Nor Yaakob's Conspiracy theory

Photo taken from http://thestar.com.my/archives/2007/7/19/nation/n_25nor.jpg

Almost anything in Malaysia would come with a conspiracy theory nowadays. Sure, there are some real conspiracies and some are well imagined. The others are rethorics that was formed from coffee shop talks. It takes a person who is mature to know how to distinguish between more credible talks than angan -angan (inspiration). For example, the Home Minister decided to lock down Kuala Lumpur on the basis of 2 sms, 2 blogs and 2 speaches that he is still unable to produce as 'credible evidences". Till he is able to produce these 'evidences', it would be in the domain of speculative decision making.

I was on the plane to another country where the economy is booming and everything is being built at the same time. In contrast to that, the Malaysian economy seemed to be uninspired, rudderless and lethargic at best. Against this backdrop, it is even more harder to digest the Star newspaper headline that screamed "Nor Mohamed: Economy under attack every 10 years ". He claimed that " these “attacks” could be either coincidental or attempts by “unseen hands” to sabotage the economy". I do want to know who these attackers are and if indeed, the current mess in our economy is a product of external factors than internal mismanagement and inefficiency.

The BN's mouthpiece in the web also came out with an article " Policy Flip flop due to flops" where it decided to investigate the issue of competency and performance of our ministers.

"The decades of sacrificing meritocracy and having a political system which views smart individuals as a threat is hurting the country like never before.

Just run through the list of Cabinet ministers from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi downwards. Only a clutch of them have a strong grasp of economics and understand how the market works. Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop. Datuk Amirsham Aziz, Datuk Mustapa Mohamed. Perhaps a handful of others. Perhaps.

The rest are, well, politicians. They rose up the ranks in Umno, MIC, MCA because they are astute politicians; they are adept at working the ground, are good orators; are powerful warlords in their respective states and are the best that their component party can offer"

This piece should be written prior to Nor Yaakob's unsubstantiated revelation of conspiracy. Perhaps he was trying to go to the level of Tun Dr Mahathir when he tackled the 1997 Currency exchange related economic challenge. The difference between then and now is that there was a consensus that indeed the currency speculation and subsequent domino failings of national currencies ( baht, rupiah etc.) is real. And the fact that Nor Yaakob is not Tun Dr. Mahathir.

Would suggest few reading materials for our distinguished Finance Minister. I for one do not hold highly a Finance Minister who are not able to articulate his strategy on the cuff and remarked that Tony Fernandes ( CEO of Airasia) did a better job responding to Bloombergs' line of questioning and came out stronger. I have not seen this minister attempting such a rudimentary skill of an economist and probably would not want to see another minister shooting themselves in the foot.

> Finance 101 - business cycle or economic cycle via wikipedia

> The Kondratieff Theory - slightly wordy but good grounding to know that these theories have been around for some time.

> Generating economic cycle by HL Moore

So, unless that this minister provide more insight into his allegation, would this just be another speculative uttering from a supposedly authority in economic policy driving?

Would the Real Police force please stand up .. please stand up ..

Image from http://english.people.com.cn/200512/09/images/1209_A20.jpg

Today is Sunday. I have managed to avoid blogging on any hot subjects of last week. 3 big events that happen last week that created a lasting impression and knocked KLCI further down the rung. First, the paranoid decision on Monday that created mothers of all traffic jams in Klang valley, estimated at millions of ringgit in opportunity lost. Then the debater who won the first televised debate was captured ala SWAT style on Tuesday. On Wednesday, blogger extraordinaire of Malaysia Today was captured and charged. And we are only halfway thru the week.

However, I would wish to bring out the need to reform in our police force. Indeed, some joked that PDRM ( Polis Di Raja Malaysia) should be called PRDM .. Polis Raja Di Malayisa ( Police, the king in Malaysia). The mind boggling actions of our once respected law enforces turned into despair and frustration. Selective enforcement and random decision making makes it tougher for the Malaysian citizen to give them the benefit of doubt. Indeed, the writting by Tunku Abdul Aziz today "Arrest police's fall from grace" reflected many people's grievence over the week.

"This confirms what I have always said about our sloppy management of public relations and information generally.The severely-battered police image took another self-inflictedbeating, which could have been avoided without sacrificing the objectof the whole exercise, which was to take Anwar into custody.The right of arrest under the law, in circumstances that warrant it,is not in dispute here.

As we all know, police powers are wide andoften abused with impunity, but surely, the manner of the arrest wasexcessive.One of the most important tenets or doctrines of ethical policing is the principle of proportionality. It is about time police training gave greater emphasis to human rights issues so as to create publicconfidence.The police cannot succeed without the cooperation and support of the public, and as long as the police continue to over-react, they willnever be accepted as friends and protectors, to the detriment of lawand order in our already crime-ridden towns and cities."

-"Contemporary policing demands much higher standards ofprofessionalism, ethical behaviour, self-worth and honesty than in the past".

-"The police need strong, visionary leadership that is prepared tosubordinate individual preferences to the larger interests of thenation".

'".... have convinced me more than ever thatthe most important recommendation of all, the setting up of anunadulterated Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission,must not be delayed any longer."

Indeed, the cost of incompetence is very high and the time is nigh for the police force to look at itself and do better. The millions of taxpayers's ringgit have been invested into buying new techonologies, cars, etc. , and there is a need to make the best use of the resources that the people have paid for. We also paid for your salary ( though not much) and other benefits. Some housing residences are now paying guards to guard their neighbourhood. May we not see the day that the taxpayer paid organised thugs for protection and instead of the police.

Would the Real Police force please stand up?

Missing person alert

Not a joke. If happen to see this chap, do the necessary

Harap maaf sekiranya email ini memenuhkan mailbox anda...Cuma menjalankantanggungjawab sesama insan.....
Assalamualaikum Tuan/Puan/Saudara/Saudari... (minta tolong forwardkan padakawan-kawan email dari saya ini) Sesiapa yang terjumpa abang saya, ABDULAZIZ (seperti gambar yang disertakan), sila hubungi salah satu nombor dibawah atau menghantar beliau ke Balai Polis berdekatan kerana kami telahmelaporkan kehilangannya sebelum ini.

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"Debate" on article 153.

I also read the attempt by the Malay nationalistic group (MMKM) in refuting the article by Raja Aziz Addruse and Helen Ting in NST Sunday. Wonder why NST allow such racist group to put forth their positions when they do not extend the same priveledge to groups like Don Jiong or God forbit... Hindraff, the 'Tamil tigers". Comparing both articles, one is written with reference to other documents/ research and the other one is ... uhmm.. a good attempt. It is like reading the judgement of ex CJ Ahmad Fairuz and compare it to to Richard Melunjun's judgement in Lina Joy's case. You just know where quality sits. But as usual in Malaysia, it is not facts that decide the matter but emotions and who shouts louder. Esp. when the article have threats like "I think it is not safe" and"It is a sensitive issue and no one should question it". Excellent summary of a 'debate' by a Tan Sri is that the other side should keep quiet. (http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/Columns/2286159/Article/index_html)