Stop bitting the helping hand

Many of the negative responses over the deals with China seem to be politically motivated, stemming from ignorance and, in some cases, ethnic prejudice against all things Chinese.

Pivotal moment: The PM in talks with President Xi Jinping during a meeting at Diaoyutai state guesthouse in Beijing.

YOU can be angry with Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak but let’s not lose our objectivity. The Prime Minister brought in RM144bil worth of deals signed between Malaysia and China.

Many Asean countries are eyeing that kind of money from China but strangely, some Malaysians’ sense of rationality is becoming warped, even perverted, and they feel it is prudent to go into senseless name-calling and mindless smearing of China.

We have to be careful here – remarks like Malaysia indulging in yellow culture, selling our soul to China and comments which smacks of racism are surely not the way to treat a friendly superpower nation like China.

Those making such disparaging remarks are doing a disservice to Malaysia. It’s akin to throwing sand into our rice bowl.

Hate the PM as much as you want as this is how democracy works. But do some of us need to lash out with political rhetoric against China?

It is one thing to score points against our political rivals but surely, there must be a line drawn – let’s not bite the hand that is trying to help us at a time when Malaysia needs to secure more foreign investment to shore up our flagging revenue from oil and gas.

Many of the negative responses over these deals with China seem to be politically motivated, stemming from ignorance and, in some cases, ethnic prejudice against all things Chinese, whether it has to do with mainland China or Chinese Malaysians.

Let’s look at the numbers – foreign investors (including the US) are net sellers of stocks in Bursa Malaysia and have reportedly dumped RM948.1mil in stocks although some have said it is even more.

Malaysia can no longer depend on traditional foreign direct investments from the US and other Western countries.

The reality is that China invested as much as US$84bil (RM370bil) in 2012, establishing it as the world’s third largest outward investor after the US and Japan. China has aggressively eclipsed other nations.

The shift towards China, according to one study, is obvious as the republic emerged as Malaysia’s largest trading partner, enjoying a 13.8% share of Malaysian trade since 2012.

Malaysian firms (especially those owned and managed by Malaysians of Chinese descent) have also been actively investing in China since it liberalised its economy in 1979. Some of these firms played a crucial role in attracting mainland Chinese firms to invest in Malaysia, according to studies.

Everyone knows that China has the money. And Malaysia has an edge over other Asean countries because of the link between Chinese Malaysians and China that has given us an advantageous position, especially when China increasingly sees Singapore as a US ally.

There are some who are unhappy with China’s purchase of 1MDB’s energy assets in Edra Global Energy Bhd for RM9.83bil by the state-owned China General Nuclear Power Corp recently, suggesting that the republic was only helping Najib out in the 1MDB controversy.

But let’s look at other investments – even before the recent trip by the PM. China has put in a multi-billion ringgit purchase of a substantial equity stake in Bandar Malaysia via China Railway Construction Corporation.

China Railway Engineering Corporation has announced plans to set up its multi-billion regional headquarters in Bandar Malaysia, which will host the main terminal for the proposed KL-Singapore High Speed Rail project.

It has been reported that the Chinese government has started buying more Malaysian Government Securities (MGS) and this inflow of new money could possibly rise to RMB50bil (about RM30bil) in total or 8.5% of Malaysia’s total outstanding MGS as of early April.

Those who have been grumbling should answer if there’s any big money coming from the US, Australia or Britain.

And many of us are also wary about money coming in from the Saudis – some are alleging that they are exporting radical Islamic values to Malaysia. Do we need this?

Like it or not, China, apart from being Malaysia’s largest trading partner which takes up 19% of its exports, is presently one of the top five foreign investors in the country.

Investments from China in the manufacturing, construction, infrastructure and property sectors are at significant levels now.

According to official data, China’s investments in the manufacturing sector here from 2009 to 2015 totalled RM13.6bil, creating 24,786 jobs.

Malaysia also needs more Chinese tourists to visit our country and we hope to attract two million Chinese tourists by the end of the year. Our tourism industry has seen a growth of 23% in arrivals from China since the e-visa entry programme was introduced in March this year.

China is the third largest source of tourists for us after Singapore and Indonesia. Malaysia targets eight million Chinese tourists by 2020.

Only 10% of China’s population travelled out of their country and yet they have spent US$229bil (RM1tril) globally last year. They easily beat the number of many Western countries put together!

They spend more than other tourists and they travel in bigger numbers. We all know that in Western countries, Chinese-speaking shop assistants are specifically hired to engage with this segment of customers.

Malaysia is not on the radar of Chinese tourists but more young Chinese tourists have chosen to visit Sabah because of its beautiful sea and lush forests.

Chinese tourists spent US$215bil (RM948bil) abroad last year, 53% more than in 2014, according to a World Travel & Tourism Council report, a figure which is more than the annual economic output of Qatar. Chinese tourists are now spending way more than anyone else, including the Americans.

The number of Chinese tourists travelling globally has more than doubled to 120 million over the last five years, according to data from the China National Tourist Office and WTTC. That means one in every 10 international traveller now is from China.

Malaysia is missing out on this action, unfortunately. For a start, we can make travelling into Malaysia easier for them and having more direct flights will help.

Let’s give credit where credit is due. Najib has done well, from his recent trip to China.

It will even be better if our own Air Asia gets to fly into more Chinese cities as this will surely help boost Chinese tourist arrivals.

Let’s get real, all of us.

Certainly we have the right to express our concerns over the terms of some projects, and to seek clearer details, but let’s not drag in unnecessary elements which strain bilateral ties.

By Wong Chun Wai

Wong Chun Wai began his career as a journalist in Penang, and has served The Star for over 27 years in various capacities and roles. He is now the group's managing director/chief executive officer and formerly the group chief editor.

On The Beat made its debut on Feb 23 1997 and Chun Wai has penned the column weekly without a break, except for the occasional press holiday when the paper was not published. In May 2011, a compilation of selected articles of On The Beat was published as a book and launched in conjunction with his 50th birthday. Chun Wai also comments on current issues in The Star.

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Angry lot: People chanting slogans during a rally demanding Park step down, in central Seoul. — Reuters

SEOUL: South Korean President Park Geun-hye faced mounting calls to step down as a record number of people at a massive rally criticised her as unfit to rule over allegations she allowed a friend to meddle in state affairs and wield influence.

The protest rally in downtown Seoul drew more than half a million people, according to its organisers, many of whom were ordinary citizens who packed the main streets running through the city centre including a 12-lane thoroughfare.

They came with family, and students and young parents pushing strollers were among the crowd as were people in wheelchairs and crutches, in a sharp contrast from some previous rallies often dominated by militant unions and civic groups that had turned violent and clashed with police.

They chanted “Step down, step down, you must step down.”

“Of course she must step down,” Jung Sun-hee, a 42-year-old homemaker who attended the rally with her husband and two pre-teen daughters, said.

“I believe we need a new person to break through this situation, who will be better than this one.”

The crowd has been given a go-ahead by the court to march later in the evening to within a few blocks of the presidential Blue House compound, which had been previously disallowed by the police, citing security reasons.

It was the third weekend protest rally since Park’s first public apology on Oct 25 where she admitted she had sought the advice of her friend, Choi Soon-sil, which only fuelled public anger and suspicion over the secret confidant who apparently held no official government position.

Choi Soon-sil mobbed by reporters
https://youtu.be/wZrBDi-3ZeQ

Another apology by Park and an offer to work with the parliamentary opposition to form a new Cabinet and relinquish some power failed to calm public anger, prompting her opponents to say she did not grasp the gravity of the crisis at hand.

Members of main opposition parties joined the rally calling on Park to resign, indicating there was a growing opinion in parliament to take action to remove her from power, although there was no formal move yet to launch impeachment proceedings. — Reuters

South Korea’s president said tragedy and “loneliness” drove her to rely on a shadowy female confidante

Since I arrived in the presidential office, I've lived a lonely life.
https://youtu.be/NufGEVbwaUk

In a deeply contrite apology, South Korean president Park Geun-hye said today (Nov. 4) she alone was responsible for the current scandal engulfing her presidency, and denied allegations that she was involved with a cult or had performed shamanistic rituals at the presidential Blue House.

South Korea has been rocked by the revelation that Choi Soon-sil, the daughter of a Christian cult leader, had been advising the president on policy matters, editing her speeches (without holding any office), and leveraging their close relationship for influence and personal gain. Choi is also said to have a spiritual hold over the president and has given her advice based on mystical beliefs, including on auspicious colors to wear.

Park’s approval rating has plunged to 5% (link in Korean) according to the latest Gallup poll—a record low for a South Korean president and breaching the 6% rating of president Kim Young-sam during the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s. Park offered a deeply emotional apology that referenced her own tragic upbringing. During it, the president did not have her usual confident bearing, and instead looked small, dejected, and diminished.

“Living on my own, I had no one to help me with the many private affairs that needed taking care of, so I turned to Choi Soon-sil, whom I have known a long time for help,” Park said, adding that it was the “loneliness” she felt after cutting ties with her remaining family that drove her to lean on Choi. Park, who has never married, said she distanced herself from her remaining family after she became president “in case any untoward thing were to happen.”

“[Choi] was the person that stood by me during my hardest times, so I had my guard down. Looking back, I now see this all came about because I trusted our relationship and did not scrutinize things carefully,” Park added.

Choi Soon-sil’s father was extremely close to Park’s father, the dictator Park Chung-hee–who presided over a rapid economic boom that lifted millions of Koreans out of poverty. Park Chung-hee was assassinated by his bodyguard in 1979 when Park Geun-hye was 27. Her mother died in a previous assassination attempt on her husband. Because of these events, the current president cuts a deeply tragic figure in Korea, and there is still sympathy for her.

Kim Sun-chul, an assistant professor of Korean studies at Emory University in Georgia, said that since both her parents were killed when she was young, Park Geun-hye “doesn’t have much confidence in herself… and didn’t have much of a social life.”

“There are even parts I can understand. The daughter of a president and an ordinary university student, it’s not a typical meeting, fate, to become friends and stay friends for 40 years, so the two of you must have leaned on each other and helped one another materially,” veteran Korean news anchor Kim Joo-ha said in a letter she read on TV in October (link in Korean). Kim later faced harsh criticism and harassment for her letter, for implying that the president was a victim.

Sympathy for Park is strongest among the elderly in Korea, although even there it is not widespread. Park has a 13% approval rating among people aged 60 and above, the Gallup poll found.

“The older generation lived through the brutal assassination of her parents,” said Katharine Moon, a professor of political science at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. “It just became part of their daily life, the tragedy that that family went through… it’s not possible for some of the older generation to separate Park Geun-hye and her life from the tragedy that befell her.” - http://qz.com/

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Disruptive Donald J.Trump, US president-elect policies

US president-elect Donald Trump gives a speech during election night at the New York Hilton Midtown in New York on Nov 8, 2016. PHOTO: AFP

I was going to write about disruptive technology but the whole week was taken up with the disruption that Donald J Trump caused in upsetting the US establishment by winning the Presidential elections.

The establishment was so confident of a Hillary win that the New York Times predicted 85 per cent chance of her winning and the Economist magazine showed a cover picture with Hillary as America and the rest of the world’s best hope.

Trump’s victory repeated the Brexit phenomenon that the elites don’t get it.

The voters are angry and even if Hillary had the support of women, African Americans and Latinos, it was not enough.

Trump basically tapped into the anger in the dominant American white voter that life has not been good in the last 30 years, attributing this to globalisation, immigration, disruptive technology and mostly, the failure of the elites to listen.

There was something quite Darwinian about the US elections.

Here was an alpha male challenging the establishment, both on the Republican and Democratic sides.

Against all odds, he defeated the Bush dynasty and the Republican party leadership to win the nomination.

Then he crushed the alpha female (Hillary), partly because somehow no one could quite trust what she really stood for.

Certainly, Wall Street would have benefited most, being her major supporter.

But no one quite trusts banksters these days.

Trump put the Clinton/Obama dynasty into its place.

We are likely to see some major changes affecting Wall Street.

Remember how in 1934, newly elected President Franklin Roosevelt sent Joseph Kennedy Senior to go after Wall Street?

How did Trump get there?

Firstly, as a businessman, he understood that the old model was broken because he read the signals right – the average American voter was angry and wanted their issues fixed.

Secondly, he knew that the mainstream establishment media was against him but they didn't get what his pollsters were reading.

The Web traffic was showing that his outrageous statements were touching raw nerves.

Politics ultimately is about the gut rather than the rational mind.

Thirdly, the pollsters were reading the old tea leaves, not appreciating how voters were refusing to show their hand till the last minute.

An American friend had this insight – most of his friends refused to tell anyone that they supported Trump.

They did not want to appear politically incorrect to support a ranting candidate that was not playing to the traditional songs.

But they wanted change – and Obama did not deliver what they wanted.

What next for Trump and for Asia?

Based upon his campaign language, Trump is likely to be quite tough on allies and competitors alike.

American military support wouldn’t come free for allies and he is also likely to be tougher on his foes.

This means essentially that everyone will have to look after their own interests.

The election also showed that what concerns the voter most is the need for good jobs.

This is where globalisation and technology disruption have upset the status quo.

Jobs either go abroad where wages are cheaper or technology is such that most manufacturing can be done onshore, but robotics are replacing grunt labour.

Hence the only Tech Age solution is proper education and training on the job.

In the tech age, governments cannot assume that the market will provide the jobs without state help.

Employers need to be aware that you can’t shed labour without investing in people.

Universities and schools have been disrupted by the Internet, because the best teaching is now accessible online and mostly free.

Massive Open Online Curriculum (MOOC) means that anyone can access the best online lecture course by some of the top lecturers at the best universities, fully up to date.

Who needs uninterested local professors who are still teaching out-dated texts they learnt thirty years ago?

​Digital divide

The Digital Divide means the line between those who are digitally connected and those who are not.

Increasingly, societies are networks across which goods, services, information and value are traded, exchanged and created.

Those who have access to these networks grow wealthier, outstripping those who are not.

Hong Kong is a perfect example of how cities become successful by being a free port, where there are low transaction costs, with rule of law and access to free information.

Having superior marine port, airport and road and now rail connection to the Mainland of China made Hong Kong not just the entrepot centre for Chinese trade with the world, but also a globally connected city.

But making money through trade, finance and real estate is no longer viable when every business is disrupted by technology.

Alibaba, Amazon, Google and Facebook are just a bunch of smart people that integrate multiple markets using their digital platform.

Their cost expense ratios are a fraction of the traditional bricks and employee business of Walmart, real estate developers, banks and newspapers.

They have global reach, especially the young and mobile.

All this means that as America becomes strong under Trump (which he promised), every country or city needs to compete even more fiercely in the digital age.

Cities have better chances of getting their acts together to get the government, business and civil society to work together and achieve how they really want to compete in the digital age.

I was in Shenzhen last month looking at how they are coping with the digital age.

Shenzhen is now green and dynamic, with showcase drone technology, Huawei telecommunications and genomic technology that are at the cutting edge of innovation.

No one I talked to cared about the angst that was going on in Hong Kong, where the young and old are still squabbling over their own identities.

Shenzhen was moving to compete head-on with Silicon Valley, Bangalore, Shanghai and Hangzhou. And this is a city that thirty years ago had no university of its own and no serious manufacturing to speak of. This is an immigrant city par excellence finding its own place in global technology.

Disruption comes from sheer willpower. Either you disrupt or you become disrupted.

Trump and Shenzhen are showing the way. Everyone else please wake up.

By Andrew Sheng, Asia News Network/The Star

The writer, a Distinguished Fellow of Hong Kong-based think-tank Fung Global Institute, writes on global issues from an Asian perspective.

 

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