What is the National Language in Malaysia? Thanks to the UMNO-led coalition in Malaysia since independence, the proficiency in English has generally been lost - and many do not understand it - certainly not to be able to read the text of the TPPA - now only available in English.
A few days back, one political party issued a media statement calling for the government to make available the text of the TPPA in the national language and the language of the people - Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, Tamil, Kadazan...but alas, our media (including alternative media) failed to report it. It is sad that media seems only interested in the voice of the 'big boys' - and so many voices continue to be suppressed. See the Parti Rakyat Malaysia(PRM) Statement, and maybe also the other statements :-TPPA harus segera disediakan dalam Bahasa rakyat Malaysia supaya rakyat tak fasih English tidak diprejudiskan
Anyway, this concern about the language of the TPPA text was finally raised by Charles Santiago...and the media has highlighted this concern...
Charles Santiago also urged to translate all the legal jargon in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) text into something everyone can understand.
The BN government is having briefings on the TPPA - but alas what they will highlight may be just the things they want us to see - not the other dangerous concerns that have been raised by others. Will is be a briefing using the approach 'Listen Only' - with no time for questions and answers, let alone discussions. There are attractive arguements for the TPPA - but alas, in my opinion, the dangers outweigh the good.
Further, concern may be raised whether by being part of this agreement, we may be aligning ourselves with the super-powers, US and Europe - and will this affect our non-alligned status. Obama is concerned for the well-being of the US people and businesses - not about us Malaysians and Malaysian businesses. That is what our Malaysian government should be concerned about - not just protecting Bumiputra privileges and businesses and GLCs - but really all Malaysian people and Malaysian owned businesses.
As it is, the recent policies and actions of the government like the GST,Subsidy removal, increased public transportation charges, etc is really not helping Malaysians. Then, for the minimum wage, this government fixed an absurdly low minimum wage of RM1,000 - look at your own monthly expenses - can anyone reasonably 'survive' with such low wages?
For the cheapest meal, it will now cost RM5, and if a person has 3 meals a day, that is RM15, and in a month, that will be about RM15 X 30 = RM450-00
Transportation Cost, let's be absurd and say RM2 - that will be RM60
Electricity & Water - RM50?
Well, that brings it to RM560-00
Telecommunication - RM50
Television (Astro Minimum about RM35) - RM35
Worker has a wife, 1 or 2 or 3 children (meal cost) or other dependents, let's say illogically, we say RM300
Now, that brings the expense to RM945-00
Now, add shelter - rent/monthly bank loan payments = RM55 left? - BN Government says private sector workers less important than government workers - so different MINIMUM WAGES?
Remember, when people become desperate - that translate into rise of crime rate, and we all that live in community will be affected.. and the petty crime rates committed by 'desperate' people are increasing, in my opinion, and our BN government just stopped giving us the statistics of crimes in our areas > now they give us some 'crime index' - that does not tell us the number of crimes especially petty thefts, etc...
Now using ENGLISH and 'difficult language' - they make available the TPPA text online...and they believe that this is enough. UMNO - United Malay.... but where is the text in Malay?
'Translate TPPA legal mumbo jumbo into laymen's terms'
The government has
been urged to translate all the legal jargon in the Trans-Pacific
Partnership Agreement (TPPA) text into something everyone can
understand.
Klang DAP lawmaker Charles Santiago said this is because the 10,000 page text as it is, is so complicated that many cannot understand it.
"People are complaining that they can't understand it, even businessmen. And you can't even go to just one lawyer because there are many issues [...] the same lawyer can't be an expert in all these fields," the MP told Malaysiakini.
The other problem, he said, was the language barrier as the agreement is entirely in English.
"Most Malaysians can't read English, they can't understand. Even if you can read English, you are now reading a legal text.
"So I've made a proposal to International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed to translate it to Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil; say what does it mean in a language that we speak," Charles added.
He said this needed to be done quickly because there was not much time before Parliament deliberated on the matter.
Mustapa has said that the TPPA may be debated in Parliament in January or early Februrary.
The TPPA is a multinational free trade agreement in which the US is a main proponent. Apart from Malaysia, other countries involved in its secretive negotiations include Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Mexico, and Canada, among others.
A cost-benefit analysis of the agreement is scheduled to be released in two weeks’ time.- Malaysiakini, 9/11/2015.
Klang DAP lawmaker Charles Santiago said this is because the 10,000 page text as it is, is so complicated that many cannot understand it.
"People are complaining that they can't understand it, even businessmen. And you can't even go to just one lawyer because there are many issues [...] the same lawyer can't be an expert in all these fields," the MP told Malaysiakini.
The other problem, he said, was the language barrier as the agreement is entirely in English.
"Most Malaysians can't read English, they can't understand. Even if you can read English, you are now reading a legal text.
"So I've made a proposal to International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed to translate it to Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil; say what does it mean in a language that we speak," Charles added.
He said this needed to be done quickly because there was not much time before Parliament deliberated on the matter.
Mustapa has said that the TPPA may be debated in Parliament in January or early Februrary.
The TPPA is a multinational free trade agreement in which the US is a main proponent. Apart from Malaysia, other countries involved in its secretive negotiations include Australia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Mexico, and Canada, among others.
A cost-benefit analysis of the agreement is scheduled to be released in two weeks’ time.- Malaysiakini, 9/11/2015.
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