Sunday, May 13, 2018

Who is actually the Finance Minister?

MM Online - No honeymoon period: Daim says Council of Elders getting down to business right away (extracts):


KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 ― The newly set up Team of Eminent Persons meant business and wasted no time as they convened their first meeting soon after the announcement of its formation by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed.

No honeymoon period and prolonged post-election euphoria as the government is determined to restore the confidence of the people and investors after Pakatan Harapan’s unprecedented win in the 14th general election on May 9.

Chaired by former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin, the meeting, which went late into the night, was also attended by three other members of the team, namely former Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz, former Petronas President and Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican and economist Prof Jomo Kwame Sundaram.

Billionaire tycoon Tan Sri Robert Kuok was not present as he is currently overseas.

Meanwhile over at FMT, we read Daim assures no increase in govt debt after GST removal (extracts):


KUALA LUMPUR: Former finance minister Daim Zainuddin, who is now part of the five-member Team of Eminent Persons under the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, has assured investors and fund managers that all problems affecting the economy will be addressed and that there will not be an increase in debts.

“There is no reason to put the economy into a state that is much worse,” he told Bernama after chairing a meeting late last night with other members of the team.

He was responding a question on jitters by investors over the impact on the ringgit and stock market following the surprise win by PH in the recent polls, which saw the fall of the six-decade rule by Barisan Nasional.

The concept of a Council of Elders arose during the days when then-PM Najib did NOT report to Mahathir. The old man was annoyed and worried that the new PM was going off at a tangent to his (Mahathir's) earlier designed and decided policies. That was his beef with AAB, and he didn't want Najib to be like another AAB.

Mahathir then said, words to the effect, that government policies before being announced should be sent to him for approval. That was the magnitude of his imperious attitude when he believed he was still the political ruler of Malaysia.

And that was when he mooted the idea of a Council of Elders, presumably with himself then as one of the Elders if not the Council's chairman, who could "control" then-PM Najib and subsequent PMs.

Leaving aside the facts that such a Council was to achieve Mahathir's objective of "CONTROL"-ing a de jure PM, the idea by itself is not bad provided the Council of Elders provides ONLY advice. The Mainland Chinese had practised this in earlier years.

But it seems that the current Council of Elders under the chairmanship of Daim is doing more than just providing advice. It looks like it is taking over the economic-financial issues and issuing assurances when that's not its role, supposedly giving ONLY advice to the cabinet.

I am now beginning to wonder who is the real Finance Minister?


will I have a say? 

As I have written above, a Council of Elders is a good idea with the proviso its job is to ONLY provide advise and NOT make policy decisions or policy announcements, for the reason it is NOT elected and hence not the people's representatives.

This is the MOST important point to bear in mind, that ONLY elected representatives may only decide on government policies. And that has been why only a Wakil Rakyat (MP) and NOT a senator may become a PM. The aim is obviously to ensure only a Wakil Rakyat is ultimately in charge on behalf of the rakyat.

Today the Council of Elders, apart from Daim and his seeming hijacking of the Finance Minister's job, is made up completely of finance and economic experts. Where are the security, defence and social etc experts?

I can think of the following to be included in the Council:

(a) Security - Tun Mohammed Hanif bin Omar


Tun Mohammed Hanif Omar was one of the more dignified and accomplished IGP we had.

Hanif Omar joined the Malaysian Police Force as an Officer in 1959 until his retirement in January 1994.

He received his BA from the then University of Malaya, Singapore. Mr. Hanif Omar completed his LLB (Hons) at Buckingham University, United Kingdom and completed his CLP (Hons) from University of Malaya.

He served as director in a number of companies since his retirement. He is 79 today.


(b) Defence - Tan Sri Dato Sulaiman Bin Sujak


Tan Sri Dato' Sulaiman began his career by serving both the Royal Air Force and the Royal Malaysian Air Force and was the first Malaysian Air Force Chief.

He had also held the position as the Deputy Chairman of Malaysian Airline System Berhad, Advisor (now known as Assistant Governor) of Bank Negara Malaysia and Commercial Director of Kumpulan Guthrie Berhad. Tan Sri Dato' Sulaiman had also served as Director of HSBC Bank Malaysia Berhad and Cycle & Carriage Bintang Berhad.

He is 84 today, and one of the most distinguished and well-regarded Chief of the Air Force, if not the most.

(c) Social

We need an Elder who is well regarded in the fields of inter-community and cultural relationships, preferably someone well regarded locally and internationally, and who can advise on a united identity and equality for Malaysians

27 comments:

  1. the foundation of ph is pkr dap n pan, i hope the new finance minister n new defense minister dun forget that.

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  2. I agree with KT. And for Social it should be Tan Sri Datin Paduka Hajah Zaleha Ismail.

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  3. What are the team's terms of reference n goals that can be measured.

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  4. Aaahhh...it's either Council of Eminent Persons (sounds better than Elders don't you think) or the know-it-all Young Chikus of the 4th Floor fame (Tun Badawi's time) or the long list of consultants (McKinsey, Boston Consulting etc) (Najib). When one reporter asked TDM why Robert Kwok he simply replied "he is Malaysian". Touche.

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  5. Let's see how it works in practice before we condemn it.
    As Bill Clinton once said "Its the Economy, Stupid !"
    Malaysia faces serious strategic economic challenges after years of ossified and corrupt government, Fuck Ball Carrier Economists like Andrew Sheng.

    The council of Elders comprising the Best Economic minds the country has is to provide strategic guidance to the government on what needs to be done to Re-Boot the economy. Many of the areas covered do not come under the Finance Ministry.
    Lim Guan Eng will be the Executive head of a massive Finance Ministry portfolio covering everything from Bank Negara, EPF , Internal Revenue, Kastam Diraja, Bursa Malaysia...etc. Etc...
    He will have to multi task between Executing and Strategising.
    The Council of Elders will provide badly needed help on the Strategisng part including cross-Ministry matters.

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    Replies
    1. Aiyah.. just cancel the GST first la.. I want to see whether my breakfast at my regular mamak shop will be cheaper by at least 6%.

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    2. 3 of 5 are his cronies and the remainder have their main interests elsewhere. So instead of having one Resident to "advice" now we got 5 and majority voices rules.
      Welcome Mahathirism 2.0!

      #NotMyPM

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    3. business with revenue per annum below 500,000 is GST exempt

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    4. So your business is under 500k... kaytee....so you pay nothing to msia....

      No wonder

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    5. Below 500k is gst-free, does that mean tax-free or still subjected to sst and in ostolia, is there a limit capped to annual revenue?

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    6. Don't forget about the special case raised by that reading deficiency moron about hawkers with turnover exceed 500k not declaring gst.

      Wakakakaka… hawkers with turnover exceed 500k! Must be one hell of the hawkering le.

      Perhaps elite rent-seekers disguised as lowly hawkers?

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  6. It's obvious Kaytee you do not now have access unlike before to the Corridors of Powers and writing based on your own intuition.

    It's also difficult to mask it by just emotionally inspired intuition.

    Maybe it would be better to change tack and write about the expected Glory Days ahead and what is expected by the majority of Rakyat who voted on 9th May 2018.

    That would be more inspiring and perhaps garner more visitors than just Hellhounds, Islamists, Ketuanans etc.

    Wakakakaka

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  7. P/S Is TSG and Boo now hoping for Ambassodarial jobs?

    They need to come out now and Sing a different tune before can even be considered, woh.

    Wakakakakakakakaka.

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  8. There was no change of government. All that happened was 80s/90s version of UMNO travelled to the present - wakakakakaka!!!

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  9. Back to the future - versi Malaysia!

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    Replies
    1. Mahathir did the impossible alright. He built a time machine and transported us back to the good ol' days of the 80s and 90s. No doubt shoulderpads will be the in thing soon and ISA WILL BE BACK.

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    2. Wakakakaka…… indeed kt has lost touch with reality!

      The council of elders is ONLY good for 100 days.

      Daim says the council will meet every days for 100 days to resolve the key econ issues. After that he wants to sleep!

      Mamak concurs too!

      Shit stirrers eat yr heart out le!

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    3. A trope of time travel SF is that of the protagonist traveling back in time to prevent a disaster occurring in his own time and then discovering that the time travel is what caused the disaster in the first place.

      And Mahathir, Anwar and PKR are the "heroes" of this movie!

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    4. Council gives advice from behind, quietly

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    5. Oooop…… kauxai Oracle of Oz breaks the quatrain on the council of elders!

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    6. I remembered a LAT comic strip that depicted Mahahtir sending Ghafar Baba back in time to solve problems like the MCA crisis. Looks like he used it himself this time to solve the Mahathir crisis. Wakakaka!

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    7. Ck,
      Beware of this cheebye kaytee

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    8. "Council gives advice from behind, quietly"

      Whose rule is that ? For a new government who had just 3 days ago caused a 61-year regime fall, everything is unprecedented. Dr M is pragmatic and thoughtful...he for sees turmoil in the markets..see how cleverly he declared in effect a 4 days holidays to get a reprieve to quickly set up a working team to forestall any meltdown when the market reopens on Monday. He would want to advertise far and wide that he had a team of experienced experts working EVERYDAY for the next 100 days to give assurance to the market that he has a handle and is on top of things. He just won the GE on Wednesday and he already had on hand such a team ! 93 years old but he moves more like 39 ! haha. Pak Lah would actually be still ruling if he had had half the abilities of this 93...the biggest mistake is to install his version of council of the young wet-behind-the-ears cikku, having Khairy running wild on the 4th floor.

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    9. Seriously speaking, I understood you held yourself higher esteem than all those in the council of eminence persons. I know you wanna to go into the council right to propagate the true benefits of GST.

      However, like I say many many times, without showing your fucking IC, documents and credentials with full thorough background check......hahahahaha

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    10. I quote from cheebye kaytee "Council gives advice from behind, quietly"

      Ooooi......yours lei.......accountability comes from the beholder.......kaytee, your IC, documents and credentials

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    11. Wakakakaka……

      Thanks loose.

      I know he is quietly targeting me as in using the term 'fCk' to release his pent-up frustration.

      But, I know how to deal with a hypocritic aneh from Penang. I have some of his resume. BUT I won't unmask him.

      His time will come soonest due to his own doing.

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  10. Nothing more adorable than true believers ... wakakakaka...

    Siqiu 1999 ... fool me once ... dua kali kena... aiyoyo!

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