Bonus for civil servants, reduction of credit card interest, government housing loan and tax relief were among requests posted by the public on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's 1Malaysia blog in view of the coming 2011 Budget.

Najib had urged the people to offer their suggestions and feedback on the upcoming 2011 Budget by using the www.1Malaysia.com.my blog to input their suggestions.

The prime minister had said in his blog: "In this regard, I feel the  significance of connecting with and seeking ideas directly from the Rakyat on the ground.

"It was with the principles of inclusiveness and social justice in mind that I had asked for my fellow Malaysians to contribute suggestions for the 2010 national budget. I remember well the hundreds of solid suggestions for our budget and I urge them to do the same for the 2011 Budget."

According to a reader, who only wanted to be known as Mohamad, the government led by Najib need to expand the potential of local workers in areas and sectors dominated by foreign workers.

He urged those who drop out after UPSR or those not interested in continuing their studies further, to be sent to vocational schools to reduce the illiteracy divide.

The reader added that there were many vocational government institutions specializing in electronics, agriculture, fisheries, poultry, engineering and other fields, that enroll those who drop out of SPM.

Another reader, Rosli Musa urged Najib, who is also the finance minister, to abolish the RM50 tax for every credit card and the 24 percent interest be reduced to 12 percent a year.

Another interesting request was for civil servants who have not applied for government housing loan, be allowed to use the facility for applying personal loans.

- Bernama