Rural folk left in the lurch but cronies taken care of, says Mat Hasan


Christopher Rabin

Acting BN chairman Mohamad Hasan says the government is more concerned about talking down the share market than helping farmers and Felda settlers. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Afif Abd Halim, January 21, 2019.

RURAL folk were left out in Budget 2019 but Pakatan Harapan helped out their cronies in the insurance business, said Barisan National acting chairman Mohamad Hasan.

The government, he said, is working with the insurers to buy over unsold houses with its guarantees.

“We the farmers, fishermen and plantation workers have to shoulder our own burdens,” Mohamad, the acting Umno president said yesterday.

The former Negri Sembilan menteri besar also said the way the government calculated its debts is driving down the stock market, so that investors can pick up shares cheaply, such as Tabung Haji.

“Before the general election, TH shares were priced at RM1.68 (per unit) but when the stock dropped, TH Plantations fetched 52 sen,” he told the farmers and Felda settlers at a mega-ceramah in the Cameron Highlands by-election.  

He also blamed the drop in the price of commodities, such as crude palm oil and rubber to drop on the ruling coalition, saying farmers are at its mercy.

“In April, CPO fetched RM2,850 a tonne but in October, the prices were between RM1,700 and RM1,800. A difference of RM1,000. The raw oil palm prices may be as low as RM200 to RM300.

“The people are suffering. Trust me, I know, but what can we do? We have a government that is great at talking but incapable of doing things.”

He also refuted Malaysia’s debt figure of RM1 trillion.

“We are checked by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and World Bank. They recognise our accounts, they never talked about debts of RM1 trillion. Where did it come from?”

The government is counting liabilities, such as bonds, debt securities and sukuk taken out by PNB (Permodalan Nasional Berhad) and Maybank, although these entities have solid and strong assets, he said.

“They say our liabilities are nearly RM1 trillion when the actual debt figure is RM685 billion. They also never mention how much foreign reserves we have.

“We have more than RM400 billion in reserves and our GDP is at RM1 trillion. So, we do not have a problem. The international community also wonders why Malaysia tarnishes its own name.” – January 21, 2019.

PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang at the PAS and BN mega-ceramah last night. The three Felda schemes in Sg Koyan together supply more than 2,800 votes in the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat. – The Malaysian Insight pic by Afif Abd Halim, January 21, 2019.


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Comments


  • This is another very stupid guy with no content! He not only does not know how to lead, he is also not an intellect to make baseline comparisons given the numerous differing parameters.. Fleeting, unfounded & statements that lack credibility.. thats what hes making

    Posted 5 years ago by Kampung Boy · Reply

  • Actually, the international community has been full of praise for Malaysia's ability to boot out a corrupt government peacefully. Tun M has been invited to speak at prominent fora about tackling corruption. And people in an ASEAN country I visited recently wish the same thing could happen there also. So Mat Hasan is obviously not telling the truth.

    Posted 5 years ago by Leong Hong · Reply