Just spoke in Parliament on the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. I started by asking Parliament and government to give serious thought to a Malaysian Insider report today, and in particular its catchy headline “Malaysia’s next export: Maids?”
The Malaysian Insider report states:
The nation’s mismanagement of talent could have serious repercussions not only on its ambitions to become a high income economy on par with that of developed nations but could also lead it to fall further behind even its counterparts in the region.
Head of research at Corston-Smith Asset Management, Lim Tze Cheng, recently did a tour of South East Asian countries and came away sufficiently impressed that he feels Malaysia may soon be found lagging behind its neighbours that it was once ahead of.
He cited a recent visit to the Philippines, a current major supplier of maids, where he visited a company, International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI) and he drew comparisons to local port champions Westport and Port of Tanjung Pelepas.
He said that ICTS now draws 50 per cent of its revenue from eight profitable ports outside the Philippines, and noted that no Malaysian port company can boast of similar achievements.
“I give it a 70 per cent chance that Malaysia will be exporting maids in 20 years. I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens unless we get our act together,” he said.
Lim says that the issues plaguing Malaysia includes its “problematic” education system and distressingly low ability to retain talent.
“Whoever manages to excel in our education system will be courted by Singapore,” he points out.
Lim is not the only one who is worried about Malaysia’s talent issues and there has been warnings from other parties as well including the World Bank and the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF).
MEF executive director Haji Shamsuddin Bardan says that Malaysia is currently a net exporter of talent with outflows exceeding inflows.
I asked whether MATRADE (the Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation) might in future end up in having to deal with the export of Malaysians as maids to foreign countries because of our losing international competitiveness.
In my speech, I also warned that the lack of transparency in the building-for-land deal, viz RM628 million Matrade expo centre for 65 acres of prime land in KL with gross development value of RM15 billion to Naza TTDI Sdn Bhd without open tender could cause a further plunge of Malaysia’s competitiveness and corruption perception rankings next year – and demanding for the deal to be submitted to open tender as well as questioning the need for another mega convention centre when several present convention centres are underutilised.
These guys are not interested in the competitiveness or the plunge of corruption ranking,all they are pretty keen is their pockets.
To Umnoputras, all these foul practices have to be adopted quickly in order to lay path for siphoning out as much money as possible before Pakatan Rakyat has successfully taken over the rule of the Federal Government. Malaysia is not only the net expoter of talent but it is also a net exporter of illegally amassed wealth!
Hi onlooker politics,on top of what you mentioned,malaysia is also a top importer of illegal immigrants and labourers.Locals are crying for jobs,yet these guys couldn’t care less ,yet we have people like kasim amat prasing and defending them.It’s funny,don’t you think so ?.
The way things are going I share the same sentiment as LT Cheng that we will be a nett exporter of maids and my only difference of opinion is it will take 10 years , not 20. I had been to many countries that export maids, viz Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia and I see the semblance of governance, corruption and bad governance. Of corruption is the forefront of all evils which Malaysia is not far behind.
Actually Malaysia is already exporting workers for many years , mainly to Singapore and many illegal Malaysian workers are already in UK, US, Europe, Australia, NZ and Canada.
If we do not change the Government, 10 years instead of 20 will be a more realistic figure for us to mass export our young girls as maids.
“We will create more opportunities,more excitement and buzz in Malaysia to attract the Malaysian diaspora and expatriates to the country,” said Najib.
Doesn’t this type of sloganeering (good at exhibiting form but completely devoid of substance) ring a familiar tone during the time of Mamak who was the first to start the brain gain programme? Didn’t he try to pull wool over our eyes when he said he had succeeded in attracting Dr.Tan Kai Chah,a KKB boy who is the world’s first liver transplant expert who succeeded in live donor liver transplant.But when he handed in his resignation letter to London Brompton Hospital,his plane landed in Changi Airport instead of Subang Airport.The brain gain programme success lies on getting in GPs from Burma,Pakistan,Indonesia to man our general hospitals throughout the country and Chua Sooi Lek had to pack them home
subsequently for failing to live up to expectations!
Withrampantcorruption,mismanagement,massive brain drain together with the depletion of
oil within 20 years,it doesn’t seem too far fetched to predict our next revenue will have to come from the remittances sent in by Malaysian maids working in third world countries like Thailand,Indonesia,Philipines or Vietnam since we’ll be exporting maids to them!
Remember Pak Lah was left with empty cans… dust and worms in every Dept …by Mahathir?
Mahathir said…we got lots of money. . We got billions. Pak Lah refused to respond..because Mahathir is referring to the billions in Petronas and EPF.
Sensing Pak Lah will not play his game…the rest is history.
Pak Lah did built up UMNO’s bank with high oil price taxes and few other things…now all gone..again.
Najib inherited the empty cans now….and due to Malaysians alertness….Najib dare not be so brave like Mahathir robing tax payers money and country’s wealth wholesale in daylight.
Now a total of…more than a hundred billions exposed….in corrupted deals and overpriced in tenders…what have Najib done?,……NOTHING.
What LKS exposed here is proving UMNO can never change.
They are too deep in many corrupted acts….and all they can do is keep on playing dirty polilitics to win more votes..and buy time.
Time is running out fast. Mahathir is in the limelight again.
Depending on Mahathir..a 85 year old man…to save all…shows Mahathir did succeed to groom a group of corrupted goons..to depend on him…always.
Judgment day will be 13th GE.
If Najib is cocksure… 62% favours UMNO…he will declare snap election…right now.
Bala and Mongolian model have returned to haunt him. Teoh Beng Hock too.
Najib is enjoying a holiday in US while his Premiership last….yet he lied to Malaysians…going there for big business deals.
Not one American or Govt representative welcome him to USA.
Is that not strange.
Shameless and thick skin…putting out useless photo showing him welcomed by his own man..not one American at all.
Father of corruption, Queen of AP, C4, Perak, Port Kelang, TBH, Altantuya, Taxi-permit, HP6 ministers, and what not …next year we will be completely out of the radar.
unfortunately, or is it fortunately, the chinese community as a whole is propping up the country, oh, for the last how many decades? no, the country will not descend so quickly so deep as lt cheng put it, as long as the chinese are doing well fending for themselves and the sorry-axx umnominions are milking them. what do you think jibby’s 1malaysia slogan really is for? yep, blowing smoke in kampungs and hoping to pacify the chinese so they continue paying taxes.
People steeped in religiosity and so-called sexual morality should doubly be concerned that in less than 20 years this country will become not only a net exporter regionally of maids but also mates, wives and vice!
Other Malaysian women will be made drug mules or whores by their foreign boyfriends. So where’s the much touted national pride?
Today huddled in brothels of these countries – with Singapore and Australia added to the list – are more and more Malaysian sex workers, added to the growing list, willing to be abused for the sake of earning higher income of foreign currencies.
Time was (40 years ago) when the Ringgit was respectable vis-a-vis other regional currencies, our men would visit Japan or Korea and merrily look for women.
Nowadays, its Thailand and Indonesia. In 20 years, the trend will be reversed and the Indonesian and Thai men will start visiting us more and more for their trysts.
For there is a direct co-relation with income status of a country and this kind of thing!
Where is the much touted national pride when “Malaysia Boleh” spirit has become this?
Can the shame be compensated by glass & concrete monuments like Twin Tower, KLIA or MATRADE Expo Centre?
To build RM628mil expo centre in exchange for 65 acres (or 2.77 million sq ft) of state land of gross development value (GDV)of RM15 billion means that NAZA was effectively getting the land for RM226 per sq ft. which the moment the land is converted to commercial, fetches a market value of anything RM350 to RM500 per sq ft.
potentially (in 15 years time) a GDV of – what (I don’t have calculator with me) – an estimated RM5,000 per square ft??? This must surely rival the other sweet heat deal involving Port Klang Authority purchasing 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of Pulau Indah land for PKFZ from Kuala Dimensi Sdn Berhad at RM 25 per square foot for a total consideration of RM 1.8 billion (inclusive of interest) that Kuala Dimensi had purchased from Pulau Lumut Development Cooperative Berhad for only RM 95 million (at RM 3 per square foot) – with a clean capital gain of RM 993 million!
Never mind the shrinking Ringgit. Moral of the story – Bolehland is land of unimaginable opportunities if one makes the right connections to relaise the “Malaysian Dream”.
Oops – “…sweet heaRt deal…”
This is their land, and they can do anything they want. To question this is to question their rights as enshrined in their heads. Ask the village idiot Kasim Amat.
They think that “open tender” means unzipping their pants and expose for all to see— so they do not want it
Not many believe in these new kids who have inherent some wealth out of the air can done a job in that scale. It was all again the same strategic to cook some scheme to milk the tax payers money to feed the next ge.
All is not well with the system. Just keep your eye open another PKFZ is on the brew.
Is Malaysia going to be a nation of future exporter of maids according to Malaysianinsider’s report or is it going to be a nation of future high income earners like what Najib has said?
If UMNO is still at the helm of running the country for another one or two terms you can trust that they will fully run the country to the ground,then my take is that this nation will be a nation whose main export is maids.And for Najib’s words (that Malaysia will be a nation high income earners) to be believable he has to whip his RM20 million PR team into coming out with better slogans to mesmerise Malaysians into believing Najib has the magic wand to turn this nation into a nation of high income earners.
to them Robbing Hood gang, the drop in TI ranking means good news. Good news because the rasuah machinery is chugging along good and dandy. So all is ok.
You see, now MACC is closing shop at 5.30pm. Very effecient in following court orders when it comes to shaking legs. Going after big crooks not so effecient. KPK 10, MACC kosong. Malu.
At the end of the day the matrade will be for holding property exhibitions, tour exhibition and car exhibition the most. Trade? The only trade-off I see is another few more billions to Maha-Enterprise.
The land for building SCAM is daylight robbery. The one being robbed is not the government, but the RAKYAT.
And soon we will be bombarded with GST. Implementing GST without complete income tax restructuring and reform on multiple import duties etc is another daylight robbery.
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/index.php/malaysia/44526-najib-plumps-for-gst-to-fill-revenue-hole
I can for see a “buy nothing” boycott to go against GST without income tax reform.
Ha, ha, ha, ha,…..
“MEF executive director Haji Shamsuddin Bardan says that Malaysia is currently a net exporter of talent with outflows exceeding inflows.”
That’s like saying it’s drizzling in Kelantan and Trengganu when tens of thousands of flood victims are being evacuated.
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha…..well done, MEF! You certainly don’t know what u r talking. So when Malaysia begins exporting maids, MEF can be an umbrella maid manpower agency.
Kit,
I have read many of your books (eg Time Bombs in Malaysia, Dangerous Eighties etc) and your speeches warning the government.
One thing is sure. THE GOVERNMENT (UMNO) DOES NOT CARE A DAMN WHAT HAPPENS TO THIS COUNTRY.
All they want is to rule this country, even if the people have to live like paupers.
By then their children would be all in foreign lands and their money parked elsewhere.
Even today their children are studying English in foreign universities.
The kampong folks learn Bahasa in local uni and remain employable.
You think they love this country?
Correction to the above. …”remain unemployable”
Corruption Perception Index?
You really think PM, DPM, Cabinet really cares?
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha….then you r all suckers to believe they care.
As long as there are more scorpenes to be purchased, more MATRADEs to be built, more Maggi mee galores at RMXXX/packet….once again, u think PM, DPM, CAbinet cares?
U r suckers all!
My take. Bagan Pinang win. The one win (in their less than pea-sized brain, a crucial win) that umno and umnoputras now apply all sorts of interpretations – mainly to the effect that they can now and in fact ought to continue with their old ways because their popularity and support is back in full force.
The matrade expo centre is one fresh-from-the-oven example of cronyism and abuse of position. What experience has an auto seller got in property development? Will this be another example of failed project?
And muhideed’s order to mca to zip it up by a certain date is another fresh-from-the-oven example of big brother attitude towards mca and the other useless, gutless and toothless gangs in bn.
Umno must reform najib cried. Cry on baby. Cry on. But pls conserve your energy nicely for the crying may go on forever. Then again, pakatan will do you a favour.
///I asked whether MATRADE (the Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation) might in future end up in having to deal with the export of Malaysians as maids to foreign countries because of our losing international competitiveness./// – YB Kit.
But the important question: do we have an edge in the maid business – are we competive (regionally) compared (say) to Filipino and Indonesian maids?
For eg., Filipino maids have no qualms in working in non muslim households in neighbouring countries (say) Singapore in which pork is part of the handling and the meals. Are our maids prepared if they are of Islamic faith?
Wouldn’t Indonesian maids be expected to have higher tolerance threshold of maid mistreatment compared (say) to Malaysian maids used to special privileges at home??
But knowing Malaysia Boleh – and proud – spirit, we would counter these obstacles by giving value added and professional expertise to our maids.
We would market (maybe through auspices of MATRADE) our own under more respectable branding than “maids” – for examples, “Malaysian househelpers organisers or assistants” who have undergone professional courses back home of what it takes to do the job. We’re not competing with Filipino and Indonesian helpers who are just “maids”.
Our Malaysian agencies will have hostels in major cities of Singapore, Australia etc to solve the problem of “full time and sleeping in” Malaysian maids. (This is to ensure less opportunities for Malaysian maid abuse, and worse still sexual abuse…)
Working hours – regular 9pm to 5pm, after that they return to their hostels.
We will have collective employment agreements and Malaysian maids unions nailing specific points on dressing, whether there is uniform, whether can and cannot wear head scarf, what to cook and what not to cook….
Malaysian Men – well they can try the concept of Malaysian butlers. Maybe upon same terms above.
But as ever it must be asked – who will employ our Malaysian “househelpers organisers or assistants” and butlers???
As we muse the above, it may well be a glimpse of the future to come when the Ringgit worsens to RM5 against 1 US$, Vat kicks in.
Pundits have it that after the world economic crisis from property bust (sub-prime) leading to crash of the credit cycle (banking crisis) there are still other bubbles imminent to bust – eg the Credit Card bust and from there the Exchange Tradable Fund breakdown…
So get ready, we’re sooner there than expected and the more entrepreneurial amongst us should go over to the other countries to lay the foundation, set up the infrastructure to cater for this new export potential of ours.
If one really believes the situation here is really down hill towards a failed state then this new Malaysian “househelpers organisers or assistants” business is good potential one – for you can earn in foreign currency and spend it in Malaysia on cheap tea tarik nasi lemak and cocunut drink here. Move your capital/assets overseas but borrow you could, via companies limited by shares, to the hilt here especially from a financial institution(s) of negligible credit culture and lax credit standards so that when the crunch comes, there’s always a chance they are not in the position to enforce repayment on you. Your capital/assets overseas will appreciate, if you keep it here you face the spectre of depreciation enroute to levels of Indon Rupia or Nigerian Niara. What’s the choice?
umno also want to take all the old car owners’ money too and create an angpow for the vehicle inspectors too.
like the depleting ozone layers, they say if the carbon dioxide concentration do not go down from present 384 ppm to 350 ppm in few years time, this earth will self destruct and is irreversible even if you wish to do something about it.
it seems this government knows they can’t do anything for the country, so they appear to be squandering everything they can now! will there be a saviour?
kononnya that there’s no more inkpads in the market because govt had used up all of them to stamp “SULIT” or “RAHSIA” on every govt document to prevent declassification and to prevent the Rakyat from knowing too much!!! It is safer for them to stamp anything than to be sorry.
First, they discourage the Rakyat from learning the language of the world and then they wanted to censor all the internet and sooner or later they will implant computer virus to prevent Rakyat from accessing the truth!!!
MEGA projects entail MEGA commission!!! Same old recipe always work!!!
If not like this, how to make Malay billionaires?
If not like this, how to hv money politics?
Politics ah is not cheap, u know
Banyak mah chai 2 feed 2 do de dirty jobs
Those bastard jumping political frogs also want big $ b4 selling their ancestors
Matrade expo centre not enuf
Got 2 hv de new istana n N-S-E-W corridors too
Like Oliver, ‘I want some MORE’ – no need 2 say please
The Malaysian govt business model is to absorb the cost of buidings + bank loan + interest etc. by the Rakyat.
Any thing is considered profit for the owner after minus the operating cost!!! If the operating cost is higher than the incomes, it will be breakeven for the owner, the losses will be bourned by the Rakyat!!!
The losses are write off as tuition fees in learning how to do business in Malaysia!!!
Profit for GDV of RM15billion is about RM5 billion on average (can be higher if market moves up), in exchange for RM628million building..
All of you can do something about the situation.
To all your friends, relatives, acquaintances etc tell them not to vote for UMNO/BN. Ever.
That’s at least one move that you can make; if you can think of others, do let us know.
It’s also good to see that postings are up again in this blog.
YB
To expose this charade and fraud, DAP should use its contacts to get some local and international construction companies to give quotes for this so-called over-priced $625 million rip off convention centre project.
I bet that the true cost will be at least 20% cheaper i.e. savings of 125 million, in an open tender transparent procedure.
In any event, with convention centres at KLCC, PWTC, Putrajaya, Mines, Sime Darby and others, why does KL need another white elephant millions of $ loss making project? This Matrade CC project is very suspicious and probably designed to benefit UMNO/BN in an insidious manner.
More than that, the land is grossly underpriced. In an open tender. many will be ready to pay at least 20% more for prime land such as this!!
Strange is it not that every PM from UMNO/BN takes office with a pledge to institute open tender practices and then ignores it completely!!
The entire Naza project stinks to high heaven!!
Do something to stop it dead in its tracks now!! Perhaps DAP can file a police report that a directly negotiated project is ultra vires the Govt’s SOP and Treasury Rules.
dpp
We are all of 1 race, the Human Race
“Lack of transparency in RM628 million Matrade expo centre deal for 65 acres of prime land in KL for Naza TTDI with GDV of RM15 billion could further plunge Malaysia’s competitiveness and corruption perception rankings next year.”
This administration obviously lacks credibility. Cakap tak serupa bikin. Empty slogans. Key Performance Index like those of Transparency International will put them to shame, so they create their own KPI to deceive themselves and make them feel good with the passing mark set at a “reasonable” -10%.
Guys,please don’t beat around the bushes,open tender means no take or commission for these umnoputras.As simple as abc.Hopefully the vast majority of the malay kampong folks would understand.Kasim amat,forget him.
Net exporter of talents? Oh yes of course we are. And good thing too. Isnt that proof that we have progressed beautifully under umno? We now have too many talents. More than we need. So isnt it sensible for us to export them? And when they send money home every year by the billions that would be just wounderful.
… another perverted denial by umno.
Corruption, German-style.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8376532.stm
Ppl must accept that this is our style of business, dah takdir
As long as the nation is under BN’s rule, which will continue 4 a long long time
Meanwhile, our RM drops like a stone compared to other currencies
Our population ballons to 30 million, 40 million
Our oil disappears, our export is < our import
And Malaysia’s next export: Maids, nurses, Ah Longs, etc
Ppl with survival instinct n some commonsense will work elsewhere
Where their efforts r rewarded with stronger currencies
Hey, folks, look after yourselves, BN certainly don’t look after you
OrangRojak,
If that link you have given is meant for our UMNOPUTRA you are wasting your time and effort.Where gotUMNOPUTRAS want to be Robin Hood one! They only steal for themselves and that’s why they never tire of stealing one.
“I give it a 70 per cent chance that Malaysia will be exporting maids in 20 years. I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens unless we get our act together,” he said.
————————-
No need to wait 20 years la, there are loads of them now in Paris & London all without long stay visa !!!!!!!!!!
The fact is that there are multitude of not so bright & poor Chinese living in villages. Where do you expect them to go except working as maids (female) & hard labourers (male) in other more advance countries. Anyone dares to make a count on such a workforce helping to build our neighbour Singapore???
It troubles me every time I read a political blog. It troubles me more to read and feel the energy of frustrations of the people who posted comments. PR should eradicate the culture of mixing politics with business as much as possible.
-Declaring assets of politicians is not effective as we know it.
-Religion will be effective to a certain extent but as we know, there exists a lot of religious fakes out there.
I wonder if Confucianism will be a good state ideology for Malaysia. Singapore seems to have adopted it quite well. I am aware it can be abused by a leader who is corrupted by power (power hungry) but what other altyernatives are there?
Two of my friends (both degree holders) in their 40s and 50s just migrated to Canada two months ago. Never mind whether NEP or not NEP, they had “no eye to see” – tired of it and off they went!
How true Lim Tze Cheng’s argument is – Malaysia is a training ground of human resource for foreign countries.
Don’t laugh at n look down upon Malaysians who work as maid or nurse overseas
Their take home salaries may be more than a professor at one of our public universities
Already Malaysians working as teachers in de little red dot may be paid more than our prof n taxed less
Malay girls also make good au pairs!
STOP NPRESS: “Mahathir squandered RM100 bil, says new book”.
Watch out for the release of this new book by Barry Wain, former editor of Asian Wall Street Journal, published by Palgrave Macmillan. I think this is going to sell like hot cakes. All that’s been happening for the last 30 years will happen in the next 30 years unless Najib and UMNO gang are voted out!
Look out for a forthcoming book by Barry Wain: Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamad in Turbulent Times. I had a small part in the preparation of this book 6 months ago.
In this book you will discover why this maverick acted as he did and cultivated many enemies because of certain inferior complexes and perceived slights nursed by him when he was a nobody. When he became the PM he exacted out his revenge to the full on these perceived enemies.
Read this insightful book and he will understand the character of this man.
correction: you (not he) will understand the character of this man.
To ALL MALAYSIANS irregardless of race or religion:
WAKE UP and do something if you do not want your grandchildren to become MAIDS in 10 – 20 years time.
Its REAL looking at the ways this country’s RAKYAT wealth is plundered. Our competitive advantage is doing down the drain, the rule of LAW is no better than a THIRD world country.
VOTE wisely in GE 12.
Already the signs of Najib and BN cronies are raping the country dry before their fall in GE 12 !
rule of law #47, “VOTE wisely in GE 12.” or do you mean the coming GE13?