Current Affairs

Eugene Teh, Director at Pemandu, gives an update on crime statistics, and the checks to ensure figures are accurately reported. He also clarifies Pemandu's role in the MRT project, emphasising that SPAD is the spokesparty. On whether Iskandar's proposal to build a 500km MRT link will materialise, and replace Pemandu's entry point project - the Malaysia-Singapore high speed railway train, Teh says the Iskandar plan has not been tabled yet. On Sarawak, he says a big change has been the change in mindset in implementing projects, and that outcomes were exceeded without spending beyond the budget. Record length of roads were built under the GTP. He alludes that the federal ministries are able to work with little interference by the Sarawak chief minister in rolling out rural basic infrastructure.

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Ben Suffian, Programme Director at Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research, explains how Sarawakian voters were polled and what their sentiments are. The results of its January survey show that Barisan Nasional is likely to retain two third majority despite well-documented concerns, but the opposition may make more inroads.

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Chris Shepherd Deputy Regional Director, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, a Wildlife NGO, discusses wildlife trafficking and the reasons why it is so lucrative that ranks only second to drug trafficking; Malaysia seems a favoured country for trafficking and why; 

Where Malaysia ranks on the global list of animal traffickers; Who buys? Who sells? Who are the brokers? And who are the main players;

Discusses existing legislation and inadequate manpower said to be the biggest setbacks How large the market is for illegal wildlife trading in Malaysia? How much is it worth; Whether crimes against these animals been increasing in the past few years and how rampant it is;

His views on what else should be done to reduce the frequency of these crimes; And a regional comparison: how do Malaysian rules and regulations fare in comparison to other neighbouring countries.

He also discusses complicity and the problems arising from it.

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Ben LeBrun, Market Analyst and Commentator at CMC Markets in Sydney, discusses the IMF's saying that the US lacks a “credible strategy” to stabilise its mounting public debt, and that this poses a small but significant risk of a new global economic crisis; his view of Bank of America Merrill Lynch's predictions of a 30 percent chance that Brent crude could hit 160 dollars a barrel in 2011; And, his view of reports that talk of cracks emerging in the Aussie housing market especially on Queensland state’s Sunshine coast.

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Tunku Abidin Muhriz, President of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), says a more democratic process is for political parties to hold primaries to allow constituents to decide on their candidate. On whether it is necessary to hold elections as soon as possible for the Prime Minister to push through reforsm, Abidin says the Prime Minister already has an electoral mandate because Barisan Nasional won majority seats in Parliament, but winning the general elections in a big way should give a reform-minded leader more moral clout. Abidin also does not believe there should be a direct election for the post of Prime Minister.

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Daniel Martin, Editor and Economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, explains EIU's Global Peace Index and why Malaysia (22nd position) is ranked higher than Singapore (30th).

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Carol Wong, Partner, Advisory Services, Ernst & Young, talks about the evolving role of the CFO in the Malaysian corporate world. She discusses how and why the breadth and depth of skills and experience required has deepened considerably, the skill sets sought, talent pool, the need for CFO development, how CFOs have been traditionally appointed, remuneration, and how these CFO issues play out in the context of corporate governance failures and internal controls.

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Wan Saiful Wan Jan, Chief Executive of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, talks about different school models and how the cost of private education can be reduced.

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Is the book as ruthless as it’s made out to be or was it just savvy marketing at work?
Yale Law School professor and New York Times bestselling author Amy Chua talks about what drove her to write Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and the timing of its launch; a week after results came out that Shanghai kids are blowing the roof off math tests. She also talked about her parents' influence on her life and career choices. Her husband's book as well as views on privacy and parenting were also discussed. She ends with her daughters' career choices and her next book.

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Together with guest interviewer, Dr. Ong Kian Ming a Lecturer, at the Faculty of Economics and Policy Science at UCSI University, Dato' Saifuddin Abdullah, Deputy Minister of Higher Education, talks about the possibility of public universities getting greater autonomy from the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), the strategy for funds allocations by the government to raise the standard of higher education, the possibility of public universities getting more autonomy to increase the fees they are charging, initiative that the government is undertaking to boost the levels of PhDs in Malaysia,

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