Bread and butter matters
By ZULKIFLI ABD RAHMAN and FLORENCE A. SAMY
PETALING JAYA: The cost of living, social issues, the crime rate and illegal
immigrants - these are the issues that matter most to Malaysian voters,
according to a survey conducted ahead of the general election. These
bread and butter issues are the prime concern of voters now. Even hot
issues like politics ranked lower than economic factors and crime. The
survey revealed that 96% of respondents were concerned with the current
economic situation such as the rising cost of consumer goods, while 88% said
they were worried about the incidents of crime in the country.
Dr Syed Arabi: 'Certainly the Government is not passive about these issues'
The opinion poll was commissioned by The Star and carried out by the
International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). It involved 2,930 respondents
and was conducted in 58 clusters in 12 states in the peninsula from Dec 8 to
Dec 29 last year. The survey has a margin of error of less than 4%.
¡§Economic issues were considered important to Malaysians,¡¨ said the IIUM Dean
of the Communications Department Prof Datuk Dr Syed Arabi Idid, who headed the
survey. ¡§People are concerned over the rising prices of basic
necessities and the high cost of living, especially with the looming global oil
prices. ¡§Crime is also a worry to them,¡¨ he said yesterday. However,
Dr Syed Arabi said the Government did respond to these concerns. He cited
the National Price Council as one of the measures taken to tackle the rising
prices of consumer items and cost of living. Under the price council, the
Government announced recently that a national stockpile of essential
goods like rice and cooking oil would be created to ensure that prices and
supply remained stable at all times. The price council, headed by Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, will monitor, advise and oversee the
government's price policy, competitive market structures and the efficiency of
subsidy schemes. The price council is also aimed at preventing unfair and
collusive trade practices affecting supply and prices of essential goods and
services, and eventually softening the impact of rising prices on the cost of
living. ¡§The prime minister himself has gone to the ground to initiate
measures to beef up security, such as rehiring capable retired police
officers,¡¨ said Dr Syed Arabi. Abdullah, who is also the Internal
Security Minister, announced recently that there would be a police station at
every corner, and more than 3,000 more patrol cars and 4,000 motorcycles would
be deployed to combat crime. He also said that 60,000
police personnel would be recruited, while the police department would rent
shoplots to set up the police stations. A total of 1,756 respondents were
aged between 21 and 35, 1,181 respondents polled were in the 36-50 age group,
and 719 respondents were those above 51 years old. The third main concern
of the respondents was the influx of foreigners into the country, with 40%
regarding it as a problem. This was followed by other concerns on
politics, unity, the environment, internal and external threats, road traffic
problems and leadership. Prof Dr Syed Arabi said 2% of respondents
expressed concern over internal and external threats and considered the rising
number of vehicles as a bane, while only 1% said leaders must be proven to be
capable. - the star
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