The relocation of 13 Chinese vernacular schools announced by the education minister recently and the millions of ringgit pledged to help these schools are last minute efforts to ‘buy’ Chinese votes.

Why is it that these 13 schools could not have been re-located and upgraded during the last four years? Why are the relocations being announced all at once, just one month or less before the general elections?

This kind of throwing goodies to us demeans the Chinese people and it is an affront that the MCA president accepts it. We are not beggars, for goodness sake.

BN, do you or do you not have a policy of keeping our ‘mother tongue’ alive? If the answer is ‘yes,’ then have ongoing policies that re-site underused Chinese schools. Do not throw a couple of steaks around and expect the Chinese to grovel over it in appreciation.

We do not agree, for example, with MIC President S Samy Vellu's assertion that the Indians should be grateful to Pak Lah for announcing a limited holiday for Thaipusam from this year onwards. It’s not a gift from a demigod and we owe BN nothing.

Let’s put everything back in perspective. The BN-led government is composed of elected representatives and are stewards of the nation’s resources and coffers. The money being allocated belongs to the rakyat.

We do not need to thank the government for building schools and roads, for they are using our money to build the facilities we need. In fact, we should hold the government responsible for the many failed projects and leakages. After 50 years of rule, the BN government has forgotten who the boss is.