Aiming for goal, Putrajaya hits crossbar; when police fail to shoot down rumours
As published in Malay Mail today. Aiming for goal, Putrajaya hits crossbar Comment by Frankie D’Cruz frankie@mmail.com.my THERE was one moment this week when cumbersome rules upset our lives. It was a case of how everything that could go wrong was going wrong. On Monday, Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah disclosed the government was still studying a fuel subsidy mechanism after saying it would be rooted on the income of vehicle owners who would be split into three levels. That meant the new system had yet to be finalised. The result of announcing just one aspect: a storm of criticism in the next day’s papers, and the next and the next. Welcome to the (almost) weekly edition of “Public Information: How to create noisy debate”. It has been a full five days since we learned that those earning more than RM10,000 a month would not enjoy fuel subsidy; those with income between RM5,001 and RM10,000 would be given partial subsidy; and those earning below RM5,00...