New Year message

New Year message
From the desk of the DAP Sarawak publicity secretary

A Year of upheaval
· 2007 has been an eventful year, in the domestic front, floods, dreadful crimes, high-profile court cases, Judicial and Administrative scandals, street rallies and the use of ISA thereof just to name a few.
· The world continued to face a daunting array of challenges, from the assassination of the opposition leader, Madam Benazir Bhutto, of the nuclear-armed Pakistan to the political instability in Thailand and to growing racial and religious tensions in many countries.
· One major hot spot was the Middle East. The war in Iraq and the instability in the mid-east had pushed the oil prices to an all time high hovering around USD95 per barrel. This has caused a vicious inflation spiral that affects the whole world. Malaysia, been a net petroleum exporter, has threatened to take away its domestic fuels subsidiary in the wake of pressure of the world oil prices.

Growing our Economy
· The economic outlook is negative. Malaysia on its eleventh (11)straight year of budget deficit will be hard hit to bring orders to its economy policies. Globally, there are some downside risks, including a slowing US economy, weaker global electronics demand, and high oil prices. In Asia, China and India will remain powerful growth engines.
· Good economic performance can only be sustained with constant effort, change and innovation. We need to transform the economy to compete on the basis of knowledge and ideas. Malaysia over dependent on the oil revenue (40% of government incomes) would create fear and uncertainty as where the country is heading with the depleting oil and gas reserves. The World is Flat as envisioned by Friedman is a must read for all politicians especially the ruling elites.
· To create more opportunities for Malaysia, we must change our mindset in the country’s administration. Malaysian should not be divided along ethnic and cultural backgrounds, there should not have any policy to elevate a particular ethnic group only and ignore the other ethnic groups in the country.
· At the same time, we must look further afield for global opportunities. One major advantage we enjoy is the multiracial population which has become an important asset in the Era of Globalization.
· More Malaysian is venturing abroad, not just to the major cities, but also to less familiar destinations. This trend is on the upswing due also to the lack of opportunities to compete on equal footing in the country and the much governmental interference on economic activities.
· Over dependent on the oil revenue, making up 40% of the government incomes, is a threat not only to the country but especially to the people as how the economy is going to cope when the oils and gas reserve run dry.

Preparing for the Future
· Overall, Malaysia is still in a strong position. But we must accept chances and be prepared for global competition. We must capitalise on the strength of our multiculturalism asset in the country, especially in capitalising on the emergence of China and India, and open up a decisive lead over competitors.
· We will strengthen our competitiveness in attracting direct foreign investments (FDI) by doing away the 30% Bumi-equity (NEP),such as those implemented in The Iskandar Development Zone. The government should think Malaysian First Policy instead of the Bumiputra Agendas as being promoted by the NEP.
· We must invest in the best education for all our children regardless of their backgrounds, improve our infrastructure and our city, and grow our capabilities, including through R&D.
· We must consolidate our social cohesion at a time when incomes are stretching thin. Globalisation has created prosperity worldwide, but it has also put more pressure on workers, especially those uneducated, in many countries. They must now compete against millions more from China, India and Vietnam entering the world economy and not only against fellow Malaysians. As a result, workers are receiving less than their fair share of the increase in their countries’ national output.

Conclusion, the next 50 years
· All the developments we enjoy today came from the hard work of all Malaysian. Fifty (50) years after Merdeka, all fellow Malaysians should be able to accept the need of a colour-free, religious-free and cultural-free country without any discrimination of any Malaysian in his/her pursue of a happy and prosperous life. Thus the abolition of all the policies that were carried forward in line with the NEP in term of allocation of resources, granting of government contracts, quota systems in the educational and recruitment policies.
· We need policies that will unite all Malaysian regardless of their ethnic and cultural backgrounds, reemphasize on the nation-building spirits, tackle corruptions, practising meritocracy in all spheres of the governance, enhance our competitiveness, our social safety net and strengthen our cohesion. They will enable us to grow and prosper, and to improve the lives of all Malaysian for many more years to come.
· The government must be able to accept criticisms and be able to abolish the infamous Acts such as the internal Security Act 1960 (ISA), the Printing Presses and Publications Act, the Official Secrets Act 1972(OSA) and the Press Publication and Printing Act 1984(P&PA). It should address the issues on hands by inviting dialogues and discussion with all the dissent groups instead. Repression would only lead to unrest such as the Pakistan experience.
· The Malaysian government must return the Independence of the Judicial to the people and what else better than to give a thorough investigation of the Lingkam Tape scandal and report the outcomes to the Parliament and publish them in the press without any “reservation”?
· The Election Commission must be revamped to conduct clean and fair elections in the future as the Malaysia’s parliamentary elections are characterised by vote buying, the use of public resources by the ruling parties, and gerrymandering. The Election Commission has also been accused of bias and no help from the present Chairman of the Commission either.
· The Malaysians must demand that the country shall continue to pursue the rule of laws and democracy least that we shall follow the path of Pakistan in the future. Every Malaysian must come out to cast their vote in the coming election to “grade” the BN government’s policies, just as what Tun Mahatir said on the 22nd December 2007 "If you don't like the ISA, you have to elect people who don't like the ISA.”

Indeed what better advise can we give than “vote for changes” in the coming election?

David Wong
30-12-2007