SERING dikatakan jika Amerika Syarikat menghidap selesema, seluruh dunia akan dijangkitinya. Kebenaran kenyataan demikian jelas dapat dilihat daripada kemelut ekonomi sekarang yang mula tercetus di pasaran kewangan Amerika dan kini melarat ke hampir seluruh dunia.
Fenomena itu berlaku kerana Amerika adalah pasaran terbesar dunia dan jika pasaran ini terjejas sudah tentu ia akan memberi kesan negatif kepada kebanyakan negara lain yang menjual barang kepada pengguna di Amerika.
Berikutan hakikat ini, desakan Presiden Barack Obama kelmarin dalam ucapan sulungnya di Kongres, supaya rakyat Amerika mula berbelanja mengikut kemampuan masing-masing amat membimbangkan.
Pelik juga difikirkan bahawa sikap belanja berhemat akan hanya membawa kepada masalah yang lebih besar kepada ekonomi dunia sekarang. Bayangkan jika rakyat Amerika mengurangkan perbelanjaan secara mendadak, siapakah pula yang akan membeli barang yang dikeluarkan oleh kilang-kilang di seluruh dunia?
Jika barang tidak dapat dijual, kilang akan ditutup, pekerja akan dibuang kerja dan lebih ramai lagi yang menganggur. Jika ramai menganggur tidaklah ramai pula yang mempunyai wang untuk membeli barang di kedai dan jika kedai tidak dapat jual barang, terpaksa pula ia ditutup dan pekerja dibuang lagi.
Begitulah yang pernah dicadangkan oleh tokoh ekonomi tersohor, John Maynard Keynes sebagai paradox of thrift. Secara ringkasnya, jika semua orang berjimat, semua orang akan jadi miskin. Kenyataan pelik tetapi terbukti benar.
Di bawah paradoks Keynes ini, jika semua orang jimat duit dalam kemelesetan ekonomi, permintaan akan merosot dan keadaan ini selanjutnya akan menyebabkan jumlah simpanan berkurangan.
Sebenarnya tidak semua orang perlu berjimat dalam keadaan ekonomi meleset sekarang.
Mereka yang masih mempunyai wang tidak perlu berjimat. Sebaliknya mereka harus berbelanja untuk merancakkan ekonomi. Lagipun, bukankah waktu pasaran meleset masa terbaik untuk membeli kerana kebanyakan barang sudah jatuh harga.
Sebagai contoh, lihat sajalah di pasaran saham di seluruh dunia di mana harga saham syarikat terkemuka sekalipun sudah jatuh paras amat rendah. Pasaran hartanah juga begitu di mana harganya sudah jatuh pada paras menarik dibeli.
Jelas apa yang diperlukan sekarang adalah untuk memberi rangsangan kepada mereka yang masih mempunyai wang untuk berbelanja. Jelas satu cabaran besar, lebih-lebih lagi sentimen politik dari Amerika ke Eropah sekarang mengecam tokoh korporat yang mendapat bantuan kerajaan memperagakan kemewahan seperti menggunakan jet korporat atau helikopter ke tempat kerja.
Malah, jika mereka ini mendapat bonus besar pun, mereka akan dikecam hebat. Namun, jika mereka yang mempunyai keupayaan berbelanja berjuta dolar dalam satu kunjungan ke kedai ini tidak berbelanja, siapakah pula akan berbelanja untuk memulihkan ekonomi?
Mereka yang berpendapatan rendah sudah semestinya tidak upaya berbelanja di luar kemampuan, baik pada zaman meleset, mahupun ketika ekonomi cergas. Mereka yang berpendapatan sederhana pula hanya boleh berbelanja besar jika pihak bank sanggup memberi pinjaman.
Kalau dulu golongan ini banyak bergantung kepada kad kredit untuk berbelanja, ramai di kalangan mereka ini sekarang mempunyai masalah untuk membayarnya semula. Sekarang baru mereka menyedari bahawa hakikat sebenarnya ialah tidak pernah wujud kaedah penggunaan kad kredit secara berhemat.
Berbalik kepada ucapan Obama dan paradoks Keynes, memang benar Amerika perlu menyelesaikan masalah defisit bajet dan hutang kerajaan yang amat besar. Namun dalam kemelesetan sekarang - sekurang-kurangnya untuk jangka pendek - ia perlu terus berbelanja untuk menyelamatkan ekonomi dunia.
Penulis ialah Pengarang Berita Luar Negara Berita Harian
Click here
Friday, February 27, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
The WOW Factor....
A farmer named Lakbir Singh was overseeing his herd in a remote pasture in Bolehland when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust cloud towards him.
The driver, a young Malay man in an Armani suit, Gucci shoes, RayBan sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the farmer, "If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?"
Lakbir looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, "Sure, why not?"
The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.
The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. Within mere seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data is stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response. Finally, he prints out a full-colour, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the farmer and says, "You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves."
"That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says Lakbir.
He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car. Then Lakbir says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?"
The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why not?"
"You're a graduate from Oxford and a Member of Parliament for Umno," says Lakbir.
"Wow! That's correct," exclaims the yuppie with the customary Umno's Wow Factor, "But how did you guess that?"
"No guessing required," answered Lakbir. "You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, and to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter you are, and you don't know a thing about cows. This is a herd of sheep. Now give me back my dog."
The driver, a young Malay man in an Armani suit, Gucci shoes, RayBan sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the farmer, "If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?"
Lakbir looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, "Sure, why not?"
The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook computer, connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a NASA page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.
The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. Within mere seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that the image has been processed and the data is stored. He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes, receives a response. Finally, he prints out a full-colour, 150-page report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer and finally turns to the farmer and says, "You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves."
"That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," says Lakbir.
He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car. Then Lakbir says to the young man, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?"
The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, "Okay, why not?"
"You're a graduate from Oxford and a Member of Parliament for Umno," says Lakbir.
"Wow! That's correct," exclaims the yuppie with the customary Umno's Wow Factor, "But how did you guess that?"
"No guessing required," answered Lakbir. "You showed up here even though nobody called you; you want to get paid for an answer I already knew, and to a question I never asked. You tried to show me how much smarter you are, and you don't know a thing about cows. This is a herd of sheep. Now give me back my dog."
Sapa yang dulu tak tak fail maths?
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A mathematician and a team of engineers
A team of engineers were required to measure the height of a flag pole. They only had a measuring tape, and were getting quite frustrated trying to keep the tape along the pole. It kept falling down, etc. A mathematician comes along, finds out their problem, and proceeds to remove the pole from the ground and measure it easily. When he leaves, one engineer says to the other: "Just like a mathematician! We need to know the height, and he gives us the length!"
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Understanding the Wall Street Bailout Plan
Once upon a time, a man appeared in a village and announced to the
villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.
The villagers, knowing there were many monkeys, went to the forest and
started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 each and, as
supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort.
He then announced that he would buy monkeys at the rate of $20 each.
This renewed the villagers efforts and they started catching monkeys
again.
Soon, the supply diminished and people started going back to their
farms.
The offer increased to $25 each, and the supply of monkeys became so
scarce it was an effort to even find a monkey, let alone catch it!
The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50 each! However,
since he had to go to the big city on some business, his assistant would
buy them on his behalf.
The assistant gathered all the villagers near the highway just outside
the village and said, "Look at this big cage, and see all these monkeys
that my boss has already collected. I will sell them to you for $35
each, and when my boss returns, you can sell them back to him for $50."
The villagers rounded up all their savings and bought all the monkeys
for 700 billion dollars.
They never saw the man or his assistant again, only lots and lots of
monkeys!
...
IT DOESN'T GET MUCH CLEARER THAN THIS.
villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each.
The villagers, knowing there were many monkeys, went to the forest and
started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 each and, as
supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort.
He then announced that he would buy monkeys at the rate of $20 each.
This renewed the villagers efforts and they started catching monkeys
again.
Soon, the supply diminished and people started going back to their
farms.
The offer increased to $25 each, and the supply of monkeys became so
scarce it was an effort to even find a monkey, let alone catch it!
The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50 each! However,
since he had to go to the big city on some business, his assistant would
buy them on his behalf.
The assistant gathered all the villagers near the highway just outside
the village and said, "Look at this big cage, and see all these monkeys
that my boss has already collected. I will sell them to you for $35
each, and when my boss returns, you can sell them back to him for $50."
The villagers rounded up all their savings and bought all the monkeys
for 700 billion dollars.
They never saw the man or his assistant again, only lots and lots of
monkeys!
...
IT DOESN'T GET MUCH CLEARER THAN THIS.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Haram menikahi gadis satu kampung.
Haram menikahi gadis satu kampung.
JAKIM telah mengeluarkan fatwa baru.
Setelah diadakan perbincangan dan diskusi di antara para pemimpin,
JAKIM dan ahli ulama' memberikan fatwa pada tanggal 3 February tahun 2009:
"HARAM HUKUMNYA BAGI SEORANG MUSLIM LAKI-LAKI UNTUK MENIKAH DENGAN GADIS SATU KAMPUNG"
Fatwa JAKIM ini telah menimbulkan perdebatan dan bantahan yang sangat sengit antara yang pro dan kontra. Bahkan banyak pihak yang menyatakan bahawa JAKIM telah mengambil keputusan yang tidak munasabah dan terburu-buru. Wartawan Berita Harian telah meminta pegawai kanan JAKIM untuk memberi ulasan yang mendalam sebab sebab JAKIM mengeluarkan fatwa sedemikian. Inilah isi wawancara tersebut:
Wartawan: Bagaimana JAKIM boleh mengeluarkan fatwa haram untuk menikahi gadis satu kampung?
Pegawai Kanan: Bagaimana tidak haram, sedangkan menikahi empat orang wanita sahaja sudah berat, apalagi satu kampung...!! !
JAKIM telah mengeluarkan fatwa baru.
Setelah diadakan perbincangan dan diskusi di antara para pemimpin,
JAKIM dan ahli ulama' memberikan fatwa pada tanggal 3 February tahun 2009:
"HARAM HUKUMNYA BAGI SEORANG MUSLIM LAKI-LAKI UNTUK MENIKAH DENGAN GADIS SATU KAMPUNG"
Fatwa JAKIM ini telah menimbulkan perdebatan dan bantahan yang sangat sengit antara yang pro dan kontra. Bahkan banyak pihak yang menyatakan bahawa JAKIM telah mengambil keputusan yang tidak munasabah dan terburu-buru. Wartawan Berita Harian telah meminta pegawai kanan JAKIM untuk memberi ulasan yang mendalam sebab sebab JAKIM mengeluarkan fatwa sedemikian. Inilah isi wawancara tersebut:
Wartawan: Bagaimana JAKIM boleh mengeluarkan fatwa haram untuk menikahi gadis satu kampung?
Pegawai Kanan: Bagaimana tidak haram, sedangkan menikahi empat orang wanita sahaja sudah berat, apalagi satu kampung...!! !
Nak cerita pun malas...
Pada masa dahulu, ada sebuah kampung di mana semua rakyatnya amat rajin belaka tidak ada yang malas. Jadi pada suatu hari, rajanya membuat pengumuman hendak mencari seorang yang malas.
Semasa perhimpunan itu, adalah seorang lelaki mengaku, katanya, "Patik adalah yang paling malas." Raja pun bertanya, "Apa tahap malas tuan hamba?" Lalu jawab lelaki tersebut, "Kalau patik hendak makan, ada orang yang suapkan patik."
Tiba-tiba datang seorang lelaki lagi lalu berkata, "Patik lebih malas lagi daripada dia tuanku." Tuanku pun bertanya kepadanya, "Sampai mana pulak tahap malas tuan hamba?" Maka jawabnya, "Kalau patik makanpun, sampai ada orang tolong kunyahkan."
Maka raja pun terdiam seketika. Tanpa disangka² datang seorang budak lelaki kepadanya sambil berkata,
"Patik adalah yang paling malas tuanku." Raja pun bertanya, "Bagaimana pula tahap kemalasan kamu si budak?" Budak itu pun menjawab, "Nak cite pun malas."
Semasa perhimpunan itu, adalah seorang lelaki mengaku, katanya, "Patik adalah yang paling malas." Raja pun bertanya, "Apa tahap malas tuan hamba?" Lalu jawab lelaki tersebut, "Kalau patik hendak makan, ada orang yang suapkan patik."
Tiba-tiba datang seorang lelaki lagi lalu berkata, "Patik lebih malas lagi daripada dia tuanku." Tuanku pun bertanya kepadanya, "Sampai mana pulak tahap malas tuan hamba?" Maka jawabnya, "Kalau patik makanpun, sampai ada orang tolong kunyahkan."
Maka raja pun terdiam seketika. Tanpa disangka² datang seorang budak lelaki kepadanya sambil berkata,
"Patik adalah yang paling malas tuanku." Raja pun bertanya, "Bagaimana pula tahap kemalasan kamu si budak?" Budak itu pun menjawab, "Nak cite pun malas."
Monday, February 16, 2009
The band dengan lead singer
Seperti yang dimohon oleh bad.... presenting the band with its lead singer...
Our lovely aunts and nenek
From left (back row): Mak Lang, Cik Zizah, Mak Long, Mak Uda, Mak Ngah, ???, Nenek
Thursday, February 12, 2009
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