By Joachim Ng
A question has been asked whether a “free nutritious daily school meals” programme for all students in every Government-funded school is just a health fantasy, as the federal treasury is devoid of much needed cash.
Lots of extra money will be needed to build single-session schools so that dismissal time can be stretched to 2.30pm to enable free brain-stimulating lunch to be provided in addition to free nutritious breakfast. All schools will also need to be equipped with many science labs if the national system switches emphasis to science, technical, engineering, and maths (STEM) subjects, and salaries need to be revised upwards so as to make teaching an attractive career for those with the skill and inclination to educate the young.
These costs will bite deep into the national budget. Where’s the money to come from? The answer is that the need comes first. If we ensure that one entire generation of well-educated students are raised healthily, the cycle of poverty ends within 30 years as we demonstrated with evidence in Part 2 of this series. This is top priority.
The means can be found and they already exist, but there is a blockage preventing the inflow of much-needed funds. This blockage is in the “freeloader” mindset that we have developed over the past 40 years. Four key features mark a freeloader society – political corruption, funds leakage, scam epidemic, and low taxation.
Gigatonnes of scolding words have already been spewed out since the disclosure that Malaysia’s ranking in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2024 is 57 out of 180 countries. This puts Malaysia in the same boat as the sinking nations of South America, Africa and the South Asian region.
A report by EMIR Research shows that corruption has steadily worsened, and the cost to the economy in 2022 was over RM572 billion. The estimated total loss from 1997 to 2022 is almost RM2.3 trillion.
If this amount had been available to provide free nutritious breakfast and lunch for all children in Government schools since 1997, Malaysia would in 2025 have the world’s largest percentage of bright students.
Three months ago, it was revealed that Customs Dept officers, instead of filling the Treasury’s coffers with tax revenue, were filling their pockets instead with a colossal RM2 billion in unpaid tax over two years. Corrupt enforcement officers at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport raked in close to RM200,000 each per month.
We also heard the shocking revelation two months ago that civil servants can’t stay clear of the dark web as they are coerced into accepting bribes. Who are doing the coercion?
Yearly leakage of public funds through wasteful expenditure and loose procedures for appointing contractors to undertake public works is another hole in the boat that can be plugged but is left to widen. Imagine if the civil service were converted into a public-listed company. Leakages would result in staff dismissals and possibly court cases.
So much for the public sector. Let’s now focus on the individuals and gig enterprises in the private sector. Are they enmeshed in the freeloader mindset? Let’s see.
Malaysia has turned into a land of scammers, the scammed, and freeloaders. You are either a scammer, or you are a victim or relative/friend of a victim. You are either a tax-payer or a freeloader.
In the last 10 years, more than 200,000 online scam cases resulting in a loss of RM9 billion have been reported. Last year, 2.98 million scam calls were reported.
The first Malaysian scam originated from Ipoh in the early 1990s. Investors were lured into gold investment with a promise of 8% monthly yield, meaning your investment value doubles in a year. The pioneer investors recruited 5 newcomers each and they in turn recruited 5 newcomers each. The pyramid grew voluminously, and then the syndicate closed down, went overseas, and issued worthless shares to investors.
But the trick caught on. Hundreds of freeloaders discovered new ways of amassing fortunes. To stop investment scams, enforce legislation that any private investment scheme must be registered and must display its registration number to every prospect. If it offers more than 30% return on investment, it must invite police investigation to clear it of fraud. Forged registration must be punished with life jail term.
The most insidious fraud is the Jail Scam. You get a handphone call from a “police inspector” who says he has issued a warrant for your arrest and detention for involvement in a serious crime. You panic, but a “kind sergeant” assures you that all will be well. You believe him, and that’s how you lose all your savings. On top of that, you are asked to borrow thousands from relatives and friends.
Last December, a woman trader in Ipoh lost her savings totalling RM1.28 million after being deceived by a scammer into believing that she was involved in money laundering.
There are two reasons why Malaysia has turned into a land of cheats. The first is that there has been a general softening of hearts towards financial crime. Who wouldn’t be tempted to be a corrupter or scammer, when the punishment is just a slap on the wrist?
Make a strong turnaround and slap the death penalty on any scammer whose victim has fallen into severe depression. Earlier this year, a 26-year-old man was diagnosed with depression after which he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of being scammed to take part in an “online business” selling jewellery.
For any serious case, the punishment should be life imprisonment. For less serious cases, send the convicts to jail with hard labour.
The second reason why Malaysia has turned into a land of scammers and the scammed is the character of the stock market. It was designed to be a marketplace providing opportunities for investors to earn good dividend yields. But it turned into a casino with speculators hiking up share prices to make quick money and pulling down prices after that so they can load up again for the next ride. The stock market is so obviously the inspiration for scams.
Enforce a law making stock market speculation a jailable offence. Legislate the need for public-listed companies to pay dividends no lower than the bank FD rate.
Let’s discuss the antiquated tax structure. Out of a total working population of 16 million, only 1.3 million or 8% pay income tax. The other 92% – let that figure sink in – are said to be impoverished or they get abundant tax reliefs. If even 10% of the population is that poor, Malaysia should join the African Union club for the poorest nations.
Only two categories of working adults should enjoy tax-free status: those living in abject poverty (national statistics indicate that less than 1% are below the extreme poverty line), and those aged above 75.
Senior oldies who had spent most of their years as private sector employees receiving monthly pay minus income tax instalment must be exempted as they are living their final 5-15 years and should no longer carry this burden.
All pre-retirement working adults who live above the extreme poverty line – a cool 14.5 million agile people – ought to pay income tax as a patriotic duty. Without sufficient income tax revenue, there is no money to end the poverty cycle, no money to improve healthcare and education for the young, and no money to maintain public infrastructure. The consequence is endless poverty, a threat to lives from unsafe infrastructure, and eventual national bankruptcy.
The Government is now giving out Jalur Gemilang badges to instil patriotism in students. Make it a condition that all students upon receiving the badge must persuade their parents to pay income tax to show their patriotism. They must strongly affirm at the dinner table that non-payment of income tax is treachery and they will feel ashamed to wear the badge. Don’t go for complete tax exemption or channel all your tax payments elsewhere. Just a yearly payment of RM50 for the bottom-quarter B40s helps ensure sufficient money for public expenditure.
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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Ipoh Echo
