BR1M is not the right economic solutions for the people

By Daniel John Jambun

I feel it is rather amusing to read so many leaders calling for us not to politicize the RM500 BR1M handouts, some even going to the extend of warning people not to link it to any political motive, because the handouts are “the government’s sincere way of trying to assist the people in today’s difficult economic climate.” But the problem is, after so many BN leaders make this warning, we can’t help thinking this must be very political indeed! It is quite clear that their intention to warn us not to politicize the matter is their way of telling us that it is all actually political. Ironically, by warning us not to politicize the matter, they are the ones ending up politicizing it!

Or is it being done on purpose? It is a very subtle and clever way of telling us it is in fact all very political. After all it is hard for the government to be generous and not be appreciated, especially because the total amount to be disbursed is so huge it can sink a ship. But as Datuk Wences Anggang of UPKO confirmed it, it is very political with some ‘unnecessary’ questions being put on the application form, such as where does the applicant vote and if he or she is a registered voter.

The other day someone said that you can confirm whether your name is in the approved receivers’ list by checking the list at the UMNO or PBS offices! My immediate reaction was what does UMNO and PBS have anything to do with it if it is not political? Are UMNO and PBS taking advantage of getting support by also becoming a checking centres other than the district offices?

Of course we are thankful for these handouts. At least the people are now in a state of excitement about getting some real cash to help them overcome many difficulties. But many deserving people are not qualified to receive them, while many who make more than RM3,000 per month end up getting them. And what I am afraid is that a lot of the amounts received will be abused, with many recipients going for the quick fixes with “tiga sepuluh, aramai it is.” The government, eventually had decided to continue spoiling the people by directly giving them fish, as if all the efforts to teach them how to fish had failed. But then again BR1M is not a surprise if we remember that the government has been practicing this method of “helping the people” all the time – giving them house building materials, water tanks, food items such as rice and other forms of groceries. At one time this was called the government’s way of reducing poverty – give them some food items and they are not longer poor for a few days! How very creative! In the case of fishermen, they are given allowances of RM200 per month, and are allowed subsidized diesel, which is welcomed, but is it the best solution to their problems? The MP for Papar, Datuk Rosnah Shirlin on January 18, during the ceremony to roll out the allowances, said that hundreds of fishermen from Papar “will have fewer worries of not having enough to makes ends meet.” Does it mean the fishermen can’t even make RM200 per month to feed their families? If that’s the case, shouldn’t the government be helping them to switch to other economic activities?

This is the problem with a government which has no clear strategic plan for poverty eradication, neither a clear plan for economic development of the state. We may have failed to notice that all these years the villagers had actually been mostly left out to fend for themselves in the villages. They go on with their traditional way of life without any new way of increasing their income, to such an extent that when the YBs come bringing in handouts they grab at it all with a lot of gusto. And then they are insulted with speeches asking them to be thankful to the government!

But these acts of giving plain handouts, which have now become a political tradition in Sabah, is in many ways an admittance and proof of failure of the government to develop the people after half a century of independence. By now, the system of roads should have been developed to give access to all farmers to send their goods to the towns and cities, and the villages should have long become centres of food production where farmers are involved in planned farming methods and are active in small village industries. The government should have placed various systems to purchase and transport these goods for processing and export and thus give the people consistent incomes. Such a system, if properly put in place, should have solved part of the problem the high import of food into Sabah, which is a staggering, and frightening, 70% of our needs!

The government can use intensive food production as an effective means to solve poverty with the intensive production and distribution mechanisms efficiently in place. The people needs to be guided and assisted to move out of their traditional backyard farming which is of non-commercial scale, to one that is of commercial-scale and targeted for factory and downstream processing.

But I guess the government is in no mood for these measures at a time when the GE13 is just around the corner. All those strategic planning can be discussed another day. The BR1M, therefore, becomes the quick political fix at a time when the election fever is already here. It shall run its course in the hope that it will influence the voting trend of the voters. And all the while the warning not to politicise it will continue.

Daniel John Jambun is Deputy Chairman, STAR Sabah