5-Year Plan

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia--The Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul, just like his predecessors, has invited the public to provide input in the preparation of the 12th 5-Year Plan. Good PR work. Malaysia modelled its economic planning on the Chinese and Russian model, and they called it the 5-Year Plan .

 

The  difference is stark and plain and to see. China and Russia are prosperous, and Malaysia is not. China  started  this planning model by Mao Tse Tung in 1953. Stalin initiated Russia's first plan in 1923 to industrialise the country, at great costs to its agricultural sector but overall made Russia a superpower.

Both China and Russia took the preparation and the implementation of their 5-Year Plan seriously. The Plan has to be approved by the ruling Communist party Congress . They were meticulous in the practice and  vigorous in their debates . In short they took their 5 year Plan seriously. That's why they are both superpowers now. 

 

On the contrary, despite now going through  for the 12th Plan, Malaysia is still  a weak anemic  country, on the same level as Pakistan and countries in West Africa. Our 5-Year Plans were never discussed at great lengths by the ruling party in government and probably prepared by some senior civil servants with the help of some foreign consultants.

Malaysia should just abandon this drama of preparing its 5-Year Plan.  A waste of time and money. India did not do well and has decided to abandon this developing method because  the implementation was seriously flawed. Ministers come and go, and they keep changing the policies as they wish. Civil servants scuttle the policies when it suits them, and the politicians are not even aware of it. 

 

If the readers have time  please just look at the previous 5-Year Plans, you  will  be impressed with the breadth and depth of their plans, but nothing substantial and significant were ever implemented fully and targets achieved after the five year period. 

 

What happened to our great industrialization plan, the plan for unity and rebirth of the nation? What happened to achieve the dream of 2020 where the country will prosper like first world  countries. What happened to science and innovation in our education system?  Where are the plans for a high income economy and the empowerment of the people? All of thems remain plans in the archives  of the Economic Planning Unit of the PMO.

In 2021 we don't know if we are a parliamentary democracy; we now have a former PM who runs the country using a different title. So what system of government do we employ and what kind of leaders do we elect?  

 

In fact, the people don't elect leaders now; parliamentarians just gang up together, march to the Istana and declare themselves the governing team with some dubious letters of support. Having been appointed by the Istana, they then turn around (with the support of the Attorney General) and declare a vote of confidence is no longer necessary. This is the bunch of leaders we produced after 12, 5-Year Plans.

If the Finance Minister happened to read this article, I would urge him to outline just a few specific areas that warrant serious and urgent attention from  a responsible government.  

First, set out a plan to  deal with COVID-19 and all its ramifications. How do we spend money wisely on public health infrastructure? Would you mind getting the former PM, who is now the real PM to outline his plans? How is the national recovery going to happen? Detailed plans please, and debate them thoroughly in Parliament.

But this is unlikely as the real PM has shown his unwillingness to answer questions directly in Parliament. Most likely he won't stand up in Parliament and debate with the others. Will Khairy, the only capable Minister to deal with  the crisis, still control how COVID-19 be dealt with now that the real PM  is in charge of the Recovery Plan? Just answer these simple questions before embarking on 5-Year Plans.

Second, improve standards of education in the country. How to deal with quotas without sacrificing quality and instill competitiveness.How to produce graduates that are good enough to join the government medical service permanently. How do we produce graduates who will find work at a reasonable salary and earn enough to pay PTPTN? Can we have a plan for this? Don't expect our Education Minister to prepare this plan; just ask some good educationists to do that and submit the plan for Parliament to approve. This will be better than the big sounding 5-Year Plans of old.

Third. A plan to revamp the civil service. How to make sure the pension scheme is sustainable in the long term. How to reduce wastage like removing pension to Ministers who are already well paid and in some cases super-wealthy. How to  reduce the number of civil servants  to make them affordable to maintain in the future. How to reduce the number of unnecessary appointments of Advisers and Special Envoys so that we have a government that can do more for the Rakyat instead of their Cabinet colleagues.

Fourth. Can this government prepare a plan to radically improve agriculture? Ronald Kiandee is a good Minister, but he needs political support to revamp and make abandoned lands, some 30 million acres, useful and productive.  He needs political will to make MARDI more attune to the needs of the nation, and the farmers. He needs political support to make modern farming feasible and doable in the country. Where research is market and needs-driven. What are the plans to make  funding for agriculture easier for the farmers? Can these plans be submitted to Parliament for debate and approval.

Fifth. Can the Minister of Finance issue five more licences to those who want to do lending money business but at affordable rates. The big banks we have  now should relocate themselves in Manhattan. They are not suitable here. They will not support small guys and budding entrepreneurs. They will not lend to those who do not have enough money, but only to those who want to make more.

If Zafrul can prepare the plans for the above mentioned subject matters, please hand over the Plan to the larger political parties for them to deliberate. The political parties must buy into these reforms, otherwise they will not be implemented, regardless of what you see in the 5-Year Plan. 

 

The success of China's implementation of the 5-Year Plan is due to their meticulous planning and utilising real intelligent people to do the work; not foreign consultants. The plans get endorsed and supported fully by the political machinery.

The 5-Year Plan is submitted to the Central Committee of the Communist Party months before approval . The latest subject matter that China is focussing on in its 14th year plan is technology innovation, environment degradation and disparity between income levels . 

 

Serious debates and analyses took place amongst the best and the brightest minds. In Malaysia two weeks ( or less) is usually given  to the press  to have an inkling of the contents of the 5-year plan.

 

Now you know why China is a world economic power and Malaysia is known for something less desirable.

I urge the Finance Minister to make China a model for us to follow. That's the country we need  to have special envoys to study how they manage the economy. We don't need  special envoys to the Middle East or elsewhere.  We need the model of the most successful country in human history to follow if we are serious about changing Malaysia' failing trajectory. 

 

In 1978 Deng Xio Peng could only find US 380,000 from all the Chinese banks to pay for his entourage's hotel expenses on his visit to New York. He was ashamed of China's poverty. In the 90's our leaders were already driving Rolls Royces and having apartments in Kensington, Knightsbridge and Holland Park in London.

But China's leaders feel the pain of poverty of its people. They know shame and feel responsible for their failures. They, therefore, worked hard to turn the country around to what it is today. They were willing to abandon unworkable socialist policies dear to them for the sake of the people.

I know we don't have a Deng Xiaoping or Xi Jin ping or a Lee Kuan Yew, and I know some of our leaders are insulated from feeling shame for their failures. I write this in the hope that some young leaders will rise up to save this country. We have to start looking for real leaders if we want to survive. Forget 5-Year Plans. Do something real for now!