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Sigh...sometimes, (and I never really thought I would say this but...) I really miss Tun Dr. M. He's controversial, confrontational, hard line, and all that but atleast he's hardworking, dedicated and passionate about what he does.

Anyway, it is interesting to note that he said, "I'm sure you will not be able to write about this." Perhaps he is feeling what life is really like on the "other side"?

What has Pak Lah actually achieves for the last 2 years. Nothing much to show except he brought in Islam Hadhari and until today, I ask myself what changes?

Remember what has happen in the past. All that your that your sitting MPs have done for you as you go and vote for them...

nothing has changed? really? look around you. look at many of the things that are said and done. do you thing they are possible if mahathir is still at the helm?
one of the reasons why there is not more changes is because mahathir, who claimed he will not be a senior minister a la lee ky is interfeering with gov affair more than lee ky did as singapore sm.
when it comes to tokking, no one can beat the ex-pm lah. he's definitely the role-model for tokkok kings like me on the internet.

I guess Dr. M is not to be blame. If he says he want to resign, let's take him for his own word. However, he can have his own opinions on anything and his opinions are powerful.

Anyway, I tend to agree with him on strengthening the RM instead of taking normative measures when crude oil price increase.

a series of lies~ what else?!

lets hope Dr M makes a come back to politics n become our next PM, haha. It is either him or NTR. Take your pick.

Dr.M is spot on on the strenghtening of the ringgit. Why bother depegging it in the first place if you have no plans to invigorate the economy.
At least Dr.M practiced the trickle down effect which many of the rakyat got to enjoy. So far the only thing i see is that whatever little that is going around seems to be going one way. ie. son-inlaw and co/his family.
Its been 2+years now and only lip service and price hikes lending more truth the slogan "GEMILANG, CEMERLANG TEMBERANG!!"

Talk is cheap.

Unfortunately, remedy is not. Remedy as in how to undo the years of damage wrought by Dr M and his cronies. Mega amounts channeled willy-nilly into mega-wasteful, show piece and questionable mega-projects, often without negotiation, non-tendred and een non-transparant. Just look at all the Petronas accounts which are still not available. On top of bailouts which are not bailouts.

A culture of eye-popping salaries and packages for all sorts of 'consultants' in GLCs whose presence and benefit to the GLCs are debatable. Supply contracts whic are heavily distorted. Bad planning and execution of strategic plans. And so on. All of which meant that the mega-costly projects need to be 'supported' year after year after year. And still cannot stand on their own, much less take baby steps.

Any wonder that Malaysia's economy has suffered? Any need to ponder why Malaysians are suffering now? Any surprise that Pak Lah's administration now has few options (and most of which are not painless) to try to handle matters like global rise in oil prices?

Talk is cheap. But what about taking responsibility for the years of damage and waste?

And Dr M making a come back into politics? He did state that once he is out of office, he will not be meddling and fiddling. But has he stopped?

There may be some room to say that in matters like Proton, he needed to defend himself, but what about all other other campur tangan incidents?

strengthen the ringgit, more short term FDI's increase and stock market/ property increase. But cost of doing biz in country increase also therefore long term investment (building mfg plants etc ) may decrease. Inflation may not decrease as expected, as hot money in short term funds may inflate the local economy.
As for Dr. M, he lacks credibility especially after a) Umno being declared illegal after being found that there were phantom branches that voted for him and defeated razaleigh b) Told the rakyat that he cost of the PM's residence in Putrajaya was only RM70million (actual figure is several time that) c) Gave several hundred million in loan to a Libyan (inventQjaya) . this loan exclude the cost of the building which cost several million more.d) despite being vocal on ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, he closes his eyes on similar fate of non-bumis in government institution.d) His propser thy neighbour policy does not include automobile industry by not honouring the Afta agreement.This hindered the prospect of turning ASEAN into a single market.
But having said all that, the currency control he introduced (but was somebody else'e idea) was brilliant. This currency control has to be dismantled now but going forward, I would have preffered ASEAN to have some sort of currency arrangement whereby if the exchange ratebetwee fellow asean members is fixed. This way, we can have a common market without a common currency.

It is easy to Mahathir to comment to make it as if he was the better PM than Pak Lah.

But one has to bear in mind the oil prices during Mahathir's reign as opposed to Pak Lah's. During Mahathir's time, the highest oil price ever gotten was about USD45-48 per barrel in 1990 when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Oil price fell to a historical low of only USD15 in 1998. However, we did not see Tun Mahathir reducing the prices of oil drastically in 1998 to correspond with the low prices then. Mahathir did not face an oil crisis like in the early 70's.

Currently, oil price is at about USD60-USD70 range is probably the highest since the early 1970s. Pak Lah has no choice but to raise the price of oil. Though I may not have agreed with the sudden jump of RM0.30, I can somewhat emphatise with the decision taken.

It is true that the govt might have avoided the increase of oil had the ringgit strengthened.

But it is also true that we could have more subsidies for oil if not for all those wastages due to mismanagement during Tun's time.

We could have more subsidies if not for the construction of the scenic bridge. How about the development of Putrajaya? Is it really necessary to have so many big and glamomours buildings and bridges in that place? Due to the glut of empty office spaces created in Putrajaya, it has nevertheless dragged down the prices of rental in Kl as well.

Also, how about the losses incurred in Perwaja, MAS etc? It was the losses that was incurred and accumulated throughout Tun's time that Pak Lah has to bear it today. It appears that the many GLC's created are indeed GLCs( Guaranteed Losing Companies).

In short, Mahathir's being an arm chair critic these days in shooting himself in the foot for making that statement.

Tun M policies is like a rapid growth drugs. Once the drugs effect pass, you will face the consequences of the side effect.

Currently Malaysia are facing astronomous maintenance issues. The national car policies has build too many roads, which is more costly than the collected road tax.

Everyday pass, it is clear that Proton can never survive in the future. If Malaysia don't stop building road, we are going to become first nation to be bankrupt by road maintenance.

as is often said, the voters have short memories(beside being short on intelligence). some asso digged a hole in a backyard then offer to fill it back up for a discount. and you call him a good guy? malaysian boleh.

Yes..during Tun's time there was corruption, but at least we can still 'makan', now corruption is 300% worst than ever and the only ppl who can 'makan' are Paklah's 'family'. When it comes to choosing your prime minister, its better to choose the devil you know than the angel you dont know. Once again I salute to the 80 year old for having a much better functioning brain than 'others'. Since we are one of the major oil exporters in the world, why can't we use the oil price increase to subsidise our local oil price. Its still cheaper to buy coal in Newcastle than in Hong Kong right?

sounds like a killer than have kill 10 peoples talk to another killer "you are cruel as have killed 11 people".

Then there is the matter of the 'famous last words':

"...I am sure you will not be able to write about this," he told reporters.

Who, if I may be so bold as to ask, is the one person who is most responsible for muffling the Press? Not only mainstream media being owned by BN component parties, but direct action [show cause letters, suspension of licences, threat of non-renewal of licences, summoning of editors for 'talks', actual action against individual journalists, etc.]?

So can one be forgiven for pondering if the famous last words reflect personal knowledge and experiences [from the OTHER side of the fence]?

There is a Chinese saying that with each new "emperor" comes a new team of Ministers/administrators !
A change of 'guard' is natural but the new guards have gravy to eat simply because the old emperor hasn't left much behind.
But the old emperor is now claiming all things real and unreal simply because his old ministers have now to feed on left over gravy.
Thats what an average Joe like me can see or am I totally below average ?

Oops I mean the new ministers have LESS gravy to eat!

Strengthen the ringgit means increasing the value added cost vis-a-vis our export competitors.

I have not seen any concerted national effort for our industry to move upstream (like what was happened) after years of low cost assembly. What about the looming threat of China, India and Vietnam on our low end exports if our value added cost were to increase ?

It's easy to allow the strengthening of the ringgit. What about job losses when manufacturers relocate ?

I mean "(like what had happened in Singapore)"

The govt hikes oil by 30s/l and the rakyat take to the streets.

What if tomorrow the rigs run dry and we become an oil importer?

Would there be riots instead?

The last petronas message was that oil would run out in 12 (not 19) years; that's slightly more than two malaysia plans to come.

Just over the horizon, and given past performances, with probably indifferent results.

Sales are down by 20% in supermarkets, they say, because people have stopped buying canned goods.

If the govt has been measuring prosperity by canned goods purchase in the past so as to tell people to change their lifestyles , can you believe what they'll say next when we become a net oil importer?

The writing's on the wall - we have no buffer.

And those who are quick to deny we have no buffer are slow to admit that when faced with the crunch, they would have us compare ourselves with Ghana or Myanmar.

Why not simplify to Timbuktoo?

Mahathir was the smartest and shrewdest of the PMs but he fell impaled on his own sceptre, rending a big hole in the carpet which cannot be sewed back again.

We are all grasping at straws. Does anyone seriously think biotechnology, a PR word in all but name here, is our new industrial white knight? Or, perhaps, we've found the magic bullet to escape the price vagaries of commodities?

Nobody has seriously studied what is happening in the factories. Nor the service sectors from banks to hotels.

If such a study was attempted, would anyone think the results would be any different from those of the automotive industry?

And yet, knowing such things to the bone, the technique has become super-refined; when confronted, deflect; when asked, compare with the worst; when change is suggested, dilute,ignore and move away.

How long does anyone in his/her right mind think we can continue like this as a nation?

Even a poor malay man putting up a small stall to sell coconuts outside his coffee shop has to pay tribute to bandaraya in Kg Ara PJ and that's just the lowest scale of the chain of chaos and corruption.

Where do you then place this de-competivization of Malaysia on that chain? In the middle, at the end?

People talk about the democratic process - but forget the process absolves those elected from having external measures of their performance; try asking the cabinet to do a 360-degree appraisal on itself and pump the result on front page for sms comments by the rakyat. The telco servers will scorch with the traffic spikes.

Whether you're in govt office or a private sector office or a factory floor, peel the onion. Look up from your computer and around you. Find one really new, value-added, profit- generating activity that can help grow Malaysia's economy.

There is no buffer and there should be no comfort that other countries are in similar positions. Progress for the people, for this country, can only come about when there is volume change in mindsets when impinged with the realities of what it takes to forge ahead in nation-building. That includes having enough money for maintenance of basics.

Where has all the money gone?

And for aisehman, i already saw the screws had started to rust. Some 8 years ago. Those screws that were holding the panels of the walls of KLCC.

We all love Malaysia to an obsession.

Of course, we cannot stop the old M to say his piece. Chinese has a saying that this is after event ZhuKeLiang ( GungMing). The question we should ask ourselves, since Malaysia is a net exporter of oil, where has all the money gone to?? Argentina and 37 other countries where Petronas has investments? The billions that the oil pumped out and sold will be more than enough to take care of the oil that the country needs, mind you, Malaysia's oil is premium grade and therefore command better pricing! What is 4.4b ringgit subsidy as compared with the earnings of Petronas! And today, the government has come out to say that the money saved will be used to improve public transport such as the mono-rail etc. This again raises further question: why in the first place, all these mono-rail, LRT are not connected. What kind of road planning do we have? Again, we are talking about KL, how can we reconcile with the rest of country -- like East Malaysia which I am sure also has public transport system that needs improvement. Why only KL?

As ordinary folks, we are no where near to know where has all the money gone to? The old M can perhaps help to answer the question.

Coming back to the poor Malay man trying to make a living selling coconuts as mentioned by Neil, I made a trip to have look at Kg Kayu Ara, first thing, the road is in horrible conditions with potholes all over and I suppose make worst by the daily raining taking place. Is this a reflection of a Developed State? Again, there is a newspaer vendor reported in the Sun newspaper who has been upstaged by DBKL, pity him trying to provide a service selling newspaper to earn a few sens for a living and yet no compassion is shown. In both cases, no obstruction of traffic is caused and yet they are not spared to make an HONEST living. What kind of caring society that we are promoting? Do we want to force all honest living people off the cliff to do criminal acts?
The imprint of old M is too strong to erase as he was the prima donna for over a long period of 22 years. To ask him not to make comments will be difficult, after all he has his right as an ordinary citizen. However, he has to be discreet, if not, he will be construe as someone who is able to lift up but reluctant to let go! I suppose the present administration of Pak Lah has left him alone and he is feeling lonely. It is only human that having been the head for so long and suddenly find that he has no role, it is very difficult to pass by and be forgotten! Never mind old M, continue to say your piece and if you need new company, I'm prepared to be your chatting partner!

We have the wrong perception that we are an oil export dependent nation.We are not.In fact we produce around 600000bbls per day.And we consume slightly less than this figure, so it cancels itself out. The real money spinner is natural gas from sarawak. Our manufacturing output eclipse these two resources.
Presently, the government pays rental to Putrajaya holdings RM8 per sq ft for office spaces.Putrajaya holdings, if I am not mistaken, is owned by Petronas. So now you know where some of the government funds go to.

leethaisor and isk at least have memories -- but many othersseem to have short memories of 22 years under dr Mahathir and the massive MISallocation of resources, embarking on MEGA projects. In less than 3 years after the good doctor stepped down, readers are already recalling nostalgia via rose-tinted eyes.

Hey, remember those Billion dollar bailouts before Nov 1, 2003. I also remind that it was the previous rgime which
* Made the Xecutive almost a one-man show
* Made the Legislature a rubber stamp
*Emasculated the Judiciaruy, and
* Muzzled the press, and now some would wsih for the good olde days?

I have lambasted Pak Lah for his weak leadership -- but do you know why?
He's crippled by members left over from the old regime -- read a weekender interview with Dr Syed Husin Ali in the SUN weekender recently as I don''t wish to go into details here. Pak Lah also inherited a corrupt environment -- both Gov't, now geeting out of hand, and the private sector too, albeit less endemic.
I wish to repeat here -- as I have stated at previous Screenshots' posts -- that Petronas monies had/have been/are still being syphoned off to bail out many GLCs and listed companies -- recall Perwaja, Bakun Dam(ned!), Bank Bumiputrra (3X), Tajuddin Ramli/MAS; Halim Saad/Renong -- as the maain parts occurred duing Dr Mahathir's time!
I don't know whether Pak Lah is capable of fighting corruption that has gobne from Below the table, to Above the table, quoting Dr Mahathir's words...

Malaysians are being fed MYTH after MYTH about Petronas, like Malaysia has NO CHOICE but to raise prices every time the world price goes up. For details, I have aposited in my Blog March 14 that in fact, Malaysia gains mORE REVENUE (via Petronas and taxes gained from Oil companies) (1) everytime the world price goes up as Malaysia exports more petroleum than it imports, (2)Malaysia's sweet crudes command Premium prices over the imported crudes, so Malaysia should reduce pump[ prices, everything being equal ...

Well, maybe Malaysians are generally Ignoramus, or Masochistic -- everythime GE comes around, they put the cross against the Dacing; later, like now, Complen, Cuntplen and complain...
Mayhaps only Heavenly intervention can save us from our own folly!:(

PS: Also REFER-lah to a Table of petrol prices from pre-1990 till now uploaded here by hinselmann (hey brudder, thanks!) -- DPM was MISSeading the 'hole cuntry that in 2005 petrol prices were raised three times amounting to 45sen ...compae the REAL figures-lah, they don't lie! Yes, change Lifestyle indeed, Why don't the leaders change the governance to one of accountabulity, trasnparency and Responsibility to the rakyat.
Testing: How many of you know that for FY ended March 2005, Ptronas made a NET AFTER TAX PROFIT of RM35.5BILLION, some 50% more than the previous financial year?
Spend some time-lah, do some knowledge gathering, we're living in the INFORMATION AGE, while DPM and his MoI want us to continue to just accept what Pak Cikku jest said, and you follow as PakTurut!

Maaf. Jeff, for rambling, need to go into some detail-lah, though covered before, becos obviously some conversationists here are talking witjhout the right info!

sydput writes well in this thread.

but

are we then to take permanent comfort that instead of 12 years oil reserves, we now have 30 years natural gas reserves? how many generations into the future will that support, even with minimized life-styles?

are we also not aware that the official figures on manufacturing output by value do not reflect net value earned by the country as per national profits because you can't say that big sales numbers mean big profits, since in the first place, we incur big costs of imported semifinished goods to make the things that are then (re)exported.

thirdly, if natural gas from Sarawak is a money spinner, what will we be using the price-hiked gas revenues for Sarawak? to fund an investigation, perhaps, as to how illegal immigrants end up with the megabuck mykads, and then get bumiputra status?

fourthly, so if Petronas which reports to the JPM gets the JPM/BN to pay high rent (comparable to KLCC) for Putrajaya, what doesn't that make the transaction, right-hand to left-hand?

we all need to sit down and face reality and shouldn't wait for a jala here, a proton board there, to come out and say hey why you spent 300 million bucks on a regatta and how it benefitted the folks in the east coast for the next fifty years.

do you know why there's no transparency from state as much federal for so long?

we may not survive the answer.

BN govt don't give a hoot to Tun M comments..

Maybe he should join the Opposition...

No doubt citizenship regulations have been abused, particularly in Sabah. But Sabah and sarawak have control over immigration matters, overiding the Federal government. That is why you require passport to these two states until recently and they can deport you if they don;t like you. Part of the agreement when they joined Malaysia.
Extracting LNG is expensive affair. The returns can only be recouped after many years. Then there is the expensive maintenence and plant rehabilitation.10% of the sales goes to sarawak state government and the rest goes to the shareholders of the plant minus Petronas taxation.In the case of bintulu, Petonas have a share in the plant with Shell.
n the case of government paying rental in Putrajaya to Petronas company, legally, it is not left paying right hand as these are two seperate entities. Only way to stop the rental wll be for Petronas to wind up and become part fo a government department.