MALAYSIA'S been at it again, arguing about what proportion of the economy each of its two main races — the Malays and the Chinese — owns. It's an argument that's been running for 40 years. That wealth and race are not synonymous is important for national cohesion, but really it's time Malaysia grew up.
It's a tough world out there and there can be little sympathy for a country that prefers to argue about how to divide wealth rather than get on with the job of creating it.
The long-held aim is for 30 per cent of corporate equity to be in Malay hands, but the figure that the Government uses to justify handing over huge swathes of public companies to Malays but not to other races is absurd. It bases its figure on equity valued, not at market value, but at par value.
Many shares have a par value of say $1 but a market value of $12. And so the Government figure (18.9 per cent is the most recent figure) is a gross underestimate. Last month a paper by a researcher at a local think-tank came up with a figure of 45 per cent based on actual stock prices. All hell broke loose. The paper was withdrawn and the researcher resigned in protest. Part of the problem is that he is Chinese.
"Malaysia boleh!" is Malaysia's national catch cry. It translates to "Malaysia can!" and Malaysia certainly can. Few countries are as good at wasting money. It is richly endowed with natural resources and the national obsession seems to be to extract these, sell them off and then collectively spray the proceeds up against the wall.
This all happens in the context of Malaysia's grossly inflated sense of its place in the world.
Most Malaysians are convinced that the eyes of the world are on their country and that their leaders are world figures. This is thanks to Malaysia's tame media and the bravado of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad. The truth is, few people on the streets of London or New York could point to Malaysia on a map much less name its prime minister or capital city.
As if to make this point, a recent episode of The Simpsons features a newsreader trying to announce that a tidal wave had hit some place called Kuala Lumpur. He couldn't pronounce the city's name and so made up one, as if no-one cared anyway. But the joke was on the script writers — Kuala Lumpur is inland.
Petronas, the national oil company is well run, particularly when compared to the disaster that passes for a national oil company in neighbouring Indonesia. But in some respects, this is Malaysia's problem. The very success of Petronas means that it is used to underwrite all manner of excess.
The KLCC development in central Kuala Lumpur is an example. It includes the Twin Towers, the tallest buildings in the world when they were built, which was their point.
It certainly wasn't that there was an office shortage in Kuala Lumpur — there wasn't.
Malaysians are very proud of these towers. Goodness knows why. They had little to do with them. The money for them came out of the ground and the engineering was contracted out to South Korean companies.
They don't even run the shopping centre that's beneath them. That's handled by Australia's Westfield.
Next year, a Malaysian astronaut will go into space aboard a Russian rocket — the first Malay in space. And the cost? $RM95 million ($A34.3 million), to be footed by Malaysian taxpayers. The Science and Technology Minister has said that a moon landing in 2020 is the next target, aboard a US flight. There's no indication of what the Americans will charge for this, assuming there's even a chance that they will consider it. But what is Malaysia getting by using the space programs of others as a taxi service? There are no obvious technical benefits, but no doubt Malaysians will be told once again, that they are "boleh". The trouble is, they're not. It's not their space program.
Back in July, the Government announced that it would spend $RM490 million on a sports complex near the London Olympics site so that Malaysian athletes can train there and "get used to cold weather".
But the summer Olympics are held in the summer.
So what is the complex's real purpose? The dozens of goodwill missions by ministers and bureaucrats to London to check on the centre's construction and then on the athletes while they train might provide a clue.
Bank bale outs, a formula one racing track, an entire new capital city — Petronas has paid for them all. It's been an orgy of nonsense that Malaysia can ill afford.
Why? Because Malaysia's oil will run out in about 19 years. As it is, Malaysia will become a net oil importer in 2011 — that's just five years
away.
So it's in this context that the latest debate about race and wealth is so sad.
It is time to move on, time to prepare the economy for life after oil. But, like Nero fiddling while Rome burned, the Malaysian Government is more interested in stunts like sending a Malaysian into space when Malaysia's inadequate schools could have done with the cash, and arguing about wealth distribution using transparently ridiculous statistics.
That's not Malaysia "boleh", that's Malaysia "bodoh" (stupid)..
By Michael Backman
November 15, 2006
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(網上直譯,旡時間整理.)
马来西亚已经在它再次，争论多大比例的经济，它的每两个主要赛事-马来人与华人-堪称登峰造极。它的一种说法指出，对已运行了40年。财富和种族的不等于就是重要的民族凝聚力，但真正它的时候，马来西亚长大的。
这是一个严峻的世界存在，就不可能有同情心都没有一个国家是偏向于争论如何分配财富，而不是对展开工作，创造它。
长期持有的目的，是为30 ％以上的法人股权将在马来语中的手，但这个数字，政府用途，以自圆其说交出巨额大片的公众公司，以马来人，而不是其他种族，是荒唐可笑的。它的基地，其数字对股权价值，而不是按市场价值，但在账面值。
许多股票有面值的说，一元，但市场价值12元。所以政府的数字（ 18.9 ％ ，是最近期的数字） ，是严重低估。上个月一份文件，由一名研究员在当地智囊型想出了一个数字的45 ％根据实际股票价格。所有的地狱，一片混乱。该文件被撤销和研究员辞职以示抗议。问题的部分原因是因为他是中国人。
"马来西亚boleh " ！是马来西亚的国家追赶哭了。它翻译为"马来西亚能" ！和马来西亚的，当然可以。少数国家的一样好，在浪费钱。它是富饶的自然资源和全国痴迷似乎是提取其中，出售它们赶走，然后集体喷雾收益了撞在墙上。
这一切发生的背景下，马来西亚的极夸大的责任感，在世界上的地位。
大多数马来西亚人相信，全球目光都对他们的国家和他们的领导人是世界上的数字。这是由于马来西亚的驯服媒体和虚张声势的前总理马哈蒂尔。事实是，很少有人在街上的伦敦或纽约都能指向马来西亚在一张地图上少得多名称及其首相或首都。
好像是为了指出这一点，最近一集辛普森具有新闻阅读试图向大家宣布巨浪曾触及有些地方所谓的吉隆坡。他不能发音城市的名称等，弥补了，因为如果没有人照顾，反正。但笑话，是对脚本作家-吉隆坡是内陆地区。
石油公司，国家石油公司在办好，特别是当比较灾难的推移，一个国家石油公司在邻国印度尼西亚。但在某些方面，这是马来西亚的问题。非常成功的纳斯意味着它是用来包底各种形式的过剩。
该klcc发展，在党中央，吉隆坡是一个例子。它包括双子塔，最高的建筑物，在世界上时，他们建立了，这是他们的论点。
这当然不是说有一个办事处短缺吉隆坡-有没有到位。
大马人感到无比骄傲和自豪，这些塔。有谁知道为什么。他们与他们的关系不大。钱，为他们出了地面和工程是外包给韩国企业。
他们甚至不办商场中心的下方。这是处理由澳大利亚的西田。
明年，一名马来西亚宇航员将进入太空乘坐俄罗斯火箭-第一马来语空间。和费用？元rm95万美元（ a34.3万美元） ，将分，由马来西亚纳税人。科学和技术部长曾表示，一位登陆月球，在2020年，是下一个目标，以陆地为美国的飞行。有资料显示，并没有什么美国人将负责 为这，假设的，即使有机会，他们将予以考虑。但问题是什么是马来西亚越来越利用航天计划他人作为出租车服务？有没有明显的技术效益，但毫无疑问，马来西亚 人会被告知再次，他们是" boleh " 。麻烦的是，他们没有。这不是他们的太空计划等。
早在7月，泰国政府宣布，它将斥资rm490万元，建设一个综合体育场馆附近的伦敦奥运会网站，使马来西亚运动员能够列车有"习惯了寒冷的天气" 。
但夏季奥运会是在夏天。
那么是什么复杂的真正目的吗？数十个友好访问团由部长和官僚到伦敦去检查该中心的建设，然后就运动员，而他们的训练可能是提供一个线索。
巴莱银行外，一个一级方程式赛车轨道，整个新首都-纳斯付出了他们所有。它的是一个喧闹的宴会，胡言乱语，马国可负担不起。
为什么呢？因为马来西亚的石油，将一发不可收拾，在约19年。现在的情况是，马来西亚将成为一个净石油进口国，在2011年-这仅仅五年
远离。
因此它在这一背景下，最新的辩论，对种族和财富是如此伤心。
这是向前的时候，时间，以准备在经济生活中仅次于石油。但是，像nero的玩弄，而罗马烧毁，马来西亚政府更感兴趣的特技一样，派一名马来西亚进入太空时，马来西亚的不足，学校可以做得与现金，并争辩财富分配使用透明荒谬的统计数据。
这不是马来西亚" boleh " ，即的马来西亚" bodoh " （傻） ..
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