Skip to content

Economy 101: Fuel Price Hike- What Started Should Not End

(Image source: http://www.co.douglas.or.us)

No fuel hike for the year but does it means the cost cutting measures to stop as well?

Ministers cut 10% of the allowance and immediately huge amount were saved by this and other means but we all know that such wastages via allowances are just a tip of the iceberg. What else is being wasted in the name of salaries, allowances and unaudited expenses?

In Malaysiakini, more questions are being asked on just how a minister is costing the public funds but a reader, PT Tan nails the point with this comment:-

A 10% cut? Tell that to the poor guy who tries to make ends meet with moonlighting. With the economy like this, they can still think of holidays? The ministers should just pull up their socks and work 16 hours a day like the poor civil servant who is forced to moonlight. The government should do the following:

a. Sell the PM’s jet. Let him take MAS or better still AirAsia like everyone else. No priority queue – book in advance and plan your working trips.

b. Do away with police escorts so that we need not waste extra petrol.

c. Scrap all tolls and road tax.

d. Zero entertainment, zero decorations, zero speeches and zero kenduri. So zero cost – just work.

e. Show us the complete in and out of every cents collected so that there will be no more perception of corruption. Every item above RM500K spent should be itemised, just like the same conditions applied to medical bills. Don’t lump them together.

f. Zero overseas trips, zero deployment to guard the British Queen (BJ: This is one I yet find its logic – Malaysian armed forces guiding another country sovereign and being proud at the same, sigh), pull back all our peacekeepers and scale down all our diplomatic missions.

g. Reduce the passport fees so that more can go overseas to work like in Singapore and bring back more money. h. Allow the import of hybrid cars at zero tax.

i. Get the buses on the road instead of mothballing them at ‘bus graveyards’. The government should start working instead of taking holidays. Else the rakyat will send them on a holiday – permanently.

As at now, other than the proposed rebates via post office, what we have is talks – 10% allowance cut and so on. There is more to come, the Government had promised but will this point of time in the country’s history the Government stop being a wasteful Government.

What about the subsidised rate to IPPs – a deal that is lopsided on the onset? Certainly with stories like this and this, we are not ready to believe that this Government is doing all it can to curtail unnecessary expenses. Certainly, we expect more from this Government – both on accountability and cost cutting efforts.

What about stop selling petrol subsidised rate to foreigners and instead allow the sale at market price? It is a fair deal. If so, will the action of supplying subsidised petrol to Malaysians only be on the next agenda of the Government?

As at now, the Government have yet to decide on stopping RM1 billion of subsidy falling on foreigner’s hands. So, we keep wasting RM1 billion here – until when is anybody’s guess.

But in the meantime, Pak Lah, you can start with some of the suggestions in PT Tan’s list above – it certainly makes sense if you are a prudent, caring PM. What you have started on cost cutting measures should not stop now – the worse is not over yet.

The politicians still need to change their lifestyles too.

Read Also

Wasteful Nation

No tags for this post.

2 thoughts on “Economy 101: Fuel Price Hike- What Started Should Not End”

  1. Right on my friend, really agree with your post totally. Most people don’t get to even have the thought of holidays these days anymore even locally. So yes, the ministers should not be cutting 10% but leave only 10% allocation left in my books 😉

    Cheers!!! 😀

Please Leave Your Thoughts on the Post