Thevesh Profile picture
I tell stories with data, mostly about Malaysia 🇲🇾
Oct 22 6 tweets 2 min read
A lot has been said about how much the 'rich' make in Malaysia.

But there has been almost no discussion of the other side of the coin - how much tax do the 'rich' pay?

Using only open data, here's the answer - and it will probably shock you.

In 2022, T15 paid ~80% of taxes. Line chart showing the cumulative distribution of tax paid by individuals in Malaysia.  The curve is steep at the higher percentiles, indicating a high concentration of tax payments among top earners.  Key visual elements: 1. The x-axis represents the percentage of taxpayers, from 0% to 100% at 10% intervals. 2. The y-axis shows the cumulative percentage of tax paid, from 0% to 100% at 10% intervals. 3. The chart uses a black line with small circular markers. 4. The x-axis includes additional tick marks at 85% and 95% to highlight the T15 and T5 statistics.  Key statistics: - Top 15% (T15) ... Upon seeing this, your reaction might be:

"Well, the rich make most of the income, so they should pay most of the tax."

Fair enough. However, I felt it was not right to only discuss the income of the rich, but not their tax contribution.

Hence this chart. These are the facts.
Jan 25 5 tweets 2 min read
Saya faham masing2 marah bab pencen.

Walaupun perasaan itu valid, saya rasa korg patut tahu fakta dan datanya juga.

Berapa sebenarnya pencen menteri / MP?

Jawapannya: ~RM85 juta setahun, angka yg sgt2 kecil dalam big picture. Dalam 0.02% drpd bajet shj.
Jumlah Peruntukan bagi tujuan Pencen Ahli Politik (RM mil) Rujukan: Dokumen Tanggungan 14 (T.14)  2010: RM52.4 mil 2011: RM52.4 mil 2012: RM63.9 mil 2013: RM58.7 mil 2014: RM62.7 mil 2015: RM70.1 mil 2016: RM69.0 mil 2017: RM80.5 mil 2018: RM79.7 mil 2019: RM95.5 mil 2020: RM95.5 mil 2021: RM10.6 mil 2022: RM100.9 mil 2023: RM85.7 mil 2024: RM83.6 mil
Peruntukan mengikut Jenis Perbelanjaan (2024)  Pencen Ahli Politik: RM0.1 bil  (0.02%) Pencen: RM26.0 bil  (6.57%) Emolumen: RM95.6 bil  (24.16%) Mengurus (OE): RM303.8 bil  (76.76%) Keseluruhan: RM395.8 bil  (100.00%)
Mungkin anda tertanya2 - siapa sebenarnya yang menerima duit pencen yg byk tu?

Inilah jawapannya - dalam buku bajet (merujuk T.14), memang setiap kategori penerima diperincikan secara telus. Perbelanjaan Pencen 2024 mengikut Penerima Jumlah Besar: RM26.0 bil  Ahli Sukarela: RM0.000 bil  (0.00%) Rancangan BAY: RM0.002 bil  (0.01%) Askar Johor: RM0.004 bil  (0.01%) Hakim: RM0.041 bil  (0.16%) Ahli Politik: RM0.084 bil  (0.32%) Pesara Sarawak: RM0.244 bil  (0.94%) Pesara Sabah: RM0.541 bil  (2.08%) Polis: RM1.304 bil  (5.01%) Tentera: RM2.074 bil  (7.98%) Pesara Sem Msia: RM21.707 bil  (83.49%)
Jan 23 7 tweets 3 min read
How has the ethnic composition of Semenanjung Malaysia changed since Merdeka (1957)?

Answer:
• The Malay/Bumi % has steadily risen and is now at an all-time HIGH.
• The Chinese/Indian % has steadily fallen and is now at an all-time LOW.

🧵A sobering thread

#myopendata
1901-2023 Population of Semenanjung by Ethnicity (%)  2023: 67.6% Bumi, 23.9% Chin, 7.8% Ind, 0.7% Lain, 2020: 67.2% Bumi, 23.9% Chin, 8.3% Ind, 0.7% Lain, 2015: 65.9% Bumi, 24.9% Chin, 8.6% Ind, 0.6% Lain, 2010: 64.6% Bumi, 25.8% Chin, 8.9% Ind, 0.7% Lain, 2005: 63.5% Bumi, 26.7% Chin, 9.1% Ind, 0.8% Lain, 2000: 62.4% Bumi, 27.4% Chin, 9.3% Ind, 0.8% Lain, 1991: 60.3% Bumi, 29.5% Chin, 9.5% Ind, 0.8% Lain, 1980: 55.3% Bumi, 33.8% Chin, 10.2% Ind, 0.7% Lain, 1970: 53.1% Bumi, 35.5% Chin, 10.6% Ind, 0.8% Lain, 1957: 49.8% Bumi, 37.2% Chin, 11.1% Ind, 2.0% Lain, 1947: 49.5% Bumi, 38.4% Chin, ... I won't touch on the history behind the large changes in Malaya's ethnic composition observed in the early 1900s (cerita panjang, and most know anyway).

Suffice it to say: The long-term trend leading to today only really kicked in after WW2.

So the question is - why?
Jan 4 5 tweets 2 min read
(1/n) I am very frustrated seeing the QTs to this.

I want PADU to succeed. It's something very vital for gov.

So here is a nuanced view:

1) Education and employment details outdated, no problem. These are good to crowdsource.

2) Marriage details incorrect, big problem. (2/n) Why is it a big problem? Because we were told that PADU integrates 100s of government databases.

Surely JPN marriage database (for non-Muslims) is one of them.

This is NOT something people should have to edit!!
Aug 14, 2023 4 tweets 2 min read
Comment: I disagree with using win % to compare parties within a coalition (DAP vs PKR vs BN).

Why?

Because their seats are different!

47 kerusi DAP lawan, kalau letak PKR masih menang hampir semua kot.

59 kerusi PKR lawan, kalau letak DAP, mungkin prestasi akan lebih teruk. Similarly, apabila kita kata UMNO corot hanya menang 19/108, kena Ingat, byk yg mereka tanding dekat Kelantan, Terengganu dan Kedah.

Letak siapa pun daripada PH+BN di sana, result masih sama.

There are other ways to show UMNO poor performance. Win % is not the best indicator.
Oct 26, 2022 10 tweets 6 min read
In GE14
- Where was voter turnout highest?
- Where was undi rosak highest?
- Which seats were won with the biggest majority?

Here are some maps summarising the open data from @sprgovmy!

And that's not all.... In general, your vote matters a LOT more than you think.

In more than 60% of seats, the number of people who didn't vote was MORE than the winning majority.

Implication: Those who didn't vote *could* have swung the result.