The consumer society has always been a battleground, particularly in countries that have undergone rapid industrialisation and urbanisation.
But consumers themselves, according to Mathew Hilton in his book, Choice and Justice (a history of the Malaysian Consumer movement), have not been the inevitable products of economic development, in which environment where manufacturers and the governments have produced, top-down, a society built in their names.
In a number of developing countries, " huge social upheavals have precipitated enormous inequalities of wealth, in which the consumer society has become a goal, but one in which it is acknowledged that no one has equal access to," says Hilton.
Increasing prices and recognition of rights
Water cuts, spiralling prices of food , increasing transport costs, lack of access to medicines and free healthcare, as well as promises of more increases to consumer goods and services, are in store for 2014 and beyond.
The commitments made by politicians to principles of economic, social and political justice during election campaigns have not been turned into policy reforms and political debates in Parliament or in the state assemblies.
Parliament is a sham, with name calling and allegations dominating its sessions. Parliament is devoid of progressive policy debates. For example, consumer welfare - despite the majority of consumers having voted in those sitting in Parliament - is left behind in policy participation.
Only the privileged few enjoy the benefits of Malaysia's economic policies. Increasingly, a significant sector of Malaysian society is not able to have access to basic needs.
It was in the mid-1990s that the Malaysian government recognised the rights of consumers. The prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad declared, in a Consumer Rights Day speech, that the government recognises the various rights of consumers.
These include access to basic needs such as food, water, housing, healthcare, the right to a safe and healthy environment, access to information and safety of consumer products. Consumer movements in the developing world have now added rights to education, energy, transport, communication and political participation to their rights of consumers.
A rights-based paradigm is critical to enable us to get out of a state of underdevelopment, which is primarily due to political exclusion. Freedom from poverty and underdevelopment relies on being able to participate in policy making.
Power, more than policies, on their minds
However, parliamentary debates and annual meetings of political parties today are about sustaining power or taking over power. Where are the policy discourses? Politicians have not raised critical debates on the welfare of consumers. That the voter is a consumer does not figure in the language of Malaysian politicians.
It was an American president, John F Kennedy , who on March 15, 1962, moved the Bill of Consumer Rights to recognise consumers as an important economic group in the economy. March 15 is today celebrated globally, as World Consumers Day.
In 1985, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection. The guidelines represent an international regulatory framework for governments to strengthen consumer protection, nationally.
The Malaysian government did take various measures to improve consumer welfare, such as improving legislation, adopting a National Consumer Policy and commissioning a Consumer Master Plan for 2003- 2013.
However, the battle for political power has today taken precedence over policy reforms to strengthen consumer protection in this country.
Consumer Master Plan, 2003-13
In 2002, the Malaysian government launched a national consumer policy, the central plank of which was the drawing up of a Consumer Master Plan for the period 2003-13.
Its overall vision is to create a society that is based on the principles of sustainable development and consumption, that comprises consumers who are empowered and articulate about their rights and responsibilities, and business that is ethical and socially and ecologically responsible.
The Consumer Master Plan contains 287 recommendations that should have been implemented by 2013. It covers an institutional and legal framework for consumer protection, the strengthening of consumer education and information and the identification of key consumer areas that will provide the focus for these efforts.
The areas for strengthening consumer protection include food, health, housing, utilities, transport, the environment, sustainability, advertising and consumer credit.
The master plan is to be implemented along with other government initiatives, especially the Vision 2020 development blueprint and the achievement of developed nation, status by that date.
The plan emphasises the integration of the three principles of sustainability - economic, social and environmental equilibrium - into the national development process. Consumer concerns are to be placed at the heart of the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs and to cut across other government jurisdictions as well.
The plan proposed a comprehensive set of recommendations of general consumer areas and specific consumer goods, but also a detailed timetable for the implementation of all these measures.
Said Hilton, a professor with the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, at a forum in Penang in 2004: "If all the recommendations of the master plan are put in place, Malaysia will have a consumer protection regime, which will rival any in the West."
The guidelines on consumer issues contained within the United Nations organisations were included to institutionalise wider consumer concerns - for the environment, for social justice and for economic, social and cultural rights, which are the aspirations of Malaysian consumers.
Have our elected representatives reviewed the many master plans and royal commissions of inquiry commissioned by the government in the context of policy reforms to improve the quality of life of Malaysians, their rights, sustainability of the environment, etc?
Capturing the soul of the Malaysian consumer
Sadly, consumer protection based on social justice and rights have not been central in policy development or in the administrative machinery for good governance.
Where is the soul of the Malaysian consumer? The Malaysian consumer is today seen merely as a shopper. A mall culture dominates our cities and towns.
Politicians, given their close relationships with the business sector, have supported the development of malls and they are getting bigger, more complex and with the goods and services in each mall reflecting the class system of Malaysian society.
Corporate Malaysia with the support of politicians has captured the soul of the Malaysian consumer!
Weak consumer protection
A weak consumer protection regime has created an environment where shoppers do not enjoy the right to return shoddy goods, get a refund or be compensated for poor services. The receipts state that goods sold cannot be returned...
In developed countries, consumers have the right to refund for faulty goods .Malaysia still lags behind in a comprehensive product safety regime, including that for children's toys.
Consumer credit in Malaysia takes various forms, such as hire purchase, personal bank loans, private money lending, pawn broking and credit cards.
Consumers continue to face numerous trading malpractices in consumer credit matters, such as excessive interest, oppressive terms to govern default , the tampering of items given as security, such as to pawnshops, and the like.
The rising cost of food, energy and transport affects most poor households. Pricing, for the poor, is all about affordability. Politicians have given scant attention to policy reforms in food production, providing opportunities and livelihood options to increase the income of poor households .
What irks me is to see politicians giving out cash and food hampers during festive seasons. These are great photo opportunities for politicians, but such events do nothing to increase the incomes of the poor to enable them to put food on the table daily.
Critical policies for sustaining life
We know, but perhaps not the politicians, that of all natural resources, energy, water and food are the most needed to sustain life on earth. These three resources are tightly interconnected, forming a policy nexus, says Dr Hezri Adnan of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies.
Their insecurity is an impediment to social stability and economic growth, he emphasises. As long as politicians in this country are working only to sustain or take over political power, critically needed policies to protect consumer welfare and for the judicious management of natural resources to sustain life on earth will continue to take a back seat in this country.
Add corruption and money politics to this and we will see power of politicians spiral - and growing food lines of hungry consumers.
But consumers themselves, according to Mathew Hilton in his book, Choice and Justice (a history of the Malaysian Consumer movement), have not been the inevitable products of economic development, in which environment where manufacturers and the governments have produced, top-down, a society built in their names.
In a number of developing countries, " huge social upheavals have precipitated enormous inequalities of wealth, in which the consumer society has become a goal, but one in which it is acknowledged that no one has equal access to," says Hilton.
Increasing prices and recognition of rights
Water cuts, spiralling prices of food , increasing transport costs, lack of access to medicines and free healthcare, as well as promises of more increases to consumer goods and services, are in store for 2014 and beyond.
The commitments made by politicians to principles of economic, social and political justice during election campaigns have not been turned into policy reforms and political debates in Parliament or in the state assemblies.
Parliament is a sham, with name calling and allegations dominating its sessions. Parliament is devoid of progressive policy debates. For example, consumer welfare - despite the majority of consumers having voted in those sitting in Parliament - is left behind in policy participation.
Only the privileged few enjoy the benefits of Malaysia's economic policies. Increasingly, a significant sector of Malaysian society is not able to have access to basic needs.
It was in the mid-1990s that the Malaysian government recognised the rights of consumers. The prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad declared, in a Consumer Rights Day speech, that the government recognises the various rights of consumers. These include access to basic needs such as food, water, housing, healthcare, the right to a safe and healthy environment, access to information and safety of consumer products. Consumer movements in the developing world have now added rights to education, energy, transport, communication and political participation to their rights of consumers.
A rights-based paradigm is critical to enable us to get out of a state of underdevelopment, which is primarily due to political exclusion. Freedom from poverty and underdevelopment relies on being able to participate in policy making.
Power, more than policies, on their minds
However, parliamentary debates and annual meetings of political parties today are about sustaining power or taking over power. Where are the policy discourses? Politicians have not raised critical debates on the welfare of consumers. That the voter is a consumer does not figure in the language of Malaysian politicians.
It was an American president, John F Kennedy , who on March 15, 1962, moved the Bill of Consumer Rights to recognise consumers as an important economic group in the economy. March 15 is today celebrated globally, as World Consumers Day.
In 1985, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the UN Guidelines for Consumer Protection. The guidelines represent an international regulatory framework for governments to strengthen consumer protection, nationally.
The Malaysian government did take various measures to improve consumer welfare, such as improving legislation, adopting a National Consumer Policy and commissioning a Consumer Master Plan for 2003- 2013.
However, the battle for political power has today taken precedence over policy reforms to strengthen consumer protection in this country.
Consumer Master Plan, 2003-13
In 2002, the Malaysian government launched a national consumer policy, the central plank of which was the drawing up of a Consumer Master Plan for the period 2003-13.
Its overall vision is to create a society that is based on the principles of sustainable development and consumption, that comprises consumers who are empowered and articulate about their rights and responsibilities, and business that is ethical and socially and ecologically responsible.
The Consumer Master Plan contains 287 recommendations that should have been implemented by 2013. It covers an institutional and legal framework for consumer protection, the strengthening of consumer education and information and the identification of key consumer areas that will provide the focus for these efforts.
The areas for strengthening consumer protection include food, health, housing, utilities, transport, the environment, sustainability, advertising and consumer credit. The master plan is to be implemented along with other government initiatives, especially the Vision 2020 development blueprint and the achievement of developed nation, status by that date.
The plan emphasises the integration of the three principles of sustainability - economic, social and environmental equilibrium - into the national development process. Consumer concerns are to be placed at the heart of the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs and to cut across other government jurisdictions as well.
The plan proposed a comprehensive set of recommendations of general consumer areas and specific consumer goods, but also a detailed timetable for the implementation of all these measures.
Said Hilton, a professor with the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom, at a forum in Penang in 2004: "If all the recommendations of the master plan are put in place, Malaysia will have a consumer protection regime, which will rival any in the West."
The guidelines on consumer issues contained within the United Nations organisations were included to institutionalise wider consumer concerns - for the environment, for social justice and for economic, social and cultural rights, which are the aspirations of Malaysian consumers.
Have our elected representatives reviewed the many master plans and royal commissions of inquiry commissioned by the government in the context of policy reforms to improve the quality of life of Malaysians, their rights, sustainability of the environment, etc?
Capturing the soul of the Malaysian consumer
Sadly, consumer protection based on social justice and rights have not been central in policy development or in the administrative machinery for good governance.
Where is the soul of the Malaysian consumer? The Malaysian consumer is today seen merely as a shopper. A mall culture dominates our cities and towns.Politicians, given their close relationships with the business sector, have supported the development of malls and they are getting bigger, more complex and with the goods and services in each mall reflecting the class system of Malaysian society.
Corporate Malaysia with the support of politicians has captured the soul of the Malaysian consumer!
Weak consumer protection
A weak consumer protection regime has created an environment where shoppers do not enjoy the right to return shoddy goods, get a refund or be compensated for poor services. The receipts state that goods sold cannot be returned...
In developed countries, consumers have the right to refund for faulty goods .Malaysia still lags behind in a comprehensive product safety regime, including that for children's toys.
Consumer credit in Malaysia takes various forms, such as hire purchase, personal bank loans, private money lending, pawn broking and credit cards.
Consumers continue to face numerous trading malpractices in consumer credit matters, such as excessive interest, oppressive terms to govern default , the tampering of items given as security, such as to pawnshops, and the like.
The rising cost of food, energy and transport affects most poor households. Pricing, for the poor, is all about affordability. Politicians have given scant attention to policy reforms in food production, providing opportunities and livelihood options to increase the income of poor households . What irks me is to see politicians giving out cash and food hampers during festive seasons. These are great photo opportunities for politicians, but such events do nothing to increase the incomes of the poor to enable them to put food on the table daily.
Critical policies for sustaining life
We know, but perhaps not the politicians, that of all natural resources, energy, water and food are the most needed to sustain life on earth. These three resources are tightly interconnected, forming a policy nexus, says Dr Hezri Adnan of the Institute of Strategic and International Studies.
Their insecurity is an impediment to social stability and economic growth, he emphasises. As long as politicians in this country are working only to sustain or take over political power, critically needed policies to protect consumer welfare and for the judicious management of natural resources to sustain life on earth will continue to take a back seat in this country. Add corruption and money politics to this and we will see power of politicians spiral - and growing food lines of hungry consumers.
JOSIE FERNANDEZ is an anti-corruption, environmental and indigenous peoples rights activist.
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