FMT:
18 months but same old here, say Tanjung Piai folk ahead of polls
PONTIAN: Claims of unfulfilled promises may haunt Pakatan Harapan (PH) at the Tanjung Piai polls here, with some disgruntled residents saying nothing has changed a year and a half after the coalition managed its historic win in the 14th general election.
Those in the fishing village of Kukup say PH does not appear to have made good on the promises in its election manifesto, especially on reducing the cost of living.
Food stall operator Muhd Fahmi Malau A Kadir said nothing seemed to have changed on this front, adding that petrol prices have not gone down either.
“Be it the sales and services tax or the goods and services tax, prices are still the same. And we’ve actually gone back to the weekly petrol price now,” he told FMT.
Fahmi, who voted on May 9 last year, said locals want an elected representative who listens to the people.
“We do not care if he is Chinese or Malay. I do not see the trend of Chinese only supporting the Chinese candidate, or Malays only supporting the Malay candidate here,” he added.
Another resident who wished to be known as Wei Sheng said he was not happy with the delay in recognising the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC).
“I do not think I am the only one who is not satisfied with education issues involving the Chinese community,” he said, adding that the people had been promised only “candies” in GE14.
When asked whether he had seen improvements since PH took over the federal government, Wei Sheng said it was difficult to see any.
“The economy is not moving and prices are going up,” he added, staying mum however on which candidate would get his vote.
Construction worker Ito said he hoped former MP Wee Jeck Seng could make a comeback in Tanjung Piai. Wee, Barisan Nasional’s (BN) candidate from MCA, lost his parliamentary seat in GE14 after holding it for two terms.
“We have known him for many years, and we are familiar with the way he works with the locals,” Ito said.
When asked about PH candidate Karmaine Sardini, he said the PPBM man “may be good, but we do not know him”.
“It’s not that he’s at a disadvantage due to his age,” he added.
He, too, said he had not seen any change in the constituency since PH took over, adding that Md Farik Md Rafik, whose death in September triggered the by-election in Tanjung Piai, had only carried on the work of Wee before him.
Ito said he is not a member of any BN party but that he would support the coalition no matter who it fields for the by-election.
“The elected representative must not forget where he came from,” he said.
Retiree Chen Shui Seng meanwhile said he had decided to vote for Wee whom he called a hardworking MP.
Wee is up against five others in the fight for Tanjung Piai. Aside from Karmaine, he also faces Gerakan’s Wendy Subramaniam, Berjasa’s Badhrulhisham Abdul Aziz, and independent candidates Faridah Aryani Abdul Ghaffar and Ang Chuan Lock.
Frankly, the promise for reduction in the cost of living is an economic dead-end and potential disaster if it really happened.
ReplyDeleteSignificant reduction in the cost of living is almost always accompanied by reduction in standard of living, which economists term as Deflation.
No country, no economy in World history ever progressed via Deflation.
The CCP raised Hundreds of Millions of its citizens out of poverty in the last 3 decades, not by reducing the cost of living, but by providing economic opportunity to many.
So the PH Government really needs to focus on promoting Economic Opportunity , not so much reducing the Cost of Living.
By all means , government needs to watch the cost of living to attack unhealthy and illegal business practices such as price gouging, monopolistic price collusion, anti-competitive practices.
Of course, that is also a stumbling block in Malaysia. Some in the Majority demographic have gotten used to Tongkat Alis, and many have neither the inclination nor the skills set to put in the Hard Work and sacrifice needed to pursue new or expanded economic opportunities.
Majority of Malaysian school leavers today are only good enough for unskilled, low-income jobs.
For 61 years they voted for Alliance/BN/MCA with Same Old results.
ReplyDeleteIts obvious Tanjung Piai was not in a good shape on May 9 , 2018.
Why such impatience over the 18 months vs 61 years of mismanagement ?
did NOT people vote PH for change? If not, why bother to change government? You made such silly dedak-ized comments
DeleteRome was not built in 18 months.
DeleteThese guys kept voting for BN/MCA mismanagement for 61 years.