This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on October 9, 2017 - October 15, 2017

Since Netflix made its debut in 2007, many a bachelor the world over — including yours truly — has relied on it as a source of entertainment. Some subscribe to it just to watch their favourite shows, such as Game of Thrones or Narcos.

In Malaysia, where many are feeling the pinch from the rising cost of living, using Netflix to invite a girl over —  “Netflix and chill” in internet slang — seems too much of an effort.But then again, there are many who watch it chilling on their bed, alone.

Netflix may be the biggest video-streaming platform in the world with some 100 million subscribers, but it is not the most popular in Malaysia. The local honour goes to tonton, which boasts more than seven million registered viewers.

There are many tech-savvy makciks dreaming of the perfect son-in-law and hijabsters pining for hunky pilots and doctors.

In the tonton universe, the handsome Malay guy, who is the son of a Datuk or Tan Sri and holds a high-income job, invariably falls in love with a tudung-clad kampung girl.

tonton may have seven million registered viewers but only a small percentage subscribe to tonton VIP, which charges extra to allow access to premium content. The subscriber base of iflix, which is available in 19 countries, is not known.

So, when Customs director-general Datuk Seri T Subromaniam recently announced that the government was planning to impose the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on video- streaming services such as Netflix and iflix, not many batted an eyelid. It was just another of those things the government does that we barely react to.

After all, paying subscribers are probably as rare as Chinese Malaysians watching TV Alhijrah, Malays watching Astro AEC, or honest tears shed by politicians.

While Malaysians could care less about the government trying to tax their Netflix and chill time, it would be a blow to the local mini-Netflixes, such as tonton, iflix and dimsum.

Already, the industry players are finding it tough to get viewers to sign up beyond the free trials with telcos and free content. Will GST turn them away completely?

Well, good luck!

The video-streaming industry has to find a way to make it more attractive so viewers will want to subscribe to their services. The current we-have-all-the-content-in-the-world model might not be suitable anymore.

Over the last couple of months, I have only watched four titles: Season 7 of Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, Seasons 1 and 2 of StartUp, and Season 6 of Scandal (Shonda Rhimes is definitely IT!)

Anyway, the fact that the government is trying to impose GST on such services shows it has accepted that there is no stopping the march of the digital economy. In fact, it’s been reported that Budget 2018 will include special measures to try and grow the digital economy.

As for yours truly, keeping my subscription is still cheaper than hanging out at the mall, where I would have to pay for parking, movie tickets, and food and drinks at a restaurant.

Hmm ... could the lacklustre performance of the retail sector of late be linked to the emergence of iflix and the like?

Well, there are worse things one can do than contribute to the government’s coffers. (And no, I’m not smoking anything hallucinatory.)

Thanks to my trusted companions iflix, Netflix and tonton, I get to escape to fantasy worlds, where there is no GST and no rising cost of living to contend with.

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