G25's Expectations Post-GE15

 

The G25 has published a comment on Jan 10 recording their expectations and observations of things post-GE15. I was sent a copy (thank you). The following is their view with my comments in blue.

LETTER | Expectations, progress and reforms post-GE15
G25 Malaysia
Published:  Jan 10, 2023 2:04 PM


LETTER | We, the members of G25, welcome the encouraging signs of growing political stability in the country following the GE15. We hope that this will help .. carry out the party’s pledges in its election campaign manifesto. 

OSTB : 'encouraging signs of growing political stability' may be premature. They are still in the midst of a failed coup to unseat the Chief Minister of Sabah whose aftershocks have not fully reverberated yet. Undoubtedly the coup involved the No 2 with No 1 almost certainly involved. This coup is entirely of their own making. Please do not point fingers at anyone else.

And as you are reading this Umno is having a 'disunited' party assembly where the unpopular president is hanging on simply on account of what fortunes can or cannot be dished out to the ravenous vampires. The vampires can pounce on anyone. Considering that the tottering president is crucial to holding the coalition together, the 'political stability' in the country is really very precarious.     

G25 : We propose that the PM start with “the low-lying fruits” - the reinstatement of the financial and administrative procedures aimed at protecting public interests, especially regarding government contracts and procurements.

OSTB : I am quite perplexed why the Civil Society outfits especially those concerned with corruption are keeping mum on the new super inflated price tag of RM75 Billion for the ECRL project. The silence is loud enough to shatter ear drums. 

Najib was accused of corruption also because of the ECRL project - yet he never went beyond RM60 Billion (Click here). Muhyiddin actually got the project started and it was announced by Wee Ka Siong at RM50 Billion (Click here). The project has already begun and was 30% complete as at July 2022 (Click here).

"The project entails an investment of around US$12bn (RM52.4B). Notably, the project works were suspended in 2018 due to financial reasons. Construction works subsequently resumed in 2019 following the signing of revised agreements."

If indeed the project was costed at RM81 Billion (as Guan Eng said, click here) it was already RM81 billion even before Nov 24, 2022. This means Najib "saved" RM21 Billion. Muhyiddin "saved" RM31 Billion. How did this government jack it up to RM75 billion and proudly announce that they have saved RM6 Billion only?  Is everyone arithmetically challenged as well?

G25 : Some have defended the decision to deviate from the regulatory instructions on the argument that they were too bureaucratic and time-consuming. Others have justified the deviations as necessary in implementing the NEP objective of creating a Malay commercial and industrial community and in restructuring the society.

As much progress has been achieved over the last fifty years in achieving the twin objectives under the NEP, it is now time to return to the proper procedures for implementing government projects.

OSTB : I really beg to differ on this one. The bumiputra commercial and industrial community (BCIC) is as elusive as ever. Especially at the corporate levels. Tax payer funded GLCs, taxpayer sustained monopolies and oligopolies, taxpayer funded patronage contracts do not make a commercial community. 

The presence of an elite Malay "government-contracts" class in the Klang Valley does not restructure much in Kuala Kangsar or Besut. Things remain pretty much the same. 

G25 : By earnestly eradicating the serious menace of corruption at all levels of administration and adopting high standards of governance, it will not only save the country from frequent scandals but will also strengthen the private sector and foreign investor confidence in doing business with the government and its GLCs. 

OSTB : It is high time that the GLCs be also seen as part of the "corruption".  Using taxpayers funds to set up and sustain (and frequently bailout) the GLCs which then engage in businesses which directly compete with the private sector businesses which actually pay the taxes that are used to fund, sustain and frequently bail out the GLCs is poking yourself in the eyes, shooting yourself in the foot and putting 'sand in your rice bowl' all at the same time.

You take tax money paid by the private sector and use it to set up and fund GLCs which then compete with the private sector - ultimately reducing their profits and reducing the taxes that they pay to you the government. It is a circle of self destruction.  It is not a circle of righteousness.

Plus the GLCs have monopoly licenses, they have 20 year, 30 year monopoly concessions, they have oligopolies. And some even helped draft anti-competitive laws which benefit them more than the market (for example the private health care act). 

As a result the economy is grossly uneven. And in a grossly uneven economy there are victims and discards. These include the legions of motorcycle riding failures who deliver parcels and food - many of whom are university graduates. They have few or no other opportunities. Sadder still are those "left behind" unemployed and unemployable youths in the villages and towns. There are also the drugs, the amphetamines, the aberrant behaviours. It is all connected. An idle mind is the devils workshop. You stifle the private sector, you create "unemployment" opportunities. Unemployment creates idle minds. An idle mind is the devils workshop.   

G25 : We, therefore, call upon the KSN to issue a circular to all KSUs of federal ministries and to all state secretaries that the government expects all the administrative and financial regulations to be strictly applied and complied with under their respective jurisdictions. 

Next on the list of “low-lying fruits” are the institutional reforms which were initiated during the previous government based on the MOU that the previous PM had signed with the opposition.  Now that he is in power the PM should complete the reforms initiated earlier.

OSTB :  That MOU was drafted by the DAP.  End of story.

G25 : One of them is on political financing to regulate a transparent system for political parties and individual politicians to raise funds for their political activities. Next, the empowering of the parliamentary select committees to make them the watchdogs of the cabinet so that the ministers are always under scrutiny in their official functions as well as in their private lives.

OSTB :  We should not be naieve. This is not going to happen. There is simply too much money involved. Period.

G25 : A further reform which was agreed to earlier is the separation of the powers of the Attorney-General’s Chambers to create an independent office of the public prosecutor, like the justice system in the UK and other Commonwealth countries. In this regard, we welcome the announcement of Law Minister Azalina Othman Said on Dec 7, 2022, that they have already taken the first steps to initiate this separation through their meeting on Dec 6, 2022 with the AGC and are hopeful that the cooperation between her office and the AGC on this reform will bear fruit soon. 

We would like to see these reforms which have been agreed to in the previous government be immediately brought to parliament for legislation. There is no reason or excuse to delay them.  We, therefore, call upon the PM to show political leadership in pushing them through Parliament.

OSTB : Dear G25 friends, please do not hold your breath.

G25 is also concerned about the issues impacting on human resource development, especially in the education and health sectors. Although Malaysia spends more as a percentage of GDP on these two sectors than most other developing countries, there is great concern whether the country is getting value for the money spent. 

OSTB :  I fully agree. Lets take the government boarding schools. The cost to build one single boarding school campus now runs into over RM50 million Ringgit. This is old news, actual cost.  Running them also costs multiple times the running cost of a normal sekolah kebangsaan. The expenditure per student at a boarding school costs the taxpayer multiple times the cost per student at a sekolah kebangsaan. Does the country get our money's worth? Do the boarding school graduates generate an economic return that is higher than the economic returns generated by graduates of the regular sekolah kebangsaan? The answer is a straight no. The huge majority of Malay / bumipura university graduates are NOT from the boarding schools. They are from the sekolah kebangsaan.  The huge majority of Malay / bumiputra engineers, doctors, accountants, lawyers, dentists and veterinarians are graduates of sekolah kebangsaan. 

And the absolute established fact in this country is that the products of the boarding schools have also ended up in court (wearing orange coloured lock-up uniforms), have been jailed for various crimes and from time to time they run the GLCs into the ground. Someone with basic arithmetic skills needs to do a cost benefit analysis on the boarding schools. What is it that they have achieved that was not achieved already by graduates of a sekolah kebangsaan? They are just an expensive status symbol, maintained at a very high cost to the taxpayer.     

G25 : In education, the lack of quality education is the main problem that needs serious attention. Empowering and building teachers and their teaching competencies must be given the importance it deserves. Teachers must be supported the right way so that they can build a positive learning environment for their students.

With better data and analyses that are being done and tracked, this would enable better management and strategies that can be employed to build on their capacity. Those who are still not able to reach the benchmark should be given the option for early retirement or a strict exit policy needs to be introduced.

OSTB :  There are really multiple "education systems" in this country. You have the increasingly Malay-Islamic "ghetto" sekolah kebangsaan, the ultra religious 'sekolah agamas' and tahfiz, the 'English speaking' boarding schools, the SPM / STPM curriculum, the religious curriculum (STAM), the English language 'O' levels, 'A' levels and Baccalaureatte curriculum (at the international schools and boarding schools), the Chinese and Tamil schools. Plus one more which I deliberately do not speak about.

Among all these which ones produce graduates who benefit the economy and the country the most? Some of them actually damage the country and the society. And at what cost? 

When I was in school in the 1970s we had the Cambridge 'O' Levels and the Higher School Certificate. Our education system was at par with Singapore and the United States. At my university in the US I was granted exemption from some university courses because of my Higher School Certificate results. I could not believe it.

Then the Malay language book publishing lobby started influencing the education policy. Later the religious book publishing lobby also got into the act.  More books in Malay and more religious subjects meant more book publishing contracts for them. And the Ministry of Education always got the highest Budget allocations - up to 26% of the GDP !!  That was a lot of book publishing and book printing contracts. Our education system got hijacked by the easy money book publishers.

G25: The school curriculum and time allocated for core subjects must be reviewed. For example, the primary school curriculum has many hours of religious education, leaving less time for STEM subjects. In primary school, the average time spent on religious studies is seven and a half hours a week compared to the sciences at five hours a week and math at six hours a week.

Making a few of the religious subjects a part of an afterschool curriculum will allow more time spent on STEM subjects during the day, while allowing Muslim students the option of attending the remaining religious subjects after school. 

OSTB :  The South China Morning Post says our school kids can only afford plain white rice with a fried egg at the school canteens. If you ask the Malay kids to hang around after school to attend religious classes who will buy them lunch? 

When I was in school there was just one religious class per week. We did not produce as many rapists, sodomists, thieves, liars and corrupt people then. Or as many drug addicts.  And please note - ALL Islamic countries have failed or are failing. Pakistan and Iran are now imploding.

G25 : Disadvantaged students from both the rural and urban poor are the most at risk of lagging behind and worse, dropping out of school altogether. The Covid-19 aftermath of learning losses is putting them further behind when the intervention programmes are delayed or severely lacking.

OSTB :  Check out all the schools. Not all schools suffered to the same degree from the Covid. The entire school year has been shifted because of the Covid. The mountain has come to you.

G25 : With a weak foundation at the primary level, they would trail behind in their secondary and tertiary years and would not have a chance in the job market in the future. With weak overall performance, especially in English, that employers would demand of them, they would soon become misfits in society. 

OSTB : Again not all schools suffered to the same degree.

G25 : Although there was a Malaysia Education Blueprint Report 2013-2025, which highlights the best practices from other countries, the weaknesses lie in its implementation. In order to improve, the implementation plans must be given priority by the Ministry of Education.

We call upon the prime minister to bring this report up to the attention of the cabinet so that there is a consensus among ministers to bring about the necessary changes.

In the health sector, the government medical service is losing a lot of nurses and doctors to neighbouring countries because of more attractive salaries abroad. Specialists are not well rewarded, causing them to leave out of frustration.

The government should introduce the necessary changes to retain talent within the country. There should be attractive career paths in the government medical and health services, in the universities and in research institutions to create a healthy environment for the top professionals to remain in their scientific, research and academic careers so that the country does not lose them to other countries. 

OSTB :  There is an ongoing case of an Indian medical professional who is suing her superior in the Government service (a Malay) for refusing her application to pursue her specialist medical training. She has cited racial prejudice.  There are three things where you absolutely cannot look at race - food, health care and education. You want the best tasting food for yourself and your family - regardless of who cooks it. You want the best medical care - regardless of the doctor's race, you want the best teachers for your children, regardless of race. You mess with this and you are screwed.

G25 : The government should realise that for the country to move forward with new ideas and innovations, there is a need to invest more in R&D institutions. Studies show that Malaysia spends less as a percentage of GDP on R&D than most other countries at comparable levels of development.

This needs to be rectified to keep Malaysia on the move with the rapidly changing technologies and scientific innovations.

OSTB : I beg to differ. This is a huge subject. Go to the agricultural research institutes. Over decades they have produced tons of research. They keep it locked up. Not commercialised. They do not share their research again because of 'racial' factors. The commercial players (who will benefit from such research) are often of a different race. End of story. 

Think outsyed the box. Take all the taxpayer funded research and development and upload it on a free government website. Then tell the taxpaying public to download it for free and use it as they wish. No copyrights. It has been paid for by the taxpayer. It belongs to the taxpayer.  (Copyrights are useless anyway. People will create same or better technologies in no time).