Precious Buddies

Truly Malaysian means the citizen of Malaysia. In globally, they always get confused with the word of ‘Malaysian’ and they thought that all the Malaysian are have brown skin tone. Furthermore, they also think that the Malaysian speaks and write Malay like Indonesian. On the other hand, Malaysian is a combination of three major categories which are Chinese, Malay and India and each category have their own mother tongue.

Furthermore, the exact definition of being as a Malaysian is still vividly and imaginatively (Helping Hands, 2013). It is because of we still haven’t established a strong and firm cultural of our own with all of existing ethnics all together. However, there’s one joke being spread among the community of Malaysian: “What's the stingiest animal?” If you’re not Malaysian, probably you couldn’t give a guess and couldn’t understand the real meaning behind this joke. The answer is a horse. It is because while a horse is running, it will produce the sounds like *kedekut ~ kedekut~*. The meaning of ‘kedekut’ stands for stingy in English. Being a Malaysian, is all about understanding, accepting and tolerating with each other.

As a truly Malaysian is pretty specials thing but this those not mean that you need to be true Malaysia. In Malaysia, people like to watch Olympic at ‘mamak’ stalls in the midnight 2 p.m. When you drove by the ‘mamak’ stalls, you will find out the place is full of people watching football and badminton. While watching they also have some tasty food and drinks to eat. ‘It is the heart who makes me as a truly Malaysian. Regardless of where life takes me, you can take a Malaysian out of Malaysia, but you can’t take Malaysia out of Malaysian’ (Mo Han Ooi, 2013).

There are many benefits to truly Malaysian. Government hospital and clinic provide free or as low as RM1 medical treatment to the Malaysian. Malaysian can look for outpatient treatment for only RM1 while providing with consultation, medication, X-ray, lab test. Furthermore, Malaysian get free for their 1st visit to a specialist with recommending from a government doctor. After that will charge RM5 for each visit (Tang, 2016). Moreover, Malaysian students can borrow education loan such as PTPTN loan from the government for their tertiary education. PTPTN loan has low interest rate and it is available for public and private institutions. It will convert into scholarship if student achieved First Class Honours for Degree (EduAdvisor.my, 2015).

I’m very proud as a truly Malaysian because according to the global peace index 2015, Malaysia is the one of the top 30 most peaceful nations in the world, ranked at number 28 out of 162 countries. Malaysia also is the top of the retirement location which was ranked 4th by Forbes in their list of best countries to retire. Besides that, for those who like to dive Malaysia also has the best diving destination in the world, which is Pulau Sipadan and Pulau Redang. Moreover, Malaysia also is a food paradise in the world ranking list, there are many famous food in Malaysia such as Penang Asam Laksa, Roti Canai, Nasi Lemak, Bak Kut Teh, and so on.

Reference:

1) Helping Hands (2013), True Meaning of Being Malaysian.

Available at: http://www.helpinghands.my/true-meaning-of-being-malaysian/

(Accessed on: 16^th November 2016).

2) Mo Han Ooi (2013), SPM Continuous Writing, Facebook.com.

Available at: https://www.facebook.com/notes/ooi-mo-han/spm-2013-continuous-writing-a/579898852057641/

(Accessed on: 17^th November 2016)

3) Tang, R. (2016), Medical Treatments in Government Hospitals That Are Free or As Low as RM1.

Available at: http://says.com/my/lifestyle/free-affordable-healthcare-charges-provided-by-the-government-hospitals-in-malaysia

(Accessed on: 16^th November 2016).

4) EduAdvisor.my (2015), Your Complete Guide to PTPTN Loan in Malaysia.

Available at: https://eduadvisor.my/your-complete-guide-to-ptptn-loan-in-malaysia/

(Accessed on: 16^th November 2016).

5) Chew,T.(2014), 30 reasons to love Malaysia [Online] ExpatGo.

Available at: http://www.expatgo.com/my/2014/05/06/30-reasons-to-love-malaysia/

(Accessed on: 14^th November 2016)

Contributed by: Yeap Shue Fang,Goh Yong Yong, Loh Yi Ling,Chua Yi Theng,Too Ying Shin

There are various types of taxes under the tax system in Malaysia such as corporate taxes, consumption taxes, individual taxes and others (Santander Trade Portal, no date). Example of consumption taxes like Goods and Services Tax (GST) is implemented by the government on the 1^st of April 2015. GST actually did affect and given huge impact towards our lives from every expenses throughout the day. While the personal income tax is divided into two groups which are residents and non-residents. In fact, these tax systems are unfair for those middle and lower income groups of residents in Malaysia. However, tax deductions in Malaysia are available in numerous cases, including medical expenses, education fees and others (Just Landed, no date).

A family that qualifies as low income is often eligible for social services offered through state and federal government agencies. Examples of services that families qualify for include cash assistance, food stamps, low-income housing and subsidized medical insurance. State programs establish and follow specific requirements based on family size and income, and have additional requirements regarding assets. Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs chief executive officer Wan Saiful Wan Jan said the middle class should consist of the middle 40 per cent with monthly incomes of at least RM3,000 all the way up to the top 20 per cent of incomes, which has a median of about RM9,800 for 2012. Based on the household income data for 2012, less than 51.8 per cent of Malaysian households belong in that category.

The main issues concerning is that implementation of GST, the cost of good and service will increase which may burden the lower and middle income group people in the country. According to Malay mail online article, the households earning for example RM2, 500 per month will suffer the most as the GST will cost them 2.67 per cent of their total monthly income. As we know there have selective product have no GST but still have a lot daily need products have to pay GST. So, higher proportion of their income will be spent on GST. Thus, they may not will to spend much as their limited purchasing power and this situation will affect the market demand. However, The Malaysian Insider reported that the middle-income earners would be able to cope the GST.

GST is a tax that if you buy more, then you have to pay more. It is charged to every level of income group in Malaysia. After GST implement, most of the household items will be taxed, such as shampoo, dishwashing liquid, detergent and floor cleaner (MToday News Sdn. Bhd., 2015). As we know, every family also needs to use household items. This is our daily need. The price of the products will be increased after GST implement. We have less purchasing power to purchase the products. It will add a burden to Malaysian especially to the low income group. They need to think twice when consume due to their limited income.

In the conclusion, current tax systems of Malaysia are unfair to the middle and lower income groups of residents, especially the GST system. Besides that, we all think that GST should not exist, and some other tax system government should lower the rate of the tax, so there will be uniformity all income groups of residents in Malaysia.

Reference

1) Santander Trade Portal (no date), Malaysia: Tax System.

Available at: https://en.portal.santandertrade.com/establish-overseas/malaysia/tax-system

(Accessed: 31^st October 2016)

2) Just Landed (no date), Taxes in Malaysia.

Available at: https://www.justlanded.com/english/Malaysia/Malaysia-Guide/Money/Taxes-in-Malaysia

(Accessed: 31^st October 2016)

3) Melissa Chi, (2014), What does it mean to be middle class in Malaysia?

Available at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/what-does-it-mean-to-be-middle-class-in-malaysia

(Accessed: 2^nd Nov 2016)

4) Malay Mail Online (2013), Middle-income group will get short end of GST sticks, says think thank

Available at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/middle-income-group-will-get-short-end-of-gst-stick-says-think-tank