What will a budget of RM62 million get you?

BY THE MALKETEER

This week, the Dewan Rakyat was told that a whopping RM62.09mil was spent by former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob in the rebranding of his Keluarga Malaysia government which lasted from August 2021 to November 2022.

It was officially reported earlier to have cost only RM5 million.

I went ballistic upon reading that after spending millions, our politicians failed miserably   to put an end to the endless racial spews, hatred, bigotry and moral policing that is threatening the very fabric of our country.

I don’t have anything against the Keluarga Malaysia campaign. On paper it is a laudable move in uniting all the citizens under one umbrella as the Malaysian family with seemingly equal rights and benefits.

What I am aghast is at its dismal failure in achieving the three main thrusts – inclusion, togetherness and gratitude – aimed at uniting Malaysians together.

Unfortunately, we are continually witnessing to this very day, the ugly resurgence of moral policing on attire even at an emergency ward of a hospital.

Way before the launch of Keluarga Malaysia, my generation was already living exemplary lives in the authentic spirit a Malaysian Family until some crafty politician decided that the best option to stay in power and rule forever so that the plundering could continue unabated was simply to divide and rule.

We only saw ourselves as Malaysians.

We sat next to each other in classroom, studying together in harmony and in competition to be the best and excel.

Every festival we would go to each other’s home, eat and celebrate.

There was semblance of meritocracy, pragmatism and honesty.

History was not rewritten.

We excelled in sports, debates, general knowledge.

We spoke and wrote excellent Bahasa Malaysia and English.

Where did we go wrong?

It is the abysmal failure of the top political echelon to have the gumption to decisively nip in the bud nonsensical and racially-charged issues.

I am totally left speechless that the money spent was all in vain.

Ineffective and precious funds spent on a syiok sendiri campaign.

What a colossal waste of public funds.

Politicians are voted in by the rakyat to serve the rakyat.

Why do we need to spend a sen on branding?

If they do their job well, that is the best branding they can get.

We should stop this branding nonsense and get on with improving the lives of our people – not expensive non-productive sloganeering to enrich cronies.

It was the worst of times the nation was going through. The floods and the Covid infections causing white flags to be raised and the economy closed.

Regardless if the Keluarga Malaysia tender was done properly, the RM62mil could have been put to good use for the rakyat who are still struggling to put food on their table and losing jobs to foreigners.

This is no exaggeration, I know of Malaysian security guards at an institute of higher learning being replaced just last month by Nepali security guards. They have no jobs, no income.

How can our political leaders even sleep at night knowing the funds they spend is coming from the rakyat?

And one of  them still has the audacity to try be the campaign face for even more EPF withdrawals.

RM62m would greatly alleviate the burden of the B40 many times over but obviously that is many times less preferable than piling millions onto their billions.

When will the B40 realise that and not fall for cheap rhetoric?

Refer to attached table to see what the Prime Minister’s Department spent on media for the year 2022 when ranked with top brands in the country. Source – Nielsen, figures are based on published rate card prices and excludes discounts, bonus buys, etc.

Please note the Communications & Multimedia Ministry is shown to have spent more than a half billion on media, some of which also went towards the Keluarga Malaysia campaign. So the final total is anybody’s guess. Plus the halo effect of well-meaning brands who echoed the Keluarga Malaysia theme in their campaigns is not factored here.

NO ADVERTISER GRAND TOTAL CINEMA DIGITAL FTA Television In-Store Media MAGAZINE NEWSPAPER PAY Television RADIO
1 P&G (M) SDN BHD 819,754,805 4,914,313 82,238,932 37,800 732,563,760
2 KEM.KOMUNIKASI & MULTIMEDIA M’SIA 594,855,618 593,820,888 715,190 319,540
3 NESTLE PRODUCTS SDN BHD 488,881,199 1,392,922 8,081,300 144,060,445 16,150,106 624,650 311,098,060 7,473,716
4 UNILEVER (M) HOLDINGS SDN BHD 470,947,039 32,345,362 59,818,017 162,402 378,545,210 76,048
5 ASTRO AWANI NETWORK SDN BHD 439,281,400 439,281,400
6 MAXIS COMMUNICATION BHD 349,265,847 9,647,230 28,734,195 15,540 11,111,511 295,317,730 4,439,641
7 KEM.KESIHATAN 341,369,294 228,482 339,749,550 122,381 1,268,881
8 GSK CONSUMER HEALTHCARE SDN BHD 337,111,696 24,252,492 117,184,304 364,240 194,930,420 380,240
9 CLASSIFIEDS 303,529,469 11,780 303,517,689
10 KFC HOLDINGS (M) BHD 266,090,497 2,244,313 27,694,669 65,960,403 611,853 163,432,570 6,146,689
11 GRABCAR S/B 257,921,138 46,668 3,648,856 1,642,200 409,277 251,444,000 730,137
12 BEIERSDORF (M) SDN BHD 255,209,805 1,427,780 95,322,215 156,464,330 1,995,480
13 GERBANG ALAF REST. SDN BHD (FORMELY KNOWN AS GOLDEN ARCHES R 194,887,800 1,239,300 107,536,053 44,989,018 467,879 40,567,830 87,720
14 SHOPEE MOBILE (M) SDN BHD 183,600,761 138,751,770 22,407,791 1,067,703 15,702,700 5,670,797
15 WONDERLAB SKINCARE MALAYSIA 158,442,640 83,580 865,000 21,600 157,472,460
16 DUTCH LADY MILK INDUSTRIES (M) BHD 149,327,821 2,962,808 7,539,566 32,056,417 1,307,780 18,900 104,155,780 1,286,570
17 ECART SERVICES M’SIA S/B 149,257,049 124,125,792 22,861,518 134,644 2,135,095
18 TELEKOM MALAYSIA BERHAD 128,209,450 128,209,450
19 JAB.PERDANA MENTERI 123,446,358 123,301,696 45,662 99,000
20 ETIKA SDN BHD 122,828,397 143,522 8,860,075 104,780 112,827,650 892,370
21 COWAY (M) SDN BHD 120,515,023 15,687,156 2,450,274 34,110,859 33,744 17,986 67,081,150 1,133,854
22 WALT DISNEY COMPANY (M) SDN BHD 115,519,285 5,696,704 4,512,494 43,302 105,212,500 54,285
23 DIGI TELECOMMUNICATION SDN BHD 93,312,576 3,160,111 8,985,130 1,782,158 77,178,870 2,206,307
24 ABBOTT LABORATORIES (M) SDN BHD 90,442,238 3,329,591 82,708,363 250,000 271,404 3,822,400 60,480
25 FONTERRA BRAND (M) SDN BHD 89,961,701 1,811,793 25,635,966 220,212 61,916,770 376,960
26 YTL COMMUNICATIONS SDN BHD 87,144,400 224,966 1,203,000 260,344 85,141,400 314,690
27 CUCKOO INTERNATIONAL (M) SDN BHD 83,881,680 4,139,891 412,015 13,633,489 16,872 601,808 59,160,260 5,917,345
28 FOOD PANDA SDN BHD 83,761,040 2,740,714 17,041,346 63,215,760 763,220
29 THE HOLSTEIN MILK COMPANY 82,838,340 82,838,340
30 SAMSUNG MALAYSIA ELECTRONIC SDN BHD 81,380,197 587,185 30,983,579 24,388,144 696,200 21,869,200 2,855,889
31 ROHTO-MENTHOLATUM (M) SDN BHD 77,981,550 77,981,550
32 GARDENIA BAKERIES (KL) SDN BHD 74,697,243 134,363 6,144,350 3,608,844 63,403,990 1,405,696
33 L’OREAL (M) SDN BHD 74,321,685 8,708,719 20,377,924 8,000 35,972 45,191,070
34 KOPERASI AMANAH PELABURAN BHD 73,737,431 73,737,431
35 WIPRO UNZA (M) SDN BHD 70,669,038 910,361 60,422,559 70,832 82,952 8,998,500 183,834
36 RECKITT BENCKISER (M) SDN BHD 67,543,548 1,617,303 60,471,723 9,602 5,444,920
37 FERRERO (M) SDN BHD 66,559,883 4,835,803 8,280,400 53,443,680
38 MYEG SERVICES BERHAD 66,253,570 990 66,252,580
39 CELCOM (M) SDN BHD 63,049,837 3,121,147 5,278,405 15,234,480 4,723,714 30,801,500 3,890,591
40 PANASONIC (M) SDN BHD 61,872,044 2,727,893 4,390,606 5,556,133 53,960 1,922,079 41,786,500 5,434,873
41 KEM.ALAM SEKITAR & AIR 61,791,205 61,746,692 44,513
GRAND TOTAL 7,821,451,597 34,149,283 567,107,064 2,308,063,147 17,870,288 232,328 333,675,249 4,502,754,290 57,599,948

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