Budget Speech 2009

Datuk Nur Jazlan bin Tan Sri Mohamed [Pulai]: Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim. Terima kasih Tuan Yang Di-Pertua, saya bersyukur ke hadrat Allah SWT, kerana dengan ini dapat saya membahaskan Bajet 2009 yang sudah dibentangkan oleh Perdana Menteri, Yang Amat Berhormat Dato’ Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi pada 29 Ogos yang lepas.

Sebelum saya memulakan, izinkan saya mengucapkan Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri kepada semua, maaf zahir dan batin serta selamat bertugas kepada Menteri Kewangan yang baru iaitu Yang Amat Berhormat Dato’ Seri Haji Mohd. Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak yang mengambil portfolio ini daripada Perdana Menteri Dato’ Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi. Read more

9th Malaysian Plan Mid-term review speech

Yesterday I managed to debate on the 9th Malaysian Plan Mid-term Review. The speech is as per below…

Saya ingin menyentuh mengenai perundingan Perjanjian Perdagangan Malaysia dan Amerika Syarikat. Perundingan ini telah diadakan sebanyak tujuh pusingan sejak tahun 2007 dahulu.

Perundingan perjanjian yang begitu penting dan mempunyai kesan besar kepada dasar Pembangunan dan Sosial Negara telah dijalankan dengan secara sulit dan tidak pernah dibentang kepada Parlimen untuk perbahasan. Keputusan perundingan tersebut hanya diperhalusi dan diluluskan oleh cabinet. Read more

In Parliament: Is the Ministry of Information’s Department of Special Affairs too Islam-centric?

I am not convinced with the Minister’s answer. The  protest votes of the non malays contributed to the poor performance of the BN in the last election.

It is apparent that the JASA which is supposed to monitor  current trends and issues which affect the voters were caught unawares by the major shift in the support of the non malays away from the BN.

I suspect that the reason is because their activities were mainly Malay centric and focused too much on Islam. Thats why they lost touch with the unhappy sentiments among the non malays. Read more

In Parliament: Govt’s initiatives to help the middle class in light of the recent price hike and subsidy restructuring

This is a follow up question to enlighten the government on the plight of the middle class who may slip into the lower income group because their needs are not being addressed. I foresaw this shortcoming because the government has been obssessed with implementing measures to eradicate hardcore poverty now estimated at 3.5%. I wanted to know what the government is doing to help prevent the rakyat from being added this percentage!

SOALAN: 86

Y.B. DATUK NUR JAZLAN BIN MOHAMED [PULAI] minta PERDANA MENTERI menyatakan cadangan Kerajaan untuk membantu rakyat kelas menengah terutamanya di bandar utama seperti Kuala Lumpur dan Johor Bahru yang terjejas disebabkan oleh kenaikan harga barang dan penstrukturan semula sistem subsidi. Read more

In Parliament: Influence of Bank Negara’s control on interest rates on interest rates

The US Federal Reserve is independent and  sets monetary policy in the US. They are basically responsible over the control of monetary supply and inflation via the management of interest rates. I asked this question to find out whether the government is ready to let Bank Negara be more independent of the government to strengthen the check and balance and the management of the country’s economy.

I had asked a question in Parliament two years ago to find out the number of internationally recognised economists currently employed by the MOF and the EPU. I was told that only Bank Negara has economists of that calibre and stature.

Therefore it makes sense to allow Bank Negara to be independent of the executive when it concerns the conduct of monetary policy  ie let the professionals run it. And since the control of inflation is expected to be the main economic challenge in the future , therefore my question is relevant and the Minister’s answer reflects the government’s reluctance over losing control on the economy  and believes that the economy is doing well despite the general feeling of unhappiness amongst the rakyat

Datuk Nur Jazlan Bin Mohamed [Pulai] minta MENTERI KEWANGAN menyatakan bagaimana Bank Negara mengawal kadar fedah pinjaman antara bank di negara ini dan kaitannya dengan kaedah Bank Negara mengawal kadar inflasi di negara ini. Read more

Real winners and losers

This article first appeared in the Malaysian Insider.

The current Parliament session has been extended two days, thanks in no small way to time-wasting and stunts by veteran and newbie lawmakers interested in scoring points rather than representing the rakyat.

Yesterday was one such day. The Opposition called for a bloc vote to approve a part of the Supplementary Supply (2007) Bill 2008 that referred to the Youth and Sports Ministry. Read more

In Parliament: Is there a directive to the media give pro govt reports?

I asked this question to raise the need to review the Printing Press Act which requires the mainstream printed press to apply for a licence and renew it annually. This is unfair because online news portals are not subjected to the same controls. The mainstream Press should enjoy the same privileges  as the online news portals are gaining popularity and influence a growing number of voters especially in urban areas.

The public has the perception that the mainstream press is being controlled by the government because the newspapers are unwilling to be critical of the government. This may due to the fact that the editors are more careful with what they write fearing their licence might be revoked. Therefore removal of the licence requirement may allow the editors to use their better judgement and dispel the perception that the newspapers are being controlled.

Datuk Nur Jazlan Bin Mohamed [Pulai] minta MENTERI DALAM NEGERI menyatakan sama ada Kerajaan mengamalkan tindakan mengarahkan media massa negara ini untuk membuat laporan yang memihak kepada Kerajaan. Read more

In Parliament: Curtailing exports to secure country’s food supply

The main emphasis of a sustainable and secure staple food supply is for us to produce enough without relying on imports. The PM has made agriculture a main thrust of his economic policy. Therefore we should not just produce enough for our domestic consumption but increase output for export. The 90% decline is rice exports is proof that we are not committed to agriculture production as how we should be.

Datuk Nur Jazlan Bin Mohamed [Pulai] minta MENTERI PERTANIAN DAN INDUSTRI ASAS TANI menyatakan adakah Kerajaan bercadang untuk mengenakan sekatan kepada eksport makanan keperluan asas seperti minyak masak atau beras untuk menjamin keselamatan bekalan makanan asas tersebut. Read more

In Parliament: Are Malay graduates marketable?

The common complaint amongst many Non Malay employers is that many Malay graduates are unemployable by them because they lack the skills that are needed by the private sector and vice versa the Malay graduates claim racial discrimination by the Non Malay employers rejecting them. I suspect the problem is multi faceted in nature.

For example the government says it has done a lot of programs to help the graduates find work. But if the majority of the output from local public universities are social science graduates (44%) , they STILL will not be able to find good jobs despite government assistance post graduation , unless maybe they decide to go into politics which is another uncertain career!

So maybe the government needs to refine the input of students into the education system to make sure that they will eventually be employable. The government should restructure universities to cater for quality students and not just for the purpose of increasing the number of students in universities; who will eventually forced to opt for courses being offered by the university instead of the university providing the courses that the students should be going for.

The students must also be taught to value education as an investment for the future and should actually prepare themselves for their future careers. They must be taught to value the opportunity that they have been given to go to university because the cost of education is high and they are lucky to have it subsidized by the government.

Datuk Nur Jazlan Bin Mohamed [Pulai] minta MENTERI PENGAJIAN TINGGI menyatakan berapakah jumlah graduan Melayu yang dihasilkan di IPTA bagi tahun 2000 hingga 2007. Nyatakan bidang jurusan mereka dan apakah langkah Kerajaan untuk membantu mereka untuk mendapatkan kerja di sektor swasta.

JAWAPAN

Tuan Yang Di Pertua,

Untuk makluman Ahli Yang Berhormat, jumlah graduan Melayu yang dihasilkan oleh IPTA bagi tahun 2000 hingga 2007 adalah seramai 339,872 orang.

Pada tahun 2007, seramai 63,417 orang graduan Melayu dihasilkan oleh IPTA. Daripada jumlah tersebut, peratusan mengikut bidang pengajian adalah:
I. Sastera dan Sains Sosial : 44.2%
ii. Sains : 15.5%
iii. Teknikal : 21.9%
iv. Teknologi Maklumat dan Telekomunikasi : 6.5%
v. Pendidikan : 11.9%

Kementerian sentiasa berusaha untuk menyediakan peluang pengajian tinggi kepada semua tanpa mengira kaum, gender dan kedudukan. Bagi memastikan graduan yang dihasilkan berkualiti dan berdaya saing, pelbagai langkah telah diambil oleh Kementerian di antaranya:

I. Menyemak dan mengemaskini kurikulum pengajian IPTA dan semasa ke semasa supaya ia relevan dan dapat memenuhi kehendak pasaran. Selain itu, setiap kursus baru yang hendak diperkenalkan juga perlu mendapat input dan pada industri serta menjalankan kajian pasaran sebelum diluluskan;
ii. Melaksanakan program internship yang mana pelajar akan menjalani latihan praktikal selama enam bulan bulan dengan pihak industri bagi memberikan lebih pengalaman dan meningkatkan kemahiran;
iii. Sentiasa berinteraksi dengan pihak swasta (Persatuan Majikan.Persatuan Pekilang-pekilang Malaysia, SMIDEC, GLC’s, Persatuan Perniagaan) untuk mengumpul maklumat-maklumat berkaitan status terkini ‘supply and demand’ dalam pelbagai industri; dan
iv. Mengadakan pelbagai aktiviti seperti bengkel/ceramah/simposium kerjaya, job fair, walk-in interview dan menghebahkan peluang-peluang pekerjaan seperti melalui Bursa Buruh Elektronik atau Electronic Labour Exchange (ELX).

Kementerian akan terus berusaha bagi memastikan graduan yang dihasilkan mampu berdikari dan berkeyakinan tinggi.

In Parliament: Fixing the Oil Fix Features in the Debate of the King’s Speech

Saya ingin menyentuh mengenai masalah inflasi dan bebannya kepada rakyat dinegara ini. Kadar inflasi yang tinggi merupakan fenomena yang melanda semua negara didunia. Dan nampaknya, tidak ada satu kerajaan didunia ini yang mempunyai cara penyelesaian ala magic bullet, dengan izin, untuk menyelesaikan masalah ini. Read more

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