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19/07: Statement from Prime Minister's Office: Rationalising subsidies for Malaysia’s future
1. To help Malaysia maintain the strong growth it has achieved, the Government has implemented difficult but long-needed economic reforms that will help Malaysia become a developed and high-income nation. In this regard, the Government has begun a planned and fair reform of a subsidy regime that for too long has been ineffective in helping those who need it most and, over time, has become a barrier to Malaysia’s progress.2. The Government has made bold economic decisions over the past two years. Two stimulus packages were introduced, promoting growth, even as the global financial crisis spread.
Important sectors of our economy further liberalised were opened to new investment. The Government cut spending by RM24 billion, by reducing waste and inefficiency. As a result, the country’s economy has been reinvigorated, with 10.1 per cent growth in the first quarter of 2010, Malaysia’s best performance in a decade. Although there is still instability in the global economy, Malaysia is well positioned for the future – not by chance, but by the choices we have made together.
3. As set out by the Prime Minister when he announced the 10th Malaysia Plan, Malaysia’s national goals cannot be achieved by simply managing through a crisis. Malaysia’s ambition is to be a high-income nation, with opportunity for all.
4. In the New Economic Model, the Prime Minister set out plans for further investment in key strategic sectors, upgrading our infrastructure, creating additional private sector investment opportunities and realizing higher levels of GDP growth. However, growth alone will not allow us to meet our goals. As the Government has consistently said over recent months, we must also implement subsidy reforms that will remove distortions in the marketplace and enable us
to better target our resources on those most in need, and on investments that will provide lasting benefits for Malaysians.
5. With these priorities in mind, the Cabinet has decided that, effective 16 July 2010, subsidies for fuel, specifically petrol, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), as well as sugar, will be reduced as the first step of a gradual subsidy rationalisation programme. Subsidies for RON 95 and diesel will be reduced by 5 sen per liter. LPG will be reduced by 10 sen per kilogram. RON 97 will no longer be subsidised. It will be subjected to a managed float, where
the price will be determined by the automatic pricing mechanism. For sugar, the upward price adjustment will be 25 sen per kilogram. The details of these changes are now available on the PMO and PEMANDU websites, at: www.pmo.gov.my and www.pemandu.gov.my
6. These minimal changes will help Malaysia achieve a position of fiscal responsibility and put us on a path toward reducing our deficit. To meet these objectives, we have chosen to make adjustments to our subsidies. Even after these changes, the Government will still spend an estimated RM 7.82 billion on fuel and sugar subsidies in 2010. The prices of fuel and sugar in Malaysia will still be among the lowest in the region.
7. This subsidy rationalisation will, according to estimates, allow Malaysia to reduce Government expenditure by more than RM 750 million in 2010.
8. The decision to reduce subsidies for fuel and sugar is based on the fact that reducing fuel subsidies will have the greatest impact on government spending and reducing sugar subsidies will allow us to promote healthier lifestyles. The decision is also grounded on three main concerns:
a. First, these subsidies also benefit foreigners and wealthier Malaysians, who can well afford to pay unsubsidised prices. Our focus should be on helping the family sharing a motorcycle or Kancil to get to work and school, but instead our spending on subsidies has provided the same benefits to those driving imported luxury cars. The sugar subsidy disproportionately benefits industries, not families. Businesses have been using almost twice as much subsidised sugar as Malaysian households.
b. Second, highly subsidised prices often lead to illegal smuggling of these goods. Because subsidies make these products the cheapest in the region, in 2009 alone smugglers were caught heading out of Malaysia with more than 200 metric tonnes of sugar to be sold across borders. Also, subsidised diesel continues to go to the black market or across our borders, instead of to those we meant to assist. Law enforcement have been doing their best to prevent smuggling, with 109 sugar related arrests last year. This is the tip of the iceberg. As long as there are big price differences, smuggling will continue. And:
c. Third, unless we reduce our consumption of fuel and sugar, we face potentially serious consequences as a nation. We are quickly depleting our domestic fuel resources. It is vital that we rationalise our fuel use – as well as develop new energy technologies - as a matter of economic, energy and national security. In this regard, we have implemented a number of policies to protect the environment. We must also reduce our sugar consumption. 40 per cent of Malaysians are now either overweight or obese. Incidents of diabetes are rising quickly. Statistics show that the percentage of Malaysians with diabetes now exceeds that in the United States. We must, as a matter of urgency, take every step available to tackle what is clearly a public health issue for our nation. Reducing sugar consumption, among our children in particular, is a step in the right direction.
9. These are among the reasons why the Government has chosen to focus on sugar and fuel subsidies. Subsidies for education and health care will continue. These are areas of importance for our economy and our society where the Government should be investing. These include, providing support to develop skills, training the knowledge based workforce of the future and improving the well-being of the nation.
10. The Government arrived at this decision following robust consultations with the people. Thousands of Malaysians participated in the policy labs, Open Day and an unprecedented public feedback process. As with subsidy reform, the budget, the Government Transformation Program and now the National Key Economic Areas, the Government has made a determined effort to engage the public, listen and learn, and then act in the best interest of the nation.
11. These measures are designed to have a minimal impact on individual families, but long-term benefits for the nation. The reduction in expenditure from these reforms will allow us to better use resources for families, communities and business growth. Measures such as the 1Malaysia clinics, the 1Malaysia mobile clinics, as well as the scholarships for all 9A+ and
deserving students, specifically those who have done well, but come from lower income families, are made possible by such reforms. Similarly, by reducing expenditure on subsidies we will be able to continue strengthening such initiatives as the price standardisation project, which seeks to harmonise prices of essential goods between urban and rural areas in Sabah and Sarawak.
12. The Government has made a difficult, but bold decision. By choosing to implement these modest subsidy reforms, we have taken a crucial step in the right direction towards meeting our commitment to reduce the fiscal deficit, without overburdening the Malaysian people. These measures are a demonstration of our fiscal responsibility. They will enhance Malaysia’s financial stability, while also protecting the Rakyat.
Prime Minister’s Office
Putrajaya
15 July 2010
16/07: Politics
Tengah hot sekarang isu minyak naik, barang naik. Below are some quote from my fb friend. Which I agree what we should do as a citizen... enjoy...Affizan Abdul Aziz at 12:14pm
meh nk bebel sket kat rakyat yg tgh tdo lg tuh......
Gomen xder pitih la tuh. Tu yg sapu abih duit tax payers.... Time negara ada byk source gi joli kaw2 n sapu reta negara & rakyat.... Time xder duit pn Rakyat kena sapu lagi..... Nasibla rakyat M'sia ni telah dididik utk jadi PASIF. terima jer apa yg blaku, asalkn blh idup lbh kurang....
Apapun mentaliti rakyat kena ubah. Kena didik pasal kuasa pengguna.
Barang naik, boycott brg tuh....xyah byk2....amik selected item....buat dlm masa 2,3 bulan....gerenti hrga blh turun blk.... pastu target kat item lain yg mahal plak.....yg penting smua rakyat drpd golongan buat camtuh, specially middle class(sbb yg ni ramai....)
sama jgk mcm pentadbiran. Sistem 2 parti adalah yg terbaik buat masa nih. Klu parti A tak best, tuka parti B. Parti B tak best, tuka parti A blk....apa yg bengap sgt rakyat kita nk phm.... kita ada kuasa sebenarnya, diorang tuh hanya diamanahkan untuk mentadbir harta negara... Bkn harta parti pun.
"Satu lg projek kerajaan Barisan Nasional".... nk tanya, BN tu negara ke?? Patutnya Kerajaan Malaysia....patutla diorang sapu hrta negara buat mcm duit parti & duit sendiri....
Kpd rakyat, tak kira la korang parti apapun, TOLONGlah jadi rakyat yg BIJAK & sntiasa berfikir. Jgnla jadi buta tuli sokong klu org yg ko amanahkan tu tak jalankan tanggungjawab. Jadilah berani utk berubah sket. Ni bg kain gula n TAR jln kg dh terus jd lembik lutut. Padahal asas keperluan negara & rakyat(Air, Letrik, Skolah, Spital, Jln_Raya etc) adalah menjadi tanggungjawab sesebuah kerajaan. xyah nk rasa terhutang budi ke apa, sbb dh tu tanggungjawab mereka sbg pentadbir yg diAMANAHKAN untuk tadbir HARTA NEGARA... Mana2 negara pn akn buat benda2 nih, komunis baik, sosialis baik, demokrasi baik, islamic baik etc.
Thai, filipin Singapore, Brunei ada jer jalan raya, spital etc.... ada BN memerintah sana ker?? Pikirla sket.....
12/07: Life Sux!!!
There is a point in time where you life sux... just bear in mind that there are other people's life more sux than you..26/05: Why sony?
Some people kept asking me, why sony dslr? My answer is, why not? Usually, before any decision I made I would compile the benefits and resons beforehand. Some of the reason are as follows:1. Been using konica minolta dimage z20 and sony cybershot p10. Take good picture and still good for like 5-7 years now.
2. Steadyshot in the body. I need this as i have shakey hands. This is also an enabler to buy cheap lens as no need to find in-lens stabilizer.
3. Autofocus zies lens.
4. Price per performance of the a550.
5. Free classes to jump start my skills.
And others that i will add from time to time. After all a camera is just a tool. It is the photographer is what makes the piece.
25/05: Working Hard...
Its been a while since I wrote here (I kept writing this over and over). I have been quite busy. New job role, new hobby and probably new bussiness. Currently a have been working overtime finding time to make things happen.I have a new phone, the HTC Tattoo running on Android 1.6. New data Plan from Celcom. Even though I practically online most of the time, It is hard to type when there is no keyboard... Change a new phone? No, no, no... have to save as much as I can to venture into my new hobby and bussiness.
I have also found a perfect platform for my website. See it for yourself http://www.tenux.net
Will kept it updated, I hope. I will publish most of my work and soon will publish my service list with pricing. I hope this will help my potential new customer to subscribe to my service.
If you know me by now, I just hate writing long words, but then that does not stop me from doing it.
19/03: Cuti!!!
Today I am on leave. Setelah penat kerja, hari ni take a day off lah... So got time to update my blog. Lots of things happen lately.To update a few, I bought a DSLR that I always want to but a little of budget as my salary did not get raised this year. I wish I had some... Work have been really busy to me, and sometimes I feel like to give up. Doing lots of work but the result not that good. Maybe I need to move on?
Anyway, will venture to a new part-time job... photoghraphy. I hope I can meet my future customer expectation. I have been learning hard and I hope I can be as good as other PG that has 2-5 years experience... huhuhu~
18/03: My recent outing with Sony to Bukit Melawati...
Cakap banyak takde... ini gambarnya... huhhu~Some pix taken during Sony Bukit Melawati Outing last week...
#1
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03/03: Broga 27022010
Gambar Broga... no PP, no crop... resize and put watermark with minor saturation...#1
Ni je lalang yang tinggal di broga... huhuhu~
#2
Rising Sun...
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03/03: KLCC Outing 28022010
Pix Spam... from the KLCC Streetshoot with [b]albnok[/b] and other alpharians. All photo did not crop, resize and put watermark only with minor saturation...#1
#2
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