Not the tallest building in the world
nor the man who attended the most weddings as a best man in the world
nor Tan Boon Heong, who holds the record for the fastest smash in the world
Now, we are eying for the country with the highest beer exercise tax (or sin tax) after Norway.
Heres a comparison alright?
Norway's per capita income is USD79,085; the 2nd highest in the world after Luxembourg. SO OK fine, the Norwegians could easily afford a cold one right after work and still have enough savings to live a comfortable life.
Malaysia's per capita income is a mere USD6,897; right smack in between the bloody table listed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Still we enjoy the 2nd heaviest beer tax in the world and seriously, there is something really wrong here.
I mean, I am all for responsible drinking and have never served any underage person any alcoholic drinks during my time as a bartender, which may I remind everyone something I had to do to earn some extra pocket money while studying in Uni. But this is ridiculous! Shouldnt we, the good tax paying citizens of Malaysia be allowed to enjoy a cold one without throwing out our life savings?
Why shouldnt the government increase our beer tax? Here are some reasons why:
1. People will start looking for cheaper alternatives to legal beer and by that I mean smuggled beers, DIY alcoholic beverages and other cheaper alternatives (reselling expired beers, counterfeit beers etc). Wouldnt this impact the government's income and the peoples health?
2. F&B establishments would suffer greatly. Pubs, restaurants and other F&B outlets which depends on beer sales will not survive if the people decided to not drink because of high beer prices. Employment will drop and businesses will be destroyed.
3. Tourism will suffer because we will be viewed as a country which imposes heavy beer taxes because of our national religion. Our country's image will be effected and our beautiful Malaysia will be misunderstood. More unemployment will occur.
4. Study drinking trends in Malaysia rather than just slapping outrages taxes on beers. You cant blame beer for creating troubled youths and drives criminal rates in the country. Wouldnt it be better to get to the root of the problem instead of finding a scapegoat?
5. A pint of guiness is roughly RM25 in pubs. Thats 1% of our monthly pay for some of us. A pack of smokes can be bought for RM10, will can be enjoyed 20 times. Isnt smoking a worst trend than drinking?
I agree which what beerbeer says. The government should not just rush into decisions based on personal opinions but they should rather conduct a research on the drinking trends in Malaysia. Most of the drinking establishments in Malaysia are healthy and viewed as a sociable place frequent by professionals and honest people alike. So why judge before thinking?
Hopefully the government would do the right thing. research first then decide. Otherwise we too have the power to decide what happens during the next GE.
Lets all pray and hope...
At the meantime, I'll just go and have a cold one with my buddy from the states here
Doggyjames hopes the government would not take our little simple pleasure away from us... :(
Join us in protecting our rights to have an affordable beer after a long days work contributing to the nation's economy
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=164464076900147
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Right on, doggyjames! This is a great post. You are so right. This is utter bollocks! Beer has historically been the most affordable and sociable drink in a bar. Now, if it's gonna be even higher-priced than whisky, vodka and rum, isn't the government indirectly encouraging people to go for these cheaper but harder-hitting alternatives? i mean, hardcore drinkers wouldn't really be affected. but what about the moderate, social drinkers who just wanna have a beer with friends and not go all the way with Jack or Jim? In other words, beer is the lesser of two evils. By increasing beer taxes and hence prices, it means we are all encouraged to be friends with the real evil - liquor - since it might be cheaper to have a shot or two anyway.. why the hell not, right? Sometimes i think the Malaysian government needs to go for a brain check-up.
ReplyDeleteHey DoggyDog. =) cheers for your posting. You must know that the user/customers of beers in Malaysia is ALL CHINESE and ALL INDIANS and Others (Westerners/Middle easterns). So WHY should the government tax alchohol less? absolutely no Reason. It has to do with Power Politics and has nothing to do with real research.
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