I am celebrating the 1700th post with Beethoven.
[youtube]zhcR1ZS2hVo[/youtube]
Youtube is probably the best thing invented since, erm, World of Warcraft.
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Michiganophiles (via)?
When Iraqis talk of going to the U.S., Michigan often is the place they want to see. Naturally, they are familiar with the cities of New York and Chicago and the state of Texas. But to many Iraqis, Michigan is an ideal destination. When I talk to them on the phone, they tell me how gorgeous they hear Michigan is. Even its Arabic pronunciation in Iraq, I think, has come to have a nicer cadence than names of other states and cities. [Some Iraqis Dream of Michigan; Others Make it Home. Baghdad Life. May 23 2008]
I guess, they have yet to experience Michigan winter.
And yes. Say goodbye to Ann Arbor Is Overrated. After all the good times, she is moving on.
Gerald Ford is one of my favorite presidents of the United States of America and there are only two reasons for that. Number one is due to the fact that he attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor; that is my school. Number two was the way he answered the question posed by his predecessor, Richard Nixon. We Malaysians perhaps have our own Nixon in form of former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed and how we deal with the Prime Minister may parallel what President Ford had done.
For the longest time, Dr. Mahathir was the only Prime Minister I had ever known. In all channels, from television to radio to printed press, I could not remember any single day that passed by without the mention of his name. He was everywhere, every time.
A friend once mentioned to me that Dr. Mahathir has done more to Malaysia more than anybody else, for better or for worse. A general statement such as that may not survive upon closer scrutiny but it is easy to agree to such rhetoric. Because all of that and more, I have this kind of attachment to him. It is a kind of earned respect that is impossible for time to erode.
Yet, I am a firm believer of justice and Dr. Mahathir has done a lot of wrongs as the chief executive officer of this country. To every action, there is a reaction and that concept is central to the way I live my life and my worldview.
There are many components that make up a successful society and one of them is trust of individuals toward various institutions. A state institution which fails to defend justice will lose its credibility and a society with such institutions will inevitably spend more time fighting for justice instead of discovering its true potential.
Hence, I face a moral dilemma between respect that I have for the man and justice.
Upon reflection, I came to recall the Watergate scandal in which President Nixon was the main actor. The scandal forced him to resign from his office as criminal conviction loomed on the horizon. Gerald Ford then became the 38th US president.
The issue of conviction could bring about a very divisive period and President Ford realized this. Instead of letting that happened, he gave Nixon an unconditional pardon, hereby allowing the first step of healing to take place.
And healing is what Malaysia needs at the moment. Whatever Dr. Mahathir had done in the past, he should be pardoned.
That however does not mean we should forget his gross violations of individual liberty and the corruption of all three branches of government that he caused. No. We should learn from the past and strive not to make the wrongs made in the past.
Towards that end, what we need is a truth and reconciliation commission, not another royal commission solely set up to bring the man down. There is a fine line between justice and vengeance and I at the moment do not have an appetite for witch hunting, especially when it greatly benefits others with less than innocent political motives and ambitions. What has passed has passed and it is time to move on.
In times when the stability of the federal government is suspect, whoever the next Prime Minister would be, I wish for him to tread the path President Ford had treaded on.
p/s — a version of this article was first published by The Malaysian Insider.
I was reading the Mid-Term Review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan:
During the 2006-2007 period, real GDP expanded by 6.1 per cent per annum, exceeding the target of 6.0 per cent. Per capita income increased by 10.6 per cent per annum to RM23,066. Per capita income adjusted for purchasing power parity increased at a higher rate of 14.2 per cent to RM46,478 in 2007. This growth was achieved in an environment of stable prices. Unemployment stood at 3.3 per cent in 2007, reflecting the full utilisation of labour resources. [Full speech in Parliament by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi when tabling the Mid-term Review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan. The Malaysian Insider. June 26 2008]
Someone, please enlighten me: why does the income per capita figure need to be adjusted to purchasing power parity?
So far, I see no reason why it should be adjusted. PPP is usually used to make comparison between countries. When there is only one country in question and we are dealing in terms of just a currency, why on earth would we need to adjust it for PPP?
Is the statement “higher rate of 14.2 per cent to RM46,478” meaningful at all?
Also of interest to me is this:
11. The nation’s robust economic growth has been spearheaded by the private sector, with private sector investment growing at a rate of 8.6 per cent per annum. Foreign direct investment also increased by 39.3 per cent to RM29.1 billion in 2007. At the same time, public sector investment grew by 8.9 per cent per annum following vigorous implementation of development projects under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. [Full speech in Parliament by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi when tabling the Mid-term Review of the Ninth Malaysia Plan. The Malaysian Insider. June 26 2008]
Increased government spending typically crowds out private investment. I wonder how much the public sector grew at the expense of investment growth in the private sector.
Another question: how much of export has been sacrificed so far due to increased government spending?
With budget constraints clearly visible, the Kedah state government announces move to harvest timber from several water catchment areas in the state to increase its revenue.[0] I find the action disagreeable and my opposition is two folds.
First revolves around the question of sustainability. While the state government will utilize helicopters to allow selective harvesting,[1] having the activity done within water catchment areas is really hard to support. I am not convinced on logging done within water catchment areas has sustainability in its equation. On top of that, when referring to sustainable forestry, I always have dedicated tree farms in mind. Furthermore, such tree farms are available in Europe and more importantly, as well as in Malaysia. This proves that the availability of a more sustainable harvesting method. So, I am through and through with the Malaysian Nature Society in disagreeing with the state government.
Secondly, it concerns the function of a government. I, as with many libertarians of minarcist tendency, prefer to have a small government focusing on governance, maybe on some developmental projects with positive externality which the private sectors have absolutely no interest in and little else. So, when the state government says it requires greater revenue to finance its operating expenditure, I could only raise a red flag. In my humble opinion, it is the expenditure which requires reduction.
If the state government plans to do some investment, then borrowing may be a better idea instead. If the investment is really good, I am sure the returns from the investment to cover at least the cost of borrowing some years later. If it is not, well, one has to wonder why should the investment be made in the first place.
Also, the current Menteri Besar himself, when he was in the opposition, opposed the helicopter harvesting when it was first proposed by the previous state administration back in 2003.[2] Now, he holds a different position. Thus, forgive me if I am beginning to think he was objecting then for the sake of objecting instead of seeing the issue on its merit. As it turns out, it does not matter if it is PAS or UMNO; all of them are the same!
The two reasons notwithstanding, I also take exception with the federal government for reneging in its promise to pay Kedah RM100 million yearly for encouraging a logging moratorium 5 years ago.[3] Though I personally think such transfer is inferior to a solution which I shall share next week at The Malaysian Insider, a promise is a promise nonetheless. Inability to fulfill a commitment reflects badly on the federal government and it has its repercussion, not just to the Barisan Nasional, but more importantly, to the country. If the Abdullah administration is incapable of staying true to its words, they should simply stop making more promises.
As in right now, the Barisan Nasional has little credibility. The Menteri Besar’s inconsistent position on the matter does little to differentiate him from the Abdullah administration.
[0] ALOR STAR: The Kedah Government has approved logging activities at the Pedu, Muda and Ahning dam catchment areas, a move that is expected to generate about RM16bil in revenue for the state.
Mentri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak said the move was necessary to cover the high expenditure incurred by the state following the petrol price increase. [Kedah approves logging activities. Embun Majid. The Star. June 19 2008]
[1] ALOR STAR: The Kedah Government is going ahead with its plan to allow selective logging in the Ulu Muda catchment areas using the heli-harvesting technique. [Kedah to use heli-harvesting. Sira Habibu. The Star. June 22 2008]
[2] … Azizan, when reminded that he had strongly opposed a logging plan for the forest reserve when the former Barisan Nasional state government had proposed using helicopters to fell timber trees in 1992, said the circumstances were different then.
He said when he was the state opposition leader, he was not well informed on the matter. [Kedah MB stands firm on logging in the Ulu Muda forest reserve. New Straits Time. June 25 2008]
[3] ALOR STAR, June 18 (Bernama) — Kedah plans to open up the Hulu Muda Forest Reserve to logging activities to increase its revenue as the federal government has not paid the compensation for banning logging in the area five years ago.
Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak said the federal government had not paid the RM100 million compensation to Kedah for banning logging in the area under the National Forestry Policy. [Kedah To Log Forest Reserve To Increase Revenue. Bernama. June 18 2008]