This was the question Perkasa President Ibrahim Ali asked, following Nawawi’s statement yesterday that his salary as an Member of Parliament was paid by the government, not the people.

“Which school did the Langkawi MP go to?

“Ibrahim Ali is asking because it appears that he (Nawawi) doesn’t know a thing about the concept of taxation.”

Ibrahim explained to reporters at the Perkasa headquarters today that the government earned its revenue through taxes paid by the people, therefore the money did indeed belong to the people.

“Ask Nawawi where the government got its money from.

“The government collects its revenue through taxes paid by the people, so it means that it’s the people’s money.”

Ibrahim subsequently said that if Nawawi’s logic was that paid taxes only belonged to the government, then the people might as well stop paying taxes.

“If it only belongs to the government because they are the ones who collect taxes, can we volunteer to not pay taxes?

“Does this make any sense at all?” he questioned.

In what he said was just a debate with a Facebook friend, Nawawi incurred the wrath of netizens all the same when he said yesterday that “once money has passed on to another quarter, it is no longer our money.”

“The salaries of MPs are not paid by the people but the government, and the government’s money is not the people’s money,” he had said.

Despite the outcry, Nawawi has refused to retract his statement, saying it was not meant for public consumption.

“Why did they (netizens) behave in a mean manner by copy-pasting our argument for public view without my approval?” he asked instead.