Sg Bakap A Bit More Analysis

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 First here is a quick video of Kedah Menteri Besar Mohd Sanusi Mohd Nor, who is 49 years old,  playing kabadi with some Indian boys. As you can see Sanusi is a fit and agile person. Things like this do play a role in making friends, especially to make up for shortfalls in other skill sets. It is always profitable to be nice and polite.  Nice and polite also does not harm you. PAS won in Sg Bakap - helped by Chinese voters who did not come out to vote.
 



Here is some feedback from the Umno boys about their embarrassing loss in Sg Bakap. They are blaming it on the DAP.



 
I have met Mustapha Yaakub a few times (in the old days). He was close to our ambassador in Washington. Even in those days he was already a senior. Now Mustapha looks older than the mountains. Thus living up to Ummi Hafilda's famous comment, which she made about 10 or 15 years ago which is still relevant : our politicians have been around since she was in primary school. (Ummi is now about 57 years old).

Mustapha Yaakub blames it on the DAP for not mobilising the Chinese vote in Sg Bakap.
I think Mustapha is just suffering yet another serious case of 'denial syndrome'. 'Its not our faullt at all. It is the DAP's fault'.

Here is a more relevant comment from another friend of mine Willie, a seasoned financial consultant, who is Chinese : "It's the Chinese way of showing displeasure at the State Government and Federal Government. You don't buck up, there will be consequences".

Not just the Chinese but all the voters are fed up with the gomen.
The gomen has been bungling one thing after another.
1.  Do you remember this :   
Monday, 18 Sep 2023  KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 — Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu said today that the shortage of rice in the domestic market is expected to be restored within a month. 
No it has not. This is now July 2024. Domestic rice is still in short supply.

2. Chicken and egg prices.
Remember the chicken and egg shortage? Then they removed the price controls or 'harga kawalan' for chicken. And what happened? The price of chicken actually went down! Plus the supplies of chicken have been normal since they removed the price control. Meaning that Malaysian consumers have been shortchanged for a long time. Menyusahkan manusia saja, tak tentu pasal.

What does this mean? Apa maksudnya? It means if you remove all those silly controls over padi and rice  (no more rice monopoly, abolish that really stupid Rice Control Act) then the supply of rice in the market will return to normal and the price will also stabilise.
Maybe you could have won in Sg Bakap.
3. Electricity tariff hike - there was the other inexplicable 15% tariff hike for electricity.  There is no indication that the national electricity monopoly even requested for a rate hike. They make billions in profits each year. 
Even more strange was that the tariff hike was for SIX MONTHS only. 'The increase could be between RM12 and RM32 under new electricity tariffs announced by the Energy Commission yesterday for the period of Jan 1 to June 30, 2024'.


So all the factories, supermarkets and export industries in Malaysia must calculate higher costs and higher selling prices for SIX MONTHS. And then after SIX MONTHS they must recalibrate their costs and pricing again? Where did you all learn finance and business? Sekolah pondok ke?   
Minus this type of confusion maybe you could have won in Sg Bakap.
4. BNM rate hike. 
After that BNM rate hike, there was a 13% jump in our monthly instalment payment to the bank.
No one knows WHY BNM raised the interest rates. I dont think even Bank Negara can provide a logical explanation.Who benefited from BNM's rate hike? How has the higher interest rate benefitted the economy? Has inflation been curbed?If the electricity tariff can be increased for a period of SIX MONTHS only, then why cant Bank Negara do the same thing? Why cant Bank Negara also increase the interest rate for SIX MONTHS only? After SIX MONTHS cut the interest rates to where it was before. 

UMNO cannot explain the interest rate hike. 
PKR cannot explain the interest rate hike. 
DAP cannot explain theinterest  rate hike. 
No one can explain why BNM raised the interest rates. 

You made 34 million people suffer but you have no solid logic or good reason WHY you raised the interest rates.
If you had cut the interest rates maybe you could have won in Sg Bakap.

5. Diesel price jumped from RM2.15 to RM3.35 - a RM1.20 or 56% jump overnite that has created chaos in domestic prices. 
Please do not tell me that diesel prices have jumped 56% overnite and there will be no effect on inflation in the economy. Once again that is more evidence of your 'sekolah pondok' level of education and understanding. 
If you had staggered the diesel price hike maybe you could have won in Sg Bakap

So it is not simply because DAP did not mobilise the Chinese votes. The Chinese people still run the businesses in the country. The Chinese people will vote for what is good for them. In Sg Bakap the Chinese people did not vote for what is NOT GOOD for them.
And please note something else : 
Despite that UiTM only for Malays issue, despite the quotas for Indians and other non-Malays for university entrance remaining intact, and now the doubts over that '10As will get places in the Matrikulasi',  the Malay vote still went against the gomen in Sg Bakap.

Meaning the old ketuanan Melayu and bumiputra polcies does not cut any more ice with the Malay voters.
In 2008 at the height of UMNO's ketuanan policies, UMNO (Badawi) lost the 2/3 majority.
In 2018 at the height of Najib's ketuanan policies, UMNO got kicked out by the Malays.
In 2020 again at the heights of Dr Mahathir's ketuanan policies, Dr M got kicked out.
The same thing happened to TSri Muhyiddin and Ismail Sabri. 
Ismail Sabri even spoke in Malay at the Yunaited Nesyen. 
Still got kicked out.
In 2022 ALL THE MALAY PARTIES lost in the General Elections. SEMUA KALAH.
Not one party was able to win a simple majority in Parliament.
There was a hung parliament and no one could form the gomen by themselves. 
SUDAH LUPA KAH? Malay political parties please take note : ketuanan Melayu and bumiputra policies DO NOT GUARANTEE you winning the Malay vote. Wake up.
 The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.By Syed Akbar Ali 

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