Malaysia scraps bumi policy to attract foreign investment ?

Malaysia scraps bumi policy to attract foreign investment

In its biggest and boldest move to attract more foreign investment, Malaysia is scrapping, in Johor's new economic zone at least, policies that have favoured bumiputeras — the ethnic Malay majority — since the 1970s.

While the details have yet to be spelt out, foreign investors in Johor's Iskandar Development Region (IDR) will not be encumbered with providing 30 per cent equity to a bumiputera partner. The move is aimed at creating a new engine of growth in Johor's southern part so that over the next five to 20 years, it will grow into a major regional financial and manufacturing hub, providing jobs for 800,000 workers. Separately, the Government is abolishing property gains tax in Malaysia to boost the flagging property market and lure foreign investment.

While lauded in the early years, the pro-bumiputera policies — which seek to raise the Malay share of the economic pie to 30 per cent — have since been criticised for having been abused. Hence, analysts say their abolition in the IDR is a crucial step forward towards attracting foreign investment.

Development of the vast 2,200 sq km IDR, more than three times the size of Singapore — and packed with infrastructure, homes, offices, theme parks, hotels, factories and hospitals — will require a massive injection of funds. Estimates are 50 billion ringgit ($20 billion) over the next five years, rising to $160 billion over 20 years.

Luring investment over, when it is being sucked into countries like China and Vietnam, is not going to be easy. "Competition for global investment will become increasingly intense," said Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at an investment conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Malaysia, South-east Asia's third largest economy, saw foreign direct investment in 2005 falling to 15 billion ringgit from 17.6 billion ringgit in 2004. Figures for 2006 are not available yet but Mr Abdullah is not waiting for them to confirm the falling trend. He announced tax incentives — exemptions from corporate income tax and the withholding of tax on certain payments for 10 years — to draw investors to the IDR.

Will there be rumblings within the bumiputera ranks since the group has long enjoyed privileged access to government contracts? Johor's Chief Minister, Mr Abdul Ghani Othman, speaking on the sidelines of the conference, insisted he did not fear any political fallout, saying that foreign investment rules favouring bumiputeras will be relaxed in the IDR "in defined areas of certain kind of activities". Mr Abdullah said fiscal incentives would cover six key sectors — creative industries, educational services, financial advisory, healthcare, logistics and tourism.

"It shows that at the top ranks of the system, there are people thinking well," said Singapore economic analyst Manu Bhaskaran, according to Bloomberg. The bumiputera policies and all the related problems, he said, do turn off foreign investors.

Hints that Malaysia would scrap its policies favouring bumiputeras surfaced early in the week when IDR adviser, former Deputy Prime Minister Musa Hitam, said such a move was necessary to attract foreign investors to the project. Contract awards "will have to be on merit," Mr Musa, the deputy leader from 1981 to 1986, told Bloomberg on Monday. "The Malays will have to face competition."

But the modern bumiputera businessmen were no longer inept, he told Today. To help foreign investors pick the right bumiputera companies to be their partners or subcontractors, the Government was in the process of preparing a register of companies, detailing their past projects, and grading them according to the level of proficiency with which they handled the projects, he said.

Six companies from Singapore — two of them major ones — are also interested in Johor, Malaysia's High Commissioner to Singapore N Parameswaran told Today.

(Today via CNA)


Ghani and Shahrir back move to drop quotas

Bumiputra investors have the capability to participate in the Iskandar Development Region (IDR) in southern Johor despite the Government’s move to exempt qualified investors from foreign investment committee (FIC) rules, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said.

Abdul Ghani said he agreed with the move to exempt IDR from policies that favour the bumiputras in a bid to attract investors.

“IDR is a very defined area and there is enough bumiputra strength to participate in the development despite the FIC rules being relaxed completely,” he told reporters after the launch of IDR and the second Penang Bridge projects at the Invest Malaysia Conference here yesterday.

Johor Baru MP Datuk Shahrir Samad said the public should not be alarmed with the move because exemptions were already given for certain industries such as the Multimedia Super Corridor-status companies.

“We have to be clear and careful. We have to understand the actual situation. People have the impression that everything requires a racial quota. It’s not exactly something new,” he said.

“There are precedents. MSC-status companies are not required to have a racial quota. Foreign investors can have 100% ownership, 100% foreign workers and it is a free trade zone concept.”

(The Star)


Musa: Brief Umno on why it has to give up NEP

Umno should have a special briefing to explain to its members why it was time to give up the New Economic Policy (NEP) for the success of the Iskandar Development Region (IDR).

Iskandar Development Region Authority (IRDA) advisory council member Tun Musa Hitam who proposed this also volunteered to be one of the speakers at the briefing.

He said that there were already hundreds of Malays who had the capability to do business and on merit.

As someone who had been active in Umno for several decades, Musa said, he realised that there was a need to have a change in mindset to draw investors to the country.

“The briefing should explain what the IDR is, its implications to the country and to the Malays,” he said during a press conference at Danga Bay after the book launch of The Reluctant Politician: Tun Dr Ismail and His Time.

In the last few decades of the NEP, the country used to have an Ali Baba way of doing business where Ali would give his name and Baba would do all the work.

“As time went on, Ali and Baba became equal and Ali was able to deliver as much as Baba. Now, there are even Alis who are using the Babas not as sleeping partners but as equals,” he quipped.

Musa also said that foreign investors who came to the country were not interested in the NEP, cronyism or nepotism as their primary focus was on making money.

He suggested that instead of imposing conditional approvals, a more palatable method would be to provide potential foreign and local investors with a list of Malay entrepreneurs who were capable of doing business and leaving it the investors to decide.

Musa said that he had already asked for a computerised master list of all Malay entrepreneurs to be drawn up and the list would include their current grades as well as their past performance and track record which would be made available to any investor.

“The IDR is an opportunity to demonstrate that we have arrived and we are able to do this,” he said.

(The Star)


PM Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said :

"THE 30 per cent Bumiputra equity target will not be abolished." !!

the equity target was still needed to create an even distribution of wealth among the ethnic groups.

"The minimum 30 per cent equity for the Bumiputera by 2010 is an agenda which will ensure that development will be equally-distributed between the ethnicities and regions in the country.

"At present, income and ownership of wealth among the ethnic groups is still unevenly distributed.

"The goal must be pushed until it is achieved," said Abdullah .

(NST)

Bloggers see red over tourism chief's 'insults'

Image courtesy of Kickdefella

Minister said to have called them liars and mostly jobless women

MALAYSIA'S tourism minister has sparked a controversy among the local Internet community by reportedly describing bloggers as 'liars' and 'mostly jobless women'.

The Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Jit Poh quoted Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor as saying last week: 'All bloggers are liars. They cheat people using all kinds of methods.

'From my understanding, out of 10,000 unemployed bloggers, 8,000 are women.'

He apparently also said: 'Bloggers like to spread rumours; they do not like national unity.

'Today, our country has achievements because we are tolerant and compromising. Otherwise, we will have civil war.

'Malays will kill Chinese, Chinese will kill Malays, Indians will kill everybody else.'

The report touched off a storm of criticism from Malaysian bloggers, including former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad's daughter Marina Mahathir.

She called Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan's reported remarks an 'unbelievable bit of foot-stomping' by 'a supposedly sober person in high office'.

The minister reportedly made the comments in response to questions by reporters about criticism of the Malaysian tourism authorities contained in an Indonesian broadcast journalist's blog.

Ms Nila Tanzil wrote in her blog that her team from Indonesia's SCTV had run into Malaysian bureaucracy when invited by the tourism board to shoot aspects of Malaysian tourism.

Asked yesterday about the controversy, Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan refused to confirm whether he had been quoted accurately by the newspaper.

'I do not have anything to say right now,' he said.

Malaysian freelance writer Susan Loone said in an open letter to the minister that his reported comments were 'highly demeaning' and seemed to reflect the ideas of a 'woman hater'.

'Women these days are different. We do not merely sit around looking pretty,' Ms Loone wrote in her blog.

'We work, take care of the family, write, blog, ask questions, analyse, create, invent, and a million other things.'

Another blogger, who goes by the name EWOON, said: 'Think before you speak, sir. When you do not look good, you make us Malaysians not look good.'

Other bloggers used even harsher language.

The timing of the controversy is bad because Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan is spearheading the Visit Malaysia Year 2007 campaign.

The controversy is also likely to worsen relations between the cyberspace community and officialdom.

In the past few months, bloggers and online media have been targeting sharp criticisms at the government, while some government leaders have called for more curbs on cyberspace. The Internet is currently uncensored in Malaysia.

The Malaysian authorities have often warned bloggers not to spread false reports or rumours that will cause disharmony or destabilise the multi-ethnic, mostly Muslim country.

Many of Malaysia's most popular blogs offer political commentaries that include criticism of government policies.

The pro-government New Straits Times newspaper sued two political bloggers for alleged defamation earlier this year in Malaysia's first lawsuit involving online journals.

-ASSOCIATE D PRESS

Malaysia's tourism minister refused to respond on Monday to accusations that he had insulted women by reportedly saying that Internet bloggers are liars, and many are jobless women.

The Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Jit Poh quoted Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor as saying last week that "All bloggers are liars, they cheat people using all kinds of methods.

From my understanding, out of 10,000 unemployed bloggers, 8,000 are women."

The report sparked a storm of criticism among Malaysian bloggers, including former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's daughter, Marina Mahathir, who called Tengku Adnan's reported remarks an "unbelievable bit of foot-stomping" by "a supposedly sober person in high office."

The tourism minister reportedly made the comments in response to questions by reporters about criticisms of Malaysian tourism authorities contained in an Indonesian broadcast journalist's blog.

On Monday, Tengku Adnan refused to comment or confirm whether he had been quoted accurately by the newspaper.

"I don't have anything to say right now," Tengku Adnan told The Associated Press.

Freelance writer Susan Loone said in an open letter to Tengku Adnan that his reported comments were "highly demeaning'" and seemed to reflect the ideas of a "woman hater."

"Women these days are different. We don't merely sit around looking pretty," Ms Loone wrote in her blog. "We work, take care of the family, write, blog, ask questions, analyse, create, invent, and a million other things."




The world’s oldest blogger Liar


Donald Crowdis of Toronto, Canada is probably the world’s oldest blogger at 93 years by Christmas 2006, his latest entry posted 8th March is interestingly entitled "I’m not dead" and continues to say that family concerns are preventing him from blogging.

Now seems there’s another blogger of the same age as Crowdis, tomato grower Ray White, whose blog is called Dad’s Tomato Garden Journal.

Last but not least, the title for the world’s oldest blogger should now belong to Allan Loof of Norrkoping, Sweden who is older than Crowdis and White by 2 years. The blog is in Swedish, of course.

He has been blogging for a year and has had his own site http://allanloof.com for a couple of years.

Bribery a way of life in Malaysia ?

Bribery is such a long-standing problem that most Malaysians acknowledge and accept it as part of life.

Lecturer P. Thinavan, 47, suggested that everyone dwelt less on statistics and focused on tackling the problem.

“It is rampant, but corruption only happens if the public partakes in it. After all, it takes two hands to clap.

“Take traffic offences for example. Offenders should follow the rules and pay for their wrongdoings. They are not in a position to bargain, but they offer to settle the matter with the traffic officer,” he said.

Thinavan was commenting on Malaysia Transparency’s Perception Survey 2007 which found that problems of integrity and transparency were “acute and serious.”

Another lecturer from a local university, Sharon Wilson, disagreed with the notion that every government agency was corrupt.

“We can’t stereotype by saying that everyone bribes or receives bribes.

“There might be a lot of cases of people offering bribes to get their driving licence, or situations where people, frustrated by bureaucracy, pay duit kopi.

“For me, it’s a matter of addiction and a bad habit more than an act of desperation,” she added.

Centre for Independent Journalism executive director Sonia Randhawa noted:

“If people have this perception that corruption is serious, it’s possible that they may be practising it as well.”

Asked how corruption may be reduced, she said government policies should not concentrate too much on individual responsibility but tackle the problem on a wider scope.

The survey was conducted from Nov 30 to Jan 12 and polled 1,436 respondents from both public and corporate sectors.

The results were released on Monday.

Related News : Cops get worst score



Tian Chua held for murder attempt


Parti Keadilan Rakyat information chief Tian Chua was arrested for attempted murder after he nearly hit a man when he drove his car through a barrier during a demonstration.

The incident occurred when Permodalan Negeri Selangor Bhd's workers were demolishing houses at Kampung Berembang here yesterday.

The villager were trying to stop the demolition and Chua as well as several politicians and activists were there to support them....(more)


Snakes on a plane? 2400 to be precise

Workers at a Malaysian airport cargo complex found 2400 snakes of a protected species in crates bound for Hong Kong sent by smugglers in Thailand, news reports said Wednesday.

The banded rat snake - rarely found in Malaysia and protected under local laws and international wildlife treaties - is an expensive delicacy in some Asian countries, the New Straits Times and The Star reported.

Workers handling cargo at the complex near the Bayan Lepas International Airport in Penang grew suspicious when they heard hissing and "slithering sounds," the Times reported, and alerted wildlife officials.

The officials found the snakes, worth an estimated $US68,400 ($A88,500) on the market, tied up in plastic sacks in a total of 86 crates, the Times added.

The fate of the snakes was unclear in the reports. Phone calls to the wildlife department office in Penang went unanswered Wednesday morning.


CIJ - Stop meddling in the media

The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) is concerned that the Internal Security Ministry is interfering further with editorial independence, despite Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's promises of openness and increased media freedom.

The Ministry, also headed by Abdullah, issued a letter on 15 Feb to reprimand opposition party organ "Harakah". It said its 16-28 February issue goes against conditions specified in the newspaper's publication permit. The Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 requires that all publications have a permit to publish. These are awarded on an annual basis, and decisions to award, amend or suspend publication licenses can not be challenged in court.

Exacerbating this interference in editorial freedom, the warning does not specify how the permit is transgressed nor does it refer to any articles. It also took an issue with the paper's use of Jawi script on one page, stating that Harakah is not allowed to publish in languages
other than in Malay and English. The articles, however, were written in Malay, using the Jawi script.

Read here.

Reporter’s red tape nightmare

T’S always the same story – our lousy delivery system. The Prime Minister is aware of it and is truly frustrated but unless our bureaucrats do something, all the promotions and money spent will come to nothing.

Take for example, the recent Floral Fest which was part of the Visit Malaysia 2007 programme.

The Malaysia Tourism Board had invited 190 journalists from all over the world to cover this special event. The media invite included 17 Indonesian journalists including representatives from three television stations.

They enjoyed the Floral Fest and the hospitality but Nila Tanzil, the host of Melancung Yuk, had plenty of complaints and with good reason too.

She blogged (nilatanzil.blogspot.com) that she had asked for a letter from the Tourism Board confirming her as a guest of the country and allowing her easier movement.

But an official told her that he needed two weeks to get that letter.

Indonesia is bad when it comes to red tape but this reply was enough to astonish, if not disgust, the young Indonesian reporter.

Having only six days to spend in town, more frustrations awaited her.

The crew was barred from shooting at two shopping malls, which bewildered her because she assumed that Malaysia wanted to promote the country as a shopping destination.

But still, she was prepared to keep an open mind because shopping complexes, even retail outlets, are sensitive over fears they would be exposed to rivals or copycats.

The ban continued further when she went to the revolving restaurant at the KL Tower, the fourth tallest tower in the world.

Luckily, Nila managed to get the public relations officer to help her, even though it was a Sunday. As a resourceful reporter, she obtained her phone number from a French journalist based in Kuala Lumpur.

By this time, according to her blog, feathers had been ruffled and the Tourism Malaysia board representative in Jakarta was not amused. There was a loss of face, as expected.

Nila was told that she should not call any parties directly from then on. For any journalist, who is only interested in getting the job done, this bureaucracy is a waste of time.

In short, the whole episode of incompetence and low-level red tape left the Indonesian with a poor impression of our country.

We do not know whether other journalists had similar complaints. We can only hope that Nila’s experience was an isolated one.

Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, his deputy Datuk Donald Lim and secretary-general Datuk Dr Victor Wee have all worked hard for the campaign.

The last thing they need is poor execution from low-level officials.

What’s missing are obviously guides trained to fulfil the requirements of the media. There are still 10 months before Visit Malaysia 2007 ends and hiccups like this need to be rectified.

More importantly, the ministry must hear from the reporter and the officials involved as to what had actually taken place.

It must be taken seriously because her complaints have made its rounds among Jakarta’s press fraternity and bloggers who have become a new but important and powerful alternative media source.

Someone in the ministry has to explain to Nila and certainly to Malaysians who’ve read her complaints.

Comment
By WONG CHUN WAI
The Star


Related :

Reporter’s red tape nightmare - Wong Chun Wai
Chun Wai on blogger's power hurting us in Indonesia - Screenshot
Malaysian Tourism Board and the Indonesian blogger - Unspun
“Malaysia… Is it Really Trully Asia?" - nila tanzil


Related to related news :

'Slash the red tape to make Malaysia a research hub' -NST

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Malaysian author sues over govt ban of his race-riot book

A Malaysian author filed on Friday, February 23, what lawyers in Kuala Lumpur believe is an unprecedented suit against the government to overturn a controversial book ban.

K. Arumugam is challenging a ban on his work, March 8, which documents race riots between majority ethnic Malays and minority ethnic Indians on that date in 2001.

“My lawyer said he couldn’t find any precedent for the case. Probably this is the first time someone is taking up the case for a banned book. I intend to give it a try,” Arumugam told AFP, after filing his affidavit at the Kuala Lumpur High Court.

“We are filing for judicial review, calling for the quashing of the order by the Home Ministry and that the ban be lifted to allow me to circulate the book,” Arumugam told reporters.

The bloody riots, in which six people were killed, erupted in a rundown suburb in Kuala Lumpur and shocked Malaysia, where ethnic clashes are rare.

Malaysia’s 27 million people, 60 percent of whom are Malay and legally defined as Muslims and bumiputra (“sons of the land”), 26 percent Chinese and 8-percent Indian, coexist in relative harmony.

The country had not experienced serious race riots since 1969.

Arumugam believes the government banned his book to cover up the incident. He denies that his book incites racial hatred or posed a security threat.

“The book is basically a resource-based document... I [also] tried to explain to the readers that an eye for an eye will make the whole world blind,” he said.

Arumugam said he planned to sue the government for damages after this current lawsuit is completed.

Activists and rights groups have slammed the government’s ban on March 8 and over 50 other books.

Discussions on race and religion are considered sensitive topics by the government of mainly Muslim Malaysia, while sex and sexuality are seen as taboo.

A couple of lawsuits questioning government acts are awaiting court decisions that could shake traditional Malaysian social norms.

In one suit a Muslim who was baptized a Christian when she was a little girl and is happy being a Christian wants to have her ID changed accordingly, but Malaysia’s legal system respects Muslim sharia law that condemns leaving Islam as a sin and a crime punishable by death.

Another case is that of a Chinese Malaysian who was switched at birth in the hospital and given the Muslim identity of the parents who raised him. Now an adult and having found his real parents, who are Chinese and Buddhists, he is asking the court to amend his citizenship ID to reflect his true ethnic and religious status. (AFP)


Malaysia VMY 2007 red tape book ban race riot

Malaysia at a Crossroads

How well do you know your husband? For Kaliammal Sinnasamy, a Hindu married to a member of the first Malaysian team to scale Mt. Everest, the answer, she thought, was obvious. "I married a Hindu man, lived with him as a Hindu, bore him a Hindu child and watched him die as a Hindu," says the now 32-year-old office cleaner. But when Kaliammal went to the hospital in December 2005 to claim her spouse's body after he died of a protracted illness, she received another shock. Her husband, Maniam Moorthy, had secretly converted to Islam before his death, said Islamic authorities.

According to Islamic law, he would be buried in a Muslim cemetery.

No, insisted Kaliammal, he would undergo Hindu rites. Both sides headed to court. But Malaysia—a multiethnic nation composed largely of Muslim Malays, Hindu Indians and Buddhist and Christian Chinese—employs a dual legal system.

Muslims are subject to Shari'a law for issues such as marriage, property and death, while non-Muslims use civil courts. First, the Shari'a court ruled that Kaliammal's husband was a Muslim. Then, the civil court refused to intervene. "This court cannot undo, vary or overrule any decisions made by the Islamic Shari'a court," said Judge Raus Shariff to a packed courtroom. "We have absolutely no jurisdiction over Islam."

Kaliammal's case, along with several other high-profile legal challenges, are roiling a nation that has struggled to strike a balance between the aspirations of its Muslim majority and significant minority populations. As Malaysia celebrates a half-century of independence this year, faith-based politics is further dividing the nation's ethnicities.

The new mood was on display at the November party conference of Malaysia's ruling political party, the United Malays National Organization, during which one delegate spoke of his willingness to bathe in blood to defend the Malay race and religion.

By December, the atmosphere was so tense that Malaysia's usually understated Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi called race relations "brittle"—even though a few weeks before he had defended his nation's reputation, telling TIME: "At the end of the day, Malaysia is still well regarded internationally as an advanced Muslim country." Indeed, earlier in the year, Abdullah appeared so confident about his homeland's spiritual diversity that he rejected a plea by the non-Muslim members of his Cabinet to more strenuously protect religious freedoms. "We are at a crossroads as a nation," says Tian Chua, spokesman for the opposition National Justice Party. "The extreme religious rhetoric is threatening what we worked so hard for 50 years to accomplish."

Like Indonesia, Malaysia is struggling to determine how Muslim to be. Unlike Indonesia, which is governed by a secular constitution, Malaysia already counts Islam as its official faith—although the constitution also guarantees freedom of religion. Each state has a fatwa committee that makes religious decrees applicable to Malaysian Muslims, most of whom are Sunni. In Kelantan state, Muslim women must wear headscarves in public, while several states have made forsaking Islam a crime that can result in prison time. "We should not limit Islam to a few rituals," says Sulaiman Abdullah, former president of the Malaysian Bar Council. "Malaysia would be better served if it were under Shari'a law."

But what happens when the state's definition of Islam differs from its citizens'? The Islamic Development Department, which governs Muslim practices on a federal level, deems Shia and Baha'i interpretations of Islam deviant faiths worthy of forced "rehabilitation." Controversy also surrounds Malays who wish to convert to another religion, thus defying the constitutional clause specifying that all Malays must be Muslims.

That issue is being tested by the case of Lina Joy, a Malay who has been barred from converting to Christianity by Shari'a courts. Malik Imtiaz Sarwar, a lawyer who has received death threats for representing Joy, hopes the case will be heard by the Supreme Court in the next few months. "How can we say there is freedom of religion in Malaysia," says Malik, "if a person who has practiced Christianity for years is not allowed by the state to make that personal choice?"

As for Kaliammal, her husband's ultimate choice will never be known for certain. He was buried as a Muslim, but she wants to move the remains to a Hindu grave. Kaliammal's appeal, one of several involving alleged conversions to Islam, is pending before a higher court, though no date has been fixed for judgment. "My husband never once told me he had secretly converted to Islam," says Kaliammal, showing off a wall in her apartment dedicated to her husband's mountaineering achievements for the glory of the Malaysian nation. "He was always a Hindu and drank alcohol and ate pork right up to the time he died." His final resting place, though, will depend upon what the court decides—yet one more challenge for a country caught between mosque and state.

( With reporting by Baradan Kuppusamy, Time Magazine, Kuala Lumpur )

Status of religious freedom in Malaysia - wikipedia

Malaysia Kaliammal Sinnasamy Maniam Moorthy Islamic law

Malaysia's Islamic opposition warms up to religious minorities

Malaysia's main Muslim opposition group is making new moves to cultivate support among ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities, who have long been suspicious of the party's ambition of creating an Islamic state.

The fundamentalist Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party said this week it has published 50,000 Mandarin-language newsletters explaining its policies to coincide with current Chinese Lunar New Year festivities, and launched a nationwide club for ethnic Indian supporters last week.

The measures — disclosed on the party Web sites and in e-mailed open letters from officials seen Wednesday — come as the party prepares for general elections it expects later this year.

However, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's multiethnic ruling coalition has not revealed whether it plans to hold snap polls before its mandate expires in mid-2009.

Nearly two-thirds of Malaysia's 26 million people are ethnic Malay Muslims, but votes from the large ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities — mainly Buddhists, Christians and Hindus — have helped the ruling coalition retain an overwhelming majority in many previous elections.

"Most non-Muslims in Malaysia have been programmed ... to feel horrified and prejudiced toward our party, which has been called extremist, backward and anti-development," Halimah Ali, an official in the party's national solidarity bureau, said in her e-mailed letter.

Efforts are needed to assure non-Muslims that the party "will not erode their rights in terms of culture, language and religion if it comes to power," Halimah added.

Party members recently handed out thousands of newsletters conveying Chinese New Year wishes and highlighting how the party has helped non-Muslims, including victims of severe floods that hit southern Malaysia in January, according to the party's Web site.

Chinese New Year bookmarks, calendars and greeting cards containing verses from the Quran, Islam's holy book, were being distributed as part of "icebreaking initiatives ... to channel information to non-Muslims and win their votes," Halimah said.

The party, commonly referred to as PAS, also launched a club for ethnic Indian supporters, bringing together an initial 50 members at a ceremony last Saturday.

"PAS can provide us shelter where (Abdullah's coalition) has failed," said the club's chairman, N. Gobalakrishnan. "PAS (leaders) have never been known to oppress other races."

The party's goal is to form a theocratic Islamic state. It holds only a handful of seats in the national parliament but has controlled Kelantan, one of Malaysia's 13 states, since 1990.

The party sought to implement strict Islamic laws in Kelantan that allow stoning, whipping and amputation, but those laws — which would only have applied to Muslims — were blocked because they clashed with the federal Constitution.


Malaysia PAS

Why was PNB in the dark?

The impending merger of several major plantation firms raises a host of corporate governance issues, says Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim.

The announcement relating to the proposal to merge Sime Darby, Guhtrie and Golden Hope raises corporate governance issues Mergers and takeovers are part and parcel of the capital market; the focus should be on increasing efficiency. At the same time, the rights of minority shareholders must be taken into consideration and they should be given a chance to make choices.

While the final documents have not been provided to shareholders, various statements by CIMB, government leaders and the substantial shareholders regarding the proposal by a special purpose vehicle – Synergy Drive Sdn Bhd - to take over and merge Sime Darby Bhd, Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd and Golden Hope Plantations Bhd are cause for concern.

First, the proposal was initiated not by one of the three companies or its substantial shareholder, Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), but by an investment bank. PNB’s statement indicating it has no idea about the proposal and will have to study it first is very frightening. PNB is the major shareholder in two of the companies and has a substantial holding in the other. This calls into question PNB’s ability to manage and control its assets. Surely the statement came as a shock to the more than 8 million investors in various PNB trust funds.

It does not make sense that PNB did not know of the proposal beforehand for they not only have board representation in all three companies, but the chairman of PNB is also chairman of two of the companies involved.

Second, in order to undertake the studies needed to come up with this proposal, Synergy Drive must have needed information from the companies involved. If the information used was not restricted to public documents, than the issue of insider trading comes to the fore.

The Board of Directors of all the three companies involved should make a public announcement that this matter was never discussed at Board meetings and that the management has assured the Board that no information was passed to outside parties.

From PNB’s statement it can be deduced that PNB and the three companies are not involved in the preparation of the proposal by Synergy Drive. In order to evaluate the offer by Synergy Drive, the Board of Directors of the three companies must make sure Synergy Drive gives an undertaking that all professional advisory expenses especially the merchant bankers (investment bankers) advising independent directors of the respective companies and secretarial expenses are borne by Synergy Drive.

Thirdly, the Deputy Prime Minister and later the Prime Minister publicly commented on the proposal and stated that it is a good thing whereas PNB was still in the dark about it. How this could have happened when the Prime Minister and his deputy are both trustees of Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputra, the parent entity of PNB.

The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, the Securities Commission and the minority shareholders watchdog must take all steps necessary to ensure that the interests of minority shareholders are not compromised in the process.

To evaluate the proposal on its needs and benefits, clearly the possibility of increased efficiency in the plantation sector is very minimal. The synergy for a common research centre and information management is not there.

In fact, if research facilities are developed separately by the three companies, it would allow competitiveness and thus wouldl bring about more benefit to the country.

It is now time to gather all interested shareholders for a town hall meeting to understand the intricacies of the proposal and put forward new ideas and make informed decisions.

Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, the Treasurer of the People’s Justice Party, is a former CEO of PNB and of Kumpulan Guthrie
Source: Aliran


Malaysia Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB)

Chinese media merger harms competition at home and abroad

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is concerned about a proposed tripartite merger of three media groups in Malaysia and Hong Kong, all owned by Malaysian tycoon Tiong Hiew King, which will create the largest Chinese publication group outside of China and Taiwan.

On 30 January 2007, Malaysia-based Sin Chew Media Corporation announced its intention to acquire Hong Kong-based Ming Pao Group and invited another Malaysian company, Nanyang Press Holdings, to join the merged entity.

SEAPA shares the concerns of its Malaysian partner, Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), that the consolidation, which is projected to produce a circulation of more than one million, may curb competition and pluralism in Chinese media accross countries where the three newspapers have a combined presence - namely, Malaysia, Hong Kong, the United States, Canada, Indonesia and Cambodia.

The merger may also subject Chinese readers to more political control in the countries concerned and abroad, CIJ said.

"If the consolidation of Tiong's media empire is aimed at China's market (as reported), there is also a concern that these newspapers will protect and advance the interest of People's Republic of China. This will exacerbate worries about domestic political censorship, at the expense of freedom of expression and information, which could be catastrophic to countries where the voices of media and citizens are already censored and controlled, such as Malaysia," CIJ said in a 6 February release.

Politically, CIJ further noted, such concentration of media ownership "poses a serious threat to freedom and good governance".

"Media tycoons can use their political leverage to bargain on behalf of their commercial interests, paving way for socially or environmentally disastrous business projects and concessions. These might otherwise be checked by public opinion," it said.

Yet even the effectiveness of public opinion as a check in a democratic system can be jeopardised when it is subsumed by the concentration of power. As Australia has shown, CIJ pointed out, "it can lead to legislation that supports large media corporations over guarantees of competition or access".

Another danger is that, with growing interests at stake, media conglomerates become more susceptible to censorship pressures from the authorities, CIJ said, citing the submission of Internet giants Microsoft, Yahoo and Google to Beijing's dictates.

Shareholders of the two Malaysian companies involved in the merger are expected to vote on it in meetings in the fourth quarter of 2007. CIJ is urging them to oppose the deal and has asked the Securities Commission to investigate it with consideration to "consumer interest, freedom of expression and foreign control of local media".

CIJI has also challenged Tiong, who had claimed that his media company opposed the restrictive Printing Presses and Publications Act (1984), "to advance the agenda of media law reform in Malaysia" and start a public debate on the prohibitive entry conditions into the media industry.

Barring any objections from the shareholders, the merger is expected to conclude by 28 February 2008, and would end with the new media tycoon owning about 53 percent in the new Ming Pao, with Huaren Holdings, the other substantial owner of Nanyang Press, holding 3.5 percent.

BACKGROUND:

Sin Chew publishes two major Chinese-language newspapers in Malaysia, "Sin Chew Daily" and "Guang Ming Daily", while its former rival Nanyang Press publishes the other two mainstream dailies, "Nanyang Siang Pau" and "China Press".

Nanyang Press fell into the hands of Sin Chew's Tiong on 9 October 2006, when he bought a 21.02 percent stake from Huaren Holdings, the investment arm of a ruling political party, the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA). The deal ignited protests from local human rights groups and civil society, who were already up in arms over the political party's takeover of Nanyang Press in 2001 and had predicted the unfolding of the present scenario.

Sin Chew has previously denied involvement in both the 2001 takeover of Nanyang Press by the political party, with which its owner Tiong has close ties, as well as moves to monopolise the Chinese press in 2006.

Tiong now holds 44.8 percent of Nanyang Press and has extended a mandatory general offer for the remaining shares. By March, he is expected to have a stake of more than 50 percent in Nanyang.

The Hong Kong-based Ming Pao, which Tiong took over in 1995, is the holding company of "Ming Pao Daily News" and "Ming Pao Weekly", sold in Hong Kong, Toronto, Vancouver, New York and San Francisco.

Source: Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)

Related News :

Asia Times Online: "Malaysian media mogul's big China bet"


Malaysia Chinese media merger

Mahathir applauds Iraqi insurgents

Former Malaysian PM calls on insurgents to resist to make Americans pay heavy price for their adventure.

Former PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on Wednesday applauded Iraqi insurgents and said that the flow of body bags back to the United States would "help Americans to change their minds."

"Carry on with your resistance... make sure that the Americans will pay a very high price for their adventure," he said at the launch of an alternative war crimes tribunal which he has spearheaded.

"When you do this, unfortunately you may have to kill a lot of Americans. When the coffins go back, when the body bags are carried back to America, it will help the Americans to change their minds," he said.

"I'm quite sure that as more and more American soldiers get killed in Iraq, the feelings in America will change and they will begin to see, as they saw during the Vietnam War, how futile, how useless are the sacrifices of the young men sent to Iraq," he said.

"Twenty-three thousand more will be going. They will be going to Iraq and many of them are going to die, they are going to go back in their coffins. And when Americans see coffins coming back they will understand what war is all about.

"That is why I congratulate the Iraqi resistance. Carry on. You have been successful," he said, noting that the leaders of coalition partners Spain and Italy had lost power and Bush and Blair were "no longer popular."

"Iraqi resistance has proven that it is not so easy to just walk into Iraq and take things over," he said.

"If America thinks that it is going to take Iraq and use it as a base to threaten the countries around the Gulf not to sell oil to China, the Iraqi resistance has proven that the Americans are wrong."

President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair “fascist war criminals”?

( From Islam Online, Dubai, by Ahmed Abdullah )

More than a month ago, the former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, was hanged for his alleged involvement in crimes against humanity, followed by two of his aides, who were also sentenced to death by the same U.S.-led tribunal.

The farcical trial didn’t give Saddam or his aides the chance to defend themselves. Nor did it delve deep into those crimes, for this would have implicated some Western leaders.

But yesterday, more than 3000 peace activists, local dignitaries, including a number of Malaysia's top judges, and foreign delegates, gathered in Kuala Lumpur to attend the opening of the War Crimes exhibit, which was staged parallel to a conference on war crimes entitled Expose War Crimes, Criminalise War that will also include a trial for UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and U.S. President George Bush for war crimes and present documentary evidence of U.S. and Britain’s crimes against humanity over the decades, from Hiroshima to Iraq.

The conference, where Blair and Bush were branded "fascist war criminals", is hosted by the former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed, who inaugurated the event with a call for the leaders to be tried by an unofficial tribunal for war crimes in Iraq, and will tour other Malaysian cities under the auspices of the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism.

It is no surprise that the event, which included gruesome evidence of those leaders’ crimes against humanity, including appalling pictures depicting wounded children, deformed babies and innocent men who were subject to torture in Iraqi prisons, received scanty coverage from the Western media.

"We shouldn't hang Blair if the tribunal finds him guilty," said Mahathir, who launched recently a campaign aimed at uncovering human rights abuses and hypocrisy of U.S.-led forces said to be on a mission to install “democracy” in the Middle East in general and Iraq in particular.

"But he should always carry the label 'War Criminal, Killer of Children, Liar'," said Mahathir during his hour-long speech as tape-recorded screams of men being tortured and babies who lost their parents in the U.S.,UK-led war on Iraq echoed around the War Crimes Exhibition.

"And so should Bush and the pocket Bush of the Bushland of Australia," he said, referring to Prime Minister John Howard, a staunch U.S. war ally.

"They're giving an open mind to people who know what kind of war crime that the U.S. do to our communities in the world," was one of the attendees' remarks, an assessment probably shared by most of those who attended the event.

"It is the converted preaching to the converted," said Gwynne Dyer, a journalist and Oscar-nominated documentary maker; among the figures who gave out speeches at the conference, that also included former U.S. politician Cynthia McKinney, who was among the very first people to speak out against the American President’s illegal invasion of Iraq, and Hans von Sponeck, former UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq.

"But I think this [conference] has potential," Dyer said, adding:

"It actually has a goal beyond cheering people up and allowing them to vent."

Vietnam War and My Lai massacre were also depicted in the exhibit to further remind people of American crimes.

The exhibit also didn’t ignore Israeli crimes in Palestine and Lebanon, where over 1,400 civilians died as a result of Israel’s indiscriminate bombardment during last summer’s war against Hezbollah resistance movement.

The Western media’s scant coverage of such an important event is part of its persistence to not deliver the full image to the Americans and people of the West. Iraq war coverage by the American media has long been biased in favor of the President and his war allies.

---

The Age : Mahathir's war crimes tribunal kicks off

The nine-member tribunal is tasked with hearing cases recommended to it by a separate commission chaired by Mahathir.

The commission received its first petition on Wednesday signed by 10 people who called themselves victims of crimes against humanity, mostly in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestinian territories.

"We of the commission look upon these (cases) as a human tragedy, not confined to any particular race, religion, creed or faith," Mahathir told more than 1,000 peace activist


BBC : Blair, Bush in 'war crimes trial'

Dr Mahathir is busy signing autographs. A woman passes him a copy of her programme to sign.

"Oh Dr Mahathir", she coos, "you're more handsome in person than you are in photographs."

The 81-year-old statesman takes it in his stride.

His admirer persists. "I'm honoured, I'm standing in front of you, I'm shaking I feel like I'm in love for the first time," she says.

"Shameless flattery," I suggested to Dr Mahathir.

"Yes, it's flattery," he said with a grave smile.

But there's no flattery when I ask him if he has anything to add about Mr Blair.

"What do I have to say about him? I think it's about time he resigns. Don't wait too long, people are impatient. It's time he resigns. He's been telling lies."

Bernama : War Crime Tribunal Must Be Recognised And Accepted

The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal protem committee wants to become a body with a voice that is recognised and accepted by the international community, wielding enough power to do "what the best of the world has not been able to do."

"It cannot be done in a slipshod manner. The committee would make decisions without fear or favour and decisions made cannot be based on sympathy.

"We must be able to say that the so-called defendants have done something wrong."

He said that the tribunal should not be treated as "a court of last resort".

"The tribunal should also be independent and impartial, giving equal opportunities to both sides to present and argue their cases.

"We do not want to be in cohorts with the (Kuala Lumpur War Crimes) commission

Malaysia Mahathir war crimes tribunal

Mahathir Seethes at "Peace" Conference

"Force may be used only if the international community concludes that brutish regimes like those of Pol Pot or Radovan Karadic need to be removed. But sanctions and other acts must be exercised not by the Security Council but by the General Assembly of the United Nations. And it should not be by unanimity. This is an important caveat as we have seen how powerful countries abused their vetoes, rendering the Security Council useless.."

"What Blair and Bush had done is worse than what Saddam (Hussein) had done"

"Civilisation would be more meaningful if war, killings and destruction are no longer acccepted options in resolving disputes between nations, and until war is criminalised, we would not be truly civilised "

- Tun Dr Mahathir

Mahathir Mohamad, the Jew-hating Islamic Supremacist, is hosting a conference of "Peace" activists, whose only purpose appears to be to demonize the leaders of Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. The Media is reporting the development as if it were surprising. But some of us have good memories. Here is what Mahathir Mohammad, then the Prime Minister of Malaysia, said in his infamous Speech to the Tenth Islamic Summit Conference: 2003 :

We also know that not all non-Muslims are against us. Some are well disposed towards us. Some even see our enemies as their enemies. Even among the Jews there are many who do not approve of what the Israelis are doing.

There is a feeling of hopelessness among the Muslim countries and their people. They feel that they can do nothing right. They believe that things can only get worse. The Muslims will forever be oppressed and dominated by the Europeans and the Jews

It cannot be that there is no other way. 1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews. There must be a way.


We are actually very strong. 1.3 billion people cannot be simply wiped out. The Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million. But today the Jews rule this world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them.

The enemy will probably welcome these proposals and we will conclude that the promoters are working for the enemy. But think. We are up against a people who think. They survived 2000 years of pogroms not by hitting back, but by thinking. They invented and successfully promoted Socialism, Communism, human rights and democracy so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong, so they may enjoy equal rights with others. With these they have now gained control of the most powerful countries and they, this tiny community, have become a world power. We cannot fight them through brawn alone. We must use our brains also.

Of late because of their power and their apparent success they have become arrogant. And arrogant people, like angry people will make mistakes, will forget to think.

He's pursuing the strategy he announced--and the Western peacemongers are happy to go along with it.

But not all is lost. At least the Conference is already producing quality comedy. Consider the following headline: World To Endure Chaos Unless War Declared Illegal - Mahathir.

"Unless war is declared illegal, the world would have to endure endless state of war between powerful and weak nations, with no security for anyone," he said.

"There would be no place in the world that is safe. Instead of diminishing (war), instead of peace, we will see endless escalation of wars with ways of killing and destruction that we cannot always anticipate or prepare for,"

He said possession of nuclear weapons would be quite useless as nationals of these nuclear power states could be attacked and killed anywhere in the world, while issuing travel advisories "simply make prisons of their own countries".

"Of what use is world power and hegemony if you cannot even see the countries and the world you hegemonise. The security checks and retaliatory attacks you mount, the greater will be the anger and hatred, the more will your people be targets of unpredictable attacks, even if we discount the increasing cost of everything we do," he added.

He said while powerful nations, like the United States and Britain, were calling for a war on terror, this combat could not be won simply because terrorists were faceless, acting individually or in small independent groups.

Declare war illegal? Really? And if a country is declared guilty of engaging in war, how would you enforce a penalty--by waging war in turn?

And from the excerpts above, we learn about Mahathir's top-notch nuclear disarmament plan:

Dr Mahathir said the world should now demand nuclear weapons reduction programme by the big nuclear powers, who had no moral right to stop other countries from developing nuclear weapons.

Oh, goody, let's have every country own a few nuclear weapons, instead of a few countries having many. Because nothing could go wrong in that scenario.

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad Monday lashed out at US President George W. Bush and British Premier Tony Blair, labelling them as 'Fascist war criminals' and 'killers of children.'

Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, is the chairman of the Perdana Global Peace Organisation.

Meanwhile, Tun Dr Mahathir has not forgotten his personal war with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. he said his successor has failed to manage race relations, resolve problems and give the country a sense of direction.

He said that when he was premier he had faced no problems with racial tension, but 'when you have a leadership that is unable to give proper direction...people talk in a way that is not responsible'.

He also said the government was not giving proper direction in relation to Islam, but was instead confusing people with the introduction of 'Islam Hadhari'.

The former premier also said PM Abdullah had made promises to the people that were not implemented because there was no real effort made.

He pointed out that there have not been open tenders for projects despite his successor's promise.

On the affirmative action policy for the Malay community, Tun Dr Mahathir said it should be dismantled over time, especially if the Malays were not serious about the opportunities they had received.


Malaysia Mahathir Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

The fascist war criminals

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad Monday lashed out at US President George W. Bush and British Premier Tony Blair, labelling them as 'war criminals' and 'killers of children.'

Mahathir made the remarks in his keynote address at the War Crimes Conference and Exhibition entitled 'Expose War Crimes: Criminalize War' here.

'We should not hang Blair if the tribunal finds him guilty but he should always carry the label as war criminal, killer of children, liar. And so should Bush and the pocket Bush of the bushlands of Australia,' Mahathir was quoted by national news agency Bernama.

Though the world might not be able to get governments of countries to enact laws to label these leaders as 'war criminals,' non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the sympathetic media could append the label whenever their names were mentioned, said Mahathir.

About 2 000 peace activists applauded on Monday as the leaders of the United States and Britain were branded "fascist war criminals" at a conference featuring gruesome exhibits of their alleged crimes.

n some of his most provocative swipes at the U.S. and British leaders, Mahathir said Monday that their war in Iraq had caused worse terror than al-Qaida's suicide bombers around the world.

"History should remember Blair and Bush as the killers of children, or as the lying prime minister and president," said Mahathir, long known for frequent and scathing verbal attacks on Western countries and culture.

"And so should Bush and the pocket Bush of the Bushland of Australia," he said, referring to Prime Minister John Howard, a staunch ally in the US-led war on terror.

As prime minister, Mahathir was unabashedly vocal in his criticism of the United States, Britain and Australia. After stepping down in October 2003, he has become even more strident.

"What Blair and Bush have done is worse than what Saddam had done," Mahathir, 81, said in a speech to inaugurate the three-day conference organized by his nongovernmental organization, Perdana, and aimed at criminalizing war.

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad also believes there is a real possibility of the United States and China being involved in a conflict.

Dr Mahathir made the comments prior to delivering a key-note address at a three-day conference in Kuala Lumpur, examining war crimes in places like Iraq.

A range of global experts have gathered at the conference to help form a tribunal to hear future cases.

Dr Mahathir claims the policies of the United States are contributing to future conflicts that may erupt in Asia.

"The United States believes in force in order to gain compliance, in order to dominate, it can't think of any other way,'" he said.

"And all the time it thinks of containing China and threatening China, and what would be the response of China if they are threatened.

"Obviously they would prepare themselves to face the threat."

On Wednesday, conference delegates are expected to formally launch a war tribunal that would hold "trials" for world leaders, including Bush and Blair, against whom common citizens file complaints.

Seventeen people -- nine from Iraq, five from the Palestinian territories and three from Lebanon-- have arrived for the peace conference, where they will submit oral or written complaints to the so-called Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission

Yesterday at the pre-opening of the Perdana Global Peace Organisation's third international conference on "Expose War Crimes: Criminalise War", Dr Mahathir said international institutions have not given attention to the wars in Iraq and Palestine but concentrated more on those in Darfur, Sudan and Rwanda.

"There are people who have been tortured, who have been seeking redress, but have not been given a hearing. Instead, the concentration is on maybe Darfur and Rwanda. Not in Iraq or Palestine, for example.

He said most of the people in Europe have tried to make sure wars were not fought in Europe but they did not seem to see that wars in Iraq should also be stopped.

"We want them to think that wars fought anywhere, that human lives anywhere, are just as valuable, not just European lives or those who use the nuclear weapon."

He had repeatedly called United States President George W. Bush, Australian Prime Minister John Howard and British Prime Minister Tony Blair "war criminals," saying they should be tried in an international court for crimes against humanity.

Mahathir said they would be tried on the basis of the accusations levelled at them and that this could be done via a trial in absentia.

The three-day conference will include a session with former US prison detainee in Iraq, Ali Shalah, who had claimed he was the hooded Abu Ghraib prisoner photographed in 2004.

However, New York Times reported last March that he was not the same person behind the cover.

Asked to comment on this, Mahathir said: "Whoever we put up as the man would be denied. Of course they can say that because you cannot see the face. That was why they covered the face.

"But the fact is, somebody was in fact tortured, using electric shocks and the like. And the man who is here is the right man, we believe."

Mahathir was also asked to comment on a news report that he was nominated by a group of non-governmental organisations in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the Nobel Peace Prize 2007.

"I don't know about this. I think the most important thing is the attempt we are trying to make to criminalise war. I don't know whether I am asked to accept or not," he said.


Malaysia Mahathir George W. Bush Tony Blair John Howard war criminals killers of children

Malaysia unbowed by US threat

Iran-malaysia gas deal worries U.S.

U.S. trade officials said today they are reviewing a lawmaker's request for the U.S. to cut off free trade talks with malaysia over a $16 billion energy development deal with Iran.

House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Lantos, a California Democrat, raised concerns over the deal signed last month between malaysia's SKS and the state-owned National Iranian Oil Company.

"This is a disturbing development that I believe requires swift action by the administration," Lantos said in a letter yesterday to U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab.

"I therefore request that your office formally suspend all FTA (Free Trade Agreement) negotiations with the Government of malaysia until and unless the Government of malaysia ensures that the SKS agreement with Iran is canceled," Lantos said.

The Iranian oil company and SKS signed the $16 billion preliminary deal to develop Iran's southern Golshan and Ferdos gas fields and build plants to produce liquefied natural gas, Iranian state television reported on 7 January.

Lantos said the deal potentially requires the U.S. to penalize SKS under the recently expanded Iran Sanctions Act, which calls for steps against companies involved in Iranian energy development.

U.S. Trade Representative spokesman Steve Norton told Reuters trade officials were reviewing Lantos' letter.

Gholamhossein Nozari, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company, told Mehr news agency last month the southern gas fields’ project would take 25 years to complete. He also said SKS would have a 50% share of the produced liquefied natural gas.

U.S. lawmakers have also raised concerns about a preliminary deal Anglo-Dutch super major Shell and Spain's Respol YPF have signed to develop part of Iran's giant South Pars gas field.


Meanwhile, Malaysia's trade minister, angry at US pressure to scrap a multi-billion-dollar gas deal with Iran, has threatened to drop free trade talks if it does not back down.

A US legislator had asked trade officials to suspend the final round of talks on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) until Malaysia called off a $16 bn deal to develop gas fields in Iran.

Rafidah Aziz, Malaysia's trade minister, told the US to stop meddling in its internal affairs and that the government would not bow to such threats.

The US is working to impose sanctions on Iran for what it believes is an Iranian programme to develop nuclear weapons.

"I am ready to advise the government to cancel the FTA discussions immediately because the US doesn't respect the preliminary terms of the discussion," Rafidah, well-known for her feistiness, was quoted as saying by Utusan Malaysia, a Malay-language daily, on Friday.

She said the terms include an understanding to have no political agenda, for the agreement to focus on markets and for both countries not to interfere in each other's domestic policies.

Tom Lantos, chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the US House of Representatives, said in a letter on Wednesday to US trade representative Susan Schwab that its trade partners should respect and share its security concerns.

He said Iran's $16 bn liquefied natural gas (LNG) deal with Malaysia's SKS to help develop gas fields in southern Iran and establish LNG production plants was a "disturbing development" which required "swift action by the administration".

Iran's state-owned oil company and SKS signed a preliminary deal to develop the southern Golshan and Ferdos gas fields and build plants to produce LNG, Iranian state television reported on January 7.

Steve Norton, a US trade representative spokesman, said on Thursday negotiators were reviewing Lantos's letter.

Lantos said the US may be required to penalise SKS under the recently expanded Iran Sanctions Act, which calls for steps against companies involved in Iranian energy development.

"In addition to enforcing this legislation, it behoves all of us charged with implementing US foreign policy to take actions to further press Iran to cease its development of nuclear weapons," Lantos said.

Gholamhossein Nozari, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company, told the Mehr news agency last month that the project would take 25 years to complete.

He said SKS would have a 50 per cent share of the LNG produced.

US-Malaysia free trade talks, which began last June, have been scheduled for a fifth round next week.

US negotiators are under pressure to reach a deal by the end of March but difficult issues remain.

The US is Malaysia's biggest trading partner and foreign investor, while the South-East Asian country is the 10th-largest trading partner for the US, with bilateral trade recorded at $44 bn in 2005.

US legislators have also raised concerns about a preliminary deal Royal Dutch Shell and Spain's Respol have signed to develop part of Iran's giant South Pars gas field.


Malaysia US Iran Free trade Rafidah Aziz