GST marks a black spot in our history, says PR

MPs say Malaysian public clearly not prepared for GST and point out confusion in stores as a sign of unpreparedness.

KUALA LUMPUR: Pakatan Rakyat MPs today slammed the Federal Government for going ahead with the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), describing it as “a black spot in Malaysian history”.

Speaking to media at Parliament complex, PR leaders said the tax was regressive and would burden the public who were already struggling with the rising cost of living that was clearly outpacing wage increases.

PKR’s whip, Johari Abdul said, “This is the first day of GST. Even yesterday, some of the shelves in supermarkets were emptied, including (for products like) Pampers (diapers), due to the panic and fear of the tax.

“If even the first day had that effect, I can’t imagine the long term effect of this. This action is actually a clear indication that the UMNO-BN government is not concerned about the public’s struggle.”

PAS’s Mahfuz Omar while sharing similar concerns, said that even UMNO’s own Mahathir Mohammad (former prime minister) and Daim Zainuddin (former finance minister) had advised the government against implementing the GST. He pointed out that its hasty implementation only showed that the government’s finances was in dire straits, something he claimed was their own doing.

“All the massive wastage, leakages, and misappropriation (of funds) by the government is now shifted onto the public’s shoulders,” he said, adding that the government was turning a deaf ear to the pleas of the 52% of the population that voted for PR.

“The government has completely lost the plot on how to handle its finances and this (GST) I feel is a ‘robbery’…,” he said.

DAP’s Lim Lip Eng meanwhile blamed the government for its hasty implementation of the new taxation system, pointing out the general confusion amongst traders, businesspeople and consumers who were still in the dark over which items were zero-rated and which were not.

“I begged the government for a trial period of three months to half a year, so the market, the consumers and traders could familiarise themselves with the GST and learn from the challenges and mistakes in the transactions,” said Lim and added that his emergency motion application was rejected by Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia.

Lim also related how his assistant had to pay GST on a newspaper bought this morning at a big, reputable establishment at an affluent neighbourhood although newspapers were exempted from the tax and added, “It (GST) will turn our country into a land of confusion. People will be suspicious of being cheated by unscrupulous traders.”