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Friday, December 29, 2023

Why is CIA openly discussing its misdeeds against China



The information leaked by some former and current US intelligence officials to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has truly made people speechless. It is claimed that the CIA's spy network in China, which was "systematically rounded up" by Chinese counter-intelligence a decade ago, has been difficult to recover. The CIA claimed that it is currently struggling to rebuild the network. CIA Director William Burns revealed that the budget resources devoted to the China mission have more than doubled over the past three years.

As is well-known, the US has been engaging in large-scale, indiscriminate surveillance and espionage worldwide for a long time, earning itself the title of a veritable "surveillance empire." Such actions, which are essentially clandestine and go against international law and fundamental norms of international relations, cannot withstand public scrutiny. However, when Americans openly discuss these activities, there is no sense of shame or guilt. Instead, there is even a somewhat inexplicable sense of "justice," as if engaging in espionage is a privilege exclusively enjoyed by the US. This is not due to the "good psychological disposition" of the US but rather a manifestation of unbridled audacity and shamelessness that has developed after prolonged dominance - the ugly display of the "American exceptionalism" doctrine.

However, at the same time, this perplexing, lengthy article helps us understand why American political elites often fall into a kind of paranoid delusion, believing that China is constantly surveilling military bases across the US, eavesdropping on sensitive information, and stealing vital documents, among other things. Despite possessing the world's most formidable national strength, they exhibit a heightened sense of insecurity. If the outside world found it hard to understand this in the past, this WSJ article indicates that their fear ironically stems from their own actions.

The WSJ has exposed quite a bit this time. Firstly, it revealed the public proclamation by the CIA of engaging in espionage activities against China, possibly in an attempt to exaggerate its own value and seek increased budgetary support from Congress. However, this also amounts to self-incrimination. When the US hypes and targets alleged "Chinese spies," it consistently fails to provide concrete evidence. Instead, it initiates a smear campaign against China and subsequently demands China to prove its innocence. This pattern reveals that the US is fully aware of the lack of legitimacy in these "spy" allegations, yet shamelessly continues to clamor as if "no one can do anything about it." The US is always very self-confident for being "right," but its notion of "righteousness" differs fundamentally from the universally accepted definition.

Secondly, it proves that China's counter-espionage work is highly effective. It has dismantled the US spy network in China and prevented it from rebuilding for 10 years. This is a major achievement in counter-espionage, causing the US to stumble in the face of China's robust anti-espionage defense. When China revised its Counter-Espionage Law, it faced criticism from Western public opinion. Now it appears that the intention behind this criticism was to pressure China into removing its defenses and allowing their spies to operate freely within China's borders. Fortunately, China has not fallen into this trap. China has been able to defend against espionage in the past, and will also have the ability to render CIA infiltration useless in the future.

Thirdly, it reminds us that the string of counter-espionage must be tightened. The CIA has indicated that rebuilding its spy network in China is currently their main focus and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. In 2021, there were reports that the CIA established a mission center for China, the only single-country mission center at the agency. All of this may make the situation of China's counter-espionage more complex and severe. It is important to emphasize that the fight against espionage does not conflict with China's high-level opening-up to the outside world, and normal foreign exchanges will not be disturbed or affected. Tightening the string of counter-espionage does not mean suspecting every foreigner as a spy just because of their nationality.

This year, Chinese singer Dao Lang released a highly popular song called "Luocha Haishi," which has been played over 10 billion times, breaking the Guinness World Record. The "Luocha Kingdom" in the song is inspired by Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, a collection of Classical Chinese stories by Qing dynasty writer Pu Songling, in which ugliness is portrayed as beauty and black and white are confused. Many Chinese netizens have noticed that this "Luocha Kingdom" is very similar to today's US in many aspects. The WSJ article vividly depicts the CIA's portrayal of ugliness as beauty and the confusion of black and white. The mainstream perception of the international community cannot be distorted. After the illegal surveillance by the US on its allies such as South Korea, Japan, and Germany was exposed, these countries ultimately chose to swallow insult and humiliation silently, but China cannot do the same.


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Thursday, December 28, 2023

Increase your earning power

 You could work and at the same time, pursue a degree in another field that interests you

GRADUATING with a higher education degree is crucial if you want to increase your chances for success in life. Having a bachelor’s or master’s degree, or at the very least, a diploma, will open doors that might otherwise remain firmly shut.

The last thing you want is to be struggling in a manual labour job or getting stuck in a dead-end job while your friends and workmates surge ahead in their careers.

Do you know that many people are trapped in low-paying jobs because they haven’t acquired the right skills for higher-paying roles? According to 2022 labour statistics, diploma holders make 17% more than secondary school-leavers while bachelor’s degree holders earn 24% more than diploma holders.

Meanwhile, those with a master’s degree earn 29% more than bachelor’s degree holders. PhD holders earn the highest salary – 23% more than master’s degree holders on average while doing the same job.

Thus, you can do so much better for yourself by going to university, if you haven’t already.

Obtaining a degree can seem like a daunting challenge. One of the biggest deterrents is lack of time. You probably have a full-time job and a family to take care of. Some of us are part of the sandwich generation, whereby we need to not only take care of our children but also our aged and ailing parents.
 

When will you have the time to study if you leave home for work at 7am and return at 7pm, only to spend the evening cooking dinner, doing the laundry, and sending and fetching your kids for tuition, right?

Here is where Open University Malaysia (OUM) could help. This digital university offers all of its programmes in fully online mode, which means you get to attend classes, hold discussions, do your assignments, and even sit for your exams without having to physically travel to a campus.

However, lack of money could also be holding you back. Household expenses, children’s education fees, medical bills, and other costs can quickly add up, leaving little room for additional expenses. And let’s not forget the rising cost of living.

OUM’s online programmes are great value for money as you need not relocate or travel to a physical campus and you don’t need to buy expensive textbooks, as all the learning materials are available online.

Moreover, the university offers various rebates and discounts upon registration. For example, at present OUM offers up to RM300 in rebates and a 5% discount every semester.

If you are a school-leaver, don’t sell yourself short and just settle for a job that doesn’t require a degree. Even if you enjoy that job now, there’s no guarantee you will continue to enjoy it. As we age, we change, and having a degree gives you options.

Getting a higher qualification can also help if you already have a degree and are working full-time but still feel unhappy. Many people are not working in a field they like because they don’t have the required qualification. If you are one of them, there is a way out.

You could work and at the same time, pursue a degree in another field that interests you. When you switch fields, it doesn’t mean you are a failure. On the contrary, it means you have the guts and determination to explore a new path and improve yourself.

OUM offers 55 programmes in the fields of business and management, technology and applied sciences, social sciences and humanities, and education.

These programmes are recognised by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency, Public Service Department and numerous professional bodies.

If your interest is in any of these fields, you would do well to start your student journey with OUM, as its lecturers comprise both industry and subject matter experts.

Sometimes, real life makes it hard for us to accomplish what we are capable of. It’s very important not to let yourself get discouraged. If you need help, or just want to know what your options are, reach out to OUM. The university has 35 learning centres throughout Malaysia to guide and assist you, from the moment you register for a programme until the moment you walk out of the convocation hall with a scroll in your hands.

Wednesday, December 27, 2023

More may follow for Daim


PUTRAJAYA: Menara Ilham belonging to Tun Daim Zainuddin and his family may not be their only asset to be seized. Several of their other assets may also be confiscated, following what graft investigators claim is a failure to explain the source of funds to buy the real estate.

“This (more seizures) is a possibility. If it is necessary for assets to be seized, investigators will proceed to apply for seizure,” said a source.

Other sources with knowledge of the investigation said officers from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) had sought an explanation from the former finance minister on the source of funds but had received no response.

MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki, when asked about the investigations on Daim, said his officers were probing allegations of corruption and money laundering – but declined to reveal details of the cases.

He said the seizure of Menara Ilham was a normal process and was meant to prevent the building from being sold while the investigation was ongoing.

ALSO READ: Daim’s Ilham Tower seized by MACC

Azam said the seizure would not affect operations and that companies, shops and offices in the building could continue operating.

“When we investigate allegations of corruption and power abuse and there are non-movable assets involved, we are allowed under the MACC Act to submit to the Deputy Public Prosecutor for the asset to be seized.

“This is what happened. We used the power of the DPP to instruct the Land Office to place a caveat on the land,” he explained.

Azam said the same process had been done on numerous occasions during MACC’s course of investigation.

“This (Menara Ilham seizure) is not the only case,” said Azam.

ALSO READ: MACC seizes Daim's Menara Ilham

He said that in early 2000, the agency had seized several plots of land belonging to a former senior government officer who was believed to have obtained the property through corrupt means.

According to a notice published in a newspaper, the 60-storey Menara Ilham, built at a estimated cost of RM2.7bil, was seized after it was found to be involved in an offence under the MACC Act 2009.

“Take notice that according to Section 38(5) of the MACC Act 2009, whereby anyone that goes against this notice, has committed an offence that could be fined no more than twice the amount of said value, or RM50,000, or whichever higher amount, and can be jailed for a period no longer than two years,” read the notice.

The MACC had placed the notice, dated Dec 18, in a local newspaper.

Reports quoted financial executives close to Daim as saying that the seizure was effected on Thursday after Daim’s refusal to submit to MACC’s petition to declare his and his family’s financial holdings.


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Daim’s Ilham Tower seized by MACC

MACC seizes Daim's Menara Ilham

Business as usual at Menara Ilham after MACC seizure

Life goes on at tower despite seizure

TUN DAIM_former MERBOK_KEDAH PARLIAMENTARY MENTRI cum 2 times FINANCE MINISTER (When Anwar was in Jail in 1998) , Wan Zaleha_former TV3 famous Newscaster-is one of his Wife.fyi

His mansion already be confiscated (DISITA), by Government now.

Notes:-
1.Anwar &SPRM(MACC), doo a marvellous job!👍👍👍

2. His wealth spread over more than 20country globally. This news MUCH MUCH MUCH BIGGER than 1MDB.

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Robert Quok, Richest Malaysian Back Home



How Malaysia is finding its way out of the middle-income trap

It has taken the slow but steady route while addressing an ethnic incongruity




Monday, December 25, 2023

How Malaysia is finding its way out of the middle-income trap

It has taken the slow but steady route while addressing an ethnic incongruity


. Kuala Lumpur's new landmark, Merdeka 118, is a symbol of the country's growing affluence. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Hiroki Endo and Reuters) 

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim vows to focus on achieving faster growth.

KUALA LUMPUR -- Asia's megacities often undergo surprising metamorphoses in short amounts of time. Kuala Lumpur is one such example. When I visited the city in late October, I was amazed at how much it had modernized since I visited nine years ago.

Urban rail lines now crisscross the city, with new shopping malls sprouting everywhere. Particularly eye-catching was Merdeka 118, a 118-story skyscraper completed earlier this year. The 678-meter tower -- the world's second-tallest after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai -- is a symbol of the country's growing affluence. Its spire was designed to evoke the image of Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's first prime minister, raising his hand as he proclaimed national independence in 1957.

Malaysia over the past few years has experienced a rapid turnover of prime ministers, though the political situation seems to have stabilized. On Dec. 5, about a year after the launch of his government, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim stressed his intention to push for faster economic growth. "It's time to focus on developing the economy," he said in an interview with a local broadcaster.

Anwar's government in July unveiled its 10-year Madani Economy plan and the National Energy Transition Roadmap. These were followed in September by the midterm review of the 12th Malaysia Plan and the New Industrial Master Plan 2030. In October, Anwar's government launched its Hydrogen Economy and Technology Roadmap.

"It is not clear how these relate to one another," a Japanese businessperson said. Still, it seems clear that the government's main goal is to achieve annual growth of over 5.5%, a target specified in the Madani plan.

A view of Kuala Lumpur's skyline. Given Malaysia's relatively young population, domestic demand is expected to keep expanding. © Reuters 

Malaysia's gross domestic product grew 8.7% last year, the highest in 22 years, and growth for this year is estimated at 4%, despite the global slowdown. Given its relatively young population, domestic demand is expected to further expand. The country's semiconductor and other sectors are also attracting foreign direct investment as alternative supply chain bases amid mounting U.S.-China tensions.

The country's per capita gross national income was $11,780 in 2022. If the economy grows 5.5% per year and there is no sharp depreciation of the ringgit against the dollar, it could shed its middle-income status, as defined by the World Bank, in two or three years, joining the ranks of high-income nations.

Graduation has been a long time coming.

Malaysia became an upper-middle-income country in 1996, according to a working paper that Jesus Felipe, a professor at De La Salle University in the Philippines, wrote in 2012, when he was with the Asian Development Bank. Felipe reasons that upper-middle-income nations become ensnared in the middle-income trap if they are unable to move up for more than 15 years. Once trapped, countries suffer stagnant growth, sandwiched between technologically advanced developed nations and developing countries abundant in cheap labor. The description fits Malaysia's situation.

To see why Malaysia could not extricate itself from the trap for so long, one needs to look at its history.

Twelve years after the country gained its independence in 1957, a racial riot engulfed the capital. Malays accounted for nearly 70% of the population, but ethnic Chinese, who made up less than 30%, controlled the economy. The strain of this incongruity led to the clash, resulting in about 200 deaths.

To prevent a recurrence of the tragedy, the government began to address the economic disparity and in 1971 adopted a policy called Bumiputera (sons of the soil) -- a type of affirmative action for ethnic Malays. The policy treats Malays favorably in all aspects of life, including school admissions, employment and even stockholding.

The country's ethnic Chinese are traditionally considered to be strong in commerce and industrial activities. "If we recruit people by ability alone, many could be Chinese," an executive at a Japanese company said.

By trying to fix the racial imbalance artificially, Bumiputera is often cited as a source of inefficiency, but it has its merits.

"If the government had not provided elementary and secondary education to Malay villagers and helped them migrate to cities and find jobs in the commercial and industrial sectors, the country would have suffered a serious labor shortage in the early stage of economic development," said Satoru Kumagai, director of the economic geography studies group at the Institute of Developing Economies of the Japan External Trade Organization. It can be said that Bumiputera's goal is to strike an optimal balance between distribution and growth.

A shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia's Bumiputera policy has helped educate young Malay villagers and bring them to cities hungry for workers. (Photo by Toru Takahashi)

Mahathir Mohamad, who in 1981 became Malaysia's fourth prime minister, shifted the national focus to growth by adopting the Look East policy, which sought to emulate Japan's economic success. The country also began to actively attract more foreign capital. In 1991, Mahathir launched Vision 2020, the goal of which was to become a high-income country in 30 years.

"His greatest achievement was to set a goal of becoming a high-income country," said Abdul Razak Ahmad, founding director of Bait Al Amanah, a private think tank. He "thus changed the people's mindset, encouraging them to have a can-do attitude."

Malaysia enjoyed annual growth of nearly 10% for 10 years before the Asian financial crisis hit it hard in 1997. Afterward, its growth slowed to around 5% to 6%. Anwar, then the deputy prime minister and finance minister, clashed with Mahathir over how to cope with the crisis and was dismissed.

When Anwar this year announced the Madani plan, he said the country had been "caught in a vicious cycle of high costs, low wages, low profits and a lack of competitiveness" since the 1997 crisis. Anwar clearly sees the plan as a roadmap to push the country into the high-income category during his tenure -- something his old enemy could not achieve.

The reason for Malaysia's inability to pull itself out of the middle-income trap becomes clear when looking at the economic development of Taiwan and South Korea.

In terms of population, Taiwan and South Korea are not much different from Malaysia. Taiwan is home to 23 million, South Korea to 51 million and Malaysia to 33 million.

In 1981, when Mahathir became prime minister, the three were not far apart in per capita GDP. Taiwan's was at $2,691, South Korea's at $1,883 and Malaysia's at $1,920.

Taiwan became an upper-middle-income economy in 1986, followed by South Korea two years later, according to Felipe. Taiwan stepped up to high-income status in 1993, with South Korea following in 1995. It took just seven years for the two to move from upper-middle-income to high-income status.



Unlike Malaysia, they did not fall into the trap. Last year, Malaysia's per capita GDP was $12,465, far below Taiwan's $32,687 and South Korea's $32,418. Several factors were at play here.

First, Taiwan and South Korea do not have complex ethnic problems that cause them to pursue difficult socioeconomic policies. Second, the two had no choice but to industrialize as they are not blessed with natural resources like Malaysia, which is rich in petroleum, natural gas and palm oil.

Third, democratization in Taiwan and South Korea began shortly before the end of the Cold War in 1989, allowing them to catch the waves of globalization and information technology. Taiwan democratized in 1986 and South Korea in 1987.

Malaysia has held democratic elections since it gained independence, but the country was under a "developmental dictatorship" that prioritized economic development while restricting political freedom. Malaysians had to wait until 2018 for their government to hand power to another party for the first time.

Fourth, internationally competitive businesses like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Hyundai Motor and Samsung Electronics have driven growth in Taiwan and South Korea. Malaysia, meanwhile, has failed to nurture such companies with an economy that instead has been led by government-affiliated entities. Its automobile, electrical and electronics industries have depended on foreign businesses.

Grab Holdings, whose ride-hailing superapp is now ubiquitous across Southeast Asia, was founded in Malaysia but quickly relocated its head office to Singapore to facilitate fund-raising and other benefits.

On the whole, Malaysia's lack of economic dynamism was to blame for its lower growth curve.

Still, it should be noted that Malaysia has avoided the so-called resource trap, in which the presence of abundant resources holds back a country's industrialization. Malaysia's leading exports are electrical and electronic products, which account for 40% of its total exports. It tops the U.S. and Japan in terms of exports of semiconductor-related products by value.

A worker inspects chips at Unisem's semiconductor packaging plant in Ipoh, Malaysia, in October 2021. It is becoming imperative for Malaysia to boost investments in higher value-added upstream industries. © Reuters 

This trap can be seen in Saudi Arabia, which in 2016 drafted its Vision 2030 strategy to reduce its dependence on natural resources. Malaysia achieved 40 years ago the industrialization Saudi Arabia is now pursuing.

Said Kumagai: "Malaysia is different from East Asia's elite economies like Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, and from countries with unique strengths such as Singapore, Hong Kong and oil-producing Gulf states. If it achieves high-income status, it will be the first 'normal' country to do so."

Still, challenges abound. In chip manufacturing, Vietnam and India are catching up fast, making it imperative for Malaysia to boost investments in higher value-added upstream industries. Given the accelerating trend toward carbon neutrality, demand for its fossil fuels will likely decline.

Yet, while balancing growth and stability, the multiethnic country with an average age of 30 has succeeded in making slow but steady progress toward overcoming the middle-income trap. Its industrial success will certainly serve as a beacon for other emerging and developing countries in the Global South.


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