Spoilt Malaysians and economic realities
Malaysian consumers think that it’s their birth right to be able to buy chicken and everything else at low prices all the time.
If consumers use their own money without subsidies (taxpayers’ money) they will be prudent with consumption.
By James M Alin, FMT
Smugglers are convenient scapegoat for the witch hunters in time of diesel crisis. Smugglers violate the laws by avoid taxation and bribing officials (at the borders), they threaten sovereignty of the nation by using boats by night illegally crossing international waters and by bring in weapons, drugs, endangered animal and plant species, harmful goods like cigarette, pirated audio-visual or even trafficking human.
By smuggling out subsidised goods from Sabah and Sarawak they are literally undermining our domestic policy.
One can also argue that smugglers perform a useful economic function of supplying goods to the consumers – untaxed cigarettes to Sabah’s habitual smokers or pirated CDs to lower income people who cannot afford the expensive original or the middle income who prefer the uncensored pirated movies.
Smugglers also use for themselves and sell MyKads and passports to illegal immigrants who during an election go to vote.
Some people even think that smuggled drugs can speed up the life expectancy of drugs addicts, therefore saving public money.
Without the smugglers, poor communities in border towns such as Sabah- South Philippines, Sabah-Tarakan or Sarawak – Kalimantan Barat will have to pay import taxes on essential goods.
