Today, I was asked at a press interview what can be done to make our economy dynamic again? If political uncertainty is the main contributor to negative flow of investment into the country? What can Najib Razak do? And a host of other issues...
I outline three major concerns: first, rising cost of doing business and inflation is discouraging domestic investment; second, lack of policy direction due to political impasse and three, lack of private sector initiative to help energise the economy. Each of the concerns can be discussed in further details.
However, my intention here is not to merely share with you what I think of the economy. I know most of us have our own worries and grouses.
I was also asked about lack of skilled workers in the country and what can be done to attract these workers to come back. My answer is there is more to just attracting these workers with tax free cars, spouse visa (for those with foreign spouse) and other incentives.
We have to deal with our economic structure. If businesses continue to focus on cost competitiveness then they will not be willing to fork out competitive salary (even world-class salary) to attract our best brains to come home. We also need to create a dynamic and stimulating environment to accommodate these knowledge workers.
I spoke about a need to work on a new agenda. I would like to take a small step here on my blog to encourage feedback and views on what can be done to catalyst our economy. What is our next wave? What do we need to do? What should the new prime minister and his administration do to make Malaysia an economic powerhouse in the region?
Let me hear from you.
11 comments:
Hi Kay Peng,
Good post.
I agree in general with your three points but feel that our government is causing unnecessary problems by failing to TRAIN the workforce via our watered-down education system.
You mentioned attracting skilled workers, and probably foreign capital too. This made me laugh, not 'cos your idea is silly, but over the years government policy has chased away some of the most skilled, hardworking workers via their policy whil allowing the large scale immigration of unskilled workers like in Sabah and rewarding them with full rights and putting needless strain on our social services. On top of that, their policy has also chased out lots of local capital as they are not welcomed.
In my humble + off-the-cuff opinion, we need to decide which industries we are gonna focus on based on our natural competitive advantage and where we can easily build an advantage. One such industry is tourism as we have a scarce resource -- beautiful idyllic beaches, rainforests, nature, etc -- that if properly maintained will generate perpetual income.
They've been lots of hype about the K-economy. But REALLY what do we mean by this?
Then the current and outgoing administration's focus on agriculture + bio-tech. Will this have a future? Will ethanol be profitable? Are our soil + weather suitable? Will the inputs be controlled by rich MNCs who will sell them at exorbitant prices to Malaysia?
In general, kinda like what you mentioned, where is the country headed in the rapidly evolving global environment.
I agree with "If businesses continue to focus on cost competitiveness then they will not be willing to fork out competitive salary (even world-class salary) to attract our best brains to come home."
In a way, wages should be correlated to skills. Yet if not then to demand + supply. If we STOP importing workers, wages will go up if demand is sustained. That is if Malaysians are willing to work in such occupations.
That's my 2 cents in an early morn.
Hope to hear more from you.
How about coming honest with the correct statistics on outbound migration for a start?
How many actually left and who and how many have been allowed in?
Or the BN government can continue to sweep the problem under the carpet and act arrogant with its look Middle-East policy.
Number of immigrant workers in Dubai already exceeded its own population. Do we want to end up like them?
http://unwantedcitizen.blogspot.com/2008/09/thinking-about-migration-4-is-there.html
Then there is the never ending story of corruption. We were told about bringing back local council election but there is no news until now. Local council officers are still collecting 'fees' from businesses big or small to avoid harassment and trouble.
And same goes with the police. Even petty officers are now collecting 'fees'. It's no longer about providing special protection, but just to avoid harassment. Meanwhile, crime rate is climbing and private (probably illegal) security firms are mushrooming without control everywhere.
Unless these are taken care of, we can never move the economy.
How to encourage spending when so much is spent paying off corrupt officials?
just take a survey of 100 or 200 msians overseas to find out the main reasons they chose to work overseas. statistical analysis will tell us which top 5 categories that made people chose to work overseas. with these input, work out policies which can be really effective that will help to address their concerns.
Forgive my erratic writing, but I am shooting from the hip with a flurry of thoughts. Bear with me
My personal view is that, at the moment, agro based industry may be a good thing to propel the country given its weather advantage which has a very narrow climatic change and the ease of adaptation/modernisation plus the level of thinking sophistication of the general population. We have to be realistic that if we try to catch up on the other more sophisticated fields, our mindset is not that competitive nationally because we time and time again handicap ourselves because of a lack of support from the government. Many a times, what is good for the country ends up bad for those wanting to keep in power by maintaining populist agendas detrimental to the so called improvement of "modal insan" which is a good direction.
We are at a very deep slide at the moment given our high dependency on foreign labour coupled by an education/training system that seemed to have no direction and suffers from knee jerk reactions. The industry that I am in (building) has a built in contribution levee payable to the Construction Industry Development Board for years but there has never been any concrete steps to train the number of workers we need. What happened to ideas like setting up incremental local workers appointments if there is a healthy pool to choose from? In time wouldn't we then lose our dependency on foreign workers? When the basic working class enjoys higher wages, the domino effect will be tremendous. I second Jed, empowering the people must come first via proper education and training before they can demand higher wages to improve their lives. For the sake of my children ( 4 of them ) I hope we wake up soon.
There is actually only one point to consider - hire the right people for the jobs, not base on race.
If the captain of the ship does not know what he is doing, where do you think our ship is heading? It is as simple as that to start with, the right people will give the right results, everyone konws that.
If this can not be achived, let's don't even talk about other points, it is a waste of time.
Feedback
- Relook at (currently1/2assed) Msia "my 2rd Home Program" targetted at the huge baby boomers / foreigners mkt.
Existing program is bothersome & uncompetitive compared to what's out there eg Thailand.
Segment the mkt (eg >Rgt 1 mil investment = "restricted" PR eg Mauritius & Seychelles; fr Rgt250k - 999k = 10 yrs visa like now)
Those with such assets are highly likely to be a liability on us as they nned to pay full fees for hospitalization anyways
2. Attracting Foreign professional spouses? Don't think that will happen in my lifetime.
They like to lump unskilled & skilled, professional & otherwise into 1 happy "they want our jobs. they want our money" pot
I know of too many MANY cases where highly qualified, well to do foreign spouses were denied right to work, or PR
More importantly
Stimulate our economy by allowing mkt forces to determine our quality vis-a-vis costs & our competitive advantage
All the hidden kopi money & incredible bureaucracy & arrogance makes ppl go to countries who welcome them with open arms
Sorry got brain freeze now.
When I think of something "world class" or astro-nautical (both ala Msian style), I'll post again
:)
Leave it to a merit-based society to steer its own course. Incompetent M'sian Governments hands off please...
To attract the knowledge /skilled worker back to Malaysia, first we definitely must provide a "competative" salary. Second is the country must provide a "fair" platform for them. It's just that simple. Look at Singapore as a good example. Learn from them.
Firstly, get rid of the bureaucracy. Compared to our neighbours, setting up a business in Malaysia is tough as one has to go to countless departments to obtain approvals. Due to the difficulties in getting approvals, many businesses have no choice, but to engage 'consultants'. These 'consultants' are nothing less than scams, as they rely on the know-who to facilitate the transactions. In other words, it merely adds on costs to doing business in Malaysia. Not to mention wasting precious time. This would turn off first-time investors as they would definitely put their money elsewhere, never to return again.
The root cause is the Government's inefficiencies. I believe that this is intended as it forces one to use these so-called consultants, which is another way to line the pockets of those in power as well as create income although one has no skills whatsoever, except that of brown-nosing. A prime example is the MSC. What started out as a promising bright future for Malaysia is now more or less dead because of the bureaucracies involved.
Just look at our neighbours for living, breathing examples of how the Govt can choose to be efficient. In Thailand, the BOI acts as a one-stop shop to investors. In Vietnam, the Govt set up an administrative centre right in the middle of large industrial estates to process all sorts of applications. Does the Govt need to organise expensive, inefficient 'lawat sambil belajar' expeditions to know what our neighbors are doing? These are all sad excuses for holidays on taxpayers' monies.
Then, as someone has already mentioned, there is our race-based selection policies as to who the elected captain shall be to guide the ship. Let's forgo 'kulit-fication' and look at qualifications. Having said this, I am sure that there are many Bumiputeras out there who are very capable. Although they have the know-how, they are often left on the wayside, because of the lack of 'know-who'. Hence the rise and rise of Umnoputeras. Case in point are people like Tajudin Ramli who turned MAS into a forlorn airline. What took decades to build crumbled within years in the hands of nincompoops like him. Look at the number of times, banks like the now defunct Bank Bumiputera has to be bailed out by the Govt. I couldn't care less if it came from funds other than taxpayers' money.
To drive the economy forward, loads has to be done. The whole system is crumbling. Govt policies no longer benefits the country. It only benefits the objectives of the selected few at the detriment of the majority of Malaysians. Anyway, I am perhaps too young to perhaps live in times where policies have actually benefited the country, because I cannot think of any.
Look at the poor quality pool of labour which we have today. This is a result of our education system which is lagging far behind. The tongkat mentality generated by policies like the NEP is the root cause. It seems that everyone else in Malaysia owes the Bumiputeras a living. There is no incentive to do well and be competitive. Complacency has set in as the majority is not motivated to do well because they know that mediocrity is enough. After all they can rely on the NEP. I still remember vividly of Khairy Jamaluddin's lament that there seems to be a lack of Malay managers. Err...has it ever occured to him that one has to EARN the right to manage? Then there was that newspaper report of how one person lamented as to how being granted car APs would serve to solve his financial woes. Yep, these are the Malaysians that the NEP has bred.
I can go on and on with my rants. The bottom line is that the system needs a drastic overhaul and it starts at the top. Time for a change. Otherwise, I can safely say that this country is truly going to the dogs.
Dear all,
Fingers are often pointed at the government for the lack of policy leadership and poor governance. But surely we can do something ourselves without relying on government too much.
How to encourage stakeholders' participation? How can we create a responsive and dynamic society?
Jed,
Thanks for your comment. Sorry, I was having a busy week in Penang on business.
On knowledge-worker, it is essential we define 'knowledge'. I agree with you. We cannot use the term losely or risk generalising everything.
Knowledge worker is a person who puts in new original idea into his work. He can be a chef but he can be considered a knowledge worker at the same time if he uses extended knowledge to explore new menu.
What we need is for all workers to innovate and compete. They must have pride in whatever they do.
Our policy on foreign workers is a cause for concern because it is used to serve ethno-political interests. If we allow foreign workers into the country on the basis of our contribution and value, it will bring positive impact to our workforce and economy. Not, when they are brought in to serve a political purpose.
Post a Comment