The Police Must Be Crazy

It is such a sad state of affairs. You would have read in Malaysiakini our top police officers making allegations and counter allegations against each other, against the Deputy Minister of Internal Security and the Anti-Corruption Agency.

You would also have read the news of police officers with automatic rifles charging at a 100 year old Hindu temple and its devotees to demolish the building. Many were injured as a result and one victim is apparently in a coma. Some 14 persons were arrested including a 15 year old boy.

Late last evening, 4 lawyers - P Uthayakumar, M Manoharan, V Ganabathy and Vethamoorthy went to Shah Alam police station to lodge a police report over the above incident.

Unbelievably, based on witness statements, they were denied entry into the police station at the gates. Shouting began and a small fracas soon followed with one of the lawyers pushed to the ground.

Finally, the lawyers were allowed in to lodge their report over the afternoon temple demolition incident. However shockingly, the Deputy OCPD then appeared and had the four lawyers handcuffed and arrested!

As 2 of the lawyers are DAP lawyers, I received a call from one of the concerned Malaysian present and I arrived at the scene at about 12 midnight.

There was already a group of Indian Malaysians gathered outdside and a candlelight vigil was soon started, where we asked for the lawyers to be released.

We tried to get the police officers to let the parents of the 15 year old boy see their child but the police refused permission.

Calls were made and soon a team of lawyers from the bar council arrived, led by Edmund Bon. However, they too were denied access.

The OCPD then led a small team of police officers to confront us (who were at the gates) insisting that our peaceful vigil was illegal and insisted that we disperse. He however refused to entertain requests for his name made by Weng San (who joined me later), as well as others - clearly against police protocols.

The Bar Council lawyers took the opportunity to insist that they be allowed to see their clients which the OCPD initially refused. However with seeming pressure from the crowd and fluent recitations of the penal code, the OCPD relented to let the Bar Council lawyers into the police station.

We waited for more than an hour only to find out that they were not allowed to meet the lawyers who were detained. Edmund and co then proceed to file a police report that they were not allowed to see their clients. The police then attempt to "chase" the lawyers out of the police station, only to have the lawyers lodge another police report on the police attempting to do so.

Given the Prime Minister's rude and poorly explained snub on the Bar Council, this only goes to show the scant regard our government has for the rule of law. All these happenings, temple demolitions, police brutality and sheer governmental arrogance just makes you think that an "evil" government is running this country. The government has lost all moral authority over the population and anybody with a decent and clear conscious cannot possibly know the above and yet vote for Barisan Nasional.

And where's the much need Independent Police Complaints and Monitoring Commission (IPCMC) to restore the credibility of the force which Pak Lah promised (so long ago)?

I left the scene not too long after receiving the above news, knowing that the lawyers in custody are in good hands. ;) Tony Pua reporting from Shah Alam Police Station Headquarters, 2.45am. ;)

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PJ Fund Raising Dinner - Last Call

Hi guys,

It has been a pretty frantic couple of days and it'll probably continue till the Thursday DAP PJ Fund Raising Dinner. ;)


Just wanted to put a note out as a gentle reminder and a last call to those who are interested in attending the above dinner. It's just RM50 per person and it'll certainly go a long way towards assisting us towards are campaign to "reclaim" Petaling Jaya from Barisan Nasional ;)

The dinner should be an exciting affair with:

• Ballroom performances by the current Malaysian champions, Michael Yong & Janet Gooi
  
  
• A special performance by Alfred Ho, a popular blind singer who has recently joined DAP (he's very good, by the way)
  
  
• Speeches by Sdr Lim Guan Eng and YB Fong Po Kuan (our very own cili-padi, replacing YB Teresa Kok who's away on duty in UK), plus the team servicing Petaling Jaya including yours truly ;).
  

Vegetarian food as well as halal options (food and cutlery provided by external Muslim caterers) are available upon request, whether as individual portions or by entire tables. There is also no pork served on the main menu.

The map to the restaurant, Damansara Palace @ Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya is as follows:

You can purchase the tickets online below using credit cards via PayPal, or contact me @ tonypua(at)yahoo(dot)com for more details. Cheque payments should be made to "DAP Damansara Branch". We certainly look forward to your support and attendance! ;)

1st Nov 2007 PJ Dinner (per pax)
@ RM50 (US$15)

1st Nov 2007 PJ Dinner (per table of 10)
@ RM500 (US$150)

1st Nov 2007 PJ Dinner (per VIP table of 10)
@ RM1,000 (US$300)

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Remembering Operasi Lalang

DAP Public Forum

Remembering Ops Lalang (1987-2007)
No More Fear, Abolish ISA!

Date: 31 October 2007 (Wednesday)
Time: 7:30p.m--1045p.m.
Venue: KL-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall

Special Guest: Malek Hussin (Chairman, MAFREL and former ISA detainee)

Speakers:

• Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh (Chairman, Gerakan Masuhkan ISA)
• Nolaila Othman (Wife of a current ISA detainee)
• Lim Kit Siang (Parliamentary Opposition Leader)
• Karpal Singh (DAP National Chairman)
• Tan Seng Giaw (DAP Deputy National Chairman)
• Lim Guan Eng (DAP Secretary-General)

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Another Little Hiatus

Sorry guys, I've been neglecting the blog once again. Believe me, its not out of choice ;-) There's just so much to do preparing for the upcoming elections that all the remaining time left you'd just want to spend it with the wife and kid.

Just what exactly am I doing? ;-) I don't think a written explanation will do my work justice, but it'll go some way towards "explaining" my absence ;-).

For example, writing letters to voters (10% of say, 60,000 voters is still 6,000 letters!) which will involve, writing, editing, layout, printing, signing, folding, inserting into envelopes, picking addresses, printing mailing labels, sticking them on envelopes, sorting letters, arranging for pick up and delivery. (That's why plenty of volunteers needed!)

And for the upcoming Fund-raising dinner on the 1st Nov? That'll involve designing tickets, printing them, making tens (or more) of calls and SMS's to friends, associates, acquaintance, supporters etc. (I've just reached "Y" on the address book), meetings to sort out logistics, walking PJ to sell tickets to PJ residents and businessmen.

Then there's the community service bit where I handle cases and issues brought up by the public from investment scams, irresponsible developers, mom and pop contractors failing to secure payment, social welfare cases, abuse of power by city councils etc. Additionally, press conferences are called to highlight many of these cases. Oh, they'll never be highlighted in the Star or NST (because it's DAP), but you'd find them very regularly in the Chinese press.

Ah, and how about standing in (or moving around) morning markets going "Rocket! Rocket! Read all about it, for just two Ringgit". Hey, it works! Besides managing to sell quite well, quite a few people stopped to talk to me as well, with some having seen me in the papers or visited my blog ;) It certainly helps lift the spirits ;)

That of course, doesn't yet include all the obligatory party activities such as attending party functions, strategy meetings, meeting up with volunteers and supporters plus of course, carrying out my job as the Rocket editor.

So, I certainly am working my butts off and hopefully it'll make a difference. As a consequence, the blog will suffer a little, hopefully not too much. With some assistance from others, I do plan to update the blog with pictures and short write ups of more of my activities, then just commentaries. That way, readers will also probably get a better picture of what I do as an unemployed politician ;)

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Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri

To all our Muslim friends, Selamat Hari Raya AidilFitri. I hope you have all had a pleasant break and a happy trip back to the kampungs ;). I certainly did. ;)

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PJ Fund Raising Dinner (II)

Hi guys, just a quick update on the "Petaling Jaya to Lead Malaysia Forward" dinner on the 1st November ;) We do know that a dinner function with just speeches is going to be kinda dry, hence we were looking for ways to spice it up ;)

Well, we are pleased to confirm that Mr Michael Yong and Ms Janet Gooi, who will represent Malaysia for ballroom dancing (Latin) at the 2nd Asian Indoor Games in Macau in November 2007 and the 24th SEA Games in Korat, Thailand, this December 2007, will perform at our dinner for specially for you. ;)

Michael Yong, the current Malaysian Grade A Latin Champion with 7 national championship titles, started dancing at the age of 14 when he accompanied his mother to her dance classes. Internationally, the pair secured the champion placing in the Grade A Latin Open held in Ipoh (January 2007), followed by 2nd. runners up spot at the Latin Super Cup held in Singapore in March 2007.

So hurry, secure your tables today by sending me an email at tonypua(at)yahoo.com. Individual seats are available at RM50, or a table of 10 at RM500 but the best of all, ringside VIP tables for the best views at RM1,000 per table. Cheques can be made out to "DAP Damansara Branch". Alternatively, feel free to purchase/book your tables via credit card, courtesy of PayPal payment gateway by clicking on the right items below.

1st Nov 2007 PJ Dinner (per pax)
@ RM50 (US$15)

1st Nov 2007 PJ Dinner (per table of 10)
@ RM500 (US$150)

1st Nov 2007 PJ Dinner (per VIP table of 10)
@ RM1,000 (US$300)

Maintaining a community and service centre as well as running an election campaign is a relatively expensive affair, especially when compared against the mighty machinery of Barisan Nasional. I will blog on how much it'll cost us soon enough. But in the mean time, your support is crucial towards helping the DAP win in Petaling Jaya (which comprises of 2 parliamentary seat, 5 state seats, not all of which are/will be contested by DAP). Let the voters in PJ take the lead in bring about the winds of change for the nation!

These dinners are organised by DAP Damansara and DAP PJ Action Team.

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Asia Society 21 Young Leaders' Summit 2007

Asia 21 Group picture. You'll find me right at the centre, kneeling on the front row ;)

Sorry guys, have been away for a conference in Singapore over the weekend, Friday to Sunday. I was invited to be one of the delegates representing Malaysia to the Asia Society 21's Young Leaders Summit 2007 and came back with of backlog work to do (and that's just one weekend away!)

The theme for this years' summit was "Moving Forward Together: Inclusive and Sustainable Growth in the Asia Pacific". The Summit, part of the larget Asia 21 Young Leaders' Initiative, is the "pre-eminent gathering of Asia's most dynamic young leaders from every country in the Asia Pacific region and from every sector." The Summit brings together approximately 200 delegates representing a wide range of fields.

There are 4 delegates representing Malaysia besides myself, and they are Jacqueline Ann Surin (an award winning journalist with The Sun), Malik Imtiaz Sarwar (renown human rights lawyer), Lakshmi Lavanya Rama Iyer (UNDP National Project Co-ordinator on Climate Change from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment), Suryani Senja Alias (SVP, Khazanah Nasional) and, Khairy Jamaluddin (needs no introduction ;)). The latter two are also Asia 21 Young Leaders Fellows in the committee.

I had a chance to exchange name cards with Prof Wang Gungwu who left the Malaysian shores many years ago to become one of the leading academics in the region, if not the world. He was the Vice-Chancellor of University of Hong Kong for 9 years til 1995 and currently, post-retirement, the chairman of various social research institutes in National University of Singapore such as the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies and East Asian Institute. He is also an Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University.

At the same time, I also met up with plenty of people all across the region, and really met some fantastic individuals. One spunky young lady, one Ms Dang from Hanoi, quit her job and used her savings of US$10,000 to set up a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) to lobby the city government for better city planning and better sustainable growth management. She now has 5 staff working for her in a rented storeroom at the History Musuem and has further managed to raise US$100,000 to keep the operations going for some time to come. She said "everyone in the city thought she was crazy."

Now, it's certainly great to know that there're more crazy ones out there! ;)

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PJ Fund Raising Dinner

Yes, the DAP in Petaling Jaya is raising funds both of its regular operations as well as for the upcoming elections. To kick off our fund raising campaign, we will be hosting to dinners to celebrate Malaysia's 50th Merdeka Anniversary with the theme "Petaling Jaya To Lead Malaysia Forward".

Ticket for the 1st Dinner (English/Malay)

The first dinner will be held on the 1st November 2007 (Thursday) at Damansara Palace Restaurant, Kota Damansara. Halal food will be made available for Muslim guests. This dinner will have English as the primary language with the following speakers:

• Lim Guan Eng, DAP Secretary-General
• YB Teresa Kok, MP for Seputeh
• Tony Pua, Economic Advisor to DAP Secretary-General
• Lau Weng San, Political Secretary to DAP Secretary-General
• Dr Cheah Wing Yin, Former President, KL-Selangor Private Medical Practitioners Association

* Other potential speakers to be confirmed.

In addition, a special Latin and Modern ballroom dance performance by the Malaysian dance champion and our representative at the Asian Games is being arranged, and will be confirmed soon for this dinner.

Ticket for the 2nd Dinner (Chinese)

The second dinner is to be held on the 20th November 2007 at the same venue, this time with Chinese as the primary language. The speakers for the second dinner will include (besides some of the above speakers):

• YB Lim Kit Siang, Parliamentary Opposition Leader
• Sdr Ronnie Liu, DAP Central Executive Committee Member
• Sdr Ean Yong Hian Wah, DAP Selangor State Chairman

The tickets are priced at RM50 each or RM500 per table of 10. VIP tickets are available at RM1,000 per table of 10.

For those interested in purchasing tickets for the above dinners using credit cards via PayPal, click on the relevant buttons below (a new PayPal window will appear). Alternatively, please do not hesitate to contact me @ tonypua(at)yahoo.com to use other forms of payments.

1st Nov 2007 PJ Dinner (per pax)
@ RM50 (US$15)

1st Nov 2007 PJ Dinner (per table of 10)
@ RM500 (US$150)

1st Nov 2007 PJ Dinner (per VIP table of 10)
@ RM1,000 (US$300)

Maintaining a community and service centre as well as running an election campaign is a relatively expensive affair, especially when compared against the mighty machinery of Barisan Nasional. I will blog on how much it'll cost us soon enough. But in the mean time, your support is crucial towards helping the DAP win in Petaling Jaya (which comprises of 2 parliamentary seat, 5 state seats, not all of which are/will be contested by DAP). Let the voters in PJ take the lead in bring about the winds of change for the nation!

These dinners are organised by DAP Damansara and DAP PJ Action Team.

Read more!

Oil & Gas Windfall: Malaysia's Boon or Bane? (II)

I wrote in Part 1 of this article published in Aliran Monthly, on how economies blessed with ample amounts of natural resources tend to under-perform their potentials, particularly those afflicted by the Dutch disease. Malaysia might in fact be suffering from what is academically termed as the political Dutch disease. Our apparently healthy macroeconomic numbers such as growth rates above 5% masks the fact that the fundamentals of the economy are shifting negatively. How do we overcome this?

We fear that with Malaysia becoming a net oil importer very soon, and with oil reserves lasting only for the next 2 decades, these leakages left unchecked will soon have a major impact on the country's economy. This impact will be aggravated by the fact that the other productive sectors of the economy reliant on human capital such as the high-tech manufacturing, information and biotechnology remains stagnant and insufficiently developed to replace the economic contribution from our oil and gas sector due to complacency or neglect.

Faced with such a possibility, it is imperative that Malaysia re-think its strategy on enhancing human capital. The two ministries of education must be applauded for their efforts to fine-tune our educational institutions to achieve the human capital goals such as the setting up of “cluster schools” as centres of excellence. The Minister of Education, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein has also recently announced that some 27% of the education related infrastructure projects under the 9th Malaysia Plan have either been completed or are under implementation.

However, our efforts on physical infrastructure must be matched equally, if not more, with soft infrastructure such as the quality of teachers, the rigour in our course syllabus as well as the examination standards. No cost must be spared for example, in bringing the best teachers and lecturers from around the world to teach in our local schools and universities populated with our cream of the crop.

Misguided nationalistic philosophy must be cast aside in favour of a pragmatic policy in areas such as attracting the world's top academics to head our institutions of higher learning. Within our educational institutions, performing teachers and academics must be granted their due reward, financial and otherwise, as further incentives for themselves and others to continue to excel. It is of great irony that even Malaysian academics who were never in contention for top positions in Malaysian universities are head-hunted as vice-chancellors or faculty deans at the world's top universities.

In our quest to develop and retain our human capital, no stone must be left unturned and no sacred cows must be left untouched. Then and only then, will Malaysia be able to diminish its reliance on natural resources and depend instead on her people's creativity, resourcefulness, intelligence and productivity to drive the country's continued development. While oil wells may one day run dry, our population will only continue to grow and renew itself.

Therefore it is critical that the Government sets aside or even legislate that a substantive portion of our windfall from oil and gas is kept under lock and key, with the sole purpose for investment in human capital, over and beyond our typical expenditure on education and training. This way, the funds will be prevented from being expensed to a unproductive and wasteful rent-driven economy. To quote Economics Nobel Prize winner, Joseph Stiglitz, “abundant natural resources can and should be a blessing, not a curse. We know what must be done. What is missing is the political will to make it so.”

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Budget 2008: Knowledge Economy

Knowledge economy is a big subject. My Oriental Daily column is limited to 700 characters. Hence I tackled the subject in my article last week from the type of investment the country appears to be attracting.

For the past 10 years, the Government has proclaimed that Malaysia needs to be come a knowledge economy. However, besides the "statement of intent" made in the Budget 2008, no particular policy raised appears to leads towards a knowledge economy, particularly from the foreign investment perspective.

As a developing country, we are dependent on technological investments from developed countries to catalyse and expedite our progression towards a knowledge economy. In the 1980s, it was investments from Intel, Motorola, Dell, Western Digital, Sharp and their likes that propelled us to become a manufacturing force to be reckoned with. However, in recent years, we have not seen much of such investments coming into Malaysia.

Instead we are getting investments from the oil-rich countries. These investments are certainly welcome. However, at some point in time, after the "boom" created via investments in the property and construction sector reaches the next phase, where will the factories and businesses that will "occupy" these properties come from? Without attracting the knowledge-based investments which will bring not just a construction boom, but also employment, skills and technological know-how, as well as the creation of entirely new secondary supporting industries, how can we "move on" to become a knowledge-based economy and set ourselves apart from the likes of Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and China?

These were some of the questions I raised my article "知识经济开空头支票" or "Empty Promises on the Knowledge Economy" last week.

知识经济开空头支票
潘俭伟

去年，首相阿都拉通过第九大马计划刻意宣布要把我国发展为知识经济国。其中最大原因是全球化的高度竞争，让我国的外来直接投资额遽跌。从1996至2005年期间，我国的外来直接投资跌45％至39亿美元，反观新加坡却增加超过一倍至210亿美元。

为了扭转颓势，政府的目标看来锁定吸引中东投资。最近政府所推动的伊斯干达发展区(IDR)计划吸引到42亿令吉来自中东的投资额。首相也通过明年度财政预算案提出一些能够吸引更多中东投资的政策，其中包括给国内推出回教证券的证券行享有税收优惠。

政府希望吸引中东投资及资金当然没错。但是，鉴于中东资金来自石油飙涨所赚取的收入，除了能够投资股市、地产与建筑领域，就不会带来其它的经济效应。其实，我们应注重各别投资所能带来的乘数效应，进而带动国家经济发展。

马来西亚曾吸引全球著名的科技巨贾，包括英特尔(Intel) 、摩托罗拉(Motorola)、戴尔(Dell)到我国研发及生产最新的科技。这类外来投资不只
带来大量的资金，也带来了大型工厂并制造上万个就业机会、高科技与知识转移，以及协助许多中小型供应与承包商成长。

但是，在过去10年，我们的生产工艺显然落后他人。举个例子，邻国新加坡目前正积极吸引首创新产品的投资商，就如最新的PS3主机与Xbox使用的电子晶片制造商。法国的Soitec半导体公司，亦在新加坡投资7亿新元设立其首个岸外晶圆生产基地。这是属于高科技、高精度的晶圆工艺。新加坡成了Soitec在亚洲设立唯一海外生产基地的国家。

我要进一步争辩，若我们能吸引这类高科技公司到马来西亚投资，其它投资基金包括来自中东的资金，很自然就会引入我国。反之，即使我们能够在短期内吸引到中东资金，却吸引不到或无法建立这类高科技企业来推动国家经济发展，现有的投资基金迟早也会退出我国的。

所以，我们有必要在全球化时代，通过划时代的工艺把全球投资给吸引回来。否则，政府所构想的知识经济根本就是一张空头支票！

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Oil & Gas Windfall: Malaysia's Boon or Bane? (I)

I actually wrote this article a few months back for the purposes of submission to the New Straits Times (NST). Unfortunately, and bruising my personal ego in the process, it was rejected. ;) The article sort of sat around idle for a while until I submitted it to Aliran Monthly. Well, it's just been published, and I thought I'd put out my article here in 2 parts.

(A little plug for Aliran - It's a Reform Movement dedicated to Justice, Freedom & Solidarity and listed on the roster of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. Founded in 1977, Aliran welcomes all Malaysian above 21 to be members. Visit their website for more information or subscribe for a copy of Aliran Monthly today ;).)

Malaysia is a country blessed with abundant natural resources. In particular, we are thankful that the country is rich in oil and gas, which created Malaysia's sole representative in the Fortune 500, Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas). In the most recent financial year ending March 2007, Petronas achieved record profits before tax of RM76.3 billion thanks to record high crude oil prices which increased from under US$25 per barrel to above US$70 all within 4 years.

Of greatest importance, was the fact that Petronas contributed RM53.7 billion to our national coffers in taxes, royalties, dividends and export duties last year. Contribution from Petronas and other oil and gas companies operating in Malaysia was budgeted to make up some 46.8% of the government revenue for 2007. This represents a steep increase from approximately 30% in 2006 and 25% in 2004. These statistics marks Malaysia's heavy reliance on oil and gas industry today.

Malaysia's abundance of oil & gas resources is akin striking lottery. It is a once-off affair, and at some point of time, our reserves will run dry. According to Oil & Gas Journal, Malaysia held proven oil reserves of 3.0 billion barrels as of January 2007, down from a peak of 4.6 billion barrels in 1996. These reserves will last us for only another 20 years or so.

What's worse, Malaysia is expected to become a net oil importer by 2010 assuming a conservative growth of 4% in petroleum products consumption. Our trade current account surplus has also been boosted significantly by oil and gas related products which constitutes more than 11% of our exports. The frightful acceleration of dependence on our limited oil and gas resources places the country's economy at great risks.

Malaysia must not fall into the trap of what economists call the “resource curse”, that is countries devoid of natural resources fare better than countries better endowed. Countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Switzerland contrasted against the oil-rich but poorly developed Middle East countries immediately comes to mind.

This appears to be closely related to the phenomenon known as the Dutch disease. The Netherlands in the 1960s, after its discovery and depletion of oil and gas in the North Sea, was plagued with unemployment and a unproductive manufacturing sector due to the negative side effects of such a discovery.

What is perhaps most worrying for Malaysia, with the reliance on natural resource overshadowing the other productive sectors of the economy, is the resulting “rent-seeking economy” where influential parties within and without the government focus their efforts in securing a a larger share of the economic pie, instead of creating a bigger pie.

Oil and gas for example, is of wealth, which does not in itself create employment. The right to manage this wealth however, lies in the hands of the government of the day. This concentration of distributive control over wealth leads to vastly disproportionate amount of resources spent on lobbying and rent-seeking activities which will in turn reduce efforts in raising our other productive sectors as well as human capital. Associate Professors, Ricky Lam and Leonard Wantchekon of Northwestern and New York University respectively labelled this phenomenon the political Dutch disease.

In Malaysia, we are certainly seeing the impact of the political Dutch disease. With rampant rent-seeking activities as well as political patronage, large amounts of economic and financial leakages are beginning to surface. Earlier this year, the Second Finance Minister, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop has disclosed in Parliament that the recent bailout of 7 privatised projects has cost the Government RM11.0 billion, including the Putra and STAR LRT transport systems and Malaysia Airlines System costing RM7.7 billion and RM2.8 billion respectively. This amount works out to approximately 69.5% of the original cost of these projects.

Not included in the above lists are projects such as the MATRADE building and the Middle-Ring Road II which had repair bills of RM120 million and RM70 million over their original cost of RM167 million and RM120 million respectively.

More recently, we have seen how just completed government projects such as the Immigration office in Putrajaya, the mega-court complex in Jalan Duta as well as the renovated Parliament house require desperate resuscitation efforts.

Whilst the bail out packages and the repair bills have worked out to huge sums of money, its impact on the economy appears to be minimal at first glance. The country's gross domestic product (GDP) continues to grow at a healthy rate of around 5% per annum for the past few years. However, the GDP growth rate masks the fact that we have been increasingly reliant on our God-given natural resources for revenue, which has in turn cushioned the impact of dissipation of wealth caused by the impact of non-value-adding rent-seeking activities.

More coming up in Part II. ;)

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Budget 2008: The Neglected SMEs

Last week in my regular column in Oriental Daily, I wrote on the fact that in the latest Budget 2008 announced by the Datuk Seri Abdullah was extremely disappointing for it neglected the largest productive sectors of the economy, both the manufacturing sector as well as the small medium enterprises (SMEs).

In the entire 44-page budget, there was only 1 incentive for the SMEs, that is taxes for new start ups can be paid in a more flexible fashion within the first 2 years. The manufacturing sector, despite contributing to 30% of our economy, was not mentioned at all except when it was mentioned that it is only expected to grow 3.8% in 2008 from the estimated weak 3.1% in 2007.

Both the SMEs and the manufacturing sectors are facing huge challenges in terms of globalisation and competition. The fact that the Government made no additional incentives or policies to enhance the competitiveness of our local companies relative to our neighbours and competitors is just "shocking". Clearly, there are some misplaced priorities in the Government's economy policies despite the record-breaking RM176.9 billion budget expenditure.


被忽视的中小型与制造业
潘俭伟

首相每年宣布的财政预算案，对国家发展是个很重要的里程碑。媒体大篇幅专注报道预算案，不完全是因为其涵盖我国未来一年预算的开销及收入；更重要的是，预算案指导政府如何面对当前的经济挑战，并发挥本身的潜能。

随着世界经济越来越全球化，同时带给马来西亚更剧烈的竞争。若我们继续固步自封，并让自己成为井底之蛙，这终究会对经济造成无可弥补的破坏。

政府刚刚宣布的2008年预算案，其预算的1千769亿令吉开销再创历史新高。若跟10年前相比，这笔开销无疑增加了两倍。因此，国内企业界总是期待政府通过 庞大的开销，为它们带来一些有利及具有创意的新政策。

然而，这份厚达44页的预算案最让人失望之处，就是政府只提到让国内中小型企业新设立的公司延迟缴付所得税。更失望的是，预算案只是两次轻轻触及国内的制造业。而且，预算案还蛮不在乎地估计制造业今明年将分别以3.1％与3.8％成长。

根据2000年调查显示，中小型企业占国内企业超过99％，其输出占国家总生产率的29%。中小型企业也提供超过560万个就业机会，并为国内生产总值带来31％的贡献。这个领域对国家生产如此重要，却在预算案似乎不值得一提，真是让人难以置信。

新加坡近几年来为支持及鼓励中小型及制造业成长，尤其是加强它们面对全球
化挑战的竞争力，如今推出许多高效率的政策。除了把公司税减低至18％，政府
还在30万令吉的水平设定新门槛，让中小型企业享有部分税务豁免，即首30万令吉新币可征税收入只须缴纳9％的公司税。

为提倡创业及加强创意能力，所有新设立公司首10万令吉新币可征税收入，在首3个税收年度可享有全面免税。这些政策有助于提升新加坡公司的竞争力，同时鼓励开发更多对经济有效率的活动。

政府推动制造业成长及创新肯定肯有特殊的意义。目前，我国政府非常依赖石油与天然气收入。2007年，石油与天然气占国家总收入超过40%的比率。一旦我国从2011年开始变成石油净入口国，而国内石油储备量在未来不到20年内即将枯竭，届时国家收入就会大受影响！

我们唯一能够补救的方法，就是通过创业及创新提高国家的经济生产率，进而替代未来可能失去的石油收入。政府不能忽视中小型企业与制造业的潜能。否则，经济危机迟早会摆在我们眼前！

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Transformers?

Left to right: Ng Wei Aik (Political Secretary to DAP Secretary-General), Jenice Lee Ying Ha (DAP Teratai Chairperson), Victor Gu (MCA New Kid On The Block) and yours truly.

Heh, heh, Chinese current affairs magazine, 'Special Weekly', did a cheeky take pn some of the "young guns" expecting to contest in the coming general elections. You'd notice that the DAP kids are all in Optimus Prime gear, while Victor Gu's in the Bumble Bee outfit. I wonder who's going to don the Megatron suit... ;)

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Malaysia Civil Service Revisited

Not too long ago, I got myself into a little "tiff" with UMNO Deputy Youth Chief, Khairy Jamaluddin when I released a press statement which cited the need for the Government to "streamline" a bloated civil service. I also stated that the accelerated increase in the number of civil servants was partially caused by the Government's policy of absorbing a "politically sensitive" pool of unemployed graduates into its fold.

As a result, the UMNO Deputy Youth Chief claimed that I was insulting Malays. Well, it appears that I'm definitely not alone with my opinions.

The Singapore Straits Times correspondent in Malaysia, Carolyn Hong, wrote an article "Stampede for govt jobs in Malaysia" on 24th September.

Last month, when [the Government] advertised for three electronics technical assistants and one electronics engineer, it was swamped with 9,216 resumes for the first job and 3,705 for the second.

The public sector, it seems, is the most popular employer these days.

And the reason?

It is the result of the government's drive to produce more graduates. One in every five Malaysian workers now has a degree or diploma, compared with one in seven five years ago.

Many new Malay graduates flock to the government sector because, as [economist] Datuk Dr Zainal [Aznam Yusof] said, they find it harder than others to find jobs in the private sector.

The article also quote a few other Malay economists on the jobs and employment situation in Malaysia. I'd certainly like to hear whether the UMNO Deputy Youth Chief will similarly think that what they are saying represents an "insult" to Malays.

The Government must face up to the problems faced by the bloated civil service as well as the increasing rate of unemployment among local graduates. To a large extent the very cause of the current problems faced, particularly by the bumiputera community, is ironically the New Economic Policy (NEP) itself, which was designed to assist them. Until the NEP is discarded and a more progressive policy implemented, the problems facing the community are only expected worsen in the coming years, and not as intended, improve.

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What Constitution?

I won't write much. The quote from the Minister in Prime Minister's Department is shocking enough on its own. With reference to the boiling crisis of credibility facing our Malaysian judiciary with the exposure of the "Lingam tapes", Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz has this to say, as reported in Malaysiakini.

De facto law minister Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz said he issued a denial on behalf of the chief justice in relation to the explosive ‘Lingam tape’ revelations because “I am his minister”.

“I am his minister. I am the minister in charge of legal affairs. He is clever enough to know that the reporters will ask me for a response.”

Clearly, the Federal Constitution is only a document for show in the current administration led by Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Having desecrated the constitution by declaring Malaysia as an Islamic state, the Government now does it again by not only removing the independence of the judiciary, but also subjecting it to a junior minister in the Malaysian cabinet.

I will certainly like to see the Deputy Minister for Youth and Sports, Datuk Leow Tiong Lai to wave the Federal Constitution, as he promised to do at the MCA Youth General Assembly at both the Cabinet as well as the Parliament. Having failed to defend the Malaysian constitution when the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak declared Malaysia as having never been a secular state, will he redeem himself this time round? Or more likely, is it a case of chicken again?

For that matter, why are all the BN component party parliamentarians so quiet on this issue? Some like Datuk Fu Ah Kiow even became apologists for their UMNO masters.

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