...more inside - Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute

UPDATE ON CENTRE FOR PUBLIC POLICY STUDIES
The Centre for Public Policy Studies has been involved in a range
of projects and activities throughout the year. It has focused on two
overarching themes in 2008, specifically Enhancing Socioeconomic
Policy, and Enhancing Governance. It has continued to play an
important role in encouraging policy dialogue on key issues,
educating the public, and engaging various stakeholders ranging
from policymakers to civil society and academia in the process.
This is done in various forms, including public forums, policy
factsheets, policy papers submitted to Government, involvement
in closed-door consultations and roundtable discussions, research
and analysis. In its efforts at expanding the work on public policy, it
has also recently hired two additional full-time staff, Noel Dass as
Senior Research Analyst and Khairiah Mokhtaruddin as Programme
and Research Associate.
In the first half of the year, it launched its “Minda Muda Research
Study: Young Malaysians and National Unity” on 18th April, which
was conducted jointly with the National Young Lawyers’ Committee
of the Bar Council. Funded mainly by the Jabatan Perpaduan
Negara & Integrasi Nasional (JPNIN), the study explored young
Malaysians’ attitudes to national unity.
The CPPS has continued to encourage public policy dialogue, the
first of which in 2008 was the Mid-Term Review of the 9th Malaysia
Plan Open Forum, jointly organized with Wawasan Open University
on 24th April. The six strategic thrusts of the 9th Malaysia Plan
were discussed against actual achievements at national level,
from key policymakers and experts on economic competitiveness
and socioeconomic inequalities. A significant “National Summit on
Urban Poor and Low-Income Groups”, which was graced by the
Prime Minister, was also jointly conducted with SUHAKAM and
ASLI in July. Its findings and recommendations were subsequently
forwarded on to the relevant government agencies. Urban poverty
was addressed, as it is becoming a major challenge in the
country.
As a result of the March 8th General Election, local issues have
emerged as an important feature of everyday politics. New state
governments have had to deal with problems at local level, and
hence the CPPS took the opportunity to conduct a seminar on
Local Council Reforms together with Malaysia Think Tank, held
on 27th July. Academics and practitioners addressed the issues,
including local council elections, in this informative and interactive
discussion. Recommendations were also compiled from the seminar
and are available online.
months to a year is possible. The objective was to brief the
public on what to expect. Linked to this are its effects on the food
situation. The CPPS jointly organized with the Joint Action Forum
on Food, Aliran, and the United Nations Country Team, a Food
Forum on 15th November, exploring ground problems, realities and
issues faced by local farmers and fishermen. That food prices and
increased costs of living have had an adverse impact on their lives
was the starting point of the discussion, from which experts then
drew up recommendations which were presented to Members of
Parliament thereafter for further follow-up.
Aside from public seminars, the CPPS has engaged itself in
researching on specific policy issues, and sending them out as
public information through its very well-received Policy Factsheets.
Started during the campaign period of the Election, this has
continued through the year, selecting poignant issues to focus
upon, including crime, public transportation, health, corruption, the
economy, human rights, and the elections. Response has been
positive and the factsheets will continue to be disseminated widely
online.
As part of its engagements with the public, the CPPS has continually
written Press Statements on issues of public policy it has taken a
strong stance towards. These include statements on the Internal
Security Act, the social contract, the Race Relations Act and the
2009 Budget, amongst others. The CPPS has also made public
presentations and speeches at various locations, including the
following: Vistage Malaysia (CEOs group), Sisters in Islam, Harvard
University Project for Asian and International Relations, churches,
ISO 9001 event and universities, amongst others.
Upcoming events include the launch of the Open Budget Index,
which is part of the International Budget Project. Conducted
internationally, but only for the first time in Malaysia this year, the
CPPS engaged in the rigorous process of evaluating Malaysia’s
National Budget on how publicly accessible and transparent it
is, in light of international budgetary standards. The Index ranks
all researched countries to compare and contrast. The launch is
expected to be in February 2009.
The CPPS’ most recent research paper involves the services sector,
which the CPPS conducted together with Prof. Sieh Mei Ling, a
member of the CPPS Advisory Panel. The paper was consequently
presented at an annual Malaysian Institute of Economic Research
(MIER) conference on the Economy in December 2008.
The Financial Crisis, rooted in the subprime and housing sector
crisis of the United States, has been foremost on Malaysians’
minds. The CPPS organized a public seminar on the Financial
Crisis, and its impending impacts on Malaysia on 12th November.
Primarily to educate the public on the economic situation, all
panelists were pessimistic and a predicted recession in the next
The CPPS continues to engage on issues of public policy
pertinence, and sends its updates regularly to its subscribers of its
newsletters, and keeps in touch with the public through its website
that it regularly updates. (Interested parties can connect with the
CPPS on www.cpps.org.my or send an email to cpps@cpps.org.
my)
CONTACT INFORMATION
ASIAN STRATEGY & LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE
(a subsidiary of the non-profit ASLI Foundation)
“Khazanah ASLI” 1718, Jalan Ledang, Off Jalan Duta, 50480 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: (603) 2093 5393 Fax: (603) 2093 3078
http://www.asli.com.my Email: dmyeoh@asli.com.my
Printed by: Percetakan Yin Mun Sdn Bhd (81384-A)
No. 18 & 28, Jalan 12/118B, Desa Tun Razak, Cheras, 56000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Tel: 603-9171 0300 / 603-9171 1628 Fax: 603-9171 0351 / 603-9171 1328
24