The crumbling of Ringgit Malaysia.

This I'm sharing from The Scribe A Kadir Jasin...

Bank Negara Wades In But Truth May Never Prevail

IN the June 9 posting entitled N2H: Arul Kanda Nor Dr Mahathir Who Spooked PM, in part, I wrote: “The Bank Negara Governor, Zeti Akhtar Aziz, is in danger of losing public confidence and respect for her extended silence on the 1MDB issue and her penchant for hiding behind banking secrecy and confidentiality.”

I contended that this is because Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) had been openly dragged into the controversy by no less than the Prime Minster, Mohd Najib Abdul Razak, himself. 

He had said openly cash 1MDB was bringing back from Cayman Islands could not be remitted directly to Malaysia due to BNM”s restrictions and had to be deposited in Singapore. 

The cash, amounting to the US$1.103 billion (RM3.985 billion), had since metamorphosed into “asset certificates” and more recently, according to Finance Minister II, Ahmad Husni Hazadlah, had become “units”. 

In an interview with TV3 on April 10, the Prime Minister said: “Time will determine but at a certain time, the money will be brought back to Malaysia.” 

On May 26, Zeti confirmed that BNM Negara had received a report from its Singapore counterpart - Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) - on a complaint lodged by BSI about 1MDB’s account. BSI is the Swiss private bank where 1MDB deposited the Cayman Islands' proceeds. 

Only after more than a week of receiving the MAS report that BNM, on June 3, announced that it has commenced a formal enquiry to examine if there are any contravention of financial rules and regulations with respect to matters surrounding 1MDB. It does not help to raise our confidence when BNM appears to be playing the games of catching up. 

In the meantime, confidence in economy is waning despite assurances that our economic fundamentals are strong. Whether BNM admits it or not, the contagion effects of 1MDB are becoming more apparent. 

Given the secrecy and confidentiality claims, we don’t know much about what BNM has been doing in the interim. Has it entered the currency market to prop up the ringgit? Maybe it has because the exchange rates of the local currency has stabilised after falling to a nine-year low against the dollar on June 8 and its reserves has fallen. 

Zeti had indirectly alluded to the contagion effects of 1MDB when she said BNM would not allow any single entity to undermine the country’s financial system.

Bank Negara Finally Admits.
On June 18, in yet another admission that the contagion effects of 1MDB and the political development are becoming worse, the Central Bank did the unthinkable – it waded into the murky world of politics.
While saying that BNM would not be drawn into politics, it issued a statement urging “the country to resolve domestic issues that have affected the currency.”
It said it would not be drawn into any political agenda and would remain focused on maintaining monetary and financial stability. 

So, after months of expounding the country’s strong economic fundamentals and blaming external factors for the weakness of the ringgit, the Central Bank finally acknowledged that “domestic issues” are equally to be blamed.
The national news agency, Bernama had described the BNM statement as attempt to “depoliticise the debate over the weakening ringgit.” 

The Central Bank was responding to what it called “the recent inaccurate and misleading media reports” on the central bank and the ringgit’s volatility.
It statement came a day after Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan had said that Bank Negara’s information indicated Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s criticism against Mohd Najib was one of the reasons for the weakness of the ringgit.

The comments was made in parliament and reported in local media. Ahmad Maslan, who became the butt of many Internet jokes for his outrageous statements on the economy in support of the Prime Minister – the latest being his GST-free fried rice - had emerged as Mohd Najib’s poster boy. 

Ahmad Maslan was catapulted to that position following the growing reluctance of the more senior members of the Cabinet to come to the Prime Minister’s defense.
Instead “the roadside sources” said he faced considerable opposition from member of the Umno Supreme Council on 1MDB. The sources said the disagreement was so serious that there were the banging of the tables and raised voices at the sitting of the Council. 

Despite Mohd Najib telling the press that the Council supported him, sources said some members told him point blank that 1MDB could kill Umno.
[Roadside sources was a term used by Mohd Najib’s spokesman, Encik Rizal Mansor (no relation to Rosmah Mansor the PM’s consort), to described sources of information of the independent bloggers.]

Cooking Up The Book
The process of dressing up 1MDB’s book via creative accounting is in full swing. We hear such jargons as enterprise value, prudence and propriety being used to trap the uninitiated.
The whole idea is to give the impression that everything is OK and above board.
But the people involved, including external auditors, must be reminded of recent events in the US, when accountants and auditors cooked up the books of such giants as Enron, Worldcom, Tyco, Freddie Mac and American Insurance Group. The frauds were almost all accounting-related. 

As for the investigations into possible criminal deeds, except one by the Public Account Committee (PAC) of the Parliament, the rest could very well be getting nowhere.
That is to be expected. For as long as Mohd Najib remains the Prime Minister, the investigators would have to abide by the protocol. Be it the police, the MACC or the Auditor General, their boss is the PM. We cannot expect them to go against their boss.
So the public should not place too much hope that the guilty parties would be exposed and punished. Maybe one or two will be made scapegoats and be given a light slap on the wrist and removed from the board and management.
The truth may not prevail instead the crusaders will be burnt at the stake. 

Business as Usual
In the meantime Mohd Najib continues to do what he does best – gives handouts. A few days after chairing the pre-budget dialogue and telling the people to “remain vigilant in the face of economic uncertainties” he announced a special Raya Bonus for the civil servants. 

Mohd Najib believes “money is king” and favours could be bought.
He acknowledged that household debt remained high - at 87.6% of gross domestic product - while commodity prices, particularly crude oil, liquefied natural gas and palm oil, were anticipated to remain soft. 

Yet he continues to play Santa Clause to prop up his popularity.
He admitted that the GST is dampening private consumption, which he said saw some moderation due to the one-off inflationary pressures of the new tax.
May inflation rose to 2.1 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) but analysts expect the overall inflation rate to slow to 2.3 per cent for the whole year due to lower consumption. 

In the meantime businesses are suffering, corporate results are dismal and foreign investors are leaving in droves. We are suffering a massive confidence deficit.
According to MIDF Research head, Zulkifli Hamzah, as of the middle of this month, foreign investors had been net sellers on Bursa Malaysia for seven consecutive weeks. In his weekly fund flow report dated June 15, Zulkifli said for the third week running, the amount offloaded by foreign funds was more than RM850 million a week. That’s a whopping RM2.55 billion. 

So where is Mohd Najib as Finance Minister going to get the additional revenue to pay the civil servants and to meet his lavish off-budget expenditures?
Already his Idris Jala-inspired transformational programmes have seen RM25 billion of EPF money – the life savings of private sector workers – had been channelled to Pembinaan PFI. 

Like 1MDB, Pembinaan PFI belongs to Finance Ministry and is also heavily indebted. It is one those things that Mohd Najib called Private Financing Initiative (PFI).
What is so private when the company belongs to Finance Ministry and the money comes from EPF? 

This could be another time bomb and the deceit continues. Even Tabung Haji had to lie about the so-called buyers lining up to buy its 1MDB land. Its sales deadline had long past and no transaction in sight. Some BN members of Parliament had tried to come to its rescue by saying it should keep the land. But the sale order was made by Mohd Najib himself! 

So, like a clumsy overfed kitten, Mohd Najib is spinning yarn around himself, and in the process is causing us to trip. This cannot be good. But being a Bugis Warrior Mohd Najib would rather sink in the stormy sea than taking the ship back to harbour. The Malay saying “sesat di hujung jalan kembali ke pangkal jalan” does not apply to a blueblood Bugis Warrior.

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How juicy can Malaysia's political and financial story can be....can't wait for more.

And can't wait for the D-day Najib and his konco fall down to the ground.

Owh Me Owh My...Health.

Owh why....why do they have to come out with all these superfoods, super this and super that almost on a yearly basis. Like an Academy Awards for for foods and other healthy things.
Honestly, I was at a per centum of 60% must-try-any-healthy-things introduced, and which I can get my hands on, but luckily I managed to overcome my (unhealthy) indulgence and realised that these, all these super everything are just cheap-trills.

Yup. Cheap trills for those health junkies.
And for those who created it, or coincidently bumped into it, even though it has been in existence for centuries by certain cultures around the globe -- it's mere hype seekers.

I got this in one of my 'healthy-emails' -- yup, must admit-- I'd never unsubscribe from those despite not following any of their repetitive suggestions.

Please ask yourself which of them that you've never know exist.


Coconut Flour, yes, coconut flour, not your (my) normal coconut milk, Kombucha, Ghee (yup Ghee),
Bone Broth and Kefir (first time hearing it myself) hail to the supposedly to be the 2015 superfood.

Human Bats, no?

For your good hanging.

No doubt, when health and wellness are having its crowning years now -- be it for purely health reasons or merely for wanting a bod looking like J-Lo's -- it is good.
It's easy for people to get health food, healthy meal takeouts, healthy mix smoothies or veg juices...you name it.

And what about those Western hyped up diets such as paleo, vegan, raw, macrobiotic. And gluten -free almost everything that I for once had been one of the Ooo-I-should-be-glutenfree person and had been quite conscious in giving gluten-free whatsoever to my kids.
But, in reality, trying to really stick on to a real gluten-free diet is like a 600lbs trying to wear size 10 in three months' time. And it gets even harder when almost what you see are not gluten-free.

Here are five basic warning signs to look for if you don't realise whether you're living a healthy life or an unhealthy one:

1. You often feel guilty about food choices.

If you eat something you consider "unhealthy" that isn't the norm in your diet, that is A-OK. You shouldn't become so consumed with guilt that you plan how you will correct your "cheating" through diet restrictions or exercise.

Unfortunately, this is a behavior that becomes a habit for many people, revealing that they may have taken "healthy eating" to an unhealthy extent. Having certain foods in moderation is actually good for you, even if these foods may be culturally-demonized as "unhealthy" or not in the scope of "clean eating." In fact, allowing yourself variety in your diet will allow you to stay on track with being healthy.

2. You eliminate food groups.

Eliminating entire food groups may deprive your body of important nutrients it needs and make your body crave the eliminated food, thus often resulting in binge eating. When you are striving to become healthier, it can be effective to limit certain categories like deep-fried foods, foods with a lot of sugar or highly processed, packaged snacks. But you shouldn't eliminate an entire food group without talking to your doctor first.

3. You're controlled by food.

You shouldn't have to spend hours of time, or inordinate amounts of mental energy (often involving anxiety) determining what to eat or how to prepare your food.

Also: make sure to enjoy social interactions, which often include eating and drinking in some form. You shouldn't miss social engagements because you're worried about the food they will serve or because it will mean you'll miss going to the gym.

4. You're critical of the way other people eat (or at least hyper-conscious of it).

When you're out to dinner, maybe you find yourself being judgmental of what your friend is ordering for his/her meal, or perhaps just find yourself distractingly focused on it.

The truth is that you can't control what anyone else puts in their body. Not everyone is going to eat healthy, or in the same way as you do. And that's OK. You shouldn't become critical or feel superior to those that don't eat only pure or healthy foods, or generally feel distressed if someone chooses to eat different foods than you generally. It's important to maintain healthy relationships with others even if they don't share the same thinking around eating that you do.

5. You're exhibiting depressive behaviors.

Many people do not realize that eating disorders are mental health disorders that require treatment. 50% of those that suffer from an eating disorder also have depression. If you've been sleeping too much or too little, can't concentrate, feel hopeless, have lost your appetite or can't stop eating, or have lost interest in daily activities, it's time to seek help for depression.

You need to find what works best for your own body to stay healthy, which includes listening to your body and understanding if you are turning to food because you are hungry or because of the way you are feeling.

Privacy.

In my email today..

Talk about privacy.
I must admit I sometimes, nope like 80 percent of the time will not read any sort of agreement sent by all these social platform...It's too long, and sometimes can get too complicated or they intentionally make it complicated so people like me will ceased reading it after few paragraphs.
I think I am among the thousands of people that just click the 'Read" and 'Accepted'...Im pretty sure of that.

But, today, and never have been, I received the above in my email.
Like -- hey, how do they know.
I haven't been out rating anything at all past twelve months.
And how do they actually get to trace my IP address checking out this Brazilian churrascaria....

Hmmmmm.....
Talk about privacy.