Category: Petronas

Daim’s Maiden Budget

Speech by Parliament Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Kota Melaka, Lim Kit Siang in Dewan Rakyat on the 1985 budget on October 24, 1984

I congratulate the new Finance Minister, Daim Zainuddin, for delivering his maiden Budget last Friday – and if I am not mistaken, it was also his maiden speech in Parliament.

Daim Zainuddin’s budget has another distinction in that it provoked a public protest and demonstration in Johore Bahru on Sunday for its being a “rich man budget”, at a period of deteriorating economy and worsening poverty arising from escalating prices of essential foodstuff and scarcity of low-cost housing. Continue reading Daim’s Maiden Budget

Cuckoo’s Land in Parliament

I congratulate the Finance Minister, Tengku Razaleigh, and the other Cabinet Ministers for their great parliamentary performance or non-performance during the winding up for the 1984 Budget debate in the last two weeks, for they have completely belittled the dignity and purpose of the Parliament.

During the Budget debate, I spoke for more than an hour on the $2,500 million Bumiputra Malaysia Finance loans scandal in Hong Kong, for the whole sordid saga highlighted not only the negligence and irresponsibility of BMF directors and officials as well as Bank Bumiputra Directors, I also highlighted the irresponsibility and negligence as well of the various regulatory and supervisory bodies over Bank Bumiputra and BMF, like the Bank Negara, the Ministry of Finance, the Prime Minister’s Department, PNB, the Registry of Companies, the internal and external auditors, and even the entire Cabinet. Continue reading Cuckoo’s Land in Parliament

BMF Scandal- ‘Let the chips fall where they should’

The Finance Minister’s 1984 Budget would probably go down in Malaysian history as the Budget which commanded the shortest span of public attention. It is not even a nine-day wonder, for after one’s day’s publicity, the Malaysian public returned to the greater preoccupation about the $2,500 million loans scandal of Bumiputra Malaysia Finance in Hong Kong, the biggest banking and financial scandal in the history of Malaysia since Merdeka.

I believe I am not the only one to be very disappointed by the failure of the Finance Minister. Tengku Razaleigh, to take the opportunity of the 1984 Budget presentation to make disclosures, either through his orang presentation or by way of an appendix to the Treasury report 1983/84, about the BMF scandal in Hong Kong in view of the colossal sum of public funds involved. Continue reading BMF Scandal- ‘Let the chips fall where they should’

The 1976 Budget – The Weakened Ringgit

The 1976 Budget presented by the Finance Minister last Thursday and the accompanying Treasury/ Economic Report 1975-1976 raised many big questions about the health and future of the Malaysian economy, like the weakened Ringgit, the poor economic performance of the country, mounting unemployment, continued high rate of inflation, rising public debts, the new tax proposals, and the failure to make any appreciable progress to eliminate poverty and redress economic imbalances between the haves and the have-notes.

I shall deal with these various issues. Continue reading The 1976 Budget – The Weakened Ringgit