Mahathir: BR1M revocation threat used to thwart declaration

Dr Mahathir Mohamad has claimed that those living in rural areas were threatened with the revocation of BR1M aide payment if they signed the Citizens’ Declaration.

Apart from this, the former premier said civil servants were also apprehensive in backing the declaration which seeks the removal of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

“Some of them however were brave enough to step forward and support as well as sign the declaration,” he told reporters in Putrajaya.

Mahathir also alleged that Najib’s camp employed various propaganda and other methods, including racism, to influence the people not to support the declaration.

However, he said these tactics failed and most people know that the declaration is not motivated by politics or personal agendas, but represented them regardless of race, religion and political leanings.

“Attempts to portray this effort as an attempt to topple a democratically elected government also failed because the objective (of the declaration) is to demand Najib’s resignation,” he added.

Mahathir revealed that 1.27 million signatures have been collected, surpassing the initial target of one million.

The former premier said he would personally deliver the signatures to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Najib’s press aide Tengku Shariffuddin Tengku Ahmad previously accused Mahathir of spearheading a campaign against Najib in order to clear the path for his son Mukhiz to become prime minister.

Mukhriz has since sued Tengku Sharifuddin for defamation.

The Citizens’ Declaration had witnessed Mahathir sharing the same stage as his former political foes and civil society leaders who were once critical of his leadership.

Najib’s ‘cash is king’ BR1M delusion

People should work to get money says Mahathir, stepping up pressure on Najib.

FMT

KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has yet again criticised Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for not taking into consideration his suggestion that Najib’s BR1M payout scheme is flawed and should be stopped.

“I have spoken out about this many times but he belabours in the delusion that cash is king,” said Mahathir on the sidelines of a forum on Islam and Vision 2020.

“Getting money without putting in any effort is wrong.

“Giving out cash to buy support is not the right approach.”

The government, he stressed, should be making available opportunities for the people and providing the necessary training.

“We cannot have a situation where the person who is sleeping gets RM140 and the one that’s working gets RM 133,” he said cynically.

“People should work to get money.”

Dr M out of line with criticisms on BR1M

Salleh Keruak says it does seem that everything Najib does is wrong in the eyes of Mahathir.

FMT

PETALING JAYA: After giving prime minister Najib Razak a tongue lashing over the gross mismanagement of the 1Malaysia Development Board (1MDB) recently, former premier Mahathir Mohamad has now criticised Najib over the BR1M handout to low-income earners, saying it was a form of bribery.

In his latest blog entry, former Sabah chief minister Salleh Keruak commented on this, saying that while criticism was something all democracies had to “tolerate”, what was actually needed was “constructive criticism”.

Summing up Mahathir’s remarks over BR1M as “a case of damned if you do and damned if you don’t”, Salleh explained how Najib could not do nothing right in the eyes of Mahathir.

He wrote, “Soon after the 2013 general election, Dr Mahathir accused the Prime Minister of pandering too much to the Chinese and of not giving enough attention to the Malays, who form the backbone of Umno’s support.”

Salleh noted however that despite Najib making amends by giving out BR1M payments to the poor, Mahathir had condemned this initiative as a form of bribery instead.

“Now, when the Prime Minister introduces BRIM, which goes to the needy, and hence benefits the Malays since more of them are amongst the needy group, the Prime Minister is accused of an attempt to bribe the people,” Salleh wrote in a direct hit at Mahathir.

Hiding his own cynicism behind a professional tone, Salleh spoke on behalf of Najib, inviting Mahathir to offer any suggestion “on how aid can be given to the people”.

He added that “constructive criticism where we also offer alternative views on how to improve what we view as weaknesses in the present system”, was something the present administration under Najib would greatly welcome instead of just empty criticism.

Dr M: Don't use BR1M to be popular

 

After panning the debt-ridden 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB), Dr Mahathir Mohamad has now criticised Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M).

In a blog posting, the former premier reminded the government that its money is derived from taxes.

"Taxes raise the cost of living. Still the people are willing to endure the raised cost of living because they expect the government to give them security, to govern the country well, to have policies which benefit the people.

"But the people would not like to see the taxes they pay to be expended in ways that are beyond this.

"Certainly they would not want their hard-earned money to be expended on winning popularity for anyone or political parties or administrations," he added.

Looks similar to bribery and vote-buying

Mahathir said monetary handouts on a large scale such as BR1M look similar to bribery.

"And when this is given near elections or the manifesto promises this, the impression that it is about buying votes just cannot be dismissed.

"If incomes are to be increased, it should be by way of creating opportunities for work or business," he added.

Furthermore, he said such handouts also increase personal dependence on the government even for one's income, without any effort by oneself.

"It weakens the character of people and reduces their competitiveness in the market place," he added.

High income, Mahathir said, should come from increases in productivity.

"Without increasing productivity, competitiveness would not improve. And the economy would not really grow. These countries invariably depend on foreign workers, executives and entrepreneurs," he added.

Socialists and Communists tried the same

Mahathir also said it was misleading to think that Malaysian can become a developed nation by 2020 by increasing average incomes to a certain level.

"A few people with very high incomes would distort the average income. Per capita income should not be a measure of our achievement of developed country status.

"The emphasis on high income alone is not enough. In fact by itself it will not make the country a developed country. It would be even more misleading when the income is due to handouts by the government," he argued.

To be developed, the former premier said, the nation must be at par with developed countries in terms of education, technological and industrial knowhow, research and development, industrialised to a high level, commensurate infrastructure and high earned incomes for all.

"It is imperative therefore to spend money on education and training to a higher level, to build up engineering and industrial capacities, to be productive and competitive, to expend money on building first-class infrastructure and to be researchers, inventors and developers.

"Since we want to be developed in our own mould, we can reject the moral values of some developed countries.

"We see them obviously decaying because of the emphasis on unlimited materialism and personal freedom.

"We must sustain the good values that we have and acquire good ethnics which will contribute to our productivity and our income. In other words we must earn our income through higher productivity and not through handouts by the government," he added.

Mahathir said the Socialists and Communists tried to improve their people's incomes by giving them money and making free availability of support facilities to ensure they have a good life.

"But Socialism and Communism have failed. They have to resort to free enterprise and hard work," he added.

BR1M 3.0 Payment In Mid-February

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 24 (Bernama) -- The 1Malaysia People's Aid (BR1M) 3.0 will be distributed to 7.9 million eligible Malaysians in the middle of February.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the distribution of BR1M 3.0 would lighten the burden of the people who are facing rising prices of goods at the moment.

"The Umno Supreme Council (MT) was told that BR1M 3.0 payment would be done in two weeks time, that is in mid-February, to relieve the people of the problem of price hikes," he said after chairing the MT meeting here today.

When tabling the 2014 Budget last year, Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said the government had allocated RM4.6 billion for BR1M 3.0.

This year, the aid will be raised from RM500 to RM650 for each household with monthly income of RM3,000 and below, while unmarried individuals aged 21 years and above with monthly income of not more than RM2,000 would have their assistance raised from RM250 to RM300.

For the first time, BR1M 3.0 will be extended to households with monthly income of between RM3,000 to RM4,000 with aid amounting to RM450.

Najib said it could not be denied that the people were hit by the rising prices of goods and that the government was committed to combat the matter through various programmes and measures which were being taken.

He said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin would be chairing a meeting of the Special Committee on Rising Cost of Living which was awaiting the results of a special laboratory study.

"Besides that, we are also seeing problems in the supply chain whereby wholesalers are raising prices to retailers unreasonably.

"We also took note of the monsoon season which caused the prices of goods to go up and we will take measures to contain the matter," he said.

Najib said the Umno Supreme Council also gave its undivided support to all government policies and measures taken to ease the people's burden as the nation's economy was still strong.

"From the aspects of investment, economic growth and inflation, the stock exchange is still in a healthy position and our economic strenght is still recognised both locally and abroad," he said.

Where is my BR1M, asks bedridden man

Despite having submitted two applications, M Balakrishnan is denied BR1M financial aid despite being jobless for 12 years.

SUBANG: M Balakrishnan, 38, who had been bedridden for 12 years, was denied the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BRIM) financial assistance, although he was eligible for the aid.

“I was a lorry driver but I met with an accident while riding my motorcycle more than a decade ago. It left my spine permanently damaged, leaving me paralysed from waist down,” he told FMT in an interview at his home in Subang.

Since the accident, Balakrishnan had been unemployed and was dependent on a RM300 per month welfare aid.

Touching on the BR1M, Balakrishnan said he made an application for the yearly financial aid scheme in 2011 but was rejected without him knowing the reason.

“After making an application, two government officials came to my place to get some details such as who is supporting me and whether I am also getting aid from others.

“After taking my details, they took off. After some checks by my family members, they found that I was deemed ineligible to receive BR1M,” he claimed.

Undeterred, Balakrishnan made a second application last year and the officers came again.

“They told me that my application for the previous year was rejected as there were others who deserved it more than I did.

“They asked me the same questions as the previous year’s and again, my application was rejected,” said Balakrishnan.

Balakrishnan was obviously upset as it did not make sense for the government to reject his application as he was unemployed and living on aid.

“BRIM was given to almost everyone I know. Even my working friends received it but I have been denied the assistance despite being bedridden,” he said.

Medical expenses

Apart from the monthy welfare aid, Balakrihnan said he receives small financial assistance from his two siblings and his 64-year-old mother.

“Once, I received funds from MIC to purchase a wheelchair to move about and a bed for home use. That’s about it. My siblings have been very helpful as they have been paying my medical bills,” he said.

Balakrishnan urged the government to reconsider giving him BR1M as he needed the funds to pay for some of his basic medical expenses.

“Medicines are not cheap these days and I cannot depend on my siblings to pay for everything.

“Besides, BRIM is supposedly to help the poor and underprivileged. I don’t understand why I am being denied the financial help,” a tearful Balakrishnan said.