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Zambry now says some bloggers can report on 7 May

Anil Netto
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35

Zambry has distanced himself from the Perak Information Department’s notice restricting the media coverage of the 7 May State Assembly proceedings to 13 pro-BN mainstream media organisations. Remarkably, he said the restriction was to ensure the comfort of journalists due to the limited space in the Dewan.

In a blog posting at 5.42pm, Zambry now says that “sesetengah media baru (new media) termasuk rakan-rakan blogger” would be allowed in. What does “sesetengah” mean? Who decides?

Walaupun arahan ini bukan datangnya daripada saya ataupun pejabat saya, adalah menjadi tugas saya untuk menjelaskan mengapa cadangan berkenaan dibuat oleh pegawai-pegawai kanan kerajaan negeri.

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Media may apply to Perak Speaker to cover 7 May

Anil Netto
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Perak Speaker V Sivakumar has given the green light to all media to write to him for permission to cover the state assembly proceedings on 7 May. His decision is based on Standing Order 84 of the Perak State Legislative Assembly.

Under the Standing Order, cited on Sivakumar’s blog, the Speaker “may grant a general permission to the representative of any journal to attend the sittings of the Assembly under such rules as he may from time to time make for that purpose. If such rules are contravened, such permission may be revoked.”

The Perak State Information Department had earlier issued a written notice saying only journalists from 13 pro-BN mainstream media organisations would be allowed in.

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817 elected Perak village chiefs to sue over dismissals

Anil Netto
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perak-village-chiefs

“Setuju!“: The 817 elected village chiefs in Perak unanimously endorsing a six-point action plan – Photo by Kinta Kid

Zambry’s – and the BN’s problems – are multiplying as the Perak crisis deepens.

All 817 elected village chiefs in Perak have come together to take legal action over their dismissals without notice by the Perak BN and the dissolution of their village JKKK committees, which resulted in the termination of services of over 8,000 committee members. They also plan to lodge police reports against the Perak BN.

These village chiefs had been elected and they received appointment letters from the Pakatan state government to serve from 1 August 2008 to 31 July 2010.

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Freedom of Information Act for Selangor by year-end

Anil Netto
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6

The Selangor state government has taken the lead again. It is hoping to pass a Freedom of Information Act by the end of the year.

“For a country that practises democracy, oppressive laws like
Printing Presses and Publications Act and Official Secrets Act used to keep media in line and prevent ordinary citizens from exercising their full rights to access information, should not be allowed to remain in Malaysia,” said Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim in a statement this evening to mark World Press Freedom Day.

Acknowledging that the powers to abolish such draconian laws lie with the Federal Government, he said the Pakatan government in Selangor has tried its best to promote Freedom of Information (FOI).

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As recession bites, workers demand retrenchment fund

Anil Netto
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4

mayday-rally
The scorching sun did not deter some 500 people and activists who turned up for the Workers’ Day gathering in Seremban yesterday.

They carried banners and placards, wore headbands and chanted slogans such as “Implement minimum wage now”, We want retrenchment fund” and “Jobs for all”.

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Economist: Deep recession won’t bottom out this year

Anil Netto
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2

Economist Nouriel Roubini says that an L-shaped near depression may be avoided given the policy measures undertaken by the Obama administration. All the same, in his RGE Monitor, he is now predicting that the current protracted U-shaped recession will not bottom out in the third quarter but will instead continue until next year:

One should recognize that US policy authorities – as well as the authorities of many other countries looked into the abyss of the risk of a near depression – given the free fall in global economic activity in the last two quarters – and decided to start using most of the weapons in their arsenals – bazookas, missiles, rockets, artillery, etc – in a financial policy equivalent of a Powell doctrine of overwhelming force in order to avoid a near depression. This is why now the risks of an L-shaped near depression – like the one that hit Japan after the bursting of its real estate and equity bubble – have been reduced.

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More worries about liberalisation of services

Anil Netto
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4

It is disconcerting to see neoliberals in both Pakatan and the BN whole-heartedly welcoming Najib’s liberalisation of services. The DAP, MCA and Gerakan want liberalisation to be extended to other sectors; the MCA even mentioned national security and defence.

No one is saying there shouldn’t be competition in certain sectors. But we are proceeding with liberalisation when some of the regulatory mechanisms are not in place. For instance, health care regulatory mechanisms to cover areas such as laboratory services that were promised a long time ago are not in place.

What has happened to one of the biggest issues of them all – health care financing? The Coalition against Health Care Privatisation had demanded universal health care accessibility and greater allocations for the public health care system. If at all an insurance scheme was implemented, the coalition wanted it to be a universal national health insurance scheme.

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Perak Speaker wants all media to report on 7 May

Anil Netto
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22

Yesterday a media notice sent out by the Perak Information Department indicated that only 13 media groups – all of them mainstream media – would be allowed to cover the controversial Perak State Assembly proceedings on 7-13 May.

The 13 mainstream media outfits are RTM, Bernama TV, TV3, The Star, New Straits Times, Berita Harian, Utusan Malaysia, China Press, Sin Chew Daily, Nanyang Siang Pau, Tamil Namban, Tamil Nesan and Bernama. They are expected to provide pro-BN coverage.

The Assembly proceedings on 7 May will be closely followed by Malaysians – given the constitutional crisis in the state and the BN attempt to replace the Speaker, who is from the DAP.  Even the seating arrangements in the Assembly could be disputed.

Today, Perak Speaker V Sivakumar said he would meet with the State Secretary to seek clarification on the media restrictions.

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Najib goes on a different sort of walkabout

Anil Netto
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Najib with Muhyiddin Yassin, Musa Hitam and Mohamed Al-Amin Abdul Majid, the Small and Medium Industries Development Corp (Smidec) chairman, unwinding at the golf-course on Valentine’s Day.

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Save the workers, not the cronies

Anil Netto
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3

Some 500 workers gathered this morning to observe Labour Day at Dataran Seremban.

This year’s theme is ‘Economic crisis: Save the workers, not the cronies’.

Civil society and workers groups are demanding:

  • a retrenchment fund with an initial contribution of RM0.5 billion from the government,
  • a stimulus package that really provides jobs for unemployed Malaysians,
  • discussions with banks to reschedule and reduce monthly housing loan replayments for low-income workers,
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