vox populi small thumbnail 'Perhaps Malaysians should start getting used to the norms established by Umno and not protest so much.'

Resign, Karpal tells judge accused of plagiarism

Anonymous: In Japan, a judge faced with a similar accusation would have committed ‘harakiri'. Here such culprits move on and in the process even get promoted. When they retire, they get gratuities and hefty pensions.

They may also be appointed a director of a government-linked company. No wonder they are so pro-government.

Abasir: The chap has been caught ‘cheating'. He has neither put up a defence nor denied the charge. And he is still in office.

And going by the precedent set by another Umno judge who 'outsourced' his judgment writing to a broker-lawyer, is this all that shocking?

Perhaps Malaysians should start getting used to the norms established by Umno and not protest so much. As former PM Mahathir is fond of saying, we should not ape western ideas (of plagiarism) but follow our own (twisted) values.

Hope: Karpal, I completely agree with you. This guy should resign without reservations.

Can we also ask Penang CM Lim Guan Eng (LGE) to also resign for bringing shame to Malaysians for condemning another state in Malaysia when talking in a foreign land as he is a state leader himself?

Klangboy: Hope, I agree with you. But don't stop at LGE. Ask also PM Najib Razak and gang to resign, with all the head honchos of government departments, etc.

Anyone with one tainted dot should resign, including the menteri besar who was not good enough for Umno elections because of money politics (aka corruption).

Fillio: The head of the executive by virtue of his ability to command parliament to make and unmake laws reflects the prominent role played by a prime minister. Whereas the chief justice may make and unmake laws but he has limited power to command parliament.

For this reason, the law provides for the prime minister only to set up a tribunal for the removal of a judge. The prime minister must be of a high moral standing before he could set up a tribunal to remove a low moral judge.

However a high moral judge too could be removed through a tribunal set up by a low moral prime minister.

Stevencbs: Plagiarism is a minor offence compared to what the judiciary is capable of.

Think-tank: RM1 trillion debt by 2020 a possibility

Alan Goh: Malaysia is sliding down the slippery road like Greece to bankruptcy much faster that anyone can imagine.

It looks like Umno-BN and their cronies are making hay while the sun shines. For a small country like Malaysia, it is unimaginable how we ended up with nearly half a trillion ringgit in debts and increasing, and blaming the Chinese for the mess Malaysia is in.

Wake up Malaysians and do the right thing at the 13th GE.

Manjit Bhatia: It's entirely possible for a 'developed' country to become bankrupt. The United States is very close to the precipice. Others are not far behind.

It's entirely possible that the Malaysian government could exceed the 55 percent of GDP limit, and foreign debt is already ballooning.

There's every chance the Finance Ministry will try selling more government bonds to finance the budget. But bonds can be junked if the ratings agencies are let loose, if they become nervous.

There are so many scenarios to be played out here, but expect, if worse comes to worse, fiscal policy tightening but monetary policy easing plus manipulation to lower the ringgit.

And there's always the possibility of tax hikes across the board, but once the elections are over, which is why I think, if things worsen in the Eurozone and the US, Malaysians will be voting sooner rather than later.

Kgen: Just like Greece, Malaysia will keep on issuing bonds to finance the deficit. But Greece has the euro to back it up. Malaysia has no such luck.

In the event of a crisis, the ringgit will collapse to a fraction of its value and everybody will be poor, except the Umnoputeras.

Changeagent: It is not the size of the debt that is the main concern. Many countries have debts that are many times bigger. The key concern is Malaysia's ability to service these debts.

Currently, 50 percent of the country's GDP are contributed by Petronas. With imminent dwindling supplies, it is only inevitable that the national GDP will shrink while debt continues to increase at alarming rates.

We are slowly but surely running into some serious serviceability issues, and well on our way to becoming the next Greece.

SMC77: BN can continue its borrowings so long EPF (Employees Provident Fund), Khazanah Nasional and other government-linked funds have money to subscribe the bonds issued by BN government.

The loser will be rakyat. All their hard-earn savings in EPF and investments in government-linked funds now go into buying government bonds.

Zainuddin: Malaysia is blessed with a lot of natural resources, such as oil and gas, forests, fertile land for oil palm and rubber, beautiful beaches and islands, and no natural disasters. But we still end up with so much debt.

This is case of a poorly managed government. BN = ‘Bankruptkan Negara'.

Clearwater: It looks like Dr Mahathir Mohamad's vision can be half realised come 2020. Malaysia will be a developed nation in so far as its debt level is concerned. In other critical aspects of a modern successful nation, sorry, we are still developing.

Wira: This country may soon go bankrupt and we are still divided by bigotry and prejudice. The biggest lament for this country is that we are more worried about where we are from than where we are going. I think I had better just take my money and leave.

 

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