Archive for the ‘BornInMalaysia’ category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

MIC Saravanan asks for PSD scholarship quota

June 4th, 2008
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


Before I go into Saravanan’s proposal, lets look at the statistics – only 34 Indians got the scholarship first, before being increased to 78. There are 180 appeals pending.

Now, why would PSD want to provide quota for the Indian community? Then, others like the Orang Asli, Kadazan, Bajau, Baba Nyonya, etc. will start demanding their part from the “bumiputra” category. This will erode the portion and break up the quota further, and may deprive more Malays of their previously easily obtained scholarships.

Secondly, there should some basis for asking 250 places for the community. Is there any proof that we have 250 top achievers year after year that should be getting scholarship? Is 250 derived from some sort of formula based on Einstenian calculation?

However I agree that interview component of the scholarship award is highly subjective and may be subject to manipulation.

Instead of asking for quota, Saravanan should ask for transparency, a well represented board of interviewers, an increase in scholarship amount or a more stringent criteria.

KUALA LUMPUR: The government must not lump Indians in the non-Bumiputera category, but fix the number of Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships for the community, MIC information chief Datuk M. Saravanan said yesterday.
He said under the present system, of the 2,000 PSD scholarships awarded annually, 55 per cent was allocated for Bumiputeras and the remaining 45 per cent for non-Bumiputeras.”Out of the 900 PSD scholarships for non-Bumiputeras, Indians initially received only 34, which was then increased to 70. We are now awaiting the results of about 180 appeal cases.”The Indians are already backward in terms of education, but yet we have to compete with all the other non-Bumis. The government should allocate, on an annual basis, 250 PSD scholarships for Indians,” Saravanan, who is also Federal Territories Deputy Minister, said.

“The current selection system is also flawed. The exam results constitute 70 per cent of the eligibility marks for the PSD scholarships. The rest is made up of the interview and such, which is very subjective.
“The people want transparency. If a student is the best, then he or she must be eligible for the scholarship. Now, we have students who have scored excellent marks but turned down by the PSD on the pretext that they failed in the interview.

“That half-an-hour interview decides a student’s fate. It might have taken students five years or more to obtain excellent results. Is that fair? It is not a level playing field.” – Bernama

source

2 comments »

Posted in BornInMalaysia, Indian

Tags:

trade surplus grows means economy doing well?

June 3rd, 2008
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


 Reports for February and March showed similar statistics – increase in trade surplus. However, there’s a big jump between March and April, which is 43.9%, exports higher by 8.2% compared to March, but imports also increased slightly by 1.67%. The main contributors for export are the same – electronics, palm oil, petroleum, and chemical products. The report did not mention about volume of exported products, so we can’t say if its higher volume or higher price (due to market demand and currency rates) that increased the sales.

Hmmm..what am I trying to say?

If I sell 10 kg of apples at RM5 per kilo, that’s RM50 sales.

volume X price= sales

To increase sales, I have to increase either volume or price, or both. So, which is which? A check on MITI’ website also does not provide details on both price or volume.

Malaysia’s trade surplus grew sharply to RM11.48 billion in April as exports jumped 20.9 percent, according to official data released today.

The April surplus was 95.8 percent higher than the same period last year, and up 43.9 percent from March, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry said.

Exports reached RM55.8 billion, a 20.9 percent increase from April 2007 and up 8.2 percent compared to March this year.

“Major product sectors which contributed to the increase in exports in April 2008 were electrical and electronics products, palm oil, crude petroleum as well as chemicals and chemical products,” the ministry said.

April imports grew 10 percent from last year to RM44.32 billion and were 1.67 percent higher against March levels.

Malaysia’s exports to the United States, its main trading partner, grew to RM7.89 billion in April, a 6.4 percent increase from the same period last year on higher exports of electrical and electronic products.

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/83891

1 comment »

Posted in BornInMalaysia

Tags:

Sabah NGO to follow Hindraf idea?

June 2nd, 2008
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


Well, well, well. Looks like someone did learn from HINDRAF’s actions. Would they proceed with the petition, or merely highlight the possibility to sound a warning?

Being curious, I would like to know, how easy (or hard) is it for Sabah and/or Sarawak to leave the Federation and be a subject of the British government or declare independence? Can they do something like join Brunei, or Singapore or Phillipines, or combine and become one country? Err…my question is not seditious, is it?

A Sabah group is taking a page from Hindraf’s book – it is seriously considering petitioning the British government on the situation of illegal migrants in the state.
Having seen their proposal for a royal commission to probe the issue of illegal immigrants in the state rebuffed by BN lawmakers, the group is exploring the possibility of filing a petition to Britain through the Commonwealth office.

The Consumer Association of Sabah and Labuan (Cash), which is spearheading the move, is particularly aggrieved by the 440,000 foreign illegals, including 130,000 illegal immigrants in the state.

According to Cash, many of these foreigners, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia were given local identity cards (ICs), according them all the benefits enjoyed by local Malaysians such as the right to vote.

Cash’s leader, Patrick Sindu, who is a Kadazan from Papar, told Malaysiakini that the setting up of a cabinet committee on illegal immigrants showed that the federal government was not serious in dealing with the situation.

“Only a royal commission has the real power to get into the bottom of the whole thing. We want to know the actual numbers of ICs given, why it was done so, who directed the government agencies and what will be done to leaders involved,” stressed Sindu (left).

If Cash was to follow the example from Hindu Action Front (Hindraf), which had filed a controversial lawsuit in Britain, it would be along the similar arguments that the former colonial administration had failed to ensure that rights of Sabahans be protected.

Another possible referendum?

Sindu was also not too impressed by the prime minister’s announcement over the weekend that the Sabah Federal Development Department would be abolished, something which had been demanded by many Sabahans.

He said he was more concerned that Filipino-based groups, including the separatist Mindanao Nationalist Liberation Front, might refer the unresolved Philippines’ claim on Sabah to the International Court of Justice.

The Sabahan feared if another referendum was to be had, the Filipinos having ICs would decide the matter. The Cobbold Commission had conducted a referendum in April 1962, where most Sabahans backed the merger with Malaya.

According to Sindu, the Malaysia Agreement – which is the basis for Sabah and Sarawak to join Malaya to form Malaysia – provided for reviews every decade and this was not done. There have been other breaches to the agreement since the 1963 merger, reported Cash.

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/83809

Comments Off on Sabah NGO to follow Hindraf idea? »

Posted in BornInMalaysia

Tags:

Commission for minimum wage

June 2nd, 2008
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


The commission is to determine (i) which sectors should have minimum wage, and (ii) how much it should be subject to periodic review. Would it be a good news for the plantation workers, dock workers, restaurant workers, etc?

KUALA LUMPUR: The Human Resources Ministry will set up a permanent Commission of Inquiry to determine which sectors should have a fixed minimum wage, and to review these wages on an on-going basis.

Its minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said the Commission would gather first feedback from the various wage councils on which sectors should have a fixed minimum wage.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference in the lobby of Parliament on Monday, he said the Commission would also work with these councils on reviewing any such fixed minimum wage on an on-going basis.

source 

Comments Off on Commission for minimum wage »

Posted in BornInMalaysia

Tags:

Wrong scholarship breakdown by Star

May 31st, 2008
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


Earlier, I wrote that Star and NST gave conflicting reports on the breakdown of the 151 fast track students. Looks like someone read my blog and checked on it (yeah…wishful thinking!). Looks like Star reported wrongly this time. PSD clarifies below that 117 normal Malaysians and 34 privileged Malaysian were those who qualified. This is going to anger MMMM and ABIM even more!

PUTRAJAYA: The Public Service Department (PSD) has provided “fast lane assistance” to 117 non-bumiputra Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia top achievers from low-income families, applying for scholarship to study abroad.

Public Service director-general Tan Sri Ismail Adam said a total of 151 students were eligible to have their applications put on the fast lane and the remaining 34 were bumiputra students.

He said the assistance was extended to the students who scored 10 A1s and who came from low-income families, earning below RM1,500 a month.

“We accepted it as that and did not try to adjust anything,” he said, clarifying an earlier report, which said more bumiputra applicants were given “fast lane assistance” compared to the non-bumiputra.

Ismail pointed out the figure was actually the opposite, adding that while scholarships for these students were “almost assured of, they still had to attend interviews.”

source

2 comments »

Posted in BornInMalaysia

Tags: