Against a dark economic backdrop, if ever the idiom ‘too clever by half’ were to apply to anyone, The Performance Management Delivery Unit (Pemandu) and its ‘master-strategists’ in Putra Jaya UMNO insiders argue that the suicidal move to support. Najibl has emerged as a master of ‘perception-politics.’ If Najibl achieves even 25% of what he has promised in his election manifesto – or for that matter, even creates the perception that his intentions are genuine –He has succeeded in capturing the imagination ofMalaysia’s voters and his guerilla-style of functioning has amazed even his harshest critics, such as myself. The Performance Management Delivery Unit government is actually an ‘astute’ political strategy. They believe, or at least hope, that The Performance Management Delivery Unit will fail to deliver on their promises – thus betraying the trust of voters. At this opportune juncture, theenemies of Najib will safely pull the plug on hisPrime Ministership and surely Najib and his merry-men will pay the ultimate political price.
ACCOUNTABILITY is an infrequently used word in Malaysian authorities’ lexicon. Regulators’ persistent refusal to determine who was responsible for a mishap is effectively a denial of accountability. If allowed to continue, this no-fault syndrome could stymie Malaysia’s progress.
What more (Pemandu) new ideasi to ease the rakyat’s burden and put mechanisms in place to cushion the public from rises in electricity and toll rates.The question is, how and why did they commit the same blunder a second time? power-tariff claims may not be too off the mark. By tweaking operational efficiencies and renegotiating existing power-purchase agreements, he can certainly reduce the current power tariffs. Whether he can hit the magical 50% number is highly unlikely. But the important point to note is that any reduction at a time of price-rise and ceaseless inflation is certain to have a major impact on the household budgetary expenses of city ’s middle-class population.
Najib said the recent financial crisis was a warning about the serious consequences for nations whose finances were not built on a solid foundation.
“If investors and credit rating agencies decide that a country cannot afford to repay its debt, the cost of borrowing money will spiral out of control.”
“Without access to credit, there will be huge implications for a country and its people,” Najib said, pointing out that more than half of the young people in Europe were unemployed.
“Our commitment to development expenditure has grown and we must manage our fiscal position to ensure the stability of Malaysia’s economy” he said.
Najib said difficult decisions had to be taken to keep the country’s borrowings low and maintain investor confidence, which was crucial to keep Malaysia’s economy strong and growing.
However, he assured the public that Putrajaya would do everything it could to ensure that the impact on the rakyat was minimised.The new media which is an institution that is designed to act as a counterpoint to the forces of power, itself became a source of exploitable power and was increasingly used as such. And societally, the easy assumptions about the ability to absorb sweeping changes came unstuck as underlying tensions that had been papered over began to come to the fore.
Recognising that for the past two years Malaysians have been facing a host of uncertainties, especially in the political realm, we enter 2014 with a sense of apprehension; for the New Year comes with its own set of concerns.
2013 is coming to an end. It started highly charged on issues surrounding the 13th General Election; which witnessed Barisan Nasional retaining their power for the next 5 years. Various promises were made. Sweeteners were sprinkled to hood the public into believing that a better future holds in the coming months and years.
Nevertheless, barely 6 months into regaining Putrajaya, all hopes of joy and dreams of the rakyat to enjoy their hard eared money have been shattered in the wake of escalated cost of living. The government has made their promises sour in taste by announcing various prices hikes of goods and services as the closure to the year.
The public by large are flabbergasted in the manner policies are being hammered through, that will take toll on their incomes directly.
In the name of subsidy rationalisation and strengthening fiscal position, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has not left any stone unturned in ‘punishing’ the people of Malaysia by upping prices on daily essentials. First it was the hike in fuel price by 20 sen. Well as usual his justification was that we have one of the lowest priced fuel in the region. So subsidising it heavily does not make sense.
Then the sugar subsidy was removed. Again a very unsubstantiated, flimsy and lame excuse was used. Apparently the number of diabetics are on the rise because the government is subsidising sugar, thus the need for the move. What a genius deduction made by a person who has pretty much lost touch with the reality indeed.
But Najib was still not too appeased with the savings as he felt that more needs to be done to ‘safeguard’ the interest of the public. Thus we are bracing a further rate hike on highway tolls and electricity in 2014.
And as icing, there is near confirmed possibility of hike in school bus and public transport fares. Taxis, buses, trains, and the LRT will all cost more in the coming year.A timely Christmas and New Year gift from Putrajaya for 2014.
As cumulative consequences and in definite terms, the overall cost of living will only spiral up as production of goods and services will also cost more. The entire supply chain will not be spared and eventually the cost will drop flat on the laps of the consumers.
The hardest hit will be the middle income group which is already in a limbo with the current economic situation. Wages have not seen significant changes in parallel to inflation. The power of each ringgit has shrunk in its capacity over the years. It is baffling as to what is defined as a high income nation in the eye of the Malaysian government when in actual sense the purchasing power does not improve with time.
Consumers will need to dig in deeper into their pockets come 2014. A chunk of their salaries will go to paying higher current bills for sustenance; thus what will be left for savings will demand sharp juggling skills.
With a gloomy outlook on the global economic front coming ahead next year, it will be a much tougher battle to handle.
With many drawing up their New Year’s resolutions for 2014, please do keep in mind that financial prudence is highly recommended to be on the top of the list. That little pay increment or bonus one may obtain should be spread thin and well to cover any other surprises that BN may further spring on us.With the likelihood of a significant rise in living costs, unresolved religious issues, trepidations over the apparent lack of freedom in mass media as well as issues pertaining to human rights, it is easy to understand the people’s anxieties in what the coming year shall bring.
It can thus be said that some of us will leave 2013 feeling hurt. But it is worth noting that a new year also opens up a chance for healing. We at the Global Movement of Moderates (GMM) propose that all stakeholders, especially the civil society, to band together to help make 2014 better than the sombre year most are anticipating.
As an organisation, we look forward to contributing in several areas which include, but are not limited to, bipartisan politics, good governance, human rights, religious tolerance, inclusive development as well as unity. We believe that with concentrated efforts in these areas, a better year can be realised.
We also call upon the Malaysian government to review some of the decisions made so as not to add to the hardships that most of the people are already facing thus far. We believe that Malaysians are generally reasonable people. They would be able to appreciate the challenges that we as a country would have to face together, if the approaches used, policies implemented and programmes undertaken are of reasonable nature. It is when the people deem some of the government’s actions as unreasonable that they will start to feel discontent.
In this context, we applaud the announcement made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, outlining 11 steps of cost saving to be made by ministers, senior civil servants and government agencies. It is a step in the right direction.
Besides that, we would like the government to do more, for example, in fully utilising comprehensive Spend Management Technologies like e-procurement and e-bidding, which is a systematic way to further save cost and curb corruption.It is pertinent for us to believe that a better 2014 is achievable for Malaysia. A better Malaysia in 2014 is a win-win situation for all the parties involved. In the international front, it can put us in a better position before 2015, a year in which we will chair Asean as well as become a candidate for a non-permanent seat in the United Nation’s Security Council, thus paving the way for us to play a greater role in the international community. But for this to happen, it is crucial that local concerns are given due attention. As the adage goes, a house divided against itself cannot stand. –
