Budget 2013 Summary

/* September 29th, 2012 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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Managed to read the budget speech this afternoon. The full report is at treasury website (http://www.treasury.gov.my/data/anggaran/index.html) but its in separate files. Haven’t read them yet.

 

Definitions

Abject Poverty: Household income below RM440

Poor: Household income below RM750

Low Income: Household income ranges from below RM1500, RM2000 or RM3000 depending on which agency defines it.

Middle Income: Household income between RM3001 and RM8000 (unverified)

References:

http://www.kpwkm.gov.my/nkra/definisi

 

2013 Prospects:

  • Economy to grow between 4.5 and 5.5%
  • Nominal GDP to exceed RM1 trillion.
  • Construction sector to increase 11.2%
  • Services sector to increase 5.6%
  • Budget 2013 allocation 251.6 billion (201.9 billion (~80%) for operating expenses and 49.7 billion for development expenses).
  • Development expenses includes 30 billion for economy (infrastructure, industry, agriculture and rural development), 11.1 billion for social (education, training, health, welfare, housing and community development), 4.6 billion for security, 2 billion for general administration and 2 billion for unexpected expenses.
  • Deficit to reduce from 4.5% to 4%
  • Foreign investment to be rm148.4 billion, from 75.3 billion in 2012 and 59.8 billion in 2011.

The summary below DOES NOT cover oil and gas, and capital/finance market areas.

 

Category Item Details Beneficiaries
Agriculture Oil palm, rubber, high value herbs and paddy RM1.5 billion projects via NKEA EPP Agriculture Industry
Social, Environment River of life Sungai Klang upgrading RM500 million cost Klang Valley residents
Public Water pipes and sewage replacement RM 300 million cost Public in selected areas.
Industry To obtain technologies and acquisition of foreign companies RM1 billion DIS fund Large corporations
SME financing RM1 billion SME bank fund SME
SME financing RM200 million fund SME bank and IDB Halal based SMEs
SME insurance RM5k coverage under group insurance scheme for registered owners for small business (including hawkers). Govt to fund RM16 million Small business owners
SME financing PNB program to obtain loan up to RM25k for licensees and RM500k for licensors for franchising and licensed based business models SMEs
Tour Operators Tax Exemption for 3 years For those bringing in 750 foreign tourist or handle 1500 local tourists a year. Tour operators
Agriculture 4 new Paddy granaries RM140 million allocated Farmers and agroentrepreneurs
Agriculture Fishermen incentive, welfare and insurance RM200 monthly allowance for 55k registered fishermen, insurance scheme and catch incentive programs to continue fishermen
Agriculture

 subsidies RM2.4 billion for various subsidies and incentives to continue Farmers and agropreneurs
Agriculture

 insurance Paddy takaful coverage scheme for 172k farmers having less than 10 ha fields. Each farmer can get RM13k. cost for govt is RM50 million
Social – Povery Eradication financing RM41 million to continue AzamTani project to help 6730 poor participants. Poor families
SME financing RM1 billion SME bank fund Bumiputra SMEs
SME financing TEKUN loan with fund RM350 million, including RM50 for indian community Bumiputra SMEs and Indian SMEs
Education training RM500 million for enhancing teaching skills Teachers
Education construction RM1 billion to maintain schools. RM400 million for national schools, RM100 million each to Tamil, Chinese, mission, religious, boarding and MRSM schools. Schools
Education Pre-school financing RM10k grant to open ECCE centers Pre-school SMEs
Education taxation Double deduction for allowance/subsidies provided for maintenance of centers and employees Pre-school SMEs
Education taxation Income tax exemption for 5 years for center operators Pre-school SMEs
Education preschool 6 centers for children with special needs (down syndrome, autism, blind, hearing and speaking disabilities, physical disabilities and learning disabilities Special needs children
Education Skills training RM440 million loan for trainees via PTPK taking MLVK programs Youths, training centres
Education Skills training RM50 million to train indian students with poor results Indian youths
Health Medical screening Socso allocate RM200 million All socso members between age 40 and 55 (estimated 1.4 million ppl)
Green techonology financing Extend GTFS with 2 billion until 2015. GT producing and using companies
Civil Service – pensioners pension Increase minimum amount from RM720 to RM820 effective 1/1/2013. 50,371 Govt pensioners
Social – Senior citizens Service fees 50% reduction in passport fees starting 2013 Senior citizens
Social – Children Service fees 50% reduction in passport fees starting 2013 Children age 12 and below
Military income Special allowance RM200 per month for all staff starting 2013, cost RM301 million Military staff
Military allowance RM1000 special allowance For armed forces members who don’t receive pension
Civil Service housing Fixed processing fee of RM100 Govt staff
Civil Service bonus 1.5 months bonus. 0.5 paid before Raya, another 0.5 to be paid in December and balance 0.5 in January 2013. Govt staff
Civil Service allowance Training allowance for selected categories 31,135 trainees to get higher allowance.
Public Safety police RM20 million for 1000 motorcycles and motor patrolling unit Police, public
Public Safety Local councils 496 units cctv for 25 local authorities Local authorities
Social – Legal funding Legal aid fund RM20 million Low income public
Social security RM10k grant for registered RA Residents association
Social security RM39 million to finance rukun tetangga activities Rukun tetangga
Public Safety Uniform RM90 million to provide 300k volunteers with uniform RELA members
Public Safety Security equipment ,taxation 100% deduction on security control equipments  in the same year, extended to housing developers Housing developers
Rural development roads RM1.2 billion to develop 441km of roads Rural folks
Rural development Basic infrastructure RM1.6 billion for Water supply (24k houses) and electricity (19k houses) Rural folks
Rural development Economic activities 29 villages and 38k villagers for food processing plants, jetties, marketing centers, tourism complexes, homestays etc Rural folks
Health 1malaysia clinic RM20 million to set up another 70 1malaysia clinics public
Health equipments RM100 million to upgrade 350 clinics and buy 150 dialysis machines Public, kidney disease patients
Economic corporate Train 500 women for director positions Women
SME business RM1000 grant to promote business via online Women SME
Health Mammogram examination RM25k allocation for free examination 100k women aged 40 and above.
Social – welfare Financial assistance RM1.2 billion in various programs Senior citizens, children, disabled workers, chronic illness patients
Social – welfare Income financing RM400 million to continue 1azam programs 58,330 poor participants
SME training New Entrepreneur Foundation RM50 million fund for training and guidance ICT youth entrepreneurs
SME financing SME bank fund RM50 million, loan up to RM100k Youths aged 30 and below
Social – youths financing RM200 rebate to buy smartphones from selected telco. RM300 million allocated 1.5 million youths aged 21 to 30 and income below RM3k.
Transportation discount Discount 50% for ktm komuter users with income less than RM3k Public (low income)
Social – Housing House development 123k houses to be built. RM1.9 billion allocation. Public with income between RM5k (individual) to RM10k (joint) per month for My First Home Scheme.  Low income families for PPR houses etc.
Social – Housing financing 50% stamp duty exemption extended to end of 2014 and house price limit raised to RM400k public
Social – Housing sales RPGT to be 15% (less than 2 years) and 10% (2-5 years). One exemption per lifetime. public
Social – Welfare allowance BR1M RM500 extended to 2012.  For household income below RM3k. Singles aged 21 and above earning  not more than RM2k also eligible for RM250. Allocation RM3 billion. 4.3 million low income households and 2.7 million single unmarried individuals
Social – Health Sugar subsidy reduced Sugar subsidy reduced 20 sen effective 29/9/2012. Public, consumer, F&B industries. 
Economy – Tax Tax reduction Reduction of 1% for tax up to RM50k Those with taxable income of up to RM50k, estimated more than 170k taxpayers won’t pay tax.
Transportation, Education School bus School bus operators get rM1000 rebate and 2% interest rate subsidy to buy new bus. School bus operators
Transportation, Education insurance School children who travel in school bus with permits School children
Education Welfare assistance Text book, meals, food supplement etc. costing RM2.6 billion Low income family school children
Education finance One-off RM100 for every school children continued. RM540 million 540k school children
Higher education finance Book voucher increased to RM250 for IPT and pre-u students. RM325 million allocation 1.3 million pre-u and IPT students
Higher education taxation Tax relief for children higher education increased from RM4k to RM6k beginning 2013 public
Higher education taxation Tax relief for SSPN increased from RM3k to RM6k. public
Higher education financing Discount 20% on full PTPTN settlement and 10% discount per annum for those with consistent repayment record, effective 1/10/2012 PTPTN loan recipients
ICT Internet Centre 100 centers in next 3 years. RM150 million via SKMM public

 In summary, the budget is able to cover certain industries, and also quite a large number of population.

  • Plenty of goodies for youths and senior citizens.
  • There’s no increase in tobacco or alcohol tax, which is surprising since there’s reduction on sugar subsidy on basis of health.
  • The provision of rebate for smartphone is quite unusual, perhaps 1st in the world
  • There’s not much in terms of increasing public transport other than expansion of RapidKL. Maybe the LRT and MRT projects are deemed sufficient. Perhaps could have covered taxi and more buses issues.
  • No increase in health insurance coverage
  • The rebate for broadband fees is not extended beyond 2012.
  • Nothing offered on automobile segment, so looks like have to wait longer
  • Big focus on agriculture, but not sure if it would be enough as capital and operational expenses are quite high.
  • Police and military folks get plenty of good news.
  • Chinese community may be wondering what’s in for them other than the allocation for schools.
  • (Un)Surprising that RM1 billion offered for  bumiputra and another RM1 billion for all. A small amount of RM50 million for Indian community.
  • Middle income families would be getting some tax relief (especially if have children in college/uni), but nothing specific or direct in other areas.
  • the focus on SME is maintained, as a possible avenue for low and middle income folks to pursue.
  • its a pleasant surprise that income tax is reduced for up to RM50,000 taxable income. I personally thought there won’t be any reduction. However this may mean 2014 will see implementation of GST.
  • RPGT is increased to 15% if sell property in 2 years, but it may not deter when profit is as much as 30% for some properties.
  • Security concerns are being addressed, and hopefully the new intake for PDRM will see a more balanced racial population.
  • in terms of short term benefits, the budget is well presented. In terms of long term benefits, its a challenge and impact will be known after few years.

 

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BBN organised Nambikai Nam Nadu Unity Nite concert to unite Indian groups

/* September 7th, 2012 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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Its a good effort obviously, as we seldom have any concerts with performance reflecting the various groups. But I was curious why amidst the representatives from different communities, a leader from religious organisation was also garlanded. You have leaders from Sikh, Malayalee, Telugu and Ceylonese communities, and then there’s president of Malaysian Hindu Sangam.  Yes, Sikhs are based on religious categorisation as well, but I think nearly every Sikh is a Punjabi (maybe I’m wrong here). Wondering what happened to leader from Tamil community. Maybe can’t agree who to choose since got many splinters? But then, choosing a religious organisation leader is not the solution since you’ll then have to include leaders from other faiths like Bahaism, Christianity, Buddhism and Islam (since there are Indians following these faiths). I did ask the organiser but never got a reply. Anyway, that’s just me picking on the small points rather than looking at the bigger picture.

Interesting to note that the president of Barisan Bersatu Nambikei, Kalai Vanar was ex-PKR Jerai division head. He stood for Gurun state seat in 2008 elections but lost to BN candidate. He was (still is?) president of Alternative Action Group, another NGO. I remember him during the commotion when protesting at MPSJ regarding some housing project problem compensation (can search youtube).

 Since this group is interested to unite all the Indian community, why not we follow the association its  president and advisor of BBN. I’m sure they will be excellent role models for us. Here’s their twitter/FB accounts (do read all the interesting tweets they make)

BBN Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Barisan-Bersatu-Nambikkai/441279205895158

Kalaivanar: https://twitter.com/kalaivanar

Ramesh Rao Krishna Naidu: https://twitter.com/RameshRaoAKN (and facebook at http://facebook.com/rameshrao.krishnannaidu)

 Most recently, BBN staged a protest along with other NGOs at the HQ of a political party over the cases where some teenagers stepped on PM photo and also some others carried a flag. Watch the video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEfV9B1cXBg).

So, why wait, do join them and proclaim that you are united!

 

GREETINGS of vanakkam, vanthanam, namashkaram and namastehrang through the hall as five distinguished personalities welcomed their guests at the “Nambikai Nam Nadu” musical extravaganza at the Malawati Satdium in Shah Alam recently.

It was historic of sorts as the musical night was the largest and first of its kind held to unite the major Indian ethnic groups in the country.

More than 50 well-known local Indian singers and musicians kept the night alive with five hours of non-stop music and songs from movies of the black-and-white era to current hits and various cultural dances that kept the audience spellbound until the show closed at midnight.

Organised by non-governmental body Barisan Bersatu Nambikei (BBN), it attracted about 20,000 people from the Sikh, Tamil, Ceylonese, Malayalee and Telugu community.

“The musical night is held for one reason, to unite the entire Indian community under one roof,” said BBN president Kalai Vanar.

Vanar added the “Unity Nite 2012” themed “In Our Country We Place Our Trust” was not all about a one-off gathering but with the objective to unite all the ethnic groups as Indians and not proclaim themselves as different Indian ethnic group.

Meanwhile BBN special adviser Ramesh Rao in his speech pointed out the importance of tolerance among the different groups in order to move forward and develop as the country progressed.

For those who missed out on the show, it was undoubtedly spectacular as the initiative taken by the organisers was commendable.

With a combination of songs, both old and new, the show encouraged the young to search for their roots with respect to music and art.

At the interlude of the musical night, five special guests — Gerak Sikh president Tan Sri G. Darshan Singh Gill, All-Malaysia Malayalee Association president Tan Sri Ravindran Menon, Persatuan Kebajikan & Kebudayaan Telugu president Datuk Dr Prakash Rao, Malaysian Ceylonese Congress president Datuk Dr NKS Tharmaseelan and Malaysia Hindu Sangam president S. Mohan Shan were each garlanded with the traditional Indian shawls as a mark of respect.

source: http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2012/9/4/central/11918070&sec=central

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Mass marriage registration ceremony for 59 couples

/* September 7th, 2012 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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This is yet another good effort by DHRRA Malaysia. Imagine if the couples continue to live without legal records, the problems faced by their children will multiply.

The problem of unregistered marriage lies with couples who either don’t think its important or is unaware.  Programs like this, hopefully would create awareness.

And yet, I wonder if in future the concept of marriage will cease to exist. If you have kids, just need to ensure the father and mother columns are filled.

THEY may not have been blushing brides and grooms, but they were certainly a bunch of relieved couples after having their marriages legalised in a mass registration ceremony held at Kuil Sri Siva Muniswara Alayam in Jalan Ipoh recently.

About 59 couples between the ages of 22 and 60, decked in their bestsarees and dhotis, the women wearing flowers in their hair and the men big smiles, registered their marriages at the temple in front of witnesses.

The event was organised by DHRRA Malaysia (Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas), a non-governmental organisation which helps the Indian community living in rural areas on various socialrelated issues.

Perfect union: Couples taking their oaths after the registration.
Perfect union: Couples taking their oaths after the registration.

DHRRA women’s programme director Nanthini Ramalo said that during their outreach programmes conducted in small towns all over the country, they realised that many couples lacked important documents such as marriage certificate.

“The problem lies in the fact that many couples, including the younger generation seem to give more importance to traditional marriage ceremonies and that registering the marriage is not necessary,”Nanthini said.

“They fail to realise that a non-legal marriage will result in their children being deemed as born out of wedlock and spouses who have not registered their marriages will not benefit from Socso and government pensions if one of their partners were to pass on,” she said.

“We explained to them its importance and we’re happy that many turned out today,” Nanthini said, adding that DHRRA will be carrying out more of such programmes in the future.

source: http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2012/9/7/central/11957302&sec=central

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Supermum Devigi

/* September 4th, 2012 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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husband has heart disease, brother-in-law bedridden, sister-in-law a diabetic, and all 3 kids having muscular dystrophy, but she didn’t give up!

 

THERE were several times when S. Devigi wanted to commit suicide after all three of her children were diagnosed with muscular dystrophy.

But her determination to provide the best for them stopped her.

“I don’t know how I got through it.

“I remember selling fried rice, noodles and thosai at night to pay for my children’s medical and educational expenses.

“It was a harrowing experience. I had thought about taking my own life but could not do it when I see my children’s faces,” said the teary-eyed Devigi when met at their dilapidated house at the JKR quarters.

Apart from taking care of her children, Devigi is also looking after her husband, V. Ugjayan, 52, who suffers from a heart disease, her bedridden brother-in-law and a diabetic sister-in-law.

However, the 53-year-old woman, dubbed as the “supermum” is now a happy mother.

Proud moment : (from left) Zuraidah, Devigi, her husband Ugjayan, Dr Rajendran and two other representatives of the NCM posing with a mock cheque with Devigi’s children on the wheelchair- (from left) Abby, Meghala and Gopi.Proud moment : (from left) Zuraidah, Devigi, her husband Ugjayan, Dr Rajendran and two other representatives of the NCM posing with a mock cheque with Devigi’s children on the wheelchair- (from left) Abby, Meghala and Gopi.

Her children, Nyanamambiga @ Abby, 27, Meghala, 26, and Gopi, 24, are all independent and are helping with the family’s expenses.

Abby works part-time as an executive administrator at the college where she is pursuing a Business degree, while Meghala designs greeting cards and sells them online.

Gopi, meanwhile, works part-time as a deejay at wedding receptions.

The family’s household income has now increased to between RM1,000 and RM1,500 compared to the few hundred ringgit Devigi earned in the past.

“I am happy to see my children earning money despite being wheelchair-bound.

“Thank God I did not give up and continued to fight,” Devigi said.

Devigi, who has stopped working, is now saving up to build a house on her husband’s land in Sungai Manggis, Banting.

The family is still in need of about RM60,000 to build the house.

Prof Dr M. Rajendran, who handles the family’s trust fund, said RM97,000 had since been collected from kind donors.

“Many have contributed to Devigi after her plight was highlighted by The Star.

“The Star is one of the contibutors to Devigi’s family,” he said.

Northport Corporation Berhad (NCB) Holdings Bhd donated RM20,000 to the family recently.

Its director Datuk Zuraidah Atan, who handed over a mock cheque to Devigi, said the effort was part of NCB’s corporate social responsibility.

In March this year, The Star had highlighted Devigi’s life story, calling her a supermum for single-handedly taking care of her loved ones.

For information, contact Dr Rajendran at 012-229 4518.

source:

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more non-malays have applied or have joined civil service?

/* September 4th, 2012 by poobalan | View blog reactions No comments »
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I read few media sources and ended up confused.  Nearly all reports said the number of applications increased (nearly tripled) to 5.6% out of 1.2 million applications between the period of June and August (3 months)  as compared to just 2% as of May. refer (Bernama, Malaysian Insider, Malaysiakini). The excerpt below is from TMI:

The government’s efforts to get more non-Malays to join the civil service seem to be bearing fruit.

Job applications from non-Malays rose to 5.6 per cent between June and August this year compared to only two per cent as of May out of the 1.2 million applications received through the Public Service Commission (PSC), said PSC chairman Tan Sri Mahmood Adam (picture).

He attributed the increase to the large-scale campaigns carried out in the Chinese and Tamil print media as well as the dialogues held throughout the country.

 

But according to the Star, its not application but “joining” the civil service:

There has been an increase in the number of non-Malays joining the country’s civil service workforce in the last three months.

“There has been a marked increased from 2% to 5.6% of the total number of non-Malays joining the civil service throughout the country since June,” disclosed Public Service Commission (PSC) chairman Tan Sri Mahmood Adam during the press conference after launching Pusat Temu Duga SPA Malaysia office here Tuesday.

Mahmood said this marked increase in the numbers of non-Malays joining the civil service workforce were an indication that PSC’s strategy on perception and direct public engagement are showing positive results.

Looks like The Star made an error here.

Regardless of the number of applicants, to have a more balanced population we have to look at the number of people hired and also the vacancies available. According to PSC chairman, for next two years, the vacancies will be low since retirement age has been extended till 60.  Estimated 7000 vacancies will be available for each of the coming two years.  Now, even if all the 14,000 posts are given to non-Malays, it will barely increase the percentage by 1%! Now, how (and when) are we going to increase the non-Malay percentage to, say about 35%?  Sure, you can take in temporary or contract staff as stop-gap measure, but its not a long term solution (like increasing front counter staff from 1000 to 3000). Create new posts? Not feasible as it means more civil servants => more salary and pension payments. So how?

It will be interesting to hear the reply to MP Hulu Selangor P.Kamalanathan’s oral question number 9 (refer here).

Its not easy to undo few decades of discrimination.

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