It’s not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest - Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (1776)
Prof. Judge (Dr.) Navin C Naidu, LL.D (Switzerland), KC ( African Kingdoms)
Email: chiefjudge@secamtektektribe.org
Tel: +41 76 493 3031 / +41 43 543 2273 (Switzerland) / Tel: 60 10 959 5755 (Malaysia)
[1] The four basic pillars of an economy, any economy are land, labor, capital and entrepreneurship (LLCE). Adam Smith laid the foundation. He saw capitalism for what it was and is. Malaysia has all four. Sadly, the public sector (read: government) is suffocating the private sector in not putting all four pillars into play with near-perfect coordination and synchronization. These four pillars cannot and should not operate independently. That’s when the poison is administered. A technocrat, not a bureaucrat, will be able to swiftly administer the antidote.
[2] Singapore, too, has all four pillars which it synergized in a near perfect precision of economic miracles. Debates, debts and doubts were put to rest when swift and urgent decisions were made. Today, the proof is in the pudding. Why is Malaysia whacked, wrecked and wretched with race and religion when ringgits, returns and rewards should be the obvious focus. Come on Madani, switch gears. Save yourself. You obviously don’t give a hoot to YAB Rakyat. Why should they give you anything come GE-16?
[3] From January to July 2025, Malaysia imported US$397 million in vegetables from China, which accounted for over 58% of the market share, according to MATRADE. Can you believe this? As of 2024, there are over 103,000 hectares (over 250,000 acres) of abandoned or idle agricultural land in Malaysia, which presents a significant, largely untapped resource for improving food supply and security. This is one level of absurdity that Putrajaya should address.
[4] Can you imagine the quality and quantity of cash crops we can produce for local consumption as well as exports with this untapped 250,000 acres? And then there is the FELDA saga where grandparents are left behind to tend to their chores and “help” the economy along. Capital and entrepreneurship have replaced land and labor in the FELDA drama. This is the second level of absurdity.
[5] Some armchair economists may say, “well we can afford to import several hundred million dollars worth of food products because we are exporting billions of dollars worth of semi-conductors.” But they miss the point. Waste not, want not doesn’t matter?. Do something with our unused arable agricultural land. How about inundating such land with huge durian plantations? After all, there is a huge demand for it. Another level of absurdity.
[6] The other aginizing experience is taxation. Simply put, if taxation is abolished there will be more cash money/paper currency floating around for spending and saving - not hoarding. What’s wrong with that? If the government needs more paper money, there is always Giesecke-Devrient in Shah Alam to print as much paper ringgits as required. Besides, there is no known or conceived complexity in eradicating the middle-income trap. Third level of absurdity.
[7] Australian employers have strict legal responsibilities, primarily focused on providing a safe work environment (WHS/OH&S), adhering to the National Employment Standards (NES), payingcorrect wages/superannuation, and preventing discrimination. Key obligations include carrying out a primary duty of care, providing inductions, training, and complying with Fair Work legislation. Will clueless Malaysian leaders and policy makers emulate this pragmatic standard?
[8] In Malaysia, employers are capitalistically motivated to extract maximum profits in order to pay minimum wages that are so untemptingly low that Malaysian blue-collar workers prefer greener pastures across the Causeway. Un intended. Enter foreign labor. Enter social problems. Exit enforcement. Exit planning. When will our unqualified leaders learn? I suppose I have answered that question with a question. The fourth level of absurdity.
[9] Yeah sure we have gleaming steel and glass high rise commercial buildings all over Kuala Lumpur like we are highly prosperous and wallowing in joy and untold happiness. What are we doing with the lower-income groups? What effort is being made to improve their standard of living? Must they go on with feeding and fending for their families with low salaries? Frightening level of absurdity.
[10] Can you imagine 250,000 acres untended, unused, just laying wasted. Our climate is such a blessing that we enjoy sufficient rainfall. The soil is extremely fertile. The private sector must be energized and enthused to jump start crops cultivation with an attractive employment opportunity for thousands. Sort of a private sector FELDA? Doesn’t qualify for any level of absurdity, does it by keeping the public sector out of this enterprise?
[11] What’s the government doing with human capital left to and laying in wasteland like the 250,000 acres? Skills sets for lower income groups need a tremendous amount of encouragement, enhancement and improvement for them to improve their lot. Lucky are those autodidacts who have pull themselves up by their bootstraps to get ahead in careers and professions.
[12] If our elected legislators, appointed civil servants. and anointed ministers are to be taken seriously, YAB Rakyat must make surprise visits to their homes to see what non-fiction material they read. One-third of your lifespan is spent sleeping - from womb to tomb. If you live up to 90 years, you would have spent 30 years sleeping! Say you spend 30 minutes from womb to tomb eating three square meals a day – that works out to 15 years of lifelong eating. 45 years gone pooft just like that spent on sleeping and eating.
[13] You now have 55 years to spend on early schooling, tertiary education, vocational training, employment, career, vocation, calling or profession from the age of 20 to 65 years, at 8 hours per day for 45 years at work. How much time have you got left for vacations, leisure, and self-education given the fact that private education is capitalistically driven to create wealth for the owners of private educational institutions. Don’t get me started about public education where they do not teach time management.
[14] Freedoms and liberties are not up for grabs through a bargain or an impending sale. We need a government of consensus and consultation, and not one of controversy, conflict, and contradiction feverishly pretending to eradicate corruption. You want change and reform – here it is, YAB Rakyat, a real breakthrough, not a conspiratorial breakdown that chokes the rule of law. You have nothing to lose but your chains.
[16] Fair advice to Madani: Do not cripple this and the next generation; but dribble the ball to the goal post where there is no goalkeeper, and slam the ball in. Game over as Generous Domestic Prosperity becomes the sole priority. Don’t leave your parachute behind when you decide to jump out of an airborne aircraft.
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