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Sakmongkol ak 47

ariff.sabri@gmail.com

Tuesday 19 October 2010

Najib and his Budget


The PM and his Budget.
Everyone was interested at listening to the Finance Minister delivering his budget speech. It was a Friday. So he was dressed in a resplendent baju Melayu. The kain samping he wore costs probably RM 40,000. I know. I was his Information Chief.
They had different reasons going for them. The big corporate boys were happy because they were probably lined up as recipients of big government contracts. The rest? They are indifferent really. If Najib as the finance minister goes around or his people go around, he and they would have a different picture.
Government servants were just waiting whether he will announce a month's bonus. Forget about whether they are 1.3 million strong. They are not a homogeneous lot. They don't give a damn about Aseh Che Mat. They don't even know that their number is 1.3 million people. Civil servants are saying during Pak Lah's time, despite being derisively referred to as sleepyhead, he managed to pay 1 month's bonus. To civil servants, Pak Lah was a good FM. When the current PM fails to do so, they regard him simply as a failure at managing the economy.
The kampong people are not interested whether toll rates will not be raised for the next 5 years. So what? They are not heavy users of the highways anyway. Also they know, the government pays toll operators compensation. PLUS for example will get billions. The going rate is RM 800 million per year. So they get RM 4 billion for not raising the toll rates. This is economic racketeering. The government pays protection money to induce toll operators not to raise rates.
Kampong people are interested only to see whether the price of rice and other essential food items go down. Cigarettes which they consumed in large quantities are wished sold, at cheaper prices. The government doesn't addressed these issues.
In general, this year's budget is received in a lukewarm manner almost nonchalant. The only people saying this is a good budget are first of all the sycophantic ministers and people who are lazy to go through the budget proposals. That includes sitting MPs.
The cynicism, Mr. PM, is pervasive.
What has the construction of a 100 storey tower got to do with the government budget? Or for that matter the construction of the RM 43 billion MRT, the RM10 billion mixed development of Sungai Buluh, the RM 26 billion construction of the KLIF hub, RM 10 billion worth of highways got to do with government budget?
These are elements of long term economic planning more suited to be incorporated in the 10th or 11th Malaysia Plan. But the budget? Hence the nagging feel that they are mentioned to spice things up even though they are not going to be financed by public money.
Year in and year out we have MPs listening to budget speeches yet no one pointed out these are components of a Malaysia Plan. Not a budget. So how could we blame Dr Mahathir when he said, the government is full of half past six people.
Maybe they are mentioned to point out that we have an ecosystem amenable to rapid economic development. The last time we had the smart partnership idea and that term was repeated countless number of times across the country. Now, we have another acronym- PPP= Public Private Partnership.
The term 'ecosystem' has since been fashionable when it was used by the PM. Accordingly, we should not be too harsh in our judgment.
Ok, let's not, but let's take a look at what other people's ecosystems have done to their economy.
The world economy is growing at an average rate of 11% but Malaysia is doing so at a rate of 6%. Why are we below average? Is our ecosystem not compatible to the world's ecosystem? This issue is not addressed.
Why is Malaysia growing slower than the world? Have we applied our revenues the sub optimal way? Will this way be repeated in 2011?
Certainly it reflects our lower level of productivity caused by various factors. Certainly that reflects our competitiveness. Singapore is growing at a rate of over 13%, China at 11 %, Thailand with its red shirt problem is growing at a rate comparable to ours.
Yet our country which is relatively free from social turbulence save perhaps from Rais Yatim's war against bloggers in general and one blogger in particular can only grow at around 6-7% for 2011. Even that , is out from an economy with negative growth. .
That is certainly a reflection of our collective management- the political leadership and the civil service. Yet the PM is rewarding the civil service with financial goodies.
Why are we in terms of managing the economy, lagging behind the other Asean countries? ( minus Timor Leste, Brunei, Laos).
A budget should be straight to the point. It addresses the sources of government revenue- taxes, dividends, royalties, interests payments, non tax revenues etc. then the various allocation to the ministries. Inflow-outflow. If there is a deficit in government revenue, the finance minister proposes how to raise the money. Then you can talk all you want about bonds, sukuk etc etc. yes, the public sector borrows money.
Gone are the days, when a Budget is presented as a strictly business affair. As in during the time when Daim Zainudin or Tengku Razaleigh presented their budgets. They did as a matter of business, not much panache but businesslike.
Of course the most outlandish presentation of a budget was during Anwar Ibrahim's time- with all those Indonesianised terms and coinage of philosophy that prompted a giggly someone now at Media Prima to proclaim Anwar was the best finance minister. Najib doesn't have to imitate Anwar with those fuzzy thinking and taking us in circles.
But to his credit, Anwar as opposition leader is better at dissecting the 2011 budget. He did so mercilessly and the BN [people were reduced to a pitiful lot saying , the opposition will  and can only say bad things. The opposition is always envious- says Utusan Malaysia. I hope the PM kick these people out from being candidates the next round.
Reading the text of his take on the 2011 budget, I have to say, he has redeemed himself and revealed a very analytical side of him. He did learn something afterall during his stint as FM while playing tennis(sometimes) with Nala Karuppan.
Repeat: what is a budget? A budget addresses the issue of sources of government revenue and allocation to the various ministries. Who wrote this budget for Najib? This is why in my previous article, I wrote the budget is as good as the people writing it, and because it wasn't written by Nobel laureates of economists, someone like I who pretend to be an economist, can debate them.
For the 2011 budget, we are incurring a another deficit for the 13th year. That's 13 consecutive years. We are spending more than we earned. Spending is of course not necessarily bad if its directed at building capacity, enhancing competitiveness and so forth. But it will be a cause of concern if much of that spending is absorbed into activities that sapped our competitiveness or that does not add to our capacity building.
Suppose you want to build the 100 storey building. The government wants to do it. Then it lays down how it's going to raise the finance. In this case, PNB is going to do it. That's a private affair. How does that figure in a government budget?
Then there is the RM 43 billion MRT. It's going to be built using private finance. How does it figure in this government budget? Does the government get money from this project? The land on long lease provide revenues for the government? Then of course that will a source of revenue for Mr. G. does government has equity in the project? Mr. G is Mr Government nor G Palanivel. That's the chap who wants to be minister.
It then has a stream of dividends from it. That is revenue. Unless these elements are there, it's part of the budget.
Because it's going to be built by Gamuda and MMC- that's their affair. Nothing to do with this budget. The development of the Sungai Besi? What does the government get in return? Proceeds from the sale of the land? Dividends from its equity? The government invests through 1MDB which has no experience in developing a piece of real estate. It ropes in Desmond Lim who built the Pavilion. Its bringing in the Mudabala Group, another private sector initiative.
Similarly with the development of the Sungai Buloh area. What does the government get? If they get anything, whatever they get is part of government budget. Otherwise all these things Najib mentioned are all part of a long term business plan for Malaysia. a business Plan is not the government budget.
It makes many think- why does PM Najib list down all these business plans which have nothing to do with the government budget? These are elements of long term business plan, not elements of a budget. The answer I suspect is to invoke a sense of feel good or even worse, as red herring to conceal the real subject matter of the 2011 budget.
What's the deal?
We are taking out from the consolidated fund some 212 billion Ringgit. How is it applied?
The government is spending around 77% on OPEX. The bulk of the rising OPEX to cater mainly for 1.3 million civil servants and handouts to the party supporters in the form of JKKK members and RELA recruits. That leaves some 23% for development expenditure and the building of capacity.
How is the spending financed? The government will borrow around 22% and the rest is financed by tax and non tax revenues.
This is the second year he has prepared a budget. This year he has launched a series of ,let's say, "ideas" about long term planning. The New Economic Model. I asked him once- what is it essentially? It's a model to launch Malaysia into a high income economy. How do you reconcile that with demands by groups like Perkasa, I asked? There will still be emphasis on Malay economic interests he said. But it has to be based on merits- market driven affirmative actions.
In case you are wondering- I get to ask the PM when I get a chance to see him. I was his ADUN before and served as his division's information chief for 4 years. So despite my open criticisms, I do get to see him off and on.
Then we have heard all the acronyms. GTP, NKRA, NKEA, PPP, and finally ETP. The list seems to go on and on. Never-ending. Never muktamad. No finality. Here is I what I think. It's true that too much of a thing, will land us into trouble.
You see, all these are elements of long term planning. If I were a professor and student Najib prepares me a budget like this, he will barely passed.
He is suffering from Acronymitis. It's a new disease I suppose which has become fashionable since Najib took over from Pak Lah. And we are seeing its deleterious effects when the PM/Finance Minister prepared the 2011 budget recently. He is suffering from an economics heatstroke I think.
Can you back up your claim? What is a budget if I may asked you. a budget is essentially an address on government revenues and application of that revenue. How much is allocated to government ministries. It's about the finances of the government. Hence all those things about the construction of the 100 storey tall building for example is nor relevant. It's not the government's money. The money does not come from government revenue.
Najib must not confuse a Budget with long term economic plans.

45 comments:

hishamh 19 October 2010 at 17:09  

Dato',

You're the first person I've read to point out that all that infra does not fall under the government's budget.

There don't appear to be many clear thinkers out there.

Ariff Sabri 19 October 2010 at 17:32  

hishamh,
there are not many technicians like yourself who dared become a public intellectual.
in case you are wondering, i do read all your posts.

Red Alfa 19 October 2010 at 17:37  

Salam Dato'

PM is neither a fool nor he is being misled by "fools". He knows exactly what he's doing - he's distracting us. For most of us who are wondering for what rhyme or reason that he's got the National Budget into and with such twists, he's above it and doesn't need to account for the whats and whys of how it is.

This blatant disregard explains the PM and his budget. Can we see it as otherwise?

Donplaypuks® 19 October 2010 at 17:41  

One of the first questions we have to ask is why has the PM's Department budget rocketed by 80% from $10 billion to $18 billion?

What's the breakdown and justification? If our Govt cannot find the money to pay $3 billion in bonus payments to civil servants, where is it finding the money to incrasr Najib's office expenses by $8 billion, itself up from $4 billion in 2006? And $65 million to renovate PM's residence and $113 million fow his wife's per project, Permata (what's the KPI for it and what are the results? Does anyone know??

Who is Najib kidding? We are being robbed daily. As I commented before, Najib's office budget is larger than Obama's!!??

dpp
we are all of 1 Race, the Human Race

Anonymous,  19 October 2010 at 18:08  

Budget kali ni more on spending. Utk rakyat okla. Tapi spend lagi utk development lain yg tak pasti apa keuntungan berlipat ganda pada rakyat.

MMC dapat development sg besi dan sungai buluh? Sebagai ganti utk PLUS?

Tak faham pasal Khazanah dan EPF beli balik PLUS. Masa beli balik semula tu ada ujud team baru kah dalam urusan pembelian. Mungkin melalui salah satu syarikat yg ujud dalam Khazanah, indirectly.

Projek2 dalam budget tu kalau ditranslate ke revenue, adakah rakyat dapat imbuhan? Kalau toll tak naik, naik train dan MRT lah yg naik. Ada kira tak berapa ramai yg naik MRT boleh memberi pulangan balik pada pengusaha?

Masih tak nampak dimana rakyat mendapat untung dan kestabilan dari segi ekonomi seharian hidup mereka nanti.

BennyG 19 October 2010 at 18:09  

Best article on Budget 2011! Very well analysed (with humour as well)!
Bravo!

Richard Cranium 19 October 2010 at 18:22  

The government giveth, the government taketh.

He gives you RM50 to attend the JKKK meetings.

Then, he takes it way through your Astro, Phones, Makan service tax increases.


He gives you a RM500 bonus.

Then, he takes it away through the next petrol price increase.


He gives you no toll increases for 5 years.

Then he takes it away through your EPF.

Anonymous,  19 October 2010 at 18:31  

Rm113 + Rm65 = Rm178 for Rosie to play with in 2011! Wow, all wives must learm from her how to squeeze the hubby to allocate money like that from his official post! Not to mention all those travelling expenses from the PM's ministry!

Anonymous,  19 October 2010 at 18:33  

Do not forget. It's APCO that is deluding the Malaysian public.

ALL those half-past-sixes cannot think of such deception.

OneMalaysian,  19 October 2010 at 18:43  

Dear Sakmongkol

“It makes many think - why does PM Najib list down all these business plans which have nothing to do with the government budget? The answer I suspect is to invoke a sense of feel good or even worse, as red herring to conceal the real subject matter of the 2011 budget”.

I can agree with you that the reason for listing those big projects (to be carried out by private interests) has nothing – well almost nothing – to do with the budget. They do not require capital expenditure to be incurred by government. So no reason for them to be included in the budget. But I suspect that there are 2 very valid reasons why he needed to mention them. First, the government will probably be involved in some of them e.g. the MRT project by guaranteeing loans/bonds (remember PKFZ?) or by guaranteeing certain traffic numbers that will make the project commercially viable. Now, think about PLUS and why the government is paying it RM800 million p.a. in compensation. So it is the same with the MRT. Gamuda/MMC will get similar guarantees for certain number of users or that they can raise fares by X% per year, if not they can claim compensation like PLUS. Look, these Gamuda/MMC people are not stupid, and the banks that lend to them are not stupid either. If they want a cheap loan then it must come attached with some sort of government guarantee of revenue or traffic numbers. So Najib needs to tell the people this in the budget, that is, these projects are “connected” to the government.

Second, Najib has talked so much about the NEM and how it will take us out of this middle-income trap. Real private investment is not dependable, especially FDI. Business people are not fools with their money. They will wait and see before they invest more money – a better investment climate and lower risks. Now, this wait-and-see attitude will do no good to the NEM. The NEM must excite. There must be instant action. This is where the big projects come in - lots of investment, lots of digging, and lots of activities all very quickly – “cangkul – ready” as Idris Jala says it. In this way Najib can claim to be a man of action.

So I do not agree that this light and sound show in Parliament (about these big private projects) are a red herring to divert attention from the RM212 billion budget. If he did not make all these noises, what else would be the main theme of the budget? The rest of the budget is total rubbish, in terms of laying a foundation for the NEM – almost peanuts for capacity building, no additional incentives for businesses to invest more. Although the DPM denied it, this budget is really an election budget. A casual look at the little throw-aways to the ordinary folks will confirm it. What Najib should have done for them instead was to build their earning capacity, not continue to feed them crumbs come each budget day.

nelayanoffshore,  19 October 2010 at 18:43  

Salam Dato!

I'm an avid reader of your blog. Hats off to you because i think you are the only one giving constructive critism to PM whilst maintaining ur UMNO membership.

Keep it up Dato, and i hope you will be parliment candidate in next GE.

Wasalam

Anonymous,  19 October 2010 at 19:14  

Dato,
I congratulate you for laying the budget bare - plain and simple for idiots like me to understand.
I would say this is the best commentary of the budget I have read thus far.
So, Najib has been fooling us. Just the road-side medicine peddler who sells linseed oil as 'minyak harimau' untuk 'lelaki kuat, tahan lama".

chinaman,  19 October 2010 at 19:27  

Dato,

You are supposed to be insider u should know better why 100 storey building, Sg Besi development is in the budget wat. He dun announce how is he gonna get paid!!

On the PLUS deal, its a shit deal. GOM has to pay RM4b for no toll increase!! What the F*** this kind a proposal who dunno how to do? Use taxpayer money only wat. The question the AMOK fella need to answer is how come Asas Serba and Syed Mokhtar can pay higher higher price and still guarantee no toll hike for 20 years. From taxpayer and toll road user perspective should you not just sell the thing to highest bidder! Why are we using EPF contributor money to bail out Khazanah, which we all know has no money!

Hello Mr PM how is this a peoples budget?

Chinaman

Habib RAK 19 October 2010 at 19:36  

Sak,
Thanks for clarifying. You have answered my question posted in ur earlier post.

Now, the right questions are being posted. Example, the question/comment by Donplaypuks.

I also pity all the DAP MPs/Aduns who made the trip to Stadium Merdeka area today to protest the Menara plan. They fell for it hook, line and sinker!

Anonymous,  19 October 2010 at 19:38  

I am totally distraught after reading this entry of yours.So what do i do next? Drown myself in sorrow and anguish?
That would be an option since what choice do i have as a RAKYAT BIASA YANG SO CALLED DIDAHULUKAN!
What u are saying is what all sensible Malaysiana are aware of.But what can we do?
Tell me what can i do besides casting my vote?
Do u have the time to listen to me whine?
Dato, trust me, there are many out there YANG SUDAH MELUAT TAHAP MELAMPAU!

Anonymous,  19 October 2010 at 20:12  

Dato',
What a pity! sedih rasa di hati dapat Perdana Menteri tidak berani berkata benar dan tidak jujur kepada rakyat terutama nya di kampung.
Nak kata kan keturunan nya tak betul tetapi bapa nya dulu hebat.
I hope there are still many UMNO diehards like you around or otherwise mampus la kita Tok! Tak kan saya nak ikut si Aseh tu! Rasa nya Dato' pun tahu-tahu kan?

Anonymous,  19 October 2010 at 20:56  

Dato,

"So he was dressed in a resplendent baju Melayu. The kain samping he wore costs probably RM 40,000. I know. I was his Information Chief."

Just wondering, did you make a typo error on the zeros?

OneMalaysian,  19 October 2010 at 21:09  

Dear Sakmongkol

These discussions are getting a bit too serious, and blood pressures are going up. Can I lighten things up by telling a little joke?

Najib was sitting up late one night putting the finishing touches to the budget. Rosmah comes into the room and says to him: you know Jib, I am so busy these days hosting these First Ladies' conferences that I have no time to shop in London any more. Woudn't it be nice if I could buy all those things I like without having to shop at Harrods. In the budget speech the next day 300 items that tourists like were made tax and duty exempt.

Anonymous,  19 October 2010 at 21:10  

Dato,
Right and great explanation for what is the budget all about...i guessed it will be very usefull for the next budget!!

Anonymous,  19 October 2010 at 21:11  

Duh! Did Najib say he was presenting a budget? Or people just thought he was presenting a budget.

As far as Najib is concerned, his job is to wear the RM40,000 kain samping, received a rah-rah reception when he enters the parliament and read out loud what's written on the bloody piece of paper. Who cares what it says? Najib will still get paid his monthly salary (among others) anyway.

You naive Malaysians!

Anonymous,  19 October 2010 at 21:56  

Actually there are many people (mostly accountants) who wonder what sort of budget was it. It was more of an announcement of projects, not budget. Tax agents are quite pleased with the budget cos there's nothing much in it, mostly announcement of projects only.

But how man right minded accountants are consulted by MSM? also the big firm accountants cannot say bad things on garment cos they depends on garment for fees.

Idiots' World 19 October 2010 at 22:06  

The future generation will pay through their noses in taxes and bet you we will end up like Argentina. It's a shame that there 1Malaysia concept is for business cronies - the rest of is is LAN Malaysia.

MSK,  19 October 2010 at 23:44  

Dato'

Cant agreed more on your observation. Clear distinction between the budgeting and strategy planning.

Don't we have McKinsey around?
Suprised this was not pointed out!!

Anonymous,  20 October 2010 at 00:10  

Najib is the best. Haters go away.

Anonymous,  20 October 2010 at 00:14  

Dear Dato,
Thanks for putting down yr objective and honest observations regarding the budget such that we ordinary folks could see the deception.

Like all the new projects of late proposed by the gomen this budget was full of pyrotechnics which intent was to create shock & awe to 'stun' those simple folks. However they could not fool seasoned folks like you who can see through the smoke screen.

We hope your comments would give the sycophants a run for their money.

Anonymous,  20 October 2010 at 01:56  

dato'

the people who prepared the budget are actually retard, that was why they didn't know about govt's budget nor govt's development planning.

the real kick and same old story the govt will guarantee everything. u know that all the bolehland top businessmen will not venture into any kind of shit project unless govt guaranteeing them of the sun and the moon. 100 % sure profit.

Anonymous,  20 October 2010 at 05:49  

Hishammh
Actually Dato is not the first. It was pointed out by Dr Rafick in his blog under the writing

http://rights2write.wordpress.com/2010/10/15/malaysian-budget-2011-%E2%80%93-a-picture-is-worth-one-thousand-words/

Read Doctor comment reply to AK at October 17, 2010 at 1:58 PM

Kenn 20 October 2010 at 07:48  

Dato'

Pinjam perkataan "jholowed" yang Dato' ilhamkan dalam artikel yang lepas.

Saya guna ia di artikel baru saya, KaBel In My Mind.

Dlm keadaan ini, guna dulu, minta izin dan terimakasih kemudian. OK kan Dato?

Tenkiu! Tenkiu!

hishamh 20 October 2010 at 08:46  

@Dato'

Thanks - that means a lot coming from you.

@hadiah

Thanks for the link

Anonymous,  20 October 2010 at 08:47  

Despite all that you have written about the follies, foibles, lack of integrity, abuses, his honesty of Najib, his government, will you still vote for UMNO if you were a voter in Galas?
I guess you will. That's oxymoronic.

It's like a teenage girl who defends her father who had raped her!

Anonymous,  20 October 2010 at 09:13  

Dato',

I beg to differ. Of course this is the Government Budget because the mega projects in the Budget will enrich selected Superbumis and SuperCronies. These Superbumis and SuperCronies in turn will "spend" their easy money on the luxury cars, luxury watches, designer clothes/gowns, designer bread, boutiques in Starhill, Pavilion, Gardens, etc which in turn will provide "employment" to a few shop assistants, valet car jockeys, etc. Hence this is really a "people's" budget as the Government will hugely enrich certain People. Do you get it now?

Anonymous,  20 October 2010 at 09:14  

Dato'

Can you please write about PNB?

Anonymous,  20 October 2010 at 09:48  

Dato'
What is your opinion on giving 1.3m government servant 1 or 2 bonus?

Anonymous,  20 October 2010 at 10:03  

Yeah, about PNB. Semalam sy dengar di berita TV, semasa di interview, Najib cakap, PNB yg cadangkan, dan ya, katanya projek 100 tingkat tower yg dilhamkan oleh PNB tu mendatangkan keuntungan.

Tak paham saya apa keuntungan nya. Tak boleh kah Najib suruh org2nya check lebih detail, tang mana yg untung, betul ke tidak apa yg PNB dakwa, atau biasalah, consultant dan para pemberi ilham boleh datang dengan angan2 dan figures yg cantik, tetapi realiti nya nanti belum tentu. Orang Melayu banyak buat projek cam gini, bukanlah la sy menjatuhkan melayu, tapi dorang suka angan2 tinggi macam mat jenin, tapi last2 sedar kesilapan ada perkara lain yg tidak diambil perhatian.

Assumption tu kena la fikir, masa depan negara, bukan sekadar untung syarikat yg ilhamkan, tengokla dunia ke hadapan ni lagi 5 tahun belum tau camna lagi. Projek perbandaran kat johor belum sempurna, jambatan ke singapore pun ntah apa cerita, skrg nak tambah ngan tower. KLCC tu untung ke.

Baik difikirkan cara bagaimana nak menabung duit utk negara yg diramalkan bakal bangkrap, simpan ler duit sikit. Lagi satu tak usah ler pakai baju sampai 40,000, membazir ajer tu. Apasal sampai mahal sangat. Itu la pasal org bawah2 ni makin bercelaru bercita2 tinggi nak jadi pemimpin, sebab ditengoknya, jadi org besar2 ni banyak duit, buat duit, senang ler hidup. Itu yg ramai berlumba2 sampai politik yg hancur berkecai, kerja ...huh..belum tau lagi.

Anonymous,  20 October 2010 at 11:49  

Still too much focus on the "feel good,red herring" projects..
Its a bit confusing ;
1> The transport Commission have not greenlighted the MRT
2>Hv planning approvals actually been granted to Tower 100,KLIFD,Sg Buloh?

Now thats its in the budget..is it a done deal?Can our poor civil servants say NO..tremendous pressure for the much maligned civil servants.Thus PM in his wisdom have probably over ruled any nay sayers.And we will repeat the same mistakes as in PLUS,IPPs,LDPs negotiations.Maybe that is the real intent.

But..these are red herrings as far as the budget is concerned.Issue is the EXPLODING OPEX..27 % up n away.And its not emoluments which increase by 10% that is the culprit.Look at the whopping rise in services,purchases ...
And poor civil servants gets the rap...but the hantus are at the top.

Pray that our MPs will cut across party lines and get to the root of the problem.We don't want DSIJ bankruptcy in 2019 to become a reality.

The Tower 100..lets leave it for now..forum for our MPs is the budget n not my house renovation (unless Govt paying for it?)

God help us all

Anonymous,  20 October 2010 at 13:30  

Dato'

Perhaps this song was written for our PM years ago.

"The minute you walked in the parliament,
I could see you were a man of distinction,
A real big spender,
Good looking, so refined.
Say, wouldn't you like to know
What's going on in my mind?
So, let me get right to the point,
I don't pop my cork for ev'ry guy I see.
Hey, big spender, spend and keep spending like there's no tomorrow."

Anonymous,  20 October 2010 at 13:35  

A very good analysis. I may not agree with all of it, but there are more truths than half truths.

Anonymous,  20 October 2010 at 14:50  

Salam Dato',
Saya tak pandai mana, tetapi saya amat yakin dengan maksud ayat di bawah ini.

”And mix not truth with falsehood,nor conceal the truth while you know (the truth)” Surah Al Baqarah 2:24.

Sesebuah keluarga,negeri mahupun negara amat perlu pada ketua yang amanah dalam tadbir urus. Pegangan pada akidah dan hukum adalah paramount.

Adakah ciri-ciri ini masih wujud dalam diri kita or are we a bunch of munafiks seperti ayat diatas.

Anonymous,  20 October 2010 at 17:45  

you wrote, "...The kain samping he wore costs probably RM 40,000. I know. I was his Information Chief..."

do you know what probably means?

so, what else might you probably know?

LOL

Anonymous,  20 October 2010 at 19:18  

Well, certainly Najib is under fire with his silly reply on 100 storey building idea of PNB. And not forgetting RM111 mil Permata programme from our "First lady" compared to RM95 mil for hundreds of SAR...

Memang pening betul budget kali ini...

Paya Besar

Anonymous,  20 October 2010 at 23:43  

The Petronas towers were developed by Ananda Krishnan. If the Petronas towers were such an economic goldmine why would Ananda Krishnan be so stupid and decided to crash out and got paid billions for it?

The fact of the matter is that the project was an extravagant drain on resources. No private entity without deep pockets could afford to manage such a gigantic white elephant if it were not allowed to charge exorbitant rents and entrance fees to use its facilities. If one were to visit the Petronas tower one would not fail to notice that an army of maintenance staff has to be employed to upkeep the cleanliness of the facilities, and another army of security guards to secure the safety of the building in an age of world terrorism.

If Petronas had not been forcefully roped in to do national service by picking up the tab, every visitor would be paying RM50 just for entrance alone and nobody would afford to rent an office at a reasonable price. Only Petronas with deep deep pockets could afford to bleed billions of funds to upkeep the towers. Think about it.

Would Petronas be called for national service again should the 100-storey tower turn out to be an economic failure later?

Anonymous,  21 October 2010 at 09:21  

Anon@20 October 2010 10:03,

Jangan bimbang. Melayu sentiasa yg di jaga olih kerajaan umno.

Projet banguana 100 tingkat tu TIDAK again lugi wang PNB.

Sebab, umno again buat scene sama seperti ‘Rescue MAS’ yg di jatuh lugi olih Tajuddin.

Ya maman lugi ada lah SEMUA Rakyat M’sia yg paying tax!

lan 21 October 2010 at 10:12  

this begs the question, did Najib read his budget before the real day? Otherwise we wont have mentioned underwear bla bla etc

It seems really silly for a PM to read that out alound

Navi 21 October 2010 at 14:32  

Dato,

All these construction works are supposed to create employment. For whom? I can already see another half million Indonesions getting ready to be shipped over. Do they spend their earnings in Malaysia? No it will be remitted back to Indonesia to grow their economy.

Anonymous,  22 October 2010 at 09:41  

Construction tower 100 tu bakal memberi peluang pekerjaan kepada rakyat (assumption) dan bila pekerja2 ini spend untuk keperluan hidup, perbelanjaan yg dilakukan akan spin kan ekonomi malaysia. Itu kalau 100% pekerjaan diberi kepada malaysia, masalahnya adakah org2 malaysia ni nak kerja jadi buruh, melainkan buruh ramai yg datang dari indonesia.

Itu kata kita, mungkin % indonesia kepada rakyat malaysia lebih rendah berbanding dengan peluang pekerjaan kepada org2 malaysia yg lain. Ini kita kena tanya org yg menganalisa dan meluluskan projek, mungkin perkara ini ada dalam pertimbangan mereka, termasuk consultant2 fee yg dicaskan kepada development cost tu.

Secara congakan, ini mungkin menolong membaik pulih ekonomi malaysia sedikit sebanyak. Sebab kalau takda langsung projek pembangunan akan, buatkan inflasi semakin tinggi dan jadilah kita macam zimbabwe.

Mungkin budget nampak tak ok pada org yg tak tahu pasal kewangan dan ekonomi.

Maybe barisan kabinet kena transform, transform ini ada 2 makna, pilih lah yg mana satu sesuai.

Suka tengok ucapan Najib pasal hak2melayu dan harap raja2 melayu berpegang kepada perjanjian sang sapurba dengan rakyat jelata.

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