Tajuk ceramah dan faktor penceramah telah menarik perhatian saya untuk berkunjung ke Masjid UmarAl-Khattab, Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumur pada 1 Jun 2008. Penceramah merupakan seorang yang sudah kerap namanya saya dengar sebagai seorang tokoh yang memperjuangkan penggunaan semula dinar emas di peringkat antarabangsa. Orang yang saya maksudkan adalah Umar Ibrahim Vadillo.
Ceramah bermula lebih kurang jam 5 petang. Saya ke sana bersama sahabat, Nizam. Sepanjang hampir 2 jam, saya cuba untuk mendengar dengan teliti apa yang disampaikan. Umar Vadillo telah menceritakan bagaimana perjuangannya untuk mengembalikan semula penggunaan dinar emas bermula sejak 20 tahun yang lepas. Beliau tekad untuk berusaha setapak demi setapak agar penggunaan dinar secara meluas suatu hari nanti akan menjadi realiti.
Beliau menceritakan tentang sistem ekonomi sekarang yang berasaskan riba. Beliau tetap mempertahankan bahawa sistem perbankan Islam adalah haram kerana ia tetap mengamalkan riba. Apa yang berlaku sekarang adalah kita cuba untuk 'mengislamkan' sistem perbankan. Adakah wajar jika wujudnya pusat pelacuran, kita akan mengislamkan pusat pelacuran. Mungkin pelacur dibenarkan melacur tetapi cara pelacuran itu kita Islamkan. Apapun, dalam Al-Quran telah secara jelas menyatakan riba itu haram.
Apa yang perlu dilakukan bukanlah untuk mengislamkan sistem perbankan. Kita perlu mewujudkan sistem ekonomi Islam yang bersih daripada riba sepertimana yang diamalkan oleh nabi, para sahabat, dan yang ada pada zaman khalifah. Sistem riba yang ada sekarang menjadikan kita semua hamba pada zaman modern. Beliau turut mennyatakan bahawa adalah satu perkara yang mengarut untuk seseorang itu memiliki rumah, dia perlu berhutang sehingga 15-20 tahun. Ini satu jangkamasa yang terlalu lama.
Penggunaan dinar emas yang diperjuangkan Umar Vadillo bukan sekadar emas sebagai matawang semata-mata. Perjuangannya adalah untuk menghapuskan sistem riba dan menyatupadukan umat Islam agar dapat mewujudkan sistem ekonomi sendiri yang bersih daripada riba. Krisi kewangan Asia 1997 telah memberitahu kita tentang keburukan matawang kertas yang terdedah kepada spekulasi dan manipulasi penyangak matawang. Matawang negara boleh dipermainkan untuk dinaikkan atau diturunkan nilainya secara mendadak untuk keuntungan segelintir pihak. Ia berbeza daripada dinar emas & dirham perak yang nilainya adalah stabil dan praktikal dan tidak memerlukan sistem pertukaran matawang yang terdedah kepada serangan penyangak matwang.
Sistem matawang kertas itu sendiri banyak lagi kelemahannya. Ini termasuk apabila kita perlu menukarkan kepada duit matawang negara lain apabila berbelanja. Kelemahan lain ialah nilainya adalah tidak stabil, bergantung kepada sistem pasaran matawang asing yang kerap berubah. Kebetulan pensyarah lama saya, En. Abd Halim Abd Hamid turut berada di sana. Ketika hendak mengakhiri ceramahnya, Umar Vadillo meminta beliau untuk berdiri dan berkata, "saya sangat berbesar hati kerana di Malaysia ada orang yang turut memperjuangkan dinar emas (merujuk kepada En. Abd Halim) dan orang ini dapat menarik ramai orang untuk datang ke program dinar yang dianjurkan setiap tahun di Melaka."
Ceramah bermula lebih kurang jam 5 petang. Saya ke sana bersama sahabat, Nizam. Sepanjang hampir 2 jam, saya cuba untuk mendengar dengan teliti apa yang disampaikan. Umar Vadillo telah menceritakan bagaimana perjuangannya untuk mengembalikan semula penggunaan dinar emas bermula sejak 20 tahun yang lepas. Beliau tekad untuk berusaha setapak demi setapak agar penggunaan dinar secara meluas suatu hari nanti akan menjadi realiti.
Beliau menceritakan tentang sistem ekonomi sekarang yang berasaskan riba. Beliau tetap mempertahankan bahawa sistem perbankan Islam adalah haram kerana ia tetap mengamalkan riba. Apa yang berlaku sekarang adalah kita cuba untuk 'mengislamkan' sistem perbankan. Adakah wajar jika wujudnya pusat pelacuran, kita akan mengislamkan pusat pelacuran. Mungkin pelacur dibenarkan melacur tetapi cara pelacuran itu kita Islamkan. Apapun, dalam Al-Quran telah secara jelas menyatakan riba itu haram.
Apa yang perlu dilakukan bukanlah untuk mengislamkan sistem perbankan. Kita perlu mewujudkan sistem ekonomi Islam yang bersih daripada riba sepertimana yang diamalkan oleh nabi, para sahabat, dan yang ada pada zaman khalifah. Sistem riba yang ada sekarang menjadikan kita semua hamba pada zaman modern. Beliau turut mennyatakan bahawa adalah satu perkara yang mengarut untuk seseorang itu memiliki rumah, dia perlu berhutang sehingga 15-20 tahun. Ini satu jangkamasa yang terlalu lama.
Penggunaan dinar emas yang diperjuangkan Umar Vadillo bukan sekadar emas sebagai matawang semata-mata. Perjuangannya adalah untuk menghapuskan sistem riba dan menyatupadukan umat Islam agar dapat mewujudkan sistem ekonomi sendiri yang bersih daripada riba. Krisi kewangan Asia 1997 telah memberitahu kita tentang keburukan matawang kertas yang terdedah kepada spekulasi dan manipulasi penyangak matawang. Matawang negara boleh dipermainkan untuk dinaikkan atau diturunkan nilainya secara mendadak untuk keuntungan segelintir pihak. Ia berbeza daripada dinar emas & dirham perak yang nilainya adalah stabil dan praktikal dan tidak memerlukan sistem pertukaran matawang yang terdedah kepada serangan penyangak matwang.
Sistem matawang kertas itu sendiri banyak lagi kelemahannya. Ini termasuk apabila kita perlu menukarkan kepada duit matawang negara lain apabila berbelanja. Kelemahan lain ialah nilainya adalah tidak stabil, bergantung kepada sistem pasaran matawang asing yang kerap berubah. Kebetulan pensyarah lama saya, En. Abd Halim Abd Hamid turut berada di sana. Ketika hendak mengakhiri ceramahnya, Umar Vadillo meminta beliau untuk berdiri dan berkata, "saya sangat berbesar hati kerana di Malaysia ada orang yang turut memperjuangkan dinar emas (merujuk kepada En. Abd Halim) dan orang ini dapat menarik ramai orang untuk datang ke program dinar yang dianjurkan setiap tahun di Melaka."
Catatan
51 ulasan:
Askum saudra nadzri..
Maaf terlebih dahulu kalau kenyataan saya ni silap.
Ada kebenaran kenyataan yang saudara ketengahkan. Kehidupan seharian kita memang tak lari dari riba. Nak sekolah kan anak pun terjerat kes pinjaman yang boleh dikatakan riba. Pokoknya, zaman sekarang celik je mata dan nak bagi anak makan pun kena pakai duit dari hasil riba. Kerana duit gaji kita mungkin hasil dari kumpulan duit riba. Macam itulah yang boleh saya simpulkan maksud kenyataan saudara.
Zaman sekarang kalau kita nak sama kan seperti zaman kehidupan Nabi memang terlalu sukar. Walaupun itu yang kita hajatkan dalam mencari nilai kehidupan di dunia yang fana ini. Perubahan teknologi dan resam kehidupan membuat kita tak boleh lari dari kehidupan seperti sekarang. Yang termampu kita usahakan tinggalkan yang dilarangNYA, banyakkan ibadat kepadaNYA. Maaf sekali lagi, jika kenyataan saya ni 'terkeluar' tajuk dan tersilap.
Ok le tu....
Tha-tha
tulisan saudara sangat menarik, mengapa tidak dihantar sahaja kepada majalah Dewan Ekonomi.
LOL your writing isnt bad too...nice and full details haha.
what is your view regarding Malaysia Medical forces?
Hrm..do u think a weak leader (with not firmly decision)/ a leader who unable to make a good decision=good leader?
Salam,
I still don't understand how an economy based on gold or silver will be any different. Your article lacks clarity, content and details. Its just an article written on the surface of things, nothing more and nothing deeper. In fact your blog lacks any meaningful details. Just scarce opinions.
Tell me, how do I buy a house if it cost RM100,000 and I earn only RM4000 a month? Minus my expenses and savings, I'll NEVER afford to buy a house!
Dear Iqbal,
U need to learn more about gold.
Let me explain a little bit about it.
First of all we must realize that the money we used today is not money. Money supposedly to have intrinsic value by itself, can store value over time and universally accepted. However, today’s money does not have intrinsic value. A lot of people still thought that the paper money that all over the world used today is backed by gold, which means we can go to the bank and request for gold in exchange of the paper money that we keep. If that is what you think it is; then you have been outdated for more than 35 years, as way backed to 15th of August, 1971, the gold backed system that was agreed in Bretton Woods, 1945; whereby 1 ounce of gold equal to USD35 has been abandoned by the then American president Richard Nixon. A point to note here is that; America was the one introduced the exchange system between gold and USD, for all other currencies in the world to follow, and they violated their own policy, “why is that so?” there must be something very crucial that happened which cause America to take that drastic action. The answer to that is simply because America has issued too many US dollars as compared to their gold reserves, which if the world request for the gold in exchange of their US dollars, America would not be able to furnish it, which can cause America to go bankrupt. Definitely no American president will take these chances, therefore the policy to abandon the gold backed system is perfect, let the rest of the world to suffer instead. Since 1945 America has brain washed our mind in order to believe that USD is the money, and slowly pulled away gold from the circulation, so that people keeps paper money rather than gold, therefore when they finally abandon the system in 1971, the world get panicked, US dollar value nose dive in the world exchange rate market against other currencies. This is the beginning of the world exchange rate market that we practice today. The value of the currency is no longer based on gold but based on the supply and demand of the currency. The US dollar value drop vigorously because its supply is more than the demand when they broke the policy, however, since the rest of the people in the world, are keeping the US dollar as their store of wealth, because they had believed that US dollar is money, its obvious that they would not let the US dollar value to keep on dropping, because that will cause their “wealth” to diminished in its value, when in fact this is not true at all. What the world suppose to do when US abandon the gold backed system, is to also abandon the US dollar and to use a new currency that was backed by gold, but since our mind has been indoctrinated to believe that US dollar is “The Money” and in the midst of panic, the world foolishly decide to upheld the supremacy of the US dollar instead of abandoning it. This decision is one of the biggest mistakes the rest of the world made, because with this decision, US need not have to work on protecting the value of their dollar, since the rest of the world will do it for them. Whenever, the value of US dollar is falling, the rest of the world will buy the US dollar in order to create demand, so that the US dollar will not fall further but will sustain at the satisfied level. What America will do, is just to print more USD, because they just need to spend on anything they wanted, such as, war mongering and world policeman, while the value of USD is protected by the rest of the world. That is why you see today, when Malaysia do international trade with other nations such as Indonesia, India, China, Japan, and the Middle East, the currency in transaction is the USD, we never use our RM or our trading partner currency. This is because we believe in the USD more as compared to RM or our trading partner currency. Therefore US dollar keeps holding its supremacy value, because of our own unthinkable foolish act of ignorance. When the rest of the world doing trade among them which does not involved America, they thought they never help the US, but instead we actually benefited the US more because we constantly create demand for the US dollar. When the Muslims all over the world raise millions of money to help their fellow Muslims that faced calamity such as in Aceh or even in Palestine or Lebanon, we also help the US because we exchange our fund into US dollar. This is just like giving our Muslims fellows a bread to eat that is contaminated with cyanide.
The price increase of goods and services are no doubt due to the money that we used today. What actually increase? How can the price increase when there is no different in the product? The petrol in 1970 is still the same petrol in 2006, but why the price increase. It would only be logic for the price increase if the benefit that we got from the product today is more than what it is before. However the fact is not that; rice, flour, sugar, that we bought in the 70’s is still the same today in 2006, but why the price different. The answer to all these is not that the price increase but actually the value of the paper money decreases. As time passes by you need more paper money to buy the same goods because money supply increase due to exorbitant printing of paper money and rampant debt/credit activity.
Another point to be highlighted about today’s money is that, it is not a universally accepted currency; i.e. Yen, cannot be used in Malaysia, Japanese need to exchange the Yen with the RM in order for them to purchase anything here and the same face by the RM in Japan or in any part of the world. The currencies that we called money today are not universally accepted, and cause us to loose its value from the exchange rate, because the money exchanger would make some exchange profit out of our difficulties. This one phenomenon why you see rich continues to be richer while the poor remain poorer. The gap is widening between the rich and poor and poverty continues to rise.
The problems caused by the present money system is too much, we had no choice, but to abandoned it before it’s too late. This is something that we can do. The usage of the gold dinar is now revisited.
I agree with this article...
Maybe there is a need to redefine the role of money since today, money is losing its value faster tahn before and this will lead to a currency bubble which can be very damaging...
We have experience some of that bubble in 1997, and it can happen again if we are not careful...
Dear Nazri,
I am about to make some research regarding Dinar/Dirham. A few years ago I have read an article from magazine.
Today Monetary System is exposed by speculators which is create instability and uncertainty to the value of certain currency.
Either we accept it or not, economics system created by human has lot of weakness as we can feel it today.
The question is: even the Islamic Countries produces largest petroleum in the world but they still unable to control world's economics or make an ice break to this systematic Monetary.
Who can we give the hope for?
http://redssays.blogspot.com/
Nazri,
Do you have any idea how to contact this guy (Nizam)?
His comment seem to be extremely impressive. Maybe we can keep in touch with him to collect more information on monetary policies.
Salam Nadzri,
Satu catatan menarik, terutama komen dari Nizam.
Syabas dan Terima Kasih dari Mak Cik.
Ya Allh, selamatkanlah Malaysia yng dipimpin oleh kumpulan yang sentiasa bercakaran sesama sendiri.
Thanks for the comments in my blog.
omargodor
http://cgpencen.blogspot.com/
Nadzri
Tima kasih , suruh aku kahwin dengan iklas. Ada jodoh dan rezeki InshaAllah, Ko dah kahwin???
Aku tak sempat nak baca cerita ko. Sok aku datang lagi.
Saya betul2 tertarik dengan konsep yg saudara Nizam utarakan..
Norae
Askum Nadzri,
I totally agree with dinar & dirham concept. But I'm sure not many people aware about this issue. For those who are still blur about how dinar & paper money can affect the world economy, pls spend sometime reading this article (http://www.relfe.com/plus_5_.html). It has opened up my eyes.
xoxo,
Cik Embun
Assalamualaikum Saudara Nazri
Buat pengetahuan saudara, sudah lama saya ikut Saudara Abdul Halim untuk memperjuangkan Dinar dan Dirham. Tapi dengan keadaan masyarakat masa kini yang lebih mementingkan keduniaan, sumbangan dari Saudara amat dialu2kan. Sebarkanlah ilmu yang baik ini untuk kesejahteraan Ummah. Bersama2lah kita membantu kehidupan kita yang semakin tertekan ini.
Terima Kasih
Hi Nizam and all,
I am an avid follower of Gold Dinar and the silver dirham as a currency but there are issues that in this article has mentioned that Islam does not condone.
And fyi, I have attended mr Halim's talks on the gold dinar but one thing that has always puzzled me is the fact that even if we use the gold dinar, how will it not stop people from raising prices? Would the gold dinar then be subject to the same price manipulation of the fiat based currency? Say for example if a chicken is worth 1gram of gold per kilo today, what stops the seller or a group of sellers to sell the chicken at 1.5grams of gold per kilo tomorrow?
secondly, Islam does not allow Riba or interest. That's fine. But in this article, the author has mentioned that hutang or debt is not Islamic. My question than is, if RM4000 per month, how long do you think I need to save before I can own a house worth RM100,000 without credit facilities?
For argument's sake let's not use fiat currency. My question would be, if I earn 4000 grams of gold/4000 Gold Dinars per month, how long do you think I need to save before I can buy a house worth 100,000 grams/100,000 Gold Dinars?
Hope to hear your explanation.
tak payah beli dinar la. abis cerita
Kalau ni dpt mgembalikan kegemilangan Islam dan mhalang US drpd memonopoli dunia, aku sgt2 la sokong. Perlukan penjelasan yg terperinci skit la nadzri, dari segi perlaksanaannya.Persoalannya yg ditimbulkan oleh iqbal tu pun menarik untuk dibincangkan
saudara nazri,
dinar dan dirham ni mungkin boleh diterima oleh rakyat malaysia dan dunia jika betul cara perlaksanaannya.
tapi yang bermain di fikiran saya ialah, bolehkah orang bukan islam menerima perkara ini?.
dan lagi satu, saya yakin negara kita mempunyai masalah besar mengenai racism, cth, hindraf.
mungkin saya masih muda untuk memikirkan perkara ini. tapi saya betul2 nak tahu perkara mengenai racism. kadang2 saya rasa seperti saya dimusuhi golongan cina dan india, bukan rasa lagi, malah saya ada pengalaman sendiri dibenci cina hanya kerana saya melayu, disebabkan hasrat saya ingin menunaikan solat.
boleh email saya atau ym di
stereo_kicker@yahoo.com.my
salam..
Sebagai intro, aku bukan ahli akademik tapi sudah berkecimpung & berkerja dalam system kewangan antarabangsa lebih 10 tahun.. Aku berada depan komputer monitor masa ringgit, baht, rupiah, won dll jadi kacau bilau (1997) dan juga beberapa peristiwa lain.
Jadi ada beberapa perkara yg aku perasan dan terasa nak bagi komen:
1. Pasal Wang Dinar/Dirham: Kebanyakan komen adalah dari pandangan akademik (terutama pemilik blogger dan Nizam), perlaksanaan takde yg utarakan. Isunya bukan pada dinar/dirham, tapi matawang. cuba fikir, kalau dalam dunia ni kita semua guna SATU matawang (single currency)- tak kira nama dia dolar ke, ringgit ke, yen ke, rupiah ke, dinar ke dll. Jadi kita tak akan ada masalah.. tak payah tukar.. Semua guna matawang sama. Nak pegi mana pun pakai duit serupa je.. Masa sekolah tinggi dulu, ada belajar yg kata single currency adalah MATLAMAT UTAMA (ULTIMATE) dalam sistem kewangan. TApi sapa yg nak buang matawang sendiri.. Org jepun mesti nak guna YEN, kita nak Ringgit dll. Jadi nak tukar matawang tu ada stigma politik. Manusia ni bangga dgn bahasa n matawang sendir. Masa EURO nak digunakan.. Org ITALI suruh pilih LIRA, org BELANDA nak GUILDERS, org PERANCIS nak guna FRANCS. Habis tu takkan nak perang, jadi ada meeting kena undi. Tak boleh guna sendiri punya matawang tapi pilih yg baru- lepas tu semua adopt. Sama jugak nak pakai dinar/dirham- org arab je la yg bangga- yg lain rasa inferior plak. Tapi kalau semua negara setuju then tak pe lah.
2. Satu lagi sistem sekarang bukan perfect tapi telus.. makna dia sapa nak tipu then dia boleh tipu la selagi tak kena tangkap atau selagi tak rugi duit. Sama jugak, sistem dinar/dirham dari bacaan aku atas komen/blog kat sini- tak la menyelesaikan benda ni. Cuma prolong masalah. Sebab takde penjelasan konkrit nak atasi masalah masa kini. Semua pakai kepala hotak sendiri- untested.
3. Sistem kewangan sekarang berpaksi kadar faedah (interest rates). Untuk yg ada duit, kita nak simpan.. Mana la ada yg nak melabur. Bila simpan tu- semua nak faedah (hanya dengan melabur saja kita dpt untung). Kalau simpan dlm Akaun Simpanan (tak kira apa nama), yg diterima tu adalah faedah - BUKAN untung. Bila nak faedah tu pulak, kita semua nak yg paling tinggi (paling banyak riba). Jadi sistem sekarang buat apa yg dipanggil TIME VALUE OF MONEY. Makna dia, makin lama simpan- secara lojiknya, makin tinggi faedah.
4. Bagi yg takde duit (macam aku ni). Kena la pinjam sebab nak beli rumah. Bila pinjam tu, kena la bayar balik.. Kita org melayu ni. Tau pinjam tapi tak nak bayar (teringat masa join tabligh dulu- ada join member yg excited n pegi visit satu cina- cuba dakwah. Pastu cina ni selamba je. Rupanay dia tokay buat bisnes. jadi ramai la melayu yg dtg jumpa dia n pinjam duit. Dah la tu- bila nak bayar semua liat. Dia tunjuk list tebal org melayu yg pinjam duit tapi susah nak bayar balik- termasuk la ustaz dan ahli masjid. Jadi kita mat tabligh ni jadi senyap la. Ye la- nampak nya org islam kita ni tak amalakl pun.). So lagi time value of money- kalau pinjam sekejap bayar faedah sikit. Kalau lama kos tinggi. Sapa nak bagi pinjam percuma. Dlm islam kata, kalau bagi pinjam tak boleh charge faedah- tapi sapa yg nak ikut???. Memang la faedah/riba tu beban/haram tapi skrg sapa yg kisah pun.
5. Pasal perbankan islam dan riba tu. aku taknak komen tapi mungkin betul la. Sebab takde se ekor manusia pun yg tahu exactly macamana nak buat sistem perbankan islam yg betul sebab takde contoh. Kitab dan sumber kita takde kata macamana nak beli rumah pakai ansuran. Kira macamana dan nak pakar kadar apa. Semuanya explain secara umum. Jadi kita hanya pakai apa yg kita rasa usaha terbaik.. mungkin tak sempurna tapi selagi ada niat dan usaha.. itu langkah yg terpuji. Harap nanti kita dapat cari cara terbaik.
sekian je la
alamak lupa plak- itu dude Iqbal (are u the iqbal i know??) ada bagi soalan tapi takde yg jawab. Pasal nak beli rumah harga 100,000 dgn gaji 4,000. Itu masalah realistic. Tapi blog owner + Nizam tak bagi jln penyelesaian.
Dulu masa aku sekolah (tngktn 3), ada sorang cikgu ni, dia tak nak terlibat dgn riba. Jadi dia naik motor GP. Dengar cerita dia tgh kumpul duit nak beli kereta secara tunai. Jadi kumpul la duit bertahun-tahun. Mungkin dah lama jadi masa aku sekolah tu- sempat la tengok dia beli kereta tunai (toyota corolla) - tak hutang (salute cikgu).
Jadi nak dibuat cerita, punya la dia sayang kat kerate dia sampai budak sekolah nak pegang pun tak boleh- mesti kena maki. Jadi bial camtu, ramai la nak test water. Semua pakat conteng kereta la n macam macam. kesian cikgu tu- dah la kumpul duit bertahun-tahun.. lepas tu kena dengki. lepas tu lagi after 3 tahun kereta punya value dah turun. Bila camtu nak tukar kereta lain- tapi gaji cikgu berapa sgt la.. Cuma aku bangga kat dia je.. Masa tu kerata proton takde lagi- jadi murah la, sekarang ni, proton dah ada, harga pulak melambung. Kena cukai plak- yg yg part ni apa kategori- riba ke menipu rakyat ke. jawab... Kalau pakai dinar/dirham pun tak selesai.
menarik blog ni..... teruskan update
Despite Malaysia's pretty economic growth over this past few months, something just doesn't seem to be right. It is almost as if the GDP growth figures were manipulated or spiced up.
Well, they weren’t. Contrary to popular belief, the government does not really ‘jack up’ economic figures. It just found clever ways to ‘spice up’ growth figures. That's all.
Let’s use last year as an example. Abdullah found out that the economic figures were not good, and it couldn't have been at a worse time. Elections were just around the corner and he didn't want the economy to appear weak. So he did something very clever - he increased the wages of civil servants. This, of course, leads to higher spending. And as we know, spending helps boost the economy.
I am not saying that civil servants do not deserve a pay rise. But the reason why they were given one couldn't be any worse. Yes, Malaysia is actually a failing economy. China and India are fast replacing Malaysia as manufacturing power houses. Half of Malaysia's GDP figure comes from the manufacturing sector.
If oil and palm oil prices did not increase last year by a mile, Malaysia would have registered an economic growth of somewhere near 3.5%. This is a measly figure for a developing country.
By 2014, Malaysia will no longer be a net exporter of oil. In turn, this translates to losses for every sen oil prices go up.
To achieve developed status by 2020, Malaysia should have registered at least an 8% economic growth annually since 1995 (a developed country should have Purchasing Power Parity of at least RM25,000, and GDP per capita should be close to PPP figures) Right now, Malaysia has PPP of RM14,700 and a GDP per capita of RM6,500.
We have only done an average of 5% increase in GDP growth from 1995- 2007. So Vision 2020 will not be achieved despite what the government might claim. Furthermore, for Malaysia to move up the value chain, (I define this as a country that is able to innovate and produce high- quality products eg companies such as Samsung, LG from Korea) large amounts of foreign direct investments (FDI) are needed.
To show you how low our FDI is, Malaysia has a pathetic RM7 billion of FDI annually while Singapore, a country 100 times smaller then Malaysia, has FDI of RM55 billion annually. Last year, nearly 50% of our FDI went into the Iskandar Development Region. This, in my opinion, is a project bound to be a major failure. When Singaporeans were invited to invest, they did. But when they started to invest, our smart politicians said this would chase the Malays into the jungles.
To summarise everything up:
1. Malaysia's economic growth is now based on oil and palm oil prices. (Malaysia will soon be a net importer of oil, and palm oil prices have reached their peak, meaning it will be downhill from here on)
2. Malaysia's manufacturing sector is shrinking, thus unemployment rates will go up.
3. Immigrants from Indonesia, Philippines are causing wages to remain stagnant.
4. Malaysia is suffering from a ‘brain drain’. No qualified professionals want to work in Malaysia anymore.
5. All the people’s tax money are being used for stupid subsidies and unnecessary mega-projects.
This is what happen to a good country ruled by a bad ruling party.
Enriching themselves and forget the rest. Those greedy and selfish Umno are to be blamed.
If you turn on BBC, there are fair and equal coverage on the UK opposition parties.
So is NHK (Japan), so is KBS (Korea), so is CNN (America), so is CBC (Canada), so is ABC (Australia).
Even in our neighboring Thailand, their TV coverage is fair for both ruling and opposition parties!
Only in this Umno hijacked country that you find most lop-sided idiotic coverage on Umno and its running dog partners!
The most important asset of a country is not its natural resources, but rather its human resources. This is especially true in a knowledge-based economy, which of course, will be the trend in the future if not already the trend in most of the western countries.
My daughter, who is in her final year medicine in Auckland, told me that a team of Singapore recruitment officers have just visited Auckland and talked to the Malaysian students there, offering jobs and training prospects for the final year students once they graduate.
My daughter also told me that over the last few years, quite a lot of her Malaysian seniors, after graduating from medical courses in New Zealand, have gone to Singapore to work as house officers and subsequently stayed back in Singapore for their postgraduate training. Similar teams are sent to UK and Australia for recruiting Malaysians there to work in Singapore.
About a year ago, Reuters reported: 'Malaysia is counting on bright, ambitious people like Tan Chye Ling for its future, to lead it away from manufacturing and into the knowledge age.'
But the 32-year-old scientist, a postgraduate in molecular biology, is not counting on Malaysia to look after her future.
'I felt very suppressed in Malaysia,' said Tan, who moved to neighbouring Singapore, the region's pacesetter for biotech investment, after a decade of study and research in Malaysia.
'I have benefited from the better research environment and salary scheme here. Things are much smoother,' she said by phone from the National University of Singapore where she is studying dust mites and allergies. Tan estimates that 60 percent of the research teams she works with in Singapore are from Malaysia, despite her country's efforts over several years to develop a biotech industry.
There is a serious problem facing Malaysia and that is the problem of 'brain drain'. Why are Malaysians overseas not coming back to work? Well, pay may be part of the reasons but it is not the main reason. Singapore recruitment teams offer Malaysian medical students a salary which is a few times what they would expect to get in Malaysia S$40000 a year for houseman after tax (equivalent to RM86000) which is about five times the pay of a houseman in Malaysia.
But, as I say, pay is not the main problem. The living expense overseas is high. And for a person working overseas, the loneliness and the stress level is also high. So not everyone opts to work overseas because of the pay. Many would not mind to work for a lesser pay if they can stay near to their loved ones. So why do people choose to work overseas, away from their loved ones?
Malaysia has many state-of-the-arts hospitals and research centres, which may even be the envy of many overseas countries. But hardware alone would not attract these experts to come home. In the medical field, I have so many friends/classmates working overseas, many in world-renowned centres. Why do they do that? Some of my classmates and friends did come back as specialists. After working a few years (many only lasted a few months), most got disillusioned and went off again.
There is really not much prospect of career advancement here. How many can hope to become a professor even when they are an acknowledged expert in their field? On the other hands, lesser beings are being promoted to professorship for doing much less. How many of them can have a say about how things are to be run? How many of them can blend into the local team where the work attitude is vastly different from that overseas?
There is an unwritten rule that even if the person is very good, the head of the team has to be someone from a certain ethnic group who may not be even half as good as him. In everyday life, some become disillusioned with the corruption, the red tape and the 'tidak apa' attitude of officialdom. For an overseas doctor applying to work back home, the application can take up to six months to get approved, whereas Singapore sends teams overseas to recruit them on the spot and offering them jobs immediately as long as they pass their final examinations. See the difference?
It is the sense of being wanted and being appreciated that make these people stay overseas. Back here, they are often made to feel that they are of a lower class. They do not feel wanted and they do not feel appreciated. That is the main reason.
For those with children, the education system further puts them off. Even school children can feel being discriminated against and one glaring example is the two system pre-university education.
All these make them pack their bags and off they go again, leaving behind their parents, perhaps their siblings, the friends they grew up together with and their favourite food that is often not available overseas. No one likes to be away from home but circumstances and a sense of being recognised for their worth make them go away. It is really sad.
Parents spend big sums of money on educating their children but the ones who benefit most are the Singaporeans, the British, the Australians, the Americans and so on. As long as race politics is not done away with, this problem of 'brain drain' will continue and Malaysia will always trail behind the advanced countries no matter how many Twin Towers and Putrajaya we build.
To me, Malaysia is run by institutionalised bullies, corrupters, gangsters, goons, infidels, liars, monkeys, scumbags, thieves and all that are mentioned in the Book of Hell!
For Royal Professor Ungku Aziz to say that there was no social contract between the founding fathers of our nation, this has put a nail in the coffin on those ultra-malays who still see Ketuanan Melayu as a cornerstone for race relationships in this country.
While other matured and well-developed nations have put to rest the 'master and slave' relationship among the various races, it baffles the mind of thinking people why should such policy still remain relevant in this 21st century here in Malaysia. We might call our British colonial masters 'Sir' or 'Tuan' in the early days but after half-a-century of independence, don't you think that such thinking is out of date?
Mind you, the United States who imported Negros from Africa a few centuries ago to be the white man's slave might have a black man to be their next president if Obama wins the ticket to the White House in the coming US presidential elections.
Malay rights have been ensconced in the federal constitution and cannot be taken away unless by a two-thirds majority in parliament subject to the malay rulers approval. No one doubts that in the early days, the bumis especially the malays, needed affirmative actions to take them out of their cycle of poverty to be on par with other races, especially the Chinese.
But the NEP has outlived it purpose and it should be replaced with a new policy which will eradicate poverty regardless of creed and race.
The playing field should be more even and let the best among the best compete among themselves in order for our nation to progress in the future. Why should rich malays with their 'right political connections' obtain a big slice of the economic cake while the poor people are denied such opportunities to get them out of their cycle of poverty?
To be a respected race, the malays must discard the notion that the government will always have to provide them with opportunities in studies and business as if it was their birth right. The malays should be able to compete with the other races on an equal footing and work hard to improve their lot rather than expecting handouts from the government.
Ungku Aziz, a towering malay whose intellectual thinking is way ahead of his time, has opened a Pandora Box's with his outright statement that there is no written 'social contract' among the various races prior to independence. Umno politicians will now cry foul about his daring statement as they will always use the Ketuanan Melayu bogey to win the hearts and minds of the malays to support their cause. .
But the malays cannot be in a denial mode anymore. We must accept the fact that in the brave new world that we live in where people and capital move to places where no restrictions are imposed, the old way of doing business by having quota systems will drive capital away from our country and the people will suffer in the end if business opportunities pass our shores.
The malays should look at their Singapore brethren who are no less the worse although unlike their Malaysian cousins, they does not have any NEP policy to get a leg up in society. There is no short cut for success unless you work hard for it.
Everyday the only things the regime and its cronies do are to tell lies, nothing but telling lies!
On the other hand, the "mainstream media" is not doing any meaningful investigative reports but only helping the regime to spread lies.
True enough, Article 153 of the 1957 Federal Constitution does provide for the special position of malays, natives of Sabah and Sarawak, and other marginalised groups.
However, what this special position means is open for debate.
Some believe it merely meant socio-economic position, one that changes dynamically and hence can be renegotiated.
Further, pre-independence documents - the Cobbold Commission Report, Federation of Malaya Constitutional Proposals and the Reid Commission Report - reveal that this position was meant to be temporary.
The "special right" of malays was therefore understood not as a God-given mark, but recognition of socio-economic status until such a time this could be elevated.
It is no secret that Parameswara was an Indian and a Hindu prince until he married a Pasai princess and converted to Islam and adopted the Persian name Iskandar Shah.
There seemed to be no problem telling the truth as I just expressed it during my school days. The school textbooks were quite clear on this - but not today, I am told.
Once again the 'insecure' Umno-led government had to wipe out any references to this famous Melaka prince as being Hindu and belonging to the powerful Hindu empire Srivijaya.
So all of a sudden our museums, school textbooks etc, all refer to Parameswara as a malay prince. Umno's lying, mind you, is not confined to the mainstream newspapers.
I cannot but agree with some writers. As I plan to move my family overseas, I feel really sad for my country and friends I am going to leave behind.
Mahathir was a great man and he could have done a lot for the country. He was determined, intelligent, sarcastic, well qualified and witty but unfortunately, somewhere along the way he succumbed to human failings like all of us.
He became a slave to ego and greed and as a result, his heart was corrupted and he could not see beyond himself. Alas, it is too late now.
I can see no great Malaysian leaders in the pipeline. Initially, I thought that Hisham could have been a great leader being a professional but after the 'keris' incidents and his racists remarks, I know he won't be going far.
A great leader must be a leader for all, irrespective of race.
Life is full of regrets when we look back but the one regret I am not prepared to have is my children's future as I may not be around to see the next generation lead their life. As parents, what are we working for if not for our children, the next generation?
Sad to say, most of our leaders cannot see that and ironically, they are the one blessed with the power to shape the future generations, including their children.
It is been interesting to read such free-flowing comments on an all "Malaysians" free for all.
The "malays" are not a race. I am so sorry that you are only hearing this now. The rest of the academic world has known it for years.
Evidence, and not mere gut-feeling please.
From Yunnan to Taiwan, to Philippines, to Borneo, back to Cambodia, then to Kelantan, mixed with Achenese, Pattanis, Negritos, Javanese, Jakuns, Indians, Chinese and Arabs again.
In short, a Chinese mixed sub-race. Why not just say Chinese?
The fuel price hike is simply the most ridiculous decision that this federal government has ever made. It comes at the worst time when the whole world is facing mounting food prices. And this government has simply put more pain on the rakyat. What is in their brains?
Go to the bakery stall and ask the price for a loaf of bread. Go the wet market and ask the price of chicken or fish. Go to the agriculture store and ask the price of fertilisers. Go to a coffee shop and ask for a cup of coffee. Everything has gone up by at least 40% since the increase.
Come to Sarawak and explore the hinterland likes Baram, Belaga, Bario and see it for yourself what the price of diesel and petrol are which the rural folk have to bear. The price of petrol and diesel in Baram and Belaga is RM5 per liter.
These people are farming communities so what are the government plans for them? Baram and Belaga are the biggest constituencies more of less the size of the state of Pahang and Selangor, yet not a single tarred road is there.
The peoples of Baram and Belaga have been waiting for more than 30 years for link roads. Where are the Malaysian Plans for this?
It's now time for a change of leadership in Malaysia. Letting these crooks run the country will simply turn it into the likes of Zimbabwe and Serbia with too many millionaires.
This is so off topic!
What ever happened to the discussion about gold dinar?
For many years, many of my questions and doubts have not been answered. The idea of the gold dinar would remain as an interesting theory, one that is discussed on an academic level.
However failure comes in the form of implementation. What use is there to hype about the gold dinar uniting the ummah when the greed of human beings is not under control, when iman is not valued and Islamic principles are nothing mere than text on a text book?
Under Dr.Mahathir's time, he had mooted the idea of the gold dinar as an answer to the catastrophic and manipulative financial industry. I believed that the the gold dinar was used as a trading currency, one used to pay the difference of trade.
However under the current regime, this idea has been silenced. I believe the current PM is incompetent of anything and is intelectually deprived.
Back to the gold dinar issue, I still have not found an answer to my question about raising prices of goods using the the gold dinar.
Another question to ponder, since Gold is finite, wouldn't the use of the gold dinar have an impact when the government have not enough gold to pay for wages, goods and services? Wouldn't this be a classic example of supply and demand? What will happen then to the value of Gold dinar? How will the economy move when the supply and demand of gold is not adequetly met?
Anyone have the answer?
Interesting views.
Another source of reading would be Asif Qureshi's book on WTO. There's a chapter on currency.
Another source, an expert on currency, is Prof Rohimi of FUU UKM. He has written a few published atrticles regarding this topic too.
encik nadzri...saya amat tertarik dengan artikel mengenai dengan dinar emas....diharap agar kiter dapat sembang panjang lebar mengenainya...kalo ader kelapangan harap dapat hubungi saya apachexx@gmail.com
Dear Fargoman,
There is nothing we can do to stop anyone who think that serving Singapore or anywhere else than their own country where they were born is much better with monetary prospects or any guarantee of career advancement is concerend.
It is the matter of the heart.
I count myself fortunate enough to have travelled to many countries of the world and I dare say that there is no better country than my own. Probably I dont have the choice.
But the fact remains that even if we dangle the carrot in the air but if the hearts is set somewhere else, the carrot will be left dangling in the air!!
Lucky Singpore that get all the 'great brains" apart from Batu Putih.
commenters, it's quite shocking me when reading your thoughts.
gentlemen,
please...
sometimes arguing is good
sometimes not.
I've linked your writing in my blog... good writing.
I think fiat money/ paper money which can be printed anytime, and for any amount, millions or billions in a very short of time. Thus, the economy will develop very fast. Inilah punca kemusnahan alam.
Whereas with gold, it's not easily available. The time taken to find the gold, explore, process it into dinar etc will take quite a long time.
With fiat money, demand easily goes up coz to pay for the goods, not much hard work to do to produce the money. print saja.
Then duit banyak, demand pun banyak. Then kilang-kilang pun banyak wujud, dan merosakkan alam. Pencemaran sungai, udara etc. Coz with fiat money that can be printed over and over just on a piece of paper, human's desire akan terus demand macam-macam.
That's my simple point of view. Bila duit senang nak dapat, keinginan pun bertambah dan merosakkan alam je.
Bila orang banyak duit kertas, pergi shopping banyak2, plastic bag pun kena guna banyak dan mencemar alam.
Semua toys pun yang murah2 dari China pun banyak dan kilang2 buat toys dan aksesori yang orang perempuan pakai pun menyumbang kepada kerosakan bumi.
Kesimpulannya, dengan fiat money, memang cepat bumi rosak. Kalau dengan gold money, mungkin tak cepat sangat. Apa yang orang terlalu kejarkan sangat sekarang? Kekayaan, semua berlumba-lumba. orang zaman dahulu, beribu-ribu tahun sebelum kita, hidup jugak, cukup makan pakai je, tak ada nafsu besar-besar.
Orang sekarang terutama orang kaya2 (ahli perniagaan) dan ahli politik merosakkan bumi dengan fiat money. Masing-masing nak kumpul harta dan bermacam2 perhiasan, kemewahan, kereta, rumah berpuluh2 biji dan electronic toys dan gadget untuk mereka dan anak2.
Dengan fiat money bermacam2 masalah timbul, besides masalah lain seperti moral, integriti, social.
bagus pandangan anda..saya hilang kepercayaan pada UMNO yang dikepalai PAKLAH
The Jordan Times.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Islamic Countries switching to Real GOLD !
Courtesy of Janet Zeravica: jzeravica@...
I strongly suspect that this one of the main reasons
why we are going to war with the Arab world. Also,
because Iraq now refuses to accept dollars for oil.
They only take Euros. The international bankers
cannot allow the Arabs to get off the dollar based
"plantation." Tom. Islamic gold dinar will
minimize dependency on US dollar 2003-01-08 13:48:14
By Khaled Hanafi for IslamOnline 8 January 2003
Malaysia will start using the Islamic gold dinar
starting mid 2003 in its foreign trade section with
some countries replacing the U.S. dollar in a first
step move toward unifying the currency used in
commercial dealings between Islamic countries. The
success of this idea, according to several western
newspapers, may lead to minimizing the U.S. dollar
hegemony as an intermediate tool in commercial
dealings in the world. The idea was adopted by
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad who
conducted bilateral talks during the year 2002 with
several Islamic countries, including Bahrain, Libya,
Morocco and Iran, to convince them of using the
Islamic dinar as a way of payment in their commercial
dealings with Malaysia. This move is considered from
one side a way to recall a currency related to the
history of Muslims and their monetary heritage since
the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), and
from the other side, the ability to find the Islamic
alternative to the dollar at a time the calls to
boycott all what is labelled as American starting from
goods to currency, are intensified. The idea of the
Islamic gold dinar belongs to Professor Omar Ibrahim
Fadillo, founder of the Morabeteen International
Organization founded in 1983 in South Africa where it
is widely known as well as in Europe. The
organization believes that the unity of the Islamic
world can not be achieved except through the
unification on the economic level. It also calls for
the establishment of a united Islamic market using one
currency which is the gold Islamic dinar used by the
Morabeteen members, hoping it will replace the U.S.
dollar. "The idea of the Islamic gold dinar aims at
minimizing the hegemony of the U.S. dollar and to use
the gold once again as an international currency
because the value of the paper currencies is in
continuous fluctuation unlike the stable gold currency
which preserve its value through the value of the
metal itself. The system is built on the idea that
the Islamic governments keep the gold in a central
bank and use it in settling their commercial dealings
instead of depending on foreign fund markets and
foreign financial corporations. The first Islamic
gold dinar, equivalent to 4.25 grams of 22- karat
gold, was issued in 1992 on a very limited scale
between the member of the Morabeteen. In 1997, the
idea developed to be implemented into an exchange
framework through launching what was called the
electronic dinar, a system based on using the gold as
fund through transactions made on the internet.
According to the e-dinar limited company based in the
Malaysian island of Lapoine, electronic transactions
using the gold Islamic dinar have currently reached
what is equivalent to 4 tons of gold and that the
users are increasing at a rate of 10% monthly. The
number of users through the electronic dinar website
www.e-dinar.com, launched in 1999 after 7 years of
issuing the Islamic gold dinar, reached 600,000 and
that number is increasing, the company announced.
Several countries around the world are currently
dealing directly with 100,000 Islamic gold dinars and
250,000 silver dirhams issued by the company, hoping
that one day it will replace the U.S. dollar in the
dealings of the 1.3 billion citizens of the Islamic
countries. The success of the gold dinar as a united
Islamic currency will depend on the level of demand
of the countries that want to deal with it as the
primary currency in the international commercial
dealings. Islamic countries will benefit if they
implement this new currency in many ways, the most
important of which is that these countries will not
need reserve of foreign currencies to finish
commercial trading, Dr. Mohamed Sherif Beshir said.
"Consequently, the gold dinar will be the ideal
currency to facilitate and increase international
trade and minimizing speculation in paper currency
that led to the Asian currency crisis in 1997," he
said. The existence of a fund unity between the
countries of the Muslim world will increase the
amount of trade between them and will help in
increasing the economic development if the conditions
for the success of the gold dinar were provided, he
added. Copyright © ummahnews.com 2003
Tony Lee
"Iran henti guna dolar AS jual minyak"
TEHRAN, Iran 30 April – Iran yang merupakan pengeluar minyak kedua terbesar Pertubuhan Negara-Negara Pengeksport Petroleum (OPEC) telah menghentikan sepenuhnya transaksi minyak menggunakan dolar Amerika Syarikat (AS) bagi membantu mengurangkan penggantungan kepada Washington ekoran tekanan yang dikenakan terhadapnya berhubung program nuklear Teheran dan dakwaan penglibatan negara itu di Iraq.
Sebelum ini, Iran telah mengurangkan penggantungan terhadap dolar AS sejak beberapa tahun lalu akibat tekanan berterusan AS ke atas sistem kewangan dan kejatuhan nilai dolar AS.
Harga minyak diniagakan dalam dolar AS dan kejatuhan nilai mata wang itu telah menimbulkan kebimbangan di kalangan negara pengeluar minyak kerana ia membantu kepada peningkatan harga komoditi tersebut serta menjejaskan nilai simpanan dolar mereka.
Pegawai Kementerian Minyak Iran, Hojjatollah Ghanimifard memberi tahu stesen televisyen kerajaan Iran tidak lagi menggunakan dolar AS bagi transaksi minyak.
‘‘Kami telah bersetuju dengan semua pelanggan minyak mentah kami untuk menggunakan mata wang bukan dolar,’’ katanya.
Presiden Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad pada tahun lalu memberitahu satu sidang kemuncak di Arab Saudi yang dihadiri ketua negara-negara OPEC bahawa dolar AS adalah ‘sekeping kertas yang tiada nilai’.
Catch En Abdul Halim Abdul Hamid live on Hello Malaysia, Astro 502, Bernama TV at 10.30pm on 31/7/2008. FYI the info in Nizam's writings originate from en Halim's article which is published oversea.
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