Former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had asked the Minister of Finance for the status of the much delayed financial statements for 1MDB.
In a parliamentary reply dated 16 November, the Minister of Finance responded that “on July 8, 2015, the police seized various original documents from 1MDB’s office. 1MDB’s management has contacted the police regarding the return of the company’s documents, but till today, the original documents haven’t been returned to the company”.
Therefore, since the last financial statement prepared by Deloitte Malaysia for the period ending March 2014, there has been no official audits conducted for the scandal-ridden company. Worse, last year, Deloitte Malaysia has withdrawn its endorsement for the March 2013 and March 2014 financial statements.
This means that 1MDB has since March 2012, or more than 5 years ago, 1MDB has not filed any financial statements which have been endorsed by an external auditor.
This unprecedented delay was despite repeated deadline extensions granted to 1MDB by the Companies Commission of Malaysian (SSM) to file its annual reports. And now the Minister of Finance tells us that it has completely given up and said that it cannot even provide a deadline.
If the Minister of Finance is indeed serious about 1MDB completing its audit process, why hasn’t he, who is also the Prime Minister ‘discuss’ this matter with the Royal Malaysian Police to work out an arrangement for the audit to be carried out?
Surely it cannot be too hard for investigators to allow the auditors to, at the very least, sight the documents needed? Moreover, the police have said that their investigation in 1MDB is now concluded and that they have returned their investigation papers to the Attorney-General’s Chambers. So why exactly are investigators still holding to these documents if it is necessary for the proper auditing of the company?
We are not asking for the Police to return, relinquish or destroy possible evidence in its hands. We are merely asking for the Police to allow the statutory audit of 1MDB to be carried out. The audit is of great urgency and importance as it will confirm if the allegations of billions of ringgit being misappropriated to fictitious investment accounts in various overseas institutions from Singapore to the British Virgin Islands and a little-known island-state of Curacao in South America.
It should be noted that even when the Auditor-General and the Public Accounts Committee was investigating 1MDB prior to 2016, 1MDB refused to even supply its management accounts, despite being requested to do so.
The Finance Minister’s complete lackadaisical attitude towards the audit of a state-owned company with nearly RM40 billion in debts shows that it is a cover up to prevent the truth from being discovered.
The fact that 1MDB cannot produce any audited financial statements since March 2012 further rubbishes Dato’ Seri Najib Razak’s pre-budget defence and praise of 1MDB, and the audacious claim that 1MDB will soon “return to profitability”. It can’t even produce its accounts, what profit is the Prime Minister talking about?
Showing posts with label Muhyiddin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Muhyiddin. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
1MDB Whimper
Media Statement by Tony Pua, DAP National Publicity Secretary and Member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, 12 May 2015:
After all the fire and brimstone by top UMNO leaders about the 1MDB bailout over the last few days, the UMNO Supreme Council Meeting ended with a whimper, pledging complete support to the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak
This is the proverbial story of the wolf or in this case, wolves who huffed and puffed with great pomp and vigour, but just couldn’t blow the house of Najib down.
Top UMNO leaders lined up to speak up against the 1MDB imbroglio which touched a raw nerve when it sold a piece of land to Lembaga Tabung Haji at RM2,773 per square feet (psf) which 1MDB bought from the Government for less than RM64psf 4 years ago.
Just a day ago, the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin sternly warned “Umno’s image cannot be smeared just because of 1MDB. It affects the trust i.e. the core belief that the people have in the party.”
UMNO Youth Chief, Khairy Jamaluddin even demanded that the Ministry of Finance cancels the land transaction between 1MDB and Tabung Haji to “avoid negative perception”.
UMNO Vice-President, Datuk Shafie Apbal warned that if the 1MDB crisis isn’t handled well, the credibility of the Government will continue to be questioned.
Even fellow UMNO Vice-President and cousin to the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Hishamuddin Hussein broke his silence to demand that an international auditor be appointed to audit 1MDB.
But in the UMNO Supreme Council meeting held last evening, everything ended up business as usual. The much-anticipated fireworks ended with a pathetic whimper.
UMNO President, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak disclosed that “the Supreme Council expressed renewed support for the president and the deputy president. The Supreme Council wants the president, deputy president, the council and all Umno leaders to unite as a team to face all the challenges and take positive action to strengthen Umno and Barisan Nasional’s position among the people”.
The support from the all-powerful UMNO Supreme Council comes after the Prime Minister publicly proclaimed that he will not bow to pressure to resign two days ago.
Hence it cannot be clearer that UMNO is like a leopard which can never change its spots. No matter how serious the degree of abuse of power, incompetence, gross mismanagement and corruption involved in the party, they will continue to support their supreme leader who wields near absolute powers.
Despite the massive public uproar over the bailout of 1MDB via the sale of land purchased at bargain basement prices from the Government to other government-linked financial institutions at astronomical prices, it remains business as usual for UMNO. Over the past week, both Tabung Haji and the Pension Fund (KWAP) have been exposed as having purchased land from 1MDB at very high prices, providing the latter with the necessary life-support to service its interest payments.
Tonnes of evidence have surfaced which pointed to Jho Low embezzling billions of ringgit of 1MDB’s borrow monies into his own company’s accounts. Despite that, Dato’ Seri Najib continued to insist that Jho Low wasn’t involved and the UMNO Supreme Council happily falls in line.
The above only goes to show that UMNO leaders are nothing more than a bunch of power-hungry hypocrites. At the end of the day, despite all the foaming at the mouth to express their disgust and anger against the billions lost by the taxpayers, it is more important to toe the line of the all-powerful party President.
The Rakyat should not have any expectation that UMNO is able to change its DNA. The only expectation they should have is, as long as UMNO is in power, grand corruption, abuse of power and sheer incompetence will not only be tolerated, they will only become more blatant and brazen, as they did since the days of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammed.
Tony Pua
After all the fire and brimstone by top UMNO leaders about the 1MDB bailout over the last few days, the UMNO Supreme Council Meeting ended with a whimper, pledging complete support to the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak
This is the proverbial story of the wolf or in this case, wolves who huffed and puffed with great pomp and vigour, but just couldn’t blow the house of Najib down.
Top UMNO leaders lined up to speak up against the 1MDB imbroglio which touched a raw nerve when it sold a piece of land to Lembaga Tabung Haji at RM2,773 per square feet (psf) which 1MDB bought from the Government for less than RM64psf 4 years ago.
Just a day ago, the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin sternly warned “Umno’s image cannot be smeared just because of 1MDB. It affects the trust i.e. the core belief that the people have in the party.”
UMNO Youth Chief, Khairy Jamaluddin even demanded that the Ministry of Finance cancels the land transaction between 1MDB and Tabung Haji to “avoid negative perception”.
UMNO Vice-President, Datuk Shafie Apbal warned that if the 1MDB crisis isn’t handled well, the credibility of the Government will continue to be questioned.
Even fellow UMNO Vice-President and cousin to the Prime Minister, Dato’ Seri Hishamuddin Hussein broke his silence to demand that an international auditor be appointed to audit 1MDB.
But in the UMNO Supreme Council meeting held last evening, everything ended up business as usual. The much-anticipated fireworks ended with a pathetic whimper.
UMNO President, Dato’ Seri Najib Razak disclosed that “the Supreme Council expressed renewed support for the president and the deputy president. The Supreme Council wants the president, deputy president, the council and all Umno leaders to unite as a team to face all the challenges and take positive action to strengthen Umno and Barisan Nasional’s position among the people”.
The support from the all-powerful UMNO Supreme Council comes after the Prime Minister publicly proclaimed that he will not bow to pressure to resign two days ago.
Hence it cannot be clearer that UMNO is like a leopard which can never change its spots. No matter how serious the degree of abuse of power, incompetence, gross mismanagement and corruption involved in the party, they will continue to support their supreme leader who wields near absolute powers.
Despite the massive public uproar over the bailout of 1MDB via the sale of land purchased at bargain basement prices from the Government to other government-linked financial institutions at astronomical prices, it remains business as usual for UMNO. Over the past week, both Tabung Haji and the Pension Fund (KWAP) have been exposed as having purchased land from 1MDB at very high prices, providing the latter with the necessary life-support to service its interest payments.
Tonnes of evidence have surfaced which pointed to Jho Low embezzling billions of ringgit of 1MDB’s borrow monies into his own company’s accounts. Despite that, Dato’ Seri Najib continued to insist that Jho Low wasn’t involved and the UMNO Supreme Council happily falls in line.
The above only goes to show that UMNO leaders are nothing more than a bunch of power-hungry hypocrites. At the end of the day, despite all the foaming at the mouth to express their disgust and anger against the billions lost by the taxpayers, it is more important to toe the line of the all-powerful party President.
The Rakyat should not have any expectation that UMNO is able to change its DNA. The only expectation they should have is, as long as UMNO is in power, grand corruption, abuse of power and sheer incompetence will not only be tolerated, they will only become more blatant and brazen, as they did since the days of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammed.
Tony Pua
Saturday, March 07, 2015
Supporting Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's Statement On 1MDB
Full support for Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s statement on 1MDB.
The statement issued by Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on Friday evening on the simmering 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) crisis was the most sensible and responsible ever issued by any Cabinet Minister on the controversial issue.
The statement issued by Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on Friday evening on the simmering 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) crisis was the most sensible and responsible ever issued by any Cabinet Minister on the controversial issue.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Muhyiddin and Dodgy Education Surveys
On 30 March 2012, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin pronounced Malaysia as having better quality of education than United States (US), Britain and Germany. He based his statement on one partial study in the World Competitiveness Report by World Economic Forum (WEF) on quality of education. In that specific study, Malaysia was ranked 14th as opposed to Germany (17th), Britain (20th) and United States (26th).
However the above "rankings" were arrived by surveying 87 local businessmen with the question: "How well does the educational system in your country meet the needs of a competitive economy?" by rating it between a scale of 1 to 7.
This particular survey question was never intended by the WEF, nor is it in any way adequate to provide conclusive ratings on the quality of the Malaysian education system. However, the Education Minister, who is also our Deputy Prime Minister clutched at the straw to declare proudly that we have indeed performed better than Germany, Britain and the United States.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin has repeated the stunt 3 days ago when he cited a recent survey by Introspek Asia, which revealed yesterday that 55 per cent of Malaysian adults believe that our education system is comparable to other countries, while 35 per cent said it is “better than that of developed countries”.
Once again, when we peel through the “surface” conclusions of the survey, it became crystal clear that the survey is again fundamentally deficient in measuring the quality of our education.
After studying the survey in detail, which can be downloaded at http://www.introspekasia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Introspek_Education_Survey_Summaryv1.3.pdf, we can arrive at the conclusion that the results are pretty much meaningless because of the sample used for the survey.
The survey had 1,800 respondents, of which only 4.8% had qualifications of a university degree or more. On the other hand, 85.3% of these respondents had either SPM qualifications or less. Without prejudice to those who were unable to secure tertiary education due to circumstances beyond their control, this is perhaps the most inappropriate sample structure to ask about our Malaysian education system, if the intent was to have a measure of its quality.
Perhaps what is worse is, less than 5% of the sample has had no experience or even in-depth knowledge of education systems in developed countries. Hence the outcome of the survey as to whether “Malaysian adults agree that our education standard are comparable, better or much better than developed countries” is at best a trivia to analyse how Malaysians are shut off from the real world out there.
Ironically, the income status of the respondents – with 73.2% earning less than RM3,000 per month in itself proved the inadequacy of our education system to enable them to earn a higher income.
In essence, Tan Sri Muhyiddin is relying on the opinions of those who didn’t get very far with their education to measure the standard of Malaysian education against those of developed countries. And the Education Minister used the result to boast about the achievements of his Ministry.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin has chosen to ignore the latest Performance for International Students Assessments (PISA) study conducted in 2010 showed that we are ranked in the bottom third in the world, as well as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) data over 1999, 2003 and 2007 which proved that the standards in education has been declining drastically over the past decade.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin’s complete lack of ability to understand simple surveys, the context of their conclusions and implications proves how unfit he is to become our Education Minister. By choosing to ignore reality or failing to grasp the significance of survey results, we fear that our education system will be led into a cycle of perpetual decline that will cause irreparable damage to the future quality, productivity and earnings ability of our Malaysian students.
However the above "rankings" were arrived by surveying 87 local businessmen with the question: "How well does the educational system in your country meet the needs of a competitive economy?" by rating it between a scale of 1 to 7.
This particular survey question was never intended by the WEF, nor is it in any way adequate to provide conclusive ratings on the quality of the Malaysian education system. However, the Education Minister, who is also our Deputy Prime Minister clutched at the straw to declare proudly that we have indeed performed better than Germany, Britain and the United States.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin has repeated the stunt 3 days ago when he cited a recent survey by Introspek Asia, which revealed yesterday that 55 per cent of Malaysian adults believe that our education system is comparable to other countries, while 35 per cent said it is “better than that of developed countries”.
Once again, when we peel through the “surface” conclusions of the survey, it became crystal clear that the survey is again fundamentally deficient in measuring the quality of our education.
After studying the survey in detail, which can be downloaded at http://www.introspekasia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Introspek_Education_Survey_Summaryv1.3.pdf, we can arrive at the conclusion that the results are pretty much meaningless because of the sample used for the survey.
The survey had 1,800 respondents, of which only 4.8% had qualifications of a university degree or more. On the other hand, 85.3% of these respondents had either SPM qualifications or less. Without prejudice to those who were unable to secure tertiary education due to circumstances beyond their control, this is perhaps the most inappropriate sample structure to ask about our Malaysian education system, if the intent was to have a measure of its quality.
Perhaps what is worse is, less than 5% of the sample has had no experience or even in-depth knowledge of education systems in developed countries. Hence the outcome of the survey as to whether “Malaysian adults agree that our education standard are comparable, better or much better than developed countries” is at best a trivia to analyse how Malaysians are shut off from the real world out there.
Ironically, the income status of the respondents – with 73.2% earning less than RM3,000 per month in itself proved the inadequacy of our education system to enable them to earn a higher income.
In essence, Tan Sri Muhyiddin is relying on the opinions of those who didn’t get very far with their education to measure the standard of Malaysian education against those of developed countries. And the Education Minister used the result to boast about the achievements of his Ministry.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin has chosen to ignore the latest Performance for International Students Assessments (PISA) study conducted in 2010 showed that we are ranked in the bottom third in the world, as well as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) data over 1999, 2003 and 2007 which proved that the standards in education has been declining drastically over the past decade.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin’s complete lack of ability to understand simple surveys, the context of their conclusions and implications proves how unfit he is to become our Education Minister. By choosing to ignore reality or failing to grasp the significance of survey results, we fear that our education system will be led into a cycle of perpetual decline that will cause irreparable damage to the future quality, productivity and earnings ability of our Malaysian students.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Muhyiddin Most Blinkered to Think Malaysian Education as "Highly Regarded"
After being ridiculed two weeks ago for claiming that Malaysia has a better education system than Britain, the United States and Germany, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has continued to give lavish praise on the Malaysian education system.
The Education Minister cited a recent survey by Introspek Asia, which revealed yesterday that 55 per cent of Malaysian adults believe that our education system is comparable to other countries, while 35 per cent said it is “better than that of developed countries”.
“This finding is interesting as it reflects a positive attitude among a majority of Malaysians toward our education system,” he said today in his keynote address at the Asian Strategy and Learning Institute’s (ASLI) 16th Malaysian Education Summit here.
This is despite the fact that PEMANDU has accepted the fact that our education system clearly lags behind most other countries. Tengku Nurul Azian, the Education National Key Result Area (NKRA) Director has highlighted that based on the Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) 2009+ study, Malaysian students were ranked in the bottom 30% when tested against students of 74 countries around the world on BFM89.9 yesterday evening.
In terms of reading literacy, we were ranked a poor 55th. In Mathematics literacy, it was 57th and faring only marginally better in Science at 52nd.
The Deputy Prime Minister has intentionally chosen to ignore the above study, but also another more comprehensive study which proved that the standard of education outcome has continuously declined over the past decade.
In probably the world’s most comprehensive study on student performance (13-14 years old) and related factors for Mathematics and Science – Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS), the results in 1999, 2003 and 2007 showed a drastic decline in scores and rankings.
Between 2003 and 2007, Malaysia’s score for Mathematics declined from 508 to 474 points. The 34 point drop was the highest suffered by the 60 countries studied. By comparing 2007 with 1999, our drop in score of 45 points was also the 2nd highest in the study.
Similarly for Science, Malaysia’s score dropped the highest by 40 points from 510 to 471 from 2003 to 2007. From 1999 to 2007, we suffered a drop of 22 points, which was the second highest of all countries studied.
While the latest PISA study conducted in 2010 showed that we are ranked lowly in the world, the TIMMS data over 1999, 2003 and 2007 proved that the standards in education has been declining consistently and drastically over the past decade. The next TIMSS report for 2011 is expected to be published later this year and we can only hope against hope that there will no longer be any bad news.
Instead of sounding the alarm bells and take urgent actions to arrest the decline in our education standards, Tan Sri Muhyiddin has chosen to lavish praise on our outstanding education system as an example of the Barisan Nasional government’s impeccable leadership. This clearly demonstrate that our Education Minister is completely blinkered and chooses only to believe and rely on highly questionable survey reports. If he continues to remain blinkered as he has over the past two weeks, then perhaps it is better that the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will find a better replacement Minister.
We call upon Tan Sri Muhyiddin to provide his views on the above internationally accredited studies on our quality of education and to publish all recommendations by PEMANDU to his Ministry to ensure all recommended measures have been or are being implemented.
The Education Minister cited a recent survey by Introspek Asia, which revealed yesterday that 55 per cent of Malaysian adults believe that our education system is comparable to other countries, while 35 per cent said it is “better than that of developed countries”.
“This finding is interesting as it reflects a positive attitude among a majority of Malaysians toward our education system,” he said today in his keynote address at the Asian Strategy and Learning Institute’s (ASLI) 16th Malaysian Education Summit here.
This is despite the fact that PEMANDU has accepted the fact that our education system clearly lags behind most other countries. Tengku Nurul Azian, the Education National Key Result Area (NKRA) Director has highlighted that based on the Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) 2009+ study, Malaysian students were ranked in the bottom 30% when tested against students of 74 countries around the world on BFM89.9 yesterday evening.
In terms of reading literacy, we were ranked a poor 55th. In Mathematics literacy, it was 57th and faring only marginally better in Science at 52nd.
The Deputy Prime Minister has intentionally chosen to ignore the above study, but also another more comprehensive study which proved that the standard of education outcome has continuously declined over the past decade.
In probably the world’s most comprehensive study on student performance (13-14 years old) and related factors for Mathematics and Science – Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS), the results in 1999, 2003 and 2007 showed a drastic decline in scores and rankings.
Between 2003 and 2007, Malaysia’s score for Mathematics declined from 508 to 474 points. The 34 point drop was the highest suffered by the 60 countries studied. By comparing 2007 with 1999, our drop in score of 45 points was also the 2nd highest in the study.
Similarly for Science, Malaysia’s score dropped the highest by 40 points from 510 to 471 from 2003 to 2007. From 1999 to 2007, we suffered a drop of 22 points, which was the second highest of all countries studied.
While the latest PISA study conducted in 2010 showed that we are ranked lowly in the world, the TIMMS data over 1999, 2003 and 2007 proved that the standards in education has been declining consistently and drastically over the past decade. The next TIMSS report for 2011 is expected to be published later this year and we can only hope against hope that there will no longer be any bad news.
Instead of sounding the alarm bells and take urgent actions to arrest the decline in our education standards, Tan Sri Muhyiddin has chosen to lavish praise on our outstanding education system as an example of the Barisan Nasional government’s impeccable leadership. This clearly demonstrate that our Education Minister is completely blinkered and chooses only to believe and rely on highly questionable survey reports. If he continues to remain blinkered as he has over the past two weeks, then perhaps it is better that the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will find a better replacement Minister.
We call upon Tan Sri Muhyiddin to provide his views on the above internationally accredited studies on our quality of education and to publish all recommendations by PEMANDU to his Ministry to ensure all recommended measures have been or are being implemented.
Tuesday, April 03, 2012
Muhyiddin Says Our Education Outperforms US, UK & Germany!
It completely defies belief that our Minister of Education of pronounce Malaysia as having better quality of education than United States (US), Britain and Germany.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also our Deputy Prime Minister, based his statement on one partial study in the World Competitiveness Report by World Economic Forum (WEF) on quality of education. In that specific study, Malaysia was ranked 14th as opposed to Germany (17th), Britain (20th) and United States (26th).
However as an Education Minister, he must surely have found out how the above "rankings" were arrived at. In essence the survey asked 87 local businessmen "How well does the educational system in your country meet the needs of a competitive economy?" by rating it between a scale of 1 to 7.
Two agencies were entrusted to do the survey by WEF - government-linked Institute Strategic & International Studies (ISIS) and government-owned Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC).
Surely such a tiny survey with such "surprising" outcomes must be benchmarked against other credible international studies before it is accepted at face value. And surely, as the Education Minister, he would have seen many objective studies on the quality of our education and students.
In the latest Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) 2009+ released late last year showed Malaysian 15 year olds being far behind the rest of the developed world. The PISA study reviewed the literacy, mathematics and scientific understanding of 522,000 students across 74 countries, with nearly 4,999 students coming from Malaysia.
Malaysian students were ranked well below the Organisation of Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) average, and specifically against the US, UK and Germany in all 3 tested areas.
In terms of reading literacy, we were ranked a poor 55th out of 74 countries. In Mathematics literacy, it was 57th and faring only marginally better in Science at 52nd.
The conclusion of the report on Malaysia was even more damaging when it was reported that “56% of students are estimated to have a proficiency in reading literacy that is at or above the baseline level needed to participate effectively and productively in life.”
For Mathematics, only “41% of students are proficient in mathematics at least to the baseline level at which they begin to demonstrate the kind of skills that enable them to use mathematics in ways considered fundamental for their future development.” And for Science, “57% of students are proficient in science at least to the baseline level at which they begin to demonstrate the science competencies that will enable them to participate actively in life situations related to science and technology.”
Why did Muhyiddin not cite the PISA 2009+ study which he is fully aware of which is objective in its study across countries by using standardised tests? PISA 2009+ was also conducted with the cooperation of the Ministry of Education. Instead Muhyiddin decided to endorse and boast of a survey of 87 local businessman on a single subjective question.
The Deputy Prime Minister appears to be suffering from the “jaguh kampung” syndrome where we only measure ourselves based on criteria which will make ourselves look good but fail to be objective in evaluating our performance and achievements which have been lacking and declining in the recent decades.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also our Deputy Prime Minister, based his statement on one partial study in the World Competitiveness Report by World Economic Forum (WEF) on quality of education. In that specific study, Malaysia was ranked 14th as opposed to Germany (17th), Britain (20th) and United States (26th).
However as an Education Minister, he must surely have found out how the above "rankings" were arrived at. In essence the survey asked 87 local businessmen "How well does the educational system in your country meet the needs of a competitive economy?" by rating it between a scale of 1 to 7.
Two agencies were entrusted to do the survey by WEF - government-linked Institute Strategic & International Studies (ISIS) and government-owned Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC).
Surely such a tiny survey with such "surprising" outcomes must be benchmarked against other credible international studies before it is accepted at face value. And surely, as the Education Minister, he would have seen many objective studies on the quality of our education and students.
In the latest Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) 2009+ released late last year showed Malaysian 15 year olds being far behind the rest of the developed world. The PISA study reviewed the literacy, mathematics and scientific understanding of 522,000 students across 74 countries, with nearly 4,999 students coming from Malaysia.
Malaysian students were ranked well below the Organisation of Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) average, and specifically against the US, UK and Germany in all 3 tested areas.
In terms of reading literacy, we were ranked a poor 55th out of 74 countries. In Mathematics literacy, it was 57th and faring only marginally better in Science at 52nd.
The conclusion of the report on Malaysia was even more damaging when it was reported that “56% of students are estimated to have a proficiency in reading literacy that is at or above the baseline level needed to participate effectively and productively in life.”
For Mathematics, only “41% of students are proficient in mathematics at least to the baseline level at which they begin to demonstrate the kind of skills that enable them to use mathematics in ways considered fundamental for their future development.” And for Science, “57% of students are proficient in science at least to the baseline level at which they begin to demonstrate the science competencies that will enable them to participate actively in life situations related to science and technology.”
Why did Muhyiddin not cite the PISA 2009+ study which he is fully aware of which is objective in its study across countries by using standardised tests? PISA 2009+ was also conducted with the cooperation of the Ministry of Education. Instead Muhyiddin decided to endorse and boast of a survey of 87 local businessman on a single subjective question.
The Deputy Prime Minister appears to be suffering from the “jaguh kampung” syndrome where we only measure ourselves based on criteria which will make ourselves look good but fail to be objective in evaluating our performance and achievements which have been lacking and declining in the recent decades.
Monday, August 23, 2010
More Racist Investigation Committees Required?
Tan Sri Muhyiddin has set a ridiculous precedent of setting up a high-level taskforce to investigate allegations of racist remarks by a school principal and he will now have no choice but to set up a committee to investigate every such remarks.
The Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has belatedly announced the set up of a taskforce specifically to investigate the allegations regarding highly racist remarks made by the principal of SMK SMK Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Siti Inshah Mansor, after remaining silent for 1 whole week since the incident.
The setting up of the investigation taskforce is clearly an afterthought by the Minister after the attempt by the ministry's Director-General Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom to waive away the issue by claiming that the issue has been “resolved” as it was due to a “misunderstanding” backfired when the public voiced their outrage at the cover up by the Ministry of Education.
Unfortunately, the public does not have any confidence at all that the taskforce will be able to produce a satisfactory outcome as the Minister himself has set the tone for the taskforce.
1.Despite this being a simple issue of determining if such words were spoken, especially with tens of witnesses as reflected by the police reports filed against Siti Inshah, Tan Sri Muhyiddin chose to “complicate” matters by emphasising on a “full and thorough investigation which my cross several agencies”. While it is certainly fair for the principal to receive a “full and thorough investigation”, the emphasis by the Minister that it'll involve several agencies is a clear attempt to unnecessarily prolong the investigation despite the obvious fact that Siti Inshah has apologised to the students for the offence.
2.Unlike his Deputy Minister, Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong, who had at the very least tweeted publicly that it was “not appropriate for principal to pass those remarks, shd be sensitive living in a multiracial society”, Tan Sri Muhyiddin has still refused to condemn such remarks, if truly uttered.
The question is, why is he, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, so reluctant to condemn such remarks and warn others in the Education Ministry from ever doing the same or face the harshest of consequences? His action, or in this case, inaction, has further damaged the “1Malaysia” concept proposed by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak to promote national unity.
3.What is perhaps most telling in Tan Sri Muhyiddin's setting up of this investigation taskforce is fact that there was no deadline set for the taskforce to present its findings and recommendations when a week would have been more than sufficient time to investigate and determine the outcome.
The above shows that the Deputy Prime Minister is not serious about getting to the bottom of this issue quickly and in such a way to demonstrate that the Ministry of Education will not tolerate any such serious offences by anyone under its payroll. The setting up of the taskforce is just meant to temporarily placate the furious parents and upset Malaysians while the Ministry buys time for itself to “resolve” the issue the second time.
However, the precedent of setting up such a taskforce of teachers or headmasters uttering racist remarks may just create a tidal wave of such taskforce for now there is a new case of a principal and teacher committing the same offence in a school in Sg Petani, Kedah. Will the Education Minister announce another taskforce to investigate these claims? Will more taskforces be set up as more such offences gets reported?
We call upon the Tan Sri Muhyiddin to stop pussyfooting over the issue and demonstrate his commitment to “1Malaysia” by condemning outright such remarks and giving a warning to all teachers and principals that those found guilty of doing so will be punished most severely including being sacked from the profession. If Tan Sri Muhyiddin still refuses to take quick action on the above, then it is imperative for the Prime Minister himself to take all necessary steps to hold together his fragile “1Malaysia” brainchild, if the concept still means anything to him.
The Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has belatedly announced the set up of a taskforce specifically to investigate the allegations regarding highly racist remarks made by the principal of SMK SMK Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Siti Inshah Mansor, after remaining silent for 1 whole week since the incident.
The setting up of the investigation taskforce is clearly an afterthought by the Minister after the attempt by the ministry's Director-General Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom to waive away the issue by claiming that the issue has been “resolved” as it was due to a “misunderstanding” backfired when the public voiced their outrage at the cover up by the Ministry of Education.
Unfortunately, the public does not have any confidence at all that the taskforce will be able to produce a satisfactory outcome as the Minister himself has set the tone for the taskforce.
1.Despite this being a simple issue of determining if such words were spoken, especially with tens of witnesses as reflected by the police reports filed against Siti Inshah, Tan Sri Muhyiddin chose to “complicate” matters by emphasising on a “full and thorough investigation which my cross several agencies”. While it is certainly fair for the principal to receive a “full and thorough investigation”, the emphasis by the Minister that it'll involve several agencies is a clear attempt to unnecessarily prolong the investigation despite the obvious fact that Siti Inshah has apologised to the students for the offence.
2.Unlike his Deputy Minister, Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong, who had at the very least tweeted publicly that it was “not appropriate for principal to pass those remarks, shd be sensitive living in a multiracial society”, Tan Sri Muhyiddin has still refused to condemn such remarks, if truly uttered.
The question is, why is he, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister, so reluctant to condemn such remarks and warn others in the Education Ministry from ever doing the same or face the harshest of consequences? His action, or in this case, inaction, has further damaged the “1Malaysia” concept proposed by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak to promote national unity.
3.What is perhaps most telling in Tan Sri Muhyiddin's setting up of this investigation taskforce is fact that there was no deadline set for the taskforce to present its findings and recommendations when a week would have been more than sufficient time to investigate and determine the outcome.
The above shows that the Deputy Prime Minister is not serious about getting to the bottom of this issue quickly and in such a way to demonstrate that the Ministry of Education will not tolerate any such serious offences by anyone under its payroll. The setting up of the taskforce is just meant to temporarily placate the furious parents and upset Malaysians while the Ministry buys time for itself to “resolve” the issue the second time.
However, the precedent of setting up such a taskforce of teachers or headmasters uttering racist remarks may just create a tidal wave of such taskforce for now there is a new case of a principal and teacher committing the same offence in a school in Sg Petani, Kedah. Will the Education Minister announce another taskforce to investigate these claims? Will more taskforces be set up as more such offences gets reported?
We call upon the Tan Sri Muhyiddin to stop pussyfooting over the issue and demonstrate his commitment to “1Malaysia” by condemning outright such remarks and giving a warning to all teachers and principals that those found guilty of doing so will be punished most severely including being sacked from the profession. If Tan Sri Muhyiddin still refuses to take quick action on the above, then it is imperative for the Prime Minister himself to take all necessary steps to hold together his fragile “1Malaysia” brainchild, if the concept still means anything to him.
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Muhyiddin Needs His Head Inspected
I wrote on my Facebook update on Monday that 'Muhyiddin needs his head inspected. He said domestic and violent spousal abuse allegations by Manohara "is more of a personal matter" and the government would not investigate the claims.'
It attracted a response of 30 over comments, but what caught my eye was one by a pro-UMNO blogger, Azeeza Abdullah who asked "do you personally think so.. I dare u proceed with press statement on this... would u?"
Well, I thought about it for 2 seconds and said "yeah, that's not a bad idea!". So I issued the press statement and it's up on Malaysiakini and TheNutGraph (who did a cute image of our Deputy Prime Minister).
The Indonesian and international press have been extensively covering the story of the teenaged US-Indonesian model, Manohara Odelia Pinot, who has returned to her family in Indonesia with tales of abuse, rape and torture at the hands of a Malaysian prince, following her dramatic escape with the help of the Singapore police.
Manohara has claimed that she was subjected to a "daily routine" of rape, abuse, torture and occasional drug injections that made her vomit blood. She has even alleged that some parts of her body were cut by a razor.
Her mother, Daisy Fajarina, also blamed the Malaysian and Indonesian governments for trying to cover up the alleged abuse. Daisy has also alleged that the Malaysian government ignored her pleas for access to her daughter and blocked her from entering the country.
All of the above are extremely serious allegations, regardless of whether they were made by a local or a foreigner. However, we are even more shocked by the remarks given by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin when AFP reported him as saying that the Malaysian government would not investigate the allegations.
"I think this is more of a personal matter. To date we have not been dragged into it, so we want to leave it as it is," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
(Here's a translated Indonesian version from Detik:
Deputi Perdana Menteri Malaysia Muhyiddin Yassin mengatakan, pemerintah tidak akan menyelidiki klaim Manohara tersebut. Demikian seperti dilansir kantor berita AFP, Senin (1/6/2009).
"Saya pikir ini lebih merupakan masalah pribadi. Sampai saat ini kami belum terbawa ke dalamnya, jadi kami ingin membiarkannya seperti itu," katanya kepada wartawan di Kuala Lumpur.)
The Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Senator Datuk Shahrizat Abdul Jalil or her deputy, Senator Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, must immediately reprimand the deputy prime minister for such an irresponsible and callous statement on the issue of domestic violence.
While the truth of the matter has yet to be ascertained, the allegations of serious domestic violence must be investigated or Malaysia will be regarded as an international pariah for treating domestic violence as "a personal matter".
Shahrizat must inform Muhyiddin that domestic violence is a criminal offence under the Domestic Violence Act 521 (1994). Domestic violence includes causing physical injury to the victim by such an act that is known, or ought to have been known, would result in physical injury.
In addition, compelling the survivor by force or threat to engage in any conduct or act, sexual or otherwise, from which the survivor has a right to abstain is also criminal under Malaysian laws. Those found guilty of domestic violence are to be sentenced in accordance with our Penal Code.
To redeem our international reputation, Muhyiddin must immediately apologise and withdraw the remarks he has made. He must instead ensure that a thorough and independent investigation into the allegations is conducted to ensure that Malaysia's international image does not suffer from this ugly episode.
While no police reports have yet been made on the matter, that is not an impediment for the Malaysian police to commence investigations as the allegations have appeared around the world. The police could also file their own police reports on the matter, as they have done in many recent police investigations.
In addition, Shahrizat must take this critical opportunity to educate Barisan Nasional ministers on issues of domestic violence and crime against women to ensure that such contemptible statements tarnishing Malaysia's reputation are never ever issued again, especially by the country's top leaders.
It attracted a response of 30 over comments, but what caught my eye was one by a pro-UMNO blogger, Azeeza Abdullah who asked "do you personally think so.. I dare u proceed with press statement on this... would u?"
Well, I thought about it for 2 seconds and said "yeah, that's not a bad idea!". So I issued the press statement and it's up on Malaysiakini and TheNutGraph (who did a cute image of our Deputy Prime Minister).
The Indonesian and international press have been extensively covering the story of the teenaged US-Indonesian model, Manohara Odelia Pinot, who has returned to her family in Indonesia with tales of abuse, rape and torture at the hands of a Malaysian prince, following her dramatic escape with the help of the Singapore police.
Manohara has claimed that she was subjected to a "daily routine" of rape, abuse, torture and occasional drug injections that made her vomit blood. She has even alleged that some parts of her body were cut by a razor.
Her mother, Daisy Fajarina, also blamed the Malaysian and Indonesian governments for trying to cover up the alleged abuse. Daisy has also alleged that the Malaysian government ignored her pleas for access to her daughter and blocked her from entering the country.
All of the above are extremely serious allegations, regardless of whether they were made by a local or a foreigner. However, we are even more shocked by the remarks given by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin when AFP reported him as saying that the Malaysian government would not investigate the allegations.
"I think this is more of a personal matter. To date we have not been dragged into it, so we want to leave it as it is," he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
(Here's a translated Indonesian version from Detik:
Deputi Perdana Menteri Malaysia Muhyiddin Yassin mengatakan, pemerintah tidak akan menyelidiki klaim Manohara tersebut. Demikian seperti dilansir kantor berita AFP, Senin (1/6/2009).
"Saya pikir ini lebih merupakan masalah pribadi. Sampai saat ini kami belum terbawa ke dalamnya, jadi kami ingin membiarkannya seperti itu," katanya kepada wartawan di Kuala Lumpur.)
The Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Senator Datuk Shahrizat Abdul Jalil or her deputy, Senator Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, must immediately reprimand the deputy prime minister for such an irresponsible and callous statement on the issue of domestic violence.
While the truth of the matter has yet to be ascertained, the allegations of serious domestic violence must be investigated or Malaysia will be regarded as an international pariah for treating domestic violence as "a personal matter".
Shahrizat must inform Muhyiddin that domestic violence is a criminal offence under the Domestic Violence Act 521 (1994). Domestic violence includes causing physical injury to the victim by such an act that is known, or ought to have been known, would result in physical injury.
In addition, compelling the survivor by force or threat to engage in any conduct or act, sexual or otherwise, from which the survivor has a right to abstain is also criminal under Malaysian laws. Those found guilty of domestic violence are to be sentenced in accordance with our Penal Code.
To redeem our international reputation, Muhyiddin must immediately apologise and withdraw the remarks he has made. He must instead ensure that a thorough and independent investigation into the allegations is conducted to ensure that Malaysia's international image does not suffer from this ugly episode.
While no police reports have yet been made on the matter, that is not an impediment for the Malaysian police to commence investigations as the allegations have appeared around the world. The police could also file their own police reports on the matter, as they have done in many recent police investigations.
In addition, Shahrizat must take this critical opportunity to educate Barisan Nasional ministers on issues of domestic violence and crime against women to ensure that such contemptible statements tarnishing Malaysia's reputation are never ever issued again, especially by the country's top leaders.
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