We have made a costly mistake

-->

The headline in today’s Star paper which claimed that millions of businesses have been lost and further add that investors may shy away due to the recent anti-ISA protest on Saturday has made me and many right thinking Malaysians of the real truths in the report.

Instead of allowing the protesters to march peacefully, the police used tear gas and water cannon blatantly to disperse the crowd. Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang of the DAP, in his blog, has rightfully accused the police as the aggressor rather than the protector. Had the government allowed the protesters to march peacefully, it could have scored a major political point.

The PM had asked: Why march?

To answer this question, I would like to direct all right thinking Malaysians to read this article by Yeo Yang Poh, a former Bar Council President.

To add on, the used of ISA to arrest Teresa Kok and the reporter in Penang during the height of PR's popularity has clearly demonstrated the urgency to remove this draconian law of threatening and silencing the minority by those in power.

If the estimated loss of RM100 to RM 200 million in businesses by the FT Minister is indeed true, then the economy of Malaysia must be performing extremely well in this current worldwide economic slowdown, taking into consideration that the protest was held on a Saturday, when banks and the stock exchange were closed. The truth is, many businesses are been badly affected by this financial meltdown and God knows when it is going to recover.

To the investors, such a seemingly peaceful protest is only a fraction of concern for them. The investors are more concern of the CAT concept of good governance above all else. Instead of asking why march, the PM should have asked: Why are the investors shying away from Malaysia?

How can the investors have confidence here when the anti-corruption agency is playing the political game of the government? When the warlords and those in the corridor of power are involved in scandalous projects, such cases are either not pursue with earnest or are pursued with no conclusion. The PKFZ fiasco and the Lingam tape are just two examples.

Who would like to invest in a country when bureaucratic red tapes are such a hindrance to business friendliness? With those Little Napoleons in almost every government department, the real pain in the arse of doing business begins here.

Who would dare to invest in the GLCs of Malaysia when such investments can cause so much of brouhaha from the people of a political party? Remember the purchased of Pantai Hospitals by Parkway of Singapore? When so many concerns have been expressed by the political elites, the government had to buy back the shares from Parkway, at a much higher price of course.

Now we have a similar issue with Bernas. The ownership of 31% by Wang Tak Co. of Hong Kong has been played up as a concern to the bumiputras. The government has assured that with the ‘golden share’, it has the absolute power to run Bernas. I believe Malaysia is the only country in the world which has this so called ‘golden share’ rule when dealing with foreign investors. It has been reported that Wang Tak Co, has agreed to sell its shares to a bumiputra company, at a higher price of course.

So, who is ‘chasing’ the investors away?

Who is making the country losing millions?

It is indeed very costly for us to have the same government ruling this country.