DR ZAMBRY ABD KADIR: THE EFFORTS IN TRANSFORMING INTO A

DEVELOPED STATE

Salina binti Khalid Communication Officer, Chief Minister Office, Perak Darul Ridzuan Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

Since Dr Zambry Abd Kadir appointment as the 11th in February 2009, he has drawn a comprehensive transformation master plan. The Perak Amanjaya Master Plan is a long term development plan focusing not only on economic but also the social aspects. Through the master plan, Dr Zambry has spearheaded the state in the past six years, working closely with leaders and communities from all levels to transform the state towards achieving a fully developed status, in line with the National Vision 2020. The paper discusses the successes and challenges Dr Zamry faces, in his efforts to transform Perak into a developed state during his administrating the state in the past six (6) years and draws the way forward towards a developed state status for better quality of life of the Perakian. Key words: Amanjaya Master Plan, Social Challenges, Good Governance, Poverty Reduction

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Perak is one of the 13 states of . It is the second largest state in Malaysia Peninsular with 21,022km square or 2.1mil hectare, second to Pahang. It borders with and Yala Province of Thailand to the North, to the Northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the East and Selangor in the South. Perak was once known for its tin production. Half of the world tin production come from Perak. The state also known as the biggest contributor to Malaysia economic development for over 150 years, since the establishment of tin mining industry in the state in the early 1860’s.

In terms of administration, the state is divided into 10 administrative districts under the local administrative Municipal Councils. These districts are Hulu Perak in the north, Larut Matang and Selama, Kerian, , Kinta, Manjung, Kampar, Perak Tengah, Batang Padang and Hilir Perak. The is the Chairman of the State Constitution. Under the State Constitution, legislative power belongs to the Legislative Assembly. Appointed members of the Legislative Assembly will form the Executive Council

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(EXCO) which is headed by the Menteri Besar. The Menteri Besar holds executive power and the policy-making body of the state government. A Menteri Besar is appointed by the Sultan of the political party which won most seats in the Legislative Assembly.

Historically, Perak was the number one with the highest contributor for National Gross Domestic Product with sixty percent between 1957 and 1980. The state also recorded as the highest population in the country with 1.8 million people in 1980 (source economic planning unit) however, currently, the state population stands at 2.4mil (statistics 2012) with 53 percent (1.1million) being , 31 percent Chinese (0.7 million), 13 percent Indian (0.3million) and three percent of other races (0.03million). The state demographic is similar to the national demographic. So it is of no surprise that the state has been considered by many as the micro of the nation for its similarities.

However, Perak has lost its shine with the collapse of tin mining industry due to the exhaustion of tin deposit. It has affected the state’s economy greatly. Currently, Perak Gross Domestic Product contribution to the national worth RM39.6 billion, which is ranked at number seven. In terms of population size, Perak has gone down to number three with 2.4 million people. (Source: economic planning unit).

In efforts to alleviate the state’s status, the Perak administration lead by the Menteri Besar, YAB Dato’ Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir who came into power since Feb 2009, has taken several initiatives. These initiatives is hoped to not only bring recovery to the state’s socio-economy but also transform Perak into a developed status by the year of 2020.

2.0 METHODOLOGY

This study was mainly done based on observation, secondary data and information already collected from existing study and documents (softcopy and/or hardcopy) including face to face interview. These data and information form as inputs that was analyzed to identify the challenges face the state administration and further draw the recommendations to move forward.

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3.0 RESULTS 3.1 STATE DEVELOPMENT APPROACH AND PERAK AMANJAYA MASTER PLAN

As Perak aims at joining other states and national aspiration of becoming the developed state by the year 2020, an innovative Development Plan named “Amanjaya Master Plan” has been developed, to ensure inclusive and sustainable economic development.

3.2 AMANJAYA MASTER PLAN

In achieving the target of a developed state status by 2020, the state administrative under the helm of Dr Zambry, has drawn a comprehensive transformation master plan, as soon as he was appointed as the 11th Menteri Besar in February 2009. Submitted and approved by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) in 2010, the Perak Amanjaya Master Plan has been touted as the plan for the future development of the state. The master plan outlines three main objectives: quality opportunities, quality income and quality living. The rationale behind its 3Qs objective is to have a peaceful surrounding in order to succeed. It was created with the fully involvement of private sector and non-governmental organisations.

The name itself, Perak Amanjaya was given to reflect the state government’s commitment to bring peace, stability, progress and development to Perak. More importantly, Perak Amanjaya is developed under the premise of national initiatives 1Malaysia, Government Transformation Programme, Economic Transformation Plan and the 10th Malaysia Plan. The idea was not to reinvent but to align and support these national initiatives.

The master plan is built on the spirit of inclusiveness and sustainability towards creating a high income state by looking at the economic sectors. To achieve regional transformation, the state will introduce key projects and investments in the identified growth zones to catalyze development throughout the state.

Perak Amanjaya is a long term economic development plan not only focusing on economic but also the social aspects. In line with the National Key Result Area (NKRA) the Perak master plan encompasses seven main thrusts, namely balanced distribution and development; building a skilled and knowledgeable workforce and a society with integrity, using the state and government as a catalyst for growth; enhancing social unity network; enabling youth empowerment; fostering a sustainable private sector; and adopting environment-friendly practices. It is drawn to improve the quality of living and income in the

37 state and to generate greater opportunities for her people. It includes several focuses including the establishment of state GLCs (government-linked companies) to encourage businesses and investments, develop a k-economy (knowledge-based economy) and also going further into employee development. Various initiatives have been taken to move the state along the right direction, and later propel her towards achieving the vision. Economically, in 2010, Perak contributed nearly 5.4 percent to the overall GDP of Malaysia and records a per capita income (constant price) of RM 16,808. Given the continuous economic prosperity, with an annual growth rate of 5 percent to 7 percent between 1995 and 2010, living standards have increased significantly while poverty incident has declined drastically. In terms of sectorial composition, service sectors contribute nearly 66 percent to Perak’s GDP, while manufacturing contributes 18 percent and agriculture 14 percent, respectively. Perak is also highly depended on oil palm as main agriculture production. In fact, manufacturer of oil and fats is one of the leading industries in Perak in terms of value added contribution. Perak, nevertheless, is also able to drive its GDP through domestic demands in areas like retailing, construction, education, hotel and restaurants as well as food and beverages manufacturing. Structurally, Perak’s economy relies too much on the service sectors, in relative terms, compared to other states as well to the national level. It is evidence that to drive GDP the contribution of manufacturing is important and required the state to increase its share significantly. In addition, services largely depend on the manufacturing activities and the engine of growth should implicate maximum spillover effects that the service sectors are unable to provide.

Another significant move Dr Zambry had made was to set up a think-tank, the Institut Darul Ridzuan (IDR) to plan and implement various initiatives to assist the people of various aspects. Other GLCs (Government-Linked Companies) namely SADC (State Agriculture Development Corporation), MBInc (Menteri Besar Incorporated), KPerak which deals with knowledge and IT and InvestPerak which provides a one-stop centre for investors, have gone through transformational process accordingly to the Perak Amanjaya Master Plan. Transformation programme includes the restructuring of these state agencies - making the state looks attractive to investors, shorter waiting period and less red tape to make the state an investment friendly.

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3.3 ACHIEVEMENTS

Economic Development and Poverty Reduction

In term of poverty reduction programme, there is a clear reduction on hard core poor in Perak, from 2, 141 household (2009) to only 574 household (2010). Several programmes have been implemented to tackle vulnerable hard core poor.

The first thrust or the Key Result Area (KRA) of the master plan is to have a balances distribution and development in the state, ensuring equal distribution for all regardless of location and race. The implementation agencies that are involved in this KRA are Yayasan Bina Upaya Darul Ridzuan (YBU), the Agriculture Farmers Association Board (LPP), Agriculture Department, Orang Asli Development Department (JHEOA), Malaysia Co- operative Societies Commission (SKM) and Community Development Department (KEMAS).

As poverty is a pervasive and a continuous issue that transcends race and religion, the Perak Amanjaya Master Plan has listed out the initiative to tackle it as its first KRA. Thus the initiation of Yayasan Bina Upaya Darul Ridzuan (YBU), a foundation aims at alleviating poverty and implement community capacity building programmes to live to the slogan “Tiada Tertinggal, Tiada Terpinggir” (No one is left behind, no one is marginalized). One of such programmes to alleviate poverty is through micro credit.

As Dr Jeffrey D. Sachs, an American economist, wrote in his New York Times bestseller book entitled The End of Poverty:

“The key to ending poverty is to enable the poorest of the poor to get their foot on the ladder of development. The ladder of development hovers overhead, and the poorest of the poor are stuck beneath. They lack of minimum amount of capital necessary to get a foothold, and therefore need a boost up to the first rung”.

Through YBU, the state is able to provide the mean, a paradigm leap to the target group and enable them to escape from the claw of poverty. It empowers them to be better off economically. The core of the foundation’s activities is the micro-credit financing. It is a micro credit with a major impact which enables the qualified Perakians to get a small loan to start a variety of business including food, retailing as well as services. Since its inception late

39 in 2009 until 2013, a total of 2,703 recipients have benefitted from the scheme, valued at RM18.8 million. Each receives loan values range from RM1,000 to RM20,000. About 51 percent of the recipients are male with majority (71 percent) are Malays with 11 percent Chinese, 16 percent Indian and 2 percent are the Orang Asli.

The poverty eradication model adopted by YBU is currently being studied by many and followed by international countries.

Affordable Housing

Other programme conducted by the foundation is providing affordable housing for the Perakians, especially those of the lower and middle income bracket. The state with the cooperation from the federal and state agencies (Kemas, Welfare Department and YBU) are working together in tackling this issue. In addition to the existing e-Kasih database, which is created at the national level to collect data of poor family as part of the efforts to implement and monitor poverty programs needed, the recipients were also identified by the state agencies and through reports received during regular site visits conducted by the Menteri Besar himself. This includes families that have fall victim to natural disaster such as flood and fire, single mother, family with special children and families who lost their income. Names from both listings are then verified and screened to identify their need whether for a new house or just repair work to the existing home. Since 2009 until 2013, the state through YBU has built 397 new houses and repaired 798 houses worth RM13.2 million. In 2012, a new housing scheme for those qualified families with land to build a house was introduced. Dubbed as SRIA (Amanjaya Housing Scheme), an initial allocation of RM10million was injected for the scheme. It is expected to benefit 180 families. The scheme enables these families of a household with monthly income up to RM3,000 to get a house built on their own land with an interest free loan of a monthly installment about RM200 for a duration up to 20 years. This type of houses are priced at RM52,200 each, inclusive of legal fees and insurance. Other housing projects for the people are Special Projek Perumahan Rakyat (Housing for the People of Perak) built by the state government. The ground breaking for the first project in Buntar was done in September 2012 and the project is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Houses for this scheme is sold to the qualified families at a subsidized rate. There are also housing projects for the ex-army and police with the project located in . Together with Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB), the state is building between 300 and 500 houses a year for the target group. The initiatives done by

40 the state is not limited to housing. As poverty transcend beyond race and colour, the state has also provide food items and one-off financial assistance for families during festive seasons.

The end of mining industry in the state has forced the state administration to look for alternative resources. Instead of searching for other natural resources, Dr Zambry has decided to tap into the knowledge-based economy (k-economy). The state is transforming itself into a national powerhouse, focusing on k-economy, information, technology and even the automotive sector.

One of the efforts is in the development of small towns (small town development project) throughout the state. The State Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) has been given the task to develop these small towns. For the initial phase, 14 small towns have been identified for the project. These township such as Lawin, Ayer Kuning, Trong, Changkat Ladam Batu Kurau, Ijok, and Kati now have new commercial area, new and improved road system for the local community. These small towns provide a platform for small and medium size enterprises to conduct their businesses as well as serve as a catalyst for economic growth. More small towns will be developed under the second phase which is currently under planning.

The Perak Amanjaya transformation plan initiated in 2009, has propelled the state forward to deliver encouraging results socially and economically. Since 2009 until 2012, the state under Dr Zambry leadership, has recorded an economic growth of 7.1 percent and considered as amongst the highest behind Melaka and Kuala Lumpur (7.2 percent). Selangor’s economic growth also records 7.1 percent. The projection is higher than estimated of 5.5 percent in 2012. The contribution to the National GDP was 5.6 percent in 2012 which is higher than Penang (5 percent). The state has recorded an average household income growth from 7.2 percent in 2009 to 7.8 percent in 2012, with the National level stood at 7.2 percent. In 2009 the average household income in Perak was RM2,809 but in 2012 it went up to RM3,548 (source: Economic Planning Unit).

The master plan also proposed a Regional Growth Plan, identifying five economic zones located in Hulu Perak (eco-tourism), Beriah Valley (eco-tourism, agriculture), Manjung (maritime, agriculture, tourism) and Ulu Bernam (automotive) with Kinta Valley (renewable energy, agriculture, food industry and tourism) in the centre and consisting of

41 nine growth corridors in between these zones. The 3D Regional Growth Plan is part of the World Bank Reshaping Economic Geography model whose 3D goal is aimed at reducing the distance, creating density and narrowing division for the purpose of speeding-up development.

The transformation of Perak into a k-economy includes plans to develop the state as an education hub, in line with the establishment of a growing list of both private and public universities, including Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) in Bandar Seri Iskandar, two Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) campuses Bandar Seri Iskandar and , TAR College in Kampar, Quest International University in and the upcoming establishment of the SEGi Enclave in Ipoh. Kampar, Ipoh and Tronoh has been earmarked as an educational triangle. Historically the state was known for best schools in the country with list such as Universiti Perguruan Sultan Idris (UPSI) and the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK). Potential students who come from poor family background receive various assistance from the state. In addition to scholarship and study loan to the qualified students, those who come from families with household incomes of less than RM1,500 will get a ‘one-off’ financial aid between RM300 and RM1,200 for university registration fee. The state is also allocating at an average of RM1million per year to provide free tuition for Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mathematics, Science and History since 2009 to UPSR, PMR and SPM candidates from rural areas. More than 80,000 students have been benefitted for this programme.

Employment

In 1985, the total human resources were 713,100 people and declined to 706,800 people in 1990 and continued to decline in 1995 (659,900 people) but thereafter it started to rise and in 2010 the number of human resources in Perak were 905,900 persons with participation rate of labour around 60 percent. The unemployment rate in Perak showed a downward trend, from 6.1 percent in 1985, declined to 3.5 percent in 2000 and fell to 3.3 percent in 2005 and continued to fall to 3.2 percent in 2010 suggesting that Perak has been in full employment position.

Generally, in Perak, there is evidence that labour force is slowly shifting to attain higher education qualification. Those without any formal education in the labour force participation dwelled from 81,100 persons in year 1985 to 39,900 persons in year 1995 and 20,800 persons in 2010. It dropped from 11.4 percent in 1985 to 2.3 percent in 2010, a sign that is important for the industrial progress. Similarly, there is an increasing trend for those

42 with secondary and tertiary. However, if there is any drastic industrial expansion, especially for labour intensive sectors, Perak may require more workforces. Perak is encouraging population migration from other states, particularly the states of Kedah and Kelantan.

As the state government’s efforts to produce skilled and knowledgeable workforce, various programmes have been created for the target group. It includes entrepreneurial courses for youth. A job placement agency, PeKA, was created to serve as a match making platform between employer and the suitable potential employee was created in 2011, working closely with employment agencies like Jobstreet, Since its inception, more than 17,000 people have benefitted from the centre with majority found employment in factories, insurance companies and retail outlets. The centre also provides grooming services for job interviews for the candidates.

To engage the youth, a hub for youth to conduct activities and share information with peers dubbed as PORT (People of Remarkable Talent). PORT provides venue for the youngsters to conduct, take part and exchange information about activities especially music, arts and IT. Dr Zambry himself is actively involved in sports activities like football and cycling. Such activities are being held on weekly basis with different group of community.

Governance & Justice

The service delivery system is experiencing transformation that is essential for national competitiveness and prosperity. Based on Perak Amanjaya Development Plan, state and local government as the catalyst for economic development growth that is supported by the efficient delivery system. The latest challenge is to make the public service more responsive, accountable and business-friendly. This has led to a number of policies being introduced to ensure the continued relevance of the public service delivery. Public sector transformation has been introduced to en ensure the delivery of public goods beyond the public expectation and to spearhead the country and Perak to meet even greater political, economic, technological and social challenges for the future. The national Integrity Plan was also introduced to reinvent the future through good governance. All these policies are to strengthen the efficiency and integrity of local and state authorities to better serve the public.

One of the common complaints received in dealing with the public administration is the bureaucracy. As soon as Dr Zambry was appointed as the Menteri Besar in the early 2009, one of his main focuses was on creating a stronger governance model to ensure

43 effective and efficient delivery services to the people of Perak. He has introduced a new working culture in the public service. Continuously emphasizing on the importance of accountability and their responsibilities to deliver the services as promised, he managed to transform the working culture. A distinct improvement is the delivery system at the District and Land’s Office’s land administration process. The land status change procedure, which took from 18 months prior 2009 to complete to one hour currently.

Instead of once in every two weeks previously, the Executive Council (EXCO) meetings is held on a weekly basis. Working hand in hand with all department heads, the meeting can last the whole day, to clear all the files. Up to date, the state administrative has no backlog of files which enable the executive councilors to go down to the district offices to find unsolved cases.

In reaching out to the people, Dr Zambry has implemented the 3P approach, providing service to the people through his 3P concept ( Padang, Perasaan and Penyelesaian or 3F - Field, Feel and Fill). The programme brings leaders to the ground to understand the people problems and find the solutions. The 3P programme has been held in stages, from the Parliamentary level to the smaller villages. The two-day programmes allow leaders to mingle with the rakyat by attending various activities designed for people of all walks of life. The activities during the programme includes sports, religious, motivational talks and cooking demonstrations. Mobile clinic dubbed as Klinik Dr Zambry is also available to provide a platform for the local community to voice out their problems to the relevant departments. At the same time, a Meet The People session is being held on every Tuesdays where people can come over to the State Secretariat building to lodge a complaint or get assistance on problems they faced with the authority. Since initiated in 2009, more than 25,000 people had attended the session.

4.0 KEY CHALLENGES AND THE WAY FORWARD

The state is making steady progress and solid gains; however there are more the state can do and cope with challenges that continue to manifest themselves. These include the following:-

1. Middle Income Trap - which suggested that some fast-growing economies sometimes face a 'middle-income trap', suffering from a period of slow growth or even stagnation well before converging with advanced states. Based on history, many developing economies appear to have suffered a growth slowdown on

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reaching middle-income status. It has been suggested that the trap is due to rising wages and prices causing loss of competitiveness in basic industries. In the case of Perak and Malaysia it is also associated with cheap foreign labours which hinder technology upgrading by industry. Political instability and economic mismanagement can also be the other causes of this scenario. Perak needs to maintain our political stability and invest in building a quality capital base from which to raise the workforce's growth potential. Catch-up growth is then the process by which Perak state needs to do to achieve a stable and constant high growth rate, simply by diversifying our businesses, industries and techniques. Industries such as food processing, textiles, chemicals, electronics, auto parts, information and communication technologies (ICT) and/or call centres are some of the industries used by Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, to show how catch-up worked. However it should be noted that catch-up success is not guaranteed -- it still requires financial and business acumen, market development and quality workforce that will adapt to change and up-skill quickly. Building a high-quality education system which encourages creativity and supports breakthroughs in science and technology is the keys to success, as proven in South Korea and Japan. 2. Economic Resilience - Economists have accepted for years that national economies do not grow steadily and continuously. Instead, economic activity tends to be dynamic, with periods of relatively rapid growth followed by periods of stagnation, contraction or recession. However, we need to make sure that the economy and income generated to become more resilience to these changes and negative impact of global economic downturn. Economic resilience is the ability of the local economy to retain function, employment and prosperity in the face of the instability caused by local, national and global economic uncertainty. For Perak’s economy to be resilience, we need to understand the dynamic nature of our business and economic sector and be able and willing to adapt to sudden and large changes to the environment. Considerable emphasis need to be given on the flexibility of the free market, and whether fiscal policies need to place greater weightage on steady and predictable economic growth resulting in a less volatile and more resilient economy. 3. By making the economic more resilience, we are sustaining the state economic growth. The real challenge is then to have a model of development which is

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economic and ecologically sustainable and socially stable. Attempts are being made world over to integrate sustainability in present model. The moves towards environmental taxes, stringent environment laws, global treaties of conservation, drive towards incentivizing use of resource and energy efficient technologies, push for so called green economy are all the attempts in this direction. All these attempts have the underlying logic which is to have sustainable economic growth, improvement in the quality of life and standard of living & enhanced job creation. It is about the people and society as a whole. 4. Another challenge is to promote and strive towards a Low Carbon Economy. A Low-Carbon Economy (LCE), Low-Fossil-Fuel Economy (LFFE) or Decarbonised Economy is an economy that promotes minimal output of green-house gases (GHG) and carbon dioxide emissions into the environment. GHG emissions due to human activities are increasingly either causing climate change and global warming or making climate change worse. We are concerned about the negative impacts of climate change on humanity in the foreseeable future. The aim of a LCE is to integrate all aspects of human life which are the economic activities such as manufacturing, agriculture, transportation, and power-generation; technologies, machines and devices that produce energy and materials with little GHG emission, and, thus, built environment such as buildings and infrastructures. All those mentioned need to use energies and materials efficiently, and, dispose of or recycle its wastes so as to have a minimal output of GHGs. 5. Economic development together with natural resource conservation and social development need to be harmonized and integrated in order to achieve sustainable development. Economic development can be based on a combination of private businesses, decentralized democratic cooperatives, publicly owned enterprises, and alternative economic structures. Human and ecological needs will be given equal emphasis alongside profits in measuring success, while maintains accountability to communities. 6. Improving the public sector services delivery which stress on the efficiency and integrity, competent leadership, high level of professionalism and increase in the revenue of local and state authorities are another challenge that need to be emphasized. These factors are essential in order to have strong financial and

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integrity basis to support the state government in creating new economic growth or new catalyst in Perak. 7. Improvement the Roles of farmer institutions especially the Area Farmers Organization is essential in order to increase the standard of living and quality of life among farmers and agriculture workers in Perak.

8. Finally, the management of state data and statistics on socio-economic sectors need to be monitored closely so that accurate evaluation and effective policies can be formulated for the betterment of Perakian. The use of the state-of-the art tools and technology along with precise socio economic data can helped the state economists to plan the right economic growth and development for Perak.

REFERENCES

Abdullah Sanusi Ahmad, Norma Mansor and Abdul Kuddus Ahmad. The Malaysian Bureaucracy: Four Decades of Developmen. Selangor: Prentice Hall, 2003. Loh, Deborah. "Perak Crisis Timeline." Quay, Audrey. Perak: A State of Crisis. Selangor: LoyarBurok Pulications, 2010. xix - xxix. Piccolo, R.F., & Colquitt, J.A. "Transformational Leadership and Job Behaviors: The Mediating Role of Core Job Characteristics." Academy of Management Journal 49.2 (2006): 327-340. Sachs, Jeffrey D. The End of Poverty:Economic Possibilities for Our Time. New York: Penguin Press, 2005.

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