YOURSAY | Budget 2021 – will govt cut our super-sized cabinet?

YOURSAY | ‘Most corporate organisations apply ‘cost rationalisation’ in difficult times.’

Wan Fayhsal on cabinet reshuffle: If it's not broken, why fix it

Clever Voter: The country has an endless list of corruption cases that even the Parliament building isn't large enough to display all of them. Billions of ringgit have gone missing.

Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal’s colleagues face criminal charges of cheating, misappropriation, and abuse of public duties.

The gap between the rich and poor is widening even more but the Malaysian cabinet is among the largest in the world, with 70 ministers and deputy ministers. The country also has one of the highest debt per capita. For every ringgit earned, easily 85 sen is used to pay our national debt.

Society has become dependent on handouts and charities. Rent-seeking culture is what this government prefers, using religion and race to coerce people and yet this man says the system is not broken.

Perhaps this is what he and his group of self-serving politicians prefer, and for how long? Not many will sing praises of his cabinet and one wonders if this is one of worst cabinets ever put together.

Siva1967: Correct Fayhsal, why fix it when it is not broken. However, there is another saying, “the government’s solution to a problem is as bad as the problem itself”.

Meaning (if you have the brains to comprehend) your suggestion to not to fix it is as bad as the situation the country is in now.

Your statement very obviously shows that you are not able to see the dire situation the country is in and your statement runs smack to the core of the issue, which is you and your bunch of incompetent cabinet members are oblivious to the problems at hand.

Pegasus: People are constantly complaining about our useless incompetent ministers and the government. If our ministers are doing such a great job, why would people complain?

How often do we see our ministers on TV announcing progressive policies for the country? None.

Most of the time, if we do see them, it’s public relations exercises with a big entourage behind them, some with their masks off to show they are buddies with the minister.

For example, the buzz on entrepreneurship has died before it could even take off. The funds allocated to help entrepreneurs hasn’t seen daylight.

What has happened to the policies and aid to promote entrepreneurship and help entrepreneurs? Basically, it’s all talk, hangat-hangat tahi ayam, nothing comes out of it.

So, don’t brag and say the government is doing such a good job because it is not! And please, don’t get me started on our water and environment ministry.

Alistair Maclean: Why must the national Budget be approved in Parliament? It is because the ruling government must convince the majority of MPs that their Budget is worthy of approval.

With the Covid-19 pandemic affecting the economy, businesses, employment, education, and many other activities, the government of the day must demonstrate in the Budget that it is serious in addressing all the key issues impacting the rakyat.

That being the case, the government must, in the first place, without any loss of time, scale down the size of the cabinet. Logically, it must be just a skeleton cabinet sufficient to run the country. In doing so, the resultant savings will be a great help to help the poor and needy in this difficult time.

There is also no need for minister-equivalent posts as foreign ambassadors for MPs. This is because the current set up in embassies can be expanded if needed, with the proper qualified persons attached.

Most corporate organisations apply “cost rationalisation” in difficult times. Operating costs are cut as much as 30 percent to sustain their business.

Likewise, the government of the day should immediately apply this practice across the board and reduce the fat. No more luxuries, no unnecessary expenditures, and procurement shall be through competitive bidding.

All the luxury cars shall be traded and exchanged for "kereta buatan Malaysia" for use by all federal and state government officials, including ministers.

The above are a few examples of how we should manage the country more prudently with the rakyat's welfare at the top of the agenda.

For God's sake, please do the needful and nothing else. Then, I am sure, all the MPs will strongly consider approving the forthcoming Budget proposal.

Low Class Coolie: Support Letter hero, I am very bemused by your sense of humour. By virtue of saying the "ministers" had done well forebode a very ominous future when the likes of you could be a future "leader".

And they say there's light at the end of the tunnel.

IndigoKite6964: Yes, the cabinet is broken so badly, it’s beyond repair. It needs to be replaced.

Currently, it is held together with a band-aid plaster and would probably not last another two years for the 15th general election. It is quite like Humpty Dumpty. All the king's horses and all the king's men can't put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

Of course, who in the ruling bench wants anything fixed? With a huge paycheck that is recession-proof and Covid-19-proof, I would also think everything’s perfect. Nothing to fix.

Well, they have forgotten that the country is broken. People have lost their jobs. Companies have closed down. People are getting sick and the vulnerable are dying.

They don’t know what it’s like to get the people’s mandate to rule. They think the people are broken because we voted in Pakatan Harapan. They think they are the superheroes who arrived (via the backdoor) just in time to save the day.

There are criminals in their ranks and Fayhsal still says there is nothing to fix. I don’t know whether I can wait another two years to kick them out.

YOURSAY | Agong’s Budget advice is for all leaders, not just opposition

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