Saturday, December 17, 2011

Father Christmas is Coming to Town...




Yes, Father Christmas is coming to town in Malaysia this Yuletide with huge bags of goodies for families earning below RM3000 pm,
cash gifts for schoolchildren, salary increases for all government servants, special Funds for struggling entrepreneurs, for thirtiary-level students in need pf help, for police and army personnel, for needy farmers and fishermen and even for national writers and mosques' officials.

Ho,Ho,Ho,Ho come people and get your goodies. There are some forms to fill in though which require current address, bank account number, and other personal information of applicant to be given. There will certainly be some checking to be done and the possibility that some applications will be rejected. Will that raise more problems and unhappiness than the gifts or handouts distributed? Let Father Christmas and his advisers work on that.

This coming Christmas is certainly a windfall (durian runtuh) for many. Civil servants' salary will increase from 13 - 30% out seems.
The last time there was a raise by some 12% ( I forgot when) the Ministers, their Deputies, Parliamentary Secretaries and the Parliamentarians in general got a hefty increase as well. The real percentage was never disclosed. Will it be the same this time.

And why not? The country's economy is booming and we are racing headlong to become a high income nation. Investments are coming in hopefully as heavy as the monsoon rain and tourist are visiting us in droves. That's the impression I get from following the more than lavish attitude shown and the nature of government spending with hundreds of millions spent on promoting tourism including the billions to be poured to the Langkawi Five Year Development Plan. The Iskandar Regional development plan in Johore sounds like the duck that lays the golden egg. Will the Causeway and the Gelang Patah bridge be sufficient to bring in
the business tycoons and super entreprenuers from our neighboring country, especially since KTM does not go beyond Woodland anymore. May be we have money for another bridge to facilitate the flow of goods and people, a beautiful straight one and not a croocket one anymore.

Well, all the political and economic transformation plans and agenda seem to be rolling on very smoothly with the NKRA measuring the success achieved. Progress on all key result areas seems to be on target as said by the show master YB Idris Jala while the YAB PM himself is renowned for his walk-around supervisory style. Let's hope that he sees what he wants and not just what is shown to him! It really looks like a glorious New Year is awaiting us all and, of course, a promising BN victory in GE13.

Let's be fair and say a few words for the Perikatan - claimed to be at it loosest condition right now. We see the in-fighting and the prominent stars battling each other. Dr Hassan Ali is even suggesting a possible exit, perhaps waiting for a door to open up somewhere. Promises made during GE12 don't seem to be fully met but I hear that some people are very happy in Penang. The welfare state agenda of PAS seems to be an unacceptable alternative to the Islamic State objective for Dr Hassan Ali but when the BN Chief decides to become Father Christmas this Yuletide, I wonder if the welfare idea had not been taken over by him.

Merry Christmas everyone and a cheerful windfall.

39 comments:

kaykuala said...

Akhi Norzah,
Can't help repeating 'give a man a fish' which is what is happening. Somehow the whole thing appears a bit crude. Before this a lot of funds were given to Chinese schools before some by-elections. Now every other person seems to get something before the GE13. Hopefully there are good advisors giving good advice.

The govt seems oblivious to the impending downturn in the US and EU economies. What affect them affect us.The ripples would reach us as markets shrink. Going into GE13 and beyond is certainly not a rosy picture! Those getting the goodies shouldn't be too happy with the handouts. Things are brewing and things are not that good!

Hank

norzah said...

I have the same qualms vibrating in my veins, Akhi Hank, but if Father Christmas feels he wants to splash around, go ahead. Let the people taste some form of welfare handouts; chances are they will soon for more. Then what, especially if the economy is not doing as well as it's reported or the economic downturn in the US and the EU sends strong ripples our way. Another RM8 million fund to help the entrepreneurs buy franchise has just been announced, not much but it keeps on adding to a whopping Christmas handout this year. Will this be repeated every year. I wonder.

abdulhalimshah said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
abdulhalimshah said...

Akhi Norzah,
Perhaps what Idris Jala said before is coming true. The Santa Claus mentality is oblivious to the economic gloom over the horizon and probably he wants to empty the coffers before making his exit and let others worry about the aftermath of his folly.

norzah said...

I really am amazed at the Chritmas spirit pouring out of government's soul this year, Akhi. Another RM400 million gift has just been issued to the bus companies that are cutting down on their scheduled routes because of financial problems. Aren't we all not paying for lousy management? I suspect the high susidies paid to our toll road operators are also necessitated by poor management or the lavish management style of the toll road tycoons.

abdulhalimshah said...

Dear Akhi Norzah,
This outpour of charity is not without a reason, as we all know that this is just a slew of the hand before the next GE. All the people are blinded by this overspill of charity which is none other than looting our own pockets through an unbridled looseness of the purse strings. It is our tax money which are being plundered, Akhi and the people are actually being bled to death.

norzah said...

Everytime father christmas makes a speech now, i hear new promises of assistance and handouts as if there is no budgeting or scheduling of govt expenditure at all. There were times that I know when everytime a new unexpected expenditure was required, the PM will turn to Minister of Finance to check the Govt coffer. Now millions are promised without any study. 90 bus companies will share the RM400 million gift, RM4.25 each pro rata. How to ensure that it's not used for paying outstanding debt? There is no fear of big companies incurring great losses no due to poor management, govt will bail out.

abdulhalimshah said...

Akhi Norzah,
Just ask any Ministry or Dept's Controlling Officers, ie. those who are accountable for the revenue and expenditure, they have great difficulty in getting additional funds. I presume Big Santa is plundering the Special Fund Account which is allocated for unbudgeted expenditure only for the two top Santas. But the damage had been done by the former Santa when he wore the same caps, one looking after money and at the same time spending it.

Al-Manar said...

How do I get my share of gift for warga mas? The answer I got was to get the 'borang' from YB's office.

But I am a proud man. It is below my dignity to approach a YB and his croonies for any favour!

I will build a chimney before X'mas to enable Santa will climb down with something for me and my good wife.

I went to the market for some fruit. Mango costs 10 ringgits per KG, buah manggis 6 ringgits - early this year they were 6 and 4 respectively - 50% or more increase? Santa has to come every other day!

norzah said...

There you go, Akhi Pakchik Al-Manar, confirming my belief that the BRIM gift Father Chritmas is handing out will be requested again and again. It's infra dig for some, tak mau minta sedekah, but for those who must buy everything, a five hundred gift is nothing. Cost of things has gone sky high. Lucky i plant my own mango, mangostein, dukong, rambutan and other trees in a little green acre years ago. I was joyful a few days ago to see my dukong trees bearing fruits and ripening. But when i went to the kebun to get some, sudah licin dikebas pencuri. Nasib baik pokok2 nya tak dicuri sekali.

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