Dear Di,
I guess I have writer's block these past weeks. There were many things to jot down but words simply refused to flow. Furthermore, the need to work and support the family had to come first and December is simply a busy month.
But, today I decided to jot down a few things that I feel strongly unhappy. Uppermost is of course the recent announcements of increasing rates - electricity tariff, assessment and now toll rates. Maybe it is wrong to assume, but my guts feeling is that Government is deseperate to increase rates as the coffers are drying up.
Since PM Najib came to power, he was seen spending billions of ringgit to inculcate feel good feelings among the people. Billions of ringgit were alloted to pump the economy and creating spillover effects. Cash handouts were given to low income groups. Some claimed it was to win votes but I believed it was more to pump up the domestic economy. Perhaps, a weak economy can be detrimental to the survival of Barisan Nasional Government then.
But now that the general election is over and the Government has been retained, Najib and the Cabinet has to look ahead to ensure that their Government is capable of ruling the nation until the next general election without busting the economy.
I guess after a hard look, they realised that they could not continue to spoon feed the people with subsidies. If they do, there is a likelihood that this nation would follow the path of Greece - spending more than the revenue generated.
Hence, the need to cut down on subsidies. The people have to pay more. Pay GST.
The fact is I don't like it. But, as a citizen I have to adhere to it. Furthermore, I voted for this Government and I don't like to think I have made a mistake.
On the other hand, Najib and his men must also be smart in addressing public opinion. Currently, the communication strategy sucks big time. I see that they spend millions to convince the public why GST is necessary and would not be a huge burden to the people and blah..blah...blah.
They don't have do it. Emulate the past leaders who did things intellegently. Rates went up but there were no ugly protests. Make the people understand but at the same time the Government should also show that it practises austerity in the administration.
Do not go around and be seen wasting public funds. And I want to see this Government continue to stay in power after the next GE. Do not give the opposition the opportunity to wrest power because the current adminisration is seen to be indifferent to the suffering of the people.
I feel the first thing Najib should do is to announce that the Govenment would trim its 2014 budget. Prudent spending and minus excesses. Expenditure budget should be reduced significantly and more budget set aside for projects that can generate revenue for the country.
At the same time, Najib should ask the private sector to increase the salaries of the employees by reducing some of their profits. The practise of announcing billion ringgit profits should be stopped and some of the profits should be set aside and given to employees in the form of increment.
More often than not, the employees in the private sector are not well protected by the Government although they are a significant work force to the economy. Most companies are only interested in making ugly huge profits but are not interested in rewarding employees.
After all happy employees bring good financial results.
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