specially designed with the political mission and vision of consolidating the people of Sabah, in the wake of Umno's success in 1994 in toppling the then PBS Opposition State Government which had been at the helm of administration for nine years.
It was considered very timely at that time so to speak.
By virtue of the Rotation system, a Chief Minister was chosen and appointed from among the ruling BN component parties in Sabah with the blessing of the Head of State, to represent the Muslim Bumiputera, Non-Muslim Bumiputera and Chinese communities for a period of two years.
The system paved the opportunity to the BN component parties, including a party which won only one State seat to become the Chief Minister of Sabah (former President of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Tan Sri Chong Kah Kiat)
Dr Mahathir, was not politically aware of the social and economic implications and the consequential results of the system that he introduced in Sabah. It had an adverse effect on the people of Sabah to some extent.
Neither did Tun Dr Mahathir stake high hopes nor his political strategy to contribute to the State's economy.
Indeed, it was a brilliant move in his political chessboard to incorporate a combination of power sharing just for the sake of uniting the Sabahans regardless of races, creeds and belief etc.
However, loopholes surfaced at the expanse of the State 's economic development.
Former Permanent Secretary in the State Finance Ministry Datuk Yusof Mohd Kassim once disclosed the " Rotation dried up State Treasury" (D.E 2nd Feb 2010). This was supported by Datuk Herbert Timbon Lagadan, the Vice President of PBS, who said " The End of Rotation was `a blessing" (D.E 5th Feb 2010).
Yusof deserves praise for telling the truth on what our political leaders would rather hide - the State Treasury by political cronies every two years and why ?
Could we blame the extravagant, opportunistic attitudes or mentalities of some of the CMs in question, who took turns to rule and were running against time? Could we pin it down to immaturity or incapabilities of the respective CMs while entrusted to hold the State's top political post ?
The short span allocated is one factor and the maturity and capability of the person being appointed CM to take turn occupying the position is another factor.
During the Rotation, it was an open secret that various government departments spent millions of ringgit in vehicle rentals from Angakatan Hebat when the State Coffer was facing financial constraints.
The State lost Sabah Bank that has since become successful as Alliance Bank and the so called management buyout involving KPD's assets is no exception. It was crony and hypocrisy at its height to see some of the people who were in charge during the sale are now seen fit to advise the State Government.
It also resulted in numerous lop-sided deals.
In my previous article on 28th Feb 2010 entitled Sabahans now realise that Rotation was a curse", some paragraphs read " The change of CMs every two years under the Rotation infused a series of administrative and socio-economic complications. A number of Government assets were sold and privatised if that had not been done so under PBS and the Forest Management Unit (FMU) Concept was no exception as well"
In 1997, the State Reserve was only about RM60 million which according to Kassim, was only enough to pay the salaries of State Civil Servants for the two next months. The amount increased to RM300 million after the 1997-2000 Asian Economic Crisis"
However, when Datuk Seri Musa Aman took over the baton from Chong as the CM until the abolishment of the Rotation System in 2004, he managed to restore the financial status of the State's Coffers, whereby the State Coffer generated a total reserve of about RM 2.4billion. A success that no Sabah CM has attained.
Generally, it was the post-rotation administration under Musa that was able to strengthen the financial status of the State Coffer apart from bringing robust economic growth, which some had in turn tagging the State to be the first State Government to get the Triple A Rating from RAM Service Sdn Bhd.
Hence, Justin's view is just a motion brought forth to the views of the party's delegates and certainly such a proposal is nothing wrong.
However, the effort to bring back to life something proven to have an adverse effect during it implementation is not worth an effort in the true sense of the word and for a number of reasons.
The excuses that a CM would need more time instead of the two -year during the Rotation System before he could be seen as " an efficient and contributive leader playing his roles" is viewed as short sighted and not acceptable. Only those vested with opportunistic political agenda would think so, but not those who are truly genuine in their political commitment to serve the people and the State.
Sensibly, we would support a CM who could produce results during the 24 months of office rather than those holding the post for 48 months or more, without doing anything at all other than to satisfy their own personal political interest.
It is worth recollecting the wisdom of former First Asian Secretary General to the United Nation from the Republic of The Philippines Carlos P. Romulo, while addressing the General Assembly in the late 60s, he said: "In this world beset by unpredicted problems we seek alliances to struggle and to uplift the dignity of mankind, we find strength and vigor not in the number of our years but in the intensity and scope of our commitment."
This is a testimony of a political leader of an Asian ethnic, who left a significant universal message to the new generation of politicians to ponder that their scope of political commitment will be judged based upon the performance and achievements thus far rather the number of years in office
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