Malaysians Fed Up with Prices, Politics

KUALA LUMPUR — Skyrocketing prices and an ongoing power struggle between the government and opposition have left many Malaysians fed up with their country's politics.
"We want prices lowered," housewife Aminah Rahman, 48, who took part in mass anti-inflation rallies held on Sunday, July 6, in the capital Kuala Lumpur, told Agence France Presse (AFP).
"We are suffering but the government appears to be doing nothing," added Aminah, who joined the all-day protests organized by the opposition coalition along with her two young daughters.
Over 10,000 Malaysians gathered at Kuala Lumpur's stadium to protest against the recent price hikes, including a rise of up to 63 per cent in fuel prices by the Abdullah Badawi government.
Protesters, many wearing red bandanas and red T-shirts with the slogan "No Price Hike", ignored a ban by the police which termed the demonstrations illegal.
The crowd chanted "PM resign" as speakers blamed the government of Prime Minister Abdullah for the towering prices.
"The people are suffering and I don't know how long we can go on like this," said 40-year-old housewife P. Kalaiselvi, who came to join the rally with her husband and four daughters.
"We would like the government to hear our problems and to help us but they are only helping themselves."
Malaysia's economy is already undergoing testing times.
Last month, the central bank said Malaysia's growth is expected to slow to 5-6 percent this year from 6.3 percent in 2007.
Anger over skyrocketing prices and rising inflation was seen as a major factor in the March elections results, which saw the ruling National Front coalition losing its two-third majority in the parliament and five states in the polls to the opposition.
"Political Drama"
For many Malaysians, the soaring prices are not the only reason for frustration.
They blame a prevailing atmosphere of politicking in their country for distracting politicians from addressing their sufferings.
"[I am] tired of reading about the political drama,” University student Nur Izza Mohd Ezani, 24, told the Malaysian daily The Star.
"I don't know what to believe any more. Everyone is accusing the other."
Since the landmark March elections, the South Asian Muslim country is embroiled in a deepening political turmoil, with the government and the recently-empowered opposition trading barbs.
Premier Abdullah, who is in power since 2003, has been under increasing pressures to step down.
The recent political storm came a week ago, when opposition leader and ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim was hit with new sodomy charges, the same charge that led to his imprisonment a decade ago.
Anwar has blasted the new charges as a politically-motivated attack orchestrated by government officials and aimed at his comeback to his country's politics.
For many Malaysians, such ongoing power struggles is leaving people victims of their country's politics.
"They (politicians) should solve the problems among themselves before making it a public issue," Hajar, a 26-year-old legal secretary, told The Star.
Nur, the university student, agrees that politics is now running on the expense of people's welfare.
"They [politicians] are so concerned with party issues and the mud-slinging.
"I feel that things have been blown out of proportion and welfare is forgotten."