TPPA internationally voted out

Bantah TPPA elated by international vote

FMT Staff

 | May 27, 2014

A recent congress of the International Trade Union Confederation voted overwhelmingly against the controversial pact.

PETALING JAYA: Bantah TPPA today claimed a boost for its struggle with a recent international vote against the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement.

In a brief media statement, the pressure group noted that 90% of the International Trade Union Confederation’s (ITUC) members voted for the scrapping of TPPA at its recent congress in Berlin.

The statement also quoted Public Service International (PSI) General Secretary Rosa Pavanelli as saying that agreements such as the TPPA would remove the right of countries to enact policies, laws and regulations in their people’s interests.

PSI works closely with ITUC.

“These so-called free trade deals will not deliver sustainable jobs or development,” Pavanelli said.

“People need to understand that these treaties are really about guaranteeing multinational corporations’ profits and cementing investors’ rights.”

Pavanelli’s stand is supported by World Health Organisation (WHO) General Secretary Margaret Chan.

“Something is fundamentally wrong in this world when a corporation can challenge government policies introduced to protect the public from a product that kills,” Chan said in reference to the possibility of tobacco companies invoking tribunals for investor state dispute settlements under TPPA.

Bantah TPPA said its sentiments were similar to those expressed by ITUC, PSI and WHO.

“We want a free and fair trade agreement, and there is nothing free or fair if the TPPA continues in the way it is moving forward,” the statement said.

The TPPA is a free trade agreement involving 11 countries namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States and Vietnam.

Last week Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said Malaysia was looking forward to the completion of the TPPA possibly by year-end on terms acceptable to the country.

However, Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said if the year-end date cannot be met, Malaysia would continue with the negotiations as the deadline was not important but the contents of the TPP agreement.

Various groups, including Bantah TPPA and the opposition pact Pakatan Rakyat, have opposed TPPA as they feel Malaysia would lose her sovereignty if she signs the trade deal.

The less visible Chinese poor

Chinese poor suffer from exploitation in several ways.

COMMENT

Perkasa and other Malay right wing organisations are always complaining about how the Chinese have taken over the country’s economy. They use this simplistic observation to frighten Malays to unite under a “ketuanan Melayu” and “ketuanan Islam” banner against so-called Chinese domination of the economy.

But how much of truth is there in this allegation?

In an earlier analysis, I pointed out that owing to the NEP, the Malays have made tremendous strides since the 1970s in the economic sphere. For example they control Bank Negara and all the major banks (except for Public Bank); all the GLCs; Petronas; as well as comprisethe majority in the top professional and best paying occupations in the private sector.

They, in fact, control what can be called “the commanding heights” of the economy.

What about the Chinese? Firstly, we should realise that not all Chinese are successful in business.

In fact, only a tiny minority of Chinese belong to the class of super-rich of billionaires – perhaps no more than a hundred or even less throughout the country.

There is a fairly large Chinese middle class though so that generally Chinese are on the average more well off compared to non-Chinese in terms of average household income.

But let’s also not forget that income inequality is also highest among the Chinese. What this means is that much of Chinese wealth is concentrated in the hands of the Chinese super-rich and that we have a very large number of Chinese who either fall well below the urban poverty line or are only slightly above the poverty line.

Unfortunately there are few recent studies on the Chinese poor. The government’s statistical department ignores the presence of this group and the academics in the public and private universities have avoided studying them.

Although I am not an academic and have not studied the group of Chinese poor, let me share these observations accumulated through the scholarship programme that I have run for the last five years during which I have received at least one or two applications every week – mostly from the children of poor Chinese.

I offer scholarships to help the poor because I was from a poor family before and I know how difficult it is to be poor.

1. The Chinese poor mainly come from Chinese school backgrounds

2. Many are drop outs and work as unskilled or semi-skilled labour in poorly paid agricultural or urban jobs with little potential for upward mobility.

3. Chinese poor also come from self employed backgrounds with businesses such as hawking, food stalls, etc. unable to succeed or grow because of competition and other factors.

4. They are most vulnerable when they are unable to work due to ill health or old age as they do not have access to EPF savings or government pension safety net.

5. Because they are poor, they are unable to provide the proper environment for their children to do well in their studies. This often leads to the reproduction of poverty in the family rather than socio-economic advancement for the younger generation.

6. One of the biggest handicaps of the Chinese poor and their children is their inability to communicate effectively in other languages than their own dialect. This can be seen in the broken English or Bahasa Malaysia letters written to me.

7. The Chinese poor are almost completely excluded from all government schemes providing skills training, income generation or educational and housing support.

Exploitation

Chinese poor suffer from exploitation in several ways.

Firstly, they are exploited by their employers especially in the small and medium scale enterprises and workshops where they work in dirty jobs for little pay.

Secondly they are exploited by money lenders who many have to turn to in view of their frequent need for cash advances to meet emergencies, etc.

Finally they are exploited by the government which fails to provide them and their children with equal opportunities and regards them as “pendatang”.

Many of the Chinese poor have been citizens of the country for more than one generation – in some cases, several generations.

They have lived and contributed their blood and sweat to the country’s development far longer than many newly arrived “pendatang” from Indonesia and other Muslim countries.

Malaysia is the only homeland they know but the government continues to treat them as if they are second class citizens.

Is it surprising that they are not loyal to the MCA and the Barisan Nasional when they are treated worse than newly arrived immigrants!

Is it surprising that the attitude of the Chinese poor towards the government is so different from that of the Chinese super and very rich!

Koon Yew Yin is an investor and philanthropist. He is the founder IJM Group, Gamuda and Mudajaya.

IBM discovers first new class of polymers in decades

A Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) image of the new ultra-strong polymer reinforced with carbon nanotubes (Image: IBM)
Image Gallery (2 images)

The chemical tree got a bit of a shake this week with scientists at IBM announcing the discovery of the first new class of polymer materials in decades. Discovered using a combination of lab experiments and computer modelling, the new plastics have properties that could potentially have a huge impact in manufacturing, transportation, aerospace, and micro electronics.
Since the first synthetic plastics were invented in the 19th century, the use of polymers has spread from artificial billiard balls to become one of the key materials of the 21st century. They’re used so widely in modern life that this could almost be called a plastic age, though the names are rarely familiar with such non-household labels as polyesters, polyacrylates, polyethylene, polyolefins, polystyrene, epoxies, polyamides, and polyimides.
Despite this ubiquity, plastics aren't all that they should be. While they have a reputation for indestructibility, they’re actually very sensitive to the environment. Ultraviolet light, oxygen, heat, alcohols, and solvents can all destroy plastics in short order. Try using a polystyrene cup to measure out petrol and you’ll get a dramatic demonstration of this. They’re also very difficult to recycle because once they've been cured they can’t be remolded, and over time some can exude toxic chemicals if left in a landfill.
Up until now, polymer chemistry was regarded as a mature field where all the big discoveries have been made and it's now just a matter of filling in the details. It’s been decades since the last family of polymers was discovered, and most plastics research today involves combining, tweaking, and generally learning how to work plastics. It’s a bit like making advances in woodworking without discovering new species of trees. Now IBM have discovered the first new family of trees ... or rather, polymers in decades
We call chemistry a science, but in many ways it's an art that relies on the experience and intuition of the chemist. Computational chemistry combines the empirical work in the synthetic polymer chemistry lab with the modelling power of the computer to predict chemical reactions. It doesn't replace experiments, but it does cut out a lot of the trial and error. And it’s through computational chemistry that the new polymers were discovered.
The IBM polymers consist of two related classes of plastic materials. They’re formed by combining paraformaldehyde and 4,4ʹ-oxydianiline in what’s called a condensation reaction. When heated to 250⁰ C (482⁰ F) the material becomes very strong as covalent bonds form and the solvent is forced out, forming the first of two versions of the polymer. Both versions are highly elastic, resistant to solvents, and are recyclable. One version can even self-heal.

These polymers also show new physical properties. The first version is lightweight, stiff, resistant to cracking, shows more strength than bone, and can also turned into new polymer structures with half again as much strength. However, it is very brittle, like glass. When mixed with carbon nanofibers and heated, it forms an extremely strong, lightweight composite material that is similar to metal, yet has a degree of self-healing when cracked.
Another version of the plastic forms an elastic gel because it’s formed at low temperature and traps the solvent in its molecular network. This gel is not only very stretchy, but It’s “self-healing” because if you cut a bit in two, they bond back together again in seconds when they touch. According to IBM, this property makes the gel polymer useful as an adhesive, a way of making other polymers self-healing, or as a method for transporting dyes or medicines.
Both versions are also recyclable. Water doesn't affect the polymer, but when the water is acidic, the polymer melts and can be recovered and reformed into new products. This property means that the plastic can be selectively removed without affecting surrounding materials, which has great potential for the semiconductor industry, manufacturing, and advanced composites.
“Although there has been significant work in high-performance materials, today’s engineered polymers still lack several fundamental attributes," says James Hedrick, Advanced Organic Materials Scientist, IBM Research. "New materials innovation is critical to addressing major global challenges, developing new products and emerging disruptive technologies. We’re now able to predict how molecules will respond to chemical reactions and build new polymer structures with significant guidance from computation that facilitates accelerated materials discovery. This is unique to IBM and allows us to address the complex needs of advanced materials for applications in transportation, microelectronic or advanced manufacturing.”
The IBM team’s research was published in Science.
The video below shows the new polymer in a lab setting.
Source: IBM

Umno acting like god

Minister wants DAP rep charged with sedition for insulting Umno, Malays

BY DIYANA IBRAHIM
MAY 22, 2014

While pressure is mounting on the government to repeal the Sedition Act, a minister in Datuk Seri Najib Razak's Cabinet is calling on the Attorney-General to prosecute a Penang assemblyman under the law for insulting Umno.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim (pic) wants Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, who is also the public prosecutor, to frame charges against DAP's Seri Delima assemblyman RSN Rayer for using the derogatory word "Umno celaka" during the state assembly proceedings.

Shahidan said Rayer's act was not only against the law but was also an insult to Malays in general.

"Even if he withdraws the remark, that is not the end of the issue. The public prosecutor must investigate the matter under the Sedition Act," he told The Malaysian Insider today.

The Malaysian Insider on Wednesday reported that lawyers and former Attorney-General Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman had pointed out that there were other laws that could be used against those who uses race and religion to create public animosity.

They said the Sedition Act was selectively used against opposition leaders and those against the establishment.

Shahidan also took a swipe at the assembly Speaker Datuk Law Choo Kiang who failed to function effectively and let the matter get out of hand.

"This should not have happened and the party in power, whether BN or the oppostion, must appoint a Speaker who is impartial," he said.

Rayer made the “Umno celaka” remark on Tuesday when he cited an incident at a rally in Seberang Jaya on January 18, where demonstrators held a banner which read “Because of DAP leaders’ mouth, May 13, 1969 happened... Want some more?”.

The rally was organised by Malay non-governmental organisations that were unhappy with Machang Bubuk assemblyman Lee Khai Loon for his "I love Kangkung" flashmob several days earlier.

The flashmob saw an effigy of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak being "fed" with kangkung (water spinach), a gesture that made fun of the leader's earlier remark that the price of the vegetable had gone down.

Shahidan, who is also in charge of Parliamentary affairs, said in the Federal legislature the Speaker was fair and acted swiftly against those who were unruly in their behaviour.

Meanwhile Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin had challenged Rayer to repeat what he had uttered in the presence of his party members.

"If Rayer is not a coward, I challenge him to repeat the insulting word in front of Umno members,” he said in a statement.

Khairy ,who is Youth and Sport Minister said the DAP assemblyman abused his immunity to look down on Umno and members because he knew no action would be taken.

"His action as assemblyman was rash and abrasive and the people will evaluate his integrity," he said.

Khairy said Rayer was arrogant and had yet to express remorse for what he uttered in the state assembly.

He said he fully supported the action by Penang Umno Youth who demonstrated to show their displeasure against the assemblyman.

However, the youth chief also warned his party members that their actions must be within the bounds of the law.

"I am not agreeable to party members who stormed the legislative assembly building and cause public disorder," he said.

Yesterday afternoon a group of 30 stormed the Penang legislative assembly building demanding to see Rayer.

They made it into the house, disrupted the sitting but were escorted out 10 minutes later.

This afternoon another group of about 50 Umno youth members from Federal Territory gathered outside the DAP headquarters in Kuala Lumpur where they threatened to torch the building if another incident like what had happened at the Penang state assembly recurs. – May 22, 2014.

Umno cannot be criticized, cannot be challenged, can do no wrong, they have done evil, corruption, injustice  done in broad daylight, having a field day  - like having godlike status   

May the LORD see and act !!!

Con speakers at UITM - a conspiracy to discredit Christianity

Academics demand answers from UiTM over bogus priest, nun

BY ANISAH SHUKRY
MAY 19, 2014

UiTM's Facebook page which shows the names of the three speakers at the seminar. Universiti Teknologi Mara has been urged to explain why there were bogus speakers at the seminar. – May 19, 2014.Organisers of the controversial seminar on Christianisation at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) must explain why they hired “bogus” speakers to bash another religion, scholars said today.

They also urged the police to take immediate action against the organisers for bringing in the “dubious” characters, which they said had strained interfaith ties in the country.

“It was bad enough for them to have organised this seminar without inviting the other party (Christian experts) to ensure a healthy debate,” said Dr Mujahid Yusof Rawa, a PAS lawmaker and member of the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC), "but now we learn that the Bishops Conference of Indonesia has denied the two speakers were even a priest or a nun. So what was the actual aim of the organisers?

“They must explain why they brought these speakers to the seminar – perhaps they have information about the speakers that the Bishops Confederation of Indonesia does not. If they keep quiet, then I assume their motives are unclear, or even ill-intentioned,” said Mujahid.

The Bishops Conference of Indonesia executive secretary Father Edy Purwanto had revealed today that he had no information or data on Insan L.S. Mokoginta, a speaker at the May 6 seminar, who had claimed he was a Catholic priest before converting to Islam in 1976.

Mokoginta had spoken on "The Threat of Christianisation" at the seminar and further said that "every follower of Jesus should convert to Islam otherwise it would be a betrayal to Him".

Checks on another speaker, Irena Handono, who claimed she was a former Catholic nun, also showed that it was not true as she did not complete her "education".

Purwanto said checks by the Indonesian church revealed that Irena was only briefly with the Congregation of the Ursuline Sisters as a novice.

Another "suspect" speaker at the seminar was Prof Dr Menehim Ali, who was was listed as "Pakar Kristologi Universitas Bandung" in UiTM's souvenir programme.

A google search found no such university. What comes up instead is a list of universities in Bandung city itself.

It is unclear, however, if Menehim goes by any other name, as in its report on the seminar, national news agency Bernama had identified him as Prof Dr Menachem Ali, an Islamic Philology and Semitic Studies academician at the Airlangga University, Surabaya, East Jawa.

At the seminar, Menehim had also reportedly said that the word Allah should only be used by Muslims as it originated from the Quran and was never mentioned in the original Bible.

Mujahid told The Malaysian Insider today that UiTM’s credibility was now at stake, and the university must clarify whether it had been used by other parties for this programme, or that it had organised the seminar itself.

“It would be a huge disappointment if this institution had allowed itself to be used by other parties with bigger motives. But if UiTM itself organised the seminar, then it was very careless of them not to have verified the credibility of the speakers. Either that, or it had other motives.”

Islamic activist and reformist Dr Chandra Muzaffar called for severe action to be taken against the organisers should they be found guilty of allowing the speakers to conduct the seminar under false pretences.

“The authorities should act, and with this new information, they have no excuse not to investigate this issue. It is dangerous because you are using dubious characters to fuel religious sentiments, and creating unnecessary tension in the country.

“The organisers must be held to account and appropriate action should be taken because it involves inter-religious ties and inter-religious issues tend to incite certain sentiments,” he said.

Chandra, who is president of the International Movement for a Just World and chairman of Yayasan 1 Malaysia, said that UiTM must “at the very least” apologise for exposing its students to the frauds, now that the truth had been revealed.

“I demand an explanation from UiTM for providing a platform for these individuals. More importantly, the organisers should be held responsible for bringing in individuals like this.

“It is an institution of higher learning, and it has to protect its integrity. Something like this should not be allowed to happen and a university should not be used like this.”

Former mufti of Perlis Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin said he would wait for UiTM's explanation before commenting on the issue.

UiTM's Academy of Contemporary Islamic Studies (ACIS)‎ dean Professor Dr Muhamad Rahimi Osman had declined to comment when asked about the two Indonesian speakers.

"The case is under police investigation so I will not comment," he had told The Malaysian Insider.

UiTM vice-chancellor Tan Sri Datuk Sri Professor Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar could not be reached for comments.

UiTM had previously said the seminar was organised to increase the understanding of Muslims about the issues surrounding the debate on the use of the word Allah by non-Muslims.

Speakers at the seminar had also warned of undercover Christian priests who were sent to Malaysia under different guises to proselytise and convert Muslims.

Copies of books published by the Selangor Islamic Council (Mais) on the threat of Christianisation and alleged evangelism among Muslims in Malaysia were also distributed to those present that day.

The book entitled "Pendedahan Agenda Kristian" warned Muslims to watch out for "tricks" by Christians to sway them from their faith.

The book also claimed that the main reason there was apostasy among Muslims was because of Christianisation.

Another book, titled "Obligation to preserve the sanctity of the name Allah‎", explained why non-Muslims, in particular Christians, cannot be allowed to use the word Allah.

The seminar was jointly organised by the Academy of Contemporary Islamic Studies, UiTM, Warisan Ibnu Aaby and the Selangor Islamic Council with the support of Utusan Malaysia, Kumpulan Karangkraf, TV Al-Hijrah, Zikay Group and Pantai Bharu Group of Companies. – May 19, 2014.

Now we wait for the police to take action or rather drag their feet and make a feeble effort and call it a day.

Forget the 3D Printer: 4D Printing Could Change Everything

Scientists at MIT are using a new technique that could print responsive objects—from water pipes to sneakers—that adapt to their surroundings on their own.

By Randy Rieland

SMITHSONIAN.COM MAY 16, 2014

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These days, 3D printing seems to be at the core of most new new research ventures, whether it's developing ways to print entire meals or recreating facial features to repair a patient's face.

But Skylar Tibbits wants to up the ante: He's hoping 4D printing will be the thing of the not-so-far future.

The name for his concept, Tibbits admits, was a bit lighthearted at first. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tibbits and researchers from the firms Stratasys and Autodesk Inc were trying to come up with a way of describing the objects they were creating on 3D printers—objects that not only could be printed, but thanks to geometric code, could also later change shape and transform on their own.

The name stuck, and now the process they developed—which turns code into "smart objects" that can self-assemble or change shape when confronted with a change in its environment—could very well pop up in a number of industries, from construction to athletic wear.

“Normally, we print things and we think they’re done,” Tibbits says. “That the final output and then we assemble them.  But we want them to be able to transform and change shape over time.  And we want them to assemble themselves.”

Tibbits, a research scientist at MIT, was given the go-ahead last year to establish what’s known as the university's Self-Assembly Lab.  The challenge was to see how smart researchers could make an object without relying on sensors or chips; how fluid they could make something without wires or motors.

As luck would have it, when Tibbits shared this dilemma with acquaintances at Stratasys, a leading 3D printing firm, they told him the company had developed a printing material that expands by 150 percent when placed in water.  It sounded promising. But the real question was how to bring precision to that transformation so an object could unfold, curl and form specific angles instead of just swelling up like a bloated sponge.

Tibbits’ answer:  Geometry.

With a 3D printer, an operator plugs in a virtual blueprint for an object, which the printer uses to construct the final product layer by layer. To make something "4D," though, Tibbits feeds the printer a precise geometric code based on the object's own angles and dimensions but also measurements that dictate how it should change shape when confronted with outside forces such as water, movement or a change in temperature.

In short, the code sets the direction, the number of times and the angles at which a material can bend and curl. When that object is confronted with a change in environment, it can be stimulated to change shape. Pipes, for instance, could programmed to expand or shrink to help move water; bricks could shift to accommodate more or less stress on a given wall.

Tibbits demonstrated the concept of 4D printing at a TED talk last year, during which he showed how a single strand of printed material could be programmed to fold, on its own, into the word  “MIT.”

(See a video of that demo below)

The shapes of things to come

At face value, it's a concept that's very cool.  But when can we expect to see these kinds of transformations out in the real world? 

In some cases, they're already happening. Tibbits points out that in nanotechnology, scientists have been able to program physical and biological materials to change their shapes and properties—such as using DNA to self-assemble nanorobots. 

Making this happen on a human scale, he concedes, is much more challenging, particularly in more traditional industries, such as construction.  But Tibbits says at least one company is interested is seeing how 4D programming can be applied to infrastructure. There's potential, he says, in using self-assembling materials in disaster areas or extreme environments where conventional construction is not feasible or too expensive.  For instance, he sees a future for what he calls “adaptive infrastructure” in space.

Tibbits say his lab is working closely with a number of industry partners on ways they could incorporate the 4D concept into their businesses. As for where we might see transforming products on the shelves, Tibbits envisions innovation in furniture or sportswear.  He offers the example of sneakers that could change shape and function in response to how they're being used. 

“If I start running,” he said,  "[the sneakers] should adapt to being running shoes. If I play basketball, they adapt to support my ankles more. If I go on grass, they should grow cleats or become waterproof if it’s raining.  It’s not like the shoe would understand that you’re playing basketball, of course, but it can tell what kind of energy or what type of forces are being applied by your foot.  It could transform based on pressure.  Or it could be moisture or temperature change. “

Multi-dimensional thinking

Here’s some other recent developments in 3D and 4D printing:

• Army maneuvers:  The U.S. Army has given a grant to Harvard University, University of Pittsburgh and University of Illinois to explore ways the military could use self-assembling objects, raising the possibility of shelters or bridges that spring into shape. 
• Just don't tell anyone your makeup came right off the printer:  Harvard student Grace Choi has created a prototype for a 3D printer called "Mink" that is designed to let users choose any color imaginable and then actually print out makeup in that hue.
• All in a day's work: In China, an engineering company used 3D printers to build 10 one-story houses in a day. The printers, which were 33 feet wide and 22 feet high, used a mix of cement and construction waste to build the walls layer by layer. 

And for more on the potential of 4D printing, check out this video: