YOURSAY | 'We're already world's first to have a PM with RM2.6b put in his bank account.'

Hopeful123: Let Malaysia be the first country to do away with the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Then we may find others following suit.

We can do wonders about our existing revenue if only we could plug all the leaks and corruption amounting to billions of ringgit. There is no need for GST.

If we had utilised the money from Petronas for proper investments, we would be reaping the profits by now. Look at Norway.

Singapore is another fine example of how we could thrive by excellent use of well-trained manpower.

The BN government's "tidak apa" (I couldn't care less) attitude has resulted in our foreign debts soaring every year. It looks like there is no hope of bringing down the debts with such an indifferent attitude.

Malaysians now have to decide whether they want a change for the better or live in an impending "Zimbabwe".

Anonymous 2460391489930458: Finance Minister II Johari Abdul Ghani, if Malaysia can be the first country in the world to have a billionaire kleptocrat, why can't it also be the first to stop implementing GST? Nothing is impossible.

Clever Voter: Despite his training in accounting and finance, Johari apparently doesn't know his stuff. Our GST revenue is being used to help bridge the gap caused by the uncontrollable increase in the government's operating expenditure. Much of these are politically-driven.

There are hundreds of agencies created to soak up unemployed graduates. Not forgetting, too, the hundreds of religious agencies that this government wants to appease.

Then we have the never-ending expenditures on BN-related celebrations that cost the country hundreds of millions. How about leakages and mismanagement of funds in all the ministries? Business people would be appalled at the way money is being thrown away.

One example would be hiring more people than they actually need in the civil service. Almost 95 percent of each ringgit collected goes to pay for such expenses, leaving little to development.

Even if these funds were used for development, just take a look at what happens in the rural constituencies. Much of the money is not used for the specified purposes, and this is made worse with projects that cost more than the actual budget.

All these mean people are being forced to support a decadent and careless government that has misled the nation.

Prime Minister Najib Razak and his government must be made accountable for the administration's huge deficits and servicing of debts.

Gerard Lourdesamy: Reversing GST would be just like reversing a RM2.6 billion donation that had initially ended up in Najib's private bank account. So it is possible.

The US has no GST but only a sales tax, and yet they are the biggest economy in the world. What is important is efficiency in tax collection and eradicating tax evasion.

The Inland Revenue Service (IRS) is exemplary in that regard in the US. Here, we have Johari defending businessman Jho Low and Najib's stepson Riza Aziz for not paying any income tax in Malaysia because they have no locally generated income.

Then how are both of them spending lavishly in Malaysia? What is the source of their local income to sustain this? How can income generated abroad be tax exempt when it is repatriated to Malaysia?

Either you pay tax in that foreign country, or you pay tax in Malaysia if the money is brought back. The truth is, GST was implemented because we had to make up for the financial mismanagement by the government.

Fair Play: We are already the world's first ever to have a prime minister with RM2.6 billion deposited into his personal bank account, which, according to a 'reliable' source, was for his contribution to a worthy cause.

Quigonbond: Indeed, no country has the international honour of being called a kleptocracy for a good two years either. That doesn't mean we have to keep to the status quo.

We invest in mega-projects for the future, says Johari

Anonymous 2436471476414726: The East Coast Railway Link (ECRL) is not a bona fide investment.

It looks more like they are creating a conduit for the corrupt government to channel money to pay off 1MDB's debts. Where is the open tender?

Why agree to over-inflated prices. Why contract out to a foreign company under very unfavourable terms and ignore the need for high local content?

As regards the Pan-Borneo Highway, we are just providing basic infrastructures which has been long overdue, and which Putrajaya is duty bound to provide.

Based on Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg's contention, Petronas had been extracting oil and gas resources from Sarawak and Sabah “illegally” for the past decades.

So by right, that revenue earned ought to be returned to the two territories. The highway represents payback time. So what investment are you talking about, Johari?

Clever Voter: This is a nation of under 30 million population. You're investing in mega projects for whom? You do not hear Nordic nations boasting about their national projects. We are not China.

They are more like white elephants in the making, while the self-serving politicians and their rent seekers will walk away enriched and endowed with new wealth. Meanwhile, the rest suffer.

Boeyks: Better start ahead of time with the RM78 billion underground tunnel from Bagan Datok to Sumatra that was mentioned by Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi only recently, and why stop there?

Limbc_D8c: Following what Johari has said, what then is problem for Penang to build its tunnel to the mainland?

Gerard Lourdesamy: Johari, this is more like you're investing in mega debts for the future.

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