Current Affairs

Mohammad Sha'ani Abdullah, the Secretary General of the Federation of Malaysian Consumer Association (Fomca), tells the impact of the subsidy cuts and the association's recommendations to the government.

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Dr David Quek, President of Malaysian Medical Association, explains what the national health financing scheme may entail and the rationale. Based on feedback so far, he says getting the public to contribute to their own medical scheme is likely to be unpopular. He says the government needs to do more engagement to get buy-in and that it should look into increasing its budget in healthcare (currently below WHO's recommended 6% of GDP) while implementing this scheme.

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Goh Chien Yen, editor in chief, publisher, and co-founder of Asia360news.com, talks about the fledging Asian news portal. 

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Sheila A Smith, Senior Fellow for Japan Studies at the Council on Foreign Affairs in Washington DC, explains the implications of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) losing control of the Upper House, and how Naoto Kan may deal with the postal reform bill and the relocation of the US Marine Corp base station to Nago, which is strongly opposed by the locals. There's a possibility that Kan may be outsted in DPJ's party re-elections. Sheila believes it will take some years for Japan to have a meaningful two-party system but the Japanese are supporting this transition.

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Dato' Ambiga Sreenevasan, Chairman of Bersih, talks about registering as a voter. She says the Elections Commission is not acting with sufficient urgency to register 3 million people who are eligible to vote. The timeframe to register and become eligible to vote should be about 3 months.

Bersih is a coalition of NGOs for clean and fair elections.

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Dato Tan Say Jim, Managing Director of Iris Corporation, explains how the company is involved in agro projects and the potential of the community project with Koperasi Atlit Malaysia.

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Patrick Barta, Wall Street Journal Southeast Asia's bureau chief, explains the impact of the state of emergency in Bangkok and some provinces of Thailand, whether it is safe to travel to Thailand, and the possible impact on the economy and tourism trade.

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John Liu, Suaram's documentation and monitoring co-ordinator, gives an update on the latest report by the Penan Support Group on the rape of Penan girls. Last year, the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry had produced a report that eight Penan women were abused, but claims of abuses were refuted by state authorities and there was no subsequent action to arrest errant loggers.

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James Nayagam, Suhakam Commissioner, explains that Suhakam, as a neutral party, wants to investigate allegations of abuses of migrant workers at the construction site of the royal palace. The latest is that Suhakam has been advised by the contractor of the site to obtain permission from the royal palace and Jabatan Kerja Raya. James says if permission is not secured, Suhakam is prepared to get a court order to gain access into the premises.

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Cynthia Ong, Chairperson of Green Surf, explains why a coal powered plant should not be constructed and operated in Sabah for environmental reasons. A holistic approach should be taken to assess Sabah's electricity needs and potential energy sources, and Sabah Electricity should be more empowered to make decisions. More information at nocoalsabah.blogspot.com

Green Surf is a coalition of five NGOs: Land Empowerment Animals and People (LEAP), Partners of Community Organisations (PACOS TRUST), Sabah Environmental Protection Association (SEPA), the Malaysian Nature Society Sabah Branch and WWF-Malaysia.

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