Day: January 15, 2016

Malaysia risks losing out if it rejects TPP, warns minister

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Source: The Malaysian Insider

Demonstrators hold up placards during a protest against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), outside the U.S. embassy in Kuala Lumpur on August 23, 2013. The Malaysian Insider/Najjua Zulkefli

Demonstrators hold up placards during a protest against the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), outside the U.S. embassy in Kuala Lumpur on August 23, 2013. The Malaysian Insider/Najjua Zulkefli

Malaysia risks being left behind by other countries such as Vietnam if it were to reject the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), says International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

He said Malaysia risked losing its attraction as a choice investment destination of manufacturers and service providers for the TPP market if it were to stay out of the trade deal.

“Malaysia will face more intense competition from Vietnam and Singapore in wooing foreign investments if we do not join TPP.

“If Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines were to join TPP later, Malaysia will lag further behind.

“We will also lose the first-mover opportunity, while local and foreign companies operating in Malaysia might scale down their operations.” he said at a briefing on the TPP for civil servants and the business community in Kuching, Sarawak, today. Read more →

Political funding reform panel to accept public suggestions

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Source: The Malaysian Insider

The government committee tasked with reforming political funding is welcoming suggestions from the public and activists on ways to enhance transparency, accountability and integrity in the financing of political parties, an area which is largely unregulated in Malaysia.

“The minister in the prime minister’s department in charge of governance and integrity, Datuk Paul Low, has emphasised that an important role of this committee is to function as a platform for civil societies and the public at large to put forward their views and suggestions on how funding for political purposes is to be regulated in this country,” said a statement by the national consultative committee on political funding.

It said suggestions could be sent to the committee’s Facebook page or through the Malaysian Institute of Integrity. Read more →

AS perlu galak Malaysia teruskan agenda Islam sederhana untuk perangi Isis

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Sumber: The Malaysian Insider

Amerika Syarikat perlu menggalakkan Malaysia meneruskan agenda Islam sederhana sebenar jika mahu mematahkan Kumpulan Militan Negara Islam Iraq dan Syria. – Gambar fail The Malaysian Insider, 15 Januari, 2016.

Amerika Syarikat (AS) patut menggalakkan Malaysia meneruskan agenda Islam sederhana yang “sebenar” jika mahu mematahkan Kumpulan Militan Negara Islam Iraq dan Syria (Isis), menurut laporan bertajuk “Sokongan Rakyat Indonesia dan Malaysia kepada Negara Islam”.

Laporan itu yang dikeluarkan Agensi Pembangunan Antarabangsa AS berkata usaha Malaysia memerangi keganasan mencapai beberapa kejayaan, tetapi tersekat dengan sokongan kerajaan kepada kepentingan Islam konservatif.

Katanya, sayap kanan Putrajaya terpaksa tunduk kepada keperluan menenangkan sokongan kepada Umno yang menurun, mengasingkan populasi Islam yang penting dan boleh membantu memerangi pengaruh militan.

“Pada peringkat lebih luas, pemerintah AS patut memberi galakan dan sokongan terhadap agenda domestik Islam sederhana sebenar di Indonesia dan Malaysia,” menurut laporan yang diterbitkan pada 6 Januari itu dan boleh didapati secara atas talian.

“Dalam kes rakyat Malaysia, imej Islam sederhana yang dipaparkan di peringkat antarabangsa tidak tercermin dalam dasar dalam negara, meningkatkan mazhab dan permusuhan, bukan saja kepada hak agama minoriti tetapi juga terhadap pandangan umat Islam progresif.” Read more →

TPPA will only increase salaries by RM25 come 2027, says Bantah TPPA deputy chairman

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Source: The Rakyat Post

TPPA - TRP file pic

TPPA – TRP file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 15, 2016: 

Malaysians will only enjoy a salary hike of RM25 come 2027 if the country agrees to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) next month.

Bantah TPPA deputy chairman Azlan Awang explained that the amount was based on Cost Benefit Analysis done by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on salaries if the government decides to sign the TPPA.

He said the rakyat would not only experience the minimal increase, but there will also be a reduction in average household income of RM117 from 2018 to 2027.

“It is shocking that an agreement that was touted ‘a 21st century high quality agreement of gold standard’ would make an impact on almost all existing policies and only increase monthly salaries by RM25 in 2027,” he said in a statement today. Read more →

Putrajaya perlu pinda 8 undang-undang hak asasi manusia untuk TPPA

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Sumber: The Malaysian Insider

Bekas pesuruhjaya Suhakam Muhammad Sha’ani Abdullah (kiri) dan Timbalan Pengerusi Bantah TPPA Azlan Awang bercakap pada sidang media hari ini mengenai 8 undang-undang sedia ada berkaitan hak asasi manusia perlu dipinda jika Perjanjian Perkongsian Tran Pasifik ditandatangani. – Gambar The Malaysian Insider oleh Seth Akmal, 15 Januari, 2016.

Putrajaya perlu meminda sekurang-kurangnya 8 undang-undang sedia ada yang berkaitan dengan hak asasi manusia sekiranya ingin menandatangani Perjanjian Perkongsian Tran Pasifik (TPPA), kata bekas pesuruhjaya Suhakam Muhammad Sha’ani Abdullah.

Meskipun tidak menafikan pindaan 8 undang-undang itu merupakan perkara yang baik, namun Penolong Setiausaha Umum Persatuan Promosi Hak Asasi Manusia (Proham) mempersoalkan sejauh manakah ketelusan pelaksanaan kerajaan terhadap undang-undang itu.

Beliau berkata, ketidakjelasan dari sudut mekanisme digunakan kerajaan dalam melaksanakan penguatkuasaan undang-undang hak asasi masih lagi menjadi tanda tanya.

“Ini sebenarnya perubahan yang bagus, tapi kita tidak mahu perkara dijanjikan sebagai bagus itu mewajarkan kerugian besar lain seperti kehilangan pekerjaan, kos perubatan tinggi membebankan pekerja walaupun perlindungan undang-undang ditambah baik,” katanya pada sidang media di pejabat Majlis Tindakan Ekonomi Melayu (MTEM), di Kuala Lumpur hari ini. Read more →

Don’t rush into signing TPPA – Gurdial Singh Nijar

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Source: The Malaysian Insider

BY GURDIAL SINGH NIJAR

This is an open appeal to Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) and the government not to rush into signing the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).

I participated in a rather high-level public forum on the TPPA last week organised by the prestigious Malaysian Economic Association. A clear conclusion was that the 6,300-paged, 30-chaptered agreement is very complex. It needs careful scrutiny.

Miti’s effort to simplify it is laudable.

But there are many minute details that beg for a more thorough analysis. Even more challenging are the cross references and inter-linkages across chapters. Surely Miti understands that this cries out for more – not less – time to study its implications. Read more →

Kehadiran murid Orang Asli SK Tohoi tunjuk perkembangan positif

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Sumber: The Malaysian Insider

Perkembangan positif kehadiran pelajar SK Tohoi menunjukkan masyarakat Orang Asli secara beransur-ansur makin pulih daripada trauma insiden kehilangan murid Orang Asli Ogos lalu. – Gambar fail The Malaysian Insider, 15 Januari, 2016.

Kehadiran lebih ramai murid Orang Asli ke Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Tohoi menunjukkan perkembangan positif dengan purata kehadiran sekitar 115 orang sehari berbanding 101 pada minggu pertama persekolahan.

Pegawai Pendidikan Daerah Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah (PPD) Gua Musang Muhammad Zahari Othman berkata peningkatan itu disebabkan pelbagai faktor termasuk kesedaran ibu bapa dan murid, selain keadaan cuaca dan usaha berterusan Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli (JAKOA) serta Jabatan Pendidikan Negeri (JPN).

“Setakat ini peratus kehadiran pelajar adalah antara 55 hingga 58% setiap hari dan ia adalah keadaan biasa seperti tahun-tahun sebelum ini,” katanya ketika dihubungi di Kota Baru, hari ini. Read more →

Hishamuddin Rais dijatuhi hukuman penjara 9 bulan

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Sumber: The Malaysian Insider

Hishamuddin Rais dibenarkan mahkamah menangguhkan hukuman penjaranya sementara menunggu rayuannya di Mahkamah Rayuan dengan jaminan sebanyak RM6,000. – Gambar fail The Malaysian Insider, 15 Januari, 2016.

Mahkamah Tinggi hari ini menjatuhkan hukuman penjara 9 bulan ke atas aktivis Hishamuddin Rais kerana menghasut selepas membenarkan rayuan pendakwaan bagi memberatkan hukuman.

Pesuruhjaya Kehakiman Datuk Nordin Hassan bagaimanapun membenarkan permohonan pihak pembelaan menangguhkan hukuman sementara menunggu rayuan di Mahkamah Rayuan dengan ikat jamin RM6,000.

Mahkamah Sesyen pada Januari tahun lepas menjatuhkan hukuman kepada Hishamuddin denda RM5,000 selepas didapati bersalah terhadap pertuduhan itu.

Pihak pembelaan membuat rayuan terhadap sabitan dan hukuman tetapi pihak pendakwaan juga mahu hukuman lebih berat.

Peguam Syahredzan Johan berkata mahkamah juga menolak rayuan anak guamnya dan mengetepikan hukuman dikenakan Mahkamah Sesyen. Read more →

Seeking convergence on conversion — Tunku ‘Abidin Muhriz

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Source: The Malay Mail Online

BY TUNKU ‘ABIDIN MUHRIZ

Tevi Darsiny (left) and Karan Dinish comfort their mother Indira, who holds a photograph of her youngest child, Prasana -- pic taken from MMO

Tevi Darsiny (left) and Karan Dinish comfort their mother Indira, who holds a photograph of her youngest child, Prasana — pic taken from MMO

JANUARY 15 — The issue of the conversion of children to Islam by a single parent is again in the fore, following the latest legal decision in the ongoing tussle involving M. Indira Gandhi, her ex-husband Muhammad Riduan Abdullah (K. Patmanathan before conversion to Islam) and their three children.

In April 2009, Patmanathan unilaterally converted the children to Islam (then aged 12, 11 and a baby of 11 months) without their or their mother’s presence by using their birth certificates. In September, the Ipoh Syariah Court granted (now) Muhammad Riduan custody of them.

In March 2010, the Ipoh High Court granted Indira custody of the three children. In July 2013, the court annulled the conversions of the children and ruled unilateral child conversions unconstitutional; and in May 2014, annulled the Ipoh Syariah Court’s 2009 custody order, cited Muhammad Riduan for contempt of the Ipoh High Court’s 2010 custody order, and directed him to return the youngest child to the mother. The elder two children were already with the mother. Read more →