DESPITE the seeming dominance of Barisan Nasional and PAS in Terengganu, the rural folk of this coastal state blame Putrajaya’s cuts on subsidies and the Goods and Services Tax for the rising cost of living.

They measure their cost of living by the price of fish and other necessities, as well as the amount they get in welfare aid, which has been reduced.

When interviewed by The Malaysian Insight, they said they enjoyed a more comfortable life under former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, compared to current Prime Minister Najib Razak.

“In Dr Mahathir’s time, the price of the ikan selayang that we eat every day was only RM5 a kg, but now, it’s RM12.

“Ikan Aye (tongkol) that we use to make nasi dagang is also similar. It used to be RM6 to 7 a kg, but now it’s RM15 a kilo,” said 65-year-old Akob Abdullah, who is known as the “Umno Strongman” of his village because of his loyalty to the party.

Like many of his neighbours in the small village of Sungai Tong, Setiu, Akob believes that Dr Mahathir’s policies of providing subsidies and controlling the prices for certain products had eased the burden of the people.

“In the past, there were lots of subsidies. The price of petrol also didn’t change every week, like it does now. So, prices of things weren’t so high.

“But now, it’s so bad. Aid money has been cut, while the prices of fish and other things are skyrocketing,” he said.

Akob, who has special needs, said global economic uncertainty had also led to rising prices, but the government placing the full economic burden on the people instead of helping them.

He said the GST was one example of that, adding that most people he knew believed that the tax had led to the sharp increase in prices in the last two years.

“As a special needs person, I get RM300 a month from the government. In October last year, it was cut to RM200. When I asked why, they say it’s because the government also gives BR1M.

“But BR1M is only RM400 a year, while I have lost RM1,200 a year after my aid is cut by RM100. This means they are cheating me of RM800 a year,” he said, referring to the Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia handouts for lower income Malaysians.

Ramlah Ali, 65, whose son has Down’s syndrome, also relates the same tale of was aid being reduced from RM300 to RM200 a month as of October last year.

In the last election in 2013, most people from this village voted for Umno, while those in the city supported Islamist party PAS.

This led to PAS winning most of the urban seats in Terengganu (14 state seats and three parliamentary seats), while BN won most of the rural seats (17 state seats and five parliamentary seats).

“In the past, villagers supported Umno but city folk supported PAS. But now, in the coffee shops, people are talking about this new party, the ‘flower’ party led by Dr Mahathir,” he told The Malaysian Insight, referring to the hibiscus, the national flower, that Bersatu uses as its logo.

Dr Mahathir was Malaysia’s longest-serving prime minister, holding office for 22 years since 1981. After criticising Najib’s administration over the 1MDB controversy, he quit Umno and started Bersatu. Dr Mahathir now heads the opposition and is Pakatan Harapan’s prime minister candidate. – March 23, 2018.