TIDURLAH KORANG DI KAKI LIMA JALAN SILANG, JALAN TUANKU ABDUL RAHMAN, CHOW KIT, KAWASAN MASJID INDIA DAN LAIN-LAIN

OutSyed The Box 

Thursday, September 9, 2021_ 

Kutipan Cukai Sudah Tidak Cukup, Kerajaan Mati Akal, Penasihat Ekonomi Pula Tak

Ada Akal

First here is an opener by my friend Norman Fernandez.

REOPEN THE 4-D OUTLETS

It is time that the government allow the Forecast Number Operators ( 4-D outlets), to resume operations. Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic, the 4-D outlets, at various times and intervals had to cease operation temporarily. In Malaysia there are six licenced NFO. Three of them Magnum, Toto, Da Ma Cai operate in the peninsula while Special Cashsweep, Sabah88 and Sandakan 4-D have extensive operations in Sabah and Sarawak. Presently all these 4-D outlets remain temporarily closed. Nevertheless, it is the illegal and offshore 4-D operators who have been benefiting and profiteering throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Today, punters can place a bet with the illegal 4-D operators from the comfort of their home by simply using their handphone. For the punters, there is the choice of Singapore Pools which has 3 draws a week while another from Cambodia has a daily draw 7 days a week. Winning are made prompt and in full. A 2016 report in the Sun Daily said that the revenue of the legal and regulated Forecast Numbers Operators in Malaysia was about RM9 billion and the government in turn collects some RM2 billion in taxes. That was in 2016. Thus, by continuing to close the legitimate and regulated 4-D operators, it is the illegal number operators who are raking in the money. while the government is not only losing tax revenue but suffering more shortfall in tax revenue. In the Pre- Budget Statement released ahead of the Budget 2022, the Finance Ministry noted that the tax revenue collected from taxpayers has been lower than expected in 2021. The government had targeted to collect an estimated RM162.1 billion in taxes, but the government has as of July 2021, only collected RM92.2 billion. With more business sectors now being given permission to resume their activities, it is high time the government also allow all the 4-D outlets to resume operations. All the same standard operations protocols required from the businesses including allowing only vaccinated into the premises, can also be imposed on the 4-D operators before they are allowed to operate. Throughout the short spells the 4-D was allowed, there was never a 4-D Covid Cluster. I am sure the 4-D operators will keep both their premises and their punters safe. 

My comments

Every Ringgit of tax collection counts. If the 4D lotteries can generate RM2.0 Billion of tax revenue for the government imagine how many Equanimity super yachts can be bought for that kind of money? If you kill the economy, the tax collection will drop and you cannot buy the Equanimity super yachts anymore. According to Norman this year's (2021) tax collection was supposed to be RM162 Billion. As of July 2021 the government has only collected RM92 billion. Is there going to be enough tax collection this year? Indeed the government may be facing a tax shortfall for this year 2021. 2022 may be worse - because many businesses have shut down and many will not be able to revive again. That means a permanent loss in tax revenue for the government. Last year in June 2020 my business associates in Masjid India had suffered 90% drop in sales. That was last year. Yesterday another friend in Penang said that his business too was operating at 10% of the pre Covid sales. Retail outlets throughout Malaysia have suffered up to 90% drop in sales. One Indian Muslim Business Owners association says that 30% of Indian Muslim businesses have shut down. Another 50% are in serious difficulty. One well known nasi kandar outlet has missed paying their rentals for a few months. You do not need to be a rocket scientist to figure this out. I already mentioned this last year - that the governments tax revenue is going to be affected. Not only by the Covid 19 but more devastatingly by foolish policies that stifle economic growth according to race, religion. language etc. Kenapalah ngko orang tak boleh faham benda-benda simple macam ini pun?

AND WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT'S REACTION? 

Well for starters the same fools who were the Economic Destroyers over the past decades have been appointed economic advisors again. So you know the economy has ZERO chance of recovering under their policies. They are going to destroy the economy completely. Their thinking is very simple - how to burden the people more and make themselves more rich. How to squeeze the people more to enrich themselves. 

The same power struggles are on - depa nak AGIH-AGIH mega project, depa nak AGIH-AGIH "bandwidths" for the telcos BERNILAI BERBILION RINGGIT, etc etc. Depa nak AGIH-AGIH duit rakyat untuk bail-out GLC-GLC yang mereka telah merugikan-nya dengan kepintaran kepala bapak bodoh mereka. The monopolies, the oligopolies, the GLCs will all get the first big bite of the scarcer and scarcer taxpayers money. And what about the people? What about the rakyat marhaen? Tuan-tuan bagaimana pula nasib Tuan-Tuan yang haprak? Well the suggestion is floating around again to re-impose the GST. Pula !! Itu saja dalam kepala hotak bodoh penasihat ekonomi p_ _ _ _ _ k ini. They want to burden the people more. Reimpose the GST !

Tuan-tuan di sini ada sedikit kata-kata hikmah. Dengar baik-baik ya. Tidak ada sebarang kerajaan yang telah berjaya menjadikan masyarakatnya kaya dengan kaedah menambahkan beban cukai atas rakyatnya. It does not work that way. Jadi bagi penasihat-penasihat ekonomi yang bebal yang fikirkan untuk melaksanakan semula GST you will be looking for a new job very very soon. Better watch out. We are getting increasingly fed up with your stupidity. This is Malaysia Boleh. You dont know who will be Prime Minister tomorrow. 

Tuan-tuan there are many ways to solve our problems. Tetapi kita tidak boleh lari from the "laws of economics". Samada di bumi Malaysia, di Germany atau di Afrika pun, the "laws of economics" adalah sama. And there is no way bagi orang Melayu, especially ahli-ahli politik dan penasihat-penasihat ekonomi kita yang tidak ada pengalaman apa pun atau faham apa pun berkenaan bisnes, kewangan atau ekonomi - dengan tiba-tiba mereka boleh membentuk dasar ekonomi yang boleh berlawanan atau totally different daripada 'laws of economics' yang kekal di se-antero dunia. "Ikut acuan kita sendiri" semua adalah percakapan orang bodoh yang tak tahu apa pun untuk menipu pengikut yang lagi bodoh yang lagi tak faham apa pun. There is no such thing. Bagi seluruh dunia, termasuk sektor ekonomi swasta dalam negara kita, (err..GLC tidak termasuk ekonomi swasta ok) sejak dilanda Covid 19, pendapatan dan gaji bulanan semua pekerja swasta telah jatuh, gaji dipotong atau certainly sudah berkurangan. 

Semalam sahabat saya di Pulau Pinang menceritakan bahawa bebudak Bangladesh yang bekerja di sebuah restoran mendapat gaji RM150 sahaja sebulan sejak berbulan-bulan sudah. Sebab restoran di tutup ikut PKP. Anak saya sendiri yang bekerja dengan syarikat swasta di potong gaji sejak tahun sudah, 2020. Why? Sebab pihak majikan tak ada duit nak bayar gaji dah. Bisnes sudah berkurangan 90%, pejabat di tutup, tak ada new clients, tak ada jualan baru, tak ada kontrak-kontrak baru. Jadi bila alir tunai (cashflow) dalam ekonomi sesebuah negara begitu terhimpit maka gaji dan pendapatan seluruh ekonomi negara itu akan terjejas. Maka inilah sebabnya kutipan hasil cukai kerajaan makin berkurangan. 

Tuan-tuan inilah Laws of Economics juga. Kita tidak boleh lari daripada Law of Economics seperti ini. Tetapi tidak pula gaji Penjawat-Penjawat Awam dan bayaran pencen oleh Kerajaan. Tidak pula gaji pekerja GLC yang masih lumayan. CEO-CEO GLC masih dibayar gaji berjuta-juta Ringgit setahun. Manager-manager GLC masih dibayar gaji berpuluh ribu Ringgit sebulan. Macam mana pula itu? Apakah Kerajaan dan GLC sedang dibantu oleh David Copperfield untuk cap duit secara ajaib di bawah basement pejabat ? While the rest of the world is suffering, mereka pula relaks aje, masih mendapat gaji, kenaikan gaji dan termasuk bonus seolah 'there is no tomorrow'. Seolah tiada kiamat akan tiba. Padahal seluruh dunia luar sedang hancur merudum akibat tidak ada duit dan gaji. 

Daripada jumlah besar RM322 Bilion bagi Belanjawan 2021, 26% atau RM83 BILION adalah untuk bayar gaji Penjawat Awam. Tambah lagi 8.6% (RM26 BILION) 'Retirement Charges' ?? That is RM109 BILION already !! Patutnya Kerajaan kena freeze gaji, freeze semua kenaikan gaji dan juga potong gaji Penjawat Awam serupa dengan pekerja swasta yang menjana hasil cukai bagi Kerajaan. 

Tuan-tuan sekarang saya ingin balik kepada gambar 'Teori Ekonomi Teh Tarik' yang saya pernah rujuk dulu. Katakanlah saiz GDP ekonomi negara adalah RM1,400 Bilion (kurang lebih). Inilah 'isi kandungan' teh tarik yang kaw-kaw itu. Daripada saiz GDP ekonomi inilah Kerajaan dapat kutip hasil cukai RM160 Bilion itu. Jadi hasil cukai Kerajaan RM160 bilion adalah sedikit saja - serupa buih-buih dan lemak-lemak yang naik pada atas secawan teh tarik. Jadi isi bagi "badan gemuk" ekonomi negara adalah GDP RM1,400 Bilion itu. Ini termasuk 15,000 batang pokok durian yang telah ditebang di Raub hari itu. Maka sekarang kita kena tolak hasil daripada 15,000 batang pokok durian (lebih RM200 Juta) yang telah ditebang itu daripada jumlah GDP negara. Maka GDP kita bukan lagi RM1400 Bilion. GDP akan berkurangan. Apabila GDP kita berkurangan atau GDP negara tidak dapat berkembang, maka buih-buih dan lemak-lemak yang naik ke atas itu pun akan berkurangan. Maksudnya hasil kutipan cukai bagi Kerajaan pun akan berkurangan. Apa yang saya tidak masukkan dalam gambar di atas ialah bilangan orang yang haus, lapar dan dahagakan satu cawan teh tarik kaw-kaw ini. Bukan seorang sahaja yang haus dan dahagakan teh tarik ini. Bilangan penduduk negara makin bertambah. Our population is now at 32 million and still increasing. Bilangan unemployed graduates saja sudah melebihi 290,000 orang. Tahun ini 2021 new batch of university graduates akan tamat pengajian dan mencari peluang hidup dan peluang kerja. Bukan semua boleh jadi bebudak food delivery pun. So this is how it works. The buih-buih and the lemak-lemak (that RM160b tax collection) that floats to the top of the teh tarik is generated inside the body of the teh tarik (the RM1400b GDP). 

Jadi Tuan-Tuan cuba faham ya - it is this buih-buih of RM160 billion that is used to bayar gaji Penjawat Awam, bayar pencen, bayar gaji CEO GLC berjuta Ringgit, bayar bail-out GLC berpuluh bilion Ringgit, bayar gaji Ahli Parlimen, bayar gaji ADUN, bayar gaji Menteri, bayar gaji Duta Khas dan semua sekali lah. The entire Belanjawan Kerajaan comes from this buih-buih dan lemak-lemak RM160 bilion yang naik ke atas itu. That is all. Jumlah ini sangat sikit dan sangat kecil. Here is the sad part - YOU CANNOT TAKE THAT BUIH-BUIH RM160 BILLION AND THEN BANCUH KUAT-KUAT WITH SOME MAGIC TEA SPOON AND REGENERATE THAT RM1400 BILLION GDP. LANGSUNG TAK BOLEH. It is the other way around - you must grow the economy, increase the size of the GDP and then from there the buih-buih and the lemak-lemak will rise to the top. The more the GDP grows the higher will be the kutipan hasil cukai by the government. 

I know some of you will be saying 'Eleh OutSyed The Box ini ingat dia seorang saja pandai faham ekonomi, dengan contoh teh tarik mamak dia yang bodoh juga'. Dia macam ini Tuan-Tuan, kalau kau orang bodoh banggang pi tebang 15,000 batang pokok durian dengan nilai hasil lebih RM200 Juta setahun, elok hantar your unemployed graduate sons and daughters tidur di kaki lima Chow Kit atau Jalan Silang malam ini juga. Because that is what will happen to your children ultimately. And you must understand what is important and less important in the country. Apa maksud saya? 

Dulu, masa saya bersama Umno almost everyday bebudak Umno kata, 'Melayu mesti control tanah dalam negara kita.' Sebab itu mereka paranoid sangat dengan Felda (contohnya). Bukan saja Felda jadi "fixed deposit" undi bagi Umno pada masa itu tetapi yang mereka nampak lagi besar ialah Felda dengan 811,000 hektar tanahnya menjadi 'plantation giant' yang terbesar di dunia. 80% atau 650 ribu hektar itu di tanam dengan kelapa sawit. Sime Darby pun megah menjadi 'largest oil palm plantation company in the world' dengan 311,194 hektar ladang kelapa sawit (di Malaysia sahaja.) Ok fantastic - Felda ada 650 ribu hektar tanah kelapa sawit dan Sime Darby ada 311 ribu hektar kelapa sawit. Big deal. OK tuan-tuan tahu tak what is the percentage contribution of palm oil kepada GDP negara kita? Ini jawapannya : "In 2020, palm oil contributed 3% to Malaysia's GDP" 3% of GDP only !! Peeeeeeeeee dah mabuk. Lan---u lah. Melayu mesti control tanah lah, world's largest plantation acreage lah, world's largest oil palm acreage lah bla bla bla. But it is only 3% of GDP. 

Cuba lihat gambar satu cawan teh tarik itu sekali lagi. Where is the 3% of GDP? Lepas itu kena bail-out Felda lagi !! Wa akhir kalam tuan-tuan, pleeeease dengar baik-baik ok. That government Budget RM323 Billion or that government tax revenue of RM160 billion (entah jadi ke tak jadi tahun ini) is not enough to generate economic growth and job opportunities for all O U R C H I L D R E N. Bukan saja for MY children but also for YOUR children. Government Budgets, government spending, government procurement is just not enough. Tambah lagi our population has gone beyond 32 million people. The future jobs and opportunities for our children and grandchildren can only come from that RM1400 biliion GDP. The ekonomi swasta or private sector economy. The real economy of the country. You mess with the smooth functioning of the economy, your children will end sleeping up on the side walks in Jalan Silang. It is already happening. You waste, steal, rasuah, bocor and tiris the billions of Ringgit of taxpayers money every year your children will end up sleeping on the side walks in Jalan Silang. Believe me on this one. You chop down 15,000 durian trees in Raub, you harass other people from pursuing economic opportunities your children will end up on the side walks in Jalan Silang. This is as certain to happen as the sun will rise in the east tomorrow. We must help those who need to be helped. Help them we must. There is no doubt about that. But while we help one group of people, do not obstruct other people from pursuing their economic opportunities. Jadi pembantu ok. Tetapi jangan sekali-kali jadi penghalang atau perosak.