Goh
KUALA LUMPUR: The Federation of Chinese Associations Malaysia (Huazong) hopes that the government would extend the Wage Subsidy Programme 3.0 (WSP 3.0) to assist the culture, media and non-profit charity organisations run by various communities which are currently struggling to stay afloat.
Its president, Tan Sri T.C Goh especially observed that all this while many non-profit charity organisations like the old folks homes and centres for disable persons were depending on public donations to sustain their operations. But, in the past one year, they too have been adversely affected by the Covid-19 induced economic and financial strife with significant drop in public and corporate donations.
“Many of these non-profit organisations also employed professional or full-time staff besides getting help from volunteers. Hence, they too are in need of government assistance, such as the WSP 3.0 in order to retain their staff,” he explained.
He said this while commenting on the new economic recovery programme dubbed Pemerkasa (Strategic Programmes to Empower the People and Economy) worth RM20 billion that was announced by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, on Wednesday.
The Federation also welcomed and supported the government for extending the scope of Penjana Kerjaya 2.0 under the Social Security Organisation (Socso) to cover temporary employment as well as the gig industry, besides extending its Apprenticeship Programme for another six months to generate more job opportunities.
Goh also welcomed the government’s move of topping up another RM500 million to the previous RM1 billion for micro creditors. These programmes will be conducted by Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN), Tekun Nasional, Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) and Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Corp.
He nonetheless opined that since this low-interest micro credit financing is aimed chiefly at helping women, disabled persons, amateurs and youths, the government should further reduce its existing interest rate of 3.5% to less than 2%.
Touching on the three-month extension of 10% electricity bill discount until June 30, he opined that such an initiative should not only be confined to hoteliers, theme parks, convention centres, shopping malls, local airline offices and tour and travel agencies.
“If the government really wants to help improve market cash-flow and reduce operation cost of businesses, there are many other targeted groups or businesses which deserve to benefit from this move,” he said.
While commending the government fixing of the retail price of RON95 and diesel at RM2.05 and RM2.15 per litre respectively, to protect consumers and businesses from the effects of the current increase in oil prices, he also urged the government to closely monitor prices of goods which could potentially go up as a result of increase in oil prices.
He also commended the government for giving special focus to the tourism and retail sectors. This includes tax relief of up to RM1,000 for individuals who purchase tourism packages from tour agents that are registered with the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC); and to support cash flow, companies in the tourism sector and selected sectors such as cinema operators and spa operators are allowed to delay their payment for monthly income tax for the period from April 1 until Dec 31, and a one-off special assistance of RM3,000 for tour agencies registered with MOTAC.
“We hope the government could expedite the launch of the travel bubble initiative in regions which have been declared as ‘green zone’, so as to stimulate recovery of our tourism industry,” he urged.
Goh, who is also the President of Federation of Chinese Associations Sabah (FCAS) also welcomed and supported the series of aids for the people provided under the Pemerkasa stimulus package, such as a one-off cash aid of RM500 for those in the B40 group who have lost income, while recipients of the Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR) earning RM1,000 and below will get an additional payment of RM500 beginning this June; free medical check-up for those in the vulnerable group; increment of the one-off e-wallet credit to youths aged between 18 to 20 years old from RM50 to RM150 under the eBelia programme; and a RM300 subsidy for households with school-going children to purchase smartphones or tablets.
He also supported the Prime Minister’s announcement that following the implementation of the National Covid-19 Immunisation Programme, the government may not need to implement a nationwide or statewide Movement Control Order (MCO), and would instead enforce targeted MCO based on localities or clusters.
Goh said such a move should be applicable as long as it is based on scientific data and recommendations of medical experts.
He also expressed full support for the government’s move of ramping up its allocation for the National Immunisation Programme (NIP) from RM3 billion to RM5 billion, so as to accelerate the achievement of herd immunity among the people by December, versus the previous projection of 1Q2022.
He thus hoped all Malaysians could give their full support and cooperation to ensure a smooth and successful implementation of the said programme, so that everyone could live a normal life again.
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