So the figure has been revealed. Malaysia’s only Fortune 500 company group profit before taxes, royalties, dividends and export duties amounted to RM570 billion for the period from its establishment in 1974 to 31 March 2007.
If you include the figure for the period until 31 March 2008, then you are probably looking at a figure closer to RM700 billion, with the higher oil prices.
Let’s see the breakdown of that RM570 billion:
Payments to the government (royalties, export duties, taxes and dividends) – RM359 billion
Allocations for shareholders, royalties and taxes abroad – RM41 billion
Profits re-invested in Malaysia’s only Fortune 500 company – RM170 billion
Total RM570 billion
(In case you are wondering where I got these figures from, they are from an oral response in Parliament to a question put forward to the Prime Minister by the MP for Bagan, Lim Guan Eng.)
So the government has received RM359 billion from Malaysia’s only Fortune 500 company over the years. If we include the year ended 31 March 2008, the figure would be in the RM400 billion range.
The big question is, has the government made the best use of all that money? You and I know the answer to that. If the money had been used effectively, we could have provided affordable housing for everyone in this land, invested in an excellent public transport system and come up with a first class public health care system providing universal access to all Malaysians
But have we? Look how much has been wasted and squandered over the years. Think of all the natural gas subsidies dished out by Malaysia’s only Fortune 500 company to the Independent Power Producers (private electricity companies), which have been raking in billions in profits over the years. (And now they want to reduce the subsidies for ordinary Malaysians.) Think of the billions spent on bailing out banks. And remember the colossal sums spent on building Putrajaya, building the Twin Towers, hosting the Malaysian Grand Prix, sponsoring the racing teams and setting up the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. All this while there are people without homes of their own, without a balanced and nutritious diet, without electricity and water in rural schools…
It is truly a lost opportunity, considering that we will soon become a net importer of oil in a few years’ time.
Meanwhile, ordinary Malaysians have no access to Malaysia’s only Fortune 500 company’s detailed accounts. Where is the accountability and transparency in the use of these massive amounts of public funds?
Just a thought, will we ever regret the the sins of our fathers? – Jasmine.
ps – Yeah, I said no muse so no postings for a while… But this was just THE epiphany that hit me in the morning traffic… And y’all know who is Malaysia’s only Fortune 500 company…
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RantCushion 
It is quite unfortunate that being a country rich with natural resources and having sovereign control of such resources, we are yet to become a “First World Country”. But the irony is, to become a “First World” you don’t actually need all the physical infrastructure that we have. What we need is the institutional and moral infrastructure such as a free, fair and independent judiciary; freedom of expression, religion and association; a civic minded society that embrace pluralism and accept differences. A universal access to safety, health and education is also essential to such status. These are what we have forgotten to build.
In the end, it is up to us to collectively change and decide our path as a nation.