A newspaper with close ties to Umno reported on how some Umno delegates had brought up these issues during the debate on the presidential keynote speech.
Berita Harian said Umno delegates had urged the government to tackle rising costs, among other things, and even called for a new petrol subsidy scheme that would entail vouchers applicable at Petronas stations nationwide.
The matters raised during the general assembly, comes as a surprise as over the past few days, Umno leaders, a top civil servant and pro-government celebrities had criticised Sheila Majid over her tweet addressing the same issues.
On Tuesday, the veteran singer had tweeted: “Food is expensive, ringgit is weak, cost of living is high & jobs are scarce. Msians are becoming tired & angry for being squeezed over debts we did not create.
“Stop making excuses & looking for faults. Focus on the job of getting our country back on track! Disappointing!”
In response, Rizal Mansor, a special aide to Prime Minister Najib Razak, had criticised Sheila and other artistes commenting on the same, not to become opposition tools.
Umno information chief Annuar Musa followed suit on Wednesday berating Sheila for raising the issue of rising costs, and accusing her of getting her facts wrong.
Even the top civil servant in the finance ministry, Treasurer-General Mohd Irwan Siregar Abdullah chided Sheila, questioning her for complaining considering her status as an artiste.
“Why’s she complaining about the cost of living? What’s her income?” Irwan told reporters on Thursday in response to Sheila’s tweet.
He added that the government was doing a lot for the B40 group, referring to households with an income of RM3,900 and below.
“We are giving BR1M (annual financial aid) and free education. And where in the world could you pay RM1 to get hospital treatment?” Irwan said, adding that people were complaining because they were living beyond their means.
Delegates want govt to check on middlemen
Berita Harian even accorded two pages of coverage on Umno delegates talking about the rising cost of living and other hardships faced by the people.
The Malay daily quoted Umno Youth information chief Jamawi Jaafar as saying that a task force was needed to check on the use of middlemen, which he suggested was one of the reasons for rising prices.
“Such a task force was also needed to overcome the economic burden and housing issues that the people are facing.
“We need to be serious about addressing the people’s needs,” Berita Harian quoted Jamawi as saying.
Also weighing in was Federal Territory Umno delegate Rizalman Mokhtar who lamented on the price of petrol.
According to Rizalman, while the party was involved in giving free petrol to motorcyclists as part of its grassroots campaign, the party members themselves could hardly afford the petrol price hikes.
A student representative attending the Umno general assembly then proposed fuel subsidies for university students.
“If the government can provide this petrol subsidy, it would help a lot in reducing the expenses that students have to bear on a daily basis.
“One way would be to implement a debit card scheme, with the facility only valid for the purchase of subsidised petrol at Petronas stations nationwide,” Universiti Tun Hussein Onn student Ammar Adnan was quoted as saying by Berita Harian.
Irwan Serigar surprised why Sheila complains about cost of living
Singer Sheila Majid laments high cost of living and weak ringgit