You only need take a look around in any shopping mall these days to see that even a child, two or three years old and being pushed in a pram, plays with a mini portable computer.

Times have changed, let alone for your information. Nearly sixty years since Merdeka, we (the rakyat) have grown up and are wiser.

So we should not be taken as fools any more. And that means our prime minister should not use the same old 'tagline' to cheat us, to tell us that:

The ringgit’s devaluation is due to external factors and not to the failure of the government in managing the economy;

Without the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the government may be forced to take loans to pay the salaries of civil servants; and

Continue to stress that the RM2.6 billion donation is from a foreign fund and not taken from 1MDB or public funds.

The value of the ringgit used to be on par with the Singapore dollar before the island republic separated from Malaysia.

Since then, we all know we should use this same exchange power as the benchmark (yardstick) to check and to measure on the strength and performance of the ringgit and, of course, not with poorer nations.

In fact, Third World countries are already doing better these days, with their currencies having seemingly strengthened. Nations like Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar now are trailing nearer each day to narrow down the international currency exchange gaps.

Singapore faces same factors as us

Yes, Singapore too has to face the same external factors like Malaysia, but yet today, the Singapore dollar has continued to appreciate against the ringgit, with the rate now being around RM3 to S$1.

What has the government has to say about this?

Malaysia keeps saying 'Malaysia Boleh', that its fundamentals are still strong and that there are much more stuff like natural resources, agricultural products and made-in-Malaysia cars and goods for exports, than Singapore.

But yet, the ringgit continues to weaken against the Singapore dollar. Certainly, there is something wrong here.

And as for the GST, if the government is doing well, as claimed, then why squeeze the rakyat for the money to pay the salaries of civil servants, when it was taken care of by previous PMs with taxpayers’ monies?

This clearly shows that the government has failed in managing the economy. This may be due to redundancies in jobs in each department, thus causing an over-employment situation in the civil service.

Lastly, it was given to belief, or understanding, that it is wrong for a government to rely on foreign fundings to run the country. If it is not careful, the country will become a failed state.

Just to stay clean and that there is no foreign interest involved or strings attached, it is advocated that no political party, especially those in the ruling government, accepts funds from a donor, or company or government abroad, except loans taken through legal means.

And, if done, this should be done with transparency, accountability and public knowledge.

Therefore, it is shocking, and a disappointment, to read the news reports on the speech made by the prime minister and Umno president in the newspapers today.

Surely the PM could have frankly said the real causes, since the rakyat are already prepared for it.

Well, at the least, the PM could say what steps have been taken to stop the poor performances of the ringgit and that part of the RM2.6 billion will be channelled to pay the salaries of the civil servants so that the GST can be abolished.

Hello! The rakyat will then have more money to spend, or to save up for rainy days. And at the end of the day, the PM’s rating should go up.