Daim: The game has changed

July 01, 2011

Daim cautioned governments and businesses against sending mixed signals to thepublic. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, July 1 — Former Cabinet minister Tun Daim Zainuddin today said the obstacles facing the present day government are far removed from those just a decade ago, and old strategies are unlikely to find the success they once did.

Today’s younger audiences, said the former finance minister, demanded communication that was accurate and honest, adding that this applied to businesses and governments alike.

“The onus is on leaders of public and private sector to explain their actions. The rise of fuel price, inflation and food price globally is a good example,” Daim was cited in a Bernama Online report today.

He said the adverse public reaction to certain government policies may sometimes be the fault of the delivery rather than the policies themselves.

The government recently announced a series of subsidy cuts to diesel, sugar, and electricity, continuing on the painful subsidy rationalisation path announced last year.

The subsidy withdrawals are part of larger efforts by the Najib administration to rein in a growing budget deficit and record national debt.

But the moves have also provided fodder for the opposition Pakatan Rakyat, who have seized on them in the hopes of generating the same voter sentiments that led to their impressive gains in Election 2008, when they took 82 federal seats and five states.