Dear Mr Prime Minister, we are writing this piece as your friend. As your friend who struggled for you during the time of Reformasi. As your friend who defended you during all the allegations against you. As your friend who fought ‘tooth and nail’ to bring down the greatest kleptocrat the world has ever known. As your friend who believed in a new dawn of greater democracy and freedom once we bring down the previous corrupt regime.

Unfortunately, as leader of the country, your priorities seem misplaced. We feel that instead of training your guns against the kleptocrats—including your right-hand man who was freed on DNAA despite a prima facie case against him—you are making an enemy out of us, the so-called T15. You disdainfully tag us as the “Mahakaya”. As if we are sucking the wealth of this country for our own benefit. You berated us, almost every day, for allegedly benefiting from the government’s subsidies. You forgot that we constitute that segment of the society who contributes the maximum in term of taxes. According to statistics, in 2022 alone, we the T15, contributed almost 80% of income taxes. Yet you castigate us as if we are the parasites and blood-suckers of the community.

Many of us were not born with a silver spoon in our mouth. We worked very hard for many years to reach this position in the society. We burnt the midnight oil and excelled academically to attain this status. We led a life full of sacrifice and self-immolation. Yet, in your war against corruption, you directed your gun against us. You made an enemy out of us. In your dreams, you imagined us gobbling up the benefits meant for the poor and the needy, the B40 of the community. But maybe you didn’t realise, or maybe in fact, it was a strategy by your Economic Minister to rationalise (read: cut) subsidy, such that you have to build a narrative that lures people to believe that there is one segment of the community who is selfishly and shamelessly reaping the benefit of the subsidies.

You built a perfect narrative so that people will naively accept the rationalisation of subsidies. But in reality, we don’t consume subsidised cooking oil, eggs, or rice. Instead, we purchase premium cooking oil, grade A fortified eggs and Basmathi rice. Not because we want to show off our wealth, but simply because we can afford such luxuries. The narrative that we grab subsidised items meant for B40 is a false narrative. Similarly, many of us in the T15 use RON97 petrol, not the subsidised RON95. Simply because we drive continental cars. Not to flaunt our wealth, but simply because these continental cars are much safer on our roads. Just imagine spending many years training as a surgeon only to be killed in a mere road traffic accident. Isn’t it a loss not only to the family but also a loss to the community and country?

Furthermore, you made it so difficult for those who deserve to get back their money, the diesel cash subsidy, from the Budi Madani that many of them simply gave up. Until today, no one knows the rationale behind that database PADU, which was suggested and proactively promoted by your Economic Minister. Touted as a comprehensive system that would supposedly assist the government in targeted subsidy, it finally ended up as a white elephant. How much money was wasted in building that database? Let’s not downplay it: the development of the PADU hub drained a whopping 85.27 million ringgit from the national coffers! That’s not a small amount for an unproven database. Until today, we have yet to see how this database will benefit the people, barring the developer.

In fact, this so-called rationalisation of subsidy and all the economic policies of your Economic Minister is straight from the textbooks of the neoliberal economic system—an economic philosophy that emphasizes free trade, deregulation, and a reduction in government spending. It is a laissez-faire system that advocates minimal government interference in the economic issues of the people in an attempt to purportedly stimulate economic growth.

What you and your Economic Minister have been doing is similar to the ideas suggested by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank, the champions of neoliberalism. We have seen the negative impact of this neoliberal agenda on our health sector. Apart from education, the health sector is supposed to be a top priority for a government. The free market approach to public services such as health and education is fundamentally misguided. Indeed, unlike other industries, public services are not meant to be profitable sectors. We feel that your neoliberal strategy will exacerbate inequality, such that the poor will never get medical treatment and education at par with the rich.

Why then are we in the T15 segment of the society concerned about this neoliberal agenda promoted by your government? Admittedly, we can afford the best medical care and also fund our children’s education in private institutions. The answer is simple: we, the T15, care for the society. We contribute 26% of our yearly salaries to income tax. We want this money to be spent wisely for the rakyat, for better healthcare and education. We don’t mind if the B40 does not even contribute a single cent to the coffers of the Inland Revenues Board (IRB); we know that they are poor and do not reach the threshold to pay any taxes.

But we were very dismayed and disgusted when individuals who owed millions to the IRB were rewarded with lofty positions such as Director of MATRADE (Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation). Retrospectively, the greatest kleptocrat was given more than a 50% discount on fine and jail term. Of course, you can hide behind the Royal decree. But some discerning people could clearly see what was happening behind the scene. This made all your diatribe against corruption ring hollow. You have a misplaced sense of priority. You launched a tirade against imaginary kleptocrats but ignored the real plunderers in front of your very eyes.

We are sorry if all these words sound very harsh. However, we hope you realise that the derogatory term ‘Mahakaya’ used against us was indeed very bitter and painful to swallow. We want you, including your arrogant and self-obsessed Economic Minister, to understand that we contributed the most financially to the country. Additionally, many of us in the T15 gave back to the society in terms of our expertise, which is intangible. Hence, do not make enemies out of us. Don’t forget that we were your staunch supporters in the reform agenda for the betterment of the country, although many of us are now left disillusioned.