Endgame: Curtains for Oprah

It's official.

Oprah Winfrey will end her top-rated daytime talk show that has featured newsmakers from President Barack Obama to movie star Tom Cruise, in September 2011.

“I can confirm that she’s planning to make an announcement that she will end ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ at the completion of the 25th season, in September 2011,” said the representative for Harpo Inc.

The announcement is expected on today’s programme where Winfrey is expected to detail the reasons behind her decision.


Industry watchers believe Winfrey will move to cable network OWN, a Los Angeles-based joint venture she has with Discovery Communications Inc, where she will air another talk programme similar to the current show.

OWN had been expected to launch as early as 2009, but that date has been delayed. When the network is up and running, it will be available in more than 70 million homes.

“The Oprah Winfrey Show,” broadcast from Chicago on ABC stations across the United States and in some 145 countries worldwide, is one of the TV industry’s biggest money-makers and the top-rated US daytime talk show, averaging 7.1 million viewers this year.

Winfrey, 55, is regarded as one of the most influential opinion-makers in the United States, and just this year was No. 45 on Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s most powerful people.

The programme has made her among the world’s wealthiest individuals, with a net worth estimated at US$2.3 billion (RM7.81 billion), according to financial magazine Forbes, and she regularly ranks at the top of the list of the most powerful women in media.

Ending her current show will hit CBS Corp’s CBS Television Distribution arm, which syndicates the show, and Walt Disney Co’s ABC’s owned and operated TV stations that broadcast the show.

Malaysia: Worse is over in April 2009?

I like the show of sheer bravado. I certainly love the optimism. Let us read what Mustafa Mansur,FMM's president has to say.

"There are signs of recovery in the country’s exports with regional trade picking up the slack from traditional export markets," he says.

"Nevertheless, the overall picture for exports is still unstable," he added.

“It’s slowly picking up, we’ve seen some improvement in the third quarter compared to the second quarter this year,” Mustafa told a media briefing at the launch of the National Shippers’ Conference 2009.

“I think we’ve reached rock-bottom and for Malaysia, the worst month for exports was April,” he further added.

He noted that regional trade with the Asean nations, China and India had been instrumental in mitigating the impact of the economic slowdown, adding that “the pharmaceuticals, food and furniture industries have seen improvement in overseas demand.

However he cautioned that the overall picture for exports was still not stable with those in the electrical and electronics industry seeing a rise in demand due to seasonal adjustments for year-end holidays.

He reckoned that based on the more positive economic data currently available, the global economic recession would not continue into next year.

Some economists have warned that the recession would extend to next year if the effects of pump-priming measures wear off or if governments started to withdraw stimulus initiatives.

The Statistics Department’s updated report for the September external trade showed exports declined 1.1% to RM47.2bil month-on-month while year-on-year, they fell 24.2%.

Morgan Stanley Research analysts in a Nov 13 report stated that “exports will show second-order derivative improvement but nonetheless declining by double-digit as Malaysian exports have lagged the region.

Recovery in Asia’s exports-reliant economies such as Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore is largely premised on a better outlook for external trade, which has fallen drastically in 2009.

Singapore’s trade ministry said in a statement yesterday that the recovery of the island-republic’s economy in 2010 was closely linked to global conditions and a slower recovery in demand for exports would moderate growth prospects.

Arent'we all hopeful? I hope the optimism is not misplaced.

Malaysia: Cross- Border Con

What has become of Malaysia? Is this the kind of things that are allowed to happen here? Is there lax enforcement at the border or by the local police and immigration authorities?

These are rhetorical questions. No answers required.

Such news item are are a bane for Malaysia.Let us read one of the happenings.

November 19,2009:
City police today rescued 14 Thai women and a 15-year-old Thai girl who were forced to work as “hostesses” after being lured into the country on the promise of lucrative jobs.

A team of 11 police officers found the victims, aged between 20 and 30, in four different locations around Cheras — four at the Awana Puri Condos, three at the Taman Yulik Apartments and eight in two town-houses in Taman Midah, here.

DSP Razali Abu Samah, an officer with the Secret Societies, Vice and Gambling Unit at the Kuala Lumpur Police Headquarters, said the women came to the country legally but had overstayed as most of their visas and passports had expired, and that they were kept like prisoners at the locations.

“We believe these women were tricked into coming to the country by their ‘agents’ on the promise of getting decent jobs, but instead, they were forced into selling their bodies,” Razali told reporters at the raid scene in Taman Midah.

A 37-year-old local man, believed to be pimp, was also arrested outside the Awana Puri Condos.

“It took us three days to observe their movements. And finally today, we could only arrest one of two suspects. We managed to grab him while he was taking the girls to see the clients,” he said.

During the four-hour operation, which started at 1.30pm, police seized a car with several packets of condoms and lingerie inside. Investigation revealed that the girls were locked up in the houses and were fed once every three days.

Apart from that, there was electricity but no water supply in the houses and the women were only permitted to come out during night when they were taken to see the clients, he added.

Such inhumanity. Have we descended to the level of animals?

Get Them and Hang 'em High

The order is out.

It's disciplinary action,police action or investigation by the MACC if you are found wanting in your duties that cause misappropriation and wastage of public funds in the 2008 Auditor-General's Report. The same goes for power abuse.

The job of taking immediate action on officers in ministries, departments, agencies or government-linked companies is given to the secretaries-general of ministries, department heads and chief executives of government agencies.

In issuing the order, Chief Secretary to the Government Sidek Hassan said the Special Task Force headed by him to study the report had agreed that the Audit-General Ambrin Buang write in to the ministry secretaries-general, department heads and chief executives of government agencies concerned asking them to take prompt action. The actions are:

* Conduct further investigations into power abuse cases, misappropriation and wastage of public funds that have been identified and take appropriate action against those involved either disciplinary action under Public Officers (Conduct and Discipline) Regulations 1993 or recommend surcharge under the Financial Procedure Act 1957. If it was proven the offence committed was a criminal case, a report has to be lodged either with the police or with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

* Inform findings of investigations and action taken to the Auditor-General within one working week. The Auditor-General will then table the report received at the Special Task Force meeting; and

* Disciplinary action can be taken against secretaries-general, department heads and chief executives for failing to take action within the stipulated period.

Sidek said in a statement today that the line of action has been agreed upon by the Special Task Force at its second meeting on Nov 12. The meeting also agreed that the Attorney-General’s Department would prepare the procedural guidelines to serve as a guide to ministry secretaries-general, department heads and chief executives of government agencies.

The procedures are necessary to ensure actions taken on the people implicated are not challenged in court, he said. On cases involving ministry secretaries-general or department heads, he said the letter (from the Auditor-General) will be sent directly to the Public Service Department director-general.

Sidek said cases involving contractors or consultants will be reported to the professional body concerned and a copy of the report will be sent to the Finance Ministry and the Contractor Services Centre in the Works Ministry to be blacklisted.

“The government agencies involved has been asked to step up enforcement to ensure the blacklisted companies are not awarded government contracts,” he added.

For the public who has heard all of this before,is it for real this time?

Singapore: Inflation Watch

Singapore’s central bank lifted its 2010 inflation forecast to between 2.5 and 3.5 per cent today and said it was carefully watching property and asset prices, though it saw no significant change in underlying price pressures.(Reuters;18 November 2009)

The Monetary Authority of Singapore also said the behaviour of the Singapore dollar’s exchange rate band, which it uses to set monetary policy, was consistent with its policy for zero appreciation in the currency.

The central bank, which decided against encouraging currency appreciation in October, is expected by economists to potentially tighten policy when it next meets in April, after the trade-dependent city-state emerged from its worst ever recession.

“The Monetary Authority of Singapore might be watching inflation more carefully but I think they will still be keeping the exchange rate band steady till April,” said David Cohen of consultancy Action Economics.

“The global economic situation is still uncertain. An awful lot can happen between now and April.”

Singapore said today that the upward revision in its forecast for the consumer price index in 2010 was due to a pending increase in property tax rather than any broader increase in underlying inflation.

The previous forecast was for CPI to rise 1 to 2 per cent next year.

“There has not been any significant change in our assessment of underlying cost and price pressures in the economy from the time of the monetary policy statement release in October,” Monetary Authority of Singapore Deputy Managing Director Ong Chong Tee said at a briefing.

The higher inflation view came after Singapore’s economy grew 14.2 per cent in the third quarter on a seasonally adjusted annualised basis, revised slightly down from an earlier estimate of 14.9 per cent growth but in line with forecasts.

Singapore gave its first forecast for 2010 growth at between 3 and 5 per cent, but cautioned that a recovery in advanced economies remained fragile with a boost from stimulus measures and inventory cycle adjustments likely to taper off in the second half of 2010.

The Singapore dollar was little changed at 1.3847/62 versus the US dollar by 0810 Malaysian time, versus 1.3842 before the GDP data. The stock market edged up 0.6 per cent.

Economists were more bullish than the government.

“The risk is on the upside for both inflation and growth. Crude oil prices have risen from US$35 (RM118) to US$80 (RM270) a barrel, there’s higher commodity prices, and China, India and many non-OECD countries are recovering quicker-than-expected which will push up prices,” said Selena Ling, head of treasury research at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.

“People tend to look in the rear-view mirror and see Lehman, deflation, etc, but if you look forward, the risks are more on the upside in many Asian countries.”

Japan’s economy expanded at its fastest pace in more than two years in the third quarter as government stimulus helped domestic demand produce its first contribution to growth in six quarters.

China, South Korea and Indonesia also have reported a pick up in annual economic growth in the September quarter compared with the previous quarter.

An economic rebound in Asia’s major Western export markets, however, has been far more tepid amid weak consumer sentiment.

Medical Tourism: Potential Coffer?

So, it looks like the Malaysian government is finally getting more serious about medical tourism after playing with it like a kitten with a ball of wool.

And so a Minister is now jumping on the bandwagon to try to identify and reduce the so called "irritants" impeding its growth. He said concrete measures will also be taken to stem the brain drain of highly skilled doctors. Haven't we heard of this tune before?

According to the Singapore Business Times,the establishment of the brand new Malaysia Health Travel Council — helmed by Ooi Say Chuan, the former deputy secretary-general of the International Trade Ministry — seeks to advance the sector which earned an estimated RM400 million last year, by acting as a one-stop centre and serving as a platform for the private sector and government to iron out problems.

“With medical tourism, we cannot go wrong as we have very good doctors,” Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said at a seminar on healthcare tourism here yesterday.

“Unfortunately some of our doctors are attracted to neighbouring countries to work, but we will get them back. We must look at what the irritants are and remove them,” he added, noting these could include mutual recognition of overseas accreditation and certification.

His comments on addressing the issues driving away skilled professionals echoes recent comments by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak that more needs to be done to reverse the serious brain drain if Malaysia hopes to have the talent to innovate so that the country can transform into a high-income economy.

To promote medical tourism, the income tax exemption on the value of increased exports was raised to 100 per cent from 50 per cent in the last budget, Nor Mohamed said, adding more incentives would be revealed later.

Despite having the ingredients to be a big player in the booming sector, estimated to be worth US$40 billion (RM140 billion) globally, Malaysia has been slow to leverage on the advantages, a number of participants lamented, pointing to the lack of focus over the past decade even though the potential had already been identified after the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s.

The various initiatives submitted had gotten nowhere in the tangle of government agencies and, as a result, “we have muddled our way through”, one participant observed.

Another noted the renewed focus on healthcare and medical tourism notwithstanding, Malaysia needs to find its niche to stand out in the region against more established markets such as India, Singapore and Thailand.

Over the past decade, the brain drain has also intensified and in the medical line, Malaysia now faces a dire shortage of doctors — especially specialists — in public hospitals. At the same time, doctors in private practice are drawn to better-equipped hospitals and fatter salaries and prospects overseas, many of them moving over to Singapore.

However, some entrepreneurial doctors have also been quick to exploit the demand for private healthcare and medical tourism, and according to Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia (APHM) president Jacob Thomas, a number have returned, in part due to improving facilities.

The APHM, however, does not have statistics on the numbers of Malaysian doctors practising overseas or those that have returned.

Ooi told participants they ought to capitalise on the new “phenomena” of patients from developed nations travelling to less-developed ones for medical procedures.

A medical procedure in Malaysia would cost about one-tenth of that in the United States, he said, and provided the example of a heart by-pass, which costs US$9,000 locally versus US$11,000 in Thailand and US$18,500 in Singapore.

Given the sector was worth only RM59 million in 2003 and about RM400 million now — indicative figures only because not all hospitals give details — the potential is vast, with Penang and Malacca the leading states in the country.

Malaysia:Neither Here nor There

Malaysia risks missing its goal of becoming a high-income nation as it has lost its edge as a low-cost producer and lacks the investment to compete in more advanced industries, .

In its first country report on Malaysia, the Washington-based body also said that as a trade-dependent country, Malaysia should not unwind its RM67 billion in economic stimulus as that could choke off a nascent recovery.

“The economy seems to be caught in a middle-income trap - unable to remain competitive as a high-volume, low-cost producer, yet unable to move up the value chain and achieve rapid growth by breaking into fast growing markets for knowledge and innovation-based products and services,” it said.

Private investment in Malaysia, which famously spurned advice and cash from the International Monetary Fund in 1998, is below that of virtually every other Asian country and has fallen dramatically since the Asian financial crisis.

According to World Bank data, private investment in Malaysia fell to 12 per cent of gross domestic product in 2008 compared with 30 per cent prior to the Asian crisis.

The government that has ruled this country for 52 years has announced a series of economic reforms aimed at winning back foreign investment that increasingly finds a home in neighbouring Thailand and Indonesia.

However, portfolio and direct investment flows have been negative since the second quarter of 2008 and there have been few signs that investment has picked up in response to the government measures.

The World Bank noted that while Malaysia has a high proportion of high tech exports it served as a low-skilled assembler of imported parts “rather than a creator of technological and product innovations”.

One major limitation on moving up the economic value chain is Malaysia’s education system, which churns out tens of thousands of graduates who are ill-equipped for the kind of high-value work such as biotechnology that the government has identified as growth areas.

Education in Malaysia has become mired in a deep political row as the government recently switched to Malay language instruction for math and science from English, a move critics said was designed to appease its ethnic Malay voter base.

While private investment has plummeted, the government’s spending has risen sharply. Malaysia expects to rack up its biggest budget deficit in 20 years at 7.4 per cent of gross domestic product this year.

The government expects the economy to shrink 3 per cent this year and to grow by 3 per cent next year, although the World Bank was more optimistic.

“With East Asia leading the recovery and advanced economies showing progressive improvement, the Malaysian economy is projected to grow at 4.1 per cent in 2010, following a contraction of 2.3 per cent in 2009,” it said.

The bank was, however, less optimistic on the government’s plans to slash the budget deficit in 2010 to 5.6 per cent of GDP, forecasting that it would be 6.4 per cent of GDP.