MALAYSIA, blessed though it is, isn't a rich country. But if we follow the money that flows out of its public purse, it sure appears as one.
And quite a humongous amount is either drained by corruption or wasted on unnecessary spending.
This Leader has devoted a fair bit of space to leakage by the corrupt in public service.
This Leader's space is for wastage of government funds by other means.
One such is the RM1 billion wasted annually on imprisoning drug offenders, when there is a screaming need for money elsewhere.
This newspaper brought home the point with great irony yesterday when it juxtaposed RM1 billion needed to fix Internet problems at public universities with the RM1 billion spent per year on drug offenders.
Much more has gone down the drain for other purposes, with or without such ironic juxtaposition, but let's stick with the money blown on drug offenders.
To be accurate, the cost to the government is more than RM1 billion a year, even if we count only the detention cost of drug offenders and rehabilitation cost of drug addicts.
The two added together spell a humongous hole of RM1.3 billion. But that is not all.
In an exclusive interview with this newspaper, newly appointed Home Ministry secretary-general Datuk Awang Alik Jeman revealed the extent of the gaping hole such costs are causing to government coffers year after year.
Just over the last 20 months or so, the Home Ministry seized drugs and related substances valued at RM1.1 billion.
But at what cost? RM1.2 billion in our calculation based on figures provided by the ministry.
This alone could have more than defrayed the cost of fixing the Internet problems in our public universities.
Or could have been used to hire 5,000 specialist doctors annually! And we can certainly go further into schools, clinics and some such things foregone every single year.
It is waste such as this that is pushing the government to reduce the budget for public healthcare.
And driving the Health Ministry into dangerous options such as introducing a full-paying patient service in public hospitals.
Privatising public services is not the right thing to do.
Britain's bitter privatisation experience during the 1980s under the prime ministership of Margaret Thatcher explains why.
Nothing was spared by her love of unbridled capitalism. From railways to airlines to utilities, all were made into private companies.
The often quoted reason for privatisation is to increase service efficiency. But at what cost is often forgotten.
It wasn't clear then to Thatcher, who was sold on Reaganomics, that privatisation comes at a cost.
Britain of the 2020s is learning how costly privatisation has left many Britons behind.
Putrajaya has an option. Instead of forcing the people to foot the bill of the drug gangs, it should make the criminals pay heavily.
In this way, the money saved can be used for providing public services such as healthcare.
Do not go thinking of private health insurance. Or even social health insurance.
Other than 10 per cent of Malaysians, the majority are trying to make ends meet.
Remember, basic healthcare is a human right.