TK Chua

There are numerous issues and problems facing the country today, some very real and imminent. But are we getting closer to finding the truth or solving any of them?

Even leaving politics aside, I think the whole debate over the future of Proton and the National Automobile Policy (NAP) is filled with baloney and hot air.

In a democracy, we ought to know that it is about contest of ideas, policies and programmes. The conduit is through popular support, not by brute force, bullying others or through the barrel of a gun as asserted by Mao.

The prime minister said a few things recently on low income and high cost of living when answering a question in Parliament.

For those who have read my articles on Lim Guan Eng and his bungalow earlier, they should have known my views by now. To prove impropriety, the authorities must show quid pro quo which involved Guan Eng as the chief minister of Penang.

We can’t separate the wheat from the chaff. We look at the speck of sawdust in someone’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in other’s eye? We criticise relentlessly when the target is easy meat. We deliberately and even hypocritically missed the forest for the trees. I guess this is who we are. We can’t appreciate transparency and democracy in spirit and in essence. We could only be cowed into submission.

No one is perfect and we can’t expect perfect politicians to look after us. That is why we need systems and checks and balance to ensure compliance and minimum malfeasance and deviation. Sometimes it is the choice of the lesser evil.

I am puzzled by the report that a senior civil servant was nabbed in a RM100 million scam from which he has benefitted RM20 million.

I think the argument between Abdul Rahman Dahlan and Lim Guan Eng over the price of affordable housing is out of focus. I am not a politician, so maybe it is easier for me to put my views across on this issue more realistically.

Former minister Rafidah Aziz said our “system” is broken due to “human weaknesses as well as greed. The system can only function to the level of the dedication and commitment of those entrusted with the responsibility as custodians of, and functionaries in, that system”.

The purported news of the government withdrawing the scholarships and bursaries makes me ponder over our personal finance and how we can draw some parallels on government financial management.

I refer to the MACC’s statement, as reported in The Malaysian Insider today, that there was no “solid evidence” of corruption involved in the bauxite mining in Pahang.

In Malaysia, the degree of sensibility and the amount of intelligence are very much inversely proportionate to one’s position. Higher and more prominent positions are usually associated with greater degree of stupidity or depravity.

Who could disagree with Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi when he said that Malaysians should not resort to pitting one’s race and religion against each other when attempting to settle business disputes? It is so blatantly obvious, I must say.

I have a problem trying to understand the threat issued by Cuepacs to the National Higher Education Loan Fund (PTPTN). The threat was to withdraw authorisation given to PTPTN to automatically make deductions from salaries of civil servants who have outstanding loans with the agency. The argument was the deductions were too big which have adversely affected the survival of government servants.

It is good to hear our new deputy prime minister (DPM) focusing on economic and financial management. Recently he made two points which I think are pertinent. First, he urged higher saving rates among Malaysians and second, he urged the banking industry to reduce non-performing loan (NPL).

Rural and Regional Development Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, first I think you should get your bearings right. I think no one is condemning you for trying to help Malay and bumiputra retailers. After all, Malay entrepreneurship development is very much part and parcel of government policy. I think the issue of concern here is the way you go about it. Many feel that you are probably ‘milking’ the project to further your own political ambition and popularity.

I think politics in this country has degenerated into the most absurd level and today I am not referring to Umno or BN. I am talking about PKR - how its seemingly intelligent leaders are now trying to articulate the most ridiculous and wangle the impossible.

Does it sound familiar if I describe the political processes now prevailing in the country in this way?

As we read the news unfolding each day over the ‘state of affairs’ of this nation, I think we might have skewed the discussions toward the wrong direction.

When our hearts are not right, we can say the impossible and justify the unjustifiable. This was what PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang did when he said opposition MPs are not “street protesters” and that they must carry themselves with manners. “Oppose with civility” was what he said when commenting on some MPs carrying placards ‘Mana RM2.6 billion?’ immediately after the PM’s Budget speech.