IT'S RAINING GOODIES IN MALAYSIA

Reckless spending or genuine aid? Will the rakyat be happy and grateful enough to vote the ruling party back into power?

Life is good for Malaysians. Regardless of your age, ethnicity and profession, if you are a Malaysian, you are in for a windfall. You don't even need to ask, yet you shall receive. This seems to be the campaign slogan of the government, especially in the past few months. Indeed the goodies have been coming at such an unprecedented rate, one wonders if the country has suddenly discovered new sources of unlimited revenue that the rakyat don't know about.

From students to the elderly, from farmers to teachers - almost no one is left out. First there was Bantuan Rakyat Malaysia (BR1M) where households earning less than RM3000 a month were given RM500 in financial aid. Then came the RM100 aid given to every primary and secondary school student and the 1Malaysia Book Voucher of RM200 for every college and university student. The elderly were not left out. They received a RM100 shopping voucher.

Last year a special housing scheme was launched to help young professionals own their first home. Civil servants were promised hefty pay increments and generous pension benefits. Last month a minimum wage of RM800 was introduced, and two days ago, the government promoted 24,000 teachers at a cost of RM934 million.

Smiles all round as these women receive their RM500 BR1M vouchers. (Star April 26, 2012)

Where is all this money coming from? Has the government turned philanthropist using taxpayers money? Our public coffers are not bottomless. The government's favourite golden goose Petronas will not continue to produce golden eggs indefinitely.

Pemandu CEO Idris Jala once warned that the country would be heading towards bankruptcy in 2019 unless it cut subsidies and debt. He caused a furore with his statement, and has since amended it - "The government is not in dire financial straits now, but as in any situation involving finances, this is not to say it cannot be better." (StarBiz: Mar 19, 2012)

Flushed with money to give away. (Star: May 19, 2012)

According to the PM, "We are able to do all these because we manage the country well and can distribute the wealth to the people. We undertake huge projects in Kuala Lumpur so that we can stimulate the economy and, with the annual increase in revenue of five to six per cent, we are able to share with the people. The national revenue for 2010-2011 was reported to have increased by RM26 billion. (From http://www.mysinchew.com/node/69730)

However, the Deputy Finance Minister recently told Parliament that the federal government's total debt at the end of 2011 stood at RM456.1 billion, 96% of which was domestic debt and 4% external debt.

Whom should we listen to? Who should we believe?

In the end, it's a case of he says, I say, they say. What exactly is the state of our country's financial situation? Are we enjoying robust economic growth under the ETP? Or are all these government handouts less of a financial aid and more of a pre-election sweetener that it can ill afford?

Perhaps it's more a case of you know, I know and we all know the answer.

Related post:

TONY PUA TELLS IT AS IT IS 


IT PAYS TO BE A CIVIL SERVANT IN MALAYSIA

OF 1MALAYSIA RACISM & RE-EMPLOYMENT OF OLDER WORKERS

Source: Straits Times 10 Feb 2011

If there is any mainstream newspaper that I read on a daily basis, it's the Singapore Straits Times. I read it for two reasons: for news about Malaysia that no Malaysian mainstream media (MSM) would print, and for news about Singapore's active ageing programmes.

For instance, the article above by John Mallot, former US ambassador to Malaysia, has been circulating online for several days now since it first appeared under the title "The Price of Malaysia's Racism" in the Wall Street Journal Asia on 8 Feb. To date, there has been no direct mention of the article in any of the Malaysian MSM. If you haven't read it yet, click on the link to read the full article. Worth reading.

And below is Mahathir's response to some of the comments raised by Lee Kuan Yew in his book "Hard Truths To Keep Singapore Going". Click here to read the article.

Source: Straits Times (11 Feb 2011)

As for news on active ageing and retirement, below are some snippets. Malaysians probably won't see news articles like these below as there are hardly any policies in place to assist older workers seeking re-employment. Except for raising the retirement age for civil servants to 58, the Malaysian government has done little to re-train older workers or offer some form of aid for those seeking a second career in their later years. For the private sector, the retirement age remains at 55 - an age many see as the new 40!


Source: Straits Times 11 Feb 2011

Come January 2012 the new Retirement and Re-employment Act will take effect in Singapore. Under this law, it is mandatory for companies to offer eligible employees an option to continue working beyond 62 - first to 65 and later to 67.

The operative word here is 'eligible', meaning the workers must be medically fit and have shown satisfactory work performance. Employers can offer them either 3-year contract or one-year renewable contracts until they reach 65.

For those who cannot or will not be re-hired, employers must give them a one-time payment of between S$4500 and S$10,000. Not all employers are happy with this.

Click here to read more about the Retirement and Re-employment Act and the tripartite guidelines.