In Search Of Halal Income Anti Graft Must Be Internalised Pm

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Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reminded civil servants about earning an honest income, saying they must have "habits of the heart" against corruption.
ADSAccording to him, corruption and leakages could happen in the country because some chose to turn a blind eye to such activities.
As an example, Anwar cited the case of an unnamed syndicate, which he said had been controlling a certain port in Malaysia for decades.
"Surely this syndicate could not exist without having connections with law enforcement bodies, leaders, and perhaps even ministers and prime ministers.
"We should ask ourselves. We pray five times a day, we ask for Allah to (protect) us from cruelty and oppression, but then we allow all these (illegal activities) to happen.
"Some even keep their beard, and all kinds... This is why I am doing my best (to combat corruption). And this is not easy, there are risks, there are pushbacks," Anwar said in his speech at the Prime Minister's Department's monthly assembly in Putrajaya this morning.
The prime minister stressed that civil servants have to bring about changes themselves, and they cannot wait for others.
He urged them to carry out their duties to their best capability regardless of how long they have served.
"It must come from your self-determination. It dictates the habits of the heart; it must be from our conscience.
"We want to earn 'pendapatan yang halal' (earn honest money), so we do our job as best as possible. Whether we have one more year to go, or two, or five, give our best," Anwar said.
Plugging leakages
He pointed to the government's recent record where they managed to save some RM15.5 billion by plugging leakages, going after those who are corrupt, and law enforcement operations against smuggling activities.
Saying the current government could have achieved this in just two years, he called on the audience to ponder how much the country could save in 20 years.
ADS"Let's say we could save just RM5 billion a year, because RM15 billion in two years is quite high. Meaning, in 20 years, we could gather RM100 billion.
"Can you imagine what we can do if we manage to save this much? The kind of education and health facilities for our children?"
Why blanket subsidy?
In his speech, Anwar also touched on the recent Budi95 initiative, which saw the government reduce the RON95 petrol price to RM1.99 per litre for citizens.
Anwar said he decided to go with a blanket subsidy for all Malaysians instead of the government's initial targeted subsidy plan after learning from the government's experience when they recently adjusted the country's electricity tariff.
According to the Tambun MP, he had become a target of fierce criticism over the tariff adjustment despite the move not affecting 85 percent of the consumers.
"If I failed to learn from the experience, then I would be a fool.
"The people cannot accept price increases when there is no salary hike, more pressing goods prices, and the uncertain global geopolitics causing our import prices to increase. Alhamdulillah, at least our ringgit has strengthened, or otherwise it would be worse.
"So that is why we chose to reduce the RON95 price," he said. - Star

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