The government pressured telecommunications industry giants to go back on their move to pass to users the six percent service tax for the pre-paid mobile service because the general election is near, according to an industry expert.
However, this populist measure may not be the best decision in the long run, National Internet and Communications Technology Association of Malaysia (Pikom) president Saifubahrim Mohd Saleh said.
"The election is near... if you understand the value-added tax, at six percent, it is ultimately good for the business community (to pass on the tax).
"It makes (the cost of business) cheaper.
"But because it is not popular upfront, because the community does not quite understand it, so the best way (for the government to deal with a backlash) is to pass it back to telcos, because (the government) may lose a lot of votes," Saifubahrim (left) said in Kuala Lumpur today.
Answering a question from the floor at a panel discussion on transforming the public sector through competition, he said that in the long run, it would be better for the government not to interfere in such matters.
"If you look at corruption around the world, Malaysia, where does it stand? The corrupt at the top, least corrupt countries (at the bottom) and Malaysia is in the middle.
"That's why people jokingly say Malaysia is a controlled-corruption country.
"The same goes for liberalisation, competition... but you have to digest it in detail to see what's best in the long run. If you want to liberalise, make sure it's market-driven," he said.
Saifubahrim was commenting on the government's decision in September to pressure telcos to swallow the six percent service tax, which they had intended to pass on to their customers, after years of footing the bill.
The tax has been passed on to post-paid users, but the move to pass it onto pre-paid users as well saw strong opposition, with manyarguing that it would further burden mobile phone users in the low- and middle-income brackets.
Saifubahrim was speaking at the Economic Freedom Network Asia Conference, which was jointly organised by Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF), the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) and the Centre for Public Policy Studies (CPPS).
'Big business drove up cost of healthcare'
Also on the panel was the president of the Federation of Private Medical Practitioners' Associations of Malaysia, Dr Steven KW Chow.
Answering a question on private healthcare, Chow (right) said no country has found the introduction of competition in healthcare to have driven costs down.
Instead, the dermatologist said, the introduction of private business in healthcare has driven costs up for the average patient in Kuala Lumpur, even for basic healthcare.
"Let's take the examples in Kuala Lumpur. In the 1970s, to see a general practitioner would cost RM15, including medication.
"But the day (the government) allowed big business to enter, such as managed care organisations, and introduce a fee schedule and various other schedules, you find that the cost per encounter has gone up to RM30 to RM35," said Chow who consults at private hospitals Gleneagles Intan and Pantai Medical Centre.
Liberalising healthcare, he added, has been successful in bringing in higher numbers of patients to private practice, but has failed to bring down costs, contrary to elementary economic expectations.
However, this populist measure may not be the best decision in the long run, National Internet and Communications Technology Association of Malaysia (Pikom) president Saifubahrim Mohd Saleh said.
"The election is near... if you understand the value-added tax, at six percent, it is ultimately good for the business community (to pass on the tax)."It makes (the cost of business) cheaper.
"But because it is not popular upfront, because the community does not quite understand it, so the best way (for the government to deal with a backlash) is to pass it back to telcos, because (the government) may lose a lot of votes," Saifubahrim (left) said in Kuala Lumpur today.
Answering a question from the floor at a panel discussion on transforming the public sector through competition, he said that in the long run, it would be better for the government not to interfere in such matters.
"If you look at corruption around the world, Malaysia, where does it stand? The corrupt at the top, least corrupt countries (at the bottom) and Malaysia is in the middle.
"That's why people jokingly say Malaysia is a controlled-corruption country.
"The same goes for liberalisation, competition... but you have to digest it in detail to see what's best in the long run. If you want to liberalise, make sure it's market-driven," he said.
Saifubahrim was commenting on the government's decision in September to pressure telcos to swallow the six percent service tax, which they had intended to pass on to their customers, after years of footing the bill.
The tax has been passed on to post-paid users, but the move to pass it onto pre-paid users as well saw strong opposition, with manyarguing that it would further burden mobile phone users in the low- and middle-income brackets.
Saifubahrim was speaking at the Economic Freedom Network Asia Conference, which was jointly organised by Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF), the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Ideas) and the Centre for Public Policy Studies (CPPS).
'Big business drove up cost of healthcare'
Also on the panel was the president of the Federation of Private Medical Practitioners' Associations of Malaysia, Dr Steven KW Chow.
Answering a question on private healthcare, Chow (right) said no country has found the introduction of competition in healthcare to have driven costs down.Instead, the dermatologist said, the introduction of private business in healthcare has driven costs up for the average patient in Kuala Lumpur, even for basic healthcare.
"Let's take the examples in Kuala Lumpur. In the 1970s, to see a general practitioner would cost RM15, including medication.
"But the day (the government) allowed big business to enter, such as managed care organisations, and introduce a fee schedule and various other schedules, you find that the cost per encounter has gone up to RM30 to RM35," said Chow who consults at private hospitals Gleneagles Intan and Pantai Medical Centre.
Liberalising healthcare, he added, has been successful in bringing in higher numbers of patients to private practice, but has failed to bring down costs, contrary to elementary economic expectations.
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