Retailers who sell products for Hari Raya Aidilfitri such as headscarves, baju Melayu, baju kurung and hampers, can make enough money in one month to pay off their shop rental for at least a year, and still have enough profit to last another six months.
Beneath the surface of the lucrative Ramadan trade, danger lurks in the form of unscrupulous and avaricious middlemen.
We were hoping that after GE14, ordinary businessmen, from street traders to powerful multinationals, would be able to conduct their business in a transparent and honest manner. Apparently, that is not the case.
At the top end of the business scale, we heard how the trusted and loyal aides of former prime minister Najib Razak were appointed as heads of GLCs. They drew fat pay cheques and exorbitant perks and bonuses. The GLCs presumably benefited from contracts worth several hundred million ringgit each, if not billions.
This week, we found that the bottom end of the business scale is also affected. It appears that the pervasive culture of middlemen, or making a fast buck and absolving oneself of any responsibility, is also common among street traders.
It is depressing to note that when the matter of dodgy business dealings was exposed, the blame game and recriminations swiftly followed.
Ameer Ali Mydin, the head of the Masjid India Business Association, alleges that a mafia operates in the annual Ramadan street bazaar in the Masjid India area of Kuala Lumpur. He claims that anyone who complains about their presence is wiped out, and that when he voiced his concerns, he was threatened with physical harm.
Why can’t the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) manage the Masjid India Ramadan bazaar? We have an extraordinary number of people manning our government departments, but they still outsource their work to politicians or their aides.
Ameer asked Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun to visit the area to better understand the concerns of the street traders. He told Fong that an “association” had for years been operating as a middleman for those who wished to set up stalls in the area.
Last week, it was alleged that PPBM Youth member Noorhisyam Abd Karim had charged hawkers up to RM5,000 rental for one of 80 lots licensed by DBKL.
DBKL claimed that the city’s licensing fees and other charges totalled only RM6,000 for all 80 of the lots. So the middleman earns 40 times the fees charged by DBKL.
The director of DBKL’s Licensing and Petty Traders Development Department, Anwar Mohd Zain, claimed that despite Noorhisyam’s persistence, he was able to resist his calls to approve his application for bazaar lots; however, the director had a change of heart, when the MP, Fong, supported Noorhisyam’s application.
If Anwar had valid reasons to reject Noorhisyam, why change his mind? The days of politicians calling the shots should be over. Will we never learn?
An architect friend who worked in the town planning department said that town planners who rejected a particular developer’s application would be bombarded with calls from the director, because he had been pestered by a politician to approve the application.
All is well, until a major defect occurs. This is when the finger is pointed at the town planner for “approving” the application. The politician, the director and the developer do not face the music.
For that reason, town planners and architects now make sure they keep copies of their initial rejection letters, including the request to “approve” the application. This is to cover their backs in the future.
The days of “you help me, I help you” should be over. Any professional who knows his work should be brave enough to stand firm, and never agree to political pandering by powerful politicians and their cronies.
More of us should develop zero tolerance for the granting of political favours.
Mariam Mokhtar is an FMT columnist.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.