Winning the PR game

A pay cut of 10% won't make a difference but it's good for public relations.

Is it absolutely critical that Pakatan fulfill every single one of its Manifesto promises within exactly 100 days? No, it's not. Some things might take a while to implement. But from a public relations standpoint, it's important to have a few quick wins.

That's why despite Zeti saying GST might take some time to dismantle (possibly more than 100 days), Dr M came out and said we won't have any GST by June. This is being done by bringing the GST rate down to 0% while the officials work on actually dismantling it. The effect is the same as it being removed though. And as far as the general public is concerned, Pakatan has fulfilled its promise about GST faster than expected. Something's going to be done with the tolls soon which will make many people happy as well.

All these quick wins are about winning the public relations war. Pakatan has to show very quickly that it is different from the previous administration. It had promised change and it wants to show tangible change very quickly.

Recently, Dr M revealed that the country has over 1 trillion ringgit in debt. He subsequently announced that the Cabinet has agreed to a pay cut of 10% as part of the government's austerity measures.

Frankly, when you're talking about a trillion ringgit in debt, a 10% pay cut in  minister's salary is not going to make any difference. But in PR terms it's a good soundbite especially in light of the previous administration's excesses not just with the 1MDB mega-scandal but everyday stuff like cronyism and overspending at the tourism ministry.