Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced in the 2016 Budget that Malaysia agrees in principle to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. He said the text of the trade agreement would be tabled in Parliament, following which the cabinet would decide about signing. We can be certain that those who are opposed to it on ideological grounds will remain adamant that Malaysia should not join the TPP, irrespective of the conclusions of the cost-benefit analysis or

THE Prime Minister announced in his Budget 2016 speech that Malaysia agrees in principle to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). He also said the text of the trade agreement would be tabled for debate in Parliament, following which the Cabinet would make the decision about signing. We can be certain that those who are opposed to it on ideological grounds will remain adamant that Malaysia should not join the TPPA irrespective of the conclusions of the cost-bene

Malaysia envisages reaching developed nation status by 2020, expounded in Vision 2020 launched by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in 1991 and in the New Economic Model launched by the Prime Minister, Dato Seri Najib Abdul Razak on March 20, 2010. What defines developed status goes beyond per capita income. Developed nations are defined by good governance and the supremacy of the rule of law. It is defined by strong institutions with integrity of its leadership and people, able to pr

In 1990, Dr Loga Mahesan Baskaran, an academic expert and long-time advocate of English as a second language (ESL) who was then attached to Universiti Malaya, presented a paper at a Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) seminar. This seminar was the crossroads from which we looked at strategies to improve ESL teacher training in Malaysia and the need to admit as ESL students those who were sufficiently proficient in English. Fast forward to 2015 and we are still froz

It’s been nearly a year since the G25 group of eminent Malays was formed. Now, two of its members remind Malaysia that there are many moderates out there. FOR a son and a daughter of former Deputy Prime Minister Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, joining the group of prominent Malays which have expressed concern about “continuing unresolved disputes on the position and application of Islamic laws in this country” was a natural thing to do. Tawfik Ismail, a former banker and Sungai B

THOSE who understand how the global economy works in this modern age of high-speed technology will understand the vital role of English in economic development. There are some countries which realised early on that with the advent of the global, borderless economy and the wide coverage of high-speed communications, modern technology was making irreversible changes in the pattern of production of goods and services, where multinational giants like Apple, Microsoft, Boeing, and