HUMAN Resources Minister Datuk Seri M. Saravanan’s recent stroll along the hallway of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s (KLIA) in his semi-yellow man attire (jacket, shoes and hand luggage) has somehow rekindled the yesteryears’ fond memory of the “DiGi Yellow Man” mascot.
To re-cap, the chubby, cheerful character with yellow skin in a yellow body suit has eventually became a national icon adored by fans – whether DiGi network subscribers or otherwise – so much so that there were pleads not to remove him from the airwave.
In his very much yellow attire Facebook posting, one would easily assume that the Tapah MP was gearing up for a vacation although the truth is that he was preparing for a take-off to Washington DC as part of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s entourage to the ASEAN-US Special Summit from May 12-13.
Apart from the MIC deputy president, also joining Ismail Sabri in the long haul journey is International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, according to Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah, although it is unclear if the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) leader will be part of the US-bound delegation as well.
Also, the Wisma Putra statement did not stipulate the exact number of headcount in the PM’s delegation which is crucial to determine the total expenditure or to ascertain if it is worthwhile to have so many participants, especially at a time when the ringgit has depreciated substantially against major global currencies.
Or to put it bluntly – while it is vital to rub shoulders with US President Joe Biden who will meet with the ASEAN heads of government – it is equally vital to know that Malaysia can ill-afford to be spendthrift at this juncture.
This comes in the wake of the value of ringgit having taken a severe beating against the greenback (RM4.37), euro (RM4.60) and even the Singapore dollars (RM3.15) to name a few red flags.
Curbing wastage
It is hoped that the relevant departments who oversee or approve budgets or reimbursements for the overseas trips of ministers/public servants practice a belt-tightening policy by ensuring a comfortable (as opposed to lavish) budget allotment is set aside for official business while schedules must be short with only a small delegation, among others.
Also, they must put in place stringent key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure that those who embark on overseas trip will produce a report within a week upon their return by specifying the objectives of their mission abroad, who attended the trip, who they met up with, and most importantly, in what way will Malaysia benefit from their trips (economic/financial value).
This is because as Malaysia moves to the endemic phase with its international borders re-opening, it is only common sense to expect more and more ministers/senior public servants to announce their respective working visits or tour of duty abroad.
And that goes without saying that the poor taxpayers have to accommodate a rather ‘bloated’ Cabinet size of 31 ministers and 38 deputy ministers (compared to Japan which has 20 ministers of state).
To be frank, this is not to curtail ministers/public servants to embark on working trips for the very fact that Malaysia cannot exist in isolation, but merely to plug leakages and wastage emanating from poorly strategised official trips abroad.
To paint a bigger picture, Malaysia has not fully recovered yet from the economic devastation stemming from two solid years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The very fact remains that the country is currently sitting on a mountain of debts with the World Bank projecting Malaysia’s fiscal deficit to widen to 6.5% in 2021 (2020: 5.1%) following an upward relief spending by 0.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) while revenue collection slipped downwards by 0.5% of GDP.
Equally worrisome is that the Government’s debt which stood at RM979.8 bil as of end-December 2021 or 63.4% of GDP as per what Deputy Finance Minister I Datuk Mohd Shahar Abdullah told the Dewan Rakyat on March 22.
Recall how the then-Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming was left intrigued as to how former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak could have spent RM44.07 mil for his overseas trips in the span of five years up to May 2013 (and this is only one ministerial portfolio).
“This means he has spent RM8.814 mil a year and RM734,000 a month,” he pointed out, referring to a written reply from the then Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim on July 17, 2013.
Nga said he was especially shocked by the amount given that Najib’s predecessor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (2003-2009) only spent less than RM30 mil during his stint.
“I urge the PM to justify this amount, and what he has achieved from these visits especially since we are tabling the supplementary budget this year,” Nga said back then, adding that “Malaysians are entitled to know”.
For transparency sake, every tax-paying Malaysian public has the right to know or be assured that their monetary contribution towards the nation’s development is well-spent.
This comes about as there had been cases of certain ministers abusing their overseas trips by treating them as a family vacation (to the extent that some incurred expenses were borne by the taxpayers).
In essence, MPs should raise this issue more often in the Parliament while the media should be furnished with the necessary update on cost/expenses on a regular basis. – May 9, 2022
