Christmas cheer – for whom?

Now that we have entered the season of Advent, for some the ‘Christmas spirit’ is already in the air. My phone messaging system is filled with photos and videos of Orchard Road in Singapore being transformed into a fairyland, lights from elaborately decorated trees flickering in KL department stores, and the streets of London turned into a dazzling winter wonderland.

Dec 08, 2017

By Anil Netto
Now that we have entered the season of Advent, for some the ‘Christmas spirit’ is already in the air. My phone messaging system is filled with photos and videos of Orchard Road in Singapore being transformed into a fairyland, lights from elaborately decorated trees flickering in KL department stores, and the streets of London turned into a dazzling winter wonderland.

In the streets and malls, anonymous shoppers try to beat the last-minute rush for gifts, hardly acknowledging one another.
Others can only window-shop — for not everyone is able to partake in this kind of superficial merriment. While the economy may have grown 6.2 per cent in the third quarter, the reality is not being felt on the ground.

The Merdeka Centre carried out a survey in November and found that 72 per cent of Malaysians were most concerned about economic issues such as the “rising cost of living, economic hardship, jobs and other related matters”. Although there was a slight improvement in its seven stress indicators compared to January 2017, the figures should give us food for thought:

-- 29 per cent of respondents report that they did not possess a minimum of RM500 of savings to address any emergency.
-- 64 per cent of respondents felt stressed thinking about the future.
-- 40 per cent report delaying or unable to make payments on utility bills such as electricity and telephone bills.
-- 20 per cent report having taken on new debt (in the form of personal loans or charging of credit cards).
-- 15 per cent report having encountered new conflict with the family
-- 15 per cent report skipping meals in order to make ends meet
-- 11 per cent who report needing to sell or pawn off possessions in order to meet expenses.

This raises a critical question that all Malaysians must ponder over: If the economy grew by an impressive 6.2 per cent in the third quarter, why should people feel so burdened and stressed in so many different ways?

Although household income may be rising slightly, it is insufficient to cope with the higher cost of living, regressive taxation, budget cuts and the removal of subsidies.

Two thousand years ago, Jesus was born at a time when the Roman Empire was around its height of power and influence. The disparity between the top and the bottom was evident even then – and it was obvious which side Jesus chose to spend most of his time with.

Who is benefiting from all the economic growth today? It is clear that some groups in society stand to gain more — much more — than others through lucrative returns on capital compared to wage increments.

One of the biggest threats we face now is the theft or grabbing of the Commons for private profits. Urban residents are finding out that their green spaces are being taken over for expensive residential projects that do not benefit the average person. Even the sea is being taken over for land reclamation projects for mainly high-end housing that is beyond the reach of many locals.

In rural areas, communities sometimes find themselves forced out by mining, logging, plantations, and unnecessary large dams — projects undertaken by large companies with faceless board members.

Mega projects are being proposed —funded by public money — that will mainly benefit large firms and their major shareholders.

In a myriad of ways, a country’s natural assets and wealth are funnelled from the many to the few while tax rates on the rich continue to be reduced every year. Household and national debt rises while banks post hefty profits, running into billions of ringgit.

So this is something for us to reflect on this Advent: the Christmas cheer is not being spread equally around. As wine glasses clink and toasts are proposed, the plight of the bottom 40 per cent of households (B40) remains hidden from view while the migrant workers and refugees are not even seen or heard.

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