TTF: Putrajaya’s “Jualan Sentuhan Rakyat” is proof that the cost of living is high due to the Goods and Services Tax (GST), says Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng (see news item below). According to him, the sale was to shift conversations away from the high prices of goods which he attributed to the 6 per cent tax.
Yes, as far as Guan Eng is concerned, everything good the government does is a smokescreen to conceal its shortcomings. Even with there being hundreds of new hypermarkets and mini-markets sprouting by the year, on the 8th of February 2018, the Chief Minister impressed upon us that the economy was in tatters, hinging his arguments solely on the grouses of one hypermarket owner.
So here’s the deal – I’ll willingly support all conclusions drawn by Guan Eng regarding the state of our country’s affairs if he agrees to all the conclusions I have drawn (below) regarding the state of his affairs. After all, I don’t foresee any reason he would not agree to the deal, given that the manner in which I derived my conclusions makes a hell of a lot more sense than the half past six logic he uses to derive his.
So without further ado, here goes:
Event One: On the 26th of February 2017, Lim Guan Eng launched the “Painting Penang Purple” campaign, a year-long cancer awareness drive by the Penang Adventist Hospital to help reduce the impact of cancer on the people.
Motive: The Chief Minister wanted to bug the eyes of Penangites by getting them to think that he was concerned about cancer deaths in Kampung Sungai Lembu, deaths that were attributed to an illegal factory billowing plumes of carcinogenic dust that his own administration protected and refused to shut down.
Event Two: On the 31st of July 2016, Lim Guan Eng ‘surprised’ people in the Penang Hill area when he turned up for a blood donation campaign at the hill’s JKKK Hall. The event was organised by the Penang General Hospital in collaboration with the Air Putih constituency as an effort to increase the hospital’s blood stock.
Motive: The Chief Minister wanted to divert attention from the alleged Bungalow-for-Land scam conspiracy that was all the news the month before. He needed the people to know that as Chief Minister, he was all about health and not the accumulation of wealth by striking under-the-counter deals with friends of his wife.
Event Three: On the 30th of June 2016, the DAP launched a donation drive to replenish its coffers after having posted a RM1 million bail. The bail was to secure Lim Guan Eng’s release after the Chief Minister was charged with abuse of power and corruption by the Penang High Court.
Motive: The DAP was seeking to impress upon people that the party was poor and struggled for the rakyat. On the 1st of July 2016 – the day after the bail was posted – Chow Kon Yeow announced that the collection crossed the RM1 million mark less than 24 hours after a RM10 fundraiser was launched. To date, the party has yet to make public the total funds collected and what it did with the surplus, meaning, there is just that much the DAP keeps hidden from the rakyat.
Event Four: On the 25th of February 2018, Lim Guan Eng took a swipe at his critics by accusing them of ‘bullying’ Robert Kuok. The Chief Minister implied that Kuok was being targeted by UMNO simply because the businessman was Chinese and could easily be bullied.
Motive: The Chief Minister was attempting to steer conversations away from the multibillion Penang Undersea Tunnel project, which is nothing but a huge smokescreen billowed from his office in Komtar to mask a massive land scam deal. He was trying to impress upon voters that like Kuok, he was being targeted by Barisan Nasional simply because he was a Chinese.
I await Guan Eng’s response with sheer anticipation.
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GEORGE TOWN: Putrajaya’s “Jualan Sentuhan Rakyat” is proof that the cost of living is high due to the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng insisted today.
Lim claimed the federal government’s sale campaign was to detract from the high prices of goods due to the 6 per cent consumption tax.
“By organising this campaign, it only means they are admitting that the prices of things are too high now,” he said.
Lim who is also DAP secretary-general was commenting on a recent “Jualan Sentuhan Rakyat” in Kepala Batas on mainland Penang that was organised by the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism and attended by thousands seeking to buy household items and groceries, including chicken and eggs, priced below market value.
The Bagan MP claimed the sale campaign would not win over Malaysians as they were aware that prices were inflated allegedly due to the GST.
He then told Malaysians not to be duped if the Barisan Nasional were to later promise a revision to the GST rate in its election pledge.
“There is no use revising because as long as GST is there, it will go up, so don’t be tricked by BN,” he said.
He pointed to Singapore’s revision of its GST rate, which was initially set at 3 per cent but has since been increased to 6 per cent.
“Singapore’s economy is good so they can afford it but we can’t afford it here,” Lim said.
Source: The Malay Mail Online
