Jomo says "strong vested interest resist reform, therefore it is not easy". So what is the DAP, Mr Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng Doing? Vesting your own interests? Is this what the people voted for?

This is from here and here.

M'sians should brace for tough times 

economy facing real problems 
amid intractable external situation 
deteriorating on almost daily basis
warns Dr Jomo Kwame Sundaram, senior adviser at Khazanah 

many of these problems beyond control of govt 

people needed to prepare themselves for hard times ahead

important for whole nation to recognise problem 
deal with it together as a country
forget about political differences and unite

economic slowdown underway 

he said country had been stimulating economy for last 20 years 
“a lot of nonsense going on in the name of stimulus”.

He said the country had to improve in terms of accountability and transparency

reform was not easy 
wish list was very long

“I cannot say what the government is doing is wonderful . .” he said.

“But what they are trying to bring about reform is where there is a strong vested interest, who is going to resist reform, therefore it is not easy,” he added. - Bernama

My comments : 

I agree with Jomo's warnings.  

But I strongly believe that the economy can be turned around dramatically, very quickly and (more importantly) permanently. 

1.  We must remove the monopolies, oligopolies, the GLCs, the useless restrictions and  regulations that have strangled our economy for the past 49 years (yes since 1970). 

This is where the vested interests are not only resisting but more dangerously the same vested interests are part of the decision making process.

Sadly large numbers of our population cannot even begin to understand what Jomo (or OutSyed The Box) are talking about.  Malas nak memikir lah. 

Unemployment is increasing, standards are dropping to extreme lows, high tech, innovation and new wealth creation have disappeared because for decades now major sectors of the economy have been choked off by 'malas nak memikir' monopolies and oligopolies. 

There are only SIX (?) local anchor banks.  These SIX local 'anchor banks' contribute only SIX bank CEOs to the banking system.   How can you create innovation, competition and new growth in the financial industry when you have only SIX large local banks with their SIX CEOs in the  financial eco system?

And the banking oligopoly (their numbers are limited through useless restrictions)  DO NOT cater to the needs of the entire economy, especially to the non-bumiputra SMEs and small businesses. 

We need to liberalise the banking sector (but please regulate them more) to also create hundreds and thousands of bank CEOs in the country not only for Malaysia to become a financial hub but to create a dynamic banking system that will aggressively seek out, innovatively fund and develop local businesses, especially the SMEs.  Liberalise the banking sector - let there be as many banks as the Malaysian economy can sustain. Let the market decide. Let there be more competition in banking and finance. Open up the market.

Instead for over 20 years now, the Ah Longs have been filling this huge vacuum caused by the banking oligopoly.  Because there are not enough banks, finance companies and credit companies to serve the economy. But the Ah Long's extract a higher borrowing cost on the economy. After paying off the Ah Longs, the medium and small businesses (SMEs) have  less money left for expansion and reinvesment.  So they cannot expand as much, they cannot hire more workers, engineers, technicians, accountants etc.

In other parts of the world SMEs germinate new technologies and innovation. And there are banks that finance the SMEs.    Without a strong SME base, there is little technology innovation in Malaysia. Less value added in the economy.   So our exports remain palm oil, oil and gas, electronic products "assembled" in screw driver factories,  palm oil, oil and gas, electronic products "assembled" in screw driver factories etc etc. Same old same old.

So after more than 20 years of this banking oligopoly crap more graduates are unemployed.  Even the Ringgit is crashing. Why?  There is less value added growth in the economy.  Tuan-tuan it is all connected. The headbone is connected to the neck bone, the neck bone is connected to the back bone.   Why cant you people understsand this? 

The people who are dead against this are the vested interests for example the banking oligopoly which is largely GLC based. They would rather see the economy choke to safeguard their tiny patch of money. Yes it is a tiny patch. You are missing a much bigger cake.

2. Deregulate and liberalise the economy fully.

Please fully liberalise the economy. Deregulate more (except for banking. Allow as many banks as the economy wants to have but closely regulate the bankers.) But if Malaysia (and the Malays) want to still exist then liberalise the economy yesterday.

Here are a few examples of liberalisation.

i. About 20 years ago the private universities were allowed to bet set up. In no time Malaysia has undoubtedly become a hub for private university education. Private universities have not only become an entire industry and economic ecosystem but they are producing graduates who are employable in Malaysia and overseas. Thousands upon thousands of lecturers, professors, administrators and others are employed in our private universities and private colleges. A large number of them are bumiputras.  This is a completely new sector that provides so much new employment. The benefits to the economy are huge.

Now the foreign universities are flocking to the country. Xiamen, Nottingham, Monash, Curtin, Manipal Medical etc are all here.  If a Singaporean wants a Xiamen education, they can come to Bandar Enstek. No need to go to China.

ii. We also liberalised the airline industry. Overnite we have world beating budget airlines.  Air Asia has certainly put Malaysia on the air travel map again. Also Malindo and other private carriers. Plus they have created tens of thousands of new jobs and spinoffs for air crews, pilots, ground crews etc. All this is employment.  Tuan-tuan this is employment for your unemploed kids. 

And without a doubt Air Asia brings in millions (10 million??) of travellers and tourists into the country.  They come and spend their money here. All this creates employment and more opportunities for Malaysians.  

iii. The same with 'medical tourism'.   This is a new growth industry that has taken off by  leaps and bounds (mostly in Penang - where the DAP state government has created a more open and competitive environment).  Again thousands of new jobs have been created in medical tourism. Plus our local medical expertise is also upgraded.

3. We really need more high tech, value added foreign investment which our economy is not yet capable of providing.  

Remember the Multi Media Super Corridor?  In the 90s Malaysia was way ahead of other countries in bringing the Internet at light speed into the country. Thanks to Dr Mahathir - who single handedly introduced and created  the Internet penetration into Malaysia. 

We are now at another critical juncture - the Fourth Industrial Revolution or 4IR.  
And this 4IR is going to depend on  Artificial Intelligence (basically software programming). 

The software programming is already here. It has been around for some time. Artificial Intelligence has been around since the early 1980s. But in the early days AI was  very expensive because the hardware requirements are huge. 

So we come to the next step up the ladder. Another critical juncture. What has changed the equation now is new technology for the increased physical capacity to transmit huge quantities of digital data. 

You can now almost design an airplane using a laptop.  Why? 
Because the chips in your lap top have more computing power. 

Imagine the day you can design an airplane on your smartphone. 
That day is coming nearer.

However the bottle neck is transmitting all that data in a hurry. 

That is where other things like 5G come in.  The 5G uses VHFs and UHFs (Very high Frequency / Ultra High Frequency).   The high frequency allows our smart phones to receive and transmit even larger quantities of data.  If it took 30 minutes to download a movie, 5G can do it in THREE seconds.

Because of this super enhanced PHYSICAL capacity of the 5G (it is a physical capacity), the tech wizards and engineers are now impatient and already drooling at the mouth to design products that can make use of this huge transmission of data.  

The tech wizards are already working on a huge range of new products - where machines can talk to each other and make their own decisions. 

(A simple example - your refrigerator can count the number of eggs left and send you a whatsapp message. You can buy the eggs or the refrigerator can place an order from the grocer.)

Tuan-tuan sadly all this "giant leap for mankind"  is NOT going to come from local entrepreneurs and investors - belum lagi. Not for a long time. We need the foreign investors. We need the technology value added foreign investors. 

We dont need Yemeni restaurants, Arab 'banks', Rohingya gangs, Nigerian money scammers,  Zakir Naik or who is going to "semburit" with whom (what a disgusting word, it is in the Kamus Dewan). 

Tuan-Tuan please bangun daripada tidor.   
Your children are already 'unemployed graduates'. 

Now we come to Jomo's  jaw breaker 

“But what they are trying to bring about reform is where there is a strong vested interest, who is going to resist reform, therefore it is not easy,” he added. - Bernama



(The sentence structure above is poor and grammatically incorrect).

Tuan-Tuan saudara Melayu, please believe me, these vested interests are very, very few.  But they are rich. 

They are rich because they are sucking opportunities from you and your children. That is why the unemployment is increasing. Remember it is all connected.

They are not rich because of their own effort. They are rich because they can use money to buy their monopolies, buy their oligopolies, buy the licenses, permits, exclusivity etc. Not because of their competitive skills.

If the government gives you  (yes you) a monopoly over the access to all the Taman Negara in Peninsula Malaysia (through Perhilitan) then you too can become rich.

If the State government amends the State legislation and says that ALL mobile phone companies must go through ONE COMPANY only to set up those transponder towers in that State to YOU, then you too will also become rich WITHOUT ANY SKILLS OR EFFORT. 

Tuan Tuan saudara Melayu, the monopolies and oligopolies are making your poor, to suck your money, so that the very few can become rich, at your expense.

Fahamlah, belajarlah dan hapuskanlah monopoli dan oligopoli dalam negara kita.

So what is the DAP, Mr Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng doing? 
Vesting your own interests? 
Is this what the people voted for?

Wa aakhiru dakwaanan, wa billahi wa taufik wal hidayah, wa salamun alaikum warahmatullahi wa barakaatuhu.