RENOWNED philanthropist and stock punter Koon Yew Yin once asked an Australian cancer palliative care expert what regrets dying patients would usually have before they die.

The first is that they should have lived a life to please themselves instead of pleasing others while the second is that they should have pointed out someone’s mistake but failed to do so was the given answer.

“I’m 91 years old and my life expectancy is short. To avoid regrets when I die, I want to write this article although many of our political leaders may not like to read it,” penned Koon in his latest blog entitled “My Concern for the Unity Government”.

Chief among the concerns of the investor extraordinaire once dubbed the Malaysian version of Warren Buffet is the fact that Malaysia currently boasts having the most civil servants per capita in the world (which Koon substantiated with some statistics but without providing source of his data).

“We’ve a lot more civil servants per capita than any other country in the world. Why should Malaysia have one civil servant for every 19 citizens? Are we so stupid?” berated Koon who claimed to have donated more than RM100,000 to each of the four component parties of Pakatan Harapan (PH) during the 14^th General Election (GE14) in 2018.

“The US which is the richest nation in the world has one civil servant for every 114 citizens.”

The tycoon also asked a pertinent question on behalf of many Malaysians: “How can the unity government improve its economy if Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (PMX) continues to increase expenditure on civil servants?”

“PMX and all politicians must realise that the increase of the number of civil servants and their salaries are reducing Malaysia’s GDP (gross domestic product) growth rate in the last 30 years,” opined Koon.

For the uninitiated, the more than 13% salary hike of civil servants which will take effect from December this year is touted as he highest in the nation’s history and involves an allocation of over RM10 bil.

Stating that the implementation of this increase will take into account overall aspects and would not apply to those with poor work records or lack of focus, Anwar who is also the Finance Minister has also emphasised that the government aims to ensure that the minimum income for civil servants exceeds RM2,000/month from the current RM1,795/month.

Cautioning the country’s declining GDP growth in nearly two years as exports slump, Koon further sounded the alarm bell given the total government debt as of end-December 2023 has ballooned to RM1. 17 tril or 64.3% of GDP. In other words, debt grew by 8.6% in 2023, lower than the growth of 10.2% in 2022.

However, the government’s debt and liability exposure position as of end-December 2023 stood at RM1.53 tril or 84% of GDP.

So, what’s Uncle Koon’s verdict?

“(Compounded by the weak ringgit), I hope I’m wrong in saying that the unity government will lose in the next election.

“I’m aware of the sensitive feeling of voters if PM Anwar openly declares that he wants to reduce the number of civil servants. But he can do it quietly by not employing replacements when old civil servants retire.” - June 6, 2024

https://focusmalaysia.my/is-ph-donor-uncle-koon-on-the-verge-of-giving-up-on-the-unity-govt-the-ruling-coalition/