September 13, 2010
Straight Talk: 6% Economic Growth: Fact or Fantasy
by Gavin Khoo Kay Peng (September 11, 2010)
PM Najib announced the country is poised to grow by at least six per cent this year fuelled mainly by domestic demand. An immediate reaction from some segments of the public and people on the street is that they do not feel the growth.
The government should not merely focus on growth numbers which can be quite misleading and not reflective of the situation on the street.
There are several economic reform and development issues which have not seen much progress lately:
1) The focus of current political debate on economic policy especially the NEM and NEP has taken a very narrow path of destructive racial rhetoric. The government should not allow such an important discourse to take such a course. The government should find out what is wrong with the NEP. Admittedly, a number of leaders had acknowledged the weaknesses of NEP. In response, the PM even came out with a new policy direction, the NEM. PM Najib should focus on correcting the policy weaknesses and work to enhance public confidence on his NEM which was half announced.
2) It is quite obvious that the local economy has been overly dependent on resource based industries. Apart from the resource based industries e.g. oil & gas, palm oil and rubber, the manufacturing, services and tourism industries are lacklustre. Malaysia’s regional economic corridors are not attracting investors. These corridors are just another real estate projects without the support of any economic cluster. This is another reason why the government should not focus merely on growth figures.
3) Apart from a lack of economic success story, local and foreign investors are spooked by the high
profile failures of public projects such as the PKFZ, Bakun Dam, Cyberjaya and a host of other projects. The government must not take these failures lightly. Najib administration must address these problems and introduce a comprehensive structure to ensure that public funds are not wasted on useless and wasteful projects. Limited resources should be used to bring vibrancy back to the Malaysian economy.
Act with Resolve, Mr. Prime Minister
4) The government is still on its denial mode regarding the quality of local education. Malaysian universities performed very poorly on global education ratings. It is granted that these ratings may not represent the quality of education in the country but they provide a good yard stick to measure the progress of our universities. Without a total review of the eduction system, there is very little sustainable economic reform can be achieved. Malaysia’s hope to move up the economic value chain to become a knowledge economy will remain a grand vision or a pipe dream.
5) The government spoke about enhancing income per capita from USD6k to USD15k by 2015. Doubling the per capita income will truly help local industries through enhanced consumption power. This is a bold commitment but we are interested to know how the government is going to achieve this milestone. Without an integrated policy coordination and implementation, it is hard to see how the government can move the economy away from its low cost/ low salary orientation.
It is obvious that the government has taken the wrong priorities. It has wasted too much energy and resources on negative and destructive issues such as the Namewee video, race supremacy, political contestation with Pakatan, religious rows, internet censorship and others.
We need both the PM and the BN government to stay focus on the socio-economic challenges and issues. Words, slogans and more slogans will not get us anywhere.
http://khookaypeng.blogspot.com
Din Merican: the Malaysian DJ Blogger 
We are a nation of slogans. Each time there is a new Prime Minister, a new set of slogans would take to the air. At one time it was ‘Bersih, Cekap Amanah’ followed by ‘Malaysia Boleh’ ‘Malaysia Incorporated’ and now ‘1Malaysia’. Nations are not built around slogans.
And like fools the country’s intelligentsia would take to debating in forums, blogs and over the media what each of these labels means. When are we going to learn??
This Government speaks big but in real action does nothing towards enhancing what needs to be done. The basic Rule of Law and Governance has not been addressed. The independence of the Judiciary has not been addressed. I will repeat this ad nauseam because we cannot keep speaking about the Bigger picture if all this is not reformed and done immediately.
What does he think his job as PM is? To look nice in his Zegna ties? Anyway he shouldnt be able to afford Zegna ties on a PM salary! We demand to know how he can afford his Zegna ties?He has become a PM when the Malaysians are the most outspoken and demanding for change. This is not a period of honeymoon for him. Hard decisions have to be made to make real change for the sake of the country and to later realise this higher income status. People in his cabinet should be working hard not just politiking as usual and yapping away day after day after day and delivering nothing. Points 1-5 in the article says it all . What is he as the PM going to do about it? How is he going to lead on these issues. He must lead the country to change. To lead he has to have courage if not dont bother.
I do believe that the goals set are achievable IF AND ONLY IF, the government is FOCUSED AND DEDICATED in developing the economy.
Lets us do a NUJUM PAK BELALANG (my favorite Malay novel in much younger and innocent days):
Conditions Precedent: (1) All Malaysians are equal (2) All Malaysians acknowledge that families of lower incomes and graduates needs guidance and opportunities (3) The government is dedicated to improve economic performance (4) leakages and non performing assets or projects are removed (5) government resources and revenues are focused into achieving competitive advantages (6) a technologically oriented and skilled workforce is developed.
AN EXAMPLE:
Goals: (1) Develop competitive breakthroughs for existing industrial and agri sectors through (a) acquisition of new technology knowledge base by using government funds to acquire offshore companies developing new technologies and transferring knowledge base to Malaysia. (b) develop and place Malaysians into such companies (c) develop an Employee Stock Ownership Program (ESOP – preferential for low incomes and skilled people) to retain them and to stimulate growth of such companies, and put a truly qualified venture capitalist and technology leader and funding to make them work.
RUBBER industry – the curse of the rubber industry remains the production and the transfer of such materials. The Malaysian Rubber Institute was the forefront in developing extraction, processing and export of rubber when we all were young. Now, we dont hear about the MIRR anymore. Imagine, IF the billions that we pumped into stupid projects such as Bakun was pumped into MIRR? We could have hired the world’s leading rubber or polymer scientists, put them in a palace, have them teach our people to research on the potential of natural rubber, to develop new products, to develop efficient production techniques, etc. We could still be an agri production country, but with the control or the knowledge of how to make rubber a product of higher demand and value. The same for palm oil.
But instead, we put money into depreciable assets such as Petronas Twin Towers, some jokers to the Moon for a trip or two, submarines that wont dive, armored cars that cannot fire on the run, the list goes on and on.
The truth is, we need true leaders to make Malaysia a better place. All we still are Pak Belalangs. Somehow in the last thirty years, thievery has overtaken nationalists in our country. We owe it to ourselves to change this so that our beautiful country dont go to the dogs.
“What does he think his job as PM is? To look nice in his Zegna ties? Anyway he shouldnt be able to afford Zegna ties on a PM salary! We demand to know how he can afford his Zegna ties?” Kat
C’mon Kat! He should be able to afford some clip-on thongs and net-G string underwear to match with Aurelie Claudel’s Victoria Secrets’. We would like our PM to be seen in sexy G-strings, thongs by Good Devil, PPU or Speedos. They only cost about US$30 each. We don’t want our PM to be seen in cheap underwear with holes in them. Do you? Malaysia is already a laughingstock of the world. Let’s not make our prime minister the butt of jokes in every bar and strip joints all over. Parliament should table Prime Minister’s Underwear Bill at the next session to make sure he has enough money.
http://www.mensuas.com/
You are so right. He has to have the look Mr Bean. However a US $30 tie in US of A costs about RM 600 in M’sia. So I do agree we have to have a legislation so that costs of all Ministers wear ( and under) be tabled debated and passed , if reasonable so as not to look shoddy! That is very progressive idea . It should be picked up on so that they are accountbale to the massess/tax payers!
However the PM has to get serious about change. He has to have the courage to change despite the past and the people who want him to cower and not make sweeping changes everywhere,despite certain people of the past who want him to be scared off.
“However, the PM has to get serious about change.” Kat
Change? Sure. We don’t want our Prime Minister to be caught wearing the same underwear.