“I appeal to all the winners of GE14, please do carry yourselves with dignity and decorum of office and not as political predators and scavengers treating positions in politics as the spoils of war!”

HAVE WE REPLACED ONE SET OF POLITICAL SHENANIGANS WITH ANOTHER ASKS MALAYSIA ASEAN APEC LEAD CONSUMERIST DR JACOB GEORGE?

Just when you least expect it, they showed their true colors!

One wants to be foreign minister and unashamedly goes on record trying to justify it while others continue to lobby?

Perhaps, they think this is justified as the spoils of war or put in another way, the justification for most seats won?

But it is obvious their inexperience, lack of vision, ability to lead, humility begins to surface and embarrass the millions who made sacrifices to make their votes count!

Within a month that has been forgotten?

This is a disgrace indeed Pakatan!

For these individuals, let me give you a quick course on the Prime Minister’s prerogative as is the convention globally unless you individuals are trying to rewrite it?

It is customary for the Prime Minister to exercise many of the powers that were formerly under the discretion of the Monarchy.

While these powers technically still belong to the Monarchy in certain jurisdictions, they are exercised completely on the advice of the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister, for example, decides when to dissolve Parliament and when to call a general election.

It is even customary for the Prime Minister to choose who will be the Governor of certain states.

As for forming the Cabinet much of that is the power enjoyed by a Prime Minister and stems from his or her authority to form the Cabinet.

It is the Prime Minister who decides who will actually make up the Cabinet, and what portfolios will be assigned to each person.

Accordingly, Ministers owe their allegiance to the Prime Minister, who can promote or demote them, ask for their resignation, and, if necessary, dismiss them from Cabinet altogether.

These powers tend to keep Ministers clean, humble, both submissive and supportive of the Prime Minister and his/her policies and priorities.

That is not all, as appointing public servants in addition to appointing Cabinet Ministers, the Prime Minister also has the power to dictate who holds many key offices in the public service.

This includes the appointment of Senators, Supreme Court judges, deputy ministers, and heads of government agencies, boards, and corporations.

The ability to exercise such power helps keep a Prime Minister’s ‘followers’ on side, while allowing a Prime Minister to impose his/her ideological stamp on much of government.

In this way, a Prime Minister who believes in a particular vision of how government should function can use the powers of the Prime Minister’s Office to appoint persons of like-minded thinking to key government positions.

These are not all, as in addition to these responsibilities, the Prime Minister also has significant powers over the actual organization of government.

Subject to usual routine of Parliamentary approval, the Prime Minister has the ability to create new departments and agencies, transform or abolish old ones, and privatize or nationalize industries and corporations.

He or she also has the power to assign specific mandates and priorities to individual government departments and agencies, with or without the permission of the responsible Cabinet Minister.

Now let us get to the meat of today’s argument, least we forget, the Prime Minister is often seen as the nation’s chief diplomat.

This is particularly true in the modern era of summit diplomacy when Heads of Governments regularly meet with one another on a face-to-face basis.

Let us as voters remind all and sundry that the number of seats won at GE14 are neither the justification nor priority for ministerial appointments but a well-rounded and experienced academic background, talent, experience, zero tolerance to corruption and humility!

The fact is and will remain, that without Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad coming out of retirement and doing the impossible, Barisan Nasional (BN) would have won with all the super cheating, the present ‘Prime Minister in waiting’ would be serving his full term in prison and out of politics for good and another would be serving time in prison!

Several others would have been charged for sedition and other offenses as well?

I appeal to all the winners of GE14, please do carry yourselves with dignity and decorum of office and not as political predators and scavengers treating positions in politics as the spoils of war!

“I am now appealing to the new Malaysian leadership to totally dismantle all forms of monopolies in the Malaysian marketplace!

It is also because as far as I am concerned legislation on monopolies or to be exact the Competition Act is a super failure!”

TIME TO GET RID OF MONOPOLIES IN MALAYSIA SAYS MALAYSIA ASEAN APEC LEAD CONSUMERIST DR JACOB GEORGE

We know who they are and have been in the Malaysian marketplace just far too long!

We have treated these business shenanigans with super kid gloves, pretended they do not exist but thanks to post GE14 aspirations we have now acquired courage to address the wrongs, pretense and hypocrisies of the past!

But how does a monopoly affect Malaysian consumers?

As the sole providers of a product or service, monopolies have no competition and no price restrictions.

Monopolies use patents, mergers, and acquisitions to obtain industry dominance and prevent market entry.

If left un-monitored and unregulated, monopolies can adversely affect businesses, consumers and even the economy.

A monopoly’s potential to raise prices indefinitely is its most critical detriment to consumers.

This is because it has no industry competition, a monopoly’s price is the market price and demand is market demand.

Even at high prices, do you realize that customers will not be able to substitute the good or service with a more affordable alternative.

As the sole supplier, a monopoly can also refuse to serve customers.

If a monopoly refuses to sell an important good to a company, it has the potential to indirectly shut down that business.

If the supplier sells to consumers, it can refuse to serve areas that have lower profit potential, which could further impoverish a region.

A natural monopoly, like the water, power and sewage system, or certain financial institutions, can prevent the duplication of infrastructure and thus reduce potential costs to consumers.

Natural monopolies that are run by non-profit organizations and local governments can afford to keep prices low enough to provide services to the majority of the public.

When monopolies are privately owned by for-profit organizations, prices can become significantly higher than in a competitive market.

As a result of higher prices, fewer consumers can afford the good or service, which can be detrimental in a lower middle, rural or impoverished setting.

Some argue that monopolies are beneficial because highly-profitable companies tend to pump more funds into research and development.

In the Malaysian context this is a myth!

These are takers not givers – period!

They state that because the monopoly is in a dominant position, it can comfortably bear the risks associated with innovation but do they?

However, a highly-profitable monopoly also may have little incentive for improvement as long as consumers still demonstrate a need for their current product or service.

In comparison, businesses in a competitive market can compete by making changes to existing products and services and lowering prices. Monopolies ensure there are high barriers to entry and thus no free riding or adaptations to their current patents.

The labor force in a monopolized industry may also be significantly less than that of a competitive industry.

I am now appealing to the new Malaysian leadership to totally dismantle all forms of monopolies in the Malaysian marketplace!

It is also because as far as I am concerned legislation on monopolies or to be exact the Competition Act is a super failure!

It is now time to scrap this statute as it is a monument of deceit and hypocrisy!

Going forward, one option for policy makers would be to dismantle the monopoly.

This can be accomplished by splitting the monopoly into two companies, or more, divide their bundled products or services, or separating services into smaller competing regional services.

The monopoly’s separation will lower the barriers to entry for new companies.

The new competition will eventually provide a wider variety of options and most likely lower prices for consumers.

For example, in the 1980s the US experienced nation-wide deregulation in the telecommunications industry.

While four of the seven “Baby Bells” are back under the AT&T umbrella, the breakup is still considered a great success.

There, competition in the telecommunication industry again is increasing as start-ups begin using mobile technology to disrupt the cost structures of the telecom companies.

Another option for policy makers would be to focus on lowering prices instead of breaking apart a monopoly.

Regulators can set pricing controls called price caps in order to prevent the company from setting unreasonable prices.

Price capping is a way to reduce the price benefit of being a monopoly as the price lowers to that of a competitive market.

Once competition increases in the industry, policy makers can reduce or remove the price caps.

Did you know that according to The Energy Journal, all US electricity independent system operators have price caps?

Similarly, setting rate-of-return price regulations can help reduce artificially high utility prices.

Our new Malaysian government can also opt to nationalize natural monopolies to ensure that utility prices are in the best interest of the public.

The fact remains however that because of monopolies we have created a super group of businessmen who have done absolutely nothing for the Malaysian demography except themselves, their proxies and cronies and the politicians and shenanigans who have lobbied for them and this should stop – period!

‘And it is pertinent that the premier not be confined to political time lines but be allowed to lead as long as he is able to without any political sabotage by any quarters most importantly, third parties, and conduits and we all know who these people are and the games they play and tried to play post GE14!’

IN THE INTEREST OF A PROGRESSIVE MALAYSIA LET US STOP THIS CONTINUED STRANGE POLITICKING PLEASE – PLEADS MALAYSIA ASEAN APEC LEAD CONSUMERIST DR JACOB GEORGE!

It has been a strange month and more with all kinds of strange progressive, defensive and some same old “race and religion” rhetoric and mantra, which actually to the new Malaysians post May 9th and GE14th means – that usage of a term to acquire billions in self-gratification while the struggling populace is today donating monies to help the country!

We do not see these super wealthy individuals with their harem of properties, wealth, cars, yachts, wives, concubines, and other ill-gotten gains coming forward to donate neither participate giving a leg up for a country whose riches have been plundered front, back right, left and center!

But they want their say which includes idiotic justification of a grand and theft unseen and heard in any civilized society let alone sovereign country!

Do these disgraced politicians and others still want to be pampered, paid homage to and allowed to continue to plunder and while they can ridicule the common man on the streets the moment there is an intelligent response where they seek retribution for truths spoken?

Perhaps for far too long these groups have misread or being misinformed of the turbulent day to day struggles of the common man!

And shocking that the results of GE14 has not brought them to be aligned to the rights, interests, and real felt needs of masses!

Except for some, among them, who have shown an extreme sensitivity and keeping with the times the chameleon politicians and others continue to play that broken old record showing impatience and obsession for political power!

But, to what purpose?

Ultimately, to continue where the last government left off?

This is why Premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad must be allowed to right the wrongs that were committed in public policy deliberations so truly we speak as Malaysians not manipulated by the “race and religion chameleon politicians” any longer.

This is why the statement by Dr Mahathir Mohamad that de facto Pakatan Harapan leader Anwar Ibrahim will succeed him as prime minister is very cautiously welcomed!

The premier who recently returned as the seventh prime minister 15 years after retiring as its fourth stated that in an interview with Malay daily Sinar Harian yesterday.

And it is pertinent that the premier not be confined to political time lines but be allowed to lead as long as he is able to without any political sabotage by any quarters most importantly, third parties, and conduits and we all know who these people are and the games they play and tried to play post GE14!

I am certain Malaysians are not digging deep into their pockets to help the country and sacrificing so that we can replace one set of self-serving chameleon politicians with another equally wicked and self-serving and committed to both cronyism and nepotism among others?

The sitting premier Tun Dr Mahathir must be allowed free rein to return Malaysia to where she once was – a respected God fearing, Federal Constitution respecting, with zero tolerance for all forms of abuses and corrupt ways!

A beaming proud example of a nation state among other civilized nations of the world!