Archive for category Budget Debate
2013 Budget hides a very unconfident Najib who is haunted and hounded by the phobia that his fourth budget speech may be the last Umno/BN budget in Parliament
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Elections, Mahathir, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak on Saturday, 29 September 2012
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s barefaced denial yesterday that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 2013 Budget was an “election budget” illustrated what is wrong with the UMNO/Barisan Nasional government after 55 years in power – that the Umno/BN government leaders suffer from the dual terminal ailments of denial complex and unprecedented credibility gap.
Even UMNO/Barisan Nasional Ministers, MPs and members would not believe Muhyiddin’s brazen denial that Najib’s 2013 Budget was not an “election budget”.
Why then is the Deputy Prime Minister making a denial that is completely bereft of credibility, whether in Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional camps?
The only answer is that UMNO/BN leaders continue to suffer from the false sense that they could transform Malaysian politics into a world of make-believe and get ordinary Malaysians to believe what the UMNO/BN leaders decreed, although totally divorced from the world of reality.
It is because of this misguided and misplaced complex that caused UMNO/BN leaders to continue to deny that the growing fear of crime among Malaysians as well as rampant corruption in the country are major problems in the country, falling back on discredited GTP and NKRA statistics and claims of falling crime index and progress in the war against corruption. Read the rest of this entry »
Buying love on a Budget
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Elections, Najib Razak on Saturday, 29 September 2012
— Gomen Man
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 29, 2012
SEPT 29 — Is this it? This is not a Budget, what was announced yesterday by Finance Minister Najib Razak was vote-buying through the liberal use of taxpayers’ funds.
Yesterday was making Malaysians more addicted to handouts, the opiate of the masses.
Idris Jala, aka the salesman, can talk all he wants about GST and Malaysia’s readiness to wean itself of subsidies and Najib can go on about cutting the budget deficit but this government did this country a great disservice yesterday: it mortgaged the future for short-term gain.
And it also did the virtually impossible: it cut taxes, gave out more money and said that it would still cut the deficit. Najib should bottle this miraculous potion and sell it to the US. Read the rest of this entry »
Budget 2013 showdown: BN vs Pakatan
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Education, Najib Razak, Pakatan Rakyat, Transport on Saturday, 29 September 2012
Review by Lee Wei Lian
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 29, 2012
SEPT 29 — Now that both Budget 2013 from the ruling coalition and the shadow budget from the opposition have been presented, let’s take a look at how the two budgets stack up against one another.
This is the last budget before the general election and the stakes are high. Barisan Nasional (BN) has had a lot of experience in crafting budgets and surprised no one when it dished out cash and other goodies, particularly to the younger generation who are a significant chunk of the newly registered electorate and are an unknown quantity in terms of their voting inclinations.
It scored some points however for not going overboard with spending as expected by some economists and still managed to pare down its expected budget deficit to four per cent from an estimated 4.5 per cent this year.
Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is a relative novice when it comes to federal budgets and presented one that appears to be much more geared toward reforming the economy than the one from the Najib administration which appeared to have more-of-the-same type policy tinkering rather than sweeping fundamental changes.
Read the rest of this entry »
Candied Budget unlikely to sweeten GE13 for BN, say analysts
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Elections, Najib Razak on Saturday, 29 September 2012
By Amin Iskandar, Hafidz Baharom, Md Izwan and Nomy Nozwir
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 29, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 — Voters have grown more discerning and are unlikely to be swayed by cash incentives and other one-off perks into casting their ballot for the Barisan Nasional (BN) government at national polls due soon, pundits said in weighing in on the impact of Budget 2013.
Political observers interviewed by The Malaysian Insider wholly agreed that the RM251.6 billion announced yesterday, which promised a slew of cash handouts and tax cuts spread across the board, was trained to appeal to key demographic groups in the run-up to the 13th general election, but said voters had become increasingly shrewd and capable of weighing the short-term personal gains against the long-term fiscal impact on the national economy.
“There are only two words to describe it — election budget,” said Monash University’s political science lecturer James Chin.
He noted that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has “pulled out all the stops and given the voters their sentiments, to let them think twice about voting for the opposition” in elections that must be held by next April when BN’s five-year mandate won in March 2008 runs out.
“People will compare the budget to Pakatan Rakyat’s and will also see how the second round of Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) will fuel inflation,” Chin added. Read the rest of this entry »
Di antara bajet BN dan bajet Pakatan Rakyat
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Corruption, Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO on Thursday, 27 September 2012
— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 27, 2012
27 SEPT — BN dan Pakatan Rakyat memperagakan bajet 2013 masing-masing. Pihak Pakatan Rakyat telah membentangkan bajet bayangannya dua hari sebelum Najib membentangkan bajet pihak BN. Najib akan membentangkan bajetnya pada Jumaat ini dan dijangka bajet itu adalah bajet pilihanraya. Tanda-tanda bajet itu akan memasukkan banyak peruntukan pemberian tunai kepada rakyat itu adalah jelas dan telah pun diakui oleh beberapa orang pemimpin-pemimpin BN.
Itu tidak memeranjatkan sesiapa kerana Najib begitu popular dengan membeli hati dan jiwa rakyat dengan wang ringgit. Bagi Najib bayar sana, bayar sini adalah cara yang beliau selalu lakukan baik dalam kerajaan mahu pun didalam kegiatan parti. Najib mentadbir kerajaan seperti beliau mentadbir Umno bahagiannya di Pekan.
Dalam pada itu PR juga mengemukakan bajet pihaknya untuk membezakannya diantara bajet yang selalu di bentangkan oleh BN. Beberapa pemimpin kerajaan termasuk menteri-menterinya telah mengkritik bajet Pakatan Rakyat dan menuduh PR sedang cuba untuk menarik undi dan bajet anjuran PR itu adalah bajet yang tidak realistik.
Saya hanya hendak memberi komen tentang isu realistik atau tidaknya bajet PR yang di katakan oleh pemimpin samseng BN seperti Nazri Aziz dan beberapa “hulubalang” BN itu sebagai bahan lawak itu. Nazri membuat komen yang tidak beretika sehinggakan dia mengatakan bajet anjuran PR itu adalah bajet bodoh. Bagi saya hanya orang bodoh sahaja yang mengenali si bodoh yang lain. Read the rest of this entry »
2013 Budget tomorrow – not whether there will be 2nd payment of BR1M but whether it would more than double RM500 and benefit more people than just 4.2 million households earning less than RM3,000 a month?
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Elections, Najib Razak on Thursday, 27 September 2012
The single question all Malaysians are asking about the 2013 Budget to be presented by the Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Parliament tomorrow is not whether there will be a second payment of BR1M (1Malaysia People’s Aid) but whether the second BR1M will be more than double the first BR1M of RM500.
Furthermore, whether the second BR1M payment would benefit more people than just the 4.2 million households earning less than RM3,000 a month as provided for under Budget 2012 . i.e. households earning up to RM4,000 or RM5,000 a month.
The Barisan Nasional government, through their representatives at various levels in the country, have led Malaysians to expect these second BR1M benefits from Budget 2013 tomorrow, and if the second BR1M payment is not more than double the first BR1M payout of RM500 or does not benefit more than the 4.2 million households earning less than RM3,000 a month, Najib and the Umno/BN government should expect an adverse backlash from the Malaysian people.
Najib has himself to blame that the country’s annual budget presentation in Parliament has become an annual Santa Claus occasion, all because of Najib’s indecisiveness and obsessive fear of the 13th General Elections, causing him to transform his 42-month premiership into an prolonged and unending electioneering campaign. Read the rest of this entry »
Pakatan Rakyat 2013 Budget pledges a New Deal for Sabah and Sarawak
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Sabah, Sarawak on Wednesday, 26 September 2012
The Pakatan Rakyat’s 2013 Budget recognises and addresses the three “Cs” of corruption, crime and competitiveness – the trio of problems which are the bane of the Malaysian economy and if unresolved, will condemn the country to mediocrity and even towards the direction of a failed state.
The PR 2013 Budget is also a pledge for a New Deal for Sabah and Sarawak, comprising five elements:
(1) Reaffirmation of the Kuching Declaration of Pakatan Rakyat of 16th September 2012 to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of the people of Sabah and Sarawak in terms of infrastructure development and protection of their fundamental rights in forming Malaysia 49 years ago in 1963;
(2) Pakatan Rakyat pledge to honour the increase of petroleum royalty to Sabah and Sarawak (as well as to Terengganu and Kelantan, the other oil producing states) from 5 to 20%; Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia’s PM to bet on generous budget as election looms
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 26 September 2012
By Siva Sithraputhran and Anuradha Raghu
Sep 26, 2012
Reuters
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak is expected to unveil a voter-pleasing budget on Friday, placing the priority on winning a tough election above addressing the country’s rising debt burden.
Economists say Najib will likely delay much-needed reforms to broaden Malaysia’s tax base and reduce its dependence on oil revenues to at least next year, while announcing measures to help poorer families struggling with rising living costs.
Strong revenues in 2012 mean Najib can afford to be generous in the budget for next year without alarming financial markets, but further signs of fiscal slippage would add to investor concerns over a steady deterioration in Malaysia’s finances.
The Southeast Asian country’s public debt as a percentage of GDP is just short of its self-imposed ceiling of 55 percent – up from 43 percent in 2008 – while its budget deficit of 4.7 percent in the first half of 2012 is the third-biggest in Asia after Japan and India.
Fitch Ratings said in August that Malaysia’s public finances were weak compared with other countries on equivalent sovereign ratings (A minus) and on a par with heavily indebted countries such as Italy and Israel. Read the rest of this entry »
Budget 2013: What do we want and what can we afford?
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate on Wednesday, 26 September 2012
— Ramon Navaratnam
The Malaysian Insider
Sep 25, 2012
SEPT 25 — Budget 2013, I am sure, will be one of the most difficult to design and to present to the people and Parliament come Budget Day this Friday Sept 28. I’ve done this many times before, so I think I would know!
This Budget is crucial for many reasons. Firstly, we are facing global economic decline and considerable uncertainty that can adversely affect our socioeconomic outlook. Secondly, the 13th General Elections are looming and voters want and think they can get more from this Budget. Thirdly, more so now, there is a major conflict between two perennial Budget issues — what people want and what can we afford.
Government is now faced with the exacting challenge of wanting to please the voters in an Election Budget and protecting the integrity of the Budget and indeed the sustainability of the economy itself. The Budget will thus have to strike a clever balance that will not easily please everyone — the people and the foreign financiers.
On the Macro front, we must take into account the rising concerns of the international Rating Agencies, the World Bank and the IMF which will be closely watching to see how we manage these conflicting demands on the Budget.
We can all merrily ask for more perks, tax concessions, subsidies and even more spending to make us all feel good and happy. But we have to think of the impact of more “giveaways” on the overall health of the economy. We have to remember our overriding need to control the widening Budget Deficit and the Debt Burden which have been rising rapidly and weighing down on the confidence in the economy in the longer term. Read the rest of this entry »
The 2012 Budget for a class of seven-year-olds… and voters
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Economics, Education, Elections on Wednesday, 16 November 2011
By Shern Ren | November 16, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
NOV 16 — Tomorrow my younger brother is going to school to collect the RM100 that the government has promised him as a school-goer. It’s all well and good for him to get a bit more spending money, but what difference does it make in our national Budget? Here’s an imaginary conversation that will take place tomorrow in a school far too close to home…
Hi, and welcome to Class 1 Malaysia in SJK Pelancar(1). As you’re all aware, our class president (who’s also the class treasurer) has magnanimously decided to give RM100 to all schoolchildren — that’s you and me! But before you all line up to receive his magnificent gift, he’s asked me to make a little speech about how far we’ve come as a class.
There are fifty of us in this class, 1 Malaysia. Who’s bringing in the dough? Well, 21 of us are employed, but only six of us will have any qualification higher than the SPM. Only three working people earn enough to pay any class fees at all to the class fund, which makes it all the more interesting that two of you guys are actually working for the class and earning your living from that same class fund. Don’t get too comfortable in your job though — there are eight fellows from other classes like 1 Donesia willing to do our jobs for half the price, or two of them for every five of us.
Read the rest of this entry »
Sinking deeper and deeper
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Economics, Finance, Financial Scandals on Wednesday, 2 November 2011
By S JAYASANKARAN, KL CORRESPONDENT | 31 Oct 2011
Business Times
MALAYSIA should take heed of the problems – the public anger, the social unrest – posed by the solutions offered to tackle rising sovereign debt in Europe. God forbid that we head that way!
The Auditor-General’s recent report pointed out that Malaysia’s national debt rose 12.3 per cent to over RM407 billion (S$165 billion) in 2010. The amount is equivalent to 53.1 per cent of gross domestic product. It’s the second straight year that the national debt has exceeded 50 per cent.
The figure is a reflection of the spending spree the country went on to mitigate the effects of the 2009 global financial crisis. At its peak that year, the budget deficit rose to 7.6 per cent of GDP, the highest in two decades.
It has since come down to 5.4 per cent of GDP and the government projects that it will decline further to 4.7 per cent of GDP next year. But that may be overly optimistic.
Read the rest of this entry »
Who must bear responsibility for the deception delaying tabling the 2010 Auditor-General’s reports until after the end of the general debate on the 2012 Budget – Prime Minister or Chief Secretary?
Posted by Kit in Auditor-General Report, Budget Debate, Corruption, Financial Scandals, Najib Razak on Thursday, 27 October 2011
Who must bear responsibility for the deception and sleight-of-hand delaying tabling the 2010 Auditor-General’s reports on the annual and continuing “horror of horrors” of government financial hanky-panky, mismanagement and misappropriations of public funds until after the general debate in Parliament on the 2010 Budget (except for the official Ministerial winding-ups) is over?
Is he the Prime Minister or Chief Secretary? Or nobody need be held responsible for this gross parliamentary disrespect and deception?
Although the Auditor-General’s Reports for 2010 rated most ministries and government departments as “excellent” in their financial management, the Auditor-General nonetheless made history producing two thickest and most voluminous reports in Malaysian history on the Federal Government’s Accounts totally over 1,330 pages – retailing the hair-raising pecaddiloes and major transgressions in the government’s public finances in the first full year of Najib’s premiership in 2010.
The first public conclusion from the 2010 Auditor-General’s Reports is that there is no difference between Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s National Transformation Policy and his predecessor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s “Islam Hadhari” – as horror tales of financial hanky-panky, mismanagement and misappropriations continue unchanged, year in and year out, whether under Najib, Abdullah or even Tun Mahathir’s time as Prime Minister.
Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysian confidence dives as global recovery ends, says survey
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Economics, Finance on Monday, 17 October 2011
By Lee Wei Lian
The Malaysian Insider
Oct 17, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 17 — The largest-ever global survey of finance professionals by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) shows that all signs of the global economic recovery have disappeared.
The confidence level in Malaysia also deteriorated markedly in the survey as out of 222 finance professionals who responded in Malaysia, only eight per cent reported confidence gains, down from 20 per cent in the last quarter, and 77 per cent believe the global economy is either stagnating or deteriorating compared with 54 per cent.
In terms of the global outlook, three-quarters of the 2,873 professionals who took part in the Global Economic Conditions Survey between August 19 and September 7, 2011 thought global economic conditions were deteriorating or stagnating.
The ACCA’s global business confidence index returned a reading of -34 for the third quarter of 2011, down from -8 in the previous quarter.
It said that based on past observations, a reading lower than -14 should indicate that the developed world is slipping into negative growth. Read the rest of this entry »
Save Kampung Tambatuon
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Najib Razak, Sabah on Monday, 17 October 2011
In May this year I visited Kampung Tambatuon at the foothills of Mount Kinabalu and which will be totally drowned in a proposed RM450 million Tambatuon Dam project.
Although the proposed Tambatuon Dam had been mooted for two years, there had been no proper and full consultation by the relevant authorities, including the MP for Kota Belud, who has become the strongest advocate for the Dam project, with the people who would be directly affected with the destruction of their traditional habitat and way of life.
The people of Kampung Tambatuon and concerned communities have protested to the various state authorities against the proposed Tambatuon Dam project. Read the rest of this entry »
5 transformation measures for Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Corruption, Najib Razak, Oil on Monday, 17 October 2011
Proposals which would have given meaning to 2012 Budget as a National Transformation Policy
The theme of of the 2012 Budget is: “National Transformation Policy: Welfare for the Rakyat, Wellbeing of the Nation.”
It is supposed to be a very important budget as it is open up a new decade of National Transformation Policy or DTN effective from 2011 to 2020 when Malaysia is to become developed and high-income nation.
The National Transformation Policy is the final lap of development policies starting with the New Economic Policy 1971-1990, National Development Policy 1991-2000 and the national Vision Policy 2001-2010.
But is there “transformational” in the 2012 Budget which is to usher in a decade of transformation in Malaysia? I can’t find anything transformational or even visionary at all. Read the rest of this entry »
Judicial tribunal for AG and Ct of Appeal judge
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Budget Debate, Constitution, Good Governance, Judiciary, Law & Order, Parliament on Monday, 17 October 2011
b) Judicial tribunal into serious allegations of graft and abuse of power against Attorney-General Abdul Ghani Patail
In the past few months, many serious allegations of graft and abuse of power had been made against the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail notably by the former Kuala Lumpur CID Chief Mat Zain Ibrahim in a series of open letters, former MACC panel member Tan Sri Robert Phang and blogger Raja Petra Kamaruddin.
These allegations included falsifying facts and evidence in Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s infamous “black eye” incident in 1998, the graft case against Shahidan Shafie and the judicial abuses in the Altantunya Shaaribuu murder trial.
Unless Gani Patail take legal action against these allegations, the Prime Minister should set up a tribunal to clear the name of the Attorney-General as these are very serious allegations which if unrebutted can only undermine public confidence in the professionalism, independence and integrity of the Attorney-General but also key national institutions, including the judiciary, the police and the MACC. Read the rest of this entry »
Teoh Beng Hock and Sarbaini – victims of MACC
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Corruption, Najib Razak, Sarbaini, Teoh Beng Hock on Monday, 17 October 2011
3. Continued degradation instead of restoration of independence, professionalism and integrity of key national institutions in the country.
(a) Great flaw of TBH RCI report – failure to affix responsibility for TBH’s death on MACC despite evidence galore
The Teoh Beng Hock Royal Commission of Inquiry did not contribute to the restoration of public confidence in the independence, professionalism and integrity of key national institutions but their continued degradation.
A great flaw of the Teoh Beng Hock (TBH) Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) report is its failure to affix responsibility for Beng Hock’s death on the MACC although there were evidence galore before the RCI proceedings.
It was not just persons, namely various MACC officers led by Hishammuddin Hashim the then Selangor MACC Deputy Director and the “mastermind” of the illegal and massive 33-officer MACC “operation”, who must bear responsibility for Beng Hock’s death but also the institution of MACC as well. Read the rest of this entry »
Political ploy or genuine democratisation?
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Budget Debate, Elections, Human Rights on Monday, 17 October 2011
2. The undemocratic clampdown on July 9 peaceful Bersih 2.0 rally for fair, free and clean elections.
Democratic and political transformation must be furthest from the mind of a government which could mount the undemocratic clampdown on the July 9 Bersih 2.0 rally for free, fair and clean elections, launching mass arrests, locking down the Federal Capital and irresponsibly, indiscriminately and recklessly firing tear gas and chemically-laced water cannon at peaceful and patriotic demonstrators, including Pakatan Rakyat and Bersih 2.0 leaders.
The weeks before and after the historic Bersih 2.0 rally were undoubtedly the worst period for Datuk Seri Najib Razak since becoming the sixth Malaysian Prime Minister 27 months ago in April 2009 – his greatest failure of leadership which made him the object of ridicule and scorn not only in the country but also internationally, and forcing him to cut short his overseas trip.
Are Malaysians to believe that it was during this period that Najib had a sudden change of heart as to be converted to the agenda to democratisation and political transformation resulting in the establishment of the Parliamentary Select Committee on electoral reforms and the announcements on the repeal or amendment of repressive undemocratic laws like the Internal Security Act? Read the rest of this entry »
Why Malaysian universities fallen so low in international rankings?
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Najib Razak, university on Monday, 17 October 2011
Is Malaysia on the cusp of a major national transformation to restore national unity, achieve excellence and regain international competitiveness after the slew of policy initiatives, like the “1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now” and the impementation of the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) with seven National Key Result Areas (NKRAs), Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) with 12 National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs), the New Economic Model with eight Strategic Reform Initiatives (SRIs), and latest the Political Transformation Programme to repeal and reform undemocratic laws?
We are still very far from it and the following events and incidents in the past few weeks and months are salutary reminders of this solemn fact that we still have a very long way to go to have any transformational mindset and mentality, viz:
1. Exclusion of Malaysian universities from Times Higher Education (THE) 400 Top World University Ranking 2011/12.
The recent release of the Times Higher Education (THE) 400 Top World University Ranking 2011/12, where not a single Malaysian university is included, has punctured the elation and euphoria just two months ago over the QS 200 World University Rankings 2011/12 which saw University of Malaya making to the top 200 Top Universities moving 40 places to 167 compared to 2010.
In the QS World University Rankings 2011/12, four other Malaysian universities slid down the rankings – University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) ranked 279 this year compared to 263 in 2010; Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) ranked 335 (309 last year); Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) ranked 358 (319 last year) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) at between 401 and 450 (365 last year).
But in the just-released THE 400 Top World University Ranking 2011/12, none of the Malaysian universities made it into the placings.
A total of 60 Asian Universities made it into the THE 400 Top World University Ranking, with 16 from Japan, 10 from China, eight from Taiwan, seven from South Korea, six from Hong Kong, two from Singapore, and one each from India and Thailand. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib’s many firsts in 2012 Budget
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Najib Razak on Monday, 17 October 2011
Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 2012 Budget achieved many “firsts” in Malaysian parliamentary and budgetary history.
First, it beat all the other 53 budgets since 1957 in being the greatest cornucopia of goodies for votes in the forthcoming 13th general elections to reach out for voter support from a whole swathe of targetted groups comprising important vote-banks.
Second, it ranks at the most brazen and cynical budget exercise chalking up the highest Federal Government debt in history – set to break the RM500 billion mark next year, when for 2011, the Federal government debt to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) ratio of 53.8% has increased by 12% from RM 407 billion 2010 (i.e. 53.1% of GDP) to RM456 billion in 2011.
After 13 consecutive years of budget deficit, the Federal Government debt has increased by leaps and bounds – more than quadrupling from RM103 billion in 1998 when it was 38.3% to GDP to RM455.7 billion in 2011 or 53.8% to GDP.
Thirdly, in painting an overly-rosy picture of the economic future without taking into realistic account the grim international picture. Read the rest of this entry »
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