There's nothing to be regarded as chronic
materialistic disorder when the society talks about the budget. The budget is
about money, and money is used to live, to sustain ourselves and buy things we
like, nothing like having fun for every second of your life. Economists tend to
be offended if you accuse them of being materialistic and profit-motivated,
because even mosques, schools and homes are made with money. If you can find a way in which you can fight wars
and bomb imperialists with free dirt and
free home-made cabbages, then go on and be a skeptic all over again.
There are a lot of incentives
given by the government in the budget. A lot. I have to borrow one
academician's phrase; there's the good , the bad and the ugly. The introduction
of insurance schemes and protection plans for small traders and uniformed
officers is indeed a genius, as these people are those exposed to various risks
and danger of losing their income. It provides support should these group of
people fall sick and unable to run their daily errands. However, I found it
rather disappointing that the budget does not include initiatives or protection
for workers in the private sector who lose their jobs in event of recession and
whatsoever. The private sector comprises of a bigger group of income, at 3.2
million strongmen, compared to small traders,
fishermen and the armed forces, at 600000, 129622, and 124000 respectively.
We need to agree that the budget is rather
fair to the people, what with the various schemes for training and skills,
support for SMEs and innovation, and the decrease of taxation in various
industries that will allow them to grow stronger with a lower cost of
production. The expansion of such industries will open up more jobs for
graduates, primarily in the gargantuan oil and gas firms . People need to know
that economic advisors and accountants formed the basis of the budget, not the screwed up politicians
and Najib himself. He ain't know nothing about economics, seriously. This is
the good part of the budget, although we need to consider the fact that there
are too many discrepancies and distortions when it comes to the distribution of
the said budget-corruption at its finest.
Some say that the budget is indeed an
election-oriented budget. There is no point denying, is there? The fact that
the election is looming close, and the people hate Najib to his guts reiterates
the idea that the budget is nothing more than an indirect mass bribe. All the
one-off payment are short-termed and short-lived life support-wait, it isn't
supportive at all. I have the urge to vomit every time BR1M ads appear on tv - it
is as if the 500 ringgit revolutionize lifestyle, cures cancer and give
apartments to the homeless. So freaking pathetic. I agree that giving one-off
payments to the citizens gives a
stronger domestic demand, like the ones the Taiwanese government did
during the previous recession, but we
need a higher fixed income, not just sweets that last less than a day. The
income of the middle income group had been stagnant for the past two decades,
while the price of goods increased significantly.
Then there's the smart phone
rebate. What the fish is that for? The targeted group of 21 to 30 year olds are
obviously voters- the bigger portion of them- , comprising of numerous young men and women who aren't inclined to any
political ideology-or don't even care
about the maelstrom of political stormshit that is happening. This is
the legalized form of election bribery. The profit goes straight to smart phone
vendors, and network providers ,or should we name here-cronies? They can give rebates for smart phones, but
not for education, seriously?
These one-off payments,
including those given to early army retirees aren't gonna benefit the people in
the long run. It benefits the government in the short run-the election.
The
budget also reintroduces various subsidies, one of them for the paddy and rice
industry. Them farmers are never getting
higher income from the subsidies, as BERNAS ,who acts as a monopolist gets the
biggest portion of it. The problem with the budget is that it is superficially
good, but in reality the wealth goes to a designated group of elites. Reduction
of subsidies for sugar is not going to reduce consumption. Ever. They are like
cigarettes, non-elastic demand from us
Malaysians. So why reduce it?
We were also expecting the
long-anticipated cut in the outrageous tax for imported cars, but nay, never .
Less can be said about PTPTN, which the government only proposed incentives for
the repayment of loans, nothing about cheaper education or tuition fees. They
proposed a travesty of themselves-20 percent discount for one-off repayment of
loans. Now, who the hell pays student loans once and for all? Seriously?
Some
people said that we are getting more and more materialistic , by the way the
budget offers such small trinkets, and also the PR budget, which is much of the
same thing, but I don't agree. Is it materialistic that the people demands for
higher disposable income, to provide for their families? I don't think so. Is
it materialistic that people support subsidies to gas and cheaper food prices,
so they can spend more upon education and family entertainment?
The reason of the return of Europeans
to religious concerns after the industrial revolution is that they don't have
to worry about their income anymore. This concerns the pre economic breakdown
period, obviously. We can't expect to reduce crime rates , if the people doesn't
have enough money to eat. We cannot expect people to start coming to mosques
and enlighten themselves when they have to work from dawn to dusk to sustain
their families. There is a period of religious revival in the welfare states of
Europe, because they seriously do not have to worry about various debts ,
student loans and lousy leaders. They can concentrate more upon how they pray
,and how to be good people, perhaps?
I have to stress out that
the budget is somewhat fair , if we exclude those ridiculously obvious bribes.
The problem is the execution part of the plan. The original blueprint is
outstanding, really, but the way the wealth goes to cronies, family members of
the cow groups, monopolists and fellow
politicians , explain the reality that the budget is nothing more than empty
words.
Peace.
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