Wednesday, August 28, 2013

SPIKE in crime bad for the economy - business leaders


Monday, 26 August 2013 15:57
SPIKE in crime bad for the economy - business leaders
The spate of violent crimes in the country is affecting the country's economy as investors and locals are being frightened away.

This was the general consensus of the local Chinese business community who have expressed their concern on the impact of crime on their livelihood.

This is following a sharp rise in shooting cases nationwide - at least one case a day has been reported since early last month.

Association of Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) president Datuk Lim Kok Cheong (pic) has urged the government to increase its efforts in curbing violent crimes in the country.

"People feel scared and they don't commit to investments. Even our own people don't come out at night,” MalaysiaKini reported him as saying today.

"The government has to take the necessary steps, there are firearms everywhere.”

What was worse, he pointed out, was that prominent figures who could afford to employ their own security guards have also fallen victims to criminals.

“If senior people in government also kena (fall victim)... what about normal people?”

ACCCIM commerce committee chairperson Leong Kai Hin concurred, noting that while the body has not received any complaints from its 30,000 businessmen and association members, the impact on the economy was unvoidable.

“Most people tend not to come out at night to shop or to visit restaurants (due to crime) and this will affect the economy,” he said.

Police figures revealed that violent crimes have recorded an increase of 7.4% in the first six months of this year (15,098 cases) compared with the same period last year (14,811 cases). However, index crimes have shown a 2.7% decrease within the same period.

Meanwhile, on the goods and service tax (GST) that is being considered by the government, Lim noted that most members have “accepted the eventuality of the tax".

This was based on the results of a survey conducted by the ACCCIM on the economic condition in Malaysia for the first half of the year. Out of the 717 questionnaires sent out to members, 392 were returned.

Most of the respondents, however, urged the government to start at a lower GST bracket and to give a two-year grace period for implementation.

- themalaysianinsider.com


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