The bill tabled by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Abdul Aziz which proposes that the salaries of all members of the Dewan Rakyat and Dewan Negara be increased by 10 percent is totally irresponsible and does not do justice to the people of Malaysia.

In the first instance, their performance has been mediocre. Secondly, this pay hike is being given to the elite while the common people continue to suffer under the government's monetary policy which sees the ringgit peg being maintained.

While the pay hike for MPs will certainly help them with their living expenses, the public will have to continue to bear with imported inflation and a reduced purchasing power no thanks to the government's determined clinging on to the ringgit peg.

Indeed the price of essential commodities have been going up since January. Domestic prices for various grades of petroleum were the first to climb followed by various others including the price of chicken.

And we are now on the threshold of another round of price increases with the recent declared escalation in the costs for public transport.

We can also expect interest rates in the country to increase in the second half of the year.

All these developments suggest that nobody is genuinely interested in defending the interests of the man-in-the-street people now that the general election and the Umno supreme council elections are over.

This goes to prove that what we have seen since the last general election was nothing more than a series of political maneuvers among the Barisan Nasional component parties, particularly by Umno and MCA, to consolidate their power base.

These moves was done following the general election as Pak Lah is being seen by many as merely a transitory leader bent on pious sermons rather then steering the country in an effective manner at this crucial time when the world is moving faster by the day.

And so everything is nothing more than for self and group interests and the continued bluffing and deceiving of the people.