How should we judge a government?

In Malaysia, if you don't watch television or read newspapers, you are uninformed; but if you do, you are misinformed!

"If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing." - Malcolm X

Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience - Mark Twain

Why we should be against censorship in a court of law: Publicity is the very soul of justice … it keeps the judge himself, while trying, under trial. - Jeremy Bentham

"Our government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no
responsibility at the other. " - Ronald Reagan

Government fed by the people

Government fed by the people

Career options

Career options
I suggest government... because nobody has ever been caught.

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?
Corruption is so prevalent it affects English language?

When there's too much dirt...

When there's too much dirt...
We need better tools... to cover up mega corruptions.

Prevent bullying now!

Prevent bullying now!
If you're not going to speak up, how is the world supposed to know you exist? “Orang boleh pandai setinggi langit, tapi selama ia tidak menulis, ia akan hilang di dalam masyarakat dan dari sejarah.” - Ananta Prameodya Toer (Your intellect may soar to the sky but if you do not write, you will be lost from society and to history.)

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Bullshit! Reply to Kalimullah's hogwash

Kalimullah’s reference to the ‘tall poppy syndrome’ seems to have missed the point.. Why can’t he see the difference between success resulting from one’s own ability and success due to political support?

On Tony Fernandes, “He bought a bankrupt airline that no one wanted and turned it into one of the most successful low-cost carriers in the world. AirAsia is a globally known brand that has made Malaysia proud. But yet, there are detractors who claim Tony succeeded because of political support. Hogwash!”

With due respect to Tony and his ability as a CEO, in Malaysia, almost all big businesses require approval from the political leaders. The immediate reaction from some members of the public seems to suggest he is fronting some politicians or he has to make large contributions to ruling party without which, no way can he be allowed the leeway to do much with the airline. For a recent example, he is known to have complained bitterly about Singapore’s refusal to allow AirAsia landing rights. Yet, recently, there was approval – was it a coincidence or due to political connections, which made the difference in Singapore?

I wonder how much of ‘AirAsia is a globally known brand’ was due to advertising hype rather than profitability. Making use of advertisements in the right place like Manchester United created a lot of worldwide publicity, which any marketing man worth his salt would have thought of. Recently, he made a major blunder in betting wrongly on the price of oil, which showed he is only human after all.

During their heydays, who would have thought Halim Saad and ‘Midas’ Samsuddin could fail? While in business, one should be humble as there are many factors beyond our control. Those relying on political support are likely to face problems when there is none.

Just like gambling and share market speculation (short term), businesses depend to a certain extent on luck or whatever one might describe it. So long as you are still gambling or in business, you cannot claim success too soon as you can never tell what will happen next (in gambling) or in the economy within and without the country. My mother used to say ‘one should not boast that one has a good life until one is gone and it is best left to others to describe it’.

On Nasimuddin, “If the APs were removed tomorrow, Nasimuddin would still be successful because he has diversified into property development, livestock rearing, hotels and assembly and manufacturing of cars. His businesses are housed worldwide.”

So what? That does not explain why he should have been given the preferential treatment in the first place, to have unlimited (limited only by the demand for them) APs which could be sold for tens of thousand each. If I am not mistaken, while the ordinary person has to pay the duties on an imported vehicle before he can have it for sale, Naza is allowed to bring in the vehicles first and only need to pay when there was a firm sale. If this is true, isn’t this special favour due to political support?

If even the ex-PM complained specifically about the unfairness of the issuance of APs, there must be some truth in it. Since then, Nasimuddin decided to diversify into assembly of Kia vehicles and was given the approval despite the obvious protection given to Proton and Perodua by Tun. Again it was pretty obvious that had Tun remained as PM, Nasimuddin would not stand a chance. Wasn’t this political support, given by Pak Lah? While we can say with hindsight that he was brilliant in going into car assembly, it does not in any way refute the allegation of having made it with political support, does it? Having made hundreds of millions to start with, being able to diversify his businesses is not such an achievement to boast about.

Naza was lucky to have vain people with easy money from rent-seeking who were willing to pay exorbitant sums to be exclusive and be different. There is a joke among retirees and pensioners, that if an ordinary person were to be given a Ferrari with conditions like ‘to be maintained and used daily and road tax to be renewed upon expiry’ he would be made a bankrupt soon! With this in mind, one can imagine why rent-seekers require loads of cash to maintain their standard of living.

The public is still paying for the protection of our national cars. Besides having to pay higher prices for cars over the years, the AFTA effects meant those who owned any type of vehicles actually lost at least a few thousand each because of the reduction in new car prices which devalued all the existing cars. If Proton were to fail, can you imagine the billions wasted on propping up an inefficient manufacturer? Other than the North-South Expressway, I cannot think of another project, which burdened more people to benefit some.

Can Kalimullah claim that ECM Libra would have been able to take-over Avenue without political support? Can he claim that Bumiputra Commerce’s take-over of Southern Bank was without political arm-twisting?

I am sure fair-minded people are fed up of opportunists making use of nepotism and cronyism and it would be better if they just keep quiet instead of boasting about it.

I hope Malaysiakini in blogs would mention this posting so that our great Kalimullah would spot it.

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