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Thursday, June 26, 2008

Government servant as petty traders?/ 公务员兼商的利弊

通膨上涨,生活拮据负担日益剧增,人民无一幸免。政府体恤公务员,为缓和涨价和通膨对公务员生活带来的冲击,早前批准公务员兼职。因考虑到公务员兼职或引发的滥权、工作表现低落、恶性经济竞争等因素,关于这项决定,我不表示赞成,也在6月15日的部落贴中详析己见。今天,政府另有打算,计划批发短期小本从商执照予公务员。我认为这项计划弊过于利,因为:

1. 要启营生意需要一笔资金,若身无分文他们则必须向政府或MARA(土著)贷款。这种情况下自营生意,预见贷款摊还率将非常低。
2. 任何一种生意都需要特定的专业技术和经验。若从零开始,此刻才开始学习做生意的窍门,无可避免他们会分心,以致忽略正职,直接影响了在正职的表现。
3. 如果他们将营业执照出租,而没有亲身参与和经营这盘生意,可能会招致滥用资源等弊端。
4. 此外,这也会在传统的同行间制造竞争,促使同行迁怒于公务员。

要全面帮助低收入的人民,政府应该认真考虑为所有低收入者提供现金生活津贴,并鼓励私人领域仿效此策,以协助低收入群体渡过这个艰难时刻。别忘了,我国的1千万人力市场中,只有100万人在政府领域工作,其余的900万人来自私人机构。据了解,大部分在私人领域工作的低收入群体每月薪金低于1千500令吉,对一家三口而言,1千500令吉只能糊口。所以,在私人领域工作也不能保证生活宽裕。

据我了解,一些国家的政府每月都会为低收入家庭提供现金补贴,以拉近国民收入悬殊,更实际和有效地减轻低收入群体的生活负担。其实这项政策值得我国政府研究和效法。大马政府也应该认真考虑为低收入者直接分发现金补贴。随着石油价格逐年高涨,国际石油价格每涨一美元,作为原油出口国之一的大马每年就能赚取2亿5千万令吉。目前石油每桶已从60美元涨至143美元,以这两年的石油行情来推算,国油公司应该大唱丰收,而政府应该拥有绝对足够的流动资源,为低收入民众实施现金补贴。我的建议,并非要求国油将所有的石油受益捐作国内的燃油津贴,而是挪出将部分的利润,以现金方式帮助穷人。

我呼吁政府能慎重地考虑这项建议,因为这是帮助低收入人民最直接、简单的方法之一。政府需要做的只是鉴定低收入的定义和薪额组别,确保只有落在设定组别的人士受惠。

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First, the government talked about part time job for government servant and I’ve written about this in my blog 3 weeks ago. Now, the government is thinking to give license to government servant to be petty traders on short term basis. Again, I must say that this is not a well thought out plan.

1) To start a small business, you need capital and if they take a small loan from government or MARA if they are bumiputra, it is likely they will default.
2) Any form of business needs expertise and experience. It cannot start from nowhere. If they start learning the trick of the trade, they will neglect their work.
3) Abuse will definitely set in since they can rent out license and they become absentee operators.
4) It creates competition and makes the traditional small petty traders angry with government servant.

The government should seriously think of coming out with cash or Cash of Living Allowance (COLA) to help the lower income group to tie over this difficult period. In the same way, the government should impress upon the private sector to do the same. We must not forget, out of the 10 million workforces, only 1 million is with the government, the remaining 9 million is with the private sector. The lower income group in private sector is equally suffering since majority of workers are receiving less that RM1500 per month and it is difficult to survive for a family of three on income of only RM1500 per month.
Direct funding by cash is one option that government should seriously consider. It is simple and directly benefiting the lower income group. The windfall profit from the increase of the oil price can be a source of this funding. For every US$1 increase in oil price, Petronas will make RM250 million per year. Since oil price has gone up from US$60 to US$130 a barrel in the last 2 years, Petronas is looking to bumper profit this year. I’m not advocating that Petronas profit should all be channeled as subsidy for petrol, rather one of the options is direct cash aid to the poor. What the government needs to do is to determine at what income level before they are entitled to these funding.

15 comments:

Unknown said...

Dr, giving license to government as petty traders? Come on, the government must be crazy? You have said it all in your post, how can someone doing a full time government job can get his job properly discharged if he gets in to business of his own again?

That is the problem with our government. When they face a problem, they simply think of a quick-fix solution, without going through properly thinking process. Like the Chinese saying goes, “when there is headache cure the headache; when there in pain at the foot, kill the pain.” There must be an overall, long term and comprehensive solution. Thinking of a comprehensive programme to stimulate the economy to increase peoples’ salaries is one.

I said it in one of your blog topics, Malaysians today largely find their incomes insufficient to cover the cost of living because we are forever not going up to higher technology level and capital intensive industries. We are satisfied with labour intensive industries because we can get cheap labour from neighboring countries, thereby artificially press down our salaries. With that, how can you have enough to survive?

Malaysia has one of the highest ratios of government servants in the world; your figure of 1 million in grossly under estimated. To be fair, there is some improvement in government office service over the last 2-3 years, but generally it is still very much left to be desired. Their services can only be described as mediocre. Going to do part-time business? Their services will go further down the drain.

Salaries for government servants have been revised several times in the last 2 years. In fact, their salaries are much higher than many in the private sectors. Has the government thought of helping those in the private sectors?

All in all, this proposal is an ill thought one, and is not going to go down well with the public.

NEIL said...

Dr, How nice it would be if your cola plan can be implement.I suggest those earning below RM1000 are entitled to RM500 monthly rebates.But giving jobs is better than giving money.About giving license to gov't servant I think this ideas come from a third class brain person.You see there are guys who want to shows off their IQ when they start saying all this shit.This stupid guys just don't know what they are talking.All they want is to make some noise to attract attention.Their balls is bigger than their brains.Show you brilliance not you stupidity.

NEIL said...

Dr,Which race default most?Yes,if this plan is allow to go through then I think there will be another mad rush to get this 'non-returnable' loan.May be we can call this ANG_POW loan.sound better!

orangtua said...

Dr. I have to agree with you. I just think of one case where a hamburger seller who has to compete with a government servant who chose to sell hamburgers to supplement his income. The government servant will have to spend his time to procure and prepare the materials before he can open his stall daily. Suppose he is a superman who can do it outside his office hours I believe he stills occupies his mind with the business during his office hours. When trouble crops up his full attention will not be on the job.

Imagine him setting up his business next to a full time operator. He will be in full competition with the poor guy. He can also use his government connections to create trouble for the full time guy. Meanwhile the full time operator will not only have to compete with the civil servant for business and at the end of the day also have to pay tax to the government so that the government can in turn pay his competitor who also doubles as a civil servant. This can apply to all other business the government servant choses to be involved in.

My advice is if the government servant feels he is underpaid, there is always the option to quit his job and compete outside as an ordinary citizen. Thank you

KIMHO8 said...

GOSH, HOW AM I GOING TO SURVIVE?

IS MCA GOING TO FIGHT FOR US
(CHINESE PETTY TRADERS) OR
JUST ASK US GO AND DIE?

GOVERNMENT NEVER GIVE US ANY CHANCE AT ALL. DOUBLE STANDARD!

TOO MUCH!

KIMHO8 said...

My friend told me most of the

government servant and GLC staff

usually after they have punch their

card and turn themselves into

hollow man. No wonder when I go to picked

stock from supplier on yesterday, I

can see many of them around even

some in uniform.

AYO, SAYA KENA GULUNGKAN TIKAR DAN BUNGKUSKAN DIRI SYA DENGAN TIKAR ITU SAHAJALAH!

collosos said...

Capitalism democracy is a form of government that enable the consumer part of the society to rise up in power, to leech themselves onto the productive workforce of the society, to suck out the juicy labour of these productive workforce and to waste and strip the earth's resources for their own survival.

These consumer society is called "Manusia Negatif" or "Yin" people.

Who are they?

They are the bankers, business-owners, property developers, insurance agents, merchants, traders, finance executives, stock brokers, importers-distributors, sales&marketing executives, economists, accountants, auditors, media executives, advertising executives, PR exectutives, entertainers, journalists, lawyers, etc..

They produce nothing concrete but only papers with words and number figures on it.

The most extreme of them are called Ultra-right wingers, those who seek political power and wield influence by using capital.

If Mao Tze Tung were still alive, he would describe them as "Paper Tigers".

Their source of power is coming from Bankers who create paper money out from thin air.

So naturally, these Bankers are on the same side with the insurance agents or stock brokers or equity traders because they are doing the same business, selling papers.

It is very, very, very easy for these capitalists to create and sell papers such as loans, shares, stocks, insurance policies, debts, securities, etc than doing real productive work like making physical goods.

The whole Western banking-finance services is nothing but a big scam, designed to leech off, cheat and rob the productive workforce of their labours.

Banking and finance institutions of Western world has been institutionalized starting in Great Britain in 1694, USA and Canada in 1913.

The true wealth of a nation are the goods and services created from the productive workforce of its society and money is just a medium of exchange for these transactions.

KIMHO8 said...

馬來霸權一定不會倒,
華人恐怕輸到牙都掉!

蔡添強與羅志昌會不會好像
MCA和GERAKAN一樣的槽糕!

還是李光耀眼光最遠最高,
當初痛苦決定絕對錯不了!

KIMHO8 said...

What a joker?

Why not every comment can be plublished?

Please don't choose those are beneficial to you only.

Scare! How popular are Lim Kit Siang's and Anwar Ibrahim's blogs?

Lousy, Bye-bye!

KIMHO8 said...

Respect and Salute. Thankyou!

Keep it up. MCA has no intention to do anything for the rakyat not even to Chinese.

You have more guts than them.
Proud of you!

KIMHO8 said...

What can MCA kepala do?
Sell air kelapa now!

Camon said...

Dr....

If the BN do implement such silly policy as to give license to government servant as petty trader, the end result would be the AH LONG would rule the country in no time!

Why, you might ask me,.... well in the first instance they would get their free loans from the govt. and with the loan, part of it would be invested to the so-called petty business and the other part to buy cars, or renovate the house etc....

When their businesses fails, the Ah Long would be their helping them as saviour ..... Habis lah,,
The so-called petty trader becomes the tools of the Ah Long and can cause havoc in the administration by sabotaging the files etc......

Do the govt. want this to happen? I think the govt. is lost for direction and I strongly feel a change of govt. is good remedy for the Nation. What do the readers think?

Doc, do comment on the Raja Petra SD .... We want to see your view on this matter!!!

People of your calibre should comment on high profile news and when you put your thought.... we as reader can see what type of leader you are. Brave like Yong Teck Lee or chicken like Ong Ka Ting...

Pearls said...

I have got nothing to say.. I am speechless!!! BN is beyond stupid. Sigh...can die or not???!!

Unknown said...

Dr. Chua

Agree, agree...but only for the poor. We can do it now but not forever.

Nobody want to be subsidised rakyat.

呉 和豪 said...

Dr Chua9

In principle I do not favour the part time job , in fact I do not agree with me of involving in blogging and politic but because of my concern over the problem caused by finiancial turmoil and 318.Honnestly I am regret of what I had done ,I pray that situation
will become better and I will have a full focus on my job and no more 不务正业. I would rather suggest the government to give relevant training to government staff and increase their income based on productivity and performance. I had been working in private firm for number of years and I know very well no boss like their worker to do part time,because of conflict of interest and because loss of focus.The same principle applies to public sector

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