The rising cost of living which can swing votes significantly in an election, cannot be solved by the BN government by just handing out minor subsidies to the voters, says a political researcher, citing the recent by-election in Singapore as an example.

NONE “Cost of living is the number one issue, the government is trying very hard to bring the cost of living down with subsidies, BR1M, all sort of stuff, the RM200 subsidy for handphones... It has not worked,” said James Chin ( above ), professor of political science and head of the School of Arts and Social Sciences of Monash University, Sunway Campus.

To illustrate how powerful the issue can influence the outcome of an election, Chin cited the Punggol East by-election which concluded last weekend with a significant swing helping the opposition Workers' Party capture the traditional stronghold of the ruling People's Action Party.

Chin was one of the three speakers at a forum titled “Politics Unusual – What to Expect in the Next General Election?”

The forum is part of the 15th Malaysia Strategic Outlook Conference organised by think tank Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (Asli) in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

Another speaker, Denison Jayasooria, commented that the “politicisation of welfare” by both the BN federal government and Pakatan Rakyat state governments through such short-sighted financial aids is detrimental to the self-empowerment of the people.

The principal research fellow at the Institute of Ethnic Studies, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) noted that such an approach was against the BN government's previous policies aimed at empowering the people in the long run.

“RM500 in four years is not going to solve poverty and income inequality.

"This is contrary to what BN has done in the past such as the New Economic Model, or even the development policies under (former premier) Dr Mahathir Mohamad,” he said.

Elaborating, Denison urged BN to move away from the political trend he described as the “trivialisation of politics” such as the controversy of the use of 'Allah', and to focus more on public policy debate.

“The questions in the general election are not whether we can get free water or RM500.

' BN's real strength in public policy'

“BN's real strength is in public policy because it has a long history of very well-thought-of development policies. BN should use this, not just propaganda. They could have won the public space,” he said.

He noticed that besides Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and Minister in the Prime Minister Department Idris Jala, other BN leaders seldom articulate their policies in public forums as compared with the Pakatan Rakyat leaders.

“BN should tell the people what were the mistakes they have made in the past five years and if given another five years, what they would do.”

On the result of the general election, Chin revealed that one of the major concerns that has been frequently discussed in kopitiams and ‘dark corners’ particularly by the middle class, is whether there would be peaceful transfer of power if BN is defeated.

“Humans are good in one thing. We are very good in repeating history,” he joked, referring to the May 13 racial clash in 1969 when the ruling coalition was on the brink of losing federal power.

Another scenario that concerned Chin is should BN win “super majority” in the polls beyond the desired two-third majority, would the people accept the electoral result.

“It is now very easy to call people to come out to demonstrate. You just need to start a Facebook page and a Twitter account,” he said.

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