Have you seen the old man In the closed-down market Kicking up the paper, with his worn out shoes? In his eyes you see no pride And held loosely at his side Yesterday’s paper telling yesterday’s news
Let me lead you through the streets of George Town…
An eye-opening video produced by a team of citizen journalists in Penang. Courtesy of Obnoxious 5xMom’s blog.
Great work by these citizen journalists in putting a human face to the street people, who are often “invisible” to passers-by. The scary thing is that more people could be forced on to the streets as retrenchments soar and people are unable to pay rentals or housing loan repayments.
It should prompt us to ask what kind of social welfare or security system we have in place and whether it is enough. These street people are periodically rounded up by the authorities – but where are they sent to?
The video reminds me of the haunting lyrics of Ralph McTell’s ballad ‘Streets of London’:
Latest game in town: Restricting the media
Imposing restrictions on the media seems to be the flavour of the week.
Spot the difference – if any:
New media denied passes by Umno
Banning NST won’t solve anything
Harakah, Suara Keadilan banned 3 months
You see, once politicians start restricting the media because they think certain media have been “unfriendly” or “biased” or whatever, there’s no end to it…
Retrenched migrant workers must be fairly compensated
The federal government says it has no choice but to approve highway toll hikes because the concession agreements stipulate that compensation would have to be paid to the concessionaires if the hikes are not approved. (We won’t discuss here how they drew up such lopsided agreements in the first place.)
So is it fair to retrench foreign workers who have valid employment agreements without paying them adequate compensation?
LABOUR-MALAYSIA: Hit Foreign Workers First Govt Tells Employers By Anil Netto PENANG, Mar 23 (IPS) – An official guideline for employers to retrench their foreign workers ahead of local employees has alarmed civil society society groups who fear that indebted migrant workers could be sent home with inadequate compensation. Worries about retrenchment and unemployment have been mounting as Malaysia sinks into a recession, its export-oriented economy taking a hit from a slump in global consumer demand.
Chaos as tear gas, water cannon fired at ceramah in SP
2342: Just off the line with Selangor state exco member Xavier Jayakumar. He told me that the speakers on stage in Sungai Petani tonight did not hear any police warnings to disperse.
Police fired water cannon and tear gas into the crowd, including women and children, as they moved in.
Children coming out of a neaby tuition centre were also doused by the spray from the water cannon; so were patrons in a nearby Chinese restaurant, according to Xavier.
Even the usual small itinerant traders selling Pakatan memorabilia were not spared the action. Police could be heard warning of even more aggressive action as they chased the people away. “The police action was aggressive,” observed Xavier.
Nizar is the Pakatan candidate for Bukit Gantang
2254: Nizar thanks the crowd for their prayers and the Pakatan leadership, especially the Pas leadership for entrusting him to stand in the by-election, as he concludes his speech.
2246: Nizar will be the Pakatan candidate for Bukit Gantang.
2238: Hadi is addressing the crowd now and will announce the candidate shortly.
2229: Azmin Ali is speaking to the crowd now.
84-day media honeymoon for Najib
Najib says he doesn’t expect much of a political honeymoon – never mind the customary 100-day settling-in period for an incoming leader – in terms of the level of scrutiny he is likely to receive if he takes over as PM as planned.
But now we see the removal of a high level of media scrutiny for the prime minister-to-be.
The three-month suspension of the permits of Harakah and Suara Keadilan allows Najib an 84-day honeymoon (assuming he takes over from 1 April) from scathing criticism from the Pas and PKR party newspapers. It is a serious blow to press freedom in Malaysia.
Crucially, the suspensions will also severely handicap Pakatan’s attempts to reach out to the Malay-speaking rural voters in Bukit Selambau and Bukit Gantang during the by-elections campaigns from 29 March to 6 April.
PR candidate for Bkt Gantang to be unveiled tonight?
The Pakatan candidate for Bukit Gantang is expected to be announced in Simpang at around 9.30pm, according to a media source. Originally, the candidate was supposed to be revealed on Thursday but the announcement has since been brought forward, says my source.
He tells me that five Pas names were in the running and Nizar was not one of them – though others think Nizar would be the best choice. Let’s wait and see.
World could dump US dollar and opt for shared currency
The days of the US dollar as the global reserve currency seem to be numbered. For some time now, independent commentators have been saying that the US dollar is on shaky ground – or could even collapse altogether. But when a UN panel recommends that the world should ditch the dollar in favour of a basket of shared currencies and the mainstream business press like Reuters takes it seriously, you got to sit up and take notice:
U.N. panel says world should ditch dollar
Wed Mar 18, 2009By Jeremy Gaunt, European Investment Correspondent
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – A U.N. panel will next week recommend that the world ditch the dollar as its reserve currency in favor of a shared basket of currencies, a member of the panel said on Wednesday, adding to pressure on the dollar.
“People’s YB” backs Tg Bunga residents’ position
Tanjung Bunga state assembly member, Teh Yee Cheu, says his position is simple: No cutting of steep hill slopes – Photos by Anil Netto
Tanjung Bunga residents protesting at the bottom of the steep hill slope along Solok Tan Jit Seng
When the Tanjung Bunga protesters invited their elected rep, Teh Yee Cheu of the DAP, to say a few words at their “coffee party” yesterday, they introduced him as “the people’s YB”.
Teh walked up to the mike, and along the way, picked up a placard which read “No more Class 3 and 4 hill cutting”. Pointing to the placard, he told the residents that this was his position. It was clear that he was on the residents’ side and he told them to continue with their “parties”.
At Solok Tan Jit Seng, developer DynamicPro plans to build 25 three-storey town-houses on a hill-slope which residents claim has a gradient of over 65 degrees. That’s steep! (Class 3 is over 25 degrees and Class 4 over 35 degrees). The project site on the slope looks down on a row of houses, behind which stands the Tanjung Bunga school. Above the project site on the slope lies the precariously perched Pearl Hill apartments. Before the Appeals Board could decide on the residents’ concerns, several trees on the hill-slope were felled.
Tiger Park? How about a People’s Park…
Update: Please, no tigers on the island! That’s the plea of an experienced vet in Penang whom I spoke to. “Penang as an island is not the place for wild animals especially tigers. The whole concept of having animals is not like those days when they were caged. Now they are left to roam in the loose and they have their own environment, but never in captivity. Even the concept of zoos has changed to the open system. You can’t have a tiger roaming wild on the island (without a supporting ecological balance). In a normal safari, the animals have their own eco-system where the bigger animals (roam around and) survive by eating smaller animals.”
Looks like the proposal for a Tiger Park in Penang is receiving a mauling.
And not just from local wildlife conservation groups such as the Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers (Mycat!), which comprises the Malaysian Nature Society, Traffic Southeast Asia, Wildlife Conservation Society-Malaysia Programme and World Wildlife Fund-Malaysia.
News of the Tiger Park plan has even reached the global media for all the wrong reasons. Check out the BBC report here.
Where the heck is Batang Ai?
Well, now you know where it is…!
Everyone is talking about Bukit Gantang, Batang Ai and Bukit Selambau – but do you know where they are? Here are a few images to help you get your bearings.
And this is Bukit Gantang, close to Taiping and Kuala Kangsar
The real issues at stake in Sarawak
A blog reader has mentioned the following in the comments section, which I thought was worth highlighting. When you consider the immense resources that Sarawak and Sabah have at their disposal, you have to wonder why their poverty rates are higher than the other states with around the same household income:
The core issue in Sarawak is governance and distribution within Sarawak. Don’t fall for the federal-state ploy, although there are of course serious issues there. This can be seen, e.g., when one compares the average household income in Sarawak with that in other states. Below are the numbers for 2004 as published in the 9th Malaysia Plan, and sorted by average household income from highest to lowest:
Pakatan tipped to sail through in Bukit Gantang
Just spoke to a media source just now and he said the crowd last night at Bukit Gantang was closer to 20,000. (My other media contact had said 10,000 while blog reader Gantangian estimated it at 15,000). Whatever, it was a huge turnout. The ceramah was held in a kampong near Bukit Gantang.
The Pakatan candidate is now expected to be revealed only on Thursday, according to my source. PR leaders are probably delaying the announcement after seeing how the BN lured three of their assembly members into jumping ship.
According to my source, the word is that Pakatan is likely to cruise home with a 3,500-5,000 majority (among 55,471 voters), improving on its 1,566-vote margin in GE2008.
Sarawakians lose out from political-business nexus
Part One of Al Jazeera’s 101 East first screened last night
Pakatan opts for political greenhorn in Bukit Selambau
The PKR’s S Manikumar, a 35-year-old marketing consultant, has been revealed as the Pakatan candidate for Bukit Selambau. According to a source, the multilingual (he knows some Spanish, apparently!) businessman is a party newbie, having joined PKR only a couple of years ago.
Misery of a woman resettled in Sg Asap, Sarawak
Blog reader Mary, who says she was one of the victims of the resettlement in Sungai Asap, shares with us the plight of those displaced in Sarawak. Much of what she says ties in with what NGO activists have reported in the past. I reproduce her comments verbatim:
I am one of the victim that had been replaced in the new place (Sg Asap). I was still small that time which i don’t understant what really going on. My dad agree and my mum disagree made them fight like hell over it and made them splits. So, my dad follow those people who moved and my mum join the rest not to move and fight for more benefits. I really don’t understand the situation, most of people seems to get so excited to move. Now…. I must say that my mum were right!! Sg Asap’s villagers start to complains over a lot of things (Basic Needs) and my mum in the old place has no problem with anything.
Al Jazeera’s Fauziah grills James Masing with a smile
In case you missed it, this is an excerpt from last night’s Al Jazeera’s 101 East. Watch James adjusting his tie when the going gets hot…
10,000 at ceramah in Bukit Gantang
2356: The ceramah is over now with no announcement of the candidate made. My contact is on his way out, wondering when they will reveal the candidate. His final estimate of the turnout is around 10,000.
2328: Gantangian adds:
There are shouts of support from the crowd and cheers for Nizar and Anwar. Looks like it’s gonna be an easy win for Pakatan.
Al Jazeera lets rip into CMS’ role in Sarawak
Hi folks, did you see the Al Jazeera focus on Sarawak over its 101 East programme just now? And how they highlighted the 12-dams overkill in Sarawak.
The programme spotlighted the role of Taib Mahmud’s family owned company, CMS. It also interviewed the CEO of Sarawak Electricity, who is Taib’s brother-in-law.
It was fun to watch Fauziah, the interviewer, roasting James Masing with a smile on her face. Did you notice James making some vain attempts to adjust his tie when the going got a little too hot?
Limbang confusion
The Borneo Bulletin is reporting that Brunei is denying that Limbang was discussed during talks between Abdullah Badawi and the Brunei Sultan on Monday. Wisma Putra and the local media need to clarify what’s going on:
Brunei denies Limbang story YB Pehin Orang Kaya Pekerma Dewa Dato Seri Setia Awg Lim Jock Seng, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade II, yesterday said claims on Limbang were never discussed during Monday’s deliberations between Brunei and Malaysia. He was responding to YB Dato Paduka Hj Puasa bin Orang Kaya Seri Pahlawan Tudin’s query on the contents of the “Letter of Exchange” signed between Brunei and Malaysia, which also touched on Brunei’s claims over Limbang at the Legislative Council meeting yesterday.