This article is a lighted hearted one, yet manage to paint a clear picure about the ignorances, arrogance and incompetence of the BN (Hmm... UMNO) led government and how the Rakyat should stand up during this 2008 General Election.
Enjoy the read, the artilce is written in "Manglish". Although it is lengthy (that tell how much issues we have with this country) but fun to read.
Edward Beruang Mar 2,3 & 4, 2008
Malaysia is like a marriage. We, the rakyat, are the wives and our husband is the Barisan Nasional (BN) led by Pak Lah. The question is: Has our husband been faithful to us? Kept his promises to control crime, corruption and the cost of living? To care for our children's safety? Or has he taken us for granted - like a doormat - because he knows we will still love him no matter what? Despite whatever neglect from our husband, most Malaysians are not ready for divorce - yet. There are other boyfriends who want to woo us, but we will cling on to the BN like a faithful wife, hoping he will change for the better.
When we tell him that we've been hurt by widespread corruption and inflation he says, ‘Okay, Okay, I'll launch five more corridors just like the Multimedia Sleepy Corridor.’ We tell him criminals are snatching handbags and slashing women on the streets, kidnapping children like Sharlinie and Nurin just 20 metres in front of our homes before raping and killing them. And he says? ‘Okay, Okay, I'm setting up another royal commission.’ The first royal commission on the police had already emphasised four years ago that we must clean out corrupt cops from the force by setting up an independent complaints body called the IPCMC.
Our husband promised to do it, then U-turned, just like how he U-turned on the crooked bridge to Singapore. And what about the current Royal London Circus, er...I mean royal commission on VK Lingam? Bet it will ‘look like justice and sound like justice.’ And then conveniently four years later, ‘cannot remember’ what the hell justice is. So like frustrated wives, three times last year, 2,000 lawyers, 40,000 Bersih folks and 30,000 Hindraf people who could not tahan anymore and went out on the streets to ask our husband to improve himself.
Did he say, ‘Darling, what's wrong? Why are you upset? How can I help?’ No. He slapped us with water cannons and told us to shut up. ‘You have no right to scream out your complaints on the streets. You cannot embarrass me like that. You will jeopardise the stability and harmony of our marriage,’ he told us. ‘You can complain quietly in the backroom. But I'll listen to you only once every five years.’
It's our only chance now. And maybe it's time for us to jual mahal and play ‘hard to get’. Politics is something like the pasar malam. The hawker ‘opens price’ at RM18 but we want to buy something for RM10. As long as we're still standing at the stall, looking a bit ‘too interested’, the price will only go down to RM15. But the moment we walk away, there the hawker comes, desperately chasing after us, ‘Ok, Ok RM10 can-lah.’ So please don't get me wrong, this is not about hating husbands, bashing Pak Lah or being anti-BN. Even real life husbands often lose respect for a housewife if she just smiles even when she's regularly lied to and cheated on.
Our BN husband is not doing his job well simply because there’s no pressure on him to do so. He’s just being human. As it is, Pak Lah even lied about the date of elections when asked by reporters the very day before he announced it. He didn't need to at all. He could just have said, ‘Oh I can’t reveal the date yet.’So why did he lie so casually about it? Because he just doesn’t respect us? So maybe it's time to merajuk and throw a little tantrum.
Took voters for granted
We can't bear to leave him, but maybe we should tell him: ‘Honey, I ain't gonna wash your clothes or cook your dinner no more till you change your ways. ‘Cos you been hurting me real bad.’ In other words, let our BN husband lose 40 or 50 Parliament seats - in the desperate hope that he will wake up (!), reform and come running back to us - not just with sweet words, but real love. That's the way life is - in both romance and politics.
Remember the Sabah state elections of 1995? The opposition was then in power and the BN went all out to court Sabahans with fantastic promises of a ‘Sabah Baru’ where ‘poverty will be wiped out by the year 2000'. Well, that BN ‘welfare state’ promise has been so, so broken with the government's own Ninth Malaysia Plan admitting that BN-ruled Sabah is the country's poorest state with 23 percent of its' people living in poverty compared to PAS-ruled Kelantan's 10.6 percent.
But at least Sabah got their own university - Universiti Malaysia Sabah. Now in 2008, the BN is promising ‘Kelantan Baru’ where, if only they turned their affections away from PAS towards the BN, they would be loved with hundreds of millions of tax cuts, projects and other goodies.
On Feb28, Najib told the Kelantanese: ‘Just give us a term and see what we can do in that four or five years. If you still feel that we have not delivered, then you have the power to choose others. Four years is not a long time. But if you remain with PAS, you will get more of the same...we are thinking of the Kelantanese and their future.’
Okay, rewind that. Substitute the word Najib for Anwar Ibrahim. Change the word Kelantan for Malaysia, and PAS for BN. What is that called? That’s what the opposition is telling Malaysians! To try them for four years! And what does Pak Lah call that? A ‘dangerous experiment’. An ‘irresponsible’ and ‘unrealistic’ welfare state.
Think about this for a moment. If Kelantan and Sabah had been loyal wives, voting BN time and time again, would our BN husband have taken so much trouble to charm them back with all kinds of tempting promises? Or would he have taken them for granted and forgotten their birthday and wedding anniversary? That's what usually happens when a woman loves a man ‘too much’ despite the man’s glaring faults. The proof of this is in the 2006 Sarawak state elections, the 2007 Ijok by-election and now, the Hindraf awakening.
The Chinese of Sarawak were deeply unhappy that the state government wanted to charge them a whopping 50 percent renewal fee for leasehold land in the name of ‘development’. Imagine paying RM200,000 for a Kuching home, and then being asked to pay another extra RM100,000 or else the government could grab your land and house. Did the state BN care about the Chinese discontentment? Whatever for? Except for one or two seats, Sarawak was a BN ‘fortress’ and most Sarawakians were ‘devoted’ supporters.
In other words, they took the voters for granted. Then came the ‘shocking’ loss of nine seats (out of 71) in the state elections. Result? That renewal fee has been ‘magically’ lowered to 25 percent. Similarly, Ijok in Selangor had been a BN ‘stronghold’ for decades. Like an old wife, it was semi-neglected despite being just one hour's drive from KL. And then another ‘boyfriend’ showed up. When Anwar Ibrahim wanted a showcase opposition victory there, he pointed out that some people did not even have water and electricity supply. Lo and behold, suddenly tens of millions in projects and hand-outs were poured into Ijok within just two weeks.
Proper mutton curry
Did Pak Lah then call it ‘financial irresponsibility’as they are now calling the opposition's generous promises? S Samy Vellu was giving out Singer sewing machines to the Indian estate folks like Santa Claus (like Sabah 1995, this was another ‘welfare state’ campaign). Abracadabra! He waved his magic wand and instantly, once potholed roads were gleaming in fresh tar. A huge rubbish dump that steadfast pro-BN residents had complained about for years (to no avail) was finally relocated.
What a fairy tale ending to one of the biggest ‘buy elections’ ever! And now Hindraf. Why are the Indians pissed off? Well, what did they get for being a faithful wife, solidly voting in the BN for 50 years? One of their landmark temples was torn down just two days before Deepavali last year, along with dozens of others around the country in the past few years. As an American Negro might say, ‘Brother, we don’t get no respect.’
Oh yes, of course, the government says there is ‘no discrimination’ against the community. Haha. You and I know better. And so did 30,000 Indians who said Dey poddah! to that on the streets of KL. They had the guts to stand up for their rights despite repeated warnings and police beatings from Pak Lah (who had promised back in 2004 to ‘listen to the people’ as he wanted them to ‘work with me, not for me’). The Indians call Hindraf makkal sakti (people's power). For our discussion, let's call it the biggest merajuk ever.
Suddenly, all kinds of leaders and academics are publicly analysing how, where and why the BN and MIC should ‘improve its delivery’. Even the demi-god Samy Vellu is sweating and for the first time ever we are seeing full page advertisements in English newspapers avowing that ‘MIC Cares’. And my oh my, Thaipusam was even declared a holiday in KL. What a lot of achievements for just one day of demonstrations!
Of course Pak Lah tried to disguise the real reason for the extra Thaipusam giveaway by limply saying it was because ‘KL ada trafik jam-lah’ during the festival. Poddah to that too. And what if Indians massively vote against the BN this time? Our dear husband can't leave a permanent block of opposition supporters out there, can he? He (or Najib) HAS to try to win them back. Maybe more government jobs? Some scholarships? Amanah Saham India? At last, no more dry leftover crumbs of murruku but some proper mutton curry.
The lesson in romance and politics is clear. We have to play a little ‘hard to get’. We all know what happens when a woman ‘gives in’ too easily to a man, it’s ‘wham, bam, thank-you ma’am’ (pardon my language) and he then rolls over into a snoring sleep, losing all interest. In other words, stop selling ourselves cheap and let’s start to jual mahal. Only then, will our ‘value’ go up.
Now, our other boyfriends are offering us a better deal. And more fragrant flowers - like cutting the price of petrol by 30 sen to reduce the widespread suffering of inflation. ‘Oh no! Malaysia tak boleh!’ cries our husband. ‘That will cost RM5billion. Malaysia will go bankrupt with that kind of welfare state.’ Of course, such a welfare state for the people is not ‘realistic’. Why? Because in reality, Malaysia is a welfare state for the rich cronies.
RM5 billion is too much to give to old, faithful wives. Even though it would help 25 million of us Malaysians, our husband says we can't ‘afford’ it. And he's right! Our husband has already spent RM4.6 billion to enrich cronies in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, according to Lim Kit Siang. Najib's Defence Ministry paid out RM900 million as ‘commission’ to ‘agents’ (including a company linked to Abdul Razak Baginda) on arms deals involving submarines and airplanes.
As Anwar jokes in his ceramah nowadays, ‘When a policeman takes RM100, that’s called bribery, that’s haram. But when agents take RM900 million, that’s called commission, that’s halal.’ Now if Lim and Anwar are lying, shouldn't our husband whack them (in court) to clear his name? Okay, so maybe we should not listen to boyfriends' seductive talk. But luckily, our husband had a faithful servant called the Auditor-General who told us just how our man was berfoya-foya or fooling around with other mistresses - the cronies.
It turns out the BN government ministries paid RM5,741 for each car jack that costs only RM50 in the hardware store. And RM224 for each set of screwdrivers that cost RM40. Sad to say, that's how old, faithful wives get screwed. It's hard and painful. Even the pro-government The Star newspaper put this shocking abuse of the rakyat's money on their front page When a man is addicted to something, be it, the English Premier League, computer games, alcohol or even dadah, he will often neglect his duties to his wife and maybe even abuse her.
I don't know. Is our BN husband a corruption-holic? Has the dadah of money politics and cronyism gone too deep into his system? Or can he be rehabilitated? We hope against hope. We still love our husband. But the problem with dadah addicts is that they will do anything to get their fix - swindle, steal, sweet-talk, twist-talk whatever-lah. And maybe that’s why we are getting cases like 30 mystery people registered as voters in some tiny house and 8,666 people over age 100 STILL registered as voters (as reported in even the Umno-owned New Straits Times last Friday).
Story of our football
And because he needs his fix no matter what, maybe that’s why our husband tells us, ‘Don't you dare go running to that lousy boyfriend with his fancy talk. He doesn't know nuts about managing family finances.’ Is our husband a better manager? In 2006, foreign direct investment (FDI) into Malaysia was US$3.5 billion whereas Singapore (which has got nothing except people's skills) got US$30 billion! These are figures from Unctad (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) although perhaps Rafidah Aziz and Pak Lah will goreng some ‘tastier’ statistics for us.
Would you blame foreign investors if they want to invest in our island neighbour (despite the higher costs) because crime and corruption does not run rampant there? In the early 1960s, each Malaysian (on average) was three times richer than a Korean. By 2004, the figure was reversed and we were three times poorer than a Korean! Where are we heading? What is going wrong?
Maybe it's like the story of our football. We were once an equal challenger to South Korea during the Merdeka Football Tournaments of the 1970's. Since then, South Korea has entered the World Cup semi-finals (in 2002) while our FIFA football ranking is currently a miserable 165th in the world. So what's the connection to our BN husband? For the past two decades, most of the state Football Associations (FA's) have been controlled by the menteri besar (or other BN politician) of the respective state.
The same tired old stories keep appearing in newspaper sports pages. Instead of choosing the best players, there are allegations of cronyism and favouritism. Instead of developing youngsters' talents, there is politicking. Despite the big money sponsorships, some state FAs have been almost bankrupt while players' salaries are unpaid. If the BN leaders can mismanage football so badly, what will they do to our country? Can our husband take care of our children's future? Give us the sweet ‘Security, Peace and Prosperity’ of his manifesto?
In 1995, Malaysia was the sixth largest receiver of FDI in the world. Ten years later, we have fallen way behind to 62nd place. Even Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia are doing better than us in FDI. Last year our husband told us, ‘Sorry honey, but I gotta raise the price of petrol ‘cos I need RM5 billion to develop our home.’ He even spent lots of money putting up huge ‘Subsidi Kurang, Pembangunan Lebih’ billboards all over the place. Okay, so where did that RM5billion go to?
Maybe some of it went to the RM270 million ‘world's largest court complex’ in Jalan Duta, KL? Last year, there were reports of collapsed ceilings, cracking walls and faulty toilets. Cases had to be postponed due to air-conditioning breakdowns and power disruptions. A burst water pipe
flooded the cafeteria. How much profit did the main crony contractor make after cutting all the corners? Didn't Pak Lah promise us five years ago no more ‘First World infrastructure with a Third World mentality’?
In total poetic irony, a sewerage manhole in the basement storeroom overflowed, covering court files with, yep, you got it right. It's a perfect symbol of Malaysia. The world's biggest court building for the world's smallest-hearted justice system where, as lawyers say, cases are ‘won by the cheque book, not the law book’. Is the ‘correct, correct, correct’ circus just an entertaining sideshow? Maybe. But one day we'll stop laughing when a company causes a landslide disaster like Highland Towers (in 1993) behind our homes.
‘Goyang kaki, gaji buta’
Want to sue? Forget it, the company you want to sue has already given the judge a handphone, a bungalow and a luxury New Zealand holiday. Incidentally, did you know that Malaysia’s highest court decided two years ago that the Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (which approved the disastrous development which led to the Highland Towers tragedy) did not have to pay a single sen of compensation? That's the kind of ‘development’ our husband has been giving us.
On the other hand, our boyfriend gives us an ‘impractical’ and ‘unrealistic’ alternative that will cost nothing. Set up an impartial Judicial Commission - to monitor judges to ensure they are not promoted through VK Lingam's or Vincent Tan's bribes. It's about the governing system, not some fancy buildings with a shit-filled basement. Simple.
It's not just about spending RM5 billion corruptly. We know how the petrol price hike caused the prices of everything to shoot up but we trusted our husband when he said we must tahan (endure) and be sabar (patient) because it was ‘good for the economy’.Was it really? High-tech factories are leaving Penang for cheaper places like Vietnam and China. So why on earth did our husband want to make Malaysia a more expensive place to do business?
Even worse, the petrol price rise took away (at least) RM5 billion of the people's consumer spending power - because we had to pay more for petrol and diesel. Now, consider this. Which is better? To have 25 million (mainly lower and middle-class) Malaysians spending RM5 billion to stimulate our local economy by buying thousands and thousands of Made-in-Malaysia mee goreng, terrace houses and Proton cars?
Or to have our ‘efficient’ government do ‘development’ projects where they spend that RM5 billion on the world's largest crap-justice courthouse and various half-assed ‘growth corridors’ where a few dozen cronies will make millions by goyang kaki and gaji buta? What do cronies spend on? Local products? Or Australian ranches? Country houses in England? Mansions gleaming with Italian marble?
You can bet those guys won't be buying a Proton anytime soon - unless they are campaigning in the kampung as election candidates. And their Datin wives will be ‘helping’ the Malaysian economy by flying off to Paris and London to get the latest Gucci or Chanel handbags at ‘only’ RM10,000 each.
But no matter how (financially) abusive our husband is, we still want to cling to him. We fear the unknown: Can Anwar be trusted? Yeah, Nik Aziz may be honest but he's no fun - he won't allow us to throw away our children's education fund at the four-digit shop. Lim Kit Siang? Aiyo, his hair and spectacles look so 1970s lah. Fine. Whatever. But it's irrelevant. You and I know the opposition are not going to win in 2008. Even the DAP has admitted it. Partly because the people like you reading this sort of message on the Internet are limited to the urban middle classes.
(So you might wanna e-mail or print out stuff like this and share with friends. Or talk to them. Or SMS them. Do something.) Sure the opposition can't win, but it's their agenda that's important. It's the only ‘bargaining chip’ we have. With it, we can go and tell our husband, ‘Look, I'm tired of your neglect and abuse. I got other men promising to take better care of me.
Whatcha gonna do about that?’
At present, Pak Lah just says, ‘Haha, who cares? Those boyfriends can't touch me. I'm too strong.’ He can't even be bothered to have a proper debate on the issues unlike Obama and Hillary. And during the Great Johor Flood of 2006, Pak Lah couldn't even be bothered to show his face - he was holidaying in Perth and opening his relative's nasi kandar shop. Why? Well, Johor is a Barisan ‘stronghold’ isn't it? So what for he want to get his feet wet? That's what happens when we give our husband a dowry of a 90 percent majority.
We get taken for granted. The only way our husband will take us seriously is if he feels some pain. Let's not even talk about denying the BN a two-thirds majority. In 1999, when BN lost 45 seats (just 24 percent of the total) in Parliament, there was serious soul-searching in BN. Dr Mahathir could not stay on, especially since an estimated 60-65 per cent of Malays had voted against Umno.
To reverse that massive ‘defeat’, Pak Lah in 2004 promised the sky, the moon and the earth to woo us voters back. And we bought his sweet talk. But the honeymoon is over and his sugary words have now fermented into sourness. So this time round, if the BN loses, maybe say 50 seats, we will be back to 1999 and Pak Lah will have to shoulder the blame. Maybe BN will then start to think of serious reforms.
Perhaps they will:
• Nationalise the North-South Highway, so that the huge profits from tolls can be channelled away from cronies towards free university education.
• Repeal the Official Secrets Act so that we know how the hell the government is using (or abusing) our money.
• Let Najib take over and this time they'll really nail Eric Chia for corruption.
Shock therapy
Hahaha, just joking-lah! Even if our BN husband loses 50 seats, none of the above will happen. After 50 years, the dadah of corruption and cronyism has probably become too addictive in the Umno-BN system. But at least, they might throw us a few more bones to placate us. For instance, they might give out a bonus to the hard-core poor. Or decide that we, the long-suffering wife, is worth an extra RM5billion in petroleum subsidies.
RM5 billion? Nothing what... Our husband just has to tell a few cronies, ‘Okay this year, cannot buy S-Class Merc and Prada handbags, sorry lah, have to downgrade to C-Class Merc and Bonia bags.’ That's why, sad to say, even if the BN member of Parliament (MP) in your area is a good, hardworking person while the opposition fellow is new, we should vote the BN guy out.
Because the only thing that will bring about a ‘leeetle’ bit of change in BN, the only thing that will wake up sleepy Pak Lah, is the Shock of the Scoreline on the night of March 8, 2008 - BN: 172 Opposition: 50
That's right. As the BN leaders sit there in their ‘Bilik Gerakan’ that night, watching the results roll in on TV, they won't reform themselves if you voted in your MP because he checked many longkang and potholes. The only thing that's going to cure Pak Lah and the BN is the Shock Therapy of the Final Score. Agree?
Of course, there is a whispering campaign of reverse racism going on, especially since the BN already knows that the Chinese and Indians are unhappy. ‘If the Chinese and Indians don't support the MCA, Gerakan and MIC, Umno won't listen to them anymore,’ the whispers go. Haha, you mean Umno really listens to the complaints of MCA, Gerakan and MIC?
Why do corruption and red tape still hamper Chinese businessmen?Why were Indian temples demolished? Why did Umno Youth threaten other races with their keris? Besides, even the president of MCA is the minister of a ministry which has close to zero power. That's right, he is ‘in charge’ of housing and local government, two areas that are legally (in the Constitution) under the jurisdiction and control of state governments.
Does he determine which oil palm land will be developed into houses? No. Can he check the PJ City Council for corruption? No. All he can do is ‘advise’ them to be good boys. Do you think the Maharaja of Klang, that Zakaria guy who controls the Klang Municipal Council, listens to Ong Ka Ting? Zakaria could even defy the Selangor Sultan and the menteri besar. And now his daughter-in-law is running in Klang for the coming elections.
As for Gerakan, Koh Tsu Khoon had to submit three names to Pak Lah to choose the next Penang chief minister. And the Gerakan Wanita chief was kicked about like a football in Perak from Taiping to Lenggong and then, on the very day before nomination, to Gerik. There just ain’t no respect. So what ‘voice’ does MCA, Gerakan and MIC have despite their so-called ‘solid’ election victories in 2004?
Blogger not sued
It’s a paradox, but the Chinese and Indians may in fact regain their voice by voting out their so-called ‘representatives’. Let's go back to BN's ‘shock’ loss of (only) nine out of 71 seats in the 2006 Sarawak state elections. It ‘forced’ the state BN to reduce the land renewal fees that had upset (mainly) the Chinese.
Interestingly, it was the Chinese-based Sarawak United People's Party (Supp) which lost those nine seats, as it was perceived to be a ‘running dog’ for the modern Rajah of Sarawak, Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud. But even then, the state BN still accommodated the Chinese because they had merajuk big time. So paradoxically, the Chinese of Sarawak got what they wanted when they rejected their Chinese ‘representatives’.
Maybe all this is too much to absorb. Okay, let's just talk about crime. As it is, we don't feel safe on the streets. We don't even feel safe inside our homes. Where can we go? Singapore? Now, let's take the MCA wakil rakyat for Petaling Jaya (PJ) Utara, Chew Mei Fun. She seems to be a diligent and popular MP who does everything - organising line dancing, giving out ang pow and even going door-to-door distributing anti-crime pamphlets.
Yet, why is it that the SS2 area of PJ is a hotbed of snatch thieves? Even though there is a huge police station right there? Why is crime still so prevalent in PJ? Chew should know the answer. Her former boss, ex-MCA President Ling Liong Sik, had often cited that Chinese proverb: ‘A fish rots from the head.’ And the rot stinks.
Four women a day were raped in Malaysia during 2003. By 2007, it had doubled to an average of 8.5 women a day. In 2007 alone, the number of gang robberies using parang and knives shot up 160 percent. Do we see our policemen fighting crime? Patrolling our neighbourhoods? But when the rakyat got frustrated and came out on the streets to criticise Pak Lah and the BN, suddenly thousands of cops amazingly appeared from nowhere.
We cried out to our husband, please, do something about crime. All he had to do was fulfil his promise - to implement the neutral police watchdog (the IPCMC or Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission) as recommended by the first royal commission.
What's the big deal about an independent watchdog? Even former IGP Tun Hanif Omar openly wrote in The Star newspaper a year back that - based on lavish lifestyles alone - at least 40 percent of senior police officers are corrupt.
Are the police able to police themselves? Or have they been infiltrated by the big money of loan sharks and drug dealers? That's why we need the IPCMC - to clean out the rogue cops from the force so that the many honest ones still inside can do their jobs properly. In fact, the renowned blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) has repeatedly and openly accused (with documentary proof) the IGP Musa Hassan of being a ‘business partner’ of Johor Chinese gangster lords. Is that true?
If not, the IGP should clear his name and sue RPK big time for defaming him. In fact, that's what Hanif publicly advised the IGP to do. What's stopping him? If our BN husband can't handle this most basic thing - to jaga the security of his wife and children - what kind of man is he? It's not the fault of hardworking MP's like Chew. She can walk for weeks or months under the hot sun going from house to house advising PJ folks to carry pepper spray and double-lock their doors.
A blank cheque
But it won't solve the root causes of crime which is about a failure of national policy - Pak Lah level - where the fish head is. Similarly, we elect wakil rakyat (like Chew) who then have to practically beg the local councils to do their bloody jobs like fixing road potholes and blocked longkang. If you've been reading The Sun newspaper, you will know how corrupt, incompetent, wasteful and arrogant the local councils have been.
For instance, PJ City Council has dodged all responsibility for the scandal where they forced advertising companies to ‘donate’ millions to their PJ Sports Club. Local councils just ain’t got no respect no more for the residents. Where's the fish head - the root problem - here? If Pak Lah really loved us, after he got his massive 90 percent mandate, he could easily have given us back local council elections (taken away in the 1960s), so that we can vote in Majlis Perbandaran officials who work properly. Or else we will vote them out.
But Pak Lah wouldn't do that. Why? Because local council posts are another avenue to reward his mistresses - cronies like the Maharaja of Klang. It will be sad to see someone like Chew go. But we have to do it this time for the greater good. The country is rotting and we must do something to turn the tide - at least for our children's future.
In fact, it is precisely the loss of such so-called ‘good MP's’ like Chew that will make Pak Lah suddenly sit bolt upright at night next to Jeanne Danker Abdullah in bed and think doubly hard - ‘My God, if even such hardworking wakil rakyat can lose, I must be doing a really lousy job.’
Anyway, it's not like the MCA will give up the PJ seat forever. It will surely still run a service centre where Chew's protégé or replacement can ‘continue to serve the people’ (as they always say) and wrest the seat back in 2012. That’s what happens to every seat that’s been lost. So we'll then have the best of both worlds won't we?
But like I said, this is not about hating our BN husband and Pak Lah. It's not really his fault. Politicians are simply creatures of power. We, the rakyat, simply got the politicians we deserved because we gave them a blank cheque to use and abuse us. We are like the woman who ‘gives in’ too easily - no man respects that.
So what should a neglected, ‘taken for granted’ wife like us do? We have to jual mahal and merajuk a bit these elections. When a man has not ‘got’ the girl yet, he will go to all lengths - candle-light dinners, flowers, chocolates and sugary words - to win her over. We can only become like that desirable maiden again if we play hard-to-get. Remember, we are courted only once every five years. Let's make the most of it.
Enjoy the read, the artilce is written in "Manglish". Although it is lengthy (that tell how much issues we have with this country) but fun to read.
Malaysians will be able to relate to all the incidences / cases mentioned tin the article.
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Edward Beruang Mar 2,3 & 4, 2008
Malaysia is like a marriage. We, the rakyat, are the wives and our husband is the Barisan Nasional (BN) led by Pak Lah. The question is: Has our husband been faithful to us? Kept his promises to control crime, corruption and the cost of living? To care for our children's safety? Or has he taken us for granted - like a doormat - because he knows we will still love him no matter what? Despite whatever neglect from our husband, most Malaysians are not ready for divorce - yet. There are other boyfriends who want to woo us, but we will cling on to the BN like a faithful wife, hoping he will change for the better.
When we tell him that we've been hurt by widespread corruption and inflation he says, ‘Okay, Okay, I'll launch five more corridors just like the Multimedia Sleepy Corridor.’ We tell him criminals are snatching handbags and slashing women on the streets, kidnapping children like Sharlinie and Nurin just 20 metres in front of our homes before raping and killing them. And he says? ‘Okay, Okay, I'm setting up another royal commission.’ The first royal commission on the police had already emphasised four years ago that we must clean out corrupt cops from the force by setting up an independent complaints body called the IPCMC.
Our husband promised to do it, then U-turned, just like how he U-turned on the crooked bridge to Singapore. And what about the current Royal London Circus, er...I mean royal commission on VK Lingam? Bet it will ‘look like justice and sound like justice.’ And then conveniently four years later, ‘cannot remember’ what the hell justice is. So like frustrated wives, three times last year, 2,000 lawyers, 40,000 Bersih folks and 30,000 Hindraf people who could not tahan anymore and went out on the streets to ask our husband to improve himself.
Did he say, ‘Darling, what's wrong? Why are you upset? How can I help?’ No. He slapped us with water cannons and told us to shut up. ‘You have no right to scream out your complaints on the streets. You cannot embarrass me like that. You will jeopardise the stability and harmony of our marriage,’ he told us. ‘You can complain quietly in the backroom. But I'll listen to you only once every five years.’
It's our only chance now. And maybe it's time for us to jual mahal and play ‘hard to get’. Politics is something like the pasar malam. The hawker ‘opens price’ at RM18 but we want to buy something for RM10. As long as we're still standing at the stall, looking a bit ‘too interested’, the price will only go down to RM15. But the moment we walk away, there the hawker comes, desperately chasing after us, ‘Ok, Ok RM10 can-lah.’ So please don't get me wrong, this is not about hating husbands, bashing Pak Lah or being anti-BN. Even real life husbands often lose respect for a housewife if she just smiles even when she's regularly lied to and cheated on.
Our BN husband is not doing his job well simply because there’s no pressure on him to do so. He’s just being human. As it is, Pak Lah even lied about the date of elections when asked by reporters the very day before he announced it. He didn't need to at all. He could just have said, ‘Oh I can’t reveal the date yet.’So why did he lie so casually about it? Because he just doesn’t respect us? So maybe it's time to merajuk and throw a little tantrum.
Took voters for granted
We can't bear to leave him, but maybe we should tell him: ‘Honey, I ain't gonna wash your clothes or cook your dinner no more till you change your ways. ‘Cos you been hurting me real bad.’ In other words, let our BN husband lose 40 or 50 Parliament seats - in the desperate hope that he will wake up (!), reform and come running back to us - not just with sweet words, but real love. That's the way life is - in both romance and politics.
Remember the Sabah state elections of 1995? The opposition was then in power and the BN went all out to court Sabahans with fantastic promises of a ‘Sabah Baru’ where ‘poverty will be wiped out by the year 2000'. Well, that BN ‘welfare state’ promise has been so, so broken with the government's own Ninth Malaysia Plan admitting that BN-ruled Sabah is the country's poorest state with 23 percent of its' people living in poverty compared to PAS-ruled Kelantan's 10.6 percent.
But at least Sabah got their own university - Universiti Malaysia Sabah. Now in 2008, the BN is promising ‘Kelantan Baru’ where, if only they turned their affections away from PAS towards the BN, they would be loved with hundreds of millions of tax cuts, projects and other goodies.
On Feb28, Najib told the Kelantanese: ‘Just give us a term and see what we can do in that four or five years. If you still feel that we have not delivered, then you have the power to choose others. Four years is not a long time. But if you remain with PAS, you will get more of the same...we are thinking of the Kelantanese and their future.’
Okay, rewind that. Substitute the word Najib for Anwar Ibrahim. Change the word Kelantan for Malaysia, and PAS for BN. What is that called? That’s what the opposition is telling Malaysians! To try them for four years! And what does Pak Lah call that? A ‘dangerous experiment’. An ‘irresponsible’ and ‘unrealistic’ welfare state.
Think about this for a moment. If Kelantan and Sabah had been loyal wives, voting BN time and time again, would our BN husband have taken so much trouble to charm them back with all kinds of tempting promises? Or would he have taken them for granted and forgotten their birthday and wedding anniversary? That's what usually happens when a woman loves a man ‘too much’ despite the man’s glaring faults. The proof of this is in the 2006 Sarawak state elections, the 2007 Ijok by-election and now, the Hindraf awakening.
The Chinese of Sarawak were deeply unhappy that the state government wanted to charge them a whopping 50 percent renewal fee for leasehold land in the name of ‘development’. Imagine paying RM200,000 for a Kuching home, and then being asked to pay another extra RM100,000 or else the government could grab your land and house. Did the state BN care about the Chinese discontentment? Whatever for? Except for one or two seats, Sarawak was a BN ‘fortress’ and most Sarawakians were ‘devoted’ supporters.
In other words, they took the voters for granted. Then came the ‘shocking’ loss of nine seats (out of 71) in the state elections. Result? That renewal fee has been ‘magically’ lowered to 25 percent. Similarly, Ijok in Selangor had been a BN ‘stronghold’ for decades. Like an old wife, it was semi-neglected despite being just one hour's drive from KL. And then another ‘boyfriend’ showed up. When Anwar Ibrahim wanted a showcase opposition victory there, he pointed out that some people did not even have water and electricity supply. Lo and behold, suddenly tens of millions in projects and hand-outs were poured into Ijok within just two weeks.
Proper mutton curry
Did Pak Lah then call it ‘financial irresponsibility’as they are now calling the opposition's generous promises? S Samy Vellu was giving out Singer sewing machines to the Indian estate folks like Santa Claus (like Sabah 1995, this was another ‘welfare state’ campaign). Abracadabra! He waved his magic wand and instantly, once potholed roads were gleaming in fresh tar. A huge rubbish dump that steadfast pro-BN residents had complained about for years (to no avail) was finally relocated.
What a fairy tale ending to one of the biggest ‘buy elections’ ever! And now Hindraf. Why are the Indians pissed off? Well, what did they get for being a faithful wife, solidly voting in the BN for 50 years? One of their landmark temples was torn down just two days before Deepavali last year, along with dozens of others around the country in the past few years. As an American Negro might say, ‘Brother, we don’t get no respect.’
Oh yes, of course, the government says there is ‘no discrimination’ against the community. Haha. You and I know better. And so did 30,000 Indians who said Dey poddah! to that on the streets of KL. They had the guts to stand up for their rights despite repeated warnings and police beatings from Pak Lah (who had promised back in 2004 to ‘listen to the people’ as he wanted them to ‘work with me, not for me’). The Indians call Hindraf makkal sakti (people's power). For our discussion, let's call it the biggest merajuk ever.
Suddenly, all kinds of leaders and academics are publicly analysing how, where and why the BN and MIC should ‘improve its delivery’. Even the demi-god Samy Vellu is sweating and for the first time ever we are seeing full page advertisements in English newspapers avowing that ‘MIC Cares’. And my oh my, Thaipusam was even declared a holiday in KL. What a lot of achievements for just one day of demonstrations!
Of course Pak Lah tried to disguise the real reason for the extra Thaipusam giveaway by limply saying it was because ‘KL ada trafik jam-lah’ during the festival. Poddah to that too. And what if Indians massively vote against the BN this time? Our dear husband can't leave a permanent block of opposition supporters out there, can he? He (or Najib) HAS to try to win them back. Maybe more government jobs? Some scholarships? Amanah Saham India? At last, no more dry leftover crumbs of murruku but some proper mutton curry.
The lesson in romance and politics is clear. We have to play a little ‘hard to get’. We all know what happens when a woman ‘gives in’ too easily to a man, it’s ‘wham, bam, thank-you ma’am’ (pardon my language) and he then rolls over into a snoring sleep, losing all interest. In other words, stop selling ourselves cheap and let’s start to jual mahal. Only then, will our ‘value’ go up.
Now, our other boyfriends are offering us a better deal. And more fragrant flowers - like cutting the price of petrol by 30 sen to reduce the widespread suffering of inflation. ‘Oh no! Malaysia tak boleh!’ cries our husband. ‘That will cost RM5billion. Malaysia will go bankrupt with that kind of welfare state.’ Of course, such a welfare state for the people is not ‘realistic’. Why? Because in reality, Malaysia is a welfare state for the rich cronies.
RM5 billion is too much to give to old, faithful wives. Even though it would help 25 million of us Malaysians, our husband says we can't ‘afford’ it. And he's right! Our husband has already spent RM4.6 billion to enrich cronies in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal, according to Lim Kit Siang. Najib's Defence Ministry paid out RM900 million as ‘commission’ to ‘agents’ (including a company linked to Abdul Razak Baginda) on arms deals involving submarines and airplanes.
As Anwar jokes in his ceramah nowadays, ‘When a policeman takes RM100, that’s called bribery, that’s haram. But when agents take RM900 million, that’s called commission, that’s halal.’ Now if Lim and Anwar are lying, shouldn't our husband whack them (in court) to clear his name? Okay, so maybe we should not listen to boyfriends' seductive talk. But luckily, our husband had a faithful servant called the Auditor-General who told us just how our man was berfoya-foya or fooling around with other mistresses - the cronies.
It turns out the BN government ministries paid RM5,741 for each car jack that costs only RM50 in the hardware store. And RM224 for each set of screwdrivers that cost RM40. Sad to say, that's how old, faithful wives get screwed. It's hard and painful. Even the pro-government The Star newspaper put this shocking abuse of the rakyat's money on their front page When a man is addicted to something, be it, the English Premier League, computer games, alcohol or even dadah, he will often neglect his duties to his wife and maybe even abuse her.
I don't know. Is our BN husband a corruption-holic? Has the dadah of money politics and cronyism gone too deep into his system? Or can he be rehabilitated? We hope against hope. We still love our husband. But the problem with dadah addicts is that they will do anything to get their fix - swindle, steal, sweet-talk, twist-talk whatever-lah. And maybe that’s why we are getting cases like 30 mystery people registered as voters in some tiny house and 8,666 people over age 100 STILL registered as voters (as reported in even the Umno-owned New Straits Times last Friday).
Story of our football
And because he needs his fix no matter what, maybe that’s why our husband tells us, ‘Don't you dare go running to that lousy boyfriend with his fancy talk. He doesn't know nuts about managing family finances.’ Is our husband a better manager? In 2006, foreign direct investment (FDI) into Malaysia was US$3.5 billion whereas Singapore (which has got nothing except people's skills) got US$30 billion! These are figures from Unctad (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) although perhaps Rafidah Aziz and Pak Lah will goreng some ‘tastier’ statistics for us.
Would you blame foreign investors if they want to invest in our island neighbour (despite the higher costs) because crime and corruption does not run rampant there? In the early 1960s, each Malaysian (on average) was three times richer than a Korean. By 2004, the figure was reversed and we were three times poorer than a Korean! Where are we heading? What is going wrong?
Maybe it's like the story of our football. We were once an equal challenger to South Korea during the Merdeka Football Tournaments of the 1970's. Since then, South Korea has entered the World Cup semi-finals (in 2002) while our FIFA football ranking is currently a miserable 165th in the world. So what's the connection to our BN husband? For the past two decades, most of the state Football Associations (FA's) have been controlled by the menteri besar (or other BN politician) of the respective state.
The same tired old stories keep appearing in newspaper sports pages. Instead of choosing the best players, there are allegations of cronyism and favouritism. Instead of developing youngsters' talents, there is politicking. Despite the big money sponsorships, some state FAs have been almost bankrupt while players' salaries are unpaid. If the BN leaders can mismanage football so badly, what will they do to our country? Can our husband take care of our children's future? Give us the sweet ‘Security, Peace and Prosperity’ of his manifesto?
In 1995, Malaysia was the sixth largest receiver of FDI in the world. Ten years later, we have fallen way behind to 62nd place. Even Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia are doing better than us in FDI. Last year our husband told us, ‘Sorry honey, but I gotta raise the price of petrol ‘cos I need RM5 billion to develop our home.’ He even spent lots of money putting up huge ‘Subsidi Kurang, Pembangunan Lebih’ billboards all over the place. Okay, so where did that RM5billion go to?
Maybe some of it went to the RM270 million ‘world's largest court complex’ in Jalan Duta, KL? Last year, there were reports of collapsed ceilings, cracking walls and faulty toilets. Cases had to be postponed due to air-conditioning breakdowns and power disruptions. A burst water pipe
flooded the cafeteria. How much profit did the main crony contractor make after cutting all the corners? Didn't Pak Lah promise us five years ago no more ‘First World infrastructure with a Third World mentality’?
In total poetic irony, a sewerage manhole in the basement storeroom overflowed, covering court files with, yep, you got it right. It's a perfect symbol of Malaysia. The world's biggest court building for the world's smallest-hearted justice system where, as lawyers say, cases are ‘won by the cheque book, not the law book’. Is the ‘correct, correct, correct’ circus just an entertaining sideshow? Maybe. But one day we'll stop laughing when a company causes a landslide disaster like Highland Towers (in 1993) behind our homes.
‘Goyang kaki, gaji buta’
Want to sue? Forget it, the company you want to sue has already given the judge a handphone, a bungalow and a luxury New Zealand holiday. Incidentally, did you know that Malaysia’s highest court decided two years ago that the Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya (which approved the disastrous development which led to the Highland Towers tragedy) did not have to pay a single sen of compensation? That's the kind of ‘development’ our husband has been giving us.
On the other hand, our boyfriend gives us an ‘impractical’ and ‘unrealistic’ alternative that will cost nothing. Set up an impartial Judicial Commission - to monitor judges to ensure they are not promoted through VK Lingam's or Vincent Tan's bribes. It's about the governing system, not some fancy buildings with a shit-filled basement. Simple.
It's not just about spending RM5 billion corruptly. We know how the petrol price hike caused the prices of everything to shoot up but we trusted our husband when he said we must tahan (endure) and be sabar (patient) because it was ‘good for the economy’.Was it really? High-tech factories are leaving Penang for cheaper places like Vietnam and China. So why on earth did our husband want to make Malaysia a more expensive place to do business?
Even worse, the petrol price rise took away (at least) RM5 billion of the people's consumer spending power - because we had to pay more for petrol and diesel. Now, consider this. Which is better? To have 25 million (mainly lower and middle-class) Malaysians spending RM5 billion to stimulate our local economy by buying thousands and thousands of Made-in-Malaysia mee goreng, terrace houses and Proton cars?
Or to have our ‘efficient’ government do ‘development’ projects where they spend that RM5 billion on the world's largest crap-justice courthouse and various half-assed ‘growth corridors’ where a few dozen cronies will make millions by goyang kaki and gaji buta? What do cronies spend on? Local products? Or Australian ranches? Country houses in England? Mansions gleaming with Italian marble?
You can bet those guys won't be buying a Proton anytime soon - unless they are campaigning in the kampung as election candidates. And their Datin wives will be ‘helping’ the Malaysian economy by flying off to Paris and London to get the latest Gucci or Chanel handbags at ‘only’ RM10,000 each.
But no matter how (financially) abusive our husband is, we still want to cling to him. We fear the unknown: Can Anwar be trusted? Yeah, Nik Aziz may be honest but he's no fun - he won't allow us to throw away our children's education fund at the four-digit shop. Lim Kit Siang? Aiyo, his hair and spectacles look so 1970s lah. Fine. Whatever. But it's irrelevant. You and I know the opposition are not going to win in 2008. Even the DAP has admitted it. Partly because the people like you reading this sort of message on the Internet are limited to the urban middle classes.
(So you might wanna e-mail or print out stuff like this and share with friends. Or talk to them. Or SMS them. Do something.) Sure the opposition can't win, but it's their agenda that's important. It's the only ‘bargaining chip’ we have. With it, we can go and tell our husband, ‘Look, I'm tired of your neglect and abuse. I got other men promising to take better care of me.
Whatcha gonna do about that?’
At present, Pak Lah just says, ‘Haha, who cares? Those boyfriends can't touch me. I'm too strong.’ He can't even be bothered to have a proper debate on the issues unlike Obama and Hillary. And during the Great Johor Flood of 2006, Pak Lah couldn't even be bothered to show his face - he was holidaying in Perth and opening his relative's nasi kandar shop. Why? Well, Johor is a Barisan ‘stronghold’ isn't it? So what for he want to get his feet wet? That's what happens when we give our husband a dowry of a 90 percent majority.
We get taken for granted. The only way our husband will take us seriously is if he feels some pain. Let's not even talk about denying the BN a two-thirds majority. In 1999, when BN lost 45 seats (just 24 percent of the total) in Parliament, there was serious soul-searching in BN. Dr Mahathir could not stay on, especially since an estimated 60-65 per cent of Malays had voted against Umno.
To reverse that massive ‘defeat’, Pak Lah in 2004 promised the sky, the moon and the earth to woo us voters back. And we bought his sweet talk. But the honeymoon is over and his sugary words have now fermented into sourness. So this time round, if the BN loses, maybe say 50 seats, we will be back to 1999 and Pak Lah will have to shoulder the blame. Maybe BN will then start to think of serious reforms.
Perhaps they will:
• Nationalise the North-South Highway, so that the huge profits from tolls can be channelled away from cronies towards free university education.
• Repeal the Official Secrets Act so that we know how the hell the government is using (or abusing) our money.
• Let Najib take over and this time they'll really nail Eric Chia for corruption.
Shock therapy
Hahaha, just joking-lah! Even if our BN husband loses 50 seats, none of the above will happen. After 50 years, the dadah of corruption and cronyism has probably become too addictive in the Umno-BN system. But at least, they might throw us a few more bones to placate us. For instance, they might give out a bonus to the hard-core poor. Or decide that we, the long-suffering wife, is worth an extra RM5billion in petroleum subsidies.
RM5 billion? Nothing what... Our husband just has to tell a few cronies, ‘Okay this year, cannot buy S-Class Merc and Prada handbags, sorry lah, have to downgrade to C-Class Merc and Bonia bags.’ That's why, sad to say, even if the BN member of Parliament (MP) in your area is a good, hardworking person while the opposition fellow is new, we should vote the BN guy out.
Because the only thing that will bring about a ‘leeetle’ bit of change in BN, the only thing that will wake up sleepy Pak Lah, is the Shock of the Scoreline on the night of March 8, 2008 - BN: 172 Opposition: 50
That's right. As the BN leaders sit there in their ‘Bilik Gerakan’ that night, watching the results roll in on TV, they won't reform themselves if you voted in your MP because he checked many longkang and potholes. The only thing that's going to cure Pak Lah and the BN is the Shock Therapy of the Final Score. Agree?
Of course, there is a whispering campaign of reverse racism going on, especially since the BN already knows that the Chinese and Indians are unhappy. ‘If the Chinese and Indians don't support the MCA, Gerakan and MIC, Umno won't listen to them anymore,’ the whispers go. Haha, you mean Umno really listens to the complaints of MCA, Gerakan and MIC?
Why do corruption and red tape still hamper Chinese businessmen?Why were Indian temples demolished? Why did Umno Youth threaten other races with their keris? Besides, even the president of MCA is the minister of a ministry which has close to zero power. That's right, he is ‘in charge’ of housing and local government, two areas that are legally (in the Constitution) under the jurisdiction and control of state governments.
Does he determine which oil palm land will be developed into houses? No. Can he check the PJ City Council for corruption? No. All he can do is ‘advise’ them to be good boys. Do you think the Maharaja of Klang, that Zakaria guy who controls the Klang Municipal Council, listens to Ong Ka Ting? Zakaria could even defy the Selangor Sultan and the menteri besar. And now his daughter-in-law is running in Klang for the coming elections.
As for Gerakan, Koh Tsu Khoon had to submit three names to Pak Lah to choose the next Penang chief minister. And the Gerakan Wanita chief was kicked about like a football in Perak from Taiping to Lenggong and then, on the very day before nomination, to Gerik. There just ain’t no respect. So what ‘voice’ does MCA, Gerakan and MIC have despite their so-called ‘solid’ election victories in 2004?
Blogger not sued
It’s a paradox, but the Chinese and Indians may in fact regain their voice by voting out their so-called ‘representatives’. Let's go back to BN's ‘shock’ loss of (only) nine out of 71 seats in the 2006 Sarawak state elections. It ‘forced’ the state BN to reduce the land renewal fees that had upset (mainly) the Chinese.
Interestingly, it was the Chinese-based Sarawak United People's Party (Supp) which lost those nine seats, as it was perceived to be a ‘running dog’ for the modern Rajah of Sarawak, Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud. But even then, the state BN still accommodated the Chinese because they had merajuk big time. So paradoxically, the Chinese of Sarawak got what they wanted when they rejected their Chinese ‘representatives’.
Maybe all this is too much to absorb. Okay, let's just talk about crime. As it is, we don't feel safe on the streets. We don't even feel safe inside our homes. Where can we go? Singapore? Now, let's take the MCA wakil rakyat for Petaling Jaya (PJ) Utara, Chew Mei Fun. She seems to be a diligent and popular MP who does everything - organising line dancing, giving out ang pow and even going door-to-door distributing anti-crime pamphlets.
Yet, why is it that the SS2 area of PJ is a hotbed of snatch thieves? Even though there is a huge police station right there? Why is crime still so prevalent in PJ? Chew should know the answer. Her former boss, ex-MCA President Ling Liong Sik, had often cited that Chinese proverb: ‘A fish rots from the head.’ And the rot stinks.
Four women a day were raped in Malaysia during 2003. By 2007, it had doubled to an average of 8.5 women a day. In 2007 alone, the number of gang robberies using parang and knives shot up 160 percent. Do we see our policemen fighting crime? Patrolling our neighbourhoods? But when the rakyat got frustrated and came out on the streets to criticise Pak Lah and the BN, suddenly thousands of cops amazingly appeared from nowhere.
We cried out to our husband, please, do something about crime. All he had to do was fulfil his promise - to implement the neutral police watchdog (the IPCMC or Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission) as recommended by the first royal commission.
What's the big deal about an independent watchdog? Even former IGP Tun Hanif Omar openly wrote in The Star newspaper a year back that - based on lavish lifestyles alone - at least 40 percent of senior police officers are corrupt.
Are the police able to police themselves? Or have they been infiltrated by the big money of loan sharks and drug dealers? That's why we need the IPCMC - to clean out the rogue cops from the force so that the many honest ones still inside can do their jobs properly. In fact, the renowned blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) has repeatedly and openly accused (with documentary proof) the IGP Musa Hassan of being a ‘business partner’ of Johor Chinese gangster lords. Is that true?
If not, the IGP should clear his name and sue RPK big time for defaming him. In fact, that's what Hanif publicly advised the IGP to do. What's stopping him? If our BN husband can't handle this most basic thing - to jaga the security of his wife and children - what kind of man is he? It's not the fault of hardworking MP's like Chew. She can walk for weeks or months under the hot sun going from house to house advising PJ folks to carry pepper spray and double-lock their doors.
A blank cheque
But it won't solve the root causes of crime which is about a failure of national policy - Pak Lah level - where the fish head is. Similarly, we elect wakil rakyat (like Chew) who then have to practically beg the local councils to do their bloody jobs like fixing road potholes and blocked longkang. If you've been reading The Sun newspaper, you will know how corrupt, incompetent, wasteful and arrogant the local councils have been.
For instance, PJ City Council has dodged all responsibility for the scandal where they forced advertising companies to ‘donate’ millions to their PJ Sports Club. Local councils just ain’t got no respect no more for the residents. Where's the fish head - the root problem - here? If Pak Lah really loved us, after he got his massive 90 percent mandate, he could easily have given us back local council elections (taken away in the 1960s), so that we can vote in Majlis Perbandaran officials who work properly. Or else we will vote them out.
But Pak Lah wouldn't do that. Why? Because local council posts are another avenue to reward his mistresses - cronies like the Maharaja of Klang. It will be sad to see someone like Chew go. But we have to do it this time for the greater good. The country is rotting and we must do something to turn the tide - at least for our children's future.
In fact, it is precisely the loss of such so-called ‘good MP's’ like Chew that will make Pak Lah suddenly sit bolt upright at night next to Jeanne Danker Abdullah in bed and think doubly hard - ‘My God, if even such hardworking wakil rakyat can lose, I must be doing a really lousy job.’
Anyway, it's not like the MCA will give up the PJ seat forever. It will surely still run a service centre where Chew's protégé or replacement can ‘continue to serve the people’ (as they always say) and wrest the seat back in 2012. That’s what happens to every seat that’s been lost. So we'll then have the best of both worlds won't we?
But like I said, this is not about hating our BN husband and Pak Lah. It's not really his fault. Politicians are simply creatures of power. We, the rakyat, simply got the politicians we deserved because we gave them a blank cheque to use and abuse us. We are like the woman who ‘gives in’ too easily - no man respects that.
So what should a neglected, ‘taken for granted’ wife like us do? We have to jual mahal and merajuk a bit these elections. When a man has not ‘got’ the girl yet, he will go to all lengths - candle-light dinners, flowers, chocolates and sugary words - to win her over. We can only become like that desirable maiden again if we play hard-to-get. Remember, we are courted only once every five years. Let's make the most of it.
