Suggestions for the new cabinet

 

Here are jus some suggestions for the new cabinet. Please come back to the same link as I will add more suggestions here for the convenience of people who want to cherry pick ideas:

1. Appointment of new cabinet. Anwar has an easy job in appointing a smaller cabinet. Make sure that the key leaders in coalition parties given the first choice, based on their number of candidates. Anwar should make sure that the coalition party leaders cannot demand for ministries that they have opportunities for major corruption again. Give the Ministry of Finance, for example, to only people with a high level of integrity.
   
   With half the salary, Anwar can get more altruistic people to serve in his cabinet. Of course, these ministers need to be able to survive and live comfortably, but their altruism will drive them to great heights. Go for the bonus scheme. If they do a great job, reward them accordingly to compensate their hard work and their willingness to take on the job at half the salary. After all, who will work without a salary? Even a soldier does not serve his country without a pay no matter how patriotic they may be. Do not muzzle the ox that threshes the floor.
    
   
   
   
2. Call on all the MPs to work on building the economy of their own constituencies. MPs are voted in by the people for the people. If they want to do a TP swing, please put them on cold storage. Get them to work on the local economy such as promoting local tourism and job creation.
   
   State assemblyman for Sekinchan, Ng Sueu Lim, for example, has exemplified what I call a local statesman. When we drove into Sekinchan, the first thing I saw was a poster of him welcoming people to Sekinchan. Before this, I hardly heard about Sekinchan. Once assigned the task, MPs can mobilise their people to come out with ideas similar to the Japanese QC circles. 
   
   One suggestion I gave to Rina Harun when she was the cabinet minister back during PH time was to encourage single mothers to organise buffet dinner once a month in their kampung. Folks from the cities love authentic kampung cuisines. I still remember the rendang from a kampung in Sungai Buloh or Kundang, and this was what inspired the idea. This idea never took off due to lack of enthusiasm on the ground. Create business opportunities for these single mothers and encourage more interaction between rural and urban folks.
   
   MRT stations are overbuilt in sizes. Time to create spaces for single mothers to set up their booths there for a small token sum. Encourage people to spend their day touring smaller towns using MRT to access these places. The Transport Ministry can look at giving temporary licenses to retirees to provide their last mile services because after reaching a station, I always have the problem of getting to my next destination. 
   
   
3. Call on all industry players to form their own task force and think tanks. National bodies are already sounding out what they want Anwar to do. He will die standing if everyone expects him to deliver.
   
   Instead, make use of these national bodies to help the cabinet to bring Malaysia to the next level. Ask them to work on their own targets and give grants according to their performance.
   
   Already they have their think tanks, task force, committees and what have you. After all, these are the stakeholders and experts in their own industries.
   
   It is only that, after coming out with their proposals, their proposals are cannibalised by others and often they do not see light at the end of the tunnel. Some grants can be given to these industry players but most importantly, they just need the endorsement and government approvals expedited. 
   
   
4. Promote Malaysia as the regional hub for education and tourism. Both Ministry of Education and Ministry of Tourism and Culture should work together to promote Malaysia. Some 20 years ago, I came out with a proposal which was enthusiastically agreed upon by Sheikh Kadir (then Minister of Tourism). He immediately asked his Director-General, Abdullah Junid to call me on Sunday evening. I met up with Abdullah Junid on Monday. 
   
   Ministry of Tourism will support, but the lead must come from Ministry of Education. Then education minister, Musa hardly even showed interest. His staff was supposed to call for a meeting, which NEVER happened. When Ong Tee Keat became deputy minister, I also gave him a copy of my proposal after a meeting with other senior people from the education industry. I never heard from him again. 
   
   Ministry of Education should get the support of Ministry of Tourism, which was already into its mega fam. Facon and Star Education fairs should be organised alongside with Jom Big Sales to attract parents and students from the region. 
   
   Get Bernama to be involved in promoting Malaysia. Their news pick up rate will increase if they have news on education, tourism and investment opportunities. 
   
   
5. What to do with 1.8 million public servants? If you do not want to sack some of the bad hats, or underperforming staff, you will still have to account for the salaries paid to them? 
   
   Why not create opportunities for them to opt out of the public service especially if they are already close to their retirement? Allow them to fill up the vacancies that are there in their industries where half of their salaries can be taken care of by the private sector. This will allow them to transition into post-retirement employment where they will eventually get to enjoy both their EPF and pensions. 
   
   Only make sure that they cannot be allowed to seek government approvals through their internal contacts. I don't have the mechanism for this, but if approvals are given within a short time frame, who would bother to pay a bribe? After all, which businessman would like to incur higher cost of operating a business? Stern warning must be given for anyone who is caught bribing (both givers and receivers), but reward those public servants who do a great job. 

Some of these public servants are very useful to form task force, jointly paid by the industry players to help them promote Malaysia as an investment hub. The industry can also reward them based on their ability to connect with the international community. 

6. Ministry of Education. 

(a) heavy school bags. Implement and provide textbooks in PDF format. Students can have the    option of carrying their notebooks to school or their textbooks to school. Provide grants for PIBGs to share the cost of purchasing projectors for the school classrooms so that teachers can  project the class textbook on the screen. Encourage sharing of resources e.g. Powerpoints developed by teachers from other schools. Why re-invent the wheel? 

(b) Implement Workbooks online so that children in urban schools can at least help save paper,  and become more savvy. 

(c) Throw out subjects that are not compatible with the curriculum. For example, civics and  moral can be replaced with public speaking and debates. Get the students to do research on how to create a civic conscious society and select the good ones to give speeches once a week during  the assembly. Make use of the Speakers' Corner. ENCOURAGE, rather than assign them, to use the Speakers' Corner.

(d) Provide more training for your school teachers to improve their teaching skills. Engage good trainers. Use Zoom lah. That's cheaper and cost saving. Why spend millions when we can use Webinar to provide such training. Get school teachers who have great ideas to also share their idea as part of the programme. Reward all the good teachers with promotion. Teachers are underpaid lah.... That's why not many people want to be teachers although they are good at teaching. I happen to be one. I am happy to give a lecture occasionally (provided must pay me lah) on marketing, media, writing (author of some 16 books now), CSR, events, Chemistry laboratory research work, blah blah blah. 

(e)  Get major corporations to sponsor school facilities which allow them also to have their advertisements. I can bet with you that institutions of higher learning will want an hallway of their career guidance posters in all major schools. Please lah be a bit more creative, and tap on the vast budgets that are out there. So long as they are helping to achieve our objectives of building our young people, give them access to advertise and pay for it. This is their direct form of marketing their education programmes lah. When I was senior marketing manager, I had quite a huge budget to spend but we would evaluate based on the returns on investment.  

7. Public Transport. I wrote a research paper years ago to try to improve our public transport system. At the place of work, I started taking KTM Komuter to work every day after I managed to convince the bosses to start a shuttle service. I shared this idea to CEOs of a few institutions of higher learning. Thankfully, Monash and Sunway had started their last mile shuttle service. AND, when I had to travel to Institut Kanser Negara EVERY DAY for almost 1 1/2months, there was also a shuttle service available. So, I became a beneficiary indirectly. 

In Singapore, the government gave opportunities to retirees to set up ice cream corners. Here in Malaysia, where retirees are able to still drive and become part time drivers, they would make great 'last mile' shuttle services for both the local tourism industry as well as public transport system. I would love to take the latest KTM train to Penang, but how do I get to the hotel in Penang? I cannot afford Grab everywhere, since train tickets for four already costing so much. Can these retirees be licensed to provide shuttle services on a regular basis the tourism routes? 

Bring back the mini buses but make them more regulated. Let these mini buses operate within the city to provide the last mile solution to people who love to use the LRT or KTM. Please lah, IMPROVE KTM Komuter, and you will see people using it again.  My family and I left our car in the carpark and took the MRT to Lot Ten where we had our nasi lemak which was just a stone's throw away. 

We love that experience! 

Local MPs should get their teams to promote such tourism ideas to revive the economy through their constituency websites. 

8. Zero Corruption. Cannot achieve one lah.... Of course, no one is saying we can have Zero Corruption, but this is a corporate slogan that follows the idea of Zero Complaints. 

Companies that believe in zero corruption should be given the priority in terms of approvals. Make this known to all that anyone caught in giving or receiving bribes will face the consequences.

9. Connect People from East and West Malaysia, Rural and Urban. Have Zoom sessions for people to meet each other online. You don't need a Minister of Unity to do this lah. What did the previous Minister of Unity under PH or previous regime do? Instead, a department or agency promoting the camaraderie of fellow Malaysians would be good enough. 

10. Deployment of soldiers/ police in providing greater security to Malaysians. This may sound crazy (time to think out of the box) but having police personnel or even soldiers deployed in housing estates, banks and shopping malls replacing foreign security guards may help to:

(a) reduce the need to hire foreign guards;

(b) reduce the country's burden; 

(c) providing better security since police and soldiers are better trained for the job;

(d) having them strategically placed to respond to a burglary; 

(e) better salary package for our police and soldiers when they are remunerated through a public-private partnership. 

My cousin, who has since retired from Singapore Police force told me one reason why Singapore is able to reduce its crime rates is because their men are all over the places. These men can rush to the crime scene in no time.  

When I suggest this, of course, a number of concerns need to be ironed out. For example, tourists do not want to travel to a country like Sri Lanka where soldiers are placed all over the places. Although they feel secure walking around, the uniforms of these 'guards' should be different, but they carry the full authority as security personnel to respond to a crime scene.

These soldiers also must be on rotation as they will need to go through their regular drills even in times of peace. Since many of our soldiers and policemen feel that their salaries are low, this may provide a good opportunity for them to enjoy a higher take home pay. 

Taking the scenario of a bank, instead of the regular one security guards, more police personnel can be deployed through a formula for remuneration between the public-private partnership. In the event there is a need to respond to a crime scene, one officer remains in the bank. The others can respond to the stress call. In one street, there are at least two to three banks. 

What about security companies? Will they be out of jobs? No, these companies are only playing a different role. 

Although this may initially sound impractical, if there is a will, there is a way. It's a matter of people putting their heads together before a breakthrough solution can be found through brainstorming sessions. 

(11) Help the B40 and disabled community. Members of parliament and State assemblymen should get their supporters to create job opportunities for the disabled people and B40 community. 

For example, instead of allowing them to set up car wash and creating a nuisance and eyesore, get them organised into smaller teams to do car wash in homes. They are providing a service and they need to survive, but having them set up car wash like this (Zone 23, MPS) is simply obnoxious. 

Under-utilised carparks in community halls can also be used for carwash, provided that the facilities there are able to properly dispose the water and car wash detergent produced. For that consult environmental NGOs.

  

This is a failure of Selayang Municipal Council (MPS) to provide a suitable place for the carwash activities. And why can't these car wash operators be more innovative? 

If they are properly trained to change engine oil, that can also be an extra income. For that, get the suppliers of engine oil and filters to train them.

Although Grab and other delivery companies have ventured into delivery of food, disabled people with wheelchair motorbikes to provide the services. This will provide them with some good income. 

This may sound crazy, but some of their wheelchair motocycles can be modified to provide them additional income by being  the last mile Tuk-tuk ala Malaysian style. Of course, passengers safety must be considered. Proper training should be given to these disabled people. 

Some 15 years ago, I `arm-twisted' some institutions of higher learning to provide free scholarships to disabled people. Some of them were taught graphic design, and they could do a good job. With the support of the Department of Occupational Safety and Health, a design competition was organised for them to submit their posters on occupational safety and health. One of them won the top prize. Her poster was used by DOSH. These days, it is possible for the disabled people to provide their services to small businesses who need design work. Communication can be done via Zoom. 

With Zoom, I encouraged a blind graduate in Mass Communications from Monash University Malaysia to offer English tuition to students. It is time for some of the disabled people to be provided sufficient training to enable them to provide such services via Zoom. 

(12) Underutilised overbuilt MRT stations?  It can be turned into a blessing although at the moment, we are all complaining that these MRT stations are overbuilt. It takes longer to walk from the carpark to just catch a train. That's why many of us prefer not to take the MRT. Instead of drive.

Well, since these stations are already built, my suggestion is: Rent out the space to national bodies to attract vendors, and turn the MRT stations into hubs for certain businesses. For example, PIKOM or an entrepreneur can use the spaces for exhibitions and other events, or turn them into specialised IT hubs. Maybe one can be designated for people who want to look for mobile phones.  

Instead of putting wall partitions, cordon a certain area with security gates to close the area after closing hours. The vendors should only be allowed to place their racks. Customers will find it useful to travel on MRT to these places to purchase a handphone than to look for a carpark. 

Some of these MRT stations can also be turned into exhibition venues. Or special flea markets on weekends? One or two MRT stations can also be converted into a Hub for Best Malaysian Cuisines to attract tourists to use the MRT lines.

What about venue for special concerts? Let the concert organisers promote the use of MRT to these stations.  

(13) Anwar (or even the Sultans) can make special appearances in Cultural performances for tourists.  I remember my wife and I were in Swaziland for a friend's wedding. My wife was working with a telco in Mozambique back then.

We came to know that the King of Swaziland was going to make a special appearance for tourists. Tourists love such opportunities to take photographs with the king of Swaziland.

Unfortunately, our plan did not allow us to stay on as my wife had to be back to office. Anwar has the international clout to become the wow factor for tourism in Malaysia. If Bernama carries the story of him interacting freely with the tourists, it will be picked up by the international media. But when I suggest this, of course, the security has to be reasonably tight. (Sorry guys, you have a big task to protect the PM).

This idea came about after I watched again a video clip of a fundraising event organised by Nurul Izzah, where I emailed Anwar to ask if he would like to have HT Long, our Elvis Presley of Malaysia to perform a song or two.

Anwar can also make special appearances from time to time to places of worship to be close with the people. Look at this video and you will see why people bond with him. 

 

(14) Fruits Tourism. Fruit Seasons, especially the durian season, can be a great attraction for tourists from Singapore and Sumatra, if it can be coupled with Shopping Spree in major cities.

(15) Medical tourism should also be revived again. Years ago, this was something that was promoted heavily. A good friend of mine used to work with a company which attracted clients from Australia who want cosmetic surgery in Malaysia. Unfortunately, the boss decided to move the business to Bali and for a few years, she had to relocate to Bali. 

Generally, it was still cheaper to do cosmetic surgery in Malaysia compared to Australia. For the amount that the client has to pay in Australia, they can use the money to enjoy the recuperation period at a luxurious hotel in Malaysia. There are also many eco-tourist resorts in the country that can participate in the medical tourism industry.

(16) Eco-tourism: If promoted well, eco-tourism can be a growth sector as well especially for tourists coming from the Middle East, the West and neighbouring countries such as Singapore. On its own, it will not be an attraction but if it is packaged together with other activities, such as fruits carnival (e.g. Musang King) or Jom Shopping, people will make the trip.

We have one of the OLDEST tropical rainforests in the world which dates back to the dinosaur age, and ours is considered even older than the Amazon rainforest. 

(17) Promote local talents to show case to the tourists from around the world. Malaysia has many talented people who are unfortunately hardly showcased either by the government or the corporate world. I have known Colin Ng since he was about 10 years old. He is born with multiple disabilities.

When he was much younger, I used to create a lot of publicity for him, especially when Colin was pursuing his Bachelor of Music at the private university where I was working as Director of Corporate Communications. However, when the mother-and-son moved to Puchong, we hardly have the opportunity to meet.

I used to call him Stevie Wonder of Malaysia. He may be blind, but he is able to detect the sound of a photocopying machine and tell you what brand it is. Azwan Ali (formerly with TV3) tested him by asking him to tell the model of car passing by. He was spot on, with the year and model of the car!

In fact, that was how I was first introduced to Colin Ng, when we first met at a friend's Chinese New Year event.  He was only 10, and after you play him a song, he could immediately play it on the piano for you.

Ever wonder why our Stevie Wonder is not even known to many of you? Why not showcase him and many other local talents on a regular basis at Istana Budaya where tourists can flock for different events. Have their publicity posters all over the places at the arrival points. 

 

I have a picture of him performing during his graduations. While taking the photographs, suddenly the lights were turned off yet (due to power trip) but the music went on. Isn't this a great idea for corporate annual dinner? The young man will mesmerise your audience for the whole night. Colin's mother, Janet can be contacted at +60 19-327 4095. Read this article.

(18) Edu-tourism. Summer holiday in Malaysia for international students.

Some 20 years ago, I developed the concept of Summer Vacation for international students from the six campuses of Monash in Australia. They pay the local Malaysian fees and they get to spend their summer vacation living and touring Malaysia, while pursuing their summer courses made available at the campus in Bandar Sunway. 

This idea took on in other forms at other private universities such as Sunway University after I left Monash. It's a good idea to revive this edu-tourism industry once again.

(19) Institutional Reform & Local Government. Use a monitoring system to keep local councils on their toes. Back in around 2006-7, I had the idea of putting together a website (or app) which I called Citizen's Eyes. It allows people to take photographs of complaints on the ground upload.

The local council will have to update the actions taken. The council president will be responsible to ensure that all complaints are done satisfactorily.

If complainants are unhappy, they can continue to update with more pictures. This should be viewed by the local councillors, state assemblymen, Member of Parliament and even the Prime Minister at the click of a button.

At the same time, Residents' Associations should be encouraged to carry out periodic audits of their housing estates to ensure that the public amenities are in tip top condition, and update everything in the system. This will allow everyone to monitor the performance of the local councils.

(20) Targeted subsidies / incentives can be given to industries based on their productivity and performance. If they are able to achieve a certain target set by the government e.g. in terms of exports or productivity, they get better incentives.

(21) Set up Warehouse Sales for Poultry and Greens under the Ministry of Agriculture in Johor Baru and Miri to boost the sales of agriculture produce targeted at Singaporeans and Bruneians. Due to the higher exchange rates of these countries, Malaysian agricultural produce is a lot cheaper by comparison. This will help to boost local tourism and the local agricultural industry. Include Malaysian Musang King.

(22) Bernama is the National News Agency. It can be roped in to help boost various industries including tourism, investment opportunities, special concerts and international events that can attract foreigners to visit Malaysia again, local talents who should be getting international recognition and invitations to perform overseas, Malaysian innovations that have potential to attract businesses overseas, etc.

Let's be creative. If Bernama does not have enough staff to handle this, e.g. provide beautiful pictures of tourist destinations or produce simple video clips to promote Malaysian tourism, just hold competitions with attractive prizes. There are many photographers and videographers who can do a great job out there. Just make sure that the prizes are attractive.

(23)  It is time to bring back the MINI BUSES to provide last mile service similar to the TRAM SERVICES in Melbourne. You will see a big jump in the number of train passengers.

Use the trains and coaches for longer distance travel from one depot in each satellite town to another depot in the main city. Within the township and the city, have the minibuses crisscrossing, where most of us can easily do a super Mario hop on / hop off, PROVIDED (a) frequency of buses is high, with short waiting time (b) timely (c) cost effective (d) comfortable.

Most people want to use trains to avoid the traffic jams and expensive carparks in the city of Kuala Lumpur, but they have a problem getting to the train station and their targeted destination without the last mile services. Grab and taxi services are too expensive for even the middle class. Their services can be channelled elsewhere  more lucrative, e.g. servicing corporate companies seeking for PROMPT delivery services.

(24) RESIDENT ASSOCIATIONS and even SCHOOLS asking for special grant should show that they have planted fruit trees and vegetables in their parks. 

This is also the time for agriculturalists to use the media to teach people how to plant fruit trees in a creative way that make it a delight in every school field or park. Many are too concerned that fruit trees like rambutan trees also attract all sorts of insects. They need expert advice. Is there a horticulturalist website that allows agriculturalists / horticulturalists to share their ideas? Commercial DIY web design companies such as Wix.com allow bloggers to post their own articles. 

The myth that fruit trees will attract birds is nothing but the figment of one's imagination. I once asked a friend with wide farming experience and he told me that birds only eat the fruits when they are overripe.

If residents or school children are afraid of the birds' pooh, the fruit trees can be planted along the fences.  Birds add to the kids' life at school. And they can have fresh fruits off these trees and the excess can be sent to the orphanages. In fact, there should be at least a papaya or another simple fruit tree in front of every house. Farmers' produce can be channeled down south, where there are better prices.

(25) Promote Solar Energy. Most middle income Malaysians want to harness the solar energy to save costs on their electricity bills. But to dig deep into our pockets for RM10k can be quite a lot. Even to spend RM3-5k for solar heater can be quite  a lot for the average household. When subsidies are now targeted, the Government should make it possible for middle income Malaysians to afford solar panels on their roof tops through instalment payments using a formula based on Average monthly bills BEFORE and AFTER installation of solar panels. That amount to be collected by the Government until the panels are fully paid for. Make sure that the suppliers have a guarantee period of maintenance as people do not want to spend on something that would cost them money to repair when they retire.

Since subsidies have been given to TNB, and they are already making so much money for their investors, it is time for them to fork out some money to install solar panels in schools and social welfare homes.

Encourage factories and MEGA government office buildings to install solar panels at a negotiated price. 

(26) Promote local technologies and talents overseas.  Economy Minister, Rafizi Ramli announced that Malaysia will have more high income products to export to the world instead of just the commodities. 

Malaysian technologies and talents are on par with the rest of the world. However, what these innovators lack is the platform to promote their technologies overseas. For example, our Stevie Wonder of Malaysia (see item 17 above) lack a platform where he can mesmerize the world with  his performance. A client of mine, Zero Corruption company, the Nehemiah Group is now the leader in the retaining wall technology in the country. Another of my client, Cybersecurity company Tecforte has SectorGard which provides sectoral defences against cyberattacks. Another Zero Corruption company, Thumbprints has been printing books for major publishers from around the world, especially with clients in Europe.

The Government should focus on G2G negotiations  to enable these Malaysian companies to make it big worldwide, starting from the ASEAN countries.

(27) Reach out to Malaysians living and working overseas to help promote tourism and Malaysian products overseas, as well as drive quality investments into Malaysia. Never underestimate the network of Malaysians living overseas. Through channels such as Global Bersih network, provided tools are given to them online, they can achieve much. 

(28) Malaysians should use Tourism Malaysia's videos to promote Malaysia as a tourist destination in all their correspondence with people overseas. I will start doing this through my email by signing off, Come and Visit Malaysia. https://youtu.be/HpcFZKOJXMI

Ideas from others:

• Anwar should reduce the number of Deputy Ministers except for some important ministries. After all, we are now on tight budget. Furthermore, those ministers to be appointed must be diligent and hardworking like Yeo Bee Yin who was able to take charge of 3 ministries under her care. A handworking and effective minister doesn't need an assistant minister.  - Steven Seow.

My comment: Not sure if I would agree with this as we cannot expect our ministers to overwork without spending having the time to spend with their families. 

 

FOOTNOTE

         I will add more for you guys. A lot more ideas over the years which I can share here, but give me time lah.... That's how I switched from being a man of the industry (chemical) to a marketing and communications man in the higher education industry. I gave too many ideas to Monash Malaysia bosses.

        I don't get paid to earn a living here. Even if invited to sit in meetings,  please lah... if I keep going for meetings, I won't be able to earn an honest living.

        For me,  time is money and I have my family to take care as well. Some business people can talk big and criticise me for not being altruistic here, but would they be kind to take care of my family's needs first? Even a single Sen some of these businesspeople would not even be willing to fork out to purchase my books. I can write more books if there is a big market for it. I can also create jobs for other writers.

        Anyone who has ideas, please write your comments below, but I will delete any negative comments for now until you prove your worth  by contributing ideas and willing to work on them.

Copyrights. 
Stephen Ng EJ, 2022 

Stephen.Ng.EJ@gmail.com