Be prepared for a higher cost of living ....

I must congratulate Idris Jala and his department for taking the trouble to explain in a clear, easy-to-understand manner why subsidies should be withdrawn or be gradually reduced over the years. According to him, in 2009 the total amount of subsidy was RM 74 billion, and that if the subsidy continued unabated, by 2019 Malaysia would be bankcrupted, meaning its expenditures far outstripped its revenue that there's no way for Malaysia to recover. The country would go the way Greece went. In order to survive, Malaysia would have to depend on handouts from the IMF, foreign loans, and so on. It's better that we Malaysians take the bull by the horns and solve the problems ourselves.

I for one intend to cut down my electricity bill by reducing aircon use, petrol expenses by driving less unless absolutely necessary. As for foods, my family are normally not big eaters nor are they wasteful and we are naturally savers in this department. When purchasing for goods, I would be more discriminating in inspecting the prices of items. I have to cut down on overseas travelling especially (even to Singapore) which can take up a lot in expenses. I hope by doing all these, I shall be contributing to a reduction in the country's deficit, however insignificant my action looks. Whether my action multiplied a million times to reflect the Malaysian population that exactly do what I intend to do would affect the economy, I don't know. The only thing that I would not do is to strictly economise on the healthcare of my family.

Back to Idris Jala who says that RM 23.5 billion in subsidy goes toward fuel and gas and RM 42.4 billion goes toward social services like education and healthcare. These two sectors take up the biggest chunk in the RM 74 billion in subsidy in 2009. They must be reduced. There are of course other things like foods e.g. rice, sugar, cooking oil and many others that are subsidised by the government. They are to be reduced or stopped altogether.

The Malaysian people have to face the unpleasant fact that the cost of living is escalating and that they must discipline themselves to minimise wastes and be frugal in their spending habits in years to come. Only then can we cut down the deficit and Malaysia would not go the way Greece went.

While not depending on the public to reduce the deficit, the government has to play a bigger part in cutting wastes, in proper spending of taxpayers money when awarding tenders for works and purchases, and above all, in eliminating bribery and corruption, else efforts by the general public to cut the deficit is nullified by government extravagance.

At last, Lee Kuan Yew can die in peace ....

Lee Kuan Yew has always felt that Singapore was not 100 percent his for as long as the swathe of KTMB land that cuts Singapore in two still belongs to Malaysia. He feels that his struggle in conning Tengku Abdul Rahman to wrest Singapore island from Malaysia is still not over yet until he has acquired every square metre of ground that used to belong to Malaysia. And, now his son is doing it for him and therefore he can at last die in peace.

When it was announced that the PM of Malaysia was visiting Singapore with a big entourage, nothing was mentioned about the issues that plagued Singapore and Malaysia since the past 4 Prime Ministers of Malaysia. We all thought it was a normal state visit between neighbours during which a few rounds of golf may be played among ministers and the likes and some business discussed over dinner. There was not even a hint that something was about to shock the Malaysian public.

We all know about the water supply agreement whereby Lee Kuan Yew refused to budge an inch when Malaysia requested for a revision in the price of water. We know about the threats of war if Malaysia cut off the water supply. We know about the KTMB's land that Lee Kuan Yew has been pestering Malaysia to do something about it - either to sell it to him at cheap prices in Malaysian Ringgit or to force KTMB to cease its services so that the land automatically reverts to Singapore for free. We know about Lee Kuan Yew's resistance to dismantle the causeway so that he could prevent free movement of vessels between the Port of Tanjung Pelepas and the Port of Pasir Gudang.

We all know that sometime ago wily Daim Zainuddin had agreed with cunning Lee Kuan Yew on how to resolve the KTMB land under what was called the 20 Points of Agreement (POA) and, notwithstanding that the agreement had been signed, no-nonsense Mahathir did comment that the agreement had to be ratified by the Malaysian Parliament before the KTMB land (and perhaps other niggling issues between Malaysia and Singapore) get a final approval. After that, nothing came of it and in the meantime both Daim and Mahathir were no more in power in Malaysia. The agreement was left in limbo for sometime until just resurrected by Najib.

When a few days ago Najib had agreed to resolve the KTMB land with the son of Lee, was the POA debated before ratification by the Parliament ? I don't think so for it was not mentioned in the local media nor by the local bloggers. It seemed everything was done in a hush-hush manner as Anwar Ibrahim rightly claimed. They were not playing golf after all.

What are the issues that have plagued Malaysia and Singapore all this while ?

One is the water supply. This no big deal for the supply agreement expires in 2011. What's the big deal for Singapore to give Malaysia all facilities for free to show its generousity ? Should Singapore take back all the pumps, the filters, the pipelines, power stations, and whatnots ? Of course not ! Though it could well do that if it wanted to for Malaysia is not hard-up of them. The REAL big deal is the water supply agreement ending 2061 and the price of water which was not raised at all.

Two is the toll rate through the second link. The toll rate has never been the issue. The high rate is a pain for motorists but so what. If you make it higher still, no one goes through the link. A reduction in toll rate is of course welcomed.

Thirdly, is the KTMB land, which is now "resolved". But lately, someone said the deal with Singapore was illegal since it was not sanctioned by Parliament and eventually by the Agong. This was what Mahathir said when the 20-point agreement between Daim Zainuddin and Lee Kuan Yew (that's why it was postponed some 10 years ago) that the deal had to be ratified by the Malaysian Parliament.

Fourthly, it is the proposed bridge to replace the causeway. Lee Kuan Yew once remarked that Malaysia (meaning Mahathir at that time), for no rhyme or reason, decided to replace its part of the causeway with a scenic or crooked bridge much to the dislike of Singapore. An idiot of a Malaysian Prime Minister (not Mahathir) decided to cancel the construction of the bridge for reasons that I had described somewhere in this blog. Then another Prime Minister mentioned that another bridge be made connecting Johore with some part of Changi in Singapore. Of course, this was welcomed by Singapore so long as the causeway was left untouched. In fact, for that matter, Malaysia could construct any number of bridges as it liked so long as Malaysia paid for them and that the causeway remained untouched.

Fiftly, it's the matter of the CPF money. This was in fact Mahathir's thinking that Singapore should release the CPF money contributed by Malaysians (mostly those from Johore) who had previously worked in Singapore but had left the country. My take is that Mahathir is wrong in his thinking. Why shouldn't Malaysians leave the money with CPF when they have not reached retirement age. After all, CPF money in Singapore currency, is far better than the Ringgit which never seemed to appreciate but alway depreciating. So, to those Malaysians that still have their money with CPF, I say keep your money there and withdraw it only when you really need it. Otherwise, keep your money there in Singapore dollars which keep on appreciating vi-a-vis the Ringgit.

To be continued ......

It's a bit too much ...

I was astonished to read today that the Malaysian Government spent some RM 74 billion in subsidy or about RM 12,900 per household. This is too much. No wonder prices of goods in Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand (the countries mentioned in the news report) were higher than those in Malaysia.

It's about time the government withdraw or cut down the subsidies to let Malaysians feel how it is to live without subsidised items. The report went on to say that the subsidies benefit the higher income group of people than they do the lower income.

Further, it was also mentioned that Malaysians consume the most fuel than other South East Asian motorists or motorists in China. The average Malaysia motorist consumes some 450 litres of fuel per month while in comparison, the average Singaporean motorist consumes 250 litres of fuel per month and the Chinese 50 litres per month. This situation has got to stop since Malaysians don't seem to know the meaning of fuel economy. This is one of the few occassions when I would tend to agree with the government should it decide to cut down or remove subsidies altogether.