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Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Kelantan mufti must define what GST for social justice is

Typical of most big shots in the country, the Kelantan mufti talks ostentatious stuff but never contemplates its true meaning.
COMMENT
Mohamad-Shukri-Mohamad_gst_600TK Chua
Kelantan mufti Mohamad Shukri Mohamad said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is part of social justice if its implementation is carried out properly which does not lead to “misunderstanding, misconduct and exploitation”. Of course, what constitutes misunderstanding, misconduct and exploitation was never explained. In fact, what constitutes social justice was also not clearly defined and understood. Typical of most big shots in the country, he talked ostentatious stuff but never contemplated its true meaning. I feel that his statement should not be allowed to go without a challenge.
How does GST attain social justice when the tax takes money from everybody – rich and poor; babies, boys and girls, young adults and the old; and workers, retirees and the handicapped? It is a tax system where you consume, you pay, regardless of your income. In fact, the poor with a lower income must pay a higher proportion of their income on GST. If the poor spend 90% of their income on consumption, it is like 90% of their income is now subjected to tax. Can the mufti get this?
If not mistaken, I think what the mufti has in mind is that money from GST should be spent wisely to attain social justice. In this regard, leaving aside allocations for education, health care, national defence and internal security, I want the mufti to focus on the amount of money the government spends on poverty eradication, rural land development, the urban poor and other social/welfare programmes.
In the meantime, I also want him to compare that with the amount the government spends on creating a “commercial class” and millionaires, setting up and operating more GLCs, doing projects which no one knows for sure their true objectives and investing in ventures all over the world which no one could even fathom its viability. Don’t forget mufti, these are all taxed money or borrowed money, the burden of which will eventually fall on the taxpayers too.
If the mufti really knows what social justice is, he would have noticed the obscene spending perpetuated by the ruling elites at a time when the rakyat are asked to shoulder an even bigger burden. I suggest he take a walk to the grocery stores and look at the escalation in prices in the past one week after the implementation of GST. If he knows what social justice is, he would have known the implication of a price increase on savings, particularly on the savings of many workers who are looking forward to their retirement money in EPF.
Finally, if the mufti really knows what social justice is, he would have noticed the endemic corruption now permeating deep into every facet of our life. He would have known the farming out of government assets and privatisation of government projects for a song to the well-connected. He would have known the monopolies being created and perpetuated for the benefit of the cronies and at the expense of the common folk.
So, mufti, why just single out money from GST to be used for social justice? Surely there are more important social justice issues to talk about other than GST.

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