Political parties are playing the populist card, promising and giving too many goodies for the sake of votes. Najib will likely give another BR1M, among other things as preparation for the next GE. Meanwhile, Pakatan goes one-up with promises to abolish PTPTN loans, vehicle excise duties etc. All of these sound good but will create financial problems for Malaysia over the longer term. After all someone has to pay eventually and it will be at the expense of the country's treasury and added debts.
This will be unpopular but for the sake of the country's future I hope the government will exercise greater financial prudence. If it were me in charge (one can fantasize, can't he?), I'm going to do away with the RON95 fuel subsidy. After all, if one wants to use his vehicle, it is *he* who should be paying the full costs. Would it burden the poor? Percentage-wise, yes. But I believe the subsidy is benefiting more of those who can afford to pay in full - you and I here including. However, the money saved from not subsidising fuel anymore MUST be allocated to a special fund that will be used to benefit those in need. Like for the betterment of public transportation etc.
I hope the government will call for the GE soon and get this over with. And after that, take the tough and unpopular (but necessary) steps to ensure that Malaysia remains steady in these uncertain times.
Chong, does that mean I can count on your vote?:-) We should start a movement (cannot be an ordinary political party because Malaysians are too obsessed with just BN or PR) similar to the Tea Party in the US - the 'Teh Tarik Party' to take into consideration Malaysia's context. Fiscal prudence and discipline while not ignoring those in need - this is what we should strive for. We have to check these politicians from driving the country to the ground with their policies and suggestions will endangers Malaysia's financial wellbeing.
kl foong - This is one thing that I'm not happy with. Most people think along the lines of "BN or PR" and will support or go against something based on political leanings and prejudices. Right now both are engaging in ideas that will weaken Malaysia in the longer term... all for the sake of remaining in power. Or getting power. Keep doing this and we will go down the EU's southern countries' way.
At the moment we are mainly living off oil revenue which has helped a lot with the country's budget. But there will come a time when this drys out and where will we be? Our resources must be better utilised to secure our future.
All my ideas are unpopular - besides the removal of fuel subsidy, I will also trim down the civil service plus control the ministries' budget and expenditure (by the way, two of my daughters are/will be government school teachers. and I was one too earlier in my working days). The focus must be on the SMI's for these are the companies that will provide employment and prosperity for Malaysia. All regulations, including at the local councils' level, must be with the SMIs in mind.
One more very unpopular idea - implement the GST or VAT or whatever it is called as soon as possible. It's something like what we pay at Pizza Hut, KFC etc. Extend this to places like hypermarkets and supermarkets (but spare the smaller retailers like mom-and-pop sundery shops, the mini Mydin, 99 SpeedMart etc.) However, the income from this must go to a special fund (like the previous RON95 fuel subsidy) where its use is properly scrutinised. Don't want it to be a source for the donkeys in power - whoever they are - to be extravagant.
Subsidies and handouts tend to be (very) short-term help. Especially the BR1M. Governments should create opportunities, which include being SMI-friendly. This is a lot more sustainable.
your ideas are mooted by LKY in Singapore before, hence their strong national reserves whereby President as the sole protector. but your unpopular votes will not get you to putrajaya...as GCT and LKY's son is finding out when the too much perceived authoritarian rules are in place! If you are running a socialist country, its a different matter altogether! But no harm collecting your pool of voters first here! :)
KC Loh, I'd rather have a leader with an iron hand (but with a good heart) than too much talk and `democracy' which bogs down the making of decisions and the implementation of plans.
That's why I'd much prefer China's government than India despite the latter being praised for its democracy and judicial system. Notice how paralysed the latter's government can become? Politicians have approved various subsidies over the decades, which the present and future Indian government will not be able to abolish. This is at the expense of longer-term development. How to build roads and improve the power system when a good part of income is used for subsidies?!
In my opinion, it's much better to uplift the population's financial wellbeing first. As for democracy, free speech and whatever other niceties, this will follow later on when things are better. China might not be where it is now had it been as democratic and soft as India.
passerby, nothing yet. just calculating and forming a gameplan if JCY becomes $$ interesting! but many thanks again for your effort. i appreciate that!
KC:You are welcome, I thought you wanna become Sherlock Holmes & Dr.Watson to solve some missing puzzles :).
The other day, got 1 member mentioned the all the SWs are as good as the toilet paper on the date of operation as reported by The Edge. I actually quite agree with his opinion, those IBs don't have to further depress the underlying to overkill the SWs.
Just do not rule out any possibility highlighted by the mysterious Dr. who appeared & disappeared out of sudden in this thread. Be cautious with what reported by HLIB today also.
If flood is expected to happen, the flood will only become valid driving force if :-
1)JCY operation at Thailand unaffected 2)JCY competitors are affected by the flood
if 1) & 2) is reverse in position, the driving force still valid but the effect will be at opposite direction.
if both 1) & 2) affected by flood, then really jialak.
DOW JONES goes green, Malaysia wont affect much, as the real power to be the Standard & Poor comment place on Malaysia. Malaysia market will be Red for quite sometime for downtrend.
hehehe... i still recall my malay friend did that little skit. if chinese, the drum goes "untung, untung, untung.....", if malay, the kompang goes "untung, tak tak untung, untung untung..." and the indian;s tabla will go "tak untung, tak untung, tak untung.....". Then he went and say, mana nak challenge orang cina macam ini?" I was the funniest skit i have seen by a jolly old guy!
i will be accused of being racial again by some quarters. sigh!
true about the drum part,few of my malay friends told me that. KC,how you see the market huh?buy cannot,sell also cannot???raba raba paha sikit,also acnnot kena smack .IBs,hantus,fierce lah hehehe
buy on blips of prices. its difficult market to get into now for reasons aptly mentioned by you. but sometimes, a few plays will appear as witnessed in JCY and recently AirAsia. but when the market is reading it wrong and being fearful, one should take advantage of it! takes a lot of mental fortitude and research, mind you!
JCY been staying around 97.5 to 90 cents this few days.Hope it can break above RM1 again.RSI is already at oversold.So there still potential up maybe? Still newbie and learning in this stock exchange thingy.. :-)
:) , ppl have forgotten that FX is one of the risk factor that dragged down this counter previously. Better pray hard for flood at Thailand(to affect their competitors only) & say no thanks to Fed
Why KC? bcoz printing more monies caused the dollar to weaken. hihihi good for US indirectly. they can boost their exports. Importers paying cheaper than before.
USA is a net importer! deficit going for the 12 year! it would be costlier for USA to import in the long run! for our exporters, the weakened dollar will translate to lower profit or worse, FX losses.
QE3 is a temporary fix! Germany finance minister hit it on the sweet spot when it said its will become an addiction for quick fixes. It doesn't have much room to maneuver in fiscal policies anymore, only monetary! if sentiments can carry on to change to action during the proposed 3-year period, then all is well. If not, could a depression be in the offing?
kc, frankly i dont have the answer, but since jcy customers is america based , i think they pretty much fuck if usd depreciate, but hopefully can offset by growing revenue and internal cost cutting.
This book is the result of the author's many years of experience and observation throughout his 26 years in the stockbroking industry. It was written for general public to learn to invest based on facts and not on fantasies or hearsay....
Mat Cendana
2,340 posts
Posted by Mat Cendana > 2012-09-11 14:07 | Report Abuse
Political parties are playing the populist card, promising and giving too many goodies for the sake of votes. Najib will likely give another BR1M, among other things as preparation for the next GE. Meanwhile, Pakatan goes one-up with promises to abolish PTPTN loans, vehicle excise duties etc. All of these sound good but will create financial problems for Malaysia over the longer term. After all someone has to pay eventually and it will be at the expense of the country's treasury and added debts.
This will be unpopular but for the sake of the country's future I hope the government will exercise greater financial prudence. If it were me in charge (one can fantasize, can't he?), I'm going to do away with the RON95 fuel subsidy. After all, if one wants to use his vehicle, it is *he* who should be paying the full costs. Would it burden the poor? Percentage-wise, yes. But I believe the subsidy is benefiting more of those who can afford to pay in full - you and I here including. However, the money saved from not subsidising fuel anymore MUST be allocated to a special fund that will be used to benefit those in need. Like for the betterment of public transportation etc.
I hope the government will call for the GE soon and get this over with. And after that, take the tough and unpopular (but necessary) steps to ensure that Malaysia remains steady in these uncertain times.