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STRIKE BALANCE BETWEEN AGRICULTURE AND INDUSTRY, SAYS DR MAHATHIR

Bernama - Monday, May 12

SHAH ALAM, May 11 (Bernama) -- The government should strike a balance between promoting industries for job creation and agriculture to address food shortage, said former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. "Balance the two, as in everything, there must be a balance. Even during my time, we did not disregard agriculture entirely but our emphasis was on industries and creating jobs and keeping up with the modern trend. "At present, people are talking about food shortage and therefore agriculture is very important, but it cannot be the only solution to unemployment," he told reporters after delivering his thoughts at a forum in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the Look East Policy organised by the Look East Policy Society Alumni, here today. Dr Mahathir said agriculture would never create enough employment, including for graduates, because one acre of land could only support a farmer but if one put up a factory on an acre, it could employ 500 people. When asked on appropriate measures to face the current global food crisis, Dr Mahathir said the government should overcome adequate food supply first, not the price of food. "The government must not just make popular announcements that there will be more subsidies, etc. but you have to work out how you are going to overcome food shortage. Even if you reduce the price, it is meaningless if there is no food." -- MORE MAHATHIR-AGRICULTURE 2 (LAST) SHAH ALAM Earlier, at the forum, Dr Mahathir said the Look East Policy was among government policies that was still relevant to cater for the country's development. He said he chose Japan and South Korea as models instead of the west to develop human capital because he felt the Japanese had the right or suitable values and ethics for Malaysians to emulate to achieve success for themselves and the country. "For example, most Japanese workers feel it is their duty to make the company successful, while the company takes good care of their employees through lifetime employment." However, he said the policy should include the teaching of ethics and values as the two elements were important in determining success, as currently these complex elements were not taught formally. Royal Professor Ungku Aziz told the forum that there was a need to send some students to Japanese universities to study Japanese culture, especially the Bushido Code, which emphasised ethics and values that were partly responsible for Japan's success. He said the Look East Policy should also include China one day, because not only was China emerging as one of the world's big economies, but also its history and culture were older than Japan's, besides having an abundance of knowledge to be learned from. -- BERNAMA MK MK MO

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