HONG KONG, Sept 26 — Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim took a swipe at the government’s opaque operations, which he claims, are crippling the economy and discouraging investment.
He said the opposition was concerned that public-sector spending had risen to RM200 billion annually from RM160 billion in 2004.
“That of course doesn’t include the slush funds in excess of RM30 billion used at the discretion of the Prime Minister,” Anwar said in his address at the CLSA Investor Forum in Hong Kong today.
He was also concerned that the national debt has gone up by another RM100 billion and the fiscal deficit has risen to 4.8 per cent of GDP this year.
“With capital flight at a record high since the 1997 crisis, RM125 million in 2008 already, Malaysian investment abroad now exceeds inward foreign investment. We are facing a double barrel onslaught of our own doing with the ringgit hitting all-time lows since 2005 and inflation a record high of 8.5 per cent, the worst in 27 years.”
The de facto leader of the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition said issues of governance and corruption in the country had yet to be resolved.
“The latest corruption perception index from Transparency International speaks for itself. In almost a decade Malaysia has hardly improved its position in the ranking while our would-be peers are making substantial improvements.”
Anwar claimed that the opposition had a clear agenda for Malaysia.
• Revive the lagging economy by adopting market friendly policies.
• Take decisive action to cure the festering sore of corruption and cronyism that has decimated the judiciary, rendered anti-corruption efforts impotent and leeched billions of dollars from the state coffers
• Restore faith in the institutions of governance both domestically and internationally so that investors will once again find the country an attractive destination for their long-term investments.
• Strict adherence to the rule of law and an immediate end to draconian statutes that would allow the powers that be to detain their adversaries willy-nilly and without due process.
He said a change in government was central to the current political scenario. “The ability to handle a transition is a measure of the strength of the country’s democratic institutions.”
However, he said it should be done peacefully and orderly as stability could not be sacrificed no matter how intense the desire for change has become.
Anwar said Pakatan Rakyat would introduce structural reforms in public procurement programmes and the management of state companies while ensuring that adequate social safety nets are in place.
“With the political will to combat corruption, wastage and mismanagement, an 8 per cent per annum growth rate is not unrealistic.
“Petronas should be made accountable to Parliament and not remain the private piggy bank of the Executive branch. We will remove restrictions on foreign capital inflows and outflows and revamp government protection of monopolies in industries like telecommunications and banking.”
In an apparent hit at Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the opposition leader said if markets are strong and unfettered, and if laws are transparent and enforced by impartial judges, “we will not need special development corridors or regions to attract investment”.
“A stable and clean business environment is far more important than special tax breaks and quotas handed out by a corrupt and opaque government,” said Anwar.
He said when the Asian crisis struck 10 years ago, the decisions he made as Finance Minister were not populist nor were they popular.
But he added that on principle, he felt they were the right moves even though they were at the expense of his personal freedom.
“Yet in my darkest hours of solitary confinement I had never given up hope that something good was to come of the ordeal. And now after more than a decade of struggle and profound challenges we are on the threshold of a new beginning.”
OK la, Biar Lambat asalkan selamat. Yes, structural reforms to everything in the management of this nation. No witch hunt but blatant abuse of power must be made responsible. Never give up and the struggle must go on in search of a new beginning. Gua Caya Lu la.
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With every neighbouring country vying for foreign investment, thank you for speaking up so that we will not end up being at the bottom of the list.
When Magaret Thatcher said she would have wanted you as her finance minister all those years ago, little did she realize she wasn’t being patronizing.
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We support you. Thank you for all your sacrifices and clear thinking.
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Those people who rules the country does not see this. Their only concern now is their political survival. No matter what they want the status quo unchanged.
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“We will remove restrictions on foreign capital inflows and outflows and revamp government protection of monopolies in industries like telecommunications and banking.””
Dear Mr Anwar and assalamualaikum,
Your statement really upset me and these are my questions.
How are those supposed to keep us independent? By giving the Multinationals to bought off Malaysia? What happened to self reliance on our own capabilities and develop the technology instead of selling off Malaysian telecommunication market to non nationalistic economic powers?
What happen to no PRIVATISATION on the people’s basic necessities? Like roads, hospitals, electricity, water etc.. Are finally Telekom Malaysia can be sold off and leaving billions of profits to others? Why are goverments running away from monopolies? Isn’t it means more money for goverments to bulit FREE hospitals, roads, schools, better infrastructures etc????
Are you going to sell all of us? If yes, then the ENRON episodes in California will repeat itself here.. Oh, sorry forgot.. Already happen with our home bred “ENRON”.. the IPPs, the toll robber barons etc..
Why can’t the goverment tender out the constructions, but collect the toll themselves straight into goverments coffers and NOT to give the consessions to some billionaires who suck us dry?? The same with IPP, why can’t TNB built and owned the power plants? Why should outside “private entities” are allowed to become to powerful and rich, that they are the ones who influenced the goverment that be? Including the previous PM of Malaysia?
Why can’t GLC’s made more efficients?? United Postal Service of USA had done it. Why can’t we? Why can’t we privatize the GLC’s MANAGEMENT and to a certain extend the bonuses for good performance while NATIONALIZE the profits?
Why do we need to privatize ALL, profits and ownerships while leaving the people’s to be sucked dry by these greedy capitalists?
Isn’t the goverment’s role to safeguard people’s right’s and well being??
Why are you like Mahathir in this area? Mahathir sold us for home bred capitalists, and you want to sell us to global capitalists who have no mercy, no alliegience and not patriotic to Malaysia?
Please do explained yourself and answer these questions.
Concerned Citizen of Malaysia
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Bumi Ownz U Reply:
September 28th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Monopolies hamper innovation and make monopolisitic companies less innovative.
If you understand anything about the free market, you will understand that protectionist policies in the end fail..
Proton has been protected by the government for so many years… Today in 2008, how does it compare with Honda, Hyundai and Toyota? Where is the innovation in Proton products???? Government linked Monopolies with Protectionist policies lead to croni-ism and reliance on government subsidies.. creation of rubbish products that are unmarketable international… What is the Profit of Proton? It has no profit!!! Who wants to buy a cheap Proton overseas when they could buy a Hyundai or Toyota???
Malaysia has given its people Proton, whilst the rest of the world have the rights to afford better quality cars because, Malaysia of course wants its people to drive rubbish to feed the pockets of Proton cronies…
Patriotism is based on achievement. What has Malaysia produced with their own intellectual ability? What has Malaysia done to put a dent on the world stage?
Don’t talk about patriotism… talk about achievement.
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ANAK MALAYSIA Reply:
September 28th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
well,if there is no competitions in buisness,how do we as malaysians can progress with other people around the world as well LBS?
U KNOW I HATE MONOPOLIES AS MUCH AS OTHER PEOPLE DO………BUT U SHOULD SEE THE POSITIVE SIDE INSTEAD OF NEGATIVE SIDE ALL THE TIME SUCH AS WE AS MALAYSIANS ESPECIALY BUMIPUTRAS CAN IMPROVE OUR SERVICE,ENCOURAGE OURSELVES 2 WORKHARDER AND WORKSMART,INDEPENDENT WITHOUT DEPENDING 2 MUCH HELP FROM THE GOVERNMENT(AT LEAST THEY DONT NEED 2 FEEL SAKIT KEPALA) AND BOOST OUR SELF CONFIDENTS BY SAYING 2 OURSELF “MALAYSIA BOLEH!” EVERY MORNING.
OOO,HOW OLD R U?I MEAN U BETTER GROW UP N LEARN FAST AND COMPETE WITH OTHER PEOPLE AS FAST AS U CAN IF YOU WANNA BE RESPECTED.
N REMEMBER,ALLAH(GOD) WILL NOT CHANGE THE GROUP OF PEOPLE FATE IN THIS WORLD IF THE PEOPLE DOES NOT CHANGE THEMSELVES.
N I DONT CARE IF UR BLACK OR WHITE,WE’RE JUST HUMANS IN THIS WORLD.
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singapura Reply:
September 29th, 2008 at 8:32 am
When DSAI makes a statement, you can tell he chooses his words carefully.
He said “revamp government protection of monopolies”. Revamp, not sell off. They are not the same thing.
Anyway, macro economics is not an easy subject to grasp, let alone implement after a long period of corruption by powerful leaders.
If you don’t like DSAI overhauling the country’s economy, who would you rather have doing it?
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Datuk…
Its useless talking about Badawi as we Malaysians know that he CANNOT govern our country at all. He made a lot of promises & broke them !
He CANNOT make on the spot decissions. He always have to consult his u-noe-who first always !
He’s always in denial. He’s always flip-flopping…! He’s always Zzzzzzz………!
The BN & UMNO are busy looking after themselves & trying to save their own donkeys!
Shifting their polls to March 2009. It goes to show just how much they love themselves…!
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ANAK MALAYSIA Reply:
September 28th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
UR RIGHT……I AGREE WITH U…LETS ABOUT PREVENT CORRUPTION,NEPOTISM ETC BEFORE TALKING ABOUT REFORMING ECONOMY……WE SHOULD RESPECT THE PEOPLE OF INDONESIA AND SOUTH AFRICA OF SUCCESSFULLY DOING THAT TEN YEARS AGO.
I CAN SEE 2DAY THAT INDONESIA’S ECONOMY IS GOING A LITTLE BIT BETTER AND I NEVER HEARD CORRUPTION CASE FROM THEIR COUNTRY AT ALL AFTER THEY KNOCKOUT PRESIDENT SUHARTO 10 YEARS AGO DURING THE ECONOMY CRISIS.AMAZING RIGHT?
LETS DEBATE ON FINDING SOLUTION TO ECONOMY CRISIS IN OUR COUNTRY?
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juan hardiez Reply:
September 29th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
HAHA.. anak malaysia ni memang pandai berkata2. tapi bab “I never heard corruption case from their country” tu, biar betul pakcik. rasanya lepas suharto, ada je case corruption kat sana.
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Bumi Ownz U Reply:
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:11 am
Can you believe Indonesia is part of the G20 most industralised nations??!!?!?
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Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim is the next PM…
hiduP DSAI….
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Dear Datuk Seri,
Please consider unemployment benefits for urban dwellers. The pressure on the shoulders of breadwinners and their families will be eased, should they happen to be in between jobs, or just weighing their options for the future.
Many thanks
Regards
Simon
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DEAR DSAI! HOW TO CHANGE THE MIND SET OF MALAYSIAN POLITICIAN! WHAT THE HELL!KATAK DIBAWAH TEMPURUNG.
COME OUT! OPENLY DECLARE YOUR SUPPORT TO DSAI! DSAI SURELY AND STEADILY LEAD MALAYSIAN ECONOMY TO A COMPETITIVE LEVEL PLAYER!
APA TUNGGU LAGI! HAVE FAITH IN GOD AND LOMPATLAH DEMI KESEJAHTERAAN RAKYAT DAN NEGARA!
GERAKAN, MCA,MIC DAN LAIN LAIN PARTY TERMASUK SOME GOOD ONE FROM ONE UMNO! JANGAN TUNGU LAMA LAMA NANTI LAMA LAMA USIA TELAN HAMPA!
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A’kum DSAI,
Lama tunggu dah ni. Masa kita ramai-ramai kat kelana jaya dulu kata nak bagi list nama 30 orang tu pada pak lah. tak ada apa2 pun. kata bahaya bagi 30 nama pada PM sebab takut PM hentam depa. takpa, boleh terima lagi.
la ni hang hentam ekonomi negara kat luar negara tu kenapa. perlu ke cerita semua tu kepada orang luar. buat orang luar fikir yang bukan2 pasal negara. kata nak semua berjalan dengan aman.
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Bumi Ownz U,
I had noticed that it seems that you have had been a regular commentor in anwar’s blog. Its great to note that malaysia has produced someone like you, very ‘intelligent and potential’. I hope so your views are sincere from a concern malaysian and not from one of the many ‘lembus from PKR’
Keep up the good work, bladder.
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Bumi Ownz U Reply:
October 1st, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Thank you for your most positive and encouraging comment with relation to my views.
I will try my best to assist in constructively assisting the Malaysian people in forward thinking ideologies, because its about time my people, the Malaysian people progressed to a level that brings Malaysia in line with the first world….
I do hope one day to serve the people of Malaysia in politics – As President John F. Kennedy most famously said:
“We choose to go the moon, not because it is easy, but because it is hard..”
…I choose to change Malaysia, not because it is easy, but because it is hard..
God bless you all.
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Bumi Ownz U Reply:
September 28th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Monopolies hamper innovation and make monopolisitic companies less innovative.
If you understand anything about the free market, you will understand that protectionist policies in the end fail..
Proton has been protected by the government for so many years… Today in 2008, how does it compare with Honda, Hyundai and Toyota? Where is the innovation in Proton products???? Government linked Monopolies with Protectionist policies lead to croni-ism and reliance on government subsidies.. creation of rubbish products that are unmarketable international… What is the Profit of Proton? It has no profit!!! Who wants to buy a cheap Proton overseas when they could buy a Hyundai or Toyota???
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Yes true, but you have to remember, that was under Mahathir until 2003. And we all know how he operates right?
A case study of how United Postal Services compete with private companies must be done and understood. This model could be use for our use.
Yes I do agree on achievements, but achievements I believe 90% methods and 10% luck.Any successful company depends on the people at the helm (honesty!) and on what kind of methods they use.Wrong methods, no profit, correct ones, you succeed.No cronies should be allowed to helm the GLC. It should be objectives.Even if the brother of Anwar are the GLC CEO, but he do delivers the goods,tranparents and no hanky panky, why not. We are here to reward the achievers.And to block the under achievers.
The ultimate goal is a company who works like a private entities, but the profits are for the goverments. I refuse to believe that it’s not possible.
If UPS can do it, why can’t we?
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anak malaysia
U KNOW I HATE MONOPOLIES AS MUCH AS OTHER PEOPLE DO………BUT U SHOULD SEE THE POSITIVE SIDE INSTEAD OF NEGATIVE SIDE ALL THE TIME SUCH AS WE AS MALAYSIANS ESPECIALY BUMIPUTRAS CAN IMPROVE OUR SERVICE,ENCOURAGE OURSELVES 2 WORKHARDER AND WORKSMART,INDEPENDENT WITHOUT DEPENDING 2 MUCH HELP FROM THE GOVERNMENT(AT LEAST THEY DONT NEED 2 FEEL SAKIT KEPALA) AND BOOST OUR SELF CONFIDENTS BY SAYING 2 OURSELF “MALAYSIA BOLEH!” EVERY MORNING.
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I believe there are limits on things to be privatise, things that are “untouchables” (which warrants gov monopolies). For example the IPPs, I think we have to read Jeff Ooi’s articles regarding this as he have done a lot on them.
Water, electricity, roads should never be privatise.
If not, we will be held hostages by these greedy people, and the goverments used as their “muscleman” to keep the “peace”. We know how US as the biggest capitalist state exploited the rest of the world right? I don’t want Malaysia to be “Little Uncle Sam” into the future. Read Noam Chomsky for details.
One more example. JPJ license testing facilities. During my time, a car plus motorcyle license cost RM240. Nowadays, it’s easily goes more than RM1000 thank’s to privatisation. So why are they charging more during the good old days?
I believe for the gov to have sufficient money for the betterments of the people. But if you cut this out, they will raise taxes, end strategic subsidies (this can be discuss further to determine which ones are strategic), being at the mercy of the capitalists.
And I’m not into 100% socialists gov. But “unlimited wealth” which directly tied to people’s basic necessity should be monopolise by the goverment and never to be sold off to any capitalists, locally or internationally.
But for us to be vendors, suppliers etc, this is where the private sector could benefit. Like Petronas model. Or surpassed and do better than that.
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singapura Reply:
September 29th, 2008 at 8:32 am
When DSAI makes a statement, you can tell he chooses his words carefully.
He said “revamp government protection of monopolies”. Revamp, not sell off. They are not the same thing.
Anyway, macro economics is not an easy subject to grasp, let alone implement after a long period of corruption by powerful leaders.
If you don’t like DSAI overhauling the country’s economy, who would you rather have doing it?
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Sir, I really don’t know. I knew it when I SEE IT.But I do have my concerns when I read about “free markets”, as we all know the people and countries who championed the phrase are not honest in dissmantling their own farmer’s subsidies etc. They are only here to gobble up things which are valuable, while keeping their backs covered.
We should never be fooled into giving up our valuables for their bread crumbs.
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Bumi Ownz U Reply:
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:01 am
Hello LBS,
The reason why UPS has been able to succeed is because it is profit driven. Its financial reports and statements are audited by impartial third party regulators, so, they’re financials are transparent… they hide nothing. So United Parcel Service has to show in its books viability, i.e. Real profit.
If you look at Malaysia, there are no regulatory authorities to confirm many of the books of GLCs, hence it is very easy to manipulate the books in showing a profit, when indeed, there was a loss… Proton for example would have made a heavy loss last financial year if it had not been for Government Subsidies that contributed to its Balance Sheet… This is a sign of a government wanting to cover up its mess….
With relation to your comment on Blocking underachivers and promoting the achievers, I agree with you.. but I do not believe we should “block” under achivers. Instead we should assist them becoming the best that they can be, by showing them areas in which they can improve.
Its all about attitude. If you have an attitude for constant improvement, and you try your best, work hard and put your hear into it, you will succeed.. because it is better to try and fail than to not try at all and live with regret….
The ROLE of all politicians is to instil the peoples passion to achieve, by pointing out areas that need improving, followed by ACTION.
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Bumi Ownz U,
What LBS said was correct that for a corporation to succeed is 90% methods and 10% luck. Ultimately, a company should work within a private entities. It’s possible, not something far-fetched.
I guess you had been contributing to many a comments while not realizing the tendency of going a stray. My advice is to just give a short, concise and to the point comments rather than an unecessary lengthy comments.
Especially on your comment that there were ‘no regulatory authorities overlooking the books of GLC’, which is something hard for one to stomach. I am sure for large corporations, like GLCs, their annual fiscal are oversee and audited by independent auditors.
Maybe I should have a 2nd thought on my earlier comment about you. No offend, please.
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Bumi Ownz U Reply:
October 4th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
No offence taken…. :-)
My comment was made to explain why UPS has been able to succeed in the USA and the reasons why Malaysia will find it hard to succeed in managing and controlling Government owned Entities…
You are allowed to say whatever you like. That is the nature of democracy… It is up to the people to disseminate fact from faulsities…
Could you please tell me which “Big 4 Accounting firm” ie: KPMG, PriceWaterHouse Coopers, Deloitte or Ernst & Young companies oversea Tenaga Nasional, MAS or even Proton’s audit, I would be very pleased in taking back my comments on the impartiality of Government Linked companies and the accounting standards that they use to measure their NPAT financial results.
It may be hard to stomach, but the reality is, there is inbread corruption in Malaysia’s GLC financials… it would be naive to think that Profit and Loss results are clean….
Thank you for remaining level headed in your thoughts though… much appreciated.
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whether the auditors are from the 4 big firms or not, it does’nt really matter. As long there is an independent certified auditor overseeing their books, it shows to prove that they had met the standard accounting requirements. I am sure our local auditors, if not better, they are as good as their foreign counter-parts, as most of them were overseas-trained and maybe they graduated from the same institution.
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