Hard Talk!

Mr.Hubby and I had a hard talk in the car this morning, during our rush hour. Topic of discussion : Malaysia's current economic situation.On how the price of Ron95 might hike soon and how everything else like sugar's price and even the Base Lending Rate (BLR) have increased recently . Of course this is nothing new but rather an economic term referred as inflation.

In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a loss of real value in the internal medium of exchange and unit of account in the economy.

Malaysia inflation rate as at April 2011 was reported to be 3.2%, while our annual income increment across the board is 5%. Now you know why people of Malaysia, especially the middle and low income class is making a big fuss about the price hike? We went to school just like you , Mr.Ministers. We understand very well the word inflation but what we don't understand is what is your role in helping the people to go through this tough situation? The way you manage country's incomes to ease people's burden? Malaysians who have voted you and gave you the mandate to manage the country!

Okay....I might not be an economist but I am a working woman, a mother and a wife . Let me quote you 1 simplest example, that surely will make Malaysian working women and mothers all hyped up. Child Care. Almost all working class parents send their children to the day care centre, out of no choice. They can't afford a maid and neither can they afford to be a stay home mum. The cheapest resort that I know is baby sitter services(hantar rumah orang) that will cost parents a not-so-expensive RM200. Itu yang paling murah, hokay!!! The next choice is non other that the day care centres with charges ranging from RM250 to a whopping RM900.  

I remember my friend in Perth once told me that Australian government subsidize her child care expenses. Though not fully, but it was good enough to ease parent's burden. We don't have that in our country, right? Not even a Child Care Tax Rebate (CCTR) for out-of-pocket child care costs.What the hell is our Ministry for Women, Family and Community Development is doing? Ms.Kajol, please answer!

However, some companies are subsidizing their staff's expenses on child care, like Shell Business Service Center Sdn Bhd that pays out RM150 per child every month. I'm surprised to find out that not even the government sectors are doing this. This is also part of company's social responsibility, right! It doesn't matter if you subsidize the child care expenses or provide a free day-care centre in the office specially for the staffs. I believe that charity should start from home. So, something to ponder ....why are companies publicizing ie:safety driving course, education scholarships, some Rhino saving campaign and government ie: financial aids to Tsunami victims in other countries as their social responsibility activities, when they have not even take full accountability on the staffs or people's welfare! Now you tell me....is it SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY or PUBLICITY ??? 

Read this with an open heart and mind! I'm writing this on behalf of many Malaysians that would like to clarify that we are not complaining about the inflation but rather voicing out how helpless we feel in hard time like this!