KUALA LUMPUR: The government has attributed the scrapping of the proposed tiered fuel subsidy to unfavourable public response and the complexity of using the MyKad as a payment instrument.

However, industry sources claimed that the latter is due to the fact that the current MyKad solution lacks the structure needed for smooth implementation of the programme.

Under the proposed programme, the transaction process involving the MyKad was meant to mirror that of a credit card’s. A customer would swipe his MyKad at the outdoor pump, key in the cash amount and automatically receive a subsidy.

But FMT learnt that Malayan Banking Berhad, the company that was awarded the fuel subsidy programme, doesn’t have a solution that supports the use of the MyKad at outdoor pumps.

So 70% of customers who purchase petrol in cash would be subjected to a lengthy process in order to receive their subsidy.

The cashier would have to insert a customer’s MyKad into a terminal and an optical scanner will read the customer’s thumb print.

The information will be sent to Maybank’s database to be verified and the customer will then key in the subsidised amount at the outdoor pump.

Petrol dealers and oil companies expressed concern that this process will lead to overcrowding in petrol stations and give rise to irate customers.

The government reviewed the complexity of the process and acknowledged it as yet another reason to scrap the programme.

Free Malaysia Today

Datuk Chua Jui Meng bersama NGO di Miri pada 8.3.2010. Majlis dialog tertutup ini membincangkan masalah yang di hadapi rakyat asal Negeri Sarawak yang telah diadakan pada sebelah pagi.

Seusai Majlis bersama NGO, pertemuan bersama pimpinan Parti KEADILAN Rakyat yang hadir daripada Cabang Baram, Miri dan Sibuti.

Pelbagai pandangan yang berbeza telah disuarakan. Objective sessi ini diadakan untuk berkongsi segala input di mana dalam masa yang sama beliau dapat mendengar suara-suara daripada akar umbi.

Turut hadir pada sessi dialog tersebut adalah sdr. Baru Bian, Pengerusi Perhubungan KEADILAN Negeri Sarawak, Sdr. Michael Teo, Ketua KEADILAN Cabang Miri selaku tuan rumah.

A Women has strengths that amaze men. She can handle trouble and carry heavy burdens. She holds happiness,love and opinions. She smiles when she feels like screaming. She sings when she feels like crying,cries when she is happy,laugh when she’s afraid. Her love is unconditional. There is only 1 things wrong with her, she sumtimes forgets what she is worth…

Happy Women’s Day…

Not published in Malaysian main stream newspapers.

The governments of Pulau Pinang and Selangor have actually outperformed the previous BN state governments, their achievements though have been kept unpublished.

Here is a report of the Pinang State Government.

These governments were elected by the people and the BN is deliberately undermining them.

Read and see how well lthey are doing.

Pass it on, this will allow the truth to be seen, and why the internal bickering is happening.

Some leaders have their own Agenda

New measures implemented includes competitive and public open tender, payments directly to recipients without going through middle-men, priority given to Penang contractors, e-tender through the internet and a 2 week objection period to ensure that successful contractor no longer need “political cables” but “computer cables”.

There is no doubt that competitive open tenders saves costs and improve quality.

Many contractors have been liberated with the implementation of open tenders at all levels. For Class F contractors which is only open to bumis, open tender system has allowed non-UMNO linked contractors in Penang to get contracts for the first time.

In the past contracts are usually reserved for UMNO cronies and those outside the state. Clearly the competitive open tender system of PR is more transparent, accountable and beneficial to the people compared to the negotiated tender system for BN cronies.

What is more surprising is the outcome of the open tender system open to all races. Instead of perception that Malays cannot compete and that the non-Malay contractor would win all open tender contracts, this is not true.

Since the new PR government took over, Penang Development Corporation(PDC) had issued 23 tender awards, of which 7(30%) were won by non-Malay contractors and 16(70%) won by Malay contractors.

Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang(PBAPP) had issued 66 tender awards of which 22(33%) were won by non-Malay contractors as compared to 44(67%) by Malay contractors.

The performance by Malay contractors in an open tender system with non-Malays proves that Malay contractors can compete with others and win tender awards on their own merit. Clearly it is not the race that is an issue but failed policies that encourage dependency especially when it helps BN maintain the status quo and its grip on power.

A good example is China which suffered famine and severe economic distress with wrong policies of eating from ‘a single iron pot” no matter how hard or little one worked.

However when China opened up its economy and allow one’s hard work and ability to determine one’s success and rewards, China transformed itself from being the “Sick Man of Asia ” in the 1960s into the second largest world economy by 2011.

BN had instituted policies that stifles initiative, creativity, hard work, drive and productivity which benefited only the few BN cronies at the expense of entire country.

For instance, a 30% quota of publicly listed shares were reserved for Malays but only a few benefited as many ordinary Malays never received shares from the Federal government.

The state government regrets that there are now certain elements within Pakatan Rakyat Penang that is aligned with BN in opposing efforts to implement an open tender system and CAT governance.

We must remain steadfast as we are backed by results. The Penang state government has been able to turn a projected deficit of RM 35 million in 2008 budget to a record surplus of RM 88 million.

A projected deficit of RM 40 million in 2009 Budget has been turned around to record a surplus of RM 77 million. In fact the 2009 budget surplus would have been a record RM 92 million were it not for the payment of RM 14.7 million as a result of the Tang Hak Ju land scam of the previous administration.

Penang is proud to be the first state to hold public open tenders of government projects and procurement contracts and also conducting it through the internet(e-tender). By sticking to CAT principles, Penang is the first state or federal government in Malaysia to gain praise from Transparency International.

In politics, we want more friends than foes. But we are willing to lose friends and gain foes if we can change the mindset of the people by providing equal opportunity, be confident, self-reliant and attain international benchmarks.

Pakatan Rakyat Penang’s greatest legacy to Malaysia and greatest threat to BN’s stranglehold on power is to prove that the right policies can make Malays and Malaysians compete and succeed against the best.

PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail today challenged Kulim-Bandar Baharu Member of Parliament Zulkifli Noordin to vacate his seat, which she described “is not his.”

“This afternoon, I challenge Zulkifli to resign from the position (as MP). If you want to fight, if you want to criticise, then criticise rivals, not colleagues.

“This is an issue over party discipline, not an issue over Islam,” she said in her address to the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor convention in Shah Alam.

After his sacking from PKR yesterday, Zulkifli – who was disciplined over a police report that he had lodged against PAS’ Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad – said he refuses to appeal against the decision of PKR supreme council.

Zulkifli is the fourth PKR MP that PKR has lost within the past few weeks.

Wan Azizah expressed her disappointment and indignation at the defections, particularly because the party advisor Anwar Ibrahim faces sodomy charges at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

“With Anwar being slandered once more, who else is going to leave us? Who is going to stay?

“Let them go. Let them go, to drown with the rest of the fat,” she said.

Zulkifli Noordin should take Kak Wan’s challenge to defend his honour as a man, instead of hiding behind his religion.