It seems that everyone has been occupied with the impending General Election this lately. As we all know, the Government has no choice but to raise fuel prices as soon as we enter into 2008. And then soon after that, Anwar Ibrahim will be eligible to run for office again. Besides, there are also other indications of an impending General Election. For example, we can see that the Prime Minister has been extra busy going around the country; so have many of his "yes men". So it makes sense to speculate that the General Election will be held soon—probably between now and April next year.
Apparently, many people are unhappy with the present Government. Others are just unhappy with the Prime Minister; and still others are unhappy with all his "yes men". Then of course there are also so many in the cabinet whom must be about to fossilize by now—they've been there for ages, still clinging on to power till kingdom come.
To be quite honest, I am unhappy with the present Government too. Police brutality has become rampant; mismanagement of the tax-payers' money has also become more pronounced—hard-earned money spent on a space tourist, for example. All those learned people handling the nation's economy claim that inflation is kept in check, but the reality is that the inflation rate is somewhat alarming.
Nasi campur now costs about 15% more; and bread now costs about 20%-30% more; cooking gas saw a hike of about 30% and still rising. Ask anyone in the street, and they will tell you a more accurate figure than that given by the economists. Don't pay too much attention to those figures given by those hot-shot economists. Otherwise, you are going to fall short on balancing your ledger.
So, yes, the Barisan Nasional isn't doing too well in running the country. Recently, we Malaysians had a scare when the Anti-Corruption Agency was busy roping in some of our VIPs. They claimed that they won't spare anyone. I'm sure we were all worried sick of the prospect of having nobody left to run the country! But of course, we were relieved when the Director-General said, "They can be small or big fry, they will be netted." In that case, we are still OK—only the fry will be netted. The buayas will still be business as usual.
Anyway, with the General Election looming over the horizon, perhaps it is time to prepare ourselves. So what other choices do we have to run this nation of ours?
Enter Barisan Alternatif...
First, we have Keadilan. Maybe it's me, but I just can't trust Anwar Ibrahim. I don't believe in his miraculous recovery from the wheelchair to dancing on the stage—even after taking into account the fact that a foreign specialist had operated on him. Such a miracle can make Christopher Reeve turn in his grave. I can still remember the way Anwar Ibrahim campaigned for Barisan Nasional in Sabah when he was still the Deputy Prime Minister years ago.
Then of course we have PAS. I dread the idea of a nation where men and women are restricted to separate queues when paying for their groceries in the supermarkets. I just can't see myself in such a country.
Another consideration is DAP; and when we think about DAP, we immediately see Lim Kit Siang in our minds. Kit Siang is one person I can trust. I am not saying he is squeaky clean, mind! But when compared to the rest, I can trust him more. Unfortunately, I don't believe DAP is strong enough to stand on its own. It can of course be a big force to team up with other parties to form a Government, but I doubt it will ever happen.
Apparently, many people are unhappy with the present Government. Others are just unhappy with the Prime Minister; and still others are unhappy with all his "yes men". Then of course there are also so many in the cabinet whom must be about to fossilize by now—they've been there for ages, still clinging on to power till kingdom come.
To be quite honest, I am unhappy with the present Government too. Police brutality has become rampant; mismanagement of the tax-payers' money has also become more pronounced—hard-earned money spent on a space tourist, for example. All those learned people handling the nation's economy claim that inflation is kept in check, but the reality is that the inflation rate is somewhat alarming.
Nasi campur now costs about 15% more; and bread now costs about 20%-30% more; cooking gas saw a hike of about 30% and still rising. Ask anyone in the street, and they will tell you a more accurate figure than that given by the economists. Don't pay too much attention to those figures given by those hot-shot economists. Otherwise, you are going to fall short on balancing your ledger.
So, yes, the Barisan Nasional isn't doing too well in running the country. Recently, we Malaysians had a scare when the Anti-Corruption Agency was busy roping in some of our VIPs. They claimed that they won't spare anyone. I'm sure we were all worried sick of the prospect of having nobody left to run the country! But of course, we were relieved when the Director-General said, "They can be small or big fry, they will be netted." In that case, we are still OK—only the fry will be netted. The buayas will still be business as usual.
Anyway, with the General Election looming over the horizon, perhaps it is time to prepare ourselves. So what other choices do we have to run this nation of ours?
Enter Barisan Alternatif...
First, we have Keadilan. Maybe it's me, but I just can't trust Anwar Ibrahim. I don't believe in his miraculous recovery from the wheelchair to dancing on the stage—even after taking into account the fact that a foreign specialist had operated on him. Such a miracle can make Christopher Reeve turn in his grave. I can still remember the way Anwar Ibrahim campaigned for Barisan Nasional in Sabah when he was still the Deputy Prime Minister years ago.
Then of course we have PAS. I dread the idea of a nation where men and women are restricted to separate queues when paying for their groceries in the supermarkets. I just can't see myself in such a country.
Another consideration is DAP; and when we think about DAP, we immediately see Lim Kit Siang in our minds. Kit Siang is one person I can trust. I am not saying he is squeaky clean, mind! But when compared to the rest, I can trust him more. Unfortunately, I don't believe DAP is strong enough to stand on its own. It can of course be a big force to team up with other parties to form a Government, but I doubt it will ever happen.
Then there are so many other "lonely cowboys". We have quite many of them here in Sabah in the past. They're the "frogs". They will stand as independent candidates with the sole motive of acquiring wealth if they can win seats. And of course the moment they do win anything, they're almost automatically inclined to join the highest bidder. And then if they're clever, they will become millionaires overnight. Where the money come from, only God knows. But some of them are not so clever, they simply throw away the money they acquire in no time at all. Free money has no value, you see. This is one of them.
So who is left? I've been thinking about it this lately; it seems that Barisan Alternatif is no alternative after all. Are we screwed?
10 comments:
Oh yeah... it seems that our country is pretty screwed. Our government is run by a bunch of self-serving monkeys and the so-called "alternative" is no better. Well, not that I can say much about the "other party", but that's the impression I'm getting.
Dear ckoh...when it comes to politics, I have to "refrain" myself from unleashing a barrage of criticism and comments.
Perhaps when a person sit at the helm, things look...different up there. Even the most "ethical" person may be swayed to the corrupt ways.
Wouldn't want to take too much space. So I stop here first. Hehe...
All I can say is, we don't have much of a choice.
So who is left? You. Me. The people.
We need a strong civil society and matured electorates. When we have that, it doesn’t matter who is leading this beloved nation, the one sleeping on his job or the one who loves soto mee. We need a society that is constantly telling the incumbents that we are watching you, we want you to do the right things and we will decide your future, etc.
Well, claire dear, we will just have to be careful with what we say now, won't we? Ours is not a Government which is very good at handling criticisms. The simplest way out is often to throw people into prison under ISA, of course.
And yes, a person may behave differently when he is "up there". But "corruption" is difficult to define sometimes. Even ordering the cops to stop the investigation into an alleged sodomy against oneself can somehow amount to "corruption".
Yes, Julie, that's what I was thinking. How sad.
Delurk,
I understand your sentiment perfectly. It's just that I can't see a viable alternative than what we have right now.
I am sure a lot of people would love to "punish" some (all?) of those in power now by voting them out of office. Fine. But who's gonna take over their places? Will an alternative Government make any difference at all; or will it be worse? Will it be a case of getting out of the frying pan, and into the fire?
In Sabah, we've had several "changes" over the last few elections. I can tell you that whenever these new guys get up there, the first thing that they will do is to fill up their pockets. These people become rich—and I mean really rich within a few years. The one who burnt off his money in a casino in England was just one of them. We are back to square one each time a new Government is formed.
During an election campaign, we see the opposition criticising the Government for a lot of things. And indeed some of them are true! But when they are in power, more often than not, they will do exactly the same! You know the saying: the pot calling the kettle black.
political-wise, i always felt embarassed by the fact that I'm from Sabah as we all know how messed up the scene here.
wat can i say? who's left? me, you and people? and wat can i do now? go out and seek to represent the rakyat? i dun hav tat courage. but will i shut my mouth bcox of tat? not also cox i love my country.
CK,
Please don't be embarrassed, my friend. We're all in Bolehland, remember? Money talks, bullshit walks!
Oh! on a separate matter, CK, perhaps you should lay off text messages for a while. I can see your spelling is pretty much messed up because of text messages!
I agree with delurk on constantly keeping the incumbents on their toes. But how are we to voice out? People in KL have resorted to all sorts of rallies. Is that the best way to forge ahead? Why are people having rallies?
I always felt that any rally that is not pro-government have this strange tendency of being rejected. Rallies can get dangerous, even though the original motive is peaceful.
Ya, Bolehland indeed. Everything also Boleh.
Better stop for now. Don't want to be caught under ISA, then cannot post more cynical comments here. Haha.
claire,
In my opinion, rally or no rally, when there is enough people who're unhappy with the Government, then we will see the opposition getting voted in the election.
We can all march and protest against the Government. But when the elections come, we always get into a situation where we just "don't have" any choice—at least I feel that way. I am not convinced that the opposition can do a better job. Whatever little that we have right now, I don't want to lose them all and suffer for the next 5 years.
If I am convinced that there is indeed a viable alternative, I won't think twice!
Post a Comment