Now that foreigners can have 100% stakes in Islamic Banks...

Business Times report on 28th March, 2007

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BT/Wednesday/Frontpage/BT615501.txt/Article/index_html

Prime Minister Datuk Abdullah Badawi has announced that the Government has eased regulations and allowed foreigners to own 100% stake of an Islamic Financial Institution so as to make Malaysia, the Islmic Financial Hub of the world.

I would applaud the move. The way I sees it, it is a sensible move and with the tax holidays incentives, this would certainly spur Malaysia on as a prefered choice of Islamic Financial Institution in and around the world to come to Malaysia bringing with them tonnes of money.

Being optimistics, I wonder if this is a testing-the-water move by the National Coalition Government to see how the 'people' (i.e the Malays) would react. As this could become a pioneering move that has the potential to spur the government away from future race-based affirmative policies.

I guessed we could only wait and see.

'Juggled Toll Figures'

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Friday/National/20070323083510/Article/index_html

NSTP reports on 23th March, 2007 that according to our beloved work minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said yesterday that the Toll figures were 'juggled by opposition' to give the impression that the toll concessionaires were enjoying huge profits.

I wonder how the opposition could do that. First of all, where is the source of the toll figures? If any 'juggling' has been done by the opposition, wouldn't it a black and white evidence for the concessionaires and the good work minister himself to sue the opposition for defamation? There are other questions relating to the juggling claims as well. Like, why not published the good Work Minister publish the 'unjuggled' figures to the public and let us, the road users, decide on our own if the 'juggled' figures were indeed, juggled?

Malaysia to start ending Racial Policy?

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=akv4pAZCxigM

Found this piece of Bloomberg News, dated 21st March, 2007.

Apparently, acting as an adviser, Our former Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Musa Hitam is advising the government to exclude the bumiputra affirmative policy in the Johor Re-development project to lure foreign investors.

There are optimistic views expressed in the news piece that, the Malaysia Government, could use this opportunity to gradually doing away with the race policy, though there are also those opinioned that by doing so, would be like commiting political suicide for the National Coalition Government.

In my opinion, it remains a dream for the minority in Malaysia that the Government would abandoned it's race policy. In other words, until it really had happened, don't hold your breath for it.

Subshini vs Saravanan Case: A sure fire way of winning custody fight.

Subshini vs Saravanan, the Hindu woman, Subshini, has her effort of stopping her estranged muslim husband, Saravanan, from converting their two sons to Islam had been squashed by the Malaysia Court of Appeal, on 13 March, 2007.

So, what does that have anything to do to you and me and other average Joe on the street? Well, if you think about it, if you are a non-muslim man in Malaysia, you have been given the ultimate weapon of winning the custody of your children from your estranged wife. Here is what you need to do:
Step 1) Convert to Islam;
Step 2) File a Divorce in the Syariah Court as You are a muslim man now;
Step 3) Convert your kids to Islam;
Step 4) File a Custody Claim of your kids in the Syariah court;
Step 5) This is more of a conclusion: You win the custody of your kids.

Let see how this work, since in Syariah Court, Islam is the better religion compared to all other religion, and since the divorce is filed in the Syariah court, you as a muslim have more rights in converting your kids to Islam compared to the other "lesser" religion.

Why is the winning of custody is a fore-gone conclusion? Well, it's because when you are a muslim and your kids are muslims, any legal issues are to be settled in the Syariah Court. And since you and your kids would form a better Islamic family together, there is no question there who would win and become the Custodian of the kids.

Where does that leave the wife? Well, she can go crying to the Civil Court but don't worry, precedence had been set: The case is now fall within the jurisdiction of a Syariah Court, not a Civil Court. So, victory is assured.

Here you goes, the 5 steps of winning the custody of your kids in Malaysia. And yes, we have equal rights in Malaysia, the Constitution have assured us that!