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Sakmongkol ak 47

ariff.sabri@gmail.com

Tuesday 24 June 2014

Najib's New Economic Model aka Market Driven Affirmative Action in practice



The UMNO people and their spouses need to tell successive bigger lies to cover their previous lies. The water bill of RM300, 000 a year for 2012 is not a figure picked from thin air; it was a figure given in parliament by Shahidan Kassim and is in the Hansard. So is the RM2.2 million electricity bill. It is also from the answer given in parliament.
So- we are sorry your telephone line has been interrupted but we are really not interested to know whether the PM’s wife swims in a swimming pool either.
The university students to whom Rosmah spoke the other day need not direct their attention to an issue that does not affect them; rather they should be thinking about the dysfunctional economy managed by a dysfunctional government headed by a dysfunctional PM.
The chief economic apologist for the country, the guitar strumming minister Idris Jala said our economy is heading to safer waters. The minister in charge of trade, the colourless Mutapha Mohamad a few days earlier said rising CPI indicates we are heading for a higher cost of living regime. Tell that to the RM5000 a month income earner living in KL who is left with RM200 by the time his salary comes. Tell that to the rubber tapper who earns less than RM500 a month in Raub.
You see, liars forget to tell their partners in crime to speak in the same tune.  They contradict each other and tripped over one another.
The blind beggar and his assistant who go from table to table while customers are eating probably collect more than RM20 a day. The BR1M recipient who gets RM650 this year or collects RM1.78 a day has a fate worse than the blind beggar. But these people have not the right to be angry and anguished. They should thank the Lord for getting a government which thinks of the people all the time and distributes beneficence.
We do not need to ask our students to believe everything that is written in the opposition portals. It is sufficient they keep an open mind, read and evaluate the arguments. Using the same principle the students must not believe what is being said in the pro-UMNO portals either. Reading them can cause a diminution of the students’ intelligence.
Water bill.
This thing about the water bill of the PM’s official residence is taken from the answer given in parliament. Unless of course the minister in question, lied to parliament. The answer given in parliament was as follows: 

In a written response to Anthony Loke Siew Fook (DAP-Seremban), Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said RM2,237,788.13 was spent on electricity for the Seri Perdana complex, while RM311,174.25 was spent on water throughout 2012.

So who or what or when whoever and whatever swim and whether the occupants at Sri Perdana are afraid to sleep with the lights switched off are really not of interest to us. 

So my advice to the students, they don’t have to believe what the PM’s wife tells them.
This is a sign of a dysfunctional government. It has to continue to tell successive bigger lies to cover up preceding lies. The government can’t lie to the people forever.
Its posturing on Malay ultra-nationalism, for example is nothing but a mask to hide exactly the opposite to what it does. It has sold out the Malays. Go to Iskandar region in Johor, the area is an annexure of millionaires and the rich from Singapore, Taiwan and China. The Malays in Pontian, in Mersing and in Kota Tinggi cannot afford to buy the properties there. So where will the Malays go?
I once asked the PM what he means by his New Economic Model. That was in happier times when I was in UMNO, a former ADUN and a former information chief of his division.
He responded by saying, NEM is market driven affirmative action. Therein lies the catch- market driven affirmative action. It means, the government will respond accordingly to signals from the market. The free market economy as understood in the west as in allowing free competition and allowing each person to pursue his own economic interests is of no relevance in Malaysia. In this economy, market driven affirmative action means- rewarding those already successful in the market economy further. Effectively this will lead to the capturing of the bulk of the wealth of this country by the select few and the fittest economic actors.
In Malaysia free market means, the ones emitting the loudest signals to invite the required response are the rich, the privileged and the politically connected. So, the government will in the end, response increasingly to the demands and pressures from the select few, the rich and the powerful.
Let us illustrate this point in a particular case. Take the case of the redevelopment of the 19 acres of land on which stands the former PUdu jail. The land owner is the Urban Development Authority- fully owned by the Finance Ministry and controlled by the Finance Minister. It’s charged with developing and redeveloping lands in urban areas to unlock monetary values and also to restructure the ethnic profiling in urban centres. Thus the top executives of UDA could at one time, boast that its mission is to enlarge the presence and participation of Malays in urban economics. The leaders of the government then follow up by making pompous declarations that it will safeguard Malay economic interests in urban areas.
Last year, as many of us are aware, UDA entered into an agreement with the Chinese government to jointly develop the Pudu Jail land. China appointed or selected Everbright Construction Company to enter into a JV with UDA to develop the pudu jail land which is to be renamed BBCC- Bukit Bintang City Centre. There will a high rise hotel, high rise residential unit, and much much more where patrons could walk along magnificent walkways choosing which vendors they want to have their tired feet massaged. It will rival the prestigious Bukit Bintang enclave nearby where patrons walk the walkways and scout out which masseuses can make happy days.
When news of the JV became known to the public, competing interest groups began to make noise and scare the living daylights out of the PM. The chairman of UDA then was accused of betraying the Malay cause and was also accused to be on the take. Dato Nurjazlan had to fend off attacks from Rottweiler-ish Malay Chamber of Commerce people as far as Penang where the Malays looked like people who seemed to have travelled on boats from somewhere and had huddled closest to the boats engines. He had to fend off attacks from nasty politicians like Tajudin Rahman who was probably angered when the layout of the BCC did not also include the building of a casino like the one in Genting.  Nurjazlan had to receive instructions from the finance ministry on what to do with the pudu Jail land. He also had to be contented with lukewarm 5-minute of yes-no-all right sessions with the Finance Minister
After that, the Uda Chairman had to travel up and down to the Finance Ministry to be instructed on what to do. At one time, It was reported the Government decided to drop of the Chinese developer’s US$1bil (RM3bil) redevelopment plan in favour of splitting the prime site into parcels to be developed by mainly bumiputra companies. Take a note folks- bumputera companies!.
Under Nurjazlan, UDA came under fire for allegedly abandoning the bumiputra agenda by not appointing bumiputra joint-venture turnkey investors for the proposed Bukit Bintang City Centre.

Nurjazlan wanted to do business with  China-based developer Everbright International Construction Ltd develop the Pudu land with UDA, which has land but not money to develop projects. But several Umno members and Malay developers protested the deal, prompting UDA's only shareholder, the Finance Ministry, to order a new plan. The Finance Minister, Najib wilted under pressure as usual. the question is , did he capitulate or was he re-assessing opportunities?
The question now is did Najib instruct the new chairman of UDA to hand over the project to Eco World? Where are the strident Malay voices? Where is the Malay Chamber of Commerce from Penang? Where is the walking stick wielding Tajudin Rahman?
There is now disquiet over Eco World getting the project, dubbed Bukit Bintang City Centre, as UDA had called for a tender last September. Suddenly the tender exercise was cancelled. The bidders had bought the RM25,000 tender documents and had deposited a RM1 million earnest money with UDA. The next step would entail short-listed bidders to pay up another Rm25 million earnest money deposits. The RM1 million has since been returned to the bidders when UDA recalled the tender.
The current UDA chairman told his board members that the PM has instructed him to tell members that the BCC project is to be given to EcoWorld. There are no details as to how Eco World got the project. We understand that the Finance Ministry made the decision, not the UDA board," a source said.
The Finance Minister is Prime Minister Dato Seri Najib Razak while the Second Finance Minister is Dato Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah – both of whom have oversight over UDA, which was set up to redevelop urban areas and increase Bumiputera participation.
Eco World has been scooping up big projects since its inception last year and has among its directors, experienced property man Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin, who resigned as developer SP Setia Bhd's chief executive officer last April 30. Liew was SP Setia's group managing director from 1996 and turned the RM200 million-company in 1998 into a multi-billion ringgit international property firm. He quit just over a year after state investment company Permodalan Nasional Bhd bought over SP Setia, prompting rumours he would join Eco World as his son, Tian Xiong, is also a director and substantial shareholder in the company.
Eco World has embarked on a programme to expand its land bank and projects worth up to RM30 billion after a corporate exercise last year. Its joint-venture in the Bukit Bintang City Centre is expected to help UDA trim its debts and raise money for affirmative action projects.
the decision over the Pudu Jail redevelopment will be yet another test of Najib’s commitment to economic liberalisation as the hardliners in Umno, Perkasa and Utusan Malaysia had once criticised UDA for allegedly abandoning the Bumiputera agenda by not appointing Bumiputera joint-venture turnkey investors for the project.
Where are their voices now? Where is Ibrahim Ali? Utusan Malaysia?
UDA, whose assets were estimated to be worth RM2 billion two years ago, is more than RM900 million in debt. It had an outstanding RM104 million land premium for the Pudu site that was due in September 2012 .
You orang sudah bayar kah belum? Don’t let us Celaka you.
Next- Liew Kee Sin as beneficiary of Najib’s New Economic Model aka market driven affirmative action.

16 comments:

Sumpitan Emas,  24 June 2014 at 10:14  

“his tension is made WORSE because he has so LITTLE faith in his own leaders”

"…The onslaught comes when Muslims are at their weakest; CORRUPT LEADERS, INCOMPETENT ADMINISTRATORS, and FEEBLE THINKERS mark their societies. For all their rhetoric and symbolic form, the SPIRIT of Islam is often palpably MISSING from their endeavours…¶…is compounded for Muslims: they appear NOT to have the capacity to defend themselves. Worse they appear UNABLE to comprehend the nature and objectives of the onslaught. The EMPTY bluster of the leaders and the NARROW-MINDED whining of the scholars make them appear pitiful, like PYGMIES arguing among themselves while the powerful giant of an ENEMY is at the GATE…¶ It is the ORDINARY Muslim who senses the immensity of the danger. He is conscious of the potential scale of the battle and the forces arrayed against him: his tension is made WORSE because he has so LITTLE faith in his own leaders…"

The above is extracted from the first and second thread I posted in Din Merican’s blog of 18 June 2014. The two threads quote heavily from a 7000-word essay by Prof Akbar S. Ahmed. At the time of writing in 1993, he was scholar-in-residence in Selwyn College, University of Cambridge.

The relevant blog is entitled “Kassim Ahmad Urges Najib: Show Political Courage and put things right”: http://dinmerican.wordpress.com/2014/06/18/kassim-ahmad-urges-najib-show-political-courage-and-put-things-right/

Anonymous,  24 June 2014 at 10:46  

Saudara Sak AK47,

I was made to understand that our favourite PM, Najib, is searching for RM2.4 billion in lose change for BRIM3.

Called MOF, taklak wang...
Now calling IRB, mintak wang...

I do not know how the system works but IRB cannot be giving out its collections to anyone, our favourite and beloved Najib included.

You may want to check your sources to confirm.

Comments please.

Sekian.
ZorroReMasked

Anonymous,  24 June 2014 at 10:51  

We seem to go back and forth when mixing business and political decision and it's impact on the general recipent is the rakyat. There would never be a good marriage between both when the scope of contention is limited to small size as in BBCC verses the rest of Malaysia. Why has the BBCC development be seen as another project for Malay supremacy in business when it is just a market driven affirmative project albeit the partners are UDA, EPF and Eco?

Politic and business shouldn't be married. Business shouldn't differentiate the players by its races but by its competences meanwhile politic shouldn't spread racial animosity but accommodating the many races with mutual respect. Alienating certain Penang Malay by how they look serve no purpose except for the danger of portraying the writer as racist politician who missed the good old days.

With regards to the massive electricity and water bill, it is just a matter of auditing the penjawat awam responsible to prepare the budget and account for Sri Perdana and get them to clarify. Most probably a lot of government expenses are parked there in the hope no one would question it huh?

Anonymous,  24 June 2014 at 11:46  

On the economic front (ihu uhm), Najib flexes his muscles to make things happen. On the grave issues surrounding the nation, he is no where to be seen or heard.

Indeed, Najib is all powerful in the land of Malaysia (he is not weak as people perceive him to be) but uses his unlimited and unrestrained power for the wrong purposes.

I guess his energies are channeled to the wrong places so much so he has no time to attend Parliament sittings.

BTW, spending so much money on water is no big deal to him as he can get the Rakyat to pay for it BUT wasting so much precious water is no excuse.

Tiger 24 June 2014 at 11:49  

I remember a certain European leader called Ceausescu. He kept his Winter Lodge heated even if he never bothered to use it.
Needless to say what happened when he was brought to trial.

Anonymous,  24 June 2014 at 13:31  

Using lies,race & religion to cover their misdeeds. How low can these people go to? How shameful.

Anonymous,  24 June 2014 at 19:31  

Najib is incompetent and so are the rest of UMNO ministers who only cares to enrich themselves and their families.We the ordinary citizen are coping with rising cost of living and household debts. Najib can afford to buy a $110 million mansion for his son in USA.Damn, we are really screwed by these UMNO morons.

walla 25 June 2014 at 10:04  

The Rakyat are now as incensed as karpp poh pung tioh hhwang.

Anonymous,  25 June 2014 at 16:33  

syed ali alhabshe elit, mana dia dapat harta kalau bukan GLCs ? bukan main lagi bodek najib, arab nak jadi melayu ? anggap diri mrk keturunan Nabi; di belakang anggap Melayu bodoh. Nak ampu pulak Melayu Pulau Pinang, berapa yg asli lagi. Tak perlulah, ramai kita pun ada sanak saudara di sana, dah keluar UMNO. Di depan bukan main puji lagi, jadi umno chief, pakai baju pahlawan, dah mula keluar pelbagai kenyataan : NPC tak bersalah ? !! jgn beri kebebasan bersuara, mimpi nak jadi DPM ke ?

bruno 26 June 2014 at 07:00  

Dato,to accomodate rejects from the Mca and Gerakan,Najib now have an over bloated cabinet.To keep Umno/BN in power Najib is now calling for Umno members to 'hormating' the militants fighting for Isis.Only in Malaysia.Malaysia mesti boleh.

Anonymous,  26 June 2014 at 12:06  

Dear bruno

Truly an irresponsible statement from the 1PM. Glorifying militants and "religious" extremists.

He does not realise that militants who return home to Malaysia are likely to try to topple his UMNO Baru-BN regime too and create a Caliphate?
And that they will chop off the hands of thieves - petty thieves as well as big time kleptocrats ?

Phua Kai Lit

Anonymous,  26 June 2014 at 18:06  

If the Mayor of Petaling Jaya Alinah Ahmad has served in diligence and accountability, doing measurable extensive good sustainable works and developments for all residents and the business communities, yeah, extend her tenure for another term. However, she would surely like to brief MB TS Khalid and the exco regularly and work with a time frame. Yeah as she listens with her ear and heart, she deserves all the support and work alongside her. And her team, trimmed to showcasing only absolute work and the communities. The circus like of BN style is obsolete.

It is incredibly amazing to see the brilliant art works of Ernest Zacharevic with varsities good friends; in Penang and Ipoh next. But there's a gap in PJ.

How about he's commissioned to paint the faces of all the favorite bloggers here and Sak brainstorming political ideas over cuppas ? And Dato SE pouring over an encyclopaedia, whilst Dato Bruno, Dr. Phua Kai Lit, Dato Seri Walla, Dato Looes 74, Dato Siang Malam, Tun Tok Cik and Tun Sak peering over the latest discoveries of the future PM candidates, Rafizi and Nurul Izzah ? me ? the new face on traffic lights in PJ, calibrating, jamming apps and stopping all traffic including UMNO's elite outriders for sofea..ok ? Lawak saje..

Anonymous,  26 June 2014 at 22:16  

If they are in Malaysia the ISIS will be fighting the UMNO Baru/BN .

Anonymous,  26 June 2014 at 22:21  

Under Najib economic model:
Rompak Rakyat di dahulukan

1.0 Lew make billion out of PNB
2.0 Ananda made billions out IMDB
3.0 YTL made billions out of TNB

He has wrecked : FELDA, UDA next in line Tabung Haji and PETRONAS

Anonymous,  26 June 2014 at 23:47  

Sak, let me the first to "celaka" muka2 pantat babi ni. Lansung tak tahu malu akan kerja2 keji ni. Tak cukup2 lagi nak makan duit haram. Sayang nya masih ramai lagi melayu yang tak sedar2 akan pengkhianatan ni. Malang sungguh melayu2 ni.

Anonymous,  27 June 2014 at 22:26  

42 of the cabinet ministers / all the deputies should have been ejected and replaced by OR at least 12 seats have been allocated to the deserving PAKATAN elected representatives !!

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