Consumerism and the Chinese New Year Festival (Original unedited manuscript)

I remember once my mother told me that when she was a young kid back in the 60s, she only got to eat chicken during the Chinese New Year (CNY) festive season. Nowadays chicken has become the most popular and consumed meat in the country. In 2021, Malaysia’s poultry meat consumption of 49.7kg per capita was triple the world’s average (14.86kg) and also well above the OECD’s (31.98kg). It could be that in those old days, meat was a luxury to many poor families, the price may not be as affordable as compared to today's standard of living.

For this year’s CNY festive season, among the 8 controlled food items set by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living are white pomfret, white shrimp, live pigs and pork (belly, meat and fat) as well as vegetables such as imported Chinese potatoes, and round cabbage, and Chinese garlic. Chicken are not included because they are still a controlled item for a persistent period since last year. But In terms of CNY festival ‘luxury’ meat items nowadays, obviously Chinese pomfrets and large shrimps (some say abalone and scallops as well) have replaced chicken, especially for the reunion dinner on the CNY’s eve.

Reunion dinner could be deemed as a special occasion for the year where family members from all corners come back to have the meal, and it is usually prepared extensively to treat these family members in the gathering. Most families are likely in the mood to ‘splurge’ on more extravagant luxury food items. They feel proud and happy to share these on social media.

More than just the dinner dishes, normally Chinese families would also stock up CNY cookies, chips and crackers, barbequed meat, mandarins, as well as packet drinks like Chrysanthemum tea, carbonated drinks like 100Plus and Shandy. These are the food items prepared for the visiting guests but surely family members themselves would also find those irresistible to consume before any guest arrivals.

Before CNY, shopping for such items became reactionary towards price reduction promotion. News broke out that a certain hypermarket chain offered a promotional sale price for their 100Plus and Shandy, many shoppers were alerted by words, text or pictures shared in social media, stormed to the chain stores, and caused the items to be sold out the very first day of the promotional campaign. The photos of shoppers fighting to grab the carton of drinks before these could be delivered to the shelves, and they loaded their shopping trolleys full with the cartons queuing for the check out, these are the herd mentality scenes to behold. This ‘shortage’ phenomenon also induced panic buy among many other shoppers too, feeling that these drinks are now a must, and they have to get them too, and in more quantity ifossible.

Think about it seriously, the aforementioned drinks are hardly a must have or serve any direct relevance about the festival itself. Even the cookies and crackers, these are the items that might keep the visitors’ conversation going, but without those people can still chat (and not have to worry about the amount of sugar and fats consumed).

Like other big festivals, CNY also tends to drive consumerism for new products and new items, via various CNY sales in the malls or online platforms - from new clothes, shoes, to services like doing nails and hair.

The preconceived mindset for many Chinese is that they must wear everything new for the festival. While spring cleaning the house to review and remove unwanted items to declutter is a good annual practice, adding new items to the closet and cupboard inventory just for the festival appearance may not be a wise decision for the household budget and for the environment.

One has to practice purchasing based on needs and not wants – some clothes can still be in quite good condition after some years, one should not feel shameful to wear the same Sam Fu. The legitimate reasons to purchase new items are to replace those belongings started to wear out or simply grow out of the current fitting.

In a planet with finite resources, and for the household also with finite disposable income, we should encourage more thoughts to conserve our own resources, ask ourselves ‘do I really need this?’ before purchase. It should not be equated as ‘thrifty’, but this could help overcome the impulse buying behaviour. These savings might be useful in future for more necessary spending. In this way, I congratulate you Gong Xi Fa Cai, I just gave you tips to make more fortune.

Anytime now to reform (Original unedited manuscript)

Last year on November 24th, new Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim took office, and his cabinet was formed on December 3rd. Yes, the new ‘unity’ government is still not yet 2 months old, already there are groups and individuals making requests for meetings, sending memorandums and issuing public statements for the new government to take action on the causes they advocate.

Some supporters for the ruling parties are quick to defend the latter, asking the enthusiastic public to be patient, “give the new government more time” they plead. The reasons given often are that the government is a large coalition of parties with diverse ideology and their own set of election manifestos; they never formally work together before; it is a ‘fragile’ government with many political tensions and break-up points; UMNO party election and 6 state elections are upcoming. So, the supporters urge: “let’s not hurry the new government or demand too much, let them focus and carry on with their work, show what they can do for the Rakyat’

How much time should be given for the new government to take action and fulfill their election promises?

For ministers and policymakers, there are different levels of technical difficulty in making policy changes. The lowest hanging fruits are for the ministry to pledge their commitment, set and publish any policy or action plan, though these are not legally binding. Ministers do have power to gazette any changes to the existing regulations or guidelines under certain law, or issue any circular order to enforce certain regulations differently. Hence, if the concerned policy is within the executive power of the minister to change, then it is up to the minister.

However, if a problem requires the minister to propose amendments to the existing law or a completely new law, then it may need to get past the cabinet decision, Attorney General’s advice and bill drafting. The government has to table the bill to the parliament. Ordinary bills require merely a simple majority in both Houses of Parliament to pass. This already places the burden on the ministry to persuade the peers first in the cabinet, and later rally in the Parliament to get the support for the bill. This kind of legislation change may not come fast, but efforts have to be seen.

The barrier is higher if the problem requires amendments to the Federal Constitution, then a two-third majority in both Houses of Parliament is necessary. Even if the government did not have two-third majority, for example, Ismail Sabri’s and Mahathir’s (under Pakatan Harapan), both governments managed to pass the anti-hopping and Undi18 legislations which involved changes to the Federal Constitution, respectively. They could have done so with cross partisan support, though this may not happen often.

People’s usual concern is also about the law implementation and enforcement. They often judge by the final outcome – they want to see the effect on the ground and the changes in reality.

Some problems are complex such as tackling poverty or lowering incidents of non-communicable diseases, they may not be solved just by a single piece of legislation or adjusting regulations. Some problems may involve a public institution or sometimes more than one. Thus, these need institutional reform, or changes to a number of key laws. So, it would take some time to see through the legal changes, and an even longer timeline to observe the effect these reforms bring.

In fact, politics is more than just the procedural technicality of passing and enforcing laws. Even if the minister is convinced by certain policies, he or she may also like to consult internally with the civil servants and relevant agencies, as well as hear out from the subject-matter experts, affected parties and civil society organisations.

In the end, the minister has to show political will to make the necessary changes, do the right thing for public interest and common good, despite the challenges posted by certain vested interests. People-centric politicians have to show no fear or favour in their resolve, no matter how powerful the lobbies are and the repercussions the latter threaten to bring. They should not be afraid to change the bad laws and policies. If they backtrack from what they used to advocate, then this would leave people with the impression that some politicians are unprincipled, merely politicking to speak against when in opposition but do nothing when in power.

Some are eager for this new unity government to work out, but the politicians just need the right strategies and political wisdom to start working on the election promises, not to say that they have to deliver the outcome immediately. The politicians do not need further excuses and people should stop providing them such, especially about ‘bad political timing’.

Anytime now is a good time to start fulfilling the election promises, the earlier the better, just don’t leave it until too late. Pakatan Harapan’s previous 22 months of governance is a good reminder that political reality could change fast and wait for no one.

CNY drives consumer habits, good and bad

I REMEMBER my mother once told me that when she was a young kid back in the 1960s, she only got to eat chicken during the Chinese New Year (CNY) festive season.

Nowadays, chicken has become the most popular meat in the country.

In 2021, Malaysia’s poultry meat consumption of 49.7kg per capita was triple the world’s average (14.9kg) and also well above the OECD’s 32kg.

It could be that in those old days, meat was a luxury to many poor families, as the price may not have been as affordable as it is today.

For this year’s CNY festive season, among the eight controlled food items set by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living are white pomfret, white shrimp, live pigs and pork (belly, meat and fat) as well as vegetables such as imported Chinese potatoes, round cabbage and garlic.

Chicken is not included because it has been a controlled item since last year. Yet, in terms of CNY festival ‘luxury’ meat items nowadays, obviously Chinese pomfrets and large shrimps (some say abalone and scallops as well) have replaced chicken, especially for the reunion dinner on the eve of the festival.

Reunion dinner is a special occasion for the year, when people return from all corners to the family home and have this meal.

It is usually prepared extensively to treat everyone at the gathering.

Most families are likely in the mood to splurge on more extravagant luxury foods. They feel proud and happy to share these on social media.

Aside from just the dinner dishes, Chinese families will normally also stock up CNY cookies, chips and crackers, barbequed meat, mandarins, and packet and carbonated drinks.

These are prepared for the visiting guests, but many family members find them irresistible and consume them before any arrivals.

Before CNY, shopping for such items is in reaction to seasonal promotions.

For example, news broke that a certain hypermarket chain was offering a deal for 100Plus and shandy.

Many people were alerted by word of mouth, text or pictures shared on social media. They stormed to the stores, with the items sold out on the very first day of the promotion.

There followed images of shoppers fighting to grab crates of drinks before these could be delivered to the shelves, with more images of queues of shoppers – trollies stacked high with crates – queuing for the check out. These are the herd mentality scenes to behold.

This phenomenon also induced panic buying, with others deciding these drinks are a must-have, and in greater quantities too.

Imagine; these drinks are hardly essential, let alone have any direct relevance to the festival.

Even the cookies and crackers have become the items that might keep the visitors’ conversation going.

Yet, even without those things, people can still chat and not have to worry about the amount of sugar and fats consumed.

Like other big festivals, CNY also tends to drive consumerism for new products, via various sales in the malls or on online platforms – from new clothes and shoes, to services like doing nails and hair.

This is fuelled by the preconceived mindset for many Chinese that they must wear everything new for the festival.

While spring cleaning the house to review and remove unwanted items is a good annual practice, adding new items to the closet and cupboard inventory just for the festival appearance may not be a wise decision for the household budget and for the environment.

You have to practise purchasing based on needs and not wants. Some clothes can still be in quite good condition after some years, and therefore you should not feel ashamed of wearing the same Sam Fu.

Legitimate reasons to purchase new clothing are replace items that have started to wear out or children simply growing out of the current fitting.

On a planet with finite resources and for the household with finite disposable income, we should encourage more thoughts to conserve our own resources and ask ourselves: “Do I really need this?”

It should not be equated to “thrifty”, but this could help overcome the impulse buying behaviour.

These savings might be useful in future for more necessary spending. In this way, I will say: Gong Xi Fa Cai, I just gave you tips to increase your fortune.

136th article for Agora@TMI column, published on The Malaysian Insight, 23 Jan 2023  

Unity govt must introduce reform policies now

 

On November 24, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim took office and his cabinet was formed on December 3.

Yes, the new unity government is still not yet two months old, but already there are people requesting meetings, sending memorandums and issuing public statements for the government to take action on their particular cause.

Government supporters have leapt to its defence, asking the enthusiastic public to be patient and give the cabinet more time.

Supporters say the government is a large coalition of parties with diverse ideologies, each with their own set of election manifestos.

They add that some of these parties have never formally worked together before, so it is a fragile government with many political tensions and potential for break-up, especially with Umno’s party polls and six state elections on the way.

Supporters say the government should not be hurried and be allowed to focus on its work, to prove what it can do for the rakyat.

In which case, how much time should be given for the government to take action and fulfill its election promises?

For ministers and civil servants, policymaking presents various challenges. The lowest hanging fruits are for the ministry to pledge its commitment and publish any policy or action plan, though these are not legally binding.

Ministers do have power to gazette any changes to existing regulations or guidelines under a certain law, or issue any circular order to enforce regulations differently.

Hence, it is up to the minister to make a change if the policy is within his or her executive power.

However, if a problem requires the minister to propose amendments to existing laws or even draft a completely new law, then it may need to get past the cabinet, with advice from the attorney-general and then to drafting a bill for parliament.

The government is required to table bills to parliament. Ordinary bills require merely a simple majority to pass, but this already places the burden on the ministry to persuade peers in the cabinet and later rally parliament to get the support.

This kind of legislation change may not come quickly, but efforts have to be seen.

The bar is higher if the problem requires amendments to the Federal Constitution, which requires a two-thirds majority vote to pass.

Even if the government does not have a two-thirds majority, there are still ways in which it can amend the Federal Constitution, as in the case of the anti-party hopping and Undi18 legislation.

However, this usually requires bipartisan support to make it happen.

The people’s usual concern is about the implementation and enforcement of new laws. They often judge by the final outcome. They want to see the effect on the ground and the changes in reality.

Some problems are complex, such as tackling poverty or lowering incidents of non-communicable diseases, as they may not be solved just by a single piece of legislation or adjusting regulations.

Some problems may involve one or more public institutions. Thus, these need institutional reform, or changes to a number of key laws.

In which case, it would take some time to see through the legal changes, and an even longer timeline to observe the effect these reforms bring.

In fact, politics is more than just the procedural technicality of passing and enforcing laws. Even if the minister is convinced by certain policies, he or she may also like to consult internally with civil servants and agencies, as well as hear from subject-matter experts, affected parties, and civil society organisations.

In the end, the minister has to show political will to make the necessary changes and do the right thing in the public interest and common good, despite the challenges posed by certain vested interests.

People-centric politicians have to show no fear or favour in their resolve, no matter how powerful the lobbies and the threats of repercussions.

Good politicians should not be afraid to change bad laws and policies. If they backtrack from their principles, then this leaves people with the impression they are merely politicking when in opposition but do nothing when in power.

Some are eager for this new unity government to work out, but the politicians just need the right strategies and political wisdom to start working on election promises, and not to say that they have to deliver the outcome immediately.

Politicians do not need further excuses and people should stop providing them such, especially ‘poor political timing’.

Any time now is a good time to start fulfilling the election promises – the earlier the better, just don’t leave it too late.

Pakatan Harapan’s previous 22 months of governance is a good reminder that political reality can change quickly and waits for no one. 

135th article for Agora@TMI column, published on The Malaysian Insight, 16 Jan 2023