KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman today ripped into former ambassador Datuk Dennis Ignatius for the latter’s take on Malaysia’s fiscal management and the state of the economy.
Anifah, in a statement, said Ignatius’ remarks, which came courtesy of a blog post titled “GE14: Last Chance for Change”, was full of “wild but unsubstantiated accusations, based on anger but devoid of facts, opinions masquerading as facts.”
Anifah took apart Ignatius’ claim that the government had been “extraordinarily incompetent and reckless fiscally, forcing our nation into levels of debt that were unheard of before”, responding that Malaysia’s fiscal deficit has in fact been reduced by more than half from 6.7 percent in 2009 to 3 percent in 2017.
He also quoted Ignatius’ remarks on “...while Kuala Lumpur has more millionaires than Abu Dhabi, 90 percent of rural, mostly Malay households, have zero savings.”
The minister said this isn’t surprising, as the Malaysian economy is doing extraordinarily well, and Malaysia’s population is 31 million compared to the UAE’s 1.4 million (of the total population of 9.2 million, 7.8 million are foreigners).
“As for the 90 percent figure, this hardly makes sense. Any worker in Malaysia would have at least either an EPF account or a pension. Furthermore, the government is also trying to improve financial education,” said Anifah.
Anifah also questioned where Ignatius claim that “the majority of young workers cannot earn enough to live decently”, and asked Ignatius where he derived this information from.
“I wonder where he received this information. I also question his use of terms such as “majority” and “live decently”. We all recognise that unless one is blessed with wealthy parents, all young workers face challenging situations, but for many young Malaysians, our quiet heroes, they continue with the business of life, improving themselves and our country.
“I could go on, but in all honesty, I have a job to do. Spending too much time on blogs such as these distracts the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from its important job of defending the nation’s interest. Were I to spend too much time on it, I would not do justice to the very many hardworking, creative and patriotic people at Wisma Putra whom I have known and cherished in all the years I have had the honour to serve as “FM” – Foreign Minister,” said Anifah.
Anifah also told Ignatius that his unwarranted criticism of the government is not well-received by those in Wisma Putra.
“Let me tell you Dato’ Dennis – your untoward criticisms of the government, your constant griping and whining of the good old days (viewed through rose-tinted glasses), are not at all well received by officers at Wisma Putra. They are proud of Wisma Putra’s achievements, as I am of all of them.
“They are proud of the investments flowing into the country, which are due to high level visits, especially the Prime Minister’s. I want to point out that between 2011 and 2017, RM1.8 trillion worth of investments were recorded, surpassing the initial National Transformation Programme (NTP) Roadmap’s target of RM1.4 trillion.
“They are proud that under Malaysia’s chairmanship, the ASEAN Community was established in 2015 and that ASEAN continues to play a pivotal role in the region despite very many strategic challenges.
“They are proud that, unlike the past, Malaysia’s relations with our neighbours and the major powers are an at all time high, enabling us to derive economic benefits and to play a more active and constructive role in strategic affairs.
“They are proud that despite having already served as non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, Malaysia garnered 187 out of 194 votes in the elections in 2014, guaranteeing our membership in 2015 – 2016. This is proof and validation of the high esteem that the entire international community holds for our country,” he said.
He said that while Ignatius tries to present his arguments as a call to idealism, it is in fact nothing more than a call to naiveté.
“On Tun Dr Mahathir’s U-turns, he argues that there “is every indication that he will honour his commitment to ‘reformasi’; it is his last hurrah and he wants to get it right”. This is incredible in its naiveté and shallowness.
“There is nothing to show that this is the case; Tun Dr Mahathir only wants to give the indication that the wrongs of the past were not his doings – he was merely following advice. He has given no indication that he would change. Is this the attitude of a reformed man, committed to “reformasi”?
“Dato’ Dennis also argues that “in any case, Anwar, Mat Sabu and Lim Kit Siang will be there to ensure that no one hijacks the reform agenda”. All this means is that were the opposition to win, all their time and energies will be dedicated to check one another, guaranteeing instability and chaos for five years. This would certainly happen, since there is nothing in Tun Dr Mahathir’s career to suggest that when in power, he will do anything except what he wants,” he said.
Anifah pulled no punches in saying that had Ignatius still been in service and this analysis was included in his political report, that report would be “thrown immediately into the garbage can; his judgement, credibility and objectivity would also be questioned.”
“I agree with Dato’ Dennis on one thing though – the opposition faces an uphill task. But it is due to their own incompetence in managing the states under their control, the shambles and chaos in the opposition coalition, as well as the Rakyat’s support for the government, knowing full well the government’s competence, good international standing and commitment to improving the welfare of all Malaysians, including naysayers and prophets of doom such as Dato’ Dennis Ignatius,” said Anifah.