THE high cost of living is now the main topic of conversation wherever you go. While the subject of 1MDB, government corruption, and mismanagement continues to stir anger, people are more concerned about bread and butter issues.

Jazz diva Sheila Majid’s tweet struck raw nerves. She tweeted, “Food is expensive, ringgit is weak, cost of living is high & jobs are scarce. Msians are becoming tired & angry for being squeezed over debts we did not create. Stop making excuses & looking for faults. Focus on the job of getting our country back on track! Disappointing!”

Sheila’s tweet has attracted more response than some of Trump’s Tweets. She also received brickbats from Umno leaders, and even from the aide to the prime minister’s wife. There is no immunity when criticising the government even with her star status.

Despite unsavoury remarks from her detractors, her tweet resonates with a lot of Malaysians faced with rising costs, receiving wide support from netizens and social media postings.

Treasury secretary-general Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah expressed surprise over Sheila’s tweet over the high cost of living. Irwan said people are confused between the cost of living and the cost of lifestyle. He elaborated the inflation is only 3.5%, but the annual salary increase which is higher at 5% to 6%, should be able to cover the inflationary cost.

Many don’t see the logic of getting an annual increment only to see half or more of the gain cancelled by raising inflation.

The issue of rising costs was also brought up by party members at the recent Umno assembly. In his speech, Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Minister Hamzah Zainudin was quoted as saying rising costs is God’s will, insinuating it’s beyond anyone’s control. He has since claimed that he was misquoted.

It’s not the first time God’s name was invoked at an Umno gathering. At the 2015 Umno AGM, lawmaker Othman Aziz was reported to have said that prime minister Najib Razak has been chosen by Allah to be the sixth prime minister of this nation.

God’s name or religion are being used by the politically bankrupt to deflect criticisms of the government. When you lose the plot, invoke God’s name!

Irwan’s response to Sheila’s tweet did not include some latest figures. According to the Statistics Department, Malaysia recorded an inflation rate of 4.3% year-on- year in September, the highest since March. This is mainly due to the rise in transportation costs (15.8%) and prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages (4.6%). Both are components of consumer price index (CPI) which measures inflation.

The government continues to float glowing statistics to convince the population that everything is good and that the economy is on track. While the nation’s economic indicators like GDP remains positive at around 5%, we should also look at other indicators like Gross National Income (GNI) to get a true picture of the economy.

GDP growth is a widely used indicator to assess the economic performance of countries, but GNI is better for measuring living standards. The Economic Transformation Program (ETP) was supposed to drive the country towards high-income status by 2020, propelling its GNI per capita to US$15,000.

When we look at the “Malaysian Economy in Figures 2017” by the Economic Planning Unit (EPU), it showed Malaysia’s GNI per capita (US$) fell from US$10,677 in 2014 to an estimated US$8,821 in 2016.

The World Bank’s current definition of high-income economies is those with a GNI per capita of US$12,476 or more. It means Malaysia is far from reaching the status of high income economies at the present rate. It is also unlikely that in three years (2020), Malaysia would be able to achieve the projected GNI per capita of US$15,000, what more to reach the World Bank definition of high income economies.

In a Malay Mail article in March, Jayant Menon, lead economist at Asian Development Bank, said the estimated fall in GNI per capita showed that living standards were being “significantly eroded”. It suggests that the capacity of the average consumer to purchase goods and services, produced abroad as well as at home is diminishing. This drop also pushes Malaysia’s aspirations of graduating to developed or high-income country status even further away, since the benchmark is defined in US dollars, said Jayant.

In another report, the head of EPF’s strategy management department, Balqais Yusoff, said the low salary structure in the country was a major contributor to the situation whereby 89% of the working population earn less than RM5,000 a month. The minimum wage needs to be restructured and aligned with the rising cost of living, she said.

The recent Merdeka Center survey confirms section of the population are indeed affected by the rising costs. The survey found 15% of Malaysians were skipping meals in order to make ends meet. Ibrahim Suffian, the survey director said in their opinion, the findings convey a picture of a Malaysian electorate that was largely affected by rising costs and feeling some levels of distress in spite of the strong macroeconomic growth numbers.

Although the GDP growth and low inflation rate are positives for Malaysia, other indicators points to fractures in the economy, affecting the man on the street. People are struggling to cope in a situation where costs have risen quicker than their take home pay.

Shelia’s criticisms of the government is not without basis and critics should not be quick to pound her. I am sure Sheila is not talking about the cost of lifestyles which is a personal choice and within one’s control, but the suffering of the nation overall.

When a petite diva tweet can cause consternation, you know the country’s is in trouble.

Our country’s leaders should follow Sheila’s advice, “Focus on the job of getting our country back on track”. The less politics the better. – December 13, 2017.

* Joe Samad has wide experience working for international companies and government GLC. He is interested in new technology applications in a shared economy and issues affecting the nation,  sharing his worldview across various media platforms.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.