GLOBAL PEACE INDEX

Well, do you believe it? We are more safer than Spain, France, United Kingdom, South Korea and Taiwan. Well, if you look at how they measure peace, these are the details. However, for me, you have to measure crime in relation to transparency and corruption index. We all know how people in Malaysia generally have problems reporting crime because of certain reasons. Therefore, it is really hard to believe these indexes as there are just too many unreported criminal cases. I am not sure for the other countries but it is very true for Malaysia. We all know how corruption is a major problem here and therefore, you really never know how many unreported cases there are out there.

One wonders why we need to have gates, fences and security guards in our housing estates and still ranked 26th? One wonders why we don't dare to go out jogging alone after midnight like in Singapore and still ranked so high up there? One wonders why we don't dare to put bags or anything visible in our vehicles when we park? One wonders why we need to have additional locks to lock our sterling wheel and pedals when I don't see one in Singapore? One wonders why we need grills and at least two locks per door and window with humanly possible accesses connecting to the outdoors (balcony, corridors)? One wonders why we cannot show off any handbags or any possessions or wear jewellery and yellow gold when we walk around town? We are ranked 26th, are you kidding me?

Let's do a simple comparison. In the 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index, United Kingdom is ranked 16th, France is ranked 23th, Spain is ranked 28th, Taiwan is ranked 39th, South Korea is ranked 40th and Malaysia is ranked 47th. However, in the 2009 Global Peace Index, Malaysia is ranked 26th, Spain is ranked 28th, France is ranked 30th, South Korea is ranked 33th, United Kingdom is ranked 35th and Taiwan is ranked 37th. You get my point, although I do admit terrorism is a major problem to countries involved in the Middle East. In addition, we are not involved in any wars or a nation spending mostly on military arms like North Korea. Therefore, it is not a fair comparison.

Finally, where is Brunei? I am sure they are way safer than Malaysia 5 zillion times over.

Check out the rankings here:
2009 Global Peace Index
2008 Corruption Perceptions Index

Malaysia is 26th safest place in the world

KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 — Malaysia is the 26th safest place in the world, and the third highest Asian ranked country according to the Global Peace Index (GPI), an annual ranking of the world's nations on the basis of how peaceful they are.

Malaysia was placed 38 out of 144 countries last year on the same index.

Despite the much-vaunted progress on security, Iraq remained bottom of the list, below Afghanistan, Somalia and Israel, which found itself listed as more dangerous than Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the top, the usual Nordic suspects clustered below New Zealand: Denmark, Norway and Iceland came second, third and fourth, followed by Austria and then Sweden.

The United States has clawed its way up six places to 83rd — still weighed down by two foreign wars, a high prison population and the general availability of guns. Its slight rise was attributed to the number of years since 9/11 that the country has avoided a terrorist attack, and the relative decline of other countries.

Japan was the safest Asian country, followed by Singapore and Malaysia.

The index was collated by the Economist Intelligence Unit for a new thinktank called the Institute for Economics and Peace. It uses a weighted mix of 23 criteria, including foreign wars, internal conflicts, respect for human rights, the number of murders, the number of people in jail, the arms trade, and degrees of democracy.

This year's results found the economic downturn had made the world a little less peaceful. That, say the authors, "appears to reflect the intensification of violent conflict in some countries and the effects of both the rapidly rising food and fuel prices early in 2008 and the dramatic global economic downturn in the final quarter of the year.

"Rapidly rising unemployment, pay freezes and falls in the value of house prices, savings and pensions is causing popular resentment in many countries, with political repercussions that have been registered by the GPI through various indicators measuring safety and security in society."

The results come from a groundbreaking study, released alongside the 2009 GPI, which estimates the economic impact of lost peace on the global economy at US$7.2 trillion (RM25.2 trillion a year. — Guardian/Global Peace Index

KL among top riskiest offshore places, says survey
Published: Monday June 1, 2009 MYT 2:43:00 PM

NEW DELHI: Kuala Lumpur is listed among the top five riskiest offshore locations in the world while Singapore is in the top five safest locations in a worldwide survey.

The riskiest and safest lists are published in the 2009 edition of the Black Book of Outsourcing, brought out every year by US-based Brown-Wilson Group.

The annual publication is considered a major independent analysis and advisory research for the outsourcing players and investors globally.

The rankings of safest and riskiest places are based on factors like high terrorist or rebel target threats, uncontrolled environment waste and pollution, corruption and organised crime, unstable currency, geopolitical conditions and unsecured networks and technology.

In the riskiest 25 list, Bogota in Columbia is at the top followed by Bangkok in Thailand, Johanesburgh in South Africa, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and Kingston in Jamaica among the top five.

In the safest 25 list, Singapore is followed by Dublin (Ireland), Santiago (Chile), Krakow/Warsaw (Poland) and Toronto/Montreal (Canada) in the top five.

The three Chinese cities Beijing, Shenzen and Shanghai have been ranked as 9th, 22nd and 24th safest destinations respectively.

India may have been hailed for long as the world's top outsourcing destination, but the new study has named as many as eight cities in the country among the world's 25 riskiest places.

The national capital region comprising Delhi Gurgaon and Noida has earned the dubious distinction of being the worst offshoring destination within the country, the Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted a survey in the annual Black Book of Outsourcing, as saying.

The NCR is followed by Mumbai as the second riskiest offshoring hub within India, while Kolkata has been ranked as least riskiest in the country.

The other domestic cities named in the global list of 25 riskiest offshoring destinations include Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Chandigarh.

In the overall global list, NCR has been ranked as sixth most riskiest, Mumbai ninth, Chandigarh 15th, Pune 20th, Chennai 21st, Bangalore 23rd, Hyderabad 24th and Kolkata the 25th most riskiest in the world.

Meanwhile, no Indian city has managed to find a place on a separate list of 25 safest offshoring destinations.

In terms of terrorism threats Mumbai has been ranked as the location with the highest risk, followed by Delhi NCR and Jerusalem in Israel.

Further, Delhi NCR has been ranked as the riskiest place when it comes to heightening transnational and geopolitical concerns.

Bangalore, another leading outsourcing destination in the country have been ranked as the riskiest place in terms of uncontrolled environmental waste and pollution.

While India accounts for the maximum number of cities in the 25 riskiest places, while China and Mexico lead the tally in the 25 safest list with three cities each.

There is just one Chinese city, Dalian, among the 25 riskiest places at 12th place.

The three Chinese cities Beijing, Shenzen and Shanghai have been ranked as 9th, 22nd and 24th safest destinations respectively. - Bernama