It is not "realistic" and not unreasonable to ask the prime minister to change his lifestyle, for the Pakatan Rakyat heads of state government do not live the high life on taxpayers' money, a PAS leader said.

Commenting on the water and electricity bills totalling RM2.5 million ringgit for the official residence of the prime minister, Federal Territories PAS Youth deputy chief Mohamad Suhaimi Abdul Aziz said the money could be better used by the needy.

Suhaimi said PAS leaders who had headed governments in Kelantan, Kedah and Terengganu had all opted to stay at their own houses instead of the official residences while serving as menteri besar.

pas muktamar 130610 nik abdul aziz nik mat 1"In fact, they contributed their entire allowances, including etertainment allowances, to the people.

"(Former Kelantan MB) Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat (left) was said to have returned all his allowances, to the tune of hundreds of thousands of ringgit, back to the Kelantan government," he said.

Similarly, Suhaimi pointed out, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng flies economy class instead of business class even when he is on official state business.

"The people support leaders who live moderately and among the people. There is no point crying out slogans... when you fail to set an example that the people cannot follow," he said.

The government has told the rakyat to "change their lifestyles" to adjust to subsidy cuts, the latest being the removal of the 34 sen/kg subsidy on sugar.

According to a written reply in Parliament, the electricty bill for Seri Perdana for the whole of 2012 was RM2.2 million, while the water bill came up to RM311,174.

The deputy prime minister's residence's water and electricty cost RM 865,458 and RM 99,264 respectively.

This was a combined average of RM8,500 a day, or a 40 percent hike compared with two years ago, Seremban MP Anthony Loke said.

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