By Kashturi Patto, MP for Batu Kawan

Aerial view of Kelantan (pic from the Malay Mail Online)

Malaysians from all walks of life have ushered in the new year of 2015, some with a colourful bang, some with heavy hearts and tears in their eyes. What is clear is that, after so much of pain and adversity, there is certainly a feeling of hope, optimism and belief for the coming year, heavy in the air.

Massive outpouring of sympathy, solidarity and oneness that was seen at three airline catastrophes and now the disastrous floods on the east coast have proven that in times of distress, trials that no man must endure, and great tribulations, Malaysians have chosen to throw aside political ideologies to stand united and to come together as one family to step in where needed, to be a shoulder to cry on, to be a kind listening ear, to be the pillar of strength and to offer the peace of a rock that is much needed in times of crisis.

It will also be another 4 months time for Malaysians from all walks of life be ‘treated’ to the dreaded 6% GST to be implemented by the government.

The announcement to implement this tax was done through the lenses of the government that GDP is increasing, household debt is decreasing and that more Malaysians will be on the receiving end of the much anticipated BR1M.

With over 250,000 families badly affected by torrential floods on the East Coast as well as in Johor, Pahang and Perak, and landslides in Cameron Highlands, millions of ringgits worth of infrastructure and properties damaged, the Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak must cease to listen to his ill-advisors and postpone the implementation of GST indefinitely.

GST will be affecting Malaysians from all walks of life once it comes to effect on April Fool’s Day 2015, and now the quarter of a million victims of the flood and landslide will be hardest hit by it.

In 2010, floods in Pakistan paralysed large parts of the country for many weeks, killing thousands of people and wrecking the rural economy. Thailand’s slow-onset flood in 2011 caused fewer deaths but showed how one local event could have an impact across the world. That global car production slowed as supplies of components were cut, and hard-drive manufacture for the world’s computers was slashed.

Three years after the devastating earthquake and tsunami of March 2011, Japan is still on the road to recovery to rebuild itself. The Japanese government is pouring in $250billion into a 5 year reconstruction plan although many may argue that the government knows it will take a decade or more for an almost full rebound.

Nearly a third of the children now suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and feelings of loss and despair is something that Malaysians will also be facing in due time.

Needless to say, Japan’s GDP and global industrial production dipped significantly following the tsunami of March 2011.

Nine years ago, New Orleans was hit just as badly, if not worse by typhoon Katrina. 1800 people lost their lives and thousands had been displaced. After almost a decade after the devastation, poverty rate in New Orleans is 29% as it was in 1999 and the poverty rate for children is at a disturbing 41% in which education levels still lag behind the nation.

After the devastation, 36% of rent payers are paying more than half of their income on rent and utilities. Unemployment is higher and there is a real fear of underdevelopment and if any, marginal.

This is certainly not the kind of Malaysian society we should aspire to have.

In the World Economic Forum 2014 Global Risks Insight Report, ‘greater incidences of extreme weather events’ for example flooding was in 6th place in the 2014 10 Global Risks of Highest Concern, amongst fiscal crises in key economies, structurally high unemployment and underemployment, water crises, severe income disparity, failure of climate change mitigation and adaption, greater incidence of extreme weather events (e.g. floods, storms, fires), global governance failure, food crises, failure of a major financial mechanism or institution and profound political and social instability.

In general, disasters are exacerbated by poverty, badly planned and badly managed urbanization, environmental degradation and weak institutions for managing risk at local and national levels. These effects were exemplified by the Thailand and Cambodia floods of 2011. Political support for disaster preparedness activities, from both the legislative and executive bodies, is central, but there is still a lack of funding and prioritization from international organizations and national governments, especially in lower-income countries. These countries may not have the liquidity or borrowing capacity to expeditiously recover from natural disasters, but evidence has shown that risk transfer to insurance markets can be particularly effective for these countries to avoid drastic disruptions to economic growth.

How will the families affected in the landslide and flood be able to rebuild their lives after the cataclysmic episode when just about everything that they will touch will be cursed with 6% GST looking at how long it took for more progressive countries like Japan and USA to rebuild lives and infrastructure after the typhoon and tsunami.

In last year’s election manifesto speech, the Prime Minister had quoted Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, our late Prime Minister saying, “Your duty to the nation is to fulfill the trust of the people to the best of your ability.”

With so much going on, this is a crucial time for the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to pick up the reigns and steer this nation in the right direction; to ensure that the welfare of the people are protected. The time has come for the PM to fulfill the trust of the people to the best of his ability, and ensure that his people are well taken care of.

Implementation of GST must be postponed until a clear action plan is drafted out to repair and rebuild the lives of more than a quarter of a million families who had borne witness to the wrath of the floods and landslides of 2014.