The last time I checked, Malaysians of all walks of life were hurting and trying to find solutions for the fuel price hikes, inflation, costs of living, corruption, nepotism, cronyism, abuse of power, ‘tit for tats’ and unkempt promises of the 12 th general election from both sides of the political divide.
And while they were doing just that, their already shocked and bruised bodies and minds were further treated to new shocks emerging from the allegations contained in the Raja Petra Kamaruddin’s statutory declaration, the racist statement against Indians at the Perak state assembly by a ‘political imbecile’, the rejection of scholarships to award-winning students from minority races and the unstoppable rising cost of living forcing chaos in every household in the nation.
And while the average Malaysian tries to come to terms to these new challengers and demands, the politicians and their parties, instead of giving a helping hand to address these new challengers, indulge in trying to outwit and outmaneuver the other while indulging in spats of allegations and counter-allegations.
As a result of which only one thing is evident – the country is neither progressing nor moving ahead to address the many problems that it now faces. If one plainly bases one’s observations on what has happened since March 8, it is clear that neither the government nor the opposition have delivered.
Neither are they in a position to if they continue their political tit for tat, trying to score political points and engaging in wasteful political schemes rather than paving the way for the nation to present a peaceful and resourceful face to the world at large to attract foreign investments, tourists and other financial ventures that will certainly assist this nation alleged to be on the decline in comparison to others in the region.
In all fairness, in this, both have failed miserably to gauge the sentiments and aspersions of the voting public. The opposition, after their victories, failed to live up to the calls for real tangible change as was expected.
Instead, the manner they went about addressing simple and straightforward issues like the selection and appointment of local councilors, governance of state resources, of administration, or the outcry from civil society groups showed we may have been rather hasty in voting the manner we did the last elections.
It is perhaps understandable as after all – the opposition had an unexpected ‘political windfall’ which may not be repeated again so they are milking the situation the best they can.
Having said that, the ruling government having lost should have been more gracious, generous and facilitated a cordial handover and continued to assist in whatever form for after all that is the essence of true democracy.
But no – instead circulars with clear cut guidelines and warnings are sent to address the new political realities in the states of Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor. That puts federal government employees in an embarrassing situation that only hampers and further divides a politically and racially-polarised and fragmented nation.
To make matters worse – the nation is now besieged with serious allegations involving our leaders and their families. Serious allegations are also thrown at the many agencies that are expected to be impartial, professional and competent thus creating doubts on their impartiality and competence.
To make matters worse, the latest allegation against Anwar Ibrahim is a classic case in contention where instead of allowing the rule of law to take its course and every politician refraining from comment, we have ministers, local politicos, politically-active journalists and editors, political opportunists and crossover candidates continuing to take a ‘wild herd approach’ of making comments.
Comments which are certainly not fair, reasonable, intelligent but are extremely prejudicial and in most times, ones shrouded in their political bias and seen through their own frosted political lens.
It is as if we have all not learnt a lesson or two from our past events and failures, the devious manner in which governance was carried out, the law interpreted or justice addressed in a nation where politicians rarely ‘walk the talk’ nor have the morality, competence and decency to stand down when it is clear they have overstayed.
I am certain I am not the only one in a population of over 26 million feeling Malaysia deserves better to take her out of this self destructive mode.
