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Is Najib saying, 'Let them eat lobsters?'
Published:  Oct 29, 2013 9:29 AM
Updated: 3:44 AM

VOXPOP ‘The more exclusions, the more this tax looks like a farce because the cost to administer it may properly outweigh the benefits.'

GST for fruits and medication, but not for lobsters

voxpop, voxWell Thats Fantastic: Does it not raise more questions than answers that the government is saying the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is the answer but then needing to qualify that with exemptions?

It seems like they are going to make a very simple system overly complicated with all these exemptions of varying degrees, or is this the objective so that the wealthy can find ways out of paying the tax?

Apacerita: I thought the PM was promoting good health to the people when he cut off the sugar subsidy, claiming that consuming less sugar is good for our health and libido.

But why are fruits not in the zero-rated category? As we all know, doctors advise us to eat more fruits and vegetables. So fruits should be exempted, so is flour, oil, vegetables, sugar, etc, as all these are basic essential needs.

Bamboo: All this mess of what to include and what not to include is already causing headaches and confusion for many. I just hope the flip-flop PM will come to his senses and abolish implementation of GST for everybody's benefit.

JBond: The more exclusions, the more this tax looks like a farce because the cost to administer it properly with our ‘super-efficient' bureaucracy may outweigh the benefits.

MockingYou: If lobster is not in the list, then caviar and wine surely won't be, too. Probably the luxurious food items are on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).

Najib, listen to the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) as they've already been accurate about the food poisoning, so they won't be far off now.

Arbeena: Condoms, too, should be exempted from GST, so that the rakyat can have more fun without having to pay more.

Karen Lee: Please tell me if this makes sense. Low-income group eats salmon, lobsters, oysters, truffles - a kind of expensive mushroom.

Please also tell me that the low-income group sends their children to private education and goes to private hospitals for treatment. All these are zero-rated items under GST. Please tell me that the low-income group doesn't take medicine as medicine is under GST.

How come the low-income group gets to eat luxurious food items and get private education and medical treatment? Is low-income group the new name for the Umnoputras and the rich BN folks?

Doc: GST should be imposed on stupidity. The government will collect millions from Umno alone.

PKR: Subsidy removal gives sugar tycoons RM1bil more

Khris: We know already the Umno government-connected company will benefit from the abolition of the subsidy. We know it already. So at the end who says GST is to benefit the Malaysian rakyat and for a better, healthier life?

With many things increased in price, the breadwinner has to work harder to make ends meet. Indeed, a better and healthier life is a dream beyond reach while Umno is still governing Malaysia.

Schroedervannutt: Abolishment of the subsidy is not about health, its all about raking in profits. If the rakyat can be healthy just by lowering their sugar intake because sugar becomes more expensive, that will be amazing.

Cocomomo: I don't think Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim has got his information and logic right in this case. Speaking like some of the BN ministers will not help his credibility.

Withdrawal of subsidies should not affect the profits of the suppliers or dealers unless the government allows price increase beyond the subsidy element.

KB Menon: Cocomomo is right. The difference now is that the rakyat is going to pay for the subsidy removal of RM0.34 instead of the government.

So by itself it does not mean the sugar manufacturer makes more profit; they were already getting the money from the government via the subsidy.

It is a different matter, of course, if the price of sugar were to go above RM2.84 per kg. This is my simplistic understanding of the issue. Perhaps an expert can weigh in on this.

Hplooi: Cocomomo and KB Menon are both right and wrong. The crony monopoly is allowed to raise the price of sugar. Look at the history of sugar price pre and after Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhari took over the sugar monopoly.

So the cronies still make millions. Apart from Syed Mokhtar, the other major player in the sugar industry is Felda Global Ventures (FGV).

And even worst, look at the rice monopoly ... this is the most obscene. To think that we use to look down on the Filipinos under president Ferdinand Marcos. Now we are suffering the same fate.

Bamboo: I am no economist, but common sense dictates that a monopoly would entail high prices. Just drop the monopoly on sugar and rice, competition will lower prices automatically.

Don't think this will happen as the monopoly holders are Umno and its cronies. How come the subsidy for independent power producers (IPPs) hasn't been removed yet?

Magnus: I am stunned to know that commodities like sugar and cooking oil and rice operate as monopolies in Malaysia. Why is that? No wonder the prices of these items keep going up.

Najib must deregulate the market for these commodities as soon as possible to prevent extortionate profit-making by the companies that control these basic food staple item monopolies.

Bamboo: Abolishing the sugar subsidy means healthier profits for Syed Mokhtar and FGV. When Robert Kuok was in the sugar business in Malaysia, he wasn't allowed to raise price of sugar.

Since he was forced out of Malaysia, he had entered a bigger market, i.e. China. So, willingly or unwillingly, everybody including the Malays have to toil to enrich further a few super-rich Malays.

Fernz: Indira Gandhi did this once, raising the sugar price, to repay the sugar barons who had financed her re-election campaign.


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