The recent front pages and also the Budget does not really give any good reassurance to many who have anything to do with this country. I feel that when 2010 comes around, Msia will just be a big cavity with a depth to rival the Mariana Trench when the ‘new’ policies and rulings come into effect. There is a sense to this having these new policies but I feel that Msia is not ready for it at all.
GST – Give to Caesar What is Caesar’s
How GST works is, every service and goods sold will have tax incurred into them. At the end of every month, parties who have provided the service and/or sold the goods will submit the ‘collected’ to the government. At the end of each financial year, consumers need to gather their receipts to submit and evaluate to see if they have over or under-paid their taxes. This is how I understand it so if I got it wrong, pls do correct me. I’m just a humble lizard and not an accountant.
With GST, every packet of noodles, nasi lemak and even teh tarik will have GST included into the price. We will therefore have to pay a higher price for everything. The majority of ppl in this country are not even properly versed in the tax submission and are not even honest enough to declare/pay any tax. Do you think that the uncle in the market selling Hokkien Mee or the makcik selling pisang goreng will take the time to submit and pay the taxes?
Plus GST rates do not stay at one rate only. It has a bad history of rising exponentially to high rates without it ever reducing. This will ultimately affect many lower income groups. The government tried to implement it in 007 but did not even have the correct tools and know-how to facilitate the transition either.
In my Lizzy opinion, GST is a tool where the government gets you to do their work (tax collection) for them. Taxes are paid in advance and the government almost never runs low in funds.
RM50 & RM25 Annual Charge on Credit Cards – Meltdown of Plastic Power
Once upon a time, it used to be that only high-earners had credit cards. Now its a different story, I’m sure that if you throw 10 stones into a crowded mall like Pavilion, Gurney Plaza or Curve, chances are 8 out of 10 have at least one credit card to their name. (This is just a metaphor so pls do not go to a crowded mall and throw stones at ppl!)
There many groups of ppl who own several credit cards. Why have so many cards? So that they’re able to live a lifestyle that they otherwise will not be able to afford. Most in this group will be the ones who roll their cards (use one card to pay off the other card’s bill).
Personally, I am a plastic user but I pay off all my bills every time. Plus I limit my spendings (cash or plastic) by keeping a budget. Why do I prefer using plastic is because
- Its not safe to carry large wads of cash on your person (you may get mugged or robbed).
- ATMs are not exactly ‘everywhere’ yet.
- I don’t trust the debit cards system in retail shops enough to use them. If someone gets hold of your PIN and card, all you savings will go as someone will withdraw it all through the ATM.
- Any lost card can be easily and immediately cancelled with just a call to the bank.
- Prepaid credit cards like Tune Money are a hassle as you have to always have an amount of $$ in the account and you lose out on interest.
- Not many places accept cheques.
- You can buy something now and pay later to gain benefits doing that. You can gain interest on your cash (which sits in the savings or CMT account) before you pay your bills, get points (to exchange for other items) and also cash back (offered by certain banks).
- If fraudulent charge occurs on your credit card, there are laws and procedures to help you.
Not many are able to be so diligent or disciplined to curb their spending. There is a great temptation to spend. So here’s my advise to those who have several cards – cancel and consolidate. Keep only 1-2 cards on the side. If you do online purchases, I suggest you have a low limit card (in case of fraud). There’s good information on the how to cancel your credit cards on Adino’s blog.
English in School – To be or never to be
Some months ago, the education department decided to revert the schooling system back to Malay. Now they’re want to have a strong emphasis on English in pre-school curriculum. The article is here should any for those who missed out. Muhyiddin should stop using his magic eight ball to make his decisions.
Inspections before Road Tax Issuance for Cars over 15- Y.O. – Out with the old & In with What?
There are many who are using their old faithfuls. These normally consist of the lower income groups, pensioners and retirees. These ppl cannot afford to spend a lot of money to have their cars in tip top shape for the annual Puspakom check prior to getting their Road Tax. Msians cannot afford in any way to be like Singapore where cars must be changed every 10 years.
Segregation and Double Standards
Not sure how many of you read of in the recent Star frontline about Naj’s comment. For those who haven’t you can do so here. In my opinion, if we disregard the racist comments it will mean that its ok for these leader(s) to be racist and say racist things. Naj should reprimand them but instead just sets them aside.
Many are saying that the only way Barisan will be able to regain power is if Naj and his people are able to get the economy going again. To that I add, I think they also need to buck up on their behaviours and stop being petty. Petty acts like starving non-Barisan states will only make voters despise them more.
I have also noticed that there has been a total blackout on any news to do with Anwar. The only pieces of news which are allowed through are about his trial. And the Federal government dare say that this is a Democratic country.
My Last Say
If all these were to be carried out, who will be the worst affected? I think most of you are able to be able to quip the correct answer quickly. All in all, I don’t know if these policies will be affected but there will be hell to pay for Naj’s administration if they do implement it.
4 Comments | In: Malaysian life | tags: credit card, gst, malaysia, malaysia budget 2010, malaysian government, tax.
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This is relating to something I saw 