The uphill journey of economic transformation is looking even steeper, with the private sector share of investments in the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) slipping far below target. The ETP targets the private sector to provide 60% of the investments required to take Malaysia to high-income status by 2020. However, private sector  participation makes up only [...]

‘Dud’, ‘doubts’ and ‘debt’ are three words written all over at least two Entry Point Projects (EPPs), punctuated only by question marks. The investment cost for the Karambunai Integrated Resort in Sabah more than tripled from RM3 billion to nearly RM10 billion in 6 short months. At this price, it needs 2.8 million visitors per [...]

How transformative is our Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), really? In 8 short weeks, 12 ‘labs’ comprising 30-50 experts each researched, brainstormed, and devised 131 Entry Point Projects (EPPs) across 12 National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs). What impressive numbers! But an impression of transformation was probably what all those digits delivered. PEMANDU emphasises the private sector [...]

PEMANDU seems to be delivering on its lofty promise to transform Malaysia into a high-income nation by 2020 with extraordinary efficiency. 113 EPPs (Entry Point Projects) worth RM177 billion of investment and creating nearly 390,000 jobs have been announced. 97 of these are already underway and 1 is up and running. However, while gazes followed [...]

The first ‘D’ in DEEDS is for data. It is also the score PEMANDU gets for figures that “do not compute”. Behind the dazzling promises and public relations rhetoric surrounding the Economic Transformation Plan (ETP) is data that is dodgy. Some key numbers are not announced, and where numbers were revealed, they do not tally. [...]

Is PEMANDU taking Malaysians on a joyride, or can it really steer our country to high-income status by 2020? Its Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) is ambitious – promising to double gross national income (GNI) per capita to RM48,000 by 2020 from RM23,700 in 2009. Such an expansive plan has of course attracted detractors, but supporters [...]

Barisan Nasional bedmates UMNO and MCA both cried foul when the new Pakatan Rakyat government in Penang mandated that all state procurement would be via open tender. UMNO leaders lambasted the Penang state government for causing Malay contractors to lose their ‘rice bowl’ of government contracts. MCA, on the other hand, charges the DAP-led state [...]

The government isn’t Superman (though sometimes its words and deeds evoke as much amused sniggers as the superhero’s vibrant underpants). Recognising that there are limits to government capability, Pakatan Rakyat declined Barisan Nasional’s brand of rose-tinted lenses, opting instead to devise its Shadow Budget through clear glass. The Shadow Budget facilitates the prospering of the [...]

With goodies galore and rosy optimism about the prospects for GDP, Budget 2012 sounds too good to be true. It probably is. Between the somewhat contradictory lines touting subsidy increases while hailing Malaysia as a ‘modern industrial upper middle income country’, our national debt climbs with no concrete ceiling  in sight. Concrete itself, however, would [...]

The truth is, we are all just out to cari makan. But at what expense? The abundance of foreign labour, mostly unskilled, at very low wages snatches away  opportunities for Malaysians to improve productivity and upskill.  Employers hold the trump card – they need not worry about keeping employees happy, or even safe. There are [...]