1st class wet market

Yes Johan Jaafar is correct to say that we need to improve our wet market to meet the status of a modern Malaysia. Not just that, I've wrote before that the place we call home also must be upgraded. House and office buildings in Malaysia are of different quality. We have first class office buildings but majority of us stay in houses poorly built and fail to consider the well-being of the people.

History revised

The Federation of Malaya became an independent nation on Aug 31, 1957.

Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, the first prime minister, proclaimed:

"...The time has now arrived when the people of the ersekutuan Tanah Melayu will assume the status of a free, independent and sovereign nation among the nations of the world and ... a onstitution for the government of the Persekutuan Tanah Melayu has been established as the supreme law thereof and
provision is made to safeguard the rights and prerogatives of their highnesses the rulers and the rights and liberties of the people and to provide for the peaceful and orderly advancement of the Persekutuan Tanah Melayu as a constitutional monarchy based on parliamentary democracy...."

Read:

CONSTITUTIONAL LANDMARKS IN MALAYSIA: THE FIRST 50 YEARS (1957-2007)Alliance, the force behind Merdeka

2020 next 2067

PM on Malaysia after 100 years of independence - Full text of PM speech

Wealth of nation and well-being of people

Wealth of nation if measured in term of material figures alone will miss out the well-being of the people. This is what is happening in Japan. We don't want this to happen to our country.

The Rise of Japan’s Lazy Youth
from Newsweek International Editions - Top News
Once dismissed as lazy youth, Japan's army of the underemployed are starting to demand more work.

Corporate Malaysia

Q107 Corporate Malaysia

First quarter report card
It was a good beginning for corporate
Malaysia, which came in with positive results in the first quarter of 2007, writes OSK INVESTMENT RESEARCH.

e-Govt

How we deal with government agencies in ten years to come? I believe the Internet will be the mainstream channel. A lot of delivery issues could be resolved if today we invest seriously in improving our nation's inter net infrastructure. Going forward, improving the Internet infrastructures should be the main fiscal spending done by the government.

• Web services can upgrade public sector delivery

Proton

Challengers facing Proton:

1. Saturated car market in Malaysia. Ratio of adults to car at 2.4:1
2. Intense domestic competition
3. Perception of consumers especially on Proton's quality though the post-Gen2 models have shown great improvement
4. Political intervention
5. Need to consider wide spectrum of stakeholders

Suggestions:

1. Diversify into other industries
2. Tap the new markets
3. Promotion, promotion, promotion (seldom seen Proton's ad on tv)
4. Quality control esp the vendors
5. Give Proton greater autonomy
6. Proton cannot please everybody. It's either business or....

News on Proton:

1. Proton posts RM591mil loss
2. Analysts: Proton has to pull up its socks
3. Khazanah sets year-end target for Proton revamp
4. Proton to fill key positions in revamp

They need some lessons

Directors, accountants and auditors who involve in publicly listed companies must be responsible (in fact, all of us must be responsible in whatever walk of life we are in) in undertaking their jobs.

From investors' point of view, it is frustrating to find that those who are given responsibilities to handle our hard-earned money, irresponsibly manipulate the system/misuse the money for their "self-interest". My advise to them, "Open your own company (sole-proprietorship) and there you can do what ever you like without involving other peoples' money".

• SC: High standards to prevail
• Punish those who manipulate accounts
• Bursa is consistent

Q1 2007 economic performance

From The Star: First-quarter growth at 5.3%

The place we call home

What is your imagination of your dream house? I believe it is not just about a place to sleep and rest but a house should be a heaven to a person. Be it inside or outside the house, we want a place that can give us serenity and tranquility when we approach it and what more when we are in it.

Given the scenario of rapidly developing Kuala Lumpur, are you happy with your neighbourhood?

It is a fact that prices of real estate in KL is very high relative to other places in Malaysia, but I don't think many of us satisfy with the amount of money that we pay for our resident compared with its size, surrounding, neighbourhood etc. In other words, we don't get good value for our money.

Think of this; it's a huge development gap between the quality of our house vs our office buildings in Malaysia. First class office buildings but third class housing.

Read this and this

Brain drain study

As Malaysia continues to invest heavily on education, more studies need to be done to understand returns to education. With more conclusive findings in the study, a better perspective to analyze the issue of brain drain in the country could be undertaken.

• Reassessing the Impacts of Brain Drain on Developing Countries

Malaysians readiness for retirement

Start your retirement plan early or else... counting on the nest egg

When we're 70

Add to the list of rich Malaysians

How the bull market can make some people rich

Again on public servants pay rise

Public servants' pay rise ranging from 35 - 7.5 % has caused few concerns:

1. Rising price especially due to demand-pull inflation
2. Stronger economic growth via higher consumption expenditure and feel good factor (wealth effect)
3. Fiscal deficit position of the government.
4. Wage adjustment in the private sector
5. Impact of the above mentioned points over other working groups i.e self-employed
6. Prediction of the next general election.

Read some analyses from the Starbiz

Corruption-free Malaysia

We need to be more serious in fighting corruption. In the latest corruption perception index, Malaysia's rank has dropped from the previous one. In this context, fighting corruption alone is not enough. We also need to build better perception internationally if we want to improve our country's rank.

- See a working paper on Making Malaysia Corruption Free
- Open tender to improve transparency

IRB should improve it services

IRB should improve it services especially its online portal. Ease the tax payers' dealings with IRB, then many are happy to pay their taxes. Tax thought

Pay rise contributes to economic growth

This is my opinion on the issue - interview with Utusan Malaysia

Happy for the public servants' pay rise

What I say in Utusan Malaysia

Price increase

An interview with Prof. Dr. Pazim from UM

Fast-food advertising ban

Fast food advertising ban was suggested as the way to reduce the alarming problem of obesity among the Malaysian kids.

I think this is not a good form of government intervention. Consider this argument - The forbidden fruit