Malaysia slides in global Corruption perception index

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's ranking dropped four places in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) last year.

The index, released by Transparency International, showed that Malaysia was ranked 54th out of 168 countries this year compared to 50th out of 175 countries last year.

Malaysia ranked 52 the previous year.

The CPI scores and ranks are determined by the perceived level of corruption in the country's public sector.

Transparency International-Malaysia president Datuk Akhbar Satar said Malaysia's position would be even worse if seven other countries were included in last year's evaluation as their scores were above Malaysia in 2014.

"Despite many steps implemented, the level of corruption experienced in Malaysia does not seem to be decreasing," he said.

Globally, Denmark received the highest rank with a score of 91 followed by Finland (90) and Sweden (89).

Malaysia slides four points down global corruption perception index

Issues surrounding 1Malaysia Development Berhad and the RM2.6bil donation were among reasons why Malaysia slipped four points down the global corruption perception index (CPI).

The survey of the CPI of 168 nations for 2015 revealed the country's score dropped from 52% to 50% compared to 2014 while its ranking slid from 50 to 54.

Transparency International Malaysia president Datuk Akhbar Satar said the recent controversy surrounding 1MDB and the RM2.6bil donations contributed to the drop.

"There were 175 countries that were surveyed last year.

"However, seven countries were not included in the survey which would have pushed our ranking down further," he said during the announcement of the global CPI

Among the nations that scored the top marks were Denmark (91%), Finland (90%), Sweden (89%), New Zealand (88%), Netherlands and Norway (87%).

Among the nations to score the lowest were Angola, South Sudan, Sudan, Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia.

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South China Sea among world's freest and safest shipping lanes

China was the earliest to explore, name, develop and administer various South China sea islands. Our ancestors worked diligently here for generations. Beijing's control is justified, says Wang Yi

http://t.cn/RGEz7El

BEIJING: The South China Sea is one of the world’s freest and safest shipping lanes, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said, arguing that Beijing’s control over the disputed waters was justified because it was the first to “discover” them.

China has come under fire from the United States and its allies in recent months over its land reclamation activities in the South China Sea, through which US$5 trillion (RM20.3 trillion) in ship-borne trade passes annually.

The US Navy has carried out freedom of navigation exercises, sailing near the disputed islands to underscore its rights to operate in the seas. Those patrols, and reports that China is deploying advanced missiles, fighters and radar equipment on islands there, have led Washington and Beijing to trade accusations of militarising the region.

The freedom of navigation does not equal the “freedom to run amok”, Wang told his yearly news conference on the sidelines of China’s annual parliament meeting.

“In fact, based on the joint efforts of China and other regional countries, the South China Sea is currently one of the safest and freest shipping lanes in the world,” Wang said.

“China was the earliest to explore, name, develop and administer various South China Sea islands. Our ancestors worked diligently here for generations,” Wang said.

“History will prove who is the visitor and who is the genuine host,” he said, adding that China would “consider inviting” foreign journalists to islands under its control when the conditions are right.

China was neither the earliest country to deploy weapons to the South China Sea nor the country with the most weapons there, Wang added, without saying which country was. Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, but Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have overlapping claims.

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter has warned of “specific consequences” if China takes “aggressive” action in the region.

He has said the US military was increasing deployments to the Asia-Pacific region and would spend US$425mil (RM1.7bil) through 2020 to pay for more exercises and training with countries in the region that were unnerved by China’s actions.

Wang was also asked about the Philippines case against China in an arbitration court in The Hague on the South China Sea dispute. Manila has asked Beijing to respect the decision, which is expected in May.

China refuses to recognise the case and says all disputes should be resolved through bilateral talks.

Wang repeated that China was quite within its rights not to participate and accused unnamed others of being behind the case.

“The Philippines’ stubbornness is clearly the result of behind-the-scene instigation and political manipulation,” he said, without elaborating. — Reuters

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MH370 families file biggest lawsuit in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: Seventy-six next of kin of the passengers on board Flight MH370 have launched the biggest suit in the courts here against Malaysian Airline System Bhd and four others over the plane’s disappearance.

With the deadlines to do so up by today, the group – made up of 66 Chinese nationals, eight Indians and two Americans – filed the suit last Thursday, naming MAS, Malaysia Airline Bhd (MAB), Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general, Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) and the Government as defendants.

They are claiming for negligence, breach of contract, breach of statutory duty and breach of Montreal Convention against MAS

Lawyer N.Ganesan representing Indian, Chinese and American families said this is the biggest lawsuit against MAS in Malaysia as it involves a large number of families as plaintiffs.

In the statement of claim filed last Thursday, the families alleged that the plane’s disappearance on 8 March 2014 was caused by MAS’ negligence and the national carrier had breached the Montreal Convention by causing the injuries and death of all 239 passengers and crew..

Besides MAS, the families also named the director-general of the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF), and the government.

They claimed that DCA, RMAF and the government had conspired with MAS in conducting the investigation in a “grossly negligent manner” to delay the search, causing the death of all the passengers and crew.

They also contended the government and MAS had acted fraudulently and in a dishonest manner by hiding information about MH370’s disappearance from the public, and the families of passengers and crew.

The 76 next of kin are seeking damages and losses they suffered after their loved ones went missing.

“The families opted to file the lawsuit here because they have confidence in our court,” said Ganesan when met at the High Court here.

He also pleaded with the government not to move to strike out the lawsuit.

“This lawsuit deserves a day in court, and all the families deserve a fair trial,” he said.

When asked if the families were given consent by the MAS administrator under the MAS Act to initiate the lawsuit, the lawyer said they were denied consent. “They had previously said in the media that they would act in ‘good faith’ to determine fair and equitable compensation.”

“What they said was they were inviting next of kin to initiate lawsuits against them.”

Ganesan disclosed that an American law firm, Hod Hurst Orseck, will be joining the families’ legal team.

“They are the experts in civil aviation. We will be having the firm’s partners, Steven Marks and Roy Altman with me and lawyer Tommy Thomas.”

“When necessary, we will be filing for leave to the court for them to be conducting the trial,” he said.

Last week, 12 families of passengers from Malaysia, Ukraine, Russia and China sued MAS and the government for damages, shortly before the two years deadline for initiating a civil suit under the Montreal Convention.

Sources: The Star news and Free Malaysia Today

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