The Judicial Milestone

On 31 December 2009, Justice Lau Bee Lan adjudged that the Christian newsletter 'The Herald' could use the word 'Allah' to denote the Christian God.


That triggered off a huge clamour from many parties; some for action against the use of the holy word whilst others insist on its usage as they are protected by the Federal Constitution to practice their religion unfettered. Most of it is sound and fury. It may go out of control if the political masters are not rational or benevolent.

But what exactly is new in 'powder-keg' Malaysia? Malaysia is as yet an unknown quantity after 52 years of fragile independence. A spirit of tolerance knits the Malaysian society ever loosely. The threads may give way, any time.

We are in such times today. Every step PM Najib takes in this matter is very important for he is indeed walking on a 'bed of eggs'.

What makes this time different from those in the past is the melding of politics into religion in a more positive manner in 2010. The very fact that PAS is willing to agree on the usage of 'Allah' by the Roman Catholics is a battle won. As PAS takes a risk, will UMNO also go on a limb too?

Is UMNO willing to go onto a middle path to appease both the fundamentalists and the liberals in the party? The hawks are screaming from the sky while the liberal moderates are fighting it out on the internet. In the end it will be Premier Najib who will have to take a calculated risk to ensure his 1Malaysia stand steadfast in the current tempest.

What is also interesting is that Bernard Dompok, a Cabinet minister from Sabah, Pakatan Rakyat,MCA and Koh Tsu Koon representing the Gerakan has also came out of the shadows for the first time to support the Herald's use of the word, "Allah" while the Barisan Nasional's elder brother,UMNO,in business as usual fashion, has seen it fit to appeal to the courts. And that is to be expected.

A court decision is no decision. Even ex-PM Mahathir said this. The man in the street all know that. We need a political solution, one that is palatable to all.

Will PM Najib walk the thin red line and behave statesman-like or will he choose to take the path of least resistance for his own political survival?

The rest of the days of 2010 should tell.

A New Ambition for the New Decade

With the kinds of happenings these days, it is easy and foreseeable to see a career in crime.

This cartoon explains it all.

To Tame a Tiger

Hell hath known no fury like a woman scorned.

The rage of Elin is equivalent to USD300 million! That is the price that Tiger Woods will pay to Elin for the imminent divorce settlement. That is equivalent to a cool billion ringgits Malaysia !

News Of The World reported that the former Swedish model also barred Woods from seeing their two kids on Christmas, and forced him to post the children’s presents instead.


Meanwhile, Woods’ commercial and charity interests have taken a hit as he has reportedly distanced himself from his closest aides, refused to discuss business dealings, and even planned to extend his break from golf until 2012.

Elin, who is reportedly on holiday in France, has now cut all ties with him, after sensational revelations linking him to 18 mistresses.[Walla!]

The Florida-based sports legend, 34, has not seen his children — daughter Sam, two, and 10-month-old son Charlie — for almost a month owing to Elin’s concerns about his mental state.She told her friends: “He’s not stable enough at the moment".


Apaprently.she is pressing ahead with the divorce plans, and intends to start a new life near their old family home in Orlando within the next six months.

The scandal involving Woods’ mistress, New York party organiser Rachel Uchitel, has also been fired up again, as she boasted to friends that the golfer wants to set her up with her own nightclub.

This week she has flown to be with friends and family in Palm Beach, Florida, just a few miles away from where Tiger has moored his yacht.

After bragging that the star planned to finance her new project Rachel, 34, told her pals: “I’m his soul-mate and we have a special connection. We will get back together — he promised.”

But Woods’ official business associates are concerned about his continued absence from work. Many top aides in his management, property, and golf design concerns have not heard from their leader in weeks.

One source said Woods is likely to release a statement in the next few days. His managers want him to show public remorse and seek help for his issues.

Oh, what a way to go! So, its humble pie for the tiger-man for now.

Singapore: A More Painful Punch, A More Shaky Recovery

This report from Reuters is very disturbing (4 January 2010).

According to the report,Singapore’s economy shrank a bigger-than-expected 6.8 per cent on a seasonally adjusted and annualised basis in the fourth quarter, raising expectations the central bank may not start tightening policy until later in the year.

Economists have been expecting the central bank to shift towards tighter policy at its next meeting in April by allowing a gradual appreciation of the Singapore dollar, but a shaky recovery from recession could mean policy will be on hold.

“The numbers are still patchy, which is a reminder to policymakers that it is not going to be plain sailing... Monetary policy may still have to be maintained until we see signs of a stronger pickup,” said an economist at CIMB in Singapore.

Analysts in a Reuters poll had predicted gross domestic product to fall 0.8 per cent in the December quarter after rising 14.9 per cent in the previous quarter.

The Singapore dollar, the central bank’s main policy tool, traded at 1.4042/56 per US dollar by 8.49am, slightly weaker compared to levels of 1.4020/50 just before the economic data was released.

GDP in the October-December period grew 3.5 per cent from a year earlier, the second quarterly growth after three quarters of annual contraction. Growth was smaller than expected as manufacturing weakened, the advance data showed.

On a seasonally adjusted and annualised basis, manufacturing shrank 38.4 per cent from the previous quarter, while construction grew 4.3 per cent and service industries expanded 7.2 per cent.

“What is very encouraging in the fourth quarter data is the sharp turnaround in services. This basically bodes well for our outlook for Singapore this year,” said the Treasury Research Division at OCBC in Singapore.

GDP fell 2.1 per cent in 2009, largely in line with economists’ forecasts. The government expects growth for this year of 3 to 5 per cent.

Being resilient and more hands-on, I believe Singapore can weather the tempest better than most economies. Let us see how they will spin magic on this one.

No Plastic Bag Days in Supermarkets

Be prepared for some inconvenience if you forget 'No plastic bag days'.

Selangor’s first ‘No Plastic Bag Day’ on Jan 2 went by so quietly that many consumers were frustrated at being caught unawares.

The Selangor government had on Dec 20 declared its plans to make every Saturday a plastic bag-free day effective Jan 1.

There is definitely a lot of inconvenience in store for you, especially so if you are buying fish and other seafood as well as meat.Make sure that you bring a reusable bag as well as some old plastic bags to hold in the defrosting items or else they may leak on to your reusable bag and caused untold problems on how to get rid of odours and stains.

As you do not carry more than one reusable bag, you cannot carry all the items you have bought. So, get used to carting loose items to your car, if you decide to go shopping on Saturday with only one reusable bag.For those using public transportation,buy fewer items. Some supermarkets are thinking of giving out carton boxes but I think that is not really a great option.You do not want to go up a public transport like a porter, do you?

Most Carrefour stores in the Klang Valley have implemented 'plastic bag-free'days since 2009 and their target is to have no plastic bags in Carrefour Malaysia by 2012.

Customers who insist on plastic bags will have to pay 10 sen per bag.

On the other hand, Giant will only be implementing its “no plastic bag” days from Jan 9.

Plastic bags will still be available at 20 sen on 'No plastic bag days' and reusable bags retail at RM1.99.

Cold Storage will also observe the ‘no plastic bag day’ on Saturdays. Currently, the stores do not give out plastic bags on Thursdays.

Convenience store chain 7-11 will also be starting its ‘no plastic bag’ on 9th January 2010.

So,remember "No Plastic Bag Days' is on Saturdays in Selangor or suffer in silence!

Can We Really Harvest these FTA Effects?

2010 is a milestone year.

At least two FTA have started its implementation. These are the ASEAN-China FTA and the ASEAN-India FTA.

Malaysia has been a major beneficiary of trade liberalisation through the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Asean Free Trade Area (Afta) and bilateral arrangements.

In 2008, Malaysia’s total trade was 160.4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

While 2009 was expected to record lower exports, there had been however some improvement in export performance in the last few months.

The other regional FTAs in force are Asean-Korea, Asean-Japan, and Asean-Australia New Zealand.

Malaysia has also concluded bilateral FTAs with Japan, Pakistan and New Zealand. He said many Malaysian exporters are already seeing the benefits of the FTAs with Japan and Pakistan.

The agreement with New Zealand will come into force this year while negotiations are actively underway to conclude bilateral agreements with India, Chile and Australia.

These FTAs not only open up new market opportunities for Malaysian products, but also allow the products to be priced competitively due to preferential duty treatment offered by the trading partners.

Together, the concluded FTAs cover more than 60 per cent of Malaysia’s global trade and provide an eventual duty free market of more than 3.2 billion people.

China and the six earlier members of Asean will accord each other duty free treatment on 90 per cent of the products.

The number of certificates of origin (COO) issued by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Miti) to exporters under the preferential schemes of the FTAs have increased by 13.0 per cent to 222,476 in 2008 from 196,856 in 2007.

“During the first half of 2009, while total exports to FTA partners’ markets have decreased compared with the corresponding period in 2008, there has been an increase in the share of exports utilising the preferential schemes under the FTAs.

From January to June 2009, exports using preferential rates under Afta amounted to RM10.61 billion compared with RM8.21 billion in the corresponding period of 2008.

But let us not pin our hopes too high. Let us see if these agreements really bring in wealth and prosperity to Malaysians.

Bursar-Expect Some Sunshine This Year

Investment Banks are back on number crunching and scenario building. They expect a better year for stocks.

I am posting this news article as a benchmark to view the actual performance of the Bursar until the last trading day of the last week of 2010.

Let us read what they have to say.

"Share prices on Bursa Malaysia are likely to start the new year on a positive tone next week as investors return to swarm the market amid improving signs of economic recovery globally, dealers said.

The market, which closed for three consecutive Fridays starting Dec 17 last year for public holidays, had restrained some of these investors from taking heavy positions over long weekends. The local bourse was also closed for the New Year celebration yesterday.

This week, the local stock market is expected to be buoyant again with prospects for the new year remaining positive should the pace of economic recovery is maintained, said a dealer.

According to MIDF Amanah Investment Bank Bhd, strong earnings growth with more than 20 per cent is expected to be registered in the media, construction, utilities and shipping companies.

However, the strong earnings growth may not necessarily translate into positive investment recommendation as the latter is a matter of valuation, it said.

The main downside risk for earnings would be the rollback of public sector support where a smaller public spending especially on infrastructure projects would undermine earnings of companies drawing on government-related projects.

“More importantly, corporate Malaysia has to be wary about the pullback of monetary stimulus, as we expect an end to the easy money policy this year. Interest rates will start climbing again and that means a different kind of monetary dynamics that companies will have to handle,” the investment bank said in its research note.

MIDF is projecting the FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index to move to the 1,450 level this year.

Throughout the week just ended, trading was moderate with the FBM KLCI moving within 1,264.83 and 1,275.22 points.

On a Thursday-to-Thursday basis, the FBM KLCI rose 12.25 points to 1,272.78 from 1,260.53 the previous week.

The Finance Index jumped 172.90 points to 11,053.40, the Plantation Index increased 82.82 points to 6,362.91 while the Industrial Index eased 2.26 points to 2,654.51.

The FBM Emas Index surged 114.13 points to 8,507.61, the FBM Top 100 Index increased 95.34 points to 8,308.89, the FBM70 Index rose 155.84 points to 8,269.22 and the FBM Ace Index was 81.06 points higher at 4,299.58.

A total of 2.223 billion shares worth RM2.978 billion changed hands during the week compared with 1.714 billion shares worth RM2.713 billion traded previously.

Volume on the main market rose to 1.905 billion units valued at RM2.899 billion from last Thursday’s closing of 1.471 billion shares valued at RM2.656 billion.

Turnover for call warrants surged to 104.154 million units worth RM18.766 million from 46.024 million units worth RM6.693 million previously.

The ACE Market volume improved to 146.994 million shares valued at RM39.569 million from last Thursday’s 140.415 million shares valued at RM35.003 million. — Bernama"