Pengkhianat Accusations, Cigarettes & Whiskey

A few days ago I received a call from someone who was (or maybe still is - I dont know) identified with the PM. He began the phone call with, 'Why are you attacking the PM? You must be on our side'.

There is another person I know who used to do the same thing. Not anymore now. Well this is simplistic thinking. 

If the ordinary person in the street cannot say what he wants to about the gomen and the way the country is run, that will be a dark, dark day indeed.  The Office of the Prime Minister is the most powerful job in the land. All our fates depend on this one office. The PM has to have his ear close to the ground. 

Every criticism - justified or not - should be listened to carefully. If it makes sense do not ignore it. If it is incorrect then it is obvious that the PM's communications machinery is not working. Either way it is the PM's fault. No apologies. 

The PM wants to implement the GST (by April 2015?) That is just 17 months away. Today The Star has published a clarification that the PM did not say that without the GST the gomen will go bankrupt. Good. Thank you for the clarification. This means the gomen does not need the GST simply to 'increase gomen revenue'. 

Tengku Adnan has also apologised that he has boobooed over the 200% assessment hike for DBKL. A long time friend, born and raised in Kampong Bharu, and hardcore UMNO supporter smsed me this morning :

"This is how ku nan take responbility for misunderstanding over assessment rate issue. "We made the mistake".... "i made the mistake". Ini bukan flip flop bro, ni namanya idiot, mampus kita macam ni di atas kebodohan menteri. Salam"

The assessment hike has now been postponed. Gostan. They say the increase will also be smaller 50% - 70%.   There is a theory that this 50% - 70% hike was the real target after all. The gomen was initially targeting a 30% hike only. Instead they announced a 200% hike, knowing people will complain. Now as a "compromise" the hike will be at 50% - 70% only. Banyak pandai. Kita kena main, kita kena bayar.

The Cameron Highlands farmers are complaining that export duites for their veges have been increased by 500%.  It makes them less competitive. They may not be able to export so much (and earn valuable foreign exchange for the country). But who cares. The Camerons farmers are mostly Chinese. They voted for the Opposition anyway. It serves them right. Here is The Star :

Protest against exorbitant charges

• Vegetable and flower exporters in Camerons protesting against additional charges levied by the Government agencies whenever their produce is exported.
• prior to 2008, exporters only had to pay RM18.24 for agent fees and Customs forms 
• vegetable and flower exporters shocked the Malaysian Quarantine and Inspection Services Depart-ment (Maqis) imposing additional export charges effective Oct 1.
• RM35.30 for every set of export goods
• add it to the previous charges, RM20 phytosanitary certificate charge for flower exports to Japan, the total charges for one set of exported goods is RM91.74.
• “If you take inspection fees into account, export charges for vegetables, fruits and flowers have gone up by about 500%,” 
• exorbitant charges would affect the competitiveness of Malaysian agricultural goods 
• “Malaysia will fall behind Vietnam, China, Indonesia, cannot compete with their prices."

Dah bagi duit tiga juta kepada sekolah China di Sg Limau (kalah juga undi), dah pakai baju China (kalah juga undi) so why not have a dialogue first with these vegetable, fruit and flower exporters?? Jangan ambil ringan perkara ini - they earn substantial forex income for the country. 

Just like the 200% hike in assessment rates, the TPPA fiasco, the GST and now this 500% hike in export duties for Camerons flowers and vegetables, it shows a gomen that is acting like a runaway locomotive. In Spanish 'loco' means crazy.  El gobierno se ha vuelto loco !! 

And whatever happened to "Rakyat Di Dahulukan" ??

The gomen has paid RM7.2 billion to all sorts of consultans. Takkan the Pemudahs, Pemandus, the Dunggus and Hisap Candus cannot advise the gomen to talk first to the affected peopleBEFORE you open your mouth. Apa susah sangat? 

Ini bukan pasal Khazanah nak jual udang atau Talent Corpse nak pi shopping kat London saja.  These are major issues that affect peoples entire lives and fortunes. 

When the gomen removed that 34 sen subsidy on sugar they made the announcement at 4:30 pm. By 5:30 pm queues were forming at supermarkets rushing to buy sugar at the old price. But when people found out that the supermarket had already raised their prices, there were arguments and shouting at many supermarkets. Orang nak bergaduh.

Surely there must be a better way of doing these things? Why not dialogue with the supermarket guys first or announce that the subsidy cut and hence the new price will take effect at midnite? It wont stop people from rushing but at least there will be less argument and less tension. Yang ini pun kena tanya con-sultan ke?

Today I actually want to talk about cigarettes and whiskey. Yes - cigarettes and whiskey. I was at an event recently where there were plenty uniformed personnel around. Some were smoking cigarettes. They were talking about "rokok BN". The price of a pack of cigarettes had recently been increased to RM12.00. They were upset. 

The gomen is using the line that raising the taxes on cigarettes and whiskey (alcoholic drinks) will somehow curb the consumption of both. It is argued that consumption of both is bad for the health. Well - you can argue everything. I think the poor quality drinking water in many parts of the country (including KL) kills more people than cigarettes and whiskey combined. 

The fact is the consumption of both has been increasing. Despite higher taxes more people smoke cigarettes and more alcohol is being consumed every year. It is a growth curve.

Cigarettes are an absolute must have for millions of people. A friend says there are about 11 million smokers in the country. Of which about half are 'penghisap tegar' or 'hardcore smokers'. They must have that one or two packs a day.

The gomen has raised the taxes and hence the price of a 20 stick pack to RM12.00 !! That is 60 sen a stick !! That is a lot of money. Does that reduce the smoking habit? Not at all. 

What happens is that smokers now pay more for the same level of smoking and spend less on other things like food and drink. 

Ok let me cut to the quick. The Malays are the largest number of smokers in the country. The Malays are also very, very largely wage earners or makan gaji.  And you cannot go and tell a Malay guy (or girl nowadays) 'Hey stop smoking'.  Its like telling the ostat guys, 'Kahwin satu cukuplah.' Its just not going to happen.

So what is happening is that the Malays are becoming poorer first. Again. And it is caused by gomen policy. Again.  They spend more on cigarettes and have less money left over to buy other things. If the guy smokes a pack a day that is RM12.00 gone up in smoke. Or RM360 a month.

And now as a result of higher cigarette prices there is another evil side effect. There is rampant smuggling of cigarettes into the country especially cheap, unknown brands. And corruption is on the rise as Customs officers are being targeted.  

APs are also being given out for the import of cheap Chinese and Indon cigarettes - which can sell for as little as RM3 or RM4 per pack.  The quality of these cheap cigarettes is not known. I think they will cause even worse long term health effects.  

So the poorly thought policy to increase the price of cigarettes to exhorbitant levels has the following side effects :

i. it does NOT reduce smoking AT ALL. There are 11 million smokers in the country.

ii. it impoverishes smokers especially wage earning Malays (who make up the huge bulk of 11 million smokers)
iii. They have less money to spend on other goods like food for their kids (this is true)

iv. it has made smokers opt for cheaper, lower quality, health damaging cigarettes

v. the country will end up paying more in the long run for their health care

vi. smuggling of cheap cigarettes has increased by leaps and bounds

vii. more smuggling also increases the levels of corruption in the country

viii. there is also production of cheap cigarettes with quality and health risks 

We do not need such high taxes on cigarettes. Whoever thought up these so called 'sin taxes' was not thinking straight. 

What we can do 

The anti smoking campaigns are good enough. We have totally banned smoking inside all public buildings. That is a fantastic achievement. 

Lets move on up - out side the box thinking - lets say no smoking will be allowed within city limits or within town limits before 12 pm (except inside the boundaries of your own private dwellings). And maybe one day a week shall be declared a smoke free day. Think outside the box lah.

Do not prevent quality cigarettes from being sold at more sensible "market prices" but restrict the space and time where cigarettes can be smoked. This way we will not impoverish people as much. There is no need to impoverish people (thru high cigarette prices) or endanger their health (when they seek cheaper lower quality cigarettes). 

The same applies for alcohol. Because we raised the taxes and prices for alcohol so much it has caused a huge amount of illegal alcohol and smuggled alcohol to appear in the country. 

As a result low quality alcohol is available at every street corner. Immigrant workers and poor Indians are the largest consumers of this cheap alcohol. There will be high costs from the long term health risks associated with these 'backyard brewery' beers and whiskeys that are being sold cheaply in the market. 

And just like expensive cigarettes impoverishing the Malays, expensive alcohol also impoverishes the non Muslims especially the poor Indians in the country. Plus there is a huge alcohol smuggling industry that corrupts the Customs and the society as well. 

So what was the purpose and intent of such high taxes on smokes and alcohol? To reduce the consumption of both? Nope its not working at all. Consumption of cigarettes and alcohol is higher than ever. 

It is safer for society and easier on the pocket to let the public have access to higher quality alcohol at reasonable prices. What prices? Market prices - like at the duty free shops. 

You just cannot stop the Malays from smoking cigarettes. Neither can you stop the immigrant workers, Indians and Chinese from consuming alcohol. They will still smoke and drink what they want to smoke and drink. 

These are personal choices. Only religion seeks to legislate personal choices.  (That is why religion is so stup*d). 

It is wicked to impoverish people with high taxes for cigarettes and alcohol when you know with 100% certainty that it is NOT going to reduce the consumption of both.

Herein lies a secret - the gomen already knows this. In fact it shows less than good intentions on the part of the gomen - knowing smokers and drinkers will not reduce their consumption the gomen is exploiting them for its own benefit. The real niat is money. Not to reduce smoking and drinking.