GEORGE TOWN – Human rights and civil society group Aliran wants Budget 2021 to be defeated in Parliament on grounds that it is “monolithic” and caters mainly to one group in multiracial Malaysia.
Its founding member and former president P. Ramakrishan said the national budget tabled in the Dewan Rakyat on November 6 marginalises minorities and poor Malaysians.
"Regrettably, it is outrageously sectarian and discriminatory. A discriminatory budget is a disgrace to our sense of justice and fairness,” he said in a statement today.
“It is a pity that what we see in the budget is nothing but hypocrisy at its height, even though it is couched as a caring budget for all.
"We hope that there will be MPs of character and courage who will be forthright in this matter. We pray that they will vote with their conscience and defeat this undemocratic budget because it is not a budget for all Malaysians.
“This budget doesn’t deserve the support of caring and conscious MPs. It must be defeated."
Ramakrishan said voting is the most powerful instrument for breaking down injustice and "destroying the terrible walls that imprison men because they are different from other men”.
He pointed to the fact that some RM11.1 billion has been allocated for Bumiputera development compared with RM100 million for the Indian community.
"It is an insult to the Indian community that has contributed to the growth and development of our country through sweat and tears, slogging in the rubber estates under stressful conditions, paving the roads and laying the railway tracks under the blistering sun, serving in the civil service as the backbone of an institution that has served us well,” he said.
Calling the Special Affairs Department (Jasa) a “political propaganda machinery”, he said it is unthinkable that it should receive almost as much as that being allocated to the Indian community.
“It is a disgrace to our sense of justice. Jasa receives RM85.5 million compared with the RM100 million given to Indians," he said.
“The government is over-generous to an agency that is noted for its lies and fake news in the past,” he said.
Ramakrishnan said Malaysia's estimated 7.4 million Chinese citizens are being treated no better, with only RM177 million provided for the community.
“The hardworking Chinese have contributed tremendously to the progress, growth and development of Malaysia… They lifted themselves out of poverty all on their own and paid 90% of the taxes, which helped the country provide services to the people.
“For their remarkable contribution, what is allocated to the Chinese is a gross injustice,” he said.
Despite being natives of the land, he said the Orang Asli are the most dispossessed and deprived among Malaysian citizens.
“They do not receive what they are entitled to as the original people of Malaya,” he said.
"It is to our utter shame that they continue to be exploited, neglected and marginalised."
A total of RM158 million is allocated for the Orang Asli, who number about 200,000 in Peninsular Malaysia, with many living in 853 registered villages. – The Vibes, November 22, 2020
