IT is now widely accepted that this worldwide recession is going to drag for some time.
As a doctor would describe it, the disease was not cured at the outset. People are only stepping in when the disease is at an advanced stage.
As the bailouts continue, many people are beginning to wonder how they are going to last through this difficult period.
We may have to go back to basics to produce enough food for everyone to live comfortably without having to be stingy or go hungry.
There are reports of jobless people in some cities overseas going on just a meal a day as that is all they can afford. While there may be abundant food production in the countryside, it is just not reaching the cities in the quantity and prices that people can afford.
We, the cityfolk, must obviously do something to protect ourselves in case of a prolonged downturn that will severely affect our ability to spend even on necessities. Before it is too late, we should be thinking of embarking on agricultural production that may enable us to exchange food with each other.
The Government should come up with more proactive and flexible measures for individuals, especially the cityfolk, to group together and start small agricultural projects. At least for the next two years, they should not be so strict and allow people to start small farms wherever possible. The authorities should only step in to monitor hygiene and related aspects.
There should be financing schemes that are structured for these small-scale food projects with more flexible terms on payback and returns. The harvest could be shared among the individual owners or exchanged, which means there would not be much sale proceeds generated.
Nevertheless, they can be viable projects based on the indvidual owners’ cashflow or income statements from elsewhere. They may be still holding regular jobs but are now responding to a nationwide drive to produce food locally.
That is not to say that we are cutting out on imported food but just taking preemptive measures to be able to last through this protracted crisis together.
Many expect the Government to shoulder the burden of reviving the economy as they feel that their individual efforts would be too small to change anything. In a similar way, when the idea of gotong-royong was introduced in the cities, it seemed like a drop in the ocean for people who were used to thinking big.
The concept was been extended to the Rukun Tetangga which is frequently visible as the night patrol. The practice is alive today in many parts of the city as a guard against theft and acts as a unifying force in the neighbourhood.
From now, the focus should not just be on safety but survival of the community. Thus, it should be viewed as a priority for the community to have its own source of food production. The traditional attitude that we should mind our own business in terms of money matters would not apply anymore when it comes to hard core survival.
In the midst of all this, people would still shop for their food at markets, groceries, supermarkets or hypermarkets. There is a lot of value for money these days and we should encourage consumption.
But there could be an extreme situation where some people may run out of cash or can just afford to spend on specific needs such as education.
Eventually, everyone has a part to play in ensuring each other’s health and survival in these unprecedented times. We just have to snap out of our contentment and change our mentality from waiting for things to happen to making them happen!
● Senior business editor Yap Leng Kuen welcomes comments on how to make this happen and is keen to take part in this process of change.
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