‘Langkah Minyak Najib’ lagi buruk daripada ‘Langkah Kajang’

Ramalan pakar ekonomi duni Dr Frederico Gil Sander pada Oktober tahun lepas akhirnya menjadi kenyataan apabila sekali lagi kerajaan menaikkan harga minyak semalam.

Kelihatannya “Langkah Minyak Najib” ini lagi buruk kesannya daripada “Langkah Kajang Anwar”.

Memburukkan lagi keadaan adalah "minyak rakyat" atau RON95 yang dinaikkan.
Kita sedia ketahui minyak ini paling murah jika dibandingkan dengan RON97.

Jadi persoalan di sini mengapa "minyak rakyat" ini dinaikkan ketika harga pasaran minyak dunia jatuh? By BY Md Izwan | The Malaysian Insider 3/10/2014

GST likely to reduce prices of Mercedes cars

SHAH ALAM: The introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) next year is likely to reduce the prices of Mercedes Benz cars. Mercedes-Benz Malaysia Sdn Bhd vice president of sales and marketing, Kai Schlickum, said the company was still working on the pricing. "The price reduction could happen but we're not sure yet," he told Bernama after launching the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class models -- C200 and C250 -- here today. Schlickum said this when asked on the likely impact of the introduction of GST from Apr 1, 2015 on the prices of Mercedes Benz cars. NEWS from Business Times

Collect GST pay to increase civil servant and government salary ?

Pertambahan hasil daripada pelaksanaan cukai barang dan perkhidmatan (GST) akan membolehkan kerajaan menimbang pelbagai permintaan termasuk kenaikan elaun penjawat awam, kata Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak.



"Kalau Presiden Cuepacs (Kongres Kesatuan Pekerja-Pekerja Di Dalam Perkhidmatan Awam) nak minta tambah elaun dan sebagainya, saya sebagai Menteri Kewangan perlu cari hasil tambahan, barulah boleh saya pertimbangkan. "Kita tidak boleh pinjam duit daripada institusi kewangan seperti Bank Dunia nak bayar gaji, elaun... tak boleh, resepi itu boleh membawa kepada bencana ekonomi," katanya ketika berucap pada Perhimpunan Hari Pekerja 2014 di Pusat Dagangan Antarabangsa Melaka, hari ini. Bernama, 21 Jun, 2014.

Ketika rakyat diminta berjimat, menteri buat parti hari jadi mewah

     Beberapa menteri terus hidup dalam kemewahan ketika Putrajaya memotong bajet dan meminta rakyat mengetatkan tali pinggang mereka dan berjimat cermat dalam menghadapi kos hidup yang meningkat dan pengurangan subsidi tahun ini.

     Menteri Dalam Negeri Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi menganjurkan parti hari jadi yang "mewah" di sebuah hotel lima bintang dekat Kuala Lumpur semalam yang tetamunya mendakwa menjadi sambutan Tahun Baru.
     Seorang lagi menteri telah membuat sambutan perkahwinan dua hari untuk anak beliau di satu lagi hotel lima bintang di ibu Kuala Lumpur bulan lepas, diserikan oleh kerabat diraja dan orang kenamaan dan telah dihiburkan oleh penyanyi wanita dari Indonesia.The Malaysian Insider – Mon, Jan 6, 2014

Najib’s popularity plunged because rhetoric did not match reality, say analysts

The gap between rhetoric from Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s administration and the reality of Malaysian lives is behind the 10% slide in the prime minister’s popularity in the latest Merdeka Center survey, say analysts. They told The Malaysian Insider that there was also a gap between what the Najib administration demanded from the Malaysian public and how it behaved with public funds. “The Government is unable to show that it is sharing the financial burden by eliminating waste. "Instead the public sees that the burden to be more prudent is on them,” political analyst Khoo Kay Peng said when commenting on the latest survey results.



Pollster Merdeka Center said yesterday that its latest survey showed that Najib’s approval rating took a 10% dive from 62% in August 2013 to 52% in December. The survey was conducted between December 4 and 12, 2013, after the reduction of fuel subsidies in September 2013, and the tabling of the Budget 2014 during which the Government announced the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST) in 2015. Merdeka Center said that concerns over the economy, particularly the rising cost of living and inflation, topped the list with 67% of respondents. Additionally, 54% of respondents reported that they did not believe in statements from government leaders about the economic situation, revealing the gap between the rosy picture that the administration paints of the economy and the pain in the pocket for consumers. Khoo said raising the per capita income of Malaysians remains a steep challenge for Najib even as the public chafes at electricity tariff hikes and rising petrol prices. “A big part of the problem is the labour policy and what industries practise. The Government puts a lot of emphasis on increasing productivity and skilled labour but, at the same time, there is an addiction to cheap foreign labour.” Khoo added that while the administration expects the public to tighten their belts, nothing was done about government waste as seen in numerous auditor general’s reports. Corruption remained a persistent problem, said Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam. Graft leads to a rise in the cost of doing business which in turns leads to inflation, the retired top civil servant said. When businesses have to pay bribes, the extra cost would be passed down to the consumer, said Navaratnam, who is chairman of the Centre for Public Policy Studies. But rising inflation was not the only issue, he said, as the administration did not appear to deal firmly with problems, such as the education system and presence of extremists. “Look at the Pisa (Programme for International Assessment) scores. That is a clear indication of how little confidence the public has towards our national leadership.” Two weeks ago, the Pisa scores showed that Malaysian 15-year-olds ranked in the bottom third among 65 countries when it came to reading, Science and Mathematics. Malaysian 15-year-olds were now three to five years behind their peers in Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Macau and Japan. The Government was criticised by politicians and educators over the Pisa results even as more and more Malaysian students scored straight As in the Sijil Penilaian Menengah (SPM). “But this is not a problem that developed overnight. It was accumulated over the years, starting from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed’s time.” Navaratnam said the BN leadership's silence and sometimes tolerance of racist and religious extremists undermined the idea that cared about the public's peace of mind. This is since Najib is fond of talking of moderation and unity through the 1Malaysia concept, yet he tolerates anti-Shia and anti-Christian sentiments. "What the country wants and what Najib has to do is provide firm, fair resolute and compassionate leadership," said Navaratnam about the prime minister's effort to regain public confidence. – December 19, 2013.The Malaysian Insider

[Cameron Highlands] Officers who release the Dam gates should be SACKED!!!!

Unbelievable... you dont just go & open the gate & flush people to their death and wreck their cars and their homes. What were you are thinking? Don't you have any contigency plan?

In other countries of the world, they build dams to control the floods, ie. the dams would store the flood water upstream during heavy rain and then slowly release them in a manner that it just fill up the river or drainage system safely to the sea. In Malaysia, they build dams in order to flood people downstream, ie. create a mini tsunami and then they all blame GoD for the disaster.

To listen

This is the Chinese symbol for “To Listen”. It is wonderful in how it pulls together several elements required to fully listen to another person. When one of the elements is not present, true listening is incomplete. It is intuitive. We know this. Yet, we forget and fail to listen every day of our lives.

For leadership to thrive we need to both listen and encourage others to listen. It is why I refer to dialogue often in my writing. I list the elements below that make up the Chinese symbol for “To Listen“. Something for us to ponder for our success as leaders. I question if anything is more important.

Heart = Empathy
Leaders need empathy. I do not know how a leader with little empathy can sustain success. Empathy is the means to reach out and touch the heart of the person we are listening to and shorten the distance between us.

Undivided Attention = Quiet the mind’s noise
Be present. There is no past or future. Here and now, you are my focus. I am listening to you and not waiting to speak myself.

Ear = You have two of them
Focus on hearing the speaker. There is voice and inflection and the tone of the voice. It changes as we speak. Do I hear the full message? We can pick up so much information as we hear someone speak to us.

Eyes = Window to the soul
Our eyes are amazing. We see so much, but focus on so little. Maybe with enough focus we can get a glimpse into the soul of the person we are listening to and for once understand. .