Monthly Archive for December, 2009

Malaysia Must Double Our Talent Pool Of Professionals That Will Help Grow Knowledge-Based Industries Which Are Creative, Innovative And Globally Competitive To Successfuly Transform Into A High-Income Economy.

Published on December 31, 2009, 6:08 pm in Nation Building. 1 Comment

Malaysia must double our talent pool of professionals that will help grow knowledge-based industries which are creative, innovative and globally competitive to successfully transform into a high-income economy. The only economic model that works is people-centric and human resources-based. Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore are sterling examples of natural resource scarce countries who have succeeded in transforming themselves into developed nations merely by unleashing the potential of their people.

There is no reason why Malaysia can not succeed when we have both natural and human resources that is superior to either Singapore, Korea or Hong Kong. If Malaysia is to double the per capita income of the people over the next 10 years to USD 15,000 by 2020 and join the ranks of high-income economy, there must be a new economic model that boldly promotes merit, performance, integrity and human dignity.

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Willing To Work Together With The Federal Government To Help Making Penang and Malaysia A High-Income Economy That Is Safe, Clean And Offers Equal Opportunity For All.

Published on December 30, 2009, 6:09 pm in Penang. 2 Comments

The Penang state government is willing to work with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Utama Najib Tun Razak and the Federal government to help make Penang and Malaysia a high-income economy that is safe, clean and offers equal opportunity to all. All Malaysians are losers if we forgo democracy in favour of extremism, equal opportunity in favour of cronyism and integrity in favour of corruption.

Differences in views are common in a two-party system. The Prime Minister would concede that Malaysia is now a tow-party democracy following the political tsunami of 8 March 2009. However such diversity should be a source of strength and unity and not be seen as a threat and disunity as there is too much at stake for both Penang and Malaysia. For this reason Penang is willing to support the Prime Minister’s 6 Key Results Areas(KRAs):
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ROS should prove SAM threat to nation

Published on December 30, 2009, 3:09 pm in Environment. 0 Comments

Statement by Special Officer to Penang Chief Minister on Environment Thing Siew Shuen in Georgetown on 30 Dec 2009：

Datuk Mohd Alias Kalil should prove that whether activities and campaigns by SAM against commercial logging, plantation development, and the building of dams in Sarawak threaten the nation’s interest or rather the interest of BN’s politicians and cronies.

The BN Government announced with much fanfare that it targets to reduce carbon dioxide emission to 40%. However, how is the government going to reduce carbon dioxide emission to 40% if the BN government does not dare to face the criticisms of Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) and even threatens to deregister it?

During the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 in Copenhagen, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced that Malaysia is adopting an indicator of a voluntary reduction of up to 40 per cent in terms of emissions intensity of GDP (gross domestic product) by the year 2020 compared to 2005 levels subject to assistance from developed countries.
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Seeking A Fair Deal That Gives Equal Opportunity For All

Published on December 26, 2009, 9:35 am in Penang. 0 Comments

Seeking A Fair Deal That Gives Equal Opportunity For All Including Penang That Contributed RM 25,670 Million In Taxes And Customs Duties Between 2001-2008 But Only Received Federal Grants In Return Of RM 794 Million.

The Penang government would continue to seek a fair deal that gives equal opportunity for all including the state of Penang. In a written reply in the recently concluded Parliamentary sitting, the Finance Minister revealed Penang contributed to the federal government RM 25,670 in the form of taxes and customs duties between 2001-2008 but only received federal grants in return of RM 794 million.
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Christmas Message 2009

Published on December 24, 2009, 8:44 pm in Corruption. 0 Comments

Redeeming Our Faith In Good Values And Renewing Hope By Fighting Corruption.

Christmas marks the day Jesus was born, the divine being whom Christians believed to be the Son of God sent to save mankind. As such it is an occasion not only of salvation and redemption of our sins but also of peace and hope.

All Malaysians pray for the same values, especially in fighting corruption and abuse of power. The fall in Malaysia’s Transparency International rankings from No. 47 and 5.1 points in 2008 to No. 56 with 4.5 points this year has only spotlighted attention on how much Malaysia has lost to corruption.
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30 projek Persekutuan di Pulau Pinang dijangka lewat.

Published on December 24, 2009, 8:42 pm in Penang. 0 Comments

Kerajaan Negeri Pulau Pinang berharap agar Dato Sri Mohd Najib akan menunaikan janjinya untuk memastikan 30 projek Persekutuan di Pulau Pinang yang dijangka lewat itu dapat disiapkan dalam baki tempoh 12 bulan RMK-9 ini dan juga memastikan projek ini memenuhi kriteria professional demi kepentingan orang ramai.

Menteri Kesihatan Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai menyatakan bahawa terdapat 18 projek yang telah ”jatuh sakit” dibawah RMK-9 di Kementerian Kesihatan. Namun, projek persekutuan yang ”jatuh sakit” di Negeri Pulau Pinang adalah lebih memeranjatkan lagi kerana terdapat 30 projek di bawah RMK-9 dijangka lewat.

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A Royal Commission Of Enquiry Must Be Established Into The RM 50 Million Royal Malaysia Air Force (RMAF) F-5E Fighter Jet Engine Theft, Integrity Of Arms Purchases And Security Of Our Military Bases.

Published on December 20, 2009, 2:30 pm in Party. 0 Comments

PR must gear up to face the 13th General Elections after yesterday’s unprecedented success of the first Pakatan Rakyat(PR) Convention, complete with a PR Common Policy Framework(CPF) endorsed by all 3 parties of PAS, DAP and PKR. The DAP expects the next general elections to be held the latest by the middle of 2011 as this is the time frame announced by the Second Finance Minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah for the proposed implementation of the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) of 4%. The BN government would not risk holding the 13th general elections when the GST is imposed fully as this may incur the wrath of the voters.

In view of the differences between all 3 parties, the PR CPF paper is a remarkable achievement and reflects the mutual commitment of the 3 parties to each other and our common goal of replacing the present BN government in Putrajaya. For instance after intense last-minute discussions, DAP was willing to agree to our allies’ request to replace of the term “local government elections” with “strengthening local government democracy”, after we extracted a commitment that strengthening local government democracy would also include holding local government elections.

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Konsep Anak Malaysia Milikan Semua Rakyat Bermaruah Yang Cintai Keadilan, Kebebasan, Kebenaran, Kebajikan Dan Ketakwaan Kepada Tuhan.

Published on December 19, 2009, 1:36 pm in Federal government and Nation Building. 0 Comments

Ucapan Oleh Setiausaha-Agung DAP Lim Guan Eng Dalam Konvensyen Pakatan Rakyat Pertama Di Auditorium MBSA, Shah Alam, Selangor Pada 19.12.2009.

Hari ini adalah hari ini dalam sejarah. Buat pertama kalinya dalam sejarah politik tanahair, satu gagasan yang kukuh, mantap, penuh berkobar-kobar dengan idealisma, prinsip dan menwakili aspirasi rakyat berbilang kaum, berbilang usia dan kedua-dua jantina ditubuhkan untuk menawar diri sebagai alternatif kepada pemerintahan negara.

Bukan senang kita sampai ke perjalanan ini yang penuh berliku-liku. Sepanjang 52 tahun ini, kita telah dikaburi mata dengan permainan politik pecah dan perintah, tipu dan temberang malah tindas dan tangkap. Rakyat terpaksa tunggu 52 tahun tetapi lebih baik sampai sungguhpun terlewat.

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Penang To Help Dell Workers Who Accept VSS Through Our CAT Centers To Find Alternative Jobs.

Published on December 16, 2009, 4:07 pm in Penang. 0 Comments

Penang state government is disappointed at the announcement by Dell Malaysia to offer voluntary separation scheme (VSS) to 700 out of 4,500 employees at its manufacturing plants in Bukit Minyak and Cyberjaya. Dell had said that the VSS are part of efforts to reduce its global workforce by 10%, or about 8,800 jobs and reduce its costs by up to US$3 billion by 2011.

The Penang state government has directed investPenang and its Career Assisted Training(CAT) Centers to assist 700 workers who may need to look for new jobs should they accept the VSS offer by Dell Malaysia. The Penang state government had established the CAT Centers in March this year with a RM 10 million allocation to help workers retrenched during the economic recession to find jobs and also match employers with the workers they are seeking.

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Both Malaysia and Penang needs to urgently double our talent pool. For us to succeed, we must restructure and revamp our entire education structure.

Published on December 14, 2009, 9:42 am in Nation Building. 0 Comments

Remarks Made By Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng During His Meeting With Malaysian Professionals In The San Francisco City Bay Area On 12 December 2009.

San Francisco is renowned world-wide as a high-technology (techie) area and the area hosts the Silicon Vallley where many of the most successful, innovative, creative and largest techie companies are located. What continues to surprise me is to continuously see the involvement and active participation of so many bright and young Malaysians in these companies, not only here but also in Austin, another booming techie location in Texas which I had also visited.

There are many reasons for the success of what was once a quiet and undeveloped region in San Francisco Bay area or town in Austin. I would point to the single-minded focus on development of human talent as the critical success factor to their transformation as a booming high-income and high-tech economy.

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Penang Is Willing To Adopt World Bank’s Recommendations Outlining The 4 Key Thrusts That Can Transform Malaysia Into A High-Income Economy.

Published on December 11, 2009, 12:54 pm in Penang. 0 Comments

Penang is willing to be the test-bed and adopt the latest World Bank’s recommendations outlining the 4 key thrusts that can transform Malaysia into a high-income economy. The 2009 World Bank Report had suggested an integrated strategy which requires sustained efforts in promoting further specialization of the economy, improving the skills base of the labor force, making growth more inclusive and bolstering public finances for Malaysia to become a high-income economy. The World Bank said,

“One, Specializing the economy further. Given limited resources—both public and private—and the need to achieve agglomeration economies, it is important to focus on a few high value-added, innovation-based sectors with strong potential. Agglomeration economies describe the benefits to urban economies such as towns and cities flowing from economies of scale and the close proximity that allows easy access or networking with each other.

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6 Aspects Of “Think Globally, Act Locally” For Penang To Succeed In Transforming Itself As An International City, A Knowledge-Intensive And High-Income Economy.

Published on December 8, 2009, 11:46 am in Economy. 1 Comment

What is heartbreaking about the current economic crisis, caused by the collapse of key financial institutions in the West, is that the culprits are seldom the victims. This is one of the negative effects of globalization where abuses by those involved in the collapse of the western financial system can have dire consequences of deep financial distress, losses and sufferings to innocent people half a world away in Asia. Worse those involved often escaped unpunished and can go back to have their exorbitant bonuses.

There are 5 lessons to be learnt. Lesson One is this: Without transparency and accountability, arrogance takes over which invariably ends in disaster, for everyone.

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Penang’s Participation In MIDA’s Investment Mission To The United States Next Week

Published on December 7, 2009, 7:08 pm in Economy and Penang. 0 Comments

Penang’s participation in Malaysia Investment Development Authority’s(MIDA) investment mission to the United States this week proves our shared goals and common approaches in attracting FDI. Penang’s goals of transforming ourselves into an international city, To transform into a high-income economy with a percapita income of USD 15,000 from the USD 7,000, Penang is ready to work with the Federal government and MIDA with similar goals of attracting FDIs that are knowledge-intensive, creative and innovative. Penang is also willing to adopt a common approach based on principles of good governance, performance, training and retraining highly-skilled talent and trust.

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