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GDP plunges 6.2% in 1st quarter

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27 May 2009

Source: Statistics Department

Hey, let’s do the limbo rock
Limbo lower now
Limbo lower now
How low can you go

Reality has just smacked us in the face.

GDP fell by 6.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period last year. (In the last quarter of 2008, GDP grew by 0.1 per cent, year on year.)

This is the first time we are in negative territory since 2001 and it’s the worst performance since the Asian economic crisis.

Manufacturing fell a staggering 17.6 per cent, largely due to our unwise over-dependence on FDI-driven economic growth, especially in the electronics sector.

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Rock-blasting in Tanjung Bunga near housing estate

Anil Netto

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27 May 2009

19

Rock blasting work at the Bolton Surin project site in Tanjung Bunga on 14 May. The blast sent a rock flying; it landed on the slope and then rolled down to hit a tree, shaking it violently, according to an eye-witness.

A resident in the area managed to capture the blasting on video.

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Penang should lead with honest asset disclosures

Accountability

Anil Netto

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27 May 2009

9

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s comments that Penang state exco members would be asked to declare their assets as soon as possible is reassuring. It shows that the state government is still thinking about it – more than one year after the general election.

Guan Eng says that he is now mulling over the best method of doing so.

It’s all quite simple, really. Just get them to list their assets (as well as their immediate family’s) on a sheet of paper and to declare that the list is a true and fair representation of their net worth. Get these declarations audited by an independent firm.

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2 arrested near Ipoh DAP office ahead of sing-a-long

Anil Netto

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26 May 2009

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2150: Two more have been arrested: Nga’s driver, Haridas, and Taiping councillor Simon Uthaya Kumar.

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From “Malaysia Boleh!” to “Tak Boleh!”

Anil Netto

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26 May 2009

26

Scenes from around Wisma DAP, Ipoh this morning – Photos by Kinta Kid

So what’s all this about? Arrest and release, arrest and release….

Increasingly, it appears as if all these arrests – over 160 in recent weeks – are aimed at frustrating civil society and opposition activists and their attempts to legitimately raise public awareness especially over the power grab in Perak. By no stretch of the imagination can those arrested be deemed a threat to security.

And since when has fasting become an offence? (Add this to the lengthening list of don’ts and tak bolehs we now have.) That’s the question posed by Aliran president P Ramakrishnan:

Aliran is terribly perturbed by the increasing role the police are assuming which is perceived to be undemocratic and very unfair. They have intervened whenever peaceful activities such as candlelight vigils are organised by civil society groups.

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