2012 Budget: No Fundamentals

PM Najib spent over an hour announcing his 2012 Budget in Parliament last Friday. He touted it as a better budget than the one announced by Anwar on Tuesday.

The strangest thing was the lack of MSM fanfare touting fantastic statements in support of Najib’s budget. Certainly, if you were asked for comments and it was going to be published, you won’t be caught saying the wrong things however much you feel otherwise. That is politics. The positive spins were positively pathetic.

But what was unsaid was heard even louder.

Most struggle to put a positive spin about the Malaysia 2012 Budget.

That it was truly a welfare centric budget, one would ask why Christmas came early this year and Santa started dishing out goodies to everybody.

That it was a responsible budget, it certainly didn’t show with another deficit budget that requires even more government borrowings getting further into debt.

So what is good about Najib’s 2012 budget? Ho hum! Just lots of handouts. And will that really help much? Not really and most agree the economic impact will be negligible.

Budget Inadequate – A Critique of the 2011 Budget

PM Najib announced the 2011 Budget last Friday.  There were immediate shockwaves that permeated the entire nation.  The Opposition obviously didn’t think anything good of it.  But more astounding is the lack of overwhelming agreement with Najib coming from BN leaders.  The statements made appear to be hardpressed to find positive supportive words.  Perhaps many are still in shock from the announcement.

Why should the 2011 Budget give a shock to everybody? Regardless how Najib sugarcoats this Budget, the country must come to terms with it as we all have to live with it, good or bad.  Here’s glossing over some pertinent thoughts about the 2011 Budget.

People’s Budget?

There is very little for the people in reality.

Malaysia Most Risky in Weathering Financial Crisis

UPDATED: Anil Netto wrote an excellent article entitled “Malaysia’s Ostrich Economics” much along the same lines of this posting (read here).  It was originally posted at Asia Times Online.

The Straits Times (Singapore) reported today (read here):

On a scale of zero for the least risky to 10 for the most, Singapore scored 2.76, followed by Australia (2.9) and Hong Kong (3.23). Most risky are India (6.87), Thailand (6.28) and Malaysia (6.07). They are vulnerable not so much to the financial fallout but due to internal developments, the report added.

Regardless of what Najib wants us to believe, come November 4 in Parliament, he will have to be candid and honest about the state of affairs in Malaysia.  If he is wanting to be the next PM, he has to be seen to know what he is talking about and do something affirmative and not skirt around the issue or remain in a state of denial.

What will tomorrow be?

A peek into the future is what every Malaysian wants now. What are some of the things that can happen from hereon? What will our beloved country, Malaysia, become? Who will be taking our Malaysia forward? Will there be a storm brewing, or a hurricane for that matter? Is there going to be a silver lining? Can we see the sun coming up on Malaysia? Or the night is going to be long?

After September 16, what’s next? The Chess Game Continues

A September 16 Editorial

The BN Government is trying to pour cold water over the September 16 challenge.  Anwar has repeatedly stated that today would be the day for a change in Government.  He created the symbolic date and Malaysians of all walks of life rallied around it.  Today, he announced that he has requested a meeting with the PM to discuss a peaceful transition while Pak Lah denied such a thing being requested.

So who is telling the truth and who is lying?  They can’t both be right unless one is misleading or the other is misreading.  Given the historical trend in politics lately, you will have the answer.

Nightmare of an “Investment”

After investing RM537.04mil in the US-based Columbia Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation (CAMC) through Composites Technology Research Malaysia Sdn Bhd (CTRM), the Government only managed to get back RM25mil.

The Star – 3 Sept (read here)

What a shocker! This reflects such horrible management of public funds where the Government is the caretaker.  If Maybank’s investment position in BII in Indonesia is a bad decision, this one with CTRM in CAMC is far worse.  Is this the tip of the iceberg of mismanagement of public funds?

Budget 2009 – A Layman’s View

We are in tough times but does the 2009 Budget recently announced by Pak Lah last Friday attempt to help the economy and the people weather it?  There have been numerous analysis posted all over the Internet as well as in the Main Stream Media (MSM).  If you want to find a few good analysis worthy of your time, check out Tony Pua’s contribution here and another one here.

Now, if you were looking for something readable with the complexities made easy for dummies like me, consider the following points.  Additional easy reading material from public opinion also found here in MalaysiaKini and here by Reuters.