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Annuar Musa, Jihad Against Inflation Chairman and Bapa Fesyen Malaysia Are “Kiasu” or “Tak Mau Kalah” Malay Politicians.
By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright July 2022
Soon after he was appointed chairman of a Jihad task force that is supposed to be on a crusade against inflation, Annuar Musa was spotted wearing a Tommy Hilfiger matching grey tracksuit while clutching an RM4,500 Louis Vuitton monogram-patterned clutch bag.
That makes us think of Kiasu, a Hokkien word that denotes a “grasping, selfish attitude” that arises from fear of missing (losing) out, a characteristic that is often used to stereotypically describe Singaporeans. In Malay, an appropriate equivalent phrase would be “tak mau kalah” (not to be outdone).
Annuar Musa just does not want to be outdone by his boss (the PM) for he too has a few special outfits and accessories that could easily match what our Bapa Fesyen Malaysia had been displaying at functions locally and abroad.
We must credit @iqtodabal who first shared the images of Annuar on his personal Twitter account and later was reported more widely by World of Buzz.
Anyway, the point is both Annuar Musa and Ismail Sabri appear insensitive to the plight of Malaysians during these difficult times.
If you recall, the PM was dressed in an expensive Burberry designer shirt costing RM6,900, telling ordinary folks that he planned to put a ceiling price for chickens sold in the markets because of his government’s concern for the poor folks.
But his words and what he wore were incongruous. A fancy expensive shirt at a gathering talking of chicken prices and thinking of poor Malaysians.
The same goes for Annuar Musa who was seen at a Pasar Tani in an upscale neighbourhood dressed in a Hilfiger outfit clutching a Louis Vuitton bag.
These are bad times, the Rakyat observes how their leaders dress and makes an issue over what you choose to display in public.
To add to that he was just appointed as chairman of a committee that was on a war path (jihad) against inflation.
That is the irony that Iqbal points out on his Twitter account saying there was someone carrying an RM4,500 bag and he was supposed to help the rakyat tackle the rising costs of living.
Just imagine how many chickens a poor man could buy with RM4,500 or RM6,900 to feed the family.
At a new ceiling price of RM9.40 per kilogram, Annuar Musa’s clutch bag roughly equals 478kg of chickens. Given the average size of 2 kilos per chicken, you would get around 239 birds, enough to feed a family of four for six months.
So, with a combination of the price of Annuar Musa’s bag and Ismail’s Burberry shirt, a family could easily purchase a whole year’s supply of chickens. That’s plenty of chicken for anybody.
Anyway, both ministers exemplify typical Malay politicians who, once elected to office, must acquire a new set of wardrobe, purchase expensive imported cars and move into an upmarket neighbourhood or build a bigger house in their constituency on the pretext of having a larger space to better serve their constituents.
Besides, if you were a minister you would need a bungalow too in Bukit Damansara or Putrajaya to be near all other high-ranking politicians.
All these extravagances require money. In the words of UMNO President on trial for graft and related cases, “Money isn’t everything, but everything needs money”.
With a salary of an MP or a minister one would be hard-pressed to upkeep two houses, service car loans, maintain a family (sometimes two or three) and support constituents who very often seek help from them.
Zahid Hamidi established a foundation as a means of raising money for everything.
Our ministers including Annuar Musa and Ismail Sabri are no different from our kiasu neighbours from across the Causeway.
Their grasping, selfish attitude that arises from fear of missing out is embodied in the competitiveness of UMNO Malay politicians who do not want to accept defeat (mengaku kalah) or to be outdone by their colleagues in the party.
For our country to move forward current Malay leadership has to change or be removed in the forthcoming election.
Emulating the lifestyle of the rich and famous that a serving politician can hardly afford would have to be discarded by everyone in public office.
Public servants who subscribe to an expensive lifestyle living beyond their means would succumb to corruption and other forms of inducements that would place the nation at risk.
A Swedish model of selfless service by MPs who get pittance except for the honour of serving the nation is badly needed in this country to replace the kiasu (tak mau kalah) mentality paraded about by our elected officials.
The sooner we adopt this model the better it would be for this country now regarded as the most corrupt in the world.
Choose wisely in GE 15. Save the country.
Mihar Dias is a content writer under Headliner by Newswav, a programme where content creators get to tell their unique stories through articles and at the same time monetize their content within the Newswav app.
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