YOURSAY | Should Budget 2021 be passed?

YOURSAY | ‘The budget is aimed for a quick kill and reward, just in time for the next GE.’

COMMENT | Desperate finance minister's use of emotional blackmail

Doc: I am certainly no financial expert, economist or banker but Budget 2021 looks pretty lame even from my understanding. My primary issue with the budget is:

1. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused many businesses to fail this year. The businesses that are left standing are mostly barely surviving. Most of the service sectors are still non-functioning or functioning well below capacity.

Loss of income among Malaysians is rampant. So how on earth did Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz figure out that tax collection for this year is expected to increase as compared to the previous pre-Covid-19 year?

2. From a -4.7 percent growth rate this year for the nation, Zafrul has projected a more than 5 percent growth increase for 2021. How is that possible?

Is he favouring a "V" shaped economic growth curve recovery that most economists had projected at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic but have now unanimously agreed this is pretty impossible?

3. The budget seems to give me the impression that Zafrul is saying, "Rakyat, in this devastating Covid-19 economic meltdown, you are pretty much on your own".

Even the help offered to the Malay community seems to be like window-dressing.

4. And then there’s the RM85.5 million Jasa (Special Affairs Department) money controversy. How to justify such a huge sum to "make Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin look great again"?

In short, Zafrul lacks the understanding of the current economic environment and social strains the rakyat are subjected to.

Sinan Belawan: Zafrul is a banker, not a politician and has said he has no interest in politics. It is a positive move by the current government to appoint a non-politician as the finance minister.

Malaysia's economy is a consumption-driven economy. It’s true small and medium-size industries drive the Malaysian economy. The budget encourages local consumption.

Budget 2021 includes the people of Sabah and Sarawak, the majority of whom are bumiputera. The Constitution defines bumiputeras as Malays and the indigenous people of Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.

Budget 2021 is for all Malaysians. All MPs should vote for Budget 2021.

Safefail: “He (Zafrul) has forgotten that small businesses are the backbone of the nation's economy,” said columnist Mariam Mokhtar.

Indeed, he had even targeted the Internal Revenue Board (IRB) to collect RM127 billion this year and RM144 billion next year, ignoring the severe impacts of the pandemic on businesses and employment.

So, with these unrealistic targets, do we expect IRB would be going on an aggressive drive? Most small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are either closing down or struggling just to survive another day.

He should see the bigger picture of having a lower tax collection and urge the IRB to take a softer approach, especially on SMEs, during this tough time.

If more businesses were to fail, more unemployment will arise and there will be little income to tax. Whatever tax incentives or reliefs you are offering would be meaningless.

Ian2003: @Safefail, IRB has already been very aggressive. Just check CTOS and see how many taxpayers have been entered into CTOS record for defaulting tax payment.

Businesses are already in need of cash to survive, to pay for overhead and employees’ salary and they hardly have enough to pay tax in advance.

Then there are those overzealous officers who blatantly tell you, we know that you have been paying tax but you can afford to pay more thus these are expenses not allowed for claiming and pay up the differential tax amount together with penalty.

Cogito Ergo Sum: The previous finance minister under Harapan went out of his way to ensure everyone had a fair deal. The current one is going out of his way to ensure divisions and inequalities are not only maintained but perpetuated. He does not see a very long future at the helm I presume.

His budget is aimed for a quick kill and reward, just in time for the next general election.

But it will boomerang because the biggest victims will be the Malays and largest beneficiaries will be the small group of elite bumiputeras who will still blame the DAP and ‘pendatangs’ (immigrants) for the plight of their people.

Fair Malaysian: It is a "Malay" budget, not a Malaysian budget and expecting support for such a racist budget would be out of question.

The pathetic and lame response from MCA and MIC reminded me of how non-Malays used to be thought of as fools by these two parties. It is the same old story - they will run "begging" to their Malay bosses and trumpet to the whole world how they have sweated to get crumbs.

This is what the Malay parties want - a meek and subdued non-Malay group who will forever "beg" from them. They grab the best catch and throw some crumbs to the non-Malays. Now you know why these Malay parties hate DAP and PKR.

The budget in its current form should not be supported. Zafrul and the PN government have given every reason to throw it out. It is a blatantly racist budget.

Maybe it simply tries to get the Malays supporting PKR and Amanah to vote for PN. To the Malay politicians, it is all about "agama, bangsa dan negara" (religion, race and country).

During the Umno/BN era they did this deceitfully, now they are doing it openly.

Anonymous_4702: What emotional blackmail? The finance minister is just stating facts that many of our countrymen and businesses who desperately needed help now would not get the money if the budget failed to pass.

Wait for all the politicians to argue and agree on their own agenda until the cows come home? By then, the damage to many livelihoods may have become irreparable. We must understand that we are now at a different and dire time!

Once the pandemic is brought under control, then go ahead and call for a general election to settle all the politics and shenanigans.

Cintaman: @Anonymous_4702, are you saying that the budget should be passed even if it plunges the country deeper into debt? And pass it on to posterity?

It is the job of the minister to ensure that the budget is pragmatic, balanced and addresses all relevant issues. Inconsistencies that are pointed out should be addressed and the budget revised.

Shovelnose: Kais pagi makan pagi, kais malam makan malam (living from hand to mouth). Although an old saying describing the idyllic lifestyle of the carefree souls, it somehow applies to some of today situation and scenario.

Leadership is sorely lacking where it is critical. By right, a technocrat should be looking into ways to spur the economy and widen the tax base in a shrinking Covid-19-hit world, not waste a single sen in unproductive allocations.

The pork-barrelling for immediate survival of the current government means that this is a Bersatu budget, not a Malaysia budget.

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