There is a team of people comprising NGOs who are right now in Geneva, Switzerland, attending the Universal Periodic Review which is organised by the United Nations Human Rights Council. Malaysia’s national report is also being presented there. The UPR is basically a review of countries’ human rights records and this is the first time Malaysia is being reviewed.

Based on live feedback coming to us from Geneva, the consultation with NGOs has been rather perfunctory.

Also, Malaysia’s presentation at the UPR is apparently not truly reflective of what has been taking place on the ground in the past year(s). We cannot really forget the numerous incidents of human rights abuses that have stared us in the face including the multiple ISA arrests, the death of Kugan in police custody (which is only the tip of the iceberg really), the adamant refusal to admit that the migrant workers and refugees in Malaysia are treated shabbily to say the least.. and the list goes on.

In any case, I will leave some of those attending the session to tell the story with the press statement below.

Malaysia’s First UPR: Too Much Praise, Too Little Progress

 

The United Nations Human Rights Council conducted its inaugural review of Malaysia’s human rights record today. At the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), Malaysia’s national report was presented by Tan Sri Rastam Mohd Isa, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Attorney General, Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Patail, and Datuk Faizah Tahir, Secretary General of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development made additional statements. Representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from the Coalition of Malaysian Non-Governmental Organisations in the UPR Process (COMANGO), and the Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia (JOAS) were present. Representatives of the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) also attended.

 

The UPR process compels the government to critically assess Malaysia’s human rights record, in consultation with SUHAKAM and NGOs. However, the consultation with NGOs has been superficial, patchy and cursory.

 

Malaysia’s presentation during the review today described some of its successes without acknowledging any shortcomings. The government highlighted the overall reduction of poverty but failed to address the increase in income disparity, e.g. within the Bumiputra community.

 

Malaysia also made some inaccurate statements. “The government claimed that the rights of indigenous peoples were well protected under existing legislation. Mexico and Qatar correctly raised the issue of the rights of indigenous peoples which needs better protection. I urge the government to accept Mexico’s recommendation to ratify the ILO Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries. I am also disappointed that the government only mentioned Orang Asli and the Penans thus leaving out the other indigenous groups in Sabah and Sarawak,” said Mark Bujang of JOAS. According to Giyoun Kim, UN Advocacy programme manager of the Asian Forum of Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), “With all the several country visit requests made by the Special Procedures mandate holders since 2002, the Malaysian Government only repeated its rhetoric excuses that it remains open to further discussions and is willing to consider the requests positively on the merit of each proposal. It is regrettable that Malaysia, as a member of the Human Rights Council, did not present any will to closely cooperate with the Special Procedures by way of declaring standing invitations to these mandate holders to visit Malaysia, as encouraged by several countries.”

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I will be putting up the Selangor press statements on my blog. The first one here is on an issue that is really quite an urgent one: the restructuring of the Selangor state’s water industry. I hope people will understand the importance of this whole deal. There’ll be a public briefing to be held soon to clarify matters. I’m looking forward to it.

STATE GOVERNMENT IS PREPARED TO TAKE OVER SELANGOR WATER CONCESSIONAIRE’S ASSETS

SHAH ALAM – The Selangor State Government is serious in ensuring that the restructuring of the water services industry in Selangor is implemented effectively, to provide maximum benefit to the people.

After six months of being engaged in the process of restructuring the water industry that has involved multiple parties, the State government is now ready to make an offer to take over the assets and equity owned by four water concession companies.

The State Executive Council has agreed today to release the offer letters within these two days to the four concessionaires, which are Konsortium ABASS Sdn Bhd (ABASS), Puncak Niaga (M) Sdn Bhd, Syarikat Pengeluara Air Selangor Holdings Berhad (SPLASH) and Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (SYABAS).

Before making this decision, the State Government, through its Water Review Panel that was established to review the restructuring process of the water industry in Selangor, has conducted a detailed study into the valuation and calculation of all companies’ assets and equity. It must be stressed that public interest was of primary importance when making this decision.

The State Government’s offer to all concession companies is one that is fair, taking into account the considerations of all stakeholders and will not negatively impact any of them. The rate of return and profit that will be earned by the companies is considered as fair.

It is the hope of the State Government that all parties will agree with this offer, in order that the restructuring process of the water services industry in Selangor is implemented before 31st of March, at the request of the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications. The co-operation of all would avoid any increase in water tariffs, which if implemented would burden the rakyat especially during an impending economic slowdown.

The State Government is aware that the restructuring of the water industry in Selangor affects its residents and feels that the rakyat has a right to understand the issues involved. To that end, the Selangor Menteri Besar’s Office will hold a Public Briefing on a date to be soon announced. The Briefing is to provide updates and information on the situation to all stakeholders in the state, especially since the issue is one that needs complex analysis and explanation.

The public will then receive background explanations on the restructuring process of the water industry in Selangor, with relevant information, and the direction the State Government is headed in the entire process.

The Briefing is expected to be attended by industries affected by the water industry, policy makers at state and national level, civil society, non-governmental organizations, academicians, the private sector and members of the public.

PRESS SECRETARIAT

PEJABAT DATO’ MENTERI BESAR SELANGOR

How transparent is our Malaysian National Budget? 

While I was part of the CPPS, I conducted the country-level research on the Open Budget Initiative. This fed into an international index, which will be launched this Friday.

The Open Budget Index will for the first time include Malaysia on its list. The scores for Malaysia show we have a pretty low ranking – scoring about 35% out of a potential 100% – that can be viewed here. The government of Malaysia provides minimal to little information on the budget, which is the second lowest possible rank that a country can have. The range is “Extensive”, “Significant”, “Minimal” and “Scant to None”. See Malaysia’s full report here. We have a long way to go in ensuring that budget documents provide fuller information to the public so we know what taxpayers’ money is being spent on. 

Budget transparency is important because the national budget is one of the most crucial documents. This is the document that determines the entire financial health of the country in any particular year. 

In Malaysia, the proposal provides some information to the public, 

meaning citizens have a general, albeit incomplete, picture of the 

government’s plans for taxing and spending for the upcoming year.  

Moreover, it is somewhat difficult to track spending, revenue collection 

and borrowing during the year.  Even though in-year reports are published, 

they are incomplete, and a mid-year review is not released to the public.  

Publishing this document could strengthen public accountability by 

providing a more comprehensive update on how the budget is being 

implemented during the year. 

I won’t divulge too much information here, since the launch will be on Friday. All are invited to the launch, which will have representatives from the CPPS making presentations on the research that was conducted to showing how publicly available budget information has been. Click here for more information on the launch.

Date:      13th February 2009 (Friday)

Time:      9.30am – 11.00am

Venue:    Ballroom 2 – Level 1, Corus Hotel, Jalan Ampang 50450 Kuala Lumpur

It has been almost one full month since I’ve taken a slight career shift. Some would know already that I decided to leave from my previous employment at the Centre for Public Policy Studies (CPPS) and move onto something different at the Selangor State Government. I started at the Selangor Menteri Besar’s Office (for lack of an English translation, it is “Chief Minister”) in mid-January 2009 and am employed as a Research Officer there. So far, so good. A very steep learning curve and I am looking forward to working hard. 

It is indeed a change in environment of sorts. Many people would have known me in relation to the work done previously at the CPPS, research and forums and policy factsheets from an independent, non-partisan point of view. Back at the CPPS, the issues I was (and still am) most passionate about included national unity, race and religious relations, good governance, budget transparency, socioeconomic policy, human rights and young Malaysians.

Working on state-level issues is a different ball game altogether. Although all the macro and national-level issues are still extremely close to my heart, I am now confronted with the reality of governing a state – and not a small state at that – at the ground level. Such a broad spectrum of issues one has to grapple with on a daily basis, taking into consideration many parties’ opinions (not political party mind you!) and weighing options carefully. 

I am enjoying it thoroughly, even the long days at times. In a way, the unique combination of having come from an independent, semi-civil society-think tank-organisation observing from the outside, with the current opportunity to see the operations and clockwork from the inside – allow me to expand my own perspectives on the way I see Malaysia and society around me. 

The guiding principles that I – and many others – stood for have not changed. In fact, at times I would prefer to stand resolute to ensure these principles that brought me to where I am today will continue to drive me, serve me, lead me, as I carefully make decisions in whichever capacity I can. These are – good governance, accountability (to self and to public both), integrity, excellence, and putting others before self. If any one individual deviates from any of these principles, governance of a state (and country) falls flat. 

This is a lesson to take home in light of numerous political upheavals taking place of late (yes, again). 

The CPPS is thankfully progressing well, with my former colleagues still working at promoting governance from a think-tank’s perspective. There are numerous events taking place, which can be viewed on the website. 

For now, suffice to make a public announcement that has been long overdue – that I am now working for a Pakatan Rakyat State Government. Needed to wait for the dust to settle before my transition was made known to all.

Here’s to a fulfilling and exciting year ahead! A Belated Happy New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai everybody!

I talked to Reuters about my responses to Najib’s recent announcement about easing the 30% requirement for companies that want to list publicly on the stock exchange. When I said that he is a pragmatist, I meant that this decision was made not necessarily because he was guided by any moral compass, but because it was a necessity to enhance the country’s competitiveness. In a way, the financial crisis reverberating in our own country may give ourselves a few timely wake-up calls. Protectionist policies that hinder international viability (and ironically, do not even really help the Bumiputera per se) to be ebbed away with, in time to come? Perhaps this is a foretelling of the future. But it may be still premature to think that all affirmative action policies will disappear, depending on how Malay leaders react over other “seemingly revolutionary” decisions. The best option will be to ease them away bit by bit, like chipping away at old rust, until the new metal shines again.

Malaysia set to ease race-based ownership rules

By David Chance

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia is set to ease ownership rules that are the cornerstone of its decades-old, race-based economic policy favouring ethnic Malays so that companies can raise more money on the stock market.

The move, announced by Najib Razak, the country’s prime minister in waiting, comes during a global economic slowdown and after Malaysia’s main stock market fell almost 40 percent this year, dampening investors’ appetite for shares.

It also inches government policy closer to that of the more economically liberal opposition that wants the whole panoply of race-based education, housing, employment and company ownership rules to be abolished.

“It is a relatively bold move coming from him (Najib),” said Tricia Yeoh at the Centre for Public Policy Studies.

“I think he is a pragmatic man who delivers on things needed for (economic) efficiency.”

Najib said non-Malays would be able to buy shares not subscribed to by ethnic Malays in a move political and economic analysts said showed he was ready to take tough decisions to boost the economy and rebuild the ailing ruling coalition.

The issue is very sensitive in a Southeast Asian country of 27 million people where 60 percent of the population is ethnic Malay and there are also substantial ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities.

Malaysia’s entire political system is based on race. The main ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), represents the interests of the majority but needs the support of ethnic Chinese and Indian parties to remain in power.

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By Tricia Yeoh

–>

BARACK Obama’s presidential victory has been celebrated around the world, from Kenya, to Indonesia, to Japan. Democrats in the United States are obviously elated, and are hopeful for a new future. Indeed, this has been one of the most historic and highly anticipated elections in the US.

Multiple parallels can be drawn between Malaysia and the US as both continue to go through incredible political upheavals in 2008. Having been in the US for the past week observing the presidential elections under the International Visitors Observe the Elections (I-VOTE) programme, a number of comparisons spring to mind.

Historic elections in 2008

Both countries have gone through one of their most momentous elections in recent history. Malaysia’s March 2008 general election is already considered a watershed event. The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition lost two-thirds of its parliamentary majority and an unprecedented five state governments to the Pakatan Rakyat opposition alliance.

Read more here.

Where will Malaysia stand in the next few years? This is from Singapore Business Times, something I’m not sure our local papers would report:

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 11 — Malaysia’s international reserve position shows a further US$7.4 billion decline to US$100.2 billion as at Oct 31, according to latest figures released by Bank Negara. The amount, said the central bank, was “enough to finance 8.1 months of retained imports and is 3.7 times the short-term external debt position”.

For the whole of October, the central bank’s reserves fell by US$9.5 billion compared with US$12.8 billion the previous month. In fact, Malaysia’s reserves have fallen by US$25.5 billion since it peaked at US$125.7 billion in June this year. The sharp falls illustrate the growing risk-aversion of foreign investors as they flee emerging markets before the fallout from the global financial turmoil begins to seriously affect countries like Malaysia. It also mirrors the central bank’s bid to maintain the stability of the ringgit.

Most analysts attributed the fall in reserves to the outflow of short-term capital because the exit of capital coincided with a contraction in the capitalisation of the local bourse which declined to RM655.3 billion at end-October from over RM719 billion on Oct 15. The ringgit fell from RM2.51 against the greenback to RM2.55.

Even so, some analysts drew comfort from the figures. Arab-Malaysian’s research house, for instance, said the steep reserve drop from June suggested that “almost all the hot money that came in the first half of 2008 had left, leaving behind the long term investment in the system”.
The securities house said this was reflected in the “narrowing” of short-term debt which was reduced to 3.7 times the short-term external debt position. Meanwhile, it said that the 8.1 level of retained imports that the reserves covered was well over the international norm of three months and that was enough to maintain ample liquidity estimated at RM254 billion at end-September.

Going forward, these sentiments would seem to vindicate fund manager Tan Teng Boo’s assertion two weeks ago that the Malaysian market had bottomed out. Arab-Malaysian agreed, saying that there would be “positive capital inflow going forward”. It pointed out that the stock market capitalisation had edged upwards to nearly RM680 billion while the ringgit remained steady at RM2.55 to the US dollar.

Tonight, the CPPS held an open forum on “The Financial Crisis and Implications on Malaysia” at UM. We’ll be writing a short review of what took place, but in short, everyone (both panelists and audience alike) seemed to be very pessimistic going forward. There was some criticism of the economic package recently released by Government, and views were exchanged on the role of government. This sounded repetitious of arguments made in the States, with some agreeing in economic liberalisation whilst others stated the role of unions and social democratic stances were appropriate. The irony lies in the need for liberalisation combined with good regulation (if not necessarily more regulation per se). With limited resources, Government needs to be selective in how it spends its money, in order to optimise it and not let it go to waste again. With this, transparent mechanisms are necessary to ensure that the money spent is reaching their rightful intended places.

In the meantime, KLIA receives subsidies for its operations yearly:

The 10-year-old Kuala Lumpur International Airport has come under criticism from lawmakers for relying on a government handout of RM1 billion each year to fund its operations. As a major regional aviation hub, the KLIA should be self-sustaining and be able to meet its operational costs, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, the PKR MP for Bandar Tun Razak, was quoted as saying.

Also erstwhile, the Government’s EPF is going to inject RM5billion to ValueCap, amidst lots of dissension.

“This is part of its mandate, for example, through the bonds offered by the corporate sector,” said Nor Mohamed. “Valuecap is not for raising the Bursa Malaysia index or to shore up the market,” he emphasised. He clarified that Valuecap was a long-term investment institution and would only invest in shares listed on Bursa Malaysia and not in any foreign portfolio.
“It would be used for investments in companies where the share prices are low but have strong fundamentals and potential,” he said, noting that now was a good time for Valuecap to invest.

What makes of the Malaysian economy? Fear, trials and tribulation?

Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Barack Obama is the 44th President Elect of the United States of America. It was rather difficult to contain my excitement and happiness at this outcome, although I am after all supposed to be “independent”. A week ago today (how quickly time flies), the results were flying through the air and all across the US groups of people gathered to celebrate – or sit in resigned silence – the results of the 4th November elections. Friends in Chicago were particularly fortunate to be in the largest city-party to listen to Obama’s acceptance victory speech.

It has been an overwhelming experience for those of us who were part of the I-VOTE (International Visitors Observe The Elections) Programme over the past two weeks. Travelling to four different cities & states, it was the first time I experienced firsthand real America. It is difficult to outline in full the range of experiences, emotions and observations of this valuable time, but suffice to say it was those actual conversations on the ground that counted most. And the thoughtful, vibrant reflection and discussion of these thereafter, with the group of people from all around the world.

These are some of the reflections of a Malaysian girl in big America during its election period:

1. Democracy is not a Spectator Sport. Democracy is a value held up in such tremendous esteem in America. Democracy and freedoms are used by both campaigns to craft their respective messages. All citizens seem to naturally detest a particularly strong government, preferring to make decisions from the bottoms-up. They perceive democracy is theirs to claim, and they are reminded of this over and over again. Malaysians don’t experience this to the full, perhaps because we as a nation never had to truly fight for our independence – a fairly bloodless battle to achieve Independence in 1957 – hence don’t claim democracy or freedoms for ourselves. Democracy is not a spectator sport, and everyone participates.
2. Freedom is Not Free. Similar to the previous point, it is only when people work on their own freedoms that they can be assured of it. By default, leaders and authorities should be held to a healthy skepticism by their people because – it is precisely because leaders are given certain powers that they can be (and are) abused easily. Americans know this. They exercise their rights to fight for it.
3. Dis-United States of America. America is a lot less united than I’d thought – they are a country of numerous “states”, each with their own opinion and system of doing things. There are major splits in society, and some have extreme views. It is truly a diverse country with no “one America”. Multiplicities. Liberals vs. Conservatives, and the differences are very very stark, sometimes scarily so.
4. Parallels between US and Malaysia. There are many parallels to be drawn between America and Malaysia, in terms of the extreme bigotry on one end of the spectrum and a more liberal view on the other end. The difference though, is that whilst racism still exists there, there are laws that protect minorities from being discriminated against. There are institutions present, which are strong enough to guarantee against the violations of fundamental human rights. As long as these institutions of a country do not stand up to racism or discrimination, a country is doomed (and its people therein).
5. Pedestal Thinking. America, despite many of its citizens’ criticisms of its actions in Iraq and elsewhere, still considers itself to be a country above all countries. Campaign messages (especially on the Republican front) stress on the fact that America has to constantly come from a “position of power” and higher than the rest in many respects. I do hope that Obama’s philosophy and upbringing will slowly change this. If not, then he risks having the American public run his show instead. (like the lapel pin issue, when Americans accused him of not being patriotic enough, earlier on in his campaign).

At the Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, there were lessons to be learnt from analysts present. We trooped into the hall to learn about the statistical breakdown of voters and how they voted.

• There were 198,000 poll stations all across the country.
• 20% of the polling booths didn’t have handicapped-abled facilities.
• More than 52% of the vote went to Obama.
• Gay marriage is banned in California (is this a move to the centre right? or how is this juxtaposed against Obama’s win?)
• Obama lost the white vote, by 55-43
• Whites under the age of 30 voted Obama
• Jewish Americans voted for Obama, but not the other religious white.

Alex Castellanos, Media Consultant to Republicans

Alex Castellanos, Media Consultant to the Republican Party – specifically McCain’s campaign – came to speak to us, amongst others. He said that the Republicans didn’t offer a candidate of transformation this year. America in the 1960s was a hippy era, in the 1980s the “me generation”, and then finally in this decade people want their lives to “count for something” – to live a “meaningful life”. Obama eventually had a cause and not a campaign. He successfully built a community of belivers, using certain symbols and rituals through the efficient use of technology to build his campaign.

The interesting question for me though, was whether the Republicans would be moving to the Centre or stay in its Right, on the political spectrum of ideologies. I am reading presently the “Millennium Makeover“, which is an amazing analysis of the next American generation, and how the “Millennials” born between 1982 and 2003 will revolutionise American politics and social consciousness. The YouTube, MySpace generation.