Small onions and big problems

Has the BN government lost its direction due to being wrapped up in the euphoria of winning the 13th general election?

COMMENT

Last Friday on June 28, this columnist went to buy small onions from a regular wholesaler in Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur and received a big shock on being told that the price of small onions had risen to RM13 a kilo.

Queried on the reason for the sudden rise in price, the wholesaler merely replied that “foodstuffs have gone up because the government has no more money”.

The price of small onions used to be RM8 a kilo (already costly) in early June and the increase to RM13 at the end of the same month represents an increase of more than 60%.

Of course this may seem a trivial matter to those who are well-to-do but this could be an indication that the nation’s economy may be having a problem despite the good showing of the Bursa Malaysia.

Implementing the GST (Goods & Services Tax) can help the government gain RM27 billion in revenue but what is that compared to the massive wastages and leakages outlined in the yearly Auditor-General’s Report?

Can anyone then really believe that the national debt deficit can be reduced?

Bear in mind that the government has to fork out a gigantic sum for the increase in the civil servants’ salary starting this month and also for the book vouchers and BR1M 3.0 payments in December 2013/January 2014 respectively.

Of course revenue from the GST can be channeled towards the book vouchers and BR1M 3.0 payments but that is taking from the rakyat to give back to the rakyat – a no-gain and no-loss situation for the low-wage earners who would have already been taxed via the GST.

A friend who works in a supermarket has informed that he is regularly labelling new prices on the goods there immediately after the 13th general election.

Is it a portent of things to come that the national budget this time will only be tabled on Oct 25? This is late indeed as it is always tabled before mid-October. Last year it was tabled on Sept 28 and the year before last it was on Oct 7.

The government has mentioned before the 13th general election that the BR1M cash aid will be gradually increased from RM500 to RM1,200 and from interviews conducted by this columnist, people are expecting to get at least RM700 or RM800 this time around.

Do not expect the rakyat to forget monetary promises.

Many desperadoes around

Also the rampant increase of house break-ins, snatch thefts and robberies can be attributed to either the criminals failing to get jobs or lazy to get jobs but if it is the former, then we are in dire straits as there will be many desperadoes around.

It is already going to be two months after the 13th general election on May 5 and we want to see concrete results.

It is useless to say that Malaysia has attracted many foreign investors and there will be such and such a number of jobs being created next year or in two years time. The jobless and the low-wage earners want results now!

In the meantime, useless works has been done in Medan Pasar near Central Market in KL wherein this small area has been converted into a square with a water fountain which is sometimes working and sometimes not working because this area is now very dirty and untidy.

The people sitting there and enjoying these facilities are the foreign workers!

The area in front of Bangkok Bank, also near Central Market has been cordoned off for presumably the same project but digging works has yet to commence and the area is messy and untidy. What is the government up to?

Has the BN government lost its direction due to being wrapped up in the euphoria of winning the 13th general election?

Appended below is a list of disasters that have occurred post GE13:

1. boat tragedy and blackout in Sarawak;

2. lightning arrester falling from Menara Umno in Penang damaging lives and properties;

3. custodial deaths: Kugan’s verdict and Dharmendran’s case; and

4. crazy explanations on the indelible ink fiasco.

Is the Najib administration going through a bad patch? From small onions to Sarawak’s big blackout, recent events show that it is not surprising if there are people in Umno who think that they can do a better job than Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

Therefore if someone more capable challenges him in the Umno polls later this year, we may have a surprise by year-end.

Looks like the drama is not over yet and there will be more excitement in store in the coming months.

The price of small onions is just the beginning. Next we have the by-election in Kuala Besut, Terengganu.

We have to be prepared to roll with it and brace ourselves for a fast and furious roller-coaster ride. We are faced with a situation of four men in a boat in the middle of a lake without any oars. Be prepared, sit tight and buckle up.

Selena Tay is a DAP member and a FMT columnist