A WIDELY circulated national English newspaper carried a front page story last Saturday on the world market plunge which spooked investors from around the world.

Pictures of stock traders cupping their hands to worrying face have sent chills, I guess by now to the Malaysian shores as we have come to realise that all is not well with the world economy which some economists predict as the revisiting of the 1930’s Great Depression.

Then there is The Rocket publication which I happened to buy one night while having drinks with a friend at a coffee-shop which screams ‘Tough Times’ on its cover page.

It has been quite sometime since the general election that we have been fed with political news almost daily from the Sept 16 takeover claim by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to the announcement of the Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s retirement in March 2009 to the extent that the economic news take the backseat.

I must admit that I have grown extremely tired of reading political news nowadays that I would just simply ignore them and turn my focus instead on business news.

Many are just wondering why the Malaysian media is just so engrossed with reporting political news but I have come to realise that we can’t really blame it for it is the politicians who keep feeding the reporters with political news.

Now that Gerakan had done with its delegates conference last weekend, the next to come is MCA which will see fights for the top posts in the party and then there is the ongoing nomination process for the Umno election due in March next year. This party politics will again dominate the news for some time to come.

As I read the Singapore Straits Times website news a couple of days ago, I come to agree with one of its writers that Malaysians are just too preoccupied with political drama to pay attention to financial meltdown experienced all over the world.

I must concur with what the former deputy prime minister, Tun Musa Hitam when he urged the Umno leaders vying for top posts in the party to debate on economic issues.

He added that too much emphasis was being given to party politics, resulting in people not realising that the nation is facing the real economic crisis.

What needs to be done now, according to him, was for the political issues that are too dominating to be reduced and for politicians to take this seriously and come out with pre-emptive economic contingency plan.

He said it right that people were excited with political news but had grown tired of it and that the people do not know of the economic situation now but they will feel the pinch.

A small cup of black coffee for instance now costs 90 sen (by the way, I found out that there is still one coffee shop at Hui Sing Garden where black coffee costs only 60 sen) while a simple plate of fried noodle with a few sprinkles of taugeh and egg costs RM4 and my many conversations with those from the lower middle or working class confirm the fact that they are the hardest hit in this time of economic uncertainty.

What the people want now is for the politicians to put a stop to all the politicking and focus their effort in finding ways and means to generate the economy in this uncertain time.

The collapse of few giant banks and insurance companies has spooked many of us despite the many assurances from the government that all is well with the nation’s economy.

But the sad thing is that very few politicians seem to be channelling their political discourse in finding solutions to improving the people’s livelihood as they are just too engrossed with power-jostling in party politics, almost forgetting that they are responsible and answerable to the rakyat at large.

But again, how can we blame the politicians now that this is the season of party elections in most of the political parties?

As I was watching a programme on Astro AEC channel the other night on the lives of the ordinary people in tackling the rising cost of living, I could not help but watch helplessly on the plight of the poor weathering the economic impact after the fuel price hike coupled with the skyrocketing inflation rate.

From the testimony of those interviewed in the programme, including a newspaper delivery man and a sweet corn seller, the various goodies or mega projects announced by the government seem not to be reaching them as the people do not directly benefit from it.

Even the dead in London, as reported in the news feel the pinch as undertakers hit by the financial crisis in London are refusing to carry out funerals unless they get paid in advance.

The politicians must not forget the fundamental that they are the servants of the people and now that they are hard hit in this hard time of economic slump, politicians must pull their weight together to find ways to lighten the people’s burden and come out with concrete plans to weather the economic storm.

Do not just simply ask everyone to change lifestyles for the poor have no lifestyle to change in the first place as they are already living on the thin line trying to make ends meet.

Such a below par statement by politicians just goes to show the standard of these politicians who seem to be ignorant of the plight of the people.

But alas, we just have to keep praying that all will be well with the economy and take self measure to be prudent with our saving and spending while the politicians keep themselves busy with politicking.