Mahathir - Kalu cikgu berpolitik, depa akan masuk PAS...

Gesaan pemimpin Umno supaya penjawat awam khususnya guru kembali ke pangkuan BN dengan membenarkan mereka berpolitik hanya akan merugikan parti itu. 

Bekas Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad berkata, tiada jaminan warga pendidik itu berpihak dan memberi sokongan kepada parti pemerintah jika mereka diberi kelonggaran untuk menceburi bidang politik. 

"Mereka (guru) tidak akan sertai BN tetapi mereka sertai Pas dan kerajaan akan hadapi masalah bila guru menjadi pengikut parti pembangkang. 

"Kerajaan kena ingat apabila mereka masuk politik, mereka tidak semestinya menyokong BN," katanya kepada pemberita selepas merasmikan 'Siri Syarahan Perdana Presiden' di Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM), di sini, hari ini. 

Beliau berkata demikian mengulas lanjut kenyataan Menteri Wilayah Persekutuan, Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor semalam yang meminta warga pendidik itu kembali ke pangkuan BN. 

Katanya keputusan kerajaan sebelum ini menyekat guru dari menyertai politik adalah satu kesilapan dan boleh melemahkan BN. 

Mengulas lanjut, Dr Mahathir menambah jika cadangan itu tidak diperhalusi, kelonggaran itu dikhuatiri akan mengancam kerajaan kelak. 

"... mereka bukan sahaja tidak akan sertai BN malah lebih buruk lagi akan menentang kerajaan pemerintah," katanya lagi. -SH 

Kunan’s teachers-return-to-BN call highlights BN’s hypocrisy... 

They say that one should not look a gift horse in the mouth, but whatever that is coming out of Federal Territories Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor’s mouth does seem less a gift and more a “curse” that over 50 years of Barisan Nasional rule has put on us.

News reports quoted Tengku Adnan, widely known as Kunan, urging teachers to return to BN and admitting that a past ban on teachers in politics was a mistake.

“But we have now allowed teachers to be active again so I appeal to teachers to come back to us, help us,” he reportedly said.

Kunan’s urging came at a time when a teacher was reportedly warned by  Education Ministry officials for her Facebook postings related to DAP Teluk Intan candidate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud which was said to be anti-government.

It is a bit strange how promoting an opposition candidate is anti-government. But perhaps not when BN considers itself the government and not as in reality the party entrusted with governance by the public.

But critics were quick to point out that to be anti-BN is not anti-government and neither is be pro-Pakatan.

So Kunan, is it okay for teachers to support BN but not Pakatan Rakyat?

Politics is personal; it is something that one chose on one's own conscience. It is a choice. It should not be forced upon one and certainly the machinery of governance should not be abused to make people support the BN.

For this speaks of abuse of power and a misuse of the authority granted by the public.

To welcome teachers into the BN fold but to punish those who support Pakatan speaks of hypocrisy of the highest order.

Teachers are like all civil servants -- they serve the public via the authority of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and obey lawful orders of the government of the day, but their political affiliations are their own.

While the 2010 ban on teachers being involved in politics has been rescinded, it would seem that the BN disease of acting as if it owns the government is still the same.

One has to ask if this BN’s “We are the government” myopia is something they can’t help but feel.

Or is it being promulgated for political purposes by a party desperate to hold on to the position as it has become addicted to the trappings of power?- Hazlan Zakaria, theantdaily

Kawasan pencarian pesawat Malaysia Airlines MH370 yang hilang akan diperluas, tetapi kekal di Koridor Selatan, dengan menggunakan apa jua kepakaran yang ada, kata Pemangku Menteri Pengangkutan Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein.

"Kalau tidak jumpa kotak hitam, kita kena cari lokasi baharu dan guna apa jua kepakaran yang ada untuk mengenal pasti lokasi berkenaan. Apa yang penting sekarang lokasi itu kekal di Koridor Selatan, itu yang tidak dipertikai dan tidak dinafikan oleh mana-mana pihak.

"Malah ia telah disahkan oleh pakar-pakar seluruh dunia. Persoalannya di mana di Koridor Selatan. Ia besar, tapi di situlah kita akan memasuki fasa baharu," kata Hishammuddin yang juga Menteri Pertahanan kepada pemberita selepas mengadakan mesyuarat berkaitan pencarian pesawat MH370 itu di ibu negara, Rabu.

Hishammuddin diminta mengulas kenyataan Pusat Penyelarasan Agensi Bersama (JACC) bahawa kawasan pencarian pesawat MH370 di Lautan Hindi berdasarkan empat isyarat ping dipercayai daripada kotak hitam, diisytihar sebagai bukan kawasan pesawat itu hilang.

JACC yang berpejabat di Australia menyatakan bahawa ia telah menyelesaikan pencariannya di Lautan Hindi di mana isyarat ping dikesan dan ia telah mengetepikan zon itu sebagai tempat bersemadinya pesawat MH370 itu, yang membawa 239 penumpang dan anak kapal.

Namun, JACC tetap yakin bahawa ia telah mengesan laluan pesawat MH370 yang memasuki perairan itu menerusi selatan Lautan Hindi yang panjang tetapi sempit.

Ditanya mengenai dakwaan seorang pelayar British kononnya ternampak pesawat itu terbakar berdekatan Thailand pada pagi ia dilaporkan hilang, Hishammuddin berkata "terlalu banyak dakwaan yang kami terima, tapi tiada yang dapat dibuktikan. Ia perlu disahkan terlebih dahulu".

Hishammuddin juga ditanya mengenai dua isyarat ping terbaharu dipercayai daripada pesawat itu yang didakwa ditemui pihak berkuasa Australia.

"Kami perlu berkumpul semula dan melihat apa-apa petunjuk lain yang ada.

"Jika ada maklumat berhubung lokasi dan petunjuk baharu, itu kami serahkan pada pakar-pakar dan menghantar aset di bawah Jawatankuasa Aset dan maklumkan kepada keluarga," katanya.

Pencarian sebelum ini berdasarkan isyarat ping yang dikesan oleh kapal Ocean Shield namun tidak menemui apa-apa, kata Hishammuddin.

Beliau menarik perhatian bahawa terdapat sekurang-kurangnya enam syarikat tempatan seperti Petronas, Boustead dan Deftech telah menyumbang dana, aset dan perkhidmatan dalam tender terbuka bagi pencarian pesawat itu. - bernama

No regime change makes M'sia weak...

The fact that there has been no regime change in Malaysia since Independence is turning the country into the region's “weakest link”, Bloomberg says.

In an opinion piece today, the business newswire said that this has led to “complacency” in Putrajaya and is holding back the country's economy despite its rich potential.

“The need for change is becoming acute, though, as China's dominance grows and neighbours like the Philippines get their acts together.

“And Malaysia? Well, Prime Minister Najib (Abdul) Razak's lackluster party is clinging to power...

“The government's handling of Malaysia Air(lines) Flight 370 said it all. Its deer-in-the-headlights response to the plane's disappearance was the product of an insular political culture.

“The trouble is, that insularity is holding back a resource-rich economy that should be among Asia's superstars, not its weakest links,” Bloomberg's William Pesek writes.

Pesek said that he shares his views with UK-based Oxford University-linked think tank Oxford Economics, which released a report that termed Malaysia the “riskiest” economy in Asia.

'Climate of entitlement'

He said that Oxford's biggest concern is the fact that Malaysia is a “one-party state”, which has perpetuated racial policies which works does not encourage innovation.

“Its 40-year-old, pro-Malay affirmative-action programme chips away at the country's competitiveness more and more each passing year.

“The scheme, which disenfranchises Malaysia's Chinese and Indian minorities, is a productivity and innovation killer. It also has a corrupting influence on the political and business culture,” Pesek writes.

Pesek further cites Sarah Fowler, a researcher with Oxford Economics, as saying that all is not well in Malaysia's economy despite the country escaping investment bank Morgan Stanley's “fragile five” list of shaky emerging economies.

She said that this is driven by Malaysia's high debt level, racial policies and business as usual attitude, especially within Umno.

"A climate of entitlement amongst the Malay community limits entrepreneurialism and vested interests within Umno still resist change," Fowler is cited as saying.

Fowler said that while all is well on Malaysia's surface, external debts have risen to close to 40 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), a level higher than India.

Its current account surplus, a measure of the difference between cash coming in and going out of the country, has also dwindled from 16 percent of GDP in 2008 to 3.7 percent in 2013.

She added that Malaysia has the biggest short-term capital flows, or hot money, among the 13 emerging markets the think tank tracks, including neighbouring Indonesia. - mk

Jangan hangpa lupa bawa si Jamil Khir bersama-sama...

cheers.