Sin Chew Daily

The 2021 Budget tabled by the government in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic is facing tremendous challenges. While the Budget has to take care of the economy and the rakyat's rice bowls, it must also strive to contain the virus. In short, it is by no means a simple feat.

As the national economy has been brutally impacted by the virus, the local market is growingly lackluster while unemployment climbs. The government has come up with a number of positive measures to help relieve the increasing financial burden of Malaysians, in particular the B40 group.

The government has proposed the Bantuan Prihatin Rakyat (BPR) to help reduce the burden of low-income families. Households earning less than RM2,500 a month with a child can get RM1,200, for instance.

Underprivileged groups have also not been overlooked. The assistance for unemployed disabled individuals will be raised to RM300, while that for a disabled worker will be increased to RM450.

Middle-income group will also benefit from a host of other tax relief initiatives, such as RM8,000 tax relief for parents' medical expenses, among others.

Meanwhile, Budget 2021 will focus on revitalizing the national economy and creating new job opportunities, including developing the country's supply chains and upping  wage subsides.

As mentioned earlier, curbing COVID-19 is the mainstay of Budget 2021. In view of this, the government has proposed RM1 billion allocation to contain the pandemic. Meanwhile, health ministry frontliners will get RM500 allowances, and this is seen as an affirmative action to recognize the contribution and sacrifices of frontliners in their protracted war against the virus.

Generally speaking, the RM322.5 billion Budget encompasses many different aspects in hope of benefiting as many people as possible. Even though this is a rather people-friendly Budget, it is not without its deficiencies. Among the controversial aspects that need to be clarified are as follows.

Firstly, the local tourist market has taken the brunt of the worsening coronavirus pandemic with many industry operators struggling to survive. Unfortunately the 2021 Budget has not provided sufficient help to these businesses.

Indeed, due to its own limitations, the government may not satisfy the needs of everyone. That said, the government should consider the fact that tourism industry is the most direct casualty in this pandemic. With substantial recovery nowhere in sight, the industry urgently needs a hand from the government!

Secondly, the education ministry gets the lion's share of budgetary allocations at RM50.4 billion. This shows that the government really cares about education, which is a good thing.

However, as it has not specified the allocations for individual streams of schools, the local Chinese community remains worried. Some are beginning to wonder whether independent Chinese high schools will also get allocations from the government next year.

Additionally, the Special Affairs Department (JASA) is to be revived with a whopping RM85.5 million allocation, triggering tremendous skepticism among the people. Why does the department warrant such a generous allocation? Shouldn't this amount be spent more efficiently elsewhere?

The 2021 Budget is already unveiled, but it is by no means a panacea to fix all our problems and instantly revitalize our economy. The government still needs to timely tackle new changes in our environment and adopt more effective measures to energize the local market and deliver the nation out of the current doldrums.