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Ban steep hill-slope projects, urge Tg Bunga residents

Anil Netto
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22

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Tanjung Bunga Residents Association chairman George Aeria hands over the residents’ memo to the Penang state exco member for the environment, Phee Boon Poh – Photo by TBRA

At 3.15pm today, sirens blared and then two thunderous blasts followed by a smaller one unnerved residents of the Coastal Towers apartment blocks in Tanjong Bunga. At the nearby Straits Regency apartments, windows vibrated – even above the 10th floor

It is not surprising that residents groups from Tanjung Bunga, Penang, have joined forces to call for a ban on current and future projects on steep hill-slopes. Yesterday morning, representatives from these groups handed over a memorandum, signed by 1,558 residents, urging the Penang state government to do something.

They are not interested in stop-work orders; they want a permanent ban.

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Abad Naluri’s deposits seized; now what, PDC?

Anil Netto
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11

After the PGCC fiasco, the end of Abad Naluri’s interest in the Turf Club land (and its plans for a new racecourse in Batu Kawan) draws closer. The Turf Club has seized RM4.5 million in deposits from Abad Naluri after the company failed to start work on a new race course.

This from the NST:

“Abad Naluri has until March 30, 2011, to complete the RM375 million PIEC project,” Ong said after the club’s annual general meeting yesterday.

The company entered into a RM488-million agreement to build an ultramodern racecourse in Batu Kawan in exchange for the club land and to pay the difference of RM103 million to the club. The developer paid the club RM10 million after signing the original agreement.

It had proposed to redevelop the club land into the Penang Global City Centre (PGCC), a project that has since been scrapped.

The two parties signed a supplemental agreement on April 1 last year on a timeframe for the developer to complete construction of PIEC.

It is good to see the Penang Turf Club taking the right steps to enforce the conditions in its agreements with Abad Naluri.

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The biggest financial fraud ever

Anil Netto
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1

People are discovering what a rip-off neo-liberalism has been, observes financial economist and historian Dr Michael Hudson, in this interview “The way we were and what we are becoming” aired on 4 March 2009.


Click to listen (or download)

Is liberalisation of services a good thing for Malaysia?

Anil Netto
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Blog reader KJ shares his thoughts with us:

Re liberalisation/de-regulation: I think the general literature is pretty clear on this that over the past quarter century or more liberalisation has meant de-regulation. It was said that over-regulation was the problem, hence the need to liberalise, i.e., de-regulate.

This should not be confused with competition and a competition policy. Many comments on this, and the previous, post appear to have confused a liberalisation stance with a competition policy stance. In many areas, liberalisation has, in fact, created monopolies, and allowed monopolies to flourish. One clear example is the media: the Murdoch group controls Fox, Star, the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, The Times (UK), Far Eastern Economic Review, etc. The five largest banks in the US — most of them in deep s… — control over 70 per cent of the business, are busy raising credit card fees, cutting credit lines, etc.

Should there be a competition policy? Yes.

As for whether the foreign boys will do better than the local, well, in the first instance, at this time and the medium term, there isn’t going to be much investment.

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Free market champion admits his ideology wasn’t right

Anil Netto
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16

They got it wrong:

  • the regulators who thought the liberalised financial sector would work just fine by itself, and
  • stock market pundits and the financial media who were giving the public a false sense of security ahead of the crash.

“I was shocked”: Alan Greenspan, a longtime ideological champion of free competitive markets and deregulation, admits under official questioning that his model was distressingly flawed, not right, and not working.

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Najib’s “liberalisation” could open Pandora’s Box

Anil Netto
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21

Pardon me for raining on Najib’s sweeping economic “liberalisation” parade.

For one thing, I don’t think the government fully understands the ramifications of its gung-ho approach to liberalisation in the services sector, especially the financial services sub-sector. Still beholden to the FDI-driven model of economic growth, the government is obviously hoping that its “liberalisation” will result in hordes of foreign investors stampeding into the local market. Sure, more big investors might come in – but at what price to the local economy and small-timers?

The Chinese Malaysian business sector might welcome the removal of bumi quotas. Fed up with paying high prices for “protected items” such as locally made cars, many ordinary Malaysians too might actually welcome “liberalisation” – and I can understand where they are coming from.

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Fried chicken, anyone?

Anil Netto
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18

We live in a globalised world that is full of inequalities. Unfortunately, these inequalities are not always visible to most of us.

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IMF: Malaysian economy to shrink by 3.5% this year

Anil Netto
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10

The International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook report for 2009 is just out here.

It projects the Malaysian economy to contract by 3.5 per cent in 2009 (compared to -2.8 per cent for the US and -1.3 per cent for the world). The Malaysian government, for its part, has been sticking to its -1.0 to +1.0 per cent range, which in the light of the IMF’s projections, seems hopelessly optimistic (as ever). The Malaysian Institute of Economic Research’s latest projection is a contraction of 2.2 per cent.

Not only that, the IMF warns that all the risks are on the downside, i.e., hugely dependent on what happens to the US. In addition, Malaysia is also dependent on Europe, Japan and China.

My own forecast for Malaysia is grimmer than the IMF’s projection.  Just a casual look at the sharp drops in our exports and manufacturing sales is enough for me to say GDP could be minus 5 per cent this year.

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80% don’t want Mahathir to lead BN’s Penanti campaign

Anil Netto
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Will he take the hint?

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Why our education system is in trouble

Anil Netto
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40

The raging debate surrounding our education system seems to be over the medium of instruction for maths and science.

Sadly, however, not enough attention is being paid to the content and approach we have adopted, which straitjackets and stifles young minds.

Let me relate an anecdote told to me by the parents of a 11-year-old boy, J:

J was asked by his school teacher to write a short karangan (composition) about a Malaysian hero he admires and to give reasons for his choice.

The boy promptly penned a few lines about Anwar and Nizar and to support his choice, he said they had korban (sacrificed) a lot for the country, etc.

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