Muslims in Indonesia to begin fasting tomorrow

 

Indonesian officials in Jakarta with a digital theodolite for the sighting of the Ramadan crescent this evening. (AP pic)

JAKARTA: 

Muslims in Indonesia will begin fasting on Saturday (March 1), while those in Singapore, Thailand, and Cambodia will commence fasting on Sunday (March 2).

Indonesia’s minister of religious affairs, Nasaruddin Umar, made the announcement following the conclusion of the Isbat conference (to determine the start of Ramadan). The religious attaché at the Malaysian embassy, Shamsuri Ghazali, was among those present.

Indonesia is home to the world’s largest Muslim population, with 87% of its 282 million citizens identifying as Muslims.

Singapore’s mufti, Nazirudin Nasir, said the moon’s position by astronomical calculation at sunset this evening did not meet the criteria as agreed upon by the religious affairs ministers in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

“Therefore, the Ramadan crescent was not visible above Singapore’s horizon at sunset this evening, and tomorrow will complete 30 days of the month of Syaaban,” he said.

Thailand’s chief sheikhul Islam, Arun Boonchom, also announced that the Ramadan crescent was not sighted this evening, while Cambodia’s Islamic religious council also announced that Muslims in the kingdom will begin fasting on Sunday. - FMT

Parliament gets its own ‘cabinet’ in reform bill, says Johari

 

Dewan Rakyat Speaker Johari Abdul said ‘we will govern what is happening, including setting our own policies’. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: 

Parliament will get its own “cabinet” to determine expenditures and policies as part of reforms proposed in a bill tabled this week, the Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat, Johari Abdul, said today.

He said the proposed parliamentary council, to be jointly chaired by the Dewan Rakyat Speaker and the president of the Dewan Negara (Senate), will play the role of Parliament’s “cabinet”.

He said the bill provides for the council to decide on the expenditures of the two houses of Parliament, and set up select committees and caucuses.

Johari said the bill will ensure the separation of power between the legislative and executive branches of government. “We will govern what is happening, including setting our own policies,” he said.

The proposals, part of efforts to reform the administration of Parliament, are contained in the Parliamentary Services Bill 2025, which was tabled this week. MPs are expected to debate the bill on Tuesday.

Johari said the proposed council would include the deputy president of the Senate, two deputy speakers of the House, two senators, four MPs, the secretaries of the two houses, and three ex-officio members – the secretary-general of the Treasury, the director-general of public services, and the chief administrator of Parliament.

The bill provides for the secretaries of the two houses to be nominated by the head of each house (the Speaker and Senate president) with the approval of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Johari said the bill seeks to empower the two houses to discuss and amend their statutes and provisions, which currently fall under the purview of the prime minister’s Cabinet.

About a third of parliamentary staff have opted to join the new parliamentary service proposed in the bill, according to the parliamentary administrator’s office.

It said in a statement that the bill introduces a “hybrid model” for employment of parliamentary staff, which would accommodate the 67% of staff who wish to remain in their current posts as part of the civil service.

The statement said the hybrid model would allow the management of human resources, administration and finances to be handled by civil service officers, while the management of the two chambers and parliamentary select committees will be handled by a separate service committee.

“This aims to ensure a balance between specialised services and administrative and operational efficiency in the management of Parliament,” the statement said. - FMT

There Are 195 Countries In The World. 195 minus 40 = 155 More To Go

 This is from Malaysian Insight. It was in Mandarin. I used a translation app to translate. Its very choppy. The translation is not clear at all. I also edited out some names - no names.

I think it is Dominic Lau Hoe Chye the Gerakan president. Not Liu Hua Cai.

The points are worth noting. Its not anything new.

Liu Huacai ridiculed "Asia's fastest withdrawal of foreign capital from the stock market during his term"

Liu Huacai, national chairman of the People's Political Party (OSTB: Gerakan?), pointed out that foreign investment has withdrawn RM2.37 billion  in the past four months, which is the largest withdrawal since the beginning of 2020. 

He called ..to stop feeling good about himself and to take positive measures to address this serious economic challenge.

Liu Huacai said ..the importance of foreign capital to our economy must be taken into account, and the short-term large-scale divestment will not have an excessive impact on the market.

the national economic growth plan has been in the 'painting cake' stage, and has not stabilized investor confidence." 

need to actively respond, establish integrity, and improve the investment environment to enhance investor confidence and promote market stability and development.”

intentionally or unintentionally creates class differentiation, if not handled properly, may affect social harmony and stability. 

questioned whether the continuous sale of Malaysian stocks by foreign capital is related to some sensitive issues in China

If Trump increases the implementation of tax measures, foreign investment may accelerate the withdrawal of Malaysia. 

if economic risks are not dealt with in a timely manner and decisively, in addition to affecting the country's economic growth, it may also endanger social stability.

"The continued sell-off of foreign capital will lead to instability in the stock market and even lead to panic selling, which poses a serious threat to investor confidence and market stability." 

If the government still fails to provide effective countermeasures, the divestment of foreign capital will further undermine the confidence of the foreign exchange market and international investors.”

Liu Huacai called on the government to focus on core interests and properly deal with rising prices and the burden of people's lives on the rise, rather than wasting public resources in unnecessary disputes. 

He pointed out that in many cases, the government has wasted time and energy on unrelated issues 

My Comments : 

The Singapore Dollar is now at RM3.31. That is a little improvement. 

Here is the SGD - MYR chart for one year (February 2024). You can see the trend, the Ringgit has strengthened from 3.54 in February last year to RM3.31 this year.

I believe our economy is now more stratified. There is a more pronounced strata among the people in the country.

There is now a large class of urban poor in the country. These are largely Malays. And in a country so fond of acronyms they are called the B40. Maybe also the M40.

There is also that other strange strata - what I call the 'unsustainable class'. Again these are mostly Malays. Unsustainable means they are strongly dependent on gomen handouts. Actual gomen handouts, gomen procurement etc. Once the handouts disappear or become constricted the unsustainable class have little or no means of sustaining themselves. They suffocate.

Here is the rub - many of the unsustainable class are in the M40 group and also in the T20 group. Some months back I saw a Tan Sri fellow. During Dr Mahathir's time he was an outer spoke in an outer wheel. Now he is obviously facing more challenging times. Wearing a faded shirt  and looking a little unkempt. This story repeats itself. Another Dato whom I knew well, died last year - in some financial difficulty. Their heydays were during whichever leader held power. 

They are almost entirely dependent on the power structures in the country. When the power is out, they are in the dark. These are the "unsustainable classes". And everytime there is a change in the power structure (and there will be) the numbers of these 'unsustainable classes' will increase.

The much bigger issue are the B40s. The breaking down of the B40 class is quite mindboggling.  The B40s are facing serious challenges in the urban areas especially in the Klang Valley. But there are also more serious problems in the rural areas and in the other States. A litany of quite weird crimes and strange misfortunes often befalls this group. 

As Dominic Lau points out above the people are faced with 'rising prices and the burden of people's lives on the rise, rather than wasting public resources in unnecessary disputes'.

Something has to give. Meaning something has to crack. This cannot go on forever.

The views expressed are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

PM XI PERSOALKAN KESUDAHAN ISU BERAS PUTIH TEMPATAN

 

 The views expressed are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

The call to end vernacular schools: UMNO is at it again!

 

UMNO is back at it again, only this time, for the umpteenth time, using age-old racially charged suggestions, to drive their agenda of Malay nationalism, or in this case, shroud the answer to the dilemma of fostering national unity with solutions that only aggravate, rather than address.

In a recent article published by Malaysiakini, UMNO Youth exco Wan Zuhir Ghazali said that closing SJKC and SJKT schools would be better for unity than inclusive history.

Wan Zuhir said this in response to Kota Melaka MP Khoo Poay Tiong’s earlier proposal that primary school history textbooks should include the history of all races in Malaysia, adding that this would help with fostering national unity from a young age.

Responding to Khoo, Wan Zuhir said it would be better to close vernacular schools to foster unity instead of teaching the history of all Malaysian races to school children.

Wan Zuhir Ghazali (Image: UMNO Online)

Now here is where you lost me, Wan Zuhir!

The problem here is clear, UMNO has always used vernacular schools as means of sounding pro-Malay despite their own party members enrolling their kids into foreign universities and private vernacular schools.

Learning about our mixed heritage is a great way to appreciate the contributions of each community to Malaysia ultimately fostering respect between communities. However, it is unfortunate that Wan Zuhir’s response revealed the truth behind the charade.

Perception is a powerful tool to govern. If we believe that we are different, if we believe that one community is out to get the other, if we believe that each community in Malaysia is only out for themselves, that works perfectly for the ruling class.

Wan Zuhir’s suggestion of removing vernacular schools is nothing more than a smokescreen. He knows it, we know it.

The intention here isn’t to discuss Khoo’s proposal. Seeing how sensitive the issue of closing vernacular schools are, saying such things would only fuel the fire of discontent, creating thick clouds of dark smoke that block out reason and rationale and eventually sweeping the solution—inclusive history—under the rug, out of sight and ultimately forgotten.

From a pragmatic standpoint, the suggestion to ban vernacular schools is both absurd and would never happen. Not to mention it isn’t the solution, considering that vernacular schools, particularly Chinese schools, house over 20% non-ethnic Chinese students in 2024, a rise from 12% in 2023.

Secondly, no ruling government is going to do it simply because there is no political will to see it through. And I don’t blame them!

Imagine if the Education Ministry decides to put an end to vernacular schools—what would that do? All Chinese and Indian parties would criticise the move or risk the chance of being viewed as not upholding the rights of the communities they represent.

What would that do to the Madani government’s approval ratings? Or any ruling government for that matter?

Not only is it a nightmare on the political side but it would also be fiscal headache as well. Would new schools need to be built?

(Image: Malaysiakini)

What would adding students to current schools do to the overall quality of education imparted in classrooms? Classrooms that are already over capacity now have to be made larger to make room.

From the perspective of the students, how would this impact their education journey? Would they have to spend an extra year brushing up on their Malay in order to stand a chance in the government schools?

How about the private businesses that invested in those vernacular schools? What do they get? Would they be compensated for the closure of their schools?

Does Wan Zuhir have the answers to these questions?

Considering how vernacular schools are becoming more mixed than ever, students at vernacular schools are mingling among other races, and parents are opting to send their kids to vernacular schools because of the quality of education.

So if national unity is on Wan Zuhir’s mind, perhaps he should be focusing on increasing the standards of education at public schools.

This would be the attraction for parents to enrol their kids, and voilà, problem solved—you get national unity and good quality education at the same time!

Vinodh Rajendran is the founder of the GoodCast Show Podcast.

The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT. 

- Focus Malaysia.

From 5 sen to RM5 in a space of 60 years

 

RECENTLY, I went to the wet market at Pandan Jaya just after the border with Kuala Lumpur. At a roadside, I saw an elderly woman placing sliced pineapple in transparent plastic boxes for sale. I had just unlocked my car when she called out to me after noticing that I was looking at her.

I walked across the busy road and could see her car was loaded with small Josapine pineapples as the rear hatch was fully raised to display the fruits. I enjoy sweet pineapples greatly and checked all five boxes on the table scanning for the sweetest, but they all looked the same.

I then asked for the price and was told each box is RM5, which is not cheap or excessive. I was prepared to buy if the price was acceptable, as petty traders, hawkers and small businesses need support from the public. It would be a shame to bargain if prices are already reasonable.

The Malay woman is friendly and humble, with a weather-beaten face and teeth that had seen better days. But she is far from ugly, as her warm smile was genuine. She asked me where I duduk (Malay word for stay or sit). I replied cheekily I am berdiri (standing).

I inquired whether the old hatchback car was driven by her and she said yes. I then asked where she duduk and she replied Johor. But this does not make sense to me as the state is too distant. After some enquiries, she disclosed that she is now renting a place not far from the wet market.

And the pineapples were grown and transported in bulk from Johor by a family member, as it would not justify sending only a car-load over a long distance and having to pay tolls and fuel, apart from wear and tear of the car and spending much precious time travelling.

(Image: Pexels/Carlo Martin Alcordo)

The woman must have worked under the sun in the farm for much of her life and was no stranger to hard work. While others much younger would rather spend time chatting with neighbours, this sprightly lady prefers to load her old car with pineapples to sell them by the roadside. Bravo!

Instead of just waiting idly for customers, she skinned a few fruits to show how sweet the pineapples were, which can be seen through the transparent plastic boxes. I am happy that talking to her has drawn many other customers to cross the busy road to inquire or buy from her.

Over 60 years ago, I frequently bought pineapple from an elderly Javanese man who would load a big basket of Morris pineapple and pedal all the way to the roadside in front of La Salle Klang. The smaller ones were sold at five sen each and bigger ones for 10 sen, including skinning.

Often, I would pick a larger one and request for the price to be five sen and the Javanese man, bless his kind soul, would agree. Hanging from the bicycle handlebar was a bottle of dark soya sauce. Sometimes, I would pour the sauce over the skinned fruit while holding it by the stem.

Those were the halcyon days over 60 years ago that my classmates recall fondly. It was a period of peace, tranquillity and happiness.

Instead of holding a smartphone today, I had one hand holding my bicycle handle and the other a pineapple as I pedalled home and gave myself a treat.

YS Chan is master trainer for Mesra Malaysia and Travel and Tours Enhancement Course and an Asean Tourism Master Trainer. He is also a tourism and transport business consultant.

The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of  MMKtT.

- Focus Malaysia.