You were not personally threatened. Instead, an institution called Parliament passed a law to legalise coercing you into giving up your money. And society as a whole has been conditioned over many decades to accept this coercion, which is now called taxation. It has become a norm and you must pay.
In fact, it has become such a norm, many of you smiled and cheered when you heard how your money would be spent by complete strangers whom you have never met, for causes that probably have nothing to do with you.
The most awkward thing was, many started singing praises when a new tax was announced as one of many steps to pay our national debt. No one complains about being made to pay a debt caused by many years of overspending by someone else...
Our Finance Minister announced that he will take your money whether you like it or not, and he listed a raft of things he will do with your money whether you like it or not.
That should not be a day for celebration. The day when the Government announces the Budget should instead be a day for us to demand even greater accountability and transparency from the Government.
It is a day that should have also made us even more sceptical of government because they are the only entity on earth that can legally coerce us into giving up our hard-earned money.
Read more here:
Since the 5th of May, the BN government has not only refused to right the wrongs but has seen very little ‘transformation’ if not none at all.
The government’s own figures showed that 60% of the nation are eligible for BR1M . That means 60% of Malaysians earn less than RM3000 per month and are below the tax paying threshold. With the introduction of GST, they will now be paying tax.
We can see through the tabling of the GST, that BN is adversely affecting, in effect robbing the general masses including the poor and struggling lower middle class, to further enrich the super rich, as seen from 1% reduction of corporate tax. What is also damningly worrying is the general direction of the BN government’s economic rationale...
BN views the civil service as a fixed deposit constituency. In political-economic term, this is simply too much government, with no governance, at the expense of the nation’s future. The general outlook on this particularly budget is that it is the tip of an enormously huge RM264.3 billion iceberg.
Najib’s only interest is in maintaining power. His near-blind-shortsightedness in fatally cutting DevEx, indicative of an abandonment of any investment in the future beyond this election cycle. Najib is nursing his desperation and maintaining the 56-year-old lie that is BN at the expense of not just the Malaysians today, but generations to come.
GST, rising fuel costs and abolishment of sugar subsidies are frightening but is a small part of the darkness in the coming four years ahead. Those walking the corridors of power are laughing at us whilst we face dark prospects ahead.
We the people have limited options in voicing our fears and choosing an alternative path, one of which is through the process of democratic elections. And that has failed.
Read more here:
Despite steadfast efforts by Malaysia to fix its pressing fiscal deficit, international rating agency Fitch Ratings maintained its “negative outlook” for the country.
While recognising Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s commitment to address Malaysia’s fiscal weaknesses, Fitch is cautious about his strategy...
“We will look, however, for a track record of implementation towards the stated goal of deficit reduction (as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), backed by subsidy rationalisation and GST introduction over 2014-2015, hence the ratings remain on negative outlook,” said Fitch in statement posted on its website last Monday.
Malaysia’s commitment to lowering the government’s deficit and introduction of GST are potentially constructive steps, but a track record of budget management remains key to limiting further credit pressure on the sovereign rating, added Fitch.
Another Fitch’s concern is whether Malaysia can avoid the emergence of twin public and external deficits.
“As we have previously highlighted, the rapid erosion of Malaysia’s current account surplus has been driven partly by a draw down of public-sector savings as well as by increased investment. The slippage of the current account position into deficit could increase Malaysia’s vulnerability to renewed market tensions when Federal Reserves tapering becomes more likely,” said the agency.
Read more here:
The rating agency’s “Rising Household Debt Could Weigh Down Asia’s Banks” report said the creditworthiness of the banks’ households exposure in the country is less resilient than its peers, as a result of rapidly rising households indebtedness.
Malaysia’s household debt to- GDP (gross domestic product) ratio increased to 80.5% in 2012 compared to the 75.8% recorded in 2011, according to S&P calculations and estimates as of Dec 31, 2012.
In 2012, Malaysia has the highest debt-to-GDP ratio compared to other Asia-Pacific regions such as Thailand (77.1%), Singapore (76.8%), Korea (75.4%), Taiwan 64.9%), Japan (62.8%) and Hong Kong (58.2%).
Read more here:
http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/business/2013/10/30/sp-malaysian-banks-most-vulnerable-to-debts/
No comments:
Post a Comment