Written by Syafirah
Our new Economic Affairs Minister Rafizi Ramli was right when he urged Malaysians to swipe for alternative value-added grocery stores or find any reasonable substitutes for normal household items and leisure activities. Malaysians are also advised to become better consumers by budgeting monthly buying and reducing unnecessary expenses. He proposed a very drastic approach to tackle the rising costs of living among Malaysians.
As expected, Malaysians are easy to jump to conclusions merely just by reading a news headline, overhearing a raw and spontaneous conversation, or being triggered by mass viral media. After all, Malaysians are not avid readers to fully comprehend the initial important message being conveyed. Malaysians are moved by emotions at large, to be honest, and they prefer social media coverage to study research analytics.
This is worsened when the Think Tanks themselves are known to fluctuate now and then with the change of government of course.
As if they have no feet to stand on their own and make an informed decision unless for just biased counterproductive statements to override the initial narrative being explained to the public. Comparisons are made to the blunt idea of pleasing 'the shepherd' rather than the consumers. 'The shepherd' mentioned about are tons of associations backing the wealthy more than the poor.
Herewith are just a few of 'the shepherd':
a) Building Management Association of Malaysia;
b) Persatuan Pengurusan Kompleks Malaysia;
c) Malaysia Shopping Malls Association;
d) Federation of Malaysian Business Associations;
e) Malaysian Association of Theme Parks & Family Attractions;
f) Bumiputra Retailers’ Organisation;
g) Malaysia Retailers’ Association, etc.
Sadly, the B40 and the "new poor" of M40 income groups continue to be manipulated by irresponsible news reporters who excerpt shorter than intended versions. These conditions glorify the T20 income group and secured their living scale even if the poor suffers. Their joint statement even remarked as an opinion is blindly accepted as a mere statistical fact just because of enough media coverage and influencers.
For example, if the shepherd raises eyebrows on how devastating it is for consumers to bear the costs of production as a consequence of the hike in electric tariffs for non-residential properties, then, all of a sudden, the government is going to be the black sheep receiving brick baits and backlashes. Rumors will start to escalate at a rapid scale even in the very polished professional platform such as LinkedIn where there are more well-versed individuals than low-skilled workers. These financially freedom individuals who always show off their big appetite for sumptuous meals, branded clothing, and expensive holidays are also the ones who complain the most about any new good initiative to combat inflation.
On the other hand, individuals with problems getting fair salary adjustments to hours worked for and some even having to raise 'white flag' images for seeking employment or being retrenched continue to remain silent or have less real-life conversations on how Rafizi's advice may actually help them a lot.
Major research studies proved that Price Elasticity Control promises Inflation to be better.
Europeans and North Americans have been forced to make the final call whether to continue spending as usual or having nightmares of cold and starvation, but thanks to their reading culture and wide economic education, they finally able to withstand current inflation even with slightly increased prices because they joint effort to not buying from ridiculous overpriced sellers and opts for much cheaper items at about same quality standard.
For instance, when there is an abundance of imported egg supply and the consumers willingly opt to give it a try even at a much higher price for its guaranteed stocks, it eventually will force the local egg producers to sell at much cheaper prices to beat the competition. In other words, the imported eggs can be enough to supply the F&B industries while the locally hatched eggs can moderately occupy the needs and want of local citizens giving part of the win-win solutions to inflation.
Look at the Russians.
Even with the huge sanctions, they managed to control inflation by strong support and trustworthiness to the government's immediate economic resolutions. Russians are so patriotic and willing to adjust their daily living for the sake of their country without hesitation that when even the wealthiest face frozen assets and restricted traveling, only one or two will make a fuss, and the rest just bind together finding better ways to rebuild their economic conditions. Their national currency also remains stronger than ever even with the ongoing war with Ukraine for almost a year. Lame excuses will just point out how rich Russia is in oil and gas but the truth is how competent the Bank of Russia is in handling precautionary methods and defensive moves to stabilize sudden economic collapse.
While wait-and-see is common among Malaysians, the time is running fast before we take prompt joint action to change our natural course of buying habits into something that can help to work out the much-worried global inflation speculated to be at stake beginning the next year of 2023.
'Kita Boleh!'?
Yes, we can.
We are no longer under the 60 years of corrupted regimes.
We are now led by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, a true Reformist who has suffered a lot for us, the 'Rakyat'.
He was the true Asian Tiger champion, only for his credentials to be falsely claimed by his old mentor.
We also have one of the great Data Analysts, Rafizi Ramli, to be our Economic Affairs Minister.
No more hesitations.
'Kita Boleh!'
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