Budget 2018 ‘reasonable, despite a few disappointments’

KUCHING: Budget 2018 has been termed as a good budget – one that provides for all communities including the Chinese, the Indians and the Orang Asli, as well as the women and families.

In this respect, Kuching Chinese General Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCGCCI) secretarygeneral Jonathan Chai lauds the government on continuing to provide RM50 million to Chinese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through Koperasi Jayadiri Malaysia Bhd ( Kojadi).

However, he also notices that Chinese SMEs in Sarawak have somewhat shied away from applying for the funds – probably because of the four- per cent charge.

On top of that, he acknowledges that Kojadi is under the Malaysian Chinese Association ( MCA), pointing out that it should encourage Chinese SMEs in Sarawak to apply for the fund – if the Sarawak United People’s Party ( SUPP) could act as the handler.

“In fact, Kojadi came to Sarawak once to encourage Chinese SMEs here to apply for the fund but the response was not good. Perhaps, some people are still sceptical of it.

“It would be good if the government could either do away with the four- per cent charge, or reduce the rate further to call for more applications,” he spoke during a phone interview yesterday.

Chai said KCGCCI welcomed the two- per cent reduction for individuals earning annual income between RM20,000 and RM70,000.

However, he said most employers would be disappointed with the status quo of the corporate tax.

On note that the government had also suggested the private sector to extend the maternity leave from 60 days to 90 days, he said: “This is probably not very good news for employers. The 60- day maternity leave is sufficient in the eyes of businessmen.”

He felt that the additional 30 days would be adding to the cost of operations for most employers, who had already suffered a blow following the recently- passed Employment Insurance System ( EIS) Bill and the already implemented Minimum Wage Policy.

According to Chai, the government might also review both the minimum wages and the Social Security Organisation ( Socso) contributions.

“There must be a balance, having considered the welfare of pregnant workers. The government should give due consideration of the costs before making any decision,” he said.

He, however, also commended the government for allocating RM1 billion for Sarawak to repair and upgrade dilapidated schools.

Chai, who is also the Federation of Boards of Management of Aided Chinese Primary Schools Sarawak secretary- general, was delighted to see Chinese-medium primary schools ( SJKC) in the country being allocated RM50 million.

“We are just glad that the allocation for SJKCs is maintained even though there is no increase.”

Chai also pointed out that the government should look at how it could cut down on expenditure, given that over 80 per cent of the total budget had gone into this aspect.

“Only 16 per cent of the total budget goes into development. With this kind of proportion, if we’re looking at economic activities and development, it’s not healthy,” he opined.

Chai said it would be high time for the government to work on cutting down the number of civil servants to reduce the expenditure in the annual budget.

Generally, he viewed Budget 2018 as ‘ a reasonable budget, even though there are some disappointments’.