by Aidila Razak
Malaysiakini
Feb 17, 11
Hundreds of government-linked companies (GLCs) have been established in Malaysia, but their performances have been mediocre.
So declared Auditor-General Ambrin Buang, who added, “sometimes, I question if they (these companies) are even relevant in the 20th century”.
Speaking at forum on public governance in Putrajaya today, Ambrin (right) said GLCs could do well to adopt the private sector’s code of governance, since it was in these public companies where much of the public funds were wasted.
“It is this sphere of government that is very loose, where people are awarded for not doing anything,” he told the audience of about 80 people, made up mostly of academicians.
Mismanagement in GLCs have featured prominently in the many reports of the auditor-general. In 2009, for example, the report to Parliament highlighted RM1.45 billion in losses incurred by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd.
In 2005, his office ticked off the Treasury for guaranteeing loans amounting to RM47.5 billion for GLCs without sufficient supervision on how the money is to be repaid.
Stop rewarding the crooks
However, Ambrin said today that it is “not fair” to say the government wasn’t doing much to curb excessive spending, particularly in GLCs, as the cabinet had instructed that all those responsible be brought to task.
“But action by the heads of department has been lacking. (They) condone or kesian (feel pity) because they are retiring, etc. That must change,” he said.
Panelist and Umno disciplinary board member Megat Najmuddin Megat Khas, said the size of the bureaucracy made corruption difficult to police.
“We have one federal government, 13 state governments and more than 100 local governments. We have too much government that is becoming ungovernable. There are many layers of power, overlapping half of the time,” Megat Najmuddin said.
However, good public governance, the former Kelana Jaya assemblyperson said, could not take place without political governance.
“Funding for political parties is totally opaque and this is where the problem starts, it creates corruption… Our political system is built for corruption,” he said.
Megat Najmuddin added that Malaysia’s system of reward and punishment was “upside down, for we punish the good and reward the crooks”.
“That is the general view, if you look at who gets a datukship or becomes a Tan Sri,” he said.
Safeguards are weak
Agreeing with him, UiTM professor of law Shad Saleem Faruqi said corruption in Malaysia had become “institutionalised”.
“The tender system, for example, is the mother of all corruption… The electoral system, too, limits the amount spent on individual candidates, but not that spent by the (political) party.
“(The government) tries to solve problems using populist measures, like in education, where we shave the mountain instead of preparing students so they can mount the peak,” Shad Faruqi (right) said.
In a speech he made earlier, he noted that several instutitional safeguards of good governance in Malaysia were weak, including the judiciary, which he described as “having become part of the problem”.
Federalism, which aimed at limiting power and areas of corruption, Shad Faruqi said was “not working very well” as Malaysia practised a “quasified system”, as had been evident in the appointment of Selangor state secretary Mohd Khusrin Munawi without the menteri besar’s consent.
“Surely, the chief executive (of the state) should have a say. That adheres to the spirit of federalism. There may be legality (in the appointment), but there is no legitimacy,” he added.
I wonder what part the government-linked companies (GLCs) played in the RM888 billion outflow of investment funds.
“There maybe be legality, but there is no legitimacy”
UMNO B is above all laws and made their own laws to make unlawful acts as lawful…and the real laws to act against unlawful acts..are thrown out.
“we punish the good and reward the crooks”
This is Mahathir’s way to encourage corruptions…and on going.
“Our political system is built for corruptions”
And so…Mahathir’s corrupted system is established…and confirmed.
The speakers are UMNO B members.
Will Najib dare too respond?
He will surely ignore and create issues such as oil increase to make sure ordinary Malaysians have no time for this and keep struggling to make ends meet.
The more difficult life is for Malaysians..the better chances UMNO B will win 13th GE.
Many Malaysians have turned to be dish washers and maids in overseas and more and more females turned to prostitution for tourists…are seen so clear..yet the fathers/mothers and Malaysians men are blind over these…and call it natural?
Natural in an oil rich country?
The basic cause of such losses is bad management and poor financial discipline – it seems that most companies operate on the principle that they will continue indefinitely as the very existence is based on the notion that the top posts are rewards for supporting the ruling elite.
The Prime Ministers who seem to reserve the Financial Portfolio is primarily responsible for this mess.
See how a 10meter long walkway in KL can cost RM2mil. If you can solve this mystery, then you will understand that such learned incompetence will surely bankrupt Malaysia.
http://malaysiawatch4.blogspot.com/2011/02/malaysiakini-and-mystery-of-rm10mil.html
///Speaking at forum on public governance in Putrajaya today, Ambrin (right) said GLCs could do well to adopt the private sector’s code of governance, since it was in these public companies where much of the public funds were wasted.
“It is this sphere of government that is very loose, where people are awarded for not doing anything,” he told the audience of about 80 people, made up mostly of academicians.///–Ambrin Buang, Auditor-general
GLC is a follow up to NEP where Mamakthir wanted to make Malays millionaires. What easier way to make them millionaire than by paying the selected ones millions? Transnational cooperations pay their CEO astronomical sums which the corporations made in their lines of business. GLCs pay their CEOs from government, that is the citizens share of wealth. Thus CEOs of GLC need not perform, other than as poster boys of NEP success. The country is said to be lucky if they can limit losses.
///“Funding for political parties is totally opaque and this is where the problem starts, it creates corruption… Our political system is built for corruption,” he said.
Megat Najmuddin added that Malaysia’s system of reward and punishment was “upside down, for we punish the good and reward the crooks”.///
That is spawned by NEP. Proper rewards created jealousy and said to cause May 13, social engineering which ensures UMNO remain in power takes precedence over justice and normal human decency.
///“The tender system, for example, is the mother of all corruption… The electoral system, too, limits the amount spent on individual candidates, but not that spent by the (political) party.
“(The government) tries to solve problems using populist measures, like in education, where we shave the mountain instead of preparing students so they can mount the peak,” Shad Faruqi (right) said.///
Well said. NEP is based on the system that others slow down so that Malays can catch up. But among them, the Mamaks won all the prizes.
GLC=government-linked corruptions. that’s all to it. no more no less.
That’s the true expertise of UMNO – create nonsensical jobs and throw money at the Malays to win their allegiance. This is no different from UMNO’s creation of financial institutions outside of the ambit and supervision of Bank Negara so that these institutions can give loans without any hope of getting them back – AgroBank, Bank Pembangunan, etc.
They will keep throwing away money until there is nothing left to throw away.
Tell us something new. We all knew these things all the while. What can we do about it? Asking monkeys to guard peanuts and bananas, what do you expect? We lost RM 888 billion.
We need to change the government.
MMK confessed dat he wanted 2 stop d mismanagement in GLCs but IGP said NO
Whose idea was it to tile the pavements in KL city centre? Maintenance is horrible. The tiles reflect heat and bright sunlight during daytime. And when wet, they are slippery. Take a look at those matsalleh visitors to our country. They have to walk barefoot when the pavement is wet during or after rain. And the tile pavers paid no regard to safety issues. They sloped the pavement towards the road.
What happened to those rotating cylinders all over the city that were erected supposedly for holding ads.
What about the embedded keris. Kerismuddin bin lembuddin was told to use his keris instead of just shoving it in the air. I suppose he decided to stick it in the ground. He did it all over the place during the commonwealth games. Where are they now? Stolen by scrap metal collector?
And there are lots and lots of other silly stupid unnecessary and wasteful projects. Of course cintanegara told us not to question what was already agreed upon by our forefathers. There was no such agreement. In any event there was no agreement to allow wastage and corruption by umno.
GLCs were created for corruption to flourish and satisfy the lust of the UMNO warlords.
How not to lose money when those with no business acumen are appointed to manage the companies and given a free hand to spend and spend as they wish.
GLC’s = extravagance, incompetence, irresponsibility, corruption, UMNO’s survival.
//In 2005, the Auditor-General’s office ticked off the Treasury for guaranteeing loans amounting to RM47.5 billion for GLCs without sufficient supervision on how the money is to be repaid.//
That is RM47,500,000,000……TBH was questioned and lost his life over only RM2,000…..
The interesting thing about this is the statements and discussions are among largely bumis, elite prehaps but bumis nonetheless. These are the real Malays, the Tunku’s Malay not the perverted offspring of Mahathirism like Perkasa..
One fellow I know – he was just an average accountant, and couldn’t get a job in the Big Four. He managed to get into a Malay company and worked there as accountant for 4 years, and became that company’s CFO. He was then recruited by a top GLC to be their CFO, got a datukship, and today is the CEO of an even bigger GLC. Can’t name names, but that’s the standard of management in GLCs we have today.
To circumvent discrimination in the private sector, UMNO government creates its own private sector, using public funds. To prevent competition in education, UMNO created MARA. To stop so-called monopoly by non-Malays in vehicle trades, UMNO created APs, and that also served Mamakthir’s plan in of creating instant Malay billionaires, including his son. So NEP shows the world how funny things are created. Yet Mamakthir said that NEP should continue though the implementation was imperfect as if the government had intended to do anything right. From UMNO’s 40 years records of NEP one can only conclude NEP absolved them of blame for getting rich through institutionalized corruption. They practice what they have been advised in air travel; they are to put on their oxygen mask first before helping others, and they get rich first for Malays to be proud of them; but then they forgot they had other responsibilities.
Our so called ” leaders ” benefited from the present environment for decades…..nobody says anything in the best interest of the country and her ordinary people.
yalah …always no money
but got money for something else which serves personal agenda…to say no money is not very true but to say got a lot of money also not very true…look at the way we waste if you could only see for yourself but you would not see and when people tell you, you do not want to believe…you believe in people who ampu you …if like that you can get no way and if you cannot get any way, we also get no way….in the end we are only fooling ourselves….
Just like when people see KLCC, people think we are so rich. They have never seen the orang asli, the longhouses in some unknown parts of Malaysia and they never know which part of Malaysia still exist or not…You the media most of the time show what is good and thus hiding all the problems in RTM the national broadcaster…how will foreigners ever know our shame and how will our powerful people know what to do if they really ikhlas have the heart…in the end we are fooling ourselves…
Thge only truely competent CEO of a GLC was unceremoniously asked to leave and where else would he be offering his expertise? You guess it. Down south.
They try to get the Talent Corp to recruit talents but they prefer to kick out any talent that does not stoop to their desire and greed. they forgot only half-Talents are the ones who lick!!