ADV: The Year 2020 According to PEMANDU
Now, let’s get the obvious out of the day.
This blog entry is sponsored and paid for by PEMANDU, the Performance Management And Delivery Unit, an agency under the Prime Minister’s Department of Malaysia. Although sponsored and tagged with an “ADV”, all opinion expressed in this entry is of my own.
I recognize some people who read this blog may be supportive of the government of the day, and some may support the opposition. Let me just say that this blog entry endorses neither. This entry is simply a collection of thoughts of what Malaysia was like before, what direction our country is moving into and what our country will become in the year 2020.
As citizens of Malaysia, we sometimes can be very critical of our own country. Yes, we love the food, the shopping, the culture and the low costs of living in Malaysia. But the biggest gripe in our country by far, is our low income.
I know this first-hand.
7 years ago, when I moved back from Perth to Kuching, I took a HUGE salary pay cut of up to 70%. In fact, my salary was so low, I was earning salary lower than a bus driver from China working in Singapore.
It didn’t used to be like this before.
Between the 1960s and 80s, Malaysia was a strong developing country on par with countries like Singapore and Japan.
My late father often told me the story of Singapore rise to prominence.
30 years ago, Singapore was just a fishing village no richer than Malaysia. Now, they are leaps and bounds ahead of us in income, to the point that Singapore now has the most number of millionaires per capita and the third richest country in the world.
Meanwhile, an IT Manager in Kuching is earning less than a fresh graduate in Australia.
How did we slip so bad? I think you know, I know.
But is it too late to make amends? Is it too late to become a high-income nation? Is it too late for Malaysia achieve developed country status by year 2020 as Mahathir envisioned?
Well, PEMANDU didn’t seem to think so. Which is why the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) is envisioned.
Yes, we hear about the ETP a lot. But what exactly is ETP?
Simply put, it is a series of projects initiated by PEMANDU that are designed to create jobs, improve quality of life and raise the overall income of Malaysian citizens.
Some projects are well-publicized, and we knew about them already.
The Klang Valley MRT.
The Iskandar Johor region, together with its EduCity, LegoLand and Pinewood Iskandar Studios development.
Building of pedestrian friendly footpaths throughout KL City.
Some other projects, we either don’t know a lot about, or are still work in progress.
Such as…
Improving the regional distribution network for Malaysia’s electronics industry.
Phasing out the incandescent bulbs in place for LED.
The building of a high speed railway linking Penang and KL to Singapore in 90 minutes.
And of course, there are many, many more such projects being carried out right now as part of the ETP.
Like it or not, our lives will be impacted by these projects. The way we live, work and play will all change.
So, what are we gonna be like in Year 2020?
To answer that question, the team behind PEMANDU created an online personality test, so
we can experience for ourselves what things would be like in the future.
For example, if I own a house in the future.
And I fill it up with an air-conditioning, an energy-efficient fridge and a hybrid car.
I would be scoring some good rebates and be exempted from paying import duty on my hybrid car.
Or, if I need to get around KL.
I can save money and avoid the traffic jams by taking the trains.
Even the heavily polluted Klang River will be transformed into a vibrant waterfront.
At the end of the test, I’m told I’m an "Early Burt".
I find this most amusing. Possible career paths: Famous viral video blogger.
Watch out, PSY.
Wanna know your results? Try out for yourselves at www.etp.pemandu.gov.my/citizen2020
wish the economy will be better next year..
Brunei is a ‘rich’ country, but are they considered an economic powerhouse? don’t think so mate…. “I think you know, I know.”
what a bunch of bull you sell out. how much did najib’s cronies pay you for this load of political bs drivel? hope you sleep well at night, now that you’re just like the star
I think Kenny’s being as objective as he can be. He’s not even blowing any trumpet. i don’t understand what you’re so upset about cop out. some ppl just need to grow a brain.
You started off on how Kuching is so poor in pay. The you outline all the Transformation projects. Notice that there are virtually no plans for Sarawak. Now you know.
RM48000 per capita by 2020 is a joke. We can achieve this even without any government lifting a finger.
i have no doubts PEMANDU is working in the right directions with your fellow sarawakian idris jala leading it. however, i am even more certain, the implementations will be rigged with excessive corruption for example the MRT project which you mentioned was awarded to a crony of najib – this company even failed the technical and commercial specifications of the tender! they have no experience in public transport, let alone train projects putting our lives at risk as well as bumping up the cost over 100% what singapore and china paid for similar MRT system per km… we need change!
I think PEMANDU hired Kenny to ‘educate’ us on their efforts/initiatives & show us some of the interactive material available on their site.
I believe that Kenny will not sell his soul… will he?
high income is useless if we do not factor in cost of living.
even if average per capita income is 48k usd, but if we still have to take 30 year home loan, and 9 year car loan, then we are still screwed.
One serious problem that the government never acknowledged is the serious corruption by law makers leaded by the Ministers themselves. If this problem is not tackled, Malaysia will lag behind Vietnam ad probably Myanmar in 2020. Malaysia under the present government is heading where South Africa under President Zuma is heading now. The final destination is another few Zimbabwe.
huhu, all the best Kenny!
Regards,
http://www.lonelyreload.com (A Growing Teenager Diary) ..
kenny you sold your sold to the devil!
Hi Kenny
I used to be a fan of the originality of your blog however lately, it appears that your blog has become a sponsored channel for advertising!!!!
What happened to the good old genuine entries? Not the ones you get paid to promote!!!!
Man, you are such a freaking sell out. Won’t be surprised to see at a SUPP function kneeling in front of pek mo’s crotch.
There’s no need to shoot the messenger.
Obviously we all know that there’s no need for any ETP or 1Malaysia or even Wawasan 2020 marketing plots to do the things those plans promises to do.
It all comes down to good and clean government policies and optimistic and hard working citizens.
The government can start by weeding out the corrupt and parasites inside the government, including high officials and their family members. These are the people that are weighing us all down with their irresponsible greed. Only when we have a truly transparent government, we can start seeing some real growth and restore the confidence of foreign investors. Politicians need to be for the people and need to stand behind the people. They should be the least important in the entire society and needs to be held accountable for their actions if we are to have any hopes of achieving the now increasingly elusive 2020 vision.
It’s utter rubbish when you say “all opinion expressed in this entry is of my own”. We the companies who pay you bloggers to blog about us are given the right to go thorough your post before you publish it. We have the right to demand that you change certain unfavourable sentences or things we don’t like so don’t BS and talk as though this entry is non-partisan. You should have just done your own research instead of being paid to talk about one.
I may not have a brain…but all I have to say is fack you very much.
Dear Kenny,
What is your ad trying to sell? If it’s about our history, you didn’t seem to answer the question of how we got to where we are currently. Why don’t you enlighten your readers on what *you know* because clearly I’m interested.
If it’s about PEMANDU’s efforts to implement the ETP, I think we need something more substantial than just a paid advertisement introducing an “online personality test site”. What are they trying to achieve here? Telling me that I’m “the Perfector”, with a potential to be the “King’s royal architect” among other things seems rather comical. If they’re selling optimism, I’m not buying it.
With the overt emphasis on KL, the site could just as easily be the love child of Tourism Malaysia as opposed to a public engagement campaign by PEMANDU. Public outreach is good but only if it comes with a focussed selling point. In this case, PEMANDU is being an unwarranted big spender with my tax money.
Having said all of the above, my biggest issue is with the myopic nature of ‘Citizen 2020’. When I last checked, Malaysia consists of 13 states and 3 federal territories. What exactly is being done for the rest of us, not living in KL or Klang Valley?
The income-cost of living disparity for most Malaysians, especially those in Sabah and Sarawak, are getting larger by day and this is something PEMANDU has failed to address. The world doesn’t revolve around Peninsular Malaysia and the lack of equal growth opportunity is certainly a cause of frustration for many of us.
I know you’re not at fault for giving PEMANDU a platform to sell their message but I hope you understand that a superficial programme like ‘Citizen 2020’ is bound to irritate people who can see beyond the sugar-coated nonsense. I don’t mind seeing product placement, but this is a rather dodgy item.
Is there anything for Sabah and Sarawak? I lives in kuching and all i wish for by 2020 is a good road (not a highway that cost billions to built but just a good and smooth dual carriage road) linking major cities in Sarawak like kuching to Sibu to Bintulu to Miri. Is this too much to ask for by 2020 or 20202 maybe?
We all agree that there is corruption.
Do not condone it.
There is a secret neighbourhood shopping centre that Kenny shop. Just say we keep it a secret how kennysia does not blog about it and spoil the place.
Shifty one is not ready for opening. The place too dusty.
We all agree that there is corruption.
Do not condone it.
There is a secret neighbourhood shopping centre that Kenny shop. Just say we keep it a secret how kennysia does not blog about it and spoil the place.
Shifty one is not ready for opening. The place too dusty.
Hypocrite! I guess money talks, bullshit walks.
kenny,why not write a post on listen listen listen, when i tok u listen!? 🙂
Kenny wtf man? Have u not been earning enough to be able to CHOOSE what u wanna post on ur blog? How much did PEMANDU paid u to post this entry? I think all of us here would like to know..having followed ur blog for so long..
This will be the last time I ever read Kennysia’s blog.
“Between the 1960s and 80s, Malaysia was a strong developing country on par with countries like Singapore and Japan.”
ERROR.
“30 years ago, Singapore was just a fishing village no richer than Malaysia.”
ERROR.
This is sad.. Goodbye, removing from this blog forever. Its like reading the yellowpages.
Kenny is a businessman…his interest is now aligned with “you know, I know.” Bye-bye.
Well,kenny is smart guys.He is doing what he has to do in order to survive :D.
HOW ABOUT SARAWAK AND SABAH???????
I just opened your blog after almost a year and you did this crap? My god. What happened to you, Kenny? Don’t you want your father to be proud of you?
your once loyal blog reader. piece of bullshit you’re writing here bro. u disgraced yourself. all for money? that’s life to you afterall. lost all my respect which you’ve gained for years.
Sorry, I’m giving up on reading your blog.