your say ‘Integrity is a key element in every kind of enterprise. You can't fake integrity. Using a dirty rag to wipe your windshield clean is a waste of energy.’

Will ETP work with uneven playing field?

Baiyuensheng:

To me, after reading this, it felt like the government has a put in a lot of effort in coming up with the documentation - and as usual, ‘ada form’ but ‘tak ada substance’. Perhaps they are still not willing to push for reforms, they don't know how, or they have no guts to carry out the required structural changes. It is still back to the Malays/non-Malays competition, which is sad.

Singapore doesn't need to come out with such thick documentation for the reforming of its economy when they decided to add two world-class integrated casinos/resorts. Neither do they have to when they add another economic pillar - biotech/pharmaceutical industries. They are now putting in place infrastructure to become the regional hub for aircraft maintenance and repairs.

They have a vibrant military complex producing equipment and compete with the world for contracts. Their Formula 1 race seems more successful than ours. The iconic garden by the bay will change the face of Singapore. There are so many of their successes to mention...sigh.

Anonymous:

The speakers at this workshop did not point out an area of utmost importance if private investments are to rise significantly – the independence of the judiciary. The judiciary should be independent and also should be seen to be independent.

At present, the public and global perception of the independence of our judiciary is at the lowest ebb. Until and unless this area is given a thorough clean-up, I dare say all other areas conducive for a spike in private investments will not change from the current status.

Maitreya: Integrity is a key element in every kind of enterprise. You can't fake integrity - and that's exactly what Najib Abdul Razak's ‘1Malaysia’ regime has been doing. Can Umno/BN regain its integrity?

Not unless it acknowledges all the transgressions it has committed over the decades and disqualifies itself from being the government of the day. So we are in a classic Catch-22 situation. Using a dirty rag to wipe your windshield clean is a waste of energy.

Gunena:

ETP (Economic Transformation Programme), another ‘syiok sendiri’ event as part of the slogan chanting ‘1Malaysia’ programme. Wasting time and money. A small matter like calling for the abolition of a seven percent discount for bumiputera buying luxury property, and already there are protests and threats from Umno and Perkasa.

Dare Najib implement a real transformation? And yet Muhyiddin Yassin will implement teaching Science and Mathematics in Bahasa Malaysia in 2011.

Vijay: You can call me cynical but this is a road well-travelled by all of us, we have seen it all a thousand times before - a spectacular launch, a bunch of beaming politicians gazed upon by a fawning media, and a plethora of cute phrases.

Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) etc. Who are these guys who come out with these fancy labels?

Idris Jala and the rest of your team, we do not want to hear about you and your fantastic programmes. We want to see you implementing what you promised in the manner you promised it. What will you do at the first hint of protest from those who would prefer to be given things on a silver platter rather than having to work for it?

Tristan:

‘Remember, (the ETP) is private sector driven, so if it fails, it is your fault,’ he told the audience."

Fair enough Mr Idris, but can you give an iron-clad guarantee that the government will not throw obstacles in the path of investors under the guise of 'regulating the industry' to protect its political interests?

JB GUY:

Sigh. Wonderful research and plans, but its implementation is suspect. Will a level playing field in all sense be ever possible? Key areas like the corruption index, the judiciary, the security of the nation also needs to be addressed - not on paper, but in the actual sense.

Rolls-Royce: Idris, please don't think you are superman. No one is big enough to handle ETP, GTP (Government Transformation Programme), NKRAs (National Key Result Areas) and whatever, singlehandedly. If almost everything is lacking and hopeless in Malaysia (I think it is), it is beyond your means to fix it.

For example, if the police do not know ‘policing’, you have no way to fix it. It is a problem with the whole chain of command of the police force (ie, they don't have the right people to do the right job). You can't identity the problems for them and direct them how to go about solving the problems.

Did you not try to tell the police that the street crime is a major problem and fitting CCTVs in strategic locations is a means to solve it? If the police force needs you to tell them that, that police force should be disbanded.

You have to get people who have the integrity, tenacity, knowledge and skill to run a professional police force to be in charge. Why is it so difficult for you to tell the government that we actually have all the ‘potatoes’ running the police force today and all these ‘potatoes’ are borne out of discrimination, wrong selection, nepotism and corruption?

If you don't solve all these problems, no amount of GTP, NKRAs and whatever will solve the problems we face today. Don't try to be too smug, Idris. You asked us not to be too philosophical and engage in wasteful and empty academic debates.

Please, Idris, yours too will be wasteful and empty - just like all QCC (KMK), ‘fail meja’, ‘manual prosidur kerja’, ISO and empty corridors before this. Ask some of you older colleagues in the public service, they will tell you exactly what all these are.

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