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Malaysiakini
an hour ago
- Politics
- Malaysiakini
KJ, charismatic but dangerous
YOURSAY | 'Are there no other educated and capable leaders in Umno?' Khairy's rumoured cabinet return: Reform opportunity or political gamble? Cyclonus: Khairy Jamaluddin, better known as KJ, is an impressive intellectual (or appears to be) with lots of charisma. But this is what makes him even more dangerous. The younger crowd will trust him blindly, no matter what his agenda. Amid the 1MDB scandal, he supported jailed former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak. You would think a smart guy like him could see through Najib when the rest of the civilised world could. However, KJ put loyalty to Umno and Najib above the good of all Malaysians and Malaysia. That was very disappointing and dangerous. Forget him. GreenFalcon2290: Ah, yes, KJ is known as a 'progressive and reformer'. Like Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his deputy, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi? Where are the voters located, urban centres or elsewhere? Are PAS voters desperate to vote for progressive, reformer candidates? How many in the Parliament are progressive and anxious to get a leader? Nice. In 2016, KJ was embroiled in a controversy surrounding a RM100 million scandal involving the Youth and Sports Ministry, where he was its minister. If the ministerial post was a certainty, would KJ make this bizarre statement that he is busy? Do you know anyone for the past 67 years who was too busy to accept a minister position? As for his remarkable qualities, they seem very common and routine for anyone working in the corporate world. Interesting? No. Milshah: Something appears to be not right. Umno should be a party where there is a good pool of educated and capable young leaders. What happened to all the educated and capable Umno leaders? I refer to another article related to the retirement age for politicians, where the young ones were supportive, but the old guard were against the idea. They (politicians) do not know when to quit and let the younger generation take over. They 'cantas' (get rid of, as in trimming a branch on a tree) potential leaders, or they do not give them opportunities to lead, as they see these young leaders as threats. I'm not talking about party central committees but division leaders as well. They want the position for life and will 'cantas' any young leaders who could take over from them. Then, when the party asks: Where are the young educated capable leaders? There is no one, comes the answer. Why? Because all of them have been 'cantas' already. FairPlay: What's so great about KJ? He is also an old wine in a new bottle, as the saying goes. He may not be as old as the others, but soon, he will fall into the group known as 'recycle'. There is no future (whatsoever) if the politics in the country keep rebranding old and recycled wine as new wine. We have 68 years of journey as a sovereign nation. Where is the nation today when compared with the tiny red dot south of the border? Headhunter: We thought he had crossed the Rubicon (point of no return) and had moved on. He is better off if he joins the likes of outgoing Economy Minister and ex-PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli, who recently resigned from his minister post. They can move to or form a new party. Umno is fundamentally rotten to the core, and nothing much can be done to revive it. The entrenched old dogs will not easily or willingly give up their lucrative positions and will not give him a free rein to 'kill their golden goose'. He will be seen as a threat, as history has shown. Furthermore, his past grassroots supporters have moved on to find new pastures. Coward: KJ is already in Umno. In fact, despite his sacking from Umno in January 2023, he has remained in the party. He has his flaws, but overall, he is one of the more capable and less tainted leaders in Umno. As such, his return to the government is probably good news instead of bad. KJ is definitely one, if not the only, candidate who will be chosen by an Umno leader who has the party's future. However, other undeserving and definitely way worse candidates will likely edge him out because they have the ears of Umno leaders. Umno leaders are also those who are known to prioritise themselves over the party. Winning Scarecrow: Khairy must enhance his Islamic credentials before making a comeback. Anwar needs leaders who can help him accomplish his goal of making Malaysia a great Islamic state. Young Malaysians have indicated in surveys that they prefer to have leaders with a strong Islamic background like Anwar, newly minted PKR deputy president Nurul Izzah Anwar, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang and other leaders from PAS. We cannot find such leaders in Umno so far, so Khairy needs to prove that he is more Islamic than PAS leaders before being accepted again by Malaysians as their leader. The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now. These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.
The Print
18 hours ago
- Business
- The Print
India can help French businesses become more competitive in manufacturing: Goyal
Addressing businesses of India and France, the minister said the level of trade and investments between the two countries needs to be enhanced, as the current figures do not reflect their true potential. This could be a shared mission where France and India collaborate closely to strengthen bilateral economic ties, he added. Paris, Jun 3 (PTI) India can help French businesses become more competitive in manufacturing to tap global markets, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday here. 'Manufacturing is something where we can help French businesses become more competitive to capture world markets. And that could be a mission where France and India could work together,' he said. Talks for the proposed free trade agreement between India and the European Union are moving forward at a 'very' fast pace, and this 'leap of faith' would be incomplete with businesses on both sides working together aggressively to expand this relationship, he noted. The minister urged businesses to make full use of the agreement once it is implemented. 'I agree with my friend (French minister of foreign trade Laurent Saint-Martin) that we cannot be satisfied at all with a USD 15 billion bilateral trade between two such large economies of significance. 'How can we be happy with the levels of investment…on both sides that we are currently boasting?… There's so much we can add in terms of scale. There's so much we can add in terms of speed,' Goyal said. India's exports to France stood at USD 8 billion in 2024-25, while imports were USD 7.3 billion. 'There's so much to do to expand our exchange, not only in defence,' he said. The minister suggested setting up a working group on artificial intelligence to enhance engagement on the subject. 'We've already got a lot of exchanges between the two countries on banking and insurance. We could look at seeing how that could be taken to the next level,' Goyal said, adding 'We could look at global capability centres, and we have a fair bit coming in from all across the world to India to leverage the huge pool of talent and skill'. Further, the minister highlighted that there is no need to ease business regulations in the EU. '… identify areas of trade where we can expand with each other, and areas where we could even help each other in crossing the Rubicon of regulation. We have regulation in India too, but the kind of regulation with the EU, and on top of that, each member state. So, my businesses are just completely foxed. 'How to go through that maze, but we've got to sort out that. We can't just remain foxed. We've got to find solutions,' he added. The aim should be to remove some of the roadblocks, reduce compliance, make it easier to engage and grow businesses and have a rapid response mechanism that works to create mutual recognition agreements, Goyal noted. This will enable REACH certification for chemicals to be done in India, just as a quality control order or BIS registration can be done in France. PTI RR BAL BAL BAL This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Malaysiakini
a day ago
- Business
- Malaysiakini
KJ, charismatic but dangerous
YOURSAY | 'Are there no other educated and capable leaders in Umno?' Khairy's rumoured cabinet return: Reform opportunity or political gamble? Cyclonus: Khairy Jamaluddin, better known as KJ, is an impressive intellectual (or appears to be) with lots of charisma. But this is what makes him even more dangerous. The younger crowd will trust him blindly, no matter what his agenda. Amid the 1MDB scandal, he supported jailed former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak. You would think a smart guy like him could see through Najib when the rest of the civilised world could. However, KJ put loyalty to Umno and Najib above the good of all Malaysians and Malaysia. That was very disappointing and dangerous. Forget him. GreenFalcon2290: Ah, yes, KJ is known as a 'progressive and reformer'. Like Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his deputy, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi? Where are the voters located, urban centres or elsewhere? Are PAS voters desperate to vote for progressive, reformer candidates? How many in the Parliament are progressive and anxious to get a leader? Nice. In 2016, KJ was embroiled in a controversy surrounding a RM100 million scandal involving the Youth and Sports Ministry, where he was its minister. If the ministerial post was a certainty, would KJ make this bizarre statement that he is busy? Do you know anyone for the past 67 years who was too busy to accept a minister position? As for his remarkable qualities, they seem very common and routine for anyone working in the corporate world. Interesting? No. Milshah: Something appears to be not right. Umno should be a party where there is a good pool of educated and capable young leaders. What happened to all the educated and capable Umno leaders? I refer to another article related to the retirement age for politicians, where the young ones were supportive, but the old guard were against the idea. They (politicians) do not know when to quit and let the younger generation take over. They 'cantas' (get rid of, as in trimming a branch on a tree) potential leaders, or they do not give them opportunities to lead, as they see these young leaders as threats. I'm not talking about party central committees but division leaders as well. They want the position for life and will 'cantas' any young leaders who could take over from them. Then, when the party asks: Where are the young educated capable leaders? There is no one, comes the answer. Why? Because all of them have been 'cantas' already. FairPlay: What's so great about KJ? He is also an old wine in a new bottle, as the saying goes. He may not be as old as the others, but soon, he will fall into the group known as 'recycle'. There is no future (whatsoever) if the politics in the country keep rebranding old and recycled wine as new wine. We have 68 years of journey as a sovereign nation. Where is the nation today when compared with the tiny red dot south of the border? Headhunter: We thought he had crossed the Rubicon (point of no return) and had moved on. He is better off if he joins the likes of outgoing Economy Minister and ex-PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli, who recently resigned from his minister post. They can move to or form a new party. Umno is fundamentally rotten to the core, and nothing much can be done to revive it. The entrenched old dogs will not easily or willingly give up their lucrative positions and will not give him a free rein to 'kill their golden goose'. He will be seen as a threat, as history has shown. Furthermore, his past grassroots supporters have moved on to find new pastures. Coward: KJ is already in Umno. In fact, despite his sacking from Umno in January 2023, he has remained in the party. He has his flaws, but overall, he is one of the more capable and less tainted leaders in Umno. As such, his return to the government is probably good news instead of bad. KJ is definitely one, if not the only, candidate who will be chosen by an Umno leader who has the party's future. However, other undeserving and definitely way worse candidates will likely edge him out because they have the ears of Umno leaders. Umno leaders are also those who are known to prioritise themselves over the party. Winning Scarecrow: Khairy must enhance his Islamic credentials before making a comeback. Anwar needs leaders who can help him accomplish his goal of making Malaysia a great Islamic state. Young Malaysians have indicated in surveys that they prefer to have leaders with a strong Islamic background like Anwar, newly minted PKR deputy president Nurul Izzah Anwar, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang and other leaders from PAS. We cannot find such leaders in Umno so far, so Khairy needs to prove that he is more Islamic than PAS leaders before being accepted again by Malaysians as their leader. The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. In the past year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now. These comments are compiled to reflect the views of Malaysiakini subscribers on matters of public interest. Malaysiakini does not intend to represent these views as fact.
Hans India
2 days ago
- Business
- Hans India
Piyush Goyal calls for steps to boost India-France trade
Paris: Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said that India and France must work to strengthen bilateral economic ties as there was ample scope to boost trade between the two countries from the current level of $15 billion. Addressing the India-France CEO Forum here, the minister said both countries must work towards deeper cooperation in emerging and strategic sectors. "We cannot be satisfied with just $15 billion. The scope is far greater," Goyal remarked. He suggested forming joint working groups in the private sector under the CEO Forum to explore collaborations in artificial intelligence, tourism, manufacturing, and global capability centres as well. Goyal also announced that India and France would activate a fast-track mechanism at the ambassadorial level to help businesses overcome trade and regulatory hurdles. "This will help us find new areas of trade and support each other in crossing the Rubicon of regulation," he remarked. He pointed out that Indian businesses are often "foxed" by the EU's complex regulatory environment. "It's a maze, especially with each EU member state having its own set of rules," Goyal said. The minister reaffirmed that India and the EU remain committed to concluding a comprehensive trade deal before the end of 2025. He also held a meeting with Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong and discussed ways to boost economic ties and huge opportunities in the Indian shipping sector. Goyal also plans to hold bilateral meetings in Paris with the United Kingdom's Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds and Saudi Arabia's Minister of Commerce, Dr Majid bin Abdullah Al-Kasabi, among others. The Indian Minister is on an official visit to France and Italy, reflecting India's continued commitment to deepening strategic and economic ties with key European partners and advancing a shared vision for resilient and inclusive global growth. As part of the visit, he will also be meeting top leadership of major French companies such as Vicat, Total Energies, L'Oreal, Renault, Valeo, EDF and ATR. Goyal will also participate in the informal gathering of WTO Ministers on the margins of the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting. At this crucial forum, he will engage with global counterparts on key multilateral trade issues and articulate the perspectives and priorities of the country.
India Today
29-05-2025
- Automotive
- India Today
Jeep Wrangler Willys '41 Edition sold out in India within weeks of launch
Jeep India has announced that the Wrangler Willys '41 Special Edition has sold out. This special edition of the Wrangler was launched on May 5, 2025. The Wrangler Willys combined Jeep's 4x4 capabilities with exclusive styling touches. The limited-run SUV, introduced as a tribute to Jeep's rich heritage, witnessed overwhelming enthusiasm. Just 30 units of the Wrangler Willys '41 Special Edition were designated for the Indian Priyesh, Business Head & Director – Automotive Brands at Jeep India, expressed his gratitude, "We are humbled and grateful for the enthusiastic response to the Wrangler Willys Limited Edition. The fact that it is now completely sold out reflects the deep love and trust our customers have in the Jeep brand. We thank our Jeep community for their support and passion, which continues to inspire us to bring them authentic, adventure-ready vehicles that honor our legacy." Drawing inspiration from the original Willys Jeep used during World War II, the Wrangler Willys '41 Special Edition stands out with a unique '1941 Military Green' paint and a distinctive hood decal—both making their debut in India and reserved exclusively for this limited-run the '41 Edition remains unchanged, powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine producing 270hp and 400Nm of torque. It is mated to an 8-speed automatic gearbox and features a full-time 4x4 on the Rubicon variant, this special edition comes equipped with a host of premium and functional additions such as powered side steps, all-weather floor mats, grab handles for both front and rear passengers, and digital video recorders at the front and rear. Buyers can also opt for an adventure pack that includes a roof carrier with integrated side steps and a Sunrider roof. The Willys '41 Special Edition is priced at Rs 1.51 lakh above the standard Rubicon, while the optional adventure pack adds another Rs 4.56 to Auto Today Magazine
