Ever since retiring from politics and taking over the Sime Darby chairmanship, Datuk Ghani has been working quietly without any fanfare, just as he used to be as the Johor Menteri Besar.
Today, I found this story in NST which features Datuk Ghani. I am glad that he is back in action and doing what he is best at.
'Growth must be inclusive'
BUMIPUTERA AGENDA: New policies must help the poorest 40 per cent, says Ghani
KUALA LUMPUR: THE Bumiputera economic agenda must focus on high growth, equity and inclusiveness to ensure a fair distribution of wealth and stem a growing gap between the rich and the poor.
Former deputy finance minister Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said any new measures to further the agenda must be aimed towards helping the bottom 40 per cent of income earners, the majority of whom were Bumiputeras.
"This includes not only Malays, but also the Bumiputeras in Sabah and Sarawak, many of whom still languish below the poverty line," he said yesterday.
Ghani, who is also former Johor menteri besar and Universiti Malaya Economics dean, was speaking ahead of Saturday's announcement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on several new initiatives to boost Bumiputera involvement in development.
Ghani said Malaysia had enjoyed high economic growth, a fast reduction in poverty and a fairer distribution of wealth between different communities in the 1970s and 1980s under the New Economic Policy (NEP), launched in 1971.
However, he said, new studies revealed that Bumiputera equity growth had stagnated in the years following the NEP's end in 1990, partly as a result of economic crises, external market forces and a reduced political will to push the Bumiputera agenda.
"Even though there were still many policies designed to help Bumiputeras, there was no concerted effort to ensure those in the lowest income brackets could enjoy the benefits of economic growth, which was at the time being driven by the National Development Plan.
"The Economic crises in the 1990s, such as the 1997 Asian financial crisis, did not help either."
Ghani said the proposed measures were timely but warned that any delay in pushing forward the efforts would have consequences.
Any new initiatives, he said, should focus on raising income, developing human capital, improving employment opportunities, and expanding both physical and financial asset ownership.
"The numbers are quite bad. We know that those in the bottom 40 per cent cannot even afford to buy houses, and that there is a growing wealth gap not only between different communities, but also between rich and poor Bumiputeras.
"This is why we must focus on a strategy of inclusive development, where the Bumiputera agenda can be included in the effort to help the poorest among us."
Ghani dismissed criticisms that affirmative action policies, such as NEP, would stifle growth, saying that such action was needed to ensure fairness and uphold social justice.
He said international experts now rejected the theory that economic development was best left to market forces, without government intervention.
"The United States, for example, is now dealing with large wealth and income gaps as a result of the small government, market-driven policies of the Reagan years in the 1980s.
"When we talk about affirmative action, we are talking not just about growth but equitable growth.
"The numbers prove it. Almost every Malaysian benefited from the NEP, and we have to be proud of what we achieved in less than 30 years."
Read more: 'Growth must be inclusive' - General - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/growth-must-be-inclusive-1.354236#ixzz2edt5UER3
cerita nak bantu bumiputera ini dah retorik sgt..lip service je balik2...they arent serious enough about it..no body is serious abt helping anybody but themselves..opportunist..
ReplyDeleteLearn to help yourself la bum-ee
Deleteor at least pray to your Allah to save you from poverty, like our naive, fundamentalist PAS friends.
sincerely, DAP.
Sudahlah Gani.. ko bodoh. Duduk senyap kat Johor buat duit. Dah kalah jadi Chairman Sime Darby lagi syok. Makan gaji buta, makan anggur je main golf dengan professioanl women golfers...bla, bla..
DeletePu..k..ak ko lah. Kepada perompak Melayu dalam UMNO itu saja yang mereka deserve. Bagi peluang melayu lain. Kalau kat Johor pun tak boleh menang memang bahlol.
Tiada sebab kenapa masa depan Melayu bergantung pada melayu bodoh macam Gani ni.
Kalau tak ada lagi bagus. 40% yang miskin lah..
Tok sah cakap.
Pergi balek Johor jangan nak merompak Sime Darby pula..
ceritanya dpt RM3juta/setahun di SD. betul ke?lepas tu salahkan org tertentu di johor kerana melayu lepas peluang ekonomi.kura2 dlm perahu hany gani yang tahu. tahu habiskan harta org johor bagi kat cina.
DeleteBeing a Johorean and living in Johor since the days of Osman Saat till today, AGO's articulation as above shoud be taken with a sackful of salt, if anybody cares to know what I mean!
ReplyDeletePolicies are just like GIGO (garbage in garbage out). How such policies have been translated or implemented and whatever the outcome is, to me is still shrouded with blurred picture like what the heck is it all about? At least the haze was just temporary. But the role of Melayu Johor in Danga Bay, Nusajaya, Iskandar, you tell me!
At least orang India Johor have made inroads along Jalan Trus. If only the many Melayu Johor traders plying their nightly trade at Pasar Karat were actually in the gliterring ambience of City Square, then would I sleep in peace.
Back in the 60s, before the NEP, almost 70 per cent of Malays and bumiputera including in Johor were living in poverty. Now they are much better off. Yes there were rooms for improvements but whatever done under the NEP do helped them all these years. Even the government's "intellectual" Malay critics had at one time or another being assisted by the government to improve themselves via such things as scholarships and better education opportunities. Now the government is trying to do more to help them. I don't think we should be too negative about it just because the Malay business people could not yet placed themselves at places such as Danga Bay. Do try to be a bit more positive and open to suggestion to improve so that our stature could be uplifted to the level deserving of a place where we hope to occupy. Thank you.
DeleteAnnie
DeleteYou are right Annie ,but I that those Malay are now become ,'tak sedar diri' ,lot faith in what they say now .
yang kaya akan terus kaya. anak menteri, keluarga menteri dan mereka yang sewaktu dengannya akan terus mendapat keutamaan. yang 40% dibawah tiada siapa peduli.
ReplyDeleteada sorang menteri tu dulu ada cakap yang dapat rm250 juta tu bukan dia tetapi perniagaan suami. jadi suami dia dapat dengan merit. agak-agaknya kalau suami entah siapa, senah ke, milah ke atau bedah ke yang ada merit boleh dapat ke?
bila nak ada pemilihan umno sibuk nak umumkan agenda ekonomi melayu. sekadar gula-gula saja.
usabukata
"However, he said, new studies revealed that Bumiputera equity growth had stagnated in the years following the NEP's end in 1990...."
ReplyDeleteGuess who was Johor MB from early 90s till this year? Yes. Ghani. Sudah2 la tu bodek Ghani. Cakap tak serupa bikin.
Anon 19:17,
DeleteTan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was the Johor MB from Aug 13, 1986 till May 6, 1995. That means he is the Johor MB in the "early 1990s". But that does not mean he is responsible for the stagnation of Bumiputera equity growth. Try not to be such a negative buruk sanka Melayu.
Can you list down what AGO has done for the BUmi since 1996 till 2013. What policies have been implemented to improve or assist the Bumi businessman? How many per cent of the Johorean have improve under his leadership.
DeleteAnon 04:11
Deletethat will be to long. So, just consider this - in Johor during GE13, 83 per cent of the Malays supported BN, 72 per cent of the Indians and 19 per cent Chinese. These estimate was personally given to me by the current Johor MB DS Mohd Khaled Nordin. Go and ask him if you don't believe me. It tells that Johorean Malays overwhelmingly supported BN under Datuk Ghani. Otherwise Johor would be the same as Selangor. Bear in mind that Chinese made up almost 40 per cent of Johor population.
Not that long. Only Felda. Created by Tun Razak. And BR1M untuk kaburkan sementara mata untuk mengundi.
DeleteBila Melayu mampu beli rumah kedai 2 tingkat, mereka luluskan projek rumah kedai 3/4 tingkat. Now talk about Melayu tiada aset perniagaan di bandar? Arghhhh
Sorang cakap nak tolong melayu, at the same time kawan dia jamaludin jarjis bagi kontrak buat rumah PRIMA kat 100% cina...nilai sampai berbilion. Memang tak guna orang UMNO ni...PAS lagi haprak.
ReplyDeleteGhani Othman! a worthy praise upon him! After two decades he was so-called the 'colour blind' premier of the second richest State and now he is reciting about Bumiputra wellbeing? He must be kidding!
ReplyDeleteGhani had disfigured the economic paths of Johore have nots to be competitive in education. In essence, he abolished YPJ treasured objective to loan structure scheme from scholarship grand for poor students in Johore. He thought it was a smart ideal to convert YPJ into being the guarantor of student loan to cost saving. More than that, the loan transaction was on current interest rate structure. Johor heritage scheme an amount of 3-5 million a year was subtly abolished by him.
A cleared mark of leadership by hypocrisy when currently he epilogues about his concerned on the 40% poor developed Bumiputra.
If Ghani is so concern about bumiputera, he should tell his well pampered board members at Sime to get off their backside and assume some responsibility for the company's well being. Don't blame the management (many of whom are talented bumiputera) for anything that goes wrong. The public is not that stupid to believe that the management can go into million dollar contract without the knowledge of the board.
ReplyDelete