Saifuddin: What planet is Ka Chuan from?
Former Umno deputy minister takes Second MITI minister to task for blaming the people for the country’s poor performance in the global competitiveness rankings.
PETALING JAYA: Ong Ka Chuan’s decision to blame the rakyat for the country dropping seven places in global competitiveness has baffled a former deputy minister.
“What planet is he from?” Saifuddin Abdullah asked when contacted.
The Pakatan Harapan chief secretary said one of the problems with the Federal Government was that when an international agency gave Malaysia a good rating, it went on a “trumpet-blowing road show” and made all kinds of claims of how good the government was.
However, when given an unfavourable rating, the former higher education deputy minister claimed Putrajaya either brushed it aside or blamed others for it, which in this case happened to be the people.
“This is almost the standard operating procedure for this government.”
According to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) 2016-2017, Malaysia was ranked 25th out of 138 economies.
Last year, the country occupied the 18th spot.
The index is based on 114 indicators that integrate both macro- and micro-economic aspects of competitiveness.
These indicators are grouped into 12 pillars, comprising institutions, infrastructure, macro-economic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, among others.
This led to Ong, the second international trade and industry minister, stating that 30 per cent of the report was based on quantitative data from the government and 70 per cent on the perceptions of Malaysians.
Ong went on to state that Malaysia needed to train its citizens, adding that while he did not expect everybody to paint a rosy picture, they should not condemn the country.
Saifuddin, who was formerly BN Temerloh MP but now with PKR, said there was not much optimism in the country and it was “very difficult” to find Malaysians who say good things about the government.
Surveys by Merdeka Center and Institut Darul Ehsan, he pointed out, had often revealed how dissatisfied people were.
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“Even people in Umno are complaining and are beginning to speak up.”