Strive for balance, fairness and justice
THERE is much anticipation in today’s budget presentation. Our nation has moved from a petroleumbased economy to a Goods and Services Tax-aided economy. The economy has performed well despite the petroleum price crisis due to our strong fundamentals.
Every Malaysian is hit with not only a heavy price tag for his daily bread and butter but also in the education and the medical sectors.
It would be great if the government considers the realities faced by the man on the street to ensure that the 2017 Budget is not a burden:
PAY close attention to the lower and middle income earners. Stop taxing those earning less than RM120,000 a year.
This will provide a breather for lower and middle income earners, especially those living in the urban and suburban areas. Reduce the prices of dairy products, especially infant milk;
FOCUS on “every Malaysian must have a home”. The biggest challenge for a young Malaysian is owning a home. Carry out studies on living trends and demographics; build flats, apartments and houses which are livable and practical with enough playfields and community halls.
SENIOR citizens represent nine per cent of the population.
In 2035, it will be 15 per cent of the population.
We need to ensure that there is a proper scheme to address this group’s needs.
Employees Provident Fund savings are inadequate because more than 70 per cent of members have less than RM100,000 in their account. Socso has been operating in the same way for 44 years.
It has been managing two schemes since its inception.
The budget must initiate a programme where the accident coverage and health issues of every Malaysian (especially the working populace) are addressed in a holistic manner.
We don’t need expensive private old folks’ homes. We need a programme to ensure that they are cared for and live in comfort.
Senior citizens can also contribute to our economy if due care and attention are given to them.
FREE tertiary education must be made available to every Malaysian. We have been providing free education from Year 1 to Form 6.
The government should come up with an additional four years of free education in degree or a diploma programmes.
This will reduce the burden of Malaysians who want to study for degrees or diplomas, providing a productive human capital market.
PROVIDE more for the health sector especially in research and development, and allocate more funds for polyclinics, dental clinics and heart hospitals. For example, there is only one polyclinic in Puchong and patients are packed like sardines from as early as 6am. This is sad.
These are among the issues that should be considered in the budget to ease the financial burden of Malaysians and make our nation progressive and forward-looking. such students might end up being narrow-minded and live within their own group of friends and community. Anything out of their own belief system is seen as not normal or acceptable. It can lead to extremism in isolated cases.
The encouragement of diversity benefits society. It enables individuals and communities to experience things outside of what they normally do. Diversity in schools can be used to bridge students from different ethnic groups. Values of multiculturalism such as mutual respect come naturally.
Diversity enables a nation to be culturally sensitive and provides students with a sound start to being culturally sensitive to others. Students who grow up in positive multicultural environments stand tall in different parts of the world as they have been exposed to values of tolerance and goodwill towards others. However, unity that does not include diversity ends up in repression and hegemony. I am hoping such a situation will be understood by one and all in our school system. I REFER to the controversy surrounding the school history curriculum.
Several considerations should be borne in mind before one jumps to the conclusion that one’s own interpretation of history is the right one:
• No study of history can be truly objective as researchers and scholars are subjective in their interpretation of historical data;
• No historian can be completely unbiased in presenting a perspective of history as he comes with a particular mindset;
• No school history textbook writer can be absolutely balanced when he has to abide by the guidelines determined by the curriculum development committee of the Ministry of Education;
• No government can be truly egalitarian, democratic and fair as the citizenry is diverse and people come