GENOCIDE – THE DESTRUCTION OF AN IDENTITY

1. There is something strange about the behaviour of Israel towards Gaza. Arrogance is of course a part of the Israeli character but beyond that they seem to have a long term plan. On the excuse that rockets had been fired at Israel from Gaza, Israel invaded that strip of Palestinian land, killing 1,400 Gazans, wounding many more and razing to the ground 20,000 homes, over 100 schools, hospitals and other Government buildings.

2. International pressure apparently forced Israel to stop the carnage and to withdraw from Gaza. A kind of peace appeared to have been established and numerous countries pledged billions to rebuild Gaza. After that, news about Gaza ceased to appear in the media and the assumption was that the pledges of aid were being honoured and rebuilding was in progress.

3. After months of silence in terms of media coverage, it was discovered that Israel had blocked aid material and aid workers from entering Gaza. Supported by Egypt, the border between that country and Gaza was closed. The crossing point at Rafah was guarded by Egyptian security personnel and only limited supplies were allowed to pass.

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LANGKAWI INTERNATIONAL MOUNTAIN BIKE CHALLENGE 2010

1. Langkawi will see yet another international sports event from 6th to 8th August. This is not the Le Tour de Langkawi but this time the event, the Langkawi International Mountain Bike Challenge 2010, will be held entirely in Langkawi.

2. There will be participants from 16 countries including Malaysians. Others are from neighbouring Asian countries, Europe as well as from South Africa. It promises to be an exciting race and will be covered fully by the media.

3. I hope Malaysians will not miss this sporting event while enjoying the delights of Langkawi and tax-free shopping as well.

4. Come join the fun!

CABARAN MOUNTAIN BIKE ANTARABANGSA LANGKAWI 2010

1. Langkawi sekali lagi akan menjadi tuan rumah kepada satu pertandingan bertaraf antarabangsa dari 6 hingga 8 Ogos. Ia bukanlah pertandingan Le Tour de Langkawi. Kali ini, acaranya ialah Cabaran Mountain Bike Antarabangsa Langkawi 2010, yang akan diadakan sepenuhnya di Langkawi.

2. Peserta-peserta yang bertanding datang dari 16 negara, termasuk peserta Malaysia. Yang lainnya datang dari negara jiran Asia, Eropah termasuk juga dari Afrika Selatan. Acara ini menjanjikan satu pertandingan yang amat menarik dan akan mendapat liputan menyeluruh dari pihak media.

3. Saya berharap rakyat Malaysia tidak akan melepaskan peluang untuk menyaksikan acara sukan ini disamping menikmati keindahan Langkawi serta membeli-belah di kedai bebas cukai.

4. Jangan lepaskan peluang ini!

HIGH INCOME ECONOMY

1. The Government has announced the intention to make Malaysia a high income country. I assume this means people will receive high wages, salaries and profits.

2. But if wages and salaries are to be increased by the private sector, the cost of doing business would have to increase as well. To cover this increase, prices of products must be increased. This will mean that the consumers will have to pay higher prices for whatever they purchase. There would be, by definition, inflation.

3. The increase in prices of goods and services should cover the higher wages and salaries and the profit margins from the business. But this will not be all. The cost of transport, fuel and raw materials would all increase as these businesses will also experience increased overhead costs as they too will have to increase wages etc. So the increase in product prices must also cover these costs.

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THE FREE MARKET 2

1. When I wrote about the free market, I was not thinking of wanting to make money from the United States. It is good if we can but without the US market Malaysian palm oil is doing extremely well.

2. I just wanted to show the hypocrisy of America. We do not go around the world preaching free market, so if we are not so free as alleged, we are not being hypocritical. I had always been sceptical of ideas coming from the rich. They are all self-serving.

3. They preach and fiercely demand that all Governments stop regulating their trade. Yet they are the ones most guilty of protecting their trade.

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THE FREE MARKET

1. A long time ago when I was Prime Minister I met President Bush the father, at Boston University where he was conferring degrees for graduates. I met him in a side room and I told him of the unfair anti-palm oil campaign by America, blaming it for heart diseases.

2. We later submitted palm oil samples for three American chemical laboratories to examine the cholesterol contents. Their findings proved that although palm oil had more cholesterol than rival soya bean oil, the main edible oil in America, cooking reduced palm oil cholesterol but increased the cholesterol in soya bean oil.

3. The campaign against palm oil stopped but Americans still refused to use palm oil for cooking to this day. It was a case of non-tariff barrier. But that is the way America deals with competitions.

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SUNAT DAN WAJIB


1. Sejak kecil lagi saya diajar tentang perbezaan antara sunat dan wajib dalam Islam.

2. Yang sunat saya diberitahu jika dibuat berpahala tetapi tidak dibuat tidak berdosa. Sebaliknya yang wajib perlu dibuat jika tidak akan berdosa.

3. Sudah tentu awal-awal lagi saya diberitahu sembahyang lima waktu itu wajib. Tetapi kelonggaran diberi jika tidak sihat, jika dalam perjalanan, dalam kecemasan.

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INTERNET GUARANTEE

1. When we appointed an International Advisory Panel of prominent IT personalities from around the world, we gave a guarantee that Malaysia would not censor the Internet.

2. We thought at that time that even if we wanted to, we couldn’t. The technology was not available for us to do this. And so Malaysiakini and other sites flourished.

3. Now that I have retired I feel glad that we made the decision not to censor. I have benefited much from the blogs as have very many bloggers. There may be a few who have abused this blogging privilege but by and large it has served the public well. The mainstream media in Malaysia need no censoring as they censor themselves. So the blogs can report what really happens. It can be the alternative source of news. And there is a need for this other source for the mainstream media will always be guarding their behind.

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KHAZANAH…

UPDATE Thursday July 15, 2010 ** It has been brought to my attention by Khazanah Nasional Managing Director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar that Khazanah Nasional does not own any shares in Sime Darby Berhad and that reports of its intention to buy into Aman Resorts remains speculative **

1. Fresh from losing three billion ringgit via its majority owned firm Sime Darby, I hear that Khazanah is buying or going to buy “Aman Resorts”.

2. These are six star resorts in Bali, Phuket and other exotic places. I don’t know how profitable they are but I do know that hotels and resorts are not easy to manage, even less easy to make profits. It is the management companies which make the profits because profitable or not they get their cut of the takings.

3. I am sure Khazanah is well aware of this. Perhaps it is also aware that its investments in fishing had failed. The boats, the nets and other fishing paraphernalia are now dumped in the Langkawi Boustead boatyard. I am told they are for sale.

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