POLITICAL LITIGATION


1. We hear a lot about litigation these days. Everyone is suing everyone else for hundreds of millions of Ringgit for alleged libel. Almost all the litigants are politicians. The courts’ time is taken up with these cases. Some go on for years as the litigants appeal to higher and higher courts.

2. We hardly ever hear any of these litigations ending with the courts awarding the sum claimed by the complainants. In most cased the complainant would lose the case and ordered to pay cost.

3. The public usually do not have a high regard for these litigants. The disparaging utterances against them would not damage their reputation at all. Maybe justice demands that the whole legal process be gone through and a judgment be made by a court and the appeals be heard. But on the other hand, in some instances in order not to waste the time of the courts, the case may be curtly dismissed, and appeals disallowed. One wonders why there is this extreme disparity in the treatment of these cases.

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GLOBALISATION


1. The concept of globalisation; of a world without borders; of unrestricted movements of capital, goods and investments across borders was promoted during the late 80’s and early 90’s when the world economy seemed set to grow forever.

2. The growth would be even greater if the poor but resource-rich countries would abolish the restriction on the movement of foreign capital to exploit opportunities presented by them. In addition to the opportunities there was cheap labour to help reduce cost.

3. The poor countries would also gain from globalisation as foreign capital invested in the extraction of raw material and simple components manufacturing would create jobs and increase the income of the people and the revenues collected by Government. Globalisation would seem to benefit everyone, the rich foreign investors and traders and people in poor countries.

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PROTECTIONISM

1. Recently someone complained that Malaysians have to pay high prices for cars because the Government is protecting Proton.

2. Actually the high price for imported cars was fixed before Proton to reduce gas-guzzling cars from being imported. Thus cars with big engines are taxed (import duty) by 300%. Other cars are also heavily taxed to reduce import of petrol.

3. When Proton was introduced the price fixed was lower due to lower tax being charged. The buyers profited from the lower price so that those who could not buy a car before could now buy a Proton car.

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UNIVERSITY TOWNS

1. I had often wondered why university towns like Cambridge and Oxford do not develop in Malaysia after we build universities in places far from the towns.

2. After much study and thinking things over I have concluded that it is because universities, particularly Government universities, build all the shops within the campus and probably operate them as well. The residences for the students and staff are all built by the University.

3. Developers find no opportunity for developing the surrounding land through building shops and residences for staff and students. There will only be university campuses and no university towns.

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MELAYU OH MELAYU

1. Saya sedih. Saya amat sedih apabila mendengar seorang orang Melayu yang mendakwa dia kecewa kerana dianya dilahir berbangsa Melayu.

2. Kekecewaannya disebabkan dia tidak dilahir hanya sebagai orang Islam.

3. Sesungguhnya tidak ada manusia yang dilahir tidak berbangsa. Mungkin ada yang tidak bernegara (stateless) tetapi mereka juga mempunyai bangsa, walaupun tidak diiktiraf oleh negara mereka sendiri. Jika dianya daripada kaum pendatang maka dianya akan menjadi bangsa kaum pendatang.

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IRON ORE

1. I read an advertisement in a Malaysian paper by a Malaysian Steel mill wanting to buy iron ore. I also know of another steel mill importing iron ore.

2. I think this is very strange. It is known that iron ore is being mined in Terengganu and Pahang right now. I understand that the iron ore is being exported. Without being processed in any order to add value.

3. Why cannot the people mining for iron ore in Malaysia sell the ore to Malaysian mills. The ore they have to buy comes from Australia or even Latin America. The price must be higher because of transportation cost. If Malaysian ore is sold to Malaysian mills, the profit would be higher for the miners as the transportation cost would be lower.

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SEMENANJUNG TANAH MELAYU 2

1. Someone asked what about the “Orang Asli” literally the “Original People”. Weren’t they in the peninsular before the Malays?

2. They could be. So are the Red Indians, the Maoris, the aborigines of Australia, the many tribal people in many countries of the world.

3. If we consider that the Orang Asli have more rights to claim Malaysia as their own then we should acknowledge and respect the rights of the Red Indians, the Maoris, the Australian aborigines and all the other aborigines to be given back the land we now call America, Australia, New Zealand etc.

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CHANGING REGIME

1. The people of Tunisia and Egypt have overthrown their Governments. A number of people have been killed in the process. More will follow before the uprisings will be over. Now comes the problem of setting up new Governments which would make the struggle and the sacrifices worthwhile. If the new Governments fail then all the struggles and sacrifices would have been in vain.

2. I am sure that the people would want to see a democratic Government, a Government of the people, by the people, for the people.

3. This sounds great but Government by the people will not be so easy. You cannot have the people directly governing themselves. You will need to have a new constitution and political parties which will enable representatives of the people to form the Government. For this, elections will have to be held. Unfortunately elections can be manipulated.

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