Ghost of past crisis to restrain market

Last night was the the night of the 23rd of Ramadhan. It is touted as possibly the night of a thousand night or Lailatul Qadr. 

It is the night one's prayers and wishes are fulfilled. There maybe Muslim investors or major shareholders of public-listed companies praying for a revival of the stock market.

According to a message viralling on social media and reports in the media, RM7 billion was taken out from Bursa by foreigners since GE14.

Despite the modest stock market gains on Bursa over the past 3 days, foreigners have pulled out money for 23 consecutive days - the longest streak since 2008.

New AG has an opinion on 1MDB before investigation completed

Tommy Thomas is confirmed as the new Attorney General.

The lawyer suggested by DAP, represented Anwar in one of his many cases and agreed by the various parties in PH fits Mahathir's purpose to prosecute Najib for 1MDB and related to 1MDB offenses.

Tommy Thomas expressed his view on 1MDB in Malaysiakini back in 2016.

Please no talk of bias or prejudice as PH supporters will argue and justify it is not.

In 2007, Tommy said Agong can reject his appointment

Upon swearing in, one of the first of many immediate actions by PH’s Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir towards avenging his shame of losing out in UMNO and imprisoning former Prime Minister, Dato Najib Tun Abdul Razak, was to attempt the sacking of Attorney General, Tan Sri Apandi Ali.

It was his first step towards proving he is right in his cause celebre, 1MDB (and related to 1MDB) to seek removal of Najib.

Thus far, Najib is not yet imprisoned as promise by Dato Mukhriz in his campaign trail. Claims Najib should be charged does not seem so as new MACC Chief claim he need few more statements. Former AG Tan Sri Abu Talib said need more than 100 days to investigate.

Be it himself or any other parties – local or abroad, including US Department of Justice - all claims on 1MDB remained unproven allegations.

Wherefore art thou politics in this heedless time

Opposition message embraced by UMNO members led to BN's fall

After 15 years of active involvement and many more decades in various minor and insignificant roles from keen observer to complimentary support, it is time to take stock of our involvement in politics. If there is a purpose to stay on, the new role need to be redefine.

Currently it is rather confusing and national politics look rather heedless or the Arab word best described the condition as Ghaflah (pronounced closer to Ghoflah). From Islamic context, it is negligence and heedlessness in forgetting Allah, and our divine purpose. The political context is closer in meaning to aimlessness.

Politics relate to governance, debate between political parties, and activities relating to secure power through political positions. The acquisition of power comes with it a sense of responsibility and purpose for a greater good for the nation, and its people.

As we see it, politics in Malaysia is moving towards a state of aimlessness and it looks to be moving towards the state of heedlessness (Ghaflah) at its extreme. So it is challenging to justify continuous active involvement and purposeful role.

In the first place, it was unthinkable to got involved given the in-fighting, suspicion and envy by certain influential character among Najib people. Maybe time to take few steps back to observe from afar.

Goebbels-esque RM1 trillion national debt lie

Circulating in Whass App groups today is an expose of the Gobbels-esque lie being spread by Tun Dr Mahathir government ...

Is the RM1 trillion "national debt" propaganda?

Firstly, Finance Minister LGE has confirmed that the official Federal government debt is RM686.8 billion, or 50.8% of GDP - which was what was reported by the previous BN Govt. This figure is exactly how the whole world measures its debt.

Secondly, LGE adds on Government guarantees of RM199.1 billion, or 14.6% of GDP

He says this comprises of Danainfra Nasional Bhd (RM42.2 billion), Govco Holdings Bhd (RM8.8 billion), Prasarana Malaysia Bhd (RM26.6 billion), Malaysia Rail-link Sdn Bhd (RM14.5 billion) as well as an estimated RM38 billion for 1MDB.

Let's take a closer look.

No Nathan Rothchild could avoid a market black hole

Election is over, so do not quite care of politics. Everything is confusing, directionless and at the extreme, it is heedless.

Kedah, Perak and Sabah is still in a turmoil. Conspiracy theory say the days of Tun Mahathir is numbered the moment Agong suddenly pardoned Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

The government with a ruling party with 125 seats and opposition BN with 79 and PAS 18 is not a stable country. The underlying reason Malaysia attracted investments from abroad over the many decades of BN rule is due to political stability and continuity of the ruling party.  

With that changed, foreign investors should look at the transition. Foreign financial media painted a rosy picture of a BN win.

The macro picture that won their heart for Malaysia is expected to change but it could not be done with Tun Dr Mahathir’s loud mouth.

The new Pakatan Harapan government came out from the win with a rather reckless disposition to change everything within a short time and Mahathir could not hold back on executing his revenge towards Dato Najib swiftly.

Lessons to and from India

A former Indian MP turned writer, Sashi Tahoor claimed Malaysian opposition learned from India's experience in bringing down the post-Independent dominant ruling government, the Congress party in bringing down Barisan Nasional.

It is the same phenomenon that saw the end of the dominant Golkar in Indonesia, LDP in Japan and Kuomintang in Taiwan. So it is not for certain that the Indian experience was considered.

And, it is not for certain that the post victory possibility for Malaysia could be any different from India.

Its too early to call as the dynamics is not an exact science determined by macro factors but also filled with the intrigues of individuals and micro factors in the art of politics.