‘Future richest man’ now a monk

                 

Published: Sunday August 31, 2014 MYT 12:00:00 AM
Updated: Sunday August 31, 2014 MYT 8:32:44 AM

‘Future richest man’ now a monk      

       

KUALA LUMPUR: Zhang Jian, founder of the controversial YSLM multi-level marketing business, has become a monk.

The self-proclaimed Chinese millionaire is undergoing a 100-day temporary ordination programme at a temple in Thailand.
However, the head shaving ceremony was only held on Friday, a month after the programme begun.
Zhang has been given the Buddhist name “Fo Yun” which means the words of Buddha.

The company’s charity wing chairman Datuk John Lee Kim Tian told China Press that becoming a monk was Zhang’s way of fulfilling the vow he had made.
“Like all monks, Zhang has to beg for alms from the public daily. He will read Buddhist scriptures and clean the temple during free time,” said Lee, who returned from Thailand yesterday after witnessing the ceremony together with some 100 company members.
He claimed that Zhang donated RM394,330 to the temple after his company’s global revenue was said to have hit the RM50bil mark.
In early July, Zhang made headlines in the Malaysian media when billboards of him appeared in Penang, proclaiming himself as the “future richest man in the world”.
He also awarded his lucky “distributors” with luxury cars.
The Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry is also investigating YSLM – also known as Yun Shu Mao – of being linked to a get-rich-quick scam.
Soon after, Zhang left for Thailand.
The company later offered a refund to those who had not introduced any new member to the company.
Hundreds of people accepted the offer within a week.

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/08/31/Future-richest-man-now-a-monk-YSLM-charity-wing-chief-It-is-a-way-of-fulfilling-his-vow/

Malaysia is now 12th most competitive economy

                 

Malaysia is now 12th most competitive economy

by rahimy rahim

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has climbed another three spots from 15th to 12th in world rankings of competitive economies.
The Institute for Management Development’s (IMD) World Competitiveness Yearbook 2014 showed that Malaysia is the 12th most competitive country, ahead of Britain (16), Australia (17), New Zealand (20), Japan (21) and China (23).
The survey assessed countries according to economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure.
It measured how well countries managed economic and human resources to raise their prosperity.

Sixty countries were surveyed.
The rankings released by IMD took into account more than 300 criteria, two-thirds of which are based on statistical indicators and one-third on an exclusive IMD survey of 4,300 international executives.
Among the challenges that Malaysia will face this year are to enhance growth enablers for sustainable economic development, harness talent to achieve higher productivity growth, and to intensify efforts to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens and restrictions.
The country would also face challenges in trying to curb higher inflation as a result of subsidy rationalisation and ways to strengthen technological capabilities to enhance value creation, said the report.
“In Asia, both Malaysia and Indonesia (at No. 37) make gains, while Thailand (29) falls amid political uncertainty,” said IMD World Competitiveness Centre director Prof Arturo Bris.
The United States retained its No. 1 spot, followed by Switzerland and Singapore, which came 5th on the previous year.
Yesterday, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the Government was committed to implementing sustainable economic policies as opposed to short-term populist short-cuts that would have negative consequences.
“The right decisions are not necessarily popular. We expect to see a much better performance in the next three to five years as more of our initiatives began to bear fruit,” he said in response to Malaysia’s latest rankings.
Malaysia Productivity Corporation director-general Datuk Mohd Razali Hussain said the improvement in various areas showed that the country was moving towards the right direction.

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/05/22/Malaysia-is-now-12th-most-competitive-economy/