A Promise That Is Warm As A Fowl's Manure

One of the views that were shared by the Dutch, English and even the Portuguese on the natives of the land from the 16th century until now is still relevant today and it has still been proven that the myth of the lazy native still exists. Negative perceptions, describing about the natives have been documented by an UMNO research paper in the early 1970s entitled the "Mental Revolution."

Of course, I definitely would like to find time to comment on why majority of Malaysians are still unwilling to change, apart from a few identified factors that have been identified that have been commented by other people such as from the election campaigning perspective and the mindset of people in certain states, but given that this piece has been written at a public location, I might find some time to comment on one attribute that is hindering overall national progress.

The negative view that was given by our then colonial masters to describe the attributes of the Malays was that the Malays have the tendency to make promises as describe by the Malay idiom "hangat-hangat tahi Melayu" or the translation in English would be "as warm as the fowl's manure". What it means is that once it has been promised, a party would do it well at the beginning but efforts undertaken by them would be diminished in the subsequent period / years after the original undertaking. And given of the latest case of car price talk, I felt it is appropriate to frame that problem to the issue just as to state my point.

Out of the desparation to get it's diminishing urban and possibly a certain small percentage of rural support, BN added in at the very last moment of one of the PR's manifesto cases to be implemented, which was the gradual reduction of the car excise tax. Base on the parliamentary-seat results of the election, it seems that together with the die-hard old timers that refuse to change, many fence sitters fell for that promise.

So we thought that we could see the same thing that PR promised that BN would do before the year is over that they would reduce the car prices. After all, one of the problems that many people face is replacing their worn and torn cars that have aged more than seven years for newer and more efficient cars. To compound the existing problem, the car insurance premium has gone up by another 15% across the board. It means that more people face problem with the money in the pockets since you need to have an insurance before you are allowed to renew your vehicle road tax. 

Presently, things are not going well. And from what Tok Pa said about only reducing car prices by 2017/2018 at most, as what Tony Pua said in his letter in Malaysiakini, it is indirectly signalling to the lower-level people in particular to forget about buying newer cars. But hold on, didn't Najib Razak promised about reducing car prices in stages? 

Excerpt from Malaysiakini and Bernama

“As promised, car prices will be reduced in stages until 2017. Insya Allah, I will ensure that every promise is fulfilled." - Najib on 28 May

 
"Car prices will not be reduced (at one go). Prices will be reduced in accordance with market forces" - Mustapa Mohamad on 28 May

Sounds contrasting isn't it? Now it's almost a month since the general elections and the new cabinet has been sworn in the presence of the King, so where's that happy hamper that every car buyer is waiting for? 

Maybe to show that promise is a equivalent to an Indian capati, I would suggest people who are buying a new car to pay according to the actual price minus the additional excise tax. You are already paying for service and import tax already together so why pay extra when that money has been found to be misused? Let's give an example: a Mazda 3 selling at RM 100K, 1.6 is actually selling at RM 56K, with import and service tax included, and insurance counted in. $44K balance should been used to pay as a deposit for an average apartment in Kuala Lumpur that sells around RM 450K.

Motor scrapping and old motor exporting is actually a lucrative business, especially that Africa now needs a lot of those vehicles for those poor natives to afford it so, I don't see why there are more excuses of not reducing car prices except to enrich the fat cats whose income "solely" depend on those exorbitant cash.

So it seems that people who voted for BN have either been mislead about that promise or are actually as what Mental Revolution said: not truthful of themselves. If any of the people that belongs to the latter, there's something wrong with the logic. Why pay two times to buy one car whereas you can actually use the extra money for investment, or for those young and working professionals use it as deposit to buy a new house to stay? I just would hope that whoever defends BN with such crazed would suddenly rant about having a hard time of getting one car like that when you don't earn that much money as the rich would do and yet being willing to be manipulated by the wily old man Mahathir for his own personal ends indirectly.

I am sure many nay sayers would definitely come out with the conventional argument of "closing off one source of income" with that excise tax, but since Proton is still yet to perform at the satisfactory level on their own despite plenty government assistance, stripping them of the assistance would psychologically get them to think and work hard on putting their foot on their own on the global level. There are some of us who would gape in awe over shiny and prestigious cars that our Singaporean friends drive into the country but yet showed their other side of themselves by defending what is illogical and incorrect without being honest with themselves.

What Tok Pa said about that matter is exactly the problem that our previous English colonial masters described of the natives: promises as warm as a fowl's manure. In plain English, it is called as not walking your talk, since Tok Pa is part of the current incumbent government. But that commentary was written over 100 years ago, still relevant but it no longer confines to just one race of people in Malaysia but instead everyone of us.

Excerpt of Tony Pua's letter in Malaysiakini:

Umno president, Najib Abdul Razak announced that, if the BN is returned to power, it would “revamp the National Automotive Policy to gradually reduce car prices by 20-30 percent and increase the competitiveness of the national cars”.

Yesterday, however, International Trade and Industries Minister Mustapa Mohamed - who is in charge of automotive policies - announced that car prices will only be reduced after another five years and not in the near term.

In effect, the BN government is telling Malaysians that they can stop dreaming of cheaper cars for the next five years, and if car prices drop at all, it will be after the 14th general election.

The Gorgon Gas Project

I once remembered that oil and gas industry has started to become another booming industry where more jobs are getting created. In fact I was told that Australia and Canada would become two countries with further job prospects in this field. Brazil is another location but for mining industry.

From Wikipedia: 

The Gorgon gas project is a natural gas project in Western Australia, involving the development of the Greater Gorgon gas fields, subsea gas-gathering infrastructure, and a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant on Barrow Island. The project also includes a domestic gas component. It is currently under construction and once completed, will become Australia's fourth LNG export development.

The project scope:

• 300 ha of land has been acquired on Barrow Island
• 3x5 MTPA LNG Trains
• 15 million tonnes of LNG per year
• 300 terajoules per day domestic gas plant
• Ground breaking occurred on December 1, 2009
• First LNG in 2014
• Production ends between 2054–2074

There's plenty of untapped resources located 85 kilometers of coast from Northwest Australia. This of course reminds me of the problem Kelantan is facing. Kelantan can go tap in petroleum and gas off shore, but they ran into the trouble with the Federal government over oil royalties because of the 3-nautical mile boundary. That's because the emergency laws have yet to be officially declared over. 

If the Federal government is unable to rescind that emergency declarations because of paranoia, even though the period of Emergency was over for more than 22 years, then there is something wrong with their brain or so. Chance of tapping more income to the country is gone awaste because of the political obsession. 

I think this was one of those things that Ku Li mentioned sometime back about vast resources off shore Australia, this could be one of it. 

This video from Chevron explains it mostly:

Any Likely of Housebuying Strike in Malaysia?

The National Housebuyers Association has today warned that young people are getting locked out of buying property because of its prices being at an astronomical sum. It was summed up as in the words of the person interviewed, "exorbitant", "beyond the reach of young adults", and "not commensurate with salary increases". They have also accused banks, developers  and valuers in colluding in pushing prices to exorbitant levels. These three, were dubbed the property category of the "unholy trinity".

The average price of houses in Klang Valley is at least at RM485 000. This is for new houses. It might be a bit less for second-hand houses, but chances are very hard to get those RM300K radius houses. If you are to buy a house you must have specific down payment. For instance, if you are to buy the Green Area in Setapak, at the price of RM420 000, you must pay within RM 42K to RM 126K down payment

I have spoken and elaborated on this matter in my yesterday's posting called "The Imbalancing of Expenditure vs Income". I have mentioned that part of the solution to solve the problem is having the minimum wage calculated into the take home salary as to commensurate with the present living costs. I also deduced that in order to accomplish the "minimum household income of RM 4000 monthly" that PR wants to do in the Buku Jingga, the minimum salary must be introduced without further delay.

Addendum: HBA's Press Statement

Another possible case is doing a housebuying strike. This has been active in Melbourne as to show protest on buying. This has proven successful as following the strike prices have dropped there by about 10%. There's also a signing of the abstinence pledge (see sample here) which show the sign. 

Is there any likely to seeing a housebuying strike in Malaysia?

The Imbalancing of Expenditure vs Income

Three weeks ago, back home over a round of drinks, a few friends including parents have asked me why have I not buy a house in Kuala Lumpur given that I have been in the Klang Valley over the past six years and since there is the introduction of the "My First House Scheme" thing. Of course my first answer would be that most houses in Klang Valley, even an apartment is valued at more than the cap value permitted for a loan, which is at RM220K. A flat, don't say Mont Kiara, for example like the Green Project in Setapak (behind Taman P. Ramlee) costs at least RM 419,000 and given that property prices will go up between 10 to 20 percent this year, it may cost more. If you are lucky, you can buy a second-hand house, but the start price will be around at least RM 300K +.

Forget about getting a new apartment in Penang Island at very cheap price for it costs 3 times more than in the mainland due to its land scarcity. A Batu Ferringhi apartment of 1100 sq ft will cost 1/2 a million ringgit to buy but bigget ones can cost between 1 to 2 million. Straits Quay seafront houses are at start of RM 3 to 7 million, depending on square feet available. This means that it will be almost impossible to qualify for the housing scheme as houses exceed the conditions offered.  

Mainly this was the first reason. But secondly, I would imagine that if I am to buy a house on loan, the repayment rate, given of the average of middle-income individual group's income, it might take up to 30 years to repay the loan completely. Along the way, if you have already started a family, your children will start to have debt that has to be shared the moment they are born until they grow up - until your repayment period expires. So basically, a child's savings starts not at 0, but at a negative amount. This was why I didn't really think that the My First House Scheme is beneficial, but it instead is more or less a propaganda tool meant to elicit the waning support from the community, unless you are a hardcore believer who believes blindly.

Famed author Robert Kiyosaki once said - it was a valuable fact for me -  is that even if you buy a house on loan, (this also apply to all things) it is actually not an asset, but a liability unless you have the extra money to pay it off as soon as possible. Otherwise, if you get something via a bank loan and you are a job casualty, you will have problem to repay and face the coming of the repossession men, for not settling your monthly pay - which is a very dangerous risk that few are aware of.

House buying problem and the unaffordable is part of the poor purchasing power problem faced by Malaysia. In fact, many Gen Y people like ourselves, if we don't factor in parents helping out, will have a hard time of getting a good house to stay and could be pushed into buying those PPR low cost houses. 

Poor purchasing power, low salary are the most hotly debated items in the last two weeks or so, having read several coverage pieces. Australians have recently in late were bold in taking one more step ahead, by launching a house buying strike. Prosper Australia has helped written a "buying abstinence". The following is the first three paragraphs of the strike pledge:

It is economically irresponsible to expect young adults to commit to thirty years of heavy debt merely to get on to the first rung of home ownership.

The current price of land is grossly overvalued compared to take-home earnings.

Compounding this, Australia is in the grip of a housing Ponzi scheme similar to that which brought the northern hemisphere to their knees.

Malaysia is no more or less facing the same problem of being in the grip of the Ponzi scheme. And yes, the Najib administration is economically irresponsible not just on this matter but other things as well. But doing a strike will also affect those who would do property investment too. So it's a juggle job here. But almost a little more than half of people surveyed in Melbourne would surely agree to the idea of a buying strike.

Related piece: Should KL Homebuyers go on strike?

The low purchasing we have here is mainly of insufficient take home pay to compensate expenditure. Trying to do that on the scale means that the scale is imbalanced, tipped to the expenditure side. Contrary to the claim that Malaysia is cheap in purchasing, the diagram seems to speak otherwise. There are also statements from Malaysians working in other parts of the world that would say otherwise contrasting to ministers or politicians that would claim that.

People can buy great cars easier in other places unlike here where AP and high import duties (double) is why people can't even get one Honda at a very low price that is new. And since the Asian Financial Crisis, the ringgit has never recovered in strength against SGD, UK pound, and even gets weaker against the AUD. When I traveled to Australia last year, the rate was around 2.80 average before departing. As of last week, the rate has shot up to 3.25 average, which is an approximately 30% devalued. 

A few people spoke of working in Europe or Australia is not as pushing yourself too hard and over the limit you should be entitled to. The chart above tends to illustrate the point. We work 3 times longer than in Sydney or New York to get one Big Mac really. Translate that to currency and it's more or less the same. This leaves us to the last part of minimum wage. If Najib keeps talking about ETP, high income nation, then how come we are not seeing something to start with minimum wage act? 

If the government recognizes the May day celebrations, then why the police would arrest those who would come out to celebrate Labour Day? Just because it's against the "accursed" Police Act that people gets cuffed for nothing and go to the police station?

Related piece: Malaysians Plague By Poor Purchasing Power

If I am someone who is tasked to solve the problem, the immediate solution is to make minimum wage mandatory. Statistics revealed that private sector profit margins are very high yet, they give low wages to workers despite workers working hard enough each month. This is actually a true fact indeed. The government actually can do it, but they can't do right now because they faced stiff opposition from the employers union. If they don't do that, there's the imbalance right now. So, it's really true to say that either the Human Resource Ministry or Pemandu don't have the balls to make the minimum wage mandatory while they say it's easy to cut subsidies. It's like other bases are not covered to solve the problem. 

Today, Hong Kong is the latest country to make it mandatory of having a minimum wage. The minimum wage per day is set at $3.60 USD per hour - which means that on a 5 day work week, the minimum wage can be between RM 1800 and RM 2000 per month. Therefore, the act implemented in Hong Kong has benefited 10% of people there or around 270000 workers. Thus. the so called proposal base line of RM 700 per month is absolutely a pathetic baseline mooted by Subramaniam and his ministry.

Subramaniam is also under the firing line by other people including Klang MP Charles Santiago by saying that wage is based on productivity. That's the old saying indeed but the salary scale in Malaysia doesn't reflect the current times so, Subramaniam is also caught with the pants down. Remember that the wage increment over the last decade was only 2.6% whereas it should be at around 26% or 10 times compared to 10 years ago.

Some BN MPs and politicians have also said that the Buku Jingga that PR has talked about in doing it in the first 100 days is merely a pipe dream. One of the acts under skepticism scrutiny in regards to the book that was asked was about increasing the minimum household income to RM 4000 from RM 1500 in the period of 5 years. The problem raised by them is that if they are to meet the target in the space of 5 years, the PR federal government will have to spent billions annually over the five years to meet that target. This gives the picture that the moment PR takes over, the amount in the national coffers will start at a negative, red mark. But someone from PR said that this clearly is in motion provided if the minimum wage act is implemented first because their reasoning is that most private companies have higher profit margins and even use foreign workers to even maximize their value and get cheaper labor! Could it be the reasoning of going against the minimum wage thing perhaps?

It's true that 80% of households income is less than RM3000. Some of the highlights that CPI brought up is as follows:

Malaysian workers continue to be at the mercy of individual bosses in the absence of a minimum wage act. The 8-hour workday has been insidiously converted into 12 hours in two shifts in an arrangement that benefits the bosses. Compulsory overtime to supplement low wages has become a necessary evil for workers but it deprives them of rest, and time for family and community.

The government’s low wage policy incentive to attract foreign investors continues to erode whatever rights workers enjoyed. By amending labour laws the government has made it easier to sack workers. 

Unemployment and job insecurity have been created by allowing cheap and docile migrant labour without exhausting local labour supply first.

The message is clear. The government will betray workers and pawn their rights to preserve the interests of the capitalists with whom the ruling elite are strongly bonded. This has become all the more obvious with the adoption of neo-liberal market mechanisms that are hostile to workers.

I am not very versed in economics but if the minimum wage is incorporated into it, does that mean that the present income of professionals will also be calculated to include the minimum monthly wage across the board?

It appears that Malaysia has already deviated from the strong sense of dirigism that it used to practice before. China and Singapore are clear examples of those who would use dirigisme to ensure national economy is well managed even including steering out of recession and rebounding it. I used to remember that Singapore used a fraction of the reserves of approximately $600 billion in 2009 to stimulate in the recession and look what happened then - viola. With all the politicking and obsession of the sex video over other top priorities that BN are in, Malaysia's economy is in the autopilot mode, lack of the keeping the eye on potential factors that could affect economics all over country.

Illustrating False Hope and Never Trusting It

Here, I would like to illustrate the sense of false hope portrayed by the minister and the national propaganda news agency - they spur propaganda to make it feel good and complacent:

KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 (Bernama) -- The country's debt last year amounted RM407.1 billion or 53.1 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is no cause for worry, Dewan Rakyat heard Tuesday.

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Awang Adek Hussein said of the amount, RM390.4 billion or 96 per cent was internal while RM16.7 billion or four per cent was external debt.

"Concern should be on foreign debt but at only four per cent, it is not worrying. Our GDP ratio is much lower than others including developed countries," he said when winding up debate on the ministry's Supplementary Supply Bill (2010) 2011.

Awang said the debts were from loans to finance the deficit and finance development projects planned. The loans will generate revenue to the government as it is an investment.

"The returns will be higher. This is normally the case except during an economic slowdown."



Commenting on alleged unequal treatment of Malaysia Airlines and AirAsia, he said the government gave due consideration without bias to any airline.

Awang said 24.6 million tourists visited Malaysia last year compared to 23.6 million in 2009 with tourism receipts rising to RM56.5 billion from RM53.4 billion in 2009.

"Part of this increase in tourist arrivals was due to AirAsia's promotion of low-cost fares," he added.

Maybe if you do not know about Murphy's Law, then you won't know. Never assume that things will go back to normal as it was before. Mahathir misjudged of the economic direction back in 1997 when the Asian Financial Crisis hit and Malaysia never recovered fully from that bubble burst unlike Singapore who managed to cushion it down and rebounded it back to a healthy black level sign.

If you take a the total amount of reserves from Bank Negara and attempt to pay off all debts, you virtually have no reserves at this point and you still have a fraction of 5% GDP equivalent of debt to be paid off. This calculation is based on the total reserves as at end of January 2011 - which is RM 368.57 billion, after conversion, with the USD exchange rate counted at 3.05.

When we try to offset the present debt, we still have a debt of RM 38.43 billion, which is 5% of the GDP. With calculation, you can say that Malaysia is still having no extra money in available. And assuming that we pay internal debts first, we still have yet to pay off the external debts there. And so this is why to recoup and getting the extra money needed, Malaysia was forced to privatized most of their properties and introduce various taxes (e.g GST), still pursuing the "saman ekor" as part of the "make a quick-buck" desperation.

In the Abdullah Badawi years, the external debt average was consistently at $52 billion USD, whereas after Najib took over, the debt average ballooned by another 25% to $69 billion USD. The Keynesian concept and model that Mahathir used back then is also used by Najib as well but it might not work unlike previously. Note: This is based on the debt chart statistics.

Malaysia, ala with ego still wish to pursue mega projects thinking that they can recuperate long term and go back to the black zone (positive territory), but they are playing high-stakes poker here with the risk of project failures, delays coupled with NEP-based policies. Having read the "Economic Hitman" book thing, I don't think that Malaysia is heeding the warning of being swindled of billions of monies by hitmen and making projects ending up as white elephants.

One more thing that I keep seeing about giving false sense hope is about poverty rating. 108 extreme poverty families is not convincing to me. The statement sounds a little unrealistic to me mainly because that the yardstick that they used to measure what defines extreme low or whatsoever is not at the actual realistic real-world point. That means, the baseline was set too low. The statement was to make things happy to all, but it removes the sense of reality that people should know and be ready for it.

In fact by injecting the false sense of reality, the government and the news agency is lying on themselves as well in addition to "duping people" thinking that nothing is wrong all in control trust me thing.

Witch Doctors At Work: To Con Us, The Rakyat!

According to this Malaysiakini article, Najib has cautioned the people they would mortgage the country's future to the opposition who are only good at making promises. On Thursday, Muhyiddin said that BN has to defend Putrajaya for the sake of the people.

What these both men have inferior statements in it. On the flipside of the coin, the hidden message is simple: if you vote for the opposition a.k.a Anwar Ibrahim's coalition, the BN will go down, the power of Malays will erode and whatsoever bullshit will surface and blabbered by the BN. Yes, people, there are politicians, like 'witch doctors' are out to scare people out and in the end try to con us out.

This is the most common cliche used by the BN to scare the people out of not voting for the opposition. Several instances were referenced, with one clear cut example - in 1999 the BN returned to power thanks to the non-Malay votes because they were told by then Dr. M that their rights would erode if they vote for the opposition. The common cliche is akin to the witch-doctor telling village people. Hishamuddin Rais has mentioned this several times before: the Malays get spooked by people such as witch-doctors: - 'orang-orang kampung ditakutkan oleh cerita hantu oleh bomoh. Maka mereka akan memberi apa saja barang untuk meredakan hantu' - same thing as if UMNO scares them, they would go to UMNO for cover. 

Does it sound familiar as like those protection money stories we sometimes hear?

Bariasan Nasional recently have gone to name calling Pakatan Rakyat as an evil-coalition, We actually don't make allegiances to the government, but the country instead. The rest of whatever is actually happening to BN is referred here to Thuan Chye's piece last week. 'Nuff said.

Then again, you might to reconsider again. These people above talk shit. Who is actually mortgaging the country? Pakatan is not running the country. It is Barisan Nasional! They talk about how capable they can run this country, bla blah blah whereas people are now suffering from price increments, subsidy reduction, no income increment to compensate that, there and there. Barisan brings consultants like McKinsey,  and Boston to advise on the economy. 

But don't they know that they are listening to economic hitmen with the agenda to cheat a nation with billions of dollars until Malaysia has to get an IMF bailout someday soon? Haven't we all read the book Confessions of the Economic Hitmen and notice that something similar is happening as what was written in that book?

So who is actually mortgaging the country? Who's really selling Malaysia out?

Didn't I Warn You Before? Now We All Pay The Price!

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 3 — The price of fuel and sugar will go up from midnight tonight as part of the Najib administration’s ongoing drive to reduce subsidies, but it is fraught with political risks as he mulls early elections next year.

The price of RON95 will increase by five sen to RM1.90 per litre, diesel by five sen per litre to RM1.80 and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by five sen to RM1.90 per kg. Sugar will also cost 20 sen more at RM2.10 per kg.

Through these price hikes, the government expects to save subsidy payments of RM621.9 million on RON95, RM213.2 million on diesel, RM63.5 million on LPG and RM283.5 million on sugar a year, or a total of RM1.18 billion annually.

RON97 will remain on a managed float based on market prices.

This is the second wave of subsidy cuts following the first round of hikes on July 16, when prices went up by five sen per litre for petrol and diesel, 10 sen per kg for LPG and 20 sen per kg for sugar.

Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) CEO Datuk Seri Idris Jala said today subsidy rationalisation was needed to bring down government expenditure.

“We are... doing this to make sure that our deficit is reduced. We are a responsible government. We will make sure that we will live within our means,” he said at a media briefing on the latest subsidy cuts.

Also present was Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

“One of the measures to reduce cost is to rationalise our subsidies because Malaysia’s total subsidies are higher than many other countries. Our subsidies are also not targeted at the poor. There’s quite a lot of leakages and abuses.”

The savings will be used to fund rural development, education, urban transport and other areas under the Government Transformation Programme (GTP), he added.

Idris stressed, however, that prices for fuel and sugar in Malaysia will remain one of the lowest in the region even after the subsidy cuts take place.

“Even after we have put this five-sen increase... our selling price for RON95, and also LPG and diesel and sugar, is still lower than Indonesia, lower than Singapore and lower than Thailand,” he said.

The minister in the Prime Minister’s Department was heartened by fair public reception to the last round of subsidy cuts, which he attributed to the government’s success in keeping inflation under three per cent.

“The CPI (consumer price index) increase was very, very small and that is why, when we did this, it was well taken by the public and the public didn’t really feel financially disadvantaged,” he said.

“We are controlling inflation in this country despite the first wave of increases. Because it’s very small increase, we are still able to contain everything so that does not put any burden onto the people.”

Idris said the government would take into account public feedback and the strength of the economy before deciding on when to make further moves to cut subsidies.

He added that renegotiation of independent power producers’ (IPPs) contracts was ongoing but declined to comment on the status. - The Malaysian Insider

********

This has been much of expectation to come when Idris Jala and Sabri Yaakob called for a 3 p.m meeting for a "second wave" of subsidy rationalisation (actually it's a con word for reduction). I don't really believe that reduction from subsidy is going to help much since a bulk of the money is used for amassing campaigning resources to ensure BN winning Batu Sapi last month. 

Let's make it clear and simple. If you vote for BN, be prepared to pay the price like this. They are virtually bankrupt of ideas and the current national debt stands at RM 550 billion, which means, we are in the red margin, not in the black, as what the newspaper would say. I have already warned people many times that their fate and future lies on whom you pick and picking the wrong person means "grim future". As to recuperate more money from bad debts, there goes the service tax increment next year, the insistance of having saman ekor, the hasty implementation of the AES, Rosmah kicking Hassan Merican out of Petronas, etc..

Macam-macam digunakan untuk menipu rakyat!

What most people do not know is that subsidy reduction is part of the ECONOMIC HIT MAN suggestion to the politicians / government. The following is an excerpt from the book Confessions of an Economic Hitman:

The G8 nations, World Bank and IMF are once again exploiting these nations and they are calling it "debt forgiveness". They are insisting on conditionality that are cloaked in phrases like good governance, sound economics and trade liberalization. While the language is enticing, it is also terribly deceptive. These policies are good and sound only if you are looking through the corporate windows. The countries that agree to such conditionality are called upon to privatize their health, education, electric, water and other public services - in other words, sell them to the corporate. They are forced to drop subsidies and trade restrictions that support local businesses while at the same time accepting that the U.S and G8 countries can continue to subsidize certain G8 businesses and erect trade barriers on imports that threaten G8 industries.

Removing subsidies on RON 97 and instead giving only to RON 95 is actually deceptive too. With that it gives an excuse to the government to increase the price when the appropriate moment comes. Everyone is pushed to one side, that is almost everyone using RON 95, just because of the mere arguement that RON 95 is okay, though not as great as RON 95. In other words, sacrificing quality for the price. This is actually a daily con job that most people do not seem to be aware about. And yet, people have blind faith over something that is not really true. 

I suppose they need not say anything. The fact that they are in Barisan Nasional, and Umno is the lead partner in Barisan Nasional, and Umno upholds and propagates Ketuanan Melayu, means that the non-Malays also support Ketuanan Melayu. They don’t have to make statements saying they support Ketuanan Melayu. The fact that they remain silent and remain in Barisan Nasional is an indication of their support for Ketuanan Melayu.

And the non-Malays scream and curse Umno. How stupid when it is the non-Malays who make Ketuanan Melayu possible. Bodoh! - RPK - Indians and Chinese support Ketuanan Melayu

The only problem is complacency attitude by the people. The people themselves are to be blamed for the mess. They made the wrong choice. Period. Blaming the politicians can come second to none.

Do you think that the third wave is coming by May next year?

Why Not On Public Baths in KL?

A few days ago, Malaysiakini reported on one of the agendas of the ETP ( Najib's Economic Transformation Program) is to turn KL into a entertainment hub as to boost tourism. This means more nightclubs in the key parts of town, in addition to Bukit Bintang already. And of course this has met with objection by PAS because they claim that having more of these things can "corrupt the mind of the young".

Excerpts from Harakah:

1. "Apakah Perdana Menteri dan kerajaan tidak sedar bahawa pengaruh kelab malam dalam merancakkan industri maksiat yang mendorong perlakuan zina, sumbang mahram, rogol, minum arak, dadah, pelacuran, rogol dan lain-lain lagi?” 

2. The government was bankrupt and had no qualms of gambling with the people's moral values, adding that it wanted to 'drug' them into forgetting the mess that the country was in.

"This plan is to drug the people with the opium of entertainment so that they forget about the calamity of corruption which befell us and pushed us to the 56th position in the corruption index," said Idris, referring to the latest Corruption Perception Index prepared by Transparency International. - Idris Ahmad, PAS

Hmm... if having more entertainment centres can sometimes give excuses for PAS to say it's no good for the young and so forth, I might as well suggest DBKL or the Federal Territories Ministry to open many public baths around KL. Sounds crazy? No, this is not crazy. In fact in Japan, there are many public baths in each of the major megalopolises around Japan. You name it, Kobe, Osaka, Tokyo, Hiroshima, you can find hundreds in each of the megalopolis there.

Well, you have a bulk of the population in KL working from 8.30 to 6.30 p.m at most where after work, many would go and have dinner or perhaps go home to spend time with their families. I think, isn't it better to use that money to build public baths around the city? Surely, people after work would need of a very good soothing bath (a.l.a Japanese concept) . For a reasonable fee per person, a person can go in, go for a bath, do a bath scrub and then come out fresh for dinner and then back home. But if the government or a local council should be running just to make sure to mean that ETP program is running!

How to get the resources? That's the next question. Well, the government already has money a.k.a startup money to do so, that they only need to identify certain places, get ready with lockers, bathing facilities, hey even abandoned shops that can be renovated and turned it into public baths with the facilities. Since water comes from SYABAS, the money they pay for the water goes back to Selangor state government resources. Electricity, of course back to TNB and then running a public bath requires less than 10 people to run it. Four operators on shifts, Four on maintenance work and another two on housekeeping maximum. Of course, they need to look for a bigger space to run because when this is open to business, expect hundreds of working men and women coming in for the bath.

But the 10 people running a public bath cannot afford to be slack or else they would be thrashed left and right for their slackness.

Isn't this much better to use the money as in the ETP? Just maybe one or two more entertainment centres while the rest on public baths that DBKL or FT Ministry runs it? In fact it can be a worthwhile investment as more people swamp in that could even offset the upkeeping! Weird idea, right? Well, check out a Sento model here!! That's what the human brain is for! To think!

The PLUS Bidding Battle

1. In the last two weeks, we have noticed of a much publicized and intensed bidding battle for Projek Lebuhraya Utara Selatan (being the operator of the North South Expressway) and a few other highways as well. One party consists of Asas Serba (run by ex-Renong man Halim Saad and partner of for Finance Minister Daim Zainuddin), another is MMC (Syed Mokhtar Bulkhary) in partnership of the EPF. To get PLUS, either one must do a complete buyout of UEM (United Engineers Malaysia).

2. Recalling the proposals: MMC's proposal is a $15.6 billion ringgit deal with 10% cut on all toll rates with no increments until the end of the extended concessionaire period in 2038. Asas Serba's deal is similar to MMC but $50 billion on all 25 highways in the Peninsular and a 20% toll rate cut across the board. Khazanah / EPF's $23 billion offer never mention what sweetener that they can put except that EPF members stand to get additional dividends from the revenues generated by PLUS.

3. Khazanah is very much against the proposals from Mahathir's business partners. They believe that it leaves the toll concessionaire at the mercy of government demands to cut toll rates. The problem for the other two tycoons, (S.M and H.S) the business connections with the government is not as great as when Mahathir was in charge. Another reason, as quoted by a government official is that "Keeping it public will ensure that the government will not simply ask to cut toll rates as that can affect share price and the bottomline. Taking it private will open it up to pressure as there is no share price to affect.”

4. Once Khazanah / EPF completes the buyover of UEM, as per what Najib announced in last Friday's budget that there will be no toll increase for the next 5 years, the government could be seeing a freeze bill of $7.5 billion ringgit by 2015. In other words, there is no compensation paid to PLUS over the 10 year period. The last increase of toll was in 2005.

The current rate per kilometer in the NSE is 13.60 sen.
The 2002-2005 rate per kilometer in the NSE was at 12.36 sen (10% hike announced on 16 Dec 2004)
The 1999-2002 rate per kilometer in the NSE was at 11.24 sen (10% hike announced end of 2001)
The 1996-1999 rate per kilometer in the NSE was at 10.

Based on the present agreement, the next increase would be another 30% as to compensate 10 years of unpaid compensations to PLUS by the government. In other words,it would be 17.68 sen by 2016. And what's more, at that time, there will be another 22 years more to go before the concessionaire period ends.

5. The concessionaire period was extended twice due to the "Decade Bubble" - the economic bubble that bursts every 10 years. In 1997, it's the Asian Financial Crisis. In 2007, it's the global sub-prime crisis. As the result, because of the A.F.C, the first concessionaire period was extended by another 12 years (to 2030). Another extension resulted in the period extended by another 8 more years to its present agreement. Now that we notice that the Decade Bubble happens every 10 years, the next can happen within 2017. If it happens, is the concessionaire period going to be extended again?

Again, this is based on the present concessionaire agreement.

6. If we take this events in face value, surely we would go for the MMC / Asas Serba deal if the option is given to the public because of the big carrot is being a 10-20% reduction of toll across the board and no toll increase until the end of the concessionaire period. Also, with the immediate reduction, we can see a investment recuperation in a shorter than expected period of ROI. That's because the reduction of the toll would see higher volume of people travelling on the expressways, NSE in particular. The one that stands to smile more would be the businessmen and transportation carrier operators (including those transporting essential goods).

I find that scenario is the classic case of picking the lesser of two evils. Between evil one that allows space in and out despite a bad scenario against a bad scenario with no way out in the long run, which one would you take?

7.  Khazanah, is the one who decides who goes or not. Why it rejects the other two offers outright in that kind of wheel-dealing is something I find it not right and "sinister". We all know that the one who calls the shot is the head himself Azman Mokhtar (A.P King). But of course another key-figure whose hand is part of the wheel-dealing is obviously Nazir, Najib's younger brother. I remembered someone quoting Azman saying something like, "Ini semua kepentingan rakyat dan negara. Tak boleh jual sewenang-wenangnya." (It's all important for the people and country. Can't be sold that simply!).

But what is at stake here is that if S.M or H.S gets it, Nazir would have the trouble of getting more projects and money in the pocket. The MRT project due to start next year is already in the pocket. One reason of rejecting would be to give the picture that CIMB is bankrolling majority of projects. EPF, (since he's a member of the investment panel) is pushed into projects with Nazir's clients.

Many are unhappy, from people in Finance Ministry, EPF and a few, of Nazir's wheel-dealing tactics. The one who is the worst of it would be the outgoing EPF chairman himself.

I saw something interesting from this blog (setup not that long ago). The below excerpt caught interest:

10. Worse still Nazir feels slighted by Dr Mahathir and has started a campaign to discredit the former pm and block any investments from Mahathir's cronies like Syed Mokhtar and Daim Zainuddin.
 
11. To go to war with Dr Mahathir, he has the help of his good friend Khazanah boss Azman Mokhtar. 

12. Azman will block Syed Mokhtar's bid for UEM and has also blocked Daim's move to privatise PLUS.

13. Nazir is upset Dr Mahathir blasted him for questioning the NEP. 

14. He is also upset that mahathir has started digging up info on the billions in fees cimb has made in pushing deals at the expense of the country. 


Perhaps this would backup the idea why S.M and H.S's bids got turned down outright.


8.If the proposal goes public, which one would you agree most? Is it a worthwhile investment as what many business analysts claim to be or otherwise? You be the judge, and have your say below.

Here's Something To Start With, Anifah!

The Minister seemed slightly at a loss for a moment before finally answering that as he had been travelling extensively recently he was not completely up-to-date with the events surrounding last weeks crackdown, but that he himself “remained in favour of free speech, having been a student activist during my university days in the UK”. At this point however, the Foreign Minister couldn’t seem to make his mind up as to whether or not he thought Malaysia being compared to the UK was a good thing.  - Aliran

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LONDON, Aug 9 — Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman yesterday moved to quell concerns that the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) was clamping down on civil protests, saying that he would quit the Cabinet if this were true. 

On the back of police action against anti-Internal Security Act (ISA) gatherings last week and a recent clampdown on opposition newspapers, he told Malaysians at a meet-and-greet session at the Malaysian High Commission here that the police had acted on information that there were agent provocateurs who intended to subvert the rallies for their own purposes.

The Kimanis MP also admitted that as BN could not be sure of staying in power after the next general election, he would not support a draconian administration as he would not want to be similarly victimised.

“There is no conspiracy. I would not be a member of Cabinet if I thought so because tomorrow, I may not be a minister... in a few years, we may not be in power,” he said to just under 100 attendees.

“What happens if we do things we should not have done? It can happen to us as well. There must not be any discrimination or victimisation. I promise not just to you but to myself, I will not remain in Cabinet one day longer if I find there is hanky-panky going on in the government. It is not right morally,” Anifah said.

Anifah, who was known as a maverick and outspoken backbencher, also insisted that when “40 to 50 people gather, the issue is not about being afraid to lose power” nor was it the case that “we do not allow certain individuals to campaign” as the results of Election 2008, which saw BN cede their customary two-thirds parliamentary majority and five state governments, was proof that “democracy exists.” - M.I

******************

Anifah Aman said that in Britain when faced a group of anti-ISA protesters in London. He said that police acted on information that there could be agent saboteurs. But the agent saboteurs were only found in Penang, and not in other parts of town. But still there are groups who will not accept his same stand of having ISA amended. Instead they want the ISA to be tear down and replaced with an Anti-Terrorism bill. 

The above excerpt from an account by Aliran of what transpired there should be given as a head start for Anifah. Since Anifah said that he was not completely up-to-date to last week, let me be generous in providing a comment on that. You see, even ministers and management people are also "not given" additional information by their own mainstream media. In other words, being blinded and kept in the blue by your own creation. Or perhaps another reason is that the "managers" are being mislead or ill-advised by those who were on the ground.

And therefore, there is a question mark on whether the police or the government officials are being ill-advised over half-baked intelligence reports on the ground. For example, the "agent provocateurs" factor only happened and reported in Penang only.

Since Anifah said that he's not completely up-to-date over the events leading to the arrest, perhaps this piece below should be the start of lesson 1 of him to wake up and see if that is matching his statement.

He should start now really. Look at today, 3 people just arrested by Brickfields police branch for PROTES?

How's that to begin with, Mr. A?

Gagged Phrase and Herd Cows Running

I call it as a gagged phrase or a taboo phrase if you would. Malaysiakini reported of a "confession" by an editor that there was a directive of not using the gagged phrase called "Barang Naik". If there's one person from the PM's office that directly said so, it would the PM's press secretary, who else?

Look, what the gag order means is to cheat the people, and to bluff to say that it's just the adjustment. Does the adjustment means, now ride motorcycles to work, drink half a cup of tea for breakfast and so forth? Does this means that you tell people to do it, whereas you people who rule do the other way round, with our money in your disposal? If that is merely as a measure for anger control, think again, unless there are dickheads who would blindly believe into something, even if that is wrong.

There will be a day where editors will have to make the tough choice of choosing either one, show the truth or let the rot run over you. Not yet, but when we're treading the fine line between life and death, then that's where the tough call will come in.

Obviously, when the gag order comes in, the editors have no choice but to do as they are told. Can you imagine that as akin to a herd of cows running in one direction across the field, when there's dust and hoofs from one direction? I do like this Jerai MP, who was describing the gag order as to create cows out from editors and people. There's a better word than cows - zombies.

Kaki bodek, whatever, and there's the reaction a yes-man reaction from people like Husni, Shahrir and some NGO people. But little do they know is that the sinister agenda behind it is that do you know who is really selling Malaysia's dignity out? If BN calls people as traitors to Malaysia for standing up for something that  should be right, then what about that statement? We already have an answer already in the form of subsidy reductions. The economic hitmen is stinging on us, people!

See, 5-in-1 Price Hike, We're Sheaples!!!!

The subsidiary cut is the first since Idris Jala's warning of Malaysia going bankrupt within the next 10 years or so. The cut on sugar was due to the fact, that Robert Kuok is no longer the Sugar King and the monopoly has been inherited over by Syed Mokhtar Bulkhary. And of course, things would run different when a captain replaces a captain of the ship.

Apart from having to repeat what is to be expecting from tomorrow onwards, first I anticipate people would say how come the cut comes out in the sudden instead of giving a period of one week to settle down and start with it? What time did the news came in? Read it and you be the judge.

However, what we don't know from this matter is that we are sheaples. Sheep sheparded into the trap by the ruling party. In fact there has been a plan from the beginning to have everyone moved into using RON 95 petrol. RON 97, since then has hardly been used. And when all are moved towards the net, the trap is sprung, - ala price hike, and no one can escape from it.

A shame that most of us don't even know of such sinister agenda that is in hand. Nations were told in a summit, (hidden hand controlled by entities ala Illuminati) that the price of oil has to gone up, it has to be raised, subsidies cut and well, people had to fork out more than usual. People still don't know that this is the idea of an economic hitmen who would con nations of money and to cheat people out of it. And government falls for it.

I have been trying to tell people from late 2007 that they have made the wrong choice of picking the MOB group  (gerombolan). There were electorate posters / banners from the opposition, that I've seen that said, nak turun minyak, but it seems many people are still not willing to get the idea of switching another party, and still keep the same thing running on for 53 years and counting!

Ubah Gaya Hidup? Huh..get real, it's making things more worst. In fact, this slogan Ubah Gaya Hidup is actually putting people into sheaples. Look at what the slogan has done to an average Joe. Time to reduce APs and reduce car prices if everyone wants to buy a car. Time to revalue the exchange rate to be 30 percent cheaper. What more? And yes, bring down the mob.

I once scolded an old woman online last time for picking the wrong candidate in the Hulu Selangor by-election and like I said, I felt one time being right because even you pick that candidate, this is what is happening in the long run, we all paid the price for making the wrong choice. So, please wake up for now you should realize that everyone has been cheated by false promises.Yes, it's a double-edge sword manuever that the Najib administration is moving, at the expense of facing the wrath of people.

I still once remembered what Pete said back in Brickfields before the GE.

Orang India ada Hindraf - Indians look at the present time.

Malays worry of overdraft  - Malays tend to look at the past.

Chinese worry of bankdraft - The Chinese would look more ahead into the future.

Let's do one more thing - see whether if such statements come out tomorrow:

1. Sugar / Oil / Petrol is not good for health.- Already sugar is mentioned in the Pemandu press statement
2. It's more expensive in other countries than here. - A cliche, likely?
3. We still give subsidy, we still monitor prices, we'll make sure the prices are right..

Say, I am starting to feel that it's nonsense.

Asas Serba's $50 billion Toll Takeover Plan

Not everyone know very well of who is this entity called Asas Serba is except that for a start, they plan to takeover all the toll concessionaires in Malaysia with the offer of $50 billion.

I for one would definitely have that entity take over the entire North South Highway concessionaire, for a start, because it will definitely save the government compensation money and subsidy of having to pay PLUS until the period of concession expires in 2038, another 28 years from now or so. That is, if Asas Serba has at least one notable track record, the plan of reducing the toll by 20 percent and making the prices final - no more adjustments -  But it is the lingering doubts over several aspects that cast doubts over whether the government would give a go ahead over that plan. 

Chances are that the proposal of takeover would be rejected because of the no track record thing factor. But the government is definitely stuck over sacrificing their say over the highways against saving the subsidy for the economical end. If they are to nationalise all the highways, the cost will be at $383 billion, absolutely impossible with the current reserves in hand. On the other hand, if they decide to take the offer outright - it saves subsidy but violates one of Najib's tenets of not having rent-seeking and patronage.

But the government has learnt lessons from the peak period of Asian economic crisis. There were turbulent moments in the Malaysian economy. For instance, the government had to bail out Tajudin Ramli's MAS for an astronomical amount over losses incurred. And then there's the Renong problem, that they had to bail them out too. Such painful lessons would give the Najib administration, and those who were once part of the problem 13 years ago a likely say of nay to the proposal.

Funding will also pose a problem. The money comes by dividend bonds. Shareholders will need to be convinced of doing the right investment in investing bonds there. Or why not have a collective company acting as a single shareholder that holds 40% maximum of the company's share? Since the highways are used by people, why not make as people's property, that is jointly owned by people and government-in lead?

The other method would be buying back the NSE rather than paying compensations to PLUS. NSE only. Given the volume of vehicles travelling on the main route from Bukit Kayu Hitam to Johor Bahru increasing as per year, the profits that PLUS stands to gain from the present rates is more than enough to cover upkeeping and having a decent margin of after-tax profit.

The Next Four Letter Word For Malaysians Is Not F**K But..

Greece just got bailed out from their financial crisis. I have been telling people that this is the work of slack politicians who run the nation and as well as the economic hitmen who have been cheating Greece money out of its pocket. And recently MEAC committee member Professor Danny Quah warned that Malaysia will end up like Greece if no radical steps are taken.

As of last month the Central Bank's official record of reserves stood at $391 billion ringgit or $122 billion USD. Which means that the amount of reserves is only approximately 1/5th of the reserves that Singapore has in hand. The current debts last recorded is at $338 billion ringgit and if there are still Ketuanan Melayu rhetorics, then Malaysia will go bankrupt, and the fault is not on Anwar Ibrahim as what Najib said back in New Year's eve 2007.

Anyhow, read the analysis of why Greece gets bankrupt and you see that it's similar to Malaysia right now. Forget about NEP and those Perkasa ramblings. Those things is not going to work in this time round.

Bureaucracy: Greece's bureaucracy is famous in the whole of Europe ! To open a cafe or pub there are 25 processes to go through !! This is a country of rules and regulations.

Bloated civil service: There are 1.05 milliion civil servants (excluding police and armed forces) . The population of Greece is only 10 million !! More than 10% are govt servants !! Salary increases every year and benefit for civil servants in Greece is one of the best in Europe !! More and more money is needed to upkeep this bloated civil servants . The retirement age is 62 yrs old.

Corruption: Greece is the most corrupted nation in the Eurozone. Citizens pay "under table " money to:
admit into a public hospital
# pass a driving licence
# to enter public service
# renovate your business premises or your home
# avoid income tax
Every govt project is awarded to political cronies and at hugely inflated prices ! Transparency International compared the prices of the construction costs of stadiums built for the Athens Olympics recently with similar structures in China --500% more expensive than the Chinese , compared to Los Angeles and Sydney -- 50 % more expensive !!! All these with tax payers money ! and borrowings !!!

Tax evasion: Officially 80% of its citizens are supposed to pay tax but only 37% are doing so. Big businessmen and corporations have refined tax evasion to a fine art ( or have the tax men taken some coffee money ? )

No transparency in governance: The politicians and bureaucrats falsified economic data and painted a rosy and manageable picture while the economy was rotting away .

Unabated borrowings: Meanwhile, the politicians and bureaucrats continue to issue govt bonds to keep afloat, series after series. They were trying to cover up the financial mess they have created creating one big hole to cover up the previous !!

Lacking political will power to reform: To keep hold on to political power, politicians are prepared to lie, commit economic and political fraud. If reforms were taken some five years ago , the country need not go bankrupt and its citizens need not suffer so much. Political expediency and greed to political power over-rides everything and hence Greece is now a bankrupt country. Luckily, it is part of the European Union and its currency is EUROs, otherwise Greeks will have to eat grass to survive !!

Laid back attitude: Tourism is THE ONLY industry in Greece and over the years the Greeks have had an easy time. Many flocked to see the historical sites. enjoy summer vacation on the islands. But they forgot that not many tourists will returned after visiting the sites --there are so many other tourists attractions in the world, maybe more exotic and perhaps cheaper !! So once tourism vanes and couple with higher costs of living --the Greeks could not and refused to adapt and transform --still partying and having a nice time -- maybe the Greek Gods will bless them !!! Greece have no natural resources, no electronics industry , no R & D --no anything !! They were so laid back --cannot see what is coming and crashing down on them. Even now, the civil servants refused to take a pay cut -- the world owes them a living !!

Poignant Conclusion:
The producer of the documentary had hired a raxi driver to go around while doing this documentary. The taxi driver had studied economics for 4 years in US and this was his parting words:
"My biggest mistake was returning 15 years ago, I should have stayed back in US. My nationalist instinct made me returned. The politicians screwed me. I loved my country but my country did not love me !!!!

Friends, I can see a lot of similarity in Malaysia. I need not go into boring details, it is there for all to realise. Unless we transform politically and economically, sadly this day will surely come . It is not IF, but WHEN !!

Look Doc, Is That What You're Thinking?

"Proton has been a success because it has achieved the objective of providing affordable cars to Malaysians under the low-income bracket." - Chor Chee Heung

Doc, was this your thinking? There are still Malaysians who cannot even afford a Proton Saga. Can you see a family of four all in one motorcycle? Have you traveled around the state of Kedah to see such thing on the road?

If you see one, then your line was not correct.

People could not enjoy buying good cars that are as par as Proton since import duty added into it makes things worst. Given of the current economic situation, might as well sell those APs away as to help get people to afford buying a car.

Buying a Proton or a Kelisa should be the baseline. For example, if you income belongs into a low-income class, helping people to get one is important rather than leaving them to their own devices. For people who can and willing to pay more, they can go for higher type of cars but without the need of AP and a small amount of import duty.

This is how we can get people to get to have at least a car. In Singapore, TV sets prices are very low compare to here, as the government there realizes the need of disseminating info and the need of people to have quality time together with families before the end of the day.

As most of us know via papers, most accidents happening in Malaysia are motorcycle-related accidents.

And at the end of October last year, the reasoning of introducing credit card service tax for prudent spending isn't going to do much good. Maybe the better way is to increase the minimum payment per month instead of RM50 or 5%. I got a feeling that the idea is more of getting a quick buck from people eh? Yep, the gomen is out of money except many people don't know. But I know...

Maybe this is how a longkang MP behaves, I suppose. Maybe.

The NEP Is Over. Period.

Yesterday at the book launch, Ku Li gave a speech in it with one statement to emphasize that what is old is no longer working in order.

The NEP is over.

I ask the government to have the courage to face up to this. The people already know.

The real problem is that the UMNO Youth wing still harps on this thing as a low cost way to portray themselves as the champion.

Piecemeal policies as they say ain't going to do much.

If politics preceeds economics as what the path they are dictating now, they will be whacked.

Perhaps a Bretton Woods III agreement should come out, but chances are not given of the insistence of superiority of the US Dollar.

There are some people who are not politicians but know better than they do to handle the economy and rebuild or restore it to decency. In that case, just give the job to them if you can't handle it. If you think it's a loss of political power by giving the task to them, you're in pipe dream.

Our Taxpayer Money For Player Politician Transfers

I am not surprised to see that many of the hopping of politicians happen from PKR. They are the weaskest link off all the three in the group. And people from there become independents was due to a common modus operandi of having a bagman under Najib and Rosmah's wing to approach and pay them off to become independent. Saying to go over directly to BN will create more anger but becoming independent is lesser, that is the implication of doing so. In the last few days of so, we are seeing in front of our eyes our very own high-profile player transfers a.l.a football player transfers that is happening in the Malaysian political scene.

This modus operandi was almost the same as what happened last year to those two PKR assemblymen in Perak. In Perak, the man responsible of being Najib's bagman was FELCRA chairman Hamzah Zainuddin (see my post last year) who went around offering money of RM 5 million per politician. For Hee, it was an exceptional case that was handled by someone else. For our ex-PKR two, they were promised the same amount but from what I was told by some PKR people, until today, they have yet to get the entire amount in full. Ominous rumors of them planning to go back did circle around for a while, but the PKR state division is unlikely to take them back or so to speak.

Thankfully, we have an exposee by Pete that reveals who are the bagmen and agents that are running around buying people from the PR fold. The interesting thing in there were the names of those who were involved in the buying of players. For example, Lt. Gen. Salleh Ismail of the Military Intelligence was synonymous to being one of the few people to quickly deny of Altantuya murder Military intelligence when word of such existence hit the streets in June 2008. Then you have the husband of Mumtaz Jaafar, a close associate of Rosmah and Saiful's godmother mentioned in there, and so to speak. The one or two paragraphs in there gave me a feeling and inference that those players mentioned there, are possibly those who had to cover their asses of the First Couple over the Altantuya murder, which means saying there's no such thing of that and various other excuses.

Talk about RM 50 million to buy at least 10 MPs from the opposition out, at RM 5 million per person is more or less using tax money paid by us to buy them out. For Tee Beng's case, they settled debts of RM 2 million in exchange of being BN-friendly, as it case indirectly spells out. Can you imagine of money that we paid use for something bad and not for improvements? I pay 7% tax in addition to our 10% service and 5% Gomen Tax and my money is wasted for this? Can you think of a portion of Import duties and other duties relevant is used for this political agenda?

In the last few days whenever a MP announces the decision to go out, Din Hashim is always seen next or behind him. I asked a friend of mine, why is he there all the time? Could it be that Din has one more grudge score to settle with Anwar and PKR? It can be or it can be something else really. Malaysiakini has wrote that although 12 MPs came out to assure their loyalty, question marks still remain on Wee Choo Keong and Zul Noordin.

I am ashame to see my tax money ended up by scum for buying players to join the gomen fold. without my permission I also came to realize that the gerrymandering they really want to do and other things is a stupid thing to do. What they simply do not know that gerrymandering is an Economic Hit Man weapon and doing so could mean that they are selling the nation's pride and economy to outsiders and we all could end up as coolies in future. What if I suddenly say no to such practices that I will not pay my this year's income tax?

So who is actually selling Malaysia and the our hard-earned resources out?

It Ain't Over. It Will Happen Again

The front page of the Star Paper yesterday proudly displayed Najib's boasting that the worst is over for the Malaysian economy based on the statistics of the 4th quarter of 2009. I have always anticipated that the statement is more or less a remission of the disease and it could relapse again sometime later.

Anwar was quite fast in responding back to Najib's statement by insisting that the situation is not over yet and part of the reason why the 4th quarter was performing well is due to a monthly pump in of RM1 billion. Why that? What is not known to most people is that the RM1 billion monthly is actually the money that was pumped in by former finance Minister Daim Zainuddin. Off the record, Najib actually visited Daim in Hong Kong over the money problem and solicited Daim's assistance. How would you explain why Najib's announcement last year that RM 1 billion is pumped in every month?

Speaking of relapse, it could happen in within the space of the next six months or so. Sometime back, it was predicted that another black Friday is about to happen in Wall Street by around 14 June 2010, where investors start cashing out investments from Wall Street. This will cause a global economic collapse overnight and no nation is spared from the catastrophe that could be happening.

That is why Malaysia should not boast about it. And to have GST at this time is inappropriate, inconvenient timing and so forth. Are our officials actually doing to what advisors cum Economic Hit Men would advise them to do really?

Make The Wrong Choice And You Pay The Price Now

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 21, 2010) : The government is expected to announce a price increase of 10sen a litre for RON95 petrol and diesel when the new fuel price mechanism is revealed in mid-March, Sin Chew Daily reported today.

The price of RON97 will also be increased but there is no decision yet on the quantum.
RON95 is currently retailed at RM1.80 a litre, RON97 and diesel at RM2.05 and RM1.70 a litre respectively.

Finance Ministry sources said the government has decided to raise fuel prices as it cannot provide more subsidy needed to maintain fuel prices at current levels following a spike in global crude oil prices.

The government believes an increase of 10sen a litre is acceptable to the public.

The sources also told the daily the government has yet to come up with a fuel price mechanism that is acceptable to all quarters, and as a result it may put off or may even be forced to abandon some new measures that are already in the pipeline.

“Plans were afoot for the registration of vehicle owners and their MyKad through Maybank and petrol kiosks to begin in April under the proposed ‘one vehicle owner, one subsidy’ fuel subsidy mechanism. It looks like the plan may not take off.”

The sources said the cap on selling 20 litres of petrol to foreign cars near Malaysian borders will continue to be implemented.

Meanwhile, Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia president Datuk Hashim Othman believes that foreign car owners will pay the market price when the new fuel price mechanism is introduced next month.

He said the government’s main intention is to provide subsidy to those who qualify for it, to protect the interest of the lower and middle-income groups as well as save on expenditures.

-The Sun - 21 Feb 2010

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Most MSMs didn't bother to put this up, but Sin Chew and The Sun has published something that is believed to be pretty disturbing and is coming from some insiders of the Finance Ministry. Remember back last year, that the government is planning to move to using a new two-tier mechanism for petrol, as what Ayah Dafi Sabri said sometime back?

Well, the precursor prior to this is there is a high chance of increasing fuel by another 10 sen more by the middle of next month. But something is not right here. During Abdullah Badawi's final months prior to his retirement then, the then Domestic Consumer Affairs Minister, Shahrir Samad, said that the price of RM 1.80 is minus subsidy? Then later, after that the gomen said that RM 1.80 is inclusive of 30 sen subsidy.

See, I already mentioned from day one that you make the wrong choice and this is what you get. A few months after BN suffered a big loss in the general elections, the petrol price shot up to RM 2.70 only to go back to the present RM 1.80 in six months after that. But people got angry.

No...why in the first place you people make the wrong choice? That is the price you pay for that.

Reducing the subsidy again, is doing what the Economic Hitmen would tell the politicians to do. To take away our own resources, to cheat countries out the hard earn money they do and so forth. Maybe the best challenge is to try Anwar Ibrahim's solution of cutting down the IPP capacity and reducing the petrol price by 1/3rd. Hey, of course BN said before that if we follow Anwar Ibrahim's crazy idea, the country will go bankrupt. But it goes the other way round.

BN tries to show themselves as hero for the community but the reality is not helping their image, even if they have the PR company called APCO behind them. Ain't helping that much really.

The new planned petrol price mechanism is still incoherent, unstable because there are many loopholes that will have to be seen and discovered by many angles. To have two tiers of price is somewhat making things difficult to handle and maintain.

"Our economy is strong..." blah blah blah