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Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Philippine President Duterte in China for "Historic" Visit ; US Media Churlish!

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte arrives in Beijing on October 18, 2016, beginning his state visit to China. [Photo: Chinanews.com]

 https://youtu.be/iWDQDWqZoyU


https://youtu.be/77qewVIdo3c

US media churlish on Duterte’s China visit


Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's ongoing trip to China has been seen as a gamble by the American media. Their astonished reaction clearly shows the selfish considerations of the US and its Western allies on the South China Sea issue. They take Philippine willingness to be a loyal part of the US alliance system as granted.

While providing security to the Philippines, Washington treats Manila as a pawn. The alliance requires the Philippines to serve US interests. To Washington, the Philippines' value lies in providing military bases and legitimacy for the US containment of China in the South China Sea. As to the price Manila has to pay, it isn't a problem at all for Washington.

We don't foresee that the Philippines under the Duterte administration will break with the US. The majority of Chinese scholars on international strategy don't think it will ever happen. Duterte appears more to be striving for increased diplomatic autonomy. Instead of serving Washington's rebalance to the Asia-Pacific strategy, he is redesigning Philippine foreign policy based on Philippine interests.

Manila has shifted its China policy from one of confrontation during the Aquino era to being friendly and cooperative, as China's support is essential for its economic development. Washington needs Manila to stick to its geopolitical role, but 100 million Filipinos want a better life more.

The Philippines needs support to improve infrastructure, for which the US offers no help. Washington only sends soldiers and military equipment, but the security threat it paints is exaggerating to Filipinos.

Duterte's China visit burst the "China threat" bubble jointly blown by Aquino and the US. Arbitration and US aircraft carriers are useless in solving maritime disputes between Beijing and Manila. Friendly engagement and negotiations are more beneficial to the Philippines. Aquino was more like a gambler, betting that confronting China would win public support and that all ASEAN countries would follow the US. He lost the bet.

Development and cooperation are the major theme in Southeast Asia, but the US is pushing the region to the opposite pole for its selfish strategic gains. It is a costly strategy. Washington ties Manila and Hanoi to its chariot for its China-containment strategy in the South China Sea, but the latter could have more room to cooperate with China.

A BBC opinion piece expects Duterte to focus on the maritime disputes and re-evaluate the importance of the alliance with the US some day. Beijing does not expect the Philippines to swing fully to China, but we are also clear that the Sino-Philippine friendship is in line with the long-term interests of Duterte and the Philippines as a whole. That's enough. The US and Western mainstream media would be foolish to expect a Manila that is hostile to Beijing for Washington's South China Sea strategy. Such a scenario will probably not reappear during Duterte's term of office.

China should reciprocate Duterte’s overture


Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte embarked on his state visit to China today. This visit would have been unimaginable three months ago when the Philippines, as an initiator of the South China Sea arbitration and a key pivot of the US strategy of rebalance to the Asia-Pacific, was in sharp conflict with China over maritime disputes. Duterte has made a fresh start with Beijing-Manila ties and the nation's regional strategies after coming into office, and thus is widely regarded as a "subverter."

Duterte's straightforward way of speaking and acting has made a deep impression on the world. He extended the olive branch to China soon after taking office, making China the first country outside ASEAN for an official visit and speaking publicly in favor of Beijing. Now it's China's turn to receive his olive branch.

Since assuming office, Duterte reprioritized national affairs, taking the public's attention from the South China Sea back to domestic governance. Meanwhile, he insists on Manila's right to an independent foreign policy and opposes Washington's excessive control over the Philippines, which has riled the US. The announcement of a suspension of Washington-Manila joint patrols and military drills has particularly rocked this alliance.

The Philippines plays a special role in the South China Sea situation. Manila is Washington's ally and the most ideal pawn for Washington and Tokyo to intervene in the South China Sea issue. Duterte's predecessor Benigno Aquino III provoked strongly as he was backed by the US and Japan. Washington also counts on Manila to acquire legitimacy to launch South China Sea joint patrols. Once the Sino-Philippine relationship is returned to a friendly track, the US strategy of rebalancing will be undermined in the South China Sea.

Some are suspicious of Duterte's sincerity toward China. However, Duterte's policy has clear logic. China is his best partner in the anti-drug fight and for infrastructure construction. He is realistic and clear that the Philippines is only serving the US China-containment policy if it goes against China on the South China Sea issue.

Duterte's understandings on the Sino-Philippine relationship reflect his left-wing political ideas. Whether he can resist pressure from domestic pro-US forces is key to the issue.

We call on China to grasp this major strategic opportunity brought by the Duterte administration. At the moment, China can make more efforts to facilitate the turnaround of the bilateral relationship. Beijing-Manila ties suffered an overall retreat during Aquino's rule. Two-way trade dropped, Chinese tourist groups to Philippines stopped and fruit imports to China were affected. Changes are now happening.

The Philippine media has focused on the issue of fisheries around Huangyan Island. Duterte, under great domestic pressure, is strongly expected by Philippine media to bring a breakthrough on the issue.

Sovereignty is non-negotiable, but China can adopt a flexible policy on the Philippines' fishing rights. Filipino fishermen fish on a shoestring and are unlikely to jeopardize the ecosystem of China's waters.

A flexible fishing policy will bring the Sino-Philippine relationship to a new stage. As a major power, China should express its goodwill to Filipino fishermen and their president at this time. Washington's strategy of rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific has increased China's diplomatic and economic costs in Southeast Asia, and it is necessary for Beijing to reciprocate Manila for its clear stance of not willing to serve the US' China strategy.

It is more effective to address the disputes in a friendly, instead of a confrontational way. China should make this clear to the world to win more respect in the world.  - Global Times

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US media wanted 'special privileges'

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

World doubts the leadership of Uncle Sam: expert


The culture of guns

As the US has lost more international status and influence since the global financial crisis in 2008, the international community is raising doubts about its leadership and ability to contribute to the world, an expert said, analyzing that such a decline of influence can be attributed to some deep-seated reasons, including its self-willed overseas military operations.

Since the financial crisis, the US can neither provide effective solutions to a host of global challenges, nor sustain its control over other countries, Zhang Ruizhuang, Director of the Center of American Studies at Nankai University, wrote in an article published in the People’s Daily on Sunday.

In the commentary titled “The City upon a Hill is not there any more,” he gave an in-depth analysis on the reasons of such changes.

Zhang says that “A City upon a Hill,” often cited by American politicians as their political creed, verified the self-labelling of the arrogant Americans as “God's Chosen Ones” to lead the world. After the Cold War, the preaching about the superiority of its values brought US much popularity and pulled the country to a commanding stage.

But it over-consumed its accumulated political capital during the last quarter of the 20th century, which resulted in a decline in its global influence, Zhang said, adding that the most destructive threat to its dropping status can be attributed to overseas military operations.

After the Soviet Union collapsed with the end of the Cold War, the US dominated the world and launched a series of capricious measures. With the excuse of protecting democracy, human rights and the world order, Uncle Sam trampled on the post-war international law based on the UN Charter and norms governing global relations by bringing the flames of war to many parts of the world.

Panama, Somalia, Haiti and Kosovo are all victims of such wars waged by the superpower. With a made-up excuse, it pulled Iraq into a war and this political farce finally brought the latter millions of civilian casualties, endless terrorist attacks and ceaseless disturbance.

What the US gained, after it paid a price of trillions of dollars for the war, was a hotbed for terrorist organizations which in turn threatened the security of itself and other Western countries. The war against Iraq ultimately turned out to be a foolish one that not only crumbled its diplomatic morality, but undermined its own strategic interests, Zhang concluded.

Despite the lessons, the US never gave up every opportunity to start “color revolutions.” Its attacks on Libya and Syria, once again, dragged these nations into raging wars. What’s worse, as a result of the wars, a number of regulation vacuums provided ISIS and other religious extremist organizations a bed in which to grow stronger.

The US, its Western allies, as well as the whole world, are now swallowing the sour fruits resulted from its self-willed deed, he added.

According to the scholar, apart from its frequent diplomatic mistakes, its economy, politics and society, in which the Americans once took pride, are all in a predicament, arising more doubts over the superiority of the US system.

The global financial crisis breaking out in 2008 exposed the defects of capitalism once again. It brought to light not only the failure of Keynesian policy to narrow the wealth gap and boost effective demand, but the greed and corruption of financial executives, the ineffectiveness of financial supervision, plus the government’s shielding of tycoons.

The US public felt shock, despair and anger towards such defects, and the ensuing “Occupy Wall Street” movement is one of their ways to express dissatisfaction. The protest wave later spilled to other part of the world, triggering worldwide query over the US system and its values.

Zhang also criticized US domestic politics, citing its notorious presidential election system as an example.

Manipulated by capital, the “winner takes all” election system in many states gives no chance to other newborn parties besides the two major parties. The American elections of the past two to three decades have been more like technical games.

The candidates now focus more on technical details for the sake of more votes rather than their political ideas and governance philosophies, and the whole process has fallen into personal attacks between the two candidates, he added.

Coupled with some other faults, the US and even the whole world began to question on the effectiveness of US democracy, as well as its leader selected in such a flawed way.

The article analyzed that one key reason for its flopping election lies in a lack of innovative governing ideas.

Barely stimulated by major crisis, US society tends to be mediocre and conservative about its ideas, the commentary further explained, adding that the prevailing philosophy of so-called “political correctness” also created an unfavorable environment for the candidates to come up with new ideas acceptable to the public.

Lack of foresighted candidates with outstanding capability is another reason for its unsuccessful election, Zhang wrote.

He explained that some capable politicians are not willing to embarrass themselves on the election stage at the cost of their privacy and that of their family as the butt of jokes.

“As a result, the world was presented with an election farce performed by the two unqualified and big-mouth candidates selected by the two parties,” the author concluded.

“It is obvious that the US is seeing a decline in terms of both prestige and influence, but such a drop is not so eye-catching as it has no strong competitors yet. It would be a complicated historic path,” the scholar said, calling for more attention to the course of the world pattern.

 (People's Daily)

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Monday, October 17, 2016

China successfully launched their 6th manned spaceflight with Shenzhou 11 to Tiangong-2 space lab

Graphics shows the launching process of Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft.(Xinhua/Lu Zhe)

https://youtu.be/7Jhx4J2j_kw

China launches manned spacecraft


China launched the Shenzhou XI manned spacecraft on Monday morning to transport two astronauts to the Tiangong II space laboratory.

The spacecraft was sent skyward at 7:30 am atop a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Northwest China. It is carrying two male astronauts – 49-year-old Jing Haipeng and 37-year-old Chen Dong.

After the launch, the spacecraft will travel two days before docking with the Tiangong II, which was lifted from the Jiuquan center in mid-September. Then the astronauts will enter the space lab and stay there for 30 days, which will be the longest space stay by Chinese astronauts.

The core tasks of the Shenzhou XI mission are to test rendezvous and docking technologies for the country's planned space station, to verify the life-support capability of the spacecraft-space lab combination as well as conduct scientific research and test engineering experiments, according to Wu Ping, deputy director of the China Manned Space Agency.

Prior to the Shenzhou XI, China had sent five spacecraft and 10 astronauts to space since 2003, when it lifted the Shenzhou V to carry the nation's first astronaut Yang Liwei, who is now a senior space official, into space.

China is the third country in the world that has independently fulfilled manned spaceflight following the former Soviet Union and the United States.

China's manned space program, a source of national pride, aims to place a permanent manned space station, which will consist of three parts — a core module attached to two labs, each weighing about 20 metric tons —into service around 2022, according to the manned space agency.

Lab shows early results

After being launched into orbit on Sept 15, the scientific applications of the Tiangong II space laboratory have been tested and have returned data. Here are some of the results:

The cold atomic space clock, the first of its kind in space, has carried out several tests with stable results, as expected. Scientists believe that such a clock can help to synchronize other atomic clocks more precisely, and that the technological development will create more possibilities for further explorations in space.

The multi-angle wide-spectral imager has captured a range of information on oceans and land as well as changes to clouds, aerosols and water.

The stereoscopic microwave altimeter has applied interference image technology to observe sea surfaces, parts of the Yellow River, the Taklimakan Desert, lakes on the Tibetan Plateau and the Lancang-Mekong River.

An agricultural experiment has sprouted seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana, a small flowering plant, and rice. Samples will be cultivated in space and carried back to the Earth by astronauts.

The space-Earth quantum key distribution and laser communications experiment has established stable connections between the space lab and ground stations.


China to enhance space capabilities with launch of Shenzhou-11


Monday's successful launch of the Shenzhou-11 spacecraft is another step forward to put China among leading players in space technology, said Alexander Zheleznyakov, a Russian expert on history of space flights.

The craft with two astronauts aboard is planned to dock with China's second experimental space lab Tiangong-2 launched in mid-September.

The move marked China's latest effort in a couple of months toward a space power, after successes in the maiden flight of its new generation carrier rocket Long March-7 in June, and the launch of the world's first quantum satellite "Micius" in August, among other developments.

China's achievements and programs in space missions, in particular the lunar exploration program that is well planned and steadily advanced with achievable goals, are impressive and admirable, said Zheleznyakov, who is also member of the Tsiolkovsky Russian Academy of Cosmonautics.

He thought that qualities of the Tiangong-2 space lab indicate the way how China would build its planned space station, which is similar to that of the International Space Station, by gradually docking other space modules with the basic cabin.

Zheleznyakov believed that China's experimental space lab will help provide solutions for spacecraft of different functions to approach and dock, and for a long-term operation of life support system, among others, in order to increase both the safety of astronauts and the service life span of the space station.

He expected to see a node module at China's future space station with multiple docking ports, compared to the only one currently at the Tiangong-2.

The Russian expert added that manned space missions can help push the development of other industries, especially high-tech ones, as space projects involve new materials, advanced application programs and innovative technical solutions, including cutting-edge results in many areas.

Igor Lisov, a prominent Russian space expert and an editor at the industry magazine Cosmonautics News, also spoke highly of China's steady progress in its manned spaceflight programs.

With the achievements made, China can now test technologies for cargo spacecraft docking, life support system operation and water recycling, among others, so as to ensure a long-term continuous operation of its space station in future with less dependance on replenishment from the Earth, he said.

Sergey Zhukov, a test cosmonaut and president of the Moscow Space Club,said it will be the right choice for China to build a space station on the basis of the cylinder structure of the Tiangong-2 space lab.

On the prospects of China's space station, Zhukov believed that advances in technology would likely turn future space station into a terminal to enable manned space missions further beyond as well as stopovers of spacecraft such as mooncraft for maintenance and cargo relays.

Broader space cooperation between Russia and China will benefit each other, he added. Xinhua

The future of the space race



https://youtu.be/1Tsvb1t8908

The history of the space race goes back as early as the 1960s. Back then, the former Soviet Union and the United States were competing for the power of technological superiority.

But now, China has made it a 3-way race, with all three countries developing their respective space programs. However, the three countries are all headed in different directions, as each space program has its own aims and priorities.

Let's take a closer look at what the future of the space race could look like.

The space race of the 1960's between the former Soviet Union and the United States was about power, bragging rights which nation was technologically superior.

Today, the space race is well, maybe a brisk walk. And the three major space faring nations the U.S., China and Russia appear at this point, headed in different directions. So where are the big three going

Since the Shuttle Atlantis landed back at the Kennedy Space Center five years ago, the U.S. has not had the capability to put humans in space. You heard me right.

The U.S. relies on the Russians, at a cost of 65 million dollars a seat, to carry its astronauts to and from the International Space Station. That could change by 2018 when private companies Boeing and Space X should have vehicles ready to ferry astronauts.

With these Station missions turned over to private companies, NASA, the U.S. space agency is now concentrating on building a massive new rocket and a spacecraft, Orion, to carry astronauts first to an asteroid rendezvous and then Mars in the 2030s. Some U.S. partners would like to see a moon mission as a stepping stone to Mars. But NASA rarely uses the moon and Mars in the same sentence.

China on the other hand seems destined and determined to send humans to the moon.

Methodically and in measured steps, China is building toward a permanent presence in space. The Tiangong 2 Space Lab with improved living quarters and life support will be home to two Chinese astronauts for at least thirty days conducting experiments in physics, biology and space medicine.

A mission to put a lander on the moon's dark side is in the works for 2018. And a permanent space station could be in orbit by the early 2020s. All are precursors to landing its astronauts on the moon.

Russia would like to go to the moon too. But the country's struggling economy has forced a tightening of the space budget. Plans for a powerful new rocket that would take cosmonauts to the moon is delayed. But the Russians are still planning a sample return mission in the 2020's and eyeing a 2030 lunar landing. A morale boost could come this week.

A joint Russia-European Space Agency probe is scheduled to deploy a rover to the Martian surface. Russia's last successful planetary probe was in 1984. One unanswered question is whether Russia and United States will go their separate ways if the International Space Station's mission ends as planned in 2024 or continue to play in the same sandbox.

What happens in the future with the big three space powers will likely come down to politics as it usually does. Outside of cooperation in space, the U.S.-Russia relationship is strained and that may well spill over into space relations.

China was never a part of the space station family of nations. And, the U.S. congress forbids NASA from cooperating with China. So, China has been going it alone quite nicely. But nobody is getting along very well. It is possible that by the middle of the next decade, all three will be going their own ways and perhaps all in different directions.

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Sunday, October 16, 2016

China to send two astronauts to Tiangong-2 space lab tomorrow

Chinese astronauts Jing Haipeng (L) and Chen Dong meet the media at a press conference at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China, October 16, 2016. The two male astronauts will carry out the Shenzhou-11 mission. The Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft will be launched at 7:30 am October 17, 2016 Beijing Time (2330 GMT Oct. 16). Photo: Xinhua



https://youtu.be/FUI6U6YH6lc

Both astronauts introduced at press conference

China's space program is set to launch its manned spacecraft the Shenzhou-11. Today authorities revealed the identities of the two astronauts that will be sent to space

China to launch Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft on Oct 17


The Shenzhou-11 manned spacecraft will be launched at 7:30 a.m. Monday Beijing Time, China's manned space program spokesperson said Sunday.

The spaceship will take two male astronauts Jing Haipeng and Chen Dong into space, said Wu Ping, deputy director of China's manned space engineering office, at a press conference at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

The mission will be carried out with a Long March-2F carrier rocket, Wu said.

The spacecraft will dock with orbiting space lab Tiangong-2 within two days, and the astronauts will stay in the space lab for 30 days, she said.

After that the Shenzhou-11 spaceship will separate with Tiangong-2 and return to Earth within one day, Wu said.

The mission aims to transport personnel and materials between Earth and Tiangong-2, and examine rendezvous, docking and return technologies.

During the mission, the spacecraft will form a complex with Tiangong-2. The complex's capabilities of supporting astronauts' life, work and health, and astronauts' abilities for carrying out flight missions will be tested, Wu said.

Other objectives include conducting aerospace medical experiments, space science experiments and in-orbit maintenance with human participation, along with activities to popularize scientific knowledge, she added.

Several technical alterations have been made to Shenzhou-11, though its main functions and technical parameters remain basically the same with Shenzhou-10, Wu said.

To meet the needs of this mission, the orbit control strategy and flight procedures have been adjusted to adapt Shenzhou-11 to the change of the rendezvous, docking and return orbit from 343 kilometers to 393 kilometers from Earth.

The layout of cargo loading has been adjusted to enhance transportation capabilities for the mission.

To further improve the spacecraft's reliability and astronauts' safety, wide-beam relay telecommunications devices have been equipped, which will significantly expand the scope of telemetry, tracking and control, as well as improve the space-ground communication support capabilities when the posture of the spacecraft is changing rapidly.

To verify future space technologies and meet the demand for prolonging the service life of rendezvous, telemetry and tracking devices in future space stations, such devices in Shenzhou-11 have been upgraded, according to Wu.

Certain technical alterations have also been made to the carrier rocket, she said. - Xinhua

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Saturday, October 15, 2016

Sabah's watergate scandal unfolds, engineers nabbed, civil service back in vogue

 

Sabah's watergate scandal unfolds


THE amount involved in Sabah’s watergate scandal is unbelievable.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) seized RM114mil worth of assets –RM53.7mil in cold cash stashed in houses and office – from two senior Sabah Water Department officials on Oct 4.

The duo were investigated for alleged abuse of power and money laundering linked to contracts for RM3.3bil federal-funded projects channelled to the department since 2010. Two others – a Datuk businessman who is a brother of one of the officials and an accountant – were also arrested.

Six days later, MACC traced RM30mil stashed in foreign banks and another RM30mil in 127 land titles for housing, agriculture and commercial.

That’s not all.

MACC also seized nine vehicles worth RM2.7mil, an assortment of jewellery worth RM3.64mil and designer handbags worth RM500,000.

The following Tuesday (Oct 11), three Sabah Water Department employees “voluntarily” surrendered about RM1mil allegedly taken in the process of approving water projects under the RM3.3bil federal allocations.

When you go out of the state capital, you’ll find Sabahans depending on rivers, streams, ponds, wells or rain for their daily needs.

What do we tell M. R., a 34-year-old Rungus housewife from Kampung Bongkok in Pitas, about the Sabah Watergate?

Since she was born, she has relied on wells, rivers or ponds in the jungle to bathe, wash clothes and dishes, and on rainwater for drinking and cooking. Daily, she has to walk a few kilometres to carry 10 litres of water back to her house.

Her water woes worsen when there is no rain for weeks.

“The villagers will be suffering, especially getting water for drinking and cooking,” she said.

“What’s your comment on the Sabah watergate?” I asked.

“That’s what is heartbreaking. We have been asking for piped water for our village. But the excuse they give to us is the source of treated water in Pitas town is about 28km from our village,” she said.

“If the funds meant for water projects were used properly, we would have clean water supply for which we have waited for many decades.”

What do we tell M. J., a 37-year-old Bisayah civil servant from Kampung Sukai in Beaufort about the Sabah watergate?

There is a water pipe that runs through M. J.’s village. However, no water flows in the pipes and yet the villagers are billed for it.

“The pipes were installed in 2010. We had water for about one year and then it went dry, maybe because of leakage,” he said.

Now many villagers rely on the blue water tank they got during elections.

“When there is no rain, some of the villagers have to buy water from a town about 30km away for drinking and cooking,” he said.

“For other uses, the villagers get murky water from wells and a polluted river along a mangrove swamp.”

“What’s your comment on the Sabah watergate?” I asked.

“As a true Sabah-born I’m extremely disappointed. The people’s first call is not delivered because of greed. If only a portion of the money were distributed, the villagers would not be thirsty for the promises made by politicians.”

What do we tell N.V. H., a 49-year-old Chinese businessman from a suburb in Tawau town, about the Sabah watergate?

Once a week, there is a water cut lasting three to 12 hours in his residential area. During the previous El Nino season, there were 12-hour water cuts on alternative days for two months.

With the constant water cuts in Tawau, he had to install two 400-gallon stainless steel water tanks and pneumatic water pumps at his home. He also had to install two 100-gallon water tanks and automatic on-off water pumps at the ground floor of his shop and another 400-gallon water tank and pneumatic water pump at the first floor. The total cost is RM16,000.

N.V.H.’s household has never experienced water woes, as supplies from water tanks last for five days.

“What’s your comment on the Sabah watergate?” I asked.

“Of course I’m angry when I come across all these water scandals. But we can’t do anything about it,” he said.

What do we tell M. S., a 47-year-old Bajau Sama managing consultant from Kota Belud, about the Sabah watergate?

The shortage of clean water in his district is unexplainable, he said.

“What’s your comment on the Sabah watergate?” I asked. “There is an abundant water source from Mount Kinabalu, flowing through rivers across Kota Belud. The rivers are full of water yet it has failed to be converted into clean water,” he said.

The water supply covers about 30% of the villages in the district and the rest depend on untreated gravity water.

“Sad to say that some villages have a piping system but no water. The water department implements piping projects in every election. Yet the clean water shortage is here to stay,” he said.

I pray that the MACC’s investigation reaches to the top. And that those who are responsible will pay for their greed.

One man's meat by Philip Golingai The Star/ANN

19 engineers nabbed in probe as graft scandal widens with arrest and seizure in assets across Sabah


(File pix) The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has nabbed 19 engineers to facilitate investigations into the Sabah Water Department’s multi-million ringgit graft scandal. Pix by Mohd Adam Arinin ; MACC held a news conference in KK where they announced and displayed a whopping haul of RM114 million worth in cash, jewellery, land grants and branded goods. — Bernama pic

KOTA KINABALU Oct 21 2016:  The Sabah Water Department graft scandal has widened, with the arrest of 19 engineers across the state and the seizure of RM7.8mil in assets, including RM4.2mil cash.

The district or divisional engineers, aged 29 to 59, were detained at 27 locations in the state as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commis­sion (MACC) continues its probe.

Its investigations have already implicated top officials in the department in connection with the siphoning of money from RM3.3bil worth of federal allocations for state rural water projects since 2010.

The engineers were remanded for between three and seven days in Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Tawau after they were arrested on Wednesday.

Yesterday, MACC deputy commissioner (operations) Datuk Azam Baki said they may have been collecting as much as 27% to 30% in kickbacks from the contracts awarded. But he did not disclose the amounts involved.

He said investigators also seized procurement files and were sifting through the documents.

Asked about speculation on social media that certain top politicians were linked to the scandal, Azam said the probe was focused on civil servants at this point.

“For now our investigations do not involve any political figures in the state or at federal level.

“I am asking people not to politicise the matter and not to take advantage of the investigations for their own interest,” he added.

He said MACC officers were going through the numerous documents in detail before submitting the investigation papers to the Deputy Public Prosecutor.

“We assure everyone that our investigations will be transparent and professional,” he said.

The latest collars were a second wave to the arrests of the two top water department officials and the seizing of more than RM190mil in assets, including RM57mil cash, since Oct 4.

Apart from the officials, who have been suspended by the state government, MACC also nabbed a senior officer’s businessman brother, his accountant and an engineering adviser to the state Finance Ministry. All were released early this week.

The officials were alleged to have abused their powers by awarding contracts to 38 companies owned by their families or cronies, to siphon off the federal funds.

MACC investigators were also looking into suspected money laundering as they try to recover some RM30mil that has been reportedly stashed in overseas accounts. The Star

One more SWD engineer held

An array of cash both ringgit and foreign currency, gold jewellery, land titles and luxury brand watches and handbags were seized from two high ranking Sabah state agency officials in a graft investigation. ― Picture by Julia Chan

KOTA KINABALU Oct 25 2916:  Another district engineer has been arrested in the ongoing massive graft probe into the Sabah Water Department.

The officer, who was arrested at 6.40pm on Sunday, was produced before Tawau magistrate Faizal Che Saad who allowed the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) application for a five-day remand.

Five of the department employees who were among the 19 department staff detained on Oct 19 were released on bail yesterday.

The five were freed on RM50,000 bail each after being produced before magistrate Cindy Mc Juce Balitus at about 2.40pm.

Earlier this month, five suspects, including the department’s director and deputy director, were detained under Ops Water which also saw the seizures of some RM190mil in cash, properties and other valuables.

Also picked up during the second wave of the operation were 22 engineers and technicians, some of whom were said to have received as much as 30% in kickbacks for the water projects.

The investigators seized RM8.4mil in the second phase of their probe.

MACC deputy chief commissioner Datuk Azam Baki confirmed the latest arrest when contacted.

Meanwhile, sources said there was pressure for the investigators to speed up their probe into the case.

“It would take a much longer time to wrap up investigations due to the vast amount of documents involved,” they said, adding that the amount of documents seized was equivalent to “half the size of a tennis court”.

“Due to this, we have to fly in more officers from Putrajaya and several states to Kota Kinabalu to assist in gleaning, sorting out and scrutinising the documents.

“Every piece can provide a vital clue,” one of the sources said.

All the documents – in the millions – are now kept in a secret location here and a team of officers are taking turns to guard them round-the-clock.

“As this is a high-profile case, certain quarters are trying to take advantage of the situation. But the MACC will not allow any outside elements to jeopardise our probe.

“The investigation team is doing its best to come up with an airtight case before submitting the investigation papers to the Attorney-General’s Chambers to press charges against those responsible,” added the source.

The probe is one the biggest ever in the country to be carried out by the MACC involving abuse of power, corruption and money laundering from the RM3.3bil in federal allocations for water since 2010.

Civil service back in vogue - for the wrong reasons



THE civil service may fall short in meeting the job prospects of a large number of people, but it has made up with abundant opportunities for self-enrichment – if one is prepared to take the risk of facing the law.

In a nutshell, the “Watergate” incident involving top officials from the Sabah Water Department is increasingly serving as an eye opener for the majority who had shunned the civil service previously due to limited prospects and lower remuneration compared to the private sector.

As the number of people involved in the “Watergate” discovery keep stacking up, with some junior officers returning money to become state witnesses – the chatter in coffee shops is on the level of abuse within the civil service when it comes to handing out contracts through a restricted tender process.

To be fair, the majority of Malaysia’s 1.2 million-strong civil service are merely ordinary employees providing a service to the public. They carry out their duties diligently despite the constraints and remuneration.

However, there is something wrong with the system when we hear that even basic matters such as the transfer of a student from a mediocre school to a school that is “highly sought after”, or students seeking grants and scholarships from the Government may require some kind of monetary gratification to someone within or outside the system.

Generally, cases involving a small exchange of money go unreported because the party that is prepared to hand out the gratification just wants to go about their business with a minimum of hassle. At most, the topic is fodder for talk among friends or relatives. But when millions are seized from the homes and offices of civil servants – money supposedly meant to upgrade the water services in Sabah – it no longer is merely coffee-shop chatter.

It has been a topic of serious discussion almost everywhere in the last 10 days.

When Budget 2017 is announced next week, the nation will see another round of Government allocation to various ministries for their expenditure and development. In the budget last year, the Federal Government estimated the operating and development expenditure for this year to be RM265.22bil. Generally, the development expenditure is less than RM50bil and the rest goes towards the cost of operating the Federal Government.

While in previous years, the focus was on the Government’s growing operating expenditure, which means less money for development, the question that will be racing on the minds of many is how much of the amount allocated is going to be siphoned off in the form of corruption and kick-backs for inflating the cost of projects and “fixing” restricted tenders.

The Government has limited options in its spending, considering that there is a target to keep the fiscal deficit down. This year, the fiscal deficit is expected to be negative 3.2%, which is a remarkable improvement compared to negative 4.3% in 2012 and a figure of more than negative 5% in 2009.

Next year, we are supposed to bring down the fiscal deficit to 3%, meaning Government spending has to be cut further.

It is part of the plan to have a balanced budget by 2020, which is only four years away. A balanced budget means that what the Federal Government receives in revenue is enough to cover its operating and development expenditure.

Many countries tend to keep a surplus budget, something that comes in handy during bad times. A fiscal surplus effectively means the Government earns more money than it spends. It has reserves that can be touched when it needs to spend more than what it earns. And a fiscal surplus or balanced budget commands the respect of rating agencies.

Earlier this week, Australia’s 30-year debt papers garnered a triple-A rating despite the country going through an economic slowdown due to the fall in the resources sector. The country used to run a surplus budget until 2007.

As for Malaysia, achieving a balanced budget by 2020 is part of a plan to shore up the country’s balance sheet. However, the Government must ensure that the machinery works towards optimising every ringgit spent.

In the case of the Sabah Water Department incident, alleged abuse was allowed to happen due to the practice of having “restricted tenders” when awarding contracts. It is a common practice in all departments and ministries. The only difference is the amount that can be awarded.

For instance, at the ministry level, the level of approval for the minister to award contracts through restricted tenders can go up to RM100mil or more. As long as there are eight to 10 companies that are registered with the ministry competing in the restricted tender exercise, the minister can award the job to the lowest bidder.

The companies tend to act in concert, something that is known to the officers handling the tender process. When the contract is awarded to one company at an inflated price, the other companies get paid for their participation.

The officers in the ministry are also being rewarded and it goes down from the top to several layers down. The restricted tender process can easily be a farce!

The argument that favours a restricted tender is that it can be awarded quickly compared to an open tender, where the evaluation process is often time-consuming. However, a competitive open tender process allows for an efficient price-discovery mechanism.

For instance, the 1,000MW Prai power plant in Seberang Perai was awarded on a competitive tender. The winning bid came in on a tariff of 34.7 sen per unit, which is now the benchmark for any future gas-fired power plants.

Restricted tenders have been quite prevalent in the past few years. However, they have a massive amount of drawbacks, based on the rising number of civil servants being charged or under investigation for corruption.

However, the restricted tender process has brought back the allure of the civil service – for the wrong reasons though.

There was a time in the 1960s and 1970s when civil servants were the preferred choice of grooms in arranged marriages. It was apparent especially among Indian parents.

From the mid-80s onwards, the shift was towards those working in the private sector, especially prospective grooms in large multinational companies holding mid-management positions.

Now, the civil service sector is back in vogue – especially positions that involve the awarding of contracts. All thanks to the enormous publicity that “Watergate” has drawn.

- The alternative view by M. Shangmugam, The Star/ANN

Related articles:

Adviser nabbed in Ops Water investigation

KOTA KINABALU: A Sabah Finance Ministry adviser has been arrested in the on-going probe into abuse of power and corruption at the Sabah Water Department (SWD).

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Malaysia world's No.1 highest civil servants-to-population ratio! Its tenure of service legally vulnerable but notoriously difficult to dismiss!

Friday, October 14, 2016

Penang Free School: Learning religiously - without religion !

 
Penang Free School: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penang_Free_School

Penang Free School, the first English school in the country, turns 200 in a week. It was, and remains, a school for the brave and the true. And for the Free.


WE’RE on the cusp of history. A week from today, the oldest English school in the country, Penang Free School, will turn 200. It’s a proud moment for the school. And for yours truly. I spent my formative years in that school.

It’s the kind of school that cliches are made off – you can take a student out of Free School but you can never take the Free out of the students. We will always be Old Frees.

The old boys are already celebrating. There have been golf tournaments, dinners and get-togethers lined up. There was a 73-day, 20,000km road convoy from Penang to Dittisham, Devon, in Britain, where the founder of PFS, Reverend Robert S. Hutchings, was born.

The six-vehicle convoy left on July 17 and arrived at its destination on Oct 3.

The huge school field is now covered with canopies waiting for the thousands of Old Frees who will gather there on Oct 21 to celebrate the grand old dame’s birthday.

The field is one of the things most Old Frees would remember. It was both a blessing and a bane. With two football fields, three hockey pitches and a cricket pitch, it was great for outdoor activities.

The track around the field was good training ground for long-distance runners. But for the errant ones in school, it was a pain. The teachers made you run around the field as punishment. If you were not athletically inclined, that was punishing indeed.

But it was the teachers who made the school wonderful. We had some of the best and most dedicated teachers – not just in the subjects they taught but also in sports.

There was Wilson Doss, the cricket-mad teacher. He played for Selangor, Penang and even in international matches and he would try to get every lad in the school to give the sport a try-out.

I have to admit to being an absolute flop at it. With only the experience of playing “rounders” with the neighbourhood gang, I would hurl the cricket bat away as I ran. And Mr Wilson would growl.

There was N. Vallupillay, the hockey coach with the kindest of souls. He, too, would try to get everyone to play hockey and among the top players he nurtured was former national captain Ow Soon Kooi.

With Vallupillay at the helm, PFS was the state’s school hockey champion for 20 years from 1964 to 1984. The rivalry with St Xavier’s Institution and the Bukit Mertajam High School was intense, sometimes even rowdy.

Vallupillay then moved to George Town Secondary School and voila, that school became another hockey powerhouse in the state.

Then, there was Johnny Ooi, yet another teacher who was very much into hockey and who took over when Mr Vallupillay left.

Ooi Bee Seng was the basketball man. Under his watch, more basketball courts were built and more of the students turned to the game.

Nai Bej Sararaks was the athletics guy. Every now and then, he would bundle a gang of us into his beat-up jalopy and drive us off to training. The one I vividly remember was when we ran up Penang Hill from what Penangites know as Moongate.

The man waited at the bottom of the hill as the bunch of us ran up to the top of the hill and later scrambled all the way down. He was there with some juice before taking us all back to the school.

There was no need then for sports schools or schools of excellence. The teachers delivered. It’s been some years but I believe the teachers in the school are still a dedicated bunch.

But the real wonder of the school is the belief on which it is built – that it should be free from religion and open to all.

It’s a very strange thing. At a time when almost all education was under the care of priests (or brothers), there was one Rev Hutchings who did not want to impose his religious beliefs on the local populace.

When Hutchings first petitioned for a “free school”, his aim was to provide a school to educate, feed, and clothe orphans and poor children. It wasn’t about religion – only about education.

Yes, there was a bit of “free” in the financial sense. Only those who could afford it were asked to pay $3, $2, and $1 per year. Poor children were exempted.

The country has come a long, long way from then. Education standards have slumped. We have been dithering over the direction we want to take. Sports in schools is no longer a big thing. Few teachers believe in the power of sports.

Instead, religion has come into schools in a big way. There is a lot of emphasis on religious education and rituals, causing our children to drift apart from one another.

There really is a need for more new “free” schools – schools where education and sports are where the emphasis is.

 
Why Not? By Dorairaj Nadason is The Star’s Executive Editor.

The writer, who can be reached at raj@thestar.com.my, still salutes the gates of the school when he drives by. She is, after all, alma mater – the mother who nurtured him.

Related posts:

Malaysian Minister admits poor education system, students are below par 


Malaysia's Education Setback 


Dec 23, 2015 ... I strongly urge public universities and the Education Ministry to fix the ... to collectively improve the standard of tertiary education in Malaysia.


Jul 4, 2016 ... In 1995, Project 211 was initiated to raise research standards of about 100 .... The Malaysian Education: bleak and bright side, a wake .

Thursday, October 13, 2016

US has to accept China’s rise: expert said in 7th Xiangshan Security Forum


http://www.xiangshanforum.cn/


https://youtu.be/jb3B6OHJBYg


https://youtu.be/_xpGrocWVWc

Major powers threaten other countries by seeking ‘absolute security’

Professor Zheng Yongnian (right) speaks to reporters at the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing on Wednesday. Photo: Chen Ping/GT

The US is sending the wrong diplomatic signals to South Asia, a Singapore-based scholar said at a security forum in ­Beijing on Wednesday. And he called for a balance in major power relations in the region.

Zheng Yongnian, professor and director of the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore, said "the US is adjusting itself toward the rise of China … But I don't think the US is sending the right signals to South Asian countries."

He noted, "although it will not go to war with China because of the Philippines [over South China Sea disputes] or any other nation, the signals the US sends out, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership or its 'Pivot to Asia,' are viewed negatively in South Asia."

Zheng made the remarks on the sidelines on the third day of the Seventh Xiangshan Forum. He dismissed the concept of absolute power in the globalization era.

"Major powers should understand that they pose a threat to other countries by seeking absolute security for themselves," Zheng said.

He emphasized that the expansion of NATO after the collapse of the Soviet Union led to conflict in eastern Ukraine, since the organization raised Russian security concerns.

Zheng also noted that as the world's major power, the US has to accept the natural rise of China. "China's economic rise means it will also have geopolitical influence regardless of the intentions of its leaders."

He lashed out at the notion of "alliances," which is an "offshoot" of the Cold War.

"Alliances mean there is an enemy. And no alliance is equal because there will be a leader and followers," he said, adding "the US, Japan and the Philippines remain in an alliance. I believe once Japan and the Philippines get a chance, they will seek an equal ­position."

However, smaller countries have to respect a major power's interests, otherwise it will cause regional conflict, like when South Korea agreed to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) ­system, he said.

The US anti-missile defense system has caused a rift between South Korea and China. Although some South Koreans have been raising health and environmental concerns, President Park Geun-hye defended it as a national defense necessity.

Separately, referring to the position of the US toward China, J. Stapleton Roy, former US ambassador to China, told the Global Times, "We would consider China hostile if it enjoys greater military might."

"Americans like to think in terms of using our robust military presence in the Asia-Pacific to balance the rise of China, but not to contain it, so that China's neighbors are not alarmed over its growing military and economic power."

China doesn't want to be a dominant power in the region, which is not a military showcase for the US as well, said Su Ge, president of the China Institute of International Studies.

"China is not intent on replacing the US," he said.

- Global Times - Asia-Pacific, Cross-Borders

US Policy towards China:



https://youtu.be/brUWyCi_x-4

Related posts:
 

Xiangshan Defence Forum: Regional military chiefs hail Beijing's security proposal 


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Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Bizarre world of new debt, low, even negative interest rates a threat to global stability

New debt crisis a threat to global stability


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt-to-GDP_ratio; 
The global debt clock: http://www.economist.com/content/global_debt_clock

Global debt has jumped alarmingly to RM631tril and as capital flows out from developing countries, some are facing new debt crises.

DEBT worldwide has grown to unprecedentedly high levels and has to be brought down to prevent another financial crisis.

This was highlighted by the Inter­national Monetary Fund at its annual meeting in Washington last week.

Other problems facing the global economy include the stagnation in world trade, a decline in commodity prices and the reversal of capital flows to developing countries.

A recently released United Nations report has analysed the situation as a third phase in the global crisis that began with the United States in 2008, then spread in a second wave to Europe, and is now moving on to the developing countries.

The IMF said that world debt had reached US$152tril (RM631tril), a record level. It was 200% of the value of global gross domestic product in 2002, but has risen to 225% in 2015. The private sector holds two thirds of the total, but government debt has also risen fast, and the IMF warned about the risk of another financial crisis.

“Excessive private debt is a major headwind against global recovery and a risk to financial stability,” said Vitor Gaspar, IMF director of fiscal affairs. “Rapid increases in private debt often end up in financial crises.”

Most of this global debt is concentrated in developed countries. The huge jump there has been due to policies of easy money and low, zero or even negative interest rates, and especially to quantitative easing in which Central Banks bought bonds and pumped trillions of dollars into the banking system.

https://sputniknews.com/europe/201607121042814891-germany-italy-europe-financial-crisis/

It was hoped that this massive infusion would cause the banks to increase lending to consumers and businesses and thus stimulate economic growth.

However, the real economy did not benefit much. Instead, most of the money went into the equity markets, boosting prices, and to the developing economies as investors searched for higher yield, and this helped to fuel the growth of their debt.

The debt of non-financial corporations in emerging economies jumped from US$9tril (RM37tril) at end-2008 to over US$25tril (RM104tril) by end-2015, or from 57% to 104% of their GDP.

Foreigners now own unprecedentedly high shares of bonds and equities in developing countries, which have become vulnerable to investor-mood swings and funds, resulting in financial crises.

When market sentiment or conditions change, the massive inflows can turn into equally large outflows. Indeed, the boom-bust cycle of capital flows has gone through many turns through the years.

Huge amounts left developing countries in the fourth quarter of 2015, and for that year as a whole there was a net outflow of US$656bil (RM2.7tril) or 2.7% of their Gross Domestic Product, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

This was a big change from a net inflow of 1.3% of GDP in 2013. This turnaround of 4.4% is much larger than the reversals of capital flows in 1981-83, 1996-98 and 2007-08.

But in recent months the cycle turned again, with the return of fund investors to emerging economies. For example, in Malaysia, after suffering large outflows in 2015, there have been net inflows of funds into the equity and bond markets in the past few months.

Going through these cycles, the debt of developing countries has grown. “Easy access to cheap credit in boom times has led to growing debt levels across the developing world,” says UNCTAD’s Trade and Development Report 2016.

Developing countries’ external debt rose from US$2.1tril (RM9tril) in 2000 to US$6.8tril (RM28tril) in 2015. Overall debt (foreign and domestic) jumped by over US$31tril (RM129tril) with total debt-to-GDP ratios reaching over 120% in many countries and over 200% in some others.

Now a nightmare scenario is emerging. For many countries, the tide is turning and access to cheap credit has begun to dry up. Says UNCTAD: “Against the backdrop of falling commodity prices and weakening growth in developed economies, borrowing costs have been driven up very quickly, turning what seemed reasonable debt burdens under favourable conditions into largely unsustainable debt.”

In some countries, the problem is compounded by currency devaluation (which increases the value of external debt) and lower commodity prices.

These countries are thus hit by multiple whammies – lower commodity prices and export earnings, net outflow of funds, devaluation (which causes their foreign debt to increase), a higher cost of servicing debt, and economic slowdown.

More and more low-income countries are in a downward economic spiral that has led them into a new debt crisis. They have had to turn to institutions like the IMF and World Bank for bailouts. UNCTAD lists Angola, Azerbaijan, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Zam­bia and Zimbabwe as countries that have already asked for financial assistance or are in talks to do so.

This points to a shortfall in the international financial system – the lack of an orderly and fair debt mechanism which countries facing a debt crisis can have recourse to.

At the national level, the developed countries and some developing countries have corporate bankruptcy laws, aimed at helping companies to recover from a debt crisis through an orderly debt workout.

But there is no such debt workout mechanism, with fair burden sharing between debtor and creditors, when countries fall into a debt crisis.

In its absence, indebted countries often face many years of austerity and recessionary conditions im­­posed by the creditors and rescuing agencies, and with no guarantee that their debt level will even decrease.

With the present level of worldwide debt and the emergence of a new debt crisis in several countries, especially poor ones, it is time to consider smarter policies that prevent debt crises, and to manage them properly when they happen.



Global Trends By Martin Khor Global Trend The Star/ANN

Martin Khor (director@southcentre.org) is executive director of the South Centre. The views expressed here are entirely his own.


The bizarre world of low, even negative, interest rates


Draghi’s point: ECB president Mario Draghi speaks during a news conference in Berlin. He vigorously defended his stimulus policies to critical lawmakers in Berlin, while reaffirming the urgency to step up structural reforms. – Bloomberg

INTEREST rate is the price of money.

It sets the benchmark as it serves to oil the financial system’s engine, helping capital to flow freely and effectively in the global economy. Rates have been positive for the past three centuries despite world wars and the Great Depression. The system is not designed for a world of ultra-low, let alone negative rates.

The traditional business of banking, as we know it, is to take money from savers (in the form of deposits – representing banks’ liabilities) and lend it, at higher rates and over longer periods, to borrowers (investors, whose loans become their assets). Essentially, banks borrow short and lend long.

So the shape of the yield curve (chart of interest rates reflecting their term structure) is critical as it drives profits. The smaller the margin (gap) between short and long-term rates (i.e. the flatter the yield curve in economists’ jargon), the tighter banks’ profits are squeezed. The problem becomes even more difficult as interest rates or bond yields move near or to zero or worse, get negative.

Negative world

Negative rates invert the norms of banking. Strangely, borrowers are paid for taking money, while savers pay to hand over their deposits. Banks already face resistance from depositors who won’t pay to save with them. Even as the return on their assets falls, banks find it hard to reduce the cost of their liabilities. When central banks impose rates on the reserves kept by banks with them – as is done at the European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of Japan (BoJ) – it’s difficult for the banks to pass on this cost.

Indeed, negative rates act as a tax on bank profits. Banks also own government bonds, partly because regulators require them to keep a portfolio of liquid assets. Revenue here is a handy source of income. But as the older, high-yielding bonds mature, their replacements are now much lower yielding, thus eating into banks’ profits.

So banks look for other ways to re-coup, resorting to fees for services. Indeed, wealthy clients of private banking are starting to wake up to the impact of fees.

Insurance companies are also badly affected. They buy bonds to match assets with their long liabilities. But insurance companies in Germany and Switzerland are stuck with savings products they had sold in happier times, which guarantee returns well above current yields. A similar problem hit Japan in the 1990s and 2000s. Those with asset management arms have some protection, where returns are linked to the markets. But the impact of low returns is slowly but surely squeezing them too.

Impact

The underlying economic problem today remains inadequate global demand. In response, ECB has since stepped up its stimulus activities, joining BoJ and others in breaching the “zero lower bound” (inability of interest rates to get negative). So far, the impact on growth and employment has been dismal – simply because there is so much excess capacity worldwide.

Lower rates (even going negative) don’t appear to work. Lending has become more risky and banks today, as I see it, have neither the appetite nor enthusiasm to lend. Negative interest rates (NIRs) hurt banks’ balance sheets.

Other problems: NIRs (i) encourage investment in capital-intensive and disruptive technologies; (ii) perversely encourage savings – as fixed, interest-dependent income earners dampen consumption; (iii) curb a bank’s ability to lend; (iv) distort financial markets; and (v) shift portfolios to riskier assets in search of higher yields. In the longer run, NIRs compel businesses and individuals to disengage from a financial system that now taxes their saving.

Short-term rate and government bond yields represent the risk-free rate that forms the basis of return in finance. The expected return on equities comprises this risk-free rate plus a premium to allow for stock volatility and risk of capital loss. A good chunk of income of service providers is the “cut” they take. Today, there is simply much less return to go around.

Global trading in government bonds had exceeded US$10 trillion, a testament to just how hard central bankers are pushing yields down to spur households and businesses to spend. US 10-year Treasury now yields below 1.7%. Returns on comparable bonds in Germany and Japan are negative. Falling rates promise limited relief for consumers and businesses because inflation is falling too. For many in Europe and Japan, even record low rates don’t translate into easier borrowing terms on a real, or inflation adjusted, basis. For example, 10-year Japanese bonds return a -0.07%; but consumer prices fell 0.3%, yielding a +0.23% at 10 years, a key rate for most Japanese. NIRs don’t appear to have helped boost inflation in Europe either. The real case against NIRs is the folly of relying on monetary policy alone to rescue economies from depressed conditions.

Scandinavian experience

Among Scandinavian nations, Denmark already has four years of NIRs. Its central bank benchmark rate now stands at -0.65% (mortgage rate, excluding fees, being at negative 0.0562%). Neighbour Sweden’s is -0.5% (below zero for 14 months). In Norway, rates can go negative to prop-up an economy hard hit by low oil prices. ECB and BoJ are using sub-zero rates to stimulate growth with little success.

Meanwhile, Switzerland, Sweden and Denmark are trying NIRs to keep their currencies in line with the struggling euro. Their experience points to concerns about undesirable side-effects, including: (i) savers pay the price of getting no interest; even so, bank profitability is squeezed; (ii) excessive investment in real estate; (iii) households gorging up mortgages they can’t afford to repay when rates rise or real estate values fall.

Sweden’s household debt to disposable income ratio is at an unsustainable 175% (90% in mid-1990s); and (iv) run to physical cash by savers. The flip-side points to success in keeping the currency in check, holding steady against the euro to protect euro-trade and competitiveness.

In Denmark, despite NIRs, private saving is rising (26% of GDP, against 21% before 2012 when rates were positive) to protect future purchasing power. But, investments fell (16% of GDP against 18.1% in 1990-2012). So, NIRs appear to be counterproductive. This chorus of discontent is spreading to other parts of Europe.

NIRs have pushed up savings and done little for corporate investment, while eviscerating pension plans. Politically, in Europe’s sclerotic economy, in the face of high unemployment (double the US rate) and an uncertain outlook, NIRs can be even more toxic, driving voters to support populist causes.

Japan

BoJ took radical measures for 3½ years to reflate the country’s sagging economy, resorting this January to NIRs. Yet growth and inflation remain elusive. Core-inflation is at minus 0.5%, far below BoJ’s 2% target. Prices today are still lower than they were in 1997. BoJ’s primary method to raise consumer expectations has been buying assets, mostly government bonds but also real estate and equities.

As a result, Japan’s monetary base tripled to US$4 trillion (80% of GDP). Investors’ patience is fraying. In a bold move to deepen the yield curve, BoJ on Sept 21: (i) capped the 10-year government bond rate at 0%, vowing to overshoot its 2% inflation target; and (ii) maintained its existing policy to purchase 80 trillion yen (US$78bil) of assets a year. Both these goals are incompatible. They pose a dilemma – in the event demand for government bonds collapses, BoJ will need to buy more and more to keep yields at zero. Similarly, strong demand may even make it unnecessary to buy any.

As I see it, the new approach is a sensible response to market realities. BoJ had conceded real difficulties in shifting price expectations towards the inflation target. Besides, the flattening yield curve is eating into banks’ profits.

By targeting its future purchases at the shorter-end (rather than buy longer bonds as now), BoJ is expected to tolerate a steeper yield curve. The yield cap should make NIRs more effective. Indeed, it allows BoJ to further test the bounds of its NIRs policy. In essence, the new approach shifts focus to interest rates, a retreat from the unpopular quantitative easing (QE). For investors, there is no longer a willing buyer. Instead, a price setter – adding uncertainty. Its pledge to overshoot the inflation target as soon as possible is designed to raise future price expectations more forcefully.

Whether BoJ can shake off deflation depends on whether domestic demand can revive to rekindle the still elusive price expectations. QE needs to be accompanied by more purposeful fiscal stimulus – including even a last ditch effort to issue “helicopter money” – to directly underwrite government spending by BoJ.

In search of yields

With NIRs, some of the world’s un-venturesome investors – the Japanese – are going abroad at an unprecedented rate this year: up to US$500bil being invested so far in foreign securities. For the risk taker, Venezuela bonds earned as much as 27% return over the past year. However, most prefer to just take “duration” risk: measured on when the investor gets his money back.

Longer bonds have higher duration risk – as do bonds with low coupons (more waiting time). Rule of thumb: 1 percentage point change in the rate changes the bond price equal to the duration. The price of 25-year bonds will jump 25% if rates fell by 1 percentage point; and falls 25% if rates rose 1 percentage point. As duration gets longer, risk mounts. For example: last year, 40-year Japanese bonds carried a 1.4% coupon. Rates have since turned negative; so the price rose by as much as 34%.

What then, are we to do

It is startling that the total volume of sovereign and corporate bonds with NIRs now exceeds one-half of all western debt. It’s equally amazing how investors continue to gobble up these bonds even though they are likely to get back less than what was invested.

Just as astonishing is the rising demand for cash – the world’s largest asset managers now hold 5.8% of their assets in cash! Why? Points to investors and fund managers being downbeat on the ability of central bankers to raise inflation in the face of growing pessimism about growth prospects (17% of them expect a global recession, and as many as 39% expect “helicopter money” to be handed out). Most fear the policy landscape will become weirder.

QE appears broken. This playbook has limited success in US and is patchy at best in Europe and Japan. Frankly, US bankers and economists are growing increasingly uncomfortable with the cycle of QE infinity and more aware of its collateral effects, including keeping US dollar cheap.

But consumers and businesses have been saving rather than spending, with stagnant unemployment overshadowing the windfall from rising asset prices. European banks have been hit by low interest rates, tighter regulation and rising non-performing loans that have hurt profitability. Policymakers are today rethinking strategies. Mario Draghi is, and Haruhiko Kuroda has had a recent relook. The key question remains: how to regain policy effectiveness. That’s where the focus should be – adopt pro-growth structural reforms to make the economies more competitive, and to enhance fiscal creditability.

Sure, BoJ has to make people believe in inflation. Inflationary expectations won’t materialise until BoJ is credible. Credibility – that’s what makes our world in 2016. In the US, both presidential candidates have pledged fiscal stimulus. Hopefully, by next year (after elections in Spain, Germany and France), a more balanced application of softer QE and aggressive fiscal stimulus can turn Europe from a good trade into a good investment.


  • What are we to do?
  By Lin See Yan

Former banker, Harvard educated economist and British Chartered Scientist, Tan Sri Lin See-Yan is the author of The Global Economy in Turbulent Times (Wiley, 2015). Feedback is most welcome; email: starbiz@thestar.com.my.


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