Nobody Moves Like Michael Jackson

EPF Not Government's Candy Jar

  On October 21 2008, Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the government will borrow RM 5 billion from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to fund government investment agency Valuecap Sdn Bhd to buy undervalued stocks in the local share market.

Firstly,

What is EPF ?

  Basically, it’s a government organization that handles a compulsory savings scheme for legally employed Malaysian workers in the private sector. Under the EPF, employers put in a certain percentage of their employees monthly salary into the EPF fund as savings for their retirement. 

  As a retirement plan, an employee’s EPF savings can only be withdrawn when he/she reaches 50 years old, during which, with a good reason, they may withdraw only 30% of their EPF savings. Members who are 55 years old or older may withdraw all of their EPF savings.

Who is Valuecap ?

Valuecap is a company established by the Ministry of Finance in 2003 to invest in undervalued stocks in the local share market.

Now let’s get down to the issue.

This whole idea by the government is bad mainly for two reasons.

1. Their stealing our retirement savings.

2. Valuecap is in debt of RM 5.1 billion…..do you trust them with RM 5 billion of the people’s money now ?

  This is how the situation is in a different concept. It’s like me giving you RM 1 to buy me nasi lemak…but at the same time you owe your other friend RM 1. So what guarantee do I have that you will buy my nasi lemak instead of paying your friend and settling your debt with my money ?

How dare they gamble our savings like this when there’s a global economic crisis going on !!

  How can they take our savings for retirement ? Badawi, Najib & our 2nd finance minister Tan Sri Mohamed Yakcop have always said that our bank reserves are very strong, liquidity is ample & high…bla la bla. If so, why rob our savings ? Bloody thieves !!

  Why borrow from EPF in the first place ? Why not borrow from CIMB, SOSCO or our filthy rich Petronas ? Why our savings !! This only creates suspicion that the government is only going to bailout Valuecap from its huge debt.

  On top of that, they’re giving employees the option to reduce their monthly EPF contribution from 11% to 8% for two years thinking that it will put more money in our pockets & help spur the economy. What they forgot is that will drastically reduce our savings in the long-run !! 

  Besides, what’s the point of cutting our EPF rate and giving us more cash when the money is going to go back to the government through the greater amount of income tax that we’ll have to pay ?! The worst part is, employees have to fill in a form to confirm if they want to take the option or not. If they don’t fill in the form by a certain date, their contribution is automatically reduced to 8%...WTF ?! 

  Why give RM 5 billion of our savings to Valuecap when they know that Valuecap has a debt of RM 5.1 billion which is due on February 2009 ? What guarantee is there that Valuecap won’t use the money to settle their debt ?

  Why give it to EPF when they can directly inject the money into the real economy ?...like what they’re doing with the RM 7 billion stimulus package plan..That money is going directly into the economy.

How are they sure that the RM5 billion will be utilised in a transparent manner and not be used to bail out government-linked or crony companies ?

How did Valuecap get into a debt of RM 5.1 billion in the first place ?

Who in Valuecap will invest in what with our EPF money ? Where’s the transparency ?

What if the recession & global economic crisis gets worst ?

What guarantee is there that this plan will work ?

If it fails, will the government pay back the RM 5 billion to EPF ?

Instead of this EPF-Valucap plan, why not do other things to boost the economy such as…

1. Reduce the income tax rate.

2. Cut down the expenditure from Budget 2009 (RM 207 billion!!...highest budget so far…cut a bit la). Save money damn it.

3. Revise the NAP (National Automotive Policy) to be more competitive…stop protecting Proton!!

4. Reduce red tape & give more inducements for foreign investors.

Small things like this & more can improve the economy a lot…why steal from our piggy bank ?

This whole thing is big SCAM & a ROBBERY as far as I’m concerned.

Petrol Price Reductions Make No Sense !!

Does this chart look right ?.... Hell no.... you just need sundry shop mathematics to see what's wrong.

USD/barrel 120 = RM 2.70

USD/barrel 63 = RM 1.92

USD/BARREL 55 = RM 2.00

USD/barrel 48 = RM 1.90

From USD 120 to USD 48...we go from RM 2.70 to RM 1.90 ? A drop of USD 72 only gives us a drop of RM0.70 ? The ratio's are way off man ! The price reductions make no sense !

On November 18th 2008, our Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister, Datuk Shahrir Samad announced that the government had stopped subsidising petrol from November 1st.

Why was this matter announced more than 2 weeks after the government had stopped subsidising petrol and not immediately when they stopped ??

This means that between that duration of time, & even until now, we are paying petrol tax !!

It means that we are subsidising the government !!

In fact, economists say that the petrol price here should be around RM 1.50 ... 40 sens cheaper !

The excuse given by the government for the higher price is because other costs such as refinery and processing is taken into consideration. Ya right.

They also say that even Singapore, UK & Australia are selling petrol above market price. Hello friend, what about all the other countries that are selling petrol at the rightful market price ?

Besides, unlike Malaysia, Singapore, UK & Australia are not oil producing nations !!

  Next they say that the extra money earned from the government from this crappy fuel price mechanism will be used to "improve public transportation & the economy". Ya right, my foot la !!

  Another excuse for the higher price is to reduce the number of vehicles on the road and cultivate the people to use public transport. Well, .... we would use public transport if it was really good !  Besides, sales of vehicles here have dropped tremendously. Which dude will buy a car in the middle of a global economic crisis ??

Past few years, every budget announced will have billions allocated for public transportation. Yet public transportation services have not changed much & still sucks.

  As for improving the economy, I don't buy that excuse. Don't forget, the government has announced a RM 7 billion stimulus package for the improvement of the economy. This RM 7 billion is money saved from the reductions of the fuel subsidy.

  Their also robbing RM 5 billion form the EPF (Employees Provident Fund) to give to some company called ValueCap to invest wisely in the stock market and improve the economy. However, at the same time, ValueCap has a debt of RM 5.1 billion. Doesn't it sound fishy & ironic ? I'll talk about this in the next post.

  So when their having a stimulus package and stealing money from the EPF to improve public transportation and improving the economy, why the need for petrol prices that are higher than the market price ? 

  Aren't they forgetting that we're already burdened with higher toll rates, water & electricity tariffs.... Have they forgotten that Malaysians pay all sorts of other ridiculous taxes ? Not to mention rising food prices ? (I don't give a damn if roti canai & teh tarik falls by 10 sens)

Star newspaper even reported two days ago that the government makes RM16 million a day from this pricing. How can they be so unethical & make profit from the people like this ?

I would really like to know on what basis is petrol prices determined here ?

Who is the genius with the brilliant brains formulating the budget ?

In conclusion, petrol prices should be way cheaper here and the fuel price mechanism should be based according to the market price. Well, as they say, BN = Barang Naik.

  BTW, please don't misunderstand me by saying that I support petrol being subsidised. I don't. Petrol here shouldn't be subsidised anymore. The money saved can be used for better things... but... it's not right for the government to be making profit from the people like this by selling petrol higher than the global market price.