"Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah has been cleaning up after his predecessor. The result? An influx of big-spending foreign companies." Or so wrote ASSIF SHAMEEM in his article "Foreign capital inflows surge under Abdullah" in the New Sunday Times on 27 Aug 2006. (note: please click on comment below to read the article)
It was what some people liked us to believe.
But according to this report today by theedgedaily.com, Malaysia has slipped four notches to rank only sixth out of the 10 Southeast Asian countries in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) last year from second in 2004.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development's World Investment Report 2006 showed that Malaysia’s FDI inflow shrunk by 14.21 per cent only US$3.97 billion (RM14.63 billion) last year from US$4.62 billion (RM17.02 billion) in 2004.
For the first time, our FDI fell behind even Indonesia.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteOh please. Asif shameen is a close buddy of Kali. So are the many foreign correspondents. Same feather same flock. Asif is just an extension of the spin doctors,spinning and spinning. They all owe each other one or two,if u know what i mean.
ReplyDeleteummi khaldun
you may have problem loading the NSUNT article from the archives so i have reproduced it here. - rocky
ReplyDeletePRIME Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has been cleaning up after his predecessor. The result? An influx of big-spending foreign companies, writes ASSIF SHAMEEN.
Malaysia is pulling in some serious foreign direct investment these days.
At a construction site next to the Port of Tanjung Pelepas near Singapore, giant contract manufacturer Flextronics International is
spending US$280 million (RM936 million) on a 108,000 sq metre factory.
This will include production lines relocated from China by the Singaporean concern. Why?
"Malaysia is one of the most cost-effective places for manufacturing in the world, with overall costs about 20 per cent lower than Shanghai," says Peter Tan, CEO of Flextronics Asia-Pacific, which has nearly 40 per cent of its capacity in China.
In Penang, once dubbed Southeast Asia's Silicon Island, personal computer maker Dell recently began work on a 4ha facility next to the existing plant.
Malaysia has long been a strategic anufacturing centre for Dell. Some 90 per cent of the company's global notebook PC production is shipped from its Penang plant even as Dell continues to expand its footprint in China and India, the two fastest-growing PC markets in the world.
Intel, meanwhile, makes nearly a third of its global output of microprocessors in Penang.
It is building a new state-of-the-art design centre there, too.
Next year, Germany's Infineon will open its US$1.1 billion semiconductor wafer fab built on a former padi field, and an hour's drive
away in Kedah.
Infineon chose Kedah over Shanghai because overall costs were lower.
Others are piling into Malaysia as well. Foreign direct investments totalled US$4.2 billion last year, and a third of that haul came from US companies.
Wasn't Malaysia supposed to get smoked by China as an investment destination? Earlier in the decade, that seemed a real possibility.
Under the rule of strongman leader Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia had a problematic image among foreign investors.
After all, back in 1998, Dr Mahathir slapped on stringent capital controls at the height of the Asian financial crisis, which created
investor headaches for getting money in and out of the country.
Malaysia's political climate was also nasty, what with Dr Mahathir's jailing of his ambitious charismatic deputy, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Anwar, who was charged with sodomy and served six years behind bars, was released two years ago after his conviction was overturned by a court.
Malaysia wasn't exactly a no-go zone for foreign investment, but neither was it a preferred destination.
That's all starting to change under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who assumed leadership of this US$140 billion economy three years ago from Dr Mahathir.
Investors are returning, capital controls were lifted years ago, and last year, Malaysia removed its US dollar peg, opting for a managed float for the ringgit.
Large global tech companies such as Seagate Technology, Intel and Dell that had sunk serious money in China are taking a hard look at Malaysia again.
"It's a new, more confident Malaysia under a new leadership that is trying to reposition itself as China and India rise," says Datuk Dr Michael Yeoh, director of the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute, a think- tank in Kuala Lumpur.
Many credit Abdullah for the reassessment.
"Malaysia today is more open, free, and democratic," says Tun Musa Hitam, a former deputy prime minister who rode to power with Dr Mahathir 25 years ago, only to fall out with his mentor.
"There is freer public discussion of key issues, whereas in the past, most people voiced their views only when Dr Mahathir asked them to."
Moreover, the degradation of national institutions that marked the past two decades has been halted and their credibility is now being gradually restored.
"Under Dr Mahathir, judiciary, media, Parliament, police, civil service were all muzzled," adds Musa.
Indeed, the contrast between Dr Mahathir and his successor couldn't be more marked. While Dr Mahathir was a big-picture visionary, Abdullah is a details man.
Dr Mahathir was a big spender who loved splurging on mega projects like the Petronas Twin Towers, the second-tallest building in the world, or the gigantic Bakun Dam.
In contrast, Abdullah is a fiscal conservative who has focused on education, training and skills development of the country's population of 25.6 million.
Dr Mahathir could be by turns charming and absolutely autocratic.
He surrounded himself with a close group of loyalists and businessmen who were given lucrative government privatisation contracts.
Abdullah is a somewhat shy and soft-spoken widower.
However, he has created more transparency in the Government's bidding process. Big state contracts are now bid for in open tender.
Dr Mahathir brooked no dissent and was personally involved in all major decisions. Abdullah is the ultimate consensus builder.
He has also been far tougher on corruption.
He has sacked a Cabinet minister, put top businessmen on trial, and even dispatched the vice-president of his own political party, Umno, for "money politics".
Abdullah insists he isn't completely rejecting every policy of his outspoken predecessor.
"People make too much of the differences but the main difference is style," Abdullah told BusinessWeek.com in a recent interview.
Malaysia's economy grew by 5.3 per cent last year and is forecast to grow six per cent this year.
It is Asia's largest oil and gas exporter and is getting a nice bounce from the spike in global energy prices.
Still, Abdullah has tried to rein in the build-and-spend mentality common during the Mahathir era.
Even resource-rich Malaysia can no longer live beyond its means, Abdullah says.
"When I took office, there was a very high budget deficit, and one of the main policies of my Government has been to cut this deficit," he
says.
"We can't do that anymore. What about more privatisation?
"There really is not much left to sell."
Under Abdullah, Malaysia is moving to reduce reliance on manufacturing from about one-third of gross domestic product, where it was three years ago, to around 25 per cent in five years.
Malaysia has Asia's heaviest manufacturing reliance, even higher than chip-foundry-intensive Taiwan.
"We need new engines of growth," he says.
Now, as it emphasises services such as tourism, Malaysia has emerged as the biggest Asian destination for high-spending Arab tourists who have had difficulty obtaining visas to Europe and the United States in the
aftermath of Sept 11.
It is also developing new niches such as Islamic finance. Malaysia has more than half of the total global Islamic bond market.
It has emerged as one of three key centres for the recycling of Middle East petrodollars alongside Dubai and London.
Negotiations are now under way to bring Disney, Universal Studios or another large theme-park operation to Johor Baru.
In July, Abdullah announced the Government had earmarked US$3.4 billion for development of a Johor growth corridor.
"We look at Johor and Singapore as Shenzen and Hong Kong," he says.
YTL, a Malaysian construction group, has proposed a US$2.5 billion high-speed express train that would travel from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur in 90 minutes.
"These are all privately-funded initiatives that the Government is looking at," says Abdullah.
Yet as he tries to rebrand Malaysia, Abdullah is taking heavy incoming fire from his former boss and mentor, Dr Mahathir.
He has cut Mahathir-era mega projects and reined in the former strongman's cronies.
Three months ago, Abdullah cancelled the "crooked bridge" project that was to have replaced the Causeway connecting Singapore and Malaysia.
(Because Singapore had refused to dismantle its part of the old bridge, the new one had to be crooked.)
Abdullah has also taken a hard look at government subsidies for government-linked companies such as automaker Proton, Malaysia Airlines and utility firm Tenaga Nasional Bhd.
He has folded state enterprises under the umbrella of state investment arm Khazanah Holdings.
Khazanah is remaking itself into the mould of its Singapore counterpart Temasek Holdings, the city state's investment arm.
Rather than funnelling subsidies to local companies, Khazanah is looking outside Malaysia.
It has invested in Indian hospitals, Indonesian banks, a cellular phone company in Singapore and retailing ventures in China.
Dr Mahathir doesn't like what he sees. He has called Abdullah a "traitor" and accused him of "selling out" and "kowtowing" to Singapore
over the bridge flap and other matters.
He has also blasted Abdullah for refusing to help Proton, the national car project.
Under its trade commitments to other Southeast Asian neighbours, Malaysia is obligated to open its protected auto market to foreign competition, and Abdullah has been cutting tariffs in preparations for that eventual opening.
Dr Mahathir has criticised that move and said Abdullah had "no guts" when it comes to protecting national icons and national interests.
Earlier this month, Dr Mahathir called for Abdullah to step down immediately.
"I am not losing sleep over this," Abdullah says. The stakes are high in the Mahathir-Abdullah battle.
A protracted wrestling match could undermine business confidence and rattle the financial markets.
Other challenges loom. Abdullah is nudging Malaysian companies into alternative fuels as a hedge if energy prices tumble and to position
state oil company Petronas for a profitable future.
Others would like to see Abdullah do more to reform the long-standing affirmative action programmes designed to help underprivileged Malays but hurt the prospects for talented Chinese and Indian citizens.
That is a much more long-range goal for Abdullah.
"Rome was not built in a day. We need to keep growing the pie to be able to distribute it evenly and fairly," he says.
Abdullah may not attract the global headlines Dr Mahathir used to with his outbursts against the West and severe criticism of Israel.
However, in his quiet and determined way he is making his imprint on a Malaysia that looks like it's making a comeback. - Business Week
* The writer is a senior journalist who worked with Asiaweek for more than 15 years and has served in various international postings including Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Washington and Sydney. He now
writes for Business Week and the Institutional Investor.
(END)
Now you guys will understand why I've given up on the former broadsheet. They've shrunk the paper but the shit gets bigger! This Ass-if guy still writes for BusinessWeek? Must be thrashy mag.. Thanks Mr Rocky, we should have more such exposĂȘ!
ReplyDeleteWell, it is to be expected when you have your key minister telling potential investors they can take their investments elsewhere if they are not happy with Malaysia.
ReplyDeleteThat plus the soaring crime rate, bureaucratic procedures, rampaging corruptions, poor quality human resources, unfriendly equity policies, overt demonstration of anti Western feelings, and generally poor quality of life due to massive traffic problems, air and environment pollution etc. With so many other countries vying for investments, the investor is spoilt for choice.
What I am wondering about is what the numbers would be ex-Singapore investments which have been pretty big. I think we get close to Vietnam and below Thailand...
ReplyDeleteIt is for this very reason, NST is seling so few papers to day. There is no more credibility in its contents or its reporter.
ReplyDeleteAnother institution down the drain!
Hi Rocky,
ReplyDeleteI am back...sorry I can't stay away from your blogs anymore. Good to see an end to the discussion on racial dispute. Our country economical health is getting worse each day, I am glad you are highlighting it and moving away from over-heated racial debate. The figures are only for 2005, I believe the 2006 figures will be worse, with the wishy-washy flip- flop half-past six decisions.
Whoa, Rocky... Asif's article is BIG time bodek.. No spin, just bodekfull of crud.
ReplyDeleteAt least news of us slipping behind did make it into one of the mainstream papers.
BTW: Did u read Pak Bleagh's interview in the Star: "We don't lead by telling lies. Yadda..yadda. yakka. yakka..."
Sheesh. Who's is he kidding?
Cheerios
Rocky,
ReplyDeleteYour link to the NSUNT article is to a "main.exe" file?
Rocky!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all I do not trust any man wearing a toupet, or toupee.
Yes! Asif Shameen the man with the fake British drawl that he sometimes switched to American drawl wears false hair, he is a fake himself so what do we expect, no surprise he is also Kali's friend!
anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteGood to see an end to the discussion on racial dispute.
And I suppose the decline in FDIs in Malaysia while all other ASEAN countries are showing record FDI growth has nothing to do with it?
singapore's FDI got help from the "embezzlers"?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.singapore-window.org/sw06/
061012TE.HTM
INDONESIAN Corruption Watch (ICW) suspects that a large part of the Rp506.8 trillion (S$87 billion), in funds parked in Singapore is owned by former embezzlers of state and private national banks.
Teten Masduki, the Coordinator of ICW, said that there were in fact some law-abiding Indonesians who have assets and save their funds in Singapore.
However, the amount of these funds is relatively small compared to that of former embezzlers.
"It's a pity to see they still save their money there," Teten told Tempo.
His remark was in response to the result of Merrill Lynch and Capgemini's survey which reported that one-third of 55,000 Singapore's rich people are Indonesians.
The number reaches a total of 18,000 and their status is that of permanent residents (foreigners who have permanent stay permits) in Singapore.
The global financial organization estimates that the amount of assets of Indonesian people in Singapore is S$87 billion, or around Rp506.8 trillion.
Hi Anon who can't stay away fro my blog, You never left, actually, but now that you're back may I suggest you adopt a pseudonym, say Anti-Racist, so that you are not just, er, an Anonymous? Thank you and welcome back!
ReplyDeleteI am the anonymous who like to see an end to overheated racial dispute. NEP may have a noblity start to resolve the inequilities amongst Malaysia 3 major races. I was there when it was introduced and many, both locals and investors, supported the idea. When not abused, any investor can accept the allocation to spread wealth and peace. True enough, there was peace and, inspite of the many imperfections and abuses, there was also tremendous economical growth right until TDM premiership. Now NEP was all about Malay Tuanship and the Ks bring it out over and over again. Today, NEP mostly serves an elite few royalists and many, including foreigners, view it as a continuance racial divide instrument for abuse. After 49 years, who gained? Only 18% of 'royalists' controlling more than 40% of Malaysia wealth. So what did we do? Chinese Malaysians took the side of a Singaporean and accused their fellow critizens, the majority Malays, who never get to share or even smell the wealth, of marginalisation. In fact, many do not even know that NEP is there to help them. When we fight, FDI flows into Singapore. Luckily, every thing has a silver lining. Since we have brought out the pent-up feelings to the open (myself included); we demonstrated that we can discuss sensitive issues without going into May 13 frenzy. It is good. My humble advice is for everyone to bury the hatcher for now, and together fight for a better Malaysia where the Malays can feel more comfortable and the Chinese (also other races) less stressed. We can teach our childern the impossible, that is, to work together - sharing, forgiving and trusting. Do not let strife get the better of our generations. Plan for your election.
ReplyDeleteVital
Total FDI's into ASEAN increased by 44%. Despite this, not only did we manage to drop down the ranks but we also managed a lower FDI level when compared to 2004. Scary!
ReplyDeleteWhat was it certain lady said a few months ago.....if you don't like you can go elsewhere....looks like they have taken her advise. I really wish some people will wake up and stop the charade. Not only does the weather look bleak but so too does the year ahead.
Someone mentioned Rafidah Aziz? Oh no, now my day is spoilt for sure! You are right, anon, a bleak year awaits Malaysia. No amount of spin and quack spin docs can help our PM. Best to leave the GE till the 11th hour. He's already deferred the Umno polls! Even sacking Rafidah now won't help his ratings. It's too late!
ReplyDeleteDear Rocky,
ReplyDeleteWhat went wrong ?
Acording to The Star report,
"Economist Datuk Dr Zainal Aznam Yusof told a press conference yesterday that Malaysia had been losing its competitiveness over the last eight to 10 years due to a whole gamut of factors – among them shortage of human capital, pressure on wages, and increased competition from China, India and elsewhere."
I suspect there are more hidden factors that are not highlighted by Economist Datuk Dr Zainal Aznam.
Please enlightend us, the rakyat.
Sir,
ReplyDeleteThe likes of Asif Shameen makes you realise that Kalimullah and Brendan aren't the only mercenaries pretending to be journalists. And the PM said the Press is free! Yes, free to lien to misrepresent facts and to mislead in the name of the Towering Malay PM! And, no doubt, for the sake of their own greedy, dirty pockets.
Bro,
ReplyDeleteEveryone forgot to add RM1 billion (or more ?) promised by this Lebanese "nut" Elie Youssef Najem....well thats foreign investment right ? and yet again he makes the news in a tabloid ! Why give him this coverage in the first place ?
Now he's talking about mind boggling US15 billion ! Maybe the cancer council is still hoping....!One man who actually treats us as morons, is this Lebanese !!
And I seen him riding in our national car along old Klang road, free as a bird ! Isn't Interpol after him OR maybe he gets immunity now as an UMNO member !(the untouchables !)Must check with FIL !
shanghaistephen.
Someone hinted that this drop in the FDIs is race related...by this I guess they refer to the NEP and the current policies in place.
ReplyDeleteI don't think its got anything to do with race. The NEP was originally of good and noble intent. This now appears to have been manipulated and abused to the benefit of a few at the expenses of the rest, irrespective of race or religion. The drop in FDI is just one of the many reprecussion resulting from this abuse and manipultaion. This and the arrogance of the few elite.
*TypicalProgrammer*
ReplyDeleteOne of the reason of the decline would be the brain drain that we are currently suffering. It is such a pity that only the worst of our Oxford/oversea graduates decided to return. Then again that's why they returned, cause they just can't cut it if they don't have some sugar daddy or father in law to help them out. It doesn't help that our politician dismisses an research finding as rubbish instead of arguing in an intellect way. Could you imagine what other investor would think seeing our politician who are suppose to be the finest brains dismissing a research in a barbaric way instead of challenging it intellectually. Membodek is what our government is based on. The better you are at it the richer you get. So don't expect any constructive debate from our leaders.
Someone posted that the reason of decline is due to the NEP being implemented. There is some truth to this because MNC companies do not hire based on ethnicity. They hire based on capability and actually will hire a minority race/gender if two candidate are equivalent. MNCs believe in hiring based on skill instead of your race which is different compare to NEP where there must be a certain amount of bumi ownership regardless of capability. Most MNCs workaround NEP by hiring bumi for their DL (Direct Labour) workforce. That is why initially NEP was not an issue because Malaysia was attracting foreign companies for manufacturing. But as most of you all know India and China are fast overtaking us in terms of cost effectiveness in manufacturing, so there is a shift in role for Malaysia to become a RnD centre. Here is where the problem arise, unlike manufacturing you need real brain talent here. MNC are only willing to stay if our country are able to provide talented researchers and developers. This is where NEP becomes a nuisance, after decades of abusing the NEP the real bumi are left to fend on their own and most are neglected as only the the elite are capable to send their offspring to Oxford. Even scholarships are awarded to them instead to those who really cant afford it. So what is left are a majority of bumis are left with second class education if any and are unable to fullfill their fullest potential. The knock down effect is MNCs are reluctant to invest more projects here. Say all you like but go to any MNCs and chances are the majority of the professionals are not bumi. This companies will rather stop investing in our country then abide to NEP by hiring incapable bumis because they have an interest to take care off. Since the large chunk of opportunity of NEP only falls to the elite few most bumis are still lagging behind.
Hi, for the academics out there, the report can be downloaded for free at the following link:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.unctad.org/Templates/webflyer.asp?docid=7431&intItemID=3968&lang=1&mode=downloads
[UNCTAD.org, 4.8MB]
US$4 billion into the malaysian manufacturing sector in one year alone is not bad lah.
ReplyDeletebut singapore will get US$5 billion alone from each of its two big non-manufacturing projects -- the marina bay and sentosa integrated resorts with casinos.
Today was the turn of Rahman Maidin to speak. This guy came into MRCB, TV3 & NSTP from nowhere and left these companies with nothing, TV3 went into PN4 & NSTP was not far behind. Now he talks about rights. What about the rights of the stakeholders of these companies? Why is he also driving around with his Merc as though nothing went wrong? These are the cream of the 18%
ReplyDeletePlease remove the first link. What is the EXE file about?
ReplyDeleteRocky!
ReplyDeleteI know this is not a proper page for this comment, it should be about FDI, but this comment came out of "Tom Yam Coup". I still believe what I wrote then that someone should file a charge against Takhsin for atrocity committed in Southern Thailand. He should be detained in London then to be taken to the Hague to face the music over death of over hundreds of Thais in Southern Thailand, from the hands of soldiers under his command. He is now feeling the heat he wants to go back to Thailand, I was told someone had alerted this content under Tom Yam Coup in your blogsite, he's a bit jittery. The same happened to Gen Augosto Pinochet of Chile when he step foot in London he was arrested for killing thousands of Chileans, we want the same thing to happen to Takhsin! It was also reported former Timor Leste Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri is also blamed by the UN for killing in his country recently he will be charged! Irresponsible leaders must be taught a lesson, for in the end it is the people who elected them and they cannot use their power to kill them in return! International Human Rights Tribune and the World Court in the Hague please take note, arrest Takhsin, like Milosevic,and charge him for crime aginst humanity! Thank you Rocky!
----------------------------------
Here's a poser for the exiled Thailand Muslim leaders especially from PULO who is now having a good time in Sweden, squandering money from middle-eastern governments donors.
Why don't you monkeys lodge a human rights violations on Takhsin Shinawatra to the World Court for his (Takhsin)roles in the death of 112 (thereabouts) Muslim-Thai in southeren Thailand two years ago. Takhsin should be charged for gross violations of human rights when he ordered his soldiers to pile Thai-Muslims into army trucks where over hundreds died from suffocation. Then after the lodging of the complaint Takhsin can now be arrested place under internatinal police jusrisdiction until proper investigation can be conducted. Chile's Pinochet was also arrested when he stepped foot in England when charges were made by a citizen in Spain over his violations of human rights. Lukman Bin Lima, do this instead of fighting for your cause n Sweden where you are drinking beer and seen with many blonde Swedish women, lodge a report on Takhsin and you will be a hero and then arrest Takhsin before he leaves for Singapore!
2:52 PM
Pasquale ah, besides Thaksin, how about the Datuk who built a mansion and has evaded assessment. Why arrest someone we have no control over (read Thaksin)....get our own crooks who are on our doorsteps.Lets nip things in the bud before another prick insults his son who never consulted him on things nefarious. God help us but lets mind our own business unless the neighbour takes away our lunch.Zorro
ReplyDeleteHey Zorro Bongok!
ReplyDeleteTHis is a borderless world Pinocher (do you know Pinochet) was arrested on foreign land, Milosevic (do ypou know Milosevic) was arrested when he was in his country former Yugoslavia (do you know where Yugoslavia is) Yes Zorro a politician weith a huge mansion shoudlalsobe dealt with, but I am asking any patriotic Thai to lodge a complain to arrst Takhsin for crime against humanity, he threw Muslims in a truck they died of asphyxsiation (sp?)
So Zorro not only you are a Bongok but you canalso duck a duck) so there!
Dear anonymous,
ReplyDeleteYou keep harping that the intent of NEP is good. But who the hell is arguing that the intent of the NEP is not good?
Yes the intent is good. So? When the medicine that was supposed to cure our ails cause an even more malignant cancer, and when the practioners and profiteers of this racket cannot have the guts to admit it, then we're all royally **cked. 'When not abused...'.. oh puhlease. Tell that to heroin addicts, from whom I find striking parallels with current situation.
So maybe, just maybe it is time to stop all the apologia and hand-wringing about why it was with blessed intent, and start bracing up to the brick wall of globalization that is about to whack us in the face while we are all too stoned in righteousness to respond.
Pasquale,
ReplyDeleteI/We hear you ok but for heavens sake, please stay on topic.
Thailand is making better progress in wanting change compared to us who seems stuck in a perpetual stasis (no, thanks to our village idiot "I am the PM" PM).
This FDI downturn is serious. Our nation's economic pie will get ever smaller and it can lead to social upheavel among us because the Umnoputras/cronies are not taking their grubby fingers out.
I admire your passion. Use it diligently, bro.
shar101, the topic is about no leaders in the world ahould be allowed to order killing of their citizens and expect to get away from it, progress does not justify taking lives, packing hundreds of innocent people in a truck killing them in the process, it is inhumane, cruel and evil!
ReplyDelete*TypicalProgrammer*
ReplyDeletePasquele,
I see you stop calling people morons and now resort to calling people bongok. What you are doing is no different then what the government is currently doing which is preventing one from voicing out they own comment. You dismissing someone opinion as if it is 'rubbish' like some minister (are you him by btw?). I agree we should bring Thaksin to court and let him be given a fair trial. Here is were logic kicks in and not bongok name calling. Can you do anything about it beside posting a comment? Are you able to influence a decision? If you are by all means go ahead and dont waste you time posting here. If not then concentrate on the realistic contribution that you can give to make everyone lifes including yours better than wasting your time calling other people morons and bongok. I might add that championing your cause it this blog is so wrong since you are off topic and your impact is minimal. Your post itself lack pro-active suggestion to rectify the situation instead it is fill with your request asking/instructing other to do the job but not yourself. All you say is someone has to do something and it isn't you. It is so easy to just ask someone to catch them then do it yourself huh? If they do catch him i bet you will be the one to take the credit because you posted it here and leaders of the world read your post here IMHO. Staying to the topic, I suggest that you Pasquele do something about the decline in FDI than spinning this comment to another topic like what the goverment does when it faces a big problem. FDI is an important factor not only for growth but sustaining our economy. All our non-UMNO bumis will suffer with this decline. This unlike Thaksin I believe we can make a different regardless how small and it will save and make more lives. So there.
Typicalprogrammer. thanks. We have to be patient with some people, especially those whose creativity is limited to name calling. I have been reading some of his postings on this blog. Conclusion. His fart seems to have more substance than the stuff he posts on this blog. Sorry, rocky that some poeple has this audacity to usurp your domain.Sleep well magpie. Zorro (hopes to ride again another day).
ReplyDeleteThe last time we relaxed the NEP requirements for FDIs, they came back in droves. And that's what should be done again. Drop the NEP requirement for FDIs regardless of whichever industry so that the people approving licenses won't ask "what's in it for me?" before causing the potential investor to leave in disgust.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, open up the incentives to all industries, not just the preferred ones that's in the Mida book. The immediate priority is not about trying to game bio/nano/info techs but to create jobs and build foreign exchange. Considering that even Singapore bioscience graduates are working as salesmen, that makes sense.
Thirdly, open up the market. Zero import or excise duties. All products and services. Make Malaysia a sensational place for people to come and do business. As HK moves away from laisser faire, we move towards it to fill the global vacuum. Minimise government intervention to workers welfare, product safety standards and environmental compliances. Holding on to present protectionist measures for local industries is no different from trying to do import substitution. That's the fastest way to dry up interest from people who can come to park their products, ideas and money.
Fourthly, review the performances of the agencies, especially the present policies and people. The first to check is the Home Ministry's Immigration Office - is there a hidden agenda to prefer indonesian immigrants than those from China or India? Find out what and who. Do real journalistic investigation on this one. You'll be horrified by the truth. Turn it around so that people from China and India will be preferred to be given resettlement in this country, after due screening that they don't have criminal backgrounds. This change of focus will complement the next suggestion..which is
Fifthly, make China and India the strategic alliance prong for Malaysia. Once we redeem ourselves for the earsquat fiasco and the flats raid, they may just see it fit to come again and not just as tourists or restaurant workers. There is an artisan programme for Chinese workers. Expand that to all skillsets, especially technology and municipality development; you will find that they are way ahead of us, or even Singapore, for that matter.
Now, before this paragraph ends, get off the schizophrenic fear that the malay influence will be overwhelmed and the culture weakened, and the country taken over. The notion of what constitutes a country, and the attendant notions of what constitutes culture, lifestyle, language etc. have to change if we are to avoid heading back to being kampungs of third-world excellence in first-world futures.
Sixth, clean up the government, both federal and state, domestic and overseas-based. Set KPIs for individual performances, regardless how lowly the post. How many standard forms processed with zero error in n-minutes, how many new projects completed within budget, etc. Three counts - and out. Review job positions and postings. As the economy expands from proper measures, the need to carry one million civil servants drops. They can be even more gainfully employed in the private sector. Even outsourcing some of the positions can help, not just to improve efficiencies and evict dead wood, but also to cut the link between politics and executive leakages.
Seventh, promote true meritocracy in education. The best scorers get exactly what they chose, wherever they want to study. The lecturing, teaching and training professions get a new lifeline that it needs. No racial politics or affirmative policies in this one. And education policies are to be bottom-up, not top-down. For too long have they been used and politicised. Let the people and the market decide. If they want chinese education, build a teacher training institute for them, get in language teachers from China (filter for ideology), and expand the number of Chinese schools. Don't waste your time talking about national schools warped and skewed by racists in Umno and the MOE, or with people who continue to adduce drug-induced reasons otherwise.
Eighth, replace the NEP with a new poverty eradication index and foundation. Wealth will be distributed from that foundation to the poorest strata independent of race. Whether wealth is cash or equity, leave it to the foundation management which will comprise both government and private sector, and openly transparent. Things like 7% discount for bumi home buyers can go; if they can buy a two hundred K house, they are earning the income that disqualifies them from what the NEP has defined.
Ninth, change the mindsets. Stop pandering to religious and kampung mentalities. Start creating new bars of performance, excellence and quality thinking. Let this start with the government and see in progress into the private sector; let the waves of investors help in the process. Apply the transformations everywhere.
Tenth, liberalise the media and cut the umbilical cord from executive to judiciary. Let them be independent of the government of the day so that they can fufill their roles for the rakyat, voters of the government which hamstrings the two wings of watchdogging/monitoring. Governments must have a disciplinary board against themselves because once you get a blank cheque, you WILL make the maximum amount to yourself.
Eleventh, make this country neat and livable again. Exciting even. Modernize all town, city and district administrations. Review how contracts are being awarded, and upgrade the way exterior designs are made. Review tender procedures at state levels, nail the culprits, and get the right people to do the right things without leakages. Less wastage, more to provide and better the quality. A simple example - trees to provide shade to soften the heat along roads. Another - stop turning this country into billboard country; remove all the stupid humps in housing estates. If a guy speeds in one, he's insane and should be consigned. They do nothing but destroy your potong's suspension and brake pads.
Twelveth, champion the acquisition and use of knowledge. Make this society a learned, learning and learnable one. Make company accounts so transparent that you can even find out how much a bank branch spends on bullets for the shotgun of the guard last quarter. So too, for the public sector. Give the auditor-general full powers to haul up to the anti-corruption agency, now made independent and answerable only to Parliament, any government official even remotely suspected of corruption or abuse of office. Nothing to do with Umno here. Start with the melaka tower and media room projects. Work into the mindef contracts for spare-parts supply and inventory levels, finesse tolled roads..the list is long and your patience is wearing thin reading this.
So..i stop.
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