The leaders of the country's two largest unions should have realised that chicken, or a chicken-based meal, is not only the cheapest meat but also a Malaysian favourite. They are either
out of touch with consumer reality or
have over-estimated their strength. Anyone who has been to our pasar malam or
wet markets recently would be able to
tell the unions that beef, fish or
prawns are more expensive than chicken meat. And even before anyone could cry foul over the boycott, a senior unionist was caught at a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet. Needless to say,
feathers were ruffled and there were
plenty of red faces as red as cock combs. The MTUC has yet to
announce the fate of Mr K.
Somasundram, the MTUC assistant
secretary caught treating his daughter
to a chicken lunch on the first day
of the supposed boycott of the meat.
Somasundram, it was reported, was merely
trying to be a good father. His five-year-old daughter wanted chicken nuggets, so he bought some. The only problem was that
Somasundram was also a co-ordinator of
the campaign. The incident has left him with more than he can chew, and it will be difficult for Malaysians to swallow his
explanation. Zainal Rampak, the MTUC president and veteran of many political
parties, was no match for Colonel
Sanders, as far as the child was
concerned. Poultry farmers are saying that the cost of chicken feed is no “chicken feed.'' Chicken feed used by
Malaysian farmers are 65% corn and
soya bean, which make the chickens grow big. The feed includes palm oil kernel,
tapioca chips and grass pellets. It's
all very scientific. The MTUC and Cuepacs
leaders, like many of us, must have
thought otherwise. The adage that “the early
bird catches the worm'' does not
quite hold water these days. Umno Youth chief Datuk Zahid Hamidi has an apt Bahasa Malaysia description
for the chicken boycott hangat hangat
tahi ayam (flash in the pan). Even Fomca
president Prof Hamdan Adnan isn't quite convinced, saying the campaign should be targeted at
eateries and that consumers should be allowed to buy at the markets. Hamdan, who was attending a consumer conference in Penang last week, told reporters that union officials were sore with him over his purported lack of support for the boycott. Our unions, presumably,
never thought that their chicken
boycott would leave a bitter taste in
everyone's mouth. Hamdan, who was supposed to
share his hotel room with a unionist, said his partner did not show up. He wasn't sure whether it had anything to do with the chicken boycott. Following the failure of the
boycott, the two unions appear to have
chickened out from further action
against roti canai sellers and kopi
tiam operators. They can hardly be blamed. Too many of our unionists have grown fat. Comfortable in their bush jackets, no
one can tell them apart from government
officials and corporate leaders these
days. Overseas trips and high salaries,
it seems, have made some lose
sight of the working and living conditions of the working class. They have to realise that unionism goes beyond issuing press statements and asking for pay increases. Members, for
example, have a right to know what they
are doing to cut down expenses and
increase productivity, Accountability
and transparency should not be just
buzzwords for the public and private
sectors but also the unions. One
unionist, in his quest for publicity and sycophancy, announced that members were willing to take a pay cut
without seeking the endorsement of his members. Needless to say, the
members were outraged at his statement.
The chicken boycott is another example
of where our Malaysian unions have gone
wrong. There is always a need to look at
issues from all sides. It's no good
saying let's boycott chicken without considering the consequences to the industry, including the position of
poultry farm workers. Perhaps the unions can learn from this experience and be more mature in their approach. It is all right to be less gung-ho if their efforts
benefit everyone. If there is any Malaysian who has found the prices of chicken to be unbearable, it would have to be poor Somasundram. For the rest of us, there
was nothing to crow about.
On the Beat | By Wong Chun Wai
