When the country is facing economic slow down, our politicians are troubling themselves arguing with each other. Are they leading or ruining the country with all their continuous antics in condemning each other – the government as well as the opposition MPs?

The reality faced by the rakyat now is over their basic needs in life. Prices of almost all essential goods are up and they keep on increasing. Even the price of rice - the staple food for all Malaysians – has gone up substantially despite the claim by the government that it has not. Price of non-essential goods, too, has precipitously increased incurring more expenses on consumers. The government claims an inflation rate of less than two percent for the first quarter of this year. The people out there experience otherwise. If the price of a bag of rice that cost RM20 has increased to RM30, this cannot be a less than two percent increase. To the poor layman, this is inflation.

The buying power of the ringgit is gradually diminishing. An increase in salary for wage earners is not the solution as it will only aggravate inflation, as the non-wage earners will suffer more. As it is, the poor are now suffering more to make ends meet. Poverty is still a major problem in the country. Poverty is also very visible in many states such as Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu and Perlis. With the present political and economic situation, seemingly, the poverty rate will increase and this is going to bring more misery to the people. Even our agricultural sector is nowhere compared to Thailand in terms of productivity.

Government research and development funds are not prudently utilised to bring in more tangible innovations to the agricultural and technology sectors. Year in and year out we see no credible scientific papers and discoveries from among our ‘intellectuals’ that can bring about to new discoveries and innovations. Less than three percent of our research and developments funds is spent on agriculture. In reality, 95 percent of the money spent on research and development in the country has brought nothing tangible and beneficial to the country’s economy. It is only money unwisely spent without any viable returns – a mere academic exercise and the siphoning of people’s money to waste. It is the squandering of taxpayers’ hard-earned money in the name of research and development.

The employment rate now is at its lowest – with less than two percent in the private sector for the first quarter of this year and even this mostly only involve odd jobs with salaries of less than RM600. Many businesses have closed down and workers retrenched. The number of students entering university increased by about 10 percent last year while the number of unemployed graduates has increased beyond this figure. Over 100,000 graduates are now not gainfully employed. Our education system has not lived up to its expectation. It’s only rhetoric - a waste of money on superficial window dressing at our educational institutions that we can be proud of. In essence, there is no real substance in the graduates we churn out and there is little quality in those teachers and lecturers who teach them.

Universities go for unnecessary paper documentation – spending tons of money on them – but less emphasis is given on the actual quality of students they produce, the teaching qualities and the research prowess on economically viable projects that can benefit the nation. The penchant to go for superficial claims, such as obtaining certifications for paper documentation and report, has done a lot more damage to our educational institutions. A lot of money is wasted on this process, which otherwise could be utilised for the improvement of quality and feasible vocational education for the masses.

The crime rate is fast escalating. A big number of people are desperate and many disgruntled and the less-educated among the populace are now involved in crimes. White-collar crimes are also escalating out of greed for wealth and power. Despite the political rhetoric and increase in the number of police personnel, the crime rate in the country has not decreased but has been amplified by over 100 percent since 2006. People are robbed, killed and raped almost daily – invoking fear among all Malaysians. There is now little peace in towns as well as in most housing areas. People are living in fear visualising that that the worst can happen to them and their family members. Economic prosperity gained by the fortunate populace has not trickled down to the many deprived people in society and thus the increase in crime rate.

In relation to crime, the number of drug addicts has also increased. There are over one million drug addicts in the country and to add salt to injury there are over two million illegals plying our streets. This has substantially drained our economy and public facilities. Nothing substantive and effective has been done to overcome these problems. Instead of overseeing and presiding over real public-interest issues, our courts would sooner see more cases which are spiced with political overtones than real criminal cases that are seen by the people to doom the country. Justifiably, this is going to be a waste of taxpayers’ money.

The gap between the poor and the rich is widening. With the present unhinged scenario, the country would soon face more problems in terms of crime, unemployment and slow economic growth. Can we rely on the present team of politicians with their never-ending vengeance and hatred for each other – just for being in different fronts and camps - to bring about a much needed change to the country’s economy to make the 26 million Malaysians happy?

We are beginning to doubt that as it seems that some of our politicians have not matured enough after 50 years of independence.