By TK Chua

Many have said we should rightly be the keepers of our own economic and financial wellbeing. Even the profligate Government has advised us the same thing – to be prudent, be careful with our money, and spend only within our means.

But we like to get involved in investment schemes that are highly “adventurous”. We want high and fast returns but we have largely ignored the risks and the Ponzi elements involved.

We like to spend lavishly on many things – wedding receptions, birthday celebrations, anniversaries and holidays regardless of our financial health.

We like to live in style, buying cars and furnishing our homes way beyond our budget.

We do not save up for rainy days when we are in a position to do so. Instead, we borrow carelessly and treat loans as incomes. Sometimes we even forget we need to pay back the loans plus the interests.

I would consider all these as self-inflicted problems. If only we are more prudent, we will not saddle ourselves with these woes.

But then this is not the full story for many of us. Not every problem is self-inflicted. Some are due to personal circumstances and many are due to failed government policies.

To begin with, many among us are not skilled or fortunate enough to get a good-paying job. With meagre income, the ability to save is limited, which in turn puts many in a very precarious position. Any temporary unemployment situation, illness or emergency in the family will cause them deep financial trouble, with little to fall back on.

Some have more financial commitments than others – like supporting their aged parents or younger siblings still in schools or universities. They can’t save much even if they want to; what more, if they are married with children of their own.

Sometimes, our economic wellbeing is also very much affected by government policies and the way our resources are managed and dispensed. Poor economic management usually affects the lower and middle-income groups more than the rich. Unlike business people, wage earners and retirees can’t pass on the high cost of inflation to others.

The poor spend a bigger proportion of their income on food and other essentials. GST, therefore, likely affects the poor more than the rich. Similarly, toll charges, residents’ management and security fees and removal of subsidies are likely to affect the middle and lower income groups more than the rich.

I read that cancer treatment also attracts GST. Can we see the baloney here? When we are healthy, we do not need to pay for cancer treatment and the GST. When we are sick, not only can’t we work, we need to pay for the treatment plus the GST. I wonder what could be more uncaring and nonsensical than this.

Higher real income backed by higher productivity is the key to our prosperity. Real wages among Malaysians must go up, not through BR1Ms, not by setting up more GLCs or creating more civil service jobs. It is time for the Government to stop the defiant obstinacy.

Malaysians do not earn enough in real terms, period. Measuring incomes in nominal terms is fake. The high income economy that we toss about is also fake.

BR1M and government senseless spending are not investments and, therefore, they can’t create bigger GDP potentials and more value-added jobs.

The numerous jobs in the civil service are not productive jobs. Many of these are meaningless jobs with no real output of goods and services. In fact, these are mere transfer payments (welfare payments) financed through government taxation and borrowing.

The Government must think less of public investment or GLC businesses as they usually lead to poor results because cost of capital and return on investment are never properly quantified and evaluated when it comes to government money.

It is time for private investments, either foreign or domestic, to take centre stage again. The Malaysian economy must create real outputs, not activities. For example, the Government must promote unused lands to produce more fruits and vegetables for local consumption and export instead of allowing excessive speculations on land through endless land transactions and levying taxes on it.

TK Chua is an FMT reader.

With a firm belief in freedom of expression and without prejudice, FMT tries its best to share reliable content from third parties. Such articles are strictly the writer’s personal opinion. FMT does not necessarily endorse the views or opinions given by any third party content provider.