Source:  Sections 4.1 and 4.3 of UMNO-Nomics: the Dark Side of the Budget. Written by Teh Chi-Chang, illustrated by Johnny Ong and published by REFSA in July 2012.

  Notes:  Lies, damned lies and crime statistics, 7 Feb 2013, the Rocket, Available at www.therocket.com.my MyWatch’s Allegation: Police Deny Tweaking Crime Statistics, 7 Feb 2013, www.malaysiandigest.com. MyWatch is an anti-crime NGO whose patron is former Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Musa Hassan.

Notes: The World Bank conservatively estimates that 827,000 Malaysians were overseas as at 2010, with Singapore (385,000) and Australia (102,000) being the top 2 destinations. Source: Table 3.7, pg 98, Malaysia Economic Monitor: Brain Drain, Apr 2011, The World Bank.  Many young Sabahans and Sarawakians have sought employment in low-skilled jobs in Singapore, and at one [...]

Note: According to the National Education Blueprint 2013-2025 recently released by the Ministry of Education, 15% of our schools lack access to clean water. 20% have inadequate science labs and 27% have inadequate computer labs.

Everything in life boils down to one thing: choice. Behind every action is a choice, followed by a decision. The Budget itself is constructed from decisions, of how best to spend our resources to deliver public goods and services and development for the benefit of Malaysians. The coming general elections too, are about making a [...]

As Malaysia’s resources start to dwindle, it’s imperative for the federal government to be more accountable in its management of our increasingly scarce remaining resources. For one, Petronas cannot be expected to constantly bail us out of catastrophic mismanagement messes. Also, subsidies for petrol could instead be channeled into upgrading the efficiency of the public [...]

The greedy hog at the table is the one who ends up hogging everything in sight. Aside from very small grants based on population and roads, payments to the state governments are at the discretion of the federal government. On the other hand, the federal government is entitled to all the corporate and income taxes [...]

The federal government’s policies favouring negotiated contracts and gatekeepers such as PEMANDU have fostered an anti-competitive economy, where the likelihood of procuring a contract depends on who you know, rather than how good your products or services actually are. If there isn’t any incentive to improve, human nature is such that there will be hardly any  effort put into [...]

In the run-up to our 55th Merdeka Day celebrations, the federal government has been particularly keen on reminding Malaysians of all it has done for us. Full-page newspaper advertisements and massive roadside billboards trumpeting ‘Janji Ditepati’ (Fulfilling our Promises) and a theme song of the same title make much of recent BN federal government handouts [...]

You may have remarked, whether off-handedly or as an observation, on the seeming abundance of foreign labourers in Malaysia. Well, you can now support your statement with this startling fact: for every ten Malaysians in the workforce, there are four foreign workers. Why are there so many foreigners working in our factories and companies when [...]