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Please don’t boast and joke unnecessarily

I refer to the news item, ‘CM: Penang needs some debt so it can ask Najib for money’ as published today. Although the chief minister said it in jest, I think sometimes it is better not to say it.

We know the system is rigged. In this country, the reward is never for the prudent and the savers, even at individual level. Just look at the double quick action to reduce interest rates before any clear sign of economic slowdown or inflation abating has taken place.

Whether we like it or not, our ‘federation arrangement’, unless amended in the future, has put the state governments dependent on the federal government, especially in finance and funding. The state governments can’t even borrow unless with expressed permission from the federal government.

Beside road and capitation grants which are provided in the constitution, other development allocations or federal loans extended to each state are discretionary and based on the federal budget and needs.

I agree the state governments ought to be prudent. But this is different from being stingy. In other words, the state governments should identify more people-centric projects and spend in the manner that provides the best value for money and deliver the most effective outcomes. It is useless to claim that the states are debt-free if the governments have not spent enough for the people.

I believe the Penang state government is prudent and not stingy, but I think it is best that the state government does not boast or even joke about it.

When the system is rigged, based not on merit and prudence but on arbitrariness and discretion, it pays to be humble no matter how difficult the situation may be.

I think it would make a lot of difference if the chief minister has said that the state, despite its strong financial position, needs more funds or loans from the federal government so that it can do more for the people including in Umno/BN-held constituencies.

The people of Penang have already made their choice to elect Pakatan to helm the state government. I think it is useless to engage in endless tough talk despite the frustration and discrimination felt by the state. It is always better to seek reconciliation and goodwill, what more when the state is dependent on the federation on many things, finance most of all.

As an ordinary citizen observing events unfolding each day, I think I am getting tired of the endless politicking, confrontation and sabotage that are going on. I think it does not matter who is more culpable that caused our present quagmire. But this much I know - when one heads a state government, he/she is responsible to the people of that state, not just his/her personal or party agenda.

Maybe I missed it earlier; so far have we seen the CM of Penang or the MB of Selangor paying a visit to see the PM or the PM and federal ministers paying a visit to Penang and Selangor and urge the CM or MB to discuss not politics but people-centric issues? Even as I write this piece this morning, I read of the ‘Penang tunnel or bridge’ projects being discussed through news portals between the federal and state government.

Seriously, I am not being idealistic here. We may dislike or disagree with the PM, CM or MB, but it is the positions they hold that count. Unless and until they step down, what choice does each of them have than to deal with each other?

Please, the contest for power will go on, but the country needs management and governance by those elected, regardless of their party affiliation.

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