From Maliau Basin as a future 'World's Heritage' to Coal-fired Power Plant in Lahad Datu

PM: M'sia keen to list Sabah's Maliau Basin as a world heritage site
By MUGUNTAN VANAR / The Star online

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/1/29/nation/20110129131341&sec=nation

Listing it as the world's heritage will be difficult, taking its advantages for sustainable benefits from its 'world's heritage' status will be an even more difficult challenge for the government and its people; it will take both the state and federal governments a lot of wisdoms and competencies to make the Maliau Basin a long term asset of Sabah and Malaysia.


The return and the values from the status shall be getting larger as the times go by because tropical rainforest with conservation, research,  and recreational purposes becomes rarer in the world by then. it's the Eco-tourism that we are talking about, the future income earner of Sabah.


The conservation of Maliau Basin, or the likes, may have to deploy of high technology as an addition in order to be effective. In fact, the whole Sabah should go for Green Energy policy and it ought to be committal in this frontier, be it in the west or east coast or interior of the state, the government must make landmark decision to adopt the latest trend of earth living direction in order to move on confidently in the world village community.


The much-talked and controversial coal-fired power plant project for the east coast of Sabah should therefore be abandoned for good.

It's the priority on governance, and not the originality of 1Malaysia

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsgeneral.php?id=551552 

PM Najib shouldn't be too concerning on the originality of the 1Malaysia concept, what's important to us as citizen is that we want good governance. A government that can unite all the people of Malaysia under a fair & just policies of governance, caring for our welfare, and deliver what a good government should.

I'm still not quite understand the rational behind all these fuss from the opposition about the originality of the campaign except that it's about the so-called Zionist Israel.

On foreigner to be involved in the civil service (or governance?), I hope that we will not be too liberated to allow foreigner to become our Prime Minister in the near future. It's not impossible if the Sabahan PTI is not resolved, by then technically some of these PTIs become Malaysian, they are eligible to run for the UMNO presidency. I hope embracing the PTI into Malaysian is not part of the 1Malaysia plan and spirit.

The day will come when UMNO leaders keep saying publicly the word 'Malaysian' than the word 'Malay'. UMNO leadership shall be the deciding factor in the direction of future Malaysia.

The fact that the 1malaysia created by the so-called consultant merely a coincidence that Israel had something similar years ago. There's nothing wrong to copy the idea and concept so long as it's beneficial to us and without the legal liabilities and violation of international laws.

If BN government could really carry out the 1Malaysia in reality, and successfully, then the next Nobel prize winner may be our PM Najib.

Just wait and see.

How I wish PM was warded in Queen Elizabeth Hospital?

How I wish PM was warded in Queen Elizabeth Hospital so that he'd have personal experience in understanding our dilapidated condition better?

By providing up to standard medical cares to the society at a competitive cost is one of the top priorities of the government. But, how long can the government sustain the huge costs involved every year with the present rate of fees at a meager RM1 & RM5 per visit respectively?

We pay less and we should expect to get less, it's the rule, therefore, it's important that we must have a clean and efficient government in the first place that fund allocated are fully used in the services.

People must also start to pay more at public hospitals or clinics in order to relieve the government burden but at the same time government must also help people to earn more to reduce the government's subsidies on various welfares rendered to the public.

The real answer still lies with money or fund, that is how good the government in handling the economy.

Different Biro Tata Negera for Sabah & Sarawak?

I think we ought to have a localized Biro Tata Negera (BTN) in Sabah or Sarawak under the guideline of the 20-points, the basis of Sabah joining Singapore, Sarawak, and Federation of Malaya, to form the 47-years of Malaysia.

The reason for a different BTN is because West Malaysia has different history and social backgrounds than us here. The culture, including mentality and attitude, of government officers there is simply not compliance with our aspirations based on the 20-points spirit.

Our state government must speak up on this matter with the federal to rectify the wrongs for the sake of national unity and progress.

Furthermore, the latest self-exposure of the high officers and respective civil servants in semenanjung had completely going against the 1Malaysia championed by our PM Najib.

BTN is under the Ministry of the Prime Minister.

What should PM Najib do next ????

Prime Minister Datuk Najib should pay a visit to our Queen Elizabeth Hospital when he's due here soon

PM is schedule to visit KK again within these few days, and this time, he should pay a short and unexpected visit to the old block of QEH to see for himself how the FD of BN ended up.

He's been talking about 1Malaysia, and this one will prove him louder and creditable if he comes and cares for the people of Sabah. I also wonder if Datin Rosmah has paid a visit to the hospital.

Why our local politicians dare not tell or show our fellow leaders in federal the truth of Sabah?

The truth is that a lot of Sabahan are waiting for their turns to get operated. It's unbearable to hear them 'crying' for the services they badly needed.

As Finance Minister and PM, PM Najib is the perfect person for us to seek for help, and I hope that we don't wait for YB Hiew to resign only then we will get the positive development that we want to see.

The reconstruction works of QEH has yet to take off due to certain technical hiccup again, I guess.

new mandate first or waiting him to deliver the transformation now?

I refer to the following news:-
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/southeastasia/view/1066482/1/.html
M'sian PM Najib says Malays should stop relying on govt protection
By Melissa Goh | Posted: 29 June 2010 1750 hrs

Various Prime Ministers before him had said it but fell on deaf ears.

Will PM Najib be able to do what his predecessors couldn't have achieved?

It remains to be seen.

A strong mandate from the people is definitely necessary in order for him to carry out his political 'dreams' of 1Malaysia which is overwhelmingly welcomed by Malaysian especially the Chinese, Indian, and other ethnic races in the country.

However, he can say what he likes, but will he able to carry out in reality? That's the question.

The doubt is there all the times. Seeing is believing. Deliver the 1Malaysia spirit and implement it in real will the public believes that the government has transformed.

So, give PM Najib the new mandate first, or wait until he delivers the transformation first?

The so-called 'Transformation' under the 1Malaysia means sacrifice for all especially the overdue abolishment of the 'segregation' policy which had been dominating Malaysia society ever since the independence day. The policy was introduced with the original intention to help the weaker bumiputra to reach the level of the others. The policy shouldn't last forever though.

Has any expected changes seen yet? Has the economy outlook announced improved yet? Has the attitude of his people (or our fellow Malay politicians) changed yet? Has the fundamental ingredients of the 1Malaysia truly implemented in the real spirit yet?

What ever the arguments are, people want to see things done and not things announced. They wanted the result yesterday and not repeated promises today and tomorrow.

Queen Elizabeth Hospital Needs Immediate Attention From PM

http://www.asiatimes.com.my/news.php?newsid=25032

The above news report published in Asia Times Sabah today referred.

First of all, I must admit that what this man (Mr. Ng or Huang in Mandarin) said is whole true, nothing, but the truth.

He's been 'working' in the hospital Queen Elizabeth for very long time, and he's more than qualified to speak up and tells all about the situation of the hospital since the main tower block of the hospital declared unsafe.

There is indeed a need of urgency from our beloved YB Liow or PM Najib to act as quickly as possible. We need the facility as early as twenty years ago. Some said that we'd have got all the required medical facilities if there had no PBS pulling out of BN fold twenty years ago. Sabahan was blamed for immature politically as well as paying dearly for its YBs over the years for their own negligence and ignorance (performance) in politic and administration.

The federal must have their own dilemma of not able to immediately completed the acquisition of the Sabah Medical Centre (SMC), and I suspect that CM Musa must have got high level information of impending delay that a so-called 'short term' solution be invoked, and hopefully, the 'Khidmat Hospital' will be in place by next July.

Most of the people I talked to regarding the suitability of location of present Khidmat site to be used as hospital; most were acknowledged as inappropriate, and in fact, some suggested it be turned to a hotel instead.

The Khidmat Hospital would never be required if the sales & purchase agreement for the SMC deal was completed immediately after PM Najib’s announcement on 5 May, 2009.

The completion of the purchase is critical in the chain of resolving the QEH case that there would have started the renovation works in SMC which should provide 200 beds in one year time. The benefits are not only we could relieve the congestion problems at present QEH but also be able to demolish the unsafe tower block and commences work on the Twin Tower, as well as able to attracting more doctors to work in QEH.

Therefore, PM Najib should immediately complete the acquisition without further delay under humanitarian and ‘emergency” consideration. Sabah people will surely appreciate his excellent leadership and helps for many years to come.

Leadership Quality - The Cause of Civil Service Complacency?

News clips from Star on-line referred:-

Wednesday June 3, 2009

Bureau: Complacent attitude of civil servants is public’s main grouse

TELUK INTAN: Inaction and delayed action. These are ratepayers’ main grouses against government agencies and departments they deal with.

Of the more than 4,550 complaints submitted to the Public Complaints Bureau this year (up to May 15), 26.6% (or 1,212) were on the two issues.

Stating this, PCB complaints director Aziz Ismail said the source of the problem could be traced to the numerous internal issues in the departments or agencies concerned.

He added, however, that the issues were “too sensitive” for public discussion and the bureau could only advise these agencies and departments to put their houses back in order.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think the main cause of the complacency is because of the leadership.

The government is normally blamed for not serving the people and the above statistic shows that it's the civil servants, of which our elected representatives are the leaders of the civil services, are largely responsible for the situation.

Being a Minister, it's like a CEO of a corporate, the responsibility is huge. He/she must be competent enough to lead the specific group of the services so that the people will benefit; else, dissatisfaction will occur and the government of the day will suffer badly when in election day.

It's the lack of public performance gauging mechanism during their tenure that contributed to the poor performance of our cabinet.

The problem of leading a highly diversified social community is acknowledged but it's not a good excuse of not performing. People, irregardless of backgrounds, are for excellent services. It's the sincerity of these Ministers and Deputy Ministers that really matters most. Public must be more vocals by providing frequent feedbacks needed for the betterment of the services. The government must, in reciprocal, provide quality services so that the nation becomes more efficient and hence, more profitable and wealthy! A 'wealthy' nation is a country of 'wealthy' people with lots of quality of life.

'1Malaysia, People First, and Performance Now' championed by PM Najib is a good starting point and let's hope that all the government staffs understand the spirit and be ready to have the appropriate mentality to implement the ideal of Malaysian.

The little positive change in the civil service is a large step forward for the entire nation.

Help Workers To Attain Higher Income? Are You Sure?

2009/05/03 NST
Workers must power new economy, says PM
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/Frontpage/2547231/Article/index_html
KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak wants workers to power a new economic model that will take the country to high-income status.

He said details of the economic model would be drawn up by an economic council to be set up for the purpose.

Najib said council members would comprise experts from Malaysia and abroad and provide input on how the nation could improve its economic position from the current high middle-income level to high-income level.

Najib was speaking after delivering his Workers Day message at the 2009 national Workers Day gathering in Bukit Jalil here.

The prime minister said the increase in workers' output should not be merely through increased productivity but also via innovation and creativity.


I have to say that the above remarks from PM is encouraging and a morale-uplifting to the workers in the country, unfortunately, it may be years and a little bit of luck, before the workers see the dream comes true.

First & foremost, the economic model itself is a chemical reaction of politic, delivery system, and integrity.

Our land has been plagued by corruption at virtually all levels.

While no one should deny that most of the economical activities of the country come from government spending. The employers should normally pass the deserving benefits to the employees, provided they are not “squeezed” to the level that they have no choice but to “squeeze” the employees.

The result of the corruption is usually seen in sub-standard finishing of government projects where the good investments of the nation ended in a drain after only few years of use. Unfortunately, for all these blunders, no one has yet been identified, and accounted for in the failure – this type of work culture must change!

In a nut shell, the workers are being “exploited” in order to make the employers survived and “profitable”. It’s therefore that the government must pay their staff well with KPI, and hopefully control the corruption level.

The lesser the malpractices in the economy, the better it is for the contractors and theirs workers who would be paid handsomely well.

The government can monitor the job market and the employers to ensure that workers are paid well within the law. The passing of the worker’s minimum wage/income law shall be a good point to start, otherwise, workers will be forever “under-paid” and becoming the sacrifice of the economy.

The Malaysian workers are also under the "unfair" competition from foreigners imported, legally and illegally, by local syndicate. Their income is indirectly affected by this government policy of allowing unregulated imports and controls.

MACC must be active in watching the source of the corruption problem, and the source happens to be in the government itself. Great political will in harnessing corruption must be asserted if they want to keep the workforce local and happy. The PM, as the head of the government, must set a good example in this agenda.

Good Governance is the key and the rests like the employers and employees, are just doors.

The government should be the one to lead the nation with the so-called “Innovation & Creativity” and if they fail, nothing else would survive.

Imagine The New Malaysia

I'm referring to the news in NST today:-

Najib's walkabout at Kadazan do

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Sunday/National/2547239/Article/index_html

I hope his "openness" can truly spread and practiced by all.

I think he's leading the nation by showing an example to his team and the people that this is the way to unite and lead the nation. Well, to me, this is a very good move and example, however, it has to be consistent.

I'd like to take the song of John Lennon as a motivation for Najib - "Imagine there's no heaven......Imagine there's no hell..It's easy if ...Imagine all the people living life in peace....the world (Malaysia) will be as one".

Unfortunately, some of the older generation citizens are no longer live to see this in their time, I hope that Najib can deliver and transform the nation to an Ideal Malaysia of mine, and for others who had been disappointed with the BN in the past 52 years.

Let's give him 100 days before we mark his performance with a Performance Index.

Now, Sabah Can Not Blame KL For Negligence

Sabah now has 4 Ministers and 5 Deputy Ministers.

It's the most incredible achievement in the history of Sabah.

Sabah has been complaining for lacking federal cares in its affairs, such as health, social, education, basic infrastructure etc., in the past due largely not having enough representation in the cabinet.

Sabahan have been misconstrued as incompetent in governing the state previously.

With 9 out of 25 MPs now in the cabinet or Ministries, Sabahan should now have the golden opportunity to manage and administer the country instead of grousing not given the chance to be a part of the central role in the nation building.

Now, it's time to work, not just for Sabah, but also for the entire nation.

However, these Sabahan from Barisan Nasional are now expected to perform "miracle" in a critical 4 years for the country, especially more so for the BN coalition, where immense difficult economic situation is a major challenge.

Will they be able to deliver the performance that the rakyat expected in a short time of 4 years?

Will they be able to contribute towards the goal of "One Malaysia, People First, and Performance Now" as federal ministers?

PM Najib obviously has all the confidence in the Sabahan to deliver based on the same fantastic result they delivered in the last general election, in particular the outstanding performance in the UMNO party election just concluded.

The shift to make more East Malaysian in the responsible position is an immediate implementation of the One Malaysia concept delivered in PM Najib’s speech after his swearing in as PM. “No One Is to be Left Behind in One Malaysia” He said.

The move also meant to balance the imbalanced in the past.

The appointment of more Sabah & Sarawak MPs from holding important portfolio also means every ones in the country are to be mobilized and united in order to take on the change that the country badly needs.

Let's hope that the new forces from the eastern region of Malaysia can significantly help to transform the nation successfully under PM Najib.

Note: Sarawak has 2 Ministers and 9 Deputy Minister in the Federal Cabinet and Ministry.

Malaysia Under PM Najib

PM Najib's maiden speech: 'One Malaysia. People First. Performance Now.'
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/4/3/nation/20090403091428&sec=nation

I'm extremely excited by the pledge of our new Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, today by declaring: 'One Malaysia. People First. Performance Now.'

I hope that the first success story would come from Sabah with particularly the re-construction solution of Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Kota Kinabalu.

QEH is now under "Emergency" status and requiring the direct attention and management of the Minister of Health and Prime Minister/ Finance Minister.

The implementation of the QEH will be the solid evidence of 'One Malaysia. People First. Performance Now.' Prime Minister Najib should take charge personally on the implementation of the various rebuilding process including the allocation of the emergency funds for the QEH.

In the QEH case, we could see that certain peoples are not putting people first. It's the "ugly" face of "selfishness, greediness and heartlessness" that saw the unnecessary delay of the progress of QEH's rebuilding.

QEH is one of the oldest hospitals in Sabah, and being situated in the State Capital, it should have been the best in Sabah, or one of the best hospitals in Malaysia.Unfortunately, it's in a sorry state now.

As Prime Minister, the paramount leader of Malaysian, he should be acting fairly for all, as he mentioned in his speech, that he should look at the performance, and not any others.

Like the great Chinese Premiere Teng Xio Ping had said: "cats which can catch mice, regardless of its fur colour, are good cats indeed. "

It's high time that PM Najib delivers results if UMNO/BN is to regain the heart of the people again especially with the minority as well as those who are truly competent in their works.

The credential for Najib is there to see, and he seems very much ready to flex his muscle and fly with an idealism of hoping to see all Malaysian regardless of their creeds united as one people, and thereby as one nation and competing successfully in the globalized world.

I hope that the One Malaysia that he mentioned means forever goodbye to inequality and the Zero-Sum attitude of the entire nation.

Everyone must pull back and concentrate on the economic development instead. As he had said: "we must never leave anyone behind.”, or like in the "Lilo and Stich" film, the stich said: "Family means no body is left behind."

Indeed, what matter most is always the end result, that is: Performance! Malaysia can not afford to have another 50 years of time wastage.

Let's positively sit back and see what the performance he'll bring us.

One Malaysian, One Malaysia?

Monday March 16, 2009

MCA backs Najib’s ‘One Malaysia’ concept

(refer to http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/3/16/nation/3487677&sec=nation)

KUALA LUMPUR: The MCA supports Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s “One Malaysia” concept in governing the country where policies made will benefit all Malaysians.

Its vice-president, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, said Najib had assured the people that fairness would be dealt out and decisions made by the Government would not favour any one group.

“Malaysia must unite and work together with policies that look after the interests of all races,” Liow told a press conference at Cheras Leisure Mall here yesterday.

==================================================================

I read with great excitement about the "policy" that might be materialized when Najib takes over the helm from Ahmad Badawi Abdullah.

It'll definitely "unbelievable" when we still see open "discriminative attitudes and policies" being practiced by the "government" and the "Management" where both arms of the authority are practicing "double standards" bluntly. The result of the last general election prompted the BN to vow for a "reform" or even "transformation", however, we have yet to see it being made true.

It's said that the main cause of Malaysia's problems is "the division of people by their ethnicity and religion". The feelings of inequality and unfairness are widely felt by the people, especially the "non-bumiputras".

The foremost policy under heavy criticisms is the NEP.

The Lack of Opportunity in the civil services and education are the other sources of discontent by the non-bumiputra group. The dominant group lacks of true sense of respect and "dominant" mentality is also the resentment behind the sources of discomfort among the people.

One can say that the scenario is like happiness of some peoples is built from the miseries of the others. However, no one will admit the "bullying" unfair practice despite 52 years of independence, or 46 years for Sabah & Sarawak.

“One Malaysia” to me means Malaysia has only one "progressive race" - Malaysian; the eventual culture is Malaysian made up of various cultures through natural integration; people still identifiable by their community but thinking 100% Malaysian, and equality for all regardless of descendent and creed. It also means no more "bumiputra" and "non-bumiputra" status.

Can it be a reality, or being just a dream of Najib? Is he sincere in this matter? Can he make it? Can the so-called dominant group accept the changes and sacrifices?

Chinese and Indians had been sacrificing a lot in the last 52 years for the noble effort to bring close the "gap"; isn't it time to just being fair by "righting" it?

Is Malaysia still prefers to be a divisive and weak country, or one strong country like "One Malaysia" as coined by Najib?

UMNO SABAH SHOULD USE THEIR INFLUENCE NOW

Wow! No wonder Najib once said that Sabah is BN's Fixed Deposit. Just read the following news feeds from The Star Online and you should know why.

What a pity they didn't lobby the case (of QEH) early, nevertheless, it's still never too late to do so now:-

Sabah a key state for Umno contenders
By MUGUNTAN VANAR

KOTA KINABALU: The who’s who of Umno made a beeline for Sabah as determined candidates pushed the campaigning momentum into high gear with the party elections only three weeks away.

Sabah is an important pit stop for the candidates because its 325 delegates form the second largest group in the party general assembly, after the 578 delegates from Johor.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/3/2/nation/3382490&sec=nation


Sabah not getting new hospital yet
By MUGUNTAN VANAR

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah has to wait a little longer for a new general hospital despite the urgency of the matter, as there is no budget for it under the current Ninth Malaysia Plan.

“We have agreed in principle to a new hospital, but we cannot say when it will be implemented,” Deputy Health Minister Datuk Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad told reporters Monday after launching a pre-school food safety campaign.

He was asked about plans to overcome severe congestion at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital here after its eight-storey tower block was closed due to structural problems. Patients were relocated to other hospitals in the state.

“We are still waiting for the budget from the Finance Ministry and the Economic Planning Unit,” he said.

However, he added, a plot of land for the hospital had been identified.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/3/2/nation/20090302165412&sec=nation

What! No Money for replacing the Sabah's Oldest Established Hospital with a new hospital structure?

Being 2nd largest of 325 votes also can't do anything to help getting the hospitals Sabahan need badly?

It's really a shame for the country as QEH is a Referral Hospital in Sabah. Despite being the longest established hospital since 1953, it's also the only main government hospital in the whole Kota Kinbalu city.

Kota Kinabalu is a State Capital, a tourist's favourite, which is also the main gateway to Sabah.

It will be bad if health services in Kota Kinabalu are at fault or not up to international standard due to the deteriorating condition caused by the "un-safe for use" declaration of its main tower block in last November.

The quality of service is compromised now as a result of the consequential shifting and dispersion of facilities to other surrounding locations.

It should be an important responsibility of the government to make sure that standard is kept to acceptable level, both domestically or internationally. The situation might affect the tourism business badly if no immediate attempts to address the shortcomings.

Finance Minister, also DPM, Dato Najib, should seriously help us on this matter as Sabahan has been suffering enough with all the misdeeds of the pasts.

Never mind about the so-called Sabah Development Corridor which can be developed in parallel despite a little later but not the people's life and health; he should therefore take a special look into this matter urgently, and approve the required fund accordingly now, before it's too late.

This time, DPM should make sure that the government appoints the best contractor to deliver the new building in less than 2 years time.

Sabahan will definitely appreciate it for his competency and caring.