Malaysians seem to forget that Malaysia’s economy is a heavily subsidized one. Not only is oil heavily subsidized, but so are other commodities such as flour, sugar, rice and cooking oil. A subsidized economy where prices of goods are artificially kept low can not be maintained over the long haul. The most limited of resources is money, and since money is limited, it should be put to good use to derive an optimum impact to the economy.

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One also cannot help but notice that the PM cum finance minister has on many occasions explicitly mentioned Sabah and Sarawak through out the speech. The two states this time around has received a bigger allocation totaling RM8.1 billion for infrastructure related developments and poverty eradication. Again, these goodies are seen as bribing the law makers from these two states to stay with the BN and not cross over to the opposition. The fact that the PM has also taken the opportunity to sternly warn against efforts to seize power unlawfully during the budget sends a strong signal that the threat of defection among BN lawmakers is real.
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