Make Proper Use Of The Allocation
By FAN XIAOQI (Sin Chew Daily)
The veil on the much anticipated mini-budget has finally been lifted, but after taking a good look at how the RM60bn is going to be allocated, many people may feel a tinge of disappointment: Do the people in the street really benefit from the stimulus package?
Bosses of medium-sized companies could be upset: Why no reduction in corporate taxes? Although companies may enjoy tax relief for renovation and hiring jobless people, not many will even fork out the money to fix an air-conditioner that has gone out of order. Moreover, with businesses ebbing and demands shrinking, companies are still contemplating whether to introduce pay cut schemes or lay off more workers. Who's going to hire the unemployed?
Wage earners making barely enough to survive may lament: No reduction in personal income taxes? Well, I may be lucky enough to be spared from the axe, but the salary has just touched the taxable minimum, while I'm not entitled to the privileges offered to the poor and the underprivileged. Although the government will subsidise food and highway tolls, with next month being the tax reporting season, I may have problem making ends meet!
Car owners who have just settled their loans are also vexed: I've just freed myself from the bondage, and now the government is trying to entice us with the RM5,000 rebate. Does the government want us to get bonded again in the depth of the economic crisis? Is it really serious in helping the rakyat?
At first look, the mini-budget may seem a booster to many industries, but after studying its content carefully, it is found that the budget doesn't really provide any practical help to the low-income group which makes up a sizeable chunk in the country's young and urban population.
Perhaps the mini-budget's objective is to shape up the country's long-term competitiveness, but the government has been too sluggish in responding to this round of economic crisis. If things still go the leisurely pace like they used to, the effectiveness of this RM60bn in delivering the national economy and the people's livelihoods out of the current doldrums is barely imaginable.
More importantly, whether the RM60bn allocation will eventually be despatched to its desired destinations remains to be seen. Will some MP or professional organisation suddenly raise the question after a year or so: Where have all the government's pledged allocations gone?
RM60bn may be enough to some, but to others, the amount is simply immaterial. Having said that, the quantum is not of primary concern here; what is more important is whether the government has got the focus right, and would efficiently and transparently mobilise the money.
Otherwise, even if we take out RM600bn, only corrupt officials will be fattened while people in the street continue to suffer. (By FAN XIAOQI/Translated by DOMINIC LOH/Sin Chew Daily)
