COMMENT | Inside ministers’ poor imagination of how the poor lives

COMMENT | Annuar Musa is always on time. He was among the earliest batch of politicians who arrived at Sheraton Hotel on Feb 23, 2020, which kickstarted the country’s most vicious coup. That evening, he arrived so early that he had a few more hours to chat with the journalists at the lobby. Though wanting to appear secretive, he could not help himself and told everyone that Pakatan Harapan has fallen – he wanted to be the first to say it.

Sixteen months later, he had a different task: This time, to go on national television, RTM, and explain how the government has not failed – it simply has not succeeded. The live broadcast was at 6pm. He made sure his team prepared adequately – and he made sure he arrived on time.

After a long day of rushing and arriving on time, he was exhausted and hungry. In the constant replay of the people’s complaints (job losses, depressing wages, companies shutting down, starvation, and deaths) in his head, he thought of having curry-flavoured Maggi.

A bowl of springy yellow noodles sat on red-orange broth, one egg was mixed in, with a few pieces of diced chicken by the side. He looked at the bowl curiously while sitting on his comfortable grey chair, and he pulled the noodles to his mouth, with brows raised in a furrow.

“Just finished [broadcasting] BICARA NERATIF live on RTM. I am tired and hungry because I hadn’t had dinner. Straight from DBKL to Angkasapuri. Finally, I am saved by Maggi Curry with eggs. Alhamdulillah,” he tweeted. It was 11pm, supper time.

Annuar (above) follows a long line of ministers who have posted photos of them eating Maggi since the start of the pandemic. Against the repeated grievances of losing jobs and falling incomes, photos of ministers eating Maggi serve as a defence. A bowl of hot Maggi – typically curry-flavoured, mostly soggy – closes the gap between the ministers and you...