- Sometimes, all it takes is a shared passion to reconnect with the ones we love…
- This is a profound opinion piece that I think every Malaysian policymaker needs to read. The words “reification” and “medicalisation” are what I wish I had in my vocabulary when I was assigned to monitor the Anti-Corruption initiatives under the Government Transformation Programme. I was butting my head against the wall for weeks, constantly feeling frustrated by the lack of progress, and it took deep reflection over the experience in a Leadership course at graduate school, many years later, for me to finally realise that my team and I were essentially collateral damage for a technical approach of ostentatious initiatives (“let’s have anti corruption pledges!” “let’s appoint Chief Integrity Officers!”) aimed at simulating “seriousness” in tackling corruption, when in the other room, billions of public money were being siphoned off thanks to Najib and Jho Low. There needs to be more conversations in Malaysia about how we skirt around our dysfunctional politics, spinning our wheels around make-busy work while Rome continues to burn.
- The UN secretary-general just called for a windfall tax on fossil fuel companies. Can we afford to ignore climate change any longer? And what would this mean for Petronas, which has long been the white knight of last resort for Malaysia (cf. Bank Bumiputra, Proton, KLCC, MISC, GST refunds)?
Today’s Reads IV – Communist Fashion, M40 Voters, GLC CEOs
- In turbulent times, some resort to…. fashion. #commiestyle
- I guess that in the coming Malaysian general elections, the M40 voter will be an important battlefield.
- Is it “soak the rich” season in Malaysian politics now?
Commentary I – Education and Economic Growth
As someone who grew up and is currently living and working in a developing country, one takes it for granted that investments in education is one of the most important and pound-for-pound valuable ways to spend public money. Indeed, Malaysia consistently spends a significant amount of its public expenditure on education.
So it astounds me to find that President Biden’s recent decision to announce student debt forgiveness has been seen as controversial. It’s one thing to have Republicans oppose the measure – the mid-term elections are around the corner, anyways – but to witness even steely-eyed economists cast doubt on the effectiveness of the policy measure has been surprising.
Amongst Malaysians, it is an article of faith that education is the primary key to upwards social mobility. Perhaps it is a reflection of the long-term rapid growth of the Malaysian economy, that as the economic pie grows rapidly, a larger share of the pie is captured by those with the right skills and competencies. The skills and capabilities gained through education enables workers to undertake higher value-added activities, making them more valuable in the job market, and unlocking greater opportunities for employment and income generation.
A large part of the criticism around student loan forgiveness in the US comes from the perceived moral hazard of potentially encouraging for-profit education institutions to raise the tuition fees even higher, in an environment where tuition fees are already rising much faster than inflation. (Let’s not get into the entire morass of how the US Congress has been captured by corporate lobby interests, resulting in weakened industry oversight and regulatory logjams.)
And as tuition fees continue to rise in runaway fashion, the return on investment for higher education continues to be eroded, so that many young Americans are increasingly dissuaded from taking the extra time, money and effort to undertake higher education.
This doom spiral in American higher education is one of the many reasons why the USA is becoming increasingly less competitive in the global economy. Conversely, multiple research has shown that economic development is, at its most fundamental level, driven by the accumulation of skills and know-how. Every country that has undergone periods of rapid economic development in their history, from postwar Japan to Malaysia in the 1980s and 1990s and China in the 2000s, can point to large investments in education as a key driver for rapid growth.
Despite the crisis in American higher education, it has still been able to maintain its competitiveness, especially in key sectors such as technology and healthcare, but the weakness in American higher education has been masked thus far, I believe, through America’s continued ability to recruit highly-skilled immigrants, especially in industry hubs such as Silicon Valley. (Although one wonders whether the US can still maintain this edge in coming decades, especially if Trumpism becomes a permanent fixture in American politics.)
As Malaysia’s competitiveness continues to be eroded by lower-cost competitors such as Vietnam and Indonesia, it is alarming to note that our rate of public investment into education is on a declining trend. If we are truly to escape the middle-income trap, we will need to reverse this recent decline, and continue to ensure that investments in skills and education continue to be the number one priority for Malaysia.
Poem I – Perplexed
I hold myself in state perplexed,
Wherefore these so-called friends have flexed
their blind obeisance to a thief
Who gladly lends this nation grief.
Affrightened, shocked, we then did gasp
at tales of nation’s riches grasp’d,
In revelations of ill gain
and debts of billions now retained
at cost of our own public purse
And echoes of our children’s curse.
And herein lies my ill content
My queried mind in bafflement
What makes these fools of certain grief
to take up cudgels for a thief,
To make false claims of justice bent
When Justice was what God had sent?
Perhaps our own minds were athwart
Too bubbled up to see the art?
Or mayhaps those who know facts well
were flummoxed at the blatant spell
T’was cast by Power’s heavy wand
That Great and Good would dumbly stand
aside as thieves ruled in their prime
with robes of gold to hide their grime,
and riches piled for those with might
to plunder all in broad daylight.
And in minority we stand
The few and frazzled of the land
Accused of being “out of touch”
We’re told that politics is such:
That “Bossku”’s cause is of the right,
That white is black and black is white!
Then destined are we for the fall
a nation that would not stand tall
to judge a thief a criminal,
but rather praise a convict’s gall.
Today’s Reads III
- This ought to be required reading for everyone seriously thinking about how to refit Capitalism for the 21st Century, in a way that promotes social value, and combats the scourge of Inequality. Does it mean that Capitalism can really only be saved by those who scorn its trappings and excesses? Watch this space…
- Sometimes mockery and satire is the only way to speak Truth to Power. Yet another gem from Reddit’s “Am I The Asshole” subreddit 😀
- FT’s Rana Foroohar argues that we are entering a post-neoliberal age, where the balance between Capital and Labour will begin to tilt towards the latter, after 4 decades of the Thatcher/Reagan consensus. In some senses, Malaysia is already on this trajectory, with recent revisions to minimum wage and other labour-oriented legislation. Will it be enough to stave off the pitchforks, though?
Jangan Pernah Malu
Crisis of integrity? What crisis?
Three Things I am Thinking about Today #10
- We should not be surprised when autocrats abuse their powers to pursue their own personal agenda, even if it includes the illegal surveillance of an ex-wife. Looks like the backlash against Big Tech is gaining even further momentum now.
- I wonder why some folks would rather risk their lives than submit to vaccinations – a mode of treatment that has been proven to subdue the most virulent diseases known to mankind. It is as if some of us are insistent on erasing themselves from the human gene pool. Very odd.
- The rise of petroleum in our energy mix has led to more than a century of geopolitics being driven by the politics of the Middle East. Now that we are confronting a future where renewable energy technology will become an increasingly significant part of the future of global energy, the security of supply of battery manufacturing – amongst many other potential flashpoints – will begin to feature prominently in the evolution of global politics. Will US-China trade tensions escalate into a Cold War-style balkanization of global supply chains? Will countries like Korea and Japan (and of course, China) be tempted toward military escalation in order to guarantee the uninterrupted supply of raw materials? For mineral-rich, small countries like Malaysia, how do we navigate this new, more treacherous future?
Three Things I am Thinking about Today #9
- As the world begins to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, concerns arise that we might be heading into another era of stagflation, as global economic growth still looks to be frail, and commodity prices begin an inauspicious climb. Should we be worried? I think it’s too soon to be all anxious about such prospects, but it’s good that people are thinking about it. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
- After the recent oil price slump of 2014, crude oil prices have made a gradual climb back up, but have not yet reached the peaks prior to that slump. And while there was a major drop following the outbreak of the Covid-19 virus, prices have recently recovered, and a commodity boom is now on the horizon. But how will oil prices fare in the years ahead, as consumer demand for decarbonisation accelerates? It appears to be that that dreaded “peak oil” scenario is likely going to happen soon, or at least within my own lifetime. That secular shift in energy patterns will lead to significant changes in the global economy, as well as geopolitics. That will also mean that the spoils could well go to countries with the foresight to capitalise on this once-in-a-lifetime shift, like the way China has ramped up its capacity for manufacturing solar panels. Other countries would be wise to follow suit.
- This might be controversial to say in certain circles, but after 50 years of the New Economic Policy, and the “emergency” measures of forcing the reallocation of corporate equity to the hands of the “Bumiputera”, it is clear that we need a different way forward. And yet we are recently told that Bumiputera institutions should only sell to (rich) Bumiputera buyers. Why persist with the type of policies that have been proven to have failed in the past, and reward those who are already wealthy, as opposed to helping those who truly need help? And why now, when the new government of the day is insisting that we are all one “Keluarga Malaysia”?
Three Things I am Thinking about Today #8
- Who knew one could make quite a bit of money selling milk from home? As Farm Fresh prepares for its upcoming IPO, it is good to see businesses that are still anchored on the idea that business can actually help people to improve their lives. There has been a lot of skepticism, of late, in the enthusiasm of capitalism to embrace a more stakeholder-oriented stance, but I suppose it all depends on your intention: to truly embrace togetherness and shared prosperity, or to merely employ such rhetoric to mask baser motives of greed and exploitation.
- It is a common cycle throughout the history of innovation and technological growth: a new technology platform arrives on the scene – it could be petroleum as a source of energy, or electricity as a means to power machinery, or the Internet as a means of sharing information – and those most well-placed to gain from the rapid advancement and growing profitability of such technologies begin to gain outsize advantage and eventual domination: the Rockefeller oil trust, General Electric, or Google and Facebook. Eventually, burgeoning profitability and market share leads to outsize influence and power, and dominant players find themselves increasingly tempted to wield monopolistic power in their favour. And then, the backlash begins. In recent days, a whistle-blower has made her voice heard, and there is growing consensus that dominant tech giants like Facebook and Google will need to be reined in. Competition eventually becomes normalised, until the next cresting of a new technology…
- I believe that when historians look back at the politics of the late 2010s, there will be a huge collective sigh of relief that while Trump was certainly an influential and talented demagogue, his own incompetence and lack of discipline made sure that the damage he could actually inflict on America and the world was relatively limited. Could a more capable wannabe-tyrant have done differently? In my mind, highly likely. We are not yet at the endgame of the current epoch of this collective and corrective backlash against the excesses of capitalism and inequality: for that, we need a 21st century FDR to emerge, so that the inchoate demands for better justice and fairness can cohere into a set of much-needed policy reforms that will shape the world anew.
Three Things I am Thinking about Today #7
- There has been a lot of discussion about broadening the tax base in Malaysia, especially since the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax, which was eventually abolished by the Pakatan Harapan government. In an age when income inequality is foremost on the minds of policymakers and commentators, it is interesting to see the Malaysian Socialist Party (“PSM”) and the Democratic Action Party (“DAP”) at loggerheads over the idea of a Capital Gains Tax. My take is that policy choices in Malaysia would become much, much clearer on that day when we finally introduce clear rules around transparency of political financing. Then we will see, who exactly is fighting for the people, vs. those who merely talk a good game.
- Being married to Kat Rahmat inevitably means that there will be a lot of conversations around the meaning of Life and Death. In particular, the two of us often have conversations around the fear – nay, terror – of impending death, and how we engage in various convolutions and distractions, to take our eye off the stark reality of permanent departure from this world. This piece is consoling: that even physicists, who we would imagine to be the most rational of the best of us, cannot escape postulations that help us to find peace with the idea of our eventual expiration.
- The Great Resignation is real, and it is coming. As many workers have spent months away from the office, they have had time to evaluate their lives and careers, and many have begun to explore different options for how to live their post-pandemic lives. This article reminds us that it is okay for people to leave, and it is equally as important to pay attention on those who choose to stay. As for me, I look back at my career over the past decade and realise that even though I have technically moved jobs 5 times since 2010, those job moves have actually involved me shuttling back-and-forth between just Pemandu and Ekuinas. I would like to think it is a good sign that I have been able to return back to old stomping grounds, not just once but twice. Loyalty and trust can be hard to build, but they are very powerful currencies in our journey through life.