3 ELECTIONS, 3 PRIME MINISTERS, life has become a NIGHTMARE for ordinary Malaysians

On the last day of every year some people are in a serious mood reflecting about the things done wrong in the passing year and making resolutions to do them right in the coming year. Most of the time, they give up and join the New Year celebrations showing happiness for surviving another year. The next day it is back to the old routine like the proverbial dog’s tail which can never become straight. The recent Budget gave me that kind of feeling about our government.

In the 1990s, after retirement with an associate professor’s title and a pension which was more than enough to lead a simple existence, I was a contented person happy about my life’s achievements and my final reward in the form of pension that should see us (wife and I) through till the end of our days.

Nightmare for the elderly

Three elections and with three PMs, my pension is very near the new poverty line. I am facing the reality and humiliation of deciding whether to receive the RM450 aid or go back to work or at least earn some money giving tuition. The country is becoming a nightmare for older people.

One of our previous PMs said that the strength of the Malaysian ringgit depended on what it could buy. Ironically he was the one who anchored the slide of our ringgit. If only he had checked corruption and money politics, things would not be so bad today. His OSA made Malaysia a heaven for crooks.

None of our national government related bodies or their heads can today stand tall and say,’ all is well in my ministry, department or GLC’. This also includes the religious bodies which only see virtue in everything the government does. Compare corruption to ‘tutup aurat’ and tell me which affects us more.

During Friday prayers the multi-media display tells us of the punishment for ‘tidak menutup aurat’ and the calculation of time in hell. I would love to read about the same calculation for corruption. Now that I am facing the possibility to get the BRIM aid let me discuss what it will mean to me.

Table 1 shows how much the BRIM is worth.

Table 1.	Analysis of BRIM aid on daily basics
# in family	1	2	3	4	5
BRIM  RM650	RM1.78	89 sen	54 sen	44 sen	35 sen
BRIM RM450	RM1.23	62 sen	41 sen	31 sen	25 sen

My wife and I make up my family because our children are all on their own. They give us all the love and happiness any parent can hope for but we want to be independent as long as we can or health permits us. We enjoy the time doing things we like and looking after the grandchildren.

Now what can we do in a day with an extra 62 sen each. A curry puff or any other Malaysian cake costs more than that. The price increases, that happen frequently, will simply make BRIM another story to reinforce poverty and increase national deficits. Though we drink our tea without sugar, we still pay the same price as tea with sugar.

When a PDRM officer was mugged outside his house in TTDI many in the neighbourhood decided to pay RM50 per month or RM600 per year for home security. When high ranking PDRM officers cannot protect themselves how are we elderly going to protect ourselves or live in peace?

Safest land

Allah has given us the safest land in the world. I mean, safe in terms of natural disasters and not government and man-made ones. Allah did not give us Lynas but the greed of our leaders did. We have abundant natural resources including petroleum. Selangor and Penang have shown that without corruption, Malaysia is really a heaven.

Working hard and looking after the family is every person’s or even animal’s nature given responsibility. When we see a healthy person begging our reaction is not kind. We applaud people who do extra work as examples of good people. There was once I did extra teaching from 8 to 10 pm at the Felda hostel to give my family a better life. Even my wife got up early to make curry puff to supply to a coffee shop in Brickfields where she worked.

Individuals who spend more than what they earn, fall into the vicious circle of borrowing which begin with friends, pilfering in the office, Ah Longs and finally end with the children having to carry the burden of the debts in the future. Our national debts and deficit is what our children will inherit from us if we continue this BRIM and other wasteful sagas.

The last BRIM before GE13, was for 4.3 million at RM500 each and 2.7 million at RM 250 each making it a grand total of RM3 billion, (Ref: Daftar Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia).Think of what can be done in terms of health care, free school meals, increased welfare aid to poor and handicapped, homes for the aged, social security payment for unemployed and many other things with RM3 billion to benefit all Malaysians.

Learn from working examples

In Seremban near the Sikamat camp, there is a welfare home, where only elderly Chinese inmates live. It is a showcase of what and how the government can help society. Every week-end we see people coming with food and gifts to help and cheer the inmates. We can have more of this in all towns and for all races. In short this BRIM prevents the country from progressing.

Every development project under BN government has some angle where cash flows to the leaders. If not for the OSA and inaction of our key agencies like the AG, PDRM and MACC, many of our leaders will be languishing in prison. I am looking at what are the possible money making angles in this Budget. I see the RM50 Accident Insurance from Takaful as one with huge money making possibilities. Just like the tolls, roads being created on some existing roads with slight cosmetic changes like widening or resurfacing (as in Damansara), is this insurance scheme a similar swindle?

In the first place workers have SOCSO, company benefits and insurance, medical benefits and even government hospitals, so why is there a need for another insurance paid for by tax money? Most banks, credit cards and even AAM give free accident insurance worth more than what the government proposes to give.

I hope they will show some details about how Takaful was selected. Was any commission paid to the insurance agent because going by 2013 figures a commission of one cent per policy equals to RM70,000 for the 7 million (4.3 + 2.7) people who received BRIM. Of course the 2014 figures will be much higher. Will this insurance give rise to middlemen, who can make claiming easier? For pension medical claims we have runners or commission agents who have inside connections to make claiming easier for a small fee, thus reducing our pension’s value further.

See table 2 for some of the statistics about BRIM 2013 and if there was this insurance scheme costing RM50 per person.

Table 2 Some statistics about BRIM 2013, Accidents and Deaths in Malaysia
BRIM payments in 2013	4.3 million @ RM500	2.7 million @ RM 250
Cost if all were insured	4.3 x 50 = 215 million	2.7 x 50 =135 million
Possible # to receive aid*	7167 out of 4.3 million	4500 out of 2.7 million
Road Accidents (RA) per year	165,000** in 2010
Death by RA per year (total)	6, 205** in 2011
Workplace accidents	57,639** in 2010

*@ RM30,000    ** how many will qualify for compensation. Can we claim from two sources?

Is it right for any govt to punish those who voted for the Opposition

Recently during the GE13, and the recent BN component parties’ annual elections and meetings, we Malaysians, like the wicked queen in the fable were asking,’ mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the cleanest of all’ and hoping and praying they would be elected to lead us to a better future.

Alas, my magic mirror did not show anyone at all but in the selection preview or flashback of every leader the horror images ranged from ‘cows, sex, murder, gangsterism, and all forms of corruption and treason including selling our citizenship and self-respect’.

Of course, we deserve this fate and leaders because we easily fall for the lies and deceit, which our media and leaders spread.

Red herring

What does the government or BN hope to achieve with this Budget?

It has to prepare for GE14 because GE13 was a nightmare. It has to honour the promise to continue BRIM and get Malaysians addicted to it. It is like a feeding time in a farm or fish pond. They hope to create this scene during GE14 and get the votes with indirect bribery using the national wealth.

The ‘red herring’ effect about GST in April, 2015 is a fear tactic. We do not even know whether we will be alive the next hour so why frighten us about 2015 when GE14 and other circumstances will force them to more appeasing decisions? As it is we are paying service tax even for a McDonald burger.

My TNB bill of RM234 shows ‘subsidy bahan api oleh kerajaan Persekutuan RM137’ (more than 50% of the bill). It is a childish way to differentiate between federal and state government to K.L residents. When the IPPs, listed in the stock exchange, make huge profits, why is there a need for this subsidy? TNB is a public listed company. Is this subsidy paid in cash to them?

I appeal to the government to give some dignity to people receiving BRIM by making payments through proper government, employer and pension channels for accountability. Why don’t we emulate the UK model of unemployment benefits which is 71 pounds (RM355) a week. Even the Homeless Shelters and Soup Kitchens in USA are more dignified than our BRIM distribution.

PR should look into the possibility of introducing such shelters and kitchens in their States.

Will BRIM increase BN’s popularity and bring extra votes, only time will tell.  I doubt it.

Senior Citizen

MAILBAG