The Prime Minister should stop listening to ministers and listen to true voices that the inflation rate is 20% not 2% so that remedial measures can be taken to lessen the financial burden of middle and low income earners hard hit by rising prices
____________
Press Statement
by Lim Guan Eng
________________
(Petaling Jaya,
Tuesday):
There is no point in Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi having large
ears even as large as an
elephant if he does not
listen to the truth but only
sycophantic Ministers who
construct Potemkin villages
to detract, distract, deceive
and even delude him. "Potemkin
village" (where Russian
Minister Potemkin reputedly
erected false facades of
villages that hid desolation
and destruction in Crimea to
impress Russian Empress
Catherine II) means a sham
where any false appearance is
manipulated to hide an
undesirable or damaging
reality.
However in Malaysia, we
appear to have an economic
Potemkin village which claims
that inflation rate is 2%
when it is more than 20%. The
Prime Minister should stop
listening to sycophants such
as Second Finance Minister
Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yackop
and listen instead to the
true voices of the rakyat
that the inflation rate is
20% not 2% so that remedial
measures can be taken to
lessen the financial burden
of middle and low income
earners hard hit by rising
prices.
Nor Mohamed is correct that
there is no demand-pull
inflation but only cost-push
inflation. And cost-push
inflation has risen
tremendously with the
international price of fuel
like commodities like wheat
rising nearly 100% this year.
How then Nor Mohamed claim
that the consumer price index
(CPI), which measures the
level of inflation, for the
first 10 months of this year
is only at 1.9%?
Clearly this is Bank Negara
and Nor Mohamed's Potemkin
inflation rate in that the
CPI only measures basic
foodstuffs that are subjected
to controlled prices and
fails to reflect the true
situation. For instance,
general-purpose flour is
fixed at the controlled price
of RM 1.35 per kg in large 25
kg packs as compared to the
market price of RM 2.70 per
kg in small 1 kg packs. Due
to the shortage of
general-purpose flour at
controlled prices, many
businesses are forced to buy
flour at the market rate of
RM 2.70 per kg, which is
double the controlled price.
And yet the CPI is based not
on the market price of
general-purpose flour of RM
2.70 per kg but on the
controlled price of RM 1.35
per kg. This is false,
duplicitous and dishonest.
BN Government should not
mislead the public that the
CPI from January to October
2007 has risen by only 1.9%
when in reality the CPI has
risen by more than 20%.
Prices of basic food-stuffs
have escalated sharply this
year, with milk powder (30%),
chili sauce (20%), instant
noodles (26%), biscuits
(27%), fragrant rice (11%)
and UHT milk pack of six
(20%). Many Malaysians have
been complaining that
everything from toll rates to
instant noodles have been
going up except their
salaries.
Even construction companies
complain that the Ninth
Malaysian Plan (9MP) projects
may be affected by an extra
RM 30 billion to RM 40
billion due to rising cost of
building materials. According
to the Building Materials
Distributors Association (BMDA)
prices rose this year as
compared to last year with
steel increasing by 14%,
cement by 57%, concrete
products by 23%, steel fabric
by 17%, tiles by 44% and
bricks by 7%.
The Building Industry
Presidents' Council (BIPC)
even said that there were
uncertainty in the supply of
steel bars and cement despite
paying artificially inflated
prices that were way above
government-controlled prices.
BIPC said that its members
paid between RM 400-500 more
per tonne for steel bars and
between RM 2-3 more for a
50kg bag of cement.
Both the BIPC and BMDA would
join 27 Malaysian consumers
in disputing Nor Mohamed and
Bank Negara's Potemkin
inflation rate of only 1.9%.
Further inflation in Malaysia
is worsened by BN's rampant
corruption and mismanagement
such as paying RM 5,417 for a
RM 40 two-tonne car-jack and
BN leaders such as Port Klang
ADUN Datuk Zakaria Zainol Md
Deros building multi-million
ringgit palaces. Money lost
on such scandals can help you
give a better life to our
children!
RM 6,000 annually for all
working families earning less
than RM 6, 000 monthly
There is grave concern that
with the expected increase in
fuel prices and toll rates in
the North-South Highway next
year, the situation will only
get worse for working
families. Further the
government has indicated that
it can no longer provide
subsidies especially fuel
subsidies alone that cost RM
27 billion annually.
Whilst it may be economically
unrealistic to expect any
government to perpetually
subsidise petroleum and gas
without limit, it is socially
unrealistic to expect the
poor to survive without any
assistance once the subsidies
are removed. What is
economically justifiable can
not be socially justifiable
if the poor are not given any
financial assistance to
counter inflationary impact
from removal of gas
subsidies.
DAP reiterates its proposal
that the government shares
the oil revenues and profits
earned by Petronas from
rising fuel prices with all
Malaysians. We have not
received a single cent of the
RM 500 billion or RM 20,000
for every Malaysian earned by
Petronas since it was
established in 1974.
•
RM 6,000 annually per working
family or senior citizen
couple whose combined monthly
income is less than RM 6,000;
and
• RM 3,000 annually to
singles whose monthly income
is less than RM 3,000
The
time has come for Petronas to
share its oil revenues with
27 million Malaysians. Better
to give us some of Petronas
annual profits of RM 80-100
billion than to lose it
through corruption,
mismanagement and wastage. If
an oil importer like
Singapore can give S$2,500 to
each family, why can't an oil
exporter like Malaysia give
annually RM 6,000 to working
families or RM 3,000 to
singles?
(04/12/2007)
* Lim Guan
Eng,
Secretary-General of DAP |