Sunday, January 14, 2007

South Johor - Venice of the East

Yet another round of flooding, and a worse one at that.

The government insisted all sorts of warning were given but it went unheeded during the 1st round.

In this 2nd round of flooding, there are reports of inadequate warning, insufficient food, and the last straw as reported in NST today," BREAKING POINT: Number of flood evacuees soars to over 100,000" (15.1.2007, relief centres are overwhelmed.

Shopkeepers who restock their shops saw their new supplies being destroyed again; families who have bought new furnitures for their homes looked in pain as the floodwater damaged their new ones; parents once again scramble to get their kids to safety after assuring them all is fine now.

The 9MP evisioned Johore to be a world class tranportation, medical and technology hub. Perhaps it should also promote this region as "flood city" of the world - the Venice of the East.

Friday, January 12, 2007

RM120mil to upgrade, repair sports complexes nationwide

Star 12.1.2007

Yet more money down the drain. We have the habit of building facilities, let it disintegrate into a state of disrepair, then announce a massive repair programme.

The Sports Minister also announced the construction of multiple sports arenas to further boost sports development. "We plan for these complexes to be managed by the local youths and will start a training programme to teach them to maintain sports complexes," she added.

Sounds odd, huh? We are building sports complexes for our youths followed by training programmes on maintenance. Looks like Malaysia is heading for a Olympic Gold in the 4x4 Maintenance Sprint.

Monday, January 8, 2007

1st Class PM, 2nd Class Government, 3rd Class Civil Service

The NST's tagline, "Held Up by Bloopers" (5th Jan 2007), that PM Badawi's excellent plans for the country is thwarted by poor implementation does not bring relief to the man on the street.

Batu Pahat MP, Dr. Junaidy stated that he “hoped executing agencies such as government bodies and civil servants will take the trouble to understand Abdullah’s aspirations for the country and would assist him in implementing the policies”. Come on, are we pushing the buck to our “world class” civil service here? Are we saying that should the PM’s “first class plan” fail because of “third class execution”, then it is not the PM’s ultimate responsibility but our civil servants’?

Lets take an analogy with Malaysia as a corporation, PM Badawi as the CEO, the Cabinet the Board of Directors, and Malaysians as the shareholders.

The CEO has the duty to lay out a vision and long-term plans for the company. His vision’s ultimate goal is create enhanced value for all stakeholders - the employees (the civil service) and the shareholders (the public).

The next crucial step is convincing the rank and file, i.e. his employees, of the critical need to turn his vision into reality. It is relatively easy to formulate a grand strategy, adorned with big words, big goals, grand potential rewards. The devil is in the details. The dirty work is getting it done. Afterall, a good plan implemented today is better than a perfect plan implemented tomorrow.

The CEO cannot expect employees to have the initiative to fully grasp the specifics of his vision. He has to walk the talk - go to the ground to explain his plans, let them understand why his vision is vital to the company’s survival, and make it very clear that it is in everyone’s interest to make his vision a reality. His employees (the civil service!) must be convinced that failure to execute his plan will mean “heads will roll” (including perhaps the CEO’s); successful execution leading to the desired results means better bonus for everyone. Communication of the vision, in this case, must be top-down.

Should the CEO’s words fail to be translated into concrete action and results within a reasonable period of time, the first “head to roll” is rightfully the CEO’s. He wields the greatest executive powers to get things DONE. Should the CEO hide behind his employees’ incompetence with the excuse that he was let down by poor managers, it is likely shareholders will soon vote him out of office, and next the Board. Rightfully so too, since the CEO fail to manage his managers.

Hence, PM Badawi should take heed. We know for years that our civil service is stifled by unnecessary red tape, held down by inefficiency and probably run by bureaucrats who are unqualified and unmotivated to serve the people. But we did not vote this people in. We voted for the PM (well, indirectly). If PM Badawi wants to be remembered as a great PM, he has the opportunity to do so by translating words into results. We do not want a situation where we have a “1st Class PM; 2nd Class Government; 3rd Class Civil Service”.

Thursday, January 4, 2007

EPF - SUCKERS ON THE JOB?

"...deal halted after several former directors alerted the EPF, but not before the fund had paid the RM1.5m deposit". The statement as highlighted in the Star (Jan 5 2007) suggests that the EPF panel in charge of performing initial due dilligence on the aquiree company must have been sleeping on their jobs.

The EPF has the cheek to say that "stringent procedures and guidelines are in place to ensure all investment transactions are carried out in the most effective and transparent manner.". Effective? Then how on earth did they they issue RM1.5m cheque to a director whose company is already defunct (on on the verge of it), and now they have to incur expenses to retrieve the deposit? As for transparency, how did the EPF part with such a large sum of money to one single person who does not even own the whole company but sold 100% of it to EPF? Who was involved in this particular negotiation from the EPF side? When can EPF retrieve the sum? Can it be retrieved?

Let us have the answers for the sake of transparency. This is the people's money, and it is sickening when a single person can walk up to EPF selling a company on the verge of collapse and walk away with RM1.5m.

Monday, January 1, 2007

Road Tax Relief leads to Car-Buying Frenzy – Malaysian car market is boosted, leading to stronger economic growth and higher government receipts.

The above is a headline you will not see as a result of the “peanuts” given by the government in the form of a road tax reduction.

In general, any tax cuts or tax relief is deemed to be beneficial to a country's economy. As consumers spend the extra money in their pockets, businesses thrive, and via the multiplier effect, the overall economy is boosted, correspondingly, tax revenues increase.

However, the recent news of lower road tax in the Star (dated 31.12.2006), “Relief for Motorists" is at best a bad policy and at worse, an insult to every Malaysian who has seen prices of various everyday staples increase.

The "tax relief" ranges from RM10 to less than RM55 per YEAR. Assuming that the majority of Malaysians enjoy the maximum RM55 reduction, that works out to less than RM4.60 a month. RM4.60 a month, or RM1.15 a week, is nothing to shout about.

For any tax relief to be really effective, it has to make each and everyone of us feel richer. Not substantially, but sufficient to make us spend a little bit more of our income, or work a little harder (since the taxman is taking less). The incentive has to be significant enough to gently nudge consumer spending or corporate investment upwards. Implemented correctly, the tax reduction may even pay for itself via increased government receipts spurred on by a mini boost in economic activity.

You have to forgive the average Malaysian if they do not bring out their champagne bottles in reaction to the news. RM4.60 savings a month is miniscule - it hardly cause a dent in creating a "feel-good factor". Does it "lessen the financial burden" of the people? Hardly (unless we are talking about the hardcore poor in Third World countries who are surviving on less than USD1 a day - but they will have to buy a Malaysian car first).

It does not make sense for the Government to lose this RM250m revenue per year over this poor policy. It does nothing for the average taxpayer and the economy. It does not generate any financial or social returns for the foreseeable future. This RM250million should have been channeled to other areas where it can make a significant impact on the economy. How about assisting 1st time home purchasers so we can reduce the housing glut by subsidizing their home loans? How about sponsoring deserving students to pursue their education in Ivy League universities? There are so many ways to spend this large sum of money where the government can be assured of positive socio-economic returns , whether in the long-term or in the immediate term.

And why should the road tax savings be extended to those who own a (or a few) Ferrari or Porsches? The few dollars hardly matters to them as it cannot even cover the costs of polishing their already gleaming cars sitting in air-conditioned garages.

This is really bad, bad economic policy. Lets hope the next goodie from the government is really worth the money.