‘Goodies for Cronies’ Budget

Anwar Ibrahim’s wet dreams, translated into the fake enticing show for the gullibles

The Belanjawan Pakatan Rakyat, vastly circulated in the cybersphere since a few days ago is much like Buku Jingga. It is designed to attract attention especially the larger but immature and gullible young voters without outlining clearly the practicality and implementable policies. This is very much Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim’s thought process, promising different things for different groups and now aggregated into one, regardless how contradictory it may be.

Abolishment of PTPTN is very much music to many ears of the young Malaysians. It means that Federal Government and the nation provide near 100% subsidy for education, up to the tertiary level. The amount of loan that a graduate has to payback is just 25% of the real cost for a student to be put through tertiary education. It means with the 100% subsidy, each tertiary student need not to take up ownership of anything at all, even to develop them.

That is like pampering students to the maximum and not teaching them to even strive in the reality and dynamism of the modern world challenges.

Minimum wage is very much the hope of many young Malaysians. In July, Ministry of Human Resources (MOHR) announced that minimum wage would start from RM 900.00. It is good from the perspective of the society. However, for some industries, it is a mainly increase cost of production burden. For the SME/Is, forced minimum wage probably would burden them with 5-6% of increased cost of production. That is probably the much needed margin.

Now, imagine PR wanted to impose a RM 1,100.00 minimum wage. It would naturally excite the workforce segment of society and the Gen Y upcoming workforce. However, the ability to continuously employ a workforce is dependent on the  economic survival of the firm.

PR also is confident of targeting a minimum household income of RM 4,000.00 within the five years they have the power. That is really doubtful because they don’t seem to have a a new strategic plan on how to increase the economic activities, value and eventually the gross national income. Even in Selangor, the most wealthiest state within the Federation where PR has ruled and managed, they are unable to do that. And yet, more economic activities and people migration happened through out these four and half years.

Then, it is also about reducing cost of living. It is good and noble intention, in the times where the world saw escalating cost of living across the board, particularly cost of production and finance have gone up. How to achieve this, is not spelt. Pure abstract, just to create attention and excite.

PR’s ‘Affordable Housing’ is really interesting. Not that they actually heeded what we discussed here in BigDogDotComa month ago. It an attempt to excite the rakyat again, PR introduced a concept of ‘shared ownership’ as a method for ‘affordable housing’. A buyer would just come up with only 25% of the cost of acquisition where else a specific agency would pay upfront for the remaining cost.

This is not a full-proof proposal because the mechanism for this ‘shared ownership’ is not outlined nor specified. The few who have glanced through the PR Belanjawan have the impression that these ‘agencies’ for this scheme would be somewhat already translated in how Selangor PKR Government deal and treated Talam Corporation in the Talam-gate scandal.

In this Belanjawan Pakatan Rakyat Anwar Ibrahim wanted all CEOs and management of Government Linked Companies (GLCs) to do a management buy out (MBO). It means that controlling shares of these GLCs, some are providing essential services and strategic in nature, would be hived off to the CEO and his management team. Obviously, these MBOs would mean that a lot of financing and services procured for such massive corporate exercises.

Billions of Ringgit Malaysia would be borrowed and local banks would syndicate some of these financing to foreign banks, locally based or abroad. This is where Anwar ‘Darling of the Neo Con Jew’ Ibrahim’s friends come in. Owning businesses on borrowed funds would give the borrower a lot of pressure and the extreme burden of servicing the commitments. PR is also talking about strong anti trust laws where most of these GLCs now currently enjoy near monopolistic stature in the economy.

This is where the big catch is. Due to escalating cost of production due to external forces, these GLCs’ profitability would be elastic enough to create a multiple effect escalating downwards and even horizontally. It is very true when there is a regional or global inflation or recession. The moment this happens, the financiers would claw in to the borrowers, which are the CEOs and management teams.

Eventually, when push comes to shove, there would be a fire sale by these evil Neo Con Jewish financial empire establishments. For the Federal Government to protect the national interests, the denationalization of these GLCs would cost a lot more money. The worse thing is that, Federal Government may not use reserves to pay for the re-nationalisation but instead borrow from the associates of the same Neo Con Jewish financial empire establishments.

It is white-slavery, at its highest form.

Anwar Ibrahim also wanted to establish a second tier oil and gas companies for oil producing states, Sarawak, Sabah, Terengganu and Kelantan. These state government owned companies (State GLCs) would get outside investments for them to venture into marginal oil fields in a scheme called ‘risk sharing contracts’ (RSC). It is taking over the role of Petronas and none of these states have talents, skills nor experience to do the RSC.

This is actually Anwar getting his Neo Com Jewish financial empire buddies to invest and Ali-Baba-ed these State Government for the region’s much prized natural resources.

In the final analysis, Anwar Ibrahim’s cronies like Ibrahim Menudin would make money. The real end loser is the rakyat because the amount of profits realizable for the interests of the nation (currently being upheld by Petronas) are being carved out and fizzle through the many hands in different levels throughout the whole RSC scheme.

Tun Razak Exchange (TRX), a bold initiative by 1MDB formerly known as Kuala Lumpur International Financial District (KLFID) to rejuvenate some districts in inner Kuala Lumpur into world class financial and capital market hub would be downsized. So will the UDA project for the re-development of the former Pudu Prison. The reason is very simple but clear enough. Anwar Ibrahim’s cronies are unable to undertake and chew into such  ambitious and massive projects. These projects are the type that Soh Chee Wen, Ibrahim Menudin and other smallish entrepreneurs such as Kamaruddin Jaafar and Kamarul Bahrein Abas are able to devour.

The demands of Opposition that Khazanah Holdings Bhd has a dividend policy of RM 2 billion per annum is really peculiar because currently, Khazanah which relies on dividends paid out by GLCs is already dishing out RM 3 billion to the Federal Government.

The bottom-line for Anwar Ibrahim’s Belanjawan Pakatan Rakyat is ‘goodies for his cronies’. In the same breadth, PR takes the opportunity to excite the younger and immature voters with this political and rhetorical circus in being the champion of the rakyat. The truth is, he never outlined how will all of these excitement promises be paid. “Biar papa, asal PR bergaya” - bigdogdotcom