YOURSAY ‘The government now is really no different from the man in the street, having maxed out his credit card and overdraft.’

Pulai MP: BN to face bigger defeat if prices rise further

Paul Warren: Sorry, Pulai MP Nur Jazlan Mohamed, you have got your thinking cap a little twisted and I really don't know who you are trying to kid. I would like to think it is just yourself than the rest of us because I think you are a nice guy.

When you said that the government should decide in the country’s best interests, you actually contradicted yourself. You worry about BN losing terribly come the next election and yet you want the government to decide in the country's best interest!

Isn't that such an oxymoron? Isn't what you want is to ensure BN wins big and that decisions made should aim to achieve that, which is not necessarily in the country's best interest?

Myop101: BN is actually accelerating their own collapse by creating a wider wealth gap. They don't understand that many dynasties and civilisations collapsed because of this.

People revolt not because they love revolting but because the state forces them into a corner.

Onyourtoes: Dear friends, price hike is the symptom, not the cause. The cause is poor macroeconomic management, distortion and mismanagement.

We have allowed too much fat to build up. We have allowed too many distortions to fester and we have tolerated too much inefficiency, unproductivity and mediocrity to take place.

Solving all these problems requires a revamp in the way we manage our economy, not just by explaining and engaging with the public as being suggested here. Although it is slightly out of context, I just want to propose one topic for debate.

Right now almost anyone in authority or in business would want unfettered entry of foreign workers. Those who go against it almost have no voice at all.

But why keep saying we need more and more foreign workers? Did New Zealand need foreign workers the way we did? Yes, the New Zealand economy grew at 2 to 3 percent for the last two three decades.

But so what? What have they missed out? Certainly they did not miss that kind of stupidity, haphazardness, congestion, crimes, and disorderliness all around.

It does not matter how fast we grew, how many opulent homes we have, how many high-rises we built or how many marques are on the roads. Good living does not come from all these. Why breakneck growth when the fruit was never shared?

We did not have the overpopulation problem but we deliberately created one. We did not have the unemployment problem but we deliberately allow foreign workers to “price out” and replace our workers.

Please don’t talk about Malaysian workers not interested in doing certain jobs. “Production function” (the way we go about doing things) will gravitate toward the resources we have in abundance.

If we have unlimited supply of unskilled and cheap labour, then the economy will gravitate toward primitive and rudimentary order. It is not a coincidence we go about collecting our garbage or doing our construction in the most haphazard and inefficient way.

Malaysia is not a labour shortage country, please get this right. More than one million public sector workers is the manifestation of unemployment among Malaysians, especially the Malays. They ended up doing unproductive and meaningless “jobs” in the government while leaving the actual production to the foreigners.

Soon, it is not just the cronies who are rent-seekers. Soon, all Malaysians are also depending on foreigners for livelihood. Soon, you have to ask what Malaysians do for a living.

Malaysia has no business to follow the China, Indonesia or India model. These are countries with huge populations to feed. Malaysia should rightly follow the New Zealand or Norway model.

Clearwater: A highly skill, high income model such as that of New Zealand (or Switzerland) is well beyond Bolehland to achieve.

We have missed the boat and it won't return this century. A certain megalomaniac who ruled for 22 years made sure of that with his ruinous, destructive, divisive socioeconomic policies. We are truly screwed while his legacy remains.

Cmfoo: The government now is really no different from the man in the street, having maxed out his credit card and overdraft.

If he doesn't cheat, lie or steal, then how is he going to pay up his debt? Umno-BN, having spent excessively to buy votes in the last GE, now has to cough up to balance the spendings of BR1M.

Hopeful123: The traffic jams at the toll plazas during public holidays and weekends are enough justification that the operators are making obscene profits. Is there a need to further increase the rates?

Like someone commented, has any of the operators complained that they are losing money or to put it more clearly, that they are not profiteering?

Chiew Eng Ng: Najib can’t do much now. He needs to tax the people more to cover for all his extravagance spending at the expense of the rakyat. It is about poor governance and mismanagement of the country's public funds and not how well you need to address the price increase issues.

No matter how you spin that all these GST (Goods and Services Tax) or subsidies are good for the country, the rakyat are not stupid. At the end of the day, it is how much is in my pocket.

Righteous: GST = Gomen Sudah Teruk. Wasalaam.

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