Agong wants fighting Covid-19 pandemic, economic recovery be given priority
F
or months, we’ve been saying that the backdoor government of Muhyiddin is not only illegitimate and fragile, but also clueless and incompetent. The loosely glued Perikatan Nasional coalition, consisting of three biggest “Malay” political parties – PPBM, UMNO and PAS – successfully snatched power through a coup in March 2020 under the pretext of “Malay Unity”.
But the pro-Perikatan Nasional bloggers, propagandists, cyber troopers and news media chose to spin and twist that the backdoor government was not only legitimate and strong, but also extremely competent. In fact, a top-paid silly blogger said not only Muhyiddin Yassin is the best prime minister the country has ever produced, but Finance Minister Zafrul is a financial genius.
Last week (Jan 24), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released some figures that are incredibly humiliating. Despite 10 months of chest-thumping and claiming credits, the UN body that deals with trade, investment, and development issues dropped the bombshell – Malaysia was the worst performer in the region.
Inflow of foreign direct investments (FDI) into Malaysia stunningly dropped by 68% from US$7.8 billion (RM31.5 billion) in 2019 to US$2.5 billion (RM10.1 billion) in 2020. While it’s true that FDI inflows to Southeast Asia contracted by 31% to US$107 billion in 2020 due to Covid-19 pandemic, other countries in the region did not do as badly as Malaysia under Muhyiddin regime.
In comparison, Singapore saw its FDI plunged by 37% and Indonesia fell 24%, while Thailand dropped by 50% and Vietnam lost by 10%. Surprisingly, Philippine saw its FDI increased by 29%. But Thailand’s massive contraction was due to divestment of a British company – Tesco – to Thai billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont for £8 billion (US$10.9 billion; RM44.3 billion).
Essentially, Malaysia only managed to attract 2.3% of total FDI last year – a pathetic performance. It means not only the previous Pakatan Harapan performed better than the current Perikatan Nasional government, but also proves that foreign investors were not convinced, let alone recognize, of Muhyiddin and his minions’ ability to run the country.
But the biggest joke was the amount of lies spewed by the backdoor government, especially the finance minister. Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, formerly chief executive of Malaysian banking group CIMB, bragged on social media LinkedIn that foreign and domestic investment in Malaysia had amounted to RM109.8 billion for the first nine months of 2020.
Taking his lying skill to a new level, Zafrul’s self-praised posting on Jan 9 saw him boastfully said – “How’s that for investors’ continued confidence in Malaysia?” If only the clueless finance minister knew how UNCTAD’s data would make him look like a bloody fool. After deducting RM10.1 billion of FDI, was there really RM99.7 billion of domestic investment as claimed?
Perhaps the finance minister was clueless about the significance of the numbers, but the domestic investment of RM99.7 billion in the first 9 months of 2020 would translate to RM11 billion of investment – every month! Not only he cooked the RM109.8 billion figures, but also claimed to have approved investments involving close to 3,000 projects in the services, manufacturing and primary sectors.
Curiously, for the entire year of 2017 during the era of political stability under the previous Barisan Nasional government, Malaysia only recorded RM142.4 billion from domestic direct investments – RM11.8 billion monthly investments. So, how could the value of monthly investment was almost the same in 2017 and 2020, despite the Coronavirus pandemic?
Mr Zafrul also crowed that eight international venture capital fund managers had committed to invest up to RM1.57 billion into Malaysia startups in the fields of fintech, edutech, agritech, mobility and artificial intelligence (AI). However, EU-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (EUROCHAM Malaysia) CEO Sven Schneider was unimpressed by Zafrul’s lies and exposed him.
Mocking the empty vessel Malaysian finance minister, Mr Schneider said many investors are having concerns in regards to Malaysia’s attractiveness as a viable investment hub. He said – “Until today, the Honourable Minister was not even able to meet with us and listen to the concerns of our corporations. Without these inputs, your Ministry certainly cannot address the problems on the ground.”
If Zafrul was too lazy, to put it mildly, to even find some time to meet the European business chamber to discuss matters concerning commerce and trades, exactly why should foreign investors care to pump money into the country? The arrogant finance minister talked as if Malaysia is the only paradise in the region that FDI would pump their money into.
Finance Twitter
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Muhyiddin said “Putrajaya has very little money”, then admitted that he could not count at school. Now we know why the RM1 billion vaccine cost the Malaysian taxpayer RM3 billion
When Muhyiddin Yassin spends and losses are incurred, it is the taxpayer who foots the bill for his reckless spending.
On 12 April, Muhyiddin told attendees at a Sikh function for the Vaisakhi celebration in Petaling Jaya, that Putrajaya did not have much money left for the country.
He claimed that his government had spent over RM600 billion in 2020 and 2021, dealing with the Coronavirus pandemic and stimulating the economy in Budget 2021.
Many questions have been raised by Muhyiddin’s remark.
- Why is Putrajaya short of money? Where did the money go to? Can he be transparent and show how the money was spent?
- Muhyiddin’s cabinet is bloated. What do the 70 ministers and deputies do? Why do some ministries need two deputies? Trim the cabinet.
- Reduce the size of the civil service. The Malay electoral base is given jobs in the bloated civil service. These people cost money in the form of wages, perks, allowances and pensions. Their performance continues to be abysmal. Underperforming or non-performing civil servants are rarely sacked if ever. They are moved around like pieces on a chess board, until they retire.
- A researcher for the think-tank Research for Social Advancement (Refsa), Jaideep Singh criticised Muhyiddin for his alarmist behaviour. He said that although Muhyiddin had attributed a RM340 billion stimulus package as a burden on national coffers, the actual fiscal injection was RM72.6 billion or only 21.4 percent of the stimulus package.
- Muhyiddin sounding panicky is not good for attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). If he goes around crying “pokai pokai.”, he will adversely affect investor confidence and credit ratings. The country is, and has been, run by corrupt, money grabbing and power hungry politicians. With cries of “little money left”, investors will just turn to our neighbours and invest hundreds of millions of RM there.
- Why does Muhyiddin not learn from the rakyat? When times are bad, we tighten our belts. For instance, instead of eating out every other day, we cook at home. Instead of having holidays overseas, we enjoy a staycation. Despite the lockdown, Muhyiddin enjoys trips overseas with his aides. What happened to Zoom conference calls? His ministers enjoy free trips paid for by foreign governments. They only open themselves to abuse and corruption. The allegation is that the vaciine cost Malaysia RM1 billion, but allegations claim that Muhyiddin’s Perikatan Nasional (PN) administration, paid RM3 billion to purchase the vaccine. Which is true? All this confirms that Muhyiddin really cannot count. Are his expenses transparent? Why should the rakyat have any confidence in him? Muhyiddin proves that if you are in power, you can do as you please. Then he gives us his sob story, that Putrajaya has no money.
- Political appointees are rewarded with plum positions in GLCs. They are paid eye-watering salaries and perks, but none have improved the GLC’s performance. Get rid of them.
- GLCs are political tools to consolidate the power of the ruling elites. They are run in a non-accountable manner. and acording to this report, there are three ways in which GLCs assist those in power. First, GLCs channel government-generated concessions to key constituencies to garner electoral support. Second, GLCs allow for the appointment of politicians to the boards to sustain party support. Third, GLCs offer lucrative directorships to pre-empt party hopping.
If the rakyat can learn to tighten its belt, so can Muhyiddin.
Mariam Mokhtar
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MALAYSIANS MUST STAND UNITED TO ENSURE MOO AND HIS BAND OF CROOKS DO NOT SURVIVE IN GE 15.
MALAYSIANS ARE PLACING THEIR TRUST ON ALL SULTANS TO STAND WITH THE RAKYAT.
MOO WAS THE WRONG CHOICE RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING.
DO ADMIT IT WAS THE BIGGEST MISTAKE IN THE HISTORY OF MALAYSIA.
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