Archive for the ‘Reports’ Category
Friday, July 18th, 2008 242 views
Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) - The national oil company, which posted revenue growth of 40.9% The national oil company, which posted revenue growth of 14.9% with profits of US$18.1 billion is ranked the world’s 8th most profitable company in the recently published ranking by Fortune magazine. 
Top 10 most profitable companies- 2008 ranking (click to see larger image) (source: here)
Petronas is ranked among the big guns in the world namely - Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, HSBC, J.P Morgan, General Electric and so on. As you can see, the top 10 most profitable companies are dominated by oil operators - lead by Exxon Mobil (again) in first, followed by 5 others - Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Chevron, Total and Petronas. Notice that Petronas posted the highest profit growth of 40.9% among the top ten most profitable companies.
Most profitable companies - 2007 ranking (click to see larger image) (source: here)
Petronas also moved up ten places from the previous 18th place and now is standing proud as Asia’s most profitable company. Petronas is the only Malaysian company in the list of Fortune Global 500 list. Under the petroleum refining industry, ExxonMobil took the top spot in terms of profits (US$40.6bil) followed by Royal Dutch Shell in second place (US$31.3bil) and BP (US$20.8bil) third.
Petroleum refinining industry companies ranking by revenues, profits. (Click to see larger image) source: here)
Malaysia’s Petronas is ranked 16th in terms of revenue but in terms of profits, it is ranked 5th, just behind Chevron. With the achievement, Petronas beats the likes of Toyota, Bank of America, Microsoft, Vodafone, Wal-Mart, Nokia, Barclays, Goldman Sachs and a host of other industry leaders.
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Posted in Articles, Current Affairs, Malaysia, News, Petronas, Reports, Serious, Statistics | 21 Comments »
Thursday, June 26th, 2008 12 views
Malaysians are suffering not from the increase of oil price, but from the corruption, mismanagement and wastage by the government. We are paying a very high price for this, partly due to our ‘tidak apa’ attitude and indifference to the issues happening around us. For most Malaysians, ignorance is a bliss. They always have their ‘priorities’ and only when reality bites, they start to make noise.
Ever wonder why this country which is full or resources, geographically strategic, blessed with good weather, nice, smart, talented people and stability would end up like this? We have everything - petroleum, palm oil, rubber, timber, land, water, you name it… but yet we are poor ??
Looking at the list below, it looks like the BN government is more determined to help themselves rather than the citizens.
And this list below is hardly exhaustive as these are the ones uncovered so far – the tip of the ice-berg, if you will! What lies beneath could be much larger :-
1. The Bank Bumiputra twin scandals in the early 1980s saw US$1 billion (RM3.2 billion in 2008 ringgit) wasted;
2. The Maminco attempt to corner the world tin market in the 1980s is believed to have cost some US$500 million (RM1.6 billion);
3. Betting in foreign exchange futures cost Bank Negara Malaysia RM30 billion in the 1990s;
4. Perwaja Steel resulted in losses of US$800 million (RM2.56 billion). (Eric Chia was charged with corruption for allegedly steering US$20 million (RM64 million) to a Hong Kong-based company.);
5. Use of RM10 billion public funds in the Valuecap Sdn. Bhd. operation to shore up the stock market;
6. Banking scandal of RM700 million losses in Bank Islam;
7. The sale of M.V. Agusta by Proton for one Euro making a loss of €75.99 million (RM 348 million);
8. Wang Ehsan from oil royalty in Terengganu amounting to RM7.4 billion from 2004 – 2007;
9. For the past 10 years since the Philharmonic Orchestra was established, this orchestra has swallowed a total of RM500 million;
10. In Advisors Fees, Mahathir was paid RM180,000; Shahrizat Abdul Jalil (Women and Social Development Affairs) RM404,726; and Abdul Hamid Othman (Religious Affairs) RM549,675 per annum;
11. The government has spent a total of RM3.2 billion in teaching Maths and Science in English over the past five years. Out of the amount, the government paid a whopping RM2.21 billion for the purchase of information and computer technology (ICT) equipment of which the breakdown of costs is unknown;
12. The commission paid for the purchase of jets and submarines to two private companies, Perimeker Sdn Bhd and IMT Defence Sdn Bhd amounted to RM910 million;
13. RM300 million to compensate Gerbang Perdana for the RM1.1 billion “Crooked Scenic Half-Bridge”;
14. RM1.3 billion has been wasted building the white elephant Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) facilities on cancellation of the Malaysia-Singapore scenic bridge;
15. RM100 million spent on the Parliament building for renovations and to patch up leaks;
16. National Astronaut Programme - RM 40 million;
17. National Service Training Programme - yearly an estimate of RM 500 million;
18. Eye on Malaysia - RM30 million and another RM5.7 million of free tickets;
19. RM4.63 billion ’soft-loan’ to PKFZ;
20. RM2.4 million on indelible ink;
21. Samy announced in September 2006 that the government paid compensation amounting to RM38.5 billion to 20 highway companies. A RM380 million windfall for 9 toll concessionaires earned solely from the toll hikes in 2008 alone;
22. RM32 million timber export kickbacks involving companies connected to the Sarawak Chief Minister and his family;
Bailouts –
23. Two bailouts of Malaysia Airline System at RM7.9 billion. At a time when MAS incurred losses every year, RM1.55 million was used to buy three paintings to decorate its chairman’s (Munir) office;
24. Putra transport system bailout which cost RM4.486 billion;
25. STAR – LRT bailout costing RM3.256 billion;
26. National Sewerage System bailout costing RM192.54 million;
27. Seremban – Port Dickson Highway bailout costing RM142 million;
28. Kuching Prison bailout costing RM135 million;
29. Kajian Makanan dan Gunaan Orang Islam bailout costing RM8.3 million;
30. Le Tour de Langkawi bailout costing RM3.5 Million ;
31. Wholesale distribution of tens of millions of shares in Bursa Malaysia under the guise of NEP to cronies, children and relatives of BN leaders and Ministers worth billions of ringgits;
32. APs scandal that has been going on year-after-year going back for more than three decades, involving a mind-boggling sum of tens of billions of ringgit;
33. Alienation of tens of thousands of hectares of commercial land and forestry concessions to children and relatives of BN leaders and Ministers worth tens of billions of ringgit;
34. Travel around Malaysia and see for yourself how many white elephants like majestic arches, roads paved with fanciful bricks, designer lamp posts, clock towers, Municipal Council buildings that look more like Istanas, extravagant places of worship, refurbishment of residences of VIPs, abandoned or under-utilized government sports complexes and buildings, etc! Combined they could easily amount to hundreds of billions of ringgit!
35. Since 1997, Petronas has handed out a staggering RM30 billion in natural gas subsidies to IPPs who were making huge profits. In addition, there was much wastage and forward trading of Petronas oil in the 1990s based on the low price of oil then. Since the accounts of Petronas are for the eyes of the Prime Minister only, we have absolutely no idea what the amount is.
Whatever amount it is, you can bet it is COLLOSSAL! In the Time Asia magazine issue on March 15 2004, a South East Asian economist at Morgan Stanley in Singapore, Daniel Lian, figures “that the country may have lost as much as U$$100 billion (RM320 billion) since the early 1980s to corruption.” Mind you, this is only corruption and it does not include wastages and mismanagement which would increase the amount!
If the above list (which could have been money saved) is added to the nation’s coffers and together with Petronas’ profits; palm oil profits; and profits from rubber, tin, agriculture produce, aquaculture produce, electronic and hardware exports etc, for the past 5 decades, we can all agree on one thing – our country would be wealthier than Venezuela who has little resources except for oil. The petrol in Venezuela is RM0.16 per litre!
(Source: http://www.malaysiawaves.com/2008/06/summary-of-bns-wastages-that-rakyat.html)
So farked up 
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Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 42 views
I translated a great piece of essay by Kickdefella on “The Truth About Fuel Subsidy” here last Thursday. In that essay, Kickdefella explained his finding how the government actually never include fuel subsidy in the government budget/expenditure and we had been blinded all this while thinking there is such allocation for it and yet we were told this country is ’suffering’ or would go bankrupt because of the fuel subsidy.
On Monday, Shahrir Samad, Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs confirmed this finding. There is NO FUEL SUBSIDY (AND FOOD TOO) in the treasury reports and also not included in the budget!!! Here is the latest post by Kickdefella.
***************************************************
Update:
129 Ahli Parlimen BN menghalalkan tindakan menderitakan rakyat kesan dari kenaikan harga bahan bakar.
78 Ahli Parlimen Pembangkang menentang.
Ahli-Ahli Parlimen PAS berpandangan Petronas bersalah, harus disalahkan dan harus dihukum kerana kenaikan harga runcit bahan bakar tempatan.
Ahli Parlimen PAS Shah Alam menuduh rakyat yang memberi subsidi kepada Petronas. dengan erti kata lain, gaji perkerja petronas pun rakyat yang bayar.
Tak tahu apa lagi nak kata.
It is true; fuel subsidy was never in the government budget. It is not just that, even the food subsidy was also never in the budget. As a result, it is an expenditure ‘unaccounted for’ or, an expenditure that never being paid by the government. As a result, fuel and (today we knew that) food subsidy too are not something that government had to pay for from either taxpayer money or from any other government income.
In page 8 in today (Monday, June 23, 2008) New Straits Times, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister, Shahrir Abdul Samad was reported as saying, “…last year the subsidy bill, excluding food and fuel was RM9.2 B”.
With that Shahrir confirmed Kickdefella’s finding that fuel subsidy (and food too) is not in the treasury reports and also not included in the budget.
Shahrir however contradict himself when he points out that, “Add food and fuel and it (the subsidy spent) came to over RM30 B”.
There seems Shahrir himself is getting dumber and dumber each day.
• How can government spent RM30B extra without reporting it to Parliament.
• How can government used extra RM30B and it goes unrecorded in the Treasury records.
• Why did the government did not reveal the real amount she spend or planning to spend it in the budget when they presented it to the Parliament each year.
• The Second Finance Minister, Nor Yakcob claimed the government spent RM35B alone for fuel subsidy but Shahrir claimed RM30B and that already included food subsidy too.
• What is the actual amount the government spent on subsidy?
• Is there other subsidy too that the government spent such as “Subsidy for Abdullah’s daily usage of diapers” or “Rosmah’s C4 allocation” which goes unrecorded?
• Do the government actually spend money for subsidy?
My fellow Malaysian, does the government actually spend money on subsidy?
My findings show that the amount of subsidy which government claimed totalling from RM30B to RM50B depending on whose big mouth you want to believe is not recorded anywhere. If the government actually spend those amounts, it should be listed in their reports.
Whose money does the government actually spend?
My findings lead us to only one outcome in regards of the fuel subsidy. The ‘subsidy’ actually came from the exchange of crude oil by Petronas. And as nobody shoots me down on this, I tend to say that I am almost correct about it. Maybe 99% correct and if I was wrong, it is only on the details of the exchange.
This will mean,
• Whenever the crude oil price increase, our crude oil price too increase.
• Let put it this way, X is the market price for crude oil that we import.
• Y is the market price for crude oil that we export. The reason our price is Y because ours are Sweet and Light and it is called the ‘Tapis Blend’ which is the most expensive grade in the market.
When the price in the market increase, it will mean that,
• X prices increase.
• Y prices increase.
So why do we spend more money to meet local demand when the market price increase?
The answer is we do not. Yes, we do not spend extra money to get the crude oil we need for local market.
(Petronas has done a wonderful job. It is undeniably that we owe this to those hardworking yet underpaid Petronas staff.)
As a result I do not understand why certain politician from the opposition are blaming Petronas and wants to demonstrate in front of the Twin Tower. They should indeed demonstrate (if they know nothing better to do) in front of the Treasury or in front of Abdullah’s Seri Perdana.
But if I am them, I would just get my facts right and pursue the matter in more civilise manner.
• Try to take some sort of court order to try to stop the government from doing what they are doing. Don’t ask me on what ground they should do it. They are the one who is getting paid for being the ‘Wakil Rakyat’.
• Our judiciary system is much more independent now, right?
• We just paid those ‘rebel’ judges undisclosed amount as ex gratia payment so all the judges should not be worried, because if they go against the government, one day, they will get extra earnings for it.
• File police report if you trust the police.
• File report with the human rights commission because Malaysian has lost certain expect of their rights by the increase in fuel prices.
Last but not least, organise a road show all over the country and explain the truth to the people. They are best at ‘ceramah’ right?
And after that road show, lets gathered 1 million or more Malaysian to peacefully walk to Seri Perdana and all the Minister’s house and demand they reduce back the price of fuel.
I shall be there. I know my readers will be there too.
***************************************************
Now may I add to the well written post by Kickdefella. I quote Mr. Shahrir Samad:
He said since the 9th Malaysia Plan was a development plan, and not about operational expenses, spending on subsidies was treated as an ad-hoc expense instead of a planned one.
“But now it will definitely become a big part of the budget in terms of government spending,” he said, adding that money was also spent to harmonise prices between East and West Malaysia.
What? You mean before this.. all this while spending on subsidies was NEVER treated as A BIG PART of the government spending?? Just as ad-hoc expense instead of a planned one? That is very very shocking! 
Let me pull out the numbers for you. I quote Foong Wai Fong (he is the director of Megatrends Asia, best-selling author of ‘Megatrends Asia’ (with John Naistbitt), ‘The New Asian Way’, ‘Mr Prime Minister We Have to Talk’, and ‘Culture Is Good Business’.) in his article “Economy in Jeopardy”:
……the fuel subsidy of RM43 billion is three times the revenue derived from personal income tax of RM13.4 billion and over 20 percent more than the forecast corporate tax of RM34.8 billion. In total, the fuel subsidy is almost 50 percent of the estimated federal government revenue of RM102 billion.
As Foong has shockingly quantified for us above, the government’s current fuel expenditure (subsidy) is RM43 billion whilst the corresponding income is only RM 13.4 billion. I am a bit too confused over the figure of fuel subsidy, at one time it is RM40B, then RM35B then RM30B thanks to the government brilliant tai-chi masters, but let me just use the least figure quoted from the horse’s mouth - RM30B. Still, this is a very big figure if you take into account of government revenue as highlighted above.
Let’s assume the estimated federal government revenue of RM102B is acceptable, this RM30B is almost 30 percent of it!!! Yet, the government is treating spending on subsidies as ad-hoc spending and not treated as a big part of the government spending?????!! Got it? To quote Foong again:
The populist approach in Malaysia is to give out candy. It is easier for bureaucrats to do this than to think out real solutions. Unlike in business, bureaucrats spend money without demanding a return, businesses ask for a return before they disburse funds.
This view is best summed up by a foreign diplomat: “Malaysia manages its economy in the political way - talking and making slogans about things, dishing out money so all are relieved, but not asking tough questions and working hard to find solutions.”
I rest my case.
ps: Whoever comes in and writes useless comments like “Wah so long… ” you better think before you do it. 
Save it for yourself, before you need to be saved…
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Posted in BN-ism, Blogosphere, Boleh-ism, Bolehland, Current Affairs, Malaysiakini, News, Reports, Serious, Social Issues | 9 Comments »
Thursday, June 19th, 2008 146 views
This is a great piece from Kickdefella. He wrote a lengthy essay to explain the truth about fuel subsidy. I am reproducing his essay here which was written in Bahasa Melayu after translating it into English. My sincerest apology in advance if I did a bad translation job.
Last night, Hassan Marican appeared on National Television willingly to bare all about Petronas. Unfortunately, the only answer he should have given last night to those stupid panels (and moderator) was “Bloody hell, what a stupid question! Go and **PAKLAH** yourself la!” but he remained calm though.
Most probably the instruction was to grill him as though the increase of fuel prices is all Petronas faults.
Meanwhile, Last week, before leaving for Dubai, Dato’ Husam Musa called for a Press Conference to reveal all the facts and to justify his claim that it is not necessary for the government to increase fuel prices. It is also to give his insights on how actually it is possible to reduce the fuel prices.
Unfortunately, none of it ever came out in the mainstream papers although we have about 30 journalist and broadcaster packing the small office. The TVPAS reporter came ten minutes later and arrogantly left the room because the session already started. As a result, the session goes unrecorded. It was a total blackout on what was said and PAS official organ too play a role in it.
I have written in this blog all the facts and have published the figures to justify the claim where many are more interested to use rhetoric and to show the slimy strength by demonstrating and cause misery to the already much affected taxi drivers and shoppers in KL.
To some politicians, it is easier to get your photos and story published in newspaper by behaving like hooligans in public places yet when you got the chance to speak up, only buckets of nonsense do come out.
Today I will continue with my essay and we will discuss how it is possible to reduce the price of fuel prices and to put a stop in the already escalating cost of living.
Government Has Not Been Truthful Regarding the Fuel Subsidy
The government claimed that it would spend close to RM40 billion (I read somewhere it is RM56 billion??) this year for fuel subsidy. This is actually a lie, or an attempt by the government to mislead the people.
The facts are:
• Government does not come up with any cost, even one cent for fuel subsidy.
• Fuel subsidy is not included in government’s expenditure
• There is no actually no fuel subsidy. Zilch. Nil.
• The government only spends money for toll subsidy, public transportation subsidy, food subsidy and other subsidies not for fuel subsidy.
Because of that, the following statement by the Second Finance Minister Nor Mohamed Yakcop is not accurate and intended to mislead the people.
(click on photo for bigger image)
Data provided by Treasury Malaysia clearly not as mentioned by the Second Finance Minister, Cabinet Ministers, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and also Khairy Jamaluddin during Umno General Assembly 2007.
Data from the Treasury show the following information:
(click on photo for bigger image)
According to the Treasury Report in Table 6.3, Federal Government Operating Expenditure, total subsidies spent in 2007 is RM12.1 billion which is 9.8% from RM124 billion government operating expenditure. In 2008, total subsidies is predicted to be RM10.1 billion or 7.8% from the total RM129 billion government operation expenditure allocation that was approved in 2008 Budget.
(click on photo for bigger image)
This clearly shows that expenditure to manage fuel subsidy is never included in government expenditure because:
• Operating expenditure data by Treasury shows a lesser amount and obviously not sufficient to sustain the total subsidies which allegedly estimated at RM40 billion.
• Total fuel subsidy is not included in other data inside government’s account as recorded in Treasury’s
Annual Report.
So, where the subsidy comes from? The fuel subsidy actually never exists. Fuel for domestic use is obtained through:
• Crude oil exchange mechanism.
• 400k barrels of higher grade crude oil ‘Tapis Blend’ - highest crude oil grade will be exchanged in global market with domestic crude oil demand.
• This crude oil after being processed into petrol and diesel is sold to people at price determined by the government.
• The government gets net profit (because the government never spends anything) from the tax paid by petroleum companies, petrol stations and other suppliers.
Is it true Malaysia’s crude oil reserves will last in another few years?
Lately, the people were told that Malaysia’s crude oil reserves won’t last much longer and this country will be a net importer of oil. This is used by the government to justify the increase of fuel prices and cut ‘fuel subsidy’ to prepare the people with market price when the country starts to import oil for domestic use.
However, Petronas 2006 Annual Report recorded that Malaysia’s crude oil reserves can last until 2024.
(click on photo for bigger image)
Hassan Marican, Acting chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Petronas meanwhile explained to the media that in 2011, Malaysia will become net importer of oil because the domestic demand will exceed the country’s crude oil output. This means that domestic demand for crude oil will be more than 700k barrels per day. But this is in 2011 and coming, the country will still able to produce 700k barrels of crude oil per day, which he never refuted.
According to Petronas Annual Report since 1980, Malaysia’s crude oil reserves is increasing and not decreasing. In 1980, it was reported Malaysia’s crude oil reserves stand at 3 billion barrels, and since then we had produce more than 4 billion barrels and up to now, we still produce around 650k to 200k barrels per day for 365 days and this at this rate we can last for another 20 years.
The fact is that this country’s crude oil reserves are increasing and not decreasing. In 2008, we have crude oil reserves estimated at 4 billion barrels and Malaysia is placed at number 28th among countries in the world with largest oil reserves.
(click on photo for bigger image)
Malaysia’s crude oil reserves will not finish so soon. This is because Petronas, a petroleum company owned by the rakyat invest hundreds of million every year for oil exploration all over the world. From the investment, we found new reserves and according to the same report, the reserves replacement ratio currently is 1:1.8 liter. This translated as, for very 1 liter used, Petronas found 1.8 liter new reserves. This means the replacement rate is higher than the usage rate.
(click on photo for bigger image)
Fuel Price Reduction Is Not Impossible
To optimise profit from crude oil, the government does not have to increase fuel price. The government actually can optimise its profit by reducing the fuel price at the same time.
Reducing the Usage of Petrol and Diesel
Fuel price in Malaysia is the highest among oil producing countries. Based on population of 26 million and crude oil output rate at 650k-700k barrels per day, Malaysia has a very high output ratio but this has not benefited its population which is far lower than the rest of the oil producers.
Petrol and diesel priced should be reduced and this is possibly done. Among the measures to reduce the price are:
Changing from petrol and diesel usage to natural gas for cars or NGV (Natural Gas Vehicles) should be done because of these factors:
• Malaysia is the 13th largest natural gas reserves country in the world. In 2004, Dato’ Mustapha Mohamed announced that Malaysia’s natural gas reserves is estimated at around 89 trillion cubic feet.
• The government encourages the usage of NGV because it is cleaner and environmental friendly but never make it compulsory for every petrol station to provide this service. As a result, there are limited number of NGV stations and mostly only available in Klang Valley.
• Wide usage of NGV by vehicles will reduce the demands for petrol and diesel.
• Malaysia can sell more crude oil and this will bring more profit to the country.
• Price of petrol and diesel can be further reduced using this extra profit
National Petroleum Advisory Council
National Petroleum Advisory Council (NPAC) should be formed again to gather experts that will involve in planning the energy usage and shaping efficient energy policies for the country. NPAC was formed together with Petronas before but it does no longer exist now.
(click on photo for bigger image)
Petronas reaps high profit each year. As a company that is tasked to manage the national treasure owned by the people of Malaysia, Petronas organisation structure should focus on guarding the people’s interest. It is important NPAC to be revived, by choosing credible candidates and not for the sake of ‘political selection’. In other words, revival of NPAC means nothing if it is used to for political mileage by ‘expired’ UMNO politicians such as Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik or Zainuddin Maidin.
Check and Balance in Petronas
Currently, Tan Sri Dato’ Mohd. Hassan Merican holds the three highest posts in Petronas - Acting chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. Before this, two of these positions were held by different individuals.
(click on photo for bigger image)
Without trying to discredit the achievements and success brought by Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Mohd. Hassan Marican since helming Petronas, by holding to these three positions, Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Mohd. Hassan Marican becomes too powerful and this hampers check and balance inside Petronas and affects the transparency in managing Petronas.
Conclusion
People should enjoy the benefits of prosperity from the global oil price increase. As a net exporter of crude oil, the oil price increase should be translated as an additional income to the country.
Unfortunately, not only people cannot reap the benefits from the country resources, people are burdened with the fuel price increase which generated ripple effects to the price of consumer items.
Based on the arguments and data provided, it proven that the government decision to increase the fuel price is baseless.
This is the proof of poor planning and management under the government of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. People should insist for their rights to enjoy benefits as an oil producing country and call the government to reduce the fuel price. If this is not carried out, the country’s economy will decline and people will suffer not only the direct consequences but also need to face the social problems arise from it.
Give Back the People’s Rights Now!
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Wednesday, January 30th, 2008 37 views
This is an updated post for the previous ‘Tell Us, Pak Lah’ post in regard to Malaysia’s Competitiveness Ranking published in the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2007 report.
Malaysia’s competitiveness: Anwar accuses Abdullah of “misleading”
PETALING JAYA, Jan 30 (ES) - Former deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has accused the current premier of making a “deliberately misleading” claim that Malaysia is currently ranked eight in the world in term of competitiveness.
Anwar who is also former finance minister said “closer examination” of the data released by World Competitiveness Report 2007, revealed that the claim was only true within the category of countries with a population of 20 million or more.
In a press conference held here Jan 29, Anwar who is also the opposition People Justice Party (KeADILan) de facto leader said Malaysia “in fact” was ranked only 23rd in the world.
“Fifteen of the twenty two countries ranked above Malaysia in 2007 have populations of less than 20 million people, while seven of the twenty two have populations exceeding 20 million,” he noted.
Competitiveness is plummeting, Anwar countered
He noted that Malaysia’s competitiveness had worsened compared to 2006 from the same report. Malaysia was ranked 22nd in 2006 and its best ever ranking was at 17th place in 1997.
Anwar said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi’s decision to resort to such “misdirection” was a “weak attempt” to hide the fact that Malaysia’s economic fundamentals have weakened progressively under his government.
He contended that the country competitiveness “is plummeting” and cautioned Abdullah to make a comparison to Singapore and Hong Kong which currently were ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively.
“Malaysia is clearly in need of a higher caliber leadership if we were to realize our full potential as an economy of global stature,” he said.
The government controlled media had widely reported Abdullah’s assertion that Malaysia is currently ranked eight in the world in term of competitiveness. – Saadon Aksah/ES
(source : here, here and here)
Pak Lah, how could you? Misleading the people, that’s not the right thing to do, no? Is this in line with your bombastic Islam Hadhari concept? To hide the facts and twist information for your own convenience? Pathetic…. sob.. sob.. (I didn’t mean that ‘SOB’, that was me crying…. :P)
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Well applied, dude….well applied! 
This was actually my...
yes i can see where...
