It really shocked me that in the midst of a record government deficit, our Tourism Minister has nearly exceeded her travel costs for 2010 when compared to 2009, "Yen Yen's travel bills hit RM3.25mil, The Star, 29th Oct 2010".
For a government that is seeking austerity measures - reduction of fuel and food subsidies, increase of service charges, plans to impose GST - a burden that it is asking the rakyat to bear, it is displaying a cavalier attitude when it comes to tightening its own belt.
Ng Yen Yen is said to have travelled to 26 countries and 61 cities since 2009, and her efforts paid off as shown by the increasing numbers of tourists to Malaysia despite a global slowdown in the tourism industry. Furthermore, the Tourism Ministry stated that due to our Minister criss-crossing the world, we have been elevated to top 10 "most popularly visited countries".
First of all, to directly attribute the increased tourist numbers to Ng Yen Yen's travels is on shaky grounds. Can the Ministry show a significant increase in the tourist numbers from the 26 countries that she visited? While the Ministry is trumpeting the single digit increase in tourist, our neighbour down south reported double digits. I wonder how many trips did her Singapore counterpart went to achieve these numbers?
An astute online commentator righty pointed out that we do not make travel plans based on what a Minister recommends. We look at the costs, the unique features of the country, the culture, the sights and sounds, etc. Singapore saw a surge in visitors due to their integrated resorts for 2010. It was a "wow" factor that drew in record travellers. Without a "wow" factor, regardless of how many travels our Minister makes, no one is going to be easily convinced to choose Malaysia over another destination.
This is a government that seemed to know the price of everything but the value of nothing. Isn't there a more cost-effective way to promote Malaysia? In her first class "budget" travel paid for by the rakyat, how many people did Ng Yen Yen managed to meet and talk about the unique characteristics of Malaysia? Seeing that she is travelling as a VIP, how many ordinary people did she actually talked to? Based on her travel reports, it seemed she was in effect promoting more of the countries she visited rather than Malaysia.
And meanwhile, we lost the opportunity to take advantage of the World Expo in Shanghai to "sell" Malaysia. Glaringly, it was pointed out that there was bad spelling mistakes in our brochures, unmanned booths, leaking roof, etc. And yet our Tourism Minister's response is well, there was hardly any. How much time did she focus on making sure our Malaysian Pavilion stands out amongst the hundreds vying for attention? Ng Yen Yen could have done no better that to have spent her days stationed at the Expo, where visitors have already topped 70 million. 70 million! Here is the most desirable target audience, travellers who have come from all around the world with substantial budgets, and who are no doubt avid tourists. She could have saved the country money simply by serving teh tarik to the Expo visitors, making sure the queue is orderly to maximise the number of visitors, and handing out brochures or travel coupons! 70m travellers in one single location...RM3.25m divided by 70m - that is just 5 cents per hit!
My suggestion to our Minister - save the rakyat money - visit our local sites for a change...there is much more to do within Malaysia than without!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
People First, Really? Subsidies in Malaysia
Subsidies distort the allocation of resource. Sure. It artificially depresses prices below market level and hence consumption is artificially boosted.
The Malaysian government is now educating the people on the perils of subsidies on the nation's purse strings. No arguments about that - subsidies which eats up more than 15% of the country's federal government spending and that which continues to grow is not sustainable.
But wait a minute here - before the government preaches prudence and wise spending, it ought to examine its head on the way it is squandering billions of potential revenue as well as its insistence on subsidizing certain privileged quarters. Before asking the people to pay for what it is worth, it better look at why it is looking the other way when there is clear gross mismanagement and theft of the nation's federal funds.
Let's talk about the biggest "artificial" burden on the working population - price of cars. The price of cars in Malaysia is a big joke - high excise duties causes prices to be several times that of developed countries so that Proton can hide behind the protectionist walls. Every ringgit earned by Proton is simply a transfer from the people's pocket to the GLC's bank balance. Coupled with the free money printing presses in the form of AP's, the government foregoes hundreds of millions potential revenue so that a small group of politically-connected simply sit on their behinds trading a piece of paper for tens of thousands.
And where is all the talk about open tenders? It does not take a genius to figure out that open competition for scarce resources will bid prices up. The federal government, still saw fit to build another convention centre, apparently so that the people who can no longer afford petrol or sugar can congregate there to discuss their plight, by exchanging a piece of prime land without calling for an open tender. And the contractor who got the project happens to be the biggest beneficiary of the AP system. Why not extract full value of the land by calling for open bids? With more established and bigger property players around, why deprive them of the opportunity to bid while depriving the nation of potentially much higher premium for the land?
Do you remember the RM40 screwdrivers? Computers that costs several times that of the market price? Pens so expensive because it can write on its own? Building contracts that overshoot the initial budgets by hundreds of millions? Toll operators that enjoy guaranteed profits by raising the toll prices every now and then? Why on earth must the people, all 30 million of us, have to give up subsidies on essential items on petrol, sugar and rice while we are being rob by unscrupulous robbers who are never caught and who continues to enjoy easy wealth?
And recently a sports betting license was given out - another potentially hundreds of millions of revenue forgone because no competitive bidding was called for what is a guaranteed money making gold mine.
All this talk about People First is a farce. We taxpayers are asked to tighten our belts, but our hard earned tax dollars are not spend prudently. Why oh why the government find it so difficult to remove subsidies, whether direct on indirect on these few individuals/companies and continues to allow profligacy to be rewarded and not punished, but expect the people to understand that the money that we pay in taxes cannot be returned to us in the form of subsidies?
The Malaysian government is now educating the people on the perils of subsidies on the nation's purse strings. No arguments about that - subsidies which eats up more than 15% of the country's federal government spending and that which continues to grow is not sustainable.
But wait a minute here - before the government preaches prudence and wise spending, it ought to examine its head on the way it is squandering billions of potential revenue as well as its insistence on subsidizing certain privileged quarters. Before asking the people to pay for what it is worth, it better look at why it is looking the other way when there is clear gross mismanagement and theft of the nation's federal funds.
Let's talk about the biggest "artificial" burden on the working population - price of cars. The price of cars in Malaysia is a big joke - high excise duties causes prices to be several times that of developed countries so that Proton can hide behind the protectionist walls. Every ringgit earned by Proton is simply a transfer from the people's pocket to the GLC's bank balance. Coupled with the free money printing presses in the form of AP's, the government foregoes hundreds of millions potential revenue so that a small group of politically-connected simply sit on their behinds trading a piece of paper for tens of thousands.
And where is all the talk about open tenders? It does not take a genius to figure out that open competition for scarce resources will bid prices up. The federal government, still saw fit to build another convention centre, apparently so that the people who can no longer afford petrol or sugar can congregate there to discuss their plight, by exchanging a piece of prime land without calling for an open tender. And the contractor who got the project happens to be the biggest beneficiary of the AP system. Why not extract full value of the land by calling for open bids? With more established and bigger property players around, why deprive them of the opportunity to bid while depriving the nation of potentially much higher premium for the land?
Do you remember the RM40 screwdrivers? Computers that costs several times that of the market price? Pens so expensive because it can write on its own? Building contracts that overshoot the initial budgets by hundreds of millions? Toll operators that enjoy guaranteed profits by raising the toll prices every now and then? Why on earth must the people, all 30 million of us, have to give up subsidies on essential items on petrol, sugar and rice while we are being rob by unscrupulous robbers who are never caught and who continues to enjoy easy wealth?
And recently a sports betting license was given out - another potentially hundreds of millions of revenue forgone because no competitive bidding was called for what is a guaranteed money making gold mine.
All this talk about People First is a farce. We taxpayers are asked to tighten our belts, but our hard earned tax dollars are not spend prudently. Why oh why the government find it so difficult to remove subsidies, whether direct on indirect on these few individuals/companies and continues to allow profligacy to be rewarded and not punished, but expect the people to understand that the money that we pay in taxes cannot be returned to us in the form of subsidies?
Monday, March 8, 2010
Why Pakatan Rakyat must survive
Recently, the mainstream media would have us believed that we have misplaced our trust in Pakatan Rakyat. This fragile coalition of political parties with vastly different ideologies, barely 2 years of age, cannot possibly compete much lest replace the mature Barisan Nasional. The recent turmoil in PKR; resignations of MPs; hostile criticisms from one coalition partner against another; accusations of corruption and power-hungry individuals; has indeed weaken the support amongst those whom have thrown their votes behind PR in the previous General Election.
Yet we must not be swayed by the BN or the mainstream media. We have to hold steadfast to the conviction that for a democracy to thrive, we need to have choices. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and over the years of absolute power, BN has destroyed the concept of separation of powers as its consolidated its grip on the country. Our justice systems, media, public institutions such as the police force and anti-corruption agency has no credibility in the eyes of the public, when case after case of seemingly obvious misdeeds involving BN's bigwigs brought out neither repercussions or punishments.
Prime Minister Najib, regardless of how genuine is his intention to bring about the concept of 1Malaysia to fruition, will always be hampered by the entrenched self-interests of a small but powerful group of UMNO politicians and those whom rely on them for their political and economic well-being. These people will fight hard and dirty to ensure their interests are preserved at whatever costs, for any change in government will bring about their downfall.
For Malaysia's democracy to truly thrive, we, the voters have to be smart. Democracy requires competition. Competition for our votes. Only via competition will the political participants shape up. We have to break BN's monopoly on power, or at the very least, let them know we have to means to do so. Pakatan Rakyat may not be ready for power, given it still has to resolve many internal issues in order to reach a common political platform. But we must not abandon our only hope of a true 2-party political arena. Going back to status quo where BN has monopoly power, where citizens can be thrown into jail without trial or imprisoned for their "own protection", where the media is controlled in the age of the internet, where politicians are pitting Malaysians against one another when we should be uniting against global competitors, is plain crazy. We must not lose this opportunity to reclaim our rights as the political masters. Right now, only PR can provide us with that opportunity - lets not squander the momentous change we voters brought about during the 12th GE.
Yet we must not be swayed by the BN or the mainstream media. We have to hold steadfast to the conviction that for a democracy to thrive, we need to have choices. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and over the years of absolute power, BN has destroyed the concept of separation of powers as its consolidated its grip on the country. Our justice systems, media, public institutions such as the police force and anti-corruption agency has no credibility in the eyes of the public, when case after case of seemingly obvious misdeeds involving BN's bigwigs brought out neither repercussions or punishments.
Prime Minister Najib, regardless of how genuine is his intention to bring about the concept of 1Malaysia to fruition, will always be hampered by the entrenched self-interests of a small but powerful group of UMNO politicians and those whom rely on them for their political and economic well-being. These people will fight hard and dirty to ensure their interests are preserved at whatever costs, for any change in government will bring about their downfall.
For Malaysia's democracy to truly thrive, we, the voters have to be smart. Democracy requires competition. Competition for our votes. Only via competition will the political participants shape up. We have to break BN's monopoly on power, or at the very least, let them know we have to means to do so. Pakatan Rakyat may not be ready for power, given it still has to resolve many internal issues in order to reach a common political platform. But we must not abandon our only hope of a true 2-party political arena. Going back to status quo where BN has monopoly power, where citizens can be thrown into jail without trial or imprisoned for their "own protection", where the media is controlled in the age of the internet, where politicians are pitting Malaysians against one another when we should be uniting against global competitors, is plain crazy. We must not lose this opportunity to reclaim our rights as the political masters. Right now, only PR can provide us with that opportunity - lets not squander the momentous change we voters brought about during the 12th GE.
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