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Starving Fox put to pasture

Anil Netto
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17

Public relations firm Fox Communications Sdn Bhd is pulling down its shutters for good, according to BFM Radio this morning, a development confirmed by another press report.

The company, whose prime movers were former NST group editor Brendan Pereira and former Star group chief editor Wong Sulong, flourished under the Abdullah Badawi administration.

The firm landed plum jobs such as the Northern Corridor project launch. Its portfolio of high-profile clients included Sime Darby, Realmild and Patrick ‘Badawi’ Lim’s ill-fated Penang Global City Centre project. In the case of the PGCC, the firm audaciously tried to convince Penangites that the mammoth project on the Penang Turf Club land was ‘green’ and right for Penang: Abdullah Badawi, Koh Tsu Koon and Patrick Lim even appeared together at the PGCC launch. But a concerted anti-PGCC civil society campaign torpedoed Fox’s slick public relations blitz in the media.

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Only 2 civil society reps in Pg councils

Anil Netto
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35

Only two of the 10 nominees chosen during the Penang Forum elections were appointed as councillors of the MPPP and MPSP in 2011.

They are Dr Tiun Ling Ta (MPSP) and Dr Lim Mah Hui (MPPP). That’s one out of 24 councillors in each of the MPPP and MPSP.

But the candidate who received the most number of votes for MPPP, Teo Lee Ken, was ignored. And so was Siva, an experienced lawyer who received the second highest number of votes for MPSP. Is the state government not interested in having more independent-minded councillors who can demand greater accountability and transparency without having to worry about upsetting party bosses?

Some decent and qualified candidates were chosen among the 10 during the Penang Forum elections, which broadened the selection process. So it’s disappointing that most of the candidates finally selected by the state government are political party appointees.

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Unwanted Khusrin checks in for work

Anil Netto
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31

Mohd Khusrin Munawi has reported for duty even though he was bottom of the list of candidates that the Selangor state government preferred for the position of State Secretary.

Only in 1Malaysia. You have to thank the BN federal government for not consulting the state government. After witnessing the role played by the State Secretary in Perak, people could be forgiven for worrying about the future of democracy in Selangor.

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Najib and the Christmas party hoo-ha

Anil Netto
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44

People are still talking about the PM’s aide asking the church to remove religious symbols at the Christmas tea party to which the PM and opposition leaders were invited.

In today’s Malaysian Insider, Utusan’s Ridhuan Tee has chipped in with his idiotic two cents’ worth. (I don’t know why people pay attention to what he says. If he is worried about the widespread visibility of Christmas decorations in shopping malls and other retail outlets, then it might comfort him to know that many Christians are just as concerned about the widespread secular commercialisation of this occasion. What would Jesus make of all this?) Meanwhile, a priest phoned me just now to find out what exactly had happened. One Christian emailed, was critical not only of the PM’s aide but of the Church itself: the big question, he wanted to know, was did the Archbishop agree to the aide’s demands/instructions/advice? What concessions, if any, were actually made?

The Christmas party is an annual event organised by the Christian Federation of Malaysia, an ecumenical umbrella body representing the main Protestant, Oriental Orthodox, Evangelical and Catholic churches in the country. This year, it was the turn of the Catholic Church to play host and so it was held at the residence of Catholic Archbishop Murphy Pakiam – or more precisely at the car park of the premises – where the issue of religious symbols didn’t arise in the first place.

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Happy New Year, folks!

Anil Netto
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22

Happy New Year, folks! Here’s to a cleaner, greener, more democratic, accountable and socially just Penang and Malaysia. Cheers! Let’s work together to realise this dream.

And let’s protect our planet too. It’s the only one we have. You will be pleased to hear that Italy has announced a complete ban from 1 January on shops and supermarkets handing out plastic bags to their customers – the first country in the European Union to do so. (See Telegraph report here.) Earlier in August, Mexico announced a similar ban (as reported in the BBC here).

So Penang is in good company.  Here are a few photos of George Town by night for you to enjoy:

Sprucing up Penang

Anil Netto
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40

Good to see efforts being made to spruce up Penang.

The ban on free plastic bags is the right way to go.

Swiftlet breeding will soon be banned from the heritage zone. In the interim period, 32 new or unregistered breeders will have to move out by 1 January 2011. The remaining 78, who are registered breeders, will be given three years to relocate. See theSun report here.

Meanwhile, theSun also reports that the state government plans to restructure the Batu Feringghi ‘cowboy town’ zone, where most of the retail outlets and beach operators have been unlicensed for several decades. In the first phase, massage parlours and reflexology operators on the beach will be relocated to gazebos. Enforcement action against quad bike operators and horse-riding on the beach has started. Water sports activities may be relocated to areas within safety buoys.

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Trams return to Auckland after 50 years

Anil Netto
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18

Auckland is bringing back trams to its heritage quarter after an absence of more than half a century.

The proposed tram stops will be integrated with future bus stops.

The city’s original trams ran from 1902 to 1956. Their removal in 1956 has now been described as a “terrible mistake”. See this report in the Auckland Trains website.

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MTUC polls: ‘Black day’ for workers

Anil Netto
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4

Syed Shahir and his team have been defeated in the MTUC elections today.

I spoke to a veteran unionist to find out the implications of the result. “It’s a black day for the workers’ movement,” he lamented.

He described the new set of top leaders as generally pro-establishment. “We will have to sit down and find out how to react to the leadership change.”

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1Malaysia: So much for all the hype

Anil Netto
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30

Now this news item is disturbing. Catholic church officials were reportedly told to remove religious symbols before Najib attended the Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur’s Christmas Day tea party.

See a Malaysian Insider report here.

A church source, however, told me the party was held in the grounds of the archbishop’s residence which is normally used as a car park for neighbouring offices during the week, and thus religious symbols were not an issue.

But the requests or instructions from the PM’s aide(s) reflect the reality of Najib’s 1Malaysia in everyday life.

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No free plastic bags in Penang

Anil Netto
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29

It seems that plastic makers are saying they are going to distribute 150,000 free plastic bags next year to counter the Penang state government’s ‘no free plastic bags’ policy.

The news was published all over the Chinese-language media on Sunday. See a Guang Ming report here.

Let’s take a poll to see what kind of support the state has for its policy.

[poll id=”60″]

The Penang state government has asked NGOs to back its policy. Here is a response from an anti-plastic bags activist:

I am not sure whether the state government has a strategy to counter the plastic manufacturers who had been attacking the Penang State government since it first started the no plastic bags campaign.

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