Yoursay: No free lunches even for Umno members

YOURSAY | ‘You and I are going to have to pay the taxes.’

Dr M pens open letter to Umno members

Anonymous_b3cdcd05: There is nothing new or out of the ordinary in Pakatan Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad's letter to Umno members. It basically states the obvious that most of us are aware of.

The sordid scandals and decadence that has crept into the Umno/BN regime is an open book. One need not be a rocket scientist to realise that if caretaker prime minister Najib Razak is willing to throw in millions or billions to stay in power, where is that money coming from? Plucked from the air? No. It has to come from the people.

Previously he allegedly claimed that an Arab donated RM2.6 billion for Umno to win GE13. If that is the case, why were subsidies withdrawn and budgets cuts? Why are we burdened with GST, 1MDB debts and billions in investment borrowings from China that the people need to repay?

To top it all, we face unprecedented skyrocketing living cost and struggle by the bottom half to put food on the table. Is this not why 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) was introduced? Because people were struggling.

All those bottomless goodies and promises like manna from heaven have to be borne by us and our generations to come. We may be in a worse plight than what we are already in. It is we, the people, who will face taxes in various guises.

As what Mahathir has said, there are no free lunches even for Umno members. We are all together in this.

We and our children have to all suffer together if Umno members choose to vote with their hearts instead of their heads come GE14.

Alfanso: As Mahathir says, it is not he or the party that matters, but the country. It is a reality - if you know what was promised in the last budget by Najib, going into billions of ringgit. Now where is this money going to come from?

You and I are going to have to pay the taxes. GST at 6 percent is not enough, borrowing is increasing, with assets already used up (oil, Employees’ Provident Fund, Tabung Haji Fund, Felda, land in Johor, Pahang, Malacca and what else). And the International Monetary Fund is waiting.

So you see, unless good governance is taken seriously, we will be going into the drain for taking easy money.

Versey: Any Umno member with an iota of good principles, dignity, pride and love for the nation and his/her fellow citizens shall be bleeding in the heart to read this:

"Your support to Najib will only worsen the state of this beloved country. Do you not realise that from a country admired the world over, Malaysia has become a corruption-riddled country led by criminals being laughed at by the world."

Voter For Change: Not everybody will agree with Mahathir or support him. Many are still very suspicious of him and his intentions as evidenced by some of the comments here.

However, even in a negative way, one needs to ask if Mahathir is worse than the present Umno leadership.

Malaysia not going bankrupt, says Seng Giaw

Anonymous: Former Kepong MP Dr Tan Seng Giaw, an English lesson is in order here. The opposition has only said that the country is going, and will go, bankrupt if we continue down this path.

They are making a prediction based on their assumptions of the current spending patterns and fiscal management of the country. They did not state we are bankrupt.

You are talking of a bankrupt situation where we are unable to pay our liabilities. That is clearly not the case. Please be a man of integrity, state the facts.

As an added piece of information, if I recall correctly, even our caretaker prime minister and some BN ministers have mentioned that we would have been in serious financial trouble if not for the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which put more than RM40 billion into the government’s coffers.

So the fact that we have fiscal issues is not something only the opposition has raised.

Varuna: Eight terms as a DAP MP and turning bitter after being dropped seems to be the underlying motivation of Tan’s new-found inspiration.

DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang and company must be cringing in bewilderment. Even the prime minister had acknowledged that the GST has come out as a much-needed “saviour” for the government’s coffers.

There is strong suspicion that the government in recent years is comparatively more fragile, being unable to effectively discipline its financial management after the onslaught of the 1MDB scandal.

Our beloved nation is a failing state or is in a retrogressive mode. A number of our socioeconomic aspects have never been discussed in such an apprehensive manner as it is being done now, even during the difficult period of the Asian financial crisis.

Why? To say we are bankrupt now is surely incorrect or “fake news”, but to express apprehension that we may be unable to avoid such a threat if our governance falters is reasonable.

Lr: If our economy is not in dire straits, why are there budget cuts in two very critical sectors - education and health?

It is a pathetic state in schools where repairs and upgrading have been halted for lack of funds. In hospitals, medication is dispensed on a monthly basis, and quite often fortnightly, due to lack of supply.

Quotas have been imposed on prescriptions of certain medications, because they are costly. But poor patients need them. They can’t afford to buy from pharmacies.

Real personal experiences of friends and relatives are truly shocking. A friend told me that when her husband was admitted to a general hospital, the ward had insufficient pillows. She had to bring one for him from home!

Everything is being cut back due to lack of funds. So aren't we facing a crisis here? I wonder. - Mkini