Najib“transformation”. a new Android for old phone God save Malaysia

As expected, the recommendations of the Parliamentary bodies and the judgment of the court did not move the Government. The bureaucracy instead let loose the committee route to stall and subsequently divert the issue. A committee of secretaries headed by the Cabinet Secretary was appointed consequent to the uproar on the  Central Pay Commission Report, which precisely did that.Going by what is happening in the country; can someone tell me how can we say that the Indian democracy is a rule of the people, by the people and for the people? It is, to my mind rule of the Najib crony, by the  Najib crony and for the Najib crony Does anyone think otherwise?

IT WOULD be insulting to our readers if we give the dictionary meaning of the word “transformation”. But if you are one of those who keep a dictionary on your breakfast table, a quick glance will tell you that the key operative word in the definition will be “change”. failed to recognise is that when you promote a financial hub, you don't need a dedicated district because in the age of IT, physical proximity is no longer an issue. Rather, what is critical is availability of human resource. If you don't have it, you can import but can you attract talent to work in Malaysia? Singapore is an excellent example of a financial hub but notice that it hasn't got a special district for it. Yet many international financial institutions like banks and insurance/re-insurance companies have relocated there. With excellent infrastructure, low tax rates, high quality dwellings, it is easy to see why they don't need a financial district that foul stench from the Razak family again.

“Change” is not a four-letter word and it has been used liberally and literally over the past few months, especially in connection to the impending general election. that this project is highly unlikely to succeed. Only some 400km south, there is a great financial centre already. There, the government is almost 100% clean like the city. There, you don't find extremist groups causing all sorts of problems. There, you don't find racists and religious bigots irritating and provoking those not of their kind and religion. There, corrupt politicians are so few and far between as to be non-existent. There, life is so much better not only for the locals but also for expatriates.

We will not debate the politicians on their interpretation of the word and instead address issues related to the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and its movers and initiators – Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) – to explain the meaning of the word and its implications.My brothers foodforthought and Roar, as you can see, those Umno Baru cyber troopers, whom I call cyber maggots, are exactly like their paymasters—nothing between their ears. If they have anything in thier thick skull, they'd know that Selangor has made RM2 billion in surplus funds and slashed most of the debts incurred by the last government. It has achieved that despite the fact that it has been ruling Selangor for only 4 years now. That's the reason I have always ignored those maggots' comments, except for one time because the comment was relatively harmless.

In this column last Monday, among others, an important question was raised: “Are government agencies listening and implementing policies and guidelines promulgated by Pemandu?” Today, we have to pose yet a more important question: “Does Pemandu listen to the voices of reason and address the many shortcomings in its system and respond immediately?”It is becoming a fashion now for Najib to announce mega project. He make it sound so simple andstraight forward, just like reading ABC. Everything will be so successfull, no risk and private sector (international companies) will rush to join in. Najib thinks these companies are as stupid as a will come to invest in this corrupt country. It is easy to build blocks of high rise buildings as a model on a piece of plywood, but not the real ones. Those attending the launch look confused themselves. Budu

One major complaint from the public is that government departments and agencies do not address issues raised and instead, choose to procrastinate, hoping that the problems will go away. But when Pemandu, being the forebearer of change, does not practise what it preaches – change in the mindset and thinking of people who run these departments and agencies – then Joe Public should not be faulted for concluding that Pemandu’s existence is a waste of taxpayers’ money. fake guy Najib doesn't have the level of intellect that the taxidriver have. That is why you can see through all the scams. To this pm, all these are his "transformation"-lah. Change the name - Transformation!, change his shirt - Transformation! Rebrand - Transformation, put on a mask - Transformation, put up some slogans - Transformation! TRX or PKFZ 2? Sounds more like the latter. Even the MRT is not planned. They are doing it like "fighting fire". Well what can we get from umno goons. Sad there are 50% idiots who vote for them IGNORANTLY. The rest is handled by the ec to tip the scale in their favour.Same Old wine in a New bottle, doom for failure another think Big Project. We Malaysians know that all these mega investment announcement is just sweet song to the ears. The bilions & billions $$ investment is just to create a feel good atmosphere....thats it. Nothing solid will come out of those announcement. ...Election is very near.

It’s not that Pemandu does not have the resources to undertake the simple task of responding to reports in the media. What’s so difficult in telling the world the nitty-gritty of what it claims to have achieved? The issues that were raised do not come under the ambit of the Official Secrets Act nor do they need extensive research for the answers. Besides, at its beck and call are professionals and experts, public relations and advertising agencies, on whom it has spent millions over the past two years. The government thought that by just changing the name - and voila, you hereby have a transformation and a new brand. If it is so easy then we don't need expensive consultants. Najib, please tell us what is new - other than the usual tax incentives? When investors invest their millions they look for long term benefits. They look at the political sitiuation, share structure (now they are limit to 30%), the available qualified workers and the reasonable ease to do business unhindered by bureaucracy and corruption. Other smaller factors like whether it is a safe place to work with no worry of crimes and the restriction of foreign experts allowed to work in the country. It is not all about monetary incentives and changing of name (brand?); it is not as easy as that.There are several huge projects that have been announced: The 100 storey tower of PNB. The Jalan Duta development by NAZA. EPF's township in Sg Buluh. The old RMAF base project. And now this. Where on earth are the tenants and purchasers coming from? Iskandar is already trying to bring in investors from Singapore and the middle east. Only yesterday we read that EPF has a RM13billion project with Gapurna and MRCB in the pipeline. Many years ago there was a businessman who follows the PM then on every trade mission, and in every country they went to, this man will sign a few MOU to build this and build that, buy this and buy that etc etc. So much so he was called the "Mr MOU".Of course, he is not in business now, and non of the MOU's materialised. Looks like we are having this all over again, except the person who is signing all this is the big man himself..

To make it simple for the Pemandu bosses to understand, let’s have answers to these questions:

•  Does Pemandu recognise that corruption has permeated most areas of society and public perception is that nothing gets done without greasing someone’s palm?

• What can it do to ensure that government departments and their heads comply with policies and guidelines in their procurement system?

• Can Pemandu ensure that an open and transparent procurement system is implemented when it comes to government jobs?

• Will we see the end of the Ali-Baba system which has firmly entrenched itself in the procurement system?

• What can Pemandu do when evidence is presented that contracts were awarded under dubious circumstances?

• Can Pemandu stop the rent-seekers who are used to shaking their legs and collecting millions of ringgit?

• Will Pemandu prop-up and support civil servants who stand up to their political bosses and insist on going by the book?

• And very importantly, will Pemandu as an agency which promotes transparency and accountability, open its books for public scrutiny? After all, it is funded by taxpayers’ money and surely, they have a right to know if their money has been well-spent.

Pemandu may want to argue that answers to some of these questions are beyond its purview but as the agent of change, should it not propose for formulation of policies or for that matter, demand for legislation to prevent such abuse?

It is understandable that Pemandu does not have powers of enforcement or prosecution. But as a government agency under the auspices of the Prime Minister’s Department, surely it has enough clout to compel every civil servant (through the offices of the Chief Secretary to the Government, Dr Hamsa Ali, ha!ha!) to comply with reasonable directives. There are sufficient clauses in the General Orders to act against errant officers or those who defy such lawful directives. But will the big stick be wielded?

As much as many who view that Pemandu may have achieved something since 2010, there are many who have negative perceptions. Pemandu has to take the bull by its horns by addressing issues. It cannot hide behind the paid-for TV programmes and commercials and advertorials. It has to come out with its guns blazing failing which, it will be considered an agency trying to sell ice to the Eskimos.

Media attention recently homed in on the revelation that the United States Olympic Team's uniforms, designed by Ralph Lauren,were made in China. Senate majority leader Harry Reid ignited the controversy by expressing his shock over the decision to make the uniforms in China, even calling for all of the uniforms to be burned. I think most of us weren't as shocked. Many people commenting on the news articles online expressed a "so what?" response. Everything is made in China anyway, right? Today's generation has grown up in what I see as a culture of imports. It is natural that they see no problem with so many of our goods being imported (over 60% of manufactured goods sold in this country are now made abroad). To many of our younger citizens, that has always been the case. It is a predicament of our own making. We enjoyed lowered prices, but now face far-reaching negative consequences.

How did we create this culture of imports? After World War II, America was the lone superpower remaining. The Marshall Plan was ushered in to help devastated European countries get back on their feet. It was a rousing success. American products were the best in the world and it was important that other countries had enough money to purchase them in order to keep our industries growing.

Later, America made concerted efforts to continue knocking down trade barriers and to buy foreign goods. It helped other countries greatly, but by the 1990s, it was apparent that the money was not coming back in equal measure, eventually forming large deficits in trade. Japan became an industrial powerhouse after the war -- mostly thanks to American efforts to help them rebuild their country. We assisted in the drafting of a constitution that placed a newly developed focus on industry. Soon, Japan became an industrial leader in a number of fields, to the point where six of the top 10 best-selling cars in America today are Japanese. America helped many countries back on their feet, and our consumers delighted in the lower prices their imported goods could offer.

At the same time, other countries made purchasing their own domestically manufactured products a national priority over the following half century. As an example country, South Korea created a national manufacturing policy that today has them at the top of the world in manufacturing and industry. Until recently, it was strictly taboo for South Koreans to be caught handling or buying foreign-made goods. South Korea's sense of consumer nationalism has survived to this day, long after a time when it was "necessary" for them to uphold it. This kind of "us-first" thinking lifted these countries and their largest corporations to a stature previously unfathomable. It is easy to see why companies like Hyundai have reached international success when you consider that 99% of the cars on the roads of Korea are Korean-made. This is true for Japan and many other countries, too. Their consumers's domestic buying preferences are a crucial benefit for their private manufacturers. Similar preferences and cultural attitudes have prevailed in Germany, now economically the strongest country in Europe.

In America, younger generations have been brought up in a culture of "free trade," where the pervasive attitude is that "industry doesn't matter." A culture of imports dominates. Manufacturing as a share of total employment has fallen from 30% in 1970 to only 10% in 2011. Other countries have suffered losses in the manufacturing employment sector as well, as a natural response to increased productivity and mechanization. Even with this, the industrial employment of Germany is still 20%, Japan is 17% and France manages to have 13%. Come on, America. Let's use our combined efforts to at least match the manufacturing employment rate of France. It would bring our unemployment rate of 8% back down to the traditional 5%.

In this new race to the bottom, we are trading satisfying, higher-paying, higher-skilled jobs in manufacturing and industry for low paying, low-impact jobs stacking shelves at endless superstores packed with low-grade imports from other countries. Salaries get depressed, unemployment rises, and people can soon afford only the cheapest, usually imported, goods, accelerating the cycle and digging a deeper hole for all of us. Those cheap imports aren't so cheap any more. The exchange became: good jobs sent abroad for which we received low-quality items and low paying jobs.

Those Olympic uniforms are a symbol of our current, culturally caused unemployment problem. We felt comfortable outsourcing the production of everything we used to make, from American flags to the trinkets at the Smithsonian gift shop. As we did with pollution, smoking, and car safety, we need to wake up, recognize we have an import addiction problem, and start making the individual and governmental changes to pull ourselves out of this mess.