Posts Tagged ‘Economy’

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Crackdown on illegals must go on immediately

February 2nd, 2010
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Come on, we are not dealing with school kids. Businessmen are adults who are fully aware of right and wrong. They are not mentally incapacitated or threatened to hire illegal workers. Be it high class nasi kandar shops or the stall in chinese food court, from office to homes, you can find foreigners from maid to cashier in quite a number of them. We are the ones hiring foreign workers (legal or illegal), and then cry foul when a robbery or murder happens. We are the one who blame everyone else when social problems increase.

We should make this a quarterly exercise so that can reduce number of illegals in the country. Government must proceed with the crackdown as soon as possible. This will force businesses to hire locals or legal foreign workers, most likely at a much higher cost. This in turn, will contribute towards higher food cost for the consumers. And that, will reflect more correctly on our cost of living. Then we will know the price of security and employment for locals.

The Government will meet representatives from the Chinese chambers of commerce and guilds this week before deciding whether to proceed with a planned crackdown on illegals.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said he had already met with nasi kandar operators on the issue last week.

“I will be meeting the Chinese chambers and guilds next and will decide after that,” he told The Star yesterday.

However, asked if thousands of employers “guilty of hiring illegals” would be given a reprieve from action against them under the crackdown scheduled for Feb 15, the minister was tight-lipped. “Wait for my announcement.”

Sources said the meeting was scheduled to be held on Friday at the minister’s office here.

Last month, the Immigration Department announced that it would commence a nationwide crackdown on thousands of employers, believed to be harbouring or employing illegal workers.

The operation will be carried out with the help of police and Rela.

Currently, there are about 1.8 million legal foreign workers in the country and the department believes there are at least an equal number of illegals.

There have been requests for the crackdown to be postponed as it was scheduled to start on the second day of Chinese New Year, where businesses would be brisk with huge profits to be made.

Last week, Hishammuddin promised to be lenient on employers who hired illegals if they could assure authorities that they were “getting their act together.”

He said, since the deadline for the crackdown was announced, many employers had come forward and admitted to hiring illegal workers.

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Hindraf hopes India pressures PM Najib

January 19th, 2010
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PM Najib arrives in Delhi today for a working visit to India. He will be heading to Chennai as well (I was surprised to see the way the TV3 newscasters pronounce Indian/Tamil words. Don’t they have any Indian friends?).

Hindraf hopes that its recent activities at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2010 which concluded last week, would give some input and impetus to the Indian government to pressure PM Najib on the conditions of Malaysian Indians.

“Foreign minister SM Krishna was really moved by the ‘Malaysian Indian Minority & Human Rights Violations Annual Report 2009: Malaysia Truly Asia’ which was distributed during the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas international conference recently,” said Hindraf legal advisor P Uthayakumar.

As such, Uthayakumar (right) said Krishna would likely highlight the ‘human rights violations’ against Indian Malaysians to Najib during the latter’s maiden visit to the state starting today.

“We have also asked the Indian government to use diplomatic means to handle (the) issue,” he said.

Uthayakumar was optimistic about India’s intervention as the minister and a representative of an opposition party, Sushma Suvaraj, has also promised to look into the matter seriously and bring them to the attention of the Indian cabinet.

“Most of them were shocked (about) how Indians are being ill-treated and marginalised in Malaysia. This does not happen in other countries. Only in our country,” he said.

About 1500 copies of the annual report was distributed to delegates from 53 countries.

‘Trade sanctions proposed‘

Among the requests submitted to the Indian government were to persuade it to terminate all present and future Malaysian company projects in India especially by Plus, Gamuda, IJN, Scomi and other Umno-linked companies.

Uthayakumar said India would also be asked to stop buying Malaysian palm oil and to halt all its information technology professionals from working here.

Hindraf has also proposed to India to imposed trade sanctions on Malaysia until all the atrocities and injustices against Indian Malaysians end.

When asked about the negative implications that Malaysia may encounter due to the trade sanctions proposed, Uthayakumar said this is the only option left.

“People may suffer for awhile but this is the only option left for us as Najib has refused to address and resolve the problem,” he said.

Uthayakumar who is also the Human Rights Party secretary-general hopes that the Indian government would intervene and end the sufferings of marginalised Indians in Malaysia.

However, I think its just wishful thinking because India is more concerned with economic issues rather than getting involved in the internal politics of another country. Sri Lanka is one such example.  So, definitely no trade sanctions or strong words from India. In fact, expect more MoUs and agreements signed.

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What Malaysians worry about

January 18th, 2010
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I don’t think the answers are a surprise for us. While we may rant about rights and justice and what-nots, its the basic stuff that ends up as priority. Of course having a good platform/environment would simulate the economy, thus improve the livelihood. But that’s another story for another day.

Its hard to paint a rosy picture for 2010. While indicators like increase in car sales may be put forth, the general feeling is that there’s less people in shopping centers and sales is not much. Government doesn’t have much money, and budget has been cut. Increase in crime is indication of economic problem. People are encouraged to spend, spend, spend. But how about saving?

The survey covered just 500 people from Malaysia, so I wonder if a bigger sample would yield a contrasting result or merely reinforce the current one.

Cost of living, salary changes and personal debt are the top three financial worries for Malaysians, a survey by global payment firm Visa found.

In the survey conducted between Aug 21 and Sept 23 last year, 69% of Malaysians said they were extremely concerned about the cost of living expenses while 62% and 59% were worried about salary changes and personal debt respectively. “Malaysians were less worried about the value of their retirement fund and portfolio, and fluctuating interest rates,” the company said in a statement here yesterday.

However, 25% of those surveyed also said they were more confident about their personal financial situation compared to six months earlier although 52% felt there would be no change.

Only 23% indicated they were less confident than earlier.

Sixty-six per cent of Malaysians also said they were more concerned about the impact of the global financial crisis on the local economy.

The survey involved 5,520 respondents aged between 18 and 65 years, of whom 500 were from Malaysia.

The rest were from Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan.

Visa country manager Stuart Tomlinson said Malaysians were being practical during the current economic climate by focusing on managing their concerns, providing themselves with a level of security and peace of mind.

“For Malaysians, potential changes in salary levels are also of concern,” he said, adding that across the region, consumers were looking to see how they could manage their expenses, savings and job security, rather than macro-economic conditions such as exchange and interest rates.

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5 percent economic growth target?

January 13th, 2010
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If we recorded -3.6% growth last year ( source) and aim to achieve more than 5% growth this year, that means an increase of 8.6%. I think very few countries achieved that percentages, among them China and India. Anyway, we pray for the best…

The Economic Planning Unit (EPU) is confident that the country will achieve an economic growth of more than 5% this year based on several positive indicators.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said one of the indicators was the shift from retrenchment to recruitment in the manufacturing sector since July last year.

He said business confidence and consumer spending was also on the uptrend as loan applications rose by 37.4% while approvals were up by 25% until October last year compared with the same period in 2008.

The sales of passenger cars had also showed an increase at 40,569 units up to November last year compared with 36,254 during the same period in 2008.

“The trends are changing and we are confident that 2010 is going to be a good year,” he told a press conference after witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Government and the Oxford Business Group on The Report: Malaysia 2010.

EPU director-general Datuk Noriyah Ahmad signed on behalf of the Government while the Oxford Business Group was represented by its country director Laura Herrero.

Nor Mohamed also said the impact of the two stimulus packages rolled out by the Government last year would be seen this year.

The anticipated higher demand for semiconductors due to the rapid expansion of the automative industry in China and India would benefit Malaysia as it is a major producer of electronic chips.

The prices of oil and commodities like palm oil were also on the uptrend and there had also been a rise in tourism activities, he said.

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Petrol price mechanism unclear

January 7th, 2010
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The public have another hot topic served today. In time for weekend coffee shop talks 🙂

Its none other than a bread and butter issue – petrol price. Today, the minister announced that foreigners will not enjoy the subsidy when May 1 comes. He also said that for Malaysians, the price will depend on engine capacity and “socio-economic” factors, among others. Its expected that MyKad will play a major role in the new price mechanism.

Concern is that the details will be revealed on May 1st and the pricing structure is also expected to come into effect in May. So, that doesn’t give much time (or any time) for the public to give their input. I hope it won’t be another nightmare for rakyat.

So, will changing to smaller cc cars help families? Would the mechanism be foolproof?

There will be two price structures for petrol from May 1 — one for Malaysians and another for foreigners — Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said on Thursday.

For Malaysians, the price of petrol will also be based on engine capacity, which means that not all would be entitled to subsidised fuel, he added.

Different petrol prices would be introduced for different groups of Malaysians, Ismail told a press conference here on Thursday after launching the new corporate identity of the F&N Soft Drinks Division.

Amongst the things that would be considered are the engine capacity of vehicles and socio-economic factors, he said.

He said that the subsidy for petrol would be retained but only targeted groups would receive the subsidy.

“The categories will then be divided into sub-categories such as the engine capacity of the vehicles used and other factors such as socio-economy,” he said.

“For RON95 petrol, the Goverment’s subsidy is 30sen per litre now. The current price of RON95 petrol is RM1.80 compared to the actual price, which is RM2.10.

“So, Malaysians who are not eligible for the subsidy and also non-citizens will have to pay RM2.10 or more,” he added.

Besides introducing the new structure, the ministry also plans to make the usage of My-Kad compulsory when buying petrol to identify one’s nationality.

“We have Thai nationals who drive into Malaysia to fill up their tank as they don’t receive any subsidy, which makes petrol such an expensive commodity there,” he said.

Further information on the new structure would be announced on May 1, 2010.

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