YOURSAY | ‘If I were PM, I would stop talking about how GST saved the economy.’

Although criticised, GST saved country, says Najib

Chipmunk: The implementation of the good and services tax (GST) was an unpopular decision, and still is, and was the most inappropriate step made by the government to save PM Najib Razak from the nation's greatest scandal, 1MDB.

Come on Najib, who are you trying to hoodwink? GST saved you at the expense of the rakyat, so stop insulting our intelligence and making a mockery of the country.

The Malaysian stock market is seeing an exodus of foreign funds as the 1MDB scandal escalates. Overseas investors have pulled money from Malaysian stocks for a fifth straight week following the longest buying spree in two years.

The FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index is the only declining bourse among major developing peers in Southeast Asia in 2016. So tell me Najib and all his blind cybertroopers, can the international community be wrong?

CQ Muar: GST collected will eventually be returned to the people, Mr PM? Did you know many small businesses were forced to close shop owing to falling sales?

Many Malaysians have to tighten their belts to cope with higher cost of items. Many outlets took advantage of the new tax and raise prices.

Of course, such difficulty and plight will not affect ministers and leaders like you. This is because virtually all your expenses are paid by taxpayers.

Ipohcrite: Yes, in a way, Najib is right that GST saved the country.

But the prelude is that the country was in dire straits and needed a desperate lifeline; this was totally and absolutely due to unbridled corruption and mismanagement under his watch as PM, exemplified in no uncertain terms by the 1MDB case.

Anonymous_1424794168: If I were PM, I would stop talking about how GST saved the economy. If only the government really knows the extent of the burden placed on the rakyat in an already stagnant economy.

It is better to be more sensitive and keep quiet about this matter. There's really nothing to brag about GST implementation because it was never a win-win situation. It was win for government and lose for rakyat.

Real Truth: Malaysia is inherently a wealthy country with an abundance of natural resources.

But because of mismanagement at federal level and 1MDB losses of up to RM50 billion and other leakages, we were forced to pay GST. Ultimately the rakyat saved the nation.

We are a God-blessed country, unlike other countries where sometimes natural disasters cause tremendous losses.

Our losses were man-made. These include mismanagement at the macro level and the failure of our institutions such as Bank Negara.

Lukesky: Dear PM, why did the economy need saving in the first place?

Was it because of the financial hole created by your love child, 1MDB, and its many well-publicised scandals which you continue to deny any responsibility as PM, finance minister and chairperson of 1MDB's advisory board?

Don't bother, we all know the answer.

Rish: With or without GST, prices will go up. With GST, at least the government knows who are making supernormal profits and who should be paying more taxes for such supernormal profits.

Anonymous112233: We, the middle-income earners suffered the most from GST. We already paid hefty income taxes to the government before GST.

The GST is an additional burden on us. Please don't try to hoodwink the rakyat by saying that the GST is good for us.

Talim Shah: True, GST has saved Malaysia from economic turbulence. But, Najib, you seem to have forgotten or purposely omitted the 1MDB swindle in which you were allegedly involved.

And this cheating has cost the rakyat almost RM60 billion to date. You have also deliberately omitted the yearly corruption (leakages) that has put RM27 billion into the pockets of your cronies.

This was all the more reason that you had to force GST down the rakyat’s throats so that you can continue to be PM of Malaysia.

Safety First: Najib, GST has indeed saved our national economy which was damaged by 1MDB.

Unspin: Our shameless prime minister must be the only politician in the whole wide world who brags about taxing its own people.

He is completely out of touch with the suffering of the people after the implementation of GST, especially since he has at least US$1 billion in his bank accounts. The rest of us are not so lucky.

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