Unemployed graduates the cause of Social unrest in Muslim nations

I have just heard from CNN news analysis. In Tunisia, it all started
when an unemployed graduate, while working as a labourer, was beaten
by the Police because he did not have any work permit or license.

In Egypt, the current demonstration is led by youths that have no
clear leaders. Graduate unemployment is rampant in Egypt.

There are many dictators in the Muslim world, Saudi Arabia, Oman and
Brunei are a few of them but resentment is not high so it is not the
lack of democracy that led to the demonstrations but lack of work or
economic opportunities.

Unemployed graduates are the most dangerous because they can read and
use the internet to organise among themselves.The other youths will
just follow.

Another reason is that graduates have much higher hopes after working
hard and spending a lot of money studying, only to find that the jobs
that they get are not compatible to the education that they had
acquired.

You may thing that this is happening only in Egypt but it is also
happening in Malaysia, only to a much lesser extent. The government
keep on blaming the students for being choosy and not equipping
themselves with the right education, and yet allow students to waste
their time studying and spending money on useless education.

Many male students would rather work than study. This is one of the
many reasons why women outnumber men in Malaysian universities.
Another danger sign of the graduate unemployment in Malaysia.

If we don't do anything about this, we will suffer the same fate. The
biggest loser will be the establishment and businessmen that rely on
the establishment in order to prosper. We should not produce so many
graduates then or burden them with debt such as the PTPTN when we all
know that they cannot get jobs later on.

We should concentrate on educating graduates that can get employment
quickly. Medicine is the most saleable profession and yet we don't
have enough places for medicine. We still need to send students
overseas and import overseas doctors. University places for Medicine
had been increased, more effort should be made until there is no more
need to import any doctors from overseas. If the effort is too little,
it won't be sufficient to address the problem of unemployed graduates.
Please note that Malaysians send students overseas to Egypt in order
to do Medicine and yet Egypt is still suffering from unemployment of
graduates.

Egypt produces a lot of graduates through the AlAzhar University.
These graduates are usually self taught like the old traditional
universities. Students are not even encouraged to attend lectures
because lecture halls are not enough for all students. This allows
AlAzhar to produce a lot of high quality graduate students much faster
than what the job market can absorb.

Malaysa tend to produce spoon-fed graduates that have the knowledge
but not the ability to gain new knowledge especially by themselves. As
a result, standards have gone down but employers can detect by asking
simple questions to these graduates. As a result, many are still
unemployed. The government may be able to take many of them but having
these sub-standard graduates will reduce the efficiency of our
government machinery.

That is why it is vital for educationalists to evaluate students
fairly and only allow the really qualified ones to graduate. If we
don't, we shall have riots like in Egypt and Tunisia.

The power of simplicity: Brute force Cracking

Simplicity is always the best. No need to be too smart by looking for
the most efficient algorithm. As long as it works, it should do, at
least for the first iteration. So JUST DO IT. Later on, you can learn
to improve. The first brute force trial and error is the real
intelligence. Later on as we learn more, it is called knowledge.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/01/11/amazon_cloud_wifi_cracking/

Researcher cracks Wi-Fi passwords with Amazon cloud

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Return of the Caveman attack

By Dan Goodin in San Francisco • Get more from this author

Posted in Security, 11th January 2011 20:17 GMT

Free whitepaper – Fraud Alert - Phishing

A security researcher has tapped Amazon's cloud computing service to
crack Wi-Fi passwords in a fraction of the time and for a fraction of
the cost of using his own gear.

Thomas Roth of Cologne, Germany told Reuters he used custom software
running on Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud service to break into a WPA-
PSK protected network in about 20 minutes. With refinements to his
program, he said he could shave the time to about six minutes. With
EC2 computers available for 28 cents per minute, the cost of the crack
came to just $1.68.

"People tell me there is no possible way to break WPA, or, if it were
possible, it would cost you a ton of money to do so," Roth told the
news service. "But it is easy to brute force them."

Roth is the same researcher who in November used Amazon's cloud to
brute force SHA-1 hashes. Roth said he cracked 14 hashes from a 160-
bit SHA-1 hash with a password of between one and six characters in
about 49 minutes. He told The Register at the time he'd be able to
significantly reduce that time with minor tweaks to his software,
which made use of "Cluster GPU Instances" of the EC2 service.

As the term suggests, brute force cracks are among the least
sophisticated means of gaining unauthorized access to a network.
Rather than exploit weaknesses, they try huge numbers of possible
passwords until the right phrase is entered. Roth has combined this
caveman approach with a highly innovative technique that applies it to
extremely powerful servers that anyone can rent at highly affordable
rates.

Roth's latest program uses EC2 to run through 400,000 possible
passwords per second, a massive amount that only a few years ago would
have required the resources of a supercomputer. He is scheduled to
present his findings at next week's Black Hat security conference in
Washington, DC. ®

PR should not encourage Subsidy Mentality

I disagree strongly with the subsidy for petrol and LPG. There should
not be any subsidy but a cash award for all users. Let the users
decide what to do with the money. It is only fair that those who save,
will get the most of the cash incentives in lie of subsidies.

The total cost of subsidy of 4 billion is unrealistic when the prices
of commondities will rise as a result of the subsidies
themselves.These subsidies encourage consumption that will lead to
increase in the prices of these essential but not necessary
commondities. By giving cash awards of a total of RM8 billion to all
citizens, it will be better give cash awards to all citizens. It will
also encourage them to register their births and identification cards.

Imagine, if the populatiion of Malaysia were 40 million, RM8billion
will mean, RM200 per person, man, woman and children. Each family
will get about RM1000. This is much easier to manage than giving
subsidies that have various leakages. It will encourage savings as
well. With so much cash, fruitful business will thrive with production
costs matching real situations instead of propped up by subsidies.

PAKATAN Hanya Perlukan RM19 Bilion Untuk Rakyat
post info
By Anwar Ibrahim
Categories: Agenda Baru, Analisis, Anwar, Demokrasi, Ekonomi, Hebahan,
Isu Semasa, KeADILan, Kewangan, Malaysia, Media, Pakatan Rakyat,
Parlimen, Persidangan and Umno
1 Comment

Kenyataan Perdana Menteri kononnya Janji 100 Hari Pakatan Rayat tidak
dapat dilaksanakan atas alasan negara tidak berkemampuan membuktikan
lagi UMNO/BN berselindung di sebalik penguasaan media untuk memadamkan
fakta. Maka memandangkan isu ini mendesak dan menyentuh kepentingan
rakyat dan negara, kami syorkan diadakan satu debat terbuka.

Tuduhan beliau bahawa Janji 100 Hari Pakatan Rakyat akan menjadikan
negara muflis adalah dangkal kerana hakikatnya, UMNO/BN yang berhutang
setiap tahun sehingga hutang negara menggunung. Laporan Ketua Audit
Negara yang dikeluarkan pada 25 Oktober 2010 memberi amaran bahawa
nisbah hutang negara kepada KDNK telah melepasi paras 50% buat kali
pertama dalam sejarah negara.

Hutang kerajaan Malaysia bagi tahun 2009 meningkat kepada RM362.39
billion atau 53.7% dari KDNK. Malapetaka ekonomi ini berlaku di bawah
pentadbiran Perdana Menteri sekarang sebagai Menteri Kewangan. Dalam
tahun 2010, kerajaan melancarkan 19 program menjual bon yang
membabitkan hutang tambahan bernilai RM58.1 bilion.

Tabiat berhutang UMNO/BN akan diperhebatkan tahun ini. Pada 14
Disember 2010, Bank Negara Malaysia mengumumkan kerajaan akan menjual
29 bon tambahan dalam tahun 2011. Menurut anggaran Institut
Penyelidikan RHB, penjualan 29 bon ini akan membabitkan hutang baru
kerajaan persekutuan berjumlah RM83 bilion.

Makanya, alasan Perdana Menteri untuk menolak Janji 100 Hari Pakatan
Rakyat perlu dikaji dengan berlatar belakangkan perkara-perkara ini.
Malaysia sememangnya sedang menuju ke gerbang kemuflisan jika UMNO/BN
terus berhutang sewenangnya seperti sekarang – tetapi ia bukanlah
disebabkan oleh Janji 100 Hari Pakatan Rakyat. Malaysia akan muflis
akibat ketagihan UMNO/BN kepada pembaziran dan rasuah yang berleluasa,
demi mempertahankan sistem kroni kapitalisme yang didokong UMNO/BN.

Contoh-contoh pembaziran UMNO/BN sudah diketahui rakyat. Perdana
Menteri terlampau taksub dengan bangunan 100 tingkat yang menelan
belanja RM5 bilion, sedangkan isu perumahan mampu milik meruntun
golongan berpendapatan rendah dan orang muda. Kerajaan UMNO/BN akan
mengugut bahawa negara akan muflis setiap kali Pakatan Rakyat
memperjuangkan imbuhan tambahan para guru, tetapi ia tidak rasa
bersalah apabila meluluskan kontrak RM77 juta kepada APCO. Senarainya
terlalu panjang untuk dihuraikan disini.

Oleh itu, tindakan pertama Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat adalah melancarkan
perang habis-habisan menentang rasuah di setiap peringkat, bermula
dengan pemimpin-pemimpin kanan politik. Ini akan menyelamatkan RM28
bilion yang tiris dari Perbendaharaan setiap tahun akibat rasuah,
seperti yang dianggarkan oleh Ketua Audit Negara.

Selepas itu, Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat akan menstrukturkan semula sistem
subsidi untuk memansuhkan subsidi korporat yang hanya mengkayakan
beberapa kerat kroni. Jumlah RM19 bilion subsidi korporat yang
ditanggung oleh PETRONAS untuk membayar IPP milik kroni akan
dipulangkan kepada Perbendaharaan. Kita juga akan menyemak semula
sistem konsesi toll untuk memansuhkan bayaran pampasan RM4 bilion
setiap tahun yang kini ditanggung kerajaan.

Dua tindakan yang mudah ini akan memulangkan RM51 bilion kepada rakyat
– lebih dari cukup untuk melaksanakan Janji 100 Hari Pakatan Rakyat
yang jumlahnya hanyalah satu pertiga dari jumlah yang diselamatkan:

1.Imbuhan khas perguruan berjumlah RM500 sebulan menelan belanja RM3.2
bilion setahun.

2.Jaminan Pakatan Rakyat bahawa subsidi minyak akan dikekalkan untuk
golongan berpendapatan rendah akan melibatkan penstrukturan semula
sistem subsidi, supaya hanya golongan yang berkelayakan menikmati
subsidi minyak. Kos subsidi di bawah sistem sebegini dianggarkan
berjumlah RM4 bilion setiap tahun.

3.Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat akan meneruskan subsidi gas memasak,
berjumlah RM4 bilion setiap tahun.

4.Penstrukturan semula sistem tol di bawah PLUS dianggarkan menelan
belanja RM23 bilion, berdasarkan harga pasaran yang ditawarkan oleh
Khazanah dan KWSP. Kos tambahan yang perlu ditanggung kerajaan untuk
mengambil alih operasi dari pemegang saham minoriti dianggarkan
berjumlah RM8 bilion.

Justeru, jumlah dana yang diperlukan untuk melaksanakan Janji 100
Pakatan Rakyat hanyalah RM19.2 bilion; yakni sama dengan subsidi
korporat yang diberikan kepada IPP milik kroni setiap tahun. Jumlah
ini adalah terlampau sedikit berbanding RM51 bilion yang hilang setiap
tahun akibat ketirisan dan rasuah demi memastikan kroni gembira dan
bersenang-lenang.

Janji-janji lain seperti skim air percuma dan skim wi-fi percuma telah
pun dilaksanakan di negeri-negeri Pakatan Rakyat. Kami telah
membuktikan ia mampu dilaksanakan.

Oleh yang demikian, Perdana Menteri tidak boleh berdolak dalih lagi
kenapa UMNO/BN tidak mahu melaksanakan Janji 100 Hari Pakatan Rakyat
apabila rakyat tahu bahawa ia mampu dilaksanakan. Tabiat berhutang
UMNO/BN yang membebankan generasi akan datang adalah sangat tidak
bertanggungjawab, apatah lagi apabila wang yang dipinjam tidak
dibelanjakan untuk rakyat.

DATO' SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM
KETUA PEMBANGKANG
11 JANUARI 2011
===========

PAKATAN ONLY NEEDS RM19 BILLION TO IMPLEMENT 100-DAY REFORM PROGRAMS

Prime Minister's repudiation of Pakatan's 100-day reform programs on
financial ground will further highlight UMNO/BN's reluctance to spend
the national wealth for the people.

It is a bit presumptious for the Prime Minister to claim that
Pakatan's 100-day reform program will bankrupt the country, since it
is UMNO/BN-led government that had borrowed excessively each year. The
Auditor General's Report released on 25 October 2010 cautioned
Putrajaya that the national debt to GDP ratio has breached the 50%
mark for the first time in our history.

Malaysia government's debt for 2009 rose to RM362.39 billion or 53.7%
of GDP. The level of national debt in fact worsens under the
stewardship of the current Prime Minister. The government undertook 19
bond programmes with a combined value of RM58.1 billion in 2010.

On 14th December 2010 Bank Negara Malaysia announced that the
government will launch 29 additional bond programmes in 2011. RHB
Research Institute estimates that this will involve a combined value
of RM83 billion of new debts to be undertaken by the Federal
Government.

Therefore, the Prime Minister's criticism in rejecting Pakatan's 100-
day reform program should be viewed in this perspective. Malaysia is
en route to bankruptcy at the rate that it is raising debts to fund
UMNO/BN's addiction to wasteful spending and corruption that is
endemic in the crony capitalism structure that it props.

The public is generally privy to such examples of excesses are well
known to the people. Instead of providing homes to the poor and young
people, the Prime Minister is more obsessed with his 100-storey tower
costing RM5 billion. The UMNO leadership will scream bankruptcy each
time Pakatan fights for better pay for the teachers, yet it has no
qualms to pay RM77 million for a one year contract to APCO. The list
is endless.

Thus, the first action of a Pakatan Federal government is to announce
an all out war against corruption at all levels in the government,
starting with the political leadership. This will save an amount of
RM28 billion for the national treasury as estimated by the Auditor
General, believed to have been lost each year due to corruption and
leakages.

Next, a Pakatan Federal Government will restructure the national
subsidy system to abolish corporate subsidies that had bled the people
and enriched only a few cronies. The RM19 billion of subsidy to IPP
borne by PETRONAS each year will be reverted to the national treasury.
Similarly, we will undertake an overhaul of the toll concession system
to return the RM4 billion's worth of compensation paid to
concessionaires back to the national treasury.

These two quick actions will yield an additional RM51 billion
financial muscle for a Pakatan Federal Government to implement our 100-
day reform programs, whose cost is only a third of the amount:

1. The new RM500 a month teaching allowance for teachers and
educational officers will cost RM3.2 billion annually

2. Our guarantee that fuel subsidies will be maintained for lower
income group will involve a restructuring of the subsidy system, so
that only the lower income group enjoys fuel subsidy. The cost
estimate for maintaining fuel subsidy under a restructured subsidy
system is RM4 billion annually

3. Pakatan Federal Government will continue to subsidise LPG, at an
estimated cost of RM4 billion annually

4. The restructuring of the toll system under PLUS is expected to cost
RM23 billion, based on the current offer made by Khazanah and EPF. The
additional cost to acquire minority shareholders is approximately RM8
billion.

The additional cost required to fund Pakatan's 100-day programs is
only RM19.2 billion, an amount equivalent to the existing corporate
subsidies fed to IPPs each year. This is a pittance compared to the
RM51 billion stolen from our national economy to keep the cronies
afloat and fat.

The other people-centric programs such as free water and free wi-fi
schemes have been implemented in Pakatan states. This has been proven
to be viable and sustainable.

The onus is for the Prime Minister to come up with a complete
explanation of his reluctance to implement these programs, when rakyat
knows that we can afford it. It is utterly irresponsible to continue
piling debts for future generations to bear but refuses to utilise the
money for the welfare of the people.

DATO' SERI ANWAR IBRAHIM
LEADER OF OPPOSITION
11 JANUARY 2011

The Wisdom of Anwar Ibrahim in Sabah

Despite what the minority is saying, the silent majority is watching
closely what Anwar is doing in Sabah. It appears to be very well
thought out. What makes PKR win in Sabah, are not the divisional
chiefs but the voters who are mostly Muslims. Jeffry may appear to be
defender of Sabah but he was tainted when PBS ruled Sabah. People just
don't forget what he did at that time. Whereas Ansari was similarly
tainted. The problem with Sabah is the large number of carpet beggars.
People join political parties in order to make money. They are so
impoverished that they will do anything in order to earn some money.
During Ansari time, how can you explain the selection of an unemployed
as a candidate for PKR at Batu Sapi? I know because I am from Batu
Sapi. If that happened at Batu Sapi, it also happened at other places.

You need someone who is not tainted and yet hard workingly
intelligent. Thamrin appears to be a trust worthy person being an
incorruptible person, just like Abdullah Badawi, but he is doing much
work at other places. Lack of finance may be a factor. It may be
strange that non-divisional chiefs were appointed as party leaders but
it happened during Tun Mustapha's time, when the Muslims in Sabah were
the most successful.

The key question is not what the party members are saying, but what
the voters are saying. This article only mentioned what the party
workers are saying, not necessarily what the voters are saying.

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/01/11/sabah-pkr-hot-seat-a-poisoned-chalice-for-pajudin/

Sabah PKR hot seat a poisoned chalice?
Luke Rintod
| January 11, 2011

Anwar Ibrahim's choice of Pajudin Nordin to lead Sabah is already
tearing apart a party in disarray.
ANALYSIS

KOTA KINABALU: If the gasp of surprise is any indication, newly-
appointed Sabah PKR top man Pajudin Nordin has jumped into a hot seat
and bets are on as to whether he will last long in the post.

The stakes are high and the expectations even higher given that even
PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim didn't last more than a few months
as Sabah state chief before he relinquished it to Azmin Ali, who in
turn lasted for only a few weeks before handing the reins to Ahmad
Thamrin Jaini.

Thamrin was heavily criticised for "non-performance" or failing to
come up to the expectations of his peers, a charge that he disagrees
with.

"Qualified" people, such as former PKR vice-president Jeffrey
Kitingan, a Harvard scholar, were sidelined as they were believed to
be not good enough to head PKR in the second-biggest state in
Malaysia.

Now Pajudin, 42, not even a divisional head, has been entrusted with
the task of leading the state by party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan
Ismail.

Perhaps, a more pertinent question is whether Pajudin will be able to
perform better than all his predecessors, including recent leaders
like Thamrin and Ansari Abdullah.

It is an open secret that many in Sabah PKR are disgusted
(disappointed is too meek a word) at the way the PKR central
leadership has handled Sabah matters, including this one.

Nasty text messages and cynical comments from PKR state leaders were
flying around soon after they learnt that Pajudin had been appointed
Sabah PKR Chief.

Some of the messages were harsh, to say the least.

Sabah's view not important

But Pajudin is an educated person having pursued Islamic and Quranic
studies in Saudi Arabia. In fact, his credentials are better than most
of the divisional heads in Sabah. So what's the fuss?

Anwar was not looking for the most educated person or he would have
appointed such a one from among the leaders in Sabah.

Said a former founding member of Sabah PKR Awang Ahmad Sah Awang
Sahari: "It is the same old story with PKR when it comes to Sabah and
Sarawak.

"What the leadership in Kuala Lumpur wants overrides what Sabahans
aspire to.

"The appointment of ustaz Pajudin confirms that Sabah's views and
aspirations are not important to PKR… rather it is who and what they
want that matters more to them."

The PKR constitution that provides for members of the state liaison to
reach a consensus or to forward a choice to the president to appoint
the state chief is only for reading and never meant for sincere
adoption, he charged.

Awang Ahmad Sah, who has had skirmishes with PKR central leaders and
their proxies in Sabah, argued that merit, contribution, sacrifice and
loyalty are irrelevant in the eyes of PKR decision- makers.

"What comes first is whether they can use and trust a particular
Sabahan leader to dance to their music.

"Forget about the feelings and intelligence of Sabahans in PKR; they
just want to be on top of you, using you to achieve their dream to
capture Putrajaya," he alleged.

But Pajudin certainly has all the values Awang Ahmad Sah mentioned –
merit, contribution, sacrifice and loyalty.

He has been one of those most loyal to party leadership and he did not
go out of his way to seek the post.

Can he lead?

But can he manage a broken team? Will they listen to him? Can Pajudin
convince people to rally behind him or Anwar?

These are questions that party supporters have lined up against this
diminutive Bajau from Tuaran.

The way analysts see it, Pajudin cannot stop the exodus from PKR,
especially the Kadazandusun and Murut (KDM) community who left earlier
and will continue to leave following PKR's clearest indication yet of
the axis of Ansari-Anwar-Azmin behind Pajudin's appointment.

Pajudin will sit as just one of the vice heads in the Tuaran division
whenever Ansari chairs a divisional meeting. This is not entirely an
anomaly and was probably foreseen.

But it is not something that will go down well with independent-minded
Sabahans.

Comments by PKR state leaders like Kong Hong Ming speak volumes on how
things will percolate to the top and be managed soon in Sabah.

Kong, Tawau divisional chief, claimed that he was not even notified of
Monday's press conference to unveil Pajudin as the new head.

It was not clear if others were notified, but if they were, then their
absence also spoke volumes of the arduous task ahead for Pajudin.

Only three out of 26 divisional heads, including one from Labuan, were
present and they were Ansari and his two inseparable allies, Hassnar
Ebrahim of Batu Sapi and Anthony Mandiau of Kota Marudu who days ago
heaped criticism on Thamrin and rallied support for Ansari for the
post.

Though Pajudin claimed that many divisional chiefs had congratulated
him, it would be naive of him to take it as support for his new seat.

At Monday's press conference, Pajudin was ably assisted by former
Sabah PKR communication director Ronnie Klassen who eloquently
introduced Pajudin to the press.

While fluent in Arab and Malay, Pajudin is not well-versed in English
which, by the way, will not pose a problem for him in Sabah.

Fighting a stigma

If Pajudin knows how to rise above internal bickering, play the peace-
maker role and at the same time manage the growth of PKR in Sabah, he
might just be the person to lead Sabah PKR in the looming general
election.

At least Pajudin is not burdened with managing his own division as he
is not a divisional chief. That's an advantage for him.

He will have a big problem though if he allows himself to be either
too close or too detached from any of the rival groups within Sabah
PKR.

He is already fighting a stigma of being Ansari's man and it will only
need a tiny mistake to see him become irrelevant.

Observers also said that the soft-spoken and without much clout
Pajudin is vulnerable to revolts, especially orchestrated ones.

If this happens, then Anwar might replace him with a stronger
personality, an attribute that right now had been brushed aside.

Stupid Malaysian Constitutional Lawyer

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/1/8/nation/7751539&sec=nation
This article is just utter stupidity.

For a more reasonable explanation refer to this:
http://www.loyarburok.com/the-system/bolehland/k-point-whose-servant-is-he-anyway/

Reproduced in the group article
https://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.malaysia/browse_thread/thread/62eb44b54d35c355?hl=en#

But beware of the Malaysian Courts. They don't seem to judge according
to common sense so expect drastic changes to our Malaysian labour laws
and Malaysian Federal Constitution when they make the judgements.
This appointment must be challenged in order to expose the Malaysian
Courts and Government Services. We may not be able to do anything
about it at the moment, but all these challenges will be recorded for
all the world to see and judge.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/1/8/nation/7751539&sec=nation

Saturday January 8, 2011
Expert: Ban on state sec illegal
By SIRA HABIBU
sira@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: The Selangor Mentri Besar's ban on state secretary
Datuk Mohd Khusrin Munawi from attending meeetings of the state
executive council is illegal, said a constitutional law lawyer.

"Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has no legal basis to object to the
appointment of Khusrin," said Datuk Mohd Hafarizam Harun.

He added that Mohd Khusrin could seek a mandamus order from the
appellate and special powers court compelling Khalid to act in
accordance with the constitution.

Mohd Hafarizam said this in response to Khalid's statement that he
would not allow Mohd Khusrin to take an oath of secrecy before him,
and therefore the latter is barred from attending state exco meetings.

"Such an act is unconstitutional, as Mohd Khusrin must take an oath of
secrecy before the Mentri Besar, otherwise Mohd Khusrin will not be
able to effectively perform his duties as the chief administrator of
the state. The administrative system may collapse if the impasse
persists," he said.

He noted that Mohd Khusrin was appointed in accordance with federal
and state constitutions.

Khalid's objection to the appointment could be perceived as an act of
treason as the Sultan had consented to the appointment of Mohd
Khusrin, said Mohd Hafarizam.

Mohd Hafarizam said Article 52 of the state constitution empowers the
"appropriate" public service commission to appoint state secretary,
legal adviser and financial officer.

It is not stated in the constitution that the three top officials must
be appointed with the consent of the Mentri Besar, he added.

In Federated Malay States, including Selangor, the Federal Public
Service Commission had the prerogative to appoint the three top
officials in the state.

Non-Federated Malay states, such as Kedah and Johor, impose a closed
civil service system where only those within the state civil service
can be appointed to the state secretary posts.

On state Speaker Datuk Teng Chang Khim's claim that they need not get
the consent of the Sultan to convene a state assembly meeting to amend
the state constitution, Mohd Hafarizam said all fresh sittings
required the consent of the Sultan.

He also said the state government's proposed amendment to the state
constitution was an act of futility, as they did not have the two-
thirds majority to pass the amendment.

"Furthermore, any amendments contrary to the federal constitution can
be challenged in the Federal Court, and can be declared void to the
extent of inconsistency," said Mohd Hafarizam, who is the legal
adviser to Barisan Nasional and has experience in handling high-
profile cases involving constitutional matters in Perak and Kedah.

Selangor State Secretary reporting to WHOM???

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/1/2/nation/7723878&sec=nation

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Sunday January 2, 2011
Khusrin to report for duty tomorrow

PETALING JAYA: Datuk Khusrin Munawi will report for duty at the
Selangor state secretariat tomorrow despite objections from the
Selangor Mentri Besar.

Khusrin's appointment as the state secretary is valid as it was made
in accordance with the state constitution and sources confirmed that
the Sultan of Selangor had consented to the appointment.

Khusrin is expected to issue a statement tomorrow.

Sources said the public services commission would not give in to
Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibra­him's pressure to revert the decision
to appoint Khusrin.

They said the commission had acted in accordance with Article 52 of
the Selangor state constitution that clearly empowered it to appoint a
state secretary.

As former mentri besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo pointed out,
Khalid has no grounds to dispute the appointment as there was no
clause in the state constitution specifying that the appointment of
the state secretary must be made with the consent of the mentri besar.

BN government has no respect for the constitution

When the constitution is very clear about appointments of State
Government Civil service, BN government had ignored this very
important aspect of parliamentary democracy and law and order. What is
sad is that the Sultan is involved as well. This means that the Sultan
can be taken to the Counsil of Rulers for violating the constitution
and if the Council of Rulers do not rule according to the spirit and
letter of the constitution, the entire Sultanate institution is put
into question. Nobody is above the constitution. Not even the
Sultans.

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsgeneral.php?id=553604

December 31, 2010 20:06 PM

Khusrin's Appointment Should Not Be Disputed - Political Analyst

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 (Bernama) -- The appointment of Datuk Mohd
Khusrin Munawi as the new Selangor State Secretary should not be
dipsuted by the state government because all civil servants are always
required to have high level of integrity and professionalism in
discharging their duties, said a local political analyst.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) political science lecturer
Associate Professor Dr Ahmad Nizamuddin said the Selangor government's
allegation that the appointment of the former Selangor Islamic
Religious Council (Jais) director as the new state secretary was made
based on Barisan Nasional's (BN) political interest, was just a
baseless interpretation.

"The allegation lacks basis because Mohd Khusrin has yet to start his
new duties and the appointment will only take effect on Jan 1. So,
such assumptions cannot be accepted," he told Bernama.

Therefore, he said, the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR)-led government's
dissatisfaction over the matter was indeed baseless.

In fact, he said, the PKR government in Selangor felt challenged as
the appointment was made without their knowledge.

The state government led by Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim
recently announced that the appointment of Mohd Khusrin, which
received the consent of the Sultan of Selangor, had yet to be
finalised because the state government was not informed.

Ahmad Nizamuddin said Abdul Khalid should realise that such a
situation usually happened when the state government was controlled by
a party which could not see eye-to-eye with the Federal government.

He said the appointment would not cause any problem as the Federal
government must have mulled over the consequences of the action.

He also believed that as a civil servant with integrity, Mohd Khusrin
would give priority to the principles of professional practice in
discharging his duties.

"If we stick to the elements of professionalism, independence and
separation of powers, the appointment will not cause any problem," he
said.

Section 52(1) of the Selangor Constitution 1959 clearly states that
there shall be constituted the offices of State Secretary, State Legal
Adviser and State Financial Officer, and the appointments thereto
shall be made by the appropriate Service Commission from amongst
members of any of the relevant public services.

Meanwhile, prominent historian Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay
Kim said the appointment could not be stopped by the state government
as it was allowed by the Federal Constitution.

He said if the Selangor government was dissatisfied with the Federal
government's appointed candidate, they should realise that the matter
could only be solved in court.

This is because the Federal Constitution is the highest law of the
land and that other laws found to be in conflict with the Constitution
are null and void, he said.

Malaysian Government Pensioners' Association president Datuk Paduka
Raja Wan Mahmood Pawan Teh said after 53 years of Independence,
Malaysian civil servants had made much progress in their ability to
administer and that the country's civil service had become an
exemplary model to many other developing countries.

He said despite the outcome of the March 8, 2008 general election,
civil servants had kept the government machinery running smoothly even
while most politicians were anxious of what lay ahead when the
administration of four of the 13 states were taken over by the
opposition.

"During the trials and turbulence of the struggle for political power
in Perak, the civil service remained unperturbed, carrying on their
duties as usual.

"One cannot imagine what the situation could have been if the civil
servants had taken sides in party politicking and joining in the
scramble for power," he said.

He said politicians "come and go" but civil servants remained
steadfast in their loyalty to the King and country.

Wan Mahmood also hoped that civil servants would not be swayed by any
political carrots and that it was equally important for politicians to
realise that it was for the good that the existing civil service
culture be kept sacrosanct.

-- BERNAMA

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