Shame on WHO? Mr @NajibRazak or @anwaribrahim ??

Shame on WHO? @NajibRazak or @anwaribrahim ??

Oleh: GreenHood

The 2012’s World Economic Forum Annual Meeting had ended last January 29th.

Their official website illustrated the meeting as … “a cornucopia of intellectual fare with some 260 sessions on everything from the Secrets of the Universe to Fixing Capitalism, and a cast of the world’s intellectual, business, arts, cultural and social giants. [From 25-29 January] it has been a week of superlatives, the most participants, sessions, snow, media coverage… you name a record and we have broken it”

Surprise! Surprise! Malaysia was recorded to be the 21st best in performance from 142 nations, improving from the previous position of 26th.

But that was not what daring me to write this. As much as we should be proud of what our country had achieved, there will always be people who diligently opposed to this kind of recognition - of course the opposition, headed by “Mr You Know Who” - goes without saying. The opposition has been blasting bombs and grenades over Malaysian’s ruling coalition, bombarding BN as incompetent, corruptive and even calling them SUCKS!

Little do they mind that Malaysia has performed extremely strong in certain fundamental areas such as education, infrastructure and government, ranking second in ASEAN after Singapore but definitely well ahead of other regional competitors.

Now there is one topic that infinitely stirs so much interest in politics – yes, corruption. From the beginning of Malaysian political history, opposition was spinning stories like nobody’s business. It is worth to note that Malaysia consistently sits in the same ranks of some major developed nations, although not necessarily ranked at the top of the game.

The rankings of Malaysia in certain areas of interest below carry merits to show how much our nation has developed: -

Wastefulness of government spending

Opposition says Malaysian government wastes money but the fact is, Malaysia scored 12th overall, 2nd in ASEAN behind Singapore, 29 places ahead of the UK, 54 places ahead of the US, 66 places ahead of Japan.

Irregular payments and bribes

There is no zero corruption country in this world but Malaysian being 43rd overall (only one place behind the USA and third in ASEAN behind Singapore and Brunei), shows that the government’s zero-tolerance approach to corruption has paid off, and still improving.  Compared to our Asian neighbour, Indonesia where you can pay somebody to sit in prison for you? Think yourself how much better Malaysia is.

Favouritism by government officials

Scored 24th overall, 2nd in ASEAN behind Singapore, well ahead of France, Spain, Italy, the USA, Ireland, Belgium and a host of other European nations. Opposition PKR, Anwar appointed wife and daughter to hold senior positions… “res ipsa loquitur”… the fact speaks for itself.

Quality of the Educational system

14th overall, 2nd in ASEAN behind Singapore, ahead of US, UK and Germany. There are nearly 200 countries in this world with millions of children in other parts of the world grow illiterate. We are definitely luckier than them. Even we get better education than young people in America, Britain and Germany. Thanks to the Prime Minister, world-class education is free for the first time in Malaysian history.

Brain drain

Malaysia is at 19th overall, 2nd in ASEAN behind Singapore, ahead of Japan, India and Germany. In the past Malaysia has suffered from a ‘brain drain’, but action being taken by Prime Minister Najib is turning that around. New initiatives to retain our most talented people and attract back those who have left the country mean we are now better at holding on to skilled workers than the likes of Germany, Japan and India.

GDP per capita

Malaysia is at 60th overall, 3rd in ASEN behind Singapore and Brunei. Despite Anwar’s talking down Malaysian economy, blaming the government for it, on a per-capita basis the tiny states of Singapore and Brunei are the only ASEAN members with a higher GDP. That doesn’t sound like mismanagement to us.

The opposition in the past had cited WEF report to show how much Malaysian government was falling. Now that facts have reversed, showing positive outcomes for Malaysia, I am dying to see how the opposition would swirl the recent WEF reports and turn it around to their advantages.  

Well, overall can we now say “shame on you Mr Prime Minister” or is it Mr Anwar who should be ashamed of?

People are judging

Let us sit and watch Anwar’s new game plan. In the meantime, let us look back and treasure the moments of our nation’s achievements.

GE 13

Parliament seating will end soon. Rumours spread that dissolution of parliament will be made soon after…

Leaving the early June as the right time for casting out votes!

Are you ready?

 

Are we?

*DauGhter - Pearl Jam

Alone, listless, breakfast table in an otherwise empty room

Young girl, violence, center of her own attention

The mother reads aloud child tries to understand it
Tries to make her proud


The shades go down it's in her head
Painted room, can't deny there's something wrong

Don't call me daughter not fit to
The picture kept will remind me
Don't call me daughter not fit to
The picture kept will remind me

Don't call me,
She holds the hand that holds her down
She will, rise above

Don't call me daughter, not fit to
The picture kept will remind me
Don't call me daughter, not fit to be
The picture kept will remind me
Don't call me daughters

The shades go down
The shades go, go, go

*oNce

@NajibRazak 's three consecutive years in helm !

3^rd April 2012: Three Years Of Excellence

We often hear complaints about how time is getting shorter and that it is hard to get anything done in a day. Years passed by so suddenly that we barely notice that our child has turned into a teen. A year, basically feels like a month especially when we talk about putting our plans into work or even draw a plan itself.

For leaders, 3 years is usually considered as mere ‘warming up’ stage. Putting things and people at their right places, drafting goals and drawing plans and eventually implementing them sometimes would take more than three years. Sometimes a leader can only see the results after he has retired and sometimes won’t even have a chance to see his plans being executed at all.

However, such is not the case for Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. He has been warming up long enough, in fact since his childhood days as he witnessed his father serving the people day in and day out as Prime Minister.

Therefore, Datuk Seri Najib has been in full gear when he was assigned to the cabinet at the age of 25 as Deputy Minister of Energy, Telecommunication and Post in 1978.

When he succeeded Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 2009 as Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib was more than ready to make things happen for Malaysia. In order to do that, he has been whole-heartedly serving us with undoubted dedication and commitment. And come this 3^rd April 2012, which is exactly three years in power, Datuk Seri Najib is not only able to witness how his ideas are being implemented, but how some of them have actually shown positive results. In other words, he not only got to witness the process of transformation, but the final transformed products itself.

In his Government Transformation Plans (GTP), Malaysian government has implemented many measures to increase transparency and government accountability. These measures include the use of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to hold ministers accountable for their work, using new media such as Twitter and Facebook to communicate with citizens about happenings in the government, opening previously closed government tenders to increased public participation and scrutiny, and soliciting public feedback on government spending.

In merely 3 years, Datuk Seri Najib’s hard work and brilliance can be judged clearly from the table below:

GTP performance 2010 and 2011

NKRA Overall Performance

NKPIs	2010 (%)	2011 (%)
Urban Public Transport	107	108	· Introduction of Bus Expressway Transit (BET) services has resulted in 547,669 passengers using bus routes. · 30 new four-car trains on the Kelana Jaya LRT Line has increased rail ridership by 13% · Opening of a new integrated transport terminal at Bandar Tasik Selatan that has diverted over 500 buses away from the Kuala Lumpur city centre daily · Old Puduraya terminal has been refurbished and renamed Pudu Sentral.
Crime	168	130	· Street Crime reduced by 39.7% · Index Crime reduced by 11.1% · Reduction attributed to omnipresence programme and public and police partnership · Malaysia has also been ranked 1st both in terms of safety and security in South East Asia by Global Peace Index, and 1st amon gst 19 middle income countries by World Justice Report.
Rural Basic Infrastructure	91	123	· 1013.4 rural roads were built and upgraded across the country resulting enhanced road connectivity · 73,227 additional houses supplied with clean or treated water · 27,004 additional houses connected with 24-hour electricity supply · 14,365 houses for rural poor built or restored · Affecting the lives of more than 3 million Malaysians living in rural areas (2 million in 2010, 1 million in 2011)
Education	156	188	· The Education NKRA was conceived to safeguard our nation’s future by developing the minds, talents and capabilities of the next generation in a more advantageous manner as we move towards these ambitions · In order to make quality basic education more accessible to all students, more than 3, 000 pre-schools classes has started in 2011. This saw the pre-school enrollment rate of 77% · Via the LINUS (Literacy and Numeracy) Programme, Primary 2 students have achieved a 97.5% rate for literacy and 98.6% rate for numeracy in the second screening this year · The start of 2011 saw the introduction of the School Improvement Programme, a new initiative which helped all 10,000 schools throughout Malaysia to improve their performance, thereby elevating the overall school system · For the first time in Malaysian history, a national pre-school information system (Sistem Maklumat Prasekolah Kebangsaan) or SMPK was developed to collate data on pre-schools and students
Low Income Household	79	103	· Having achieved the target of taking more those 44,000 households out of the extreme poverty category last year, the focus in 2011 is ensuring more poor households participated in the 1AZAM (Akhiri Zaman Miskin) programme. · The 1AZAM programme centres on providing economic opportunities that enhance the productive capacity of low-income households so that they are lifted out of poverty and become self-sustaining. To date, 66,243 poor households are participating in the 1AZAM programme. · 2011, also saw another new NKPI being introduced – that of ensuring 100% of the backlog cases pertaining to eKasih verification had been processed (eKasih is the sole designated database for low-income households). To date, 81,000 backlog cases pertaining to eKasih verification has been processed · 1, 000 women entrepreneurs have been developed · 2,465 abandoned houses restored and 2,500 Rumah Mesra Rakyat built.
Corruption	121	134	· Building blocks are in place to combat corruption · Introduction of the Whistleblower Protection Act. Under the provisions of the Act, the whistleblower will have confidentiality of identity, immunity from civil and criminal action, as well as other detrimental action. · Implementation of Corporate Integrity Pledge (CIP) which is a documented pledge by corporations to commit to upholding the Anti-Corruption Principles for Corporations in Malaysia. In 2011, 64 companies have committed to the pledge · In addition to that, the Ministry of Finance has issued an Integrity Pact directive for all project tenders. Under the pact, bidders are to refrain from offering, demanding or accepting bribes to influence procurement decisions. The MRT Project is the first project to implement an enhanced Integrity Pact with the Auditor’s-General Chambers acting as the oversight body.
Overall Composite Scoring	121	131

Datuk Seri Najib is also quick to react to the rising cost of living. In order to ensure that it would not affect the rakyat, from 2010 to July 2011 alone, a total of RM36.7bilion was spent on cash hand-outs, subsidies and other form of assistance to the rakyat. Among the initiatives introduced under CoL are Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia, 1Malaysia Rakyat Menu, 1Malaysia Clinics and Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia.

It is a shame that despite all these, the Oppositions of Malaysia continue to deny the goodness and the blessings that we consistently enjoy in Malaysia under the care of our leadership. Instead of spreading words about their accomplishments, the Oppositions keep trying to demean and degrade whatever that Datuk Seri Najib has achieved.

However, the facts laid out above and before our eyes are undeniable no matter how hard they try. Because figures don’t lie. But the Oppositions - the enemies of Datuk Seri Najib, do.

And lie is all they can do as they have proven to the rakyat that in 3 years, the Oppositions have not accomplished anything significant at all, in all 4 states under their rule.

Latest from #Pemandu #GTP

Good Morning all,
 
The Government Transformation Programme (GTP) team has launched a microsite (http://www.pemandu.gov.my/gtp/annualreport2011/) in the lead up to the Annual Report announcement by YAB PM on Apr 2nd at 8.30pm.


Please see below for the details and appreciate it if you can share with your colleagues, family & friends


Thank you,

Lee Yip Cheong
Analyst, Communications - GTP
Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU)
Prime Minister's Department
Putrajaya
www.pemandu.gov.my | Twitter: @gtp_roadmap


 

siniS SINis Malaysia !

Add caption

Is it true Mr. PM @NajibRazak, that UMNO has turned the EPF into its private cookie jar?

How true this allegations I received via email by someone who wish not to be mentioned his name. 

UMNO-BN MUST CLEAR IT OUT !

I believe the hereinafter email has been forwarded to hundreds and thousands of people out there and honestly it disturbing people's feelings and emotions.

YOUR HONORABLE MR PRIME MINISTER MUST LOOK INTO IT LIKE SERIOUSLY. I MEAN, REALLY DAMN SERIOUS !

*****

Umno has turned the EPF into its private cookie jar
 

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is one of the largest savings funds in the world which has accumulated more than RM 440.52 billion in 2011. And this represents the life savings of about 12 million Malaysians. Of course money kept under the pillow would not generate more income. It has to be invested prudently. The issue now is has the EPF under UMNO-led government invested the hard-earned savings of Malaysians judiciously. Until 2011 the government has already used 60 per cent of the people's savings on various loans and investments.

The 12 million EPF contributors are not somewhat contented with the government. Many EPF contributors surveyed across the nation have the perception that they have been taken for a ride by the government. Their life-long savings is not giving them good returns. “The government is taking big loans from the EPF. Could this be the reason why the EPF is now getting employers to increase their mandatory contributions from 12% to 13%?” asked a 50-year-old single mother attached to a government-linked company (GLC).

Government still owed the EPF RM240 billion

On 23 June 2011, the EPF said that 60 per cent of its funds have been lent to or borrowed by the Malaysian government. As at Dec 2010 the government still owed the EPF about RM240 billion. In other words, the UMNO-led government has already spent or used 60 per cent of all the savings. The fact is it does not really have a good track record of how to manage the economy sensibly. 2012 will spot the 15th year of budget deficit by the Federal government with no sign of financial intelligences.

If money lent to the government is used for profitable business they are wondering why the dividend to the EPF contributors is so low – hovering around 4 to 5% before 2011. “They are paying us a paltry dividend. We are bearing the burden of diminishing returns,” said a senior clerk attached to a chemical industry in Kemaman. “The paltry dividend only indicates that the EPF money is not invested in rewarding business but those with links to UMNO,” she added.

“Even the latest 6% dividend came as no surprise to the contributors. This is a one-off affair that only happens when UMNO is facing a general election. All figures will normally go up during this time – dividends for PNB unit trusts (more than 7 per cent including bonus), Tabung Haji (6 per cent) and so on,” she reproved.

High-risk – no-return investments

The EPF contributors are now worried that their money has gone into high-risk – no-return investments. The Auditor-General’s Report 2010 indicated that the EPF had approved loans worth an astounding RM55.1 billion not backed by government guarantees. The 13 debtors however were not named. The Auditor-General’s Report 2010 also found only one of the 13 debtors was qualified to obtain a loan without such a guarantee. That particular debtor was extended credit worth RM21.3 billion.

This form of lending must have obviously side-stepped good practices and apposite financial procedures. It also reflects on the lack of transparency and accountability on the government part.

“They are gambling with the people's life savings for their retirement and old age. Things are never transparent and we don’t actually know what’s happening to our savings. A lot of things are hidden from us. What are the trade unions doing? The board of directors and the ministry of Finance?” chided a 43 year-old senior manager with a manufacturing company.

Instead of issuing bonds that has a better liquidity the borrowers find a short-cut to put their hands into the EPF’s till. These are usually borrowers who cannot secure loans from the banks or from any international sources. Taking a huge loan from the EPF – usually with a very low interest rate – is one sure way of getting their business going regardless of its competitiveness. On this basis too the government is indebted to help if these companies fail in their business;

There will be massive financial implications to the country's economy and the EPF when these companies were to default on their payments or go bankrupt. However, the EPF can give cheaper loans than commercial banks to GLCs and crony companies to save them from bankruptcy and in some cases make big profits from the people’s hard-earned contributions.

“This is not money that belongs to the state. It's the people's pension fund. But it is being used and abused for chiefly political purposes,” said a lecturer in a local private university.

How they can pay dividends

It is interesting to find out how the EPF can pay dividends of 4 to 5% when their returns from their huge loans are usually not more than 2 to 3%? They are practically not making much money out of these investments when the interests are charged at these figures. And when it comes to paying dividends this does not come from business profits but they have to sell some of their interests in the listed companies, or else nothing much could be paid to the workers.

“Or else how can the government pay a dividend of + or - 5 % when banks’ FD rates are less than 3.5%, some trust funds are losing money, some GLC's are also doing badly?” chided another 39-year-old bank executive

In other words, the EPF is actually not doing any viable business but assisting the government to help some UMNO-linked companies and the GLCs. When these businesses fail the government has again to bail them out and money from the EPF, among other sources, is used.

“The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) sold a whopping RM441.09mil worth of Malaysia-listed equities on March 7 alone, in line with its trend of active disposals over the last two weeks.” reported a local daily.

“Bursa Malaysia filings showed that on March 7, the EPF along with its portfolio managers dumped a total 83.68 million shares on the open market, substantially more than the 7.4 million shares it had acquired the same day. The number of shares disposed of represents almost half the total volume traded that day, which stood at 173.14 million shares. Fund managers reckon that the fund was merely taking profit.”

To the economists, the EPF needs the money to pay the “feel-good” pre-election dividend of 6% to the contributors.

Controversial NFCorp

Unlike dealing with commercial banks dealing with the government or the EPF which is under government control the interests incurred would normally be around 2% or less for any loans given out. Take for instance the controversial NFCorp . It was given a soft loan of RM250 million from the government with only 2% interest rate and a five-year grace period before repayment. Even earning from this amount is quite controversial as in many cases they end up as non-performing loans and when payment is defaulted the lender will be in trouble. But in most cases the government will step in to bail the failed companies by using taxpayers’ money, the EPF or Petronas dollars.

“Being an EPF contributor, I am not surprised. The EPF has been giving an average 4 to 5 % return over the past 10 years. Now we know with facts why they are giving only such low rate of return. Take in the unofficial inflation rate of 4%, this makes our real return at only 1 % or nil,” quipped a 54 year-old-worker in a private firm.

Rightfully, workers should not be happy with 5% per cent dividends in this context. All savings will have to take into consideration of depreciated value of their savings due to inflation.

“Just imagine if the EPF welcomes the extension of retirement age to 60 then that contributors cannot withdraw their savings for another five years. This will only benefit the government more,” said a 43 year-old lady executive with a local bank.

RM6.5 billion loan to Felda

RM6.5 billion loan was taken by Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF). It seems the EPF statement had stated that the company regarded the loan as an investment that could contribute to a “better dividend achievement” for its contributors. But if Felda, as claimed by the government is in sound financial shape why the RM6.5 billion loan from the EPF? Why not from the banks or other international lenders? Of course these lenders would look into Felda’s risk rating and the interest rate will be higher. It cannot be a meagre 2% interest. Thus using the EPF money will be the most convenient for the government to avoid all these hassles.

Beyond that, if Felda has a healthy bank balance or cash reserves and claims to have assets worth more than RM19 billion why must it bother to take a huge loan from the EPF? And is the government transparent on all transactions involving the EPF – the amount of loans taken, who are those given the loans, their credentials and the profit and the loss incurred thus far? A senior manager of a company has this to say, “the EPF has not been transparent in its dealings, especially pertaining to its investments and "unrealised losses".

Government debt stands at 53%

Government's borrowing is not risk free. If the government borrows disproportionately in relation to its GDP and without exercising judiciousness on the projects it is financing, the long-term implication can be disastrous. The country’s federal debt level reached RM456 billion at the end of 2011, which is a discernible 88.4 per cent increase from the RM242 billion in 2006. This debt level will further increase with more borrowings to develop more projects.

The Constitution of Malaysia caps government debt at 55 per cent of GDP. As of 30 June 2011, government debt stands at 53 per cent but this figure only includes government borrowing, not public borrowing. When both government and public borrowings are encompassed the figure may surpass far more than the 55 per cent cap. Seemingly when it touches 55 per cent, the BN government will officially be in crisis and the Constitution may need to be changed to increase borrowing or possibly it will require a bailout. But with all the uncertainties in the world economies, with less prudent financial management the Malaysian economy can crumble at any time due to this “financial crunch”.

Unlike developed countries with strong fundamentals like the US, where debts and spending go more than savings a small country like Malaysia cannot sustain the pressure of a ‘financial crunch”. Foreigners will lose confidence in the Malaysian economy like what has happened to Greece. Printing more money will not resolve the problem as high inflation will set in and money will lose its value. This will affect local and international businesses.

It's when rating agencies such as S&P's or Moody downgrade Malaysia's sovereign rating by 2 or 3 points will indicate the country has exceeded the limit. And this will cause an abrupt plunge of the ringgit. That's what has happened to Greece where the government had to write off 50 per cent of their outstanding government loans. And if this happens to Malaysia, the EPF will be asked to take a 50 per cent cut of outstanding debt owed by the government. More than half of savers’ EPF money will be lost and the UMNO-led government would then plead to the people to remain patient and be patriotic. And after more than 30 to 40 years of working hard worker’s EPF savings would shrink. Dividends paid will totally diminish and even the money saved will become half the value. Printing more money is not going to help.

Refused to grant the funding

Venturing into any non-profitable housing scheme will undermine the interests of the EPF because the buyers will not be able to or will not repay the loan. The government has the SPNB (Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd) that was initiated in1997 to provide for affordable homes to the poor. Now comes PR1MA (Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia), which is supposed to be for 20 000 house buyers in one precinct under an UMNO leader using the EPF money.

The use of RM1.5bil from the EPF in a scheme offering home loans to those who cannot qualify for bank financing will be disadvantageous to the EPF contributors. The government is not safeguarding the EPF’s interests again, as this deal cannot ensure secure financial returns for the EPF. But this is not UMNO’s concern. UMNO is more interested in politics and its own survival in the next GE.

There is a big risk in this scheme, as the three banks approached by the government had refused to grant the funding to these 20,000 house buyers. Why must the government involve the EPF then? If the government wants to hold the responsibility of any default, then rightfully the government should be involved directly to finance this scheme. This is the right way to safeguard the interests of the EPF.

The EPF is not UMNO’s cookie jar. The money belongs to the workers and should not be used to achieve a political goal. If this is a charity program as claimed by UMNO then it is the onus of the government to support such a project on its own.

Not be used as a cash cow

Billions of ringgit from The Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) today has been used to rescue failing companies listed on the Malaysian stock Exchange. Although the EPF is one of the biggest pension funds in the world, the workers feel that it should not be used as a cash cow to bail out financially troubled Government agencies or companies. “The workers must not be left in the dark. Every decision made by the EPF must be above board. If they can prove that after investing the money in a proper way, they still cannot get good returns, that is fine, we can accept it,” commented a senior bank manager.

But taking the EPF funds for political reasons, to bail out failing companies or to lend the money out to UMNO crony companies is undeserved. This becomes a political agenda and not business. UMNO-BN cronies and their patron political select are actually feathering their own nests to the impairment of national interests and the rightful owners of that pension fund.

- Malaysia Chronicle