COMMENT While the Malaysian customs deliberate over Barry Wain's ‘Malaysian Maverick: Mahathir Mohamed in Turbulent Times', I am told the book is selling like hot cakes across the causeway.

I guess it is compulsory reading for those who like to know the truth instead of relying on second-hand accounts.

NONE ‘The Malay Dilemma' was banned once but that did not stop people reading it. Banning books only gives them a special aura and attracts those who otherwise might not have bothered.

But since the rumours of high-level corruption have been circulating for many yearsk, Wain deserves a read. And Mahathir knows you can't hold the lid on a good story for long, thus, he rightly asks for the book to be released.

I was somewhat surprised however that Lim Kit Siang was threatened with a defamation suit merely for calling for a royal commission . He did not say the man was guilty, only asked for a royal commission as any concerned citizen would.

Lim after all is not an ordinary citizen, in fact, an opposition politician par excellence and did what was expected of him. Surely it'd be as absurd for him to do or say nothing as to expect him to call for the Queen to knight Mahathir for his campaign to 'Buy British Last' when he was the prime minister.

Fair comment, the bastion of defence to all those who get sued for defamation, is no longer a defence if you face an unfair judge. Unless of course you can prove that your allegations are true, which is equally unlikely if you sit under a judge whose nose keeps getting longer by the day and has his judgements written out for him like a movie script.

I'd be confident in suing anyone for any amount if I knew I'm sure to win no matter what the facts.

Only one side wins

We have seen how Anwar Ibrahim and those connected with him face enormous hurdles in getting plain old-fashioned justice because the court decisions seem to sway only in one direction.

And the police are trained to take orders from their superiors. Mahathir aptly called his country a 'police state.' The police state something and you follow. He would know better than anyone.

I feel sorry for the decent police who after all were taught in police school to uphold law and order and protect the people.

Lim Guan Eng suggested Teoh Beng Hock was murdered, and a top Thai forensic pathologist agreed. Yet the Penang chief minister is now being dogged by policemen. The police would not be so over-worked if only the politicians weren't so diligent in doing their jobs.

So now that politicians who do their jobs can be sued for defamation and charged for intimidation, you wonder why we need politicians at all. Why bother with wasteful democratic elections when the police can do the job of running the state?

The police and the MACC must be among the most overworked and underpaid public servants. I guess the MACC now has their big break with everyone from a former top editor and a top politician and country leader spilling the beans and asking the hard question: Where did the billions go?

And who better to answer such questions than those who approved them?

In China they shoot their corrupt policemen, mayors and even high officials not with words but real bullets. They don't have KPIs and all those fancy yardsticks of performance and two full ministers to ensure all the boxes are ticked, forms filled in properly and submittted on time.

Of commissions and consternation

Now corruption watchdog, Gerak is also calling for a royal commission and will no doubt be added to the list of potential people to be sued. But the country waits with bated breath to hear Mahathir's evidence of hanky-panky by Pak Lah at the royal commission hearing he has himself mooted.

It is not surprising 'Mr Nice Guy' has not threatened to sue his former boss. For this he earns our respect. But don't hold your breath too long because it is more likely you will turn blue before any former prime minister turns in any evidence at a commission to investigate the missing billions in tempting times.

And while this is all happening and distracting the taxpayers, I can see the taxman rubbing his hands in glee at the propect of more revenue from the GST.

I am surprised to see scant critical commentary on the real property gains tax which ideologically is unfair and a burden on home owners in a changed world where property ownership is becoming more difficult.

Reviving an old tax seems retrograde in the new economy already inspired by an expensive new slogan. In Australia every house owner is exempt from paying any capital gains tax on owner-occupied homes.

And the government there gives first-home buyers financial handouts and is the true 'people-first' country Malaysia should emulate. They take care of you from cradle to grave and that is walking the talk.

It does seem odd when you say people come first and then pummel them with new taxes. In fact if anyone wants to know how a country is run for the people and by the people they should look at Australia and New Zealand.

Both are egalitarian and put people first and that has not stopped them producing elite athletes and achievers or creating a country of wealthy people ignoring those from overseas with dubious government connections and money now languishing in various parts of the country.

The difference is Australia grew up. They had their police state too, if one remembers the Fitzgerald Inquiry in Queensland and how the police were given unbridled powers by the politicians.

And there are still corrupt cops and business people and politicians inherent in the system but they usually get caught and exposed because no political party owns the media. People are highly taxed in Austalia but they are also taken care of by the system because no single politician considers himself or herself above the law or the people.

They also had a 1Nation idea before something similar here but at least Pauline Hanson explained what it meant. Unbeknown to most people the party itself was not racist but nationalistic. I read their manifestos and met their Perth leaders who all agreed with me that racist politicis is playing with fire and they also fell out with Ms Hanson who herself has fallen out of office.

The GST is a blank cheque for governments to squeeze as much money out of the people as possible even when accompanied with income tax reductions and the abolition of wholesale taxes (not the case in Malaysia).

It will create a black economy despite its intent to stop tax evasion. How this is congruous with putting people first when a broad-based consumption tax is an unfair tax on the poor is unacceptable unless there is a list of items beyond basic food necessities that are exempt from the GST targeted at helping the poor.

The paperwork itself will tax people's patience and you can be sure there will be GST scams when people are charged GST on non-GST items and the dishonest pocket the taxes collected.

You wonder if new taxes are the new fiscal strategy to stimulate the economy or deflate it, and whether Malaysians can afford to pay more taxes and more importantly, why?

The rate of 4 percent is not the problem as much as the new tax regime itself, which is a blank cheque because the rate will go up usually after a new mandate to govern is won. Be warned.

If a government had spent properly on the people and the people can see that then no one will be asking questions or writing a book about the squandered billions.

STEVE OH is author of a recently released novel, 'Tiger King of the Golden Jungle' .