Get rid of the God Complex
January 27, 2012
Get Rid of the God Complex
A Very Good Morning to you. Listen to Tim Harford’s presentation on the Value of Trial and Error. This video is dedicated to politicians including the Great One (Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad) and others in Malaysia with “God Complex”, who think they have answers to everything. God Forbid, if they should populate and rule the world. We have seen many of these characters throughout history like Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and Idi Amin in the 20th century.–Din Merican
”When a politician stands up, campaigning for elected office and says I want to fix our education system, our health care system, I have no idea how to do it. I have half-a-dozen ideas; we’re gonna test them out; they’ll probably all fail; then we’ll test some other ideas out; we’ll find some that work; we’ll build on those; we’ll get rid of the one’s that don’t. When a politician campaigns on that platform, and more important, when voters like you and me are willing to vote for that kind of politician, then I will admit that it is obvious that trial and error works…”–Tim Harford
Tim Harford (born 1973) is an English economist and journalist, residing in London. He is the author of four economics books (Adapt, Dear Undercover Economist, The Logic of Life and The Undercover Economist) , presenter of BBC television series Trust Me, I’m an Economist, and writer of a humorous weekly column called “Dear Economist” for The Financial Times, in which he uses economic theory to attempt to solve readers’ personal problems. His other FT column, “The Undercover Economist“, is syndicated in Slate magazine.
Harford studied at Aylesbury Grammar School and then at the University of Oxford, gaining a BA and then an MPhil in Economics in 1998. He joined the Financial Times in 2003 on a fellowship in commemoration of the business columnist Peter Martin. He continued to write his column after joining the International Finance Corporation in 2004, and re-joined the Financial Times as economics leader writer in April 2006. He is also a member of the newspaper’s editorial board.
In October 2007, Harford replaced Andrew Dilnot on the BBC Radio 4 series More or Less. He is a visiting fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford.–wikipedia.
We do not need too many Gurus and Gods around. But we do need lots of common sense, and the “Dare to Fail” spirit. We need to adapt to change and see reality for what it really is. Rely on experimentation and evidence. Everything else is bunkum (or meaningless political claptrap).- -Din Merican
dinobeano - January 27, 2012 at 10:41 am
examples of god complex
“only BN can manage the country”
“only PR can save the country”
“asalkan bukan umno”
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Yes, Kassim, you are right. There is God, not Gods. Never trust politicians who claim to have all the answers (good and great answers) to all our problems. Such types are snake oil salesmen. A successful politician is someone who is a servant-leader. He works with people and together, they find solutions to problems by trial and error.–Din Merican
kassim - January 27, 2012 at 11:13 am
One principal reason for God complex is lack of humility. We are here to serve not be served. Bob Dylan in his Slow Train Coming has got a song entitled Gotta Serve Somebody.
It is anathema for any politician especially Asian politicians to go on stage to say I do not know everything. They are expected to look and sound macho (preferably) and at least pretend that they know everything. That’s why they tend to be prescriptive when talking to their audience. Both, them and us dancing to the same tango.We expect them thus and they merely deliver what we asked for or say what we want to hear.
Political activism is still in its infancy and even frowned upon in some parts of Malaysia. Our elders always tell the young leave politics to the politicians. Silo thinking inculcated since primary schooling.
It will take some time for us to move to “issues” and be more assertive as a collective block. Hopefully, the young now with better access to information and wider network of contacts through social media will harness these tools for more meaningful participation in the political process. Only then this God complex can be kept in check.
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Most eloquently stated, bro. Thanks.–Din Merican
ARMS728 - January 27, 2012 at 12:11 pm
Well, i can relate with the “god complex”.
It’s like a failed HRT (hormone replacement therapy) trial for postmenopausal women, when the cohorts were obviously wrong.
Our present crop of pro-Establishment politicians are frustrated, sexual deviants of slanted moral standards. They suffer from debilitating terminal hormonal imbalance. They employ hard-wired ‘business and advertising’ drones in Pemandu, who play look at numbers and statistics without understanding the human complexities and dimensions that are involved in making large-scale policy decisions.
Therefore, what we have today is a veritable Zoo of Acronyms, which the normal man-in-the street will deem as gobbledygook. We want end-points and result orientated Governance in easily understood terms – not with Trial and Error easily reproachable Acronyms. We need established empirical data, not cooked mythical numbers from the fervid minds of control freaks who think they know, but don’t..
We do not have the time or luxury for trial and error, as we have failed in “nation building” over the past 2 generations. We have to start from the basics and proceed with caution. There is no longer any need for ‘double-blind’ studies. We do not need Populist policies or the Enigmatic “Lu tolong gua, gua tolong lu” syndrome. Lead, not plead. Tell me different.
C.L. Familiaris - January 27, 2012 at 2:24 pm
*Syed Mokhtar – Wah! Bigger than Gomen?*
The rice we eat – his,
Sugar – his,
Piped gas – his,
Postal services – his,
Airport services – his,
Rubbish collection – his.
Major ports, roads, electricity, other major infrastructures of this
country.
Now national car ……. and train services
And wait ……..
OUR BANKS AS WELL AT THIS POINT ……. he owes RM30 billion!!!
Technically, he owns all of us. Profit and cash flows, he and the hantus behind him take, risks and debts, all belong to taxpayers – YOU AND ME – SUCKERS!!!
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — The addition of national carmaker Proton to Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary’s growing empire yesterday has economists concerned
that too much strategic corporate wealth is being accumulated in the hands of an elite few in the country.
Apart from Proton, the media-shy tycoon recently acquired Pos Malaysia, also from state investment arm Khazanah, and is reportedly pursuing rail service operator KTM. He is also poised to enter the telecommunications space via newcomer Puncak Semangat, which was reported to be among the biggest winners of 4G spectrum allocations.
His flagship enterprises — MMC Corp and DRB-Hicom — are also involved in a wide array of nationally strategic sectors and industries from the KL MRT project to multi-billion defence contracts, from rice and sugar to ports and independent power generation.
“Concentration of corporate wealth in an elite few is not good for any economic system,” said Edmund Terence Gomez, a political economist with the University of Malaya when asked about Khazanah’s move to sell its stake to Syed Mokhtar’s DRB-Hicom. “The state should be concerned about concentration of wealth.”
The economist also questioned whether a diversified conglomerate such as
DRB Hicom was the best option to bring Proton to greater heights and said
he preferred if the state remained the controlling stakeholder and ensured
that the company was professionally run.
He noted that many public projects had been entrusted to diversified conglomerates — the former Renong group being one of them — in the heyday of privatisation, but they in the end had to be re-nationalised and the government appeared not to be heeding the lessons of the past.
“It (privatising national assets to diversified holding companies) didn’t work in the past, how sure are we that it will work now?” asked Gomez.
The debt burden collectively shouldered by Syed Mokhtar’s companies, which is widely estimated to be about RM30 billion, could be another cause for concern.
“During the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis, the problem faced by Malaysian banks was that it was a small number of firms that owed a huge amount of money,” noted Gomez.
RAM Ratings chief economist Yeah Kim Leng said it would be more prudent for the economy to be less concentrated within a few hands.
“They key is to ensure that strategic businesses are not overly concentrated so as to reduce systemic risk and so that the moral hazard risk of government bailouts does not kick in,” he said.
He added that it would be best for the economy to have a diverse entrepreneurship and ownership base and having so much strategic corporate ownership with one individual raises concerns that such an individual would have undue market power over the country.
Yeah said that following the sale of Khazanah’s stake in Proton to DRB-Hicom, there should be no more subsidies or tariff protections for the new owner.
“Level the playing field for all carmakers so the Malaysian public can look forward to more variety and cheaper cars,” he said.
Cheong Kee Cheok, a senior research fellow at the Faculty of Economics and Administration at University of Malaya, said that while the Najib administration was pushing for liberalisation, he did not see the divestment of Khazanah’s stake to DRB-Hicom as keeping with the true spirit of liberalisation.
“If you allow GM or Volkswagen to buy the stake, then that’s liberalisation,” he said.
One industry observer however has defended Syed Mokhtar’s involvement in so many strategic sectors, saying that the businessman has proven himself to be a builder and not a trader who is only interested in buying and selling companies for profit.
“He is not a short-term player and has not sold any of his businesses,” said the observer. “He did not start off at the top but worked his way up and came through the school of hard knocks.”
Khazanah said in a statement yesterday that DRB-Hicom’s proposed strategy and business plan provides an effective platform to enhance Proton’s sustainability and it had also submitted an offer price that was acceptable to Khazanah.
Khazanah and MMC failed to respond to requests for comment as at the time of publication of this article.
tourman53 - January 27, 2012 at 4:34 pm
Dato’ – if you have inserted Dylan’s clip, thank you very much. It is I who should thank you for giving me the space to learn and share my thoughts.
tourman53 – in the process of these material acquisitions he probably lost his gonads..he he
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ARMS728,
I was curious to find out about the song you mentioned and I think, it is a great one by Bob Dylan. As I have always said,we all can learn from one another. This blog serves its purpose when that happens. We are here not to take pot shots at others but to share knowledge and exchange ideas. I do not have the time to read everything, but when someone like you mentions something I have yet to come across, I will find out and then I will read it. Take care.–Din Merican
ARMS728 - January 27, 2012 at 6:27 pm
Trial and error? Isn’t that what our government does all the time? Of course they left out the essential part of it, learning from their mistakes.
didi - January 27, 2012 at 6:37 pm
The overriding objective of Malaysian politicians is to concentrate power and wealth for themselves. Achieving this is through devout efforts.
Way down below is the supplementary objective of serving the nation. This is being carried out by trial and error…
Jamal Majid - January 27, 2012 at 7:01 pm
Din,
You know engineers including me love the method of trial & error. Of course, we do it in a more systematic way plus just like doctors, we need to set priorities especially when time is a luxury
looes74 - January 27, 2012 at 11:47 pm
This poor soul TS Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary – everything that has been thrust upon him, he carries on his back like carrying a Mountain, in part ” gold” , in the most part ” iron & rusts “, and the rest rubbish dumped on him by UMNO bucaneers seeking easy way out for wealth they dont deserve….
All b’coz of his Quality called Trust….more & more being dumped on him.
Abnizar - January 28, 2012 at 9:43 am
This poor soul TS Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary – Abnizar
This guy is listed as top 10 richest man in Malaysia, he’s not poor.
It’s all in the game, give him all the privatization in return for generous 10-30-% cut off the top and lots of Lu tolong waa, waa tolong lu funds for GE.
webelos - January 28, 2012 at 1:03 pm
correct….correct….correct…. webelos !
Btw, can we all do a “Linggam” tape here of what Dr M & his team did ” there” , so that we may know what proportion went here and there ? Where ?
Abnizar7 - January 28, 2012 at 4:06 pm