GE13 - BN Manifesto Highlights

Following are the highlights of the Barisan Nasional (BN) manifesto launched by Prime Minister and BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil tonight.

The manifesto, themed 'A Promise of Hope', contains the coalition's pledges designed to lift the country to new heights if given a fresh mandate in the upcoming 13th general election:

1. Easing the Cost of Living:
* Increasing BR1M up to RM1,200 for households and RM600 for singles while maintaining it on an annual basis
* Increasing 1Malaysia Book Vouchers to RM300 and Schooling Aid to RM150
* Revamping the National Automotive Policy to gradually reduce car prices by 20 to 30 per cent and increasing the competitiveness of the national cars
* Increasing the number of Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia
* Introducing 1Malaysia products in petrol stations and hypermarkets
* Opening Klinik 1Malaysia in high-density housing communities
* Setting up more 1Malaysia Daycare Centres for working parents
* Lowering broadband fees by at least 20 per cent with guaranteed bandwidth
* Introducing 1Country 1Price policy for essential goods
* Introducing more 1Malaysia products driven by GLCs and the private sector
  
2. Uplifting Urban Well-being:

* Restructuring the government, including setting up a new ministry to reflect the pronounced urban shift in the country's demographic pattern and address urban economic and social challenges
* Increasing representation of members of the NGOs and civil society in local government
* Rehabilitating low-cost houses and flats in the cities
* Undertaking the maintenance of public housing infrastructure
* Providing quality public housing catering specifically for the younger generation of job seekers
*Providing recreational areas and facilities to enhance the quality of life in urban centres
*Ensuring sufficient educational, training and health services and facilities
*Improving the transportation links between urban centres and their outlying areas
* Opening more Anjung Singgah shelters (temporary shelters for the homeless) in high demand areas

3. Access to Quality Health Services:

* Developing a national system that will provide every Malaysian with access to quality healthcare
* Establishing a Heart Centre and Cancer Centre in major hospitals in every zone - North, South, East & West Peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak
* Providing public facilities for dialysis treatment in every high-density area
* Introducing a card-carrying system for Malaysians with special needs to provide for discounted prices of specific medications
* Introducing a support system for palliative home care for the aged and terminally ill

4. Towards Greater Efficiency in Public Transportation:

* Expanding the Rapid Bus System to every state capital, complete with facilities for the aged and disabled
* The continued expansion of the MRT, LRT and Commuter rail systems
* Building integrated bus, rail and taxi terminals in all towns and cities
  - Re-routing bus routes to ensure more efficient and accessible services for the rakyat
* Increasing individual taxi permits
* Implementing the national high speed rail network and expanding the double tracking railway system

5. World Class Infrastructure Development and Rural Transformation:

* The rapid expansion of the North-South Expressway with more lanes and exit points
* Building a 2,300-km Pan Borneo Highway stretching from Semantan, Sarawak, to Serudung, Sabah
* Extending the East Coast Highway from Kuala Krai-Kota Baharu & Gambang-Segamat
* Constructing a new West Coast Highway from Banting to Taiping
* The gradual reduction of intra-city tolls
* Implementing the 21st Century Village concept to spur rural transformation and bring the rural community into the mainstream of development
* Building another 6,300km of paved roads in peninsular Malaysia, 2,500km in Sabah and 2,800km in Sarawak to benefit an estimated 3.3 million people
* Solving the treated water supply problem in Selangor, the Federal Territory and Kelantan
* Extending the supply of clean water to another 320,000 homes throughout the country
* Expanding electricity supply to another 6,000 homes in the peninsula, 60,000 in Sabah and 80,000 in Sarawak
* Compelling service providers to ensure quality mobile phone services and reliable wireless access coverage throughout the country
  
6. Strengthening Women's Participation:

* Increasing the number of women participating in national decision-making
* Promoting gender equality to maximise the potential of Malaysians in all fields, regardless of gender
* Providing more business and income-generating opportunities for women to provide them a greater sense of independence
* Creating more incentives for work-from-home initiatives, with greater emphasis on single mothers
* Opening 1Malaysia Daycare Centres in all GLCs and government offices and encouraging the private sector to do the same
* Tightening laws to prevent incidents of sexual abuse and harassment in homes and in the workplace

7. Building a Resilient, Dynamic and Innovative Economy:

* Attracting RM1.3 trillion worth of investments and creating 3.3 million new jobs, of which 2 million will be in high income sectors
* Building towards achieving per capita income of USD$15,000 (RM45,000) by 2020
* Providing special incentives for innovative and creative ventures to generate more wealth and jobs
* Implementing policies that are fair and equitable to all races in Malaysia including pro-growth policies, greater participation of the private sector & development of the capital market
* Enhancing the effectiveness of the bumiputera agenda, including bumiputeras in Sabah & Sarawak, by providing business opportunities, a stronger eco-system (e.g. training & credit facilities) and institutional support)
* Working with state governments to allocate more land & increase productivity of existing land to enhance food and livestock production
* Reforming the existing tax structure towards a more broad-based tax system and gradually reducing personal and corporate tax
* Continuing special cash payments and development & operational funding exceeding 20 per cent of oil and gas revenue to Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu, Kelantan & Pahang
* Implementing a plan for the transformation of SMEs and establishing a National Trading Company to source overseas markets for SMEs products
* Creating & promoting more global and regional champions
* Ensuring GLCs continue to develop entrepreneurs by divesting non-strategic GLCs and increasing outsourcing programmes for bumiputera companies
* Providing RM500 million in seed funding to increase the equity of the Indian Community to at least three per cent
* Setting up a Special Unit to ensure the successful implementation of policies for the upliftment of the Indian community
* Increasing access to micro credit for all Malaysians, including RM100 million for hawkers and petty traders

8. Building towards Educational Excellence:

* Bringing Malaysia into the "top third category" of the best education systems in the world by improving the quality of national schools
* Improving the command of Bahasa Malaysia and English among students from the pre-school level, and making English a compulsory SPM pass subject in all schools
* Improving access to quality education for the rural and minority communities, especially in Sabah and Sarawak
* Providing more merit-based scholarships, with special provisions for disadvantaged communities
* Continuing special allocations to all types of schools including SKs, SJKCs, SJKTs, Sekolah Agama Bantuan Kerajaan, MRSM, Sekolah Berasrama Penuh and Mission Schools
* Expanding Single Session Schooling
* Revamping Teacher Training Colleges and raising the qualification bar for trainee teachers
* Introducing a simplified teaching and learning system for BM in Chinese and Tamil schools
* Building more schools of all types in areas of high demand
* Enhancing performance in Mathematics and Science, and developing higher order thinking skills in students
* Providing financial incentives of RM100,000 per annum for schools with classes for Special Needs children
* Converting SJKTs that wish to change status, into fully aided schools
* Setting up ICT labs in all schools that require them
* Transforming vocational schools into colleges and increasing enrolment to 20 per cent of the student population
* Expanding pre-school education to cover all types of schools
* Providing new career pathways to allow performance-based fast tracking promotion of 420,000 teachers
* Providing free and guaranteed Broadband Wifi on all campuses of public institutions
* Introducing a laptop ownership scheme in all schools bundled with Internet access

9. Enhancing Security and Public Safety:

* Boosting PDRM omnipresence with additional 4,000 police personnel per year
* Lighting up streets, alleys and lanes to further reduce street crime
* Strengthening the PDRM Motorcycle Patrol Unit by 5,000 vehicles
* Upgrading the welfare, professionalism and capability of the police, armed forces and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency
* Enhancing the total capability of the armed forces to deal with any form of incursion and external threat
* Maintaining and strengthening the police commission
* Using the 6P system to curb the influx of illegal foreigners
* Creating the Safecam Programme to link up private and public CCTV systems
* The extensive expansion of CCTV monitoring for high traffic public areas such as car parks, recreational areas, night markets and schools
* Introducing security initiatives in public housing schemes
* Enrolling an additional 50,000 police volunteer reserves to assist PDRM in patrolling and keeping streets safe

10. Nurturing Youth:

* Providing funding, training and incentives for youth-centric commercial ventures.
* Providing commercial space within shopping complexes one day in every month for youths to exhibit and market their creative products and services
* Establishing incubators to nurture quality leadership and creativity
* Creating a more resilient youth through active volunteerism in 1M4U
* Providing more free WIFI hotspots, with particular emphasis on rural and semi-urban areas
* Producing more high performance athletes at regional and international levels and promoting a more healthy lifestyle
* Revisiting laws pertaining to entertainment for the promotion of performing arts and culture

11. Weaving a Network of Social Safety Nets:

* Streamlining and improving safety net assistance through a unified database system
* Providing financial assistance and educational opportunities for lower income earners irrespective of race
* Turning Brickfields into a blind-friendly zone to serve as a model for future zones throughout the country catering to other sections of the disabled
* Setting up special courts with the same status as High Courts under the present justice system, whereby judges will be assisted by assessors chosen from among community heads, to deal specifically with NCR issues
* Gazetting all native customary land in close consultation with state governments
* Providing more income-generating opportunities within indigenous communities and increasing the intake of indigenous youth into tertiary and vocational education
* Providing funds for registered NGOs and Civil Society Movements

12. Promoting Islam, Religious Freedom and Harmony:

* Upholding Islam as the religion of the Federation and promoting the Syiar and Syariat of Islam in accordance with the principles of Maqasid Syariah
* Ensuring that other religions can be practiced in peace and harmony
* Assigning jurisdiction over non-Muslim matters to a Minister in the Prime Minister's Department
* Promoting the principles of moderation (Wasatiyyah) in all undertakings
* Increasing initiatives in uniting the ummah
* Unlocking income from developing wakaf land in cooperation with State Religious Authorities
* Increasing tax exemption for contributions to the construction, expansion and upkeep of places of worship
* The continuance of allocating land for the building of places of worship
* Providing more financial assistance to registered religious institutions and places of worship
* Promoting the welfare of Imams, mosque officials and guru-guru Kafa by providing service-based salaries and increments
* Upgrading the quality of Sekolah Agama Rakyat and allowing their students access to quality education and government education infrastructure
* Providing financial assistance to Sekolah Agama Rakyat and Sekolah Pondok

13. Fighting the Scourge of Corruption:

* The public disclosure of contracts to enhance transparency in government procurement
* Empowering MACC through the establishment of a Service Commission whereby the power of recruitment and service matters will lie entirely with the commission
* Elevating the Head and Senior Officers of the MACC to a higher level
* Giving equal emphasis on investigations into, and action against, bribe givers and receivers
* Fast tracking access to the Auditor-General's Performance Audit Report for immediate action
* Establishing additional special corruption Sessions and High Courts
* Implementing integrity pacts for MPs and State Assemblymen

14. Revitalising the Public Service and Enhancing Good Governance:

* Introducing the Transformative Salary Scheme for civil servants, including reviewing allowances and providing a special salary movement of three per cent to those on maximum salary, in the event there is no salary review
* Improving the civil service scheme to include more opportunities for promotion and development of talent and ensuring the quality of their general well-being
* Extending Urban Transformation Centres to all major cities and towns
* 'Merakyatkan Perkhidmatan Awam' (Endear the Public Service to the People) to ensure excellent service delivery
* Mobilising and empowering the civil service, including Local Governments and District Offices, to fulfill the demands, interests and concerns of the rakyat
* Improving counter services through the appointment of multi-racial frontliners and expanding online services for payments and applications
* Introducing recruitment programmes to ensure a fair mix of all races in the Civil Service and GLCs at all levels
* Enhancing the potential, capacity and capability of all civil servants regardless of race and gender
* Giving special attention to OKU (the disabled) to harness their full potential and capacity

15. Promises for a Global Movement of Moderates:

* Fighting for the establishment of a Palestinian state
* Supporting the realisation of Asean as an economic community in 2015
* Vying for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in order to play a prominent role in regional peace and international security through our policy of moderation
* Enhancing economics and bilateral interests with major trading partners and emerging economies
* Formulating Foreign Policy which supports our strategic political, economic and security interests
* Taking the lead in fighting trans-national crimes such as human and drug trafficking
* Spearheading humanitarian outreach programmes in conflict areas such as Gaza, the West Bank, southern Thailand, Mindanao and elsewhere

16. Providing Affordable and Secure Housing:

* Building 1,000,000 affordable homes - driven by public and private sectors- including 500,000 PR1MA houses
* Pricing PR1MA houses at least 20 per cent below market prices
* Introducing a lease and own scheme for government housing projects
* Reviving abandoned housing projects to safeguard homebuyers
* Taking over the maintenance and upkeep of all Public Housing Projects
* Assisting poor and lower income home owners to rehabilitate their houses
* Replacing squatter settlements with secure and permanent housing
* Improving housing in estate and providing houses for former estate workers through Government-Estate partnership
* Abolishing stamping fees for first home purchases priced below RM400,000

17. Preserving Nature's Resources:

* Giving financial incentives to commercial and private premises which invest in renewable green energy resources such as biomass and solar
* Allocating more space for green lungs within major cities
* Revitalising rivers and streams via increased allocations and enactment of stricter laws and by-laws, and via special UNDP and River of Life programmes
* Increasing educational programmes to inculcate appreciation of the environment
* Preserving our forest and undertaking re-forestation programmes
* Enacting stricter and updated laws to prevent illegal activities of deforestation of vital and strategic conservation areas
* Employing green and latest state-of-the-art technology in waste disposal and management.




- Bernama