A PAS lawmaker today lamented the struggles of the Chinese community who were forced to work over the Chinese New Year due to the weakened economy.
PAS assistant secretary-general Mohd Syahir Che Sulaiman referred to comments on social media highlighting the hardships experienced by people, particularly during the festive period.
“A few days after Chinese New Year, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that the national economy was still good.
“There was a comment (made on social media) that on the second day of Chinese New Year, there were many Chinese (people) selling food at the night market. Imagine how hard (it is) to earn money nowadays,” he told the lower house today.
Moreover, Syahir shared a personal encounter during a Grab ride on the first day of Chinese New Year, where he interacted with a Chinese driver who was working that night.
“I said hello and wished a ‘Gong Xi Fa Chai’. He smiled back and we began talking. On the day of the festival, he had to drive Grab. This is a real citizen, not a cybertrooper. It’s real people. But the government denies not caring (for the people),” he lamented.
Criticism regarding the handling of the economy has intensified, particularly due to the depreciation of the ringgit.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim recently commented on the declining value of not only the ringgit but also other ASEAN currencies like the Japanese yen and Chinese renminbi with the exception of the Singaporean dollar.
The ringgit’s value against the US dollar has been fluctuating around the RM4.76 to RM4.78 range over the past few trading days. – Feb 28, 2024
Main photo credit: FMT
