YOURSAY | ‘So long as people can’t afford basic needs, they will reminisce about Najib’s era.’

Najib appears a palatable option for Felda settlers hurting in Camerons

SVR: Only when the basic needs of the people are taken care of, then and only then will they consider corruption a crime. This is a classic case of how people think when they can’t put food on the table.

Pakatan Harapan politicians can shout and scream about alleged kleptocracy and corruption by former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, but so long as the people cannot afford their basic needs, they will hate the current government and reminisce about Najib’s era and the good times.

The government needs to go down to the ground, talk to the poor and find out how they can help them. Do not sit in your ivory towers in Putrajaya.

They need to know the government cares about them. Look how happy car washer S Sukumarah and his family were when Najib visited him. Where were our government ministers, deputy ministers or officials?

Once you have won the election, you all disappeared. Nobody cares about the poor folks. Nobody talks to them. Do you blame them if they are angry?

ChuenTick: The Felda settlers are disillusioned with the Harapan government. Many of the rakyat who voted for Harapan are also disillusioned.

It looks like Harapan is not going to triumph in the Cameron Highlands by-election. I hope Harapan will take it as a wake-up call and buck up.

Please don’t take the rakyat who voted for you for granted.

LoveMalaysia2: Yes, I think Harapan will not win this one, and no doubt BN will see it as vindication.

The government has a tough job ahead of them in changing the mindset of those who think the government is there just to finance them.

People have lost their dignity and respect for themselves because of BN’s politics. It is sad, but hopefully, they will wake up to the fact BN has used them and kept them on the border of poverty so that they would be easily manipulated.

Don’t Just Talk: It is amazing how ignorant the settlers are, and how this can be easily manipulated by Umno politicians.

The sad state of affairs in Felda is the result of mismanagement by the corrupted previous chairperson Mohd Isa Abdul Samad, who has been charged in court, and the current price of crude palm oil.

It is the rural voters who are easily deceived and the reason for “cash is king” is to exploit them, unlike urban voters who can smell out these corrupted politicians.

Anonymous 770241447347646: If these people are not willing to face the truth and tighten their belts until the situation improves, then they deserve the leader they elect.

The many years of being dependent on the government have incapacitated them. Besides palm oil, they should have diverted part of their lands into growing other cash crops.

Harapan has to teach second or third-generation farmers to be self-dependant. Maybe the land can be used for other purposes. Besides cash crops, ponds can be set up to rear fish. They could even turn to poultry farming.

Civil servants who have had millions spent on them and especially those who have travelled abroad on study tours should now use their expertise in finding new solutions, instead of Felda settlers forever depending on palm oil.

RR: Don’t blame poor Malays for their “subsidy mentality”. Blame the Umno leadership for having given crutches to them over the past 60 years.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad was a part of this sojourn, though he had occasionally asked the Malays to work hard, et cetera. They are still kept in their cocoon even now.

This habit of providing subsidies has become second nature to the Malays, but for Umno, it has become a good political strategy for vote catchment.

We can therefore see that Najib is now campaigning in Cameron Highlands as a good man, but Mahathir and Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng are bad men for the delay in Felda settlers’ allowances.

The poor Malays don't care whether the country survives or not, but subsidies are important and necessary for them.

So, over to Mahathir for his strategic thinking and planning on how to improve the lives of Felda settlers.

Undecided: "The case is not like sodomy or murder. It's just a breach of trust and misappropriation," said Mohd Fadzil Suparman, a second generation settler from Felda Koyan 3 in Cameron Highlands.

The mentality of those under B40 (bottom 40 percent) who are struggling says it all. It just so happens these are Felda settlers.

Harapan must think of ways to convince those with such mentalities that corruption is the reason why there are not enough funds to take care of their needs.

Hotpotato: Indeed, the rural folks such as Felda settlers cannot understand your big data, they are only concerned about how much money they can put on the table.

Najib and gang are seizing this opportunity when prices of commodities are down, and hence there is less take-home pay.

Harapan's attempts to bring in foreign direct investment and eliminate corruption to attract more investments do not mean anything to them for short-term benefits.

Cogito Ergo Sum: This is the stark reality on the ground. BN knows that years of spoon-feeding have resulted in a faithful and reliable vote bank that will last for many generations to come.

As the days go by, it appears that Harapan will be a one-term government. And many in Harapan know it too, trying to make hay while the sun shines.

There seems to be a lack of political will to change the mindsets of this segment of society. A sad and hopeless future awaits the nation.

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