300 million is to raise equity

/* May 18th, 2008 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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After making an audacious request of RM300 million per annum till 2020, Samy clarifies that it is to raise “indian equity”, and to invest in agro-based business and school affairs.

The proposal have been submitted, but we all know what happens to proposals. 🙂

Due to the economic pressure and increased spending for subsidies, I doubt this proposal will be approved. Maybe at most, a one-off amount of 100 million to give some hope and alleviate the situation.

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PSD claims cream of crop selected for scholarship

/* May 18th, 2008 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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After Dr S.Subra suggested automatic scholarships, and many disgruntled SPM achievers gathered at Perak and Selangor, PSD comes out with explanation. How nice if this explanation is given earlier. It would answer many questions.

Now it is revealed that minimum of 13A1s is the cutoff point for academic criteria. In others, all the 140 students who complained earlier don’t stand a chance. Not qualified la! PSD should make the criteria public as soon as the closing date for application is reached. This will ensure students and parents would not wait anxiously and can make alternative plans. In fact, data on number of A1 achievers should be read from MES and matched with the number of scholarships available. In this way, it is possible to know how many A1s is needed to qualify for academic criteria. Probably, if 2000 places are available, PSD can pick the top 4000 or 5000, and do their shortlisting from there. » Read more: PSD claims cream of crop selected for scholarship

MIC asks RM300 million ANNUAL aid

/* May 18th, 2008 by poobalan | View blog reactions 1 comment »
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Wow…RM300 million per year from 2008 till 2020? That’s 17 years, meaning RM5.1 billion! Wonder if MIC is dreaming or high! Surely they request will be rejected. Want to buy rice also problem. Petrol increasing beyond USD126/barrel. I’ll be surprised if PM approves even half the amount even once. let alone yearly.

Perhaps MIC want to use this money to regain its trust among the community. Maybe by managing a big amount, it could distribute the funds and gain support from the community.

By the way, I don’t remember reading government telling Samy not to interfere in helping to release Hindraf 5. Certainly no statement from government to that effect. Unless of course if this happened behind the scenes?

By the way, 300 million is a bit low.  At least a billion a year will be reasonable. 🙂

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Revoked or Expired

/* May 18th, 2008 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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Waytha says British authorities told him its been “revoked”, but now Minister says it has “expired” and that Waytha is still in possession of his passport.  Which is which? Brits made mistake?

I’m curious, can Waytha be arrested if he goes to the High Commission to renew his passport?

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Malaysia moves up to 19th in Competitiveness Yearbook

/* May 18th, 2008 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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I wrote about the IMD’s Competitiveness Yearbook 2007’s results early of this year. 2008 results are just out. I’ll post the details later, but for the moment, our rankings improved 4 notches to reach 19th place. Good news indeed. However, the points this year are lower, meaning those above us previously had got much lower points – possibly due to economic stagnations? More later.


Malaysia improves on competitiveness ranking

source

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has improved on its world competitiveness ranking in the International Institute for Management Development’s (IMD) World Competitiveness Yearbook 2008 (WCY08).

In a report issued by the IMD on Thursday, Malaysia moved up four spots to 19th place with a score of 73.2 points out of 100.

Last year, Malaysia was ranked 23rd with 74.1 points. The United States maintained its first placing, while Singapore and Hong Kong maintained theirs at second and third respectively.

RAM Holdings Bhd chief economist Dr Yeah Kim Leng said the ranking was a “timely boost” for the economy. He said the rise was mainly due to significant improvement in the delivery system and other measures taken by the Government to improve efficiency and competition.

Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd economist Wan Suhaimi Saidi said that while the measures taken did have an impact, the ranking only gave a “first impression” to investors. He said the country still faced a host of challenges despite moving up the rankings.