your say 'I am afraid that money saved from the subsidy cuts will line the pockets of ‘delinquents'. Will someone out there help me to have faith in them?'

 

 

Austerity chief: No pain, no gain

Ng Seng Tong: I am for subsidy cuts when push comes to shove. I am willing to play my part to save this country from financial failures even though I don't earn a lot and don't have much savings. It is a sure thing that my family members and I have to forgo some basic 'luxuries' if subsidy cuts do happen. This is my sacrifice for my beloved country.

But I have huge problems that I wish to overcome but just couldn't. You see, I don't trust the federal government to manage the affairs of the country fairly and wisely. I am afraid that money saved from the subsidy cuts will line the pockets of delinquents. The federal leaders have no track records of integrity and of telling the truth.

I am hurt too many times to believe in them again. In fact, I have stopped listening to them. I think, theirs is a problem of lack of credibility. Will someone out there help me to have faith in them?

Cala: Attack the disease, not its symptoms. Idris Jala is setting this forum on fire by his mere suggestion that there in a proposal to withdraw all forms of subsidies, or Malaysia will be a bankrupt nation by 2019.

I can be spared of any comment today as my fellow Malaysiakini subscribers have ably articulated their opposition to Jala's moronic plan. Say if I am 58 years old and if I feel the pain coming from my kneecap, the solution is to take the medicine in glucosamine and chondroitin for six to 12 weeks perhaps, not just relying on painkillers.

Put it differently, Idris Jala's proposal of subsidies withdrawal must also be matched by a clear plan on how to fight corruption and leakages in the public sector. Otherwise, this is a God-sent proposal to Pakatan in time for the 13th GE.

KayKay: What Idris fails to realise is that subsidies are part of the dependency syndrome which feeds the politics of corruption and moral depravity in Malaysia. Without the subsidies, what is there to prevent the Ibans in Sarawak for example from deserting the BN?

Umno will keep the subsidies, come what may, because that's what sustains its politics. In fact, it will be a blessing in disguise if Malaysia goes bankrupt. Finally, we can get rid of the riff-raff from politics and weed out the fat cats, the parasites, leeches, blood-suckers, proxies, stooges and traitors.

Government projects can no longer be taken by the Umno elite under the names of various nominees and sold several times over down the chain. At present, government projects eventually cost the taxpayer twice, thrice and up to 10 times the actual tender price. This is just stealing the people's sweat from the public treasury.

People must wake up, and realise why the country is going broke.

Multi Racial: Idris Jala, if you cannot tell the truth then resign from your minister's post. Tell straight into Prime Minister Najib Razak's face that corruption and mismanagement have got to stop. Tell them the government need to hire the best, and not base on skin colour. If we buy military weapon at market price, we would have save billion of dollars. Oops... do we need to buy in the first place or if we need, do we need that many?

Secondly, sack all ineffective ministers and deputies. Replace them with professionals. Remove corrupted and inefficient government servants including army generals, police chiefs and judges. Introduce laws to prevent party hopping and the raising of political funds. Abolish APs and all unnecessary excise duties.

Revamp education system including removing all chancellors, professors and administrative staff who have been helping to bring down the standard of our local universities. Do that first then come talk to us about removing subsidies.

Gunena: The best is let the country go bankrupt now, like PN17 companies in Bursa Malaysia. Then let the new government takes over and restructure. Throw out all the corrupt leaders. The country is going bankrupt mainly because of severe corruption, severe leakages, and severe siphoning of national resources.

Pitycat: Dear Idris, listen here and listen well. Knowing full well that the government has not deal with problems of corruption, cronyism, public transportation and daylight bribery do not, and I repeat, do not make the citizens of Malaysia scapegoats.

BN has been giving away taxpayers money like free buffet and now those Umnoputras want to punish the struggling citizens. In nine years, the same problem will persist if the government do not shed light on the real cause of problem, and that is the government itself.

Malaysians Are Not Stupid : I believe Idris Jala missed the real point by miles - it's not subsidies that make Malaysia bankrupt but the amount of monies that have been mismanaged, corruption and incompetency of BN government that put Malaysia's finances where it is today.

Where have all our oil monies go to? The BN government wants all of us to believe it was used to subsidise the poor rakyat and it is all these subsidies that is bankrupting the country. You believe them? I don't!

Rubystar: Idris Jala, you speak of Malaysia going bankrupt because of all the subsidies by the government, and not for other reasons. I have lost all respect for you. After all, you have done some good work in MAS.

You know too well that it is not the subsidies that is pushing Malaysia to the brink of bankruptcy. It is the massive corruption at ministerial and government levels that are responsible. But you as a minister cannot said that unless you do a Zaid Ibrahim and resign from the BN government. Shame on you, Idris.

Joker: This government 'think-tank' should think of eliminating wastage in government spending first. Wastage not only in terms of paying overpriced 'directly negotiated' tenders but more so in ensuring the government spends on projects which will generate future revenue.

Trimming the size of civil servants, like freezing new intakes and reducing 'lawatan sambil belajar', will see immediate and significant savings. Spend less on military while increasing the budget for homeland security (police) will see better actual security and thus encourage investment and public spending.

Reducing sales tax on cars and/or having a really functioning public transport will immediately put more disposal income in the rakyat's hand, thus increasing consumer/private spending activities.

In a nutshell, don't talk about the rakyat tightening their belts first as we have already tightened them since Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's time. The government should spend less and spend smart.

Habib RAK: Idris Jala, you know very well that the educated urban crowd knows better on why Malaysia is in such deep debt. It is primarily due to leakages through corruption.

As the Greece case is now well-researched and published, the core reason why Greece is in dire debt is due to corruption. On this note, I agree with you that we will end up like Greece. Thus, address the cause of the problem and the issue of subsidy will disappear on its own.

If the root of the problem, i.e corruption, is not fixed, then even by removing all the subsidies, it will not help Malaysia. What is saved from the subsidies will be stolen by the corrupt officials as it is happening now.

Loyal Malaysian: Any rational and thinking Malaysian will agree that we need to bite the bullet, that we have to pay more as some subsidies have to be reduced or withdrawn. But don't expect the public to sit back uncomplaining when the PM can waste public money by taking those useless jumping toads on paid holidays overseas. Or waste hundreds of millions of ringgit on armoured vehicles. You show us that the government is also biting the bullet, then you can try to convince us.

Swipenter: As usual, the government comes up with this grand plan to cut subsidies but without a timetable to start implementation. Talk is cheap. We know we cannot afford to keep on borrowing to fund our lifestyle and nine years is not a long time for the nation to plan ahead.

A good time is to start tackling seriously corruption, inefficiencies, wastage and leakages right now. This is also a big part of our country's financial woes and not just borrowings and subsidies.

Nicholas Lim: Did Idris Jala just said our debts will balloon to RM1 trillion! What are you going to do about the 70 percent LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) subsidy that goes to rich corporations or is the rakyat expected to swallow that bill too?

What exit strategy does Pemandu has for endemic corruption and nepotism in government resulting in losses of billions of ringgit per annum? Is Umno’s money politics aka ‘let's make a deal’ sustainable?

I didn't know that the government was so kind as to subsidise each household with RM12,900 a year with our own taxpayers money. All these while I thought we were subsidising Perwaja Steel, Proton, MAS, Sime Darby, POS Malaysia, Perimeker Sdn Bhd, YTL super high speed train to KLIA, Mohd Khir Toyo, Abdul Taib Mahmud, CMS, Transmile, Bank Bumi, PKFZ.

Christopher: If any Pakatan leaders are reading this, it may be time to bring in some Greek political leaders to Malaysia to share their experiences and lessons learn. I am sure Umno/BN practises are not far from what have been practised in Greece prior to them going bankrupt.

 

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