KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 7 — Former Trade Minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah yesterday warned leaders that they must hurry to mitigate the dire economic crisis with as much haste as they went through to topple the Perak government.
Writing in his now popular razaleigh.com weblog, the Gua Musang MP said Malaysia is not even at the alert level that the rest of the world was last year, noting that US President Barack Obama has chided Congress for its slowness in passing a stimulus Bill while China, Australia and even Singapore are acting decisively to cushion a recession they cannot avoid.
"One of the world's top 20 trading nations officially thinks it merely faces a routine slowdown in the midst of a collapse in world trade," Tengku Razaleigh wrote in reply to one of the comments in his weblog.
Pointing out that he, industry leaders and economic bloggers have been calling on the leadership to take note of the historic dimensions of the crisis, the Kelantan prince said the government should come clean about the recession and its plans with the already ballooning budget-deficit in face of low growth estimates.
He said economic numbers translate into jobs, livelihoods, opportunities, food on the table and poor economic management would have very real consequences in the lives of Malaysians.
"The public and the business and investment community must surely get a feeling of unreality around this administration.
"It's as if the fire alarm has been ringing, the neighbourhood, in fact the whole town, is on fire and the firemen are holed up playing games with each other. Or starting other fires," the Gua Musang MP wrote in a sarcastic tone.
Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has announced the government will table a mini-Budget in face of the economic crisis. The deputy prime minister tabled a RM7 billion stimulus package last November but officials are concerned that the money has yet to be spent.
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has proposed an additional RM28 billion stimulus package in wake of comments by finance officials who forecast the next package is worth RM10 billion. Malaysia's gross domestic product grew at a snail's pace of one per cent in 2008's fourth quarter.
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8th LAWASIA Employment Law Conference, Cambodia (24 and 25 May 2013) Organised by The Law Association for Asia and the Pacific (“LAWASIA”), this conference featuring Lia Alizia and Brian Williamson, will be held at Tara Angkor Hotel, Vithei Charles de Gaulle, Siem Reap, Cambodia, at 8:45 am to 7:00 pm and 9:00 am to 5:30 pm, on 24 and 25 May 2013 (Friday and Saturday), respectively. The conference carries 10 CPD points. Click on the link above for more details.
MSLSSL and MCLJ Conference on Employment and Labour Laws 2013 (30 May 2013) Organised by the Malaysian Society for Labour and Social Security Law and Malaysian Current Law Journal, this conference entitled “Current Issues on Employment and Labour Laws” will be held at 8:30 am to 6:00 pm, at Grand Hyatt Kuala Lumpur, on 30 May 2013 (Thursday). The conference carries six CPD points. Click on the link above for more details.
International Arbitration Conference by CIArb Malaysia (22 to 24 Aug 2013) Organised by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, this conference will be held at Eastern & Oriental Hotel, 10 Lebuh Farquhar, 10200 George Town, Penang, from 22 to 24 Aug 2013 (Thursday to Saturday). The conference carries 10 CPD points. Early-bird rate ends on 30 Apr 2013. Click on the link above for more details.
“Transforming Criminal Justice” One-week Study Programme (25 to 29 Nov 2013) Organised by Public Administration International (“PAI”), this UK-based one-week study programme entitled “Transforming Criminal Justice: from Joined-up Justice to Multi-agency Approaches” will be held in London from 25 to 29 Nov 2013 (Monday to Friday). For further enquiries, please contact PAI by telephone at +44 (0)20 7580 3590, by fax at +44 (0)20 7580 4746, or by email at pai@public-admin.co.uk.
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Circular No 115/2013: Seminar on Enforcement of Judgment (4 June 2013)
