Speech by Liew Chin Tong, state assemblyman for Perling at the debate of the Johor 2025 Budget on 24 November 2024

Salutations and heartiest congratulations to His Majesty Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim on the occasion of His Majesty’s birthday. Daulat Tuanku!

May I congratulate YAB Menteri Besar, Dato’ Onn Hafiz Ghazi, for presenting Budget 2025 with the theme of “Maju Johor, Rakyat Sejahtera”. I have personally conveyed to Menteri Besar that the theme is very appropriate as we must constantly remind ourselves that we do not just want growth per se, we want a people that feel dignified and sejahtera.

This is in line with the Madani Economy Framework which stresses upon “raising the ceiling” and “raising the floor” at once.

Jobs for Johoreans and Malaysians

As the world turns to populism, the latest being the election of Donald Trump to an unprecedented second term as the President of the United States, due to widespread unhappiness among workers and ordinary folks who did not get a fair share from economic growth, we in Malaysia must do everything to achieve great growth and create good jobs with appropriate pay for Malaysian workers.

The challenge in Johor is particularly serious given that we are just next to Singapore and our labour market is virtually connected and pegged to each other.

Our national mission should be to create more jobs with much higher pay for Johoreans and Malaysians so that they do not have to go to Singapore to work as cheap labour. There are 1.1 million Malaysians working in Singapore who are earning less than SGD2,000 a month, riding on motorcycles to cross the Causeway each morning.

I would like to register here in this Dewan that I agree with and applaud the Menteri Besar’s approach towards wages. He told data centre operators that if they pay a worker with similar job specs in Singapore at SGD 4,000 a month, they should be paying at least half of that, or RM7,000 for a worker in Kulai or Iskandar Puteri.

As the Menteri Besar pledged to cut red tape and to facilitate business and investments, it would be fair for businesses to provide better jobs with better pay.

JS-SEZ

It is in this context that I would like to turn to the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone, of which the agreement will be signed by the Malaysia and Singapore governments in early December.

I welcome Menteri Besar’s announcement that a Select Committee for JS-SEZ is to be formed among the bi-partisan State Assemblymen.

The JS-SEZ is very important for the creation of better jobs with better pay. Corporations used to work on the basis of “just-in-time”. After Covid-19 in 2020, it is now “just-in-case”. JS-SEZ offers a mega region of supply chain, and with a shorter and more resilient supply chain, corporations could de-risk as much as possible. In exchange, we want to build a strong economy with good jobs at good pay for our people.

The Menteri Besar met Korean Professor Dr Kuen Lee during his recent trip to Seoul. I was made to understand that Professor Lee is coming to speak in Johor Bahru on 1 December. His main message is that while Penang started the semiconductor industry way back in 1972, much earlier than Taiwan in the 1980s, and Shenzhen in the late 1990s, Malaysia does not have a TSMC nor Huawei to speak about. Malaysia did not grow our own technology.

This time, with Menteri Besar’s forward thinking and with a progressive federal government, we want to build Malaysian technology. Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim said when he announced the National Semiconductor Strategy that his ambition was to see the creation of 10 Malaysian technology companies with US 1 billion revenue and 100 similar companies with RM 1 billion revenue annually. We hope as many such firms will be in Johor, especially through the efforts of JS-SEZ. 

If we do well with JS-SEZ, the same model can be applied to Malaysia-Thailand borders and Malaysia-Philippines, or for that matter, Malaysia and Singapore could also give a new lease of life to the Singapore-Johor-Riau growth triangle (SIJORI) idea, which includes Indonesia.

Ultimately, when the world is faced with more challenges globally, especially with an unpredictable United States under the new administration, a resilient Johor-Singapore supply chain is good for both Malaysia and Singapore. Building strong regional cooperation is one way to deal with a volatile world. 

More crossings

To make commuting seamless between Johor and Singapore, I would like to encourage the State Government to consider conducting a Johor-Singapore cross border traffic study.

I would like to see more crossings between Johor and Singapore. Ferries should be explored on the western and eastern sides, including ferry services from Puteri Harbour and Forest City to Raffles Marina in Tuas.  

With the Consul-General of Indonesia to Johor Bahru Pak Sigit Suryantoro Widiyanto, I visited the Tanjong Belungkor Terminal to see the passenger ferry from Batam. Not only do I hope to see a lot more crossings to Singapore, I wish we could develop more crossings into Indonesia to build up stronger people-to-people linkages and a resilient supply chain.  

Data centre

I would also like to register my appreciation to Investment, Trade, Consumer Affairs and Human Resources EXCO YB Lee Ting Han who disclosed publicly that the Johor Government has put on hold 30% of applications for data centres, to conserve the state’s resources.

When the data centre was an infant industry a few years ago, the Federal and State Governments took the right approach to encourage its development. Now that Johor is arguably the most important data centre site outside the United States and China, the right approach now is to work with the key stakeholders, including the main operators, to regulate and to ensure the sustainable growth of the industry together.

I have suggested to the data centre operators to form an association, so that they can avoid speculative build and ensure that all operators can grow together safely without having to compete for water and electricity, the two rare resources that we all have a responsibility to protect.

Further, taking the inspiration of Professor Kuen Lee’s ideas, it is not just the data centre that we want to see, but the localisation of data centre equipments, the investments into renewable energy and reclaiming water resources, and the creation of many more jobs in R&D and in the application of AI, even though jobs may not be in situ, but make available in Johor Bahru or Kuala Lumpur. We need to encourage a “whole-of-supply chain” investment.

A new political order

Today, 24 November, two years ago, Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim took his oath of office. I appreciated what Menteri Besar said at the opening of the Budget 2025 speech, that “the stars have finally aligned in Johor‘s favour”.

If we, the leaders in this Dewan and the leaders across the nation, get it right, the Unity Government led by Prime Minister Anwar since 24 November 2022, may bring the nation forward through a Second Economic Takeoff, and perhaps the beginning of a new political order.

As pointed out by DAP Secretary-General Sdr Anthony Loke, DAP is not seeking any changes to the composition of the current state government, which was formed in March 2022, preceding the November 2022 general election. As the loyal Opposition, we will continue to support the leadership of Menteri Besar Dato’ Onn Hafiz Ghazi.

The Mahkota by-election in September heralded the collaboration of Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional in Johor, and if we could find the right political formula in Johor, Johor provides the basis for national stability. Combined, Pakatan Harapan and Barisan Nasional won 24 out of 26 parliamentary seats in Johor.  

Johor will thrive the most if Malaysia is on the right track, and indeed, the Johor economy is now at the centre of national, and even global, attention. Kudos to the leadership of Menteri Besar and his team, and to Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the federal leadership, as well as state and national institutions and agencies.

We have a once-in-generation opportunity to make Johor and Malaysia a great state and a great nation.

Maju Johor, Rakyat Sejahtera.