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Letter from Pulau Tikus
 



Foreign investments

The UMNO government threatens that foreign industry will be scared away by the change of state government in Penang. UMNO should look at the figures before getting worked up.

Here are some figures from an article by Gregore Pio Lopez, senior research officer at the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research:  

     “… UNCTAD reports that  …… The lion's share of the FDI stock in developing countries was in the East Asian economies. Together, they accounted for 38 per cent of FDI to developing countries

     “FDI stock in China increased from US$1.1 billion in 1980 to US$293 billion in 2006, with significant jump recorded since the 1990s. If the FDI stock in Hong Kong SAR, the gateway to China, is included, the performance all the more startling. FDI stock in HKSAR alone increased from US$21 billion in 1980 to US$769 billion in 2006….   In 1980, FDI stock in India was only US$452 million. This grew to US$51 billion in 2006.

     “In ASEAN, the star performers are Singapore and Viet Nam. FDI stock in Singapore rose from US$5 billion in 1980 to a staggering US$210 billion in 2006. As for Viet Nam, FDI stock increased from US$1 billion in 1980 to US$33 billion in 2006….

     “Malaysia started like Singapore with an FDI stock of US$5 billion in 1980. In 2006, its FDI stock stood at only US$53 billion, which pales in comparison with Singapore's US$210 billion. Furthermore, for the years 2000 to 2005, FDI stock fell lower than the US$53 billion recorded in 2000.

     "There are several reasons why Malaysia is failing to attract and retain FDI in comparison to the frontrunners especially Singapore and HKSAR. The main problem has much to do with institutions. In the World Bank Doing Business 2007 Report, which measured the ease of doing business, Singapore was at the top while HKSAR ranked fifth. Malaysia was only ranked 25. It takes 11 days to start a business in
Singapore and HKSAR and 30 days in Malaysia, while addressing licensing issues takes 281 days compared to 129 in Singapore and 160 in HKSAR. The WEF Global Competitiveness Report and the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook provide similar findings on institutional challenges in Malaysia. Malaysia cannot emulate China, India, or Vietnam but should emulate Singapore and HKSAR given similar socio‑economic conditions. Lessons from Singapore and HKSAR call for a return to meritocracy in the Malaysian civil service and an arms length relationship between politicians and civil servants.”

 We also learn from the World Economic Forum's Growth Economic Index that we are 24 and in the Business Comparativeness Index 23 below South Korea and Singapore and ahead of the Philppines and Thailand. In innovation we are 60 in UN Conference on Trade and Development's World Investment Report higher than India and China but behind Thailand. In Researches per million people we are at 294, China 633, S Korea 2979, Singapore 4532.

Spending on research and development as % of GDP for year 2002: Malaysia 0.69, South Korea 2.53, Singapore 2.15, China 1.2, Japan 3.12

The UMNO clique has been in control since 1957.  In 1980 just before Dr Mahathir took over from Hussein Onn our FDI was equal to Singapore’s. It is clear that Dr Mahathir’s rapid creation of a handful of multimillionaires was not encouraging for overall development.  

In his study, “Development in Malaysia” (1986) Professor Ozay Mehmet of Carleton University put the problem in a nutshell:  

     “The central argument in this study is that the ruling elite, in assuming the rule of trustees, have emerged as a cartel. In the process they have effectively cornered economic planning and decision-making to enrich themselves while paying lip service to poverty eradication.”

Najib Abdul Razak, the deputy prime minister, nutshells it thus: “we should always consider the party’s interests above all else.”

The police state

Every day reminds us that we are living in a police state. UMNO and its allies attend meetings wearing prescribed uniforms, failure to conform leads to severe punishment as a DAP assemblyman found to his cost when he was barred from the Johore state assembly. Sanusi Junid is sacked as president of the International Islamic University for following in the footsteps of Mahathir out of UMNO. Then the news that the socialist party has after waiting 10 years been registered, reminding us that we are being watched every step. And how has the Pakatan coalition been behaving in this police state? It has banned Islam Hadari. Not very encouraging news that. Sixty years of the police state have cultivated a population immersed in the habit of running to papa policemen to complain about things that annoy them. It does not surprise that we find the DAP leader Karpal Singh reporting Dr Mahathir under Section 17 of the
Anti‑Corruption Act 1997 for “not lodging a police report over the act of judges lobbying for posts."  And yet again for threatening judges during his premiership as claimed by a High Court judge.

And  the former UN rapporteur Datuk Param Cumaraswamy wants Dr Mahathir taken in for sedition. While he was opposed to the use of the ISA, the principle of equality, he explained, should require the Government to consider detaining Dr Mahathir before he did further damage. If you thought that a retired prime mister was fair game judges too are not immune. So we find Dr Mahathir's former political secretary reporting for action against Mr Justice Ian Chin for certain exposures made in court.   Echoes of 1978 still reverberate in this land.

Criticising the Sultan

In commenting on HM the Sultan of Perak's reaction to the transfer out of the religious department of an officer by the Mentri Besar, Mr Karpal Singh backs his argument with the case of Pengarah Pelajaran, Wilayah Persekutuan v Loot Ting Yee. The  case which is a decision by the Federal Court we read to mean that a teacher being a public servant cannot challenge his transfer to another school. How does that case apply to HM the Sultan who is not a civil servant but the head of religion in the state? We  should have thought that even as a matter of courtesy the MB should have consulted His Majesty on the matter. But perhaps Mr Karpal Singh can open our eyes to the true meaning of Loot Ting Yee's case. 

Penang Hill

Now that we have a new government in Penang we hope they will resume to constant monitoring of Penang Hill to see that the trees are not illegally cut down.  And it is no use talking about attractions for the tourists when the beaches are not cleaned up and horse riding forbidden and the water scooters taken off. Tourist guides will tell you that there are tourists who want only hawkers food, a young group that wants only to climb the hill and the few Arabs who want only gold and jewellery But the basic attraction of Penang is its sea and golden sands. Let’s keep it that way

Penang’s punishment

The well known journalist Anil Netto’s reaction to the  government’s acts of “revenge” on Penang for voting in the opposition probably accurately reflects the public feeling.

     “Thank God for the mega setback to Penang infrastructure projects,” he writes.

     “Today, I just want to thank God for confounding the proponents of the mega transport projects in Penang and delaying them (just like he confounded those pushing for the PGCC project). The bridge partners are now arguing about cost apportioning and design costs ‑ and the project hasn't even started! Porr, on the other hand, has not even got off the ground after years of inaction while the monorail salesmen are busy trying to convince the Penang government that the overhead train :
 
  is the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel."

     "All these multibillion projects may not be in the best interest of the state and of ordinary Penangites. Think about this

      “Fact No. 1 ‑ The oil price today is US$116 per barrel (for dated Brent Spot) ‑ and we can expect the upward trend to continue. Can you imagine how much the petrol will cost just to go up and down the bridge in say 10 years? And let's not even talk about the toll.

     “Fact No. 2 ‑ World oil production is close to a peak and it is increasingly more difficult and more expensive to find new oil reserves. Production will not be able to keep pace with demand.

     “Fact No. 3 ‑ Malaysia will become a net importer of oil within a few years and our oil reserves may not last more than a generation.

     “Fact No. 4 ‑ The roads of Penang are already congested. In fact, Penang Island already has a higher traffic density than Singapore even though Singapore has about 5‑6 times the population of Penang Island. How much more traffic can it absorb before it becomes a living hell?

     “Fact No. 5 ‑ The ferry service today is operating at half the capacity compared to the late 1970s. The old ferry terminal on the mainland which collapsed was never rebuilt. No wonder the ferry service does not have the economies of scale that it once did. No wonder there is so much congestion on the bridge.

     “Fact No. 6 ‑ Climate change and global warming are here to stay.

     “Fact No. 7 ‑ More cost effective alternatives have not been considered. 

     “With this in mind, it is amazing that our planners want to take us down the (tolled!) path of unsustainable transport infrastructure projects that promote private vehicle ownership and more fossil fuel consumption and which will lead to congestion, pollution and global warming.

    “Let's tot up the bill for going down this unsustainable path:

     “Second Penang Bridge ‑ RM4.3 billion (UEM is said to have come up with a figure of RM4.8 billion!)

     “Penang Outer Ring Road ‑ RM1.1 billion

     “Monorail ‑ RM3.5 billion

     “Total cost: RM8.9 billion

     “Allowing for further cost escalations, say a total of RM10 billion at least
.      “ This cost is probably inflated, as one expert told me that material costs for the second bridge should not exceed a billion ringgit ‑ RM2 billion at most. Even The Edge business weekly in its cover story this week suspects that the RM4.3 billion figure could be inflated.

     “With a fraction of that RM10 billion total bill, we could do wonders for public transport ‑ and other social spending ‑ in Penang.

     “What could we do with say RM3‑4 billion?

    “* Expand the ferry service and build more ferry terminals at different locations

    “* Introduce trams

    “* Build a cross‑channel rail link perhaps alongside the Penang Bridge

     “   PORR Monorail scrapped

Freehold

The Penang state government has made surprising statements which rather suggest a frustrated letting off of steam. About corporate tax being abolished,  for example. Although it came from one of its capitalists who is also a member of the Penang cabinet it has to be taken as a serious proposal and not something out of a hasty blog. If the state government is worried about corporate tax should it not think also of income tax which is a burden on the lower income groups? And that statement about leaseholds being converted to freehold land.  The colonial government established a land ownership in two forms, freeholds  and leaseholds . Freeholds are forever; it meant that the state never thought to reclaim the land. But they also gave out land e.g. on 99 year leases meaning that after 99 years the land would  revert to the state. Penang hill is an example of land being rented out in  leaseholds of 99 years; they will eventually go back to the state, which is a good thing.  The story goes that someone in the new government  had a brainwave about converting leaseholds to freeholds to get income. But it is not that simple. If, for example, you offer a man a freehold title for his 99 year old leased land how may years do you calculate he should have? 999 years or forever  and how long is forever? That is important because you will calculate the price by multipying the number of years with the yearly rent it is estimated to be worth. I wish them luck

Dr Mahathir

The Mahathir propaganda machine proudly tells us about his C H E Det column in the Straits Times of long ago with the idea I suppose of lending his blog a weight  of history. 

But this disclosure  hardly redounds to his glory. That period  (his first column appeared on the 20th of July 1947) was a tumultuous year when the wave of anti-imperialism was sweeping over Indochina, the Dutch East Indies and Malaya. That Dr Mahathir should be one of the columnists of The Straits Times, the loud

mouthpiece of rubber and tin and imperial interests against the call for independent government is a telling pointer as to where his politics lay in that period. This man, imbued with a colonial contempt for the Malays, emerged from a political waters  cloaked with the mantle of a warrior for the Malays, the theme of his battle song  against Tunku Abdul Rahman  being his spinelessness against the ambitious Chinese.  

Petrol frenzy

The petrol rush which caused traffic jams all over George Town till relief came with the stroke of 12 midnight reminded us of what Penangites are all about - goo ch'ia lian (bullock cart wheel), folks to whom one cent is as big as a bullock cart wheel. This thought cheered us during the two hours it took us to arrive late for dinner,


Sea gardens

   
Garden in the sea    Developers  emboldened by lack of comment of their claim to 'private' beaches are now building gardens right out of the sea

     Surely their legal advisers must have warned them that everything, from the beach stretching out to the sea, belonged to the state. And if  the public picnics  in that garden what can they do about it?

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LESTARI HERITAGE NETWORK
www.lestariheritage.net

for urban conservation


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Index page     Artists 1930-1970     Book review    Cheung Pooi Yip    Choong Ai May    Countdown - a poem    Dismantling of justice   Food guide    An immigrant's story (4)       Letter from Pulau Tikus     The orang aslii    Penang ABC    Pessoc's musicfest  
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The Penang File Issue  60