Something is rotten in the Malaysian Cooperative Movement

By Thuraisingham Shun, Cooperative Consultant and Advisor, Co-operative Union of Malaysia and
Midlands Co-operative Union of Malaysia

The Cooperative Movement consists of 7000 Cooperatives with a membership of seven million, snowballing to 16 million with family members included. Since inception of the Cooperative movement, the Cooperative Movement has amassed Fixed Assets amounting to more than RM79 million.

(a) Our status as the third largest economic sector has been dragged down as the fourth engine of growth
(b) 80 percent of the Cooperatives are
– inactive
– defunct
– dormant
– have not held their AGM
– awaiting Tribunal decisions and other problems.
(c) Attempts to selectively force Cooperatives to transfer their Statutory Reserve Fund is being resisted with legal action and with proposals to refer grievances to the United Nations and the International Labour Organisation.
(d) Whilst legal actions are pending, the Malaysian Cooperative Commission has blatantly instructed the cooperatives to amend their by-laws and they have come up with their own guidelines, a blatant contempt of court.
(e) Conglomerates like FELDA and MCIS Zurich and other organizations will collapse if the Cooperatives are compelled to transfer their Statutory Reserve Fund. And forced contributions to their funds by the Malaysian Cooperative Commission has resulted in insecurity within the movement.
(f) The Cooperative arbitrative machinery is too slow. Sometimes it takes 5 to 8 years to complete the litigation process.
(g) Contributions to the Education Trust Fund and Cooperative Development Trust Fund have been misadministered and mismanaged.
(h) Millions spent to set up apex cooperative organizations like Koperasi National Sekolah, Koperasi Pembangunan Negara, Koperasi Perumahan Negara, Koperasi Pembangunan Industri Daerah, and other apex cooperatives organizations are in limbo. The recently launched Koperasi Bela Rakyat (KOBERA) nicknamed COBRA is a duplicacy of the defunct Koperasi Pembangunan Industri Daerah.

(i) School Cooperatives are deemed illegal. ANGKASA’s AGM monopolized by school cooperatives. School students voting.
(j) ANGKASA – Deduction Bureau
– abused
– mismanaged
– duplicating training and auditing
(k) Liabilities of Government, as per Audit Negara Report and Cooperative Commission Report, ambiguous.
(l) Funds from de-registered societies being mismanaged.
(m) Rubber Smallholders Cooperatives not under the purview of the Cooperative Commission.
(n) Bank Rakyat and its subsidiaries are being investigated. Complaints have been sent to the PM’s Department, Ministry of Finance, Securities Commission, moving at snails pace. Being dissipated from subsidiaries at low prices. Legal action is pending. NEAC Action Plan has been ignored.
(o) Cooperative Commission is being investigated by MACC and the Police. Process is moving at snails pace.
(p) ANGKASA – being investigated by MACC. No action on its mismanagement. MACC action is too slow.
(q) The status of the Cooperative Central Bank, Federation of Housing Cooperatives and 15 other deposit-taking Cooperatives are in limbo. These Cooperatives seem to be idle with action being followed on nor are the shareholders being informed of the status. Action should be initiated to liquidate these cooperatives.
(r) The Prime Minister’s vision of 1Malaysia has been blatantly contravened by the Malaysian Cooperative Commission with its 1Communinity 1Cooperative.
(s) It is a mockery that ANGKASA, the apex cooperative organisation is embarking to form a Cooperative Bank, when its venture into the Amanah Saham ANGKASA has failed with losses amounting to millions.
(t)The Cooperate Commission has misled Parliament and acquired powers to amend Acts passed by Parliament.
(u) The Cooperative Commission has been accorded too much powers – as registrars as regulators, as enforcers, as managers, as development authorities and duplicating the existing training and audit bureaus.

If remedial action is not taken, the collapse of the movement is imminent. Grievances may have to
be taken to the United Nations and the International Labour Organisation.