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Najib’s indecision to introduce genuine liberalisation major cause of present calamitous economic situation

By Dr. Chen Man Hin

PM NAJIB MUST INTENSIFY HIS EFFORT TO IMPROVE THE ECONOMY QUICKLY OR THE PEOPLE WILL SUFFER MORE WITH INCREASING UNEMPLOYMENT BECAUSE OF POORER BUSINESS ACTIVITY, CLOSURE OF MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES, UNEMPLOYMENT AND LOWER INCOME TO BUY FOOD AND ESSENTIALS FOR THE FAMILY

The world economic credit crunch and economic downturn has begun to create havoc for the malaysian economy, and this despite the announcement of two stimulus financial packages and liberalisation of services.

On becoming Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak proudly announced his 1 Malaysia, People First and Performance Now program. He was quite sure that the economy would not be affected by the global crunch.

However, with the fanfare and the shouting over, the economy has not shown signs of getting better. On the contrary it is getting worse.

PM Najib has recently admitted that ‘Malaysia had experienced a 6.2 percent contraction in the GDP in the first quarter of this year, with a similar contraction expected for the second quarter.’

He revised the contraction for the whole year 2009 to be from -1% to a contraction between 4 and 5 per cent. Independent analysts expect a 7% contraction.

SEVERE CONTRACTION OF BUSINESS INVESTMENTS

The global recession has caused a sharp drop of manufacturing exports, causing many factories to close down.

The hope for foreign and domestic investments to counter a recession has fallen flat. Najib revealed that last year there was a drop of 21% in foreign investments. For this year, he expected FDIs (foreign direct investments) to drop by 50 – 60%. Foreign direct investments are shrinking around the world and Malaysia has to compete with other countries of the world for a diminishing foreign investments cake.

Najib made a high-profile visit to China. Other than signing a plethora of MOUs, he did not bring back any substantial foreign investments.

The main reason for the failure to attract FDIs is the New Economic Policy, which has driven away foreigners who were initially attracted to invest in Malaysia.

NAJIB’S INDECISION TO INTRODUCE GENUINE LIBERALISATION TO THE ECONOMY IS A MAJOR CAUSE OF THE PRESENT CALAMITOUS ECONOMIC SITUATION.

He has offered some cosmetic measures like liberalising the services sector which are useful but will not attract foreign investments that really matter. The reason why Malaysia and United States of America could not reach a free trade agreement (FTA) is the matter of procurement, which the NEP cannot liberalise, as it is a policy matter to protect bumiputra investors.

The Prime Minister is in a dilemma which he openly admitted. If he were to remove the NEP, he would be damned by the bumiputras. If he does not, he would be damned by foreign investors.

NATIONAL INTEREST AND ECONOMIC SURVIVAL MUST COME FIRST. THE FIRST AND BASIC PRINICIPLE IS THAT THE ECONOMIC CAKE MUST GROW FAST IN ORDER TO HAVE SUFFICIENT PORTIONS FOR ALL TO BENEFIT FROM.

40 years of the NEP has revealed the stark fact, that the national economy has suffered when compared to other Asian countries like South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. Their economies have been leaping forward but Malaysia has been limping along.

40 years ago Malaysia had the second highest per capita income in Asia after Japan. Today Malaysia is way behind with a nominal pci of US$6,000 compared with S Korea USR$19,000, Taiwan US$18,000, Hongkong US$30,000 and Singapore US$34,000. Bear in mind that Malaysia has vast natural resources with zero resources for Hong Kong and Singapore. Without the natural resources, Malaysia would be a banana republic.

PM NAJIB MUST ENGINEER AN ECONOMIC POLICY THAT WILL ALLOW FOR UNLIMITED GROWTH AND PRODUCTIVITY, SO THAT ALL MALAYSIANS CAN ENJOY A BETTER LIFE. GROW THE ECONOMY FIRST AND THERE WILL BE ENOUGH FOR DISTRIBUTION..

Najib’s visit to China should have opened his eyes and found out what made China tick to become the third largest economy after USA and Japan. The secret of China’s giant leap from 1974 as a poor Asian couintry to become an economic giant lies in its policy of liberalisation and a market economy. It gave up its socialist economy for a market economy like Usa and Japan.

MALAYSIA MUST LIBERALISE AND GIVE UP THE OLD NEP FOR A LIBERAL MODERN MARKET ECONOMY AND JOIN THE WORLD OF DEVELOPED NATIONS.

FOR BUMIPUTRAS, THE CONSTITUTION GUARANTEES THEM PROTECTION AND ASSISTANCE FOR THE POOR AND UNDERPRIVILEGED, EDUCATION AND GUIDANCE TO WEAN THEM AWAY FROM HANDOUTS, AND LEARN TO BE ACHIEVERS AND WINNERS.

THE DAP URGES THE PRIME MINISTER TO DECIDE AND ACT NOW OR MALAYSIA WILL SINK DEEPER INTO THE MORASS OF POVERTY AND ECONOMIC RECESSION.

29 Replies to “Najib’s indecision to introduce genuine liberalisation major cause of present calamitous economic situation”

  1. well…like what i used to tell my Malay friend about the NEP…they never admit it was the roof cause of economic lagging, rather they would say Malaysia just using a more stable trend to develop..

    If I were Najib, I would rather get support of the Malay than the foreign investor…at least I still get my pay-cheque every month…

  2. The economy is certainly not improving. In Kepong, where I am staying there are many snatch theft cases these days, an increase in the number of beggars in coffee shops and jobless men in the Sunday wet market selling Chinese snacks.

    Although there are still people buying properties, the response is somewhat not as great as last year.

    I know of a factory which has cut down working hours as well.

  3. The Prime Minister is in a dilemma which he openly admitted. If he were to remove the NEP, he would be damned by the bumiputras. If he does not, he would be damned by foreign investors. Dr Chen

    A few observations here from the statement above. First, it is not just foreign investors who are against the over-regulated, over-controlled “NEP” economy. All Malaysians, including the bumi suffer.

    It is only a perception that bumi will suffer when NEP is removed. The reality is our over regulated and renting seeking economy has sapped the nation of its vitality. If the economy is not growing, there is nothing much to distribute.

    Despite whatever criticism we may have against capitalist economy, it is time we free the Malaysian economy. Let the market economy works and let the free enterprise reigns. The best protector of people’s well-being is to free them and allowing them the ability to generate income and wealth, not the never ending rhetoric about who control this and who get that. If in the process we have made people unevenly rich, it is at least better than making everybody poor. When Taiwan first started its economic push, income distribution initially became more uneven. Today, everybody has become richer.

    I know this has been said ad nauseam. Before the advent of privatisation, state enterprises, statutory bodies, government linked corporations and monopolies, it was only the government service that is inefficient. Now, if your stretch your imagination a little, so many sectors and industries are managed and operated with the same government inefficiency. China is trying its level best to get rid of state enterprises (because of its communist legacy), we here are still setting them up like mushrooms.

    We have nincompoops running development banks, morons managing toll roads and public transportation, and corrupters presiding national economic, trade and labour policies.

  4. UMNO has no depth in economic management. They only have depth in economic mismanagement.

    Look at Amirsham, the new NEAC Chairman. Towards the end of his career at Maybank, he bought (or was told to buy) banks in Pakistan, Vietnam and Indonesia, all at inflated prices. Which idiot would pay 4 – 5 times book for banks when even banks in HK go for about 3 times book ?

    Look at the merry-go-round amongst the GLCs. You get to be CEO or CFO, and you get a datukship. Then you get to rotate amongst the GLCs almost like an exclusive club. Badawi made a big splash about KPIs for GLCs. Nothing happened. All the GLC heads asked “what KPIs?”

    There is no prioritisation, only piratisation. They spent billions on corridors that go nowhere. These have now more or less come to a halt, because there is no money. Bailouts happen to be their priority, especially for the PKFZ scandal.

    We are in deep sh!t, and the problem will deteriorate as soon as we realise that we become a net importer of oil in 2013/2014. By then, perhaps the carcass of the dead cat will be kicked over to PR for “management”.

  6. And did the government ever realize that the 5% Service Tax is what is stopping people from patronizing restaurants? This stupid tax has been introduced during boom time but with the decline in economy, shouldn’t the government just remove it to stimulate business?????

  7. Godfather Says:

    Today at 08: 30.11 (1 hour ago)
    UMNO has no depth in economic management. They only have depth in economic mismanagement.

    Look at Amirsham, the new NEAC Chairman. Towards the end of his career …”

    that’s what happens when you put cockroaches in charge.

  9. Since when the Ketuanan Melayu UMNO are known for their ability to manage the economy of the country…Malaysians are simply lucky to be blessed with petroleum…which require no brains to abstract from the wells…so a lucky country is by no mean a capable country!
    These UMNO clowns are drunk with false successes…no problems, she’ll be fine….

  10. Here’s more proof of how badly the UMNOputra’s have mismanaged the economy.

    Go take a look at the World Investment Report 2008.
    For the year 2007, Malaysia’s FDI flows were:
    FDI inflow: USD8.4 billion
    FDI outflow: USD 10.9 billion!

    That means Malaysia has a negative net FDI flow! This is even worse than 2006( FDI inflow: USD 6 billion, FDI outflow: USD 6 billion)

    This means we have not have a positive FDI flow since 2006! And remember this was before 2008 elections. So people like Dr. M cannot blame the political instability as the cause of our economic malaise.

    If you look through the report, only highly developed countries like South Korea and Taiwan have negative FDI flows. Even Singapore still has positive flows. (Singapore 2007 FDI inflow: USD 24 billion, outflow: USD 12 billion)

    This 10.9 billion outflow can probably be traced back to our pretentious GLC companies (like Proton, Telekom and Maybank) spending heavily buying and investing in foreign companies or UMNOputra’s diverting their ill gotten monies to foreign ‘businesses’ like nasi kandar stalls in Melbourne.

    Instead of the GLC’s using the profits they gain from the monopolies to improve the infrastructure in Malaysia, they spend it investing in oversea’s companies. Then they demand taxpayers fully fund any infrastructure project in Malaysia as they claim they are ‘private’ companies and the profits are due the shareholders and their responsibilities are to the shareholders.

  11. Economy management is more or less about making rational and pragmatic decision at the most appropriate time. Only with pragmatic government in charge and a hardworking population will there be economic advancement.

  14. No.1 Man of Malaysia speaking in dialogue to the Rakyat.

    …..: “Economy crisis? Where got? Our country is not affected-lah!” (Everyone affected but he said not at all…)

    …..: “Hey people, when is it you will learn that the economy of the country is still good and will stand past this time? We did it during 1997, we will be definite this time!” (Did we recover from the 1997’s crisis? We did not…)

    …..: “Hey, don’t worry about the world’s economy! Only US kena, we tak kena! Keep spending! I will ask the bank to delay your loan repayment for awhile-lah!” (Yes we should keep spending but all goods and services on inflation. The banks had never stop chasing for loan repayment and even credit cards company chases as ever even for an amount owing just only rm170.00.)

    …..: “Don’t worry about unemployment, we will create training centres so that they will come in and train, we will pay then salary as well! Rm600.00 will be given individually you know? Come in! Come in!” (The number of unemployment had been rising and is expected to rise. If 100,000 unemployed accepted in for training, rm600.00 per head, that made rm60,000,000.00 million a month. If the economy continues at its state for another year, rm60million multiply by 12months equals to rm720,000,000.00 million a year. What about 2 years? What about more than 100,000 unemployed? He already possesses billions of corrupted ringgits of course he doesn’t care about the country’s wealth. What he care about our taxes money? He doesn’t care.)

  15. Great to see you are ignoring..ekin!
    No easy….but I am trying hard to do it too.
    Let him speak to himself.
    Najib this Najib that…what to talk so much about this smart PM…..when I still cannot understand…”1 Malaysia”
    But talk till I drop dead….I must…..as he is making a fool of me.
    An elected servant to the public…who does he think he is…man from the moon?…to rule over Malaysians?

  16. mr. monsterball,

    HA HA…We got a bigger thing to focus here so better forget about that dummy. Though its entertaining farking him but I think we should be focusing the country’s crooks.

    Yeah yeah, we all know we’re in mess because of that no.1 man and no point talking about him. He is just as ‘Expected’…We can only wait for 13th GE.

    Though he was suppose to be elected as a servant but I believed he is making himself a king now. Only a king is immune to every law and accusations against him but he had forgotten one thing. His throne can be overthrown. It will soon…Lets wait and see…

  17. Urging for the NEP to be abolished? I think people have been doing that for a decade or more now. It has been the bane of the economy and it was due to be abolished.

    I think the only action a person can take now is to get into the government to change the policy. Urging doesn’t work because they’re addicted to NEP. PM Najib would rather lose the investors than bumiputras support because he personally gets more benefit through the latter.

  18. delon85 Says:

    Today at 18: 11.07 (1 hour ago)
    Urging for the NEP to be abolished? I think people have been doing that for a decade or more now.”

    correct. malays are cockroaches and need to be exterminated – now.

  21. Smart ass trying to be a fisherman…to hook us into his game.
    I wonder doe he know how to fish?
    For him…I just use simple worm….no brain fish will eat anything.
    For higher class fishes..I will use flour mixed with eggs….as these are choosy buggers..one class above worm eaters.
    And for the best…I will use live prawns…cast and catch it…you have one hell of a tasty fish.
    But these are pond fishing methods.
    Sea fishing…not my cup of tea….but been doing that too…always very nervous…afraid boat turn turtle…….cannot swim la..although lifeguard is always available.
    So Dumbo put out post to fish commentators to battle?
    Have you the qualification to fish?
    Looking at your crude and low class style….don’t waste our time.
    But it is nice to let a dumb ass know…who is he talking to too.
    He has repeated the same Malay post several t8ies.
    I think he guess that’s is his masterpiece…using race a an issue now.
    As fisherman….if I visualized what kind of fish TomThumb is…will be.. an “ikan bulukang”…found eating dunk..like dunk beetles…no brain..all body made of sh..t.
    He is at his last lapse of life in this blog.

  22. When Security, Responsibility, Transparancy, Proper Procedures of an Administration can be found NO Where,
    Who will dare to invest in No Law Land?
    When Officers, Police, AG, and even Judges are above Law
    who would dare to choose it a place to stay?
    When OIL money are not in Open Book
    and MOT are running their own companies outside the book of AG,
    who can have money for rescue?
    Billions went to Toll conessionaries, Abandoned Projects, Steel Works. Water Dam, PKFZ, and into a few pockets,
    Who can spare money for the Public!
    When reserved or public land are mis-appropriated into private few, how can this benefit the Public?
    When millions come into pockets of a few as commisiion,
    money in the Public had exhausted further!!

    How often in History, had those poor and below average or even the average been spared by the Administration? The Moral, the tradition had lost! So, during recession, what can we expect?

    Liberation in one way mean Open the Book of Account!
    Is that available from BN?

  23. I remember some years ago that this so-called expert, who’s obviously an UMNOputra, claimed on live TV that the Japanese were very successful in building their nation’s economy after their defeat in World War 2 because their nation is mono-ethnic. Obviously, this UMNOputra was only able to see along ethnic lines, and thus, had spewed out such trash.
    Did he know about the culture of honour amongst the Japanese?
    Did he know that the Japanese were driven to rebuilding their country into an economic powerhouse by their need to redeem their honour after their shameful defeat during World War 2?
    Or may be is it because these UMNOputras have no idea about what honour means?

  25. Lee Kuan Yew explained singapore’s concern about pouring investment money into malaysia. He said that malaysia must not have the alternating welcome and unwelcome attititude towards them year after year. Big time investments need stability in policies because such investments are worked out on long term basis.

    Yeah lee kuan yew. What grand demand you are making. We malaysian chinese and indians who are here for generations (some of us for several hundred years) are still not welcomed today by most in umno. So dont expect the umno government to welcome you fellas especially when their secretly envy your progress and achievement.

  26. Let me relate an experience. My daughter finished primary school not too long ago. During her early primary school years she had a lot of problem with bahasa malaysia. And she used to complain about her very poor performance in the subject to my wife. My wife (full time working mother) comforted her by saying that she has no time to coach her in the subject and that she would work out a routine later on whereby she could free some time and devote them to teaching her (a real intention indeed).

    It was a very innocent and genuine reply. But it has a totally unexpected impact on the child. To her the “no time to teach” and “will teach later” immediately became her reasons and excuse for slacking in that subject. She was no longer troubled by poor result anymore because “my mother has no time to teach” and in any event it is alright because “my mother will soon find time to teach me and I can then improve.” On noticing the error made about 6 months before upsr, she immediately cease that line and resorted to saying “you have to work hard if you want to improve.” And she improved. She worked hard and within 6 months she went from failure to B in her upsr.

    Its a pure psychological effect there. And the NEP effect on malays are not too different I believe. It is obvious that NEP sucks. NEP is draining the country as a whole. NEP is not even helping the malays. NEP only benefits umnoputras. These are known facts. Malays know it too. Ask any malay taxi driver or petty trader. Like the rest of us, they too have to struggle for a living. So why do they fear losing NEP – fear losing something that is not beneficial to them anyway? It is all in the mind isnt it? After 40 years of NEP and brainwashing by umno they now find it hard to sever the NEP string whether or not that string brings them goodness. It is like “when in doubt, keep it intact – keep it in place”.

    Frustrated urban malays and educated malays are begining to look beyond NEP. After all disuse body muscles will deteriorate and become completely useless sooner or later. So a NEP string that brings nothing and serves no real purpose (other than bolstering the power of umno politicians) will soon be ignored and fall into disuse and finally forgotten. In fact this is already happening. Its a bit late in the day but hey I have no complaints for that is still better than never.

  28. ISA! ISA! ISA! ISA! ISA! ISA! ISA! ISA! ISA! ISA! ISA! ISA!

    Please go and arrest this dumbbell! He is insulting ketuanan Melayu!

    # TomThumb Says:
    Yesterday at 19: 23.39

    delon85 Says:

    Today at 18: 11.07 (1 hour ago)
    Urging for the NEP to be abolished? I think people have been doing that for a decade or more now.”

    correct. malays are cockroaches and need to be exterminated – now.

    ISA! ISA! ISA! ISA! ISA! ISA! ISA! ISA! ISA! ISA! ISA! ISA!

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