Malaysia needs to be saved, says Mahathir

Mahathir and the opposition say that Malaysia is going to the dogs and needs to be saved by changing the Prime Minister. You really think so? Well, come live next door to me in Manchester and let us see how you feel after a year or so.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad says that Malaysia needs to be saved. And that was why Mahathir launched his Citizens’ Declaration and his ‘Save Malaysia’ campaign, and now his new all-Bumiputera political party called Pribumi. If Mahathir does not initiate this effort, Malaysia is going to end up like…well…probably like the UK, I suppose.

Yes, I have personally heard many people echo the opposition mantra about how Malaysia is going to the dogs and that unless we change the Prime Minister or the government Malaysia is finished. Malaysians also complain about how expensive Malaysia is, using the cost of roti canai and teh tarik as the measurement for the high cost of living.

LSS wrote a short note on the UK, which you can read below. The UK changes governments every decade or so but still things do not improve. In fact, things continue to get worse in spite of the new government. The solution to ‘saving’ a country involves more than just changing Prime Ministers. It requires a massive structural change, which Malaysians would not be prepared to accept. That is the whole crux to the issue.

For example, if we want to save the UK, would the British agree to pay the same higher education cost as foreign students (no subsidies)? Would they agree to the abolishing of the NHS and the welfare system? This will save the country billions and would be one way to save Britain. Then we can end all these toll-free highways and earn another few billion.

What about human rights? Are the British prepared to lose some of its civil liberties to help save the country? British kids are inconsiderate, arrogant and rude because it is a crime to punish your kids. Last week, a 13-year old kid shot dead an older kid. Gangs and drugs are a huge problem in the UK.

There is currently a gang war going on in Manchester with people getting shot as they step out of their own homes. Last year, Britain saw 26,000 knife-related attacks, some of these fatal. Last month alone, in July 2016, knife-related attacks went up 50%.

The police-recorded crime figures include a 9% rise in knife crime and a 4% rise in gun crime, which are thought to reflect a rise in gang violence largely in London and Manchester. There were also 33,000 reported rape cases during that same period (the number of unreported rape cases unknown) and almost 600 murders.

Of course, if you are very rich and you buy an expensive apartment in a posh neighbourhood of London, you will not have to suffer this problem. But if you live in a city like Manchester in a working neighbourhood, like I do, then the UK is not quite the paradise that many Malaysians imagine.

You Malaysians should count your blessings. Do not believe the opposition propaganda that Malaysia is going to the dogs. If you really want to live in a country that is going to the dogs, then come live next door to me in Manchester.

We have about 20 Chinese families in our neighbourhood. We only mix amongst ourselves (fellow Chinese) and we don’t quite like our white neighbours who we consider most inconsiderate, arrogant and rude — save for a few retirees who are professionals and more decent than the working-class British.

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(LSS) – Over the past 10 years, Malaysia’s debt-to-GDP ratio has grown from 41.5% in 2006 to 54.0% in 2015 while UK’s ratio has more than doubled from 42.4% in 2006 to 89.2% in 2015.

During the same period, the UK Pound has depreciated from as high as RM7.14 in 2007 to RM5.15 today.

I remember last year that many people were complaining and were blaming Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak that the UK Pound went up to as high as RM6.75 from the RM5.25 to RM5.50 level in 2014 and early 2015. But now that it is down to RM5.15 these people just keep quiet.

Brexit is going to make things a heck of a lot tougher for the UK over the next few years. Over the past 10 years, UK’s economy has suffered badly with many recessions and anaemic growth. Their debt-to-GDP ratio has soared, their GST/VAT increased from 17.5% to 20%, they have high unemployment, and their petrol price is one of the most expensive in the world.

At the same time, the UK has experienced more terrorist attacks and their country is getting more intolerant with more racist attacks against Asians, Muslims and, in fact, on all immigrants, even whites.

Somehow, however, many Malaysians still look up to the UK.

Malaysians like to buy houses in the UK and want to migrate there – and these are the very same Malaysians who complain that Malaysia’s debt is out of control, our economy is bad (even though we are still growing and have low unemployment), our currency is useless, our country is getting less tolerant or less safe, our GST of 6% is oppressive, and Malaysia’s petrol, which is one of the top 10 cheapest in the world, is not cheap enough.

Mind-boggling.

To be fair, the UK has “more democracy” in the sense that they change governments and prime ministers a lot. But this “more democracy” does not seem to have helped them much.