Really, How Strong is Keadilan Youth?

Malaysiakini carried the report of the planned protest organised by Keadilan Youth yesterday.

Well, the question is = 100 people?. To protest an issue that is entrenched in all Malaysians, especially the youth?.

Can this be a reflection of the popular support of youth claimed by Keadlian leaders?. The first thing that comes to mind, how would Keadilan fare if it loses the support of DAP and PAS?. Keadilan, appearing more and more like the junior-est partner of Pakatan Rakyat.

Pakatan Sementara?

Baru sahaja melepasi garisan 100 hari mentadbir, gabungan Pakatan Rakyat kelihatan semakin rapuh. Pada awal minggu ini, pucuk pimpinan DAP telah membidas cadangan Pemuda PAS untuk melaksanakan pentadbiran Negara Islam ("Islamic State") di negeri negeri dibawah tampuk pemerintahan Pakatan Rakyat.

Terkini, Pemuda PAS Selangor telah "ditinggalkan" oleh Menteri Besar Selangor dari Parti Keadilan dan akhirnya terpaksa menarik balik bantahan mereka.. untuk menghalang persembahan dua artis terkemuka.

Sementara itu, pentadbiran Kerajaan Negeri Pakatan Rakyat yang ramai terdiri dari parti PAS telah ditegur oleh Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang, Lim Guang Eng.

Strategi Anwar Ibrahim di dalam menggabus kerapuhan ini? - mengalihkan pandangan rakyat melalui percaturan politik yang bakal mengancam sistem demokrasi di Malaysia. Baca pandangan bekas orang yang paling kanan beliau disini. Malaysiakini membuat laporan perjumpaan Pakatan Rakyat di Selangor dimana Anwar Ibrahim terus menggegarkan istitusi demokrasi dengan panggilan lompat parti.

Pakatan Rakyat yang menjanjikan pelbagai perubahan kepada Rakyat masih belum mengotakan janji Pilihanraya yang ditabur kepada pengundi-pengundi. Soalannya ialah samaada Pakatan Rakyat akan terus wujud sebagai satu entiti dalam jangkamasa panjang untuk memenuhi janji-janji ini?.

In The Ring - Changing a life (that has no) style

My thoughts in Malay Mail this week -

AND so with a stroke of a pen the headlines were cast. A 41 per cent increase in fuel price.


The torrential rain that accompanied the queues at petrol stations across the country on the night of the announcement reflected the sombre mood collectively felt as a nation.

Contemplating how to cope with the petrol hike shocker and its after effects remains entrenched in the hearts – and befuddles the minds of many Malaysians across all segments. Rational Malaysians understand very well that this is a global phenomenon. Vivid pictures of demonstrations in Indonesia and even in Britain; the toppling of the government in Haiti … all illustrate the global impact of the issue. We are not alone in facing this difficulty.

Malaysians have been asked to ubah gaya hidup (make lifestyle changes).

I decided to probe the impact of the message on the urban youth (as I am a member of this segment, thus making the task easier).

The almost unanimous feedback on this message astounds me.

Over nasi kandar, a friend related his concerns.

When his father started working at a salary of RM1,800 in a government linked company (GLC) about 30 years ago, the money was enough for his mother to be a fulltime homemaker and the family had some room for ‘luxury’ spending. From his observations, the current crop of fresh graduates commence working life at approximately the same salary, but the cost of living has risen sharply since dad’s days.

It is now uncommon to see urban working couples enjoying the same kind of ‘luxurious’ lifestyle of yesteryear.

With two young kids of his own, my friend’s biggest fear is that in future his children would have to work two shifts or jobs just to make ends meet.

Herein is the theme of the feedback I received. “What else can we change?” Last night, I met a friend from my secondary school days. He had just returned from studying medicine in Britain. Surprisingly, his concerns mirror that of the urban youth.

He confides that every waking moment, he feels the money fl ow from his pockets. As a surgeon, I had assumed that, at the very least, he was comfortable.

I am sure he is among the 3.8 per cent of Malaysian taxpayers categorised under the highest paying 28 per cent taxable income bracket. But if he has concerns, what more the rest of us? Perhaps the conversation that had the greatest impact on me is of the banker whose hometown is in Paroi Jaya, Seremban.

A father of one, he is truly feeling the heat. His wife works to help pay the mortgage on their house and car.

As both of them work at unconventional hours, their son is sent to a nursery for most part of the day.

Dinner usually depends on what the coffee shops or stalls down the street or near the office offer.

Surely they have ‘items of luxury spending’ that can be sacrifi ced? The answer was a fl at ‘No’.

A signifi cant percentage of their savings are obligatory allowances to their families in Seremban. Their biggest concern? That the monthly money given to mak and ayah back home is no longer suffi cient. What else can he change? Curiosity drove me to push further. What is the single main grouse common amongst the urban youth that I met? Stagnant wages. Camoufl aged by the unrealistic Consumer Price Index, the barometer employed by the private sector for wages increase, many argue at 2.7 per cent, is not refl ective of the current situation.

What’s worse is that we have not even begun our battle against knock-on infl ation because of the hike.

Pictures of school canteen operators increasing their price adorn the covers of newspapers. This is something that must be changed.

Post June 4, the government had laid out ways and means to alleviate the burden of the rakyat. Numerous ideas were bandied, including some tangible suggestions such as removing the toll roads within the Klang Valley, improvement of public transport and usage of hybrid technology to reduce dependency on fossil fuel. These might ease the burden and hopefully create some space to accommodate changes in our lifestyles.

But for many, lifestyle changes have never been an option in the first place.

In The Ring > You have been poked!

HAVE you seen that latest TV advertisement of a local mobile operator which shouts: Subscribe to our service and you will able to use a killer application to connect with your family, friends and new acquaintances with just a push of a button! Wow.
Well, for once, I feel – despite my Blackberry – that technology hasn’t beaten me to the tape. I have all the connectivity I presently need with my Facebook.

Dax, a self-confessed Facebook activist, had egged me to join the cult earlier this year. Naturally, I was apprehensive – not because I didn’t believe in its mythical powers of connectivity but because I feared its addictive qualities.

What is the alluring factor of Facebook as an Internet social networking website? What has prompted more than 80 million people to register since it was launched in February 2004? How on Earth did it get to be the fifth most trafficked site in the US and achieve an indicative valuation of US$2 billion (RM6.4 billion)? (According to Alexa traffic rankings on Malaysia, Facebook is currently rated 11 after Friendster in the third spot and Myspace on the ninth).

My money is on the fact that most of us have voyeuristic tendencies and the application appeals to a kind of vanity. Facebook provides the opportunity to reveal to friends who you really are and what you are currently up to. In an instant.

But over and above this New-Age voyeurism as it’s dubbed – I personally like the Facebook facilities that transcend into the realm of convenient and tangible networking (I can’t possibly spread myself too thin but I’m sure the other social networking sites have similar facilities too).

Take for example, the Young Corporate Malaysians, a group that organises successful CEO talks for the benefit of young graduates. Its founder and former UKEC (United Kingdom and Eire Council for Malaysian Students) chairman Wan Firdaus Fuaad relies significantly on the Facebook ‘events’ feature to communicate with potential participants.

They are on to their 10th CEO now.

But the Facebook theme that strikes me the most where Malaysians are concerned is the dynamic role it is taking on vis-àvis the political scenario.

Malaysian politicians, old and mostly young such as MPs Khairy Jamaluddin, Nurul Izzah and Mukhriz Mahathir, are increasingly using Facebook for disseminating their agenda – uploading videos of their latest speeches or programmes, newspaper interviews – and even seemingly answering the ‘hard questions’ and sharing their many experiences.

Facebook is basically an automatic and interactive one stop site. Chances are, Facebook-ers log on to their sites before doing any other surfing, so any updates on, say for example, a politician’s profile will also be added on to the users’ own personal ‘book’. It also allows any Facebook-er to contribute comments and materials so content is not dependent on the politician alone.

Last month alone, I witnessed three major arguments between close friends because of political affiliations derived from Facebook.

Then, there are groups with specific messages accompanied with sometime very wordy topic heading like “Against Pakatan Rakyat – or anybody forming government through crossover MPs?” or “One Million Malaysians Against Petrol & Electricity Hike” which have members from across the political divide.

For the next General Election, almost 56 per cent of the voters will be under the age of 40. Essentially, the Friendster, Myspace and Facebook generation. One can only imagine how dependant these voters will be on communication via their personal networking sites – and its popular partner in crime, Youtube (that’s another story).

But surely Facebook is a social network meant for the youth segment? After all, it was created by Mark Zuckerberg for the tertiary and high school student market. But, try telling that to my uncles and aunties.

They will probably reply, how else can they see albums of grandchildren and grandnephews thousands of miles away at a click of a button? There is no question in my mind that such interface technological communication are a boon to political communication, organisation and fundraising.

Now, who needs a superpoke?

Malaysiakini - UMNO Youth's Political Survival

Read the report on Malaysiakini. It is also available on Pemuda UMNO website. A PC and a launching ceremony of Pemuda UMNO's official blog - Saka Bangsa was held on Monday by the EXCO in charge of the newly formed Pemuda UMNO media relations secretariat, Datuk Sazmi Miah.

The blog falls short of reasonable expectation. By a far mile. A blog needs to be driven by content, utilisation of multimedia applications and at least, looks good. It is a highly competitive market out there. Worse, the links on the website implies internal political agenda. Where are the strong UMNO Youth leaders?. Do you see Rahman Dahlan's link?. Pemuda UMNO official website link?. Why is Kadir Jasin there? Who is Akramsyah Sanusi within the context of Pemuda UMNO?.

Our focus shouldn't be December 2008 but the 5 years horizon. By PRU 13, 56% of registered votes will be under the age of 40. This is UMNO Youth's market. If we are fighting for political survival, I am not going to sit around and count on Sang Saka blog to deliver the goods.

In The Ring > Fuel prices – Dad, what would you do?

THE petrol subsidy has long been taboo for people in public office.
But in view of the escalating prices of the world oil, Malaysia has reached a juncture where it can no longer afford to be the second cheapest pump price Asian country.

The situation is worsened by the fact that analysts believe that it may reach US$150 to US$200 per barrel any time in the duration between six months to two years.



Like most Malaysians coated under the veil of artifi cial pump prices, I don’t even know what the prevailing market price is, but I know RM1.92 per litre of petrol is already causing a dent in my thinning pockets.

I spoke to someone in the oil and gas industry, to allay my concerns and ask for an expert opinion on the issue of potential reduction of the petrol subsidy.

His answer caught me a little by surprise as he believes that instead of giving everyone the benefi t of the Automatic Pricing Mechanism, the subsidy should be targeted to families below a certain income threshold.

Over Starbucks, another friend opined that if we can’t invoke tax as a mechanism to reduce the burden of the deserving (because only a small percentage of Malaysians pay taxes), we should give direct cheques to people below a certain threshold or waive road tax for small cylinder cars.

But no matter how many people I speak to, how many analyses I read, on a personal level, the answer continues to evade me. I managed to do some soul searching whilst I was away in Singapore over the weekend.

It wasn’t difficult to keep it mind because the news of Malaysian subsidy made the front page on a major Singapore daily on Monday.

This is an issue of regional proportions.

At the Singapore Underwater World, my twoyear-old son and I went up to a tank to see up close one of his favourite Disney character, Nemo. Whilst his eyes were fi xed to the Nemo lookalike, another ‘uglier’ fi sh came up to him. He screamed in fear that the fi sh wanted to eat him. Of course, he didn’t understand he was separated by the glass, but as I consoled and explained the role of the glass, I began to fi nd the answer to my own burning question.

Every year, on the third week of June we celebrate Father’s Day. The main responsibility of a father is that of decision maker of the family. Like a Government to its people.

The subsidy question, if broken down is akin to being a responsible father.

Given the prospect of depleting oil reserves and the possibility of the entire Budget being used to pay for subsidies, would you agree with a policy that will adversely impact your current fi nances? Or would you fi ght tooth and nail for the subsidy to remain at current levels? The trade off for continuing the subsidy: leave the problem for the future generation to deal with? My father would not require a second to answer that question. It’s a trait of a responsible father.

However, in facing diffi cult decisions, I believe a responsible father needs to do everything within his reach to reduce the adverse impact on his family.

In the context of petrol subsidy, if we are left with no choice but to reduce the subsidy, the Government needs to increase education and awareness of the use of fossil fuels and the importance of its conservation for the sake of future generations.

In Singapore, the fl oating market price of a litre of petrol is approximately RM5.07. But the country also possesses an efficient public transport system that reduces the adverse impact on its people. We need to do more.

That is why on the balance of the arguments, my vote is for the Government that possesses the characteristics of my father. A responsible Government that makes hard choices while simultaneously reducing the burden on its people.

I bet if he could, my son would vote the same way too.

Small Steps, Big Impact

Found some good news regarding improvements in Internship programs in Bernama today. Let's hope for genuine private sector participation, not just on the surface. It is a requiem for this initiative to work.

The full text here:

Higher Education Ministry To Implement New Internship Programme

KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 (Bernama) -- The Higher Education Ministry will implement a more structured internship programme for university students beginning next month.

The programme aims to enhance the employability of graduates by equipping them with the skills and experience related to their field of study in view of concerns raised by employers with regards to the quality of graduates, such as lacking in soft skills.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the ministry was focusing on developing undergraduates into competent and innovative individuals with high moral values in order to meet national and international needs.

"This (the programme) will help provide more opportunities for students to gain early exposure to the workplace environment," he told reporters after presenting the Taylor's World Class Scholarship here Tuesday.

Asked whether the duration of the programme would be standardised throughout the country, Mohamed Khaled said it would depend on the agreement between the respective universities and the sponsoring companies, but it would normally be for a few months before graduation.

"It is hoped that more private companies and corporate organisations will participate in the programme as their cooperation is important to make it a success," he said.

On the Taylor's World Class Scholarship programme, he said it was in line with the government's aim of encouraging collaboration between industries and institutions of higher learning.

The 19 students who were awarded with RM2 million worth of scholarships at Tuesday's presentation will be assured of internship in world-class multinational organisations.

In The Ring > A State of Mind for all

My entry on 29th May 2008

AMBIGUITY is a dangerous word.

When given a political face, ambiguity can be a tool of destruction.

A few weeks ago over dinner, as a conversation starter, someone posed the question: “Is Bangsa Malaysia by definition a Malaysian race or a Malaysian Nation?” He quoted the Malay translation for United Nations which is Pertubuhan Bangsa- Bangsa Bersatu as an example to highlight the obvious ambiguity.

The debate concerning Bangsa Malaysia gained prominence a few years back. The ambiguity of the term created a heated national debate with an array of conservative, traditionalist, liberal views that only enhanced the confusion.

Last Sunday, at the National Unity Day celebrations, the term was raised again in the public sphere.

In my opinion, as a concept, Bangsa Malaysia is a state of mind. It is a vision created to provide a clear direction of where we should be heading as a country.

It is a statement of hope, opportunity and, more importantly, a means to achieve unity.

A state of mind which, when obtained, would complete the dreams and aspirations of our forefathers.

In that spirit, I cannot comprehend a unified Malaysia if its stakeholders feel threatened with the definition.

The quest to assign meaning to the term should never be laced with an agenda to question rights and privileges that are enshrined in the Federal Constitution and as espoused in the Rukun Negara.

In essence, I believe Bangsa Malaysia is the collective spirit and desire to exist as Malaysians and, at the same time, preserve our original identity, culture, religion, language and traditional practices.

I won’t attempt to use the confines of this column to provide a comprehensive definition. It requires dialogues and buy-ins from all the relevant stakeholders. By this, I mean Malaysians of all walks of life.

Debating the meaning of Bangsa Malaysia is not going to bring us closer together.

However obscure the term, the desired effect is tangible. Unity, to a certain extent, is measurable.

Therefore, based on the premise that Bangsa Malaysia is a state of mind all Malaysians should strive for, achieving the desired tangible result is an enormous responsibility thrust on Malaysian youth.

How close are we to eliminating the identification of race with economic function? How close are we to having national schools? The difficulty in finding the answers to these pertinent questions is a reflection of the magnitude of the task ahead.

How do we begin to find the answers? Who is going to point us in the right direction? We can be comforted by the fact that an issue is interpreted by the realities of the day. It is reflective of prevailing sentiments.

How else would you explain the ushering of 2009 by witnessing a State of the Union address from a first ‘non-white’ or woman President? It is a difficult task, but not an impossible one.

The hope can be seen, especially outside of the country, where it is the norm to see Malaysians relate to each other on the basis of nationality rather than race or religion.

I lived in a house that comprised Malays, Indians, Chinese, Sabahan and Sarawakian (we rented a sizeable house). We respected each other’s customs and participated in each other’s festivities.

When asked who I lived with, I can’t remember giving any other answer than “a bunch of crazy Malaysians”.

Beyond these shores, I have never heard anyone introduce themselves as “Hi, my name is so and so, I am a Malay from Malaysia”. Have you? When I posed a question on the concept of Bangsa Malaysia, a learned man posed a question back at me: “A Malaysian Chinese emigrated to Australia.

When asked where his homeland is, what do you think his answer would be?” Voices that use the Bangsa Malaysia concept as a force to promote unity via endless debate, could end up politicising the issue even further.

As 21st century Malaysians, we must do better; we have no other choice.

First things first – let’s not allow polemics to distort our collective quest for a better Malaysia.

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Investment in Human Capital

Column on 22nd May 2008

I WAS treated to a rare telephone conversation with my brother over the Wesak weekend.
He had just finished his final exams and must have been quite bored.

During the conversation, my mind raced to a time when I was in the same position – it was the best and the worst of times.

The best because it dawned upon me that I didn’t have to study any more if I didn’t want to.

The worst because it signified the impending entrance into the realm of being a ‘useful’ member of society; the obligation to put food on the table.

In a few months, many final year students will join the rat race, competing for the best positions in the employment market.

With supply greater than demand, competition for places is expected to intensify further.

Herein lies my first grouse.

When potential employers vet a first time candidate’s résumé, inadvertently they look out for any previous employment information.

Although the weightage given is subjective, it still contributes to a candidate’s chances of securing employment.

This is unfortunate given that internship spaces in the best companies are very limited.

A few years ago, Akademi Pemuda designed the Pemuda Internship programme (PINTAR) to provide our future graduates with trainee-work opportunities that could strengthen their résumé.

The debut programme saw 100 penultimate year students working in the best of breed companies in Malaysia.

With high retention rates and good feedback from both participating companies and students, the programme was dubbed a success.

But it was difficult to ignore the elephant in the room – what about the thousands of other potential graduates? Obviously, there was a need to intensify such programmes to ensure the majority, if not more, are given equal opportunities.

My second grouse is that during the course of the programme, several structural problems in the employment market were brought to the fore.

While academic achievement is a criterion, there were others just as important.

Good grades may indicate that theoretically, one possesses the discipline to understand what and how to do certain things.

However, according to some human resource managers we spoke with, the majority of graduates entering the job market lack confidence, proficiency in English and communication skills – in essence, the soft skills.

Recent survey data confirms that the difficulty facing 90,000 of our fresh graduates is their lack of soft skills.

The Ministry of Higher Education, realising that this is a problem, has made soft skills as well as entrepreneurship module, compulsory subjects in public universities.

These are worth two credit hours each.

But what about the private universities – and there are many.

Shouldn’t the subjects be compulsory requirement too? I personally believe the structural transformation of Malaysia’s economy over the last 50 years has been spectacular.

Malaysia had capitalised on its abundance of mineral resources and fertile lands to launch an economy based on agriculture and primary commodities.

It further moved on to a manufacturing-based, export-driven economy spurred on by high technology, knowledge-based and capital-intensive industries.

The reality is globalisation.

There are new rules to attract the world’s most highly skilled workers.

Take for example, the sovereign gates of the European Union which are opening wider.

If jobseekers can show that they’re well educated and have secured an offer of a lucrative job in Europe, they can get a twoyear renewable permit to live there.

Although this provides an opportunity for our brightest to gain experience, globalisation dictates that we have to face the same challenges for the best jobs in Malaysia.

We don’t know what the future holds, but one thing is for sure: the rules of the game are changing.

We must address the issues that are facing our graduates as a matter of priority.

We must mobilise significant resources to ensure that our students are given a playing field that is level in every sense of the word.

In the innovation economy we are living in, the differentiating factor is neither natural resources nor financial capital.

The necessary advantage is human capital.

Let’s give it the attention it deserves.

The Parliament Lobby Week 12th to 15th May

Our MPs earned their money last week as the sessions went into overtime, finishing at 12am on Tuesday and 9.30 pm on Wednesday. The intention is to give all MPs a chance to give a motion of thanks to the King’s Speech.

Notable speeches included YB Rembau’s 30 minutes, "no intervention allowed" speech which made headlines in all printed and printable news reports. Although the substantive section which included suggestions to reduce corruption by employing cutting edge technology, press freedom, revitalizing the agriculture sector, the newsmakers and opinion makers narrowed down on the “Projek Khinzir Rakyat” branding that riled the opposition to no end. He has included the full speech in his website.

The students (quite a number of them) watched in amazement as the Opposition members went into a frenzy, raising at least 10 point of orders in their bid to stop the Deputy Youth Head from finishing his speech.

Another Pemuda UMNO stalwart, Dato Abdul Rahman Dahlan also made the headline for his elaboration on the “encouragement” given by certain parties for him to switch party. See his speech here.

On the other hand, Jelutong MP, Jeff Ooi decided not to speak because of the constraint of time given.

I was in the public gallery watching the proceedings on Monday when me and another friend were asked to leave as a Perak contingent that had requested for a place in the gallery in writing came to Parliament. As I walked out of the gallery I passed some DAP heavyweights including Lim Guan Eng (he is there almost everyday, with his chief of staff the MP for Jelutong)

Later in the lobby, I found out that the contingent were non other than the Perak assemblymen headed by the Menteri Besar. Reporters surrounded them at their press conference anticipating a comment given to the Karpal – Sultan Perak incident but the MB spoke on the purpose of the visit. (He mentioned they rode the bus in at least 5 different occasions, must have been rehearsed that in the 2 hour bus journey). Good to see them enjoying the lawatan sambil belajar trip to KL.

Overall, the buzz in the Parliament has not yet subsided with cameramen greeting you at the main lobby staircase. It will probably be less exciting come Tuesday with Minsiter’s answers, but I expect parking to remain next to impossible and the canteen breakfast consisting of crumbs by 10.45 am due to high demand. Not surprising with all the head of states out in full force.