Kekayaan vs Ketidaksamaan Agihan Pendapatan atau pun Economic inequality (aka the gap between rich and poor, income inequality, wealth disparity)
Merujuk kepada posting tempoh hari,
--> Forbes ranks Brunei fifth richest nation
The world's richest countries
How does a country become rich?
For these countries in the list compiled by Forbes.com, it would appear that natural resources is an edge when it comes to producing wealth.
Countries on the list such as Brunei, Kuwait, and Qatar have used their extensive oil, natural gas, or petroleum supplies.
Other countries, like Singapore show that if you don't have it, you have to do something despite what you don't have.
The Forbes list was ranked by comparing the GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power (PPP-adjusted GDP) for 182 countries based on the latest figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), from the year 2010. This measure, which economists prefer, considers the relative cost of living and inflation as compared to just using exchange rates.
However, an economist gave a caveat, saying any GDP comparisons are misleading, which is also partly because the quality of goods per country do vary. Wealth distribution per country may not be equitable, with a rich country having very rich and very poor people among its population.
Dipetik dari - AsiaOne.com
Qatar “World’s Wealthiest”, But What Does That Mean?
What’s the story? What indeed…
No, I mean what’s this all about? Oh, Qatar has been ranked as the “world’s wealthiest country” in a new list compiled by US magazine Forbes, with the UAE placed sixth.
What do they mean by world’s wealthiest? Are you telling me Qatar has the GDP the size of the United States or even China (one fifth of US GDP)? Um no, Forbes looked at GDP per capita (adjusted for purchasing power parity).
Per capita… Ok, so total income divided by its population? The fact that Qatar has 5 people versus a billion people in China presumably helps a bit… Rather. In fact it’s 1.7 million people according to Forbes (although 900,000 if you look at Wikipedia) – and that’s including expatriates. The UAE has between 4 million and 7 million depending upon whose statistics you choose to use to help your argument.
Ok, so is wealth so evenly divided? No, it has a ‘poor’ Gini index of around 45. The Gini index measures how well income is actually divided within a society and the lower the score the better. Scandinavia has a Gini index of around 20. The UK, one of the most unequal societies in Europe, measures about 35.
Four fifths of the population in Qatar are expatriates, a similar percentage in the UAE. Arabs make up 40% of Qatar’s population, Pakistani’s number 100,000, Iranian 270,000, other groups 14%.
According to Forbes, Qatar booked an estimated gross domestic product per capita of more than $88,000 for 2010, compared with $47,500 for the UAE. However, your average gardener in either country is not going to be earning one-fiftieth of that.
So, back to the wealthiest country tag, if wealth is not distributed why use GDP per capita as a reference point for a country’s wealth? Good point, it is quite meaningless used in that way – and Forbes admits as such. What it does show is that both countries have money to spend – those incomes are not stretched to meet the basic needs of their people. And both countries do spend.
Go on… The UAE has been in the limelight for a decade with ith 2020, 2030, etc plans. Qatar has recently stolen the lead with the World Cup, its bid for the Olympics etc. Both governments are pouring money into infrastructure. Qatar is in the process of building a deepwater seaport, an airport and a railway network. The UAE already has a considerably more developed infrastructure – especially in Dubai. Abu Dhabi has just restarted work on its major plans – including the Guggenheim and Louvre museums.
Ok, so who else made the list? The mighty Luxembourg came second with a per capita GDP on a purchasing-power parity basis of just over $81,000. In third place was Singapore ($56,700). Norway and Brunei rounded out the top five positions in the list followed by the UAE, the US, Hong Kong, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Kuwait was placed 15th in the list.
Many countries in the top 15 – although not all – were characterized by having minerals and natural resources, and small populations.
And who came bottom? African nations were listed as the poorest countries – Burundi, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where GDPs (PPP) per capita are $400, $386 and $312, respectively.
Dipetik dari - MidEastPosts.com
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Temporary Relief from Global Starvation
Written by John Berthelsen
Monday, 27 February 2012
World food stocks rise, driven by new production
Temporarily at least, the world seems to have weathered a decade-old crisis in food production, with stocks of the major grains except for corn rising to levels not seen since 2002 and 2003.
Combined with that, as Asia Sentinel reported in November, investment banks, hedge fund and money market managers have been forced by Eurozone financial crisis and other global economic problems to witdraw funds out of speculation in commodities – a process that came to be known as “financialization” and which over the past 10 years turned commodities trading into something resembling a casino.
The French government has prohibited financiers from speculating in food commodities. Funds invested in commodities by speculators rose by 195 percent between the fourth quarter of 2001 and their 2011 peak, acting as a catalyst to drive commodity prices to record levels. The hot money has flowed back out, calming into price volatility. It is uncertain at this point when the big-money players will regain enough equilibrium to attack commodities again.
In the meantime although prices remain uncomfortably high, “the improved supply outlook resulted in declining prices during the second half of 2011 with a sharp fall in December,” according to a World Food Brief released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in early February.
The increased supply should ward off concerns by the FAO, the World Bank and other organizations that starvation is around the corner for millions of the world’s poor, and should alleviate global inflation concerns to some extent. Poorer countries, in which families spend as much as 50 percent or more of their income on food, are hit particularly hard by food inflation. The World Bank, in its Feb. 2 World Food Price Watch, reported that global prices fell sharply, by 8 percent between September and December 2011, with wheat, maize and rice prices down because of improved supply conditions and concerns about the health of the global economy.
There is scope for setbacks. Grain prices rose 1.5 percent last week on uncertainty about crops in South America and abating concerns over the Greek government’s debt problems. Wheat was up by 3 percent on the week as the macroeconomic climate improves.
As food prices have skyrocketed over the past several years, new land has come into production and farmers across the world, particularly in South America and in parts of Africa, have responded by planting bigger crops, bringing down the FAO’s December Food Price Index to its lowest level in 17 months.
Soft commodity stocks-to-use ratios in 2011/12 are averaging 27.6 percent across the main soft crops, according to Research-Works, a Shanghai-based research firm that specializes in commodities. “There will always be isolated supply disruptions but we now have a big enough buffer to manage the shocks, with the exception of corn,” according Research-Works 23 February Commodities Monitor. Robust demand growth, largely driven by emerging economies, “for a time overwhelmed supply, pushing up supply,” the report said.
Consequently in the past two years global farmers have responded, and in force, driving the average stocks-to-use ratio back up to 28.9 percent, according to the Commodities Monitor, which adds that current prices suggest a large increase in plantings ahead for summer 2012, which should help to begin rebuilding global stocks. On balance global soft commodity stocks are at comfortable levels although corn stocks are at very low levels despite record plantings because so much corn is going into the production of ethanol to mix into gasoline.
The weather is the wild card, as it was last year, when devastating fires in Australia and Russia, floods in Pakistan and China and other weather events combined to cut into crop production. According to a Feb. 24 article in Scientific American, “a 2C increase in temperature -- the anticipated rise from climate change in the next 40 years -- is roughly equivalent to a 500-meter change in elevation, he said. Farmers growing at an elevation of 1,500 meters will need to move crops up to 2,000 meters.” That means tropical farmers in lowland areas will face serious dislocations. It may well mean that crop bands move away from tropical regions and that colder climates will become the home to new crops. Climate scientists are still seeking to determine the effects.
“There will always be floods and droughts in individual locations but we now should have a big enough buffer to manage the shocks, with the exception of corn,” according to Research-Works.
Two demand shocks combined to drive up soft commodity prices over the past decade. Nonetheless, since 2004 stocks have been rebuilt to more comfortable levels in both wheat and rice, reducing the upward pressure on prices and leaving the world in better position shape in regard to grains generally.
The first demand shock was driven by the increase in demand from the developing world, particularly China and India, which fortunately had relatively extensive stocks on which to draw. Rice and corn stocks also fell sharply in both countries although they have since been rebuilt.
The second demand shock was created by European Union and US biofuel mandates that required 16 percent more global corn area and 11 percent more soyabean area from 2004-11 to satisfy petroleum production quotas. Areas planted in cotton shrank by 15.6 percent between 2004 and 2009 before recovering back to 36 million hectares in 2011.
That, according to Research-Works, resulted in a 170 percent rise in cotton prices in just the six months prior to March 2011. Because of the land diverted to corn production, the prices of the five main soft commodities – wheat, corn, rice, soybeans and cotton – rose by 127 percent between 2004 and 2011.
The value of world trade in soft commodities has almost quadrupled since 2000, up from US$35.4 billion to $133 billion last year.
“As prices come down we think the value of trade should fall for a few years, though volume growth may be a partial offset,” Research-Works reported.
Dipetik dari - Asia Sentinel
Ikuti posting yang berkaitan sebelum ini,
--> Meeting agriculture targets in Brunei
--> Boosting rice yield long-term agenda
--> 'Bangladesh can help Brunei yield rice varieties to meet 2035 self-sufficiency target'
--> Pertanian, agrimakanan memberangsangkan
--> BERAS ‘LAILA’ SASAR PENGELUARAN CAPAI SARA DIRI
--> Penuaian padi besar-besaran beras ‘Laila’ dijangka pertengahan bulan Ogos depan
--> SAYA KELIRU..... TOLONG BERI PENJELASAN.....
--> BANJIR DI INDOCHINA - KESAN TERHADAP KESELAMATAN PERMAKANAN DI NEGARA-NEGARA ASEAN
Monday, 27 February 2012
World food stocks rise, driven by new production
Temporarily at least, the world seems to have weathered a decade-old crisis in food production, with stocks of the major grains except for corn rising to levels not seen since 2002 and 2003.
Combined with that, as Asia Sentinel reported in November, investment banks, hedge fund and money market managers have been forced by Eurozone financial crisis and other global economic problems to witdraw funds out of speculation in commodities – a process that came to be known as “financialization” and which over the past 10 years turned commodities trading into something resembling a casino.
The French government has prohibited financiers from speculating in food commodities. Funds invested in commodities by speculators rose by 195 percent between the fourth quarter of 2001 and their 2011 peak, acting as a catalyst to drive commodity prices to record levels. The hot money has flowed back out, calming into price volatility. It is uncertain at this point when the big-money players will regain enough equilibrium to attack commodities again.
In the meantime although prices remain uncomfortably high, “the improved supply outlook resulted in declining prices during the second half of 2011 with a sharp fall in December,” according to a World Food Brief released by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in early February.
The increased supply should ward off concerns by the FAO, the World Bank and other organizations that starvation is around the corner for millions of the world’s poor, and should alleviate global inflation concerns to some extent. Poorer countries, in which families spend as much as 50 percent or more of their income on food, are hit particularly hard by food inflation. The World Bank, in its Feb. 2 World Food Price Watch, reported that global prices fell sharply, by 8 percent between September and December 2011, with wheat, maize and rice prices down because of improved supply conditions and concerns about the health of the global economy.
There is scope for setbacks. Grain prices rose 1.5 percent last week on uncertainty about crops in South America and abating concerns over the Greek government’s debt problems. Wheat was up by 3 percent on the week as the macroeconomic climate improves.
As food prices have skyrocketed over the past several years, new land has come into production and farmers across the world, particularly in South America and in parts of Africa, have responded by planting bigger crops, bringing down the FAO’s December Food Price Index to its lowest level in 17 months.
Soft commodity stocks-to-use ratios in 2011/12 are averaging 27.6 percent across the main soft crops, according to Research-Works, a Shanghai-based research firm that specializes in commodities. “There will always be isolated supply disruptions but we now have a big enough buffer to manage the shocks, with the exception of corn,” according Research-Works 23 February Commodities Monitor. Robust demand growth, largely driven by emerging economies, “for a time overwhelmed supply, pushing up supply,” the report said.
Consequently in the past two years global farmers have responded, and in force, driving the average stocks-to-use ratio back up to 28.9 percent, according to the Commodities Monitor, which adds that current prices suggest a large increase in plantings ahead for summer 2012, which should help to begin rebuilding global stocks. On balance global soft commodity stocks are at comfortable levels although corn stocks are at very low levels despite record plantings because so much corn is going into the production of ethanol to mix into gasoline.
The weather is the wild card, as it was last year, when devastating fires in Australia and Russia, floods in Pakistan and China and other weather events combined to cut into crop production. According to a Feb. 24 article in Scientific American, “a 2C increase in temperature -- the anticipated rise from climate change in the next 40 years -- is roughly equivalent to a 500-meter change in elevation, he said. Farmers growing at an elevation of 1,500 meters will need to move crops up to 2,000 meters.” That means tropical farmers in lowland areas will face serious dislocations. It may well mean that crop bands move away from tropical regions and that colder climates will become the home to new crops. Climate scientists are still seeking to determine the effects.
“There will always be floods and droughts in individual locations but we now should have a big enough buffer to manage the shocks, with the exception of corn,” according to Research-Works.
Two demand shocks combined to drive up soft commodity prices over the past decade. Nonetheless, since 2004 stocks have been rebuilt to more comfortable levels in both wheat and rice, reducing the upward pressure on prices and leaving the world in better position shape in regard to grains generally.
The first demand shock was driven by the increase in demand from the developing world, particularly China and India, which fortunately had relatively extensive stocks on which to draw. Rice and corn stocks also fell sharply in both countries although they have since been rebuilt.
The second demand shock was created by European Union and US biofuel mandates that required 16 percent more global corn area and 11 percent more soyabean area from 2004-11 to satisfy petroleum production quotas. Areas planted in cotton shrank by 15.6 percent between 2004 and 2009 before recovering back to 36 million hectares in 2011.
That, according to Research-Works, resulted in a 170 percent rise in cotton prices in just the six months prior to March 2011. Because of the land diverted to corn production, the prices of the five main soft commodities – wheat, corn, rice, soybeans and cotton – rose by 127 percent between 2004 and 2011.
The value of world trade in soft commodities has almost quadrupled since 2000, up from US$35.4 billion to $133 billion last year.
“As prices come down we think the value of trade should fall for a few years, though volume growth may be a partial offset,” Research-Works reported.
Dipetik dari - Asia Sentinel
Ikuti posting yang berkaitan sebelum ini,
--> Meeting agriculture targets in Brunei
--> Boosting rice yield long-term agenda
--> 'Bangladesh can help Brunei yield rice varieties to meet 2035 self-sufficiency target'
--> Pertanian, agrimakanan memberangsangkan
--> BERAS ‘LAILA’ SASAR PENGELUARAN CAPAI SARA DIRI
--> Penuaian padi besar-besaran beras ‘Laila’ dijangka pertengahan bulan Ogos depan
--> SAYA KELIRU..... TOLONG BERI PENJELASAN.....
--> BANJIR DI INDOCHINA - KESAN TERHADAP KESELAMATAN PERMAKANAN DI NEGARA-NEGARA ASEAN
Manila ignores China, renews Spratly oil hunt
THE Philippines has proceeded to invite foreign investors to explore for fuel deposits in two offshore areas near the South China Sea despite a protest from China, which also claims the territory.
Energy Secretary Jose Almendras said Monday the areas northwest of Palawan were in Philippine territory and were two of 15 areas nationwide being offered to foreign investors for oil and gas exploration.
The Chinese Embassy last year protested the plans to invite foreign companies to explore in the two areas, saying those were part of the South China Sea region that fell under its sovereignty.
Almendras said the government would start awarding exploration contracts to some companies next month, but did not say whether the permits would include the two areas claimed by china.
“They [China] filed a request to clarify because they feel that Areas 3 and 4 are part of the Sptratlys,” Almendras said.
“It is up to the [Foreign Affairs Department] to discuss this and that. The [Energy Department] has no comment on these things. As agreed, [Foreign Affairs] takes the lead in all the diplomatic issues.
“We offered 15 [service contracts] which the Philippines believes are within its territorial claims.” the energy secretary said.
Areas 3 and 4 are both off Northwest Palawan. Area 3 covers 600,000 hectares and is estimated to contain 440 million barrels of oil and 2.2 trillion cubic feet of gas. Area 4 covers 616,000 hectares and is estimated to contain similar reserves.
Some 25 companies have submitted pre-qualification documents signifying their interest to join the bidding for 15 oil and gas areas under the Philippine Energy Contracting Round 4.
The interested firms are PetroEnergy Resources Corp., Nido Petroluem, PNOC Exploration Corp., MinEnergy, Shell Philippines Exploration B.V., Pitkin Petroleum, Dilmoro Energy Corp., Mindanao Asia International Energy, Southernpec, Forum Pacific, Planet Gas, Monte Oro Resources, Philex Petroleum, Total, ENI, Calenergy, GDF Suez, Golden Dragon, NorAsian, Kris Energy, Esso, Mitra Energy, Tap Oil, Caranarvon Energy and KRX Energy.
The government in June last year launched 15 oil and gas exploration areas under PECR 4, which is estimated to generate investments of around $500 million for each area or a total of $7.5 billion.
Dipetik dari - Manila Standard Today
Lagi posting berkaitan,
--> Ex-Chinese envoys to Philippines: Keep US out
--> India tells Asean it believes in ‘open’ South China Sea
--> Malaysia's correct strategic decision
--> Russian wrinkle in the South China Sea
--> Exclusive: U.S. military seeks more access in Philippines
--> New naval warship completes first patrol mission off Spratlys islands
--> Progressives slam Aquino’s mendicancy, sellout to US imperial interests
--> US, Filipino Forces Plan Drills Near Disputed Area
--> Dispute over oil rich islands in South China Sea could escalate into 'state-on-state conflict', U.S. admiral warns
--> Philippines ready to validate claim to Spratlys in UN forum
--> Manila protests Chinese ships' presence in Spratlys
Energy Secretary Jose Almendras said Monday the areas northwest of Palawan were in Philippine territory and were two of 15 areas nationwide being offered to foreign investors for oil and gas exploration.
The Chinese Embassy last year protested the plans to invite foreign companies to explore in the two areas, saying those were part of the South China Sea region that fell under its sovereignty.
Almendras said the government would start awarding exploration contracts to some companies next month, but did not say whether the permits would include the two areas claimed by china.
“They [China] filed a request to clarify because they feel that Areas 3 and 4 are part of the Sptratlys,” Almendras said.
“It is up to the [Foreign Affairs Department] to discuss this and that. The [Energy Department] has no comment on these things. As agreed, [Foreign Affairs] takes the lead in all the diplomatic issues.
“We offered 15 [service contracts] which the Philippines believes are within its territorial claims.” the energy secretary said.
Areas 3 and 4 are both off Northwest Palawan. Area 3 covers 600,000 hectares and is estimated to contain 440 million barrels of oil and 2.2 trillion cubic feet of gas. Area 4 covers 616,000 hectares and is estimated to contain similar reserves.
Some 25 companies have submitted pre-qualification documents signifying their interest to join the bidding for 15 oil and gas areas under the Philippine Energy Contracting Round 4.
The interested firms are PetroEnergy Resources Corp., Nido Petroluem, PNOC Exploration Corp., MinEnergy, Shell Philippines Exploration B.V., Pitkin Petroleum, Dilmoro Energy Corp., Mindanao Asia International Energy, Southernpec, Forum Pacific, Planet Gas, Monte Oro Resources, Philex Petroleum, Total, ENI, Calenergy, GDF Suez, Golden Dragon, NorAsian, Kris Energy, Esso, Mitra Energy, Tap Oil, Caranarvon Energy and KRX Energy.
The government in June last year launched 15 oil and gas exploration areas under PECR 4, which is estimated to generate investments of around $500 million for each area or a total of $7.5 billion.
Dipetik dari - Manila Standard Today
Lagi posting berkaitan,
--> Ex-Chinese envoys to Philippines: Keep US out
--> India tells Asean it believes in ‘open’ South China Sea
--> Malaysia's correct strategic decision
--> Russian wrinkle in the South China Sea
--> Exclusive: U.S. military seeks more access in Philippines
--> New naval warship completes first patrol mission off Spratlys islands
--> Progressives slam Aquino’s mendicancy, sellout to US imperial interests
--> US, Filipino Forces Plan Drills Near Disputed Area
--> Dispute over oil rich islands in South China Sea could escalate into 'state-on-state conflict', U.S. admiral warns
--> Philippines ready to validate claim to Spratlys in UN forum
--> Manila protests Chinese ships' presence in Spratlys
Monday, February 27, 2012
Falklands Flare Up - Could a New Oil Find Re-Ignite an Old Conflict?
The Falkland Islands, a British windswept archipelago in the southern Atlantic off the coast of Argentina, last had its moment in the media spotlight three decades ago, when the two nations fought a brief but vicious conflict after Buenos Aires invaded the islands, providing a PR boost to Argentina’s ruling junta.
But, Argentina lost, and the 11-week conflict claimed more than 900 lives, leaving Britain in control of the islands.
UK analytical firm Edison Investment Research is now reporting that the Falklands’ oil industry could potentially be worth $180 billion in royalties and taxes, news that has reignited the smoldering diplomatic dispute between London and Buenos Aires.
On 13 December British-based oil and gas exploration company Rockhopper Exploration Plc announced that a new well proved its Sea Lion field 80 miles off the Falklands coast is bigger than expected, and is now projecting that it could recover as much as 430 million barrels of crude from its Sea Lion concession, 80 miles off the Falklands coast. The announcement encouraged other firms prospecting in the Falklands’ offshore waters, most notably Borders and Southern Plc and Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd.
Since Rockhopper Exploration Plc’s announcement, Britain has moved a number of naval units into the Falklands’ waters, prompting on 16 February Argentina’s Foreign Ministry to issue a communique commenting on the alleged “militarization of the South Atlantic” after the United Kingdom "sent a destroyer, a nuclear submarine and a prince" to the Falklands, demanding that London "report on the presence of a nuclear submarine in an area that is free of nuclear weapons" before concluding that their presence would constitute a violation of international treaties.
Argentinean policy over the disputed island chain has both a domestic and diplomatic context. On 16 February Argentinean Foreign Minister Hector Timerman officially accepted the UN General Assembly's offer to mediate between Argentina and Britain on the Falklands, stating that, "Argentine accepts the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's offer to provide his good offices and if Britain accepts them too then we are on the right path; the path to a diplomatic solution, which is what Argentina wants."
But, being a democracy, not all Argentineans support their government’s current policy on the “Malvinas,” as the Falklands are known in Argentina. On 16 February La Nacion, a conservative newspaper frequently critical of governmental policy and Argentina’s second highest-circulation daily published a crucial commentary by Vicente Palermo on the "political maze" of the Falklands where he noted first that the chances of a change in stance on the part of the United Kingdom are very low and that successive Argentinean governments have done very little to win the islanders over, preferring to resort to "a policy of harassment and isolation," which in the end will merely serve to empower the Falklanders' lobby in Britain.
Even worse, earlier this month Catholic Bishop Jose Maria Arancedo called for the Argentinean claim to the Falkland Islands not to be used as a political issue.
Further losing the PR campaign at home, the previous day Buenos Aires’ Clarin newspaper reported on the police repression of a protest by former Falklands War conscripts in the capital, which the General Workers Union leader Hugo Moyano said marked a new trend in government policy.
The fact that Argentinean military conscripts lost their battle two decades ago against British military forces has made them in the eyes of many Argentineans unworthy of consideration. Commenting on the fact, another Clarin editorial by Eduardo van der Kooy noted the "government's ability to create its own problems, even where they do not exist," citing the Falkland Islands as an example, since President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's recent actions on the matter had made veterans of the war feel used and betrayed after they were not invited to the Presidential residence Casa Rosada for her speech on the Malvinas and remained dissatisfied by subsequent pronouncements on the subject.
On the plus side for Argentina, it has received backing from fellow Latin American countries, which have announced that they will not allow ships flying the Falklands flag to dock in their ports.
And if push comes to shove and military operations occur again, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, speaking last week at a meeting of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) told journalists, "If it should occur to the British Empire to attack Argentina militarily, Argentina won't be alone this time. Venezuela is no power, but we've got some weapons, and the will to face any imperialist aggression."
More ominously for Britain and the United States, on 10 February, except for Washington, the 34-nation Organization of American States (OAS), the entire hemispheric community minus Cuba, backed Argentina's claim to the Falklands.
Buenos Aires is watching. On 17 February the Argentinean newspaper Ambito Financiero, citing confidential sources, reported that the Bahamian-flagged oil exploration rig The Leiv Eiriksson platform, contracted by Borders and Southern Plc and Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd and prospecting Falklands waters alongside Rockhopper Exploration Plc’s Ocean Guardian oil rig, “was found, on 16 February, to be exploring in Argentine waters,” according to “irrefutable” satellite images.
In such a context, will Britain and the U.S. be willing to alienate the entire Western Hemisphere south of the Rio Grande on behalf of roughly 3,000 sheep herders?
Given the potential for conflict and Argentina’s determination not to let the issue slide, one can only hope that Rockhopper Exploration Plc’s along with Borders and Southern Plc and Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd offshore explorations come up dry and, if not, wonder how far Britain is willing to go to retain its control.
Dipetik dari - OilPrice.com
But, Argentina lost, and the 11-week conflict claimed more than 900 lives, leaving Britain in control of the islands.
UK analytical firm Edison Investment Research is now reporting that the Falklands’ oil industry could potentially be worth $180 billion in royalties and taxes, news that has reignited the smoldering diplomatic dispute between London and Buenos Aires.
On 13 December British-based oil and gas exploration company Rockhopper Exploration Plc announced that a new well proved its Sea Lion field 80 miles off the Falklands coast is bigger than expected, and is now projecting that it could recover as much as 430 million barrels of crude from its Sea Lion concession, 80 miles off the Falklands coast. The announcement encouraged other firms prospecting in the Falklands’ offshore waters, most notably Borders and Southern Plc and Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd.
Since Rockhopper Exploration Plc’s announcement, Britain has moved a number of naval units into the Falklands’ waters, prompting on 16 February Argentina’s Foreign Ministry to issue a communique commenting on the alleged “militarization of the South Atlantic” after the United Kingdom "sent a destroyer, a nuclear submarine and a prince" to the Falklands, demanding that London "report on the presence of a nuclear submarine in an area that is free of nuclear weapons" before concluding that their presence would constitute a violation of international treaties.
Argentinean policy over the disputed island chain has both a domestic and diplomatic context. On 16 February Argentinean Foreign Minister Hector Timerman officially accepted the UN General Assembly's offer to mediate between Argentina and Britain on the Falklands, stating that, "Argentine accepts the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's offer to provide his good offices and if Britain accepts them too then we are on the right path; the path to a diplomatic solution, which is what Argentina wants."
But, being a democracy, not all Argentineans support their government’s current policy on the “Malvinas,” as the Falklands are known in Argentina. On 16 February La Nacion, a conservative newspaper frequently critical of governmental policy and Argentina’s second highest-circulation daily published a crucial commentary by Vicente Palermo on the "political maze" of the Falklands where he noted first that the chances of a change in stance on the part of the United Kingdom are very low and that successive Argentinean governments have done very little to win the islanders over, preferring to resort to "a policy of harassment and isolation," which in the end will merely serve to empower the Falklanders' lobby in Britain.
Even worse, earlier this month Catholic Bishop Jose Maria Arancedo called for the Argentinean claim to the Falkland Islands not to be used as a political issue.
Further losing the PR campaign at home, the previous day Buenos Aires’ Clarin newspaper reported on the police repression of a protest by former Falklands War conscripts in the capital, which the General Workers Union leader Hugo Moyano said marked a new trend in government policy.
The fact that Argentinean military conscripts lost their battle two decades ago against British military forces has made them in the eyes of many Argentineans unworthy of consideration. Commenting on the fact, another Clarin editorial by Eduardo van der Kooy noted the "government's ability to create its own problems, even where they do not exist," citing the Falkland Islands as an example, since President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner's recent actions on the matter had made veterans of the war feel used and betrayed after they were not invited to the Presidential residence Casa Rosada for her speech on the Malvinas and remained dissatisfied by subsequent pronouncements on the subject.
On the plus side for Argentina, it has received backing from fellow Latin American countries, which have announced that they will not allow ships flying the Falklands flag to dock in their ports.
And if push comes to shove and military operations occur again, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, speaking last week at a meeting of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) told journalists, "If it should occur to the British Empire to attack Argentina militarily, Argentina won't be alone this time. Venezuela is no power, but we've got some weapons, and the will to face any imperialist aggression."
More ominously for Britain and the United States, on 10 February, except for Washington, the 34-nation Organization of American States (OAS), the entire hemispheric community minus Cuba, backed Argentina's claim to the Falklands.
Buenos Aires is watching. On 17 February the Argentinean newspaper Ambito Financiero, citing confidential sources, reported that the Bahamian-flagged oil exploration rig The Leiv Eiriksson platform, contracted by Borders and Southern Plc and Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd and prospecting Falklands waters alongside Rockhopper Exploration Plc’s Ocean Guardian oil rig, “was found, on 16 February, to be exploring in Argentine waters,” according to “irrefutable” satellite images.
In such a context, will Britain and the U.S. be willing to alienate the entire Western Hemisphere south of the Rio Grande on behalf of roughly 3,000 sheep herders?
Given the potential for conflict and Argentina’s determination not to let the issue slide, one can only hope that Rockhopper Exploration Plc’s along with Borders and Southern Plc and Falkland Oil and Gas Ltd offshore explorations come up dry and, if not, wonder how far Britain is willing to go to retain its control.
Dipetik dari - OilPrice.com
Forbes ranks Brunei fifth richest nation
Debbie Too
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Saturday, February 25, 2012
FORBES has ranked Brunei Darussalam as the fifth richest country out of 182 nations due to its extensive petroleum and natural gas fields giving the Sultanate just over US$48,000 per capita.
In its online report, Forbes explained that to rank the world's wealthiest countries, it looked at GDP (gross domestic product) per capita adjusted for purchasing power. It used data compiled from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2010, which was the most recent available set of figures. "The PPP (purchasing-power parity)-adjusted GDP, preferred by economists when making international comparisons, takes into account the relative cost of living and inflation rates rather than just exchange rates, which may distort real differences in worth," stated the Forbes report. Earlier this month, the Department of Economic Development and Planning (JPKE) reported that Brunei's consumer price index had increased 1.8 per cent from 2010 to 2011 and growth averaged less than one per cent each month. JPKE also said that the average annual CPI in 2011 was 106.9 compared to 104.8 in 2010, which resulted in an inflation rate of two per cent over the period of 12 months from January to December in 2011.
Brunei Darussalam's economy has been dominated by the oil and gas industry for the past 80 years, and hydrocarbon resources account for over 90 per cent of its exports and more than half its GDP. Brunei currently has the second highest GDP per capita in the Southeast Asian region and is the fourth largest oil producer in the region and ninth largest exporter of LNG (liquefied natural gas) in the world.
Information from the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) stated that the Sultanate has a "low tariff regime and no capital gains or personal income tax".
The Oxford Business Group, last year, published a report stating that the IMF report that was released in mid-June noted that many of the key economic indicators were performing well with "GDP rebounding in 2010, after two years of decline, the country's current account surplus is also well into the black and inflation under control".
The Forbes report ranked Qatar as the wealthiest country in the world, also due to its oil prices and massive gas reserves. "Adjusted for purchasing power, Qatar booked an estimated GDP per capita of more than US$88,000 for 2010," it reported. The country has the third largest reserve of natural gas in the world.
"Qatar has lured multinational financial firms to the country, as well as satellite campuses of US universities," stated the report. It added that the Qatar Government is also investing heavily in infrastructure, including a deepwater seaport, an airport and a railway network, "all with the eye to make the country a better host for businesses and the 2022 World Cup".
Luxembourg is ranked second on the Forbes list with a GDP on a PPP basis of just over US$81,000. "The country of half a million people became a financial hub in the latter half of the 20th century, in part, thanks to strict banking secrecy laws that earned it the reputation of a tax haven," stated the Forbes report.
Singapore falls in third place with a GDP per capital of nearly US$56,700. Brunei's neighbour has a thriving technology, manufacturing and finance hub which has allowed it a space on the top three richest countries in the world.
Norway was ranked the fourth richest country, also due to its petroleum which accounts for nearly half of exports and is the main contributor to its PPP-adjusted GdP per capita of nearly US$52,000. "The numbers must be taken with a grain of salt, and that's because there are a host of issues that can make any GDP comparisons misleading, including how the quality of goods varies from country to country," stated Gian Luca Clementi, an associate professor of economics at New York University's Leonard Stern School of Business, who was interviewed for the Forbes report.
Forbes also reported that the three poorest countries in the world are African nations, Burundi, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where their PPP-adjusted GDP per capita are US$400, US$386 and US$312, respectively.
Dipetik dari - The Brunei Times
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Saturday, February 25, 2012
FORBES has ranked Brunei Darussalam as the fifth richest country out of 182 nations due to its extensive petroleum and natural gas fields giving the Sultanate just over US$48,000 per capita.
In its online report, Forbes explained that to rank the world's wealthiest countries, it looked at GDP (gross domestic product) per capita adjusted for purchasing power. It used data compiled from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2010, which was the most recent available set of figures. "The PPP (purchasing-power parity)-adjusted GDP, preferred by economists when making international comparisons, takes into account the relative cost of living and inflation rates rather than just exchange rates, which may distort real differences in worth," stated the Forbes report. Earlier this month, the Department of Economic Development and Planning (JPKE) reported that Brunei's consumer price index had increased 1.8 per cent from 2010 to 2011 and growth averaged less than one per cent each month. JPKE also said that the average annual CPI in 2011 was 106.9 compared to 104.8 in 2010, which resulted in an inflation rate of two per cent over the period of 12 months from January to December in 2011.
Brunei Darussalam's economy has been dominated by the oil and gas industry for the past 80 years, and hydrocarbon resources account for over 90 per cent of its exports and more than half its GDP. Brunei currently has the second highest GDP per capita in the Southeast Asian region and is the fourth largest oil producer in the region and ninth largest exporter of LNG (liquefied natural gas) in the world.
Information from the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) stated that the Sultanate has a "low tariff regime and no capital gains or personal income tax".
The Oxford Business Group, last year, published a report stating that the IMF report that was released in mid-June noted that many of the key economic indicators were performing well with "GDP rebounding in 2010, after two years of decline, the country's current account surplus is also well into the black and inflation under control".
The Forbes report ranked Qatar as the wealthiest country in the world, also due to its oil prices and massive gas reserves. "Adjusted for purchasing power, Qatar booked an estimated GDP per capita of more than US$88,000 for 2010," it reported. The country has the third largest reserve of natural gas in the world.
"Qatar has lured multinational financial firms to the country, as well as satellite campuses of US universities," stated the report. It added that the Qatar Government is also investing heavily in infrastructure, including a deepwater seaport, an airport and a railway network, "all with the eye to make the country a better host for businesses and the 2022 World Cup".
Luxembourg is ranked second on the Forbes list with a GDP on a PPP basis of just over US$81,000. "The country of half a million people became a financial hub in the latter half of the 20th century, in part, thanks to strict banking secrecy laws that earned it the reputation of a tax haven," stated the Forbes report.
Singapore falls in third place with a GDP per capital of nearly US$56,700. Brunei's neighbour has a thriving technology, manufacturing and finance hub which has allowed it a space on the top three richest countries in the world.
Norway was ranked the fourth richest country, also due to its petroleum which accounts for nearly half of exports and is the main contributor to its PPP-adjusted GdP per capita of nearly US$52,000. "The numbers must be taken with a grain of salt, and that's because there are a host of issues that can make any GDP comparisons misleading, including how the quality of goods varies from country to country," stated Gian Luca Clementi, an associate professor of economics at New York University's Leonard Stern School of Business, who was interviewed for the Forbes report.
Forbes also reported that the three poorest countries in the world are African nations, Burundi, Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where their PPP-adjusted GDP per capita are US$400, US$386 and US$312, respectively.
Dipetik dari - The Brunei Times
Saturday, February 25, 2012
BILAKAH SULTAN MENJADI BAYANGAN ALLAH DI BUMI?
Prof Madya Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin
Minggu ini saya kembali ke Oxford, UK. Beberapa minggu berada di Malaysia. Di samping menyambut kedatangan ‘puteri baru’, banyak juga aktiviti yang sempat saya sertai. Bahang pilihanraya semakin kuat sehingga segala perkara berbau politik. Semalam semasa seminar ‘Islam and Europe’ di Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS), directornya Dr Farhan Nizami bersembang dengan kami dengan memberi pandangannya tentang Malaysia. Katanya, betapa dia tidak menyangka bahawa bangsa melayu yang kelihatan sopan santun itu apabila tiba kepada bab politik, mereka berpolitik habis-habisan. Saya senyum sahaja mendengar ulasannya.
Berkaitan fenomena piliharaya juga, beberapa hari lepas saya menerima begitu banyak soalan berhubung dengan ‘Raja adalah bayangan Allah di bumi’. Hadis ini katanya telah diwar-warkan oleh pihak tertentu dalam menjustifikasikan perjuangan tertentu. Saya dengar ada yang lebih lantang lagi dengan menyebut lafaz asal hadis itu ‘al-Sultan adalah bayangan Allah di bumi’ bagi merujuk sultan pilihannya. Ada pula yang seakan ingin menyuburkan feudalisme melayu dengan hadis tersebut. Saya bergurau dengan sesetengah pihak yang berminat menggunakan hadis itu dengan berkata: “Raja yang menjadi bayangan Allah itu Raja Jordan ke, atau Raja Saudi? Atau Raja Morocco? Oleh kerana terlalu umum, apakah boleh juga digunakan oleh Raja Siam?”
Sebenarnya, perkataan yang digunakan dalam hadis ‘al-Sultan’ bukan al-Malik (Raja). Jika ia difaham secara bahasa melayu, mungkin para sultan seperti Sultan Qabos di Oman atau Sultan Brunei tergambar semasa membaca hadis ini. Sudah pasti bukan Sultan Damsyik Jani dari ‘Negara Pasir Berdengung’ dalam filem Doremi arahan P.Ramlee.
Sebenarnya hadis tersebut mempunyai banyak riwayat. Ada yang palsu, ada yang sangat daif (daif jiddan), ada yang daif dan ada yang hasan ataupun mungkin boleh mendekati sahih. Antara lafaz yang palsu atau sekurang-kurang teramat daif:
السلطان ظل الله تعالى في الأرض فإن أحسنوا فلهم الأجر وعليكم الشكر وإن أساءوا فعليهم الإصر وعليكم الصبر لا يحملنكم إساءته على أن تخرجوا من طاعته فإن الذل في طاعة الله خير من خلود في النار لولاهم ما صلح الناس
Namun secara kesimpulan penilaian hadis, setakat lafaz “Al-Sultan bayangan Allah di bumi” adalah sahih disebabkan pelbagai riwayat. Adapun tambahan selepas lafaz tersebut ada yang hasan, daif, sangat daif dan palsu.
Ada juga riwayat dalam al-Jami’ al-Saghir oleh al-Sayuti (meninggal 911H) yang menyebut:
السلطان ظل الله في الأرض، فإذا دخل أحدكم بلدا ليس به سلطان فلا يقيمن ب
Saya bimbang menjelang musim berkempen ini akan ada yang menggunakan riwayat yang daif ini untuk melarang orang tinggal di negeri-negeri yang tiada sultan seperti Pulau Pinang, Sabah dan Sarawak. Kemudian, di Negara Arab hanyalah Negara Oman yang boleh tinggal dalamnya sebab masih ada Sultan Qabos. Selainnya sudah tiada sultan. Indonesia pun tidak boleh tinggal dalamnya kerana sudah tiada sultan. Hanya Brunei yang sesuai. Jangan sampai begitu pulak tafsiran kita.
Apakah Maksud ‘al-Sultan’?
Perkataan al-Sultan bukanlah bermaksud pemerintah yang memakai gelaran ‘sultan’. Jika tidak sudah pasti al-Khulafa al-Rasyidin menggunakan gelaran sultan. Sultan bermaksud pihak yang berkuasa. Ertinya ia merangkumi semua mereka yang mempunyai kuasa pemerintahan tanpa mengira apapun gelarannya. Abu Bakr al-Siddiq naik memerintah selepas Rasulullah memakai gelaran ‘Khalifah Rasulillah’, kemudian pada zaman ‘Umar mula diperkenalkan gelaran ‘Amir al-Mukminin. Secara umumnya dipanggil keempat sahabat pemerintah itu dengan khalifah. Semasa Umawiyyah dan ‘Abbasiyyah dikekalkan gelaran khalifah. Selepas itu beberapa dinasti seperti Ayyubiah, Mamalik dan ‘Uthamaniyyah memakai gelaran sultan. Mereka itu kebanyakannya bukan arab. Ada juga yang memakai al-Malik iaitu ‘raja’ dan sebagainya.
Maka hendaklah jelas, perkataan sultan dalam hadis merujuk kepada ulul amri iaitu mereka yang berkuasa memerintah. Jangan putarkan hadis untuk pemainan politik. Ertinya, secara literal dalam konteks Malaysia, Perdana Menteri juga zhillu Allah ataupun bayangan Allah di bumi. Demikian Presiden Mesir, Libya dan sebagainya. Kini kita wajar bertanya apakah maksud bayangan Allah? Apakah kita memahami seperti golongan literalis yang akan melihat sultan atau raja atau penguasa atau presiden sebagai benar-benar bayangan Allah yang kemudian mungkin dijustifikasikan segala tindakannya. Jika mereka itu berjudi di London ini sehingga tergadai balak dan minyak di negara mereka apakah itu bayangan Allah? Jika mereka kejam seperti Assad di Syria, atau mereka rasuah dan bermewahan dengan harta rakyat jelata, apakah mereka tetap dimuliakan sebab mereka bayangan Allah?
Bayangan Allah
Jika kita faham makna khalifah, ia bermaksud pengganti ataupun wakil. Apabila kita menyebut manusia khalifah Allah bermaksud manusia mengganti Allah di bumi. Ketika menafsirkan Surah al-Baqarah ayat 30 berhubung manusia sebagai khalifah Allah di bumi, al-Imam al-Baidawi berkata:
Makna yang sama merujuk kepada sultan ataupun penguasa itu bayangan Allah di bumi. Bukan bermaksud kesucian penguasa sehingga tidak boleh dibahas dan dipertikaikan. Sama sekali tidak! Sebab betapa ramai manusia ini yang Allah tabalkan menjadi khalifah telah melakukan kerja yang sebaliknya. Apakah kita tetap mempertahankannya atas nama khalifah Allah?! Justeru al-Imam al-Munawi dalam Faidh al-Qadir ketika menafsir maksud: “Al-Sultan bayangan Allah di bumi” beliau berkata “kerana dia memelihara manusia dari keburukan seperti bayang memelihara dari panas matahari”. Ya! Demikianlah tugasan penguasa!
Dalam masa yang sama kita hendaklah sedar, bahawa berlebihan dalam menggunakan agama untuk kepentingan politik telah mengorbankan agama itu sendiri. Inilah yang berlaku di Barat yang diistilahkan sebagai secularism ataupun lebih mudah difahami sebagai ‘a movement towards the separation of religion and government’. Walaupun secularism itu mempunyai akar yang lama sejak zaman Greek dan Roman tetapi di Eropah ia subur dan diperjuangkan pada era Enlightenment akibat dari kesedaran rakyat tentang betapa buruk peranan agama dalam politik. Saya akan bahaskan nanti. Islam memandu politik supaya harmoni dan kudus. Islam bukan alat politik tetapi cahaya yang menerangi jalan politik yang dibina atas maslahah rakyat.
Sultan ataupun penguasa bayangan Tuhan boleh disalahtafsirkan seperti yang berlaku dalam sejarah politik pelbagai bangsa. Akibatnya, kerakusan penguasa mencengkam rakyat dan dihalalkan atas nama Tuhan. Jika hendak memahami maksud penguasa bayangan Tuhan dalam Islam, fahamilah ucapan Abu Bakr al-Siddiq apabila menjadi khalifah:
Inilah insan yang paling faham maksud sultan itu bayangan Allah di bumi. Jangan kita gadaikan Islam untuk suatu penafsiran nas yang akhirnya akan menimbulkan syak manusia terhadap Allah dan RasulNya.
Dipetik dari - Minda Tajdid DrMAZA.com
Posting berkaitan sebelum ini,
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Minggu ini saya kembali ke Oxford, UK. Beberapa minggu berada di Malaysia. Di samping menyambut kedatangan ‘puteri baru’, banyak juga aktiviti yang sempat saya sertai. Bahang pilihanraya semakin kuat sehingga segala perkara berbau politik. Semalam semasa seminar ‘Islam and Europe’ di Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS), directornya Dr Farhan Nizami bersembang dengan kami dengan memberi pandangannya tentang Malaysia. Katanya, betapa dia tidak menyangka bahawa bangsa melayu yang kelihatan sopan santun itu apabila tiba kepada bab politik, mereka berpolitik habis-habisan. Saya senyum sahaja mendengar ulasannya.
Berkaitan fenomena piliharaya juga, beberapa hari lepas saya menerima begitu banyak soalan berhubung dengan ‘Raja adalah bayangan Allah di bumi’. Hadis ini katanya telah diwar-warkan oleh pihak tertentu dalam menjustifikasikan perjuangan tertentu. Saya dengar ada yang lebih lantang lagi dengan menyebut lafaz asal hadis itu ‘al-Sultan adalah bayangan Allah di bumi’ bagi merujuk sultan pilihannya. Ada pula yang seakan ingin menyuburkan feudalisme melayu dengan hadis tersebut. Saya bergurau dengan sesetengah pihak yang berminat menggunakan hadis itu dengan berkata: “Raja yang menjadi bayangan Allah itu Raja Jordan ke, atau Raja Saudi? Atau Raja Morocco? Oleh kerana terlalu umum, apakah boleh juga digunakan oleh Raja Siam?”
Sebenarnya, perkataan yang digunakan dalam hadis ‘al-Sultan’ bukan al-Malik (Raja). Jika ia difaham secara bahasa melayu, mungkin para sultan seperti Sultan Qabos di Oman atau Sultan Brunei tergambar semasa membaca hadis ini. Sudah pasti bukan Sultan Damsyik Jani dari ‘Negara Pasir Berdengung’ dalam filem Doremi arahan P.Ramlee.
Sebenarnya hadis tersebut mempunyai banyak riwayat. Ada yang palsu, ada yang sangat daif (daif jiddan), ada yang daif dan ada yang hasan ataupun mungkin boleh mendekati sahih. Antara lafaz yang palsu atau sekurang-kurang teramat daif:
السلطان ظل الله تعالى في الأرض فإن أحسنوا فلهم الأجر وعليكم الشكر وإن أساءوا فعليهم الإصر وعليكم الصبر لا يحملنكم إساءته على أن تخرجوا من طاعته فإن الذل في طاعة الله خير من خلود في النار لولاهم ما صلح الناس
(terjemahan) “al-Sultan bayangan Allah di bumi. Jika mereka berbuat baik bagi mereka pahala dan wajib ke atas kamu syukur. Jika mereka jahat, mereka mendapat dosa, wajib ke atas kamu sabar. Janganlah kejahatannya itu menyebabkan kamu keluar dari ketaatan. Ini kerana, sesungguhnya kehinaan dalam mentaati Allah (dengan mentaati sultan yang jahat) lebih baik dari kekal dalam neraka (kerana menentang sultan). Jika tidak kerana mereka, manusia tidak akan aman”. (hadis ini dihukum oleh al-Albani sebagai ‘terlalu daif’ dalam Silsilah al-Daifah/no. 1664)
Namun secara kesimpulan penilaian hadis, setakat lafaz “Al-Sultan bayangan Allah di bumi” adalah sahih disebabkan pelbagai riwayat. Adapun tambahan selepas lafaz tersebut ada yang hasan, daif, sangat daif dan palsu.
Ada juga riwayat dalam al-Jami’ al-Saghir oleh al-Sayuti (meninggal 911H) yang menyebut:
السلطان ظل الله في الأرض، فإذا دخل أحدكم بلدا ليس به سلطان فلا يقيمن ب
al-Sultan bayangan Allah di bumi. Jika seseorang kamu memasuki sesuatu negeri yang tiada sultan padanya, janganlah dia tinggal dalamnya”.
Saya bimbang menjelang musim berkempen ini akan ada yang menggunakan riwayat yang daif ini untuk melarang orang tinggal di negeri-negeri yang tiada sultan seperti Pulau Pinang, Sabah dan Sarawak. Kemudian, di Negara Arab hanyalah Negara Oman yang boleh tinggal dalamnya sebab masih ada Sultan Qabos. Selainnya sudah tiada sultan. Indonesia pun tidak boleh tinggal dalamnya kerana sudah tiada sultan. Hanya Brunei yang sesuai. Jangan sampai begitu pulak tafsiran kita.
Apakah Maksud ‘al-Sultan’?
Perkataan al-Sultan bukanlah bermaksud pemerintah yang memakai gelaran ‘sultan’. Jika tidak sudah pasti al-Khulafa al-Rasyidin menggunakan gelaran sultan. Sultan bermaksud pihak yang berkuasa. Ertinya ia merangkumi semua mereka yang mempunyai kuasa pemerintahan tanpa mengira apapun gelarannya. Abu Bakr al-Siddiq naik memerintah selepas Rasulullah memakai gelaran ‘Khalifah Rasulillah’, kemudian pada zaman ‘Umar mula diperkenalkan gelaran ‘Amir al-Mukminin. Secara umumnya dipanggil keempat sahabat pemerintah itu dengan khalifah. Semasa Umawiyyah dan ‘Abbasiyyah dikekalkan gelaran khalifah. Selepas itu beberapa dinasti seperti Ayyubiah, Mamalik dan ‘Uthamaniyyah memakai gelaran sultan. Mereka itu kebanyakannya bukan arab. Ada juga yang memakai al-Malik iaitu ‘raja’ dan sebagainya.
Maka hendaklah jelas, perkataan sultan dalam hadis merujuk kepada ulul amri iaitu mereka yang berkuasa memerintah. Jangan putarkan hadis untuk pemainan politik. Ertinya, secara literal dalam konteks Malaysia, Perdana Menteri juga zhillu Allah ataupun bayangan Allah di bumi. Demikian Presiden Mesir, Libya dan sebagainya. Kini kita wajar bertanya apakah maksud bayangan Allah? Apakah kita memahami seperti golongan literalis yang akan melihat sultan atau raja atau penguasa atau presiden sebagai benar-benar bayangan Allah yang kemudian mungkin dijustifikasikan segala tindakannya. Jika mereka itu berjudi di London ini sehingga tergadai balak dan minyak di negara mereka apakah itu bayangan Allah? Jika mereka kejam seperti Assad di Syria, atau mereka rasuah dan bermewahan dengan harta rakyat jelata, apakah mereka tetap dimuliakan sebab mereka bayangan Allah?
Bayangan Allah
Jika kita faham makna khalifah, ia bermaksud pengganti ataupun wakil. Apabila kita menyebut manusia khalifah Allah bermaksud manusia mengganti Allah di bumi. Ketika menafsirkan Surah al-Baqarah ayat 30 berhubung manusia sebagai khalifah Allah di bumi, al-Imam al-Baidawi berkata:
“Khalifah itu bermaksud (dari segi bahasa) sesiapa yang menggantikan tempat pihak yang lain atau menjadi penggantinya. Yang dimaksudkan dengan khalifah dalam ayat ini adalah Adam a.s. kerana beliau merupakan khalifah Allah di bumiNya. Demikian sekelian nabi yang Allah utuskan mereka sebagai pengganti (khalifah) bagi memakmurkan bumi, menguruskan manusia, menyempurnakan keperluan mereka dan melaksanakan perintah Allah ke atas mereka” (Al-Baidawi, Anwar al-Tanzil wa Asrar al-Takwil, 1/64).
Makna yang sama merujuk kepada sultan ataupun penguasa itu bayangan Allah di bumi. Bukan bermaksud kesucian penguasa sehingga tidak boleh dibahas dan dipertikaikan. Sama sekali tidak! Sebab betapa ramai manusia ini yang Allah tabalkan menjadi khalifah telah melakukan kerja yang sebaliknya. Apakah kita tetap mempertahankannya atas nama khalifah Allah?! Justeru al-Imam al-Munawi dalam Faidh al-Qadir ketika menafsir maksud: “Al-Sultan bayangan Allah di bumi” beliau berkata “kerana dia memelihara manusia dari keburukan seperti bayang memelihara dari panas matahari”. Ya! Demikianlah tugasan penguasa!
Dalam masa yang sama kita hendaklah sedar, bahawa berlebihan dalam menggunakan agama untuk kepentingan politik telah mengorbankan agama itu sendiri. Inilah yang berlaku di Barat yang diistilahkan sebagai secularism ataupun lebih mudah difahami sebagai ‘a movement towards the separation of religion and government’. Walaupun secularism itu mempunyai akar yang lama sejak zaman Greek dan Roman tetapi di Eropah ia subur dan diperjuangkan pada era Enlightenment akibat dari kesedaran rakyat tentang betapa buruk peranan agama dalam politik. Saya akan bahaskan nanti. Islam memandu politik supaya harmoni dan kudus. Islam bukan alat politik tetapi cahaya yang menerangi jalan politik yang dibina atas maslahah rakyat.
Sultan ataupun penguasa bayangan Tuhan boleh disalahtafsirkan seperti yang berlaku dalam sejarah politik pelbagai bangsa. Akibatnya, kerakusan penguasa mencengkam rakyat dan dihalalkan atas nama Tuhan. Jika hendak memahami maksud penguasa bayangan Tuhan dalam Islam, fahamilah ucapan Abu Bakr al-Siddiq apabila menjadi khalifah:
“Wahai manusia, sesungguhnya aku telah dilantik menjadi pemimpin kamu, bukanlah aku yang terbaik dalam kalangan kamu. Jika aku betul, tolonglah aku. Jika aku salah, betulkanlah aku. Benar itu adalah amanah, bohong itu adalah khianat. Orang yang lemah dalam kalangan kamu adalah kuat di sisi sehingga aku mengembalikan haknya. Orang yang kuat dalam kalangan kamu, lemah di sisiku sehingga aku mengambil daripadanya hak (menghalang apa yang bukan haknya), insya Allah. Jangan kamu meninggalkan jihad, kerana tidak ada kaum yang meninggalkan jihad, melainkan Allah timpakan mereka dengan kehinaan. Taatlah aku selagi aku taatkan Allah dan RasulNya. Jika aku derhakakan Allah dan RasulNya, maka tiada ketaatan untukku” (Ibn Athir, Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh, 1/361).
Inilah insan yang paling faham maksud sultan itu bayangan Allah di bumi. Jangan kita gadaikan Islam untuk suatu penafsiran nas yang akhirnya akan menimbulkan syak manusia terhadap Allah dan RasulNya.
Dipetik dari - Minda Tajdid DrMAZA.com
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Friday, February 24, 2012
Ex-Chinese envoys to Philippines: Keep US out
By Jerry E. Esplanada
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Former Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Wang Yingfan warned that dragging the United States in the disputed West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) would be unacceptable to China and Beijing “certainly would react” if that happened.
“We could forge good neighborly relations and work out something that’s beneficial and acceptable to both sides… You are happy and we are happy. Maybe, you’re half-happy and we’re half-happy, but it’s acceptable to both sides,” Wang said in a media forum on Wednesday organized by the Chinese Embassy.
Wang, who served in Manila from 1988 to 1990, said there was nothing wrong with the Philippines acquiring used US warships for defense purposes and that “any nation must do something (to improve) their own national defense.”
“It’s understandable. No problem,” he said. “I know your Navy is very much backward in equipment. If you buy warships from the United States, I would understand.”
But Wang, who said he still advised his government on regional issues despite his retirement, asserted that allowing the United States to meddle in the six-nation Spratly Island dispute was another story.
More complicated
“If it really happens that the United States and your country would talk about the South China Sea and how you should work together, I think that would be something which cannot be accepted by the Chinese,” he said.
“If (the Americans) involve themselves in the territorial dispute, there will be problems with China. If that happened, the Chinese government certainly would react,” he added.
That is why it would be “wise for the nations concerned in this region, including the Philippines, not to introduce Americans into the disputed waters,” Wang said.
Six claimants
“That would make the issue more complicated and more difficult to settle among ourselves,” he said.
The Spratlys are a chain of up to 190 isles, reefs, coral outcrops and banks believed to be sitting atop large deposits of oil and natural gas. A Chinese report quoted by US authorities estimates there are 225 billion barrels of oil in the area.
The isles and their waters are claimed wholly or in part by China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
President Benigno Aquino III has said the gas deposits in the disputed territory are so enormous that they would dwarf the Malampaya oil and gas fields.
Wang Yingfan and another retired Chinese diplomat, Wang Chungui, who was ambassador to Manila from 2000 to 2004, are in the Philippines on a weeklong goodwill visit as part of the two countries’ friendly exchanges, the embassy said.
‘Deng Xiaoping solution’
Wang Yingfan pushed for the so-called “Deng Xiaoping solution” to the dispute—setting aside the territorial quarrel in favor of joint exploration and development.
The late Deng, who led China from 1978 to 1992, steered the world’s most populous state toward a market economy in the 1980s.
Wang Yingfan stressed “it is the time for cooperation, not confrontation, not fighting.”
“I talked with some important people in your government that we should work hard to find ways that are acceptable to both sides, that we must work hard to prepare the ground so that we could share the resources together,” he added.
“The response was very encouraging. They said they would consider this kind of thinking. So with patience, with goodwill and with hard work, we could find a way out that’s agreeable and acceptable to both sides.”
‘Solution will come’
Instead of wasting time talking about the Spratlys dispute, Wang said it would be better if Filipinos “spend your energy on economic development.”
He said “it would take some time before we could find a solution (to the dispute)” but he was “optimistic that that will come.”
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has said a “rules-based” approach based on international law is the key to settling the dispute and that the Philippines expects nothing less from the other Spratlys claimants.
Following a recent meeting between the Philippines and China in Beijing, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the two sides had agreed to promote bilateral relations, such as on energy, science and technology, disaster mitigation, law enforcement and maritime cooperation.
The Chinese foreign ministry has said both countries have agreed not to let their quarrel over the Spratlys “affect the broader picture of friendship and cooperation” between them.
Dipetik dari - Inquirer Global Nation
Lagi posting berkaitan,
--> India tells Asean it believes in ‘open’ South China Sea
--> Malaysia's correct strategic decision
--> Russian wrinkle in the South China Sea
--> Exclusive: U.S. military seeks more access in Philippines
--> New naval warship completes first patrol mission off Spratlys islands
--> Progressives slam Aquino’s mendicancy, sellout to US imperial interests
--> US, Filipino Forces Plan Drills Near Disputed Area
--> Dispute over oil rich islands in South China Sea could escalate into 'state-on-state conflict', U.S. admiral warns
--> Philippines ready to validate claim to Spratlys in UN forum
--> Manila protests Chinese ships' presence in Spratlys
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Former Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Wang Yingfan warned that dragging the United States in the disputed West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) would be unacceptable to China and Beijing “certainly would react” if that happened.
“We could forge good neighborly relations and work out something that’s beneficial and acceptable to both sides… You are happy and we are happy. Maybe, you’re half-happy and we’re half-happy, but it’s acceptable to both sides,” Wang said in a media forum on Wednesday organized by the Chinese Embassy.
Wang, who served in Manila from 1988 to 1990, said there was nothing wrong with the Philippines acquiring used US warships for defense purposes and that “any nation must do something (to improve) their own national defense.”
“It’s understandable. No problem,” he said. “I know your Navy is very much backward in equipment. If you buy warships from the United States, I would understand.”
But Wang, who said he still advised his government on regional issues despite his retirement, asserted that allowing the United States to meddle in the six-nation Spratly Island dispute was another story.
More complicated
“If it really happens that the United States and your country would talk about the South China Sea and how you should work together, I think that would be something which cannot be accepted by the Chinese,” he said.
“If (the Americans) involve themselves in the territorial dispute, there will be problems with China. If that happened, the Chinese government certainly would react,” he added.
That is why it would be “wise for the nations concerned in this region, including the Philippines, not to introduce Americans into the disputed waters,” Wang said.
Six claimants
“That would make the issue more complicated and more difficult to settle among ourselves,” he said.
The Spratlys are a chain of up to 190 isles, reefs, coral outcrops and banks believed to be sitting atop large deposits of oil and natural gas. A Chinese report quoted by US authorities estimates there are 225 billion barrels of oil in the area.
The isles and their waters are claimed wholly or in part by China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
President Benigno Aquino III has said the gas deposits in the disputed territory are so enormous that they would dwarf the Malampaya oil and gas fields.
Wang Yingfan and another retired Chinese diplomat, Wang Chungui, who was ambassador to Manila from 2000 to 2004, are in the Philippines on a weeklong goodwill visit as part of the two countries’ friendly exchanges, the embassy said.
‘Deng Xiaoping solution’
Wang Yingfan pushed for the so-called “Deng Xiaoping solution” to the dispute—setting aside the territorial quarrel in favor of joint exploration and development.
The late Deng, who led China from 1978 to 1992, steered the world’s most populous state toward a market economy in the 1980s.
Wang Yingfan stressed “it is the time for cooperation, not confrontation, not fighting.”
“I talked with some important people in your government that we should work hard to find ways that are acceptable to both sides, that we must work hard to prepare the ground so that we could share the resources together,” he added.
“The response was very encouraging. They said they would consider this kind of thinking. So with patience, with goodwill and with hard work, we could find a way out that’s agreeable and acceptable to both sides.”
‘Solution will come’
Instead of wasting time talking about the Spratlys dispute, Wang said it would be better if Filipinos “spend your energy on economic development.”
He said “it would take some time before we could find a solution (to the dispute)” but he was “optimistic that that will come.”
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has said a “rules-based” approach based on international law is the key to settling the dispute and that the Philippines expects nothing less from the other Spratlys claimants.
Following a recent meeting between the Philippines and China in Beijing, the Department of Foreign Affairs said the two sides had agreed to promote bilateral relations, such as on energy, science and technology, disaster mitigation, law enforcement and maritime cooperation.
The Chinese foreign ministry has said both countries have agreed not to let their quarrel over the Spratlys “affect the broader picture of friendship and cooperation” between them.
Dipetik dari - Inquirer Global Nation
Lagi posting berkaitan,
--> India tells Asean it believes in ‘open’ South China Sea
--> Malaysia's correct strategic decision
--> Russian wrinkle in the South China Sea
--> Exclusive: U.S. military seeks more access in Philippines
--> New naval warship completes first patrol mission off Spratlys islands
--> Progressives slam Aquino’s mendicancy, sellout to US imperial interests
--> US, Filipino Forces Plan Drills Near Disputed Area
--> Dispute over oil rich islands in South China Sea could escalate into 'state-on-state conflict', U.S. admiral warns
--> Philippines ready to validate claim to Spratlys in UN forum
--> Manila protests Chinese ships' presence in Spratlys
AGAMA SERING MENJADI MANGSA
Prof Madya Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin
Sepanjang sejarah manusia, nama Tuhan sering dijadikan alat dalam mencapai tujuan atau kepentingan peribadi ataupun puak. Sedangkan ia sepatutnya menjadi nama sakti dalam menegakkan kebenaran dan menghapuskan kebatilan, malangnya digunakan untuk menegakkan kebatilan dan menghapuskan kebenaran.
Perlambangan agama yang sepatutnya membela kekudusan ajaran Tuhan, sering kali digunakan untuk membiakkan kehendak syaitan dan hasrat nafsu serakah manusia. Maka tidak hairan jika kita melihat nama Tuhan sering dipergunakan oleh orang politik, ahli perniagaan, bomoh, ustaz, penjenayah, perasuah dan segala jenis ‘manusia’ yang berkepentingan.
Dalil-dalil diputar dan dipusing agar dapat menjelma dalam rupa reka kehendak yang berbicara. Ia bukan hanya berlaku dalam kalangan umat Islam, sebaliknya dalam semua agama. Dalam sejarah Yahudi dan Kristian berlaku dengan begitu dahsyat. Martin Luther yang mengasaskan Mazhab Prostestan telah membangkitkan isu ini dalam Kristian. Beliau katanya ingin membela ajaran Tuhan. Malangnya, betapa ramai pengikutnya yang dibakar oleh gereja Katholik juga atas nama Tuhan.
Sokong Rejim
Hitler juga mendapat sokongan sebahagian gereja di Jerman. Kedua aliran yang bertentangan Katholik dan Protestan menyokong tindakan beliau ke atas Yahudi atas nama Tuhan. Demikian Assad di Syria yang membunuh rakyat sejak sekian lama. Begitulah juga regim-regim yang lain.
Pakaian dan bahasa agama juga digunakan untuk menghiasi amalan salah atau penyalahgunaan nama Tuhan. Jika orang seperti Hitler dan Assad mampu mendapat restu golongan agama, maka tidak pelik jika dalam dunia ini ada mufti atau syeikh yang sanggup memuja-memuji pemerintah atau raja atau sultan dalam khutbah Jumaat dengan perhiasaan kata yang berlebihan.
Doa bertujuan mengampu disusun khas untuk penguasa, sultan dan raja serta keturunannya sekalipun mereka itu perasuah, perembat harta rakyat, bermewahan dengan istana, kereta dan harta sedangkan rakyat bawahan menderita airmata. Doa untuk rakyat yang miskin hanya secebis. Sebaliknya berlimpahan doa untuk penguasa, raja dan sultan dengan perhiasaan kata puja dan puji seakan mereka lebih tinggi dari para nabi.
Khutbah Jumaat yang menjadi tempat umat memuja dan pemuji Tuhan, bertukar pada bahagian doanya sebagai ampuan memuja dan memuji kerajaan dan sultan. Hal ini bukan sangat dengan pemintaan penguasa atau raja, tetapi ‘sang berjubah agama’ yang mempunyai agenda hidupnya yang tersendiri.
Inilah yang berlaku di seluruh dunia ‘berjubah agama’ tapi bertujuan sebaliknya. Orang-orang agama ini mendapat gaji dan berjubah yang jauh lebih hebat dari segala ulama yang terbilang dahulu, tetapi sekadar berperanan untuk membaca doa yang puitis untuk sang singgahsana dan mengeluarkan fatwa yang meredhakan penguasa dan raja. Kegerunan mereka kepada hilang jawatan lebih hebat dari kegerunan mereka membohongi hukum Tuhan.
Sebab itu, ramai panguasa, raja dan sultan dalam dunia dan sepanjang sejarah sekalipun buruk tingkah laku dan ketamakan harta serta kezaliman mereka terhadap hak rakyat, terus merasa selesa kerana ada yang berlidah dan berjubah agama yang membodeknya. Syurga seakan sudah tempah untuknya, neraka pula seakan sudah tertutup rapat baginya sekalipun dia tidak menunaikan hak rakyat dan memakan harta secara haram.
Pisahkan Agama
Firman Allah: (maksudnya)
Seperti yang saya pernah catatkan bahawa saya tidak menyokong pemisahan agama dari politik, tetapi saya menyokong memisahkan agama dari penyalahgunaan golongan politik. Lebih elok politik yang berpisah dari agama dibandingkan politik yang mempergunakan agama. Saya inshaAllah akan bahaskan tentang secular state dalam tulisan yang akan datang.
Mimpi Nabi
Sebab itu amatlah merbahaya apabila agama itu telah menjadi senjata mereka yang pandai berbicara untuk kepentingan kuasa dan diri. Hakikat Tuhan akan disalahertikan oleh manusia. Ajaran kebenaran akan dipandang serong. Manusia akan kecewa dengan ajaran Tuhan yang dianggap tidak memenuhi panduan keadilan dan rahmat. Sebab itu agama Islam ini tertegak atas fakta dan hujah. Bukan khayalan dan mimpi.
Jika kita masih ingat bagaimana pengasas ajaran al-Arqam semasa masih hidup membuat pelbagai dakwaan. Ketika itu ada imam masjid tertentu mendakwa bahawa dia berjumpa Nabi s.a.w dalam mimpinya membenarkan ajaran Ashaari Muhammad. Ramai yang terpengaruh dengan mimpi tersebut.
Itu bukan kali pertama, bahkan sudah puluhan kisah setiap kali ada yang mendakwa menjadi Mahdi, ada sahaja orang yang bermimpi berjumpa Nabi s.a.w dan mengakuinya. Ini termasuk kisah Mahdi di Sudan yang jauh lebih berjaya dari Ashaari Arqam. Ada pula yang mengeluarkan dalil bahawa Nabi s.a.w telah bersabda:
Ya, syaitan memang tidak boleh menyerupai Nabi s.a.w, namun syaitan boleh menyerupai orang lain dan seseorang yang tidak pernah melihat Nabi s.a.w menyangka itu Nabi s.a.w. Tipuan syaitan sangat licik.
Dalam kitab Fath al-Bari Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari, dinukilkan apa yang disebut oleh tabi’in agung lagi pakar mimpi dalam sejarah Islam, al-Imam Muhammad bin Sirin (meninggal 110H) menafsirkan hadis ini bahawa ia bermaksud ‘jika seseorang melihat Nabi s.a.w dalam rupanya yang asal’. Ertinya dia mesti mengenali hakikat rupa Nabi s.a.w.
Apabila ada orang mendakwa bahawa dia melihat Nabi s.a.w, Muhammad bin Sirin meminta supaya dia menceritakan ciri-ciri Nabi s.a.w yang dia lihat dalam mimpinya. Apabila dia menceritakannya, beliau menjawab: ‘engkau tidak melihatnya’. Ibn ‘Abbas juga menyelidiki seseorang yang mendakwa bahawa dia bermimpi berjumpa Nabi s.a.w. Beliau bertanya sifatnya, orang itu menjawab seperti Saidina Hasan bin ‘Ali. Ibn ‘Abbas mengakuinya.
Itu jika orang tersebut tidak berbohong. Namun, bagaimana pula jika dia berbohong tentang apa yang dilihatnya?. Maka mimpi tidak boleh menjadi hujah dalam agama ini. Ia boleh menjadi isyarat untuk urusan peribadi seseorang, namun bukan syariat yang diamalkan.
Saya masih ingat kisah Presiden sebuah negara ‘bernama agama’ yang menceritakan beliau dilindungi cahaya suci seperti para imam mazhabnya ketika berada di PBB. Demikian juga saya masih ingat semasa Gulf War yang pertama, ketika itu saya belajar di Jordan. Sokongan rakyat Jordan kepada Saddam Hussain begitu kuat. Ramai juga tokoh agama yang membaca hadis-hadis Nabi s.a.w dan menyatakan bahawa Saddam Hussain itu penyelamat umat yang dimaksudkan oleh Nabi s.a.w.
Saya masih ingat guru-guru hadis yang saya hadiri kuliah mereka membantah penyalahgunaan hadis tersebut. Baru-baru ini pun ada tokoh agama dalam parti politik tanahair yang mendakwa pemimpinnya sebagai lelaki yang dijanjikan Nabi s.a.w untuk membebaskan al-Aqsa. Demikianlah agama menjadi mainan mereka yang berkepentingan.
Sebab itu, agama mesti bebas dari ini semua. Semua kita wajar bimbang terhadap diri sendiri dan juga umat ini dengan amaran Nabi s.a.w:
Saya juga lucu apabila ada seseorang berceramah tentang perjuangan murninya setelah dia dipecat ialah membela Islam, melayu dan raja. Sedangkan melayu tidak semestinya selari dengan Islam, demikian juga raja. Jika Islam itu diyakini syumul, membela Islam bererti terbela segala bangsa, raja dan rakyat.
Namun, apabila Islam dipergunakan, bahasa Islam dinodai untuk tujuan tersendiri, hanya satu bangsa diperjuangkan dan raja sahaja yang dibela. Bagaimana dengan rakyat bawahan seperti kita? Demikian agama sering menjadi mangsa.
Dipetik dari - Minda Tajdid DrMAZA.com
Sepanjang sejarah manusia, nama Tuhan sering dijadikan alat dalam mencapai tujuan atau kepentingan peribadi ataupun puak. Sedangkan ia sepatutnya menjadi nama sakti dalam menegakkan kebenaran dan menghapuskan kebatilan, malangnya digunakan untuk menegakkan kebatilan dan menghapuskan kebenaran.
Perlambangan agama yang sepatutnya membela kekudusan ajaran Tuhan, sering kali digunakan untuk membiakkan kehendak syaitan dan hasrat nafsu serakah manusia. Maka tidak hairan jika kita melihat nama Tuhan sering dipergunakan oleh orang politik, ahli perniagaan, bomoh, ustaz, penjenayah, perasuah dan segala jenis ‘manusia’ yang berkepentingan.
Dalil-dalil diputar dan dipusing agar dapat menjelma dalam rupa reka kehendak yang berbicara. Ia bukan hanya berlaku dalam kalangan umat Islam, sebaliknya dalam semua agama. Dalam sejarah Yahudi dan Kristian berlaku dengan begitu dahsyat. Martin Luther yang mengasaskan Mazhab Prostestan telah membangkitkan isu ini dalam Kristian. Beliau katanya ingin membela ajaran Tuhan. Malangnya, betapa ramai pengikutnya yang dibakar oleh gereja Katholik juga atas nama Tuhan.
Sokong Rejim
Hitler juga mendapat sokongan sebahagian gereja di Jerman. Kedua aliran yang bertentangan Katholik dan Protestan menyokong tindakan beliau ke atas Yahudi atas nama Tuhan. Demikian Assad di Syria yang membunuh rakyat sejak sekian lama. Begitulah juga regim-regim yang lain.
Pakaian dan bahasa agama juga digunakan untuk menghiasi amalan salah atau penyalahgunaan nama Tuhan. Jika orang seperti Hitler dan Assad mampu mendapat restu golongan agama, maka tidak pelik jika dalam dunia ini ada mufti atau syeikh yang sanggup memuja-memuji pemerintah atau raja atau sultan dalam khutbah Jumaat dengan perhiasaan kata yang berlebihan.
Doa bertujuan mengampu disusun khas untuk penguasa, sultan dan raja serta keturunannya sekalipun mereka itu perasuah, perembat harta rakyat, bermewahan dengan istana, kereta dan harta sedangkan rakyat bawahan menderita airmata. Doa untuk rakyat yang miskin hanya secebis. Sebaliknya berlimpahan doa untuk penguasa, raja dan sultan dengan perhiasaan kata puja dan puji seakan mereka lebih tinggi dari para nabi.
Khutbah Jumaat yang menjadi tempat umat memuja dan pemuji Tuhan, bertukar pada bahagian doanya sebagai ampuan memuja dan memuji kerajaan dan sultan. Hal ini bukan sangat dengan pemintaan penguasa atau raja, tetapi ‘sang berjubah agama’ yang mempunyai agenda hidupnya yang tersendiri.
Inilah yang berlaku di seluruh dunia ‘berjubah agama’ tapi bertujuan sebaliknya. Orang-orang agama ini mendapat gaji dan berjubah yang jauh lebih hebat dari segala ulama yang terbilang dahulu, tetapi sekadar berperanan untuk membaca doa yang puitis untuk sang singgahsana dan mengeluarkan fatwa yang meredhakan penguasa dan raja. Kegerunan mereka kepada hilang jawatan lebih hebat dari kegerunan mereka membohongi hukum Tuhan.
Sebab itu, ramai panguasa, raja dan sultan dalam dunia dan sepanjang sejarah sekalipun buruk tingkah laku dan ketamakan harta serta kezaliman mereka terhadap hak rakyat, terus merasa selesa kerana ada yang berlidah dan berjubah agama yang membodeknya. Syurga seakan sudah tempah untuknya, neraka pula seakan sudah tertutup rapat baginya sekalipun dia tidak menunaikan hak rakyat dan memakan harta secara haram.
Pisahkan Agama
Firman Allah: (maksudnya)
“Dan apabila mereka melakukan sesuatu perbuatan yang keji, mereka berkata: “Kami dapati datuk nenek kami mengerjakannya, dan Allah memerintahkan kami mengerjakannya”.
Katakanlah (Wahai Muhammad): “Sesungguhnya Allah tidak menyuruh mengerjakan perbuatan yang keji. Patutkah kamu mengatakan terhadap Allah apa yang kamu tidak mengetahuinya?
Katakanlah: “Tuhanku menyuruh berlaku adil, dan (menyuruh supaya kamu) hadapkan wajah kamu (kepada Allah) pada tiap-tiap kali mengerjakan sembahyang, dan menyeruNYA dengan mengikhlaskan agama kamu kepadaNYA semata-mata, sebagaimana DIA telah menjadikan kamu pada mulanya, (demikian pula) kamu akan kembali (kepadaNYA). Sebahagian (manusia) diberi hidayah petunjuk oleh Allah dan sebahagian lagi berhaklah mereka ditimpa kesesatan (dengan pilihan mereka sendiri), kerana Sesungguhnya mereka telah menjadikan syaitan-syaitan itu pemimpin-pemimpin (yang ditaati) selain Allah. serta mereka pula menyangka bahawa mereka berada dalam petunjuk”. (Surah al-A’raf, 28-30).
Seperti yang saya pernah catatkan bahawa saya tidak menyokong pemisahan agama dari politik, tetapi saya menyokong memisahkan agama dari penyalahgunaan golongan politik. Lebih elok politik yang berpisah dari agama dibandingkan politik yang mempergunakan agama. Saya inshaAllah akan bahaskan tentang secular state dalam tulisan yang akan datang.
Mimpi Nabi
Sebab itu amatlah merbahaya apabila agama itu telah menjadi senjata mereka yang pandai berbicara untuk kepentingan kuasa dan diri. Hakikat Tuhan akan disalahertikan oleh manusia. Ajaran kebenaran akan dipandang serong. Manusia akan kecewa dengan ajaran Tuhan yang dianggap tidak memenuhi panduan keadilan dan rahmat. Sebab itu agama Islam ini tertegak atas fakta dan hujah. Bukan khayalan dan mimpi.
Jika kita masih ingat bagaimana pengasas ajaran al-Arqam semasa masih hidup membuat pelbagai dakwaan. Ketika itu ada imam masjid tertentu mendakwa bahawa dia berjumpa Nabi s.a.w dalam mimpinya membenarkan ajaran Ashaari Muhammad. Ramai yang terpengaruh dengan mimpi tersebut.
Itu bukan kali pertama, bahkan sudah puluhan kisah setiap kali ada yang mendakwa menjadi Mahdi, ada sahaja orang yang bermimpi berjumpa Nabi s.a.w dan mengakuinya. Ini termasuk kisah Mahdi di Sudan yang jauh lebih berjaya dari Ashaari Arqam. Ada pula yang mengeluarkan dalil bahawa Nabi s.a.w telah bersabda:
“Sesiapa yang melihatku dalam tidur sesungguhnya dia benar-benar melihatku, kerana syaitan tidak dapat menyerupaiku” (Riwayat Muslim).
Ya, syaitan memang tidak boleh menyerupai Nabi s.a.w, namun syaitan boleh menyerupai orang lain dan seseorang yang tidak pernah melihat Nabi s.a.w menyangka itu Nabi s.a.w. Tipuan syaitan sangat licik.
Dalam kitab Fath al-Bari Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari, dinukilkan apa yang disebut oleh tabi’in agung lagi pakar mimpi dalam sejarah Islam, al-Imam Muhammad bin Sirin (meninggal 110H) menafsirkan hadis ini bahawa ia bermaksud ‘jika seseorang melihat Nabi s.a.w dalam rupanya yang asal’. Ertinya dia mesti mengenali hakikat rupa Nabi s.a.w.
Apabila ada orang mendakwa bahawa dia melihat Nabi s.a.w, Muhammad bin Sirin meminta supaya dia menceritakan ciri-ciri Nabi s.a.w yang dia lihat dalam mimpinya. Apabila dia menceritakannya, beliau menjawab: ‘engkau tidak melihatnya’. Ibn ‘Abbas juga menyelidiki seseorang yang mendakwa bahawa dia bermimpi berjumpa Nabi s.a.w. Beliau bertanya sifatnya, orang itu menjawab seperti Saidina Hasan bin ‘Ali. Ibn ‘Abbas mengakuinya.
Itu jika orang tersebut tidak berbohong. Namun, bagaimana pula jika dia berbohong tentang apa yang dilihatnya?. Maka mimpi tidak boleh menjadi hujah dalam agama ini. Ia boleh menjadi isyarat untuk urusan peribadi seseorang, namun bukan syariat yang diamalkan.
Saya masih ingat kisah Presiden sebuah negara ‘bernama agama’ yang menceritakan beliau dilindungi cahaya suci seperti para imam mazhabnya ketika berada di PBB. Demikian juga saya masih ingat semasa Gulf War yang pertama, ketika itu saya belajar di Jordan. Sokongan rakyat Jordan kepada Saddam Hussain begitu kuat. Ramai juga tokoh agama yang membaca hadis-hadis Nabi s.a.w dan menyatakan bahawa Saddam Hussain itu penyelamat umat yang dimaksudkan oleh Nabi s.a.w.
Saya masih ingat guru-guru hadis yang saya hadiri kuliah mereka membantah penyalahgunaan hadis tersebut. Baru-baru ini pun ada tokoh agama dalam parti politik tanahair yang mendakwa pemimpinnya sebagai lelaki yang dijanjikan Nabi s.a.w untuk membebaskan al-Aqsa. Demikianlah agama menjadi mainan mereka yang berkepentingan.
Sebab itu, agama mesti bebas dari ini semua. Semua kita wajar bimbang terhadap diri sendiri dan juga umat ini dengan amaran Nabi s.a.w:
“Apa yang paling aku takut terhadap kamu ialah orang munafik yang petah lidahnya” (Riwayat Ahmad, sahih).
Saya juga lucu apabila ada seseorang berceramah tentang perjuangan murninya setelah dia dipecat ialah membela Islam, melayu dan raja. Sedangkan melayu tidak semestinya selari dengan Islam, demikian juga raja. Jika Islam itu diyakini syumul, membela Islam bererti terbela segala bangsa, raja dan rakyat.
Namun, apabila Islam dipergunakan, bahasa Islam dinodai untuk tujuan tersendiri, hanya satu bangsa diperjuangkan dan raja sahaja yang dibela. Bagaimana dengan rakyat bawahan seperti kita? Demikian agama sering menjadi mangsa.
Dipetik dari - Minda Tajdid DrMAZA.com
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Titah Sempena Menyambut Ulang Tahun Hari Kebangsaan Negara Brunei Darussalam Ke-28
Titah Perutusan Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar 'Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan dan Yang Di-Pertuan Negara Brunei Darussalam sempena Menyambut Ulang Tahun Hari Kebangsaan Negara Brunei Darussalam Ke-28 pada 23hb Februari 2012
Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
Alhamdulillahi Rabbil 'Alameen, Wabihee Nasta'eenu 'Alaa Umuriddunyaa Waddeen, Wassalaatu Wassalaamu 'Alaa Asyrafil Mursaleen, Sayyidina Muhammadin, Wa'alaa Aalihee Wasahbihee Ajma'een, Waba'du.
Kita bersyukur ke hadhrat Allah Subhanahu Wata’ala, kerana dengan izin-Nya jua, kita dapat menyambut Ulang Tahun Hari Kebangsaan Negara yang ke-28, di dalam suasana sejahtera.
Sepanjang 28 tahun kita merdeka, Negara alhamdulillah, telah berjaya mengekalkan keamanan dan kemakmurannya. Semogalah ia akan berterusan untuk dinikmati oleh generasi demi generasi.
Orientasi kita dalam melakar pembangunan adalah bercorak global. Kerana kita tidak hanya melihat kepada liku-liku kehidupan dalaman, bahkan perlu turut mengambil iktibar dari peristiwa dan kejadian di dunia tanpa sempadan.
Namun dalam segala hal, kita tetap perlu mengukuhkan jati diri kita selaku rakyat Brunei yang ta’at berugama, yang berawar galat, berperawis dan ber’adat.
Janganlah cepat-cepat mengikut arus, tetapi perlu berhemah dan patriotik didalam mempertahan dan mengamalkan warisan berharga, seperti akhlak yang baik, bahasa bangsa dan sebagainya. Kerana semua eleman-eleman ini adalah “penanda” bagi kewujudan kita.
Tidak lama lagi kita akan memasuki tahun kewangan 2012/2013 dan memulakan Rancangan Kemajuan Negara Ke-10.
Kita menyedari, bahawa prestasi perlaksanaan program-program kemajuan kita tidak terlepas dari menghadapi pelbagai cabaran, khususnya cabaran kapasiti yang terhad. Namun ini bukanlah alasan untuk kita menjadi lemah.
Perjalanan kita menuju sasaran Wawasan 2035 memerlukan kita lebih tangkas dan tegas. Mana-mana sasaran yang tercicir dan lambat adalah perlu dipercepatkan dan yang tersasar perlu pula dikembalikan ke atas landasannya semula.
Dalam apa jua tindak-tanduk kita, perancangan yang payu adalah keperluan asasi, sementara pencapaian sasaran pula perlu disukat secara objektif.
Sebagai jentera pentadbiran kerajaan, Perkhidmatan Awam adalah memainkan peranan utama untuk terus menjana gagasan baru, meningkatkan kapasiti dan mempertemukan kaedah-kaedah bukan-konvensional untuk menangani keperluan negara yang kian kompleks dan mencabar di abad ke-21 ini.
Namun walau begitu, bukanlah bermakna setiap yang baru itu tidak ada cacatnya , kadang-kadang ia hanya unggul pada teori sahaja, bukan pada amalinya.
Produktiviti dan efisiensi memanglah kita utamakan, tetapi bukanlah mesti dengan membebankan perkara-perkara yang sepatutnya tidak perlu dibuat.
Kaedah-kaedah baru boleh sahaja dicuba, tetapi bukan mesti yang bersifat teruk lagi membebankan. Pada Beta, kaedah-kaedah lebih mesra adalah lebih utama dan berpatutan.
Seyugia juga diingat, warga Perkhidmatan Awam ini terdiri dari pelbagai peringkat, pelbagai bidang dan pelbagai kelulusan. Apakah ini tidak mewajarkan mereka dengan kaedah-kaedah yang berbeza?
Menyentuh kepentingan lebih umum, diakhir-akhir ini, satu perkara yang sangat merisaukan orang ramai ialah mengenai keselamatan di jalan raya. Perangkaan kematian akibat kemalangan sangatlah membimbangkan.
Lebih membimbangkan lagi, sebahagian besar dari kemalangan itu melibatkan anak-anak muda, dengan penyebabnya adalah berbentuk kecuaian, sikap tidak berhemah, memandu dengan kelajuan melebehi had laju dan tidak mematuhi undang-undang.
Kalau ini benar menjadi penyebabnya, apakah tidak perlu bagi kita untuk mencari cara-cara mencegahnya? Pada hemat Beta, sangatlah perlu.
Salah satu cara “pencegahan” itu ialah melalui undang-undang. Undang-undang sudahpun ada, baik yang berkaitan dengan tali keledar atau penggunaan telefon bimbit semasa memandu. Tetapi adakah ia telah dikuatkuasakan sepenuhnya? Jika belum, bererti kita belum lagi menjalankan pencegahan itu.
Jadi apa yang perlu disini, tidak lain ialah, semua pihak hendaklah tampil, terutama anggota polis, mereka dikehendaki untuk mempertingkatkan lagi kewaspadaan dan keberadaan mereka didalam pelaksanaan undang-undang berkaitan.
Turut menjadi aspek penting pencegahan ialah mempastikan keadaan jalan-jalan raya utama, supaya benar-benar memenuhi keperluan piawaian keselamatan bertaraf tinggi.
Kesemua langkah-langkah pencegahan ini hanya akan mendatangkan hasil yang berkesan apabila ia benar-benar dibudayakan, melalui promosi dan pengkuatkuasaan yang konsisten.
Di samping kemajuan kita dalam negara, hubungan diplomatik kita dengan negara-negara sahabat juga tetap akan dipupuk dan dipelihara. Ianya adalah teras kemantapan politik, ekonomi dan keselamatan. Ia akan menjadi amalan berterusan, berasaskan prinsip berbaik-baik dan hormat menghormati kedaulatan masing-masing.
Akhir sekali, Beta sukacita merakamkan ucapan terima kasih kepada semua peserta dan petugas serta ahli-ahli Jawatankuasa-Jawatankuasa yang sama-sama berusaha dalam menjayakan Sambutan Perayaan Ulang Tahun Ke-28 Hari Kebangsaan pada tahun ini.
Beta juga dengan ikhlas merakamkan ucapan yang sama kepada semua lapisan rakyat, penduduk dan pemimpin yang terlibat, termasuk semua peringkat ahli Perkhidmatan Awam, pasukan-pasukan keselamatan serta mereka yang berkhidmat di sektor swasta, kerana sumbangan mereka terhadap keamanan dan pembangunan negara.
Sebagai merista balik sukut baik lagi indah serta penuh berkat kita menanai kemerdekaan Negara, maka Beta sudahi perutusan ini dengan lafaz keramat: “Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!”
Sekian, Wabillahit Taufeq Walhidayah, Wassalamu ‘Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.
Kebebasan akhbar Brunei meningkat lagi
Kedudukan Brunei melonjak ke tangga 125 dalam senarai terbaru yang diterbitkan oleh Reporters Without Borders.
Sebagai perbandingan, ranking Brunei sebelum ini adalah 142 pada 2010 dan 155 pada 2009.
Muat turun laporan penuh (pdf) --> http://en.rsf.org/IMG/CLASSEMENT_2012/C_GENERAL_ANG.pdf
Posting berkaitan,
--> Brunei di mata Dunia
Malaysia moves up 19 notches in press freedom
Nation better than others in region, says Reporters Without Borders
KUALA LUMPUR: PRESS freedom has improved in Malaysia, according to the 2011-2012 Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.
The France-based organisation placed Malaysia at 122nd, up from 141 in 2010.
Malaysia shares the 122th spot with Algeria and Tajikistan, and is ahead of neighbours Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.
The first place is shared by Finland and Norway while the bottom two places are taken up by North Korea and Eritrea. A total of 179 countries are part of the report.
The index is an annual ranking of countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders based upon its assessment of their press freedom records.
It reflects the degree of freedom journalists and news organisations enjoy in each country, and the efforts made by the state to respect and ensure respect for this freedom.
The index is calculated through a questionnaire with 43 criteria for assessing the state of press freedom in each country. This is sent to partner organisations of Reporters Without Borders and its 130 correspondents around the world, as well as to journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists.
The Statistics Institute of the University of Paris provided assistance and advice in processing the data reliably.
National Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretary-general V. Anbalagan, when contacted, said the jump showed that press freedom in the country had improved as people now had many avenues to express their views.
He said the authorities should use the ranking as a yardstick to improve the country's ranking in years to come.
"We must improve on our ranking and not sit contented with what we have now."
Dipetik dari - News Straits Times
Sebagai perbandingan, ranking Brunei sebelum ini adalah 142 pada 2010 dan 155 pada 2009.
Muat turun laporan penuh (pdf) --> http://en.rsf.org/IMG/CLASSEMENT_2012/C_GENERAL_ANG.pdf
Posting berkaitan,
--> Brunei di mata Dunia
Malaysia moves up 19 notches in press freedom
Nation better than others in region, says Reporters Without Borders
KUALA LUMPUR: PRESS freedom has improved in Malaysia, according to the 2011-2012 Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.
The France-based organisation placed Malaysia at 122nd, up from 141 in 2010.
Malaysia shares the 122th spot with Algeria and Tajikistan, and is ahead of neighbours Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia.
The first place is shared by Finland and Norway while the bottom two places are taken up by North Korea and Eritrea. A total of 179 countries are part of the report.
The index is an annual ranking of countries compiled and published by Reporters Without Borders based upon its assessment of their press freedom records.
It reflects the degree of freedom journalists and news organisations enjoy in each country, and the efforts made by the state to respect and ensure respect for this freedom.
The index is calculated through a questionnaire with 43 criteria for assessing the state of press freedom in each country. This is sent to partner organisations of Reporters Without Borders and its 130 correspondents around the world, as well as to journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists.
The Statistics Institute of the University of Paris provided assistance and advice in processing the data reliably.
National Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretary-general V. Anbalagan, when contacted, said the jump showed that press freedom in the country had improved as people now had many avenues to express their views.
He said the authorities should use the ranking as a yardstick to improve the country's ranking in years to come.
"We must improve on our ranking and not sit contented with what we have now."
Dipetik dari - News Straits Times
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
India tells Asean it believes in ‘open’ South China Sea
India shares the concern of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) in ensuring that the South China Sea, home to the hotly disputed Spratly Islands, remains open for trade.
“South China Sea is one of the most important routes for trade. It is India’s desire that it continues to retain that basic precepts,” Foreign Minister SM Krishna (picture) told a group of Asean journalists in New Delhi.
He said trading routes, traditional and non-traditional, have to be honoured.
“Nobody can own a particular sea, there are international conventions. They demarcate certain maritime boundaries. Beyond that, international conventions come into operation,” he said in response to a question on the overlapping claims on the Spratlys.
Krishna met the Asean journalists covering Delhi Dialogue IV, the fourth edition of the engagement between India and the region that began in 2009. Malaysia was represented by deputy foreign minister Senator A Kohilan Pillay.
The two-day dialogue themed "India and Asean: Partners for Peace, Progress and Stability" ended yesterday.
Malaysia is one of the six Asian nations that have staked a claim on all or part of the Spratlys, which are believed to be rich in natural resources. The others are Brunei, China, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
In the recent past, it has been reported that the Philippines and Vietnam have accused Chinese vessels of repeatedly intruding into areas they claim and of trying to sabotage oil explorations in their territorial waters.
On its part, China has denied the allegations and claims its sovereignty over the area. Krishna noted that at an earlier Asean meeting, Asean ministers had "pointedly" raised the issue with China.
In one meeting, he said the China side had assured Asean that it was in China’s interest also to see that the routes should remain uninterrupted.
The just-retired US Navy’s top commander in the Pacific had voiced his concerns that local arguments in disputed oil rich waters near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea could escalate into larger, more serious confrontations.
Admiral Patrick Walsh said there’s potential for an incident in the South China Sea to intensify much the way tensions between China and Japan spiked after ships belonging to the Asian powers collided near the Senkaku or Diaoyu islands claimed by both nations in 2010.
On India-Asean relations, Krishna said: “Our relations, both as a group and bilaterally between nations, have been going on well.”
Dipetik dari - The Malaysian Reserve
China's Benign Foreign Policy Image at Odds with South China Sea Stance
Beijing for years has relentlessly projected a benign image in its foreign policy, but as its maritime neighbors are discovering, China’s pacifist representations do not extend to energy issues, most notably in the disputed South China Sea.
Now, Chinese “imperial” overreach may bring U.S. naval forces once again into the western Pacific, as Beijing’s southeast Asian neighbors feel increasingly threatened by China’s overarching territorial claims in the South China Sea.
China currently contends sovereignty of the Spratly islands’ 750 islands, islets, atolls, cays and outcroppings with the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, bolstering its claims with ancient Chinese maps, despite the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea," designed to ease tensions over the archipelago.
At stake?
Resource-rich waters surrounding the islands, teeming with fish and possibly massive hydrocarbon reserves. As regards the latter, the U.S. Geological Survey calculates that the South China Sea may contain roughly 28 billion barrels of oil, while the Chinese government calculates that the South China Sea region contains nearly 200 billion barrels of oil but no one knows for sure, especially as the Chinese Navy harasses and chases off foreign survey vessels.
Citing historical precedence, China is not above even using data from its “renegade” Taiwan province to assert its claims. A 16 February article in Hong Kong’s Ta Kung Pao the PRC-owned daily newspaper commented, “Soon after World War II, China's central government, the Kuomintang (KMT), dispatched a small fleet, composed of the warships presented to them due to America and Japan being at war, to the South China Sea. As a result, there were surveys taken of the surrounding islands, along with establishing emblems of China's sovereignty, as well as the defining of national boundaries in accordance with the field surveys done.”
Despite Taiwan’s and the KMT’s ongoing “renegade” status the article continues, “ In 1947, in support of China's advocacy, the Department of Territorial Administration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the KMT government published an atlas of the South China Sea. Since these South East Asian countries were still ‘western colonies,’ their governments raised no objection to China's territorial claims… Since establishment of the People's Republic of China, the new central government inherited the territorial assertions of its predecessor…”.
So, the Chinese Communist Party is not above citing the government that it overthrew in 1949 to further China’s territorial claims.
Other maritime disputes?
Besides the Spratlys, China occupies some of the south China Sea’s Paracel Islands, which it seized in 1974 but are still claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan, while, finding further common cause with its “renegade” province, both China and Taiwan continue to reject Japan's claims to the uninhabited islands of Senkaku-shoto (Diaoyu Tai) and Japan's unilaterally declared equidistance line in the East China Sea.
Adding fuel to the fire, China is also embroiled in a territorial dispute with Indonesia over the South China Sea’s 272-island Natuna archipelago, 150 miles northwest of Borneo. In 1993 China presented the Indonesian government with a map of its "historic claims" on the Spratlys, which included not only nearly the entire South China Sea but a portion of Indonesia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off the Natuna islands as well. The Natuna islands are hardly worthless, as its offshiore natural gas reserves are among the largest in the world, estimated at 210 trillion cubic feet.
Even more striking, China even has disagreements with North Korea over several islands in the Yalu and Tumen rivers, and it was only last year that China and the Russian Federation finally demarcated the once disputed islands in the Amur and Ussuri rivers, over which they fought a brief but vicious border war in 1969.
But in the end, the Spratlys may not prove to be a great a bargain as Beijing apparently thinks. Quite aside from questions about the actual amounts of hydrocarbon reserves, a second factor is the potential cost for developing them. Given the relatively high “lifting” costs involved, some analysts project that the price of a barrel of oil from South China Sea deepwater wells could be as much as four times that of a barrel produced from conventional reserves like those in the Middle East.
But the end result of China’s ‘big stock” policy may be to reinforce a recently announced policy of the Obama administration to shift its focus to Asia, as both the Philippines and Vietnam are inveigling the United States to intervene in their disputes with China. Both have attractive military assets to offer Washington – the Philippines, Clark airfield and Subic Bay, which the U.S. military used until 1992, while Vietnam has Cam Ranh Bay, the finest deepwater port in Southeast Asia, a prime staging post for the U.S. Navy until 1975.
So, potential “bottom line” for undisputed Chinese sovereignty over the South China Sea?
Economically, an expensive development program that may produce far less than the Chinese government hopes.
But the possible diplomatic fallout is worse - bad relations with fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.
And last but not least, aggrieved Southeast Asian nations are as a result of Chinese pressure avidly welcoming the return of U.S. military forces.
All considered, not much of a bargain. For a nation lauded for its economic acumen, at present China is curiously tone-deaf to the concerns of its South China Seas neighbors. If the politicians in Beijing can overcome their nationalist xenophobia and negotiate creatively with their ASEAN partners for joint sovereignty and production-sharing agreements, then they might yet forestall one of their unsettling visions – a return of the Stars and Stripes to the waters of the southwestern Pacific, this time by request.
Dipetik dari - Oilprice.com
Lagi posting berkaitan,
--> Malaysia's correct strategic decision
--> Russian wrinkle in the South China Sea
--> Exclusive: U.S. military seeks more access in Philippines
--> New naval warship completes first patrol mission off Spratlys islands
--> Progressives slam Aquino’s mendicancy, sellout to US imperial interests
--> US, Filipino Forces Plan Drills Near Disputed Area
--> Dispute over oil rich islands in South China Sea could escalate into 'state-on-state conflict', U.S. admiral warns
--> Philippines ready to validate claim to Spratlys in UN forum
--> Manila protests Chinese ships' presence in Spratlys
“South China Sea is one of the most important routes for trade. It is India’s desire that it continues to retain that basic precepts,” Foreign Minister SM Krishna (picture) told a group of Asean journalists in New Delhi.
He said trading routes, traditional and non-traditional, have to be honoured.
“Nobody can own a particular sea, there are international conventions. They demarcate certain maritime boundaries. Beyond that, international conventions come into operation,” he said in response to a question on the overlapping claims on the Spratlys.
Krishna met the Asean journalists covering Delhi Dialogue IV, the fourth edition of the engagement between India and the region that began in 2009. Malaysia was represented by deputy foreign minister Senator A Kohilan Pillay.
The two-day dialogue themed "India and Asean: Partners for Peace, Progress and Stability" ended yesterday.
Malaysia is one of the six Asian nations that have staked a claim on all or part of the Spratlys, which are believed to be rich in natural resources. The others are Brunei, China, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
In the recent past, it has been reported that the Philippines and Vietnam have accused Chinese vessels of repeatedly intruding into areas they claim and of trying to sabotage oil explorations in their territorial waters.
On its part, China has denied the allegations and claims its sovereignty over the area. Krishna noted that at an earlier Asean meeting, Asean ministers had "pointedly" raised the issue with China.
In one meeting, he said the China side had assured Asean that it was in China’s interest also to see that the routes should remain uninterrupted.
The just-retired US Navy’s top commander in the Pacific had voiced his concerns that local arguments in disputed oil rich waters near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea could escalate into larger, more serious confrontations.
Admiral Patrick Walsh said there’s potential for an incident in the South China Sea to intensify much the way tensions between China and Japan spiked after ships belonging to the Asian powers collided near the Senkaku or Diaoyu islands claimed by both nations in 2010.
On India-Asean relations, Krishna said: “Our relations, both as a group and bilaterally between nations, have been going on well.”
Dipetik dari - The Malaysian Reserve
China's Benign Foreign Policy Image at Odds with South China Sea Stance
Beijing for years has relentlessly projected a benign image in its foreign policy, but as its maritime neighbors are discovering, China’s pacifist representations do not extend to energy issues, most notably in the disputed South China Sea.
Now, Chinese “imperial” overreach may bring U.S. naval forces once again into the western Pacific, as Beijing’s southeast Asian neighbors feel increasingly threatened by China’s overarching territorial claims in the South China Sea.
China currently contends sovereignty of the Spratly islands’ 750 islands, islets, atolls, cays and outcroppings with the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, bolstering its claims with ancient Chinese maps, despite the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea," designed to ease tensions over the archipelago.
At stake?
Resource-rich waters surrounding the islands, teeming with fish and possibly massive hydrocarbon reserves. As regards the latter, the U.S. Geological Survey calculates that the South China Sea may contain roughly 28 billion barrels of oil, while the Chinese government calculates that the South China Sea region contains nearly 200 billion barrels of oil but no one knows for sure, especially as the Chinese Navy harasses and chases off foreign survey vessels.
Citing historical precedence, China is not above even using data from its “renegade” Taiwan province to assert its claims. A 16 February article in Hong Kong’s Ta Kung Pao the PRC-owned daily newspaper commented, “Soon after World War II, China's central government, the Kuomintang (KMT), dispatched a small fleet, composed of the warships presented to them due to America and Japan being at war, to the South China Sea. As a result, there were surveys taken of the surrounding islands, along with establishing emblems of China's sovereignty, as well as the defining of national boundaries in accordance with the field surveys done.”
Despite Taiwan’s and the KMT’s ongoing “renegade” status the article continues, “ In 1947, in support of China's advocacy, the Department of Territorial Administration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the KMT government published an atlas of the South China Sea. Since these South East Asian countries were still ‘western colonies,’ their governments raised no objection to China's territorial claims… Since establishment of the People's Republic of China, the new central government inherited the territorial assertions of its predecessor…”.
So, the Chinese Communist Party is not above citing the government that it overthrew in 1949 to further China’s territorial claims.
Other maritime disputes?
Besides the Spratlys, China occupies some of the south China Sea’s Paracel Islands, which it seized in 1974 but are still claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan, while, finding further common cause with its “renegade” province, both China and Taiwan continue to reject Japan's claims to the uninhabited islands of Senkaku-shoto (Diaoyu Tai) and Japan's unilaterally declared equidistance line in the East China Sea.
Adding fuel to the fire, China is also embroiled in a territorial dispute with Indonesia over the South China Sea’s 272-island Natuna archipelago, 150 miles northwest of Borneo. In 1993 China presented the Indonesian government with a map of its "historic claims" on the Spratlys, which included not only nearly the entire South China Sea but a portion of Indonesia's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off the Natuna islands as well. The Natuna islands are hardly worthless, as its offshiore natural gas reserves are among the largest in the world, estimated at 210 trillion cubic feet.
Even more striking, China even has disagreements with North Korea over several islands in the Yalu and Tumen rivers, and it was only last year that China and the Russian Federation finally demarcated the once disputed islands in the Amur and Ussuri rivers, over which they fought a brief but vicious border war in 1969.
But in the end, the Spratlys may not prove to be a great a bargain as Beijing apparently thinks. Quite aside from questions about the actual amounts of hydrocarbon reserves, a second factor is the potential cost for developing them. Given the relatively high “lifting” costs involved, some analysts project that the price of a barrel of oil from South China Sea deepwater wells could be as much as four times that of a barrel produced from conventional reserves like those in the Middle East.
But the end result of China’s ‘big stock” policy may be to reinforce a recently announced policy of the Obama administration to shift its focus to Asia, as both the Philippines and Vietnam are inveigling the United States to intervene in their disputes with China. Both have attractive military assets to offer Washington – the Philippines, Clark airfield and Subic Bay, which the U.S. military used until 1992, while Vietnam has Cam Ranh Bay, the finest deepwater port in Southeast Asia, a prime staging post for the U.S. Navy until 1975.
So, potential “bottom line” for undisputed Chinese sovereignty over the South China Sea?
Economically, an expensive development program that may produce far less than the Chinese government hopes.
But the possible diplomatic fallout is worse - bad relations with fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.
And last but not least, aggrieved Southeast Asian nations are as a result of Chinese pressure avidly welcoming the return of U.S. military forces.
All considered, not much of a bargain. For a nation lauded for its economic acumen, at present China is curiously tone-deaf to the concerns of its South China Seas neighbors. If the politicians in Beijing can overcome their nationalist xenophobia and negotiate creatively with their ASEAN partners for joint sovereignty and production-sharing agreements, then they might yet forestall one of their unsettling visions – a return of the Stars and Stripes to the waters of the southwestern Pacific, this time by request.
Dipetik dari - Oilprice.com
Lagi posting berkaitan,
--> Malaysia's correct strategic decision
--> Russian wrinkle in the South China Sea
--> Exclusive: U.S. military seeks more access in Philippines
--> New naval warship completes first patrol mission off Spratlys islands
--> Progressives slam Aquino’s mendicancy, sellout to US imperial interests
--> US, Filipino Forces Plan Drills Near Disputed Area
--> Dispute over oil rich islands in South China Sea could escalate into 'state-on-state conflict', U.S. admiral warns
--> Philippines ready to validate claim to Spratlys in UN forum
--> Manila protests Chinese ships' presence in Spratlys
Monday, February 20, 2012
Forex Trading 'Haram', Says National Fatwa Council
KOTA BAHARU, Feb 15 (Bernama) -- The National Fatwa Council today ruled that foreign exchange trading (forex trading) is forbidden (haram) for Muslims.
Council chairman Tan Sri Dr Abdul Shukor Husin said forex trading is against Islamic law and creates confusion among Muslims.
"A study by the committee found that such trading involves currency speculation, which contradicts Islamic law.
"For that reason, the National Fatwa Council has decided that it is haram for Muslims to be engaged in such trading," he told reporters after chairing the Council's 98th conference here Wednesday.
Abdul Shukor said Muslims should not engage in forex trading as there are many doubts about it and it involves individuals using the internet, with uncertain outcomes.
Dipetik dari - BERNAMA
Bank Negara, Fatwa Council Explains Foreign Currency Trading Status
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 (Bernama) -- Bank Negara Malaysia clarified that buying and selling of foreign currency in Malaysia is only allowed with licensed commercial banks, Islamic banks, investment banks and international Islamic banks as provided for under the Exchange Control Act 1953.
Such trading is also allowed with licensed money services business providers (money changers) as provided for under the Money Services Business Act 2011.
In addition, Shariah-compliant financial products, including foreign exchange related transactions, offered and transacted by licensed Islamic financial institutions are approved by the Shariah Committee of the respective financial institutions with endorsement from the Shariah Advisory Council of Bank Negara Malaysia, it said in a statement Thursday.
In a separate statement to explain the ruling that foreign exchange (forex) trading is forbidden (haram) for Muslims, the National Fatwa Council chairman, Tan Sri Dr Abdul Shukor Husin, said the ban on forex trading is in reference to the ban on forex trading scheme by individual spot forex via electronic platform which is against the law.
He said the disallowance is not applicable to forex trading through licensed money changers and financial institutions.
"I find that my statement was wrongly reported by some media organisations that said that all foreign exchange trading is forbidden," he said.
Dipetik dari - BERNAMA
Hanya Perniagaan Forex Menerusi Platform Elektronik Haram
KUALA LUMPUR: Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Fatwa Majlis Kebangsaan Bagi Hal Ehwal Agama Islam Malaysia, Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Abdul Shukor Husin pada Khamis menjelaskan fatwa pengharaman pertukaran wang asing (forex) hanya dibuat kepada perdagangan mata wang individu secara lani menerusi platform elektronik.
Katanya, pertimbangan dan keputusan pengharaman tersebut dibuat berdasarkankeraguan-keraguan yang terdapat dalam urusniaga tersebut yang bercanggah denganhukum syarak serta tidak sah dari aspek undang-undang negara.
"Saya mendapati bahawa kenyataan saya telah disalah lapor oleh sebahagian media yang menggambarkan seolah-olah "semua perniagaan pertukaran mata wang asing (forex) adalah haram," katanya dalam kenyataan di sini.
Menurutnya, keputusan pengharaman forex tersebut tidak terpakai ke atas perkara-perkara seperti urus niaga pertukaran mata wang asing menerusi kaunter di pengurup wang berlesen dan urus niaga pertukaran mata wang asing yang dikendalikan oleh institusi kewangan berlesen.
Jawatankuasa Fatwa Kebangsaan pada Rabu memutuskan umat Islam haram mengamalkan sistem perniagaan pertukaran wang asing menerusi platform elektronik.
Pengharaman tersebut dibuat hasil kajian oleh jawatankuasa itu selepas mendapati perniagaan forex melibatkan spekulasi mata wang adalah bercanggah dengan hukum Islam. - BERNAMA
Dipetik dari - mStar Online
Council chairman Tan Sri Dr Abdul Shukor Husin said forex trading is against Islamic law and creates confusion among Muslims.
"A study by the committee found that such trading involves currency speculation, which contradicts Islamic law.
"For that reason, the National Fatwa Council has decided that it is haram for Muslims to be engaged in such trading," he told reporters after chairing the Council's 98th conference here Wednesday.
Abdul Shukor said Muslims should not engage in forex trading as there are many doubts about it and it involves individuals using the internet, with uncertain outcomes.
Dipetik dari - BERNAMA
Bank Negara, Fatwa Council Explains Foreign Currency Trading Status
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 (Bernama) -- Bank Negara Malaysia clarified that buying and selling of foreign currency in Malaysia is only allowed with licensed commercial banks, Islamic banks, investment banks and international Islamic banks as provided for under the Exchange Control Act 1953.
Such trading is also allowed with licensed money services business providers (money changers) as provided for under the Money Services Business Act 2011.
In addition, Shariah-compliant financial products, including foreign exchange related transactions, offered and transacted by licensed Islamic financial institutions are approved by the Shariah Committee of the respective financial institutions with endorsement from the Shariah Advisory Council of Bank Negara Malaysia, it said in a statement Thursday.
In a separate statement to explain the ruling that foreign exchange (forex) trading is forbidden (haram) for Muslims, the National Fatwa Council chairman, Tan Sri Dr Abdul Shukor Husin, said the ban on forex trading is in reference to the ban on forex trading scheme by individual spot forex via electronic platform which is against the law.
He said the disallowance is not applicable to forex trading through licensed money changers and financial institutions.
"I find that my statement was wrongly reported by some media organisations that said that all foreign exchange trading is forbidden," he said.
Dipetik dari - BERNAMA
Hanya Perniagaan Forex Menerusi Platform Elektronik Haram
KUALA LUMPUR: Pengerusi Jawatankuasa Fatwa Majlis Kebangsaan Bagi Hal Ehwal Agama Islam Malaysia, Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Abdul Shukor Husin pada Khamis menjelaskan fatwa pengharaman pertukaran wang asing (forex) hanya dibuat kepada perdagangan mata wang individu secara lani menerusi platform elektronik.
Katanya, pertimbangan dan keputusan pengharaman tersebut dibuat berdasarkankeraguan-keraguan yang terdapat dalam urusniaga tersebut yang bercanggah denganhukum syarak serta tidak sah dari aspek undang-undang negara.
"Saya mendapati bahawa kenyataan saya telah disalah lapor oleh sebahagian media yang menggambarkan seolah-olah "semua perniagaan pertukaran mata wang asing (forex) adalah haram," katanya dalam kenyataan di sini.
Menurutnya, keputusan pengharaman forex tersebut tidak terpakai ke atas perkara-perkara seperti urus niaga pertukaran mata wang asing menerusi kaunter di pengurup wang berlesen dan urus niaga pertukaran mata wang asing yang dikendalikan oleh institusi kewangan berlesen.
Jawatankuasa Fatwa Kebangsaan pada Rabu memutuskan umat Islam haram mengamalkan sistem perniagaan pertukaran wang asing menerusi platform elektronik.
Pengharaman tersebut dibuat hasil kajian oleh jawatankuasa itu selepas mendapati perniagaan forex melibatkan spekulasi mata wang adalah bercanggah dengan hukum Islam. - BERNAMA
Dipetik dari - mStar Online
Brunei Darussalam: Construction building up
With the government having announced ambitious plans to reduce and eventually eliminate the need to wait for state housing, Brunei Darussalam’s construction sector looks set for a busy few years.
The industry is already experiencing something of a growth spurt, with figures released by the Department of Economic Planning and Development in late January showing that the construction sector was the fastest-growing area of the economy in the third quarter of 2011, having expanded by 3.3% year on year – well above the 2.5% recorded for the economy as a whole.
Some of this growth can be attributed to increased state investments in infrastructure and housing projects that are already under way, including a residential development at Kampong Ayer covering 65 homes scheduled for completion early this year, as well as flood mitigation work in the Tutong district and Kampong Mulaut.
Under the government’s existing public housing programmes, at least 4000 new dwellings will be handed over this year, following on from the 3500 in 2011, though even at this accelerated pace the state is struggling to keep up with demand. According to official figures, as of the end of last year, the shortfall in state housing stood at almost 33,750 units.
Nearly 26,000 of these are required in the Brunei-Muara district, which encompasses the main business and commercial hub of the country and is home to around 70% of the population. A further 5500 homes are needed in the Belait district, with the remaining shortfall in the Tutong and Temburong districts.
In order to get in front of the rising demand, in a move that will have long-term benefits for the construction industry, the government announced late last year it would fast-track housing developments to reduce the waiting list for public housing, unveiling plans to have more than 17,300 homes constructed by 2014. Of these, 10,676 will be built in the Brunei-Muara district, along with almost 4000 in Belait, more than 2250 in Tutong, and 408 in Temburong.
However, unlike previous housing programmes in the Sultanate, the new developments will be built upwards rather than outwards, with construction work to focus on apartment blocks rather than the more traditional freestanding houses. The vertical housing concept is a logical response to the paucity of land that can be utilised for residential purposes. Much of Brunei’s landmass of 5265 sq km is already reserved either for agricultural or industrial use, or as part of the Heart of Borneo project, designed to protect large swathes of the environment in their original form.
According to Pehin Kaya Indera Pahlawan Setia Suyoi bin Osman, the Minister of Development, if traditional practices were followed in building the residential units scheduled for completion over the next few years, 775 ha of land would be required. By contrast, only 580 ha of land will be used with the planned vertical housing model.
One of the first of these housing projects will be located at Kampong Lambak Kanan in the Brunei-Muara district, the minister announced in mid-January, with work set to begin late this year.
“At the beginning, the project involves the construction of the six-storey vertical housing, which will provide about 320 unit houses in Kampong Lambak Kanan,” he said at the opening of a housing trade fair. “Most area of the land designated for this development will be retained as green space that contributes to the reduction of the urban heat island effect, regulating surface run-off and brightening the beauty of the environment.”
Other projects that have been proposed include a series of 14-storey towers in the Lumapas region, some 25 km from the capital. The development would cover a 133-ha area and would be linked to Bandar Seri Begawan by public transport, according to local media reports.
Contractors will have to work within a series of tight guidelines, as the government has mandated that the new housing projects adhere to eco-friendly standards. These will include measures to minimise energy consumption and install highly efficient waste and sewerage disposal.
While this accelerated public housing programme is welcome news for the country’s construction contractors, they may struggle to complete all of the projects on time. This is mostly due to the fact that the scheme calls for higher output that the sector has had to meet in the past, while also putting in place technological standards.
Though the full cost of the proposed expansions have yet to be finalised, the government’s commitment to ending the shortage of homes should see the country’s builders working at full capacity for some years to come.
Dipetik dari - Oxford Business Group
Posting berkaitan,
--> All systems go to finalise RKN projects
--> Meeting agriculture targets in Brunei
The industry is already experiencing something of a growth spurt, with figures released by the Department of Economic Planning and Development in late January showing that the construction sector was the fastest-growing area of the economy in the third quarter of 2011, having expanded by 3.3% year on year – well above the 2.5% recorded for the economy as a whole.
Some of this growth can be attributed to increased state investments in infrastructure and housing projects that are already under way, including a residential development at Kampong Ayer covering 65 homes scheduled for completion early this year, as well as flood mitigation work in the Tutong district and Kampong Mulaut.
Under the government’s existing public housing programmes, at least 4000 new dwellings will be handed over this year, following on from the 3500 in 2011, though even at this accelerated pace the state is struggling to keep up with demand. According to official figures, as of the end of last year, the shortfall in state housing stood at almost 33,750 units.
Nearly 26,000 of these are required in the Brunei-Muara district, which encompasses the main business and commercial hub of the country and is home to around 70% of the population. A further 5500 homes are needed in the Belait district, with the remaining shortfall in the Tutong and Temburong districts.
In order to get in front of the rising demand, in a move that will have long-term benefits for the construction industry, the government announced late last year it would fast-track housing developments to reduce the waiting list for public housing, unveiling plans to have more than 17,300 homes constructed by 2014. Of these, 10,676 will be built in the Brunei-Muara district, along with almost 4000 in Belait, more than 2250 in Tutong, and 408 in Temburong.
However, unlike previous housing programmes in the Sultanate, the new developments will be built upwards rather than outwards, with construction work to focus on apartment blocks rather than the more traditional freestanding houses. The vertical housing concept is a logical response to the paucity of land that can be utilised for residential purposes. Much of Brunei’s landmass of 5265 sq km is already reserved either for agricultural or industrial use, or as part of the Heart of Borneo project, designed to protect large swathes of the environment in their original form.
According to Pehin Kaya Indera Pahlawan Setia Suyoi bin Osman, the Minister of Development, if traditional practices were followed in building the residential units scheduled for completion over the next few years, 775 ha of land would be required. By contrast, only 580 ha of land will be used with the planned vertical housing model.
One of the first of these housing projects will be located at Kampong Lambak Kanan in the Brunei-Muara district, the minister announced in mid-January, with work set to begin late this year.
“At the beginning, the project involves the construction of the six-storey vertical housing, which will provide about 320 unit houses in Kampong Lambak Kanan,” he said at the opening of a housing trade fair. “Most area of the land designated for this development will be retained as green space that contributes to the reduction of the urban heat island effect, regulating surface run-off and brightening the beauty of the environment.”
Other projects that have been proposed include a series of 14-storey towers in the Lumapas region, some 25 km from the capital. The development would cover a 133-ha area and would be linked to Bandar Seri Begawan by public transport, according to local media reports.
Contractors will have to work within a series of tight guidelines, as the government has mandated that the new housing projects adhere to eco-friendly standards. These will include measures to minimise energy consumption and install highly efficient waste and sewerage disposal.
While this accelerated public housing programme is welcome news for the country’s construction contractors, they may struggle to complete all of the projects on time. This is mostly due to the fact that the scheme calls for higher output that the sector has had to meet in the past, while also putting in place technological standards.
Though the full cost of the proposed expansions have yet to be finalised, the government’s commitment to ending the shortage of homes should see the country’s builders working at full capacity for some years to come.
Dipetik dari - Oxford Business Group
Posting berkaitan,
--> All systems go to finalise RKN projects
--> Meeting agriculture targets in Brunei
All systems go to finalise RKN projects
Goh De No
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Monday, February 20, 2012
DURING the Seventh LegCo session, it was reported that 30 per cent of the 1,040 projects under the National Development Plan (Rancangan Kemajuan Negara or RKN) 2007-2012 have been completed, while 48 per cent of the projects are in the process of implementation or construction.
Second Minister of Finance, Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Dato Seri Setia Hj Abdul Rahman Hj Ibrahim added that six per cent are in tender stages; nine per cent are in the design phase, whilst the remaining eight are in the planning stage, as of March 2011.
However, in January this year, Minister of Development, Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Suyoi Hj Osman, said that related agencies are stepping-up efforts to expedite the completion of some delayed projects in order to ensure that the development programmes under the Ninth National Development Plan is right on target.
"We see that some of the projects are experiencing delays, but there are some progress, too. We hope that the delayed projects will soon be completed, InsyaAllah, according to the schedules," said Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Suyoi Hj Osman during his visit to four construction sites in the Brunei-Muara District earlier in the year.
Pehin Dato Hj Rahman last year also said that the budget allocation of $1.05 billion for fiscal year 2011/2012 has been prepared under the National Development Plan, similar to 2010/2011. The distribution under the RKN will focus more on projects that are already in progress, those expecting tender awards and those that will be tendered. "This is to ensure that the budget allocation will be fully utilised," he assured, adding that the distribution focus also considers efforts of ministries and expenditure performances in the 2010/2011 fiscal year.
Pehin Dato Hj Suyoi further assured that although there are some projects experiencing delays, others are being implemented on schedule. The minister conceded that there were inevitable problems during the implementation of the development projects; however, the challenges were able to be handled.
"In addition, from time to time, we also provide guidelines to other parties, consultants and developers, about the type of work that we are aiming for," he added.
Some of the guidelines were also based on the feedback given by some homeowners from previous housing projects to the Ministry of Development.
Pehin Dato Hj Suyoi underscored the importance of cooperation and discussion between the government and consultants and developers. "The government will constantly monitor the works carried out by developers and consultants," he said.
During last year's session, Pehin Dato Hj Rahman also received questions regarding the progress of projects under the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB).
He said in reference to the Telisai-Lumut highway, that it experienced minor delay, but is scheduled to be completed in February 2013.
As for the Pulau Muara Besar (PMB) project, the BEDB has been receiving a number of proposals for projects from various international companies and the BEDB has also done its own assessment and brought it up with the relevant stakeholders. He said that there are a "number of factors" that would affect development and industrial projects, such as whether there is a demand for certain types of developments from investors.
"Also, what type of industry that would need to be developed as well as the size of the investment of the project. Because the PMB project is a large project, this is the reason why the project will be completed in phases," he said.
Dato Paduka Dr Hj Ismail Hj Duraman, executive director of the Centre for Strategic and Policy Studies (CSPS), said the government should thresh out more details about the National Development Plan (RKN) projects to stoke growth, warning Brunei is in a "comfort zone" because of its oil and gas resources. Looking at the nature of Brunei's economy, which is still government driven especially in the non-oil sector, the private sector, for example, Small-to-Medium enterprises (SMEs), are largely relying on RKN projects, Dato Dr Hj Ismail said last August.
"So to stimulate and encourage economic growth we need to increase their (SMEs) productivity to expand, and hence (boost) future employment. It sounds simple and theoretical but this would be the growth path Brunei may pursue. To speed up the implementation of the projects that have already (been) approved," he added.
Dipetik dari - The Brunei Times
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
Monday, February 20, 2012
DURING the Seventh LegCo session, it was reported that 30 per cent of the 1,040 projects under the National Development Plan (Rancangan Kemajuan Negara or RKN) 2007-2012 have been completed, while 48 per cent of the projects are in the process of implementation or construction.
Second Minister of Finance, Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Setia Dato Seri Setia Hj Abdul Rahman Hj Ibrahim added that six per cent are in tender stages; nine per cent are in the design phase, whilst the remaining eight are in the planning stage, as of March 2011.
However, in January this year, Minister of Development, Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Suyoi Hj Osman, said that related agencies are stepping-up efforts to expedite the completion of some delayed projects in order to ensure that the development programmes under the Ninth National Development Plan is right on target.
"We see that some of the projects are experiencing delays, but there are some progress, too. We hope that the delayed projects will soon be completed, InsyaAllah, according to the schedules," said Pehin Orang Kaya Indera Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Suyoi Hj Osman during his visit to four construction sites in the Brunei-Muara District earlier in the year.
Pehin Dato Hj Rahman last year also said that the budget allocation of $1.05 billion for fiscal year 2011/2012 has been prepared under the National Development Plan, similar to 2010/2011. The distribution under the RKN will focus more on projects that are already in progress, those expecting tender awards and those that will be tendered. "This is to ensure that the budget allocation will be fully utilised," he assured, adding that the distribution focus also considers efforts of ministries and expenditure performances in the 2010/2011 fiscal year.
Pehin Dato Hj Suyoi further assured that although there are some projects experiencing delays, others are being implemented on schedule. The minister conceded that there were inevitable problems during the implementation of the development projects; however, the challenges were able to be handled.
"In addition, from time to time, we also provide guidelines to other parties, consultants and developers, about the type of work that we are aiming for," he added.
Some of the guidelines were also based on the feedback given by some homeowners from previous housing projects to the Ministry of Development.
Pehin Dato Hj Suyoi underscored the importance of cooperation and discussion between the government and consultants and developers. "The government will constantly monitor the works carried out by developers and consultants," he said.
During last year's session, Pehin Dato Hj Rahman also received questions regarding the progress of projects under the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB).
He said in reference to the Telisai-Lumut highway, that it experienced minor delay, but is scheduled to be completed in February 2013.
As for the Pulau Muara Besar (PMB) project, the BEDB has been receiving a number of proposals for projects from various international companies and the BEDB has also done its own assessment and brought it up with the relevant stakeholders. He said that there are a "number of factors" that would affect development and industrial projects, such as whether there is a demand for certain types of developments from investors.
"Also, what type of industry that would need to be developed as well as the size of the investment of the project. Because the PMB project is a large project, this is the reason why the project will be completed in phases," he said.
Dato Paduka Dr Hj Ismail Hj Duraman, executive director of the Centre for Strategic and Policy Studies (CSPS), said the government should thresh out more details about the National Development Plan (RKN) projects to stoke growth, warning Brunei is in a "comfort zone" because of its oil and gas resources. Looking at the nature of Brunei's economy, which is still government driven especially in the non-oil sector, the private sector, for example, Small-to-Medium enterprises (SMEs), are largely relying on RKN projects, Dato Dr Hj Ismail said last August.
"So to stimulate and encourage economic growth we need to increase their (SMEs) productivity to expand, and hence (boost) future employment. It sounds simple and theoretical but this would be the growth path Brunei may pursue. To speed up the implementation of the projects that have already (been) approved," he added.
Dipetik dari - The Brunei Times
Malaysia's correct strategic decision
By Dr Azmi Hassan
With the arms build-up by India and China, and America’s pivot policy, Malaysia is taking precautionary steps
TALK about containing China's influence via the United States' "pivot" policy has already had a chilling effect, especially for the Southeast Asia region.
The Philippines has been courting the US in its Spratly and Paracel Islands territorial dispute with China.
The expanded cooperation between the two allies not only created uneasiness among its neighbours but also warnings from Philippines separatist groups because of the fear that this would include the return of American military bases.
The so-called Pacific pivot policy is no doubt a continuation of broadening American strategic relations in the region to maintain a balance of power as China's influence grows.
Singapore, too, is already warming up to the latest American strategy.
The Changi naval facility, which is basically designed and built to accommodate the US Navy fleet operating in the Pacific area, will be a primary logistic stop.
Washington said it was considering plans to deploy advanced littoral combat ships (LCS) in Singapore in the coming years.
The presence of American LCS in the Straits of Malacca is a sensitive issue for the littoral states of Malaysia and Indonesia.
When Washington proposed to deploy LCS to patrol the straits in 2004 under the Regional Maritime Security Initiative (RMSI), both Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta rejected the move and reiterated that control of the straits was the sovereign prerogative of both nations.
But the most keenly watched impact of US pivoting strategy emanated from India.
New Delhi is on the threshold of a huge military procurement and it is estimated that its defence spending in the next five years will reach an astounding US$100 billion (RM310 billion).
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) estimated that in 2010, India accounted for nearly nine per cent of the world's weapon imports and this made the country one of the largest arms importers.
Some argue that India is playing catch-up and using its growing economic wealth to overhaul its military arsenal that still consist of near-obsolete Soviet-era hardware.
This argument is also commonly employed by Beijing to justify its military spending in order to protect its economic interests.
But what's more interesting is that India's long-time rival Pakistan is not the main focus of its latest military procurement, since the navy and air force received the most generous budget.
Procurement of 126 multi-combat jet fighters, a nuclear-powered submarine and an aircraft carrier point directly to China because New Delhi is looking to strengthen its position not only along its shared borders but also the Indian Ocean.
India's need for a multi-combat fighter is, in part, based on its geographical size which spans several operational theatres with wildly varying topographies.
The possibility of a full-scale war between the two Asian giants is remote.
But due to the unsettled historical issues along its 3,500km common mountain borders and also the memory of the humiliating defeat of the Indian army during the brief 1962 border war, New Delhi is preparing for the inevitable.
New Delhi is also apprehensive about Beijing's extended influence in South Asia and the development of harbour facilities in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar is a direct inference that China has some big plans for the Indian Ocean.
Both nations are no doubt building and fortifying their "blue water" navies to protect key shipping routes that are critical to their future energy needs.
With this development, Malaysia should take corrective and precautionary measures since the Indian Ocean is only a short distance from the highly contested and congested South China Sea and the Straits of Malacca -- not that Malaysia should also pursue a military spending spree since India and China are in a totally different league.
But the acquisition of two Scorpene class submarines KD Tuanku Abdul Rahman and KD Tun Abdul Razak and the addition of six LCS in a few years' time points to a correct strategic decision on our part.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency in 2005 had freed the Royal Malaysian Navy from the coast guard role. The latter can now focus on its core business -- its military role and possibly, a true "blue water" RMN.
Dipetik dari - New Straits Times
US formally offers 2nd warship to AFP
By Alexis Romero
MANILA, Philippines - A top military official bared yesterday that the United States has formally offered to the Philippines a second warship that is expected to boost the country’s territorial defense capability.
Navy chief Vice Admiral Alexander Pama said the US sent last week a letter notifying them about the availability of another US Coast Guard cutter, Dallas.
“They (US) sent a letter offering us formally (the ship). They are telling us this is available and their government has approved (the giving of the ship to the Philippines). They are asking us if we are interested,” Pama said.
He said the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is expected to reply to the letter next week.
“We will respond to the letter and tell them that we are interested. Once they receive that, the formal, detailed discussion would start,” Pama said.
The Navy chief said the transfer of the warship might be held in May if discussions run smoothly.
“If the talks are continuous and smooth flowing, we are looking at a formal transfer to be held in May,” Pama said.
The transfer cost would be funded by proceeds from the Malampaya natural gas project off Palawan that the Department of Energy will provide.
Officials have said the transfer cost for the cutter Dallas would be close to the P450 million spent for the first Coast Guard cutter that the Philippine Navy acquired last year.
The first Coast Guard cutter that was converted into the BRP Gregorio del Pilar was acquired from the US Coast Guard last year to improve the Philippines’ territorial defense capability.
The Gregorio del Pilar is the Navy’s first Hamilton-class vessel and was acquired under the US Foreign Military Sales program.
The ship is 380 feet long and is now the Navy’s largest ship. The ship is currently deployed in Palawan since Dec. 23 to secure the country’s natural resources.
The Philippines deployed the ship amid a territorial row over the Spratly Islands, an area in the West Philippine Sea that is rich in mineral and marine resources.
The Philippines, China, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan claim either part or the entire Spratly Islands, which has been the subject of a territorial dispute in the region.
Last November, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said her government is ready to provide a second war ship to the Philippines.
Clinton, who visited Manila to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Mutual Defense Treaty, said the US would remain “in the corner” of the Philippines, its “trusted ally.”
Early this month, US Rep. Ed Royce said the ship “should soon be on its way to Manila” and that the review process for its transfer would be completed soon.
Dallas is a weather high-endurance cutter and has features similar to that of Gregorio del Pilar.
The US Coast Guard had used the ship for drug and migrant interdiction, law enforcement, search and rescue, living marine resources protection, and defense readiness.
The ship can accommodate up to 180 officers and sailors.
Dipetik dari - The Philippine Star
Lagi posting berkaitan,
--> Russian wrinkle in the South China Sea
--> Exclusive: U.S. military seeks more access in Philippines
--> New naval warship completes first patrol mission off Spratlys islands
--> Progressives slam Aquino’s mendicancy, sellout to US imperial interests
--> US, Filipino Forces Plan Drills Near Disputed Area
--> Dispute over oil rich islands in South China Sea could escalate into 'state-on-state conflict', U.S. admiral warns
--> Philippines ready to validate claim to Spratlys in UN forum
--> Manila protests Chinese ships' presence in Spratlys
With the arms build-up by India and China, and America’s pivot policy, Malaysia is taking precautionary steps
TALK about containing China's influence via the United States' "pivot" policy has already had a chilling effect, especially for the Southeast Asia region.
The Philippines has been courting the US in its Spratly and Paracel Islands territorial dispute with China.
The expanded cooperation between the two allies not only created uneasiness among its neighbours but also warnings from Philippines separatist groups because of the fear that this would include the return of American military bases.
The so-called Pacific pivot policy is no doubt a continuation of broadening American strategic relations in the region to maintain a balance of power as China's influence grows.
Singapore, too, is already warming up to the latest American strategy.
The Changi naval facility, which is basically designed and built to accommodate the US Navy fleet operating in the Pacific area, will be a primary logistic stop.
Washington said it was considering plans to deploy advanced littoral combat ships (LCS) in Singapore in the coming years.
The presence of American LCS in the Straits of Malacca is a sensitive issue for the littoral states of Malaysia and Indonesia.
When Washington proposed to deploy LCS to patrol the straits in 2004 under the Regional Maritime Security Initiative (RMSI), both Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta rejected the move and reiterated that control of the straits was the sovereign prerogative of both nations.
But the most keenly watched impact of US pivoting strategy emanated from India.
New Delhi is on the threshold of a huge military procurement and it is estimated that its defence spending in the next five years will reach an astounding US$100 billion (RM310 billion).
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) estimated that in 2010, India accounted for nearly nine per cent of the world's weapon imports and this made the country one of the largest arms importers.
Some argue that India is playing catch-up and using its growing economic wealth to overhaul its military arsenal that still consist of near-obsolete Soviet-era hardware.
This argument is also commonly employed by Beijing to justify its military spending in order to protect its economic interests.
But what's more interesting is that India's long-time rival Pakistan is not the main focus of its latest military procurement, since the navy and air force received the most generous budget.
Procurement of 126 multi-combat jet fighters, a nuclear-powered submarine and an aircraft carrier point directly to China because New Delhi is looking to strengthen its position not only along its shared borders but also the Indian Ocean.
India's need for a multi-combat fighter is, in part, based on its geographical size which spans several operational theatres with wildly varying topographies.
The possibility of a full-scale war between the two Asian giants is remote.
But due to the unsettled historical issues along its 3,500km common mountain borders and also the memory of the humiliating defeat of the Indian army during the brief 1962 border war, New Delhi is preparing for the inevitable.
New Delhi is also apprehensive about Beijing's extended influence in South Asia and the development of harbour facilities in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar is a direct inference that China has some big plans for the Indian Ocean.
Both nations are no doubt building and fortifying their "blue water" navies to protect key shipping routes that are critical to their future energy needs.
With this development, Malaysia should take corrective and precautionary measures since the Indian Ocean is only a short distance from the highly contested and congested South China Sea and the Straits of Malacca -- not that Malaysia should also pursue a military spending spree since India and China are in a totally different league.
But the acquisition of two Scorpene class submarines KD Tuanku Abdul Rahman and KD Tun Abdul Razak and the addition of six LCS in a few years' time points to a correct strategic decision on our part.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency in 2005 had freed the Royal Malaysian Navy from the coast guard role. The latter can now focus on its core business -- its military role and possibly, a true "blue water" RMN.
Dipetik dari - New Straits Times
US formally offers 2nd warship to AFP
By Alexis Romero
MANILA, Philippines - A top military official bared yesterday that the United States has formally offered to the Philippines a second warship that is expected to boost the country’s territorial defense capability.
Navy chief Vice Admiral Alexander Pama said the US sent last week a letter notifying them about the availability of another US Coast Guard cutter, Dallas.
“They (US) sent a letter offering us formally (the ship). They are telling us this is available and their government has approved (the giving of the ship to the Philippines). They are asking us if we are interested,” Pama said.
He said the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is expected to reply to the letter next week.
“We will respond to the letter and tell them that we are interested. Once they receive that, the formal, detailed discussion would start,” Pama said.
The Navy chief said the transfer of the warship might be held in May if discussions run smoothly.
“If the talks are continuous and smooth flowing, we are looking at a formal transfer to be held in May,” Pama said.
The transfer cost would be funded by proceeds from the Malampaya natural gas project off Palawan that the Department of Energy will provide.
Officials have said the transfer cost for the cutter Dallas would be close to the P450 million spent for the first Coast Guard cutter that the Philippine Navy acquired last year.
The first Coast Guard cutter that was converted into the BRP Gregorio del Pilar was acquired from the US Coast Guard last year to improve the Philippines’ territorial defense capability.
The Gregorio del Pilar is the Navy’s first Hamilton-class vessel and was acquired under the US Foreign Military Sales program.
The ship is 380 feet long and is now the Navy’s largest ship. The ship is currently deployed in Palawan since Dec. 23 to secure the country’s natural resources.
The Philippines deployed the ship amid a territorial row over the Spratly Islands, an area in the West Philippine Sea that is rich in mineral and marine resources.
The Philippines, China, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan claim either part or the entire Spratly Islands, which has been the subject of a territorial dispute in the region.
Last November, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said her government is ready to provide a second war ship to the Philippines.
Clinton, who visited Manila to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Mutual Defense Treaty, said the US would remain “in the corner” of the Philippines, its “trusted ally.”
Early this month, US Rep. Ed Royce said the ship “should soon be on its way to Manila” and that the review process for its transfer would be completed soon.
Dallas is a weather high-endurance cutter and has features similar to that of Gregorio del Pilar.
The US Coast Guard had used the ship for drug and migrant interdiction, law enforcement, search and rescue, living marine resources protection, and defense readiness.
The ship can accommodate up to 180 officers and sailors.
Dipetik dari - The Philippine Star
Lagi posting berkaitan,
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--> New naval warship completes first patrol mission off Spratlys islands
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--> US, Filipino Forces Plan Drills Near Disputed Area
--> Dispute over oil rich islands in South China Sea could escalate into 'state-on-state conflict', U.S. admiral warns
--> Philippines ready to validate claim to Spratlys in UN forum
--> Manila protests Chinese ships' presence in Spratlys
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