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Malaysian Maha Sinnathamby honored with doctorate by USQ

September 19th, 2007
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Australian university honours Malaysian tycoon

BERNAMA

MELBOURNE, Wed.:

Malaysian-born Maha Sinnathamy, creator of the A$12 billion Greater Springfield residential development near Brisbane, has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Southern Queensland (USQ). 

Multi-millionaire Sinnathamby, who has a deep commitment to education, was instrumental in attracting the Toowoomba-based USQ to establish a campus in Springfield last year, now home to many students from Asia.

He was conferred the doctorate by the university’s chancellor, Bobbie Brazil, to the delight of his family, corporate colleagues and academic staff. Greater Springfield, Australia’s first privately-built city, 28km south-west of Brisbane, has won international acclaim for its uniqueness. Sinnathamby, a product of Seremban’s St Paul’s Institution, who grew up in Negri Sembilan, said: “I’m extremely proud of this honour because I have a lifelong passion for education.”

The university’s vice-chancellor, Professor Bill Lovegrove, said the conferral of the doctorate on Sinnathamby was in recognition of his distinguished service to the Springfield community and to USQ, while also acknowledging his strong advocacy of the ideals of the university. Apart from his business acumen, Maha possessed some unique personal characteristics, Prof Lovegrove said. “Among them are his broad vision, an entrepreneurial spirit, a tenacious nature, a willingness to take risks and think outside of the square, a community focus and commitment in the face of adversity. “These ideals align closely with those of USQ and help to explain the close ties that have formed between the university and Maha,” he said.

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Budget 2008 says listed companies must reveal employee composition by race

September 14th, 2007
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heard the budget speech live over the radio that friday evening. At the part where PM read "merangkumi komposisi guna tenaga syarikat dari segi kaum" (refer below) he coughed and paused for a few second. After that he just continued, without repeating. Either he wanted to just skim over it or he was surprised.
 

105. Dalam Bajet 2007, Kerajaan telah mengumumkan bahawa semua syarikat PLC perlu menzahirkan aktiviti CSR sebagai sebahagian daripada laporan kewangan tahunan syarikat. Mulai tahun kewangan 2008, penzahiran penyata CSR perlu juga merangkumi komposisi guna tenaga syarikat dari segi kaum dan gender, serta program untuk membangunkan vendor tempatan dan Bumiputera. Kelebihan Malaysia sebagai sebuah negara berbilang kaum harus dimanfaatkan oleh syarikat swasta dengan mengambil kakitangan dari semua lapisan masyarakat.

source: PM Budget speech available on www.treasury.gov.my in PDF format.

The folllowing piece by AP was picked up by many players – IHT, AOL, MSNBC, Sin Chew, etc.

Malaysia orders companies to reveal recruitment figures by race

source

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Malaysian executives urged the government Tuesday not to make race a criterion for hiring, reflecting fears that some companies will have to employ more ethnic Malays at the expense of minority Chinese and Indians

Companies listed on Malaysia's stock exchange are generally expected to have a significant number of employees from the Malay majority. The rule — part of affirmative action policies to help Malays — has not been strictly enforced, but most large firms mix Malay staff with Chinese and Indians.

Though Malays are in a majority in the population, ethnic Chinese have long dominated the country's commercial sector..

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced Friday that starting next year, publicly listed firms must disclose their employment composition by race as part of efforts to boost corporate social responsibility.

The directive has prompted debate about whether the government might pressure companies to ensure that their racial mix mirrors Malaysia's ethnic makeup more closely.

Puan Chan Cheong, managing director of broadband technology provider Green Packet Bhd., said firms need to hire people who are "the best fit for the job, regardless of race," in order to compete internationally.

"We employ according to merits," Puan told The Associated Press. "Competency is the key consideration, not racial composition."

Gooi Seong Lim, managing director of investment holding company Crescendo Corp. Bhd., said the company sometimes has no choice but to recruit mostly Chinese and Indians for civil engineering works because there are too few Malay candidates.

"I believe the government will be reasonable," he told the AP. "It would be very difficult to conform to a strict racial breakdown."

Malays comprise about 60 percent of Malaysia's 27 million people. Chinese form some 25 percent, Indians nearly 10 percent and the rest belong to other minorities. The ethnic communities have coexisted peacefully since racial riots left at least 200 dead in 1969. They were sparked by Malay frustration over Chinese wealth.

The New Straits Times newspaper quoted Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop as saying the government will not necessarily penalize companies that fail to have employees from all races after the new directive takes effect next year.

"We are not saying we will take action," the Times quoted him as saying. It was not immediately clear how the new directive would be enforced.

Decades-old affirmative action policies — geared toward helping Malays catch up with the Chinese by giving them privileges in areas like education, housing, bank loans and government contracts — are one of Malaysia's most politically sensitive subjects.

This is what MCA Economic Bureau have to say:

MCA unit: Drop race disclosure rule for listed firms
source

PETALING JAYA: The MCA Youth Economic Bureau supports the statement made by Kota Melaka MP Wong Nai Chee that corporate social responsibility in public-listed companies should not be based along racial lines as proposed in the recent Budget 2008. 

In a press statement issued here, the bureau chief Datuk Henry Wong Tat Chee said the business community was unhappy with the proposal that the companies disclose employment composition by race. 

He said programmes undertaken to develop domestic and bumiputra vendors might result in a form of micro-restructuring that could result in loss of income and employment opportunities for non-bumiputras. 

“If such a racially-based quota is imposed, it will affect growth opportunities for fully qualified and merit-based non-bumiputra job applicants or vendors, who will be sidelined in favour of bumiputra recruits and suppliers for (public-listed companies),” he added. 

Nai Chee had said the very idea of corporate social responsibility based along racial lines would run against the spirit and responsibility of contributing towards the betterment of society regardless of ethnicity. 

Tat Chee said the commercial sector had expressed their unhappiness before..  

Two years ago, the Economic Planning Unit hired a foreign consultancy firm to audit all private companies about their racial composition and corporate plans to increase bumiputra composition in the employment and vendor programmes, he added. 

“The private corporations refused to cooperate in this exercise. This itself was a clear indication that the commercial entities were not in favour of such a practice,” said Tat Chee. 

“The private sector relies solely on its own resources to hire personnel who can work most efficiently and productively for the company. 

“This is opposed to the public sector that uses public funds, that should be distributed equally to all races especially for recruitment into the civil service and government procurement and tenders,” he said.

So under the guise of CSR, the companies are now forced to complement and supplement govt's racial discrimination policy. Since govt can't find create more employments in the public sector to satisfy the evergrowing population, it is now imposing rules on the private sector to hire more malays. Sounds a bit like lop-sided socialism where the profit indirectly becomes fund of the states and is seen fit to be used as it likes.

On another hand, when deprived and discriminated citizens turn to private sector for education, medical, cultural, and religious funding among others, they will be turned away since the private sector have to comply with the rules. Looks like the govt won't help and won't let others help as well.

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independence day parade experience

September 13th, 2007
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It’s finally here! my first ever experience taking part in the independence day parade, at Dataran Merdeka. After many days of practising, we woke up around 5.45am on the 31st, still tired from last night’s trip to thefirework competition.

We reached kl sentral at about 6.15am and took the KTM Komuter to KL railway station. From there we walked to the Dataran. It was all fine, until Then said that she left her handphone at home! Hmm…happened a few times already, but this is really bad timing. That put a spanner into our plans. How are we going to meet up after the parade? So we decided that if we can’t find each other, then just return back to KL Sentral and wait at the our car.

Anyhow, I left her at the Dataran for her to find a good location, while I made my way to my contigent. We waited and waited till about 8.15am and the helicopters flew by. That was the sign that the program has started. At about 8.40am, we started our march. I was lucky to be positioned at the side and was given one of the placards as well. We marched through the tunnel and the sight that greeted us near the Dataran was awesome. The noise was tremendous and the whole are was brimming with people. There was an air of excitement and energy all around. This was nothing like the rehearsal we had for the last 3 days. This is the real thing.

Due to the noise, we had problem listening to the music and synchronise our march. So, the contigent had to shout “kiri” “kanan” (“left right”) all the time. As we marched past the VIP podium, I could see Tun Mahathir, Tun Siti Hasmah, PM Badawi, Prince Andrew, and President Gloria Arroyo among others waving or acknowledging us. I also thought I saw Ms Jeanne yawning as well. It was a short walk past the podium, but meaningful indeed!

dsc_0277.jpg dsc_0279.jpg

The heat was quite strong. We continued marching. Cheered by the crowd who lined up along the roads all the way till Jln Sultan Ismail junction. It was blistering hot, and many came with umbrellas and caps. We made our way past Medan Mara, Quality hotel etc., and dispersed at about 9.15am.

I rushed back to the Dataran to search for Then, but obviously it is a futile attempt. There were easily 20,000 people at the dataran. I found a spot near the TV3 crew station and saw the last 20 minutes or so of the parade. Among the interesting ones was parade by the K-9 unit which was well received by the crowd.

K-9 Unit K-9 Unit

Towards the end, jet fighters made their entrance and gave a thunderous performance. The latest Suhkoi jets were also on show.

Fighter Jet Fighter Jet Fighter Jet Fighter Jet

At the end, I witnessed the VIP leaving, starting with the Agong and his consort. And I’m pretty sure that while one of the ministers were leaving, a lady (who looked mentally unstable) ran across the road. None of the papers mentioned this. The secutity was quite lax and the guards were slow to react. Anyway, I couldn’t see what happened to her. By the way, Tun Mahathir received the loudest cheer when he took leave. Others must be envious of the support he has 🙂 Samy Vellu was alone as usual. Talking about Samy Vellu, MIC’s contigent were the only one who carried a banner claiming that they were the “pembela masyarakat India” (defenders of the India community” for the last 6 decades. Looks a bit out of place right?

MIC Banner

Anyway, the ladies looked wonderful in the green sarees.

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Well, the whole thing came to an end at about 10.30am, and I was walking towards the Bank Negara’s Komuter station when Then called from a telephone booth and said that she was at the Masjid Jamek LRT station. We decided to just meet back at Brickfields. I was thanking my lucky stars that nothing went wrong.

That’s when my nightmare started. I entered the Komuter station and waited for the train to KL Sentral. After 10 minutes the announcement came that there were some problems and delays are expected for trains towards Seremban. The crowd started to grow. After 20 minutes, the delays were extended to all trains. No idea when it will be resolved. Damn! KTM sure knows how to spoil a great event! The people there were cursing and many started to leave the station. There were about 150 people at that time. So, after waiting nearly 45 minutes, I decided to walk to Masjid Jamek LRT station, which took another 15 minutes. Finally reached KL Sentral at 12.30pm. A trip that was to end by 11am, took extra 90 minutes due to the stupid KTM service!

Met up with a tired and angry Then :), and left for a good lunch before hitting the sack. It was indeed a tiring a day, but a meaningful one as I took part in the 50th Independence Day parade. Oh ya..did I mention that Then’s handphone was in her backpack all the while? That was like rubbing salt on the wound!

For her version of the events on that day, visit her blog la…

By the way, photos were taken by Then. She managed to get a location at the front of the crowd, facing the parade near the VIP area. Bigger images at Picasa.

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Tan Sri Devaki Krishnan

September 13th, 2007
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Malaysian Potpourri: Kuala Lumpur and Tan sri Devaki Krishnan Grande dame of Malaysian Indian politics

source

Tan Sri Devaki Krishnan came into elected office at a time when women did not mix freely with men as ‘women were not emancipated then’

TAN SRI DEVAKI KRISHNAN is a living encyclopaedia on Kuala Lumpur.

If anyone should know about significant happenings in the city’s modern history, it would be the evergreen former politician who grew up with the place.

A former Kuala Lumpur municipal councillor and Wanita MIC deputy president, she remembers the ravages of the World War Two on her adopted home and how the city grew out of the rubble into what it is today.

The eldest of six children of a former acting controller of Post and Telecoms Malaya, she remembers the time when Kuala Lumpur was the relatively quiet capital of the federation of Malaya.

"Fifty years ago, driving was easy as traffic jams that now plague the city were non-existent. I was one of the first women to learn to drive, getting my licence in 1952," said 84-year-old Devaki who was born in Port Dickson.

"Petaling Jaya was not there then. It was just a rubber estate. There were no highways and Jalan Syed Putra had not been built. It took seven minutes to drive from Brickfields to Batu Caves," reminisced the first Indian woman to get a Tan Sri title.

At that time, all government quarters for staff at the Public Works Department, Central Electricity Board and Telecoms were in Bangsar and Brickfields, said Devaki who has been a Brickfields denizen for more than 50 years.

Devaki, who studied at the St Mary’s Girls School, Kuala Lumpur, also has fond memories of the Selangor Indian Association building which used to stand at the site of the Istana Negara.

"I used to play badminton and learn Hindi there.. All the top Indian professionals used to meet there every month. The palace was a bungalow owned by a Chinese businessman which was later bought and converted into the King’s residence," she said.

The grande dame of Malaysian Indian politics is fascinated by Kuala Lumpur’s phenomenal growth.

"It has grown tremendously as far as physical development is concerned but not where social development is concerned.."

She is particularly concerned about the lack of unity among the races which she feels is telling in how people of various races tended to group together

"After 50 years, we still lack unity," she said, adding that this was a glaring fact that needed to be addressed.

"In the old days, there was no difference between races. Now there are religious and racial differences.

"We are not moving backward, but we are not moving forward enough in terms of developing as a society," she said.

She lamented that indifference among the people transcended race with some not even knowing their neighbours.

Devaki is an example of how race was not a factor in the 1950s when one was measured by one’s ability and not racial background.

She became involved in politics after being approached by the late Datuk Onn Jaafar to become a member of the Independent of Malaya Party (IMP).

Her rise in politics was not surprising really as her mother had set the tone for her by being a college-trained Tamil school teacher at a time when few women went to work.

Devaki has the distinction of being the first woman to contest in the country’s first election — the Kuala Lumpur Municipal elections. She won and was elected to the Municipal Council, thus becoming the first Indian woman nationwide to be elected into such an office.

In 1955, she stood for a second term for the municipal ward of Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, and won. After her victory, she was paraded in an open-top car, accompanied by over 50 cars along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman.

Devaki remembers that she came into elected office at a time when women did not mix freely with men as "women were not emancipated then".

She then joined the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) and contested for the Sentul constituency in the 1959 state election under the Alliance ticket but lost.

In 1975, Devaki was appointed Wanita MIC secretary and Wanita deputy president in 1984 (a position she held for 10 years). She also served as vice-president of the Selangor MIC and chairman of the Selangor Wanita MIC.

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70,000 Indians no birth certificates

September 12th, 2007
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that's 70,000 future votes for MIC…if they think of it that way.
 
70,000 Indians no birth certificates

More than 70,000 Indians face difficulties because they do not have birth certificates, identity cards or citizenship status, Malaysia Nanban reported Cameron Highlands MP S.K. Devamany as saying. 

This situation arose because some parents had failed to apply for birth certificates, he said.

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