OCTOBER 5 — A stroke of the government’s pen cuts subsidies. How does the public cut its forced subsidies of corruption, leakages, wastages and “stupidity” that also run into billions, perhaps trillions over the last 50 years?
Justifying fuel subsidy cut, PM Najib said that "subsidy for fuel, petrol, LPG (liquid petroleum gas) and diesel amounted to RM24 billion" last year.
Isn’t it the government’s duty to make it possible for the lower income rakyat to make ends meet so that they can live their lives with a little dignity of having the basic necessities of life, i.e. food, shelter and clothing, without having to beg, borrow or steal?
Nobody is asking the government to subsidise the rich as they have more than what they need for a decent living.
Take away all subsidies if you want, but make sure the poorer rakyat have enough to meet their daily expenses. They do not ask to live a life of luxury, just to have enough to pass their days with basic necessities.
Has the government done any accounting of all the public money under its care that has been lost through corruption, mismanagement, leakages, etc. over the years and decades? Does it occur to PM Najib and others in power that the poor rakyat has been subsidising all these wanton losses?
So when ministers talk of subsidies and subsidizing, they must not forget the other side of the coin, i.e. that somebody is paying for the corruption and losses of money through mismanagement and leakages. Who is that somebody that is paying the most in terms of percentage of income if not the lower income people?
When “stupid” government servants pay prices that are 10, 20, 30 or even more times higher than the open market prices of the goods and services they buy for the government, isn’t the rakyat subsidisng these “stupid” government servants, and by extension, the government? The Auditor General’s Reports over the past three decades or more are full of these “stupid” cases.
Other examples of the public subsidising the government are the holidays disguised as lawatan sambil belajar (study trips) like the one to the Antarctic; extravagant open houses; behind closed door deals for huge contracts; etc.
The government should start by getting rid of “stupid” employees as a sure way to save money. It must stop all contract negations behind closed doors. Cut down the frequent travels, etc.
I leave it to the readers to add to the list of public subsidy of government’s wasteful and “stupid” expenses. To be fair, these must also be accounted for.
How many billions or trillions have the rakyat been forced to fork out to finance the myriad wastages that need not have happened if public money had been managed prudently with a high moral sense of responsibility and in keeping with the religious teachings of honesty and accountability. We still do not see this happening.
Thus, there is no moral basis for asking the rakyat to contribute more to government coffers as there is no prudence in its financial management. Heads, the public loses and tails the public also loses as it does not have the means of cutting its subsidies of corruption, mismanagement, leakages and “stupidity”, but must nevertheless keep contributing to government coffers.
*This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online
