PM, gov't managed 'essential services' long before GST

YOURSAY | ‘GST saved this profligate gov’t from bankruptcy, but caused untold financial hardship.’

GST needed to fund essential services, says Najib

Ipohcrite: Now Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister Najib Abdul Razak is harping about how important the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is to fund essential services and pay the allowances of civil servants.

I bet he has forgotten what he had previously said before implementing GST; he had then confidently said the government was financially strong, and GST revenue would be used for new development programmes to prosper the rakyat and improve their standard of living.

My take is that GST saved this profligate government from bankruptcy, but has caused untold financial hardship to the rakyat.

Nil: Indeed, "essential services" by their very nature should be given priority, and so should be funded through "mainstream" taxes. GST seems to be an afterthought.

Goldee: I wonder how the government had managed the country's essential services when GST was not in existence in the past. Moreover, the government has since removed many subsidies.

The government does not have enough funds simply because they are spendthrift and waste much of taxpayers' hard-earned money.

Flabbergasted Malaysian: So, which hospitals and schools were built recently using the GST collected?

The last I heard was that the budget for education and healthcare have been slashed. Correct me if I am wrong.  

Drngsc: What Najib said is true. And that is because the government has totally mismanaged our economy.

All our hard-earned money and valuable assets had gone towards making Hollywood movies, buying condominium in foreign lands, etc.

Semua Boleh: PM, the GST collected did not go to providing services to the rakyat. Every government department is saying they have no funds for projects.

Your macai (sidekick), Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Noh Omar, also says the government has no money.

So what bull are you talking?

SusahKes: As far as I could tell, "essential services" does not have the same spelling as '1MDB', kleptocracy and corruption.

Now imagine if we had none of the above three afflicting our system. Then, we may not even need to have GST at 6%. 

Then, whatever taxes collected would have actually been used to meet the needs of worthy beneficiaries.

Instead, we are most certain that large chunks of our tax revenue is being used to offset the billion-ringgit debt incurred by one fat middleman who, among others, parties with Cristal champagne, Paris Hilton, and produces a ‘porn’ movie with an A-list of stars.

No-Brainer: Before the GST was implemented, several ministers promised to channel the money collected from the tax back to the rakyat. It is already three years since its implementation and what has this Umno government returned to us?

This GST is an everyday burden for the rakyat to save one shameless, disgraceful individual.

Appum: Let's be candid about GST. It is a good tax system for high income and well-developed economies. But Malaysia has hardly reached that status, and has to put up with a sudden introduction of 6% for a start.

Singapore and Japan, developed countries compared to Malaysia, started its GST at 3%.

As for the opposition's 'U-turn', since the whole system of GST has been implemented by the Umno-BN government and had cost us millions to implement, don't tell us if the opposition wins and takes over, they can just scrap this expensive exercise?

It would be only sensible to maintain it but reduce the GST rate to perhaps 1.5% to 2%.

The moral of the story is, there are good systems to follow and implement, but it is always the stupid and non-thinking Umno-BN government that follows suit without any thought given to proper implementation.

In other words, the whole government and its machinery are a collection of total morons. They can't foresee implications and negative results in their planning. In conclusion, we prefer U-turns than U-thieves.

Anonymous #13114320: Najib, we are paying GST to fund the bloated civil service - that is what you are saying, literally.

And 1MDB and all the lousy investments that you made is what has turned this nation into what it is today.

Anonymous #95676433: Sack all the ministers in the PM's Department, get yourself down to doing real work instead of jetting around the world for spurious reasons, and we'll be fine.

We are the smallest country in the world with the largest number of ministers. It's bleeding the country's hardworking taxpayers dry.    

Anonymous 2447961480069542: If stolen money and widespread corruption did not exist, we would have more than enough funds without GST.

But given the crooks and the bloated cabinet and public service, the country is dying.

BernieBaby: GST was implemented to save your butt. Clearly, it's only essential to you and your cronies.- Mkini