Tony Pua: ‘Noble’ 12MP destined to fail if govt retains ministers who make Malaysia a laughing stock

Yiswaree Palansamy

28 September 2021 at 6:17 am·3-min read

In his speech debating the 12MP, Damansara MP Tony Pua also questioned how the government is planning to realise the goals under 12MP, which he said are almost entirely similar to the three prior plans. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28 — While the ideas and programmes announced under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) are “noble” and should be supported, the five-year plan would still fail if the government retained ministers who constantly make a mockery of the country, Damansara MP Tony Pua said.

In his speech debating the 12MP, Pua also questioned how the government is planning to realise the goals under 12MP, which he said are almost entirely similar to the three prior plans.

Branding the previous plans as failures, he said that the government must also conduct an assessment and announce the main issues which led to this.

“If so, what are the factors that will guarantee the success of the 12MP compared to the previous MPs which have failed to achieve the same goal? What specific policies will be implemented that are different from previous years?

“Only by understanding the causes and causes of failure, the government can change or refine policies to complete the delivery and success of the 12MP,” he said, lamenting that specific policies are not explained in the 12MP.

“Therefore, I can only conclude that although the 12MP is filled with many good general policy proposals that should be supported, it will fail to achieve its goals like the previous MPs because many ministries are still led by ministers who make Malaysia a joke, such as the announcement of the ‘flying car’ or more recently, that Malaysia is capable of creating the ‘Covid-19 vaccine’,” Pua said.

Pua was referring to former entrepreneur development minister Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof, who is now minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Special Functions), and former health minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba, who is now minister of science, technology and innovation (Mosti).

He then cited a paragraph from the World Bank report titled “Aiming High: Navigating the next stage of Malaysia’s development”, which was released early this year.

“Malaysia needs to establish an enhanced social contract to realise its ambition of becoming a high-income and developed economy,” he said.

Some of the highlights of the 12MP include the government’s pledge to fixing poverty, which also means closing educational and nutritional gaps. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that B40 students would also get priority for enrolment in prestigious schools and scholarships.

Under the plan, the government would provide nutritious food to address increasing malnutrition among B40 children and ensure that M40 children have access to quality education at reasonable costs, and encourage M40 to buy health, work insurance at affordable rates while training for M40 would be enhanced.

Ismail Sabri said that new programmes and funding to improve Bumiputera businesses’ sustainability to hit 15 per cent contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by Bumiputera micro, small, medium enterprises in 2025 and that the government would strengthen Bumiputera home ownership quota policies and implementation through closer cooperation with federal government, state government, local councils.

He said that at least 30 per cent Bumiputera corporate equity is not achieved as yet and for this, a safety net would be introduced for sustainable Bumiputera equity ownership, where Bumiputera companies or Bumiputera shares only offered and sold to other Bumiputera consortiums, companies or individuals. Holdings and disposals of ownership in Bumiputera companies to be regulated by related ministries and agencies.

Ismail Sabri said that education for Orang Asli would also be improved, enhancing their opportunities of receiving education until Secondary Five. Low-income Chinese community in new villages would also have improved access to special business loan scheme, improved infrastructure, social amenities to continue. The government would also continue supporting skills enhancement, targeted aid, entrepreneurship opportunities for the ethnic Indian community, especially those with low-income.