Artistes are not political idiots, says local actor Miau Miau

Local actor Lim Ching Miau, better known as Miau Miau, has expressed her support for jazz singer Sheila Majid after the latter was criticised by various parties for tweeting about the rising cost of living in Malaysia.

Lim said in a Facebook post yesterday that artistes are citizens who have the right to express themselves, and that they are not “political idiots”.

“This Malay singer has voiced out the opinion of the people, is it wrong?

“Don’t forget that we, as artistes, are also citizens. We are not political idiots. We have the right to express ourselves.”

When contacted, Lim told Malaysiakini that all citizens were suffering from the rise in fuel prices and cost of living.

“I’ve been living in Kuala Lumpur for 17 years since I graduated from high school and I’ve witnessed the rise in the prices of goods. However, our salaries have never risen, and have instead fallen.”

“We’re all living in Malaysia and we know the pain of living far beyond our means.”

“Whoever holds a Malaysian identity card has the right to express his or her thoughts.”

“I already mentioned this problem many years ago, we have been suffering since early on! People have been complaining and asking for change on social media for a very long time.”

Lim added that people are now “suffocating” because of the rise in prices of goods.

“After the implementation of GST, I found that all things had become more expensive, the extent of the price increase is not only 6 percent but goes far beyond that.”

“Regardless of whether it is because of the inflation, the implementation of GST or other international problems, the prices are getting higher and the people are now suffocating.”

Lim also noted that people are suffering from an increase in fuel prices, which was “unreasonable” given that Malaysia is an oil-exporting country.

On Tuesday, Sheila tweeted that Malaysians are angry for having to deal with a "debt" that they had no part in creating.

Her tweet, which also touched on runaway inflation, unemployment and the depreciation of the ringgit, ignited a firestorm of reactions.

Umno information chief Annuar Musa suggested that economics is not the jazz singer's forte, while aide to the prime minister's wife Rizal Mansor queried how her latest concert could be sold out if the economy was in as bad a shape as she claimed.- Mkini