Sometimes our politicians and government officials will meet certain groups for dialogues but content of the discussion is not made known. At times, it is requested to be kept a secret using the guise of closed door meeting.
When public pressure mounts on the Government, the Minister will say we have been engaging people. Most likely he or she will throw names to say we have talked with so and so NGOs. Even so and so have been deliberated to.
It is an old trick of governing that one can see it repeatedly happening in the British TV comedy doing a satire on government in "Yes Minister" and "Yes Prime Minister."
Continuing where we left off yesterday on "TPPA's shroud of secrecy", MITI Open Day on Thursday tomorrow looks to be such repeated ploy. The session is scheduled from 9 AM to 1 PM at Martrade building.
From what we gathered, the Minister will be speaking for about 30 minutes and then split to 9 different sessions.
His Excellency
Just kidding and being cynical there.
Nevertheless, if you are critical on government and JJ is less than excellent in giving an answer but refuse to admit he is wrong, he will offer you to join Obama School of Political Campaign in Chicago.
His signature and recommendation carry much weight in White House. Why do you expect him to enter White House with a kris by his side in his expert required to fold Pahang samping? Folding Pahang samping is an industry in Pahang with so much Datokship being given out.
The Secret Service will not allow for it if JJ is not a close buddy and had his security clearance. Most important, Obama find his kris as no threat
Take that offer to Chicago but get zonked all night till late morning at the many legendary Blues and Jazz joints in the South side. It means you do not have to bother to wake up and hear the Obama crap applied to Parliamentary democrasy system.
Public relation ploy
Part of the Obama technique involves handling a situation when government is accused of being secretive.
PM, Penasihat and Minister can say that we held an Open Day dedicated to TPPA and so much so much people came
They will then alert the mainstream press to answer it this way. As far as the pro-BN cybertropper, they will just copy the script verbatim as long as some of them get paid.
Don't blame them for being mercenary because they have been used and their dedication not appreciated. More so, when there is so many talks of those in charge of bloggers skim a thick slab off the top.
If none gets anything and they do not get anything, they do not mind. How do they feel after dedicating oneself when someone admitted to the RM70 million bill to a third party for the BN Manifesto under the excuse of development cost?
How much does it cost to maintain say 10 Phd holders to prepare a manifesto over say three months? Then pay a couple of guys to be locked in a hotel room over a weekend to summarised it. Finally a committee of paid employee to give it a JJ or KM touch.
Read back here.
Coming back to TPPA, it is a topic most BN cybertrooper would not bother to understand, research and write.
Hope the losing team of non-practising theoretician, ineffective social media operators and some wise guys pretending to be social media experts that is holed up a couple of days in a lab will finally find a winning formula. Sincerely hope they could learn the ropes fast .
Those at these labs will realise that not much information, understanding and dialogue can get done by having nine break-up session?
Sounds like divide and rule at work.
Respect other countries
Our gut feel is that they are not going to tell anything. The reason is in this Malaysiakini report by a loony tune reporter dedicated to spin about a dead Mongolian below:
Miti: Why gov't cannot reveal the TPPAWe take cognizance that this is a Malaysiakini report and the reporter is a nut case. Since it came from an activist website, EcoKnights and hopefully they are not some basket case NGO like the ever oppose Singapore-based batu ronsen Third World Network, we will take it in good faith till something crops up.
by Susan Loone | MalaysiaKini
The federal government is unable to disclose the details of negotiations over the much questioned Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) because it has to ‘respect the position and views of other countries’ involved.
The countries are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam.
International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) chief negotiator J Jayasiri (right) said the most important aspect of the negotiations is that the government will ensure the agreement will benefit the nation on the whole.
"That is why we need to conduct a cost-benefit analysis. It is our responsibility to negotiate the best deal for Malaysia," he told a forum on the ‘Impact of the TPPA’, organised by the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) on Saturday.
"The government will decide whether it serves the national interest before signing it," he said.
"I am a civil servant and need to work within the current system.(I cannot reveal the text of the negotiations) unless the cabinet gives (me) a different directive.”
However, Jayasiri revealed that 20 questions on the TPPA will be raised during the new parliamentary session which starts today, and that Miti will provide the answers.
"The negotiation is also about my children and (our) future, (so) definitely, I (would) want to get the best deal for Malaysia,” he noted.
The next round of negotiations will be held from July 15-25, with Japan expected to participate for the first time.
Jayasiri also said Miti is not the only agency involved in the negotiations.
"Participation in the negotiations does not necessarily mean we will sign the agreement. The government will ensure that it is beneficial to the country and rakyat.
"It is not a zero-sum game, where you will not get everything that is good and other countries lose in other aspects. Many chapters have been discussed but those are references to the technical aspects, like use of terms and so on. Nothing has been agreed until everything is agreed.”
Furthermore, not all of the issues in the negotiations are being raised by the US, as other countries too have their own agenda, he pointed out.
The TPPA does not only touch on the opening of markets but on cooperation in terms of capacity building, he said.
"Sometimes, over-protection can result in local industries becoming too comfortable until they lose competitiveness," he added.
‘Reasons to reject TPPA’
CAP president SM Mohamed Idris gave five reasons why the TPPA must be rejected, including the requirement for all governments to maintain "secrecy on the negotiating texts until four years after the deal is signed".
Idris said another reason is that the investment chapter effectively empowers foreign corporations to "ignore and override" the domestic judicial, legal and parliamentary systems.
"Other provisions could greatly restrict the government's ability to balance the protection of public interest, health, the environment and human rights against the private interest of corporations," he told participants.
"Access to affordable, life-saving medicines for millions of people is under threat as the TPPA would provide higher protections for the patents and clincial data of big pharmaceutical companies.
"This would make it harder for generic companies to produce affordable generic medicines, as well as delay and restrict access to the public.”
Idris (left) said that, if the duration of copyright and patent is extended as the US has reportedly proposed - according to leaked texts - affordable access to information and knowledge would be harmed.
There would be negative impacts on the research and education sectors, he said.
"Reducing tariffs on farms and manufactured products may result in many people losing their jobs and livelihoods due to the resulting influx of cheaper imported goods putting our local companies out of business,” he added.
Other than MiTi, organisations that sent speakers to the forum were the Malaysian Aids Council, EcoKnights, Majlis Tindakan Ekonomi Melayu, Third World Network, and Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas.
Pakatan Rakyat MPs have called for a parliamentary select committee on the issue, although the coalition has said it will not oppose the TPPA if the terms were "fair".
It worries us and the future of our off spring and nation when at best Jeyasari can only say unable to disclose the details of negotiations to ‘respect the position and views of other countries’ involved.
Oh boy! Is he saying the interest of US and other nations is more important than the peoples' right to know? If not all, at least the stakeholders!
Government assurance
He said the government will ensure the agreement will benefit the nation on the whole. The key operative word is "government will ensure."
But, the government did not ensure the public is safe from hardcore animal-criminals by abolishing Emergency Ordinance at will and that let loose 2,600 criminals.
Murder is happening everyday now.
The politicians both government and opposition played politics to the hilt without consideration for the safety of the public. Now that murder is happening daily, they are only playing bkame and defend game.
Hopefully government could ensure on the TPPA because the the Chief Negotiator and his two other mates, including Jeyasiri does not give us much assurance with TPPA being only a "good learning experience."
When will the learning stop and real work begin?
Will it be like enacting another set of law after one have simply abolish a couple of laws and rebranding it like a pussy cat law?
In case some MITI Official feel we are being sarcastic, don't get us wrong
We are actually promoting the event. Some dude from MITI wants to belanja buka puasa this evening.
2 comments:
J is bad news and does not sound excellent to me.
He is corrupted and should be behind bars.
How corrupted can he be when the corrupted government of Pak Lah too find him corrupted?
Gota love the picture of jj you keep popping up.
Next to the african beacon, he looks like a monkey and im not kidding.
Somebody has to teach jj to not slouch. You are to bend your shoulders backwards.
And his keris is one of those soft ones they give you when you get married. Just for show!!
No wonder americans think malaysia is a land where the inhabitants live in trees. Look at jj
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