(April 29): Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan has denied getting any gag order from Umno preventing him from talking about the goods and services tax (GST).

He said there was no such order from the Umno leadership.

"I was not told by the leadership to stop talking about the tax. If I stop talking about GST, then the opposition wins," he told reporters at a press conference at the Communication and Multimedia Ministry media centre today.

News channel Astro Awani had quoted an unnamed Umno source as saying that the party had warned Ahmad, who is party information chief, to stop making statements on the GST especially in the Rompin and Permatang Pauh by-elections.

The news channel reported that Ahmad was told not to highlight the issue after he was heavily criticised on social media for his earlier statements.

Astro quoted the source as saying that his remarks, though well-meaning, had been often manipulated by the opposition to the detriment of the party.

Among Ahmad's infamous remarks was former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad not understanding GST. That remark drew flak from Perlis Mufti Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainal Abidin and academic Datuk Dr Mohamad Agus Yusof.

Ahmad was also recently criticised, namely on the social media, for telling students at Universiti Teknologi Mara to cook their own meals to save cost.

"No, I did not get any warning from the party leadership... Maybe they (the opposition) is afraid of me," he said.

Ahmad said that he had been studying GST and talking about it since two years ago nationwide, from Perlis to Sabah; and that he had always been consistent in his statements.

He then gave members of the media a crash course on how the tax worked in the automobile business – replacing the 10% sales and services tax (SST) with the 6% GST.

"I had said that cars would be cheaper come April 1 with the implementation of GST but there were people who did not believe me and laughed at me. But on April 1, what I had said happened.

"It was not just cars that were subjected to the SST. The clothes we wear were also subjected to SST. So clothes should now be cheaper too," he said, added that furniture, building materials, drinks, candies, chocolates, electrical appliances and kitchen utensils to his list of items that should be cheaper now.

"The opposition (Pakatan Rakyat) hates me because of this... they don't like it when prices are down. They like it when prices are up," he said, adding that if there were no profiteering traders, many things would be cheaper today.

Ahmad also said that GST was more cost saving for manufacturers and wholesalers, as the tax was claimable, unlike SST.

Therefore, he said that consumers, who previously had to bear the SST at 10%, now only have to bear the 6% GST when they purchase goods and services subjected to the new consumption tax.

"It is not the fault of GST, but the fault of traders who take advantage of the situation when the people find prices up... I has said before that businesses can claim back the SST on their stock within six months.

"They have to minus the 10% first and then add the 6% GST for their prices. Don't lump the two taxes together," he also said when asked to comment on PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, who is contesting in the Permatang Pauh by-election, claiming that shopping for household items was now more expensive.

She had gone shopping with the media yesterday in a mini mart in Penanti to prove a point on why Pakatan opposed GST.

"I have said all this before and I will say it again... On these matters, I have not said anything wrong. Others have misunderstood what I had said. And they just don't believe me," Ahmad said.

He said that he would continue to address the GST issue over the electronic media through radio and television interviews to ensure the people understood how the tax worked.

"I cannot go and give ceramah everywhere. I encourage social media users to also check out my Twitter account via my handle @ahmadmaslan." – The Malaysian Insider