Thursday 27 April 2017

GST. Zero Per Cent. Barisan Nasional. Idiot Song

Is the 1974 minor hit for Monty Python.

I do like some people in Barisan Nasional, but I must agree with Lim Guan Eng on the zero per cent GST tax.

The people will welcome it, with that, the idiot song award goes to Barisan Nasional's communication team for saying that bringing the GST down to zero does not bring benefit to any party.

If my assertion is correct, what this means is that the Rakyat, is not a party in this nation according to BN Communication team. Malaysiakini has the story, which might just get BN kicked out from the government. :

The BN strategic communications team has criticised Lim Guan Eng's statement that Pakatan Harapan has decided to reduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate from six percent to zero percent as part of their campaign manifesto.

"He continues to insist that reducing GST to zero percent is the same as abolishing GST.

"This is untrue as the government and businesses will continue to bear the unnecessary administrative expenses of GST-compliance but does not give benefits to any party. It will become a big negative with no positive benefits," said the team in a media statement.


Wednesday 26 April 2017

UMNO Vs UMNO. Mask Off

Is a current US top five hit for Future taken from the album named future.

The future looks very interesting as the masks are off, and UMNO itself is asking why the double payment on the 1mdb bonds.

Malaysiakini has the story. Read Below :

What happened to the previous payments from 1MDB to Abu Dhabi’s Aabar?

This question has been posed by Kulim Bandar Baharu MP Aziz Sheikh Fadzir, who is also one of the BN representatives on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

Aziz said this following the announcement of the settlement between 1MDB and International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC), which is owned by the government of Abu Dhabi.

“I am supportive of the settlement… but the Finance Ministry must explain to the PAC where the payments 1MDB made to Aabar go to before this,” Aziz (photo) told Malaysiakini when contacted.

IPIC initiated arbitration proceedings last year to claim US$6.5 billion from 1MDB. The settlement was announced yesterday.

According to filings made to the London Stock Exchange, IPIC said it will receive US$1.2 billion in two equal payments on July 31 and Dec 31.

Pos Malaysia. If You Believe

Is the 1999 hit from Sasha. Pos Malaysia shares today closed at RM5.27 a share, it's strongest close in 52 weeks.

If you believe what I told you in September 2016, then this stock will touch RM6 a share before the first anniversary of my posting.

Tuesday 25 April 2017

Stock Market. Armageddon

Is the highly acclaimed cult hit by Michelle Treacy, which got her a Juno nomination in 2016.

For those of us who think that Malaysia paying the "Arabs" again for the second time, and that the Ringgit firming up to RM4.37 against the US Dollar is an indication of good things to come.

Think Again.

May is just around the corner and as the saying goes sell in May and go away. If that is not enough, there is a case of an Armageddon taking shape .

Bloomberg has the story. Read below :

The Chinese and U.S. stock markets are going in opposite directions.

An intensifying crackdown against leverage in Asia’s biggest economy has rocked the hither-to unflappable Shanghai Composite Index over the past week, sending it to a three-month low last session. In the U.S., the largest equity market is embracing a risk rally spurred by the French election, with the S&P 500 Index continuing to build on reflation-trade gains ignited by Donald Trump’s November victory.

The divergence means the two markets are the least in tune since August 2008 -- just before the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. unleashed chaos on the global financial system

Sunday 23 April 2017

Jho Low. Criminal

Is a so so hit for Britney Spears taken from her album Femme Fatale.

What is the worst kept secret in town is that Malaysia and the Arabs have agreed to a deal on the 1MDB bond repayment which will be announced today on the London Stock Exchange.

The deal is very unfavourable to Malaysia. Instead of paying US$1.5 billion , we will now be paying the Sheikhs in the desert a MINIMUM of US$2.5 billion .

This is a huge amount of money, but it is an amount Malaysia can actually pay, as we are well off country, to put this 1MDB shit into the sewerage​ once and for all.

Unfortunately, money is not the only concern here, because as long as that criminal Jho Low is allowed to walk free, Malaysia will remain the only equity market in the developing economies, where global funds are under weight.

Sure for a day or two after this announcement on the stock market in London, the Kuala Lumpur market will run.

After that people will ask , why is it we have agreed to pay this much to the Arabs, when we have actually already made the payments.

Opps, that payment went to Jho Low isn't it? Why is Jho Low on a yatch? When will the Malaysia Government formally issue a warrant of arrest against this fat Chinaman?

If you don't, do that...Be very careful in calling for a general elections, because even in red Malaysia, the children are starting to talk to their parents.

Saturday 22 April 2017

Morgan Stanley Versus Nomura. The great pretender.

Is the 1960's classic from the platters .

Malaysia looks to be like a great pretender, with Morgan Stanley saying that despite being the only country to be under weight by foreigners in South East Asia, good things are coming our way.

Nomura says no such thing, pointing out that our stock market has gone up by six per cent against the MSCI, and even though, corporate earnings will go up by between eight to nine per cent, valuation wise, we are still the most expensive buy in South East Asia

Morgan Stanley though, has been muted and un convincing on the valuation front.

CNBC has the story. Read below :

Morgan Stanley believes that Najib will call for election this September.

Malaysian company earnings were also poised for recovery, Morgan Stanley said, estimating profit growth would improve to 8-9 percent in 2017-18 after three years of declines.

The bank also pointed to construction companies' "peak" order book levels, a 10 percent rise in palm-oil volumes with chances for price increases and a drop in banks' provisions as non-performing loans peak.

The fifth driver for Malaysia stocks was a "cheap and supported" currency, the bank said.

"We think domestic sentiment on the ringgit has stabilised, with lower political uncertainty and improving commodity prices," it said. "The conversion of export proceeds into ringgit is also supportive."

Earlier this year, the ringgit had weakened to around levels not seen since the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, with the dollar fetching as much as 4.4980 ringgit.

In Friday trade, the dollar was fetching around 4.39 ringgit.

To be sure, the bank noted that the MSCI Malaysia may be expensive compared with its Southeast Asian peers, trading at 16.3 times the next 12-months' earnings.

But it added that it believed earnings were depressed, with the index trading at only 14.9 times its 2018 earnings per share forecast.

The bank also noted that Malaysia was the only Southeast Asian market where foreign investors were underweight compared with other emerging markets.

"Given the low positioning, upcoming catalysts, and turnaround we have seen in commodity-oriented currencies like the Brazilian real (BRL) and Russian ruble (RBL), Malaysia could see an influx of foreign equity flows, which could help re-rate the market further along with improving earnings trajectory," it said.

It set a base case MSCI Malaysia target at 645, compared with levels around 605 currently.

Not all analysts were taking a positive view on Malaysia's market. Nomura said in a note on Friday that it was staying underweight.

Nomura said the primary argument for increased interest in Malaysia stocks was that after underperforming regional peers "so significantly" for four years, the market should be attractively valued. The bank also noted that politics and governance appeared to be improving and that an early election could bring further inflows to the market.

But Nomura wasn't convinced.

"The market is not cheap," it said, adding that stocks there could be the most expensive in the region.

Nomura also said that while earnings had bottomed, they continued to underperform the region and would continue to do so in 2017 and 2018.

1MDB. RM10 billion. Deal

Is a minor hit for the greatful dead, taken from the album dead set.

Well it looks like we are dead set for a deal with the Arabs, and if this deal does go through, then what it means is the government of Malaysia must seek to arrest Jho Loh via Interpol's red alert . This fat Chinaman must be arrested and justice served

Bloomberg has the story :

Malaysia has reached an agreement to pay Abu Dhabi $2.5 billion as partial debt settlement for embattled government fund 1Malaysia Development Bhd., according to a person familiar with the matter.

Under a deal that’s expected to be announced Monday on the London Stock Exchange, Malaysia will pay Abu Dhabi $1.2 billion before the end of this year, said the person, who asked not to be identified as the information isn’t yet public. Malaysia will also assume the coupon obligations for two dollar bonds issued by 1MDB and co-guaranteed by Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund International Petroleum Investment Co., the person said. 

1MDB and the Malaysian finance ministry will pay the $2.5 billion through proceeds raised from the sale of units Brazen Sky Ltd. and 1MDB Global Investment Ltd., the person said. The two countries also agreed not to pursue legal action before December 2020 as they negotiate the dispute over $3.5 billion linked to the two bonds, the person said.

Thursday 20 April 2017

Adam Rosly. An Innocent Man

Is a blast from the past. It's the title track from the 1983 album of the same name by Billy Joel.

Adam Rosly, the PKR millionaire politician will soon have his day in court, to prove once and for all that he indeed is an innocent man.

Adam is going to be charged under the anti money laundering act or AMLA, an act that came into force to curb funding for terrorists.

Malaysia kini has the story :

PKR leader Adam Rosly is expected to be charged tomorrow while his bungalow in Ampang which has been likened to 'Disneyland' was also seized by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Adam, who is Ampang PKR Youth chief, is expected to be charged under Section 32(8)(c) and Section 89 of the Anti-Money-Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act 2001.

Section 32(8)(c) concerns the furnishing of false or misleading information to investigators while Section 89 concerns the falsification, concealment and destruction of documents.

Both offences carry a fine of up to RM3 million or imprisonment of up to five years or both.

When contacted, MACC deputy commissioner (operations) Azam Baki confirmed the matter.

The MACC had been investigating Adam's wealth following reports that he purchased the property for RM1.2 million in cash.

He was arrested on April 13 while giving a statement to the MACC and was subsequently remanded to facilitate investigations.

Voice of America. The Fighter

Is the current pop hit from Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood, which is fast climbing the US charts.

The fighter from the USA has sent a direct warning to Malaysia, that uncle Sam is watching , and it does not like what it is seeing.

The CIA linked Voice of America has the story :

The Malaysian government is facing public pressure to resist following reports of the Chinese coast guard patrolling waters claimed by Malaysia.

From December to late February, three Chinese coast guard ships had been patrolling off the Malaysian coast of Borneo.

A Malaysian coast guard ship, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, tracked the boats. The initiative is part of the U.S. Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS.

The Chinese boats were found near Luconia Shoals, a small area of land in Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone.

The report from CSIS says Malaysia also spotted 100 fishing boats escorted by the Chinese coast guard at the same area in March 2016. The Chinese coast guard had been there since 2013.

Pressure on Malaysia for response

Experts say the finding will add pressure on Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak to respond against China.

Colin Koh is a maritime security research fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He feels that these issues will be problematic for Razak.

“This is going to become a particularly problematic issue that he will find very hard to deal with," Koh said.

Economic relations a factor

Razak usually avoids direct conflict with China. The country is Malaysia’s top trading partner and its biggest source of direct foreign investment.

Jonathan Spangler is director of the South China Sea Think Tank in Taipei. He says, “For Malaysia, which has sought to maintain friendly relations with China, publicly condemning Chinese actions would disrupt that delicate balance and could have serious economic and other repercussions.”

Monday 17 April 2017

Ringgit Malaysia. Humble

Is the song by Kendrick Lamar that currently occupies the number two spot on the US Top 40 charts.

Singapore's Today news paper has a HUMBLE story on the sad state of the Ringgit.

Believe it or not, if you are a Malaysian security guard at Singapore's Changi Airport, with two years experience, you are probably earning as much as a PROFESSOR in Johor Baru.

The TODAY story, then :

JOHOR BARU, April 17 — As the Malaysian ringgit continues to notch new lows against the Singapore dollar, TODAY looks at how the fortunes of two families have changed.

The Balachandran family

Living the Singapore dream

Vasanthan Balachandran and his family used to have to think hard about stretching their RM400 budget when shopping at the SongMart supermarket in the outskirts of Johor Baru.

Not anymore. These days, they just buy whatever they feel like, largely thanks to the Malaysian currency’s unprecedented slump against the Singapore dollar.

“We can just take a basket and drop everything we want. Life is sweet. Life is bling bling,” said the Malaysian, who earns about S$2,000 (RM6,312) as a pre-boarding screening officer at Changi Airport.

The Singapore dollar continued its climb against the ringgit last week, hitting a new all-time high of 3.1786 on Thursday (April 13). The outlook for the ringgit – which has been on a downward spiral since mid-2014 due to the global oil price slump, a corruption scandal at state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad and rising US interest rates – remains wobbly, especially with the continued outflow of capital from Malaysia since Donald Trump’s election victory last November.

On the ground, the impact of these currency movements can be dramatic. For instance, Vasanthan’s salary, once overtime pay and incentives are included, can now match that of a professor in Johor Baru.

Sunday 16 April 2017

MUI. Sign Of The Times

Is the hit single from Harry Styles debut solo single, that has rocketted to top of the UK charts.

Khoo Kay Peng, is back in town, in Kuala Lumpur, and this is the sign of the times, that something BIG is going to HAPPEN.

MUI now trades at about 24 Sen a share, but in the offing could be a bumper special dividend, as Khoo, the RM7 billion ringgit man is banking on selling Laura Ashley, Metrojaya, the chocolate business.

MUI, will then tie up with UCSI education group, and venture big time in the education business .

Thursday 6 April 2017

Bernama.4.44. Died in Your Arms

Is the 1980's hit for one hit wonders cutting crew, taken from the album broadcast.

National news broadcaster BERNAMA, yet again gets it wrong with its Ringgit/USD forecast.

Bernama promised the world the ringgit will trade between RM4.40 and RM 4.42 against the US dollar.

The ringgit now is RM4.44 against the dollar and yet another Bernama currency story just died.

Wednesday 5 April 2017

Inari. Wrecking Ball

Is the monster hit from Miley Cyrus from the album bangerz.

Inari's share price closed at RM2.08, which is nothing to shout about, but there is a wrecking ball coming soon in a very good way.

Volume was 18.25 million shares or more than 200 per cent of it's four week average trading volume of 8.42 million shares.

The 14 day money flow chart which tracks block buying is at about 79 points, which signals very strong buying and accumulation.

Tuesday 4 April 2017

North Korea. Doom Song

Hell To Play is a heavy metal hit for Miracle Of Sound. The video has some three million views on U Tube.

North Korea looks to be very soon a doom song...Here is why. Read Bloomberg Below ;

North Korea conducted another ballistic missile test, shortly before the first meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump.

The projectile was fired into the East Sea early Wednesday and flew about 60 kilometers (37 miles), South Korea’s joint chiefs of staff said in a text message. Japan strongly protested the launch, which fell short of its exclusive economic zone, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in Tokyo.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in a statement that the U.S. has spoken enough on North Korea and would have no further comment. In March he said that all options, including military, are on the table to counter the regime. North Korea is expected to feature in talks between Trump and Xi in Florida on April 6-7.

D&O Green Technologies. Wishing On A Star

Is a massive hit for Rose Royce, taken from the album full bloom.

D&O Technologies, yesterday failed to pass the 70 Sen a share mark.

Those who still own this shares, will be wishing on a star, today or its game over for the D&O joy ride!!!

UMNO Vs UMNO. Tiada Maaf Bagi Mu

Is the massive hit from the 1970's for Sharifah Aini.

Tiada Maaf Bagi Mu, should be what NAJIB RAZAK, should dish out, to this very ill minded UMNO MP.

And thankfully, even within UMNO, They ain't buying this guy's train of thought.

The Star has the story. Read below :

The statement by Tasik Gelugor MP Datuk Shabudin Yahya’s regarding marriages between child victims and rapists is unacceptable in the 21st century, said Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan.

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said he was utterly disappointed with Shabudin's statement in the Dewan Rakyat.

"Every child has the right to live, to dream, and to have fun. If the parents cannot provide a decent childhood for their children, it is the Government’s responsibility to protect the best interests of Malaysian children," Abdul Rahman said in a statement on Tuesday night.

Shabudin had on Tuesday said that there was nothing wrong with a rape victim marrying the rapist, and even suggested that some nine-year-olds were "physically and spiritually" ready for marriage. 

He said this when debating the Sexual Offences Against Children Bill 2017 after several Opposition lawmakers suggested amending it to include child marriages as an offence. 

Shabudin has since come under heavy criticism online for his statement.

Commenting further on Shabudin's statement, Abdul Rahman said that Section 375(g) of the Penal Code states that any man who has sex with a girl under 16 years of age commits statutory rape, regardless of whether he has received her consent

"It is with that notion in mind that I believe laws are enacted to protect our children, especially underage girls," said Abdul Rahman.

“Therefore, it is not acceptable in this 21st century that we suggest that a rapist who should be prosecuted can escape legal responsibility simply by marrying his victim,” he added.

 

 

 

 

 

Orion IXL. Bailando

Is now officially the most popular Spanish song on the planet after gathering 2 billion views on U Tube

The song is by Enrique Iglesias & Descemer Bueno. The last I wrote about Bailando was when Orion IXL was a 30 Sen something stock, and Bailando had just about 1.9 billion views.

Orion IXL starts the day at 29 sen, But some thing tells me, a gut feeling, this stock is ready to FLY.

1MDB. Won't Go Away

Is a minor hit for Vertical Horizon from the album Go .

1MDB, won't go away. Bloomberg has the story below ;

Switzerland’s financial regulator said it’s still probing UBS Group AG and three other private banks in relation to alleged corruption and money laundering at the Malaysian government fund known as 1MDB.

“There are still a handful of cases related to 1MDB that have not been concluded,” Mark Branson, chief executive officer of the regulator Finma, told reporters in Bern on Tuesday. He later added that four banks are still under scrutiny.

Four cases remain unresolved, including an enforcement proceeding against UBS, the largest Swiss bank, according to Vinzenz Mathys, a spokesman for Finma. The regulator hasn’t named the other three banks.

Jho Low. Locked Up

Is the 2004 hit for Akon feautring Styles P taken from the album Trouble.

Jho Low hasn't been locked up yet, but trouble seems to be heading his way, with Fortune magazine reporting that Singapore too could file criminal charges against Jho Low.

Monday 3 April 2017

Stocks. Trouble

Is the smash hit by Lenka, taken from the Australian's self titled Lenka album.

Market Watch has a very interesting article that Trouble could soon be heading stock's way. This comes just 24 hours after analysts said that Asian stocks are looking too ripe for comfort.

Read below, Market Watch :

The Dow hasn’t closed below this important chart level since Election Day

By Ryan Vlastelica

Market action suggests DJIA peaked ‘a few weeks ago’: analyst

In a sign that the stock market’s upward trend is losing steam, the Dow Jones Industrial Average temporarily broke below its 50-day moving average on Monday, a level that is often viewed as a measure of near-term momentum.

The Dow DJIA, -0.06%  was at 20,606 in recent action, down 58 points, but had traded as low as 20,517.82 in earlier activity, below its 50-day average of 20,548.03.

The S&P 500 SPX, -0.16%  was near its own 50-day moving average of 2,340.96, but hadn’t breached it as of midday. The S&P was down 0.4% at 2,353.22 in recent action.

If the Dow were to close below the technically significant level, it would represent the first time the blue-chip average has done so since Nov. 8—the day of the U.S. presidential election, when Donald Trump’s victory spurred a multimonth rally that took Wall Street to repeated records.

However, that upward momentum has shown signs of waning of late, with growing concerns over high valuations and growing doubts about the timing and scope of business-friendly legislation moving through Congress.

The Dow’s break below the 50-day average “is an indication that the market is in trouble. I’m fairly confident that we’re in a bull market correction, and if you’re a fund that is trying to allocate resources, you want to be in a market that’s trending higher,” said Walter Zimmermann, technical analyst at ICAP Technical Analysis.

“The 50-day moving average is a lagging indicator, suggesting the market peaked a few weeks ago. It doesn’t tell you where critical support comes in.” Zimmermann estimated that support would be 19,600 on the day, a level that is about 7.5% below the blue-chip average’s all-time high, which was reached on March 1.

Donald Trump. Jangan Lebay

Is the 2009 hit by the Indonesian duo t2, taken from the album malu malu dong.

Donald Trump, jangan lebay (Don't push it), when it comes to North Korea. Taking action of that mad nation without China's okay will tank stock markets here and create unprecedented military crisis here.

Read CNN below :

US President Donald Trump has declared he would be willing to go it alone to restrain North Korea's nuclear weapons program should China fail to change the situation, saying if Beijing won't help solve it, then "we will" alone.

"China will either decide to help us with North Korea or they won't," Trump said in an interview published Sunday in the Financial Times. "If they do, that will be very good for China, and if they don't, it won't be good for anyone."

Sunday 2 April 2017

Stock Market. S.0.S

Is the third single from Abba's 1975 self titled​  ABBA album and their first global hit since waterloo.

Analyst are saying that Asian stocks might soon face it's Waterloo, hence Bloomberg has put out the S.O.S. read below :

A pullback in Asian equities looms after a stellar start to the year, according to fund managers, who remain bullish for the longer term thanks to cheap valuations and optimism that the region will benefit from improving global growth.

While managers see strong fundamentals, they ticked off several risks that may weigh in the second quarter, from French elections and Brexit to U.S. interest rates, as well as Donald Trump’s stance on protectionism and his ability to steer his agenda through Congress.

“We are cautiously optimistic, but there a lots of things that could upset this benign environment,” said Paul Danes, chief executive of Martin Currie Asia, a subsidiary of Legg Mason. “There will no doubt be persistent concerns about what President Trump says and does, and how this will be reflected in policy. We can think of plenty of disaster scenarios, and in such an event there will be few businesses untouched.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index jumped almost 9 percent from January to the end of March, its best return since the same period in 2012. It was up 0.2 percent at 9:45 a.m. Monday in Hong Kong, kicking off the second quarter higher, along with markets from Japan to Australia. India’s Sensex advanced the most in the region in the first quarter, rising more than 11 percent to a record high. Japan, pressured by a strengthening yen, had the poorest showing among major markets, as it slipped to a loss on the final day of the quarter.

Bernama : I don't like Mondays

Is the 1979 classic by the Boomtown Rats.

I figure Bernama's currency desk and business editor (one more bottoms up?) Don't like Mondays too.

The reason is Bernama told the NATION that the RINGGIT will only trade at RM4.42 and RM4.40 against the US Dollar THIS WEEK

Well it's only Monday today, and the Ringgit is already trading at 4.43 to the dollar.

HSS Engineers. Higher Love

Is the standout classic by legends Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood, taken from the album back in the high life again.

There is no doubt, HSS is back in the high life again, with the stock hitting a fresh record high of 77.5 Sen.

The stock is now trading at 76.5 Sen , with the talk in town is there could be a higher love in store for HSS with a rerating of the stock.

Tadmax. Harus Aku

Is a current hit in Indonesia for  Sufian Suhaimi.

Volume on Tadmax Resources hit 20 million on last Friday.. This is almost double the stock's four week average of about 8 million shares.

The stock price is just a couple of Sen away from its 52 week high.

Harus Aku beli tak si Tadmax NI?  Might be the question most people are asking because Tadmax can blow  very hot and then go stale and cold.

Its owner Anuar Adam, must come out from his cocoon and give the market confidence that this time, the Tadmax shares are not going to play the punter's back

The Asian Century. Didn't We Almost Have It All

Is the massive ballad hit by Whitney Houston, from the album entitled Whitney.

Didn't we almost have it all, is what Bloomberg is saying. Malaysia gets two mentions in the article, first as a tiger . Then  ...:

PROPHETS

Long-Awaited 'Asian Century' Might Never Come

By A. Gary Shilling

People in the West, certainly Americans, have long had a fascination with the East, with many predicting an inevitable “Asian century” marked by economic and market dominance. I have long disagreed with the consensus on China and other Asian Tigers, and others are beginning to agree. Many problems stand in the way of the “Asian century.”

Japan dazzled Westerners with the speed of its recovery from the ashes of World War II. Japanese purchases of U.S. trophy properties such as the Pebble Beach golf resort in California and Rockefeller Center in Manhattan in the 1980s, on top of the leaping property and equity prices in Japan, convinced many in the West that Japan would soon take over the world.

Japan’s economic decline in the early 1990s did not curb fascination with Asia. It simply shifted to the rapidly-growing developing economies, the Asian Tigers. The original four, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, were later augmented by the likes of Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and, of course, China -- and more recently, Pakistan, Vietnam, Indonesia and Bangladesh.

The late-1990s Asian financial crisis only temporarily disrupted Western fascination with the East and the prospects for an “Asian century.”

The 2007-2009 Great Recession and financial crisis ended rapid economic growth in Western countries and, therefore, the robust demand for exports that were the mainstay of developing economies. Still, Western zeal for Asia persisted and many, for no logical reasons, believed emerging countries could independently continue to grow rapidly and, indeed, support economic activity in the sluggish U.S. and Europe.

Chinese real economic annual growth rates nosedived from double digits to a recessionary 6.3 percent during the worldwide downturn, but then revived due to the massive 2009 stimulus program. Easy credit fueled a property boom and inflation, and excessive infrastructure spending replaced exports as the growth engine. As with the Asian Tigers earlier, many thought Chinese growth was self-sustaining and unrelated to ongoing sluggish economic performance in North America and Europe, especially after Chinese GDP topped Japan’s in 2009.

There are five main reasons why it won’t get any easier for Asia:

1. Globalization is largely completed.There isn’t much manufacturing in North America and Europe left to be moved to lower-cost developing economies. At the same time, the West is basically saturated with Asian exports, and those countries are competing fiercely among themselves for limited total export demand. Also, exports are shifting among those countries as low-end production moves from China to places such as Pakistan and Bangladesh, much as they shifted out of Japan in earlier decades. As economies grow, a greater share of spending is on services and less on goods. This reality is a long-term drag on almost all the other Asian lands, except India, due to their goods-export orientation. This will temper long-term growth for Asian goods exports even after rapid economic growth resumes in the U.S. and possibly other Western economies.

2. The shift from being export-led economies to ones driven by domestic spending, especially by consumers, has been slow. Chinese leaders want this transition, but it is moving at glacial speed. At 37 percent, Chinese consumer spending as a share of GDP is well below major developed countries such as the U.S. at 68.1 percent, Japan at 58.6 percent, and even Russia at 51.9 percent.

3. There are government and cultural restraints. Almost all developing Asian economies are tightly controlled by governments. Top-down regimes stoutly resist reform and often persist until they’re overthrown by revolutions. The current Mao dynasty in China, as I’ve dubbed it, seems seriously worried about popular unrest due to the lack of promised economic growth and is reducing what little political liberty was previously allowed. President Xi is now the Big Brother with lots of little brothers insuring proper thoughts and actions, even at the local level.

In Malaysia, Prime Minister Najib Razak is enmeshed in a multibillion-dollar investment scandal. In the Philippines, crime and drug trafficking are so rampant that President Rodrigo Duterte was elected on a platform of eliminating drug dealers, even by murderous vigilante squads. South Korea’s former president Park Geun-hye was thrown out over corruption.

4. Population problems endure.Despite the need for new workers in Japan as its population falls and ages, women are still discouraged from entering the labor force, and Japan continues to be unwelcoming toward newcomers. There’s no such thing as an immigration visa despite the fact that 83 percent of Japanese hiring managers have difficulty filling jobs, versus a global average of 38 percent in the last five years.

China also has a looming labor shortage and severe limits to economic growth due to its earlier one-child policy, which resulted in about 400 million Chinese not being born. Low fertility rates are also destined to reduce the populations of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea. At the other end of the population spectrum are Asian countries like Indonesia and India, whose population is expected to exceed China’s by 2022.

5. Military threats are growing in Asia, and could severely disrupt stability and retard economic growth if they flare up. China is exercising its military muscles by challenging U.S. military influence in the region by, among other actions, building military islands on reefs in the South China Sea. Japan is abandoning its post-World War pacifism and shifting from defensive to offensive capabilities. The Russians are also making military threats. The region contains five nuclear-armed countries: China, India and its rival Pakistan, Russia, and -- most troubling -- North Korea, which is testing long-range missiles. China isn’t happy about that, but it wants North Korea as a buffer between it and South Korea as well as a deterrent to its old foe, Japan. 

There may well be an “Asian century” in the future, but don’t hold your breath. It took about a millennium for the West to develop meaningful democracy, the rule of law, large middle classes that support domestic economies and all the institutions that are largely lacking in developing Asian lands

Saturday 1 April 2017

Kee Chua Chee. Fight Song

Is the massive hit of two years ago from Rachel Platten.

Why did Kee Chua Chee post this on his blog about Jason Goh after so many moons have passed since CNY?

Is this a see who i know post, or a fight song?

You can read Keechuachee at : http://keehuachee.blogspot.my/2012/01/tan-sri-jason-goh-hosted-historic.html?m=1.

If the link don't work just Google it lah

Bernama. Asleep

Is the smash hit by Britain's very own The Smiths.

Looks like our national news àgency BERNAMA is soundly Asleep yet again.

Bernama said that the Ringgit will trade between RM4.42 and RM4.40 next week against the US Dollar

Well, i got news for you, the Ringgit has already been pushed lower to RM4.43, and looks like opening tomorrow at that price too.

The Singapore dollar meanwhile will start at a RECORD 3.17 against the Ringgit.