Developed nation status for cronies?

How does Najib reconcile the need for BR1M and the need to raise the nation's standard of living if it's not pure stupidity.

COMMENT

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said Barisan National must win back Selangor at all costs and the reason given is that it will help turn Malaysia into a developed nation.

The first question that cropped up after he made the statement is, for whom? Who will benefit the most if the country is a developed country?

Pakatan Rakyat has demonstrated time and again that 40% of the Malaysian population (workforce) is living in poverty.

Only 20% of the populace was considered to be in the higher income bracket and this includes cronies, despots and nepotists in power in government-linked companies (GLCs) and ULCs (Umno-linked companies).

There is nothing in the BN manifesto, promoted extensively by Najib, on how the country will become a developed nation or how lower income earners can achieve decent wages.

Najib said if BN is not able to control Selangor, the federal government would find it tough to ensure a high economic growth required to push Malaysia as a developed nation.

Has he not failed to explain how a developed nation status can be achieved when his government has made BR1M the survival factor for the BN in the GE13?

The BN manifesto says BR1M will be increased to RM1,000 annually to help the poor.

Blinkered view

Does this not indicate the BN wants the populace to remain on the fringe of poverty while the 20% cronies and so on will enjoy fully the developed nation and high income status?

How do you reconcile the need for BR1M and the need to raise the nation’s standard of living if it’s not pure stupidity to do so?

Least serious is the assertion that the people of Selangor must vote for the BN based on its delivery of promises whereas Pakatan Rakyat has failed miserably on its promises.

Unless the prime minister’s view is a blinkered, he failed to see how much stronger Selangor is now under Pakatan.

He also says 60% of the GDP (gross domestic product) comes from the Klang Valley, but forgets to mention that only 20% swallows the highest percentage of the earnings while 80% of the population gets less than RM3,000 per month!

The wise choice for Selangor is to bury the parties that have failed the people and are toying with the water issue by cutting supplies and blaming it on the Selangor government which has no control over the supply.

The people must evaluate what the BN has done in Selangor for 50 years and what Pakatan has done in just five years.

If it took the BN 50 years to realise that the poor and needy needed BR1M to survive, too bad it is, since Pakatan took only a week to give free water to the people!

KL-based Amir Ali works for an Indonesian NGO called the Warisan Melayu Riau, which is based in Bengkalis, Riau.