Philosophy Politics Economics |
| Posted: 20 May 2011 06:58 AM PDT I'll be visiting Taiwan from the 24-27 May and will be meeting up with the Malaysian students, business and expatriates community there. Together with me, Teo Nie Ching (MP for Serdang), Ng Wei Aik (ADUN Komtar) and Violet Yong (ADUN Pending) will be organising an public forum in Taipei. All Malaysians and Malaysians-at-heart are cordially invited to attend and participate in the public forum and dialogue on "Malaysia: The Politics & Economics of Change". The details of the event are as follows: Malaysia: The Politics and Economics of Change Please RSVP at our Facebook event page. There will be a cover charge of NT500 to help defray the cost of the event. As seats will be limited, we look forward to your confirmation by May 22, 2011. We eagerly await your participation. 馬來西亞民主行動黨誠意邀請所有在台的馬來西亞人，參與即將來臨的公共論壇──改變大馬政治與經濟。 民主行動黨四名國、州議員將現身台北，期望與旅居台灣的馬來西亞國民互動、交換意見。這四名議員包括民主行動黨全國宣傳秘書潘儉偉（八打靈再也北區國會議員）、全國副宣傳秘書張念群（沙登國會議員）、青年團副團長楊薇誨（砂拉越朋嶺區州議員）以及社青團宣傳秘書黃偉益（檳城光大區州議員）。 現場將會準備簡單的茶點，地點就在台北市松江路69巷5號的蛙咖啡，由於現場座位有限，希望有興趣參與的朋友們能在5月22日前報名，以方便訂餐與座位安排。這是一場收費講座，我們將向每一位入場者酌收新台幣500元費用。  |
| Subsidy Cuts: Where are the Mitigation Measures? Posted: 20 May 2011 05:40 AM PDT When Pemandu announced its subsidies rationalisation plans in June 2010, it has proposed to cut subsidies for fuel, electricity and essential food items on a quarterly or half-yearly basis. The BN government has since announced several rounds of reduction in subsidies for fuel, sugar and other items. The price of sugar for example, has increased from RM1.45 to RM2.30 per kilogramme, or an increase of 58.6% in less than 18 months. Diesel subsidies for critical transportation companies will also be reduced and the cost is expected to increase 24.1% from RM1.45 to RM1.80 per litre. In addition, statements made by Ministers over the past few days indicates that RON95 petrol used by the majority of Malaysians will be increased further in June, after 2 rounds of hikes in the 2nd half of last year. Despite repeated denials and assurances from the Prime Minister, the inevitable outcome of the reductions is to exacerbate inflation in the country, already suffering from rising global food pricesm. The Government had last year assured Malaysians of lower income groups that the impact of subsidy reductions on their living standards will be cushioned with a series of mitigation over the next 2 years. For petrol subsidy reduction, Pemandu has proposed a cash rebate mitigation plan for motorbikes less than 250cc and cars less than 1000cc amounting to RM54 and RM126 per annum. As for the reduction in food subsidies, Pemandu had proposed a cash rebate of RM20 to MyKad/MyKid holders through post-offices for the first year, and subsequently through "MyKasih card" for those with income below a certain unspecified threshold. However to date, despite the several rounds of immediate subsidy cuts, the Government has completely failed to disclose any proposed mitigation measure, much less implement any of them. It appears as if the Government is trying to pretend as if no mitigation measure has ever been proposed in the hope that Malaysians will soon forget about it. The people who will suffer most from the repeat rounds of subsidy cuts are those who are in the low and lower-middle income groups. The lack of concern from the Government for the bottom 40% of income earners in Malaysia will only accentuate the already high-levels of income inequality in the country. As it stands, the World Bank Report on "Inclusive Growth" in November 2010 has highlighted the fact that income inequality in Malaysia is among the highest in Asia and is close to the levels suffered in South America. In addition, the high levels of inequality has remained stubbornly high over the past [decade]. Hence the Government's continued absence of measures and concerns to help the bottom 40% of income earners in the country to cope with rapidly rising cost of living, worsened by the repeated rounds of subsidy reduction will only increase the degree of inequality suffered in Malaysia.  |
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