It looks like MCA president Chua Soi Lek has decided to play the role of the contrarian. Amid growing calls for Prime Minister Najib Razak to slash the subsidies granted to huge power producer firms controlled by tycoons such Francis Yeoh, Ananda Krishnan and Syed Mokhtar Albukhary, he has opted to stand on their side.
"The government is tied up in a lot of agreements, this cannot just be abolished like DAP says or Anwar says,” Soi Lek told reporters on Wednesday. “Then Malaysia will be seen by the world as a government that does not honour its agreements. That’s wrong."
Chua was immediately crucified by Pakatan Rakyat leaders who lambasted his "shallow excuses" and slammed him for his uncaring attitude towards the man in the street.
"The agreements that Chua is referring to were very lopsided. But I don't hear any mention of that. We don't hear him talk about the cost burden to the rakyat (populace)) at all," PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli told Malaysia Chronicle. "
"Neither has he given any suggestion of how to revamp the agreements or offer a solution. Or is it Chua Soi Lek's intention that Malaysians pay through their noses for the next 10 or 20 years? Is he a leader for the people or is he the self-appointed spokesman for the IPPs?"
Subsidy or profit "foregone" by Petronas
Rafizi may have hit the nail on the head. Most of the agreements were negotiated during the time of former premier Mahathir Mohamad and contain complex price transfer mechanisms with national oil firm Petronas.
According to Chua, the Malaysian government should only step in when the agreements expire.
“Some are signed 15 years ago, some are 20 years ago,” he said. “So when the time comes for the agreement to lapse, that’s when the government starts negotiating,” he said.
But to be fair with Chua, he is not the only BN minister on the defensive.
Energy minister Peter Chin Fah Kui even tried to deflect public anger by insisting that the RM19 billion subsidy bill came about because national oil firm Petronas had agreed to 'forego' its own profit and pass on the 'savings' to the Independent Power Producers and Tenaga Nasional Bhd.
"Peter Chin said the RM19 billion is profit forgone by Petronas annually for selling gas at RM10.70 per MMBtu, one quarter of the market price RM40 per MMBtu," DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng scolded in a statement released earlier in the day.
"BN’s denial that the RM19 billion profits foregone by Petronas by selling gas below market price to IPPs and TNB is not a form of subsidy is another classic exercise of BN’s self-delusion and mass deception."
Losing Malaysians' respect
Chua and MCA were recently in the spotlight over another scandal. Under pressure to stand up for the Chinese community, they had blamed the Public Services Department for not awarding government scholarships to topscorers based on results, but according to race.
Straightaway, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Aziz defended the PSD as "excellent" and accused the MCA leaders of trying to be heroes to their community at the BN's expense.
As usual, after hurling a barrage of counter- accusations against Nazri, Soi Lek and his team faded into silence. This style of politicking has lost the MCA massive credibility with the Chinese, who now doubt party leaders have the political courage to stand up for the community.
Soi Lek's latest defence of the IPP tycoons and attempts to close any eye to the skewed agreements is likely to lose him even greater respect.
Earlier on Wednesday, Prime Minister Najib Razak deferred a slew of subsidy cuts that would have led to a rise in the prices of petrol, diesel and liquified natural gas. The move has bolstered speculation that he plans to call for snap general election within the next few months.
All Women's Action Society (Awam) notes with concern The Malay Mail's front page story yesterday on the alarming rate of sex crimes statistic saying that 10 women become victims of rape every day and that on average in every two-and-a-half-hours one woman gets raped, according to latest statistics released by Bukit Aman.
However, we'd like to add that while these police statistics are alarming, they don't convey the true scale of the crime. Applying the general rule of thumb that only one in 10 cases of rape is reported, the more accurate picture is approximately one rape happenning every 15 minutes in this country.
This means that each year in Malaysia, the number of victims are enough to fill Bukit Jalil stadium to capacity. If we include other sexual crimes such as incest and harassment, experienced not just by women alone but also the transgendered and people of all ages, the numbers would easily double.
According to the 2010 Malaysia Millennium Development Goals report, Malaysia ranks among the highest in the world for reported cases of rape.
Sexual violence has reached epidemic levels in this country. It is a widespread social, development and public health issue that needs to be radically addressed and dealt with. Prior to this report, these statistics were classified as 'sulit' and withheld by the police, suggesting a sweep-under-the carpet mentality which betrays a resistance to openly and seriously tackling this issue.
Similarly, our government's ambitious Government Transformation Programme and National Key Result Area to reduce crime makes no mention of reducing sexual crimes, betraying perhaps a disconnect with the reality of that sexual violence is huge dimension of crime in Malaysia.
The pitifully low rate of prosecution of 162 rapes in 2009 also suggests that our court system is also failing. Meanwhile, the Women's Ministry is virtually silent on tackling issues of sexual violence.
Rape is a crime that is seemingly committed with impunity, where perpetrators escape the law and get off scot free.
We need a national strategy to deal with sexual crimes, which includes the involvement of all agencies such as service providers, the judiciary, the police, and medical staff. Prevention strategies which promote education, awareness of gender equality and securing women's rights are long-term enabling environment for reducing this crime.
We need to approach this epidemic with the guts, the will and the resources to truly eradicate sexual crimes.
However, we'd like to add that while these police statistics are alarming, they don't convey the true scale of the crime. Applying the general rule of thumb that only one in 10 cases of rape is reported, the more accurate picture is approximately one rape happenning every 15 minutes in this country.
This means that each year in Malaysia, the number of victims are enough to fill Bukit Jalil stadium to capacity. If we include other sexual crimes such as incest and harassment, experienced not just by women alone but also the transgendered and people of all ages, the numbers would easily double.
According to the 2010 Malaysia Millennium Development Goals report, Malaysia ranks among the highest in the world for reported cases of rape.
Sexual violence has reached epidemic levels in this country. It is a widespread social, development and public health issue that needs to be radically addressed and dealt with. Prior to this report, these statistics were classified as 'sulit' and withheld by the police, suggesting a sweep-under-the carpet mentality which betrays a resistance to openly and seriously tackling this issue.
Similarly, our government's ambitious Government Transformation Programme and National Key Result Area to reduce crime makes no mention of reducing sexual crimes, betraying perhaps a disconnect with the reality of that sexual violence is huge dimension of crime in Malaysia.
The pitifully low rate of prosecution of 162 rapes in 2009 also suggests that our court system is also failing. Meanwhile, the Women's Ministry is virtually silent on tackling issues of sexual violence.
Rape is a crime that is seemingly committed with impunity, where perpetrators escape the law and get off scot free.
We need a national strategy to deal with sexual crimes, which includes the involvement of all agencies such as service providers, the judiciary, the police, and medical staff. Prevention strategies which promote education, awareness of gender equality and securing women's rights are long-term enabling environment for reducing this crime.
We need to approach this epidemic with the guts, the will and the resources to truly eradicate sexual crimes.
Sarawak Women for Women Society (SWWS) is saddened but not surprised that more rapes on vulnerable Penan women have been reported.
Since this hit the headlines back in 2008, SWWS has been conducting its Empowering Rural Girls (ERG) Project in Baram to raise awareness and to develop systems of help.
The recommendations from this project were submitted to the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, the funding source of the project. We also note that the Ministry has liaised with the state government to form an inter-agency committee for Penan women's development.
It is now high time for all these parties to come together and formulate comprehensive and integrated strategies, and plan to tackle what is happening in the interior.
Three of the eight recommendations are particularly pertinent to the latest case of rape. These are:
Since this hit the headlines back in 2008, SWWS has been conducting its Empowering Rural Girls (ERG) Project in Baram to raise awareness and to develop systems of help.
The recommendations from this project were submitted to the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, the funding source of the project. We also note that the Ministry has liaised with the state government to form an inter-agency committee for Penan women's development.
It is now high time for all these parties to come together and formulate comprehensive and integrated strategies, and plan to tackle what is happening in the interior.
Three of the eight recommendations are particularly pertinent to the latest case of rape. These are:
- The government ought to state clearly to all major companies in the interior that they are expected to comply with the sexual harassment code for employees in the work place and surrounding communities.As part of their corporate social responsibility, the companies must regularly provide staff cultural-sensitivity training and HIV/AIDs awareness. For new corporates involved with the construction of dams, oil-palm or forest plantations, this requirement ought to be made legally binding at the point the contract is awarded.
- The government ought to provide telecommunication links so that all of the villagers can have access to people they trust, and the authorities, when the villagers are faced with a problem. Not all villagers will be able to afford handphones, but these days it is likely there is someone in the village who can.
- That processes to report rape must be made more accessible and user-friendly. The girl at the centre of the present case has had the courage and opportunity to go to the Marudi police to report the rape, but the other girls in her village have not been able to use such a system.SWWS has recommended that the rural health clinics are made the first point of call and that the police are provided with their own/government transportation to go to the victims. Currently the usual practice is for them to go on transport provided by logging companies, as smaller police stations are not supplied with four-wheel drives.
Dependency on companies for transportation, poverty and the influx of new workers, be they foreigners or locals, into the area must inform any strategy to make young girls in the interior safe.
SWWS has been working closely with the state education department, health department and local communities to raise awareness about sexual abuse amongst youths, and provide assistance.
We recognise that there is a range of sexually-exploitative situations that involve not only foreigners but also locals working away from home.
The particular recent case outlined in Star, however, is clearly rape, and we hope that the focus will remain on this crime and the rapist. In the past there has been a tendency for the girl or victim to be put on trial, or be blamed, and not the criminal.
Following the recent remarks about children born out of wedlock fathered by foreigners, SWWS notes registering these children should not be a problem, as their mothers are Sarawakian, and so the child is too.
The problem is a long-standing one of many Sarawakians in the interior; in this case Penan women, not having ICs or birth certificates themselves. This situation is improving but still needs more consistent and concerted action by National Registration Department.
The particular recent case outlined in Star, however, is clearly rape, and we hope that the focus will remain on this crime and the rapist. In the past there has been a tendency for the girl or victim to be put on trial, or be blamed, and not the criminal.
Following the recent remarks about children born out of wedlock fathered by foreigners, SWWS notes registering these children should not be a problem, as their mothers are Sarawakian, and so the child is too.
The problem is a long-standing one of many Sarawakians in the interior; in this case Penan women, not having ICs or birth certificates themselves. This situation is improving but still needs more consistent and concerted action by National Registration Department.
Why are today's men having an affair at the back of their wives, fiancee or girlfriends?
According to one of the world's best-selling psychologists, powerful men have higher than average levels of testosterone, which they seek to 'top up' when their reserves become depleted. One way they do that is to have an affair
Dr John Gray, who has sold 50 million copies of 'Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus', has claimed that the gulfs in understanding that divide men from women are being exacerbated by hormones, which are working against people achieving monogamy in a stressful world.
"Why are the sexes not getting along? It's just that people have new needs and they don't know what to do about them; they want passion but don't know how to sustain it," the Guardian quoted him as telling the Observer.
According to Gray, recent scandals show high-fliers use flings to top up on testosterone.
He said long-term relationships generate oxytocin, dubbed the 'love hormone', which encourages bonding between couples and helps to lower female stress levels. But that benefit comes at a price for alpha male partners.
"With oxytocin and alpha men, as the women's stress level goes down when she gets oxytocin from a loving monogamous relationship, the man's testosterone level is going down, so he's getting more stressed and more inclined to seek out risky behaviour to push it back up again. The concept is that intimacy can lower a man's sexual drive," he added.
He believes that is why men are driven to risky affairs, and why women will no longer tolerate it.
According to one of the world's best-selling psychologists, powerful men have higher than average levels of testosterone, which they seek to 'top up' when their reserves become depleted. One way they do that is to have an affair
Dr John Gray, who has sold 50 million copies of 'Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus', has claimed that the gulfs in understanding that divide men from women are being exacerbated by hormones, which are working against people achieving monogamy in a stressful world.
"Why are the sexes not getting along? It's just that people have new needs and they don't know what to do about them; they want passion but don't know how to sustain it," the Guardian quoted him as telling the Observer.
According to Gray, recent scandals show high-fliers use flings to top up on testosterone.
He said long-term relationships generate oxytocin, dubbed the 'love hormone', which encourages bonding between couples and helps to lower female stress levels. But that benefit comes at a price for alpha male partners.
"With oxytocin and alpha men, as the women's stress level goes down when she gets oxytocin from a loving monogamous relationship, the man's testosterone level is going down, so he's getting more stressed and more inclined to seek out risky behaviour to push it back up again. The concept is that intimacy can lower a man's sexual drive," he added.
He believes that is why men are driven to risky affairs, and why women will no longer tolerate it.
Divorce is becoming a major contributor to child abuse, which is on the uptrend in the country, said Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Senator Heng Seai Kie.
She said parents who go through messy divorces face undue stress and tend to take it out on their children, leading to neglect and abuse.
Apart from this, children become victims of custody battles between parents with the situation worsening when families of both parties decide to interfere as well, she told reporters after launching the Children's Forum 2011 themed 'Voices for Judicial Change', here Saturday.
She said the number of child abuse cases reported to the Ministry of Welfare (JKM) increased to 2,961 cases last year compared to 2,789 in 2009.
The higher divorce rate among Muslim couples was also worrying, she said, adding that there were 27,116 cases involving non-Muslim couples in 2009 compared to 22,289 the previous year.
The non-Muslim divorce rate, however, decreased to 2,938 cases in 2009 as opposed to 3,633 cases in 2008, she added
This was the official figure and did not include non-registered separations or divorce.
Heng also said the government formulated the National Family Policy (DKN) this March to strengthen the family institution.
According to her, the DKN would be the main guideline for all parties to include the family perspective in legislation, policies, procedures, rules and development programmes.
The Children's Forum held in conjunction with International Family Day was organised by the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) and United National Children's Organisation Malaysia (UNCOM)
The forum covered factors contributing to child abuse, ways of understanding families going through divorce and the role and services of government and private sector agencies in child protection.
In its most stinging comments so far, the women's wing of MCA slammed the male secretary of a tourism association for sexist remarks and unmanliness after he implied that the practise of forcing female tour guides to share hotel rooms with male colleagues was not a serious matter.
"Cost saving at the expense of women's security is a very shameful practice. Tai’s gender bias mentality has caused more women to suffer indirectly. Female tour guides are often afraid of losing their jobs because they do not dare confront the old system," Senator Chew Lee Giok, Wanita MCA secretary-general said in a statement.
She was refering to Tai Poh Kim, the honorary secretary of the Malaysian Chinese Tourism Association, who had allegedly said there were only 20 complaints in three years.
Getting tough on errant firms
The risk of rape is not a new problem for women tour guides in the Malaysian industry, with the government often accused of closing an eye to help employers save costs.
Just weeks ago, news reports of a bus driver trying to force himself on his female colleague sparked public outrage.
That spurred Chew's party colleague, Deputy Women's Minister Heng Seai Kei into action. Heng took to task the Malaysian Women Tourist Guide Association for not adequately 'educating' their members on laws that protected them.
But the association shot back, saying that the reality was that few women ever complained because they did not want to lose their jobs and secondly, the employers always managed to get away scot-free.
The association also urged the authorities to be stricter in their enforcement and to do more 'spot checks' as it was the only way to curb errant employers.
Against the law, licence can be revoked
Meanwhile, Chew reminded that regardless of whether female tour guides had signed 'consent' forms, it was still illegal for a tour agency to book men and women staff into the same hotel room.
"Even if there were only 20 complaints, the tourism associations and industries should remain vigilant to avoid recurrence of similar misdeeds over and over again. Such misdeeds have thrown the entire travel industry into question," said Chew.
"Regardless of whether the female tour guide signs a consent form, if it is found men and women share the same room, that is illegal and the tour agency’s licence is subject to revocation."
She further warned that the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents would expel members caught forcing men and women staff to share rooms. The Malaysia Inbound Tourism Association would also cancel the membership of the errant firms, she added.
Nonetheless, despite the blunderbuss, it is unclear if the 29-year old tour guide who was almost raped earlier this month has lodged a report against her employer and her colleague.
Her agency had arranged for her to sleep in the same room with the driver of the tour bus at a hotel in Malacca. The man, in his 50s, had approached her for sex.
“I shouted ‘no’ and tried to use the blanket to cover myself but the driver, who was only wearing his underwear, still tried to sexually harass me and even kiss me,” said the victim.
It was only after she put up a struggle and threatened to leave the room that the driver promised not to harass her any more.
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