pay only 30 cents extra for petrol, and…
… look what you get! yet you complained! ayo-yo!
well well well, look what i found in my letter-box yesterday – a leaflet from jabatan kemajuan masyarakat (KEMAS).
this is one side of the leaflet. translated, it says:
The public pays only 30 cents petrol increase.
The government gives subsidies to the public.
The public receives help and subsidies from the government as much as RM14.99 billion a year.
wow! so good one. why ah some more you grumble so much and go on street protest too? don’t you know you alone, you one self pay only extra 30 cents, many many people get subsidies… especially poor people. so quit grumbling lah. let’s look at the subsidies listed out (i’m sure not extensive, eh?), printed on the other side of the leaflet.
well this is the other side of the leaflet. what is clearly read there is “rakyat bayar 30 sen” (public pays 30 cents) and “kerajaan beri” (government gives), followed by the areas the government are subsidising. since they are not so clear, i take the liberty here to translate it here. so translation of the whole page is thus….
Public pays 30 cents….
Government gives….
Education subsidy
- RM250 per year per student for 5 million students (primary and secondary) RM1.30 billion per year.
- RM29,500 per year for a medical student.
- M13,500 per year for an engineering student.
- 05 school book text subsidy is RM147 thousand.
Health subsidy RM1.3 billion per year
- Registration for treatment in hospital is only RM1.00 (private hospital is RM80).
- Free treatment charge. (Private RM60 – RM180)
- Operation charge at RM200 (Private RM7.500 – RM27,500)
- Room charge at RM3.00 – RM8.00 (Private RM110 – RM580)
- Maternity charge at RM10.00 (Private RM800)
Farming/fishing subsidy – RM647 thousand
Petroleum subsidy – RM12.69 billion
Original Food subsidy – RM718 thousand
Fertilizer subsidy – RM171 thousand (2005)
Cost of rice (padi) subsidy – RM448 thousand (2005)
Toll subsidy – RM121 thousand (2005)
see? aren’t we lucky or what? so say terima kasih to the gomen, please.
ok sarcasm aside, i admit there is one subsidy i welcome most, and is much thankful to the government for it (sic) – health subsidy.
poor people, and even those middle-income people (or those in between of poor and middle-income, that is me. say, doesn’t that mean i’m low-income then?) benefit much from these health subsidies from the government.
my mum once a month (or sometimes once two monts) goes regularly to the government’s clinic and pays only RM1, and receive medication worth much more than RM1. and she said the staff there, the nurses, the doctor are all very friendly.
my friend just recently had a minor eye operation at only RM50 at the GH. she said at first she enquired at gleneagles, and found out she had to pay RM800 for the operation.
of course some of you skeptics or cynics would quickly point out:
“we are the rakyat. we pay taxes. the gomen ought to take care of us, so the subsidy is a must.”
“aiya. but GH terrible one. bad service. long wait.”
well, i don’t know with the first statement. maybe i will use it only when it suit me… but not in this instance. haha. yeah i’m being selective.
as for the second statement, well, long wait is true but i wouldn’t say bad service is true. service is all right to me. you think private hospital good service? not so. it all depends.
i would say though that government hospitals have more better facilities than private hospitals simply because they have the money to spend.
i don’t mind going to government’s hospitals/clinics at all… because the no. 1 reason is of course i can’t afford the cut-throat fees at private hospitals, being NOT a rich person. secondly… i can’t believe i’m going to say this… i trust the government where my health is concerned.
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