Believe it, our government needs a lot of revenue and they don’t have that many avenues to do that except to raise the income tax, goods and services tax (GST) and other tax rates - which by the looks of it the government is loath to do, although I am not sure how long they will be able to hold off that urge.

Many of us have tried: by pleading in Parliament, bombarding via letters to editors and shouting via columns in newspapers, for the government to rein in the bloated civil services - which is eating up 81 percent as operating expenditure, although not all operating expenditures are civil service remunerations, as some are from supplies and stuff.

Nevertheless, when about 80 sen of each RM1 revenue earned by the government is swallowed up by operating expenditure, this is indeed bad news. I have no idea how those in power (as well as those enjoying this 81 percent) think that this can be sustainable year on year.

As more and more revenue is swallowed up in operating expenditure rather than development, the future income-generating ability of the country will be reduced.

Yes, spending also has a multiplier effect (operating expenses), but this does not build for the future. One day, we will not have any money for development.

Just compare the operating percentage of our budget to say those of Singapore, Thailand or England, and you will see the diabolical ratio.

In a nutshell, 81 percent of taxpayers’ monies - that are paid as taxes via income tax, GST, import duties and entertainment taxes, along with dividends from government-linked companies (GLCs), as well as corporate tax from companies - are used up to pay the salaries of civil servants, to pay for their offices, first-class travels abroad, ministers’ perks, parliamentarians’ salaries, single and double pensions, pensions of previous civil service staff, hospital costs, education costs and so on.

This is extremely worrying. I don’t mind a single bit on the hospital or education parts - although I am a firm believer of no scholarships for overseas education - but the rest bothers me, as it does many others.

Alas, our government does not see it that way; our taxpayers’ monies are for them to spend willy-nilly. Worse still, they collect monies from taxpayers in every state - including Penang and Selangor - but they don’t allocate sufficient allocation to these states in return, as these are deemed ‘non-deserving states’ who were silly enough to vote for non-BN parties.

We did not save enough

When the oil price was good, we did not save enough to weather the bad storms now - mind you, it’s not only the fault of the current government. Why couldn’t we be laughing all the way like the Norwegians are doing now, since they have saved up in billions for rainy days?

Therefore, before the government comes again for another round to empty our pockets, I suggest the government raid these following entities that generate a lot of surplus yet keep it for themselves without contributing much to the consolidated funds.

Although these entities were set up for different purposes, why shouldn’t they share our burden during times of need?

  1. Bank Negara Malaysia - said to earn a revenue of RM3 billion a year, but keeps most of it to themselves;

  • Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB);

  • The Securities Commission;

  • The Social Security Organisation (Socso), last time I checked they generate a surplus of RM1 billion a year;

  • The Human Resource Development Fund (HRDF), all surplus can be used for industrial training or to top up the deficit for university allocations;

  • The Sustainable Energy Development Authority (Seda);

  • The Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC);

  • Scrutinise all the ‘yayasans’ of all GLCs and government companies which are carrying out various uncoordinated activities on their own, either for corporate responsibility or education via scholarships;

  • Ensure that no overseas scholarships are given out by any government companies, in line with the decision by the federal government, as everything is still funded by taxpayers’ monies.

    • Many will laugh at the above suggestions, but I am sure if these are pondered and calculated in depth, many more billions can be freed up for the federal government’s budget.