'Do not take me for granted"

Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi yesterday delivered a crisp message to Umno and detractors alike: Don’t take me for granted. Abdullah stressed that there was a limit to everything, even his famous patience.He said that it was getting difficult to be nice.

He warned all parties not to abuse the greater freedom of expression which he is allowing and go overboard in raising sensitive issues on race and religion.

According to delegates, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s name was not mentioned by Abdullah in the closed-door briefing attended by delegates from each of Umno’s 191 divisions nationwide.

Abdullah instead clarified issues related to Dr Mahathir’s criticisms such as on the economy, supposedly sluggish under his three year-administration, spelling out the need to cut the budget deficit, keep inflation under control and how the economy was in fact improving. He received a standing ovation at the end of his briefing.

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also called for unity in his party as he sought backing for his policies in the face of criticism from former premier Mahathir Mohamad.

``We need to support the family spirit,'' Abdullah told reporters late yesterday after a closed-door speech to members of the ruling United Malays National Organisation, or UMNO. ``It is important that UMNO is always close to the people.''


The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Effendi Norwawi tonight repudiated the statement by the Deputy Finance Minister, Datuk Dr. Awang Adek in Parliament last Tuesday that bumiputeras own 36.6% of equity ownership at Bursa Saham valued at RM78.4 billion as at Dec 31 last year, as compared to 46.9 per cent or RM100.4 billion for non- bumiputeras and 16.45% or RM35.2 billion for foreigners.

Effendi said the methodology used is recognised by international financial bodies, such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank.

He said the recently quoted figure of 36.64 percent of Bumiputera equity ownership in 2005 for listed companies was incorrect.

The committee comprises experts from the EPU, Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM), Securities Commission, Bursa Malaysia and Permodalan Nasional Bhd.

The committee also has the services of external experts in the information technology field to generate the data required.

Effendi said the figure was derived from a total of 609,595 active companies registered with the CCM.

The methodology used by the technical committee is based on the best practice available and has been consistently used, he said.

The methodology used in deriving the estimated figure of 36.64 percent for 2005 is inaccurate because it apportioned 45 percent of equity ownership held by nominee companies to Bumiputeras.

Instead, based on a survey conducted by the EPU on equity of nominee companies, Bumiputera ownership in such companies is only at 8.3 percent, Effendi said.

Not only that, the estimated figure of 36.64 percent, so derived, assumed that the equity held by government agencies are also owned by Bumiputeras, he said.

The correct figure of Bumiputera equity ownership in listed companies for 2005, derived by using the methodology of the technical committee of the EPU, is 21.8 percent and not 36.64 percent, he added.

PRESS STATEMENT BY YB DATO SRI EFFENDI NORWAWI,
MINISTER IN THE PRIME MINISTER'S DEPARTMENT

The Government wishes to state that the equity ownership of Bumiputera in the corporate sector, as at 31 December 2004, was 18.9%, as mentioned in the Ninth Malaysia Plan. This is based on data produced by the technical committee of the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), as attached herewith.

The committee comprises experts from the EPU, Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM), Securities Commission, Bursa Malaysia and Permodalan Nasional Berhad. The committee also consists of external expertise in the field of Information Technology to generate the data required.

This figure was derived from a total of 609,595 active companies registered with the CCM.

The methodology used by the technical committee is based on the best practice available and has been consistently used. The methodology used is recognized by international financial bodies, such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank.

The recently quoted figure of 36.64% of Bumiputera equity ownership in 2005 for listed companies is incorrect.

The methodology used in deriving the estimated figure of 36.64% for 2005 is inaccurate because it apportioned 45% of equity ownership held by nominee companies to the Bumiputera. Instead, based on a survey conducted by the EPU on equity of nominee companies, Bumiputera ownership in such companies is only at 8.3%. Not only that, the estimated figure of 36.64% so derived, assumed that the equity held by government agencies are also owned by Bumiputera.

The correct figure of Bumiputera equity ownership in listed companies for 2005, derived by using the methodology of the technical committee of the EPU, is 21.8%, and not 36.64%.

The Government, therefore, wishes to reaffirm that the equity ownership of Bumiputera in the corporate sector, as at 31 December 2004, was 18.9% as clearly set out in the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

Full report HERE

Meanwhile, Najib Shows "Proof In Refuting Kuan Yew's Claim About Chinese"

The Umno deputy president said statistics showed that the average monthly household income of the Chinese community was far higher compared to that of the Malays.

he said the Chinese per capita household income had risen from RM796 per month in 1976 to RM4,437 per month in 2004.

On the other hand, the Bumiputera average household income had only increased from RM339 per month to RM2,711 per month within the same period, he said.

"Just on that fact alone, the allegation of Lee Kuan Yew that the Chinese community in Malaysia is sidelined is completely rejected," he said.

Najib said that in the government's effort to improve the socio-economic status of the Malays and Bumiputeras, the position of the Chinese community was never neglected.

Fairness and tolerance had long been practised in this country, he said.

"Let it never be said that our openness and inclusiveness are a sign of weakness. On the contrary, it is precisely these qualities that make up the formula of our success," he said.

The deputy prime minister said this noble approach had long been well accepted by all races, all of whom were willing to work hand-in-hand to develop Malaysia.

Lee, when speaking at a function in Singapore recently, had alleged that the Chinese in Indonesia and Malaysia had been systematically marginalised.

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Politics, and not religion, is at the heart of the growing rift between the West and the Muslim world, UN secretary-general Kofi Annan has said. " Politics behind rift with Islam "

Annan made the comments in Istanbul on Monday, as he met scholars, politicians and religious leaders to discuss ways to improve relations between 'East' and 'West'.

"We should start by reaffirming and demonstrating that the problem is not the Quran or the Torah or the Bible," Annan said in response to a report by the multinational group of scholars that sets out proposals to overcome the problem.

"Indeed, I have often said that the problem is never the faith, it is the faithful and how they behave towards each other."

The 'Alliance of Civilisations' was jointly formed by Spain and Turkey in 2005 as part of a UN-backed initiative which was led by the Spanish government in response to the Madrid train bombings.

Middle East peace

Annan also said that any effort to stop growing violence between Islamic and Western societies must include an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

"We may wish to think of the Arab-Israeli conflict as just one regional conflict amongst many. It is not. No other conflict carries such a powerful symbolic and emotional charge among people far removed from the battlefield," he said.

Annan said he would work along with his successor, Ban Ki-moon, to help implement the recommendations of the report, which called for renewed efforts toward the goal of establishing "two fully sovereign and independent states co-existing side by side in peace and security."

"As long as the Palestinians live under occupation, exposed to daily frustration and humiliation, and as long as Israelis are blown up in buses and in dance halls, so long will passions everywhere be inflamed," Annan said.

The report

The report was drafted over the past year by a group of 20 prominent men and women, which includes Mohammad Khatami, the former Iranian president, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the South African activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner. Both were in attendance at the ceremony held in Istanbul.

The UN initiative is co-sponsored by the prime ministers of Spain, a predominantly Catholic country, and Turkey, which is 99 per cent Muslim.
(Aljazeera)


Malaysia Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Tun Mahathir Bumi equity UMNO Annan Islam