Budget 2011: Would Razaleigh’s warning be heeded

2011 Budget not a child of New Economic Model but bears all the marks of old discredited Mahathirish policies (Part 2 of 5)

A veteran leader had warned that “It is time to wake up”.

He said: “Without a doubt, Malaysia is slipping. Billions have been looted from this country, and billions more are being siphoned out of the country as our entire political structure crumbles.”

Warning that corruption is the single biggest threat to the nation, he warned that corruption has become institutionalized in our political system and ruining Malaysia.

Who is this veteran leader? He is the head of the Barisan Nasional by-election in Galas, the MP for Gua Musang Tengku Razaleigh.

Will his views about the crisis of nation-building now be heeded? Of course not – just as it is clear that the Prime Minister does not have the political will to implement the New Economic Model (NEM) which he launched on March 30 to transform Malaysia into a developed, competitive and high-income economy with inclusivity and sustainability.

Despite all its bombast and pyrotechnics, Naji’s 2011 budget is not a child of the New Economic Model but bears all the marks of old discredited Mahathirish policies which have landed Malaysia in the middle-income trap for more than a decade, setting the country towards a failed and bankrupt nation come 2019.

The symbol of the 2011 Budget and the ETP is the proposed RM5 billion 100-storey Warisan Merdeka tower, is a throwback to the era of Mahathirish obsession with mega projects.

If Najib is seriously committed to a New Economic Model, based on economic, social and government transformation, wouldn’t it be more appropriate for Malaysia to achieve targets as being ranked among the first twenty if not first ten of the least corrupt nations in the annual Transparency International Corruption Perception Index or having at least 10 universities which are ranked among the Top 100 Universities in the world?

In fact, it must be asked whether Najib is secretly trying to out-Mahathir Mahathir not only to build a tower higher than Mahathir’s Petronas Twin Towers, but which could be acclaimed as the tallest in the world – however brief the claim?

The “No Mega Tower” facebook campaign is nearing the 200,000 mark in less than 12 days. The last I checked, it registered 191,000 at 2 pm as compared to 2,170 in support of the Mega Tower facebook campaign.

The Prime Minister has asked the government to give priority to the social media and to respect the views of ordinary Malaysians, especially the young generation of all races.
The majority using the facebook are young Malaysians and the Prime Minister should seriously cancel the 100-storey Warisan Merdeka Tower project as it will not only end up as a white elephant which will be worst possible symbol for any any national transformation in the country.

It has been estimated that the 100-storey Warisan Merdeka Tower with 3 million sq ft will add to the glut of office space in Kuala Lumpur which will be equivalent to 7.8 years of office space supply in Kuala Lumpur based on the average annual take up of 1.72 million sq ft in 1985-2009, even without taking into account massive projects announced recently.

In Segamat, its tallest 20-storey building completed in the early 80s have become a Tower for Birds, housing swiflet farms, as only the ground floor is occupied. Lets not end up with the highest swiflet farm in Malaysia and probably in the world!

Najib’s 2011 Budget is not convincing that it represents the first budget of a New Economic Model to transform Malaysia from a middle income country to an inclusive and sustainable high-income developed country by 2020, emphasising high-skilled human capital, efficient public services, a reinvigorated private sector.

The Talents Corporation that is to be set up early next year is to formulate a National Talent Blueprint and develop an expert workforce database as well as to collaborate closely with talent networks globally, but what surety is that the National Talent Blueprint is not condemned to failure like previous “Brain Gain” programmes for the simple reason that there is no political leadership and will in the Najib administration to achieve the vision spelt out by the New Economic Model, viz: “Malaysia must be seen by its people and by others as a land of equal opportunity to earn a good living and provide a secure, happy life for each individual and the family”.

Next : Najib must explain his “crushed bodies, lives lost” “ethnic cleansing” speech in Parliament

[Speech (part 2) in Parliament on the 2011 Budget on Wednesday, 27th October 2010]