HOW much the Perikatan Nasional narrative are grounded on facts are very debatable , as the proof has been short coming. READ : Rice millers are mixing local and imported rice to make a quick buck
NO one has placed even an iota of proof, but most Malaysians have bought into the story, as men like Fahmi Fadzil, the communication Minister, and Mohd Agus Yusoff, the J Komm chief have done very little to put out information that READ : farmers such as those in Perlis had missed one planting season due toa lack of water.
WHERE are those farmers testimonials and why are they not being boosted on social media, so that Malaysians who prefer to get their news from Tik Tok can have a balanced doze of information?
INSTEAD, what we have is the Kedah Menteri Besar Mohd Sanusi Md Nor VIEW : lambasting the taukeh rice millers as the root cause of the local rice shortages.
ALTHOUGH Mohd Sanusi did not spell it out, one would assume the word Taukeh reffers to the Chinese mill factory owners.
IF Taukeh does indeed reffer to ethnic Chinese rice mill owners, I am afraid that the maths behind the market share of the rice business indicates that the Chinese rice mill owners don't have the numbers to pull off this caper.
THE institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs is a Malaysian think tank dedicated to promoting solutions to public policy challenges, in a report noted READ : As at 2020 there are some 178 rice mills in the country, of which Bernas has close to 50 per cent of the nation's rice milling business
ALSO, Bernas controls more than 66 per cent of the Rice market, hence without their active participation, it really doesn't matter if you are an ethnic Chinese rice mill owner, or a rice mill owner from MARS, you still won't be able to manipulate the market.
AGAIN, this narrative is hardly seen on the social media landscape, as the Unity Government's spin doctors, all seem to have gone to sleep.
EVEN, the normally sharp, factual and aggressive Lokman Adam seems to have gone off the rails on this one, with a set of information VIEW : that is very QUESTIONABLE