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Cabotage Policy OK if fair – FSI BorneoPost Online | Borneo , Malaysia, Sarawak Daily News » Sabah - New 2 Borneo

Cabotage Policy OK if fair – FSI

Posted: 05 Jul 2014 09:56 AM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: The Federation of Sabah Industries has renewed its call for the Federal Government to set in place immediate measures to remedy the adverse impacts of the Cabotage Policy on industries in east Malaysia.

The association formerly known as the Federation of Sabah Manufacturers (FSM) reiterated that the excessive shipping charges imposed on Sabah and Sarawak under the policy put the industries here at a great disadvantage and restricted their growth.

Its president, Datuk Seri Wong Khen Thau said FSI was not against the policy aimed at protecting the local shipping companies but its implementation has to be fair to industries and consumers from all parts of the country.

"There is nothing wrong with protecting the shipping sector but at the same time other industries must not be forgotten and left at a disadvantage. We just want fair treatment," he said to the media here yesterday.

Wong lamented that shipping companies were taking advantage of the policy to impose exorbitant charges to companies importing goods from Peninsular Malaysia to Sabah and Sarawak.

He said the charges for shipping products from Semenanjung was much higher compared to the standard rate for importing and exporting goods at the international level.

As a result, he said industries and consumers in Sabah have to pay more for almost everything compared to those in Peninsular Malaysia.

"Imported products are more expensive in Sabah compared to Semenanjung because of the expensive shipping cost. Raw materials for the housing sector for example cost much, much more here compared to that in Semenanjung, and this contributed to the higher prices of houses here.

"The policy is indirectly hindering the growth of the housing industry in Sabah. The same goes for other industries reliant on materials that has to be imported from or through Peninsular Malaysia," he said.

Wong stressed that the time had come for the related authority to re-look the implementation of the Cabotage Policy to find a win-win solution that would result in fairer prices for the industries and consumers across the country.

He said industries in Sabah have been burdened with the higher cost of doing business for the sake of realizing the objective of the Cabotage Policy, which was to help local shipping companies grow and be able to compete openly with international shippers.

However, he said, local shipping companies have failed to achieve this despite being protected by the Policy, and instead of moving towards the international market they were more interested in just exploiting the shielded domestic market.

"The shipping industry should grow and compete at the international level and not just among themselves. In any case, countries that do not practise such policy, like Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan grow rapidly and are able to actively compete at the international level.

"I hope Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai would be brave and do something to change the way things are now for the good of all parties," he said, adding that the people of Sabah had suffered for 30 years due to the Cabotage Policy.

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Most Pulau Gaya fire victims have IC– MP

Posted: 05 Jul 2014 09:56 AM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: Welfare assistance is provided for victims of the fire in Kampung Pondo, Pulau Gaya off here on humanitarian grounds, said Putatan Member of Parliament Datuk Dr Marcus Mojigoh said.

He said so far, 182 fire victims from 66 families have been registered with the relevant authorities.

Pulau Gaya is located within Mojigoh'fs parliamentary constituency and the MP said that his office was assisting the relevant authorities in the ongoing registration of the victims.

Twenty-eight houses were destroyed in the incident on Thursday.

According to Mojigoh, at the moment they have found out that 24 of the houses belonged to victims in possession of Malaysian identification cards while the remaining four families were renting the houses they lived in.

Mojigoh also regretted criticisms by people especially netizens expressing their disappointment and anger at the government for providing assistance to the fire victims as it was alleged that since most of them are foreigners and suspected illegal immigrants.

"The perception is that they are illegals and their origin is questionable as indicated in the investigations by the Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) they somehow managed to get IC. Hopefully the authority will check the authenticity of their documents," he said, adding that Pulau Gaya also has a police battalion on hand to handle the matter.

He said those with Malaysian identity cards have to be treated as citizens and accorded the necessary assistance.

"We leave it to the authority concerned to deport the illegal immigrants found there," he said, adding that assistance would be given not just because they were Malaysians but also based on humanitarian grounds.

"It is not much we just give them the basic food and clothes," he said.

Mojigoh also hoped City Hall would ensure that the structures would not be rebuilt since they were not only illegal but also an eyesore.

City Hall Mayor Datuk Abidin Madingkir had said that the victims would not be allowed to rebuild their houses because Pondo is not a gazetted village.

However, makeshift tents and aid would be distributed to fire victims who are citizens while illegal immigrants would be referred to the relevant authorities for further action, he said.

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Bring foreign varsity to Sabah – LDP Youth

Posted: 05 Jul 2014 09:55 AM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: Liberal Democratic Party Youth secretary David Ong who had earlier called for the State Government to bring in a foreign university to Sabah believed there is a great deal of  merit to pursue this proposal for the benefits of the State and every Sabahan especially for the future generations.

"The State enjoys a rapid advancement in its social and economic development in recent years. Given that, human capital development must progress collectively in order to achieve sustainable growth and development in the State.

"Youngsters are our country's future and the source of talent.  In this competitive age, it is vital for youngsters to receive quality tertiary education and be equipped with skills and knowledge so as to do the job that our State's economy requires especially when we are geared towards a high-income State in 2020," he said.

Based on number from the Department of Statistics Malaysia, he said there was a total number of 34,213 upper secondary level school leavers from the government and government-aided schools in the State, potentially qualified to enter university.

"Sabah can produce a strong talent pool if these students are given the opportunity and able to attain tertiary education.

"A foreign university in Sabah is needed to help provide more option and more affordable for youngsters to purse tertiary education compared to studying abroad.

"A full-fledge foreign university will also offer a variety of different discipline currently not available in local universities.  This will provide a greater opportunity for students to attain different professions and skill sets.

"We must provide sufficient facilities for our youngsters to attain skills and knowledge and become competitive with the rest of world. This is the responsibility of our Government to make available proper facilities and options for our youths in getting equipped with the knowledge of the modern era," Ong said.

"A foreign university which accepts students based on merit will ultimately produce a strong talent pool for our State. It can help prevent human capital outflow as graduates will tend to stay back to look for jobs locally and eventually settle down in the State for goods. Instead of brain drain we should act like magnet and attract both national and international students to Sabah."

"From the economic standpoint, the presence of a foreign university in the State will minimize currency outflow to other states in our country, or even more undesirable to foreign countries. Take a rough estimation of 3,000 local born students further their tertiary studies away from Sabah, and spend a total average of RM100,000 per annum out of the State, our State economy would be losing RM300 million annually.

"The amount of currency outflow is substantial and unfavorable to the State economy in the long run.

"The presence of a foreign university will definitely attract both national and international students to study in Sabah. Hence, not only can we prevent currency outflow, this will result in currency inflow and bring about positive impact on our State economy."

"The amount of tuition fee, along with spending on living expenses, spending by visiting friends and relatives will economically benefit the local community. This source of revenue will contribute sturdily to the State Gross Domestic Product (GDP) even at times of economic uncertainty."

"Education is a labor intensive industry, as the teaching field needs a lot of people to educate and handle the administration of education.  Therefore, the presence of a foreign university certainly will help create more employment opportunity."

"If we believe the sooner the better it is for Sabah to have its own foreign varsity, then something has to be done as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, Ong opined that the central government should consider decentralizing administration of education system to state level to reduce public spending and increase efficiency in the use of resources.

"Our education system seems to have administrative and fiscal inefficiency, poor quality of access to services.  The State will have informative advantage over Federal on the local condition and needs.

"As such decentralized education system will likely to be more efficient, reduce bureaucracy, better reflect local priorities, and improve coverage, quality and commitment."

"In addition, decision-making that is closer to school level will better adapt the curriculum to the local setting, foster a greater sense of ownership and improve student and teacher motivation.  This will also help to off-load some of the fiscal burden from the central government."

"Transfer of authority from federal government to State government is a complex matter and may face some challenges.  It has to be done in an incremental approach rather than all at once to ensure smooth transfer and execute successfully," he said.

"However, truly autonomy of the education does not exist. Only with deregulation comes semi-autonomy, and semi-autonomy can be used effectively if a local plan exists to guide educational action. The existence of local plan is a prerequisite for the transfer of authority," Ong concluded.

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MCA Sabah’s seminar a bid to ridicule hudud – PAS

Posted: 05 Jul 2014 09:55 AM PDT

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah PAS Deputy Commissioner Hamid Ismail demanded that the seminar "How Much Do You Know About PAS Hudud Law" by MCA Sabah Women wing today (6 July) be cancelled.

He claimed that the seminar attempts to ridicule Hudud law and also to mislead Sabahans about it.

"Based on the newspaper report in local daily, the speakers would include Gan Ping Shou (Chairman of MCA Syariah Law and Policy Implementation Task Force) and Helen Fong Soh Lan (Chairman of MCA Wanita Lega and Policy Development Revisiory Committee).

"With due respect, are these speakers competent to talk about Hudud law to the public? Are they well-versed with the verses in al-Quran about Hudud law? Are they conversant with the Prophet Muhammad's sunnah about Hudud law? Are they qualified as speakers to talk about Islamic law in general and Hudud law especially?" he asked.

"If they aren't, I fear the public will get wrong knowledge about Hudud law from their speeches. As a result, Hudud law will get negative impression from the public especially the Sabahans," said Hamid in a press statement yesterday.

He added that Hudud law is the divine law in Islam. "It is beautiful. It is Allah's law. Hence, someone who wants to explain about it to the public must know and understand it."

The seminar's theme, "How Much Do You Know About PAS Hudud Law", is already a lie. Hudud law does not belong to PAS. PAS does not enact it nor creates it. As I said earlier, Hudud law is Allah's law.

"I demand MCA to stop the seminar. I understand that MCA is very concerned about the implementation of Hudud in Malaysia but please do not add more tension to the current situation. We already have the issues which relate to religion as happened in Penang (where Teo Chen Cheng's corpse was taken away on suspicion that she was a Muslim), Selangor (where the religious Hindu wedding was interrupted) and the seizure of Bible with Hudud," said Hamid.

He also respectfully advised MCA to stop hating Hudud law.

The seminar is planned to be organized in the city centre.

"If you don't like it, please respect it. If you don't want it, please understand it. Hatred brings nothing to this nation. Let's us live together in peace and harmony. Let's tolerate. Let's love each other as Malaysians.

"For the record, today, I have lodged a report demanding the police to stop the seminar from being held and I hope the police would do so in the interest of our nation," he said.

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