Datuk A. Kadir Jasin said. Najib developed an allergy to the word kangkung

In the midst of the host of sensitive issues dominating the political discourse, at least our classic water spinach, or kangkung as we call it, is uniting most, if not all Malaysians, into a rhythmic parody.  Doctor Mahathir-shoctor! Never mind doctor! Tell us what you guys have found after spying on Najib Why has it suddenly become so popular, and that too atyour expense? Najib has become popular because it's the latest thing in fashion, particularly among young people. Fashion? You mean like  'Allah' issue' Rosmah  are Harami?

 Najib spoke with passion rather than anger, with force and with seeming conviction. He sought to communicate a new commitment to change UMNO the party and its working, so as to build a more empoweredMalays that stays true to its tradition of respect for diversity instead of straying into the majoritarian bylanes to darkness where the Opposition wants to lead it. 
He sought to redefine party’s base from an amorphous group described as the Pakatan to the 28million large segment, who are no longer poor but are not part of the middle class (the neo-non-poor, let’s call them). He announced the intent to broadbase decision-making within party and empower women. These are the good parts of the speech. He addressed corruption in terms of UMNO,MCA and MIC.cylinders a family is entitled to from nine a year to 12 as a sign of continued allegiance to patronage politics. This is actually not such a big deal. By loading the financial burden of the additional subsidy on to the price of goods that have to be purchased from the open market, the government can even spare the fisc any additional strain on this count. This is fair game for a ruling party in the run-up to the G14 elections.

 it's not funny. Here i am losing out to an upstart Pakatan and all you can do is cut Najib's jokes and do hassi-mazak! But here comes that Mahathir fellow. Why is he holding up a finger at me?

Sorry. I'd forgotten that Najib developed an allergy to the word kangkungof recent times and break out in a rash every time you hear it. Come to think of it, you seem to be allergic to quite a few other words as well, like Mongolia and c4. Maybe Najib should go to a doctor Mahathir and see if he can get a prescription for it.

The regular Malaysians are having it hard, having to deal with an expensive cost of living and at the same time being dictated to about their religion, that too by politicians who are hopelessly ignorant and insensitive in more ways than on

"Why does Najib think that Putrajaya deserves to be praised for the falling price of kangkung?" Kadir asked.The transfer of duties from Najib to Rosmah had finally taken place (we deliberately don't use the term "transfer of power" since we believe our political leaders are meant to serve).However, the warm cheers for the seniors could not mask the cold-hearted fact - an era was drawing to a close in the UMNO and a new dawn was rising.Even if the price of kangkung (water spinach) has fallen, it does not mean the cost of living has decreased, former New Straits Times group editor-in-chief, Datuk A. Kadir Jasin (pic) said.

In his latest blog post, Kadir wondered why Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak linked the falling price of kangkung to the cost of living in Malaysia.

"Why does Najib think that Putrajaya deserves to be praised for the falling price of kangkung?" Kadir asked.

Referring to the latest figures from the Department of Statistics, Kadir said food and drinks amounted to about 20.3% of the average monthly household expenditure.

"Of the 20.3% spent on food and drinks, 10% is used to buy vegetables. This means that the average household expenditure on greens comes up to about 2% a month," Kadir said.

"In fact, the percentage might be even lower as not every household will eat only kangkung," he added.

"Therefore, the easy conclusion to draw would be that even if the price of kangkung has fallen, it does not mean that the cost of living has decreased."

Kadir said he had asked an economist friend to ascertain if a cost of living or inflation indicator could be developed around the price of kangkung to create a kangkung index.

After the economist helped Kadir draw up a Kangkung Index to replace the Consumer Price Index, the results indicated that the price of kangkung had indeed dropped by 50% since early 2013.

"However, it is pointless to use kangkung as an example or barometer when households spend a mere 2% of their total monthly expenditure on buying greens," Kadir said.

On a separate issue, Kadir said he was also tempted to join the debate on prominent banker, Datuk Seri Nazir Razak's remembrance of his father, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein.

Ever since Najib suggested that the rakyat should appreciate that kangkung price had fallen and praise Putrajaya for it, he has been on the receiving end of various jokes and criticism.

Even the international audience has taken notice of Najib's comments regarding the humble water spinach, with BBC trending the issue.

The latest episode of That Effing Show entitled 'Let Them Eat Kangkung' poked satirical humour at Najib's ill-judged comments about the water spinach and cost of living.i persists with the rhetoric that the Congress has moved people out of poverty, that it will empower women, that it will give the neonon-poor a decent roof over their heads, that it will do so many other wonderful things form Malays, he once again talks the language of patronage. We give, you take. The more you support us, the more we will give. 

This is not modern politics. Modern politics is about empowerment. The party is not a dispenser of goodies standing above the people, but a catalyst among the people, working with the people to empower them to articulate their rights as citizens, to enforce provision by the state of what is their due, an agency to channel collective action for the collective good voters has to appreciate this and learn to speak the language. 
The decision to embrace the neo-non-poor as the prime support base of the party reflects the reality not only that success in poverty reduction has shrunk what once used to be a large constituency but also that this constituency’s needs and aspirations are not addressed by talking of the poor.

With the ruling Barisan Nasional government displaying zero empathy in relating to the hard-pressed rakyat’s plight in surviving the harrowing escalating cost of living, the people are left to their own devices to do what is best for them.

As such, Malaysians who are already bogged down with the challenge of coping with the onslaught of hardships can do without the sardonic remarks made particularly by the BN MPs.

Leading the way is the country’s Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak whose inability to feel for the rakyat has further worsened matters. While the rakyat back home suffers, Najib decided to enjoy himself abroad. It seems that both he and wife Rosmah Mansor were overseas during the Christmas and New Year period.

However, keeping in mind today’s harsh reality and the people’s struggle to come to grips with the rising cost of just about everything, from electricity tariffs to the proposed LRT ‘platform fees’, leaders like Najib should exercise wisdom each time he begins to open his mouth to address the rakyat, his intentions whatsoever.

Bad enough that the Najib-Rosmah indulgences come at the expense of the taxpayers’ welfare. It is unfortunate for the nation that Najib is one leader who fails to take cognisance from past mistakes.

Prodigal Najib

The Premier was recently lambasted by the very rakyat whose well-being he assured would be top priority. This time it was Najib’s callous statement that Malaysians are not thankful even though the price of kangkung (water spinach) has gone down.

In a video uploaded on YouTube on January 12, Najib who is also UMNO President, questioned why the government was always at the receiving end each time prices of goods increased but was never praised when prices came down.

“When prices of things go up, everything goes up, including sawi and kangkung. There are times when the prices of vegetables go up and down.Today I read in the newspaper that the prices of some things which have dropped. The price of kangkung increased before this and now it has gone down.When this happens, they don’t want to praise the government. But when it rises, they blame the government… This is not fair as it is due to weather conditions,” Najib was quoted as saying in the video.

It does tell just how much Premier Najib ‘understands’ the rakyat’s predicament. And that explains too why the people are fed up and decided to participate in the rally that took place at the iconic Dataran Merdeka on new year’s eve.

As for Najib, his very costly, the RM38 million worth ’1Malaysia’ programme has fallen flat on its face as far efficient governance goes, judging by the premier and fellow ministers’ addiction to profligacy.

Fooling the rakyat with ‘Putrajaya 11′

In the meantime, the 11 austerity measures outlined by Najib which Putrajaya would be implementing within the civil service to reduce expenditure and cut costs is meaningless if the leaders themselves are not prepared to control their disastrous spending habits.

Following in the footsteps of his ‘boss’ Najib, Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob thought he too could escape public scrutiny and flaying for the lavish wedding ceremony and dinner in big city Kuala Lumpur he held for his daughter.

Ismail’s daughter Nina Sabrina and celebrity Indonesian fashion designer Jovian Mandagie’s wedding included the akad nikah ceremony, the first to take place at the previous Istana Negara building before the palace was converted into a museum and renamed National Palace Royal Museum.

Then there was a two-day reception at a five-star hotel in Kuala Lumpur, attended by royalties, celebrities, politicians and socialites who were entertained by Indonesian diva Ruth Sahanaya and Malaysia’s Jamal Abdillah.

Just how much Ismail had frittered away on the Dec 14 and 15 reception is anyone’s guess as the minister is not telling.It is regrettable that Ismail got carried away with the glitz that comes with assuming power. The veteran minister could have done better than to find the RM25,000 paid to use the Istana Negara for eight hours a ‘value for money’ deal, simply because his son-in-law received a “good package” in return for the publicity.

Was that so? What about the six Balinese dancers in full regalia flown in to perform? Was there a ‘discount’ there too?To Ismail, the glamour and grandeur of a five-star hotel like the Shangri-La outweighed the humility of a community hall or balai rakyat.

Like Ismail, his colleague the Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi too is preoccupied withZahid HamidiX prestige. The latter hosted an extravagant birthday bash also at a five-star hotel in Kuala Lumpur which his guests claimed was a 2014 New Year’s party.

From Najib to his coterie of inept ministers, all share a common thread – their desperation to outdo one another not by way of serving the rakyat but by impressing friends by organising opulent dinners etc.

It is best that Najib’s economic adviser, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Wahid Omar knock some sense into premier Najib and the rest of the ‘spendthrift BN politicians’ to spend wisely.

It is these MPs who need an earful and not the rakyat when it comes to emptying the wallet without batting an eyelid.

Advising the already taxed Malaysians to look for alternatives and be thrifty is easy for the former banker- turned- politician.“I go to the market every week. I know that the prices of basic necessities are high, but consumers have a choice in what they spend their money on,” he was quoted as saying in a news report.

Dare Abdul Wahid tell the same to his ‘political masters’? Does he have the guts to tell boss Najib that it is all about ‘leadership by example’?