What could we be coming home to?

 Malaysia vs the UK - how (not) to handle a global crisis...

So it looks like the UK is going through some fairly traumatic times. Well, the whole of the western world is to be fair and probably much of the entire globe, but the media I see tends to have a very Anglocentric bias, so I get more of a sense of crisis from back home than I do in this part of the world.

There are good reasons for this. One is that actually the way news is reported here is very different - there is almost never a direct and open criticism of the ruling party and there is always a focus on possible solutions and good news. This is not to say that the some sections of the media don't hold politicians to account - they just are less extreme in their criticism and there is often more balance and less political polarisation. There is also still a sense that direct and open criticism of the political leadership is not acceptable. People here do criticise their government and are technically free to do so, it just doesn't feel as direct or open. This could be down to the more compliant or perhaps deferential nature of the culture rather than any deep satisfaction with the way the government works, but in general there is less political and economic upheaval (at the moment - Malaysia has had its fair share) than there currently appears to be in the UK.

Two is that there is a real sense that the government is actually aware of and actively tackling the incoming pressures on people's lives by controlling utility costs, subsidising petrol and actively considering how to tax large multi-national companies as opposed to individuals and small businesses. There was an article published recently where high ranking officials were debating imposing a business tax on the profits of large multi-national firms that are earned here as opposed to a purchase tax on good bought online. The argument pivoted around the idea that people on lower incomes made as many online purchases as middle and upper earners and therefore a sales tax imposed here would hit low earners and this was a bad thing. Compare this to the UK where VAT was added to domestic fuel and national insurance was raised (both taxes that disproportionately hit lower earners) and you can see a difference.

Here in Malaysia there is a clear difference in the levers that the government can use here to control prices - they have nationalised industries in key areas such as utilities, transport and petrochemicals. Now we can argue about the damage the petrochemical industry has and is doing to the world, but we do live in a society that is founded on and currently exist on this resource, so therefore direct control gives a government quite a bit of a) revenue and b) well, control.

The Malaysian government actually owns petroleum companies, power companies, telecoms, airports, national airlines, railways, roads, motor vehicle production, banks, water... I could go on! 

The upshot is that Malaysia subsidises domestic fuel in the form of price controlled petrol and diesel and also price controlled cooking gas (no one in their right mind heats a Malaysian building) and can stabilise the electricity prices as they control both the energy supply, generation and distribution infrastructure. All of this also keeps a lid on general levels of domestic inflation. Yes there are inflationary pressures from imported goods, but in this part of the world good are often imported from countries that have a similar structure to that seen here. Contrast this with the UK where water, gas, power, transport, mail and petrol are all run for profit by private industry and where we have a government that is heavily lobbied by vested interests (okay, I'm sure the Malaysian government is also susceptible to lobbying, but let's just focus on the UK for the them moment and not get into 'whataboutism'). 

The change in the cost of living in the UK is a worrying situation. I am concerned for what we will face when we return, but I'm far more concerned for my friends and family currently facing this. I know many of them will be fine - they have enough financial cushioning to get through, but I am very aware that there are some people I know who will struggle. I am even more aware that there are countless millions who I have no personal connection to who will also struggle and there is a very real possibility that this could actually cost lives either directly or indirectly.

This is a grim situation, but it doesn't have to be. The dogmatic political belief in unregulated free market economics that prevents people from seeing the truth of the matter - that countries with greater political control of industries directly responsible for key infrastructure are going to be able to weather this storm far better than the UK - needs to be thrown out. The old argument of 'oh look at the mess nationalised industries were in during the 70s' is a tired one. The answer was not sell them and all the shares to private companies and individuals (basically what happened in the UK), but to actually fix them and run them properly. Just banging on about how government isn't fit to run a business is missing the point - they needed to get good at it as power, water, transport etc are for the good of the people, not for the good of the market and shareholders. Unfortunately political dogma is as much an article of faith as, well, faith is and therefore moving the faithful from their beliefs is an uphill task. 

I hope that a fix is in the offing. I hope that the UK can get through this situation as I have a deep and abiding love for my home country and it is horrible watching it go through this from a distance. 

What is clear is that we need a change and we need it soon.