With an electricity tariff hike due to be announced on Monday, it might be useful to recall how the first generation of ‘independent power producers’ (IPPs) profited at TNB’s (and the Malaysian public’s) expense.
May 282011
Mar 162011
The other day, I was at the ATM when I noticed a middle-aged couple in front of me in the queue. They tried a few times to withdraw funds. As I waited a few minutes, I overheard them saying they were trying to withdraw RM20, but the machine responded “insufficient funds”. They looked stressed and worried. All is not well among Malaysians. The level of household debt has been rising over the years at the rate of 11.1 per cent annually.
Feb 282011
The revolt in the Arab world is not just about getting rid of authoritarian leaders and dictators. It is also about ending economic injustice and exploitation. The media would have us believe that the popular discontent is solely due to the dictatorships and repression in the Arab world. But there is more to it than that. A lot of the disenchantment is also the result of people’s hopes being crushed by an exploitative economic system that undermines essential public services, reduces nations to little more than sweat-shops, and concentrates wealth in the hands of a wealthy elite and their well-connected or crony corporations.
Feb 252011
Here’s an interesting series of seminar lectures on Culture, Media and Identity brought to you by the Centre for the Study of Communications and Culture, University of Nottingham Malaysia campus. Farish Noor is first in line to speak at these Saturday talks beginning at 10.00am tomorrow at the University of Nottingham KL Teaching Centre, Level 2, Chulan Tower, 3 Jalan Conlay, 50450 Kuala Lumpur. If you are interested, the Centre requests you to email agnes.selvaragi@nottingham.edu.my to confirm attendance, mainly for catering purposes. Here’s how the Centre describes these series: The series will be in three parts, each comprising six lectures or multimedia presentations by renowned scholars and cultural activists. The main aim of the series is to examine and evaluate the importance of culture and the media in the construction of identities in an increasingly globalised world. This is important in a region comprising multiple cultures and at a time [Read more]
Feb 082011
A friend sent me this news commentary and I thought I would share it with you. Does it ring a bell by any chance? Under sweeping privatisation policies, they appropriated profitable public enterprises and vast areas of state-owned lands. A small group of businessmen seized public assets and acquired monopoly positions in strategic commodity markets … While crony capitalism flourished, local industries that were once the backbone of the economy were left to decline. At the same time, private sector industries making environmentally hazardous products … have expanded without effective regulation at a great cost to the health of the population. A tiny economic elite controlling consumption-geared production and imports has accumulated great wealth. This elite includes representatives of foreign companies with exclusive import rights in … automobiles. It also includes real estate developers who created a construction boom in gated communities and resorts for the super-rich. Much of this [Read more]