Amid much fireworks and fanfare, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak kicked off a two-month long ‘fly the Jalur Gemilang' campaign at Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, also better known as ‘Little India'.
Among the promises he said the government had delivered were unity, peace, and transformation from an agrarian economy to a industrial nation, and now aspiring to be a high-income nation.
UNITY?….now we are more polarized because Najib has not muzzled Perkasa and Utusan says it is ok to spin against the opposition! The unity preached by BN is either cosmetic or manufactured. A glaring unity index is the uniform politicians are given free whilst Tees are supplied together with crash-helmets if you stand in two rows to give a rousing cheer to the VIPs. Have you heard this one:
PEACE? More housing estates are setting up their own security; more people are mugged in malls; snatch thievery is a daily occurrence; opposition ceremahs are marred with thuggery. From2003 1850 have died in police custody. Bersih2 and 3 were marred with police brutality.
TRANSFORMATION FROM AN AGRARIAN ECONOMY TO AN INDUSTRIAL NATION? This is capital bullshit. Native lands are taken for plantations; Felda settlers are exploited and duped! Money is freely given to buy votes.
…..NOW ASPIRING TO BE A HIGH-INCOME NATION? Dang, sweet dreams are made of this! LAST YEAR WAS THE 14TH CONSECUTIVE YEAR OUR GOVERNMENT OVERSPENT! Just read on:
What is a deficit?
When the government spends more than it earns, it incurs a deficit. The government spent RM229 billion in 20114. However, it earned only RM183 billion. So, it incurred a deficit of RM46 billion. A deficit, in plain language, is overspending.
Our government has overspent in every single year since 1998. 2011 was the 14th consecutive year our government overspent. The total overspend from 1998 to 2011 is RM344 billion. The overspend alone totals RM12,000 for each and every one of us - from babies to adults to senior citizens5. Do you think you got your money’s worth?
Not only has the government been overspending, it has also been extremely sloppy in adhering to its own Budget. For example, the government, when presenting Budget 2011 in October 2010, said it would spend RM211 billion in 2011. It ended up spending RM229 billion!
The overspend alone totals RM12,000 for each and every one of us - from babies to adults to senior citizens5. Do you think you got your money’s worth?
Not only has the government been overspending, it has also been extremely sloppy in adhering to its own Budget. For example, the government, when presenting Budget 2011 in October 2010, said it would spend RM211 billion in 2011. It ended up spending RM229 billion! This anomaly is not peculiar to only 2011. We found that the government has consistently exceeded its stated Budget for every single year since 1997 - a period of 15 years. It might be longer. We stopped looking after 1997. The reasons for spending more than budgeted are never adequately explained.
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NOTE: I was privileged to get an autograph copy, hot off the press, even before it was to be launched by YB Nurul Izah later this month, of this latest offering from cartoonist JOHNNY ONG’s UMNO-NOMICS. For the first time Johnny teamed up with economist TEH CHI-CHANG who comments after each cartoon strip. More than a hundred books were sold last night and a percentage went to the fund to pay for Tony Pua’s court case.
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