Re: MALAYSIAMalaysia in $51 Bln Plan to Transform North BeltMalaysia......


"**" <**@.org> wrote in message
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MALAYSIAMalaysia in $51 Bln Plan to Transform North BeltMalaysia is aiming
for
investment of $51.2 billion in mostly private funding over 18 years.
Reuters Malaysia is aiming for investment of $51.2 billion in mostly
private
funding over 18 years to turn its mainly agricultural north into a
logistics,
food-processing and tourism powerhouse by 2025.

I don't see how these states can become manufacturing and tourism
powerhouses in 18 or even 50 years from now. It's all about the people
willing to work hard and work hard, in manufacturing. Seriously, let's be
honest about how hard working are the citizens of these states, compared to
other manufacturing based states, over the last few decades. We are talking
about Perlis, Kedah and Kelantan here, man.

And as for tourism, the traditional tourist destinations like Penang,
etc.... they are already finding the going, tough. Langkawi has turned out
to be a flop, even with the billion dollar investments over the last 10
years. The location that was used for the filming of The King and I, was
not maintained, and there was no security, that the last time I went to
visit with my wife, the furniture was stolen, the house in bad shape,
etc..... The little boat of our famous sailor who sailed around the globe,
I went to take a look and to want to take pictures with the boat, sh*t
man..... they just left it tied to a pillar at the pier. It was not even
parked properly, or has a plaque in front to describe that this was the
boat, the journey it took, etc..... I thought that the tourism officials
would at least have some brain matter to cordon off an area, park the boat
properly, put up photo displays, etc.... and keep that famous boat in good
order ( clean ) so that tourists like myself, can enjoy taking pictures with
it, and have a part of Malaysian history framed and plastered onto my wall
at home.


The measures are part of the prime minister's gameplan to bolster support
in the
country's ethnic Malay heartland as expectations grow that his government
plans
to call snap general elections, perhaps as soon as early next year.

Seriously, without all these initiatives, it's not like his BN is going to
lose. It's seriously more effective and economically viable to just buy
votes, come election time. Ok, so, I've always been crooked, but I think
this is more practical than to spend 51 Billion. You can safely buy 51
elections with 51 Billion in the pocket


Dubbed the Northern Corridor Economic Region, the zone marks Abdullah's
growing
penchant for mega projects once the hallmark of his
predecessor-turned-rival
Mahathir Mohamad.


Probably woke up one morning, did the math and realized that no one can be
in the top seat forever, and so, given the opportunity to sign mega
contracts, might as well do it. 10% of a billion bucks is easier to collect
than looking out for 20% of 50 million buck deals at every other corner.
Taking 10% off a billion dollar deal, still leaves plenty, for the project
to be implemented and managed successfully. Personally, I'll do it without
batting an eyelid, if I were in that position.

It's funny that it's taken him so long to do this type of mega deals. If I
were in his position, my 3 Billion underwater tunnel from Prai to Penang
Island project would already be in the 3rd year of building and nearing
completion already. My 8 Billion buck version of Bakun Dam, bordering the
states of Perak, Selangor and Pahang, would have now gone into the 2nd year
of building, using low interest rate loans from China or Japan, or from the
middle east.


Two-thirds of them are in the region's rice-growing areas. The average
annual
income of around 2,477 Malaysian ringgit ($717) per household, is the
lowest
among the six regions in the country except for the east coast.

Sometimes, you also have to wonder, why is it that these people are earning
so little per annum ? Lack of opportunities ? Really ? What are the other
possible reasons ? We've had 3 PMs from the state of Kedah to date.


Besides rice-farming, the region sees little other economic activity --
fewer
than a third of the tourists to Malaysia visit the area and just about 20
per
cent of the manufacturing investments in Malaysia are in this northern
belt.

And what are the reasons for this phenomenon ? The ability to pinpoint the
reasons accurately, will help the lawmakers make better investment
decisions. You don't want to end up giving flowers to the monkeys too many
times. The end result is always the same, the monkey will either eat the
flower of trample it.


Farmers hailed the plan, saying it would help raise their monthly income
by as
much as three times through better seeds.

Heck... they've been talking about this for the last 20 years. Just send
some spies up to Thailand, find out what their secret is, to have 5 crops in
2 years and apply this at home, and we've upped the output from 2 crops a
years already lah. And while the spies are there, they should also find out
why the Thai rice smells and tastes much better than our local production.


"But this will also ensure UMNO's dominance in this state," said a
71-year-old
farmer, Rahim Yaacob.


As if these states can swing any other way, with the exception of Kelantan.


One commentator said Abdullah, in power since 2003, was showing his
political
clout ahead of the polls.

It's called smart spending, or systematic vote buying ( a cruder term )


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