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Misinformed Penangite
By Rajan Rajasamy, March 11, 2010
CALVIN Sankaran’s letter "Bleak prospects for Penang" (March 9) clearly shows a lack of understanding of the issues that confront Malaysia and not just Penang. It is unfortunate that his writings are not better employed on suggestions on how to improve Malaysia’s economy.
The writer must realise that Malaysia’s labour cost is no longer competitive as compared to Vietnam, Cambodia and other emerging economies around the world. It is sad that the writer continues to ignore the fact that Malaysia has to undergo a major structural change by moving into the Knowledge Economy concept. Many smart Malaysians have emigrated and talents as such are being drained away due to a discriminating government policy.
Secondly, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng never turned away any RM10.2 billion foreign direct investment (FDI) and it is a blatant lie to continue to say this. The company just never made any commitment to be in Malaysia after finding out that there were never enough engineers. Clearly this is real and apparent. Ask around Penang and you will get a fair comment from many whom I have interacted with.
Malaysia is not addressing the shortage of human capital well and there must be an apolitical effort to address the skills set issues.
If the writer is a savvy commentator on the Penang economy, he should note that the state’s GDP and FDI rates will fall in tandem with the economic recession, as almost 40% of Penang’s GDP is from the manufacturing sector. I am startled that the writer was unable to see this, although his views are clearly out to confuse the general public. In fact, local investments which should also play a role in Penang’s GDP fell drastically as many local corporations and investors are unable to support further investments in Penang as they are dependent on foreign investors.
What is suspect is the priority of the federal government. What is the writer’s stand on the economic and political climate of the country? Clearly, the drastic 25% drop in foreign exchange reserves shows that foreign investors believe the federal government is not paying enough attention on building trust among the people of different races and religions. Teoh Beng Hock’s death in custody and the fiasco over the use of the word "Allah" are issues, to name a couple, that may have contributed negatively to the economy in general.
Hence, the writer should acknowledge that Penang and Selangor continue to play a major role in capturing the bulk of FDI into the country.
The moral of the story is this. In times of a major crisis, there will be lots of opportunities. The current Penang government’s state of accounts has been praised by the auditor-general as compared to that of other states. Also, its efforts to distribute an annual RM100 to its senior citizens for their contributions is praiseworthy. Again, I am saddened at the misinformation with which the writer continues to portray the state government. A typical case of a misinformed Penangite.
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