Poor attitude caused jobless, low income, poor career!

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The problem with fresh grads

By P. ARUNA aruna@thestar.com.my

 PETALING JAYA: Poor attitude -including asking for too much money - is the chief reason why employers shy away from hiring fresh graduates. Another common complaint is that many graduates are poor in English.

A survey by online recruitment agency Jobstreet.com showed that 55% of employers cited unrealistic expectations of salaries while 48% of them said poor English was the main reason why Malaysian fresh graduates from both public and private institutions remain unemployed.

“While previous surveys named poor English as the main cause for unemployment, bad attitude has now topped the list,” said its chief operating officer Suresh Thiru.

He said their attitudes were so bad that some did not even bother to inform the companies if they were running late or unable to attend scheduled interviews.

It was announced that the number of jobless graduates had increased from 65,500 to 71,600 although the overall unemployment rate had dropped from 3.4% last year to 3.1% during the first quarter of this year.

Another study by recruitment agency Kelly Services showed that fresh graduates asked for flexible working hours and expected their work to accommodate their personal life, not vice versa.

Its marketing director Jeannie Khoo said employers were also turned off by the lackadaisical attitude and lack of drive to improve among many of them.

“They have the misconception that they can earn high salaries at entry-level. They enter the banking industry expecting to earn RM3,000 while the market rate is only RM2,200,” she said.

PricewaterhouseCoopers Malaysia head of recruitment Salika Suksuwan said some candidates had many offers in hand but acted unprofessionally in rejecting job offers - by not turning up for interviews or the first day at work.

“We sometimes have to call them and remind them about a scheduled interview when they didn't turn up,” she said.

Talent Corp CEO Johan Mahmood Merican urged fresh graduates not to make demands on their salary.
“It is more important to join a company that can develop your skills and prepare you for future opportunities,” he said.

In a related development, Human Resource Deputy Minister Datuk Maznah Mazlan said half of the applicants who registered with the JobsMalaysia portal (www.jobsmalaysia.gov.my) had found employment.

Speaking when launching the Graduan Aspire 2011 employment fair yesterday, she said about 300,000 job applicants were currently registered with the website.

Star readers come to fresh grads’ defence

By P. ARUNA aruna@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: Readers of The Star have come to the defence of unemployed graduates who are accused of demanding high salaries, saying it was almost impossible to survive in the city with the entry-level pay offered by many companies.

Karthikumaran Nadarajan, 26, who was unemployed for six months, said he had never demanded a high salary and had attended every interview.

The electrical and electronics graduate felt that job offers had not come his way due to stiff competition, especially for jobs advertised on major online recruitment agencies.

It was reported yesterday that poor attitude including asking for too much money was among reasons why employers shied away from hiring fresh graduates.

A survey by online recruitment agency Jobstreet.com showed that 55% of employers cited unrealistic expectations of salaries while 48% of them said poor English was the main reason.

Photography graduate Noorezerey Abdul Ghafar, 23, has been unemployed for the past two years and has not received any offer despite actively applying for jobs online.

“I have never been demanding about salary,” he said.

On The Star's Facebook page, some readers agreed that many fresh graduates had bad attitude while many defended fresh graduates.

“I absolutely agree. Poor attitude, arrogance, and they think they deserve a high pay with their bad English,” said reader Patrick Yau while human resources practitioner Vincent Cheong said he had seen some fresh graduates who even had difficulty filling up an application form.

“Worst of all, they demand high salary and benefits to support their social life expenses,” he said.
Another user Yew Lee Yin said some showed up for interviews wearing unsuitable attire and others never bothered to show up.

However, David Hamtaro said anyone living in Kuala Lumpur needed to earn a minimum of RM3,000 to be able to survive while Ong Joo Parn argued that employers needed to realise that the cost of living had gone up.

Bank Negara training aims to make youths marketable

KUALA LUMPUR: Despite holding an industrial bio-technology degree, Thiyagarajan Subramaniam had difficulty finding a job as he was unable to speak English fluently and lacked self-confidence.

However, now he is an administrator at IBM and is able to speak the language more confidently after joining the Bank Negara's Graduates Programme (GP), a corporate social responsibility initiative.

He said the programme, which is aimed at enhancing employability of graduates under the age of 25 from low income families, helped him discover that he could quickly come up with ideas and to be more disciplined.

Prior to joining the programme, the 26-year-old attended more than 10 interviews with multinational companies but none got back to him after that.

“I took up some part-time jobs for income as it was difficult to get a job in bio-technology,” Klang-born Thiyagarajan said.

Fellow coursemate Edmond Leo Lopus, 26, repeatedly sent his resume to various companies but only one offered an interview after he had completed his degree in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering in October 2009.

But his fortunes changed once he was accepted in the Bank Negara's Graduates Programme. Even before completing 23 months of on-the-job training at Swedish Motor (Volvo) through the programme, he was absorbed as a process quality engineer at the company.

“This is my dream job as I've always loved cars and aeroplanes,” he said.

Johor-born Siti Syarah Sanip (pic) said she was afraid of ending up like her friends, who did better than her in university but worked as cashiers and salesmen after not being able to secure a corporate job.

After joining the programme, she now works as a junior executive at Proton Holdings Berhad's finance and planning department and is grateful to Bank Negara for choosing her to join the programme.

Bank Negara assistant governor Marzunisham Omar said 98% out of the 500 of the programme's first batch have been employed while 14 participants from the 200 graduates in the second batch secured permanent employment after one month of attachment.

He said training for the second batch started on March 28 and would end next year. He added that plans for a third batch were in the pipeline.

A recent Jobstreet.com survey cited poor attitude and poor English as among the reasons many fresh graduates were having difficulty in securing jobs.

Jobstreet.com chief operating officer Suresh Thiru said previous surveys named the poor command of English as the main cause for unemployment, but bad attitude had now topped the list.

US debt impasse a global issue

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GLOBAL TRENDS By MARTIN KHOR

The political deadlock in Washington on whether and how to increase the United States’ debt limit is causing anxiety over a possible default and the consequent global economic downturn.

 

A Chinese 100 yuan banknote is placed under a $100 banknote. (Petar Kujundzic/Courtesy Reuters

THE deepening of the Eurozone debt crisis last week through contagion, spreading to Italy, was more than matched by the growing chance that the US government would not be able to pay its bills or service its debts starting Aug 2.

Week-long negotiations took place between US President Barack Obama, and the Democrat and Republican party leaders to avert a partial closing down of the federal government.

The US currently has a limit to its federal debt of US$14.29tril. This limit will be reached by Aug 2.

Congress has to approve raising this limit before then, or else the Administration will have to postpone meeting some of its financial commitments.

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke warned that default would send shockwaves throughout the global economy.

The alarm bells rang even louder when two rating agencies, Moody’s and Standard and Poor, warned they might downgrade US debt from its AAA status if the political impasse continues.

There are several reasons why the world, and especially the developing countries, should be alarmed at this situation.

First, many developing countries hold many billions of dollars of US Treasury bills as part of their foreign reserves.

An actual default raises the unthinkable prospect of the countries having to take a haircut, being only paid back a part of their bonds. This is unlikely to happen.

But even the prospect of default and a credit status downgrade would reduce the value of their bonds. Moreover the recent decline of the dollar’s value will likely accelerate, causing further losses.

Last week, China (which holds US$1.15tril in Treasury bonds) called on the United States to adopt responsible policies and measures to protect investors of US bonds.

Second, economic growth in the developing economies will be hit if the standoff or the eventual solution causes the US economy to move to a standstill or a new recession.

Whatever the final deal between the President and the two Parties, its centrepiece is certain to be deep cuts in government spending. This will reduce effective demand in the economy.

The effect will be opposite to the Obama administration’s recession-busting fiscal stimulus that enabled the economy to bounce back after the 2008-09 recession.

Third, the uncertainties in Washington emphasise the present unhealthy dependence on the US dollar as the international reserve currency.

The need for reform to reduce this dependence on a single currency, for example, by greater use of the special drawing rights (a basket of major currencies) as a global reserve currency, has been advocated by several prominent economists such as Joseph Stiglitz, Jose Antonio Ocampo and Yilmaz Akyuz as well as policy makers such as the Governor of the Chinese Central Bank.

A default in servicing US debt has moved from the unthinkable to the possible, though still in the realm of most unlikely. It may reignite the debate on reform of the global reserve system.

The facts of the impasse in Washington are as follows.

The current debt limit of US$14.29tril is forecast to be reached on Aug 2, so no new loans are allowed after that.

The administration estimates that the debt limit has to be increased by US$2.4tril so that the govern­ment can meet its commitments up to November 2012, after the Presidential elections.

Many Republicans in Congress, especially those under the influence of the Tea Party group, want the government to achieve budget balance through slashing spending without any increase in taxes, and to achieve budget balance.

A few Republican leaders, however, are willing to consider a small increase in taxes, or rather in closing tax loopholes, but they are finding difficulty in convincing their colleagues. They also want spending cuts to exceed the rise in the debt limit.

The President and Democrats are willing to cut spending significantly, but want also to raise taxes of the rich, so that both can contribute to the deficit reduction.

Democrat leaders are adamant that social and medical security should not be affected by the cuts, though Obama is willing to allow some cuts there as well.

If the extreme stance of the Tea Party faction becomes the overall Republican line as well, a deal would be extremely difficult.

To meet it, the Democrats and President would have to move their compromise position to the degree of total capitulation.

If the deadlock continues, a possible solution may be the proposal of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell: the president submits his plan to increase the debt limit and to cut the budget, the Congress rejects it, the President vetoes the rejection, and his proposal is adopted unless two-thirds of Congress rejects it again.

This will allows all sides to claim that they stuck to their positions, while avoiding a crisis.
If there is still no agreement by Aug 2, then the administration will have to choose which items not to pay and when.

These include interest on Treasury bills, social security, medicare, defence vendors, unemployment benefits, food stamps, military pay, federal salaries.

Priority will be given to debt servicing, so a default on Treasuries is very unlikely unless the impasse lasts a long time.

The other services and salaries will be hit, and increasingly so as long as there is no deal.

As almost everyone will agree, this is no way to run a government, and the US governance system is becoming dysfunctional.

This has serious effects on the rest of the world. So the universal hope is that some solution will be found before Aug 2.

Global Unease on U.S. Debt Impasse

By Jonathan Masters, Associate Staff Writer

With the deadline for a U.S. credit default less than three weeks away, President Barack Obama and top Republican lawmakers remain at odds over a deficit reduction plan that both sides view as a prerequisite to any hike in the debt limit. The impasse continues to fuel apprehension within the global financial system, with two of the "Big Three" credit rating agencies--Moody's and Standard and Poor's--considering downgrading the United States (WSJ) from its AAA status. Moody's cited the "rising possibility" the U.S. debt limit will not be raised in time to avoid default. Economists warn that a significant loss of confidence in the U.S. debt market could prompt foreign creditors to unload large portions of their holdings, sparking a sharp increase in U.S. borrowing costs and calling into question the dollar's role as the world's reserve currency.


Most economists agree that the impact of an outright government default would be severe. Federal Reserve Chairman Benjamin Bernanke has warned a default would usher in a new financial crisis. While some suggest the market still assumes the issue will be resolved, they say a default would do unprecedented injury to the full faith and credit of the United States and roil international markets (DowJones) in a sea of uncertainty.

China, the largest U.S. creditor, has reiterated its call for a swift compromise in the debt talks. Beijing would be particularly exposed to any acute shock to the bond market, with about 70 percent of its $3.2 trillion foreign exchange reserves invested in U.S. Treasuries (Reuters). Historically, the U.S. debt market has been driven by huge investments from surplus countries like China, which have viewed the United States as the safest place to store their savings.

The Economist notes that while a default may not precipitate an immediate sell-off by foreign banks due to a lack of immediate alternatives, the event would discourage future holdings of such magnitude. As the largest economy and home to the world's reserve currency, the United States has traditionally attracted investors looking for a financial safe haven. But some analysts suggest the current fiscal crisis, including the threat of default, could accelerate a shift in the way global capital is allocated (TIME)--away from developed nations like the United States and Japan and into emerging markets such as China and India. The Wall Street Journal reports that in addition to China, investors in Japan, Russia, and a number of Persian Gulf states will increasingly look for alternative investments to diversify their sovereign holdings.


Bill Gross of the investment management firm Pimco writes that global investment managers are keen to punish defaulting countries (WashPost) severely, adding that alternatives like Canada and Germany are only a wire transfer away. He says a default may prompt foreign banks to rethink their currency preferences, jeopardizing the reserve status of the dollar. A 2010 survey by the McKinsey Global Institute found fewer than 20 percent of business executives surveyed expected the dollar to be the dominant global reserve currency by 2025. However, with a systemic debt crisis racking Europe, some analysts claim there is still no viable alternative to the dollar (DowJones) in the short to medium term.


But an impression of eroding U.S. power is already gaining traction. The latest Pew Global Attitudes poll finds: "In fifteen of twenty-two nations, the balance of opinion is that China either will replace or already has replaced the United States as the world's leading superpower." The poll says the "United States is increasingly seen as trailing China economically."

Selected Analysis:

The United States has entered its "own age of austerity," with the solution to country's fiscal woes coming only through long-term spending reductions, particularly in entitlement programs, writes Mort Zuckerman in the Financial Times.

A period of austerity brought on by debt mistakes will have "profound consequences, not just for Americans' standard of living but also for U.S. foreign policy and the coming era of international relations," write CFR President Richard N. Haass and former Deputy Treasury Secretary Roger C. Altman in Foreign Affairs.

This report from the Brookings Institution addresses the nature and quality of U.S. political leadership, the sources of the nation's governance problems, and some strategies to work around them.

The New America Foundation's Maya MacGuineas recommends an immediate increase in the debt ceiling and the negotiation of big budget deal ($4 trillion) that will keep the nation's debt from outpacing the economy.

Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.

Wake-up call for Malaysian politicians: Challenge of a new mindset!

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Challenge of a new mindset

INSIGHT: By JOCELINE TAN

Feelings are still deeply divided over last weekend’s street protests but there is a growing realisation that there is a sophisticated civil society out there who can determine the outcome of the next general election.

A DIE-HARD admirer of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad was asked how the big man felt about his famous daughter Datuk Paduka Marina and her grown-up daughter joining the Bersih march last weekend.

The Mahathir-admirer said the former Premier felt more embarrassed than upset.

Dr Mahathir’s views about public protests are well known. In fact, he had, over the last few months, expressed disapproval of the way sensitive issues like race relations and religion were openly debated and challenged, saying such things had not happened during his watch and implying that his successors have been unable to control the politics of the day.

Watch and listen Video from Patrick Teoh:


But to have his daughter and granddaughter marching with the Bersih group was an eye-opener altogether. In a way, it was a metaphor for how the world has changed around him since the years when he was still in the driver’s seat.

However, the political circle around him fumed at Marina. They think she has put her father and her deputy minister brother Datuk Mukhriz in an awkward situation. But those familiar with Marina say her support for Bersih had more to do with her NGO ties and what they stood for. Also, like many Malaysians, she wants to see a first world electoral system emerge in this country.



The problem was that Bersih was polemic from the word go and when emotions run high, there is little middle ground. It becomes a situation of you are with us or you are with them.

That has been the dilemma for many, including Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah who came under attack from pro-Umno Netizens for his views on the rally. Some of them even called for him to be sacked from the Government.

Among his “wrongs”: He had questioned the authority’s handling of the rally and was critical of the Friday sermons cautioning people from joining the demonstration. A day before the protests, he tweeted: “Saya tidak setuju perhimpunan Bersih tapi tak payahlah guna khutbah Jumaat.” (I don’t agree with the Bersih rally but there’s no need to use the Friday sermon.)

He clarified later that although the rally was illegal, there was no need to resort to religious grounds to stop it. More bashing followed that remark although he also won praise for being objective. People like Saifuddin are a minority in Umno, which saw the rally as a direct challenge to its hold on power.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak acknowledged the raw feelings in the party when he made one of the most fiery speeches of his career before a packed gathering of Umno leaders and members at the party headquarters the next day. He was speaking to an emotional audience who felt that the other side was pushing them against the wall; and you could see it in their response.

Khairy Jamaluddin received loud applause at the PWTC gathering. The Umno Youth chief had also defied the ban to rally and he has been taunted for the barely 200 “Patriots” he managed to gather. But he went out there, took the hits for his party and they acknowledged it.

Umno Youth had its share of casualties. The police did not care who Khairy’s father-in-law was; they arrested him after giving him and his group the pepper water and tear gas treatment.

Bukit Bintang Youth chief Tengku Azman Zainal Abidin was whacked on his upper back while Putrajaya Youth chief Datuk Zaki Zahid is nursing a black-and-blue left arm, no thanks to a FRU baton. A member from Besut suffered a broken ankle.

The mainstay of Umno is still seething. They regard the whole affair as a veiled attempt by Pakatan Rakyat to import Egypt’s Tahrir Square phenomenon to Kuala Lumpur and destabilise the government.

“How would they feel if we take to the streets when we disagree with policies or laws in Pakatan states? You want this culture, we can do the same. They have set a dangerous precedent,” said Tengku Azman.

Claiming credit

Pakatan leaders, who kept to the background in the run-up to the protests, are now emerging to claim credit while threatening more street protests.

The rally was also very much about political gamesmanship and there is no denying that Pakatan has regained the momentum they lost following the string of by-election defeats and the sex video scandal. Public perception is that the Government could have handled it with more finesse, however.

PAS leaders, in particular, are milking the afterglow for all it is worth. Deputy president Mohamad Sabu, who was injured in the knee, has been making the ceramah rounds in a wheelchair where he is welcomed like a war hero. Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad who received about half a dozen stitches to his scalp has worn his scar like a badge of honour.

Surprisingly, pictures of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in hospital with tubes running out of his nose elicited little sympathy and some thought his bodyguard, who was seen with blood dribbling down his cheek and chin, should be the one stretched out.

A key concern of PAS was its standing with the palace because the rally had gone on despite the advice from the King. The latest issue of Harakah went into overdrive to contain the matter, carrying the King’s picture on the front cover as well as the back page while pinning the blame of treachery squarely on Umno.

A point of curiosity was the DAP’s role, or rather the lack of it. Key DAP leaders kept a low profile before and after the showdown. Questions are being asked whether they were trying to downplay their political clout after their massive wins in Sarawak or if they were apprehensive about the sentiments of the Chinese middleground regarding Middle East-style uprisings. According to an insider, the party did not want to be seen as the provocateur, so they played safe.

Besides, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had a foretaste of this in his own state several days before the Bersih show. DAP leaders probably know they would be giving their opponents an excuse to retaliate the same way in Penang if they had actively encouraged the Bersih rally.

Will there be more rallies to come?

Bersih chief Datuk S. Ambiga said quite firmly there would be no more Bersih rallies for now. Her NGO coalition worked hand in glove with Pakatan to organise the demonstrations but she apparently does not intend to let Pakatan politicians hijack the movement and turn it into a yellow bandwagon for them to roll into Putrajaya. It will be a test of whether she is really in charge or whether it is the Pakatan leaders who are running the show.

Pakatan politicians know a good thing when they see one. They have been tweeting and making press statements about “yellow Saturdays” and holding more gatherings.

“The key challenge for them is how to maintain the momentum, to distinguish between the NGO and Pakatan arms of Bersih and how to stick to the agenda of electoral reform.

“For Pakatan, it is about how to build a broader movement by bringing in groups with grievances on issues such as inflation and corruption.

“But, by and large, we are a functioning democracy, the election process still works, and the way forward is to find a way to mediate between the demands and politics of these groups,” said Merdeka Centre director Ibrahim Suffian.

The way the rally unfolded has hurt the image of Najib’s administration but it has not undone the good he has done, as some claimed.

Najib, as Ibrahim pointed out, has tried very hard to be seen as more than just another politician. He has put into place policies and measures which he believes will be beneficial for the future of the country. It is there for people to judge alongside the political fallout from Bersih.

Within Umno, there is a segment who understands the civil society value of the Bersih demands. They agree with the bigger goals of free and fair elections even while opposed to the way the organisers took it to the streets.

“We are not afraid of reform and progress. I have no problems with the call for greater media freedom. We opposed the rally not because we are against principles of fair elections, but because the rally became a political challenge,” said Umno Youth’s Zaki.

For Umno, especially, the rally was a wake-up call. The large number of young Malays on the streets was the very sort of people which Umno Youth should be attracting but instead they were out there with the other side.

The Malays came out in huge numbers because there is a lot at stake for them – the Prime Minister will be a Malay and as Muslims, they want control over the question of Islam in the country. Moreover, the Malays/Bumiputras will determine the politics of the future because by 2020, they will make up 70% of the population.

On Thursday evening, Umno’s Saifuddin gathered a group of like-minded people to share and discuss the events of the past weeks and how to go beyond what had happened. Saifuddin is what one might call the thinking person’s type of politician.

New perspective

The group is talking about engagement, about looking at issues in terms of grey rather than just black and white. This group sees the diversity of views out there and they understand how important it is to command the middle ground.

Zaki, on his part, has invited his peer group from Pakatan parties to sit down and debate electoral issues.

They realise that the most significant aspect of last Saturday’s protest was the participation of civil society and the number of people who declared that they were there not to support PAS or PKR or Anwar Ibrahim, but because they want a better electoral system.

“These are the people who will eventually vote for the candidate rather than the party. They go on issues, they can distinguish between party politics and real issues,” said one senior journalist.

If not for anything else, Saturday has shown that there is a very sophisticated and discerning civil society out there and they are not afraid to make their opinions known.

This group will be a major factor in determining the outcome of the next general election and political parties should do everything they can to engage them.

Bersih_PR - UMNO_BN Cyberbattle to own the ‘truth’

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Cyberbattle to own the ‘truth’

ANALYSIS  By BARADAN KUPPUSAMY

The ‘truth’ is still out there in cyberspace where the Bersih 2.0 rally is concerned.

THE Bersih 2.0 rally might be over but the battle to own its truth is still being fought over social media which had become a fierce battleground.

People from both sides of the political divide have weighed in with their experiences of July 9 on Face­­book, Twitter, blogs and so forth.

Some of the things uploaded now include a video clip of a man who had supposedly died, a hospital that was blasted with water cannons and a PKR activist who died of a heart problem during the rally but his death was blamed on the police.

Discerning true from false: Many accounts of the Bersih 2.0 rally, both true and untrue, have been posted online for Netizens to read and judge for themselves.

 

The person who faked his death on video has been traced and identified as an Al-Arqam member from Selangor. He is said to have run off when the police sent him to hospital.

Then a supposedly “Chinese man” was seen holding a loud hailer for the man (said to fake his death) as he prayed. Eventually, the “Chinese man” had been exposed as a Selangor PKR man who is a Malay. A blogger posted his picture for viewers to judge for themselves.

Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, meanwhile, was seen grimacing in hospital after the rally but his detractors scoffed at the images.

It’s a war zone out there in cyberspace. The Pakatan Rakyat appears to be winning at times; at other times, the Barisan Nasional.



Pakatan had always enjoyed a well-oiled social media network. It was first seen in action during Anwar’s black eye incident and later in the first sodomy trial and subsequently the purported arsenic poisoning.

One of the prominent websites at that time was the Free Anwar website managed by Raja Petra Kama­ruddin. It did Anwar a great favour and is also credited with helping to free him in 2004.

Pakatan was always a step ahead of Barisan in exploiting the developments in social media.

During the years since the Free Anwar website, Anwar himself led in the fight to exploit social media for its powerful ability to connect disparate people.

Today, social media is working overtime for Pakatan as it seeks to manufacture consent for his political themes.

Tech-savvy youths were checking iPads and smartphones during the days leading to the Bersih 2.0 rally and on the day itself.

They sent out tweets, posted comments and images and wrote about their experiences at the rally.

The truth can sometimes be lost in the maze that is social media but some images do not lie, such as the incident which took place at Tung Shin Hospital.

There is overwhelming evidence that tear gas and water cannon were fired into the hospital area after rally participants ran helter skelter into the hospital area. Images and video clips of the incident were recorded and uploaded online by many people.

It is well known that some ministers lack social media skills or have not found time to watch videos online but still make statements that later put them in a spot.

Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms have thus become a contested arena with many pro-Barisan Nasional and pro-Pakatan Rakyat supporters arguing over their version of what the “truth” is.

For Anwar, the important thing is to keep up the political momentum achieved by Bersih 2.0. Their hope is that the next general election is held soon to capitalise on the political momentum created by the rally.

He needs the Bersih 2.0 rally to be talked about everywhere, besides calling on his friends in the Western media to write about it.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, on the other hand, has been spending time explaining things. While on a visit to London, he was interviewed on CNN where he took questions on the rally, on police brutality and on his economic transformation plans for the country.

Najib has to put a distance between himself and the effects of the rally on the people, especially the youths who are upwardly mobile.

The social media is Anwar’s strong suit. The same cannot be said about many government leaders.

But not everybody is connected and those who are connected deeply disagree on what really happened on July 9.

The silent majority is out there and when they speak, it will be a roar.

US QE3 sparks concerns !

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Possible US QE3 sparks concerns

By Hu Yuanyuan and Chen Ji 

BEIJING - The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it could ease monetary policy further if the United States failed to see solid growth, which analysts said may add to China's inflation and endanger its $3.2 trillion foreign exchange reserves.

"The possibility remains that the recent economic weakness may prove more persistent than expected and that deflationary risks might re-emerge, implying a need for additional policy support," Ben Bernanke, Fed chairman, told the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee. His remarks were generally interpreted as a signal of a possible QE3 (quantitative easing).

In late 2009, the Fed launched an unprecedented bond-buying drive to boost the economy and make credit more available, spending some $1.7 trillion on mortgage-backed securities and Treasuries before it ended in March 2010. It then initiated a second round of easing, that wrapped up in June, in which $600 billion of bonds were bought.

But the US economy remains weak, prompting the possible launch of a QE3. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday showed that the number of Americans who believe the country is on the wrong economic track rose to 63 percent this month, up from 60 percent in June. The country's jobless rate rose to 9.2 percent in June from 9.1 percent in May.



"If the Fed continues to print more money (as Bernanke hinted), it will drag China into a protracted war to limit liquidity and tame inflation," Lu Zhengwei, chief economist with Industrial Bank Co Ltd, said.

China's consumer inflation already surged to a three-year high of 6.4 percent in June, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. This was partly attributable to quantitative easing measures by the US, which drove global capital into the more lucrative developing markets, including China, analysts agreed.

Moreover, the potential injection of money in the US is likely to raise global commodity prices. Crude-oil futures finished higher on Wednesday boosted by Bernanke's comments. The rising prices may force emerging economies, such as China, Brazil and India, to pay more for imported commodities, further exacerbating their inflationary problems.

"It will be a very bad news for emerging countries," Lu said.

Those countries may have to continually tighten their monetary stance, such as by raising interest rates, further incurring capital inflows, Lu said.

Cao Fengqi, director of the Research Center for Finance and Securities at Peking University, told China Daily that a QE3 would lead to faster appreciation of the yuan against the dollar.

According to Cao, if the easing policy became a reality, the resulting flood of US dollars means a faster depreciation of the greenback, which threatens the security of China's foreign exchange stockpile as it will reduce the real value of the dollar-denominated reserves.

"The primary task for China is to control consumer prices and maintain steady and fast economic growth (to counter any external shocks)," Cao said.

The Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it hoped the US government would take a responsible attitude to protect investor interests.

Bernanke's hint of a QE3 could also be a strategy to pressure lawmakers to agree on raising the US debt ceiling, analysts said.

US President Barack Obama and the Republicans are bogged down in negotiations to raise the borrowing limit before the Aug 2 deadline.

Bernanke may be "talking up the market" and goading Congress to reach a consensus on the ceiling, Chen Xingdong, chief economist with BNP Paribas Asia Ltd, said.

Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday put its AAA rating on US government bonds on watch for a possible downgrade, citing the "rising possibility that the statutory debt limit will not be raised on a timely basis", which would lead to a default on US Treasury debt obligations.

Meanwhile, Chinese rating agency Dagong Global Ratings Co Ltd on Thursday put US ratings on domestic and foreign currencies on a negative watch list because of the country's rising debt.

Dagong said the current political and economic situation had squeezed out room for tax increases, while it is difficult to curtail military and welfare spending.

In the worst-case scenario, the US public debt will continue to grow to 124 percent of the country's GDP in 2015, and the federal government will have to raise the debt limit by $5.5 trillion, Dagong said.

Dagong downgraded US ratings from AA to A+ on Nov 9, 2010 after the US government announced the second round of quantitative easing.

Wei Tian contributed to this story.

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Bersih rally awakening the young voters in Malaysian politics; Registration easy & simple

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Awakening the young voters

ANALYSIS By BARADAN KUPPUSAMY

Pakatan Rakyat is seeking to keep the rally’s momentum going, hoping that it can be sustained until an early general election is held. 

NOW that the Bersih 2.0 rally is over, what’s in store for the divided politics of the nation? It’s a question on the minds of many Malaysians.

The Bersih 2.0 rally was a success by some measure because Pakatan Rakyat supporters braved police restrictions, roadblocks and barbed wire to gather in the city centre calling on the Government to institute electoral reform.

Their eight-point demand included issues that the opposition had been campaigning on for many years, like a clean electoral roll, reforming postal voting and a minimum of 21 days for campaigning.

These are fundamentals of a basic election system in a democratic society and few citizens would find this objectionable.

Saturday’s rally, therefore, had an unprecedented impact on society at large and on the election system, comparable to the March 8 political tsunami.

While Saturday’s rally was smaller in size compared to Bersih’s first rally in November 2007, the effects were the same – the awakening of young people to political action to rally for a basic right in defiance of the police.

In 2007, Bersih had the run of the city with huge numbers converging on the Istana to deliver a memorandum to the King.

Anwar called the 2007 Bersih rally an unqualified success.

Three months later, a general election was called that saw a loose coalition, that later became Pakatan Rakyat, winning five state governments and denying Barisan Nasional a two-thirds majority.

This time, too, Anwar is expecting an early election, probably by the fourth quarter of this year to capitalise on the Bersih 2.0 momentum.

709 pictures of the BERSIH march. Malaysians unite!

https://picasaweb.google.com/104201905154669598873/Bersih2Rally090711?authkey=Gv1sRgCN2Bo8PKqdzNIQ#slideshow/5627287829029822

Voices from Malaysian: 

 Patrick Teoh

Teoh has come a very long way from his days as an announcer on the Rediffusion private radio station before establishing himself as one of the pioneers in mobile discos. In fact, till today people still associate Teoh with his voice though he is also into the arts and theatre.

Watch and listen his Video:


By PR’s reckoning, Bersih 2.0 was a major success and big enough to wipe out the series of by-election losses they suffered in recent months and the spate of defections from PKR to BN.

The internal turmoil caused by PKR’s direct elections that also saw many people disheartened with PKR has also been eclipsed.

PR sought to keep its Bersih 2.0 momentum going by organising a large rally in Penang, a PR state, on Monday that was well-attended.

It is hoping that the momentum would be sustained until an early general election is held.

It needs to step up its criticism of BN, organise more Bersih rallies in other states and perhaps take nationwide action to keep the momentum going.

For this reason alone, it is unlikely that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak would call an election this year.

He has to put some distance between the Government and the effects of the Bersih 2.0 rally.

Another reason for Najib to delay the general election is the urban voters whose preference is still with the opposition. He has to come up with imaginative programmes to win over the urban voters whose concerns are very different from the rural electorate.

Najib is also due to meet the Pope next week and hopes to establish a diplomatic relationship with the Vatican. He hopes to consolidate the Christian vote, which accounts for about 9% of the 14 million voters.

On another point, Bersih 2.0 leaders like Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan tried hard to convince Malaysians that her organisation was an independent body and was acting independently.

It is, however, abundantly clear that Bersih 2.0 was an opposition affair from start to finish.

The police handling of the Bersih 2.0 rally is also under the spotlight. Although they were heavy-handed, there was a relative absence of violence except for one death of a PKR activist that was attributed to a heart condition.

The low level of violence as a whole also limited the electoral backlash against the Government.

Therefore, it is an opportune time to release all those arrested, including the six leaders of Parti Sosialis Malaysia who have been detained under the Emergency Ordinance for allegedly reviving communism.

The Bersih 2.0 rally did not come anywhere near those in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Syria. But it will probably have an impact in the coming general election.

The rally proved its point that a large number of Malaysians can gather, despite police action, and march peacefully.

But Bersih 2.0 is unlikely to be a game changer in the way the first Bersih rally was.

Registration easy & simple

By SHAHANAAZ HABIB and RASHVINJEET S. BEDI sunday@thestar.com.my

PUTRAJAYA: Voter registration numbers have gone up significantly, thanks to efforts by political parties.
But some 40% of the new voters they have registered turned out to be ineligible.

“Some are dead, underage or already registered voters,” said Election Commission (EC) chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof.

“We verify with the National Registration Department (NRD) those who are genuine and get rid of the names of those who are not. This makes it tiring because we have to keep checking,” he told The Star.

Despite this, he said, political parties still registered the highest number, bringing in more half of the new eligible voters.

“Compared to universities and NGOs, the voters we get from political parties are a lot more,” he said.
For May alone, 52% of new eligible voters were registered by political parties.

Twenty per cent were registered through post offices and 13% by government departments.

The EC, meanwhile, roped in 10% of the new voters through its counters and outreach programme. Universities and NGOs helped to register 3% and 2% new voters respectively.

Abdul Aziz added that the EC had appointed political parties, NGOs and universities as assistant registrars to help register new voters, paying RM1 for every clean and confirmed new voter these organisations bring in.

“If they register 1,000 new voters and only 600 are genuine, we pay them RM600,” he said. Between 2008 and 2009, there were 10 million registered voters in the country and another 4.3 million eligible voters who were not registered.

This year, the total number of registered voters increased to 12 million and eligible unregistered voters dropped to 3.7 million.

“We have made registration easy and simple. You can go to the post office, youth bodies, universities, colleges, government departments, NGOs and political parties to register,” he added.

Abdul Aziz said the Malaysian EC was the only one in the world that appointed political parties to assist in registering new voters.

He pointed out that it made sense to rope in political parties. “We appoint an average of two assistant registrars for each state seat. And because they have an interest, they work very hard to register new voters.

“When we do the voter registration ourselves, the response is not very good. We go to events like TV3's Jom Heboh to register new voters but it is difficult for people to come forward.

“This has to do with attitude. People ask what benefit they get by registering as voters. Some people do not have the spirit. They ask what happens if they don't register and when they find out no action is taken, they leave it as it is. Only those who really love the country and would like to choose their own leaders would voluntarily go and register as voters.”

Abdul Aziz also advised the people to vote in their current place of residence as this was stipulated in the law. This would also resolve the issue of phantom voters, where voters allegedly stay in a different place from where they cast their vote.

He said people should not feel attachment to their hometown and balik kampung to cast their votes.
“If I stay in Shah Alam, I shouldn't go back to Penang or my hometown to vote,” he said.

He estimated that about 30% to 40% of Malaysians voted in a different place or state than where they lived.

“I have no power to force them to vote where they live. I can only explain and persuade them,” he added.

Changes & Reforms - a case of two opposing sides in Malaysia

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A case of two opposing sides

CERITALAH By KARIM RASLAN

We’ve reached a point where it doesn’t matter who brings the change – BN or PR, conservative or liberal, socialist or right-wing. Malaysians will get behind whoever is the most sincere in taking us out of this mess. 

Voices from Malaysian: 

 Patrick Teoh

Teoh has come a very long way from his days as an announcer on the Rediffusion private radio station before establishing himself as one of the pioneers in mobile discos. In fact, till today people still associate Teoh with his voice though he is also into the arts and theatre.

Watch and listen his Video:

LAST weekend’s thwarted march wasn’t an ordinary incident – it reveals two radically different world views.

While the march was nominally non-political, the chasm between the two forces – the Government and the demonstrators – clearly mirrors the increasingly acrimonious split between Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

Of course, a deeply divided political terrain is always troubling, however, it is at least proof of a dynamic and thriving public discourse.

Ironically, the opposition, despite being excluded from the mainstream media, is clearly setting the terms of this debate.

It also shows that Malaysia remains a democracy – albeit a flawed one.

Indeed, I’d argue that the intensity of the discourse over the past few weeks highlights quite how much we Malaysians care about the state of our nation.

We can see and feel that the state is becoming more polarised – and in such a situation, we are being forced to choose sides.



Sitting on the fence is no longer a viable option – especially when the fence is been shaken so hard by the two opposing sides. However, there are some positives. Most notably the fact that the divide is not racial despite what some politicians are alleging.

In fact there are Malays, Indians, Chinese, Iban, Kadazan, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists and Hindu on both sides of the debate. Indeed, the struggle has gone way beyond racial and religious lines.

Instead we are tussling over political philosophies and principles.

While the differences are certainly stark, their mere existence indicates a certain maturing of our political system presenting us with the alluring prospect of a two-party system.

I must stress that the racial diversity on both sides represents a steadying force – anchoring us together as a nation.

And yes, you could say, it underlines the fact that we are debating a truly Malaysian set of issues.

So what are these substantive political differences? Well, for a start, they transcend mere personality.

On one hand, we have a strident Umno-led Government demanding the continuation of the status quo.

In this respect, Umno is very definitely a conservative (small “c”) force – defending and promoting the interests of the influence-bearing classes.

It’s arguable that Umno’s small businessmen/contractors have adopted the mindset and behaviour of the many minor aristocrats and noblemen that once surrounded Malaysia’s many istana (or palaces) jockeying for favours and/or contracts.

The current Umno vision is retrogressive – it looks back to the party’s heyday under Tun Abdul Razak and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

It is not a dynamic, expansive vision – witness the primordial and unavoidable cry for Malay unity interspersed with Malay rights.

As with those enamoured and indeed obsessed by the past there is a paranoia and fear of change. Understandably then, any concession or reform is seen of as an affront to Umno’s domination, dignity and integrity.

On the other, you have what is essentially a socialist front in Pakatan Rakyat.

They claim to represent the interest of the rakyat – the ordinary people, taking a moral high-ground on issues such as corruption, mismanagement and civil liberties.

They know the language of the people – focusing on day-to-day issues from rising food prices to the quality of education.

Obviously my formulation ignores the inconsistencies, but there’s no denying the socio-economic and “class” basis to this struggle.

At the same time the respective leaders play up these associations because politics – let’s face it – is also theatre and understatement doesn’t play to the gallery.

Returning to Pakatan, I must point out that the coalition’s very new-ness means they are much more flexible, less rigid and accepting.

Indeed, Hadi Awang’s courageous stance on Negara Kebajikan is an indication of the extent to which Pakatan is exploring new paradigms.

Of course, PAS carry a certain baggage themselves. For example, will the gentle and considerate PAS of today be replaced by a morally sanctimonious force once in power?

At a time when technology is changing so rapidly, (iPad succeeded by iPad2, just when you’ve begun to understand it), we’ve got to accept political systems have to change as well.

But will the face-off between the two opposing forces benefit us – the rakyat?

Well, I for one am confident that there will be change and that we as a nation desperately need that change.

Indeed, we’ve reached a point where it doesn’t actually matter who brings the change – BN or PR, conservative or liberal, socialist or right-wing.

Malaysians will rally behind whoever is the most sincere in taking us out of this mess, just as Ronnie Reagan and later Obama inspired their respective voters.

Ironically, after all this talk of substantive politics we’re back where we started with character and personality.

So, we have to batten down, wait, watch and judge because at the end of the day we, the people are sovereign and through the ballot box, we can kick out those who’ve let us down.

So carry on ladies and gentlemen of the political world, we’re watching and evaluating your performance.