Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak caught Malaysians unawares by cutting subsidies on five items: sugar, cooking gas, Ron 95, Ron 97, and diesel. The country will save RM750 million subsequently. Najib said money saved will be used on education and health.

Najib also claimed that the opinions of people were sought, and they agreed to these subsidy cuts. The claim is doubtful as reports in various media showed otherwise.

Instead of cutting subsidies, people wanted the government to do away with wasteful spending and check on corruption which is rampant.

As for the money saved, how can the public monitor whether it will be truly used in the said categories? There have been numerous unfulfilled promises since the days of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, so much so that people are unconvinced by the ‘sincerity’ of the government.

Malaysia could be a very prosperous country. We have many natural resources, yet we are lagging behind our neighbor Singapore which has nothing. We were the pride of Asia in the 1960s and 1970s, our economy surpassed China, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore.

But today, not only have these countries overtaken us, even the backward countries like Vietnam and Cambodia will soon jeer at us.

It is very disappointing that our standard of living is on the decline. If not because of corruption by our leaders we would not suffer so. Sad to say, today Malaysia is one of the most expensive places to live in the world.

To the expatriates, Malaysia is a cheap place to live in but to those of us who earn small salaries in Malaysian ringgit, this country is getting very expensive to survive in. But what to do, since we don't have any revenue to migrate?