Although still in its infancy, there are already six crowdfunding companies operating in Malaysia. One of them was co-founded by Elain Lockman, an actuarial science graduate with a Masters in operational research who was one of the early employees at MDEC. She also had stints at iPerintis [now called Petronas ICT) and Malaysia Debt Ventures before venturing on her own as a consultant for tech clients such as DiGi Telecommunications, Packet One Networks, Green Science and MSC Management Services. Last year, she helped found Ata Plus with two other business partners. Elain talks to SAVVY about what crowd-funding is all about and its prospects in Malaysia..............................Download the full article in pdf attachment (below)

Question: How do you see the capital market for the rest of the year and next year for Malaysia and the region?
Answer: For Malaysia and the region it is similar. In Indonesia and Singapore we have had a few capital market exercises. We have seen IPOs postponed. I think the market is not conducive until the end of the year (or) first quarter next year. We don’t think it is conducive to raise funds in equity and debt markets because the pricing will be affected. For companies that are very strong, it’s still a good time to raise bonds, because people will take good credit. Good credit is no issue. We are still number one in terms of sukuk and the bond market. ................Download the full article in pdf attachment (below)

 

 

A TRUCE to last some 72 hours has started in Gaza and the Israeli army is being pulled back to the borders. Brokered by Egypt, the ceasefire should allow some breathing space for Gazans to bury their dead — if they can find space for them — salvage whatever they can and stock up on supplies in case talks break down and they are back to square one. According to the latest reports, Gazans remain nervous; fearing the worst. However, after declaring that they have achieved their objective of destroying the tunnels, Zionist Israel has begun pulling back their army, but not before perpetrating a long list of war crimes, including the latest attack on the United Nations (UN) school-cum-shelter, which drew condemnation even from their allies, especially the French.

 

After four weeks of ceaselessly pounding Gaza and killing more than 1,800 Palestinians, mainly civilians, the world leaders have suddenly woken up to the grizzly reality of Tel Aviv’s “defensive” action against the defenceless. Not that the Israeli-friendly governments and the UN have stopped blaming Hamas, firstly, for triggering this latest assault by the occupying power and, secondly, for raining rockets on an Iron Dome-protected Israel. Against such blatant bias, how can there be a lasting peace? Instead, if the statement of the French foreign minister is anything to go by, the intransigence of both parties has become an excuse for calls for the international community to impose peace. There are even suggestions that it revert to some form of mandated territory administered by the UN, which is not the solution desired by Palestinians surely, who expect self-determination in a sovereign Palestine.

 

Not too many days ago, Malaysia’s deputy prime minister called for supranational organisations, including the UN Security Council and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, to act or lose their legitimacy. The Security Council has voiced its support for an immediate halt on attacks that have taken a high civilian toll, especially on Gaza’s children. This, however, did not take the form of binding resolutions. The UN General Assembly will also be convening to figure out a solution. Meanwhile in Teheran, the foreign ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement’s Palestinian Committee are meeting. The committee, consisting of Algeria, Bangladesh, Cuba, Iran, Egypt, India, Senegal, South Africa, Palestine, Zimbabwe, Indonesia and Malaysia, has been urged by the Iranian president to focus on working out practical ways of helping the people of Gaza whom he says are “caught in a web of colonial plots”.

 

In short, while the world has awoken to the need to pressure Israel to stop the bloodbath, the voice is not homogenous. Rather, the agendas being pursued may not match the aspirations of the Palestinians, in both Gaza and the West Bank. Israel, however, has managed to exact its extreme and indiscriminate punishment on Palestine with impunity once again.

SOUND financial management by the Barisan Nasional government has made Malaysia a global brand. Terengganu representative Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, when proposing the motion on economy, said this was evident when international economic bodies acknowledged and recognised Malaysia.......... Download the full article in pdf attachment (below)

In the name of Allah, the Merciful and the Compassionate!

THE people of Kazakhstan have for ages been part of the Muslim world. Islam came to our land more than 1,000 years ago. The Lord Creator and geography have defined Kazakhstan as a unique place for advancing dialogue between the Islamic and Western civilisations. The beginning of the 21st century’s second decade turns out to be a time of great challenges for the ummah.

The global financial crisis, dependence on food import, youth unemployment and a wide range of other problems have caused unprecedented upheavals in a number of countries in North Africa and the Middle East. The shifts in the political regimes of Tunisia and Egypt. as well as the humanitarian catastrophe faced by Libya have brought about the emergence of hundreds of thousands of refugees. Problems of many Muslim states in terms of sustainable development ........Download the full article in pdf attachment (below)

LOS ANGELES: Veteran United Sates reporter Helen Thomas lashed out at Israel in an interview published on Friday, standing by fiery comments which forced her to quit as doyenne of the White House press corps last year.

Speaking to Playboy, she denied she was anti-Semitic but railed against Jewish lobbies she said controlled power in America, from the White House and Congress to Hollywood and financial markets.

The combative 90-year-old also reiterated her view that Jews should stay in Europe and the US rather than move to Israel, which she said was stolen from the Palestinians.

“I’m not anti-Jewish; I’m anti-Zionist. I am anti-Israel taking what doesn’t belong to it. If you have a home and you’re kicked out of that home, you don’t come and kick someone else out.”

Thomas was forced to quit last June after saying about Israel: “Tell them to get out of Palestine,” adding: They can go home, Poland, Germany, America and everywhere else.”

Asked about those comments by Playboy, she said: “Well, that immediately evoked the concentration camps. What I meant was they should stay where they are because they’re not being persecuted – not since World War 2.

“If they were, we sure would hear about it. I want people to understand why the Palestinians are upset. They are incarcerated and living in an open prison.”

Thomas also wanted to set the record straight on her departure from the White House, announced as a retirement by Hearst Corp, where she worked as a newspaper columnist after decades at United Press International.

“I’m not retired! I was fired,” she said in the interview which was conducted in Washington where she took Playboy contributing editor David Hochman to her favourite Palestinian restaurant, the magazine said. - AFP

Published in The New Sunday Times - Sunday 20 March 2011.

US President Barack Obama's calls to improve ties with the Muslim world has left many scholars here asking: "How will it be done?". An almost three-hour intense dialogue between Muslim scholars from various countries said the mistrust built over the years between the United States and the Muslim world would not be solved overnight. Some wanted Malaysia to take the lead in talks with the US to improve ties, while others felt it was everyone's duty to resolve conflicts affecting Muslims and the US. Panellist Tan Sri Razali Ismail said very few Muslim countries practised the way Malaysia carried out democracy. "Muslim countries in the Middle East have the power and money. However, most of these leaders have failed the Muslim world. The Middle East is not united."... Download the full article in pdf attachment (below)