Of Merdeka And Bajet

Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! For some, they are really merdeka. For me and most of my colleagues, Merdeka Day is just another working day. Luckily, I'm on the evening shift. This accords me the time to update this "monitored" blog after completing the usual task of compiling the states' stories on the merdeka celebration.

But the rest period is short. Tomorrow, it's going to be another long and tiring day for us all - Budget Day. Luckily, I've been assigned to the Parliament to cover the presentation by the Prime Minister. At least two of my colleagues would be there too to help. I've been covering the current parliamentary sitting alone since Monday - a normal thing for us at Berita Harian.

Hopefully, the Desk will provide something more decent than the normal KFC pack for dinner tonight. Nasi Padang would be nice. Editors please take note.

What could we expect from next year's Budget? Wait till 4 pm today. I hope it's not going to be another excuse to hike the already high cigarette prices. It's just not proper to tax us smokers more while at the same time spending millions of ringgit on the anti smoking campaign.

Argument that smokers burden the health care system is no longer valid. Dewan Rakyat was told this week the government spent millions of ringgit treating aliens, ie foreign workers. I believe the tax collected from each smoker is more than enough to cover the treatment (at the government's hospitals) if he or she fell sick. My point is, stop using the argument to hike the tax. Give us a break. Tax break would be great. Cheers.

p/s

Nicotine is ok, alcohol is not ok. So tax the "mother of all sins" more, spare the tabac.