The poor get poorer while politicians wine and dine
IT IS UNLIKELY THAT OUR COUNTRY WILL EVER HAVE TO DECLARE A STATE OF EMERGENCY BECAUSE OF ECONOMIC HARDSHIPS LIKE SRI LANKA, BECAUSE OUR POOR DON’T MATTER?
UMAR MUKHTAR
Looking at the way the ministry of consumer affairs is looking on nonchalantly at prices of food spiralling and the resigned way Malaysians are accepting this reality, it does appear like only a tiny minority of our countrymen are suffering!
There is still plenty of savings among the T-20 and M-40 to cushion the price increases. The B-40 don’t really matter anyway, as they are used to skimping no matter what!
In any case, a few hundred ringgit of government aids every now and then are enough to pacify them. So let’s give low-paying jobs to hard-up foreign labourers so that the capitalist-tycoons can produce competitively-priced goods and enrich themselves further!
So just let the situation go on further, so that politicians can have more time to politick for cushier and more lucrative jobs.
We will never be like Sri Lanka because sooner than later the capitalists and politicians will get together to continue their present cooperation to build sweatshops and create slave-like conditions. It’s a natural progression! Only this time the labourers are us.
Why not! They provide us jobs for us to able to live. There is peace and order and draconian laws as provided by the political leaders. And we can still dream of upward mobility, even though it will be scarce!
The best that our daughters can be will be to finally end up as say, Human Resources Officer (Payroll) in the numerous sweatshops. Unless, she is extremely pretty and talented while our sons excel in sports like Maradona. Upward mobility indeed!
Life will not be exactly comfortable but then there’s always the afterlife to look forward to. Preaching in the slums will be such a noble profession!
No Emergency like Sri Lanka, please, just a banana republic where we serve the rich!
All’s well that ends well.