Opinion: Stop being a pot that calls the kettle black, Saifuddin

Opinion: Stop being a pot that calls the kettle black, Saifuddin


20 Jun 2025 • 9:00 AM MYT


TheRealNehruism
Writer. Seeker. Teacher

Image credit: The Sun / US Embassy KL Flickr


When I first saw the article where former finance minister Saifuddin Abdullah would be urging Anwar to get his tax facts right and saying that Malaysians were facing a “triple economic threat”, my interest was piqued.


It was piqued because I think that it has been way too long since Anwar has done anything for the working class. Last budget, he raised the minimum wage and expanded social security for us, but that was almost a year ago.


Considering it has been so long since Anwar has done anything for us, any fault of his on the economic department is exciting news for me – to hear about how he is failing all of us in economics would have been as enjoyable as hearing the news of a relative who owes you money having his car repossessed by the bank –it would have given you an excellent opportunity to chime in and say : “ see, this is what happens when you don't pay what you owe,” to remind the people that owes you, that before they go around strutting their feathers with the likes of Xi Jinping and Putin, they should see to it that their commitment to you is fulfilled .


Unfortunately, however, Saifuddin’s article, like a bad movie, only seemed interesting in the teaser and the trailer – the movie itself was a waste of money.


Although starting promisingly in the title, by the time I reached the third line in his very short article, I already knew that Saifuddin’s article was going to be a major disappointment.



It seemed that the major problem that Saifuddin has with Anwar’s economic plan is that he Anwar had misrepresented the meanings of GST and SST in a viral video.


In the video that Saifuddin has taken offense to, it seems that Anwar had stated that GST stood for “general sales tax” and applied to all goods while saying that SST was imposed only on imported items, which according to Saifuddin, is both incorrect.


It is incorrect, according to Saifuddin, because GST refers to the goods and services tax, covering both goods and services, not merely “general service” while SST, or sales and services tax, is not limited to imported goods, but also applies to selected domestic goods and services.


Pouncing on this pedantic error by Anwar, Saifuddin will then exaggerate Anwar’s fault to the point that he will suggest that our entire economy is in danger because Anwar explained a couple of terms wrong in a speech.



Now Saifuddin might not be very fond of Anwar, and as a member of the opposition, I suppose he has the right and duty to find Anwar’s fault, but when he has to use this petty of an error to find an ammunition to fire at Anwar, it looks bad on him, not Anwar.


In the second half of his article, Saifuddin would try to make article more interesting by suggesting how the working class are in a whole lot of pain come this July because of something he called the ” economic triple threat,” but despite making it sound so grand as an expression, the gist of Saifuddin’s contention again failed to fire convincingly.


According to Saifuddin, the ” economic triple threat,” are :


The“ache” of increased and expanded SST;


The“betrayal” felt with the targeted subsidy removal for RON95 petrol;


The “pressure” of higher electricity bills squeezing both B40 and M40 households.


According to Saifuddin, these ache, betrayal and pressure is bound to compound the rakyat’s hardship, but the problem is that other than utter these three lines, Saifuddin didn’t bother to explain to us exactly how is it that these aches, betrayal and pressure is going to cause the rakyat a great deal of trouble,


Instead, he will just cursorily tell us that it it is Anwar's flawed policies and ill-informed narratives, that will cause the people of the country to be guinea pigs for Anwar’s economic experimentation, and leave the rest for us to figure out by ourselves.


I don’t know if Saifuddin is aware of this, but you can’t accuse Anwar of giving an ill-informed narrative while giving an ill-informed narrative yourself. Will it kill him to elaborate his point a little more so that we can understand where he is coming from and where is he going with his points ?


I personally think that it is only losers that try to defeat their opponents by finding their grammar or spelling mistake.


Saifuddin needs to understand that it is not our due to believe him – it is his job to convince us – he can’t just cursorily suggest that our economy is doomed and we are heading towards a lot of ache, pressure and betrayal, and expect us to believe him as if he has a proven track record of being accurate, reliable and true.


I can’t believe I have to say this to a former foreign minister, but dude, if you are going to suggest big ideas like “triple economic threat”, try to flesh out your article with more than 296 words. If a mechanic explaining a minor problem with your car will use more than 296 words to convince you what is wrong with your car, you definitely need much more than 296 words to explain a major economic concern that will cause 80 percent of the country to feel ache, pressure and betrayal.


I was a maths teacher, not an economics teacher previously, but I don’t think you need to be an economics teacher to see how sloppy and sub-standard Saifuddin's work is here.


If I was a teacher judging Saifuddin’s work here, I would probably just throw this entire piece in the wastebasket after I read it, before scolding Saifuddin for wasting ink and paper, as well as my time and his time with this pointless article.


When you want to say something, aim to have something to say, Saifuddin, not just aim to be someone who is saying something.


If you haven’t found something to say, wait for the point to come, and put some effort at fleshing it out and presenting it properly after it comes, instead of just dishing out some half-baked stuff, with the expectation that people will be able to see your genius, despite the fact that your work is so lousy and half baked.



Anyway, to your question, how can the public have confidence that Malaysia’s fiscal policies are on the right track, when Anwar doesn’t seem to know what he is talking about, well, you should probably just go look in the mirror to find out the answer.


If our foreign policy could survive despite having someone so sloppy and sub-standard as you being our former foreign minister, I suppose our economy can finance and economy can survive too, regardless of how sloppy and sub-standard you think Anwar is as our finance minister.