Is Everything In Malaysia Honky Dory?

If the main stream media (newspapers and tv stations which are all pro-government and owned or controlled by the establishment or establishment cronies) are to be believed, everything is honky dory in Malaysia.

The economy is cruising along nicely and we have the PM to be thankful to for the Campbell alphabet soup of ETPs ( economic transformation plans) that nobody understands anyway.

Crime rates are falling. Everyone is smiling and coming out in droves to greet the PM everywhere he goes.

We have just successfully launched this year's second largest IPO, after the recent Facebook float, with the listing of  FGVH (Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd) in Bursa Malaysia,  the Malaysian stock exchange.

But as far as the average or ordinary Malaysian is concerned, he is puzzled.

What he sees is only rising prices of goods and services and this not in tandem with salary rise.

He does not understand a thing about Najib's ETPs and definitely does not feel their impact on him.

He sees only that establishment cronies and families benefit.

He does not feel safe on the street or at home, despite the establishment's claim that crime rates have fallen. He continues to be wary.

He sees that corruption in high places is becoming endemic, if not already a fait accompli.

He does not see any real political will to tackle the issue of corruption in high places and wonders how if at all there can be one to talk about, when establishment figures are themselves the ones perceived to be involved.

He notes that the situation has become quite so hopeless that an NGO has to fight for justice for Malaysians in a foreign court in the alleged corruption involved in the procurement of two French Scorpene submarines that could not even dive in the first place! because the Malaysian anti-corruption commission, MACC, does not want to deal with the matter even with a ten foot pole!

The case is still ongoing in the French court.

As for the FGVH listing, not many Malaysians are enamoured with it, certainly not SakmongkolAK47 who has written an excellent series of posts on the matter in his blog.

Even the Wall Street Journal had written a not too flattering article on the Felda float. Some say that the FGVH listing will face the same kind of problems as Facebook did.