BUDGET 2009 (MALAYSIA)

A GLANCE OF THE BUDGET…. (Source: The Star 30th August 2008)

AGRICULTURE
Incentives amounting to RM5.6bil for about 350,000 vegetable and fruit growers as well as aquaculture and livestock breeders in a bid to increase output.

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
Tax exemptions for renewable energy and energy efficient items including hybrid cars.

SCHOOLS / VARSITIES
RM 150mil to upgrade 13 existing polytechnics as well as 15 community colleges and their branches while 110 primary and 181 secondary schools will be built.

MEDICAL
Tax exemption extended to include maternity expenses, traditional practices such as ayurvedic and acupuncture.

POLICE STATIONS
RM220mil to build police headquaters and stations nationwide with 22,800 constables and 3,000 inspectors being recruited from 2008-2010.

POOR/DIABLED
Eligibility for welfare aid from Welfare Department raised from a monthly household income of RM400 to RM720 for Peninsular Malaysia, RM830 for Sarawak and RM960 for Sabah. Pensioners who had served at least 25 years upon retirement to get minimum pension of RM720 a month. Monthly allowance of RM150 will be given to disabled who are unable to work. Households which incur monthly electricity bills of RM20 or less need not pay the bills from Oct 1 to end of 2009.

INCOME TAX
Current tax rebate of RM350 per person be increased to RM400 for those with taxable income of RM35,000 and below.

LRT/RAIL
RM35bil to upgrade LRT and rail services. New LRT line from Kota Damansara to Cheras expected to be completed in 2014. Kelana Jaya LRT line will also be getting 35 new trains.

BUS/TAXIS
Bus operators to get toll charge reductions, soft loan facilities, tax exemptions on bus purchase and road tax cut to only RM20 a year. Taxi operators will also benefit from lower road tax. Diesel vehicles to be reduced to match that of petrol engine vehicles.

HOTELS/TOURISM
New investments by 4-star and 5-star hotel operators in Sabah and Sarawak to be given pioneer status and an allocation of RM50mil for conservation works of heritage sites in Malacca and Penang.

PUBLIC SAFETY
RM5.4bil to enhance the capacity of the Royal Malaysian Police. In addition, all business premises installed with security control equipment be given Accelerated Capital Allowance, which is fully claimable within one year.


WHAT THEY SAY…
FOMCA.. CONSUMER groups are concerned that the huge amount of money pumped into the public transportation system will not yield direct and immediate assistance to the needy.
“It does not result in cheaper fares immediately. What is needed is subsidy to reduce the operating cost of bus companies, which in turn allow them to reduce fares and not impose surcharges,” said Muhammad Sha’ani (FOMCA secretary-general).

“This is essentially an expansionary budget, a deficit budget. Malaysia is the only country which continues to register a major deficit,” said Anwar Ibrahim, new Opposition Leader.

“I think people would be able to cope with the cost of living better if they had a minimum pension of RM900,” said the National Council of Senior Citizens Organisation Malaysia (Nacscom) president, Datuk Lum Kin Tuck.

“On behalf of the disabled community, I must say I am disappointed with the RM150 allowance for the non-working disabled”, said Malaysian Confederation of the Disabled president Mah Hassan.

“At a pre-Budget consultation, we had asked for a RM500 allowance across the board for the disabled. What can you do with RM150? I’m very, very sad”, said Independent Living and Training Centre President, Francis Siva.

“There seems to be no new money included and they are only recycling ideas such as the extensions of LRT systems to Subang-USJ and Kinrara-Puchong, which has been talked about since 2005-2006. Most of the plans for LRT are focused in the Klang Valley. How about the other places in Malaysia?,” said Moaz Yusof Ahmad, adviser of the Association for the Improvement of Mass Transit Klang Valley (Transit).

Allocation for Orang Asli…
“But whether they actually reached their target group is another thing. From our experience, for every RM100 allocated, only RM10 reaches the orang asli,” Yayasan Orang Asli Perak chairman said.


WHAT OTHERS SAY….
“The Budget has considered the needy and poor, and at the same time the middle class which enjoys a reduction in income tax,” said MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting.

“The Government is moving in the right direction by enhancing public health services,” said Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai.

“Diesel engines are actually more reliable and fuel efficient. This reduction (road tax reduction) will spur the growth of diesel car sales,” said Malaysian Automative Association president, Datuk Aishah Ahmad.

“It is unexpected. And it will help overcome the shortage of nurses in the future,” said Malaysia Nurses Association president Ramziah Ahmad on the Budget’s focus on the nursing profession.

“It is a welcome relief for all of us (one-month salary bonus). I was worried I would not be able to buy new clothes for my parents, something I have been doing since I started work a few years ago. I will need to save as well since I am planning to buy a house,” said Kamarul, who is with the Public Service Commission.

“The announcement is in line with MBAM”s constant call to address the shortage of skilled construction workers in this country, as well as the need to emphasise increasing the quality of trained construction workers,” said Master Builders Association Malaysia (MBAM) secretary-general Yap Yoke Keong.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said: “The increased amount is a reflection of the seriousness of the Government in implementing the transformation of higher education in the country in line with the National Higher Education Strategic Plan.”

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar said, “It will help enhance the force’s capability in ensuring better services and delivery system to the public while the installation of CCTVs at strategic locations will help in crime prevention.”


WHAT BLOGGERS SAY….
Jeffooi (www.jeffooi.com) said…
“It's a handyplast budget to stop instant bleeding while fundamental wounds worsen. He triggered the high-flying inflation by implementing reckless strategies in fuel pricing and subsidy withdrawal schedule. Now he thinks by increasing the budget to an unprecedented budget of RM207.9 billion for 2009, the economy will be all right and the people happy. Foolish. He is even a copy cat. When Selangor gave free water to the lower income group, Umno MPs and state assemblymen called it 'membazir'. Now, he announced that electricity charges for those using RM20 and below per month would be waived. Imitation must be Umno's sincerest form of flattery.”

Rocky’s bru (rockybru.blogspot.com) said…
“Since the Government has not much money, I expected the Finance Minister to push up prices of alcohol and fags to the ceiling. But that didn't happen. Cigarettes will cost about 60 sen more a pack only and the prices of alcohol remain the same. Even if the Government had increased Marlboro prices by 63 percent (which was how much the prices of diesel was increased the last time) cigarettes in Malaysia would still be among the cheapest in the region. The amount of money earned by the Government from higher prices of cigarette and alcohol could be used to improve the transportation system.”

Tony Pua (tonypua.blogspot.com) PJ Utara MP said…
“Next year, the budgeted operational expenditure is another record RM154.2 billion. This figure is both shocking and scary as operational expenditure for the government when Abdullah Badawi first became prime minister in 2004 was only RM80.5 billion. In just a short period of four to five years, government operational expenditure has increased by 91.5% or RM73.7 billion. This raises the question as to what the government is spending its money on which requires such substantial increase in operational expenses?”

Lim Kit Siang (blog.limkitsiang.com) said…
“Abdullah attacks ‘populist’ claims while presenting populist budget”. This thought occurred to me when the Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced a string of goodies in his 2009 Budget in Parliament today, including the following:
“Those who use less than RM20 of electricity per month will not be charged.”

The Obnoxious 5xmon (www.chanlilian.net) said…
“I seriously think Pak Lah is a bit out of touch. He thinks that we Malaysians all can afford blender, microwave oven and electric kettle to prepare our daily meals. My dear Pak Lah, this is not what the poor folks use. They are struggling with expensive rice, flour and other basic things. They only have money for cheap aluminium pots and if they are lucky, gas cooker. Don’t mock us with cheaper kitchen gadgets like these, please.”

Choonie (siawchoon.blogspot.com) said….
“Overall I think, Pak Lah is trying to win our heart! But I dun think he can do much to boost our Malaysia's market. I dun see the fuel price will further reduced. I dun see the price of the normal good will decreased too. I dun use electricity around RM20 a month. The road tax and tax deduction are just a little bit of my yearly expenses. I will see further inflation though. *sigh*”

Lastly, this Budget do bring good news to the needy and poor Rakyat. However, the implementaion and delivery system for each allocation must be improved based on previous experience.