YOURSAY | ‘GLCs are seen as cash cows and gravy trains to line pockets with little accountability.’

PN should learn from the history of failed GLCs - Malay-Muslim NGOs

GooseNBanter: Based on the tone of most commenters here we can deduce that:

1. Everyone welcomes this cause taken up by these Malay-Muslim NGOs as a breath of fresh perspective to same age-old quandary;

2. Commenters are both Malays and non-Malays;

3. Everyone is in the same storm but on different boats.

This is a great start and a big thank you to all six NGOs spearheading this.

However, if your concerns for the success and profitability of these government-linked companies (GLCs) should be truly based on “demi kemakmuran negara dan kesejahteraan rakyat” (for the success of the country and welfare of the people) and nothing else, would it not be a struggle to achieve this if from the onset we are already partisan in our thinking?

The groups said: “Therefore, GLCs must return to its role to uphold the trust of the Malays and all Malaysians” versus “therefore, GLCs must return to its role to uphold the trust of all Malaysians.”

Your respective organisation charters or manifestos, institutionalised or otherwise, would already have made it clear to your members as to your purpose. Maybe it is for the Malay cause, the upholding of Islam or the development of bumiputera commerce, et cetera. But there is no necessity for a partisan approach to achieve a plural objective. One negates the other.

Business success relies highly on logical thinking, with some emotional considerations for balance. On the other hand, politics is a highly emotional scope encompassing people, sentiments, race, religion, creed, culture, etc, with logic to underline the equation.

As such, this is the reason for the proven track record of failed GLCs after GLCs.

Vijay47: The stand taken by this coalition of Malay-Muslim NGOs is stunning, to say the least, as it is a vision we have never encountered before. Yet it is obviously most welcome.

The attitude that confronts the country, and especially the non-Malays, is usually far more belligerent and fanatical, focusing on perceived threats from the minority community and how the Malays must unite to face this enemy of race, religion, and rulers.

You have correctly pointed out that politics and business simply do not mix, a truth that was evident almost from the beginning of Malaysian time. What other intelligent conclusions can be drawn from the countless NGOs whose only pride is that they were consistent in their abysmal failures?

It was plain that managerial positions in these public bodies were just rewards for political affiliation and subservience. Such damaging policies have been uniformly adopted by all three governments that we have been cursed to fall under. And now PAS has chosen to make it more blatant.

But sirs, while you spoke of the disharmony of politics and commerce, you refer only to the mortal ailment and not the cure. The simple solution to these woes is that the best minds must be appointed to steer these public sector vehicles.

It is not suggested that only non-Malays be chosen to lead. Pick the best, unmindful of which community they come from. With such a basis, in the resultant mix, there surely would be capable Malays also in the vanguard. And with this healthy leadership, we would experience a greater likelihood of successful national NGOs.

A bold change has to be made. But who will bell the cat?

Slumdog: Why would the Perikatan Nasional (PN) government want to learn from history? The PN government is a clone of Umno. It is no different from their past masters who have a penchant for plundering and mismanagement.

GLCs are seen as cash cows for certain politicians and their equally corrupted cronies to ransack the coffers, make dubious investments, pay inflated property prices and drive the GLCs to the ground. Then they put out their hands for bailouts. This is their gravy train.

Would you want to learn from history when you can line your pockets without accountability?

Kural: This forthright criticism by the Allied Coordinating Committee of Islamic NGOs (Accin) and others should discourage all and any further measures in this regard by Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s government despite the yoke PAS and de facto Law Minister Takiyuddin Hassan in the present government.

It should not be too difficult for a concerned Malay economics professor in any of the many public universities to do speedy exploratory research of the past 30 years pointing out many of the negative indicators of management failures in statutory agencies and GLCs, and the consequent massive financial burden on public finances.

Huge as it was, the 1MDB debacle is but the tip of the iceberg going back some three decades since the start of Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s leadership. This national stain of wasting public resources on any pretext must be stopped.

Simple Truth: Yes, blame Mahathir. He started it all with the likes of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and the banks and Proton. He wanted to make Malay tycoons at that time and succeeded, except that they became millionaires at the expenses of the GLCs, and taxpayers had to bail them out.

Since Mahathir had set the tone, the likes of PAS have tasted corrupt money and now want more for their followers.

If this continues, and the Malays continue to harp on a Malay-Muslim government, the nation will go bankrupt in no time. Thanks to the ‘only Malays can be ministers’ cry by these so-called nationalists.

Anonymous_1544340881: To the coalition of Malay-Muslim NGOs, what you say makes sense. But even though you are Malay-Muslim and the big bosses in the PN government apparently claim that it is here to fight for you, they will not listen to what you have said.

This is because they are here to fight for themselves. They are not here to fight for Malays, Chinese, Indians, the Orang Asli and East Malaysians. Hence, GLCs are a means to benefit them, their families and cronies.

Also, what can the prime minister do? If PAS pulls out, Bersatu will be wiped out in the next general election as it does not have enough support.

Anonymous_90011583373451643: History has also taught us not to read too much into this type of “cart before horse” journalism who is expecting a month-old government to execute such earth-shaking restructuring of GLCs.

Further, it will be foolish for the PN government to consider privatising GLCs at a time like this.

Please give the PN government a break because they are working hard to clean up the mess Mahathir and the Pakatan Harapan clowns have left behind.

Anonymous 5237890145285379: @Anonymous_90011583373451643, since Harapan did not rule very long, can you list out the mess they left behind?

You are saying PN is working very hard to clean up the mess created by Mahathir and Harapan. Which minister is doing the cleaning up? The health minister? What mess did Harapan create? Or are you just talking nonsense?

I did not see any mess left behind by Harapan, only the mess left behind by the BN.

Mat MD: The failures of many past GLCs reflect the poor management of the entities headed by unfit members of parliament without the basic knowledge of running business enterprises.

As greed overwhelmed them once they were appointed, their priorities were to amass wealth in order to enable them to indulge in lavish lifestyles.

As a consequence, several of the MPs, for their corrupt practices involving millions of ringgit, are now facing court charges and waiting for their turn to be sent to prison.

Anonymous 770241447347646: Times are bad and the future is uncertain. If any of the GLCs fail this time, the administration will not be able to rescue that organisation.

There have been so many trials and errors and it has cost taxpayers billions of ringgit to save them again and again. This time, the money is not there anymore.

The PN government cannot afford to make mistakes. If nothing else, the reason is there are many Malay employees attached to these GLCs. Their livelihood will be put in jeopardy.

The PN administration needs the best minds to not only steer this nation through the choppy waters but also make sure that none of the GLCs sinks in these waters.

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