Razakon Launch

Malaysia's going to get her second remote sensing satellite called the RazakSAT. It's scheduled to launch tomorrow, if there were no more delays. I didn't even know there was a first satellite. All I knew were the four MEASAT ones. I suppose with this name, it's dedicated to someone with the name Razak.

Which reminds me, our prime minister just celebrated his 100 days in power a couple of days ago. In doing so, he announced 11 gifts for us Malaysians (via The Star Online):

1. a 20% discount for motorists who pay toll 80 times a month via Smart Tag or Touch ’n Go from Sept 1;
2. some 44,000 low-cost houses in Kuala Lumpur to be sold to existing tenants;
3. a 50% discount on licences for petty traders in the Federal Territory;
4. a RM150mil allocation for entrepreneurs, and another RM15mil specifically for young Indian businessmen;
5. another 3,000 taxi permits to be approved soon;
6. expediting birth registrations in Sabah and Sarawak;
7. clearing the backlog of citizenship applications;
8. improving access to basic utilities in rural areas;
9. reducing the cost to obtain a B2 motorcycle licence (under 250cc);
10. setting up a new trust fund, Amanah Saham 1Malaysia, for investors aged above 18; and
11. various measures to be announced soon to curb crime and corruption.

This appears that our current prime minister is truly diligent, intelligent and listens to the people. He liberalised many of our industries to encouraged foreign investment. He also gained a popularity rating of 65% and earned Dr. M's disapproval where he was said to have "more negatives than positives".

All these seemed like a good thing but let us not forget that it all happened after the 8 March 2008 general elections where our prime minister's government lost its 2/3 majority. We could view that our current prime minister is really good and can only get better or he is doing what he is now because he desperately needed to gain back the trust of the people. Go figure.

Whatever, it is always good to have a strong opposition. Look at the results and compare it to the times when the opposition is just a minority. This article by Hannah Yeoh pretty much sums up my thoughts - don't give up! We're bound to face difficult times when there are two sides fighting with each other, but this will also keep the both sides on their toes.

PS I would say our prime minister is really good if he solves a few high profile corruption cases, for example the PKFZ scandal and arrest that sorry cased ex-chief minister who made a resort for himself.