Could Rahmah have the answers to our economic woes?

 

What is the responsibility of a government? It is to administer the country and to take care of the welfare of the people.

If there is a problem and it is affecting the people, the government needs to resolve it to the best of its ability. If there is a problem with the economy and cost of living and the people are suffering, the government needs to solve it so the people won’t be suffering anymore.

Hence, I totally agree with the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry when they launched the Menu Rahmah initiative.

It is a programme where participating food outlets offer affordable meal packages consisting of a complete portion of rice, fish, and vegetables sold at RM5. The programme isn’t an obligation and participating outlets are really just volunteering to do it.

I am in awe at how the government and the private sector have managed to work together on something for the good of the people and the nation without any direct payback.

It is a good example of what we want our society to mature into - where decisions that are made by both elected leaders and civil society have the best interest of the people in mind instead of just the bottom dollar.

Of course, it is totally understandable when many of these outlets allocate a certain number of meals or a set number of hours a day that they can provide under the Menu Rahmah.

In order for these participating outlets to be able to give back to society, they still need to be able to have the resources to do so. So we don’t want them to go out of business just because they are providing Menu Rahmah meals.

Hence, I again totally agree with the ministry when they made the announcement of wanting to give incentives to participating outlets of the programme.

Although they haven’t decided on what the incentives could be, I think it is a good move - even if the government needs to fork out cash to do so - because the long-term benefits will definitely be worth it.

Universal Basic Income

In addition to the Menu Rahmah, the Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah announced by the government recently is also something positive. It is basically cash handouts, much like the Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M). In fact, one can even call it just a rebranding or renaming of the same programme.

Let me point out that I have never been opposed to BR1M as long as it is done during economic hard times. The fact is that cash handouts like this really do spur the economy. It gives a little bit of spending power to the people and we know that we need spending in order to control and curb inflation and economic recession.

Even though it might seem like a lot of money for the government to spend, cash handouts like these are actually just a small investment because the long-term returns to the economy are much larger.

If anything, the government should make handouts like these more consistent across the board regardless of income level.

This is where a Univeral Basic Income system could come in. A monthly cash handout could be given out for a period of six months to a year to everyone. This would ensure that money is injected into the economy so that spending happens regularly and over a longer period of time.

There is a difference in the mindset of people who know that they have a stable income compared to people who continuously worry about money and how they need to make ends meet.

A regular UBI gives people the confidence to be more productive, innovative, and take risks. When a society has that mindset, it tends to improve a lot of things, which would include the economy.

Critics might say that this could be abused, such as people being too dependent on welfare, resulting in a lazy society that depends on the state. It would mean that we have to put faith and trust blindly in society.

Well, the counterargument to this would be to just see the success of the Menu Rahmah. The participants are doing it voluntarily, selflessly, and according to their resources and abilities.

It shows that, collectively, we can actually rely on the maturity and humanity of Malaysians. If the right initiative is presented and the benefits can be rationalised, I truly believe that all Malaysians can get on board with it.

We are going through hard times but if we all come together and see what we can all do for the betterment of the country and the people, we shall overcome. - Mkini

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ZAN AZLEE is a writer, documentary filmmaker, journalist, and academic. The Sheraton move really frustrated him but maybe after November 2022, he can start feeling better again. Visit fatbidin.com to view his work.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of MMKtT.