Ah ... body still aching from the late night to morning return trip by road from Kuala Besut to Kuala Lumpur.
So our prediction was wrong but we are not the only one. The lower voter turnout should result in lower majority. In fact, there was a bit of a scare in the late afternoon. Voters from the white areas are not coming out as much as we wanted.
This "good to be wrong" larger majority indicate that the local based voters are still supporting BN. Perhaps, it indicate that the fenceseaters shifted from PAS to BN. Another possibility is that outside voters could not return to buffer PAS's loss.
BN may have won handsomely but it does not mean the ground is fine. If only they know what transpired in the meeting between Perkasa and PM yesterday. We should have been there but couldn't. It would have been "fun" to add more to the already explosive expression of feedbacks.
TPPA was also touched.
TPPA forum
The previous weekend, while in Johor and taking it easy for the first puasa weekend with our parent, we saw two programs in two successive nights discussing the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).
The interesting one is the Astro Awani program on the following event
It was an open forum between Minister for Internation Trade and Industry (MITI), Dato Mustapha Mohamed and Executive Director of MTEM, Mohd Nizam Mashar.
Nizam raised quite a bit of issues [look-up their points in the website here]. Among the issues he raised was the shroud of secrecy and concern for rising medical cost.
Mustapha's answer can be summarised as "Trust thou Government." The Government will not allow ...
One, TPPA to change our Constitution and law.The question back:
Two, the structure of the federation with regard to state power will remain.
Three, our policies will remain.
Constitution and law remain?
If so, why negotiate and willing to sign for an EU FTA that is ridiculously stringent to insist on political reform.
State rights maintained?
Sure... explain Iskandar Malaysia..
Our policy will remain?
PM's repeated commitment on the Malay policies as as covered by TV3's evening news yesterday but the reality on the ground is different. Did we ever seek the blessing of the Council of Rulers as caretaker for Bumiputera before reducing or taking away any pro Bumiputera policies as enshrined under Article 153 of the Federal Constitution
It was a statement of comfort to play down the strong issues of sovereignty, neo-colonialism and risk to the local economic players by one statesman. [Read it here]
And, Barking Magpie is right in saying here that by signing the TPPA, "the country will be forever sold to big super Multi-National Corporations (MNCs!)"
Mistrust on Government
It is not to discredit able person like Mustapha. His assurance does not address the underlying problem with TPPA. It is the problem of trust.
Before the election, Dato Najib is known to say that he cannot change many things vitally necessary without a mandate of his own. It was an excuse for "business as usual." After getting a mandate of his own, as quiet as a mouse, he placed Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop as Deputy Chairman and Chairman of Executive Committee of Khazanah.
He should be in charge of the national debate and not others' agendas determining his path. We do not see that happening after the GE/ All he could do is to pose with his cats.
One is not expecting him to take the bull by the horn because his Chinese horoscope is not a Spanish bull but a cat. The least is to not offend his voters.
He did not show his appreciation by addressing issues raised by his dissatisfied voters, but gave 11 Tan Sri to 94% DAP voting Chinese and entertained the demands of non-voters. By right, those that did not vote BN should ask and plead from Lim Kit Siang, Anwar and Hadi (the real power structure).
The TPPA issue is facing resistance because of a growing mistrust in the Government's ability to handle problems. It lies with the people supposed to handle the problems.
His advisers and war room members are mostly power hungry, kaki ampu and opportunistic dimwits.
His cabinet appointments are full of incompetents and liabilities.
Civil servants are mostly filled with self interest red tapers and non convincing competencies. The top man can never retire but kept being continued with extension contracts, or the incompetent ones sent to be Petronas Chairman.
PMO officers and UMNO officials around Dato Najib are mostly self serving, scheming off public money, and incompetent morons. They are not telling the PM the real situation on the ground and sugar coating their reports. Najib listen but cannot even control his boys.
His media team kept using the same old modus operandi to playdown serious issues.
And his social media coordinator tells him that they took charge of 8 out of 10 issues. His "Kelantan kaki bodek dan tikam belakang" blogger assistant refused to face the reality that we failed because the urban area and 4th and 5th channel voters supported opposition..
One example of failed media strategy is when Mustapha said the TPPA is still an on-going discussion. It is only in the 18th round and held in Kota Kinabalu now.
To negotiate up to 18 rounds, it means it is serious business. Thus, the rumour that PM expressed interest to sign the TPPA in a Cabinet meeting but with the caveat that the three condition is met. A caveat means that if anything fails, there is an excuse out.
Delusion
If that rumour is true and Tun Dr Mahathir and most of our sources except one source say it will be sign or President Obama will not visit Malaysia and back Anwar, then we are ducked!
Mustapha did say that we are third biggest trading nation and our future prosperity depends on trade. That became the argument used by the post in The Choice aka The Clone (of Omar Ong). Read it here and one can understand how naive this Oxford Part II to KJ's Part I is on the world we live in.
They think the world will be a garden of roses and daffodils if we implement laisse faire economy, globalisation, openness and free market. All these talk of conspiracy is all crap. If one bother to read about TPPA, it is about the interest of 'big business'. Since when do 'big business' care about human, other than to exploit human for invisible powers?
Don't talk of stakeholder because big business will only contribute baju raya and duit raya for orphans. To benefit from them, one will have to be economically and socially orphaned.
Big business like the ones generated by our state sponsored capitalism, as described by Prof Dato Mohamed Abu Bakar, benefit faceless institutional shareholders and CEO that earn 2,000 times the basic salary of his clerk like Dato Nazir Razak.
Oh gawd! Our "pity the rakyat" socialism is rearing its ugly heard.
Nation building
No (with a sarcastic tone) ... we have to think outside the box and be efficient, competitive, and deliver like businesses.
No wonder no PEMANDU people was there at a Public Seminar on 'Inclusive Growth' held by UNDP at Park Royal on July 10th recently.
They should have listened to the presentation by Prof Shamsul Amri of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. It was inspirational and visionary. And, that is what development should also be ... about human.
We have so many inequalities and limiting factors like ethnicity, geography, and historical legacies. These ignore the non-level playing field to claim market economy is the answer. These purveyor of "free trade shall set you free from the tyranny of the world" does not realise that they are collaborating with the devil to send humanity and individual to the poorhouse.
We should be returning back to the nation building agendas. Not business at all cost agenda..
Masturbators
To answer the view of Omar Ong and his masturbating syok sendiri mates (to take a description from a favourite blog comment of some election campaign tactic during the Kuala Besut by-election), we had a discussion with a friend.
He is the kind of people PEMANDU reject to be consultant. They prefer to have liars, crooks and incompetents like Emir Mavani as Consultant and Director.
The Choice claim we have benefited from Free Trade Agreement like the Asean FTA. Moronic masturbators!
The utilisation rate of FTA is very low. The utilisation rate of Malaysia-Japan FTA for example is less than 1%. Some companies, especially SMEs choose not to use the FTA because it is costly. The cost of compliance, such as filling up forms and employing staff and consultants are more than the reduced import duty so some choose not to take the "benefit" offered by the FTA.
The backers of "Rakyat didahulukan" does not mention a single thing about the benefit to the rakyat. It is simply because FTAs are only about big business.
Our friend share an inside story that one of the negotiators accidentally blurted to the owner of one small pharmaceutical company that they would rather see the small ones phased out of business. But we must remember that 98% of our business are small business.
Satuuuu!!!!!! .... Rakyatttttt!!!! .....
We already have a 500 million market in ASEAN, which our companies are still struggling to take advantage of. We have the so-called 1 billion market in the FTA with China and another 1 billion market with India. We have FTA with Australia and New Zealand and Chile. We are already a member of WTO, which has 159 countries and all these countries provide market reduced tariff and market access to our products.
Thus, what is the deal these masturbators are promoting TPPA in terms of market access that include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States (U.S.), Vietnam and Japan?
One business inherited Chinaman Datok said we can get access to Government procurement in the US. What US Federal government procurement want to buy his gift shop product? Most of US Federal spending is military related and 90% from US companies and 10% from European.
Another syok sendiri also was talking on TV3 news yesterday.
Endless game
The notion of liberalisation is not real. It is very romantic but not real. See ... it is like masturbation. Alvin and Vivian is not in the same room with you, if you are into that kind of sick sex.
For example, in the ASEAN Economic Community, we are still far away from achieving the real liberalisation. The Singaporean and Brunei are not really in favour of liberalisation when it comes to opening their market. The American 50 States are also not really in favour of liberalisation.
As one pro TPPA businessman said, the Malaysia-EU FTA negotiation is not about wanting Malaysia in. He is of the opinion that TPPA is not just about business but encircling China. Recently China applied to join TPPA and now US do not want.
Who is really sincere about free trade when the idea behind it superpower countries like US imposing their will to get big business product in but not others' products into their country. Whilst, the developing countries are resisting and wants to negotiate endlessly.
Let's not kid ourselves about free trade with the US. The politics of protectionism and trade at Congress is beyond just JJ to handle. The Capitol Hill will mutilate the TPPA agreement. They could ask USTR and the President to renegotiate terms in the US favour even after the signing.
This is what happened to Korea because of beef and Peru. The American actually went to Peru to draft the Peruvian labour law!
So much for Mustapha saying we will make sure our Constitution, law and policy will remain intact.