MAY 22 — Congratulations to Pakatan Harapan (PH) which has unexpectedly won the recently concluded General Elections, effectively altering the local political landscape which has been dominated by the Barisan Nasional (BN) for over 60 years.

It is great that we are now close to realising a two party political system, pending some important work which remains to be resolved for PH to strengthen itself from a loosely formed coalition of political parties into a formidable alternative. As for BN, this defeat provides time to tidy up and rebuild, while discharging the role as Opposition providing effective check and balance.

Since conclusion of the general elections, political developments in the country have rather been on a fast track. There is so much happening that if media reports are not closely monitored on a daily basis, one would risk missing a significant update.

Without doubt the ongoing police raids on the house of former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has attracted great interest, but equally exciting has been the dealings of the Council of Eminent Persons (CEP). Thus far there has been a number of key game changing decisions delivered by the CEP, especially on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which has been zero rated effective June 1.

While consumers are excited cheaper goods and services, businesses on the other hand are scrambling to comply, working under a tight dateline. Probably it would have worked better if clearer information was provided to avoid unnecessary panic.

While the CEP continues to review policies and initiatives of the previous government, it is recommended that those which have worked well are retained or at least fine-tuned to better deliver results rather than be abolished.

In my previous letter I have recommended that the GST is reviewed and retained rather than abolished as it has proven to be an efficient broad based tax which is able to provide sustainable revenue for the government.

Another commendable initiative of the previous administration is the BR1M social aid support initiative but moving forward the implementation mechanism should overhauled to ensure that only targeted recipients enjoy accompanying benefits.

BR1M support must be changed from cash handout to issuance of food vouchers or food stamps as practised in the US or even the ration card mechanism as implemented in India.

The government can work with established retailers to formulate a win-win plan where retailers can offer a discount in return of guaranteed sales, while targeted recipients receive necessary food items provided by the state. This will help mitigate if not eliminate incidences where people go hungry due to extreme poverty.

It is important that the government implement policies and initiatives which are designed to help elevate living standards of the B40 segment of our society. Malaysia is a nation of abundance and no one should be left out in our quest to attain greater socioeconomic achievement.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.