Shame.

Malaysia veering towards instability, says PERC


The report also said that while Islamic activists which are “threatening Malaysia’s secular credentials” are getting the widest coverage, it was the Umno elites, described as “a fringe group of insiders who have been able to profit disproportionately from the policies of the ruling coalition” that deserved the most attention.

By Lee Wei Lian, The Malaysian Insider


Events since New Year’s Day have given the Hong Kong-based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) the impression that the situation in Malaysia is becoming increasingly unstable.

In a blistering report on Malaysia released at the end of January, PERC also asserted that a group of elite minorities were dominating the national agenda to the extent that it was hurting Malaysia’s attractiveness to investors.

The consultancy, which also publishes reports on the risk ratings of other Asian countries, said it is “probable” that no other Asian country is suffering from as much bad press as Malaysia. Among the developments that caught its attention were the theft of military jet engines, detention of terror suspects from a number of African and Middle East countries following warnings that Islamic militants were planning attacks on foreigners at resorts in Sabah, renewed ethnic and religious “violence” that included arson at some churches and desecration of mosques, and controversy over the integrity of key institutions like the judicial system in the sodomy trial of opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

“Events of the past month give the impression that pressures are building and the entire situation is becoming much more unstable,” said PERC.

The report noted that the government is blaming the international media for exaggerated reporting and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had argued that the focus should not be on the fringe groups that are causing problems but on the majority of Malaysians who are coming together to condemn the recent acts of violence following the ‘Allah’ controversy. But PERC maintained that the root of the problem was a vocal minority that is dominating the national agenda.

source: http://www.malaysia-today.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=30113:malaysia-veering-towards-instability-says-perc-&catid=19:newscommentaries&Itemid=100131