My latest fetish - Mellow Jazz

Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis

Malaysia Budget 2013

The Malaysian Budget 2013 can be viewed/downloaded here.

 

Najib's administrator had been swift in updating the Najib Razak facebook page to announce the budget on Sep 28. And there were a torrential flood of grateful citizens flocking to thank the Prime Minister cum Finance Minister for the rakyat friendly budget and pro government politicians went all out to sing praises with their usual 'Ya! Betul!' attitude, gullible and oblivious to some outright illogicality in the budget and the after effect.

 

While many were jubilating upon the 'durian runtuh' budget 2013, I have some queries on few glaring issues and hoped that someone can enlighten me:

1. On the PR1MA, it's stated that RM500mil will be used to build 50,000 units of houses which will be sold between RM100k to RM400k. Ya! Betul! Affordable housing for the people!

 

If it only takes RM10,000 to build one house, why is it sold to the people for more than 10 times the cost?

2. On BR1M 2.0, RM30mil allocated for households earning less than RM3,000 per month and single Malaysian above 21 yrs old earning less than RM2,000. Estimated 4.3mil households and 2.7mil single Malaysians to benefit from BR1M. Ya! Betul! Cash for the needy to alleviate their burden!

If the 4.3 milion households consist of 4 family members (Assuming the parents with two kids, but based on our understanding of the privileged Earth Prince and Princesses who can't practice birth control due to the intervention of some Almighty mysterious power, this is a very conservative estimate.), we are talking about 19.9mil (17.2mil + 2.7mil) Malaysians, a whopping 71.1% of our population to benefit from BR1M 2.0! 

 

Now, some may think that RM3,000 monthly earning for a household or RM2,000 monthly salary for an unmarried individual above 21 year-old does not mean that these people are living in destitution. Then my question would be, if one can live comfortably with a household income of less than three grand, why does the government need to pay a 'one time' RM500 to ease their burdens? In addition, how, and to what extend can a 'one time' RM500 ease their burdens?

 

Yes, they may not be considered as extremely poor, I think, neither could they be labelled as the middle class. These people are sandwiched in between a band which may not die of hunger, yet will never be full. And if they are not careful financially, they can easily plunge into the abyss of poverty.

 

But it's really unimaginable that this group constitutes more than 70% of the 28 mil Malaysian population today after 55 years post independence. If the number is correct, apparently the NEP, NDP, NEM or whatever socio-economic restructuring in the past have failed miserably. Then, we may need a whole lot more of stimulus for these people and give them monthly BR1M instead. And if the number is exaggerated, then I fear that a huge portion of the RM30 mil may vapourize into thin air. 

 
3. I do not know if it is normal for a country to use only 20% of its budget for development whereas the other 80% for administrative expenses. If this scenario is present in the P&L of any public listed company, I think investors will question the corporate governance of the management. Why aren't we spending more on development to spur income growth? Is it because we have too many mouths to feed in the public sector? With government servants amounting 4.68% of the total Malaysian population, one of the highest ratio among Asian countries, it looks like we are joining the PIIGS in time to come with this kind of spending. By then any austerity measure will be futile. 
 

I as a commoner in Malaysia, really don't understand the logic behind Budget 2013 except that it is crafted merely for the sake of vote fishing. But for sure, this is going to exaggerate our deficit. And may I ask, who's going to pay the bills in the end? The 5% individual + 15% corporate taxpayers?

 

How is this going to be sustainable?

 

And yet with the prevalent herd mentality, some people are revelling in the 'feel good' sensation not knowing that the government can slip their hands into your own pockets and steal as easily as they doled out the goodies, i.e via GST, inflation due to subsidy cuts, cronyisme and corruption. In the end, we Malaysians, are the one who will be shouldering the debts, our children and grandchildren will pay dearly for the mismanagement of some douchebags, while they will be gloating at some foreign coast sipping Martini.
 

Does this still look like a coveted budget to you now?
  

Shila Amzah (Asian Wave 2)





See how powerful Malaysia can be with the truly One Malaysia spirit... Not to be confused with the lame 1Malaysia concept ya.

Proud of you Shila!

 



Shila Amzah - All performances (combined and reuploaded) at Asian Wave 2...

The Intouchables

It's been some time since I last saw a good movie, so good that I am excited to share with my friends and family - "The Intouchables (無法觸碰 / 觸不可及) "

TMNet is the best service provider in Malaysia

Of course the best lar, other telcos can't lay land cable what.

This my friend, is the benefit of protectionisme. Note that I signed up for a 4Mbps package, and I am no better off than dial-up 1515 in those Jurassic era.

Wonder why we have to pay twice the amount for an imported car....hmmm.

Desaru Trip ^_^



For more information on lung cancer, keep smoking

We were having dinner at one of our favorite eateries few weeks ago. Half way through the feast, a couple arrived and occupied the table beside us. Within minutes, the guy whipped out his cigarette and started puffing. What is most annoying is that, the smoker would exhaled the smoke senselessly in all directions wherever he faced. Normally, smokers with conscience will attempt to blow the smoke upwards so as not to disturb the public.

So I turned around and told the guy, "If you want to smoke, can you please do it elsewhere? There are so many people eating here, and we have to bear with your smoke...."

Upon hearing my complaint, the guy intuitively extinguished his cigarette and throw it away (Again, very inconsiderate act littering in public) and murmured, "Sorry...sorry" before I could finish my sentence. Apparently, he knew what he did was improper and he was unaware that his act was displeasing.

But guess what? Before I could turn around to finish my meal, the lady sardonically replied, "This is public area, if you don't like people smoking, then don't come here la!"

Now, let's examine her statement and ponder.

Yes, you have the right to smoke in public, because our Health Ministry is incompetent in implementing rules and regulations to restrict smoking in public area. I wonder why the Health Ministry failed in the anti-smoking campaigns, one reason could be the Health Minister himself is busy bidding for the WWW15 car plate number. Moron.

Countries like Singapore and the UK restrict smokers to smoke in public areas such as public toilets, hotel lobbies, apartment lobbies, bus stops, MRT stations, restaurants, shopping malls...etc. Limited number of tables are allocated for smokers at open air eateries, and these tables are reasonably distanced from the others.

But for Malaysia, we have failed so badly that the smokers here do not even have the littlest sense of guilt for causing displeasure in public. They even have the guts to retaliate, stare you in the eyes while they exhale more second hand smoke in your face. And that is why, we always walk into smoke filled public toilets after watching a movie, as if we are in a twilight zone. Your aromatic coffee or teh-o is often laced with cloud of tobacco substances at kopitiams. And hell, I even had to endure second hand smoke all night long in express buses traveling from JB to Penang. Reason being, the bus drivers need to smoke to stay awake.

Let's go back to the lady's earlier statement. "This is public area, if you don't like people smoking, then don't come here la!" I didn't get myself into a petty argument that night, but I would like to tell her the following:

1. If this gentleman here truly loves you, he wouldn't be smoking in your presence.
2. And if you truly love your man (and his manhood), you would persuade him to quit smoking.
3. If you understand the effect of passive smoking, and you care for your health and children's health, you would agree with my act.

Apparently, she acknowledged that her dude doesn't love her enough to care for her health, she doesn't love him and even least care for his health, and she doesn't care how second hand smoke could affect her health, her offsprings' health as much as it affects others in public. And this is why I kept my cool, finished my meal and walked away that night. Because they truly deserve each other, and together they will surely form a happy family, and live happily ever after.