Malaysian Economy In Gridlock
Have You Wondered Why After The RM75 Billion Ringgit Stimulus, The Gravy Train Is Pulling At 5 MPH?
And everyday, the opposition is getting stronger as they have the keys to the state vaults, notwithstanding the loot is much smaller than the Federal vaults.
By Matthias Chang
Beginning of last week, the New Straits Times reported that the President of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers said that exports have picked up and that Malaysian businessmen may have overestimated the severity of the impact of the financial crisis on the Malaysian economy.
However, on the very same day, the same newspaper quoted the Governor of Bank Negara, the Malaysian Central Bank, that she had underestimated the severity of the crisis and that Malaysian exports contracted in the first quarter of 2009 by 16 per cent.
I have never taken official data seriously ever since Badawi (the fifth Prime Minister) took power. Now that he has retired and Najib has taken over, no one seems to be able to get their figures right as before.
So, how do I know that our economy has not been doing well and will continue at 5 mph in the next few years?
Let me use a simple analogy.
It used to be the case when the Barisan Nasional had full control of the gravy train as well as all the train stations except one (in the state of Kelantan).
Whenever the gravy train pulls up at a railway station, the station master took the allotted share of the cargo and ensured its fair distribution. It was inevitable that there would be some pilferages, but the amount was not that much so as to cause a ruckus that someone or organization had a bigger share.
Since March 2008, the gravy train could not stop at five stations because they have been taken over by new station masters who have different ideas as to how the cargo would be distributed.
This is the cause of the gridlock!
