It is about time for us to embrace a new political culture, where a diversity of opinions being debated in public is healthier for the democracy of this country, than to follow the dictatorial rule of one man in the likes of Robert Mugabe, Saddam Hussein and Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

What recently transpired when PKR’s director of strategy, Rafizi Ramli, came forward to warn that the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the Selangor state government and the federal government may cause a stiff hike in water tariffs, is a good example.

The PKR supremo, Anwar Ibrahim who said that he agreed with MB Abdul Khalid Ibrahim on the water deal, was caught by surprise, but I am happy that he said that he would not issue a gag order against Rafizi.

Even Khalid was recently subjected to the state assembly’s Select Committee of Competency, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat), chaired by a much younger person within the coalition, Hannah Yeoh. In upholding her position, Yeoh had to be firm and scrutinise every argument brought forward by Khalid, and I believe Khalid was happy to answer them one by one.

In my opinion, what is important is that all parties have the interest of the rakyat in mind. It is a matter of how different viewpoints are being tossed up for public debate that will eventually wins the game. Time will tell, because Khalid and Anwar will reveal their strategies on how to continue  giving the people free water at least for the next three years.

We have to give them the benefit of the doubt that the situation is fluid; meanwhile, the rakyat must monitor the cost of the Langat 2 construction. We have seen how the KLIA2 construction cost went up over the past few years.

Rafizi represents the younger generation of Malaysians who are outspoken and would not necessarily be the ‘Yes’ men of any political master.

Obviously, he has done his own calculations. If proven correct, he will be respected for his views; if he makes a mistake, he must be willing to learn from it. After all, these are only opinions that have yet to be proven over time.

In the past, no one could speak up against Dr Mahathir. When he wanted to do things his way, even his deputy could not withstand him. Musa Hitam and Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah were both sidelined. Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was dragged down from the pedestal.

Even Anwar Ibrahim was sacked amidst the celebrations that were happening when all eyes were on Malaysia. Until today, Anwar is still being haunted, but it appears that in recent days, Mahathir is afraid that Anwar will become the next prime minister of Malaysia.

Becoming incapable of public debate

When Mahathir acted against the sultans to remove their privileges, not even a single Malay defender of the sultans dared to challenge Mahathir. He had proven himself to be the most powerful of men and we have all lived under his 22-year regime such that many of us have become incapable of public debate.

I remember during the lead up to the general election in 2013, there was a proposal for Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak to debate with Anwar Ibrahim. While Anwar was ready to debate, Najib did not have the guts to take up the challenge.

This is sad, because the people want to know who or which political party has the people's interest at heart. We could only see Pakatan being keen on the people’s interest, but the Barisan Nasional (BN) kept harping on the Goods and Services Taxes (GST), ‘Allah’ and Alkitab issues, and subsidies cuts. It is no wonder that the people will vote against the BN in the coming GE, because everyone has to tighten their belts recently due to the price hikes.

I, for one, would campaign for Pakatan Rakyat these days. Even if you were to put Mr Squirrel to represent Pakatan against Chew Mei Fun, I would, by default, campaign for the squirrel because of what I see happening in the country.

Notwithstanding, in Kajang, we have more than a squirrel; we have someone who leads the entire Pakatan coalition and I am jealous of our Kajang voters in that, when they have Anwar as their state assemblyperson, the moment a complaint is raised, everyone, including state exco members, would rush to attend to the complaint. Even with Anwar’s absence, the problem can be solved.

STEPHEN NG is a chemist by training. He dealt with printing ink, paint and emulsion polymer for 15 years before becoming a freelance writer.