High income, Mr PM, but what about those with hardly any income?

The day after Najib Tun Razak delivered his first national budget, I had writ:

"The Star haedlined it as Budget of gifts,
and the opening paragraph truly makes the average Malaysia feel "prosperous" since he/she is assumed nigh high-income...if you take His word for it. I am not the "average" Malaysia, I don't. Is Desi digressing?

Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's maiden Budget focused on the well-being of the people. Base (sic, from Star Online version...) on his "1Malaysia, Together We Prosper" concept, the Budget 2010 is aimed at making Malaysia a high-income economy and ensuring holistic and sustainable development.

My first reaction was: Since when has the BN Government been thinking along "holistic" and sustainable modes in policy-making?

Continuing the critique today, after more rumination:

When I wrote "...since he/she is assumed nigh high-income...",it is questioning the basis of the PM's goal of making Malaysia a high-income economy...". Of course Desi was being sarcastic -- I need to state this case because some of the BN leaders are prettyNdumb -- when I posed:
"Since when has the BN Government been thinking along "holistic" and sustainable modes in policy-making?"

Also relevant are some points raised by the MTUC chief, and one R Navaratnam who wears many hats sometimes Desi doesn't know hwere he's comoing from or heading, but for once, I agree with his opinions as carried in the Star report which is reproduced from its Online edition:)



Tuesday October 27, 2009
MTUC disappointed Budget did not address income levels


PETALING JAYA: Budget 2010 was aimed at making Malaysia a ‘high-income society’ but MTUC has expressed disappointment that minimum wage was not ad-dressed.

Its president Syed Shahir Syed Mohamud said: “Income levels must be raised in view of the rise in the cost of living in the country.”

Syed Shahir said MTUC would continue to push the Government to introduce a minimum wage of RM900 for private sector workers in the country.

Meanwhile, ASLI’s Centre of Public Policy Studies chairman Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam said: “On one hand the Prime Minister wants to raise income but there is no provision for a minimum wage in the budget.”

Navaratnam also said that the fastest way to raise income without going through the pangs of economic transformation was by introducing a minimum wage.

He said a minimum wage would also help fight poverty and make a breakthrough in the present mid-income trap that it faces.

“The minimum wage can be based on the poverty threshold of RM700 a month,” he suggested.

He also said at present many shunned low-income jobs as they had to work so hard for so little.

“Because of this, some engage in undesirable activities such as crime in order to get a quick buck.

“Also, the dependence on foreign workers can be reduced if there is a minimum wage that provides for a decent standard of living,” he added.

Earlier, Navaratnam had written an open letter to the government calling for the introduction of a basic wage.

PS: In fact YL Chong raised this issue with then Labour Minister Lee San Choon when I was still a young and eager newsdog sniffing out the Pearl of the Orient then still in pristine glory. But eon years later, the BN Government still sells a lot of PR stories but hardly delivers.

To average Joe and Jane Malaysian which includes Desi, don't talk to us of aiming for HIGH-INCOME when large sections of the population are still living below hardcore poverty and poverty lines. And for pensioners and retirees and homeless without the extended family networks, who the blardy hell cares for them?