How NOT to follow Greece

In his timely column on the continuing world economic turmoil now roiling Europe Malaysians must learn from Greek Crisis, excessive loans no good and the dire consequences it is bringing onto the countries affected Greek Crisis: 3 die in violent protests the writer Jagdev Singh has observed, that in order for Malaysia not to 'follow in" the path of the Greeks, it has to start removing the major bulk of the subsidies given the the people, and that is in the energy sector. I quote with thanks:

"..It’s the middle class that is the foundation to consumer demand and striking a balance between reducing such subsidies and keeping people happy will be a tricky task.

Appealing to people’s season of reason and articulating the consequences of not doing so may work.

People have to know that the precious resource the country is blessed with should not be frittered away. And while conservation and efficient use of energy resources will help reduce wastage and help the environment, people also need to be shown that their efforts are helping to build something worthy for the future.

Any programme of reducing energy subsidies should be met with a similar programme that will improve the economic welfare of the people...."

I would like to add here that, appealing to the sense of reason will not work, unless the Government has continuously demonstrated its desire to keep down extravagant and wasteful spending. For example, would it not be better for the Govt to, say, drastically reduce its expenditure on the Military and defense, and show that the reduction of that expenditure will be channelled towards improving the logistics and transport system of the country, and for example, make the LRT accessible to all regions, regardless of ridership? It would then make the removal of the fuel subsidy less "painful"

The Govt must also actively pursue the departments and officals who have spent their budgets in extravagance and on projects that have subsequently failed or have tremendously overshot its budget. In this respect the respected AG's report should be pursued to a meaningful end. At the moment, the middle class know that after the initial hullabaloo, inevitably the AG's report is left to collect dust. What a waste of trees chopped down to write the Report. Questions by the Auditor General still unanswered.

What I am trying to say is, Malaysians are reasonable by nature, they will accept that hard times are ahead of them, and that the Govt needs to do the necessary to keep the country safe and "healthy". But can they tolerate a continuing regime of extravagance and nugatory expenditure, and watch as the politicians continue to "roll in the fat" while they are asked to tighten their belts for the good of the country?

Let the present violent turmoil in Greece be a potent reminder of the "deep hole" we can dig ourselves in...

Thanks Jagdev