Malaysia is a beautiful country. Our food is world-class, our scenery is breathtaking, and our politicians possess an imagination that routinely defies the laws of global economics.
Just ask Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal, affectionately known to the internet as "Mat Jargon."
For years, the Machang MP has been the gift that keeps on giving to the Malaysian commentary scene. We all remember his legendary 2020 debut on the economic stage, where he confidently suggested that Bank Negara Malaysia should just print more money and hand it out as "helicopter money." Why didn’t Zimbabwe think of that? When the entire internet collectively facepalmed, the narrative shifted seamlessly to standard political operating procedure: if the economy is bad, it must be the fault of DAP. Settle.
Fast forward to today. After his own party, Bersatu, has spent months fracturing like an over-fried piece of keropok lekor culminating in his dramatic expulsion from the party and his public declaration that Bersatu is “on the brink of collapse” our brother in fiscal policy has undergone a spiritual U-turn.
He walked into the Dewan Rakyat and told the government that there is "no shame" in bringing back the Goods and Services Tax (GST). But wait, there’s a plot twist. He wants to rebrand it as "Cukai Madani."
You have to admire the absolute, unadulterated audacity. Isn't this the very same political faction that campaigned fiercely to scrap the GST in the first place?
This is the ultimate political inception. For years, the opposition weaponised public anger against the GST, singing protest songs and treating it like the ultimate villain in the Malaysian cinematic universe. Now, the suggestion is to resurrect the villain, dress it up in a nice baju melayu, slap a "Madani" sticker on it, and hope the rakyat thinks it’s a completely new person. It’s like renaming your toxic ex "Encik Madani" and introducing him to your parents as a fresh suitor.
But this brand of political theater isn't just confined to Parliament; it recently went international. During the recording of BBC World Questions in Kuala Lumpur, chaired by host Jonny Dymond, Wan Fayhsal found himself on a four-way panel alongside PKR Secretary-General Senator Dr Fuziah Salleh and feminist anthropologist Dr Vilashini Somiah.
It was an absolute masterclass in how to get roasted on global radio.
When cornered on the panel about his coalition’s reliance on ethno-religious hate speech, Dr Vilashini and Dr Fuziah didn't just fact-check him they completely dismantled his talking points. Dr Vilashini anchored the reality check by highlighting the invisible, struggling bodies of working-class Malaysians who actually bear the brunt of these political games, completely deflating his grand corporate rhetoric.
As the heat turned up and the live audience began openly jeering his answers, Wan Fayhsal scrambled for his favorite political emergency lever. In a move that surprised absolutely no one, he launched into a spirited defense of his conservative colleagues and pivoted to blame you guessed it the DAP. The crowd’s collective groan was loud enough to be heard all the way across the South China Sea.
As the Anneh kedai kopi uncles will tell you over a cup of teh tarik halia, the anger surrounding GST and his shifting rhetoric wasn't just about the tax itself; it was about this exact lack of accountability. For many, the mention of GST triggers flashbacks to the Najib era, where gross collections were high but billions in refunds owed to traders mysteriously vanished into the Consolidated Fund allegedly waylaid to plug massive 1MDB holes. To this day, any mention of bringing it back feels like adding salt to an unhealed wound, especially while the cost of living continues to skyrocket.
Yet, beneath the political comedy, the public discourse reveals a fascinating, cynical truth: Malaysians are beginning to notice that our current governance looks less like creative reform and more like a massive rebranding exercise.
Take a close look at our current tax regime. Netizens and businesses are already pointing out that the Customs Department has quietly brought almost all the provisions of the old GST into the current SST system anyway. It’s not much different now. We are essentially paying a broad consumption tax already, just without the transparent input-tax claim mechanisms that actually help small businesses survive.
If a policy is necessary for national development, our leaders should say so honestly. Good policy should not be rejected just because it came from a political rival, and bad politics should not be excused just because it carries a shiny new slogan. If GST was considered evil under Najib but suddenly becomes a holy reform as "Cukai Madani," then the issue was never about fiscal policy it was about political ego dressed up as reform.
Meanwhile, the rakyat is asking a much louder, angrier question: Why are politicians so deeply obsessed with finding new ways to tax ordinary citizens, while remaining completely silent on the actual structural black holes tearing through the national budget?
Any smart aleck can sit in a cushy Parliament seat wearing an expensive, tailored suit and issue schoolboyish taunts. But where is the political courage to address the real elephants in the room?
Where is the opposition's grand policy proposal to tackle the civil service pension time bomb, which is projected to cost the country over RM40 billion by 2030? And while we are auditing pensions, when are we going to get honest, transparent data on our own politicians? The public wants to know how many inept, one-term politicians are sitting back and happily drawing multiple overlapping lifetimes of pensions after serving just five years. Talk about double-dipping while the rest of us skip the telur mata to save cash.
If our leaders truly want to prove their economic competence, they should stop daydreaming about new taxes and look at enforcement. Where is the fire to demand that the Inland Revenue Board immediately seize the assets of high-profile public figures who owe the country billions in unpaid taxes? Why isn't the opposition rushing to the police station to lodge reports every time the Auditor-General’s Report exposes massive leakages, missing assets, and institutional corruption?
Instead of fixing the system, our political class seems perfectly content with a status quo that fails our youth. Have they no shame that our national education system continues to churn out bright graduates whose best career options are becoming Foodpanda riders, Grab drivers, or crossing the Causeway to work as cleaners and sweepers for the wealthy in Singapore?
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is playing the pragmatic long game, stating that the government won't reintroduce a broad consumption tax until the national minimum wage hits the RM3,000 to RM4,000 range. That is common sense you cannot extract blood from a stone, and you cannot tax a pocket that is already empty.
Wan Fayhsal’s evolution from the "Money Printing" guy to getting roasted by Jonny Dymond's audience, right down to his "Cukai Madani" U-turn, is the perfect metaphor for our current political landscape. It proves that in our parliament, consistency is a myth and alliances are fragile, but a good rebranding exercise is eternal.
Next time you pay your bill, just keep an eye on the tax line at the bottom. It might change names three more times before the next General Election, but rest assured, the teh tarik halia will still taste just as sweet and the politics just as salty.
Annan Vaithegi, a cynical observer of Malaysian politics over a cup of teh tarik halia.
Annan Vaithegi (annanvaithegi@icloud.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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