BY all accounts, it is a success and one of the most well-received policies of the new Pakatan Harapan government, but Tabung Harapan has had its share of critics.

Some have called the fund a political gimmick to increase PH’s popularity.

Other critics questioned whether it will be a permanent and viable mechanism for paying the country’s massive debts which the administration said has surpassed RM 1 trillion.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, however, sees the fund differently, insisting that it is a critical part of the new government’s effort to rally the country to break from its past.

“Of course it won’t be for perpetuity. But we will have it for now. It’s not just about the money,” Lim told The Malaysian Insight.

“It’s for people to show their love for the country and their contempt for corruption that brought us this RM1 trillion debt.

“It’s to show that we are in this together, of coming together and prevailing together.”

The fund was announced a week after PH took over Putrajaya in the historic GE14. Some RM92 million has so far been collected.

It was a response to individual campaigns by ordinary citizens who collected donations after the new government revealed that the country’s debt levels were higher than previously reported.

The fund was similar to a campaign in pre-Merdeka Malaya, when citizens pawned jewellery and gave money for Tunku Abdul Rahman’s trip to London to negotiate independence from Colonial Britain.

Ever since it was launched, Malaysians from all walks of life have donated between RM10 and tens of thousands to the fund. 

Lim drew similarities between the act of giving to the fund to the healing process that people have to go through when they experience a tragic loss.

“When we suffer loss, we suffer grief. Similarly, we have all these scandals that we must cleanse ourselves of.”

Lim has estimated that taxpayers have to bear RM50 billion in losses and debts from 1MDB, which is the biggest scandal the government has unearthed. 

“We must first know the truth, then face it, overcome it and move on. To put it behind us.

“The fund is part of the process to face these scandals. It’s after the cleansing process where we have to move on to contribute to the country,” added Lim. – June 23, 2018