Economic package unveiled
The Government dialled down its projected gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2009 from 5.4% to 3.5%, but said it would inject RM7bil to strengthen the economy and boost confidence within the private sector.
The RM7bil will come mainly from savings earned from the reduction of fuel subsidies announced earlier this year, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said in Parliament here on Tuesday when announcing the Government’s economic stimulus package (full speech in Bahasa Malaysia ).
The budget deficit is projected to rise to 4.8% from the 3.6% expected earlier, after estimated revenues were dialled down from RM176.22 billion to RM168.73 billion.
The inflation rate is expected to hold steady at around 3-4%, he said in announcing the revised Budget 2009.
His briefing on the stimulus package in Parliament was interrupted several times by Pakatan Rakyat Members of Parliament.
Speaker Tan Sr Pandikar Amin Mulia ordered Batu MP Tian Chua to leave for disobeying his instructions, which led to Opposition MPs walking out in protest.
Among the measures Najib announced were:
1) RM1.2bil to be allocated to build more low- and medium-cost houses;
2) Abolishing the 5% import duties on fertilisers, cement and steel;
3) Allowing hypermarkets to close late (weekdays 11pm; weekends 1am);
4) RM500mil for the maintenance of police stations and quarters, as well as Army camps;
5) RM200mil for Chinese, Tamil, religious and mission schools;
MALAYSIAKINI : RM50mil for Tamil schools: MIC says thanks
Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam thanked the government and Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for approving the MIC's request for a RM50 million allocation for Tamil schools under the stimulus package announced today.
Big boost for Tamil schools
This proves BN gov't is fair
6) RM200mil for pre-school education; and
7) Employees can reduce their EPF contributions by 3% on a voluntary basis for up to two years
RELATED POSTS:
BUDGET 2009 - WHATS ON THE MENU....(1)
BUDGET 2009 - WHATS ON THE MENU....(2)
BUDGET 2009 - WHATS ON THE MENU....(3)
BUDGET 2009 - WHATS ON THE MENU....(4)
BUDGET 2009 - WHATS ON THE MENU....(5)
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
MIC YOUTH SEEKS 10 PER CENT LOCAL COUNCIL CONTRACTS FOR INDIANS
MIC Youth today asked the government to allocate at least 10 per cent of local council contract jobs such as maintenance and landscaping to Indian contractors.
MIC Youth chief T. Mohan also said the wing proposed that the government create another class of contractors, similar to the Class F contractor for Bumiputeras, for the Indian community.
MIC Youth would write to the government on the matter next week, he told reporters after a meeting of the MIC Youth supreme council at the party headquarters here.
Mohan said these measures, when implemented, would help raise the living standard and equity ownership of the Indian community.
"These measures will help raise the income of the Indians and increase the purchasing power of the community," he said.
Mohan also said MIC Youth supported the statement by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak that he was working towards the gradual liberalisation of the New Economic Policy, which was replaced by the National Development Policy in 1991.
MIC Youth chief T. Mohan also said the wing proposed that the government create another class of contractors, similar to the Class F contractor for Bumiputeras, for the Indian community.
MIC Youth would write to the government on the matter next week, he told reporters after a meeting of the MIC Youth supreme council at the party headquarters here.
Mohan said these measures, when implemented, would help raise the living standard and equity ownership of the Indian community.
"These measures will help raise the income of the Indians and increase the purchasing power of the community," he said.
Mohan also said MIC Youth supported the statement by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak that he was working towards the gradual liberalisation of the New Economic Policy, which was replaced by the National Development Policy in 1991.
PAKATAN RAKYAT IN DILEMMA???
PAKATAN RAKYAT IN DILEMMA???
Here, i would like to highlight an article by Mr. Brandan Kuppusamy, a journalist who choose to see and pen down Fair comments on 'both sides'.
The electorate believe they woke up to a new Malaysia on March 8 minus race, religion and discrimination and therefore it comes as a shock that the very same people who had preached “common human” values have fallen back on old habits.
Pakatan's Unresolved DilemmasPAS’ stance over the 30% bumiputra quota is the latest of several which has pitted it against its Pakatan Rakyat colleagues. This does not augur well for the coalition which hopes to win the hearts of all Malaysians.
(ref: -MIC, MCA and PAS on NEP )
PAS is returning to its old habits frequently showing an intolerance that is not in keeping with its preferred image now as a tolerant, moderate Islamic party that champions common values in a multi-ethnic party.
Guided by Pakatan Rakyat leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, PAS discarded its core demand of a theocratic state to win over non-Malays on a “common values” platform in the March 8 general election.
Although PAS came in third in the number of seats won, it added Kedah to its stable and has a big say in Selangor and Perak.
But the party’s increasingly Malay nationalistic and Islamic postures are ringing alarms bells in the Pakatan Rakyat and among civil society activists.
The incidents are too numerous to be isolated and form a pattern suggesting that although moderates abound in PAS but the party as a whole is shifting to a hard-line position on numerous issues.
Clearly the party is caught between satisfying non-Muslim desire for equality and an end to discrimination and defending its Malay Muslim ground were there is fear that conceding to social equality is a “loss” to Malay society.
The party has grown in numbers in recent years and now has over one million Malays as members and growing phenomenally forcing it to speak up and defend “Malay rights” as well as Islam as Umno does.
But it still wants to keep non-Malay support it had earned in March and expand that support. Without this support it can never have much say in a Federal Government even if Pakatan Rakyat wins.
“We are caught in a quandary between defending Malay rights and keeping the support of non-Malays who had backed us and see us now as a moderate, liberal party,” said a senior PAS leader on condition of anonymity.
“We are unable to resolve this dilemma as yet,” he said.
In Kedah PAS wants 50% of house ownership reserved for bumiputras and in Selangor it is against a Chinese heading the state development corporation PKNS.
PAS has also openly and strongly opposed entertainment it considers un-Islamic although to most non-Muslims such events are tame affairs.
PAS involvement in the mob that broke up a Bar Council inter-faith forum in September is another example of rising intolerance which puts the party in the spotlight.
The party had also said it would not support a Pakatan Rakyat government that was not majority Muslim
Activists like human rights lawyer Haris Ibrahim of the Peoples Parliament initiative are questioning not only PAS but also the Pakatan Rakyat coalition’s commitment to abandon race based politics, champion equality and meritocracy.
In the most recent posting in his Peoples Parliament website entitled Is Pakatan Rakyat perpetuating race based politics?, PAS and the Pakatan government and even Anwar Ibrahim came in for some criticism for not defending multi-culturalism and meritocracy.
Harris is asking the public to write to their elected representatives to remind them of the egalitarian promise they had made to the people.
Within the Pakatan Rakyat too the relationship between PAS and the DAP is increasingly rocky with numerous policy differences surfacing every now and then.
The latest squabble is over the MCA proposal to do away with the 30% bumiputra equity requirement, a proposal openly condemned by PAS but supported by the DAP.
For PAS, however, the dilemma is much more complex it being a party based entirely on defending and promoting Islam.
On the one hand, it frequently falls on the values of Islam to defend rights, namely over the rights of Hindu Rights Action Front supporters to demonstrate even at the
Prime Minister’s Hari Raya gathering but at the same time the party rejects the appointment of a Chinese as PKNS general manager.
It is a case of running with the fox and hunting with the hounds with political expediency as the main consideration not the “common values” that PAS had subscribed to before the March 8 general elections.
The PKR is also in a similar dilemma having to carry an MP like Zulkifli Noordin whose exclusive and unbridled promotion of Islam runs counter to the party’s moderation and multi-religious underpinnings.
The electorate believe they woke up to a new Malaysia on March 8 minus race, religion and discrimination and therefore it comes as a shock that the very same people who had preached “common human” values have fallen back on old habits.
COMMENT
By BARADAN KUPPUSAMY
Apa dah jadi to pakatan's mutual agreement just before the GE-12??? The GE-12 political tsunami was because of BN's failure NOT because of Pakatan's performance .... So.... GE-13 might not be the same................If, BN manages to reform and rectify their cons .... will they (BN) face a favorable tsunami in near future?......
…And we, the rakyat of Malaysia of all races and of various faiths, now declare that we reject raced-based systems of governance of the country in favour of non race-based, integrated systems of governance…
This is an excerpt from The People’s Voice & The People’s Declaration, the document that was endorsed by, amongst others, DAP, PKR and PAS in February this year, just before the 12th GE.
Here, i would like to highlight an article by Mr. Brandan Kuppusamy, a journalist who choose to see and pen down Fair comments on 'both sides'.
The electorate believe they woke up to a new Malaysia on March 8 minus race, religion and discrimination and therefore it comes as a shock that the very same people who had preached “common human” values have fallen back on old habits.
Pakatan's Unresolved DilemmasPAS’ stance over the 30% bumiputra quota is the latest of several which has pitted it against its Pakatan Rakyat colleagues. This does not augur well for the coalition which hopes to win the hearts of all Malaysians.
(ref: -MIC, MCA and PAS on NEP )
PAS is returning to its old habits frequently showing an intolerance that is not in keeping with its preferred image now as a tolerant, moderate Islamic party that champions common values in a multi-ethnic party.
Guided by Pakatan Rakyat leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, PAS discarded its core demand of a theocratic state to win over non-Malays on a “common values” platform in the March 8 general election.
Although PAS came in third in the number of seats won, it added Kedah to its stable and has a big say in Selangor and Perak.
But the party’s increasingly Malay nationalistic and Islamic postures are ringing alarms bells in the Pakatan Rakyat and among civil society activists.
The incidents are too numerous to be isolated and form a pattern suggesting that although moderates abound in PAS but the party as a whole is shifting to a hard-line position on numerous issues.
Clearly the party is caught between satisfying non-Muslim desire for equality and an end to discrimination and defending its Malay Muslim ground were there is fear that conceding to social equality is a “loss” to Malay society.
The party has grown in numbers in recent years and now has over one million Malays as members and growing phenomenally forcing it to speak up and defend “Malay rights” as well as Islam as Umno does.
But it still wants to keep non-Malay support it had earned in March and expand that support. Without this support it can never have much say in a Federal Government even if Pakatan Rakyat wins.
“We are caught in a quandary between defending Malay rights and keeping the support of non-Malays who had backed us and see us now as a moderate, liberal party,” said a senior PAS leader on condition of anonymity.
“We are unable to resolve this dilemma as yet,” he said.
In Kedah PAS wants 50% of house ownership reserved for bumiputras and in Selangor it is against a Chinese heading the state development corporation PKNS.
PAS has also openly and strongly opposed entertainment it considers un-Islamic although to most non-Muslims such events are tame affairs.
PAS involvement in the mob that broke up a Bar Council inter-faith forum in September is another example of rising intolerance which puts the party in the spotlight.
The party had also said it would not support a Pakatan Rakyat government that was not majority Muslim
Activists like human rights lawyer Haris Ibrahim of the Peoples Parliament initiative are questioning not only PAS but also the Pakatan Rakyat coalition’s commitment to abandon race based politics, champion equality and meritocracy.
In the most recent posting in his Peoples Parliament website entitled Is Pakatan Rakyat perpetuating race based politics?, PAS and the Pakatan government and even Anwar Ibrahim came in for some criticism for not defending multi-culturalism and meritocracy.
Harris is asking the public to write to their elected representatives to remind them of the egalitarian promise they had made to the people.
Within the Pakatan Rakyat too the relationship between PAS and the DAP is increasingly rocky with numerous policy differences surfacing every now and then.
The latest squabble is over the MCA proposal to do away with the 30% bumiputra equity requirement, a proposal openly condemned by PAS but supported by the DAP.
For PAS, however, the dilemma is much more complex it being a party based entirely on defending and promoting Islam.
On the one hand, it frequently falls on the values of Islam to defend rights, namely over the rights of Hindu Rights Action Front supporters to demonstrate even at the
Prime Minister’s Hari Raya gathering but at the same time the party rejects the appointment of a Chinese as PKNS general manager.
It is a case of running with the fox and hunting with the hounds with political expediency as the main consideration not the “common values” that PAS had subscribed to before the March 8 general elections.
The PKR is also in a similar dilemma having to carry an MP like Zulkifli Noordin whose exclusive and unbridled promotion of Islam runs counter to the party’s moderation and multi-religious underpinnings.
The electorate believe they woke up to a new Malaysia on March 8 minus race, religion and discrimination and therefore it comes as a shock that the very same people who had preached “common human” values have fallen back on old habits.
COMMENT
By BARADAN KUPPUSAMY
Apa dah jadi to pakatan's mutual agreement just before the GE-12??? The GE-12 political tsunami was because of BN's failure NOT because of Pakatan's performance .... So.... GE-13 might not be the same................If, BN manages to reform and rectify their cons .... will they (BN) face a favorable tsunami in near future?......
…And we, the rakyat of Malaysia of all races and of various faiths, now declare that we reject raced-based systems of governance of the country in favour of non race-based, integrated systems of governance…
This is an excerpt from The People’s Voice & The People’s Declaration, the document that was endorsed by, amongst others, DAP, PKR and PAS in February this year, just before the 12th GE.
Friday, October 31, 2008
UMNO on NEP ~ Malaysiakini
UMNO on NEP
BUMIPUTERA'S EQUITY TARGET YET TO ACHIVE........
There will not be a total removal of the New Economic Policy (NEP), Umno vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.
He said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s remarks about the gradual liberalisation of the NEP should not be construed as a call to totally remove it.
The policy was introduced in 1970 to help put bumiputras on par with other races in terms of the share of the economic pie, as well as in terms of education, business participation and work opportunities.
Muhyiddin said the bumiputra community had yet to achieve the 30% equity stake that remains the target of the NEP.
AGREES AND REJECTS............
Umno Youth agrees that the New Economic Policy (NEP) needs a fresh approach, but it rejects any suggestion to abolish the bumiputra equity policy.
The movement’s economic bureau chairman, Datuk Reezal Merican Naina Merican, said MCA vice-president Datuk Liow Tiong Lai’s suggestion on Monday to abolish the mandatory 30% bumiputra equity in public-listed companies was ad-hoc and drastic.
He said a “Genuine Partnership Initiative” to create better and more equal business ties among the various races would be a better alternative in today’s difficult economic environment.
Reezal said he hoped the proposal would be taken up by the Government to look into incentive and tax-exemption mechanisms that were similar to those given to companies awarded MSC status.
He added that the initiative should have sufficient incentives to encourage entrepreneurs to develop better economic cooperation and interaction among those in the multi-ethnic business community in the country.
“This cooperation could become a basis to open up minds to compete in the free-market private sector,” he said.
BUMIPUTERA'S EQUITY TARGET YET TO ACHIVE........
There will not be a total removal of the New Economic Policy (NEP), Umno vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.
He said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s remarks about the gradual liberalisation of the NEP should not be construed as a call to totally remove it.
The policy was introduced in 1970 to help put bumiputras on par with other races in terms of the share of the economic pie, as well as in terms of education, business participation and work opportunities.
Muhyiddin said the bumiputra community had yet to achieve the 30% equity stake that remains the target of the NEP.
AGREES AND REJECTS............
Umno Youth agrees that the New Economic Policy (NEP) needs a fresh approach, but it rejects any suggestion to abolish the bumiputra equity policy.
The movement’s economic bureau chairman, Datuk Reezal Merican Naina Merican, said MCA vice-president Datuk Liow Tiong Lai’s suggestion on Monday to abolish the mandatory 30% bumiputra equity in public-listed companies was ad-hoc and drastic.
He said a “Genuine Partnership Initiative” to create better and more equal business ties among the various races would be a better alternative in today’s difficult economic environment.
Reezal said he hoped the proposal would be taken up by the Government to look into incentive and tax-exemption mechanisms that were similar to those given to companies awarded MSC status.
He added that the initiative should have sufficient incentives to encourage entrepreneurs to develop better economic cooperation and interaction among those in the multi-ethnic business community in the country.
“This cooperation could become a basis to open up minds to compete in the free-market private sector,” he said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
