Facades of economic success: Do Malaysians thank Umno or bring it to book!

When Mahathir Mohamad took over the leadership of Malaysia from the late Hussein Onn in 1981, he immediately embarked on a series of development programs, corporatizing and privatising national agencies and assets including road-building and utilities.

We all know now that it was a disaster. While the benefits led to a huge increase in the middle-class and there was a rise in consumers purchasing power, the setbacks were towering corruption and massive pilferage of the country's resources. Such a deep and awful hole was dug in the nation's coffers that Malaysians may never be able to recoup the losses even if a new government took over and dedicated investigators deployed to hunt down the loot salted away by the Umno-BN elite.

Spending the people's money like there was no tomorrow

There also massive business failures as Mahathir sought an excuse to aggrandize and mask what was basically grand larceny under the guise of creating a super-class of Malay tycoons. The coterie of hangers-on need no introduction - men like Tajudin Ralim, Halim Saad, Rashid Hussain and Syed Mokhtar Albukhary have had their successes and also their belly-flops. Most required massive bail outs that set back the nation by tens of billions of ringgit. What kind of vision or planning was this? Sad to say, Mahathir was hardly the genius his supporters try to make him out to be . On the contrary, he made mistakes galore and spent our money like there was no tomorrow.

No doubt, the roads and highways built initially stirred the envy of many foreign neighbors including ministers from the Indian sub-continent, who once conceded that Malaysia was twenty years more advanced when it came to road infrastructure. Then came, the Petronas Twin Towers which briefly held the world record as the Earth's highest building, followed by the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, administrative capital Putrajaya, tech capital Cyberjaya, the Bukit Jalil National Sports Complex, the LRT mass transport system and then the F1 circuit, which finished off the last of Mahathir's infrastructure 'legacy'.

Indeed, we could be finished off by this long list of Mahahir's 'achievements'. Even now, the country is battling to stave off bankruptcy by 2019. Perhaps this is why today, after 22 years of Mahathir, we have suddenly woken up from the mysterious spell he cast over us and realized that there is really no such thing as a free lunch. We, the ordinary folk, have to pay for it! And frankly, if we had done it ourselves, the jobs would have been 1,000 times better and 10,000 times cheaper!

Money-making schemes not national projects

The fact is all the projects implemented by Mahathir were money-making schemes to enrich select Umno leaders and many were not business savvy. This is why all the money went down the drain. Almost all the Mahathir-incubated 'Daim Boys' failed spectacularly. During bad times, our funds were plundered even more and are still being plundered. And as the funds depleted, UMNO borrowed more and more until now the outstanding debt figure is more than RM445 billion.

We are still paying for the roads and highways now. The Petronas Towers are still not fully occupied. KLIA is deteriorating, so much so that until now MAHB, the management company of the airport, is struggling for more money and cannot cater for the increase in air travel. Putrajaya is also deteriorating due to poor maintenance, with its nightmarish and confusing road signs. After all these years, it is still a ghost town at night.

Cyberjaya too failed to attract investors and the IT incubator facility has never been fully occupied as there are competitors all over the country. The Bukit Jalil National Sports Complex is under-utilized, deteriorating and also falling apart. The LRT had to be bailed out and the coaches are always insufficient to cater for rush hours. The system has totally failed in its objective to reduce road traffic congestion but is a boon to foreigner workers. The F1 is losing money and the complex is a white elephant.

All these infrastructure, new townships built and hailed as modernist showpieces, complete with avenues, roundabouts and shopping malls are just facades. Malaysians who had hoped to benefit from these projects - whether as businessmen, consumers or users - waited in vain. Now, hope and aspiration have turned to fear and worry about the payback and toll to the economy. From having high potential of being economic multipliers, these edifices have become a debt burden for further generations. As objects, they are merely mediocre in functionality and remain pariah symbols of endemic and callous corruption.

Malaysia has become mediocre

Another awful thing is that the middle class has stopped growing in number, yet the entire nation is caught in a middle-class trap! What is going on? The whole development that Mahathir initiated, with 'transformation' and add-ons by successors Abdullah Badawi and Najib Razak have resulted in Malaysia being diluted and stretched into being mediocre in everything.

Worse still, our political system, law enforcement, and judiciary have become the laughing stock of the world. Even the social and religious pillars of Malaysian society have been bought by hard cash and used as political weapons.

More disappointing than Badawi, who was asleep during most of his tenure, is Najib. Not only did Najib borrow the Sodomy II conspiracy from Mahathir to persecute Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, he also borrowed Mahathir's 'facades' scam. Indeed, Najib's ETP,NKRA, NKEA, and PTP transformation programs are all facades - empty, hollow and not even pretty!

Najibnomics or nothing-for-nothing economics

Najib’s performance as Finance minister is startlingly similar to the performance of the Large Hadron Collider that fizzled out on its maiden particle blasting day due to burnt-out electromagnets. This was a huge blunder after being hyped as the most expensive and important science project ever undertaken by mankind! The LHC cost the EU approximately USD9 billion and the repair alone will cost USD 21 million.

The economic policies that Umno-led BN government has undertaken under Najib's tenure have not improved the economy one jot. Instead, Najib is known for his Najibnomics which is a euphemism for "nothing for nothing economics". It is becoming increasingly apparent that Najib is totally out of his depth when it comes to the economy. Despite a degree in industrial economics, he has as little sense and flair as Mahathir Mohamad when it comes to the financial management of a nation.

Till now, Najib has no clue on what to do to fix the various problems. It is the same with the education system, the judiciary and not to mention, political freedom. Najib has flip-flopped on many issues and none of the scandals under his watch have been resolved. He just doesn't seem to care, and is only paranoid about his image! Vanity-is-thy-name Najib has failed to accept that his transformation policies are not working and instead are in complete disarray. All, he can do is resort to spin and obfuscation.

Much needed is a large does of reality

But the economy is rooted in reality and require real and practical solutions. Spin could never do the trick. Yet, in true 'Bolehland' style, the Umno propaganda machines stay oblivious to reality and keep churning out the old song, "everybody must be grateful to the Umno-BN for all the successes of the past and please make sure you vote for UMNO-BN again and again”.

The rakyat (people) were ignorant then, but now waves of mocking laughter and red-hot anger greet the current batch of Umno and BN leaders.

Yet - and this is so funny - the BN leaders remain clueless as to why no one wants to give them the time of the day, what more listen to their convoluted lies and false explanations of where the Money actually disappeared to!

Malaysia Chronicle