LETTER | We Malaysians welcome the newbies who have been elected as people’s representatives in the parliamentary and state constituencies and as an ordinary citizen, it is my desire to see the wakil rakyat make an effort to turun padang (go to the ground) regularly.

Armchair politicians do not get far where reaching out to the rakyat is concerned. GE14 saw just too many new faces from Pakatan Harapan - and they were elected only because the people wanted the change so sorely needed.

Politicians who hold ministerial posts should have a system where they make time to be on the ground, meeting with the grassroots and looking at real issues and addressing them. The great leaders and the average ones all have 24 hours in a day: it is how we manage time and prioritise things that cut the difference.

We are not in “bad old days” when politicians expect to be voted for by just belonging to a popular political party. People power should not be undermined and when there is an uprising, the one right at the top of the hierarchy needs to take notice. Look out for the early tell-tale signs, fix them before they fix you.

Very importantly, look out for messages on the wall and make amends and this time around, if the current wakil rakyat do not fulfil their promises, they will be the casualties in the next general election.

I laud the new prime minister’s call to “review” just about everything that is existing. While we know, a lot of things need to be put in place and faults corrected before the government machinery can function effectively. I worry that the “review” of major projects may have a counter-effect on our economy, if there is a time lag.

The MRT Line 3, for example, is a much-needed piece of a puzzle that completes the Mass Rapid Transit network to reduce congestion in major arteries in and out of the city centre. Lines 1 and Line 2 will not be able to operate optimally without the Circle Line; from what I know.

As a user of the MRT, without any political association, I have had friends and relatives from the overseas who thought our facilities were on par or better than those in developed countries. Let us rethink and think wisely and discriminate between the “needed” projects and those which were initiated to fill the pockets of some.

I am not well-versed with the KL-Singapore High-Speed Rail and hence will not comment on this. However, I feel that a sound evaluation must be done, speedily, to ensure we do not have time-gaps in implementing mega projects which have calculable benefits to the nation and its people.

As far as projects which have foreign ownership, do consider having local contractors with the capability and capacity to complete the jobs on time - and from now, we also hope the awards will be based on merit, barring everything else.