JULY 9 — Financial management is a profound science. As for me, I believe so long as we spend prudently and manage our expenses well, we will still be able to live relatively comfortable life.
As for government institutions, they need much more professional knowhow than that to run their finances because what they manage is the hard earned money contributed by taxpayers.
All monetary inflows and outflows must be properly recorded. Everything has to be well documented.
Transparent accounting can ensure that no corrupt officials have the slightest chances of misappropriating government funds or abusing the power entrusted to them to fatten themselves or trifling with large sums of public money.
On the contrary, if the finances are not properly handled, not only will the utilization efficiency of public funds become questionable, it will also erode public confidence towards the government.
PTPTN defaults are a classical instance of public fund mismanagement. PTPTN has helped countless of needy students to complete their tertiary studies. Unfortunately many of these beneficiaries have failed to or are unwilling to pay back their debts after graduation.
As of March this year, there were as many as 605,685 PTPTN defaulters owing a total of RM4.7 billion in study loan arrears.
Unbelievably, some 280,000 of these defaulters are currently being employed as civil servants at various government departments, some even holding senior or managerial posts!
Only now that PTPTN has decided to pursue the arrears from only 480 civil servants by means of salary deduction beginning September.
How could these people still be on government payroll for their reluctance to pay back their debts? This does not prove that our government has been very generous and kind, but extremely inefficient in managing its finances.
Any business transaction carried out in the private sector has to be profitable. Unfortunately this rule of thumb is largely ignored in GLCs, as they often make purchases at incredibly overblown prices.
The National Oversight & Whistleblowers (NOW) has revealed that Mara has been overly generous in its property purchases in Australia, having overpaid RM18 million for 51 Queen Street, RM62.9 million for 746 Swanston Street, RM33 million for 333 Exhibition Street, and RM15.2 million for Dudley House. If these figures are accurate, Mara would have overpaid RM129.1 million in these four transactions.
It is still forgivable if Mara has overpaid in one transaction, but not four. Even a three-year-old can tell you there’s something not quite right with these purchases.
We would love to know who has profited from these transactions and where all the extra cash has gone.
The 1MDB scandal is equally eye-popping. WSJ reported that some US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) ended up in PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank accounts having gone through several banks and companies.
Sure enough the PM and various companies and banks involved have subsequently dismissed the report as maliciously defamatory.
These incidents collectively point to a fact that our public institutions have been extremely inefficient when it comes to managing government funds.
As a matter of fact, every single cent of expenditure has to be given prudent consideration because it is the hard earned money of taxpayers.
Not a single cent should end up in any individual’s pocket in an unaccountable manner.
* This is the personal opinion of the organisation and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.
