Litany of woes that the government must address

I have wanted to respond to a number of issues but to write on separate issues is too time-consuming.

National Feedlot Corporation

First, let me respond to a statement by the Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry, Noh Omar on the RM250 million funding allotted to the National Feedlot Corporation Sdn Bhd, a company operated by Datuk Seri Shahrizat's family.

On the controversial purchase of a RM9.8 million luxury condominium, the minister has said that the government is not responsible after the money had been paid to NFC after fulfilling set conditions.

I quote his words: "The government cannot control what NFC does with it, including purchasing the said condominium, because it is then considered the company's money."

Indeed, we have the situation where we have an irresponsible government where it fails to check the way the money had been used, whether it meets the original objectives of the loan or grant, especially when it involves public funds.

In making such a statement, the minister has set the precedence that, in this country, anyone can apply for a soft loan or a grant from the government for a particular project, and instead of delving into the original plan, channel the money elsewhere.

Tell me if I apply for a piece of agriculture land, can I, at my whim and fancy, build a condominium on it to sell? Of course, the justification is as what Khairy Jamaluddin has said - the condominium will generate more income than the agriculture produce.

Ideas on Crime Prevention, IGP?

The IGP does not really need us to tell him how to reduce the crime rate in the country. Driving around the city of Kuala Lumpur, one cannot help but notice the number of advertisements on Money Lending and Massage Services.

Some of these money lenders have even tried to legitimize their activities by putting the logo 1Malaysia.

If these are illegal money lenders, and there is already so much public outcry against the illegal money lenders, why have the police not taken action to nab these people?

Talk about sexual services in an Islamic country. Why have the police not taken serious efforts to arrest the people involved in the vices, especially when they boldly advertise their services in newspapers and on the streets.

One only has to make a phone call using a number advertised as "Massage Services" in the classified advertisement section of the papers or taken from the graffiti on the wall with interesting names like Honey Massage, Eros Massage, One Massage, and so on.

Over the phone, a booking can be made to send a call girl to a hotel room. Likewise, a phone call to the money lender will almost certainly end up with a one-to-one interview on how much the loan amount required, as well as the terms of loan repayment.

Why can't our police make efforts to nab perpetrators of these vices and make them clean up the entire city from graffiti and tonnes of buntings?

KR1M Shops

In combatting inflation, the prime minister has set up the Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (KR1M) shops with a budget of RM40 million to Mydin Mohamed Holdings Berhad allocated under the Budget 2012.

I wonder why! Is it to create competition to kill off the sundry shop owners? Already the business of these sundry shops is suffering because of the emergence of hypermarkets such as Carrefour, Giant and Tesco.

Instead of giving such an allocation to a company, the money could have been used as subsidies to reduce prices of certain controlled items or to support the existing sundry shop business entities and encourage them to lower the prices of the retail products they carry.

Alternatively, the government could have set up a consortium of warehouses, where the products are bought in big volumes and later distributed to the retailers at a reduced price in a bid to control inflation.

GST

There is always the point that the GST will not adversely cause the prices of products and services to rise.

This is a myth, as the impact caused by the GST is often compounded. For example, petrol price goes up 40 sen, floor prize goes up by 10 sen, sugar by 10 sen; the next day, when you have your roti canai, the Mamak will say his roti has to go up by 20 sen.

Despite having passed the parliament act on controlling prices of food and services, how often have government officials checked food outlets, wet markets or the shopping malls? We all know the answer!

When it comes to the GST, taxes will be tied to consumption. The more we consume, the more taxes we will have to fork out. In other words, we are assuming that the rich will pay more taxes compared to someone who is poor.

This is far from the truth. The fact that a person is poor, an increase in price by just 10 per cent will cause a pinch, whereas a rich man can continue spending his money although the prices have gone up two times the original price.

After all, what is RM100 to a rich man, compared to RM60 to one whose income is only RM600 a month?

The rich man enjoys a reduction in his personal income tax, whereas the poor who could hardly pay his taxes previously now has to squeeze out more money to buy his daily necessities. Where is the justice?

I think at the end of the day, with the GST introduced - and this very likely will be after the next general election if Barisan Nasional continues to helm the nation - it is the middle income people who will suffer the most.

In particular, it is the civil servants because their salary scales will not commensurate with the rate of inflation or after the GST has been calculated into the price of the products or services.

PPSMI

Finally, the teaching of Mathematics and Science in English. I notice that the deputy prime minister himself had closed the door for any discussion with parents.

In the first place, didn't his boss say that gone are the days when governments know what was best for the people?

And for someone to become a deputy prime minister, who cannot even have a good command of the language, the future will be very bleak for Malaysia in terms of being globally competitive and attract foreign direct investments. Who would have respect for a prime minister who cannot speak proper English?

There again, in the same issue, Dr Mahathir Mohamad has himself to blame for the way he had implemented the school syllabus in the early days when he was the Minister of Education. Why is he making such a fuss now?