Apparently, Angela said that this post was in Malaysian Insider briefly and I only found it by searching the archives. Let's take a look at this excerpt from this ridiculous and mischievous post and would urge as many to voice their views in the comment box:
Extracted from HERE:
Lim further opined that “good governance as well as a corporate culture of excellence and accountability is important requirements sought by foreign investors.”
Guided by the very same logic and thought process employed by Lim, we also can conclude that the massive 80 per cent decline in FDI for Penang in 2009 is a reflection and an indictment of the investor community’s view on Lim’s own performance as the Chief Minister of Penang.
This drastic drop seems to indicate that the investors view unfavorably the ability and the track record of Lim and his exco members in managing the state.
It is not difficult to imagine the investors being decidedly unimpressed and underwhelmed by Lim’s penchant for political rhetoric and populist slogans over well thought out and carefully crafted strategy and action plans.
Not only the investment flow has dried up but more alarmingly the existing investors are also started to flee the state.
While the previous Chief Ministers are fondly remembered and celebrated for securing dozens of blue-chip MNCs as anchor investors, Lim has the dubious, unwanted distinction and legacy for losing these premium companies.
Intel and Dell are just two examples of key investors who have left Penang during the reign of Lim.
The industry is abuzz with speculations of more investors are planning to exit Penang.
No doubt, Lim’s administration would take pains to point out at the global economic downturn which had caused the worldwide FDI to shrink significantly in 2009.
However, facts do not support but rather contradict with this argument since Penang’s FDI decrease was not in tandem with the trend of the rest of the country or the world.
Based on The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) data, the global FDI suffered a 41 per cent contraction in 2009.
For Malaysia, the reduction was 51 per cent for all the states. My friends in Economic Development Board (EDB), Singapore’s main agency for investment promotion, tell me that the data is similar for the city state too although the official data has not been made public yet.
For Penang the FDI plunge was an unprecedented 80 per cent and the state also dropped to No 5 ranking nationally, far behind Sarawak, Selangor, Sabah and Johor. Even Kelantan has done better with only 52 per cent decline.
The result would have been far worse had the data not been propped up by local investments, most of it in property development projects that attracted much controversy due to the adverse impact to quality of life, heritage and environment.
One can foresee that with the state governments of Perak and Kedah demonstrating far more aggression and innovation in attracting FDI, it would not be long before these states too would overtake Penang in the national ranking.
This drastic plunge in investor’s confidence comes rather as an unpleasant surprise to many Penangites.
It wasn’t too long ago that Lim was quoted in news reports as confidently declaring that his strategy of transforming Penang from “Sweat Shop” to “Smart Shop” would not only help the state survive the recession but thrive. But sadly, instead of transforming into a “Smart Shop”, Penang is in real danger of facing “Close Shop”.
The reasons for such drastic decline are not hard to pinpoint.
Lim’s shocking decision to turn down an RM10.2 Billion high-tech FDI because he could not guarantee enough engineers has made Penang a laughing stock around the world.
Lim’s action, which has been dubbed as “the Mother of All Blunders” locally, has generated a huge amount of negative publicity, tarred the image of the state in the eyes of the investing community and fatally affected Penang’s position as a key high tech FDI destination, perhaps permanently.
I personally received many “Thank You” calls and emails from my Singaporean friends who had no doubts that the investor in question would be warmly welcomed and grabbed up by their EDB.
One of them even suggested jokingly that Lim to be given a place in EDB’s “Hall of
Fame” for managing to secure for Singapore such a massive FDI deal.
This state of affair augurs poorly for Penang and if these danger signs are unheeded, then the state faces a real prospect of de-industrialization thus resulting in a drastic drop in the standard of living and income.
Unfortunately looking at the performance of the current state administration under Lim, the future prospect of the state is looks very bleak indeed.
I am surprised that the writer, who claims to be a Penangite himself can come out with so many fallacious statements.
1. The title itself is off tangent - The CM with the negative Midas touch — Calvin Sankaran . To me, the motivation seems to be misleading and mischievous! Read this letter in THE STAR Penang govt did not want to overcommit which shows how this writer is infamous for his usual LGE bashing. The writer Ramesh Rajeswari made a recommendation to Calvin Sankaran which obviously went unheeded! Excerpt from THE STAR:
I suspect that Calvin has no intention of ever recognising that the RM10.2bil in foreign investments made in 2008 were under the efforts of the new Pakatan Government. I strongly suggest that he speak to the many hardworking engineers around the FTZ area and understand the challenges of being an engineer, especially in the electronics and electrical industries. Click HERE for more.2. How can he conclude that the massive 80 per cent decline in FDI for Penang in 2009 is a reflection and an indictment of the investor community’s view on Lim’s own performance as the Chief Minister of Penang? If he knows anything about economics or business, he should know that the fall in FDI is not only for Penang but for Malaysia as a whole and we all know what has been happening in our country which has driven away investors - and it is certainly NOT because of LGE's performance.
At the GST Forum last night,YB Tony Pua announced that under the PR government, Penang succeeded in garnering RM88 million surplus in the budget because of the open tender system that LGE's team has been practising. When they took over in March 2008, the budget had a RM33million deficit. Mind you - this is in a 2-year reign and without help from the Federal government. With their savings from flying low cost airlines, they are using the $ saved to give 100RM to the poor. Tell me - did the previous government ever give anything at all to the elderly and the poor??
This article reeks of malicious intent in the wake of LGE's success in mooting for the third vote in local council elections. Is he trying to be a wet blanket? The writer's statements have no facts or backing or any empirical evidence whatsoever to prove that the fall in FDI in Penang is related to LGE's performance. So why is he trying to commit a fallacy of impressing us with irrelevant statistics of the 80% drop? What is his true intention? Why did Malaysian Insider carry this article????
The writer's statement "This drastic drop seems to indicate that the investors view unfavorably the ability and the track record of Lim and his exco members in managing the state." is very disturbing as it is an unfair generalization. Obviously, the CM's department has not responded because this article had a brief airing in Malaysian Insider.
3. Why is he being personal by making references to "Lim’s penchant for political rhetoric and populist slogans over well thought out and carefully crafted strategy and action plans."? I would very much like to know WHO is this Calvin Sankaran and the extent of which he has CONTRIBUTED to the growth of Penang, the contact that he has had with the CM, what social research instrument he used to measure his alleged correlation of LGE's penchant for political rhetoric over good action plans. If he has NOTHING to show, then how can he make such a statement??? How come Calvin Sankaran has NO COMMENT WHATSOEVER on the daily overkill basis of the ridiculous rhetoric from the other side of the divide, especially from Perkasa??
4. The writer assumes that readers are ill-informed and really insults our intelligence with his writings. Read the comments in Malaysian Insider for this article and you can see the bashing he received!!! For example, this writer said:
Intel and Dell are just two examples of key investors who have left Penang during the reign of Lim.
Is he for real or not? He claims to be a Penangite!!! Good heavens!!! Where on earth in Penang does he live? Doesn't he know that Intel has another site in Kulim but the main site in Penang still exists? Some in Dell were laid off but the plant still exists. How can he write an article with so many factual errors???? Doesn't he know that the INTEL and DELL pullout were not caused by LGE but by other factors? Which era is he living in???
You see, reading online news can be an occupational hazard for bloggers like me cos I can almost feel the smoke coming out of my ears and eyes.
5. His unsubstantiated claim that "The industry is abuzz with speculations of more investors are planning to exit Penang" is most mischievous and may deter other investors. We don't hear our CM making such statements. I have never seen him or heard him speak at any public forum if indeed he is such a caring and patriotic Penangite. Don't hide behind the pc screen! Come to the forefront! Offer your services to the CM's department and to the industry, FMM and other authorities if indeed you feel you can augment value to LGE's government! Walk the walk and add value to your words! They are just a phone call or the click of the mouse away! But where is he? Where is his data to support his claims?
6. Suffice to say he should do proper research before writing, be healed of fallacious thoughts and premises and come forward to be an active part of civil society in Penang. He can start by volunteering his services today!
7. As it is, it is obvious that LGE has the rakyat first in his heart. What about Calvin? Does he have Penang in his heart? Does he have the rakyat first in his heart or is there something else? Bear in mind, Calvin has put the blame wholely and solely on LGE!!! WHY?
I hope Penangites will speak out about this. We will not tolerate such baseless claims that do more damage to Penang. Do leave a comment to share your views. Thanks and have a nice day!
semuanya OK kot Sheer dog-in-the-manger attitude was behind the removal of the free port status of Penang (some time ago) and the denial of adequate Federal funds for the iconic ferry. The writer in question is trying to distract attention. Blogger romerz has a timely article on the real issue at:
http://romerz.blogspot.com/2010/03/brewing-storm-of-gst.html