So, Pak Lah finally unveiled the 2009 Budget and we get the MSM again playing up views from politicians and some business leaders on the budget. As usual, it's always the positive comments that get published. Every year, it is the same and i seriously wonder how many of these people really look into the details and understanding the budget totally. From the comments they made, it is clear that some of them have the slightest idea of what this budget is all about except to blindly voicing their support and politicise the Budget. One example of such comment come from our controversial Najib: " We knows the people's needs". What a joker he is.
Details of the 2009 Budget: Click here and here.. Allow me to provide my layman take here on this 2009 Budget:
1) Increase in the welfare eligibilty of household income from RM400 to RM720 for Peninsula Malaysia, RM830 for Sarawak and RM980 for Sabah.
A good move to address the poorest of the hardcore poor with household income of that level. In fact, the Rm400 figure has been outdated decades ago. But why not set the RM980 eligibility applicable to the whole country? Another politically motivated manoeuvre. Another indication of them trying to rebuild their shaky position by offering goodies to East Malaysians. Perhaps, it is also another way of admiting to their fault of neglecting the Sabahans for far too long. This is in fact the responsibility of any government to addresss poverty but why need the awakening call of March 8th to start addressing... Monetary benefits and material aside.. Is this really what the rakyat want? Najib thinks the rakyat can be bought by goodies. Lets wait for the implementation and see whether these money can reach the hardcore poor.
2) Increase in disposable income with an increase of RM50 in cash rebate for those earning RM35,000 and below, and a decrease of 1% in taxation from 28% to 27% for corporate and personal earnings.
This is definitely an overkill by the MSM. This doesn't make any sense at all. A yearly tax rebate of extra RM50 is going increase our disposable income by a mere RM50 only. And how you suppose this Rm50 is going to help.. That 1% decrease in top bracket tax reduction wont even make any difference to corporation and top bracket earners, Given the present economic climate with high inflation, it can only serve as a relief. Yes, something to ease our burden negligibly. I can't how it can help to save our economy, let alone boost it. Najib, do you know what the rakyat know?
3) Now come the most interesting part. Look at the above pie chart and see how they are going to allocate the RM207.9B.. A whooping RM154.2B for operating expenditure and a RM53.7B for development expenditure.
Pardon me for being ignorant here but RM154.2B just for operating expenditure is definitely beyond me. RM86.3B goes to fixed charges and grants. We do need the people to support the administration. We need to give them incentives to work. I can accept this but what i cannot accept is the fact that we are not getting any efficient services from them. More so, when the police force started to dedicate most of their time playing to the tune of their political masters instead of tackling with the increase in crime rate. Not to mention how the AG chamber make a mockery out of our judiciary and many others..
What about the balance of RM67.9B? What is it for? How much is being allocated for wastage like lavish functions and overseas trip? If they government allocate too high a budget to operate the administration, it can only create the culture of getting 'commission' through questionable projects. Perhaps, they themselves has already factor in their commission across the board with this budget. Same explanation goes for the development expenditure. At the end of the day, it is about how much of these money will end up in their pocket and how much of it will ever reach the rakyat.
This budget clearly doesn't make any sense at all. It doesn't rhyme well with the current state of our economy. It doesn't address to the real issues that our country and her people are facing. We need a vibrant domestic economy. We need a credible, accountable and transparent government to ensure every single cent used is accounted for.
One thing we don't need here though. We don't need idiots like Najib and all the present hypocritical BN administration to manage our country's money and resources. Budget 2008 was supposed to be an election budget and people friendly but what we ever get was further deterioration in the quality of our lifestyles. So were all those previous budgets before. And I don't see how budget 2009 is going to be any different. At the end of the day, we can see how our money is being channelled elsewhere without any visible improvement in quality of lifestyle, efficiency of public utilities and services and all others in relation to the benefit to the rakyat. Caring budget? Naaahh!!! Najib, how do you know what the people need when you chose not to listen to the people all these years?
