RPK: The Sibu Results

BPP Law School, Holborn, London (UK)

Raja Petra Kamaruddin – RPK Speaks at SIHRG Event – Part 1/7

Raja Petra Kamaruddin – RPK Speaks at SIHRG Event – Part 2/7

Raja Petra Kamaruddin – RPK Speaks at SIHRG Event – Part 3/7

Raja Petra Kamaruddin – RPK Speaks at SIHRG Event – Part 4/7

Raja Petra Kamaruddin – RPK Speaks at SIHRG Event – Part 5/7

Raja Petra Kamaruddin – RPK Speaks at SIHRG Event – Part 6/7

Raja Petra Kamaruddin – RPK Speaks at SIHRG Event – Part 7/7

Awesome man with awesome thoughts.

He said small and medium businesses (SMBs) in the country need to embrace new opportunities, such as the benefits provided by information and communications technology (ICT).

Previously, such technologies were not available to these modest enterprises or were priced too high for their budgets, he said.

“It is different now,” he said. “Cloud computing is here and Malaysian businesses must quickly capitalise on it.”

Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Datuk Mukhriz Tun Mahathir (right) chatting with Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer at the announcing of the availability of Microsoft online service at Putrajaya International Convention Centre in Putrajaya on Tuesday. – Starpic by Rohaizat Bin Md Darus

He was officiating at the launch of the Microsoft Online Services in Malaysia, that provide access to the software giant’s full range of cloud computing capabilities.

The technology fuses the functionality of desktop software with the wide-ranging reach of the Internet to set higher standards of efficiency, productivity, flexibility and innovation for businesses, governments and individuals.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft Corp chief executive officer, said cloud-based services will enable government employees to more quickly and easily access a virtually unlimited pool of computing resources.

He said cloud computing enables easy deployment and management of software applications, as well as makes the programs easily customisable to the varying needs of government organisations.

“The Government can expect to better cut costs, increase efficiency and productivity, as well as more easily innovate public-service delivery systems,” said Ballmer.

Government systems will not be the only benefactor of cloud computing. The technology is expected to impact four key areas.

Ballmer said the cloud creates opportunities for small and medium businesses, or anyone else that is looking to be innovative.

“It provides the ability for any small creator to produce a piece of content or software and to make it immediately available anywhere in the globe,” he said.

Next, the Internet has an infinite amount of knowledge, opinions, photos and videos, and the cloud helps people navigate this sea of information and organise it in ways that are important to each user.

Ballmer said cloud computing also enhances social and professional interaction, keeping everyone connected.

“Not only can friends stay in contact, businesses can collaborate despite being oceans apart,” he said.

Microsoft Malaysia managing director Ananth Lazarus said cloud computing’s diversified model means everyone has the potential to access the same ICT infrastructure wherever in the world they are, as long as they have a strong broadband connection.

“It will, for example, allow an SMB owner to have access to the same software as the largest multinational,” he said.

“This potential will invigorate Malaysian enterprise and innovation in the years to come.”

Most of Microsoft Corp’s 40,000 software engineers worldwide will be working on developing more cloud computing products and services from next year.

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CRUDE palm oil futures prices on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended lower yesterday amid weaknesses in regional commodity markets, said a dealer.

May 2010 and June contract dipped RM10 each to RM2,560 and RM2,536, respectively, July 2010 shed RM7 to RM2,523 and August fell RM2 to RM2,525.

Volume dwindled to 17,263 lots from 18,142 previously but open interest widened to 65,689 contracts from 64,066 on Wednesday.

On the physical market, May South declined RM10 to RM2,560 a tonne.

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CRUDE palm oil (CPO) futures on Bursa Malaysia Derivatives ended mixed yesterday in the absence of fresh leads, a dealer said.

“Traders are waiting for more firm leads as the decline in exports has already been priced in last week,” he said.

May 2010 rose RM12 to RM2,589 per tonne, June 2010 added RM22 to RM2,563 per tonne, July 2010 shed RM4 to RM2,554 per tonne and August 2010 slipped RM6 to RM2,543 per tonne.

Volume rose to 10,336 lots from 8,315 lots last Friday and open interest jumped to 63,654 contracts from 63,191 contracts last week.

On the physical market, May South shed RM10 to RM2,570 a tonne.

OBSERVATIONS: Short-covering saved the Kuala Lumpur CPO futures market from falling through the RM2,470 a tonne short-term support level, the lower rung of this market’s RM2,470-RM2,595 trading range.

Aggressive short-covering was discernable from the notable decline in the total open position to 63,191 open contracts from the previous week’s 67,455 open contracts, a contraction of 4,264 open contracts or 6.32 per cent on blips and price rallies last week.

Short-covering was what caused the benchmark July 2010 contract to bump up from the intra-week low of RM2,520 to last Friday’s settlement price of RM2558, representing a RM18 or 0.71 per cent gain over the week.

News reports, citing industry and market observer opinions, attributed the firmer market tone to buying interest in the wake of the allegedly better-than-expected export performance for April 2010.

Export monitors Societe Generale de Surveillance and Intertek Agri Services’ combined average estimate for palm oil exports in April was 1.203 million tonnes, which not only was lower than that for March 2010 by some 146,000 tonnes or 10.9 per cent but also was a 4-month low. But because it exceeded market expectation of 1.18 million tonnes it prompted a bit of fresh buying interest and a lot more short-covering by players who opted for the safety of the sidelines ahead of the weekend..

Conclusion: Despite appearances this market is still technically a bear.

What last week’s trading action has done is to confirm the upper parameter of this market’s trading range – or the overhead resistance level – at RM2,595.

This market could test either the upper or lower parameters of the RM2,470-RM2,595 trading band on speculation over the contents of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board’s report on April trade data and end-April 2010 stock position, due out next week.

By Bloomberg News

May 1 (Bloomberg) — Chinese manufacturing expanded at a faster pace in April, highlighting overheating risks in the world’s fastest-growing major economy.

The Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to a seasonally adjusted 55.7 from 55.1 in March, the Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said in an e-mailed statement today. That was less than the median 55.9 estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 14 economists. Readings above 50 indicate an expansion.

China is cracking down on property speculation to prevent asset bubbles and restrain inflation after the economy grew 11.9 percent in the first quarter. Europe’s debt crisis makes an immediate interest-rate increase in China less likely and could delay gains in the yuan by signaling weakness in the global economy, according to Bank of America-Merrill Lynch.

“There are signs of overheating pressures although government measures are helping to cool the property market,” Chang Jian, an economist at Barclays Capital Asia Ltd., said in Hong Kong before today’s report. “The government will be monitoring closely developments in Europe when making decisions on policy moves.”

Chang said interest rates could rise later this quarter as inflation pressures grow.

New Orders

An output index rose to 59.1 from 58.4 in March, the new- order index advanced to 59.3 from 58.1 and the export-order index stayed unchanged at 54.5. An input-price index increased to 72.6, the highest in 22 months.

Today’s PMI figure compares with a record-low 38.8 in November 2008, when the credit crisis and recessions in overseas markets sent export orders plunging. The economy rebounded on the 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus plan announced that month and record new loans from banks.

Exports are recovering, climbing 29 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, with their value topping the level of the same period in 2008, before the crisis hit.

Industrial companies’ profits are also up, more than doubling in the first quarter from a year earlier, statistics bureau figures for 24 provinces showed. Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., the nation’s largest publicly traded steelmaker, estimates that its first-half profit may increase as much as 10-fold from a year earlier.

‘Moderately Loose’

Still, the central bank last week reaffirmed a “moderately loose” monetary policy, adding that the world’s recovery remains on a “fragile” foundation. China faces a complex economic environment this year amid weak global recovery and domestic problems including difficulty in managing inflation expectations and risks in local government borrowing and property loans, banking regulator Liu Mingkang said yesterday.

Last month’s acceleration in the PMI was partly seasonal as the index has usually been high in March and April in past years, Zhang Liqun, a researcher at the State Council’s Development and Research Center, said in the statement from the logistics federation.

“There are still uncertainties in the growth of exports and domestic demand, which is still partly relying on government stimulus and lacking sustainability,” Zhang said, highlighting “notable” production cost pressures in the future shown by the surging input price index.

While officials have pared back stimulus by targeting a 22 percent reduction in new loans this year and raising banks’ reserve requirements, the central bank is yet to reverse the cuts in interest rates made to counter the global crisis. It has also left the yuan pegged at about 6.83 per dollar since July 2008 to aid exporters.

Rescue Package

European officials are working on a rescue package for Greece, trying to prevent the nation’s debt woes from spreading in the region. Europe is the largest buyer of merchandise from China, the world’s biggest exporting nation.

Lu Ting, a Hong Kong-based economist at Bank of America- Merrill Lynch, said last week an interest-rate increase this quarter is “less and less likely” because of Greece’s credit- rating downgrade. He predicts a move in the fourth quarter.

China’s economy may expand 10 percent this year and 9.9 percent in 2011, the International Monetary Fund estimated last week in a report. It also said that Asia’s economic recovery is attracting capital inflows that may cause the region to overheat and lead to the formation of asset bubbles.

In China, measures to cool the real-estate market have included a ban on loans for third-home purchases and raising mortgage rates and down-payment requirements for second-home purchases. The government intensified its campaign against speculation after a record 11.7 percent gain in property prices across 70 cities in March from a year earlier.

The manufacturing index, released by the logistics federation and the Beijing-based National Bureau of Statistics, is based on replies to questionnaires sent to purchasing executives at more than 730 companies in 20 industries, including energy, metallurgy, textile, automobile and electronics. It started in January 2005.