NST Online: Topnews

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 10:27 AM PDT

Petronas paid govt RM594.6b

KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas has paid RM594.6 billion to the federal and state governments in the form of dividend, tax, export duty and petroleum receipts since its inception, the Dewan Rakyat was told yesterday.

Of the total, RM65.7 billion was payment for the financial year ended March 31 this year, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Till June this year, Petronas' total contribution to the National Trust Fund was RM3 billion and the money had been invested in several financial instruments.

"The National Trust Fund is active and its current size is RM5.43 billion," said Najib, who is also finance minister, in his written reply to Nurul Izzah Anwar (PKR-Lembah Pantai) during question time.

Nurul Izzah had wanted to know Petronas' total contribution to the National Trust Fund and whether the government was prepared to allocate 30 per cent of the national oil corporation's annual profit in a national education fund for scholarships.

Najib said the National Trust Fund was established to ensure optimum utilisation of the country's depleting natural resources for a continuous and stable source of revenue for the benefit of future generations.

He said Bank Negara Malaysia had been tasked with the responsibility to manage the fund to en-sure the money was invested prudently in profitable financial instruments.

The fund is administered by a panel of financial professionals, he said.

Najib said the government had no plan to set up a new education fund as the award of scholarships and study loans was subject to certain terms and conditions.

"Currently, the government has made available several funds for education under agencies like the Public Service Department, Mara and National Higher Education Fund Corporation." -- Bernama

Air your comment on this issue:

Petronas paid govt RM594.6b

Log in with your Facebook account or use the form below to comment.

New Straits Times reserves the right not to publish offensive or abusive comments and those of hate speech, harassment, commercial promos and invasion of privacy. Your IP will be logged and may be used to prevent further submission.The views expressed here are that of the members of the public and unless specifically stated are not those of NST.

Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

300 US scholars to teach English

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 10:27 AM PDT

SOME 300 Fulbright scholars from the United States will be in Malaysia from next year to help improve English proficiency among schoolchildren in urban and rural areas, including Sabah and Sarawak.

Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said the education initiative, under the Fulbright English Teaching Assistance programme for fun learning, had been agreed upon by the Federal Government and the United States.

"We hope to bring the level of proficiency in the language among our students to new heights through this programme," said Muhyiddin, who is also deputy prime minister.

He said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, in his meeting with United States President Barack Obama last year, was told that the US administration wanted to assist Malaysia in enhancing proficiency in the language through a Peace Corps-style project.

"Following this, I held many discussions, both at the ministry level and with US embassy officials and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Kuala Lumpur and the US. We agreed that the programme be continued, not under the Peace Corps-style concept but through the Fulbright programme," he told Malay-sian journalists after meeting the Asean-US Business Council delegation here yesterday.

Muhyiddin, who is in the US capital for a four-day working visit, is accompanied by his wife, Puan Seri Norainee Abdul Rahman, Science, Technology and Innovation Deputy Minister Datuk Fadillah Yusof and other senior government officials.

The Fulbright programme is the flagship international educational exchange programme sponsored by the US government. It is designed to increase mutual understanding between the people of the US and those from other countries.

The volunteer teachers programme came about at the second Asean-US meeting last year that was attended by eight Asean heads of government, including Najib. Obama also attended.

Under the programme, Muhyiddin said the American scholars would assist in the teaching of the language on a volunteer basis.

"They will go to the ground (schools). But they will not teach the English subject as we already have our own teachers to do this.

"Instead, they will teach English-related programmes or activities during certain school hours which will be determined later. Therefore, the students' timetable will not be affected."

Muhyiddin said this was unlike the master teachers' programme between Malaysia and the United Kingdom where master teachers guide Malaysian teachers who teach English-related subjects.

"These master teachers will work closely with the school authorities on how best to improve the language, like the method of teaching. They go to a school, say, for a week or so, and assist teachers in areas where improvement needs to be done."

Under the Fulbright programme, Muhyiddin said both Kuala Lumpur and the US would design fun programmes to encourage students to speak in English.

He said Malaysia would pay for part of the costs, like accommodation and transport for the volunteers, and has set aside a RM1.4 million allocation for this.

Under the first phase, Muhyiddin said 50 scholars would start by early next year.

Muhyiddin said the Terengganu state government had embarked on a similar programme on its own initiative and it had proved successful.

Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price.

Kredit: www.nst.com.my

Rabu, 29 Jun 2011