The 10th Plan- waddling through the BS

Readers will have noticed that my previous post was entitled reading the 10th Malaysian plan. It was chosen deliberately. I wanted to distance myself from a point by point commentary. That is being done by more rigorous thinkers. Bloggers under the name E Theorist and Economics Malaysia are better equipped to deal with the issue. Wenger J Khairy is another blogger who can cut across the entire BS and tell it as it is. I shall step aside for them.

I have chosen to see it from the big picture. By big picture I mean, seeing the plan as a part of something bigger. The plan is an instrument to create a higher income Malaysia. In that context, the admonitions and screams of people like Perkasa are completely irrelevant and excluded.

Placing the plan in a contextual frame, allows me to discuss the plan expansively. Seeing the big picture allows me to treat the issue of Malay economics in terms of it being a part of creating a high income Malaysia. For example, the issue of NEPish content of future Malaysia Plans is no longer a priority since the overriding objective is to get to the level of PCI of USD15,000. Those people at Perkasa have not realized this, but they will be terribly disappointed.

Let us tackle the issue of Malay economics. I read that my old professor KAM Ariff who taught me International Economics in my second year at UM, giving a very critical assessment of the NEP or NEP in its re-hatched form. I am not going to steal his thunder- but I have written this point, a long time ago. These were stated in a number of essays on the subject.

What is the purpose of the 1oth Malaysia Plan? The overriding objective is to make Malaysia a high income economy. That is defined as having a PCI of USD15, 000. The problem can thus be stated as Malaysia's High Income Economy is a function of getting a PCI of USD 15,000. Agree?

Then our attention is directed to the issue of how to get the USD15k? The problem stated doesn't say anything about who gets the USD 15 k. it says just 15k. Who earns the 15k? Its just people- a concept. It doesn't distinguish between a Bumi or non Bumi. It's silent on this issue.

You see, the overriding objective stated in that way, right from the beginning, does not admit any differentiation of who gets the PCI of USD15,000. Or put it in another way, USD15, 000 is only achievable IFF (if and only if), the agent getting the USD15,000 is not broken down into a Chinese, Indian or Malay economic agent. It's just an economic agent, undifferentiated.

That immediately and at once, chucks out all those screaming by Perkasa out of the window and people like Ibrahim Ali and his intellectual spokesman- being made to look stupid.

I repeat ( in the spirit of Ibrahim Ali repeating his shit-speake 3 times)- the success of getting a PCI of USD 15,000 depends in NOT distinguishing who actually gets the USD15,000. So, no Bumiputera economics there.

The only way the so called Bumiputera 30% share of the economy is going to be achieved is for the government to do the same thing- confine bumiputera involvements among people like Sapura, Syed MOkhtar, IMdevelopment, other cronies. These people will be given economic largesse over and over again. Sapura gets oil and gas deals from PETRONAS, they get defense deals, they get these over and over again, Syed Mohtar gets to do bridges, railways, double tracking, ports and hear this, gets to supply tanks to MINDEF. These are the Bumiputeras who ride on the angst of the bumi lumpenproletariat.

UMNO must be going mad!

But Ibrahim Ali and his people don't understand economics. The concept of people in the equation is not differentiated. The 10th Malaysia Plan doesn't care who achieves the 15k.