After all these years, Malays are still not bothered about the economy

Against a backdrop of Malaysia being downgraded by international rating agency Fitch, the indifference among Malays to the country's economic situation has concerned a PAS leader.

Its information chief Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (left), writing in his column in Harakahdaily today, pointed out that Malays had not been paying much attention to the country's economic management amid rising national debt.

“Most saddening is to know that the view of the Malay-Muslim on the economic situation has been limited to measuring the government’s ability to hand out bonuses, BR1M (Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia) as well as promises during election,” lamented Tuan Ibrahim.

The Pahang PAS commissioner said Malays must realise that government spendings must be justified with its revenues, saying a nation's economy was gauged based on national debts, spending deficit and the value of its currency.

He further noted that many Malays were quick in their response when it came to racial and religious issues but "economic issues that could effect later generations are ignored".

Saying Malays would be most affected in an economic crisis, Tuan Ibrahim called on them to be at the forefront in voicing concerns over how the economy is handled.

He said the media should be more responsible in reporting about the economy and not give a false picture even as the country’s credit rating continued to plunge.

Global rating agency Fitch recently cut its outlook on Malaysia's sovereign debt from 'stable' to 'negative', and cited gloomier prospects for reforms to tackle the country's rising debt burden.

It also noted that prospects for budgetary reform and fiscal consolidation to address weaknesses in public finances had worsened after the May 5 election.

- en.harakahdaily.net