Ways to improve economy | 17 September 2023

Yesterday, I posted my article “Anwar doesn’t have to increase taxes” in which I said the following:

Malaysia’s average export every year is more than its import in the last 70 years. Moreover, Malaysia has a strong foreign exchange reserve of USD 110 billion.

Malaysia’s average annual GDP growth rate of 6% which is better than Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea.

Singapore: The average annual GDP growth rate for Singapore over the last 30 years is approximately 5.5% 

Taiwan: According to the data from Trading Economics, The average annual growth rate for the period of 1991-2020 is 4.3%

South Korea: According to World Bank, the average annual GDP growth rate for South Korea over the last thirty years is approximately 4.07 percent.

Ways to improve Malaysia’s economy:

I am a Chartered Civil Engineer. After working for JKR for 5 years, I started doing business in 1962. I was a Co-founder of Mudajaya, Gamuda, IJM, IGB, MBMR, Rubberex etc. After doing business for so long, I have gained some knowledge and experience which I like to share with you, especially politicians.

Managing the country is like managing tens of big business operations in every town and city in Malaysia. Good managers produce good profit and bad managers produce less profit or losses.

1 Corruption:

If you Googled, you can see that Malaysia is one of the most corrupt country in the world. Our government must plug all the loopholes for corruption. Enlarge MACC to catch more corrupted politicians, civil servants and businessmen.

2 Advisory Committee:

Government should form an Advisory Committee who can advise the Government to improve business operation. Members of the Advisory Committee should include representatives from the following industries:

1. Palm oil industry,
2. Master Builders Association
3. Property developers Association
4. Federation of Malaysian Manufacturer (FMM)
5. Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MICCI)
6. Civil Service

3 Foreign workers

I was the Secretary of the Malaysia Master Builder Association for 9 years and I know all our members are very short of workers. The current rules and regulation to employ foreign workers are too cumbersome. Our Government must simplify all the rules and regulations so that more foreign workers can enter Malaysia to work.

4 How to build more houses and flats to benefit our citizens:

Our Government should follow Singapore Housing Development Board (HDB).

Housing and Development Board (HDB) is a statutory board under the Ministry of National Development responsible for public housing in Singapore. It was established in 1960 to take over the public housing responsibilities of the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT). The HDB initially focused on constructing emergency housing and resettling kampong residents into public housing. Over the years, the HDB has evolved its approach, building flats with improved fittings and offering them for sale. It has also introduced upgrading and redevelopment schemes for mature estates, as well as new types of housing to cater to different income groups in partnership with private developers.

To build more houses, the HDB has implemented various strategies. These include:

• Land Reclamation: The HDB handles land reclamation works in Singapore to create more land for housing development.
• Upgrading and Redevelopment: The HDB has introduced upgrading and redevelopment schemes for mature estates to improve living conditions and enhance community cohesion.
• Partnerships with Private Developers: The HDB collaborates with private developers to develop new types of housing that cater to different income groups.
• Resident Engagement: The HDB actively seeks resident feedback and encourages community participation in estate improvement initiatives.
• Smart and Sustainable Towns: The HDB aims to build smart and sustainable towns that provide a quality living environment for all residents.

5 Sale of State Land

The Government’s biggest asset is land. Land sales always involve large amount of money and corruptions. All land sale must be open to competitive tenders.

Government must not allow political leaders to negotiate to sell land.

Our Government must set up a committee to control land sales to prevent corruptions.

6 Land building permits and re-zoning

Issue of building permits and re-zoning very often involve big corruptions. For example, issuing permit to change agriculture land to building land. Building land value is many times higher than agriculture land.

In the case of re-zoning, to change an area from low density to higher density or change from low rise buildings to high rise buildings. It is like creating more land from the sky for sale.

To change a residential housing area to commercial shops and shopping malls. Commercial properties are more valuable than residential houses.

7 Reduce the number of Civil Servants

I just Google “How many civil servants in Malaysia?” Answer “Malaysia’s bureaucracy is one of the biggest in the world, with 1.7 million civil servants to a population of 32 million, a ratio of 5.3 percent, compared with Singapore’s ratio of 1.5 percent, and Hong Kong's and Taiwan's 2.3 percent. We have 1 civil servant for every 18 citizens.” Moreover, almost all the civil servants are Malays.

As I said earlier, managing the country is like managing tens of big business operations in every town and city in Malaysia. Good managers produce good profit and bad managers produce less profit or losses.

The quickest way to increase profit is to improve management efficiency and reduce overhead expenses.