Najib's Do or Die

Hantu Laut

Well done! Mr Prime Minister.That's the way how it should be.A man who is not afraid of losing his job will do a better job.

Najib says his head is on the chopping block for purging rent seekers and political patronage and I believe him.

It's about time a leader take the bold step to stop this despicable practice of political largasse, giving huge contracts to party members,cronies, sycophants and hangers-on who do not have the capability to do the job other than sitting on their asses collecting million of ringgit by selling off the contracts.

The right thing to do is to have fair distribution of these contracts to all Malaysians and where preference for bumiputra participation are required, a special category of tender system exclusively for bumiputra contractors could be set up.There can be a two-category system, one for all Malaysian and the other exclusively for bona fide bumiputra contractors.In this way bumiputras are not deprived of the chance to share the economic pie and can compete among themselves under the new economic model.The other catergory should be opened to all Malaysians including bumiputras who think they can compete with the non-bumiputras. In the case of projects of extreme urgency or of sensitive nature the prime minister can dispense with the tender system and allow the projects to be on negotiated basis.

The present system is a 'catch penny' situation where the person given the contract is only concerned about the money but not the quality of the product.That's why, over the years, we have numerous abandoned projects and sub-standard products delivered to the government and no action taken against the culprit because he happened to be a powerful party member or a rich and powerful crony.The system has made those kind of bumiputras to become the abominable leeches, continuing to demand more and more projects to feed their insatiable greed and laziness.

The ruling party is full of them and think they should be given the handouts as of rights. Where do you think the easy money goes to? Certainly, not to fund further businesses because they have none.It goes to building palatial homes, buying posh cars and branded goods.When the money level is low they would go again for more and if they don't get, they start bad mouthing the leadership and some would even abandon the party and jump to the opposition hoping for better luck in the event the opposition won the elections and took over the government.

I have seen this happening since the formation of Malaysia and you see the same politicians being recycled over and over again.Sabah, used to be the place for recycling politicians but now politicians in the Peninsula seemed to have joined the circus and found the long-term benefits of recycling.

As I have said in my earlier article there is nothing wrong with the NEP if put to its proper use, helping the poor and needy Malays and bumiputras.

Najib needs to change the perception that the NEP is not to make the rich richer but to help give the poor and needy a decent living.The NEP should be retained for that purpose and that purpose only.Under his NEM he can create a new model to help other needy Malaysians the same way as helping needy bumiputras, therefore, providing fair and equitable treatment to all Malaysians.

There are many other things that he needs to revamp to truly show that he is serious about changing the social landscape of this nation.

Some, maybe, painful to do away with but unless he swallows the bitter pill now and takes his chances and between the risk of being castrated by his party members and the risk of no UMNO government tomorrow, I would say go for it.

Do or die!

Below is an article from Time Magazine published on 4 April 2010.

Affirmative action: Bad for growth?

Posted by Michael Schuman Sunday, April 4, 2010 at 9:55 pm

My post today is about a country that doesn't usually get much attention in debates about global economic issues – Malaysia. But don't be too quick to click to the next webpage. What's going on these days in that small, tropical nation is raising interesting questions about the relationship between social justice and economic development.

Malaysia's prime minister, Najib Razak, is in the process of overhauling what is likely the world's most extensive and intensive affirmative action program, called the New Economic Policy, or NEP. First instituted in the early 1970s, the NEP was designed to expand the role of the impoverished Malay community in the national economy. The Malays represent the majority of the population, but back when the NEP was launched, Chinese immigrants and foreign firms owned the vast majority of the country's assets. To fix that, the Malay-dominated government adopted all kinds of rules and regulations that gave special perquisites to Malays. Malay-owned companies received preferential treatment when bidding for state contracts, for example, while the government mandated Malay investors receive 30% of initial public offerings on the local stock market. It was an amazing experiment in social reconstruction.Read more.