My Two Cents

“Let me give you my 2 cents’ worth”  - the common phrase used by someone who would want to voice their opinion in a manner that is as diplomatic and non-offensive  as possible.  Many would say that it doesn’t cost a thing to give an opinion. Well, tell that to those who have been put behind bars under the Sedition Act of Malaysia.

There is a 3 fold pandemic delirium growing in this country. They are:

1.       The Parliament strongly believes in an “Implement first and study later” policy.

2.       We have an Inspector- General of Police (IGP), who seems to be undergoing a mid-life crisis. By becoming a uniformed vigilante and taking laws into his own hands he now decides what is Seditious  and what is not… Making Malaysia a safe haven… Taking down one activist at a time.

3.       GST is… Well, let me put it this way. A plain idea, if thought up by a brilliant mind, becomes brilliant. If a brilliant idea, by a plain mind, becomes plain.

Diva-central a.k.a the Parliament, is giving rise to dramatic politicians who seem to be strongly spear heading the “Implement first and study later” policy if not in all, most policies. It is their collective conscious efforts of taking this idea to a whole new level by which they hope to actively make mistakes and passively learn from them… Should the first line of defense fail then the second line of defense kicks in ; hope for the citizens to forget about it. The failure of the “Implement first and study later” policy has and is costing the country billions and billions of dollars. From the changing of the medium of instruction for Science and Mathematics into English, reverting it, and  re-reverting the revert, has certainly shown that there is a blatant problem when it comes to proper planning in the government. The GST shares the same ill fate. It lacks proper planning. Expecting a computer system to organize and handle everything is just like expecting a super computer to make the user super too. What they have failed to identify is that the computer is only as super as the user. Spending millions on a system, without knowing it’s purpose,  is certainly a waste of time, space and most importantly, resources. GST is indeed an amazing idea to generate income for the nation. But when the people mooting GST fail to under its benefits, they will be unable to explain its benefits to the public at large. Of course if people, irrespective of their walk of life, were to voice out their opinion on the matter, they will come face to face with our mid-life crisised vigilante- he who sedates the seditious!

Recently, the housewives of Malaysia had the privilege of listening to our first lady on her viral video on how to handle GST and inflation. From talking about reasonable tailoring of a baju kurong which starts from RM500 to hair grooming rates which start from a mere RM1,200, she had diligently and boldly tabled revolutionary ideas on such cost cutting measures which the housewives could implement when it comes to handling GST. But what about the working adults? Well, carrying boards and protesting against the GST is not going to help resolve the matter.

 As much as we are expecting the government to explain “why GST is good for us”, the people carrying these boards as a sign of protest should also then be able to tell “why GST is bad for us”. If you ask me, the good part about GST is the fact that it can be the greater source of income for the nation, especially at this point in time. With the pricing of commodities in the market being absolutely jittery, a country with commodity dependence like Malaysia, will face a financial crunch. Applying GST will allow for tax to be applied to every Malaysian, irrespective of race, ethnicity, religion, creed or class. This may in fact be the first step towards removing the quota system that polarizes Malaysians. The bad element however is not the GST itself but rather the implementation. Although having had 5 years to think about it (yes the idea was conceived in 2010), the poor management of the nationwide GST clearly shows that the ones behind the implementation were not serious about the matter. It seems to show that the motto Rakyat Dulu actually is (when enlarged) Rakyat (punya duit) Dulu. The fine prints in life can indeed be frustrating. So what do we do?!

Well, if we can’t eradicate GST (which we honestly should not),  we might as well find ways to overcome it. We have to see to it that our money is invested in mechanisms that have growth. Our upcoming economic scene is going to have a lot of greens and reds. The markets may not be a complete bull run this year but it certainly is not going to be a complete bear either. So, which are the markets that we should look into? Well, let me highlight 3 major markets:

1. Malaysia

2 .ASEAN

3. India.

Malaysia, being the epicenter of the halal industry and trade in the world, would be paving the way for a gigantic inflow of halal type businesses into the country. With the halal businesses being widely accepted globally, being the epicenter certainly entails huge economic benefits. Hence, capitalizing on it is certainly wise. As for ASEAN,it is now the focal point of global businesses. With new growth potential and abundant resources, ASEAN has caught the eye of the global audience. Malaysia, being the chair of ASEAN for 2015, will witness many ASEAN businesses and trade transactions happening through the the country. With goliath projects underway for the ASEAN region, it may be wise to look at riding this wave sweeping through the region. With the total output of ASEAN recorded at about USD 2.7 trillion, the vibrant aura of the region is far from fading. Moving over to south Asia, India,  poised to be the next global super power is seeing a massive national level clean up which is raking in Foreign Direct Investments (FDI). With political stability in place, business proliferation clearly indicated and more importantly a focused and sensible captain of the ship, this argosy is definitely bound to sail great distances. With market giants from India buying out Europe and other parts of the world, stability and growth may be synonymous to the Indian market for the next 3-5 years.

So, let those bickering bicker and bite each other’s heads off.  At the end of the day, they are not the ones paying our bills!

By,

Ashveen Chakravarthy Sekaran