No News Is Bad News
For image info, go to http://jameswongwingon-online.blogspot.com/2008/01/learning-lessons-from-past-mistakes-and.html (Revisiting DAP' s 1995 great Robocop debacle)
DAP not politically invincible in Penang
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8, 2023: To many hardcore DAP supporters who are blind to every political criticism, they now think DAP is politically invincible in Penang.
Even former Umno big wig Khairy Jamaluddin think so when, in an Awani panel discussion during the announcement of the six state elections, said only DAP and PAS have safe seats.
That is simply a folly.
DAP is into its fourth term as Penang government and it is led by the mediocre Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and his state executive councillors.
To Penangites, Chow is a poorer version of Gerakan’s former chief minister Koh Tsu Koon who earned the dubious “title” of “bo hood” (balless in Hokkien).
They even named a durian after him, “bo hood”.
DAP and Chow are certainly taking the support of Penangites for granted and are sitting on their laurels in socio-economic development.
They have become just “politicians of denial”, living in a world of their own.
Take for example the tourism-related issues. They deny everything and insist all is fine and dandy.
They have forgotten that Penangites are a different breed of voters who have a history of dumping or replacing state governments. They have done that to MCA’s Wong Pow Nee, Gerakan’s Lim Chong Eu and Koh Tsu Koon.
What makes Chow and DAP any different?
At the moment, Penangites and Malaysians have no choice or viable alternative leader to replace Chow and DAP due to the immediate and real threat of racial and religious bigots led by the Taliban-like PAS and Perikatan Nasional (PN)-Bersatu led by the racist Muhyiddin “I Am Malay First” Yassin.
Should a viable alternative coalition leader emerge by the next general election which must be held by 2027, Chow and DAP can kiss goodbye to the Penang government.
Penangites will not hesitate to crush Chow and DAP.
DAP die-hards who continue to believe that DAP is politically invincible, look back in history and see what happened to Robocop Lim Kit Siang:
When ‘Robocop’ crushed Kit Siang’s dream of winning Penang
DAP failed in three attempts to win power in Penang. After a disastrous outing at the 1995 general election, the plan was abandoned.
K. Parkaran - 08 Oct 2023, 10:00am
Posters of DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang touting him as the next chief minister were put up all over Penang in the run up to the “Tanjung 2” battle. (File pic)
PETALING JAYA: When DAP strongman Lim Kit Siang moved from Melaka to contest a seat in Penang in 1986, the party announced that it was making Penang a frontline state in its attempt to win power and form a government.
It was obvious that Kit Siang was the frontrunner for the chief minister’s post in the event of an election victory. Billing its campaign as the “Battle of Tanjung”, the party made major inroads and won 10 of the 33 seats in the assembly.
According to the newly-published second volume of his biography “Lim Kit Siang – Malaysian First” by author Kee Thuan Chye, the DAP was buoyed by its success and made a serious bid to take over the Penang state government at the next general election in 1990.
For that campaign, dubbed Tanjung 2, the party formed an alliance with the Umno splinter party Semangat 46, formed by Umno strongman Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah after a major falling-out with party president and then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“DAP leaders were gung-ho about winning the state especially after the opposition coalesced into a united force with Semangat 46 which also established a separate pact with PAS and other Muslim parties to form a combined front,” party leaders said of the impending clash. Both pacts were headed by Razaleigh
In view of this, posters were put up all over the state, touting Kit Siang for chief minister.
“That was the ultimate goal. That’s what we had been dreaming of for years. And we thought 1990 was the best time as Kit Siang was 49 and the Barisan Nasional chief minister for 21 years, Lim Chong Eu, was 71,” said former Penang DAP strongman and strategist Gooi Hock Seng.
To show its seriousness, DAP sent out a strong signal by pitting its top state leaders against BN kingpins in six tough seats in a calculated move to try and form the government.
To lead by example, Kit Siang did the unthinkable by going against Chong Eu in Padang Kota, the state seat in the heart of George Town where Chong Eu had been returned for four terms.
Not only that, Kit Siang was armed with a letter signed by Razaleigh, addressed to the Penang governor, saying his Gagasan Rakyat coalition was nominating the DAP leader for the chief minister’s post.
“However, the DAP managed to win only 14 seats which was four more than the 1986 polls, although Kit Siang defeated Chong Eu comfortably. But none of its allies won any and thus it failed to form the government again. It needed 17 seats to be in power,” said a leader.
“We expected Semangat 46 to win four or five seats but unfortunately the Malays pulled their hand brakes at the last minute. It was a case of so near yet so far.”
Undeterred, DAP declared Tanjung 3, its battle to capture Penang at the 1995 general election, despite the booming economy.
Party strategists decided to portray Kit Siang as a “Robocop” who would clean up Penang, using the character from a popular science fiction movie, of an android – a human with steel and electronics parts – who heartlessly crushes all lawbreakers with super-human strength and abilities.
It was a disaster. Penang voters humiliated the DAP by returning only one assemblyman from the party.
Kit Siang was soundly defeated in Tanjung Bungah where he had gone to challenge Gerakan chief Koh Tsu Koon, who had replaced Chong Eu as the chief minister in 1990.
Another former Gerakan leader, Chia Kwang Chye, attributed DAP’s fall to its Robocop strategy, which he said was seen by people as a childish and arrogant effort.
“The DAP was trying to create the impression of a very strong character fighting against a weak character. It was kind of arrogant. The arrogance was not acceptable to the people. I would also like to say that as this was his third time contesting in Penang, the aura of Kit Siang may have subsided.”
But some other leaders attributed DAP’s huge loss to the booming economy and Mahathir lifting a ban on visits to China.
Seputeh MP Teresa Kok said many Chinese were happy that Malaysians could travel freely to China after Chinese voters had gone against the government in the 1990 general election.
“A lot of Chinese business people were very happy. Many were also able to go and see their relatives there and visit their ancestors’ graves. Many people were happy and thanked Mahathir,” she said.
After the Robocop flop, Kit Siang did not pursue his dream of becoming chief minister or capturing Penang at the 1999 elections, which were also disastrous for him and DAP.
He lost in the Kebun Bunga state seat and the Bukit Bendera parliamentary constituency, and moved to Ipoh Timur in Perak for the 2004 and 2008 elections, before ending up in Johor for the 2013 and 2018 general elections.
No News Is Bad News
Penang's capital George Town is one of Malaysia's most popular tourist attractions [Courtesy of Kit Yeng Chan]
Tourism: Penang, Malaysia sleeping on their job
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5, 2023: Are Malaysia’s Tourism Ministry and Penang sleeping on the job or are there other reasons why it did not capitalise on attracting Chinese tourists.
China’s national news agency Xinhua reported that China’s outbound tourism surged by 20 times for the Golden Week but Malaysia, particularly Penang, failed to capitalise on the resurgent Chinese tourists.
Why have Chinese tourists switched to other destinations after the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic?
Lack of aggressive promotions as reported by Xinhua? Or “Balik Tongshan” (Go Back To China) policy and racial and religious bigots affecting Chinese tourists’ decision-making?
Even Aljazeera is reporting the same about Malaysia’s flagging tourism industry. Is the Penang DAP-led government helmed by Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and his state executive councillors going to quash or dimiss the two news reports, as they usually do?
Whatever, Malaysia is slowly, but surely, losing ground to attract tourists globally.
Who do we blame?
No News Is Bad News reproduces below the Xinhua and Aljazeera news reports:
China Outbound Tourism Surges By 20 Times For Golden Week, Yet Malaysia Didn’t Capitalise
By Editor
October 1, 2023
Prominent travel platforms reporting full bookings, bustling queues in international departure halls at airports, and Chinese tourists flocking to popular global destinations… China’s outbound tourism market is certainly brimming with exhilaration, this was a statement published by its national news agency Xinhua.
Wang Shihua from Taiyuan, capital of north China’s Shanxi Province, has joined the wave of tourists during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, lasting from Sept. 29 to Oct. 6.
After spending the Mid-Autumn Festival, a traditional Chinese festival usually marked by reunions which fell on Friday this year, at home, he flew to Thailand together with his family. During their six-day trip, Wang plans to visit popular attractions including the Grand Palace, as well as savor Thai massage and local cuisine.
“I visited Thailand several years ago, and the experience left me with great memories. Now that my city has opened direct flights to Thailand, I have got to visit it again,” Wang said.
China’s outbound tourism during the National Day “golden week” holiday has shown a “blowout” growth. According to data from China’s leading travel platforms, including Trip.com Group and Fliggy, orders for overseas trips during the eight-day holiday surged nearly 20 times compared with the same period last year.
As one of the most popular destinations for Chinese tourists, Thailand announced a five-month visa-free policy for Chinese tourists in September. Since then, the number of travel inquiries and bookings for the Southeast Asian nation has continued to grow, ranking among the top destinations for outbound travel during the ongoing holiday.
Li Gaochao, assistant general manager of a major international travel agency in Shanxi, said that the visa-free policy saves around 500 yuan (about 69.64 U.S. dollars) in travel costs. After Chinese travel agencies and online tourism service providers resumed offering group tours to an expanded range of countries and regions in August, travel routes to Central and East Africa, as well as Europe, have gained popularity. Additionally, tour packages for Middle Eastern destinations like Dubai were fully booked early September.
Not to mention representatives from numerous countries flocking to China to attract customers, capitalising on the swift resurgence of the country’s outbound tourism market. Recently, the national tourist boards of countries such as Denmark, Finland and Sweden, and the European Travel Commission joined hands with China’s online travel agency Mafengwo to attract tourists to Northern Europe.
In mid-September, the Korea Tourism Organization signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation with Trip.com Group. It is expected that during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, the number of outbound tourists to the Republic of Korea will usher in the annual peak.
Industry insiders believe that with the change in consumption preferences, Chinese tourists are more inclined to in-depth experiences and high-quality services, so flexible private group tours have become more popular during this holiday season.
Zhao Wenzhi, president of GZL International Travel Service Ltd., located in south China’s Guangdong Province, said that tourists’ demand for high-end outbound tourism is increasing, and some quality small-group routes with scarce tourism elements are expected to become dark horses over the “golden week.”
Zhao’s viewpoint is backed by data from travel platforms, revealing a substantial increase in the number of group tour bookings to countries such as Uzbekistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Sri Lanka, and Kenya during this period compared to 2019.
Experts pointed out that as the world’s largest source of outbound tourists, China’s resumption of outbound group tours will play a positive role in promoting the recovery of the global tourism industry.
According to the 2023 Global Consumer Insights Survey China Report released by global auditing and consultancy firm PwC, to a much greater extent than their global counterparts, 62 percent of Chinese consumers expected they would increase spending on travel. More than 50 percent of them anticipated they were likely or extremely likely to travel on an international flight in the next six months. It will bring significant opportunities for the global tourism, hospitality, and retail sectors.
Malaysia which was among the earliest to open its borders to tourists failed to capitalise on the last to open its border, China which was the biggest visitor to the country before the pandemic. Being complacent and not having special promotions or aggressive campaigns are among the reasons popular destinations like Penang, Genting, and Kuala Lumpur are seeing a lack of resurgence of Chinese tourists. An English daily reported on 1 October headlined “Where are the Chinese Tourists in Penang For Golden Week?”
The local tourism sector is still reeling from the pandemic-induced shutdown with Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, and Indonesia all vying for a piece of the China action with mega deals and representatives working with Chinese travel agencies, Malaysia needs to step up its game to support our travel industry.
Malaysia’s tourism recovery flops as Thailand, Indonesia cash in
Malaysia is struggling to bring back tourists compared with its Southeast Asian peers after scrapping pandemic curbs.
Penang's capital George Town is one of Malaysia's most popular tourist attractions [Courtesy of Kit Yeng Chan]
Published On 16 Jan 202316 Jan 2023
Correction16 Jan 2023
A previous version of this article misstated that Mount Kinabalu is Southeast Asia's highest peak.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – For Arthur Wilkinson, a Penang-born entrepreneur who opened Malaysia’s first flotation therapy centre on his tropical island home, nearly two years without tourists marked the end of the road.
Float For Health, located in Tanjung Tokong, a coastal township on the northeastern side of Penang island, shut up shop for good in January 2021 as border restrictions introduced to keep out COVID-19 reduced customers to a trickle.
“Eighty percent of my customers were tourists, and at that time, anyone working in this industry suffered for obvious reasons,” Wilkinson, who also runs the restaurant Heap Seng at 29 in George Town, told Al Jazeera.
Malaysia reopened its borders to tourists in April, before dropping all vaccination and PCR-test requirements in August.
But nearly a year since hailing the return of international visitors, Malaysia’s tourism sector is not only struggling but playing catchup to its Southeast Asian peers.
Malaysia welcomed about 3 million visitors in 2022, up from 134,728 visitors the previous year, according to Tourism Malaysia. The intake was just about 12 percent of the number that arrived in 2019.
Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia — which welcomed 10 million, 4.6 million and 4.58 million visitors, respectively — saw arrivals return to about one-quarter of pre-pandemic levels.
Vietnam’s 3.6 million foreign visitors, although short of the government’s target, was about one-fifth of its intake in 2019.
Traditional Malaysian homes are popular with tourists in Langkawi [Courtesy of Kit Yeng Chan)
Tourist industry figures have offered a range of explanations for Malaysia’s weak rebound from the pandemic compared with its neighbours, from poor cost competitiveness to the country’s reputation as a buttoned-up, predominantly Islamic society. Tourism Malaysia declined to comment.
Earlier this month, the Malaysian Islamic Party-backed state government in Kedah, home to the popular duty-free resort island Langkawi, caused jitters in the tourism sector when it floated a possible ban on alcohol sales.
Kedah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md later clarified that the sale of alcohol in Langkawi is under the jurisdiction of the Finance Ministry, not the state government, and the state government had no authority to interfere with the tourist island’s duty-free status.
Malaysia already has some of the world’s highest alcohol taxes and imposes harsh punishments for drug offences, including the death penalty for trafficking.
Neighbouring Thailand, meanwhile, has built on its reputation for having a tolerant attitude towards vices, decriminalising cannabis in June 2022.
“From mid-December to mid-March, I used to have 80-90 percent of clients from Europe, and now I only have about 60 percent,” Anthony Wong, owner of Frangipani Langkawi Resort & Spa, one of the island’s oldest eco-resorts, told Al Jazeera.
“Flights to Malaysia from Europe are less [frequent] and more expensive, and Langkawi is not as cheap as its neighbours, especially the accommodation. … Europe is also going into recession, with inflation going up, and issues related to the ongoing war in Ukraine make it more challenging for them to spend money on travelling,” Wong said.
Wilkinson, who relocated his flotation therapy business to Indonesia’s Bali to take advantage of the higher tourist numbers and what he said was more dependable labour, said Malaysia could not afford to be complacent about its attractiveness to foreign visitors.
“We need to stimulate tourism somehow before it’s too late, as Malaysia is losing massively to Thailand and Indonesia,” he said.
“Even though Malaysia has a much wider variety of cuisines, our food and beverage scene and quality isn’t quite up to par compared to our neighbours, which also have lower alcohol tax and are more open to new ideas of tourism.”
Penang entrepreneur Arthur Wilkinson believes Malaysia needs to do more to attract tourists back to its shores [Courtesy of Arthur Wilkinson]
Fabio Delisi, manager of Kuala Lumpur-based inbound tour operator Lotus Asia Tours, said he believes Malaysia’s potential has been held back by lacklustre promotion and relatively poor connectivity compared with other parts of the region.
“Malaysia does not lack attractions, especially natural ones. Tourism development suffers from inconsistent policies and promotional activities over the past decades,” Delisi, who has more than 30 years of experience in tourism across the region, told Al Jazeera. “Tourism is a very long-term public relation exercise.”
Delisi, whose company also operates in Indonesia and Singapore, said Malaysia’s fortunes have stood in stark contrast to those of Indonesia.
“We are wholesalers operating in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore since the early nineties, and in 2022 have experienced a decline of arrivals of up to 90 percent from our main Western markets into Malaysia, while we have seen double-digit growth in Indonesia for the same period,” he said.
In East Malaysia, which is separated from Peninsular Malaysia by the South China Sea, there are signs that tourism is rebounding much faster.
Operators there have benefitted from a niche market of high-spending Westerners seeking out tropical adventures in Malaysia’s eastern states on the island of Borneo, which is renowned for its wildlife and unspoiled nature.
“We hit the same revenue as 2019 last year despite it being an eight-month operation,” Jessica Yew, director of boutique tour company Sticky Rice Travel, which has its headquarters in Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah state, told Al Jazeera.
“It’s mostly because of our market segment. [We cater to the] high-end/deluxe US market — the pandemic had little to no effect on their finances, and they were just waiting for the border to reopen. Europeans and British inquiries trickle in, but closing the sale for these is harder.”
For those with less to spend, travel and accommodation costs in Borneo, which are at their highest in years, could be off-putting.
“Most lodges and transport providers introduced a hike of up to 20 percent, while government agencies such as Sabah Parks doubled the price of some permits and entrances,” Yew said.
Sabah-based tour operator Jessica Yew says her business has emerged from the pandemic in a strong position due to the high-spending US market [Courtesy of Jessica Yew]
The higher prices include permits to climb Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia’s highest peak standing at 4,095 metres (13,435 feet), which this month doubled from 200 ringgit to 400 ringgit ($46 to $92).
When added to the costs of guides, food, and accommodation, the cheapest packages to tackle the summit come to about $550 per person.
While Sabah is generally cheap outside conservation areas, only some of the state’s protected parks are promoted by authorities as the main selling points for visitors.
“I tell people to go to Sumatra [in Indonesia] to see orangutans, as it costs one-third to one-fifth of Malaysian Borneo’s prices,” Yew said.
For many other operators, the return of Chinese and South Korean visitors, the biggest cohort of visitors to Sabah before the pandemic, will be crucial to their fortunes in the coming year.
Businesses, in particular, are keeping a close watch on China’s reopening of its borders last week after three years of international isolation.
Still, some within the sector are sceptical of any quick fix to the sector’s struggles.
“We are paying the price for more than twenty years of random policies without focus and continuity,” said Delisi of Lotus Asia Tours.
“Despite the effort of a number of good technocrats, without a framed, coordinated and consistent strategy, I don’t see how things may change or improve soon.”
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
Friday, 6 October 2023
GST: DAP now as quiet as a church mouse
No News Is Bad News
For image info, go to https://www.yycadvisors.com/overview-of-gst-malaysia.html (AN OVERVIEW OF GST MALAYSIA)
UPDATE:
Tax on share dividends will bring more than GST, govt told
Bringing back GST would provide only marginal gains, but a tax on the rich through share dividends would provide much more revenue, says Barjoyai Bardai.
Danish Raja Reza - 08 Oct 2023, 9:30am
Company profits are taxed, but the profit distributed to shareholders is not taxed at present. An economist says such a tax will raise more revenue than GST.
PETALING JAYA: Three economists have suggested taxes on the rich via share dividends, capital gains and individual income which they say could provide greater amounts of government revenue without re-introducing GST (goods and services tax).
Barjoyai Bardai of Universiti Tun Abdul Razak called for a double taxation approach for corporate income, Yeah Kim Leng of Sunway University proposed a capital gains tax on unlisted shares, and Lai Wei Sieng of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia said tax rates for those in high income brackets should be raised.
Barjoyai said a change in taxation policy on company profits while retaining the existing sales and service tax would be more beneficial than bringing back GST which was abolished in 2018.
The reintroduction of GST has been urged by some groups making suggestions for next year’s federal budget. Barjoyai said GST was likely to yield a marginal increase of RM8 billion annually.
Barjoyai Bardai.
However, if taxes were imposed on dividends paid to shareholders of listed companies, “I think they will easily generate RM50 or 60 billion in tax immediately,” he told FMT.
Barjoyai said the corporate income tax in Malaysia works on a single tax basis. “We tax the company’s profits. But when the company distributes the profits to shareholders, it is not taxed any more,” he said. However, the rest of the world place taxes on the company as well as on shareholders.
The policy allows about 100,000 families to live without paying any income tax despite living on income from dividends. “So they are rich, but have never (had to pay) tax all their lives,” he said, adding that such “discrimination” that favoured the rich should be halted.
Yeah Kim Leng.
Yeah said that the proposed inclusion of a capital gains tax on unlisted shares, as stated in the revised 2023 budget, could offer an additional avenue to boost revenue.
However, he said that improving the efficiency of tax collection and government spending can achieve a significant contribution to government revenue.
Lai Wei Sieng.
“Revenue enhancement measures will have to be accompanied by efforts to increase spending efficiency and allocating appropriately to various spending needs with greater market buy effect. That means more efficient resource allocation of revenue to various users,” said Yeah, who is also part of a team set up to advise prime minister Anwar Ibrahim as finance minister.
Lai suggested that the personal income tax rate be raised for the top 10% of society and a higher company tax rate for multinational companies. He also advocated greater investment in a variety of financial instruments, including stocks, bonds, and other securities.
GST: DAP now as quiet as a church mouse
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 6, 2023: History has shown that Malaysia’s federal governments have alway sided with corporates but not the layman.
Malaysians can also expect Anwar Ibrahim’s Unity Government (UG) to do the same, as corporates wield considerable influnce on politicians.
So, Malaysians must be prepared for more financial stress as Budget 2024 may reintroduce Goods and Services Tax (GST).
What is most disappointing is that the DAP, unlike when it was in the Opposittion, has been criticising and objects governments on many socio-economic issues, including the GST.
But the DAP is now as quiet as a church mouse on the many issues that it had objected. Why?
Like previous federal governments, the DAP is now in the federal government and is timid with issues that affect the rakyat (people).
No News Is Bad News reproduces below a Facebook posting on the GST:
With the upcoming Budget 202 , GST proponents have started their media campaign to push for its re- introduction. It's simply unfair that the B40, already burdened with food price increase are asked to fork out more for GST. Chart shows how GST impacts the poor more
They want GST so can keep corporate tax low, so B40 are sacrificed for corporates?
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