Malaysia's leaders' have failed the rakyat to ensure enough food supply

KUALA LUMPUR May 23 - For the past few decades, so many ministers have set target after target that Malaysia will be able to be self-sufficient in its own food production.

Politicians from both the ruling government and opposition have thumped proudly on their chests that the country will one day no longer import too much food.

The ministers from both political divides spanning across several ministries blew their trumpets announcing to the world that the country will be able to be self-sufficient in its own food supply.

The targeted year for the country to be self-sufficient in food is always a moving target ranging from 2030 to 2050 and others.

The country even had politicians who aspired to produce beef for the country and trim dependency on imported beef from India.

But instead, some of these politicians get implicated in various financial scandals and criminal cases.

At this rate, Malaysia will never achieve its target to be self-sufficient in food supply and reduce its dependency on a multitude of food imports from all over the world to an estimated tune of RM55 billion a year.

Malaysia imports over half of its food supply which includes beef from India, rice from Vietnam and wheat from India and not to mention chicken feed as well as expensive luxury food such as cheese and seedless grapes.

And now the rakyat is suffering.

Chicken feed which comprises imported corn have hit the roof due to the Ukraine-Russia war.

Chicken feed prices have increased squeezing the profit margins of chicken breeders in the country.

This is because while the prices of raw materials have increased, the chicken farmers are not allowed to increase chicken prices as it is a controlled item under the Price Control Act 1961.

This has led to numerous outcries by the chicken farmers which made claims that due to the hot weather, chickens can't grow big enough.

Persatuan Penternak Ayam Negeri Selangor president Idrus Zainal Abidin said that all chicken supply will halt in Selangor starting today.

In the meantime, Federation of Malaysian Breeders Association advisor Datuk Jeffrey Ng reportedly said a few breeders have temporarily closed their farms due to skyrocketing raw materials prices.

However, everybody knows that the chicken breeders are pressuring the government to increase chicken prices and obviously the government subsidies are not enough.

The chicken shortage situation has hogged social media with numerous netizens lambasting the government.

Popular influencer Abdul Rani Kulop also lambasted the politicians for not addressing the issue adequately by being busy with politicking and going about at supermarkets to check empty food shelves to gain popularity.

Emir Research chief executive officer Dr Rais Hussin said the state governments are also not helping the situation, of which some 103,000ha of land are left abandoned.

To be fair to the leaders of the country, it is true that war is beyond their control.

And Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob also relaxed the situation by dismantling the approved permits allowing anybody to import food items.

But obviously the measures are not enough and the situation is dire.

The aspiration of the country to become self-sufficient in food production is nowhere near with countries such as the Netherlands which is the world's largest food producer.

Perhaps the rakyat should boot the incompetent and rhetorical leaders once and for all at the next general elections and vote those who are fit to do the job.

The rakyat does not want multi-billion jobs which benefit cronies.

The rakyat are not asking much.

All they want are jobs, a decent living for their families and put food on the table. Is that too much to ask? – DagangNews.com