ASEAN Regional News - Compiled Threads [Archive] - Page 29

RonnieR

September 25th, 2011, 04:07 AM

Thaksin is helping Cambodia. It's good for both countries. Cambodia is growing now.

Fugitive Thai leader a virtual voice in sister's government
Lindsay Murdoch
September 24, 2011

FUGITIVE former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra spent two hours lecturing Thailand's cabinet ministers during a Skype call from Cambodia in his most defiant act since his younger sister Yingluck was swept into power at elections in July.

Mr Thaksin's critics seized on the call to accuse him of being the power behind Ms Yingluck, a 44-year-old political novice.

The telecommunications billionaire, a divisive figure in Thailand who has been sentenced to two years' jail for corruption, lectured ministers on a range of topics, including flood relief, an election pledge to raise the minimum daily wage and the government's rice mortgage scheme.
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Thai journalists reported that some ministers sat ''uncomfortably'' in their seats during the call.

Ms Yingluck played down the intervention, saying the gathering of ministers on Wednesday was not a formal cabinet meeting and that her brother only wanted to provide moral support for the government's work and to ''exchange viewpoints''.

But opposition chief whip Jurin Laksanawisit told reporters it was now clear that Ms Yingluck was her brother's puppet.

For almost a week, Mr Thaksin has been taunting his critics from across the border in Cambodia, where he has been photographed embracing Prime Minister Hun Sen, to whom he was once an economic adviser.

In speeches Mr Thaksin described Cambodia as ''like my home'' and called for the speeding-up of integration of the economies of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Since the July election, Mr Thaksin has played down his influence in Ms Yingluck's government as it has made key appointments and overseen a reshuffle of the military, which removed him from power in a 2006 coup.

But senior ministers have made no secret of their support for the return of Mr Thaksin to Thailand without his having to serve time in jail.

The government is seeking pardons for a large number of Thailand's more than 230,000 prisoners on the December 5 birthday of the country's revered King Bhumibol, a move that could include Mr Thaksin, government officials said.

Governing party MP Korkaew Pikulthong said a petition by Mr Thaksin's ''red shirts'' for him to be pardoned would be sent to the King's principal private secretary before December 5.

The petition, shelved by the previous government, is being vetted by a government-appointed panel.

Thailand's Foreign Minister, Surapong Towichukchaikul, also wants to return Mr Thaksin's Thai passport, which was revoked by the previous government two years ago.

Mr Thaksin, who has a base in Dubai, usually travels on a passport issued by Montenegro but also carries passports from countries including Nicaragua and Uganda.

''A passport is like an identity card. Even prisoners in Thailand still hold their ID card,'' Mr Surapong said in New York, where he is leading a delegation to the United Nations General Assembly.

Mr Surapong said the world was aware that the charges against Mr Thaksin were politically motivated.

Analysts say Mr Thaksin's return to Thailand could stoke renewed political unrest in the country of 61 million people.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/fugitive-thai-leader-a-virtual-voice-in-sisters-government-20110923-1kpcn.html#ixzz1YvT0EifX

Skyprince

September 25th, 2011, 01:27 PM

Hi Malaysian friends,

How come Miss Bikini is not allowed in Malaysia? If the Moslem conservatives don't like it, then they just prohibit the Moslems to watch the show, right?

I understand that you have representative to Ms. Universe, etc., don't they wear bikinis/swimsuit?

But then what ? Mr. Beautiful Nose ? Ms. Eye Sexy ? Mr. Underwear ? etc. etc. ? :laugh:

What kind of corrupted society we may create ! ( at least to me ) :( Hmm also, Ms. Universe was held abroad, not in the country. Such events may spoil the image our govent wants to portray to outside world about this country .

Manila-X

September 25th, 2011, 02:13 PM

Lets each country take care of their own. If the majority of Malaysian Muslims do not want a miss bikini, let it be and respect their rights and opinions.

Same with The Philippines if we want to have a Miss Gay, etc.

What ever happens in our country when it comes to entertainment and pop culture, its not the business of other countries and vice versa.

Manila-X

September 25th, 2011, 02:15 PM

patchay

September 25th, 2011, 04:16 PM

Well beauty pageants are quite common in Malaysia. This is in the context of the liberal Muslims and non-Muslims. In fact, bikini etc is also common and you can buy them in any departmental stores and the many hypermarkerts like Tesco and Carrefour.

Again, the Muslim community may have a different view, but I think overall the "environment" is quite open unless you're in the more predominant Muslim-Islamic states in the North-East.

I heard that "sex" scandals are also becoming too common in the colleges and this is in fact a cause of concern. :ohno:

We have a "Malaysian GIRLS" thread in our local SSC forums, and you can see that Malaysians discussed these things openly and appreciating "beauty".

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=765480

I also understand that Carmen Soo is popular in the Philippines?

pi_malejana

September 25th, 2011, 06:04 PM

I also understand that Carmen Soo is popular in the Philippines?

haha, yeah she starred in one of the soaps there IIRC...:D

Animo

September 25th, 2011, 07:22 PM

^^ But the pattern of the sun resembles that of the sun in the Philippine flag.. Maybe that could be the hidden symbol behind the Philippine Sun in the flag and not the 8 provinces that revolted against Spain as we learned in our history class. And, why does it have to be 8? What about the Visayan provinces back then? How come they were not counted? Just pondering..

If the United States did not intervened the South of the Philippines would have remained Spanish. The Visayas and Mindanao were more or less pro-Spanish and the Northern revolutionaries were trying very hard to convince the South to revolt! That is why a vast majority of revolutionary events in the country only occurred in Luzón.

Governor Augustin was removed for negotiating surrender and was replaced by General Fermin Jaudenes, who preferred to surrender to the white Americans rather than the brown Filipinos. Merritt and Dewey made a secret deal with him that they would stage a mock battle and then the Filipino rebels would be excluded from the surrender of Manila. Dewey promised to hold back the Filipino troops. General Greene offered General Noriel fine artillery pieces to yield the sector south of Manila. Aguinaldo obeyed Greene’s verbal order to give way, and he yielded to additional pressure from General Anderson. Less than two hours after the “battle” began on August 13 the Spaniards hoisted a white flag. The Americans promised to protect the city, its inhabitants, and its churches. The next day the surrender was signed, and General Merritt proclaimed a military government. President McKinley had ordered all military operations suspended because the United States and Spain had signed on armistice on August 12; but Dewey had cut the cable to Manila. Spanish jurists argued that according to international law the United States should give back what they took after the treaty was signed. The Spanish Government moved to Iloilo to try to save Visayas and Mindanao.

http://www.san.beck.org/21-10-Philippinesto1949.html

bakpao

September 25th, 2011, 11:34 PM

Skyprince

September 26th, 2011, 03:02 AM

^^ Hmm well by just organizing "Ms. Universe" would not automatically create "corrupted society", but when such trend escalates yes, from Islamic point of view, most likely will lead towards demoralization of society to some extent. Maybe you know that Muslims in Malaysia are alot more conservative than Muslims in Indonesia ( as a whole, of course there are exceptions )

Also, just my personal opinion, what's the point of Ms. Universe ? The persons who represented Malaysia were not really "typical" -looking Malaysians; many if not most of them are mixed. I am not in favor of judging individuals based on their looks, or solely based on their ability on certain matters.

hiiamdib

September 26th, 2011, 03:50 AM

Southeast Asia sets up fund in integration step
By Shaun Tandon, Agence France-Presse
Posted at 09/25/2011 10:49 AM | Updated as of 09/25/2011 4:48 PM

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/09/25/11/southeast-asia-sets-fund-integration-step

WASHINGTON - Southeast Asian nations launched a nearly $500 million fund Saturday to build infrastructure, pooling resources in hopes of closing the gap between the dynamic region and major wealthy economies.

In a step toward an ambitious goal of regional economic integration by 2015, finance ministers of the ASEAN bloc said the fund would offer loans to build roads, railways and other projects without direct foreign assistance.

"Our community is now being built with speed. This is a milestone," ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said after ministers signed the pact in Washington on the sidelines of annual World Bank and IMF meetings.

"The time for donations, the time for just gifts, is over. We have to be very innovative, we have to be very collaborative in our approach."

Despite booming growth rates and world-famous buildings, ASEAN on a per capital basis lags behind major advanced nations in access to highways, railways, clean water and electricity.

The ASEAN Infrastructure Fund will start with $485.2 million and aims to finance six projects a year. By 2020, ASEAN hopes the fund will offer $4 billion in loans and that its total leverage will be worth more than $13 billion.

The fund will be based in Malaysia, the biggest contributor with a $150 million initial investment. Indonesia is the second-largest contributor with $120 million.

The Asian Development Bank, the Manila-based regional financial institution to which Japan and the United States are the largest contributors, will provide $150 million and eventually offer 70% of financing for the fund.

The ADB will administer the fund and ensure that all investments are financially sound, the bank's president Haruhiko Kuroda said.

Myanmar will not initially participate in the fund but may join in the future, ASEAN officials said. Myanmar, earlier known as Burma, is one of the least developed members of the bloc and its military-backed government has long posed a dilemma for regional integration.

Thailand will not take part immediately as it must go through domestic procedures but it is expected to join, said ASEAN chief Surin, who is Thai.

ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.

The initiative comes as China, which has uneasy political relations with a number of Southeast Asian nations, increasingly looks to exert influence through infrastructure projects -- long a hallmark of Japanese foreign policy.

ASEAN officials said that China, Japan and South Korea had voiced interest in taking part in the initiative but that the region decided to keep it internal for now.

"Our position is that at the initial stage it should be in ASEAN," Malaysia's Second Finance Minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said.

In creating the fund, ASEAN members studied developed nations and understood that "one of the main ingredients for a successful economy is a sufficient, reliable, appropriate and well-maintained infrastructure," said Indonesian Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo, whose country is the current ASEAN chair.

The fund "will help ensure that the 600 million people who call our region home will have greater access to energy, clean water and sanitation and better forms of transportation," he said.

patchay

September 26th, 2011, 04:50 AM

This is indeed a very good news.

My view is that we should not WAIT for foreigners to come build our essential infrastructure. Because at the end of the day, foreigners are here to take some profits and the ROI must be reasonably acceptable to finance the loan interests.

But many of mega infrastructure do not have good ROI and the breakeven will take many many years, thus becoming unattractive to foreigners. But our governments have a view that these infrastructure projects are vital for continued economic growth and its multiplier effect on the economy.

So the best way is we finance these projects ourselves via the Private Sector and with the support from the Public Sector.

Asean to 'pave the way' with US$485m pledge
Business Times | September 26, 2011
http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/infrss/Article/
http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20110926-301458.html

Malaysia will initially contribute US$150 million to the fund that will be used to finance major infrastructure projects in the region. Indonesia is the second-largest contributor with US$120 million.

KUALA LUMPUR: Asean member countries have pledged its commitment to support infrastructure development in the region by launching a US$485 million (US$ = RM3.18) fund under Asean Infrastructure Fund (AIF).

Contribution from Asean amounted to US$335 million with Malaysia being the largest member contributor with US$150 million. The balance will be derived from Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The AIF, which will be based in Malaysia, will be used to offer loans to build roads, railways and other projects without direct foreign assistance.

The fund aims to finance at least six projects a year and by 2020, Asean hopes the fund will offer US$4 billion in loans with a total leverage of about US$13 billion.

ADB will be sharing its technical expertise to administer the fund.

"The AIF comes at a time when resources are acutely needed in the region. We need to expand roads and railway network as well as increase electrical and clean water coverage.

This will require some US$60 billion a year over the next decade to fully address the region's infrastructure need," Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Husni Hanadzlah said in a statement.

The initiative comes as China, which has uneasy political relations with a number of South-east Asian nations, increasingly exerts influence through infrastructure projects, long a hallmark of Japanese foreign policy.

Asean officials said China, Japan and South Korea had voiced interest in taking part in the initiative, but added that the region has decided to keep it internal for now.

"Our position is that, at the initial stage, it should be in Asean," said Malaysian Second Finance Minister Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah.

Manila-X

September 26th, 2011, 07:14 AM

Lee Kuan Yew on Philippines
By: Ramon J. Farolan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
3:01 am | Monday, September 26th, 2011

http://opinion.inquirer.net/12827/lee-kuan-yew-on-philippines

The first volume of Lee Kuan Yew’s memoirs, “The Singapore Story,” tells us about his country under British colonial rule all the way to sudden independence in 1965.

His second volume, “From Third World to First,” covers the years 1965 to 2000 when he took a city-state of 214 square miles with two million people and no natural resources from a per capita GDP of $400 to more than $22,000 in just 35 years.

Henry A. Kissinger, in his foreword to the second volume, writes that “history shows that normally prudent, ordinary calculations can be overturned by extraordinary personalities. In the case of Lee Kuan Yew, the father of Singapore’s emergence as a national state, the ancient argument whether circumstance or personality shapes events is settled in favor of the latter.”

These days we could use some “extraordinary personalities” if we are to make significant progress in our attempts to recover lost ground. It may be too much to hope for a Lee Kuan Yew to emerge from among our national leaders. But perhaps we would be able to accomplish a lot more if some of our local government units are headed by individuals with the drive, the intelligence and the integrity of Singapore’s founding father. Ten or 11 mini-Singapores throughout the country, providing similar degrees of public order and personal security, cleanliness, observance and enforcement of national and local rules and ordinances in the respective communities, would make a lot of difference for the nation as a whole.

Lee Kuan Yew visited the Philippines in January 1974. His Singapore Airlines plane was escorted by a flight of PAF jet fighters as it entered Philippine airspace. As a young lieutenant colonel, I was assigned as his aide-de-camp for the duration of the visit. One of the things he asked me was if the weather would be good for some rounds of golf. I replied it was the best time of the year for golf.

Perhaps his game was a reflection of the way he ran his country. His drives were strong and straight with a good short game; all marks of one who in his younger days would relax by hitting 50-100 balls at the driving range and then playing nine holes, at times all by himself.

Some say good golfers make excellent executives. They exhibit the same skills: controlled strength, good coordination, great focus and concentration, sensitivity combined with just the right touch for delicate situations.

* * *

Here are some of his observations on the Philippines, its leadership during the martial law years, and what he thought was the problem.

* * *

“In Bali in 1976, at the first Asean Summit held after the fall of Saigon, I found Marcos keen to push for greater economic cooperation in Asean. We agreed to implement a bilateral Philippine-Singapore across-the-board ten percent reduction of existing tariffs on all products and to promote intra-Asean trade. We also agreed to lay a Philippines-Singapore submarine cable. I was to discover that for him, the communiqué was the accomplishment itself; its implementation was secondary, an extra to be discussed at another conference.”

* * *

He relates how on one visit, Marcos took him on a tour of his library filled with volumes of newspapers as well as volumes on the history and culture of the Philippines. His campaign medals were displayed in glass cupboards. “He was the undisputed boss of all Filipinos. Imelda, his wife, had a penchant for luxury and opulence. When they visited Singapore before the Bali Summit, they came in style in two DC-8s, his and hers.”

* * *
Outrage over the Aquino assassination resulted in foreign banks stopping all loans to the Philippines which was in hock by over $25 billion and unable to pay the interest due. “He [Marcos] sent his minister for trade and industry, Bobby Ongpin, to ask me for a loan of $300-500 million to meet the interest payments. I looked him straight in the eye and said, ‘We will never see that money back.’ He added that ‘what was needed was a strong, healthy leader, not more loans.’”

Later on in Brunei, Lee Kuan Yew would say the same thing to Marcos himself. “As soon as all our aides left, I went straight to the point that no bank was going to lend him any money. They wanted to know who was going to succeed him if anything were to happen to him… Singapore banks had lent $8 billion of the $25 billion owing. The hard fact was they were not likely to get repayment for some 20 years….he admitted that succession was the nub of the problem. If he could find a successor, there would be a solution. As I left, he said, ‘You are a true friend.’ I did not understand him. It was a strange meeting.”

* * *

He said we had many able people. There was no reason why the Philippines should not be as successful as other Asean countries. “Something was missing, a gel to hold society together. The people at the top, the elite mestizos, had the same detached attitude to the native peasants, as the mestizos in their haciendas in Latin America had towards their peons. They were two different societies; those at the top lived a life of extreme luxury and comfort, while the peasants scraped a living… they had many children because the Church discouraged birth control. The result was increasing poverty.”

* * *

Culture of the Filipino people.

“The Philippines had a rambunctious press but it did not check corruption. Individual pressmen could be bought, as could many judges. Something had gone seriously wrong. Filipino professionals whom we recruited to work in Singapore are as good as our own. Indeed, their architects, artists, and musicians are more artistic and creative than ours…

“The difference lies in the culture of the Filipino people. It is a soft, forgiving culture. Only in the Philippines could a leader like Ferdinand Marcos, who pillaged his country for over twenty years, still be considered for a national burial. Insignificant amounts of the loot have been recovered, yet his wife and children were allowed to return and engage in politics. They supported the winning presidential and congressional candidates with their considerable resources and reappeared in the political and social limelight after the 1998 election that returned President Joseph Estrada.”

coffeeworld

September 26th, 2011, 01:29 PM

^^:banana:

‘PH could be Asia’s next tiger’

Business leader cites 5 reasons why Philippines can become next Asean tiger

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines has a fresh opportunity to be Asia’s next tiger economy, potentially regaining the glory lost decades ago, according to a visiting regional business leader from Brunei.

Dato Timothy Ong, a leading Brunei businessman who founded and now chairs regional dialogue platform Asia Inc. Forum, said in a press briefing on Monday that he has seen signs that the Philippines could revisit its goal of being the next Asian tiger despite staying at the bottom half of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in terms of economic performance for years.

Ong is also the convener of Asean 100 Leadership Forum, which will be hosted by the city of Makati on Sept. 28-29 at the Makati Shangri-La. This year’s Asean meet aims to foster insightful and intelligent discussions on the future of Asean and how the region can emerge as one of the world’s significant economic blocs.

For Ong, the Philippines can join the ranks of Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong, the so-called Asian “tiger” economies or newly industrializing countries. He cited five reasons why the country, though a “dark horse,” had the makings of the next “tiger.”

First and foremost, Ong said the new leadership under President Aquino has promised to weed out corruption in the country, which has been creating a lot of optimism.

It’s widely perceived that the high level of corruption in the country has driven up the cost of doing business.

The second reason, Ong said, would be the Philippines’ vast pool of hardworking and skilled manpower, many of whom have been deployed across the globe. “With this wealth of human resources, it’s important to ask then why the Philippines isn’t more successful economically,” he said.

The third factor would be the Philippines’ “centers of excellence,” Ong said, noting that the country has become a competitive hub for business process outsourcing. He likened the Makati central business district to a “First World” city in a Third World country. “If the Philippines is capable of being first world in these centers of excellence, why can’t it be First World in every respect?” he said.

Ong said the fourth reason would be the Philippines’ homegrown companies that were at par with the world’s best. He cited fast-food giant Jollibee Foods Corp., international port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. and the Ayala group of companies.

“There is a sense of optimism that characterizes the country as a whole. As the new government takes its steps in leading the country towards change, it may be able to experience higher standards of governance,” he said.

Finally, Ong noted the Philippines’ “sharply improving competitiveness” as another factor supporting its aspiration to be the next tiger economy. He cited recent reports that the Philippines had jumped 10 notches to 75 from 85 in the latest ranking of the World Economic Forum. Ong said this happened only within the first 15 months of the term of the new president.

Meanwhile, Ong said Asean would likely partly meet its target to establish an integrated economic community by 2015.

“A One Asean is important for our collective future to accelerate the economic growth, social progress and economic stability in the region; to promote active collaboration and mutual assistance in economic, social, cultural, technical and administrative spheres,” Ong said.

“At the moment, Southeast Asia is like a big gated community where neighbors barely know each other. They know each other by name, they exchange pleasantries but they wouldn’t really go out of their way to have dinner at each other’s house,” he said.

Once integrated, he said, Asean could be a very influential bloc as it could become Asia’s third-largest economy next to China and Japan and the ninth-largest in the world.

Source: http://business.inquirer.net/21537/business-leader-cites-5-reasons-why-philippines-can-become-next-asean-tiger

Manila-X

September 27th, 2011, 04:03 AM

No Free Lunch
Narrowing the gaps in Asean
By: Cielito F. Habito
Philippine Daily Inquirer
2:58 am | Tuesday, September 27th, 2011

http://opinion.inquirer.net/12917/narrowing-the-gaps-in-asean

After more than four decades of conscious efforts for greater integration of their economies, the five original members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean)—Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand—find their economies no closer to each other than they were when they first formally got together in 1967. It was hoped then that by banding together, they could pull each other along on the road to development, thereby narrowing the disparities that existed among them at the start of the union.

Income disparities were large when the association began. In 1970, three years after the association’s birth, the richest member country then (Singapore) had an average income (measured in US dollars at prevailing exchange rates) more than 11 times that of the poorest member (Indonesia). Twenty years later (in 1990), this ratio had grown to almost 19 times, and in another 10 years (2000) had further ballooned to 29 times.

Fortunately, this gap between the richest and poorest of the first five members (also known as Asean-5) dramatically narrowed back to 14 times by 2010—although it was still worse than when the group started. By this time, the Philippines was already the poorest among the five; Indonesia managed to overtake us in recent years. Obviously, part of the reason for the relative changes through time was differences in the countries’ exchange rate movements versus the US dollar. Still, the general picture that emerges is that of an income gap that has not improved in four decades of Asean’s existence.

The disparity is more glaring when reckoned across all 10 present members (Asean-10). In 1990, the richest of the group (Brunei) had an average income 201 times that of the poorest (Myanmar). By 2000, Singapore, which had retaken the lead from Brunei, had 129 times the average income of Myanmar, still the poorest. This gap further narrowed to 62 times by 2010. Comparing between the first six members (Asean-5 plus Brunei) and the last four (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam or CLMV), the absolute income gap between the two groups continuously widened through the decades since 1970. This gap had also widened in relative terms (i.e., as a ratio) up to 1990, but has since narrowed. This suggests that the CLMV countries’ entry into Asean in the 1990s helped reduce their relative income gap with the richer Asean-6. Still, the relative gap remains wider than it was in 1970.

There is similar wide variation in the poverty situation across the region. In Cambodia and Laos, more than 25 percent of the population lives on less than $1.25 per day. This sharply contrasts with Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Brunei, where absolute poverty by this measure is now either non-existent or very slight. Interestingly, despite higher average income in the Philippines compared to Vietnam, we have much higher poverty than the latter, indicating that our income distribution is worse than Vietnam’s. Indonesia, as mentioned above, recently surpassed the Philippines in average income, and enjoys lower poverty incidence and better income distribution as well.

The wide income disparities in the region translate directly into similar disparities in infrastructure. The Asean member countries may be divided into three groups according to level of infrastructure development. The first group, possessing the most developed infrastructure, includes Brunei, Singapore and Malaysia. The second group, with fairly developed infrastructure, would include Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia. The last group whose members possess poorly developed infrastructure are the CLMV countries, although Vietnam has made rapid progress in recent years. A good indication of the wide infrastructure gaps is the wide variation in access to telecommunications and the Internet. In 2008, cellular phone density ranged from a low of 9 to a high of 1,404 units per 1,000 persons, corresponding to Myanmar and Singapore respectively (the Philippines had 810). Internet access ranged from 2 to 750 per 1,000 persons, also for Myanmar and Singapore (the Philippines had only 62). Energy and transport facilities likewise vary widely across the region.

Income gaps within the Asean countries have also been wide. Interestingly, the data show that the richer countries of Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand now show the worst income distributions in the region, while the poorer countries like Laos, Vietnam and Indonesia show superior income distribution. All this points to economic growth that benefits few, particularly in the more advanced and more dynamic economies in the region. This highlights the need for more deliberate efforts to ensure that economic growth proceeds on a broader economic base and with more widely dispersed benefits than has occurred so far.

What needs to be done? Pushing for wider small and medium enterprise sectors is a key strategy. Strong competition policies—i.e., policy environments that outlaw or limit anti-competitive practices and exercise of monopoly power—also need to be in place; only Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam have it so far. More government spending on health and education are proven to help bring about more equitable growth. Across Asean, the need is to interconnect the economies more closely through more complementary economic relations, infrastructure and institutional linkages, and people-to-people contacts such as through tourism and academic exchange programs. If Asean is to be the strong force it aspires to be in the global community in the years ahead, it must work on narrowing the gaps that persist among and within its members.

RonnieR

September 27th, 2011, 07:51 AM

But then what ? Mr. Beautiful Nose ? Ms. Eye Sexy ? Mr. Underwear ? etc. etc. ? :laugh:

What kind of corrupted society we may create ! ( at least to me ) :( Hmm also, Ms. Universe was held abroad, not in the country. Such events may spoil the image our govent wants to portray to outside world about this country .

Well, I respect your opinion on this matter. On the other hand, it is really a cultural thing here in PH. In a country where majority (80%) adhere to Catholicism, the fiestas are celebrated in honor of patron saints throughout the archipelago, these towns or cities have their own pomp and pageantry including the selection of local beauty queens and their escorts.

Lets each country take care of their own. If the majority of Malaysian Muslims do not want a miss bikini, let it be and respect their rights and opinions.

Same with The Philippines if we want to have a Miss Gay, etc.

What ever happens in our country when it comes to entertainment and pop culture, its not the business of other countries and vice versa.

I agree.

RonnieR

September 27th, 2011, 09:02 AM

BOSCHE POWER TOOLS ASIA RACE 2011, CHINA

From PHILIPPINES
http://business.inquirer.net/files/2011/09/UPME-team.jpg

http://business.inquirer.net/files/2011/09/Winning-team-Mapua-Institute-of-Tech.jpg

Philippines competes in Bosch Power Tools Asia Cordless Race 2011 Finals in Beijing
INQUIRER.net
1:47 pm | Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

MANILA, Philippines – “Team Siklab” from the Mapua Institute of Technology and “Team Drill Drivers” from University of the Philippines ME represented the Philippines that competed against eight other teams in the finals of the Bosch Power Tools Asia Cordless Race 2011 on Wednesday, September 21.

The competition, which also featured teams from South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia, was held at the foot of the Juyongguan Great Wall in Beijing, China.

The Philippine leg of the race took place recently at the Boomland Kart Track in Pasay City. The event was attended by over 1,000 participants, including contestants from eight of the country’s premier technical colleges and universities, where the Mapua Institute of Technology and University of the Philippines ME, Diliman emerged as champion and first runner-up.

“Bosch supports initiatives to craft technical and engineering innovations for the future ,” said William Go, Country Sales Director for Bosch Power Tools. Mr Go also cites the company’s aim to support and cultivate creativity in engineering and design among Filipino students, as well as to provide them with the experience, knowledge and skill sets to contribute to the economic development of the Philippines in the future.

Mapua engineering students shared their source of confidence in their bid for the Beijing championship. “The environment we have in our school and the lessons we have learned are our basis in being positive and determined to meet the objective of winning this competition.”

As for the UP ME Drill Drivers from UP Diliman, they said, “Designing any machine is always a great and exciting challenge; a challenge that must be faced with the creativity and ingenuity that defines engineering. Driven by our engineering passion, team UP will rise to the challenge. See you at the checkered flag in Beijing!”

For more information on all the races, the participants, up-to-date coverage, live videos and images of the Bosch Power Tools Asia Cordless Race 2011 in the Philippines, please go to http://www.bosch-pt-cordless-race.com/

and the winner is:

Sleek design drives Thai racers to victory

Published: 27/09/2011 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Business
http://www.bangkokpost.com/media/content/20110927/313348.jpg
Thai students from Maejo University in Chiang Mai took two titles in the Bosch Power Tools Asia Cordless Race 2011 at the foot of the Great Wall in Beijing last week, beating rivals from China, South Korea, the Philippines and Malaysia.

The two Thailand teams — from King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok (right) and Maejo University in Chiang Mai — pose near the Great Wall of China, where they competed in the Bosch Power Tools Asia Cordless Race 2011.

Teams competed with go-karts powered by Bosch cordless lithium-ion technology.

Team Maejo ultimately prevailed, finishing the final race in 1.43 minutes to become the 2011 Asian Champion. Team Endeavour from the Beijing Institute of Technology, 14 seconds behind, was the first runner-up.

In the King of Power contest, a 100-metre race showcasing the go-karts' acceleration ability, the title went to Team Maejo, which got off to an explosive start and finished in 8.956 seconds.

Ten finalist teams from five Asian countries competed for the final racing title.

The go-karts were designed and built by students from universities and technical institutes using engines powered by Bosch lithium-ion cordless technology.

All other parts such as steering, transmission, brakes and even the body were designed and built independently by the students themselves.

Assoc Prof Samerkhwan Tantikul of Maejo University and the team's adviser credited the victory to the sleek design and making the go-kart as light as possible yet sturdy enough to run.

"All of the go-karts have the same engine power and battery life, so we built ours to weigh only 41 kilogrammes and used a 40-kg driver. It was lighter, better performing and faster than the others," he said.

Werner Benade, Bosch's senior vice-president for the Asia-Pacific, said students are one of the most innovative and enthusiastic innovators in society, and the company wants to encourage them to think innovatively and practically.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/258452/sleek-design-drives-thai-racers-to-victory

Nabartek

September 27th, 2011, 06:24 PM

Philippines seeks ASEAN help to blunt China

The Philippines on Thursday sought backing from its Southeast Asian neighbours for its plan to blunt China's claims over disputed areas of the South China Sea and ease tensions.

Vice President Jejomar Binay made the appeal at a meeting of maritime law experts from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), where he alleged foreign intrusions continued in Philippine seawaters.

"The Philippines is not alone in experiencing these continuous 'misunderstandings' and unabated attempts to undermine the legitimate rights of states bordering the South China Sea," Binay told the delegates.

The Philippines has repeatedly complained this year of aggressive acts by the Chinese military in the South China Sea, which is believed to hold vast oil and gas deposits, while also hosting vital global shipping lanes.

The Philippines has accused its powerful neighbour of firing on Filipino fishermen, laying buoys on Philippine islets and intimidating an oil exploration vessel.

It called the meeting of legal experts in an effort to form a united ASEAN front to counter China's insistence it has sovereign rights to all of the South China Sea, even waters lapping the coasts of Southeast Asian countries.

ASEAN members the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam, as well as Taiwan, all have claims to parts of the South China Sea.

Binay said the Philippines' plan centred on marking out disputed sections of the South China Sea, which claimants could then agree to jointly develop.

Those areas not in dispute would be the exclusive preserve of the country owning them.

"By doing so, the gridlock that has prevented the parties from moving with speed on joint cooperation in the... South China Sea would be completely unlocked," he said.

"This, from the perspective of the Philippines, would truly transform the (sea) from a potential flashpoint into a zone of peace, freedom, friendship and cooperation."

The Philippines acknowledges that the Spratly islands, an archipelago believed to sit above rich fossil fuel deposits, is in a disputed area, meaning China and other nations have legitimate competing claims.

But it insists nearby areas, such as the Reed Bank where it has recently granted oil and gas exploration permits, are undisputed parts of its territory because they are within its 200-nautical-mile economic exclusion zone.

However, because China claims all of the South China Sea, the Chinese government insists it has sole rights to all of the area, including Reed Bank.

The Philippines said Chinese naval vessels harassed an oil exploration vessel at Reed Bank early this year in one of the first incidents to increase tensions.

Asked after his speech if ASEAN support of the Filipino plan would temper Chinese behaviour in the disputed sea, Binay told reporters: "Ah, well, we are very optimistic."

Chinese embassy spokesman Sun Yi could not be reached for comment Thursday.

msn.com.ph (http://news.ph.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5301978)

The Philippines is serious about the "China threat". Kudos to the administration. Bad news is, there is no reelection for the presidentials. Let's just pray that the next admin will continue the fight.

Nabartek

September 27th, 2011, 07:14 PM

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Surya_Majapahit_2.jpg/581px-Surya_Majapahit_2.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4b/Surya_Majapahit_Diagram.svg/330px-Surya_Majapahit_Diagram.svg.png

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_S0sCgKSyq5U/TB8YIqIuzmI/AAAAAAAABJg/cvxQ3K1lwYM/s400/the_Philippines_sun.svg.png

PHILIPPINE ENSLAVEMENT BY WHITE MAN: ARYAN’S HANDWRITING ON THE WALL (http://erlefraynebrightworld.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/philippine-enslavement-by-white-man-aryan%E2%80%99s-handwriting-on-the-wall/)

Sobrang ilusyon naman to :lol:

patchay

September 28th, 2011, 04:31 AM

Just to share a local news this morning.

Explosion rips through Empire Gallery, four hurt
UPDATED @ 10:15:37 AM 28-09-2011
By Debra Chong and Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider | TheStar | The New Straits Times | September 28, 2011
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/explosion-rips-through-empire-gallery-four-hurt/

SUBANG JAYA, Sept 28 — Four people were hurt in an early morning explosion at the Empire Gallery shopping mall here, which was heard from as far away as Bangsar - 20km away.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/images/uploads/2011/september/28/subang-tmi-front.jpg
A view of Empire Gallery Subang after an explosion early this morning ripped through a large portion of the mall. — Picture by Choo Choy May

Eyewitnesses described a scene of chaos, adding police, ambulances and the fire brigade are still on the scene.

Police tracker dogs are also there as the cops and Fire and Rescue Department personnel from stations across Subang Jaya, Shah Alam, Damansara and Puchong investigate the incident.

According to the department, a distress called was received at 3.45am this morning of an explosion at the mall, located at the entrance of Subang Jaya from the Federal Highway.

Early investigations show that the explosion started from the mall’s front and involved a gas pipeline. A media report states that the explosion occurred inside the Starbucks outlet.

Rescue workers confirmed four were with light injuries from the incident.

Two Nepalese workers are still believe to be trapped in the basement and have reportedly sustained minor injuries. A couple, sales executives Daryl Chua, 27, and his girlfriend Hibbie Tan, 23, were taken to the hospital in an ambulance.

Nearly the entire stretch of the front portion of the newly-built mall have been blown out, damaging a number of cafes, restaurants and clothing stores including Tangs Departmental Store and Starbucks Coffee.

When met at the scene later, Chua told reporters that he was walking with his girlfriend to an Autopay station a few steps away from Starbucks when the explosion occurred at about 3.30am.

“We were at La Bodega earlier for dinner and then we were just hanging out outside my car and talking.

“Just as we were heading to the Autopay, there was a loud ‘boom’, like in the movies. I thought it was a bomb,” he said.

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/images/sized/images/uploads/slideshows/slide-subang-tmi-longview-358x239.jpg
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/images/sized/images/uploads/slideshows/subang-tmi-car-358x239.jpg

Chua said he was “literally lifted off the ground” and thrown sideways several meters from the blast, lightly grazing both his arms.

The sounds of breaking glass, falling debris and metal and sirens blasting broke the earlier silence, he said, leaving him in a momentary state of confusion and panic.

“And then the flames came up. It was all over, the entire front of the mall was razed. I thought I was going to die,” he said.

When the scene calmed slightly, Chua said he carried Tan, who had sprained her leg, to safety and noticed passers-by and nearby residents rushing to the scene.

His car, a black Volkswagen Golf GTI was severely damaged from the blast, he said.

Both Chua and Tan sustained minor scratches.

Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim tweeted this morning and prayed for the safety of the residents nearby.

Subang Jaya assemblyman Hannah Yeoh is also there, he added.

The shopping mall opened last year.

Yeoh told The Malaysian Insider she scrambled to get there after receiving a tweet about 3-something this morning.

“The four injured have been taken to the hospital. One broke his leg, apparently,” she said.

“The damage [to the building] is extensive. All of the lower floor all the way up to the second floor,” she added.

The cause of the explosion is still unknown, she said.

The police have sealed off the area surrounding the mall, causing a severe traffic jam as workers are caught up in the morning office rush hour.

MORE TO COME

Manila-X

September 28th, 2011, 04:33 AM

Just like what happened to Glorietta years back.

Nabartek

September 28th, 2011, 04:36 AM

^^ The difference is Glorietta isn't "that new"

xxxriainxxx

September 28th, 2011, 04:38 AM

^^ Glorietta 5 is. :D

xxxriainxxx

September 28th, 2011, 04:43 AM

Is there a reputable and independent Singapore media company?

xxxriainxxx

September 28th, 2011, 04:43 AM

Just to share a local news this morning.

Hope the injured are fine...

RonnieR

September 28th, 2011, 04:55 AM

Just to share a local news this morning.

The perpetrators did not want to inflict much damage on the civilians since the bomb exploded early morning. The message could be different. I hope the injured victims (4 people) are safe.

RonnieR

September 28th, 2011, 05:02 AM

Is there a reputable and independent Singapore media company?

Straits Times and Channel News Asia are reputable Singaporean media companies but if you talk of independence from government control, there is none in SG. They control their media, so the news are screened by their Ministry of Information. There are advantages of course: we don't see much bad news about SG. hehehe. Let's admit it, SG has very low crime rate, high income society, peaceful, excellent infrastructure, negligible poverty level.

The Singaporeans complained about high cost of living and some about restrictions. Generally, I admire their patriotism. They are very proud as Singaporeans which we don't see here in PH. I attended once their Independence day celebration, wow, it was unimaginable. There was so much pride in their hearts and it was good.

patchay

September 28th, 2011, 05:27 AM

The perpetrators did not want to inflict much damage on the civilians since the bomb exploded early morning. The message could be different. I hope the injured victims (4 people) are safe.

Hope the injured are fine...

You guys are sympathetic.

I too pray for the ones affected by Typhoon Nesta. :) (btw any update on that?)

RonnieR

September 28th, 2011, 05:50 AM

You guys are sympathetic.

I too pray for the ones affected by Typhoon Nesta. :) (btw any update on that?)

Hi patchay. Thanks. Unfortunately, of the 19 people killed by typhoon Nesta (called Pedring locally), 5 people are from northern part of Metro Manila. The victims are poor and some of them are fishermen. Unfortunately, every typhoon, those who bear the risks are the fishermen and the urban poor whose houses are not that strong and some of them live in slums.

Excerpts:

Undersecretary Benito Ramos, head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), announced the latest figure in a radio interview before noon today.

In an earlier bulletin on the typhoon's effects, the NDRRMC said that six of the fatalities, four of them killed by fallen trees, were residents of Central Luzon.

Five of the fatalities were recorded in Metro Manila, one in Ilocos, one in Cagayan Valley, one in Calabarzon, two in Bicol in another two in Cordillera Administrative Region.

http://www.philstar.com/nation/article.aspx?publicationsubcategoryid=63&articleid=731778

RonnieR

September 28th, 2011, 06:01 AM

More than 150 dead in Thai flooding
Posted: 24 September 2011 1650 hrs
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/imagegallery/store/phpUHnKqE.jpg
A flooded street following heavy rains in Thailand's southern city of Narathiwat (AFP PHOTO / MADAREE TOHLALA)

BANGKOK: Two infant brothers swept away by rising waters in northern Thailand have become the latest victims of two months of heavy flooding that have left over 150 people dead, authorities said Saturday.

The boys, a nine-month-old and his sibling aged two, are thought to have drowned when a flash flood hit the mountainous Fang district in northern Chiang Mai province late Friday night, said an official from the disaster prevention and mitigation department.

Official departmental figures released Saturday, which do not include the brothers, put the number of dead at 152, with three people unaccounted for.

Flooding has engulfed 57 out of Thailand's 77 provinces in the north, northeast and central regions since it began in July with heavy rains generated by the tail end of the Nock Ten typhoon.

In total, seven million people have seen their homes or businesses inundated by the rising waters, which have damaged farmland, roads and bridges.

Water has receded in some areas but the department said 23 provinces remain flooded.

As seasonal rains continue to put pressure on drainage and irrigation systems, it also issued flash flood and landslide warnings in 47 provinces in north and northeastern parts for the weekend.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1155278/1/html

xxxriainxxx

September 28th, 2011, 07:24 AM

Straits Times and Channel News Asia are reputable Singaporean media companies but if you talk of independence from government control, there is none in SG. They control their media, so the news are screened by their Ministry of Information. There are advantages of course: we don't see much bad news about SG. hehehe. Let's admit it, SG has very low crime rate, high income society, peaceful, excellent infrastructure, negligible poverty level.

The Singaporeans complained about high cost of living and some about restrictions. Generally, I admire their patriotism. They are very proud as Singaporeans which we don't see here in PH. I attended once their Independence day celebration, wow, it was unimaginable. There was so much pride in their hearts and it was good.

:D Yeah we really don't hear any bad news because everything is controlled. :D I thought there may be a renegade independent SG news. Straits Times and Channel News Singapore are partial and edited to suit the SG establishment. ;)

patchay

September 28th, 2011, 11:29 AM

Apparently the guy and gal mentioned in the news reporting below.. the gal is quite a HOT CHIC !!! :lol: :lol:

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/images/sized/images/uploads/slideshows/slide-subang-empire-daryl-hibbie-358x239.jpg
Two of the victims — Daryl Chua and Hibbie Tan — leave the damaged Empire Gallery Subang after receiving treatment for minor injuries September 28 2011. — Picture by Choo Choy May

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/images/uploads/2011/september/28/20110928empire09.jpg

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/images/sized/images/uploads/slideshows/e0928-358x239.jpg

RonnieR

September 28th, 2011, 11:31 AM

xxxriainxxx

September 28th, 2011, 01:40 PM

Thai school's Nazi-themed parade sparks outrage

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/110928074712-thailand-nazi-parade-horizontal-gallery.jpg

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/110928081200-thailand-nazi-flag2-horizontal-gallery.jpg

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/110928080059-thailand-nazi-salute-horizontal-gallery.jpg

(CNN) -- A Jewish human rights organization on Monday called for Thailand's Christian leaders to condemn a parade at the Sacred Heart School in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in which participating students wearing Nazi uniforms performed "Sieg Heil" salutes.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization based in Los Angeles, denounced the event, saying it was "glorifying Nazis."

Photographs of the parade show participants carrying a Swastika flag, performing Nazi salutes and wearing SS uniforms, while others dressed as Adolf Hitler complete with toothbrush moustache.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said the images made it clear that the event could not have taken place without the knowledge and cooperation of the school administration.

It is difficult to calculate the hurt such a display inflicted on survivors of the Nazi Holocaust .

Simon Wiesenthal Center

"It is difficult to calculate the hurt such a display inflicted on survivors of the Nazi Holocaust and the families of all victims of Nazism. There can be no justification for such an outrage to emanate from place of learning," he said.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center urged those responsible for the school to take immediate action against the individuals who promoted and facilitated the event.

Cooper said that a similar parade took place in 2007 at a school in Bangkok in which 200 students participated, and that more recently, members of Thai rock band Slur donned Nazi uniforms in a music video.

On Wednesday, the school's website posted a letter by its director expressing an apology.

"We, the entire Sacred Heart School [personnel] are deeply saddened by this incident."

The letter explained that the sports day activity involved groups being differentiated by colors -- the "Red" group having used Nazi symbols.

CNN's Kocha Olarn contributed to this report.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/09/28/world/asia/thailand-nazi-parade/index.html?eref=edition

:bash::bash::bash::bash::bash::ohno::ohno::ohno::ohno::ohno:

kenken94

September 28th, 2011, 01:53 PM

Ady001

September 28th, 2011, 01:55 PM

^^ Don't worry, the Germans might deface their king by doing that.

amigo32

September 28th, 2011, 01:55 PM

:D Yeah we really don't hear any bad news because everything is controlled. :D I thought there may be a renegade independent SG news. Straits Times and Channel News Singapore are partial and edited to suit the SG establishment. ;)

di bale mag lalagay ako ng branch ng Bulgar, Tiktik, at Tribune, INQ sa SG

patchay

September 28th, 2011, 02:13 PM

^^ Is it near Damansara? the cause is due to gas explosion, right? It's similar to the blast in Glorietta mall few years back. It's good that they only suffered minor injuries and they are walking. How about the other two victims?

Nope. It's in Subang Jaya, formally recognised as the largest city in Malaysia by population based on the recent census.

**********

Anyway.. do you think this is vulgar?? :lol:

Abercrombie & Fitch advertisement at Knightsbridge (Orchard Rd) suspended
ASIAONE
Wednesday, Sep 28, 2011
http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20110928-302075.html

http://www.asiaone.com/A1MEDIA/news/09Sep11/images/20110928.194959_anfv7.jpg

SINGAPORE - The Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS) has suspended Abercrombie & Fitch's (A&F) advertisement at Knightsbridge for breaching local guidelines on decency, reported the Straits Times.

The advertisement covering the entire window of its new store shows a shirtless man tugging at his low-slung jeans.

In June, readers of citizen journalism site Stomp had questioned if the ad was vulgar, especially in an area heavy in tourist traffic.

Straits Times readers had also complained that the advertisement was "indecent" and "lewd".

A statement from ASAS said: "We can only reveal that the Abercombie & Fitch's advertisement was suspended due to breach of the Singapore Code of Advertising Practice guidelines on decency."

xxxriainxxx

September 28th, 2011, 02:20 PM

^^ What's with the outrage? Thais aren't Jews to have hatred for the Nazis, they are even part of the Axis alliance for the sake of self-preservation.

I mean, with the deeds of the Nazis in World War 2, for sure people learnt their lessons well.

OMG. You don't realize the consequence of their actions?? The Holocaust do not matter to you??? Glorifying Nazism or even denying the Holocaust is a crime punishable even in present day Germany!

^^ Don't worry, the Germans might deface their king by doing that.

King?

Nabartek

September 28th, 2011, 03:19 PM

^^ What's with the outrage? Thais aren't Jews to have hatred for the Nazis, they are even part of the Axis alliance for the sake of self-preservation.

I mean, with the deeds of the Nazis in World War 2, for sure people learnt their lessons well.

Do you even know about the European theater of the war? The Jews were just sent to "Gas chambers" by the Nazis because they dislike the Jews for being Jews.

How about the German expansion in WWII?

If you find the outrage laughable, then I suggest you do a parade of the Kempeitai or the Imperial Japanese Army and "glorify them".

It is not about the "hatred" to towards the Germans or the Nazis(they don't exist anymore as a political entity), it's about the horrible things that the Nazis did.

xxxriainxxx

September 28th, 2011, 03:26 PM

^^ Displays of Nazism even in jest is unacceptable as a human being. Also on a personal note, a part of my ancestry is Jewish. This type of horrible displays are just horrifying.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-74237-004%2C_KZ_Auschwitz-Birkenau%2C_alte_Frau_und_Kinder.jpg

Hungarian Jewish children and an elderly woman on the way to the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-74237-004,_KZ_Auschwitz-Birkenau,_alte_Frau_und_Kinder.jpg)

I will spare everyone from posting the horrific images of the murdered during the Holocaust.

Mercato

September 28th, 2011, 03:52 PM

^^ 'Tis the height of ignorance of the school and to think it bears the name of Sacred Heart, therefore a Christian school at that. They should have known better. The whole show was disgusting and reprehensible, almost reminded me of the day Prince Harry donned a Nazi uniform a few years back. He was likewise roundly condemned.

kenken94

September 28th, 2011, 03:54 PM

OMG. You don't realize the consequence of their actions?? The Holocaust do not matter to you??? Glorifying Nazism or even denying the Holocaust is a crime punishable even in present day Germany!

King?

Do you even know about the European theater of the war? The Jews were just sent to "Gas chambers" by the Nazis because they dislike the Jews for being Jews.

How about the German expansion in WWII?

If you find the outrage laughable, then I suggest you do a parade of the Kempeitai or the Imperial Japanese Army and "glorify them".

It is not about the "hatred" to towards the Germans or the Nazis(they don't exist anymore as a political entity), it's about the horrible things that the Nazis did.

^^ Displays of Nazism even in jest is unacceptable as a human being. Also on a personal note, a part of my ancestry is Jewish. This type of horrible displays are just horrifying.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-74237-004%2C_KZ_Auschwitz-Birkenau%2C_alte_Frau_und_Kinder.jpg

Hungarian Jewish children and an elderly woman on the way to the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Source (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-74237-004,_KZ_Auschwitz-Birkenau,_alte_Frau_und_Kinder.jpg)

I will spare everyone from posting the horrific images of the murdered during the Holocaust.

I've read Anne Frank's book. And yes, war crimes committed by the Nazis in World War 2 are inhumane. Gestapo roll calling Jews and sending them to concentration camps to be worked to death or shot or gassed like a sick herd. It's worse than what the Imperial Japanese did to Filipinos.

I don't even see it laughable. Well, it's them who parades with Nazi uniforms, not me.

xxxriainxxx

September 28th, 2011, 04:49 PM

I don't even see it laughable. Well, it's them who parades with Nazi uniforms, not me.

Yeah, but you did question the outrage earlier. Also, just a friendly reminder (this is without sarcasm ha), if you found yourself in certain countries such as Germany and Australia, be careful with this topic. One can really go to jail because of that.

As for the Japanese, we will never forget, one of my relatives a guerilla captain was beheaded during WW2. Another ancestor was a Katipunan member and executed by the Spaniards and is one of the 19 martyrs of Aklan.

xxxriainxxx

September 28th, 2011, 04:51 PM

nawat001

September 28th, 2011, 05:25 PM

xxxriainxxx

September 28th, 2011, 05:32 PM

I think that school should apologize for dress like nazi
but it because Thai children won't understand World War II much
^^
Maybe it because Thailand is only one country in South east asia that WW II doesn't effect much

I think they did already in their website as the article said. I hope World History would also be taught in your schools. However, I do not blame the children, I blame the school administrators who allowed this thing to happen. I am shocked, hurt and outraged at this incident. Thankfully this sort of atrocity dint happen in your country, but you need not look further than your next door neighbour Cambodia to learn the lessons of genocide.

RonnieR

September 28th, 2011, 05:33 PM

Nope. It's in Subang Jaya, formally recognised as the largest city in Malaysia by population based on the recent census.

**********

Anyway.. do you think this is vulgar?? :lol:
The billboard is acceptable. I've seen more vulgar than that here in Metro Manila for men and women.

Here are some:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1kN3jgxN054/TVfoRH9cQuI/AAAAAAAAAMY/lr9k5Tb5_VA/s400/DSCF0466.JPG

http://aliwanavenue.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/billboard.jpg

members of PH Volcanoes Rugby National Team.
http://www.spot.ph/files/2011/07/1309486585-bench_click.jpg

http://www.philippinenewsdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Lovi-Poe-Bench-Billboard-at-EDSA-pulled-down-350x262.jpg

http://www.philippinestodayus.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/angel-locsin.jpg

and many more, in full view of everyone.

xxxriainxxx

September 28th, 2011, 05:35 PM

RonnieR

September 28th, 2011, 05:53 PM

There's nothing vulgar about the human body.

+1. "If you have it, then flaunt it". This is a popular saying in the Philippines.

patchay: In PH, there was a time in 1970s to 1980s that "Bomba" films or porn films were shown, with sexual penetration, showing of breasts. In 1990s, Sex Themed or ST films were the "in" thing. I guess, PH has liberal stand on this aspect, next only to Thailand :)

alheaine

September 28th, 2011, 06:19 PM

American English is easier to understand and apply unlike British English.

Unless you do it Canadian style where the accent most parts is almost American but they spell like The British.

^^
when i was in high school i was speaking in american accent..and in college, a bit british..i find it interesting that sometimes i miss pronounce things without even noticing (criss-crossing the two accents plus the australian one).. :lol: :bash:

and a Nigerian schoolmate of mine asked "why are Filipinos good in speaking English?"..i just answered back, "it's our second languange and we're taught to speak english since we were born, even before we can learn Tagalog"..plus i'm Ilonggo and i speak Kinaray-a and Hiligaynon.. :lol: and i can understand a bit of Cebuano/Bisaya..

hehehehehe..my brother had a similar encounter in South Africa..he was asked the same question.. :lol:

wino

September 28th, 2011, 06:19 PM

+1. "If you have it, then flaunt it". This is a popular saying in the Philippines.

^^ Our neighbours are not as Vain to FLAUNT EVERYTHING as we are in the Philippines. :lol:

RonnieR

September 28th, 2011, 06:23 PM

^^ Our neighbours are not as Vain to FLAUNT EVERYTHING as we are in the Philippines. :lol:

^^ I guess due to religious restrictions, too. I've noticed that there are more women in Malaysia who wear Moslem veil compared to Jakarta.

wino

September 28th, 2011, 06:49 PM

^^ In Singapore, i don't think it's the religion.. they're just naturally discreet.

zeaza

September 28th, 2011, 07:13 PM

I think they did already in their website as the article said. I hope World History would also be taught in your schools. However, I do not blame the children, I blame the school administrators who allowed this thing to happen. I am shocked, hurt and outraged at this incident. Thankfully this sort of atrocity dint happen in your country, but you need not look further than your next door neighbour Cambodia to learn the lessons of genocide.

I'm sorry xxxriainxxx :lol::lol:
I do not think Fantasy series in parade of school in Chiang Mai will make you unhappy.:lol:
But I think the story of a friend if you know you're not good enough, You should not underestimate him.
Because it does not make you look better and it does not make me have economic and gdp per capita is reduced or lost. :lol::lol::lol:

I'm sorry. I say not good because some of people......mouth + dogsssss.
OK, bye-bye :nocrook:

nawat001

September 28th, 2011, 08:24 PM

Lilyr

September 28th, 2011, 08:35 PM

No offense but I think kids these days (not just thai kids) really need to understand not just study WW2 European Theater. Especially the Holocaust and the Aryan supremacy ideology.
Btw, The Phils was one of the countries that provided a safe haven for Jews fleeing when Pres Quezon allocated special visas for them.
Pity that safe haven did not last long as Japan invaded thereafter.

I'm sorry xxxriainxxx :lol::lol:
I do not think Fantasy series in parade of school in Chiang Mai will make you unhappy.:lol:
But I think the story of a friend if you know you're not good enough, You should not underestimate him.
Because it does not make you look better and it does not make me have economic and gdp per capita is reduced or lost. :lol::lol::lol:

I'm sorry. I say not good because some of people......mouth + dogsssss.
OK, bye-bye :nocrook:

Because it's not just a fantasy series to us. It's the symbolism of it.
Like I said,ppl should really understand those dark days.
Want me to post pictures? :eek:I guarantee you'll puke and that will wipe the smileys off your face soon as they're not going to be good.
Even until today there are some neo-nazis, anti-semitism still around.

Mercato

September 28th, 2011, 08:40 PM

^^ The children are innocent. The disturbing trend here is the behaviour of so called adults, especially from cultures not really exposed to World War II.
I'm sorry xxxriainxxx :lol::lol:
I do not think Fantasy series in parade of school in Chiang Mai will make you unhappy.:lol:
But I think the story of a friend if you know you're not good enough, You should not underestimate him.
Because it does not make you look better and it does not make me have economic and gdp per capita is reduced or lost. :lol::lol::lol:

I'm sorry. I say not good because some of people......mouth + dogsssss.
OK, bye-bye :nocrook:you're one arrogant Thai jackass. better go plug your head back into your blooming behind. :lol: :lol: :rofl:

wino

September 28th, 2011, 08:45 PM

well Thailand was neutral during WW2 after all... don't expect them to understand...

Mercato

September 28th, 2011, 08:50 PM

Manila-X

September 29th, 2011, 03:44 AM

well Thailand was neutral during WW2 after all... don't expect them to understand...

No! Thailand was part of the Axis group. The fact Japan invaded the country and later on signed a military alliance.

Come to think of it, I see some Pinoy youths wearing Nazi shirts, Che Guevarra shirts or even jeepneys with American Confederate flags but those wearing it do not know its symbolism nor is aware of the offensive manner of it.

alheaine

September 29th, 2011, 04:57 AM

^^
so true.. :ohno: i'm wearing che guevarra shirt now..

Askal82

September 29th, 2011, 05:36 AM

Manila-X

September 29th, 2011, 05:47 AM

If you are talking about WW-II, the events that happened in The European theatre does not have a significant impact on us Asians when compared to The Pacific theatre.

Although some of our grandparents / ancestors had their own experience during WW-II whether it is good or not. Just like my grandfather (father's side) who happened to be a veteran or a soldier.

But with movies such as Schindler's List and even in comic books, we are more aware of what happened in Europe during that time especially to The Jews.

The only thing for now is to learn from history and make our world a better place for us and the future generation.

RonnieR

September 29th, 2011, 06:21 AM

xxxriainxxx

September 29th, 2011, 06:24 AM

I'm sorry xxxriainxxx :lol::lol:
I do not think Fantasy series in parade of school in Chiang Mai will make you unhappy.:lol:
But I think the story of a friend if you know you're not good enough, You should not underestimate him.
Because it does not make you look better and it does not make me have economic and gdp per capita is reduced or lost. :lol::lol::lol:

I'm sorry. I say not good because some of people......mouth + dogsssss.
OK, bye-bye :nocrook:

Your Fantasy series can land you in jail in countries that know their sense of world history including Germany, Poland and the rest of Europe where millions of interned Jewish people were gassed, experimented on, tortured, summarily shot and worked to death.

Your ignorance is appalling, we are not even talking about gdp per capita here. Insecure much? Your behaviour cannot, should not be tolerated in these forums.If you are calling me a dog, that goes to show how classy you can be because I can probably kick your ass with my qualifications. You better clean your mouth mister.

Calm down friend I understand what you think
emotion doesn't make good thing
We will explain that Thai student didn't respect nazi
There are nothing but only child play

Read my previous reply to my comment. I said, I blame the school administrators who let this happen, not the children.

xxxriainxxx

September 29th, 2011, 06:27 AM

Manila-X

September 29th, 2011, 06:33 AM

Your Fantasy series can land you in jail in countries that know their sense of world history including Germany, Poland and the rest of Europe where millions of interned Jewish people were gassed, experimented on, tortured, summarily shot and worked to death.

Your ignorance is appalling, we are not even talking about gdp per capita here. Insecure much? Your behaviour cannot, should not be tolerated in these forums.If you are calling me a dog, that goes to show how classy you can be because I can probably kick your ass with my qualifications. You better clean your mouth mister.

Read my previous reply to my comment. I said, I blame the school administrators who let this happen, not the children.

In fact Nazi related paraphernalia are banned in Germany.

OtAkAw

September 29th, 2011, 06:34 AM

^^@xxxrianxxx Our culture of pagiging "magiliw" can bring in the douches and the arseholes at times. It's a given, there will be the good ones, there will be the bad ones. It's what we get for being too welcoming.

nawat001

September 29th, 2011, 06:36 AM

RonnieR

September 29th, 2011, 06:40 AM

Ako lang ba ang nakakapansin na may specific na bansa na pag nagpopost dito parating defensive at mahina ang reading comprehension? Ilang beses na to nangyari, biglang dadami yan dito. While other ASEAN SSC members are welcome here, the friendliest folks that visit this thread are from Indonesia and then Malaysia.

Thais are friendly, too. I've visited their country for 11X or 12X. We have to understand that they have inherent limitation in the English language. Overall, if we can only communicate with them smoothly, they're like Filipinos, too. They easily smile and befriend you.

xxxriainxxx

September 29th, 2011, 06:40 AM

In fact Nazi related paraphernalia are banned in Germany.

Yes. And it should be banned in the Philippines too. I remember this one tourist who was arrested by doing the Nazi salute in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

^^@xxxrianxxx Our culture of pagiging "magiliw" can bring in the douches and the arseholes at times. It's a given, there will be the good ones, there will be the bad ones. It's what we get for being too welcoming.

May limit din ang pagiging magiliw. Yabang ng epal na yun ah, kala nya hindi he can just march in this thread and be rude and get away with it? Bastos talaga.

xxxriainxxx

September 29th, 2011, 06:43 AM

Thais are friendly, too. I've visited their country for 11X or 12X. We have to understand that they have inherent limitation in the English language. Overall, if we can only communicate with them smoothly, they're like Filipinos, too. They easily smile and befriend you.

I think that offensive comment was clear as day regardless of the language barrier. I noticed that earlier, they don't take to ANY criticisms too kindly.

Ah yes, that 'smile.'

FWIW, One of my long time best friends is from THA. Been friends with him since 1995.

Anyway, moving on.

patchay

September 29th, 2011, 07:42 AM

Any forms of Nazism is "indirectly" banned here too, even though there's no specific laws to deal with it but I guess people should have respect and sensitive to these kinda things..

Anyway let's move on guys...

Shell shuts Hydrocracker at Singapore as fire spreads
SEPTEMBER 29, 2011, 12:26 A.M. ET
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110929-700214.html

SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) has shut a hydrocracker unit at its 500,000-barrel-a-day refinery in Singapore as a precautionary measure after a fire broke out at the plant, the chairman of Shell Companies in Singapore said Wednesday.

At least six Shell firefighting staff suffered "superficial" injuries as the fire intensified late in the evening, and they were under observation, Lee Tzu Yang told reporters at a press conference. The fire was still burning, he said.

Pictures of the refinery fire in a local media website showed dark plumes of smoke billowing from the facility.

The giant refinery is Shell's largest globally and the incident could have a widespread impact on the regional oil markets if output is affected for a prolonged period. The refinery comprises nearly a third of the total processing capacity in the global oil storage and trading hub of Singapore. For now, the crude distillation units at the refinery were operating in a "stable state" and there was no damage to the hydrocracker, Yang said.

He said the company had sufficient inventories and the incident won't affect the gasoline and gasoil supplies in the City-State. If required Shell will seek volumes from its affiliates in the region to meet its wider supply commitments.

The fire broke out at about 1.15 local time at an open area in the refinery where several oil product pipelines are located, and intensified as firefighters tried to control the blaze.

"In the process of fighting the fire at the Pulau Bukom manufacturing site, it has spread," a spokeswoman for the company said in an emailed statement earlier.

The facility at Pulau Bukom is also home to an 800,000-ton ethylene cracker, which was also operating normally, Yang said.

Before news of the fire intensifying came out, several Singapore traders said its impact didn't appear to be serious for now. "Front spread was being offered by Shell, but it has gone to bid again. So maybe it's not too serious," a Singapore-based Western crude trader said.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), PetroChina's (PTR) Singapore Refining Co. and Shell each own and operate a refining complex in Singapore. The three refineries are capable of processing a combined 1.4 million barrels a day of crude oil.

-By Chee Yew Cheang and Gurdeep Singh, Dow Jones Newswires; 65-6415 4064; gurdeep.singh@dowjones.com

zeaza

September 29th, 2011, 08:10 AM

Your Fantasy series can land you in jail in countries that know their sense of world history including Germany, Poland and the rest of Europe where millions of interned Jewish people were gassed, experimented on, tortured, summarily shot and worked to death.

Your ignorance is appalling, we are not even talking about gdp per capita here. Insecure much? Your behaviour cannot, should not be tolerated in these forums.If you are calling me a dog, that goes to show how classy you can be because I can probably kick your ass with my qualifications. You better clean your mouth mister.

Read my previous reply to my comment. I said, I blame the school administrators who let this happen, not the children.

Okay, I think it is fine.:lol:
Thai people smile and is good with you always.
When you know about me, I do not have bad habits. The majority of Filipinos are friendly. From which I touch.
I'm just not happy with some comments.:ohno: And everyone loves their own country.

You understand ??? OK, bye-bye :nocrook:

froghat

September 29th, 2011, 08:18 AM

hurr burr, but they killed 6 million jews. And the american military killed 1 million filipinos and it seems like everyone is glorifying the american military now. :dunno:

Manila-X

September 29th, 2011, 08:19 AM

Again man, the past is past. We should move on.

xxxriainxxx

September 29th, 2011, 09:10 AM

Okay, I think it is fine.:lol:
Thai people smile and is good with you always.
When you know about me, I do not have bad habits. The majority of Filipinos are friendly. From which I touch.
I'm just not happy with some comments.:ohno: And everyone loves their own country.

You understand ??? OK, bye-bye :nocrook:

If you read my earlier comment I was directing my anger at the administrators of the school NOT at the children. The school admin should have known better being adults and educators at that.

On the other hand, how many Filipinos you have touched? :lol:

hurr burr, but they killed 6 million jews. And the american military killed 1 million filipinos and it seems like everyone is glorifying the american military now. :dunno:

Tu quoque?

Manila-X

September 29th, 2011, 10:16 AM

Philippines deports Vietnamese poachers
Agence France-Presse
8:26 am | Thursday, September 29th, 2011

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/14071/philippines-deports-vietnamese-poachers

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines said Wednesday it had begun deporting 122 Vietnamese fishermen arrested nearly four months ago for illegally fishing in local waters, but huge fines against them were waived.

They group was detained off the western Philippine island of Palawan on May 30 in what local police at the time called the largest single arrest of Vietnamese poachers in the area.

A court in Palawan convicted them of illegal fishing last month and fined them a total of $700,000, an immigration department statement said.

Seventy-seven of the group were deported over the past week after being held in a Palawan jail since their arrests, while the remaining 45 will be sent home as soon as their flights can be arranged, immigration chief Ricardo David said.

“They were placed in our blacklist of undesirable aliens, thus they are now banned from re-entering the Philippines,” David said.

However a court ruled they did not have to pay their fine because they did not have the money, the statement said.

The immigration department fined them a further P6.1 million ($140,400) for illegally entering the Philippines, but this was similarly waived.

Many Vietnamese and Chinese fishermen have in recent years been caught poaching in the bountiful waters off Palawan, in some cases for endangered species such as sea turtles.

The fishermen are typically deported even though they could face jail terms.

Manila-X

September 29th, 2011, 11:02 AM

Hey we are going off-topic here including myself!

How about we get back to ASEAN!

xxxriainxxx

September 29th, 2011, 11:06 AM

They were caught off Balabac. Insiders from the Philippine govt arent very happy about this. These poachers were caught with ships full of endangered marine animals stolen from Philippine waters.

Philippines deports Vietnamese poachers
Agence France-Presse
8:26 am | Thursday, September 29th, 2011

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/14071/philippines-deports-vietnamese-poachers

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines said Wednesday it had begun deporting 122 Vietnamese fishermen arrested nearly four months ago for illegally fishing in local waters, but huge fines against them were waived.

They group was detained off the western Philippine island of Palawan on May 30 in what local police at the time called the largest single arrest of Vietnamese poachers in the area.

A court in Palawan convicted them of illegal fishing last month and fined them a total of $700,000, an immigration department statement said.

Seventy-seven of the group were deported over the past week after being held in a Palawan jail since their arrests, while the remaining 45 will be sent home as soon as their flights can be arranged, immigration chief Ricardo David said.

“They were placed in our blacklist of undesirable aliens, thus they are now banned from re-entering the Philippines,” David said.

However a court ruled they did not have to pay their fine because they did not have the money, the statement said.

The immigration department fined them a further P6.1 million ($140,400) for illegally entering the Philippines, but this was similarly waived.

Many Vietnamese and Chinese fishermen have in recent years been caught poaching in the bountiful waters off Palawan, in some cases for endangered species such as sea turtles.

The fishermen are typically deported even though they could face jail terms.

Manila-X

September 29th, 2011, 11:09 AM

At least they get what they deserved!

xxxriainxxx

September 29th, 2011, 11:22 AM

At least they get what they deserved!

Deportation and the small time in prison is a slap in the wrist compared to the crime they committed against nature and the country. We should amend our laws to make environmental crimes like that punishable by harsher punishments.

RonnieR

September 29th, 2011, 11:35 AM

Hey we are going off-topic here including myself!

How about we get back to ASEAN!

I agree. Sensitive topics can really destroy the good camaraderie here. Let's refrain discussing sensitive issues esp. about the "past".

OtAkAw

September 29th, 2011, 12:20 PM

Philippines deports Vietnamese poachers
Agence France-Presse
8:26 am | Thursday, September 29th, 2011

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/14071/philippines-deports-vietnamese-poachers

This is appalling. I wonder if they are connected to the group responsible for the massive poaching of black corals and sea turtles months back. Or were those people Chinese?

xxxriainxxx

September 29th, 2011, 12:21 PM

This is appalling. I wonder if they are connected to the group responsible for the massive poaching of black corals and sea turtles months back. Or were those people Chinese?

It would not be surprising that those poachers are also connected with wildlife smugglers in Mainland ASEAN.

wino

September 29th, 2011, 06:41 PM

http://hronlineph.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/manila-bulletin-logo.jpg (http://www.mb.com.ph/)

ASEAN Immigration Lane Creation Pushed (http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/336110/asean-immigration-lane-creation-pushed)
September 29, 2011, 11:07pm

MANILA, Philippines — Creation of ASEAN Immigration Lane in every ASEAN country as among the proposed areas of collaboration to fully integrate the region as businesses operating in the region admitted to difficulties of meeting the 2015 deadline for the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community.

Santiago Uno, president of Saratoga Capital and a panelist of the “ASEAN 100 Leadership 2011,” has proposed the creation of an “ASEAN Lane” noting that it seems the region has more collaboration with EU countries and the US rather than within each other.

He expressed hopes that one day ASEAN residents can travel within the region without bringing their passport. There has been a special immigration lane for APEC businessmen but not an ASEAN lane.

Uno, an Indonesian, also noted there is more sense for giving a focus to the sub-regional grouping within ASEAN noting some difficulties towards a full ASEAN integration. He noted the different level of political maturity in each of the ASEAN country. He said that Indonesia has transformed into a democratic country, but there are still political concerns.

“There is hope for a strong ASEAN but we have to live with reality, which is not exactly the model that we wanted but this is one that works for ASEAN,” he said.

He cited the BIMP-EAGA as having more chances of faster economic integration than the entire ASEAN region.

“This makes a lot of sense because there have been lots of opportunities and similar businesses but the challenge is that most of these businesses are small and medium enterprises,” he said.

So there should be collaboration in terms of access to finance, technology and human resources. Uno added that sub-regional grouping businesses should also collaborate on coming up with one country product instead so as not to compete against each.

In addition, he suggested that ASEAN should tap the social networking sites as a form to solve fragmentation of the region and to foster faster collaboration. He noted that Indonesia has 34 million users of FaceBook making them the world’s second largest user of this social networking site.

He also cited the growth in the Philippines’ mobile phone market.

Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, chairman and CEO of Ayala Corp., has called for ASEAN countries to facilitate the harmonization of standards saying this is one area that is crucial towards full economic integration.

ASEAN businessmen, however, has cited the Philippines as the region’s leader in human resource capital development and could lead the region in the development of a knowledge industry.

“We have lots of commonalities in our culture,” Zobel said. (BCM)

Nabartek

September 29th, 2011, 08:54 PM

They were caught off Balabac. Insiders from the Philippine govt arent very happy about this. These poachers were caught with ships full of endangered marine animals stolen from Philippine waters.

Hindi kaya spy yan ng Viet navy? Alam naman natin na ang claim din nila sa Spratlys eh slightly watered down version lang ng China claim. Damay din EEZ ng ibang bansa at lumagpas sila sa EEZ nila :lol:

Arvor

September 30th, 2011, 04:29 AM

Well here in the EU there are special lanes for citizens of member states at airports and people can travel visa free and passport free but they need to at least have a national identity card if not a passport .

In any case not all EU member states are currently part of this "schengen zone" the name of the countries in the group, the best way for asean is to create such a group among the most compatible countries so perhaps 2 or 3 countries to start with and eventually enlarging the zone to incorporate other states as they become more compatible .

But it is probably premature as asean is nowhere near the necessary level of integration for open internal borders even i guess between a select few members or on a bilateral basis even .

patchay

September 30th, 2011, 04:48 AM

As they say, Human Talent from the Philippines is truly valued around the world.

My employer is going to the Philippines again.. for mass recruitment for Accounting/Financial/Engineering professionals. All positions will require a relocation to Kuala Lumpur and/or Dubai. Consulting positions will be based in Singapore.

Website >>> http://financialhub.slb.com/

http://www.jobstreet.com.my/jobs/2011/8/s/10/_pics/schlumberger1a_01.jpg

Schlumberger an oil and gas company has operated in Malaysia since 1935 during which time we have provided capital investment and funding for projects that support the development of Malaysia and its citizens. We have been committed to delivering technical excellence and high quality service to our clients through our investment in advanced technical facilities, the introduction of new technologies, and the sponsorship of educational programs designed to benefit local communities across the country.

Schlumberger has established a Financial Hub in Bandar Utama, Selangor as part of its global strategy to further enhance the quality of the financial support to the countries where it operates. The Financial Hub will support operations in Asia, Middle East, Africa and Europe. The newly centralized finance department has created a number of opportunities for you to increase your commercial exposure and realize the full spectrum of your profession.

Schlumberger Limited (NYSE: SLB) is the world's largest oilfield services company. Schlumberger employs over 115,000 people of more than 140 nationalities working in approximately 80 countries. Its principal offices are in Houston, Paris, and the Hague.

Management Accountant
(Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor State)

Responsibilities:
....

Requirements:
...

Only shorlisted candidates will be notified.

Work visa mulled for international post-grad students
TheStar | Tuesday September 27, 2011 MYT 1:44:00 PM
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/9/27/nation/20110927135623&sec=nation

RonnieR

September 30th, 2011, 04:55 AM

As they say, Human Talents from the Philippines is truly valued around the world.

My employer is going to the Philippines again.. for mass recruitment for Accounting/Financial professionals.

Website >>> http://financialhub.slb.com/

For Accountancy graduates, the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) board examinations is one of the more difficult government exams here. Evey year, an average of 5,000 examinees get the License. It is equivalent to your Chartered Accountant.

There are so many offshore companies that outsourced their Accountancy work in PH i.e. Citibank, Caltex (Chevron), Procter and Gamble, among others. BPOs like Accenture employs thousands of professionals here.

pau_p1

September 30th, 2011, 05:21 AM

wow I really hope in the future we see special lanes in our ports for ASEAN members... this will allow member country nationals an easy means to cross borders... and this would probably mean that overstaying nationals will no longer be deported to their home countries...

xxxriainxxx

September 30th, 2011, 05:38 AM

pau_p1

September 30th, 2011, 07:38 AM

Not gonna happen. What makes you think that?

well... simply if like for example the Philippines accepts the 'borderless' policy between other ASEAN nations where they can come in the Philippines without a passport/visa... if a Malaysian for example has already been overstaying... there's no need for him to be deported since by that time he can freely enter the country without any passport... right..

RonnieR

September 30th, 2011, 07:41 AM

^^I think passport is still required. I have read before that the number of days to stay for tourists might be extended and for working visa, it would be easier to process.

pau_p1

September 30th, 2011, 07:44 AM

I was thinking of like the setup in EU... a Belgian can cross to France or Germany without any document to present... and that was 'sort of' the goal of ASEAN... isn't it...

but of course if that would still require a document to be presented.. of course we can still track overstayers... and having the line for ASEAN member countries will be very good and friendly to neighbors...

RonnieR

September 30th, 2011, 07:46 AM

^^ Yes, I'm not sure how it's going to be implemented here and in Indonesia with thousands of islands.

xxxriainxxx

September 30th, 2011, 10:34 AM

well... simply if like for example the Philippines accepts the 'borderless' policy between other ASEAN nations where they can come in the Philippines without a passport/visa... if a Malaysian for example has already been overstaying... there's no need for him to be deported since by that time he can freely enter the country without any passport... right..

Yes, but before you can do that, ASEAN must be integrated further. Our economies are way too disparate, I don't think Singaporeans would like several Million Pinoys get stranded in Singapore...

^^I think passport is still required. I have read before that the number of days to stay for tourists might be extended and for working visa, it would be easier to process.

Yes, passport still required.

wino

September 30th, 2011, 11:47 AM

LOL i can imagine Singapore being flooded with ASEAN people.. OMG that will be chaotic for them! :lol:

pau_p1

September 30th, 2011, 11:51 AM

actually ngayon pa lang ang dami nang ASEAN people dito sa Singapore... hehehe... I agree sigurado iiyak ang government dito pag dinagsa sila ng mga neighbors na masmahihirap... ang pro lang sa kanila ehh.. maslalakas tourism nila sa pagkita ng mga hotel nila at nung mga may-ari ng HDB at condo dito na pwede magpa-rent...

patchay

September 30th, 2011, 04:07 PM

i think we will have a big problem too.. recently our govt started registering all illegal immigrants to put them back on the legal side. This will improve the overstaying situation.

Btw... our passport has a biometric feature (first in the world back in 1998). And initially we had alot of problems entering a foreign country (including Singapore :lol:) but now it's better and at most times, we don't have to stamp our passports whenever we go out of the country.

************************

Two-thirds of Thailand cabinet are millionaires

Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra is second richest minister with net assets worth £11m, reveals anti-corruption watchdog
Associated Press
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 28 September 2011 15.38 BST
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/28/thailand-cabinet-millionaires?newsfeed=true

Almost two-thirds of Thailand's cabinet are millionaires, with the prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, second on the rich list.

The national counter-corruption commission released the figures for the 36 ministers from asset declarations, which are mandatory for cabinet members.

Yingluck declared net assets of 541m baht (£11m), including seven Hermès handbags, with the most expensive one worth 350,000 baht.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/9/28/1317220161558/Yingluck-Shinawatra-007.jpg
Two-thirds of Thailand's cabinet are millionaires, including PM Yingluck Shinawatra, whose assets include seven Hermès handbags. Photograph: Xinhua/Corbis

She is the youngest sister of the former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a former telecoms tycoon whose fortune was estimated by Forbes magazine at $600m. He was ousted by a military coup in 2006 after being accused of corruption, and part of his fortune, once estimated at more than $2bn, was seized by Thai authorities.

The wealthiest in the cabinet is the science and technology minister, Plodprasop Suraswadi, with declared net assets worth 963.5m baht. He has spent much of his career in government service in areas related to natural resources, including as director of the fisheries and forestry departments.

Yingluck came to office in August after leading her pro-Thaksin Pheu Thai party to a landslide election victory. Her assets also include eight cars – the most expensive being a Porsche Cayman – and a residence with a football pitch.

Yingluck's predecessor as prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, declared assets worth 54.4m baht on leaving office, up from the 51.8m baht he declared when he came to power in December 2008.

Not sure whether this is good news or not.

Toshiba to sell Malaysian chip unit to Amkor
REUTERS | Fri Sep 30, 2011 7:41am EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/30/toshiba-amkor-idUSL3E7KU0H620110930

The Toshiba unit in Malaysia is the largest semiconductor assembly plant within the Toshiba Electronics Group. It is located in Banting in Selangor state.

* Deal to be finalized in January
* Deal expected to be about 6.2 bln yen

TOKYO, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Japan's Toshiba Corp , the world's No.3 chipmaker, said it will sell its Malaysian chip-assembly unit to Amkor Technology Inc as part of its push to consolidate chip operations.

U.S. chip packager Amkor, which counts Texas Instruments Inc and Xilinx Inc among its customers, agreed to buy Toshiba's wholly-owned unit Toshiba Electronics Malaysia that assembles power devices or chips that act as switches in power electronic circuits.

The deal, which is to be finalised in January, is currently expected to be about 6.2 billion yen ($80.7 million), excluding debt, Amkor said in a regulatory filing. The final deal price has not yet been determined.

Toshiba said it will expand output at its production base in Ishikawa Prefecture in northwestern Japan, and outsource assembly to the Malaysia plant.

The Japanese company competes with Infineon Technologies AG (IFXGn.DE) and STMicroelectronics NV , and with global leader Samsung Electronics in NAND flash memory chips that are used heavily in Apple's iPhone and iPad.

Shares in Toshiba were down 0.3 percent against a 1 percent drop in Tokyo's electrical machinery subindex . ($1 = 76.840 Japanese Yen)

Toshiba Electronics Malaysia

Toshiba Electronics (M) Sdn. Bhd. (TEM) was established in 1973 and has since been growing from strength to strength. Today, it is Toshiba's largest semi-conductor assembly plant in the world, with a monthly output of 200 million pieces and staff of 1,700.

Constant upgrading of the facilities and employee training has also earned TEM the ISO 14001 and ISO 9002. One of the key ingredients of TEM's success is its business strategy; Customer Satisfaction (CS) & Employee Satisfaction (ES).

(Reporting by Mayumi Negishi in Tokyo; additional reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in Bangalore; Editing by Chris Gallagher and Sayantani Ghosh)

I think Toshiba under Toshiba Tec Group has another facility in Penang. Infineon, Texas Instruments, STMicroelectronics and Samsung Electronics also have manufacturing facilities in the country.

RonnieR

September 30th, 2011, 05:00 PM

alheaine

September 30th, 2011, 05:24 PM

^^
that sounds great.. :okay: :yes:

wino

September 30th, 2011, 06:07 PM

You're right. Malaysia was the first country to issue biometric passport in 1998. At present, only these countries in ASEAN implemented the full use of biometric passports:

1. Brunei - since 2007
2. Indonesia - January 2011
3. Philippines - 2009
4. Thailand - 2005
5. Singapore - 2006

For the integration to be effective, all countries should have biometric passports.

what for? they're already planning for "passport-less lane" for ASEAN members..

Arvor

September 30th, 2011, 06:40 PM

Manila-X

October 1st, 2011, 07:17 AM

LOL i can imagine Singapore being flooded with ASEAN people.. OMG that will be chaotic for them! :lol:

That is why I rather go to HK.

3cr

October 1st, 2011, 08:27 AM

ASEAN: Strength in numbers
Business Mirror
http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/home/perspective/16964-strength-in-numbers

THE Philippines could become the ninth-largest economy in the world—but only if it integrates with the rest of the 10 countries—Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam—that make up the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or Asean.

United, the Asean economy is valued at at least $1.8 trillion—a little smaller than Brazil but larger than Russia, according Dato Timothy Ong, founder and chairman of Asia Inc. Forum and the convener of the Asean 100 forum.

Ong believes it is high time for the Asean to be integrated as an economic unit to become a more potent and stronger force in the global economic arena.

“In a globalizing world and with the rise of India and China, can Asean afford to be fragmented,” he said at a recent interview in Makati City. “If Asean is one, it’s going to be a more significant market and, at the same time, will be a force to reckon with.”

Indeed, economic integration is one of the hottest buzzwords of the global economy today.

The Asean has become a prominent figure in promoting bilateral and regional trading arrangements since 1997, starting with the Asean Plus Three process linking the 10-member bloc with China, South Korea and Japan.

Haruhiko Kuroda, president of Asian Development Bank, pointed out the importance of Asean in the global trading arena.

“Asean has become a manufacturing network for a wide range of products—from pharmaceuticals, automobiles and electronics to information-technology goods—and also produces high-end intermediate goods for final assembly elsewhere. Asean members have been major participants in the rapid expansion of free-trade agreements [FTAs] across Asia and the Pacific,” Kuroda said in one of his speeches.

Given its experience as a collegial body addressing common issues and concerns, the Asean can become an important vehicle for working toward a consolidation of FTAs into regionwide agreements. As synergies develop, it stands to gain as a community—as a center for expanding regionalism.

Asean 100

To push the momentum in promoting economic integration, the Asia Forum Inc. is organizing its Asean 100 Leadership Forum on September 28 and 29 in Makati City. Ong, a Brunei businessman, said the Asean 100 is a highly interactive meeting of minds of the most promising Southeast Asian next-generation leaders from business, government and civil society.

The forum will begin with a dinner address and dialogue with President Aquino, followed on the next day by thought-provoking discussions around a central theme of “One Asean,” led by key figures from the region and other parts of the world, including Federico Lopez, chief executive of First Philippine Holdings Corp., and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, chairman and chief executive of Ayala Corp.

Ong said some homegrown businesses will find the forum a useful platform for relationship building and regional outreach. This is manifested by the attendance of CEOs of highly respected corporations to at least two of the prior forums. The list includes AirAsia, the region’s largest low-cost airline; the Para Group, a top Indonesian diversified group; Top Glove Corp., a Malaysian rubber-glove manufacturer that produces 22 percent of the world’s rubber gloves; First Philippine Holdings Corp., a leading energy player in the country; Ayala Corp., one of the Philippines’ largest and oldest business houses; Ascendas, a regional provider of office-space solutions headquartered in Singapore; the Wangkanai Group, a Thai sugar conglomerate; and the Adinin Group, a leading oil-and-gas engineering company in Brunei, to name only a few.

As far as the Philippines is concerned, Ong said the Philippines has a very good potential to become a player in the economic integration of Asean.

“The Philippines has a sufficient corporate sector which can be classified as world-class like SM, Ayala, Jollibee and ICTSI [International Container Terminal Services Inc.]. I am happy to tell you that Jollibee is No. 1 in Brunei,” he said.

Furthermore, Ong said the Philippines has excellent human capital as proven by the deployment of millions of Filipino professionals around the world.

“However, the sad thing is that many Filipinos are forced to work abroad because of lack of opportunities in the Philippine economy,” he said.

Europe’s experience

According to Dr. Myrna Austria, vice chancellor for academics and full-time professor in economics at De La University-Manila, FTAs or regional trade agreements spur economic growth through increased specialization, greater trade, and the inclusion in a global value chain.

In her paper “Asean’s Extra Regional Linkages: Implications for an East Asian Economic Community,” Austria pointed out that it would be an advantage for the Asean to enter into formal arrangements because this also strengthens regional peace and security—which she said was the driving force behind the European integration.

Being at the center of two world wars, the Europeans know of their devastating effects such that after World War II the Europeans pushed with greater effort the formation of the Pan-Europa movement.

Austria believes that the China-Asean FTA should open the way of settling the current dispute over the Spratlys.

“In this regard, the insistence by Asean on accession by prospective partners to its Treaty of Amity and Cooperation is an important cornerstone in improving peace and security in the region,” Austria said.

“A formal arrangement should help countries either lock in domestic reforms or accelerate implementation of proposed reforms. International agreements can act as commitment mechanisms, providing policy-makers with the needed leverage to overcome domestic resistance to reforms. An FTA can also provide a government with credibility, thereby boosting domestic and foreign investment in the country,” added Austria.

An East Asian FTA will also make member-countries more conscious of the development gap in the region and might be the key to help neighboring countries stabilize and prosper for “altruistic purposes and get away from the effects of spillovers of unrest and population.” Austria said reducing the development gap will enhance the Asean, making it a more effective link between countries of Northeast Asia.

More important, Austria said an FTA will give the bloc a stronger political bargaining power because they’re sending the message they have banded together to pursue common interests.

And it is important for the Asean to ally with China, she stressed.

“Having China on its side will definitely enhance the political stature of Asean and vice-versa. One area that can be revived through advocacy by a China-Asean front is the reform of the international financial architecture. Efforts toward such measures were sidelined by indifference of the US Treasury,” she said.

The Philippine challenge

The Chinese experience, however, also proves that one can achieve economic growth without FTAs.

“The simple fact is that countries in East Asia which experienced high rates of economic growth did so without the benefit of an FTA. China was not even a signatory of GATT or an original member of the WTO. In other words, an FTA is not crucial to economic growth,” said Austria.

As such, Dr. Josef Yap, president of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, said the Philippines must first address its own development so it can be a formidable partner in any economic merger.

In his paper “Economic Integration and Regional Cooperation in East Asia: A Pragmatic View,” Yap said the Philippines has to shape up its economy.

“It should be emphasized that the impediments to faster economic growth are largely internal. For example, the study of the East Asian miracle points to four main factors: outward orientation, a modernized agriculture sector, bureaucratic efficiency and a relatively equitable distribution of income. Moreover, outward orientation by these countries was not achieved through joining an FTA,” Yap said.

“The Philippines is a clear example where unimpressive economic growth is largely due to internal factors. The disparity is largest when all 10 Asean member-countries are compared as a group. It can be observed that the disparity of the Asean+3 is lower than the Asean 10 and the coefficient of variation declines further when the lower income countries are not included,” he said.

Yap pointed out that developing economies, such as the Philippines, need to beef up their own capabilities—in terms of infrastructure technology and human-resource development—to maintain a competitive business environment and economic and social stability in order to capitalize on the benefits of liberalization.

Right now, he said, there’s much to be desired in the capabilities of the country. For instance, the poor quality of infrastructure of the country has been cited frequently by several business groups and think tanks as one of the main reasons investors shy away from the country.

On resource development, the Philippines has a lot of catching up to do as its educational system has experienced a drastic decline in standards, resulting in a large number of graduates who don’t have sufficient skills.

So while it is important to strengthen Asean, a special focus must be placed on narrowing the development gap among the member-countries—which will not be achieved by merely deepening regional economic integration.

“Direct interventions at the regional level are necessary and this will be difficult to accomplish without East Asian countries establishing political rapprochement,” Yap said.

On her part, Austria said developing a common framework is a challenge itself for the Asean given the different levels of development of the member- economies.

She said Asean must review its approach and position as the hub of bilateral trade deals in East Asia if it wants to play a major role in building the whole process toward the formation of the East Asian community.

“An ideal framework would be one that strengthens, rather than contradicts, the market forces known to drive economic integration of the region,” she said.

leofriends

October 1st, 2011, 09:31 AM

^^ and that will be called mission impossible.. :D

le Reine

October 1st, 2011, 09:50 AM

eonynx

October 1st, 2011, 10:45 AM

The EU system tho also includes along with the freedom of movement the freedom to study live and work in other member states freedom of movement for goods and services and so on this is also all part of the single market, so having visa free would be quite complicated at this stage for asean .

Asean needs to start with baby steps such as first trying to enact a free trade zone within it's area and progressively try to harmonise economic and other policies .

and when these things have been ironed out, integrated and smoothly operating for a number of years, perhaps, a single ASEAN currency can be considered. after all that, another possibility could be an ASEAN military alliance which, as a bloc, can unilaterally tackle military and security issues with pan ASEAN implications. that, i think, is a great long term counterpoint to china's growing military and security ambitions in the sea and oceanic lanes affecting ASEAN interests.

RonnieR

October 1st, 2011, 04:25 PM

I hope the Malaysian government will address this serious problem. Why are these Malaysian jihad fighters killing the Filipinos? What's their business here??? This is a serious and sensitive issue. These Malaysian jihad fighters should fight in their own country, not in PH. :bash:

4 Malaysians among gunmen in clash with gov’t forces in Sulu
By Julie Alipala and Germelina Lacorte
Inquirer Mindanao
6:24 pm | Friday, September 30th, 2011
3 share44 38

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines—At least four Malaysians were among the gunmen, including former members of the Moro National Liberation Front, that figured in a clash with government forces in Talipao, Sulu, last Sunday, a junior Marine officer who survived the battle said.

In fact, one of the Malaysians was killed in the two-hour firefight, in which 15 people, including two soldiers, were killed, according to Second Lieutenant Arnel Arieta, executive officer of the 30th Marine Company.

“There were four Malaysians,” he said, citing a local a source.

He said the information about the death of one of the foreigners was corroborated by a village official.

Rommel Banlaoi, chair of the Philippines Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research, said the information about the presence of Malaysians in Talipao was correct.

“The presence of Malaysian jihadists in Sulu is true. Around 30 Malaysian jihadists are in Talipao, some are in Barangay Bato Kabang,” Banlaoi told the Inquirer by phone.

Brigadier General Romeo Tanalgo, chief of Task Force Sulu Island, said they received reports that there were Malaysians during the attack staged by the combined force of former MNLF guerrillas and Abu Sayyaf terrorists under Hatib Zacaria in Barangay Kabungcol but they were still verifying the information.

“We have not actually seen any of them,” he said.

Colonel Jose Johriel Cenabre, deputy commander for Marine Operations of the Naval Forces in Western Mindanao, also made a similar statement. But he admitted that one of the 13 attackers killed in the ensuing firefight “did not appear to be a Filipino.”

Sonny Abing, spokesperson of the Sulu provincial government, said five of the 13 slain gunmen had already been identified by relatives and were buried in Barangay Busbus in Jolo on Monday.

“We are still coordinating with our ACC (Area Coordinating Center) officials if there was indeed a Malaysian among the dead,” Abing said.

Cenabre said the Task Force Sulu had identified six of the slain men as Salip Jainal, Crispin Sanadji, Innu Sadjari, Alsid Bassir, Akman Badda and Bassar Abbur.

“Seven others remained unidentified, including the foreign-looking guy,” he said.

Singapore-based security expert Rohan Gunarathna had said the presence of foreigners in Sulu was an indication of a merger between the Abu Sayyaf and the Jemaah Islamiyah.

Cenabre said also that the “the attack last Sunday could be an indication” of a merger.

Tanalgo agreed but added that the extent of the merger was still undetermined.

Rear Adm. Alexander Pama, Philippine commander, said as far as he was concerned, there was only a tactical alliance between the Abu Sayyaf and the JI. He said the merger theory was not totally acceptable.

“I may not totally accept that, the dynamics of both JI and ASG. There seems to be some aspects of the doctrines of both groups that may not be necessarily congruent. They have some tactical alliances, but fusion or merging of the group, it leaves a lot of debate,” Pama said.

Banlaoi said he did not agree with the merger report, “but I subscribe to the view that ASG and JI personalities in Mindanao are working closely together.”

Ustadz Murshi Ibrahim, MNLF secretary general, said the group that stormed the Marine base in Talipao was known as Awliyah, whose followers supposedly practice Sufism and mysticism.

“The MNLF leadership considered it (Awliyah) an ill-fated adventurism to drag the peace agreement between the MNLF and GPH as witnessed by OIC into a state of uncertainty,” Ibrahim said.

The Talipao attack was the first staged by the group.

A day after the Talipao attack, five people were also killed in Sumisip, Basilan, when members of the two groups joined together, according to Brig. Gen. Gerardo Layug, deputy chief of the Western Mindanao Command.

But Chief Supt. Felicisimo Khu, head of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in Western Mindanao, said the Basilan killings were fueled by a long-standing family feud and had nothing to do with terrorism.

Ibrahim said the formation of the Awliyah was an indication of some people’s growing impatience with the government’s failure to fully implement the 1996 peace accord with the MNLF.

“Observers said it (the Awliyah attack) was an obvious protest against the government’s flagrant failure to comply with its international commitment to implement the peace agreement in letter and in spirit,” he said.

He said the government’s failure to fully implement the peace deal was the main reason “there is no final resolution yet to the problem in Mindanao.”

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/14237/4-malaysians-among-gunmen-in-clash-with-gov%E2%80%99t-forces-in-sulu

patchay

October 1st, 2011, 04:35 PM

RonnieR

October 1st, 2011, 04:42 PM

I don't think these jihad terrorists would ever dare to fight here or even step foot here. For the record, we never had a major clash/war/bloodshed since the racial riot of 1969.

Here are reasons why >>> http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/blogs/singapore-diaries/2011/07/21/top-ten-reasons-why-terrorists-will-never-succeed-in-attacking-malaysia/ :lol: :lol:

Malaysians don't even dare to go to the streets to demonstrate peacefully for fear of being arrested and sprayed with Water and Tear Gas. A simple rally will make the police closed off the entire city.

Have a good laugh. :cheers:

That would infuriate more Filipinos if it is really confirmed that Malaysians are killing the Filipinos! Remember, your government is brokering the peace talks with MILF. How would you feel if the Filipinos would kill the Malaysians? Can you still have a good laugh?

Be sensitive patchay. The Malaysians are aiding or killing the Filipinos in the South based on the report. This is no laughing matter.

patchay

October 1st, 2011, 04:54 PM

That would infuriate more Filipinos if it is really confirmed that Malaysians are killing the Filipinos! Remember, your government is brokering the peace talks with MILF. How would you feel if the Filipinos would kill the Malaysians? Can you still have a good laugh?

Be sensitive patchay. The Malaysians are aiding or killing the Filipinos in the South based on the report. This is no laughing matter.

Not sure about that brokering thing because it is rarely or perhaps never reported here. Everyday our news is filled with domestic gutter politics, so I guess no time to report about elsewhere.

And as a non-Muslim here, I can't comment much about Muslim Malaysians (where most of the terrorists are) because we are of different religions, different society, different mindset and agenda, etc. (in Malaysia it's better not to talk about things related to Islam and our Muslim brothers)

Good news is we are on our way to change the Govt and/or the Govt liberalises itself. (some politicians here support some people with links to terrorism but I guess this is quite normal as for many radicals they don't see it wrong)

God bless those who were killed by the terrorists.

(btw funny is our media instead of putting more focus on Asean news, they have put up a section for China only :ohno:)

***********************

2nd typhoon in week lashes rain-soaked Philippines
By OLIVER TEVES, Associated Press – 1 day ago
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jVZodG_7DVBIIAgA0f9Sxx1ZzpWg?docId=6c39858ea53c448981a499ceda155e5e

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The second typhoon in a week battered the rain-soaked northern Philippines on Saturday, adding misery to thousands of people, some of whom still perched on rooftops while several other Asian nations also reeled from flooding.

Typhoon Nalgae slammed ashore midmorning Saturday south of northeastern Palanan Bay in Isabela province with winds of 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour and dangerous gusts of 121 mph (195 kph).

It was making a similar path across the saturated Luzon Island as Typhoon Nesat, which earlier in the week killed at least 50 people, left 31 missing and thousands stranded and sent huge waves that breached a seawall in Manila Bay. Nesat also pummeled southern China and was downgraded to a tropical storm just before churning into northern Vietnam on Friday afternoon, where flood warnings were issued and 20,000 people evacuated.

In the Philippines, nearly 400,000 hunkered down in evacuation centers and in homes of relatives and friends along the new typhoon's path with heavy rainfall of about an inch (25 millimeters) an hour within the storm's 340-mile (630-kilometer) diameter that put most of the northern provinces including the capital on alert.

Isabela authorities earlier shut down electricity in the province to prevent accidents from falling power pylons and snapped cables.

The howling winds toppled trees and blew away tin roofs of some houses in Isabela's provincial capital of Ilagan. In nearby Luna township, a bus with about 30 passengers fell on its side on a rice field because of the strong winds, but no one was seriously injured, police said.

"The ground is still supersaturated and it cannot absorb more water," said Graciano Yumul, the Philippines' weather bureau chief. "This will just flow down to rivers and towns, and there is a big possibility that landslides, flash flooding and flooding could occur."

He urged residents still refusing to leave their homes despite the floods to evacuate because the water was going to rise in the coming hours as Typhoon Nalgae dumped more rain.

At least five towns in the rice-growing province of Bulacan and Pampanga, north of Manila, remained submerged three days after Typhoon Nesat had moved on.

"We have nowhere to go," Celenia Espino of Calumpit township said from her home, which was filled with knee-deep murky water. "We have no means of transportation out of here."

She was one of the thousands who sought shelter on rooftops with no food, water and electricity, while a procession of other residents waded in chest-deep water down main roads to reach dry land.

In the last four months, prolonged monsoon flooding, typhoon and storms across Southeast Asia, China, Japan and South Asia has left more than 600 people dead or missing. :ohno: :ohno:

In India alone, the damage is estimated to be worth $1 billion, with the worst-hit state of Orissa accounting for $726 million.

Several studies suggest an intensification of the Asian summer monsoon rainfall with increased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, the state-run Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology said. Still, it is not clear that this is entirely because of climate change, especially in India, it said.

The damage from the earlier typhoon in the Philippines was estimated at $91 million.

Nalgae, a Korean word for wing, was forecast to reach Luzon's western shore Saturday evening and exit into the South China Sea as a weakened category-1 typhoon as it moves toward China's Hainan Island on Monday.

Associated Press writers Hrvoje Hranjski in Manila, Tran Van Minh in Hanoi, Kelvin Chan in Hong Kong, Katy Daigle and Ashok Sharma in New Delhi and Thanyarat Doksone in Bangkok contributed to this report.

OMG never thought it was sooo serious....

Hard lessons for Vietnam as property slumps
By John Ruwitch and Tran Le Thuy
Reuters September 30, 2011
Photograph by: KHAM, REUTERS
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Hard+lessons+Vietnam+property+slumps/5482964/story.html

HANOI – Like many hoping for easy cash in Vietnam’s property market, Nguyen Thu Huong borrowed 500 million dong ($24,000) from a bank in April to buy a new flat she didn’t need and planned to flip. The only question, she thought, was how big the profit would be.

Five months later, she is lucky if she can sell it at all.

Vietnam’s real-estate market has stalled, beset by soaring inflation, sky-high interest rates and sharp lending curbs. Developers are halting projects or delaying new ones. Prices have fallen from dizzying heights in 2006 and 2007 and brokers are bracing for more losses ahead.

“The real estate market is at its ugliest ever,” said Doan Nguyen Duc, chairman of Hoang Anh Gia Lai Joint Stock Co. and one of Vietnam’s best-known property millionaires.

“I expect the market to continue to fall much deeper.”

Rewind just four years and speculators were lining up to buy condos as developers built entire communities in one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, stirring hope the Communist-run country of nearly 90 million people would soon enter a new era of prosperity.

Now, empty office towers and concrete shells of apartment complexes rise half empty from congested streets, threatening segments of the banking sector, where about 10 per cent of bad debts are officially listed as property-related. :ohno:

The actual amount may be higher and untold billions of dollars in other loans have property as collateral.

The slowdown will probably complicate an economic recovery that many economists had hoped was finally turning a corner after nearly a year of double-digit inflation.

“My fear is that we’ve had the collapse of the housing market but we haven’t had the Lehman Brothers yet,” said Jonathan Pincus, Dean of the Fulbright Economics Teaching Programme in Ho Chi Minh City, referring to the September 2008 collapse of the once-mighty U.S. investment house.

Huong and other consumers are learning the hard way that property prices can move in both directions, even in Vietnam.

“We could have sold the flat immediately for a 200 million dong ($9,600) profit but we hoped to get 500 million dong ($24,000) by waiting a few months,” said Huong, who works in Hanoi at a government agency involved in the real-estate sector.

Meanwhile, she keeps doling out 7.5 million dong ($360) a month in interest, a large sum in a country where the average annual income is about $1,100. A second instalment of 500 million dong is due soon.

“I can’t afford to make the payments any more,” she said.

STARVED FOR CAPITAL

Developers are feeling the pain, too.

In its campaign to tame Asia’s highest inflation, the State Bank of Vietnam, the central bank, this year hiked interest rates and ordered banks to limit their level of debt in “non-productive” sectors, including property, to 16 per cent of all loans by year-end.

That effectively dammed a river of cash that had become the lifeblood of many property developers, as demand fell and advance payments from customers dried up.

When the market boomed, developers sourced about 20 per cent of their cash from bank financing and 80 per cent from advanced payments. But that ratio had flipped by 2010, said Nguyen Xuan Thanh, a fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and head of the public policy programme at the Fulbright School.

“Basically these developers cannot sell,” he said.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai, or HAGL, one of the country’s biggest diversified conglomerates, anchored by a large property development business, is one example.

After becoming in March the first Vietnamese firm to list on the London Stock Exchange, it reported negative earnings before interest and tax in the second quarter of this year after several consecutive quarters in the black.

The firm, strong in mid-end residential property in the bustling commercial capital of Ho Chi Minh City, has been “hard hit” by the property downturn and was delaying at least three projects, the brokerage Saigon Securities Inc. said in a report.

HAGL has decided to shift away from its reliance on property. In 2010, it derived 90 per cent of its income from the sector. By 2014, that will be 20 per cent, said Duc, the chairman.

“There won’t ever be a golden age for real estate like in 2007,” he said, when margins were a “ghastly” 200-300 per cent.

Peter Ryder, chief executive of Indochina Capital, which manages three private, closed-ended real-estate funds with more than $2 billion of projects under management and development in Vietnam, said distressed investment opportunities were starting to appear.

“Either they can’t get additional money from the banks because banks have been told ‘no more money for real estate,’ or they can’t afford to pay the interest rate on new loans, let alone existing debt that’s in place,” he said.

UNREASONABLE

In the past four years, credit growth averaged 35 per cent a year. That added almost $100 billion in new credit, almost equal to the country’s 2010 economic output. It also inflated Vietnam’s credit-to-GDP ratio to a high 125 per cent, the Asian Development Bank says. Non-performing loans also rose. :ohno:

At the end of last year, the central bank reported the non-performing loan ratio at 2.16 per cent. Two weeks ago, it said the rate by July was 3.04 per cent – an increase of more than 40 per cent. Central bank governor Nguyen Van Binh said the rate could hit five per cent by year’s end.

Credit-ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service said on Sept. 1 it believed Vietnam bank asset quality to be “far worse” than officially reported.

Analysts agree and some say the true figure may be higher.

Real estate is only one part of the bad-debt picture. Inefficient, indebted state-owned enterprises such as the near bankrupt shipbuilder Vinashin continue to rack up hefty losses.

But after a speculative boom that inflated prices to what HAGL’s Duc called “unreasonable” levels and led many SOEs to set up real-estate arms, property loans may be the most toxic.

The National Financial Supervisory Committee, which advises the government, was quoted in the Saigon Economic Times on Sept. 19 as saying about half of all non-performing loans may have to be written off, with real-estate loans making up the bulk.

Most at risk are a handful of small banks. The biggest banks have relatively low exposure to real estate, averaging around 10 per cent.

Many small banks have 30-40 per cent of their loan books in property, and some even have more than 50 per cent, a state newspaper quoted Le Xuan Nghia, vice-chairman of the National Financial Supervisory Committee, as saying this week.

No bank has been singled out as in trouble but those with real-estate developers as major stakeholders are being watched closely. They had channelled vast quantities of capital into property projects under various guises.

State media say some big banks have overall bad-debt ratios above the average. At the biggest bank, Agribank, for instance, it is 6.67 per cent, most of which Chairman Nguyen Ngoc Bao says is in real estate, VnExpress.vn reported.

HOUSE OF CARDS

But two issues compound concerns about the problem: an acute lack of transparency and the open secret that many banks will do just about anything to suppress their bad debt ratios.

If banks fail to meet the central bank’s 16-per-cent target for “non-productive” sector loans, they will see their capital adequacy requirements doubled and they will be barred from opening new branches.

Knowing they can’t reach the targets legitimately, analysts suspect some banks are creatively rolling over or recategorizing an unknown quantity of Vietnam’s real-estate debt.

“We think the banks are mortally afraid to call in bad debt because they have to report it and they don’t have the money to increase their capital adequacy ratios,” said one seasoned Vietnam property agent who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue.

“Nobody wants to tell the truth because then the whole house of cards falls.”

One trick that emerged last year is to disguise real-estate loans as corporate bonds, Thanh said.

“It happens with a lot of major real-estate developers,” he said, adding that it was impossible to know the magnitude of the fudging because all are done as private placement bonds.

In late August, a report by Crédit Suisse outlined risks to the corporate and banking sectors and came to this conclusion in a note to potential investors: “We recommend avoiding financial services and property as these sectors are at the heart of Vietnam’s critical debt levels.”

The central bank is working on a solution. It has plans to help 10 small banks with liquidity problems, although none have been named publicly, and is openly discussing possible mergers.

“The danger is that if the government cannot force the banks to restructure, or at least to recover as much as possible from their bad debt, then there will be a problem. There will be fiscal implications for the government because politically they cannot let the banks fail,” Thanh said.

“They still can somehow fix the problem, but they have to do it now.”

RonnieR

October 1st, 2011, 05:31 PM

Not sure about that brokering thing because it is rarely or perhaps never reported here. Everyday our news is filled with domestic gutter politics, so I guess no time to report about elsewhere.

And as a non-Muslim here, I can't comment much about Muslim Malaysians (where most of the terrorists are) because we are of different religions, different society, different mindset and agenda, etc. (in Malaysia it's better not to talk about things related to Islam and our Muslim brothers)

Good news is we are on our way to change the Govt and/or the Govt liberalises itself. (some politicians here support some people with links to terrorism but I guess this is quite normal as for many radicals they don't see it wrong)

God bless those who were killed by the terrorists.

(btw funny is our media instead of putting more focus on Asean news, they have put up a section for China only :ohno:)

The conflict with MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) remains a thorny issue here. Peace talk is somewhat stalled due to earlier demand by the Moslems of a "sub-state" however, our constitution does not allow that.

As you know, 90% of PH population professed to Catholicism and Christianity combined. 5% Islam and the other 5% belong to Buddhism and others. It is a sensitive issue here as the current government is finding ways to attain peace in the restive Southern Mindanao. I understand your point on terrorism.

I was contemplating if the problem of Thailand's insurgency in the South has something to do with Jemaah Islamiyah. Reports of bombings, violence, killings continue to hound in that area, too.

It was reported that the dreaded Abu Sayyaf joined forces with Jemaah Islamiyah.

Lastly, since you commented about racial riots, PH did not have racial riots in our history. On top of the regular crimes, killings were mostly political and from terrorism.

wino

October 1st, 2011, 07:11 PM

I don't think these jihad terrorists would ever dare to fight here or even step foot here. For the record, we never had a major clash/war/bloodshed since the racial riot of 1969.

Here are reasons why >>> http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/blogs/singapore-diaries/2011/07/21/top-ten-reasons-why-terrorists-will-never-succeed-in-attacking-malaysia/ :lol: :lol:

Malaysians don't even dare to go to the streets to demonstrate peacefully for fear of being arrested and sprayed with Water and Tear Gas. A simple, peaceful, democratic rally will make the police close off the entire city and arrest thousands of citizens.

Have a good laugh. :cheers:

who cares about "what's NOT happening in Malaysia"

we are more concerned on what's happening on Southern Philippines.
let's go back to the question
"Why are these Malaysians TERRORIZING the Philippines?"

Malaysia as good neighbor, as a trusted ASEAN member, as a Diplomatic country SHOULD ADDRESS this issue.
otherwise, their image as a PEACE FACILITATOR becomes shadier and shadier by the moment...

Skyprince

October 1st, 2011, 07:48 PM

patchay

October 2nd, 2011, 04:11 AM

If you ask me, I also don't know . How did these people escape to Sulu /Southern Philippines need explanation. From where they got arms and they are recruited by whom ?
Why the need to have "peace brokers"- is it even neccessary ? Also, their region is among the least developed in entire Philippines, so their equipment supposed to be weak and easily defeatable but why it's hard for Filipino army to handle them ?

Many things are not explained, here :(

Actually it amazes me as well why they are not defeatable after so many decades?

Forget about the peace brokering. Philippines should just ignore the peace negotiator - that is Malaysia.

Remember no other country can help you, unless you do and help yourself first. ASEAN as a whole does not care also, as we have too many other more important issues.

The Philippines Army should defeat those terrorists now, and if they are Malaysians, capture them and trial them in your Courts according to your Law as they are criminals on your Land. All Malaysia can do is to cooperate with the Philippines to Stop them from coming home, thus containing them within that area.

If I'm not wrong, they are all on Mindanao Islands.

kenken94

October 2nd, 2011, 04:22 AM

Larry Legend

October 2nd, 2011, 05:26 AM

Mercato

October 2nd, 2011, 05:32 AM

Nevertheless, I couldn't agree more with the 3 previous posts. If indeed the rebels have J.I. or A.Q. as a source of arms and funds, why we also have the United States.

It all comes full circle to where the buck really stops, it stops at all Philippine administrations and their bunch of generals. The fighting never stops because there is no political will at the top for the civilian side to address local grievances and develop the South. And there is no professional will on the military side to achieve a clear victory despite heavy assistance from the United States. I don't believe they really intend on winning but only prolonging the war. The top brass makes money only if the fighting continues. The military business establishment thrives on war, why would they want to stop it?

Ordinary foot soldiers are mere cannon fodder and expendable, just as their rebel counterparts are. They are all pawns in this cute little Philippine chessgame. The elite Kings and Queens merely buy houses in California.

Skyprince

October 2nd, 2011, 05:35 AM

@Skyprince/Patchay: The Muslim secessionist groups of the Philippines may come from the under-developed region of the country but they are supported and funded by other Muslim groups from outside the country. Hence, their weapons and equipment is even far advanced than the Philippine Military's.

^^ Okay, but funded by which Muslim group, exactly ? And from which country ? Any proof ?

How did the fund & weapon penetrate thru Philippine port of entry easily, without any checks by customs/immigration etc ? :dunno:

Strange, just strange.

xxxriainxxx

October 2nd, 2011, 05:57 AM

OMG never thought it was sooo serious....

Hard lessons for Vietnam as property slumps
By John Ruwitch and Tran Le Thuy
Reuters September 30, 2011
Photograph by: KHAM, REUTERS
http://www.montrealgazette.com/busin...964/story.html

I told everyone so, but a lot of people here did not believe me. Trust me, it just isn't property. Unless VN asks to defer the compliance with the WTO requirements next year, VN will be in a clusterf*ck and ASEAN will reel from the effects.

xxxriainxxx

October 2nd, 2011, 06:02 AM

^^ Okay, but funded by which Muslim group, exactly ? And from which country ? Any proof ?

How did the fund & weapon penetrate thru Philippine port of entry easily, without any checks by customs/immigration etc ? :dunno:

Strange, just strange.

The borders between Malaysia and the Philippines mate. That's a no-brainer, that border is more porous than Spongebob. Large scale smuggling (weapons, drugs, people, counterfeit goods - back then and to a certain extent now, most of the pirated items like DVDs sold in the Philippines come from Malaysia.) and trafficking goes through that border. Another point of entry normally for smuggling endangered wildlife is through the Sangihe Islands of Indonesia which is very close to Sarangani in Mindanao.

Larry Legend

October 2nd, 2011, 06:28 AM

^^ Okay, but funded by which Muslim group, exactly ? And from which country ? Any proof ?

How did the fund & weapon penetrate thru Philippine port of entry easily, without any checks by customs/immigration etc ? :dunno:

Strange, just strange.

Obviously they were smuggled into the country. Let's not be naive here. These are lawless elements we're talking about. If a foreign Muslim group, or any weapons smuggler, would provide weapons to our local rebels it will not pass thru customs. And the Philippines is an archipelago surrounded by water that doesn't share land borders with any country. This makes patrolling our borders difficult.

patchay

October 2nd, 2011, 06:34 AM

Skyprince

October 2nd, 2011, 06:41 AM

The borders between Malaysia and the Philippines mate. That's a no-brainer, that border is more porous than Spongebob. Large scale smuggling (weapons, drugs, people, counterfeit goods - back then and to a certain extent now, most of the pirated items like DVDs sold in the Philippines come from Malaysia.) and trafficking goes through that border. Another point of entry normally for smuggling endangered wildlife is through the Sangihe Islands of Indonesia which is very close to Sarangani in Mindanao.

Obviously they were smuggled into the country. Let's not be naive here. These are lawless elements we're talking about. If a foreign Muslim group, or any weapons smuggler, would provide weapons to our local rebels it will not pass thru customs. And the Philippines is an archipelago surrounded by water that doesn't share land borders with any country. This makes patrolling our borders difficult.

But where's the proof then ?

You are saying this, while Mercato is saying another. Which one is correct ?

Skyprince

October 2nd, 2011, 06:45 AM

xxxriainxxx

October 2nd, 2011, 06:54 AM

But where's the proof then ?

You are saying this, while Mercato is saying another. Which one is correct ?

How do you think the ASG were able to come in and raid Sipadan in 2000 and get away with it?

http://books.google.com/books?id=VZBMJcU5YWIC&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&dq=smuggling+in+the+southern+philippines+malaysia&source=bl&ots=StIccCIfzj&sig=LNeplwQe1V30sOsnLYUp2XUV_7o&hl=en&ei=qu6HTsGlJa2wiQfv2J2mDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEEQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=smuggling%20in%20the%20southern%20philippines%20malaysia&f=false

http://www.asean-wen.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=98:malaysian-police-seize-smuggled-turtle-eggs&catid=61:highlight-stories&Itemid=60

RonnieR

October 2nd, 2011, 06:55 AM

^^ MILF is not our only problem. We still have the CPP, NPA and NDF on the rural areas of the country. They use both, legal and armed means of pushing their propaganda. And what they want is worse than what the Muslims want. They want to topple the Philippine Government and turn the Philippines into a communist state.

NDF/CPP/NPA belong to one group. The NPA is the armed group of CPP which is under the National Democratic Front. Their dream to turn this country into communist state will remain a dream. They could have done this during the peak of uncertainties of the country during Marcos regime where they had 26,000 fighters. Now that the country is politically stable and economically stronger, the NDF/CPP engages in PEACE TALKS. They have difficulty in finding new recruits and their NPAs resort to extortion due to lack of support. Membership: 5,000.

RonnieR

October 2nd, 2011, 07:02 AM

^^ Okay, but funded by which Muslim group, exactly ? And from which country ? Any proof ?

How did the fund & weapon penetrate thru Philippine port of entry easily, without any checks by customs/immigration etc ? :dunno:

Strange, just strange.

Based on reports from government, the funds came from Al Qaeda. They were able to cut some of the funding. PH government was able to secure support from Middle East countries to cut the funding for the terrorists. i.e. Syria, Saudi Arabia. Due to insufficient funding from abroad, the Abu Sayyaf resorted to kidnapping. These terrorists also received funds from JI, which unfortunately, is based in Malaysia. The leaders were also Malaysians. Remember those bombings in Jakarta? The Indonesians were angry at Malaysia because the terrorists were from your country. I don't want this to happen here, as so many forces can intervene and blow this issue.

I told everyone so, but a lot of people here did not believe me. Trust me, it just isn't property. Unless VN asks to defer the compliance with the WTO requirements next year, VN will be in a clusterf*ck and ASEAN will reel from the effects.

Vietnam's Debt to GDP ratio of 125% is unhealthy. PH's ratio is 28%, and our real estate sector continues to enjoy the boom. Thanks mainly to BPO companies, the construction boom of office towers is sustained.

nawat001

October 2nd, 2011, 07:04 AM

Seem like Philippines is very similar to Thailand
Terrorist in southern is main problem

Larry Legend

October 2nd, 2011, 07:05 AM

But where's the proof then ?

You are saying this, while Mercato is saying another. Which one is correct ?

Both are correct unfortunately. Yes, our Muslim rebels get funded by foreign "Muslim freedom-fighters" and while the USA is also helping our military, our government lacks the political will to truly resolve this problem. Personally, I supported the stance of our former president ERAP when he declare "All OUt War" against the MILF back in 2000. This led to the capture of Camp Abubakar, the cherry-on-top of which was the symbolic eating of the lechon by Erap with the victorious soldiers inside the camp. :lol: (not intentional though according to the government).

Unfortunately, change of governments also bring along change in policies and GMA softened the government stance against the rebels. Now, PNoy has continued with the peace talks even if his MILF counterpart has rejected the government offer and virtually slapped him in the face with their hardline insistence for a Muslim 'sub-state'.

xxxriainxxx

October 2nd, 2011, 07:06 AM

xxxriainxxx

October 2nd, 2011, 07:07 AM

Seem like Philippines is very similar to Thailand
Terrorist in southern is main problem

Yes. The south of Thailand and the south of the Philippines is under JI's claim of a super state they want to establish.

RonnieR

October 2nd, 2011, 07:14 AM

Seem like Philippines is very similar to Thailand
Terrorist in southern is main problem

hi nawat001: We have a common problem. Southern Thailand's border is Malaysia and there is this Moslem insurgency while Philippines' southern part has a similar problem with Moslem rebels with support from Malaysian based Jemaah Islamiyah.

Common denominator: Malaysia. Well, I do not believe that the Malaysian government supports the JI or Moslem rebels in Thailand and Philippines. However, with the draconian law such as ISA in Malaysia, I just hope that they can help our problem in the South. How? Stop or prevent these Malaysian terrorists in spreading the violence in the South.

Skyprince

October 2nd, 2011, 07:16 AM

Based on reports from government, the funds came from Al Qaeda. They were able to cut some of the funding. PH government was able to secure support from Middle East countries to cut the funding for the terrorists. i.e. Syria, Saudi Arabia. Due to insufficient funding from abroad, the Abu Sayyaf resorted to kidnapping. These terrorists also received funds from JI, which unfortunately, is based in Malaysia. The leaders were also Malaysians. Remember those bombings in Jakarta? The Indonesians were angry at Malaysia because the terrorists were from your country. I don't want this to happen here, as so many forces can intervene and blow this issue.

.

Emm Ph government may claim that, but is that 100% true ? What if Mercato described is true ?

Why should Saudi Arabia or Syria fund MILF ? And how do they fund, via bank accounts or by ships ? If they fund via bank acccount then which bank and what's the account number ? Seriously, we need all these details. Your government do not need to "ask them" to cut their funding ( what a nice thing to say ??), because logically thinking your government should STOP the funding altogether . It has been ongoing for almost 3 decades since the formation of MILF. So I think the main question is, why your government cannot handle this "simple" matter , quickly ?

You are saying JI is based in Malaysia- where , exactly ? Do you have proof bro ?

About Malaysians participating in JI- I really don't know- such activity knows no national boundaries. In almost every country there are good majority population and a handful of very bad elements. Media can report anything, but we don't know the reality.

RonnieR

October 2nd, 2011, 07:17 AM

Yes. The south of Thailand and the south of the Philippines is under JI's claim of a super state they want to establish.

That is their main objective: to establish Islamic State. Thailand is Buddhist country while PH is mainly a Christian country. I don't believe that this thing will happen in our lifetime.

patchay

October 2nd, 2011, 07:21 AM

Actually what is the agenda of these separatists? Our communism era is decades over already given China has opened up. Al Qaeda is more or less over too with the "bye2" of Osama. JI head AbuBakar is also a "bye2". We must be very fortunate as clashes and bombings like those in southern Thai n Phil never really happened here. Even typhoons, earthquakes, air crash, ferry capsize, etc is quite rare. But Msia has one of the worlds highest road accident ratio. Now that is what our Govt is concern about. Even ISA is coming to end, according to our PM. Would that mean more terrorists would be appearing in Msia? Lol

RonnieR

October 2nd, 2011, 07:25 AM

But Indonesia managed to contain their rebels? After so many years of US assistance why cant they stop or at least weeken the MILF? As for funding I think Asean has cooperated very well to freeze funds to JI or any other suspected affiliates but why not MILF? It only tells me some politicians or big guys in Sabah is helping MILF?

Emm Ph government may claim that, but is that 100% true ? What if Mercato described is true ?

Why should Saudi Arabia or Syria fund MILF ? And how do they fund, via bank accounts or by ships ? If they fund via bank acccount then which bank and what's the account number ? Seriously, we need all these details. Your government do not need to "ask them" to cut their funding ( what a nice thing to say ??), because logically thinking your government should STOP the funding altogether . It has been ongoing for almost 3 decades since the formation of MILF. So I think the main question is, why your government cannot handle this "simple" matter , quickly ?

You are saying JI is based in Malaysia- where , exactly ? Do you have proof bro ?

About Malaysians participating in JI- I really don't know- such activity knows no national boundaries. In almost every country there are good majority population and a handful of very bad elements. Media can report anything, but we don't know the reality.

Indonesia signed a peace agreement with "Free Aceh" rebel group in 2005, that is after almost 30 years of struggle/war and left thousands of people killed. It's easier for Indonesia since the rebels accepted the autonomy.

Excerpts on Indonesian Peace Agreement: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4151980.stm

"Under the agreement, whose details were only released on Monday, the rebels have put to one side their demand for full independence, accepting instead a form of local self-government and the right eventually to establish a political party.

In turn, the Indonesian government has agreed to release political prisoners and offer farmland to former combatants to help them reintegrate into civilian life."

In PH, we tried the Autonomous Region of Moslem Mindanao or ARMM that covers few provinces and cities. However, this was rejected by MILF. The positive thing is: MILF is no longer pushing for independence from the Republic but they are demanding a "Sub-State". This is a thorny issue and the reason for the deadlock of negotiation as of the moment. Yes, Malaysia is the Peace broker between PH and MILF.

It is not a simple matter because establishing a "Sub-State" requires amendment to the Constitution and the conflict involves arms, thus the killings.

Larry Legend

October 2nd, 2011, 07:28 AM

Emm Ph government may claim that, but is that 100% true ? What if Mercato described is true ?

Why should Saudi Arabia or Syria fund MILF ? And how do they fund, via bank accounts or by ships ? If they fund via bank acccount then which bank and what's the account number ? Seriously, we need all these details. Your government do not need to "ask them" to cut their funding ( what a nice thing to say ??), because logically thinking your government should STOP the funding altogether . It has been ongoing for almost 3 decades since the formation of MILF. So I think the main question is, why your government cannot handle this "simple" matter , quickly ?

You are saying JI is based in Malaysia- where , exactly ? Do you have proof bro ?

About Malaysians participating in JI- I really don't know- such activity knows no national boundaries. In almost every country there are good majority population and a handful of very bad elements. Media can report anything, but we don't know the reality.

Again, let's not be naive here. When he mentioned those countries, it didn't mean that those nations sponsored or funded the Muslim terrorists here in the Phillipines. He simply mean that the supporters of the PHL Muslim terrorist groups are based in those countries (Syria, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia) but not actually supported by their respective governments. Since these are lawless elements that we're talking about, their whereabouts (headquarters) are not commonly known so it is not easy to stamp them out. So I'm not surprised if you don't know where in Malaysia JI is headquartered. They're not a publicly-listed company you know. :nuts:

Skyprince

October 2nd, 2011, 07:31 AM

Actually what is the agenda of these separatists? Our communism era is decades over already given China has opened up. Al Qaeda is more or less over too with the "bye2" of Osama. JI head AbuBakar is also a "bye2". We must be very fortunate as clashes and bombings like those in southern Thai n Phil never really happened here. Even typhoons, air crash, ferry capsize, etc is quite rare. But Msia has one of the worlds highest road accident ratio. Now that is all we're concern.

I know this sentiment very well among our neighbours.. The terrorism in Southern Thailand, then we have Aceh & JI in Indonesia, plus MILF in Southern Philippines....many tend to point that the middle of all these conflicts is "Malaysia".

There are many conspiracy theories about this, but so far I don't believe that Malaysian government is involved in these- there is no proof so far.

xxxriainxxx

October 2nd, 2011, 07:31 AM

Emm Ph government may claim that, but is that 100% true ? What if Mercato described is true ?

Why should Saudi Arabia or Syria fund MILF ? And how do they fund, via bank accounts or by ships ? If they fund via bank acccount then which bank and what's the account number ? Seriously, we need all these details. Your government do not need to "ask them" to cut their funding ( what a nice thing to say ??), because logically thinking your government should STOP the funding altogether . It has been ongoing for almost 3 decades since the formation of MILF. So I think the main question is, why your government cannot handle this "simple" matter , quickly ?

You are saying JI is based in Malaysia- where , exactly ? Do you have proof bro ?

About Malaysians participating in JI- I really don't know- such activity knows no national boundaries. In almost every country there are good majority population and a handful of very bad elements. Media can report anything, but we don't know the reality.

Azhari Husin and Mohammed Noordin Top - ASEAN's most wanted terrorists are both Malaysian born.

US suspected Saudi envoy of aiding terror suspects in RP — Wikileaks (http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110903hed6.html)

xxxriainxxx

October 2nd, 2011, 07:33 AM

Skyprince

October 2nd, 2011, 07:34 AM

Again, let's not be naive here. When he mentioned those countries, it didn't mean that those nations sponsored or funded the Muslim terrorists here in the Phillipines. He simply mean that the supporters of the PHL Muslim terrorist groups are based in those countries (Syria, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia) but not actually supported by their respective governments. Since these are lawless elements that we're talking about, their whereabouts (headquarters) are not commonly known so it is not easy to stamp them out. So I'm not surprised if you don't know where in Malaysia JI is headquartered. They're not a publicly-listed company you know. :nuts:

Emm ok then from where you get the information that "JI hearquarter is based in Malaysia " ? I am interested to know :|

Also, with "Google Earth", "Wikimapia" etc theres nothing difficult to trace them, right ?

Skyprince

October 2nd, 2011, 07:37 AM

I noticed, of all the terror attacks in ASEAN, countries that surround Malaysia experienced all of this but I have yet to hear a terrorist attack happening in Malaysian soil.

There are terror attacks in Southern Thailand, Southern Philippines, Indonesia, and attempts to attack Singapore... Hmmm

One of the biggest reasons is that, we have a Strong & strict government

Singapore , despite an attempt is never attacked too, right ? ( Im not implying that Singapore is responsible, though )

patchay

October 2nd, 2011, 07:48 AM

Azhari Husin and Mohammed Noordin Top - ASEAN's most wanted terrorists are both Malaysian born.

US suspected Saudi envoy of aiding terror suspects in RP — Wikileaks (http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110903hed6.html)

Many AlQaeda terrorists are American born too. So regardless where they are born or bred or nationality, they must be captured and trialed according to the Laws of the country they operated.

xxxriainxxx

October 2nd, 2011, 08:14 AM

Many AlQaeda terrorists are American born too. So regardless where they are born or bred or nationality, they must be captured and trialed according to the Laws of the country they operated.

We are talking about JI bro.

And actually, most of the culprits in 911 were Saudis.

coffeeworld

October 2nd, 2011, 09:42 AM

Yokohama, Toshiba plan expansion in Philippines:banana::cheers::banana::cheers::banana::cheers:

by Joyce Pangco Pañares, Jeremiah F. de Guzman, Julito G. Rada

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNews.htm?f=/2011/september/29/news6.isx&d=2011/september/29

YOKOHAMA Rubber Co. and Toshiba Corp. on Wednesday announced they will expand their operations in the Philippines, and that Yokohama’s expansion would make its Philippine plant its biggest facility in the world..

“Yokohama is now producing 20,000 tires a day. Their target is to double it to 40,000 a day by 2017,” President Benigno Aquino III said after a meeting with Yokohama president Tadanobu Nagumo and Yokohama Tire Philippines Inc. president Tetsuya Kuze Tuesday afternoon.

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said the expansion would make the Yokohama plant at the Clark Freeport zone the biggest in the world, but did not say how much the company would be investing in its expansion.

The plant now exports 96 percent of its production and sells the remaining output to the domestic market.

Yokohama now employs 1,950 employees, but the its expansion was expected to create 3,500 new jobs for Filipinos, Mr. Aquino said.

In Manila, Toshiba announced the establishment of a new subsidiary, Toshiba Philippines, to expand its market share for LCD televisions, computer systems and home appliances.

“We will expand our share by introducing products that are customized for the Philippine market,” Toshiba Philippines president Tomoyasu Yamamoto told reporters Wednesday.

“We will strengthen our service support nationwide.”

Toshiba Philippines started operations at its new Makati headquarters in April. The company said the facility will have 35 employees by the end of the year.

The technology firm said it already had a 4- percent market share for LCD TVs and a 6-percent share for personal computers, with sales of 20,000 TVs and 50,000 PCs sold in the last fiscal year.

For its fiscal year ending March 2012, Toshiba aims to achieve market shares of 10 percent for LCD TVs, 9 percent for personal computers, 4 percent for tablet computers, and 2 percent for refrigerators.

coffeeworld

October 2nd, 2011, 09:45 AM

Yuan, rupiah, peso most resilient:banana::cheers::banana::cheers::banana::cheers:

by LILIAN KARUNUNGAN (Bloomberg) September 30, 2011, 1:42am

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/336127/yuan-rupiah-peso-most-resilient

MANILA, Philippines — The Chinese yuan, Indonesian rupiah and Philippine peso are likely to prove the most resilient of Asia’s emerging-market currencies as large domestic economies help China, Indonesia, and the Philippines withstand a global slowdown, Western Asset Management Co. said.

“They are more domestic-demand driven,” the fund manager, part of Baltimore-based Legg Mason Inc., said in a press release that didn’t identify the authors. Policy makers in China and Indonesia favor appreciation to help contain inflation, while the Philippine peso will be supported by remittances from overseas workers, the statement said.

The Philippine peso strengthened 0.7 percent to 43.54 per dollar today in Manila, according to Tullett Prebon Plc.

Remittances sent home by Philippine citizens living abroad amounted to $1.7 billion in July, boosting this year’s tally to $11.35 billion, the central bank said on Sept. 15. The funds account for about 10 percent of the Philippines’ $200 billion economy and help fuel consumer spending.

The yuan has strengthened 1.1 percent against the dollar this quarter, making it the sole gainer among Asia’s 10 most-used currencies excluding the yen. The rupiah fell 4.2 percent and the peso slid 0.5 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. South Korea’s won is the region’s worst performer, having tumbled 9.2 percent.

Indonesia is the world’s most-populous Muslim nation and has Southeast Asia’s biggest economy. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said last month that economic growth may reach 6.5 percent this year, the fastest since the 1998 Asian financial crisis, even with recent shocks to the global economy. Domestic demand accounts for about 56 percent of gross domestic product.

The rupiah gained 0.4 percent to 8,870 per dollar today in Jakarta, following a 1.7 percent advance yesterday, according to prices from local banks compiled by Bloomberg. It fell 3.1 percent on Sept. 26 and retreated in each of the last three weeks. Bank Indonesia said as recently as last week it’s been selling dollars this month to support the rupiah.

The nation’s inflation rate rose to 4.79 percent in August from 4.61 percent the previous month, official figures show. Data next week are expected to show consumer-price gains accelerated to 4.9 percent this month, based on the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

xxxriainxxx

October 2nd, 2011, 10:36 AM

The future of ASEAN will be determined by its largest economy - Indonesia. The sooner Philippine companies realise this the better. They should expand aggressively in that country. If I only own a large company, I would definitely tap that market.

nawat001

October 2nd, 2011, 01:09 PM

I don't know where they from but their plan will not success if without
local people help them

Erran

October 2nd, 2011, 01:20 PM

One of the biggest reasons is that, we have a Strong & strict government

Singapore , despite an attempt is never attacked too, right ? ( Im not implying that Singapore is responsible, though )

But I beg to disagree with this shallow reason, since (even) Indonesia illegal workers are still able to penetrate Malaysia land, even work there for years(?) How can't professional terrorists do the same?

Must be another better reason to explain why.

vindoarga

October 2nd, 2011, 01:35 PM

^^
UMNO need their vote bro

Erran

October 2nd, 2011, 01:41 PM

^^
UMNO need their vote bro

:lol:
No comment bout politic. I just have one question, what is UMNO, and its relation with BN?

The one I know, many of my Msian friends, esp from the East Malaysia, hate UMNO very much, they even give special name "Blood sucker (?)". Sorry if my post a bit offending, but no hard feeling. :cheers:

vindoarga

October 2nd, 2011, 01:56 PM

^^
:lol:

UMNO
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Malays_National_Organisation

BN
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Front_(Malaysia)

patchay

October 2nd, 2011, 03:50 PM

:lol:
No comment bout politic. I just have one question, what is UMNO, and its relation with BN?

The one I know, many of my Msian friends, esp from the East Malaysia, hate UMNO very much, they even give special name "Blood sucker (?)". Sorry if my post a bit offending, but no hard feeling. :cheers:

^^
UMNO need their vote bro

UMNO is the Malay party and together with the Chinese party called MCA and Indian party called MIC and another dozen political parties form a Ruling Coalition called Barisan Nasional (BN). In this coalition, UMNO is the Leader and forms the majority of the Federal Government.

Yes, alot of Malaysians nowadays hate UMNO and BN.

UMNO-BN will do all it takes to win votes, especially giving Malaysian PRs and citizenships to Muslims from Indonesia, Southern Thailand and Southern Philippines.

Yes, Malaysia's economy is growing strongly for the last 4 decades and this is attributable to Umno-BN. But moving forward, Malaysians think we would have been at Taiwan's level if not because of Umno-BN's discrimination, corruption and incompetency. (because of some policies, we lost the inventor of pen drive and USB technology that would have brought in about 100 bil to the economy)

For the record, we have been stucked in the middle income trap for more than 2 decades now. The only surprising thing, is lately, Malaysia has been ranked the most peaceful country in Asean, even ahead of Singapore.

************************

Wow this really bad...

Cambodia says 150 killed in worst flash floods in more than a decade :ohno:
October 2, 2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/cambodia-says-150-killed-in-worst-flash-floods-in-more-than-a-decade/2011/10/02/gIQAtDzSEL_story.html

Cambodian government disaster agency spokesman Keo Vy said Sunday that flood waters along the Mekong River and other places have damaged 670,000 acres (271,000 hectares) of rice fields, as well as 904 schools and 361 Buddhist temples.

Hundreds of people have been killed across Southeast Asia, China, Japan and South Asia in the last four months from prolonged monsoon flooding, typhoons and storms.

The government in neighboring Thailand says heavy floods there have also killed 206 people since August.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

FDI data is expected to hit at least around US$10 billion this year and DDI is expected to be around US$15 to $22 billion.

Masers (www.maser.com.my/) unit to invest US$30 Billion in Malaysia's first carbon-free city
Business Times | September 28, 2011
http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20110928150156/Article/index_html#ixzz1ZGK4Sq3Q

Masers Energy Malaysia Sdn Bhd, wholly-owned by Masers Energy Inc, plans to set up a "Smart Grid" low carbon project in Malaysia, with a US$30 billion investment over the next 10 years.

Its president Datuk Seri Suhaimi Abdul Rahman said that for a start, the company will set aside US$20 billion to build a 10MW "smart grid city, carbon free city" in Melaka as a pilot project.

"The city is poised to be one of the world’s most sustainable cities.

"The masterplan envisions a development that is zero-waste, carbon-free and carbon neutral, with solar power being the primary energy resource for powering Melaka," he told reporters after a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing between Masers Energy Malaysia, Trina Solar Pte Ltd and Seagate Global Group.

Under the MoU, Masers will partner with Trina Solar and Seagate to deliver the low carbon project to Melaka and Malaysia.

Suhaimi said the 10MW solar farm in Melaka is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 15,000 tonnes a year and is set to be the first cost-efficient solar farm in Malaysia. - Bernama

Congratulations Thailand!

Asia's leading brands win big at the prestigious World Travel Awards
The Nation September 29, 2011 8:01 am
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/new/business/Asias-leading-brands-win-big-at-World-Travel-Award-30166447.html

Bangkok's attempt to boosting its status in the meeting and conference market, yield fruits, as the city is voted Asia's Leading Meetings & Conference Destination.

Other Thai winners of World Travel Awards, announced at the evening of Sept 28 in Bangkok, are Dusit Thani Bangkok as Asia’s Leading City Hotel; Banyan Tree Bangkok as Asia’s Leading City Spa Hotel; Bangkok (Laem Chabang) as Asia’s Leading Cruise Line; Ramada Resort, Karon Beach, as Asia’s Leading Family Resort; Six Senses Hideaway, Samui as Asia’s Leading Honeymoon Resort; Bangkok Airways as Asia’s Leading Regional Airline; and Layana Resort & Spa as Asia’s Leading Resort Brand.

VIPs, senior tourism leaders, captains of industry and international media travelled from over 30 nations to attend the WTA Asia & Australasia Ceremony 2011 at Dusit Thani Bangkok.

Thailand, which played host to WTA for the first time, enjoyed a large slice of the evening's honours, reflecting its growing role as a travel and tourism hub of Asia.

Malaysia Airlines overcame stiff competition from Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Japan Airlines, Thai Airways and Air China to collect "Asia's Leading Airline". Malaysia Airlines also won "Asia's Leading Airline Lounge" award. (Last year, MAS won the World's Leading Airline to Asia, Asia's Leading Airline and Asia's Leading Business Class Airline awards)

Meanwhile India saw off the likes of Bali, Korea and Sri Lanka to win "Asia's Leading Destination"; whilst Trident Gurgaon was voted "Asia's Leading Hotel". Korean Air was voted "Asia's Leading Airline First Class" and the new super luxury hotel Oberoi Gurgaon collected "Asia's Leading Luxury Hotel".

Graham E. Cooke, President & Founder, World Travel Awards, underlined the incredible strength of the region's travel and tourism economy.

"Asia is powering the global travel and tourism recovery, and tonight's winners represent the very cream of our industry. The burgeoning middle classes in markets such as India, China and Malaysia are fuelling a surge in intra-Asia travel. We expect this growth to continue for at least the next decade, making the future very bright indeed for Asia's luxury hospitality sector.

Thailand, in particular, is reaping the rewards of the changes sweeping across the region thanks to its culture, amazing beaches and world-class facilities," Cooke said. :banana:

The Asia & Australasia Ceremony marks the fourth leg of World Travel Awards 2011 Grand Tour, and follows the legs in Dubai, UAE; Antalya, Turkey; and Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt; whilst Montego Bay, Jamaica will play host to the final heat on 19 October. The regional winners will then progress to the Grand Final at the end of the year.

The event partners were Dusit Thani Bangkok, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau, BBC World News and WeClickMedia, and the media partners included eTurboNews, Breaking Travel News, Trav Talk and Travel Daily News.

India and Indian brands dominated several categories at the World Travel Awards Asia & Australasia held at Bangkok’s Dusit Thani Hotel on Thursday.

The country pipped Bali, Korea and Sri Lanka to win Asia’s Leading Destination.

Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur was awarded Asia's Leading City Destination.

Over 1.2 million China tourists are expected to arrive in Malaysia this year.

Kuala Lumpur wins Asia's Leading City Destination at the World Travel Awards
September 29, 2011
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=616505

http://i763.photobucket.com/albums/xx276/afiqnadzir/kl-1.jpg

BANGKOK - Kuala Lumpur City has emerged as the Leading City Destination Asia at World Travel Awards 2011 here.

The announcement was made through the awards website.

Category winner was not announced during the World Travel Awards for Asia and Australiasia to-18 held at a hotel here last night, because the recipient did not attend the ceremony.

Kuala Lumpur is also known as the world's tallest twin towers of the Petronas Twin Towers, with a combination of modern and ancient landscape of hawker stalls and building pre-war shop houses, interrupted between the skyscrapers and sophistication.

http://i763.photobucket.com/albums/xx276/afiqnadzir/location.jpg

The website also announced at the Pan Pacific Hotel Kuala Lumpur International Airport as winners of the Leading Airport category Asia.

For the category of Malaysia; Hotel Grand Millennium, Kuala Lumpur announced the winner of the Leading Business Hotel Malaysia; Sheraton Imperial, Kuala Lumpur as the Leading Hotels: Sheraton Langkawi Resort as the Leading resort and The Westin Langkawi Resort & Spa as the Leading Spa resort. - BERNAMA

Skyprince

October 2nd, 2011, 04:39 PM

But I beg to disagree with this shallow reason, since (even) Indonesia illegal workers are still able to penetrate Malaysia land, even work there for years(?) How can't professional terrorists do the same?

Must be another better reason to explain why.

But our gov is quite strict when it comes to terrorism act. I believe our defense is fast in busting any terriorism activity that is about to start.

Also, the customs/immigration is better equipped to handle terrorism movement ?

There is another explanation for illegal immigrants, I think.

wino

October 2nd, 2011, 11:35 PM

why your government cannot handle this "simple" matter , quickly ?

simple??? YEAH RIGHT!

what do you want us to say.. that our government is very weak..
there I said it..
and terrorists are TAKING ADVANTAGE of it.

it's just sad that some Malaysian's are involved as usual... but their government doesn't even resent this nor even explain why so?
they've turned a blind eye yet again...

also.. It's evident to all that Malaysian has STRONG LINKS to MILF. and they have GREAT INTEREST on the Southern Philippines.
http://malaysiansmustknowthetruth.blogspot.com/2011/09/milf-talks-show-malaysia-eyes-mindanao.html

Askal82

October 3rd, 2011, 12:19 AM

Seem like Philippines is very similar to Thailand
Terrorist in southern is main problem

Yeupz. Coincidentally, both countries in the south borders with Malaysia. :lol:

Nabartek

October 3rd, 2011, 04:59 AM

Yeupz. Coincidentally, both countries in the south borders with Malaysia. :lol:

South too is predominantly Muslim. The difference lies in the majority :lol:

Oh twins nga naman

Skyprince

October 3rd, 2011, 06:35 AM

simple??? YEAH RIGHT!

what do you want us to say.. that our government is very weak..
there I said it..
and terrorists are TAKING ADVANTAGE of it.

it's just sad that some Malaysian's are involved as usual... but their government doesn't even resent this nor even explain why so?
they've turned a blind eye yet again...

also.. It's evident to all that Malaysian has STRONG LINKS to MILF. and they have GREAT INTEREST on the Southern Philippines.
http://malaysiansmustknowthetruth.blogspot.com/2011/09/milf-talks-show-malaysia-eyes-mindanao.html

emm If not simple, then ?

I think that before we step into the word "Terrorists", we should ask from where those people got their arms from ? How about their fund ? For almost 30 years why it's hard for your government to stop the fund/arms or even defeat them ?

Anyway, you really trust the Wikileaks ? Alright, but I don't rust them, they can claim anything but the truth might be different. Why should M'sia interested in Mindanao ?

Look at what Mercato said. If there are foreigners involved, then why not just capture and execute them. I'd love to see that.

patchay

October 3rd, 2011, 07:56 AM

RonnieR

October 3rd, 2011, 12:20 PM

Azhari Husin and Mohammed Noordin Top - ASEAN's most wanted terrorists are both Malaysian born.

US suspected Saudi envoy of aiding terror suspects in RP — Wikileaks (http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110903hed6.html)

Noordin Top, believed to be involved in Marriot Hotel Jakarta bombings. It's good that the Indonesian forces killed him somewhere in Java island.

Brown_Eastern

October 3rd, 2011, 12:22 PM

http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/letterssurat/43872-how-to-solve-the-philippines-claim-on-sabah

How to solve the Philippines’ claim on Sabah

By Onn Ariffin
Special Advisor to His Royal Highness, Paduka Mahashari Maulana al Sultan Jamalul D. Kiram III ibni Al Marhum Sultan Punjungan Kiram Al Sultan Shariful Hashim, Sultan of Sulu.

In my previous statement on the matter of the 49-year-old Philippines’ claim on Sabah which was published in the Daily Express on June 21, I had indicated that the Philippines’ claim on Sabah arose out of the Power of Attorney issued by the 32nd Sultan of Sulu, Sultan Esmael Kiram, to claim Sabah on his behalf in 1962.

I also proposed that the problem be resolved once and for all by both governments (of Malaysia and the Philippines) giving the authority to the reigning heir of Sultan Esmael Kiram, His Royal Highness Paduka Mahashari Maulana al Sultan Jamalul D. Kiram III ibni Al Marhum Sultan Punjungan Kiram Al Sultan Shariful Hashim, to negotiate with both governments.

Background

To have a clearer overview of the situation, we all need to be reminded that the long- standing dispute of who is right and wrong about whether North Borneo was ceded or leased to Britain remains unresolved, although the Phillipines’ side may claim legitimacy of their stance that North Borneo was leased based on the annual lease payment to the heirs of the Sultanate of Sulu.

There are also the contentious issue of Spain acquiring sovereignty over North Borneo in 1878 when it signed the protocol of March 7, 1885 with Germany and Great Britain recognizing Spanish sovereignty over “Jolo and its dependencies,” as well as the Macaskie Dictum of 1939, in which the heirs of Sultan Jamalul Kiram filed a suit case in the court of Borneo for the purpose of collecting the money due to them under the 1878 Grant.

We know that in the early 1970s civil war started in the southern Philippines which resulted in the outpouring of refugees to Sabah. The southern region’s instability, the rise of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), its breakaway group the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayyaf, which collectively, influenced the creation of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Regardless of these developments, the southern region continues to face economic limitations which during the previous four decades have encouraged the migration of people from the region to Sabah, causing among others, the current prickly problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah.

The Sultan’s Proposal for Solution

The stance of the current Sultan, Kiram III, is to set aside all these historical issues and make a proposal for a resolution to the claim on Sabah by setting off from the current situation and to negotiate for a solution which will be of long-term political and economic benefits to both governments. In his sincerity to achieve this resolution, His Majesty Sultan Kiram III has taken some three important steps:

(1) He had undertaken to revoke, on September 4th, 1967, and September 17th, 1987 the services of the lawyer who was appointed to arbitrate in the matter between him with the Philippines and Malaysian government. This termination also in effect invalidated all proposals and action made by the Attorney Ulka T. Ulama for the heirs of the Sultanate. This has come into effect regardless of Ulama’s continues denial of the revocation and persistence of making representation to the Philippines government, pretending to still maintain the position of legal counsel to the Sultanate;

(2) He had revoked the Power of Attorney issued to the Philippine government to institute the claim on Sabah on behalf of the Sultanate. This action, therefore, reinstates the power to claim Sabah for the Sultanate, and no longer within the authority and jurisdiction of the Philippines’ central government; and

(3) He had sent a Letter of Offer, dated February 8, 2011, to negotiate on the claim over Sabah with the Malaysian government, through His Excellency Dato’ Seri Dr. Ibrahim Saad, Ambassador Plenipotentiary, the Malaysian Ambassador to the Philippines. Unfortunately, to date, the Malaysian government, or the Ambassador, is yet to respond.

His Majesty is making what we hereinafter refer to as the Kiram III Proposal, that he, on his sole authority, shall drops the claim on Sabah on the terms and conditions that the Malaysian government commits to a long-term program of participating in the development of Southern Philippines.

Rationales for the Proposal

The Kiram III Proposal for solution to the Sabah claim, is made on the sound rationales
that:

1. The drop in the claim will remove the long-standing thorn in the flesh of the diplomatic relation between Malaysia and the Philippines;

2. Any further neglect, apathy and procrastination on the process towards a solution to the claim will only result in the continuance of the dilemma and the negative socio-economic impacts for both countries and for the region, or ASEAN and BIMP-EAGA in general;

3. The ensuing agreement for economic collaboration between Malaysia and the ARMM will open the restive region into a peaceful and progressive region because:
a. The MNLF and the MILF, given important roles in the development process of ARMM, will have little purpose in continuing with their militant struggles, and should lay down their arms and reap benefits in the bountiful promises of the development agenda of their land;
b. The region has a huge wealth of natural resources (fertile lands, pristine jungles, seas and a substantial oil reserve of 125 billion barrels in Southern Cebu) which collectively promises the explosion of numerous industries – aquaculture, agriculture, timber, tourism, oil exploration and processing, manufacturing, shipping, aviation, banking and finance, etc.

4. The annual lease payment made to the nine heirs of Kiram has become a cruel joke on the payees due to the ridiculous amount of RM5,000 (five thousand ringgits), the value of which had shrunk to almost nothing due to more than a century of inflation. This payment, while meaningless in terms of monetary value, is also an insult to the dignity of the payees, as well as a crafty method on the part of the Malaysian government to prolong, on the cheap, the status quo of the claim over Sabah;

5. With a drop in the claim followed by laying down of arms by militant groups and the development of the ARMM as a new region of rapid economic growth, the current migration of people from there to Sabah in search of more lucrative livelihood will cease, removing a four-decade socio-economic burden for Sabah;

6. The establishment of peace in the ARMM will pave the way to the creation of a new government which will be autonomous from the Philippines’ central government. In fact, a number of Philippines congressmen had espoused the establishment of a constitutional monarchy – on the same pattern as Malaysia’s system of government – and not a republic, for the ARMM.

Proposed Development Approach

His Majesty proposes that the South be developed by opening up opportunities for foreign direct investments (FDIs) to neighbors, with priority being offered to Malaysian government-link companies (GLCs), e.g. Malaysia’s Federal Land Development Agency (FELDA), Petronas, Maybank and CIMB Bank, Telekom, Tenaga Nasional Berhad, Sime Darby, Proton and Perodua, UMW and even the media giants, Astro and Media Prima.

These which can all be apportioned opportunities, roles, and lands for their ventures. Such a new opening FELDA will give Malaysia a greater leverage and competitive advantage in the regional and global palm oil production industry, in which Indonesia has made tremendous leaps ahead of Malaysia with the opening of new plantations in Kalimantan.

Petronas Carigali Sdn. Bhd. will of course be offered the priority to undertake oil extraction contracts in the area. The various other industries which will begin virtually from scratch will without doubt lead to a long-term economic boom, worth in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

The South will be a new center of vibrant economic activities, a region of prosperity and progress, which will be a total departure from
its militant past. At a time when the world is facing numerous economic challenges – with America predicted to fall under the weight of its national debt, with the Eurozone countries buckling under its debt crisis, with China rising as the new economic dragon – the South is without doubt set to become the new economic magnet to which economic giants will gravitate to reap its many bounties.

Such a development will not only bring prosperity and peace to the South but will also create a new trend for a more progressive ASEAN as well as the revival and the expansion of the BIMP-EAGA which aims to increase trade, tourism and investments with and outside the sub-region by (1) Facilitating the free movement of people, goods, and services, (2) Making the best use of common infrastructure and natural resources, and (3) Taking the fullest advantage of economic complementation.

With Malaysia’s leading role sealed in the proposed Agreement for the Drop on the Philippines’ Claim on Sabah, there is no reason why Malaysia would hesitate on the Kiram III Proposal knowing the tremendous win-win result of such an historic agreement. We urge therefore that the Malaysian’s ambassador to the Philippines responds positively to pave the way for initial discussions on the matter, all for the sake of a mutual long-term and incalculable socio-economic benefits.

Brown_Eastern

October 3rd, 2011, 12:29 PM

^^ sounds that Sultan of Sulu won't pursue the Sabah claim anymore if Malaysian government agree to develop that problematic area

Do Philippines government have any right to keep their claim if Sultan Sulu has dropped it?

RonnieR

October 3rd, 2011, 12:33 PM

Guys, don't take it too seriously.

Pointing fingers will not solve the issue at all.

As I said, terrorists are criminals, and criminals are criminals regardless of where they come from, and whoever our citizens are guilty on your Land, your Government is free to capture and trial-ed them in your Courts. Our Govt will not interfere.

Btw... I think Malaysia is more interested in Antartic than Mindanao, given our research collaboration with UK, Australia and New Zealand. HAHA :lol:

emm If not simple, then ?

I think that before we step into the word "Terrorists", we should ask from where those people got their arms from ? How about their fund ? For almost 30 years why it's hard for your government to stop the fund/arms or even defeat them ?

Anyway, you really trust the Wikileaks ? Alright, but I don't rust them, they can claim anything but the truth might be different. Why should M'sia interested in Mindanao ?

Look at what Mercato said. If there are foreigners involved, then why not just capture and execute them. I'd love to see that.

Mindanao is rich in minerals/natural resources. Many undeveloped areas contain gold, copper, nickel, chromite, etc.. I'm not saying that Malaysia is interested in these untapped wealth but if there peace in that region, progress and prosperity will reign.

It is unfortunate that the Moslem region has the most number of poor provinces and cities and they have a low HDI, low GDP per capita, lack of manufacturing industries for employment. In short, the government is the biggest employer.

Our former President Estrada tried the "all out war" policy against the Moslem rebels. They successfully captured rebel camps but at what costs? Senseless deaths including the innocent civilians. There were massive evacuations during the fights.

Succeeding governments after Estrada do not treat MILF the hard way. Both sides realized that in wars, nobody wins but the country loses and the result? more suffering for the poor Filipinos esp. in the Moslem Autonomous Region.

This is the reason why I support the "peace talks" for a peaceful resolution of this problem. It's 30 years! and that's long.

RonnieR

October 3rd, 2011, 12:42 PM

President Aquino in talks with the MILF leaders. You can see the sincerity of the President in extending the hands to MILF. They met last August 4, 2011.

http://www.gov.ph/images/uploads/President-Aquino-and.jpg

http://www.pmauk.net/pnoy-murad.jpg

http://nimg.sulekha.com/others/thumbnailfull/benigno-aquino-iii-al-haj-murad-ibrahim-2011-8-5-4-50-3.jpg

By the way, MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ibrahim speaks fluent English and he graduated from a Catholic University before joining the MILF.

I believe that if there is progress in Moslem Mindanao, it will benefit the entire country.

"There are roughly four million Muslims in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao, an area they see as their ancestral homeland dating back to Islamic sultanates established long before Spanish Christians arrived in the 1500s.

The region is among the most fertile and resource-rich in the Philippines, but it is also one of the country's poorest and undeveloped, a legacy of the conflict that began four decades ago."

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/10/03/11/frustration-grows-milf-rebels

patchay

October 3rd, 2011, 01:26 PM

His Majesty is making what we hereinafter refer to as the Kiram III Proposal, that he, on his sole authority, shall drops the claim on Sabah on the terms and conditions that the Malaysian government commits to a long-term program of participating in the development of Southern Philippines.

1.
No offence, but my view from that story is that Sultan Sulu wants MONEY and some developments.

2.
I think the main root cause of terrorism there is POVERTY and LOW HDI.

3.
And I think it's high time Manila put some focus on Mindanao, just like it's high time for KL to put more focus on Sabah.

4.
You cannot expect your neighbouring countries' big corporate companies to simply invest in a new area if there are no elements of real returns. FELDA and PETRONAS could easily invest there just like how they did in African nations, but more Govt-to-Govt cooperation and goodwill need to come before these could happen.

5.
Not to mention the political implications, if Malaysia puts money in Mindanao, then some people will say we have interest in getting hold of Mindanao.

xxxriainxxx

October 3rd, 2011, 01:42 PM

1.
No offence, but my view from that story is that Sultan Sulu wants MONEY and some developments.

I think that's fair to say since the Brits stole Sabah, the Sultan of Sulu is getting a measly rent every year.

Narnian_King

October 3rd, 2011, 01:48 PM

http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/sep/28/china-demands-war/?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS

CHINA DEMANDS WAR (Versus Philippines and Vietnam)

The lead article the Chinese Communist Party newspaper Global Times on Tuesday contained an alarming call for a declaration of war against Vietnam and Philippines, two nations that in recent weeks launched the loudest protests against China’s sweeping maritime sovereignty claims over the South China Sea.

Headlined “The Time to Use Force Has Arrived in the South China Sea; Let’s Wage Wars on the Philippines and Vietnam to Prevent More Wars,” the article was written by Long Tao, a likely pseudonym literally translated as “The Dragon’s Teaching.” The name refers to the third chapter of the famous Chinese ancient military classic “Six Secret Military Teachings” that, among other things, promotes the idea that the best way to establish military awesomeness is to kill the highest-ranked dissenters.

Vietnam is viewed by China as the most militarily capable state whose government is the most politically uncompromising when it comes to challenging China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea.

The Philippines recently riled China greatly for its closeness to Japan, and its cantankerous and successful move last week to hold talks within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, without inviting China, on cooperating and clarifying consensual and disputed claims in the South China Sea.

The fiery rhetoric of the article states that “the South China Sea is the best place for China to wage wars” because “of the more than 1,000 oil rigs there, none belongs to China; of the four airfields in the Spratly Islands, none belongs to China; once a war is declared, the South China Sea will be a sea of fire [with burning oil rigs]. Who will suffer the most from a war? Once a war starts there, the Western oil companies will flee the area, who will suffer the most?”

The article further calculates that “the wars should be focused on striking the Philippines and Vietnam, the two noisiest troublemakers, to achieve the effect of killing one chicken to scare the monkeys.”

What about possible U.S. intervention once China starts a war in the South China Sea? No worry, the article states, because the U.S. will be utterly unable to open a second front in the South China Sea to fight China because it is deeply mired in the anti-terror wars of the Middle East.

The Global Times is China’s largest paper focusing on international news under direct sponsorship from the Communist Party central authority.

kenken94

October 3rd, 2011, 02:49 PM

Look, the red paper dragon is oozing with anger already. Jeez, the impatient one is about to explode. This excites me so much. :D :D :D

alheaine

October 3rd, 2011, 03:35 PM

^^
the writer is just so pathetic and self centered..:ohno: waging a war?who are they btw to claim the whole South China Sea?

patchay

October 3rd, 2011, 03:59 PM

I feel very disturbed with that title.

I hope the author can be more responsible and by saying that is doing no good to anybody except maybe the author himself.

***********************************

Myanmar buys time with dam block
By Simon Roughneen
Oct 4, 2011
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/MJ04Ae01.html

BANGKOK - China has reacted coolly to Myanmar's surprise suspension of a controversial US$3.6 billion hydropower dam project it backed in the country's war-torn Kachin state. Hitherto cautious observers have greeted the stoppage as the first tangible reform move undertaken by the Myanmar's six-month-old, nominally civilian government led by former general Thein Sein.

According to the government, work on the controversial Myitsone dam will be suspended "according to the desire of the people". The announcement followed an upsurge in popular opposition to the project, where certain members of the old military elite and Aung San Suu Kyi-led political opposition found rare common cause. The project threatened the headwaters of the Irrawaddy River, the cradle of Burmese civilization.

Benedict Rogers of the London-based advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide and author of a 2010 biography on Myanmar's former military dictator Senior General Than Shwe - a man thought to still wield immense influence from behind the scenes - told Asia Times Online that "this is the first time I can recall that the regime has responded to popular opinion and therefore must be welcomed".

That approval will not extend to China, which was scheduled to receive an estimated 90% of the estimated 29,400 million kilowatt-hours of electricity which the dam would have generated after its 2019 completion date, according to the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party.

After Friday's announcement, read out in Myanmar's army-dominated parliament on behalf of President Thein Sein, Beijing's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that dealings around the mega-project should be "handled appropriately through bilateral friendly consultation".

China is jointly involved with Myanmar authorities and various Myanmar companies in six other dam projects upstream from the now-suspended Myitsone project. So far there has been no mention of these other projects being affected by the September 30 announcement.

Work is also going ahead as planned with a port and pipelines project scheduled to link the Shwe Gas fields in the Bay of Bengal to Kyaukpyu on Myanmar's west coast, and onward across Myanmar to Kunming in southwestern China. The project will enable China to send oil and gas imports across Myanmar and steer clear of the US Navy-dominated waters further south, notably the Malacca Straits, though which an estimated 80% of global oil supplies are currently shipped.

With all this in mind, Hong Lei's statement also called on the Myanmar government to protect the interests of Chinese companies in Myanmar. But the surprise announcement has prompted much speculation about the back-story behind the suspension of the project, which Myanmar environmental campaigners say could begin again anytime unless China confirms that it is suspending its involvement in the project. (Thein Sein said the project would be suspended for the term of his government, which ends in 2015)

In the days leading up to the suspension, fighting between the Myanmar Army, known as the Tatmadaw, and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) which has been ongoing since June 9, intensified greatly, according to reports filed by Myanmar exile media groups based in Thailand.

"The government had little choice," said KIA spokesman Colonel James Lum Dau, speaking to this correspondent. "Since the fighting started, it has been impossible for any construction materials or supplies to get through from China to Myitsone," he claimed.

Compared with its often vitriolic responses to recent actions by Vietnam and the Philippines over the disputed South China Sea, Beijing's response to Myanmar's Myitsone suspension has been relatively measured and diplomatic.

Analysts believe that suggests China may have been forewarned about Thein Sein's announcement, which is striking a populist note in a country where anti-Chinese sentiment is growing, according to Myanmar economy expert Sean Turnell.

Significantly, the announcement came a day after Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lin met in Washington with Derek Mitchell, the newly appointed US envoy to Myanmar, and Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. That meeting came after a discussion in New Delhi between Myanmar Commerce Minister Win Myint and Anand Sharma, India's commerce and industry minister. Campbell is scheduled to visit Asia next week, including a stopover in Myanmar's neighbor Thailand, as well as in China, where he might be asked awkward questions about the timing of Thein Sein's announcement last week.

A leaked diplomatic cable sent from the US Embassy in Rangoon on Jan 15, 2010 points to evidence of a direct US involvement in opposing the dam. "An unusual aspect of this case [referring to the Myitsone Dam] is the role grassroots organizations have played in opposing the dam, which speaks to the growing strength of civil society groups in Kachin State, including recipients of Embassy small grants", the document stated.

The US is holding out the carrot of relaxed economic and financial sanctions if the Myanmar government undertakes key reforms, including the release of 2,100 political prisoners. India, meanwhile, is hoping to boost its economic links with Myanmar. New Delhi has ceded significant commercial ground to China, as well as other neighbors of Myanmar such as Thailand.

Both China and Thailand enjoy trade relations with Myanmar measured at an estimated six to seven times the size of the current $1.5 billion India-Myanmar trade.

The September 30 announcement has already raised questions about the viability of other foreign-invested mega-projects underway in Myanmar. For instance, Thailand's Italian-Thai Development Company is the lead investor in a multi-billion dollar mega-port facility scheduled to be built on the country's southwestern coast at Dawei/Tavoy.

As well as a proposed 250-square-kilometer industrial zone, the project includes a highway that will link Dawei/Tavoy to Kanchanaburi province in western Thailand, plugging Myanmar's laggard infrastructure and economy into that of its relatively-advanced neighbor.

The port facility is envisioned to give Thai industries what they hope will be a protest- and litigation-free zone to relocate some of their operations after Thai environmental activists and local residents suspended through litigation new investments at the mammoth Map Tha Phut industrial estate in Rayong province in 2009.

As with the Myitsone dam, which some analysts have cited as a factor in the intensified fighting between insurgents and government forces further north, the Dawei/Tavoy project has faced stiff opposition from ethnic rebels, in this case Karen. In mid-July, the insurgent Karen National Liberation Army/Karen National Union (KNLA/KNU) said that it had forced a halt to the port's related highway construction in territory where KNLA-Tatmadaw clashes have recently taken place.

That stand-off continues, says KNU secretary general Zipporah Sein, who told Asia Times Online that "we welcome the government decision to suspend the Myitsone dam, but want the same to happen in Karen regions, as there has been no consultation with Karen people and no assessment of the impact of this project".

Simon Roughneen is a foreign correspondent. His website is www.simonroughneen.com.

(Copyright 2011 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)

xxxriainxxx

October 3rd, 2011, 04:36 PM

If China wages a war on the West Philippine Sea then it wont just face the Philippines and Vietnam but a host of other countries that will be affected with disruptions on trade and freedom of navigation. If Beijing will do that, then it will severely backfire on them as it would cripple the global economy and the main markets for Chinese products.

alheaine

October 3rd, 2011, 04:58 PM

^^
beijing is not as dumb witted as the author of that news.. :ohno:

xxxriainxxx

October 3rd, 2011, 05:19 PM

^^
beijing is not as dumb witted as the author of that news.. :ohno:

I hope they are not that dumb. Although like what the author said, that article was published by a CCP newspaper. Are they trying to check the sentiments of the people?

wino

October 3rd, 2011, 06:25 PM

Why should M'sia interested in Mindanao ?

Look at what Mercato said. If there are foreigners involved, then why not just capture and execute them. I'd love to see that.

why would M'sia be interested in Mindanao?
yeah? really, why???? in the first place, why would Malaysia be so active in being a BIASED-PEACE negotiator with regards to Mindanao.

Capture and execute?
I really hope that they all die.

TO BE BLUNTLY HONEST...
UNTIL your countrymen stop meddling with our domestic affairs, we really can't help but DOUBT Malaysia's role in this mess. Respect our sovereignty and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.. stop dictating the MILF

what will be more productive for Malaysia(since some of their nationals is involved) is just to join out efforts in fighting terrorism, just like what INDONESIA did. Indonesia and the Philippines already signed a pact in battling terrorism in the area. And we really feel Indonesia's sincerity which makes them more trustworthy. I hope Malaysia would sign the same pact.

xxxriainxxx

October 3rd, 2011, 06:26 PM

Examinations cancelled in National University of Singapore and that made the news on Channel News Asia?? WTF?

Maybe Malaysia should share some of its more interesting news with Singapore. :D

:lol:

wino

October 3rd, 2011, 06:32 PM

^^ it's their local newspaper.. so i guess it can't be helped.. they have to inform the public, right?

at least their news is mild and not scandalous.. :D

KnightOfTheFlag

October 3rd, 2011, 06:44 PM

why would M'sia be interested in Mindanao?
yeah? really, why???? in the first place, why would Malaysia be so active in being a BIASED-PEACE negotiator with regards to Mindanao.

Capture and execute?
they're already dead.
And I really hope that they all die.

you guys are not getting the point.. MAIN POINT here is, how come Malaysians are always involved in our domestic issues on Mindanao..
TO BE BLUNTLY HONEST...
UNTIL your countrymen stop meddling with our domestic affairs, we really can't help but DOUBT Malaysia's role in this mess.

Easy bro....if ever The Malaysian government is involve in anything happening in Mindanao im pretty sure the Malaysian populace does not agree or support it...or may not even aware of it...whatever problems we have in our country we alone can solve it decisively and definitively even with the meddling of other group or country....during Estrada's term he made a bold move to kick the MILF from camp abubbakar and really gave them a bloody nose...maybe if there were less "distractions" and if he finished his term he would have wipe out the MILF....and during the operations even politicians and groups IN OUR COUNTRY was oppose to it :ohno:...that goes to say we our solve can handle and solve our problems without outside help and meddling....only if our government has the will and balls to carry it out..

xxxriainxxx

October 3rd, 2011, 06:45 PM

^^ it's their local newspaper.. so i guess it can't be helped.. they have to inform the public, right?

at least their news is mild and not scandalous.. :D

The national newsletter nga daw. :D

KnightOfTheFlag

October 3rd, 2011, 07:03 PM

Examinations cancelled in National University of Singapore and that made the news on Channel News Asia?? WTF?

Maybe Malaysia should share some of its more interesting news with Singapore. :D

:lol:

Singapore has the most boring and senseless, non-essential news in terms of local affairs but when it comes to the suffering and sorrow of its neighbors it will hit headline and will still linger for days just to rub it in their citizens mind that Singapore is..eerrmm.."perfect"....I remember some few years back WHEN THIER RESIDENT URANG-GUTANG MONKEY dies ( I think it was thier 1st and oldest ) IT HIT HEADLINES ( ST ) AND PRIMETIME NEWS ( CNA )!! And the funeral was even more elaborate than some ordinary citizen even in their country, people were mourning, crying their ass off as if a hero died WTF :bash::bash:

wino

October 3rd, 2011, 07:27 PM

^^ he must be a very special Orangutan... afterall they're an endangered species :D
I would also be sad if our very own Pag-asa (Philippine eagle) dies....

well, what can I say.. they're not as scandalous or controversial as we are.. good for them.

about the Mindanao thing...
Yeahh... i think i better keep my cool. I'll try to refrain myself from commenting any further on the issue. As it doesn't add anything good to the situation...

alheaine

October 3rd, 2011, 10:05 PM

^^
:okay: :cheers:

patchay

October 4th, 2011, 03:08 AM

Examinations cancelled in National University of Singapore and that made the news on Channel News Asia?? WTF?

Maybe Malaysia should share some of its more interesting news with Singapore. :D

:lol:

If you guys realised Malaysia's news is as boring as Singapore.

The worst part is our news consist of soo much petty, gutter politics and even sodomy and may contain some elements of racism, biasness and prejudice.

But if you like to see the public opinion, you can see in websites such as The Malaysian Insider, which I believe is the single most "commentted" online news portal/website for Southeast Asia.

Skyprince

October 4th, 2011, 03:53 AM

the smaller the country, the more peety the news seem to be.

When I visited Brunei , on the 2nd page of its newspaper it reads " Fire department is organizing a camp near Capital" .

Whereas in India, the 2nd page of its newspaper "Hindustan Times " is still full of bloodsheds !! :eek:

pau_p1

October 4th, 2011, 04:23 AM

Skyprince

October 4th, 2011, 04:37 AM

^^ well, Brunei has less population than Davao city ... imagine if Davao has its own newspaper- what kind of news will be published then ?

RonnieR

October 4th, 2011, 05:13 AM

yeah the smaller the country is... less news will be written as expected that's why here in Singapore the global news pages are more that the local news pages... except during the F1 season last week... anyways, I think there is only 1 news paper company here... as there is only 1 local channel...

If you guys realised Malaysia's news is as boring as Singapore.

The worst part is our news consist of soo much petty, gutter politics and even sodomy and may contain some elements of racism, biasness and prejudice.

But if you like to see the public opinion, you can see in websites such as The Malaysian Insider, which I believe is the single most "commentted" online news portal/website for Southeast Asia.

the smaller the country, the more peety the news seem to be.

When I visited Brunei , on the 2nd page of its newspaper it reads " Fire department is organizing a camp near Capital" .

Whereas in India, the 2nd page of its newspaper "Hindustan Times " is still full of bloodsheds !! :eek:

Imagine this: on daily basis, Philippines has 48 English language newspapers, 17 Filipino language newspapers, 1 Bilingual (English and Filipino), 1 Spanish Language newspaper, 2 Chinese newspapers.

The Korean community has a weekly newspaper, full of ads, colorful photos, could have as much as 50 pages.

In addition, there are also weekly English, local dialect newspapers in different regions of the country.

PH is Asia's freest indeed, in relation to media. No censorship nor control from the government.

RonnieR

October 4th, 2011, 05:43 AM

India-ASEAN free trade deal seen to benefit PHL economy
By Ehda M. Dagooc (The Freeman) Updated October 04, 2011 12:00 AM

CEBU, Philippines - The existing FTA (Free Trade Agreement) between India and ASEAN countries is expected to benefit Philippine trade and provide promising market for struggling exporters, who are now affected by the weak economic state of traditional markets like United States and Europe.

In a report released by PhilExport, it encouraged exporters to intensify its entry to populous market, and develop relationship with emerging ASEAN markets to take advantage of the Philippine’s FTA with ASEAN member nations.

According to Rashmi Tolentino-Singh, chairperson of the Hospitality & Wellness Industries Furnishers & Service Providers Association, that the Philippine export products still has a lot of advantages in attracting the new wave of market potential.

“We have good products to offer. Quality is the battlecry. We need to have a culture of excellence, this will sustain us,” she said.

Singh mentioned that in a reseach study conducted recently, it bared that there are consumer shows abroad they can penetrate as well as other markets which have been considered competitors but are now actually their customers, like China and India.

On the other hand, Singh warned exporters that diligence is very important in entering the world’s most populous countries.

She said China is one of those markets that exporters should focus on. Likewise, India offers a huge potential but not so much for consumer-base but for institutional markets, such as hospitality sector because the country is building thousands of hospitals and they can not cope with demand of the market.

The Philippines’ FTA in ASEAN like Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, should also be maximized, she recommended.

Meanwhile, she said Middle East also offers good potential for growth. Exporters are encouraged to focus on Qatar because it is the only country in the world that has not been affected by the recession.

She said Qatar is already preparing for the 2022 soccer World Cup so there are all kinds of construction going on there.

While some markets in Europe are struggling big time, she said some areas still offer opportunities particularly in northern Europe—Germany, as well as Paris, England.

Singh also identified Korea as another potential market for exporters.

Paris, in particular she said has a market that is global. England on one had, is another place that is very compatible for what the Philippines is producing “because they are very design-oriented.”

Another market to watch for is Korea, she added. The young people in Korea are inclined to demand for contemporary stuffs, which is one of the strengths of Filipino exporters. (THE FREEMAN)

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=733713&publicationSubCategoryId=108

SingaporeCity

October 4th, 2011, 06:32 AM

Singapore has the most boring and senseless, non-essential news in terms of local affairs but when it comes to the suffering and sorrow of its neighbors it will hit headline and will still linger for days just to rub it in their citizens mind that Singapore is..eerrmm.."perfect"....I remember some few years back WHEN THIER RESIDENT URANG-GUTANG MONKEY dies ( I think it was thier 1st and oldest ) IT HIT HEADLINES ( ST ) AND PRIMETIME NEWS ( CNA )!! And the funeral was even more elaborate than some ordinary citizen even in their country, people were mourning, crying their ass off as if a hero died WTF :bash::bash:

I agree with Skyprince, there's really not much news to report in Singapore. I don't think these prime news should even be entertaining in the first place, not that there has been bloodsheds or riots in the past few decades.

I hope you understand Singapore has an open super small economy and whatever that is happening around the world or region has a huge impart on our small economy, we do not have a huge domestic population to support the economy. So we need to keep ourselves updated on world events. Even natural disasters, riots in other parts of the world can affect our trade and economy. We do hear positive news from the region as well. :)

Also these news can be very important to foreigners living in Singapore. You do know that Singapore has more foreigners than natives living in Singapore? :ohno:

xxxriainxxx

October 4th, 2011, 06:43 AM

If you guys realised Malaysia's news is as boring as Singapore.

The worst part is our news consist of soo much petty, gutter politics and even sodomy and may contain some elements of racism, biasness and prejudice.

But if you like to see the public opinion, you can see in websites such as The Malaysian Insider, which I believe is the single most "commentted" online news portal/website for Southeast Asia.

I think sodomy news is more exciting than a university running out of examination papers. :D

the smaller the country, the more peety the news seem to be.

When I visited Brunei , on the 2nd page of its newspaper it reads " Fire department is organizing a camp near Capital" .

Whereas in India, the 2nd page of its newspaper "Hindustan Times " is still full of bloodsheds !! :eek:

Brunei is charming but my god, I can fall asleep walking around BSB. :D

Imagine this: on daily basis, Philippines has 48 English language newspapers, 17 Filipino language newspapers, 1 Bilingual (English and Filipino), 1 Spanish Language newspaper, 2 Chinese newspapers.

The Korean community has a weekly newspaper, full of ads, colorful photos, could have as much as 50 pages.

In addition, there are also weekly English, local dialect newspapers in different regions of the country.

PH is Asia's freest indeed, in relation to media. No censorship nor control from the government.

Au contraire, my friend, Indonesia has the freest newspaper. PHL's media is hobbled by incompetence, corruption as well as intimidation. But true however, we have a very diverse media at home.

Erran

October 4th, 2011, 07:23 AM

RonnieR

October 4th, 2011, 07:54 AM

I think sodomy news is more exciting than a university running out of examination papers. :D

Brunei is charming but my god, I can fall asleep walking around BSB. :D

Au contraire, my friend, Indonesia has the freest newspaper. PHL's media is hobbled by incompetence, corruption as well as intimidation. But true however, we have a very diverse media at home.

Well, there are always kinks in the industry. Since most of the media companies are privately owned, they are perceived as pro or anti-administration. There are always accusations, propaganda, etc.

I still go for Manila Bulletin, Philippine Star, Philippine Daily Inquirer, the top 3 English daily newspapers in the country. For TV, I still go for the 24 hour English ANC Channel. :cheers:

pau_p1

October 4th, 2011, 08:19 AM

wino

October 4th, 2011, 09:05 AM

xxxriainxxx

October 4th, 2011, 09:10 AM

Skyprince

October 4th, 2011, 10:45 AM

^^
Bout Indonesian newspaper, yup, It may be the freest in the region, too free and liberal IMO. They even have guts to publish head to head news or articles against the Gov. Sometimes it's too annoying tho', sounds more like complaining and blaming, than criticizing.

For me this will do nothing good for the country and your own too.

Yes, you may get "immediate satisfaction" when you bash & criticize your governmnet openly and teach them kindergarden-level moral lesson :laugh: , but in the long run ?

1) It will scare off potential investors & tourists , especially high-end tourists and "Big" investors

2) It is almost useless. Tell me honestly, what is the rate of your government listening to public criticism ? :(

3) The national mood is brought down. Pessimism rules over optimism. Many people especially the more educated tend to migrate abroad and "lose hope" in their own country .

RonnieR

October 4th, 2011, 12:26 PM

For me this will do nothing good for the country and your own too.

Yes, you may get "immediate satisfaction" when you bash & criticize your governmnet openly and teach them kindergarden-level moral lesson :laugh: , but in the long run ?

1) It will scare off potential investors & tourists , especially high-end tourists and "Big" investors

2) It is almost useless. Tell me honestly, what is the rate of your government listening to public criticism ? :(

3) The national mood is brought down. Pessimism rules over optimism. Many people especially the more educated tend to migrate abroad and "lose hope" in their own country .

I think we need to expound your point to present both sides. It is always good to report incidents of crime so the government and the people would be aware. This is also a way to gauge if issues have been addressed and if security has improved or not.

It is also beneficial to report issues about corruption as a deterrent. Hong Kong's Shame Campaign in their anti-corruption campaign was successful. Hong Kong used to be corrupt in 1970s until they established their Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC) in 1975. Based on accounts, it took them more than 3 years to eradicate corruption thru Shame Campaign in media coupled with lifestyle check and the imprisonment of "big fish". The result was overwhelming for HK. Now, HK is always ranked very high in the least corrupt category.

Taiwanese enjoy Freedom of the speech and the press. They are progressive.

In 2011 Global Press Freedom Ranking, most of the developed countries are in the "Free" category.
Source:
http://www.freedomhouse.org/images/File/fop/2011/FOTP2011GlobalRegionalTables.pdf

Japan got the highest Asian ranking in Global Press Freedom at no. 32 out of 198 countries.

Ranking in Asia for Global Press Freedom:
1. Japan - no. 32
2. Taiwan - no. 48
3. Hong Kong - no. 70
4. South Korea - no. 70 also

The above countries are developed. For ASEAN, Indonesia and Philippines were rated as "Partly Free" and the rest are "Not Free".

So, it does not follow that if the county has greater freedom of the press and the speech, they will be pulled down and it is a threat to national stability.

Mehome

October 4th, 2011, 12:49 PM

For me this will do nothing good for the country and your own too.

Yes, you may get "immediate satisfaction" when you bash & criticize your governmnet openly and teach them kindergarden-level moral lesson:laugh: , but in the long run ?

1) It will scare off potential investors & tourists , especially high-end tourists and "Big" investors
if it is Indonesia or India, it is an exception i guess :)
should i type a full list of "big" investors here? (such as Toyota, Suzuki, Unilever, Exxon etc etc.)
and as for the Indonesias tourism, here is the latest news :)
Foreign holidaymaker arrivals up in Indonesia (http://www.predictwallstreet.com/news/story.aspx?StoryID=206854301)
Oct 03, 2011

JAKARTA, Oct 03, 2011 (Xinhua via COMTEX News Network) -- The number of foreign tourist arrivals in August rose by 5.89 percent to 621,100 people year on year, the Statistic Bureau announced here on Monday. In Bali, the center of Indonesia's tourist industry, the number of foreign tourist arrivals rose by 3.90 percent to 243.200 people year on year, Djamal, S.E. deputy of distribution of the bureau told a press conference here. The cumulative of the foreign holidaymakers by July,2011 was 4. 96 million people or 7.32 percent higher than that of at the same period of in 2010, he said.

Indonesia expects 7.7 million foreign tourist arrivals this year after over 7 million foreign tourists coming into the country last year, according to tourism ministry.

2) It is almost useless. Tell me honestly, what is the rate of your government listening to public criticism ? :(
in Indonesia, where there is still a very large number of poor and uneducated people, our gov asked a group of economic experts to give their thoughts on what needs to be done to maintain our economic growth, they all are really professional on that field, so that is why no people in Indonesia criticizes our economic performance (but those in opposition groups)

and if you noticed my country well, we are always complaining about corruption and corruption and more corruption. and what can the govt do to public criticism? i just hope they have ears to hear :laugh:

3) The national mood is brought down. Pessimism rules over optimism. Many people especially the more educated tend to migrate abroad and "lose hope" in their own country .
this may not happen in Indonesia, Im an educated people and i dont lose hope in my country, if this current government messed up my country, i will move and may try to become RI-1 :lol:

as you may already know that in Malaysia, only the poor and uneducated Indonesians works there (your kakak abang etc). (oh ok, not all of them are poor and uneducated, but MOST of them) :)

RonnieR

October 4th, 2011, 01:02 PM

if it is Indonesia or India, it is an exception i guess :)
should i type a full list of "big" investors here? (such as Toyota, Suzuki, Unilever, Exxon etc etc.)
and as for the Indonesias tourism, here is the latest news :)

in Indonesia, where there is still a very large number of poor and uneducated people, our gov asked a group of economic experts to give their thoughts on what needs to be done to maintain our economic growth, they all are really professional on that field, so that is why no people in Indonesia criticizes our economic performance (but those in opposition groups)

and if you noticed my country well, we are always complaining about corruption and corruption and more corruption. and what can the govt do to public criticism? i just hope they have ears to hear :laugh:

this may not happen in Indonesia, Im an educated people and i dont lose hope in my country, if this current government messed up my country, i will move and may try to become RI-1 :lol:

Good points there.

I guess the new Malaysian leaders have realized that having greater freedom to the people would not mean disintegration or more problems One positive thing is the possible repeal of their ISA.

Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea have greater freedom of the press and speech and they are richer than ASEAN countries.

In Taiwan, there were few instances of "fights/punches" among their lawmakers in full view of the people. Fact is: they are free and progressive.

vindoarga

October 4th, 2011, 01:57 PM

Manila-X

October 4th, 2011, 02:02 PM

Mehome is right :nuts:
Im sick of corruption-related news, almost everyday our media talk about corruptions and corruptions :ohno:

And about going abroad, most of our middle-class will prefer to work and stay in indonesia
IMO, family play important role here since most of us are family oriented :D

Simple, just ignore these news and do your own business.

Filipinos are also very family oriented. But with the rise of Filipino parents working abroad, it does have an impact in their children.

Skyprince

October 4th, 2011, 02:24 PM

Erran

October 4th, 2011, 03:15 PM

@Ronnie and Mehome- emm how do you define "free media " ?

In Malaysia, people are free to complain about poor quality of roads in their area, they are free to voice out their suggestion to improve our education system, they are free to report crime etc.etc. .
For me it's more like complaining of bad facilities, than a freedom of speech. LOL

But just 1 thing- u cannot bash any politicians/rulers/religion/races openly or trying to escalate an issue too much as if the country seems "unstable" . It's a rule of thumb that I believe almost all Malaysians can easily follow. I once sent an opinion letter to a newspaper company and they published my letter ! You see, I am free to express my opinion here ! :) British colonial heritage: King can do no wrong. :lol:
Does your opinion espouse or oppose the Gov? Espouse, of course they will very happily publish your opinion.
Free and INDEPENDENT media is where you can find what people really feel bout some cases (public opinion), even when it opposes the Gov. Then the media will still keep its independence by publishing it as the form of critics to the ruling Gov. Can you say "PM is not capable in managing your country?" even with enough evidences as your base of opinion in your hand? :lol: You will be in jail the next day.

So I don't know in what way "We are not free" ? I think we are just as free as Filipinos, Indonesians , Koreans, Japanese etc. :)

My stance about politics is easy- just let the politicians to do their job. It is their job and let it be ! If u disagree with their way, sent them an email, or a letter to their office to suggest improvement or otherwise, why don't u join politics/become a politician urself to correct things, if u think u are better than them ? :)

Really?
Free, but is it trustworthy? Or just another seeker of popularity?
How come Msians from other side (of the world) don't feel like what you feel. Politicians are in your side, of course you will just let them do what they wanna do, coz you will lose nothing but gain many things. But how bout the persecuted ones who remain poor but mute at the same time? #You know better than me "who" they are.

Anyway, can everyone be politician? :nuts: If yes, the doomsday will come earlier then :lol:

No hard feeling, bro :cheers:

Skyprince

October 4th, 2011, 03:33 PM

^^ Well, just an example, in Skyscrapercity we cannot bash any forumers , right ?
So by same logic, why should we justify bashing politicians openly ? ( of corruption, crime, mismanagement etc. without any hard proof ? )

We bash certain forumer fine, he is defamed in front of few other forumers, but when you defame certain politicians without any hard proof or knowing him/her very well, you are ashaming him in front of millions. The lifetime consequence is very bad.

Some Malaysians blame their government for mismanagement etc. but let me ask, why the Chinese are so successful in Malaysia and in all ASEAN countries ? It's all due to their hard work, discipline and determination in their job. Many ethnic Chinese live in 3, 4 , or 5-storey villas/bungalows in Malaysia which they may find difficult to do in Singapore, Taiwan ,Korea etc.

My point is, instead of "blaming governmnet/politicians all day and night " or "promoting free press" , why don't we ( Southeast Asians ) promote "hard-work, discipline, serious commitment at work " a-la ethnic Chinese or Japanese or Koreans ? Only this will push our countries to the top of the world :cheers:

Mehome

October 4th, 2011, 03:42 PM

@Ronnie and Mehome- emm how do you define "free media " ?

free media = the media must be free of government pressure, you can report whatever you want without fear of government repression.

it has happened before in Indonesia (Soeharto era), but i have to admit that in Soeharto era, Indonesia emerged as one of the most stable politics in Asia, the economy enjoyed a long period of high growth (about 7 to 8 percent annually for about 2 consecutive decades) etc etc. and you must know what happened in 1998... first miracle, then collapse... im lazy to type, i dont want to say this, but if your govt doesnt learn something from Indonesia, the darkages is waiting for you (well, we have already experienced that darkages in 1997-2004) :tongue4:

Erran

October 4th, 2011, 03:51 PM

^^ Well, just an example, in Skyscrapercity we cannot bash any forumers , right ?
So by same logic, why should we justify bashing politicians openly ? ( of corruption, crime, mismanagement etc. without any hard proof ? )

We bash certain forumer fine, he is defamed in front of few other forumers, but when you defame certain politicians without any hard proof or knowing him/her very well, you are ashaming him in front of millions. The lifetime consequence is very bad.

Simple, because they, the politicians, bring our "Amanah". They are Representatives of their people, so they should represent, coz it's their job and reason why they are there. Their decision is like fate for other people. So, better we help them keep walking on the right path (this is what independent mass media is for)

About another SSC forumers? :lol: Discussing, debating, or arguing is enough. Coz what they do won't directly affect us.

Cheers, brother . . . :cheers:

the glimpser

October 4th, 2011, 04:13 PM

Change of topic..Medical tourism is booming across Asia..

The State of Medical Tourism in Asia
http://ph.news.yahoo.com/pop-culture-wealthy-chinese-spur-medical-tourism-asia-075042070.html

By Jeremy Laurence | Reuters

SEOUL (Reuters) - It is one of Asia's fastest growing industries and shows no signs of losing steam even as the global economy wobbles.

Travelling abroad for medical treatment is now a multi-billion dollar business.

From a nip-and-tuck to a heart bypass, hospitals from India to Singapore and South Korea treat more than 1 million foreign patients a year -- lured by cut-price surgery, no waiting lists, cutting-edge technology, and highly trained doctors.

Industry experts predict medical tourism in Asia will grow at a rate of 15 to 20 percent a year, mainly due to the emergence of nouveaux riches in the region.

"Asian medical tourism ... seems to be increasing as affluence and mobility increase in Asia," said David Vequist, head of the Center for Medical Tourism Research at the University of the Incarnate Word in Texas.

"Consumer choice is a powerful force now in healthcare and is impacted by ageing and increasingly heavier, sicker, and more needy populations in Asia."

Medscape News web site has forecast medical tourism in Asia could generate $4.4 billion by 2012.

The United States provides the most patients, as Americans travel abroad to avert the astronomical costs of having private treatment at home. Typically, Americans can save 40-50 percent.

But there is a new patient on the operating table, and he or she is Chinese. Many of these patients are willing to spend what it takes to fix their problem.

"No matter how expensive it is, I will go for it," says Liu Xiao-yang, 34, of Shanghai, after having double-eyelid surgery, a facelift and corrective jaw surgery in Seoul.

KOREA WAVE

The rise of an affluent class in China, and an infatuation with so-called Hallyu, or Korean Wave, culture from pop music to drama have spurred a sharp growth in South Korean medical tourism, mainly in the field of cosmetic surgery.

"Every time I watch South Korean drama and TV shows, I feel that they are pretty and I want to look like them," says Liu.

Kim Byung-gun, a plastic surgeon at the BK DongYang Plastic Surgery Clinic in Seoul, says his patients have ranged in age from 6, for double-eyelid procedure, to a 70-year-old seeking a skin lift. On average, they spend $5,000-$10,000 per procedure.

"Medical tourism is going to be one of the growth engines of the South Korean economy," Kim says, identifying the Korean Wave as a key contributor to the rapid growth of the sector in Asia's fourth largest economy.

South Korean authorities have every reason to be optimistic about the growth of the industry, particularly in the field of elective cosmetic surgery.

CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets in a study released last month estimated that China would account for 60 percent of the rise in high net-worth individuals' wealth in Asia over the next five years.

Chinese patients arrive in South Korea with photographs of Korean celebrities they want to look like, says Lee Soo-jung of the Lamar Plastic Surgery Clinic in Seoul.

Han Dong-woo of the Korea Health Industry Development Institute says the number of tourists coming to South Korea ballooned last year to nearly 82,000, generating about $700 million in revenues.

Three years earlier, fewer than 8,000 medical tourists travelled to South Korea. Han projects some 200,000 will come next year. By 2020, the South Korean government envisages a million medical tourists a year.

"I see an infinite growth potential in the plastic surgery market for foreigners," says Han, who estimates operation costs in South Korea are about half that of the United States.

INDIA, SOUTHEAST ASIA

South Korea may be one of the fastest growing medical tourism destinations, but for now it lags far behind trailblazers Thailand, Singapore, India, Malaysia and even the Philippines.

They all have their own distinctive marketing strategies in an attempt to woo clients, as well as areas of specialisation. Thailand and India, Asia's leading destinations, specialise in orthopaedic and cardiac surgery.

India's government says its medical services are cheaper than those in southeast Asia, and identifies its English-speaking doctors as providing a "major comfort factor".

It has even introduced a special visa category to cater for the growing number of medical tourists.

Thailand sells itself as dual purpose destination where medical treatment can be combined with a cheap recuperative holiday. Bangkok was this year identified by TripIndex as the best value global city for U.S. travellers.

The Singapore healthcare industry positions itself as a "premium" centre. Among its patrons have been many of Malaysia's sultans, as well as other high profile political figures and celebrities from Asia and the Middle East.

By next year, Singapore aims to treat a million foreign patients a year, generating about $3 billion for the economy, the Singapore Straits Times has reported.

Its area of expertise includes cancer treatments, cardiology and other specialised care. Like South Korea, it sees China, as well as India, as being the catalysts for growth,

Neighbouring Malaysia, attracted nearly 400,000 medical tourists last year, and aims to increase that number to 1.9 million by 2020, mainly by way of undercutting Singapore.

A health official said costs in Malaysia are 30 percent cheaper than the city-state to the south.

The Philippines also sees itself as a cut-price destination, and is projecting the number of medical tourists to hit one million by 2015, generating at least $1 billion in revenue.

It targets patients from the United States, Canada, Taiwan and Japan.

"We can compete with the rest of Asia because we have an edge in providing high quality medical and dental services but at a much lower cost," said Marie Recarro, an official at the Department of Tourism in Manila.

RISKS AND DOWNSIDES

Some experts, however, lament the rise of the medical tourism industry, saying it exacerbates a brain drain of talent from the state to the private system, from rural to urban areas.

A paper published in the International Journal for Equity in Health last year said specialists were being swayed by the higher wages and better technology of the private sector.

If the industry achieved even a fraction of its projected growth "this could ultimately lead to locals being priced out of their own health care system, as demand from foreign patients can drive up the costs of providing care for everyone", it said.

Experts cite other concerns such as medical errors, lax follow-up care, and insurance, regulatory and ethical issues.

The World Health Organisation said in a report late last year that rapid development of medical tourism had presented "considerable implications for public health".

It said that with the influx of foreign patients, the demand for and price of healthcare might rise. "In addition, an increasing number of health services might cater for the needs of foreign patients and neglect local needs," it said.

patchay

October 4th, 2011, 04:53 PM

Stock markets and currency value across ASEAN have been tumbling. :ohno:

Here's some very good news despite the disastrous times in the US and Europe. But I think it's not sustainable given the current economic outlook, not even until mid 2012.

For ASEAN nations, hopefully Q3 and Q4 will not be that baddddd... despite the markets tumbling the most in Q3.

Indonesia's economy may grow faster in Q3
The Jakarta Post | Tue, 10/04/2011
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2011/10/04/economy-may-grow-faster-q3.html

JAKARTA - Indonesia’s economy is seen accelerating further in the third quarter of this year despite global economic uncertainties that have affected global financial markets. Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo said on Monday that the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) might expand 6.6 percent in the July-September period versus 6.5 percent in the two prior quarters thanks to Indonesia’s resilience to overseas crises due to its domestic-consumption driven economy, which has attracted new investments into the country.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/files/images2/ECONOMY.img_assist_custom-243x440.jpg

Trade-wise, he added, the country would unlikely be greatly affected by a slowdown in European nations and the United States.

“We are concerned by the global economic conditions, so we need to remain vigilant. Indonesia will not be directly affected as our major trading partners are not directly Europe and the United States, but rather the latest composition is more with Japan, China, Korea and India,” Agus said on the sidelines of a regional forum in Nusa Dua, Bali.

This year, the country’s economy might grow toward the top end of the 6.3 to 6.8 percent range, though in the revised 2011 state budget, the official economic growth target was set at 6.5 percent. Bank Indonesia (BI), however, saw a stagnant or slowing economic growth next year as the world economic slowdown was seen affecting global trade with slower exports across the board. The Central Statistics Agency (BPS) announced on Monday that exports from January to August were valued at US$134.85 billion, a 36.58 percent rise from the same period last year, with a contribution of $107.37 billion from non oil and gas exports. Imports, on the other hand, rose by 30.90 percent to $114.84 billion from the corresponding period past year.

Despite a solid export growth during the first eight months, BPS chairman Rusman Heriawan warned that the government and the local business players had to take necessary measures to curb the impacts of the continuing global economic downturn in the longer term.

“The crisis has affected the US and China as well. We need to tackle this all out so that the impacts on our economy can be minimized,” he said in a press conference in Jakarta.

Rusman added that declining exports would be the real threat, and that the crisis might bring delayed negative effects to overall export performance in 2012.

“We must avert a drastic decline in exports. We have the opportunity to diversify our exports to countries which are not heavily affected by the crisis, like Middle East countries. However, we have yet to do this optimally,” he added.

According to Rusman, domestic stakeholders also have to anticipate the impacts of the crisis on ASEAN countries.

“The domino effect will also influence ASEAN, which possibly affects us,” he said.

During the January-August period, Indonesia’s non oil and gas exports to ASEAN reached $22.09 billion, or 20.58 percent of total exports, according to BPS data. Deputy Trade Minister Mahendra Siregar said the government was eyeing African countries, such as South Africa, and South American countries, including Brazil, as well as Middle Eastern nations as destinations of its export diversification move.

“(To anticipate this crisis), we also need other things beyond trade instruments, including boosting investments and encouraging exports of added value products,” he said.

Malaysia exports likely to show a surge in August
By FINTAN NG | TheStar Biz | Tuesday October 4, 2011
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/10/4/business/9622916&sec=business

Shipments to Asia-Pacific to mitigate slowdown in demand from developed economies

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia's export figure for August is likely to show a surge amid some restocking activity even as the external demand remains volatile due to weaker global growth for the rest of 2011 and into next year.

The Statistics Department will release the external trade and factory output data (as measured by the industrial production index or IPI) for August on Thursday and Oct 11, respectively.

Economists in a Bloomberg survey expect exports to grow a median 7.8%, up from July's 7.1%.

Factory output had contracted 0.6% in July as external demand weakened, purchasing managers' indices (PMIs) fell and activity in the manufacturing sector slowed.

The PMI is a good gauge of new orders and of the economy, with index movements impacting both factory output and exports.

Economists who spoke to StarBiz said that exports to the Asia-Pacific region would help mitigate the slowdown in demand from developed economies although the gloomy outlook for the global economy would continue to affect demand in the second half of the year.

Maybank Investment Bank Bhd chief economist Suhaimi Ilias said the trend ahead for exports and factory output would be choppy as commodities, which have so far propped up exports due to higher prices, are not immune to global economic weakness.

“There's a lot of uncertainty in predicting the trend; an example is Singapore where exports (for August) fell but the IPI grew at a faster pace,” he said.

Suhaimi said there could be a short-term lift in August exports as China might have restocked ahead of the week-long national day holidays in the first week of October but shipments may still be impacted by the slower US economic growth and the unfolding sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone.

Affin Investment Bank Bhd economist Alan Tan said in an email reply that China and Japan's demand for commodities would continue to support exports.

“The underlying strength of overseas demand continues to be reflected in healthy demand from China for commodities. Similarly, exports to Japan will benefit from higher demand for liquefied natural gas and wood products,” he said, adding that the slightly higher growth in exports could partly be attributed to the low-base effect in the corresponding month of last year.

Tan said higher prices of commodities were also part of the reason for the rise in exports since prices were still higher in the third quarter this year versus a year earlier.

He expects exports to grow 7.2%, offset by the weakness in electrical and electronic products exports, which account for 35% of total external demand. Tan also sees exports rising 7.9% in the third quarter from 8.8% in the second.

Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd chief economist Azrul Azwar said the downward momentum of exports and factory output would continue till the end of the year and he did not expect the effect from higher commodity prices to support exports as much as before because prices had come down a lot.

“I expect another month of contraction in the IPI as global PMIs have weakened, since they've been on a downtrend over a three-month period. That's not good news for trade and factory output,” he said.

Thai inflation slows on falling fuel costs
ChannelNewsAsia | 03 October 2011 1725 hrs
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific_business/view/1156980/1/.html

BANGKOK: Thai inflation slowed in September thanks to reduced energy costs and a stronger baht, which lowered the cost of imported goods, the government said on Monday.

The consumer price index rose 4.03 percent in the month from a year earlier, against a gain of 4.29 percent in August, the commerce ministry reported.

"Many factors such as the government's fuel policy and a stronger Thai baht... helped reduce inflationary pressure," said Commerce Ministry official Yanyong Phuangrach.

Thailand's new government has suspended a levy on petrol and diesel, leading to a drop in prices. On the other hand, food prices continue to rise.

The Thai central bank raised its key interest rate in August for the sixth time this year, to 3.50 percent -- the highest level in about three years -- saying inflation was a bigger threat than a slowing global economy. - AFP/cc

Malaysia's retail sales advanced a ‘surprise’ 9.1% in Q2
By EUGENE MAHALINGAM | TheStar Biz | Tuesday October 4, 2011
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/10/4/business/9623236&sec=business

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia's retail industry recorded sales growth of 9.1% in the second quarter of this year, which was surprisingly higher than the 5.8% recorded in the same period last year, according to the latest Malaysia Retail Industry Report.

“This latest quarterly result was 28% lower than the earlier estimate by retailers (at 12.6%) during the middle of this year. However, it was higher than the forecast made by Retail Group Malaysia at 7%,” said its managing director Tan Hai Hsin in the report.

The higher growth during the quarter was partly due to the lower base in the same period a year ago, which was the lowest quarterly growth in 2010.

“Although the average retail sales performance was encouraging, many retailers suffered from poor results as well during this period,” Tan said, adding that for the first six months of this year, the Malaysian retail industry registered a growth rate of 8.2%.

“Similar to the first quarter, retailers still needed to absorb the rising cost of goods and offer very attractive discounts to lure shoppers to buy at the same time.”

The report said members of the retailers' association remained optimistic of their businesses during the third quarter of this year and expect sales to rise by 10.1%.

“The department store cum supermarket operators are expecting their businesses to improve further from the second quarter of this year. For the third quarter of 2011, they expect their businesses to grow by 9.9%.

“Department store operators also expect their businesses to rise further during the third quarter of this year with a growth of 9.6%. This is the lowest estimate given among all the retail sub-sectors.”

It said retailers in the fashion and fashion accessories sector were expecting their businesses to moderate at 11.5% in the third quarter. “Retailers in other specialty stores sub-sector (including retailers selling photographic equipment with photo processing services, optical products, sportswear and sporting equipment, fitness equipment, toys, sourvenirs as well as arts and crafts) are confident that their businesses will continue to grow at a higher rate of 16.9% during the third quarter of this year.

“This is the highest growth estimate among the retail sub-sectors,” the report said.

An analyst said he was maintaining a cautious outlook for the local retail industry for the remainder of 2011.

xxxriainxxx

October 4th, 2011, 05:40 PM

I am really enjoying all these discussions, it's quite refreshing to see different perspectives from other ASEAN countries. :)

Erran

October 5th, 2011, 01:16 AM

Skyprince

October 5th, 2011, 02:48 AM

Simple, because they, the politicians, bring our "Amanah". They are Representatives of their people, so they should represent, coz it's their job and reason why they are there. Their decision is like fate for other people. So, better we help them keep walking on the right path (this is what independent mass media is for)

About another SSC forumers? :lol: Discussing, debating, or arguing is enough. Coz what they do won't directly affect us.

Cheers, brother . . . :cheers:

Actually I feel there lies the difference between politicians and "ordinary folks".

Anyone can have "typically nice personality" :laugh:- most people are like that. They love democracy, human rights, freedom, making decisions deemed "reasonable ". They tend to make "popular" decision and having "popular" mindset

But politicians ? I noticed that most of politicians in Malaysia have "non-typical, extraordinary" personality. They are vocal, they are focused; sometimes they always come up with "unpopular decisions".

Take the example of Petronas Twin Towers. When our government planned to build it, so many people including opposition objected to it, saying that is a waste of money, why dont spend that money to improve rural area etc. etc. They all came up with all "reasonable" argument to object it. But the government didn't submit and the result ? In the end, the Twin Towers has become a major tourist & shopping attraction, has become a national icon and generate alot of income to the country ( which finally, could be spent to improve the rural areas etc. ).

Not everything is perfect about our government, they sometiumes made obvious mistake , but they did far more pros than cons :cheers:

I also believe that "typically nice & popular personality " vs. " non-typical, non-popular extraordinary personality" is what divides the "Ordinary folks" and Millionaires/Billionaires/Highly successful businessmen/elite people :) Almost all successful businessmen today have to do something different and making alot of "unpopular decisions" which lift them up from the majority of us "the ordinary folks" ;)

Skyprince

October 5th, 2011, 03:00 AM

I am really enjoying all these discussions, it's quite refreshing to see different perspectives from other ASEAN countries. :)

I think we need forumers from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Brunei & Myanmar to join this thread :P

Are there many Filipinos working/living in Vietnam ?

pau_p1

October 5th, 2011, 03:13 AM

I think we need forumers from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Brunei & Myanmar to join this thread :P

Are there many Filipinos working/living in Vietnam ?

yup.. i agree... i'm glad to see Malaysians and Indonesians in this thread... of course xxxrainxxx cannot stand for Vietnam but at he can give some insights... :)

Askal82

October 5th, 2011, 03:15 AM

yup.. i agree... i'm glad to see Malaysians and Indonesians in this thread... of course xxxrainxxx cannot stand for Vietnam but at he can give some insights... :)

I think there are Thais too lurking around but I hope they expose themselves more here. :)

patchay

October 5th, 2011, 03:37 AM

:ohno: I'm worried about the worsening condition in America and Europe.

Indonesia is still trying our best to diversify our economy not to be too dependent to European and American market (esp export). Hope we can pass through it safely and take the chance to be new economic powers in the near future.

Export-oriented ASEAN nations will suffer the most.

My concern is the spillover effect, as we are now already seeing 3 ASEAN nations that might have a potential property/real estate slowdown or even slump, worst case scenario. My meaning of slump is when the property investment capital yield and rental yield tumbles by a huge margin over a short period of time. Another way of looking at it is when the housing loan approvals dip by a large percentage, indicating a credit tigtening situation. And we also see a large vacancy situation for commercial real estate due to oversupply, or supply growth is much faster than demand takeups.

I personally think Indonesia will do very well because of its robust internal economics. Just imagine millions are coming up to become middle-class citizens (due to job opportunities) and this will spur domestic consumption to higher levels.

xxxriainxxx

October 5th, 2011, 04:48 AM

I think we need forumers from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Brunei & Myanmar to join this thread :P

Are there many Filipinos working/living in Vietnam ?

There's about 3K Filipinos living/working in the southern/central provinces/cities (Danang, Saigon, Can Tho, Nha Trang) whilst there's about 500-1000K living in Hanoi, Haiphong and other nearby cities in the north.

PHL have a sizable investment here in VN in the field of construction (as engineers), hotel industry (mid to top level management), F&B (San Miguel has a brewery here, as well as Jollibee have at least 15 branches nationwide and have a controlling stake at a high end coffee shop chain, URC), education and pharmaceuticals (Unilab). Rumours has it that some big companies such as Ayala Land is looking to invest in the hotel industry here.

yup.. i agree... i'm glad to see Malaysians and Indonesians in this thread... of course xxxriainxxx cannot stand for Vietnam but at he can give some insights... :)

Yeah, physically I am in VN, but my online presence is PHL. :)

xxxriainxxx

October 5th, 2011, 04:52 AM

Export-oriented ASEAN nations will suffer the most.

My concern is the spillover effect, as we are now already seeing 3 ASEAN nations that might have a potential property/real estate slowdown or even slump, worst case scenario. My meaning of slump is when the property investment capital yield and rental yield tumbles by a huge margin over a short period of time. Another way of looking at it is when the housing loan approvals dip by a large percentage, indicating a credit tigtening situation. And we also see a large vacancy situation for commercial real estate due to oversupply, or supply growth is much faster than demand takeups.

I personally think Indonesia will do very well because of its robust internal economics. Just imagine millions are coming up to become middle-class citizens (due to job opportunities) and this will spur domestic consumption to higher levels.

VN is an exporting country. I think everything hinges on its agriculture and other exports. With the storm damage in the typhoons in the PHL, the Aquino administration is looking to see if PHL needed to import rice. Real estate, man there is no end in sight... it's just so bad right now...:ohno::ohno::ohno:

I think there are Thais too lurking around but I hope they expose themselves more here. :)

:lol::lol::lol:

Speaking of Thailand, I made Green Curry last night. :D Although I think I made it way too spicy.

RonnieR

October 5th, 2011, 06:58 AM

@Ronnie and Mehome- emm how do you define "free media " ?

free media = the media must be free of government pressure, you can report whatever you want without fear of government repression.

Quoting from the source of the global ranking: http://freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=16

"The index assesses the degree of print, broadcast, and internet freedom in every country in the world, analyzing the events of each calendar year. It provides numerical rankings and rates each country's media as "Free," "Partly Free," or "Not Free." Country narratives examine the legal environment for the media, political pressures that influence reporting, and economic factors that affect access to information."

"Freedom is the opportunity to act spontaneously in a variety of fields outside the control of the government and/or other centers of potential domination. Freedom House measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties."

Mehome's reply is the brief summary of the statement from Freedom House. From those categories, it is interesting to learn that the developed countries (not all) are ranked higher in freedom index. It can be inferred that a county can be rich or developed without sacrificing freedom and liberties of the people.

I am really enjoying all these discussions, it's quite refreshing to see different perspectives from other ASEAN countries. :)

I am glad. We have one from Singapore, too, a rarity in PH thread :).

RonnieR

October 5th, 2011, 07:50 AM

This is a huge project, US$12B to US$17B with 31 stations and 10 million commuters.
How many kilometers are covered with the new MY Rapid Transit?

Source: http://www.voanews.com/english/news/asia/Malaysian-Subway-Project-Sparks-Protests-131111593.html
October 04, 2011
Malaysian Subway Project Sparks Protests

Yong Yen Nie | Kuala Lumpur

A section of Sultan Road in Kuala Lumpur, which is earmarked for acquisition by the Malaysian government for the MRT project.

Malaysian plans to build a subway in Kuala Lumpur, have sparked protests and allegations of land-grabbing.

Chuah Chee Peng, 56, has been living in Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur city's historical Chinatown, for more than 40 years. “I grew up watching the landscape of Petaling Street change. These shop houses didn't look like these 40 years ago. But renovations decade after decade keep changing the facade,” he says.

Chuah Chee Peng grew up in Petaling Street in Kuala Lumpur, which is earmarked by the government for mandatory acquisition.

Chuah says the facade of Petaling Street is expected to change even more drastically, after the city's first mass rapid transit (MRT), known as MY Rapid Transit, is completed. The construction project, which could cost between between $12 billion and $17 billion (RM36 billion and RM50 billion), will provide greater linkages in the city center, as well as to the suburban areas of Kuala Lumpur.

Petaling Street, situated in the heart of the city, is earmarked as one of the sites for the MRT.

However, even before tunneling works have begun in Petaling Street, issues involving mandatory land acquisitions by the government have plagued the project.

Slightly over a month ago, shop owners and residents of Sultan Road, situated in Chinatown, were upset when they learned the units situated above a section of the tunnel to be built for the project will be acquired by the government under the Land Acquisition Act.

Chuah lives and works at a street adjacent to Sultan Road. “So far, this street is not affected. But, who knows what will happen in the future?”

The government has said that it is acquiring the shops and land above the tunnel to ensure the safety of the buildings and possibly demolish them, in the event that these buildings are no longer safe for living after the tunnel is completed.

While The Land Public Transport Commission, a government agency overseeing the land acquisitions, has vehemently denied that such acts tantamount to “land-grabbing”, it would not guarantee that the land acquired would be returned to the owners after the construction of the MRT is completed.

Protests against these acquisitions are getting rampant, as the residents and landowners are concerned that the government is attempting to buy off the parcels of land and buildings below market price only to be developed into high-valued commercial properties.

Residents of Sultan Road are not the only ones caught in a quandary over the construction of the MRT. Landowners in Imbi Road and Bukit Bintang Road, also located in the heart of the city center, are challenging the acquisition of their properties for the MRT project.

The landowners of Imbi Road have challenged the acquisitions as “wrongful”, while shop owners in Bukit Bintang Road have staged a protest over the acquisitions of 20 units of shops to make way for tunneling works and an underground station.

Fears of mandatory land acquisitions in the city have compounded in recent months, following notices issued to some residents living in an affluent neighbourhood in the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur that their properties could be acquired for the purposes of building the train system.

Currently, the city already has two train systems running, which is the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and the Monorail. However, the train systems are not sufficient to address the increasing traffic congestion woes in the city.

The MRT project is listed as the country's largest and most important civil infrastructure project under the current Prime Minister Najib Razak's administration under an economic roadmap known as the Economic Transformation Program.

The program, which was unveiled in April this year, outlined key economic areas that the country would leverage to attract foreign direct investments that have been sluggish compared with neighbouring countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore in recent years.

With 31 stations and 10 million commuters expected after its completion by 2016, Najib has said the MRT project will generate up to $3.7 billion (RM12 billion) worth of other construction projects such as commercial properties and higher residential properties value.

The massive construction project also plays an important part in providing a multiplier effect to sustain the country's economic growth, amid concerns that a global economic downturn will affect its economy.

The Malaysian economy grew 7.2% in 2010, and the government has expected growth to be at 6% this year. However, in a report in August, Goldman Sachs has cut its forecast on Malaysia to 5% from 5.4%, while it projects the economy to grow 5.2%, compared with previous estimates of 5.6%.

Goldman Sachs has said the economy is likely hampered by weaker demand from the US and European markets this year, as well as Malaysia's high budget deficit of 5.4%.

patchay

October 5th, 2011, 08:07 AM

This is a huge project, US$12B to US$17B with 31 stations and 10 million commuters.
How many kilometers are covered with the new MY Rapid Transit?

Nationwide, we currently have about 120 ongoing infrastructure projects with about 1 quarter of them considered "Big". This MRT project is considered the biggest with a projected total cost of about 50 billion ringgit, that is about US$16 billion at today's exchange rate. It is understood that by 2030, the total stations for MRT, LRT, Monorail and KTM Commuter combined in METRO KL will be more than 250 stations. This is alongside some 500 to 600 new real estate projects being planned around the KL conurbation.

The official MRT thread on SSC is here >>> http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1315795. Official website >>> http://kvmrt.com.my tells us about 51km for the first line.

The plan is something like Singapore's awesome-most MRT system.

SG BULOH - KAJANG LINE - PHASE 1 OF MY RAPIT TRANSIT, KUALA LUMPUR

Bukit Bintang Sentral Underground Station
aURlsq9P2A

Pasar Rakyat Underground Station
kXdbG7I7_dQ

rain34

October 5th, 2011, 10:55 AM

Christians under attack in Indonesia, says top bishop (http://globalnation.inquirer.net/14519/christians-under-attack-in-indonesia-says-top-bishop)

Agence France-Presse 7:24 am | Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

VATICAN CITY—Islamic fundamentalists in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, are attacking Christians with impunity, the head of Indonesian bishops said Tuesday during a visit to the Vatican.

“Muslim fanatics are staging violence and denying basic religious freedom and stopping the construction of places of worship and the practice of Christianity,” Martinus Dogma Situmorang told the Vatican’s l’Osservatore Romano daily.

“Alas, these incidents are being tolerated or authorities are turning a blind eye without taking any legal action because in their eyes it is less serious even though they were accompanied by violence,” said Situmorang.

Indonesia’s constitution guarantees freedom of religion but rights groups say violence against minorities including Christians and the Ahmadiyah Islamic sect has escalated since 2008.

In February, a 1,500-strong mob of Muslims set two churches alight and ransacked a third in the town of Temanggung, on Java island, as they demanded that a Christian man be sentenced to death for insulting Islam.

Situmorang said even if extremists and radicals behind these attacks were brought to justice, the “punishments accorded are not proportionate to their acts.”

He said fanaticism was on the rise but security forces appeared to have got weaker.

More than 80 percent of Indonesia’s estimated 240 million people are Muslim. Five percent are Protestants and three percent Catholic.

rain34

October 5th, 2011, 11:43 AM

Malaysia PM orders 125 freed in reform drive (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/70927/malaysia-pm-orders-125-freed-in-reform-drive)

Agence France-Presse 4:11 pm | Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR—Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Wednesday the government would immediately release 125 people held under a tough security law he has targeted for repeal.

Najib, who is widely tipped to call snap polls within months, last month unexpectedly announced plans to scrap a range of decades-old draconian laws long criticized as oppressive and outdated.

The moves come as Najib, who faces a formidable political opposition, tries to boost his uncertain re-election hopes three months after police used tear gas and water cannon to crush a street rally calling for electoral reforms.

Najib told parliament’s lower house that curbs imposed by the Restricted Residence Act – which allows police to restrict where people live and is exempt from court review – would be lifted at once.

“I hereby announce that the Home Ministry will free all 125 individuals being held under the Restricted Residence Act with immediate effect,” he said.

Najib had introduced a parliamentary motion on Monday to repeal the law along with another that allows the government to banish non-Malaysians from the country.

They marked the first moves in Najib’s promised push to repeal or soften authoritarian laws headlined by the notorious Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows detention without trial and has been used in the past against government opponents.

Government officials have said repeal of the ISA would not get under way until next year.

Najib also said Wednesday the government would revoke more than 200 warrants issued under the residence act but which were unserved.

He called the residence law and the banishment act “obsolete and irrelevant.”

Government officials have said most of those targeted by the residence act were criminals involved in gambling and other vice and were not serious security threats.

Malaysia has been ruled by a coalition dominated by Najib’s United Malays National Organization (UMNO) since independence, but a fractured yet potent opposition alliance achieved historic gains in 2008 parliamentary polls.

Najib is required to call new polls by March 2013 but is widely expected to call them sooner.

RonnieR

October 5th, 2011, 12:57 PM

^^ Would that mean a free Anwar Ibrahim?

patchay

October 5th, 2011, 02:53 PM

Happy reading...

SE Asia Stocks-Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia bounce back
Wed Oct 5, 2011 6:39am EDT
By Viparat Jantraprap
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/05/markets-southeastasia-stocks-idUSL3E7L50JW20111005

* Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur see foreign money flow in
* Thai big caps rebound on short covering

BANGKOK, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Stocks in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia ended higher on Wednesday as buyers cautiously bought back big caps but lingering worries about sovereign debt woes in Europe erased gains elsewhere in the region.

Markets were range-bound, and in light volume for the most part as the euro zone's debt problems kept investors on the sidelines despite share prices that are now looking attractive in terms of fundamentals.

Market players scooped up shares in late trading as European shares and commodity prices bounced after finance ministers agreed to safeguard banks from the spreading sovereign debt crisis.

However, the gains might be short-lived.

"There's still little support to turn sharemarkets up, going forward, and the odds are more for a fall than a rebound," said Kasem Prunratanamala, head of research at CIMB Securities (Thailand).

"With no quick end seen to the debt problems in Europe and with worries about a possible global recession prevailing, investors are cautious despite share price weakness," he said.

Stocks in Malaysia , Thailand and Indonesia reversed the lower trend seen earlier this week, climbing 1 percent, 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent respectively.

Singapore ended down 0.09 percent, erasing a 1 percent climb at one stage. The city-state had a choppy session, with the Straits Times Index touching the lowest in more than two years in early trade.

Philippine shares edged down 0.2 percent, with $14.5 million in foreign outflows on the day, stock exchange data showed. Vietnam was 0.2 percent lower.

Fund flows were mixed across the region. Malaysia reported 9.5 million ringgit ($2.97 million) in inflows, while Indonesia had $57 million in outflows, according to Thomson Reuters and stock exchange data.

Bangkok took in 1.1 billion baht ($35.3 million), after inflows in the previous three sessions. Thai stock losses have been in part due to domestic sales and short selling.

Southeast Asian stocks extended their slide early this week after ending the July-September quarter with their biggest losses since the final three months of 2008 during the financial crisis after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Oversold banks bounced back after big losses on Tuesday, when the prospect of a Greek default raised concerns about another global financial crisis.

Singapore's DBS Group Holdings was up 0.6 percent, after Tuesday's 6 percent fall. The stock remained in oversold territory, with a 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 25.4 at the close against 23.9 on Tuesday. An RSI index of 30 or below indicates a stock is oversold.

In Bangkok, top energy firm PTT jumped 3.3 percent as short sellers bought to cover positions, brokers said. (Editing by Alan Raybould)

ASEAN ministers urged to set regional commodity exchange
XINHUAnet | English.news.cn 2011-10-05 14:09:27
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/business/2011-10/05/c_131175232.htm

JAKARTA, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Ministers of trade and agriculture in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Wednesday were urged to initiate a possibility assessment of organizing a commodity exchange as an effort to reduce food price volatility.

Vinai Pitiyont, vice president of Research and Development Standard Product/Service Department at Central Laboratory ( Thailand) Co. Ltd, told audience of ASEAN Food Security Conference that food price volatility is an important problem in the region.

"The action that could be taken is focusing on the role of agriculture commodity exchange in the region. We have discussed the issue and the discussions were very rich, including issue of challenges in setting it up and possible pitfall of having commodity exchange. We recognize the organization's role for price recovery and reducing market risk," he said.

Therefore, he said, the discussion suggested ministers to initiate a possibility assessment of organizing such institution, identifying challenges in setting it up and to take any recommendation for the goal for recommendation

"That would make the commodity exchange become more feasible and practicable in this region," he said.

Vietnam's once-hot property market cools
By Ian Timberlake (AFP) – 10 hours ago
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j_PwEyHlmK3aRQ7lmbfG9S-v9EJg?docId=CNG.1115db5cc2628f77f4863b0a574661ed.101

HO CHI MINH CITY — Four years after a real estate boom that saw investors camp out on the streets waiting to pay cash for unbuilt apartments, Vietnam's once-hot property market has caught a chill.

High inflation and interest rates along with a government-imposed credit squeeze have led to a fall in prices and other incentives to entice residential buyers, while office tenants benefit from a glut of space, experts say.

"The market is really, really, really tough," said Brad Gee, director of property management at the 68-storey Bitexco Financial Tower in Ho Chi Minh City.

The skyscraper opened late last year and now has tenants in more than 40 percent of its office space.

"Obviously we have to drive hard bargains" on rents, but so does everyone else in the market, Gee said.

Monthly rents for top-quality office space in Ho Chi Minh City have dropped to less than half the roughly $100 per square metre ($9.30 per square foot) obtainable during the market's peak in 2007-2008, said one leasing manager.

Bitexco and two other recently completed towers also offering prime "Grade A" space have added to what analysts see as an over-supply in the city, Vietnam's commercial capital of more than seven million people.

The residential sector is also hurting, they say, because of high interest rates as Vietnamese authorities strive to tame soaring inflation.

"The banks are being restricted in lending to property firms, to non-manufacturing industries, and when they are able to lend it can be between 20 and 25 percent interest," said Craig Wallace, of property consultants DTZ.

"With that, we cannot produce, we cannot invest in property development," said Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association.

At the same time prices of luxury apartments in the city fell more than 17 percent between late 2010 and mid-2011, to around $1,500 per square metre, according to the organisation.

But while some property is becoming more affordable, many would-be home owners are caught in the credit squeeze, unable to get mortgages except at exorbitant rates.

Thai Quang Trung, manager of research at real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle, found himself caught up in the problems that he studies. With apartment rents high, he thought about buying his own home but was deterred by financing concerns.

Trung suspects that many other young people would be in the same situation if they depend on their own salaries to finance a home purchase.

"I'm just going to continue to rent," he said.

Long focused on economic growth, Vietnam in February shifted to stabilising an economy beset by double-digit consumer price rises, dwindling foreign reserves and a weakening currency.

Measures included higher interest rates, a vow to cut state spending, and an order that growth in credit, or loans, stays below 20 percent.

Economists insist the government must stick to its stabilisation package to control the country's numerous economic imbalances including an inflation rate that exceeds 20 percent, the highest in Asia.

"The government measures have really hurt the property industry in terms of pushing up interest rates," said Wallace.

Analysts say fewer projects are being launched.

"Obviously we've seen some projects being delayed. They try to avoid being on the market right now," said Trung.

Singapore-based CapitaLand, one of Asia's largest real estate firms, said its first Vietnam residential project The Vista condominium in Ho Chi Minh City -- which saw buyers lining up at its launch during the 2007 property boom -- was completed on schedule in September.

But Yip said the company was assessing the market before offering units for sale at another high-end development in the city, where the foundations have already been finished.

For buildings already put on the market during the downturn, developers are offering lower prices, financing incentives and even lucky draws and furniture, analysts said.

"I think that the real estate market situation will continue to be difficult... for the investors as well as consumers," said Chau, whose association has asked the government to gradually reduce interest rates.

The industry is looking to next year for possible relief.

DTZ's Wallace expressed hope that an easing of some government policies might occur early in 2012, with a drop in interest rates, while Gee said his "gut feel" was the downturn could last until the first quarter.

Huynh Buu Tran, head of sales and investments for Jones Lang LaSalle, said the market's potential was reflected in Vietnam's steady economic growth rate and population of about 86 million, more than 60 percent of whom work.

"A lot of that are young couples, and they all aspire to have their own home," she said. "So fundamentally in the long term I think there's still a lot of growth."

Cambodia, Singapore urge peaceful solution to South China Sea dispute
(philstar.com) Updated October 05, 2011 03:55 PM
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=734215&publicationSubCategoryId=200

PHNOM PENH -- Cambodia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Hor Namhong and his Singapore's counterpart K Shanmugam agreed on Wednesday that the territorial dispute in the South China Sea between China and some ASEAN countries should be solved peacefully.

"We have exchanged ideas on the issue of territorial claims in the South China Sea by China and four ASEAN nations," Hor Namhong told reporters after meeting with Shanmugam.

"We agreed to urge all relevant sides to negotiate and solve the issue peacefully in accordance with the (2002) Declaration of Conduct in the South China Sea (DOC) and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea," he said.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Shanmugam, who arrived in Cambodia on Wednesday morning for a two-day official visit, will also meet Prime Minister Hun Sen and have an audience with King Norodom Sihamoni.

Thailand rushes condoms to flood victims
AFP | Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011
http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20111005-303385.html

BANGKOK - Thailand scrambled Wednesday to airlift condoms and other emergency health supplies to victims of its worst floods in decades to prevent a feared surge in unplanned pregnancies. :lol: :lol:

Five helicopters began transporting medicine and other provisions from the Public Health Ministry in Bangkok to seven locations in the central province of Lop Buri, which has been severely inundated.

"Local volunteers told us that villagers have nothing to do during the floods, so to prevent a baby boom we added condoms too," an official at the Emergency Medical Institute of Thailand told AFP.

The unusually severe monsoon floods have killed 237 people and affected three-quarters of the country, including the northern city of Chiang Mai and the ancient capital of Ayutthaya, both popular tourist destinations.

Millions of people have suffered damage to their homes or livelihoods because of the floods, which are several metres deep in places.

The military has been deployed to help victims and army camps are being opened to evacuees.

Authorities were battling to stop the floods reaching the centre of low-lying Bangkok, as forecasters warned of more stormy weather to come.

Science and technology minister Plodprasop Suraswadi admitted the government was fighting a losing battle.

"We can't stop it raining and it's difficult to drain water into the sea. We have done everything we can but it's not enough," he told reporters.

Can't really believe this. I can't believe because the crime rate here is still sooo high.

But any thoughts from you guys?

Malaysia overtakes Singapore as safest SEA nation
The New Straits Times | Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011
AsiaOne
http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Malaysia/Story/A1Story20111005-303238.html

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia has been moving up the rankings of various international indexes. Albeit at a slow pace, change is nonetheless happening and this positive change has been recognised by independent bodies outside of Malaysia.

The fifth edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI), which was conducted by the Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace, found Malaysia to be the most peaceful country in Southeast Asia and the fourth safest in the Asia Pacific region behind New Zealand, Japan and Australia.

Announced in May, the index also found Malaysia to be the 19th safest and most peaceful out of 153 countries around the globe.

The index is composed of 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators of respected sources, which combined internal and external factors ranging from level of military expenditure to its relations with neighbouring countries and respect for human rights.

These indicators were selected by an international panel of academics, businessmen, philanthropists and members of peace institutions for a year from March 15 last year.

The team has used the latest available figures from a wide range of respected sources, including the International Institute of Strategic Studies, the World Bank, various UN offices and peace institutes and the Economist Intelligence Unit.

According to the index report, Malaysia experienced an improvement in its GPI score for the fifth successive year and it rose by three places to 19th, supplanting Singapore as the highest-ranked Southeast Asian nation in last year's GPI.

This year, Malaysia's growing peacefulness reflected a rise in political stability, and improving relations with neighbouring countries (notably Singapore and China).

Meanwhile, the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) by the World Economic Forum (WEF), which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, ranked Malaysia 21st this year, up from 26th last year. This puts Malaysia ahead of nations such as South Korea and New Zealand in the report, which covered 142 countries.

Singapore is ranked second behind Switzerland, and overtakes Sweden for second position in the GCR Report 2011 - 2012. The rest of the top 10 list is dominated by Europoean countries with Sweden (3rd), Finland (4th), Germany (6th), the Netherlands (7th), Denmark (8th) and the United Kingdom (10th).

The United States continues its decline for the third year in a row, falling one more place to fifth position.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Malaysia is ranked sixth (from eighth last year) while Singapore is ranked first, followed by Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Australia.

Malaysia achieves a score of 5.08 (compared with 4.88 last year) out of a maximum of seven, and the GCR noted that the higher ranking this year was due to "improvements across the board".

The country's ranking in the sub-category of "Business cost of Crime and Violence", improved 30 positions from 93 last year to 63 this year.

According to the report, Malaysia's progress was particularly noteworthy in the institutions and macroeconomic environment pillars.

Among the prominent advantages of this strong and consistent performance are an efficient and sound financial sector, which placed it among the world's most developed, just behind Singapore and Hong Kong.

In the World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index 2011, Malaysia was ranked as the safest among 19 upper-middle income countries and 12th globally.

The project is supported by a host of globally renown foundations and associations, including the Neukom Family Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and LexisNexis.

The index provides detailed information and original data regarding a variety of dimensions of the rule of law, which enables stakeholders to assess a nation's adherence to the rule of law in practice, identify a nation's strengths and weaknesses in comparison to other countries, and track changes over time.

Back home, the National Current Issues survey by the International Islamic University Malaysia found that six issues concerned Malaysians the most in 2010 and 2011, namely economics, politics, social issues, crime, unity and illegal immigrants.

Crime continues to be the biggest concern but the percentage has dropped dramatically this year from 33 per cent last year to 21 per cent.

Statistics released by the General Insurance Association of Malaysia found that there had been a drop reported in vehicle thefts, based on the number of claims it received.

Last year, PIAM received 38,897 reports of stolen vehicles, down from 42,136 reports in 2009.

Meanwhile AirAsia has announced its 3rd route between Malaysia and Vietnam :banana:

Go holiday!!!

KL- Da Nang (4x weekly) from 69 ringgit all-in-fare beginning from 16 Dec 2011
http://www.airasia.com/nl/images/2011/main_danang_en.jpg