PETALING JAYA: The
government should focus its energy on issues affecting the cost of living
rather than devoting time to gutter politics, say consumer and youth groups.
Malaysian Youth Council
president Jufitri Joha said the younger generation is “bored and uninterested”
with all the immature and obscene politicking in the country.
“We urge the
government to be serious about the cost of living issues,” he said when
contacted yesterday.
Jufitri said young
people are in dire need of government support as they are also stressed with
the economic situation of the country.
“With the
government allowing 18-year-olds to vote, we hope there will be more young
people who will choose good political parties.
“At the same time,
we are hoping there will be a new party to represent the young people to bring
about fresh and mature politics, instead of all this uninteresting, boring, old
politics,” said Jufitri, who added that the media too needed to play their part
by featuring edifying news that focuses on how to build up the nation.
Malaysian Muslim
Consumers Association of Malaysia (PPIM) chief activist Datuk Nadzim Johan
concurred that there was too much politicking, which resulted in essential work
for the nation being neglected.
“(Cost of living
issues) should be the priority. I think maybe the intention is good but the
implementation needs to be done as quickly as possible.
“I think
politicians need to instil confidence so that the people can expect change.
“Like the issue of
tolls, we know that the promise is to do away with them.
“While we know some
things cannot be done that easily, the government can perhaps give subsidies
for the needy, like exempting the B40 groups from tolls,” he said.
Nadzim also
lamented at how most vegetables were being imported from Indonesia, Cambodia
and Vietnam, adding that not much was being done to increase local
productivity.
“Everybody is busy
politicking, including those from the former government. But at the end of the
day, what we need to do is to be sure that the people benefit from lower prices
on consumer goods, for example,” he said.
However, Wong Chin
Huat, a senior fellow at the Sunway University’s Jeffery Sachs Center on
Sustainable Development, said Malaysia needs deeper democratisation in two
broad directions so that the focus can move on to bread and butter issues.
“First,
deconcentration of power so that ambitious politicians don’t mobilise all their
resources to conquer one single office.
“Second, change of
electoral system to encourage non-communal divides on issues like inclusive
growth and sustainable development,” he said.
Wong, who noted
that as long as people compete for power, politicking is inevitable in any
country, be it in a democracy or autocracy.
He added that
anyone who longs for a return of authoritarianism or strongman politics will be
disappointed ultimately.
“From Chinese and
Ottoman imperial courts to modern North Korea, politicking in the absence of
democracy has led to more brutal and destructive outcomes.”
Article by: The Star
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