The Star Online: Nation
The Star Online: Nation |
- Parliament: Okay for Selangor to hoard funds, says Khalid Samad
- Minimum wage portal launched
- Malaysia ranks 52 out of 65 countries in international assessment programme
| Parliament: Okay for Selangor to hoard funds, says Khalid Samad Posted: SHAH Alam MP (PAS) Khalid Samad (pic) has defended the PKR-led Selangor government for hoarding federal funds. He rebutted Datuk Seri Noh Omar (BN-Tanjung Karang) who rapped the state government for not spending funds intended for maintenance of roads in the state. "Which one is better? Those who over-spend or those who are thrifty?" he said. "When one is thrifty, there will be no damage done. "There will be no deficit, unlike what the Federal government has done." He said Selangor BN was in no position to ridicule the state government as the former had been rejected by the people, twice, in the general election. The third instalment of the Auditor-General's 2012 report tabled in Parliament on Monday said the state government had spent RM640.24mil of the RM1.14bil it received from the Federal government to maintain non-federal roads between 2010 and 2012. Despite a RM631.27mil surplus , the report said this reflected the state government's inefficiency in managing funds. |
| Posted: KUALA LUMPUR: An online portal has been set up to disseminate information on the country's minimum wage policy ahead of its implementation on Jan 1, 2014. The portal, said Human Resources Minister Datuk Richard Riot, will serve to clear doubts such as what kind of payments count towards minimum wages and who is included and excluded from the policy. When launching the portal yesterday, Riot said Malaysia could no longer rely on cheap labour to compete in the global market as Malaysia did not have a competitive advantage over countries such as Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos or Bangladesh. The Minimum Wage portal, he said, had three segments – for employers, workers and also for the latest news, publications and updates on the policy. "Through this portal we hope to inform the public the rational of implementing this policy in a more accurate and effective way," he said in his speech. The minimum wage for private sector employees has been set at RM800 for workers in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan and RM900 per month for employees in the peninsula. It covers all employees, local and foreign, and employers in all economic sectors, except those in the domestic service sector such as maids and gardeners. The portal can be accessed at http://minimumwages.mohr.gov.my/. Meanwhile, Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Shamsuddin Bardan said 3.3 million workers in the country currently earned wages below RM700. The enforcement of the minimum wage policy, he said, would cost Malaysian employers an additional RM14bil a year. |
| Malaysia ranks 52 out of 65 countries in international assessment programme Posted: PETALING JAYA: Malaysian students have scored below the global average under the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) 2012. According to the results released by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Malaysia scored 421 in Mathematics, 398 in Reading and 420 in Science respectively. The results achieved in the latest survey showed Malaysia was below the global average score of 494 in Mathematics, 496 in Reading and 501 in Science. Based on the mean score for 2012, Malaysia is still placed in the bottom third, ranking 52 out of 65 countries, and 55 out of 74 countries in the 2009 survey. In 2009, Malaysia scored 404 in Mathematics, 414 in Reading and 422 in Science. Pisa is administered by the OECD every three years on 15-year-olds in both OECD and non-OECD countries and offers students questions in the main language of instruction in their respective countries. Each round focuses on one area of either Reading, Mathematics or Science. The assessments have been conducted since 2000, with Malaysia taking part for the first time in 2009. Currently, Malaysian students are at the bottom one-third among more than 70 countries in international assessments like Timms (Trends in International Mathemathics and Science Studies) and Pisa. The Malaysia Education Blueprint has set the goal for Malaysia to be in the top third of countries participating in Pisa and Timms by 2025. |
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