Would Government Changes Its Lifestyle.

A couple of years ago when the price of petroleum was raised from RM1.62 to RM1.92 a liter (I miss those days already :)) Our Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak then told us to suck it up, and change our lifestyle and buy the cheapest food and cheapest goods to deal with the increase. At the same period of time, his ‘humble’ multi-million dollar home was still under renovation in Putrajaya (from what I could observe from far).

This time around, after the 78 sen increase, the government has finally taken its own advice. The newly formed Anti-Inflation Council met today and announced a RM2 billion cost cutting measure for the government.

So it seems like the government is actually listening to the people, right? Well, yes, and no, depending on how you see it. The entire list can be found here (Malaysiakini subscription).

Some things that I think deserve more attention on:
10% cut on entertainment allowances for ministers and deputy ministers

Honestly, I do not know what kind of ‘entertaining’ ministers or deputy ministers need to do, or how much their allowances are, but we should just do away with this expense. A minister and his/her deputy should be doing their work without the need for entertaining. In fact, I assume that they will be entertained more than them entertaining other people.

Annual all-expense paid trips for cabinet members and their family to be limited to local and ASEAN destinations (whereas there used to be no restriction on the destination), limited to 7 days of travel

Wait, what? Why the hell are we still paying our taxes for the cabinet members fun and happiness? These trips should be canceled altogether, since the ministers are being paid enough money (more than the above average Malaysian) to afford their own trips.

Assuming the costs of one of these trips are RM20,000 for a family of 6 to Bali, which is actually a low estimate cause I assume they are travelling by AirAsia and staying in a 3 star hotel for 7 days. The true figure for first class tickets to MAS and 5 star hotel accommodation could easily be double that figure. Let’s just settle on RM30,000 for calculations sake.

There are 69 ministers and deputy ministers in the cabinet, so that makes out to RM30,000 x 69 = RM2,070,000

So every year, us taxpayers are paying RM2 million a year for these ministers’ fun. Is this fair? Do you still want to ask why the public is still angry over the government’s move to increase petrol prices, even though it might be the most economically sound thing to do?

The government say that they want to listen to the rakyat, that they want to engage the online masses. Well, I believe I won’t be the only one to pick on these particular government expenses. I hope Abdullah Ahmad Badawi does the right thing and eliminates all entertainment allowances and all-expense paid holidays.

source: malaysians say the darnest things