Anwar vs Shabery debate - 150708

When I first heard of the LIVE debate betw Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek and PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yesterday: The one-hour debate, entitled “Today we form the Government, tomorrow the fuel prices will go down”. Anxiously I waited till 9pm, and turned on the tv. This open, live debate tells the world that we are indeed, a nation who is open to her people. I had expected the calculations and reasons from the government for the rise of 40%, why not 10% or 20%.. why the drastic 40%? But wat turned out was disappointing.

As a student, I was once trained on how to debate, professionally. We talk about the topic and facts, we do not debate on the person. To include personal attacks and self opinions in debates are definitely a no-no. The juries will deduct your points. Shabery said this, "Anwar suka mengambil kesempatan daripada kesempitan rakyat.... Saudara Anwar tak berubah seperti dahulu... " This is about Anwar, nothing about fuel. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-znutDvr7Y. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkliPxzoDZs&feature=related

Tan Seri Datuk Dr. Nordin Kardi ought to learn more from the professional peer sitting on his left, Datuk Johan Jaaffar. Tan Seri was invited to pose a question, and he produced a personal attack instead, "...seolah olah datuk seri seumpama seorang anak yang telah kematian bapa akan membahagi-bahagikan harta ini yang telah dikumpulkan hasil keringat orang terdahulu untuk mendapatkan keseronokan di kalangan kawan-kawan..." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNJ8CHnVc9w&feature=related

Shabery also commented that the subsidy for fuel will benefit the rich, "terpaksa digunakan HANYA untuk menampung subsidi minyak yang sebahagiannya akan digunakan oleh orang orang yang sudah kaya, yang sudah mempunyai kenderaan yang besar..." Does he not realize that there are many Malaysians who rely on their transport to get to the work place, to earn a monthly salary of less than RM3000?? RM3000 a month you don't call them RICH! Please, do more researches before you speak. Are there more Ferrari, Mercedes, BMW on the street compared to Wira, Iswara, Kancil (still existing!)... motorcycles????

Many of Shabery's statements were flying statements, without facts to back up with. I may miss some of the pertinents points or understood completely different on the points being argued, so please correct me if I am wrong. The points are also listed not in any particular order.

1. Shabery compared Malaysia to Norway, a country who's "pendapatan per kapita" is ten times higher than us. (compare a cucumber to a durian...)
2. Shabery claimed tat beyond 2015 we will be net oil importer, which was not tru. Petronas actually mentioned, that if in the next 10 years we are not able to find "telaga baru"... years ago Petronas actually calculated that by 2005 we'll be experienciong oil depletion... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Th-zjy9jsM&feature=related
3. Many companies, SMEs went bankrupt during 1997 economic crisis because of Anwar... due to the IPP issues.. which were actually against the then Financial Ministry's advice.
4. Shabery argued that prior to election Pakatan Rakyat promised to reduce fuel price (below RM1.92) and why now only 50 sen? To which Anwar gave a simple explanation- berperingkat (stagger). This is common sense. Say you had a depression one day, and in a months' time you ate so much, you gained 10kg of body weight! is it possible to cut down your size to what you were before in a short time? No... you had to do it one step at a time, or else it's gonna hurt your body cells...
5. Shabery stressed that the inflation faced now could not be attributed solely to fuel prices. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/7/16/nation/21836068&sec=nation. Anwar gave a figure: in less than a month after the fuel price hike, our inflation rate actually went beyond 8%. While fuel is definitely not the sole influence to inflation, but it plays a major role - for it's the basis for transportation, commodity, etc...
6. Shabery asked if it was possible for the nation to provide more subsidies amidst rising oil price (without giving examples and figure) to which Anwar defended with, many oil experts & researches mention that there already exist a break-point - "ada kemungkinan harga minyak akan menetap dan mula menurun".
7. Shabery kept pointing that to subsidize fuel = take more money and povertizing Petronas, which was corrected by Anwar many times. The subsidizing should be done thru proper and better financial and resource management.
8. and many more... i do not have the time to analyze.

Anwar's summary:

1. As a nation tat exports oil, "harga minyak di Malaysia keterlaluan tinggi".
2. It is possible for the fuel price to stabilize and slowly go down.
3. At the current economic management, Malaysia' economy wil be much worse from before in a few months' time.

Shabery's summary:

1. Anwar has always been against Tun Razak, Mahathir, and now Abdullah Badawi; creating street protests.
2. More subsidy = "kita membenarkan ia (petronas) menjadi semakin miskin dan mungkin kita nak benarkan orang lain akan mengambil petronas suatu masa nanti."
3. Our economic growth at 6% is better than many other neighbouring countries.

So, who's talking facts and who's blahhhing? You decide. In spite of this, both speakers conducted themselves very well. They were not emotional. Congratulations. Many thanks to Agenda Daily for organizing it.

for more info:

Debate itself the winner in Anwar-Shabery duel

Anwar-Shabery debate: My two cents

LIVE: Anwar vs Shabery in the Great Oil Price Debate

Anwar Ibrahim vs Shabery Cheek

Live Debate! Anwar the Better Man!

KEPUTUSAN DEBAT : SHABERY MENANG SORAK, ANWAR MENANG FAKTA! Malaysiakini