Posts Tagged ‘Economy’

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Tony Pua on removing discount for property buyers

July 27th, 2010
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Did you read about the couple whose buying a house for RM300K and hoping to get good discount for being in the privileged group? I think its something wrong. And so, I agree with Tony Pua’s suggestion. In fact I would go as far as to suggest that only residential properties for the low income category buyers (monthly income below Rm1500 in , or RM750++ elsewhere) should be given bumiputra discount as they can do much with the savings. If you can afford to buy property for more than 150k, then no special discount for you.

The responsibility of helping the poor should not be pushed to the rest of the house buyers based on their race. If you can afford it, then you should also do your part. Isn’t it fair?

PJ Utara MP Tony Pua urged the government today to slash Bumiputera discounts for luxury homes and commercial property in the state, to improve competitiveness and restore investor confidence.

“Sacred cows need to be slaughtered,” said the chief economist for the DAP.

Pua’s statement, which will raise eyebrows among the country’s Malay majority population, follows a recent United Nations report which showed that Malaysia’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) had plunged 81 per cent last year.

However, Pua (pic) said the seven per cent discounts enjoyed by Malays and other Bumiputeras should be retained for homes below RM500,000.

“I am not against affirmative action but not for homes that cost RM1 million or RM2 million,” said Pua.

He argues that no discounts should be given for commercial property above RM2 million.

The Oxford graduate, who was among panellists at a dialogue to discuss ’s 2011 budget, pointed out that many “brokers” were taking advantage of the policy.

Pua said effectively these units are being bought by middlemen, with a seven per cent discount, and then re-sold for profit of two per cent.


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Rm23 million for graduates to become entrepreneurs

July 25th, 2010
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Firstly, only RM2 million has been utilised from the total amount of RM25 million allocated for last 5 years (9th MP). Something seriously wrong with fund management? Not enough publicity?

People complaining not enough funding, and yet, only received 1347 application for last 10 years???

Secondly, is this reserved for certain group of the population or open to all citizens of Malaysia? I didn’t get the impression that its open to all, when I read their website at http://www.insken.gov.my/home (refer their application guidelines at http://www.insken.gov.my/web/guest/training/1/4 )

Hopefully they can clarify so that don’t give false hope for the rest of the citizens of our country.

Probably, all those schemes reserved for that particular group of population should be put under one of the agencies handling just their matters (like MARA, TEKUN, MEB, etc.) Then it won’t mislead or give wrong impression to the rest of us on what is the reality.

The article on RM23 million which appears on Malaysiakini.

Graduates keen to start their own businesses can apply to the Graduate Entrepreneur Fund which still has RM23 million from the RM25 million allocated under the Ninth Malaysia Plan.

Deputy director of the International Trade and Industry Ministry’s Entrepreneurship Institute Malaysia, Samsu Kadir, said from 2000 to May this year, only 1,347 applications had been received for the fund.

“From the number, a total of 659 applicants received loan approvals with the cooperation of SME Bank,” he told reporters after officiating a basic entrepreneurship training programme here today.

Samsu said the ministry encouraged graduates from local institutions of higher learning to make use of the opportunities to become entrepreneurs.

He said the ministry had conducted various training programmes which covered 7,943 participants from 2000 to 2009.

Samsu said the institute targeted 30 participants for each programme and as at May 2010, 31 applications were received for the Graduate Entrepreneur Fund with four of them already approved.

He said the amount given out under the fund was from RM20,000 to RM250,000 with a maximum repayment period of 10 years.

- Bernama

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Malaysia population to be young and poor in next 20 years

July 2nd, 2010
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An analysis by Bank of America Merrill Lynch on the impact of demographic trends on investment opportunities revealed that Malaysian population in the next 15 to 20 years will be young but poor, due to relatively higher population growth rate and inability of the economic growth to keep up with population growth.

If I’m not mistaken, the birth rate for Indian and Chinese is dropping faster than the Malays, so I guess most problems will be among the Malay community since need to support more children while growth hovers around 6-7%.  But in urban settings, I can see more and more families having less kids (4 or less). Even though government support is there in terms of the privileges, it won’t be enough, as we can see even now. Hmm…maybe its possible to go bankrupt after all….

With current income, its difficult to maintain own family and also take care of elderly parents. Some people even use bulk of their income to pay for parents medical fees, and end up living a frugal life.

Images and article excerpts are from Malaysian Insider.

Malaysia’s relatively high population growth rate will see the country remain comparatively young over the next two decades but economic growth is not expected to keep pace with population expansion, according to a report by Bank of America Merril Lynch.

Most developed countries experience lower population growth than developing countries and thus become older as they grow richer but China and Thailand however, are forecast to grow old before they can become rich with more than 15 per cent of the population aged above 65 years in the next 15-20 years.

The forecasts are part of an analysis by Bank of America Merrill Lynch on the impact of demographic trends on investment opportunities.

It also found that the population in Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Australia are growing old fast but they are expected to remain among the wealthiest in the world.

By 2015, Malaysia is forecast to have an elderly dependency ratio (EDR) — population aged above 64 divided by population aged between 15 and 64 — of 10 with a GDP per capita calculated on purchasing power parity (PPP) basis of US$20,000 (RM64,950). Current young and rich countries such as Australia, Singapore and the US have EDR’s of between 15 and 25 with a GDP per capita of between US$50,000 to US$70,000.

By 2030, Malaysia’s EDR is expected to be about 15 with a GDP per capita of about US$50,000 while Australia, Singapore and the US are expected to have an EDR of between 30 and 40 and per capita GDPs of US$110,000 and US$160,000.

The report also suggested however that based solely on the ratio of prime savers — defined as population aged between 40 and 64 — to the rest of the population, the stock markets of China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines are expected to outperform those of Australia, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand in the next 20 years.

It added that in advanced economies such as the US and the UK, the stock market “can rationally factor in the demographic trend, usually a few years ahead”. It said that there is a risk of that relationship becoming “self-fulfilling” leading to decades of bear markets in those countries.

“The stock markets and financial assets are arguably most influenced by the mid-aged people,” said the report. “Hence, it is not surprising that the correlation between Mid-Young ratio and the aggregate value of stocks traded is quite high for most Asian countries.”

The report said that there were investment opportunities in the sector in China, India and the Philippines unlike Australia and Korea which have the most highly labour force.

It also said that Australia and Thailand have room for development in the private healthcare sector and that India, Philippines and Singapore lag in terms of public spending on healthcare.

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Ration Cards for the poor?

July 2nd, 2010
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Those who are familiar with India will know about ration cards (or ration stamps). Its a method whereby folks can buy essential items at controlled prices.

The MHS ( Branch) is proposing a similar system in Malaysia.

Maybe in Malaysia, can implement using our MyKads. Set up “ration offices” or counters” at strategic location or make use of the existing shops by equipping them with MyKad readers.

The branch of the Malaysian Hindu Sangam (MHS) wants the government to issue ration cards for essential commodities for the hardcore poor to help them cope with the rapidly rising cost of living.

Association deputy chairperson cum its social and welfare sub-committee chairperson P Murugiah told Malaysiakini that prices of essential foods items like rice, cooking oil , sugar and milk have jumped a mind-boggling 200 percent compared to 10 years ago.

He cited cases of mothers who, unable to breastfeed their new-born babies, opt for water mixed with sugar or condensed milk; young children dropping out of schools to work to help the family and those unable to settle their electricity and water bills, turning to oil lamps.

The hardcore poor survive on only one meal a day and that too non-nutritious food of either roti canai or nasi lemak.

He claimed that a some single mothers have been driven by financial desperation to vice to support their children .

He quoted the prices of some food like cheap fish which used to be between 30 sen to 50 sen per 600 gms about 10 years ago, now go for RM2 per 600 gms, ikan billis price has soared 300 percent, a loaf of bread once RM1, is now RM3 , eggs that cost 10 sen each now go for between 25-30 sen.

Murugiah (left) said the government should consider emulating measures taken by India to alleviate the plight of the poorest through ration cards.

The BPL or below the line ration card is issued to the head of an Indian family whose total earnings is below Rs10,000 per annum (RM700) while those categorised above the line (APL) with a total family income of more than Rs10,000 are each issued a white ration card annually.

A ration card is a very useful document as it helps save money by aiding in the procurement of essential commodities at subsidised rates.

According to Murugiah, the hardcore poor in India are entitled to free essential items every month.

On the government’s plan to phase out all subsidies because of depleting public , Murugiah criticised Putrayaja for wasting public on mega projects that brought little benefit to the public, especially those in the lower income group.

“The government’s top priority should be to ensure a social safety net for its citizens rather than building public monuments which are a waste of tax-payers’ money.

On its part the MHS, through public donations, is providing monthly food rations to poor families comprising 32 Malays, 22 Indians and 10 Chinese.

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Minimum Wage plan postponed due to low blog feedback!

June 23rd, 2010
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I’m not sure if Malaysian Insider wrote this story correctly, because the answers just don’t seem to gel. Why did the blog generate only 77 response? You can try searching in MOHR website and let me know if can find any link to the blog because I certainly can’t find it. Maybe the blog is hidden somewhere? Found the blog here but the poll is closed!

Secondly, we are talking about minimum wage for “LOW INCOME” workers. Can a blog be the best to tool to gauge their response? Our broadband penetration still not over 40%, and people not really have MOHR website bookmarked.

Or is the blog meant for employers and the middle/high income employees to respond?

I think there should have been other ways to get response from target group. Could have paper-based survey during many of the goverment events like 1Malaysia youth program at Bukit Jalil, concerts, by-election areas, and so on. definitely would have got more than 77 replies.

They could have even talked to Income Tax department to include a survey when employees file their returns via e-filing in April. If just 30% of 1 million tax payers responded, you’ll get 300,000 responses!

Pity the security guards.

Despite strong calls from many quarters, including the MCA, the government announced today that it was shelving a minimum wage policy due to poor public feedback.

Human Resources deputy minister Datuk Maznah Mazlan told Parliament that the government had only received a total of 77 responses from the public since March this year.

“The ministry launched its blog on March 24 this year to obtain feedback from Malaysians on the proposal to introduce minimum wages.

“Until today, the ministry has only obtained 77 responses,” she said when replying to a question by Charles Santiago (DAP-Klang),

Maznah said that of the 77 responses, 70 or 91 per cent agreed with the proposal, about three per cent disagreed and 6 per cent were indifferent.

“The feedback is too small for us to implement the policy, especially in comparison with the over 11 million workers in the labour force nationwide.

“It is not representative of the number of workers,” she said.

She added that the ministry would continue with its blog to obtain more feedback as well as to organise a three-party workshop in mid-July this year involving workers’ associations, employers associations, academics and government agencies.

“Whatever feedback we obtain from the blog and the workshop will be used as input for the government’s consideration,” she said.

In a supplementary question, Charles slammed the ministry for deferring its decision to introduce minimum salaries for security personnel to 2011 although it was set to begin on July 1 this year.

“It is important for the nation. The government had decided to introduce the policy but suddenly, this was a retracted.

“This is like one step forward and three steps back. From what I have read from the news, I see that this shows that the government is afraid of the private sector, especially the security firms that have been urging the government not to introduce the policy,” he said.

Charles asked if the government had the “political will” to introduce minimum wages for the country, especially in view of the New Economic Model’s target of achieving a high-income status for the country.

In her response, Maznah said that the Cabinet had on January 13 this year instructed the ministry to study the proposal to introduce minimum wages.

“For your information, your accusation that we are frightened of the private sector and that we have no political will — this is just a perception typical of the opposition.

“The introduction of minimum wages involves many processes and many ministries. It involved the communication between the ministries and other important parties like the workers unions and other associations,” she said.

Maznah pointed out that a single policy could not be used for all sectors.

“We need to have a proper, detailed study, which would include making comparisons to other countries as well,” she said.

In another supplementary question, Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (PAS-Kuala ) asked Maznah for the ministry’s plans in improving the wages of the labour force.

“About 40 per cent of the labour force earn less than RM1,500 monthly and 75 per cent of them are the bumiputras from Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.

Maznah said that the 10th Malaysia Plan programmes provide ways and means to improve the welfare of the labour force.

“We are also looking into ways and means on how to lessen our dependence on foreign labour as well as how to improve the skilled workers force.

“Our target is to raise our 25 per cent of skilled workers in the workforce to at least 50 per cent,” she said.

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