MACC:To Be Or Not To Be

Hantu Laut

It is said both opposition and government lawmakers still have reservation and find it less than ideal that the two bills - the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) be passed in such a hurry.

In spite of their reservations the opposition say they would still give support to the bills.Giving an 'Aye' without studying the proposed bill thoroughly?

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has told all BN lawmakers to give their supports.Parliamentary Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has given conditional support but wanted the power to prosecute to be given to the MACC not the AG. (Attorney General).

Our former colonial masters must have given serious thought to the laws, separation of powers and the institutional set-up for its enforcement.You do not change the law because of one man complaint against the AG or an AG who failed in his duties.You change the AG not the law.Anwar seems more concern about stripping the AG's power to prosecute rather than a deep desire to see reform of the ACA. Anwar's objection to the AG as the ultimate power to prosecute was born out of personal conflicts rather than a desire to see major reforms.

Giving the ACA the power to prosecute but still makes it answerable to one man is certainly not a major reform by any measure.To make the ACA totally independent and away from political interference and pressure, the only viable solution is to make it answerable to a 'Parliamentary Committee' comprising not less than 10 MPs with equitable representations from the opposition and the government.The power to prosecute should remain with the AG in order to avoid abuse of power.To give both power to investigate and to prosecute to the MACC is even more dangerous than the present setup.There must be separation of powers.Unrestrained, the MACC could become a monster that could well be the lawmakers biggest nightmare.

There is nothing wrong with the present setup - the power to investigate to the police and ACA and the power to prosecute with the AG.Anwar's allegation of misconduct against the AG should not form the basis of a debate of the bill in Parliament in asking for removal of the AG's power to prosecute.

The whole concept of the bill is wrong, the power to prosecute should not be the principal factor for change for as long as it is still under the control of the executive. The ACA is no way near being called independent as long as it is still answerable to the Prime Minister.Giving the MACC the power to prosecute, as entailed by Anwar, is only moving the object from the Prime Minister's left hand pocket to his right hand pocket.The whole essence of wanting to reform should be nothing less than total independence, answerable only to a Parliamentary Committee.

Half a cupful is the same as half empty.The proposed bill is a waste of time.

AIM F2000.No Spills And Thrills

Hantu Laut

Click on map for satellite image.

For nothing else better to do on this gloriously sunny Sunday morning , which the city haven't seen for many weeks due to the current wet spell, I , although not a great fan of speedboat formula racing decided to spoil myself to bask in the sun and armed with my camera hoping to capture some spills and thrills of the race.

This is the second year the UIM F2000 is staged at Kota Kinabalu.The venue was The Water Front, a popular hangout for both tourists and locals and a place where you can either savour a mixture of local and Western foods and drinks or sniff the sewers of the city especially when the tide is low.If you do come here, come when the tide is high.

Please click on photos to enlarge.










boardwalk, down by the sea,The Water Front.






the starting pit.


The final race on Sunday morning saw Italy's Alex Carella taking the chequered flag finishing the 35 laps of the 2.06 Km course in 33 minutes 31.77 seconds.






Alex Carella with the chequered flag


Britain's Colin Jelp who finished 2nd was crowned the world champion for third successive year.










the winning boat










the winning prop.










winner Alex Carella with Emiliano Ceresa,MD of Little Italy, a local sponsor.









not so lucky.

The F2000 is not a widely followed sport in the sense of the highly glorified F1 sport. Currently the season comprises only of four race avenues and Kota Kinabalu is the last round.The organisers are working on adding two more races next year.

Unfortunately, for all shutterbugs there were no thrills.It was a boring photographic outing.

Malaysia's Economic Outlook for 2009/10

Hantu Laut

Below is the economic outlook for Malaysia for 2009/10 period forecasted by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Outlook for 2009-10

• Political uncertainty and instability are unlikely to dissipate in the months ahead, despite an expected orderly transfer of power from the prime minister, Abdullah Badawi, to the deputy prime minister, Najib Razak, in March 2009.
• The leader of the opposition alliance, Anwar Ibrahim, will continue with his campaign to destabilise the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government by persuading BN legislators to switch to the opposition.
• The Economist Intelligence Unit expects the BN coalition to remain in power over the forecast period. The BN still has a sufficiently large majority to pass the bulk of new legislation unchallenged.
• Following downward revisions made to our global economic growth forecasts, we now expect real GDP to grow by 3.1% in 2009, down from 4.6% previously. Growth will remain sluggish in 2010.
• We have revised down our forecast for consumer price inflation, which is now expected to average 2.4% in 2009, down from 3.5% previously.
• The ringgit is expected to depreciate against the US dollar in 2009, averaging M$3.45:US$1, before strengthening to M$3.33:US$1 in 2010.
• The merchandise trade surplus will fall to US$32bn in 2009, from an estimated US$39.4bn in 2008, as a downturn in Malaysia's leading export markets lowers demand for a range of Malaysian goods.

I believe the forecast by EIU of real GDP of 3.1% is a bit on the high side.My forecast is from 2% and possibly into negative territory if the government do not increase the stimulus package of RM7 billion and if the global economy shows no sign of improvement during the 1st half of 2009.

The true picture of what to come will only be known by the 1st Quarter of 2009 when the slowdown bites in.

Surprisingly, Malaysian Insider carry what looked like the same report but with completely different figures.If it comes from the same source(EIU) than Malaysian Insider needs a lot of explaining to do why those figures were altered.The Malaysian Insider's article here.

'Skim Cepat Kaya' Cara America

Hantu Laut

The world are full of all kind of crooks. Watch out for those elegantly dressed in Armani suits, suave and can effortlessly smooth-talked you into parting with your fat wallet without a hint of suspicion because you are dumb enough to judge a book by its cover.

Hedge funds are now under scrutiny for fraudulent practices and are likely to be the next big financial meltdown dragging the world into bigger financial chaos.

Malaysia is no exception to "Skim Cepat Kaya" or "Ganda Wang Anda" get rich quick pyramid scams.

The Americans are no less inventive when it comes to dirty rotten scoundrel's inventiveness to cheat the public.In fact he is even smarter than the few Ahmads and Chongs that got caught in this country and charged in court for money laundering.

The Malaysian scams are crude by comparison to the American sophisticated scams called hedge funds.

Suggested reading:

Hedge funds 'facing credit storm'
US bankers facing fraud charges
Credit crisis claims hedge fund

Below is an article from BBC on one such fantastic scam that went undetected for many years and was only exposed by the culprit himself.

$50bn fraud charge at hedge fund

The Madoff fraud could be one of the biggest yet

The former chairman of the Nasdaq stock market has been arrested and charged with securities fraud, in what may be one of the biggest fraud cases yet.

Bernard Madoff ran a hedge fund which ran up $50bn (£33.5bn) of fraudulent losses and which he called "one big lie", prosecutors allege.

Mr Madoff is alleged to have used money from new investors to pay off existing investors in the fund.

His lawyer said he would fight to get through these "unfortunate events".

The 70-year-old has been released on $10m bail.

High-profile victims

Bramdean Alternatives has emerged as a victim of the fraud, with 9.5% of its investments exposed to the New York broker, it said in a statement on its website.

Nicola Horlick, the high profile fund manager labelled superwoman by the UK press, is the company's nominated fund manager.

The collapse of Madoff is likely to accelerate the disappearance of hedge funds Robert Peston Click here for Robert Peston's blog

In an interview earlier this year with the Financial Times, Ms Horlick praised Mr Madoff.

"He is someone who is very, very good at calling the US equity market," she said.

She added: "This guy has managed to return 1% -1.2% per month, year after year after year."

'Pyramid scheme'

Mr Madoff founded Bernard L.Madoff Investment Securities in 1960, but also ran a separate hedge fund business.

According to the US Attorney's criminal complaint filed in court, Mr Madoff told at least three employees on Wednesday that the hedge fund business - which served up to 25 clients and had $17.1bn of money under management - was a fraud and had been insolvent for years, losing at least $50bn.Read more........