Malaysia's New Cabinet - Post GE13

Prime Minister: Najib Razak (UMNO)

*Deputy Prime Minister: Muhyiddin Yassin (UMNO)

Prime Minister's Department:

*Ministers:

Jamil Khir Baharom (UMNO), 2. Abdul Wahid Omar (Senator), 3. Idris Jala (senator); 4. Joseph Kurup (PBRS), 5. Shahidan Kassim (UMNO), 6. Nancy Shukri (PBB), 7. Paul Low Seng Kwan (senator), 8. Joseph Entulu Belaun (PRS)

Deputy Ministers: 1. Razali Ibrahim (UMNO); 2. Waytha Moorthy Ponnusamy (Senator)

*Ministry of Finance:

Minister of Finance 1: Najib Razak (UMNO)

Minister of Finance 2: Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah (UMNO)

Deputy Minister of Finance

Ahmad Maslan (UMNO)

Ministry of Transport:

Minister: (Acting post being held open pending MCA decision) Hishammuddin Hussein (UMNO)

Deputy Minister: Ab Aziz Kaprawi (UMNO)

*Ministry of Defence

Hishammuddin Hussein (UMNO)

Deputy Minister: Abdul Rahim Bakri (UMNO)

*Ministry of Home Affairs:

Minister: Ahmad Zahid Hamidi (UMNO)

Deputy Minister: Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (PBB)

*Ministry of Education & Higher Learning

Minister 1: Muhyiddin Yassin (UMNO)

Minister 2: Idris Jusoh (UMNO)

Deputy Minister 1: Mary Yap Kain Ching (PBS)

Deputy Minister 2: P. Kamalanathan (MIC)

*Ministry of Works:

Minister: Fadillah Yusof (PBB)

Deputy Minister: Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin (UMNO)

*Ministry of International Trade & Industry

Minister: Mustapa Mohamed (UMNO)

Deputy Minister: Hamim Samuri (UMNO)

*Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Minister: Anifah Aman (UMNO)

Deputy Minister: Hamzah Zainuddin

*Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism

Minister: Hasan Malek (UMNO)

Deputy Minister: Ahmad Bashah Mohamad Hanipah (Senator)

*Ministry of Communication & Multimedia

Minister: Ahmad Shabery Cheek (UMNO)

Deputy Minister: Jailani Johari (UMNO)

*Ministry of Human Resources

Minister: Richard Riot Jaem (SUPP)

Deputy Minister: Ismail Abdul Muttalib (UMNO)

*Ministry of Rural & Regional Development

Minister: Shafie Apdal (UMNO)

Deputy Minister: Alexander Nanta Linggi (PBB)

*Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing & Local Government

Minister: Abdul Rahman Dahlan (UMNO)

Deputy Minister: Halimah Mohamad Saddique (UMNO)

*Ministry of Youth & Sport

Minister: Khairy Jamaluddin Abu Bakar (UMNO)

Deputy Minister: M. Saravanan (MIC)

*Ministry of Health

Minister: S. Subramaniam (MIC)

Deputy Minister: Hilmi Yahaya (UMNO)

*Ministry of the Federal Territories

Minister: Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor (UMNO)

Deputy Minister: J. Loga Bala Mohan (Senator)

*Ministry of Plantation Industries & Commodities

Minister: Douglas Uggah Embas (PBB)

Deputy Minister: Noriah Kasnon (UMNO)

*Miistry of Energy, Green Technology & Water

Minister: Maximus Johnity Ongkili (PBS)

Deputy Minister: Mahdzir Khalid (UMNO)

*Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry

Minister: Ismail Sabri Yaakob (UMNO)

Deputy Minister: Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (UMNO)

*Ministry of Tourism & Culture

Minister: Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz (UMNO)

Deputy Minister: Joseph Salang Gandum (PRS)

*Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation

Minister: Ewon Ebin (UPKO)

Deputy Minister: Abu Bakar Mohamad Diah (UMNO)

*Ministry of Natural Resources & Environment

Minister: G. Palanivel (MIC)

Deputy Minister: James Dawos Mamit (PBB)

*Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development

Minister: Rohani Abdul Karim (PBB)

Deputy Minister: Azizah Mohamad Dun (UMNO)

Ministers: 30

Deputy Ministers: 27

Total: 57

Total ministries: 24

MY COMMENTS: This is supposed to be a cabinet to push the Economic Transformation Programme. Let's see how they do. 

I note that they've put Abdul Wahid Omar and Idris Jala as Ministers in the Prime Minister's Department. Is this they way of quietly getting rid of people who've been busy 'restructuring'  GLCs by selling off assets and claiming them as profits later on? I think so. Put them in a place of supposed power so that they can do less damage? 

I note that Khairy Jamaluddin is now a Minister. For youth and sports. I am slightly worried as he was one of the reasons people hate Barisan Nasional. You can search elsewhere on why he has such a reputation. Yes he did win in his constituency, but is this reward too big for him? My opinion was that he takes over Nazri Aziz's job as Minister in PM's office in charge of Parliament. Let Khairy put his debating skills against the Opposition. He's Oxford trained. He should use his skills to put the Opposition in his place. And in this position, he won't be a threat to any ministry. 

I also note that Nazri Aziz is Minister of Tourism. He should have taken over Hishamuddin's job. He would do a better job at knocking all those illegal assemblies down. And he isn't a populist. He would just GET THE JOB DONE.

Then we have Hishammudin and Zaid Hamidi swapping places. Hmmm....Hisham was a lame Home Minister and now he may be a lame Defence Minister. Let's wait and see what strange things will happen. I am worried. The Ministry of Defence is also a cashcow for anyone there. I wait to see how the game is played over there.

Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan - the only chinese in the cabinet? Anti Corruption campaigner and President of transparancy international. A senator. So this is a chinese community but not one from MCA. I suppose he will be the chap in charge of dealing with corruption here in Malaysia.

The HINDRAF chap Waya moorthy gets a place as deputy minister. I suppose he'll be trying to make the  Indian community better. At least the Government listened to HINDRAF and wasn't pulling their legs.

That's all for now. Oh yes. There was a pre-cabinet lineup debate that Ali Rustam should have been made senator and be Tourism minister so that he can develop the tourism industry like he did Melaka. I suppose this would be good. But according to some he cannot converse well in English. A drawback to such an international ministry? Who knows. It didn't come to pass.

The Populist Vote vs The Electoral Vote

And since Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim's (DSAI) plan to capture Putrajaya via the 13th General Elections had failed, he has announced that he will continue being head of the Opposition (unopposed). He will not become a lecturer as he said earlier.

The reason was that he now believes that there is electoral fraud. I suppose that would mean that there was fraud in the Pakatan Rakyat maintaining status quo in Kelantan, Penang and Selangor as well as Lim Kit Siang taking down Ghani Othman in Gelang Patah too.

At the polling booths both parliamentary and state ballot boxes were sited side by side. Why on earth would fraud be detected on one side and not the other. Of course, there are those that believe this shit. Blackouts, police escorting Banglas, Hitler was the consultant of the BN and so forth. Then again, if it was all fraud, why didn't any one of the Pakatan Rakyat refuse their appointments as Members of Parliaments as a sign of protest? I suppose you can still take and then complain is it?

Anyway, the Pakatan lost. This is simply due to the fact that the rural areas still support Barisan Nasional. The rural areas may on the average have less voter count than the urban areas but these areas are still part of Malaysia okay.

So now after losing, DSAI has decided that fraud has been involved and the Rakyat needs and explanation for this. Actually if he has packed a stadium full of people I think it isn't an explanation he is after. He is after outright change via a revolution. Viva La Revolution.

Or then again.

Now I remember reading about and watching Spartacus on telly. Spartacus was a chap who somehow managed to rally thousands of peasants to go against the might of the Roman Empire. It was a populist move. The peasants, slaves and the so called oppressed rose up against the 'evil empire'. Battles and wars were fought. Thousands croaked. Thousands injured, maimed, tortured.

In the end, Spartacus and his rebel alliance lost. Some said he died, some said his body was never found in the final battle he fought. But what happened was that six thousand of his followers were crucified, lining the Appian way from Rome to Capua.

Many revolutionaries made Spartacus as an example. Karl Marx, father of Communism took Spartacus as an example. Che Guevara is an example. If I am not mistaken, DSAI thinks that this Che chap is a good example (No...not short fro Enche).   Anyway, Che Guevara also met a dead end; executed in Bolivia.

Now, DSAI wants to continue his 'success' at the Kelana Jaya stadium on a tour. He intends to go to Ipoh and Penang next. People who live around the places he intends to babble his crap take note. If you voted for him and his gang of rejects, it's your fault he's still around. He'll come to your area and jam up the roads for hours. He'll ensure that you can't go anywhere when he's there. He'll stop the Malaysian economy as he continues to create havoc. A proper gentleman would know when to back down, regroup and then fight fairly at the next elections.

So protest all you want, but if the swift hand of the law decides that too much shit has happened. Due process will happen. Then remember Spartacus. He died and the mighty Roman Empire carried on for quite a while.

Campaigning for Cheaper Petrol - Who benefits?

Recently Malaysia had its 13^th Elections. The Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition retained power with a smaller majority than previously. It basically lost in the urban and suburban areas and kept its popularity in the rural areas. From the number of voters, it had lost. But BN won in the number of actual Parliamentary seats contested.

There has been a backlash stating that the Chinese had turned their backs on BN. This may have some truth in it but in trying to dissect this problem I met someone who said that BN has lost support in an overall sense. There are many reasons for this.

One issue that was brought up was the price of petrol. Whilst Malaysia is the 27^th oil producer in the world, IT IS THE third largest oil exporter of oil in the world. Very good. What do Malaysians benefit from this? Well, Malaysia has the 11^th cheapest petrol retail price in the world. Isn't that cheap enough? I suppose it isn't to most. 

I met an educated Malay man who said that the kampong folk are suffering due to the ‘high petrol prices’. I argued that the kampong folk voted for BN. It is the urban folk who are complaining that petrol prices are high.

He mentioned that internet penetration was lower in the kampong. Hence the lack of ‘correct and true’ information that allowed the rural voted to continue supporting BN. This vicious circle of fact after fact will continue until our argument will before we know it lead to the price of chicken in Kuala Lumpur versus the price of lamb in Khazakstan.

But again, who uses a whole lot of our petrol? I believe it is the urban folks. We have 20-40km commutes (because they cannot seem to buy closer to where they work or sacrifice and live in a smaller house closer to work) and lots of traffic jams over the 3-10km commutes (with almost no traffic jams) in the rural areas (where most live quite close to their work place).

Most rural folk can survive on less than a hundred Ringgit of petrol per month (short commute, less traffic, etc), whereas, the urban folk spend an average of RM300 per month on petrol.

Now add the higher cost of cooked food (a lot of urbanites are lazy to cook their own – hence increased food bills) and other incidentals like intra-city tolls as well as other so called necessities like broadband bills (which the government subsidizes via a RM500 tax rebate for working folk – also not enough), lots of smartphone usage, tablets and other luxuries that come with bills.

Oh, add the fact that most of the urbanites want nice fancy cars (that are not Proton or Perodua- which are affordable but lack street credibility and reputation) that is actually beyond their means. They end up loaning more than they can afford to pay.

 I don’t see the Kampung folk wanting Maseratis or Ferraris or even Mercedes. They want transport. They don’t really care what brand it is. I know a few Makciks and Pakciks who live in the Kampung who end up buying Protons and Perodua even though they have bank accounts in excess of RM250,000. Of course they bought their cars cash. Can you? I also see Pakciks and Makciks who still drive their old Proton Saga from 1990 in fine fettle who aren’t complaining much also. I also see those that go round on a Kapchai. And they do not complain about petrol being expensive.

It is those in and around Kuala Lumpur that do the most talking. Whaddya expect? The cost of living in and around urban centers is indeed more than in the Kampungs. So what happens? Harp and sing about it at political rallies. It’s a sure fire solution to garner the votes of the city folk. Sing lower petrol, food, car prices and everyone will vote for you. AND LOGIC GOES OUT THE WINDOW. 

So the question of wanting cheaper petrol is actually an urban problem and not a rural problem. This is why the call for cheaper petrol is a very sellable point in the Pakatan Rakyat’s campaign even though the real reason is that is if you cannot afford so much luxuries, live within your means lah. It isn’t that petrol is expensive; it’s the fact that you are not living within your means.

BUT Malaysia is an OIL PRODUCER. So? Do you think the oil will last forever? We Malaysian sure like subsidies don't we? Well folks, the bad news is that according to International Energy Agency (IEA) Malaysia will be a nett importer BY 2017. Some even claimed that this could happen earlier or later (later if more oil fields are discovered). But eventually the oil will run out or the economy gets so good that oil consumption goes up from increased energy outputs from factories, more cars etc. So you still want petrol subsidy then? Hello? Wake up lah.

And what is the solution? Live within your means. The price of petrol shouldn't be the grounds you place your vote on. That is all. Think about it. 

This is only one small topic. I haven’t talked about corruption, cronyism or other things that ends with '…ion' or '…ism' yet. Stay tuned folks.