The Penang state government has come up with yet another budgeted deficit, RM255m for 2014, even though the actual results in previous years have shown surpluses.
2012 – RM114m actual surplus – Accumulated reserves RM825m (as at end-2012)
2013 – RM262m budget deficit (but surplus expected)
2014 – RM255m budget deficit
The pay hikes for the Selangor Mentri Besar, executive councillors, Speaker, deputy Speaker and assembly members are excessive and come at a time when the rakyat are feeling the pinch of the higher cost of living.
What do you think? Looks like the poll below shows less than 50 per cent of you think the pay hikes are justified.
[yop_poll id=”6″]
Six Malaysian activists from Himpunan Hijau are in the midst of a week-long ‘occupation’ in front of the Lynas Corp headquarters in Sydney to protest at the toxic rare earth refinery in Kuantan, Malaysia.
Francis, the Bishop of Rome, has come out with a new apostolic exhortation, The Joy of the Gospel, that recognises the need to resolve “the structural causes of poverty” without delay.
Everyone should ponder over these words:
Welfare projects, which meet certain urgent needs, should be considered merely temporary responses. As long as the problems of the poor are not radically resolved by rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation and by attacking the structural causes of inequality,[173] no solution will be found for the world’s problems or, for that matter, to any problems. Inequality is the root of social ills.
Penang is asking the federal government to fulfil its pledge on public transport by building an LRT or MRT system – but the danger with that is the state could risk having a monorail system dumped on it!
Residents of Tecoma, a village 40km east of Melbourne in Australia, took their campaign against a fast food giant to a ‘higher note’ with this creative performance.
The Jabatan Perancang Bandar dan Desa will be briefing the public on the draft Penang Hill special area plan on Sunday, 1 December at 10.00am at Auditorium A, fifth floor, Komtar.
Blog visitor Phua Kai Lit points out that the way we calculate GDP is deeply flawed.
Update, 24 November 2013:
The winners for the three vice-presidents’ spots –
Incumbent Salahuddin Ayub – 917 votes (753 in 2011),
Former information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man – 849 (n/a) and
Incumbent Husam Musa – 520 (660).
Incumbent Mahfuz Omar – 504 (616) and Abu Bakar Chik – 364 (previously contested for central working committee) failed to make it.
Original post 23 November 2013:
Mohamad Sabu has retained the Pas deputy presidency with an even larger majority, while Nizar Jamaluddin finishes third in the central working committee polls as the professionals and bridge-builders throttle forward despite the “hand-brake” applied by conservatives.