Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's Budget 2014 speech comes as no surprise: Post-GE13, pretty much the entire population would be taxed and forced to go cold turkey on various subsidies.
The goods and services tax (GST) is something which has long been mooted. The Dewan Rakyat tried to pass the new tax in 2009 but it was put on hold in order for Najib to safely seek his own mandate.
Now that he has one, albeit with only 47 percent of voters supporting BN, the premier has no qualms about making the public dig deeper into their pockets instead of first resolving problems that has plagued his administration and that of his predecessors - corruption and leakages.
The GST, although it will only be implemented in 2015, is hard to swallow, especially after the Auditor-General's Report 2012 was released.
This report has become an annual cringe fest for the public and a once-in-a-year season for editors and journalists to play with puns on their headlines for a good week or two.
But the Najib administration, and administrations before this, are not ones that can be embarrassed into submission and admitting a mistake.
No. It wants YOU to pay for their mistakes - for the 44 missing guns, for K-Pop concerts, for wall clocks that cost RM3,810, for ministry Facebook pages that cost RM320,000. The list goes on, but expect the report to be even thicker next year.
The goods and services tax (GST) is something which has long been mooted. The Dewan Rakyat tried to pass the new tax in 2009 but it was put on hold in order for Najib to safely seek his own mandate.
Now that he has one, albeit with only 47 percent of voters supporting BN, the premier has no qualms about making the public dig deeper into their pockets instead of first resolving problems that has plagued his administration and that of his predecessors - corruption and leakages.The GST, although it will only be implemented in 2015, is hard to swallow, especially after the Auditor-General's Report 2012 was released.
This report has become an annual cringe fest for the public and a once-in-a-year season for editors and journalists to play with puns on their headlines for a good week or two.
But the Najib administration, and administrations before this, are not ones that can be embarrassed into submission and admitting a mistake.
No. It wants YOU to pay for their mistakes - for the 44 missing guns, for K-Pop concerts, for wall clocks that cost RM3,810, for ministry Facebook pages that cost RM320,000. The list goes on, but expect the report to be even thicker next year.
Cash handouts for the poor
For 2014, the federal government will have even more money to splurge. The operational expenditure (opex) will be increased by 7.8 percent, from RM201.8 billion to RM217.7 billion.
This is not in tandem with a projected 6.3 percent projected increase in revenue between 2013 and 2014 and a drastic 6.4 percent reduction in development expenditure, which was supposed to be for projects that provide a multiplier effect for the economy.
How is it possible for the Najib administration to justify urging the people to tighten their belts when it has never shown the slightest inclination to do the same?
To make matters worse, Budget 2014 is designed to keep those who don't pay income taxes, or pay a negligible amount, happy with an increase in cash handouts.
BR1M 3.0 has been increased by a whopping 30 percent to RM650, thereby partly explaining the opex increase. In essence, Najib is widening the tax base and then wasting more money for administrative purposes to disburse it back to low-income earners.
Irony? Not really. Low-income earners outnumber middle-income earners. The question to ask is why after decades of Malaysia Plans, we still have a huge swath of low-income earners who need cash handouts to get by?
This is not in tandem with a projected 6.3 percent projected increase in revenue between 2013 and 2014 and a drastic 6.4 percent reduction in development expenditure, which was supposed to be for projects that provide a multiplier effect for the economy.
How is it possible for the Najib administration to justify urging the people to tighten their belts when it has never shown the slightest inclination to do the same?To make matters worse, Budget 2014 is designed to keep those who don't pay income taxes, or pay a negligible amount, happy with an increase in cash handouts.
BR1M 3.0 has been increased by a whopping 30 percent to RM650, thereby partly explaining the opex increase. In essence, Najib is widening the tax base and then wasting more money for administrative purposes to disburse it back to low-income earners.
Irony? Not really. Low-income earners outnumber middle-income earners. The question to ask is why after decades of Malaysia Plans, we still have a huge swath of low-income earners who need cash handouts to get by?
More importantly, why despite poverty eradication programmes Malaysia's income inequality gap is highest in Asia, with the exception of Papua New Guinea.
No subsidy cuts for fat cats?
What's more ironic is how Najib mentioned in his speech that subsidies benefit the rich most. He then declared that the best measure to tackle this is to remove subsidies for sugar altogether. What about the independent power producers that enjoy generous subsidies from the government? Shouldn't these fat cats be the first on the chopping block?
Instead of bluntly saying that the public has to pay more so the government can spend more, Najib provides a meek excuse that removing subsidies can help prevent diabetes. Has he even checked the mean waistline of his cabinet? It's likely higher than the national average.
It would be foolish to think that the government will stop here. Expect fuel prices to go up soon and a supplementary budget or two over the next 12 month. Narrowing the deficit? Hah! Most voters don't even have a inkling of it.
If there is one group that will get worked up it is going to be the middle-income earners, not the "1 percent" and definitely not the low-income earners. It has pretty much been that way every Budget. They don't vote BN anyway.
But still, they are expected to pay their taxes as usual while paying more to ensure their families are well taken care of. If there can only be one word for the Najib administration's attitude towards the middle-income earners, it is going to be "contempt".
No subsidy cuts for fat cats?
What's more ironic is how Najib mentioned in his speech that subsidies benefit the rich most. He then declared that the best measure to tackle this is to remove subsidies for sugar altogether. What about the independent power producers that enjoy generous subsidies from the government? Shouldn't these fat cats be the first on the chopping block?
Instead of bluntly saying that the public has to pay more so the government can spend more, Najib provides a meek excuse that removing subsidies can help prevent diabetes. Has he even checked the mean waistline of his cabinet? It's likely higher than the national average.
It would be foolish to think that the government will stop here. Expect fuel prices to go up soon and a supplementary budget or two over the next 12 month. Narrowing the deficit? Hah! Most voters don't even have a inkling of it.If there is one group that will get worked up it is going to be the middle-income earners, not the "1 percent" and definitely not the low-income earners. It has pretty much been that way every Budget. They don't vote BN anyway.
But still, they are expected to pay their taxes as usual while paying more to ensure their families are well taken care of. If there can only be one word for the Najib administration's attitude towards the middle-income earners, it is going to be "contempt".
ANDREW ONG is an assistant news editor at Malaysiakini.
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