NST Online: Topnews

Posted: 13 Sep 2011 06:27 PM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has conceded that Malaysian professionals are underpaid compared with their counterparts in foreign countries.

He said the state of affairs had somewhat deterred efforts to retain as well as attract good talents to work in this country.

"Although Malaysian professionals are competent, they are not being paid as well as those in other countries.

"I have been telling the private and public sectors to pay people salaries that commensurate with their skills and talents in accordance with international standards.

"So, it is my desire to see our wage rate move up steadily but with an eye on improving productivity as well," he said at the 11th Forbes Global CEO Conference here tonight.

Najib said focused efforts were needed to retain good Malaysian professionals as well as attract Malaysian diaspora back with better remuneration as a pull factor.

Also important, he said, was to create opportunities, whereby the government had undertaken various measures under Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).

"I believe if we create opportunities, pay people well and push productivity, we will be able to attract more talents to work in Malaysia," he added.

On the removal of subsidies, Najib said, the government would be careful to ensure that it would not burden the people.

Najib cited some of the Arab countries which are in turmoil due to unemployment and rising cost of living.

"We are very cautious of the fact that rising cost of living is the responsibility of the government to deal with.

"Otherwise, in a political democracy, there will be a backlash against the government. So, we are committed to reducing subsidies gradually but we will have to ensure that there will be no additional burden for the people," he said. -- BERNAMA

PKR, DAP in seat row: Johor opposition leaders trade insults ahead of next polls

Posted: 13 Sep 2011 05:53 PM PDT

2011/09/14
By Shahrum Sayuthi and Chuah Bee Kim
news@nst.com.my

JOHOR BARU: All is not well between DAP and Parti Keadilan Rakyat in Johor as their state leaders scramble to put a lid on a spat over the distribution of seats among the opposition parties for the next general election.

Johor DAP chief Dr Boo Cheng Hau and state PKR leaders, including his counterpart Datuk Chua Jui Meng, had issued several statements criticising each other over the past few days.

It started when Dr Boo, who is the state assembly opposition leader, posted in his Twitter account last week a criticism against PKR for refusing to concede to DAP some seats allocated to it in the last general election.

Several state PKR leaders then retaliated.

They included Ledang PKR division chief Ng Keng Chuan, who, among others, accused Dr Boo of breaking a promise not to disclose details of negotiations between the two parties. akatan to capture Johor, it has made him (Dr Boo) the number one culpr it," Ng was quoted as saying by a pro-opposition web portal.

Dr Boo was then quoted by Chinese newspapers on Sunday as again criticising the PKR leadership for being dishonest in their negotiations with DAP over the distribution of seats in Johor.

He made the statement during a DAP dinner here the night before.

Chua had then replied, also in the same newspapers, that Dr Boo should not be making such statements as he was just a state leader and thus, not fit to comment on issues that should be handled by party leaders at the national level.

Chua was quoted in a China Press article as saying that Dr Boo was "arrogant and should not have made such a remark".

When contacted by New Straits Ti m e s yesterday, Dr Boo declined to elaborate and insisted that there was no tussle between the two parties.

"I do not want to talk about that again as the matter is sensitive." Chua also declined to elaborate when contacted.

"I am not interested to talk about that. I don't blame you for asking because you are not at fault. It is your boss who is to blame." In the 2008 general election, DAP contested six parliamentary seats in the state and won in Bakri, once Chua's stronghold when he was an MCA leader. Pas and PKR contested eight and 11 parliamentary seats respectively in Johor and lost all of them.

According to a source within DAP, the main tussle between the party and PKR in Johor centred on who should contest the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat and the state seats of Tangkak, Johor Jaya, Pengkalan Rinting and Bukit B at u .

Itwas learnt that both parties had even contemplated on having a three-cornered fight along with Barisan Nasional for the Gelang Patah and Tangkak seats.

The Gelang Patah parliamentary seat was said to be the most sought after by PKR to replace Chua's former seat in Bakri, which had turned into a DAP stronghold.

Kredit: www.nst.com.my

Selasa, 13 September 2011

NST Online: Topnews

NST Online: Topnews

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