COMMENT Budget 2017 is one of the worst that I have read as an ordinary citizen of this country.

Unlike previous budgets which addressed the real issues, this year’s budget appears to be just some simplistic ‘hush-hush’ political speech.

I wonder who crafted the Budget, that even the use of tenses was incorrect. For example, we are now into 2017 but in paragraph 32, the text read: “As a result, global growth is expected to moderate 3.1 percent in 2016 from 3.2 percent in 2015.”

As Hazlan Zakaria put it, Budget 2017 appeared to be more like a “three-ring circus ringmaster's pitch”. Instead of paying to the budget, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak threw in a couple of examples from nasi lemak anak dara to one Professor Hamka, and even took a jibe at a former prime minister and Bersih rally.

What is lacking is a speech that gels. For example, I cannot even see how paragraph 153 and 154 are linked. They are totally incoherent to say the least. In my opinion, it is dangerous to have someone with such incoherent thinking to helm the nation, as we have already seen how one government agenda item after another is implemented without a clear direction.

(Just before the last general election, we heard so much about 1Malaysia. Now, suddenly we hear about TN50, which again was said to be a branding of what he calls 2050 National Transformation. If anything it should be NT50, unless Najib has the intention to glorify himself by building a legacy which I do not think he deserves it - as Tun Najib 2050 plan - therefore TN50.

(So, my question is what happens to Vision 2020? Have we even achieved the goals set forth in 2020? How is this TN50 linked to 1Malaysia? What happened to the favourite Economic Transformation Plan (ETP) and Government Transformation Plan (GTP)? Were they created to just convince people to vote for Barisan Nasional?).

Back to Paragraph 153. Without mentioning the context, Najib quoted one Professor Hamka, who said that “pure soul emanates from a healthy lifestyle, while sports and recreational activities will lead to a wholesome character-building.” Suddenly, in the following paragraph, Najib said: “However, bersih (healthy lifestyle) here does not refer to the Bersih rally.”

Professor Hamka never talked about ‘cleanliness’ but a healthy lifestyle - which includes eating nutritious food instead of nasi lemak anak dara, time to exercise and rest. Although hygiene is only a part of what constitutes a healthy lifestyle, to try to force in an illustration to ridicule Bersih rally is too far-fetched, and an insult to the rakyat. Doesn’t Najib want a clean and fair election, too?

Personally, I am not impressed with Budget 2017. To say that I am impressed with the budget read out by Najib is like saying a fat lady is cute instead of being perennially clumsy.

What is happening on the ground?

I tend to believe former Umno deputy president and present pro-tem Bersatu president Muhyiddin Yassin, who said that “in reality the government does not have the funds”.

Having been the deputy prime minister, Muhyiddin knows the rope tricks: “It is common practice to announce a bigger allocation than what is actually channelled to a ministry.” For that reason, I can understand why Muhyiddin claims that the rakyat are given ‘sweeteners’ through certain offers, but the government’s cash flow was not being addressed.

From what I can see cash flow is ‘a burden’. Just yesterday afternoon, I was at the hospital. To my horror, I was told that a blood sample meant to detect for Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) that was taken in July this year could not be tested. The reason given by the hospital: “There is no budget to purchase the reagents.” Shocking!

There were also reagents for two other important tests that have been out of stock, and due to shortage of funds, could not be replenished. I was told in the past, it only involved the supply of medicine, but now, even the pathological laboratory is affected.

On checking with the public relations office, I was told that some allocations had already been approved - after all these months without the reagents - but the money has not been released yet. Medicine supply for three months to the next consultation is now slashed to one which means patients have to make an additional two trips.

Because of this, the doctor could not decide whether to stop the treatment because there was no PSA results to help him make a decision.

This is not the only incident. I was involved in helping a school solve its sinkhole problem. With the help of someone senior in the government, we managed to get the local education department to look into the problem after 18 months of silence. Application for a budget of RM30,000 was applied for in August, but until now, the sinkhole is still not plugged. The reason: “The money has not been released yet.”

I do not wish to even talk about RM7 million to expand the narrow and winding road into Sungai Palas Boh Tea plantation, which I have followed up for several years in the past. Despite knowing that the plantation is a tourist attraction, the road is narrow, serving vehicles from both directions. At any juncture, someone’s car could easily plunge down the ravine.

Apart from the difficulty of acquiring the land from various owners, the other main reason that I have heard in the past was: “No budget.” In fact, one of the Public Works Department officer in Cameron Highlands told me that the request for budget had been submitted since several Malaysia Plans ago.

This has given me the strong impression that Muhyiddin’s claim may after all be true. Perhaps, a good indication is how much bonus will now be paid out to the civil servants. It is nothing but a mere RM500 in the context of today’s inflation rate.

I also tend to agree with Muhyiddin that throughout Budget 2017, Najib has “failed to address the core issue of reduced national income” and this deserves a little bit more attention.

If only 2.1 million people are paying their income taxes out of 14.6 of the country’s workforce, I want to know what the government will do the 12.5 million people who fail to declare their taxes. Why continue to burden those of us who have been paying our taxes faithfully, when others are enjoying their tax haven right here in Malaysia?

Big fat figures that ring hollow?

With some of the big figures thrown in, for example, the education and housing budgets, one can only ask whether these figures were just to make a few faces smile.

In reality, with the tight cash flow, will we ever see all the things promised in the budget? After all, who will monitor whether by the end of 2017, the government has provided cardiology treatment equipment for Serdang Hospital, Pulau Pinang Hospital and Sultanah Aminah Hospital in Johor Bahu as well as purchasing 100 ambulances with the allocation of RM536 million?

Or, by the end of 2017, will we be told that there is shortage of funds to buy the reagents for hospital pathological laboratories, despite a whopping RM4 billion allocation?

STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.