The T15 are not your enemies, Mr Prime Minister

 

From Ahmad Farouk Musa

We are writing this piece to the prime minister as a friend.

As a friend who struggled for him during the time of Reformasi.

As a friend who defended him during all the allegations against him.

As a friend who fought tooth and nail to bring down the greatest kleptocrat the world has ever known.

As a friend who believed in a new dawn of greater democracy and freedom once we brought down the previous corrupt regime.

Unfortunately, as leader of the country, the prime minister’s priorities seem misplaced.

We feel that instead of training his guns against the kleptocrats, he is making an enemy out of us, the so-called T15.

He has disdainfully tagged us as the “Mahakaya”. As if we are sucking the wealth of this country for our own benefit.

He has berated us, almost every day, for allegedly benefitting from government subsidies.

He forgets that we constitute that segment of society which contributes the maximum in terms of taxes.

According to statistics, in 2022 alone, the T15 contributed almost 80% of income taxes. Yet, he castigates us as if we are the parasites and blood-suckers of the community.

Many of us were not born with a silver spoon in our mouth.

We worked very hard for many years to reach our position in society.

We burnt the midnight oil and excelled academically to attain this status. We led a life full of sacrifice and self-immolation. Yet, in his war against corruption, he has directed his guns against us.

He has made an enemy out of us. In his dreams, he imagines us gobbling up the benefits meant for the poor and the needy, the B40 of the community.

But maybe he didn’t realise, or maybe it was in fact part of the economy minister’s strategy to rationalise (read: cut) subsidies, such that he has to build a narrative that lures people into believing there is one segment of the community which is selfishly and shamelessly reaping their benefit.

He built a perfect narrative so that people will naively accept the rationalisation of subsidies. But in reality, we are not the ones who consume subsidised cooking oil, eggs, or rice.

Instead, we purchase premium cooking oil, grade A fortified eggs, and Basmati rice.

Not because we want to show off our wealth, but simply because we can afford them. The narrative that we grab subsidised items meant for the B40 is entirely false.

Similarly, many of us in the T15 use RON97 petrol, not the subsidised RON95. Simply because we drive continental cars. Not to flaunt our wealth, but simply because these continental cars are much safer on our roads.

Just imagine spending many years training as a surgeon only to be killed in a mere road traffic accident. Wouldn’t that be a loss, not only to the family, but also to the community and country?

Furthermore, he has made it so difficult for those who deserve to get back their money – the diesel cash subsidy – from the Budi Madani scheme that many have simply given up.

Until today, no one knows the rationale behind that central database hub (Padu), which was suggested and proactively promoted by his economy minister.

Touted as a comprehensive system that would supposedly assist the government in targeting subsidies, it has ended up as a white elephant.

How much money has been wasted in building that database? Let’s not downplay it: the development of Padu has drained a whopping RM85.27 million from the national coffers. That’s not a small amount for an unproven database. Until today, we have yet to see how this database will benefit the people.

In fact, prime minister, this so-called rationalisation of subsidy and all the economic policies of your economy minister is straight from the textbooks of the neoliberal economic system – an economic philosophy that emphasises free trade, deregulation and a reduction in government spending. It is a laissez-faire system that advocates minimal government interference in the economic issues of the people in an attempt to purportedly stimulate economic growth.

What the prime minister and his economy minister have been doing is similar to the ideas suggested by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank, the champions of neoliberalism.

We have seen the negative impact of this neoliberal agenda on our health sector. Apart from education, the health sector is supposed to be a top priority for any government. The free market approach to public services such as health and education is fundamentally misguided.

Indeed, unlike other industries, public services are not meant to be profitable sectors. We feel that his neoliberal strategy will exacerbate inequality, such that the poor will never get medical treatment and education on par with the rich.

Why then are we in the T15 segment of society concerned about this neoliberal agenda promoted by the government?

Admittedly, we can afford the best medical care and also fund our children’s education in private institutions.

The answer is simple: we, the T15, care for society. We contribute 26% of our yearly salaries to income tax. We want this money to be spent wisely for the rakyat, for better healthcare and education. We don’t mind if the B40 does not even contribute a single sen to the coffers of the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN); we know the B40 are poor and do not reach the threshold to pay any taxes.

But we have been very dismayed and disgusted by individuals who owe millions to LHDN being rewarded with lofty positions. On top of that, the greatest kleptocrat has been given more than a 50% discount on his fine and jail term.

This makes all your diatribe against corruption ring hollow. You have a misplaced sense of priority. You have launched a tirade against imaginary kleptocrats but ignored the real plunderers in front of your very eyes.

We are sorry if all these words sound very harsh.

However, we hope the prime minister realises that the derogatory term “Mahakaya” used against us has indeed been very bitter and painful to swallow.

We want him and his arrogant and self-obsessed economy minister to understand that we contribute the most financially to the country.

Additionally, many of us in the T15 have given back to society in terms of our expertise, which is intangible.

Hence, do not make enemies out of us. Don’t forget that we were your staunch supporters in the reform agenda for the betterment of the country, although many of us are now left disillusioned. - FMT

Dr Ahmad Farouk Musa holds a PhD in Surgery from Monash University Australia and is a doctoral candidate in Islamic Studies at Universiti Muhammadiyah Malaysia.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.