ZAM: How to make sure you are not a BLOODY FOOL when you are powerful

KUALA LUMPUR - It was the late Azman Atar, a political comedian of sorts in Umno, who used to say that “if you are in power, make sure that you are powerful, otherwise you are bloody fools”, recalled former Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin in his latest blog posting. “Such words are good for politics but not when it comes to managing the economy.”

“The Umno people cannot assist Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak when it comes to managing the economy.”

Najib should not rely on politically-motivated economic feedback from his people, he added, or make politically-motivated statements on the economy.

It’s not the done thing, warned Zainuddin, for the government to get into the denial syndrome. “Of course it’s the work of Bernama, as the national news agency, to help the government maintain confidence in the ringgit, the market, the economy, the government and the country, but the truth must be told as well.”

“The people can help with the economy if the truth is told.”

He recalled that the Singapore Government tended to take the people into confidence when managing the economy during difficult times. “The people were told what they could do to help revive the economy.”

In Malaysia, lamented Zainuddin, Najib has got into the buat tak tahu (pretend not to know) mode as usual or what Kedahans would say buat dak.

Already, added Zainuddin, he can see that the economy is in a destruction mode. “Perhaps, there are those who will consider these as seditious remarks, but a government that’s sincere, with all the necessary machinery at its disposal, can conduct a credible study and investigation in search of the truth on the economy.”

The former Information Minister has noted several signs that the economy is headed south viz. there were not that many buka puasa functions at the hotels compared with previous years and even then these were relatively low-key affairs; sales at the various Ramadan bazaars which spring up every year during the fasting month were noticeably poor, the crowds being visibly thinner; the sales of dried seafood at the hugely popular Tanjung Dawai in Merbuk, Kedah, were drastically down, not even 50 per cent of the market last year; and vehicle re-possessions are on the rise as a result of their owners being unable to settle their installments for months, and the banks are finding no buyers for these vehicles at auctions.

“Just ask the police because vehicle re-possessors have to file a police report before taking back vehicles from their owners,” said Zainuddin.

He continues with his list of observations on signs that the economy has started heading south: zakat collections this year was down compared with last year as many Muslim workers had lost their jobs and businesses reported poor sales; the ringgit was no longer acceptable in Thailand and Saudi Arabia because it continues to decline on the forex market; many are rushing to dump their ringgit for Singapore dollars which is increasingly difficult to get. They hope to make a killing on the forex market; and it’s not possible to control the imposition of the GST effectively.

“On Friday night, I had a glass of teh tarik at a kedai mamak in the Presint Diplomat Putrajaya for RM1.80,” moaned Zainuddin. “This is much higher than at other shops.”

“Publishers have had to stop doing business following the imposition of GST. Utusan, Berita Publishing and Karangkraf, among others, have already ceased publishing their magazines.”

Zainuddin, in summing up, expressed the hope that his feedback would not be considered slanderous or seditious.  - FMT