There was a single voice from the DAP's post-2008 Budget forum last night - "the budget is not for everyone."

This was agreed by the five panelists of different background who spoke at the forum held at the DAP Damansara office. They were Lim Guan Eng (DAP secretary-general), Tony Pua (DAP economic advisor), Jeff Ooi (DAP e-campaign coordinator), Khoo Kay Peng (socio-political analyst) and Charles Santiago (economist).

They gathered to explain why they felt the 2008 Budget does not deserve the thumbs up, five days after it was presented and followed by accolades from government officials.

What was disappointing, however, was the poor turnout. Only 20 people were present in the audience.

Kicking off the discussion, Jeff Ooi said that the "budget features three main strategies which are global competitiveness, development of human capital and wealth equitable distribution," and felt these features must be scrutinized.

Elaborating on the first strategy, Ooi said, "What the media had speculated before the Budget speech became a total disappointment.

"The corporate tax reduction to 25 percent was nothing special because neighbouring countries like Singapore have slashed corporate tax to 18 percent in order to be globally competitive."

Alarming debt services charges

He also said one big letdown about the Budget was that no personal income tax reduction was introduced when many were anticipating the move.

Ooi also said the 7.8 percent allocation from the total budget for debt services charges was an alarming matter.

"7.8 percent of RM176 billion means a lot of money will be for paying debt services in the form of interest, principals and so on. We have been owing this much," he lamented.

On the 6.1 percent allocation for various forms of subsidies, Ooi claimed that ordinary citizens will not benefit from it.

He then explained that although a substantial amount was allocated from the 6.1 percent subsidy budget for gas, the withdrawal of oil subsidies outplayed the former as no allocations were made for real value=added sectors that would benefit ordinary citizens.

Elaborating on the prime minister's instruction to disclose racial and gender components in government-linked companies (GLCs), he said such instructions carried with it elements of racism.

"This is good in order to integrate racial unity but we are wondering when will companies like Petronas or Felda disclose their racial components?

"How long will employment be based on racial perspective and in order to compete globally we must look at merits and not race," Ooi added.

Many loopholes

Second speaker Lim then referred to the Auditor General's Report on the Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV), saying it was one of the many loopholes of the 2008 Budget.

"Only 2.8 percent of the Budget had been allocated for the fight against hardcore poverty. If you look at the amount spent on the OPV scandals, we can totally eradicate hardcore poverty by 2010," he said.

Another matter raised by Lim was the government's dependency on oil revenues. He told his audience that despite the country being an oil exporter, by 2011 Malaysia will be a net oil importer and this will be detrimental for the country as Lim felt the budget had no real initiatives to develop alternative source of income.

The minuscule amount allocated for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) became another point from the 2008 Budget that fell into heavy criticism by Khoo Kay Peng, a socio-political analyst with a local think-tank.

He said that SMEs make up 90 percent of the country's businesses, yet only a small amount of the budget was allocated for the "country's next generation of revenue generator."

On a positive note, Khoo said rural folks do benefit from the Budget and the rise of income in the rural sectors is evident.

'Deny BN two-third majority'

Meanwhile, Pua and Santiago highlighted the reduction of foreign direct investments (FDIs) which they claimed is caused by the government policy of compulsory constitution of 30 percent bumiputera (Malay) equity in all businesses and this has dipped public confidence in the government.

Santiago then commented on the housing loan scheme introduced in the 2008 Budget calling it a scam because "there is nothing special about that as you are only using your own money to purchase the house."

In the 2008 Budget, the prime minister introduced a scheme where Employees Provident Fund contributors can make monthly withdrawals to pay housing instalments. Many had described the move as merely a 'tactical' announcement.

Pua then attempted to dispel the perception that Malays derive the most benefit from the Budget, saying that bumiputeras suffer greater income inequality compared to other races in the country.

In the concluding session of the forum, the panelists claimed that public confidence in the BN government is plunging and if nothing is done, the entire nation will 'sink'.

The panelists agreed that the 2008 Budget reflected bad management and poor governance.

This, they said, was evident on the heavy debt payment allocation and investment in real estates like the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) and the Iskandar Development Region (IDR) where exorbitant sums had gone into 'mere buildings'.

"They are not productive sectors that can generate real income and yet hundreds of billions are going there and this is very poor business and managerial decision on the part of the government," Khoo told the participants.

"The only way to stop this poor governance is to deny BN the two-third majority in Parliament," the panelists concluded at the forum.