At Political Front
• Indonesia
There are currently hundreds moderate Muslim organizations in Indonesia, many of them set up following the fall of President Soeharto in May 1998. The nurturing of these civic organizations may be as important to the future of Indonesia's democracy as is the curtailment of extremists.
Furthermore, simple political maturity, such as developing true parties with accountability and that stand for something beyond personality as well the development of an educated and experienced electorate should protect and stabilize Indonesia's democracy.
• Thailand
In order to pool together a million people to take part in their anti-government rally later this month, Thailand's anti-government red-shirt movement and the opposition Pheu Thai Party are making moves to mobilise masses across the country, an informed source said on Thursday
• Malaysia
The political crisis occurring in states under Pakatan's rule is proof of the opposition pact's inability to govern, Umno Supreme Council member Datuk Seri Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis said.He said that differences among opposition leaders, resulting in some of them leaving the party, showed weaknesses in the administration."The don't have the agenda to help the people, only the agenda to criticise the government," he told reporters after opening the Rompin Umno convention at Universiti Tenaga Nasional in Muadzam Shah, near here on Saturday.
FORMER Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is a living legend of our nation and also a world renowned figure. He has been an inspiration for so many of us.He has attracted us in so many of his ways, from intelligence, persistence, far-sightedness, dedication and also his versatility and the list goes on.
As a person who grew up during his premiership, I have been motivated and inspired by him.His love for people and his desire to help others can be traced back to the days when he was a doctor in Kedah and he built a sampan and used it to go to remote places to give medical treatment to people.
Unfortunately, he has also made us feel “uncomfortable” in recent years with his constant criticism of our leaders. People feel that he shouldn’t be doing this at his level.
Geo-Strategic Front
• Cambodia
Cambodia has hit out at Google over what it called a “radically misleading” map of the disputed Thai-Cambodia border, accusing the world’s biggest search engine of being “professionally irresponsible”.
Thailand and Cambodia have been in a standoff in the disputed territory since 2008, with occasional gunfights claiming several lives. Thailand and Cambodia have been in a standoff in the disputed territory since 2008, with occasional gunfights claiming several lives.
At Economic Front
• Indonesia
Indonesia’s economy probably expanded at the fastest pace in a year in the fourth quarter as lower interest rates and government stimulus spurred consumer spending.
Asian economies from China to Vietnam are picking up speed after policy makers boosted spending and cut borrowing costs to counter the global recession. Indonesia has fared better than its neighbors during the slump as it relies less on exports and consumer confidence has been buoyed by the most stable political climate since the ouster of former dictator Suharto in 1998.
- Philippine
The figure is above the 3.2 percent average for 2009 and the December 2009 spike of 4.4 percent.“Based on potential near-term price movements, the current inflation outlook shows a hump-based path that could settle slightly above the middle of the 3.5 to 5.5 percent target range for 2010,” it said in a report.
• Malaysia
There will be a master plan for the development of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) to ensure their growth is synchronised with the new economic model to be disclosed soon, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
The master plan, added Najib, would look into the needs of SMEs such as funding, capacity building and logistics support, as well as helping them explore export markets.The aim was to help the SMEs grow from just being small companies into more successful entities with the ablity to capture local and global markets.
European countries, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, India and China are among Malaysia’s focus markets for the export of services this year.
Malaysia External Trade Development Corp (Matrade) trade and promotion deputy chief executive officer Dr Wong Lai Sum said there were tremendous opportunities for Malaysians to export services to these places.
“This is especially in the area of outsourcing, professional and construction related services.
• Cambodia
OFFICIALS from Cambodia and Laos said Wednesday they were optimistic about the future of bilateral trade following a rise of 4 percent last year, despite the onset of the global economic crisis.
Official figures released by the Laos Embassy in Phnom Penh showed that trade between the two ASEAN neighbours remained very low, however, at just US$274,780 in 2009 compared to $264,180 the previous year.
At Social Front
• Indonesia
Indonesian lawmakers said Monday they found irregularities in the controversial 2008 bail-out of a minor bank.Members from the special parliamentary committee investigating PT Bank Century 710-million-dollar bail-out, said the bank's owners as well as officials from the Finance Ministry and central bank were involved in the alleged crimes and called for a legal investigation. However, the legislators stopped short of naming specific individuals. The cash injection was condemned by government auditors and led to accusations of graft and illicit campaign financing.
President Yudhoyono has strongly denied any involvement, insisting the bail-out had been necessary to protect the economy from a crisis.
Indonesia's Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said the country should enhance its role in ASEAN for national economic benefits ahead of its chairmanship of the group in 2013, China's Xinhua news agency reported, citing the Jakarta Post as saying on Wednesday.
"Our role in and contribution to ASEAN should not only be maintained but enhanced for the economic interest of Indonesia. We have to ensure that Indonesians can reap the benefits of ASEAN to increase their welfare," said Marty in his closing speech at a week-long meeting of ambassadors on Tuesday.
• Malaysia
The Court of Appeal will rule on Wednesday on Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s application to quash his sodomy charge. Court of Appeal judge Justice Abu Samah Nordin, who headed a three-member bench, fixed the date after hearing submissions from Anwar’s lead counsel Karpal Singh and lead prosecutor Solicitor-General II Datuk Mohd Yusof Zainal Abiden yesterday.
“We need time due to the lengthy submissions by both parties,” remarked the judge, who sat with Justices Sulaiman Daud and Azhar @ Izhar Ma’ah.Anwar had last Dec 1 failed in his bid to strike out the sodomy charge against him, based on the ground that a medical report suggested there was no penetration.
More Filipino maids will be available from the end of next month if negotiations between authorities in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and recruitment agencies are successful.It may also be more affordable to hire maids from the region, as its Department of Labour and Employment will seek a “workable salary” that would be a win-win solution for both maid and employer, said ARMM state labour secretary Myra Mang-kabung-Alih.
Good effort.
ReplyDeleteM. Zubair