YOURSAY 'There is a debate on the deleterious effects of the international financial institutions, but Dr M is in no position to pontificate to others.'

Anwar: Mahathir asked World Bank for aid

Anonymous_4031: Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain (dubbed ironically as PIGS) are in debt. France and Germany as well as other leaders in the European Union are deeply worried.

The crisis has wide implications for the rest of the world. United States, the world's biggest economy, is already facing an intractable debt problem, compounded by the Republican-Democratic wrangle. Even China's economy is slowing down.

Now where do we Malaysians stand? The pronouncements by two eminent men, Pemandu CEO Idris Jala and ex-finance minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, should not be taken lightly, especially when our debt has risen ominously to more than RM400 billion.

Idris announced last year that Malaysia may go down the Greek road if petroleum subsidies were not reduced. This year, Razaleigh also rang the alarm bell, stating that the nation's debt has ballooned in the past six years from RM200 billion to more than RM400 billion.

As any borrower knows, if he cannot service the loan for three months in a row, the bank's lawyer will send a demand notice. Will Malaysia have to use an upturned, empty coconut shell and beg for IMF's aid?

Major Murthi: Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim's claim seems entirely plausible to me. I used to teach graduate students in Britain who were recipients of Bank Negara scholarships.

In private conversations, they would tell me of former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad railing against the strictures of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank in speeches and other public statements, while quietly negotiating deals with them behind closed doors.

This seems pretty consistent with Mahathir's whole modus operandi: populist and nationalist rhetoric for his domestic audience while actually implementing Washington Consensus policies - privatisation, deregulation, austerity and labour market reform - on his own terms.

There is a real and proper debate to be had about the deleterious effects of the international financial institutions, but Mahathir is in no position to pontificate to others. He has been the grand architect of neoliberalism with crony characteristics.

Maniem: This is typically Mahathirianism. Mahathir condemned US president George W Bush and is hailed as a third world hero, when at the same time, millions of ringgit were paid by some consultancy company for Mahathir to meet Bush for 20 minutes.

Onyourtoes: The currency control and unorthodox measures introduced by Mahathir and his gang are oversold, and I think many Malaysians are still hoodwinked by it.

Look, the unorthodox measures were introduced to protect the cronies, not the vital interests of Malaysia. Korea and Thailand went the IMF way and their economies were totally restructured and transformed, especially those related to state-owned and state-supported enterprises.

Today these countries are no longer saddled with this problem which was a din on public finance and national competitiveness before and during the crisis.

We were richer and so we use our wealth to support the crumbling old economic model to protest vested interest groups and that is why till today we are still saddled with all the distortions, inefficiency and cronyism.

Mahathir was the PM and finance minister, but he knew only half-baked kampung economics.

Dzulkefly Ahmad: Mahathir was right in saying we didn't need to borrow from IMF during the 1997 Financial Crisis.

But we had to borrow from China and Japan and now we give their companies the second Penang Bridge and water tunnel project from Pahang to Selangor at exorbitant price as payback.

When the Chinese government massacred the Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, our Umno Malay Muslim government did nothing to protest.

Wan Ikram Yusof: Mahathir's sons have been enriched - one through political patronage and the other through oil and gas contracts worth billions.

Langkawi will soon be developed through a RM1.5 billion government programme announced by PM Najib Razak, so Mahathir will again benefit directly because he has a lot of interests there.

Money is growing all around Mahathir not because of his hard work but because of his selfish, greedy and manipulative ways.

Blind Freedo: C'mon Anwar. Give the negativity a break. Any thinking person knows that Mahathir, and anyone remotely related to Umno, are unsuitable people to govern Malaysia.

As for the non-thinkers, they have been so well-indoctrinated and are so used to being told what to do, you will never change their minds. But if you still want to chase their votes, get someone else to do it. I want you to start thinking like a potential leader.

That means thinking positively and examine the problems that will arise in the near future and suggest how you might deal with them. Give us something Malaysians can look forward to. Give them something that Umno is not giving them.

Kinikid: DSAI (Anwar), if they do not borrow money from the World Bank then how to cover up the money that they have taken from the rakyat?

My new born child is already owing a debt of more than RM17,000.

 

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