The Malaysian government is tapping into the perceived euphoria among people following the stunning results in this month’s national elections by urging them to contribute in the reduction of the country’s RM1 trillion (S$337 billion) debt burden.
The newly elected government in the country had earlier said that the debt of the country was more than had been earlier disclosed by the earlier government and then the government set up what is called a Tabung Harapan, or the Hope Fund, urging enthusiastic citizens of Malaysia to contribute to the cause.
The government wants to ensure that the contributions from patriotic Malaysians should reach the Ministry of Finance, said Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad while announcing the fund on Wednesday.
"Many Malaysians, after knowing the bad state of the country s financial position, are willing to make donations to the government," Tun Dr Mahathir said at a press conference after chairing a meeting of the Cabinet.
"We welcome their patriotic attitude and express our gratitude to them," he added.
In order to boost the budget, thousands of contract workers have been dismissed, ministerial salaries have been cut and projects worth millions of dollars have been cancelled by Dr Mahathir.
“There are signs of awareness from the people to lend their support to the government,” Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said in a press statement on Wednesday.
“The people voluntarily want to share their earnings with the government to help ease the burden.”
allegations of corruption and discontent over rising living costs were the primary drivers for the ouster of former prime minister Najib Razak and the first ever election of the opposition ot the country’s government.
This is not the first time that citizens of a country have contributed to their government’s efforts to boost the economy or to bring out the economy from a crisis. Earlier, citizens of Thailand and South Korea have pooled their money to support their respective government in raising funds for country’s budget during the Asian financial crisis in 1998. At that time, both the countries saw housewives and men queueing up to give a part of their wealth to the betterment of the country’s economy.
Earlier, Malaysian lawmakers had suggested that the people interested in donating money should refrain from doing so to any unauthorized campaigns until such time that the program is authorized by the new cabinet.
There were many Malaysians who used the social media to express their interest and readiness in donating wealth to aid the government to get the debt burden reduced after the recent announcement by the government that the national debt of the country has surpassed RMI 1 trillion.
(Source:www.straitstimes.com))
The newly elected government in the country had earlier said that the debt of the country was more than had been earlier disclosed by the earlier government and then the government set up what is called a Tabung Harapan, or the Hope Fund, urging enthusiastic citizens of Malaysia to contribute to the cause.
The government wants to ensure that the contributions from patriotic Malaysians should reach the Ministry of Finance, said Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad while announcing the fund on Wednesday.
"Many Malaysians, after knowing the bad state of the country s financial position, are willing to make donations to the government," Tun Dr Mahathir said at a press conference after chairing a meeting of the Cabinet.
"We welcome their patriotic attitude and express our gratitude to them," he added.
In order to boost the budget, thousands of contract workers have been dismissed, ministerial salaries have been cut and projects worth millions of dollars have been cancelled by Dr Mahathir.
“There are signs of awareness from the people to lend their support to the government,” Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said in a press statement on Wednesday.
“The people voluntarily want to share their earnings with the government to help ease the burden.”
allegations of corruption and discontent over rising living costs were the primary drivers for the ouster of former prime minister Najib Razak and the first ever election of the opposition ot the country’s government.
This is not the first time that citizens of a country have contributed to their government’s efforts to boost the economy or to bring out the economy from a crisis. Earlier, citizens of Thailand and South Korea have pooled their money to support their respective government in raising funds for country’s budget during the Asian financial crisis in 1998. At that time, both the countries saw housewives and men queueing up to give a part of their wealth to the betterment of the country’s economy.
Earlier, Malaysian lawmakers had suggested that the people interested in donating money should refrain from doing so to any unauthorized campaigns until such time that the program is authorized by the new cabinet.
There were many Malaysians who used the social media to express their interest and readiness in donating wealth to aid the government to get the debt burden reduced after the recent announcement by the government that the national debt of the country has surpassed RMI 1 trillion.
(Source:www.straitstimes.com))
Homepage
Send to a friend
Printable version
Share
