by P Ramakrishnan
ALIRAN
The joy of receiving RM500 has been fleeting. Now, the coffee shops, market traders, hawkers and food courts have all increased their prices, and the pain will not go away, observes P Ramakrishnan.
The Barisan Nasional is feeding opium to the people through BR1M. The people then become deluded into believing that a lot of money is being given out. Indeed they feel elated and happy clutching the RM500 that is dished out to them.
At that moment – after waiting in long queues and sweating in an uncomfortable environment – when they finally receive the RM500, they feel that they are suddenly rich. For the poor people this has a big impact.
But what is the consequence of this hand-out? Unfortunately, this is what the people don’t seem to realise. Their momentary joy has clouded the long term effect that is felt by every Malaysian.
Have you noticed that things have suddenly shot up in price?! The coffee shops have increased their prices – all the prices of drinks have gone up. The cost of food at hawker stalls and food courts have gone up. Every food item costs more now. The goods in the market – vegetables, fish, meat, fruit etc – and every item in the grocery shops have all suddenly gone up in price.
On a daily basis, we spend more now than we did before BRIM was introduced. And you feel this hardship everyday throughout the year. In no time the BR1M RM500 has disappeared and you have to bear this extra burden of costly things triggered by BR1M!
The BN has no notion as to how to help the people – especially the poor. By doling out on a one-off basis, it doesn’t solve their problem. This dole does not stretch long enough to sustain them or make their daily living any easier. In fact it has added to their misery and they suffer more.
If, on the other hand, the government takes steps to keep prices down, that would be a great relief. The government must contain the prices of essential foodstuffs. The basic food must be made affordable and within the reach of the poor. The spiralling cost of living must be addressed seriously and effectively.
Surely, the government must have by now realised that whenever salaries go up or allowances are declared, there is a price to pay. The prices of goods escalate. This escalation only enriches the suppliers and shopkeepers and makes it difficult for poor people to make ends meet.
Instead of bribing people with their money, the government must be sensible enough to control prices. In this way they may be able to help the people more meaningfully. This may be better appreciated and better served.
Those who are entrusted to govern and to look after the welfare of rakyat don’t understand the sufferings and hardships rakyat are going through. They are too engrossed in their own business of acquiring wealth for themselves and their family members. Decades of unchallenged power and immense wealth has blinded their vision, deafen their hearing and hardened their heart so that cries for help by the poor and down-trodden are in vain. And, for the rakyat to change all that, there is no better way than to UBAH. Kali inilah!!!
Those who are entrusted to govern and to look after the welfare of rakyat don’t understand the sufferings and hardships rakyat are going through. They are too engrossed in their own business of acquiring wealth for themselves and their family members. Decades of unchallenged power and immense wealth has blinded their vision, deafen their hearing and hardened their heart so that cries for help by the poor and down-trodden are in vain. And, for the rakyat to change all that, there is no better way than to UBAH. Kali inilah!!!
Price control is NOT just the answer. We must empower the people especially the younger generation. Only a good all rounded education will it propel our people forward and bring them out of the rut. Instead of ensuring that our young ones is being given an education that we can all be proud off, they are just dishing and churning out graduates that are not employable, who can’t read or write a proper English sentence. Standards are being lowered just to make sure that they graduate from schools and universities. What do we have at the end of the day? Unemployable graduates. The elites in UMNO/BN, they send their children to boarding schools and universities overseas so that when they are back; they will hold the kind of jobs that they ordinary folks wish that they are able to secure.
Ini Kalilah Rakyat Malaysia Kami UBAH Malaysia For A BETTER MALAYSIA.
Come to Penang, look at those flags, free parties, lucky draw every night! It is fun fair 1 Malaysia…
Why such spending? Do you really need that massive amount of flags? who is paying this eventually? 物極必反！Do you want this type of government?
Actually when Najib made claim that BR1M is better than lowering petrol prices, it actually betrays the fact that HE is IGNORANT OF ECONOMCS despite working on “ETP'” with many smart people around him.
For those that don’t remember or don’t know basic micro-economics, the fact is the main difference between lowering prices and direct transfer is INFLATION..When you cut petrol prices, it lower prices and put more money into people’s pocket AND is a high multiplier from companies with more money to invest. When you do Direct Transfer, the tendency is for that money to be spend and cause inflation thereby negating the effect of the direct transfer..
Only in Malaysia we have free money! Correct? Wrong. Nothing is free; whether in Malaysia or anywhere else in the world. Our monthly pension is not free money. We have been paying for this “free money” when we were in service. We were being paid less because a small portion of what we earn is paid into a pension fund. 500RM is free? book voucher is free? tyres are free? smart phones cheaper by 200RM? OMG, Malaysians, better get ready for taxes (By the way, did you all notice that LHDN – Income Tax Board did not say any thing or issue any reminders about filing your tax return this year. If this is not election year, I am sure you can seen all the tax filing reminders all over the newspapers)
For all these “free” 1this, 1that money, please get ready for repayment day. Our national debt is above 550 billion RM. Each Malaysian is shouldering a debt of 27,500RM. Think about it.
To save Malaysia for our children and our children’s children and their children’s children, all Malaysian voters must come out to vote on 5/5/13. Vote for a party of PR (PAS, PKR, DAP) to save Malaysia.
SAVE MALAYSIA, INI KALI LAH, ABU, ABU, ABU!!!!!!!!!
BR1M should provide the government, or rather the government should have now a list of persons or households who need assistance. This should replace the classification of the persons who need assistance by race. One should appreciate that before the advent of computer in the 1950s when the constitution of Malaya was drawn up, the persons could not imagine that it was possible to have a list, a manageable list of persons who should be the beneficiaries of Article 153. Race was used then.
With BR1M list, Article 153 should assist persons found in that list. NEP of course has outlived its promised lifetime.
Yes in Penang, it is PARTY TIME every night, lucky draws, smart phones given away shamelessly. Beers are being served everywhere. It is so sickening to see our precious RM being wasted, because these funds could easily have helped orphanages, dialysis centres, old folks homes, hospice centres, who are desperately in need of funds. This is blatant plundering of the country’s economy. At Penang General Hospital, at the 3rd Class Wards, emergency life saving equipment are in serious shortage.
So when we vote think BN – BUKAN NAJIB.