MCA Youth asks Pakatan MPs to sing ‘GST remix’ after Dr M says might bring back tax

The Star

PETALING JAYA: MCA Youth has poked fun at Pakatan Harapan after the government announced it was prepared to study calls to reintroduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST) if this was what the people wanted.

"Let us ask all the Pakatan YB's to sing this version of the GST remix," said its chief Nicole Wong Siaw Ting in a Facebook post Thursday (Oct 3).

Wong was referring to an old video of Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching singing a song to make fun of the controversial GST.

Removing the GST was one of Pakatan Harapan’s signature campaign promises heading into the 14th General Election (GE14) in May last year.

After taking Putrajaya in May, Pakatan suspended the GST in June, 2018, before reintroducing the SST on Sept 1 that year.

However, on Thursday, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government was willing to study calls to reintroduce the GST if this was what the people wanted.

“If people believe it is better, we will study it.

“We will study if it (GST) is better than SST (the Sales and Service Tax), ” said Dr Mahathir after launching the Security and Public Order Policy on Thursday (Oct 3).

Asked if the government could announce the re-introduction of GST in Budget 2020, he said it would be difficult, as the federal budget would be tabled next week.

Earlier this week, the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER) suggested that the government reintroduce the GST, but at a lower rate of 3% from its original 6%.

Its chairman Tan Sri Kamal Salih was reported to have described the GST as a tax regime that was fair to all walks of life, adding that the system had kept the government afloat when the crude oil price declined to below US$36 per barrel in 2015.