Last week I wrote about red card; today I shall deal with red ink - the RM455 billion national debt, in particular.

A deputy finance minister said that the national debt of RM455 billion is 53 percent of GDP, just two percent above sea level!

Once we reach 55 percent of GDP, we are sunk! And no lifeboat can rescue us! Are we going to dig a hole and shit when nature calls?

Don't you think, deputy minister, it will be too late?

Are you in deep slumber while the Eurozone is deep debt; and PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain) are in wallowing in red ink?

And Standard and Poor's credit rating agency recently has placed FAB (France, Austria and Britain) on ‘negative outlook' which may eventually be downgraded to AA from triple A.

Do we expect the PIGS to fly when they are in the muddy pool of red ink? And will FAB turn into soapy bubbles and burst?

Those who hear the news from BBC, CNN and Al Jazeera will know that German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicholas Sarkozy have been panicky, holding meeting after meeting to prop up one of the PIGS - Greece - and mind you, this is the second bailout for Greece!

How long can the Eurozone continue bailing out Greece? Besides the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, the European leaders have been asking Japan and China to come to their rescue.

And it is not just Greece; Portugal, Italy and Spain are in various stages of insolvency.

If Greece goes under, the Eurodollar may be in danger of losing its value.

And what about the other downgraded nations? Will they fall like dominos? The repercussions will have world-wide impact; and no nation will be safe.

While the European economy is in danger of collapsing, what is Malaysia doing about it?

Having an afternoon siesta and oblivious of what is happening around her? It seems that we are on a spending spree as if there is no tomorrow; and indeed there will be no morrow if we are hit hard.

Can we stand the austerity measures that are demanded of Greece, to get financial aid from IMF?

Now, Greek people are protesting for the harsh measures demanded of them.

We cannot live in a comfort zone and have an easy ride. It is not so simple.

What are the possible solutions?

One, cut off all overseas trips with such a contingent of carpet-baggers; no holiday trips for government ministers and their spouses. If ever they want to rest and relax, let them do it at home.

While we try to promote tourism overseas, ironically our ministers love to travel overseas!

Are our tourist spots not alluring enough for us? Even on business trips, let us have the minimum staff, not a battalion!

Two, downsize the cabinet and the ministers' staff, especially in the Prime Minister's Office.

Get capable ministers. Remove deadwood , pen-pushers and sycophants as ministers.

Why have so many unwinnable candidates as ministers through the back-door listing? Those who lost their election in 2008 should not be picked.

Don't tell me the other winnable candidates are not suitable! If so, why pick them in the first place for election.

The present cabinet strength is unwieldy; the cabinet is bloated with more than 30 members, not counting the deputies.

And why, for example, have two deputy ministers? The Prime Minister's Office is too huge; cut down the size! Millions of Ringgit go into its overhead expenses.

Three, the civil service should be trimmed. Have a lean and efficient team.

Too many layers in the civil service will breed inefficiency and lethargy; and decision-making becomes a hindrance to fast delivery of goods.

We are now living in a fast-moving environment; slow coaches will hamper fast delivery.

Take a leaf from Idris Jala when he took over MAS: he cut down its size; and turned it around within two years.

Now it is back to square one, with the MAS-AirAsia swap gone haywire. So, rationalise the civil service.

Four, reduce the time frame in deciding approvals for licences, housing projects, industrial developments, MRT projects, roads and drainage improvements, etc.

Housing project approvals, for example, should be under one roof; and a timeframe of three months at the most; have a one-stop centre.

As it is, to get approval for housing, it may have to go through 17 or 18 departments.

If each department takes just one month, a developer may need 17 or 18 months.

This long delay will cost interest charges - holding costs - if the developer has to borrow money to buy land.

This unnecessary cost is passed down to the house buyer and prices of houses will have to be jacked up to cover the cost.

Foreign investors will be put off and may not even want to think about industrial projects here.

The housing industry affects several industries downstream; and also jobs down the line; thereby affecting employment.

The economy of the nation depends on a fast -track, efficient civil service. Time is money.

Can we afford to have slow, lethargic work force in the civil service? Its service affects the economy.

A lot of time is wasted in trying to rescue abandoned housing projects.

This has affected several thousands or even millions of house buyers who remain homeless while being hounded by banks to service their loans.

To avoid heartache and anguish, the Ministry for housing should have one policy - build then sell (BTS) and not sell-then-build (STB).

With BTS scheme, the onus is on the developer to build houses habitable and delivered on time.

If the project is abandoned, it is only the developer who has to suffer the loss. This BTS scheme will also weed out fly-by-night developers. It is a simple solution to housing woes: no abandoned projects.

No money, don't build! Only creditable developers will be in the game.

This BTS programme will save unnecessary waste of time for the government to try to ‘resuscitate' abandoned projects.

The housing industry will be on a healthy footing.

A one-stop centre will attract even foreign investors, because to them, time is money.

They do not want any hassle running after so many departments and even having to grease the palms of corrupted officials.

Finally, our leaders must not sleep on the huge red ink problem which will drown us all.

It will be a disgrace if we have to go begging for loans, using an upturned coconut shell! Let us not assume that the projections in Iskandar Johor will bring huge profits.

Anything can happen; and we cannot count chickens which are not hatched. In accounting principles, we can count profits if products are sold and the money is in your hand.

Paper profit does not count.