We're changing! I wouldn't believe it if you slapped me with the article, but there it is! The incumbent government is actually open to change! The recent cases of dissent and calls for equality have not been for nought. You, dear generation, you've helped create change. Bask in the revelry of your validation. It's a small step, but there it is. From Yahoo: Government relaxes 30 percent Bumiputra equity ownership for companies seeking listing:
For those of you who don't agree with my sentiments, while I respect your right to an (educated) opinion, please refer to my Dear World entry.KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 (Bernama) -- The government today relaxed the 30 percent bumiputera equity ownership for companies wanting to be listed but have yet to fullfill the quota.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the relaxation, which would take effect immediately, was to ensure that the Malaysian capital investment market stay progressive and competitive.
"I wish to stress that the 30 percent Bumiputera equity participation at the point of listing will continue to be enforced. However, there will be a slight change in terms of the methodology," he told reporters after visting the Securities Commission (SC) here today.
"This means that more individual bumiputeras could apply for the shares concerned. If the shares offered to individual bumiputeras are still not fully subscribed, then the company concerned is deemed to have fullfilled the 30 percent bumiputera equity," he said.
Asked whether this move would jeopardise the 30 percent bumiputera equity, he said the action would allow other bumiputera individuals to participate and take up the public balloting.
"There are two tiers. After the two cuts, if the shares are still not taken up, it is only fair to allow the companies to be listed. Otherwise there will be a huge uncertainty for them," he said.
From BBC: Burma blogger jailed for 20 years:
A Burmese blogger has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for posting a cartoon of the military leader Than Shwe.
Nay Phone Latt, 28, was sentenced by a court in Rangoon's Insein prison, said his mother, Aye Than.
Nay Phone Latt's colleague Thin July Kyaw was sentenced to two years imprisonment, Aye Than reported.
Another dissident, Saw Wai, was sentenced to two years in jail for publishing a poem mocking Than Shwe in the weekly Love Journal.
Nay Phone Latt was arrested in January; the sentence delivered on Monday included 15 years for offences under the Electronics Act, two years for "creating public alarm" and three and a half years for offences under the Video Act, his mother said.
One of his offences was apparently the possession of a banned video.
His blogs during the September 2007 uprising provided invaluable information about events within the locked-down country.
Aye Than said she was not allowed to attend the trial and Nay Phone Latt was not represented by his defence lawyer, Aung Thein, who began serving a four-month prison sentence for contempt of court last Friday.
