ECONOMY Minister Rafizi Ramli has begun a weekly vlog series in which he will update the public on the work his ministry is accomplishing.
In a video on social media, the newly-minted minister went into detail what his duties entail, noting that his main focus is long-term economic planning, with poverty eradication at its heart.
“My focus for the first month is to accelerate and improve the poverty eradication programme throughout the country to look out for those who are the most affected by poverty while introducing economic initiatives to other groups,” Rafizi explained in a TikTok video that he also uploaded on Twitter and Facebook today.
Errr apa menteri buat?
Mulai minggu ini, saya akan kongsi log mingguan tugasan, fungsi dan tumpuan Kementerian Ekonomi.
Saya kurangkan hadir program2 perasmian utk bulan pertama supaya boleh tumpu kpd perancangan.
Fokus utk Jan 23: program basmi miskin tegar 👍 pic.twitter.com/n6H1qKpNVU
— Rafizi Ramli (@rafiziramli) December 15, 2022
In the video, he said that people might want to know the difference between the Economy Ministry and the Finance Ministry.
“The Economy Ministry is responsible for the long-term planning of the national economy. We are responsible for adjustments to development expenditure so that they can boost economic growth and steer it in the direction that would achieve the goals we are targeting,” he explained.
“Apart from daily duties such as meetings and making decisions that involve an impact on the economy, in the first 10 days my duties have been to understand the long-term plans, particularly those that are part of the 12th Malaysia Plan.”
The 12th Malaysia Plan offers a clear strategic direction to allocate the national budget from 2021 to 2025 for all economic sectors.
This is in line with the shared prosperity initiative encompassing three dimensions which are economic empowerment, environmental sustainability and social reengineering.
According to Rafizi, most of the hardcore poor areas are in states like Kelantan, Terengganu, Perlis, Sabah and Sarawak.
“Therefore, a lot of resources and time of the Federal Government is to help the people in these states,” he added.
While Rafizi did not reveal his plans to tackle hardcore poverty in the country, it should be noted that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yesterday announced that there will be no increase in electricity tariffs for households.
At time of writing, Rafizi’s video had garnered more than 75,000 views and more than 3,000 likes on Twitter, with many netizens thanking him for his hard work and offering suggestions on how the Government could tackle the country’s economic issues.
User @HannZiq, for example, suggested for the minister to re-evaluate the data collection process for the country’s economy.
Minta menteri kaji semula pengumpulan data kesenjangan ekonomi. Tak lagi compare Bumiputera, Cina & India. Make it more focused – Melayu, Bumi Sabah, Bumi Sarawak, Cina, India. Next, kaji semula pengelasan B40, M40 & T20. Dan, selaraskan tahap miskin tegar & miskin
— Farhanisme (@HannZiq) December 15, 2022
Meanwhile, user @mohdirw26864171 suggested that the Economy Ministry create a special platform for the people to voice their complaints and offer suggestions.
Bro rafizi, saya mohon ada email khas, media khas tuk rakyat beri cadangan n aduan..saya lihat ada yb suruh dm di twitter tp dm pun takde…ini khusus saya sebut tuk kementerian penting mcm kdn, kkm, kpm..kementerian tmpt panas
— klopp_79 (@mohdirw26864171) December 15, 2022
Meanwhile, user @OWCH_CH said:
YBM, please remove non competent chairman and director from GLC… especially those during TSMY time as a reward for supporting the back door government. Thank you.
— Ow (@OWCH_CH) December 15, 2022
However, user @gunspeacialist noted that it was not necessary for the minister to update on Twitter, adding that some people will always find something to criticise.
Tuan tk perlu nak update semua kerja dlm twitter. Haters bukan nk dengar pon, mereka akan sentiasa cari modal nak kritik. PM nk bantu petani pon di kritik😂😂. Ape ke benda lah mereka ni😂 Teruskan saja kerja tuan, abaikan walaun² ni👍
— @sh (@gunspeacialist) December 15, 2022
Meanwhile, in response to Rafizi’s post on Facebook, many of his followers applauded the new vlog format and raised further questions in relation to eradicating poverty.
“Does the economy minister have a job in eradicating poverty? Shouldn’t the economy minister find new markets, find new investments, create projects that can generate funds and future profits, open job opportunities, etc?” questioned Facebook user RB Adda.
“The Ministry of Health is now dealing with the issues of menstruation, the Minister of Agriculture eggs for the poor, the Minister of Finance deals with the poor rice farmers.
“Does the economy minister want to tackle the same issues? I think the ministers need to learn the scope of their work first and look for thoughtful ideas to govern the country. Message to the finance minister, don’t sing about the trillions in national debts because it scares investors.”
Another Facebook user, however, disagrees with Rafizi’s vlog attempt, saying “People want to see results, not hear what the minister has done. When there are results, people know that the minister [has accomplished his goal]. If you tell me what the minister has done but there are no results then it’s the same as not doing anything,” user Syamsul Nizam noted. – Dec 15, 2022
Main photo credit: Harian Metro
