'Cash is king' actually means cash for the people, says Najib

Updated 7 years ago · Published on 18 Sep 2018 10:25PM · 9 Comments

Former prime minister Najib Razak (second from right) says he only has Malaysians' welfare at heart. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, September 18, 2018.

FOR former prime minister Najib Razak, the “cash” part in the phrase “cash is king” simply means money for the people.

That phrase, he said, did not mean giving cash out to buy support or as bribery.

“It’s true that I once mentioned the phrase to Dr Mahathir Mohamad when we were on good terms.

“But what I meant was not about using money to buy support or to bribe people. It was to reflect our different views in the direction of the economy,” Najib said in a Facebook post today.

Dr Mahathir, who is prime minister again, said Najib told him in 2015 that “cash is king” to retain political support.

Defending himself today, Najib said “many people, who have commented on my Facebook page, did not get the real picture of what I meant with the phrase.”

He said at the time, Dr Mahathir did not agree with Barisan Nasional’s BR1M (1Malaysia People’s Aid), subsidy rationalisation, minimum wage and increasing salaries and bonuses for civil servants.

“Dr Mahathir believed that costs for labour and commerce, which were subsidised, should stay low to keep foreign investors in Malaysia. But I felt differently.

“I believed that investments needing cheap labour would still go to countries that can offer even cheaper labour than Malaysia and many leakages and smuggling would happen if we keep the subsidies.

“I chose investments that were technology and infrastructure-based, and those that would go for attractive tax systems – businesses that would create highly skilled and highly paid workers,” Najib said.

The money the government saved from subsidy rationalisation and from the goods and services tax (GST) were returned to the people in the form of BR1M, higher salaries and infrastructure projects, he said.

GST was introduced by the Najib administration in 2015 but has since been abolished and replaced with the sales and services tax (SST) by Dr Mahathir’s administration, following Pakatan Harapan’s takeover of Putrajaya.

Najib said “cash is king” meant that the government should not decide for the people what kind of subsidies they needed.

The government could offer subsidised petrol or sugar, but these would not benefit those who did not own cars or consume sugar, he said.

“We should give the people cash in the form of BR1M so they could decide for themselves what to spend on.

“It was my view that salaries and incomes in Malaysia had been too low for some time and needed to be increased. What advanced nation has workers with low salaries?”  – September 18, 2018.

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Comments

  • Enough explanations... It's too late. It won't work now...no one will believe you crook. You will be condemn to hell.

    Posted 7 years ago by Will Be Humble · Reply

  • With Rm2.6 billion and still counting in your account and you claimed that the cash is for the people? KNN !

    Posted 7 years ago by Teh Ewe Leng · Reply

  • What utter rubbish as you talking about Jibby

    Posted 7 years ago by Teruna Kelana · Reply

  • So you help me, i help you means what ah?

    Posted 7 years ago by Francis Anthony · Reply

  • Ok, I can accept that it means cash for the people, as you say..

    Posted 7 years ago by MELVILLE JAYATHISSA · Reply

    • But where actually did some of this cash come from, or go to? Was it all properly budgeted for, according to good governance? We need to know, and exonerate you of mistakes and wrongdoing. And probably one of the biggest mistakes you made was to assume the portfolio of Finance Minister when figures went haywire, and money took flight, and landed Malaysia in great debt, over RM1 trillion in all? We must make sure this never ever happens again! Your tenure has clearly shown the world that we must go back to Merdeka time in 1957, and rule Malaysia with the power-sharing way our British colonial rulers intended - the industrious Chinese, and Indian professionals, must assist the majority Malays to collectively run this country. Then with this all-inclusive government looking after the interests of every Malaysian, Orang Asli/Asal, etc abuses and excesses will not take place with all monies budgeted, accounted for, and properly spent. Then there will be enough for all, and the Malays too will not be left behind..

      Posted 7 years ago by MELVILLE JAYATHISSA · Reply

  • Cakap tak serupa bikin.

    Posted 7 years ago by Tanahair Ku · Reply

  • Another after thought from Najib. Without a doubt Najib thought that he can use money to buy votes considering the massive amount of money found in his jones. In any case the BR1M is a disaster - the money should. E aim for the poor and not everybody to be meaningful.

    Posted 7 years ago by Rupert Lum · Reply

  • What bloody nonsense coming out from this spinner! He is worse than the other liar, the "hotshot" lawyer. Cash is for him to rule and live like a king!

    Posted 7 years ago by CY W · Reply