NEWLY-minted Economic Affairs Minister Rafizi Ramli refuted allegations that he instructed the public to stop buying goods like chicken to help curb price hikes brought on by inflation on Twitter.
Ha3 bising ckp konon saya suruh berhenti makan ayam.
Saya berckp mengenai keperluan utk sama2 menangani demand & supply side supaya permintaan pengguna yg lebih anjal menjadi satu kuasa utk mempengaruhi juga kadar harga barang naik.
Jgn bimbang we have a plan 👌
— Rafizi Ramli (@rafiziramli) December 25, 2022
Prior to this, Rafizi was criticised after he was quoted as saying at a press conference that “by right, when the price of chicken goes up, people should avoid buying chicken”.
According to PKR deputy president, he was talking about the need to address the supply and demand side so that a more elastic consumer demand becomes a force to reckon with in influencing the price of goods.
Rafizi said he was open to criticism and that “intelligent” members of the public would understand his viewpoints when arguments are presented.
“In a month, the Perikatan Nasional (PN) leaders arguing on this topic will now be silenced.
“This is just like when they had other issues which started out as being controversial. When these matters were explained, intelligent members of the rakyat began to understand them better,” FMT reported him as saying.
Rafizi added that he had never “run away” from controversial discussions if it meant that facing them could solve problems, citing other controversies he had faced before.
He also noted how in 2016, when he spoke out against former PKR vice president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali, Pakatan Harapan (PH) members had criticised him.
Furthermore, Rafizi received backlash last March for stating that PH would require more than 80 seats to emerge as the largest bloc following the general election.
“Don’t be afraid of public opinion. God willing, rational people will understand the issue better and follow suit later.” – Dec 25, 2022
