In the spirit of the year of the horse according to the Chinese calender, is the minister horsing around in a circus (read press conference) with his re-balancing act and taking the public for a ride?
The public has every right to respond by telling the minister to "take a hike".
There was a ring of truth when Universiti Malayas Prof Dr Fatimah Daud described the minister's justification for the raised local phone tariffs as "rubbish" as reported in The Star (Feb 20).
Moggie, very apparently, has not been listening to himself well enough to keep track of what he has been saying. His contradictions on the issue are so reminiscent of Telekom's cross-lines.
Moggie had used the "overall position of the telecommunications industry" as the logic behind the tariff restructuring. The public must have an understanding and appreciation of Telekom's overall needs.
He had forgotten to mention Telekom's "overall position" in terms of the profits it makes each year. It did not seem to ring a bell that:
Moggie had very conveniently failed to consider the "overall position" of the average consumer — for the hike in local phone tariffs has come at a time when the average Malaysian is faced with a weak and bleak global and domestic economy.
One has also to contend with the drastic rise in the prices of essential goods, petrol (10 sen), public utility rates (water and electricity) and of course toll charges (10 percent).
Each increase has an accumulative and chain effect — and which the government has little or no overall control over!
Moggie should not be so myopic. He should look at the macro effect of Telekom's unbridled greed on the average Malaysian.
But the minister has preferred to add insult to injury. He had declared that it would only be a pinch — a "slight increase" which would matter little to the consumer.
With each "slight increase" — and there does not seem to be an end to this — the average Malaysian is left with a very severe "overall position".
It is loud and clear that Moggie's justification for an increase in local phone tariffs — rings hollow!
The minister was so desperate for excuses that he had even convinced only himself that the new rates would "help bridge the digital divide between the urban and rural areas". Indeed!
Yet, it did not take very long for the truth to come out from the horse's very own mouth: "It is a gain for the (telecommunications) industry...and for consumers who make frequent outstation and international calls" The Star (Feb 20).
Surely, making use of the name of the poor to fill the coffers of Telekom Malaysia is to lose all sense of decency and balance!
By appealing to Malaysians to "evaluate the exercise in its entirety instead of focusing on a single item", he was in fact asking the poor and the average Malaysian to understand and help "subsidise" for the outstation and international calls of the rich!
That it is the poor and the average Malaysian who will be paying more is made even more evident by the increase in public payphone rates — a common mode of telecommunication for these groups.
Perhaps a more balanced solution to bridge the rich-poor divide is to use the huge annual profits of Telekom to finance and build infrastructure in order to increase access to telecommunication services in rural areas.
In their response to Telekom's new tariffs, the public has argued that a virtual monopoly like Telekom Malaysia in order to remain competitive — do not need the re-balancing exercise.
It should, instead, be cutting back on its high operating costs, eliminating wastage, and ensuring more prudent and better management of resources and strategies — in other words — increase efficiency, not tariffs.
The public has, as usual, been given the typical official refrain that in spite of the new tariffs, Malaysia's rates are still much cheaper than many countries.
This is of course not completely accurate. There are some countries which provide free local calls and Malaysia is increasing its tariffs at a time when many countries are lowering their local and international rates — as a result of improved and new technology.
Pity though that, when comparing rates with other countries, as the rationale to increase charges, the powers that be do not often employ the same yardstick when it comes to efficiency and service.
According to the New Straits Times (Feb 22) : "All things equal, Telekom would enjoy some RM240 million increase in rental income per year. Local call revenues, at 33.33 percent increase, would bring in RM760 million extra per year."
Little wonder, this whole re-balancing exercise is only about profits and not people — definitely not poor people. Moggie should stop horsing around....
The minister has advised consumers to wait until the end of March for their telephone bills to see that they have benefited from the "re-balancing" of Telekom Malaysia's fixed line charged The Star (Feb 22).
It is time that Malaysians show Moggie the impact of his balancing act on the balance sheets of Telekom Malaysia.
Live a balanced life — stay far away from the phone. (I have managed — at least for the first 11 days of March!)