Tuesday, October 06, 2015

Did M’sia just sign a suicidal deal?

by Azly Rahman


1


It was conceived in secrecy; that even members of the US Congress did not get to read the discussions leading to the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), the world of global economics’ most comprehensive and controversial trade agreement dictated by America's largest corporations.

It was WikiLeaks that enlightened the world of the deal contained in this global euthanasic note of those ‘developing countries’. Seventeen documents were released to document the nature of the secrecy and the more than 150 corporations backing the global project of neo-imperialism Malaysia has plunged herself into; like suicidal workers assembling some brand name Internet phone, unable to live with the pressures of big businesses using cheap labour to the point of fatality.

Does the Malaysian government really understand what it is all about?

From manufacturing to pharmaceutical to those involved in the production of arms, these corporations are also contributors to both the Democratic and Republican campaigns in a country, land of the brave and the free, in which those who have the money can contribute as much as they want to the candidate of any party they wish to - those parties and individuals who will be given the mandate to sustain and advance America’s corporate interests worldwide: interest of the like of America's now-bankrupt Enron Corporation; interests of the less than 1 percent of the powerful and the rich controlling the struggling and semi-powerless 99 percent Americans worried about their jobs they will be losing to Third World countries able to pay less than US$10.00 a day assembling things, from toothpicks to Bluetooth technology to parts of drones used for micro-mini aerial bombings of those countries considered threats to America’s corporate interests.

The TPPA is ‘Nafta on steroids’, as American workers affected by it say. It is a fast-track American investment plan that will make the Empire live and breathe longer in the face of advancing global, economic, military, and geo-political interests of China and Russia.

The grand design is the biggest ever in the history of the world’s commanding heights; a plan that will have all the legal implications international and over-arching enough that perhaps even the medicine-men and shamans and bomohs of Malaya will not be allowed to save their products and services from the onslaught of the patenting might of the ‘US pharma in a Sicko Nation’ with a deep love affair with capitalism, as film-maker Michael Moore would put it.

Generic drugs cooked and prepared by the bomohs and Thailand and in Bali and in Golok and Pontianak, will not be available as only original ones to cure serious diseases will be allowed under the control of big names of the American pharma empire. The claim that generic drugs will still be available is unfounded when the TPPA will ensure the monopoly of the development and the distribution of it.

The claim made by executives of Malaysia’s International Trade and Industry Ministry that the TPPA will encourage the development of new drugs is to say the least naïve and shows the lack of understanding of the precarious nature of the regime of big pharmaceutical companies that would even lay claim and patent species of plants in the Amazon jungle or the Borneo rainforest should the TPPA use the ‘speak silently and carry a big stick’ policy of domination on inventions.

Even the Bomoh Malaya and producers of ‘Anti-Hysteria kits’ might have to register as ‘Health and Wellness service providers’ with the Empire of Corporate Control whose multinational corporations have been having their global reach since the time of Thatcherism and Reaganomics.

And that is just one aspect of the way Malaysia may have signed her suicide note. We have not even talked about the changes in the fundamental character of central banks, and state investment bodies that will eventually be made to kow tow to the dictates of the TPPA in general and to the global corporations in essence; corporations that do not pay allegiance even to the United States but to itself and owners of the means of production and massive profit-making.

Do corporations have a soul?

Do corporations have a spirit and a human soul anyway - although by law it demanded to be treated as human beings with rights and privileges? Does the Malaysian government understand the nature of the American corporation and why and how it is a key player in the secret humongous cartel called the TPPA?

Has Malaysia lost her mind? Today's politicians who are bought into the arguments for the ‘benefits of globalisation and trade arrangements couched in beautiful and elegant language of neo-liberalism aided by the philosophy of gun-boat diplomacy’, may be dead in a decade or so. But once the agreement is signed, we will all be dead economically - now, and for the duration of the agreement.

Already, the Malaysian economy is in its last breath; the TPPA will be that nail bigger than the coffin to ensure the totality of the total global domination of the American Empire on steroids. It will be devastating to generations to come; akin to the selling of a child into debt-bondage and servitude.
Welcome to the matrix of Malaysian madness. the TPPA is a case of ‘Tipah Tertipu Big Time’, if we wish to explain it to the kampongfolks. This one is more real that the puzzles and the mysteries of Najib Abdul Razak’s 1MDB and the missing MH370 airliner.

Don’t our ministers of trade study sophisticated Business English? Or - how to identify a country’s suicide note?

We will be doomed, to start with. We have signed that suicide note. Even the American people know that it is authored by the rich and powerful who serves only one god: money.

ENDS

7 comments:

Capcha said...

All I hear is more excuses - we are lagging behind, we are not competitive, we need protection, we need special treatment and so on and so forth.

Well, get this - the train has already left the station, the horses have bolted from the stables.

In other words, the status quo just doesn't cut it.

The US and China are the only games in town.

There are no prizes for guessing who Japan, Australia, South Korea and India will align with.

In the US worldview, one is either "in" or "out".

And there's not a plethora of choices left. BRICS? OIC? NAM? G30? OBOR?

Jimmi Cornelius said...

The Malaysian PM has made it very clear that he only wants loyal subordinates. The smart and intelligent ones are not welcome. So one should not be surprised by this whole episode.

Diss-illusions said...

According to the US FDA, 8 out of 10 drugs prescribed in the US are generics. Generic drugs are not counterfeits and involves a lot of research to develop the transfer agents.

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/BuyingUsingMedicineSafely/UnderstandingGenericDrugs/ucm167991.htm

Unknown said...

Do we really have a so much room to negotiate ? How many more our planes to be the victim ? How many more man made geo engineered disasters to bombarded our land? And what's next? Accept now or contineously being forced to kow tow.

Anonymous said...

Even if what u say is true doesn't make TPPA a fair deal. What I see are excuses to just charge head on into the TPPA deal.

amanasyanti said...

1. First of all no trade agreement has been signed as yet. Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States, and Vietnam has agreed on broad principles. The actual ratification is dependent on agreement of the people of each participating country. Refer https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-releases/2015/october/summary-trans-pacific-partnership
2. Re: It was conceived in secrecy; “dictated by America’s largest corporations.”
First of all it was not even an initiative originated by the USA. It has its beginnings in agreements between Singapore, New Zealand and Brunei. Indeed its expansion to include countries of the Pacific Rim is an idea mooted by ASEAN. Negotiations between nations equate to discussion between governments. What is so secretive about it? Any person following the progress knows the objectives and issues. Refer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Pacific_Partnership
3. The danger of large corporations dictating terms is real and the negotiators are aware of this. As a result the broad agreement addresses the issues re: the position of small and medium sized industries.
4. The main issue regarding pharmaceutical products relates to the duration of patent. Drug companies (mainly from USA and Japan) wants it to be 20 years so as to enable them to recoup research costs. The USA agreed (tot the delight of other countries) to limit this duration to 12 years. Refer http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/tpp-deal-gives-limited-win-nz-dairy-us-gives-way-drug-patents-b-179693 . This would mean that, after that period, pharmaceutical companies can manufacture “generic drugs” freely without infringing patent rights. A victory for developing countries like Malaysia where many companies in can manufacture drugs once they know their composition. Bomohs do not have the engineering capability to produce generic drugs discovered by scientists. If they discover a unique drug (a different issue) they must give it a name, provide its chemical content and patent it.
5. Re: “Does the Malaysian government really understand what it is all about?”. Not only the government but most Malaysians who can read (including myself, a retired surgeon) understands the implications. Give some credit to Tok Pa perhaps the most respected minister in the Malaysian cabinet. Malaysia since time immemorial has been a trading nation. Our prosperity is gained through our uncanny ability to export products. The main thrust of TPPA is the removal or reduction of tariffs something looked forward to by exporters. On top of that, when importing, goods from participating countries will be given preference. By the way we sell more goods to the USA compared to purchases. Refer https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5570.html . We are never scared of opening our markets to imports from any country. The evidence for this can be seen on the shelves of our shops. If any country is ready for TPPA, it is Malaysia.

Anonymous said...

This is big power game. In the 60s, 70s and 80s they attempted to contain China militarily. Now TPPA. Small Asian countries will be well advised to think very carefully. Mega trends are inclined to believe that China will be a dominant player come 10 to 20 years from now in the Asian region. Hence, if you still want to sign the TPPA small Asian countries should also negotiate an exit clause for themselves.

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