He said the amount allocated for development expenditure, which is only 0.4% of gross domestic product (GDP), is a “fallacy” if it is thought that it could solve all the country’s economic problems.

“Can 0.4% or RM54 billion have any impact to grow the economy? This is the fundamental question. Let’s not pretend that the budget is a silver bullet to all our economic problems today,” the Subang MP said during the debate on the budget.

Wong Chen said what is important is the “political will to reform the broken system”.

He said there must be a commitment to fight corruption, nepotism, negotiated tenders, variation orders and lopsided concessions.

“Corruption needs to be fought because it is human nature.

“We know it is wrong. We know it is an abuse of power but we still do it because it is  human nature,” he said.

Wong Chen said one way to curb corruption is to increase the resources of politicians to run their offices.

He proposed an increased allocation of RM800,000 a year to each MP’s office and to give equal treatment to both sides, and for political financing, he proposed to pay RM10 for each voter.

He also said those unhappy with him could share a coffee instead of complaining to his party president Anwar Ibrahim.

“Anwar will tell me to continue to speak the truth,” he said.