Screenshots

some error in the calculation in the letter. It should be RM108.46 billion not million. Anyway, it is about 10% nett earning not 1 trillion. all this politicians try to "blur" our eyes.

Many thanks for highlighting this story, Jeff but is it just your personal opinion or selective spinning when u choose to highlight stories & letters that put Abdullah and [ DELETED ] in a bad light with letters like these while ignoring equally constructive letters like Dato' Param Cumaraswamy's take on Dr M's proposed war crimes tribunal which u were in so favour of?

Anyway, you may have been too busy in your schedules, with the many media/blogger functions recently, so I have put in a link to Dato' Param's letter to Malaysiakini here http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/63313

Keep up the good work!

I don't think it's right to nett the imports and exports like that and draw a simple conclusion. If you want to be simplistic, someone can also interpret the figures simply by saying that we managed to export RM588.95 billion worth (and hence earned this amount) and with this money into the country, the rakyat can afford to buy foreign goods worth RM480.49 billion WITH RM108.46 billion left over for a rainy day.

I think its referring to the TRADE reaching RM1 Trillion.

TRADE involved BUY and SELL, i.e. the volume that changes hand.

Like KISS said, no really need to nett plus and minus.

The news was intended to provide a snapshot of the TRADE, not BALANCE OF PAYMENT.

When one look at the KLCI, analyst often reported how many volume had been traded.

If one really want to look at the nett figure i.e. how many had been bought or sold in the KLCI, then they can read it in the 8pm news.

As such, I think the TRADE reaching RM1 Trillion is in itself bears relevant meaning.

..but the context is however not pretty; while trade volume's value may total RM1 trill, the net balance is what's left from basically two tranches of activities; one is commodities of which a big chunk remains domestic oil, a declining resource (ending 2009, some have said); the other is manufacturing whose contribution to the net inflow comes from value of exports, basically reassembled goods, less value assigned for semifinished component imports to make the exported products.

Now Kim Quek elsewhere has tried to assay Petronas' contribution to the national coffer; the main point was that most of that company's purported profits came from royalties collected from the oil companies who mine here which means Petronas' earnings inflow was only RM15 billion last year. What is not apparent from the way Miti had drawn up the numbers was whether they had included the RM50+ billion from royalties to spruce up the accounts. We hope it's cleaner but at this juncture, who knows? If they can pull wool on the toll agreements over the rakyat on the presumed reason that the concessionaires will object (and why should they if things are above board in the first place?), what's to stop them from doing the same with national figures?

One would not be so hasty to draw doubt..until you have driven past the bridge road heading Puchong side. What has happened after Western Digital when one of Matsushita's factories has changed hands (the logo removed) and the corner Motorola plant has closed? So you add the Seremban FTZ to Bayan Lepas to Shah Alam and maybe a bit of Batu Berendam and then tell me whether there's so much electrical and electronics manufacturing to justify such hyperbole about our one trillion trade of which manufacturing subset the same is a major contributor.

Someone has also written about local value-add being asic semiconductor capability. One asks - how much value exported last year?

The rakyat must know the plain truth. Unless this umno has something more to hide.