Is it caring or irresponsible of the government to maintain government subsidies? Our government seems undecided. On one hand, RON95 and diesel prices have been maintained “for the people’s sake”, despite the heavy subsidy cost. On the other hand, electricity tariffs have been raised because it would be “irresponsible” of the government to keep the people happy but make them suffer in the long-term. So, which is it?
economy
Making sense of 1MDB’s profits
By Deborah Loh
1MALAYSIA Development Bhd generates scepticism when news about its huge profit after just one year of capitalisation is juxtaposed with reports that it was given prized land in Sungai Besi for redevelopment.
Malaysia’s economic outlook: Will we make it?
By Ding Jo-Ann
MALAYSIA’s once rosy economic outlook isn’t looking as rose petal-fresh as it used to anymore. In 1992, Malaysia transitioned from a lower-middle to upper-middle income country, surpassing most of our regional neighbours. Rich in natural resources and attractive to global investors due to relatively low production costs, Malaysia prospered in the early 1990s. But other […]
By-elections and bumiputeraism
By Wong Chin HuatCorrected at 2.59pm, 16 April 2010 WHILE by-elections can hardly be considered referendums, they are nevertheless mid-term elections and often have far-reaching implications. The triple by-elections of April 2009 Remember the triple by-elections of April 2009? What if newly-minted premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak‘s Barisan Nasional (BN) had won all three handsomely? Would he then […]
Understanding GST
By Deborah LohMalaysia is among the last in the region to impose goods and services tax (© Sanja Gjenero / sxc.hu) MALAYSIA is among the last in the region to impose goods and services tax (GST) but it still shelved its original implementation in 2007. It was only after spending the last two years in consultation with […]
1Malaysia, ethnicity and the economy
By Dr Chandra MuzaffarHOW ethnic interests are addressed in the nation’s economic and social development will be one of the major determinants of the success or failure of 1Malaysia. It was with the advent of British colonial rule and the mass influx of Chinese and Indian migrant labour that the question of ethnicity in its present form emerged […]
The politics of sugar
By Deborah Loh“Boss, limau ais kosong, satu” (© Brian Lary / sxc.hu)NEXT year, the government will possibly abolish the sugar subsidy. I’m personally all for that. For many years now, I’ve learnt to enjoy food and beverages without adding (or at least reducing the amount of) sugar. “Boss” at the mamak stall at first raised his eyebrows […]
Getting Malaysia out of the rut
By Deborah LohWhat would the fisherfolk think of the government’s plan for a high income nation? IT’S a grand announcement, but what would a fisherfolk or a padi farmer think about the government’s plan to make Malaysia a high income nation by 2020? What would a single mother doing odd-jobs think of the goal to raise per […]
Budget 2010: Goodbye credit cards
By Tony PuaCorrected at 3:25pm, 27 Oct 2009 I MUST say that Budget 2010, announced by Datuk Seri Najib Razak on 23 Oct 2009, contained quite a few surprises for better or for worse. And my observation is from someone who has pored through the government’s budget over the past five years. (Source: babble.com) For one, I’ll […]
“Forget about race”
By Deborah LohAZRAN Osman-Rani is Air Asia X’s chief executive officer. Because he doesn’t have an office to himself, for the interview with The Nut Graph on 11 Sept 2009, we sit down at a table in a corner of an open-floor office in full view of other staff at their work stations. Azran shares the same […]
