Archive for category NEP
Najib practices a two faced NEP cum NEM economic policy
Posted by Kit in Dr. Chen Man Hin, Economics, Housing, Najib Razak, NEM, NEP on Sunday, 24 February 2013
By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP Life advisor
23 Feb 2013
Events have shown that the NEP is still enforced in the economic development of the economy – two faced NEP and NEM economic policy.
Soon after being Prime Minister, Najib launched his New Economic Model to stimulate development with the aim of achieving a high economy like that of the Asian Tigers of Singapore, S Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan
To do this he had to get rid of the economic handicaps wrought by the New Economic Policy. It is on record that Najib announced on May 2nd 2009 that he would replace NEP with his New Economic Model (NEM).
It is now 2013, and the signs of a high economy are not encouraging. For Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) of 2012 Malaysia scored 9 billion US dollars compared to Indonesia’s US$19 billion and Singapore US$130 billion. (World Bank figures)
Per capita income for Malaysia in 2012 was US$9500 million, compared to Hong Kong US$30 million, Singapore US$50 million and South Korea US$25 million. Can Malaysia reach a high income status of US$20million by 2020.
Read the rest of this entry »
Why I will vote Pakatan
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Education, Elections, NEP, Pakatan Rakyat on Thursday, 17 January 2013
by KJ John
Malaysiakini
Jan 15, 2013
In 2007, I wrote a column entitled, ‘Why I will not vote for BN’. No one then really took me seriously, although I was told that MCA circulated that column during the MCA central committee meeting. Even later, a representative of the then chief secretary told me, but after the fact, that the man was not too happy with my column either.
My retort: Well, he could have easily called me to understand my reasons and explanations, if he was interested to listen. If they could listen, then the government maybe could have addressed those reasons well before the general election. Finally, PM Najib Abdul Razak is trying, but is it too late?
This time around, allow me to state positively why I have no choice but to still vote for Pakatan Rakyat again. I will record three reasons in this column. Neither is this because I love BN any less, it is just that given our real choices and options, the unknown angel is better than that of the known devil.
My first reason is the ‘Allah’ issue and how it has been so badly handled by the BN government, and why they need to better understand the real issues about the true and real etymology of the ‘Allah’ word. My good friend and fellow writer to Malaysiakini, Bob Teoh, has documented the core issues quite well for all those interested to know the truths about this word. His book is entitled, Allah: More than just a Word.
I will not explain all the reasons involved here, which the High Court judgment by Lau Bee Lan has argued rather well. Citizens should read this judgment before talking about this issue. Read the rest of this entry »
Why I have nothing much to say at the moment (Part 1)
Posted by Kit in Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Bersih, Elections, Mahathir, Najib Razak, NEP, Post-2008 general election, UMNO on Saturday, 10 November 2012
By Clive Kessler | November 07, 2012
UPDATED @ 07:04:27 AM 08-11-2012
The Malaysian Insider
People are kind.
They have been writing to ask how I am.
I have not said or written anything serious for weeks.
And they are beginning to wonder.
The “Phoney War” Interlude
“What is the problem?” they ask.
The problem, I reply, is not me. It’s the situation.
The situation?
Read the rest of this entry »
Dr M: ‘Weak’ Najib won’t heed Malay concerns
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Mahathir, Najib Razak, NEP, Razaleigh Hamzah on Thursday, 25 October 2012
Syed Jaymal Zahiid | October 24, 2012 Free Malaysia Today
The former premier said this is because the Malays are no longer the kingmakers and are now reduced to being ‘beggars’ in their own land.
KUALA LUMPUR: Dr Mahathir Mohamad today called the Najib administration “weak” and said it will not entertain the concerns of the Malays, especially its business community, as they are no longer the country’s kingmakers.
The former premier said the division among the country’s majority electorate has made them fragile and forced the present government to depend on the support of “others” in an apparent reference to the non-Malays.
This is the second time Mahathir had openly called Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s government “frail”, saying it is forced to make key concessions to non-Malay demands in the hope of winning their support in the upcoming national polls.
“I do not believe this government will take your demands seriously,” he told the 2012 Malay Economic Congress held here.
“This is because we [the Malays] no longer hold anymore political power… we have become a beggar in our own country,” he added. Read the rest of this entry »
Budget 2013: Tussle of the titans
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Corruption, Najib Razak, NEP on Monday, 1 October 2012
— Kim Quek
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 30, 2012
SEPT 30 — Barisan Nasional’s election-orientated budget 2013 is disappointing because it concentrates on raining one-off cash on the electorate to ease their pain, while forgetting to address the ills that necessitate such profuse dosage of pain-relievers in the first place.
If the people are affluent and contended, do they need to be showered with such pacifiers; or alternatively, would the feeding of such sweeteners sway their decision on whom they are going to vote for?
Obviously there are vast masses of disgruntled electorate who are not happy with the current living conditions. They are unhappy because they find it increasingly difficult to make ends meet; and they are also worried about the worsening safety of their environment.
The common people are simply overwhelmed by a cost of living that forever is speeding far ahead of their slow moving income increment. Needless to say, our economy is in trouble. What’s wrong with our economy? Read the rest of this entry »
Growth without private investment
— Jayant Menon
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 12, 2012
SEPT 12 — It was not long ago that the Malaysian development story was hailed as a model of FDI-driven, export-led industrialisation worthy of emulation by aspirants in the developing world.
Malaysia remains an outstanding model of how openness to trade and FDI can transform a poor, agrarian economy into a thriving, manufacturing-based, middle-income one in a generation. During this time, Malaysia also successfully preserved social harmony in its multiracial society, relying on economic openness to sustain growth under an expensive affirmative action programme that skewed incentives, the New Economic Policy (NEP). In this sense, the NEP performed an important signalling role and played its part in delivering the peace and stability that enabled Malaysia to sustain high growth. This growth, combined with revenues from large oil reserves, facilitated a massive tax-transfer scheme that favoured the majority, without significantly eroding macroeconomic stability.
But all that changed after the Asian financial crisis. FDI flows fell sharply and continued to remain low even after recovery. While foreigners continue to shun Malaysia, even domestic investors seem to have fled, with Malaysia becoming a net exporter of capital since 2005. Malaysia continues to grow, but without private investment it is unlikely to break out of the middle-income trap. Indeed, these days Malaysia is often discussed as a classic case of the middle-income trap. Growth without private investment is also unsustainable and Malaysia risks sliding back. Read the rest of this entry »
Fatal flaw in the RM180 million allocation to Indians
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Economics, NEP on Monday, 13 August 2012
By Jeyaseelan Anthony | Saturday, 11 August 2012 01:55
CPI
Recently our Prime Minister had announced an allocation of RM180 million to uplift the economic standing of the Indian community. It was indeed a major announcement and a big step forward on the part of the government to help the Indian community. However in practice whether this allocation will help Indians in the long run is doubtful.
Malaysia is still plagued by discriminatory policies which favour the majority Bumiputra races. Announcing an allocation is rather easy but making the money usable for business or social purposes is another.
Take for example a real incident highlighted by Senator Dr. S. Ramakrishnan recently and I quote it here.
“One of my cousins wanted to import goats from Myanmar sometime in 2006. When he went to the Customs and Agriculture department for permits to import, he was told that he can only import under a Bumiputera name. My cousin then went looking for a trusted Bumiputra partner to import goat or at least lend his name for that purpose and he managed to find one. He imported goat and sold it in Malaysia. After the first import the Bumiputera partner went to Myanmar and started importing himself. My cousin lost a reliable source of supply and income.
Read the rest of this entry »
Chief of the rentier class and his economic transformation
— Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 05, 2012
JULY 5 — In practical sense, the term rent-seeking or rent-seeker or rentier classs, refers to the activity by some people in capturing offices of state and using the power of the state to capture economic benefits.
So, the rentier class consists of the people making use of their official and political positions to capture economic benefits. They get these benefits not by actually providing or actually producing a service or product, but by virtue of holding a political or bureaucratic position.
So what? So the above arrangement leads to disparities in income not due to natural abilities or difference in character. Such arrangement becomes objectionable and unconscionable when the disparities in income do not arise because of abilities or character.
The lazybones and laggards get ahead of the industrious and those more clever because they have found a way to cut corners by earning state positions. And so because of the positions they hold, in the offices of state, political positions and being proximate to the corridors of power allow them to get ahead of others.
Generally speaking, that is why some people are very critical of the New Economic Policy because it allows and perpetrates such “economic arrangements”. Those who get ahead are those having political and bureaucratic powers and their cronies and fronts. Read the rest of this entry »
Government losing Chinese support, putting reforms at risk
Posted by Kit in DAP, Elections, Lim Guan Eng, Najib Razak, nation building, NEM, NEP on Sunday, 3 June 2012
Reuters/The Malaysian Insider
Jun 03, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 — Ethnic Chinese voters, upset over policies that favour majority Malays, have become increasingly alienated from Malaysia’s ruling coalition, raising the risk of racial polarisation and a slowdown in the pace of reforms.
Support for Prime Minister Najib Razak among Chinese voters plunged to 37 per cent in May from 56 per cent in February, a survey by the independent Merdeka Center showed on Friday. It found 56 per cent of Chinese were dissatisfied with the government, compared to 30 per cent of Indians and 23 per cent of Malays.
Recent state and by-elections underline the trend. The main Chinese party allied with the ruling National Front coalition in eastern Sarawak state lost 13 of 19 seats it contested in local elections last year and the opposition won a by-election in the same state in 2010 largely thanks to Chinese backing.
The Southeast Asian nation’s 6.5 million ethnic Chinese turned heavily to the opposition in 2008 polls, handing the National Front, which has ruled uninterrupted since independence from Britain in 1957, its worst election showing.
Malaysia has seen ethnic Chinese voting with their feet, leaving the country for better prospects aboard including to neighbour and rival Singapore, in a troubling brain drain of talent and capital. “Malaysia needs talent to meet its goal of becoming a high-income country,” the World Bank noted in a report last year. “But the problem is that talent is leaving.”
With elections likely later this year, the government has failed to reverse the tide with voters such as Jack Gan, who complains he had to study much harder than his ethnic Malay peers to get into one of the country’s top universities. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia after regime change
Posted by Kit in Articles, Elections, Lim Guan Eng, Mahathir, NEM, NEP, Pakatan Rakyat on Saturday, 26 May 2012
– Greg Felker
New Mandala
May 26th, 2012
Credibility and the search for a new developmental model
In comparative politics the word “regime” refers to the formal and informal institutions by which political power is acquired and exercised. In political economy, a regime refers to an enduring combination of “socio-economic alliances, political-economic institutions, and a public-policy profile” (Pempel 1998: 20). In the case of Malaysia, the Barisan Nasional (BN) regime’s durability in the former, political sense has been closely associated with a particular sort political economy, or regime in the second sense. Despite significant changes over the years, Malaysia’s hegemonic-party political system, centered on United Malays National Organisaion’s (UMNO) dominance, has since the early 1970s practiced a form of developmentalism that has shaped Malaysian society in profound ways. As the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) understands, its challenge to the BN’s national political monopoly is inescapably a contest about Malaysia’s economic development model, as well. To what extent, and in what ways, does the prospect of change in Malaysia’s political regime imply a change in the country’s pattern of development?
Contemporary debates make clear the close connection between political contestation and economic policy choices. Indeed, one of the UMNO-led government’s vulnerabilities is a sense, growing in recent years, that the Malaysian development miracle has wavered and, for large segments of the population, inadequately fulfilled its promise of a steadily improving quality of life. The notion of the “middle-income trap”, first popularised in a global context by Geoffrey Garret in 2004, quickly became a frame for discussions of possible policy reform within Malaysia and among foreign observers. Two themes have been prominent in these discussions. One is the issue of the quality of governance as this affects broader economic efficiency and productivity. Second is the mooted necessity of a broad liberalisation of restrictions and regulations to enable greater flexibility and entrepreneurial dynamism. In both areas, the opposition and pro-reform civil society organisations have made telling critiques of the incumbent leadership. For its part, Najib Razak’s administration has launched a series of reform initiatives under the New Economic Model (NEM) that speak to the same concerns about governance and the structural challenges to Malaysia’s continued economic development. This dimension of the new competitiveness in Malaysia’s politics adds programmatic substance to a political tableau in which mass protest, scandal, and cultural controversies have comprised much of the drama. Read the rest of this entry »
World Bank warns there will be no high income economy for Malaysia without implementing structural reforms
Posted by Kit in Dr. Chen Man Hin, Economics, Najib Razak, NEP on Thursday, 24 May 2012
By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life advisor
The World Bank in its bi-annual report on East Asia and the the Pacific said that in view of the slow down in the economy in the years ahead, due to a massive world debit problem, the GDP of Malaysia would slow down to 4.6% this year and 5.1% in 2013.
He advised that Najib should stop fiddling with the economy with his multiple reforms which have not brought encouraging progress. He advised Najib strongly to implement structural reforms to bring about a strong recovery in the economy.
Structural reforms means that the New Economic Policy must be stopped and in its place, implement free market policies like those in Singapore, Hong Kong, S. Korea and Taiwan. A free market policy propelled the growth of the economies of these four ASIAN TIGERS, each of which have a per capita income of over US $20,000.
For Malaysia to have a high economy, the GDP must grow by at least 6% a year, which would make Malaysia a high economy nation by 2020.
Two months ago, Najib gave a glowing report and boasted that Malaysia had a per capita income of US$9,500, and would attain high economy status by year 2020. These predictions of Najib have been brushed aside by the World Bank.
Read the rest of this entry »
Nor Mohamed Yakcop should learn history
— Jaleel Hameed
The Malaysian Insider
May 13, 2012
MAY 13 — It is interesting that Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop is talking about Malaysian history, that the country would revert to the year 1511, when the Bumiputera agenda didn’t exist, if Barisan Nasional (BN) loses in the next general election.
Thank you, sir. Where did you learn your history? Because that’s pure bovine excrement.
What Bumiputera agenda was there before the May 13, 1969 race riots? In fact, BN came into being after the riots, when the then-Alliance government realised the majority Malays felt disenfranchised in their own country.
Let’s not even talk about Penang or the Malays in the state, of which you are one.
You mean to say the Malays entered the poor house only when Pakatan Rakyat (PR) took over in 2008?
You mean to say they were richer when BN was in power?
You mean to say that after 40 years of the New Economic Policy (NEP) by BN, all the Malays are richer? Read the rest of this entry »
Support for NEP coming from ‘captive minds’, says Ku Li
Posted by Kit in NEP, Razaleigh Hamzah on Sunday, 1 April 2012
By Shannon Teoh
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 01, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, April 1 — Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah resumed his attack on the New Economic Policy (NEP) today, stating that “captive minds” continue to support it despite Malaysia moving further from its objective of redistributing wealth through pro-Bumiputera policies.
The Umno veteran said there has been “no intellectual inquiry” into why “despite many years of implementing the NEP, inequitable distribution of income continues to plague the people” as “we have become incapable of devising an analytical method independent of current stereotypes about Malays, Chinese, Indians and others.”
Ku Li today said, “…The NEP…has produced results that are diametrically opposed to the original intention of bridging the gap between the haves and the have-nots.” — file pic
“If the doctor keeps on prescribing the same medicine which produces opposite results, then something must be wrong with the doctor, and something more serious must be wrong with the patient who keeps on trusting the same doctor.
“Our thinking is based completely on a racial world view when it comes to matters of politics, education, economics, planning, and so forth. Needless to say, we promote a racial world view that thrives on the policy of divide and rule,” the Kelantan prince said at a book launch in Ipoh this morning.
Tengku Razaleigh, popularly known as Ku Li, had in February said “as a former finance minister, let me emphasise that it was never the intention of the NEP to create an incubated class of Malay capitalists.” Read the rest of this entry »
Selangor MB accuses Putrajaya of nepotism over KJ’s appointment
Posted by Kit in Good Governance, NEP, UMNO on Wednesday, 29 February 2012
By Yow Hong Chieh
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 29, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 29 — Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin’s expected appointment to a key government agency shows Putrajaya still values political links above professionalism, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said today.
The Selangor mentri besar said Khairy’s appointment as Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Bhd (PUNB) chairman will benefit Umno rather than Malays, and would be a step back for the Bumiputera community.
“While the Bumiputera have been encouraged to pursue the standard professionalism on par with the world’s best, the appointment clearly shows that political affiliation, and not capability and experience, makes the cut for top positions in government-linked corporations.
“As one of the founders of PUNB, I take great pride in the fact that it has thus far been led by professionals free from political interest. While there were politicians at the policy-making level, they did not interfere with the operations of the company,” he said in a statement.
The prime minister should not “demean” the efforts of the Bumiputera professionals who have made PUNB what it is today by picking Khairy, who has not shown he can run a successful corporation, Khalid added. Read the rest of this entry »
A plea for unity
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, nation building, NEP, Razaleigh Hamzah on Friday, 24 February 2012
— Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 24, 2012
FEB 24 — I am indeed honoured to have been invited to speak to all of you gathered here this morning on a subject of great importance for the continued preservation and survival of our nation.
As all of you are aware, our nation became free from the fetters of colonial domination about five-and-a-half decades ago.
Sadly and strangely, after 55 years of independence, I think we are farther apart now than we have ever been before. Read the rest of this entry »
Is Khazanah Nasional a bumi fund?
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, NEM, NEP on Saturday, 11 February 2012
— Spencer Gan
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 11, 2012
FEB 11 — Dear Mr Prime Minister,
I need clarification. Two days ago, you announced that PNB and Khazanah Nasional will be divesting some of its businesses to bumiputera firms.
There was also the usual talk of open tenders and how qualified bumi firms will be considered. I am not going to bother about this talk of open tenders because it will snow in Malaysia before there is a level playing field in business.
What concerns me is this drive to ask Khazanah Nasional to divest its stake in non-core businesses to bumi firms. I thought Khazanah was the sovereign wealth fund of the NATION. And I thought that meant that Khazanah is the custodian of wealth belonging to ALL Malaysians.
If that is the case, then Khazanah Nasional should be divesting its non-core businesses to qualified Malaysian businesses. Read the rest of this entry »
Open letter to Dr M
— Mohd Ikhram Merican
The Malaysian Insider
Jan 30, 2012
JAN 30 — Dear Tun Dr M,
Many years ago, in 1986 or ‘87, I can’t remember the exact year, I had the pleasure of meeting you in a private family dinner. You were the guest of honour and I was a very young boy, excited to be in the vicinity of your towering presence. I had many things I wanted to say to you and when I walked up to where you were seated I could only manage one rhetorical question.
You were very kind. Although in the midst of conversation with my uncles, you stopped and gave me, a little boy, a few minutes of your time. I spoke to the prime minister. It was my two minutes of fame.
For the better part of my life you have been the prime minister of Malaysia. In all those years, I saw you as the best prime minister Malaysia has ever had. Sadly, I’m not so sure anymore. I don’t despise you or loathe you but I question your rationale for a good many things. There are so many issues that I would like to raise with you. It is near impossible to cover everything here but let me start with your latest blog post titled “Kaitan Bangsa Dengan Bisnes”. The Malaysian Insider reported this with the headline, “Dr M: Scrapping race-based policies will lead to chaos.”
I find it hard to believe that scrapping race-based policies will lead to chaos. The status quo is more detrimental to the country in the long run. The existing race-based policies have done little to improve the plight of the Malays. In fact it has created a class divide between the Malay haves and have-nots. This WILL split the Malays because severe class inequalities have caused revolutions, even in singular nations.
You believe not everyone has equal capabilities and some people must be given special consideration in business and other areas based on their race. This is an argument that neither makes sense nor justifies special considerations. Let me elaborate. Would you allow an aspiring surgeon to become one via special considerations, even if he is inherently bad at it? And would you trust your life under the knife with this person? This is what you propose.
Allow me to provide a further example. UiTM was founded in 1956 (as Dewan Latihan Rida) to facilitate the creation of Bumiputera professionals. Fifty-six years later, it ranks among the last in the QS World University Rankings. While it is the largest university in Malaysia, and has admittedly created many graduates, it has done little to create world-class professionals. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib is made Optimus Prime by Michael’s Decepticons
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, NEM, NEP, UMNO on Sunday, 29 January 2012
— Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
Jan 27, 2012
JAN 27 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak was crowned the “Father of Moderation and Transformation” by the World Chinese Economic Forum (WCEF), which said the prime minister’s “fair and just leadership” had benefited the Chinese community “tremendously”. WCEF chairman Datuk Michael Yeoh said in his speech at the conferment ceremony today.
This was the major news item of the day. WCEF is a gathering of Chinese hongs and towkays eager to seek business favours from the PM. How does Michael Yeoh come by his assessment?
Among others, Yeoh praised Najib’s 1 Malaysia platform, his administration’s decision to increase allocation to Chinese schools and the introduction of tax exemptions for churches and temples, saying the initiatives were proof of the prime minister’s commitment to “fairness and justice”.
Fuyoh! I had to pinch myself. Never have I heard such outpouring of boot-licking averments which Michael sought to prove by stating the material I placed in italics above.
Let me steal the thunder from Michael’s shameless sycophantic offerings. Read the rest of this entry »
The last days of Umno are beginning
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, Dr. Chen Man Hin, Economics, Najib Razak, NEP on Thursday, 19 January 2012
By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life advisor
UMNO shows no signs of genuine reforms despite claims by PM Najib that UMNO is on the reform road as shown by the verdict of freedom for Anwar over the Sodomy 2 conspiracy. If there are no signs of reforms than UMNO will collapse in time, similar to what happened to the Soviet Union which collapsed in 1990.
Like Najib, Mikail Gorbachev tried to save Russia with his policies of ‘glasnost and perestroika’ but these failed to save Soviet Russia, because he could not introduce democracy and economic restructuring as there was no policies or infrastructure to modernise Russia.
Najib is also claiming that he has great plans to reform the country, ever since he introduced his 1 Malaysia program. However, all he had to deliver are just promises. Nothing concrete he promised to cut down corruption, but every day corruption is the rule in government departments, judiciary and the police. Events have overtaken Najib and there is no way he could reverse the corruption cancer pervading the country.
Read the rest of this entry »
Time to Pull ‘CSI: Malaysia’ Off the Air
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Economics, Najib Razak, NEP on Wednesday, 11 January 2012
By William Pesek
Jan 11, 2012
Bloomberg: The Ticker
If there’s any economy in Asia that needs a change in narrative, it’s Malaysia.
When the resource-rich nation of 28 million people has made headlines globally in recent years, they have been about sodomy charges against opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, tension between Muslims and Christians, Beyonce’s bellybutton offending local sensibilities or murder investigations involving high-ranking officials. Malaysia really could have its own CSI crime drama.
Far from finding all this entertaining, many foreign investors eye Malaysia with skepticism. That’s a shame given the huge potential of an economy growing 5.8 percent. When you consider Asian economies that deserved far more attention in 2011 than they received, Malaysia is Exhibit A. It’s high time for Prime Minister Najib Razak to change the story, to shift the focus toward reforms, not tabloid scandals. Announcing the end of affirmative-action policies that hurt Malaysia’s competitiveness might be just the thing. Read the rest of this entry »
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