Isnin, Jun 07, 2010

Rahsia amalan Israel menjadi Bijak?

Setelah berada 3 tahun di Israel kerana menjalani housemanship dibeberapa hospital d isana, ada beberapa perkara yang menarik dapat saya perhatikan untuk dijadikan tesis ini, iaitu "Mengapa Yahudi Bijak?"
 
Memang tidak dapat dinafikan ramai cendikiawan berbangsa Yahudi, dari segala bidang, Engineering, muzik, saintis dan yang paling hebat ialah bidang perniagaan, dimana ia memang paling tersohor. Hampir 70% perniagaan di dunia dikuasai oleh kaum Yahudi, dari kosmetik, pakaian, pemakanan, senjata, perhotelan, perfileman diHollywood dan sebagainya.
 
Ketika tahun kedua, akhir bulan December 1980 dan sedang saya menghitung hari untuk pulang ke California, saya terfikir apakah sebabnya kaum Yahudi begitu pintar? Kenapa tuhan memberi kelebihan kepada mereka? Apakah ini suatu kebetulan? Atau oleh manusia sendiri? Adakah bijak boleh dijana? Seperti kilang pengeluaran? Maka saya pon tergerak membuat tesis untuk Phd saya, disamping kebaikan untuk umat sejagat dan dapat hidup secara harmoni. Untuk pengetahuan anda tesis yang saya lakukan ini mengambil masa hampir lapan tahun, ini kerana untuk mengumpulkan data-data yang setepat mungkin. Antara data-data yang saya kumpulkan ialah pemakanan, adat resam, ugama, persiapan awal untuk melahirkan zuriat dan sebagainya dan data data tadi saya cuba bandingkan dengan bangsa dan kaum kaum lain.
 
Marilah kita mulakan dengan persiapan awal melahirkan zuriat. Di Israel, setelah mengetahui yang sang ibu sedang mengandung, pertama kali saya perhatikan ialah, sang ibu akan sering menyanyi dan bermain piano dan si ibu dan bapa akan membeli buku metamatik dan menyelesaikan masalah metamatik bersama suami, saya sungguh hairan kerana teman saya yang mengandung sering membawa buku metamatik dan bertanya kepada saya beberapa soalan yang beliau tak dapat menyelesaikanya, oleh kerana saya memang minat tentang metamatik, tentu saja dengan senang saya bantu beliau. Saya bertanya kepada beliau, adakah ini untuk anak kamu? Beliau menjawab, "ia, ini untuk anak saya yang masih didalam kandungan, saya sedang melatih otak beliau, semuga ia menjadi genius apabila dewasa kelak" Perkara ini membuat saya tertarik untuk mengikut perkembangan beliau seterusnya. Berbalik kepada metematik tadi, tanpa merasa jenoh beliau membuat latihan metamatik sehingga beliau melahirkan anak.
 
Seperkara lagi yang saya perhatikan ialah pemakanan beliau, sejak awal mengandung beliau gemar sekali memakan kacang badam dan korma bersama susu, dan untuk tengah hari makan utama beliau ialah roti dan ikan tanpa kepala bersama salad yang digaul dengan badam dan berbagai jenis kekacang. Menurut beliau daging ikan sungguh baik untuk perkembangan otak dan kepala ikan mengandungi kimia yang tidak baik yang dapat merosakkan pengembangan dan penumbuhan otak anak didalam kandungan. menurut beliau ini adalah adat orang orang yahudi ketika mengandung dan ianya menjadi semacam kewajipan untuk ibu ibu yang sedang mengandung mengambil pil minyak ikan.
 
Ketika saya diundang untuk makan malam bersama orang orang Yahudi, perkara pertama yang saya perhatikan ialah menu mereka.. Setiap undangan yg sama perhatikan ialah mereka gemar sekali memakan ikan (hanya isi atau fillet) dan biasanya daging tidak akan ada bersama dimeja jika ada ikan. Menurut mereka, campuran daging dan ikan tak elok dimakan bersama. Salad dan kacang adalah suatu kemestian, terutama badam.
 
Seperkara yang pelik ialah mereka akan memakan buah buahan dahulu sebelum memakan hidangan utama. Jangan terperanjat jika anda diundang kerumah Yahudi anda akan dihidangkan buah buahan dahulu. Menurut mereka, dengan memakan hidangan kabohidrat (nasi atau roti) dahulu kemudian buah buahan, ini akan menyebabkan kita merasa ngantuk dan lemah dan payah untuk memahami pelajaran disekolah.
 
Di Israel, merokok adalah taboo, apabila anda diundang makan dirumah Yahudi, jangan sekali kali merokok, dan tanpa malu mereka akan menyuruh anda keluar dari rumah mereka dam merokok diluar rumah mereka. Menurut saintis di Universiti Israel , siasatan menunjukkan nikotin dapat merosakkan sel utama pada otak manusia dan akan melekat pada genes, ini bermakna keturunan perokok bakal membawa generasi yg cacat otak ( bodoh atau lembab). Suatu penemuan yg dahsyat ditemui oleh saintis yg mendalami bidang genes dan DNA. Para perokok harap ambil perhatian. (Ironi nya, pemilik pengeluar rokok terbesar adalah ...... tekalah sendiri..!)
 
Perhatian saya selanjutnya ialah melawati tadika mereka, Pemakanan anak anak tadi cukup dikawal, makanan awal ialah buah buahan bersama kacang badam, diikuti dengan menelan pil minyak ikan (code oil lever) Didalam pengamatan saya, kanak Yahudi sungguh bijak dan rata rata mereka memahami 3 bahasa iaitu Hebrew, Arab dan Inggeris dan sejak dari awal lagi mereka telah dilatih bermain piano dan violin, ini adalah suatu kewajipan. Menurut mereka bermain muzik dan memahami nota notanya dapat meningkatkan lagi IQ kanak kanak dan sudah tentu bakal menjadikan budak itu bijak. Ini menurut saintis Yahudi, gegaran musik dapat stimulate (semacam senaman untuk otak) maka itu terdapat ramai sekali genius musik terdiri dari kaum Yahudi.
 
Seterusnya ke darjah 1 hingga 6, anak anak Yahudi akan diajar metamatik berkonsepkan perniagaan dan pelajaran sains amatlah diberi keutamaan. Di dalam perhatian peribadi saya, perbandingan dengan anak anak di California, ianya jauh berbeza tentang IQ dan boleh saya katakan 6 tahun kebelakang!!! Segala pelajaran akan dengan mudah di tangkap oleh anak Yahudi. Selain dari pelajaran tadi sukan juga menjadi kewajipan bagi mereka dan sukan yg diberi keutamaan ialah memanah, menembak dan berlari, menurut teman saya ini, memanah dan menembak dapat melatih otak memfokus sesuatu perkara disamping mempermudahkan persiapan untuk perhidmatan negara.
 
Selanjutnya pemerhatian saya menuju ke sekolah tinggi (menengah) disini murid murid ditekan dengan pelajaran mata sains dan mereka digalakkan mencipta produk, segala projek mereka walaupon kadangkala kelihatannya lucu dan mengarut, tetap diteliti dengan serius apatah lagi ianya berupa senjata, perubatan dan engineering, idea itu akan dibawa ke institut tinggi di Politeknik dan Universiti.
 
Satu lagi yang di beri keutamaan ialah fakulti perniagaan. Saya sungguh terperanjat melihat mereka begitu agresif dan seriusnya mereka tentang perniagaan. Di akhir tahun di universiti, para penuntut dibidang niaga dikehendaki melakukan projek dan mempraktikkanya dan anda hanya akan lulus jika kumpulan anda (10 pelajar setiap kumpulan) dapat keuntungan sebanyak $US1juta! Anda terperanjat? Itulah kenyataan, dengan rangkaian seluruh dunia dan ditaja sepenuhnya oleh syarikat milik Yahudi, maka tidak hairanlah mereka dapat menguasai ½ perniagaan didunia! Siapakah yg mencipta design Levis yg terkini? Ianya dicipta di Universiti Israel oleh fakulti bisnes dan fesyen.
 
Pernahkah anda melihat cara orang Yahudi melakukan ibadah mereka? Salah satu caranya ialah dengan menggoyangkan kepala mereka, menurut mereka ini dapat mengaktifkan otak mereka dan menambahkan oksijan dikepala, banyak ugama lain di Timur Tengah, seperti Islam juga ada menyuruh umatnya menunduk atau menggoyangkan kepala, ini guna dapat mensimulasikan otak kita supaya bertambah aktif. Lihat orang orang Jepun, mereka sering menunduk nundukkan kepala dan ianya sebagai adat. Ramai orang orang Jepun yg pandai? Adakah ianya sebagai kebetulan? Kegemaran mereka ialah sushi (ikan mentah). Adakah ini kebetulan? Fikirkanlah!
 
Berpusat di New York, Dewan perniagaan Yahudi bersedia membantu mereka yg berminat untuk melakukan bisnes (sudah tentu untuk Yahudi sahaja) jika mereka ada idea yg bernas, jawatan kuasa akan memberi pinjaman tanpa faedah dan pentadbir dari jawatan kuasa tadi akan bekerjasama dengan anda untuk memastikan yg perniagaan mereka menurut landasan yg betul. Maka itu lahirlah Starbuck, Dell compter, Cocacola, DKNY, Oracle, Perfileman di Hollywood, Levis, Dunkin Donut dan ada beratus kedai ternama dibawah naungan dewan perniagaan Yahudi di New York. Graduan Yahudi dari fakulti perubatan New York akan disarankan untuk mendaftar di persatuan ini dan digalakkan memulakan klinik mereka sendiri dengan bantuan wang tanpa faedah, barulah saya tahu mengapa hospital di New York dan California sentiasa kekurangan doktor pakar.
 
Kesimpulanya, pada teori saya, melahirkan anak dan keturunan yg bijak boleh dilaksanakan dan tentunya bukan semalaman, ianya memerlukan masa, beberapa generasi mungkin? Persiapan awal adalah ketika sang ibu mengandung, galakkanlah si ibu melakukan latihan metematik yg mudah tetapi konsisten disamping mendengar musik klasik. Seterusnya ubahlah cara pemakanan, makanlah makanan yg elok dan berhasiat yg baik untuk otak, menghayati musik sejak kecil adalah baik sekali untuk penumbuhan otak kanak kanak, dengan bermain piano dan violin sudah tentu dapat melatih anak anak mencerdaskan otak mereka demikian juga sukan yg memerlukan konsentrasi yg tinggi, seperti memanah, bola keranjang, dart dan menembak.
 
Merokok menjanjikan generasi yg moron (goblok/ bodoh) dan sudah tentu gens bodoh akan mengikut ke generasi si perokok. Lawatan saya ke Singapura pada tahun 2005 amat memeranjatkan sekali, disini perokok seperti dianak-tirikan dan begitu susah sekali untuk perokok dan anda tahu berapa harga sekotak rokok? US$ 7 !!! ini bersamaan perbelanjaan sehari untuk makan anda!! Saya puji sekali sikap pemerintah Singapura dan menakjubkan sekali!!! Dan seperti Israel ianya begitu taboo dan cara pentadbiran dan segi pembelajaran mereka hampir serupa dengan Israel , maka itu saya lihat banyak institusi pelajaran mereka bertaraf dunia walaupun hakikatnya negeri Singapura hanyalah sebuah pulau sebesar Manhattan !!
 
Anda mungkin musykil, benarkah merokok dapat melahirkan generasi goblok, saya telah menemui beberapa bukti menyokong teori ini. Lihat saja Indonesia, jika anda ke Jakarta, di mana saja anda berada, dari restoran, teater, kebun bunga hingga ke musium, hidung anda akan segera terbau asap rokok! Dan harga rokok? Cuma US$ .70 cents !!! dan hasilnya? Dengan penduduknya berjumlah jutaan orang berapa banyakkah universiti terdapat di sana? Hasil apakah yg dapat dibanggakan? Teknologi? Jauh sekali. Adakah mereka dapat berbahasa selain dari bahasa mereka sendiri? Mengapa mereka begitu sukar sekali menguasai bahasa Inggeris? Ditangga berapakah kedudukan mereka di pertandingan metematik sedunia? Adakah ini bukan akibat merokok? Anda fikirlah sendiri.
 
Di tesis saya ini, saya tidak akan menimbulkan soal ugama atau bangsa, adakah Yahudi itu zalim sehingga diusir dari semenjak zaman Firaun hingga ke Hitler, bagi saya itu isu politik dan survival, yg ingin saya ketengahkan ialah, mampukah kita dapat melahirkan generasi yg bijak seperti Yahudi? Jawapannya ialah mungkin dan tidak mustahil dan ianya memerlukan perubahan, dari segi pemakanan dan cara mendididik anak dan saya kira hanya memerlukan 3 generasi sahaja. Ini dapat saya lihat sendiri tentang cucu saya, ini setelah saya mengajar anak saya melalui program yg telah saya nyatakan di atas tadi, pada umur 9 tahun (cucu saya) dia dapat menulis esei sepanjang 5 mukasurat penuh. Eseinya hanyalah mengenai Mengapa saya gemarkan tomato!
 
Selamat sejahtera dan semuga kita dapat melahirkan manusia yg bijak dan bersifat mulia untuk kebaikan manusia sejagat tanpa mengenal batasan bangsa.


Dr. Stephen Carr Leon

Di alih bahasa oleh :
Adibah Mohd Noor
Matriculation Lecturer
Department of Sciences
UIA Matriculation Centre
PJ, Selangor.



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>..

Fikrah:-
1) SEgala amalan yang dilakukan di atas adalah selaras dan selari dengan Sunnah RAsulullah SAW!!! Bukan ciptaan daripada YAhudi - ISrael!!!
2) bak kata Syed Mohd Abduh 100 tahun dahulu; "Saya nampak Islam, tapi, saya tak nampak Muslim" apabila beliau berkelana di bumi Eropah... 
3) Jauh lagi kita ni.... 

Perjuangan dan PErubahan harus diteruskan. 
Kalau tak kita, siapa?
Kalau tak sekarang, bila?

Time to train youngsters to think

Sunday June 6, 2010

Time to train youngsters to think

EMPLOYERS and those involved in recruiting graduates lament that many of our local graduates have resumes that boast of Cumulative Grade Point Averages (CGPAs) of between 3.5 to 4.0, but tend to underperform and fail miserably when it comes to real work.
When businessmen lament that our graduates are not creative at work, it really means that they are not thinking persons.
Therefore, we have to create environments to produce thinking individuals who use their grey matter to understand and analyse.
Such traits can be acquired if they are instilled from a young age.
To create thinking individuals, we have to take into consideration one’s culture, parental habits, the mindset of teachers and professors, and the type of stimuli in the classroom.
Only by looking into these factors, can we hope to produce graduates who can think, instead of graduates who learn by rote.
First, the environment or setting must be right to raise thinking individuals.
We, as parents, also need to change the way we bring up our children.
We cannot limit our children by allowing them to be completely influenced by other people’s opinions; not allowing them to question adults; expecting them to blindly obey adults; and subscribing to the adage that “children should be seen, not heard”.
Lacking in confidence
Such a culture has unknowingly brought about a lack of self-esteem in our children.
They also lack the confidence to experiment with new ideas and concepts, and are unable to think out of the box.
We should not be bound by what others say in coming up with bold measures and ideas, and should instead, be strong enough to put forth our own ideas and stick by them.
For example, we should not be afraid to ride a bicycle, instead of driving a car to work, if the intention is to save energy.
While others may think it is a crazy idea and criticise or ridicule us, we should be bold enough to stick by our decisions without being disrespectful or offensive to them.
We must also bear in mind that we have to be sensitive to others when it comes to issues concerning morality, discipline, respect and decency.
This country is made of people of different races, and we should capitalise on our multi-cultural and multi-religious backgrounds to hone our creative skills and thoughts.
Look at the United States — its success is due to its “thinking people’’ of diverse backgrounds.
We, too, can emulate the global power in this area.
The second effective change is for parents to drill the importance of reading into their children.
This can be attained if parents themselves pick up the reading habit, as their children will naturally follow them.
Try to have libraries at home, not collections of toys. Your children will soon become voracious readers.
Thinking is best done in silence. Parents should control the noise level at home by not switching on the TV, music and other forms of entertainment all day long.
There are studies saying that our brains work best at its lower waves.
Good decisions are made and creativity works best during the alpha brainwave, which can be attained only when we have quiet surroundings. Great religions preach about the power and strength of silence. There is science involved in such teachings.
Activating the mind
Thirdly, the education system should offer a curriculum that promotes thinking instead of rote-learning.
Thinking helps an individual to develop the habits of inquiry.
It will also cultivate skills of expression and effective communication. All these in turn will produce active citizens.
Similarly, we can add other methods of academic engagement to our traditional methods of teaching, such as lectures, seminars, distance learning, field trips and computer-assisted activities.
Also, it is about time that professors and lecturers learn to accept and respect queries raised by students.
They should not intimidate their students, but instead, treat them as equals and encourage them to have intellectual discourse.
The fourth element is providing the stimuli in class to make students think.
This can be done through activities that, among others, involve the metaphorical power of language, logical thinking, the centrality of thinking, misthinking, the role of expectation, and sharpening our senses.
After all, education means developing one’s mind from emptiness. We rely on education to develop thinking and appreciate wisdom.
Educators should also emphasise and instil in students an attitude that the best-educated man is the one whose mind never ceases thinking.
Make them see education as a process of constant and perpetual self-improvement.
Develop a stance that education is to educate, not train, as training involves rote-learning, which does not promote thinking.
DR MEGAWATI OMAR and DR ABU BAKAR ABDUL MAJEED
RESEARCH MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE
UiTM, SHAH ALAM

Doa Wehdah

Doa Wehdah adalah bantuan Kilat yang boleh kita sampaikan kepada mana-mana umat Islam yang tertindas, dan boleh diamalkan sentiasa.


لا إله إلاّ الله
إلهاً واحداً و نحن له مسلمون


لا إله إلاّ الله
و لا نعبد إلاّ إيّاه
مخلصين له الدين
و لو كره المشركون


لا إله إلاّ الله
ربّنا و ربّ آبائنا الأوّلين


لا إله إلاّ الله
وحده وحده وحده
أنجز وعده
ونصر عبده
وأعزّ جنده
وهزم الأحزاب وحده


فله المُلكُ و لهُ الحمد
يحيي و يميت
و يميت و يحيي
و هو حيٌّ لا يموت


بيده الخير
و هو على كلّ شيءٍ قدير


الله أكـــبر
الله أكـــبر
الله أكـــبر


Tiada Tuhan yang disembah selain ALlah
Tuhan yang Maha Esa
dan kami berserah kepadaNya
Tiada Tuhan yang disembah selainNya
kami tidak menyerah selain kepadaNya
kami mengikhlaskan tunduk kepada Nya
walaupun dibenci oleh org musyrik
Tiada Tuhan selain Allah
Tuhan kami dan Tuhan nenek moyang kami
yang terdahulu

Tiada Tuhan yang disembah selain Allah
Tuhan yang Esa,Tuhan yang Esa,Tuhan yang Esa
Dia telah menunaikan janjiNya
Dia telah memenangkan hambaNya
Dia telah memuliakan tenteraNya
dan Dia telah mengalahkan musuhNya berseorangan

Bagi ALlah segala kerajaan,bagi segala pujian
Dia yang menghidupkan dan mematikan
Dia yang mematikan dan menghidupkan
sedangkan Dia Maha Hidup dan tidak mati
Dalam segala kekuasaan dan kebajikan
dan Dia Maha Berkuasa atas segala sesuatu

ALlah 
Maha Besar

Definisi Pengganas (terrorist)

Definisi Terrorist (pengganas) menurut kerajaan Amerika

Under Section 3 of Executive Order 13224 "Blocking Property and prohibiting Transactions with Persons who commit, threaten to commit, or support Terrorism", the term "terrorism" means an activity that...
(i) involves a violent act or an act dangerous to human life, property, or infrastructure; and
(ii) appears to be intended
• to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
• to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or
• to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, kidnapping, or hostage-taking.

'The Independent' hari ini turut menyiarkan beberapa kritikan media Israel terhadap tindakan kerajaannya, antara yang paling menarik adalah kata-kata Ben Caspit, di akhbar Isreal, Maariv, katanya:
"The Israeli image took a mortal blow and all this happened deep in International Waters and tunred Israel into a pirate state".
 Memang benarlah apa yang dikatakan, Israel sememangnya negara Lanun yang dihuni oleh lanun-lanun.

(www.zaharudin.net)

Ahad, Jun 06, 2010

Senjata di atas kapal Mavi Marmara??

serban, pisau dapur, kayu kapak, dan regular tools

sling shot, guli-guli, juga adalah senjata?


peralatan binaan?
Sejak bila teropong night vision adalah senjata?

mesin grinder, bukankah alatan biasa dalam atas kapal besar?
sling shot yang sama pada tahun 2006? (have seen this pic before..)

pisau dapur?


Fikrah:-
1) Fikirlah dan lihatlah dengan mata kepala sendiri...

Khamis, Jun 03, 2010

Malaysia on Subsidy Rationalisation


Q&A: Pemandu's clarification on subsidy rationalisation

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 18:20:00
AFTER the Subsidy Rationalisation Open Day, the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) and the Subsidy Rationalisation Lab received a lot of feedback either through emails, SMS, alternative media seeking clarification and challenging the facts and analysis of the subsidy lab which they presented.
The two parties thought it would be useful to provide a public response so that those who were not in attendance and were unable to ask questions would benefit from their response.
These are the views and recommendations solely of Pemandu and the Subsidy Rationalisation Lab, and not necessarily that of the Government.
Below are the frequently asked questions that were channelled to the two parties, with a response from Pemandu chief executive officer Datuk Seri Idris Jala.
1. Why did you say that Malaysia will go bankrupt in 2019? Have you misled us?
During the Open Day, I presented some salient facts about the economy. For the last 10 years, we have been running a fiscal deficit which has been growing progressively from RM5 billion in 1998, to a record high of RM47 billion in 2009.
This was due to the fact that Government expenditure including subsidies has been escalating, whereas Government revenue has not kept pace as our economy/ GDP (gross domestic product) grew at only 3% per annum. Consequently, the Government has to borrow a lot of money to cover for the short fall.
Our Government debt in 1997 was RM90 billion and has grown at a rate of 12% per annum to reach a record of RM362 billion in 2009. In addition, as a proportion to GDP, Malaysia is one of the world's highest subsidised countries with 4.7% of GDP compared to Indonesia 2.7%, Philippines 0.2% and OECD countries at 1.5% on average.
To be clear, I said we could go bankrupt IF, and I repeat the word IF we continue with the same trends as in the past 10 over years; based on an annual increase of 12%, our debt will reach 100% of GDP in 2019 (a staggering RM1.158 trillion) and we could potentially go bankrupt then.
Together with escalating fiscal deficit exceeding 10%, we could end up in a similar economic situation like Greece and other similar countries.
slide1
slide2








All economists make assumptions and I did not say Malaysia will go bankrupt without qualifying it with certain assumptions. These assumptions are based on Malaysia'a historical trends in the last 10 over years:
  • The economy/ GDP continues at a rate of 3% per annum
  • Our deficit continues at a rate of 23% per annum
  • Our Government debt continues to increase at rate of 12% per annum
The outcome of this projection is that by the year 2019, our debt will be 103% of GDP and our fiscal deficit will reach RM449 billion (38% of GDP).
According to studies conducted by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), counties get into sovereign crisis (bankruptcy) when:
  • Government debt is > 100% of the GDP
  • Fiscal deficit > 10% of GDP
This is because:
  • Government revenue is not enough to service its debt
  • Government does not have any money to operate
Unfortunately, some of the reports about Pemandu's bankruptcy projections did not state these assumptions and therefore can be taken out of context. Some people question whether our assumptions are realistic. I think it is fair to make projections into the future based on our historical trends over the last 10 years. It is on this basis that Pemandu made its assumptions and therefore its projections.
There assumptions are used by Pemandu to make forecast about the future. In reality, as a country, we will have to do everything we can to avoid this from happening. The Prime Minister has laid out four strategic pillars which make up the country's roadmap to achieving Vision 2020; i.e.
  • 1 Malaysia, People First, Performance Now
  • Government Transformation Programme
  • New Economic Model
  • 10th Malaysia Plan
The future is clearly in our hands. And if all of us Malaysians work together, we can achieve Vision 2020. This involves concerted effort to grow our economy and be prudent in our spending.
2. Surely there must be some positive things that are happening in our economy? Why are you not highlighting them?
I actually highlighted those positive aspects of the economy. Firstly, I said that our economy is rebounding in the first quarter of this year by 10.1%. This is the highest quarterly result in a decade. Our international competitiveness ranking has improved from 18th to 10th position. This is a phenomenal jump of 8th place in one year. This should give us, as Malaysians, the comfort that we can shape a better future for our country. (Slides)
3. The Government should focus on growing the economy (thereby increasing Government revenue/ GDP) rather than cutting the subsidies.
As I explained during the presentation, the Government will conduct 12 laboratories on National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs) to recommend ways for us increase the our economic growth (GNI per capita) from USD7,000 to USD15,000 by the year 2020. This will help to potentially increase Government revenue in the next 10 years.
These laboratories, which run from June 1 until end of July, comprise more than 400 representatives from the private and public sector, facilitated by Pemandu. I mentioned that once these laboratories are completed, we will conduct Open Days to exhibit the labs recommendations to the public.
slide3
slide4









The Subsidy Lab's view is that growing the economy is necessary, but not sufficient. We have to take a holistic approach by addressing both economic growth as well as expenditure/ subsidy reduction. At the Open Day, I showed the following slides to demonstrate this holistic approach.
slide5
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4. The Government should cut its expenditure rather than focus on subsidy reduction.
As part of the measures to reduce Government expenditure in the 2010 budget, the Prime Minister has announced an RM24 billion reduction in Government expenditure and a projected reduction in fiscal deficit from 7.6% to 5.5% of GDP. The Prime Minister has also emphasised that all Government projects deliver "value for money". Going forward, the Government will continue to adopt a prudent approach in terms of its spending and this will be apparent in the 10th Malaysia Plan.
5. Why didn't the Government conduct independent polls from the rakyat to gauge public feedback on the subsidy rationalisation?
That was exactly what we did. Before the Open Day, we asked Maxis to send SMS blast to their phone subscribers, asking whether Malaysia needs to reduce its subsidy bills. 190,152 people responded and Maxis counted the responses which showed that 115,246 people (61%) agreed for Malaysia to reduce subsidies and 123,557 people (67.5%) suggested to reduce subsidies gradually over 3 to 5 years.
During the Open Day, 1,899 people who attended the Open Day responded. Of which, 1712 people (90%) agreed that we should reduce subsidies and only a small minority (187) opposed the subsidy reduction.
6. Why are we not protecting the poor and the low income in this Subsidy Rationalisation proposal?
For every subsidy reduction proposal, the lab has recommended mitigation measures to protect the rakyat, particularly the poor.
For example, in the case of increases in the electricity tariff, the mitigation measures are as follows. For those whose electricity consumption is less than 100 kWh per month, the Government will continue with the current practice of giving it free of charge. For those who consume between 101-200 kwH per month, the existing tariff apply (no change). Based on our statistics, these two categories constitute 56% of all consumers.
In the case of fuel price increase, the mitigation measures include cash rebate of RM126 per year for car owner less than 1,000cc and RM54 per year for owner of motorbikes less than 250cc. Car and bike capacity is used as a proxy to determine the low income and the poor category.
In the case of flour, sugar and cooking oil & LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cooking gas, the mitigation measure will include a cash rebate of RM20 per person per year. For a family of five, they will receive RM100 cash per year.
7. We should not remove subsidy on Education, Health and Agriculture.
The lab agrees. Education is indeed an investment on Human Capital. We will continue to spend to provide subsidies on education such as scholarships, text book assistance, food, etc. However, we will remove wastages and abuse - we abolish the subsidised fee for foreign students.
For Health, we will continue to provide subsidies but with nominal outpatient fee of RM3, which incidentally is one of the lowest outpatient fee in the world. For Agriculture & Fisheries, we continue the subsidies but we will improve implementation so that the subsidies will receive to target audience.
8. Instead of subsidy reduction, the Government should focus on fighting corruption, removing wastage and improving efficiencies.
Under the Government Transformation Programme (GTP), one of the six NKRAs (National Key Result Areas) is fighting corruption. To date, we have implemented several key initiatives to address this. For example, since January this year, we have passed the Whistleblower Protection Act in the Parliament, we have convicted and published 97 offenders in the MACC website, in the spirit of transparency, we have published 2,665 Government contract awards in the procurement portal and we have issued clear guidelines to prevent supporting letters from being abused. In addition, we are implementing the Integrity Pact as recommended by Transparency International (TI) in Government procurement contracts. The Government is following up on the findings and recommendations of the Auditor-General's report.
9. The Government should appoint a high-powered team to renegotiate the existing contracts with the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and Highway Toll Concessionaires.
This is a fair suggestion. The lab will recommend this to the cabinet.
10. Do you realise that this is a very unpopular action by the Government that will cause Barisan Nasional to lose votes, and people are also very angry?
During the Open Day, we acknowledged that this is the most unpopular action that the Malaysian Government would have to take since independence and understandably, people will be shock and angry. The lab is of the opinion that we should not be partisan in addressing the issue of subsidy rationalisation. Indeed, in our panel discussion during the Open Day, we also invited DAP representative (YB Tony Pua) as a panellist.
However, we have to face realities and now we have to make the sacrifice for our future and for future generation. If we ask all the Malaysians who are not yet born to participate in a public vote, we are sure that all of them would ask all of us to implement subsidy rationalisation now and they will condemn us for not having the courage and foresight to take this bold step. The lab's view is that we must take into account the views of both the existing and future generation of Malaysians.


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Fikrah:
1) This is one method to 'persuade' society as a whole to accept this 'rationalisation' thing... in other words, this is another form of indoctrination. 
2) The 'IF' word are still circling the discussions. Even though it may heard as critical, it also may seem as seriousness of the government in making changes. Still, for 52 years, people have been educated for 'spoon-feeding', this is really is MAJOR step, and can be said AdhoC step as well.