V Thomas

LETTER | It could be a win-win situation for both parties.

LETTER | There is a need for more government control over GST and petrol price hikes as they are burdening the citizens. 

The state should concentrate on bringing benefits to the local population.

Indians are a capable, industrious and intelligent people but most of their efforts and resources have been frittered away due to poor leadership and lack of vision.

During the Christmas and New Year celebrations, most of the western nations were placed on high alert for any terrorist activities. Only a decade or two ago these nations usually celebrated the year-end festivities peacefully.Why has this change occurred?

In view of the continuing accidents and mounting fatalities involving express buses, it is time to consider something new. The authorities have over the years implemented everything reasonably possible to reduce the accidents but to no avail as the Genting and Pagoh accidents that killed 37 and 14 passengers respectively indicate. Daily, hundreds of express buses ply the trunk roads and highways but are not involved in crashes.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s criticism of BR1M is totally unjustified and unacceptable to the millions of BR1M recipients. He needs to take note that it was mainly due to his allegedly unfair socio-economic policies and practices during his long rule that have now necessitated hand-outs and aid schemes like BR1M .

During the US presidential election campaign, now president-elect Donald Trump had promised to build a wall across the border with Mexico to keep off illegal migrants sneaking into the US. In the past few days, however, so much has changed in Latin America that Trump needs to consider building bridges rather than walls with his Central and South American neighbours.

Felicitations and congratulatory messages continue to pour in for Cardinal-Elect Anthony Soter Fernandez from various communities and countries. He is the first Cardinal from Malaysia and it is a fitting recognition and honour for the millions of Christians, especially Catholics, in our diverse country.

Perusing through the 2017 Selangor budget allocations, I found that similar to last year, residential assessment rates and licence fees for the F1 category have been exempted. Residents and traders are glad that these generous gestures will help out as the cost of living has increased due to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the withdrawal of subsidies.

Just when the price of a wide range of consumer products has more or less stabilised after the 6 percent Goods and Services Tax (GST) imposed in 2015, the government’s decision to withdraw the subsidy for cooking oil after Deepavali is bound to create a new price spiral that will affect consumers especially during the present economic slowdown.

The US presidential election is drawing near and the debates between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have begun. A lot of people are hard-pressed to select the one to vote for on Nov 8 as both have their own fortes and faults.

The full diversity, creativity and exuberance of Brazil was displayed for the whole world to be awed and amazed during the opening and closing ceremonies of Rio 2016. It could go down in history as the sports festival that showcased Brazil’s energetic and enthusiastic spirit in the face of unexpected adversity in organizing the games. Possibly, the starting and ending celebrations may not be equaled in the future in terms of variety and colour.

The Brexit referendum has shaken Britain, and Prime Minister David Cameron and the government as well as the opposition Labour Party are in a frenzy of damage control. The British are now realising the havoc and consequences of their actions. The Brexit result shows an evenly split nation and is reflective of the first past the post system which Britain has passed on into the electoral system of the former colonies.

The issue of taxi drivers behaving aggressively and assaulting both innocent passengers and drivers of Uber and Grab Car e-hailing services should be taken seriously, and the government needs to act promptly and decisively before the situation gets worse.

The issue of the module Tamadun Islam & Tamadun Asia (Titas) providing wrong facts and information to students has cropped up once again despite previous assurances that in explaining the topics in Titas, no unfavourable and disparaging remarks and comments about other religions and races will be made by the teachers.

In the last two weeks two great international sporting events occurred. One was the meteoric rise of low-ranked Leicester to win the highly competitive Premier League for the first time in their history. The other was the victory by the Danish badminton team in winning the coveted Thomas Cup, for which they have been endeavoring since the tournament’s inception in 1949.