Walk the Talk
The past three months after the March 8 General Elections has been a roller-coaster ride. For the first time in history, the ruling coalition has been humbled by the people’s power. Since then, the government has been making feeble attempts to make a difference and stay relevant.
Of course, none of their attempts actually make any difference. The idiots government officials are still in denial as to why they lost so badly and actually blamed the internet for their loss!
Anyway, you can go google what happened since the March 8 GE. It’s too lengthy to put in here.
What I am tickled with is that only after this general elections, the component parties are all out and vocal about how they will now represent the people, fight for their rights, will no longer stay silent on certain issues, etc. My question is: What the hell were they doing all these while?!
I have never been interested in politics. I find that politics has nothing to do with governing a country but more on how to exploit situation for personal financial gains. The most prominent example is the country’s fuel price.
Malaysia is a net exporter of oil. But unlike other oil exporting countries, Malaysia’s fuel price is one of the highest in the region. The government always like to say we are the cheapest compared to our neighbouring countries. Hello?! Does our neighbour export oil?
The government is always saying that the fuel price must go up since the market price has soared. But if the global market price has soared, wouldn’t that make the profit from our oil export soared too?
Anyway, recently the government announced a 41% fuel hike. This did not go down well with the nation. Street protest already started taking place with more being planned. And what has the government gotta say about this? “We have to change our lifestyle”, says the Prime Minister.
It’s easy for someone who lives in a mansion and travel in a private jet ala Air Force One at the expense of the country to say that. This goes to show how much they know about their people and their plight.
I have visited the folks in the Sentul area near Kuala Lumpur many years back just to give myself a feel of how the less fortunate live. Their home is made up of planks of wood nailed together to provide shelter. Their furniture are salvaged from the dumps or donated by others. They do have electricity though with a light bulb in the living area, kitchen and room. The living area doubles as the dining area. The entire family of five shares a room. The kitchen is actually an area outside where they cook over a small wood fire.
One thing that I was curious about is why the electricity plugs were installed about 1.5 meters above ground. I asked the man and he told me that it is to keep it away from the water. I thought that was silly until the skies suddenly turned dark and began to pour. Boy, did it poured!
For the first time in my life, I actually saw a river forming and water gushing into the house. I quickly sat on their wooden sofa (if you could call it that) and lifted my feet off the ground. In less than 10 minutes, I can see things floating around me. I was stuck there with a friend while waiting for the rain and flood to subside. The couple was kind enough to offer us a mug of Milo. I believe that that must be the most expensive drink they have to offer.
As I sat observing my surrounding (it was chilly because of the wind) and sipping from my mug of Milo, I realised how blessed and fortunate I am.
Now I wonder if the government realises this. When they say that the people have to start changing their lifestyle, do they realise that there are people out there who can’t afford to change their lifestyle any further?
What irate me most is that after making this kind of stupid statement, the Prime Minister who get MYR18,865 a month for entertainment allowances are declaring to cut it down by 10% to cut cost. A mere 10%?!?! You must better be joking.
What on earth does he entertain with MYR18K a month? That allowance is more than the annual income of most folks working in factories and restaurants. And he wants to cut only 10% of it? Talk about mediocre effort.
I totally enjoyed and agreed with what Marina Mahathir wrote in a column in the TheStar newspaper. The government should walk the talk. Take the lead and show us how they, the government official, change their lifestyle. Lead by example. You can catch Marina’s column “You walk the talk first” here.
Now a component party of the ruling coalition from Sabah is declaring a vote of no confidence against the Prime Minister. I think it’s way overdue. It’ll be interesting to see what unfolds in the next couple weeks.
Till then, I better finish off every grain of rice from my chicken rice which cost me MYR5 now; up MYR1 from just a month back.
Tags: election, government, rising cost
