NTP: Need for a balanced report

IT is most heartening to read that the National Transformation Programme has borne fruit and propelled the economy towards achieving the status of a high-income nation.
This claim is supported by an array of statistical data such as the GDP, GNI, mean household income, investments, jobs created as well as some subjective analysis such as reduction in crime and poverty rates as well as customers' satisfaction.
These are valid markers that can be used to indicate the health of the economy. By themselves these macro figures may not be able to present the true situation for they only deal in averages.
What was presented was one side of the story, mainly the macro perspective. There is a need to balance it with the micro aspects and other macro attributes that counterbalance the positive appraisal.
There is no doubt that the NTP has borne fruit but the benefits are not equitably distributed. For example, the national transport plan with reference to the LRT is confined mainly to the Klang Valley. Other urban areas and rural enclaves suffer from vehicular congestion and connectivity. It is worse in the hinterlands of Sabah and Sarawak where the main form of connectivity is riverine and dirt road posing problems in connecting towns and villages.
Likewise, according to Bank Negara, 30% of people living in cities and nearby areas have an income below the mean national income. A mean national income is an average figure and the almost RM7,000 cited as GNI does not mean every citizen earns that amount of money. The M40 (Middle 40%) and B40 (Bottom 40%) may earn anywhere between RM1,000 and RM9,000 and the elites earn millions. So, when you add this income disparity and divide by the number of wage earners you get the average. There may be other statistical tools to correlate this figure but it does not show the actual situation.
Another element that is absent in the report is equating the numerical income to its purchasing power. What is important is the real money value, that is the amount of goods one could get with the numerical figure. Thus, the real money value is the more appropriate determinant of a high or low-income nation. Therefore, to just state a numerical figure as an indicator of high-income nation is misleading.
The computation of GDP, GNI, mean monthly income, investments are theoretically sound and do give an indication of the state of the economy as would the appraisals by rating agencies. But just relying on these figures to indicate a prosperous economy may not relay the actual situation.
Living conditions in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and the main cities may support the prosperity these statistics suggest. But beyond these affluent boundaries different economic paradigms and visuals emerge; among these are pictures of families trying to eke out a living in the face of increasing prices, stagnant salaries and the erosion of the purchasing power.
There is a need for a balanced report on the National Transformation Programme that would also highlight the economic conditions of the B40 and M40 rather than to insinuate a healthy economy by mentioning the decline of poverty and crime rate, increase in investments and the number of jobs.
We would like the NTP to succeed but its implementation has to be assessed in an accountable and ethical manner with the report showing both strengths and weaknesses. An honest evaluation would get the people's support. And more important the report should show how the plans have affected the middle- and lower-income groups. It is a question of accountable and ethical governance.
Mohamed Ghouse Nasuruddin
Penang