It's the end of March, and a households' two breadwinners are budgeting for the month ahead. Let's call them Rosham and Sara. They're figuring out their finances, putting money aside from their meager salaries to cover things like car installments, utility bills, groceries, and rent for the home they share with their children. Everything seems normal, until they tally the amounts. They've noticed an increase, and a sharp one at that. And so they begin to deliberate on which luxuries to axe, and they raid the savings they've put aside for that family holiday they wanted to take in December, just to make it through the next couple of months comfortably. How will they tell the children...
This is undoubtedly the situation faced by hundreds of thousands of households in the country. GST is upon us, and its effects are widespread, as per expected of such a unilateral move.
Some of us knew it was an inevitability. Most Asian countries have brought about VAT already. And with our Government spending as much as it is, we knew that our VAT, christened 'GST' for reasons unknown, would come sooner rather than later. We've turned into a nanny-state, giving handouts to the majority, who actually survived pretty okay without it in the past, to ensure the security of another term in power.
I yawn at the short-sightedness of it all.
GST is the perfect example of the fundamental problem with our Government. They, like the majority of our nation, are reactionists. We only know how to flinch when burned, not how to prevent ourselves from getting burned in the first place.
Our economy is in deep trouble. 1MDB exacerbates the situation. Falling oil prices and dwindling treasury reserves have caused the Ringgit to weaken steadily.
The Malaysian economy could've weathered this. We could've remained steady as the global economy shivered slightly. We could've made our treasury fat while still handing out money to the general public, without it having such a detrimental effect on our balance sheet. "How?" you ask.
The answer is all to familiar. Gee Ess Tee.
... but 20 years ago.
The Malaysian economy was once a thing of beauty. People marveled at our drive and our resolve, with then Dato' Sri Dr. Mahathir Mohammed at the helm. This "arrogant little nation," as he once put it, placed itself firmly on the map, and made no intention (then, at least) of vacating. Malaysia was happy, Malaysians were happy, and our accountants were pleased.
The benefits reaped by countries who implement and enforce VAT cannot be denied. England has one of the most comprehensive care systems for its citizens. The Singapore Dollar is one of the most stable currencies in the region. And Thailand has so much lying around that its Prime Ministers help themselves to billions at a time. Cough.
But GST, now, will only pour salt into the wounds of the average Malaysians like you and I, who slog and slave every day to make ends meet, what with the insane costs of living and the equally dizzy income tax rates. Had GST been implemented during our economic prime (and at 3%, half the impending rate), I doubt Malaysians would've felt the pinch. And they most certainly wouldn't be feeling it now.
Not too far away from Rosham and Sara, a woman looks at herself in the mirror. Pleased with what she sees, she hands over a large sum of money to her hairstylist, who says her thanks and goes away...
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