Armed Forces fund pays 16%; EPF only 5.8%

 Accountability, Malaysian finance/business  8 Responses »
Feb 172008
 

This is an excerpt of a report from The Star: …Najib also announced that contributors to the Armed Forces Superannuation Fund (LTAT) would receive a 16% dividend and bonus payout, the highest since 1997. He said the LTAT would pay out 7% in dividends, 3% bonus and another 6% in special bonuses to its 120,000 contributors for 2007. “LTAT recorded a gross unaudited profit of RM606mil, a 29.2% increase compared to the RM468.9mil achieved in 2006,” he said, adding that the amount was the second highest since LTAT was established. The highest gross profit recorded was in 1996, when the fund made RM697.6mil. And here is a reaction from a friend of mine: So Najib announces a 16% dividend for LTAT. And EPF was only able to deliver 5.8% (for 2007)? ASB announced 8.5% a short while back. What does this tell us? That this is a government for all [Read more]

Roses for PM day – updates

 Development issues, Ethnic and inter-religious relations, M'sian politics, Marginalised groups, Poverty  5 Responses »
Feb 162008
 

It looks like it is going to be another eventful day. Before going further, check out Subramaniam Pillay’s piece Hindraf rally: A plea of the dispossessed? on the reasons for the emergence of Hindraf and Makkal Sakthi. 9.02am – Receive a phone call informing me that a group of people from Penang heading to KL has been stopped at Selayang and armed police have taken away their ICs. The group apparently has been detained since 3.00am. All the stuff they brought – T-shirts, badges – have been confiscated. They were asked to give statements. Police took down their personal particulars. 10.05am – Massive jam around Dataran Merdeka. A group of Indian Malaysians are displaying a banner “No to ISA”. Tear gas has been used and traffic is being diverted. 10.12am – About 100 demonstrators including those detained at Selayang have been brought to Pulapol in Jalan Semarak, KL. Those with [Read more]

Writing’s on the wall for Samy Vellu

 M'sian politics, Malaysian elections, Marginalised groups  10 Responses »
Feb 152008
 
Writing's on the wall for Samy Vellu

Hostile reception: Police moving in to escort Samy Vellu to his car after he was surrounded by angry youths at a Tamil school groundbreaking ceremony in Petaling Jaya Wednesday. (Photo credit: The Star) I nearly missed this picture in The Star. The MIC leader certainly doesn’t look too happy. In fact, he can’t go anywhere in public without a phalanx of security personnel these days. But the bigger question is why have the mainstream media such as The Star and the NST begun reporting such incidents? After all, a senior reporter of a major paper told me recently that once election season arrives, his paper cannot report stories detrimental to the ruling coalition. And yet, we now see reports casting a senior leader of one of the main parties in the ruling coalition in a bad light. Has the ruling coalition – and by extension, their media – finally realised [Read more]

Will the next US president say “No” to War and Occupation?

 Militarism, United States  3 Responses »
Feb 142008
 

Unlikely. You see, war is a profitable business in the United States. Apart from boosting weapons sale, it is also Big Business for mercenary private contractors and “reconstruction” companies, which stand to make huge profits. The United States spends close to US$1 trillion on “defence” and it has over 700 military bases around the world. Disruptions in global oil production – as a result of the chaos that war brings – keep the price of oil high. And this ensures record profits for the oil companies, which have close ties with the movers and shakers in Washington. The US administration also aims to seize strategic control of remaining oil reserves in the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. But there is a glimmer of hope: that people will listen to the call of the anti-war movement to reject war and build a new world of peace and justice. The seeds [Read more]

Samy Vellu in “top form”

 M'sian politics, Malaysian elections  5 Responses »
Feb 142008
 

Here’s a clip of the man himself, obviously in “top form”. A lot of bravado. He says “the BN will win 100 per cent because this is one government in South-East Asia that truly fulfils its promises to the people”. Why, his opponents are “already dead” or they simply “don’t exist”. We shall see on polling day.

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