12 March 2015 - My admired and respected Old Uncle passed on today. He is more than 90 years old. Had led a full life and has been most generous to me. He is in a better place now. Rest in peace.
1. "Blog of former Malaysian PM Mahathir 'suspended'; last posting was on 1MDB - The Star/Asia News Network Mar 13, 2015
PETALING JAYA - The blog of former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, has been suspended for unknown reasons. The site, at chedet.cc, was inaccessible after 4pm on Friday, with the message "Account Suspended".
Tun Mahathir's latest posting was on the debt-laden government investment vehicle 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), however, said it has nothing to do with the site being blocked.
"As far as I know, we had nothing to do with this. I suggest you check with the blog owner as to why the website is down," MCMC strategic communications senior director Sheikh Raffie Abd Rahman said.
Dr Mahathir's posting on 1MDB, calling for a police investigation into allegations over the fund, read: "An audit of its financials by the Auditor-General as ordered by Putrajaya earlier this week is not enough to uncover the truth behind the debt-ridden state investment vehicle. "What is needed is more than the normal audit of the account books. What is needed is a forensic investigation by the police on the accusations made against several people who are involved in managing 1MDB's finances.""
Hope the Malaysians get what they are looking for. It is for them to decide what kind of government they want.
2. "Parliament passes record $79.9 billion budget - AsiaOne Mar 13, 2015
SINGAPORE - A record $79.9 billion Budget has been approved by Parliament on Friday, with the vision of "building a fair and inclusive society", said Leader of the House Ng Eng Hen and Speaker Halimah Yacob, according to a report in The Straits Times. Dr Ng said that after four consecutive Budgets: "Surely and steadily, deep structural changes have been enacted to better prepare Singapore for significant challenges ahead."
After nine days of discussion on Budget 2015, Dr Ng said there has been a fundamental shift in the Government's spending plans to "maintain (Singapore's) precious social compact and bring opportunities and benefits to all."
He added that the new initiatives and programmes introduced by Government over the past four years have significantly strengthened social safety nets and redistributed more wealth to the lower and middle class. They have also increased the Government's recurrent budget commitments. Dr Ng noted that despite general consensus among the government and non-government members on this shift, some MPs "advised caution on fiscal sustainability and were right to do so."
Meanwhile, Madam Halimah said in her round-up speech on Friday that "pragmatism dictates that ideology should not determine how we craft policies but rather what is really of benefit to our people and what really works for us." She added that 54 MPs responded to the Budget statement and a total of 65 MPs submitted 466 cuts to join the debates on the budgets of individual ministries. Madam Halimah concluded her speech by saying that there is still a lot of work to do, and also highlighted the significance of communicating the introduced policies to Singaporeans more effectively."
Well, it is DONE and DUSTED. So, we have Budget2015 nailed! Surprisingly, NO CHANGES were needed! If only the Corporate Budget can be so smooth!! LOL!!
Lessons for me are:
1. it is a BIG BIG exercise. So, I guess it will be unrealistic for anyone to change anything even when given 9 days to debate the Budget!;
2. since it is hard to see holistically, at least some specific budget items could have been debated and THEN changes made if the points of view presented for it to be changed is STRONG and highlights what the original basis or assumptions made inadequate or inappropriate! Yes?;
3. now that Budget2015 is done and dusted, I guess everyone just have to go along. I DO HOPE that along the way, we can have a Quarterly Updates of the Actual vs. Budget so that Singaporeans can KNOW where are we at each quarter. Is this do-able?
May the Budget2015 be truly measureable.
1. "Blog of former Malaysian PM Mahathir 'suspended'; last posting was on 1MDB - The Star/Asia News Network Mar 13, 2015
PETALING JAYA - The blog of former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, has been suspended for unknown reasons. The site, at chedet.cc, was inaccessible after 4pm on Friday, with the message "Account Suspended".
Tun Mahathir's latest posting was on the debt-laden government investment vehicle 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), however, said it has nothing to do with the site being blocked.
"As far as I know, we had nothing to do with this. I suggest you check with the blog owner as to why the website is down," MCMC strategic communications senior director Sheikh Raffie Abd Rahman said.
Dr Mahathir's posting on 1MDB, calling for a police investigation into allegations over the fund, read: "An audit of its financials by the Auditor-General as ordered by Putrajaya earlier this week is not enough to uncover the truth behind the debt-ridden state investment vehicle. "What is needed is more than the normal audit of the account books. What is needed is a forensic investigation by the police on the accusations made against several people who are involved in managing 1MDB's finances.""
Hope the Malaysians get what they are looking for. It is for them to decide what kind of government they want.
2. "Parliament passes record $79.9 billion budget - AsiaOne Mar 13, 2015
SINGAPORE - A record $79.9 billion Budget has been approved by Parliament on Friday, with the vision of "building a fair and inclusive society", said Leader of the House Ng Eng Hen and Speaker Halimah Yacob, according to a report in The Straits Times. Dr Ng said that after four consecutive Budgets: "Surely and steadily, deep structural changes have been enacted to better prepare Singapore for significant challenges ahead."
After nine days of discussion on Budget 2015, Dr Ng said there has been a fundamental shift in the Government's spending plans to "maintain (Singapore's) precious social compact and bring opportunities and benefits to all."
He added that the new initiatives and programmes introduced by Government over the past four years have significantly strengthened social safety nets and redistributed more wealth to the lower and middle class. They have also increased the Government's recurrent budget commitments. Dr Ng noted that despite general consensus among the government and non-government members on this shift, some MPs "advised caution on fiscal sustainability and were right to do so."
Meanwhile, Madam Halimah said in her round-up speech on Friday that "pragmatism dictates that ideology should not determine how we craft policies but rather what is really of benefit to our people and what really works for us." She added that 54 MPs responded to the Budget statement and a total of 65 MPs submitted 466 cuts to join the debates on the budgets of individual ministries. Madam Halimah concluded her speech by saying that there is still a lot of work to do, and also highlighted the significance of communicating the introduced policies to Singaporeans more effectively."
Well, it is DONE and DUSTED. So, we have Budget2015 nailed! Surprisingly, NO CHANGES were needed! If only the Corporate Budget can be so smooth!! LOL!!
Lessons for me are:
1. it is a BIG BIG exercise. So, I guess it will be unrealistic for anyone to change anything even when given 9 days to debate the Budget!;
2. since it is hard to see holistically, at least some specific budget items could have been debated and THEN changes made if the points of view presented for it to be changed is STRONG and highlights what the original basis or assumptions made inadequate or inappropriate! Yes?;
3. now that Budget2015 is done and dusted, I guess everyone just have to go along. I DO HOPE that along the way, we can have a Quarterly Updates of the Actual vs. Budget so that Singaporeans can KNOW where are we at each quarter. Is this do-able?
May the Budget2015 be truly measureable.
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