Najib sad over death of two national sportsmen

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak expressed sadness over the passing of two talented national sportsmen, with the latest incident early today.

The prime minister, in his Twitter message, said the late national basketball player Jacky Ng Kiat Kee, 25, and national hockey player Chua Boon Huat, 33, would be missed by Malaysians.

“Saddened to learn about the passing of Jacky Ng and Chua Boon Huat. They were both talented national athletes who will be missed by all,” he said.

Ng died while representing the country in an invitational tournament in China, believed to be due to a heart attack, last Sunday.

Chua was killed early today in a road accident on the Damansara-Puchong Expressway (LDP), near the Kelana Jaya LRT station.

The Proton Perdana car driven by Chua was believed to have collided with a tanker lorry watering plants along the LDP in the 2.25am accident, said a Petaling Jaya police spokesman. — Bernama

(Source: The Malay Mail Online)

Concerns over health of public finances to be addressed in Budget 2014

KUALA LUMPUR: A detailed strategy on how to address growing concerns over the health of Malaysia’s public finances will be addressed in Budget 2014.

“We have already put in place a fiscal committee, which is looking into some of the challenges that we face, and all these will be addressed shortly, especially in the forthcoming Budget,” said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Budget 2014 is expected to be tabled on Oct 25.

Najib, also the Finance Minister, stressed that the Government remained committed to strengthening the country’s macroeconomic and fiscal position.

“At the moment, we are looking at various policy options ... we do understand there is a need for us to strengthen our fiscal and macro position,” Najib said in response to Fitch Ratings’ concern over the ability of the Malaysian Government to rein in its debt and spending.

Fitch had on Tuesday downgraded Malaysia’s sovereign credit rating outlook from “stable” to “negative”, citing that the prospects for budgetary reform and fiscal consolidation to address weaknesses in public finances had worsened after the 13th general election in May.

Najib: Budget 2014 to strengthen fiscal, macro position

Putrajaya will unveil policies in Budget 2014 to strengthen the country's fiscal and macro position, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak (pic) said today, two days after Fitch Ratings downgraded Malaysia's creditl outlook to negative.

Najib said the government shared the rating agency's concern on fiscal reforms.

"We are looking at various policy options and the actual details will be unveiled shortly in the forthcoming budget," he was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times news portal.

Najib, who is also finance minister, said the revision by Fitch Ratings was only with regard to outlook but the rating agency has "reaffirmed our current rating and this is something positive".

The news portal also quoted Bank Negara Malaysia governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz as saying Malaysia had the capacity to address these concerns in a gradual and sequence manner.

She said both the central bank and the government have been addressing all the issues all this while.

"We will set up to increase our economy to be more resilient and better enhance our potential to sustain growth," she said.

(Source: The Malaysian Insider)

Najib seeks formula to win back urban hearts

Effective methods should be formulated to restore the urban community's confidence in the Barisan Nasional (BN) and Umno to make them their parties of choice, said Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

The Prime Minister said BN and Umno leaders and members should work hard to translate their strength as the only parties that could develop the economy while reminding the people that they had fought to liberate the country.

Prompted by the strong message sent by the people in the last general election, he said in order to win back the hearts of urban dwellers, major problems like crimes, corruption, traffic snarls and housing prices should be addressed.

"Apart from the process of improving weaknesses in the party and acknowledging mistakes, we should also have the humility to identify problems of the urban community which should be resolved to their satisfaction," he said when breaking fast with Federal Territories BN and Umno members at the Muadz Al-Jabbar Mosque in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Malaysia's economy set to expand in 2013 and 2014: Najib

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 1, 2013): The Malaysian economy is set to continue to expand in 2013 and 2014 albeit with a slight moderation in growth, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

He said domestic demand will continue to anchor growth amid the continued moderation in external demand, with the growth to be mainly driven by the private sector and supported by the public sector.

"There are however risks to growth, especially from the external environment," he said in a press conference after attending Bank Negara Malaysia's (BNM) board briefing here today.

Najib said global growth is expected to continue to remain modest as growth in the major advanced economies will still be affected by the ongoing structural adjustments and policy uncertainty.

He said Malaysia could face increased volatility in the financial markets as these major economies are calibrating their policies.

"Given this challenging environment, BNM has put forward a number of proposals to strengthen our economic resilience and to accelerate our economic transformation agenda to become a high value-added and high-income economy," he said.

In addition, Najib said the government is committed to strengthening the country's macro and fiscal position.
"We have put in place a fiscal committee, we are looking at some challenges and all these will be addressed shortly, particularly in the forthcoming budget," he said. – Bernama

(Source: http://www.thesundaily.my)

Najib: Govt serious in tackling crime, graft

KUALA LUMPUR: THE Barisan Nasional government is committed to addressing crime and graft, providing public transport and affordable housing  to win over a fast-changing urban demographic, said Datuk Seri Najib Razak said yesterday.

Apart from addressing internal weaknesses, the prime minister said it was important for leaders to listen to the people with humility, while upholding their interests.

As such, Najib said, the three issues that were of most concern to city residents could, if addressed, translate into BN and Umno regaining their support in urban areas.

"We need to study how we can strengthen Umno and BN's standing in cities, within the context of rapid changes.

"While urbanites are more educated these days, we need to be able to present ourselves as the people's choice, not only in the rural areas but also in the cities," he said last night.

Najib, who is also BN chairman, said it was important for the government to find ways to combat rising crime and corruption.

"We need to make people feel safe from serious crime, snatch thefts and robberies."

He said public transport must be developed as an alternate means of transport for urban residents to reduce traffic congestion.

"Public transport needs to be used not only by those in the low-income groups but also by the more well-to-do groups, as is the practice in developed cities such as New York and London."

On affordable housing, Najib said 80,000 homes would be built in the Federal Territories.

He said the houses, which were eagerly-awaited for by the public, would cost between RM150,000 and RM300,000.

Najib was attending a breaking of fast ceremony with BN leaders at the Muadz bin Jabal Mosque in Setiawangsa.

During the ceremony, Najib presented RM500,000 to the mosque to be used for upgrades.

Present were Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and Setiawangsa member of parliament Datuk Ahmad Fauzi Zahari.

(Source: http://www.nst.com.my)

Najib Thanks Security Forces Personnel

KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak expressed his appreciation and thanks to the security forces personnel for their deeds and contributions in protecting the country's sovereignty.

The prime minister said the Warriors' Day celebration, falling on July 31 every year, was meant to commemorate and honour the deeds and contributions of national heroes.

"Furthermore, the militant intrusion tragedy in Lahad Datu (Sabah) is still fresh in people's mind. The sacrifices of our fallen and injured heroes in Lahad Datu will be remembered forever as they were among the heroes who had protected the sovereignty of the our country.

"While we commemorate our fallen heroes on this Warriors' Day, we should also think about the wellbeing of the families and children they left behind. Al-Fatihah," he said in his Facebook page Wednesday.

(Source: Bernama)

EO replacement law coming soon

PUTRAJAYA: The proposed law to replace the recently repealed Emergency Ordinance will be tabled at the next meeting of the Dewan Rakyat in September, as the Prime Minister pushes for tough anti-crime measures to “bring back public peace and confidence”.

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the new legislation would strengthen the capability of the police to act against serious and organised crimes.

“A committee comprising the Home Minister, the Ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department, the Inspector-General of Police and the Attorney-General is now drafting the extra provisions in the proposed law to tackle serious crimes,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

“The Government is also ready to consider requests and requirements from the police as long as there is guarantee that there will be no abuse of power and violation of human rights.

“We cannot allow the situation to persist,” he said in reference to the recent spate of shootings, including the killing of Arab Malaysian Bank founder Hussain Ahmad Najadi in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.

He added: “Immediate and serious action must be taken by the authorities to bring back public peace and confidence.

“I am deeply concerned with the recent developments where murders involving firearms can occur in a brazen manner.

“I understand that this is an issue that touches the people’s feelings and concerns, and they are becoming increasingly worried about their safety and rampant serious crimes.

“The police would have to look at what action can be taken under the existing laws to make the streets safe again.”

Najib said the police could ask for anything they needed to improve their effectiveness in fighting serious crimes.

“It is up to the police to ask from the Government what they require to enhance their capacity.

“We will provide the police, within our affordability, their needs to fight serious and organised crimes,” he said after chairing the National Finance Council meeting.

Early this month, Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the Government would not push to reintroduce preventive detention to deal with the rise in organised crime while Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail believed that the country still needed a law to clamp down on gangsterism and serious crimes but was against preventive detention.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, however, said some kind of preventive law was needed to strike fear in violent criminals and check organised crime.

(Source: The Star Online)

Najib: Take advantage of 6,000 PhD programme

KUALA LUMPUR -- Datuk Seri Najib Razak has urged the people to take advantage of the government's move to turn out 6,000 Doctors of Philosophy (PhD) by 2023.

"The government targets 6,000 doctorates in philosophy by 2023. Anyone who has the chance, must take advantage of the initiative," said the Prime Minister in his Twitter account today.

Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar said the government targeted 6,000 PhD graduates by 2023, in line with the effort to turn out experts in numerous fields to develop the national industrialisation policy.

Abdul Wahid told the Dewan Negara that the target was a mechanism to create a cluster of human resources with vast knowledge.

The Prime Minister also wrote in his Twitt that he would break the fast and attend a 'tahlil' prayer and 'doa selamat' in conjunction with Warrior's Day at the National Mosque this evening. 

Tomorrow, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah would attend a Warrior's Day celebration ceremony at Merdeka Square here. -- BERNAMA

(Source: http://www.nst.com.my)

KL-Singapore rail tender open to international bidders

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday confirmed that the tender for the high-speed rail (HSR) link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore will be opened to international bidders.

He said the Malaysian and Singaporean governments are in the process of deciding on the modality, way forward and procedure for execution.

“We expect this to be a very transparent, open bidding system in which companies from all over the world are free to participate,” he said at a joint press conference with his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault, here, yesterday.

On the rail industry in Malaysia, Najib said Malaysia is embarking on extensive rail development, such as the multi-billion Klang Valley mass rapid transit project and the HSR project, which is targeted for completion by 2020.

The rail link is expected to cost around RM40 billion, including RM10 billion to buy high-speed bullet trains.

Earlier, Najib and Ayrault witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Malaysian Industry-Government
Group for High Technology (MIGHT) and Thales, a global technology leader for aerospace and transportation markets, for the development of the country’s rail industry.

With more than RM160 billion government investment expected in the industry until 2020, the MoU will address human capital competency issues.

In a statement yesterday, MIGHT said the MoU is aimed at supporting the government’s commitment to the development of Malaysia’s public transport system via the Rail Centre of
Excellence (RCOE).