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Malaysian minister says price controls "a joke"

Monday, 24 March 2008 15:19

(AFP) — Malaysia's price-control system which is designed to suppress the cost of essential goods is "a joke", the new domestic trade minister said according to a report Monday.

Anger over rising prices of food and fuel were a key issue in general elections earlier this month, and one of the factors credited with the ruling coalition's worst performance in its half-century history.

In a bid to win back support, Shahrir Abdul Samad -- a maverick in the United Malays National Organisation which leads the coalition -- was installed as domestic trade and consumer affairs minister last week.

Shahrir signalled a sweeping review of the expensive system of subsidies and price controls which he said were unrealistic and no longer working.

"The whole price control mechanism is a joke," he said in an interview with the New Straits Times.

"If you have price controls just for PR (public relations) purposes, it does not make the government look good, especially when you have price controls but can't control the price."

Shahrir said that for example, the government had set a price ceiling on steel bars 600-700 ringgit (190-220 dollars) below market price.

"But contractors can't buy them at these prices. So what they do is inflate the price with other costs. It becomes a joke and the government gets laughed at."

Malaysia heavily subsidises petrol, diesel and gas as well as 21 food items including milk, salt, wheat flour and rice, but the controls have triggered severe shortages, as well as smuggling across its porous borders and long coastline.

The government has already indicated it will have to radically review fuel subsidies which are expected to cost it 35 billion ringgit (10.7 billion dollars) this year if oil prices hover around 100 dollars per barrel.

Shahrir did not specify exactly how he would address the problems, but said he would not be "constrained by practices of the past".

"Prices go up and yet Malaysian wages don't. So these are all issues the government has to settle," he said.

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written by mypanida, March 24, 2008 15:23:12

Yor are right, Shahrir...

you are employed by a company called JOKER ENTERPRISE.

zzzz

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written by HARIMAU BIN ABDULLAH, March 24, 2008 15:32:36

1. Abolish the car AP
2. Allow direct import by any individual
3. Stop paying middle-man (Ali Baba)

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written by Bigjoe99, March 24, 2008 15:36:11

Yes Price Control is stupid but a maverick is wrong messenger to convince the people to accept it. Badawi should have gotten Mat Taib to do it. It shows he is not serious about removing it.

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written by Naha, March 24, 2008 15:37:03

So YB Shahrir, what are you going to do about it? The rakyat is watching.

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written by cheekhiaw, March 24, 2008 15:40:46

JOKERS PARADE

Price control may be a joke but the underlying cause of the need to control prices is the irresponsible expansion of money supply by jokers in the government that debase the country's currency.

Over expansion of money is one of the quickest way to steal from the common folks to give to the big businesses and big asset owners.

A joker from a group of currency debasing jokers joking about price control should perhaps also joke about his fellow jokers.

xxx

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written by Hakim Abdullah, March 24, 2008 15:48:51

The greatest joke of all.....dollah and menantu sdn bhd

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written by omarkhayyam, March 24, 2008 15:50:08

when the head is a joke i can't imagine the butts to be called what, wei after 50 donkey years and one hard whack on the head "baru terbangun kah"

and basically the last joker who ran this ministry is gonna make more jokes in the new new ministry laaa .... now we have to stand on the global platform and be laughed at ..... thank you BN

cheers

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written by clangan, March 24, 2008 16:10:49

Dear Sharir,
I read your plans and your wise due diligent studies, you are one of the rare UMNO man, I am impress to say the least. Siang-siang you should be given this task. I have been following you since your back bencher days, not bad for an UMNO guy, how I wish you are beside Saudara Anwar Abraham, Lim kit Siang and Tok Guru, you will do so much more good. Here are my pointers;
1.) Daily necessity i.e rice, salt, flour, cooking oil, etc, these are not an issue for a rich country like Malaysia to subsidise and benefit the poor rakyat. We produce most of this products, if not import them from China, India and Thailand, they are not expensive anyway. Cooking oil, we have more than enough, we are the 2nd largest palm oil producer in the world.
2.)As for oil prices, again I don't see a big issue, since Petronas registered over RM70b in profit last year, take up 50% of the profit before tax to subsidised the rakyat, then we could pay less than RM1 per litter of processed petrol. The subsidised now only amounts to RM10b, a small amount considering the amount of crude Petronas dig out from the rakyat's land. Remember, anything below 6 feet belongs to the country and the country belongs to Malaysian, not Petronasian or UMNO-nians! What you take from the people, give back to the people. To UMNO members "Ask not what the country can do for you, ask what you can do for the country"; John F Kennedy.

If the big problem about our resources being smuggle out of the country, then, it is high time Encik Shahrir go pay a good visit to those very, very corrupted "close one eye" custom officers. My friend told me once, he knows someone who makes millions a year just by smuggling Kodak film to Thailand through Padang Besar(Thailand has a weird high tax on this products), he tells me he is given salute by the custom officers at the borders because he pays their wages! Salary from the govt is just allowance saja! He is the King of Borders, don't play-play!

Here is the quote from saudara Anwar Ibrahim at his speech recently; Harga minyak tak payah di naik melambung tinggi, kita adalah negara pengeluar minyak, tak usah dibanding dengan negara jiran yang terpaksa bayar harga tinggi minyak kerana mereka bukan negara pengeluar minyak, kalau kita banding dengan negara pengeluar minyak seperti, Brunei, Arab Saudi, UAE, malu si Pak lah tu! Seperti durian, beli sebiji durian di London harga lebih dari RM100 sekilo kerana ia bukan negara pengeluar durian, kalau beli di Malaysia, murah la, ini matematik ringkas.
I agree with Anwar. When he was the finance minister for 6 years, our process oil price did not even increase 1 sen!
So, Encik Shahrir, food for thought??

Hang Tu Lan, descendant of Hang Tuah

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written by Democrats, March 24, 2008 16:27:05

Sharir is the best politician in UMNO. He's the only KATAK MP the BR should have.....but then again, SHARIR's principle would be too strong to let him think of such a thing.

On price issue, I only worry the BN is putting Sharir there to kill his political popularity among all walks of rakyat. The ministry is doomed to failure with the anticipated rise in petrol soon where a domino effect will take place across the board, all poor Sharir will be taken to task and blame d for it.

What he says is true. As to how remains the question. Maybe the scrapping of NEP where government expenditure is inflated could provide some savings to cushion the inflation rate somewhere. And sharir should really look into the basket where they calculate the CPI. It's nonsense to say inflation is at 2%. My wallet tends to disagree.

I hope he can have some measure of success. He's a good man. a true politician.

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written by Sharma, March 24, 2008 16:42:11

"Prices go up and yet Malaysian wages don't. So these are all issues the government has to deal with."

YB....a labour point of view.. if one cant really control the price of essential goods than empower the consumer to be able to have representation to increase wages.
Singapore had a national wage council to determine the minimum wage increase for is citizens and the trade unions take up from
there if they are organised.
You can say that the workers who were deprived of real trade union representation at least had their government to take care of them to ensure a fair living wage.
Here the labour laws is like shakles around the workers and is as good as having them being thrown to the dogs......without a chance of them being able to form unions and get representations they are as good as morden day underpaid slaves.
You have hit the nail on its head.Now is YB's chance to empower the consumer through their Unions.
Please take note that during Mahathir's reign of power the look east policy was promoted and in house Unions were encouraged designed to weaken the workers resolve.
Now you have the oppurtunity to tackle this issue by making it possible for workers to be able and encouraged to have trade unions to protect their interest.
For your info only 10% of formal labour is organised.
Please link up with your cabinet colleague DR Subramaniam to see whether his department had contributed to the dissatisfaction of workers being unable to fend for themselves against the ever raising cost of living.He should immediately bring about ammendments to the employment act to reflect todays needs for the 90% of unorganised workers including the plantatios workers
The private sector will never follow the govt's practice in granting COLA and pay a decent living wage.We must have strong and responsible trade unions and Govt must be in the forefront in granting workers rights and legislating better legislation in keeping with the times.
Most labour laws ammendments have been to take away rights and effectiveness of trade unions.Toady we still have UNION bursters to perputate exploition of workers.

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written by budakindia, March 24, 2008 18:03:50

May be we should be laughing at these jokes and the superchief clown aka the one who wear diapers aka the one who is fighting with the Agong aka Abdullah Hj. Ahmad Badawi! Laugh at him everytime he made public appearance! Jeer and make fun of him, his son-in-law, family along wth his cabinet! If you want to use eggs, pies and whatever you find hilarious please do so at his thick skinned face! smilies/cheesy.gif

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written by bn haramjadah, March 24, 2008 18:07:14

The problem is not in price control, the problem is in leakeges, lets assume a water pipe, which is being drilled into and fitted with illegal taps, by the time the water reaches the desired and actual users they get but just a trickle, the illegal taps have drained away all the water for free, this analogy applies to Malaysia and in reality the people doing the illegal tapping are actually the people from UMNO, THEY LEACH OFF THE WATER, IN the form of corruption and inflated pricing, middle men, APs for rice, parts, raw materials,
allocatons meant for agriculture are spent on mercedes and Bungaalows.
Come on lah sharir don't say you don't know, you were a member of PAC, WHAT HAPPENED WITH ECM LIBRA, you are in the know, of the rampant corruption in the filth filled party of yours, you may show the public a clean face but people in the know would say other wise, ALL THAT mr clean act is to get back into the good books of the leadership after doing penance for years,You too have a lot of skeletons in your closet, don't you, kita orang lama, orang baru you boleh tipu, not the old timers, YOU CAN CON SOME OF THE PEOPLE SOME OF THE TIME BUT NOT ALL THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME smilies/angry.gif

what subsidy you talk kok about take away the nep from umno than the country will immediatly feel the difference a**h8le,
AND to those who think this guy is MR.goody 2 shoes go check up his past beucoup
skeletons

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written by Raymond, March 24, 2008 18:25:20

You fat predesessor was never on the job.. let's face it.. year in the position, yet there were no specific new strategies or development to address trade, price and business issues. She got so RICH and lazy that she totally fogot that she was put there to work. Good that the fat bitch has been fired.

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written by Democrats, March 24, 2008 18:41:44

Haramjadah,

Don't be too harsh to Mr Sharir,....he never said he was clean, its the general publics opinion. Or would you prefer KJ as the Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affair? Or Mat Taib or Nazri? I am thankful its him rather than another other BN goons there.

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written by mountainking, March 24, 2008 19:02:42

i know ppl would not agree with my statement. fuel subsidy is a recipe for destruction. yes, even though we are net oil exporter, should not we use this profit to build the nation instead of subsidising fuel?

i understand, ppl on the street now having difficulty to pay for fuel, but have we thought of that this problem arise not because of the fuel subsidy that forced the business mechanism to not function properly?

to put it simply, fuel subsidy will greatly benefit those who are driving Merz and not those who are driving small cars. if we can float the fuel, we will implement min wage (to be adjusted according to inflation) and overall income will increase. that's why korean will always have 3 times of our salary. but our directors in malaysia are earning much much much more than korean directors. that shows that the ppl are suffering with fuel subsidy and not otherwise.

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written by Kal El, March 24, 2008 20:31:10

yadda yadda yadda...
u guys r looking too high on this Shahrir ****er.
have u guys forgotten when he was the PAC chairman,what happened to ECM Libra scandal?
Nothing came up right?
HE IS JUST ANOTHER AAB LAP DOG THAT WILL DO ANYTHING TO SATISFY AAB & TO SPITE TDM.
HAVE U GUYS FORGOTTEN?
THAT IS Y HE IS NOW THE MINISTER (AFTER HAVING BEING SUCH A GOOD LAP DOG LIKE MIKE TYSON BUTA HURUF BASTARD).

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written by Kal El, March 24, 2008 20:34:48

SHAHRIR, TO ME U R JUST ANOTHER JOKER LIKE AAB SIL SDN BHD.
SILA BERAMBUS DARI SITU SEKARANG JUGA.
BILA WPI DIKANGKANGKAN KE SINGAPURA, WHAT HAPPENED TO SHAHRIR?
HE DIDNT MAKE ANY NOISE AT ALL...
NO BALLS AR?
HE IS NO DIFFERENT THAT M2M...
ATLEAST M2M CAN SAY HE DIDNT UNDERSTOOD ENGLISH..WHAT SAY U SHAHRIR?

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written by stillnotproud2bmsian, March 24, 2008 21:00:46

"Prices go up and yet Malaysian wages don't. So these are all issues the government has to settle," he (Shahrir Abdul Samad) said. Well Mr. Shahrir, obviously you HAVEN'T SETTLED THAT!!! Why do the people pay u guys? I u r smart enough u'd know d answer... to THINK!!! Instead u are even lazy to do so and then u rob us and put the blame on others... BR rock on!!! smilies/wink.gif

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written by myke, March 24, 2008 22:35:23

JOKER GOVERNMENT WITH JOKER POLICIES...hahahahaha....

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written by artchan, March 24, 2008 23:48:22

sharir would have done well to reject AAB..maybe he misses the glamour. Otherwise how can a right thinking person work for a half past 6 PM

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written by Kal El, March 25, 2008 00:10:20

written by myke, March 24, 2008 | 22:35:23

JOKER GOVERNMENT WITH JOKER POLICIES...hahahahaha....
------------------------------------------------------------
U know what?
U r absolutely right..PLUS another JOKER as a MINISTER for this portfolio.
This Shahrir barua just gila glamour lah.
Cannot tahan watching from the sidelines other minister pillaging the land for their pockets.
This barua also wants to join them.
BARUA SHAHRIR SAMAD! smilies/grin.gif

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written by Daryl, March 25, 2008 00:13:44

Shahrir Abdul Samad you must be a joker when you call "RAKYAT" a joke when you laugh at the rising price. Tell me why the Malaysian RM is becoming stronger and yet the cost is higher. Are you telling me you guys have a stronger RM but yet have less buying power?

As a politician you are a joker just like all BN politicians. Everything to you is a joke as long as you can make money. This matter is not a JOKE to middle class or the poor people but to you off course is a joke because RM$10 K probably is a small summ... BLOOD SUCKER...

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written by Kal El, March 25, 2008 00:29:46

a maverick in the United Malays National Organisation which leads the coalition -- was installed as domestic trade and consumer affairs minister last week.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
U R CALLING THIS BARUA A 'MAVERICK'?
U MUST BE KIDDING MAN!
HE IS JUST ANOTHER ANJING BARUA FROM UMNO WITH NO PRINCIPLES.
LET ME RECAP AGAIN...ECM LIBRA...WPI (WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SO-CALLED MALAY RIGHTS INSIDE THE WPI?)& OTHER STUFFS...
KIDDING ME AR? THIS AFP TRASH IS WRITING CRAP!
SHAHRIR..PTUI!
THATS MY VIEW OF AN ANJING BARUA LIKE U & M2M!

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written by freedom to speak, March 25, 2008 01:09:04

Shahrir
Shut-up and do the job first.
In a few days you decide the price control/subsidy is a joke.
You are the joke! Where was your mouth all these years in parliament.
The least you could do was to give us a plan/strategy but we knew you cannot do it in just a few days.
Why open your mouth now?
(just managed to stop kissing somebody's ass is it? or is it because the big asses are not that big anymore, only now you remembered you have balls!)

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written by songkram, March 25, 2008 02:42:49

buaya BN
Price control & subsudy? every year BN will show rakyat on tv slicing cake ceremony in the form of Malaysia.Big Malaysia divided into:
1B: Big one for AAB,Najibmongol ,mca,mic...... smilies/cool.gif

2: BN show us how much they luv & respect for this country by slicing ur national
flag smilies/angry.gif

betul betul biadap.

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written by BennyG, March 25, 2008 06:40:57

I'm been waiting to see who will inform the Rakyat that petrol prices have to go up and all the necessary essentials must also go up.

Finally, a JOKER is sent to be the sacrificial lamb.

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written by grant, March 25, 2008 09:39:47

just to share... got not much comments... shahrir samad is the father to some celeb, vj.... named cheryl samad (Ok?. she is 1 beautiful chick also la).... they are a smart lot... but shahrir, beware... working too smart and too hard in UMNO and getting too much into the limelight will just kill u off without u knowing why... And I know u know... u better have a contingency plan in u have in any thots or plot to bring down the current govt (from inside)

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written by bill, March 25, 2008 10:07:08

Yes Minister. Get the Government to abolish the AP system for import of cars , steel products like seamless pipes,plates & rolled section and much more.Also review the issuing of licenses for businesses which is creating monopolistic and cartel like companies.Why must the import of rice controlled by BERNAS? The AP system and the control of licenses only benefits a small group of people at the expense of the rakyat. It is also killing the SMI companies.

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written by alan cheong, March 25, 2008 11:00:11

leave us see you put your money where your mouth is ... or it'll be OUR boot in your rear.

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