Husni: Malaysians ‘wrong’ to abandon country

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani - The Malaysian Insider

Some 300,000 Malaysians left the country last year. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 — Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah today criticised Malaysians who have emigrated, saying it was “wrong” and insinuating that they were betraying the sacrifices of their forefathers.

Husni, who is second finance minister, explained that “our forefathers” settled here because they believed that their children would have a future in Malaysia.

“You and me, our children, we build our lives here and we have our homes here. This is our homeland. I get very sad when I hear we have people migrating to foreign shores. To me, this is wrong.

“Our forefathers have come here, many years ago, bearing much hardship and deprivation. Why did they endure this? Because they believed that their future generations will reap the fruits of having to live on this blessed land,” he said in his speech when launching the Annual Real Estate Agent Convention 2010 at PWTC here.

He then went on to dismiss public complaints as mere “discomfort”.

“There is much here to strive for, there are many reasons to stay. Our fathers have given up so much and they went through so much. Surely, our complaints are merely discomfort compared to their sacrifices.

“Let us build our future in this homeland of ours and work hard together to make things better,” he said.

Husni stressed that the government has always ensured that Malaysians are able to own their own homes.

“It has always been the government’s policy to ensure that every Malaysian is able to own his or her own home. Home-ownership is one of the most fundamental and basic tenets of a market economy.

“We do not want to see the establishment of a landlord class nor do we wish to see the prices of homes being out of reach for the average Malaysian.

“We do not want houses to be the subject of reckless speculation and the rise of an inflationary asset bubble. Every Malaysian must have every opportunity to own a home as a basis of his domestic comfort and financial security,” he said.

Husni pointed that government policies have made Malaysia into the country with the largest number of middle-class homeowners in the region.

“All these years, we have seen home-ownership grow tremendously amongst all races.

“Malaysia, in fact, has the largest number of middle-class homeowners in Southeast Asia. This, you will not get if you are a citizen of any other Asean country,” he said.

Husni also emphasised that he is confident the country will be able to reach the targeted five per cent economic growth for 2010.

He added that the Najib administration has always been a “listening government.”

“I want to let you know that you have a listening government. This government listens. We heard your voice in regards to the RPGT (real property gains tax). We responded accordingly.

“The prime minister had announced on De 23 last year that the five per cent RPGT would now only be imposed on properties sold within five years from the date of its purchase. I hope this is okay with all of you,” he said.

Malaysians bought up 20pc of several high-end property projects in UK and Australia. — Reuters pic

With many high-end condominium projects being launched in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysians were still opting to invest in foreign properties, especially in the UK and Australia.

These include projects such as the Lumiere Residences in Sydney, which is priced between A$1.16 million (RM3.59 million) to A$2.88 million (RM8.91 million) and the Waterline House and Woodberry Park apartments in London that start at £340,000 (RM1.856 million) and £199,950 (RM1.1 million) respectively. From a news report, Malaysians made up 20 per cent of all buyers in November last year.

According to sources, one Kuala Lumpur office of a London-based real estate agency managed to garner sales of UK properties worth £70 million (RM382 million) last year and expects to do £140 million (RM764 million) this year.

Meanwhile, the Australian Trade Commission says Malaysians invested about A$4.9 billion (RM15.3 billion) in Australian property in 2008.

The amount invested in overseas property also suggests a continuing trend of brain and money drain from the country, as those who can afford to purchase property in Australia and UK tend to be educated and skilled and many do so with an eye on migration, either for themselves or for their children.

It also contributes to the outflow of capital from Malaysia, which has exceeded inflows for the past decade.

However, interest in these real estate markets is not only limited to Malaysians but has become a trend among Asians, led by China.