MELAKA: Rising living costs and shrinking purchasing power should be among the key considerations for voters come polling day on Saturday, says MCA deputy president Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon.
He said voters should ask themselves whether their lives had improved over the past four years before casting their ballots.
“I dare say we all feel that money is increasingly not enough and the pressure on our lives is getting heavier,” he said at a dinner with Chinese associations here on Tuesday.
Dr Mah said the government had failed to deliver on pledges made during the last general election and had repeatedly reversed its own decisions.
“This government keeps making U-turns, and after each U-turn it still wants the people to thank them.”
Dr Mah also maintained that the goods and services tax was better than the sales and service tax, saying DAP and PKR should understand how government policies affect ordinary people.
He questioned spending on programmes that were not part of the government’s election pledges, citing MyKiosk.
“How was the money spent? That is the people’s money. Kiosks in many places, some by the sea, have been left to rust,” he said.
Parliament was told last month that 897 MyKiosk units remained vacant as of August, while RM150mil had been allocated for more than 7,200 kiosks.
Dr Mah also said feedback from Barisan Nasional campaign teams had been encouraging, with positive responses among Malay, Chinese and Indian voters.
Citing visits to polling district centres, house-to-house campaigns and hawker centres, Dr Mah said some traders had offered extra drinks or declined payment during campaign rounds.
“These are little indications. I feel very heartened by the kind gestures of the people in Melaka.”
