It's been a rocky time for Felda settlers since Pakatan Harapan came to power.
In the news, they read of Economic Affairs Minister Mohamed Azmin Ali vowing to turn around Felda and Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok's push to promote palm oil products.
The reality is very different on the ground. The settlers' allowances have come in late due to Felda's cash flow problems, while income has fallen due to tumbling palm oil fruit prices.
The government had explained that the cash flow problem was a culmination of years of mismanagement by the previous BN government and falling prices due to global factors.
But for settlers in Felda Sungai Koyan 1, explanations about mismanagement or global economics matter little when they have to tighten their belts.
Norazmi Mohd Alias Mokhtar, 53, said while BN was not perfect, his monthly payment had never come in late under the previous government.
Settlers are given monthly payments during the oil palm replanting period to support their cost of living, which is derived from low-interest loans.
"Last time there were no problems with the monthly payment or bonuses. We could even afford to buy a house or car.
"Now we're feeling under pressure because we have to put off many of our purchases. The settlers have to tighten their belts.
"When we tighten our belts, income from pasar malam businesses is also affected as people are reluctant to spend," he said.
Norazmi Mohd (photo above) is one of many Felda settlers who will be going to the polls on Jan 26 in conjunction with the Cameron Highlands by-election.
Due to their deteriorated financial situation, even a PAS supporter is now longing for former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, who has been accused of misappropriating billions of ringgit from 1MDB.
"Najib was not the best, but he was better than Pakatan Harapan. At least he took care of the welfare of the Malays," said the PAS supporter who only wanted to be known as Ida.
Ida (photo), who also hails from Felda Sungai Koyan 1, said her income is now less than RM2,000 a month and the late monthly payments are putting a strain on her family finances as two of her five children are still in school.
She added that her eldest son, who has two children of his own, is also living with her.
According to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board data, the settlement price for palm oil at the beginning of 2018 was RM2,532 per tonne. The settlement price yesterday was at RM2,136 per tonne.
Even though campaigning for the by-election had only just begun on Jan 12, Ida said she had made up her mind and will be voting for BN's Ramli Mohd Nor over Harapan's M Manogaran.
Two other independent candidates will be contesting in the by-election, namely Wong Seng Yee and Sallehudin Ab Talib, but they are expected to have a hard time putting up a serious challenge.
Meanwhile, Mohd Fadzil Suparman (photo), who is a second generation settler from Felda Koyan 3, reminisced about Najib's promise to increase the BR1M aid to RM2,000 had BN won in the 14th general election.
He also downplayed the corruption allegations against Najib.
"The case is not like sodomy or murder. It's just breach of trust and misappropriation.
"I would do the same as a leader as I need to back up everyone. Where am I going to find money?
"At least he didn't forget the people. He had promised RM2,000 in BR1M if he had won," said the 49-year-old settler.
In the last general election, Harapan only managed to win 8.66 percent of the votes in Felda Sungai Koyan 1 and 13.70 percent of the votes in Felda Sungai Koyan 2 and 3.
The remaining votes were almost evenly split between PAS and Umno.
This was a worse performance compared to the 2013 general election when PAS was still part of Pakatan Rakyat, the predecessor of Pakatan Harapan.
In that election, DAP garnered 27.85 percent of the votes in Felda Sungai Koyan 1 and 22.35 percent of the votes in Felda Sungai Koyan 2 and 3. - Mkini
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