Posted in Politics & government on May 6th, 2013 1 Comment »
It was a Pyrrhic victory for Barisan Nasional and Najib Razak’s post-election speech called for national reconciliation. That is perhaps admittance that his 1Malaysia policy has not been as successful as he had hoped. It is all a nice, humble speech but his call for national reconciliation suffers from credibility crisis. Soon after, various UMNO [...]
Posted in Personal, Politics & government on May 4th, 2013 No Comments »
I do not know what to write. Yet I need to write as we come closer to the election date. I guess I just want to say that I am scared. I am scared of heartbreak. I volunteered in the 2008 general election and the 2011 Sarawak state election. The two campaigns that I participated [...]
Posted in Economics, Politics & government on May 1st, 2013 No Comments »
I am curious at some of the projected fiscal deficit figures which have come out from the internet. A number of them are fanciful. One that I have read has the deficit under Pakatan Rakyat manifesto rising to close to 12% of nominal GDP while BN would be as low as 4%. The 4% figure [...]
Posted in Politics & government on April 25th, 2013 No Comments »
Life in Kuala Lumpur in the past few weeks has been a constant reminder of our flawed democracy. If you are in the city, look all around you. You will see banners and posters of political parties almost everywhere. Superficially, the colorful show of political flags is a sign of democracy. Now, look closer at [...]
Posted in Economics, Politics & government on April 23rd, 2013 2 Comments »
Democracy by far is the most respectable way a society can govern itself. That, however, does not mean that democracy has no weaknesses at all. As Winston Churchill is often quoted, “democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.” It is the best that we have after thousands [...]
Posted in Economics, Politics & government on April 11th, 2013 No Comments »
Some parts of the economy enjoy stable growth rates in normal times. Consumption and government spending are two of the GDP components which grow in a stable manner, unless there is a recession. As much as ridiculous as it may sound (yeah, that is the libertarian in me speaking out), the government does plan its [...]
Posted in Economics, Politics & government on April 8th, 2013 1 Comment »
I do consider the payment of income tax as a responsibility I must fulfill. As a member of society, I have some responsibilities toward its maintenance. The fact that I am a citizen makes that responsibility of paying taxes doubly important. That responsibility arises from my enjoyment of multiple public goods that exist through public [...]
Posted in Economics, Politics & government on March 16th, 2013 No Comments »
Let us take for granted the assertion that a government cannot default on its debt obligation if all of its debts are denominated in the local currency. For the more macroeconomic inclined, if a country controls both its fiscal and monetary policies, it can never default on its debts. Taking the axiomatic approach notwithstanding the [...]
Posted in ASEAN, Conflict & disaster, Politics & government on March 14th, 2013 1 Comment »
The United States was entrenched deeply in two major wars throughout most of the first decade of the 21st century. Just after the shocking September 11, 2001 attacks organized by al Qaeda, the US responded strongly by invading Afghanistan and removed the Taliban from power. After a quick initial success in the landlocked country, the [...]
Posted in Entertainment, Politics & government, Society on March 1st, 2013 No Comments »
For better or worse, quantity is important in a democratic contest. It is about gaining the majority. It is about popularity. With that as the context, we have to remember we live in a young society. The Department of Statistics estimates that the median Malaysia age in 2010 was slightly above 26 years. In simpler [...]
The name is Hafiz Noor Shams.
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