Despite open day, public still find GLCs a mystery
KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — Stand in Maybank’s bright yellow booth in the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in the city, and it will probably take all of ten seconds before someone notices you milling about.
You’ll be offered an Apple iPad if you open an account, asked if you would like a new credit card or some other banking product.
However, if you were hoping to find out more about how Maybank functions as a government-linked company (GLC) at the GLC Open Day, you’ll probably be disappointed.
The event billed itself as “a showcase of five Government-linked Investment Companies (GLICs) and 18 GLCs which will share how they have contributed towards the development of the Malaysian economy, and in doing so, touched the lives of every Malaysian.”
But visitors who spoke to The Malaysian Insider found that aside from exhibits set up by the government to showcase its Economic and Government Transformation Plans, most other exhibitors seemed to think it was a trade fair to sell their products, rather than showcase their role according to the theme of “nation-building, touching lives.”
“They have a lot of props to show their good points, but none of the staff could really explain to me the things I was interested in,” said Nor Alyshia Daud, a 20-year-old law student looking for scholarships.
She came with Wan Nazrin Wan Anuar, 20, a recently trained pilot who said outright, “they’re not doing a good job of meeting the event’s objective.”
When launching the event, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had said that the real beneficiaries of GLCs are the people of Malaysia who are given “the opportunity to share in the wealth of the country.”
Besides two bankers who were pleased to have made possible business contacts - but still said that the open day was not really supportive of business-to-business linkups - others did not find out about their slice of the pie.
“I see a lot of projects around Brickfields where I live, but I have no idea what they are and what they are for. Instead of open days, why not spend more time in public consultation?” said Rowena Ramachandran, who works in a legal firm in the city.
But perhaps the biggest question is still whether GLCs are working in the interests of the public, or Barisan Nasional (BN). From the general tone of scepticism, it appears that the public tolerates as a fact of life, the presence of GLCs in the market, rather than embraces it.
“The government keeps pumping money into things like MAS and Proton supposedly to help the industry. But what is the return to normal people?” said Johnny Chan, a 29-year-old geoscientist.
“If you ask me, it’s all politically-linked,” said Lee Hock Chan, who works in IT.
And although CIMB Bank chief executive Datuk Seri Nazir Razak said at a forum later that “Malaysia Inc 2.0 is so much better than Mk I, where there were really, really bad practices,” it’ll probably take more than the insistence of the prime minister’s brother to change such a perception.
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