Many agencies but economy is moribund
To many Umno leaders, the measure of the party’s success is big cars, big houses and expensive watches whose names they can’t even mention.
A Kadir Jasin, The Malaysian Insider
The Kedai Kopi Assembly (KKA) continues to sit at various locations and with different groups of members throughout the Christmas and New Year holidays.
The economy was a big issue. The members were unanimous that the opposition parties do not have to work very hard to garner the support of the Malays. Being poor, they suffer the most when prices of goods and services increase. The RM500 BR1M is chicken feed compared to the quantum of price rices. In the last general election, these were the people who saved the BN from defeat.
Apart from highlighting their successes in Penang and Selangor since taking over the rich states in 2008, they need only to continue to accuse the BN of corruption, abuse of power and extravagance to gain support.
He pointed out the example of a recent statement by the new Selangor DAP chairman, Gobind Singh Deo. The Puchong MP was confident that more Malays, who are opposed to corruption, will join the DAP or vote for Pakatan Rakyat, which was the subject of my most recent posting.
The KKA noted that the deafening silence of Prime Minister Mohd Najib Abdul Razak on corruption is not the only the issue that is disheartening and driving away the Malays from Umno and the BN. The KKA acknowledge some talks by the new leadership of the MCA about fighting corruption.
If the Chinese and Indians are unhappy with the so-called pro-Bumiputera policies, the Malays are unhappy with the lack of seriousness in the implementation of these policies.
Judging from past programmes, the KKA members doubt that anything significant will come out of the Pemerkasaan Ekonomi Bumiputera (Bumiputera Economic Empowerment) announced by Najib on September 14, 2013. Of course in Najib’s style of doing things, there will be commissions and consultants appointed to handle it.
They noted that the government had created so many agencies in the past to help Bumiputeras. Some we have forgotten. Yet government wants to create more. This is how yearly budget for salaries goes up.
There are (or were) the SEDCs, MARA, Bank Bumiputra, Dara, Perda, Keda, Felda, Risda, Felcra, Ketengah, Kejora, PNB, Pemandu, Prima1, SPNB, AIM, Pernas, Teraju, Equinas, PUNB, SME Bank, Agro Bank, Exim Bank, Bank Rakyat.
A KKA kaki lawak (joker) interjected: “Hopefully Umno does not think that these agencies belong to it since Najib recently said that Umno is a party for rakyat.”
The government employs 1.5 million civil servants and pay them bonuses. Another 10,000 will be recruited this year. Then it created Pemandu and spent billions of ringgit engaging consultants because civil servants are not good enough. No wonder civil servants are upset and some are secretly sabotaging the government.
