theSun | WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 19 2008 11

news without borders

Bracing for Workers’

long wait
for justice
pg 13

tougher times
by Tim Leonard
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PETALING JAYA: Consumers in the
region are tightening up their belts and
bracing for tougher times in the next 12
months.
According to the inaugural MasterCard
Worldwide Index of Consumer Purchasing
Priorities, about 70% of consumers will be
cutting back on spending next year.
Consumers in Taiwan (90.8%), the
Philippines (90.5%) and Korea (85.5%) are
among those who will be cutting back on
spending most, with consumers in New
Zealand (44%), Australia (46.5%) and China
(60.1%) showing slightly more resilience.
“Consumers across the region are
bracing themselves for tougher times
ahead in 2009” said MasterCard Worldwide
economic adviser (Asia/Pacific) Dr Yuwa
Hedrick-Wong.
“In most markets across Asia, more than
half of the respondents surveyed are looking
at cutting back on discretionary spending.
“Even in China where consumer
confidence is high, 60% of consumers have
indicated a reduction in their spending.
The index, which provides valuable
insight into consumers’ savings behaviour
and their discretionary spending priorities
for the 12 months ahead is based on a
survey of 6,019 consumers across 14
markets – Australia, China, Hongkong,
India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea,
Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines,
Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam
– surveyed in September.
Data collection was done via personal,
telephone and computer-aided telephone
interviews, with the questionnaire
translated in the local language.
The survey found Malaysian consumers
expecting to tighten their belts on dining
and entertainment (59%), personal travel
(43%) and fashion and accessories (42%)
over the next 12 months.
It also found 79% of consumers in
Malaysia spend above 10% of their personal
annual income on discretionary items, with
as much as 15% of consumers indicating
they spend above 40% of their personal
annual income on discretionary items.
Over 60% of consumers across the region
spend above 10% of their personal annual
income on discretionary items, with 11% of
respondents indicating they usually spend
more than 40% of their personal annual
income on discretionary items.
Male consumers (69%) are less likely to
cut back on their discretionary spending
than their female counterparts (71%) while
younger consumers are less likely to cut
back on spending as compared to their older
counterparts. About 68% of consumers aged
30 years and below indicated they would
cut back on spending, compared to 72% of
consumers aged 56 years and above.
One in three consumers is looking
to save more than 20% of their income
as savings is considered important to
consumers in all markets, especially
to Filipinos (97%), Indonesians (96%),
Malaysians (93%), Indians (92%) and Thais
(90%). Even China which was at the lowest
end of the list had 78% of respondents
stating that saving is important.
In the top areas of discretionary spending
are dining and entertainment (59%) fashion
and accessories (46%), children’s education
(44%) and personal travel (42%).
Dining and entertainment is the top
purchasing priority in 11of the 14 markets,
with the exception of India, Korea and the
Philippines where children’s education was
top ranked.

Fall of ‘cai dan’ an MCA miracle

NEWLY appointed MCA
disciplinary bureau chief,
veteran leader Datuk Ng
Cheng Kiat, says the fall of
a political empire and the
demise of cai dan (menu)
culture in the recent party
elections is “a miracle for
MCA”.
This is a perfect
opportunity for MCA to
change and if party chief
Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat’s
pre-election proposal
for direct election of the
president by party members
is implemented, it will
further reduce the harm
caused by the cai dan
culture and factional fights.
In an interview with
Oriental Daily News, Ng
said the results of the Oct 18
party polls showed the party
had ended an “empire”.
“The empire can be
divided into the Tun Dr
Ling Liong Sik and Datuk
Seri Ong Ka Ting dynasties.
“Honestly, if Ling’s
successor were to be elected
by central delegates then,
it would not have been Ka
Ting. But it was decided by
the central committee (CC),
which was dominated by
the president’s ‘yes’ men
who followed the cai dan
culture.”
“Ka Ting made two
mistakes as party president.
The first was appointing his
brother Ka Chuan as the
party secretary-general and
Press Digest
by Kong See Hoh
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
the second was nominating
Ka Chuan to fill his cabinet
post (after the March 8
general election).
“While this could have
happened in olden days,
it is hard to believe it was
also happening in the 21st
century.
“Worse still, no one from
the CC advised him against
doing it. Only members
whose words did not carry
any weight dared to speak
up.”
He said if he had been
in the CC, he would have
reminded the president
(Ka Ting) that even if
his brother was the best
man for the job and had
the unanimous support
of the CC, he should not
have appointed him the
secretary-general or
recommended him for the
cabinet post.
He said he admired
Ka Ting for opting out of
the cabinet after the party
suffered a major setback
in the last general election,
but said the latter made a
big mistake by putting his
brother in charge of the very
ministry he gave up.
It backfired, he said,
causing Ka Ting’s men
to “lose the war (party
elections) even before the
battles were fought”.
And because of that the
then top leadership could
not come out with an official
cai dan.
However, he said in jest
that although there was
no official cai dan, “wild”
or unofficial cai dan were
aplenty.
Asked if the then top
leadership has tried to push
for a cai dan, he said, “some
of them wanted, but Tee
Keat said ‘no’; some lobbied
him but he insisted he did
not want it”.
He said the fall of the
empire, and the dropping
of the official cai dan in the
elections were not by design
but “it happened, and the
new leadership should grab
this opportunity (to push for
real change).
Ng, who had held the
post of secretary-general
and health minister when
Ling came to power,
admitted that both he and
Tee Keat had been victims
of the cai dan culture, and
understand that the party
has to change its election
mechanism, to include
direct election of the
president by party members.
He foresaw that the party
can wean itself of the cai
dan culture once it adopts
the system of direct election
of the president.