By Daniel John Jambun
The decision by the Government Employees Co-operative Society Berhad (Kopeks) recently to settle debts owed by its members to Ah Longs to the hefty tune of RM500,000 made one wonder if Kopeks is not actually encouraging its members to go into debt, because it could easily bail them out anytime when the situation becomes critical. The bailout was a precedent that set a bad example of co-operative fund management.
It also reminded us how bad the economic situation in the Sabah is right now. If government servants can go into serious debt in spite of earning salaries, imagine the situation for those without jobs, and those in the rural areas who have to live off the land just to keep body and soul together. In this period of high inflation even those with salaries are in fact living below the poverty line.
There is an ongoing, hidden depression going on in Sabah. They have suffered so long but have partly resigned to their fate knowing they is nothing they can do. The government has simply failed them. A fifty-ringgit note doesn’t last very long, doesn’t buy a lot these days. People have very little saving and for those who struggle to make ends meet, the money runs out long before payday. What is more depressing is that we all know the government has not an iota of plan to solve the problem; all so-called anti-poverty actions are just ad-hoc programs. Solve this and this, and wait for the next one to surface! The government is confused because it doesn’t have the financial capability to solve the problem and it doesn’t understand all the factors affecting the economy, globally or locally. So they have become experts in coming up with lame explanations and playing the blame game, like they blame youths for being unemployed because “they are choosy.” What a load of nonsense!
So in desperation, the people who need to settle their financial problems have to resort to Ah Longs, or loan sharks. And loan sharks come to the fill up the market because there is a huge need for their service. A profusion of loan sharks, the rise of MLMs, get-rich-quick schemes and gambling businesses are a clear indication of serious economic problem in any country. People need a way out to escape financial pitfalls and hope to fulfill their dreams by buying lottery tickets as a way to comfort their troubled souls. The latest way to become rich overnight today is to find the tokek lizard and make millions overnight!
I would challenge the BN government to undertake a statistical survey of the situation and give us the accurate figures for unemployed secondary school leavers and graduates, the number of sandwich families and the grand total of amounts they spend from their parents’ income, the number of Sabahans who are working in the Peninsular and Singapore, and most importantly to give an economic blueprint for Sabah to solve unemployment and poverty in the short term. Or is the government itself is too cash-strapped to undertake these surveys? How much does it cost to pay IDS to do them compared to providing for some road buildings in which the cost are doubles of tripled for the benefit of some political bosses? How much money has been stashed overseas, robbing us of economic trickle-down effects? We can only imagine the terrible losses we have suffered and our children will suffer in the future because of our government’s corruption and mismanagement!
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