Gerakan has initiated an online survey to seek public input whether Malaysia will go bankrupt in 2020, the year the country is slated to become a developed nation.

"The online survey poll is conducted under Better Malaysia Poll (http://www.bettermalaysiapoll.org), which we started early this year.

"We posted the poll with a simple question which required a simple 'yes' or 'no'," Gerakan Youth legal bureau chief Chai Ko Thing said at a press conference.

"We have conducted five polls," he said.

The latest poll asked: "Do you think Malaysia will be bankrupt by 2020?". The poll will be closed on Nov 5.

Idris Jala's words being twisted

Elaborating further, Chai, who is also Selangor Gerakan Youth secretary, said the latest poll was conducted to counter some of the allegations made by certain parties.

Two video clips featuring Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng and former DAP member Hew Kuan Yau making remarks that Malaysia would go bankrupt in 2019 and 2020 respectively, were shown during the press conference.

"Without Petronas profit, I think we will all be in big trouble... Even the minister in the prime minister’s department Idris Jala mentioned the possibility of Malaysia going bankrupt in 2019," said Lim, as showed in the 2011 video taken in Hong Kong.

"Malaysia will go bankrupt in 2020. There are many in Malaysia using wheelchairs and crutches (due to) leg amputation. Our economy is getting worse since Merdeka," said Hew in Cantonese last month.

Hew had quit the party in July following his controversial remark that South China Sea belonged to China.

While acknowledging that Idris Jala first uttered the bankruptcy remark, Chai, however claimed the speech had been twisted.

"If I can recall, Idris Jala only said if the country still relies on subsidies, then the country might go bankrupt. He made an assumptive question, but unfortunately they have quoted only the juicy part," said Chai.

Our poll is non-partisan

Chai said they tried to be neutral and non-partisan when deciding on the contents of the poll, wishing to provide the people a platform to provide input on social, economic and current issues.

"We will not touch so much on political issues, I think we have enough of political issues. It is time that we address the issues that touch the people," he said.

Its objectives, among others, were to bridge the gap between the public and policy maker and to provide a platform which the public lacked, to air their voices on certain issues, he said.

Gerakan will then engage with the relevant authority on the poll result where it had voiced the public's opinions related to the government's plan to increase the maximum compound of traffic offences.