No products in the cart.

Day: May 3, 2011

Call for true enforcement to reduce smoking

Smoking is bad for health, pure and simple. And yet measures taken to address the smoking pandemic in Malaysia seems conflicted – on one hand is the cost in human and health terms, while on the other side stifling government efforts are the apparent negative effect on tobacco farmers and poverty alleviation. The latter argument is flawed. The smoking statistics in Malaysia is quite alarming;...
Read More

GM mosquito release in Malaysia surprises opponents and scientists—again

Even scientists were surprised by the release of GM mosquitoes in Malaysia, reports sciencemag.org of The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)*. Medical entomologist Bart Knols of the University of Amsterdam worries that surprises such as the releases in Grand Cayman and Malaysia may erode public trust and provide anti-GM groups with ammunition. Helen Wallace of the...
Read More
mosquitoes

10 things you should know about GM mosquitoes

The National Biosafety Board (NBB) has recently approved an application from the Institute for Medical Research (IMR) to release genetically modified (GM) male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes. IMR wants to conduct field experiments in Bentong and Alor Gajah to see how far the males fly and how long they live for. The aim of this GM technology is for the GM male mosquitoes to mate with wild female...
Read More

Co-ops heading for trouble again?

5.9 Million Members and RM38 Billion Assets in Malaysian Cooperatives Cooperatives have been in the country since 1922. In 2006 we had about 5,000 cooperatives with 5.9 million members and total assets of RM38.3 billion. That is a lot of assets and a lot of people involved, both of which give rise to concerns about the cooperative movement. Firstly, are the cooperatives heading for trouble again?...
Read More

Many complaints against many co-ops

1) Koperasi Wawasan Pekerja-Pekerja Malaysia Berhad (KOWAJA) RM7,980 Deducted from Loan A member applied for a RM80,000 loan in January 2009  but only RM33,995 was deposited into his account. He was never given a copy of the loan agreement. When he said he wanted to return the  RM33,995 as it was not what he applied for, he was told that he would have to pay a fee of  RM2,000.  His  February...
Read More

History of cooperative scandals

1) ANGKASA: Alleged Fraud at Umbrella Co-op Angkatan Koperasi Kebangsaan Malaysia (ANGKASA) commenced in 1977 as the umbrella cooperative of the country. However it has become obvious that all is not well in ANGKASA. Its former President Royal Professor Ungku Aziz voiced his disappointment that SKM’s investigation into the alleged misappropriation of funds was still not completed in January...
Read More

24% interest rate for co-op loan

Cooperative members may find it easy to get loans but these loans can be very expensive.  For one cooperative member, the interest rate is as high as 24% per annum. The loan is expensive because the cooperative deducts “cost of loan 19% from the principal”. Members who sign up know very little about what they are getting themselves into. Not only do they sign blank forms but they also do not...
Read More