Sense of direction and security

There has been a lot of talk about the budget: The increase in the children's allowance, the changes in the income tax bands, the full increase to the pensioners, subsidies to first time buyers, rebates to parents sending their children to private schools and why not, the Lm150,000 pledged to animal welfare NGOs.

Don't get me wrong, all of this is very good and it is only fair that the middle class, which pays most tax and barely gets a cent back in benefits, be given this much needed boost. But should we just judge a budget on how well our pocket will fare? I think not. In fact I think this was a very positive budget not because of the above mentioned measures (from which I will not really benefit much anyway) but because it gives this country a sense of direction and security; it consolidates the good work done in recent years to bring our finances in order. It is a budget which invests in better schools, better students, therefore a better future.

As a person in my 20s I don't remember KMB's budgets and to tell you the truth I don't really care either. It's important not to forget our political history but we are living now and we must strive relentlessly for a brighter future.

The two major questions we should ask ourselves are whether this budget really addresses our present and future challenges or not and whether our present government is able to weather the storms ahead.

I think that for both these questions the answer is Yes!