Jed Yoong

Malaysia’s failure was not to create a generation of post-1969 leaders who would have discarded the values and praxis of linguistic nationalism and who would embrace diversity and hybridity instead…How sad that after half a century of coming into being, we still do not have a national language where every Malaysian citizen can find herself or himself.

(more…)

Po Kuan collecting donations from the public at a ceramah in the Machap by-election last year. /JYPix

Favourite fruit: Rambutan

Favourite movie: Any movie, just goes in to watch any movie to relax

Favourite holiday destination: Places by the sea, on a beach

Favourite chill-out: Rest at home and catch up with family

Random update: The three-term Batu Gajah MP said she will still be staying in Ipoh to serve her constituents although her new husband is based in Johor. She is also very busy attending many events to thank the rakyat who voted her in again.

More @ 1. Her blog 2. Wikipedia

Firefox users may realise that the application chews up memory if you use it for an extended period and sometimes may just hang. Anyway, Firefox 3.0 claims to have solved this problem. It also has a snazzy “intelligent” location bar where options will pop up when you type in some key words or letters. Minus points include extensions may not be compatible. My vodpod and post to wordpress plug-ins don’t work with this latest version. But it is much faster when loading applications like Google Mail. Still waiting to see if the memory problem has been resolved. Download Firefox 3.0 Beta 4 here.

From an email:

A POLITICALLY CORRECT STORY……. .!
This joke can be enjoyed by everyone. Not only that. It is politically correct and with a moral lesson.
============ ========= ========= ========= ========= =====

While walking down the street one day a Malaysian Boleh Minister is tragically hit by a truck and dies. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

“Welcome to heaven,” says St. Peter. “Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We seldom see a high official around these parts, you see, so we’re not sure what to do with you.”

“No problem, just let me in,” says the man.

“Well, I’d like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we’ll do is have you spend one day in hell and one in heaven. Then you can choose where to spend eternity.”

“Really, I have made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,” says the Yang Berhormat.

“I’m sorry, but we have our rules,” says St. Peter.

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him. Everyone is very happy and dressed in the finest batik there is. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people. They play a friendly game of golf and then indulge themselves on lobsters, caviar and the most expensive food there is. Also present is the devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes.

They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go. Everyone gives him a hearty farewell and waves while the elevator rises. The elevator goes up, up, up and the door reopens on heaven where St. Peter is waiting for him.

“Now it’s time to visit heaven.”

So, 24 hours pass with the Yang Berhormat joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the 24 hours have gone by and St. Peter returns.

“Well, then, you’ve spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.”

The Yang Berhormat reflects for a minute, then he answers: “Well, I would never have said it before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think Ai yam better off in hell.”

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. Now the doors of the elevator open and he’s in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage. He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above. The devil comes over to him and puts his arm around his shoulder.

“I don’t understand,” stammers the Yang Berhormat. “Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, and danced and had a great time. Now there’s just a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. What happened?”

The devil looks at him, smiles and says, “Yesterday we were campaigning just like you during an election…. .. Today you voted.”

VOTE WISELY IN THE COMING ELECTION!

Tks for sending me the email.

I heard Vincent Tan has increased his stake or bought over NexNews, which owns The Sun and The Edge. Hopefully nothing much will change. Good work in both papers!

Happy Weekend all, I’ll be back on Monday. If you want to know, my weekend will be spent reading and watching the History channel on Astro.

The Sunday Star - Sunday, Jan 20 2008
INSIGHT BY JOCELINE TAN
joceline@thestar.com.my

The general election is around the corner, and nowhere is it more evident than in Penang where some politicians have begun talking, promising and even singing their way into the hearts of voters.

EVERYBODY knows everybody in Penang’s infamous Rifle Range area. As such, strangers stick out like a sore thumb. Sometimes it is because visitors tend to go about looking up in the air in case rubbish is being flung from the high-rise flats.

Rifle Range or pak cheng po, as it is known in Hokkien, is Penang’s oldest and arguably most decrepit low-cost housing scheme.

It is a rough locality.

People here do not have an easy life, and that makes them tough, cynical and somewhat irreverent of rules. Thus, it is best not to assume that chaps walking around with tattoos on their body are being fashionable; they very likely belong to some underground brotherhood.

The locals joke that the dead have far better housing. They have a point there because the Chinese cemetery across the road is located on choice undulating hills or what in Chinese feng shui is known as chey sua kua hai (resting on the hills, looking out to sea).

The residents on the other hand are sardined in seven blocks of high-rise flats that have truly seen better days.

“It is really different from anything else,” was how Bukit Bendera MP Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye put it.

Rifle Range is located in the state constituency of Kebun Bunga, one of the four state seats that make up Chia’s parliamentary area.

Chia is a third-term MP and, by most accounts, he will be moving to a state seat in the next general election. He is also the forerunner to be the next Chief Minister of Penang.

He defeated no less than DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang in 1999 by 104 votes, losing badly in the Rifle Range area.

But in 2004 he swept past a local DAP leader with a majority of 11,000 votes. It was also the Pak Lah phenomenon that helped Kebun Bunga assemblyman Quah Kooi Heong win by a comfortable 3,000-plus majority.

Based on Chia’s last win and the work he has put in since 1995, Bukit Bendera is now considered a fortress of sorts for the Barisan Nasional.

The conventional wisdom is that anyone who commands the votes in Rifle Range will command Bukit Bendera. It is not exactly true but Rifle Range is a sought-after chunk of 8,000 votes, and residents there are famously anti-establishment.

“I can feel a hot wind blowing this time,” Quah said and he was not referring to blistering Penang weather.

Parti Rakyat Keadilan (PKR) has a new service centre just a stone’s throw from Quah’s own centre. It offers free peanut soup, a large TV tuned to Astro’s Wa Lai Toi channels and five computer units.

Jason Ong, a personable 32-year-old lawyer and Penang PKR deputy chief is planning to ride on Rifle Range’s anti-establishment reputation.

Penang has not seen this sort of opposition mood since 1990.

“It will be a tough one for the Barisan. I don’t see us repeating the 2004 performance. That was like reaching Mount Everest for us,” Chia admitted.

The Barisan had grabbed a spectacular 38 state and eight parliamentary seats compared to the opposition’s two state and five parliamentary seats in 2004.

Penang will be the frontline state for DAP and PKR. The two parties have signed a seat allocation pact and have pledged to avoid any three-corner fights. DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng is as good as confirmed to lead the DAP campaign on the island.

The last time the DAP trained their guns on Penang was in 1999 when they went on a campaign bid to form the state government. It was a total disaster and the party’s state chairman had to resign.

Lim, who is making his Penang debut, has been well advised on the psychology of the Penang Chinese.

The campaign strategy this time is built around the Chinese fears and desires.

There is no more cocky talk of capturing the state because that would scare Penang folk right into the Barisan’s arms.

The Penang Chinese, often as kiasu as their Singaporean counterparts, want the best of both worlds – a Barisan state government that can deliver the goods and a strong opposition for the check and balance.

They want a Chinese Chief Minister and they are upset with Umno whom they connect to issues like the revival of the NEP and religion.

The DAP message is, to put it very simply: deny the Barisan its two-thirds majority so that the DAP can check the powers of Umno and prevent future changes to the Constitution.

It is also rather ingenuous, their target is Umno but their electoral opponents will be the MCA and Gerakan.

“They say they want to check Umno’s powers but they are hitting at MCA and Gerakan seats. The irony is that in teaching Umno a lesson, Penang voters will end up reducing the non-Malay representation in government,” said a senior Gerakan figure.

But the Penang Chinese are also quite complex. They are not exactly risk-takers and their individual interests often take precedence over the community needs.

The last time Penang people took a major leap of faith in politics was when they voted the then opposition Gerakan into government in 1969. Since then, they have been very tactical in using the power of their vote, setting the trend of voting opposition for Parliament and Barisan for state.

They are an articulate community with views and opinions about issues. At the same time, they are pretty pragmatic when it comes to balancing their concerns and there is also the so-called silent majority who are a little harder to gauge.

Gerakan is also worried about the Indian vote, a traditional vote bank. Many of their seats have about 10% to 15% Indian voters and the Indians have the ability to make a difference given the prevailing Chinese sentiment.

The opposition strength lies in the way people feel about national issues but ultimately local issues and the choice of candidate will decide how people vote.

Homeground issues like the Penang Global City Centre, the Sungai Nyior toll and the temple demolition in Bukit Mertajam will be played out amid more national issues like cost of living and crime and security in the election campaign.

Incumbents like Bagan Jermal assemblyman Ooi Chuan Aik are hoping to rely on their track record.

“A good friend told me recently, ‘sorry Chuan Aik, I may not be able to vote for you’. But I believe those who have worked hard and delivered will be appreciated,” said Ooi.

Tired faces who have not performed well are not going to withstand the opposition wind. Taking calculated risks with new faces who have good credentials and people skills will appeal to the younger generation who form a large portion of the swing voters.

“Studies have shown that about 40% of voters in Penang are fence-sitters who are open to persuasion. They want quality candidates, people who can aptly represent them and provide strong leadership,” said political analyst Khoo Kay Peng.

The DAP annual dinner in Penang last weekend made it clear that their target group was primarily Chinese although some might have thought they had walked into an Umno event. There were giant banners of Umno Youth leaders Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein and Khairy Jamaluddin strung up all over the hall. The party was using the pair as the symbol of the DAP target.

The speeches were almost entirely in Mandarin and Hokkien and the second course of the dinner was a peppery soup with chunks of pig’s intestines. Even their campaign song was adapted from the theme song of the super-popular Taiwanese soap opera that comes on at 6pm every day on Astro.

The DAP politicians may be good at politics but they are no singers and they practically murdered the song that night. Still, everyone in the audience seemed to know the song.

The weeks ahead will see politicians talking, singing and promising their way into the hearts of Penang people because the state will be the hottest of the hotspots in the next general election.

The Edge’s P Gunasegaram asks us to look at the 9th Malaysia Plan for some official statistics. Read his article in the latest issue of the financial weekly.

On an unrelated note, the paper also published AirAsia’s explanation of its controversial hedging strategy. CEO Tony Fernandez said that the strategy was to buy at market prices as prices go down. Sounds like speculation to me. Normally you lock in a certain price to stabilise costs. The paper also pointed out that our trusty Employees Provident Fund (EPF) had “emerged” as a major shareholder after Fidelity pulled out. Another interesting detail was sales had gone about 40 per cent while profits (Or was it total income? I don’t have the article with me…) had surged over 145 per cent. Have a read. Hedge or bet? Yes, it is a big difference.

The Spectator
By William Shawcross
Thursday, 3rd January 2008

When will we ever learn? The murder of Benazir Bhutto should finally convince us that we are in the midst of a crucial international war to stop Islamist terrorists destroying all that is best in our imperfect world.

Bernard-Henri Lévy, the French philosopher, points out that with Benazir Bhutto, they killed ‘a spectacularly visible woman’ who, whatever her flaws as a political leader, was astonishingly brave in fighting — uncovered, unveiled — for politics ‘and refusing the curse that, according to the new fascists [the jihadists], floats over the human face of women’.

Lévy suggests that Benazir’s name should now become another password ‘for those who still believe that the good genius of Enlightenment will win out over the evil genius of fanaticism and crime’. But the Enlightenment will be lost unless we all realise that we have to fight for it.

First of all we have to give up the luxury of pretending that the war with Islamism is our fault. It is not. It is a deadly serious attempt by reactionary theocrats, Sunni and Shia, to enslave as much of the world as possible. It is powerful — it has the resources of a rich state, Iran, behind its Shia arm, and oil wealth gushes into the coffers of its Sunni side.

‘The war on terror’ may not be the best of phrases, but it is a reasonable shorthand. Islamist terrorist murderers don’t kill decent and brave people because of mistakes made by President Bush or Tony Blair or President Musharraf or anyone else. They do so to destroy the chance of millions of Muslims and ‘infidels’ all over the world to live decent lives.

Secondly, the murder of Bhutto should also demonstrate — yet again — that this war is not the fault of the Israelis. The Islamists did not kill Benazir Bhutto because of concern about the West Bank. They killed her because they feared her power to give the Pakistani people more than the Islamists want them to have, and because they seek to push Pakistan into total chaos and unlimited carnage.

Third, Iraq is not the cause of this war — it is part of it. Remember one of the first terrible suicide murders committed in Iraq: in August 2003 al-Qa’eda killed Sergio Vieira de Mello, one of the UN’s most gifted officials, and many of his colleagues. De Mello was Kofi Annan’s special representative in Iraq and, like Annan, was opposed to the US war effort there. But al-Qa’eda denounced Annan as ‘America’s criminal slave’ and abused de Mello as ‘diseased’. They hated him in particular because he had helped Christian East Timor win independence from Muslim Indonesia — a heinous crime to al-Qa’eda.

Last month al-Qa’eda bombed a UN building in Algiers because, like de Mello, it was symbolic of the decent world which the Islamists want to destroy. Eleven UN officials were killed at once. And so it goes on.

The murder of Bhutto, the murder of UN officials, the countless murders of innocent Iraqis, the murder of Lebanese who fight for their democracy, the murder of commuters in Madrid and London are all part of the same war against people and life. They are all part of the same deadly global ideology of hatred and despair. These assaults will not end if we retreat — from Afghanistan, from Iraq or anywhere else. Weakness will cause the terrorists to redouble their efforts.

Maysoon al-Damluji, a brave Iraqi woman who returned from London exile after the overthrow of Saddam to help build a decent society, put it well recently. ‘Both al-Qa’eda and Iran are working to create the most dangerous culture that humanity has ever known,’ she said. ‘It is based on hatred and ignorance and manifests itself through suppressing all kinds of freedoms, especially on women. If, God forbid, the American forces withdrew, mayhem would strike Iraq; it would spill out to the entire region and no country in the Middle East would be spared.’ She is right. And not just for the Middle East.

Asia Sentinel
BY John Berthelsen
14 January 2008

The greatest shift of capital in world history, now washing across Asia, poses a dilemma for policymakers

What is Asia going to do with its money? Because of the astonishing profligacy of the western economies, primarily the United States, the region’s 11 biggest economies have amassed the biggest transfer of financial resources in the history of the world. Although most of the focus has been on China, with its US$1.5 trillion in reserves, the region as a whole holds more than double that amount, nearly US$3.9 trillion. And, by one estimate, the figure appears set to soar upward even further, to US$5.1 trillion by the end of 2009.

It is questionable how long this can go on at the present pace, however. Ultimately it would probably collapse the global monetary system. Debt of that magnitude is not repayable and thus the trust basis of the reserve system would simply collapse. Nonetheless, the way the region manages this massive amount of money can be expected to dominate global economics and financial markets for decades to come. But with few really sophisticated financial markets, and lots of barriers remaining to regional flows of capital, how will this be handled?

Continue reading @ AsiaSentinel.com 

John Berthelsen is the Editor of Asia Sentinel. He was most recently managing editor of The Standard newspaper in Hong Kong, Berthelsen was also a correspondent for Newsweek Magazine, the Asian Wall Street Journal and the Sacramento Bee.  He has lived in and reported from five different countries in Asia.

Illustration by Adrian Tomin

By STEVEN PINKER
Published: January 13, 2008

Which of the following people would you say is the most admirable: Mother Teresa, Bill Gates or Norman Borlaug? And which do you think is the least admirable? For most people, it’s an easy question. Mother Teresa, famous for ministering to the poor in Calcutta, has been beatified by the Vatican, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and ranked in an American poll as the most admired person of the 20th century. Bill Gates, infamous for giving us the Microsoft dancing paper clip and the blue screen of death, has been decapitated in effigy in “I Hate Gates” Web sites and hit with a pie in the face. As for Norman Borlaug . . . who the heck is Norman Borlaug?

Yet a deeper look might lead you to rethink your answers. Borlaug, father of the “Green Revolution” that used agricultural science to reduce world hunger, has been credited with saving a billion lives, more than anyone else in history. Gates, in deciding what to do with his fortune, crunched the numbers and determined that he could alleviate the most misery by fighting everyday scourges in the developing world like malaria, diarrhea and parasites. Mother Teresa, for her part, extolled the virtue of suffering and ran her well-financed missions accordingly: their sick patrons were offered plenty of prayer but harsh conditions, few analgesics and dangerously primitive medical care.

It’s not hard to see why the moral reputations of this trio should be so out of line with the good they have done. Mother Teresa was the very embodiment of saintliness: white-clad, sad-eyed, ascetic and often photographed with the wretched of the earth. Gates is a nerd’s nerd and the world’s richest man, as likely to enter heaven as the proverbial camel squeezing through the needle’s eye. And Borlaug, now 93, is an agronomist who has spent his life in labs and nonprofits, seldom walking onto the media stage, and hence into our consciousness, at all.

I doubt these examples will persuade anyone to favor Bill Gates over Mother Teresa for sainthood. But they show that our heads can be turned by an aura of sanctity, distracting us from a more objective reckoning of the actions that make people suffer or flourish. It seems we may all be vulnerable to moral illusions the ethical equivalent of the bending lines that trick the eye on cereal boxes and in psychology textbooks. Illusions are a favorite tool of perception scientists for exposing the workings of the five senses, and of philosophers for shaking people out of the naïve belief that our minds give us a transparent window onto the world (since if our eyes can be fooled by an illusion, why should we trust them at other times?). Today, a new field is using illusions to unmask a sixth sense, the moral sense. Moral intuitions are being drawn out of people in the lab, on Web sites and in brain scanners, and are being explained with tools from game theory, neuroscience and evolutionary biology.

Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University and the author of “The Language Instinct” and “The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature.”

Continue reading @ The New York Times

JY: Educational read. Debunked and supported some of my arguments in Morality in the Animal Kingdom.

JY: Great pic of Pak Lah in The Star today, and it’s not the one on the front page but in Joceline’s column, as above. OH GOSH, had me in stitches. Doesn’t he look like the Fuhrer?

———————————————————-

Everything seems to point to an early general election and many think the Prime Minister will find his ‘inspiration’ after the Chinese New Year festivities.

COMMENT BY JOCELINE TAN

The Sunday Star - Jan 13, 2007

THE guessing game on the general election is almost over. The polls will be very, very soon, going by the statements coming from leading political figures, especially those in the ruling Barisan Nasional.

Most think the Prime Minister will find his “inspiration”, the political catchword for deciding on an election date, after the Chinese New Year.

Continue reading @ The Star

Anwar campaigning in the Northern states. Photo from anwaribrahim.com

From anwaribrahim.com, published on Wed - Jan 9, 2008 

Mula-mula Datuk Seri Najib Razak membantah cadangan penurunan harga minyak. Kini Rafidah Aziz pula melalak menolak kemungkinan harga minyak turun kerana harga pasaran antarabangsa.
Kan kita pengeluar minyak dengan untung bersih RM 80 billion? Asyik dengan pembahagian AP, mana sempat mencongak harga melambung.

Jangan asyik mencabar saya bertanding. Mahkamah diperalatkan untuk menghalang saya. Jika sungguh bagai dikata, sila beri kelulusan saya bertanding!

Din Merican, It is not about personal vendetta 

It is not about personal vendetta; it is not about bad mouthing the ruling regime, or about power hungry people in-waiting. It is about the rakyat and their basic needs and hopes for a better future. It is about our national pride and future direction. It is about the economy and proper and prudent management of our limited resources through good governance. It is about our youth and their future. It is about our children’s education. It is about “keadilan untuk semua”(justice for all). It is, in short, about our rights as citizens and the future of our country in an increasingly globalised world.

While UMNO and the rest of the Barisan Nasional component parties have gone out of their way to discredit Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim by using HINDRAF issues or launching personal attacks, spreading lies and anything else they can lay their hands on. In fact, they are harping on other irrelevant and trivial issues in their effort to divert the rakyat’s attention from the real issues. They have been trying to create a “feel good” atmosphere with announcements of the Northern, East Coast, and Southern corridors together with other mega-projects. They are also using EPF and PNB and state unit trust funds to prop up the stock market.

Ever since Merdeka, now into its 51st year, the Barisan Nasional government has been disguising its failures as successes through the well tested and organized means of re-branding projects and mental conditioning of the rakyat through its controlled mess media network. Currently, we have people in power and those connected to those in power through marriage and other relationships who think that they are the bosses and can ” fool all the people all the time”.

The present UMNO- led coalition government is like a huge tree trunk infested with termites: the outside looks good whilst the inside is rotten to the core. It is now only a matter of time before it will implode.. One cannot sweep dirt under the carpet all the time, sooner or later, it will show and tragedy befalls our country.

We have begun to see evidence of systemic breakdown, more so in recent months with the government flip flopping on many issues and policy decisions. Prices of essential food items are spiraling out of control. The worse is yet to come and this discredited government is waiting to approve another round of price increases after the elections. Fuel cost and toll charges are expected to rise. There is a shortage cooking oil because of our failed energy policy. Last year (2007), serious crime rate rose by 13.4%. Because the Prime Minister is weak and incompetent, there is serious infighting within UMNO and its component partners. This list keeps growing. Yet the government spinners, and the controlled media say that Malaysia is in great shape.

50 years of UMNO-BN rule should be enough. What have seen is corruption and abuse of power on the rise, sheer incompetence, a corrupt Judiciary, and total disregard for the rule of law and civil liberties, and a dysfunctional public administration, especially in the once much respected civil service and dignified Police Force.

A new dawn awaits us if we dare to make the change and vote in favour of an alternative government which is committed to good governance, the rule of law, and justice for all led by Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

Dato Seri Anwar is in the considered opinion of many observers at home and abroad the best leader there is in Malaysia today. Through his charisma and brilliant 16-year track record of public service, he is able to hold both Al-Fadhil Hadi Awang’s PAS and Lim Kit Siang’s Democratic Action Party (DAP) in coalition with Parti KeADILan Rakyat together, and form a government that transcends considerations of race, color and religion. This alternative government will bring Malaysia into the 21st century as a truly respected member of ASEAN, the OIC and NAM, and the United Nations. He has earned the trust of the thousands of Malaysians he met and touched during his recent tour of Penang, Kedah, Negri Sembilan, Terengganu and Johor.

He said that his Malaysian Economic agenda will deliver strong economic growth. In this regard, it is worth quoting him as follows:

“…agenda ekonomi perlu terpancar dari hasrat memacu pertumbuhan pantas; agar negara melonjak maju dan menjamin faedah dan keselesaan kepada rakyat terbanyak. Maka selain dari kerangka kebajikan ekonomi; jentera pelaksana dan badan penguatkuasaan juga harus berwibawa dan bertanggungjawab.

Hanya dengan jiwa merdeka mampu kita robohkan kerawang dan tembok yang membelenggu pemikiran, memundurkan negara dan menindas rakyat. Tokoh politik, sarjana, aktivis, pekerja dan mahasiswa harus merasa tercabar untuk berfikir dengan waras dan bertindak dengan bijaksana”.

Malaysia will then be an abode of peace and harmony, where all Malaysians can live and prosper together. There will be justice for all. So, the time for change has come.

Regards,
Din Merican and Ibrahim Yaacob
dino.beano@yahoo.com
http://dinmerican.wordpress.com

Also by Din Merican, The Malays Care for Malaysia and the Government Cares for No One

Thousands of mainly Malays at a ceramah umum in Kota Sarang Semut-Alor Star, Kedah. Photo from anwaribrahim.com

Peter D. Schiff
Asia Sentinel
07 January 2008
America’s leaky investment banks turn mendicant, look for overseas help

As the American economic ship continues to spring leaks, the goldilocks crowd still clings to the false belief that the Fed can easily keep the economy afloat with a few more rate cuts.This comfort has sustained many upbeat forecasts despite overwhelming evidence of an unfolding economic and monetary catastrophe of historic proportions.

On Monday it was learned that Merrill Lynch, having just sold a $4.5 billion stake to the Singapore government, is again passing around the hat, this time wooing the Chinese and Saudi governments for badly needed funds. This follows similar moves by US investment houses Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Bear Stearns.These developments should be disconcerting on many levels, yet most seem unperturbed.

In the first place, the fact that troubled firms need to look abroad for cash provides startling evidence of the extent of the deterioration of America’s economic might. The reason we need to seek capital from abroad is that we squander our own on consumption.

However, these foreign investments come at great cost; specifically preferred shares that place new foreign shareholders in senior positions to existing American shareholders and burden the latter with substantial dividend payments (11 percent for Citigroup and 9 percent for Morgan Stanley). Of course, large dividend payments to foreign shareholders will only worsen the US’s current account deficit, putting more downward pressure on the dollar and the American standard of living. Contrary to Wall Street’s positive spin on foreigners “investing in America,” such acquisitions really amount to foreigners buying up America, as our creditors take our assets in exchange for our debts.

Continue reading @ AsiaSentinel.com

JY: Malaysians should wake up. If global investment banks are out of funds, it’s a serious credit crunch. The last time it happened was when LTCM and the industry went down in the hey-deys of “legalised” betting on hedge funds. How will this affect Malaysia? US is one of our largest trading partners. So, if your biggest client is broke, you better have other clients. But it seems Malaysia has systematically diversified its export portfolio over the years to reduce dependence on the US. We may be relatively unscathed if China, India and the Middle East money flows in.

Nov 1, 2007

In God’s name
Nov 1st 2007
From The Economist print edition
Religion will play a big role in this century’s politics. John Micklethwait (interviewed here) asks how we should deal with it

THE four-hour journey through the bush from Kano to Jos in northern Nigeria features many of the staples of African life: checkpoints with greedy soldiers, huge potholes, scrawny children in football shirts drying rice on the road. But it is also a journey along a front-line.

Nigeria, evenly split between Christians and Muslims, is a country where people identify themselves by their religion first and as Nigerians second (see chart 1). Around 20,000 have been killed in God’s name since 1990, estimates Shehu Sani, a local chronicler of religious violence. Kano, the centre of the Islamic north, introduced sharia law seven years ago. Many of the Christians who fled ended up in Jos, the capital of Plateau state, where the Christian south begins. The road between the two towns is dotted with competing churches and mosques.

This is one of many religious battlefields in this part of Africa. Evangelical Christians, backed by American collection-plate money, are surging northwards, clashing with Islamic fundamentalists, backed by Saudi petrodollars, surging southwards. And the Christian-Muslim split is only one form of religious competition in northern Nigeria. Events in Iraq have set Sunnis, who make up most of Nigeria’s Muslims, against the better-organised Shias; about 50 people have died in intra-Muslim violence, reckons Mr Sani. On the Christian side, Catholics are in a more peaceful battle with Protestant evangelists, whose signs promising immediate redemption dominate the roadside. By the time you reach Jos and see a poster proclaiming “the ABC of nourishment”, you are surprised to discover it is for chocolate.

Continue reading @ The Economist

JY: Read the report, good stuff, helps me gain some perspective.