Nadirah

Just last week, the Muhyddin administration presented their budget for 2021. Interestingly, Twitterjaya mentions and sentiment appeared less than thrilled, with Tengku Zafrul Aziz, the current Finance Minister, receiving quite a brunt of Malaysian Twitter netizens displeasure.

While criticism of government budgets is a traditional annual event, the air about it feels different for 2020. This year, public disapproval—at least the ones online—seems more visceral than usual, aggravated by the rakyat’s already building frustration due to the coronavirus pandemic as well as the continuous gaffes by the government in response to the recent wave of Covid-19 cases. Public trust in politicians on both divides is tanking, and after the Budget voting fiasco, it’s anyone’s guess how that trust is going to be rebuilt (if it was even there to begin with).

Yu Leng
The Muhyiddin administration is relatively safe until the final budget vote (3rd reading) on 17th December. It won this first hurdle by a walk over! It means that the opposition does not have the strength to topple it. There has been so much chatter in Kuala Lumpur about ruling coalition factions sitting out and even about opposition factions negotiating deals for a unity approach. But the Prime Minister is all powerful in Malaysia’s winner-takes-all political economy.

The “voice vote” and the inexplicable no-vote-silence of major parts of the opposition came as a big surprise yesterday.  Let’s not forget that the underlying mood in Malaysia appears rather negative despite this being seen as a pro-Bumiputera budget. Looking beyond the intellectual chat groups, I was surprised to see how negative is sentiment in Twitter on belanjawan (budget in Malay) and regarding the Minister of Finance. This is another (wider) bubble of opinion but the deteriorating sentiment since the Budget Speech on 6 November is still notable. 

Trumpian politics does point to the big weight of the rural vote while urbanites may be left to whinge on. Those relying on urban votes may feel they sit strong in their niches too. But politicians across the spectrum should not forget there is deep suspicion that double standards (for their benefit) has taken Malaysia from a stellar position in Covid-19-economic mitigation to a plummeting situation; on the back of the free-and-easy approach they all took in the Sabah election in recent months. The obvious Covid-19 SOP exemptions they enjoy are also splashed across social media. The strong wave of Covid-19 cases post-Sabah and the movement restrictions have pulled the rug out from under the rakyat’s feet yet again. Belanjawan/Budget 2021 has to spend wisely to mend all this.

This unprecedentedly awkward budget process will increase distrust in politicians. All politicians will be answering tough questions. The opposition on why so many did not push for a formal count? The PN-BN group about accountability and oversight of Budget spending; to address Malaysia’s chronic untargeted spending problem. The country has been running budget deficits since the Asian Financial Crisis in the late 1990s and even the short-lived Pakatan Harapan administration had a bigger Budget than the Najib administration, and on and on it goes.

Sharon

Instead of allowing people to access their EPF savings, the government should have worked with the banks for an extension of the moratorium for loans. The government as regulators has the ability to make the banks toe the line while the banks are able to withstand the deferred service of loans. Technically, the banks’ are not registering losses but merely deferring profits. A moratorium on the loans would give individuals and businesses a lot of breathing space as they navigate through this difficult climate. As it is many have lost jobs and businesses shuttered, the moratorium would prevent a whole lot of NPLs.

Another case against the EPF withdrawal is RM10,000 would not go very far for most people. Whether it is a one off withdrawal or in 12 instalments, it will not be able to tide much more than three months. What happens after that? As it stands, Malaysians don’t have enough savings in EPF for their retirement. Taking out RM10,000 is a big sum for the lower income earners and would seriously affect their retirement fund.