Please remember what Abraham Lincoln said: “You can fool some of the people all the time, all the people some of the time but you can’t fool all the people all the time.”
I AWOKE on the morning of May 28 to the misfortune of having to read the headlines of two English dailies of impending doom for Malaysia as a result of the manner in which our economy is structured.
That being the various subsidies which, since gaining our independence, have been a pillar of the economy and magnanimously and benevolently extended to the rakyat by the government.
Malaysia is truly a blessed country. We are a multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural country. We coexist in peace. We have various natural resources and fairly good infrastructure.
We can be proud of the various government-linked corporations that the Federal government has established or incorporated. Petronas, our national oil company, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd TNB), our national electricity company, are fine examples.
I am just an average individual who works to earn a living and I have benefited from the magnanimity and benevolence of the government.
As such, I cannot help but wonder how such gestures by the government these past decades can be the cause of impending economic doom for Malaysia. Truly amazing!
Impending economic doom
Only recently, it was announced by the government and published in the newspapers that our growth rate in the first quarter of 2010 was at a 10.1%.
What a really fantastic growth percentage for Malaysia. And all this while, other countries worldwide are posting somewhat significantly lower growth rates.
After all, Petronas has consistently posted huge and enormous profits since its incorporation. TNB, with its monopoly in the distribution of electricity in peninsular Malaysia, also continues to record profits.
And yet, the government now has plans to remove most subsidies which the rakyat enjoy. I really wonder why. And now, because of the various subsidies, Malaysia may be faced with impending economic doom.
Are we not a country having some reserves of a sweet and light crude oil which sells at premium prices? Is Malaysia not a net exporter of crude oil when compared to our neighbouring ASEAN countries (with Brunei being the exception) ?
Why does the government compare our petrol prices with that of Somalia, Singapore and Thailand as well as developed countries and countries which are net importers of petroleum?
Why is there no comparison being made with net exporting countries? Any comparison must be on an apple-to-apple basis.
Heading towards price increases
During the past 15 to 18 months, issues relating to the profits recorded by Petronas have been raised by various parties.
By removing the subsidies for petroleum and diesel, there will inevitably be price increases for most goods and services. How then will the government extend the benefit of the profits of Petronas to the rakyat?
It appears, to me at least, that the government, whether knowingly or not, keeps going back, again and again to tax the rakyat.
I am quite sure that most individuals would not mind having to pay a bit extra for better services and conveniences. But how can the government expect the rakyat to pay any additional amounts when services and conveniences are substandard, well below par and not up to the rakyat’s expectations?
The former Lembaga Letrik Negara (LLN) or Central Electricity Board (as TNB was previously known), served social purposes as well.
Included in the LLN budgets previously were amounts for the expansion of infrastructure into the rural areas.
These days, TNB talks not merely of profits but economic profits. When an entity has a monopoly, there should not be talk of profits, much less economic profits.
We need a level playing field
It is easy to talk about raising tariffs to justify profits, making TNB seemingly a good investment for fund managers, but what about the rakyat?
If TNB did not have a monopoly, by all means, increase the tariffs and let the rakyat choose which service provider they want. Level the playing field first!
These are the types of arguments and contentions which give rise to further questions.
What will happen to all the monies which will be made available as a result of the withdrawal of the various subsidies?
We have all been told and have heard of the responses from the government that such monies will be utilised or have been used for projects which will benefit the rakyat.
I would be most grateful if the government could provide details of such projects and please do not omit pertinent information, such as specifications and relevant costs involved. Most development projects can be calculated on a per square meter basis.
I am not against the proposal to withdraw the various subsidies. However, the government should - and must - produce more detailed proposals with regard to the usage of all monies that the government will purportedly save from withdrawing of the various subsidies.
Please remember what Abraham Lincoln said: “You can fool some of the people all the time, all the people some of the time but you can’t fool all the people all the time.”
Bhadarul Baharain Sulaiman
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
- malaysianmirror
I AWOKE on the morning of May 28 to the misfortune of having to read the headlines of two English dailies of impending doom for Malaysia as a result of the manner in which our economy is structured.
That being the various subsidies which, since gaining our independence, have been a pillar of the economy and magnanimously and benevolently extended to the rakyat by the government.Malaysia is truly a blessed country. We are a multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural country. We coexist in peace. We have various natural resources and fairly good infrastructure.
We can be proud of the various government-linked corporations that the Federal government has established or incorporated. Petronas, our national oil company, and Tenaga Nasional Bhd TNB), our national electricity company, are fine examples.
I am just an average individual who works to earn a living and I have benefited from the magnanimity and benevolence of the government.
As such, I cannot help but wonder how such gestures by the government these past decades can be the cause of impending economic doom for Malaysia. Truly amazing!
Impending economic doom
Only recently, it was announced by the government and published in the newspapers that our growth rate in the first quarter of 2010 was at a 10.1%.
What a really fantastic growth percentage for Malaysia. And all this while, other countries worldwide are posting somewhat significantly lower growth rates.
After all, Petronas has consistently posted huge and enormous profits since its incorporation. TNB, with its monopoly in the distribution of electricity in peninsular Malaysia, also continues to record profits.
And yet, the government now has plans to remove most subsidies which the rakyat enjoy. I really wonder why. And now, because of the various subsidies, Malaysia may be faced with impending economic doom.
Are we not a country having some reserves of a sweet and light crude oil which sells at premium prices? Is Malaysia not a net exporter of crude oil when compared to our neighbouring ASEAN countries (with Brunei being the exception) ?
Why does the government compare our petrol prices with that of Somalia, Singapore and Thailand as well as developed countries and countries which are net importers of petroleum?
Why is there no comparison being made with net exporting countries? Any comparison must be on an apple-to-apple basis.
Heading towards price increases
During the past 15 to 18 months, issues relating to the profits recorded by Petronas have been raised by various parties.
By removing the subsidies for petroleum and diesel, there will inevitably be price increases for most goods and services. How then will the government extend the benefit of the profits of Petronas to the rakyat?
It appears, to me at least, that the government, whether knowingly or not, keeps going back, again and again to tax the rakyat.
I am quite sure that most individuals would not mind having to pay a bit extra for better services and conveniences. But how can the government expect the rakyat to pay any additional amounts when services and conveniences are substandard, well below par and not up to the rakyat’s expectations?
The former Lembaga Letrik Negara (LLN) or Central Electricity Board (as TNB was previously known), served social purposes as well.
Included in the LLN budgets previously were amounts for the expansion of infrastructure into the rural areas.
These days, TNB talks not merely of profits but economic profits. When an entity has a monopoly, there should not be talk of profits, much less economic profits.
We need a level playing field
It is easy to talk about raising tariffs to justify profits, making TNB seemingly a good investment for fund managers, but what about the rakyat?
If TNB did not have a monopoly, by all means, increase the tariffs and let the rakyat choose which service provider they want. Level the playing field first!
These are the types of arguments and contentions which give rise to further questions.
What will happen to all the monies which will be made available as a result of the withdrawal of the various subsidies?
We have all been told and have heard of the responses from the government that such monies will be utilised or have been used for projects which will benefit the rakyat.
I would be most grateful if the government could provide details of such projects and please do not omit pertinent information, such as specifications and relevant costs involved. Most development projects can be calculated on a per square meter basis.
I am not against the proposal to withdraw the various subsidies. However, the government should - and must - produce more detailed proposals with regard to the usage of all monies that the government will purportedly save from withdrawing of the various subsidies.
Please remember what Abraham Lincoln said: “You can fool some of the people all the time, all the people some of the time but you can’t fool all the people all the time.”
Bhadarul Baharain Sulaiman
Petaling Jaya, Selangor
- malaysianmirror
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