NKRAs ?

“Respirar y Disfrutar De La Vida Que Es Muy Corta”

 "Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason" 

Response to Najib’s state of the State report

March 20, 2013

FMT LETTER: From Stephen Ng, via e-mail

A friend asked, “Aren’t you concerned about the state of the State?
Don’t you want to listen in to Najib’s report of the achievements by
the BN Government over the past five years?”
My answer to him was simply, “No! I have already anticipated this was
going to happen the moment the government announced the GTP and ETP,
and all its NKRA. And, I already know what he was going to say five
years ago.”
True enough, when I read in the news this morning: “All the NKRAs have
been achieved with flying colours! Crime index has gone down, income
of the household has gone up, corruption has been addressed.”
I am cynical about the report. The reasons are just simple, if you
follow the logics of a simple Malaysian citizen like me.
Crime Index has gone down: If the crime index has truly gone down, why
residents of housing estates are forced to set up their own security
measures, each household contributing RM50 to RM80 to hire nothing but
foreigners as security guards to man the entrances and exit points?
How often is it that a rakyat can walk in our local “ New York back
lanes” and not feel afraid that there could be a snatch thief or an
extortioner, lurking around the corner? With the number of crimes done
to the children, as parents, do we feel safe to have our children
running around unattended? Or, are our women feeling safe to walk
alone at night?
While waiting at the traffic lights during office rush hours, do we
feel safe having our handphones or laptops at the passengers’ seat
without having the window smashed by some snatch thieves? How many of
us can leave our doors or even gates left open for even a minute the
moment we drive into our homes, without fearing that robbers would
dash in with a parang?
I know many of my friends have been complaining about the presence of
foreigners from certain parts of Africa . Truly, how many of them are
here genuinely to pursue their higher education? Or, are they here to
cause trouble?
How many police reports have been lodged, and how many of these crime
cases have been solved? A more meaningful and measurable index, that
is clearly linked to the effectiveness of the police force would be to
track the number of cases solved. People’s confidence of the police
force would be boosted, if they know that the police report that they
lodge will be treated with a high degree of professionalism – and the
burglars or robbers will be picked up the next day, due to a high
level of performance by the Special Branch.
Ask any Sabahans today and see if they feel their state is safe from
further intrusion by the Sultan of Sulu, especially after 300 armed
men had entered the state without being detected. Was there no
military intelligence to alert the security forces?
What we see today in our political landscape, is the use of Special
Branch personnel to spy on rival political leaders and even civilians,
instead of fighting crime, and the police is used to fight the
civilians in what would be otherwise Bersih rallies, instead of the
snatch thieves, the robbers, the extortioners and the burglars.
Household income has gone up. The prime minister compared the GNI per
capital in 2012 of US$9,970 against the figures of 1957, where it was
merely US$257. By calculation, this is an impressive 4,000-fold
increase of the nation’s income.
If you go a little bit further, why hasn’t the prime minister instead
compared the income per capital of this nation in 1857? The statistics
would have been so much more impressive, but there are a number of
issues with the comparisons made, despite the so-called impressive
growth!
First, why do we compare 2012 figures to 1957? In 1957, the country
had just obtained its Independence . The hills were still covered with
forests. People were still mainly dependent on agriculture. Most of
the money was being siphoned back to the United Kingdom , instead of
being used fully to develop the nation. There is simply no basis for
comparison.
Second, the GNI per capita is a measure of the country’s growth, but
it is never meant to measure the average income of the household or
the individuals. GNI per capital is only meant to measure a country’s
wealth against its population, compared to that achieved by another
country. For example, Najib should measure the country’s GNI per
capital against Singapore .
Najib and BN should leave Putrajaya graciously
If we want to move forward, as a country, we should benchmark
ourselves against the best, instead of talking about the past which
has no relevance in the way we have progressed. A country like
Malaysia , which is so much richer in resources compared to Singapore ,
could have shown an even more impressive GNI per capital compared to
the 4000-fold increase reported by Najib.
The GNI per capital has little meaning to the average household or
individuals. I give you an example. Mr T may have earned millions in
one year through the logging activities in Sarawak . Fair enough, much
of this may be reflected in the country’s GNI. But the money is not
filtered down to the average Malaysian because Mr T is the biggest
beneficiary. It is this kind of distortion to the country’s GNI that
makes statistics like the GNI as an unreliable measure of the people’s
wealth. In my mind, while Najib is talking about fighting corruption,
why has he not even taken any action against the family of Mr T for
the alleged corruption?
Again, Najib’s comparison of the Average Household Income of
Malaysians has risen from RM4,025 in 2009 to RM5,000 in 2012. This is
another national statistics, which has little meaning to the average
man on the street. True inflation, as opposed to the government’s
published rates, is what makes the average Joe having to tighten the
belt just to make ends meet, and drive crime rate up!
Najib should look back at his own statistics why as high as 22.2% of
the country’s population, eligible for BR1M 2.0, has below RM3,000 per
household income! Ask the soldiers and the police, who recently
received their salary raise, are they enjoying a RM3,000 per household
income, when their counterparts in Singapore , a country which started
with zero natural resources, are earning much more.
The money in billions of ringgit dished out under the BR1M is after
all ending up in the hands of restaurants for some, while for others,
it is back to the tobacco manufacturers or breweries, while there are
still thousands of street people being fed by various charities.
Honestly, Najib has failed to realise his much trumpeted goodies have
gone to waste.
Corruption is down. On the contrary, Mr Prime Minister, the people’s
perception is that corruption has gone up.
Forget all about the statistics. Ask the average Joe on the street
what he thinks about corruption. In my opinion, since Dr Mahathir’s
time, corruption has penetrated into every level of the government
machinery and at every level of the hierarchy.
Ask yourself this question: when was the last time that the City Hall
enforcement officer visited the shops or hawker stalls, without asking
for some form of bribery? When was it that you saw blue-uniformed
policemen setting road blocks and issuing summonses for traffic
offences when they should be focusing on the bad hats?
Najib’s report card is as hollow as his lack of answers to the
allegations of corruption involving himself or his dear wife, Rosmah.
We, the rakyat, want to know who demanded US$1 billion from the
Scorpene manufacturer back in those days when Najib was Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Defence?
We also want to know who killed Altantuya Shariibuu, and on what basis
was she demanding money from Razak Baginda? The revelation by the late
PI Bala and Deepak’s exposure of millions of Wang Rakyat, has shocked
this nation, but Najib is still unable to answer the serious
allegations thrown at him and his wife.
The NFC scandal, which has become the highlight recently, is still an
issue which makes people skeptical about the government’s intentions
to raise the standard of living of every Malaysian. Instead of cows,
we have condos. Germany , an industrialised nation with a population of
81.7 million, compared to Malaysia ’s 27 million, is able to produce
its own food, but Malaysia has to import nearly half of its food
products.
Just the other day, Global Witness published a video clip showing how
licenses are abused in the state of Sarawak . What has the government
or the SPRM done about it? I know the former head of SPRM has settled
out of court and apologised to Khalid Ibrahim, Menteri Besar of
Selangor over some allegations, but this issue which has been burning
in the hearts of every Malaysia , the prime minister has failed to
address. Until justice is done, no Malaysian will believe in the prime
minister’s sincerity in fighting crime.
Given what the rakyat thinks, the PM and the entire Barisan Nasional
government might as well pack its bag and leave Putrajaya graciously.
What it tried to do in the past five years is clearly what it has
failed the people after 55 years of being given the mandate.
It has only scored a distinction in the way it hoodwinks and wages a
war against the people as witnessed during Bersih 3.0, and the way it
channels the rakyat’s money to its own cronies since Mahathir’s time,
and spending lavishly (RM3 million) on a short performance by Korean
artists, Psy, while many of us would hardly see RM1 million in a whole
lifetime.