Give credit where it is due for PM

Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is due to present the 10th Malaysia Plan and the New Economic Model in Parliament tomorrow.

Najib has outlined his plan by introducing what he described as the four pillars towards achieving the Vision 2020 develop nation status.

The four pillars are the slogan 1Malaysia: People first, Performance now; Government Transformation Plan; New Economic Model; and the final piece 10th Malaysia Plan to be presented.

Probably it is coincident, Merdeka Center published its latest opinion survey claiming 72 per cent of Malaysians are satified with the Prime Minister's performance. This is higher than the 69 per cent rating he received in April.

While this blogger is rather cautious with Merdeka Center survey results, it is nevertheless a much needed booster for Najib. He was rather taken a back, when his New Economic Model was rejected by the recent Kongres Ekonomi Bumiputera ke 3.

The survey do say that confidence levels in government's initiatives were limited. For example, only 50 per cent were confident that initiatives such as the Government Transformation Programme (GTP), 1Malaysia and New Economic Model would be able to achieve their goals.

It does not reflect the true picture of the GTP. Within three months, it has begin to deliver results.

This only shows the increasingly cynical sentiments of the public. And, 58% of the survey view that 'the Federal Government was good in planning but weak in implementation'.

On the NKRA or National Key Result Areas (not Najib Kerja Rosmah Arah), the survey showed that 61% of respondents were dissatisfied with the performance in fighting corruption and 57% were dissatisfied with efforts in reducing crime.

The perception is not necessarily true. There have been progress made here and there. For instance, there are 97 convictions from arrest made by MACC reported on its website. Some 2,665 contracts published online.

Unfortunately, public expectation on the eradication of corruption is far from met. For this blogger, nothing short of rolling the head of few big fishes is satisfactory. Names like Tan Sri Nor Mohamad Yakcop must no more be on the Cabinet and be facing thorough investigation by MACC.

In the area of crime, overall crime have dropped by 15.1% and redeploying police to hotspots have managed to reduce street crimes by 36.9%.

The difference between public sentiment or perception and real results is a concern. It shows the ineffective Najib's communication team.

On the other hand, the survey reported 52 per cent were satisfied with efforts to improve the living standards of those in rural areas, 56 per cent were satisfied with efforts to improve public transportation and 63 per cent were satisfied with efforts to improve the quality of education in primary and secondary schools.

The statistic given by Pemandu mirrors the survey.

Out of 44,653 hardcore poor listed, 12,453 are no more considered as hardcore poor. there have been an increase in LRT ridership by 928,775. There have been 929 pre-school started and 7,616 primary schools are ranked to promote school quality.

Economy-wise, the GDP first quarter registered a 10% increase. Malaysia have been recently ranked 10th most competitive nation in the world. Things are looking better.

Aisayman ... give credit where is due. Don't be too cynical.