Why dish out goodies & then RECLAIM them post-GE13, Zuraida scolds Najib for BUDGET BURDEN

The announcement by Prime Minister Najib Razak regarding the sugar price hike and implementation of 6% GST is grossly disproportionate to our living standards.

The abolition of 34 sen of sugar subsidy on top of the newly raised petrol prices is like being hit by a double tragedy.

With the GST implementation looming, we are looking at a severely distressed situation.

Housewives are the ones most affected by the sugar price hike. Our daily dietary intake of sugar found in beverages, bread, kuih, cakes and desserts will immediately be felt as the prices of these items will be raised immediately. There is no guarantee that foodstuff containing sugar like bread and milo will maintain their prices while cutting back on the usage of sugar. Household budgeting is usually managed by the women and this will mean that other expenditures will have to be sacrificed in order to make up for the price hikes.

As sugar is an essential item, the withdrawal in sugar subsidy will result in undesirable consequences and further inflation. If the government wanted to advise restrain over the consumption of sugar, it should be done through education and awareness campaigns. The government could also place restrictions on consumer products that contain sugar. This can be done by stipulating the amount of sugar content permissible for foodstuff.

Price hikes will affect quality of life

Even in dual income households, the impact of price hikes will inadvertently affect our quality of life and in turn, our children’s future. The reported income per capita in 2013 is estimated to be RM33,010 per annum according to the Economic Planning Unit in the Prime Minister’s Department. How are families going to afford a sustainable lifestyle considering the number of dependents, daily expenditure, medical bills and loan repayments? Even if families consolidate and survive on a shoestring budget, the situation is only going to get worse as there is little or none left for savings or emergencies.

According to the latest figures reported by the Department of Statistics Malaysia the inflation rate for the country as of September 2013 is at 2.6%. In comparison, the figure was at 1.4% during the same period last year. The marked difference means that we are 85.7% poorer than we were as compared to 2012.

A survey by TheEdge in 2010 reports that Malaysians spend nearly half of their household disposable income to repay debts and ranks among the highest in the world for the household debt to disposable income ratio where an acceptable debt ratio would stand at 30%.

What use is it to dish out pre-election goodies only to reclaim these ‘gifts’  immediately after the general election?

The government seems very disconnected with the people’s problems and is only interested in applying short-term measures to ease the rakyat’s burden. Proposing a RM300 BRIM cash handout in April next year is just like putting a plaster over a recurring blister with no solution towards the widening income gap.

Burden

The new budget is a burden to the rakyat. As with the last 50 over years, the distribution of resources does not reach the grassroot – the same people remain just as poor, the same people become even richer and the government does nothing to rectify the situation.

With the GST, the rakyat will be indirectly paying hidden taxes manifold. This is due to products with several components that needs to be assembled are also subjected to the GST. In the end, the burden is transferred to the consumers. They will be the ones paying several layers of taxes just to purchase a product or service.

Malaysian Budget 2014 is not people friendly and not women friendly. There are other ways to reduce deficit and it should definitely not be through burdening the individual taxpayers further. The government had instead reduced corporate taxes from 24% to 19%. This benefits the large businesses but puts the individual taxpayers at a disadvantage.

Therefore, I strongly protest against the sugar price hike and GST. I have no doubt that all women are with me on this matter and we will gather outside Putrajaya to handover a memorandum demanding that the Prime Minister maintain the sugar subsidy and postpone the implementation of the GST to a later date. We will urge the Prime Minister to spare a thought for the people’s sufferings and emphasize on affordability.

The GST should not be implemented at this point until the issue of income disparity in the country is addressed. The reduction of subsidies should start from the Independent Power Producers and other government-linked companies.

YB Zuraida Kamaruddin

Member of Parliament Ampang