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Malaysiakini
09-07-2025
- Business
- Malaysiakini
Worth bending knees to 'emperor' Trump?
YOURSAY | 'Nearly every country has been threatened by him.' Trump sends letter to PM, Agong, imposes 25pct tariff on all M'sian products Milshah: First of all, this policy has not been implemented yet. It is a tactic to force countries to make deals with the United States until the new Aug 1 deadline is reached. Whether it will be implemented or not is another story. With US President Donald Trump, things change like changing people, and changing clothes. There is no certainty. Remember, those deals cost an arm and a leg for the countries involved. Trump wants full access to the countries' market, while at the same time, not allowing countries access to the US market. Is it worth it? Is it worth bending the knee to 'Emperor' Trump? Typical bullying tactic. On top of that, if countries were to increase their own tariffs, the US tariffs would go even higher. It goes back to the basic question: does the US need the countries more than the countries need the US? How should Malaysia respond? I am not in favour of Malaysia increasing tariffs on its own. Any increase will affect our imports; they will be more expensive. This will hit the rakyat who are already burdened with the high cost of living. However, I am in favour of 'Buy US last'. Malaysia should as much as possible reduce or not buy from US companies. Government procurements, such as military aircraft and equipment, should put US companies last. This should be the unwritten rule. The issue now is Malaysia's exports and not Malaysia's imports. Malaysia simply needs to increase their exports to other countries. More can be done through China, Japan, South Korea, Asean, Brics, the EU, the Middle East nations, Africa, and so on. We have to accept the fact that the US is now an expensive country to trade with. We must stop being addicted to the US market and go for greater cooperation with other countries. OrangeMouse9413: Do you think Trump cares about anything we have to do or say, save for caving in and bending our knees like a colonised country to the coloniser? Perhaps the majority of Malaysiakini commenters need to get their heads out of the usual standard 'condemn Malaysia' mentality and see that nearly every country in the world has been threatened by Trump. But if you want to continue viewing the issue myopically, then please do not let me stop you from your enjoyment. GrayEagle1207: If only current and past Malaysian governments had focused on developing the local economy, education, and medical care, and training high-skilled workers. If only we instilled fair trade policies, increased equal opportunities for the local populace, curbed wasteful spending, reduced the cabinet size, curbed corruption, nepotism, and cronyism, and wasteful government offices. If we do all that, I am pretty sure Malaysia will be a viable trade partner and will have the skills to negotiate better. As of now, Malaysian politicians, government officials, and influential persons in politics have stolen billions in taxpayer funds for self interest, spent taxpayer monies on failed military equipment, projects, taxing the people even more, justifying wasteful spending, spending time and resources on foreign disputes, sidelining local talents, the list goes on. America, China, and the Middle East countries may be bullies on a global scale, but Malaysia is bullying its own people. Oct: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is useless in getting any reduction after all the self-trumpeting that Malaysia had two rounds of trade negotiation in the US, with our Malaysian delegation contingent comprising the Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz and senior officers. They were a waste of money and resources, as the result shows Malaysia is worse off than the initial proposal. In short, it was a holiday trip for the delegation. By right, Anwar should have called Trump directly to negotiate with him via the phone. Unfortunately, nobody in the US government wants to talk to him. This is a high-profile incident as the tariff affects Malaysian products exported to the US. When Malaysia needs Anwar to resolve national interests, he is not around. Anwar prefers to jet around to give lectures, show solidarity with a foreign country, and wants the limelight for fame and glory at the expense of Malaysia's trade and economy. Just look at the Vietnam PM who called up Trump and managed to get a big reduction in tariffs without even having to send a delegation to the US. This is what a good statesperson who loves their country is made of. Anwar is a big disappointment to Malaysia in managing international matters, as it seems nobody listens to rhetorical support for a foreign country. Where in the world does one see a PM who keeps shouting about a foreign crisis when Anwar cannot resolve any of his country's crises? Time to get Anwar out. US tariffs: Opposition hits out, jibes minister's White House run TheAxman: This is nothing but Trump's chaotic management. He was under pressure to do 90 deals in 90 days, but as he ran out of time, he simply decided to copy and paste a number of letters to a number of countries, thus resulting in an arbitrary 25 percent. One can say that Zafrul was ineffective. I just saw it all as a futile exercise in the first place, as Trump's deadline was ridiculous and he was always going to be unpredictable. GanMu: Why should the president of the US meet or entertain the Malaysian delegation when it was headed by a minister? The PM should have been the one to lead the delegation as head of the government. Unfortunately for Malaysia, he is far too busy gallivanting all over the world promoting his religion and visiting mosques under the guise of bringing in investments. Why did he not meet Trump when the Singapore PM met him? He owes us an answer. Our PM's shortcomings have become good brownie points for the opposition. Pink: Zafrul's lackadaisical attitude in the negotiation process is disappointing. All we got from the negotiation is to pay an extra one percent tariff after paying expensive flight and hotel bills for his large entourage. It reminds me of my silly classmate who went to see my maths teacher for an extra mark in a test, but got his mark reduced instead. The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now. These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.
Malaysiakini
08-07-2025
- Business
- Malaysiakini
Worth bending knees to 'Emperor' Trump?
YOURSAY | 'Nearly every country has been threatened by him.' Trump sends letter to PM, Agong, imposes 25pct tariff on all M'sian products Milshah: First of all, this policy has not been implemented yet. It is a tactic to force countries to make deals for the United States until the new deadline Aug 1 is up. Whether it will be implemented or not is another story. With US President Donald Trump, things change like changing people, and changing clothes. There is no certainty. Remember, those deals cost an arm and a leg for the countries involved. Trump wants full access to the countries' market, while at the same time, not allowing countries access to the US market. Is it worth it? Is it worth bending the knee to 'Emperor' Trump? Typical bullying tactic. On top of that, if countries were to increase their own tariffs, the US tariffs would go even higher. It goes back to the basic question: does the US need the countries more than the countries need the US? How should Malaysia respond? I am not in favour of Malaysia increasing tariffs on its own. Any increase will affect our imports; they will be more expensive. This will hit the rakyat, who are already burdened with the high cost of living. However, I am in favour of 'Buy US last'. Malaysia should as much as possible reduce or not buy from US companies. Government procurements, such as military aircraft and equipment, should put US companies last. This should be the unwritten rule. The issue now is Malaysia's exports and not Malaysia's imports. Malaysia simply needs to increase their exports to other countries. More can be done through China, Japan, South Korea, Asean, Brics, EU, Middle East nations, Africa, and so on. We have to accept the fact that the US is now an expensive country to trade with. We must stop being addicted to the US market and go for greater cooperation with other countries. OrangeMouse9413: Do you think Trump cares about anything we have to do or say, save for caving in and bending our knees like a colonised country to the coloniser? Perhaps the majority of Malaysiakini commenters need to get their heads out of the usual standard condemn Malaysia mentality and see that nearly every country in the world has been threatened by Trump. But if you want to continue viewing the issue myopically, then please do not let me stop you from your enjoyment. GrayEagle1207: If only current and past Malaysian governments had focused on developing the local economy, education, medical care and trained high-skilled workers. If only we had instilled fair trade policies, increased equal opportunities for the local populace, curbed wasteful spending, reduced cabinet size, curbed corruption, nepotism and cronyism, and wasteful government offices. If we do all that, I am pretty sure Malaysia will be a viable trade partner and will have the skills to negotiate better with its partners. As of now, Malaysian politicians, government officials and political influential persons have stolen billions in taxpayer funds for self interest, spent taxpayer monies on failed military equipment, projects, taxing the people even more, justifying wasteful spending, spending time and resources on foreign disputes, sidelining local talents, the list goes on. America, China and the Middle East countries may be bullies on a global scale, but Malaysia is bullying its own people. Oct: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is useless in getting any reduction after all the self trumpeting that Malaysia had two rounds of trade negotiation in US, with our Malaysian delegation contingent comprising the Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz and senior officers. They were a waste of money and resources, as the result shows Malaysia is worse off than the initial proposal. In short, it was a holiday trip for the delegation. By right, Anwar should have called Trump directly to negotiate with him via the phone. Unfortunately, nobody in the US government wants to talk with him. This is a high-profile incident as the tariff affects Malaysian products exported to US. When Malaysia needs Anwar to resolve national interests, he is not around. Anwar prefers to jet around to give lectures, show solidarity support for a foreign country and wants the limelight for fame and glory at the expense of Malaysia's trade and economy. Just look at the Vietnam PM who called up Trump and managed to get a big reduction in tariffs without even having to send a delegation to the US. This is what a good statesman who loves his country is made of. Anwar is a big disappointment to Malaysia in managing international matters, as it seems nobody listens to rhetorical support for a foreign country. Where in the world does one see a PM who keeps shouting about a foreign crisis when Anwar cannot resolve any of his country's crises? Time to get Anwar out. US tariffs: Opposition hits out, jibes minister's White House run TheAxman: This is nothing but Trump's chaotic management. He was under pressure to do 90 deals in 90 days, but as he ran out of time, he simply decided to copy and paste a number of letters to a number of countries, thus resulting in an arbitrary 25 percent. One can say that Zafrul was ineffective. I just saw it all as a futile exercise in the first place, as Trump's deadline was ridiculous and he was always going to be unpredictable. GanMu: Why should the president of the US meet or entertain the Malaysian delegation when it was headed by a minister? PM should have been the one to lead the delegation as head of the government. Unfortunately for Malaysia, he is far too busy gallivanting all over the world promoting his religion and visiting mosques under the guise of bringing in investments. Why did he not meet President Trump when the Singapore PM met him? He owes us an answer. PM's shortcomings have become good brownie points for the opposition. Pink: Zafrul's lackadaisical attitude in the negotiation process is disappointing. All that we got from the negotiation is to pay an extra one percent tariff after paying expensive flight and hotel bills for his large entourage. It reminds me of my silly classmate who went to see my maths teacher for an extra mark in a test, but got his mark reduced instead. The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now. These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.
Malaysiakini
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Malaysiakini
PAS leaders must stop racist fear-mongering
YOURSAY | 'They cry about Malay rights but sabotage national pride when non-Malays succeed.' Hadi's son-in-law paints racist dystopia on news of first Chinese lieutenant general P Dev Anand Pillai: Well, Sungai Buloh PAS division chief Zaharuddin Muhammad is speaking his mind. It is a matter for the Malays in power to deal with. The liberal and progressive groups, the conservative and religiously inclined group and the radical ultra-Malays; they would have to deal with probabilities like this. The Malays of yesteryears had no issues with non-Malays being promoted to certain designations in the civil services and the armed forces. If we take a stroll down memory lane and visit our nation's archives, we can see who was the first rear admiral of the navy when it was formed after the British military administration left the country in 1957. It was none other than K Thanabalasingam. Before Sulaiman Sujak, an air vice chief marshal, took over the Royal Malaysian Air Force in 1968, it was Alexander Johnstone who was in charge as air commodore. Therefore, our history shows what kind of people we were when the country was first formed and to what kind of people we have become after 68 years of independence. The non-Malays have no issues as to who is in charge of the nation's armed forces. We know we don't have much of a say any more because of the lack of participation. But as long as there is still an opportunity and room for a reset, perhaps we may consider it as service to the nation, but for that to happen, it will take some serious mindset changes, which one believes we are not in a state to do so today. But one always believes in hope. JWKK: I greatly appreciate DAP lawmaker Syahredzan Johan slamming Zaharuddin for not knowing the history and diversity that is Malaysia. I sensed, however, that Syahredzan was pulling his punches. Certainly, there must be room for diplomacy in a democracy, something Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh, shamelessly, knows nothing about. However, sometimes the diplomatic approach sorely misses the point. Is it not true that Zaharuddin used his know-nothing-about-Malaysia nonsense for only one reason: his bigotry? He is no different from his father-in-law, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang. Since we are supposed to be living in this age of no incendiary 3R (race, religion and royalty) remarks, does Zaharuddin's racist views not violate that rule? Shouldn't the police arrest Zaharuddin? On the other hand, they had no reason and still went ahead and arrested Sabah protesters for sedition, even though they had been shamed into releasing them immediately. Zaharuddin's racist rant is seditious. The police should do their job as professionals sworn to protect and serve the country, which, in case they forget, is made up of a diverse population that is Malaysia. Kingsman: PAS leaders like Zaharuddin should stop spreading racist fear-mongering instead of celebrating national unity. Malaysia deserves leaders who uplift, not divide. Lim's promotion is a proud milestone - PAS turning it into a racial issue shows their toxic, backwards politics. If PAS spent less time inventing dystopian fantasies and more on real issues, maybe Malaysia would progress faster. Their hypocrisy is clear. They cry about "Malay rights" but sabotage national pride when a non-Malay succeeds. Pathetic. Grow up lah: Congratulations, Johnny Lim for becoming lieutenant general. Your hard work and dedication are recognised and appreciated. You are one of the very few non-Malays to be promoted in our institutionalised racist country. It is not about race or religion, but defending our nation's sovereignty in times of need. I hope our armed forces will continue to spearhead colour-blind promotions and opportunities for more non-Malays. Just a Malaysian: Thank you, Zaharudin. You open our eyes and remind us, non-Malays, what PAS is made of. It reminded us that no matter how weak we think Pakatan Harapan is, it is still way better than what a PAS-dominated Perikatan Nasional will do to the non-Malays. Support Harapan, but pressure them to do better. Frankly speaking: All the generals loyal to the king and country are the ones who dedicate their lives to protecting the country. Stop the polemics, PAS. It is also an insult to all the uniformed personnel of this country! The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now. These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.
Malaysiakini
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Malaysiakini
Education not prime focus of recent govts
YOURSAY | 'So, how can our students compete and become knowledgeable?' M'sia scores poorly on education rights, lags behind neighbours Koel: Are the Education Ministry and the Higher Education Ministry taking note of this very worrying report card? Please spare us the instant denials that follow these reports. Only the most gullible will buy it. A narrow agenda of several decades that has focused on 2R has meant that whatever resources we have are directed into the coffers of some of the most racist institutions in this country. Many have been sidelined, neglected or led into educational deprivation due to this agenda. Let's be very clear. These racist institutions are not serving the country. Their initiatives are politically linked to serve the interests of specific political parties. People need to come to their senses and start looking at the welfare of this educationally failing country. If a country has no education, they have have nothing. We are now lagging behind Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia according to this report. So congratulations, Malaysia. Pretty soon our children will be seeking jobs as domestic workers and labourers in these countries. The government keeps making the same mistakes! OCT: Almost every citizen knows our education system is in a rut, but the government refuses to admit it. There won't be any solutions as long as the government doesn't see that our education system and policies need to change. The government has stopped participating in the Programme for International Student Assessment challenge as the results have shown our students have failed miserably and have degraded. Yet, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek insisted that our university is on par with Ivy League universities. There are shameful incidents by our PhD professors who made fictitious claims just to be debunked by other experts with evidence. A recent survey has shown there are more religious classes than Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (Stem) classes. So, how can our students compete and become knowledgeable? The government's main objective is to win votes so that it can remain in power. Malay-Muslims are the majority race, and Islam is the main religion. So the government has to implement education that is aligned with Malay-Muslims so that they will vote for the government. Education is not given priority. Students are collateral damage from ideology. MarioT: Our education system puts a lot of emphasis on religion rather than the basic 3Rs. So, if you were to take the quality of education into account, it is miserably below 50 percent. The earnest request for change continues to fall on deaf ears. Even the Malay-Muslims, for whom the system is mainly designed, prefer to send their children to Chinese schools to receive a wholesome education. Time to come, we will even fall behind Laos if we keep up with this racially inclined education policy. Ayam Kampung: Sad to see how far Malaysia has sunk on the regional and world stage. We have completely destroyed the solid educational foundation given to us by the British - ironically, a solid British-centric education system grounded in English is the biggest 'gift' we got from our colonial masters. Now, our young people can't even string together a proper sentence in English. What hope does this country have when our 'jaguh kampung' (someone who is successful in their local community) politicians continue to champion the national language above everything else, and our education continues to veer from a science- and culture-heavy focus into blind religious extremism? I see very little hope left for our country. Sad. BluePanther4725: It's no surprise. All this while, the government, whether it's BN, Perikatan Nasional or Pakatan Harapan, did not pay attention to education. They consistently appointed low-calibre education ministers to ensure there was no improvement in our education system. To add further damage, more attention is paid to religious education, like tahfiz schools. In national schools, the teachers and curriculum are paying more attention to religious studies. This is an insidious strategy by politicians to keep our people and young people lowly educated so that they will continue to believe in the lies of the politicians. The greatest fear of the politicians and religious authorities is that our youths become smart enough to reject them. TC: Many Malaysians are hired as professionals in Singapore and other countries. Just wondering how they beat the lower education system. Maybe the survey can be improved from generalisation to specification. The Illusion Of Choice: Our very smart education minister has proudly declared that our education system is on par with (and maybe even superior to) Singapore and Japan. This Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) study must be wrong. BusinessFirst: Of course, that goes without saying. We have the best prime minister in the history of all humanity naturally his personally appointed education minister must at least be the best in living memory. The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now. These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.
Malaysiakini
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Malaysiakini
Education not prime focus of recent govts
YOURSAY | 'So, how can our students compete and become knowledgeable?' M'sia scores poorly on education rights, lags behind neighbours Koel: Are the Education Ministry and the Higher Education Ministry taking note of this very worrying report card? Please spare us the instant denials that follow these reports. Only the most gullible will buy it. A narrow agenda of several decades that has focused on 2R has meant that whatever resources we have are directed into the coffers of some of the most racist institutions in this country. Many have been sidelined, neglected or led into educational deprivation due to this agenda. Let's be very clear. These racist institutions are not serving the country. Their initiatives are politically linked to serve the interests of specific political parties. People need to come to their senses and start looking at the welfare of this educationally failing country. If a country has no education, they have have nothing. We are now lagging behind Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia according to this report. So congratulations, Malaysia. Pretty soon our children will be seeking jobs as domestic workers and labourers in these countries. The government keeps making the same mistakes! OCT: Almost every citizen knows our education system is in a rut, but the government refuses to admit it. There won't be any solutions as long as the government doesn't see that our education system and policies need to change. The government has stopped participating in the Programme for International Student Assessment challenge as the results have shown our students have failed miserably and have degraded. Yet, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek insisted that our university is on par with Ivy League universities. There are shameful incidents by our PhD professors who made fictitious claims just to be debunked by other experts with evidence. A recent survey has shown there are more religious classes than Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (Stem) classes. So, how can our students compete and become knowledgeable? The government's main objective is to win votes so that it can remain in power. Malay-Muslims are the majority race, and Islam is the main religion. So the government has to implement education that is aligned with Malay-Muslims so that they will vote for the government. Education is not given priority. Students are collateral damage from ideology. MarioT: Our education system puts a lot of emphasis on religion rather than the basic 3Rs. So, if you were to take the quality of education into account, it is miserably below 50 percent. The earnest request for change continues to fall on deaf ears. Even the Malay-Muslims, for whom the system is mainly designed, prefer to send their children to Chinese schools to receive a wholesome education. Time to come, we will even fall behind Laos if we keep up with this racially inclined education policy. Ayam Kampung: Sad to see how far Malaysia has sunk on the regional and world stage. We have completely destroyed the solid educational foundation given to us by the British - ironically, a solid British-centric education system grounded in English is the biggest 'gift' we got from our colonial masters. Now, our young people can't even string together a proper sentence in English. What hope does this country have when our 'jaguh kampung' (someone who is successful in their local community) politicians continue to champion the national language above everything else, and our education continues to veer from a science- and culture-heavy focus into blind religious extremism? I see very little hope left for our country. Sad. BluePanther4725: It's no surprise. All this while, the government, whether it's BN, Perikatan Nasional or Pakatan Harapan, did not pay attention to education. They consistently appointed low-calibre education ministers to ensure there was no improvement in our education system. To add further damage, more attention is paid to religious education, like tahfiz schools. In national schools, the teachers and curriculum are paying more attention to religious studies. This is an insidious strategy by politicians to keep our people and young people lowly educated so that they will continue to believe in the lies of the politicians. The greatest fear of the politicians and religious authorities is that our youths become smart enough to reject them. TC: Many Malaysians are hired as professionals in Singapore and other countries. Just wondering how they beat the lower education system. Maybe the survey can be improved from generalisation to specification. The Illusion Of Choice: Our very smart education minister has proudly declared that our education system is on par with (and maybe even superior to) Singapore and Japan. This Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) study must be wrong. BusinessFirst: Of course, that goes without saying. We have the best prime minister in the history of all humanity naturally his personally appointed education minister must at least be the best in living memory. The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now. These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.
