Ahmad Maslan has become a household name, although not for the reasons he may wish for. The Umno Information Chief and Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry has been under constant assault ever since he emerged as one of the Prime Ministers’ chief defenders, and his efforts to give advice to the rakyat have only incensed the beleaguered populace.

In true Malaysian fashion, however, his remarks are quickly turned against him. He has become the favourite object of ridicule for Malaysians, with many seeing him as the perfect realisation of Najib’s “loyalty over intelligence” policy.

GST-free fried rice aside, Ahmad Maslan’s latest piece of advice to the rakyat is that they should get second jobs so that they might be able to cope with the rising cost of living. The Internet exploded in fury as thousands took to social media to flay him for the suggestion, and many public figures followed suit.

Ahmad defended himself by saying that he had meant Malaysians could set up online businesses that they could run in their free time, and proclaimed that he himself was employed in many different jobs, which, as a popular comedian has pointed out, are actually responsibilities within Umno and the government, and not “other jobs” per se.

Now, taking on more than one job is a completely different kettle of fish compared to taking on an additional responsibility as an Umno politician. There are considerable social issues – mostly affecting family relationships – that arise around having two jobs to which you actually have to apply yourself in order to earn your wages.

But one must also consider the law of supply and demand and the essential question it raises – if everyone is selling, who’s buying? There must be a balance between the supply of a certain commodity and the demand for it. An excess of supply equals a surplus in the market, driving prices down. Excess of demand creates inflation as the commodity becomes rarer, driving prices up and possibly out of the reach of many.

Now, although the range of services provided by Internet businesses has increased exponentially over the past decade, it would be reasonable to assume that most of the services that would be opened by Malaysians under Ahmad Maslan’s #2Kerja scheme would fall under the categories of retail and food and beverages. As such, if everyone sold clothes or if everyone sold food, there would be a surplus. Prices would go down and our Internet entrepreneur might suffer losses and even be forced to close shop. Furthermore, Malaysians are not quite accustomed to buying online exclusively, preferring to flock to marts and malls where one can verify quality for oneself in person instead of opening a faulty product one day and finding out that the terms and conditions do not include refunds.

Ahmad Maslan can complain as much as he wants about the treatment he receives from the press and the general public, but the criticisms thrown at him are legitimate.

Life will not be easy for Malaysians this year, and all of us can feel it in our bones. If our ruling politicians cannot at the very least show sympathy without sounding condescending, then they deserve all the criticism they get. As public servants, they are our employees and their salaries are paid with our taxes. It is high time that political acumen and sensitive, honest and intelligent leadership took a step forward in our government.