The Enigm@ Chronicles

Iraq was a blunder and a total mess for both the US and the UK. Yet have they learned their lesson. The answer on that is still vague.

Earlier while I was reading the latest news on the recent rice stockpile shortage, I began to wonder how exactly did this problem come to be. After all rice is the staple diet of Asians and for a country like Malaysia to be caught unprepared in the face of global food shortages just smack of plain incompetence.

I use the word incompetence justly so in lieu of the fact that the government has the necessary mechanisms in place to monitor and be ‘in the know’ about the possibility of such an issues as the rice stockpile shortages actually coming to be. So where did things take a turn for the worse? Based on my initial research the fault lies at the feet of Padiberas Nasional Bhd (BERNAS) .

For your information BERNAS is the privatised custodian of the Malaysia paddy and rice industry. BERNAS is the sole importer of rice into Malaysia besides also being in charge of the National Rice Stockpile. In essence they are the sole importer and overseer of rice in Malaysia. Already the share market is seeing a rise in BERNAS shares as the recent increase in rice prices coupled with the presured buying trend locally - all of which has contribute to a favarouble outcome for BERNAS. Unfortunately this does not translate to being favourabel for the rakyat .

It is their position as overseer is where I definitely find fault with BERNAS for failing to be prepared for exactly such the scenario of increasing trends of rice shortages that we are now experiencing. In their ignorance BERNAS has until recently maintained only 2 WEEKS worth of rice stockpile for the entire of Malaysia. That’s right 2 weeks of rice supply before it runs out in a worse come to worse case scenario. This is why there have been recent spate of consumers in huge droves snapping up rice due to concerns that our rice stockpile can easily run out in just 2 weeks.

Looking back to just last year, when any trend forecaster worth his salt could have predicted increases in food prices in addition to the decrease in global stockpiles. Unfortunately BERNAS was more inclined to ignore the situation and instead focus on increasing the price of rice sold locally . I haven’t the precise details right now but it is known that BERNAS is importing rice at cost prices while selling it in Malaysia for a higher price, thus earning a profit.

If BERNAS wasn’t farsighted enough then at least the government to some degree were already prompting BERNAS to increase their national stockpile to cater for future trends. In reference to article(below) from The Star dated July 12 2007 , we can see that the government was already informing BERNAS to increase their stockpile:

Create a big stockpile, Muhyiddin tells Bernas

Padiberas Nasional Berhad (Bernas) has been told to create a stockpile so that the country will not be plunged into a crisis if there is an acute shortage of rice globally.

Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said that although Bernas had a floating stock of 92,000 tonnes of rice in the local market, it could not be considered the country’s stockpile.

“We are afraid that any shortfall in global supply and increasing global demand for rice would affect us.

“And there are already early signs in the region where the demand for rice has gone up while the rice producing countries’ yield had dropped due to disease, floods and weather changes,” he said.

He was speaking to reporters after his ministry’s weekly post-Cabinet meeting here yesterday.

Muhyiddin said he was not trying to alarm the public.

“But we need to look at future trends. This is why we need to look at having an appropriate amount of rice stockpile for the country,” he added.

If that was not enough then the same call was repeated beginning this year with more emphasis being made for a 3 month rice stockpile plan to be put into place. This is highlighted in the the following article(below) from The Star dated 31 January 2008 :

Bid to up rice stockpile to three months

The Government wants Bernas to stockpile rice for three months or more to ensure there is sufficient supply for the people in the event of a shortage.

Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the current agreement was to have a two-week stockpile.

“We believe that two weeks is not enough, so there is a need to review to, say, three months.

“We need to have more than the stock we have at the moment to create the actual stockpile for the rice later.

Therefore in lieu of the calls made to BERNAS from the government to increase the National Rice Stockpile to a 3 month capacity has fallen on the deaf ears of BERNAS . Already 9 months has passed since the initial call had been made to BERNAS and as of yet no credible action has been taken .

Only now in light of the worsening conditions of worldwide food shortages and the recent limelight on the insufficient national rice stockpile that BERNAS has made moves to increase the stockpile. This too was partially due to pressure from the government.

So the pertinent question that we must ask ourselves is it is fair for us the rakyat/consumers that BERNAS is allowed to continue to be the sole importer of rice for our country. The lack of any competition in this sector can only be regarded as a monopoly and a possibly unfair one at that!

First he said this…

Rais: Proposal meant for those under 21

“There’s some misunderstanding. I was referring to boys and girls who travel on their own, especially those below 21 and who are still subject to the supervision of their parents. Women above 21 years old are adult enough.

“But for those below 21, it’s only fair that parental guidance be given,” he told reporters at a press conference here at the end of his working visit to Indonesia yesterday.

Then he also goes on to say…

Rais said the consent need not necessarily be in the form of papers or letters of declaration, as that would be a big hindrance.

“What I meant was those below 21 should be guided; parents should ask why they want to go to Venezuela or Spain.

And to top it all off he retorted with….

“But if this is regarded by human rightists to be against human rights, wait until their own children get into trouble,” he said.

I don’t think must can be said for Rais and his statements above. But if anythins should be said then ‘A total blunder‘ is the first words that leap to mind.

Here we have the Foreign Minister making half-past-six like ‘blanket‘ statements with little though of the possible outcome or public outcry in regards to what can only be termed as a draconian law to be imposed on women.

But wait as the furore rises Rais then comes out saying same something very much along the line of “… Right, I meant to say that only for those below 21 years of age….”!

DUH!!!

To all Ministers and MP’s - please don’t send the perception out to the world that some of our ministers and MPs are not all that bright and don’t put much thought before making their statements. And please, please don’t insult our intelligence by blaming your blunder on the standard byline of ‘misunderstanding‘ or ‘misquoting‘!

The latest in what is surely a long long list (unproven due to lack of tangible proof) of the mismanagement of public funds (read: rakyat’s monies) is the highly embarrassing escapades of PM Badawi and DPM Najip.

News first surfaced on the web via the ever delightful Lulu’s blog, and was then picked up by MP Tony Pua with his blog post containing the direct question and reply of the current issue in parliament.

The question:

Berapakah jumlah perbelanjaan yang ditanggung oleh Kerajaan sepanjang tempoh kempen Pilihan Raya Umum ke 12 dari 24 Februari sehingga 7 Mac 2008 hasil dari penggunaan jet eksekutif Kerajaan bagi kegunaan YAB Perdana Menteri dan YAB Timbalan Perdana Menteri.

The answer:

Bagi tempoh 24 Februari sehingga 7 Mac 2008, jumlah perbelanjaan untuk penggunaan jet eksekutif adalah sebanyak RM792,325.20.

Now the thing that really gets to me is that in the time period specified (24 Febuary to 7 March 2008) these personalities were by right not entitled to the right and privileges of their positions as they had reverted to being candidates and not the actual PM and DPM.

So while campaigning to be re-elected, these leaders of our government were in actuality squandering the rakyat’s monies on flying themselves all across the country in order to campaign.

And mind you this are the very same people who have the cheek to tell us rakyat to live within our means a.k.a ubah gaya hidup!

Meanwhile to offer you readers a contrast let me point out that the new CM of Penang Lim Guan Eng was recent spotted seated in the economy class section in the plane on his flight back to Penang.

Once again this is another failure to walk the walk after talking the talk in the case of the PM and DPM.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, ….

I find it downright perplexing to see the chasm of a difference between the political issues that have been in the limelight. Take for instance the recent harping by certain parties on the Pig Farm Project issue in Selangor vs. the Malaysian "Angkasawan" program .

On one hand we have a R&D cum glorified tourist program, the Malaysia Astronaut Program where USD 36 million of Malaysian taxpayers monies were utilized to send 1 Malaysian into space. That’s right all that money for 1 guy. Ostensibly there were 6 space experiments to be done that would apparently launch Malaysia into the space R&D field. What the outcome of the experiments were we still have yet to hear about it. Any tangible benefit from the experiments will be years in bearing fruit whilst the regular joe rakyat today will be facing issues like rising prices. The program was for pure political mileage in my opinion.

On the other hand you have the Modern Pig Farm project in Selangor. Here is a project that has attract a fair bit of attention recently - be it positive, negative and sometime spiteful. However when you dissect the project plans you’ll find that that baring some minor administrative costs the entire project is self-reliant in terms of private funding and only requires the approval of the state government in terms of the land allocation. Yet when this zero-burden project is given the green light we have the naysayers coming out and telling the PR Selangor government off for their decision.

Have these people lost their common sense?
Are they too fixated on the religious side of the issue instead of the overall outlook?

Understandably, any issue concerning pigs in this country will certainly be considered as an important issues in lieu of the religious concerns of the national religion. However I have to wonder up till where does religious concerns matters when place side by side against extravagant taxpayers monies wastage as seen with the Angkasawan program. As the times start to experience economic uncertainty, I find myself worried sick that more wasteful programs similar to the Angkasawan program will be enacted by the government.

Finally!!! Thank god JPJ is finally making a concentrated effort in regards to the abuse of windscreen tints and most especially xenon headlights (i.e. HID Lamps) by Malaysian drivers. More and more cars on the road nowadays have xenon headlights and these headlight are a pain in the ass for the other drivers.

Just imagine being rendered temporarily "nightblind " by a an approaching car’s xenon headlights and you will get the gist of my dislike of these type of headlamps. Time and time again this has happened and I am sick and tired of it. Similarly these xenon touting cars are also generally the ones that have ’super-tinted ‘ windscreens - which ironically protects them against the glare of other xenon headlights.

There are some mention of downturned HID Lamps that do not flash oncoming drivers, but as far as my experience goes these are either rare in my driving routes or plain non-existent! And since some drivers who get the xenon headlights are either ignorant of the fact or just plain insensitive - I say regardless of the reasons, they are at best a distraction or a at worst a menace to the other drivers who on the streets’ driving.

So I say kudos to JPJ for taking the effort to put a stop into these xenon headlight cars. My suggestions to you is to take a no holds bared approach. Saman each and every one of these drivers and as long as they don’t change keep on saman-ing them. I don’t care how much the so-called regular joe has to pay the saman as long as they get it into their heads that xenon lights are a menace to the other drivers on the road.

Also let this not be a short-term only approach. JPJ must keep up the pressure of these drivers and keep it up for the foreseeable future. Just conducting a month or two of operations will not change anything.

July deadline for windscreen tints, xenon headlights

KUALA KRAI: Vehicle owners flouting Road Transport Department (JPJ) regulations on windscreen tinting and xenon headlights be warned – you have until July to comply with the rules. JPJ enforcement division director Salim Parlan said the department continued to encounter vehicles with heavily tinted windscreens and flashy xenon headlights, particularly the imported luxury vehicles.“I hope they will adhere to the specifications set by JPJ on tinting windscreens and xenon headlights,” he said.

FYI for a look at the other side of the fence, head on over to the discussion forum @ LowYat located here .

update: Not surprisingly the rakyat has responded in a multitude of ideas & suggestion in as much as complaint against Azalina’s highhandedness on the cancellation of the tourism MoU’s. See here .

When new Tourism Minister Azlina last week announced that the tourism MoU’s signed with the 4 new Pakatan Rakyat (PR) states are to be terminated there was an avalanche of criticism from all quarters. Loudest on the matter was of course the PR led state governments’ leaders and no shortage of public opinion was drummed up in the days following the announcement.

Yesterday Azalina "cleared the air" on the issue and stated that the cancellation of the MoU’s would not discriminate against any state, tourism organisation and also the rakyat themselves. When I said she "cleared the air" what I specific meant is that reading between the lines of her statement we are presented with a few viewpoints on how things should work in Azalina’s book.

* * * N O T E * * *
From this point forward are all conjecture(s) on the writers part and cannot be claimed to be fact in absence of cold hard proof!

Retention of tourism funds and its various money flows in the hands of BN.

Reason numero uno behind Azalina’s decision in my opinion is that the tourism allocation and funds that are normally granted to the Tourism Action Councils (TAC) - nominally lead by the state exco members - must remain in the hands of BN . Basically now that PR has come into power in the 4 new states, BN members will no more be able to sit on the TAC councils. Hence if things were to remain as they were then the PR state exco’s would have had access to the monies and thus have the capability to carry out tourism activities or events on their own. This of course is a big no no and the result is her decision to cancel the MoU’s with the states. Nowhere more clear is the point made than by her own self:

On whether the Pakatan state governments will have access to the funds, Azalina said: "The difference is who signs the cheque - they sign the cheques or we sign the cheques?
"This is the federal government, so we sign the cheques. What’s the big deal?”

Continuation of the infamous "Satu Lagi Project Kerajaan BN" propaganda in terms of the tourism activities.

Tied hand in hand with the first reason above is the mentality of continuing the not so subtle propaganda of the "Satu Lagi Project Kerajaan BN" . If the Tourism Ministry can control and direct the TAC in the PR held states then they can conduct all the tourism activities and events under the all encompassing umbrella of brand BN . This can later on be used as political mileage come the next general elections. Just recall the various highlights that tourism events in Kelantan were given in the local MSM - ultimately affording BN all the kudos. My point is somewhat justified in lieu of the following statement:

Tourism Ministry secretary-general Dr Victor Wee explained that there were two issues in the matter.
Firstly, TACs in the opposition states will no longer be headed by the state excos for tourism and will instead be led by him or a person appointed by the minister, he said.
"And second, is the way the funds will be channeled. The funds will no longer go through the states but through a federal mechanism. Because of the nature of the new political scenario, the MOUs with the states will be cancelled.

Staying true to her "Politics is a marriage of convenience" agenda.

Just last week Azalina was quoted to have said that politics is a marriage of convenience . Her point is well justified by her own actions with her high handedness of cancelling the tourism MoU’s in the Pakatan held states. The priorities in her opinion is most definitely not for the betterment of the tourism industry, the economy and that of the rakyat directly affected. Rather most likely first and foremost priority is BN itself and ensuring that it’s powerbase is protected . Again the line of thought here is that as long as BN can dole out the proverbial crumbs , matters will have to go through them for their approval and blessing.

On the way the funds are channeled - instead of money going to the Pakatan state governments and it will now go to ministry-controlled committees - the minister said that it was the federal government’s perogative.
"It applies to all the states which is being led by opposition government. This has happened for the past few years with Kelantan and we’ve never discriminated as far as tourism projects are concerned. We’ve been very fair.”

Thus the actions of Azalina in her capacity as the new Tourism Minister can be viewed either way. Justifying her point of view is her statement that tourism activities and events will continue to go on in the Pakatan governed states - only it’ll be under the purview of the federal government. But anyone who can connect the dots will see the decision for what it truly is - a desperate attempt at grasping for the reins of power to be held as firmly as possible in the hands of BN, with any means necessary.

Reference:

1. Malaysiakini - BN doesn’t discriminate, Azalina tells MBs
2. The Star - Azalina: Tourism MoUs with Opposition-ruled states to be terminated

When Penang CM Lim Guan Eng first made the call to implement open tender policy for the island state there were all sort of reactions. From the cries of the naysayers and political opponents who were on the brink of inciting tension to the warning from the prime minister himself - Guan Eng certainly did not expect to get such a vast reaction.

And yet as the days go by and as the political driven rhetoric take a back seat, the staunch support of the business community has come to the fore. From the various economic chamber and communities to big business, one and all have lauded the move to ensure a more transparent and open method for project tenders to be issued. What’s more is that the initiative is both parallel and complementary to the policy previously put in place by the Finance Ministry which sadly has previously taken too long to get any visible traction under the federal government.

Now following in the tracks of those who have come forward in support of the open tender policy is the ICT associations who represent the ICT industry - an industry that is both a major presence in and also a big stakeholder of Penang and its economy. This new show of support only strengthens the support advocated thus far for the open tender policy and bodes well for the economic future of Penang under the Pakatan Rakyat(PR) rule. On the flip side, if PR manages to implement and properly manage the open tender policy in Penang as the first test bed state, Barisan will be in dire straits if they continue to dilly-dally on the matter in all other states they control. 

The following article from The Edge Daily provides the details which is brutally frank and to the point on the difficulties faced previously without the open tender policy. This is a must read for those of you who have not quite grasped what the open tender policy will mean for Penang.

ICT firms back call for open tender

KUALA LUMPUR: Two of the nation’s premier ICT associations have come out in support of the open and transparent tender system that has been adopted by the Penang state government.

Among the reasons cited are increased business confidence in the government as well as taxpayer protection via increased accountability in government expenditure.

Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry (Pikom) chairman David Wong said transparency will project a good image and boost confidence among investors.

“If you don’t practise open tenders, you risk a loss of public confidence in the government,” he said. “By being open and transparent, you also help prevent corruption, although it cannot be 100% foolproof.”

President of the International Association of Software Architects (IASA) Malaysia Timothy Nam has a similar view.

“Seeing how an increasing amount of essential government services are dependent on IT, this is the best thing that could happen,” he said. “It will give citizens an insight into the actual value and service quality they are getting.”

Nam said the cost of not practising open tenders in the country can be clearly seen in the number of public sector IT projects that have experienced cost overruns and cancellations.

Wong said closed tenders runs a higher risk of the project being awarded to an incompetent vendor and the lack of options will lead to overpaying and limit the government’s ability to get the best possible deal.

“Many contractors choose not to participate in government bids because they know they do not stand a chance of winning, even though they can offer quality services and competitive prices.

“The perceived lack of transparency and corporate governance in project tenders has negatively affected the ICT industry,” he said.

IASA Asia Pacific president Aaron Tan said the cost is not calculated only in financial terms, but also leads to erosion in Malaysia’s reputation.

“A lack of transparency and clarity in tenders do not bode well for Malaysia which is intent on becoming a regional ICT hub.

“Via open and transparent tenders, the public will benefit from companies providing quality services to the government. This will strengthen the local ICT industry and positively impact other sectors as well. Such a move will reflect maturity and confidence that speaks well of Malaysia’s goal of becoming the region’s ICT hub,” he said.

While there is fear among some segments of the bumiputera community that they may be disadvantaged by the move to implement openness and transparency, Wong said anybody with competitive services has nothing to fear.

“The decision on the successful bid should be made clear and all should be informed of the processes and criteria involved,” he said.

Furthermore, he said, the government has a duty to assist small and medium enterprises develop their capabilities to gain market access.

Nam said that this change will benefit the majority and they will appreciate that such a move by the government has the public’s interest at heart.

Wong also called for a single destination Web portal to manage the tender process in an orderly manner.

Pikom represents the ICT industry in Malaysia through its 750 member companies that comprise 80% of the total ICT trade in Malaysia.

It is best known among the public for its popular PC Fair event which attracts thousands of shoppers in search of tech bargains.

It is also co-organiser of the upcoming WCIT 2008 on May 18 in Kuala Lumpur. WCIT is the world’s largest gathering of ICT leaders and decision makers held every two years and is billed as the Olympics of ICT.

IASA Malaysia, the country chapter of IASA, is the premier association for IT architects. It has about 6,000 members in 50 countries, including 400 in Malaysia.

IASA is organising the IT Architect Regional Conference in Kuala Lumpur on April 22, bringing together government officials from Thailand, Indonesia, India, Singapore, India, Vietnam, Korea and Malaysia to address the needs of the various national ICT initiatives.

PKR President Datin Seri Dr. Wan Azizah and new incumbent MP Nurul Izzah Anwar are set to be the first mother-daughter team in the same session of parliament since 50 years of independence.

Previously there has already been pairs of father-son teams with Opposition’s Lim Kit Siang and his son Lim guan Eng taking the current honours previously held by Barisan’s Tun Ghafar Baba and his son Mohd Tamrin Ghafar.

But what really tickles me silly and besides adding another family paradigm onto this parliament session is the debut of the first ever father-in-law and son-in-law team of Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Khairy Jamaluddin. Though the FIL is not usually in parliament due to his busy schedule, at least now the SIL will be able to give him updates and first hand account directly. Works even if FIL falls asleep on the job once more.

Now all we need is a a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law team to complete the set.

New UMNO Information Chief Muhammad Muhd Taib is apparently as clueless as they come nowadays. It would seem that the various roles and responsibilities of a leader is a foreign concept to him when he actually goes on the record to defend PM Abdullah Badawi. Muhd Taib also goes as far as to plead unfairness of it all for Badawi to be cited with the brunt of the blame.

It would seem that expecting the party leader to shoulder the leadership responsibilities - both the good and the bad - are a concept foreign in UMNO. Then again nobody would actually expect Muhd Taib to brazenly come out against his own boss more so since the new lease of life in politics that he has been recently granted.

This is in reference to the following report published on Malaysiakini, Muhammad Muhd Taib

Mat Taib jabs Dr M, defends Pak Lah

Defending his party president during a press conference at his Rural And Regional Development Ministry in Putrajaya, Muhammad said people should stop pointing fingers at Abdullah.

“What Mahathir and people are doing now is very, very wrong. It is not fair to point fingers at one person when everybody knows there were many contributing factors.

“It is very unfair to dump the blame on the PM. This is unfair and done in bad faith,” he said.

Muhammad was referring to “unfair” comments from Mahathir made at a forum yesterday on how Abdullah was shameless in refusing to resign for Barisan Nasional’s biggest election setback last month.

‘Not a level playing field’

He pointed out that there were also other contributing factors to BN’s performance including the role played by bloggers, news portals and short messaging service (SMS).

“It wasn’t a level-playing field (between the BN and opposition). BN did not use the portals, SMS and ICT (information and communications technology) to the fullest,” he said.

Muhammad noted that the BN lost in the “virtual elections” while opposition had cashed in on using video CDs showing temple demolitions which caused the swing of Indian voters.

And Muhd Taib doesn’t stop there. He even has the audacity to say that there wasn’t a level playing field between BN and PR - citing the oppositions’ use of blogs, news portals and SMS to spread their stand. Apparently a ‘level playing field’ in the dictionary of UMNO is the situation where the following hold true:

1. UMNO hold all the card

2. UMNO deals out all the ‘party favour’ exclusively

3. BN shackles the MSM into a blatantly pro-establishment propaganda machinery

I say good job to the opposition for utilizing new media to spread the truth. I say damn great job for spreading the information of the temple demolitions that were virtually blacked out on the MSM’s. I say thank god we don’t live in the totally unrealistic world of Muhd Taib’s delusions anymore.

He can shift the blame to bloggers, news portals and SMS as much as he want to but we Malaysian have long known the truth behind UMNO’s lies and propaganda. All he has managed to do is to show us that he is talking without thinking things through.