Perutusan Khas Hari Raya Aidilfitri Dan Hari Kemerdekaan

August 29 ,2011

PERUTUSAN KHAS HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI DAN HARI KEMERDEKAAN OLEH
YAB. DATO’ SRI MOHD. NAJIB TUN ABDUL RAZAK
PERDANA MENTERI MALAYSIA
29 OGOS 2011

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh dan Salam Aidilfitri serta Salam Kemerdekaan,

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Walillah hil Hamd.

Pertamanya, segala ucapan tahmid dipanjatkan ke hadrat Allah SWT justeru selesai sebulan kita melaksanakan ibadah puasa dalam satu perjalanan spiritual mentarbiyyah rohani dan menguji fizikal. Maka, dengan tibanya fajar Syawal yang mulia, umat Islam hari ini dengan penuh rasa kesyukuran menyambut satu kemenangan mujahadah yang tertinggi pengertiannya seperti disifatkan oleh Rasulullah SAW yakni jihad bagi melawan nafsu.

Pada tahun ini, ditaqdirkan sesuatu yang bitara dan unik, sebagai rakyat Malaysia kita bertuah dapat menyambut gema Aidilfitri berselang sehari dengan ulangtahun sambutan kemerdekaan negara yang ke lima puluh empat. Kedua-dua perayaan ini mempunyai signifikan begitu besar kepada negara yang mempunyai kemajmukan amat kompleks seperti Malaysia di mana bukan sahaja wujud perbezaan daripada segi etnik tetapi juga teranyam indah dengan kepelbagaian agama, budaya, bahasa dan taraf sosioekonomi.

Pucuk pangkalnya, rakyat Malaysia yang berlainan agama, anutan dan kepercayaan mempunyai banyak sebab untuk bersyukur dan berterima kasih. Hakikat bahawa, Malaysia telah dan sedang dirahmati nikmat keamanan juga kemakmuran tidak mampu disangkal oleh mana-mana pihak. Jelas sekali, kita ibarat sebuah oasis di tengah-tengah dunia berkecamuk sedang dilanda badai politik dan kegoncangan ekonomi yang bertali arus.

Tuan-Tuan dan Puan-Puan,

Hari ini, seperti yang kita maklum, ketika gergasi ekonomi dunia seperti Amerika Syarikat dan juga beberapa negara anggota Kesatuan Eropah yang dikelompokkan sebagai ekonomi maju sedang bergelut dengan krisis kewangan serius sehingga memerlukan penyelamatan atau “bailout”, sebaliknya, Malaysia hasil pengurusan yang berhemah serta cekap, masih mampu bukan sahaja untuk mengembangkan ekonomi dan mencipta peluang pekerjaan baru tetapi juga untuk memberikan setengah bulan bonus kepada satu perpuluhan empat juta kakitangan awam yang menelan belanja dua bilion ringgit menjelang sambutan istimewa perayaan Aidilfitri dan Hari Kemerdekaan.

Sungguhpun yang demikian, kita tidak boleh sekali-kali terbuai dan berpuas hati dengan ehwal kejayaan tersebut. Untuk itu, sepanjang tempoh dua tahun yang lepas, pancang-pancang telah dipasak oleh kerajaan bagi memastikan penciptaan kekayaan baru, pertumbuhan ekonomi berterusan dan penciptaan pekerjaan berganjaran tinggi selaras dengan kemahiran yang semakin meningkat. Apa yang diimpikan adalah sebuah negara yang makmur dan sejahtera dimana setiap individu sanggup bekerja keras, meningkatkan kemahiran secara istiqomah dan beriltizam menggunakan segala peluang dengan bijak agar dapat mencorak sebuah kehidupan bahagia berkelangsungan hingga cucu cicit kita kelak.

Peri pentingnya, setiap seorang daripada kita hendaklah mengetahui bahawa, matlamat tertinggi kerajaan adalah untuk mendahulukan kebajikan seluruh rakyat, sebagai suatu urutan keutamaan yang telah menjadi wawasan nasional semenjak negara mencapai kemerdekaan. Dari itu, sebagai kerajaan yang merasai denyut nadi rakyat, lagi prihatin terhadap kegundahan serta resah gelisah warganya dan memahami kebimbangan mereka, kita sedar tentang fenomena kos kehidupan semakin meningkat sekaligus kita maklum terhadap harga bahan makanan yang semakin naik. Lantaran itu, kerajaan telah dan akan terus mengambil tindakan memperbaiki dan memperelok keadaan ini secara berperingkat serta menyeluruh demi kepentingan rakyat.

7. Pokoknya di sini, sekalipun fenomena kenaikan harga bahan makanan bersifat global, namun sebagai kerajaan bertanggungjawab kita tidak akan berpaling daripada menghadapi sebarang cabaran. Misalannya, sebagai langkah awal kita telah menjadikan matlamat menangani kos kehidupan yang semakin meningkat sebagai satu lagi Bidang Keberhasilan Utama Negara atau NKRA yang terbaru. Satu Jawatankuasa Kabinet Mengenai Bekalan dan Harga Barang juga telah ditubuhkan dengan dipengerusikan sendiri oleh YAB. Timbalan Perdana Menteri. Sememangnya, langkah-langkah ini membuktikan komitmen kerajaan bagi memastikan program yang bakal digubal serta dilaksanakan akan benar-benar mampu membantu rakyat.

Selain daripada itu, kerajaan akan meneruskan dasar memberi subsidi secara langsung atau tidak langsung. Ini terutamanya, subsidi bahan makanan yang terpilih seperti beras, minyak masak, tepung gandum dan gula. Begitu juga bahan bakar seperti Petrol RON95, Diesel dan LPG serta perkhidmatan kesihatan dan pendidikan. Akan tetapi, kita berhasrat melakukannya dengan lebih cermat dan bijaksana tanpa menjejaskan kesihatan fiskal negara dengan mendukung prinsip bahawa mereka yang lebih memerlukan dan berkelayakan akan didahului serta diutamakan.

Sehubungan itu, baru-baru ini saya telah mengumumkan beberapa inisiatif awal bagi membantu mengurangkan bebanan yang ditanggung. Antaranya, Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia di mana barang-barang keperluan berjenama 1Malaysia mampu dibeli dengan harga yang lebih rendah berbanding harga pasaran. Di Klinik-Klinik 1Malaysia pula rawatan asas boleh diperolehi dengan bayaran seringgit dan yang mutakhir melalui Program Kebajikan Rakyat 1Malaysia atau singkatannya KAR1SMA sejumlah 1.4 Bilion akan diperuntukan kepada lima ratus ribu warga emas, orang kelainan upaya, ibu tunggal serta balu polis atau tentera yang berkelayakan.

Sesungguhnya, usaha kerajaan tidak terhenti sekadar itu sahaja. Selanjutnya, insyaAllah melalui Bajet 2012 yang akan dibentangkan pada awal Oktober nanti, saya akan mengumumkan pula langkah-langkah susulan bersifat lebih komprehensif bagi menangani masalah yang memberi kesan kepada isi keluarga yang berpendapatan rendah dan pertengahan.

Tuan-Tuan dan Puan-Puan,

Dalam syiar meriahnya perayaan dan besarnya jiwa kemerdekaan, saya menyeru kepada semua agar tidak sekali-kali melupakan pengorbanan, darah, keringat dan air mata bapa-bapa kita para pejuang kemerdekaan negara serta anggota pasukan keselamatan negara dari dahulu hingga sekarang. Beringatlah yakni semuanya tidak terjelma dengan berwenang-wenang ataupun kekal lestari jika bahtera keramat kemerdekaan Malaysia tercinta ini terbiar hanyut tidak dikemudi dengan tulus, tidak dihargai dan musnah tanpa dipelihara. Oleh yang demikian, kita dengan ini menolak dan mengecam sekeras-kerasnya sebarang pernyataan dan usaha oleh mana-mana pihak yang ingin mempersenda atau memperlekeh pengorbanan mulia para wirawan dan wirawati negara serta keluarga mereka. Kita berasa kesal kerana mereka sebaliknya pula memperagungkan Parti Komunis Malaya yang anti Tuhan, anti agama dan anti Nasional.

Jadi, di atas segala-galanya, bagi memastikan apa yang terlimpah dan tercurah ke atas kita dan bumi Malaysia kekal berkesinambungan, maka perpaduan nasional perlu terus dibajai dan diperkukuhkan. Mudah-mudahan jua atas keinsafan ini makin tersepuh dan menebal semangat patriotisme dan kecintaan yang kukuh kepada pertiwi di setiap nubari kita.

Tuan-Tuan dan Puan-Puan,

Bertolak dari situ, pada hemah saya, dua sambutan yang bersesekali ini sewajarnya membawa permaknaan dan pengertian yang mendalam tentang betapa besarnya kurniaan Ilahi kepada Malaysia yang makmur, bebas dari sebarang ketakutan dan kebimbangan terhadap keselamatan sama ada keselamatan diri kita mahupun keluarga disamping dapat meraikan hari-hari kebesaran sebegini dalam keadaan kecukupan dan kelimpahan.

Kata orang dulu-dulu, sempena hari baik bulan baik ditambah pula hembusan Merdeka, kita buanglah yang keruh, kita ambillah yang jernih. Di musim perayaan ini, marilah kita bersatu sebagai sebuah keluarga besar Malaysia supaya dapat menjadi contoh kerukunan hidup kepada seantero dunia.

Lantas, sempena bulan yang mulia dan semangat sambutan Hari Kebangsaan ini, ayuhlah kita terus menyemarakkan tradisi murni kunjung mengunjung dan mengadakan rumah terbuka. Seperti yang sering dinyatakan, bukalah pintu rumah dan pintu hati seluasnya dengan menjemput rakan-rakan berlainan kaum, kepercayaan dan agama ke rumah masing-masing. Di sinilah tergubah dan terlukisnya sebuah citra Malaysia yang kita damba-dambakan.

Akhir kata, saya dengan rasa kerendahan hati bagi pihak diri, isteri, anak-anak dan seisi keluarga mengambil kesempatan ini menyusun jari nan sepuluh memohon kemaafan zahir dan batin atas apa jua kesalahan mahupun kekhilafan yang dilakukan. Turut dihulurkan salam istimewa Hari Kemerdekaan kepada seluruh rakyat Malaysia dimana jua Tuan-Tuan dan Puan-Puan berada. Semoga Tuhan sentiasa merahmati kita semua.

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar Walillah hil Hamd.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri dan Selamat Hari Kemerdekaan.

Wabillahi Taufiq Walhidayah Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

 

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri–Eid Mubarak

August 29, 2011

To  Fellow Muslims and Malaysians,

Maaf Zahir Dan Batin

Dr Kamsiah and I take this opportunity to wish you Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, Maaf Zahir & Batin-Id Mubarak.  For Malaysian Muslims, it is traditional to use the expression, Maaf  Zahir & Batin to accompany  Hari Raya greetings. It simply means forgiveness with all sincerity.

To those Malaysians and their families who are journeying to their respective hometowns and kampongs, we wish you a safe journey. May God Bless you and your family with lots of good health, happiness and prosperity.

Salam Aidil Fitri Untuk Semua

Sempena 1 Syawal yang mulia ini, Kami berdua ingin menyampaikan ucapan Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, Maaf Zahir Dan Batin, kepada umat Islam di seluruh Malaysia dan juga merata dunia.

Marilah kita perkuatkan azam dan tekad untuk memperbaharui perpaduan serta bersama-sama bagi membina sebuah negara yang penuh nilai-nilai murni seperti adil, muhibbah, amanah dan sejahtera.

Kami  berharap semoga 1 Syawal 1432H akan membawa kegembiraan kepada semua sebagai tanda meraikan kejayaan menahan diri dari membuat perkara-perkara yang dilarang Islam termasuk makan dan minum di siang hari selama sebulan Ramadhan, yang kami anggap bukan sesuatu yang mudah untuk dilakukan tanpa taqwa yang tinggi.

Kami juga berharap sanak saudara dapat berkumpul di hari yang mulia ini untuk merapatkan silaturahim dan mempereratkan hubungan yang mungkin agak renggang ekoran komitmen masing-masing dalam kerjaya, hal-hal keluarga dan sebagainya. Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Dan Batin–Dr Kamsiah G. Haider dan Din Merican

Dark Clouds Over The United States and Europe

August 28, 2011

http://www.thestar.com.my

by (Tan Sri) Dr Lin See-Yan

The world is adrift and it will continue to drift in the coming months or even years

Within the past couple of weeks, the world has changed. From a world so used to the United States playing a key leadership role in shaping global economic affairs to one going through a multi-speed recovery, with the emerging nations providing the source of growth and opportunity. This is a very rapid change indeed in historical time.

What happened? First, the convergence of a series of events in Europe (contagion of the open ended debt crisis jolted France and spread to Italy and Spain, forcing the European Central Bank or ECB to buy their bonds) and in the US (last minute lifting of the debt ceiling exposed the dysfunctional US political system, and the Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the US credit rating) have led to a loss of confidence by markets across the Atlantic in the effectiveness of the political leadership in resolving key problems confronting the developed world. Second, these events combined with the coming together of poor economic outcomes involving the fragilities of recovery have pushed the world into what the president of the World Bank called “a new danger zone,” with no fresh solutions in sight.

Growth in leading world economies slowed for the fourth consecutive quarter, gaining just 0.2% in 2Q’11 (0.3% in 1Q’11) according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The slowdown was marked in the euro area. Germany slackened to 0.3% in 2Q’11 (1.3% in 1Q’1) and France stalled at zero after 0.9% in 1Q’11. The US picked up to 0.3% (0.1% in 1Q’11), while Japan contracted 0.3% in 2Q’11 (-0.9% in 1Q’11).

The US slides

Recent data disclosures and revisions showed that the 2008 recession was deeper than first thought, and the subsequent recovery flatter. The outcome: Gross domestic product (GDP) has yet to regain its pre-recession peak. Worse, the feeble recovery appears to be petering out. Over the past year, output has grown a mere 1.6%, well below what most economists consider to be the US’s underlying growth rate, a pace that has been in the past almost always followed by a recession. Over the past six-months, the US has managed to eke out an annualised growth of only 0.8%. This was completely unexpected.

For months, the Federal Reserve had dismissed the economy’s poor performance as a transitory reaction to Japan’s natural disaster and oil price increases driven by turmoil in the Middle East. They now admit much stiffer headwinds are restraining the recovery, enough to keep growth painfully slow.

Recent sentiment surveys and business activity indicators are consistent with expectations of a marked slowdown in US growth. Fiscal austerity will now prove to be a drag on growth for years. Housing isn’t coming back quickly. Households are still trying to rid themselves of debt in the face of eroding wealth. Old relationships that used to drive recoveries seem unlikely to have the pull they used to have.

Historically, consumers’ confidence had tended to rebound after unemployment peaked. This time, it didn’t happen. Unemployment peaked in Oct 2009 at 10.1% but confidence kept on sinking. The University of Michigan’s index fell in early August to its lowest level since 1980. Thrown in is concern about the impact of the wild stock market on consumer spending. Indeed, equity volatility is having a negative impact on consumer psychology at a time of already weakening spending.

Three main reasons underlie why the Fed made the recent commitment to keep short-term interest rates near zero through mid-2013:

(i) cuts all round to US growth forecasts for  the second half of 2011 and 2012;

(ii) drop in oil and commodity prices plus lower expectations on the pace of recovery led to growing confidence inflation will stabilise;

and (iii) rise in downside risks to growth in the face of deep concern about Europe’s ability to resolve its sovereign debt problems. The Fed’s intention is at least to keep financial conditions easy for the next 18 months. Also, it helps to ensure the slowly growing economy would not lapse into recession, even though it’s already too close to the line; any shock could knock it into negative territory.

The critical key

Productivity in the US has been weakening. In 2Q11, non-farm business labour productivity fell 0.3%, the second straight quarterly drop. It rose only 0.8% from 2Q10. Over the past year, hourly wages have risen faster than productivity. This keeps the labour market sluggish and threatens potential recovery. It also means an erosion of living standards over the long haul. But, these numbers overstate productivity growth because of four factors:

(a) upward bias in the data – for example, the US spends the most on health care per capita in the world, yet without superior outcomes;

(b) government spending on military and domestic security have risen sharply, yet they don’t deliver useful goods and services that raise living standards;

(c) labour force participation has fallen for years. Taking lower-paying jobs out of the mix raises productivity but does not create higher value-added jobs;and

(d) off-shoring by US companies to China for example, but they don’t enhance American productivity.

Overall, they just overstate productivity. So, the US, like Europe, needs to actually raise productivity at the ground level if they are to really grow and reduce debt over the long-term. The next wave of innovation will probably rely on the world’s current pool of scientific leaders – most of whom is still US-based.

US deficit is too large

The US budget deficit is now 9.1% of GDP. That’s high by any standard. According to the impartial US Congressional Budget Office (CBO), even after returning to full employment, the deficit will remain so large its debt to GDP will rise to 190% by 2035! What happened? This deficit was 3.2% in 2008; rose to 8.9% in 2010, pushing the debt/GDP ratio from 40% to 62% in 2010. This “5.7% of GDP” rise in the deficit came about because of (i) a fall of “2.6% of GDP” in revenue (from 17.5% to 14.9% of GDP), and (ii) a rise of “3.1% of GDP” in spending (from 20.7% to 23.8% of GDP).

According to the CBO, less than one-half of the rise in deficit was caused by the downturn of 2008-2010. Because of this cyclical decline, revenue collections were lower and outlays, higher (due to higher unemployment benefits and transfers to help those adversely affected). They in turn raise total demand and thus, help to stabilise the economy. These are called “automatic stabilisers.” In addition, the budget deficit also worsened because, even at full-employment, revenues would still fall and spending rise. So, the great recession did its damage.

Looking ahead, the Obama administration’s budget proposals would add (according to CBO) US$3.8 trillion to the national debt between 2010 and 2020. This would raise the debt/GDP ratio to 90% reflecting limited higher spending, weaker revenues from middle and lower income taxpayers, offset in part by higher taxes on the rich. Even so, these are based on conservative assumptions regarding military spending, no new programmes and lower discretionary spending in “real” terms.

No doubt, actual fiscal consolidation would imply much more spending cuts and higher revenues. According to Harvard’s Prof M. Feldstein, increased revenues can only come about, without raising marginal tax rates, through what he calls cuts in “tax expenditures,” that is, reforming tax deductions (eg cutting farm subsidies, eliminating deductions for ethanol production, etc).

Such a “balanced approach” to resolve the growing fiscal deficit will be hard to come-by given the political paralysis in Washington. Worse, the poisonous politics of the past two months have created a new sort of uncertainty. The tea partiers’ refusal to compromise can, at worse, kill off the recovery.

The only institution with power to avert danger is the Fed. But printing money can be counter-productive. Fiscal measures are the preferred way to go at this time. Even so, the US fiscal problems will mount beyond 2020 because of the rising cost of social security and medicare benefits. No doubt, fundamental reform is still needed for the long-term health of the US economy.

Eurozone stumbles

Looming large as a risk factor is Europe’s long running sovereign debt saga, which is pummeling US and European financial markets and business confidence. So far, Europe’s woes and the market turmoil it stirred are worrisome. The S&P 500 fell close to 5% last week extending losses of 15.4% over the previous three weeks, its worse streak of that length in 2 years, and down 17.6% from its 2011 high. The situation in Europe has been dictating much of the global markets’ recent movements.

The Eurozone’s dominant service sector was effectively stagnant in August after two years of growth, while manufacturing activity, which drove much of the recovery in the bloc shrank for the first time since September 2009.

Latest indicators add to signs the slowdown is spreading beyond the periphery and taking root in its core members, including Germany. The Flash Market Eurozone Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 51.5 in August (51.6 in July), its lowest level since September 2009. The PMI, which measures activity ranging from restaurants to banks, is still above “50”, the mark dividing growth from contraction. However, PMI for manufacturing slid to 49.7 the first sub-50 reading since September 2009. Both services and manufacturing are struggling.

Going forward, poor data show neither Germany nor France (together making- up one-half the bloc’s GDP) is going to be the locomotive. Indeed, the risks of “pushing” the region over the edge are significant. Germany faces an obvious slowdown and a possible lengthy stagnation.

European financial markets just came off a turbulent two weeks, with investors fearing the debt crisis could spread further if Europe’s policy makers fail to implement institutional change and new structural supports for the currency bloc’s finances. In the interim, the ECB has been picking up Italian and Spanish bonds to keep borrowing costs from soaring.

The action has worked so far, but the ECB is only buying time and can’t support markets indefinitely. So far, the rescue bill included 365 billion euros in official loans to Greece, Portugal and Ireland; the creation of a 440 billion euros rescue fund; and 96 billion euros in bond buying by the ECB. Despite this, market volatility and uncertainty prevail.

Europe is being forced into an end-game with three possible outcomes: (a) disorderly break-up – possible if the peripherals fail in their fiscal reform or can no longer withstand stagnation arising from austerity; (b) greater fiscal union in return for strict national fiscal discipline; and (c) creation of a more compact and more economically coherent eurozone against contagion; this implies some weaker members will take “sabbatical” from the euro.

My own sense is that the end-game will be neither simple nor orderly. Politicians will likely opt for a weak variant of fiscal union. After more pain, a smaller and more robust euro could emerge and avoid the euro’s demise. Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman gives a “50% chance Greece would leave and a 10% odds of Italy following.”

Leaderless world

The crisis we now face is one of confidence. Starting with the markets across both sides of the Atlantic and in Japan. This lack of confidence reflected an accumulation of discouraging news, including feeble economic data in the US and Europe, and signs European banks are not so stable. The global rout seems to have its roots in free-floating anxiety about US dysfunctional politics and about Euroland’s economic and financial stability.

Confidence is indeed shaky, already spreading to businesses and consumers, raising risks any fresh shock could be enough to push the US and European economies into recession.Business optimism, at best, is “softish.” Consumers are still deleveraging. Unfortunately, this general lack of confidence in global economic prospects could become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

In the end, it’s all about politics. The French philosopher Blaise Pascal contends politics have incentives that economics cannot understand. To act, politicians need consensus, which often does not emerge until the costs of inaction become highly visible. By then, it is often too late to avoid a much worse outcome. So, the demand for global leadership has never been greater. But, none is forthcoming not for the US, not from Europe; certainly not from Germany and France, or Britain.

The world is adrift. Unfortunately, it will continue to drift in the coming months, even years. Voters on both sides of the Atlantic need to demand more from their leaders than “continued austerity on autopilot.” After all, in politics, leadership is the art of making the impossible possible.

Former banker, Dr Lin See-Yan is a Harvard educated economist and a British Chartered Scientist who now spends time writing, teaching and promoting the public interest. 

The Asian Power Squeeze

August 28, 2011

by Gareth Evans (2011-08-26)

CANBERRA – As China gets closer to overtaking the United States as the world’s largest economic power, and its disinclination to accept US military dominance of the Western Pacific grows more obvious, America’s Asia/Pacific allies and friends are becoming increasingly anxious about their longer-term strategic environment. The nightmare scenario for policymakers from Seoul to Canberra is a zero-sum game in which they are forced to choose between their great economic dependence on China and their still-enormous military reliance on the US.

No one believes that the US-China relationship will end in tears any time soon, not least because of the mutually dependent credit and consumption embrace in which the two countries are currently locked. But the outlook a decade or two from now  is already generating a mass of analysis and commentary,  focusing on the tensions that have long festered in the South China Sea, bubble up from time to time in the East China Sea, and are forever lurking in the Taiwan Strait. What, if anything, can those regional countries with competing interests and loyalties do to avoid the pain that they would certainly face if US-China competition turned violent?

Probably no single one of us can do very much to influence the larger picture. But there are several messages – some accommodating, but others quite tough – that could very usefully be conveyed collectively by Japan, South Korea, the major ASEAN players, and Australia to China and the US, spelling out how each could best contribute to keeping the region stable.

Giants are not always especially tolerant of lesser mortals, but in my experience the US tends to listen most and respond best to its friends when its policy assumptions are being challenged and tested, while China has always respected strength and clarity of purpose in its partners and interlocutors. And messages coming in convoy are harder to pick off than those offered in isolation.

The first set of messages to China should be reassuring. We accept that it has always been more serious than most about achieving a nuclear weapons-free world, and we understand its need to ensure the survivability of its minimum nuclear deterrent so long as such weapons exist. We understand its interest in having a blue-water navy to protect its sea-lanes against any contingency. We acknowledge that it has maritime sovereignty claims about which it feels strongly. And we recognize the strength of national feeling about Taiwan’s place in a single China.

But these messages need to be matched by others. As to its nuclear and other military capability, mutual confidence can be based only on much greater transparency – not only about doctrine, but  numbers and deployment – than China has traditionally been willing to offer.

Any increase in China’s nuclear arsenal is destabilizing and utterly counterproductive to its stated goal of global nuclear disarmament. If other countries in the region are to diminish their reliance on the US nuclear deterrent (and not acquire any nuclear capability of their own), they must be confident in their ability to deal with any conceivable threat by conventional means.

In this context, China should expect no diminution in the commitment of America’s traditional allies in the region to that relationship, and to the US support that might be expected to continue to flow from it. And while the defense planning of others in the region assumes no malign intent by China, such planning must be conducted – as evident in Australia’s recent Defence White Paper – with the capability of major regional players squarely in mind.

Likewise, any aggression by China in pursuing its territorial claims, including on Taiwan, would be disastrous for its international credibility, for regional peace, and for the prosperity on which the country’s internal stability is premised. In the South and East China Seas, competing sovereignty claims should optimally be litigated in the International Court of Justice; failing that, they should be frozen, and arrangements for mutual access and joint resource exploitation peacefully negotiated.

The region’s messages to the US need to combine traditional sentiment with some equivalent hard-nosed realism. Our appreciation for the security support given to us in the past, and which we hope will continue in the future, remains undiminished.

But, paradoxical as it might seem, the Asia/Pacific region’s stability could well be put more at risk by America’s continuing assertion of absolute primacy or dominance than by a more balanced distribution of conventional military power.

The wisest single message that its regional allies and friends could now give the US is one that I heard former President Bill Clinton articulate in a private gathering in Los Angeles ten years ago:

“We can try to use our great and unprecedented military and economic power to try to stay top dog on the global block in perpetuity….But a better choice would be for us to try to use that primacy to create a world in which we will be comfortable living when we are no longer top dog on the global block.”

Gareth Evans, Australia’s Foreign Minister from 1988-96, is Chancellor of the Australian National University, Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne, and President Emeritus of the International Crisis Group.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2011.

http://www.project-syndicate.org

The FBC Controversy widens

August 28, 2011

http://www.independent.co.uk/

Press corps in Kuala Lumpur all knew FBC had close links to the Malaysian government with special access

By Ian Burrell, Media Editor

Friday, 26 August 2011

One of America’s most prestigious magazines, the 154-year-old The Atlantic, has become the latest high-profile news organisation to launch an investigation into its relationship with a media company that was allocated millions of pounds by the Malaysian government.

The Washington-based magazine and website is “reviewing all transactions” it had with FBC, a media company that also produced television programmes for the BBC and the business channel CNBC. The Independent revealed this month that FBC had been hired by Malaysia in a “global strategic communications campaign”.

The FBC programmes broadcast on BBC World News dealt with contentious issues including Malaysia’s treatment of its indigenous peoples, its management of rainforests and its controversial palm-oil industry. The BBC said: “FBC has now admitted to the BBC that it has worked for the Malaysian government. That information was not disclosed to the BBC as we believe it should have been when the BBC contracted programming from FBC. Given this, the BBC has decided to transmit no more programming from FBC while it reviews its relationship with the company.”

The Atlantic has ordered a “full review” into its own relationship with FBC. Justin Smith (right), president of Atlantic Media Co, publisher of the magazine, has resigned from the board of FBC. FBC’s founder Alan Friedman, a long-term friend of Mr Smith’s, blogged for The Atlantic from this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos. Mr Friedman also encouraged The Atlantic to host an event in March in which the Malaysian Prime Minister, Najib Razak, was interviewed by a correspondent of The Atlantic.

Natalie Raabe, director of communications for The Atlantic, said Mr Smith’s role at FBC was unpaid and “largely nominal”. She said that the magazine was “reviewing all interactions it has had with FBC and its chairman,” including blogs Mr Friedman wrote about Indonesia. “We have found several instances in which Friedman wrote positively about the Indonesian government and its representatives. Our internal process will seek to determine whether Friedman was representing Indonesia at the time he wrote for TheAtlantic.com.”

She said the company was also examining blog comments made by Mr Friedman(left with Najib) on Malaysia and had now attached an online reference to inform readers that he was working for the Malaysian government “at or around the time he wrote them”.

FBC also made a half-hourly weekly programme for CNBC, part of the American NBC network. Many of its episodes featured Malaysia. CNBC has withdrawn the programme “indefinitely” and “immediately initiated an examination of FBC and its business practices”. Since publication of The Independent’s investigation, the newspaper has been contacted by numerous correspondents based in Kuala Lumpur, who complained that the broadcasters should have taken action earlier.

One senior international journalist with a decade of experience in Malaysia, said FBC’s relationship with the Malaysian government was “common knowledge among the press corps in KL”. He said: “The real scandal is the failure by BBC and CNBC to police the outsourcing of their programmes. They need to answer some hard questions.”

The BBC said it had “acted swiftly to suspend the broadcasting from FBC” and pointed out that “all independent TV companies who produce programmes for BBC World News have to sign strict agreements”.

A former correspondent for a prominent US magazine said that correspondents became accustomed to seeing FBC granted access to “notoriously press-shy” senior political and business figures who would not speak to other sections of the media. “Knowing FBC and their modus operandi, it was pretty clear how it happened,” he said. The Independent has established that FBC also hired the Washington-based American lobbying company APCO Worldwide for the purpose of “raising awareness of the importance of policies in Malaysia that are pro-business and pro-investment as well as the significance of reform and anti-terrorism efforts in that country”.

FBC denies impropriety in any of its programme-making. Its lawyers said in a letter that “at no time have the television programmes made for the BBC ever been influenced or affected by our client’s commercial activities”. It said that FBC ran production and commercial divisions, which “are and always have been quite separate and distinct”. The BBC, CNBC and the media regulator Ofcom continue to investigate.

Dr Tony Tan is the 7th President of Singapore

August 28, 2011

BREAKING NEWS

Singapore Presidential Election 2011 : Dr Tony Tan  wins

AsiaOne, AFP
Sunday, Aug 28, 2011

Congratulations to Dr Tony Tan, President-Elect of Singapore and the People of Singapore.

Dr Tony Tan was declared the winner of Singapore’s presidential election early Sunday morning after a recount gave him a razor-thin margin. Dr Tony won a total of 744,397 votes. This was 35.19 per cent of the total votes cast. He won by a margin of 7,269 votes, or 0.34 per cent of the valid votes.

Singapore’s President-Elect Dr.Tony Tan

His closest contender was Dr Tan Cheng Bock, who won 737,128 votes, or 34.85 per cent of the votes cast. Mr Tan Jee Say secured 529,732 votes, or 25.04 per cent of the valid votes.

Mr Tan Kin Lian obtained 103,931 votes, or 4.91 per cent of the valid votes. He will forfeit the $48,000 deposit.There were 37,826 rejected votes. A total of 2,153,014 votes were cast.

In a speech to his supporters, the President-elect thanked his wife Mary and his family, as well as his campaign team and supporters.