Courageous Heart: November 2013

Friday, November 29, 2013

Say Again, Who Are The Traitors?!

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said those who avoid paying tax can be regarded as having betrayed the country. This, he said, was because the responsibility to pay tax was one of the pillars of patriotism. “The definition of patriotism in our country is that we must discharge our responsibility to the country for the good of the people and the nation."

Datuk Seri Rosmah Mansor was invited to the women's summit in Qatar in her personal capacity and it was not an invitation to the government, said Pengerang MP Datuk Seri Azalina Othman. "The invitation was not on a government-to-government basis but on a personal basis," Azalina said in Parliament today during the debate on Budget 2014.Azalina had also accompanied Rosmah on that trip. She also revealed in Parliament that it was Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who chaired the Cabinet meeting that approved the use of the government jet for the trip, and not Rosmah's husband, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim had said the Cabinet had given its approval for Rosmah to use the government jet for the trip, causing opposition lawmakers to accuse the Cabinet of acting irresponsibly and in an undignified manner...

This did not stop Datuk Seri Noh Omar (BN-Tanjung Karang) who jumped to Rosmah's defence, saying that Malaysians should be proud that she was given such recognition by the Qatar government, as not all the wives of leaders in the region were given such an honour. "I don't understand why can't anyone appreciate this. This is always the case with the opposition. Those who make the country proud are treated as enemies, while those who bring down the name of the country are treated as heroes," he said.

Later at the Parliament lobby, Datuk Seri Jamaluddin Jarjis (BN-Rompin) said through the invitation, Rosmah had upheld the good name of Malaysia. "It not as though she went on her own, we should be proud that she was given the honour to speak at the forum," he said...

Rosmah was in Qatar last week to deliver a keynote address at the 4th Qatar International Business Women Forum in Doha, organised by the Qatari Businesswomen Association and the Interactive Business Network. Accompanying her were Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, who is special adviser to the prime minister on women entrepreneurs and professionals; Datin Seri Siti Rubiah Datuk Abdul Samad, wife of Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman; Datin Seri Khamarzan Ahmad Meah, wife of International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed; and Datin Seri Che Kamariah Zakaria, wife of Second Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh.

Former tourism minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen racked up a RM2.71 million bill for overseas trips between 2010 and January this year, at a time when Putrajaya was telling Malaysians to tighten their belts and adjust their lifestyles because of rising living costs...

In a parliamentary written reply to Lim Guan Eng (DAP - Bagan), Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz said in 2010 Dr Ng and her delegations spent RM1.28 million on overseas trips in January, April, May, June, August, September and October that year.

In 2011, Dr Ng and her accompanying delegations ran up a bill of RM814,142 on trips in May, July, August and November. Last year, RM588,547 was spent on trips in January, March, May, July and November. Her last trip was made in January this year when she and her delegation spent RM35,400.

Dr Ng was appointed tourism minister from April 2009 until the 13th General Election where she was not fielded. She was not appointed back to the Cabinet but her successor Nazri appointed her as the Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board chair.

Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chairman Nur Jazlan Mohamed said he found no element of discrepancy or wrongdoing in the RM1.6 million expenditure made by former Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek on the K-Pop concert held last year. After a two-hour hearing with Shabery today, Nur Jazlan said at a press conference, that he found the expenditure to be ‘value for money’, eventhough the upfront payment made to the three Korean groups by the Ministry was against government procedures...

The K-Pop concert controversy first surfaced in the 2012 Auditor-General’s Report, stating that Malaysian taxpayers’ money was used to pay for the concert and was not sponsored. The concert was held during the Youth Day 2012 in Putrajaya and included performances by three South Korean groups – U-Kiss, Teen-Top and Dal Shabet.

Current Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin claimed that the government was forced to foot the bill because there was a last minute pull-out by several sponsors. His predecessor Ahmad Shabery, had earlier said that the ministry had received RM20 million from domestic and foreign corporate sponsors for the event.

Speaking at the parliament’s lobby, Kulai MP Teo Nie Ching today slammed the Johor state government for charging a high water tariff on its own people although the state received RM430,000 monthly from Malacca and Singapore respectively.

“Johor should be considered as lucky as we can make profit from selling raw water to Malacca and Singapore. Johor government is selling raw water to Malacca for the price of RM0.30 per 1,000 gallons and RM0.03 per 1,000 gallons to Singapore.

The fact is Johor is making profit from selling untreated water and Johoreans are paying higher water tariff than the Malaysians in Malacca,” she said in a statement. She then added that the charges were far above the national average of RM0.66/m3; making them pay an extra of 159% for consuming water."

Monday, November 25, 2013

Finally, Prime Minister Najib Razak has admitted the possibility of bankruptcy!

Written by Maria Begum, published by Malaysia Chronicle on 25 November 2013.

Finally, Prime Minister Najib Razak has admitted it. The spectre of bankruptcy does dog Malaysia. This frightening prospect was first exposed by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Idris Jala, who in 2010 had warned that Malaysia could go belly-up by as early as 2019, which ironically is one year ahead of the Umno-BN government's 2020 deadline for the country to reach 'developed nation' status.

The brouhaha that followed Idris' warning, with the public lashing out at the Najib administration's perceived mismanagement of the economy, had triggered a spate of high-profile denials from including Najib himself, his deputy Muhyiddin Yassin and former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.

However a day ago, Najib rehashed the possibility of bankruptcy. It may be his back was to the wall and he was trying to catch a bogeyman to blame the unpopular Goods and Services Tax on. However, many experts do not preclude the possibility of bankruptcy ala Greece for Malaysia at all.

In fact, ratings agencies like Fitch have warned against Malaysia's record-high and still climbing national debt and fiscal deficit. And although Moody's had last week restored Malaysia's outlook to 'positive' from 'stable', Najib's latest admission reignites speculation that Moody's decision may have prompted by strong lobbying and marketing by Finance Ministry officials.

“We have to find additional sources of income and that’s why we have to implement the GST,” the Star reported Najib as saying at a seminar on Strengthening the National Economy on Sunday. Najib also holds the post of Finance Minister despite growing calls for him to relinquish the portfolio that many critics say he has neglected and is under-qualified to hold.

Back to the wall? Bankruptcy ala Greece

According to Najib, Malaysia has a stark choice of either increasing government revenue via the GST or burdening the country by borrowing more money. Defending the GST, Najib insisted it was necessary as the country risked becoming bankrupt like Greece if it resorted to borrowing.

He also said the government's decision to introduce GST was the reason why Moody’s agreed to re-rate Malaysia's outlook; hence, the new tax could not be a negative move as suggested by detractors. “This is because they know Malaysia was taking fiscal consolidation steps which are unpopular but necessary for the good of the country,” said Najib.

Najib lashed out at the Opposition for their 'mixed' comments about whether they supported the GST and for allegedly clouding the issue with unfair arguments, including the high electricity bill of his official residence,

He pointed out Seri Perdana belonged to the people of Malaysia and he was occupying it temporarily just like his two predecessors.

“It has a function room. If a head of state comes, are we expected to dine in the dark? “If the Chinese premier comes, should we use candlelight and say this is more romantic?” he quipped.

'Tighten the belt at your end first before passing the buck to the people'

However, Opposition politicians were unimpressed by his arguments. They insisted that Najib should practice greater austerity, such as as slashing down his own lavish spending on "questionable policies" as well as his well-known luxurious official lifestyle, before calling on the people to pay new taxes.

"He is showing his shallowness and a dishonesty in trying to give silly answers. We are asking why in this time of difficulty does he not try to cut costs and save money. His electric bill is over RM2 million and if he can bring that down, it would already help," MP for Batu Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.

"As for GST, what confusion is there? The Opposition is very clearly against GST not because of the tax system itself but because we believe the majority of the people are still poor and cannot afford additional burden at this point of the economic cycle.

"Najib also tries to justify the GST by saying the bulk of the population does not pay taxes. This is a good question for him to answer to the people - why after so many years of Umno-BN rule are the majority of people still so poor that they fall below the tax line? Is it to do with the massive corruption of the Najib administration and the Umno-BN that the masses are left behind while the country has a huge debt? And now, Najib wants the people to pay GST to help the government reduce the debt it racked up through corruption and plundering - is this fair, is it right?

Unpatriotic not to pay GST

Tian was referring to Najib's comments that out of an entire workforce of 14 million, only 1.34 million paid income tax. “That is just 10% who pay, and there are others who should pay but don’t,” Najib defended himself and his government.

He then pointed out the definition of patriotism is fulfilling one’s responsibility to the country and this included paying taxes. He added that the public’s expectations on the Government was always increasing, and more revenue is needed to meet these demands.

The PM said Malaysians could not always depend on revenue from petroleum which will eventually run out. He said the public’s fear that the GST would cause staggering price increases was unfounded. According to Najib, 160 other countries have implemented the GST and from their experience there is only a slight increase in prices in the year of implementation. “It is unlikely all these countries made a mistake by implementing the GST,” he said.

Full article:

http://www.malaysia-chronicle.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=192082:so-desperate-for-gst-najib-admits-it-malaysia-can-easily-go-bankrupt&Itemid=2#ixzz2ld0mNqGT

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Lawsuits Against Religious Communities Over Gay Marriage & Abortion Are Crossing 'Red Lines of Liberty'!

By Michael Gryboski, published by The Christian Post on 19 November 2013.

A legal expert and head of a conservative law firm has stated that government actions against religious groups over same-sex marriage and abortion are "red lines of liberty" being crossed.

Mat Staver, founder and chairman of the Liberty Counsel, told The Christian Post while part of an event in the Washington, D.C.-area on Monday that these red lines involve coercion on the part of government.

"These red lines of liberty are coming very rapidly. They're not just issues that are contrary to Christian values that you can coexist with," said Staver. "These are issues where the government is seeking to force you to affirm ideas and values that are completely contrary to your Christian faith."

Staver spoke in regard to measures like the HHS "preventive services" mandate, which critics say forces some religious organizations to violate their moral objections to abortion and birth control, as well as recent lawsuits leveled against Christian businesses that refuse to provide their services to same-sex weddings and receptions.

"It's a zero-sum game, not because we made it a zero sum game, but because they've made it a zero-sum game," said Staver. "The sanctity of human life transcends politics and now we're moving into a situation where the federal government, under the HHS mandate, is forcing employers to fund the taking of innocent human life; otherwise be fined or go out of business."

Staver's remarks came at a two-day event sponsored by the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, titled "Justice Summit 2013." Beginning Monday afternoon and held at the Crystal City Hilton near Ronald Reagan National Airport, the summit features several Christian leaders from various churches and organizations. In addition to Staver, guest speakers include Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission; Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church; and Danielle Jones, chair for the FreedomUNITED Campaign.

"The NHCLC Justice Summit is an opportunity to amplify our influence, to dialogue and strategize about key justice issues," reads an entry on NHCLC's website. "The NHCLC Justice Summit 2013 is an effort to increase our unified commitment and propose answers, from a Christian worldview perspective, to key issues such as: immigration reform, poverty, the struggle against human trafficking, the defense of the right to life and religious liberty."

Gus Reyes, director of the Hispanic education initiative for the Baptist General Convention of Texas, served as emcee for the summit. Samuel Rodriguez Jr., president of the NHCLC, gave remarks early Monday afternoon where he spoke inspirational words and provided an overview of the summit. In his remarks, Rodriquez stressed that he believes true justice comes from God and that far too often the word "justice" has been "exploited" by ideological partisans.

"Justice is not a term to be exploited. It is not a copyrighted nomenclature to be exploited by political operatives on the left or on the right," said Rodriguez. "Justice does not belong to the donkey or the elephant, justice comes from the heart of the lamb. And we are here these days to lift up, to elevate justice."

At one point, Rodriquez went "off script" and led the audience through an emotional prayer based in "reflection and repentance" in which a majority of summitt attendees went to their knees. "We repent before you in the name of Christ as a nation, as a community, and people of the Church, we have fallen short," prayed Rodriquez.

Staver, who presently serves as executive board vice president and chief legal counsel for NHCLC, told CP that the event was some time in the making. "We've been actually talking about and planning an event like this for quite a while. So it's good to see it come to pass," said Staver.

Said to be the largest Latino Christian organization in the United States, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference is a sister organization to the National Association of Evangelicals.

Link: http://www.christianpost.com/news/expert-lawsuits-against-religious-employers-over-gay-marriage-abortion-are-crossing-red-lines-of-liberty-109037/cpt

By Katherine Weber, published by The Christian Post on 19 November 2013.

A small town in upstate New York has rallied together to continue funding its local community's Christmas celebration, even though an atheist's complaint forced the local government to stop supporting the event.

The town of Spencerport, N.Y., a small village located just outside of Rochester, has been celebrating its annual "Christmas on the Canal" event for 17 years until this year, when Elaine Spaziano, the event's founder and organizer, announced that the tradition had to be canceled after an atheist complained about First Amendment rights and the separation of church and state to the local government...

According to the local Rochester YNN news, after word got around that the "Christmas on the Canal" event had been canceled, donations from local residents and businesses began pouring in, in an effort to keep the decades-long tradition going. Resident Ralph Parmelee began imploring local businesses to donate to the event, and the town has now officially raised enough money to hold "Christmas on the Canal" for another year.

"We cannot let this die. For the generations that are coming, the young people and all, we can't take Christmas out of the picture. It's got to stay there and we're going to keep it there," Parmelee told the local media outlet.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Barisan Nasional government is not walking the talk

The nation’s top leaders spent almost half-a-million ringgit for each trip they took using the government's private planes last year, a DAP lawmaker revealed today.

Seremban MP Anthony Loke told reporters that in 2012, a whopping RM182 million was spent on 372 flights to 339 destinations, using the six private planes belonging to the government,

Loke was referring to a written reply he received from Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim on the expenditure incurred by the government in the usage and maintenance of the planes.

Of the RM82 million, fuel cost RM14,951,448.04 while maintenance cost RM167,079,541.80.

"This is another form of wastage by the government who does not want to reduce its expenditure despite telling the people to do so. Did the Prime Minister and his deputy fly everyday? The records seems to indicate so," said Loke at the Parliament lobby today.

He questioned the need for both leaders to continually use the private planes even for domestic travel, pointing out that it was cheaper to take a commercial flight. "Even if they took business or first class, it would have still been cheaper,” he added.

Loke however said it was proper if the jets reserved for VVIPs were used by the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong.

He added the "colossal wastage" showed that the Barisan Nasional government was not walking the talk by prioritising the people's needs. "They ask people to save and take away all kinds of subsidies and they spend the nation's resources lavishly like this. BN has always thought of the nation's funds as party funds. The subsidies of both the PM and DPM should be reduced first, then only talk about the people's," said Loke.

The rich can well afford to thumb their noses at the good and service tax (GST). All they have to do is hop on plane and go to London to buy handbags or to the United States to buy expensive rings. Ipoh Timur MP Su Keong Siong told the Dewan Rakyat today that this means that they will not have to pay GST here.

Su said the poor will have to cough up the GST while the rich will be flaunting their expensive tax-free handbags. The DAP man said that it was incorrect when certain quarters claim that those who spend more will be most affected by the GST. He then said that the GST will thus not be beneficial for the country.

Shahnaz Abdul Majid, the ex-wife of the son of Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Taib Mahmud, provided a peek into their marital life and home in Kuching from 1992 to 1999 in her RM400 million divorce suit at the Syariah High Court.

In her verbal and pictorial portrait, Wisma Mahmud, the home she shared with ex-husband Mahmud Abu Bekir, was a 3-storey residence with 12 rooms inlaid with Italian furnishing. It was next to the Chief Minister's house, by the river with a private jetty.

"We lived in a three-storey bungalow with 12 rooms, where one room had been transformed into a kitchen. Another room was made into a study,” she said, as reported by Malaysiakini.

"Our house was next to Taib's residence in Petra Jaya. This was not the chief minister's official residence, but his private residence.” she added.