Najib woos federal agency workers with better perks

KUALA LUMPUR, March 25 ― The Najib Razak administration today moved to appease some 40,000 employees of federal agencies by agreeing to boost their benefits ahead of key national polls.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced today Putrajaya’s approval for a new pension fund, the provision of fixed allowances and gratuity for retirees, and the streamlining of Employees Provident Fund (EPF) contributions for all seven bodies, meaning employers’ contribution will be made commensurate with the duration of service.

“This is a government that hears the pulse of the people. We must put the people first,” Najib Razak said in his speech before some 2,000 statutory body employees at the Putra World Trade Centre here.

The move came after months of negotiations between Najib’s government and workers’ unions, which at one point threatened to back the opposition should Putrajaya fail to meet the demands made since 2008, according to an anonymous union leader.

The civil service is a key vote bank for the ruling BarisanNasional (BN) coalition, which is gearing up for what is set to be its toughest election to date.

Wary of a possible discontent within the public service, Najib Razak moved to placate the key voter group by agreeing to meet their demands for improved benefits as well as increasing pay.

But the prime minister was quick to dismiss suggestions that his government was adopting populist measures to sustain support from the civil servants, saying today’s announcement was done after careful consideration based on economic viability.

Najib Razak said populism was a tactic favoured only by the opposition, and argued that meeting the election pledges made by Pakatan Rakyat would bankrupt the country.

“If we take this populist attitude, giving everything without considering the importance of good governance, the country would descend into the valley of economic destruction,” he said.

The federal opposition bloc Pakatan Rakyat (PR) had in its election manifesto promised to increase salaries both in the public and private sectors through better management of the economy.

It also promised to continue subsidising fuel and basic goods, where BN announced plans to slash subsidies amid concerns of rising public debt; PR leaders insist their welfare programmes are viable if corruption is tackled.

Najib’s government had described PR’s pledges as unrealistic, unreasonable and populist. In turn, his administration was accused of courting voters through policies such as the cash handouts under the 1 Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) that cost more than RM1 billion public funds.

The BR1M programme had contributed significantly to the prime minister’s approval rating, according to a previous MerdekaCenter survey, and Najib had promised to make it an annual event should BN retain power.

Najib Razak : Govt has met most goals

KUALA LUMPUR: PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said last night  the government has met the majority of its  goals under the National Transformation Programme, and is  on track to meet its goal of becoming a high-income nation earlier than 2020.

Announcing the results of the government's report card for last year in the form of the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) and Government Transformation Plan (GTP), he said the achievements were proof of the government's dedication to the 1Malaysia philosophy of "People First, Performance Now".

Najib Razak described ETP and GTP as "the bravest experiment undertaken by any government in the world to practise the principles of transparency and responsibility"."The task to become a high-income nation by 2020 is ambitious, but attainable."With this transformation agenda, I am responsible for its success and am bound by its results."I want to help Malaysia realise its exceptional potential," he told the audience at Auditorium Perdana at Angkasapuri.

Najib Razak said initiatives taken to boost the living standards of low-income households had lowered the poverty rate to 1.7 per cent last year from 3.8 per cent in 2009.The income gap narrowed to 0.431 as per the Gini coefficient ratio (a measure of inequality of income or wealth) last year, compared with 0.441 in 2009.A lower Gini coefficient ratio equates to a more equal distribution of wealth, with "0" corresponding to complete equality.

The country's per capita income last year, he said, stood at US$9,970 (RM31,131), compared with US$257 (RM802) in 1957, which is a 4,000 per cent leap in five decades.

In addition, the average household income last year stood at RM5,000, a jump from RM4,025 in 2009.

The construction of 35,000 new homes had also enabled more medium- and low-income families to own their own properties.

The efforts by the government had resulted in 99.9 per cent of households from the extreme poor category moving out of the bracket over the last three years.

"As part of our initiative to ensure that rural communities share in the country's progress, more than 3,300km of roads have been built, more than 1.4 million homes provided with clean water and 470,000 homes enjoy round-the-clock electricity supply."

The government's stand on the importance of early education, he said, had seen more than 2,000 preschool classes established, leading to a more than 80 per cent pre-school enrolment last year compared with 67 per cent the previous year.Touching on the ETP, he said it had continued to meet its targets, with RM32 billion in investments secured via 39 projects last year.

"Since the ETP's launch in 2010, private investment has grown more than three-fold, recording a 22 per cent increase in 2012."

The ETP had since announced 149 projects, worth RM211 billion in investments, and is projected to add another RM136 billion to the gross national income and create 408,443 jobs.

Najib Razak said in line with the government's stand on transparency, the results had been subject to review and verification by international experts on the International Performance Review Panel and auditing house PricewaterhouseCoopers Malaysia.

"What we have achieved, and failed to achieve, is on display for everyone to see."

Najib Razak reiterated that the Barisan Nasional government was one that kept its promises.

"We place the people's wellbeing above all else.

"That is why before promising something to the people, we study it first as to whether it will benefit the people and not burden them, whether it is temporary or for the long term.

"Secondly, we ask ourselves, is this promise something we can keep? We do not make empty promises."

Najib Tun Razak: Govt committed to continue empowering women

PUTRAJAYA: The government is committed to continue empowering women in the country towards ensuring their full potential can be realised and enhanced, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Najib Razak said the government not only recognised their importance but had included them in mainstream development and in transforming the country.

"In our history... in the struggle for independence... in our struggle after independence...in our struggle to achieve the nation's vision...women played an important role towards achieving the aspirations and goals of the country.

"That is why we are gathered here today, to trigger waves among women, so that women come forward and in turn raise the spirit, that national aspirations cannot be achieved without the empowerment of women throughout the country," Najib Razak said when launching the 1 Million Women Purple Walk 2013, here .

Also present were the Prime Minister's wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and wife Puan Sri Norainee Abdul Rahman, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim and Chief Secretary to the Government Datuk Seri Dr Ali Hamsa.

The Prime Minister  Najib Razak said that as a result of the government's efforts over the years, many successes had been achieved by women, for example in the field of education.

"In higher education centres, why is that 62 per cent of the enrolment comprise female students ... this is due to their having the qualifications, "he said.  
He also said that the government would continue with its policy of having 30 per cent of women employed at the decision-making level.

"Now 30 of the 62 High Court judges are women, of the secretaries-general in ministries, seven of them are women with the latest being in the Ministry of Health," he said.

Najib Razak also said he wanted government-linked companies (GLCs) and government-linked investment companies (GLICs) appoint at least one woman or more to their boards.

"The national transformation policy will not be achieved if women are not given equal opportunities, not empowered and included in the mainstream, not only at the highest level but also at the grassroots," Najib Razak said.

Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan launched the state level 1Million Women Purple Walk 2013 with almost 10,000 in attendance in the Sports and Youth Complex in Paroi. -- Bernama

Don’t throw 50 years of hard work away, says Najib

PRIME MINISTER Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday called upon the people not to throw 50 years of hard work and dedication away by voting in the Opposition.He said the Opposition, made up of three different parties with conflicting views, was unable to even decide who among them would lead the coalition if they came to power.

“The Barisan Nasional presents you with a proven track record, while the Opposition comes to you with nothing,” he said in the “Conversation with the Prime Minister” programme aired over TV3 last night."We began our transformation programme in 2009 to bring the nation to greater heights and we can now see and feel the results of this agenda. "We have more to do and we appeal to the rakyat to give us the mandate to complete this.”

Najib Razak, who is also the finance minister, said Malaysia’s economy had become strong and was on track and had been able to buck the external global economic trend.In the last quarter, Malaysia achieved a 6.4 per cent growth, indicating the resilience of the national economy.

“I can quote you the statistics that indicate the strong resilience of our national economy,” he said.“When we talk about benefits to the people from 2009 to 2011, our Gross National Income (GNI) per capita has grown from US$6,670 to US$9,970, roughly about 49 per cent.

“There is no country in the world that has achieved this kind of result.” On the BR1M, Najib dismissed allegations that it was an election gimmick and said it was part and parcel of the BarisanNasional’s economic strategy to assist the people.
Najib Razak said the government had been giving plenty of indirect subsidies to the people, especially in the form of fuel subsidies, which was open to abuse. "However, with BR1M, we are targetting only a selected group who need this help,” he said."We have to date spent RM3 billion on BR1M, but on fuel subsidies, we spend about RM30 billion annually.”He said BR1M had also helped the local economy get stronger by giving the people a little more spending power.

Asked when the next general election would likely be held, Najib Razak said it would be held within the ambit of the the Federal Constitution.

Najib appointed Selangor BN election chief

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will lead Barisan Nasional’s (BN) polls blitzkrieg in Selangor as its newly-appointed election director, state leaders decided yesterday, in a move that shows the pact’s determination to recapture the country’s richest and most industrialised state. Utusan Malaysia Online quoted Selangor BN coordinator Datuk Seri Mohd Zin Mohamed as confirming that the decision was made during a state BN meeting last night, where leaders strategised on the best formula to ensure Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is toppled in Selangor after Election 2013.

“The Prime Minister, who is also BN’s state chairman will lead the election machinery in Selangor and this shows his continuous efforts for the party, showing his confidence and his ‘hands on’ approach in Selangor,” he was quoted as saying. The Sepang MP also revealed that he would be helping Najib (picture) as his deputy elections director in terms of planning and mobilising the state’s election machinery.

BN lost the country’s wealthiest state and three others ― Perak, Kedah and Penang ― in a historic upset in Election 2008, when the federal opposition also captured 82 federal seats to deny the ruling coalition its customary two-third parliamentary majority.BN later took back Perak in an electoral putsch in February 2009 and has been working hard to unseat PR in Selangor.

In recent months, Najib, who is faced with the tough task of ensuring BN takes a comfortable majority in Election 2013, has been traversing the length and breadth of the country, spreading his pledges of reform and transformation as he urged Malaysians against changing the government.But observers believe the next electoral race may be neck-and-neck between BN and the fledgling PakatanRakyat (PR) pact, which has grown significantly in strength and numbers since its surprise victories in the last federal polls.

Much focus will be placed on Selangor, said to be the country’s engine of economic growth, where talk is that PR’s administration under first-term MentriBesar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim may not have performed well enough to sustain its 2008 support.PR currently has tenuous control over the country’s richest state and holds 36 seats in the 56-seat state assembly and 17 out of 22 parliamentary seats.

A swing of seven state seats towards BN in the next general election, which must be held by June, will allow the federal ruling pact to recapture Selangor with a simple majority.The 13th general election is expected by the second week of April, a month after Najib razak ends his “Janji Ditepati” (Promises Fulfilled) national tour and his BN completes its candidates list and manifestos, sources have said.The Malaysian Insider understands the prime minister’s last stop of the tour is in his Pekan parliamentary constituency on March 16, after which he is expected to meet the Yang di-Pertuan Agong and seek a dissolution of Parliament.

“The Election Commission (EC) normally sets polling day about three weeks after Parliament is dissolved, so we expect the earliest is mid-April,” a BN source told The Malaysian Insider.

There had been speculation that Parliament would be dissolved this week and a general election will be held by the end of March, more than five years after the last general election on March 8, 2008.The EC will set the polling date with a minimum 10-day campaign period and is expected to do so after Parliament and all state assemblies except Sarawak are dissolved. Sarawak had its state elections in 2011.The Malaysian Insider previously reported that the BNmanifesto will be ready by the end of this month while activists from the component parties have already started their ground work.

Najib Tun Razak's Contributions

The lifelong dream of Malaysia’s 6th Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak, is a united, peaceful and prosperous Malaysia, with abundant opportunities for all citizens. As the son of Malaysia’s second Prime Minister, the late Tun Abdul Razak, Najib was born into Malaysian politics. Najib grew up watching his father and knew the demands of mainstream politics, and he always knew that at some point in his life he wanted to serve his community and country. But the untimely passing of his father on January 14th, 1976, at the age of 54, suddenly thrust Najib into the spotlight. Five weeks after his father’s passing, Najib, at the age of 22, was elected to fill the Pekan vacancy, becoming the youngest Member of Parliament in Malaysia’s history. In 2004 he ascended to the second-highest office in the nation, Deputy Prime Minister, 47 years after his father’s appointment to the same post. His contribution is phenomenon.

Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak was born on July 23rd 1953 in Kuala Lipis, Pahang. He was educated at St. John’s Institution in Kuala Lumpur and Malvern Boy’s College in Worcestershire, England before earning a degree in Industrial Economics from Nottingham University. Returning to Malaysia in 1974, he entered the corporate world, serving briefly in Bank Negara (Central Bank) and later with PETRONAS (the national petroleum corporation) as a Public Affairs Manager. But the untimely death of Tun Abd Razak dramatically altered the course of his life.

NajibTun Razak brings Evolution

Najib Tun Razak quickly adapted to public life as a Member of Parliament, and soon found that the art of politics came naturally to him. Within a short time, the young Najib showed that he was a credible and capable politician and a leader in his own right. In his first year as an MP he was appointed Deputy Minister of Energy, Telecommunications and Posts, and later served as Deputy Minister of Education and Deputy Minister of Finance. In 1982 the nation’s new Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, placed Dato’s Sri Mohd Najib to contest the State Assembly seat of Pekan. Following Najib’s election victory, the 29-year-old Najib became the Menteri Besar of Pahang, the biggest state in Peninsular Malaysia. Pahang was at the time on the verge of a political crisis due to serious differences between the previous MB and the Sultan of Pahang. But Najib was not only a rising political star, he was one of the Four Noblemen of the Pahang Royal Court (by virtue of his inherited title as the Orang Kaya Indera Shahbandar) and he was warmly welcomed by the palace. The crisis quickly abated, ensuring the unity of Pahang UMNO whilst Najib embarked upon measures to strengthen education in the state. In 1982 Najib played a key role in establishing Yayasan Pahang, a foundation dedicated to promoting education and sports among the youth of Pahang through scholarships and funding. Najib strengthened state enterprises to maximize earnings from Pahang’s abundant natural resources. In cooperation with FELDA, the Federal Land Development Authority, he paved the way for the establishment of new land settlement schemes, 2 providing new income opportunities for those who were landless and in the lower income group. Najib’s appointment will definitely bring evolution in the country

NajibTun Razak’s Nation Building Initiatives

Dato’s Sri Mohd Najib became the deputy chief of UMNO Youth in 1982, and assumed the top job in the organization in 1987. In 1988, after a struggle for control of the party, a newly reconstituted UMNO came into being and Najib was appointed as Youth Chief, a post he held until 1993.

In the 1986 general elections Najib was returned as the Member of Parliament for Pekan, and was appointed as Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports. He immediately focused on improving Malaysian sports and introduced the National Sports Policy in 1988. In 1989 Malaysia achieved its best-ever performance at the South East Asia (SEA) Games, which were held that year in Kuala Lumpur.

NajibTun Razak believes in Social Justice

In 1991, Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib was appointed Minister of Defence. Najib revitalized a Ministry that was seen as lethargic and listless, and modernized the Malaysian Armed Forces through strategic capability enhancement, procurements and exercises. In 1995, Dato’ Sri Najib had a change in cabinet portfolio and was appointed Minister of Education. His challenge was to respond to Malaysia’s newly proclaimed aspiration to become a fully developed nation by the year 2020. During his five-year tenure, Najib put into place the mechanisms that would enable a generation of Malaysians to meet the challenges of the future. He restructured the Ministry, corporatized the public universities, and encouraged collaboration with foreign universities and institutions. This provided more educational opportunities for Malaysians and positioned Malaysia as a regional learning hub. Dato’ Sri Najib also upgraded teaching certificates to the status of diplomas, so that teachers in that category would receive a higher monthly starting salary.

NajibTun Razak promotes Security

In 1999, following the political turmoil of the year before, Najib won re-election to his Pekan Parliamentary seat. He was then appointed as Minister of Defence for the second time and resumed his efforts to improve and modernize the Malaysian Armed Forces. Upon his appointment in 2004 as Deputy Prime Minister, Dato’ Sri Najib was given a broad portfolio of responsibilities, including oversight of FELDA, the Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM), and the Election Commission. He also chairs more than 28 Cabinet Committees which preside over a wide range of issues. Dato’ Sri Najib is married to YABhg Datin Paduka Seri Rosmah Mansor, and is the proud father of five children. Being Defence minister his priority is to promote security for all Malaysians.

On April 3rd 2009, before the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak was appointed Prime Minister of Malaysia in a smooth handover from YAB Datuk Seri Abdullah Hj Ahmad Badawi

Najibpromotes Moderation

The concept of "wasatiyyah" or moderation as taught by Prophet Muhammad should prevail to ensure that the mission of building a progressive and competitive nation is achieved, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. In his message in conjunction with Prophet Muhammad's birthday celebration Thursday, Najib said the Prophet was a role model who practiced moderation in his life and the concept had brought about unity and solidarity of Muslims throughout the world."Moderation as practiced by the Prophet has resulted in creating the momentum to drive the development of each race and country in the world."Therefore, this momentum needs to continue to ensure our mission to build a progressive and competitive country is achieved," he said in his personal blog

NajibTun Razak’s National Policies

  On the era of Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak, some major policies was initiated by him. One of them is New Economic Model (NEM) which was unveiled on 30th March 2010. The aim of this policy is to change the ethnically based economy to all needed based economy where any ethnic can involve in a particular economy business which brings more competitive among them, more market and more investor. The main goal for this policy is to transform the Malaysian economy to become one with high income and quality growth. It also to simulate the productivity of workers across the all sectors of society. NEM seeks empower of private sectors and want to reduce the comparison between the wealthier and poorer Malaysian. NEM was initiated for replacing New Economy Plan (NEP). This NEM programme was supported and criticized by government parties, NGO and other sources too.

 The main policy Najib Tun Razak brought right after he become Malaysia’s sixth prime minister was initiating One Malaysia concept with “People First, Performance Now”. One Malaysia concept stresses more in national unity and ethnic tolerance where eight values were included, that is perseverance, a culture of excellence, acceptance, loyalty, education, humility, integrity and meritocracy. The important aspect in One Malaysia is to improve the quality of government services towards peoples.