Bila melayu bangga masuk DAP

DAP buka cawangan Melayu dengan ketuanya Melayu

Ketika PAS berusaha mendekati orang bukan Islam, DAP pula mencipta sejarah baru-baru ini apabila membuka sebuah cawangan yang ahlinya adalah majoriti Melayu di samping mempunyai ketua dari kalangan orang Melayu.

Cawangan itu dibuka di Kampung Lembah Kinrara dalam Parlimen Puchong yang diwakili oleh Teresa Kok.

Setiausaha Publisiti DAP Pusat, Tony Phua ketika bercakap dalam majlis itu berkata, “Jangan fikir DAP akan meminggirkan Melayu dalam parti ini.

“Kalau ada yang layak, kita akan lantik Setiausaha Agung di kalangan orang Melayu,” kata Tony yang merupakan anggota Parlimen Petaling Jaya Utara.

Beliau memberikan contoh Tunku Abdul Aziz yang menyertai DAP.

“Sebaik sahaja dia menyertai DAP, dia telah dilantik sebagai Naib Pengerusi Kebangsaan,” katanya.

(Gambar:Ketua cawangan DAP Kampung Lembah Kinrara menyerah borang DAP kepada Teresa)

Di majlis itu, ketua cawangan DAP di kalangan orang Melayu itu menyerah 50 borang lengkap yang diisi oleh orang Melayu di cawangan itu.

Seorang ahli DAP yang baru, Saiful Alimin berkata, menyertai DAP bukanlah satu perkara yang senang bagi orang Melayu seperti beliau.

“DAP dianggap parti sosialis. Orang Melayu beranggapan, sosialis adalah sama dengan komunis. Tetapi sebenarnya, sosialis jauh lebih dekat dengan sistem politik Islam. Inilah sistem yang menyekat dari ketidakadilan. Semua perubahan adalah untuk kebaikan bukan untuk rasuah,” kata Saiful yang berucap di majlis itu.

Ahli Majlis Daerah Kuala Selangor, Azli Idris (gambar) berkata, dia adalah satu-satunya ahli majlis daerah itu dari kalangan DAP.

“Bila saya menghadiri mesyuarat dan program di Kuala selangor, saya pakai songkok. Orang selalu tanya, saya ahli majlis dari PAS atau PKR tetapi saya dengan bangganya berkaya, saya dari DAP,” kata Azli di majlis itu.

Di majlis itu, Teresa telah meraikan ahli-ahli baru itu dalam majlis berbuka puasa dengan mereka.

-Sumber: Harakah website-

Gekko: Kalau sebelum merdeka mereka ni dah lama kena tikam dengan keris dah ni. TAK AKAN MELAYU HILANG DI DUNIA… tapi kalau sampai jadi macam ni, lebih baik hilang dari tidak mempunyai maruah dan harga diri.

Puasa dan Berbuka

Australian Economic Growth Accelerates, Points to Rate Increase

Australia’s economic growth unexpectedly accelerated in the second quarter, driving the nation’s currency higher on expectations the central bank will raise borrowing costs from a half-century low.

Gross domestic product rose 0.6 percent, the biggest gain in more than a year, from the previous three months when it grew 0.4 percent, the Bureau of Statistics said in Sydney today. The median estimateof 20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 0.2 percent expansion.

Today’s report confirms central bank Governor Glenn Stevens’ view that the economy has been “stronger than expected” as A$20 billion ($16.6 billion) of government cash handouts boosted spending at retailers such as Woolworths Ltd. and Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. Australia joins other developed nations, including France and Germany, that are rebounding from the deepest global recession since the Great Depression.

“Australia clearly is in a sweet spot, one that we expect to extend through to year end,” saidGlenn Maguire, chief Asia- Pacific economist at Societe Generale in Hong Kong. The Reserve Bank will raise interest rates by a quarter-percentage point in November, he added.

The Australian dollar rose 83.04 U.S. cents at 12:38 p.m. in Sydney from 82.73 cents just before the report was released. The two-year government bond yield gained 7 basis points to 4.39 percent. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index has climbed 41 percent since March 6.

Government Stimulus

Governor Stevens and his board left the overnight cash rate target at a 49-year low of 3 percent yesterday for a fifth month as the economy strengthens. GDP may expand further in coming quarters as the government spends A$22 billion on roads, railways and schools.

Traders forecast the central bank’s overnight cash rate target will be 175 basis points higher in 12 months, according to a Credit Suisse Group AG index based on interest-rate swaps at 12:35 p.m. in Sydney.

Consumer spending jumped 0.8 percent in the second quarter, the largest gain since the three months through December 2007, adding 0.5 percentage points to GDP.

The economy grew 0.6 percent from a year earlier, twice the pace forecast by economists, today’s report showed.

Analysts had cut their growth forecast in the past two days after reports showed a widening current account deficit in the second quarter and a record drop in business inventories.

Global Rebound

Government stimulus also helped lift Germany out it its worst recession since World War II, a report showed on Aug. 25. Europe’s largest economy grew 0.3 percent from the first quarter, after four quarters of contraction. France’s economy, the second-biggest in the euro region, unexpectedly exited a year- long recession, gaining by the same amount as Germany.

By contrast, the U.K.’s economy shrank 5.5 percent in the second quarter, the most since records began in 1955, and U.S. GDP dropped 1 percent.

Today’s report showed engineering construction jumped 5.2 percent in the second quarter. The government last month approved Chevron Corp.’s A$50 billion liquefied natural gas venture, which will leapfrog Australia to second place behind Qatar as the world’s biggest LNG producers.

The Reserve Bank scrapped its forecast last month for the economy to contract this year, instead predicting gross domestic product will expand 0.5 percent. The bank expects growth will accelerate to 2.25 percent in 2010 and 3.75 percent in 2011.

Retail Profits

Reports this week showed building approvals rose for a second month in July and manufacturing expanded in August for the first time in 14 months. Consumer and business confidence have also surged to the highest levels in almost two years.

Woolworths Ltd., Australia’s largest retailer, said last week that profit in the six months ended June 28 jumped 16 percent.

“The troubles are probably behind us now and things are looking a lot better,” Gerry Harvey, chairman of Australia’s biggest electronics seller, Harvey Norman, said on Aug. 28. “Consumer sentiment is much higher than it was six months ago and there’s no reason to believe that won’t continue.”

Harvey Norman’s earnings in Australia, where it gets three quarters of its revenue, rose 4 percent in the year ended June 30.

“The stimulus is helping Australia defy global economic gravity,” Treasurer Wayne Swantold reporters in Canberra today. “Without economic stimulus, our economy would have contracted.” The government would start withdrawing its stimulus from the fourth quarter, he said.

The chain price index, a measure of retail prices, declined 2.2 percent in the second quarter from the previous three months, today’s report showed.

-Source: Bloomberg-

U.S. Economy: GDP Contracts 1% as Recovery Approaches

The U.S. economy took a first step toward recovering from the worst recession since the 1930s in the second quarter as companies reduced inventories, spending started to climb and profits grew.

Gross domestic product shrank at a 1 percent annual rate from April to June, less than the 1.5 percent decline projected by economists in a Bloomberg News survey, a Commerce Department report showed today in Washington. Corporate earnings rose by the most in four years, the department also said.

Government programs, including the “cash-for-clunkers” and first-time homebuyer incentives, are boosting manufacturing and housing, indicating the gain in sales that began last quarter will be sustained in the second half of the year. Another report showed unemployment may jeopardize the strength of the economic rebound.

“We’re on a pretty decent recovery path,” said Bruce Kasman, chief economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. “There was a better mix last quarter with almost every major component of final demand being revised up and inventories being revised down. That puts us in a pretty decent position going into the third quarter.”

Stocks rose, propelled by a late rally in commodities. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.3 percent to close at 1,030.98. Treasury securities fell as stocks climbed, pushing up the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 3.46 percent at 5:12 p.m. in New York from 3.44 percent late yesterday.

ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENTS IN MALAYSIA IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF 2009

Growth declined at a slower pace in the second quarter

The Malaysian economy contracted at a slower rate of 3.9% in the second quarter of 2009 (1Q 09: -6.2%), due mainly to higher public spending and positive growth in private consumption. Nonetheless, growth continued to be affected by weak external demand and private investment activity. Reflecting continued sluggish global economy, real net exports of goods and services declined by 0.7%. On the supply side, all economic sectors registered improved performance.

Slower pace of contraction in the second quarter

During the quarter, domestic demand registered a slower decline of 2.3% (1Q 09:  -2.9%) following expansion in public sector spending and private consumption. Private consumption recorded a positive growth of 0.5% (1Q 09:

-0.7%), as stabilisation in labour market conditions and lower price levels provided further support to consumer spending. Consumer sentiments improved in the second quarter as reflected by MIER Consumer Sentiments

Index, which increased to 105.8 points from 78.9 points in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, public consumption expanded by 1% due to higher expenditure on supplies and services and emoluments. Gross fixed capital formation contracted by 9.8% (1Q 09: -10.8%) following continued decline in private investment activity, particularly in the manufacturing sector due to prevailing excess capacity amidst weak external demand. Nevertheless,higher public sector spending on development projects in the education, trade and industry as well as agriculture and rural development sectors provided some support to the overall investment activity.

All key sectors of the economy recorded better performance during the quarter. The services sector registered a positive growth of 1.6% (1Q 09: – 0.2%) due mainly to better performance of the finance and insurance sub- sector. The manufacturing sector declined at a slower pace of 14.5% (1Q 09: – 17.9%) following improvements in the export-oriented industries, particularly the E&E industry, as a result of increasing inventory replenishment activity after the massive cut in production and large inventory drawdown undertaken during the first quarter. Growth in the construction sector strengthened to 2.8% (1Q 09: 1.1%) as the industry benefitted from the increased implementation of the stimulus package. Meanwhile, the agriculture sector turned around to grow by 0.3% (1Q 09: -4.3%) supported by continued strong production of food crops and a smaller decline in industrial crops, while growth in the mining sector declined at a moderate pace of 2.6% (1Q 09: -5.2%) due to a smaller contraction in the  output of natural gas and crude oil.

Headline inflation rate, as measured by the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), was 1.3% in the second quarter of 2009 (1Q 09: 3.7%). As with the previous quarter, the moderation in inflation was largely explained by lower inflation in the food and non-alcoholic beverages and transport categories. Inflation in the food and non-alcoholic beverages category moderated to 5.3% (1Q 09: 9.2%). Meanwhile, prices in the transport category fell by 8.2% compared to their levels a year ago (1Q 09: -2.1%), reflecting mainly the high base effect of the sharp rise in the price level in June 2008 arising from fuel price adjustments.

In the external sector, the trade surplus narrowed but remained large at RM26.5 billion, as gross imports contracted at a slower pace compared to gross exports. Gross exports registered a sharper contraction of 26.3% (1Q 09: -20.0%) as demand for manufactured products from major trading partners remained weak, while commodity exports contracted significantly by 40.6% (1Q 09: -23.8%) due primarily to lower prices compared with the same period of 2008. Meanwhile, improved manufacturing output and the restocking of inputs for production led to a smaller contraction in imports of intermediate goods, and thus a lower decline of imports of 23.7% (1Q 09: -29.0%).