In politics, what is important is perception, not reality and this is exploited by the Opposition. Even the truth is always denied as they know that politics is all about perception and not about reality and truth. - Najib Abdul Razak.

Politics is all about perception.

It matters little your capability if you are incapable in portraying a good image of yourself.

Can one not wonder how Dr Mahathir Mohamad, with an Indian ancestry, eventually became our most powerful and longest serving prime minister?

Many must have tried to bring him down due to his lineage, but he played his cards well, too well in fact, by championing ‘Malay rights' to gain power, and bringing his opponents down (some, never to return).

Thinking back, did he actually champion their rights? Or was it a political ploy to gain power? My view; it's the latter.

Perhaps what I want to say here is, it feels like history will repeat itself if we are not careful in who we vote for in the upcoming 13th general election on May 5.

Mahathir has done tremendously well for ‘championing the rights of Malays' in the past.

Many then thought it was the right thing to do as the Malays were very far behind economically.

We supported this ‘right', and have allowed ourselves to be chess pieces of the great mind's political ploy, who then led Malaysia through corruption and fear and even cementing his position as a dominant figure until today.

Compared to Mahathir's era, the ‘right thing to do' today would be to champion equality for everyone.

Pakatan Rakyat has been promoting their pet slogan, ‘Ubah' (change) for the past few years.

Everyone now clings onto ‘Ubah', not knowing if it will truly be as envisioned, or will it be like ‘Malay rights' which in my honest opinion has failed tremendously.

Can all the opposition members truly care for the benefit of all Malaysians?

Will a second Mahathir emerge from this hope for change, after using us as chess pieces? Reality and perception must never be mixed with each other as one is only half true.

We perceive change, and we embrace it.

But can it truly happen with the way we select our leaders? Perception and reality is dangerous because it traps us into believing only one half and never knowing about the other.

Truth can be stated in a thousand different ways, yet each one can be true. - Swami Vivekananda

Here is a story that opened my eyes towards reality and perception.

Three months ago when I visited Sibu for the new year, I was told of a major local murder case that happened last year.

The case involved a family of six, the husband, his mother, wife and three lovely kids.

The husband's business was beginning to take off and his then-wife was his second wife from mainland China.

None of the children were related to her by blood.

What happened was that four of the family members were brutally murdered on the Jan 3, 2012, just 20 days short of the then-Chinese New Year.

One child was knocked unconscious and was in very critical condition when found. The wife however did not have a single scratch on her.

The investigation team arrived later and found several doubtful points from the wife's testimony.

1. There was no evidence of forced entry of any kind.

2. The wife said she heard a commotion downstairs when the murder happened.

However, none of the neighbours heard any noise.

3. The CCTV did not capture anyone else except the wife climbing out of the window to save herself.

4. No money or valuables were taken.

Furthermore, there was also news that the wife was pregnant during the incident.

It can only make sense that the Chinese woman killed everyone for the family's inheritance.

Everybody in Sibu was enraged and condemned the woman.

It was only a few days later that it was found out that the killer was their 17-year-old neighbour who climbed into their house through the connected ceilings between his house and theirs.

He killed the four victims with a sledgehammer after a failed theft attempt.

With the 13th general election nearing, I hope my message that we should never always believe what we see, will be spread.

Politics are never easily understood by the small people like you and I, and we will always be one step behind in uncovering the truth.

Dr Mahathir is living legacy of our past failed perception towards his then future political agenda.

And with the current fixed mentality for change, the new voters have already cast their vote even without knowing who the electoral candidates will be.

It will prove disastrous if we are actually voting for the wrong government because of a possible falsely perceived image of either side.

I strongly urge people to think twice before casting their votes, and not just stick to the party that has been promoting a perceived agenda of change, or money goodies.

Of course, voting for the party is equally important.

But it would be safer in my view to think of the consequences and benefits of voting for the candidate instead and how he or she can actually help our people and country.

Voting blindly for the party is just as good as gambling - making a decision without knowing the true odds because everyone says "this is the right choice".

I was asked once by an acquaintance if I would vote for a better candidate but from a "lousy" party or a lousy candidate but from a "great" party.

In my reply, I told him that I envision a Malaysia where all candidates that are voted in truly help the people, whatever their party background.

I hope I am making the right decision here for a better Malaysia and I hope you too will make the right decision.

Please do not stand on the sidelines and follow the votes of others. Make a choice.

This is after all, your only home.