3 Ways to Minimize the GST-Effect
‘Idea Bekal Ke Pejabat’ by Chef Azian. You can pre-order the book here: http://bit.ly/Bekal-Pejabat
Picture by PTS.
I am sure, since the first of April came knocking on our doors, we are hurt, damaged, bruised by the panic stemmed by the infamous GST. Social media have proved that.
Instagram is flooded with pictures of purchase receipts with angry captions saying ‘I hate GST!’, Twitter with retweets ‘GST tanya apa khabar?’ and Facebook abundant with complaints of misfortunes befallen since the notorious tax came into action.
Everyone is in the state of panic. Everyone is tightening their belts. Everyone can only afford to go window shopping.
April 1st was the beginning of a new era. We can make complaints, make comparisons to Singapore implemented GST at times when their GDP was highest, we can make protests, we can curse all we want but it is now the era of GST and like it or not, there is no escape.
The ones who are feeling the effect the most are rakyats like us, the mediocre-laymen-average-low income earners. What more if they are homeless?
All we hear in the radios, mainstream media are all happy-positive talks trying to indoctrinate us into succumbing that ‘GST in Malaysia is one of the lowest in the world’. GST is good for a country’s economic growth that is a fact but at a cost, through the suffering of many.
Yeah. Complaining won’t give anything good. The more we complaint, the crankier we get. Let us direct that crankiness to what our benefit. Let us focus on what we can do for the time being. I am writing to propose 3 ways to minimize the damage of GST.
1- Learn to Cook and Bring Your Lunch Boxes with you!
When I was 3 to 7 years old, we lived in Scotland. My mother used to prepare meals for the day in my very own lunch box. Well, the reason was there were no halal stalls available in school. So the Muslims had to find an alternative to keep your diet in check.
Now since GST, we bring lunch boxes with us not because of limited halal resources but because of saving our thick wallet from deflating!
Cooking is not that hard because you cook to satisfy your own taste-buds, not for others. As long as the diet is balanced then, be crazy. Others can share of course, if it is enough.
I am very new to cooking. I cooked Telor Goreng Kicap for lunch and dinner. It wasn’t perfect, since my wife is a better cook, she gave her criticism. But I saved a lot!
I’ll do the math for you:
Ingredients GST 0% (estimation):
- Egg = RM0.50/egg x 4 (I made four Telor Gorengs for lunch and dinner) = RM2.00
- Garlic (Bawang Putih) = RM0.50
- Large Onion (Bawang Besar) = RM0.50
- Chili Padi Merah = RM0.50
- Oil = RM0.50
- Rice = RM0.50
- Cucumber (for veggies) = RM0.50
Ingredients inclusive of GST:
- Kicap (you can use for 4 – 5 times) = RM6.00
- Bottled juice = RM1.00
Total = RM11.00 = 2 pax + Lunch and Dinner
If you go to any stalls, how much do you have to pay per meal?
Talking from experience, for lunch: White Rice (RM1.50) + Telor Goreng Kicap (RM2.50) + Veggies (RM2.00) + Bottled juice (RM2.50) = RM8.50
And let’s say we take the same dine for dinner RM8.50 + RM8.50 = RM17. That is for a person, for two persons RM17 x 2 = RM34.
So how much do you have to deflate your wallet per day for two paxs? RM34. But if you cook at home, you’ll save two thirds, use only RM11.00.
I want to suggest a book by Chef Azian ‘Idea Bekal ke Pejabat’ (I am merely promoting, I am even not paid).
2- Buy what you need, not what you want
I am not being philosophical here, I meant the real thing.
Ask yourself each time you want to purchase something that is based on the ‘pure desire’ to want something, do you really need it?
Everything in the whole wide world is a want. But not necessarily a need.
For example, your laptop is 6 years old still running fine with frequent lags on a Core 2 Duo Processor but still fine. Your laptop isn’t dead yet so you can still do your work. You are not a programmer or an animator, just a writer. You want to buy a laptop with a processor of i5 and above. Ask yourself, is that a want or a need?
Another example would be you’re about to get married and you want to buy a formal office shoe for one of your hantaran presents. Should you buy an overpriced Crocodile of RM400++ or a Bata half the price?
You can argue with me the quality and all and you might be true. But provided that your monthly salary is just RM2000++ barely enough to make you alive, you still want to buy an overpriced shoe?
3- Shop at GST-Free Super-Markets
You can only count the GST-free stalls with your fingers: Al-Ikhsan, Mydin, DIY. I would recommend you to do your shopping at Mydin compared to other GST-imposed Super-Markets.
You see. Many people got confused over Mydin ‘forgetting about their promises.’ Mydin did not lie to their customers on using their revenue to cover the tax.
Even though it might be a business strategy to use slogans like ‘Biar Kami Rugi, Anda Puas Hati’ to attract consumerists when actually 16% of SST is gone replaced by only 6% tax. Well, that’s okay.
So many people thought that Mydin lied to the public. Mydin did not lie. The Malay Mail has made a very good write-up about this.
End Note
Need = is what you have to have.
Want = is what you want to have.
My final word of advice to us is if you don’t have a Mydin store near you, what you need to do is repeat step (1) and step (2) for the rest of your lives!
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Youth Awards, Convention & Exhibition(YouthACE) 2015
Buat kesekian kalinya, Langit Ilahi menganjurkan YouthACE, dan kini dengan kerjasama ABIM, SPKB dan K-Fiqh. Pada kali ini, untuk#YouthACE2015, kami membawakan tema – Belia & Masa Depan.
Tarikh: 25hb April 2015
Masa: 8.00am-11.00pm
Tempat: Dewan Besar PKKSSAAS, UPM Serdang
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MC sepanjang hari: Saudara Aiman Azlan
08.00AM – Pendaftaran
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Panel 1 – Wan Ahmad Faysal
Panel 2 – Saudara Muhammad bin Zahid
Panel 3 – Ummi Rose
Panel 4 – Saudari Amani Salim
10.30PM – Persembahan penutup Daripada Mirwana
11.00PM – Kesimpulan MC dan bersurai
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