As he stood a safe distance away from the toxic whirlpool that is Malaysian politics to speak at an event in Jakarta, Prime Minister Najib Razak said that the popular Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, had asked for Malaysia’s help in implementing policies that were painful but would ultimately benefit the people.
He was of course referring to the removal of subsidies and the introduction of the GST. He was implying that Malaysia was riding on a track that was boosting its economy. That is debatable. Maybe he’s right, maybe he’s not. The only sure thing is that the average Malaysian, suffering under the weight of heavier and heavier costs, can’t see when he will “ultimately” benefit.
With billions of ringgit collected under the GST, we should be hearing promises of toll-free roads, free healthcare and free good quality education. We should be able to dream of a prison system that actually prepares people to reintegrate into society instead of locking them into damp hellholes that sometimes kill them.
Instead, the average Malaysian looks at his ever-shrinking wallet and cannot connect with the lofty numbers spouted by our leaders. These numbers would have you believe that we are thriving at every level of society. But the truth is that the introduction of the GST and the removal of subsidies have yet to bring any tangible benefit to society. They have only diminished spending power and social mobility.
Are we, then, indeed “on the right track”? The average Malaysian will say, “No, it doesn’t feel like it. It feels like the journey is getting bumpier every day.”
It is harder than ever to live on your salary, especially with boneheaded moves like increasing parking fees in residential suburbs by 150% before realising it was perhaps not one of the best ideas in the world.
Perhaps the macroeconomy as a whole has grown, but on the ground level, where it matters, things are getting harder.
Perhaps it’s well to take note of a recent belated admission by the International Monetary Fund – austerity only hurts economic recovery. We might add that shoving all the burden on the average Malaysian will have political consequences.