Many countries aim to become high income nations so that their citizens would have better lives, but it isn’t as simple as that. Being able to draw a high salary doesn’t automatically improve the quality of your lives especially if the prices of goods continue to increase.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad gave some nuggets of wisdom when he arrived at the Prime Minister’s department today (May 21). When addressing the staff at his inaugural speech, he said that there was no meaning if people were to earn a high income but did not have purchasing power, Bernama reported.
“In this country, we find there is an effort to be a high-income nation, but high income without the ability to make more purchases has no meaning at all.”
“If we raise wages but, at the same time, the prices of goods increase greatly, the additional money will not allow us to buy more than before. So, the increase in income will not have any positive impact on the country,” he said.
However, he reminded civil servants to always follow the law and not do anything illegal even when under pressure. PM Mahathir said that he would have to clean up Malaysia’s name and make it respected again, according to Channel NewsAsia.
“We must be aware that our country is not accorded the respect it once enjoyed. I am very disappointed (now) because at one time, we were known as the best administration among the Commonwealth countries as we carried out tasks well and implemented successful programmes and plans. But today, we find that this country is no longer respected, and the administrators are no longer held in high regard,” he explained.
Let’s hope we will have high income and high purchasing power soon!
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