budget 2011 - business as usual

The 14th budget deficit in a row since 1998 albeit narrowly lower at 5.4% compared to 5.6% for 2010's budget saw the return of mahathirism's megaprojects par excellence. They're going to build a new subway system for Kuala Lumpur (why did they build a monorail in the first place?), they're going to build a 100-storey tower in the heart of the city within a stone's throw from old chinatown (projected glut in office space be damned), they're doing all these and more. But no open tenders as usual (the day when there are open tenders for government/GLC projects in Malaysia will be a cold cold day in hell). Service tax goes up from 5% to 6% for 2011 and there's (among others) a new tax for astro satellite tv subscribers. The much hoped-for abolition or reduction in withholding tax (currently at 10%) for Malaysian Real Estate Investment Trusts (M-Reits) failed to materialise. And they want the private sector to take the lead in transforming our economy. Yawns! Ah the stale clammy air of recycled policies of old. Un-original, un-inspired, un-imaginative.