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Perlis by-election could be GST-FPP referendum

Anil Netto
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24

If a by-election is held in Titi Tinggi, it could turn out to be a referendum on unpopular neo-liberal policies such as the regressive Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the Full-Paying Patients (FPP) scheme.

The MCA’s Yip Sun Onn has resigned from his seat in the Perlis State Assembly just days after Indera Kayangan assembly member and Kangar MCA chairman Dr Por Cho Chor replaced him in the Perlis state government exco line-up on 19 March. Utusan reported yesterday that the “replacement was made by the state government as a normal practice upon the request of the MCA leadership itself”.

The GST has been shelved for the time being – but it could be resurrected later. At the same time, plans are afoot to extend the Full-Paying Patients (FPP) pilot scheme to other general hospitals.

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Penang Botanic Garden: Is this progress?

Anil Netto
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For over 120 years, the Penang Botanic Garden has managed perfectly well without these concrete structures.

But now, in the name of ‘development’, ‘progress’ and ‘upgrading’, concrete is being dumped in the Garden and useless structures are sprouting up. (The slideshow above includes photos of the horrendous new arches at the Garden entrance and of the administration block being built near Moon Gate.)

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Have you heard of Aneurin Bevan?

Anil Netto
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If you haven’t, it is time you got acquainted with the man: Aneurin Bevan was the Minister of Health in post-war Britain who played a key role in setting up the National Health Service.

Aneurin Bevan
Aneurin Bevan - Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

It was Bevan who uttered these immortal words: “The collective principle asserts that… no society can legitimately call itself civilised if a sick person is denied medical aid because of lack of means.”

Which means health care is not a commodity but a basic right that should be made available and accessible to all. It also means we need a top-class public health care system with adequate funding. That was what the speakers at a Sembang-Sembang talk this afternoon, Dr Jeyakumar and Dr Jayabalan, stressed.

Many among the audience at the Caring Society Complex in Penang were moved when they heard a woman, Roszita, describing how she lost her husband, Ahmad Nazri, 49, a heart patient, because the couple were unable to raise RM19,000 in time to buy three stents that were needed to deal with blockages.

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Learn from PSM’s annual asset disclosures

Anil Netto
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Political parties in Malaysia can learn a thing or two from Parti Sosialis Malaysia: the party has made it a point for their two elected reps and three councillors to disclose their assets and income to the public every year.


Declaring their assets at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall – Photo courtesy of PSM

Their asset disclosures are each accompanied by an annual performance report.

You can see the asset disclosures here. Even so, the format could be improved to include disclosures of the assets belonging to immediate family members and comparative figures for the previous year to indicate if there has been any significant increase.

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Jelutong Expressway: Lingering questions

Anil Netto
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10

The 5km-Jelutong Expressway still poses a couple a niggling questions.

This RM 700m expressway, orginally estimated to cost RM300m, later rising to RM370m or more, was supposedly built “free of charge” – with no toll imposed on motorists – under a privatisation exercise mooted in 1997.

But at what cost to Penang?

The valuable rights to the reclamation of close to 300 acres 325 acres of prime sea-front land, in addition to existing land – making a total of some 330 355 acres, later apparently increased to 368 acres  – were handed over to IJM in return for the ‘free’ highway.

And, for good measure, a loan was reportedly given – was it RM33 million? How thoughtful.

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PICC: Political motive or genuine concern?

Anil Netto
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More on the Penang International Convention Centre.

Tan Seng Hai, the person spearheading a petition expressing concern about the PICC, sent the following letter to The Star – but it apparently has not been published.

I refer to the report “Council will announce successful bidder of PICC, says CM” (Sunday Star, 14 March 2010) in which Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng was quoted as saying critics of the PICC have their “own political motives and agenda behind their criticisms”.

I do not belong to any political party and have no affiliation to any organisations. I initiated the on-line petition against building the PICC on my own initiative out of love for Penang and in the hope that the Penang State Government will do the right thing and do it right.

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Why are the Orang Asli protesting?

Anil Netto
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Some 2,000 Orang Asli have protested today in Putrajaya while 12,000 have signed a memorandum.

It’s all to do with the government’s proposed Orang Asli land policy, which one analyst has decribed as a recipe for planned poverty.

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KT stadium collapse: Where does the buck stop?

Anil Netto
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All parties contributed to the collapse of the roof of the RM270 million Kuala Terengganu stadium last June – but no single party was found to be totally responsible.

Or at least that’s what the official investigation report on the collapse says.

The principal architect, Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad of Senibahri Architect, was reported as saying he was never involved in the detailed structural design or supervision of the stadium’s roof: he claims the main contractor had got another consultant to work on a detailed design of the roof. According to him, his engineers had expressed their concern on four occasions to the PWD over the flaws they discovered in the structure.

A notice has been issued to the contractor to repair the 50,000-seat Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium – the biggest in the East Coast – but no response so far.

So if no single party is totally responsible, where does the buck stop and who will bear the penalties for this sheer waste of public funds (probably derived from the state’s oil royalties – or whatever you call them)?

Meanwhile, the Terengganu government is unable to say if the stadium is safe even after the debris from the 2,500-tonne roof has been cleared as the impact of the collapse is not known.

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George Town going to the birds

Anil Netto
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Did you know that swiftlet breeders, eyeing the lucrative edible nests market, have taken over 8.3 per cent of some 3,500 pre-war buildings in George Town?


Photos show the interior of a converted house, the installation of a compressor and the bricked up windows at the rear of the building

One concerned George Town resident expresses alarm. This letter was sent to The Star in response to a report but was not published:

I read with interest the article ‘Swiftly growing’ and what Association of Swiftlet Nest Industry(ASNI) president, Carole Loh, had to say about swiftlet farming. It is a very lucrative business indeed but I strongly believe it is best suited to areas where the birds naturally feed, over agricultural or forest areas, or in combination with agriculture, in areas of low population. Ms Loh is totally correct when she says that it is a risky business with an 80 per cent failure rate but the business is becoming much more about technique (than she says) to attract the birds in the first place. There are really no secrets anymore. All the information you need to start a brand new swiftlet breeding house is readily available on the internet, as are the tapes and tunes needed to attract or detract the birds to/from your artificial cave.

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Govt puts off GST Bill – for now

Anil Netto
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It’s not surprising that the government has decided to put off the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for now.

While the NGOs might claim preliminary victory (they had planned a protest for Monday, when Parliament resumes) and some might think that the government has listened to the people’s concern, I believe it was the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturer’s objection that probably saved the day.

Five days ago on Tuesday, the FMM’s task force on GST recommended that the tax be deferred until Malaysia was ready (when average income was higher and income disparity lower).

We shouldn’t be too thankful to the FMM though. They very “kindly” suggested that the government consider a Retail Sales Tax instead of a GST – while the corporations continue to enjoy ever-lower tax rates. Gee, thanks!

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