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Retrenched migrant workers must be fairly compensated

Anil Netto
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The federal government says it has no choice but to approve highway toll hikes because the concession agreements stipulate that compensation would have to be paid to the concessionaires if the hikes are not approved.  (We won’t discuss here how they drew up such lopsided agreements in the first place.)

So is it fair to retrench foreign workers who have valid employment agreements without paying them adequate compensation?

LABOUR-MALAYSIA: Hit Foreign Workers First Govt Tells Employers
By Anil Netto

PENANG, Mar 23 (IPS) – An official guideline for employers to retrench their foreign workers ahead of local employees has alarmed civil society society groups who fear that indebted migrant workers could be sent home with inadequate compensation.

Worries about retrenchment and unemployment have been mounting as Malaysia sinks into a recession, its export-oriented economy taking a hit from a slump in global consumer demand.

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Chaos as tear gas, water cannon fired at ceramah in SP

Anil Netto
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2342: Just off the line with Selangor state exco member Xavier Jayakumar. He told me that the speakers on stage in Sungai Petani tonight did not hear any police warnings to disperse.

Police fired water cannon and tear gas into the crowd, including women and children, as they moved in.

Children coming out of a neaby tuition centre were also doused by the spray from the water cannon; so were patrons in a nearby Chinese restaurant, according to Xavier.

Even the usual small itinerant traders selling Pakatan memorabilia were not spared the action. Police could be heard warning of even more aggressive action as they chased the people away. “The police action was aggressive,” observed Xavier.

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Nizar is the Pakatan candidate for Bukit Gantang

Anil Netto
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2254: Nizar thanks the crowd for their prayers and the Pakatan leadership, especially the Pas leadership for entrusting him to stand in the by-election, as he concludes his speech.

2246: Nizar will be the Pakatan candidate for Bukit Gantang.

2238: Hadi is addressing the crowd now and will announce the candidate shortly.

2229: Azmin Ali is speaking to the crowd now.

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84-day media honeymoon for Najib

Anil Netto
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Najib says he doesn’t expect much of a political honeymoon – never mind the customary 100-day settling-in period for an incoming leader – in terms of the level of scrutiny he is likely to receive if  he takes over as PM as planned.

But now we see the removal of a high level of media scrutiny for the prime minister-to-be.

The three-month suspension of the permits of Harakah and Suara Keadilan allows Najib an 84-day honeymoon (assuming he takes over from 1 April) from scathing criticism from the Pas and PKR party newspapers. It is a serious blow to press freedom in Malaysia.

Crucially, the suspensions will also severely handicap Pakatan’s attempts to reach out to the Malay-speaking rural voters in Bukit Selambau and Bukit Gantang during the by-elections campaigns from 29 March to 6 April.

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PR candidate for Bkt Gantang to be unveiled tonight?

Anil Netto
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The Pakatan candidate for Bukit Gantang is expected to be announced in Simpang at around 9.30pm, according to a media source. Originally, the candidate was supposed to be revealed on Thursday but the announcement has since been brought forward, says my source.

He tells me that five Pas names were in the running and Nizar was not one of them – though others think Nizar would be the best choice. Let’s wait and see.

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World could dump US dollar and opt for shared currency

Anil Netto
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The days of the US dollar as the global reserve currency seem to be numbered. For some time now, independent commentators have been saying that the US dollar is on shaky ground – or could even collapse altogether.

But when a UN panel recommends that the world should ditch the dollar in favour of a basket of shared currencies and the mainstream business press like Reuters takes it seriously, you got to sit up and take notice:

U.N. panel says world should ditch dollar
Wed Mar 18, 2009

By Jeremy Gaunt, European Investment Correspondent

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – A U.N. panel will next week recommend that the world ditch the dollar as its reserve currency in favor of a shared basket of currencies, a member of the panel said on Wednesday, adding to pressure on the dollar.

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“People’s YB” backs Tg Bunga residents’ position

Anil Netto
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Tanjung Bunga state assembly member, Teh Yee Cheu, says his position is simple: No cutting of steep hill slopes – Photos by Anil Netto

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Tanjung Bunga residents protesting at the bottom of the steep hill slope along Solok Tan Jit Seng

When the Tanjung Bunga protesters invited their elected rep, Teh Yee Cheu of the DAP, to say a few words at their “coffee party” yesterday, they introduced him as “the people’s YB”.

Teh walked up to the mike, and along the way, picked up a placard which read “No more Class 3 and 4 hill cutting”. Pointing to the placard, he told the residents that this was his position. It was clear that he was on the residents’ side and he told them to continue with their “parties”.

At Solok Tan Jit Seng, developer DynamicPro plans to build 25 three-storey town-houses on a hill-slope which residents claim has a gradient of over 65 degrees. That’s steep! (Class 3 is over 25 degrees and Class 4 over 35 degrees). The project site on the slope looks down on a row of houses, behind which stands the Tanjung Bunga school. Above the project site on the slope lies the precariously perched Pearl Hill apartments. Before the Appeals Board could decide on the residents’ concerns, several trees on the hill-slope were felled.

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Tiger Park? How about a People’s Park…

Anil Netto
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Update: Please, no tigers on the island! That’s the plea of an experienced vet in Penang whom I spoke to. “Penang as an island is not the place for wild animals especially tigers. The whole concept of having animals is not like those days when they were caged. Now they are left to roam in the loose and they have their own environment, but never in captivity. Even the concept of zoos has changed to the open system. You can’t have a tiger roaming wild on the island (without a supporting ecological balance). In a normal safari, the animals have their own eco-system where the bigger animals (roam around and) survive by eating smaller animals.”

Looks like the proposal for a Tiger Park in Penang is receiving a mauling.

And not just from local wildlife conservation groups such as the Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers (Mycat!), which comprises the Malaysian Nature Society, Traffic Southeast Asia, Wildlife Conservation Society-Malaysia Programme and World Wildlife Fund-Malaysia.

News of the Tiger Park plan has even reached the global media for all the wrong reasons. Check out the BBC report here.

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Where the heck is Batang Ai?

Anil Netto
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Well, now you know where it is…!

Everyone is talking about Bukit Gantang, Batang Ai and Bukit Selambau – but do you know where they are? Here are a few images to help you get your bearings.

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And this is Bukit Gantang, close to Taiping and Kuala Kangsar

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The real issues at stake in Sarawak

Anil Netto
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A blog reader has mentioned the following in the comments section, which I thought was worth highlighting. When you consider the immense resources that Sarawak and Sabah have at their disposal, you have to wonder why their poverty rates are higher than the other states with around the same household income:

The core issue in Sarawak is governance and distribution within Sarawak. Don’t fall for the federal-state ploy, although there are of course serious issues there.

This can be seen, e.g., when one compares the average household income in Sarawak with that in other states. Below are the numbers for 2004 as published in the 9th Malaysia Plan, and sorted by average household income from highest to lowest:

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