Menu Rahmah initiative right move under pressing times

AT the outset it would be proper to remember that at the launch of the Menu Rahmah initiative, the Domestic Trade and Living Costs Minister, Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub, did not make any comment regarding the sustainability of this new effort as a long-term programme undertaken by the unity government.

He only indicated that this was an immediate plan to provide meals to the poor, especially those categorised under the B40 group. He re-emphasised this point just recently saying that what the government wanted for the immediate term was to lessen the burden for the B40 group in getting a proper meal while the actual problem of cost of living would be tackled by other means.

Hence, while sustainability is really very important, even for a programme like Menu Rahmah – and of course the bigger issue of cost of living that needs to be sustained at a level that does not heavily burden the lower income group – measures that have and can be taken would need time to see results.

With the current economic situation and the legacy of what has been deemed as “underperforming” previous administrations in tackling the constant increase in prices, it would be a tall order to expect things being fixed within a 100-day period of the new administration.

But of course while waiting for concrete measures to address the rising cost of living, some of which may already be in the pipeline, the Menu Rahmah initiative comes at the right time. It needs the people’s support. It needs the support especially of restaurateurs and owners of eateries. In fact it needs the support of all.

In the context of looking at the larger picture of controlling the prices of goods, particularly raw food items, that apparently would fail such a noble project like Menu Rahmah, what the government is planning and going to implement in this respect is what needs to be scrutinised.

The public has come up with suggestions to ensure that the initiative sustains long enough until the economy recovers and wages reflect the cost of living over the long term. Apart from ensuring good policy backing, sustainability would depend too also on the ability of ensuring proper supply of raw food materials at prices that would support the Menu Rahmah programme.

The other issue is the quality of the food provided. Of course one could not expect a super duper dish for RM5. It was not meant to be so. If a highly nutritious meal was the issue, then one would have to go to some high-class restaurant and eat food that would of course be costly.

If high quality was the only concern, price would not be an issue, so those criticising this effort on the premise that providers of meals would sell low quality food that may endanger the health of the poor citizens are really missing the point. And by the way, they are also wrong at that as experts have pointed out that the composition of the Menu Rahmah meal is basically sufficient in terms of the necessary nutrients like carbohydrates, proteins and minerals.

However, quality can be sustained based on a concrete regulatory and monitoring system to ensure the food offered is up to the recommended level in terms of quality and hygiene.

While the initiative is gaining ground with its reach widening among the people, political opponents of the government, however, have created unnecessary furor as evidenced in the speech by an Opposition parliamentarian recently. It exposes the level of politics that these people would stoop to. Had the parliamentarian only consulted the nutritionists she would have gotten a better picture of the “quality” of food provided under Menu Rahmah, hence negating the need for unnecessarily wasting the august House’s time.

Now “Rahmah” has transformed to a brand name signifying “blessing” in a broad sense – which is really what the original meaning of the term is in Arabic – and evidently as the people of the lower income group would attest to since the launch of Menu Rahmah that has given them some hope to enjoy a decent meal.

As a new brand of “blessing”, it has been extended to quite a few other initiatives as well like the Bakul Rahmah (Rahmah Basket), Jualan Rahmah (Rahmah Sale), Pakej Rahmah (Rahmah Package) and Café Rahmah. The yearly cash handout to the B40 has also been renamed Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (Rahmah Cash Handout).

With all these initiatives, at the very least the poor and lower income group should be better able to weather the cost of living challenges.

Dr Abdul Latiff Mohd Ibrahim is Senior Fellow at the Nusantara Academy for Social Research Malaysia.

The views expressed here are solely the writer’s own.