Najib How on earth the Illiteracy minister Ahmad Maslan is in the Finance Ministry

It is not rocket science to understand that the PM’s Make in Malaysia programme will be derailed without fresh investment. When first world outrage meets third world reality, what we get is a surfeit of legislation and a spiraling deficit of justice. We can enact all the laws we want, but in a country where very few interactions with the forces of administration occur without needing force or inducement the law on paper not only becomes ineffective, but it often turns into an instrument of exploitation. We seek minute perfection at the top, but make do with routine injustice at the bottom, and react only when the injustice turns horrific, preferably in a large metro town involving someone from the educated middle class. The disinterest in fixing the realities on the ground means that every new incident that displeases us, creates fresh outrage and new acts of tokenism. The cycle is seemingly never-ending, and hopes that someday, the realization will dawn that nothing has really changed, have so far been belied.A rule of law is not about creating the best legislation, but it is about creating a sense of predictable order. It comes from people knowing that there is a discernible relationship between action and consequence and that there is a price to pay for crossing boundaries that have been set. When things work as they are meant to, in an everyday unglamorous way. Where getting routine tasks accomplished is an act that is truly routine, and not a heroic endeavor. An environment of certainty needs the uneventful discharge of everyday responsibilities by those charged with these roles.

When a problem occurs, an administrative tantrum is thrown. In praise of boring governance

Saying "The assets are good, I'm sure they will rise again" is hardly satisfactory. Bland rhetoric empty of substance just won't do when RM40 billion debt isn't a big deal? What would happen to us all if this actually does collapse
vitiates the investment climate because of several factors — extreme complexity of UMNO's politics combative and rent seeking attitude of UMNO war lords, aggressive pursuit of revenue targets,The political class has made it worse by often using the department to settle scores with political rivals, upright bureaucrats or even an investigating journalist. Remember the witch-hunt against those even remotely connected with the sting operations against a former defence minister Najib?
 over dependence on judicial remedy dependent on judicial outcome., extensive recourse to retrospective measures, and contentious interpretations of legal provisions. This not only renders the entire process of appeals and judicial review virtually infructuous, it also creates huge uncertainty for investors. The upshot is a strong negative perception aboutMalaysia  as an investment destination. This is not good for Make in Malaysi.These features, which have created an environment of great uncertainty and outright harassment for both domestic and foreign direct investors, must be urgently addressed if Malaysiais to revert to a high growth trajectory.

many ways, this is the single biggest problem that the country- its inability to translate legislative intent into delivered reality. Without fixing this, political will, elusive as it is in any case, counts for little.

Over the last few years, we have seen the gradual emergence of the idea of citizenry. As we transition from locating ourselves in a social matrix to a more civic one, we start depending much more on the rule of law. The ability of societal mechanisms to provide order, and to create a sense of right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable is rapidly diminishing. The societal interdependencies begin to play a less significant role, and the responsibilities shift to more secular structures like the state  transformation and the obvious opportunity of leveraging our abundant English speaking talent. For many of us, that period is best described as a ‘hurricane of happy change’.But as we look around today, that time is almost like a sail in the pond. The earth seems to be spinning at a pace that is dizzy. Over the last ten years, frontiers have been defied and horizons repainted in colours hitherto unknown.

Today, the largest company in the world owes the significant majority of its revenues to products that did not exist till very recently. Apparently, there are almost 100 billion searches each month on Google, up 100 times since just a few years ago. Technology is changing so rapidly that if you are undertaking a 4 year technical course it is possible by the 3rd year that about half of what you learned in the 1st year has become obsolete. A study in developed labour markets indicates that the top ten jobs today were unheard of ten years ago. Do not believe it? Think – App Developer, Cloud Services Manager, Social Media Manager and Sustainability Expert. Get the picture?

What does one do when confronted with change of such velocity? Who dares to attempt answer the question? On the contrary, there is abundant spice to cloud the confusion that business people are faced with currently.  A few weeks ago, a leading daily featured an amazing Indian technology company, Zohology. This company is based in Chennai and is fast becoming the new darling of tech-watchers. Zohology obviously knows how to impress, with more than 100,000 customers across 100 countries on their books. What is their mantra? They believe in acquiring a deep knowledge of their customers and then teaching each client how to do their business better. The story of Apple and Steve Jobs is legendary. The mercurial Mr. Jobs did not quite ask customers what they want; he re-defined their needs with every innovation. Nothing can argue success, but how can we follow a model built by the extraordinarily gifted and delivered with maniacal brilliance?

Then there are enterprises who make their customers ‘work’ for them – when I get on to Google I am helping them enhance their own information about me. The better they get, the more I like them. The more I use Google, the better they get! Duo Lingo is a free service for learning languages. They get users to translate text as part of the learning process. You learn your chosen language; they get a free translator and the opportunity to sell translation services! In the book ‘Wired and Dangerous’ Chip Bell and John Patterson talk about the balance of power having moved from the corporation to the customer because of the Internet. The web has created a market without boundaries where information moves at the speed of electrons. There is a lot of noise and it is growing, making it difficult to be heard. Even as new fortunes are built there are no guarantees for survival. I am pretty sure someone will soon coin a word to replace ‘adaptation’ – there just is not time for all that jazz anymore!Get the picture? Well, I do not. It is a new jungle with amazing opportunity and incredible danger lurking side by side. If you are in business and serious about it, then bear in mind, this time there are no rules.

Deputy Finance Minister Ahmad Maslan will scare away investment if it is allowed be  in the Finance Ministry he tries hard to convince that all's well with 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad) without specifically addressing the issues which gave rise to the misgivings in the first place.The rakyat want clear answers to the questions raised. How can he say "I hope he gets the correct information on 1MDB" when he does not furnish such information or, one suspects, he himself does not have such information?1MDB have never missed a payment schedule, and its consistent ability to raise funds on the international markets and from quality investors, reflects the confidence that they place in the company.The RM40 billion debt is obviously a small problem to Ahmad Maslan. He must think 1MDB doesn’t need to repay it. Not to mention the mind-boggling leakages that came with the borrowing and refinancing

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Najib How on earth the Illiteracy minister Ahmad Maslan is in the Finance Ministry