Good morning. Here are our picks for today.

Key Highlights

  • Umno turns 77, Zahid rallies troops

  • Plunderers! - Hadi courts flak

  • Crony-capitalism: M’sia a world beater

Umno turns 77, Zahid rallies troops

Umno celebrated its 77th anniversary after the party’s biggest electoral setback in the November 2022 general election.

In his message to party members, Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi urged them to proactively counter their rival’s "toxic racial politics".

Although he did not mention names, it was obvious that he was referring to Perikatan Nasional comprising PAS and Bersatu, both of which won more seats than Umno in the 15th general election.

Zahid also launched a thinly veiled salvo at PAS when hinting that the PN coalition could come apart due to internal friction.

HIGHLIGHTS

Using BN logo in state polls akin to political suicide, foretells PAS
PN's 'clean, inclusive' policies resonate with rural Malays - FT leader
Unfazed MACC chief says 'not my problem if you don’t like me'

Plunderers! - Hadi courts flak

DAP national chairperson Lim Guan Eng and his father, Kit Siang, trained their guns on PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang for claiming that non-Malays are the nation’s biggest plunderers.

The Muslim cleric’s non-Muslim political partner, Gerakan president Dominic Lau, was not pleased as well.

Accusing Hadi of threatening racial harmony and national security, Guan Eng urged Malaysians to lodge police reports against the PAS president.

He said the authorities' failure to act against Hadi has emboldened him.

On the other hand, Kit Siang wanted the PAS president to name the so-called non-Malay plunderers.

HIGHLIGHTS

Lau reminds Hadi: All races can prosper without plundering
Lip Eng lodges report against Hadi over 'Malays conned' statement
Loh fails to quash kids' unilateral conversion

Crony-capitalism: M’sia a world beater

Malaysia has added another ignominious feather to its cap by clinching the third spot among 43 countries in the 2023 crony-capitalism index published by reputed financial publication, The Economist.

Malaysia came in behind Russia and the Czech Republic with Singapore and Mexico rounding out the top five. Indonesia and Thailand are also among the top 10.

The British-based weekly magazine calculated the index based on whether the livelihoods of people from 43 capitalist economies with a GDP of over US$250 billion (about RM1.1 trillion) are easily affected by crony capitalism.

The Economist used data from Forbes's annual list of the world’s wealthiest people to estimate how much they profit from rent-seeking industries that benefit from state favouritism.

HIGHLIGHTS

Rantau Panjang contractor fined RM100 for misusing fire hydrant
'Abuse of trust' - Bersih blasts political appointments to statutory bodies
Mat Sabu defends appointees, says elites don't know about paddy fields

Views that matter

Why EPF must remain independent
By P Gunasegaram
Don’t mock Hadi, take him very seriously
By S Thayaparan
State polls will decide Malaysians’ fate
By JD Lovrenciear

Other news that matter

  • Najib Abdul Razak’s RM2.28 billion 1MDB corruption trial has been postponed twice because the former premier is stricken with diarrhoea.

  • Police have dismissed claims of mystical elements in the case where a six-year-old boy took his younger brother in their parent's car for a joyride before crashing into a lamppost.

  • Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said Kelantan’s longstanding problems in supplying clean water to its residents would not be solved by simply allocating more money to the state, as there are other larger issues to be addressed.

HIGHLIGHTS

Minister hopes to table Media Council Bill by March next year
MACC denies tarnishing ex-minister's name, says work is evidence-based
Khaled: UiTM data leak still under investigation