The interview with NJ Ahmad, Kota Bharu

I have not read the Malay Mail article by NJ Ahmad in its entirety. It wasn't an interview as such. It was more a conversation that took place in a casual atmosphere when we were enjoying our kopi tiam, half boiled eggs boiled to perfection and charcoal burned roti bakar. I mentioned that the blogger de minimis is better equipped to talk about economic issues since I have lately been busy with the ketua pemuda politics.

But a friend in KL e-mailed me and sent an abridged version. I was asked about some economic issues facing the country. Among the things asked were the stimulus package which I personally think now should be around close to RM60b. I also have reservations about the stimulus package apart from its size. When is its implementation? The original RM7b has not even started because the money is not there. I shall not go into the entire spectrum of spendables aimed by that original stimulus package which I see essentially as helping out class F contractors. And these are mostly UMNO contractors.

Our small and medium scale industrialists are suffering and a lot of them will suffer even more as money is squeezed. Almost always, stimulus expenditure goes to them late. I am also interested to see the type of spending they want to do- infrastructure which is said to have the largest multiplier and spillover effects. But expenditure on infrastructure is also plagued with longer lag times- the time to realize its potentials are longer. The longer you start, the father way will the desired effects. As of now, because politics overwhelms us, no ministries are eager to call for its big projects at least after the UMNO elections. Hence, as I have said, it's all politics until end of 2009.

There is also another point, which I will make a small correction. I have maintained that TRH is the PM we did not have. I will not say he is the BEST we did not have. I still regard TDM as our best PM.

TDM as we all know is the unchallenged master of politics. He is extra charitable when it comes to unsolicited cynicism and whoever lies at the receiving end will not relish its effects, felt long even after other people have forgotten about it.

But I will maintain that TRH is the only true gentleman politician and had he been our PM, Malaysian politics I believed will be on a more dignified foundation. Allow me to cite two events that reveal the gentleman side of TRH.

We have been fed continually about a very upbeat economy even though all around is, other economies are faltering. Our neighbor to the south has admitted to a technical recession when it suffers two running terms of declining growth. We are still fed with boundless optimism. The government was predicting a growth rate of 4.5%. TRH was the only sane voice to boldly say, this growth rate is unachievable. It has turned out so. But when TRH was saying it as a matter of fact, he was not doing do out of sarcasm but motivated by a desire for the government to be open about the problems. Being upfront will allow us to plan our strategies and steps to take.

When the Perak coup d'état occurred, I saw two differing responses from TDM and TRH. TDM was true to form- being the combative and assertive leader that he is, he said what took place in Perak carried out by BN was a sort of comeuppance to Anwar Ibrahim and his PKR people. To TDM it's a political game where two adversaries are out there to just win. It just the Bismarkian trait in TDM- win or lose. Either you are a Friend or a foe.

TRH's response to me was more dignified. Always guided by a sense of probity and propriety, he was of the opinion that the coup d'état in Perak was done out of bad taste. We win governments by way of elections and not by duplicitous ways. If we countenance such methods, even though it's legal, the way we win tells many things about us.

That is why I believe that TRH is the PM we never had.

This brings me to a personal view on the role of Tengku Razaleigh. If I were an advisor to DS Najib I will tell him to bring back TRH and put him in charge of the Finance Ministry. That will restore a lot of confidence both inside the country and abroad. We can tap his vast experience and rely on his sobriety and sense of probity. Politically it will show the magnanimous side of DS Najib.

With TRH back in the cabinet, DS Najib has better chances to get back Kelantan and neutralize the Kelantan UMNO warlords.

More important to me, TRH can serve as a counterweight to TDM and DS Najib will need this. At the moment, TRH is the only equal to TDM.