Subsidy reduction has its pros and cons, even as on the net in the long run, it is beneficial to the economy as a whole. There is no need to soften the negative aspects by putting them in a little colorful box with ribbon on top.
The series of subsidy reduction leads to price hike and in the immediate time frame, it is burdensome. It is painful. With all the lags that exist, it is an intertemporal problem. The pain comes early, the benefits come only later.
A price hike is a price hike. It hurts in one way or another. Nobody likes to pay more no matter how small the increase is, even if the increase is justified. I myself do grudge a little about having to pay more than I used to, despite largely supportive of the subsidy reduction initiative, or some call it as the rationalization program in the spirit of euphemism.
Yet, we have apparatchiks and their agents writing and suggesting that the series of price hikes currently undertaken by the Najib administration will not burden the consumers.
These consumers are not kids. They are not kids visiting the family doctor, about to face the needle. The story of how the needle only stings like an ant is not for the mature audience.
Instead of trying to convince these consumers that the pain they feel is an illusion, those in the government and their supporters should really stick to the plainly true traditional rationale: it is wasteful. It is inefficient. It is distortionary.
Break the message down to bits and pieces that laypersons can understand (What we have instead is that these messengers misunderstand those very economic concepts themselves! They use big economic jargons without understanding the basic concepts. And these people fancy themselves as the economic planners of the country. Pfft!).
Just speak plainly.
I think the majority will appreciate it, even if it angers them.
To manipulate words and then say things that the consumers can affirmatively see, feel and conclusively disprove will compound the anger. I mean, something must have gone absolutely wrong when I, a supporter of liberalization, become angry reading these manipulated messages in the media.
Worst, these untruths will only erode any support for liberalization. These apparatchiks will have themselves to blame when everything fails.
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