Monday, September 04, 2006

Budget 2007: Screwed Againlar.

As usual, the Budget 2007 announced last Friday has nothing to do with the majority of us in the private sector, though we are the strongest contributor on economic scale. Majority of our taxes actually goes into funding our most expensive Government in Malaysian history(RM112.9b) and the rest goes into ‘development’(read: into their hands again). A measly 1% in corporate taxation for 07–08 is a fuckin’ Yawn when most of our blue chips companies are crapping shiltniz for the last couple of years, all except THEOILCOMPANY and of course SCOreMI who’re busy building nuclear devices for the highest bidder.

Agriculture and Biotechnology
Agriculture and Biotech are industries which yields the least, not unlike sepak-takraw, we can no longer compete with the Thais. Out-played and Out-classsed although we have so many freakin’ Gov agencies which are supposed to help the agriculture industry. 

Biotechnology are expensive IMPORTS, we have never excel in Research and Development in anything. We have ‘adapted’ technologies but no, we are not known for innovating anything except for local artiste gossips. Stop ‘bio’shitting everything. We are known as ‘natural resource producer’ and our attempts at create something useful out of our resources are pathetic. The only ‘natural resources’ we have left are limited oil, palm oil(planted by Indonesians,and most are located at Indonesia and dodgy land-clearing has filled our lungs with choking haze annually) and some bananas. Biotechnology is also misleading because it’s too wide, what are we focusing on? Agriculture? Food? Medicine? or cloning more Son-In-Laws?(Genetic Manipulation lar!)

Tax Exemptions
Tax exemption for the purchase of computers from RM500 to RM3,000 which was claimable every three years instead of the earlier five years. Seems like a continuation from the Tun’s policy, so no cookies for Pak Lah on this one.

Tax exemption for the purchase of books had been increased from RM700 to RM1,000 a year. Great, except prices of books are raised too.


Human Capital Development
Huge sums were allocated for schools, universities, scholarships, skills training and youth and sports development. Spending our tax money on education is the bread and butter for any mediocre leaders, but over the years we have witness the deterioting skills of teachers and poor planning in building a decent education system. Blame the head, our education systems changed according to the Education Ministers’ wimps, not because of keeping up with times or to forge a Nation. Our history books has been molded by zealous ‘proffesors’ and ‘educators to suit politician’s agenda. How could an imbecile keris-wielding Leroy becomes a Education minister is anyone’s guess.

Sports Development. Ask the MyTeam ‘Twas the Dweam, My Team’ duos if they’re providing these waterboys a future with proper education AFTER the 90min. Would you hire someone who probably can’t spell ‘M-y-T-e-a-m’? This goes against everything Sports ever stands for, that you have to take a proper route of balancing your education with training so you could still ‘kick’ up dough long after you stop kicking the ball.

As for the Sports Minister, besides being a co-host to the SIL, once-upon-a-time in a boring TV show, she has yet to display any knowledge of administering our sports ministry. Having a RM490 Million Sports RnD(refer to our excellent RnD comment above) in middle of London does not gives our athletes the extra edges(height, strength, skill, etc). Why not save RM490 Million and use our other HUGE spending on Biotechnology to create Super Steriods which are are impossible to detect?
I’m sure once our athletes starts doping our local-made steroids, we could out-run/jump/kick any competition, plus the lucrative deals of supplying interested nations of our ‘innovations’. Dope dealers? NO!  We’re in Pharmaceuticals!

Women Empowerment
Wow, what a word… RM50 subsidy for a mammogram. Is that all women empowerment stands for? A subsidy to check breasts? Try these words, Misyar, Alimony, Divorce thru SMS, Poligamy, Gatal and that infamous long word ‘Marry-a-divorcee/widow/single-parent-and-get-half-of-HERS’. How do you empower women when you keep robbing and stripping them of rights? You can’t give what is not yours to begin with. And these policy makers have mothers?


Reducing Regional Disparities
Says here, ‘Development projects will be undertaken in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.’

HAHAHA. Read: Just Penang and Kulim(Johor doesn’t count ‘coz it’s Private Initiatives). Sabah and Sarawak, you can keep on dreaming. Thanks for voting BN again, now crank the backyard generator for electricity, dig wells for water and don’t sell your 4x4 truck just yet, the road ahead will still be as bumpy as it was 20 years ago! Worse, we will DIVIDE up your rebel-prone areas into smaller portions and flood it with immigrants with genuine MyKads under pretense of annexation laws which we make up ourselves. Heck, we can change the constituition while YOU are sleeping!

Eradication of Poverty
RM578 million is allocated to accelerate the eradication of poverty.
How do you ‘accelerate’ something INVISIBLE? Using Transperancy of course! In fact it’s being done while you’re not looking! Ask the convicted ex-minister of Rural & Poverty Development, I’m sure he’s a Master of Invisibility, provided you could find him.

Housing for the low income group
How many ‘housing for the low income group’ needs? Or does it read ‘Equally-low-cost-shoddy-workmanship-shack? These ‘low-cost’ houses are known to be cost-cutting ‘obligation’ commited by the Gov to all housing developers. Thus, most would probably sell or rent it to immigrants when it’s get too dangerous to live in with their family. The last I heard, there were too many of these vacant houses around with no takers.

Civil Servants Rewarded
This is a no brainer. He need to do this so he could keep the votes. Let the recent SMS-threat to Customs Officer issue remind the civil servants the raise comes with price. A gag. Basically it just meant they’re surrendering their rights to voice out to their ‘Masters’. Hence the ‘muka-masam’ you get everytime you sought any Gov depts out. Carrot on a stick, but in our case, we fed the donkey too much til they’re too lazy to do anything else.

RM4.9 Billion to Make Police More Efficient?
RM4.9 billion allocation to enhance the efficiency of the police force’s operation. What efficiency? When you can’t even admit your shortcomings, how could you say ‘enhance efficiency’? $$$ DOES NOT BUY EFFICIENCY. $$$ gets you ‘Good Merceneries’ in the short term! Having a proper order and procedures does keep your forces in line. Knowing there’s a higher food-chain above you keeps you on the edge and stops you from snacking on the herd you’re suppose to ‘Serve & Protect’. I’m all for raising the welfare of the forces but do you reward them first and expect results later? At least have the decency to implement the IPCMC before announcing the Carrot. The public have suffered whenever the force are ‘not efficient’.

Where’s our RM409 Billion to tolerate and endure these ‘inefficiencies’?
Like the famous copper question everytime they pull you over, “Maciam Mana?”

Recommended tagline:
Budget 2007: Self-delusion Spending Towards the Alluded State.

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ps: The world says farewell to Steve Irwin aka ‘Crocodile hunter’, he gets to ‘go’ while on field missions like he intended. Nobody says ‘Amazin’…’ like he does.

Malaysian Buddhists bids ‘Good Karma’ to the late Rev. K. Sri. Dhammnanda of the Buddhist Vihara, may he have a great reincarnation and get closer to the Jackpot, i.e.: Nirvana. ~Mob(Dhamma Priya, class of 87–88.)