Indonesia

BN Manifesto to set up IOFC in Seberang Perai is realistic — Economist

Apr 28th, 2013
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BN Manifesto to set up IOFC in Seberang Perai is realistic — Economist

GEORGE TOWN — The Penang Barisan Nasional’s (BN) manifesto promising to set up an international offshore financial centre (IOFC)in Seberang Perai is realistic to diversify the economic sector in the state which is now focused on the manufacturing industry, an economist said today.

RAM Holdings Bhd chief economist Dr Yeah Kim Leng said today the proposal was timely because the location of the Pearl of the Orient was ideal to attract foreign investments.

He said the pledges in the manifesto were very realistic to spur economic development and create more job opportunies, thus speeding up development in the area.

“The proposal to set up an IOFC is very apt because it will provide the right platform for Penang, which is seen as needing to diversify its economic sector,” he told Bernama here today.

Dr Yeah said Penang’s economy, which all this while was driven by the manufacturing industry, must turn to other sectors like services, finance and technology- and innovation-based industries to maintain long-term revenue growth.

He said Penang was ideal for the setting up of the IOFC because it was a magnet capable of attracting capital flow from foreign investors due to its location.

“Setting up an IOFC in Penang can be seen as an achievement, like Singapore which has become a safe haven for deposits and asset management for foreign investors,” he said.

Moreover, he said, the state had a large group of foreign investors and was capable of providing cross-border financial flow facilities to foreign companies already operating in the region.

Dr Yeah said Penang was suitable to grow into a financial hub because it was a special place that could attract high-networking individuals like those in Indonesia to invest in education and medical services.

He also said that the establishment of an IOFC would have a high impact on the support industries like accounting and information communication technology (ICT).
 

This would indirectly benefit sectors related to finance and provide spillover effects for the locals, he said.

“The IOFC financial flow centre wil act as a revenue generator in terms of transaction fees and in turn bring about an increase in income generation,” he said.

It is understood that the IOFC proposed by the Penang BN will be modelled after the Labuan International Offshore Financial Centre which has offered international financing and business services since 1990.-BERNAMA-

Source: MOLE

Human trafficking syndicates growing

Apr 26th, 2013
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MANILA: Human trafficking syndicates are growing and becoming more organised helped by technology, Southeast Asian law-enforcement experts heard Thursday as they sought ways to tackle the issue together.
Experts from the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations met here to try to work out either a binding convention on human trafficking or a less stringent regional plan of action to enable ASEAN to act in unison.
"Trafficking in persons used to be number three (crime). Now, it has overtaken the (illegal) arms trade and it is number two globally," Philippine justice undersecretary Jose Salazar said as the talks got under way.
Salazar, who heads Manila's anti-trafficking task force, said human trafficking syndicates were expanding worldwide, helped by the Internet and other modern advances.
"They are more organised. They have the resources. They have been using the advances in technology for themselves," he said.
While some countries want an ASEAN convention against human trafficking, there are also fears that such a convention could infringe on the laws of individual nations.
Under the regional plan of action, members would not be obliged to follow all the provisions but would merely be asked to cooperate, he said.
The recommendations of the experts meeting here will be presented to ASEAN senior officials meeting in Vietnam later this year, he added.
The Philippines, which has almost 10 million citizens working overseas, was particularly vulnerable to human trafficking with many women going abroad for legitimate jobs only to be forced into prostitution, he said.
Figures for the number of people trafficked in ASEAN were being compiled but were not immediately available, he added.
He cited International Labour Organisation figures putting the number of people worldwide in forced labour at 20.9 million -- 5.5 million of them children.
Aside from the Philippines, ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
ASEAN members have been criticised for not doing enough to fight human trafficking even though many of them send labourers overseas and some of them rely on imported workers.

List of GE13 foreign observers to be finalised this week

Apr 25th, 2013
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List of GE13 foreign observers to be finalised this week

JOHOR BAHARU — The list of foreign observers for the 13th general election on May 5 is expected to be finalised within this week, according to the Election Commission (EC) deputy chairman, Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar.

He said the countries invited to observe Malaysia’s general election process were Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand and the Philippines, as well as representatives from the Asean Secretariat.

“These countries and the secretariat will be sending seven representatives each, with three of them to be given the status of official guests of Malaysia,” he said after visiting the polling centres in the Gelang Patah parliamentary constituency today.

Wan Ahmad said there were countries that requested to send 40 observers each but the EC had set the number at seven.

He also reminded all quarters not to wear any piece of clothing and headgear with their party logo or symbol on polling day.

“However, the 1Malaysia can be used as it is not political in nature but the tagline of the ruling BN government’s administration,” he said.-BERNAMA-

Source: MOLE

Malindo Air assures customers safety is priority

Apr 18th, 2013
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Malindo Air assures customers safety is priority

KUALA LUMPUR: Malindo Air has issued a statement saying that it operates independently despite being a subsidiary company of PT Lion Group Indonesia which owns 49 per cent of Malindo Air.

 

The Airlines director of flight operations Captain Niazi Saif Ud-Dean in the statement made available to The Mole said the airline operates independently with a totally independent and separate management team from that of Lion Air.

 

“Our Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC) is governed and regulated by the stringent standards imposed by the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia,” he added.

 

“Our aircraft are being maintained and serviced regularly by our own team of experienced engineers adhering strictly to the local aviation regulatory requirements.”

 

The statement came following last week’s plane crash of a Lion Air jet off Bali, the resort island in Indonesia, which resulted in the airline’s safety becoming the subject of concern among its customers.

 

All 108 passengers and cabin crew survived the crash after the Boeing 737-800 crashed into shallow waters near the airport.

 

To that, Niazi said that the airlines have always given safety their number-one priority and high safety standards are practiced and maintained throughout the airline’s operations.

 

“Our pilots have gone through rigorous training and possess vast experience flying various types of aircraft including the B737NG’s,” he said.

 

Malindo Air has adopted the Safety Management System (SMS), a safety programme which has been approved by DCA. Niazi called the programme stringent and said it covers SMS documentation, risk assessments and analysis, audit and inspection forums, campaigns, KPI’s, flight operational monitoring and training.

 

“I hope the above information will provide our passengers with an actual idea of the operation and management of Malindo Air.”

 

“We fervently hope that the public will maintain their confidence and trust in our capability and safety standards,” Niazi said.

Source: MOLE

Indonesian club mulls AFC Cup pullout after chaos

Apr 11th, 2013
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Indonesian club mulls AFC Cup pullout after chaos

JAKARTA: Cash-strapped Indonesian football club Persibo was Thursday deciding whether to withdraw from the AFC Cup after a"shameful performance in Hong Kong when they ran out of players, forcing the match to be abandoned.
The game against Sunray Cave JS Sun Hei on Tuesday was called off in the 65th minute with the Indonesians trailing 8-0 after six of their players had gone off the pitch with injuries.
The club only had 12 players available for the match, with some having left after the side's major shareholder stopped paying the team and staff in January, and others suspended.
The result was yet another embarrassment for football in Southeast Asia's biggest nation, which has been mired in controversy for the past two years with two rival federations running separate leagues.
"Our performance was certainly shameful, a disgrace to Indonesia," said Imam Nurcahyo, spokesman of the club from East Java province, admitting financial problems caused the chaos.
"Their morale was low, they were owed salaries, they were jet-lagged and tired. We were so broke we only bought flight tickets the night before the match and flew in on the match day."
Nurcahyo blamed the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) for forcing the club to participate when they did not want to, and said they were now considering pulling out of the tournament, with two matches left to play in their group.
"PSSI said Indonesia would lose future match slots if we pull out and promised to provide funding. It never did," said Nurcahyo.
"We are angry to be blamed so perhaps the best thing to do now is to withdraw."
He said the club's management were meeting Thursday with local authorities -- who used to own the club -- to make a decision on whether to continue in the competition.
The PSSI however blamed poor management at the club, with association official Rudolf Yesayas saying that some player contracts had been drawn up only two days before tournament registration.
Hopes were raised last month that order would be restored to the troubled world of Indonesian football after the PSSI and the Indonesian Soccer Rescue Committee (KPSI) agreed to unite, with the KPSI becoming part of the PSSI.

Source: MOLE

Najib to fight graft if re-elected

Apr 9th, 2013
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Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak pledged to fight corruption, boost public services and seek a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council if his coalition retains power in elections due in a matter of weeks.

Najib promised more specialist graft courts and greater public disclosure of government contracts if BN is allowed to extend its 55 years of unbroken rule, according to a manifesto he unveiled at his first election rally since dissolving Parliament on April 3.

NONEAmong the pledges are improved health care and transportation, including a high-speed rail link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

“My sincere apologies to all Malaysians if we have done anything wrong,” the caretaker prime minister said in his speech, which had been broadcasted live on national television.

“At the end of the day, we are ordinary humans. If we are given a strong mandate, I can assure you that we will do better in the next five years.”

In the lead-up to the polls, Najib has boosted government spending, distributed a second round of cash handouts to the poor, and raised salaries of civil servants, police and the military.

He also delayed implementing a goods and services tax (GST) and froze plans to wind back state subsidies on essential items.

There would be more handouts for the poor, and car costs and broadband fees would be lowered, the manifesto read. The Election Commission (EC) is scheduled to meet on Wednesday to set a date for polls.

NONETo stay in power, Najib, 59, must see off a resurgent opposition led by former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim (right).

Brokerages, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citigroup Inc, expect an even closer election result than in 2008, when BN retained power by its narrowest margin since Malaysia’s independence from Britain in 1957.

The risk of the ruling coalition losing seats in the election has helped make the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index South-East Asia’s worst-performing benchmark this year.

The stock gauge is little changed, while Indonesia and Thailand’s leading indexes have risen more than 14 percent.

Focusing on his track record

Najib, who inherited a country in recession when he replaced Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as the premier mid-term in 2009, wants a mandate to complete his economic and government reforms started less than three years ago.

He is focusing on his track record in boosting investment and improving incomes as he seeks a popular mandate for the first time.

Malaysia’s economy has shown resilience in the face of the global slowdown, expanding by more than four percent for each of the 13 quarters to the end of 2012, according to data compiled byBloomberg.

Private investment has tripled since Najib began his economic-transformation programme in September 2010, rising 25 percent last year to RM139.5 billion (US$46 billion), according to government data.

Almost half of the voters surveyed in a poll by the Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research said fighting graft is a more pressing issue for the next government than taming inflation or boosting foreign investment.

The survey of 1,021 voters was conducted from Jan 23 to Feb 6 in the country’s peninsula and had a margin of error of 3.07 percent.

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Najib to fight graft if re-elected

Apr 9th, 2013
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Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak pledged to fight corruption, boost public services and seek a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council if his coalition retains power in elections due in a matter of weeks.

Najib promised more specialist graft courts and greater public disclosure of government contracts if BN is allowed to extend its 55 years of unbroken rule, according to a manifesto he unveiled at his first election rally since dissolving Parliament on April 3.

NONEAmong the pledges are improved health care and transportation, including a high-speed rail link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

“My sincere apologies to all Malaysians if we have done anything wrong,” the caretaker prime minister said in his speech, which had been broadcasted live on national television.

“At the end of the day, we are ordinary humans. If we are given a strong mandate, I can assure you that we will do better in the next five years.”

In the lead-up to the polls, Najib has boosted government spending, distributed a second round of cash handouts to the poor, and raised salaries of civil servants, police and the military.

He also delayed implementing a goods and services tax (GST) and froze plans to wind back state subsidies on essential items.

There would be more handouts for the poor, and car costs and broadband fees would be lowered, the manifesto read. The Election Commission (EC) is scheduled to meet on Wednesday to set a date for polls.

NONETo stay in power, Najib, 59, must see off a resurgent opposition led by former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim (right).

Brokerages, including Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Citigroup Inc, expect an even closer election result than in 2008, when BN retained power by its narrowest margin since Malaysia’s independence from Britain in 1957.

The risk of the ruling coalition losing seats in the election has helped make the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index South-East Asia’s worst-performing benchmark this year.

The stock gauge is little changed, while Indonesia and Thailand’s leading indexes have risen more than 14 percent.

Focusing on his track record

Najib, who inherited a country in recession when he replaced Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as the premier mid-term in 2009, wants a mandate to complete his economic and government reforms started less than three years ago.

He is focusing on his track record in boosting investment and improving incomes as he seeks a popular mandate for the first time.

Malaysia’s economy has shown resilience in the face of the global slowdown, expanding by more than four percent for each of the 13 quarters to the end of 2012, according to data compiled byBloomberg.

Private investment has tripled since Najib began his economic-transformation programme in September 2010, rising 25 percent last year to RM139.5 billion (US$46 billion), according to government data.

Almost half of the voters surveyed in a poll by the Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research said fighting graft is a more pressing issue for the next government than taming inflation or boosting foreign investment.

The survey of 1,021 voters was conducted from Jan 23 to Feb 6 in the country’s peninsula and had a margin of error of 3.07 percent.

Short URL: http://www.freemalaysiakini2.com/?p=74782







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More than 10 new elements to be implemented in GE13

Apr 3rd, 2013
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More than 10 new elements to be implemented in GE13

KUALA LUMPUR — Four new rules are among the improvements to be carried out in the 13th general election (GE13) to ensure transparency in the voting process.

The improvements include the usage of indelible ink, early voting by police and military personnel to replace postal voting, allowing the disabled (OKU) to bring along someone to assist them vote and abolishing the process of protest during nomination and withdrawal of candidacy.

The rules came into force following amendments to the General Election Regulations (Process of General Election) 1981 (Amendment) 2012 and General Election Regulations (Postal Voting) 2003 (Amendment) 2012, which were gazetted last year.

The rule on indelible ink makes it compulsory for anyone wanting to vote to have the left index finger marked with the ink before being given the ballot paper. Those who refuse to comply will not be issued the paper.

The Election Commission (EC), for the first time, also introduced early voting for military personnel and their spouses, General Operations Force personnel and spouses and policemen will not be able to vote on polling day.
 

The enforcement of the regulation involves 273,819 voters with 163,017 voters from the military and 110,802 from the police.

Other than members of the security forces, Malaysians abroad who meet the  stipulated conditions will be allowed to vote early through the postal voting method for the first time.

However, they must be registered voters and had been in Malaysian or had returned not less than 30 days in five years prior to the dissolution of Parliament or state assembly.

Malaysians living in southern Thailand, Singapore, Brunei and Kalimantan in Indonesia are not qualified to use this facility and must return home to vote.

The EC explained in a statement that the conditions were appropriate because it shows that there is a clear relationship between the citizens of Malaysia and their motherland.
 

The EC also agreed to abolish the process of protest during nomination and the period to withdraw candidacy to tackle the problem of frivolous protests.

With this amendment, the time required by EC to print ballot papers is shortened because it does not have to wait for the cooling-off period of three days (to withdraw candidacy) as practiced previously.

 
Meanwhile, OKU are also allowed to name someone they trust to help them vote, on the condition the person carrying out the responsibility is a citizen aged 21 upwards but not necessarily registered as a voter.

And also for the first time in the history of the country’s general elections, all media workers including journalists, photographers, cameraman and technicians on duty outside the areas they registered are eligible to apply to be postal voters.

Other registered voters qualified to apply for postal voting are staff of the EC and policemen or members of the military who are on duty on the day of early voting.

Meanwhile, 16 non-governmental organisations (NGO) have also been appointed to be observers of GE13, namely five in the peninsula, eight in Sarawak and three in Sabah.

The EC, with the cooperation of the Information, Communications and Culture Ministry, is also prepared to give equal access to all political parties contesting in GE13 to present their manifestos on Radio Television Malaysia.

The following are other new elements which will be implemented in GE13: - Campaign period not less than 10 days.

– The seating position of representatives of candidates in voting rooms be amended to enable them to clearly see voters entering the voting place.

– The exhibition of the Electoral Roll be extended from seven days to 14 days.

– creation of the GE13 portal (www.pru13.gov.my) to give the latest information to the people.

– EC will not provide tents for supporters of parties who turn up on nomination day.-BERNAMA-

Source: MOLE

Half of Indonesians at risk of landslides

Apr 1st, 2013
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Half of Indonesians at risk of landslides

JAKARTA: More than half of Indonesia's population live in areas at risk of landslides, an official said Thursday, with traditional farming methods blamed for the widespread vulnerability.
Some 124 million Indonesians out of a population of around 240 million live in moderate- to high-risk landslide areas, National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) official Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said, citing a study.
"Population growth and greater volume of rain as a result of climate change have increased the potential for landslides, but the most dominant factor is land degradation from farming activities," Nugroho told AFP.
Twelve people were killed and five are still missing after torrential seasonal rain triggered a landslide in western Java on Monday.
The 2012 study carried out by the BNPB, the Central Statistics Agency and the United Nations Population Fund found there was a high incidence of landslides on the steep slopes of the densely populated island of Java.
"Industries also clear forest for factories. With an expected increase in rain, especially during the wet season, we will likely see more landslides in the future. This is a serious problem," Nugroho said.
Deforestation and land degradation that alters tree-root systems is a major trigger of shallow landslides, common in Indonesia, where flooding and frequent earthquakes contribute to soil instability.
There have been 58 landslides in Indonesia this year, which left 107 people dead or missing.

Source: MOLE

Indonesian anti-terror cops accused of fuelling jihad

Mar 31st, 2013
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JAKARTA: The elite police unit on the front line of Indonesia's lauded terrorism clampdown faces fresh allegations of torture and unlawful killings, raising concerns it is fuelling the jihadist cause.
Detachment 88 was established after the 2002 bombings on Bali that killed 202 people, mostly Western tourists, and has gained strong public support after claiming the scalps of some of the region's most-wanted extremists.
But last month a video emerged in which officers from the anti-terror unit interrogated a suspect writhing in pain after he had been shot in the chest and forced to strip to his underwear.
"Why did you shoot me? I surrendered," he screams, as police repeatedly yell back that he ask Allah for forgiveness. "You're going to die," they say, trampling on three other suspects, shooting into the ground to intimidate them.
The suspect who was shot in the video, Rahman Kalahe, survived the incident and was sentenced to 19 years' jail over his role in the beheading of three Christian schoolgirls and the murder of a priest in Poso.
However, the footage has prompted the National Human Rights Commission to reopen its investigation into the 2007 raid, while Islamic groups and members of parliament have made calls to disband Detachment 88.
"Detachment 88 has used torture, killings and intimidation, but they are never held accountable. The unit must be dissolved," said Din Syammsuddin, chairman of the nation's second-largest Muslim organisation, Muhammadiyah, who took the video to police.
The government insists that its security forces have great respect for human rights.
"There are standard operating procedures in the handling of terrorism. It is not true that Detachment 88 employs a shoot-to-kill approach," presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha told AFP.
"Any actions contrary to the law, including human rights law, will be processed. Without exception for anyone. This country upholds and enforces the rule of law," he said.
The Detachment 88 unit, which gets funding and training from the United States and Australia, has been successful in quelling the kind of militant attacks on civilian targets that rocked Indonesia in the past decade.
Indonesia's battle with terror is now being fought almost entirely between militants and police, much of it in Poso district -- a known hotbed for militant activity on Sulawesi island, where the videotaped raid took place.
This shift in the nature of terrorism in Indonesia has raised concerns that the unit's treatment of suspects is fuelling revenge attacks.
Since the establishment of Detachment 88, Indonesian police have killed at least 90 suspects in counterterrorism operations, the International Crisis Group reported.
But fully 50 of them have been killed since 2010, a year after the last major deadly attack in the nation.
"You can see why people get angry when the police start shooting people just because they have a copy of a book on jihad in their rooms," Todd Elliot, Jakarta-based terrorism analyst with Concorde Consulting, told AFP.
"When we haven't seen a major attack in years and police are killing terror suspects every two months, you can understand why people are asking questions."
National Anti-Terror Agency chief Ansyaad Mbai denies the unit is trigger-happy, saying the deaths happen because terror suspects rarely surrender and are often armed.
The numbers seem to support his argument -- in the same period that 50 suspects were killed, 21 police were slain trying to make arrests or investigate extremist activity.
In October, two officers investigating an alleged terrorist camp in Poso were found dead and buried in a hole with their throats slit.
"Terrorism is an extraordinary crime that requires extraordinary operations," Mbai told AFP.
"They don't respect Indonesians' rights, so why are we suddenly so concerned with theirs?" he said.
"Since Detachment 88 was established, we have captured 850 terrorists. Yes, dozens have been killed, but most were taken alive."
Mbai sees the video as the latest tactic in a long-standing campaign against the unit, likely from political factions or hardline Islamic groups that regularly paint Detachment 88 as anti-Muslim.
The rights commission has recommended Detachment 88 employ a more transparent evaluation process and the unit be held accountable for any extra-judicial killings.
But Mbai said: "I don't agree with these calls to hold officers to account through legal procedures. This will just demoralise the unit."
Problems within Detachment 88 are not unique to the unit. The UN's Special Rapporteur on Torture in 2008 found that torture and abuse of suspects during arrest and police detention were widespread in Indonesia.
"The video indicates a definite need for better human rights training. The whole police institution in Indonesia is still in need of reform," Elliot said.
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