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5/30/2007
Najib's pledge of govt support
Najib was in Singapore selling the IDR. No one can doubt his sincerity and the sincerity of the Abdullah govt for what they want to do in the IDR. They will definitely be investor friendly. After so many years of comparing the nonsenses committed by the Mahathir regime and the Indonesians in Riau, and the no nonsense economic policies of Singapore and even China, they should be able to see the impact of economic growth if the policies are correct.
But the Malaysian politics is as changeable as the weather and with so many kampong politicians in the wings, anything can happen tomorrow. In order for the present policies to be taken seriously, they need to cast them in iron with all the what if conditions stated clearly in the contract. If not, it will become, for future Malaysian leaders to say, "I don't know. It was the old regime. We are now changing our policies."
And the investors will be caught again with their pants down, and pockets empty. And cannot pull out.
Caveat emptor mah. If, as you say, based on previous experience, they have been known to perform policy flip-flops, then the simple thing to do is not to go there, right, no matter how attractive the perks offered are ? If some silly investors insist on going in and 5 years down the track when AAB is no longer PM, and the new PM tells them to get the hell out of Johor, then these investors only have themselves to blame.
ReplyDeletein chinese culture, a verbal agreement is upheld like a contract. For others even a legal contract also want to over turn.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who makes business decisions based on verbal agreemtns are downright dumb.
ReplyDeleteIn the same vein, anyone who makes a legal agreement with SOMEONE whom he knows will not honour it at some point is also downright equally dumb.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's what caveat emptor is all about.
ReplyDeletetrust in the biz community, in govt policies are built over the years and can easily be destroyed overnight.
ReplyDeleteonce destroyed, it is very difficult to recover. thailand nearly lost that when they attempted to grab temasek's stake in their telcos. they realised their mistakes and backed off. their international reputation would have gone down the drain.
the indon also flirted with the same idea and seemed to have backoff too.
how many investors would malaysia be able to convince to go into the idr is a big question. would the singapore govt dare to put their heads on the chopping block after the clob fiasco? this time the finger pointing will not go away so easily if they dare to vouch that the investments in idr will be safe.
Assuming that the IDR do succeed, will the UMNO ultras then force the Abdullah Government or whomever is in power to just tweek (not necessarily change) the conditions in the IDR to suit the Bumiputras? When success is assured, they will have no qualms about doing that, just like what happens in Shenzhen, China. After all, certain elements in Malaysia were even telling the Chinese and Indians that if they do not like the Bumiputra policy, they are free to leave the country, which they say belongs to them.
ReplyDeleteOh, there is no doubt in my mind that is exactly what they will do. Najib is on the last legs of his political career as the knives for him have now come out and are just waiting to be buried in his back. When tge time to do the flip-flop comes, they will say it was Najib who made the promise, and he is no longer around. Why do you think they sent him to do the roadshow ?
ReplyDeleteNo matter how many times they promised that this time will be different, Malaysia has been one of the region's greatest flip flops and that fact cant be easily disputed. Just look at the past policies like the property flip flops and many other examples, and think abt that. If you drive into JB and dont get your car stolen or your teeth knocked off, you are just one lucky fella. Someone just went in and got his body tattoed with parangs against his will. There is a girl who got gang banged there too. Yes, they will improve and change their spots someday, believe them?
ReplyDeleteThe people in Shenzen are bright, energetic, PHD (poor hungry driven) capable without deep inferiority complexes, emotional disturbances or paranoid and work lethargy. For one who is afraid to compete, afraid to be exploited, afraid of win-win, afraid of risks, how can you even think you are comparable to the vigorous and can-do people of shenzen. Isnt that child's talk?
ReplyDeleteTo compare jB with one of the greatest cities in Asia, shenzen is like comparing a somalian city with New York; it is not just an insult to Shenzen, but a load of verbal rubbish indeed. You think what just anyhow compare ah?
The threatening word has been uttered so casually and without reservations by high level malaysians before, no other country has said that to us, ever. If Singapore get involved deeply in JB and disputes happen in the future like it did in Thailand and Indonesia, then what will the neighbours say to each other, war?
ReplyDeleteBetween distant relatives and casual friends, do not get seriolsuly involved in money issues for you may lose everything in the end, kinship and all.
Accountable and proper bankers do not extend credits to those with irrational track records without getting collaterals up to their neck first. Havent we learn anything from suzhou? If you are not in a good position or have no leverages, your risks will be so exceptionally high that when your boss gets squeezed, you have to bent down to plead them to stop. You said all the nice things and get spat at, you tried again and the same things happened. Do you think history always repeat or this time is different?
ReplyDeletethe seizure of the barges and the unlawful detention of our two citizens in batam, and we cannot do anything about it, is a good example to those who are planning this great investment in jb.
ReplyDeletethey can just do the same thing to us, and this time will be like suzhou, with all your investments stuck there, cannot run, cannot take back.
the clob was only paper assets and we lost billions there. also cannot do anything about it.
can our supertalents work out a fail safe system to guarantee that our investment can go in and out freely?
i, myself will not put money there. it is just like a big snare.
ReplyDeletewhy risk the money when there are many safer places to put them with the transparency of law and the right to fight it legally in a court of justice?
i believe our businessmen are smart enough to know what they are in for.
The Clob losses may be only paper assets, but it is still money! People who suffer losses are still angry.
ReplyDeleteTalking about clob, I rember when it was declared an illegal mkt and frozen, we were told that it is our fault to look for easy money and therefore must bare the risks. If our govt supports the IDR and something happened in the future where our money got frozen again, I wonder what will the officials say then?
ReplyDeletelet's see who on our side will dare to vouch that investments in idr is safe or will encourage singaporeans to invest there.
ReplyDeleteit is safer to say caveat emptor.
The facts are:
ReplyDeletea. There are a lot of Malaysians that do not want to have any dealings with Singapore becuase they hate Singapore and view it as a Chinese country
b. They do not honour contracts and will shift goalposts as and when it suits them. Even their Constitution is not respected.
c. Many of them are racists and have Ketuan Melayu mentality
d. They are also a great number of fundamentalists who promised to bathe their keris in blood of those who mock their religion. That threat was again done by the head of UMNO Youth
e. Many also do not see AAB as an able leader as they contend he made empty promises. They also think his son-in-law is actually running the country
f. The country is one of the most corrupted in the world and highly inefficient
g. They are planning to build an oil pipeline across the country so as allow tankers to bypass the Malacca Straits. This will then affect Singapore and that is what many Malaysians seems happy about. Their Johor Port was built to take away PSA's monopoly
h. After AAB's term of office, no one knows who then will be the next PM and when there is, will he be friendly. A big question mark. Singapore's involvement in this IDR is not for one or two years, so what can happen after AAB is no longer in charge. Forget Najib as many are accusing him re-Mongolian Model case and his sexual escapade in Port Dickson. They also are saying that Khairy AAB's son-in-law is trying to push Najib out of the running
i. Dr Mahathir is still a force to be reckoned with, so until his demise he will not rest until he sees Singapore destroyed.
I would like to go on, but I think this will suffice to tell all and sundry that Singapore should invest in Vietnam, Cambodia or any country willing to do honest deals.
chua mui hoon just leaked out a secret in the msm. if the malaysians can get the idr off the ground and manage it like Shenzhen or Singapore, we will be doomed.
ReplyDeleteShenzhen has hollowed out Hongkong's manufacturing industry. and the IDR can do the same.
thank god, that we have the ultras, the keris wavers and the religious gurus to meddle with their economy. we will have the idr, like the super multimedia corridor, but just a shell.