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MPs accept Raja Nong Chik’s challenge to debate
Wednesday, February 8, 2012 – 17:00
by Hamzah Nazari [1]
KUALA LUMPUR: Three Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders have accepted, with conditions, the challenge by Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin to a one-to-one debate on the use of RM1.5 billion from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to finance the city’s low-cost housing loan scheme.
PKR Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar and DAP Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, who were joined by PAS Kuala Selangor MP Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, want the debate televised, with disclosure of agreements between government entities and EPF.
On Sunday, Raja Nong Chik challenged Nurul Izzah and Pua to a public debate on the use of EPF funds for a low-cost housing loan scheme, following the opposition MPs’ criticism of the scheme.
In a joint press statement yesterday, the three MPs said although PR supported affordable housing for low-income urban dwellers, the responsibility of its fulfillment rested with the government and not Malaysian workers who contribute to EPF.
“Hence, we are more than happy to debate with the minister in the interest of the public to ensure relevant issues are aired in an open and transparent manner,” said the statement.
Nurul Izzah, Pua and Dzulkefly felt the debate should be open and televised in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak, especially to the stakeholders who are EPF contributors, and not just the low-cost housing residents in Kuala Lumpur.
“In the interest of transparency and accountability, we believe Raja Nong Chik, who is willing to openly debate this issue, will have no problems providing full disclosure of agreements made between government entities and EPF,” said the statement.
They also hit back at Raja Nong Chik for criticising them for comparing the scheme to sub-prime lending.
Quoting the Federal Deposit of Insurance Corporation (FDIC), an independent agency of the US federal government, they argued that sub-prime lending was the credit characteristics of individual borrowers with no link to property value.
“What we have here today is the EPF lending money to borrowers who, Raja Nong Chik himself has admitted, will not qualify for loans from commercial banks.
“The fact that the low-cost property value, which Raja Nong Chik claims to be worth double or triple the selling price, has nothing to do with the issue of ‘sub-prime’.”
* Nation
© Copyright 2012 Malay Mail Sdn. Bhd.
THE DEBATE BETWEEN DAP SECRETARY GENERAL, LIM GUAN ENG
& MCA PRESIDENT, CHUA SOI LEK to be held at Berjaya Times Square
on february 13.
Lim Guan Eng said that the original topic given to him by the organizer
ASLI(Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute) was:”Is A Two-Party System
Becoming A Two-Race System”.
Lim Guan Eng did not know that the topic had been changed to “Future
Of The Malaysian Chinese”.
LIM STATED THAT IT WAS NOT ACCEPTABLE TO TALK ABOUT THE
CHINESE COMMUNITY ONLY AS DAP STRUGGLE IS FOR ALL MALAYSIANS.
THE MAIN MATTER HERE IS THAT NOT ONLY IS THE FUTURE OF THE
MALAYSIAN CHINESE AT STAKE BUT THE FUTURE OF ALL MALAYSIANS
REGARDLESS OF RACE OR RELIGION IS AT STAKE.
MALAYSIA IS ON THE THRESHOLD OF CHANGE: CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
OR REMAIN THE SAME AND THE CRUNCH TIME IS NONE OTHER THAN THE
FORTHCOMING 13TH GENERAL ELECTIONS.
THIS IS AN INESCAPABLE FACT.
THE 13TH GENERAL ELECTION IS GOING TO BE THE DECIDER.
AS THE DEBATE IS ON THE FUTURE OF MALAYSIAN CHINESE, CHUA WILL
SURELY BRING UP THE ISSUE OF HUDUD LAW & HOW IT WILL EFFECT
THE CHINESE.
PAS NEEDS TWO-THIRDS VOTE IN PARLIAMENT TO AMEND THE FEDERAL
CONSTITUTION IN ORDER FOR HUDUD TO BE IMPLEMENTED & REST
ASSURED THAT EVEN BN PARLIAMENTARIANS WILL NOT SUPPORT IT.
HUDUD LAW WILL NEVER BE IMPLEMENTED.
SCARING THE CHINESE PUBLIC: MCA LEADERS ESPECIALLY MR CHUA,
HAVING BEEN SAYING NON-STOP THAT HUDUD WILL HAMPER PROGRESS
AND AFFECT THE CHINESE WAY OF LIFE & CULTURE & A VOTE FOR DAP
IS A VOTE FOR PAS & HUDUD.
THIS LINE OF TACTIC BY MCA IS TO SCARE THE CHINESE FOR VOTING FOR BN.
MCA HAS NO CAMPAIGN ISSUE EXCEPT HUDUD.
HAS ANYONE NOTICED MCA SILENCE ON THE FEEDLOT CATTLE-CONDO SAGA???
IT IS NOT HUDUD BUT CORRUPTION WITH A CAPITAL C THAT HINDER PROGRESS.
CORRUPTION EATS INTO THE WEALTH OF THE NATION
FOR EACH & EVERY MALAYSIAN, THE TIME HAS COME
TO WEED OUT CORRUPTION BY VOTING IN THE PARTY
WHOSE CANDIDATE CAN PRACTICE GOOD GOVERNANCE.
WE ARE IN THE GRIP OF “CORRUPT CULTURE” AND IN ACCORDANCE TO
THE SLOGAN OF A PREVIOUS PRIME MINISTER WHO ADVOCATED
“KEPIMPINAN MELALUI TELADAN” = LEADERSHIP BY EXAMPLE.
IT IS A WASTE OF TIME DEBATING ABOUT HUDUD AS IT IS A NON-STARTER.
THE ISSUE THAT SHOULD AND MUST BE DEBATED IS:”HOW TO ERADICATE
CORRUPTION?”
STOP BEING UMNO’S LACKEY: IF MR CHUA RAISES THE ISSUE OF HUDUD
IN THE DEBATE ON THE FUTURE OF THE CHINESE, IT IS OBVIOUS THAT
HE IS MERELY PLAYING THE RACE & RELIGION CARD TO SHOW THAT HE
IS THE CHAMPION OF THE CHINESE & HIS INTENTION IS TO OBTAIN
PUBLICITY FOR HIMSELF IN ORDER TO BOOST HIS CHANCES OF BEEN
CHOSEN AS AN ELECTION CANDIDATE.
EVEN IF THE TOPIC IS ON THE 2 PARTY SYSTEM, MR CHUA WILL FIND A
WAY TO WORM IN THE HUDUD TOPIC.
THIS MEANS THAT PAS IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT IN SAYING THAT UMNO
HAS APPOINTED THE MCA PRESIDENT AS SPOKEN FOR HUDUD.
IS UMNO LACKING IN ISLAMIC INTELLECTUALS THAT IT HAS TO APPOINT
A NON-MUSLIM WHO IS IGNORANT IN MATTERS PERTAINING TO ISLAM
TO BE A SPOKEMAN FOR HUDUD???
HUDUD IS ONLY THE TOPIC TO DIVERT VOTERS ATTENTION
AWAY FROM THE MAJOR ISSUES AT HAND:
GROWING NATIONAL DEBTS, SKY ROCKETING PRICE OF
GOODS, SOCIAL PROBLEMS CAUSED BY THE INFLUX OF
FOREIGN WORKERS.
IT IS TIME MCA STOPPED TRYING TO CON THE CHINESE INTO VOTING FOR
BN IN ORDER FOR THE PLUNDERING TO CONTINUE UNTIL THE COWS COME
HOME.
PERHAPS THIS HUDUD DISTRACTION WILL EVENTUALLY
LEAD THE MALAYSIAN VOTERS FORGETTING THE
FEEDLOT ISSUES ALL TOGETHER WHEN THE 13TH
GENERAL ELECTION IS CALLED.
MAYBE THATS WHAT THE BN LEADERS ARE WAITING FOR
AS THE MALAYSIAN VOTERS DO NOT HAVE “ELEPHANT
MEMORIES”.
Julia Nicol
Director, Public Relations and Publications, Curtin University
Tel: +618 9266 7711
Email: J.K.Nicol@curtin.edu.au
Mr Pip Lapelms
PR Manager, Curtin University, WA Australia.
Tel: +61 08 9266 1930
Email: pip.lapelms@curtin.edu.au
https://www.facebook.com/curtinuniversity
I would like to refer to your recent media release on Curtin University’s Honorary Doctorate of Letters award to Rosmah Mansor, dated 13 February 2012, found here: http://news.curtin.edu.au/media-releases/curtin-award-recognises-wife-of-malaysian-prime-minister/
I am an alumni of Curtin University, having completed a bachelors and masters between the years of 2003 and 2009, and a proud alumni at that. I am also a Malaysian citizen, and I am also an Australian tax payer for the past 9 years. Hence, Curtin University’s decision to award Rosmah Mansor with a Honorary Doctorate greatly interests and intrigues me from both an Australian and Malaysian perspective.
Julia/Pip,
To start with, I would like to humbly point out that Rosmah Mansor is NOT the first lady of Malaysia. The official First Lady of Malaysia is the Seri Paduka Baginda Raja Permaisuri Agong (Roughly translated as Her Majesty The Queen) Haminah Hamidun. In Malaysia, the Queen takes precedence next after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (the King) over all other persons in Malaysia.
Rosmah Mansor does not hold office in the government, and she’s simply the Prime Minister’s wife. She is as part of the Malaysian public as I am. The Malaysian public will greatly appreciate if you could remove “First Lady of Malaysia” title from your media release, and issue another addressing the change.
Julia/Pip,
As you might have noticed, there is currently a barrage of posts and comments on the official Facebook page of Curtin University (to which the admins of that page have now resorted to deletion of posts) with regards to whether Rosmah Mansor is the rightful recipient of your distinguished Honorary Doctorate. This note’s purpose is to provide a represented front for those comments, and we would greatly appreciate if you could provide a direct reply to this note, or issue a media release explaining Curtin’s decision to award Rosmah Mansor.
You cited Curtin’s reason to award her as her dedication to education and the advancement of women. You also mentioned how she is the driving force behind the Permata project, and explicitly said:
As a result of her involvement, there are more than 600 Permata centres in Malaysia, and the program now extends to centres for talented and gifted children with special academic and musical abilities, and to children with special acumen in spiritual matters.
Permata is a government funded agency. Permata receives funding from the government i.e. the Malaysian tax payers money. As such, it is our right (as Malaysians) to demand such services. With or without Rosmah, Permata is our right, not Rosmah’s philanthropy. It’s a whole different story if Rosmah used her own money – that’s philanthropy.
This would be the equivalent of Julia Gillard’s partner using Australian tax payer’s money to set up day cares all over Australia and receives an award from a foreign university for his philanthropical work.
Malaysians are partly incised at Permata because it has been abusing tax payers money. There’s rife corruption, over-funding, safety and responsibility issues. Please read here for more details: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/12/12/permata-centre-wasnt-safe-for-my-child/
Curtin’s decision to award Rosmah has got Malaysians questioning.
1. How was Rosmah’s contribution and dedication to education evaluated? Was there an objective task panel set up to review this?
2. How was Rosmah’s contribution to advancement of women evaluated?
3. How much of an involvement in early education centre does one entitle to an honorary doctorate?
4. How do the current Curtin PhD scholars feel about all this?
I certainly believe that Curtin University must have carried out extensive research and surveys to recognise Rosmah’s contribution, Curtin being known as an excellent research institution. Will Curtin University care to share the full findings to the Malaysian public, so that we can better appreciate Rosmah Mansor?
It is also worth noting that Malaysian students make up the second largest number at Curtin University, and Perth is home to one of Malaysia’s biggest diaspora in the world. Curtin’s decision to award Rosmah is one of the most talked about subject on the Twitterverse, blogosphere and other social medias.
We would greatly appreciate if you can get back to us on this matter. Thank you.
ecofrensatu
