Solution to the problems of economic openness is not less openness but more openness
Malaysia’s Development Strategy Revisited (1)
by Dr. Mohamed Ariff*
Malaysia has turned 180 degrees since Independence in 1957, transforming itself into a thriving modern economy and leapfrogging from a low-income to a middle-income trajectory. The country owes its prosperity to its economic openness, with trade as the lifeblood and foreign direct investment (FDI) as the backbone of the economy.
Economic Openness and Vulnerability to External Shocks
The price Malaysia has had to pay for this success is greater vulnerability to external shocks, but it has learned to cope with cyclical ups and downs with remarkable dexterity. This does not mean, however, that all of the crises in the Malaysian economy were caused entirely by external forces, as if domestic policy missteps had nothing to do with them. The Malaysian experience shows that crises tend to be blessings in disguise, as they force the authorities to step back, take a hard look at their policies, learn lessons and move on. Read the rest of this entry »
Sanitary Pads and their relevance to intelligence
By Dina Zaman
I like giving our politicians a break. Doesn’t matter which side they swing. Like many Malaysians, I too laugh at some of the pearls that dance out of their mouths. When this happens, it makes for a sunnier day, and then we all get on with our lives.
However, today’s gem which came out from Johor delegate Azura Mohd Afandi, who wanted the Information Ministry to curb television shows and commercials that could lead people astray from the right religious paths, really made me think that time around, (1) nothing can ever beat this statement and (2) that’s it. The people who are involved in politics have four screws loose.
“For example, commercials on sanitary pads are openly shown on TV and this could influence the young to get involved in social ills,” said Johor Bahru Puteri Umno member, urging the ministry to increase shows that teach good values and religious practices.
As a still menstruating woman, I have yet to witness how sanitary pads and their ads could lead one to sin. I have always thought that sanitary pads are a bane to women and frighten the hell out of men, especially bloody and wet ones.
Read the rest of this entry »
PAS picks Dr Zulkefli for Galas
Posted by Kit in Elections, Pakatan Rakyat, PAS on Friday, 22 October 2010, 9:13 am
PAS picks Dr Zulkefli for Galas
The Malaysian Insider
October 22, 2010
GUA MUSANG, Oct 22 — PAS picked Gua Musang acting chief Dr Zulkefli Mohamad as Pakatan Rakyat candidate for the November 4 Galas vote.
Dr Zulkefli was the Gua Musang parliamentary seat candidate in Election 2008, losing to Tengku Razaleigh, who has been appointed as the election director for this highly anticipated by-election, the 13th since the general election.
The announcement was made by Kelantan mentri besar Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat last night. Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was also present. Read the rest of this entry »
The 100-storey Najib Tower
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Thursday, 21 October 2010, 2:12 pm
This is extract of speech by Lim Kit Siang at the first of two consecutive 2,000-plus-people Wisma Penang DAP fund-raising dinners held at PISA on Monday, 18th October 2010. Read the rest of this entry »
A Malaysian Lunch
Posted by Kit in Economics, Financial Scandals on Thursday, 21 October 2010, 1:09 pm
While everyone spent the last weekend mulling over the recently announced Budget 2011, I spent mine immersed in chocolates and experiencing a brief moment of notoriety on Lim Kit Siang’s blog.
It was back to business on Monday as I met up with two old friends over lunch. In true Malaysian fashion, our conversation flirted with everything from the erection, oops, election budget to matters of national (un)importance and just generally anything that came into mind. All this over banana leaf and lots of (burp) curry. The following is a parable of our discussion:
Friend A (special officer to a certain executive in a certain GLC): Service is so slow. Why does it take so long to make one iced Milo?
Friend B (self-employed IT entrepreneur): Nothing new about that…
Me (chocoholic): Yeah, what do you expect? We don’t get first class service on private jets like you.
Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #37
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, globalisation on Thursday, 21 October 2010, 1:01 pm
Chapter 5: Understanding Globalization (Cont’d)
Trading in Money
Malaysia cannot modernize its financial sector and capital markets in part because its leaders are stuck in the pre-globalization mindset, especially in their attitude towards money and capital. While to consumers everywhere money is now simply a convenient medium of commercial transaction, to Mahathir and other Third World nationalists it assumes a more important symbolic function. Currency represents the nation’s sovereignty. It is instructive that one of the first orders of business for many newly independent nations is to declare a new currency or to rename its old one. Malaysia has the ringgit, and to symbolize its new beginning, prints a portrait of its king on the paper notes. Money is no longer simply money, rather a powerful symbol of the nation’s sovereignty.
It is this symbolic attachment to the currency that irrationally dictates many economic policies. Governments often go to extreme lengths to defend the value of their currency when market conditions dictate otherwise, as happened in Thailand and Malaysia during the 1997 crisis. They forget that the value of a currency is a reflection of consumers’ and investors’ confidence in the underlying economy. A weak economy will have a weak currency, regardless of the nationalistic frenzy used to whip support for it. Malaysia lost billions and nearly exhausted its foreign exchange reserves in the early part of the 1997 economic crisis trying to defend the value of the ringgit, only to admit finally that the market was correct.
Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia’s press freedom index on free fall
Malaysia has plunged 10 notches to 141 in the 2010 World Press Freedom Index – the lowest in nine years – putting it firmly in the bottom quarter of 178 countries.
The country failed to capitalise on last year’s improvement where it move up one notch from 132 to 131.
Interestingly, Singapore (136) outranked Malaysia for the first time since Paris-based press watchdog group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) began releasing its ranking in 2002.
Among the 10 Asean countries, Malaysia is ranked higher than two countries which deemed to have freer press – Thailand (153) and Philippines (156).
Read the rest of this entry »
Ipoh born, Cambridge educated, Malaysia’s loss, Singapore’s gain
Posted by Kit in Education, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 20 October 2010, 12:11 pm
He did his parents proud, his teachers are equally elated, his birthplace is euphoric to claim he is one of them, and his country would have been ecstatic.
His name is Tan Zhongshan and he was born in Ipoh. He chose to read law at university because he said, “Being in the legal line gives you a chance to make changes that have a far-reaching effect.”
In June, Tan received a first–class honours in Bachelor of Arts (Law) at Queen’s College, Cambridge, one of the world’s topmost universities. Cambridge, England’s second oldest university, usually contends with Oxford for first place in the UK university league tables.
Tan excelled as the top student in his final-year law examinations, but he also won the “Slaughter and May” prize, awarded by the Law Faculty for the student with the best overall performance.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tan Zhong Shan – top law student at Cambridge University is Malaysian and latest example of our costly brain-drain
Posted by Kit in Economics, Education, Najib Razak, NEM on Tuesday, 19 October 2010, 12:50 pm
Congratulations to Ipoh-born 23-year-old Tan Zhong Shan who has emerged as the top student in his final-year law examinations at Cambridge University.
In a report headlined “Malaysian is top law student at Cambridge University”, the Star today reported that Tan obtained a first-class honours in the Bachelor of Arts (Law) in June this year at Queens’ College, which is part of the university, one of England’s oldest and most prestigious.
The report said:
“He even scored the ‘Slaughter and May’ prize given by the university’s Law Faculty – an award given to those who achieve the best overall performance in the final-year law examinations.
“Other coveted prizes he bagged include The Norton Rose Prize for Commercial Law, the Clifford Chance Prize for European Union Law and the Herbert Smith Prize for Conflict of Laws.
“Queens’ College dean Dr Martin Dixon said Tan definitely stood out among the students there.
Read the rest of this entry »
2011 Budget – Eulogy for NEM and relaunch of Mahathir economic model (Part 4 of 4)
Posted by Kit in Economics, Mahathir, Najib Razak, NEM on Monday, 18 October 2010, 4:38 pm
Human Capital Issues
The allocations announced in the Budget for human capital development are indeed impressive. However, the question arises if the nation will get value for its money. There can be no denial of the fact that the Malaysian educational system is in disarray.
Standards have fallen dramatically. Our universities turn out graduates who lack rudimentary skills demanded by employers thus contributing to low productivity and loss of competitiveness. Our secondary school system is in disastrous shape.
Those who are charged with educating the next generation of Malaysians to be responsible citizens are more interested in promoting race hate as recent episodes of misbehavior by teachers highlight.
The lack of an adequate reaction from the top echelons of the Government has sent a strong signal to others in the educational system to project the message of hate that BTN promotes with impunity. These despicable acts and patterns of behavior give credence to the notion that the 1Malaysia slogan is nothing more than a catchy slogan devoid of meaning or sincerity.
Read the rest of this entry »
2011 Budget – Eulogy for NEM and relaunch of Mahathir economic model (Part 3 of 4)
Posted by Kit in Economics, Mahathir, Najib Razak, NEM on Monday, 18 October 2010, 4:34 pm
The Pivotal Role of the Private Sector
Much was made in the ETP presentation about reinvigorating private investment, with 92% of the total projected investment of US$444 being investment by the private sector. These expressions are repeated in the Budget Speech. However no details have been provided as to how this target is to be achieved.
The speech tantalizingly offers the suggestion that the Government will intensify the Public-Private Partnership to “… enhance private sector involvement in economic activities” To this end the Government proposes to invest RM 1 billion from the Facilitation Fund in support of several infrastructure projects.
On the one hand the formulation is built upon the notion that the private sector will be unleashed; and yet the ETP is in reality a top down creation. PEMANDU is seemingly picking “winners” and it would imply that Malaysia is about to embark upon a new form of central planning to get to highly untenable targets.
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2011 Budget – Eulogy for NEM and relaunch of Mahathir economic model (Part 2 of 4)
Posted by Kit in Economics, Mahathir, Najib Razak, NEM on Monday, 18 October 2010, 4:27 pm
Recent Economic Performance & Prospects
In the formulation of the Budget for 2011, the Prime Minister made the claim that the Malaysian economy had recovered from the global economic recession.
In an act of self congratulation, he attributed this to the proactive measures taken by the Government through the RM 67 billion stimulus package. He however failed to acknowledge that other countries in the region had performed equally well or even exceeded Malaysian performance.
The statistics he cited refer to the short term and are soothing. However, he made no mention of the challenging issues that will determine the medium term performance of the nation’s economy.
He appears to be suffering from a bout of amnesia about the need to address the issue of subsidies and to achieve fiscal balance.
Read the rest of this entry »
2011 Budget – Eulogy for NEM and relaunch of Mahathir economic model (Part 1 of 4)
Posted by Kit in Economics, Mahathir, Najib Razak, NEM on Monday, 18 October 2010, 4:23 pm
The Budget presented by the Prime Minister was a eulogy for the death of the New Economic Model. It provides a clear confirmation that this Government is incapable of living up to the rhetoric of reform that it had vigorously promoted over the past year.
The slogans and feel good speeches crafted by highly paid spin doctors have not been translated into clear action programs. The divided and weak BN Government remains mired and has now demonstrated its inability to deliver upon its promises of change.
The Budget marks the return to failed economic policies of the past. The Mahathir Economic Model built around mega projects, crony capitalists as key players, bailouts and handouts is once again alive and returns to haunt the nation.
The Budget yet again demonstrates that this administration is incorrigibly incapable of drawing lessons from the past and persists with policies that have entrapped Malaysia in the middle income trap.
The Budget for 2011 has all of the attributes of a blunt tool for distributing public funds to UMNOputras, BN cronies, and vested groups that constitute the vote bank of the Barisan.
Read the rest of this entry »
Neo-Maya, Neo-Malaya
Posted by Kit in Azly Rahman on Monday, 18 October 2010, 4:12 pm
By Azly Rahman
\Verily… the evolution of modern man can be characterized by his worship of the monolith and in building tall structures so that not only he may reach the heavens and touch the gods, but become avatars and demi-gods and enslave fellow men — as those who owns those towers of powers and monoliths of machiavellianism owns the means of writing the script for evolution — ar
And thus sprach Zarathustra,
prophet of long ago who spoke of good and evil
of this world as battleground
of the sacred and the profane
of the triumph of Man
of the triumph of Superman
Read the rest of this entry »
A Participant’s Perspective Of Kursus Kenegaraan (BTN)
Posted by Kit in Letters, nation building, public service on Sunday, 17 October 2010, 7:18 pm
Letter
By A Disappointed Civil Servant
It amuses me to note the rapacious back and forth regarding the Kursus Kenegaraan organised by the Biro Tatanegara. However, i notice that remarks defending the program have so far been based on perspectives of certain Government officials, who may or may not have been subjected to the charms of the program. As a serving Government professional of non-Bumiputera descent, I feel it is pertinent that I share my experience of this program, so that some objectivity may be achieved in understanding the isssue at hand.
It is compulsory for all Govt. servants to attend this course once during service. I attended the program in 2006, in a group of 80-odd Malays and 9 non-Malays. We were a mix of doctors, dentists, pharmacists and teachers. On the first day, we had to listen to a series of 4 lectures, all delivered by lecturers from the local MARA University campus. I vividly remember the 1st lecture on Kerakyatan, for it was delivered with such fervour by an obviously inspired lecturer. At times he seemed to go off his script and made several references to ‘other’ races being ‘pendatangs’ and forgetting their ‘place’ in society, and not being grateful for the citizenship ‘awarded’ to them, and other remarks of a similar vein.
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Najib’s 2011 Budget is not a child of New Economic Model but bears all the marks of old discredited policies
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Budget Debate, Mahathir, Najib Razak, public service on Sunday, 17 October 2010, 12:25 pm
Despite all its bombast and pyrotechnics, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 2011 budget is not a child of the New Economic Model but bears all the marks of old discredited policies which have landed Malaysia in the middle-income trap for more than a decade, setting the country towards a failed and bankrupt nation come 2019.
Former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir’s obsession with mega projects like the proposed RM5 billion 100-storey Warisan Merdeka tower is back with a vengeance.
If Najib is seriously committed to a New Economic Model, based on economic, social and government transformation, wouldn’t it be more appropriate for Malaysia to achieve targets as being ranked among the first twenty if not first ten of the least corrupt nations in the annual Transparency International Corruption Perception Index or having at least 10 universities which are ranked among the Top 100 Universities in the world?
In fact, it must be asked whether Najib is secretly trying to out-Mahathir Mahathir not only to build a tower higher than Mahathir’s Petronas Twin Towers, but which could be acclaimed as the tallest in the world – however brief the claim? Read the rest of this entry »
PM confounded by pro-opposition civil servants
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, public service on Sunday, 17 October 2010, 10:10 am
Malaysiakini
Oct 16, 10 11:41pm
Prime Minister Najib Razak is baffled that there are civil servants and government pensioners who preferred to support the opposition.
“We have to look into this … this is not right. Maybe because they were angry with a few, they decided to ditch the whole ship,” he said when launching an Umno Club for retired senior government officers at his official residence, Seri Perdana, today.
“Civil servants should know better that it is only Umno that can ensure our survival.”
He then launched a broadside against the opposition PKR. Read the rest of this entry »
Budget 2011: A budget for the big boys and civil servants
Posted by Kit in Economics, Najib Razak, public service on Saturday, 16 October 2010, 10:06 pm
There are several ways to analyze the budget. One is to take at face value what the Prime Minister has written in his blog just before his budget speech where he promised that it is “a budget by the rakyat”. By it, he explained that he had read through the more than 1,000 comments and suggestions from his readers and forwarded them to the Ministry of Finance to incorporate.
According to the PM, there were three key issues raised – employment, taxes and subsidies, and education.
In his words, “employment was the most frequently discussed with some of you calling for the implementation of a minimum wage policy”. Also, he noted that “comments from the youth requested for increased tax rebates for young families or ways to provide financial assistance in managing the rising cost of living”. As for education, the feedback on his blog related to concerns with education quality and the rising cost of education.
Now that the budget has been unveiled, it is clear that the civil servants preparing the budget have completely ignored the Prime Minister. Firstly, the implementation of the minimum wage policy has been further deferred for the umpteenth time. The only beneficiaries of wage reform appear to be security guards who deservedly see their minimum wages raised and female civil servants who will now have longer maternity leave.
Read the rest of this entry »
Budget 2011 – Unable to stimulate necessary growth to meet high-income nation objective
Posted by Kit in Economics, Najib Razak, Parliament on Saturday, 16 October 2010, 2:15 pm
By Tony Pua
Budget 2010: Government failed to keep a lid on sky-rocketing operating expenditure
The Prime Minister in his speech announced that the Government will be on track to meet the projected budget deficit of 5.6% for the fiscal year 2010 giving the appearance that the Government was able to meet its financial commitment and targets. However, the meeting of the deficit target masks the fact that the Government had in fact substantially overspent its allocated budgets, and was “saved” only by a higher than expected collection of tax revenues.
Last year when the budget for 2010 was announced, the Government promised a commitment to trim operating expenditure to reduce wastage and to generate greater value for money returns with the tax-payers’ money.
We had in fact applauded the Government’s decision to reduce operating expenditure by a significant 13.7% from RM160.2 billion in 2009 to a budgeted RM138.3 billion. The government’s operating expenditure includes salaries and pensions for the civil service, purchase of government assets, supplies and services, rentals, various subsidies, debt repayments, toll compensations and “other” expenditures. A government’s “operating expenditure” is not expected to generate high economic multiplier effects, as opposed to “development expenditure”.
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Carnage on our roads
Posted by Kit in Tunku Abdul Aziz on Saturday, 16 October 2010, 12:20 pm
By Tunku Abdul Aziz
The Malaysian Insider
16th October 2010
[Tunku Aziz, one of the prime movers in setting up Transparency International Malaysia, in happier times was regarded by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi as “one man (who) was able to harness his personal passion and deep commitment to the values of ethics and integrity, give it a larger purpose and meaning, and turn it into a force to transform society for the better.” Why then was he left out of the MACC Advisory Group? He is regarded as being too outspoken for comfort and, therefore, difficult to handle.]
Much of Malaysian television news time is taken up by ghastly scenes of unspeakable carnage on our state of the art highways. We have the highest number of fatalities of any country in the world based on car ownership per capita.
The road transport department, long known for providing a haven for some of the most corrupt civil servants in the country, must accept full responsibility for the abysmal driving standards and the shocking road manners that contribute to an unwholesome and dangerous experience for law abiding motorists whose only wish is to be left alone to complete their journey in one piece.
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