Antara bagi duit dan kail

Nik Muhammad Zawawi Salleh, PAS MP for Pasir Putih, recently criticized the Malaysian government for reducing cash assistance and focusing more on empowering the people to earn their own income. Zawawi believes the government should educate the people to create opportunities and work towards improving their living standards. He argued that the people, especially the poor, already know what they need to do to survive and enhance their lives.

Zawawi further stated that if the government provides subsidies, it should be used for purchasing essential items like cooking utensils instead of fish. He likened this to the English proverb, "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." Comedian Trevor Noah added, "It would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod."

While Zawawi was correct in his criticism of the government's approach, some argue that equating subsidies with handouts is unfair. Subsidies for essential items aim to alleviate the burden on the people by allowing them to buy necessary goods, enabling them to purchase what they need. However, one must remember that buying requires money, which in turn requires work. Thus, even when the cost of subsidized goods is lower than the original price, the fact remains that money is needed to buy them.

Zawawi also emphasized that as long as the money is used to buy essential items or crucial expenses like school supplies and additional books, there is no harm in overspending. However, he cautioned that if the money is spent on non-essential items like kuali (cooking utensils), mesin (machines), or alat (tools), one may need to buy these items repeatedly over the years, and eventually, they may need to purchase the necessary ingredients to make use of these tools.

Ultimately, Zawawi stated that money is meant to be spent, and if it is used for essential purchases or important expenses, there is no shame in overspending the money within a week. Nevertheless, he stressed that one cannot truly enjoy the reward without first working for it.