It is obvious that LGE supports the idealism that Malaysia be turned into a welfare state whereby the state `gives’ out money to poor people to support them. As `noble’ as this idea may be, is it something sustainable? Absolutely not! LGE better understand that it is better to teach someone to fish rather then giving the fish to the person day in and day out!

Yes some social net has to be there and is already in place. In fact it has recently been reviewed to include more people. But to indiscriminately give people money without proper thought and proposing the use of Petronas’ money is not only reckless, but indicates poor understanding of economics and finance.

Every single Ringgit that you take from the budget for use in any other way takes away money allocated for health, education, security, infrastructure etc. etc. There will never be a perfect budget that will appease everybody. The main thing is to ensure that the strategy of the budget is sound and ensure execution is good.