3RD Speaker, GOVERNMENT

Assalamualaikum and a very good morning to the chairperson, judges, fellow

ministers, members of the opposition and last but not least and audience. My role as
the third speaker is to rebut all the points given by the opposition, to stick with our
stand, and that is those profiteering through the social media should be taxed. It
can be said that the social media profiteering are contributing their fair share
to society and the funding of public services.
Ladies and gentlemen, since 2014, the national budget has continued to
increase. To cover the increase in national expenditure, the government needs sufficient
funds. Malaysia's rapid economic growth from year to year should have a positive impact
on tax collection. This means, the more the economy grows, the higher the amount of
tax collection that can be collected. Because of that, the Malaysian Ministry of Finance
(MOF) and HASiL are always working hand in hand to find new sources of tax. However,
the efforts of the government and HASiL alone are not enough. It must be supported by
the people. If we as individuals fail and avoid paying taxes, it will be difficult for the
government to provide the facilities and development needed by the people themselves. 
Moreover, over the past two years, government spending has risen sharply to
help the people cope with the effects and challenges of COVID-19. Programs such as
Bantuan Prihatin Nasional (BPN) to the B40 and M40 groups, Geran Khas Prihatin
(GKP) to traders, the Malaysian Economic and People's Protection Assistance package
(PERMAI) were created solely to ensure that the fate of the people is protected and
economic activities continue to grow.

In addition to providing aid to the people, expenses to deal with the COVID-19
outbreak such as the purchase of equipment, medical supplies, personal protective
equipment (PPE) and vaccinations are also the result of taxes paid by taxpayers. All this
is for the safety and well-being of the people. With effective spending, Malaysia has
moved from the pandemic phase to endemic in April 2022. 

In addition, existing people's assistance programs, such as Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia

(BKM) which is channeled to the B40 group, and the Jaringan PRIHATIN program which
aims to reduce the financial burden of the B40 group to obtain internet facilities also use
the proceeds of tax collection. In terms of individual tax rates, the 30% rate in Malaysia
is low compared to other ASEAN countries such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand
which have a 35% tax rate. The average tax rate of developed countries in Europe is
over 40%.

In Malaysia, individuals are eligible to register a tax file if their annual net income
exceeds RM37,333 (after deduction of the Employees' Provident Fund, EPF). However,
these individuals are not necessarily taxed because we can claim more than 22 types of
tax relief that are eligible such as relief for self, wife, child and others. So, take full
advantage of tax relief to reduce the amount of income tax you should be paying and
maximize your tax refund.

The national income is not enough to finance the national budget, let alone if the people
fail to pay the taxes they should. Therefore, the government had to borrow to finance this
budget deficit. The federal government's debt until the end of June 2022 amounts to
RM1.045 trillion, or 63.8% of GDP.  If individuals comply with paying taxes, we can avoid
the country becoming bankrupt as a result of the burden of debt from the world bank or
the government of other countries. Individual taxpayers in particular need to have a
sense of responsibility and emphasize the concept of contributing within each individual,
that is, what is given will benefit and be enjoyed again in the future. Therefore, it is not
just about meeting the demands of the tax law, but rather instilling awareness and
working with the government to develop the country for the sake of common life. Let's
share the sustenance together. The tax that is handed out will benefit not only us as
taxpayers but also the whole people, the Malaysian Family.

Ladies and gentlemen, with those rebuttals, I hope you have seen the light in this
motion today. We must realise the importance of social media profiteering are
contributing their fair share to society and the funding of public services.
Profiteering have been contributed to us since its inception, and it will continue to be with
us in the future.
To ensure that The first/second speaker of the opposition said that e-sports is
the social _____________________________________________ (a waste of
media time). Now, we should not make such a hasty remark. We have seen
profiteering how e-sports has brought in many sponsors to improve our economy,
are as explained by our second speaker. We all heard of the saying
“practise makes perfect”. It is the perfect way to view people who are
contributing
focusing on e-sports. Established individuals and teams have to train
their fair share
themselves to be good at the game so that they can win tournaments.
to society and This requires hours and hours of training until they can get their timing
the funding of and coordination right. To say that this is a waste of time is simply
public insulting. It is like saying that footballers are wasting their time training
services on the field, bouncing a ball off their feet! To look at how serious e-
sports is to a nation, let’s take South Korea for example. They have a
school dedicated to teach students to play video games to increase
skills. That is why, many South Korean players are considered some of
the best players in the world. Games like Starcraft and League of
Legends are a must in e-sports which can offer a huge prize money. For
example, earlier this year, the prize pool for a PUBG event was 7.1
million US dollars. Imagine bagging in the money, because you deserve
it for your skills.

If you look at our chosen perspective, we only speak of those who play
e-sports professionally. The question is, what about those individuals
who do waste time playing games? Well that’s why we need to be clear
on the topic. While it might be good to play video games recreationally
because it releases stress, this has got nothing to do with e-sports. E-
sports in an event where professional gamers have to get together and
face other professional teams. E-sports should not be held responsible
for excessive recreational playing by the youths today. This is because,
they play without any objectives or goals. They sacrificed their study
time, money and responsibility just to play games. For these people,
there should be a limit on what they do. Yes, we have heard of the
gamer in China who died in front of the screen because of overplaying
games, but is it fair for us to blame e-sports? Think about it.
Causes health The first/speaker of the opposition also said that e-sports
problems _____________ _____________________________________ (can
cause health problem). Again, this statement is like barking at the
wrong tree. We can’t blame e-sports for causing health problems as we
could see e-sports athletes are usually ambassadors of good health.
They know that they really have to take of their health so that they
could make good decisions in gaming. It is really hard to spot an
overweight e-sports athlete. Let’s look at Soloz, a famous e-sports
athlete in Malaysia. He plays Mobile Legends, PUBG and more, and he
looks fit. In fact, he is very successful and is an inspiration to a lot of
young people in this nation. Perhaps, learning from him, more people
could be just as successful in e-games and at the same time, keeping
 themselves in shape. E-sports is a demanding field. Athletes are
supposed to have discipline because they need to be on the go,
especially during tournaments. They should also take enough rest, a
proper diet and excercise like any regular athlete. We should not judge
them any less, just because they are e-sports athletes.
E-sports hinders The first/second speaker said that e-sports
social _________________________ (will make us anti-social). This is simply
communication outrageous! If we dive deep into the structure of an e-sports team, one
thing that we cannot overlook is how they manage as a team. This is
none other than to be a team-player. E-sports athletes have to find
ways to interact efficiently among team members to complete their
objectives. Some might go as far as creating inside codes for them to
communicate. In the world of e-sports, coordination is everything. It is
the difference between winning, and having a total wipe out. Surely, in
this time of the pandemic, we are not encouraged to have a face-to-
face conversation. As such, e-sports athletes are demonstrating to us
the best possible way to communicate, and that is to communicate
online. Imagine if e-sports athletes are having a conversation in real life
with others. They have the ability to know what others might want
from the experience of playing the game. When your teammates are in
trouble, you have to help them, and when you are in trouble, you have
to call for help. In addition, you also learn to deal with stress and anger
during these e-sports session. Isn’t all these making e-sports athletes
the best there is in communication?
E-sports can The first/second speaker of the opposition also said that
distract ______________
students from ________________________ (e-sports distracts students from
studying studying).
Again, this argument can be tackled easily. This is because, our focus is
not students here. Our focus is on the e-sports athletes who are
directly involved in e-games tournaments. They are professionals and
they already have a solid career. They already have sponsors, support
companies and perhaps their own personal assistants. In fact, our e-
sports athletes in Malaysia are made of those who have finished their
SPM examination. For those who haven’t, perhaps they have earned
enough to make a living, or perhaps more. If such case happens, we
should support the player so that the skills can be maintained, and to
have the player put Malaysia on the e-games map. For example, Yap
Jian Wei is a Malaysian DOTA 2 player and he has earned a total of 1.8
million US dollars. That’s even more than what any officer could make
in a lifetime. And when he get this kind of money, imagine the tax that
he has to pay the government. If that’s not beneficial to the individual
and the government, then I don’t know what is.

But let’s entertain the opposition, even though their point was off-track
a little bit. When a student get distracted by mobile phones and games,
we can’t blame the government for their inaction. In fact, it is the
 society around them that has to play their roles. Parents should give
advice to their children, teachers should unlock their potential and the
school should give them a platform to shine. Shutting down a
government division that’s worth at least RM 2 million is not the way to
solve the problem. Even without the e-sports ministry, kids will play
games anyway and the distracted will still be distracted. If that
happens, what will the opposition blame next? Electricity causes
students not to focus on their studies? Or perhaps global warming?
That’s very funny.
E-sports The first/second opposition has also said that video games can cause
contains violence. Let’s look at the statistics. In 2019, there were 16489 cases of
violence violent crimes reported. 310 cases were murder, 21 cases were gang
robberies with firearms, 6058 cases were gang robberies without
firearms, 9 cases of robberies with firearms and 3641 cases of
robberies without firearms. The question is, how many e-sports
athletes are involved in these crimes? I have the answer and this
answer could shock the opposition for making the false link. The
answer is……… NONE. Criminals are usually drug addicts, gang members
or psychotic individuals. Are you telling me that these people play
games before they commit the crime? Which game teaches us to rob?
If this is the truth, then I myself should be a robber by now, because I
play games too. Yes, sometimes I play Fruit Ninja. But that doesn’t
mean I will massacre fruits as I see them. I will instead eat them. But
then again, this doesn’t matter because we are talking about e-games
and its athletes. We have never heard of any violent crime cases
coming from them.

Ladies and gentlemen, with those rebuttals, I hope you have seen the light in this
motion today. We must realise the importance of celebrating the youths of our nation and
to give them platforms to achieve their dreams. E-sports have been with us since its
inception, and it will continue to be with us in the future. So why not? Recognise e-sports as
something beneficial, so that more improvements can be made to improve our nation.
Again, our case for today is E-sports is beneficial to the country, due to its contribution in
economy and the well-being of our youths.