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Pyschopaths on the loose

Anil Netto
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5

GDP growth as a measure of economic well-being tends to serve the interests of Big Business rather than those of ordinary people.


Watch all the episodes of this excellent film ‘The Corporation’, described by many as the best documentary they have seen.

In mainstream economic thinking, there are a few fundamental assumptions that are rarely questioned – and they form the basis of economic theory. These assumptions have been so widely disseminated and taught that very few even think of alternatives.

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Sibu churches miss opportunity

Anil Netto
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31

The Sibu churches who received grants from the federal government during the recent by-election plan have missed the chance to take a public stand against vote-buying.

They intend to keep the money, their pastors offering a host of reasons, some of them maybe legitimate: it’s public money; they had applied for the money earlier; they went through proper procedures; what can they do if the money is given during the campaign; there were no conditions attached; they are tax-paying citizens as well.

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Blame game over Bakun nightmare

Anil Netto
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5

You got to hand it to Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu. He doesn’t know the facts – his own admission – but he still thinks the Bakun losses could have been averted.

Reports have said that cost over-runs of RM1.7 billion have been incurred by Sime Darby on a contract worth RM1.8 billion for the dam. Now not only is the Bakun Dam jinxed, a hex has been placed on Sime Darby too after it touched the project.

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Malaysia’s slow Internet download speed

Anil Netto
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25

Malaysia has been ranked 102nd out of 152 countries in Internet download speed.

102nd? That is about right.

We are behind Singapore (31), Thailand (63), Philippines (90). Check out the rankings based on speedtest.net data here.

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Malaysia-Singapore prickly issues all resolved?

Anil Netto
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41

The mainstream media have been reporting that Malaysia and Singapore have ended their deadlock on key issues – but have all the prickly issues raised by Mahathir in the past been resolved?

Could we have the valuations for all the plots of land concerned so we know it’s a fair deal.

The Star reports that the key features of the latest round of talks were:

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Sibu: The postal ballot loop-holes

Anil Netto
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34

UPDATED: Pakatan polling agents were unable to witness the casting of ballots by over a thousand postal voters who were said to be located outside the Sibu police headquarters and two main army camps.

That’s the assertion made by an experienced Pas polling agent familiar with the process, which revealed glaring weaknesses and loop-holes in the Sibu by-election.

Back at Wisma Sanyan, the main coordinating centre for postal ballots, the agents for the Sibu by-election exercised unprecedented scrutiny over the counting and verification of the ballots.

As the agents spotted more and more discrepancies in the postal ballots, the pile of spoilt and rejected ballots grew higher and higher. (The agents had been thoroughly briefed on what to look out for.)

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RPK receives standing ovation in London

Anil Netto
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77

Malaysia’s fugitive blogger Raja Petra has received a standing ovation at a talk in a packed lecture theatre in London.


Photo courtesy of Danny Lim

That’s according to a tweet by Padraig Reidy, the news editor of Index on Censorship (a British organisation promoting freedom of expression) and former deputy editor of New Humanist.

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Sarawak: New plantations alarm villagers

Anil Netto
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1

A increasing number of natives in Sarawak state in north Borneo are alarmed at encroaching forest and oil palm plantations, which are taking over their native customary land and destroying their traditional lifestyles and biodiversity.

In Long Berawan, a village in the north of the state, a community of a thousand Berawan and Tering indigenous people who live in longhouses is worried about plans by a reforestation and plantation group to take over 80,000 hectares of native land. And there are other villages and communities similarly affected.

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Sports betting protests in five states

Anil Netto
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28

Pakatan supporters held simultaneous protests in Penang, Perak, Selangor, Terengganu and Negri Sembilan against the federal government’s decision to issue a licence for sports betting in the country.


Photo courtesy of Wartawan Rasmi Laman Reformasi

The protest in Penang, led by Penang Pas youth leaders took place after Friday prayers at the Kampung Permatang Jangus mosque in Permatang Pauh on the mainland.

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Does corruption cause poverty?

Anil Netto
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20

We often hear politicians accusing each other of corruption. Those accusations may be genuine, but sometimes they paper over deeper structural problems in the economy which are less sensational but which may have an even greater impact on the poor.

First, let me say that most Malaysians correctly recognise that the billions of ringgit lost through corruption and wastage and rent-seeking could have been used to provide more budget allocations to assist the poor.

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