Sitting at my regular non-halal (read: Chinese) food court in my suburb in Kuala Lumpur on yet another public holiday last Friday, I wondered at the relevance of the games of our political elite on both sides of the divide.

BN appears to be capitalising on Anwar Ibrahim's second sodomy trial, while Pakatan Rakyat seems to be extracting every bit of sympathy it can from it.

Too hot to eat anything, I could only sip at a ‘cooling’ or ‘heat expelling’ asam boi juice as I chatted with one of the Chinese hawkers. We chatted about the rising cost of living.

‘Kindergarten is so expensive. Even when you send your children to national schools, there are so many expenses like bus fares, but it's a bit better. It's not easy if you just earn a wage and have to support a family,’ she said.

The front page stories on The Star , our leading English-language daily, have focused on fire hazards and actual fires from the hot and dry weather. Looking at them, I pondered at the possible dissonance of the preoccupation of the political and media elite with the ordinary Malaysian.

I thought it was at least better than the daily frontpage stories on the Anwar trial which the paper has dubbed ‘Sodomy II’ for lack of a better name.

Then I went to fill up petrol at the gas station around my area. The first station along Old Klang Road ran out of engine oil, so I had to head to another station.

The local lad who checked the oil was especially helpful, and so were the staff in the shop, who advised me to buy a better grade of oil which was only a few ringgit more per litre. I even entered the contest which is kind of like a lottery or lucky draw.

All the while, I was asking what planet do our media and politicians live on? Where is the inter-racial tension played up by Utusan Malaysia columnists, like the infamous Dr Mohd Riduan Tee Abdullah who complained of supposedly opulent Chinese cemeteries on hills?

Where are the people with a penchant for decapitating animals and chucking their heads around? The Umno branch in my area is relatively okay although it lies opposite another abandoned building.

I think there is a reason why people don't read the papers much anymore. The Star's circulation has stagnated, or has experienced neglible growth, with a growing population.

In a way, it's not their fault for they have the Printing Presses and Publications Act hanging around their necks. But I do wish that they focus more on business news or on other matters more relevant to a country aspiring to be developed by 2020.

Pig heads, cemetaries, orang utans, etc may only matter to people still living like nomads in our lush, tropical rainforest.