KUCHING, Oct 11: The Federal government should trim the bloated civil service of 1.61 million whose salary, remuneration and pension is making up the bulk of operating expenditure which takes up 70 per cent of Budget 2023.
Federation of Chinese Associations Sarawak president Datuk Richard Wee said out of the total budget of RM372.3 billion, 70 per cent was used for operating expenditure while only RM95 billion is for development expenditure, a very unusual practice and one that will lead to stagnant growth.
As a long term measure, there is a need for the Federal government to trim the civil service staff whose number now stands as high as 1.61 million, resulting in a population to civil servants ratio of 1:20.
“Compared to the ratio of Singapore, which is 1:71 and Indonesia, 1:110, the ‘bloatedness’ in Malaysia’s civil service is a serious issue. Worse, despite the huge staff size, there is no sign of better efficiency,” said Wee in a press statement today in response to Budget 2023 which was announced by Finance Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz on Oct 7.
In terms of allocation for Sarawak and Sabah amounting to RM5.4 billion and RM6.3 billion respectively, Wee held that both States are of huge size, in fact larger than the whole of Peninsular Malaysia.
To him, both less developed States need a more comprehensive infrastructure to propel economic development. However, they have both been allocated comparatively low allocations, which fail to reflect their status as equal partners in the formation of the Federation of Malaysia.
On education which received an allocation of RM55.6 billion, second only to health, Wee questioned how the fund would be further distributed and allocated to different schools and universities.
“There have been no details released and the Federal government is seen to be uninterested in increasing the number of Chinese or Tamil schools. Queries have been raised if the Federal government has been fair to these secular schools.
“Since education is a sensitive topic, the Finance Ministry and the Education Ministry should be more transparent by releasing the details of how the allocation has been used or distributed,” said Wee.
Despite the above, Wee held that Budget 2023 is still a people-centric budget with measures benefiting the public such as tax reduction for the M40 group and more financial assistance to the B40 group.
To him, it is also a business-friendly budget with aids for small and medium enterprises, which is timely to push for economic recovery and the rebuilding of the nation’s economy.
“In general, Budget 2023 basically is a people-centric budget. However, there should be a fairer and more professional distribution of budget. That is what a budget is all about – to ensure a balanced development for the nation where all may benefit from it,” said Wee. — DayakDaily
