Here u see, now u don't!

The government money, that is....or more precisely, government coffers pumped in from its citizens.

"KUALA LUMPUR July 15 (Reuters) - Malaysia's government said on Thursday that it will hike fuel prices and sugar prices from Friday in a move that will save 


750 million Malaysian ringgit ($234.6 million) a year."

"The readjustment of fuel and sugar prices are minimal compared to the proposals submitted because the government wants to balance between maintaining the people's interests and the need to manage the country's (budget) deficit," Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a statement."

AND so we malaysians are supposed to heed the government advice to tighten up our belts, reduce your meals from 4 times to 3 times a day, use our hyper-efficient public transport instead of buying own cars to save the petrol and environment. But at the same time the government needs people like u and me to support their Pro-tong industry, that is supposed to be our nation's pride. Not to forget pay our taxes in time and better still, forget or ignorant of actual amount of money that we are actually taxable for.

"KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 870,630 taxpayers overpaid their taxes by RM10bil in 2009, said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussein. He told Pendang Member of Parliement Datuk Dr Mohd Hayati Othman at the Dewan Rakyat that 838,644 taxpayers overpaid by RM8.6bil in 2008 while 654,606 taxpayers overpaid by RM5.4bil in 2007. Some 291,315 taxpayers overpaid by RM4.3bil in 2006.He said as of last year, the Inland Revenue Board had yet to refund 150,757 taxpayers. The board had also not sent refunds to 76,960 assessed in 2008 and 58,633 the year before. All tax payment would be kept in the Con solidated Fund, he said." 

Cantik sekali hor?

Well of course u cant blame the gov for needing so much fund for its project expansions. Our jungle still have lots of room for sustainability of more white elephants mah...

"Whitoelephantizations" 

"ON June 23,  Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob outlined broad efforts to improve transparency and confront corruption, saying all reported cases will be fully investigated regardless of the position or status of those involved and that punishment will be swift and harsh. But before the policy can be fully implemented, there is the matter of the cost of building a new national palace for the country's sultans, which has doubled from RM400 million (US$124.2 million) to RM811 million since the contract was let – without bid - in 2006 under the premiership of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and may well triple, according to government insiders. 

Well-placed sources in Kuala Lumpur told Asia Sentinel that the RM811mil figure is only preliminary. The total cost is actually nearing RM1.2 billion and is expected to go higher, the sources said.

Malaysia's seventh richest individual, Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, secured the original contract at RM400 million but the costs escalated with the involvement of royalty in the venture.

The favouritism allegedly shown on the Istana contract presents a challenge for Najib, who has publicly vowed to clean out rent-seeking and preferential treatment in government-linked contracts in his campaign to clean up Umno's tattered reputation.

It was brought up in cabinet in December by an MCA minister. Minister in the prime minister's department Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz reportedly replied: "So what? It's the house of a Malay King, not a Chinese contractor." Needless to say, no one has brought it up since."

Tak cukup?

"DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang is demanding an explanation from the prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on the allegations that the Bakun Dam project is suffering from cost overruns of around RM1.7 billion and on whether the government is looking for a bailout package for Sime Darby Berhad, said to be worth around RM700million. He said that Najib had so far evaded the questions on the issue since it was revealed that Sime Darby had chalked up losses amounting to almost RM1billion. Lim said “It has been reported that Sime Darby has incurred more than RM1 billion in cost overruns from carrying out a civil works contract for the hydroelectric project, with one estimate putting the total cost overruns at RM1.7 billion, which is almost the same size as Sime Darby’s actual Bakun contract of RM1.8 billion. It has also been reported that the government has agreed to reimburse around RM700 million to Sime Darby, leaving the group with around RM1 billion to deal with. Najib’s statement asking Sime Darby to determine the cause of its RM964 million losses first “before the issue of responsibility” was wrong as the RM964 million losses are only for the second half of the financial year of 2010. The figure was a “small portion” of the total losses of Sime Darby in its history of some RM3.5 billion write-offs, and with more to come.” 

Of course these are not the only reasons why the gov need more money and cut subsidies. What about bailing out of failed GLCs projects? The billions of taxpayers money to fund JPA students who never come back to serve? PTPTN loan defaulters? The constant installing and uninstalling of the hideous looking items of decorations in our city, remember those plastic coconut trees that cost almost RM 10K a "tree"? As opposed to the normal coconut trees u can get for next to nothing from all the surrounding kampungs.

And the famous honeymoon trips for couples on the verge of divorce? So hor...if u want to go on a holiday but no budget, ask from the jabatan lah. Just pretend u and your spouse hate each other to death, then u will get your free tickets :)

"Whitoelephantizations" 

In fact I think most of us knew but just couldn't be bothered because ultimately we see no hope at the end of the tunnel. We could only see our hard-earned money get sucked and burnt with our teary eyes.

AND then there is the famous saying again. Surely u would remember...

"U TAK SUKA, U KELUAR!"

Is this how our money allocations still being debated in the dewan? I wonder should I cry or laugh...

We still staying in this country because we love Malaysia.  This is where we were born.

*This post is purely factual and not intended to raise any racial or political issues, directly or otherwise. Bluey is not really into politics because his mind is not complicated enough. So please don't misunderstand bluey's intention and send him to ISA...

p.s. Please be moderate in your comments too. I definitely dont want anything bad happen to u my beloved friends :)