Yes, it’s still the economy…

Wan Hamidi Hamid Wan Hamidi Hamid Updated 5 years ago · Published on 10 Aug 2018 7:00AM · 4 Comments

The Pakatan Harapan government has abolished the GST, which theoretically means lower prices of goods and services. The new sales and services tax kicks in on September 1. – Bernama pic, August 10, 2018.

IT is now three months after Malaysia’s 14th general election and we have a new government called Pakatan Harapan. But Malaysia baharu still feels like Malaysia lama. Something is amiss.

Before GE14, surveys were conducted to find out what made Malaysians tick. The results were almost the same – we were angry over the rising cost of living, increasing prices and stagnant wages.

So, it’s not that difficult to guess that we voted against a weak, economy (mis)managed by a kleptocratic Barisan Nasional government.

A majority of us voted against BN. Even those who wouldn’t vote for Pakatan Harapan, didn’t vote for BN either. They chose other third parties.

We voted BN out because we believed that PH could do something about the economy – to bring down the cost of living, abolish unnecessary taxes, strengthen the economy and the ringgit, and to arrest the increasing prices of goods and services.

It’s like what many people used to say a couple of decades ago: it’s the economy, stupid. Yes, it still is.

However, after May 9, things didn’t turn out the way we expected. Of course, we understand that reforms take time. No one is expecting an overnight miracle.

While some are demanding immediate changes, many more are willing to wait, even for a year or two, or some don’t even mind till the completion of the term.

But something else crops up. It’s the old emotional game of race and religion again.

It was about the blow-up over translation of a minister’s press statement into English and Chinese; the call to recognise Unified Examination Certificate (UEC); the storm in a teacup over the “pendatang” history of the Malays, Indians, Muslims and Hindus in Malaya; and other non-issue issues.

It doesn’t stop there. Now some people are seeing the PH government as meddling into personal affairs of its citizens.

It is reported recently that the government would come up with guidelines on “shariah-compliant clothing at work” for the private sector. Yes, for the private sector.

A few days ago, a minister admitted that he ordered the removal of photos of LGBT activists celebrating the month of Merdeka from a Penang government-sponsored exhibition.

His reason: they were promoting “LGBT activities” and he wanted to “protect” them from being victims of their haters.

Whatever it is, it has nothing to do with easing the rising cost of living, increasing prices and decreasing value of wages. It was much ado about nothing, it was merely chasing shadows.

Yet, things are not all bad. There’s still the mood of joy, no more GST, instead more corruption during the BN era exposed and former prime minister Najib Razak being charged in court. Even that very expensive, scandal-ridden yacht linked to the 1MDB mega-scandal is back in Malaysia.

And after three months, the media is still free, relatively.

It would be nice if this government could focus on the economy, especially on those financial, fiscal and monetary issues that affect us.

This transition period is painful but it must go on. Instead of sticking its nose into people’s private life, the PH government could actually begin to implement one-by-one, its promises made during the GE14 campaign. It’s really the decent, right thing to do, too. – August 10, 2018.

* Wan Hamidi Hamid is a veteran journalist with a deep love and knowledge of rock music

* 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.

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Comments

  • We hope the new pakatan harapan government will provide new investment opportunities to its citizens such as amana saham units for middle class non bumiputra. This class was deprived of such opportunities in the previous government.
    Furthermore we request for more support for all senior citizens.

    Posted 5 years ago by Gabriel Chelliah · Reply

  • People who voted in Pakatan Harapan are hungry for change. If Pakatan continues to harp on race and religious issues instead of real bread and butter issues, how is our livelihood going to improve? Is removing the photos of two LGBT activists from our Merdeka celebration really so critical for our national harmony? Is changing our school shoes from white to black so critical to our national education? Is an Islamic dress code for private sector really so important to our values and national identity? Come on Pakatan, please do not try to outdo UMNO when it comes to racism and bigotry. We have bigger issues to grapple with!

    Posted 5 years ago by Roger 5201 · Reply

  • Pakatan Harapan please do the necessary and walk the talk. From what we read from the press, there are nothing concrete coming out from those manifesto PH shouting about.

    A simple recognition of UEC you can't do? Doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Do not insult our intelligence anymore PH leaders ( the more comments we read , you are the BN of the day in disguise)

    Implementation of Independent Police commission to check misconduct of Police force, is that too complicated or PH taken the voters for a ride?

    3rd National car ? enough of the bullshit to justify it. Please focus on improving public transport!! The money better to spend on extending the LRT .

    Political appointment for GLC, please stop it. Appoint professional to run it like a corporate business.

    Mr PM with all due respect, listen to the RAKYAT, we voted PH in for a change but seems the government slowly going towards BN way in day to day operation. Stop the decay.

    Posted 5 years ago by Sivan Periasamy · Reply

  • Indeed there seems to be relatively little in the way of economic restructuring we have heard about so far. This of course stems from the fact that much deadwood is present in the civil service and GLCs.

    Posted 5 years ago by K Pop · Reply