YOURSAY ‘When the people are hurting, salt is poured over the bruises by saying that it is good for them.'

Gov't: Hikes and subsidy cuts good for you

James1067: The public will not complain if the monies collected are used wisely, prudently and with no wastage.

They have been shouting till their throats hurt at the mismanagement of the government finances, only to  fall on deaf ears.

Instead of finding ways to stop this fiasco, the public is made to pay for the mistakes of the leaders. Now when the people are hurting, salt is poured over the bruises by saying that it is good for them.

Shibboleth: "It's all for your own good," like a mother reprimanding her child. Dear PM, we are not your children and you are not our mother. You are here to serve us, and not to be served.

Onyourtoes: You are telling only half of the story. How can you reduce fuel subsidy when government spending has remained extravagant?

How can you reduce sugar subsidy when importation and distribution of sugar is still in the hands of private monopolies ?

How can you justify high price of cars when issuance of Approved Permits (APs) is for specific cronies to become billionaires. Which country on earth makes billionaires out of the largesse of public policy?

How can you hike the electricity tariff when lopsided Independent Power Producers (IPP) agreements have remained unresolved?

How can you continue to raise  tolls when the profit of most concessionaires achieved is far beyond their wildest expectation? How can you impose Goods and Services Tax (GST) when our accounting and retailing are so rudimentary?

Read my lips, it will end up with consumers paying but the money not reaching the government.

Optimist: Onyourtoes, you have said it all. To send the message home, at the next Merdeka Center survey , dissatisfied people should state the facts as is.

Leakage in all parts of the government machinery needs to be arrested. The savings there will fund the economy many times over.

One of the Malaysiakini commenters stated something important. With costs rising and purchasing power declining, consumption will go down resulting in the manufacturing sector being impacted. The latter will result in lay-offs and lower contribution from producers to the tax haul.

Socials ills will follow. It will be a vicious cycle for all. Without efficiency and productivity, the economy will be compromised.

Avatar 111: It is not so much about the hike or increase of tariffs due to the cut of subsidies but more about the inefficient delivery system and unproductive government spending that are eroding the confidence of the people.

People do not mind paying more if they can get better service and the country's coffers get strengthened in the process. But what we get is a poorer country due to careless spending and rampant corruption.

Nimos: Yes, tell it to the workers, not bosses. They are the majority. They are the masses that make the economy work but the government and bosses reap the profits while workers have to share equally all hikes - food, fuel, electricity tariffs , toll, electricity, GST and whatever the government dishes up, while only taking home a low fixed pay.

The government asks people be prudent, but is the government prudent?

Ketuanan Rakyat: Why increase in toll when all the crony companies operating the tolled highways are making indecent profits ? This is not going to make our economy strong as being suggested. Umnoputras tend to talk nonsense most of the time.

Spinnot: Prime Minister's press secretary Tengku Sariffuddin Tengku Ahmad said: "To keep Malaysia's economy strong, we need to keep our public spending in check. That means raising some rates and cutting some subsidies."

Does he know what he's talking about? The government "raising some rates" means it is collecting more money from the rakyat, what has it got to do with the government keeping its public spending in check?

The government in fact is getting more money to spend from the rates hikes!

ACR: The statement says "...we need to keep our public spending in check". That is especially true insofar as it refers to public sector spending where 83 percent of the federal government expenditure for 2013/2014 is operating expenditure (opex) and 17 percent for development.

All that jet-setting by Najib's wife Rosmah Mansor and other wastage and corruption is part of opex.

Najib's reign showcases one of the worst public sector financial management of any PM in our history.

Wira: I've always thought a corruption-free government, slashing energy costs and the reduction of taxes is good for investor confidence.

That's why squeaky clean Singapore and Hong Kong kept reducing their corporate taxes and they are rated two of the best places for investors.

Now Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's government comes out with a new slogan saying corruption, rates hikes and increased taxes are good for you. I think he is intoxicated.

Silas Jugdip: Why make all those sweet promises during GE13 - like reducing toll rates and the like? Didn't anybody in the government had any inkling of what our economy will be like from 2014 upwards?

Was it not Idris Jala, minister in the prime minister's department, who, when he first joined the government, warned that the country might become bankrupt by 2019?

Lawfool: BN has run the government for more than 50 years, why do they only now realise that the country's economy is not good? The situation did not worsen yesterday. Please admit the mismanagement and apologise to the nation.

SomebodyElse: How can these good for us if our salary remain the same and yet everything is getting expensive? You don't need a calculator to realise that.

Smallbigblob: It is like telling you to take the poison bit by bit over a period of time, and is is good for you because you will be able to live a bit longer than if you swallow all the poison at a go.

Unspin: It is obvious that this "big bang" approach of removing subsidies and raising prices all at the same time is to pre-empt a downgrade in rating agency Fitch's ratings - the result of which could have severe repercussion on our economy.

We would not have reach this desperate point if rampant corruption and illicit capital outflow have been kept in check because had the money remained in the country, it would have a multiplier effect on our economy.

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