Response to Hope Fund shows majority of M’sians ‘patriotic’ – academic
KUALA LUMPUR: The overwhelming response to the government’s crowdfunding initiative, Tabung Harapan Malaysia (THM) or Hope Fund, shows that the majority of Malaysians share the patriotic spirit.
“They can be billed as ‘patriotic millionaires’,’’ declared Associate Prof Dr Nurhaizal Azam Arif, a lecturer in International Business and Multinational Enterprise at Hiroshima City University in Japan.
In the United States, the patriotic millionaire label was accorded to individuals who were willing to pay higher taxes or make financial contributions to amend inequalities in society, he told Bernama.
He said the fact that international credit agencies like Fitch have affirmed Malaysia’s credit rating at ‘A-’ with a stable outlook proved that the government has the means to manage the nation’s administration and pay its debts.
Nevertheless, the people still wanted to do their part to help the government settle its debts and hence came about the THM initiative.
Launched by the Finance Ministry on May 30, THM was set up as a trust fund to enable the ministry to manage all contributions and donations in a systematic and transparent manner.
As at 3 p.m. on June 17, the fund’s total collections stood at RM74,695,510.12.
Last month, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng had disclosed that the federal government’s actual debt and liabilities stood at RM1.087 trillion or 80.3 per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product as of Dec 31 last year.
Nurhaizal Azam said the idea for the fund probably came about following public sympathy towards the new government which had to zero-rate the Goods and Services Tax to fulfil a pledge by Pakatan Harapan in its 2014 general election manifesto to abolish the GST.
“The people knew zero-rating the GST will lead to a reduction in income for the government. Besides that, Malaysians may have also wanted to help the government to settle the 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Bhd) debts without wasting revenue earned from income tax,” he said.
Similar initiatives have also been carried out in other countries.
In South Korea, for instance, during the Asian financial crisis in 1997 which brought the country to the brink of bankruptcy, the people donated their gold jewellery to help their government repay its loans.
The United States established a fund at the end of 2000 to collect “gift contributions” to reduce public debt. This fund still stands today.
On allegations from some quarters that the people are being pressured to contribute to THM, Nurhaizal Azam said there was no room for polemics as the idea of setting up such a fund came from the people themselves.
“The issue of them being coerced into contributing doesn’t arise at all because it is entirely up to the individual to give a donation or not. Such debates even cropped up in the US as there were some who supported the fund while others didn’t.”
He said when people express their desire and willingness to help their country, factors like transparency and integrity would be topmost in their list of expectations of the government.
“A system of checks and balances will be in place if there’s transparency of information which, in turn, will smoothen out the process of governing the nation.
“If the government is transparent, the people’s trust and confidence will soar and they will grow more patriotic than ever and even be willing to make sacrifices for the country,” he added.