Brand Malaysia reeling from a thousand cuts

DIPLOMATICALLY SPEAKING
By DENNIS IGNATIUS

duta.thestar@gmail.com

Over the years, scandal corruption and mismanagement, as well as misguided policies have tarnished our country's name.

LIKE it or not, every country has a brand name. When a country comes to mind, people often think of it in a certain way, much like Coca-Cola or Mercedes-Benz. A brand name is more than an image; it is the essence of what a brand represents.

Needless to say, a brand name is a valuable commodity and both countries and companies jealously protect their brand name. What takes years to build can be tarnished almost overnight.

Sometimes a single incident can set back a country’s image by many years. At other times, a country’s image can suffer death by a thousand cuts - a series of unfortunate events or incidents over a period of time that, taken together, paints an unhappy picture.

What of brand Malaysia? For years Malaysia promoted itself as a sensible and stable democracy characterised, above all else, by religious and racial tolerance.

Indeed, we often sold ourselves as a model of inter-faith and interracial harmony and went around inviting others to learn from us.

To many in the Third World, we were the template for successful economic development based on political stability, sound economic strategy and respect for the rule of law.

On the business side, we were considered a safe and exciting place to do business with and invest in.
Investors were assured of strong government support, an efficient bureaucracy and a business environment free of corruption, red tape and political interference. Our English-educated workforce was a decided advantage.

Regrettably, we have not been zealous in protecting our brand name.

Over the years, scandal, corruption and mismanagement, as well as misguided policies, have seriously left brand Malaysia reeling from a thousand cuts.

The Kugan case, the death in custody of Teoh Beng Hock and other high profile cases brought us a great deal of unsavoury international attention. This, together with equally sensational scandals involving our judiciary, seems to convey the view that our whole justice system is in crisis.

As well, the massive PKFZ fiasco, the brazen theft of RMAF jet engines and other outrageous public sector corruption scandals have convinced many foreign observers and businessmen that corruption is now out of hand in Malaysia.

It is not for no reason that Transparency International recently gave Malay­sia its worst corruption ranking ever.

Increasingly, visitors to Malaysia (as well as many Malaysians themselves) routinely complain of demands for bribes and kickbacks at many levels. Are we now destined to become a chronically corrupt state?

Though we tend to play down the extent of corruption in Malaysia, it is negatively impacting our image in more ways than one and may well be related to the declining levels of foreign direct investment.

On the political front, the continued use of detention without trial and limitations on fundamental freedoms have undoubtedly diminished our democratic credentials in the eyes of the world.

At the same time, the attentiongrabbing headlines concerning the caning sentence imposed on Kartika Dewi by the Syariah court, high profile Jakim raids on popular nightspots, the controversy over the use of the word “Allah,” the recent attacks on churches and the desecration of mosques have left many foreigners wondering whether we are heading down the slippery road towards intolerance and extremism.

Of course there are those who will argue that some of these actions are religious imperatives and must not be questioned. The point is we cannot have it both ways: we cannot act in this manner and still hope to cling to the “moderate” label we are so proud of.

Cases of unfair treatment of migrants and foreign workers in Malaysia have not helped either. The United States Senate issued a damning report last year that even implicated some government officials in human trafficking!

This, together with the abuse of migrant workers by their Malaysian employers, has brought shame to our nation and invoked the ire of some of our neighbours.

And then there is the exodus of Malaysians, more than 300,000 in 2008/09, in search of a better life abroad. What does it say to the rest of the world about brand Malaysia when many, including some of our best and brightest, are leaving?

It is clear to those of us who closely monitor Malaysia’s image abroad that brand Malaysia is in trouble. One commentator even went so far as to call us a “failed rich state!” It is nonsense of course, but it is a sign of the shifting perception of Malaysia.

Unfortunately, there are no Band-Aid solutions. Mere slogans or clever publicity campaigns won’t cut it. The scandals, the worsening corruption, the political dysfunction, the decay of national institutions, etc., are symptomatic of a much deeper malaise affecting our nation.

At the end of the day, we need to ask ourselves some hard questions about where we, as a nation, are headed. Foreign observers are certainly asking the question and reaching their own less than flattering conclusions about brand Malaysia.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak issued a clarion call last week for Malaysia to do “something extraordinary.” The most extraordinary thing we can do is to halt the sad decline of our nation and somehow find a way to spark a national renewal.

China tests warming waters for North African role

Midweek
By BUNN NAGARA

Western powers gradually welcome Beijing’s growing contribution to regional maritime security.

AFTER some reflection, US and EU states are now coming round to China’s proposal for clearer national roles in securing international shipping between North Africa and South Asia.

Last November at the UN, Beijing floated the prospect of individual countries policing clearly identified zones through area allotments. A month before a Chinese ship had been hijacked in the pirate-infested region.

The US was cool to Beijing’s proposal at first but now appears to welcome it. The Internationally Recognised Transit Corridor (IRTC) is supposedly a safer stretch of water between the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, but pirate attacks have lately extended outwards.

With some 40 national navies involved there is no shortage of national interests, but better coordination had always been lacking. China pushed for streamlining operations and has found a positive response from the West.

Some countries are grouped into the US-led Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), the European Union or Nato. Others like Malaysia, India, Russia and China run their operations separately.

Meanwhile, China would now also head the rotating chair of the so-called Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (SHADE) group that has been dominated by the US and EU.

Top CMF and EU naval officials have in recent days warmly welcomed China’s growing role.
This comes as open confirmation of operations already underway. Since its founding in 2008 and through monthly multinational meetings, SHADE has seen the Chinese and other national navies exchanging information in useful and productive ways.

A Hong Kong news report last week said Beijing would now have to increase its naval presence in the Arabian Sea or Indian Ocean region, but this was swiftly denied.

China is careful about its mounting international responsibilities, and even more about foreign perceptions of its intent and conduct.

Chinese officials see the present moment as a double-edged sword. As a time of opportunity it offers China a rare chance to introduce itself agreeably to the world at large, but with turns of anxiety its intentions might also be misread.

Hawks and conservatives abroad were already irked by the prospect last month of Beijing taking over the Indian Ocean refuelling role from Tokyo.

In Japan, ending that function of serving US-led forces in Afghanistan has been blamed on Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, but moves in that direction had already been announced in 2007 by then premier Yasuo Fukuda.

The right-wing in Japanese politics in particular has been vocal in seeing a “net loss” for Japan and a “net gain” for China. However, more reasonable and neutral observers draw quite different conclusions.
From each nation whose imports and exports rely on the safety of international shipping, a comparable degree of responsibility in contributing to security is expected. No country is entitled to benefit more from an international security regime than it is prepared to provide for.

Furthermore, by working together, the navies of the various countries tend to develop a better understanding of one another that can help reduce tension and misperception. A mutual confidence-building mechanism comes into play to benefit all parties, replacing suspicion with greater trust.

This trust is particularly pertinent with a rising major power like China. Not only will it help others understand China better, it will also help China understand the rest of the world better as well.

The alternative is a build-down in mutual confidence, to which no party will seriously subscribe. Reason and pragmatism have helped sustain the general welcome for China taking up its due responsibilities.

Beijing’s interests are clear enough: securing the sea lanes for its vital energy imports, and its exports of manufactured goods. Beyond that, it seeks to cultivate a positive international image in its global dealings.

It has thus sought to play down its new central role in SHADE, describing it as a mere coordinating function. It has also repeatedly emphasised the need for the United Nations rather than any particular country to lead in initiatives.

China is aware that the spotlight on it can reveal its willingness to contribute in international concerns, as well as its conduct in multilateral efforts. It is also hoping to avoid allegations of hitching a free ride in international maritime security, while not making too many waves in sailing forth.

Get Paid to Install Malware

Get Paid to Install Malware

Botnets are using affiliate programs to infect PCs.

By Erica Naone

Sites like Amazon offer affiliate programs that pay users for sending them new customers. And now, malware authors, always quick to adopt tactics that work elsewhere, have developed their own affiliate program, which was described in a talk given today at the Black Hat DC computer security conference in Washington, DC.

Kevin Stevens, an analyst at Atlanta-based security consulting company SecureWorks, says sites with names like "Earnings4U" offer to pay users for each file they can install on someone else's PC; the practice is called "pay per install." Stevens found sites offering rates ranging from $180 per 1,000 installs on PCs based in the U.S. to $6 per 1,000 installs on PCs based in Asian countries.

As he researched the practice, Stevens says he discovered a number of companies engaged in pay per install. These companies periodically change their names to dodge the authorities. He also found forums where users shared tips for making more money, and a variety of sophisticated tools developed to make it easier for them to install malware. "It's almost like a real, legitimate business," he said.

People who sign up for the affiliate programs often download "malware cocktails" that they then try to distribute as widely as possible. One common technique is to combine the malware with a video and offer it for download on a peer-to-peer file sharing site. Another is to host the malware somewhere on the Web, and use search engine optimization techniques to attract traffic to it.

Stevens outlined several types of software that a malware affiliate can use. "Crypters," for example, are programs that mask malware from antivirus programs. One popular crypter costs about $75 initially, and then $25 to buy fresh pieces of code that keep the malware masked once antivirus programs have begun to recognize the original. Stevens estimates that it's possible to get by for two to three weeks on each such update.

For about $225, a malware affiliate can multiply his earnings by obtaining a Trojan download manager. This program allows him to pump multiple malware cocktails into each infected PC, getting paid for each one on each compromised computer. One Trojan download manager comes with add-ons that allow a user to harvest e-mail addresses from an infected system, which could then be used to send spam or phishing messages.

Stevens estimates that some of the larger companies offering pay-per-install programs are responsible for about 2.8 million malware installs each month.

Engineering the Computer of the Future, One Atom at a Time

By Charles Q. Choi, TechNewsDaily Contributor, posted: 01 February 2010 06:19 pm ET

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Using computers based on the mind-boggling physics of the quantum world, researchers now hope to simulate reality on the molecular scale better than ever before.

Scientists want to simulate molecules on computers to better understand and improve how they might react – for instance, how a drug might behave in the human body. But attempts to simulate complex molecules using modern supercomputers fall short because increasing the number of atoms they have to analyze leads to an exponential spike in computation time.

"If you simulate anything larger than four or five atoms – for example, a chemical reaction, or even a moderately complex molecule – it becomes an intractable problem very quickly," said researcher James Whitfield, a quantum information chemist at Harvard University. At best, he explained, regular computers only can get a rough approximation of how these systems work.

Quantum computers
 
That is why scientists are now turning to quantum computers, which rely on the bizarre properties of atoms and the other construction blocks of the universe. The world becomes a fuzzy, surreal place at its very smallest levels – things can seemingly exist in two places at once or spin in opposite directions at the same time.

While normal computers represent data as ones and zeroes – binary digits known as bits that they express by flicking tiny switch-like transistors either on or off – quantum computers use quantum bits, or qubits (pronouced "cue-bits") that are both on and off at the same time. This enables them to carry out two calculations simultaneously. In theory, quantum computers could prove incredibly faster than regular calculators for certain problems because they can run through every possible combination at once.
The particles and molecules that scientists want to investigate are quantum objects.

"If it is computationally too complex to simulate a quantum system using a classical computer, why not simulate quantum systems with another quantum system?" said researcher Alán Aspuru-Guzik, a quantum information chemist at Harvard.

Calculating with light
 
The quantum computer the researchers conducted their molecular simulations with relied on photons, or packets of light, as its qubits. While Aspuru-Guzik, Whitfield and their colleagues provided the software and performed key calculations, their collaborators in Australia assembled the hardware and ran the experiments.

Using this two-qubit computer, they simulated the smallest molecular system, the hydrogen molecule, and calculated its energy in terms of how it might react with other molecules. They ran their simulation process 20 times in a row, with each cycle working off the data from the last one, to achieve very precise values. "That's enough precision to simulate experiments with," Aspuru-Guzik told TechNewsDaily.

The great challenge that lies ahead is creating quantum computers with more qubits, which are needed to simulate molecules with more atoms. Although a 2,000-qubit computer would be roughly enough to, say, simulate cholesterol binding with a protein, the most qubits anyone has uncontestably made a quantum computer with so far is roughly a dozen, Aspuru-Guzik said.


"We are now working to make larger experiments to continue our successes with larger and larger systems," said he said.

The research was detailed online in a recent issue of the journal Nature Chemistry.

Facebook plans PHP changes

Facebook plans PHP changes

Hardware saver?

By Gavin Clarke in San Francisco, 1st February 2010 23:24 GMT

On Tuesday, Facebook is expected to unveil changes to PHP, the language that helped make the social networking site a success - along with millions of other web sites.

SD Times has outed the planned change here. Facebook wouldn't provide details when contacted by The Reg but said it would make more details available Tuesday morning, Pacific time.

The changes have been described as either a re-write of the PHP runtime or a compiler for PHP.

A change to PHP would be Facebook's latest donation to the language, which has also had contributions from Microsoft and the former Sun Microsystems over the years.

PHP co-founder Andi Gutmans, said his company Zend Technologies was aware Facebook's been planning a change and told The Reg he thinks it will be "significant." But he wouldn't elaborate further.

"We have to see what come out," Gutmans said. "Generally speaking...I think there's been some good innovation at Facebook. I imagine some of it could help community PHP."

When it comes to run-times, there have been projects such as Caucho's Quercus - a Java implementation of the PHP language - and the Project Zero PHP runtime that have generally failed to get-traction. Gutmans said this was because open-source PHP has remained the industry's de-facto standard.

He's also not overly worried that what Facebook unveiled could lead to a fork of PHP, noting the community is not as political - for example - as the former Sun's MySQL community. He expects what ever Facebook announces to be under a community friendly license and said if it is innovative then he'd be happy to see it find its way into PHP.

He said developers would continue to get their PHP source from the community.

Gutmans noted Facebook might be introducing changes because of the scale of its operations and that changes in the language might help it cut the number of servers it needs.

"We've got to remember Facebook is a very different user - a very atypical user compared to the majority of users. The performance requirements at the scale they run is very different from even heavily loaded web sites that have tens or hundreds of servers. Saving 10 per cent can be thousands of servers," he said. ®