Recommendations for the Mid-Term Review of 9th Malaysia Plan

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Statement by Charles Santiago in Klang on Monday, 30^th June 2008:

Recommendations for the Mid-Term Review of 9^th Malaysia Plan

I convened a Peoples Forum on 14th June, 2008 in Klang to discuss the above.

About 250 people participated in the event. There were about 10 experts including state and federal level legislators on various fields who provided expert advice on various issues. It was an effort to involve the people of Klang in discussing critical issues with the view of developing recommendations that be brought to parliament.

Therefore, this process was a consultative process with the people and voters in Klang so that their ideas, aspirations and perspectives are raised at the highest levels of law making.

Following are some of the recommendations:

A) Small Medium Enterprise

1) A government should consider setting-up of a SME Ministry which could serve as a one stop center responsible for the development, implementation, integration of SME including the approval process;

2) Approval of loans based on viabilities of projects and cash flows not on collateral;

3) The SME Bank must practice open and transparent in processing loans, indicate established criteria in loan applications. Financing of SME should not involve middle-men or runners. This encourages corruption;

4) The staff composition of the SME Bank should be reflective of the country i.e. multi ethnic. They should be knowledgeable on SME issues;

5) Representatives of the various Chambers of Commerce & Industries should be co-opted into the National SME Development Corporation, the SME Bank's Board and loan approving committee, and other statutory bodies involved in SME enhancement programs, such as SMIDEC;

6) There is a need to have a more balanced policy in the development of the SME sector in order to move up the value added activities and to be more competitive in the global market;

7) All SME regardless of the ethnic background should be able to take advantage of government procurement ;

1) Industrial Linkage Programme (ILP) should be implemented to benefit the majority SMEs in the service sector and other manufacturing sub-sectors, such as textile and apparel, metal and mineral products and food & beverages industries;

2) Provide more grants and incentives to the SMEs in the manufacturing sectors in order to acquire new technology, and undertake R & D initiatives;

3) Set up centralized R&D institutions for SMEs, which will introduces technological solution, new production methods, innovative products and commercialization opportunities to SMEs

B) Health Care

1) One common healthcare package which provides comprehensive coverage for all regardless of income levels;

2) Payment must be subsidised for the poor and equitable access must not be denied by imposing large co-payments;

3) No private insurance allowed for the conditions covered in the basic package;

4) Payment for doctors should NOT be on a fee for service basis to avoid over investigation and treatment;

5) Income differentials between the public and the private sector must be narrowed;

6) No further privatisation of any component of the health care services.

C) Water

1) There should be a moratorium on water disconnection fees given the sudden and dramatic increase in the cost of living;

2) Access to water is fundamental human right, water should be provided at affordable rates;

3) Households earning less than RM 1500 should be given free water;

4) Conservation of water should be given the highest priority;

5) To promote public-public partnerships between the various Pakatan Rakyat governments in water management.

D) Inflation

a. Set up an ASEAN mechanism that could support the region in overcoming the current energy and commodity crisis. An energy and commodity buffer fund can be organized based on competitive advantage of nations in order to support other countries in the region. Through this mechanism, countries such as Thailand and Vietnam could sell rice in an affordable manner, one lower than the international markets, to other countries in the region. Malaysia could sell oil and oil palm to other countries in the region;

b. A regional strategy to address speculative funds that are responsible to pushing up oil and commodity prices;

c. Government to establish a minimum wage for Malaysian workers;

a. The resources and revenue of Petronas should be managed in a transparent and

accountable way. Petronas should be made accountable to parliament and no longer to the Prime Minister.

b. Improve enforcement and increase the number of enforcement officers;

c. A comprehensive social safety nets should be put in place urgently.

F) Vernacular Education

a. Federal government must increase allocation, the number of teachers and schoold for Chinese and Tamil schools;

b. State government should provide land for building more vernacular schools.

G) Other issues:

1. Civil services should reflect the multi-ethnic country of Malaysia at all level of the state;

2. Stimulation of private investments by reform tax & incentive structures;

3. Reviving our manufacturing sector, particularly high-tech segments;

4. Utilisation of oil & gas revenues, transform into value added human capital;

5. Stimulation of private investments by reform tax & incentive structures; Promote competition in all segments of government contracts;

6. Transformation of our higher education system, emphasize quality rather than quantity

* Charles Santiago, MP for Klang