PROJECT NEW MALAYSIA

“The Policies of Pakatan Rakyat.” THIS IS PROJECT NEW MALAYSIA !

Dr. Francis Ngu, member Parti Keadilan Rakyat, Sarawak. Dec.21^st, 2009

As the most serious nation-building document that has emerged for some time, the document now deserves responsible critique from the Malaysian community, partisan allegiance aside. This critique hopes to spur constructive public debate on the policies in the new found spirit of democratic participation ushered by the birth of Pakatan Rakyat.

This is an attempt to bring about far reaching reforms which the people are now anticipating. A fresh new national consensus is sought by Pakatan Rakyat which will be worthy of a progressive nation facing the challenges of the globalised scene of the 21^st Century.

It is wide-ranging in scope, covering major political, governance and social-economic areas, and is thus necessarily in an outline or summary form. Based on the “People’s Rights” values underpinning, it is now the role of civil and political society to fill in the details over time. Wide indeed are the spaces open up, in a new spirit of freedom, equitable rights and social compassion, to advance efficient and effective administration, infrastructure development, green economic progress, service delivery, etc. The agricultural sector however, deserves direct attention by itself.

Civil and political rights built upon an freely informed citizenry, will be guided by the Constitution and backed up by an independent judiciary and other effective criminal- justice institutions.

Beginning with a fresh Peoples’ Consensus, the Policy Paper not only calls for all to abandon ethnically and religiously divisive orientations, but to marshal all the strengths available from the fine values found in all religions and cultures to overcome the ills of society and nation. A humane market-based economy with more equitable wealth distribution will sustain a united people living in social harmony.

Under the part on Constitutional Democracy, the youth above 18 will be automatically given franchise. Malaysians will implicitly have to mature earlier, and the education, must among others, emphasize critical thinking and abandon rote-learning. The energies and creative imagination of Youth will be tapped earlier, as is the case in developed countries. The one- man one-vote principle will be enhanced, but part proportional representation is not as yet considered.

The spirit of Federalism (not just the letter of) is not only promised but guaranteed for Sabah and Sarawak by the Policy Paper. This, read together with the policy of administrative decentralization and Federal devolvement, holds hope for the 2 component States to explore a much higher level of State Autonomy as more and more strongly desired by Malaysians of the 2 States. Compelling political and historic considerations aside, greater devolvement of governance to the 2 states separated from the Peninsular by the South China Sea is technically and logistically more efficient.

Notwithstanding, wide devolvement of Federal functions and state funding realignment are by themselves giant steps forward for a united and progressive Federation. Guaranteed representation in Parliament by the smallest ethnic minorities of the nation in Parliament should be an added desired feature.

Attention is paid to regional disparity, and regional resource realignment is featured. Sabah and Sarawak can become the new engines of growth and progress for the nation, if the just guarantees of Federalism capture a new found sense of national commitment from Sabahans and Sarawakians at home and abroad.

Pakatan must remove a pervasive sense of despair and hopelessness of Sabah and Sarawak people facing decades of political and economic marginalization in the Federation. Pakatan “promises to make a fair and open assessment of the principal issues---”, but has not decided on whether the assessment is to be an administrative or academic research exercise, or of a more authoritative form, that of a Royal Commission on Sabah and Sarawak.

Thus Pakatan will be expected by Malaysians to make the first really serious national thrust in addressing regional imbalance and truly unite all Malaysians of Sabah, Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia.

Based on the principle of People’s Economy, there is to be a beginning for Economy By the People, Of the People and For the People. This addresses a needs-based affirmative action policy, a social safety net for marginal groups, labour rights, minimal wage, housing for the poor, assistance to small private entrepreneurs.

Pakatan will thus put Malaysia on the road of social democracy, as practiced in advanced countries. The funds for social welfare will come from massive savings from prudent government spending and high financial integrity in government. Social welfare will itself boost domestic consumption and the retail and services economy.

Not mentioned, but needs-based affirmative action, and welfare benefits would require quite a large initial outlay in a sound means-testing mechanism to award eligibility, and periodic reviews of such eligibility. Introduced step-wise, cash welfare measures need not spark too much inflation, but be a small stimulus to an economy in 3 quarters of negative growth.

It is only possible to consider GST and withdrawal of fuel subsidies many years down the line, contingent upon broadly increased personal incomes and backed by a sound social welfare system.

On Infrastructure, broad-band internet must rank on par with other infrastructure, for both economic competiveness as well as environmental considerations. It is even said that before major highways are planned, the digital infrastructure must be assessed first. For one, work and other economic activities may be carried out from the home, reducing traffic on highways of large cities significant enough to slow highway development as well as reducing carbon footprint.

There will be belated but strong investment in public transport which is integrated and efficient; the public transport investment should cover smaller townships other than major cities to cover the day when fuel subsidies have to be wound down, and carbon auditing is enforced by an international regime.

On Environment, Pakatan should do more and set a step-wise timetable towards a future date by which to stop logging in all native-growth forest (primary jungle), and log only secondary and planted forests. This could be built into the international carbon trading schemes, and future international assistance in reforestation. The remaining living Habitat must be preserved for the welfare of the indigenous peoples, other environmental and ecological considerations not forgotten.

Environment education and consumer behaviour, human rights should feature strongly in the civics subject in schools, but no cramming for examinations please!

On Education, the challenges of the global village, may require the national education system, to be defined not as a conformist monolith, but to embrace diverse streams of education, including mission schools, mother tongue schools and even private schools.

A high level of autonomy for mission and mother tongue schools, even if government funded, should be assured to best bring out their time-tested dynamism, in healthy competition with fully national schools.

The growth of the services economy will derive essential strength from multi-culturalism;

opportunities should be widely available to learn several other foreign languages.

Critical to the nation, education must move away from rote learning for examination, to critical thinking, mental creativity, formation and articulation of ideas, communication of ideas, personal development, lifetime learning, appreciation of the arts and heightened social consciousness. Upon these are to be built, science, technology and material progress.

Malaysian people have a repertoire of artistic talents in their blood, but locked away under the stress of a materialistic and authoritarian society. How will their artistic and cultural talents be fully unleashed to add to both the spiritual and material wealth of society?

Greater attention needs be given to education in culture, and training in visual and performing arts from nursery to university. Music is acknowledged to promote neuro-linguistic development, benefit mental, even physical health. Social experiments among the poor enclaves in a Latin American country is said to have reduced crime among juveniles. Would music and arts be a relatively cheap instrument in addressing social problems in Malaysian youth?

Clearly, Pakatan is holding up public health sector as the mainstay of health policy, with implicit increase of both infrastructural provision and service funding. The Malaysian Health Services Commission will arrive, only a few decades later than advocated by the medical profession!

Conceivably with its inauguration, there will promptly emerge a National Health Plan with a national health financing mechanism to back it up long term. Health care is an extremely complex field; Pakatan should consider stepping up Health Services Management and Planning training to prepare management personnel conversant with issues facing modern health care delivery.

The excellent policy paper has not however mentioned Science and Technology Development so essential for Malaysia to free itself from the “middle income trap” or “the resource curse”, as so eminently addressed by an UMNO veteran Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. There needs to be a further policy statement on Research and Development.

The Barisan federal government is now challenged with a serious and quite comprehensive policy paper from Pakatan Rakyat, to which now it would do well to give a meaningful response; such would be expected by people living under a two-party system.

No document is perfect, this included. For now, Pakatan joint policies put forward are certainly adequate to pull Malaysia out if its deep doldrums, even its terminal crisis. Fullest credit must be given to its brain-child, Datuk Zaid Ibrahim.

For the future, the document will surely be continually refined and improved with the participation of all Malaysians, partisanship notwithstanding. This must stand as a central and historic document, a living document whose narrative will steadily grow to meet the continually progressing aspirations of a nation whose citizens are seeking liberation from tyranny and authoritarianism.

This is Project New Malaysia, belonging as much to the people of Sabah and Sarawak as to people in Peninsular states. This is the tough project which all Malaysians have to work on for the next several generations. Until then, Malaysians will not be able to stand tall and equal. God-willing, and Insyallah, it shall succeed!

Upon Project New Malaysia, the health of the nation will be restored, its place in ASEAN and the international community enhanced. A New Malaysia in a New Dawn deserving of the commitment of every Malaysian!

My alma mater

St. Joseph’s School Rally
Sons of St. Joseph a voice is resounding,
Promptly respond to your duty’s sweet call;
Answer you all for the trumpet is sounding,
Your mater’s proclaiming her watchwords to all.
Forward her children dear,
Ever with hearts sincere,
Render with joy to your mater her due;
All that is vile reject,
Heaven will e’er protect,
Sons of St. Joseph’s valiant and true.
Prayer and labour your motto still bearing,
Forward with courage in ways that are just;
True to your standard be doing and daring,
As faithful Josephians in Heaven will trust.
“Once a Josephian, Always a Josephian!”

MALAYSIANS, LOOK EAST THIS AUGUST 31ST. !

Francis H. H. Ngu , Kuching, 31st August, 2009.

It has been some two decades since Malaysia under Mahathir adopted a Look East Policy, using Japan as the model for the development of Malaysia. On a historic day of political change in Japan, the Look East Policy is revisited for its broader ramifications to Malaysia.

The diligence of Japanese workers, work ethics and the team spirit are indeed worth emulating, but then these are the product of hundreds of years of culture. The backdrop of that culture includes hardships resulting from natural calamities, and sparse natural resources, against which Malaya and Borneo were and still are in sharp advantage as compared to Japan. The Japanese is also a culture where the prominent influence of Chinese civilization stares in your eyes. From tea-drinking and Buddhism, to chinaware and painting, and to lexicon and calligraphy, the creative Japanese have brought the Chinese influences into their unique own.

On to their own rich culture too, were grafted the science and technology of the Western industrial revolution through the process of the Meiji Renewal, and western concepts of democracy and Human Rights, particularly after WW II.

From the start, Malaysia looks a vastly different substrate from Japan. It has a culture on which Indian, Arabic, Chinese and later Western colonial cultures were preeminently grafted on to the indigenous cultures of the Malay archipelago. The foreign input into Malaysian culture may thus be said to be more sustained, direct and diverse than is the case of Japan. The strong infusion of the English language through colonial government and the growth of Chinese language education through sheer commitment of the sizable Chinese ethnic minority are also distinguishing features. The legacy of the British judicial system and the structured civil service, also puts Malaya and former British Borneo in comparative advantage. The Constitution and Westminister styled parliamentary were to be the basis of the healthy growth of a young nation.

Why then did Japan rise as Pheonix from the atomic holocaust of WWII to become the second largest economy in the World, and Malaysia rose to the Second World, but is now under threat to slip towards the Third World again ?

At first glance, Malaysia appeared open to positive foreign influences, from including its once aggressor, Japan; and Malaysia even promised to take a lead in the ICT age through the Multi-Media Supercorridor. But did it even ever Looked East to Japan ?

Japan was and is not shy of foreign influences, East or West, while Malaysia in great but unintelligent nationalist zest, jettisoned the English language from the education system, thus shut itself from an invaluable comparative advantage asset of learning and communication. The Chinese language education was softly suppressed, thus depriving Malaysia leverage of what is emerging as an increasingly important international language.

Japan kept corruption and crony-capitalism at bay through a robust criminal justice system; from the 1989 Judicial Crises, the Malaysian executive branch has controlled the Judicial branch, subverting the separation of Powers so essential to the healthy functioning of democracy. What is a great strength of Japan was not taken on board, but what functioning judicial infrastructure Malaysia had was slaughtered.

Japanese enjoy civil and political rights little different from any liberal western country; Malaysians are to be cowered by repressive legislation governing behaviour of academics and higher education students, the print media and rights of assembly and expression. Is it so difficult to understand that the free intellect and the free individual is the basis of a creative community and nation?

Malaysians are not allowed to learn the art of accountable local government from Japan or anywhere else. Grass-roots democracy or participatory democracy are remote concepts in Malaysian lexicon. Why deprive the Malaysians a vital instrument of social commitment and engagement? Are these latter not the accompaniments of the Japanese work culture about which Malaysians were exhorted to emulate ?

Look East or even look anywhere, has thus been mere rhetoric mired in the broader Malaysian ruling National Front agenda of the political and economic supremacy of a monoculture; as incitefully coined Ketuanan Melayu, this a mere pretence for the political survival of an unpopular ruling elite class.

The rejection of English may have had the effect of shutting out western ideas of civil and political rights, egalitarianism, feminist ideas and possibly religions deemed Western. Thus English language was temporarily brought back for Science and Mathematics education, but not for the liberal Arts subjects, if there is anything Liberal in Malaysian education. The refusal to promote the Chinese language education is to be understood from the ruling perspective and priority about monocultural hegemony over broader national competitiveness issues.

The Malaysian crony-capitalism, corruption, and political hegemony founded on race rhetorics meant that the worst aspects of the free market far supercede the its better strengths in its impacts on Malaysian economy. Distortion to labour, prices and incomes becomes further bugbear to progress and social stability. Investors leave Malaysian shores.

The political change of the largest world economy, USA, and now the second largest, Japan, puts Malaysia and the world on notice. On the heels of China, the new Democratic Party government of Japan will be using social welfare spending as one of the tools of stimulating its long ailing economy. Will both China and Japan be building a social security system to match those of western social democratic systems?

One can look East, South, North and West, the message is unmistakenly clear every where; CHANGE WE MUST ! Look to Japan for a smooth transition of power in a mature democratic Land of the Rising Sun. Looking East this season for Malaysians is as good as looking anywhere else, and look East really hard this time round.

Time Sarawak has Health Services Management School

NEED FOR SETTING UP SCHOOL OF HEALTH SERVICES PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT IN SARAWAK.

Dr. Francis H. H. Ngu, , M.B.,B.S.(Malaya), M.H.P.(UNSW)

AUG.2009.

“--- in an advanced nation as we aspire to be, there should not only be expensive top end medical technologies and services available for the elite few, but there should also be accessible and equitably distributed medical care –“

“A Keadilan government, genuine about human capital development, will positively engage with the medical and allied professional stakeholders, and health related NGO reps, in medical services development; we maintain that getting competent professional advice in public decision making will reduce the chance of large scale public policy and project failures.” YB Dominique Ng, ADUN Padungan, extract of speech in DUN.

SUMMARY:

In the general context of high complexity and rising national health care costs, Sabah and Sarawak will need a large injection of public sector funding for new facilities and upgrades to achieve a “catch-up growth”. The disparity of service provision between E. and Peninsular Malaysia, and the growing accessibility problem following Privatisation Policy, aggravated in face of a stalled economy, need to be addressed by government. The public interests in medical care in Sarawak has been largely canvassed by a single political party, but in the last 2 years receiving some limited bipartisan support.

Devolvement and decentralization as part of needed structural reform was stated, (but left to future discussion).

In anticipation of the needs outlined, the implementing capacity of government must be beefed up quickly by training a body of health services planning and management professionals of multi-professional backgrounds. It is suggested that such a school be set up, at relatively low cost, to benefit the State and nation. The new HSM profession will help better inform political leaders and the wider community in the much needed dialogue on health care and social welfare issues in the decades to come.

FULL TEXT

That no nation has it absolutely right attests to the complexity of providing health care services to nation states. USA spends double digits of its GDP on Health, but has been struggling with reforms even as you read this, as Obama tries to provide universal coverage for a large section of the lower socio-economic groups left out under market mechanisms. UK has its well established NHS, very tightly rationed, partly through GPs as controlling “gatekeepers.” Australia provides high quality universal coverage to its citizens at high costs, but not without funding constraints and deficiencies in practitioner

supply to rural and remote areas. The “socialist market economics” which power the rest of the Chinese economy, has left the greater part of the population not covered to receive affordable medical care.

Medical care is human resource and technology intensive, subject to great flux in a social-political environment undergoing ever more rapid change. The multi-disciplinary high-knowledge personnel teams have to be optimally engaged to deliver patient-care individual and community outcomes.

Health services delivery, based on whichever international models, has proven to constitute an increasingly larger part of the GDP. In Malaysia the public and private combined outlay of just under 4% of GDP is relatively low compared to some western nations. However domestic political and health care policy re-orientation in Malaysia may see the share by Health in the public sector jump by 50-100% in the medium term. The increased supply of Medical graduates at around 3000 a year nationally, will further create its own demands and in its wake, rising national health care costs, a sequel predictable by health care economics.

The health care needs and deficits of Sabah and Sarawak are quite staggering, as we have outlined in “Time to review medical care services in Sarawak”, which we went to press in April, 2008 and which we canvassed again in August 2008 (1):

“-----reiterating the following proposals:

1. Sibu, Miri and later Bintulu should be upgraded to Regional Referral Hospital status, providing a wider range specialist and sub-specialist services in 5-10 years, such as psychiatry ,cancer, cardiology, nephrology, urology, burns among others.
2. A few other divisional hospitals need to be upgraded to general hospitals with 5-6 basic specialist services, as expressed initially by Parti Keadilan Rakyat and later the BN MPs of Sarikei, Limbang and Kapit. The Sri Aman, Lubok Antu and Saribas population has also long been underserved.
3. State Government, Federal and Education Ministries must urgently and jointly address health services manpower issues, in view of the enormous upgrading of health services due to the people of Sarawak.
4. Attention should be paid to health services planning and management training to policy level, necessitated by a newly arising scenario of bipartisan recognition of the need to address severe medical care services deficiency.
5. There needs to be a systematic devolvement of decision making authority and responsibilities from central government to state government if the medical care needs of Sarawak were to be met in the decades ahead.”

“Parti Keadilan leaders in Kuching had during the 2006 State general elections campaign, called for the building of 3 standard polyclinics and 3 general hospitals around the growing Kuching metropolis within the next 10 years or so. They are to serve residents of Petra Jaya-Santubong, Pending-Samarahan-Asajaya and Batu Kawa-Padawan-Mambong respectively. Planning should start soonest—“ (1)

It is evidently clear that the medical care agenda is so massive that even if the present MOH planning and management machinery were to move entirely from KL to Kuching, it can barely cope with the needs of Sarawak, not to mention Sabah as well. Even the proposed second hospital for Kuching, whether new or converted from SIMC, will prove an enormous stress to the manpower capacity of the Ministry for the subsequent 3-5 years. (2)

Catch-up growth in the public health sector is mandated by both the disparity of development between Peninsular and E. Malaysia, and also by a large hiatus due to sharply reduced public sector health care infrastructural development as a result of the wider government Privatisation policy of the Mahathir era.

Large scale privatization of medical care replacing public sector financing is hazardous politically even with a highly robust and broad middle class economy; the ills are becoming increasingly apparent for a nation facing economic stagnation since the Asian Crises of 1997, increased income and social inequality and a drop in real disposable incomes as a result of world-wide inflation. Private and individual financing for medical care is feasible for some 20% of Malaysians nationwide, but even less for Sabah and Sarawak. Holding back public sector funding will prove more and more politically untenable for government. Sooner rather than later, this has to be a bipartisan recognition of the political realities of Health Care.

To meet the health service planning and management demands of the needed catch-up growth, the 2 East Malaysian states, with also the highest population growth among the states, must urgently develop their full health services planning and management competencies, this reasonably achievable within 5 years.

The jury may still be out on whether health care is economically productive, but to leave the planning and management of health care without the contribution from the disciplines of public policy, health economics, accountancy, general and business management, health and social statistics, engineering, architecture and design among others, would be irresponsible and even catastrophic. The current Sarawak International Medical Centre fiasco is a case in point.

The health services planning and management field (H.P./ H.S.M.) attempts to forge a multi-disciplinary approach to the optimal delivery of modern health care, including public health and epidemiology, social science, economics and accountancy, general management, demography, law and ethics, media and communications, research science among others, and aided by IT. Major fields of learning and related professions provide a facilitatory and enabling structural and management framework for the medical, nursing and allied professionals to apply best practice evidence-based medicine to patient care. Some of our finest professionals should be called to contribute to health care, which is challenging us with advancing new technology, rapidly rising costs and difficult bioethical issues.

The health service management professional may be trained through a diploma course or as a primary degree undergraduate course, or be drawn from other established professions like medicine, nursing, public administration, economics and management through a (post)graduate programme. Accreditation as a HSM professional would follow training specified by a profesional accreditation agency. Italics (2).

Malaysian central planning and educational authorities are lagging in awareness of the field of health services management (HSM). Limited exposure to planning and management is provided in the Master of Public Health programmes at local universities, rightly reflecting the over-riding importance of tropical communicable diseases before morbidity from lifestyle changes and the explosion of medical technology set in.

A couple of medical officers are sent overseas to do Dip. Hospital Administration or graduate H.P./HSM programmes annually. Their subsequent input into the health system is however curtailed by structural arrangements.

On return, they are appointed either as Hospital Directors or as officers in the Planning Department of the Ministry of Health in Kuala Lumpur. The Planning Department is however a misnomer, for it does not deal with the whole range of national health policy, structural issues, health service financing or holistic planning, but rather it engages in newly approved physical facilities and their design; even this, it is deficient in the post-commissioning evaluative phase processes which are invaluable in influencing subsequent physical projects.

Sarawak would make a national contribution if it were to start a School of Health Services Management, at Diploma, undergraduate and graduate levels in conjunction with reputable overseas partners, as are found at a couple of Australian universities.

The cost of setting up is rather minimal, as only small lecture rooms and tutorial rooms are needed, and much academic material may be sourced online. The greater operational costs relate to academic staffing and resource library. However a small to modest annual outlay of around RM$10 million is needed initially. The sum pales in comparison to the RM$350 million spent on the Sarawak International Medical Centre project, a giant fiasco which would have been wholly avoidable had the protagonists been exposed to proper professional HP/HSM advice.

The financial investment is small, but the returns to health care management and health sector efficiency and effectiveness would be enormous. HP and HSM training must proceed, notwithstanding the health care model adopted. It may be crucial to the long-term success of inevitable health care structural reform for Sarawak and Malaysia in future; it would greatly help the further development of both the public and the private health care sectors, including future health tourism ambitions as part of the services economy. Professionalism will be greatly enhanced at all levels from policy makers at national and state levels to middle rung managers of hospitals, large polyclinics, and local divisional and district health management. Italics (2)

There will be developed a common language to help bridge the communications gap between the medical and nursing professions with legislators, NGOs, political leaders, managers and administrators from other professions. Other professional fields engaged extensively with Health Care would also be duly benefited, these as the wider social spin-offs which are only partly tangible.

Certain basic principles will also be imparted to political leaders as reference points on which to base their political platforms in relation to health care policies. Among others, these relate to resource allocation issues, health services financing, evaluation of new technology, HRM in Health, quality assurance, etc.

A new core of HSM professionals will be borne to replace the only 3 Sarawak-borne doctors who benefited from such training, and all of whom have reached retirement age. There is need for a much larger group drawn from various professions, in addition to medical, who will articulate policy, needs, values, reforms, process and outcome issues,

and take a lead role in steering the health care delivery of Sarawak for the new century.

The emergence of a professional group will guide discussion of a range of health and social welfare issues and thus also help promote meaningful community participation and input into future health care and social welfare policies.

1 Ngu, F.H.H., ” Rational Medical Care Planning”, press-release Kuching, 7th Aug. 2008.

2. This author, in a discussion paper, unpublished, “A structural framework for DECENTRALISING MANAGEMENT OF HEALTH CARE SERVICES for SARAWAK.’

Reproduction: Social Welfare Article

A plea was made at the peak of the Oil Crises in 2008 for a new Social Welfare Policy for Malaysia primarily to mitigate the hardship of Malaysians in the lower socio-economic groups from the oil price shock, though other macroeconomic considerations feature prominently as well.

While a few of the assumptions of the writer have clearly changed due to circumstances brought on by the subsequent global economic crises and the collapse of commodity prices, the central plank of social welfare as good public policy holds. If anything, the economic downturn makes such policy rethink all the more pressing. Nations in the Asian region, Singapore, China and Taiwan(China)have all beefed up welfare aid to the economically depressed. Australia on top of its institutionalised super-generous social security , was the first to give out handouts as a driving component of its stimulus package. A second handout is being given out around Easter, benefiting those with incomes of AU$100k per annum and below.

A fresh boost to social welfare in Malaysia, however weak comparative to neighbours, should be on the agenda.

Indeed a measure of the quality of public policy of any nation is the quality of its safety net provisions for the vulnerably disadvantaged. Social security would present a humanising side to mitigate the avariciousness of the unfettered free market.

In today's Malaysian Insider blog comment to an article "Malaysia to push economic reform", Professor Chan Chee Khoon of the Science University of Malaysia has timely called on government to address the wages and incomes issue, and institute minimum wage to spur aggregate demand.

This writer believes that social security is an essential policy tool to boost domestic demand, reduce petty crime, building of truly caring society and other desirable social objectives.

In the "Islamic Welfare State" of PAS, and Khalid Ibrahim's "Merakyatkan Ekonomi", one hopes the first seeds are now been sown which will in time bloom into a decent
Social Security system for Malaysia.

Francis Ngu


TEXT OF REPRODUCED ARTICLE
DR. FRANCIS NGU CALLS FOR MAJOR SOCIAL WELFARE POLICY INITIATIVE.

SUMMARY:

The abandonment of subsidy for fuel and even other subsidies will lead to severe and multi-sectoral repercussions yet to be fully realized, including stagflation, increased unemployment, social unrest, manifold increase in poverty and poverty related crime. At this crucial juncture, a long term social welfare policy programme should be put up, even belatedly, to mitigate quite disastrous spin-offs from the controversial policy of abandoning fuel and other subsidies. The implemention of a social welfare policy is proposed here as a major prong of a social justice reform programme, and to mitigate the effects of local and international economic slow down.

FULL TEXT:

In the midst of social anger and large and small protest actions of various groups, it is incumbent upon social welfare NGOs, political workers, scholars, professionals, leaders in the business and civil service, and legislators to begin an urgent debate and discussion on the medium and long-term socio-economic impact of a possible doubling of petrol price in the near term to around RM4 per litre.

Considering that fuel price would have risen 3-4 fold over a medium length period of 5-10 years, if the pump price approaches RM 4, and all the other essential goods see price rises to compound, the purchasing power of the Malaysian consumer will fast evaporate.

This is well understood and painfully felt by the public at large. The anticipated dive in consumer and investment confidence, and the drop in GDP is reflected in the opening bells of the KLSE on the morning of June 5th.

The concurrent effort in wages reform in the private sector, even though feeble, and the need to scale down foreign labour, add to the difficulties of various business sectors. Job creation will slow down, unemployment will worsen.

All taken together, a stark scenario of rapid inflation and slowed growth, in Malaysia and overseas, sets the ground for the worsening of poverty and increase in the poverty rate towards levels of 1970s, if not earlier. In its wake, social unrest and poverty related crimes. Without political will for reform, poverty eradication will be thrown into the ever distant future.

There is no doubt that Malaysia is facing a severe crisis, which, to the lower socio-economic groups, is far more severe than the 1997, Asian Financial Crisis.

Yet, ironically, the crisis to the average consumer, may not have to be so severe, or there need not even have to be a crisis at all ! This is because we are also in an unprecedented commodities boom! The export price of petrol has increased 10 fold from under US $20 to US $ 140 ! CPO is the mother of all golden crops now at some RM 3500 per tonne.

It only points to the fact that the nation’s wealth distributive mechanisms have failed miserably. The GINI index has risen steadily to 0.47.

For some 2 decades, government has resisted any notion of meaningful wage reform, including a minimum wage as a start. A systematic social welfare net has been denied to the lower socio-economic groups, even during the 1997 Asian Financial Crises. Such an institutionalised social safety net is not mentioned even as we face paying the full price of fuel on world markets.

The promoters of the denial mentality paint a glowing picture of pristine economic health against a fictitiously low unemployment and poverty rate.

The most prosperous nations of the world have poverty rates of 10-12 % against Malaysia’s poverty rates of 2-3 %. Unemployment rates of 4-5 % only occur in intolerably booming western economies. The claim that Malaysia has one of the lowest prices for fuel and essential goods should at least be balanced by the fact that wages in those other high cost countries are 5-15 times Malaysian wages. Again, in those high cost countries, annual income of RM 150K and below is considered low income in public policy debates; an annual income of RM 50K may already entitle a family to receive welfare assistance. The monthly social welfare payment to a poor family overseas may be 4-5 times the starting wage of a professional in us “lucky” Malaysia!

When we face the reality of prices in a globalised world, when subsidies are being dismantled, it is hoped that the denial and feel-good mentality will fade away. Otherwise, there can be no meaningful debate on public policy.

It is hoped that meaningful public policy debate will lead to meaningful public policy within the short term. We are now moving painfully away from a distorted market economy with multiple subsidies, but we are faced with a market economy where eventual removal of price controls is leading to inflation at a pace threatening the livelihood of many. Nearly all the first world free-market economies have solid social welfare systems put in place 50-100 years ago, both as a principal of social justice and also as an essential policy to safeguard social stability.

A Malaysian Social Welfare System must be set up soonest, and should be running before any further price rises in fuel and further removal of other subsidies. The compensation to vehicle owners is a queer cabinate invention, which does not address the rising cost of living for all consumers, especially the poorest who obviously may not even own a motor vehicle. A long-term social welfare programme must proceed alongside a more vigorous wage reform drive in the private sector and regulation of foreign labour. Personal tax cuts and refunds by significant elevation of the lower thresholds should also be considered.

Welfare as a social policy principle.
When the livelihood of a large segment of society is threatened to a level affecting social stability, the arguement for and against individual charity vs institutionalized charity becomes academic and should be put aside. The basic dignity of living is too serious a matter to be left to charitable whims of individuals, but must be effectively addressed by institutionalized welfare. Individual and community charity initiatives continue to grow ever stronger in countries with matured social welfare protection.

In these countries too, there is no proof of generalized economic malaise as a result. Fine tuned welfare programmes are nowadays tied together with skills re-training and with employment search for the healthy unemployed.

Social welfare recognizes the right of citizen to have a basic dignity of living and belonging to society, something so important to social peace and cohesiveness. It is further an instrument for providing a level playing field for all, and for individuals and families to realize their full potential. Human creativity and initiative may be suppressed and trapped by grinding poverty.

Last but not least, social welfare is an integral part of the programme of major political parties promoting people’s welfare using different terms such as social justice, democratic socialism, welfare state and others. It is now more apparent than ever before that a dose of welfarism is needed to survive the disaster caused in part by the globalised and ailing free market.

Social welfare is affordable. Although Malaysia is a mid-range developing country, the present commodities prices boom alone enables Malaysia to put in place a robust social welfare programme soonest. The present petrol price rise is saving the nation of a massive “subsidy”, which is really increased profit to Petronas. When the pump price is floated at international market prices, the profit increase to Petronas is RM 50 billion, more if world crude rises further. All other subsidies, if finally withdrawn, is estimated to save government another RM 50-80 billion. All leakages of subsidies, and to undeserving sectors, would have been plugged.

Certainly, much of the RM 50 billion or RM 100 billion earned by Petronas or saved by government, should be set aside for economic investment, especially public transport infrastructure. It is immediately obvious that even 10% of either sum is sufficient to launch the programme, 25 % of either will establish a good programme and 50% will send all the street protestors praising the government. Thus welfare aid is institutionalized at a level consistent with the economic strength of the nation.

Social welfare payments may be implemented within months.
Emergency Implementation.
Should it be necessary to reduce public panic, emergency implementation may be necessary, with all the pitfalls fully realized.
With the progress in electronic banking, there should not be difficulty to effect payment to all IC card holders with a bank account. Payment to minors should be through parents.
Payments to the poorest of the poor without bank accounts, may have to be separately dealt with, as well with some Sarawakians with no IC cards. Without means testing, this may mean a significant leakage to the small wealthy segment of society; however it should be a tolerable price to pay for staving off social unrest.

Long term Implementation.
Fine tuned long term programs will have to be based on Legislative Framework, Means Testing, Welfare Fraud Detection and Judicial Sanctions. If we can embark on space age ambitions and mega-projects, can we not establish an efficient and effective implementation network nation wide for social welfare within 1-2 years?

Social welfare to mitigate economic slow-down.
Malaysia is said to have negotiated its way out of the 1997 crisis by pump-priming the economy by spending on infrastructure, among other measures. The economic slow down this time round is dictated by rising cost of production and severely damaged consumer and investor confidence and anticipated dipping of export demand for manufactured goods. Tourism and related services may also be affected. A social welfare system spending of RM 20-30 billion alongside infrastructure spending will help maintain domestic retail and services demand and restore part of the business confidence.

Thus a social welfare system is justifiable in terms of public policy, affordable , technically feasible and even economically sound.

OBAMA; PAX GRANDE UNIVERSALIS?

OBAMA STRIKES: PAX GRANDE UNIVERSALIS ?

In the midst of global Recession and on-going campaign against terrorism, President Obama has in recent days reinforced himself as a statesman ready to rewrite USA foreign policy, and paint a new international relations landscape for the new century.

Recapitulating, his "Change we can" campaign slogan not only fired up Americans, but inspired all those around the globe yearning for a better social and world order. His inaugural " -- history is not on their (dictators') side--" gave the needed confidence to those engaged in democratic and human rights movement; his outstretched hand softened public opinion in staunchly anti-American countries, including Iran. He has delivered on some major policy provinces, of which there are two which are perhaps the most far-reaching to date.

ABOLITION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

The president is on record to have called for the abolition of the entire nuclear arsenal in the world, the first US President to have committed to so. He also announced an immediate return to the 1972 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty which his predecessor had so recklessly abandoned and one which had underpinned international nuclear non-proliferation efforts.

One would have thought his declaration would have delivered a seismic shock to nations shielded by the US nuclear umbrella, like Japan, S. Korea and Australia.
On the contrary, in a article in the Melbourne Age on March 8th, several Australian luminaries led by former Prime Minister Malcom promptly call on Australia to seize the Obama moment and play a proactive role in the abolition of Nuclear Weapons.They point to the catastrophic geo-political, social, health and economic fallout from even a "minor" nuclear conflagration. The same broadsheet has on Easter Monday given a generous endorsement of the President’s foreign policy overtures as well.

It is now incumbent upon leaders of nations possessing nuclear weapons to engage positively with President Obama on nuclear non-proliferation, test ban and abolition of the entire arsenal. Nearer home, Wisma Putra and the ASEAN Secretariat, should add their voices in line with the ZOPFAN principle. Credit also should be given to Dr. McCoy and others in Malaysia who have campaigned for years on the issue, though drowned out by national political problems.

END OF ISLAMOPHOBIA ?

Following an enchanted tour of Europe, Obama not only declared to the Turkish Parliament " --we will not fight war with Islam--", but must have stunned many by stating that Islam has enriched the culture of USA. He will undoubtedly be slammed by many on the far right; but here is a statesman, Christian at that, who marvels at the magnificence of a Turkish mosque and gives meaning to the “out-stretched hand” of his inaugural speech. . In one stroke, he has not only tried confidence building, but has really started a civilizational dialogue, as essential to world peace as it is presidential.

Islam-bashing following 911, much of the non-Islamic world will now have to reorientate itself to a new language of trans-cultural reconciliation; an that of course would include the print and electronic media.

Home in Malaysia, may we credit a towering Malaysian leader who authored "The Asian Rennaisance", and made an impassioned plea for civilisational dialogue over a decade ago. He would have been pleased with the Obama initiatives, like some of us, but even more pleased that, even as Obama spoke those re-assuring words to Muslim sisters and brothers, many non-Muslim Malaysians (voters) showed they are able to cross the cultural and religious divide and seem poised to embark on the noble road of ethnic reconciliation.

At first glance unrelated, these two major areas of US policy have in reality considerable inter-relation.With the end of Cold War, a “clash of civilisations” is believed to be the likeliest trigger for a nuclear conflict, such as in the Middle East or in South Asia. Thus the policy re-tuning in the above fields is indeed of visionary wisdom.

GESTURES TO LATIN AMERICA

Again, at the Pan-American Summit, the President lost no time in taking intiative to
reduce hostility to the US from her "traditional sphere of influence" which is Latin America. Declaring "I am not interested in arguements of the past--", he set out to envisioned a new future of cooperation and progress based on mutual respect. His conciliatory message to Cuba will in due course spring us with many surprises and hope for greater stability and social justice in a whole hemisphere. Though US-Cuban
antagonism has long ceased to be a threat to world peace, like it was in 1961, improvement in their bilateral relations would nontheless be consistent to a more peaceful and harmonious world order.

Has a new world millenium just begun, a more enlightened millenium, some 10 years late ? Will the years ahead see peace and goodwill break out in the world? Is it penultimate naivity to dream of a peacefuland harmonious order in world history ever?

It is as much for civil society, as leaders of nations large and small, to press for millenial change in the space that Obama has created.
It may have been the most meaningful pre-Easter message one hears; and shall we conclude with : In God Allah we trust.

Francis Ngu.
(updated 19th April)

SUNGGUH BESAR ALLAHKU

An attendance at an Indonesian language Christian Easter service today has provided the substance for this post; it throws some reflection for me a Malaysian, in the face of the gazetted ban in Malaysia for Christians to use the word Allah.

The main explicit reason for the ban was that shared usage of the word ALLAH would cause confusion to the majority Muslim population of Malaysia, but this has been firmly refuted by a most respected Malaysian Muslim cleric, Tok Guru Nik Aziz.

During a recent short husting during the Batang Ai by-election campaign in
Sarawak, an Iban (Dayak) showed me the the first lines of the Genesis in the Iban bible where clearly the word Allah was used from the very beginning that the Iban Bible was published. Anyone can figure out the implications of such a legal ban on the word Allah, for Christians in Malaysia using the local language Bible. Enormous distress, to say the least.

Since then I have come down to Melbourne meet my children here.

There is this suburban Uniting Church of Australia (amalgamation of Methodist and Presbyterian churches), which hosts an Indonesian language service for Indonesian Methodists resident in Melbourne. Many of those at the service are of ethnic Chinese origin, but there is also a sprinkling of the Indonesian ethnic diaspora and just a couple of fairer skin Australians among the small congregation. Thus I was able to speak with a Sumatran Batak, who number only 2 million back in Indonesia and of whom 5% are Christians.

Although not a Methodist myself, I nevertheless feel brotherliness with a congregation celebrating in Bahasa Indonesia of which my national language in Malaysia is so similar. There was for me a certain "at home in Malaysia" feeling.

Throughout the service, the mainly ethnic Chinese congregation used the words "Tuhan" and "Allah" in reference to GOD repeatedly. The above caption " Great is the Lord God" was flashed on the projection screen as the hymn to the same title was solemnly sung. Thus in Indonesia, with the largest Muslim population among nations in the world, there is acceptance for Christians to refer to God as Allah.

With the gazetted ban on Christians in Malaysia using the the word Allah, would it follow that an Indonesian Christian would be banned from bringing the Indonesian
language Bible into Malaysia?

Had Malaysian authorities foreseen that the gazetted ban may have extended repercussions beyond its own Christian citizenry ?

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