Archive for category Lim Teck Ghee
The 2013 Election Results: Back to the Drawing Board for Both Coalitions
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, Lim Teck Ghee, Mahathir, Najib Razak, Pakatan Rakyat on Friday, 10 May 2013
by Dr. Lim Teck Ghee
Finally the general election is over. For politicians and analysts, the work of number crunching, deciphering the results and trying to understand the choices made by voters is just beginning.
Some conclusions are easy to arrive at. Firstly, despite a skewed electoral playing ground and the rolling out of more than RM2.6 billion worth of financial and other incentives to voters, the BN could not improve on its 2008 performance. Although it regained power in one state and has a comfortable majority at parliamentary level, its share of state and parliamentary seats has been substantially reduced. Had a fair election prevailed, it would have been consigned to the opposition benches. In fact BN lost the popular vote count by a substantial margin nation-wide. In most if not all electoral systems found in the world, it would have been booted out of office. In our case, it came dangerously close to it. Read the rest of this entry »
Stealing the elections: Act One
Posted by Kit in Articles, Lim Teck Ghee on Friday, 12 April 2013
by Dr Lim Teck Ghee
Centre for Policy Initiatives
Even before the dust has set on the fixing of the polling date, the Barisan Nasional (BN) had already begun the hijacking of the elections. With the apparent connivance of the Election Commission (EC) – the pit bull ensuring BN’s electoral victory for the past 12 general elections – they have imposed a 10-minute slot for Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties to explain their polls manifesto over the official media.
According to Rais Yatim, the Information, Communications and Culture caretaker minister, the short time offered to PR will be more than enough to showcase their pledges. Although an attempt has been made by the EC at damage control over the government’s ludicrous but at the same time deadly serious intent – it has explained that the opposition had misunderstood the offer which was intended to be serial and not one-time – the objective of the government is clear.
This is to use its monopoly of the official (and much of the unofficial print) media to ensure a BN election victory by seeing to it that the public – especially rural and Malay voters – will hear only the good side and promises of the BN and to downplay, ignore or demonize the PR side. Read the rest of this entry »
Whistleblower on hidden truths of the pork import business
Posted by Kit in Lim Teck Ghee on Wednesday, 20 March 2013
Introduction by Dr Lim Teck Ghee
Centre for Policy Initiatives
On 5 March 2013, CPI posted an article on ‘NEM at ground level: same old model, no paradigm shift’. The article revealed how pork importation has degenerated from a freer market to a semi-monopoly controlled by a business-political mafia and which involves the highest level of leadership in the Ministry responsible.
On 13 March, the Malaysian Association of Pork Importers (MAOPI) issued a press statement – apparently available only to the Chinese mainstream media – in which it denied the charges in the CPI article and alleged that the contents of the article were untrue and aimed at smearing the good name of MAOPI.
Since then we have received further damaging disclosure from both members and non-members of MAOPI on the subject.
We are reproducing below unedited excerpts from another informant. Read the rest of this entry »
RCI proceedings: Facing up to the truth of where Malaysians come from
Posted by Kit in Lim Teck Ghee, Mahathir, Sabah on Sunday, 20 January 2013
By Dr. Lim Teck Ghee | Sunday, 20 January 2013 11:03
CPI
The pro-Umno author and blogger Syed Akbar Ali, in a post critiquing the Royal Commission of Inquiry on illegal immigrants in Sabah, has argued that it would not be out of place to have a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate why one million immigrants who were mostly Chinese and Indians were given citizenship in Malaya in the 1950s (see his post of 17 Jan 2013).
According to him, “surely there must be at least five million Malays on the Peninsula today who may be wondering why or how that particular incident happened? Were they consulted? Was there a public referendum?”
He also asserted that “Let’s not argue about the fairness. Let’s have a RCI first on the issue – how and why 1.0 million Chinese and Indians (including my mamak gang of course) were given citizenship.”
He may have made his proposal provocatively or tongue-in-cheek but a variant of it has appeared as one of the lines of defence used by the former prime minister in justifying the distribution of identity cards to foreigners and their registration as voters in Sabah. According to Dr Mahathir Mohamed , “One should also look back and remember that Tunku Abdul Rahman was worse than me, he gave one million to citizenships to people who are not qualified and not even tested”.
Read the rest of this entry »
Time to set up a Ministry of Minority Affairs
Posted by Kit in Lim Teck Ghee, Public policy on Friday, 4 January 2013
By Dr. Lim Teck Ghee | 04 January 2013 09:19
CPI
As we begin a new year, a rash of old issues and challenges confront the country. Chief amongst them are racial and religious tensions and a rising sense of marginalization and alienation among our minority communities while at the same time the majority community feels threatened and insecure.
Many of these problems are deeply entrenched. Their effects are no longer confined to a small part of our body politic or emerge as isolated and unconnected events. They have infiltrated into all sectors of society and cast a shadow in the life of every Malaysian – in our everyday thought processes, in our consciousness and in our actions.
The problems that are associated with the ethnic and religious divide between Malays and non-Malays and between Muslims and non-Muslims will not be resolved quickly. There is no magical remedy.
Many of these problems stem from our seriously weakened social cohesion and the growing disunity that our nation has experienced during the past four decades. The intangible but potent glue of harmony, sense of community and commitment to realizing the common good that binds countries and their people together has long broken down in Malaysia.
Read the rest of this entry »
Umno and the burning down of 1Malaysia
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Lim Teck Ghee, Najib Razak, nation building, UMNO on Monday, 17 December 2012
Dr Lim Teck Ghee
CPI
14 December 2012
The Prime Minister, Najib Razak, has stated that his vision of 1Malaysia is intended to counter the growing national divide between Malaysians on race, religion and other sensitive socio-cultural issues. He has also argued that the aim of the vision is to strengthen national unity on the basis of inclusiveness – “this policy means that we’ll try to be as inclusive as possible, in a sense that we should have a government that is able to reach out to all communities”. (Interview with CNN, Talkasia, 1 Nov 2010)
Not only was this vision of 1Malaysia markedly absent from the recent Umno general assembly but the real driving force of the party – one completely at odds with 1Malaysia – emerged from the shadows during the singing of a song by Tokyo Umno Club representative Arif Yassir Zulkafli.
The lyrics of the song ‘Lagu Warisan’ can be seen to encapsulate the ideological leifmotif of Umno. It provided the emotional and psychological high point of the meeting and explains why the song left delegates in tears and in spontaneous rendition.
It also explains why the Umno mind and mentality has remained unchanged during the last 66 years of the party’s existence – insecure, envious, delusional, un-accepting of other Malaysians, and propagating a bankrupt doctrine of ‘Blood and Soil’ nationalism akin to that of the Nazis and fascists.
Blood and soil nationalism refers to an ideology that focuses on ethnicity based on two factors – descent and homeland. Readers interested in learning more about blood and soil nationalism can read the Wikipedia. Read the rest of this entry »
Refsa on subsidies: Still off the mark
Posted by Kit in Economics, Finance, Lim Teck Ghee on Thursday, 25 October 2012
Dr Lim Teck Ghee
CPI
The response by Research for Social Advancement (Refsa) institute to my note is disappointing. It provides little value added to the current knowledge on subsidies in Malaysia; repeats various motherhood statements about the need to rein in subsidies and selectively focuses on so-called various ivory tower statements that they have detected in my note to triumphantly declare victory.
The major contention in my note is necessary to repeat:
It is necessary to remind the REFSA-IDEAS team that subsidies have an important role to play in providing a safety net for vulnerable groups. They help bring down the cost of living as well as enable access to health, education, transport and other necessities.
They are a necessary burden in a highly skewed capitalist economy such as Malaysia’s where the lower classes of labour do not get the fair remuneration that they are entitled to or deserve. Read the rest of this entry »
Budget 2013: Federal government subsidies go up in flames while poor Malaysians watch
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Economics, Lim Teck Ghee on Friday, 12 October 2012
By Teh Chi-Chang, CFA
Executive Director
REFSA (Research for Social Advancement)
Friday, 12 October 2012
We write to rebut Dr Lim Teck Ghee’s assertion that “There is little empirical research to back up what has become an increasingly popular line of argument” that blanket subsidies such as for cheap petrol and sugar “benefit upper-class Malaysians who consume much more than their poorer cousins[1]”.
These are the basic facts:
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The federal government subsidy bill is expected to exceed RM42 billion this year.
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If we can agree that subsidies should go only to the poor, and we define the poor as the bottom 1/3rd of households, there will be 2.3 million households or nearly 10 million Malaysians[2] who will get subsidies.
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RM42 billion is enough to give these bottom 1/3rd of households RM1,650 per month – which will more than double their current incomes of RM1,500 per month!
REFSA’s and IDEAS’s Misplaced Focus on Critiquing Subsidies in the 2013 Budget
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Lim Teck Ghee on Tuesday, 2 October 2012
Dr Lim Teck Ghee
2nd October 2012
In their joint statement recently released on 28 September, IDEAS (Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs) and not-for-profit research institute REFSA (Research for Social Advancement) drew attention to the “shocking federal government subsidy bill for 2012” which according to them is now expected to hit RM42 billion, a massive RM9 billion or 27% above the RM33 billion originally forecast for the year.
While it is true that subsidies have quadrupled in the past five years, and some of it is wasteful and not efficiently targeted at the most needy or priority sectors, the REFSA-IDEAS contention of the debilitating effects of subsidies on our economic health needs to be challenged.
Yes, blanket subsidies for cheap petrol and sugar do result in a degree of excessive and wasteful consumption. However the extent is debatable, and even if considerable, is not a sufficiently compelling reason for their immediate removal. Read the rest of this entry »
Education blueprint: Don’t stampede us into approval
Posted by Kit in Education, Lim Teck Ghee on Friday, 21 September 2012
By Dr Lim Teck Ghee | Friday, 21 September 2012 10:30
CPI
I call on the Government not to stampede Malaysians into approving the education blueprint recently presented to the public. This is because there are many unresolved and critical issues which need clarification and deliberation before the blueprint can be considered a satisfactory framework for responding to the deep crisis in our education system and the many challenges that we face in economy and society.
Rushing the blueprint as the final roadmap just ahead of the coming elections not only smacks of political opportunism but it will also adversely impact our students through its untimely implementation of contentious policies in key areas.
Is a new NEP part of the blueprint?
In my opinion, the draft although containing some useful recommendations for reform, has many shortcomings, including the failure to address key problem areas arising from past politicization of the educational system. This politicization associated with the implementation of the New Economic Policy in education has led to a drastic fall in standards as well as the declining quality of human resource development and a less resilient, cohesive and competitive society. It awaits a fuller discussion and analysis in the revised report.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tweaked crime statistics: Who should respond
Posted by Kit in Crime, Lim Teck Ghee, Police on Monday, 27 August 2012
Dr Lim Teck Ghee
CPI
Below we are reproducing views from several CPI columnists and regular contributors on the whistleblower’s letter detailing the way in which crime statistics have been processed to provide the misleading conclusion that crime is on the decline in the country.
We await with interest the official response – whether from Hishamuddin Hussein, the Home Minister or Koh Tsu Koon and Idris Jala, the two ministers concerned in the Prime Minister’s Department or from Ismail Omar, the Inspector General of Police.
We had earlier published the letter of explanation on the collection and recording of crime statistics by ACP Razali Mohamad Yoosuf in response to the initial article by myself on why our police are impotent against the tide of rising crime.
We look forward to publishing any further response from ACP Razali and his colleagues in the PDRM or from any other of the alleged implicated stake players on the latest developments on this subject which is of so much concern to our citizenry.
It is important that some official response be forthcoming because at risk is not simply the public’s confidence in crime statistics and the police but at risk is also the public’s confidence in the other officially generated statistics on the country’s development as well as the public’s perception of the professionalism, independence and integrity of the civil service.
Few Malaysians will ever again look at official statistics without wondering how they have been fudged and manipulated by the government for political advantage. Read the rest of this entry »
Why police are impotent: A response to PDRM
Posted by Kit in Crime, Lim Teck Ghee, Police on Saturday, 4 August 2012
— Lim Teck Ghee
The Malaysian Insider
Aug 03, 2012
AUG 3 — I thank the Polis Diraja Malaysia for the response to my commentary on why the police are impotent in fighting rising crime in the country.
Massaging of official statistics and reports
Firstly, with regard to the lengthy explanation on how the crime count statistics are generated, whilst the information is quite useful, it does not make a convincing case that the crime rate has dropped dramatically during the past three years.
I am sure that the police leadership — as with the ordinary man in the street — is aware that police reports generated through the official reporting system considerably understate the actual incidence of crime.
Furthermore, methodologies, definitions and categorisations vary from year to year. These changes, together with other forms of “massaging” (authorised and unauthorised) are the most likely explanations as to why there has been such a sharp fall in the reported crime statistics in the past three years compared with 2008. Read the rest of this entry »
Bad start Mr Chief Secretary
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Lim Teck Ghee, public service on Friday, 29 June 2012
— Lim Teck Ghee
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 29, 2012
JUNE 29 — In his first public interview since assuming the position of Chief Secretary to the Government, Dr Ali Hamsa said all the politically correct and bland things that one expects from someone eager to show Malaysians that he is up to the challenge of a big job.
From being a cheer leader attempting to rouse the morale of his troops (according to him, the performance of the civil service has been “excellent”) to sounding patriotic and humble (“We need to continuously raise the bar to be among the best…”; “we can’t treat what we do as a job as what we do must benefit all Malaysians”), the orchestrated and carefully calibrated interview with the New Straits Times was clearly meant to impress and get Malaysians on his side.
Unfortunately, it failed to address the two most important failings of the civil service. Read the rest of this entry »
Correcting the civil service racial imbalance
Posted by Kit in Lim Teck Ghee, public service on Saturday, 9 June 2012
Dr Lim Teck Ghee
CPI
Can the government promise that all young Malaysians will be given fair treatment, and racial or regional discrimination will not be tolerated in order to encourage non-Malay recruitment into the civil service?
Once more the government appears to be clueless and befuddled as to why the non-Malay young do not want to take up civil service jobs. Once more, there will be a taskforce and a high-level committee at work to produce yet another report on how to attract non-Malays to join the service.
Once more the almost obligatory letters are appearing in the mainstream papers applauding the government (in this case) the Public Service Commission new chairman for his bold initiative in proposing a study “to nail down…the reasons for the poor number of applications from non-Bumiputeras for public and civil service jobs”. Read the rest of this entry »
Why the PM should scuttle the coming FGVH IPO
Posted by Kit in Felda, Lim Teck Ghee on Saturday, 19 May 2012
— Lim Teck Ghee
The Malaysian Insider
May 18, 2012
MAY 18 — Prime Minister Najib Razak last week announced a “windfall” of RM15,000 to each Felda settler family.
The planned payout is to come from the initial public offering of the Felda Global Ventures Holding (FGVH). As part of the IPO of FGVH, Felda will be disposing 1.21 billion of its current FGVH shares at RM4.65 each, and from which Felda stands to make RM5.62 billion if these are fully taken up.
Among the targeted anchor investors are Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) and other national and Bumiputera funds.
Ahead of the share sale to be held by June, Felda settlers have been given an assurance by Najib that the listing would yield profits. He had also lashed out at those opposed to the scheme, saying that they are merely trying “to confuse” the people.
At this stage it is not clear yet who is trying to confuse the settlers or other Malaysians since the planned IPO is a highly complicated transaction whose full details have not been thoroughly unravelled and evaluated by professional market analysts. This is because many analysts are fearful that they may antagonize the government and end up on the wrong side of the authorities.
Felda accounts for around 18 per cent of the country’s total palm oil output. The idea behind FGVH is to turn this newly created corporate entity into a “global conglomerate”. Read the rest of this entry »
Lim Teck Ghee responds to Chandra Muzaffar’s refusal to engage on the Net and his threat
Posted by Kit in Human Rights, ISA, Lim Teck Ghee on Wednesday, 9 May 2012
by Dr Lim Teck Ghee
CPI
09 May 2012
Commentary
In my note to Chandra on May 6 which he acknowledged, and which was sent well before this latest rebuttal, I had written:
“I hope we can have a sustained discussion on the important subject that you have identified. I don’t think a one-off debate is a good way to have that discussion. I know politicians and their supporters love it but we are not politicians.”
Chandra’s latest reply continues to insist on a one-off debate and argues that a prolonged discourse in lieu of a debate will “generate more heat than light”.
I disagree. So do the great majority of online commentators that have followed our exchange. Despite attempts by cybertroopers to disrupt feedback, many readers have encouraged us to engage over the Net that is an open and unfettered public space in which they can also contribute their say.
If I had thought that the scholar rather than the ex-politician in Chandra would prevail, I was mistaken. Read the rest of this entry »
Dr Lim Teck Ghee’s reply to Dr Chandra Muzaffar’s invitation
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, Lim Teck Ghee on Monday, 7 May 2012
by Dr Lim Teck Ghee
CPISunday, 06 May 2012
Commentary
I thank Chandra for responding to my commentary on his lambasting of Bersih 3.0.
Although the Center for Policy Initiatives (CPI) is reproducing his response in full, there is really very little new in the engagement.
Basically Chandra has rehashed his arguments on the far-reaching changes to human rights and political and civil liberties that he sees taking place in the country.
In his initial article he was very emphatic on these changes maintaining that
“[I]t is an irrefutable fact that through these legislative reforms [Peaceful Assembly Act, ISA repeal, etc] the space and scope for the expression and articulation of human rights has been expanded and enhanced as never before.” Read the rest of this entry »
Peaceful transition of power: Open letter to all political parties
Posted by Kit in Elections, Lim Teck Ghee, Najib Razak on Tuesday, 24 April 2012
by Dr Lim Teck Ghee
CPI
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
With the general election imminent, one key question remains yet unanswered: Will the Barisan Nasional respect the outcome of the polls and ensure a peaceful transition of power?
This is the sixty four thousand dollar sensitive question – unasked in our repressed mass media, largely unexplored by political analysts, never-to-be-publicly wondered but lurking in the mind of many concerned Malaysians.
One exception to the unwritten rule of never posing such a politically incorrect question took place in a private lunch talk organized by the Royal Selangor Club (RSC) for its members early this year. The January 12 event featuring Prime Minister Najib Razak as speaker had attracted an audience of more than 200.
An RSC member (who identified himself as the son of a former long-serving staff of Najib’s father, the late Tun Abdul Razak Hussein) asked the following towards the end of the talk:
“Mr Prime Minister, would you make the transition of the government for Pakatan a smooth one if the opposition wins the next general election?”
According to some of those present, after some hesitation the prime minister responded: “I do not have to answer that question” or words to that effect; following which he abruptly left, ostensibly for another function. Read the rest of this entry »
Breaking up wealth concentration in Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Finance, Lim Teck Ghee on Wednesday, 1 February 2012
— Dr Lim Teck Ghee
The Malaysian Insider
FEB 1 — The past year has seen the government and the opposition unveil their respective economic reform policies. Even if these reform policies and their attendant programmes are implemented they will not be able to resolve the country’s economic problems. This is because the policies advocated by both sides of the political divide are merely palliative. They do not address the root or fundamental cause of the problem of structural deformation of the country’s economy.
How has this deformation come about? What are its characteristics? And what can be done to bring about a reversal or correction of the deformation so that we have a really transformed economic system that can live up to its full potential?
First we need to recognise that wealth in any country — and Malaysia is no exception — is created by economic activity engaged in by individuals or enterprises that bring profits or gains to the entrepreneur. Much of this wealth creation and subsequent accumulation is legitimate. It is based on material reward arising from work (or gift) and is socially and ethically acceptable. It comes from risk-taking and from the social utility and superiority of the products and services generated by the individual or enterprise.
Wealth generated and accumulated by individuals through legitimate means and conforming to the norms of justice and fairness is not only desirable but beneficial to society and the economy.
But what about wealth that is created or amassed by less than legitimate or illegitimate or illegal means? Is it a minor or non-issue and do we just ignore it as is the case with the Barisan Nasional government? Read the rest of this entry »
Is the Felda Global Venture Holdings listing in the interest of settlers?
Posted by Kit in Felda, Lim Teck Ghee on Tuesday, 3 January 2012
— Dr Lim Teck Ghee
CPI
Jan 03, 2012
JAN 3 — During the past few months, the government and Felda authorities have been engaged in a public relations exercise aimed at persuading Felda settlers as well as the public that the proposal to float Felda Global Ventures Holdings (FGVH) on Bursa Malaysia is in the best interests of the settlers.
But is it really so?
What has emerged from the government-controlled media has been almost exclusively the government version as to why the listing should go ahead. What is missing are answers to the questions raised by the opposition and independent analysts on the real benefits to settlers as well as a credible response to allegations that the interests of settlers are being subordinated — and even marginalised — in favour of other parties.
The stakes involved in the proposed listing exercise go well beyond those of any past Bursa listing exercise. At stake are not simply concerns of how well the offering will be received by investors; the initial IPO pricing; and other market-related issues. This is not your ordinary listing exercise aimed at reconciling the interests of a small group of initial shareholders with those of other new parties; neither is it a question of how much gains the initial settlers and shareholders can make from this listing exercise. Read the rest of this entry »
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