Confusing the consumers

JAN 12 — I hope everyone had a splendid New Year, but I’m here to ruin it for you just a bit. With the general election coming up, I think we need to discuss the one thing that affects Malaysians to the core: The cost of living in this country.

There is this notion going around in the rural areas and even in some urban minds that our government will protect the people from the rising cost of living and perhaps even high prices. There is even the notion that our government “cares.” I am about to throw such confused notions out the window.

The reason I wish to highlight this is because our prime minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, recently made a trip to Singapore and made an interesting offer to our neighbours. Our prime minister is offering Singapore our electricity.

This is, of course, on the heels of an announcement in December 2010 where Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) announced that it would probably raise tariffs another one or two per cent. The government has agreed to such a revision but has yet to state just when exactly they wish to implement it.

Most probably after the general election, no doubt.

But it brings up an interesting matter. TNB posted a loss in their first quarter due to higher fuel costs; after all, 60 per cent of our electricity generation is dependent on gas. Natural gas prices are long overdue for a review since it is subsidised about 71 to 77 per cent by our government.

Now let us review the facts.

TNB produces electricity using gas that is subsidised almost two-thirds by our federal government using our taxes. This, in turn, is what our prime minister is offering to the Singaporeans while there may or may not be a revision in the tariffs for our own people in Malaysia.

Does such a move make any economic, socio-economic or even political sense at all?!

When a prime minister from what is supposed to be a nationalist party decides to trade off what is supposed to be subsidised resources, you’ve got to wonder why this isn’t reserved for the rakyat?

Similarly, this can be seen with the Kedai Runcit 1 Malaysia debacle brought up by Tony Pua a few months back. Again, our prime minister and the federal government’s words and actions were not in sync.

As the Malay phrase goes, “Cakap tak serupa bikin (The words do not match the deeds)”. A nationalist government should keep to its pledge to make both business and life in general easier for its citizens. Tony Pua is saying that it just hasn’t been so.

What is more disturbing is that the government’s advertising of the KR1M project on radio and television has even the Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) doing a survey that showed two-thirds of shopkeepers polled are now worried that their businesses would close down in the onslaught.

This is just a confusing move by our supposedly nationalist government. Do we believe in free market or protectionism?

If protectionism is the way to go, then the question remains why we are selling off subsidies goods to foreign nations, and also why are we selling goods in supposed “thrift stores” at a hiked-up price?

Where is the money going? While Kedai Runcit 1 Malaysia is actually selling goods from FELDA and FAMA, why are the prices increased up to 51 per cent?

Is it because Malaysian consumer goods are in fact more expensive than their competitors? How is that even possible?

In fact, going back for a bit, how is that even possible for Proton and Perodua?

How is it that national car manufacturers are selling their automobiles in the country at a higher price than in South Africa, the United Kingdom and even Australia?

If you were to take a look at the Singapore Mass Rail Transit system or the SMRT, you would again see that their prices are reasonable and their service is efficient, even if they just recently screwed up to the point that their CEO resigned.

But therein lies the issue with our government. For all their talk of making life better for the people, there is little action done.

If you wish to remove the petrol subsidy, then upgrade public transport to make it both efficient and accessible to all, not just for all of us here in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley. If you can’t, then I would suggest you stop federalising public transport as a whole.

If you want to make locally-produced consumer goods cheaper, then stop the free trade agreements. You can’t have it both ways.

Currently, consumers in the urban areas are always in a state of displeasure with the government that depends on rural votes to put them over the top. Thus, it is only through the promise and fate that urbanisation will be everywhere in the peninsula by the end of this decade makes one realise that our government will now be currying more favour in East Malaysia to keep them up top. Brownnose

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.