Unfair to categorise teachers and civil servants as T15, says Wee

PARLIAMENT | It’s not fair if the government classifies teachers or normal civil servants under the T15 category together with corporate figures and other millionaires, said Ayer Hitam MP Wee Ka Siong.

He said that based on the Household Income Survey and Household Income and Expenditure Surveys by the Statistics Department, T15 are those who earn RM13,295 and above.

“To call all T15 as extraordinarily rich (maha kaya) is unfair.

“How is it fair that teachers and civil servants above the M48 grade are lumped together with corporate figures and millionaires?

“Before this, the government said it would no longer use income levels as a threshold (for subsidies) but why are we using the ‘T’ term now? If the ones here (in the Dewan Rakyat) are confused, can you imagine the confusion among the rakyat?” he asked in the Dewan Rakyat today.

Two days ago, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said future income classifications will not rely solely on gross household income but incorporate various factors to ensure greater fairness.

“I can confirm that the new method will not depend solely on gross household income. We are currently working on improvements based on net household income.

“It will also consider several other factors. Once that’s finalised, we can then set the statistical lines (for population groups) such as B40 and T15,” he explained.

Rafizi also said a two-tier pricing system will be introduced for the purchase of RON95, where under this system, only the top 15 percent income group will pay the market price at petrol stations.

The rest will continue to purchase fuel at subsidised prices when the targeted subsidy plan is implemented next year.

However, Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman criticised the government for targeting the T15 even though its parameters have yet to be defined.

Impose petrol levy

On that note, Wee also panned the government's plan to introduce a two-tier pricing mechanism for RON95 when the blanket subsidy is abolished.

“He (Rafizi) said the T15 will be paying full price (for the fuel) while the balance 85 percent of the population will still enjoy fuel subsidy.

“If we are to fix two prices for RON95, then we must have a mechanism at the petrol station to identify who comes under T15 and the rest.

“Is it through the MyKad or other identification system?” he asked.

Offering solutions, Wee suggested that the government impose a petrol levy for vehicles worth RM300,000 and above, apart from properly categorising who comes under the T15 category.

Under the levy system, the MCA president said if the T15 group purchases 50 litres of petrol a week - which comes to about 2,600 litres a year at a subsidy cost of RM1 per litre - the government could impose an RM2,600 levy annually on them.

“If they can purchase a car worth more than RM300,000, paying a levy of RM2,600 a year won’t be an issue to them.

“Using this measure, we can retain a single price for RON95 fuel at petrol stations, with the government collecting money yearly from the T15 to cover the subsidy cost,” said Wee.

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