DEAR anti-inflation taskforce chief, why don’t you let the public know which countries have raised the salaries of their politicians at this present time?

The answer is none. Except for Malaysia, in Sabah, which is run by a coalition aligned to federal government.

When the rakyat asked for the cabinet to take a pay cut, it was shameful for a minister to respond in the way he did by asking the rakyat to tell him which country has tackled inflation by slashing ministers’ wages?

Time and again, every politician always played the rakyat card.

The rakyat’s needs come first.

Even when politicians switch allegiance, they justify it by saying the rakyat requested them to switch.

Never once have any of the politicians, be it from the ruling or opposition coalition, ever taken the initiative to join the rakyat in their sacrifice.

Almost all existing lawmakers in Malaysia have entered politics solely with one single objective, which us not helping or solving the rakyat’s problems, but to enrich themselves and their families financially.

This at the expense of the country and the rakyat, who gullibly believe in them.

Even when caught, so long they are prepared to disgorge their ill-gotten gains back to the country’s coffers, they will be let off with a slap on their wrist.

Meanwhile, the sum returned is generally a pittance compared to that taken.

When the rakyat is asking for the cabinet to take a pay cut, the rakyat is asking the government to put its money where its mouth is.

The rakyat wants to know whether the government knows what it is doing and whether it can really tackle the nation’s problems.

With a cabinet of such size, the rakyat expects more from each of the ministers and their deputies.

So far, what the people have witnessed is just talk and more talk.

Any plans put forward are all up in the air, indicate that little thought has gone into them.

The rakyat wants actionable plans from the government to address the issues the country is facing.

The rakyat has already witnessed a good number of cabinet members who are there just for the joyride and benefits, with zero ideas and contributions.

You should put your money where your mouth is.

If the cabinet can pull the country out of its present doldrums to a level where every Malaysian will enjoy a standard of living comparable to those enjoyed by our neighbour down south, we will have no issues with ministers seeking a pay-rise.

Once upon a time, Apple was a disaster, chewing through CEOs and delivering one bad quarter of financial results after another.

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple as CEO in 1997 after a 12-year absence, the company was really struggling.

He famously insisted his salary be just US$1 (RM4.45) as a way of showing how much he cared about the company he had co-founded in his parents’ garage two decades previously.

Some 21 years later, in 2018, Apple’s valuation officially hit the US$1 trillion mark, making it the first company to do so, ever.

Much of that success is due to Jobs’s vision. Without him, the company as we know it today might not even exist.

Lee A. Iacocca, chairman of the Chrysler Corporation, voluntarily limited his salary to US$1 a year – a pittance for a man who was once in line to be the successor to Henry Ford II at Ford Motor Company in the US – in September 1979, when he was asked to lead the restructuring and revival of the ailing car company.

In 1983, Iacocca was offered stock in Chrysler in exchange for staying on for another three years.

When the stock bonus was offered it was worth US$4.2 million.

By 1986, Chrysler’s stock had doubled. Iacocca, who received a US$1 annual salary, brought home more than US$20.5 million in 1986.

Both men put their money where their mouth is. Both delivered and succeeded in showing the world.

Is the cabinet prepared to do the same? – July 29, 2022.

* FLK reads The Malaysian Insight.

* 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.