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I received my regular copy of Harakah more than a week ago. In the Fikrah Harakah section, there is an interview with Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, former CEO of Perbadanan Nasional Berhad and Treasurer-General of Parti Keadilan Rakyat.  The interview gives a good insight into the thinking of one of the country’s prominent businessman. He is well-versed on economic issues, talking confidently about the state national and international economy. His comments on our PM’s performance are intriguing.  

When asked: “UMNO cadang untuk wujudkan GLC dalam sektor pertanian, apa komen Tan Sri?”, he answered: 

“Itu kena kaji. Saya sudah buat kajian sebagai KetuaPegawai Eksekutif (CEO) Guthrie dahulu saya cuba kaji sama ada bolehkah Guthrie memasuki sektor pertanian selain kelapa sawit. Kita kena faham persaingan antara petani kecil dan korporat amat berbeza. Walaupun Guthrie boleh sediakan 1,000 ekar ladang durian tetapi hasilnya nanti apabila durian itu menjadi memanglah hasilnya akan berlipat kali ganda, tetapi ia akan membuatkan harga pasaran rendah dan ia akan mematikan petani kecil yang kebanyakan bergantung harap kepada pasaran durian yang ada pada harga yang akan memberi faedah kepada mereka.  Oleh itu cadangan perlulah dikaji kerana (jika salah) strategi, penglibatan syarikat besar dalam sektor pertanian hanya akan mematikan petani kecil. Kalau nak buat sekalipun strategi perlu diubah suai dengan sebaik mungkin.” 

Tan Sri Abdul Khalid accepts that mass production of a product will result in an abundance of supply, which in turn will drive down prices.  

But, he seems to imply that it is better to not  mass-produce so that prices are kept artificially high. In order to keep an inefficient group of producers in work, he would rather punish the vast majority of people – i.e. us – by forcing us to pay artificially higher prices for that good.  

To use the Tan Sri Abdul Khalid’s example, would it not be much better if the durian farming industry is opened up so that the durian can be mass-produced and therefore more people can afford to buy them? The farmers would profit from the increased sales volume, and not be dependent on profiteering from limited and inefficient production.  

If we continue to subsidise – either directly through government financing or indirectly through maintenance of artificially high prices – inefficient method of productions, we would suffer in the long run as we as a nation become increasingly uncompetitive.  

Filed under: Malaysia

Kota Bharu Municipal Council (Majlis Perbandaran Kota Bharu) introduced a regulation about how women should dress.

Should I ask, why no regulation about a man’s dress code? Perhaps not. Let us not put ideas into people’s heads.

Not long ago, there was an issue about women wearing hijab in the UK. My comments about that can be seen here and here.

Here in the UK, I have met with many women from the Middle East who do not wear the “traditional” dresses they wear back at home. Why? Because at home, they wear it due to legislation but in London they are not forced to do so. This is why I disagree with attempts to impose morality through legislation. It doesn’t stick.

Love of Allah can only come from true devotion. It cannot be forced by the hands of the state.

If we want to create a moral society, we should allow choice. Only a society that chooses to be moral is truly moral.

We should educate. Not legislate.

I was astonished when I saw writings by certain people who argued that the MPKB rule is ok because even China had done the same back in 2004. See an example here.

When you have to use communist China to back your argument, you really are running out of arguments.

Filed under: Malaysia