Rafidah: You can't 'click' a cure for an ailing economy

KUALA LUMPUR: There is no such things as a cure-all or an instant cure for an ailing economy with the setting up of just one council, says former minister Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz.

Rafidah, who sits on the newly formed Economic Action Council (EAC) under the purview of the Prime Minister, said that no one should put too much hope in one council.

"Nobody should ever claim that one council would enable us to cure everything. That is being silly.

"You must remember we've always had councils. Every prime minister had their own economic councils. But were they effective?

"The ones I sat in were effective. It got the whole country out of debt of the despair of the Asian financial 1997 crisis.

"For the sake of God, remember that. Not much publicity and no hoo-ha. We had meetings every evening. No need (to) hoo-ha over this council (EAC).

Rafidah said you could have 100 people in a council and it could still end up being a talk shop.

"What we need are core people who can sit down and honestly, with integrity, contribute ideas on how to strategise for this country. Everything should be for the people.

"Politics should be for development. If it is for self-interest, it is greed. To be in the government is like national service. Just to talk, that's not me," said Rafidah.

"We must make sure the remedial measures are put in place. The last 10 years, so many breakdowns. Don't talk about leaping or moving forward if the remedial measures are not put in place.

"It is like a series of chemotherapy when treating cancer.

"There must be a report on what has been done and what remedial measures have been put in place.

"As for the public, please be fair, they took 10 years to take the wheels off, and you want a new government to repair everything in 10 months?" asked Rafidah, who said people who were used to instant connectivity had no patience.

"The click generation is impatient. We cannot google economic remedies and it comes out for us just by clicking. It is not easy (to cure the economy) as we were left with dry coffers and liabilities of billions.

"I forget how many zeroes. We need to strategise," she said.

Rafidah was speaking to the media after a cheque presentation to underprivileged families with children with cancer organised by the National Cancer Society of Malaysia (NCSM).

The honorary patron of NCSM said that the government must stop labelling the underprivileged.

"Do not slot people into groups into B40, B20. Don't treat people like bicycles - just say underprivileged. Let us be more humane about this.

"A sick person is sick. A billionaire who is sick is just as sick as a poor person who is sick but a billionaire can afford treatment at the Mayo clinic (in the US). A person from Kuala Kangsar somewhere needs free service.

The Prime Minister's Office set up the EAC on Feb 11, with the PM as the chair.

The 16-strong council which includes former ministers and top economists and financial advisors, will scrutinise and make decisions regarding economic and financial affairs, as well as the welfare of the people.