In that game, Ajax drew with Excelsior. It was supposed to be an easy game, despite all the injuries.
PSV however won and because of that, Ajax is now 5 points behind PSV. The only consolation is that AZ drew too and therefore, is still a point behind Ajax.
Ajax will play AZ next week.
As a graduate of economics, I unreasonably assume that everybody knows basic economic ideas like supply and demand and comparative advantage. Perhaps, it is time for me to throw away that assumption and assume the opposite. Explanation on comparative advantage is crucial in effort to discredit the idea of food sovereignty; food sovereignty is merely another name for protectionism.
The idea of food sovereignty is well-stated in the Ninth Malaysia Plan. See Chapter 3 of the Plan if you prefer not to take my words for it. Given that the current administration is stressing on agriculture, perhaps it is not too astounding to see food sovereignty being part of the administration’s economic game plan.
The idea of food sovereignty basically states that a nation should be able to produce enough food for its population and not dependent on others. It should be self-sufficient in food production.
In order to do that, resources would need to be allocated in a way that prioritizes the food production sector. Such prioritization if done as rigidly as possible would deprive other sectors of resources. And indeed, the idea of food sovereignty might contradict the concept of comparative advantage and ignore the possibility of trade.
Comparative advantage is a basic economic principle first proposed by David Ricardo approximately two centuries ago. It states that an entity, be it a whole economy or a person, should concentrate on what it does best. In order word, the entity should specialize in what it could produce most efficiently. From there on, trade away in order to obtain other goods that the entity does not produce. Whenever trade is impossible, the idea does not apply for the obvious reason. There is more to gain from trade than autarky, nonetheless.
When it comes down to the issue of food sovereignty, the question that needs to be answered is this: does Malaysia have a comparative advantage in food production?
Even if Malaysia has comparative advantage in food production — which I think it does to some extent due to favorable climate — the concept of food sovereignty is not as helpful as comparative advantage in creating a more prosperous society.
Jika semalam Utusan Malaysia, meminjam frasa The Sensintrovert, cuba menyemarakkan nafsu politikus-politikus di seluruh negara, Timbalan Perdana Menteri Najib Razak melalui Utusan dan juga saluran-saluran Media Prima memadamkan keghairahan tersebut. Bak kata Mat Salleh, TPM “poured cold water” ke atas perkara yang secara langsung menyentuh kemungkinan pilihanraya di dalam tahun 2007.
Di muka hadapan Mingguan Malaysia hari ini:
KUALA LUMPUR 17 Feb. — Banyak pihak menganggap masih terlalu awal untuk kerajaan membubarkan Parlimen bagi memberi laluan kepada pilihan raya umum walaupun petunjuk ekonomi pada masa ini berada pada kedudukan memberangsangkan.
Mereka berpendapat kerajaan tidak perlu tergesa-gesa kerana negara baru sahaja selesai mengadakan pilihan raya umum pada tahun 2004 dan mandat itu hanya berakhir pada April 2009.
Adalah rugi bagi kerajaan membubarkan Parlimen dalam tempoh singkat selepas hanya separuh penggal memegang amanah rakyat selain menurut mereka, Barisan Nasional (BN) tidak berada dalam keadaan terdesak untuk mengadakan pilihan raya.
Saya berpendapat bahawa Utusan lebih merupakan suara orang-orang Melayu daripada orang-orang UMNO. Mungkin ramai akan menyangkal pendapat itu tetapi kegagalan pengambungan di antara Utusan dan New Straits Times akibat penentangan hebat orang-orang Utusan dan ahli-ahli politik Melayu (yang juga ahli-ahli UMNO) terhadap kehendak Perdana Menteri menyakinkan saya tentang kedudukan Utusan.
Oleh itu, mengambil kira kedua-dua laporan mengenai pilihanraya yang cuba membawa maksud yang berbeza, mungkin sedang berlaku satu perdebatan hebat di dalam UMNO tentang pilihanraya. Atau, mungkin sekali, orang-orang Melayu sudah mula bosan dengan UMNO.
Atau mungkin Utusan hanya mengulangi apa yang Reuters telah sampaikan.
Walau bagaimanapun, saya teringat slogan pasukan yang berkempen untuk William Jefferson Clinton untuk pilihanraya Amerika Syarikat 1992. Slogan itu berbunyi, “It’s the economy, stupid.”
Clinton kemudiannya dipilih oleh rakyat Amerika untuk menjadi Presiden yang ke-42 negara tersebut.
Tiada siapa patut lupa akan kata-kata itu.
It is Chinese New Year and I got myself more books. I did not mean to purchase anything in the first place. The act was impulsive especially when I have yet to finish up the previous books that I bought earlier. In fact, I am still reading The Origin of Wealth. Furthermore, I have not even started on Clinton’s My Life and Dawkins’ The God Delusion. Yet, here I am, supporting the economy by spending.
At first, since I was in the vicinity of Kinokuniya under the majestic Petronas Twin Towers, I thought I could do with a browse. Alas, temptation got the best of me.
I found myself in the history section. For some reason, I wanted to read more about Srivijaya. It was kind of hard to find a book on the ancient Malay kingdom which in my opinion is greater than the Malay Sultanate of Malacca. If the Malays wanted to look for something to build their pride on, they should look beyond Malacca and embrace the Srivijayan. At the very least, acknowledge Srivijaya as a kingdom as great as Malacca.
Despite the size of the store, its collection is limited. I could not find a specific book on Srivijaya.
Nevertheless, Hugh Clifford’s Farther India looked promising. For those that score F for history without fail, Clifford was one of the more important colonial administrators of British Malaya. He was also one of those foreign administrators that fell in love with the Malays and Malaya, just like Frank Swettenham. At Cambridge Journals, the phrase “doyen of the colonial service” is attributed to Clifford.
The synopsis describes Farther India as one of the most important publications on Southeast Asian history. Yet, it seems to me that the book is concentrating on mainland Southeast Asia and talks about European explorations and discoveries of old Southeast Asian civilizations. I suspect the book does not talk much about Srivijaya. So, when I saw Paul Michel Munoz’s Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula, it placed Clifford’s back on the shelf and grabbed Munoz’s instead.
While on my way out of the history section, I stumbled upon a book entitled British Malaya. That book directly reminded of an article at Wikipedia of the same name that I have been working on for more than a year. I thought this particular book might help me finish up what I started. So, book number two.
While on my way out of the store, somehow, Sophie’s World came across my mind; I made it as my third book.
And so, right now, five books await the completion of The Origin of Wealth. The pressure is now on me.
Ah… the curse of purchasing books liberally.
