YOURSAY | ‘What do you know of the suffering of the poor?’

Touting govt aid, Muhyiddin says no need to raise white or black flags

Cogito Ergo Sum: Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, to say that kitchens are not empty is an admission that you are out of touch with reality.

This statement is a reflection of all that is wrong with this nation. You and your cabinet members are clueless as to what to do next.

The kitchens are empty and have been empty for months. The white flag campaign is badly needed and is a slap on everyone’s collective faces.

RedWolf4463: Indeed, PM, you are completely out of touch with reality and the situation on the ground. You surround yourself with people who can keep you in power but who can do nothing else.

Just listen to some of the suggestions from civil society and people like former minister Rafidah Aziz and you will know how removed your strategies are.

Just see how much of your so-called aid to the SMEs (small and medium enterprises) have reached needy businesses.

Did you ask the banks how many loan moratorium applications they approved and rejected, and why?

Did you ask how effective your one-time handout to the micro-businesses is when you stop them from doing anything? How far can it go?

Did you ask how many businesses have closed due to your constant lockdowns?

Have you ever felt hunger before? Did you ever feel desperate for the lives of family and friends who are struggling due to the failed Covid-19 policies dished out by your dysfunctional government?

BrownCamel7539: It's easy and irresponsible for politicians who have no empathy (and in all probability with lots of cash) to tell the poor that all is well and there’s food on the table.

People who feast on lobsters and durian can neither understand nor appreciate why others are eating grass or sand.

They can only see the world in their own eyes, and all they see is untold wealth. This explains why the bunch of politicians we now have are so desperate to hang on to power.

Asitis: “I think if we go to the ground, we will probably find the kitchen of homes to be full (with supplies),” said Muhyiddin.

You think, but are you sure? Have you or your people actually “gone to the ground” and met all those who were forced by dire needs to raise the white flag?

BrownPheonix6394: Muhyiddin is so out of touch with reality that he needs to go.

“I have been informed by (Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rina Harun)...,” he said. And you take her word as the gospel truth?

Why then did some youngsters create an app for the rakyat to help one another? Why do we have the white flag movement?

Because the government has failed them. This ain’t rocket science.

Aida: “The aid centre had prepared 420,000 packages of staple food worth around RM50 each, which will benefit 1.68 million recipients,” said Muhyiddin.

How far can you stretch RM50 worth of groceries? Is the PM living on planet Earth?

Max Fury: Are you saying that people’s kitchens are full because of your RM50 food baskets?

That RM50 won’t even last a few days, it can’t even stock a corner of their kitchen, what’s more filling it up.

Now, what are they going to do when the food runs out in a couple of days? Are you going to give them more food baskets? People need long-term survival, they need jobs, they need money, not one-off food baskets.

Go get your ministers to think out of the box and find permanent solutions to help the poor and the starving. Don’t blow your trumpet when people are still suffering and struggling to put food on the table for their family every day.

Jambo: I am not sure which world the prime minister is living in, good grief.

I am aware of many organisations, Christian and Islamic, providing food and other essentials to people of all ages, races and religions.

Times are very hard for many and Penang is no exception. The local supermarkets are placing food and beverages out for the poor in a number of places. None of this is happening because people are well-off.

Ace: This man wallows in money and luxury so he cannot fathom how the people are suffering.

Has he seen the hawker struggling to make 20 percent of what he used to earn? Has he seen the SME owner who is close to bankruptcy, or the jobless and homeless who do not know how to register with the Welfare Department and are now on the verge of suicide?

Before you talk so much, get off your ivory tower.

BraveMalaysian: So unfitting for the prime minister to be so insensitive to the real situation on the ground, where many have actually run out of money and food.

Shame on you Mr PM. According to him, people are committing suicide because their kitchen is full of stocks and their children are well fed. People are angry with the government because they are stupid and irrational and ungrateful.

This PM has to go.

PurpleRabbit4068: I would expect a statesman to be humble and accept shortcomings in dealing with the people's shortage of basic goods such as food.

It would have been very gentlemanly to thank the various quarters for assisting those families that supposedly “fell through the cracks”.

A display of arrogance is not a righteous attitude when the people are in such a dire state, with hunger and desperation all around.

Stand For Truth: I just came back after supplying three families with some basic groceries, including milk powder for their kids, to read your “kitchens are full” statement.

Your platitudes do not feed the hungry and your policies do not create jobs for these families. I am not wealthy but am willing to share with fellow Malaysians.

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