ECRL - learn from Sri Lanka before it's too late.

Media Statement by Yeo Bee Yin, ADUN Damansara Utama, on Friday 21 July 2017 in Petaling Jaya.

Putrajaya should heed Nazir Razak’s suggestion to thoroughly scrutinize East Coast Rail Line (ECRL).

The Edge Financial Daily reported that Nazir Razak has called for government scrutiny on China’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiatives, particularly the East Coast Rail Line (ECRL) project at the roundtable on “China’s Belt and Road Initative in ASEAN: Economic Opportunities and ASEAN Centrality”[i].

We have repeatedly raised concerns regarding the East Coast Rail Line (ECRL) but all seem to have fallen into deaf ears. Now even Nazir Razak, who is a prominent banker, raised concerns over the value proposition of the project as well as the debt implications, we hope that Putrajaya will heed his suggestion to thoroughly scrutinize the deal.

ECRL project is awarded to China Communication Construction Co Ltd (CCCC) without open tender. At RM 55 billion price tag, it is deemed the most expensive railroad of its kind by The Edge Weekly after benchmarking it against other rail projects around the world. The project is going to be financed by a loan from China via Export-Import (Exim) Bank of China. Putrajaya has repeatedly said that the loan is offered at low interest rate, but how “low” is the “low interest rate” ? What are the terms and conditions?

In short, it seems like with ECRL deal, most of the money that come from China via Exim bank will go back to China via CCCC, what’s left for Malaysians is an overpriced infrastructure and huge debt, only to be paid by the people in the future.

There is risk that reckless mega infrastructure constructions will send Malaysia into deep debt trap.  What happen to the troubled Sri Lanka offers a good glimpse into how mega infrastructure financed by debt without proper framework to benefit local economies through the construction and completion of the infrastructure, is not development but debt disaster in the making.

布城应该听从纳西尔拉萨的建议，全面审查东海岸铁路工程（ECRL)

百乐镇州议员杨美盈于2017年7月21日（星期五）在八打灵再也所发布的媒体文告。

布城应该听从纳西尔拉萨的建议，全面审查东海岸铁路工程（ECRL）

《The Edge财经日报》报导说，纳西尔拉萨在“中国在东盟的一带一路计划：经济契机和东盟中心”圆桌讨论上呼吁政府审查中国的一带一路计划，尤其是东海岸铁路工程（ECRL）.

我们一直重复表达我们对东海岸铁路工程（ECRL）的关切，但有关方面却似乎对此充耳不闻。现在，连重要的银行家纳西尔拉萨也对这项工程的利益价值以及我国因此亏欠中国巨额债务的影响表达关切，所以我们希望布城不要再漠视这些关切，听从建议，并全面审查这项工程。

ECRL工程是在没有公开竞标下，以550亿令吉颁授给中国交通建设公司（CCCC）。这是非常高的价格。《The Edge周报》在把这项工程和世界其他铁路工程进行国际标准衡量后，将它誉为世界上造价最昂贵的铁路。而中国出入口(Exim)银行将提供贷款来承担该工程的建筑费。交通部部长拿督斯里廖中莱重复表示，Exim银行以低利息提供这笔贷款。但是，这“低利息”究竟有多“低”呢？还有什么其他的条款吗？

总而言之，看起来在ECRL协议里，大部分透过Exim银行的来自中国的钱最终仍会透过CCCC回到中国去，而马来西亚人所获得的是一个过份昂贵的铁路和庞大的债务，这笔债务最终还是会由人民买单。

Three Reasons Isa Samad Should Not be SPAD Chief

Media Statement by Yeo Bee Yin, State Assemblywoman for Damansara Utama on 23 June 2017 in Petaling Jaya.

On June 19, when Isa Samad resigned as Felda Global Ventures Holdings Berhad (FGV) chairman, Prime Minister Najib Razak appointed him as the acting chairman of the Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) with immediate effect “in appreciation of Isa’s role” in FGV.

This is an absolutely ridiculous appointment. No one will believe that Isa is the best candidate to fill the post left vacant with the retirement of Syed Hamid Albar. Here are three main reasons why Isa Samad should not be the chief of SPAD.

First, he is undoubtedly incompetent. Under his chairmanship, FGV went from glory to sorry.

In 2012, when FGV went for its US$3.1 billion initial public offering (IPO), it was the world’s second largest IPO of the year, after only Facebook Inc’s US$16 billion IPO.

In five years, FGV’s market capitalisation dropped more than 60% from around RM19 billion to only around RM6 billion, meaning RM13 billion had evaporated from the original value of the company.The share price went from RM4.641on June 29, 2012 to only RM1.75 as of close of trading on June 23, 2017.

In addition, FGV started with a cash surplus of RM5.09 billion in December 2012 but four years later in December 2016, it is RM1.97 billion in debt. FGV’s current sorry state of affairs didn’t happen overnight, it was a result of a series of missteps, all of which were made under the watch of Isa.

依沙沙末不应该成为SPAD主席的三大理由

首相拿督斯里纳吉在丹斯里依沙沙末辞去环球创投主席职位的同一天，委任后者成为陆路公共交通委员会代主席，并即时生效，以此来“肯定依沙在环球创投的角色”。

这是绝对荒谬的委任。无人会相信依沙沙末是填补丹斯里赛哈密退休后所留下的空缺的最佳人选。以下是依沙沙末不应该成为SPAD主席的三大理由。

其一，无可置疑的是，他是无能的。环球创投在他担任主席之下，从兴盛走向衰败。环球创投在2012年展开它31亿美元的首次公开募股（IPO），这是当年全世界第二大的IPO，仅次于面子书公司的160亿美元的IPO。然而，环球创投的市值却在五年内下滑超过60%，从190亿令吉至60亿令吉而已，蒸发掉了大约130亿令吉。它的股价也从2012年6月29日的每股4.641令吉跌至昨天下午的每股1.75令吉而已。除此之外，环球创投在2012年12月所持有的现金是50亿9000万令吉，但却在四年后的2016年12月，负债达到19亿7000万令吉。环球创投目前的糟糕情况，并不是一夕间发生的，它是由一系列的错误所造成的，并且全都是在依沙沙末的看管下发生的。

1MDB挪用来购买珠宝给一号官员妻子的钱比PERMATA年度拨款多

百乐镇州议员杨美盈于2017年6月17日（星期六）在八打灵再也所发布的媒体文告：


从一马公司挪用来购买珠宝给马来西亚一号官员的妻子的钱比国家学前教育计划在2017年的年度拨款还要多

美国司法部在最新一次的民事充公诉状里，指控有一些从一马公司挪用的钱用来购买价值2730万美元的22克拉的粉红钻石项链和总值130万美元的27件不同的18克拉黄金项链及手镯给马来西亚一号官员（MO1）的妻子。

既然拉曼达兰已经承认MO1就是首相纳吉，那么“MO1妻子”是谁就很清楚了。罗斯玛在今天的活动里要求马来西亚人不要去相信在社交媒体里传播的毁谤[1]。罗斯玛并没有回避美国司法部的指控，她告诉马来西亚民众她就是美国司法部诉状里所提及的“MO1妻子”。

Misappropriated 1MDB money for MO1 wife's jewelleries more than PERMATA’s allocation

Media Statement by Yeo Bee Yin, ADUN for Damansara Utama on Saturday 17 June 2017 in Petaling Jaya.

The misappropriated 1MDB money used to buy jewelleries for MO1’s wife is more than PERMATA’s annual allocation for 2017.
In the latest civil forfeiture suit filing, the Department of Justice (DOJ) of the United States alleged that some of the money misappropriated from 1MDB was used to purchase 22-carat pink diamond pendant, which worth USD 27.3 million, and 27 different 18-carat gold necklaces and bracelets, which worth USD 1.3 million, for the wife of Malaysian Official (MO1).

Since Rahman Dahlan admitted that MO1 is Prime Minister Najib Razak, then it is obvious who the “wife of MO1” is. In today’s event, Rosmah Mansor has asked Malaysians not to believe in slanders spread by social media. [1] Instead of sweeping the DOJ’s allegations under the carpet, Rosmah Mansor must tell the Malaysian public if she is indeed the “wife of MO1” mentioned in DOJ’s suit filing.

It is unnecessary and untimely for Putrajaya to impose tourism tax.

Media Statement by Yeo Bee Yin, ADUN for Damansara Utama on Saturday 10 June 2017 in Petaling Jaya.

It is unnecessary and untimely for Putrajaya to impose tourism tax.

We are very concerned with the rush of Putrajaya into imposing tourism tax, leaving hotel operators and those who are involved in confusion. It was reported that the taxation rate will be RM20, RM 10, RM 5 and RM2.50 per room per night for hotels with five star, four star, one to three star and other ratings respectively.

The lightning speed of the implementation of the Tourism Tax Bill 2017 passed just a few months ago shows that Putrajaya’s coffer is running so dry that it is going all out to milk more monies from the people in any way possible.

This swift implementation of the law passed in Parliament is in sharp contrast with the implementation of Child Offender Registry, which is provided by Child Act Amendment 2016. The government couldn’t complete the registry, which contains records of convicts who committed crimes against children including sexual crimes, nine months after the law was passed in the parliament (April 2016) and six months after the law was gazetted (July 2016)[i]. (The registry is finally ready now with slightly more than 100 child offenders record.) On a contrary, for Tourism Tax Act 2017, the government can’t wait to execute the law even before it is gazzetted! 

Cukai pelancongan tidak wajar, tidak tepat masa

Kenyataan media Adun Damansara Utama, Yeo Bee Yin pada hari Sabtu 10 June 2017 di Petaling Jaya.

Cukai pelancongan tidak wajar, tidak tepat masa

Kami amat bimbang dengan tindakan tergesa-gesa Putrajaya dalam mengenakan cukai pelancongan, yang mengakibatkan operator hotel serta mereka yang terlibat berada dalam keadaan keliru. Dilaporkan bahawa kadar cukai tersebut adalah antara RM20, RM10, RM5 dan RM2.50 sebilik untuk satu malam, bagi hotel dengan lima, empat, satu hingga tiga bintang dan penilaian lain masing-masing.

Pelaksanaan Rang Undang-undang Cukai Pelancongan 2017 yang begitu cepat meski baru sahaja diluluskan beberapa bulan lalu menunjukkan bahawa kantung Putrajaya semakin kering dan memaksanya untuk memerah lebih banyak hasil daripada orang ramai dengan apa cara sekali pun.

Pelaksanaan pantas undang-undang yang diluluskan Parlimen ini adalah sangat berbeza dengan pelaksanaan Daftar Pelaku Jenayah Kanak-kanak , yang diperuntukkan dalam Pindaan Akta Kanak-kanak 2016. Pihak kerajaan tidak dapat melengkapkan daftar tersebut, yang mengandungi rekod pesalah yang telah melakukan jenayah terhadap kanak-kanak termasuk jenayah seksual, walaupun sembilan bulan telah berlalu selepas undang-undang tersebut diluluskan Parlimen (April 2016) dan enam bulan setelah undang-undang tersebut diwartakan (Julai 2016). (Daftar tersebut kini siap dengan bilangan lebih 100 rekod pelaku jenayah kanak-kanak.) Sebaliknya, bagi Akta Cukai Pelancongan 2017 pula, kerajaan nampaknya tidak sabar lagi mahu melaksanakannya, meski ia belum diwartakan.