YOURSAY | ‘Bread and butter issues are more important now than political ideologies.’

MP SPEAKS | Govt hears people’s woes but unpopular reforms necessary

Commenting has been disabled for this story: Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad said, “We lost (the Sungai Bakap by-election) because we removed subsidies.”

Firstly, that’s far too simplistic.

Secondly, you are blaming the voters. You are saying, “We didn’t do anything wrong, it’s the voters who could not accept the subsidy cut”.

You are portraying yourself as a parent prescribing “tough love” and it’s the child’s fault for not being able to accept what is good for them.

That’s just patronising and condescending. And completely devoid of any self-reflection or admission of wrongdoing.

The same condescension and arrogance led to your loss at Sungai Bakap. There was a drop in non-Malay turnout.

Every non-Malay I spoke to agreed with the subsidy cuts but they are very disappointed with Pakatan Harapan.

Have you ever bothered to ask yourself why?

GreenBear0663: We agree with cutting subsidies for diesel. But we are tired of the government not seeing the elephant in the room.

Trim down the size of one of the fattest civil services in the world and improve their efficiency. There’s hardly any talk about that.

If you focus on boosting the government’s machinery on efficiency, you might be able to figure out a better way of catching those diesel smugglers.

How hard is installing technology at the border and checking fuel tanks? It will not cost more than the diesel leakage that the government claims to be bearing.

Maybe I’m just simplistic about the whole thing. But we only have two borders, Thailand and Singapore. Is that so difficult to enforce?

We are not saying don’t take away diesel subsidies, but are there no simpler and less painful methods to be adopted?

MyMY: It is easy to talk when you are sitting in your ivory tower.

You cannot imagine the stress the people have to go through worrying about where to get the rent for next month or if they have enough for their month-end mortgage or car loan repayment.

Is there enough milk powder for their baby till next week or money to buy food for their school-going children?

It’s easy for you to say we need to be patient, but when you are in our shoes, we have mouths to feed and a roof to put over our families.

We do not have the luxury of time. Our stress and worries will only turn to anger at the government and its incompetency.

Hmmmmmmmm: No matter what you do, Perikatan Nasional supporters will never vote for you.

As far as they are concerned, you are damned if you do and damned if you don’t. So, just do what is best for the country without the aim of winning votes.

Reforms are best done at the beginning of your mandate.

Some people may be angry, but by the time the next general election comes along, most will be used to them or have adapted and moved on.

If those are good reforms and the people benefit from them, you may even win some votes from them. Don’t leave reforms to the last minute where the benefits cannot be felt until too late.

World Citizen: Hello minister, do you guys not see issues like the KK Mart boycott, dress codes, matriculation quota, politicians receiving discharge not amounting to acquittals (DNAA), former prime minister Najib Razak’s pardon, education issues, and the like?

You guys keep talking about Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), but do you think Sungai Bakap folks even understand what this is all about?

Yes, diesel subsidy rationalisation is a real issue for many and the government has messed up in its implementation.

Many non-Malays have stayed out of voting because Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has neglected this key support base and if you don’t change course, this government will have to close shop after the 16th general election.

RedMarlin1833: Nik Nazmi, having met you a few times abroad, you are one of the better MPs.

However, your party leaders and the government as a whole are losing the plot.

All the rakyat are asking for is to be able to survive, but lots of promises have not been fulfilled.

The man on the street is struggling. Bread and butter issues are more important now than political ideologies.

Your government can and must do better. That’s about it. However, everyone gets the feeling that the emphasis right now is on trivial issues.

Outlier: These politicians still don’t get it and are still in denial. They miss the point.

The non-Malays are angry that this government has pandered completely to the extremists.

Look at the hysteria surrounding the KK mart issue, the boycotts, and even a simple shoe design that was subject to scrutiny and criticism.

Politicians or people who speak out on various issues deemed racial in the eyes of the extremists have Molotov cocktails thrown into their houses or get hauled up by the police.

When the votes don’t go in their favour, again the non-Malays are blamed. How does it benefit non-Malays to go home to vote (with increased fuel prices), and queue up in the hot sun or rain to vote?

Why should they do this? For a more racist government being propped up by the largest bloc of non-Malay MPs?

OrangeKucing5562: Diesel smugglers must be arrested, and the government has a full force of paid civil servants to do the job.

Why need them if they are not doing their job? Sack them as there is no such thing as a free lunch.

Don’t just penalise the rakyat through the so-called removal of subsidies when the rakyat is still facing a high cost of living, but keep the useless enforcement team on the payroll for doing a bad job.

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