YOURSAY | 'Just walk into any wet market and ask: are we better off now?'
Salleh’s rosy picture of M’sian economy just lies and statistics
Anonymous 2436471476414726: Communications and Multimedia Minister Salleh Said Keruak, we do not care about per capita GDP.
It means nothing when we regularly hear of our citizens living in dilapidated houses, some taking shelter under bridges or beside monsoon drains with just a tarpaulin over their heads.
When we go to the hospitals, we are told that the government does not have adequate medicine for the sick.
Many schools, especially in rural areas, are in a rundown condition, some severely ravaged by termites. But the government does not have the funds for maintenance, let alone build new school buildings.
Rural roads notably in Sarawak and Sabah are in deplorable conditions, accessible only by four-wheel drive vehicles. In some cases, there are none at all.
In Sarawak, the town of Kapit is yet to be completely connected by road to other towns, in spite of it being more than 50 years since the formation of Malaysia.
There are many other examples of lack of basic amenities and infrastructure still prevailing. So don't be proud of the gross domestic product (GDP) figures, which in any case is incorrect.
SusahKes: According to a news article published in a local daily The Sun yesterday, the Malaysian Employers Federation estimates that over 50,000 Malaysians will lose their jobs in 2018.
I’d like to see Salleh meet any one of these 50,000, and relate his statistics to them. Let’s see if he can put a smile on their faces.
Ghostwhowalks: Salleh, just walk into any wet market in any state, and ask the rakyat a simple question: are we better off now than, say, two to three years ago? The truth will hurt. All of us rakyat are now suffering in silence.
Clever Voter: It's all relative. The feel-good factor is what Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak wants to feed the country. We accept to some extent inflation is inevitable, but it is inexcusable, as many of the price rises could have been avoided.
We should be holding the minister to task for the opportunity cost of high wastage and inefficiency. Much of our past resources have gone to waste. To a layperson, the real savings left over from a day's earnings is what matters.
Most people can't relate to how we compare with Zimbabwe.
TheAxman: ‘Clever Voter’, you are right that we accept that inflation is inevitable in a growing economy, but actually it would not be a problem at all if our income levels kept pace with those of Taiwan and South Korea.
The BN government likes to shift the issue towards price controls, and tries to keep prices low, when in fact we should be focusing on why we are not earning more.
Every time I hear their pledges to keep prices low, I think, why? So that we become Laos or Cambodia? The rakyat should stop complaining about high prices, and instead complain about why they are not earning more.
Just a Malaysian: Salleh wants to create a feel-good sentiment amongst all the Umno-BN members, so that when they happily carry on with what they are doing to the country, they do not feel guilty.
They have done a great job, so what is getting a few billion ringgit as a reward?
Nevervotebn: Salleh thinks the little red dot down south is too small to be a country, and Brunei has a ruler like one of our Malay states, so he can't include these two countries as part of Southeast Asia in his statistics. So with his logic, we can claim to be “tai kor” (ringleader) of Southeast Asia.
He probably also thinks South Korea is ruled by Kim Jong-un, whereas Taiwan is a province of communist China, so we cannot compare with them.
Jaguh: Well done, Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, for telling us the real facts. Anyway, what does an incompetent fellow from Sabah know about GDP and the economy?
Maybe he was trying to interpret figures in pesos.
HaveAGreatDay: Thanks to Pua for calling out Salleh's bluff. But sadly, I believe those lies are meant for the folks in the rural hinterlands for the benefit of GE14.
And the lies will be swallowed, bait, hook and line by the rural folks.
Gerard Lourdesamy: Pua, the voters know about the real economic situation, and come the 14th general election (GE14) we shall deliver the verdict despite all the alleged planned electoral fraud, gerrymandering and malapportionment.
Versey: Salleh’s boasting reminded me of what I once heard from my friend, that a small boy who was graded as the second last in class told his parents that it’s easy to stay as the worst in class, but not easy to maintain the second last position in class.
'M'sia will try to reach balanced budget by 2022-23'
Mosquitobrain: Second Finance Minister Johari Abdul Ghani, just ask Najib to sell off Pekan, increase petrol prices when the world's crude prices are down, and revise the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 6 percent to 10 percent to make your new year resolutions about balancing the budget come true.
At the rate BN-Umno and its cronies are going, the nation’s coffers will go empty very fast before 2023.
Mindful: It is good to have dreams. It is easier to predict based on perception than to forecast on reality. After five years, we can shift the blame onto other “external” forces, or we may even shift the blame to say that it is God's will, when our ego fails to accept responsibility.
Anyway, we don't need predictions. Most ordinary people are already aware of the economic situation, and what it is likely to be in the next five years based on emerging facts.
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