Malaysian GDP slip an ‘act of God’
PUTRAJAYA, 12 NOVEMBER - Taking a cue from the 1Malaysia bridge incident, the Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak has attributed his slip of the tongue concerning Malaysia’s GDP announcement as an ‘act of God.’
In his speech at the 21st Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Malaysia Implementation Council, the Prime Minister claimed at the time that Malaysia’s GDP will grow by over nine percent until the year 2010. Najib later retracted this figure, bringing it down to six percent.
“We never know when God is going to strike in His benevolence,” the Prime Minister said in a press conference at Putrajaya yesterday. “But as surely as this is God’s world, then so will these things be bound to happen. If I say the wrong things from time to time, then its not my fault, but an act of God.”
The Prime Minister also mentioned that the term ‘GDP’ was a slip of the tongue and called it ‘a silly way to determine a country’s progress.’ Najib made mention that the term -also an act of God- will be replaced with the term ‘1Malaysia Product.’
The Prime Minister also mentioned that his position as Prime Minister and the culmination of the BN into the federal government was also due to a ‘good act of God.’ “The simple majority that Barisan enjoyed in the 2008 elections led to the creation of the 1Malaysia concept. This is proof that 1Malaysia is not only a good act of God but because of this act of God, we will continue to serve the people.”
Najib also credited his wife’s -Datin Rosmah Mansor- recent discovery of the Saudi cheques, to that as a good act of God as well, as the rewards from returning the cheque have been used for good purposes. In lieu of these recent events, the government has announced plans to roll out a new line of billboards for the country with the slogan: “Barisan Nasional – An act of God.”
November 14th, 2009 at 4:02 am
Hmmm! Najib also recited the oft-stated quote by Power Point “warriors” that a 10% increase in broadband penetration results in 1.3% increase in a nations GDP and there was a local journalist from some obscure publication called Comm & Tech Asia who asked him that 100% broadband penetration would ammount to a 13% in GDP which while significant, wasn’t all that much a return on investment. That journalist also said that this figure was bandied around so often to the point that it was almost a well-worn cliche.
Najib, visibly angry, replied “It is not a cliche and has been proven by the success of South Koreacreative multimedia industry.
About four years ago, officials of the Multimedia Development Corporation said that creative multimedia contributed 7% to South Korea’s GDP. Don’t know what its now.
Anyway, Najib would have blown a fuse if he was told that Business Week had reported:-
“Still, a look at growth rates for both sides of the demilitarized zone last year shows that the regime in Pyongyang managed to deliver the best growth on the Korean peninsula. In 2008, the basket-case economy in the communist country registered a growth of 3.7% after two consecutive years of contraction, according to data released this week by Bank of Korea, South Korea’s central bank. That’s better than the 2.2% posted last year by South Korea, which, like other export-dependent Asian countries, was hurt by the recessions in the U.S., Japan, and Europe. South Korea also suffered from a slowdown in the Chinese economy, with exports to China from South Korean consumer electronics makers and other companies falling sharply; they fell 33.3% in November and 35.4% in December, for instance.”
Now this isn’t satire. Check it out at:-
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jun2009/gb20090630_198805.htm
Also, no mention of creative multimedia over here:-
“Hyundai, South Korea’s largest automaker, posted record third-quarter net income of 979.2 billion won ($827 million). Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world’s second-largest computer- memory chipmaker, on Oct. 23 reported its first quarterly profit in two years on higher prices.”
http://www.savvyinvestor.com/south-korean-gdp-expands-at-fastest-pace-in-7-years
Anyway, Malaysian prime ministers excel in talking cock, so no who needs satirists when the Malaysian mainstream media is satire itself.