Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Power crazy people

OTK is a man of no principles. He has said that he will resign as MCA head if the vote of no confidence against him is upheld. The delegates have done that. Now, he is reneging on his promise. He is trying very hard to cling on to power. He was even gone ahead and made a pack with his nemesis, CSL. He couldn’t stand the deputy from the day he was elected President. Now, he says that he can work with him to rebuild the party. What a hypocrite.

He has no more credibility. The people (voters) will not trust him anymore. They will not respect him as a leader of the Chinese community. Comes the next general election, they will again cast a vote of no confidence on him.

He is a lame duck President. UMNO will not respect him either. So, he will have no bargaining power with the government. In essence, he is a power crazy leader with no integrity and little respect. He might as well retire and go fly a kite.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

From hero to zero

OTK is an arrogant man. From the start, he has decided not to work with his deputy. He tried to sideline his assistant. The critical mistake was when the CC decided to expel CSL. Then OTK tried to be a hero by allowing for a show of no confidence against him. Now, he has to go. He has learned his lessons the hard way.

So, the moral of the events is that when you are in power, do be nice to the people under you. Show some humility. People will be more willing and sincere in serving you. If you show arrogance and superiority, the best that you get is an uncommitted service. And when you fall, you will be standing all alone.
He may have done some good in the PKFZ case. But, in the process, he may have stepped on many people’s toes. He has done what is considered as unconventional by exposing the dealings of his predecessors. The former ministers are from the same party. Thus, he may have indirectly caused the washing of the community’s dirty linen in public. This may have angered many elders in the community.

Monday, October 5, 2009

What high income

Malaysia wants to be a high income nation. Jolly good. But at what currency exchange level are we talking about? It is good if the income is high and the denomination is in USD. What is the point if it is denominated in Indonesian Rupee or the Vietnamese Dong.

High income can only be sustained if the productivity is improved or we have advanced to a higher technological level. This would result in higher growth and increased GDP. But, we are not going along this line. We are trying to be competitive by manipulating the exchange rate. We lowered our exchange rate so that our products are cheaper to importers. Workers may get a raise on the take home pay, but their purchasing power is not better off.

Malaysia has not done well in terms of its currency exchange rate. It used to be 1 RM to 10 Baht in the 80s. In the Asian Financial Crisis of the 90s, Thailand’s currency was badly battered. They have recovered. Even with their political instability and turmoil, they have done better than us. Today, the exchange rate is less than 10 Baht to 1 RM.