Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi, Malaysia's prime minister, hasn't done much right of late. But one thing he got absolutely right was to raise the price of petrol by 40% at the start of June. I received many emails from Malaysian readers complaining about the decision and asking if I would write a column attacking it.

"Many Malaysians follow what you say," wrote one correspondent. Good. On this occasion, popular sentiment in Malaysia is dead wrong and the Malaysian government is 100% correct. In fact the government's decision is probably the single most important micro-economic reform undertaken in Malaysia for years.

With respect to the man, I couldn't disagree more.
In particular, this:

Without the increase in the fuel price, the total cost of the Government's fuel subsidies this year would have been in excess of US$17 billion (RM55.5b)). That's more than four times what the Government spends annually on education, health care and defence.

Simply because he has not address the issue: why does an oil producing country need to subsidise its own citizen for oil? Especially if it is a net exporter?

And this:


For all its pretensions that it is "uniquely Asia", Malaysia is beginning to look more like a piece of middle America. It is now home to sprawling suburbs populated by people who travel by car to and from air-conditioned shopping centres stocked with goods from China and the West. Traffic jams are legendary, air quality is falling and the people are growing fatter.

And this is supposed to be written by a a brilliant writer on regional business strategies

Hmm... makes me wonder - are we still looking up to kwei-lo as in the days of old?

"Many Malaysians follow what you say," wrote one correspondent
Grovelling before a "VIP" for morsels of stale crumbs masquerading as pearls of wisdom?
Self promoting crap, if you asked me.


Crap

In other news, the Rangers will be bringing back MIchal Rozsival for 4 more years at $5 million per year.

The Rangers now figure to (finally) have a solid core of defensemen, and will (finally) have some depth at the position. My guess is that Redden, Rozsival, Staal, Tyutin, and Girardi will form the core, and that Bobby Sanguinetti will get the call up to the big show. Christian Backman is also on the roster and should see some ice time (unfortunately).

In other other news, the Rangers added some more size up front with the signing of 6'4" 220 lb. Patrick Rissmiller away from the San Jose Sharks.

I should also note that the Rangers re-signed backup goaltender Stephen Valiquette. The terms have yet to be disclosed.

Lite roliga "panik-mail" som finns där nu. Exempel på rubriker: "Jag fattar faktiskt ingenting", "Hjälp mig referera!", "Ännu en referensfråga". Mahahaha! Klart som korvspad för mig. Eller näe, det där med referenser är skitsvårt. Backman som vi ska använda på UTV* är skitdålig. Hans anvisningar för Oxford-systemet** går stick i stäv med det jag lärt mig vid HUM. Så jag kör på HUM***. Har aldrig fått nån anmärkning på det så.

Fick dessutom mail om att min komplettering gick igenom och att den tentan nu är godkänd. Ett fult jävla F, men fortfarande ett godkänt. Känns bra. Slipper jag tänka på skitBordieu och bajsBunar nåt mer.

Resten av dan ska jag städa. Papper, böcker, kläder. ÖVERALLT! Usch.

* UTV = institutionen för Utbildningsvetenskap
** Referenssystemet där man använder fotnötter. Förlåt, fotnotar.
*** HUM = institutionen för Humaniora

Take a look at the Rangers defense from this past season (in reverse order of suckitude):

Michal Rozsival - $2.4 mil
Marc Staal - 850K
Dan Girardi - 550K
Fedor Tyutin - $1.025 mil
Jason Strudwick - 500K
Christian Backman - $2.2 mil
Paul Mara - $3 mil
Marek Malik - $2.5 mil
Darius Kasparaitis - $3.116 mil

How can you justify paying Backman, Mara, Malik, and Kasparaitis a combined $10.8 million? That's inane/insane. And, in case you were wondering, Christian Backman is set to make $3.4 million next season! So, the Rangers traded a 4th round pick for a guy who A) might dress as the team's 6th defenseman or more likely will spend the season riding the pine; and B) is going to make $3.4 million while doing that.

Good trade by Blues GM President John Davidson.

Strudwick is in for Backman.  Prucha will probably be on the 2nd line again just like game 4.

Here we go.

Let's go Rangers!

On D, Jason Strudwick skated in place of Christian Backman, and Paul Mara looks to be the D-man who will take over Backman's duties playing point on the power play.

It’s on the long side, so click the “more” link below to continue reading.

Offense:

The Penguins have a potent offense but it is comprised mostly of young stars. Crosby, Hossa, Malkin, Sykora, Malone... oh my. Henrik Lundqvist and the Rangers defense will certainly have their hands full.

But the Rangers are no slouches on the offensive end either, and they certainly have more experience. This isn’t the first rodeo for Jagr, Shanahan, Drury, Gomez, or Straka. And while the Rangers young guns don’t generate nearly as much publicity, Dubinsky, Callahan, and Dawes can all put the puck in the net. I think the Rangers forecheck (especially Callahan's line) has the potential to wreak havoc and really make a difference in the series.

Nearly every expert is marking down the Penguins offense as having the upper hand in this matchup, but I just don’t see it. I mean no disrespect to the Penguins forwards, because they are very skilled and talented, but the Rangers are not the Ottawa Senators. Stats are stats. In 8 head-to-head games this season, the Penguins averaged 20 shots on goal against the Rangers. In those same games, the Rangers averaged 32.5.

For me, the head-to-head results plus the difference in experience gives the edge to the Rangers.

Edge: Rangers

Defense:

Prior to the trade deadline, the Penguins defense was already solid with Sergei Gonchar, Brooks Orpik, and Kris Letang. But after they picked up Hal Gill, a man Jaromir Jagr has referred to as the “best defenseman in the world,” their defense was taken to another level. Look for the Jagr-Gill matchup to be a significant storyline throughout the series.

The Rangers defense is led by Michal Rozsival and Marc Staal. If there were any questions with Staal’s inexperience, those were put to rest in the first round. But while questions surrounding Staal were answered, other questions about Girardi and Tyutin were raised. They had been very solid all season, and I had written that they were both “very strong positional hockey players that rarely get caught making a mistake.” I stand by that assessment, except that each of them had a few soft moments in Round 1, and the Penguins are certainly more likely to capitalize on mistakes than the Devils. The performance of Girardi and Tyutin might well be the difference in the series. The Rangers need them to be solid. As for the 3^rd defensive pairing, let’s just say that Mara and Backman on the ice at the same time scares the crap out of me no matter which line they are out with. And if they are on the ice with the 4^th line, I have to leave the room to prevent myself from going into cardiac arrest.

Edge: Penguins

Goaltending:

Marc-Andre Fleury vs. Henrik Lundqvist.

Lundqvist has been awesome lately, but Fleury has been pretty good too. In his last 17 games, during the Penguins charge to the top of the Atlantic Division and during the 4 game sweep of Ottawa, Fleury posted a 14-3 record.

But while Lundqvist has been solid despite many defensive miscues by the Rangers, it is my opinion that Fleury has been on a hot streak thanks in large part to his blueliners.

It is no coincidence that Marc-Andre Fleury’s stats after the trade deadline were significantly better than his early stats. I saw Barry Melrose say on SportsCenter that Fleury is doing a better job directing rebounds since he came back from injury. WRONG! Fleury hasn’t changed his play, but his defense has been doing a much better job clearing those big juicy rebounds out of the slot, and Hal Gill has played a huge role in that.

If the Rangers can put the same kind of traffic in front of Fleury that they put in front of Brodeur, they should be successful.

Edge: Rangers

Special Teams:

The Penguins boasted one of the league’s strongest power plays during the regular season, at 20.4%. And during the series against Ottawa, the Penguins scored on the man-advantage at a staggering 26.1% clip.

Meanwhile, the Rangers power play, while anemic during the regular season at 16.5%, has suddenly sprung to life (no doubt thanks in part to the efforts of Mr. Jagr) in the postseason with the Rangers posting a 23.5% scoring rate on the Power Play against the Devils.

The small sample size of the postseason has to be taken with a grain of salt, so the power play advantage goes to the Penguins. But, if Jagr and company continue to play this way, ripping shots on net with traffic in front of the goalie, they will continue to score PP goals.

On the penalty kill, the Rangers would appear to have an advantage, killing penalties 84.6% of the time in the regular season compared to the Penguins 81% rate. But in the playoffs, the Penguins have been superb on the penalty kill. Maybe this was because Ottawa’s power play was in shambles, but it’s hard to ignore a 92.3% penalty killing rate. The Rangers, on the other hand, looked vulnerable against the Devils, allowing a relatively weak power play unit to score against them fairly easily, only killing 79.2% of the power plays in that series.

The Rangers had better stay out of the box. You don’t want to give these talented forwards too many power plays.

Edge: Penguins

Coaching:

It’s going to be interesting to see these two coaches go at it this series. I often say that Rangers coach Tom Renney is playing checkers while everyone else is playing chess, but it seems to work for this team. Look for Michel Therrien to be furiously adjusting the matchups in an attempt to counter the Rangers’ strengths. I expect Hal Gill to stick to Jagr like glue. Renney, on the other hand, refuses to change the way his team plays just to accommodate another team. I like the message this sends to the team. Basically, Renney is saying “we’re good enough to beat any team our way” and “they have to change to our style but we’re not going to change to theirs.” Of course, this could backfire if Renney refuses to make a necessary adjustment, but like I said, it's worked pretty well so far.

Both coaches have done very good jobs with their teams, and it will be interesting to see how this series plays out. I don’t see either coach having an edge in this matchup.

Edge: none

Some series subplots:

• Staal vs. Staal -- Jordan vs. Marc. During the regular season, there was lots of brotherly love going on before and after the games. This time around, they’ve agreed that all of that is on hold until after the series.
• Jarkko Ruutu vs. Sean Avery -- Pest against pest. If Sean Avery can continue scoring goals and playing effective hockey, I can overlook the occasional trip to the penalty box. But in a tight series, a few stupid penalties can really shift the momentum. Whoever stays out of the box will be the victor in this battle.
• The draw of Sidney Crosby vs. the TV ratings of New York City -- I’ve heard conspiracy theory grumblings that the NHL wants their chosen one Sidney Crosby to advance deep into the playoffs to help the ratings and that the refs will be instructed accordingly. But, in my opinion, as far as the NHL is concerned, any series from here on out is going to be good for TV ratings. Montreal, Philly, New York City, and Sid the Kid. One of these things is not like the other...... Sid might be a nice draw for TV, but New York trumps Pittsburgh in terms of market size. So put those conspiracy theories to bed. No matter what happens for the conference finals, this particular series is a great draw for the NHL. It’s no surprise that NBC will be broadcasting two of the games of this series and Versus will broadcast several others. This is going to be exciting hockey and the TV ratings might be high enough to generate some excitement among the average U.S. sports fan. That alone is good news for the league.

Overall Prediction:

Eric has a good feeling about this matchup (and Henrik Lundqvist). He says Rangers in 5.

Marc thinks the Rangers' experience will prevail. He says Rangers in 6.

Ok, I thought about this one a little more.  And, I still don't get it.  I see the point that if your team scores first then it puts the pressure on the other team to match.  Ok, point taken, but let's be honest, it's a stupid point.  There's a reason the home team in baseball gets last licks.  It's an advantage.  Shooting last in a tied shootout is like having the opportunity to hit a walk-off homerun.  There is no reason for a team to relinquish that position.

As for the game itself, it really kills me to lose a game like this.  The Rangers had a nice comeback to get the game tied, but I felt that the Rangers fell behind in the first place because they had no puck luck at all.  The Rangers definitely outplayed the Islanders for the entire first period, only to give up a fluky late goal off Rozsival's skate.  The Islanders 3rd goal was also kind of fluky.  Lundqvist struggled to play the puck (thanks to the stupid trapezoid rule) and after the puck popped around to the front of the net, the Islanders simply threw the puck towards the net and it trickled in off a deflection through Lundqvist's legs.

Lundqvist did not look sharp for a lot of the game.  Don't get me wrong... I think he played well, especially in the shootout, where he made some awesome saves -- the right pad save on Comrie was pretty unreal.  I'm just saying that for most of the game he didn't look particularly sharp.   As a goalie, I can tell you that there are times where you just don't feel as sharp as you would like.  Maybe you're fighting the puck a little, or maybe your head is not in the game.  Whatever it is, it doesn't necessarily mean you're playing poorly, but when fluky goals are going in off the inside of your skate or trickling in through your legs, you're not playing your best.

Is it me, or does Backman look a little overmatched on defense?  He was out of position on several occasions, and that was just on Rangers in 60.  Plus, there was a play late in the 2nd period where he threw a blind pass behind his own net that went directly to an Islander and led to a scoring chance.  I'm not impressed with his play so far and I'd rather see Strudwick for a few games, at least until Backman has had more time to practice with his new teammates.

The Rangers penalty killing gets an A+ for this game.

But does that really matter? Henrik played pretty well and Malik of all people had a sound game. He threw at least TWO HITS! And, oh yeah, we won!
The young'uns again showed us why they are still playing in the big leagues. Dubinsky completely fooled Ward with a beautiful deke to his backhand that he buried top shelf (Props to Jagr for the steal and the blind drop pass to set the whole thing up). Callahan stood up for himself by fighting Conboy. Dawes looked like he knew where everyone was on the ice at all times. Especially when he set up Shanny for the go-ahead-by-two goal.

***

Fredrik Sjostrom and Christian Backman played their first games as Rangers last night. Sjostrom played on the fourth line with Betts and Hollweg and played very well. He even made a nice drive to the net that needed a fair bit of effort on the part of Cam Ward.

Backman played alright except that he took quite a few penalties. He was the cause of 10 penalty minutes even though he was only charged with 6.

Now this doesn't mean that I'm throwing him under the bus. I'm just waiting to see him play a few more games. For all we know, he was a nervous wreck last night. Hell, I would've been.

Two of the four newest Rangers will be in the lineup tonight. Fredrik Sjostrom will take Colton Orr's (chest pain) place on the 4th line and Christian Backman will skate in Paul Mara's (head) place next to Marc Staal.

The last two times the Rangers have had a long break, the first team they played after was the Sabres. The Rangers won both games (5-1 and 4-3). Before that, their last long break came during the All-Star break. They played the Hurricanes and lost 3-1. The Rangers are 6-2-2 in their last 10 and 4-0-1 in their last 5 with that "one" being the game against Montreal.

The lineup should look something like this:

Avery-Dubinsky-Jagr

Dawes-Gomez-Shanahan

Straka-Drury-Callahan

Hollweg-Betts-Sjostrom

Rozsival-Malik

Tyutin-Girardi

Staal-Backman

Lundqvist

Petr Prucha is "good to go" but coach Tom Renney says, "we want to give our new guys a chance to play."

Maybe Sunday against Philly?

Or as Jagr joked, "Swedes everywhere." As the Rangers get ready for their first game without Malik Jagr Mara Prucha Hossa, we find out that two of the recent acquisitions may very well be playing tomorrow in Carolina. According to Sam Weinman at Rangers Report, Christian Backman skated with Marc Staal (replacing the injured Mara) and Fredrik Sjostrom was skating in place of Colton Orr on the fourth line.

Don't worry Jagr, Czechs still outnumber Swedes five to three.

Beat Writers boycott Avery?

Recently, Sean Avery has been avoiding the press. Not just avoiding, but making an art of it. At one point he claimed to have laryngitis. Magical laryngitis that disappeared when he hit the ice but reappeared when reporters got near him.

Today during practice, he skated over to the corner of the rink where the writers were stationed. He pointed to John Dellapina of the Daily News, asking him if he wanted to talk saying, "We'll do a rotation. One guy a week." Dellapina declined so Avery turned to Weinman saying, "OK, what do you want to ask me? Is there really anything earth-shattering you need to know?" Weinman also declined.

Tired of waiting his turn, Steve Zipay from Newsday asked, "Is there a reason you haven't talked for three weeks?"

"No comment."

The 2 names the Rangers picked up that might have an impact in the NHL this year are Fredrik Sjostrom and Josh Gratton.

The word on 24-year-old Sjostrom is that he's a solid defensive Right Wing. I suppose that means he's an instant upgrade from Hossa because this guy might actually back-check. Also, he's Swedish. That's a good thing.

Gratton is an enforcer, and will probably end up in Hartford if Colton Orr gets back in the lineup. That is, unless the Rangers decide to dress Fulton Reed Gratton and Dean Portman Orr in a move reminiscent of the Mighty Ducks' Bash Brothers.

The Rangers also picked up G David LeNeveu, and D Christian Backman, a 27-year-old Swede.  Both will probably be assigned to Hartford.

The Rangers gave up Marcel Hossa (best described as underwhelming) and Al Montoya (best described as superfluous). Both of these guys had some promise at some point, and hopefully they can recapture that promise in Phoenix.

Here's a rundown of all the trade deadline deals from yesterday.

Tapi, apa yang dikata tentang percanggahan Melayu dan Cina tu ada betulnya.. Tapi aku tutup mata je sebab kita semua tahu Cina ramai kaya dengan jasa menipu dan membodek pemimpin Melayu yang bodoh. Persetankan mereka! Hahaha.. Baik kita tumpukan untuk memperkasakan orang Melayu kita. Bagaimana? Dengan pendidikan lah. Jaga anak masing2. Jangan biar diorang jadik bohsia! Mak bapak pun jangan "makan luar!" Tempah gigolo, tempah pelacur! Pakai seksi! Anak barai kena rogol ramai2 ngan member sekolah kat rumah! Apa nak jadi? Bodoh!

Erm, pasal apa lagi ye?

Oh ya, pasal guna duit rakyat sebanyak RM95 Juta! to take a single person to space! Dalam USD pun dah kira banyak gila! Jumlah USD34.3 Juta tu jika 100-1000 orang rakyat Malaysia pegi bukak bisnes jual nasik ulam kat New York puuun aku rasa lagi berbaloi. Haha. Bukan aku tak bangga. Bagi aku RM95 Juta tu banyak woo.. Cukup untuk bagi makan dan distribute kepada orang2 miskin yang takmampu menyekolahkan anak mereka kat Malaysia ni. Apa yang polis tahu: Pemerintah kata , dakwa orang yang tak sekolahkan anak mereka. Kalau tak mampu? Bukan ke tu kerja kerajaan untuk menolong? Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat? Ah! Persetankan pekerja ofis yang tidak memberi kerjasama! Berlagak lebih kuah dari sudu!

Lagi? Apa eh?

Malaysia bodoh? Er, aku Malaysian jugak la Michael. Apa kata Australian plak stupid?! Ekeke.

Kat bawah ni aku paste artikel sombong yang memberi semangat kepada aku untuk bangun! Baca dan hayati apa orang tahu pasal kita bangsa Melayu khasnya dan Malaysia amnya. Dish3! Pembebel baca sambil sekeh kepala botak tepi Michael Backman dengan tukul 4 tan! Haha..

----------------------------------

While Malaysia fiddles, its opportunities are running dry

Michael Backman
November 15, 2006

MALAYSIA’S been at it again, arguing about what proportion of the economy each of its two main races — the Malays and the Chinese — owns. It’s an argument that’s been running for 40 years. That wealth and race are not synonymous is important for national cohesion, but really it’s time Malaysia grew up.

It’s a tough world out there and there can be little sympathy for a country that prefers to argue about how to divide wealth rather than get on with the job of creating it.

The long-held aim is for 30 per cent of corporate equity to be in Malay hands, but the figure that the Government uses to justify handing over huge swathes of public companies to Malays but not to other races is absurd. It bases its figure on equity valued, not at market value, but at par value.

Many shares have a par value of say $1 but a market value of $12. And so the Government figure (18.9 per cent is the most recent figure) is a gross underestimate. Last month a paper by a researcher at a local think-tank came up with a figure of 45 per cent based on actual stock prices. All hell broke loose. The paper was withdrawn and the researcher resigned in protest. Part of the problem is that he is Chinese.

“Malaysia boleh!” is Malaysia’s national catch cry. It translates to “Malaysia can!” and Malaysia certainly can. Few countries are as good at wasting money. It is richly endowed with natural resources and the national obsession seems to be to extract these, sell them off and then collectively spray the proceeds up against the wall.

This all happens in the context of Malaysia’s grossly inflated sense of its place in the world.

Most Malaysians are convinced that the eyes of the world are on their country and that their leaders are world figures. This is thanks to Malaysia’s tame media and the bravado of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad. The truth is, few people on the streets of London or New York could point to Malaysia on a map much less name its prime minister or capital city.

As if to make this point, a recent episode of The Simpsons features a newsreader trying to announce that a tidal wave had hit some place called Kuala Lumpur. He couldn’t pronounce the city’s name and so made up one, as if no-one cared anyway. But the joke was on the script writers — Kuala Lumpur is inland.

Petronas, the national oil company is well run, particularly when compared to the disaster that passes for a national oil company in neighbouring Indonesia. But in some respects, this is Malaysia’s problem. The very success of Petronas means that it is used to underwrite all manner of excess.

The KLCC development in central Kuala Lumpur is an example. It includes the Twin Towers, the tallest buildings in the world when they were built, which was their point.

It certainly wasn’t that there was an office shortage in Kuala Lumpur — there wasn’t.

Malaysians are very proud of these towers. Goodness knows why. They had little to do with them. The money for them came out of the ground and the engineering was contracted out to South Korean companies.

They don’t even run the shopping centre that’s beneath them. That’s handled by Australia’s Westfield.

Next year, a Malaysian astronaut will go into space aboard a Russian rocket — the first Malay in space. And the cost? $RM95 million ($A34.3 million), to be footed by Malaysian taxpayers. The Science and Technology Minister has said that a moon landing in 2020 is the next target, aboard a US flight. There’s no indication of what the Americans will charge for this, assuming there’s even a chance that they will consider it. But what is Malaysia getting by using the space programs of others as a taxi service? There are no obvious technical benefits, but no doubt Malaysians will be told once again, that they are “boleh”. The trouble is, they’re not. It’s not their space program.

Back in July, the Government announced that it would spend $RM490 million on a sports complex near the London Olympics site so that Malaysian athletes can train there and “get used to cold weather”.

But the summer Olympics are held in the summer.

So what is the complex’s real purpose? The dozens of goodwill missions by ministers and bureaucrats to London to check on the centre’s construction and then on the athletes while they train might provide a clue.

Bank bale outs, a formula one racing track, an entire new capital city — Petronas has paid for them all. It’s been an orgy of nonsense that Malaysia can ill afford.

Why? Because Malaysia’s oil will run out in about 19 years. As it is, Malaysia will become a net oil importer in 2011 — that’s just five years

away.

So it’s in this context that the latest debate about race and wealth is so sad.

It is time to move on, time to prepare the economy for life after oil. But, like Nero fiddling while Rome burned, the Malaysian Government is more interested in stunts like sending a Malaysian into space when Malaysia’s inadequate schools could have done with the cash, and arguing about wealth distribution using transparently ridiculous statistics.

That’s not Malaysia “boleh”, that’s Malaysia “bodoh” (stupid).