The cost of living rises in all societies and countries, so it is something that one has to increasingly get used to. Inflation can be controlled to an extent, but never removed entirely. So measures have to be put in place to control inflation effectively, as the Government has done.
Inflation in Malaysia is estimated to be around 2.5-3 per cent this year, a commendable achievement given the global economic uncertainty. Compare this with the inflation in other countries: 5.2 per cent in Brazil, 1.8 per cent in China, 5.6 per cent in Russia and 4.6 per cent in Indonesia, according to official figures.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has made it one of his chief commitments to tackle the cost of living.
“This is something that people often raised with me on my walkabouts in towns and villages across the nation.
“In fact, it has been a while to the day we made it a key area of the GTP (Government Transformation Programme), with measures to help ease the people’s burden, including the Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia (KR1M), 1Malaysia Clinics and many others,” Najib wrote on his www.1Malaysia.com.my blog on Monday.
The Prime Minister said these initiatives would be expanded before the end of the year, that more needed to be done, and the Government would look closely into all suggestions.
The 2013 Budget that will be tabled by Najib on September 28 is expected to be a people-friendly budget. He recently said his budget would focus on quality and balanced growth, as well as the people’s wellbeing.
A total of 4,175 budget suggestions and comments have been received online from the public towards the preparation of the Budget.
Najib said the rakyat’s inputs would ensure that the Government shapes the Budget to best suit the people.
“I always value the input of the rakyat in decisions that affect the nation and just as you have taken your time in giving us this feedback, I am happy to share some of my insights from this exercise in return,” he added.
Najib said the second hot topic was the price of housing and this was another longstanding concern, and one that the Government had taken a number of steps to address.
“Specifically, our housing policies have been aimed towards those most in need, with the 1Malaysia Housing Programme (PR1MA) providing accessible housing to those on middle incomes and the Public Housing Project (PPR) doing likewise, for those on low incomes,” he said.
And it is not just in housing. The Government recently unveiled a 1Malaysia People’s Textile Store (Kedai Kain Rakyat 1 Malaysia or KKR1M) offering a wide range of high quality apparels and textiles at prices lower than the market. Thirty more such stores are expected to open across the country by the end of 2014.
The KKR1M stores sell fabric and apparel items like school uniforms, curtains and prayer attire for Muslims. For instance, jacquard cloth, which is sold at an average price of RM35 per metre in open market, costs only RM15 per metre at a KKR1M store. Similarly, linen shirts, which cost RM79 in regular retail outlets, are offered at RM45 here.
The KKR1M stores are just another initiative under the Cost of Living-National Key Result Area (NKRA), aimed at helping the people reduce their cost of living.
Compare these efforts by the Government with the populist proposals announced by Pakatan Rakyat. The Opposition pact has claimed it would abolish tolls, car duties, and PTPTN loans if it ever captures Putrajaya. While these may seem attractive, someone has to pay for such measures eventually, as these could cost the country RM200 billion to implement.
Where will Pakatan get the funds for its vote-catching generosity? The Malaysian taxpayer, of course. Ordinary people would be forced to pay higher taxes to fill the RM200 billion shortfall if Pakatan were ever elected. That would place a higher burden on the rakyat, leading to a jump in the cost of living.
We have therefore a simple choice: on the one hand, the Government’s strong economic leadership has kept inflation low with a long-term roadmap to growth; while on the other hand, Pakatan has no broad economic vision and its populist measures will only help in making inflation worse.