Is Pak Lah Overspending Our Money ?

Hantu Laut


The 2009 Budget saw a total allocation of RM207.9 billion. A sum of RM154.2 for operating expenditure and RM53.7 for development expenditure.Although it is normal for budget to increase as the economy grow with higher GDP, excessively high increase in expenditure reflects imprudent fiscal policy.

In 2004, Mahathir's last budget before he stepped down, the operating expenditure was RM80.5 billion and development expenditure of RM31.9 billion.Since handing over to Pak Lah there was a whopping increase of 92% of operating expenditure over period of 5 years, an annualised increase of 18.4%.In comparison the increase in development expenditure was only 68.3% for the same period.

The excessively high increase in the operating expenditure is a worrying sign that there are still high inefficiency,indiscriminate spending, corruption and grossly overstaffed civil service.

In 2006 Malaysia had 1.1 million civil servants, the highest in the region.It would not be wrong to guess that this figure would have increased even more by now.

The total manpower in the civil service shown here doesn't include those employed under government linked companies(GLC) and those employed by states government departments.

We have the highest number of civil servants per population as compared with other countries in the region.

The government have not made any effort to cut down on unnecessary employment and expenditure.All talks but nothing concrete had been done on the ground to bring about the desired reforms.Efficiency and financial probity is still lacking in this homogeneous and overstocked civil service.

Go to any government department and see for yourself how busy our civil servants are and if you need to see any senior officers or chief of department, more often than not, you are told they are either very busy or have gone out for meetings.Ironically, some of those meetings are held on golf courses.

It is also appalling to note the lack of officious determination to correct the ignominious act of cronyism and nepotism in awarding contracts.Many projects had fallen by the waysides or rooted in problems due to this method of giving out contracts.

A perfect example of Murphy's law,where "if anything can go wrong,it will" and not only once but repetitively, is the sad state of affair of the Parliament house, where the roof which has a perpetual leaky bladder has the habit of pissing down on the 'yang berhormats' every now and then.

The total lack of accountability is appalling.There is no semblance of shame from those that have benefited from this most shameful fiasco and no one have been hauled up to take full responsibility.

The cost of refurbishment have been astronomical with initial allocation of RM41.8 million in 2001.Three years later, after completion, the costs had double.In April 2005 parliamentary proceedings were brought to a halt when leak in the roof disrupted power and communications system in the august House.A month later the PWD informed the House Standing Committee the total cost had ballooned to RM99 million.To add salt to the wound and a disgrace to the government another round of leaks occurred in May 2007. Then in May this year water dripped from the air-conditioning vent after a downpour.

Whether we should be amused or angry with what follows after the last episode is food for thought.

Works Minister Datuk Mohd Zin Mohamed said he would present a Cabinet paper to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz for a total rehabilitation of Parliament’s mechanical and electrical systems.

He said it was not a leak but water seepage caused by back flow from the rainwater down-pipe. “As far as the roof slab is concerned, there is no leakage,” he said.

Even more laughable is Public Works Department deputy director-general N. Selvanayagam who said the 45-year-old rainwater down-pipe could not cope with the downpour as its bore was smaller than its original size due to sedimentation.

You mean they didn't change the 45-year old rainwater down pipe and renew the mechanical and electrical systems.Where have the RM99 million gone to? Would a brand new Parliament house cost more than that ?It seems the RM99 million was not spent to refurbish the building but to buy a host of problems and send someone laughing all the way to the bank.

The Parliament house is just one of the many financial blunders that have made mockery of the government.

In Sabah,a couple of years ago a federal project for RM200 million to build the GOF(General Operation Forces) headquarters was abandoned before it even got started.It was given to an UMNO man rumoured to be a legalised illegal immigrant from the southern Philippines.The project collapsed but the man have collected enough money to buy 2 new Ferrari and a few more wives.One of the Ferrari was rumoured to be given to Siti Nurhaliza for her hand in marriage but the pretty lass was smart enough to reject the offer.

There are many other equally distasteful stories that would take too many pages to bring out of the twilight zones.

I think I'll save it for another day.

Don’t knock the economy — it’s fine

Hantu Laut

Malaysian Insider is getting popular as an alternative and independent news portal.I have followed this news blog from its inception to its growing popularity. A news portal with balanced and non-partisan reporting.

The left-wing Malaysia Today (unfortunately blocked by the government but you still can be accessed at http://mt.m2day.org/2008/) and Malaysiakini(by subscription only) which have been around for much longer are more popular due to the increasing unpopularity of the government and the people desire for political and social changes.

Below is an article on the state of the economy:

Don’t knock the economy — it’s fine

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 1 — Contrary to all the pessimism, the Malaysian economy is far better than most people give it credit for. The reasons for pessimism are understandable. Global oil prices are surging, inflation is persistently high, the stock market is torpid, the sub-prime problem continues to bedevil Western financial systems, there is political uncertainty and Malaysians generally do not feel good about the country’s economic health.

The concerns could be misplaced. For the first half of 2008, Malaysia’s gross domestic product grew at a very reasonable 6.7 per cent. The second quarter’s trade surplus clocked in at a whopping RM40.8 billion compared to the first quarter’s RM27 billion. Gross exports grew at a healthy 21 per cent although it was admittedly due to the high prices of commodities like oil and palm oil. Even so, manufacturing exports grew 12 per cent, which isn’t half bad. And domestic demand grew 8 per cent, slightly lower than the 10 per cent growth experienced during the first half.

Fundamentally, the Malaysian economy remains resilient. In the past, Malaysian GDP growth used to track the leading indicator of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries; in effect, when the OECD leading indicator plunged, Malaysian GDP growth followed suit. That is no longer the case with Malaysian growth rates remaining at between 5 and 6 per cent even as the OECD leading indicator fell, as evinced in recent years. This is, in part, due to the country’s luck and the high prices of its natural resources like rubber, palm oil and petroleum. Another factor is the emergence of tourism as a significant growth sector: last year, visitor arrivals hit 21 million, a new record high.Read more.....

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Of Conduct Unbecoming

Hantu Laut

I am not going to walk, touch or talk on the subject of the Budget.Too many have commented, some with hardly a full sentence.We should leave it to the experts to dissect it and come to their own conclusion.This is an imperfect world and just like beauty,imperfection too is in the eyes of the beholder.

It would be foolish to think that the oppositions would have nice words for Abdullah's budget. Anwar Ibrahim although was a former finance minister chose to play to the gallery by saying Malaysia is the only oil-producing country that have a deficit budget.It's pure posturing and grandstanding.He should know what he says meant nothing in macroeconomic terms. There are many other indicators that determine the economic health of a nation, like balance of payment ,external debt,GDP growth and many others that are the essentials.

The United States had been on budget deficit for umpteen years and yet it is the wealthiest nation on earth.Of course there are differences between the U.S. and Malaysian economy, but overall the principles should be the same.

Anwar only tells you one side of the story.He didn't tell you that Malaysia consumed almost three-quarters of its oil production,some directly and some through import replacement, therefore, the net surplus is the quantity exported which is not by any measure considered huge and put Malaysia in the league of oil-exporting nations.If you don't have over a million barrels a day you are considered a non-entity and can't even enter the exclusive club---OPEC.

Oil is not Malaysia's staple export.To look at as a cash cow as suggested by Anwar Ibrahim is foolhardy.

I do agree wasteful spending and corruptions had some adverse effect on the economy but it is not anything dissimilar from the time he was deputy prime minister and finance minister when he had the chance to do something about it but chose not to for well known reasons.

Across the South China Sea, on the other side, in the 'Land Below The Wind' former Chief Minister and former President of LDP Chong Kah Kiat said what the people are witnessing today are leaders who once were lavishly praising the BN leadership barely four months ago, but now condemning the same publicly.

Without mentioning any quarters by name he said "It incredulous.Before we see them hugging and hovering around our PM and DPM and talking highly about them".He said the rakyat have good memory and remember what they have said earlier.

I couldn't agree more with Chong of the low moral standard of some of our politicians.Some of them think they can fool the rakyat with their audacious rhetoric.Some pretend not to remember the abuse of power and corruption they indulged in when they were in power and have the audacity to accuse others of the same.

In Sabah the President of SAPP had questioned Chief Minister Musa Aman on the fresh injection of capital of RM200 million into Amanah Saham Sabah to revive its unit share price.Many Sabahans lost their whole life-saving in this badly managed State investment arm.

The whole of Sabah knew the huge losses at ASS occurred during Yong's time as Chief Minister. This is also the very same man who did nothing about the illegal immigrants during his tenure as Sabah Chief Minister and is now harping and howling at the Prime Minister and accusing him of not doing anything about this long standing issue and ordered his MPs to pass a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The only chief minister that had taken action against illegal immigrants was Chong Kah Kiat.

Some politicians seemed not to have any sense of shame and don't give two hoots of what people think of them as long as they can satisfy their greed.It's telling on your character if with the blink of your eyes you can flip over your tongue and say something in complete contradiction of your earlier statement.

The MPs of SAPP have attempted to remove the PM but failed to do so and the party is still in the BN.

There are two things Yong Tet Lee can do, he either take SAPP out of the BN or failing which, he should resign from SAPP.

That should be the way of an honourable man.

Please Don't Kill The Messenger

Hantu Laut

I view with grave concern the government contemplation of cracking down on bloggers.

If you were given the bad news and are not happy with it should you kill the messenger or do something to find out the source of your trouble.That's exactly what our government going to do with the internet,make it simple and easy, kill it.

In January this year, after the Davos conference, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced that Google is interested in building a data centre in the country. Google is also looking at Japan,South Korea Taiwan,India and few other countries in Asia as possible data centres.Would Malaysia have one hell of a chance to compete with the others with the recent clampdown on bloggers and blocking of the most popular website?

The government have ordered 21 ISPs in the country to block the controversial website Malaysia Today as a prelude to a bigger and wider clampdown on bloggers and websites that are deemed to be anti-government.The government explained here.What happened to the BILL OF GUARANTEES that promised no Internet censorship? Where would the government stands in the eyes of the international community having reneged on its promise to foreign and local investors.

Is Raja Petra one bad apple that's going to spoil the whole damn basket? He might have spun a yarn or two, much to the anguish of the aggrieved party, but why punish the messenger when there are laws in this country to bring civil actions against him for libellous publications.Were there too many skeletons hidden in the closet that deter those who felt the heat of his seemingly venomous compositions to drag him to a civil court to settle the score.

Using the doctrine of fear to silence him have not deterred him at all.It appears the government have found Raja Petra a hard nut to crack and are prepared to lose its credibility by blocking his website which is more a news portal rather than a personal blog.Among other things including his own writings, his website also carries assortment of local and world news and writings from other blogs that he deems worthy of wider audience and readership.

The government is adding more iron to the fire. It's already suffering a serious credibility crisis,instead of simmering down the flame it has added more inflammable material to add to its misery.

For how long could the government stop bloggers from speaking up?

Any further clampdown and restrictions would send them underground, which is not too hard to do for those who are determine.Using a laptop and blogging under anonymity a blogger can move from one place to another using public wi-fi system, it would be hell of a hard time for the authorities to nap him.What than, ban all wi-fi in the country?

I am all for pulling in rogue bloggers and charged them with the relevant laws but to try close down or block websites just goes to show the government have ran out of ideas on how to find the right solution to the problem.It has brought itself to inextremis malady.

For those who truly believe in their political cause being incarcerated is not something that they fear.Anwar Ibrahim spent many years in prison and has come out stronger and more determined to change the political landscape in this country.He may be unstoppable if the government do not shape up pretty soon.