the blogging syed shahir

The Star

PETALING JAYA: The MTUC is calling on the authorities to implement effective measures to protect all frontline workers, especially those from the aviation and healthcare sectors, against the influenza A(H1N1) virus.

MTUC president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud said employers must also be committed to giving assistance to workers who have been placed under home or hospital quarantine as well as their families.

“If clinic staff or airport workers and flight attendants are quarantined for coming in contact with the two infected patients, they should be paid the full salary,” said Syed Shahir.

“We are very concerned with the outbreak of various diseases in several parts of the country and want the authorities to seriously look into practices associated with the preservation of good health among the general public,” he said.

Syed Shahir expressed the hope that employers would educate workers on how to improve personal hygiene and keeping their work environment clean at all times.

In Port Klang, port workers expressed concern for the lack of protective measures against the virus outbreak, reports Bernama.

Union of Employees of Port Ancillary Services Supplies (Unepass) secretary A. Balasubramaniam said thousands of frontliners serving incoming ships from all over the world had not been given adequate protection.

The Health Ministry, he claimed, was concentrating more on airports and other passenger entry points and gave low priority to ports.

“There are no screening machines or stringent health checks at the ports, thus workers and ship crew are coming in contact with each other without proper screening,” he said, adding it was causing concern to the port community now that Malaysia had two confirmed cases of influenza A(H1N1).

Balasubramaniam, who is also MTUC vice-president, called on the ministry not to neglect the health and welfare of port workers and issue proper guidelines and information to them.

He said the port authorities and the Health Department needed to conduct intensive campaigns among port workers to increase awareness on the disease and other communicable diseases that could be brought into the country by foreign ship crew members.

By : B. Suresh Ramand S. Arulldas (NST)

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) wants the workers’ demands to be seriously looked into and solutions implemented.
For starters, the congress which turns 60 this year wants to meet Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who assumed the country’s leadership recently.

“The MTUC is prepared to have a dialogue with the new leadership on workers’ issues,” said congress president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud after attending the MTUC national-level Workers Day celebrations at the Subang Jaya Municipal Council Sports Complex here yesterday.

He added that the current government leadership should be “caring” to the workers’ needs in the country.

Both Syed Shahir and MTUC secretary-general G. Rajasekaran were of the view that there were several crucial issues which need to be addressed to improve the welfare and the well-being of the 11.2 million workers nationwide.
In an oath taken by about 1,500 MTUC members, they asked for among others:

- Removal of threats and oppression of workers;

- Implement workers’ rights in line with the provision in the Federal Constitution;

- Recognise and adopt the 1998 International Labour Organisation resolution by reinstating the right of negotiation with the civil service;

- Create a law guaranteeing a minimum wage of RM900;

- Respect workers’ rights by ceasing all kinds of discrimination;

- Expand the social protection net to workers who lose their jobs;

- Review outdated labour laws; and,

- Respect occupational safety and health of workers by enhancing awareness of the relevant laws.

Meanwhile, both Syed Shahir and Rajasekaran also want the immediate setting up of a retrenchment fund.

“This is more important now due to the uncertain economic situation,” said Rajasekaran.

Syed Shahir called for the government to set aside RM500 million to set up the fund.

“We have been asking for the fund to be set up for the last 10 years. It is only for those who have lost their jobs and for no other purpose,” he said, adding that the fund should be set up immediately.

Syed Shahir said that if workers were truly the backbone of the country’s progress and development, then their rights need to be acted and implemented upon.

In Penang , the state MTUC asked the government to help workers currently displaced and retrenched by their respective employers to find alternative jobs.

More than 100 workers, especially displaced and retrenched workers, took part in a one-kilometre walk from the Penang Bird Park to the Sunway township.

The participants also distributed more than 3,000 leaflets containing the MTUC’s recent demands to the government.

PRESS RELEASE

1 May 2009

In observance of 1st May, Labour Day, Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP) reveals its initial findings on community monitoring of pesticide use and practices that indicate adverse impacts on agricultural workers, peasants and farmers, and appeals to governments of Asian developing countries to address the impacts of pesticides on workers’ health.

Around 25 million agricultural workers are being poisoned in developing countries according to the 1990 WHO World Health Statistics Quarterly. “However, such figures reflect only the most severe cases, and are likely to significantly underestimate unintentional pesticide poisonings, because they are based primarily on hospital registries.” says Dr. Meriel Watts, PAN Aotearoa New Zealand. She furthers, “Underreporting is endemic in all countries but especially in the poorer ones where few workers have access to medical personnel, and often symptoms are not recognised by either victims or medical personnel as resulting from pesticides.”

“The availability and unrelenting use of highly hazardous pesticides including WHO Class 1 pesticides by agricultural workers, peasants and farmers clearly shows how governments are more concerned with the industries making profit than the labourers’ rights to health and, safe working conditions and environment.” says Sarojeni V. Rengam, Executive Director of PAN AP. She adds, “The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’ s Code of Conduct has been in place since 1985 and it is really disturbing to find out that inappropriate incentives or gifts continue to be given out to encourage the purchase of pesticides, especially highly hazardous pesticides.”

PAN AP’s report entitled “Community Monitoring of Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) Implementation on Pesticide Use and Practices” is a compilation of studies implemented by eleven organisations in eight Asian countries – Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. 1306 respondents were interviewed and more than 118 retail stores were surveyed, with 55 human health incident reports gathered.

Based on the initial findings, PAN AP recommends the development of a global partnership to rapidly reduce and eliminate highly hazardous pesticides and for governments and industry to ensure that pesticides that require Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) are not registered, sold or used in developing countries in which the conditions of use are such that these pesticides can not be used safely, in particular because of a lack of, or inadequacy in, or inability to purchase PPE.

The report indicates that:

1. Highly hazardous pesticides are being used at diverse sites throughout Asia. 51% of respondents from Thrissur, Kerala (India) have used methyl parathion (WHO Class 1a) and 36% of respondents from Cambodia have used pesticides containing monocrotophos (WHO Class 1) that is banned in the country.

2. Precautions taken, especially the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), are lacking and awareness of specific pesticides and hazards is low, putting users at risk. Manual backpack spraying and the use of bare hands in handling pesticides were observed in the study sites.

3. Knowledge and information is not reliably passed on to the user via labels. The survey of retail stores shows that their personnel are not consistently advising agricultural workers, peasants and farmers about the hazards of pesticides.

4. Pesticide advertisements and retail store practices were documented that are in violation of the Code of Conduct set by UN Food and Agriculture Organisation. The agricultural shops of Wonosobo district (Indonesia) offer an annual prize if farmers buy more than Rp60,000 with the prizes of electronic home appliances, motorcycle and even a ticket for a couple to go to Hajj (Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca).

The report and recommendations are based on the initial findings of the Community Monitoring and International Advocacy Project in Asia and will be presented at the Second Session of the International Conference on Chemicals Management in Geneva from 11th – 15th May 2009. It hopes to contribute in monitoring the progress towards SAICM’s overall objective that “by 2020, chemicals are used and produced in ways that lead to the minimization of significant adverse effects on human health and the environment.” Details of the full report can be found at http://www.panap. net/uploads/ media/monitorgre p.pdf.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress wants the government to look into a number of issues involving workers, which have yet to be resolved despite being highlighted over the years.
MTUC president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud said that one of the most urgent was a minimum wage.

“We have been calling for a minimum monthly wage of RM900 as well as RM300 in cost of living allowance,” he told the New Straits Times in conjunction with Labour Day on Friday.

He said they have been pursuing the matter since the 1950s.

Another urgent matter is the setting up of a retrenchment fund.
“We have been asking for a retrenchment fund since 1998 but it has yet to be realised.”

He also called for a review of the amendments to the Trade Unions Act 1959 and Industrial Relations Act 1967, which were gazetted last year.

The MTUC had said the amendments would result, among others, in the Industrial Court’s loss of independence, allowing for easier union busting, promoting the removal of union activists and labour flexibility and the reduction of wages and other benefits.

“We want these to be reviewed.”

He also also called for the security of tenure for workers in the country, which involved having permanent instead of contractual jobs.

“This is more relevant now because of the uncertainty brought on by the recession.”

The MTUC will hold its annual labour gathering at the USJ sports complex in Subang Jaya on Friday.

THE feature articles on employment, “Keeping jobs” (The Star, March 4), have addressed the issues from various perspectives.

It is good to note that the Employers Federation and the MTUC had some common views on stretching the retirement age for private sector employees to 60 or 65 in line with the practice in other countries, so that we could utilise more local human capital and not be over-dependent on cheap foreign labour. Hopefully they can also agree on other issues, too.

The arguments of MTUC president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud (“MTUC speaks out for workers”) that national development has been held back because we do not have a minimum wage also merits consideration, although the amount of RM900 in basic and RM300 in COLA suggested by MTUC may be a little unrealistic.

Perhaps the current employment and economic scenario, coupled with the aspirations of the nation to develop its human resources to a more competitive level, should persuade us to re-examine the minimum wage issue.

The Government is retraining thousands of workers, and future workers are expected to have better training and skills. The added value of such competencies in workers should be reflected in decent wages and benefits to maintain high motivation.

But without a floor level there would be no benchmark for proper wage rates, and the free market would continue to encourage competition in engaging cheap labour to provide low-priced goods and services.

Before a minimum wage law came into force in 1999 in UK, the employers and the Conservative Party were strongly against it, but now no longer oppose it.

There were assumptions that minimum wage would cause job losses and unemployment, but the experience in developed countries shows that it reduced redundancies, increased workers’ productivity and made businesses more competitive.

The Low Pay Commission of UK has consistently reviewed the minimum pay since 1999 and has found no evidence of any damaging economic effects. The International Labour Organisation also supports the view that there is no linkage between unemployment and minimum pay.

There are studies suggesting that minimum pay should be in place when more trained workers are available for employment so that there is an equitable basis for providing decent minimum standards.

Otherwise we may be just wasting the money on training and development and placing workers in a low priced job-market.

What is needed is a principle based minimum pay which responds to social and economic needs and would also promote the Government’s strategy.

KAY ARR,
George Town.

KUALA LUMPUR, April 9 (Bernama) — The MTUC has described the new cabinet as a “compromise cabinet’ because the Prime Minister had to take into consideration the interest of various ethnic and political groups.

Nevertheless its President, Syed Shahir Syed Mahmoud hoped the new team would give due cognizance to the workers who form almost half of Malaysia’s population.

He pointed out that over the last 30 years workers have been neglected and there were numerous problems that remained unresolved.

Among them were minimum wage, cola (cost of living allowance), labour laws which were biased towards employers and security of employment.

He said MTUC also hoped that the new government would have frequent formal dialogues with workers’ representatives to thrash out problems and resolve them.

Syed Shahir added that the workforce today was young, in the age group of 18-40 years, and the government should not use “old methods” to look into their needs.

“These young educated workforce should be handled in a different way so as to ensure continued industrial harmony and progress for the nation.”

Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) secretary-general, Muhammad Shaani Abdullah said the new government should work towards reducing the burden faced by the ordinary man in the street.

He wanted the rates of basic needs like electricity and water to be brought down to a more affordable level.

Muhammad said this could be done if leakages in awarding of tenders and contracts were plugged.

“Tenders and contracts should be awarded on an open basis to avoid abuse and cut down cost.”

He also suggested that the new government work quietly and sincerely without undue publicity as so much money, time and effort were wasted in inviting and entertaining ministers when they came to open projects.

“In other words the tradition of cutting ribbon should be abolished,” he said.

The Executive Director of the Malaysian Employers Federation, Shamsuddin Bardan was disappointed that the Higher Education Ministry was not merged with the Education Ministry.

He said two ministries handling the same issue was a waste of resources.

He called on the new team at the finance ministry to get cracking and implement the stimulus packages which had been announced by the previous government.

“We expect faster implementation and greater improvement in the government’s delivery system,” he added.

Shamsuddin was glad that a green technology ministry had been formed and described it as a great step forward as the world was now moving in that direction.

He was also glad that the Human Resource Minister Datuk Dr. S. Subramaniam was retained as the present economic situation warranted that the projects started by him should be seen through to success.

The National Union of Teaching Profession (NUTP), Lok Kim Pheng said by appointing the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin, to also head the Education Ministry, was a great recognition to the teachers.

“We are really honoured to have him as our minister and hope that our voices could be heard loud and clear by the new government,” she said.

She pledged full support and cooperation to Muhiyuddin.

— BERNAMA

PUTRAJAYA, April 2 (Bernama)- The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) today called on the government to beef up the enforcement unit of the Manpower Department to ensure the successful implementation of its new policy on levy for foreign workers.

Its president, Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud, said the department had only about 500 officers now and this was not enough to keep tabs on the thousands of employers throughout the country.

“We do not expect them to visit all employers, as it would be impossible, but at least they should do a systematic random check so that the policy is adhered to,” he told Bernama.

Under the new policy which came into effect yesterday, employers in all sectors will now have to pay the levy, following the revocation of the earlier policy which allowed them to deduct the levy from the monthly wages of their employees.

This means that from this month onwards employers would have to fork out the levy even for their existing workers, thus increasing their operational costs.

The Malaysian Federation of Employers (MEF) had described the new policy as unfair because it was implemented in mid-stream with little notice from the government.

MEF executive director Shamsuddin Bardan said it was understandable for new recruits, but to extend the policy to existing workers was not proper and and would upset the budget and planning of companies, particularly those with thousands of foreign workers.

Meanwhile, Manpower Department Director-General Datuk Ismail Abdul Rahim gave an assurance that the department would carry out effective implementation of the new policy with its existing staff.

“The staff have been told to carry out thorough checks and take firm action against employers who refuse to accept the new directive,” he said.

Those found guilty of flouting the regulations could be fined up to RM10,000.

He said the government had also doubled the levy for workers in the manufacturing and services sectors from RM1,800 to RM 3,600 effective yesterday.

– BERNAMA

KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 (Bernama) — Malaysian companies will be able to save more than RM400 million in the next two years with the reduction in the contribution to the Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF) under the second economic stimulus package unveiled today, according to the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF).

MEF executive director Shamsuddin Bardan this was something the employers had been asking the government since last year. At present, the employers pay RM1 per worker per month towards the fund. This has been reduced to 50 sen per worker.

The government should consider giving a full waiver on the retrenchment sum received by the workers, he told Bernama when commenting on the RM60-billion Second Stimulus Package tabled in the Dewan Rakyat. The package had proposed a 40 per cent waiver.

Shamsuddin said another area where the government could help was to absorb the RM300 fee per worker that was required to test the worker’s skills. He explained that Malaysian workers who had worked for many years possessed certain skills, but these skills were not certified and hence the workers lost out when it came to promotions.

So, it was important to certify the skills, he said. The Human Resources Ministry conducted such tests and it cost about RM300 per worker.

On the whole, the MEF welcomed the stimulus package as it would ease the burden of workers and employers.

The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) said that though it welcomed the package, it was disappointed that the government did not propose a retrenchment fund.

Its president, Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud, said the fund would have benefited the 20,000 retrenched workers directly.

He also said that it was an opportune time for the government to have introduced a minimum wage of RM900 plus a cost-of-living allowance (COLA) of RM300.

Syed Shahir said he hoped that the stimulus package would be properly monitored to prevent leakages.

On the training proposed in the stimulus package, he said the training should be specific and be useful so that the trained workers could be gainfully employed.

Cuepacs, while welcoming the budget, hoped that the 50,000 contract workers now in government service would be absorbed into the permanent service.

Its president, Omar Osman, said the toll subsidy was also most welcomed as it would reduce the burden of the low-income group.

The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (Fomca) praised the government for helping to lessen the burden of the ordinary people, particularly the poor, by providing subsidy for basic necessities like sugar, flour and bread.

Its chief executive officer, Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman, said the government should carefully monitor the subsidies to prevent any abuse.

— BERNAMA

New Straits Times

THE Selangor state government has received the backing of trade unions and consumers in its plan to take over the water services industry in the state.

The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) and the Coalition Against Water Privatisation presented a joint memorandum to Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim to voice their dissatisfaction over the Federal Government’s move to acquire water assets in the state yesterday.

MTUC president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud said at parliament lobby yesterday he was heartened by the assurances given by the state government that water tariffs would remain at an affordable rate even after the restructuring of the water services.

Under the initial restructuring plan, the state government, via state-controlled Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Bhd (KDEB), would take over the water concessions and assets, to be handed over to Pengurusan Aset Air Bhd, a wholly-owned company under the Ministry of Finance.

The assets would then be leased back to KDEB as the sole licensed operator. This is because after the restructuring exercise, there would no longer be concessionaires.
Instead, licence will be issued to the operator which would be reviewed by the Federal Government every few years.

S Pathmawathy (Malaysiakini)

The Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) and the Coalition Against Water Privatisation (CAWP) have urged the Selangor government not to back down on their efforts to reclaim water management in the state.
MCPX

“Water, as other public or common goods, should never be in the hands of profit-driven businesses,” MTUC president Syed Shahir Mohamud said today.

The link of the interview: CLICK HERE

Daily Express

Kota Kinabalu: There is no immediate need to consider the Malaysian Trades Union Congress’ (MTUC) proposal for a pay cut for Ministers, said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman Friday.

He said the State Government has always been very prudent in its financial management.

“For Sabah, I think we manage our finances very prudently, we’ve been austere from the start. In terms of our expenses, we have no problem.

So there’s no need (for a pay cut) now,” he said.

He was asked to comment on the proposal made by MTUC President, Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud, that all Ministers take a pay cut if the economic situation in the country warrants it, saying workers should not be the only ones victimised following the global economic crisis.

The suggestion was made in the wake of reports late last year that Ministers and top civil servants in Singapore were subjected to pay cuts of up to 19 per cent this year in view of the gloomy economic outlook.

According to Syed Shahir, MTUC had received reports of some 13,000 people, mainly from the manufacturing sector, having been retrenched nationwide from October 2008 to January this year.

Met after launching the Masterskill College Metro campus at Plaza Juta, off Tuaran Road here, Musa said the State Government was working closely with the Health Ministry to find the best solution to the problems affecting the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH).

In the meantime, he said the State Government was also recommending that patients be placed at temporary medical facilities and hospitals in nearby districts.

Asked on the latest development of the QEH, Musa, who is also Finance Minister, said the State Government had submitted several proposals for the Health Ministry to study.

“We have no time frame but we are trying to solve the problem as soon as possible,” he said.

Meanwhile, Musa said the State Government welcomed the opening of the Masterskill Metro campus here as it provides opportunity to school leavers and locals to study in the healthcare sector.

He added it also augured well, with the opening of many new hospitals throughout the State, which require many skilled workers from the healthcare and services sectors.

To another question, Musa said an explanation would be sought from the State Government-linked company, Sabah Economic Development Corporation (Sedco), which holds a share in Guocera Tile Industries (Labuan) Sdn Bhd for the closing down of its factory.

However, Musa said the State Government’s share in the company was “small” and that the main shareholder was Hong Leong Group, so “it is beyond our control”.

“Nonetheless, we will ask Sedco to explain why they close down the factory,” he said.

It was reported that the closure of the company that started operation in 1982 had resulted in mass layoff of its 150 employees.

It had blamed its predicament on the steep hike in natural gas price by Sabah Energy Corporation (SEC).

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 (Bernama) — Malaysia’s labour-backed organisations today dismissed suggestions there was discrimination against women employees when it involved retrenchment.

Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) President Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud said it was a “wrong assumption”, just because women made up the majority in the electronic, electrical and textile industries.

Currently, these industries were laying off their workers, following the global economic downturn.

“While we sympathise with the loss of jobs, we cannot accuse the management of discrimination,” he told Bernama today.

Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Minister Noriah Kasnon was reported as saying that the Government was concerned with the statistics as half of the workers retrenched recently in the economic downturn were women.

This, she said, was despite the women making up only 35 per cent of the country’s total workforce.

Sharing similar sentiments as MTUC, Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Shamsuddin Bardan said retrenchment was the last resort by companies and usually based on “last come, first go” basis.

He assured that Malaysian employers were mindful about women’s rights and would not discriminate against them.

— BERNAMA

By Republika Newsroom

KUALA LUMPUR — Kongres serikat pekerja Malaysia (MTUC) menuntut agar gaji para menteri dan pengusaha dipotong jika keadaan ekonomi semakin gawat.

Presiden MTUC Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud mengatakan, tidak adil jika majikan meminta pekerja mengambil cuti tanpa gaji untuk menyelamatkan perusahaan tapi manajemen tidak melakukan hal yang sama, demikian harian Utusan Malaysia, Sabtu.

Langkah itu, lanjut Syed Shahir, efisiensi perusahaan harus dimulai dari tingkat manajemen termasuk para menteri untuk merasai beban yang ditanggung para pekerja. Jangan hanya menuntut para pekerja melakukan efisiensi dengan mengambil cuti panjang tanpa digaji, padahal mereka punya anak dan keluarga yang harus ditanggung.

Ia juga mengemukakan sebanyak 13.000 pekerja, mayoritas pekerja pabrik dan manufaktur diPHK di seluruh negara bagian Malaysia, antara Oktober 2008 hingga Januari 2009. Presiden MTUC itu mengatakan jumlah itu akan terus meningkat berdasarkan situasi ekonomi global. - ant/ahi

By : Audrey Dermawan

GEORGE TOWN, Fri: The Malaysian Trades Union Congress has proposed that all Cabinet ministers take a pay cut if the economic situation in the country warranted it.

To start the ball rolling, MTUC president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud said companies which intend to lay off their workers, should first have the salaries of their bosses, including that of their chief executive officers, general managers and directors slashed.

Even the Penang state government has indicated that it would consider the proposal if the situation warrants.

Syed Syahir, however, did not specify the quantum to be deducted.

He said workers should not be the only ones victimised following the current global economic slowdown.
“All ministers and bosses should walk the talk and jointly share in the workers’ burden. This is only fair,” he told reporters after a meeting between MTUC and deputy chief minister Professor P. Ramasamy here yesterday.

It was the first official meeting between MTUC and the state government.

It was reported late last year that ministers and top civil servants in Singapore were subjected to a pay cut of up to 19 per cent this year in view of the clouded economic outlook.

Syed Shahir said from October, last year, to January, this year, MTUC has received reports of some 13,000 people, mainly from the manufacturing sector, retrenched nationwide.

Asked if there were more retrenchments in the state, Ramasamy said he has received news of some 600 foreign workers laid off at a factory in Bayan Lepas recently. It is learnt that the workers are from Globetronics Technology Bhd.

Ramasamy was, however, quick to point out that the situation in the state was still under control and that the state government was monitoring it.

Syed Shahir also expressed the hope that the federal government would expedite the implementation of the retrenchment fund.

“We have been advocating for the fund for the last 10 years but until now it has yet to be implemented. We hope the government will seriously look into this,” he added.

PENANG (Feb 13, 2009): The Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) has urged Cabinet ministers and top executives to take a salary cut to offset the impact of the economic slowdown.

Its president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud said it would be unfair to ask workers to go on unpaid leave to save faltering companies while top executives did not make any sacrifices.

The austerity drive should start at the top and not the other way round, he told reporters after calling on Penang Deputy Chief Minister P.Ramasamy here today.

“We should emulate Singapore president and prime minister, who would be taking a salary cut next year, leading a civil-service-wide downward salary adjustment,” he said.

Syed Shahir said the MTUC deplored a statement from a former deputy minister who asked workers to take unpaid leave to save their companies from collapsing.

“Why only the workers who have to make the sacrifices? Cabinet ministers and employers should also do likewise. With their meagre income, the workers would be in dire straits if they were to take unpaid leave, especially those with large families,” he said.

Syed Shahir also called on the federal government to implement the retrenchment fund, which was mooted by MTUC 10 years ago, to help 13,000 workers who were already jobless since October last year.

Commenting on Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s remarks that only 1,313 workers from 31 companies in Penang were retrenched in January, he said the MTUC took a serious view on the matter.

The MTUC and the state government has agreed to work out a mechanism in dealing with workers retrenchment, he said, adding that the meeting also touched on the proposed MTUC workers complex in Penang.

Meanwhile, Ramasamy said Penang was prepared to consider a salary cut for state executive councillors should the economic situation worsened. — Bernama

Salam dan salam sejahtera-
Angkatan Muda Bayan Baru dengan kerjasama MTUC Malaysia Union Trades Congress dan Pusat Khidmat Masyarakat ADUN Batu Maung (YB Abdul Malik Kassim) akan mengadakan sessi dialog bersama pekerja sektor industri yang telah diberhentikan kerja atau akan diberhentikan kerja akibat dari kegawatan ekonomi dunia. Sessi dialog ini terbuka kepada semua yang berminat dan akan diadakan seperti maklumat dibawah-

Program : Sessi Dialog bersama MTUC
Tajuk : Pemberhentian kerja serta kesannya- Apa yang patut kita tahu
Ahli Panel : Syed Shahir bin Syed Mohamud President MTUC Pusat
Abd Razak bin Abd Hamid Pengerusi MTUC Pulau Pinang
M.K. Veriah Setiausaha MTUC Pulau Pinang
YB Abd Malik Kassim Exco Perdagangan dan Hal Ehwal Pengguna Pulau Pinang / ADUN Batu Maung
Ahmad Azrizal Tahir - Ketua Angkatan Muda KeADILan Bahagian Bayan Baru
Tarikh : 13 Feb 2009 - Jumaat
Masa : 5.00pm - 7.00pm
Tempat : Pusat Khidmat ADUN Batu Maung-
Berhampiran OCBC Bank Batu Maung.

Siapa yang patut hadir: Mereka yang telah diberhentikan, yang akan diberhentikan dan berkeinginan untuk berkongsi pandangan serta idea.

Sebarkan kepada rakan-rakan anda.

Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 – “Not many Indians” are among the 7,000 foreign workers retrenched so far in Malaysia because of the global economic crisis.

Malaysia’s Human Resources Minister S. Subramanian told The Hindu on Sunday that electronics and textiles, the sectors now effected, hosted mainly Indonesian and Bangladeshi workers. The overall job losses were 15,000, including those held by Malaysians.

Indian workers were not hard hit and those affected “could be less than a few hundreds,” Dr Subramanian said. Indians were a conspicuous lot in the services and plantation sectors, which “have not been hit so far.”

The construction industry, hosting “some Indian workers,” was also largely “unaffected”.

Estimates of the number of Indian workers in Malaysia vary between 150,000 and 200,000. And, the two countries recently signed a labour pact providing for an “official framework” for figuring out “solutions of issues” about the terms and conditions of employment.

Interestingly, “there are still quite a number of vacancies” in the information technology sector in Malaysia, but foreigners would be preferred only in some “specialised areas where we cannot find locals.”

It was business as usual for Satyam’s IT operations in Malaysia, the Minister indicated. It had “not actually cut down or reduced” its work.

On the situation in Sri Lanka, he said the humanitarian crisis facing the Tamils “is a matter of concern to us [in the] Malaysian Indian Congress.”

Dr Subramanian, who represents the MIC in the government, said he “might request Malaysian Foreign Minister” to impress on Colombo to ensure that “the civilians are protected.”

Malaysia is hosting between 10,000 and 15,000 Sri Lankan refugees under the UN auspices. Asked about the speculation concerning the whereabouts of LTTE leader V. Prabakaran, Dr.

Subramanian said “we have got no evidence of that here [in Malaysia].” – The Hindu

By Carolyn Hong, Malaysia Bureau Chief

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Malaysian university graduates this year may be offered loans without the need for guarantors or collateral.

Easy credit? No, just the government’s way of preparing for an expected shrinkage of jobs as the full impact of the global economic crisis makes itself felt in Malaysia.

Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Minister Noh Omar said on Dec 17 last year that the government was considering giving unsecured loans to graduates who want to start small businesses.

On top of that, the government has also set up a RM70 million (S$29 million) fund to retrain unemployed graduates. Human Resources Minister S. Subramaniam said recently that they will be taught skills such as communication, English language and creative thinking.

The government is gearing up for hard times this year, and hurrying to get safety nets in place as the economy shrinks. The political fallout from joblessness can be huge, as Malaysians are unused to high unemployment rates.

The government took a big hit last year when voters punished it for its apparent ineptitude in handling spiralling inflation at that time.

This year, unemployment will be its big test.

Malaysia’s 52 public and private universities and colleges produce 145,000 graduates and diploma holders annually, while several thousands more come back with overseas qualifications.

Even in good years, thousands of graduates struggle to get the white-collar jobs that they want.

For some like Ms Hajahfarhana Tarnudi, 23, starting a business could be the very thing she needs, having given up looking for a suitable job.

The journalism graduate from Universiti Teknologi Mara gave up her dream of working as a reporter after her parents objected, but could not find any alternative career. She now plans to plant chillies on a big scale.

‘My parents don’t like me being a journalist, so I thought why not start a business?’ she said. ‘Chillies are expensive these days and not many young people are willing to go into agriculture, which can be big business.’

Ms Hajahfarhana, however, does not plan to take up a government loan, as she can get help from her parents.

But while some graduates may grab the easy business loans that the government is planning to offer, others are still determined to find more traditional employment.

‘The programme is good for those who want to be young entrepreneurs but personally, I think it is better to work first before starting a business,’ said Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman graduate Renu Gnana Pragasam, 24, who knew about the unsecured government loans but was not interested in starting a business.

Likewise, Ms Sri Shalini Devi Veeraya, 24, said she would still look for the ‘right’ job.

Her job-hunting experience was similar to that of many fresh graduates around Malaysia.

The industrial chemistry graduate from local Universiti Malaysia Sabah spent no less than four months hunting for the right job, sending her resume to at least 100 companies.

Only about 10 per cent responded, she lamented.

‘I went through a very difficult time and it is not easy to look for the ideal job that suits my degree,’ she said.

Fortunately, she managed to find a job recently in an oil and gas company in Kuala Lumpur.

But graduates are only one part of the picture. Millions more Malaysians are employed in lower-level jobs, and these are the jobs that are now at the highest risk.

The manufacturing sector, which employs 10 per cent of Malaysia’s 11 million workers, is expected to be hard-hit this year, as its biggest markets are the United States and Europe.

So far, job losses have been minimal, but the figures could spike in the first quarter. There are already reports of lower manufacturing output, fewer orders and factories cutting back on production.

Workers in Penang factories - the hub of Malaysia’s electronics industry - have already been asked to take long vacations or work fewer days as production lines shut down.

‘So far, retrenchments are low, but we should not be complacent,’ Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud told The Straits Times.

Mr Subramaniam, the Human Resources Minister, said last month that more than 4,700 workers will be retrenched in the next three months. These include 1,500 workers from Western Digital, an American hard disk manufacturer that closed down its plant in Kuching.

In the 1998 downturn, about 80,000 Malaysians were retrenched.

The Malaysian Institute of Economic Research recently warned that the unemployment rate may rise to 4.5 per cent, compared to 3.5 per cent last year.

‘The electrical and electronics sector in particular is very vulnerable,’ its executive director Mohamed Ariff Abdul Kareem said recently.

Malaysia is hoping to save jobs for its citizens by sending home foreign workers who comprise a third of its workforce. It has also allocated RM300 million to upgrade workers’ skills.

Mr Syed Shahir is, however, pushing the government to do more to meet retrenched workers’ pressing needs. He said the retrenchment benefits stipulated by law are inadequate.

‘We are asking the government to expedite a retrenchment fund. It’s not dole, but support for them until they can find a job,’ he said.

The MTUC has been pushing for this for years, though without much success as the government is strenuously opposed to what may appear to be dole.

But this year, the job imbalance is likely to become more stark: While Malaysia employs three million foreign workers, thousands of its graduates struggle to find a job.

The only survey available was done about three years ago, and it found that about 25,000 graduates were jobless as they lacked both technical and soft skills, and had a poor command of the English language. As they were mostly Malay, the situation was exacerbated by job seekers’ claims of discrimination by the largely non-Malay private sector.

This could put greater pressure on the government as an employer. Every year, thousands flock to the civil service for jobs. At one time - when the government still provided this data - figures showed that sometimes, there were more than 10,000 applicants for a single white-collar civil service position.

Over the years, the government has absorbed so many workers that its staff strength grew from 800,000 to 1.2 million. It may not be able to hire more people in a downturn.

For some graduates, the dearth of jobs has meant giving up their dream jobs.

Universiti Teknologi Mara graduate Nuraingnee Ya, 24, from Kelantan, for instance, found herself taking up odd jobs, working in fast-food outlets and customer service centres.

Instead of putting her journalism degree to use, she had to resort to using her Form Five qualification - equivalent to a Secondary 4 education in Singapore - to land a job.

‘Several employers told me they would rather hire me on Form Five qualification so they don’t have to pay me a graduate’s salary,’ she recalled. ‘So I had no choice because if I were to be picky, I would be jobless.’

By RASHVINJEET S.BEDI

Retrenchments and shutdowns are expected to be the norm over the next few months as the manufacturing sector faces cutbacks in production in the wake of the global economic slowdown.

SEVERAL workers at a semiconductor company got a rude shock when they were not allowed into their workplace recently.

When they complained, they were told of their retrenchment and escorted by security guards to collect their compensation and belongings.

This might sound cruel and inhumane, but it happened, says Harenthren (not his real name), an engineer in a semiconductor company in Seremban.

“They definitely have to be worried. Even if they try their luck at nearby companies, they are unlikely to get a job at this moment. Many of them have commitments,” he says.

Harenthren, 27, has been spared the chop but several of his senior colleagues have been laid-off.

Over the next few months, the scenario might be the norm as many companies, especially those in the manufacturing sector, are expected to face production slow-downs.

When Western Digital closes its plant in the Sama Jaya Free Industrial Zone, Kuching in March, 1,500 employees will lose their jobs. The company is also closing down its plant in Thailand.

This phenomenon is not limited to Malaysia. Everywhere in the world companies are cutting down on their work force to deal with the economic slowdown.

Sony Corp, the world’s second-biggest consumer-electronics maker, plans to eliminate 16,000 jobs in the largest reduction announced by a Japanese company.

Even Toyota Motor Corp, the world’s second-largest automaker, expects its first operating loss in 71 years because of plunging North American and European car sales and the surging yen.

In Southern China, at least 2.7 million factory workers are expected to lose their jobs.

The situation in Malaysia is still unclear for now, with the full extent of the crisis to be known in the next few months, say industry experts.

Datuk Wong Siew Hai, the Malaysian-American Electronics Industry (MAEI) chairman says that it is not only the electronics sector which is affected by the economic crisis. Other industries said to be facing difficulties include those dealing with textiles and building materials.

“We are still uncertain about the future, other than the fact that there is going to be a slowdown. Different people have different forecasts but ours would depend on measures taken by the governments (American and Malaysian),” he says.

“Unemployment will go up and people will only spend money on the essentials,” adds Wong.

M. Vivekanandan, the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) general manager of industrial relations, says as it is, the figures of those retrenched are relatively low.

He however expects the effects to show up in a few months, and slams those who are still singing the praises of the local economy.

“We are in dreamland if we think nothing is going to happen. We are an export-driven economy and are not insulated from the global economy,” he says.

Currently, the manufacturing sector employs about 1.1 million people or 10% of the country’s labour force.

One thing that is certain though is, in Malaysia the electronics and electrical sectors are the hardest hit, with possible far-reaching implications on the economy.

According to the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (Mida), export sales of electronics in 2007 amounted to RM266.3 billion or 58.9% of Malaysia’s manufactured exports and 44% of Malaysia’s total exports.

G. Rajasekaran, secretary-general of the MTUC says overall demand in the manufacturing sector has gone down by about 40%. This caused factories to shut down for extended periods during the Christmas season.

“During recent shutdowns, companies told workers to take annual leave on non-public holidays. Those who didn’t have any leave left were forced to take advanced leave,” he says.

According to an AP report, financially struggling American universities, factories and even hospitals are asking employees to take unpaid “furloughs” — temporary layoffs that amount to one-time pay cuts for workers and a cost savings for employers. The report said the number of temporarily laid-off workers hit a 17-year high this year.

“One local semiconductor company is badly affected because GM (General Motors) is the main client and it is not buying anything from them. This company has cut the number of working days,” says Vivekanandan.

GM and Chrysler were on the brink of shutting down until the American Government bailed them out with federal loans amounting to US$13.4bil (RM46.2bil).

In a typical manufacturing factory, the cost of labour is 15-20% of operational cost says Vivekanandan.

“In the long run, it is not beneficial to lose skilled workers, especially when there is a turnaround. Companies will lose out after training them. Retrenchment should always be the last resort,” he says.

Vivekanandan says that some companies have cut expenditure by cancelling dinners, company travels, publications, using less energy and even less stationery.

The Human Resources Ministry has told companies who are facing difficulties to stop hiring new workers, restrict overtime and work on public holidays, reduce number of working hours, temporary layoffs, providing alternate employment, transfers to other departments, pay cuts and terminating employees who have exceeded the retirement age. If all else fails, retrenchment is the last resort.

Under the Employment (Termination And Lay-off Benefits) Regulations, workers would be compensated a part of their salary for each year of service.

For workers who have been with a company for two years or less, compensation would be 10 days of salary per year of work. For those who clocked in between two and five years, it would be 15 days of salary per year and for those above five years, 20 days.

Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud, the president of the Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) says that if cuts are made, it should be across the board.

Rajasekaran says the Government should make a serious effort to restrict the hiring of foreign workers. The MTUC, he says has urged companies to lay-off migrant workers when their contracts end.

“After that, they should not bring in any more workers even if they have the permits.”

Another area which should be looked into is the area of retraining, says Rajasekaran. The Cabinet had approved RM100mil to help re-train retrenched workers and RM70mil to provide skills training for single mothers and unemployed graduates.

“Usually the training is for unemployed graduates. How about the people who have worked for 10 years and have commitments such as mortgages. They won’t be able to survive without a job,” says Rajasekaran.

Vivekanandan says Malaysia must move from sunset industries such as producing textiles to sunrise industries.

“We are not a low-cost labour centre. We should go into the hi-technology industries such as biotechnology. The future is in these areas,” he says.

He cites the example of the Singapore Wages Council which increased wages by 35% in 1979 to force all labour-intensive industries to move out.

Wong also stresses the importance of skills upgrade for workers but would ultimately like to see the Government being more competitive. He says, the current economic climate might be the best opportunity to start doing so.

“The Government should improve the delivery system and the ease of doing business. It is an opportunity for everyone to buck up. If a similar decision has to be made next time (to shut down factories), companies won’t pull out of here. We can’t stop unemployment but we can minimise it,” he says.

Isu: ValueCap

Tuan Lim Kit Siang [Ipoh Timur]: Ada masa saya entertain sekarang tiada masa. Saya harap bahawa Yang Berhormat Menteri boleh memberi keterangan kenapa pengumuman mengenai RM5 bilion tambahan untuk diberikan kepada ValueCap daripada EPF dibuat secara tergesa-gesa tanpa apa-apa accountability dan ketulusan dan tanpa mendapat persetujuan daripada khasnya pencarum-pencarum all the EPF contributors, dua juta orang contributors yang nampaknya mereka tidak bersetuju.

MTUC sudah buat satu pendirian bahawa mereka bantah. Bukankah kedudukan MTUC amat penting oleh kerana mereka mewakili pekerja-pekerja bukan seperti Ahli Parlimen di sini yang mewakili diri sendiri saja. Saya berharap bahawa ValueCap, apabila ValueCap ada diumumkan 2003 ada diumumkan RM10 bilion, Yang Berhormat masa itu penasihat atau advisor
kepada bekas Perdana Menteri iaitu Tun Dr. Mahathir. Maka itulah RM10 billion all the money are in, all the money in mana tidak ada in. Nampaknya ini another David Cooperfield. Money in tetapi 5 sen, separuh saja. Kedua, kenapa kita tidak ada satu laporan yang terperinci mengenai prestasi ValueCap dalam lima tahun ini sehingga kita tidak tahu apa yang berlaku. Sangat gelap dalam ini. Inilah satu perkara yang sangat penting.

Ketiga, bukankah Yang Berhormat setuju bahawa apa yang penting ialah confidence. Confidence bukan daripada segi ekonomi saja tetapi sistem governance. Sistem governance supaya semua pelabur-pelabur yang berminat dalam Malaysia ada rasa yakin untuk datang melabur dan apa yang berlaku semalam sebagai contohnya di mana Ahli Parlimen PJ Utara, dua
orang ADUN dan 23 orang ditangkap oleh kerana candlelight vigil Ini tidak akan memberi confidence kepada pelabur-pelabur khasnya apabila Selangor CPO bercakap bohong. Berkata bahawa mereka ditangkap. Bukan nafikan bahawa mereka ditangkap apabila National anthem dimainkan. Sebenarnya adalah video-video yang menunjukkan mereka ditangkap semasa
National anthem dimainkan.

Kalau pegawai-pegawai tinggi kerajaan boleh bercakap bohong seperti itu, apa confidence pelabur-pelabur ada dalam Malaysia ini. Mengenai perkhidmatan kewangan dan perkhidmatan analisa ekonomi, saya mahu timbulkan satu perkara. Dalam dua tiga hari ini satu perkara, isu besar di Sabah iaitu mengenai lawatan ICAC Hong Kong. Bukan untuk mengajar ACA bagaimana mengadakan rang undang-undang yang baik tetapi untuk siasat satu kes money laundry di mana seorang yang terkemuka iaitu Michael Chia ditangkap di Hong Kong International Airport pada 14 Ogos dan RM16 juta ada dirampas.

Isu: ValueCap

Datuk Dr. Marcus Makin Mojigoh [Putatan]: Terima kasih Tuan Pengerusi kerana memberi saya peluang untuk turut sama membahaskan bagi maksud B.10 dan B.12 butiran 010000 Kumpulan-kumpulan Wang Simpanan dan 03000 Perkhidmatan Sistem dan Kawalan.

Yang saya akan sentuh Tuan Pengerusi adalah soal mengenai kumpulan wang simpanan walaupun tiada dalam spesifik butiran KWSP ini tapi saya tertarik dengan apa yang tersiar dalam surat khabar di negeri Sabah pada malam semalam iaitu bertarikh pada 9 November 2008 hari Ahad semalam.

Ini berkenaan dengan sistem pengurusan EPF sekarang yang mana dikatakan telah dianggap sebagai ATM kepada kerajaan. ATM kepada kerajaan, bank. Jadi komen-komen dan respons daripada beberapa penulis ini yang ketara tidak bersetuju dengan urusan EPF itu untuk meminjamkan RM5 bilion kepada ValueCap. Yang tidak puas hati Tuan Pengerusi adalah pencarum-pencarumnya lebih kurang 500 pekerja yang mencarum. Ini telah di bantah oleh MTUC dan beberapa orang yang berkenaan.
Menyentuh dengan bailout berjumlah RM5 bilion kepada ValueCap. Ini saya rasa harus diperjelaskan oleh kerajaan. Yang Berhormat Menteri harus memberi penjelasan kepada rakyat jelata kita. Ini kita tidak mahu rakyat kita tersentuh dengan apa-apa tindakan. Ini mesti diperjelaskan, saya ulangi.

Berkenaan dengan public scrutiny dengan syarikat ValueCap ini tidak sama sekali kita tahu siapa orang yang belakang ValueCap ini. ini menjadi satu persoalan kepada pencarum-pencarum. Adakah bailout plan ini betul-betul memberi hasil kepada pencarum-pencarum? Jadi ini saya rasa perlu kita perjelaskan kerana tidak ada gerenti bahawa RM5 bilion itu akan memberi
pulangan yang baik kepada pencarum-pencarum.

Terence Gomez

A growing number of Malaysian individuals and groups have called on the government to initiate a constructive agenda to deal with the potential onslaught of the financial crisis that has erupted in the United States and Europe.

The present crisis draws attention to issues that require prompt and serious consideration by the government, including the extent of its ownership and control of the banking sector, the provision of mechanisms to support small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), the effective and productive employment of government-linked companies (GLCs), the availability of viable incentives to draw foreign direct investments (FDI) and the volume of infrastructure development spending that has to be made available to sustain efforts to reduce poverty and stimulate growth.

While these issues require careful review, the key lesson the Malaysian government must draw from this is the need to conceive feasible measures to promote domestic entrepreneurship, even in the absence of a crisis. This is imperative if the economy is to be able to generate investments locally to curb Malaysia’s heavy dependence on FDI.

But government policies to cultivate local entrepreneurial firms have long been tempered with the need to achieve other social goals that are also held to be important, such as the promotion of bumiputera firms as part of Malaysia’s affirmative action plan, or the New Economic Policy (NEP).

The government has vigorously endeavoured over the past three decades, for instance, to create a ‘Bumiputera Commercial and Industrial Community’ (BCIC) that is actively involved in the industrial sector. The absence, however, of bumiputera companies in the current crop of leading publicly-listed manufacturing firms raises questions about the government’s success with BCIC.

More importantly, the question the government will have to squarely confront is whether its promotion of policies such as the BCIC has been at the expense of entrepreneurial firms owned by non-bumiputeras. And the other question requiring serious consideration is whether such policies have played a role in hindering Malaysian firms from moving up the technological ladder or from developing internationally recognised brand products.

Supporting SMEs

What Malaysian corporate history cogently indicates is that the high degree of government intervention in the market and the pattern of implementation of affirmative action have impacted negatively on a majority of non-bumiputera businesses in manufacturing, curbing their willingness to invest further in their enterprise. Inevitably, companies that may have had the capacity to upgrade their technology in a way that would have helped foster domestically- driven industrialisation have been constrained.

The fundamental reason for the presence of only a handful of large entrepreneurial firms with a long corporate history, or for the demise of firms owned by some of Malaysia’s leading business people, or for the limited potential of SMEs to scale up the technology ladder is that these companies have failed to invest sufficiently in production, distribution and organisation. This failure in turn can be attributed to inadequate support and encouragement by the government for research and development (R&D).

It is quite probable that non-bumiputeras are reluctant to invest in R&D and learn new technology for fear that ethnically-based policies would work against them as they develop their ventures. Recent government policies by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi have favoured SMEs, but the response to these public incentives has been poor. This suggests the government has yet to convince domestic investors that their investments will be protected from policy instruments adopted to redress ethnic wealth inequalities.

During the serious economic recession of the mid-1980s, for instance, affirmative action in corporate activities was ‘held in abeyance’, only to be actively promoted even after the New Economic Policy had lapsed in 1990, an issue that probably did not encourage non-bumiputeras to invest liberally in their enterprises.

The need now felt by the government to support SMEs is urgent as small firms worldwide have shown that they are capable of being more responsive to market demands as they are far more flexible and better equipped to engender and adopt innovations.

Importantly too, a government review of its policy orientation on enterprise and economic development may compel it to consider more explicitly its broader developmental orientation, including how it thinks about issues such as public-private cooperation.

With the government now playing a major role in steering resources to companies to attain its development and social goals, including redistributing wealth and reducing poverty, its conception of public-private compacts must be one that is seen to be inclusive.

Social compacts

In industrialised East Asian and European countries, social compacts have included not just government and business, but also labour. Such social compacts have provided for much-needed stability in policy planning and implementation and have served to control wage increases.

In Japan and the Nordic countries, it was social partnerships between employers, trade unions and the government that helped them register significant economic progress, provide for social protection measures and reduce poverty appreciably. In such models, the importance of the small firm in terms of promoting innovation, developing industrial capacity, generating employment and redressing regional (and ethnic) inequities has been noteworthy.

Taiwanese SMEs, for example, offer an outstanding model of small entrepreneurial firms that are highly capable of competing globally. In Singapore, after a long cultivation of GLCs, the government began emphasising the need to support SMEs to foster domestic entrepreneurial capacity.

In the US, studies reveal that business organisation can shape markets in the industrial sector. Small firms can similarly pattern the form of the industrial sector if they acquire the capacity to learn and develop technology.

Britain provides other useful lessons. The Thatcher government recognised the importance of the small firm in creating employment when the economy began in 1979 to move into a deep recession that continued into the early 1980s. A 1992 OECD study showed that Britain had the fastest growth rate of self-employment among European countries between 1979 and 1990, rising from 7.5% in 1979 to 12.2% in 1990.

From 1981, as civil unrest began to spread, Thatcher’s government also began to focus attention on enterprises owned by ethnic minorities. One factor that had precipitated tensions was that the government had not heeded the needs of businesses owned by minorities, an issue that was subsequently addressed, but which also helped to reduce unemployment.

Need to reassess ethnic-based policies

There are other reasons why the Malaysian government needs to reassess its ethnic-based policies in the business sector. Chinese enterprises have survived and thrived in the Malaysian economy, in spite of the implementation of affirmative action, because they have been exposed to intense competition.

Since the Chinese retain a large presence in manufacturing, they remain an important avenue through which the government can promote the rise of an independent domestic industrial base, if Malaysia hopes to reduce its persistent dependence on foreign firms in this sector.

With adequate and appropriate government support, and with policies that transcend racial boundaries, it is probable that the dynamism of private companies that clearly prevails in the corporate sector can be gainfully nurtured. It would also encourage SMEs to overcome systemic problems, such as inadequate investments in R&D and low productivity, which may help them evolve into firms of international repute.

Since the 9th Malaysia Plan already endorses SMEs, a new round of considerable policy re-configuring would be unnecessary. However, the government’s willingness to adopt a more inclusive and collective orientation towards enterprise development will serve to either deeply inspire or alienate business people. And this is what may ultimately determine whether the government can usher in a form of domestic enterprise development that is highly entrepreneurial.

TERENCE GOMEZ is associate professor of political economy at the Faculty of Economics & Administration, Universiti Malaya.

Syed Jaymal Zahiid (Malaysiakini)

A memorandum drafted by the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) protesting against the RM5 billion loan from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to ValueCap Sdn Bhd to invest in the stock market, was handed over to Pakatan Rakyat MPs in Parliament today.

MTUC president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud who handed over the memorandum said the body was concerned with the government’s decision to use workers’ money to invest in the stock market, given the current climate of economic uncertainties.

“Each ringgit from the EPF is a result of the hard work by workers in this country.

“In recent volatile conditions of the stock market, using workers’ money to invest is unfair for them,” he told a press conference today.

Two months ago, the government came under heavy attack when it announced that RM5 billion from the EPF would be used to invest in companies with low share prices but strong potential.

Many quarters, however, alleged that the government had actually intended to bail out ValueCap from debts that are due in Feb 2009.

On Nov 11, Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop dismissed the claims in Parliament, stressing that the money would be used to invest in underperforming stocks.

He further echoed Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s assurance to EPF contributors that the amount is “100 percent guaranteed” by the government.

Anwar: Unfair to gamble away workers’ money

Shahir, however, said although the government had assured the people that investments would only be made on secure shares, workers were worried that their money would actually be spent to save crony shareholders.

“Who will be benefitting from these investments? We don’t want the RM5 billion taken from our savings to be wasted by going to shareholders with vested interests,” stressed Shahir.

He said it was better for the government to invest in sectors that would promise a secure income.

Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, PAS’ Dr Hatta Ramli, DAP’s
P Ramasamy and PKR’s Abdullah Sani received the memorandum today.

Shahir said the memorandum was also handed over to a representative of the Finance Ministry this morning in Putrajaya.

Anwar, commenting on the matter, said the Pakatan coalition had already issued a statement protesting against the government’s move.

“Workers money is being gambled for the interests of certain selected and crony companies. This is unjust when we know the global economic scenario.

“In the current condition, to take EPF money to save a few crony companies is so unjust as it would be the workers that would be most pressed by economic pressure (given the global economic slowdown),” he said.

By LEE YUK PENG and LOH FOON FONG (The Star)

KUALA LUMPUR: Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (PKR - Permatang Pauh) says former de facto Law Minister Datuk Zaid Ibrahim is welcome to join PKR.

Despite admitting that he spoke to Zaid after the latter tendered his resignation as a minister, Anwar said he would give Zaid the space and time to reflect instead of pushing him to join the party.

“He is an asset to the nation.

“This is his choice. We are comfortable with him. We have seen him firmly defending human rights.

“He is committed to his principle against the draconian law,” said Anwar referring to Zaid’s stand against the use of the Internal Security Act (ISA).

Zaid resigned as a minister and senator on Sept 17 after he disagreed with the Government’s decision to detain a journalist, a blogger and a Pakatan MP under the ISA.

Anwar on Wednesday said Umno’s move to sack Zaid for attending the PKR function was intolerant and harsh.

He said this to reporters after meeting with Malaysian Trade Union Congress (MTUC) president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud at the Parliament Lobby.

Syed Shahir said MTUC had presented a memorandum to the Finance Ministry against the use of RM5bil from the Employees Provident Fund for Valuecap Sdn Bhd.

Syed Shahir said MTUC was concerned with the usage of funds from workers’ hard earned money.

DAP Parliamentary Leader and Ipoh Timor MP Lim Kit Siang said the DAP is prepared to receive Zaid if he wants to join the party.

“Our doors are open,” he said.

Umno sacked Zaid on Tuesday for attending events organised by several opposition parties.

Beh Lih Yi |(Malaysiakini)

The Kuala Lumpur High Court today heard a journalist recounting his ordeal after he was arrested while covering an international conference on East Timor in 1996.

Taking the stand as the plaintiffs’ No 24 witness, Malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan told the court he was not the only journalist arrested at today’s hearing of the RM83 million civil suit.

The suit was filed by 36 local activists and journalists against the government and police for wrongful detention and negligence after an Umno Youth-mob stormed into the conference.

Six others plaintiffs’ witnesses who testified today were conference organisers and participants, Cynthia Gabriel, Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud, V Selvam, Yap Swee Seng, Tan Chin Hong and Liaw Say Lian.