 It is Singapore's first recession since 2002 |
Singapore's economy shrank between July and September, confirming it was the first Asian country in recession in the current financial crisis.
The island's economy shrank 6.8% in the third quarter, according to government data, worse than the first estimate of 6.3% the government made last month.
Recession is generally defined as being two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
Hong Kong and Japan have since gone into recession as well.
BANGKOK: The remnants of the last financial crisis are still arrayed across this sprawling city, half-finished buildings covered with mold and rust stains, reminders of a real estate bubble a decade ago that burst with a loud bang.
The crisis of 1997 was breathtaking for its suddenness and ferocity. Banks collapsed, companies went under and erstwhile millionaires, desperate for cash, sold their belongings at what became known as the market of the formerly rich.
Now as another global financial crisis unfolds, the signs of distress in Southeast Asia are much more subtle.
Traffic has thinned by 6 percent on Bangkok's expressways. Indonesian farmers who harvest the red fruit from oil palm trees are having trouble finding buyers. House prices in Vietnam, a relative newcomer to capitalism, have come down 30 percent in recent months, following years of steep rises.
Stock markets in Southeast Asia have slid downward almost in lockstep with those in New York, London and Tokyo. But outside of trading rooms, there is none of the palpable panic of a decade ago when the region was ground zero in what the Thais called the "tom yam crisis," after the famous spicy soup that can burn one's tongue
"While the initial reduction in growth won't be as bad as in the Asian crisis," Tan said, "it will also mean the rebound is slower and takes longer, as export demand will be much weaker."
Lacking the immediacy of the last crisis, the twists and turns of the financial turmoil in the West have been received here like news of a plague several valleys away. The villagers are wondering when it will hit their homes and how bad it will be.
The reckoning is likely to come next year. As orders for exports drop off, factories will slow down and the main motor of Southeast Asian economies will sputter, say economists and government planners.
Southeast Asian countries exported themselves out of the last crisis with cheap products made even cheaper by their devalued currencies. The United States, which was still enjoying its technology boom in 1999, snapped up the electronics, clothing and toys that the region produces.
This time debt-laden consumers in the United States do not appear to have the means to keep factories here humming. On the contrary, a newfound frugality among Americans is likely to drag Southeast Asia down. Thailand and Vietnam depend heavily on exports to power economic growth. For Malaysia and Singapore, overseas markets are even more crucial to domestic prosperity.
"We have had export-led growth for more than 30 years," said Pansak Vinyaratn, a former chief economic adviser to the Thai government. "We have not geared ourselves toward investment in domestic-led growth."
Workers may be laid off or migrant workers sent home, but economists are predicting a slowdown, not a recession. In 1997 the suddenness of the crisis put a bankrupted real estate developer out on the street selling sandwiches. Thailand's economy shrank by a stunning 10 percent in 1998.
This crisis, when measured by economic growth, is predicted to be far less severe.
Governments, which now have larger cash reserves and relatively small deficits compared with the roaring, and profligate, 1990s, have already announced plans to increase spending to keep the economies moving.
Indonesia, which went cup in hand to the International Monetary Fund last time, has much more room to maneuver. The country's public debt has come down significantly, from more than 100 percent of the size of its economy eight years ago to about 36 percent now.
And in its earliest stages the credit crisis has brought a measure of relief to Southeast Asia.
The plunge in oil prices is good news for Indonesia, where subsidies make up a large part of the government budget.
The poor may also benefit. Along with fuel, the price of rice has fallen sharply.
"Inflation this year is 6 percent; next year it will be half that," said Supavud Saicheua, managing director of Phatra Securities in Bangkok. "The poor and working class in factories will definitely benefit."
KUALA LUMPUR, (Bernama) -- Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz has asked former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to provide proof that money politics was involved in the race for the Umno deputy presidency.
Nazri said it was not proper for Dr Mahathir to have made such a serious allegation without proof as it could have a negative impact on the candidates vying for the post as well as the party.
"If he (Dr Mahathir) has the proof, he should show it to the party's Disciplinary Board. That's the best thing to do, because he must remember that he's a statesman, so people tend to believe whatever he says," Nazri told reporters at the parliament lobby here today.
He was responding to Dr Mahathir's statement yesterday implying that a candidate had used money to secure enough nominations to enable him to contest the Umno deputy president post in the party elections in March.
Nazri said party delegates should report to the authorities if candidates offered them money to gain support as this could check corruption.
Rural and Regional Development Minister Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib who has qualified as one of the three candidates for the Umno deputy presidency, said all quarters should work together in stamping out money politics to ensure a smooth and fair party polls.
"We have about four months more to the party elections, so I hope everyone can play their role to eradicate money politics.
"Candidates, delegates and anyone else should not be creating unsavoury stories or do anything negative so that the delegates are free to make their own choice come March next year," he said.
SINGAPURA 9 Nov. – Perdana Menteri Singapura, Lee Hsien Loong berpendapat republik ini yang mempunyai penduduk berbilang kaum berjumlah lebih 3.5 juta orang, belum bersedia untuk memilih Perdana Menteri bukan Cina dalam tempoh terdekat.
Hsien Loong membuat kenyataan itu semalam semasa dialog dengan anggota masyarakat Melayu di sini sebagai menjawab soalan sama ada pemilihan Barack Obama sebagai Presiden kulit hitam pertama Amerika Syarikat (AS) bermakna anggota kaum minoriti di negara ini juga berpeluang untuk menjadi Perdana Menteri.
“Kemungkinannya ada, ini bergantung kepada cara penduduk mengundi dan siapa yang mendapat keyakinan rakyat.
“Adakah ini akan berlaku tidak lama lagi? Saya tidak fikir begitu kerana seseorang perlu memenangi undi,” kata Hsien Loong menurut laporan akhbar Sunday Times hari ini.
Beliau berkata, sentimen yang mendorong seseorang mengundi calon tertentu akan memakan masa yang lama untuk hapus sama sekali.
Kira-kira 75 peratus daripada 3.64 juta penduduk tetap Singapura ialah kaum Cina, sementara hampir 14 peratus merupakan kaum Melayu dan sembilan peratus lagi kaum India.
Jawatan Presiden Singapura yang tidak memiliki kuasa sebenar disandang oleh seorang yang berketurunan India.
Seorang daripada dua Timbalan Perdana Menteri Singapura serta tiga menteri dalam Kabinet Hsien Loong juga daripada kaum India.
– AFP
Kemudiannya beliau dapat dari Kubang Kerian,Kelantan.
Sebelum itu Ketua Menteri Melaka itu dapat pencalonan daripada UMNO Bahagian Pendang, Ketereh, Tumpat, Pasir Salak,Sandakan dan Sungai Petani.
Sementara itu Ketua Penerangan UMNO Tan Sri Muhamad Muhd Taib pula perlukan tiga lagi pencalonan setelah dapat 36.
Menteri Kemajuan Luar Bandar dan Wilayah itu dapat pencalonan daripada UMNO Bahagian Petaling Jaya Selatan, Baling, Sungai Besar, Hulu Langat,Pesiangan,Sik dan Kuala Krai.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin pula masih jauh di depan setelah mendapat 84 pencalonan.
Beliau dapat daripada UMNO Bahagian Wangsa Maju, Kuala Nerus,Jerai,Arau dan Bukit Bintang.
Berdasarkan pencalonan terkini pasti akan berlaku pertandingan tiga penjuru untuk jawatan Timbalan Presiden.
Ini kerana esok Ahad iaitu hari akhir di Selangor ada EMPAT bahagian yang akan bermesyuarat.
Selain itu ada beberapa lagi di negeri lain yang akan bermesyuarat.
Daripada jumlah itu pula dua bahagian iaitu Pekan dan Kepala Batas tidak akan membuat pencalonan seperti yang diputuskan oleh Majlis Tertinggi UMNO. - 8/11/2008 - Agendadaily
KAJANG, Nov 7 - The Home Ministry will not dispute the decision of the court to release blogger Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin from detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA), said its minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar.
"That is the decision of the court. So, if he is released, it's the right of the court," he told reporters after launching the Kajang Prison Mosque, Hulu Langat, here today.
Raja Petra, 58, was detained under the ISA on Sept 12 as he had consciously, deliberately and irresponsibly, through his 'Malaysia Today' website posted his articles and readers' comments that ridiculed and insulted
Muslims, the sanctity of Islam and the personality of Prophet Muhammad which had caused uneasiness and anger among Muslims in the country.
Raja Petra was released today on the order of the Shah Alam High Court which accepted the habeas corpus application filed by the blogger.
In another development, Syed Hamid asked those who had accused him of corruption to lodge a report with the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) to substantiate their allegations.
Commenting on the police report lodged by the Johor PAS information chief, Mazlan Aliman, who had alleged that he had bribed his supporters to secure the post of Umno vice-president, he said the parties concerned should use the right channel in seeking clarification instead of resorting to slanders. - Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 (Bernama) -- Umno information chief Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib claimed that certain quarters had been using threats and dirty tactics to block his nomination for the party deputy presidency.
"Do not use dirty tactics to stop me... I come across these threats at several places. After a name is proposed and seconded, the nomination is immediately closed.
"Some people have been warned that if a particular candidate becomes the deputy president, they will be in trouble," he told reporters at the parliamentary lobby here Wednesday.
Muhammad, who is also Rural and Regional Development Minister, also denied that he would pull out of the race and the rumours had caused some members to think that he was no longer interested to go for the number two post.
He said Umno divisions should not be discouraged from nominating candidates of their choice, and he and vice-president Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam should be given the opportunity to vie for the deputy presidency.
On the walk-out staged by the opposition at the Dewan Rakyat yesterday, he said it was a desperate attempt by the opposition to divert the attention of the people as the government had taken bold steps to stimulate the economy.
-- BERNAMA
KUALA LUMPUR: Wanita Gerakan chief Datuk Tan Lian Hoe said she had never made remarks that questioned the rights of the Malays and that she had clarified the issue with the Deputy Prime Minister.
She said her speech during the Oct 10 Gerakan annual general assembly had merely stated that Malays hailed from the Malay archipelago.
“My speech was misconstrued and was never intended to disturb the sensitivities of any race or group in Malaysia, nor did I want to criticise anyone,” she said after the first Wanita central committee meeting on Sunday.
