TwoSen

I THINK that a large proportion of the private sector employees would not want their EPF contribution to be reduced by three per cent, as eventually their savings will be reduced.

A person earning RM10,000 per month will be saving RM300 less, and for that year, RM3,600 is wasted in unnecessary spending. The filling of forms for employees to maintain their current deduction only creates unnecessary work for the human resource department.

The government should, instead, reduce the income tax by three per cent for each bracket of income, rather than creating hardship for employees during their golden years.

NG CHONG PHEE, Chemor

Source: NST – November 11, 2008

I AM confused that EPF contributors have to fill up Form KWSP 17A (AHL) if they want to maintain their 11 per cent contribution.

In defending the move, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah said this would provide evidence one wants to maintain the 11 per cent contribution rate. Why should the contributor have to go through the hassle if he does not want the new rate?

By right, it should be the other way round. Those who want changes should apply.

The protests from Cuepacs and the Federation of Malaysian Consumer Associations are valid because this new deduction is on a voluntary basis and the EPF board should not consider it as mandatory. It’s only in this country that you need to fill up forms for everything.

I hope the EPF board will be sensible enough to ask only those interested to reduce contributions to apply.

If I was given the choice, I would prefer to contribute more as this would ensure a healthy savings and give me better returns when I retire.

I doubt there are many who want to reduce their contribution because the contributors are the ones who are going to end up as losers.

JAYARAJ K.G.S., Sitiawan

Source: NST – November 11, 2008

BANKS and financial institutions have been in the news often as among the major groups responsible for the current global financial crisis. Yet, they do not seem to realise how their hurried and ill-conceived policies have a strongly negative impact on small businesses and ordinary workers.

Buying on credit is almost never a good idea, but if credit it must be, then no reasonable person would object to the bank charging an extra amount for lending the money, which we call interest.

However, what makes credit more and more abhorrent is the host of related charges that banks have devised in order to maximise profits.

Among these extra charges, the most unfair is the charge imposed for late payment.

Since none of us has an assurance of what will happen on the morrow, there can be no justification for asking people to pay more because they are late paying.

Owing to this unfair charge, the overall number of defaulters on the principal sum will increase.

That the “credit crunch” still makes headlines is proof banks are not getting paid on time in spite of all the punitive measures taken.

Banks have come to offer credit at an incredibly high price considering that they do not provide an equally incredible good service.

Counter staff are often slow, unreceptive and unhelpful.

Bills are sometimes sent out with mistakes that customers are expected to have rectified at their own expense and time, and ATM machines are often out of service. It is often difficult to reach banks through the telephone.

With all the faults that banks are guilty of, we can hardly imagine that they are entitled to charge their customers for not being perfect.

When banks and financial institutions behave in this unwise manner, we can expect that other businesses will follow suit and adopt an equally uncaring and aggressive manner in dealing with their customers.

The government seems eager to attract investment into the country and investors are attracted by the ease of doing business.

Late payment charges surely make business difficult for the small entrepreneur and for the big investor alike.

Therefore, abolishing late payment charges once and for all could prove the best stimulus to the economy yet.

MARISA DEMORI, Ipoh

Source: NST – November 11, 2008

I REFER to the letter by Dr Chandra Muzaffar (”Too sweeping a comparison” — NST, Nov 11) on the election of Barack Obama and minorities in Malaysia.

In accusing the various parties of being simplistic, the writer is guilty of being superficial in his conclusions about the motives of the Chinese community.

We do not send our children to Chinese schools because of our desire to perpetuate the language or culture, but for the simple fact that government schools are abysmal in their standards of education.

Most parents in Johor send their children to schools in Singapore, where the language of instruction is English, for the same reason.

I have many friends who are the product of Western universities who do not speak a word of Mandarin and are immersed in the philosophies and social constructs of the Western world. Yet, they insist on educating their children in Chinese schools.

The writer would do well to conduct in-depth research on the Chinese community before making such sweeping statements.

As for the overwhelming optimism about Obama being elected to the highest political office in the United States, we simply see the possibilities of such a momentous event.

Here we have a member of the minority class being elevated to such prominence by the very same people who 40 years ago had prevented his ancestors from travelling on the same bus or going to the same school.

The fact that the ancestors were fellow Christians didn’t prove to be a mitigating factor.

The real lesson to be learnt here is that through hard work, talent, determination and self-confidence, one can conquer his or her personal Everest.

Anyone with the ability and commitment should be able to contribute his or her particular thread to the fabric of Malaysia.

What better way to educate young Malaysians about achieving their dreams than to point to the example set by Obama?

In view of the turmoil happening worldwide, which will soon inundate our shores, this is not the time to dwell on what divides us but on what can bring us together.

By bringing in the issue of religion, the writer is reinforcing the same contentious factor that is driving us apart.

JOHN CHANG, Petaling Jaya

Source: NST – November 11, 2008

THE residents of Taman Kam Seng, Batu Gajah, wish to bring to the attention of Kinta Barat district council that rubbish has not been regularly collected of late, especially on Saturdays.

What has happened to the service provided by the council?

We call on the officer-in-charge to keep track of his workers. Rubbish used to be collected on alternate days, three times a week.

However, for the past two months, collection frequency been drastically reduced.

The service has gone from bad to worse.

P.W., Batu Gajah

Source: NST – November 11, 2008

I REFER to the issues raised by Pola Singh in respect of alternative sources of power in Malaysia in “Give the RE (renewable energy) club a boost” (NST, Nov 4).

To promote renewable energy or green energy in the country, it is not enough to get the big players, in this case, Tenaga Nasional Berhad, to lead the way.

A pricing incentive is not the only method to attract participation because it is only a short-term approach that will not yield any signi-ficant macro impact in the protection and preservation of the environment, including climate change, in the country.

The failure to garner support in implementing green energy is not because of failure of the small renewable energy producers policy.

Even the revised National Biotechnology Plan 2005 did not address the outstanding issue of green energy within the implementation framework.

This calls for a paradigm shift in adopting a sustainable twin biotechnological and environmental policy (B&E policy) that involves stakeholders such as the private sector and the public consumer.

The National Mission 2006-2020 under the Ninth Malaysian Plan did not take this into consideration.

The proposed B&E policy will not only incorporate environmental tax incentives but also take advantage of the carbon tax regime or trading scheme to achieve competitive biotechnological and environmental sustainability.

This will undoubtedly improve Malaysia’s global image in tandem with its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol which was signed in 1999 and ratified in 2002.

JEONG CHUN PHUOC, Malacca

Source: NST – November 11, 2008

IT is pleasing to note that the domestic trade and consumer affairs minister has intervened again to help bring change in the price of roti canai.

He also had a few hypermarkets reducing the price of some consumer goods. Thank you, minister.

However, let us ensure that the reduction of roti canai price does not result in a reduction of its size.

Over the years, I have noticed that the roti canai has been increasing in price but the size has been getting smaller. A few years ago, one roti canai was sufficient for a meal but not any more.

BULBIR SINGH, Seremban

Source: NST – November 11, 2008

I REFER to the comments by Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop on the government’s insistence that Employees Provident Fund members who do not want the three per cent reduction in their monthly deductions to inform the fund (”More money will be pumped in if need be” — NST, Nov 10).

I believe the EPF charter is to safeguard the “enforced savings” of its members for retirement, and I further believe that its board of trustees is to ensure these savings are maximised through prudent investments.

Just last month, it was reported that the EPF would invest RM5 billion in ValueCap.

I found this news to be very disturbing because I have little faith in ValueCap’s investment expertise to need such a massive injection of capital. I came to the unavoidable conclusion, with which I’m sure many others would also agree, that my EPF contributions are being used again to bail out a troubled government-linked company.

When our deputy prime minister announced the RM7 billion capital injection plan two weeks ago and I read that RM4.8 billion of this amount (about 70 per cent) would be coming from the proposed three per cent reduction in employee’s contributions to the EPF for the next two years, I was sceptical of the brilliance of this plan.

When I read that this “voluntary” reduction would be “automatically” done unless the member fills in a form to maintain his/her deduction at the current 11 per cent, I was flabbergasted. The way it is being done seems to be more of a compulsory reduction in EPF contribution to eight per cent. Is our local economy so bad that we, the EPF members, have to bail it out as well?

The second finance minister also said that this system had been implemented effectively in the past. To that, I can only say that the past is the past. Malaysians do grow up, you know.

I do think that there are EPF members who could use the extra tens of ringgit (what they won’t have to contribute to the EPF) each month to make ends meet.

I also believe that the majority are making do with what they have right now, and that this plan merely undermines their future retirement fund. I am not alone in this way of thinking.

In the company that I work for, almost everybody is in agreement that we want to maintain our contribution at 11 per cent. Everybody else that I have spoken to wants to maintain their contribution at 11 per cent, but some balk at the idea of having to go to the EPF office to keep it that way. It makes you wonder sometimes who is in the majority here.

ANDREW MA, Petaling Jaya

Source: NST – November 11, 2008

FIRST, I would like to thank the New Sunday Times for the excellent interview with the new Chief Justice of Malaysia (”For impatient Zaki, justice must be delivered swiftly” — NST, Nov 9).

Zaki’s commitment to ensuring that justice is delivered fast and to clearing backlogged cases is timely and certainly reflects the CJ’s recognition of this colossal problem that has afflicted this nation for a very long time.

As all Malaysians are aware, the late deliverance of written judgments and the delay in extracting court orders at the court registry has marred and tarnished Malaysia’s judicial independence throughout the world.

His admission that we have a severe shortage of judges is undeniable.

However, his idea of appointing 17 judges from the judicial and legal services is rather mind-boggling to me. I don’t think that the judicial and legal services commission comes under his purview.

Magistrates and Sessions court judges come under a commission headed by the Attorney-General. Thus, I humbly beg to differ from his suggestion as to how these additional 17 judges could be appointed within a hundred days, as mentioned by him.

I would also like to applaud Zaki’s assurances that corruption among judges (if any) will be seriously dealt with according to the code of ethics for judges.

Let’s not blame only judges for our legal woes. To a wider extent, I blame lawyers, too. Most often, postponements of cases are requested by lawyers. They often take on too many cases and are unable to attend to them all, resulting in backlogs and postponements.

I have come to know of cases where lawyers go to the registrar’s office and request postponements without their clients’ knowledge.

Lately, this is becoming rampant. Lawyers are able to postpone cases even at the last minute. I urge the chief justice to look into this matter if he seriously wants to expedite backlogged cases and rid the judiciary of its bad reputation.

I would also like to wish our new chief justice all the best and may he be able to carry out his promises of a new style of leadership as he seeks to overhaul the judiciary.

VIJAY SHANMUGAM, Taiping

Source: NST – November 11, 2008

MY son, who was visiting us from Britain, came down with dengue fever in July and was admitted to Assunta Hospital from July 26 to 29.

On Oct 5, I developed high fever and, on Oct 9, was admitted to the same hospital for dengue fever. I was discharged on Oct 16.

My wife and I live in Section 12, Shah Alam. We are bordered on one side by an unoccupied house with an abandoned compound overgrown with grass and untended fruit trees and the other by an undeveloped plot of land completely given over to jungle.

On the third side is a park and on the fourth side the road. We have a worrying mosquito infestation. We also see snakes (cobras) and shrews.

I have written to the Shah Alam City Council three times requesting it to check and fog the area but there was no response.

On Nov 3, I visited the council’s health department and was referred to the section in charge of fogging.

I spoke to two officers and gave them a copy of my last letter. They said they had no information about my family’s dengue infections but promised to check the records. I asked them to fog the area anyway, which they assured me would be done.

I checked with the hospital and they confirmed that they had followed the established reporting procedure for dengue by advising the Petaling district health office on July 26 for my son and Oct 11 for me.

Despite this and the assurances I received from the council staff, no one has fogged my area. In the meantime, it looks like there will be another dengue infection soon.

The scourge of dengue and other vector-borne diseases, as well as other pests, continue to threaten our health and peace of mind.

What is preventing the authorities from doing their job? And what is the point in waiting to carry out vector-control activities until after the residents have been infected?

ROBERT TYABJI, Shah Alam

Source: NST – November 11, 2008