Mah: Stop politicking and concentrate on escalating cost of living

KUALA LUMPUR: Politicians should stop their politicking and focus on issues of the nation such as the escalating cost of living in the coming year.
Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (PGRM) president Datuk Mah Siew Keong said that the country's leaders should rally around trying to solve the crux issues of the ground instead of focusing on politics.
"This year will be a tough year economically, but we hope it will be good year. There are a lot of challenges, the world economy is facing a lot of challenges. We have had policy changes and I am sure we can overcome it by all the proactive measures taken," he said.
He said that the view on the ground is that the cost of living among Malaysians has increased and that the people are finding it tough.
"Everyone is talking about the cost of living, how tough it is, especially in the city. It is very difficult to have a reasonable living," he said.
"Everywhere I go, people are talking about the cost of living. They don't talk about politics," he added while talking to the media at PGRM's Chinese New Year open house where some 5,000 guests were in attendance.
He said the government's main focus is to alleviate the cost of living.
"This is a challenge but we have to be united," he said.
He added that politicians have to put aside their political differences because it will affect foreign investments and tourists from coming to the country.
He said that there is a lot of work to be done for the government to tackle other issues such as social problems, economic problems and education problems as well as cost of living.
He also outlined Malaysia's strength as a cultural melting pot of Asia and that it should be used as an advantage instead of a weakness.
"Our multiracial community is not a weakness but a strength, we can use it to our advantage to attract people and investments to our country," he said.
Mah, who is also Minister in the Prime Ministers department, also said that the governments move to give free visa's for Chinese tourists will further stimulate the economy.
"China tourists are big spenders, Japan made the same move by relaxing their visa restrictions and it paid off for them and it will pay off for us," he said.
Also present at the party's open house was Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam and Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.