TPPA: Problems of trust and delusion
Ah ... body still aching from the late night to morning road return to Kuala Lumpur from Kuala Besut.
So our prediction was wrong but we are not the only one. The lower voter turnout will result in lower majority. In fact, there was a bit of a scare in the late afternoon. Voters from the white area 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 fence seaters shifted from PAS to BN. Another possibility is that outside voters could not buffer PAS's loss.
BN may have handsomely won 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 we 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 one night after another to discuss 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 the Government" will not allow ... One, TPPA to change our Constitution and law. Two, the structure of the federation with regard to state power will remain. Three, our policy will remain.
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!)"
Constitution and law remain? If so, why negotiate and willing to sign for an EU FTA that insist on EU style political reform.
State rights maintained? Sure... explain Iskandar Malaysia..
Our policy will remain?
What is the different between PM's commitment on the Malay policiesas covered by in TV3's evening news coverage yesterday and the reality on the ground?
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
Mistrust on Government
The reassurance from Mustapha does not address the underlying problem with TPPA. The problem is trust.
Before the election, Dato Najib said he cannot change many things vitally necessary but after getting the new mandate, he is as quiet as mice. He should be in charge of the national debate and not others agenda determining his path.
One is not expecting him to take the bull by the horn because his Chinese horoscope is not a Spanish bull but a cat. He is not convincing the public that he will take the bull by the horn and address the dissatisfaction by his voters.
He is entertaining the demands of non-voters. By right, those that did not vote him to ask and plead from Lim Kit Siang, Anwar and Hadi (the real power structure). Why seek from Najib, if you had not voted him?
The growing mistrust is in the Government's ability to handle problems and it lies with the people supposed to handle the problems.
His advisors and war room members are mostly power hungry and kaki ampu 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 corrupt, self serving, incompetent, untrustworthy and morons.
The media team kept using the same old modus operandi to playdown serious issues. The example is when Mustapha said the TPPA is still an on-going discussion. It is only in the 18th round and held in Kota Kinablu now.
To negotiate up to 18 rounds, it means it is serious business. Thus for the rumour that PM had 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.
Delusions
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 fucked!
Mustapha did say that we are third biggest trading nation and our future prosperity depends on trade. That became the argument used by the postal 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 about the world we live in.
They think the world will be a garden of roses and daffodils. Thanks to 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 company shareholders.
Don't talk of stakeholder because big business will only contributebaju 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, will benefit the faceless institutional shareholders of big business and for CEO like Dato Nazir Razak will earn 2,000 times the basic salary of his clerk.
Oh gawd! Our "pity the rakyat" socialism is rearing its ugly heard. No (with a sarcastic tone) ... we have to think outside the box and be efficient, cost efficient and deliver like businesses.
Nation building
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, and these people can 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 the basic human individual to the poorhouse.
We should be returning back to the nation building agendas. Not business at all cost agenda..
Masturbators
To answer Omar Ong and his masturbating syok sendiri friends (to take a description from a favourite blog comment of some election campaign tactic during the Kuala Besut by-election) views on TPPA, we had a discussion with a friend.
He is the kind of people PEMANDU reject to be consultant. They prefer to have liar, crooks and incompetent 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 is pro big business.
Our friend share an inside story that one of the negotiators accidentally blurted to the owner of one small pharma company that they would rather see the small be 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 big deal thismasturbators 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. Read here.
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 good for business but it is about encircling China. recently China applied to join TPPA and now US do not want.
Who really are genuine about free trade when the idea behind is really superpower countries like US wanting to get big business product in but not others' products into their country also. The developing countries are resisting and endlessly negotiating.
Let's not kid ourselves.
Malaysia may not be prepared for the politics of protectionism and trade at Congress. The Capitol Hill will mutilate the TPPA agreement and may ask the 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.
There is many more bullets from where it came from.
source : Another Brick in the Wall
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