Umno-BN - developing or mismanaging Malaysia?

If one were to believe Prime Minister Najib Razak, development in Malaysia can only be dished out by Barisan Nasional. In his eyes, his UMNO-BN coalition is the official mascot and brand for all things development. Yet it is plain to others in the country, that UMNO-BN leaders have been busy deceiving Malaysians into believing that the nation’s coffers is their personal piggy bank, with development an excuse to launch self-enriching projects.

Not surprising then, Najib feels the need to get the people in a 'good mood' as the nation nears a public poll widely believed to be called in May or June 2012. To this end, UMNO-BN has gone to great lengths to hand-out money to the people, with the hope of retaining their votes.

But the rush to have 1.4 million civil servants sign into the new Skim Baru Perkhidmatan Awam before the 31st December 2011 deadline has backfired. The new wage scheme for civil servants will only be implemented after a review of the new scheme is complete and a report is submitted by April 2012.

Till then, all civil servants will still receive their wages based on the previous scheme - Skim Saraan Malaysia. The rush to have all civil servants to accept this new scheme was heavily criticized by the opposition and Cuepacs - who argue that even-though there were increases in the pay scale, it was unfair. Some top management officials gain 100% increases in pay as opposed to some lower-end staff who get a mere RM1.60 in increment!

Such imbalance in wage increments is an embarrassment to even propose, but somehow the Najib administration thinks there is nothing wrong with it. The PM himself publicly sets out to create a high income society. Yes, high income but the high income seems to be for the top 1% high earners of the nation, while leaving the other 99% of workers earning just enough to clear the poverty benchmark.

Obviously, the math went all wrong when the Najib administration was putting together this plan to sweeten up the civil servants. But it is really more than a matter of math. Such a proposal shows the PM's heart is not with the common folk. He is an elitist and his instinct is always to look out for the elite, never the masses. Hence the reluctance to revamp and re-negotiate the IPP deals with the power producing crony firms and instead the rush to slash subsidies and jack up fuel prices.

Cash handouts

And while the civil servants are left bewildered by this turn of events, money has been dished out to school children at the rate of RM100 each,  university students at RM200 each and low-income earning households at RM500 per family. But at what cost are these one-off giveaways?

While the administration argues that this is in line with their aspirations to help everyday Malaysians cope with escalating cost of living, what has the government really done to stem inflation? What has the government done in stopping the illegal leakage of money out of Malaysia or the abuse of government funds in failed public projects? Does the Najib administration think that these meager handouts can hide the blunders made by their cronies which cost the nation billions in bailouts?

Varsities sidelined in favor of UMNO contractors

In 2012, varsities across the nation have suffered reductions of 30% or more to their annual budget. Yet, while the budget for higher education is slashed, the Najib administration seems to have spare money to renovate Kuala Lumpur. A total of RM1.49 billion will be spent this year to develop Kuala Lumpur. Why the sudden need to allocate RM1.49 billion to spruce up the nation’s capital?

According to Najib, this was a necessity as the funds will be used to improve various infrastructures making KL more “competitive” on a global level. The Malaysian capital had dropped eight spots to 48 in a 2010 ranking of the world’s most global cities by international management consulting firm AT Kearney. Kuala Lumpur remained stagnant at 75th in the Mercer study of best places to live from 2006-09, but improved slightly to 74 in the 2010 survey.

So, RM1.49 billion is going to be spent to “fix” Kuala Lumpur’s ranking on a list while Malaysian varsities continue to struggle for global recognition as institutions of higher learning. Is the competitiveness of Malaysian universities less important than KL's? It would definitely have been more prudent to allocate a hefty sum into the training of talented Malaysians, who are well renowned for their creativity, skill-sets, innovative thinking and ingenuity rather than to beautify concrete structures in downtown Kuala Lumpur.

Najib must learn to prioritize and it is to be hoped that he is not giving top priority to Umno contractors and builders rather than to the youth of the nation. For example, the sudden urge to give Kuala Lumpur a face-lift has no direct effect on the well-being of the Penans in Sarawak.

Asking people to borrow from banks to buy govt bonds

But wait, the Najib administration has a scheme for those earning less than RM3,000. They can invest in SARA 1Malaysia. RM100 million in government subsidies are to be handed out to Maybank, CIMB Bank, RHB Bank and Bank Simpanan Nasional to facilitate loans for applicants eligible to take part in SARA 1 Malaysia. No need to fight over KL's allocation - the Najib government has thought of everything!

However, public funded subsidies for a scheme that promises annual returns of over 32 per cent for investors are odd. Many still harbor doubts about the SARA 1Malaysia scheme, since the returns are too good to be true. Why sell bonds to the poor? If the government has low reserves in its public coffers, why not sell the bonds to the 1% of Malaysians who have been making it rich through government contracts and projects? There are also plenty of Malaysians on the Forbes list who can extend a loan to the Malaysian government. Or doesn't the Umno-BN believe in lending to 'themselves'?

Highly questionable RM7bil 60-year toll road deal

Yes, the Najib establishment continues to enrich its friends. Recently, the DAP blasted Najib for awarding a lucrative RM7 billion highway deal, to be tolled for a record 60 years, to a company known principally for making and selling granular and powder-activated carbon. This public-listed company, Kumpulan Europlus Bhd will receive a RM2.24 billion government soft loan starting from next year and an interest subsidy of three per cent on commercial loans for a period of 22 years. T

he generous Najib government will even bear RM980 million in land acquisition costs for the highway project. Yes, this company not only gets a soft loan but the government also bears the cost of acquiring the land for the project. On top of that, the lucky company can collect toll for 60 years!

Yet, over and over, we hear Najib and his cohorts scream bloody Mary that Malaysia will go down the drain if Pakatan Rakyat takes over the federal government. Our economy will suffer, Najib and UMNO say. Or there will be chaos. Or both. Well, the economy is already in deep trouble at the present time and there is also already chaos in the way the nation is being governed by the UMNO-BN. The UMNO-BN's much prophesied chaos is already here, full-blown and entrenched. So, if Pakatan Rakyat took over, there can only be improvement.

Change must come

The point is, the obvious mismanagement of public funds will continue so long as Malaysians continue to pass stewardship to the UMNO-BN. Development is not meant to be in the hands of BN, but in the hands of a government elected by the people. It is the responsibility of the government to provide development, and not something that the people must beg for, nor have to be blackmailed into voting for.

When Pakatan Rakyat takes over the federal government, development will be still be the staple of its governmental duties. So what is this nonsense about development stopping if the opposition wins? No, Malaysians should not fear a Pakatan Rakyat government. Instead, roll out the red carpet because development will take place even more and at a far greater speed than before.

Instead of wastage and leakages of at least 90% of the people's money through corruption and cronyism, there will be savings and these will enable Malaysians to demand and enjoy ever improving facilities. And this is the way it should be!

Malaysia Chronicle