Rudyard Kipling"
āWhen you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldierā
General Douglas MacArthur"
āWe are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.ā
āIt is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.ā āOld soldiers never die; they just fade away.
āThe soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.ā
āMay God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .ā āThe object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
āNobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
āIt is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Is middle person the pied piper leading us to increased prices? By R Nadeswaran
Sunday, July 03, 2022
Malaysiakini : Maybe, this time around, it could be different especially with five
ministers and the head honcho of the civil service, I thought. The
expectations were high but after their first meeting, it was obvious
that it was the same old thing.
They found the bogeyman or fall guy - the middle person - who is blamed for everything when the price of goods goes up.
Middle person system
Communications
and Multimedia Minister Annuar Musa who chairs the task force declared
that the government cannot allow market forces alone to work and would
conduct certain interventions.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Annuar Musa
āWe have identified in the production system of chicken, eggs,
cooking oil and others, there are tendencies to create a cartel to
ensure they have a business model which maximises profits,ā he was
quoted as saying after the first meeting.
For good measure, Annuar
said: āWe know the middle person system has existed for a long time in
the country... but it is wrong when they start making excessive profits
or (use a) cut-throat approach.
āIf the middle person takes
excessive profits and takes advantage in pressing time to burden
consumers, then this situation cannot be allowed to go on,ā he added.
Which business outfit does not want to maximise profits?
But
in the first place, how does one define āexcessive profitsā? In terms
of percentage. what would be deemed as āacceptableā profits - five, ten,
20 or 30?
How can one describe āexcessive profitsā? A cup of coffee costs RM1.20 at the hawkerās stall, RM2 in a kopitiam or restaurant, RM12 in a coffee shop chain and RM18 in a five-star hotel.
So, how is the government going to weed out middle persons or control the profit margin?
Donāt
look far - just look at the āmineralā bottled water market. It is being
sold between 50 sen and RM3 a bottle. In some cases, the contents are
processed or distilled from ordinary tap water.
Arenāt some of these bottlers making excessive profits?
Want
to cut off the middle person? Most manufacturers donāt even sell their
products directly to the consumer. Even if you tried and want to buy in
bulk for a wedding or a party, you are often referred to their
authorised distributors.
I have to agree with Annuar when he says
the profit margin for distributors is more significant than the profit
margin obtained by retailers or farmers themselves.
Distributors
will of course cite logistics costs for their refrigerated trucks,
maintenance, cost of operating cold rooms, salaries and having a network
of salespeople to deal with the retailers.
But did the task force discuss middle persons in areas such as land, licences and other requirements?
Farmersā woes
Take the farmers in Cameron Highlands. Last year, the state government introduced a new lease scheme for the 1,018 small-scale growers occupying land in three districts.
Instead
of a fixed Temporary Occupation Licence (TOL) rate, the government land
which the farmers sit on has been leased to the development arm of the
state - the Pahang State Development Corporation - and then rented to
farmers at RM4,500 per acre per year.
At a glance, it is almost a
five-fold hike from the original TOL rate. Now, on the same token, is
the state making excessive profits using a middle person?
Why the
need to involve a third party when the farmers have been paying RM900
per acre all along? Why the need for a five-fold increase which was
passed on to the consumer?
In comparison, it costs RM24 per acre a
year to plant oil palm in Pahang. It is even cheaper to lease
agricultural land to grow fruits, at only RM8 per acre annually.
On
July 21 last year, Fernando Fong whom I was supervising in a training
course organised by Kini Academy wrote on the subject after visiting the
area and talking to farmers: āThat layers of bureaucracy and
intermediaries breed corruption needs little reiteration. Intermediaries
and politicians have become synonymous with spiralling graft in the
country.
āIs there a need for go-betweens that increase costs and
do not add to the value chain? Why should honest citizens pay for
benefits for which they already qualify?ā
Go to some of the wet
markets, there are middle persons who have the influence to get a stall
and a licence for about RM300 per month and immediately pajak (leased) to someone who is willing to pay RM3,000 per month.
These
are not middle persons who most of the time add value to the supply
chain - these are rent-seekers with political connections and patronage
who have been and continue to be living off the system.
To the
members of the task force, all I can say is that the situation on the
ground is far different from what you discussed at your air-conditioned
office in Putrajaya.
Go to the ground, talk to the stakeholders
and you will know the real issues and problems out there. And please, do
not go with an entourage in your suits. Just go incognito just like
ordinary customers and have a chat with retailers. Hear them out and you
may have a better understanding of the issues the country is facing.
