Posted on by Kit

Open debate on New Economic Model (NEM)

By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life adviser

CALL FOR AN OPEN DEBATE ON THE NEW ECONOMIC MODEL AS IT IS A POLICY THAT WILL IMPACT ON THE ECONOMIC WELL BEING OF THE PEOPLE, AND AS SUCH THEY SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT TO DISCUSS AND DEBATE ON THE NEW ECONOMIC MODEL BEFORE IT COULD BE IMPLEMENTED.

This is absolutely necessary as the New Economic Policy was pushed through parliament in 1971 without a full discussion by the people. Only the cabinet and government under the then prime minister were privy to the details, and it was rushed through parliament.

Implemented from 1971 until today, the aim was to restructure society, to rescue the Malays from poverty and to give them access to all strata of the economy.

Today, admittedly there are more middle class Malays, but the vast majority of them still live in grinding poverty, and many others still live below the poverty line where families subsist on RM1,500 a month.

The wealth which was supposed to be transferred to the Malay poor was hijacked midway by Umno cronies. They have become rich beyond their wildest dreams.

THE NEP OBSTRUCTED AND DESTROYED THE ENTREPRENEUR SPIRIT OF THE PEOPLE. FOREIGNERS AVOIDED INVESTING IN MALAYSIA. MANY SKILLED AND TALENTED MALAYSIANS MIGRATED TO GREENER PASTURES LIKE SINGAPORE, AUSTRALIA, CANADA AND THE STATES. THE GOVERNMENT HAS MADE THE PUBLIC ADMISSION THAT 300,000 MALAYSIANS LEFT THE SHORES OF THE COUNTRY IN 2008. THE GOVERNMENT ALSO ADMITTED THAT ONE DECADE OF ECONOMIC PROGRESS WAS LOST AFTER THE ASIA FINANCIAL CRISIS OF 1998.

PAKATAN RAKYAT HAS OPENLY CALLED FOR THE NEP TO BE SCRAPPED AND IN ITS PLACE IMPLEMENT THEIR MALAYSIAN ECONOMIC POLICY WHICH WILL PROVIDE THE PUSH FOR THE ECONOMY TO PROGRESS AND PROSPER.

Unfortunately there are signs that PM Najib Razak is weakening and submitting to pressure by UMNO and PERKASA (extreme Malay pressure group) to retain the racial concepts of the NEP. PM Najib is vacillating and hence he is postponing the launch of the New Economic Model.

Pakatan Rakyat urges the prime minister to stand firm and scrap the NEP policies, which has been shown with facts and figures to have caused the Malaysian economy to fall behind that of S Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore

At independence, Malaya had the second highest per capita income in Asia, after Japan. After 1971, with the NEP, the GDP of Malaysia began falling behind that of the four Asian tigers Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore). In 2009, while GDP of Malaysia stood at US$8,000, S Korea and Taiwan rose to US$19,000, Hong Kong to $32,000 while Singapore to US$34,000.

The NEP caused Malaysia to lose four decades of economic progress and inflicted economic pain and loss on two generations of young Malaysians.

Prime Minister Najib Razak must wake up to the dangerous and retrogressive policies of Umno and Perkasa. Which will condemn Malaysians to a life of hardship due to low income and poverty.

PRIME MINISTER NAJIB SHOULD CALL FOR A NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF ECONOMISTS, ENTREPRENEURS, BUSINNESSMEN, BANKERS, SMALL AND MEDICUM ENTREPRENEURS, NGOS AND POLITICAL PARTIES TO DISCUSS AND AGREE ON A NEW BLUEPRINT FOR THE NEW ECONOMIC MODEL FOR MALAYSIA.

74 Replies to “Open debate on New Economic Model (NEM)”

  1. As long as umno/bn remain in power, you can never get any open discussion on their policies – period. They must be sitting in the opposition chairs for a few terms before they can really understand true democracy.

    Najib had given his ministers the KPI, what about him, who is going to grade him.

    Take this poll:

    How would you grade the PM’s KPI (key performance index) during his 1 year in office.

    GE 13 – Change The Federal Government No matter what, we must ensure that racist umno bn do not regain the power like they had for over the past fifty two years.

  2. My beloved Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life adviser!

    Please don’t dream too much! Bunch of suckers are going to lose badly if they open up debates & discussions in democratic ways! BN/UMNO would collapse the next days!

    Most rakyat hope & expect this bunch of suckers would be gone with the wind soon! However, they cheat, manipulate, distort, intimidate, bribe & etc. to cling on powers so that they can suck more those rakyat hard-earned money! Their chewing BBQ Ducks & sipping red-wine would be shattered and halt off instantaneously…….

    Chengho, our great Hanjin, will survive on bread and kaya because there isn’t any paychecks/cheques for his various bank accounts! He might need to beg or perform “break-dance” on the streets to earn his living….

    Good to continue kicking their ass_es hard…. Evil Dracula BN/UMNO is perishing soon! Their days have been numbered!

  3. NEP was based on race, and implemented with UMNO government playing god. If NEM is again based on race, it is again a failed policy. There is no need for NEX…… Just be a modern government doing what the government should do in providing security, rule and order and rule of law. The country could once again pick up from what we left off before May 13 1969.

  6. Don’t count on Najib..he has no guts to do the right things…End-of-Life of NEP…which has cost our Nation dearly since implementation only succcessful in making UMNO cronies richer and more power gila…We left with little choise…count on your own vote to boot the BN in the next election.

  7. Open debate on NEM, how interesting!

    EPU might have engaged consultants and visited Singapore, Taiwan and Korea before formulating the new model. But how new is exactly new in this model? What if I venture to guess, the new model would probably seek:
    1. to operate the economy based on more market-based principles;
    2. to allow for more competition and less protection and monopoly power;
    3. to alleviate poverty and help the marginalised;
    4. to allow more tender-based government procurement;
    5. to have more commercial and need-based privatisation programmes;
    6. to ensure a more competitive school and university system;
    7. to ensure government spending leads to capacity building rather than just boosting aggregate demand to help crony contractors and hotel owners;
    8. to promote science and technologies and oh yes, setting up more incubators and labs for “national transformation”.

    I dare say 90% of what I scribbled here will appear in the NEM when it is announced. But I also know that almost all of these will fail miserably. For each of these “new” policies, there is a nemesis.

    You can’t have market economy when the government want to control the prices and imports on almost every damn thing. You can’t have market economy when the government has this penchant for selective subsidies that benefits its own desired target groups.

    You can’t have competition when so many things are based on patronage, licences and permits. You can’t have competition when there are so many well connected monopolies. Ask Proton and our rice and flour and sugar monopolies. If the government free the rice import today, the price will be halved and the quality increases two folds.

    You can’t get rid of poverty when the welfare programmes have become overtly expensive to operate and over-lapping in many instances. You can’t help them by giving them fish; you help them by teaching them how to fish.

    Government procurement based tenders – this is not going to happen when the existence of so many companies depends on it. The problem is never easy to solve. We have created too many passengers in our economy – people who get paid nicely for contributing nothing to the economy.

    Privatisation projects able to pay for their own upkeep is never lucrative. So inevitably, privatisation in Malaysia must involved unlimited government guarantees, excessive cost padding and revenue guarantees. Ask all the toll operators and IPPs operators. You tell me how to change this.

    And many more, but I think enough for now.

  8. You do not have an effective and efficient administration to ensure the policies are properly and fairly implemented….many are influenced by decades of bad leadership and politics of race and religion.

    Until the administration is overhauled, nothing much is going to change.

  9. Malaysia is made up of three main component countries, namely, Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak.
    The PM post should therefore be rotated among the three partners.
    All policies should be properly endorsed by all 3 partners, including the proposed NEM.

  10. Debating NEP or whatever P is fine , but these dickheads in UMNO are so archaic that their brains would not and could not accept the new global challenges we are now facing , hence the economic decline, all they know is Melayu , bukan Melayu, islam , bukan islam , bumiputera , bukan bumiputera, the list can gp on, cause all they are concerned is enriching themselves and thier cronies , all the bukan this and that is just a ruse. Even if a asteriod wipes out most of human civilisation i the near future they would still be talking bukan this and that , obliviuos to what and how globalisation is changing the world we live in. So much so they are sayoing they have copyrighted ‘Allah ‘ , where there is no such problem , even in the most stauchest muslim nations.
    So how can anybody possibly debate with these dumblos, cos all they would talk is the same ole bukan this and that. Racists b——ds., that’s our government.

  11. Dr Chen Man Hin,
    i wonder why u never become de facto leader of Dap very much like ts lee lt.
    Don’t get prejudice too early listen 1st to parliment . too us doesnt matter NEP or NEM we can alway find ALIBABA business model just like PKR and Dap ; Anwar ,Nizar ,TgNa and Kit and Leg , what your problem. the system running smoothly for quite sometime now that why when you peruse through the list of top 10 billionares and top 100 multimillionares u will know what i mean.

  12. ChengHo was a eunuch in ancient China.

    Dr Chen Man Hin is definitely not eunuch. He is the most important comrade of LKS in DAP. Both of them went through the ups and downs of DAP whose strenght now is the result of such comradeship and camaraderie.

  13. Ostensibly the NEP was formulated to bring about equitable distribution of wealth among all the races but in reality, it has been used as an instrument by UMNO/BN to garner Malay support.

    In the past four decades UMNO/BN has been telling the Malays, “If you support UMNO/BN, you will have the NEP and reap all the benefits. If you support other parties, you will lose the NEP and all the goodies that come with it.”

    I am skeptical if Najib is willing to abolish the NEP as that could mean losing Malay support and hence the end of UMNO/BN. Najib will probably have to opt for a watered down NEP to save the country from economic catastrophe and to maintain Malay support.

  14. Y need 2 debate on NEM, cos it is already on
    1M’sia is experiencing rapid exodus of $$$ out of d nation
    Perhaps UmnoB/BNputras r playing safe, moving ill-gotten $$$ out of d nation just in case BN do not do too well in d next GE
    This is d new model – UmnoBputras n BNputras becoming millionaires outside M’sia

  15. 40 years of bad social, economical and education experimentation has got us to what it is now.
    Do we need to tell these blady incompetents how to run the country?
    Let us see what they have in store for Malaysia in the NEM.

    Otherwise, more exodus will follow!

  16. Lee CW just won the 2010 All-England Badmintion Men’s Singles title, coached by a Malay Malaysian, cheered on by all Malaysians
    No one bothered abt d race of d player, coach, n supporters – all Malaysians
    Y can’t this race-blind feeling b extended to everyday life in M’sia?
    Everyone just has 2 work hard (blood, toil, tears, and sweat) 2 b d best
    Y must UmnoB/BN continue 2 silo ppl into different racial groups n reward/punish ppl based on their race?

  17. What is Dr. Chen talking about? NEP was never passed by Parliament. There is no NEP Act. It is in fact unconstitutional.

    Actually, the right thing to do is get Najib to pass the NEM Act. If it include the NEP, challenge it in court. Its unconstitutional..

  18. if you cross the Australian border illegally
    You get sent to a refugee camp on Christmas Island

    If you cross the North Korean border illegally
    You get 12 years hard labour.

    If you cross the Iranian border illegally
    You will be jailed indefinitely.

    If you cross the Afghan border illegally
    You will be shot.

    BUT If you are Indonesian and cross the Malaysian border illegally you will get……

    MyPR (Permanent Residence status/Pemastautin Tetap)
    A driving licence maybe a taxi driver’s licence if you like.
    Voting rights
    Job reservation
    Eventual Bumiputra status
    Subsidised rent or loans to buy a house
    Free education
    Free healthcare
    Total acceptance as “one of us”

  19. if you cross the Australian border illegally
    You get sent to a refugee camp on Christmas Island

    If you cross the North Korean border illegally
    You get 12 years hard labour.

    If you cross the Iranian border illegally
    You will be jailed indefinitely.

    If you cross the Afghan border illegally
    You will be shot.

    BUT If you are Indonesian and cross the Malaysian border illegally you will get……

    MyPR (Permanent Residence status/Pemastautin Tetap)
    A driving licence maybe a taxi driver’s licence if you like.
    Voting rights
    Job reservation
    Eventual Bumiputra status
    Subsidised rent or loans to buy a house
    Free education
    Free healthcare
    Total acceptance as “one of us”

    So whay are you waiting for? Vote for mca, mic, gerakan, ppp, pbs lah

  20. The basic issue is the mind set. And with Petronas, the mind is set back even further meaning with easy money, the feeling becomes WE are the blessed ones and what is given by nature should be divided only amongst us, well we will drop a little from the table to our ignorant members whose minds must be under our control. Simple otherwise, this scheme would never work if they are given the chance to explore. So mind trapping is the main agenda especially through Utusan and well they tried through Strait Times but it didnot work. So to get them to chance is a HUGE problem especially UMNO is controlled by the CDs just like all BN Parties. The Pm should take the challenge to the ground, just like OTK at MCA; seek the mandate from ALL members of the party. Surely with ICT, this can be done, afterall millions are transacted daily, why not the votes? The conclusion of the average thinking Malaysians is clear, unless the country is prepared to change, there will be only one path for us, join Zimbabwe.

  21. Majority beneficiaries of NEP are suffering from acute inferiory complex and “thin-skin”, due to prolong consumption of the deadly drug (plus bad culture and bad upbringing), and unless and until these problems are properly handled and completely eradicated, no amount of money can help them “walk on their own two legs”, and they will forever be handicapped and will eventually become extinct.

  22. “The wealth which was supposed to be transferred to the Malay poor was hijacked midway by Umno cronies.” Dr Chen said.

    Not quite midway, Dr. Chen. Right at the starting line!

    Malays cannot compete – not good enough to compete – sang umno 50yrs ago, umnoputras has been singing it all along and now perkumnoputras joined in. For 50 yrs umno looked down on the common malays. For 50yrs umno indoctrinated the common malays with an erroneous sense of inferiority and fear. And then for 50yrs umno milked their inferiority and fear for power and position and wealth.

    But who is “Ib”? Is he a useless mudderpharker with a fantastic head for art? Is zaid a stupid lawyer who somehow through sheer luck expanded his law pratice outside malaysia? And oh misbun sidek must be a mat rempit who coached our 2010 all england champion on the seat of his bike. There are many more similar examples, in sports, the arts and business, I can cite. All of them are useless, said umno.

    By playing on their fear and insecurity, umno succeeded in pursuading the common malays to use crutches and not their legs. This is to make very sure that their become useless indeed. What is in the mind merely must be matched by reality for otherwise the mind could one day awaken to find something else in reality. Then their plot would fail. The sense of inferiority in the minds of the common malays must be matched by some real disability. If no disability exists, then create one – the crutches were invented.

    The new model I suspect would be quite naked of real and beneficial economic effects. Rights of perkumnoputras will be enlarged and entrenched further. Of course in typical jibby style we would see litterings of goodies meant for the rest of us. Pick them up and we would find that they are in fact quite useless.

    Jib to my mind is one his way out. He will be forced out like the sleepy head before him. But umno is in a dilemna. They are people with no merits. So they thrive on superstitions and all sorts of other beliefs. The “RAHMAN” legacy now is a curse to them. Without jib, umno ends and their would immediately lose their bellies. The legacy has no provision for continuity beyond jib. So to junk jib or not to junk jib, that is the issue – with clear disadvantage on either side.

  23. chengho :Dr Chen Man Hin,i wonder why u never become de facto leader of Dap very much like ts lee lt.Don’t get prejudice too early listen 1st to parliment . too us doesnt matter NEP or NEM we can alway find ALIBABA business model just like PKR and Dap ; Anwar ,Nizar ,TgNa and Kit and Leg , what your problem. the system running smoothly for quite sometime now that why when you peruse through the list of top 10 billionares and top 100 multimillionares u will know what i mean.

    It’s Dr.Chen’s right to give his opinion. Can’t be that everytime he must wait for a Parliament session before giving an opinion.

    Good example of Pakatan Rakyat unity was demonstrated when opposing against Umno-BN power grab in Perak, and that’s not some Ali-Baba fairy tale children’s story.

    No point for country to boast having 10 billionaires or 100 millionaires when NEP policy failed to eradicate poverty after 40 years of misguided implementation…

  24. Open debate on the NEM,unless you guys are dreaming in a pretty relaxed sleep. I think it’s much easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for BNUmmnoputras to get into the door of the NEM,let alone open it for discussion.

  25. Pak Lah urges Malays to give up ‘crutches’ of special rights (Jun 9, 02 11:08am)
    Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has urged ethnic Malays to embrace meritocracy and give up the “crutches” of special government aid, a report said today.
    “The time has come for us to give up the crutches and start walking independently,” Abdullah was quoted as saying by the Sunday Star at a ruling party convention in southern Malaysia’s Johor state over the weekend.
    “We must embrace meritocracy positively and view it as an opportunity to gain dignity for the community by proving we can achieve success on our own merit.”
    Abdullah, the anointed successor of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, urged the Malay community to think positively of their own ability.



  26. Are we asking NR or NasilRazak bending his body forward, opening up his limbs & sacrificing his a*s for Hanjin Chengho?? Bakkuthair never did it, NasilRazak will do it?

    In other words, NEP or NEM Acts or Laws or Constitutional Rights, or whatever be called, will never be pursued and passed by our Parliament through democratic debates!!! They implemented any ways/shapes as they wished without even a single auditing Report from our Public Auditors or Accountants!! And submitting any reports to the Parliament or upholding any Public Transparency Accountability for scrutinizing!!! As the results, numerous billionaires have been popping up mainly from BN/UMNO cronies and cohorts!

    If those suckers can do things in transparency ways with full accountability to the Public and the Parliament. We can see wonderful & full moon every night! In fact, NR has been thinking of becoming billionaire after his retirement as premiership!

    Suckers always do things in crook ways as to swindle and pocket without any torchlights shining upon them! That’s how our most billionaires/millionaires surging dramatically without any sufferings and facing any hardships or hazards. Has anyone watch a popular TV Game series showing in the Western worlds & HK? “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”. In Bolehland, our famous Game series is totally different with name much longer, “Who Wants To be Be A Billionaire or Millionaire? Join BN/UMNO!!” Our Bolehland motto is “Becoming Billionaires/Millionaires joining BN/UMNO”

  27. CALL FOR AN OPEN DEBATE ON THE NEW ECONOMIC MODEL… THE RIGHT TO DISCUSS AND DEBATE ON THE NEW ECONOMIC MODEL BEFORE IT COULD BE IMPLEMENTED.

    Discuss for what? Doesn’t the NEP says: “Menghapuskan kemiskinan dalam kalangan rakyat TANPA MENGIRA KAUM?” Then what happened?

    When you discuss anything with dishonest people, you are just wasting your time. Just save your breath and vote them out in the next general election… that would be more fruitful.

  28. Oh second thoughts…. why don’t we ask UMNO to do a post-mortem on the NEP (1970-1990) and see how far they have succeeded in achieving their objectives of “menghapuskan kemiskinan dalam kalangan rakyat TANPA MENGIRA KAUM?”

    Why come out with a new model without a post-mortem to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a previous model to avoid making the same mistakes?

    In any case, crooks are crooks and they will doctor their post-mortem to suit their own agenda.

    When you discuss anything with dishonest people, you are just wasting your time. Just save your breath and vote them out in the next general election… that would be more fruitful.

  29. Chengho must be the smartest man in Malaysia…who can advice…criticize legends…like Dr. Chen and LKS..that can be his grandfathers.
    This totally no manners cracko..never ceased to let every know…he is a BN balls carrier.

  30. When have you ever seen UMNO dares to accept an open debate on any subject?
    Just look at the rare debate on oil…Anwar with that stupid UMNO man.
    You think UMNO will dare to keep exposing they are idiots and know next to nothing about government the country….except keep using race and religion and encouraging corruptions to win votes….while all of them are filthy rich…dressed up with false titles??
    Yes…stealing and cheating…..Malaysians natural wealth..twisted to be.. profiteering and commission..in businesses…that thy are very good.
    Dirty poilitic..best in the world.

  31. A rose by any name smells the same. NEM, NEP will have the same theme but different singers, one by senior Razak and the other junior Razak. ACA and MACC is a glaring example.
    We know how UMNO survives by tricking the Malays and meanwhile fill their own pockets. Ibrahim Ali saw this opportunity and with TDM as his mentor did not hesitate to play the same cards, of course with the blessings of UMNO.

  32. ///After 1971, with the NEP, the GDP of Malaysia began falling behind that of the four Asian tigers Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore). In 2009, while GDP of Malaysia stood at US$8,000, S Korea and Taiwan rose to US$19,000, Hong Kong to $32,000 while Singapore to US$34,000./// – Dr Chen

    It may also be argued by a Sinagpore analyst E Yeo that [sic] obsession with GDP growth does not necessarily bring happiness and well-being to its people. In fact, high GDP growth has a propensity to cause inflation, rising cost of living, longer working hours and greater stress level for the working population and does not always lead to wealth creation or distribution to the lower income group. Though Malaysia is still a developing country and has a GDP (PPP) per capita of only $14,215, less than 3 times of Sinagpore’s, the ordinary Malaysian citizen has about the same domestic purchasing power as the Singaporean.

    [SLKPWPHUOC]

  34. What are you trying to say, Jeffrey ? That per capita GDP is not a sign of happiness and well-being ? All because of an article written by an unknown economist ? If this is the conclusion, then why bother with “developed” status by 2020 ? We should keep things as they are, keep the per capita GDP as it is, and we’ll be a much happier lot.

    Know how to keep per capita GDP constant, Jeffrey ? You slow down economic growth so that it only moves in tandem with inflation. So we should just grow at a nominal 2.5 pct per annum. Don’t fight for 6 pct growth. That’s about the easiest job in the world.

  35. I mean, if Krugman or Friedman or Becker or Fogel comes up with a model that says that economic growth is inversely proportional to human happiness, then the whole world can stop this mad race to maximise economic growth. Why should we believe this Yeo guy who obviously had an axe to grind with Singapore. He was equating Singapore with the lack of political freedom. Try running the same line of argument with high per capita GDP countries like Switzerland, Luxembourg or even Germany.

  36. Well it is hard to say per capita GDP by itself – though conventionally used as a measure of the wealth of the population of a nation – is an entire measure of happiness and well-being of populace. Lack of political freedom, as you mentioned, is certainly one factor but there are other economic indicias per capita GDP has to weigh against such as inflation, cost of living as it affects purchasing power, longer working hours and greater stress level for the working population, not to mention the Lorenz curve of income distribution amongst rich, middle and poor. There we cannot run the same line of argument with high per capita GDP countries like Switzerland, Luxembourg or even Germany because their socio-economic conditions are different from Singapore.(This so called ‘unknown economist’, a Singaporean is particularly aggrieved that though Singapore has high GDP per capita its not having same quality of life as like countries and even more aggrieved that though Malaysia has much lower GDP (PPP) per capita of only $14,215, less than 3 times of Singapore’s, the ordinary Malaysian citizen at least cities like KL, has about the same domestic purchasing power as the Singaporean.

    Nowadays there are many checking themselves whether pursuing high momentum growth at all cost ought to be at expense of the quality of life.

    It is however agreed that whilst GDP (PPP) per capita is quantifiable/measurable, “quality of life” and “happiness and prosperity” touted is intangible and hardly quantifiable by numeral/objective yardsticks.

    In spite of that we have The Sustainable Development Commission in U.K. now advocating ”prosperity without growth” to the government in order to engineer a rethink of its economic policies from one which is mainly econometric to one which is more humanistic. A recent study published by the New Economics Foundation shows that the happiest people on Earth are not from countries with the highest GDP per capital. It names Costa Rica, with a GDP a quarter of the United States, as having the highest Global Happiness Index in the world (whatever that means). Then there is this country called Bhutan that calls itself “a Happy Little Kingdom”. Whilst many countries look at their Gross Domestic Product growth as indicia of wealth happiness and development, Bhutan measures itself by what it calls the gross national happiness (GNH) index that measures quality of life or social progress in more holistic and psychological terms..Like many psychological and social indicators, GNH is somewhat easier to state than to define with mathematical precision. Wonder how they do it.

  37. Why is growth necessary – necessary as in we dont have a choice but to grow? (1) Scarcity of resources. (2) Rising demands.

    An infant drinks milk. A young child eats rice, noodles, vegetables and meat. And when he is older, he goes to school. He needs books, stationary, shoes, sports attire, laptop, etc etc. His demand will grow. It is a natural progression. And it is not unique to towns and cities only. Even in the villages demands too will rise. These rising demands are in reality demands upon the economy and they would compel the wheels of the economy to grind and turn harder and faster. The smaller the wheels the harder and faster they will be forced to turn. When the wheels are subjected to stresses beyond its capacity or design it will break down. The solution is to replace the small wheel with a larger wheel. That means, to grow the size of the economy.

    Happiness is quite a different matter altogether in this gruesome grind of the economic wheels. Happiness is tied to one’s needs and how high one sets the standards of one’s needs. The moment the standards are set, the wheels will turn. The whole exercise then would be geared towards satisfying the demand. Economic activities in this pure form has very little concern for the happiness of people. But people has the option to derive happiness from it – more like deriving satisfaction or sense of achievement from it. That is also why this can turn into a stressful and empty pursuit. Hence singaporeans are now asking questions and are trying to re-set their standards – to redefine a more comfortable level of happiness.

  38. [following my reasoning in #35]

    So not all proton owners are unhappy people and conversely not all ferrari owners are happy people.

    As a concluding note: I observe that all perkumnoputras are never happy no matter how much they milked from the country and her people. I wonder why?

  40. Malaysia is made up of three main component countries, namely, Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak.
    The PM post should therefore be rotated among the three partners.
    All policies should be properly endorsed by all 3 partners, including the proposed NEM…..# 9 by JohnnyPok…….Agreed with you JohnnyPok,fully. I think it’s time for Sabahans and Sarawakians to be treated like partners,not like some step-child. All Sabahans and Sarawakians should not be classified as malay/muslim,bumi/muslim ,not bumi/muslim,non malays and others. We should ask or demand these racial terms to be abolished and replacing them under the new accepted term as ” Anak Bangsa Malaysia “

  41. ///I observe that all perkumnoputras are never happy no matter how much they milked from the country and her people. I wonder why?///

    Oh maybe they’re happy and because of that fearful of losing it. Or maybe they’re happy but not contented. Happiness is never easy to define, often not even agreed upon.

    Suffice to say, it is not within calculation of perkumnoputras to weigh their interests and benefit alongside those of their other less fortunate countrymen without bias of extraneous factors like race, creed or religion. Indeed the latter is used to maintain the separateness from which claim is asserted on wealth of the country as their legitimate entitlement.

    The feeling and sense of what is fair, just and most important, right in the ‘spirit of live and let live’, is absent, and with that even if the NEP makes available opportunities of education here and abroad the heart has not become educated, and with that, the man as well in his thinking, “eat or be eaten!”

  42. [equally following my reasoning in #39] one may then ask whether he who lives only for his own or his group/tribe’s interests, without factoring within his idea of happiness, a rudimentary sense of what is fair, just and most important, right in the ‘spirit of live and let live’ for others within the human group, can be trully “happy” – the answer to which, whether yes or no, I guess will depend on his level of intellect.

  43. The real measure should be based on what the average food intake cost? For example: a bowl of noodle or rice plus either fish, meat or chicken and based on a $ for a $! Don’t change, as you are paid according to what your employer perceives you can do. In the little dot south, you can get a bowl of fish/beef plus rice for s$3.50-$4. Like wise you can get the same the the corner shop.
    In the DOT, you get a rather larger slice of tenngiri, here you would get Dory Fish. The beef over there is MADE in Australia, here likely a frozen piece imported from India. Any difference? Yes, I refuse to eat the Dory Fish and also the beef satay from India, afterall the importer himself also refused to eat it!!
    Then let’s look at the take home pay of a new graduate: In more a competitive industry, down south starts off with some s$3K, here some rm$2.5 k. There you can’t own a car, BUT you can take the bus/MRT without much hassle. Here you are FORCED to own a Perdua, otherwise you would be late to work most of the days. In which case you would have no saving for the next 5 to 9 years, paying off the Perdua! So how do you judge? In the south, you are paid a lower pay but in good times, Bonuses can more than double your yearly income!! And above all, you are unlikely to be MUGGED even if you have to come back after your OTs. So what’s being compared?

  44. Why perkumnoputras are never happy no matter how much they milked from the country and her people ….by K1980…Hey K1980 if you were one of them,would you ? I think there are 4 reasons. (1) Sky is their target (2) pondering whether they could bring all their ill-gotten wealth into their graves (3) wondering sleeplessly how to avoid prison term when Umno/Bn loose power to PR and (4) the most important one especially for the religious minded Umnoputras that how Allxh would punish them when they meet their Creator. Like the following famous chinese sayings “you enjoy the first day and I would avenge you on the 15th day of the lunar month…..You may now standing tall on a high hill but there remain many other higher hills in the wilderness.

  45. On what Najib said about DAP’s Middle Malaysia – Its cheap, snide, low class. Najib is an ASS not even with a hole. Its the stuff of crude, uneducated people. He make a cheap hooker in chow kit look like high class.. The man is breaking under pressure – he can’t handle the intellectual challenge and its showing…

  46. ///Though Malaysia is still a developing country and has a GDP (PPP) per capita of only $14,215, less than 3 times of Sinagpore’s, the ordinary Malaysian citizen has about the same domestic purchasing power as the Singaporean. ///

    It is interesting to find out what constitute “domestic” purchasing power. The GDP when converted on the PPP basis has already taken care of the ‘cheap’ prices in domestic economy. So by inflating the local prices to the so-called international price, the purchasing power of Malaysian at PPP $ 14,215 is just one-third that of average Singaporeran taking Singapore domestic price to equate that of international price.

    Of the PPP $14, 215 what are available to purchase in domestic market, for malaysians, not all are used for ‘domestic purchasing power. For the balance, the conversion would have to be based on exchange rate. For those who do not have to spend on ‘domestic purchasing’, they have only US$ 8000 compared to US 34,000 among Singaporeans, a ratio of 1 to 4.25. So Malaysian and Singaporean do not have the same domestic purchasing power.

  48. Godfather, I think you shouldn’t waste time with this half baked sage. When we talk about GDP growth, we are talking about real growth, never in nominal term. What is the point of having 10% nominal growth when inflation is 11%; you are actually poorer by one percent. Of course, growth must take into account distribution and other welfare measures. But if there is not growth, there will be nothing to distribute.

    This half baked sage wants to compare with Singapore using PPP (purchasing power parity). Please, just look at all the welfare measures – life expectancy, hygiene level, quality of food, general housing conditions, recreation and amenities, quality of education and health services. Of course Singapore being a small island with limited resources, living conditions could be tough at times. Ask yourself, half baked, are there more Malaysians working in Singapore or the other way round.

  49. Whether it be named NEP or NEM or any other names, its one and only objective is none other than to create a “super jelly fish” tribe in Malaysia where they are totally protected and where they will not leave for international waters full of predators!

  50. Half baked, if you think life in Malaysia is more present than Singapore, that is because Malaysia has more resources – land, space, water, oil and other resources. It is not because we manage better than Singapore. If Singapore were to manage Malaysia the last 50 years, our living conditions by now will be better than New Zealand.

  51. ///A better way to measure prosperity is to divide the average annual salary by the total price of a selected basket of goods and services (as used in the UBS study). This tells us how much purchasing power local wages.///

    Thank you Jeffrey for providing the link.

    From the above you would appreciate that the data relates only to salary earned, and one doubts the coverage and the basis of such Statistics. Thus, it does not represent the country as a whole.

    When the term PPP is used, the prices ralate to all items, included in GDP computation, inflated to international price. You might have heard of purchasing power parities of currencies based on Macdonald’s prices across countries. I view the report to belong to that category.

  52. Yes, a car in Singapore can cost you 3 times more than Malaysia. But in Singapore, in terms of quality of life, you can travel around in efficient, clean and comfortable MRT. In Malaysia, the same car costs you less, but you still have to buy it and drive in the jam everyday, got it half baked sage?

  53. Those dependent on NEP is like a handsome on life support. They can only think, talk and dream.

    Compared to Indonesia, Malaysia is losing behind in terms of mentality, culture and advancement in terms of desire to excel.

  54. In my post #30 I was just bringing to attention a certain point of view of a Singaporean analyst that [sic] obsession with GDP growth does not necessarily bring happiness and well-being to its people. Thats it period.

    I used the word ‘sic’ in #30 (from the Latin ‘sicut’, meaning ‘just as’), to explain the status of an apparent mistake. Generally, sic means the foregoing mistake (or apparent mistake) was made by the writer/speaker I am quoting.

    I am but the messenger of what he said.

    So Lim Kam Put, Please explain to me why do you call me repeatedly “half baked” calculated to be offensive.

  56. Did I mention your name specifically when I said some of the views expressed here are half baked? It does not matter whether a point has come from that person directly or he has quoted from somewhere. Either way, that person is half baked. Let me put it this way, that someone has a penchant for diverting the real issue here. His agenda is suspected.

    Let me add: Singapore does have rats as big as cats running around; Singapore does not have monsoon drains that are like open sewage. Singapore does not have uncollected garbage that oozes stench; Singapore does not have cockroaches, lizards, flies everywhere; Four or five Singapore dollars give you a decent meals in hygienic environment; five ringgit here now give you rubbish in a road side store with all the filthy air and stray cats. This someone must have his head examined. You know why this country never change? The denial syndrome is everywhere

  57. ///Did I mention your name specifically when I said some of the views expressed here are half baked?/// – LimKamPut

    So you admit you are not referring to me?
    In your posting #46 “Godfather, I think you shouldn’t waste time with this half baked sage”, you’re not referring to me – and that you are referring to “some of the views expressed here are half baked”? Or you don’t have sincerity/courage to own up what you intended? Ha ha ha.

  58. And in #40 when you said “Half baked, if you think life in Malaysia is more present than Singapore, that is because Malaysia has more resources …” – again you are referring to the world at large (not me)? Lim Kam Put do you have the sincerity/courage to own up what you intended or you want to keep telling grand mother stories here ?

  59. #50

    limkamput :
    Yes, a car in Singapore can cost you 3 times more than Malaysia. But in Singapore, in terms of quality of life, you can travel around in efficient, clean and comfortable MRT. In Malaysia, the same car costs you less, but you still have to buy it and drive in the jam everyday, got it half baked sage?

    What an excellent point?

    Usually, traffic jams are man-made by bunch of police suckers sucking for money as to setup unnecessary road-blocks and check-points in Bolehland or bodohland!! Lot of laughs…. Ha ha ha…

    As LKS said before, “couple of SMS message and a phone call…” to halt up the entire KL city for couple of days!!! What a joke.man!!! LOL!!

    Hopeless….hopeless…. Police….

  60. ///Either way, that person is half baked. Let me put it this way, that someone has a penchant for diverting the real issue here. His agenda is suspected./// – LimKamPut #4

    You are referring to the whole world – those whose views expressed here are half baked, right? Hah ha ha

  61. Not to mention the only exercise some people get in Bolehland is jumping to conclusions, running down others (sometimes directed generally at the whole world), side-stepping responsibility, and pushing their luck.

  63. Though Malaysia is still a developing country and has a GDP (PPP) per capita of only $14,215, less than 3 times of ours, the ordinary Malaysian citizen has about the same domestic purchasing power as the Singaporean.
    //UBS

    UBS is talking through its ass. If they understand what PPP is all about, they would not have made the above statement. What can we expect from all these big names – UBS, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Bro, CitiBank etc. Didn’t they screw the world financial system and run it to its ground.

  64. Though Malaysia is still a developing country and has a GDP (PPP) per capita of only $14,215, less than 3 times of ours, the ordinary Malaysian citizen has about the same domestic purchasing power as the Singaporean.
    //UBS

    UBS is talking through its ass. If they understand what PPP is all about, they would not have made the above statement. What can we expect from all these big names – UBS, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Bro, CitiBank etc. Didn’t they scr*w the world financial system and run it to its ground.

  66. //In a bid to regain straying non-Malay support, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin said tonight the government’s New Economic Model (NEM) will provide equal opportunities to all regardless of race.//MI

    Sound familiar or not? Didn’t I said all these before – each time after all the scr*w-up, the government will come up with a standard response – all the unfairness, the shortcomings, the discrimination and marginalisation will be rectified in the next Malaysia Plan and now with a little more sophistication, in the NEM. Read my lips, new model my ass. If those Chinamen from the Chinese Assembly Hall buy the stupid idea, then they are asses too.

  68. “Sound familiar or not? Didn’t I said …” limkaput

    This is the result of UMNO sending Malay students at great taxpayer expense, who do not deserve to go anywhere to the U.S. and elsewhere overseas to attend community colleges and polytechnics, only to return to write and speak broken English.

    ” Read my lips, new model my ass …” limkaput

    After all this time, you’re still asking readers to read your lips when they can’t even see your face. Please put yourself on webcam so we can see your lips.

    “If those Chinamen from the Chinese Assembly Hall buy the stupid idea …” limkaput

    Yeah right! Blame the Chinamen when you cannot find anybody else to blame. The average Chinaman is a lot smarter than you think.

  70. Hey, half baked sage, it is pointless for you to canvass for support from a depraved ass who honesty is worse than the pimp walking streets of Kampung Atap. Since the pimp is here, it is better for me to get out fast.

  71. /// Singapore has high GDP per capita its not having same quality of life as like countries and even more aggrieved that though Malaysia has much lower GDP (PPP) per capita of only $14,215, less than 3 times of Singapore’s, the ordinary Malaysian citizen at least cities like KL, has about the same domestic purchasing power as the Singaporean. ///

    Jeff, that is wrong. PPP already factored in the domestic purchasing power. Singapore’s per capita GDP (ppp) on a purchasing power parity is 3 times more than Malaysia’s. Period. But you will be correct to say that some pockets in KL (not all) have a per capita GDP – again on a ppp basis, that could be higher than Singapore’s. That is like saying the top income earners in KL earns more than the average earners in Singapore. And certainly the per capita GDP (Grease, Dirty-money, Pilfering) of UMNOputras and their cronies are a thousand fold higher than Singapore’s per capita GDP.

  72. I have just returned from a trip to find that you folks have hijacked this blog and diverted attention to Dr Chen’s call for the “New” Economic Model to be the subject of public consultation.

    I don’t care if some lowly economist thinks that Singaporeans have no freedom of choice, and that they yearn for Malaysians’ happiness. I also don’t care if many Malaysians are happy with their per capita income, especially if their income is supplemented by crutches offered by the government. All I know is that I am unhappy at the way my tax payments are fritted away by this den of thieves. My income may be on a par with the per capita income of Singapore (and therefore 3 times the per capita income of the average Malaysian) but I know for a fact that I can’t be happier than the average Singaporean.

    Hence I want the New Economic Model to address leakages and crutches offered only to those who truly deserve them. If the government can’t do this transparently, then it means the voice of Perkasa is more important than mine, even though I contribute more to tax revenues than Ibrahim Katak.

  73. According to TheMalaysiaInsider’s report March 17 By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal The Malay Consultative Council (MPM) (of which Ibrahim Ali is the founder and steering committee member) “claims that Malays and Bumiputras, who form the majority group in the country, are being marginalised and amendments need to be made to the New Economic Model (NEM) to remedy that.”

    According to Ibrahim Ali (sic) “77 per cent of the country’s population is made up of Malays and Bumiputras while 33 percent are non-Malays, which made Malays and Bumiputras the majority race in the country”.

    “The UN charter states that the majority group is the national agenda… this is indeed the issue of national agenda, because this is the majority population,” he added.

    After 50 years of affirmative policy by NEP, majority are still marginalized? By what – the implementation of the very affirmative policy that is supposed to address it?

    This is the only country in the world that (sic) 77% majority receives affirmative help. In others it’s the minority who receive.

    Also by articles 2 and 7 of UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms and equal protection of law, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. He forgot to mention these.

  74. Surely one day, the 77% will be reached, but now it is 67%, when NEWMalays are included. Had UMNO cared for the true Malays, the definition of the Malay in the constitution would have referred to them rather than to persons who could hijacked the NEP.

    NEP was to be for 20 years until 1990. NDP replaced NEP while implementing the same racial policies with better protection for corruption among the connected. That lasts for 20 years. So NEM begin now until 2020 when a new variant of NEP will be due. By then the figure of 77% for NEWMalays would materialise. The per capita GDP would become one-sixth of that for Singapore.

    The UMNO Malay leaders in the 1960s should have either opened up UMNO membership to all Malayans or restiricted them to true Malays. The true Malays are no match for mamaks even when mamaks are at the receiving end like other non-Malays. When they are included as Malays, what hope are there for the true Malays? Ibrahim Ali can scream his head off, but he still did not realise the cause of Malays’ problems; he had Perkasa opened by Mamakthir. What a joke!

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